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Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Collin Balester

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Righty Collin Balester was part of the last-ever Montreal Expos draft in 2004, as the club took him in the fourth round out of Huntington Beach High School.  Though he came from a surfing family, according to Baseball America, Balester moved quickly through the lower minors.  By 2007, he was considered the Nationals’ best prospect and a future number one or two starter.

During the summer of ’08, Balester was deemed ready to join the rotation of the tanking Nationals club.  He made a career-high 15 starts as a 22-year-old rookie, putting up three quality starts in the process.

Balester eventually moved into a relief role for the Nats, but was traded to the Tigers in December 2011.  His career also included stops in the Rangers, Pirates, Reds, and Giants organizations, as well as a stint with KBO’s Samsung Lions.  Along the way, Balester underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2013, battling to get back to the Majors with the Reds in after a gap of more than three years.

Ultimately, Collin topped 200 total innings in the Majors in parts of six different seasons.  Along the way he managed to strike out Ken Griffey Jr., Buster Posey, Freddie Freeman, and Chipper Jones, among many others.  Now 36, Collin owns a juice shop with his wife called Local Roots, and also does logistics for an expedited shipping truck company.  Give him a follow @Ballystar99 on Twitter.

Collin took questions from MLBTR readers today, covering a wide range of topics including being traded, pitching in Korea, being on the 2012 Tigers, and his juice and smoothie recommendations.  Click here to read the transcript!

If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to host you for a future chat!  It only takes one hour, and you get to choose which questions to publish and answer.  Contact us here!

Giants Sign Joe Ross To Minor League Deal

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The Giants announced that they have signed right-hander Joe Ross to a minor league deal, with Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com among those who relayed the news on Twitter.  Ross has received an invitation to major league Spring Training, though he underwent a second career Tommy John surgery in June of last year and isn’t likely to be ready until midseason at the earliest.

Ross, 30 in May, was a first round draft pick of the Padres in 2011 and once considered one of the top pitching prospects in the league. He was traded to the Nationals alongside Trea Turner in the three-team, 11-player deal that also sent Wil Myers to the Padres and Steven Souza Jr. to the Rays. Over 2015 and 2016, he made 32 starts and three relief appearances, posting a 3.52 ERA over 181 2/3 innings. He made another 13 starts in 2017 before he required Tommy John for the first time, wiping out the remainder of that season and most of 2018 as well.

He stayed healthy in 2019 but didn’t quite get his results all the way back. He had a 5.48 ERA that year, splitting his time between the rotation, the bullpen and making eight starts in Triple-A. He sat out the 2020 campaign due to COVID-19 concerns but returned in 2021. He was quite solid that year, tossing 108 innings with a 4.17 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 43.2% ground ball rate. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow in August. He tried to rehabilitate the injury via non-surgical means but ultimately had to go under the knife again last summer.

For the Giants, they’re taking a no-risk flier on Ross, hoping that he can perhaps get back into game shape by the later stages of the season. They have six solid rotation options right now, with Logan Webb, Sean Manaea, Alex Cobb, Ross Stripling, Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani all in place, as well as long reliever Jakob Junis and depth options such as Tristan Beck, Thomas Szapucki and Sean Hjelle. That’s a fairly crowded mix right now but injuries will inevitably pop up as the season progresses.

For Ross, he’ll get to make use of the club’s facilities and could wind up pitching near his old stomping grounds, as he was born in Berkeley and went to high school in Oakland. The Giants play in San Francisco, of course, and their Triple-A team plays in Sacramento. Despite being drafted over a decade ago, Ross still hasn’t hit his 30th birthday. If he can get into healthy form by the end of the year, he can return to the open market and look to set himself up for a stronger deal in 2024.

White Sox Claim A.J. Alexy From Twins

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The White Sox announced that they have claimed right-hander A.J. Alexy off waivers from the Twins. He had been designated for assignment by Minnesota last week when that club acquired Michael A. Taylor from the Royals.

Alexy, 25 in April, was with the Rangers for the past few years, coming from the Dodgers in the 2017 Yu Darvish trade, but has been moving around quite a bit on the waiver wire this winter. Texas designated him for assignment in December and he went to the Nationals on a waiver claim. The Nats also designated him for assignment a few weeks later and dealt him to the Twins for pitching prospect Cristian Jimenez. The Twins improved their pitching depth by acquiring Pablo López from the Marlins and seemingly felt less need to hang onto Alexy, sending him into DFA limbo last week.

The righty is likely continuing to attract clubs for a few reasons. For one thing, he still has an option year and can be kept in the minors. Starting pitching depth is a perpetual concern around the league and Alexy can be useful in that regard. He also had a really strong showing in 2021, posting a 1.66 ERA in the minors over 65 innings, striking out 29.8% of batters faced. He did walk 10.6% of opponents but still impressed enough to make his major league debut, putting up a 4.70 ERA in 23 innings there.

2022 was a rough year for Alexy, as his four MLB appearances resulted in an ERA of 11.57. He spent most of the year in Triple-A but posted a 5.91 ERA down there. However, he’s still quite young and, as mentioned, still has an option year. He also has just 55 days of MLB service time, meaning he can still be affordably retained for the foreseeable future.

For the White Sox, they will likely have Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn and Michael Kopech taking up four spots in their rotation, but there’s uncertainty around who will be joining them. Mike Clevinger was signed to a one-year deal to fill out the squad but it was recently reported that he’s under investigation for domestic violence allegations. It’s unclear when that investigation will be completed, but it’s possible that Clevinger will be suspended at some point or perhaps placed on administrative leave while the investigation progresses. The club’s options on the 40-man roster to help out include Davis Martin, Jonathan Stiever and Jason Bilous, with Alexy now added into the mix. That latter group will presumably be competing in spring for either an immediate job in the rotation or one down the line as injuries inevitably pop up through the season.

Phillies Designate Sam Coonrod For Assignment

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The Phillies announced their signing of infielder Josh Harrison, making that deal official. To create room for him on the 40-man roster, right-hander Sam Coonrod has been designated for assignment.

Coonrod, 30, was a starting pitcher as a prospect in the Giants’ system when he lost most of his 2018 season to Tommy John surgery. Since then, he’s been working primarily as a reliever, with a blistering fastball but mixed results overall. With the Giants in 2019 and 2020, he made 51 appearances with a 5.74 ERA, 18.9% strikeout rate, 11.9% walk rate and 47.5% ground ball rate.

He was traded to the Phillies prior to the 2021 season and seemed to take a step forward that year. He tossed 42 1/3 innings for the Phils with a 4.04 ERA, striking out 25.9% of batters faced while walking just 8.1% and getting grounders at a 57.1% clip. He surely would have liked to build on that performance in 2022 but he was shut down in the spring due to a shoulder strain and wasn’t able to return to the club until mid-August. He made 12 appearances down the stretch but was torched for a 7.82 ERA in that small sample.

The Phillies will now have a week to trade Coonrod or pass him through waivers. Despite some inconsistency, it’s possible he would find interest from other clubs. His fastball has averaged 97-99 mph in the past few seasons, which he has occasionally used to good effect. He also still has one option year remaining, allowing a club to keep him in the minors as depth so long as they are willing to give him a 40-man roster spot.

Coonrod surpassed three years of service time last year and qualified for arbitration for the first time. He and the Phillies agreed to a salary of $775K for the upcoming season, just above the $720K league minimum. If he were to clear waivers, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency but might opt against it. Players with over three years of service time have that right but only players beyond the five-year mark can both reject an outright and retain their salary. If Coonrod were really motivated to try free agency, he’d have to be willing to leave that $775K on the table in order to do so.

Tigers Sign Jonathan Davis To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers today announced a batch of 22 non-roster players that received invitations to major league Spring Training. That group included plenty of players who had already been in the system, as well as those signed to previously-reported minor league deals. One name on the list that wasn’t already expected to be in camp was that of outfielder Jonathan Davis, indicating he’s been signed to a minor league deal.

Davis, 31 in May, has appeared in the past five major league seasons, but primarily as a reserve outfielder. He didn’t play more than 64 games in any of those campaigns and has appeared in 171 contests overall. He hasn’t been able to take advantage of those brief opportunities thus far, having hit .185/.291/.245 in 350 career plate appearances for a wRC+ of 54. He’s fared much better in the minor leagues, with a Triple-A slash line of .260/.366/.419 for a 113 wRC+, though he hasn’t been able to come close to that in the bigs. The Brewers outrighted him off their roster in September and he became a free agent at season’s end.

Despite that low offensive output, Davis will bring a solid floor thanks to his speed and defense. Statcast considered his sprint speed to be in the 70th percentile last year, which has helped him steal 18 bases in 21 career tries while also producing eight Outs Above Average in 858 2/3 outfield innings.

The Tigers don’t have much certainty in their outfield mix at present. Riley Greene should be getting everyday action in center field but is still very young and has just 93 games of major league experience. Austin Meadows spent much of last year on the injured list and only got into 36 games. Akil Baddoo followed up a breakout 2021 with a dismal 2022 where he hit just .204/.289/.269. Kerry Carpenter had a nice debut but in a small sample of just 31 games. Depth options on the 40-man include Matt Vierling and Tyler Nevin, neither of whom are fully established big leaguers at this point. Davis will serve as a veteran option for a club that was decimated by injuries last year and surely would like to have plenty of depth on hand. If he makes his way back onto the roster, he’s out of options and can’t be easily sent back to the minors, but he could be retained for future seasons since he has between two and three years of MLB service time.

Darren O’Day Announces Retirement

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Right-hander Darren O’Day announced his retirement from baseball on his personal Twitter account on Monday morning.

“The mental, physical, and time demands have finally outweighed my love for the game,” wrote the 40-year-old submarine reliever. “When I started in 2006, I didn’t know if I was good enough to compete in MLB, but I was determined to keep going until someone told me otherwise. I hope anyone out there who does things a little different can find inspiration in my story.”

O’Day went undrafted after a solid NCAA tenure at the University of Florida, but he quickly latched on with the Angels and made his MLB debut with that organization in 2008. He wound up pitching for six total teams — Angels, Mets, Rangers, Orioles, Braves and Yankees — during his impressive 15-year major league career and will hang up his cleats having registered a collective 2.59 ERA with 637 strikeouts, 166 holds and 21 saves in 609 frames at baseball’s highest level. Baseball-Reference has his final career earnings wrapping up just shy of $50MM.

O’Day’s best year on the mound was 2015, when he earned his lone All-Star nod and delivered an overall 1.52 ERA and 82 strikeouts (with only 14 walks) in 65 1/3 innings for the O’s, who then signed him to a four-year, $31MM contract the following winter. The unconventional right-hander was obviously far more than just a one-hit-wonder given how long he lasted in the bigs and how many different clubs saw him as a fit for their respective bullpen mixes along the way. Between the 2009-2021 campaigns, he posted a 2.37 ERA in 586 appearances and collected 21 saves. He also logged 30 postseason appearances in that timeframe, including four in the World Series in 2010 with the Rangers.

O’Day signed a minor league contract with the Braves last winter and put up a 4.15 ERA and 26-to-10 K/BB ratio across 21 2/3 innings in the first half of the 2022 regular season. He suffered a calf injury just before the All-Star break and then a season-ending sprain of his right big toe in September. His last pitch as a major leaguer came on July 11 against the Mets.

MLBTR wishes O’Day well in the next chapter of his life.

Yankees Name Brad Wilkerson Assistant Hitting Coach

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The Yankees announced Monday that Brad Wilkerson will join their MLB coaching staff in 2023 as an assistant hitting coach. Wilkerson replaces Hensley Meulens, who moved on to become the lead hitting coach with the Rockies in November.

Wilkerson played parts of eight major league seasons with the Expos/Nationals, Rangers, Mariners and Blue Jays between 2001-2008, tallying 788 hits, 122 home runs and an overall .247/.350/.440 career batting line. He was selected 33rd overall by Montreal in the 1998 MLB Draft and finished second for NL Rookie of the Year in 2002. His playing career officially came to an end in the spring of 2010, when the Phillies cut him loose from a minor league pact with a camp invite.

This will be the first MLB-affiliated coaching position for Wilkerson. He managed a middle school baseball team in 2014 and spent some time as a high school coach before joining Jacksonville University in 2020 as a baseball assistant.

The 45-year-old will work alongside lead hitting coach Dillon Lawson in New York and try to help the Bronx Bombers replicate the kind of cumulative success they achieved at the plate last season. With a combined team OPS of .751 (4th in MLB) and the second-most runs scored of all 30 major league teams, the Yankees rolled to 99 regular-season wins and the AL East title.

Michael Wacha Seeking Two-Year Deal

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Jan. 30: Wacha has been seeking  a two-year deal worth roughly $30MM, writes USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. That would trail only Justin Verlander and Nathan Eovaldi for the largest two-year deal given to a starting pitcher this winter, and clearly Verlander isn’t a relevant point of comparison in this instance. Generally speaking, second- and third-tier starters who’ve signed two-year pacts in free agency have landed in the $16-25MM range over the past several years.

Jan. 28: Michael Wacha, the top remaining free agent starting pitcher, is seeking a two-year deal, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Wacha is the last remaining starter from MLBTR’s Top 50 list, where he was predicted to take home a two-year, $16MM deal.

So far only the Twins and Orioles have been reported as teams to have shown interest in Wacha, although the Twins’ reported interest came before they acquired Pablo Lopez from the Marlins. The Orioles have seemingly maintained an interest in Wacha throughout the winter, but it doesn’t appear as if talks have ever gotten particularly serious between the two parties, though that can obviously change quickly.

Baltimore does still make a bit of sense as a landing spot for Wacha. They came into the off-season looking for starting pitching, and have so far added only Kyle Gibson on a one-year, $10MM deal in free agency, as well as a recent trade for Oakland’s Cole Irvin, so they could be in the mix for another arm. Speculatively, a return to the Red Sox could make a bit of sense for Wacha, while the Angels could be a fit too if they plan to utilize a six-man rotation this season.

Wacha, 31, is coming off a strong campaign for Boston, where he threw 127 1/3 innings of 3.32 ERA ball over 23 starts. Secondary metrics weren’t particularly encouraged by Wacha’s work. His 20.2% strikeout rate was below the league average, and he benefited from a career-low .260 average on balls in play as well as a career-high 80.3% left-on-base rate. Teams are also surely wary of that fact that his 2020-21 seasons had amounted to a 5.39 ERA. Nevertheless, it 2022 was a strong season for the veteran right-hander, and even some regression could still make him a solid back-of-the-rotation option for a number of teams.

Wacha’s desire for a two-year deal seems reasonable enough, particularly given how well starting pitchers have tended to fare this winter. There are some injury concerns there which may give a few teams some pause, although a two-year pact is hardly an onerous long-term commitment. He’s landed on the injured list four times due to shoulder injuries throughout his career, including a month-long absence this past season.

It’s possible a number of teams are more interested in Wacha as a one-year option, in which they can see whether or not his 2022 performance can be repeated without having to commit to an additional year. That sort of deal could interest a number of rebuilding teams as well, as a strong start would turn Wacha into a solid trade deadline option. At 31, Wacha is also young enough that he’d still be in a position to land a multi-year deal next winter were he to have to back up his 2022 numbers with another valuable season in 2023.

The Opener: Extensions, Middle Infield, Player Chat

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With two months left until Opening Day, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Could more extensions be on the way?

With Spring Training just a couple of weeks away and arbitration hearings quickly approaching for players and clubs who were unable to reach an agreement before the filing deadline earlier this month, it’s a natural time for teams to discuss possible extensions with their players. This weekend saw a flurry of activity on that front, with the Rays extending three players (Jeffrey Springs, Pete Fairbanks, and Yandy Diaz) while the Mets agreed to terms with Jeff McNeil on a four-year contract. The Rays have already announced the deals with Springs and Fairbanks, and announcements regarding Diaz and McNeil should be expected in the coming days.

It’s possible that more extensions could be hammered out in the run-up to Spring Training. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Rays continue their attempts to lock up the remaining unsigned players in their arbitration class, and the Cubs are known to have interest in signing Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ to long-term extensions this offseason following their one-year arbitration agreements earlier this month.

2. Middle Infield Market Update

The White Sox and Red Sox could yet look into the middle infield market. Although Chicago seems to be considering going into Spring Training with only internal options at second base (e.g. Romy Gonzalez, Lenyn Sosa, Leury Garcia), they’ve also shown trade interest in Royals infielder Nicky Lopez. Boston recently acquired Adalberto Mondesi from Kansas City to shore up their own situation, but Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said his team is still interested in adding more talent to their middle infield mix. As always, it’s possible that other clubs without clear-cut needs could still look to improve their bench depth, as the Phillies did by signing Josh Harrison yesterday.

Elvis Andrus stands atop of the market for teams interested in making an addition the middle. In trade, the Athletics would surely listen on second baseman Tony Kemp after trading Cole Irvin and Sean Murphy, while the Yankees have a glut of infielders at their disposal including Gleyber Torres and Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The Cubs don’t appear to have much room for former top prospect Nick Madrigal in the lineup following the addition of Dansby Swanson, which pushed Hoerner to second base. The Cardinals would likely welcome the opportunity to get out from some of the $11MM still owed to displaced shortstop Paul DeJong.

3. MLBTR Player Chat Today

Later today, MLBTR will be kicking off this week’s group of Player Chats. Last week, we welcomed pitcher Cory Wade, catcher Michael McKenry, pitcher Jacob Turner, and knuckleballer Mickey Jannis. Today, we’re excited to have former MLB pitcher Collin Balester chat with readers. Balester pitched for the Nationals, Tigers, and Reds across six seasons in the big leagues, tallying 200 2/3 innings for his career across 88 appearances (22 starts). His best season came with the Nationals in 2010, when he posted a 2.57 ERA (159 ERA+) with a 3.51 FIP in 21 innings in his first season as a reliever. Be sure to tune in at 3pm CST today for Balester’s live chat with readers.

Phillies Sign Josh Harrison

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The Phillies have signed utilityman Josh Harrison to a one-year, $2MM deal, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports (Twitter link).  MSM Sports, Harrison’s agency, has also announced the news.

The versatile 35-year-old batted .256/.317/.370 with seven home runs and two stolen bases in 119 games last season for the White Sox while appearing defensively at second base, third base, shortstop, left field, and even a few mop-up relief pitching appearances. The big majority of Harrison’s playing time was at second base, which has been his primary position over 12 Major League seasons. He still drew above-average grades from Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average at the position (and at third base) during his time in Chicago last season.

Harrison has suited up for five different teams over those 12 seasons, though he was formerly a member of the Phillies organization without ever seeing any action on the field.  Philadelphia inked Harrison to a minor league deal during the 2019-20 offseason, but he was released just prior to the start of the COVID-shortened 2020 season.

With a guaranteed MLB deal in hand, Harrison can presumably be plugged onto the Opening Day roster in Philadelphia as an option off the bench, joining Edmundo Sosa and Dalton Guthrie as position-player depth. Bryson Stott is the projected starter at second base for the reigning NL champions and Alec Bohm has stated an impressive case that he can be the long-term answer at third.

Former starting second baseman Jean Segura is gone to the Marlins in free agency, so Harrison represents some veteran infield depth behind Stott and Bohm. Stott is the less-established of the two, and while he played better later in his rookie season and saw starting duties for the Phillies in the playoffs, Stott batted a modest .234/.295/.358 over 446 PA in the regular season.

Harrison’s right-handed bat could complement the left-handed hitting Kyle Schwarber for some left field playing time. Since the Phillies’ lineup won’t truly be whole until Bryce Harper makes his midseason return from Tommy John surgery, Harrison gives the team another experienced bat to utilize in the interim.

Harrison’s $2MM salary is modest by MLB standards, but it’s not without some implications for the Phillies. As a luxury tax payor for the second straight season, the Phils were on the hook for a  30% tax  for the first $20MM by which they exceed the $233MM tax threshold. Harrison actually bumps them into the second tier, per Roster Resource, landing them at $254.85MM. They’d previously been just below the $253MM cutoff point for tier two. Harrison will cost the club about $800K in taxes, and the Phillies will be taxed at a 42% rate for every dollar added to the payroll up until $273MM, at which point the tax hit would jump to 75%.

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