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Archives for May 2024

Mets Trade Zack Short To Red Sox

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The Mets have traded infielder Zack Short to the Red Sox in exchange for cash, the teams announced Wednesday. Boston had an open spot on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make a corresponding move. New York designated Short for assignment five days ago when adding veteran designated hitter J.D. Martinez to the roster. Short is out of minor league options, so he’ll head right to the Red Sox’ big league roster.

Short, 28, was a 17th-round pick by the Cubs back in 2016 and has played in parts of four big league seasons: 2021-23 with the Tigers and 2024 with the Mets. He’s a career .172/.266/.304 hitter in the big leagues and carries a .224/.357/.400 slash in 1017 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Short is regarded as a sound defender at all three infield positions to the left of first base and has also had brief looks in the outfield in his professional career — mostly coming in the minors.

Boston’s infield situation has been in flux for much of the season after shortstop Trevor Story required season-ending shoulder surgery following an injury sustained on a diving stop in the field. Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela has shifted into the infield and is taking on the everyday shortstop role. The Sox have given the lion’s share of playing time at second base to Enmanuel Valdez, but he’s hitting just .151/.183/.256 in 94 trips to the plate.

Utilityman Pablo Reyes has seen time at both middle infield spots but was recently designated for assignment after turning in a meager .183/.234/.217 slash in 64 plate appearances. Offseason acquisition Vaughn Grissom was expected to be reinstated from the injured list yesterday and take the reins at second base, but an illness has extended his season-long IL stint a bit further.

Short will take up a utility role, perhaps platooning with the left-handed-hitting Valdez at second base if Grissom needs to miss much more time. He doesn’t have especially strong numbers against southpaws but did hit .273/.406/.352 against them in 2022 and .236/.323/.382 in 2023.

Marlins Outright Kent Emanuel

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The Marlins have sent left-hander Kent Emanuel outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on the weekend. He has the right to elect free agency but is listed on the Jumbo Shrimp roster and already accepted an assignment earlier this year, perhaps suggesting he has accepted this one as well.

Emanuel, 32 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Fish in February. Though the season is barely a month old, the club has twice selected him to the roster, designated him for assignment and sent him through waivers unclaimed.

In each case, he made one appearance of three innings before getting bumped off the roster. He allowed a combined seven earned runs in those two outings, leaving him with an unsightly 10.50 ERA for the year so far. As one would expect, his Triple-A work has been better. Around those transactions, he has tossed seven innings over three appearances with a 1.29 ERA. He struck out 11 opponents in that time without issuing a walk.

It’s probably unrealistic to expect that kind of performance to continue. Going back to the start of 2021, his minor league work has resulted in a more pedestrian 4.55 ERA over 150 1/3 innings with a 21.9% strikeout rate. However, he was previously working as a starter and has gradually spent more time in the bullpen, so perhaps there’s another gear for him to unlock by pitching in shorter outings.

Though the Marlins bumped him off the roster, they are likely happy to keep Emanuel around. Their early season struggles have led to them continually cycling various arms through the fringes of their roster and they may need to call on Emanuel again. Their poor record also points them towards a potential deadline selloff this summer, which could increase the need for depth arms to step up later in the year.

The Opener: Opt-Outs, Suspensions, Sanchez

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Article XX(B) opt-out opportunities today:

The most recent collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA included a trio of automatic opt-out dates for certain big league veterans who landed minor league deals over the winter. Today is the second of those three uniform opt-out dates, though the opportunity currently applies to far fewer players than it did the first time around, when more than 30 veterans were eligible to opt out.

This time, just seven players are eligible for the uniform opt-out opportunity: Angels outfielder Jake Marisnick, Blue Jays first baseman Joey Votto, Cubs outfielder David Peralta, Rangers right-hander Shane Greene, Red Sox right-hander Michael Fulmer, and Red Sox catcher Roberto Perez. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look at each of those players’ performance this season and the case for them to opt out. Any player in the aforementioned group who decides to remain with his current organization will get their third and final automatic opt-out opportunity a month from today on June 1.

2. Brewers, Rays face potential suspensions:

Things got heated during Milwaukee’s 8-2 victory over Tampa Bay last night when Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta and manager Pat Murphy were both ejected from the game after Peralta hit Rays center fielder Jose Siri with a pitch. Later in the game, the benches cleared when a skirmish broke out between Siri and Brewers right-hander Abner Uribe which included Uribe landing a slap on Siri before the two were separated. Both Uribe and Siri were ejected from the game following the incident, and it appears likely that suspensions for both players could be in the cards later today. Randy Arozarena would likely slide over to center field in Siri’s absence, while a combination of Joel Payamps, Trevor Megill, and Hoby Milner would likely take on late-inning duties with the Brewers while Uribe serves a suspension.

3. Sanchez to undergo MRI:

Before the eventful later innings of the game had gotten starter, veteran catcher Gary Sanchez was removed from the first inning of the Brewers’ game last night with a bout of right hamstring tightness. Murphy told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) after the game that Sanchez will undergo an MRI on his hamstring to determine the severity of the issue. Rosiak also notes that Eric Haase was pulled from last night’s game at the Triple-A level and would likely take the place of Sanchez, who is in a backup role behind All-Star backstop William Contreras with Milwaukee, should he require a trip to the injured list. Sanchez has been a solid source of power off the bench for the Brewers this season but has hit for a low average, slashing .208/.283/.458 with three doubles and three homers in just 53 trips to the plate.

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