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. Biggio in DFA limbo:
After several seasons of struggles as a potential “change of scenery” candidate, the Blue Jays made the somewhat surprising decision to designate infielder Cavan Biggio for assignment on Friday. While the 29-year-old has hit a paltry .200/.323/.291 with an 88 wRC+ in 44 games this season, Biggio entered the current campaign with a career .229/.345/.389 (105 wRC+) slash line, including an above-average figure in a multi-positional role last season with experience at first, second, and third base as well as right field. Biggio is now about halfway through his seven-day DFA window, during which the Blue Jays will either have to expose Biggio to waivers or work out a trade to move him elsewhere.
As a left-handed bat with the ability to play all around the infield and a walk rate that’s been north of 10% every season of his career, Biggio offers plenty of qualities that could make him an attractive bench piece for teams. On the other hand, Biggio’s lack of power production over the past four years could be a red flag, while the roughly $2.78MM left on his contract could make bringing him into the fold a slightly more expensive proposition.
2. Bregman day-to-day after HBP:
Astros fans suffered an injury scare last night when third baseman Alex Bregman was struck on the wrist by a pitch during the club’s game against the Angels. As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, it’s the second time in the past week that Bregman has been hit in that hand after a pitch got away from Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante on Tuesday. Fortunately, it appears that the veteran infielder got away without a serious injury, as Bregman himself told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart) that x-rays on his wrist came back negative and that he’s currently day-to-day.
Houston is off today, giving Bregman at least one day to rest before any further decisions are made. Despite a difficult start to the season for the 30-year-old, the Astros would surely hate to lose Bregman for even a game or two in the midst of his first extended hot streak. The pending free agent is riding an 11-game hitting streak and has slashed a fantastic .381/.447/.833 with five homers, a triple, and two doubles in his past 47 plate appearances.
3. Series Preview: Yankees @ Royals
After struggling through a three-game series against the Dodgers in the Bronx, the Yankees head to Kansas City for a four-game set that could wind up being a postseason preview. The Yankees hold the AL’s best record but have a lead of just 2.5 games over the Orioles in the AL East, while the Royals sit four games back of Cleveland in the AL Central at 39-27. A win for the Royals in this series could help the club make up significant ground against Cleveland while also opening the door for the Orioles to sneak back into first place. A series win by the Yankees would preserve the status quo atop both divisions.
The series is set to begin at 7:10pm local time this evening, when Royals righty Seth Lugo (2.13 ERA) takes on Yankees lefty Carlos Rodon (3.08 ERA). Tomorrow’s game will see veteran Yankees righty Marcus Stroman (3.04 ERA) face off against Brady Singer (2.76 ERA). Journeyman Cody Poteet (1.72 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Yankees on Wednesday in a game where K.C. has yet to announce a starter. The series wraps Thursday with right-hander Alec Marsh (4.05 ERA) on the mound for Kansas City opposite Yankees southpaw Nestor Cortes (3.68 ERA). Looking beyond the pitching matchups, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including those at MLB.com) that Juan Soto figures to return to the club’s lineup during this series after missing the past three games due to elbow inflammation.
Houston is NOT OFF TODAY.
Astros at Giants tonight.
But yeah, Houston is off today. I guess the Astros moved to Vegas last night? Seriously, how can one guy get so many basic facts so wrong?
Long – Nick is brand new, give him some time.
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of all of us suffering your presence. I think we all prefer Nick rather than you. Do you ever talk baseball? In the rest of your free time, do you go on Facebook and critique spelling and grammar issues?
Yes they are. Rockets, Texans, Cougars. They’re definitely off today.
Houston has a problem?
Houston is OFF…every day.
Hoping for a Royal flush so the Orioles can “sneak” into first place.
O’s will finish first anyways.
Interesting idea being floated around in London about having a number of teams play an in-season tournament in London. At this point, they’ve turned the regular season into a meaningless exercise when it comes to the playoffs so why not make it even more meaningless by adding some sideshows.
@Old York
Living in London, and being baseball mad, I’d still prefer the Series as it is, and no more. We have the same summer’s (except ours can be miserable) so you can’t upset the season further – I still prefer to go to the States and watch.
Additionally, there aren’t football or cricket grounds (other than West Ham) either capable of encompassing the area needed for a ballpark, or in the case of cricket, available in summer.
In other words, it’s not a runner…
It seems they’re just copying the mid-season NBA tournament model. Personally, I don’t like it though (not that my opinion matters). I think the WBC, All-Star game, and an in-season tournament would be too much – and possibly too risky for player health, given just how fragile it can be. Frankly, I’d love to have baseball all year long because I love the sport.
@Yankee Clipper
You know something I wish they would copy from the NBA/NHL is the All Star game selection. Given that the leagues are pretty much the same now with a universal DH and teams playing each other all season long, why not change the All Star game to be having team captains that draft players on their team. Sure, you can still throw a bone to the fans and let them vote players in but then have the team captains pick players for their team.
That is a really interesting concept for MLB. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that eventually.
The reason that other leagues have done the drafting thing is because their leagues didn’t really have an All Star tradition and interest in their All Star festivities was dwindling. JP
The decision to DFA Biggio really wasn’t that surprising. And even less surprising is that this front office held on to another asset for too long and destroyed their value. Not that Biggio has ever had a ton of value, but moving him 2 years ago or even last year when he hadn’t established himself as an every day player, but was still an above average hitter was probably a better option
He would have gotten very little in return. He was never going to be valuable enough to trade for anything meaningful so might as well hold him and hope for improvement.
Given the results of the current hitting coaching staff, there was no real reason for optimism that Biggio would improve. No one else on the team has.
The problem was right at the start of his major league career when they almost immediately started bouncing him around the field. Having to practice and work on a bunch of defensive positions is not ideal when you also have to figure out how to hit major league pitching.
I don’t think he ever really recovered from the early career mismanagement.
Very little in return is still something.
Very little in return could be a prospect who becomes a player like Davis Schneider. Or even a bullpen arm that adds depth.
Espinal was moved for a 30 year old AA pitcher, he would have had more value last offseason and he had already been replaced by Merrifield.
Just poor asset management
Espinal was traded for a 23 year who’s in High A pitching for Vancouver. Also keep in-mind Biggio is being paid doubled what Espinal is making.
Despite that, your last line is 100% on the mark. Playing Biggio at 3B in 2021 was a bad roster assessment. Semien was amazing but was 2B the position to target that 2020 offseason? Had Biggio stayed at 2B does he perform better? Probably not but we’ll never know since the Jays love putting a circle in a square peg.
Sorry I confused McElvain with Espino. But the sentiment stands. Espinal had his most value after his all star season, even if his second half was garbage.
@its_happening
The Jays FO seems intent on creating a “jack of all trades, master of none” player. See Barger, Martinez, and most recently Horwitz. A 1B/DH type playing 2B/LF solely because his bat could be of MLB calibre. It is however a repudiation of their pitching and defense philosophy.
Add Schneider and Clement to that
Very little in return is still something.
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This assumes that he was never going to return to his earlier work. Of course, in retrospect, he should’ve been traded, but every team has at least 5 guys that should’ve been traded, in retrospect.
I don’t necessarily disagree, but his stats have been going backwards for 6 seasons now. At some point a front office has decide when a players value isn’t getting any better.
His one true talent is taking walks and he’s not doing that very well anymore. On top of that he plays below average defense at every position and has never stepped up and taken a position or a role
He’s definitely been going down hill, but I think this is more art than science. Even if you ignore his first four seasons, he still had 97 OPS+ in 2023, which is pretty decent for a 2B.
In fact, assuming that he doesn’t have any character flaws, I think he’d be a good pickup for my RS, even with the diminished production.
The problem a he played the majority of his games in RF, first base or third base
NoSaint stop taking my lines!!!
So many players can be mentioned, even the ones no longer with the organization. Samad Taylor, Palacios, even Austin Martin and Jordan Groshans to an extent. Wonder how much of that has affected their bat.
Why do I get the feeling the Reds will piCk up Biggio after he clears?
Cincinnati’s GM: “This one belongs to the Reds.”
🙂
Something’s haywire with the interpretation of stats. How can Biggio’s 229/.345/.389 (105 wRC+) be something to tout. Many a cheap minor leaguer will give you an equitable “slash line” at a fraction of the cost. The only reason he’s still around is because of his last name.
Translation: Zaidi plucks him off waivers within the week.
No, many a cheap minor leaguer cannot give you a 105 wRC+
These days, most major leaguers can’t produce a wRC+ of 105.
You might get lucky and a young guy happens to do that sure, but most management teams would feel better about a guy who has actually done that in the majors over some rookie who’s never seen a major league curveball.
We’re also talking about a bench guy, not an everyday starter.
I’m saying it’s a flawed stat that I don’t put much “weight” in. Loads of cheap minor leaguers will give you more than you can get from Biggio. Again, he’s only stuck around because of his name.
No, the reason he stuck around is that he had a 3.2 bWAR/650 PAs in his first four seasons. You don’t just DFA a guy like that.
Apparently you do.
This is now his 6th season, actually quite easy to understand
Delusional.
Cavan’s lifetime wRC+ is 105. Ichiro’s was 104. So those who pray at the wRC+ alter must believe he’s better than Ichiro. Or perhaps there’s a chance that stat is flawed.
Agreed. I don’t think the Jays’ FO in any way, shape, or form misunderstood Biggio’s value and screwed up by accidentally hitting the eject button. Biggio has gotten a LOT of rope in TOR, and his production has stayed flat below replacement level for several years now. IMO this move is way overdue.
@Tellit
Ichiro played for almost a decade after he declined to a below average player. Which is great! What a grinder! But it isn’t an indictment of RC+ that his career rate stats don’t reflect his greatness.
Precisely what’s so flawed about those +stats. Can they give an indication of where a player is at in the moment, sure, but they become useless, and kind of hilariously out of whack when comparing historical stats.
young Biggio….Go to Houston so his HOF dad can watch him struggle and be embarrassed because of it, just as bad as HOF Matt who was obviously embarrassed to watch Jackson struggle as Matt sat next to the Ripkens. That number 7 was sweating bullets. Oh what cheap entertainment for us fans.
Who said Matt holiday was a HOF player
He’s a lock for the hall of very good but not enough good seasons and defense, the only thing he has going for him are the 7 all star appearances and homers
For whatever it’s worth…
Career WARs:
43.8 Gil Hodges
43.0 Tony Oliva
38.8 Harold Baines
44.5 Matt Holliday
There are guys in the hall who did less than Matt.
Sorry, but WAR is such a garbage stat.
“Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva, Harold Baines”…Giving credence to a stat(W.A.R) that didn’t even exist when those guys played is the height of naivety. W.A.R is a simplified, “baseball for dummies” stat for people that don’t watch much, or truly understand the game of baseball. What next, a simplified, simulated, mathematical formula to assess whether the Beatles were better than the Rolling Stones?
Nothing to be sorry about. Useless stat
The Rolling Stones were a cover band.
Cal Ripken hit .128 in his first crack at the majors
Things turned out alright
Ripken had 39AB in his first crack before exploding the next season. Biggio’s had 1480AB and hasn’t sustained good numbers. He’s one of these players people keep wishing will be more than his talent allows.
AB? Biggio has 1761 PA.
“AB”?…ABs & PAs are not the same thing. Players will almost always have more PAs than ABs.
@mlb fan
And that’s why it’s better to use PA’s. Its a more complete description of offensive ability.
Media Bias Update: After 67 games, the Yankees have been on national TV 34 times. The Dodgers have been on 41 times.
It’s almost as if national tv channels want ratings. Weird.
Joe: I can understand that, and some networks, like MLBN, do show a variety of teams even though they’re also the nyy and LAD biggest fans. That’s why I love it when teams other than those two make the WS. The networks are freaking out while I enjoy WS like Arizona against Texas.
All baseball fans are happy to see different teams all the time because they’re baseball fans.
I think he’s outraged about the 7 games discrepancy but I haven’t been meticulously keeping track.
I see we already have the weekly comment crying about big market teams out of the way on Monday. I’m sure people are just gutted that they don’t get to see teams like the Marlins, White Sox, and Rockies on national tv more often
I’d rather see a mixture of established contending teams get the exposure that they deserve. Teams like the Braves, Phils, Brewers, Cleveland, Astros instead of having the Dodgers & Yankees being shoved down our throats. As the season goes along add the teams that are performing better than expected (Seattle, KC, etc).
The nationally televised games are usually decided before the start of the season. The Yankees and Dodgers play in the two biggest media markets in the country and each roster three of the top ten players in the league. It’s not hard to see why they receive favoritism for national games. The big networks want ratings, especially after the ratings disaster last postseason
Prospect: Although I love the Yankees being broadcast because of how good they are {this season}, I think you’re right. If baseball has any kind of sense for growth, they would do exactly as you say, and prioritize contending teams’ games to televise nationally.
But, I agree with my Yankees counterparts that it seems MLB is simply appealing to the existing large markets as their strategy. Fortunately this year, both Yankees and LAD are great (and as of right now, Dodgers are the better team, imho).
It would be nice to see some Cleveland, Baltimore, and Philly games make it to National TV.
Paid my way through college and kept going another decade plus as a paperboy for the Houston Chronicle – the Biggios were a customer of mine, Brompton Street in West University – saw little Cavan running around in the yard many a time.
@Astros Hot Takes
There’s college degrees to become a paperboy?
Stretching on that one
yeah, gender studies, but they can’t call it “paperboy” these days.
Well, yeah, because adults driving around in cars throw newspapers into driveways.
@Astros Hot Takes
Tree-pulp-conversion boy?
Tree-pulp-coversion personx
@Astros Hot Takes
Lol… Well played
Biggio to Oakland til the deadline, hits .285 6 homers gets traded to some dreamers that think they can do a Nationals championship run. Get an under the radar prospect that turns out to be a hall of famer in return.
Am I being too A’s fannish? Is ‘fannish’ a word?
Holding on to Biggio this long is just another in the hundreds of reasons why the Jays should never have moved AA out for the current regime.
Not to beat a dead horse, but with a similar payroll as Toronto, AA has built a World Series winner which regularly competes for the MLB’s best record. In the meantime, Shapiro and Atkins continue to drag this team further and further away from contention, wasting arb years of guys they must move this year to retrieve some value before they walk in the next few months/year.