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Yankees Notes: Judge, Cole, Rotation

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Yankees star Aaron Judge has been slowed a bit by some abdominal discomfort recently, with manager Aaron Boone telling reporters yesterday that the 2022 AL MVP is “mid-spring banged up” while downplaying concerns of a more serious injury. Judge revealed this morning that he underwent an MRI on his abdominal region yesterday to ascertain that there was no significant injury at play (X link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). That imaging came back clean. Judge says he won’t swing a bat until later this week but is hopeful he’ll be in the Opening Day lineup.

On the one hand, the fact that Judge has avoided any kind of serious injury is an obvious cause for relief. On the other, it’s hardly ideal that the season hasn’t even begun and he’s less than 100 percent. Judge specified that the discomfort he’s felt has been in the middle of his abdominal muscles — not his oblique region. That’s particularly notable given that Judge has had a pair of oblique strains in the past, including a Grade 2 strain in 2019 that cost him two months of the season.

“I think just from swinging from November all the way until now, every single day, it put some wear and tear on it,” said Judge (via Hoch). “Especially coming back after a [right] toe injury when your mechanics are a little messed up and you’re just working on some things.”

Judge, 32 in April, was once again excellent in 2023 — though a hip strain in late April cost him 10 days, while the sprained toe he referenced wound up shelving him for more than a month. In all, he played in 106 games — his fewest in a 162-game season since 2019 — and posting a brilliant .267/.406/.613 slash with 37 home runs in just 458 trips to the plate.

The Yankees are already awaiting MRI results on ace and reigning Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole. Coupling that with even minor concern about the team’s best all-around player makes for an uncomfortable few days for the club and its fans. The Yankees indicated yesterday that Cole is expected to receive multiple opinions on his MRI results. An announcement today is not necessarily a given. SNY’s Andy Martino wrote yesterday that club officials have characterized the Cole MRI as “precautionary” and downplayed concern over a potential long-term injury. Time will tell whether that proves to be the case.

In the wake of the Cole news, there’s been a renewed focus on the Yankees’ rotation depth and ample speculation on contingency plans. The remaining pair of high-profile Scott Boras clients — Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery — have been at the forefront of that speculation. Martino reported in his piece that the Yankees haven’t yet circled back to Snell since concerns about Cole arose. Joel Sherman of the New York Post throws some cold water on the idea of the Yankees pivoting to either left-hander.

The luxury tax concerns for the Yankees have been highlighted at length by now. As a reminder, they’re a third-time payor who’s in the fourth and final tier of penalization. Any further additions to the payroll will be taxed at a 110% rate (based on the contract’s AAV) on top of the player’s salary. In the case of Snell, he’d also require forfeiting the team’s second-highest draft pick and surrendering $1MM of pool space in next year’s international free agent bonus pool, because Snell rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres.

Perhaps in part because of that, Sherman reports that the Yankees were more interested in Montgomery earlier in the offseason than in Snell — despite making a reported offer to the latter. The Yankees, per Sherman, “could not get a strong engagement” from Montgomery at the time, however. That lines up with some late-February reporting from The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, wherein he wrote that Montgomery’s hope had been for a return to the Rangers and that it was “believed” he did not “prefer” a Yankees reunion. With Montgomery still lingering on the market and the Rangers seemingly disinclined to spend further, none of that should expressly rule out an eventual match between Montgomery and the Yankees.

Sherman suggests that the likeliest course of action for the Yankees is to stand pat regardless of the news on Cole, though he opines that if they do make a move, they’re likelier to meet the White Sox’ asking price for right-hander Dylan Cease than they are to sign Snell or Montgomery. Cease is making $8MM this season and is controlled through 2025 via arbitration. He’d come with an $8.8MM luxury hit, but that’s a pittance relative to the tax hits it’d take to sign Montgomery or Snell for an AAV of $25-30MM — if not more. Prior reporting has indicated that the ChiSox were insistent on the inclusion of top outfield prospect Spencer Jones in talks regarding Cease, while the Yankees have been loath to consider moving him in any deal.

Edward Cabrera Diagnosed With Right Shoulder Impingement

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March 12: Cabrera has been diagnosed with an impingement in his right shoulder and is day-to-day for the time being, Schumaker revealed to the Marlins beat this morning (X link via Issac Azout of Fish On First). Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald adds that he’ll be evaluated further today, and the team will determine his next steps thereafter.

March 11: Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera will undergo an MRI on his right shoulder, manager Skip Schumaker tells Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The righty’s strength tests evidently came back fine but there’s still enough concern that the club would like some more information.

It was reported that Cabrera didn’t make his scheduled start yesterday due to some tightness in his throwing shoulder. Though his scratch was presented as precautionary and Cabrera said he was “already starting to feel better” a few hours later, the concern from the club is enough that some imaging is now planned.

Cabrera has shown a strong ability to get strikeouts and ground balls thus far in his career, though with some concerns about his lack of control. He has thrown 197 2/3 innings over the past three years with a 4.01 earned run average. He has punched out 26.2% of hitters in that time while keeping 49.4% of balls in play on the ground, but he’s also given out free passes to 14% of opponents that he has faced.

Now out of options, Cabrera seemed a lock for a rotation spot in Miami to open the year, especially with some injury questions in the starting group. Sandy Alcántara underwent Tommy John surgery late last year and won’t be an option for the club in 2024. Lefty Braxton Garrett is dealing with some shoulder soreness here in spring and is questionable for Opening Day.

Garrett’s injury seemed to open the door for A.J. Puk to break camp in the rotation, as he looks to move from the bullpen to a starting role. Puk would slot in next to Jesús Luzardo, Eury Pérez and Cabrera, with one spot available for someone like Trevor Rogers or Ryan Weathers. If Cabrera’s shoulder tightness requires him to miss some time, perhaps both of Rogers and Weathers need to open the season in the rotation.

Rogers and Weathers have each been posting good results here in spring but it would be less than ideal for the Marlins to be relying on them early on. Rogers only tossed 18 innings last year due to biceps and lat injuries. Weathers, meanwhile, struggled badly last year and finished with a 6.55 ERA. It would also put them in a spot where their top depth options could be Max Meyer or Bryan Hoeing. Meyer is a talented prospect but missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery. Hoeing has just 83 1/3 innings of major league experience with a 6.48 ERA. Pitchers like Roddery Muñoz and Darren McCaughan are also on the 40-man roster but Muñoz hasn’t yet made his MLB debut and McCaughan has just 14 big league innings.

That would put the Fish far away from past years, when they had so much depth that there were persistent rumors about them using it to bolster other parts of the roster. They did make one such trade when they flipped Pablo López and a couple of prospects for Luis Arráez, but that trade and the Alcántara surgery have thinned out the group in a hurry.

The club will obviously be hoping for good news in the coming weeks on both Garrett and Cabrera. Free agency still has some arms available but the Marlins have been keeping the purse strings tight this offseason. Their $5MM deal for Tim Anderson is the only major league deal they’ve given out to a free agent. That makes it hard to imagine them signing someone like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, or even Michael Lorenzen. Pitchers like Jake Odorizzi or Noah Syndergaard could perhaps be signed for a modest amounts, though the Marlins may not feel that necessary if Cabrera and/or Garrett end up feeling better in the coming days.

The Opener: Cole, Padres, MLBTR Chat

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As MLB’s Spring Training continues, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on today:

1. Cole awaits MRI results:

Reigning 2023 AL Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole is awaiting results after undergoing an MRI on his elbow yesterday. The Yankees ace has been struggling with recovery between his starts this spring, and the club intends to seek out multiple opinions regarding a treatment plan for the right-hander. That search for multiple opinions could “possibly” delay any announcement regarding Cole’s status, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, though the results of the MRI figure to be available to the club today.

The 33-year-old Cole was the lone stabilizing force in the club’s rotation last year as he pitched to an excellent 2.63 ERA with a 3.16 FIP in 209 innings across 33 starts. The strong performance saw Cole suit up for his fifth consecutive All Star game while receiving Cy Young Award votes for the sixth consecutive season. While the Yankees bolstered their rotation mix this winter by adding veteran right-hander Marcus Stroman, a significant absence from Cole would leave the club to depend even more heavily on southpaws Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes returning to form after 2023 campaigns marred by injuries and ineffectiveness. It’s conceivable that a major injury could push the Yankees to aggressively pursue either Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, though the enormous luxury tax implications for signing either player have been well documented by now.

2. Padres outfield moves on the horizon:

Reporting yesterday indicated that the Padres remain engaged in talks with free agent outfielders Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall, and Tommy Pham. Each of those aforementioned outfielders would make plenty of sense for the Padres, as they’ve proven themselves to be reliable, quality outfield regulars in recent years. That’s an area in which San Diego’s roster is severely lacking; while Fernando Tatis Jr. is entrenched in right field, Jose Azocar and Jurickson Profar are the only other outfield bats on the club’s 40-man roster at the moment.

That lack of outfield depth on the roster leaves the club all but certain to make a roster move in the outfield in the near future, regardless of what happens regarding Taylor, Duvall, and Pham. While San Diego’s domestic Opening Day isn’t for another two weeks, their first regular season game will occur in just eight days, when they head to Seoul to face the Dodgers as part of a two-game set. Prior to that series, the club figures to add at least one of its many non-roster invitees in the outfield to the big league roster. Perhaps the most exciting option would be top prospect Jackson Merrill, a shortstop who started taking reps in center field this spring.

3. MLBTR Chat today:

While teams around the league are already making preparations for Opening Day, a handful of the winter’s top free agents remain unsigned. Are you wondering what’s next on the hot stove, or how your favorite team stacks up with the end of Spring Training in sight?  If so, tune in this afternoon when MLBTR’s Steve Adams hosts a live chat with readers at 1pm CT. You can click here to ask a question in advance, and that same link will allow you to join in on the chat once it begins or read the transcript after its completed.

Gerrit Cole Undergoing MRI On Right Elbow

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Yankees ace and reigning American League Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole is headed for an MRI on his right elbow, manager Aaron Boone told reporters Monday morning (X link via Newsday’s David Lennon). Cole hasn’t been recovering as well between throwing sessions and will get his elbow checked out to determine if there’s an injury at play. The imaging will take place today.

Cole will receive multiple opinions on the status of his elbow, and the Yankees don’t expect to announce a prognosis today or even tomorrow, tweets Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Boone didn’t provide additional details. The organization’s level of concern regarding a potential serious injury isn’t clear, though imaging performed on any pitcher’s elbow is an ominous sign. That’s particularly true in a Yankees rotation that can ill afford to lose its ace. Granted, no team is built to withstand the loss of a reigning Cy Young winner, but the rotation behind Cole is filled with a series of question marks.

The first season of Carlos Rodon’s six-year, $162MM contract with the Yankees played out in disastrous fashion. After a dominant two-year run between the White Sox and Giants from 2021-22, Rodon was limited by injuries in 2023, logging just 14 starts (64 1/3 innings) and yielding a grisly 6.85 ERA with strikeout and walk rates that both trended heavily in the wrong direction (22.4% and 9.8%, respectively — down from 33.9% and 7.1% in the two seasons prior).

A strained left rotator cuff limited southpaw Nestor Cortes Jr. to a near-identical slate of 63 1/3 frames in 2023. He’s broken out with a pair of sub-3.00 ERA campaigns over the two preceding seasons. While Cortes maintained strong strikeout and walk rates, he became even more fly-ball heavy, inducing grounders at a minuscule 26% clip. He saw his HR/9 mark spike from 0.91 the year prior to 1.56 in 2023. Cortes didn’t see a disproportionate number of his fly-balls leave the yard (just 11%), but the sheer volume of balls in the air worked against him both at home (1.45 HR/9) and on the road (1.73 HR/9).

The Yankees picked up Marcus Stroman on a two-year, $37MM contract this offseason to help solidify the rotation, but he’s coming off an injury-marred season of his own. Stroman was in the NL Cy Young conversation with a strong first few months of the ’23 season before being rocked in July and placed on the injured list due to a hip injury. While rehabbing, he was diagnosed with fractures in his rib cartilage that further slowed his return to the mound. He made it back for four appearances late in the season but didn’t pitch particularly well. After carrying a 2.88 ERA through his first 20 starts, Stroman pitched just 18 more innings on the season and was lit up for 26 runs (22 earned) in that time.

Right-hander Clarke Schmidt finished second on the team with 32 starts and 159 innings pitched, though he turned in back-of-the-rotation results due in large part to his own susceptibility to home runs. Schmidt looks like he can at least be an innings eater this season, but he’s yet to have the same type of MLB success that any of his rotationmates has enjoyed in the past. There’s surely hope within the organization that the former top prospect can take a step forward, but his ability to do so (or lack thereof) will be even more pivotal if it’s determined that Cole has any type of notable injury.

The depth options behind that top quintet are shakier still. Veteran Luke Weaver inked a one-year, $2MM deal late in the offseason and seems ticketed for a swingman role, but he could start games if Cole requires any kind of absence. Weaver pitched well in three starts for the Yanks late last season but had a collective 6.40 ERA between Cincinnati, Seattle and New York — his third time in the past four seasons recording an ERA north of 6.00.

Down on the farm, the Yankees have righties Luis Gil, Clayton Beeter and Yoendrys Gomez on the 40-man roster. Gil has the most big league experience, and impressive as he was through six starts in 2021, he’s pitched just 29 2/3 total innings over the past two years owing to Tommy John surgery. Gomez pitched two MLB innings last year. Beeter has not reached the majors. Prospect Will Warren had a nice year between Double-A and Triple-A in 2023 but isn’t yet on the 40-man roster. He’s in camp as a non-roster invitee, however. Fellow prospect Chase Hampton and southpaw Tanner Tully were also NRIs this spring, but both have already been reassigned to minor league camp.

The mere possibility of an injury to Cole will rekindle speculation regarding free agents Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, both of whom have been tied to the Yankees at various points in the offseason. The Yankees reportedly made a five-year offer to Snell before pivoting to sign Stroman. The two sides have remained in touch with Snell, in particular, but a match has looked like a long shot given the massive tax implications that come with signing either lefty. The Yankees are a third-time luxury offender and are already in the highest tier of luxury-tax penalization. That means in addition to any actual salary for the upcoming season, they’ll pay a 110% tax on any additional contract’s average annual value. A $25MM AAV would come with a $27.5MM tax hit. A $30MM would carry a $33MM hit — and so on.

Previously, with a fully healthy rotation, such a lavish expenditure seemed unlikely. If the Yankees are facing a prolonged absence for Cole, however, that type of massive financial commitment could become far more plausible. Snell has reportedly been amenable to short-term, opt-out laden contracts with high annual salaries, while it seems Montgomery has been more focused on a longer-term contract. At this point of spring, however, it’s also worth wondering just how ready either free agent would be for Opening Day. A return to the trade market shouldn’t be discounted as a possibility, though the asking price on arms like Dylan Cease, Jesus Luzardo and others has been staggeringly high throughout the offseason (hance the lack of trade for either hurler).

Giants Release J.D. Davis

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The Giants have requested unconditional release waivers on corner infielder J.D. Davis after he went unclaimed on outright waivers, the team announced to various reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). Once he clears, he’ll be a free agent.

Davis won an arbitration hearing over the Giants earlier in the offseason, which awarded him a $6.9MM salary. However, under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, that sum isn’t fully guaranteed until Opening Day. By cutting him now, the Giants could potentially only owe him 30 days of termination pay — about $1.11MM. The CBA, however, explicitly states that this applies to players who have “failed to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability.” That hardly seems to apply to Davis, who hit .248/.325/.413 with 18 home runs during the 2023 regular season and is 6-for-15 with a pair of homers this spring (.400/.471/.800).

Under the previous collective bargaining agreement, no arbitration deals were fully guaranteed unless specifically bargained as such. The new set of rules fully guarantees the deals of players who agree to terms absent a hearing — but allows teams to move on from players who go to a hearing without being responsible for the full freight of the contract. A player released more 16 or more days before the season opener is entitled to 30 days of his prorated salary, whereas a player released with fewer than 16 days before the opener is entitled to 45 days of his prorated salary. Again, however, that’s contingent on “failure to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability.” Davis’ representatives at ALIGND Sports and the MLBPA ostensibly have cause to file a grievance on his behalf, claiming that his termination is not reflective of his skill (or lack thereof).

For much of the offseason, it looked as though Davis would be the Giants’ primary option at the hot corner. Matt Chapman lingered on the open market long enough that the Giants were able to scoop him up on a three-year deal at much more favorable terms than expected heading into the offseason. Chapman can opt out of that $54MM deal in either of the next two offseasons, but his price tag dropped to the point where the Giants felt they couldn’t pass on the deal — even it meant moving on from a productive player in the 31-year-old Davis.

The Giants unsuccessfully attempted to trade Davis after signing Chapman, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said on a call with reporters today (X link via Slusser). The team placed Davis on outright waivers over the weekend, but by this point on the calendar, most clubs have used up the bulk of their offseason budgets. A $6.9MM salary isn’t a notable percentage of most teams’ payrolls, but it was hefty enough at this time of the offseason that no team felt comfortable claiming it. The fact that Davis could be signed for a lesser salary upon clearing waivers and becoming a free agent surely played into the calculus for interested clubs as well.

While the 2023 season was far from Davis’ best, it was still a productive one all around. He’ll immediately become one of the most intriguing bats on the market and could land with any team looking to add some right-handed thump to its lineup. Last year’s .248/.325/.413 slash was four percent better than average, by measure of wRC+, but from 2019-22 Davis turned in a much healthier .276/.363/.457 line — about 27% better than average, per wRC+. Davis has roughly even platoon splits throughout his career.

From a defensive standpoint, an opposite trajectory has played out — at least in the eyes of Statcast. Davis has been panned as a poor defender for years at the hot corner, but Statcast graded him five outs above average in 2023. Defensive Runs Saved remained quite bearish on him (-11). Most clubs likely view Davis as a below-average defender and thus as a limited player, but there’s little doubting he’s a major league bat who can improve nearly any club’s everyday lineup — or at least its bench mix.

For the Giants, if they indeed succeed in shaving nearly $5.8MM off the books in 2024, they’ll be about $10MM shy of the luxury tax threshold, per RosterResouce. Whether that opens the door for any further, late additions in free agency or via the trade market remains to be seen. Zaidi has suggested that his team is likely done with significant additions, but he made similar comments after signing Jorge Soler and then went on to sign Chapman as well.

Padres Still Showing Interest In Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall

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The Padres have left open the possibility of bringing in veteran outfield help well into Spring Training. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Friars are still involved in the respective markets for free agents Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall and Tommy Pham, among others. The Athletic’s Dennis Lin has also linked the Padres to Pham on a few occasions in recent weeks.

Taylor is the only viable everyday center fielder still on the open market. He remains one of the sport’s top defensive outfielders as he nears his 33rd birthday. By measure of Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average, Taylor rated anywhere between five to seven runs above par in nearly 1000 innings of center field work for the Twins a year ago. DRS has credited him with 65 runs saved at the outfield’s most important spot over his decade in the major leagues.

That’s sufficient to make Taylor a viable bottom-of-the-lineup regular so long as he’s contributing anything offensively. He did enough at the plate in Minnesota, connecting on a personal-high 21 home runs and stealing 13 bases over 388 plate appearances. Taylor has some power, although it comes with a lot of empty at-bats. He punched out more than a third of the time en route to a .220 average and very poor .278 on-base mark. Taylor has gotten on base less than 30% of the time in three of his last four seasons.

The offensive inconsistency has led teams to shy away from his asking price. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote last week that Taylor views himself similarly to fellow glove-first center fielders Kevin Kiermaier and Harrison Bader, each of whom signed for one year and $10.5MM earlier this offseason. While he is coming off a superior platform year to Bader and doesn’t have the same injury history as Kiermiaer, it’s hard to envision Taylor finding that kind of salary a few from Opening Day.

That’s particularly true from a San Diego team that has spent much of the offseason cutting payroll. From a roster perspective, though, the Padres might be the most straightforward fit. José Azocar is a .249/.292/.341 hitter in 153 big league contests. He has rated as a quality defender in his own right, but he might have an even lighter bat than Taylor does.

The Padres will probably want to keep Azocar in a fourth outfield capacity. As things stand, that’d likely mean calling upon Jackson Merrill as their starting center fielder. Merrill, 20, hasn’t played above Double-A. Primarily a shortstop prospect, he has worked in the outfield this spring. The lefty-hitting Merrill is one of the sport’s top minor league talents, but relying on him as a starting center fielder would be a gamble even for a San Diego team that is generally aggressive about promoting its prospects.

Merrill has zero minor league innings at the position. That’s on top of his limited experience facing advanced pitching. The former first-round pick has held his own at the plate this spring, hitting .286/.355/.357 in 31 trips to the plate. He’s drawn three walks while striking out twice but only has two extra-base hits (both doubles).

Further complicating matters, the Padres don’t have a clear solution in left field. Even if the Friars feel Merrill is ready to face big league arms, they could play him in left to accommodate a Taylor signing. That’d bump Jurickson Profar to the bench. So too would signing one of Duvall of Pham, both of whom are righty-hitting corner options. They’re similarly valuable players, as MLBTR’s Nick Deeds explored over the weekend. Duvall brings more power to the table, while Pham is more consistent at getting on base.

In any case, the Padres will need to make some kind of outfield transaction in the next few days. Azocar, Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr. are the only outfielders on the 40-man roster. Minor league signees Óscar Mercado, Tyler Wade and Brad Miller remain on the major league side of camp as possible bench additions.

San Diego is faced with those questions sooner than almost anyone else. They begin their regular season with a two-game series against the Dodgers in South Korea on March 20-21. The Padres will fly to Seoul two days from now. Acee notes that if they do sign a veteran outfielder, that player would likely skip the Korea series and remain in minor league camp to build up for the rest of the season.

Rays Option Junior Caminero

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The Rays optioned top infield prospect Junior Caminero to Triple-A Durham among their camp cuts this afternoon, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. That takes him out of the mix for an Opening Day roster spot.

Caminero always seemed like a long shot to secure a season-opening big league job. The Rays promoted the 20-year-old directly from Double-A last September. Caminero played in seven regular season games and was available off the bench for the team’s Wild Card series against the Rangers. While that at least put him on the radar for a potential Opening Day spot, the likelier outcome has been that he’d head to Durham for the first time.

Tampa Bay added a pair of shortstops over the winter. Trade pickup José Caballero will get the starting nod, while the Rays took a $1.5MM flier on Amed Rosario as a right-handed hitter who can bounce around the diamond. Isaac Paredes should get the majority of the third base reps with Yandy Díaz at the opposite corner. Curtis Mead is another righty bat who can move around the infield. Mead isn’t yet established at the MLB level but turned in an excellent .294/.385/.515 slash line over 61 Triple-A contests a year ago.

While Caminero is light on upper level experience, he has destroyed opposing pitching through Double-A. The right-handed hitter owns a .316/.383/.555 mark in three minor league campaigns, including a .324/.384/.591 line between High-A and Double-A a year ago. Baseball America, FanGraphs, The Athletic’s Keith Law and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel all rank him among the sport’s five most talented prospects.

Caminero has experience at all four infield positions. Most scouting reports indicate he’s best suited for third base. That may eventually lead the Rays to consider trade possibilities with Paredes, whom they control via arbitration for another four seasons. That’s not something with which they’ll need to concern themselves before Opening Day.

The minor league assignment is likely to have an impact on Caminero’s service trajectory. He accrued 10 days of MLB service after his September promotion. Caminero would need to be on the MLB roster for 162 days if he’s to surpass the one-year threshold in 2024. Spending more than a few weeks in Durham would prevent him from reaching that mark (unless he plays his way into a full service year with a top-two finish in Rookie of the Year balloting). That’s not an indication the Rays are gaming Caminero’s service time — there’s clearly legitimate developmental reason to get him time in Triple-A — but it’s a notable effect all the same.

Dairon Blanco To Undergo Calf MRI

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Royals manager Matt Quatraro provided some updates today about players on the roster, with Anne Rogers of MLB.com relaying them on X. Outfielder Dairon Blanco, who departed Saturday’s game with some cramping, will get an MRI on his calf today. Quatraro framed it as precautionary, saying the MRI was “just in case.” Meanwhile, right-hander Carlos Hernández is playing catch as he ramps up after being shut down with shoulder soreness a couple of weeks ago.

Though Quatraro downplayed the issue with Blanco, an MRI always implies some level of concern. If healthy, Blanco would likely be in line for a part-time bench role for the club, similar to the job he had last year. He got into 69 games in 2023 but only garnered 138 plate appearances, often entering games as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He hit a solid .258/.324/.452 in that time for a wRC+ of 108 while also stealing 24 bases in 29 tries.

He was even more impressive at Triple-A, as he stole 47 bases in just 49 games at that level. His huge .347/.444/.451 slash line translated to a wRC+ of 136. He played all three outfield spots, both at Triple-A and in the majors, with his big league glovework getting positive reviews from advanced defensive metrics.

The Royals are likely to give regular playing time to Hunter Renfroe, MJ Melendez, Nelson Velázquez and Kyle Isbel between their three outfield positions and the designated hitter slot. Blanco will be backing up that group and coming off the bench as long as he doesn’t require a trip to the injured list. If he does need to miss some time, it could perhaps open a roster spot for Nick Pratto, Drew Waters or Tyler Gentry.

As for Hernández, as mentioned, he was shut down with shoulder soreness a couple of weeks ago. He played catch over the weekend and will do so again today as he starts to ramp back up. Whether he can be an option for the club early in the season will depend on how he progresses in the next little bit, with Opening Day now just over two weeks away.

Last year, he looked to be breaking out as a key reliever for the Royals. After an outing on August 4, he was sitting on an earned run average of 3.60 through 55 innings on the year. He had a 29.7% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and had earned 11 holds and a save. But he stumbled down the stretch, allowing 19 earned run in his final 15 innings and boosting his season ERA to 5.27.

Hernández will be looking to get back to that excellent form in 2024, though obviously with a strong finish. The year is off to a bit of a shaky start with the shoulder issue but it’s an encouraging sign that he has resumed throwing.

Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals

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The Cardinals are looking to prove that last year was a fluke. They bolstered their pitching staff to help them bounce back in 2024, but did they do enough?

Major League Signings

2024 spending: $42MM
Total spending: $107MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

Notable Losses

It’s very rare for the Cardinals to go into an offseason on the heels of a massive disappointment. In this millennium, they have missed the playoffs eight times and only twice finished below .500. Last year was one of those two, as they went 71-91 and finished fifth in the National League Central for the first time ever.

The rotation was a clear target area for change, as the club’s starters posted a collective 5.08 earned run average last year, a mark better than just four other clubs. Three spots were opened by last year’s trades of impending free agents Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty, as well as the retirement of Adam Wainwright.

There were rumors that the club may use its position player surplus to swing a trade that would upgrade the rotation, but they instead jumped in the free agent market early. By the end of November, they had already signed Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.

Whether that was the best way to go about upgrading the rotation is a matter of debate, especially with the club having also been connected to exciting names like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dylan Cease and Tyler Glasnow at times this winter. Lynn will turn 37 years old this year and is coming off a rough campaign in 2023. He posted a 5.73 ERA between the White Sox and Dodgers while allowing 44 home runs, plus another four long balls in his one postseason start. Gibson has been a fairly reliable innings eater but doesn’t have much upside at this point in his career. He’s now 36 and finished each of the past two seasons with an ERA near 5.00.

Gray is the most exciting of their pickups, as he just finished second to Gerrit Cole in American League Cy Young voting after a 2.79 ERA season with the Twins. But there’s some downside risk with Gray as well, as the Cards may have made a proverbial buy-high move. Gray’s 184 innings in 2023 were his highest tally since 2015, as he has had various injuries to deal with over the years. He’s now 34 years old and already going into 2024 with a health concern, battling a hamstring strain that’s left him questionable for Opening Day.

Some fans wanted the club to continue adding to the rotation, especially with Steven Matz having struggled so much since signing a four-year deal in St. Louis. The club’s interest in Cease reportedly lingered even after making those three signings, but nothing came together. That leaves Matz still a part of the projected rotation, especially with Gray’s injury, and the Cards hoping for a bounce back.

The much-discussed position player surplus didn’t end up factoring into the rotation, but it did affect the pitching staff in other ways. There was rumored interest in players like Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson and Dylan Carlson, but the Cards instead flipped Tyler O’Neill as their biggest trade this winter. O’Neill, who is an impending free agent and previously clashed with manager Oliver Marmol, was flipped to Boston for Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. Robertson should be able to help the club’s bullpen right away, as he already has 22 1/3 big league innings under his belt. Santos adds some non-roster depth for the rotation, but he missed all of 2023 due to injury and has fewer than 45 Triple-A innings on his ledger.

The club made another move that sent out a position player for a reliever, as Richie Palacios was flipped to the Rays and Andrew Kittredge. It may have been underwhelming for some fans as Kittredge is turning 34, missed most of the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and is a mere rental. But Kittredge was utterly dominant in 2021 and the Cards had just grabbed Palacios off the DFA pile in June.

The bullpen was padded in other ways, as Middleton was brought aboard on a one-year, $6MM deal in free agency after a resurgent showing in 2023. The Cards also grabbed Riley O’Brien in a small trade and selected Ryan Fernandez in the Rule 5 draft.

On the position player side of things, very little has changed from last year, apart from those moves. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will still be the anchors at the infield corners. The big question is the shortstop position, as the Paul DeJong era is now over. The club is hoping top prospect Masyn Winn is the shortstop of the future, but he’s just about to turn 22 years old and hit only .172/.230/.238 in his first 137 major league plate appearances. There’s probably a bit of bad luck in there, since his .196 batting average on balls in play in that time was well below league average. He also posted a solid slash line of .288/.359/.474 in Triple-A last year.

The club has plenty of faith that he can post better results in a larger sample of work, but they also added a bit of insurance. Long-time Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford was signed to a modest one-year deal, though Crawford and the club’s decision makers made it clear that Winn is the starter. Crawford is merely around to offer guidance from his years of experience, and to serve as a safety net in the event of an injury or perhaps Winn not securing the job as hoped.

Winn’s emergence pushed Tommy Edman to center field, which is partially what caused such a logjam on the grass and led to the O’Neill and Palacios trades. On paper, Edman was going to be in center, flanked by Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, with Carlson, Burleson and Donovan also in the mix for playing time. Those plans are currently on hold, as both Edman and Nootbaar are questionable for Opening Day due to injuries, though that will hopefully just be a short-term situation.

The club also hopes to have bolstered its bench by bringing in old friend Matt Carpenter. His 2022 renaissance didn’t continue into 2023, so San Diego traded him to Atlanta in a salary-dumping deal. Atlanta took on Carpenter’s salary to get lefty Ray Kerr, then promptly released Carpenter. That freed him up to return to St. Louis, with the Cards only having to pay the prorated league minimum for any time he’s on the roster. If he can have yet another renaissance, they will have found lightning in a bottle. If not, they can move on without really having lost much of anything beyond the opportunity cost.

Though the club is making an earnest effort to return to contention in 2024, they also did little to commit themselves beyond this year. Other than Gray, all of their signings were one-year deals. They have some interest in extending Paul Goldschmidt, though president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has said they may kick those talks into the season until they see how things are going.

“I think right now, I think everybody just wants to see how this season starts. You know, obviously, we want to get off on the right track, and then we can address things like that,” Mozeliak said.

Goldschmidt is an impending free agent and will turn 37 during the upcoming season. The club obviously likes to keep franchise legends around, with Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Wainwright all running out the clock in St. Louis in recent years. But with Goldschmidt, perhaps the club wants to wait and see if their planned bounceback season actually comes to fruition before they start committing future dollars. If they fall back again, Goldschmidt could be one of the best rental bats available at the summer deadline. They may want to keep that door open.

What also may be an issue is the club’s TV revenue uncertainty. The Cards are one of the clubs who is under contract with Diamond Sports Group, who once seemed like they were going to cease operations after 2024. The company has managed to stay afloat for now by selling some streaming rights to Amazon, but it’s still unclear how viable their long-term plan is. The Cards get over $70MM per year from Diamond and may want closure on that situation before making big decisions about the future.

In the end, it amounts to a half-in, half-out offseason. They made one splashy move by signing Gray but otherwise kept various long-term paths open. Are they good enough to compete this year? How much TV money is coming in? Will they keep Goldschmidt around or pivot to a post-Goldy era?

There’s a lot that needs to be revealed this year, but for now, the club patched their biggest holes. That may be enough in the NL Central, where there’s no clear frontrunner and it’s arguable that each of the five teams are in position to potentially surge ahead. Though the signings of Lynn and Gibson weren’t as sexy as getting someone like Cease or Yamamoto, both FanGraphs and PECOTA think the Cards are now the best team in the division, so maybe a couple of floor-raising moves and some bouncebacks will be enough to take the Central in the end.

Mariners, Jason Vosler Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners have agreed to a minor league pact with corner infielder Jason Vosler, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Vosler is represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.

The 30-year-old Vosler has appeared in parts of three big league seasons between the Giants and, in 2023, the Reds. He logged 20 games and tallied 65 plate appearances in Cincinnati last year, getting out to a blistering start before quickly fading. Vosler belted three homers in his first 15 trips to the plate but managed just a .106/.160/.128 slash with 20 strikeouts in 50 subsequent plate appearances. The Reds designated him for assignment in late April and outrighted him Triple-A Louisville after he went unclaimed on waivers.

Vosler spent the remainder of the season in Louisville, where he batted .240/.333/.482 with 20 home runs in 363 plate appearances. The production was right in line with league-average levels in the International League, by measure of wRC+ (99). It was also rather closely in line with Vosler’s career output at that level; in parts of five seasons and in 1747 plate appearances in Triple-A, Vosler  is a .265/.342/.485 batter.

While Vosler has been primarily a third baseman in his professional career (5303 innings), he’s logged more than 1400 innings at first base and just shy of 200 in left field. He’s a left-handed hitter and will give the Mariners some lefty depth at positions where they’re lacking in that regard. Right-handed hitters Brian Anderson (third base), Michael Chavis (both corners) and Tyler Locklear (first base) are among the organization’s upper-level corner options, but the team lacks many lefty hitters of note at the infield corners.

Heading into the 2024 season, it seems like the Mariners will roll out a platoon of right-handed-hitting Luis Urias and lefty Josh Rojas at the hot corner. Urias has been slowed in camp by some shoulder soreness dating back to his offseason stint in the Mexican Winter League, but he recently made his Cactus League debut and should have time to ramp up for the year, barring any further setbacks.

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