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Clayton Kershaw “Doing Really Well” Early In Recovery From Shoulder Procedure

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Free agent starter Clayton Kershaw spoke publicly for the first time since announcing he underwent shoulder surgery on November 3. In a chat with David Vassegh of 570 AM’s Dodger Talk, the three-time Cy Young winner indicated he’s recovering nicely in the first five weeks after the operation.

“I think I’m doing really well. I don’t have a lot to compare it to. I’ve never had surgery before, but I really do feel great, all things considered,” Kershaw told Vassegh. “I’m doing a lot of movement stuff now, starting to strengthen it. … I’m excited to pitch again, and I really do think it’ll be this summer at some point. I feel good about that.”

A summer return is in line with what Kershaw projected in the immediate aftermath of the procedure. It’s nevertheless encouraging to hear he remains on that track after the earliest stages of his rehab process. While the 35-year-old has loosely floated the possibility of retiring in previous offseasons, he reiterated this evening that he’s not considering stepping away at this point.

Kershaw indicated he has the support of his family to continue playing. He added that he didn’t want to conclude his career on what would’ve been a very sour note. Kershaw, working with clearly diminished stuff as he pitched through the shoulder pain, was hammered for six runs without getting out of the first inning in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Diamondbacks. Arizona swept that series en route to the pennant.

The 10-time All-Star declined to speculate on where he expects to play in 2024 or when he might sign. It’s hard to envision the career-long Dodger in another uniform. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has repeatedly expressed that the organization would welcome Kershaw back for as long as he wants to continue pitching.

L.A. has Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler anchoring the rotation. Ryan Pepiot currently projects as the #3 starter, but his name has been floated in chatter about a potential trade for Rays ace Tyler Glasnow. Pitchers like Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove and Ryan Yarbrough are in the mix at the back end.

Regardless of Kershaw’s decision, the Dodgers figure to bring in multiple starters. If Kershaw were to re-sign, he’d join Dustin May as potential midseason injury returnees. May underwent a flexor tendon procedure in early July. Tony Gonsolin, who had Tommy John surgery in late August, appears likely to miss the entire season.

Marlins Remain Open To Catching Addition

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The Marlins added to the catching corps over the weekend, bringing in Christian Bethancourt in a trade with Cleveland. The former Ray looks to have the top spot on the depth chart, nudging Nick Fortes to the backup role. Those two are the only catchers on the 40-man roster, leaving room for another acquisition.

Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald report that the Fish remain open to adding another catcher. To that end, Jackson and Mish indicate they’ve considered Andrew Knizner as a low-cost free agent target. The 28-year-old (29 in February) became a free agent when he was non-tendered by the Cardinals last month.

A former seventh-round pick, Knizner had spent his entire career in St. Louis. He was a prospect of some regard during his run in the Cards’ farm system. The presence of Yadier Molina kept Knizner from getting many extended reps, though, and he didn’t produce much in his limited opportunities. He hit .204/.292/.288 in 553 plate appearances between his 2019 debut and the end of the 2022 season. That contributed to the club’s decision to sign Willson Contreras to a five-year free agent deal after Molina’s retirement.

Knizner picked up 241 plate appearances in a depth role last season, the second-highest workload of his career. His .241/.288/.424 batting line marked a step up from his early-career work, at least from a power perspective. The right-handed hitter knocked 10 homers while making hard contact on a solid 40.9% of his batted balls. While still below-average offense overall, Knizner’s production was in line with the .236/.303/.394 league slash for catchers.

That the Cards nevertheless moved on from Knizner despite a modest $2MM arbitration projection hints at continued struggles on the other side of the ball. A late conversion to catching during his final season at North Carolina State, Knizner has always been viewed as a work in progress defensively. Statcast consistently grades him below average at framing pitches. He also ranked 65th out of 74 catchers (minimum 10 throws) in average pop time to second base.

Defensive questions aside, Knizner is coming off a better year at the plate than either Bethancourt or Fortes managed. He’d likely be available for a little more than the league minimum salary and would be eligible for arbitration after next year. He also still has a minor league option remaining (as does Fortes), meaning a signing team could send him to Triple-A — at least until he reaches five years of MLB service, which won’t happen until late August at the earliest. Beyond Knizner, players like Austin Nola, Martín Maldonado, Yasmani Grandal and Eric Haase are likely looking at one-year free agent contracts.

In other news, Jackson and Mish write that the Fish are considering giving right-hander George Soriano a rotation look next spring. The 24-year-old has worked in relief over the past two seasons, including during his 52-inning MLB debut this year. Soriano worked to a 3.81 ERA with a reasonable 22.8% strikeout rate against an elevated 10.1% walk percentage while frequently working two innings per appearance.

The Fish have already indicated that left-hander A.J. Puk will stretch out as a starter in exhibition play. Even if they do the same with Soriano, they could determine both pitchers are ultimately best suited to open the year back in the bullpen. Miami presently projects for a starting five of Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Eury Pérez, Edward Cabrera and Trevor Rogers.

First-year president of baseball operations Peter Bendix comes from a Tampa Bay front office that hasn’t been shy about converting bullpen arms to starters, often in response to midseason injuries. The Rays found success with rotation moves for Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs and Zack Littell over the past two years (although Rasmussen and Springs have since sustained injuries that necessitated arm surgery).

Tommy Hunter Officially Retires

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Longtime big league reliever Tommy Hunter has officially retired, he tells Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic (X link). Hunter first indicated he was retiring on former teammate Adam Jones’ podcast in October, news that eluded MLBTR at the time.

Hunter, 37, pitched parts of 16 seasons in the majors. The Rangers selected the University of Alabama product in the supplemental first round of the 2007 draft. He got to the big leagues the following August. Operating as a starter for three seasons, Hunter compiled a 4.36 ERA before being dealt alongside future home run champ Chris Davis to the Orioles for Koji Uehara.

While Davis turned out to be the star of that return, Hunter was a very productive player for Baltimore in his own right. He struggled as a starter over the next season and a half but found a new gear upon moving to the bullpen in 2013. The right-hander turned in consecutive sub-3.00 ERA showings while surpassing 60 innings in 2013 and ’14, combining for a 2.88 ERA over that stretch.

Hunter found himself in another deadline trade in 2015. As an impending free agent on an average Baltimore team, he was flipped to the Cubs in a swap for outfielder Junior Lake. Hunter bounced around as a middle reliever from that point forward, suiting up with the Indians, Orioles again, Rays and Phillies through 2020. He saw action with the Mets in each of the past three seasons. Hunter was generally effective for the majority of that time, although he finished with a 6.85 ERA in 23 2/3 innings before New York released him this past June.

In the decade after his move to the bullpen, he allowed 3.33 earned runs per nine in 410 appearances with six franchises. Hunter never posted huge strikeout tallies, but he had consistently strong command and turned in five seasons with 50+ innings and an ERA below 4.00. He was part of the 2010 Texas team that won the American League pennant and started Game 4 of that year’s Fall Classic, allowing two runs over four innings in a 4-0 loss.

For his career, Hunter posted a 4.07 ERA across 917 1/3 frames. He recorded 639 punchouts, won 56 games, picked up 103 holds and collected 22 saves. Baseball Reference calculated his career earnings in the $36MM range. MLBTR congratulates Hunter on his productive, very lengthy run at the highest level and wishes him the best in his post-playing days.

Liam Hendriks Targeting Trade Deadline Return From Tommy John Surgery

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Free agent right-hander Liam Hendriks underwent Tommy John surgery in early August and is hoping to be back on the mound roughly one year after going under the knife. He tells Scott Merkin of MLB.com that he’s targeting next year’s trade deadline as a return goal. It appears he has had conversations with some teams but nothing is imminent in terms of getting a deal done.

Hendriks, 35 in February, is wrapping up a challenging year dominated by off-field concerns. He announced in January that he would be starting treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He completed his chemotherapy treatment in April and announced that he was declared free of cancer shortly after that. He began a rehab assignment in early May and was activated from the injured list by the end of that month. Just a couple of weeks later, he landed on the injured list due to elbow inflammation and required TJS in early August, having thrown just five big league innings for the year.

As part of the deal he originally signed with the White Sox, they had a $15MM club option for 2024 that came with a $15MM buyout. The difference, however, was the timing of those equal payments. They decided to buy him out and pay him $1.5MM in 10 annual installments as opposed to picking it up, which would involve paying the entire amount during the 2024 campaign.

Now a free agent, Hendriks will be a long-term play for any interested club, as he’ll miss at least the first few months of the upcoming season. Any club that signs him would be hoping for a late-season boost to the bullpen or would perhaps just be thinking about 2025. One of those teams is the Cubs, with Hendriks relaying that they reached out, but it appears those talks were more preliminary than anything.

“There’s been nothing substantial about any of the conversations we’ve had,” he said. “But they were one of the teams that reached out pretty early on.” It seems other clubs are taking a similar wait-and-see approach. “Obviously, we are in no rush. My timeline hasn’t changed. I’m not going to be ready in April. Teams are making sure they really get their main part of 2024 set up. We’ve had some clubs call and be like, ‘Once it heats up, let us know.’”

His ultimate market might come down to who still has a bit of money left in their budget after the other free agents are signed and Spring Training approaches. But whoever does get him to put pen to paper will obviously be banking on his tremendous run as an elite closer, prior to his mostly lost season in 2023. From 2019 to 2022, he posted a 2.26 earned run average over 226 appearances, racking up 114 saves in the process. He struck out 38.8% of batters faced while walking just 5.1% of them.

If he can get back to anything close to that kind of performance, he would upgrade any bullpen in the league. But for now, it seems he has to wait for things to progress. His target is on the shorter end of the typical TJS return but he could be an intriguing wild card in the 2024 campaign even if he misses that goal by a month or so. On MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents post, Hendriks was predicted to secure a two-year, $12MM contract.

KBO’s KT Wiz Re-Sign Wes Benjamin

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Wes Benjamin re-signed with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization yesterday, the team announced (h/t to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO). The left-hander will make $1.4MM.

Bejamin, 30, goes into his third season with the team. He initially joined the Wiz in May 2022. After posting a 2.70 ERA in 17 starts, he re-signed last offseason. Benjamin turned in a 3.54 ERA across 29 starts and 160 innings. He struck out 23% of opposing hitters against a 6.5% walk rate.

Prior to going to Korea, the former fifth-round pick pitched for the Rangers. He got into 21 games for Texas between 2020-21, allowing 6.80 earned runs per nine through 45 innings. Benjamin had signed a minor league deal with the White Sox for the ’22 campaign. He made seven starts for the Sox’s Triple-A affiliate before being granted his release to move to the KBO.

The Wiz also re-signed William Cuevas and brought back outfielder Mel Rojas Jr. last week. That trio takes their allotted three roster spots for foreign-born players to open the season.

MLB Announces “Spring Breakout” Prospect Series

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Major League Baseball announced the creation of “Spring Breakout,” a four-day series of exhibition games in which an organization’s top prospects will participate in Spring Training contests against the best minor league talents of other teams. Next year’s event will take place between March 14 and 17.

“Spring Breakout will provide a new opportunity to showcase the future stars of the game as they continue on their journey to the Major Leagues,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in the press release. “Our fans will get unique opportunities to meet our best prospects, get autographs, and see the next generation of Major Leaguers up close. We are thrilled that Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball and all of our Clubs are working closer than ever to grow the game and to shine a brighter light on our future All-Stars.”

While it’s not uncommon for highly-regarded prospects to participate in Spring Training contests, they’re frequently plugged in as late-game substitutions alongside the MLB roster. Lower minors players are often in the minor league portion of Spring Training while playing on the backfields at teams’ complexes.

Before today, there hadn’t been anything specifically designed to get a club’s most talented young players (regardless of age and level) all on the same field in front of a larger audience. This won’t dramatically change the spring season but sets aside a few days to give fans a look at the future of the organizations.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the news shortly before the league announcement.

Nationals Plan To Use Nick Senzel As Primary Third Baseman

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The Nationals made their one-year deal with former No. 2 overall draft pick Nick Senzel official yesterday, and the club is envisioning a prominent role for the 28-year-old. Senzel himself tells reporters that manager Dave Martinez told him the expectation is that he’ll play third base every day in 2024 (link via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com).

At the time he agreed to his one-year, $2MM pact with Washington, it was reasonable enough to expect that Senzel might bounce around the diamond, as he’d done throughout his time in Cincinnati. The Reds began Senzel’s development as a third baseman but began playing him at other positions before long. Eugenio Suarez was locked in as the Reds’ third baseman, and after he turned in a 34-homer, All-Star campaign in 2018, Senzel wound up serving as Cincinnati’s primary center fielder in 2019. Overall, Senzel played all three outfield spots, second base and third base in the big leagues during his time as a Red (plus some briefer looks at shortstop in the minors).

It seems the Nationals plan to give Senzel an opportunity he never fully received in Cincinnati: everyday reps at the hot corner. Part of that lack of opportunity in Cincinnati was due to the presence of other veterans (e.g. Suarez, Mike Moustakas). Part was due to a litany of injuries that derailed Senzel’s development. He missed time due to finger surgery (to repair a torn tendon), elbow surgery (to remove bone spurs), shoulder surgery (torn labrum), injuries to both knees (one of which required arthroscopic surgery) and an ankle sprain. If he can finally remain healthy and things go well, the Nats can control him through the 2025 season via arbitration.

Word of an everyday role for Senzel isn’t without impact elsewhere on Washington’s roster. The Nats have their own former top prospect whom they selected in the first round of the 2016 draft, just 24 picks after Senzel, in Carter Kieboom. The 26-year-old has appeared in parts of four big league seasons with the Nats but mustered only a .199/.297/.301 slash in 508 trips to the plate. Kieboom is now out of minor league options, so he’ll need to either make the Opening Day roster or else be traded or exposed to waivers before he can be sent down to the minors.

That puts Kieboom in an unenviable spot. Like Senzel, he’s been plagued by myriad injuries throughout his still relatively young career. Most notable is the infielder’s 2022 Tommy John surgery, but Kieboom has also missed time with a shoulder impingement and a wrist injury. That shoulder issue wiped out much of his 2023 season. Kieboom had surely hoped that a return to health would give him the opportunity to at last cement himself in the big leagues. In order to have the best chance at doing so, he’d need regular playing time that now does not appear to be in the cards. If he sticks with the Nats to open the season, he’ll face the tough task of trying to produce and earn a long-term spot through sporadic at-bats — likely being scattered between third base, designated hitter and perhaps at second base.

It’s also fair to question whether Kieboom is on the verge of running out of opportunities in D.C. altogether, though. His trade value isn’t anywhere near what it once was, but it’s still plausible that another club could take a look at him as a third base flier in a small trade or via a waiver claim. He still has four years of club control remaining.

Pirates, Penguins Agree To Joint Ownership Of SportsNet Pittsburgh

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The Pirates announced Wednesday that they’ve entered into an agreement with the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins for joint ownership of the SportsNet Pittsburgh network. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the agreement. With the new partnership, SportsNet Pittsburgh will continue to carry all regionally broadcasted Pirates games and expand the network’s pregame and postgame coverage of the team.

“Above all else, this was the right thing to do for our fans,” Pirates president Travis Williams said in a press release announcing the agreement. “From the outset of this process, the most important thing to us was to ensure that our fans have the same level of access to Pirates game telecasts and the same high-quality production that they enjoy today. This agreement accomplishes that and more as we enable Pittsburgh sports fans to continue to enjoy a two-team, 24/7 sports channel.”

Mackey reports in a full column on the news that it’s expected to be a multi-year but still short-term agreement, giving Pirates fans some stability in knowing how to watch their team’s games while also leaving the team with the flexibility to pursue alternatives that may arise in the not-too-distant future. Pirates fans will want to check out the column in full, as Mackey chatted with Williams for a one-on-one interview regarding the new partnership.

The deal creates some eyebrow-raising partnerships due to the fact that daily operations of the network are handled by the New England Sports Network (NESN), which is owned by Fenway Sports Group. FSG owns the Penguins and holds an 80% stake in SportsNet Pittsburgh, per Mackey. That means that Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner, the founders of FSG, will directly profit from the Pirates’ television broadcasts moving forward. Williams emphasized to Mackey that MLB has not deemed that to be a conflict of interest — FSG’s operations are a separate business venture from the Red Sox — and he added that the existing relationship between Henry, Werner and Pirates owner Bob Nutting actually helped to facilitate the arrangement.

Notably, Williams indicated that both the Pirates and Penguins are hoping to be able to offer a direct-to-consumer streaming option “as soon as possible,” adding that such a feature is currently at the works at NESN. Financial terms of the short-term arrangement and any potential down-the-road streaming options remain unclear, but Williams claimed the broadcast situation will not change the team’s payroll outlook.

“I don’t think payroll is a product of our television deal,” Williams told Mackey. “Payroll is a product of many different things in terms of where we are in building a team. As I’ve mentioned before, the revenue that comes from these types of deals, whether it’s this or a sponsorship or a jersey patch, any of those topics, that’s part of the overall revenues that we use to invest in the organization, areas where we’re going to make a difference.”

Mets Sign Trayce Thompson To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have signed Trayce Thompson to a minor league deal, reports Andy Martino of SNY. The outfielder will receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.

Thompson, 33 in March, is coming off a frustrating season. He seemed to have a breakout in 2022, hitting 13 home runs in 80 games for the Dodgers. He struck out at a 36.5% clip but also drew walks in 12.5% of his plate appearances and his outfield defense was given strong marks. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 2.5 wins above replacement, a solid tally for barely half a season.

The Dodgers brought him back but he couldn’t maintain that in 2023. His performance was diminished in the first couple of months before he suffered a left oblique strain in early June. He was still on the injured list in late July when he was flipped to the White Sox as part of the Lance Lynn/Joe Kelly trade. He activated from the IL a few days later but continued to struggle. He finished the season with a 43% strikeout rate and batting line of .163/.285/.294. He was outrighted off Chicago’s roster at the end of the season.

The Mets will give Thompson a chance for a fresh start and add him to their outfield mix in a non-roster capacity. They have Brandon Nimmo in center field but questions in the corners. Starling Marte, who is coming off an injury-marred season, is slated to be in one corner. DJ Stewart could be in another corner after finishing 2023 on a tear, but he’s a poor defender and might be better utilized in a designated hitter/bench bat capacity. Thompson has played all three outfield spots in his career and can potentially slot in as needed. If he gets added to the roster at any point, he is out of options but has just over four years of major league service time, meaning he could be retained next year if he gets back in good form.

This offseason has seen the Mets place a particular emphasis on depth. In recent months, they have claimed Penn Murfee, Zack Short, Tyler Heineman and Cooper Hummel off waivers. They have given one-year deals to Luis Severino, Joey Wendle, Michael Tonkin, Jorge López and Austin Adams. They have also given minor league deals to Cole Sulser, Kyle Crick, José Iglesias, Taylor Kohlwey, Rylan Bannon and now Thompson.

Red Sox Sign Roberto Pérez To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox have signed catcher Roberto Pérez, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. It’s a minor league deal with an invite to major league camp, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Cotillo adds that Perez will get a $1.4MM base salary if added to the roster.

Pérez, 35 next week, has been one of the better defensive catchers in the majors during his career but has hardly played recently due to the pandemic and significant injury issues. He has only played 102 games over the past four seasons and only 26 over the past two. He joined the Pirates for 2022 but only got into 21 contests before a significant hamstring strain required season-ending surgery. This year, he played five games for the Giants before shoulder surgery ended his campaign.

But as mentioned, he has a very strong reputation for his glovework in his career. He has racked up 80 Defensive Runs Saved since making his debut in 2014. The only catcher with more in that timeframe is Austin Hedges and his 86 DRS, though Hedges did so in more than 1,000 extra innings compared to Pérez. Pérez is also considered a strong framer by each of FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Statcast.

His offense hasn’t been as impressive. He did hit 24 home runs in 2019, but that was the “juiced ball” season and he’s never hit more than eight in any other season of his career. Overall, he’s hit .207/.298/.358, which translates to a wRC+ of 77.

The Sox currently have just two catchers on their 40-man roster in Connor Wong and Reese McGuire. Last month, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said that the club feels good with its catching situation, but Wong and McGuire are 27 and 28 years old, respectively. Pérez will come into Spring Training and serve as a respected veteran presence, while giving the club a bit of extra depth in a non-roster capacity.

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