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Billy Eppler Placed On Ineligible List Through 2024 World Series

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Major League Baseball announced that former Mets general manager Billy Eppler has been placed on the ineligible list, beginning immediately and through the conclusion of the 2024 World Series. Per the announcement, Eppler violated rules regarding “improper use of Injured List placements, including the deliberate fabrication of injuries; and the associated submission of documentation for the purposes of securing multiple improper Injured List placements during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.” The league added that the investigation “concluded that the pattern of conduct was at Mr. Eppler’s sole direction and without any involvement of Club ownership or superiors. MLB considers the matter closed and will have no further comment.”

The Mets also released a statement on the matter: “The Mets have been informed of the conclusion of Major League Baseball’s investigation. With Billy Eppler’s resignation on October 5, 2023, and with David Stearns leading the Baseball Operations team, the Mets consider the matter closed and will have no further comment.”

Eppler himself provided comment to Joel Sherman of The New York Post: “I cooperated fully and transparently with MLB’s investigation, and I accept their decision.”

Eppler, 48, was hired to be the general manager of the Mets in November of 2021. The club hired David Stearns to be president of baseball operations in September of 2023, with the plan reportedly being for Eppler to stay on GM, working under Stearns. But on October 5, he resigned and it was reported that same day that the league was investigating him for improper use of the injured list.

It’s still not clear which specific players were involved or what the details of the transgressions were. A “phantom IL” placement has been sort of an open secret in baseball for years. If a player is struggling but cannot be sent to the minors due to being out of options or having more than five years of service time, then a club may place him on the injured list with some sort of nebulous injury such as “neck stiffness” or “back tightness”, then send him on a rehab assignment to get some work in the minors and try to get things back on track.

Deesha Thosar of Fox Sports relays that she spoke to various players about the issue who agreed that “every team does it” and expressed confusion as to why Eppler was being singled out. To this point, it’s unclear if the practice was taken to some unprecedented level or if this is the start of the league planning a bigger crackdown on the practice league-wide.

Per Joel Sherman and Dan Martin of The New York Post, the league was tipped off to the practice with the Mets via an anonymous letter, so it’s possible that the club simply got caught in a way that the league felt had to be addressed. Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the investigation back in October, saying he wanted the department of investigations to “figure out whether we have a bigger problem” regarding injured list usage.

Time will tell whether this becomes a larger issue or if it goes down as an isolated incident. For now, it seems like no other members of the Mets will receive any punishment. By being on the ineligible list for the remainder of the 2024 season, Eppler won’t be able to get a job with any other MLB club until then.

Brant Alyea Passes Away

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Former major league outfielder Brant Alyea passed away on February 4, according to an obituary from a Philadelphia funeral home. He was 83.

Alyea, a native of New Jersey, played collegiately at Hofstra. He entered the professional ranks as a signee of the Reds in 1962. Alyea played one year in the Cincinnati farm system before he was drafted by the Washington Senators. In the first few years of the draft, teams could select a player who had spent one year in the farm system of another MLB organization. The right-handed hitter spent the ’64 season in the minors before debuting with Washington on September 12, 1965.

Called to pinch hit for Don Blasingame with two runners on in the sixth inning, Alyea popped a three-run homer off Rudy May in his first career at-bat. He hit two homers in eight games as a rookie and spent the next two years in the minors. Alyea returned to the big leagues in 1968. He posted above-average power numbers in limited playing time over the next few seasons.

Alyea played for the Senators through 1969. Washington traded him to the Twins for reliever Joe Grzenda over the 1969-70 offseason. The 6’3″ Alyea connected on 16 homers with an excellent .291/.366/.531 line over a career-high 290 plate appearances for Minnesota in 1970. He slumped to a .177/.282/.241 slash the next season, though.

The A’s selected Alyea in the Rule 5 draft going into the 1972 campaign. Oakland traded him to the Cardinals that May but reacquired him two months later. That was a fortunate development for Alyea, as the A’s went on to win the World Series. He didn’t play in the majors after that, retiring following a ’73 season in Triple-A with the Red Sox. He finished his MLB career with a .247/.326/.421 slash line over parts of six seasons. Alyea hit 38 homers and drove in 148 runs in a little less than 1000 trips to the plate.

MLBTR sends our condolences to Alyea’s family, friends and loved ones.

Dombrowski Downplays Phillies’ Desire For Outfield Help

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The Phillies announced this morning that outfielder Brandon Marsh underwent arthroscopic surgery after feeling discomfort in his left knee. With a 3-4 week recovery timetable, he’s still expected to be ready for Opening Day. As a result, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski downplayed the chances of going outside the organization for outfield help.

“We still think we’re the same way we were beforehand, when it comes to Opening Day,” he told reporters this afternoon (link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). “[Free agent outfielders] want guarantees, and we’re just not able to give them those guarantees. … We talk to people all the time. The reality is that we don’t have guaranteed playing time that some people want. We just don’t have that. It’s not really even a dollar issue as it is playing time.”

Assuming Marsh’s recovery proceeds as expected, he’ll slot into left field on Opening Day. Defensive stalwart Johan Rojas is set to open the year in center field while Nick Castellanos mans the corner opposite Marsh. Cristian Pache and Jake Cave project as the top depth options.

Rojas has a limited MLB track record, having appeared in only 59 career games. Paired with Philadelphia’s willingness to spend and Dombrowski’s history of pursuing star talent, that has led to loose speculation about the Phils as a possible suitor for Cody Bellinger. The front office leader has said a few times he anticipates Rojas being the starting center fielder — a sentiment he repeated earlier this week — making a Bellinger pursuit unlikely. Zolecki reports that the Phils also don’t anticipate landing either of the top two starting pitchers still available, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery, barring a significant change in their respective markets.

Dombrowski also shot down the notion the Phillies are on the verge of trading for bullpen help. Unsubstantiated reports have linked them to Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen and Guardians star Emmanuel Clase in recent days. While Dombrowski didn’t address either player specifically, he said the Phils generally “do not have any ongoing conversations for bullpen guys” (via Zolecki).

While that doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Phils jumping into the mix at some point, the veteran executive pointed out that there’s not a ton of room in the season-opening bullpen. Each of José Alvarado, Matt Strahm, Gregory Soto, Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Domínguez is locked into the relief corps. The Phils have effusively praised Orion Kerkering, a 22-year-old who debuted late last season after striking out nearly 38% of opponents in the minor leagues.

If all six of those pitchers are on the Opening Day roster, the Phils would likely have two bullpen spots remaining. Dombrowski indicated one of those would go to a long reliever — quite likely out-of-options righty Dylan Covey. That leaves one job up for grabs (assuming the Phillies aren’t committed to carrying Connor Brogdon, who is also out of options). That opens the possibility for another acquisition, yet it’s not surprising Dombrowski said they’d only acquire a pitcher they consider a meaningful upgrade over their in-house candidates.

“It only leaves one other spot, and if you go get a veteran guy, he needs to be an upgrade. Because the reality is the only one there that can be optioned in that group is Kerkering. And we may not want to be optioning him,” he said. Perhaps the opportunity for a clear upgrade comes available or a Spring Training injury changes the calculus, but it doesn’t seem the Phils anticipate an imminent bullpen pickup.

Francisco Perez Elects Free Agency

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February 9: Pérez elected free agency, according to the transaction tracker.

February 1: The A’s have sent reliever Francisco Pérez outright off the 40-man roster, according to the club’s transaction log at MLB.com. That clears a spot for veteran starter Alex Wood, who agreed to terms over the weekend. The A’s still have not officially announced Wood’s signing.

Pérez has pitched at the MLB level in each of the last three seasons. He has suited up for a different team all three years, bouncing from Cleveland to Washington to Oakland. The southpaw joined the A’s on a minor league deal in April and was selected onto the MLB club in the middle of August.

Despite not reaching the majors until late into the year, he tallied a personal-high 16 2/3 innings through 17 games down the stretch. Pérez allowed 12 runs (11 earned) with 14 strikeouts and eight walks. He owns a 5.91 ERA in 31 career big league appearances. The 26-year-old has pitched to a 4.42 earned run average over 106 innings at the Triple-A level. While he has punched out almost 30% of opponents at the top minor league level, he’s undercut it with a 15.3% walk rate.

Pérez has cleared outright waivers once before in his career. As a result, he’ll have the ability to test free agency. If he accepts the minor league assignment, he could get a non-roster invite to Spring Training with Oakland. Otherwise, he’d look for a minor league opportunity elsewhere.

Jim Hannan Passes Away

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Former MLB pitcher Jim Hannan has passed away at 85, according to an announcement from the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association.

A Jersey City native, Hannan attended Notre Dame before entering the professional ranks in 1961. The right-hander spent one year in the Red Sox system. He was drafted by the Washington Senators the following winter — in the early years of the draft, teams could select a player who had spent one year in another team’s farm system — and jumped to the majors the ensuing season. The 6’3″ right-hander would spend the bulk of his career in Washington.

Working in a flexible swing role, Hannan pitched parts of nine seasons with the Senators. He posted a career-low 3.01 ERA over 140 1/3 innings in 1968 and logged a personal-high 158 1/3 frames during the ’69 campaign. While the late 60s skewed very favorably to pitching, that’s solid production. Hannan won 10 games on a Senators team that finished 65-96 in 1968.

During the 1970-71 offseason, the Senators included him as part of a four-player return to the Tigers for two-time Cy Young winner Denny McLain. Detroit flipped him to the Brewers after just seven appearances. Hannan finished his playing days with 21 appearances in Milwaukee. He hung up his spikes with a 3.88 ERA over 822 big league innings. He struck out 438 hitters and won 41 games.

Hannan remained in the game long after his 10-year playing career came to an end. He helped found the MLB Players Alumni Association in 1982 and served as the organization’s first president. He held that role until 1986. Hannan remained involved with the MLBPAA long past that stint, serving as its chairman of the board from 1996 until this year.

“Our Alumni Association owes its existence and current status to Jim Hannan and his impact,” MLBPAA CEO Dan Foster said in a statement. “Since 1982, Jim has championed former players and the MLBPAA will continue to advocate for our players and uphold the integrity of the game on behalf of Jim and our founding members. The history of our organization is inseparable from Jim and his everlasting influence. His presence will be greatly missed, and our thoughts are with his wife Carol and children Coleen, Heather, Jimmy and Erin.”

MLBTR joins the MLBPAA and others around the game in sending our condolences to Hannan’s family, friends, loved ones and former teammates and colleagues.

Marlins Acquire Darren McCaughan, Designate Peyton Burdick

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The Marlins are acquiring right-hander Darren McCaughan from the Mariners for cash considerations, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald (X link). Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports (on X) that outfielder Peyton Burdick is being designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster.

McCaughan had been designated for assignment on Wednesday when Seattle claimed outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba off waivers from the Pirates. While the transaction log at MLB.com suggested that he’d been outrighted to Triple-A, MLBTR has confirmed that Seattle had not placed him on waivers and he remained in DFA limbo until tonight’s trade.

The Long Beach State product, who turns 28 next month, saw very brief MLB action with Seattle in 2021 and ’23. He has allowed 13 runs in 14 big league innings. McCaughan has spent most of the last three years working as rotation depth at Triple-A Tacoma. He started 25 games there a season ago, pitching to a 5.83 ERA across 139 innings. His 21.2% strikeout percentage was a little below average, but he kept his walks to a modest 7.2% clip.

A 12th-round pick in the 2017 draft, McCaughan has pitched parts of five campaigns at the Triple-A level. He has allowed 5.22 earned runs per nine in 460 1/3 innings with similar strikeout and walk numbers to last year’s marks. He’ll serve as rotation or multi-inning relief depth for the Fish. McCaughan still has a minor league option remaining, so Miami can keep him with their top farm team in Jacksonville for another year.

Adding some pitching depth squeezes out Burdick, whom the Marlins drafted in the third round in 2019. The Wright State product hit very well up through the Double-A level to emerge as one of the more interesting position player prospects in the Miami system. His offense has plateaued in Triple-A, though, and he hasn’t gotten much of a look in the majors. Burdick appeared in 46 big league games between 2022-23, hitting .200/.281/.368 while striking out 53 times in 139 plate appearances (a 38.1% clip).

The hit tool is the biggest question with Burdick, who possesses solid raw power upside. He hit 24 homers in 492 plate appearances with Jacksonville a year ago. Yet he also struck out almost 37% of the time, indicating that his pure contact skills remain a serious issue. His .219/.327/.448 Triple-A batting line was a little worse than league average.

Burdick has some experience in center field but is better suited for a corner outfield position. That puts a lot of pressure on his bat. He still has a pair of options remaining, so another team could keep him in the minors for the foreseeable future if they want to roll the dice on his power potential. Miami has a week to trade Burdick or put him on waivers.

Matt Barnes Throws For Scouts

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Former Red Sox closer Matt Barnes, who was traded to the Marlins prior to the 2023 season and wound up undergoing season-ending hip surgery in May, threw for big league scouts last week and could land a deal with a team before spring training for most teams commences next week, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. Barnes is still building arm strength but was in the low 90s with his fastball.

An All-Star with the Red Sox in 2021, Barnes has experienced a sharp decline in recent years, at least in part to a hip issue that’s plagued him for some time. The right-hander saved 24 games for the ’21 Sox but had all two dozen in the books by August 4. At that point, Barnes was sporting a pristine 2.25 ERA with a dominant 42% strikeout rate against a strong 6.8% walk rate. He’d pitched like one of the best relievers in baseball, and Boston rewarded him over the summer in the form of a two-year, $18.75MM contract extension that kept him from reaching free agency at season’s end.

Barnes pitched well for the first month of that contract, but things went south quickly thereafter. Over his final 15 appearances, the right-hander was shelled for a 10.13 ERA with significantly worsened strikeout and walk rates (26.7% and 15%). Barnes had walked only 11 hitters and surrendered just four homers through his first 44 innings but doubled that home run total and issued nine more walks in those final 10 1/3 innings.

It was a miserable way to close out the season, but Barnes’ track record was strong enough that a rebound didn’t seem far-fetched. Even with that calamitous finish to the season, his overall numbers from 2017-21 were sound: 3.82 ERA, 38 saves, 76 holds, 34.8% strikeout rate, 11.1% walk rate.

To Barnes’ credit, he rebounded from that finish to at least some extent in 2022, pitching to a 4.31 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. However, his 19.3% strikeout rate was less than half what it had been during his overpowering four-month run in 2021, and his 11.9% walk rate was still a clear red flag. He wound up missing more than two months of that ’22 season due to shoulder inflammation, and over the winter, the Red Sox designated Barnes for assignment and flipped him to the Marlins in exchange for another bounceback bullpen candidate: lefty Richard Bleier.

The trade didn’t work out well for either party. Barnes pitched just 21 1/3 innings of 5.48 ERA ball with Miami, sitting at a career-worst 93.6 mph with his average fastball. His 20.2% strikeout rate was only marginally better than his ugly mark the year prior, and while he cut his walk rate to 10.1%, that was still well north of the league average. Barnes underwent femoral acetabular impingement surgery on his left hip in late July, and the Fish bought out a club option on the right-hander at season’s end.

Barnes spoke with Speier in a full column for the Globe, speaking about the frustration of not being able to live up to his own expectations for himself over the past couple years. “Looking back on it, I’m realizing now that the hip was such a limiting factor in my ability to get into my lower half, subconsciously knowing that it was there,” Barnes told Speier. “The nature of the injury with the hip, it didn’t allow me to get over my front side and truly rotate and create power.”

Time will tell whether Barnes can ever recapture the form he showed from Opening Day through early August in 2021, though with a shoulder injury and notable hip surgery separating present-day Barnes from that peak version, it feels like something of a long shot. But even if Barnes never gets back to fanning more than 40% of his opponents, there’s a middle ground where he can be an effective late-inning reliever. Just about every club in baseball is looking for low-cost, low-risk ways to beef up their bullpens this time of season. Barnes’ track record should hold appeal in that regard, though the ultimate price tag will come down to how he looks in bullpen sessions. Most clubs will likely want to bring him to camp on a non-roster deal, but a 40-man spot doesn’t seem out of the question if he looks promising enough in a workout for clubs.

Angels Sign Jason Martin, Carson Fulmer To Minor League Deals

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The Angels released a list of non-roster invitees to major league Spring Training today. It included several players with previously-reported minor league deals as well as outfielder Jason Martin and right-hander Carson Fulmer. Martin is repped by Roc Nation Sports and Fulmer by Icon Sports Management.

Martin, 28, spent the 2023 season in Korea, playing for the KBO’s NC Dinos. In 118 games, he hit 17 home runs and slashed .283/.360/.455 for a 125 wRC+. He walked in 11.3% of his plate appearances while striking out at a 21.3% clip. He also stole 15 bases in 18 tries.

Prior to heading overseas, he had received limited looks in the big leagues. He got into 85 games between the Pirates and Rangers from 2019 to 2021, hitting just .206/.260/.328 in that time. His work in the minors has naturally been better, including a line of .260/.339/.472 in 328 Triple-A contests.

The Angels currently have an outfield mix that will likely see Mike Trout, Aaron Hicks and Taylor Ward in regular roles. But each of those three have battled injuries in recent seasons, with Trout last reaching 120 games in a season back in 2019. Hicks has never topped 137 and Ward has never topped 135. Mickey Moniak is on hand for some playing time and he had a nice season in 2023, hitting .280/.307/.495. But he struck out in 35% of his plate appearances and won’t be able to sustain a .397 batting average on balls in play. Jo Adell is also there but he’s also had serious strikeout concerns and is now out of options, which could squeeze him off the roster eventually. Strikeout concerns are also present for Jordyn Adams.

The Halos may need depth on the grass and they have signed Jake Marisnick and Willie Calhoun to minor league deals, now adding Martin into that mix. If Martin is able to crack the roster at any point, he is out of options.

Fulmer, 30, was with the Angels on a minor league deal for much of last year. He was briefly added to the 40-man roster in late September and then outrighted after the season. He was able to make three appearances and brought his career major league tallies to 140 2/3 innings over 77 appearances. He has a career ERA of 6.14 along with a 19% strikeout rate, 13.2% walk rate and 40.7% ground ball rate.

He spent most of last year in Triple-A, making 12 appearances, 11 of those being starts. His 41 innings of work at that level resulted in a 5.27 ERA, 17.5% strikeout rate, 14.8% walk rate and 47.6% ground ball rate.

He’ll provide the Angels with a bit of non-roster pitching depth, though he’s facing a steep climb of getting back to the big leagues. The Halos have a rotation mix of Reid Detmers, Patrick Sandoval, Tyler Anderson, Griffin Canning, José Suarez and Chase Silseth, as well as guys like Zach Plesac, Sam Bachman, Davis Daniel and Victor Mederos. If Fulmer is added to the roster at any point, he’s out of options.

Félix Bautista Undergoes Additional Elbow Procedure

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Orioles right-hander Félix Bautista underwent Tommy John surgery in October but required further medical attention today. The righty “had right elbow debridement and an ulnar nerve transposition today with Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas,” per an announcement from the Orioles. “We do not anticipate any changes in his overall Tommy John recovery timeline and we still expect him to return for the 2025 season.”

The club provided some more info to reporters, including Jake Rill of MLB.com, who relayed that the procedures were necessary to clean up some scar tissue and that moving the nerve freed it from compression. It appears that his ulnar collateral ligament, which is replaced in Tommy John surgery, is still healing well.

Bautista was already slated to miss the entire 2024 season, as the rehab process from TJS generally takes longer than a year. Assuming the club’s assessment of the current situation is correct, then this will have no impact on his previous status, though some will naturally worry to hear about more work being done in the throwing elbow of someone as talented as Bautista.

Through his first two seasons, he has made 121 appearances with a tiny 1.85 earned runs allowed per nine innings. His 10% walk rate is a tad high but he’s paired that with a massive 40.4% strikeout rate, racking up 48 saves in the process.

Around the time of his first surgery, he and the club agreed to a two-year deal to cover both the 2024 and 2025 seasons, paying him $1MM in each. He would have been eligible for salary arbitration for the first time between those two seasons but missing the entire 2024 campaign would have prevented him from earning a raise commensurate with his talents. He will be eligible for arbitration for the 2026 and 2027 seasons before he would be slated for free agency.

Reds, Jonathan India Agree To Two-Year Deal

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The Reds have agreed to a two-year deal with infielder Jonathan India, per a team announcement. The Boras Corporation client will be paid $3.8MM in 2024 and $5MM in 2025, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports. He can earn an additional $2.05MM in 2025 based on plate appearances and games started. India had filed for a $4MM salary in his first trip through the arbitration process, while the Reds countered with a $3.2MM figure.

As a result of this agreement, the two parties will avoid an arbitration hearing both this year and next. India, the 2021 National League Rookie of the Year, remains under club control through the 2026 season and will be eligible for arbitration one final time following the 2025 season.

India burst onto the scene with the Reds in ’21, hitting .269/.376/.459 (122 wRC+) with 21 home runs, 34 doubles, a pair of triples, a dozen steals, an 11.3% walk rate and a 22.3% strikeout rate. That performance led to a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year selection over runner-up Trevor Rogers, but India’s stock has dipped a bit since that early-career highlight.

Over the past two seasons, a hamstring strain and a bout of plantar fasciitis have limited India to 222 games and quiet possibly contributed to a decline in his production. He hasn’t been a bad hitter, but the 27-year-old’s .246/.333/.394 slash over the past two years (98 wRC+) is a good ways shy of that more impressive rookie output. Couple that with poor defensive ratings at second base (-21 Defensive Runs Saved, -16 Outs Above Average in 2022-23) and at least some of the shine has come off the 2018 No. 5 overall draft selection.

Between his downturn at the plate, the Reds’ wealth of young infield talent (e.g. Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Spencer Steer, Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand) and the signing of Jeimer Candelario to a three-year deal, there was a good bit of talk about a potential India trade this winter. However, Cincinnati president of baseball operations Nick Krall was nonplused with what was being offered in return for India throughout the winter and downplayed the chances of the infielder changing hands a few months back.

The addition of Candelario to an already-crowded infield mix creates something of a logjam, though Cincinnati plans to at least somewhat alleviate that crunch by moving Steer to left field on a full-time basis this coming season. Krall has previously stated that India could also begin to see some time at first base, in addition to designated hitter and his more typical work at second base.

Even with that broadening of his role, there’s still more infield options than positions for the Reds. Candelario will split time between the corners. Marte can play both positions on the left side of the infield. De La Cruz figures to get the chance to be the primary shortstop but will need to bounce back from a dreary finish to the season. McLain spent the bulk of his time in 2023 at shortstop, finishing fifth in Rookie of the Year voting himself. With De La Cruz likely back at shortstop, he could slide to the other side of the second base bag. Encarnacion-Strand has experience at the hot corner but is likely ticketed for first base and DH work.

It’s a crowded mix of players, but outside of Candelario and India, no one from the group has more than one full season of big league action under his belt. The potential for regression from one or more of those infielders is obvious, and injuries are an inevitability. The Reds, who were in the market for pitching help this winter, clearly recognized that India alone wouldn’t fetch them a meaningful rotation upgrade and have opted to hold onto the depth and stability he provides in relation to their collection of impressive but still fairly inexperienced young outfielders. An eventual trade remains plausible, particularly if enough of the young wave of big leaguers cement themselves as cornerstone pieces, but for the time being India seems quite likely to open the 2024 campaign on Cincinnati’s roster.

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