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Mets Promote Khalil Lee, Place Albert Almora On Injured List

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The Mets announced Wednesday that they’ve placed outfielder Albert Almora Jr. on the injured list with a shoulder contusion and promoted outfield prospect Khalil Lee for what will be his Major League debut. Almora sustained the injury on a full-sprint collision with the center field wall on what was very nearly a brilliant catch against the Orioles last night (video link). Almora briefly caught what was a deep drive off the bat of Austin Hays before the impact knocked the ball loose and resulted in a triple. He left the game for testing, and the fact that he escaped with what appears to be a relatively minor injury is welcome news.

In place of Almora, the Mets will turn to the 22-year-old Lee — a 2016 third-round pick by the Royals who ranked as one of the better prospects in the Kansas City organization before coming to the Mets by way of the three-team Andrew Benintendi trade over the winter. Lee opened the season in Triple-A but will get his first call to the big leagues after a six-game stint in Syracuse that saw him bat .250/.478/.313 in a small sample of 23 plate appearances.

Entering the season, Lee was generally regarded among the Mets’ ten best farmhands, ranking seventh at MLB.com, eighth at FanGraphs and ninth at Baseball America. Scouting reports on Lee praise his plus arm, above-average raw power and above-average speed, but his tools have been counteracted to an extent by his penchant for striking out. Lee has punched out in just over 28 percent of his professional plate appearances, though he’s also walked in nearly 12 percent of them. He can handle all three outfield positions and has a 53-steal campaign in 2019 under his belt, although both BA and FanGraphs note that’s more a product of his aggression on the bases than blistering raw speed.

Lee’s initial call to the big leagues comes at a time when the Mets have both Almora and Brandon Nimmo on the injured list, which should create some opportunities to get him into the lineup. He may not have an immediate path to a roster spot once the team is back up to full strength, but Mets fans will get their first look at a player who could factor into the team’s plans for the next several years at some point in the near future. Lee isn’t in the starting lineup today — Dominic Smith, Kevin Pillar and Michael Conforto are manning the outfield — but is available off the bench and figures to get into a game before too long.

MLB Trade Rumors Has A New Agency Database

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We have revamped our agency database!  The database is now mobile-friendly, so you can search for players’ agencies from your phone.  You can search by player name or by agency.

The universe of players in this database is anyone who played in the Majors in the previous three completed seasons, which right now means 2018-20.  Once this season ends, it’ll become 2019-21.  We have agency info for many players, and we’ll continue to do our best to keep it up-to-date.  If you work for an agency and one of your players is blank or incorrect, please drop us a line at mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

You may also recall that in October, I decided to stop doing posts on agency changes on MLBTR, with the exception of significant national stories.  We are still monitoring agency-related news and we will be entering changes into the database.

The agency database is available for all MLBTR readers.  Check it out today!

Previewing 2021-22 Opt-Out Clauses & Player Options

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Next year’s free-agent class is a legitimately star-studded group even when focusing only on true free agents who’ll hit the market due to service time or an expiring contract. But the class has the potential to become even stronger depending on the play of this year’s collection of veterans who have opt-out clauses and player options in their contracts. Their performance over the next five months will determine whether they opt for another trip to the free-agent market or simply stick with the remaining salary guaranteed to them on their existing deals.

We’re about a sixth of the way through the season, so it’s worth taking an early look at how this group is faring…

Nolan Arenado, 3B, Cardinals (can opt out of remaining six years, $179MM): Arenado, who was always a better hitter at Coors Field, is yet another example of the manner in which home/road splits are overstated with regard to Rockies players. The 30-year-old is now playing his home games at Busch Stadium and still raking at a .279/.336/.507 clip with top-notch defense at the hot corner. Arenado has stated that he plans “to be a Cardinal the rest of the way” and said there is a “very, very high” chance that will forgo the opt-out clause in his contract. After the Cardinals tacked a year and $15MM onto the original five years and $164MM he had remaining on the deal, there’s less incentive for him to test the market.

Trevor Bauer, RHP, Dodgers (can opt out of remaining two years, $62MM): While some might balk at the notion of Bauer opting out when he’s guaranteed a whopping $45MM next year on this front-loaded contract, the opt-out wouldn’t really be about 2022 — it’d be about improving upon the total guarantee. Right now, if Bauer were to suffer an injury in 2022, he’d have a $17MM player option for the 2023 season. If he opts out this winter, however, he could aim to negotiate something similar to or greater than his original three-year, $102MM guarantee with the Dodgers. Bauer could still secure a huge salary in year one of a new contract but give himself a greater safety net against injury or decline. He also won’t have a qualifying offer to deal with this time and would be entering what most expect to be a market with more teams willing to spend. With a 2.50 ERA, 34.7 percent strikeout rate and 7.3 percent walk rate, the current NL strikeout leader is enjoying the kind of start that will make him think about it.

Nick Castellanos, OF, Reds (can opt out of remaining two years, $34MM): If Castellanos keeps hitting anywhere near this pace, that opt-out clause will assuredly be exercised. His age-29 season has kicked off with an outstanding .303/.346/.607 slash, and he already has 18 extra-base hits (nine homers, eight doubles, one triple) in just 126 plate appearances. Castellanos fizzled after a similarly electric start in 2020, so we’ll have to see if he maintains — but he’s one of the best hitters on the planet right now.

Charlie Blackmon, OF, Rockies ($21MM player option for 2022; $10MM player option for 2023): The Colorado fan favorite has come to life after a woeful start to the 2020 season. Over his past 13 games, Blackmon is hitting .319/.396/.447 with more walks than strikeouts. That surge still only has his season line up to .222/.328/.343 in 125 plate appearances, though, so Blackmon has plenty of work to do before he’d even consider opting out of a $21MM payday in what will be his age-35 season.

J.D. Martinez, OF/DH, Red Sox ($19.375MM player option for 2022): An ugly 2020 season had many wondering whether Martinez was beginning to decline. It seems safe to stop wondering. The first few weeks of the 2021 season have been some of the finest of JDM’s career; offense around the league is down, but he apparently didn’t get the memo, as he’s destroyed opposing pitchers at a .331/.416/.632 clip. His  10 dingers give him a share of the MLB lead. While there were some conflicting reports on the number of opt-outs in his contract at the time of the deal, MLBTR confirmed this week that Martinez has a $19.375MM player option for the 2022 season on his deal, so he’s controlling his own fate, so to speak. If he keeps hitting like this, why wouldn’t he test the market again (or at least parlay his performance into an extension in Boston)?

Jackie Bradley Jr., OF, Brewers ($11MM player option for 2022): The Bradley signing hasn’t panned out for the Brewers just yet. No one should be surprised to hear that Bradley has excellent defensive ratings through his first 260 innings in center field, but he’s hitting a mere .175/.242/.316 in 124 plate appearances. Bradley didn’t sign until a few weeks into Spring Training, and we’ve seen plenty of late signees start slowly in the past, but so far things aren’t going great.

Jurickson Profar, INF/OF, Padres ($6.5MM player option for 2022; $7.5MM player option for 2023): Profar hasn’t been anywhere near the hitter he was in 2020, slashing just .234/.333/.308 through 128 trips to the plate. The investment in Profar was always a risk. He was one of the least-productive hitters in the National League for the first month of the 2020 season and only salvaged his year with a blistering .375/.398/.534 showing in his final 93 plate appearances. That well-timed hot streak rather stunningly earned him a three-year guarantee and multiple opt-out opportunities, and he’ll need some more of that magic if he’s going to consider walking away from the $14MM he’s still owed beyond 2021. Profar is currently on the Covid-related IL for contact-tracing purposes.

Kevin Pillar, OF, Mets ($2.9MM player option for 2022): Pillar entered the season with a sub-.300 OBP for his career, and he’s not doing that mark any favors in 2021. We’re only looking at 66 plate appearances, but his .254/.288/.381 output looks more like his below-average career line than last year’s stronger showing. Pillar found a pretty frosty market for his services even on the heels of last summer’s .288/.336/.462 performance, so if he doesn’t turn things around at the plate, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him pick up the option.

Justin Wilson, LHP, Yankees ($2.3MM player option for 2022; Yankees hold $7.15MM club option/$1.15MM buyout if Wilson declines): Wilson has served up a pair of homers, walked five batters, hit a batter, and yielded a total of six runs in 8 2/3 innings. He also opened the year on the IL due to shoulder soreness, and his average fastball velocity is down at 93.7 mph after sitting at 95.1 mph in each of the past two seasons. A reliever with Wilson’s track record can turn things around in a hurry, but it hasn’t been the start he or the team envisioned. If Wilson exercises his player option, it triggers a 2023 club option valued at $500K over the league minimum, meaning he’d only do so with a particularly poor year on the mound.

Brett Gardner, OF, Yankees ($2.3MM player option for 2022; Yankees hold $7.15M club option/$1.15MM buyout if Gardner declines): The Yankees lifer hasn’t shown much life at the plate in 2021, hitting .190/.284/.238 in 75 turns at the dish. He has just one multi-hit game to his credit so far in 2021 and is being used in his most limited role ever.

Darren O’Day, Yankees, RHP ($1.4MM player option for 2022): The 38-year-old O’Day has been great for the Yankees through nine innings, but he’s currently on the injured list due to a strained rotator cuff in his shoulder. As long as he comes back and demonstrates his health, he should be expected to decline his option in favor of a $700K buyout. He’s only securing himself an additional $700K if he picks the option up — barely more than the current league minimum (which could very well rise in the offseason CBA talks).

Dellin Betances, RHP, Mets ($1-3MM player option depending on number of games pitched): Betances needs to reach 60 games pitched in 2021 for his player option to be valued at $2MM and 70 games for it to check in at $3MM. So far, he’s pitched one. It’s all but certain to be a $1MM player option on the righty, who may still take the deal given how catastrophic the last few years have been. Betances is on the 60-day IL with a shoulder impingement at the moment, and since Opening Day 2019, he’s totaled just 13 2/3 innings due to injuries.

Beyond this group, there’s also a conditional player option in the Mariners’ deal with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. Seattle has until three days after the World Series wraps up to decide whether it wants to exercise a quartet of one-year, $16.5MM options on Kikuchi — a total of four years and $66MM. All four must be exercised together. If they do not make that sizable investment, Kikuchi then has a one-year, $13MM player option for the 2022 season on which he must decide.

At least based on Kikuchi’s career numbers in MLB, it seems unlikely that the Mariners would pick up their end of the deal. He’s compiled a 5.22 ERA through his first 246 1/3 big league innings. That said, Kikuchi saw a major velocity spike in 2020 that he’s actually improved upon again in 2021. Fielding-independent metrics were much more bullish on him than ERA in 2020 (3.30 FIP, 3.37 xERA, 3.78 xFIP, 4.34 SIERA), and this year’s current 4.30 ERA is respectable. He’s also sporting career-bests in swinging-strike rate, opponents’ chase rate, walk rate and ground-ball rate.

It’s still a long shot that the Mariners will pick up all four years on Kikuchi, who’ll turn 30 in June. However, that may simply set him up for a return to the market. It’s certainly plausible that he pitches well enough to command more than the $13MM salary on his player option but less than the four years and $66MM on the Mariners’ end of the arrangement.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Wil Myers Test Positive For Covid-19

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May 12: Wil Myers, who actually started last night’s game, exited after three innings when the team learned of a positive Covid-19 test, manager Jayce Tingler revealed after the game (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Eric Hosmer, meanwhile, departed for contact-tracing purposes and has been placed on the injured list as a result. The league’s health-and-safety protocols stipulate that a player who tests positive will be away from the team for at least 10 days.

The Padres selected outfielder Patrick Kivlehan to take Myers’ roster spot. Kivlehan, whom the Padres signed to a minor league deal over the winter, has hit .208/.302/.401 with 10 home runs in 242 PA in the bigs.

May 11, 4:34pm: Tatis tested positive for COVID-19 and is asymptomatic, Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets. Profar and Mateo are in contact tracing. To fill their open roster spots, the Padres selected the contract of outfielder John Andreoli and recalled a pair of players – infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano and righty Nabil Crismatt – per a club announcement.

3:34pm: The Padres announced that they have placed shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and utilitymen Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo on the injured list because of Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols. They’ll decide on corresponding moves before their game against the Rockies on Tuesday.

As is typically the case in COVID-related situations, there isn’t any word on how much time any of these players will miss. Regardless, it’s a blow to the Padres’ offensive depth. Tatis has gotten off to an effective start, albeit with much less on-base ability than he flashed in his first two seasons, having batted .240/.315/.552 with nine home runs and seven stolen bases in 108 plate appearances. Profar owns a far less imposing .234/.333/.308 line with a home run and five steals over 128 PA, though he has shown off defensive versatility by lining up at first base, second base and both corner outfield spots. And Mateo has hit a useful .250/.325/.417 through his first 40 trips to the plate this year.

This is the second time this year the Padres will have to go some time without Tatis, who was on the 10-day IL for part of April on account of a shoulder injury. They used Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim at short in Tatis’ absence then. Profar, meanwhile, has been the Padres’ primary starter in left field, but Tommy Pham hasn’t been far behind. He figures to get the lion’s share of action there with Profar out.

Outrighted: Farmer, Ryan

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The latest outrights from around the majors…

  • The Tigers have outrighted reliever Buck Farmer to Triple-A Toledo, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. The team designated the right-hander for assignment last week, but he cleared waivers and will stay with the organization. Farmer had the best two-year run of his major league career from 2019-20 – an 89-inning stretch in which he logged a 3.74 ERA with a 23.1 percent strikeout rate, a 7.7 percent walk rate and a 48.6 percent groundball rate. But this season has been a nightmare for Farmer, whom hitters have lit up for 13 earned runs on 12 hits – including a whopping eight home runs – in 9 2/3 innings. The 30-year-old also put up almost as many walks (eight) as strikeouts (10) before the Tigers demoted him.
  • The Cubs have outrighted left-hander Kyle Ryan, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune was among those to report. Ryan has been added to Triple-A Iowa’s roster, Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register tweets. Although Ryan led Cubs relievers with 76 2/3 innings from 2019-20, he opened this season at their alternate site after a stint on the COVID-19 list delayed him in spring training. The Cubs called up the 29-year-old in late April, and he went on to pitch 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball with five hits allowed, two walks and two strikeouts prior to his designation. Overall as a Cub, Ryan has notched a 3.86 ERA in 79 1/3 frames with a stellar 55.7 percent groundball rate but less inspiring strikeout and walk percentages of 20.8 and 10.9, respectively.

Cubs Acquire Trayce Thompson

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The Cubs have acquired outfielder Trayce Thompson from the Diamondbacks for cash considerations, per Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. Thompson is now with Triple-A Iowa.

Thompson began his professional career with another Chicago organization – the White Sox – who chose him in the second round of the 2009 draft. He climbed to the majors in 2015 and wowed over 135 plate appearances with a .295/.363/.533 line and five home runs, though that wasn’t enough for the White Sox to keep him in the fold. In the ensuing offseason, they traded Thompson to the Dodgers in a three-team deal that also involved the Reds and featured some other notable names (including Todd Frazier, Frankie Montas and Scott Schebler).

Now 30 years old, Thompson hasn’t been able to replicate the success he had during his initial MLB action. His time with the Dodgers ran out after two seasons, and he most recently appeared in the majors in 2018 with the Athletics and his first team, the White Sox. In all, Thompson has amassed 589 plate appearances at the game’s highest level and batted .206/.276/.389 with 22 home runs. Thompson has posted fairly similar numbers in Triple-A, where he has hit .229/.288/.417 with 50 long balls in 1,373 PA.

Tigers’ Franklin Perez To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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Tigers right-handed prospect Franklin Perez will undergo surgery on his pitching shoulder, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com relays. Manager A.J. Hinch said the hurler “will be out awhile.”

This is the latest in a growing line of injury woes for Perez, whom shoulder and lat troubles have hampered throughout his professional career. As a result, Perez has thrown only 27 minor league innings in the Detroit organization since it acquired him from Houston in a 2017 blockbuster centering on ace Justin Verlander.

It was easy to see why the Tigers wanted Perez as part of their return when the Verlander deal occurred. He was a highly regarded and productive prospect with the Astros who then topped out as Baseball America’s 35th-ranked farmhand and No. 1 in the Tigers’ system in 2018. BA wrote then that Perez didn’t seem far away from joining the Tigers, and it contended he could have a future as a mid-rotation starter. Unfortunately, that hasn’t come to fruition yet for the 23-year-old, who hasn’t climbed above the High-A level since Detroit landed him. BA now places him a much less promising 28th in the team’s system.

Perez is on the Tigers’ 40-man roster right now, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll keep his spot in the wake of his latest setback. As Woodbery points out, Perez is in his final option season, which will make it even more difficult for him to stay in the organization heading into 2022.

Angels Select Noe Ramirez, Outright Felix Pena

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The Angels announced several changes to their pitching staff Tuesday: They selected right-hander Noe Ramirez, outrighted righty Felix Pena, recalled righty Jaime Barria, optioned lefty Jose Suarez, and placed RHP Junior Guerra on the 10-day injured list with a right groin strain.

Ramirez appeared in the majors with the Angels from 2017-20, though they traded him last winter to the Reds in order to acquire fellow reliever Raisel Iglesias. The Reds later released Ramirez, who quickly rejoined the Angels on a minor league contract before the season began. The 31-year-old Ramirez was a useful part of the Angels’ bullpen during his prior stint with the team, as he recorded a 4.04 ERA with a 26.4 percent strikeout rate and an 8.4 percent walk rate across 180 1/3 innings.

Pena, 31, cleared waivers after a disastrous pair of outings to start his season. The Angels reinstated Pena from the IL on May 6 after he recovered from a hamstring injury, and he proceeded to allow seven earned runs on seven hits and four walks over 1 2/3 frames. Overall, since joining the Angels in 2018, the swingman has given the club 215 2/3 innings of 4.34 ERA ball with a 23.6 percent strikeout rate and a 7.7 percent walk rate.

Franklin Barreto To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Angels announced that infielder Franklin Barreto will undergo Tommy John surgery, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com was among those to report. He’ll miss 10 to 12 months as a result.

This is another disappointing development in the career of Barreto, a 25-year-old who hasn’t lived up to the considerable hype he received as a prospect. Barreto was a key part of the package the Athletics received from the Blue Jays for superstar third baseman Josh Donaldson going into the 2015 season, but he was never able to establish himself in Oakland. While Barreto did appear in the majors with the A’s in each season from 2017-20, he hit just .180/.210/.360 over 219 plate appearances.

Barreto’s time in Oakland came to an end when it traded him to Los Angeles for infielder Tommy La Stella last summer. The Angels were surely hoping Barreto would benefit from a change of scenery, but that hasn’t been the case yet. He totaled 18 PA as an Angel last season and hit .118/.167/.118 before undergoing shoulder surgery, and elbow problems will prevent him from playing at all this year. Considering Barreto is out of minor league options, his Angels future looks rather iffy at this point.

Pirates Announce Roster Moves

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The Pirates announced that they have reinstated outfielder Gregory Polanco from the injured list, selected left-hander Chasen Shreve and designated outfielder Hunter Owen for assignment. They also placed righty Kyle Crick on the 10-day IL, retroactive to May 1, with a triceps strain.

Polanco went on the COVID-related IL on May 4, and it was revealed a few days later that his placement came as a result of a violation of MLB’s health and safety protocols. Now that Polanco’s back, he’ll try to rebound from a subpar 90-plate appearance stretch in which he hit .200/.289/.350 with three home runs and four stolen bases.

Shreve, 30, joined the Pirates on a minor league contract last offseason after appearing in the majors in each year from 2014-20. The former Brave, Yankee, Cardinal and Met has thrown 228 2/3 innings with a respectable 3.74 ERA/3.70 SIERA and a 27.1 percent strikeout rate against an 11.5 percent walk rate. Along the way, Shreve has produced almost equal results against right-handed hitters (.228/.328/.422) and lefties (.227/.315/.434).

The Pirates selected Owen when they put Polanco on the IL, but he only totaled five plate appearances before his designation. The former 25th-round pick (2016) owns a .266/.341/.473 line with 55 home runs in 1,425 minor league plate appearances.

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