“The goal this year is to win a gold medal and win a World Series. That would be a pretty good year, right?” Erik Kratz rhetorically asked The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd (subscription required), as the veteran catcher is hoping to achieve what could be an unprecedented double in professional and Olympic baseball. Kratz was a member of the United States national baseball team’s roster last November, acting as both a player and an experienced mentor to a roster comprised mostly of minor leaguers and some of the sport’s top prospects (including Jo Adell, Andrew Vaughn, Alec Bohm and more). The U.S. team will participate in an Olympic qualifying tournament later this month, and while the roster has yet to be announced, Kratz would seem like a solid bet based on his performance last November.
If potentially participating in the Tokyo Games wasn’t enough, there is also Kratz’s role as a depth catcher for the Yankees, as the 39-year-old signed a minor league deal with New York during the offseason. Kratz is entering his 19th year of pro ball and is hopeful of getting some playing time at the MLB level, which would give him appearances in parts of 11 different Major League seasons. It might also get him a World Series ring, given how the Yankees are expected to contend for a title in 2020. A championship would be a nice milestone in Kratz’s career, though the journeyman plans to keep playing for as long as possible. “I know I appreciate every day. I’ve felt like it could be my last season for the last 12 seasons,” Kratz said.
More from around the AL East…
- Blue Jays right-hander Rafael Dolis will miss at least a week of action after having his appendix removed (MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson was among those to report the news). Dolis will be re-evaluated after that first week, and it is possible the righty might not be ready for Opening Day. After last pitching in the majors in 2013, Dolis revived his career with four impressive seasons in Japan, and signed a one-year, Major League contract with Toronto this winter.
- Orioles manager Brandon Hyde updated reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) on a few injury situations in camp. Jose Iglesias and Ramon Urias are both day-to-day with a quad injury and shin splits, respectively. Tommy Milone has a trap injury, with Hyde hoping that Milone can throw a side session within the next day or two. Righty Evan Phillips has been dealing with some soreness in his throwing elbow and underwent an MRI that “came back as nothing serious,” Hyde said, though Phillips is getting a second opinion today out of due diligence.
- In another piece from Kubatko, he notes that Renato Nunez has been diligently working out at third base this spring. Nunez was mostly restricted to DH duties in 2019, though it should be noted that some metrics give Nunez average (0 Defensive Runs Saved) to very good (+9.5 UZR/150) grades over his 606 2/3 career innings as a third baseman. The Orioles don’t need Nunez to wield a Brooks Robinson-esque glove at the hot corner, however, as Nunez would only be deployed as a platoon partner with Rio Ruiz. That would create more DH at-bats for other members of the Baltimore roster, including potentially top prospect Ryan Mountcastle. Kubatko also observes that Nunez would gain more value to the Orioles as a potential trade chip if he shows that he handle a regular defensive position.
Erik Kratz should be a major league back up catcher , idc about his stats , he’s a smart guy and good with young talent
Just like Jared Fogle
Wow dynamite drop, you actually went there? Haha
Lol dynamite is a mlbtr legend
Is the footlong still $5?
Nunez being at least average at third would make a huge difference for the Os. His bat is much stronger than Ruiz and having him at third would allow Mountcastle to stay up and/or Mancini less time in the outfield which then turn creates even more flexibility.
Dr. Ackbar told Tommy Milone that
ITS A TRAP….injury
Remember NIGHT TRAP for sega cd??
Lots of East stories Mark, What about Central and West?
Where?
The article literally below this is about The White Sox
The Orioles young players are average at best
I noticed you left a comment below that I haven’t yet read, so forgive me if you covered it already. How do you feel about the Orioles’ young players?
The Orioles young players are average at best
A very fine system with not only several affiliates playing very well, but also individuals who are showing great promise. What’s exciting is there are a lot of promising prospects within the system.
Long haul ahead for the O’s. The system is promising but the ML team is obviously pretty awful.
We’ll get to see Santander, Hays, and Mountcastle this year. Santander is an iffy long term piece to me. I’m hoping he can take another step forward and solidify himself.
On the pitching front—Hunter Harvey will be the most interesting pitcher for me to see. I’m hopeful that he can be used more frequently and counted on out of the bullpen. Obviously we have to see Means as well. I’m not expecting much out of the other starting pitching but later on we should see Akin, Kremer, Baumann, and maybe Lowther. We’ll see what we have in that bunch. I’d bet on Lowther being the best of the group.
Elias has to make some decisions on players this year as well. Mancini is a guy who I believe needs to be extended or traded at the deadline this season. If he’s not going to be a long term cog—it’s time to strike a deal when his value is high. Hopefully Givens looks like the old Givens and he’s a valuable trade chip as well.
Other than that I don’t see much on the trade chip front. Cobb is owed way too much money—best case scenario I see there is a bounce back season and he becomes a salary dump. Nunez is unfortunately a player that is valued fairly low in today’s game. Doesn’t have a defensive position or a standout skill besides power.
I agree with much of what you’ve written, including that there are pieces coming on strong now in Santander and Hays and Harvey and the like. I also think the Orioles are on their way to becoming an elite development franchise. John Means is a positive indication in this regard. More are coming. We will increasingly see strong contributors coming though the system, many in a few years, some more this year.
I’d be curious to know more of your skepticism re Santander. I thought there were times he looked very promising last year, including from both sides of the plate.
He has to improve. Right now he’s a capable fill in for the rebuild. The defense was better than expected but you can’t have a corner OF with a sub .300 OBP. His offense was 3% below league average last season. That doesn’t cut it—and his defense certainly doesn’t make up for that. He’ll be given plenty of opportunities to prove he can be more than that though. I’m hopeful he can but I’m not penciling him in as part of the future just yet.
Hopefully with experience he’ll become more selective and draw some walks. If he does that and maintains everything else—you might have yourself a starter post rebuild.
I’m glad Kratz has goals, but Israel 2020!