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Archives for March 2023

2022-23 Offseason In Review Series

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MLB Trade Rumors completed our annual Offseason In Review series, where we look back at what all 30 teams did (or didn’t) do over the winter to set themselves up for the 2023 season.  Each review was accompanied by a team-centric live chat, so fans could share in the discussion of their favorite club’s transactions.  This post is the landing page for the full set of links to each team’s review and transcript of the live chat.

AL West

AL Central

AL East

NL East

NL Central

NL West

Braves Notes: Rotation, Soroka, Shewmake, Grissom

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Braves ace Max Fried strained his hamstring during his Opening Day start, and manager Brian Snitker has already indicated the southpaw is likely to land on the 15-day injured list. Atlanta hasn’t made that transaction yet — IL stints can be backdated as many as three days — and the rotation plans for next week remain uncertain. Mark Bowman of MLB.com unsurprisingly tweets that right-handers Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder are under consideration to take the ball next Wednesday against the Cardinals in what would’ve been Fried’s spot.

Anderson and Elder entered Spring Training as the presumptive favorites for the fifth starter job behind Fried, Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton and Kyle Wright. Neither ended up securing the job out of camp, as prospects Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd jumped them on the depth chart. Both Elder and Anderson were optioned out; Shuster and Dodd each were penciled into the season-opening rotation when Wright started the year on the IL.

With Fried likely to join him, the Atlanta front office could have to choose between Anderson and Elder to fill in. The latter got the Opening Day start for Triple-A Gwinnett today, allowing four runs in six innings. He’d be lined up on standard rest for Wednesday’s outing if the Braves wanted to go in that direction.

Dodd, meanwhile, is listed as the probable starter for Tuesday’s matchup in St. Louis. That’ll be his major league debut, and the Braves will have to make a roster move before then. Atlanta has yet to select the southpaw onto the 40-man roster, preserving some flexibility in that regard until he’s tabbed to take the mound. The Braves’ 40-man is at capacity and the club doesn’t have any obvious candidates for a move to the 60-day injured list, so they could be faced with a DFA decision early next week.

Deeper on the rotation depth chart, Michael Soroka is slated to take the ball for Gwinnett on Tuesday in what’ll be his season debut. The righty was optioned after getting a late start in camp thanks to a hamstring issue. Soroka hasn’t thrown a major league pitch since 2020 because of a pair of Achilles ruptures. His 2022 campaign consisted of 25 innings between High-A and Triple-A.

Soroka tells Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal Constitution he’s likely “to be limited to about three or four innings (per outing) for a little bit.” He’ll work both in the rotation and out of the bullpen with Gwinnett as he and the club explore ways to gradually build his workload. Soroka indicated he’d be open to pitching in relief to get back to the MLB level if the team felt that the best course of action. He noted the club doesn’t currently feel low-leverage bullpen work is the best way to get him back to pre-injury form. Soroka started 37 games between 2018-20, throwing 214 innings of 2.86 ERA ball before his 23rd birthday.

That minor league experimentation isn’t limited to the pitching staff. Atlanta is using Braden Shewmake at second base in Gwinnett, as Burns writes in a separate piece for the Journal Constitution. The former first-round pick has only started nine games at the keystone — all last season — in his minor league career. The rest of his innings have come at shortstop, where he was competing for the MLB job this spring. Both Shewmake and Vaughn Grissom lost out to veteran Orlando Arcia in the camp battle, leading the two younger players to be sent to Gwinnett.

Grissom will get the majority of the shortstop reps there. Shewmake is regarded by evaluators as the superior defender of the two, while Grissom has a higher offensive ceiling. The Braves seem comfortable with Shewmake’s glove at shortstop as is, reasoning that giving the tougher reps to Grissom will hopefully lead to him taking a step forward. Whether the 22-year-old is up to the task defensively was a storyline of the offseason once it became clear the Braves would look internally for Dansby Swanson’s replacement.

Offseason In Review: Boston Red Sox

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It was an offseason of huge roster turnover for the Red Sox, as several familiar faces departed and a batch of new ones were brought in to replace them. But the biggest splash of the winter was signing their star third baseman to a massive extension that will likely keep him in Boston for the rest of his career.

Major League Signings

2023 spending: $72.15MM
Total spending: $196.425MM

Option Decisions

Trades And Claims

Extensions

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

This millennium has been a rollercoaster ride for the Red Sox, who’ve won four World Series titles but also finished last in the AL East five times. That’s been true in recent years as well. After that fourth title in 2018, ownership seemed determined to cut payroll, which eventually led to Mookie Betts and David Price getting traded to the Dodgers. That preceded one of those last place finishes in 2020. Though the club surprised with a postseason berth in 2021, they were back down in the basement in 2022.

It seemed possible that an offseason of big changes was in store after that disappointing campaign. A decent chunk of the roster was headed for free agency, with the rotation set to lose Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill. Slugger J.D. Martinez was also on the verge of departing after five years in Boston. But the most notable potential loss was Xander Bogaerts, who had been the club’s shortstop for the previous decade, helping them win two championships and emerging as one of the better players in the league.

Bogaerts had already agreed to one extension with the Sox, back in April of 2019, a six-year, $120MM deal that ran through 2025. However, it contained an opt-out provision for the shortstop after 2022, at which point he would have three years and $60MM remaining on it. Given his tremendous talent, he would easily be able to top that on the open market, making the decision to opt out an easy one. The club reportedly made a cursory attempt to extend Bogaerts by adding one year and $30MM to his existing deal last spring, but that still didn’t come close to his true worth.

Bogaerts triggered his opt-out, becoming a free agent and part of the “Big Four” shortstops alongside Trea Turner, Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson. MLBTR predicted Bogaerts could secure $189MM over seven years, more than double the four years and $90MM the Red Sox were effectively offering with that extension. Bogaerts proved to be quite popular, garnering interest from teams like the Cubs, Twins, Blue Jays and others. The Red Sox apparently made an effort to bring him back, but he ultimately signed with the Padres for $280MM over 11 years, blowing past what he left on the table in Boston and most predictions. It was also well beyond the last ditch effort of the Red Sox, which was reportedly in the $160MM range.

This left many of the club’s fans in a worrisome position. They had now watched two superstars depart in a short amount of time, with the Betts trade and now Bogaerts. On top of that, a third domino seemed ready to fall in the not-too-distant future, as Rafael Devers was slated for free agency after 2023. Given the way things played out with the first two players, it would have been fair to dread that the same would play out again with the third baseman. But the Sox didn’t want that to happen, so they made sure to lock Devers up, eventually signing him to a massive extension that runs through 2033. The two sides had already agreed to an arbitration-avoiding contract for 2023, so this technically added ten more years and $313.5MM, one of the largest contracts in MLB history. Devers will turn 37 just as that contract is winding down, so it’s entirely possible that he eventually spends his entire career in Boston.

While those Bogaerts and Devers storylines were playing out, the Sox were very busy elsewhere on the roster. They made another meaningful splash by adding NPB star Masataka Yoshida. The club is evidently quite enamored of the outfielder, as their contract went well beyond most projections and led to criticism after the final numbers were revealed. The $90MM guarantee also results in a $15.375MM posting free to the Orix Buffaloes, bringing Boston’s total commitment to $105.375MM. There’s little doubting that Yoshida can hit, as he produced a .326/.419/.538 batting line during his time in Japan. But there are questions about whether his contact-over-power style will play in North America. His defense is also a weak point, as he only played 39 games in the outfield last year, spending the rest as the designated hitter. Fenway Park is perhaps a good landing spot for him, given the small range in front of the Green Monster in left, but it’s still a gamble.

The Sox clearly felt is was necessary to bolster a lineup that had lost both Bogaerts and Martinez. Yoshida will hopefully help some, but they also brought in Justin Turner. Since Martinez signed with the Dodgers, him and Turner have effectively swapped places. For the Sox, they’re getting a player with a bit more versatility since Martinez has been taking the field less and less, serving as designated hitter only in 2022. Turner will likely be in that role a lot, but he can at least take a corner infield spot on occasion. However, he’s also three years older and is coming off an inconsistent season where he slumped at the beginning but finished on a hot streak.

The rotation also needed addressing, with the aforementioned losses of Eovaldi, Hill and Wacha. The Sox did make one move to cover for those losses, bringing in Corey Kluber on a modest one-year, $10MM deal plus incentives. The two-time Cy Young winner lost most of 2019 and 2020 due to injuries but has been healthier of late. He made 16 starts for the Yankees in 2021 and then 31 for the Rays last year. His 4.34 ERA wasn’t exactly a match for his previous career highs, though he showed he can pitch well enough in the “crafty veteran” phase of his career now that his previous power arsenal is diminished.

That turned out to be the lone move to address the rotation, as it seems the Sox will largely rely on in-house improvements there. A return to form from Chris Sale would be a big one, as he’s hardly pitched over the past three years due to various injuries. It’s a similar situation for James Paxton, who didn’t pitch at all last year and triggered a player option to stick in Boston for 2023. He’s already on the injured list this year due to a hamstring strain but will hopefully be back before too long. It’s also hoped that younger pitchers can take steps forward. Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck have each done some starting and some bullpen work but neither has been fully established as a proper big league starter. 2023 figures to be a test case for both, though Whitlock is on the injured list for now while still ramping up from last year’s hip surgery. Brayan Bello was a highly-touted prospect who made his debut last year. His 4.71 ERA wasn’t amazing but he did get grounders at a solid 55.7% rate. Like Whitlock and Houck, this year should afford him the chance to prove himself as a viable starter, though he’s also starting the season on the IL due to some forearm tightness.

The bullpen was seemingly more of a focus than the rotation, which is understandable given the club’s relievers had a 4.59 ERA last year, placing them 26th in the league in that category. The Sox made a pair of sizeable investments to bring in two very good relievers. Kenley Jansen got two years and $32MM while Chris Martin got $17.5MM over the same two-year span. Jansen has been one of the best closers in baseball for over a decade now, while Martin has somewhat quietly been excellent himself in recent years. Southpaw Joely Rodriguez was also brought aboard on a much more modest deal, though he’s currently on the shelf due to an oblique strain.

In addition to those signings, there was much shuffling of chairs. Matt Strahm became a free agent while Matt Barnes, Josh Taylor, Darwinzon Hernandez, Franklin German and Easton McGee were all shipped out in various trades. Richard Bleier came the other way in the Barnes deal while the club also acquired Wyatt Mills. Time will tell whether that game of musical chairs was helpful, but the additions of Jansen and Martin should bolster the group.

Most of these moves happened before the calendar flipped over to 2023 and the roster was starting to come together, but the club got some bad news that led to numerous domino effects. It was reported in January that Trevor Story had an internal brace procedure on his right elbow. That’s a modified version of Tommy John that generally has a lesser recovery time, but only slightly. Story could make a late return but will miss most of 2023. Signed to a six-year deal going into 2022, it seems like the plan all along was to have Story play second base for one year and then move over to shortstop once Bogaerts left. That plan is now on hold and the Sox had to pivot over the last month or so before Spring Training.

It would eventually come to be realized that the post-Story plan is to have Enrique Hernández come in from center field to take over at short. He played in 100 games at shortstop coming into 2023 but they were scattered over many seasons in his role as a utility player as he’d never had a full-time gig there. To cover the vacated center field position, they signed Adam Duvall and Raimel Tapia, each of whom had just 75 games played at that position coming into the season. Christian Arroyo will be taking over at second. That’s his primary position but he’s primarily been a bench player in the majors, never topping 87 games played in a season. His defense at the keystone is graded well but he hasn’t really shown the ability to be much more than a league average hitter in his career.

The fallout from Story’s injury leaves the club with fairly unproven options at three up-the-middle positions. That’s true behind the plate as well, where they will be without Christian Vázquez for the first time in years. He was traded to the Astros at last year’s deadline and then signed with the Twins in free agency. The club opened this year with just a pair of backstops on their roster in Reese McGuire and Connor Wong. The latter opened the season with 33 games of major league experience. McGuire has 230 career games but mostly in a backup role, as last year’s 89 games are a career high. Jorge Alfaro was brought aboard via a minor league deal but has yet to crack the roster.

There’s also going to be an unproven option at first base, though one with much more reason for excitement. Triston Casas debuted late in 2022 and hit five home runs in 27 games while walking in 20% of his trips to the plate. Casas is one of the top prospects in the league, and the Sox were confident enough in letting him take over the position that they released Eric Hosmer. Hosmer had been acquired from the Padres at last year’s deadline, with the Friars eating all his salary and sending a couple prospects to Boston. It cost the the Red Sox nothing to let him go, though it still acted as a vote of confidence in Casas.

All in all, there’s plenty of talent on the roster but also plenty of uncertainty. The four up-the-middle positions are all being covered by guys with question marks around their viability, which left field and first base manned by rookies. There are reasons to doubt Alex Verdugo in right field as well as his performance has tailed off in each of the past two seasons. Then there’s the rotation, which is counting on a lot of bounce-backs and step-forwards.

The silver lining of all this roster turnover is that the Sox will get a parting gift from Bogaerts and Eovaldi, as both players turned down qualifying offers before signing elsewhere. However, even in that case, the silver isn’t quite as shiny as it could have been. The Sox did some selling at the deadline last year, including the aforementioned Vázquez trade, but ultimately stopped short of a true selloff. Partially as a result of that, they ended up about $4.5MM over the luxury tax line. That only led to about $900K in taxes but it diminishes what they will receive for the departure of Bogaerts and Eovaldi. Their return would have been one extra draft pick per player just before the third round of the upcoming draft, but those will now be moved to after the fourth round, a drop of over 60 spots. The club seems to be in good position to reset their luxury tax status this year, as their CBT number is currently at $221MM, per Roster Resource. That’s well shy of this year’s lowest threshold of $233MM.

How would you grade the Red Sox’ offseason? (Link to poll)

In conjunction with the Red Sox offseason review, we hosted a Red Sox-focused chat on April 3. You can click here to read the transcript.

Brewers To Promote Joey Wiemer

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The Brewers are bringing up one of their top prospects. Outfielder Joey Wiemer is getting his first major league call, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). The Brewers figure to finalize the move before tomorrow afternoon’s matchup with the Cubs.

Wiemer was Milwaukee’s fourth-round pick in 2020 out of the University of Cincinnati. Amateur scouts praised his power and athleticism but raised significant questions about his strikeouts and atypical swing mechanics. Wiemer’s .264/.379/.408 slash in college was hardly overwhelming, particularly outside a Power Five conference.

Milwaukee rolled the dice on his physical upside in hopes he could iron things out in pro ball. They have to be thrilled with how that decision has played out over the past couple seasons. Wiemer hit .296/.403/.556 during his first professional season, positioning him as one of the better prospects in the Milwaukee farm system. He took that to another level with continued production against upper level pitching last year.

Wiemer spent the bulk of the 2022 season with Double-A Biloxi, where he put up a roughly average .243/.321/.440 line over 374 plate appearances. Wiemer punched out 30% of the time but connected on 15 home runs and stole 25 bases while getting caught just once. The Brewers bumped him to Triple-A Nashville in August, and he caught fire at the top minor league level. In 174 trips to the plate, he mashed at a .287/.368/.520 clip with six longballs. Wiemer cut his strikeouts to a solid 19.5% rate in Triple-A while walking 12.1% of the time.

That firmly placed him among the sport’s most interesting outfield prospects headed into the winter. Both FanGraphs and Keith Law of the Athletic slotted him near the back of their offseason Top 100 prospect lists. Wiemer didn’t crack the Top 100 at Baseball America or ESPN but finished just outside that cutoff, ranking among the top three talents in the Milwaukee system at both outlets. Evaluators credit him with plus or better raw power, speed and arm strength. He’s regarded as a high-variance type but a potential impact player on the strength of those deafening physical tools.

The Brew Crew gave the 24-year-old an extended look this spring. He held his own, putting together a .262/.319/.429 line with two homers, four walks and ten strikeouts in 42 at-bats. General manager Matt Arnold indicated towards the end of Spring Training that both Wiemer and fellow top prospect Sal Frelick were being considered for season-opening roster spots. Neither ended up grabbing a job out of camp, as both were ticketed for Nashville to start the season.

Plans changed yesterday, as starting third baseman Luis Urías hurt his left hamstring in the ninth inning of an Opening Day loss. Urías was noticeably hobbled after the game, and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports that Urías is headed to the 10-day injured list. Brian Anderson, who’d opened the season as the right fielder, has a long track record as an MLB third baseman. He’ll now slide to the hot corner, with Wiemer stepping into the right field job.

That’ll presumably be the plan at least until a veteran is ready to return from injury. It’s unknown how long Urías will be out. Tyrone Taylor, who might’ve gotten the Opening Day right field nod, is expected to be sidelined into May with an elbow sprain. Wiemer should have at least a couple weeks to try to establish himself against big league pitching.

While one day of the schedule has already elapsed, players are credited with a full year of major league service if they’re in the majors for 172+ days of the 186-day season. Wiemer would still get to that mark if he’s up for good, which would put him on track to first reach arbitration after the 2025 season and qualify for free agency over the 2028-29 offseason.

Wiemer hadn’t been on the 40-man roster. Milwaukee will need to select his contract tomorrow. That’ll require a corresponding 40-man move, though players like Aaron Ashby (shoulder strain) and Justin Wilson (recovering from Tommy John surgery) are 60-day injured list candidates.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Mariners Acquire Nick Solak From Reds

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The Reds have traded corner outfielder/second baseman Nick Solak to the Mariners for cash, both teams announced. Seattle had an opening on the 40-man roster and immediately optioned Solak to Triple-A Tacoma. No additional move was necessary.

Solak never played a regular season game as a Red. Cincinnati acquired the right-handed hitter from the Rangers at the beginning of the offseason. It was a cash transaction that saw the Reds add a player who was a few years removed from being a well-regarded prospect. Cincinnati gave Solak a look as part of a wide-open outfield mix in Spring Training, but he collected just two hits in 20 at-bats.

That lackluster exhibition showing pushed Solak down the outfield depth chart. Cincinnati designated him for assignment yesterday as they set their Opening Day roster, clearing a 40-man spot to add a pair of relievers and infielder Jason Vosler to the big league group. Solak’s stay in DFA limbo lasted only a little more than 24 hours, as Seattle stepped in to jump the waiver order.

A second-round pick of the Yankees in 2016, Solak has now been a part of five different organizations as a professional. He’s only ever played in an MLB game with Texas, tallying 974 plate appearances as a Ranger between 2019-22. Solak broke into the majors with an impressive .293/.393/.491 showing over 33 contests as a rookie, showing the offensive promise which prospect evaluators had long noted.

The Louisville product hasn’t managed to build off that strong debut. He’s been a below-average hitter in each of the three seasons since then, combining for a .246/.317/.354 line in 839 plate appearances dating back to 2020. He’s shown decent contact skills but not drawn many walks or hit for a significant amount of power.

That tepid offense has come as Solak has increasingly moved down the defensive spectrum. Drafted as a second baseman, he’s long been regarded by scouts as a below-average defender there. Defensive Runs Saved graded him six runs worse than par in a little more than 1000 innings in 2021. Texas pushed him to left field with the Marcus Semien signing in 2022.

In spite of his lackluster big league showings of late, the 28-year-0ld has continued to perform well in the minors. He spent most of last season with the Rangers’ top affiliate in Round Rock, where he hit .278/.371/.489 with 10 longballs, a strong 11.6% walk rate and a 19.7% strikeout percentage over 57 games. He’s now a .293/.370/.510 hitter over parts of three Triple-A campaigns.

Solak has one minor league option year remaining. The M’s can keep him in Tacoma as needed for the rest of this season if he holds a spot on the 40-man roster. He adds a right-handed bat who could potentially join Sam Haggerty and, when healthy, Dylan Moore as complements to Kolten Wong at second base. Seattle also has a left field platoon of Jarred Kelenic and AJ Pollock, with Solak stepping in behind them and Cooper Hummel in that regard.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Central Notes: Senzel, Stephenson, Nevin

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Reds outfielder Nick Senzel is starting the 2023 season on the injured list as offseason toe surgery delayed his start to Spring Training. It was expected that he would be taking over the regular center field job in Cincinnati once healthy but he might transition into more of a utility role. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the club is preparing him to serve in such a role and he could play third base and the corner outfield positions during his rehab.

Senzel, 28 in June, has a very small amount of third base experience in the big leagues, 32 innings over the past two seasons. He has a slightly largely tally of 49 innings at second base but then over 2,000 innings in center field. Switching things up while also trying to get ready for the season will be a challenge, but it’s understandable why the club would want him to try. He’s hit just .240/.303/.360 in his career so far for a wRC+ of 74. That production isn’t great for a lineup regular but would be more palatable for a multi-positional role player.

2023 is seen by some as a make-or-break year for Senzel, as he’s now into his arbitration years and is making a $1.95MM salary. Despite his tepid production so far, he’s continued to get chances based on the fact that he was once one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America had him in the top 10 of all MLB prospects in three straight years beginning in 2017. He could be retained via arbitration through 2025, though he’ll have to show the club he’s worth the continued investment. Taking a step forward at the plate would be great but he may also add more defensive versatility this year.

More notes from the central divisions…

  • The Pirates have informed reporters, including Justice delos Santos of MLB.com, that right-hander Robert Stephenson is beginning a rehab assignment tonight with Triple-A Indianapolis. The righty had been slowed by some arm discomfort this spring and was placed on the 15-day injured list yesterday, with the club describing his ailment as elbow inflammation. Stephenson had a lopsided season in 2022, posting a 6.04 ERA with the Rockies but a 3.38 mark after the Bucs claimed him off waivers. His strikeout rate went from 18.8% with Colorado to 36% with Pittsburgh. The Pirates were bullish enough to give him a $1.75MM salary for 2023, his last arbitration year before he’s slated for free agency. IL placements on Opening Day can be backdated to March 27, meaning Stephenson could be activated April 11 if all goes well between now and then.
  • The Tigers announced that infielder Tyler Nevin is beginning a rehab assignment today. Acquired from the Orioles in an offseason trade, Nevin suffered an oblique strain three weeks ago and was placed on the injured list yesterday. He hit just .197/.299/.261 with the O’s last year but had a strong .291/.382/.479 line in Triple-A. Prior to the injury, he was in the mix for a third base job alongside Nick Maton and Ryan Kreidler, and the club also recently acquired Zach McKinstry. Nevin still has an option and could potentially stick in Triple-A Toledo when his rehab is done. With his IL placement backdated to March 27, he’ll be eligible to be reinstated on April 6.

Mets Place Justin Verlander On Injured List

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March 31: The Mets have now officially placed Verlander on the IL and recalled Megill, per Tim Healey of Newsday. The move is retroactive to March 28.

March 30: The Mets announced that they will place right-hander Justin Verlander on the 15-day injured list with a “low-grade teres major strain.” According to the team, Verlander “will continue throwing at moderate intensity” and be reevaluated in a week. They’ll provide a further update at that time. Righty Tylor Megill will be recalled from Triple-A and take Verlander’s spot in the rotation for the time being, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

The 40-year-old Verlander’s velocity was down in his final outing of spring training, but the team hadn’t hinted at any type of injury until today’s out-of-the-blue announcement. General manager Billy Eppler tells the Mets beat that Verlander first reported discomfort last night and had an MRI this morning (Twitter link via Newsday’s Tim Healey). Verlander himself said he was working through some things that he initially attributed to routine spring discomfort (video link via DiComo). However, when he felt continued discomfort into his final bullpen of spring training and “connected the dots” with his decreased velocity in his most recent spring outing, he decided to get checked out.

Until next week’s follow-up MRI, it’ll be impossible to know just how long Verlander might be sidelined. He’s voiced confidence that it’s minor in nature and said he’d pitch if this occurred during the postseason. That’s encouraging, but even a brief absence is notable.

The Mets are already without one of Verlander’s fellow offseason signees, left-hander Jose Quintana, who will miss upwards of half the season following a bone graft procedure to remove a benign lesion from his ribcage. Quintana’s injury pushed sixth starter David Peterson into the rotation, and they’ll now already be tapping into Megill, their No. 7 option, before a single inning of their season has transpired.

Verlander lost the 2021 season to Tommy John surgery and not only returned in 2022 but improbably stormed back to ace status at age 39, winning the American League Cy Young Award on the heels of a 1.75 ERA over 175 innings. He punched out 27.8% of his opponents against a masterful 4.4% walk rate, averaging 95.1 mph on his heater along the way and generally looking like his typical, dominant self. That brilliant comeback prompted the Mets to make a two-year, $86.66MM offer, matching the annual value on the record-setting contract they’d given to co-ace Max Scherzer.

Assuming Verlander’s absence indeed proves brief, he’ll still be expected to pair with Scherzer and give the Mets two of this generation’s most accomplished arms atop the starting staff. Still, it’s surely a gut-punch to a team that moved on from now-former ace Jacob deGrom largely for durability reasons in recent years. Verlander can be placed on the IL retroactive to March 27 — three days is the largest backdating permissible under MLB rules — so he’ll be shelved for at least the first 12 days of the season.

Diamondbacks Acquire Anthony Misiewicz

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The Diamondbacks have acquired left-hander Anthony Misiewicz from the Cardinals, per announcements from both clubs. The D’Backs will send cash considerations to St. Louis in exchange. To open a spot on their roster, Arizona transferred right-hander Corbin Martin to the 60-day injured list.

Misiewicz, 28, has pitched in the past three big league seasons, mostly with the Mariners but also with the Royals. In 103 2/3 innings, he has a career 4.43 ERA, striking out 23.9% of batters faced, walking 7% and getting grounders at a 38.6% clip. The Royals designated him for assignment when they re-signed Zack Greinke in February, then flipped Misiewicz across Missouri for cash.

The southpaw had a decent spring, allowing two earned runs in seven innings, striking out eight batters against one walk. However, he got squeezed off the roster by a couple of factors. One is that prospect Jordan Walker’s meteoric rise led to him needing an Opening Day roster spot. Second, the Cards had a bunch of lefty relief options on the roster in Zack Thompson, Packy Naughton, Génesis Cabrera and JoJo Romero. When the time came to add Walker to the roster, it seems Misiewicz was considered the most expendable and was designated for assignment earlier this week.

He’ll now head to the Diamondbacks, though he may not be ticketed for the active roster since he still has a couple of options. The club currently has Andrew Chafin and Kyle Nelson as their left-handed relief options in the big leagues. Misiewicz could make it three but they could also send him to Triple-A to serve as depth until needed. Misiewicz has between two and three years of MLB service time and can be controlled via arbitration through the 2026 season, though optional assignments could push that back.

In order to open up a spot for Misiewicz, Martin has been moved to the 60-day IL. That move doesn’t come as a surprise since he recently underwent lat tendon surgery and will likely miss the entire 2023 season.

Still No Agreement Between Pirates And Bryan Reynolds Due To Opt-Out Clause

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March 31, 2:05pm: Reynolds was looking for an opt-out after 2026, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Reynolds is currently slated for free agency after 2025, so the Pirates would only gain one extra year of control in the event they agreed to that contract and he eventually opted out.

March 31, 1:35pm: Some more details on the negotiations come from Mackey (Twitter links one, two and three). He says that the eight-year, $106MM deal being discussed includes 2023 and that Reynolds is willing to backload the deal so that triggering his opt-out means walking away from the biggest salaries.

March 31, 12:40pm: The conceptual issue is indeed an opt-out clause, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. He adds that the two sides have come to an agreement around $106MM on the guarantee, roughly the middle point between the previous asking prices, but that Reynolds and his reps want an opt-out that the Pirates appear unwilling to give thus far.

March 30: The Pirates and outfielder Bryan Reynolds have been discussing a contract extension in recent days, with today’s opener reportedly considered a cutoff point. The season has now begun and it appears that there’s still no deal in place, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, who adds that the two sides have an agreement on dollars but a “major conceptual issue” is getting in the way.

To this point, it’s unclear what this conceptual issue is. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette confirms Heyman’s report (Twitter links) and adds that the hangup is not “years/dollars or size of the thing.” If it’s not the length or the guarantee, it could be something like an opt-out or a no-trade clause, though that’s merely speculation.

Regardless of what the issue is, the fact that the two sides got closer on the money is encouraging. Discussions earlier this winter reportedly had the Pirates offering something in the $75-80MM range over six years while Reynolds’ camp was aiming for $134MM over eight years. The two sides were so far apart that Reynolds requested a trade. The Pirates appeared generally unmoved by that request and seemingly had no desire to drop their sky-high asking price. It’s a somewhat positive sign that the talks have been fruitful enough that a deal seems close, though it hasn’t yet gotten over the line.

It has been reported in recent days that the Opening Day game is something of a deadline for negotiations. The Pirates have now started their first game of the season and it seems a deal still isn’t in place. However, Mackey reports that both sides still view it as being possible.

Whether or not a deal comes together in the coming days or weeks remains to be seen. If the talks eventually end without a new deal, there’s nothing preventing further talks from starting down the road, though players often like to use Opening Day as a point to focus less on contractual matters and more on their on-field duties. Reynolds will be making $6.75MM this year as part of a two-year deal to avoid arbitration he signed going into 2022. The Pirates can still retain his services via arbitration for 2024 and 2025, with Reynolds currently slated for free agency after that. He’s coming into this season with a career batting line of .281/.361/.481 for a wRC+ of 126.

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