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Blue Jays Grant Eduardo Escobar His Release

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The Blue Jays granted veteran infielder Eduardo Escobar his release today, manager John Schneider tells Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Escobar had been in camp on a minor league contract, but the team informed him this morning he wouldn’t make the club. He’s a free agent once again.

Escobar, 35, was facing long odds of cracking the Toronto roster. The club doesn’t have a clear everyday option at second base or third base but does have plenty of options for both positions. Cavan Biggio is perhaps the most likely player to get playing time at the keystone, but Davis Schneider will also be in the mix there. Isiah Kiner-Falefa could be the favorite for the hot corner after signing a two-year deal this winter, though Justin Turner can also play there on occasion when he’s not the designated hitter.

Ernie Clement seemed to win the backup infield job this spring, which pushed the Jays to flip Santiago Espinal to the Reds. They could have optioned Espinal to keep him as depth but they also have Orelvis Martinez, Addison Barger and Leo Jimenez on the roster. Joey Votto and Daniel Vogelbach are also in camp as non-roster options for bench bat role.

Escobar would have been trying to force his way past that group but he hit just .122/.143/.268 this spring. Since he hit .226/.269/.344 for the Mets and Angels last year, he wasn’t carrying a lot of momentum towards a roster spot and will now return to free agency.

He has been very inconsistent in his career but can market himself to clubs based on the fact that was in good form as recently as the 2021 and 2022 seasons. He hit 28 home runs in the first of those campaigns and 20 in the second. His .247/.305/.452 slash line over that time translates to a wRC+ of 106. He’s not a strong defender but his ability to the play the three non-shortstop positions and his switch-hitting ability give him plenty of flexibility.

Dominic Smith To Opt Out Of Minors Deal With Cubs

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First baseman Dominic Smith is opting out of his minor league deal with the Cubs, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN.

Smith, 29 in June, is primarily a first baseman. The Mets moved him to left field for a while since Pete Alonso took hold of the first base job, but Smith graded poorly out there and eventually moved back to first base with the Nationals last year.

The Cubs are likely going to give a lot of run to Michael Busch at first base this year, after acquiring him from the Dodgers in an offseason trade. They also re-signed Cody Bellinger after Smith signed his minor league pact, further crowding the path to playing time. Bellinger will likely be in the outfield but it’s possible that he winds up at first if Busch falters or if Pete Crow-Armstrong forces his way into the center field job.

Given that situation, it makes sense that Smith would look for opportunities elsewhere. He’s been in great form this spring, having hit .346/.370/.538 thus far, which could perhaps help him market himself to other clubs.

He’s coming off an uninspiring season, his first outside of Queens. He hit just .254/.326/.366 for the Nationals, leading to a wRC+ of 90, his third straight subpar campaign. Interested clubs will be hoping that he can get back to his 2019-20 form, when he hit .299/.366/.571 for a wRC+ of 150.

There is plenty of roster churn going on around baseball today, with several cuts being made and veterans opting out. A game of musical chairs will play out in the coming days as guys look for new clubs and Smith will see if he can wind up somewhere with a decent path to playing time.

White Sox Sign Robbie Grossman To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve signed free agent outfielder Robbie Grossman to a minor league deal. He’ll be invited to the remainder of big league camp.

Grossman, 34, spent the 2023 season with the World Series champion Rangers but will head into the 2024 season with a rebuilding ChiSox club. He hit .238/.340/.394 with Texas last season and has been an average or better hitter in six of the past eight seasons. Grossman has tallied 3552 plate appearances in that span and delivered a composite .245/.350/.387 batting line during that time. The switch-hitter is a career .282/.381/.426 slash against left-handed pitching (126 wRC+). He’s been below-average, albeit not egregiously so, against right-handed pitching.

Grossman has played a bit of center field in his career, but the vast majority of that experience came back in 2013. He’s primarily a corner outfielder and designated hitter, with the bulk of his outfield work coming in left field. He played 553 innings on the grass for Texas last season but turned in well below-average defensive marks.

The White Sox figure to enter the season with left-handed-hitting Dominic Fletcher as their primary right fielder and lefty-swinging Andrew Benintendi in left. Grossman’s excellence from the right side of the plate would make him a viable platoon partner for either player. They currently have Kevin Pillar in camp as a fellow non-roster veteran who could offer a righty complement to those lefty-hitting corner outfielders, but Pillar has an out clause in his minor league contract today, which could come into play.

Eduardo Rodríguez Shut Down With Lat Strain

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Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told the club’s beat that left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez has been shut down from throwing due to a left lat strain, with Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic among those to relay the news. The lefty will open the season on the injured list but his timeline is unclear apart from that.

Lovullo says Rodríguez will be shut down until he’s asymptomatic, but he doesn’t seem to have an idea of how long that will take, with video courtesy of Alex Weiner of AZ Sports. “I know you guys want to know lengths of time, all the common questions that I want to know,” he said. “But we don’t know that. It’s going to depend on how he progresses and how he’s feeling day by day. We’re going to assess it daily and then build it out from there. The return will be determined by the length of time that he’s down. And I can tell you that he’s been feeling better day by day.”

Rodríguez departed his start on Tuesday after just one inning with some lat discomfort and it now seems a strain has been found. If he remains out of action for a notable amount of time, he may then need to effectively start his Spring Training ramp-up period from scratch.

It’s obviously unwelcome news for the Diamondbacks, as Rodríguez was their big offseason splash to upgrade the rotation. The Snakes managed to get all the way to the World Series last year despite a starting mix so weak that they were doing bullpen games in the playoffs.

They signed Rodríguez to a four-year, $80MM deal this winter with the hope of him stabilizing the rotation behind Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. That may come to pass eventually, but he’ll begin the season on the IL and will have a questionable timeline until more information comes to light.

In the meantime, the Diamondbacks will have to fill out the rotation with fairly unproven hurlers. Brandon Pfaadt, Ryne Nelson and Tommy Henry are the most likely pitchers to fill in behind Gallen and Kelly. Between those three, Nelson has the most regular season experience, with just 162 1/3 innings. Henry’s 4.57 ERA is the lowest of three. Pfaadt finished last year with a strong showing in the postseason but he’s allowed seven earned runs in 5 2/3 innings this spring.

Despite being the reigning National League champions, the Snakes are likely facing a tough battle this year. The Dodgers are loaded with superstars while the Giants recently had Blake Snell and Matt Chapman fall into their laps. The Padres have battled a budget crunch this winter but still have lots of talent on the roster. For the Diamondbacks, their rotation is now back to the wobbly state it was in at the start of the offseason, so they will naturally be hoping for a quick return from Rodríguez.

Nationals Release Zach Davies, Reassign Several Top Prospects To Minor League Camp

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The Nationals announced Friday that they’ve released veteran right-hander Zach Davies, who’d been in camp on a minor league contract. Washington also reassigned veteran lefty Richard Bleier, first baseman Juan Yepez, and top prospects James Wood, Brady House, Dylan Crews and Robert Hassell III to minor league camp. Bleier and Yepez, like Davies, were in camp on non-roster deals with spring invites.

Davies, 31, was signed to provide some depth to a thin rotation but was rocked for 14 runs in 14 innings this spring. Opposing hitters connected on 20 hits, including a pair of homers, and Davies issued seven free passes while plunking another batter. To his credit, he fanned 17 of his 69 opponents — a 24.6% clip that’s far north of his career average — but it wasn’t a strong all around impression. He’ll look to latch on with another club in need of some depth.

From 2022-23, Davies was in the D-backs’ rotation. He was a solid back-end arm in 2022, logging 134 1/3 frames of 4.09 ERA ball, albeit with worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates alike. He was torched for a 7.00 ERA in 82 1/3 innings last year, missing time with back and oblique injuries along the way. Davies has never had good strikeout numbers, fanning just 17.5% of his career opponents, but he’s typically had solid command (8.1% walk rate) and a slightly above-average ground-ball rate (44.9%). It’s not the flashiest skill set, but Davies has regularly dodged hard contact and managed to post a career 4.36 ERA in 1048 1/3 innings despite averaging under 90 mph on his fastball.

Also not making the cut are veterans Bleier and Yepez. Bleier, soon to turn 37, had a big spring with just two runs allowed on eight hits and no walks with nine strikeouts through 10 2/3 innings. The soft-tossing lefty is looking to bounce back from last year’s 5.28 ERA in Boston. From 2020-22, he turned in 125 1/3 innings of 3.09 ERA ball with well below-average strikeout rates but elite command and ground-ball tendencies.

The 26-year-old Yepez came to Nationals camp hoping to win a spot in the team’s first base/left field/designated hitter mix. Like Bleier, he’s performed well, hitting .387/.424/.581 with a couple homers in 33 trips to the plate. Yepez didn’t hit much in parts of two seasons with the Cardinals (.240/.286/.419, 97 wRC+) — especially considering his lack of speed and defensive value. However, he has a nice track record in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .279/.349/.515 in 948 plate appearances.

Of the top prospects optioned today, Wood had the best chance of making the roster, though even that was likely only an outside shot. The 21-year-old slugger was one of the centerpieces of Washington’s Juan Soto return from the Padres (along with Hassell) and did his best to force the issue this spring, slashing .341/.491/.707 with four homers. Despite that borderline comical offensive output, Wood has yet to play in Triple-A and only has 87 games above  A-ball. He’ll head to the upper minors for some more refinement, but he’s one of the game’s top-ranked prospects and will have a real chance to make his MLB debut in 2024.

Reds Grant Mike Ford His Release

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The Reds announced Friday that first baseman/designated hitter Mike Ford was reassigned to minor league camp, indicating he won’t make the team’s Opening Day roster. Ford, who’d signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati now granted Ford his release from the club, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. He’s once again a free agent.

Ford couldn’t have done much more with his limited time this spring to earn his way onto Cincinnati’s roster. The 31-year-old slugger appeared in 10 games and tallied 35 plate appearances, during which he posted a torrid .455/.486/.727 slash with three home runs, a pair of walks and just three punchouts. He was always something of a long shot to make the roster given the Reds’ crowded infield, but it seems that even with injuries to Matt McLain and Edwin Arroyo, plus an 80-game PED suspension for Noelvi Marte, the Reds don’t feel he’s a good fit on the 26-man roster.

In 2023, Ford posted huge power numbers with the Mariners, slashing .228/.323/.475 with 16 homers in just 251 trips to the plate. He coupled that thump with an above-average 9.6% walk rate but an unsightly 32.3% strikeout rate. The former Yankee farmhand has long had plus power and questionable contact rates, so the 2023 season wasn’t out of the norm. However, last season also represented Ford’s longest and most productive stretch in the big leagues. He’d never reached even 200 plate appearances in a major league season prior.

The left-handed-hitting Ford hasn’t been allowed to face lefties much in his career but torched them in 24 plate appearances last year and has actually fared better against fellow southpaws in his career at large. It’s only 108 plate appearances, but he’s a .268/.343/.577 hitter versus lefties compared to .200/.303/.389 against righties (in a much larger sample of 611 plate appearances).

Ford’s big spring showing and huge power output in ’23 should allow him to catch on with a club looking for some left-handed pop. There’s a chance he could even land on a big league roster, though a minor league deal on a team with a clearer path to first base/designated hitter at-bats is a bit likelier.

Eury Perez Diagnosed With Elbow Inflammation, Will Begin Season On Injured List

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Touted young Marlins right-hander Eury Perez has been diagnosed with inflammation in his right elbow and will begin the 2024 season on the 15-day injured list, per Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Surgery has not been recommended, but Perez will be sidelined for several weeks while the inflammation calms down. It’s a tough loss to begin the season though far from a worst-case scenario for the Marlins and their fans, who were bracing for the possibility of a more serious injury when Perez went for an MRI after experiencing elbow soreness.

Still just 20 years old (21 in April), Perez made his big league debut in 2023 and immediately looked like he belonged. In 91 1/3 innings, he pitched to a 3.15 earned run average while striking out 28.9% of his opponents against a tidy 8.3% walk rate. He’d previously been touted as one of the very best pitching prospects in the sport, and that type of production against big league opposition before even turning 21 years old did little to sway that thinking.

It’s an immense relief that surgery isn’t on the table for now, but the Marlins will still be without Perez for a yet-to-be-determined period of time. The length of his absence will presumably dependent on how his elbow responds to the recent shutdown period. Only time will tell how quickly that inflammation might clear up. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald tweets that Perez will test his elbow playing some light catch this weekend, which could provide some more information.

Miami already announced left-hander Jesus Luzardo as the team’s Opening Day starter. Beyond that, the group won’t look much like the team envisioned throughout the offseason. That’s due in no small part to Perez’s injury but also because both Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera will start the season on the shelf due to shoulder issues. The Fish resisted trading from their stock of young arms this offseason and are likely glad they did so, given the injuries that have cropped up in camp.

Luzardo figures to be followed by former NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Trevor Rogers, reliever-turned-starter AJ Puk, and former Padres first-round pick Ryan Weathers. Rogers is looking for a bounceback after a pair of injury-plagued seasons. Puk was a starter in college and the minors but was pushed to the ’pen due to a series of injuries. The Marlins acquired him from the A’s in exchange for JJ Bleday last offseason and got a strong season of relief out of him; they’ll now try to stretch the big lefty out. Weathers came to the Fish in last summer’s Garrett Cooper swap with San Diego. He’s been an up-and-down depth arm with shaky results in the big leagues and Triple-A alike but was the No. 7 overall pick back in 2018.

If and when the Marlins need a fifth starter early in the season, that role could fall to righty Bryan Hoeing. He’s still in big league camp, while other 40-man options like Max Meyer, Darren McCaughan and Roddery Munoz have already been optioned out. Miami also reassigned non-roster pitchers Yonny Chirinos and Devin Smeltzer to minor league camp yesterday, ending their potential bid for rotation spots.

The Fish, of course, will be without ace Sandy Alcantara for the entire 2024 season. The 2022 National League Cy Young winner underwent Tommy John surgery in early October and will miss the entire 2024 season as a result. He’s expected back in 2025.

Trevor Gott To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Athletics right-hander Trevor Gott has a fully torn ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo Tommy John next week, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. He will miss the entire 2024 season and part of 2025 as well.

Gott, 31, signed with the A’s in the offseason, a one-year deal with a $1.5MM guarantee and performance bonuses based on appearances. Unfortunately, he won’t be unlocking any of those bonuses now and it will go down as a wasted investment for the A’s. Gott will be placed on the 60-day injured list when the club needs a roster spot and spend the year there. He’ll cross six years of service time in the process and return to free agency in the fall.

He has 243 2/3 innings under his belt with a 4.65 ERA. He split last season between the Mariners and Mets, tossing 58 innings with a 4.19 ERA, 23.8% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate. The Mets could have retained him via arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a modest $2MM salary. But they non-tendered him instead and he landed in Oakland.

He’ll turn 32 this August while rehabbing and then will hit the open market in advance of the 2025 season. For the A’s, it opens up another spot in their bullpen for them to cycle their various young guys through and see who sticks.

Danny Duffy, Chasen Shreve, Shane Greene Won’t Make Rangers’ Roster

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Veteran left-handers Danny Duffy and Chasen Shreve won’t make the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, nor will righty Shane Greene, tweets Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today. They’ve been told they’re free to explore the opt-out clauses in their minor league deals and see if there are big league opportunities for them elsewhere. However, the Rangers would also welcome the trio of veterans to open the season with their Triple-A affiliate.

The 35-year-old Duffy hasn’t pitched in a big league game since 2021 due to a lengthy series of injuries — most notably a torn flexor tendon that required surgery to repair back in December of 2021. Several setbacks wound up costing Duffy the 2022 season as well. He pitched 35 2/3 minor league innings with Texas last season but walked more than 16% of his opponents on the season, showing some clear rust from his lengthy layoff on the mound. He’s looked better this spring, pitching seven innings and allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks with seven punchouts.

Aside from a brief dalliance in the bullpen in 2015-16, Duffy was a fixture on Kansas City’s starting staff from 2014-21, during which time he logged a 3.82 ERA in 1015 innings while punching out 21.3% of his opponents against an 8.2% walk rate.

Greene, 35, is a former All-Star closer/setup man who peaked with the Tigers and Braves from 2017-20. He’s thrown just three innings in each of the past two MLB seasons but also turned in strong numbers with the Cubs in Triple-A last year. He’s yielded a pair of runs on five hits with a 5-to-2 K/BB ratio and 46% ground-ball rate thus far in spring training.

Greene was at once a high-leverage bullpen arm with both the Tigers and Braves, pitching to a combined 3.25 ERA with 64 saves and 35 holds in 221 2/3 innings from 2017-20 between the two clubs. He reached free agency on the heels of that stretch but didn’t end up signing until the following May, when he returned to the Braves. The right-hander struggled to a 7.23 ERA in 28 innings after that delayed start to the season and hasn’t had much of an opportunity to get back on track since.

Shreve, 33, has pitched in the majors in each of the past 10 seasons. He touts a career 3.97 ERA with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate. His velocity has dipped over the past couple seasons, with his heater sitting at just 90.6 mph from 2022-23. He’s pitched to a 5.32 ERA through 71 innings in that time, though there’s reason for more optimism than that mark would suggest.

Shreve boasts better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (24.1% and 7.8%) in spite of the downturn in velocity and has kept the ball on the ground at a solid 43.5% clip. Metrics like FIP (4.55) and particularly SIERA (3.64) are far more bullish than his ERA. In 4 2/3 spring innings, he’s yielded four runs on five hits and a couple of walks while fanning five opponents.

Carlos Carrasco, Tyler Beede Make Guardians’ Opening Day Roster

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The Guardians have informed right-handers Carlos Carrasco and Tyler Beede that they’ve made the team’s Opening Day roster, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports. Both were in camp on minor league deals. Cleveland also informed catcher David Fry and infielders Gabriel Arias, Brayan Rocchio and Tyler Freeman that they’ll open the season on the big league roster. Carrasco had an opt-out clause in his contract today but that won’t end up coming into play.

Both Carrasco and Beede will need to be formally selected to the 40-man roster before Opening Day. The Guards will need to make a pair of corresponding moves to clear space. One can be opened by placing Trevor Stephan, who’s set to undergo Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day IL, but they’ll need a second spot. The other spot could depend on the status of outfielder Myles Straw, who has been placed on waivers.

The Guards came into camp with a rotation consisting of Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie and last year’s rookies Tanner Bibee, Logan Allen and Gavin Williams. But it was reported last week that Williams will open the season on the injured list due to some right elbow discomfort, which opened a spot at the back end.

That spot will go to Carrasco, who Cleveland fans will be plenty familiar with. He pitched for the club from 2009 through 2020, before going to the Mets as part of the Francisco Lindor deal. He tossed 1,242 1/3 innings during his previous stint in Cleveland with a 3.77 earned run average.

His time in Queens has been a bit rockier. He has a 4.78 ERA over the past three years, including a mark of 6.80 last year. He had stints on the IL last year due to right elbow inflammation and a right pinky finger fracture, limiting him to 90 innings with uninspiring results. His previous Cleveland tenure resulted in a 25.5% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate but those numbers were at 15.8% and 9.1% with the Mets last year.

It’s a bit of a belated birthday present for Carrasco, who turned 37 yesterday. He and the Guardians will be hoping that a return to Cleveland can get him back to his old form.

Beede, 31 in May, was once a highly-touted youngster. He was selected 14th overall by the Giants back in 2014 and was considered to be a top 100 prospect as he climbed the minor league ladder. Unfortunately, he struggled in his first tastes of the majors and then required Tommy John surgery in 2020, wiping out that year and much of the next. He had a 5.14 ERA in 2022 and headed to Japan last year.

The move overseas seems to have got him back on track. He posted a 3.99 ERA for the Yomiuri Giants in 49 2/3 relief innings. That got him a minor league deal with the Guardians and he’s looked well in spring so far, with 10 2/3 innings pitched with a 1.69 ERA. That will get him back onto a big league roster via the Cleveland bullpen, though he is now out of options and will need to stick in the majors or else be made available to other clubs, either via waivers or a trade.

As for the middle infielders, Mandy Bell of MLB.com tweets that Rocchio is expected to get the bulk of shortstop reps with Arias in a utility role. The Guardians have a huge number of shortstop options, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco looked at last month. It’s likely a fluid situation that will evolve over time but Rocchio will get a crack at taking the job for now.

He made his major league debut last year and hit just .247/.279/.321, though in a small sample of 86 plate appearances. His Triple-A batting line was a much nicer .280/.367/.421 last year and he’ll hope to bring some of that production up to the big leagues this season.

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