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Archives for August 2023

Cardinals Select Masyn Winn

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The Cardinals announced they’ve selected the contract of top shortstop prospect Masyn Winn. In a corresponding move, St. Louis is placing center fielder Lars Nootbaar on the 10-day injured list with a lower abdominal contusion, tweets John Denton of MLB.com. The Cardinals already had two vacancies on the 40-man roster.

Winn was St. Louis’ second-round pick out of a Texas high school three years ago. The canceled minor league season kept him from playing in a professional game until 2021. Winn has rapidly climbed the minor league ladder, spending most of last season in Double-A at age 20. He stole 28 bases while hitting .258/.349/.432 in 86 games against generally older competition, cementing himself as one of the sport’s top prospects heading into last winter.

The Cards assigned Winn to Triple-A Memphis this year. He has spent the entire season there, posting a .283/.356/.465 batting line in 494 plate appearances. The slash stats are aided by an offense-heavy Triple-A environment. Of the 107 International League hitters with 300+ trips to the plate, Winn ranks 57th in on-base percentage and 43rd in slugging.

That production is partially weighed down by a very slow start to the year. Winn hit only .223/.287/.321 in April but has an OPS of .763 or better in every subsequent month. The right-handed hitter has feasted on southpaws, hitting .353/.425/.639 with the platoon advantage. His production against same-handed pitching is more modest — .258/.331/.401 — but that’s a small concern for a 21-year-old hitter at the top minor league level.

Winn has shown advanced contact skills, drawing walks at a decent 8.9% clip while striking out in only 16.8% of his plate appearances. He has connected on 17 home runs, 15 doubles and seven triples and gone 17-19 in stolen base attempts.

In addition to those promising offensive traits, Winn has a chance to be an impact middle infield defender. Prospect evaluators credit him with elite arm strength and the athleticism to stick at shortstop. While the Cards gave him 25 starts at the keystone in Memphis to broaden his flexibility, Winn has logged more than 2300 professional innings at shortstop.

Given the well-rounded profile and his upper minors success despite being so young, Winn is unanimously regarded as one of the top minor league talents. Baseball America ranked him the game’s #30 prospect on their recent update; Kiley McDaniel of ESPN slotted him 16th on his own refresh of the sport’s top prospects earlier in the week. Evaluators peg Winn’s power potential as solid-average while praising the rest of his profile.

The 5’11” infielder is generally viewed as the Cards’ potential long-term starting shortstop. St. Louis dealt Paul DeJong to the Blue Jays at the deadline. Tommy Edman has been the primary shortstop of late but is capable of moving around the diamond. Nootbaar will be out of action for at least the next week and a half after fouling a ball off his groin last night, while second baseman Nolan Gorman hit the 10-day IL this afternoon because of a lower back strain. Edman can cover the keystone or center field while the Cards give Winn regular run at shortstop over the season’s final six-plus weeks.

Along with the injuries to Nootbaar and Gorman, the calendar itself opened a path to Winn’s promotion. Players enter a season with rookie eligibility so long as they’ve spent fewer than 46 days on an MLB active roster and tallied 130 or fewer big league at-bats. Beginning Friday, there’ll be 45 days left in the regular season. Assuming the Cards limit his playing time to keep him from topping 130 at-bats, he’ll retain his rookie eligibility into 2024.

Before 2022, a player’s rookie status wouldn’t matter much to clubs in timing their promotions. The Prospect Promotion Incentive in the ’22 collective bargaining agreement now makes that a factor in some cases. A position player who had appeared on at least two Top 100 lists at BA, ESPN and MLB Pipeline the preceding offseason can earn his club a bonus draft choice if a) the team carries them on the MLB roster for a full service year and b) the player wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP voting during his pre-arbitration seasons.

Winn will certainly meet the prospect criteria next winter. Whether the Cardinals carry him on the MLB roster for all of 2024 and if he plays well enough to merit award consideration can’t yet be known. By waiting until August 18 to bring him up, however, the Cardinals are keeping that possibility open (again assuming Winn stays under 131 at-bats through season’s end).

If he’s in the majors through year’s end, Winn will conclude this season with 45 days of service. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 campaign at the earliest and is controllable through at least 2029. Future assignments to the minors could push that trajectory back further.

The more immediate focus for both Winn and the club will be on his initial exposure to big league pitching. He’ll have a month and a half to try to stake an early claim to the shortstop job heading into 2024. St. Louis has Edman, Gorman and Brendan Donovan (who’s out for the season after undergoing elbow surgery) also in the middle infield mix. If Winn puts a strong foot forward over the coming weeks, perhaps that’d increase the front office’s willingness to part with a middle infielder in an offseason trade as they look for ways to overhaul three-fifths of their rotation.

Katie Woo of the Athletic first reported Winn’s promotion.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

The Phillies’ Bullpen Overhaul

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For a few seasons, the Phillies’ primary concern has been the bullpen. Even last year’s pennant-winning squad succeeded largely in spite of a relief corps that finished the regular season ranked 23rd in ERA.

Philadelphia followed up its NL championship with an active offseason headlined by free agent deals for Trea Turner and Taijuan Walker. Those pacts have had mixed results in the early going, but Philadelphia has found more defined success in another area — a complete restructure of the bullpen.

Seven pitchers have thrown 30+ innings out of the ’pen for Rob Thomson on the season. Six of them were acquired since the start of last offseason. One of the offseason pickups, left-hander Andrew Vasquez, has since been designated for assignment and lost on waivers to the Tigers — though even he provided the Phils with 39 2/3 frames of 2.27 ERA ball before being cut.

Of the relievers currently on Philadelphia’s active roster, only Seranthony Domínguez was on the roster at this time a season ago. Some of that is by chance; José Alvarado is currently on the injured list and will surely reassume a high-leverage role when healthy. Yet it also hints at how aggressively the front office has turned things over.

It’s hard to argue with the results. Philadelphia relievers entered play Thursday ranked ninth in the majors with a 3.76 ERA. Their 24.9% strikeout rate ranks eighth. They’re in the bottom half of the league in blown saves. Philadelphia’s bullpen isn’t the best in the league, but it’s strong enough the front office went through deadline season without supplementing the group.

A look at some of the Phils’ bullpen upgrades since last winter:

Philadelphia rolled the dice on Kimbrel at a time when his stock was at a low ebb. The veteran righty is one of the best relievers of his generation, but his recent track record has been up-and-down. Kimbrel was excellent for the Cubs in the first half of 2021, struggled after a deadline trade to the White Sox, then had an average ’22 season with the Dodgers. While his 3.75 ERA through 60 frames last year wasn’t bad, the Dodgers were concerned enough about his performance down the stretch to leave him as a healthy scratch in the postseason.

The Phils guaranteed Kimbrel $10MM on a one-year free agent deal. They could hardly have expected better than the performance he’s turned in. Through 52 innings, he has a 3.12 ERA while locking down 19 of 21 save opportunities. Kimbrel has fanned an excellent 34.6% of opposing hitters after that mark dipped to 27.7% a season ago. He earned his ninth All-Star nod, has solidified the ninth inning, and is trending towards a more lucrative free agent trip next winter.

Strahm inked a two-year, $15MM free agent pact. He has been an effective and versatile piece of the pitching staff. Pressed into rotation duty early on by injuries, Strahm was solid over nine starts. He’s been downright excellent in his traditional bullpen role. The emergence of Cristopher Sánchez and deadline pickup of Michael Lorenzen should position Philadelphia to keep Strahm in relief for the rest of the year.

Over 40 1/3 frames as a reliever, the southpaw carries a 2.68 ERA. He’s stifling opponents to a .207/.248/.407 batting line, striking out 31% of batters faced against a tidy 5.7% walk rate. Hitters are swinging through 14% of his offerings. Strahm handles hitters from both sides of the plate and has worked multiple innings out of the ’pen on 13 occasions.

The most surprising name among this group, Hoffman wasn’t technically an offseason pickup. Granted his release by the Twins at the conclusion of Spring Training, he signed a minor league pact with Philadelphia during the first week of the regular season. The veteran righty spent a month in Triple-A before triggering an opt-out clause that required the team to either add him to the MLB roster or release him.

Philadelphia chose the former option. They’re unquestionably pleased they did. Playing on a prorated $1.3MM salary, Hoffman has turned in a career-low 2.86 ERA over 34 2/3 innings. He’s striking out over 33% of opponents after never topping a 23.6% strikeout rate in any prior season. Hoffman has completely overhauled his pitch mix. His average fastball speed is up to 97.1 MPH after checking in at 94.3 MPH with the Reds last year. More importantly, he’s leaned dramatically more heavily on a slider that has become one of the best weapons in the sport.

Among relievers with 30+ innings, just 12 are inducing whiffs at a higher rate than Hoffman’s 16.6% clip. After spending the better part of two months in mop-up work, Hoffman has deservedly pitched his way into higher-leverage innings coming out of the All-Star Break. At age 30, the former ninth overall pick is showing all the traits of an impact reliever. Only adding to the appeal: Hoffman will be eligible for arbitration next winter, so the Phils can affordably keep him around for another season.

Philadelphia’s highest-profile trade pickup of the offseason, Soto has had more mixed results than any of Kimbrel, Strahm or Hoffman. His 4.73 ERA through 45 2/3 frames isn’t eye-catching. The southpaw’s underlying marks are better than the ERA would suggest, albeit not quite what the Phils likely envisioned when sending Matt Vierling, Donny Sands and Nick Maton to Detroit.

Soto has struck out a decent but unexceptional 23.4% of batters faced. He’s gotten his walk rate to a career-low 9.4% clip and is picking up grounders on a solid 48.4% of balls in play. His production has been exceedingly platoon dependent, however. Left-handed hitters have a pitiful .100/.179/.183 line through 67 plate appearances, while righties have tagged Soto for a .279/.360/.396 clip in 125 trips. He’s a useful reliever, but it’s hard not to feel there’s still some untapped upside with a lefty whose sinker averages 98 MPH. Soto is making just under $4MM this season and eligible for arbitration twice more.

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The Phils have had other more modest additions as well. Yunior Marté, picked up in a January trade with the Giants, has contributed 35 mostly low-leverage innings. Despite average peripherals, he owns a 5.14 ERA. May waiver claim Dylan Covey was tattooed in his lone start of the year but has chipped in a 2.96 ERA through 24 1/3 innings of long relief.

While those are relatively minor contributions, the Phillies turned the bullpen from a potentially serious weakness to a decent strength in a matter of months. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has faced criticism in prior seasons regarding the bullpens his front offices have put together. While it remains to be seen how this group will perform in October should the Phils hang onto a Wild Card spot, the regular season results have been quite strong — headlined by a pair of adept free agent pickups and hitting on one of the best minor league pacts of the season.

Rockies Outright Cole Tucker

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The Rockies have sent utility player Cole Tucker outright to Triple-A Albuquerque, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on Monday.

Tucker had a brief stay in Denver, appearing in three games while spending a week on the MLB roster. The return of Charlie Blackmon this week pushed him off the club. Tucker has been one of the better players in the Pacific Coast League this season, hitting .311/.419/.459 over 58 games. He’s only hit five home runs but is walking at a huge 15.7% clip against a decent 19.1% strikeout rate.

A former first round pick of the Pirates, Tucker has appeared in parts of five big league campaigns. He never established himself as a regular in Pittsburgh, posting well below-average offensive numbers in each of his limited looks. Through 477 career plate appearances, he owns a .214/.263/.316 batting line.

This is the second time in Tucker’s career in which he has gone unclaimed on outright waivers. As a result, he has the ability to test free agency in lieu of a return to Albuquerque. It isn’t clear whether he plans to do so.

The Rangers’ Big Middle Infield Investment Is Paying Off

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The two most recent offseasons each had a batch of excellent shortstops that were available in free agency. The 2021-2022 offseason saw Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Trevor Story and Javier Báez reach the open market. That was followed by a free agent class featuring Correa again, since he opted out of his first deal after one year, along with Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson.

Each player garnered plenty of interest and ultimately secured a guarantee above nine figures, often well above. All of the deals were among the most significant for their respective franchises and surely came with a great deal of thought and scrutiny. Deciding to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over a period of roughly a decade to one player is not something that is done flippantly. The deals still have many years remaining on them and it’s far too soon to start declaring winners and losers, but one team that must be currently thrilled with how it played this market is the Texas Rangers.

The club had been doing a lot of losing until recently. After falling to the Blue Jays in the ALDS in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016, the Rangers entered a rebuilding period, finishing below .500 in each season after that. They seemingly got fed up with that futility and tried to press fast forward on the rebuild by spending money aggressively. That came in surprising fashion after the 2021 campaign when they nabbed two of the aforementioned star shortstops. They gave Seager $325MM over 10 years and Semien $175MM over seven, installing the latter as their everyday second baseman.

Those contracts still have a ways to go, but it’s hard to imagine them having gone much better to this point. Last year, Seager launched 33 home runs and slashed .245/.317/.455. Even with a .242 batting average on balls in play dragging him down, he still produced a wRC+ of 117, or 17% above league average. When combined with his strong shortstop defense, he was worth 4.5 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs.

Here in 2023, he’s missed significant time due to a left hamstring strain and right thumb sprain but has been otherworldly when on the field. In just 78 games, he has 22 home runs and the BABIP wheel of fortune has spun him around the other way this year, with a .370 mark in that category. His .348/.411/.661 line amounts to a wRC+ of 190, the best such mark in the league among those with at least 350 plate appearances. He’s already at 4.8 fWAR despite not even playing half a season.

As for Semien, he was similarly BABIP’d last year, with just a .263 mark in that department. But his 26 home runs helped him hit .248/.304/.429 for a 107 wRC+. His defensive marks were quite strong, hardly surprising for a former shortstop at the keystone. His 11 Defensive Runs Saved and eight Outs Above Average were both in the top five among second basemen. He also stole 25 bases and finished the year with a tally of 4.2 fWAR.

Here in 2023, he’s walking more, striking out less and his .296 BABIP is much closer to league average. His .282/.353/.472 line translates to a 127 wRC+. His 11 DRS trails only Andrés Giménez among second basemen while his 11 OAA is topped only by Thairo Estrada. He’s already at 5.0 fWAR this year with still about six weeks to go, with both him and Seager among the top seven positions players in the league this year in that category.

Those two players have been a huge reason why the club has now returned to relevancy, as the Rangers are 72-49 this year, with only three clubs around the majors currently sporting a better winning percentage. Simply buying an elite middle infield might not seem like an accomplishment to some, but spending big doesn’t always lead to a proportionate return on investment, as shown by the other players listed at the top of this article.

Correa had a solid campaign last year and returned to the open market. Though he had two deals ultimately scuttled by health concerns, he returned to the Twins on a six-year deal with a $200MM guarantee and vesting options that allow him to bank even more. But he’s hitting just .231/.308/.409 this year for a 98 wRC+ as his previously-elite defense has slid closer to league average. Bogaerts has just 12 home runs for the Padres and is hitting .272/.346/.400. His wRC+ of 109 shows he’s still above average but it’s well shy of his .300/.373/.507 line and 134 wRC+ in the previous five seasons. Turner is having the worst year of his career, currently sitting on a line of .250/.302/.394 and an 86 wRC+. Story had around league-average offense last year and required elbow surgery in the winter, only returning to the Red Sox in recent days. Báez hit just .238/.278/.393 for the Tigers last year and has a dreadful .221/.262/.320 line this year. Swanson is the only non-Ranger of the bunch who has been thriving after signing a mega deal.

As was already mentioned, we can’t start handing out awards and calling certain teams “winners” or “losers” at this point. These contracts range from six to 11 years in length, leaving plenty of time for things to change. But most clubs sign these lengthy free agent contracts hoping for excellent production at the beginning and usually expecting some painful years at the end. Many of these deals are off to rough starts and the respective players will need significant improvements in the years to come in order to stop them from looking like big busts.

The Rangers don’t have a perfect record in free agency and are plenty familiar with how big spending can backfire. They spent $185MM this winter to get Jacob deGrom, who made six starts before requiring Tommy John surgery and won’t be back until the second half of 2024 at the earliest. Their faith in Martín Pérez looks like a misstep, as they gave him a $19.65MM qualifying offer but have seen him post a 4.85 ERA this year and recently get bumped to the bullpen. But in terms of the shortstop market, they’ve obviously done quite well. It was surprising to see any club put down so much money that they were able to nab two of the big name free agents. The Rangers not only ponied up the dough, but seem to have made a wise decision on who to spend it on. Twice.

Rays Release Ryan Thompson

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The Rays announced that right-hander Ryan Thompson has cleared release waivers and has been unconditionally released. He’s now a free agent and can sign with any club.

Thompson, 31, is enduring a frustrating season but has been much better in previous years. From 2020 to 2022, he made 108 appearances for the Rays, allowing 3.50 earned runs per nine innings over those. His 23.1% strikeout rate was roughly average, but his 6.5% walk rate and 52.5% ground ball rate were both strong.

This year, however, has been a bumpy ride. He landed on the injured list in mid-April due to a right lat strain and went on to struggle a bit after he returned, sporting a 6.60 ERA on May 21. The Rays then optioned him to Triple-A and he has been on and off the active roster since then, getting recalled and then optioned three more times since. He has a 3.26 ERA in 19 1/3 Triple-A innings this year, with a concerning walk rate of 13.9% but a huge 30.4% strikeout rate in that small sample.

He had been on the minor league injured list since early August due to a minor elbow issue but recently had a clean MRI, per MLBTR’s Steve Adams. He was still on the IL when he was designated for assignment yesterday, meaning the club had little choice but to release him. Injured players can’t be put on outright waivers and the trade deadline went by a couple of weeks ago, leaving a release inevitable.

He’ll now head to the open market in search of his next opportunity. Despite the challenging year, he figures to get interest based on his previous results. He came into this year with exactly three years of service time and a full slate of options. Since he’s spent a lot of time on optional assignment this year, he won’t reach four years of service and can be retained for three years beyond this one via arbitration. He’ll burn one of his options but will still be optionable for two future seasons.

Mets Select Abraham Almonte

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The Mets announced some roster moves today, placing infielder Mark Vientos on the 10-day injured list due to left wrist tendonitis, retroactive to August 16. Outfielder Abraham Almonte has been selected to take his place on the active roster. To open a spot for Almonte on the 40-man, left-hander Josh Walker has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Almonte, 34, has been on and off the Mets’ roster lately. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he was brought up to the big leagues last week before being designated for assignment and outrighted a few days later after taking just 12 plate appearances in four games. He has enough service time that he could have rejected the outright assignment but seems to have accepted and will now make a quick return to the majors.

Prior to getting called up, he was having a strong season in the minors. He hit .244/377/.548 in 167 plate appearances, walking at an 18% clip and producing a wRC+ of 128. He’s often hit well in the minors but has struggled to replicate that production in the majors. Dating back to 2013, he’s hit .234/.301/.373 for a wRC+ of 82 in 1,375 trips to the plate in the show. He figures to join the outfield mix alongside Brandon Nimmo, DJ Stewart, Rafael Ortega and Tim Locastro.

Vientos has always crushed minor league pitching but has hit just .188/.240/.286 in his first 167 major league appearances. Despite that tepid output, the Mets will be challenged to cover third base in his absence with Eduardo Escobar having been traded to the Angels and Brett Baty also on the IL. Some combination of Jonathan Araúz, Danny Mendick and Jeff McNeil figure to be slotted into that position as well as second base. It’s unclear how long Vientos is expected to be out for.

Walker, 28, was first added to the club’s roster in May. He’s since made 13 appearances with an ERA of 8.10 in that small sample. He landed on the injured list a few days ago due to a right oblique strain and it seems it’s significant enough to end his season. Today’s transfer means he’s ineligible to return until the middle of October. Barring a miracle postseason run by the Mets, he won’t be back this year.

Triston Casas Has Arrived

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Red Sox fans have been waiting roughly a half decade to see whether 2018 first-round pick Triston Casas would eventually become a fixture in the lineup. The hulking 6’4″, 252-pound slugger was selected with the No. 26 overall pick that year and has ranked among baseball’s 100 best prospects in each of the past four offseasons according to both Baseball America and MLB.com.

As recently as this April, however, the early returns were looking questionable. Casas got a cup of coffee last season, hitting five homers and walking at a 20% clip in 95 plate appearances — but also hitting the ball on the ground at a whopping 56.8% clip. Not an ideal trait for a slow-footed slugger. Add in a sluggish start to this season, which saw Casas pare back that ground-ball rate but experience a large uptick in strikeout percentage (30.2% through 96 plate appearances), and it was hardly a promising start. Through his first 192 big league plate appearances, Casas batted .162/.319/.344 with an elite 18.8% walk rate and above-average but not elite power. He fanned in 27.2% of those plate appearances.

In the three and a half months since, however, Casas has not only turned things around — he’s emerged as a genuine middle-of-the-lineup bat — at least against right-handed pitching. In his past 301 trips to the plate, Casas has produced a mammoth .293/.379/.540 output with 16 home runs, 13 doubles and a pair of triples. His walk rate is “down” to 12.3% in that time, and he’s fanned at a 23.6% rate that’s only slightly north of the league average.

The biggest change in Casas’ first couple months of big league experience and this productive stretch has been one of passivity — or rather, lack thereof. From last year’s debut through early May this year, Casas swung at just 62.9% of the pitches he saw within the strike zone (and 40% of pitches overall). During his this streak of mashing at the plate, he’s swinging at 72.2% of pitches in the strike zone and 45.2% of the pitches he sees overall. He’s now swinging at in-zone pitches at a higher-than-average rate (league average is 68.7%) but still swinging at a lower total percentage of pitches than the league-average 47.3%. That’s because Casas is rarely enticed by pitches out of the zone; he’s chased off the plate at just a 25.6% clip — more than six percentage points beneath the 31.8% league average.

As far as the quality of Casas’ contact, it’s been excellent. He was making consistent hard contact even before his early-May turnaround began, but the increased aggression within the strike zone now just means he’s making a lot more of it. Casas has averaged 91.5 mph off the bat this season (league average is 89.1 mph) and put 46.1% of his batted balls in play at 95 mph or more (league average is 39.3%). Statcast has classified 14.5% of his batted balls as “barreled” (16.1% during his peak productivity).

Granted, some of the breakout has been a function of Casas being shielded from left-handed pitching. Casas has clear platoon issues in his young career, hitting just .193/.343/.325 against southpaws versus .257/.357/.503 against righties. This season, he’s 219th in the Majors with just 77 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. The Sox haven’t completely eliminated his playing time against southpaws, but compare his total plate appearances against southpaws to fellow lefty-swinging teammates like Rafael Devers (148 plate appearances), Masataka Yoshida (123) and Alex Verdugo (140) — and it becomes clear that the Sox have at best been selective about the opportunities they’ll give him versus same-handed opposition.

Time will tell whether this year’s usage signals intent for long-term platooning or is just a means of building some confidence in the burgeoning young slugger. If the Sox want to platoon Casas moving forward, there’s at least one natural candidate down on the farm in 28-year-old Bobby Dalbec. Once a fairly heralded prospect himself, Dalbec has been squeezed out of the mix on the big league roster but responded with an outstanding .278/.384/.589 batting line and 30 homers in Triple-A this year. Against left-handed pitching, he’s posted a ludicrous .347/.438/.640 line. Dalbec’s future in Boston — he could potentially be a trade target for a club with eyes on giving him an everyday look this winter — is a topic worth diving into on its own, but suffice it to say he’s at least played his way into consideration for such a role. If not, the free agent market this offseason will feature right-handed bats like Garrett Cooper, C.J. Cron, Donovan Solano and Darin Ruf.

The Sox started Casas against southpaw MacKenzie Gore last night and left him in to face lefty reliever Jose Ferrer. (Casas went 1-for-3, singling off Ferrer.) It’s probably in their best interest to continue giving Casas opportunities against southpaws down the stretch, both to get him additional experience in left-on-left matchups and to help evaluate whether they’ll need a platoon partner for him in the long run.

Casas is still a work in progress defensively (-4 Defensive Runs Saved, -11 Outs Above Average), and it’s an open question just how productive he’ll end up being against left-handed pitching.  If he can narrow his platoon splits and/or make some strides on the defensive side of his game, he has star potential in the middle of the Red Sox lineup. He already looks the part against right-handed pitching, however, and Casas’ dedication to the science of hitting (check out his recent Q&A with FanGraphs’ David Laurila) should serve him well as he looks to become a more complete hitter.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Guardians Designate Daniel Norris For Assignment, Select Zack Collins

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The Guardians made a series of roster moves today, with Zack Meisel of The Athletic among those to relay them. Catcher Zack Collins has been selected to the roster while left-hander Tim Herrin has been recalled. In corresponding moves, Cam Gallagher was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list while lefty Daniel Norris was designated for assignment.

Gallagher was removed from last night’s game with a potential head injury, per Tom Withers of the Associated Press. It appeared to stem from being struck by a foul ball earlier in the contest, per Bally Sports Cleveland. It seems the issue is significant enough that the club will give him a breather for at least a week.

The Guards have had Gallagher and Bo Naylor as their catching duo in recent days, with David Fry having been placed on the IL due to a left hamstring strain last week and Mike Zunino released earlier in the summer. With Gallagher now set to miss some time, the club needed an extra backstop and has opted for Collins.

The 28-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Guards in the offseason and has been with Triple-A Columbus all year so far. In 109 games at that level this season, he’s hit .255/.364/.437 for a wRC+ of 101. He’s struck out in 31.5% of his plate appearances but walked at a 14.5% clip and launched 15 home runs.

That’s somewhat similar output to what he’s done in the majors so far. In 150 games dating back to 2019 with the White Sox, Blue Jays and Pirates, he’s been punched out at a 33.6% clip while walking in 12.9% of his trips to the plate. He has 11 home runs in 459 plate appearances while slashing .185/.295/.327 for a 74 wRC+. He has generally received poor marks for his defense in the big leagues, with -23 from Defensive Runs Saved so far and a score of -16.7 from the FanGraphs framing metric.

Collins is out of options but can be retained for future seasons via arbitration if he continues to hang onto his roster spot. He came into this year with a service time tally of two years and 95 days. He won’t have enough time to reach the three-year mark this year and could therefore be controlled for four future seasons.

In order to get Collins onto the 40-man, the Guards have bumped off Norris. The 30-year-old southpaw signed a minor league deal with Cleveland in the offseason and has twice now been selected and then designated for assignment shortly thereafter. He’s made six appearances for the Guards with a 3.38 ERA but has been helped by a .172 batting average on balls in play in that time. He has a 5.60 ERA in 53 Triple-A innings this year.

With the trade deadline now in the rearview, the Guards will have to put Norris on waivers in the coming days. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, but he accepted his outright when he was DFA’d in June and could perhaps do the same again this time around.

Tim Anderson’s Suspension Reduced To Five Games

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White Sox infielder Tim Anderson’s six-game suspension has been reduced to five games, per a league announcement. He was going to appeal but reached a settlement with the league, eliminating the need for a hearing. He’ll begin serving his suspension tomorrow. José Ramírez of the Guardians had his three-game suspension reduces to two games, which he served this past weekend.

Both suspensions stemmed from the same incident. In the August 5 game between the Sox and Guards, Ramírez slid into second base and took umbrage with the way Anderson attempted to tag him out. “He tagged me really hard, more than needed, and his reaction was like, ‘I want to fight,'” Ramirez said, per Mike Brehm of USA Today. “And if he wants to fight, I wanted to defend myself.”

The two came to blows, with Ramirez knocking Anderson to the ground as the benches cleared. That led to the aforementioned suspensions for Anderson and Ramírez, as well as one-game suspensions for Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase, manager Terry Francona, third base coach Mike Sarbaugh and White Sox skipper Pedro Grifol. Guardians infielder Gabriel Arias and White Sox righty Michael Kopech were also each fined an undisclosed amount.

The news won’t have a significant short-term impact on the Sox, who are well out of contention. They will have a decision to make on Anderson this winter, as they have a $14MM option for his services next year that comes with a $1MM buyout. He’s hitting a dismal .238/.285/.284 this year for a 58 wRC+ and with poor defensive grades to boot. But he hit .318/.347/.473 over the previous four seasons for a 123 wRC+, stealing 53 bases and producing 13.6 fWAR.

Elvis Andrus will likely cover shortstop for the next few days, moving over from second. Zach Remillard figures to jump into the second base job for that stretch. The Sox don’t have another obvious middle infield candidate on the active roster, so they may have to make a move before tomorrow’s game so that they at least have a bench option. Lenyn Sosa is on the 40-man roster and could perhaps be recalled, though a corresponding move would be required. Players suspended for on-field infractions continue to occupy a roster spot, so the Sox will have to play with a 25-man active roster until Anderson’s suspension is complete.

Cubs, Richard Bleier Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Cubs have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran left-handed reliever Richard Bleier, reports Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. Bleier, who was released by the Red Sox last week, is headed to Triple-A Iowa for the time being.

The 36-year-old Bleier went from Miami to Boston this winter in an offseason trade sending Matt Barnes and cash the other way. Both teams involved in the swap hoped that a change of scenery would benefit the two veteran relievers, but it didn’t pan out for either. Bleier was roughed up for a 5.28 ERA in 30 1/3 frames with the Sox and also missed time with a shoulder injury, while Barnes yielded a 5.48 ERA in 21 1/3 innings before requiring season-ending hip surgery.

Looking beyond the current season, Bleier has regularly posted strong ERA marks despite one of the game’s lowest strikeout rates. He logged a sub-2.00 ERA in each of his first three big league seasons and a sub-3.00 ERA in two of the next three, so even with this year’s struggles, the soft-tossing southpaw owns a lifetime 3.27 mark in 330 1/3 innings. Bleier, however, averages just 89.2 mph on his fastball and has a career 13.6% strikeout rate. He’s gotten by thanks largely to a spectacular 3.9% walk rate, 60.9% ground-ball rate and consistently low exit velocities. That said, his results have worsened as he’s progressed into his mid-30s.

For the Cubs, there’s no real risk in taking a look at Bleier in Triple-A to see if they can get him back to form. The Red Sox are on the hook for this year’s $3.5MM salary and the $250K buyout on his 2024 club option, meaning Chicago will only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster. Because he’s signed before Sept. 1, Bleier would be postseason-eligible for the Cubs, in the event that they reach the playoffs and that Bleier pitches well enough to merit consideration for such a spot. The Cubs don’t presently have a lefty in their bullpen — Drew Smyly is likely headed back to the rotation following Marcus Stroman’s injury — so if Bleier performs decently in Des Moines there could be a spot for him at the big league level (particularly when rosters expand to 28 players on Sept. 1).

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