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How The Astros Built Their AL Championship Team

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The Astros will be playing in the World Series for the third time in five seasons, though only six players remain from that 2017 championship team, and only four of that group (minus the injured Lance McCullers Jr. and the non-rostered Marwin Gonzalez) actually appeared in Houston’s ALCS victory over the Red Sox.  While the Astros continue to rely on some familiar cornerstones of that controversial 2017 team, there has been quite a bit of roster overhaul over a relatively short period of time, not to mention a new manager and GM in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.

Proving that there is no one way to design a great team, the Astros used several different methods of transactions to collect their players.  Perhaps just as importantly, the Astros have been able to retain key talents through contract extensions, or by re-signing players once they reach free agency.  Here is the breakdown of how the Astros built their latest pennant winner….

Homegrown, international signings: Jose Altuve (2007), Framber Valdez (2015), Jose Urquidy (2015), Cristian Javier (2015), Luis Garcia (2017)

Landing a franchise second baseman, three members of a starting rotation, and a key swingman via the international signing market is impressive enough.  But, the Astros’ feat stands out even more considering that none of these five players were considered blue-chip prospects at the time of their signings, and were signed for merely thousands of dollars.

Altuve’s legend is well-known by this point, as the diminutive second baseman was inked for a modest $15K bonus and has now become a Houston sports icon.  The savings extended into Altuve’s first multi-year deal (a four-year pact worth $12.5MM in guaranteed money plus club options for 2018 and 2019) but Altuve then scored a much bigger payday with his second extension, a five-year/$151MM pact that runs through the 2024 campaign.

Going forward, the Astros’ international investment in their pitching corps might be an even more important overall development than landing Altuve.  Valdez, Urquidy, Garcia, and Javier combined for a 3.38 ERA over 498 1/3 innings, and all four pitcher are controlled through at least the 2025 season.  The quartet has already become an integral part of one contending team, and considering the veteran losses the Astros could face in free agency this offseason, Houston can feel some level of comfort in already having a new wave of arms already in place.

Homegrown, amateur draft: Jason Castro (2008 draft, first round, 10th pick), Carlos Correa (2012 draft, 1-1), Alex Bregman (2015, 1-2), Kyle Tucker (2015, 1-5), Jake Meyers (2017, 13-391), Chas McCormick (2017, 21-631).

Let’s begin with the caveat of Castro, who began his career in Houston through the lean years of the team’s rebuild, but left for the Twins as a free agent in the 2016-17 offseason — just before the Astros broke through to reach the Fall Classic.  Castro returned to Houston this past winter, signing a two-year, $7MM free agent contract.

There is also McCullers (the 41st overall pick of the 2012 draft), a huge part of the Astros’ regular season success in 2021 but whose postseason has been marred and possibly ended by injury.  Brandon Bielak (2017, 11-331) also threw 50 innings mostly as a reliever in 2021, but hasn’t been included on Houston’s postseason rosters.

Center field was seen as a weak link for the Astros in the wake of George Springer’s departure in free agency, yet the team ended up getting very solid production from Myles Straw for much of the season, and then from the rookie tandem of Meyers and McCormick when Straw was dealt at the trade deadline.  Meyers is another injury absence from the ALCS, so McCormick and Jose Siri look to be handling center field duties during the World Series.

That leaves the three gems of the Astros’ extensive rebuild, as the club made no pretense about its intent to bottom out with multiple losing seasons in order to restock with premium young talent at the top of the draft.  Hard as it may seem now, but Correa was actually seen as a bit of a surprise as the first overall pick in 2012, as the Astros took a more “signable” player so they could spread out their draft bonus money on other picks.  With both Correa and McCullers developing into stars, that plan worked to perfection.

Tanking for multiple years gave Houston multiple chances to score on high draft picks, which is why the Astros haven’t really suffered any consequences for drafting consecutive 1-1 picks (Mark Appel in 2013, Brady Aiken in 2014) who didn’t reach the majors.  Indeed, after not reaching an agreement with Aiken due to concerns over his UCL health, the Astros received the second overall pick in the 2015 draft as compensation.  The result was the selection of both Bregman and Tucker within the first five picks, which stands out as one of the more impressive first-round hauls in recent memory.

International free agent signings: Yuli Gurriel (July 2016)

While Altuve and company turned out to be incredible bargains on the international amateur market, the Astros had to pay Gurriel $47.5MM on a five-year deal, outbidding several teams for the Cuban star as he made the jump to Major League Baseball.  Gurriel didn’t make his big league debut until he was 32 years old, and while there has been some inconsistency along the way, Gurriel has proven to be a very solid contributor, with a .293/.337/.467 slash line over 2721 career plate appearances in The Show.

Despite a lackluster 2020 season, Gurriel still received a contract extension in late September 2020, giving Houston control over Gurriel in 2021 (for a $6.5MM salary) and 2022 (a club option worth $8MM, with a $500K buyout).  The extension surprised many at the time, though it has proven to be one of GM James Click’s canniest moves, as Gurriel rebounded with the best season of his six-year MLB career and won the AL batting title.  Unsurprisingly, Astros owner Jim Crane has already implied that Gurriel will be back with the team via that club option.

Free agent signings: Michael Brantley, Jake Odorizzi, Ryne Stanek, Jose Siri

Brantley signed a two-year, $32MM deal to join the Astros in the 2018-19 offseason, and then re-signed with the club for that exact same contract this past winter.  While Brantley missed some time with relatively minor injuries this season, he has still been a productive hitter, adding to the success of his overall tenure in Houston.  Brantley has hit .310/.367/.474 with 35 home runs over 1332 PA in an Astros uniform, twice receiving All-Star nods.

The Marlins non-tendered Stanek (rather than pay him a projected $800K) in the wake of a mediocre 2020 performance.  The Astros swooped in with a $1.1MM deal and ended up landing a controllable reliever who bounced back pretty nicely with a 3.42 ERA and 28.6% strikeout rate over 68 1/3 innings, though Stanek’s control and hard-contact numbers weren’t impressive.  Stanek has stood out as a workhorse in the playoffs, with a 1.35 ERA over eight appearances and 6 2/3 innings during Houston’s run.

Odorizzi was another signing from the most recent offseason, though Odorizzi didn’t sign his $23.5MM contract until March.  Between missing part of the usual Spring Training ramp-up and then suffering multiple injuries, Odorizzi’s innings were managed for much of the season, though he did contribute a 4.21 ERA over 104 2/3 frames.  Thus far in the postseason, Odorizzi has only pitched in one game, tossing four innings in relief of Garcia in the Astros’ 9-5 loss to the Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALCS.

Siri was a minor league signing who had never played as much as a game in the majors until this past September 3, and now he’ll very likely to be headed to the World Series as Meyers’ replacement.  Siri played seven seasons in the Reds’ farm system (and was briefly a Mariner and a Giant via waiver claims) before signing with the Astros this past winter, and he posted a .956 OPS in his first 49 PA as a big leaguer.

Trades: Justin Verlander hasn’t thrown a pitch this season due to Tommy John surgery, and his tenure with the Astros could be over if he signs elsewhere in free agency this winter.  Verlander is certainly worthy of mention, of course, given his huge role in the 2017 World Series after the Astros nabbed him from the Tigers on August 31, 2017, and how Verlander then re-upped with Houston on a two-year, $66MM extension.  (Unfortunately, Verlander has thrown only six innings over the course of that extension.)

Beyond the injured Verlander, ten players on the ALCS roster were acquired via trade…

  • Yordan Alvarez: As this section indicates, the Astros are no strangers to notable deals at the trade deadline.  However, this one from 2016 drew only a little attention at the time, yet picking up Alvarez from the Dodgers for reliever Josh Fields has turned out to be one of the steals of the decade.  Alvarez has looked like one of baseball’s best hitters when healthy, and just earned ALCS MVP honors for his huge series against Boston.
  • Zack Greinke: Completed just under the buzzer at the 2019 trade deadline, Houston acquired Greinke from the Diamondback for a four-prospect package of J.B. Bukauskas, Josh Rojas, Corbin Martin, and Seth Beer.  Rojas was the least-regarded of the four youngsters at the time, though he has gone on to enjoy the most success thus far at the big league level.  Greinke has been mostly solid, if generally not quite up to his past ace-level performance during his two-plus seasons in Houston, and his strikeout rate took a big dip in 2021.  While Greinke tossed 171 innings, some injuries late in the season has turned him into something of a depth arm on the playoff roster, as Greinke has thrown only 2 1/3 innings this postseason.
  • Martin Maldonado: A two-time trade acquisition, the Astros first landed Maldonado from the Angels a few days’ prior to the 2018 deadline, then brought him back on deadline day 2019 after Maldonado had played with the Royals and Cubs earlier that season.  Maldonado has become a Houston fixture, as the team has signed him to a pair of contract extensions that will keep him in the fold until at least the end of the 2022 season.
  • Aledmys Diaz: The versatile Diaz has been a valuable utility piece for the Astros since being acquired from the Blue Jays in November 2018.
  • Ryan Pressly: The right-hander was already an underrated reliever during his time with the Twins, but he took it to another level after the Astros landed him in a July 2018 trade.  Pressly signed an extension prior to the 2019 season that now stands as a three-year, $27.5MM deal after Pressly unlocked a vesting option to guarantee his salary for 2022 season — a $10MM price the Astros are surely happy to cover given how well Pressly has pitched.
  • Basically The Entire Bullpen: The Pressly trade is the headline move, and Houston has generally looked to the trade market in assembling its relief corps.  Blake Taylor was acquired as part of the Jake Marisnick trade with the Mets in December 2019, while fellow southpaw Brooks Raley was picked up from the Reds in August 2020.  The Astros targeted bullpen help in three separate trades near this year’s deadline, including the surprising acquisition of Kendall Graveman and (the now-injured) Rafael Montero from the AL West rival Mariners.  The emergence of McCormick and Meyers gave the Astros enough comfort to trade Straw to the Indians for Phil Maton, as well as another young outfielder in Bryan De La Cruz and a swingman in Austin Pruitt to the Marlins for Yimi Garcia.  Graveman has been the best of the new faces in both the regular season and playoffs, while Maton has added some key innings in the postseason.

Dodgers To Start Walker Buehler In NLCS Game 6

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The Dodgers have announced that Walker Buehler will get the start in tonight’s crucial Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.  Buehler will take the ball in place of Max Scherzer, who was initially slated to start but was scratched yesterday.

Buehler didn’t look sharp in Game 3 against the Braves, allowing two earned runs (and four runs total) on six hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings.  He’ll now take the ball again on only three days’ rest, working on short rest for just the second time in his career, and the second time this postseason.  Los Angeles deployed Buehler for both Games 1 and 4 of the NLDS, and also on three days’ rest, Buehler held the Giants to one earned run over 4 1/3 innings of work.

Since this is the only instance of Buehler pitching on short rest, it is hard to say whether or not his shaky performance in Game 3 (which came a week after Game 4 of the NLDS) was due to after-effects from having only three days to recover and prepare between starts.  Surely the Dodgers would have felt much more comfortable having Buehler fully rested for a potential Game 7, though given how the Dodgers have more or less used an “all hands on deck” philosophy with their postseason pitching mix, it wouldn’t have been shocking if Buehler had been used to record some key outs in relief of Scherzer in Game 6.

That possible scenario didn’t come to pass, however, as Scherzer continues to be bothered by the “dead arm” that plagued him in his Game 2 start against the Braves.  Scherzer was pitching for the third time in six days in that outing, after he had thrown 110 pitches in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Giants, then came into Game 5 as a closer to seal the series with a scoreless ninth inning.  Returning to the mound three days later against Atlanta, Scherzer threw 79 pitches in 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on a walk and four hits (though with seven strikeouts).

In the big picture, Buehler is type of ace a team would love to have on the mound for a possible elimination game, except for the X-factor of how the short rest could impact his work.  It remains to be seen exactly how long of a leash Buehler will receive from manager Dave Roberts, as while Buehler is an ace, the Dodgers don’t have any margin for error being down 3-2 in the series.  Pulling Buehler after, for example, another 3 2/3 innings will leave a lot of outs for the Dodgers bullpen to cover, especially since Joe Kelly has already been removed from the NLCS roster due to injury, and Justin Bruihl’s availability may also be in question due to arm soreness.

Using Buehler tonight also raises the question of how the Dodgers will handle the pitching in a potential Game 7, though obviously L.A. just wants to win tonight before worrying about tomorrow’s issues.  Julio Urias (Game 4’s starter after pitching in relief in Game 2) would also be working on short rest if he pitched in Game 7, though since the Dodgers have already had two bullpen games in this series, normal starter/reliever roles would quite likely be thrown out the window in a Game 7 scenario.  It also isn’t known if Scherzer will be available for any action at all, even a one-inning appearance.

Report: Max Scherzer Won’t Start NLCS Game Six

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Max Scherzer won’t be starting for the Dodgers in the sixth game of the NLCS as planned, according to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. As Castillo details, Scherzer’s wasn’t feeling 100% on Sunday when he started game two. The hurler himself said his “arm was dead.” Despite that, the team’s plan was still to start Scherzer in game six tomorrow. Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports that “Scherzer’s arm just hasn’t bounced back” as the team hoped. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports that Scherzer is a possibility for game seven, but it will depend on how he feels between now and then.

This is certainly a concerning development for a Dodgers team that has pushed its pitching staff to the brink of exhaustion this postseason. Since they were in the midst of a race with the Giants for the division crown all season, they had no opportunity to ease off the gas pedal and had to lean on their best pitchers right until the season’s final day. Since they came up short in that race, they had to immediately gear up for the wild card game, which Scherzer started, throwing 94 pitches as the Dodgers walked-off the Cardinals and advanced to the NLDS.

Since then, they have used their starters so much that they had to opt for a bullpen game yesterday, despite the fact that they were facing a 3-1 deficit to Atlanta. Seven different pitchers took the mound for the club and led them to an 11-2 victory that seemed to set the stage for Scherzer to take the ball in game six, attempting to even up the series and force a game seven.

Now that Scherzer is off the table, the Dodgers have a few options, although all of them less appealing than a healthy Scherzer. One would be another bullpen game, although that’s a tall ask given that they just had one. However, they do have tonight off, which should theoretically replenish all of their relievers, at least to some degree.

Another option would be turn to David Price, who was just added to the roster to take the place of the injured Joe Kelly. But Price hasn’t pitched in three weeks, with his last appearance coming October 2nd. And even then, he wasn’t stretched out to start. His last six appearances on the season were out of the bullpen and less than two innings. He was stretched out before that, with five consecutive outings of at least 3 2/3 innings, but the last of those was August 28th. That means he’s almost two months removed from carrying a starter’s workload.

Tony Gonsolin was stretched out to finish the season and could also be leaned on for some innings, though he didn’t pitch at all in the NLDS and has only thrown short stints in the NLCS. His last outing was 39 pitches over two innings on Wednesday, the same night that Julio Urias threw 92 pitches over five innings.

Another option, and probably the best one, would be to have Walker Buehler pitch on short rest. His last outing was on Tuesday, though he only threw 76 pitches after getting chased from the game in the fourth inning.

One way or another, manager Dave Roberts and the rest of the Dodgers’ staff will have to be creative. In order to make it into the World Series, they’ll need to find a way to grind through 18 innings without their best option.

Coaching Notes: McLeod, Dozier, Hillman, Rodriguez

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Cubs senior vice president of player personnel Jason McLeod is departing the organization, according to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Mooney says that McLeod, whose contract is up at the end of the month, “declined an offer to remain with the Cubs.” McLeod may not be a household name, but he’s been an instrumental part of baseball’s recent history. Theo Epstein was hired to be the Cubs’ president of baseball operations in October 2011, with McLeod and Jed Hoyer coming along two weeks later. The trio, who had all previously worked together in Boston, helped build the recent Cubs dynasty that broke the century-old curse with their 2016 World Series championship. The triumvirate was broken up with Epstein’s resignation a year ago. Hoyer was then promoted from general manager to take Epstein’s place as president. Although Hoyer delayed naming a replacement GM because of the pandemic, it was recently announced that it would be Carter Hawkins, who had previously been with Cleveland. In past years, McLeod has been frequently connected to other general manager positions in rumors but had stayed in his senior VP role with the Cubs until now.

Other coaching notes from around the league…

  • It was less than a year ago that Brian Dozier announced his retirement from playing, and now he wants to get right back into a dugout as a manager. In a conversation with Robert Murray of FanSided, Dozier discusses his ambitions and says, “Even though I don’t want to play anymore, I feel as if I have a lot more to give in the sense of managing. For me, I’ve always taken a lot of pride in being a leader on and off the field and learning from managers that I’ve had on things to do and not to do. I’ve always had a desire to manage.” Dozier goes on to discuss various topics related to managing, such as analytics and communication. He says that he has not yet talked to any teams about managing but wanted to put his intentions out in the open. Dozier is 34 years old, turning 35 in May, and would easily be the youngest manager in the league, if hired. (Rocco Baldelli and Luis Rojas were the youngest this year at 39.) However, there’s at least some recent precedent for a manager getting hired in his mid-30s. Baldelli was 37 when he was first hired. Kevin Cash was hired just before his 37th birthday. A.J. Hinch and Eric Wedge were both approaching their respective 35th birthdays when their hirings were first announced, Hinch with Arizona in 2009 and Wedge with Cleveland in 2002.
  • The Marlins are losing a couple members of their coaching staff, per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald. Third base coach Trey Hillman and assistant hitting coach Robert Rodriguez are both leaving to pursue other opportunities. This concludes a three-year term in the organization for Hillman, who was hired before the 2019 campaign. He has some managerial experience, having been the bench boss for the Royals, as well as the NPB’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters and the SK Wyverns of the KBO. Rodriguez previously managed the Gulf Coast League Marlins and was promoted to the big league club prior to the 2020 season.

Padres To Interview Mike Shildt This Weekend

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10:15pm: Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that there’s another former manager on the list: Brad Ausmus. Ausmus managed the Tigers from 2014 to 2017 and the Angels in 2019.

7:39pm: The Padres are going to interview Mike Shildt this weekend for their open managerial position, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic. It was recently reported that the Padres were considering Shildt but were still looking into what happened to conclude his tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals. It would appear that they didn’t find anything distressing enough to cross him off of their list of candidates, based on the fact that the interview seems to be going ahead.

It was just over a week ago that Shildt was surprisingly fired by the Cardinals, on the heels of a 90-win season that ended when they lost the wild card game to the Dodgers. Since then, he’s been repeatedly connected to the Padres position that’s been vacant since Jayce Tingler was fired the previous week.

For his part, Shildt is trying his best to stay tight-lipped about things. On Tuesday, he appeared on SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio and, when asked about whether he’d been contacted about open positions, said, “There’s been some back channeling.  I don’t want to say anything.  You know, I’m really unclear how to handle it.  I’ve never really been fired from a manager job and been on the open market so I’m not sure how this exactly works, guys.  There’s been some informal conversations but nothing beyond that. Like I said, the good news is the phone has rung, I think there’s going to be opportunities to explore which is exciting.”

Shildt won’t be the only one considered for the job, of course, and Lin reports that there is a belief in the industry that Mike Scioscia “will emerge as a candidate.” Scioscia’s entire MLB managerial history has been with one club thus far, as he managed the Angels from 2000 to 2018. That tenure included a 2002 World Series victory, as well as Manager of the Year honors in both 2002 and 2009. He recently returned to bench boss duties with the United States men’s national team for the Tokyo Olympics, where the club took home silver medals.

Lin also reports that Bruce Bochy is not getting strong interest from his former club. Bochy managed the Friars from 1995 to 2006, before moving up to San Francisco and managing the Giants from 2007 to 2019, a run that included three World Series championships.

Lin adds that Ron Washington and Buck Showalter are “not believed” to be in consideration for the position. It had been reported in recent weeks that Washington was in contention, though that may no longer be the case, if it ever was. Atlanta’s third base coach, Washington can’t interview for any jobs while the club is still alive in the postseason. Showalter, for his part, said he has not been contacted about a managerial job, though that was over a week go.

Regardless of who gets the job, it appears that the decision may come down quickly, as Lin also quotes Padres’ president of baseball operations A.J. Preller as saying that it’s “realistic” to think the hiring process will be done by the general managers’ meetings, which begin in just over two weeks, on November 8th.

Brian Sabean Reportedly Interested In Mets’ President Job

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Former Giants general manager Brian Sabean is interested in the Mets’ open president of baseball operations position, according to a report from Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News. She says that he is looking for a new challenge and is “going stir crazy in San Francisco with essentially nothing to do” and would move to New York “in a heartbeat” if given the chance. It would be a semi-homecoming for him to come to New York, as he was a scout with the Yankees before joining the Giants.

Sabean was the general manager of the Giants from 1997 to 2014 and was an integral part of their magnificent run of play in the last decade, which included three World Series championships in five years, as they got to spray the champagne in 2010, 2012 and 2014. In 2015, Sabean was promoted to executive vice president of baseball operations, with Bobby Evans becoming general manager and largely taking over the baseball decision making. In late 2018, Farhan Zaidi was hired as the Giants’ new president of baseball operations, with Sabean staying with the organization in an advisory capacity and doing some player scouting.

At the end of the 2019 season, there was some speculation that Sabean was being considered to join the Marlins organization to replace Michael Hill as that club’s president of baseball operations, though he ended up staying in San Francisco.

The fact that Sabean has such a lengthy track record would fit somewhat with previous reporting about the qualities the Mets are looking for in their next president. They have also been connected to experienced front office members such as Theo Epstein, Billy Beane and David Stearns. All three of those options appear to be dead-ends for the Mets, though, leaving the post open. However, the 65-year-old Sabean is also different than those three in some respects. Stearns is 36, Epstein 47 and Beane 59, making Sabean older than all three and significantly older than Stearns and Epstein. They’ve also all been actively participating in running baseball front offices in recent years, as opposed to Sabean, who has seemingly been operating in a fairly limited role for about seven years now.

Thosar’s report says it’s unclear if the Mets have reached out to Sabean. It’s also unclear if they’re willing to change their preferences to include someone like Sabean in their search. Although, considering that they keep crossing names off the top of their list, they may have to make adjustments to their preferences at some point.

Thosar also suggests that this could be a two-for-one deal, with Sabean’s hiring being followed by Bruce Bochy being brought in to take over the manager’s chair, which was recently left vacant when the Mets declined their option on Luis Rojas. Bochy was hired to manage the Giants in 2007, during Sabean’s time as general manager, and stayed through the 2019 season. He was recently rumored to be in consideration for the Padres’ open managerial position. Bochy is 66 years old and would buck the trend of teams hiring younger managers, though that trend has also been countered by the recent hirings of Tony La Russa (77) and Dusty Baker (72).

Injury Notes: Sawamura, Tigers, Chirinos

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In pregame scrum before tonight’s ALCS game six, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters that reliever Hirokazu Sawamura is dealing with a hamstring injury was potentially going to be removed from the roster. (Twitter links from Chris Cotillo of MassLive and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.) However, Ian Browne of MLB.com later relayed word from Cora that Sawamura will be sticking around.

The Red Sox have their backs against the wall, as they are down 3-2 in the ALCS and will have to win in Houston tonight and tomorrow in order to survive. The health and effectiveness of every pitcher on the staff will be integral to their success in that regard. News of this hamstring issue is certainly concerning, though the fact that Sawamura has held his roster spot implies that the club still feels he’s a better option than bringing in a fresh arm, such as Matt Barnes. Sawamura has been a solid contributor out of the pen this year, as he had an ERA of 3.06 over 53 innings in the regular season, with a strikeout rate of 26.2% and 13.7% walk rate. He wasn’t on the team roster for the ALDS but has appeared three times in the ALCS so far, logging two innings in total.

Other injury notes…

  • Chris McCosky of The Detroit News relays some updates on a few Tigers prospects from the Arizona Fall League. Infielders Spencer Torkelson and Ryan Kreidler will both miss the remainder of the league due to an ankle injury and calf injury, respectively. Meanwhile, outfielder Riley Greene has completed his concussion protocol. It had already been announced last week that Greene would miss the AFL because of a concussion sustained at the end of the Triple-A season. For a Tigers club that has been rebuilding in recent seasons, their prospects are incredibly important to turning the corner into being competitive, and that includes these three. MLB Pipeline has Torkelson, Greene and Kreidler as the club’s first-, second- and tenth-best prospects. Baseball America has the same 1-2 punch at the top but has Kreidler at 12th. FanGraphs also starts out with Torkelson and Greene at the top but has Kreidler at 25th. All three players reached Triple-A this season for at least 40 games, meaning they are right on the doorstep and knocking on the door of the majors.
  • Rays’ righty Yonny Chirinos won’t be ready for next year’s opening day, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Chirinos has been out of action for more than year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August of 2020, but has suffered a setback that will keep him out even longer. Topkin’s report says that the hurler fractured his elbow last month and that the best case scenario for his recovery would be for him to be on a rehab assignment in April or May. Before this extended absence, Chirinos was looking like he could be a foundational piece for the Rays. From 2018 to 2020, he threw 234 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.65. Even without Chirinos, the rotation should be in decent shape, with the presence of arms such as Shane McClanahan, Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Yarbrough, Luis Patino, Shane Baz, Josh Fleming, Brendan McKay and Dietrich Enns. The Rays have never had an opening day payroll higher than $77MM, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, and Jason Martinez of Roster Resource estimates their payroll for next year to already be above $70MM. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for reinforcements, though they will surely non-tender a few of their arbitration-eligible players and bring that down a tad. The Rays are also always a candidate to figure out a way to move some money around, such as the contract of Kevin Kiermaier, whose name has been floated in trade talks for years and is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, valued just over $12MM.

Dipoto: Mariners Prioritizing “Adaptable” Free Agents

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After spending the past couple seasons primarily in rebuilding mode, the Mariners enter the 2021-22 offseason with heightened expectations. President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has already spoken about looking to add to his roster on the heels of a 90-win season, specifically citing a desire to deepen his lineup and add an infielder. ESPN’s Buster Olney recently explored the manner in which the Mariners are a good fit for many of the top-ranked shortstops in this year’s free-agent market, where Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Javier Baez and Trevor Story will all be available. Corey Brock of The Athletic took a similar look at the Mariners’ offseason, speculating that Semien would be a strong fit for what the Mariners seek.

As one would expect, the increased expectations and early speculation have generated some buzz in Seattle — enough that 710 ESPN’s Mike Salk directly asked Dipoto about the possibility of adding a marquee shortstop the mix (Twitter link, with audio). While Dipoto spoke with an open-mind, however, he also gave a substantial vote of confidence to incumbent J.P. Crawford, who took home a 2020 Gold Glove Award at shortstop and had a fine all-around season in 2021.

“One of the key elements is we have a shortstop that we love,” Dipoto said in reference to Crawford. “J.P. is our shortstop, and we feel like he is an anchor on our infield and an emotional leader for our team. So, one of the things that’s important to us is finding a player who is adaptable and willing to move around the field and maybe get a little uncomfortable.”

Interestingly, Dipoto specifically mentioned both Baez and Semien when pointing out that some of the offseason shortstop crop has done that throughout their careers already. Baez played plenty of second and third early in his career and recently slid back to second base for the final two months of the season in Queens, where Francisco Lindor was entrenched at shortstop. Semien played multiple positions early in his career before settling in as the Athletics’ primary shortstop. He shifted to second base in a full-time capacity this season and posted elite defensive marks as shortstop Bo Bichette’s double-play partner.

It’s a bit unusual to see a top-ranking baseball operations executive name-check any free agents in this manner, although Dipoto’s comments still hardly guarantee that either Semien or Baez will land in Seattle (or that the Mariners will aggressively pursue either player). Similarly, his mention of Baez and Semien doesn’t preclude the M’s from pursuing one of the market’s other high-end shortstops (Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story). And if the Mariners are indeed looking for versatile fielders willing to play a variety of positions, the market has two quality hitters well known for their defensive versatility: old friend Chris Taylor and longtime Cubs star Kris Bryant.

Dipoto calls “that kind of selflessness” a “big deal” for the Mariners as they parse the offseason free-agent market. Another key element for the Mariners will be players with postseason experience, per Dipoto, who plainly acknowledges that to be an element he’ll seek as he looks to augment his young core with veterans. “We know where we want to go, and the more we can add players who’ve been there, the better off we are,” he said.

The Mariners have some option decisions looming — most notably a $20MM club option on Kyle Seager and a $13MM player option for Yusei Kikuchi — but at present they project to have just shy of $60MM on the books. Regardless of what happens with Kikuchi and their longtime third baseman, Seager, the Mariners will be miles shy of their franchise-record $157.9MM payroll. It’s not reasonable to assume a full-throttle sprint back up to or even beyond that record level, but the Mariners also ought to have the payroll capacity to approach the offseason with a wide-open slate of possibilities.

Mariners Outright Shed Long, Four Others

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2:55pm: In addition to Long, the Mariners announced that infielder/outfielder Sam Haggerty, righty Darren McCaughan, outfielder Marcus Wilson and righty Ryan Weber were all outrighted from the roster. Weber was able to immediately declare free agency, as this is the second outright of his career. Long and Wilson will be free agents after the postseason concludes.

Haggerty had a nice season in 2020, but in a limited sample of just 13 games and 54 plate appearances. In 2021, he got to the plate 94 times but produced a meager .186/.247/.291 line, then went on the IL at the end of May with a shoulder injury but never returned. He’ll now look to get back to health and regular playing time in the minors in order to earn his way back to the bigs.

McCaughan made his major league debut this season but only got into two games. In Triple-A, he logged 115 1/3 innings over 20 starts with an ERA of 4.53. His strikeout rate was subpar at 20.9% but his walk rate was an excellent 3.6%. He’ll remain in the organization as depth.

Wilson was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in August but was stashed in Triple-A and has yet to make it to the show. Between the two organizations, he got 437 Triple-A plate appearances in 2021, slashing .240/.364/.421 for a wRC+ of 110.

Weber is the most experienced of the bunch, with 167 big league innings to his name, with an ERA of 5.28. In 2021, he bounced between Boston, Milwaukee and Seattle but got the most action with Tacoma, Seattle’s Triple-A team. He logged 60 1/3 innings there over 10 starts, with an ERA of 3.58, strikeout rate of 25.1% and miniscule walk rate of 0.9%.

2:05pm: Long underwent a second surgery to repair the stress reaction in his shin last week, agent Nate Heisler tells Divish (Twitter link). The bone is expected to be healed over in one to two months’ time, which should afford Long enough time to be ready for Spring Training.

1:52pm: The Mariners are performing some early roster maintenance in advance of the offseason and are set to announce that infielder/outfielder Shed Long Jr. has been outrighted from the 40-man roster, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). That he’s being assigned outright off the roster means he’s already cleared waivers, and Long will now be able to become a free agent this offseason.

It’s been a tough couple of seasons for the 26-year-old Long, whom Seattle acquired in the three-team swap that sent Sonny Gray from the Yankees to the Reds and outfield prospect Josh Stowers from Seattle to New York. Long played much of last season through a stress fracture in his leg before ultimately undergoing season-ending surgery. The detrimental impact of that injury lingered into 2021, ending his season on Aug. 2 and helping to limit Long to just 34 games and 121 plate appearances at the MLB level.

At the time of his acquisition, Long was a well-regarded prospect seen as a potential everyday option for Seattle at second base or perhaps in left field. He looked the part of a possible regular in his rookie campaign in ’19, posting a .263/.333/.454 batting line with five homers, a dozen doubles, a triple and three steals through 168 trips to the plate. Unfortunately, in the two years since, he’s cobbled together a paltry .184/.250/.325 output through 249 plate appearances while struggling through that pair of leg injuries.

While Long was sidelined, the ever-active Mariners front office, led by president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, acquired a slew of players who have now left Long as something of an odd man out in the organization. Abraham Toro and Ty France are getting regular at-bats in the infield, while the future outlook in the outfield is quite promising with Mitch Haniger, 2020 Rooke of the Year Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, Taylor Trammell and Jake Fraley all in the mix. The Mariners are also expected to further add to that infield mix this winter, perhaps in significant fashion, as the team looks to turn the final corner and emerge from an abbreviated rebuilding process on the heels of a surprising 90-win season

Long will hit the free-agent market at just 26 years of age and search for a new opportunity with an organization that can offer a clearer path to playing time. He’ll still have a minor league option remaining in 2022, but the fact that he went unclaimed on waivers could well mean that Long is ticketed for a minor league pact in free agency.

Cardinals Claim Ljay Newsome From Mariners

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The Cardinals have claimed right-hander Ljay Newsome off waivers from the Mariners, both clubs announced Friday. Newsome was on the Mariners’ 60-day injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier this summer and, for the time being, will remain on the 60-day IL with the Cardinals, per the team. That’ll be a temporary move for the Cards, who’ll need to either pass Newsome through waivers themselves or clear a spot for him on the 40-man roster by eventually removing someone else.

Newsome, 24, has just 12 Major League games under his belt and has struggled in that time, pitching to a 6.53 ERA in 30 frames. His 18.2 percent strikeout rate is a good bit shy of the league average, but Newsome has walked just four of the 137 Major League hitters he’s faced (2.9 percent) — and one of those was intentional. During his last full minor league season, the former 26th-rounder pitched 155 innings across three levels, working to a 3.54 ERA with an outstanding 169-to-17 K/BB ratio: a 27.3 percent overall strikeout rate and just a 2.7 percent walk rate.

On top of a strong minor league track record, Newsome also has multiple minor league option years remaining beyond the current season. He obviously won’t be an option early in the 2022 campaign, but he could give the Cardinals (or another team, depending on the organization’s plan for him) a depth option either in the rotation or as a multi-inning option in the ’pen. Newsome sat at 91.5 mph with his heater in 2020 when he worked primarily as a starter, but he made 13 of his 14 appearances in 2021 out of the bullpen and saw that average velocity tick up to 93 mph.

The Cardinals were bitten hard by a lack of rotation depth this summer when the majority of their rotation landed on the injured list at the same time. Those struggles prompted the Cards to bring in veterans Wade LeBlanc, J.A. Happ and Jon Lester in the weeks running up to the July 30 trade deadline. All three are free agents this winter, as is southpaw Kwang Hyun Kim, so it’s only natural to see the Cardinals looking to stack up a little extra depth. Next year’s rotation is set to include Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson, with younger candidates for that fifth spot including Matthew Liberatore and Jake Woodford (in addition to Alex Reyes, if he’s moved out of the bullpen).

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