Archives for March 2023

José Quintana Diagnosed With Stress Fracture In Rib

By Darragh McDonald | March 6, 2023 at 5:05pm CDT

The Mets informed reporters, including Tim Healey of Newsday, that left-hander José Quintana has a “small stress fracture” in his fifth rib on his left side. He left his spring outing yesterday with side tightness and later announced that he was withdrawing from the World Baseball Classic. He is leaving camp and headed to New York for further imaging. The club does not have a timeline on his recovery yet.

Quintana, 34, was pencilled in to be a key piece of the Mets’ rotation this year after signing a two-year, $26MM deal in the offseason. He had a rough couple of seasons in 2020 and 2021 but bounced back nicely last year with the Pirates and Cardinals. He tossed 165 2/3 innings between the two clubs with a 2.93 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 46.4% ground ball rate. The Mets signed him to that two-year pact and hoped to have him in their rotation alongside Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and Carlos Carrasco.

At this point, it’s still unclear what the next steps will be, but it seems like Quintana will at least be delayed. There’s just over three weeks until Opening Day at this point. Even if he’s able to return to the mound in short order, he would still need some time to build up his pitch count.

It was around this time last year that Red Sox lefty Chris Sale was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his rib, which prevented him from making his season debut until July. That’s not to say Quintana is facing the same absence, as all injuries are unique and players respond to them differently. However, it does illustrate that the diagnosis has the chance to be significant.

We don’t know what kind of absence Quintana ultimately will require, but the Mets have depth options on their roster if Quintana does eventually need to miss some of the regular season. Joey Lucchesi was recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2022 and missed all of the MLB season. He began a rehab assignment in August of last year and pitched 12 2/3 minor league innings before the winter arrived. Back in 2019, he made 30 starts for the Padres and posted a 4.18 ERA. Tylor Megill made nine starts and six relief appearances for the club last year, posting a combined 5.13 ERA. David Peterson had a 3.83 ERA across 19 starts and nine relief appearances last year and would perhaps be the first one called up to take a rotation job. He recently had his own injury scare when a comebacker hit him in the foot, though it seems he escaped with just a contusion and is day-to-day. All three of Lucchesi, Megill and Peterson have options, allowing them to be stretched out in the minors whenever their services are not required by the big league club.

Mariners Release Nick Margevicius

By Darragh McDonald | March 6, 2023 at 3:44pm CDT

The Mariners announced today that left-hander Nick Margevicius has been released. Their spring camp is now down to 71 players.

Margevicius, 27 in June, once seemed like he was on a path to being a useful big league starter but has been held back by injuries in recent years. Originally drafted by the Padres, that club made the aggressive move of adding Margevicius to their Opening Day roster in 2019. At that time, the lefty had yet to pitch above High-A but he was coming off a strong season in the lower levels of the farm. He posted a 3.60 ERA in 135 minor league innings in 2018, striking out 26% of batters and walking just 3%.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much to be excited about since that time. Margevicius had a 6.79 ERA in his first major league season and got put on waivers prior to the 2020 campaign. The Mariners claimed him and then saw him put up a respectable 4.57 ERA in 2020. But he tossed 12 innings for the club early in 2021 before requiring surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in May, wiping out the latter parts of that season.

He was able to return to the mound last year but struggled in his first few Triple-A outings and got designated for assignment in May. He cleared waivers and was outrighted, sticking with the M’s in a non-roster capacity. He eventually tossed 49 Triple-A innings last year but with a 7.53 ERA. He was surely victimized by a bit of bad luck, as he allowed a .422 batting average on balls in play and had a 61.4% strand rate, but his 5.49 FIP and 5.80 xFIP were still quite high.

It seems the M’s would prefer to get a look at some other arms in camp and have let Margevicius go to explore other opportunities. If he can latch on with a different organization, perhaps he can get into a better groove now that he’s further removed from his surgery. If he eventually earns himself a roster spot, he still has an option remaining and less than three years of MLB service time.

Offseason In Review: Baltimore Orioles

By Darragh McDonald | March 6, 2023 at 2:51pm CDT

After five straight dismal seasons, the Orioles finally showed signs of life in 2022. Their farm system truly started producing for the big league club and they won 83 games, their best tally since 2016. That led to hopes of an aggressive winter, with general manager Mike Elias fanning those flames as the offseason was ramping up. But in the end, the club avoided big splashes and stuck to a few modest moves. The future is still bright in Baltimore as the organization is loaded with young talent, but a true pedal-to-the-metal move hasn’t materialized yet.

Major League Signings

RHP Kyle Gibson: one-year, $10MM
IF/OF Adam Frazier: one-year, $8MM
RHP Mychal Givens: one-year, $5MM, including 2024 mutual option

2022 spending: $23MM
Total spending: $23MM

Option Decisions

Club declined $11MM option on RHP Jordan Lyles in favor of $1MM buyout

Trades And Claims

Claimed OF Jake Cave off waivers from Twins (later lost on waivers to Phillies)
Claimed C Mark Kolozsvary off waivers from Reds (later outrighted off 40-man roster)
Claimed C Aramis Garcia off waivers from Reds (later outrighted and elected free agency)
Claimed OF Daz Cameron off waivers from Tigers (later outrighted off 40-man roster)
Claimed 1B Lewin Díaz off waivers from Pirates (later traded to Braves, claimed again and then outrighted off 40-man)
Selected RHP Andrew Politi from Red Sox in Rule 5 draft
Acquired C James McCann and cash considerations from Mets for a player to be named later (later named as IF/OF Luis De La Cruz)
Traded IF Tyler Nevin to Tigers for cash considerations
Acquired 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn from Royals for cash considerations (later outrighted off 40-man roster)
Acquired LHP Darwinzon Hernandez from Red Sox for cash considerations (later outrighted off 40-man roster)
Acquired LHP Cole Irvin and RHP Kyle Virbitsky from A’s for IF Darell Hernaiz

Extensions

None

Notable Minor League Signings

Franchy Cordero, Nomar Mazara, Josh Lester, Eduard Bazardo, Kyle Dowdy, Reed Garrett, Curtis Terry

Notable Losses

Lyles, Rougned Odor, Cam Gallagher, Brett Phillips, Jesús Aguilar, Chris Owings, Robinson Chirinos, Jake Reed, Beau Sulser, Louis Head, Chris Ellis, Yusniel Díaz

“Our plan for this offseason has always been to significantly escalate the payroll,” general manager Mike Elias said in August. “I think a lot of that’s going to come through our own guys going into arbitration, but also we plan to explore free agency much more aggressively. We plan to maybe make some buy trades for some guys that are either on contracts or kind of in the tail-end of their arbitration.”

“The success…has only cemented those plans. I’m really looking forward to the offseason and kind of a winter meetings environment where we’re buying. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for our group and for the organization.”

Here’s another Elias comment from August, relayed by Dan Connolly of The Athletic: “I think it’s liftoff from here for this team.”

Those comments surely led to a wide spectrum of interpretations and expectations among the club’s fanbase. Some might have been on the more skeptical side, while others might have been dreaming of a big splash such as one of the top shortstops or an elite starter. The club reportedly did sniff around the “Big Four” shortstops but never really seemed to be close to getting anything done there. They were also connected to starters like Carlos Rodón and Jameson Taillon and others. But again, they never really seemed to close to winning those bids and those players ultimately signed elsewhere.

The club did make a couple of moves for their rotation, but nothing approaching the level of a Rodón or a Taillon. They turned down an $11MM option over veteran Jordan Lyles, opting instead for the $1MM buyout. A few weeks later, they redirected the $10MM they saved to another veteran innings eater in Kyle Gibson. On the surface, that actually seems like something of a downgrade, as Lyles posted a 4.42 ERA last year to Gibson’s 5.05. One could dig deeper and find that Gibson had better peripherals and a lower FIP, and this will perhaps turn into a savvy swap. But in the grand scheme of things, we’re talking about a move that is essentially net neutral.

The other new addition to the rotation is Cole Irvin, acquired from the A’s with each team getting a new prospect in the deal as well. Irvin is somewhat similar to Gibson in that he’s expected to be a competent but not elite member of the rotation. He made 62 starts for the A’s over the past two years with a 4.11 ERA, but will be moving from the pitcher-friendly Oakland Coliseum to the AL East. Oriole Park is a bit kinder to pitchers since they moved the left field fence back last year, but Irvin will still have to take the mound in the less-friendly stadiums around the division while facing some strong lineups. He has done well over the past couple of seasons and is cheap since he’s yet to reach arbitration, but there’s some risk here.

There were also some modest additions made to the position player mix. Adam Frazier was brought aboard with a one-year deal to essentially replace Rougned Odor as the veteran second baseman. He’s coming off a down year at the plate but is generally graded well with the glove. His bat has oscillated hot and cold over the years, and he’ll be a nice piece if he can have one of those good seasons. If one of the Orioles’ many infield prospect eventually pushes for a larger share of the second base reps, Frazier has plenty of experience in left field, too.

The club also bought low by acquiring James McCann from the Mets, as he’s coming off two straight disappointing seasons. He still has two years remaining on his four-year, $40.6MM deal, but the Mets are paying down most of it. The O’s will only be responsible for paying $5MM total over those two years. With Adley Rutschman firmly cemented as the backstop for years to come, the O’s only need McCann to be a serviceable backup. If his bat rebounds to where it was in 2019 and 2020, that would be a nice bonus, but they’re not relying on it. Notably, McCann has a strong track record against lefties (despite a poor showing in 2022), and the switch-hitting Rutschman was far better as a left-handed hitter than as a right-handed hitter during his debut season. The O’s aren’t going to immediately relegate Rutschman to platoon status, but McCann still gives them some nice balance in their catching duo.

And what else? Mychal Givens got $5MM to bring an established veteran presence to the bullpen. The depth was fortified by waiver claims on players like Ryan O’Hearn and Lewin Díaz, twice in the latter case. Both players were eventually outrighted to serve as non-roster depth alongside minor league signees like Nomar Mazara and Franchy Cordero. That’s about it.

As mentioned earlier, fans likely had varying ideas of what to expect this winter with those comments from Elias, but it’s hard to really feel like this is what he had in mind. The club’s current payroll is effectively stagnant relative to the end of last year, with Roster Resource putting a $63MM figure on both tallies. That places them 29th in the league, with only the A’s behind them. After saying he would “significantly” escalate the payroll, it’s hard to characterize that as anything but a disappointment. Was it “a lot of fun,” as Elias predicted, to swap Lyles for Gibson and then add Irvin, McCann, Frazier and Givens?

The disparity between the promise and the delivery might be chalked up to the changes in the offseason environment. Most of the marquee free agents beat the industry projections, often by wide margins. Xander Bogaerts, for instance, got around $100MM more than most expected. Even mid-rotation starters like Taillon and Taijuan Walker did much better than their projections. Perhaps Elias expected to come away with more here and was simply priced out. There would be little sense in raising hopes if he had no intention in coming through.

Regardless of how or why it happened, the O’s are going into 2023 with a fairly similar roster to last year, which isn’t really a bad thing. The club’s farm system truly started to bear fruit at the big league level last year, with prospects like Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Stowers and others debuting and showing strong potential. There’s even more coming through the pipeline with Grayson Rodriguez, one of the best pitching prospects in the league, potentially jumping right into the Opening Day rotation here in 2023.

Those should be fixtures on the big league team this year and for years to come, alongside other incumbents like Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle, Austin Hays and others. The pitching seems a little less exciting, with Gibson and Irvin joined by some other hurlers that are still trying to cement themselves as viable big leaguers, such as Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Austin Voth and Tyler Wells.

Despite all those prospects jumping up to the big leagues, the system still has more. After Rodriguez, the club also has highly-regarded prospects like DL Hall, Connor Norby, Coby Mayo, Joey Ortiz, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser and Jackson Holliday. Aside from Holliday, those guys will all be in the upper levels of the minors and could join the team this year depending on how the year progresses.

Overall, the club is still in great shape for the future, as they are loaded with young and controllable talent. The lack of recent spending means that there’s close to nothing on the books going forward. But it was hoped by many that the young core would be supplemented by aggressive moves to add established veterans. Elias asserted that was the plan and did bring in some complementary pieces, but not really at the level he seemed to imply.

Leaving aside the players for a moment, another key storyline for the Orioles this winter was the apparent turmoil within the Angelos family. Peter Angelos has owned the team for decades but has been suffering poor health since he collapsed in 2017. It seems that his wife Georgia and their two sons, John and Louis, have been in disagreement about how to proceed with the franchise. It was reported in June of last year that John had been approved by MLB as Baltimore’s “control person” but with Louis suing his brother over those developments and others. Georgia then filed a countersuit against Louis, alleging he fabricated claims in his own attempt to seize power. Despite that seemingly ugly battle, an agreement was reached in February whereby all parties agreed to drop their lawsuits.

Amid all those lawsuits were accusations about a potential sale of the club, with John and Georgia both accused of trying to explore the possibility at times. Alongside this, the club declined a five-year lease extension at Camden Yards in February. That creates some uncertainty about the club’s future in Baltimore, but it seems that this is merely a temporary issue. The club is hoping to get a new deal in place that’s 10-15 years in length so that the Maryland Stadium Authority can qualify for a $600MM loan for stadium upgrades. John Angelos has been adamant that the club is not looking to relocate, nor are they seriously pursuing a sale. He’s also said they would like to get into the top half of the league in terms of spending at some point.

That provides some hope for the future, but that didn’t come to fruition this winter. As mentioned, the club’s payroll is higher than last year but still just 29th among the 30 clubs in the league. Despite a winter devoid of splashy moves, the on-field product is still in decent shape. They won 83 games last year and still have plenty of prospects on the rise. However, young players don’t always progress in a linear fashion, and this particular group will be trying to compete in what is arguably the strongest division in the league. There’s light over the horizon, but it’s still not clear how close the new dawn really is.

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

In conjunction with the Orioles’ offseason review, we held an Orioles-focused chat on March 7. You can click here to read the transcript.

Rangers’ Leody Taveras Shut Down Due To Oblique Strain

By Steve Adams | March 6, 2023 at 12:18pm CDT

Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras is dealing with a “low-grade” oblique strain, general manager Chris Young tells Rangers beat writers (Twitter link via Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). He’ll be out for at least seven to ten days. It’s still possible Taveras will be ready for Opening Day, but that’ll obviously depend on how he mends.

Taveras, 24, rated as one of baseball’s top 50 or so prospects prior to making his 2020 debut, due largely to his speed and potential for standout glovework in center field. He managed only a .188/.249/.321 slash in 319 plate appearances from 2020-21 but broke out with a career-best .261/.309/.366 showing in 341 plate appearances during the 2022 season. That still checked in about seven percent worse than an average MLB hitter, by measure of wRC+, but given his overall defensive aptitude, that was solid enough to land him the likely everyday center field job in 2023.

Dating back to that 2020 MLB debut, Taveras in just over a full season’s worth of games (180) and turned in a sparkling 10 Defensive Runs Saved and 11 Outs Above Average. He’s also gone 29-for-35 on the basepaths, swiping bags with a hefty 82.9% success rate. That impressive total comes despite Taveras sporting just a .280 career OBP at the moment. Between his speed, the slightly larger bases and new rules limiting pitchers throwing over to bases, Taveras has the potential to be a force in the stolen-base department if he can even replicate last year’s modest improvements in on-base percentage. To his credit, he slashed his strikeout rate from 32.2% down to 25.8%, so some of the improvement at the dish appears sustainable.

All that will depend on his health, of course. Even Grade 1 oblique strains can shelve players for around a month of action, but every injury instance is different. If Taveras’ current oblique issue is indeed minor enough that a 10-day down period will get him back into game shape, being ready on March 30 doesn’t seem out of the question.

If, however, it’s determined in seven to ten days’ time that Taveras still needs some down time, a season-opening IL stint becomes likelier. In that scenario, the Rangers could either move Adolis Garcia from right field back to center field, or they could keep Garcia in right and go with light-hitting speedster Bubba Thompson in center. Robbie Grossman has the inside track on left field work for Texas in 2023, but he’s not going to factor into any contingency plans in center, where he’s played all of 11 innings over the past seven seasons.

The Rangers have a deep but generally unproven collection of outfielders vying for a spot on the bench. Former top infield prospect Josh Smith has seen increasing time in the outfield and could conceivably work in some sort of platoon arrangement with Grossman in left field. Veterans Travis Jankowski and Clint Frazier are in camp as non-roster invitees, as is 28-year-old Elier Hernandez, who made his MLB debut with Texas last season. Utilityman Brad Miller has plenty of experience in the outfield corners, too, and slugger Dustin Harris is already on the 40-man roster as well.

Cardinals Notes: Arenado, Fermin, Pitching Staff

By Steve Adams | March 6, 2023 at 11:17am CDT

Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado has watched several teammates play into their age-40 seasons in recent years, but he tells MLB.com’s John Denton that as things stand right now, he’s not planning to follow Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright down that path. Arenado tells Denton he’d like to play until age 38 — long enough that his infant daughter can eventually watch him play in the Majors. Calling it quits at 38 would also give Arenado an earlier path to spending more time with his young family, of course. As you’d expect, Arenado qualifies that the age-38 plan is subject to change, noting that his body, on-field performance and other factors will play sizable roles in the decision as time passes.

On a surely related note, Arenado talks with Denton about the intensity with which he prepares for and plays the game, acknowledging that it can take a toll on him. Arenado wonders whether that intensity can be “too much” for both his own psyche and, at times, his teammates, adding: “I actually need to relax more.” It’s an interesting look at Arenado’s personality, mentality and place within the organization. Cards fans — and, more broadly, fans of Arenado in general — will want to check it out in full.

A few more items pertaining to the Cards…

Infielder Jose Fermin has a strained quadriceps and will be shut down for at least the next two weeks, manager Oli Marmol announced to reporters this morning (Twitter link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Acquired in a November trade with the Guardians, the 23-year-old Fermin (24 late this month) has been competing for a bench spot, but this injury all but eliminates the possibility of him landing on the Opening Day roster. He’s out to a 1-for-8 start thus far in Grapefruit League play and is coming off a shaky .215/.336/.322 showing in 330 Triple-A plate appearances a year ago. Even while struggling in Triple-A, however, Fermin fanned at a tiny 13.9% clip against a hearty 12.7% walk rate. He’s long drawn praise for his bat-to-ball skills, above-average speed and above-average defensive potential. He has very little power, but a healthy Fermin could seemingly make the Cardinals as a versatile utility player with a knack for putting the ball in play. He’s in the first of three minor league option seasons and is already on the 40-man roster, so he could potentially impact the team’s bench mix for several years.
Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat takes a thorough look at the Cardinals’ pitching depth, noting that this is the deepest staff of arms the Cards have carried in some time. A few items of particular note include that righty Drew VerHagen and lefty Zack Thompson, both of whom have been rotation options in the past, have been brought along on reliever schedules this spring. Sophomore righty Andre Pallante started 10 games for the Cards in 2022, but it seems the team is monitoring his workload even as he preps to pitch for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic; the Cards have asked that Team Italy not push him beyond 45 pitches in any outing. Pallante is likely ticketed for a relief role in 2023, given the presence of Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty in the rotation (with Matthew Liberatore, Dakota Hudson, Jake Woodford and top prospect Gordon Graceffo all on hand as depth options). It should be noted that Matz is the only member of that rotation signed/controlled beyond 2023, however, so the Cards will surely be hoping for some in-house arms to step up and prove they can be relied upon in 2024 and beyond (even if the addition of an arm or two next winter feels inevitable).

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former Cubs GM Ed Lynch

By Tim Dierkes | March 6, 2023 at 8:42am CDT

Former big league pitcher and Cubs general manager Ed Lynch chatted with MLBTR readers for more than two hours this morning. You can read the transcript here, and read up on his fascinating career below:

Before he became GM of the Cubs, Ed Lynch was a pitcher. He was drafted by the Rangers out of the University of South Carolina in the 22nd round back in 1977. A few years later, Lynch was traded to the Mets.

Lynch broke in with the Mets in 1980. Lynch led the Mets with 94 starts from 1981-85, working with rotation-mates such as Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, and Mike Scott. Known for his excellent control, Lynch ranked fifth in the NL in walk rate in ’83 and third in ’85.

Unfortunately, Lynch’s time with the legendary ’86 Mets was cut short, as he was traded to the Cubs on June 30th of that year. As Lynch later put it to Jennifer Frey of the New York Times, “It was like living with a family all year, then getting kicked out on Christmas Eve.” After the ’87 season, Lynch’s pitching career was over.

According to Frey, Lynch “went on to receive a law degree at the University of Miami. He was hired out of law school by Joe McIlvaine — then the general manager in San Diego — to serve as director of player development for the Padres.” After a brief stint under McIlvaine back with the Mets, Lynch was named GM of the Cubs in October 1994 at the age of 38.

Lynch’s top draft picks during his tenure as Cubs GM included Kerry Wood, Jon Garland, and Corey Patterson. One key Lynch trade, which I remember vividly reading about in the newspaper at the age of 15, was an August 1997 deal that sent Brian McRae, Mel Rojas, and Turk Wendell to the Mets for Mark Clark and Lance Johnson.

Those players were a key part of the 1998 Cubs, a Lynch team that broke a nine-year playoff drought. Led by a 66 home run season by Sammy Sosa and the typically-excellent Mark Grace, the ’98 Cubs also included Lynch pickups Mickey Morandini, Henry Rodriguez, Gary Gaetti, Kevin Tapani, and Rod Beck. Kerry Wood took home Rookie of the Year honors that season.

Player acquisitions during Lynch’s tenure as Cubs GM also included Brian McRae, Jaime Navarro, Todd Zeile, Luis Gonzalez, Scott Servais, Terry Mulholland, Jeff Blauser, Jon Lieber, and Eric Young. Additionally, Lynch was Cubs GM when Ryne Sandberg came out of retirement in 1996. Lynch was also responsible for the hiring of manager Don Baylor in 1999, the first minority to hold that job in franchise history.

According to a SABR article by Jon Springer, Lynch “remained in the Cubs organization for another decade as a special assistant to the GM before joining the Toronto Blue Jays as a professional scout in 2010.” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale caught up with Lynch in February 2020, revealing that he’s now working as a realtor.

Ed is the first former MLB GM to come on for a live chat here. If any other former GMs happen to read this and would like to participate, drop us a line! You get to choose which questions to publish and answer, and it only takes an hour.

The Opener: Injuries, WBC, MLBTR Chat

By Nick Deeds | March 6, 2023 at 8:28am CDT

As players all around baseball get ready for the World Baseball Classic to begin, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Injury Updates Expected

Multiple injury updates are expected today, with Phillies manager Rob Thomson telling reporters (including Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer) that the club hopes to have an update on top prospect Andrew Painter’s status today regarding the results of the testing the young right-hander underwent on his elbow over the weekend. As not only one of the top prospects in the entire game, but also one of the frontrunners to capture the fifth starter spot in Philadelphia, Painter’s health status is one of the most pressing questions of the day.

Moving to the other side of Pennsylvania, MLB.com’s Justice delos Santos notes that health updates are expected today both for Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen and lefty reliever Jarlin Garcia. McCutchen was struck in the hand by a fouled off pitch yesterday, while Garcia is suffering from left arm tightness. Given McCutchen’s status as not only the starting right fielder but also a Pirates legend making his return to the organization, and Garcia’s status as one of Pittsburgh’s best setup options ahead of David Bednar, losing either player for a significant period would surely be a blow to the club as they prepare for Opening Day at the end of the month.

2. Pools C and D report for WBC

Teams in Pools C and D for the WBC are reporting today, after Pools A and B reported on Friday. Pool C consists of the USA, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, and Colombia, while Pool D consists of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Israel, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. The teams in Pools C and D are even more star-studded than those in Pools A and B, which we covered in Friday’s Opener. 19 former All-Stars are on the Team USA roster alone, while the Dominican Republic’s roster sports 13 former All-Stars of its own.

Ronald Acuna Jr. (Venezuela), Jose Altuve (Venezuela), Luis Arraez (Venezuela), Javier Baez (Puerto Rico), Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela), Edwin Diaz (Puerto Rico), Eduardo Escobar (Venezuela), Freddie Freeman (Canada), Andres Gimenez (Venezuela), Francisco Lindor (Puerto Rico), Omar Narvaez (Venezuela), Joc Pederson (Israel), Salvador Perez (Venezuela), Marcus Stroman (Puerto Rico), Eugenio Suarez (Venezuela), Julio Teheran (Colombia), Gleyber Torres (Venezuela), and Taijuan Walker (Mexico) represent the other All Stars in Pools C and D. You can find full rosters for each WBC team here.

3. MLBTR Live Chat

MLBTR is excited to continue its live chat series with people from around the game of baseball today, as we welcome Ed Lynch. Lynch was a right-handed pitcher whose career spanned eight seasons with the Mets and Cubs from 1980 to 1987. Lynch had a 4.00 ERA and 3.90 FIP in 940 1/3 innings before retiring at the age of 31 and transitioning to front office work that eventually led him to become the Cubs’ general manager from 1994-2000. Given his wealth of experience both as a front office executive and as a major league player, we’re excited for Lynch to share his insight with MLBTR readers during today’s live chat, which you can join right now!

AL West Notes: A’s, Ragans, Taveras

By Darragh McDonald | March 5, 2023 at 10:30pm CDT

The Athletics could deploy a six-man rotation this year, with general manager David Forst discussing the situation with Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. “We’ve mapped it out a lot of different ways,” Forst said. “Things that look like a six-man (rotation) or an occasional bullpen day or an occasional spot starter. There are a lot of ways to do it. I just don’t think we’ll know what they are until we get really into the season.”

At least one factor that is pushing the club in this direction is Shintaro Fujinami, who will be making the transition from Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball to the majors. Pitchers in the NPB generally take the ball once per week, as opposed to the five-day schedule typically implemented in North America. Fujinami has also been occasionally deployed as a reliever in recent years, meaning his typical workload has been less than that of a typical MLB starter. The club also has many younger pitchers that could run into limitations throughout the season, depending on how things play out.

However the A’s decide to distribute their innings, it won’t be written in stone. “It will not be well-defined,” Forst said. “Whatever it is, we will not say Opening Night, ‘Here’s our six-man rotation, it’s staying like this.’ It will be flexible.”

Some other notes from the American League West division…

Lefty Cole Ragans is impressing in Rangers camp, with Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News relaying manager Bruce Bochy’s comments on the southpaw. “He’s just been a joy to watch,” Bochy said, adding that Ragans is “getting talked about a lot” in internal meetings. The lefty has shown increased stuff this spring, including hitting 99 mph with his fastball. “I didn’t go hunting velo this offseason,” Ragans said. “It wasn’t my goal to throw 100. I just wanted to feel good. I wanted to do what I could do.” Ragans had a strong year in the minors last year, posting a 3.04 ERA in 94 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. He also made his MLB debut with a 4.95 ERA over nine starts. The club overhauled their rotation this winter by adding Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney and Jake Odorizzi to incumbents Martín Pérez and Jon Gray. Those moves bumped Ragans down the depth chart, but some of those guys are dealing with minor injuries, which could potentially increase Ragans’ chances of getting an opportunity. He could also perhaps get a big league job in the bullpen, with Bochy suggesting it’s good to stay open-minded about make such pivots.
Sticking with the Rangers, the club announced that outfielder Leody Taveras was scratched from today’s game due to left side tightness. To this point, it’s unclear how serious his ailment is, but Taveras is a noteworthy member of the club given the state of their roster. Though the rotation and infield appear strong on paper, the outfield has more uncertainty to it. Taveras has appeared in the past three seasons, hitting at a below-average level but impressing with the glove. In 174 games in center field, he’s posted 10 Defensive Runs Saved and 11 Outs Above Average. He’s set to be the top option up the middle for the club, flanked by Adolis García and Robbie Grossman in the corners. If Taveras needs to miss any time, García could move from right field to center. But wherever Garcia lines up, it would mean someone will get bumped up from a bench job into a regular role. The club’s outfield depth consists of players like Bubba Thompson, Josh Smith, Ezequiel Duran, Brad Miller and others. All of those guys come with question marks, so the club will likely be hoping that Taveras is fine after some rest and can return to regular action.

NL East Notes: Quintana, Peterson, Kieboom

By Nick Deeds and Darragh McDonald | March 5, 2023 at 9:02pm CDT

Mets general manager Billy Eppler told reporters today, including Tim Healey of Newsday Sports (Twitter links), that left-hander José Quintana had his start limited to just one inning today against the Cardinals due to left side tightness. Healey relays that Quintana will no longer participate in the World Baseball Classic and will attempt to be ready for the MLB season.

Long before he joined the Mets, Quintana spent the first several seasons of his career as a reliable middle of the rotation arm in Chicago, first with the White Sox from 2012-2017, then with the Cubs from 2017-2020 following the deal that sent him across town in exchange for Eloy Jiménez and Dylan Cease. However, Quintana began to struggle toward the end of his time in Chicago: he posted his first below average season by ERA+ in 2019, pitched just 10 innings due to injury in the shortened 2020 season, and had a disastrous 2021 season split between the Giants and the Angels where he pitched to a 6.43 ERA (69 ERA+) in 63 innings of work.

Quintana managed to turn things around in 2022, however: he pitched to a strong 3.50 ERA in 103 innings as a member of the Pirates before being dealt to the Cardinals at the trade deadline last year, where he went on to dominate, posting a sensational 2.01 ERA (191 ERA+) over 62 2/3 innings down the stretch. His overall season line of a 2.93 ERA (137 ERA+) and 2.99 FIP earned him a two-year, $26MM contract with the Mets this winter. At this point, the severity of the injury is unknown, but the fact that he’s dropped out of the WBC and isn’t certain about being ready for the start of the regular season gives a vague timeframe. Whenever he’s healthy, the Mets figure to have Quintana rounding out their rotation alongside Kodai Senga and Carlos Carrasco behind co-aces Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.

Giants Notes: Luciano, Wade, Pederson

By Mark Polishuk | March 5, 2023 at 7:44pm CDT

Marco Luciano hit .269/.350/.467 over 257 combined plate appearances in rookie ball and high-A ball in 2022, a solid performance that was marred by over two months lost to the injured list due to a lower back strain. To combat the back issues that have hampered him more than once during his career, Luciano told The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser that he has gained 30 pounds since last season, as he believes “having more muscle will help make my body stronger so I can last the entire season.”

Luciano is one of the Giants’ top prospects and one of the better-regarded prospects in the sport, as Baseball Prospectus, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and MLB Pipeline all had the shortstop ranked between 18th and 22nd on their preseason top-100 lists. Evaluators are clearly still high on the 21-year-old despite his injury concerns, though it isn’t yet clear if Luciano has recovered enough to participate in any game action before Spring Training is over. Slusser writes that Luciano’s fielding work has been limited, and he only started hitting on the field a few days ago. With Luciano expected to start the year at Double-A, it would seem like he might first need some extra work in extended Spring Training before making his on-field debut in 2023.

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