Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for September 2023

Marlins Claim Matt Moore From Guardians

By | at

3:09pm: The Marlins have recalled Tommy Nance from Triple-A and placed him on the 60-day injured list, thus opening up a 40-man roster spot for Matt Moore, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. The 32-year-old Nance last appeared for Triple-A Jacksonville on September 6, and he has not appeared in a major league game since last October.

1:35pm: The Marlins have claimed left-hander Matt Moore off waivers from the Guardians, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’s the second waiver claim in recent weeks for Moore, who just went from the Angels to the Guardians at the end of August. He won’t be eligible to play in the postseason for the Marlins but will give their bullpen a boost for the final weeks of the regular season.

Moore, 34, has had an up-and-down career as a starting pitching but recently underwent a bullpen renaissance. He posted a 1.95 earned run average with the Rangers last year and parlayed that into a one-year, $7.55MM contract with the Angels. His ERA has ticked up a bit this year, but is still quite good at 2.77. He’s striking out 28.5% of opponents and walking just 7%.

He’s now set to join his third club of the year, which says more about his teams than anything he is doing. The Angels hovered around contention through the summer and decided to go for it at the deadline, holding onto Shohei Ohtani as well as giving up prospects for players like Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo López and others. But they then suffered a miserable August, losing both games and players. They fell back in the standings as Mike Trout was unable to get healthy in the wake of his hamate surgery, while Ohtani suffered a tear of his ulnar collateral ligament that kept him from pitching.

Ohtani would also suffer an oblique injury in September that stopped him from hitting as well, but that was after the club had already waved the white flag on the season, putting six players on waivers at the end of August. Since the trade deadline had already passed and each player was an impending free agent, the Angels were hoping other clubs would grab them and take on their contracts, allowing the club to save some money and dip under the luxury tax.

Moore was one of those players and he was claimed by the Guardians along with Giolito and López. It was a bit of a surprising landing spot, as that club has generally shied away from significant spending and were sporting a record of 64-70 at the time. But in the weak American League Central, they were actually only five games back of the division-leading Twins and decided to take a shot. By grabbing those three pitchers, they added roughly $3.727MM to their payroll but hopefully increased their odds of chasing down Minnesota.

But it now seems that they are following the Angels and waving their own white flag, having fallen to seven games back of the Twins with now less than two weeks left to play. It wasn’t known prior to this report that Moore was on waivers, but it seems the Guards put him on the wire with the hope of shaving off some of that money they took on. Moore is still owed about $529K for the remainder of the season.

It seems the Marlins consider that to be an acceptable expense for a handful of games from Moore. Since he is being acquired after the September 1 cutoff date, he won’t be able to pitch for them in the postseason, making this a very temporary bullpen upgrade. But unlike the Angels and Guardians, their season is still very much alive. The National League Wild Card race is extremely tight right now, with the Phillies in the top spot but a tangled mess beneath them. The Diamondbacks, Cubs, Reds and Marlins are all within one game of each other, with the Giants just a game and a half back of that pack. While all those clubs want to win, the Marlins are arguably the most motivated. Leaving aside the shortened 2020 season, they haven’t finished above .500 since 2009 and haven’t been in the playoffs since 2003.

Miami’s relievers have a collective ERA of 4.19 on the year, which places them 18th. It’s also been a bit worse of late, with a 4.45 ERA since the start of August. Adding in Moore will hopefully give the group a bit of a boost, though it’s not really about his left-handedness. The club already has four strong southpaw options in the bullpen but the Marlins seem to have decided they are willing to put some cash on the barrel in the hopes of squeezing out any possible upgrade, with the importance of each game magnified down the stretch.

Details From Rays’ Stadium Announcement

By | at

It was reported yesterday that the Rays would be announcing a plan for a proposed new stadium in St. Petersburg today, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relayed the details of the festivities.

The stadium itself will cost $1.3 billion but is part of a larger redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District site, where Tropicana Field is already located, which will cost $6.5 billion overall. Despite the announcement, the financing hasn’t quite been finalized just yet. The Rays are covering more than half of the $1.3 billion price tag for the stadium, approximately $700MM. That leaves $600MM to be covered by the city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County.

That structure has been agreed to by the Rays, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch and Pinellas County administrator Barry Burton, but it still needs to be approved by the city council and the county commission. Assuming that comes to pass and everything gets rubber stamped, the Rays will sign a 30-year lease that starts with the 2028 season. The stadium will seat around 30,000 under a fixed roof, with artificial turf on the field and “operable walls to bring the outside in.”

As for the wider development, Topkin relays that it includes “14,000 parking spaces; 4,800 market rate residential units, plus 600 at affordable/work force prices and 600 for seniors; 1.4 million square feet of office and medical space; 750 hotel rooms; 750,000 square feet of retail space; a concert venue with a capacity of 3,000-4,000; and a new home for the Woodson African American Museum of Florida.” Michael Harrison of Hines, the real estate firm the Rays have partnered with, says that about 20% of the total project will be complete when the stadium opens in 2028.

Despite the stadium upgrades, there are still concerns around the location. Many have previously cited the fact that the Trop is far away from downtown Tampa and not easily accessible as one of the reasons for the club’s persistently low attendance. This new proposal would see the club stay on essentially the same site, but team president Brian Auld doesn’t seem to share those concerns. “One of the things I’ve said multiple times is we’re in the same location as we were five years ago, but I really do feel like we’re in a different city,” Auld said. “There are so many (new condos and apartment buildings) all across the city, and all across this region, that I do believe it has fundamentally changed this region’s, and this city’s, ability to support our team.” Auld added that Major League Baseball is already on board with the proposal.

As for the next steps towards making everything official, Topkin relays that the expectation is that the Pinellas County commission will vote soon, perhaps before the end of the year. The city would then follow early in 2024.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has long stated that the league wants to expand from 30 to 32 teams, but that the Athletics and Rays need to resolve their respective stadium situations before that can really be considered. The A’s have a plan in place to relocate to Las Vegas, with an ownership vote on that likely to come in November. With the Rays potentially finalizing their financing plan not too long after that, the ingredients could be place for future expansion just a few months from now.

Braves Reinstate Jesse Chavez, Designate Lucas Luetge For Assignment

By | at

The Braves announced that right-hander Jesse Chavez has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, with left-hander Lucas Luetge designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Chavez, who turned 40 while on the IL, has been out of action since mid-June after being hit by a comebacker on his left leg. The club announced at the time that X-rays did not reveal a fracture, but it nonetheless took him over three months to rejoin the team.

The veteran signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in the offseason and cracked the Opening Day roster. He made 31 appearances prior to his injury with an earned run average of 1.55 in that time. He was helped out a bit by an 85.4% strand rate but still had excellent peripherals with a 30.8% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 48.5% ground ball rate.  If he can get back into that form now that he’s healthy, he will strengthen the club’s bullpen just in time for the playoffs.

Luetge, 36, was acquired from the Yankees in an offseason trade and has bounced on and off the Atlanta roster this year. He was selected just yesterday and was entered into last night’s game with the club down 7-1 to the Phillies. He threw two scoreless innings to finish the contest and has now been quickly cut from the roster for a fresh arm, his third time being designated for assignment this year.

The lefty has more than three years of major league service time, which means he can reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency. But since he has less than five years of service, doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of his $1.55MM salary. Twice already this year, he has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment, which could perhaps come to pass again in the coming days. Around those transactions, he’s posted a 7.24 ERA in 13 2/3 innings at the big league level, along with an ERA of 3.91 in 23 Triple-A innings.

Spencer Torkelson Is Taking Off

By | at

The Tigers had a very concerning season in 2022. They had entered the year with their sights set on returning to contention. A young core of prospects had bubbled up to the majors and it was hoped that big free agent deals for players like Javier Báez and Eduardo Rodriguez could supplement them. Unfortunately, just about everything went wrong. All over the roster, players either underperformed or missed significant time or both. That applied to each of Báez and Rodriguez, as well as several of the younger guys.

One of those young players that had high hopes pinned on them was Spencer Torkelson. After the Tigers had a dismal 47-114 season in 2019, they secured the first overall pick in the 2020 draft and used it on Torkelson. Due to the pandemic, there were no minor leagues for him to play in that year but he nonetheless shot all the way up to #5 on Baseball America’s 2021 list of the top 100 prospects in the league. That was largely based on his tremendous performance in college. In 129 games for Arizona State, he had 54 home runs and a batting line of .337/.463/.729.

In 2021, the minor leagues were back and he shot through them. He began the year in High-A but was in Double-A by June and Triple-A by August. He hit 30 home runs in 121 games and drew walks in 14.5% of his plate appearances, showing both power and plate discipline. His combined batting line of .267/.383/.552 amounted to a wRC+ of 148.

The Tigers added him to their Opening Day roster in 2022 and it was hoped that he would be entrenched at first base for a long time to come. But he didn’t hit the ground running, or even crawling for that matter. He hit a paltry .197/.282/.295 through the middle of July, results poor enough to get him optioned down to the minors. That performance was especially concerning since his bat has long been considered his carrying tool. Without especially strong speed or defensive skills to give him a solid floor, he essentially needs to hit and clearly didn’t do that. The power potential was still in there if you looked, as his maximum exit velocity was considered to be in the 80th percentile at that time. But he wasn’t squaring it up often enough, with his hard hit rate in the 39th percentile and his barrel percentage 37th.

He played 35 Triple-A games that summer and produced around league average, before getting recalled to the big leagues when rosters expanded in September. He hit .219/.292/.385 down the stretch, which only amounted to a 94 wRC+, but was still better than the 68 wRC+ he had before his demotion.

As mentioned, the struggles of Torkelson were just one of the many things that went wrong for the club. They finished the season 66-96, nowhere near the contender status they envisioned. General manager Al Avila was fired along the way, with Scott Harris hired as president of baseball operations to replace him as they top baseball decision maker in Detroit.

Expectations were far different for 2023, both for the Tigers and Torkelson. Many had already written off the former first round pick as a bust, even though he was still just 23 years old at the start of the campaign. He didn’t do much to change those peoples’ mind in the early going of this year either, as he was hitting just .206/.266/.309 through the end of April.

But as the calendar flipped to May, more encouraging results came. From the start of that month through the end of July, he hit 13 home runs and produced a much more respectable .233/.317/.433 line for a wRC+ of 106. He has taken things to another level since the start of August, hitting 13 more home runs in his past 43 games. His slash in that time is .248/.342/.547 for a 141 wRC+. The Stork, which no one calls him but perhaps they should, has taken flight.

For the season as a whole, his batting line of .233/.315/.444 is only marginally above league average, translating to a 107 wRC+. But the Statcast data likes him a lot, with his average exit velocity in the 88th percentile, his barrel percentage 90th and his hard hit rate 93rd. His 24.7% strikeout rate is a bit above league average, but he’s also drawing walks at a strong 10.1% clip. Given that he’s gotten better as the season has gone along, perhaps he can carry that over into 2024 and have an even better year.

Although the Tigers surely would have loved for this breakout to have occurred last year, the silver lining of Torkelson’s struggles in 2022 is that it secured them an extra year of control of his services. Since he was optioned to Triple-A for about six weeks last year, he didn’t earn a full year of service time. That means he can be controlled through the 2028 season, whereas he would have been set for free agency after 2027 if he had stayed up all of last year.

As they move forward and try to build a competitive club in those years, they still have many challenges. There are still question marks on the roster, including the pitching staff and the middle infield. But their first base situation looks to be in good shape, especially compared to where it was just one year ago.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

The Opener: Rays, Correa, Rodriguez

By | at

As the 2023 season nears its conclusion, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Rays Stadium Announcement Incoming:

Yesterday, it was reported that the Rays are poised to announce an agreement to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg. That announcement is expected to come today, and with it more details on the coming ballpark can be expected. The stadium is expected to be ready in 2028, the year after Tampa Bay’s lease at Tropicana Field expires. The off-the-field victory for the club comes as the team on the field is enjoying an unprecedented run of success, with a 92-59 record so far this season and a fifth consecutive postseason berth clinched. With the Rays on the verge of settling their stadium situation and the A’s putting the finishing touches on a bid to move from Oakland to Las Vegas, the biggest hurdle for league expansion that commissioner Rob Manfred has publicly mentioned in the past has been cleared. Of course, expansion must be collectively bargained with the MLBPA, meaning there are still hurdles to clear before MLB welcomes its thirty-first and thirty-second teams.

2. Correa Exits:

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa exited yesterday’s game in the first inning after feeling a “pop” in his left heel, as relayed by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. Correa, of course, has been playing through plantar fasciitis during most of the 2023 campaign. The injury has seemingly impacted the 28-year-old star at the plate, as he’s slashed just .230/.312/.399 in 135 games while leading the majors with 30 double plays grounded into. As Hayes notes, the Twins and Correa have opted against a trip to the injured list throughout the season because a full recovery would require several months of downtime.

That sort of lengthy absence would have been imprudent with the Twins in the midst of a tight race for the AL Central crown throughout most of the season. Though the club hasn’t yet mathematically clinched the division title, Minnesota enjoys a comfortable seven-game lead over the Guardians in the division with just 11 games left to play and none of them being head-to-head. That healthy lead in the division race could lead the club to contemplate a trip to the IL for Correa or, at the very least, resting their marquee shortstop more aggressively in the days ahead in order to help him stay reasonably fresh for the coming postseason push.

3. Rodriguez to undergo testing:

Tigers left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez exited yesterday’s 8-3 loss against the Dodgers in the fourth inning due to what the club has termed a scapula spasm. Over three innings of work last night, Rodriguez surrendered five runs on five hits and a walk while striking out just one. As noted by Chris McCosky of The Detroit News, the lefty is expected to undergo further testing before being re-evaluated today. While the coming update won’t have much impact on Tigers club that’s on the verge of being mathematically eliminated from the postseason, Rodriguez’s health could impact him as he looks ahead toward a likely return to free agency this coming November, having the ability to opt out of the three years left on his contract. With a strong 3.57 ERA and 3.65 FIP across 24 starts this season, the 30-year-old Rodriguez figures to rank fairly highly among starting options on the market this offseason, though it’s possible an injury that runs the risk of impacting him headed into 2024 could alter that perception.

Rays To Announce New Stadium Deal

By | at

The Rays are poised to make an announcement tomorrow regarding a deal to construct a new stadium in St. Petersburg, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Not all of the details have been revealed, but Topkin relays that the new stadium will be built near Tropicana Field as part of a redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District site. It is expected to have a fixed dome roof, seat around 30,000 people and open for the 2028 season, just after the club’s lease at the Trop expires after 2027. It is believed to cost around $1.2 billion, with the exact breakdown unclear at this time. Owner Stuart Sternberg previously stated that he expected the club to pay “half or more,” with other contributions coming from St. Petersburg, Pinellas County and investors who would contribute in exchange for shares of the club.

The future home of the Rays has been an ongoing issue for years now, due to various concerns with Tropicana Field. The club has considered moving from St. Petersburg to Tampa and also toyed with a more creative plan that involved splitting the home games with Montreal, though the latter plan was eventually nixed by Major League Baseball.

The move to Tampa was seen as desirable since one of the issues with the Trop is the St. Petersburg location is less accessible. But attempts to secure financing for a stadium in Tampa never gained much traction, which is what led to the Montreal plan. Once that path was cut off and the financial situation in Tampa didn’t change, the club pivoted back to St. Petersburg.

In December of last year, the Rays issued a press release about their proposed stadium, which was said to feature “more than 5,700 multifamily units, 1.4 million square feet of office, 300,000 square feet of retail, 700 hotel rooms, 600 senior living residences, a 2,500 person entertainment venue, and various civic uses.” It went on to say that it would include “more than 850 affordable and workforce housing units on-site” as well as other features.

This plan received the approval of St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch in January, though with still many steps to come. The club had to finalize the financing with the city, the county and new investors. Though those details still aren’t publicly known, it seems they have been resolved enough that the club will be able to make an announcement of a deal tomorrow.

Staying in St. Petersburg won’t solve the location issues that the Trop had, but the new facility will hopefully be an upgrade in other ways. The Trop has been seen by many around the industry as outdated and unpleasant in terms of fan experience. There were also awkward on-field issues, with the various catwalks in the roof interfering with balls in play and leading to complex ground rules unique to that field.

It’s unclear what the future holds for the Trop, but its run as the home of the Rays will seemingly come to an end after 30 years, having been the club’s only ballpark since their first season in 1998. It was actually opened in 1990, with the area hoping to attract an expansion major league baseball franchise for 1993, but they lost out to Denver and Miami. Other sports franchises used the facility at times, including the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League and the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League, before the area was finally awarded an expansion MLB franchise.

Fans of the Rays can now look forward to a new era of the club’s history, hopeful that the new facility will be a significant upgrade over the Trop, though the location concerns will persist. This news will also be significant beyond just its impact on that club, as the potential for future expansion now seems more viable than ever before.

There hasn’t been a new expansion franchise in Major League Baseball since the Rays and Diamondbacks joined the league in 1998. The issue has come up in recent years, with various groups hoping to get new clubs into places like Nashville, Portland or Salt Lake City. Despite that strong interest, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has repeatedly stated that the Athletics and Rays needed to resolve their respective stadium situations before expansion could be considered.

The A’s seem destined to relocate to Las Vegas, with owners set to vote on their proposed plan in November. Now that the Rays seem to have a new stadium plan in place, it seems the table is set for expansion discussions to pick up in earnest. A timeline for future expansion isn’t clear, but details should continue to emerge as time goes on. New franchises will lead to extra intrigue around the league, with fans able to look forward to an expansion draft. For the owners, it will also be desirable from a financial point of view as the new clubs would have to pay to join the league, with that money dispersed among the existing teams. The Rays and Diamondbacks each paid $130MM back in 1998 but it has been suggested that the next expansion club might have to pay something closer to $2 billion, given the rise of franchise valuation in the interim.

Injury Notes: Correa, Kim, Feltner, Gallegos

By | at

Carlos Correa exited Monday night’s game against the Reds in the first inning following a flare-up of his plantar fasciitis. The shortstop told reporters (including Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that he felt a tweak in his heel as he ran to catch a pop fly.

Correa has been playing through the painful condition throughout most of the season. He was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and a muscle strain in his left foot arch back in May but has avoided a trip to the injured list thus far. The two-time All-Star suggested he could sit out a few games to preserve his body for the playoffs, although he emphasized that neither he nor the Twins have determined a course of action just yet. He acknowledged that time off his feet would do him some good, but even so, he might prefer to keep playing until Minnesota has officially clinched the AL Central crown.

The 28-year-old is in the midst of a down year, slashing just .230/.312/.399. His injury could certainly be responsible for his dip in production, in which case a few days of rest would make even more sense. The Twins are all but certain to reach October, and now is the time for Correa to focus on restoring his health. That being said, it’s understandable why he’d want to take the field every day down the stretch. As the most accomplished and highest-paid player on the roster, the 2017 World Series champion has a leadership role to play in the Twins’ clubhouse.

In other injury news around baseball:

  • Ha-Seong Kim sits out a second straight game, as he continues to deal with discomfort in his abdomen. The Padres infielder told reporters, including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that he isn’t sure why he feels so unwell, and he’s waiting on test results that he hopes will reveal the cause. Kim has been a bright spot in a difficult season for San Diego, hitting 17 home runs, stealing 36 bases, and playing excellent defense all around the infield. Unfortunately, he has been slumping as of late, with a .204/.291/.282 slash-line over the past month; it’s unclear if his slump has anything to do with his abdominal pain.
  • The Rockies are preparing to reinstate starting pitcher Ryan Feltner ahead of Tuesday’s contest with the Padres, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. Feltner has been on the 60-day IL since late May, as he recovered from a concussion and a fractured skull. The Rockies have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so they can reinstate the righty without making a corresponding move. However, they’ll still need to free up a spot for him on the active roster. Feltner was off to a rough start in 2023 (5.86 ERA in eight starts) even before a liner off the bat of Nick Castellanos nearly ended his season. Suffice it to say, it’s remarkable that he’ll be returning to the field after such a scary injury.
  • The Cardinals have placed Giovanny Gallegos on the 15-day IL with right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis. Jake Woodford was recalled from Triple-A to take his spot on the active roster. The team told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that the injury doesn’t seem serious, but they’re playing it extra safe as the season draws to a close. Indeed, they might have shut the righty down even sooner, but Gallegos wanted to ensure that he had properly addressed the pitch tipping issues he was having earlier in the season.

Edwin Diaz Will Not Return In 2023

By | at

Mets closer Edwin Díaz will not return to a major league mound in 2023, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The two-time All-Star has not suffered a setback, and he will continue to throw bullpen sessions, but the team does not want to jeopardize his health by rushing him back for the tail end of what has become a lost season. When Díaz tore his patellar tendon during the World Baseball Classic, the Mets were preseason favorites for an NL postseason berth. Six months later, they find themselves two losses away from a losing campaign.

Díaz always hoped to come back during the regular season – an ambitious goal, but one within the realm of possibility. He deserves credit for how effectively he has worked toward that objective. As pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told DiComo, the flamethrowing righty has progressed to a point where he could, theoretically, be back in the majors before the end of the year. Indeed, if the Mets were in a more competitive position, he might have already made his return.

However, Hefner expressed concern about the star closer re-aggravating his leg injury while running to make a defensive play or avoiding a comebacker to the mound. Thus, Díaz will have to wait until next March to pitch another game at Citi Field.

New York may not be playing for much this September, but it still comes as disheartening news that Díaz won’t rejoin the ’pen. Mets relievers rank 13th in the National League with a 4.53 ERA and last with -0.1 FanGraphs WAR. They have had particular trouble since the trade deadline, pitching to a 5.68 ERA and -0.4 fWAR.

In addition to Díaz, Sean Reid-Foley and John Curtiss are on the injured list, while David Robertson was dealt to Miami at the deadline. Meanwhile, four of the eight relievers on the Mets’ active roster have an ERA over five. This bullpen could certainly use Díaz and his electric arm – for a morale boost, if nothing else – but admittedly, that’s hardly a reason to risk his health. He is on track to return at full strength in 2024.

Reds Release Chasen Shreve

By | at

The Reds have released Chasen Shreve, according to his transaction page on MLB.com. The lefty reliever was designated for assignment on September 12, just ten days after the Reds selected his contract. He made three appearances for Cincinnati, including scoreless outings against the Mariners and Cardinals, but turned out to be little more than a placeholder for fellow southpaw Brandon Williamson; he was called up when Williamson went on the COVID-19 IL and DFA’d once Williamson returned.

Shreve spent most of the 2023 campaign with the Tigers, making 47 appearances between Opening Day and mid-August. While his 4.79 ERA was uninspiring, his underlying numbers painted a picture of a solid middle reliever: a 46.8% groundball rate, a 6.7% walk rate, and a 3.69 SIERA. Nonetheless, the Tigers eventually chose to prioritize youth and the future, cutting ties with the veteran shortly after the trade deadline.

The 33-year-old quickly latched on with the Reds, signing a minor league deal and reporting to the Louisville Bats. He performed well in six appearances for Cincinnati’s Triple-A affiliate, giving up only one run on two hits while striking out five.

With less than a week remaining in the Triple-A season, it’s unlikely Shreve signs elsewhere before the year is up. However, he should be able to find another minor league deal this winter. As a durable left-handed reliever with ten years of big league experience, teams will undoubtedly be interested in his services.

Big Hype Prospects: Langford, Manzardo, Mead, Jones, Basallo

By | at

This week on Big Hype Prospects, we visit some notable players at various stages of their journey and highlight three more whose 2023 success could yield top prospect status next season.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Wyatt Langford, 21, OF, TEX (AAA)
(CPX/A+/AA) 174 PA, 10 HR, 9 SB, .359/.471/.697

The Rangers, thirsty to reach the postseason for the first time since 2016, have to be giving consideration to Langford. He received a promotion to Triple-A today for the final week of the minor league season. If that goes well, Langford could be the latest player to debut in his draft year. He’s earned the consideration. Of all minor leaguers with at least 150 plate appearances, Langford ranks second overall with a 202 wRC+. He has more walks than strikeouts along with a .338 isolated slugging percentage. He has 25 singles and 26 extra-base hits.

Kyle Manzardo, 22, 1B, CLE (AAA)
(AAA) 313 PA, 11 HR, 1 SB, .238/.342/.442

Seemingly on the cusp of reaching the Majors to start this season, Manzardo instead spent the year in Triple-A and on the injured list. A contact-oriented hitter with a hefty fly ball rate, his approach should play up at Progressive Field. It also yields predictably low BABIPs. Manzardo’s batted ball profile is that of a slugger, but he’s yet to turn that into on-field results. The peripherals are in place for a breakthrough 2024 campaign. The Guardians have an extremely left-handed lineup which could affect how the club plans to use Manzardo.

Curtis Mead, 22, 3B, TBR (MLB)
(MLB) 52 PA, .267/.365/.356

Another Rays product whose 2022 performance outshined his 2023 follow-up, Mead is currently serving as a platoon bat. A slugger by reputation, Mead has yet to homer in his debut season. He also contributed only nine dingers in 278 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s struggled to make consistent contact as evidenced by his 84.0 mph average exit velocity. The only qualified hitter with a worse average EV is Esteury Ruiz. Likely, Mead will make the necessary adjustments to produce spicier balls in play. It’s not uncommon for prospects to make unexpectedly weak contact in their first exposure to the Majors. Mead’s long-term outlook depends upon him finding 30-homer power.

Druw Jones, 19, OF, ARI (A)
131 PA, 2 HR, 6 SB, .252/.366/.351

This year, perhaps no prospect has lost more clout than Jones. A Top 10 prospect entering the season, he’s now at risk of falling off Top 50 lists. Injuries cost his entire 2022 season and most of 2023. Early in the season, he struggled mightily. The good news: there is a silver lining. Since returning to action on August 1, Jones is batting .274/.389/.400 with a tolerable 24.8 percent strikeout rate. His speed and double-plus outfield defense have been on display as well. While Jones has been leapfrogged by other worthy names, he appears to be back on a positive developmental track.

Samuel Basallo, 18, C, BAL (AA)
(A/A+/AA) 483 PA, 20 HR, 12 SB, .313/.402/.551

Basallo began the year as a young power-over-hit catcher with a questionable defensive reputation. He appeared to be half a decade away from a debut – if it ever came at all. He’s now played his way onto Top 100 lists as the latest Orioles breakout. Basallo is built like a first baseman, and it’s where I expect to see him long-term. I believe it’s telling the Orioles have opted to promote him based on the development of his bat rather than his glove. Most catchers meander through the minors as they hone their defensive chops. Concerns about his hit tool appear to be overstated. Given his raw power, he looks likely to make enough contact to float at first base. Fine adjustments might determine whether he’s Rowdy Tellez redux or a first-division starter. In the grand tradition of Carlos Delgado and Kyle Schwarber, Basallo might get some play at catcher before the Orioles bow to necessity.

Three More

Ricardo Cabrera, CIN (18): The latest intriguing shortstop in the Reds system, Cabrera recovered from a disappointing 2022 season by hitting .346/.475/.531 in 202 plate appearances split between the complex and Low-A. He’s already a Top 100 prospect candidate who should find himself in High-A next season.

Yordanny Monegro, BOS (20): The most exciting pitcher to pop in the Red Sox system this year, Monegro combines a number of traits that portend a big league future. He’s built like a starter, misses bats, and can move the ball around the zone. He finished the season in High-A after dominating Low-A where he was old for the level.

Abimelec Ortiz, TEX (21): Ortiz was among the minor league leaders in home runs. His breakout campaign included 33 dingers, mostly at High-A. Not considered much of a prospect entering the season, he should now comfortably rank within the Top 200. He has a chance to reach the Top 100 with a fast start at Double-A in 2024.

Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top