Rangers Select Gibaut, Refsnyder, Volquez
The Rangers have settled on their roster mix to begin the season. Righties Ian Gibaut and Edinson Volquez have made the team along with outfielder Rob Refsnyder. All will be selected to the 40-man roster.
A roster spot was opened when the team outrighted lefty Yohander Mendez. The club also announced that hurlers Rafael Montero and Joely Rodriguez will begin the season on the injured list.
Mariners Sign Bryan Shaw, Place Tom Murphy On Injured List
The Mariners announced this morning that they’ve signed veteran right-hander Bryan Shaw to a Major League deal. It was reported earlier this week that Shaw, who was recently released by the Rockies, was expected to sign in Seattle. He’ll go right onto the 30-man roster for the Mariners. Seattle also placed catcher Tom Murphy on the 10-day IL with a fractured metatarsal in his left foot and added catcher Joe Odom to the 60-man player pool.
Shaw, 32, was an absolute workhorse out of the Indians’ bullpen for the better part of a decade but struggled immediately upon joining the Rockies on a three-year deal prior to the 2018 season. He’s earning $9MM on that pact, but the Mariners will only be responsible for the prorated league minimum for any time he spends on the roster. The Rockies are on the hook for the rest.
Over the past two seasons in Colorado, Shaw has been hammered for a 5.61 ERA as his HR/9 rate more than doubled from his Cleveland days. It might be easy to assume that’s attributable to Coors Field and Denver’s altitude, but Shaw wasn’t demonstrably better on the road as a Rockie than he was at home; in fact, he pitched much better at Coors Field in 2019 than he did away from Colorado.
That said, prior to his ugly tenure with the Rox, Shaw was a prominent setup man who’d rattled off a a 3.13 ERA and 3.52 FIP in 446 1/3 MLB frames between the D-backs and Indians. With a track record like that and plenty of uncertainty in the Seattle ‘pen, it’s not hard to see why Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto felt it worth taking a look. Shaw could have some high-leverage work early in the year even, particularly with Austin Adams opening the year on the injured list.
As for Murphy, it’s a tough blow for the former Rockies top prospect who enjoyed a breakout with the Mariners in 2019. He’d been expected to begin the year as the team’s starting catcher — his first-ever Opening Day as a primary backstop — but that role will now go to Austin Nola. The converted infielder turned heads in the upper minors with the Marlins after his position change and eventually broke through in the big leagues last year with a .269/.342/.454 showing in 79 games as a 29-year-old rookie.
Brewers Select Mike Morin, Set Opening Day Roster
The Brewers on Thursday announced their 30-man roster for Opening Day. Within they revealed that they’ve selected righty Mike Morin the Major League roster. He joins previously announced non-roster invitees Logan Morrison and Justin Grimm in making the club. The Brewers will also bring up righty J.P. Feyereisen to make his MLB debut, though he was already on the 40-man roster.
The 29-year-old Morin is no stranger to the Midwest, having been born in Minnesota, raised in St. Louis and previously pitched for both the Twins and Royals. He split the 2019 campaign between Minnesota and Philadelphia, logging a combined 4.62 ERA with a 26-to-10 K/BB ratio in 50 2/3 frames. Morin punched out 95 hitters in his first 94 MLB frames from 2014-15 but has since seen his strikeout numbers plummet. He’ll bring 224 innings of MLB experience, a 4.65 ERA and a much better 3.60 FIP to a deep Milwaukee bullpen.
Cubs Select Phegley & Brothers, Designate Robel Garcia; Zaguns Opts Out
The Cubs have settled upon their roster to open the 2020 campaign. Catcher Josh Phegley and reliever Rex Brothers both made the cut, so they’ll be added to the 40-man roster.
To clear room, the Cubs announced several 40-man departures. Utilitymen Robel Garcia and Daniel Descalso are both off of the list; the former was designated for assignment and the latter was placed on the 45-day injured list. Also moving off of the MLB roster was outfielder Mark Zagunis, who opted out of the 2020 season.
Orioles Select Pat Valaika, Place John Means On Injured List
The Orioles have selected the contract of infielder Pat Valaika, per a club announcement. He’ll join the 40-man and active rosters to open the season. Baltimore also placed lefty John Means on the injured list alongside righties Hunter Harvey and Dillon Tate.
A career .214/.256/.400 hitter who has shown plenty of pop from the right side of the dish, Valaika has experience at each of second base, shortstop and third base. However, he’s also punched out in nearly 29 percent of his trips to the plate in the big leagues, which has contributed significantly to his inability to reach base at a passable rate. Valaika does have a minor league option remaining and a career .275/.315/.498 slash 695 Triple-A plate appearances, making him a reasonable depth option for the rebuilding Orioles to carry on the roster even if he doesn’t break camp with the club this spring.
Means, last year’s AL Rookie of the Year runner-up, would’ve been Baltimore’s Opening Day starter but has been slowed recently by some arm fatigue. The organization has downplayed its severity and noted that Means had a similar issue last year that caused him to miss only one start. For the time being, there’s no indication that they expect the absence to be lengthy, but it’s nonetheless a tough blow to the young lefty, who enjoyed an out-of-the-blue breakout last season and was surely honored by the Opening Day nod. That start will go to journeyman left-hander Tommy Milone instead.
Harvey, once one of MLB’s top prospects, has seen his career decimated by injury but has worked his way back into Baltimore’s bullpen mix after several lost seasons. He could very well be in the team’s closer mix at some point this year or next, assuming he’s healthy. Tate, too, is another former high-end prospect and was a top-five overall draft pick that simply hasn’t developed as hoped. The Orioles are his third club — he went from the Rangers to the Yankees in the Carlos Beltran swap and then the Yankees to the O’s in the Zack Britton trade. At this point, the hope is that Tate, like Harvey, can emerge as a late-inning bullpen piece.
Dodgers Select Terrance Gore, Option Dustin May
The Dodgers have made a few final roster decisions in advance of their opening contest, as reflected on their transactions page (h/t Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times, on Twitter). Speedy outfielder Terrance Gore has been selected to the 40-man roster, while young righty Dustin May was optioned to the team’s alternative training site.
It’s easy to see the merits of carrying a speed demon like Gore with expanded rosters early in the season. The 29-year-old has never hit much at any level, but he’s among the fastest players in recent MLB memory. Gore’s pinch-running prowess was on full display with the 2014-15 Royals World Series clubs, and he’ll give the Dodgers some additional range in the outfield should they wish to use him in that capacity as well. Gore seems like the type of player who may eventually be set to alternate camp when the roster is trimmed to 28 and eventually 26 players, but he’ll give the club a unique weapon off the bench early in the year.
As for May, he’ll head to alternate camp to continue getting some work in while the Dodgers rely on a more experienced starting staff that features Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling and Julio Urias. There are some obvious potential service time benefits to sending May down to begin the year, but given that he already accrued more than a third of a season of service last year, that might not be the sole motivation. He’d need to spend several weeks in the minors to fall shy of a full year and extend the club’s control over him.
May, 22, is considered one of the game’s premier prospects and turned in a 3.63 ERA with a 32-to-5 K/BB ratio in 34 2/3 frames as a rookie in 2019. He maintains that rookie status into 2020.
Athletics Designate Daniel Gossett For Assignment
The Athletics have announced their Opening Day, 30-man roster, revealing a series of transactions in the process. Oakland has designated right-hander Daniel Gossett for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster for fellow righty Daniel Mengden, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The A’s also formally placed southpaw A.J. Puk on the 10-day IL and optioned catcher Jonah Heim to their alternate site. Puk has been recently hampered by shoulder troubles, and it was reported two days back that he’d miss at least a couple of weeks.
Gossett, 27, hasn’t pitched since 2018 thanks to Tommy John surgery. He was limited to 24 1/3 innings that year and has yet to enjoy much in the way of success at the MLB level. Be that as it may, though, he has a nice track record in the upper minors, including a career 2.87 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 128 1/3 innings in a very hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League.
Gossett was a second-round pick back in 2014 and breezed through the minors before running into rough waters at the MLB level. Given that background and the fact that he still has a minor league option remaining, it’s certainly possible that a starter-hungry club will want to speculate on the right-hander. Oakland will have a week to trade Gossett, place him on outright waivers or release him.
Rays To Select Contract Of Ryan Thompson
11:03am: Southpaw Aaron Loup will also be selected to the 40-man and added to the Opening Day roster, the club has announced. He had been in camp on a minor-league deal.
8:09am: The Rays have decided to carry sidearmer Ryan Thompson on the Opening Day roster, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. He’ll be selected to the 40-man roster today.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether Thompson can carve out a MLB career after an impressive showing during this year’s two training periods. The former minor-league Rule 5er will finally get his first shot after first reaching the upper minors in 2016.
Thompson, 28, is said to deliver a low-nineties heater from an unusually low angle. It’s “pretty, pretty nasty” stuff, according to skipper Kevin Cash. Topkin goes on to discuss the final remaining roster calls facing the Rays, who’ll have to make formal decisions today.
Ryan Zimmerman Intends To Return In 2021
Long-time Nationals corner infielder Ryan Zimmerman weighed retirement previously but ultimately elected to return for another season in 2020. He then reversed course in light of the coronavirus pandemic, opting out of the campaign.
It was fair to wonder whether Zimmerman would simply decide to hang up his spikes, particularly since he went out with a bang in the 2019 World Series. This being 2020, that question arose in a Zoom call between the veteran ballplayer and NIAID chief Dr. Anthony Fauci, who wisely took the opportunity to turn the tables (Twitter link to video).
Zimmerman was surprisingly decisive. “I fully plan on being back,” he said. “I’ve told my family and a bunch of close friends that I can’t go out like this.”
Perhaps this unusual stretch has provided Zimmerman a unique opportunity to experience retirement without committing to it. He says he has “missed every second” of being a part of the game and remains “very disappointed not being able to play.” At the same time, Zimmerman says he still believes he made “the right decision for me and my family” by opting out of the campaign.
Blue Jays, Orioles Discussing Sharing Of Camden Yards
10:22am: The O’s have given their blessing, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.
7:23am: Already bounced by Canada and turned away by the state of Pennsylvania, the Blue Jays are now engaged in talks with the Orioles about the use of Camden Yards. Dan Connolly and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic write that the O’s are amenable, with a few caveats.
The biggest question, as we’ve now learned from experience, isn’t whether the local logistics can be arranged. It’s whether the final authorities will grant approval for whatever scheme is worked out.
In this case, that means convincing the state of Maryland to permit another professional sports resident and, more importantly, to facilitate the flow of traffic of visiting teams to and from other states. That was the issue that gummed up the both of the Blue Jays’ prior schemes to play ball through the pandemic.
Before formal approval is sought, the two teams still need to hammer out a means of hosting the Jays. Per the report, the newly nomadic ballclub would not be permitted to utilize either of the regular clubhouses. Instead, they’d be housed in some kind of makeshift facility — potentially, one constructed in the Camden Yards concourse.
It’s quite the situation to be sorting out on Opening Day, though thankfully the Jays’ schedule allows a bit of remaining breathing room. If the Camden Yards effort fails to pan out, the barnstorming Blue Jays will likely be forced to settle for a minor-league facility — quite likely their top affiliate in Buffalo, New York.