6:26pm: Righty Matt Andriese, another seeming NT candidate, will be tendered by the club, according to Zach Buchanan of The Athletic (via Twitter). He projects to earn $1.4MM via arbitration.
6:05pm: In a stunning twist, the Snakes are not dropping Jake Lamb but are parting ways with Taijuan Walker, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter) and John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM (via Twitter). Walker had seemed to be a prime bounceback candidate, albeit also a clear injury risk at a $5.025MM projected price tag.
The Arizona org has more information than the rest of us regarding the status of Walker’s right arm. He was stricken of late by a torn ulnar collateral ligament and then a shoulder injury. Though the talented hurler made it back to the majors — if only barely — the Diamondbacks front office obviously saw reason to doubt whether Walker could return to anything approaching his former performance level.
Meanwhile, Lamb receives quite a vote of confidence (and a nice payday, unless he’s cut loose at a later time). He’s projected to earn $5.0MM after two lost seasons. Injuries played a role in his downturn after several productive campaigns, but Lamb seemed a likely non-tender candidate after turning in a cumulative .208/.315/.350 slash since the start of 2018.
5:27pm: The Diamondbacks have non-tendered outfielder Steven Souza Jr. and catcher Caleb Joseph, according to reports from Zach Buchanan of The Athletic (Twitter link) and Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). MLBTR had projected the former to earn $4.125MM and the latter to take home $1.2MM in arbitration.
When the Snakes acquired Souza on the heels of a productive 2017 effort, the hope was that he’d be a high-quality corner outfield piece. But things just never shook out in Arizona. He scuffled through a forgettable 72-game stint in 2018 and never even made it on to the field in 2019.
Souza’s major knee injury last spring not only wrecked his ’19 campaign but put his future in doubt. Fortunately, there are some signs of optimism in the health department. He’ll represent an interesting buy-low target for the right organization, while the D-Backs will look to invest their payroll elsewhere.
As for Joseph, he’ll be a candidate to compete for a reserve role or take up a depth spot at Triple-A. While he’s trusted behind the dish, Joseph has a meager .223/.270/.350 career batting line in the majors.
that souza trade was always bound for disaster
It really hasn’t worked out for any of the three teams. Brandon Drury fell flat in NY. Nick Solak was traded by TB to Texas. Banda has been injured. Poche hasn’t shown much at the MLB level yet. Even Widener has fallen down a bit since he came to AZ.
At least NY managed to flip Drury for Happ to salvage something out of the deal.
you’re right – it only worked for Texas, who wasnt even involved in the first trade. Tampa is left some questionable BP arms and NYY is left wishing they didnt resign Happ.
Thoughts on Souza to the Tribe in an incentive laden deal?
Probably depends on what the incentives would be. “Makes the All-Star Team” and “Plays 150 games” is probably unreasonable. He could work with Seattle though. They dropped Santana earlier.
Souza also grew up 30 minutes from Seattle
Three games watching Souza play, and Tito would remember with fondness Jason Kipnis and Trevor Bauer……
I see Souza coming back to AZ on a cheaper deal. They need help in the corner outfield. Only reason Souza doesn’t make sense for them is if they have another plan via free agency or trade to upgrade that spot
Cubs and Russell?
I don’t know what’s more shocking, the news or that Caleb Joseph is the cover of this over Steven Souza Jr.
The news shouldn’t be shocking
I hope the Orioles sign Souza to be the LF or RF next year. Whichever one they’d prefer Santander not play. Would be a smart move for a potential flip candidate for a fraction of Villar’s cost.
Yup!
OMG!!! After a year of Villar, you want Souza?????? What do you want, a team with the collective IQ of my shoe size?
Souza strikes out a ton and plays like he already has Alzheimer’s. Ya, he’ll pop a few (MAYBE a few more in Camden, if the ball doesn’t change) but that’s the sum total of his offensive value. In the field, he famously “dives for” balls that he’s 30 feet away from.
The line on Stevie is that he tries hard….more’s the pity. I’d say DH, MAYBE, but you already have 12 of those.
Would I prefer Steven Souza to Dwight Smith? Yes I would. LF defense isn’t SS either. I’ll take Souza all day
Now this is an OF that’s interesting if healthy. Lots of talent. Maybe the Jays sniff around on this one.
T. Walker was also non-tendered.
Snakes still won the trade.
Keep telling yourself that…
I agree. Marte is a MVP.
Must have missed when he won that. I like him though. Was sad to see M’s ship him out. That trade will continue to play out, but even with Ketel becoming a star, Mariners have a higher ceiling on their side IMO.
That’s a head scratcher. Go get him Farhan!!
Giants ought to take a look @ walker, seems like a prime candidate to buy low and flip if you can @ the DL or to bounceback as a middle/back end guy and the giants need some rotation help.
Walker back to Seattle?
Jake Lamb wasn’t even good when he was good, AZ has the worst front office.
Lamb was their 2nd best offensive player (behind Goldy) in ‘16-‘17. AZ doesn’t make the playoffs in 2017 without him
It seemed they would turn it around after they got rid of Dave Stewart. Apparently somebody there still loves Jake and his good 1st halves…
Orioles should be all over Walker
Mariners should reunite with Walker
I gotta say though, if any team got Villar, Souza and Walker this offseason for not giving up anyone, they’d be ecstatic.
Not sure why it’s stunning that Walker was non tendered given that he’s pitched a grand total of 14 innings in 4 games over the past two seasons and was projected to earn just as much as Lamb. I guess it’s still surprising to see them tender Lamb a contract, but if it came down to a choice between the two it’s not surprising to see them choose the guy who was at least able to take the field for almost half a season over the guy who pitched in 1 game in 2019.
Walker is one big question mark coming off TJ. Souza hasn’t just figured it out and Villar strike out a ton and get thrown out quite a bit. They are all flawed players that will catch on with someone.
wow, Walker too? Klentak, you have to be all over this. i remember the speculative Hamels-to-Seattle trades that featured guys like Walker and Paxton as potential returns. good as either may have been, we probably wouldnt have Realmuto now had a deal been struck for either.
Taijuan Walker would be a nice pickup for the Cubs. It’s going to be interesting to see where he ends up.
My first thought too. The Cubs add injured pitchers on 2 year contracts lately. If Walker still has some rehabbing to do, it would make sense for both sides.
I’d like to see the Tigers take a $3MM flier on Walker
First three years the team gets the player pretty much the league minimum. Assuming the player is productive, it’s great value for the team. Arbitration starts and raises the salary so the team nontenders the player because it’s not great value anymore. I can see why the players have a problem with the ways things are.
I can see the Mets signing Walker as a low-risk, high reward pitcher.
Can someone remind me who was involved in the Walker trade?
I Think It Was Ketel Marte & Walker From Seattle For Mitch Haniger and Jean Segura From The Diamondbacks
Reliever Zac Curtis went to Seattle as well, not that he did anything notable there.
I’d love this man on the Rockies. Nothing to lose when your #4 and #5 starters are Chi-Chi and Melville
Because of the extent of and seriousness of Souza’s knee injuries, I don’t think he’ll ever play again. Remember, he tore almost every ligament in his entire knee. There was talk that he might never walk normally again, let alone perform at an elite athletic level, which is what pro athletes must do.
Same goes for Walker. He will probably never be the pitcher he once was. His rehab from TJS was twice as long as others’ rehab, with additional physical breakdowns.
Both of these guys might try to resume their careers, but the odds are really stacked against them. We really liked both of these Dbacks, but I think the front office made the right moves.
The TJ surgery isn’t the issue. It’s the sprained shoulder capsule he suffered back in May while rehabbing from TJ surgery which caused him to pitch only one inning late in September. Originally, he was supposed to be back on the mound around the all-star game.
Jake lamb resigning? Yeesh. What does this mean for Kevin Cron? The dude smashed the ball, even accounting for the crazy AAA environment, with over 40+ HR combined last year.
Cron is an AL DH only. I’ve watched him play both 1b and 3b, correction, I’ve watched him try to play both 1b and 3b. He can’t play either defensively, so he’s a DH only. Dbacks play in the NL. Simple as that. He’ll be traded as a throw in to an AL team this off-season.
Actually, Lamb will probably be traded also.
Walker to the Chicago White Sox
Wow, every team should be in on Walker