The Angels announced they’ve optioned catcher Anthony Bemboom and infielders Luis Rengifo and Jack Mayfield. None of that trio will make the Opening Day roster. That’s a bit surprising in Rengifo’s case, since he had looked like the favorite to open the year as Los Angeles’ top infielder off the bench. The Angels optioning out Rengifo and Mayfield could be good news for non-roster invitee Jose Rojas, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com was among those to point out. The 28-year-old Rojas has yet to make his MLB debut but has mashed at a .321/.487/.607 clip in Spring Training. Optioning out Bemboom, meanwhile, suggests the Angels will open the year with a catching tandem of Max Stassi and Kurt Suzuki.
More from the American League:
- Justin Wilson went for an MRI after leaving Monday’s game with tightness in his pitching shoulder. Those tests came back negative, the Yankees announced this afternoon. Manager Aaron Boone called the result “pretty good news,” but it isn’t clear if Wilson will be ready for Opening Day, relays Lindsey Adler of the Athletic (Twitter link).
- Blue Jays infielder Cavan Biggio was scratched from today’s lineup. It doesn’t seem there’s much cause for alarm. Biggio jammed his right pinkie finger and is day-to-day, manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters (including Mark Feinsand of MLB.com). X-rays came back negative and Montoyo says the club will reevaluate the issue tomorrow.
- The Athletics optioned catcher Austin Allen this afternoon, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to note. That sets up Aramís García to claim the backup job behind Sean Murphy to open the season. García was acquired from the Rangers this offseason as part of the Elvis Andrus trade. The 28-year-old has a .229/.270/.419 slash line over 111 MLB plate appearances.
- Billy Hamilton looks likely to make the White Sox Opening Day roster, Scott Merkin of MLB.com writes as part of a reader mailbag. The speedster is in camp as a non-roster invitee. Presumptive fourth outfielder Adam Engel will start the season on the injured list, aiding Hamilton’s chances of breaking camp with the team. Hamilton has really struggled at the plate in recent years, but his speed and outfield defense should make him a useful bench piece. If he indeed makes the club, he’ll need to be added to the Sox’s 40-man roster.
White Sox dynasty baby.
I said it on another article. Sox 100 million dollars under the luxury tax and they trot out Billy Hamilton. Come on. I want to win. Not count pennies. Do the job right.
who do you expect them to sign right now? its only because Engel is out.
Nothing against Engel. Just think the bench has been on the weak side for awhile now. I guess I meant they should have been better prepared to begin with. Who to sign right now? I don’t know maybe too late.
In Billy Hamilton’s defense, he was like the 5th outfielder when they signed him. The injuries to Eloy Jimenez and Adam Engel kind of forced them to leave Hamilton on the roster.
If you can’t do the little thing like count pennies, then how are you gonna do the big things like win trophies?
05 White Sox did the little things like count pennies, like every single penny they paid Bobby Jenks that year, every last one!
They could have easily addressed this by adding another OF who could have helped at DH for this reason.
They have quite a few injury prone outfielders, and the two that got hurt are arguably the least injury prone of the bunch.
Why pay for a DH when you have Vaugnn? He is massively unappreciated by most Sox fans.
maximumvelocity1 hour ago
They could have easily addressed this by adding another OF who could have helped at DH
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Vuaghn, Abreu & Eloy might be enough to cover the DH slot.
Another day, another White Sox don’t have enough depth post! The White Sox have one of the deepest lineups in the MLB! That is depth. The White Sox have a gold glove caliber outfielder on their bench. That is depth. The White Sox have a guy who hits .270 and can play almost every position on the field on their bench. That is depth. The White Sox have Willy Mays Hayes on their bench. That is depth. The White Sox also have a lot of salary room and prospects to add if needed. That is also depth. The fact that the White Sox do not have an all star center fielder on their bench is all people can seem to nitpick about this team and as a fan, that makes me quite happy!
“The White Sox have a guy who hits .270 and can play almost every position on the field on their bench.”
Um, no, no they do not. For what it’s worth, I’m less concerned about batting average as I am stats like wRC+, so we’ll set 100 (league average) as the standard.
So, between Lucroy, Collins, Garcia, Mendick, Hamilton, and Engel, here are the amount of 100 wRC+ seasons between them, going back to 2017: two.
Mendick did in in 2019… on 40 plate appearances and a .385 BABIP.
Garcia did it in 2020… on 63 plate appearances.
The “depth” for Chicago is going to hurt them far, far more than it will help them.
We will talk to you again in September.
I like Vaughn. But he has literally no reps against high-minors pitching, and putting him on the opening day roster is asking a lot of him.
An addition of a guy like Eddie Rosario or Joc Pederson could have allowed the White Sox to platoon Vaughn/Mercedes in the DH spot AND protect against an injury or two from the outfield.
And I have been saying this, because I fully expected the possibility of two outfielders getting injured, since they have a host of guys who are prone to injury. And frankly, it could get worse, because the guys who got hurt were not the guys I was worried about getting hurt.
Given Garcia and Eaton’s history, it would not shock me at all if Billy Hamilton ends up having to play a few games because one of them tweaked something before Engel gets back.
I like Hamilton, but only as a gimmick player who pinch runs and keeps Eloy off the field after the seventh inning. Not a regular or even first replacement. Yet this is where we are.
You realize Hamilton is a luxury player for teams with actual title hopes? I know the chi sox arent used to playoff baseball, but when you’re deep in a playoff series you want one of those pinch runners ready to come off your bench late in a pivotal game six.
But you add those guys in late August, not for opening day. Q Berry defined that role, and was acquired on 8/27, 8/24, 8/31, 8/19, and 8/27. He was on 15 teams, and between 2013-2017, played in 38 games, with 15 PAs.
Rojas quality of opponent this spring was very low. Buyer beware…..
I don’t know about buyer beware, he’s a backup infielder. He’s not exactly going to be leaned upon. It seems like a great story, I wish him well.
Not sure if Maddon is a fan of Rengifos talent (or lack thereof).
Naw, I think they want to keep hitting him
everyday and see early if Rojas is worth keeping. No chance he goes down of the option wasn’t there.
Regnifo was a terribly sloppy infielder. He would screw up the simplist plays and because he wasn’t given an error, not many noticed.
Two starts ago for Ohtani, he butchered three plays costing Ohtani three to four runs.
Remember Matt Scioscia?
Very good news on Wilson.
I’m still good with offering some kind of deal to D-Rob.
My completely unbiased take is that the high socks look works best with the pinstripes.
I wouldn’t mind seeing DRob but if he can pitch and he wants to pitch then why isn’t he? I don’t see him getting a roster spot without showing he’s ready. Which at this point is AAA.
There will be a few quality ball players on waivers between now and opening day. The question is will they fall far enough down for the White Sox to capitalize. That being said, you can do far worse than the speedy Billy Hamilton.
TLR master of the late inning moves. Hamilton the 26th man. He will see late inning action as a defensive replacement or pinch runner.
Eloy and Vaughn are limited in the field and have to be considered as a rotating DH along with Grandal when he’s not catching. No need for a permanent DH to be signed
Rengifo has been good on D but not good at the plate. With 512 PAs, he holds a .221 BA. He’ll have more chances but in “win now” mode, I’m not surprised they might shift gears to Rojas as the utility guy. He would be good for a team in rebuild status to give a starting role to and see how he does every day. Not saying I’d like him to be traded. I think it would be good for him.
Before Halo11 yells at me for using batting average, his OPS is a below average .642. 🙂
.221 is pretty bad. If you are saying someone is hitting 260 and therefore is not a good hitter, then I might disagree, I’d look at wRC+
Last year his wRC+ was 39. The year before that was 84.
“Has really struggled at the plate in recent years.” That’s the nicest way of putting it. Hamilton is a clueless at bat.
Interesting move by Maddon. I think Rojas can help but Rengifo seems more versatile and ready. But at least both can be optioned this season.
Rengifo’s bat is just not there.
No offense to Hamilton, but that kind of sucks that they have to go with him instead of Engel. Hamilton is immensely useful in high-leverage running situations, such as the stupid runner on 2nd in extras rule, but if you can’t get on base, your ability to steal a base matters a lot less. Still, solid defensive substitute, so there is value there at least.
Billy made a great running catch yesterday. Highlight of the game!
He will be on the roster for the first and last months of the season. No big deal.
I was thinking about this, and I am thinking he actually has very little defensive value. The WS already have a top-tier CF. So we’re talking about 1-2 innings here and there in LF. That’s a whole lot less valuable than CF, exacerbated by the fact that he has never played LF before.
Yeah, but that’s the same argument against the value of relievers. Only on briefly, so not worth as much. Except that it’s high-leverage time. He won’t win a GG (I sincerely hope he doesn’t even sniff that much playing time), but a couple game-saving catches in the hunt for a division title is not unfeasible.
By my calculation, the average LF has 2.15 chances per game, If he comes in on defense, for one inning, in winning games, and the WS win 95, that is 95 innings. At a rate of 2.15/9*95, the average LF will have 23 chances. If he gets to 10% more balls, he’s prevented 2.3 hits.
So the question is, is saving 2.3 hits per season worth using a roster space.
Happy for Rojas. Anaheim native, has hit his way through the minors being a somewhat late bloomer, just never had a position. Give him a lot of credit, he’s worked so he could be a serviceable 3b and 2b
Jose Rojas had a great spring two years ago should’ve made the team but Mike Scioscia snubbed him happy to see this kid get a chance to make his major league debut this year
Looking at his minor league record, he’s played 1B, 2B, 3B, and the OF. No SS though. That’s a steal of a utility player if he can translate his power and decent walk ability to the Majors.
Jose Rosas that is…