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Archives for April 2021

Angels Select Scott Schebler, Designate Jon Jay

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The Angels announced that they have selected outfielder Scott Schebler and designated fellow outfielder Jon Jay for assignment. The team also recalled infielder Luis Rengifo.

Schebler had a decent run as a member of the Reds from 2016-18, a 1,243-plate appearance span in which he offered roughly league-average production with a .248/.323/.457 line (102 wRC+) and 56 home runs. His best effort as a power hitter came during a 30-HR showing in 2017, though both his pop at the plate and his playing time have tailed off since then. As a Red and Brave from 2019-20, Schebler only amassed 95 plate appearances, 94 of which came in the first of those seasons. He batted a woeful .123/.253/.222 with two HRs that year.

Thanks to his recent struggles, Schebler had to settle for a minor league contract with the Angels over the winter. For now, he’ll replace Jay as a sub for the Angels’ starting alignment of Mike Trout, Jared Walsh and Justin Upton.

Jay was also a minor league pickup for the Angels, but the 36-year-old couldn’t take advantage of his MLB opportunity early this season. He went 1-for-8 with a single and two strikeouts before the Angels designated him.

Padres Activate Fernando Tatis Jr.

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APRIL 16: The Padres have activated Tatis, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. They optioned infielder Tucupita Marcano to make room for Tatis, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

APRIL 15: Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. suffered a catastrophic-looking left shoulder injury on April 5, though it doesn’t appear he’s going to miss much time. Tatis had his day “as far as his at-bats” go on Thursday, according to manager Jayce Tingler, and Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets that the Padres are “expected” to activate him from the 10-day injured list Friday.

Tatis will be back in time to face the Dodgers, the reigning World Series champions and the NL West leaders who are the biggest obstacle standing in the Padres’ way. San Diego entered 2021 with championship hopes of its own after going 37-23 a year ago, thanks in no small part to Tatis. The 22-year-old wunderkind slashed .277/.366/.571 with 17 home runs and 11 stolen bases last season en route to a fourth-place finish in NL MVP voting.

Tatis could find himself in the thick of the MVP race for a long time, which led the Padres to sign him to a historic 14-year, $340MM extension in the offseason. They and their fans were undoubtedly filled with concern when Tatis went down in their fifth game this season, but he appears to have dodged a significant injury.

With Tatis out, the Padres have gone with Ha-Seong Kim and Jake Cronenworth at short. Both Kim and Cronenworth are versatile enough to play multiple positions, so they should get plenty of time on the field for San Diego when Tatis returns.

Offseason In Review: San Diego Padres

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The Padres finally put themselves back on the map in 2020. Emboldened by last year’s success, president of baseball operations A.J. Preller spent the winter attempting to assemble a championship-caliber roster. Preller had plenty of money to play with, evidenced by the Padres’ franchise-record $174MM Opening Day payroll.

Major League Signings

Trades And Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

At 37-23, the Padres finished with the majors’ third-best record last season, but that still left them six games behind the Dodgers – their NL West rival and the reigning World Series champions. With that in mind, Preller and his front office cohorts used the past few months seemingly leaving no stone unturned in an effort to overthrow the Dodgers, who have ruled the division for eight consecutive seasons. The Padres showed interest in a variety of household names both in free agency and trades, and they were successful in reeling in a few big fish.

The always aggressive Preller’s main headline-grabbing acquisitions addressed the Padres’ rotation, which was terrific last year. However, the Padres saw a couple of their top starters – Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger – go down with injuries late in the season, while Garrett Richards then exited in free agency. Lamet hasn’t yet returned from the elbow issues that ended his season in September, though he doesn’t seem far away from his 2021 debut. On the other hand, the Padres learned in November that Clevinger, who was a blockbuster in-season pickup, required Tommy John surgery. He’s not going to pitch at all in the current campaign, but that didn’t stop the Padres from signing Clevinger to a two-year, back-loaded deal with the hope that he’ll factor in come 2022.

In the wake of the Clevinger news, the Padres went to work in a major way. They showed interest ranging from mild to serious in free agents such as Trevor Bauer, Masahiro Tanaka, Tomoyuki Sugano, Adam Wainwright, Kohei Arihara and Martin Perez. Trade targets included Sonny Gray and Lance Lynn, though the Padres instead landed three other high-profile starters via that route.

The first domino to fall for San Diego was the acquisition of former AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell from the Rays. Snell has three years and $39MM of control left, so as you’d expect, the Rays didn’t give him away for cheap. Rather, the package headed to Tampa Bay centered on 21-year-old righty Luis Patino, who ranks among the premier prospects in the sport. The Padres also had to surrender two other quality prospects – righty Cole Wilcox and catcher/first baseman Blake Hunt – as well as a once-heralded farmhand in Francisco Mejia. Acquired from the Indians in the teams’ Brad Hand trade in 2018, Mejia was never able to establish himself with the Padres at catcher, nor did his offense come close to matching the hype.

The Snell swap wasn’t the only late-December present for the Padres or their fans. Shortly after swinging the trade with Tampa Bay, Preller & Co. pried 2020 NL Cy Young finalist Yu Darvish and catcher Victor Caratini from the Cubs. It didn’t cost the Padres nearly as much this time, in part because they ate all but $3MM on the $62MM Darvish is owed over the next three years. The Padres did have to give up one of their best 2020 starters, Zach Davies, but he’ll be a free agent next offseason. Plus, it’s hard not to view Darvish as a clear upgrade over Davies. Along with Davies, San Diego parted with four prospects – shortstops Reginald Preciado and Yeison Santana and outfielders Owen Caissie and Ismael Mena – but all of those players are at least a few years from the majors. That’s if they make it at all.

The addition of Caratini came as welcome news for Darvish, as the former is his personal catcher. Caratini played second fiddle to Willson Contreras in Chicago, but he has typically blended passable offense for his position with well-graded defense. Once Austin Nola returns from a fractured finger, he and Caratini should give the Padres a solid one-two behind the plate with Luis Campusano also in the mix.

No one would have blamed the Padres had they stopped at Snell and Darvish, but they decided there was more to accomplish. Just a few weeks after scooping up those two, the Padres executed yet another eyebrow-raising trade, this time hauling in righty Joe Musgrove from the Pirates. While Musgrove doesn’t carry a Snell- or Darvish-like track record, he did give the Pirates useful mid-rotation production for multiple seasons. Now back in his native San Diego, Musgrove has thrived, having already thrown the first no-hitter in franchise history. He has also yielded just one earned run in his first 19 innings in a Padres uniform.

To pick up Musgrove’s two affordable remaining years of team control, the Padres again sent away a bunch of non-elite prospects (Hudson Head, Drake Fellows, David Bednar and Omar Cruz). The only major leaguer they said goodbye to was Joey Lucchesi, whom the Mets acquired in the three-team deal. Like going from Davies to Darvish, Musgrove gives the Padres an obvious improvement over Lucchesi.

All said, the Padres acquired two front-line starters and another who may be turning into one while moving only a single star prospect (Patino). So, even in spite of dumping double-digit prospects in these deals, the Padres’ farm system is still pretty loaded. In fact, according to MLB.com, it’s the game’s sixth-best system – one that still boasts four top-100 players in lefty MacKenzie Gore (No. 6), shortstop CJ Abrams (No. 8), Campusano (No. 45) and outfielder Robert Hassell III (No. 62).

Along with finding outside starting pitching, taking care of key inside business was among the primary items on the Padres’ offseason checklist. They and the face of their franchise, 22-year-old shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., made it clear entering the winter that they wanted to hammer out a contract extension. Tatis wasn’t on track to reach arbitration until after 2022 or become a free agent until the end of the 2024 season, but the Padres weren’t going take a chance on losing him in his mid-20s. Instead, in late February, they succeeded in locking up Tatis into his mid-30s.

The agreement with Tatis is historic – a 14-year, $340MM pact that shattered Mike Trout’s previous record guarantee of $144MM for a pre-arb player. It’s also the second $300MM-plus contract the Padres have doled out over the past couple years, as they previously signed third baseman Manny Machado to a decade-long deal in free agency. The club now has the left side of its infield under wraps with two superstar-caliber players for the foreseeable future.

The rotation improvements and the Tatis extension represented the offseason heavy lifting for the Padres, but they were active in other areas. Most notably, they signed former Korea Baseball Organization standout Ha-Seong Kim to a four-year, $28MM guarantee with a $5.5MM posting fee paid to the Kiwoom Heroes. Kim isn’t an upgrade over Tatis, Machado or second baseman Jake Cronenworth, but the team felt it was a worthwhile risk to spend on a versatile 25-year-old whom many regard as a top-1o0 prospect.

The Kim signing wasn’t the last of the Padres’ depth-bolstering moves in free agency. A few weeks after they won the Kim sweepstakes, the Padres re-upped Jurickson Profar on a three-year, $21MM guarantee. The contract includes a pair of opt-outs, so if Profar plays well enough this year or next, he could elect to return to free agency. For at least another year, though, he’ll continue to give the Padres someone who can play multiple positions and offer league-average or slightly better offense at a reasonable annual cost. Profar’s fourth on the Padres in plate appearances this year, and he has already lined up at four spots (first, second and both corner outfield positions).

The bullpen was also a matter of some offseason importance for the Padres, who faced the losses of relievers Trevor Rosenthal and Kirby Yates in free agency. San Diego showed interest in bringing both back, but they departed for higher paydays elsewhere. The Padres seem to have dodged bullets in both cases, as Rosenthal underwent thoracic outlet surgery earlier this month and Yates had a Tommy John procedure in March.

Rosenthal and Yates signed for a combined $16.5MM in guarantees, but the Padres spent far less on their relief corps, inking Mark Melancon and Keone Kela for a total of $4.2MM. It’s early, but the always steady Melancon has been a bargain for the Padres so far. He’s 5-for-5 in save opportunities and hasn’t allowed a walk or a run in six innings of one-hit ball. Likewise, Kela has been flawless in the runs allowed department, having surrendered none in 5 2/3 frames. The hard-throwing Kela had an impressive three-year stretch of run prevention and strikeouts with the Rangers and Pirates from 2017-19, but a positive COVID-19 test and forearm troubles held him to two innings last season. If healthy, though, he also has a chance to end up as a steal for San Diego. So far, so good.

Although it’s only mid-April, the Padres look as if they’re going to be a force again this year, thanks in no small part to Preller’s offseason moves. So impressed with his work, Padres ownership decided in February to upgrade Preller’s title from general manager to president of baseball ops and extend him through 2026. It appears the Padres are in capable hands with Preller at the helm, but how would you grade their offseason?

(Poll link for app users)

Giants Place Johnny Cueto On 10-Day IL

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APRIL 16: The Giants expect Cueto to miss two starts, according to manager Gabe Kapler (via Slusser).

APRIL 15: The Giants will place right-hander Johnny Cueto on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 lat strain, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to report. They’ll make a corresponding move when it becomes official on Friday.

This will temporarily disrupt what has been an impressive rebound effort from Cueto, a former ace who didn’t pitch well in either of the previous two seasons. The 35-year-old has turned back the clock in the early going, though, having recorded a 1.80 ERA with a roughly average strikeout percentage (24.3) and a terrific walk rate (5.4 percent) through 20 innings. Cueto has also allowed just 13 hits – including three during a scoreless, 5 2/3-frame outing against his former team, the Reds, on Wednesday. He had to leave that start after only 68 pitches because of his injury.

The Giants do have a ready-made replacement for Cueto in free-agent pickup Alex Wood. The left-hander is scheduled to make his debut Sunday after missing the first couple weeks of 2021 while recovering from back surgery. Wood was supposed to bump Logan Webb to the bullpen, but both now figure to take spots alongside Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani and Aaron Sanchez in the Giants’ rotation.

Aristides Aquino Undergoes Surgery To Repair Hamate Fracture

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Reds slugger Aristides Aquino was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday after undergoing surgery to remove the hook of the hamate bone in his left hand, per a team announcement. Infielder Max Schrock is up from the taxi squad to take his spot on the active roster.

A timeline for Aquino’s absence wasn’t provided by the Reds in their initial announcement. A hamate fracture is a relatively common injury around the league, so we do have some historical precedent as a point of comparison; hitters typically miss somewhere in the vicinity of four to six weeks with this injury. Every case is unique, however, so we can’t simply assume that’ll be the case with Aquino. The Reds figure to have further updates on him in the near future.

The 26-year-old Aquino has found himself in a tough spot to begin the season. The Reds had hoped to secure a fourth option on the slugger, but an arbiter ruled the other way in Spring Training, meaning Aquino can’t be sent to the minors without first being exposed to waivers. Cincinnati has held onto him despite a crowded outfield mix that includes Jesse Winker, Nick Senzel, Nick Castellanos and red-hot Tyler Naquin.

The Reds’ top four outfielders — Winker, Senzel, Castellanos and Naquin — have been the most productive outfield group in Major League Baseball by a mile, leaving Aquino with minimal playing time. He’s appeared in 10 games but taken just 14 plate appearances, going 3-for-13 with a pair of homers, a double, five strikeouts and a walk.

At a certain point, one can imagine the Reds will have to make a tough call on what to do with Aquino. It’d take multiple injuries to open a path to regular playing time for him, and with Shogo Akiyama also on the mend, it’s possible that once Aquino has healed up, he’ll have yet another outfielder ahead of him on the depth chart.

The Reds surely don’t relish the idea of selling low on a slugger who mashed a remarkable 13 home runs in his first 27 MLB games back in 2019 — a rookie season that saw him bat .259/.316/.576 in 225 plate appearances. At the same time, the Reds have acquired multiple bats to play ahead of Aquino since that debut effort. He’s tallied just 70 plate appearances dating back to 2020, with a combined .183/.300/.417 line to show for it. Add in a woeful September swoon in that rookie season, and Aquino has batted just .191/.261/.395 in his past 180 trips to the dish.

Pirates Notes: Frazier, Goodwin, Center Field, Oviedo

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Infielder Todd Frazier and outfielder Brian Goodwin both have May opt-out dates in their minor league contracts with the Pirates, tweets Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. Frazier had a strong spring with Pittsburgh, slashing .250/.353/.643 with three homers and a pair of doubles in 34 plate appearances, but that wasn’t enough to convince the Bucs to put him on the active roster — nor was an early injury to third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. Frazier briefly opted out of his contract with the team at the end of camp in order to search for a big league opportunity elsewhere, but he re-signed a new minor league arrangement with Pittsburgh just days later. Goodwin, meanwhile, hit .229/.317/.371 this spring after a disastrous cameo with the division-rival Reds in 2020. His struggles through 55 plate appearances in Cincinnati notwithstanding, however, Goodwin batted .258/.327/.469 in 567 plate appearances with the Angels from 2019-20 and is an overall .250/.317/.455 hitter in 1124 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. If neither veteran is in the Pirates’ plans by next month, it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see them latch on with a club that is struggling with injuries or underperformance at the infield corners or in the outfield.

A few more notes on the Buccos…

  • The Pirates bought low on former top prospects Anthony Alford and Dustin Fowler in center field, and the results to this point have been … uninspiring … to say the least. Fowler is 5-for-30 with a double, 13 strikeouts and just two walks in 34 plate appearances, while Alford is 1-for-20 with a staggering 15 punchouts in 24 trips. General manager Ben Cherington, however, told reporters this week that the club will be patient with the duo (link via MLB.com’s Jake Crouse). “We’ve got young players out there who are getting a chance to play at the Major League level for the first time with any level of consistency,” said the GM. Both Alford and Fowler were considered top 100 prospects not that long ago, but injuries and some crowded big league rosters have combined to prevent either from getting a lengthy look in the big leagues. Cherington noted that there is an “adjustment period” to be expected. That’s not to say that either has an unlimited leash, but it seems the club understandably wants more than a two-week look at a pair of 26-year-olds who can be controlled for five more years before turning things over to a short-term veteran such as Goodwin. That’s no doubt frustrating for Pirates fans who want to see a better on-field product in 2021, but for the time being it sounds like Fowler and Alford will continue to get their chances.
  • Cherington also expressed some patience with Rule 5 pick Luis Oviedo despite a recent drubbing at the hands of the hands of the Padres, who tagged him for five runs in 1 2/3 innings Monday (link via Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). While acknowledging the dismal outing against San Diego, Cherington noted that it came after a weeklong layoff from pitching in a game and indicated that the club remains “really encouraged” by the manner in which Oviedo has begun the year. Most rebuilding clubs are willing to look beyond the bottom-line results when looking for positives with young Rule 5 picks such as Oviedo, who is pitching above A-ball for the first time in his career. If he continues to struggle to this extent, the Pirates will obviously have to weigh the merits of keeping him on the roster, but based on Cherington’s comments, Oviedo seems safe for now.

Braves Place Drew Smyly On Injured List

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The Braves announced Friday morning that lefty Drew Smyly is headed to the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his left forearm. They’ve recalled right-hander Kyle Wright from their alternate training site to take his place on the roster and start today’s game. Atlanta also recalled Johan Camargo as a corresponding move after optioning lefty Tucker Davidson following last night’s game.

Manager Brian Snitker tells reporters that the hope is Smyly will only need to miss one start (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Jeff Schultz), though his status will obviously be monitored in the coming days. Smyly becomes the second Braves starter this week to land on the injured list, joining fellow southpaw Max Fried, who is currently hobbled by a hamstring strain. Wright will get the first crack at stepping into the rotation, and the Braves have another young righty, Bryse Wilson, at their alternate site and ready to step up once Fried’s rotation spot next comes up.

Atlanta inked the veteran Smyly to a one-year deal worth $11MM over the winter, based largely on a terrific five-start showing in San Francisco last year. It was a sizable bet in a huge jump in the oft-injured Smyly’s swinging-strike rate and his overall strikeout rate, which saw respective jumps from 10.7 percent and 23.3 percent in 2019 to 14.9 percent and 37.8 percent in 2020. Injuries are part of the package with Smyly, who has reached 100 innings just thrice since making his big league debut in 2012 and missed the 2017-18 seasons entirely.

For the time being, the Braves certainly have the depth to withstand some short-term injuries in the rotation. But with Fried and Smyly sidelined in addition to a recent setback for Mike Soroka, the injury situations that bear monitoring are beginning to mount.

Offseason In Review: Tampa Bay Rays

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Tampa Bay remodeled its pitching staff as the team prepares to defend its American League pennant.

Major League Signings

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Rays began their offseason by, as usual, trimming payroll.  Declining club options on Charlie Morton and Mike Zunino removed $19.5MM in potential expenditures off the team’s books, though in Zunino’s case, the two sides only temporarily parted ways.  Zunino re-signed with the team for $3MM in guaranteed money, plus another $3MM more in total earnings if the Rays choose to exercise another club option on the catcher for 2022.

In short, the Zunino situation saved the team $1.5MM, and they ended up retaining a player they clearly value as a defender.  Zunino has yet to show much of anything at the plate as he enters his third season in Tampa, though as we’ll explore later, Zunino wasn’t the only move the Rays made to address their seemingly neverending quest for catching help.

Declining Morton’s option was a bigger call for the Rays, given how the veteran performed over his two seasons with the club.  Yet, as always, general manager Erik Neander and his front office looked to maximize the Rays’ value on what (little) they had available to spend.  Exercising Morton’s club option would have cost the Rays $15MM, whereas signing three starters and three relievers (Chris Archer, Rich Hill, Michael Wacha, Collin McHugh, Chaz Roe, Oliver Drake) ended up costing the team a combined $15.725MM.  Heading into a season where pitching depth may be more important than ever, the Rays managed to get six free agent arms for the price of one pitcher entering his age-37 season.

This is standard operating practice for the Rays, even when the team is reloading for what they hope will be a return trip to the World Series.  Not many pennant winners head into the next season having parted ways with two top-of-the-rotation starters, yet that’s exactly what Tampa Bay did in saying goodbye to Morton and in trading Blake Snell to the Padres.

The Snell trade was one of the offseason’s biggest moves for any team, and there was obviously a financial component.  Snell is owed $39MM over the 2021-23 seasons, so the Rays again cleared some money.  For moving a former Cy Young Award winner with three years of control, the Rays picked up a four-player package that they believe can help them in the coming years and as early as the 2021 season.

Luis Patino, one of the sport’s top pitching prospects, is expected to be called up at some point during the year to add yet another arm to the Rays’ rotation mix.  Francisco Mejia is serving as Zunino’s backup and, should Mejia start to show any of his past top-prospect potential, could end up supplanting Zunino in 2021 and onward as the Rays’ regular catcher.  Right-hander Cole Wilcox and catcher Blake Hunt are longer-term pieces that could prove useful down the road and give the Rays a pair of recent early draftees with high ceilings to bolster a perennially strong farm.

Time will tell if the Rays made the correct move in trading Snell when they did, and it could be that the deal only occurred because San Diego was the only team willing (or able, given the Padres’ deep farm system) to meet Tampa Bay’s big asking price.  It probably also didn’t hurt that the Rays already had a lot of familiarity with the Padres’ prospects given how the two teams have been frequent trade partners in recent years.

With Morton and Snell gone, Tyler Glasnow and Ryan Yarbrough are the provisional top two starters in the Tampa rotation, with Hill, Archer, and Wacha all signed to one-year contracts to round out the starting five.  That initial rotation has already hit a snag since Archer is on the injured list with right lateral forearm tightness, though Archer isn’t expected to miss much time.

Josh Fleming has stepped into the rotation in Archer’s place, providing the first glimpse of the second layer of the Rays’ pitching depth.  Fleming, swingman McHugh, Patino, Trevor Richards, Shane McClanahan, and Brent Honeywell Jr. could all end up getting regular starts as the season progresses, or at least handle bulk-pitcher duties behind an opener.

Pitching was very much at the forefront of the Rays’ winter plans, as the team reportedly had interest in such names as Martin Perez, Mike Foltynewicz, Julio Teheran, and Anibal Sanchez.  Tampa Bay also made strong bids to sign Corey Kluber and acquire Jameson Taillon from the Pirates, though both Kluber and Taillon ended up on the division-rival Yankees.

While there was risk involved in all of those pitchers on the Rays’ target list, they also ended up rolling the dice on the pitchers they did acquire.  Archer missed all of 2020 due to thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and hasn’t pitched well essentially since the moment Tampa dealt the right-hander to Pittsburgh at the July 2018 trade deadline.  As fun as it would be (well, for everyone besides Pirates fans) to see Archer reignite his career with his former team, it is still very unclear if the righty can be a notable contributor.

The same can be said of Wacha, as injuries and an increasingly large home run rate have drastically worsened the right-hander’s results in the years since his All-Star peak with the Cardinals.  Thanks to his increased velocity and strong swinging-strike numbers, however, Wacha did draw some interest from around the league despite some pretty miserable bottom-line numbers (6.62 ERA) over 34 innings with the Mets in 2020.

Hill is a different story, as the southpaw has continued to pitch effectively even as he enters his age-41 season.  Since the start of the 2017 campaign, Hill and Morton have very similar numbers — except Hill has only tossed 375 2/3 innings to Morton’s 563 1/3 innings.  Since Hill has proven he can deliver front-of-the-rotation production when healthy, the Rays will be particularly careful with his usage to keep him fresh for what they hope will be some important innings come October.

The bullpen also saw quite a bit of turnover, as McHugh and minor league signing Hunter Strickland were added in free agency, and the duo of Chris Mazza and Jeffrey Springs were acquired in an inter-division trade with the Red Sox.  Drake, Roe, and Andrew Kittredge were re-signed to new contracts, while Jose Alvarado, Aaron Loup, Aaron Slegers, and John Curtiss were all shuffled out of the relief corps.

Bullpen reorganization is a Rays staple, and the team will need as much depth as it can find from the farm system due to a number of early injuries.  Roe (shoulder strain) and Nick Anderson (partial elbow ligament tear) will be out until at least July, while Drake was re-signed with the knowledge that he’d also be out until around midseason due to a forearm problem.  Right-hander Pete Fairbanks is also sidelined until May due to a rotator cuff strain.

Given all these injuries, it isn’t surprising that the Rays are at or near the bottom of several team bullpen categories, but this is a problem that needs to be quickly solved considering how quality relief pitching has been a cornerstone of the Rays’ success.  If the bullpen is struggling, it puts even more pressure on the starters to not just post quality innings, but to eat innings altogether, which is doesn’t fit the Rays’ usual pitching strategy.

With so much offseason focus on the rotation and bullpen, Tampa Bay did very little with its group of position players.  Besides re-signing Zunino and adding Mejia, the Rays are more or less running it back with the 2020 group intact.  This isn’t to say that the team didn’t at least check into some notable acquisitions, as the Rays were linked to Kolten Wong, Yoenis Cespedes, and even Marcell Ozuna at different points in the offseason (though according to reports, Ozuna would have only been a realistic addition if he had been willing to accept a one-year contract).

Hunter Renfroe was let go in free agency, and the only other notable subtraction from the position player mix was Nate Lowe, who was traded to the Rangers as part of a six-player deal.  Since the Rays also picked up a couple of other first base prospects in Evan Edwards and Dillon Paulson over the winter, Tampa Bay might have felt it had the depth to part with Lowe, especially since the first base picture on the big league roster was also pretty crowded.

Two weeks into the season, however, Lowe is off to a pretty solid start — .245/.327/.510 with four home runs in 55 plate appearances.  Not earth-shattering numbers, though they do stand out considering that Ji-Man Choi is injured and Yoshi Tsutsugo and Mike Brosseau are both in season-opening slumps.  Lowe was even an above-average hitter (106 wRC+, 109 OPS+) over 245 PA with Tampa in 2019-20, but the Rays never seemed particularly enamored with the idea of giving him an extended look at first base.

While the Rays haven’t gotten off to a good start as a whole in 2021, it’s obviously way too early to write off a team that has made a habit of overachieving.  The Rays’ habit of finding hidden gems in trades or low-level waiver pickups also makes it somewhat difficult to evaluate their moves in the moment.  Who would’ve thought that postseason hero Randy Arozarena would end up as the headline acquisition of the 2019-20 offseason, for instance?  More pivots and roster alterations are certainly likely to occur over the course of the season, as Tampa Bay is perpetually looking to both build and rebuild even while vying for a playoff berth.

How would you grade the Rays’ offseason? (Poll link for app users)

2020 Rule 5 Draft Update

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An abnormal number of picks from the 2020 Rule 5 Draft survived Spring Training and made the Opening Day rosters with their new clubs. The Orioles and Marlins both broke camp with a pair of Rule 5 picks on the active roster, while the Pirates opened the season with one Rule 5 pick on the roster and one on the injured list. Most clubs that are carrying a Rule 5 pick, unsurprisingly, have little in the way of postseason aspirations. There are a few October hopefuls among those still clinging to Rule 5 picks, however, and it’ll take some uncharacteristically strong Rule 5 showings for those players to survive the season.

We’ll take a look at how the surviving Rule 5 draftees are faring periodically throughout the year. Here’s the first glance…

Currently in the Majors

  • Brett de Geus, RHP, Rangers (via Dodgers): Injuries throughout the Rangers’ bullpen might have helped the 23-year-old de Geus crack the Opening Day roster in Texas. He’s out to a shaky start, having walked three batters and hit another three against just two strikeouts through his first 5 2/3 innings. On the plus side, 13 of the 15 balls put into play against him have been grounders.
  • Akil Baddoo, OF, Tigers (via Twins): Baddoo is one of the best stories (maybe the best) of the young 2021 season. The 22-year-old homered on his first swing in the big leagues as his family rejoiced in the stands, and in less than two weeks’ time he’s added a grand slam, a walk-off single (against his former organization) a 450-foot dinger off Zack Greinke and a fourth homer. Baddoo has a ludicrous 1.342 OPS through his first 29 plate appearances in the Majors, and while he obviously won’t sustain that, he’s forcing a legitimate audition in the Detroit outfield. Baddoo missed nearly all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and didn’t play in 2020. Despite that layoff and the fact that he’d never played above A-ball, the Tigers called his name in December. It may have seemed like a stretch at the time, but it doesn’t look that way now.
  • Garrett Whitlock, RHP, Red Sox (via Yankees): The Sox would surely love for Whitlock to stick, having plucked him from their archrivals in New York. So far, so good. Better than good, in fact. Through 6 1/3 scoreless innings, Whitlock has yielded three hits and punched out nine batters without issuing a walk. He’s sitting 95.6 mph with his heater and has posted a hefty 16.9 percent swinging-strike rate. Whitlock also had Tommy John surgery in 2019, so even though he’s previously been a starter, it makes sense to monitor his workload ease him into the mix as the Sox hope to get through the year with him in the ’pen.
  • Tyler Wells, RHP, Orioles (via Twins): Wells has allowed a pair of homers and surrendered three total runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 frames. The O’s aren’t trying to win in 2021, but their bullpen also has four arms that can’t be optioned (Cesar Valdez, Shawn Armstrong, Adam Plutko, Wade LeBlanc). Keeping both Wells and Mac Sceroler (currently on the IL) brings them  to six and will hamper their flexibility.
  • Zach Pop and Paul Campbell, RHPs, Marlins (via Orioles and Rays): Pop was technically the D-backs’ pick in the Rule 5, but Arizona immediately flipped him to the Marlins for a PTBNL. The 24-year-old didn’t allow an earned run in five spring frames but as I was finishing this post, he served up a three-run homer, bringing his season line to seven runs on three hits, three walks and two hit batters in 3 1/3 innings. Campbell has struggled to a similar extent. He’s surrendered five runs (three earned) and given up four hits and three walks in just 2 2/3 innings. With the Marlins out of tank mode, it’ll be tough to carry both all year.
  • Jordan Sheffield, RHP, Rockies (via Dodgers): Sheffield was the No. 36 overall pick in the 2016 Draft, but control issues prevented him from being protected on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen gives Sheffield three plus pitches in his scouting report (fastball, curveball, changeup) but also pegs his command at a 30 on the 20-80 scale. Sheffield has walked or plunked 15 percent of the hitters he faced in the minors. He’s yet to walk anyone 13 batters he’s faced with the Rockies, but he did hit one and has also tossed a pair of wild pitches. That said, he’s also sitting 95.5 mph with his heater and is unscored upon in 3 2/3 frames.
  • Luis Oviedo, RHP, Pirates (via Indians): Oviedo was the Mets’ pick at No. 10, but they had a deal worked out to flip him to the Pirates in exchange for cash. Oviedo has been hammered for six runs on six hits (two homers) and two walks with five strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings so far. Even pitching for a tanking club, Oviedo will need to show some improvement in order to stick on the roster all season.
  • Will Vest, RHP, Mariners (via Tigers): The Mariners kept last year’s Rule 5 pick Yohan Ramirez for the whole season, but it’ll be tougher to do with a full schedule in 2021. The Mariners’ young core is also beginning to rise to the big leagues, and Vest will need to fend off some intriguing young arms. He’s done a decent job so far, allowing a pair of runs (one unearned) on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
  • Trevor Stephan, RHP, Indians (via Yankees): Stephan whiffed 16 of 44 hitters this spring to earn a spot on the Indians’ Opening Day roster, but he’s allowed four runs in his first four MLB frames. The 25-year-old has surrendered five hits (including a homer), walked a pair and hit a batter so far while facing a total of 21 hitters.
  • Ka’ai Tom, OF, Athletics (via Indians): Tom, 26, raked at a .310/.412/.552 pace with a homer, two doubles and a triple in 34 spring plate appearances. After that strong audition, however, he’s just 1-for-16 with six strikeouts through his first 16 trips to the plate with the A’s.

On the Major League injured list

  • Jose Soriano, RHP, Pirates (via Angels): It wasn’t a surprise to see Soriano open the year on the injured list. He’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in Feb. 2020 and didn’t pitch in a game with the Pirates this spring. He’ll be sidelined for at least the first two months, as the Bucs put him on the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot when they signed Tyler Anderson. Soriano hasn’t pitched above A-ball, but the Pirates aren’t exactly a win-now club, so they can afford to stash him as a seldom-used bullpen piece in order to secure his rights beyond the 2021 season.
  • Mac Sceroler, RHP, Orioles (via Reds): Sceroler fanned six hitters in 3 2/3 innings early in the season but also yielded three runs on five hits (two homers), three walks and a hit batter. The Orioles recently placed him on the 10-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder, although it’s not expected to be too lengthy an absence.
  • Dedniel Nunez, RHP, Giants (via Mets): Nunez was hit hard in the Cactus League, surrendering four runs in 3 1/3 innings. He’ll now miss the entire 2021 season after sustaining a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery this spring. Nunez will spend the season on San Francisco’s 60-day injured list and receive a year of MLB service, but he’ll still be subject to Rule 5 restrictions in 2022 once he’s healthy. He’ll need to spend at least 90 days on the MLB roster before he can be sent to the minors; if he doesn’t last that long, he’ll have to pass through waivers and, if he clears, be offered back to the Mets.

Returned to their original club

  • Jose Alberto Rivera, RHP, Angels (via Astros): The Angels didn’t take much of a look at Rivera, returning him to Houston on March 24 after just one inning of official work in Cactus League play.
  • Kyle Holder, SS, Reds (via Yankees): The Reds weren’t sure who their shortstop was going to be heading into Spring Training, but they ultimately settled on moving Eugenio Suarez back to that spot, sliding Mike Moustakas back to third base and giving prospect Jonathan India the nod at second base. A strong spring from Holder might have at least given him a bench spot behind that trio, but he hit just .219/.359/.250 in 39 plate appearances. The Reds returned him to the Yankees on March 30.
  • Gray Fenter, RHP, Cubs (via Orioles): The Cubs returned Fenter to the Orioles on March 12 after just one spring appearance. He hasn’t pitched above A-ball yet.
  • Dany Jimenez, RHP, Athletics (via Blue Jays): The 27-year-old Jimenez was a Rule 5 pick in consecutive offseasons — once by each Bay Area club. The A’s returned him to the Jays on March 15, however, after he yielded four runs (two earned) in three innings of work this spring.

Cardinals Select Scott Hurst

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The Cardinals announced that they’ve selected outfielder Scott Hurst from their alternate site and optioned fellow outfielder Lane Thomas. To make room for Hurst on their 40-man roster, the Cardinals transferred right-hander Dakota Hudson from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL. Hudson underwent Tommy John surgery last September, so he is unlikely to pitch this season.

The 25-year-old Hurst, a third-round pick of the Cardinals in 2017, will reach the majors for the first time. He excelled at the lower levels in his draft year and in 2018, when FanGraphs wrote, “Hurst, who is fine in CF and above-average in the corners, might hit enough to play everyday but his likely ceiling looks more like a reserve OF.”

Hurst advanced to Double-A for the first time in 2019, the most recent minor league season. He saw his numbers nosedive between that level and High-A, where he combined for a .217/.287/.299 line in 405 plate appearances.

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