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Archives for September 2021

NL Roster Notes: Braves, Pirates, Dodgers

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Let’s check in on some roster moves filed before today’s slate of afternoon games…

  • The Braves activated Touki Toussaint from the bereavement list and optioned the right-hander to Triple-A, the team announced. Toussaint could still prove useful in the Braves’ push for the postseason. A playoff role would likely have to come out of the bullpen, however. The 25-year-old logged 50 innings with a 4.50 ERA/5.79 FIP.
  • The Pirates have reinstated David Bednar from the 10-day injured list and optioned Kyle Keller to Triple-A to create the open roster spot, per the team. Bednar has put together a solid season out of the Pirates’ bullpen, establishing himself as a high leverage arm for the Pirates with a 2.18 ERA/2.70 FIP over 57 2/3 appearances, chipping in three saves and 11 holds.
  • The Dodgers recalled southpaw Andrew Vasquez and optioned outfielder Luke Raley, the team announced. Vasquez has made just two appearances for the Dodgers this season, tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings after being acquired from the Twins at the August 31 deadline to trade players not on the 40-man roster. Raley has a .182/.250/.288 line in 72 plate appearances.

 

Angels Place Jaime Barria On 10-Day Injured List

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The Angels announced a pair of interlocking roster moves today. Jaime Barria has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right shoulder impingement, and Sam Selman has been recalled from Triple-A, per the team.

Barria’s season ends after 56 2/3 innings, 11 starts, and a pair of relief appearances. There is at least some hope that Barria will emerge as a rotation candidate next season, though that’s not at all a guarantee for the 25-year-old. He posted a 4.61 ERA/4.88 FIP this season with a too-low 14.0 percent strikeout rate, solid 7.6 percent walk rate, and better-than-average 43.8 percent groundball rate.

Selman returns for another stint in manager Joe Maddon’s bullpen. The 30-year-old has made 21 appearances this season, struggling to a 6.65 ERA/5.14 FIP. Selman joined the Angels earlier this season from San Francisco as part of the Tony Watson trade.

Astros Activate Jake Odorizzi, Option Seth Martinez

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The Astros activated Jake Odorizzi to start today’s game against the A’s. To clear a roster spot, Seth Martinez has been optioned to Triple-A, per Jake Kaplan of the Athletic (via Twitter).

Odorizzi’s postseason role is not yet clear, but he can nonetheless provide value here in the waning days of the regular season. He should have two more starts to audition for playoff usage. The 31-year-old has tossed 96 innings with a 4.22 ERA/4.60 FIP, 21.3 percent strikeout rate, 7.7 percent walk rate, and 35.8 percent groundball rate.

Though the Astros have lost three in a row, they should clinch the AL West sometime in the next couple of days. They could clinch as early as today with a win over the A’s and a Mariners loss. Houston can begin to think ahead to setting up their playoff rotation for an ALDS showdown with the White Sox.

Martinez, 27, had just a cup of coffee, making three appearances this past week. After a pair of scoreless outings, Martinez was tagged for five earned runs his last time out against Oakland on Friday.

White Sox Place Brian Goodwin On 10-Day Injured List

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The White Sox placed outfielder Brian Goodwin on the 10-day injured list with lower back spasms and recalled righty Matt Foster to take his roster spot, per the team.

Goodwin has played all three outfield positions for the White Sox and served as a valuable fill-in at times. On the whole, Goodwin’s .221/.319/.374 line across 271 plate appearances hardly inspires much confidence heading into the postseason, however. It’s not clear if Goodwin was going to earn a roster spot for the playoffs, but he’s likely out of the running now. Chicago has Billy Hamilton, Adam Engel, and Leury Garcia on the roster capable of backing up the starters in the outfield.

Foster can help keep arms fresh in the final week before the playoffs. With their playoff spot locked, the White Sox can use the next week to align their roster for a first round match-up with the Astros.

Phillies Select Hans Crouse, Designate Matt Joyce For Assignment

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The Phillies will select the contract of Hans Crouse to start today’s ballgame. In a corresponding move, outfielder Matt Joyce has been designated for assignment, per The Athletic’s Matt Gelb (via Twitter).

The move is an interesting pivot for a Phillies club that can see the postseason within reach. As Gelb notes, Adonis Medina has been preparing to make this start, but the prospect Crouse will get an opportunity instead. Medina could still appear in the game as a follower, however.

Crouse came to the Phillies along with Kyle Gibson in the deadline deal with the Rangers. Crouse has made just one start in Triple-A, but he’ll get the call in one of the most important games of the year. The 23-year-old has a 3.28 ERA over 20 starts between Double-A and Triple-A. He’ll likely have a short leash in his Major League debut.

Joyce has been injured for much of the year, and at this point, his roster spot is better allocated elsewhere. The 37-year-old has been in the Majors since 2008, slashing .242/.342/425 in 1400 career games spanning 14 years.

Tigers Place Victor Reyes On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Zack Short

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The Tigers placed Victor Reyes on the 10-day injured list with a right groin strain, the team announced. Given the amount of time left in the season, Reyes’ year is done. In a corresponding move, Zack Short has been recalled from Triple-A.

Reyes, 26, has played well enough in the second half to put himself in the conversation for an outfield spot next year. Reyes has just an 88 wRC+ on the year, but he hit .325/.348/.516 across 134 plate appearances in the second half. He doesn’t walk enough (3.6 percent walk rate), nor does he offer much pop (.158 ISO), but he saw some growth in the latter category this season, and if he continues on that upward trajectory, he could find regular at-bats for a Detroit team on the rise.

Short has been back and forth from Toledo to Detroit a couple of times this season. The 26-year-old right-handed infielder hit .147/.239/.293 in 176 plate appearances with the Tigers. That’s not enough bat, obviously, though his positional flexibility and ability to handle shortstop will make him a roster candidate next season.

Mets Notes: Syndergaard, deGrom, Baez

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Noah Syndergaard could be back on the Mets’ Major League roster on Tuesday, per Tim Healey of Newsday Sports (via Twitter). Syndergaard made two rehab appearances, setting him up for a week in the Mets’ bullpen before the offseason. The 73-81 Mets have not much to play for in this final week of game action, but there may be a small victory in once more seeing Thor suit up in a Mets’ uni before he hits free agency this winter. Syndergaard has not pitched in the Majors since 2019.

In other Mets’ news…

  • Jacob deGrom continues to work his way back to full health after a frustrating and somewhat obfuscating extended absence. The Mets’ ace went on the injured list for the second time 71 calendar days ago. It wasn’t clear at the time that he would be out long-term. He threw a bullpen session recently, which could put him on track to make one appearance this year, per Healey. Once a clear-cut Cy Young frontrunner, deGrom is likely to finish the year with a 1.08 ERA/1.23 FIP across 15 starts totaling 92 innings.
  • Javier Baez would be very much open to returning to the Mets next year to continue playing alongside his countryman and close friend Francisco Lindor, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago. Baez has put up an exceptional .303/.377/.538 line since joining the Mets, adding up to an impressive 4.3 rWAR/3.6 fWAR total for the year. The polarizing star will be an unrestricted free agent without a qualifying offer attached, so while he enjoys playing alongside his pal in New York, it may come down to a question of price point. For the Mets the issue is allocation of resources, as they already has Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme under team control, as well as Robinson Cano coming back from suspension. As well as Baez has played, the Mets may have greater needs elsewhere.

 

Jed Hoyer Discusses Upcoming Cubs Offseason

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Jed Hoyer, president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs, spoke with reporters (including Bruce Levine of of 670 The Score and Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic) on Friday about the upcoming offseason. Hoyer said that the organization plans on being “really active in free agency,” though also hedged that by saying they plan to “spend money intelligently.”

One could be forgiven for being a bit skeptical of Hoyer, given how his tenure as president has gone so far. After taking over for the departing Theo Epstein in November of 2020, it took him just over a month to trade away the team’s ace, Yu Darvish, a move that seemed entirely motivated by ownership-mandated cost savings and was essentially unprecedented. If that wasn’t a total wave of the white flag on the season, then the trade deadline was, as the Cubs shipped out almost all of their curse-breaking core by trading away Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez and Kris Bryant, as well as Craig Kimbrel and a few others.

After almost a year of stripping the roster down, it’s hard to believe that the front office will suddenly turn around and spend at the top of the market in an attempt to make a quick return to competitiveness. However, there’s not going to be much stopping them from spending this winter, financially speaking. Due to all the aforementioned trades, they now have just over $40MM in guaranteed money on the books for 2022, most of which is going to Jason Heyward and Kyle Hendricks, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. Willson Contreras and Ian Happ will be owed arbitration raises and add modest sums to that, but that will probably only push the total to the $60MM range. The Cubs haven’t had a payroll below $100MM since 2014, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, when prorating 2020’s payroll over a full season. So, there could be lots of money for Hoyer to throw around, if ownership allows him. But based on the past year, that’s a big if.

Given all the holes on the roster created by the teardown, it seems more likely that the club will make a few modest signings and continue to give most of their playing time to cheaper and controllable players. With the departure of the previous core, they didn’t really have highly-touted prospects to call up and fill the void. Instead, the playing time has gone to late-bloomer types like 30-year-old Rafael Ortega and 29-year-olds Patrick Wisdom and Frank Schwindel. Although those guys have fared well in their auditions since the deadline, they’re generally not the kinds of players that front offices consider building blocks.

In addition to the roster, Hoyer will also be dealing with other matters, such as signing a general manager. In Sharma’s piece from The Athletic, and a separate piece from Levine, they say the plan is to make a hire before the general managers’ meetings. A date is not yet set for this year’s meetings, though they usually take place annually in November. Levine’s sources say the Cubs have “had contact with upward of six individuals” about the position, though no names are mentioned.

As for the manager’s seat, Sharma suggests the plan there is more straightforward. David Ross is about to finish the second season of a three-year deal, though he could be a candidate for an extension. When asked about the possibility of an extension, Hoyer said, “I think that’s a question for next week… But it’s a fair question next week. And like I said, I love working with him. He’s already an excellent manager, and I think he has a chance to be really special in his job.”

All in all, it will surely be a very different offseason than the Cubs have had in some time, with one competitive window now firmly closed and all efforts focused on opening the next one.

AL Notes: Avila, Tigers, Angels, Vazquez

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Tigers president/CEO Christopher Ilitch said in August that his team was willing to go after “high-impact players” this offseason, and spend as necessary (or if necessary) to obtain such talent.  Ilitch reiterated those comments again speaking with The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters recently, while GM Al Avila made further remarks hinting at a busy offseason, if not necessarily an all-in push for the 2022 season in particular.  “Just rest assured we’re going to try to improve this team for next year and make a big push,” Avila said.  “We feel we are very close to being in the playoffs.  We’re not too far away.”

Detroit improved to 75-79 with today’s 5-1 victory over the Royals, so the Tigers still have a shot at their first winning season since 2016.  The Tigers essentially sunk their season by starting out with only nine wins in their first 33 games, yet they’ve quietly been one of baseball’s better teams every since, going 66-55 since that ugly 33-game start.  With the Twins and Indians taking a step backwards in 2021, the Royals still waiting for their latest rebuild to bear fruit, and the White Sox playing well but hardly dominating on their way to the AL Central title, the Tigers may feel the opportunity is ripe to return to contention.  It remains to be seen how extensive the Tigers’ shopping spree will be this winter, but after several years of rebuilding, Detroit fans are surely excited to see what headlines their club can generate in the offseason.

More from around the American League…

  • The Angels have needs in both the rotation and at shortstop, though a source tells Mike DiGiovanna of The Los Angeles Times that the team is more willing to spend big on pitching, and the Angels could “perhaps scrimp a bit at shortstop.”  This could indicate a shortstop acquisition akin to the Halos’ pickup of Jose Iglesias from the Orioles last winter, with the Angels obviously hoping for much more than Iglesias’ underwhelming performance in Anaheim.  Though several star shortstops will be available in free agency, it is hard to argue against pitching as the greater need, considering that Los Angeles has long been hampered by a lack of healthy and productive arms.  Manager Joe Maddon believes the Angels need two front-of-the-rotation starters, telling The L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin and other reporters that while he thinks his team has a “championship-capable” core of position players, “it’s almost impossible for it to happen” without an upgraded rotation.  Maddon used his former organization as a comparison point, noting that the Cubs wouldn’t have won the 2016 World Series without their signings of Jon Lester and John Lackey.
  • 2021 is the last guaranteed year of Christian Vazquez’s contract, as the Red Sox hold a $7MM club option ($250K buyout) on the catcher’s services for next season.  Vazquez is certainly eager to see that option exercised, as he told MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith that he would like to remain in Boston for the remainder of his career.  Vazquez has already spent his entire pro career in the organization, delivering generally quality defense behind the plate and some offensive production, though his bat has been very inconsistent.  This hasn’t been one of Vazquez’s better years, with a modest .261/.313/.354 slash line and six homers through 480 plate appearances entering today’s play, and his framing numbers are also down, as Smith notes.  Still, it doesn’t seem likely that the Red Sox would just let Vazquez walk, as Boston could pick up the option and still look for catching upgrades, with Vazquez on hand as either a Plan B or as a potential trade chip.  It would also seem like Vazquez is a natural extension candidate if the Sox want to keep him in the fold for years to come, though catching prospects Ronaldo Hernandez and Connor Wong are knocking on the door for future playing time.

Mike Trout Confirms End Of His 2021 Season

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Mike Trout officially confirmed what has been looking more and more obvious for some weeks now — he won’t play again in the 2021 season.  The decision was actually made a few weeks ago, Trout told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters, as Trout was never able to fully recover from the right calf strain that first sent him to the injured list back in May.

“My body wasn’t allowing it.  It’s been a grind and it’s been tough for me….My mind and what I wanted was telling me one thing and my body was telling me something else,” Trout said. “I was feeling really good in workouts and then [the calf] would get sore on me.  It’s been a tough September for me.  If we were in the race, it might be different and maybe I could play through it.  But it got to the point where I needed a rehab assignment and had two weeks left and just looking at the bigger picture, it was smarter to get it right and get ready for Spring Training.”

After suffering the injury on May 17, Trout was initially projected to miss six-to-eight weeks — a lengthy absence to be sure, but nothing that appeared to be season-threatening.  On multiple occasions, Trout appeared to be on the verge of beginning a minor league rehab assignment, though as he noted, continued soreness in his calf prevented him from taking the field in a proper game environment.

In something of a bitter irony, Trout said his calf is “almost 100 percent, if not 100 percent” in the two weeks since he was shut down.  He fully expects to be ready for Spring Training, and is “looking forward to having a healthy offseason.  Keep that same routine.”

Since the Angels were also hampered by an injury-plagued year for Anthony Rendon, mediocre defense, and another year of subpar pitching, it’s hard to say whether or not a healthy Trout would have been enough to get Los Angeles into the postseason race.  However, it’s safe to assume that the Angels would have more than just 73 wins with Trout providing his usual level of superstar production.  Trout was hitting an absurd .333/.466/.624 with eight home runs over 146 plate appearances, and one can only imagine the offensive fireworks that could have been generated with a healthy Trout and Rendon joining MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani in the lineup.

Trout does expect big things from the Angels in both 2022 and in the coming offseason, noting that “We have a lot of money to spend.  Hopefully we go out there, get some good guys.  I trust Perry [GM Perry Minasian], I trust the top guys in this organization….I’m very confident with the group up there.  They’re working hard every day.  They’re trying to put a winning team on the field.”

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