As the end of the 2023 season’s first month draws near, here are three things to keep an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Extension season continues:
Typically, players and clubs set something of a deadline on extension talks for Opening Day, leaving extensions as a somewhat rare occurrence in the early months of the season. That trend has been bucked so far this season, however, as four players signed extensions in recent weeks: Ian Happ signed a three-year, $61MM extension with the Cubs, Logan Webb inked a five-year, $90MM extension with the Giants, Hunter Greene agreed to a six-year, $53MM extension with the Reds, and Pablo Lopez landed a four year, $73.5MM extension with the Twins.
It seems somewhat unlikely that another player from the 2023-2024 free agent class will join Happ in signing an extension just six months before free agency opens, at least without receiving top dollar. Still, there are plenty of players controlled by their clubs beyond the 2023 campaign who might look to extend their stay with the team, including Bryan Reynolds, with whom the Pirates continue to leave the door for extension negotiations open despite a series of roadblocks in contract talks. The Reds, in particular, seem interested in locking up their other young pitchers along with Greene, as the club has recently had extension talks with both left-hander Nick Lodolo and right-hander Graham Ashcraft.
2. Rockies to promote Doyle:
It’s been reported that Rockies outfield prospect Brenton Doyle is set to get called up to the majors today, with the possibility that he’ll make his major league debut as soon as this evening against the Guardians. Doyle, who has torn up the Triple-A level to the tune of a 1.123 OPS in 21 games (98 plate appearances) at the level, appears poised to get his opportunity thanks to injuries that have left both Kris Bryant and Yonathan Daza day-to-day. With two of the club’s regular outfielders potentially out of action, Doyle makes sense as a solution thanks to his solid defense at all three outfield spots and presence on the 40-man roster. Still, a transaction of some sort will be necessary to make room for Doyle on the active roster.
3. Injury updates expected today:
Updates on the availability of both Bryant, who suffered a glute injury on Saturday, and Daza, who was hit by a pitch during yesterday’s game, seem likely to come ahead of this evening’s Rockies game at 5:10pm CT. The Rockies aren’t the only club from which updates regarding injured players are expected, however. Santiago Espinal of the Blue Jays was recently hit by a pitch from Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole and, while x-rays on his wrist were negative, Espinal is expected to undergo additional testing today as manager John Schneider told reporters, including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.
Meanwhile, Guardians prospect Daniel Espino, whose struggles with shoulder inflammation recently resulted in the right-hander being shut down for the second time this season, is expected to see a doctor in the coming days. While Espino doesn’t seem likely to impact the big league club this year, as an arm with front-end potential and an already checkered injury history at just 21 years old, his health is of great importance to the organization’s future.
Bryant should be listed as season to season and not day to day.
Heh.
And as soon as the Rockies cut another $51M check, Bryant will be on the RS.
I’m still waiting for my employer to offer me an extension. I told them I’ looking for 5Y/$100M.
You’ll probably get the same response I did.
I can see the cubs extending Steele and Stroman before the end of the season
I can def see Steele
If Stro keeps up his early season success he might price himself out of Chicago
He’ll be 33 next year – no matter how great he pitches I can’t see anyone giving him more than $25MM per. Extend him for 3/$75MM starting with the 2025 season making it a 4/96 ( if he doesn’t opt out he is on books for $21MM) – tack on a club option for $28MM with a $10MM buyout and I think he dives on it …slight overpay at most
It also depends how close Cubs are to contending also
True – but I would have to imagine they see the window of contention opening now or next yr so keeping Stroman for the next 4yrs would make sense – even if they are out of it at the deadline I don’t see them moving him but pushing harder to keep him
To me, ahead of Hoerner and Happ, Stroman should have been the #1 priority in the offseason. Obviously, pitchers are tricky…but when you have a pitcher that profiles as a 2/3 guy you just can’t let those guys walk. They Cubs have a large quantity of good pitchers in the minors, but they have a ton of outfield depth in the minors and re-upped with Happ.
I know money is number one for these athletes and Stroman can opt out of $21M for 24 after this season, but this is a guy that really, really enjoys being in Chicago And, despite all pre-warnings he appears to be a great teammate. He is ALWAYS the first player at the top of the dugout (our outsdie of it) meeting a teammate after a big play or outing. ALWAYS.
Pitchers are always tricky with length and dollars–so it will get interesting as the summer progress…..and using Happ and Hoerner as examples, those are not lengthy deals at all in this baseball landscape.
As soon as Corporal Ahmad reads this he’ll predict that the Yankees are trading for Reynolds
The Yankees are supposed to get every good player available at the trade deadline according to there fans.
They do have the best IL squad