Archives for August 2024

As the calendar flips to August, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Diamond Sports Group/Comcast deal goes into effect:

As noted by ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez earlier this week, Diamond Sports Group reached a carriage deal with Comcast that is set to go into effect today. The deal applies to each of Diamond’s regional sports networks, meaning that Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Guardians, Marlins, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, and Twins games will be available on the Xfinity Ultimate TV package starting today. Comcast stopped carrying Diamond networks back in May amid negotiations between the sides. Going forward, Diamond networks will be carried as part of a more expensive subscription tier. Per Gonzalez, existing Xfinity customers who upgrade their package by August 30 will receive the upgrade free of charge for three months, meaning baseball fans can watch their team’s games for no extra charge though the end of the season.

2. Deadline to sign 2024 draftees:

The deadline to sign players selected in this year’s draft looms today at 5pm ET. The overwhelming majority of 2024 draftees have already signed with their new clubs, but there’s still a handful of names who’ve yet to put pen to paper. A pair of first-rounders remain unsigned at this moment: East Carolina righty Trey Yesavage, whom the Blue Jays selected at No. 20 overall, and North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt, whom the Orioles selected two picks later.

Jim Callis of MLB.com runs through the remaining players from the top 10 rounds who’ve not yet signed, noting that prep lefty Tyler Bell (taken by the Rays 66th overall), prep shortstop Chris Levonas (No. 67 to the Brewers), Texas A&M lefty Ryan Prager (No. 81, Angels) and Houston righty Jaxon Jelkin (No. 263, Mets) have all yet to sign and are not expected to do so. Callis’ piece also looks at the tough signs in rounds 11-20 who could be pursued late deals with the money that likely will not be spent on those picks in the top 10 rounds.

3. Gregory Santos to undergo MRI:

Just six appearances into his Mariners career, right-hander Gregory Santos exited yesterday’s game against the Red Sox due to injury. Manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Daniel Kramer of MLB.com) following the game that Santos was dealing with a biceps injury and will undergo an MRI today following the club’s return to Seattle. Acquired from the White Sox in a trade this offseason, Santos’ debut with his new club was delayed until last month due to a lat strain. He finally returned to the mound in early July but hasn’t looked quite like himself, posting a 6.75 ERA in 5 1/3 innings of work while striking out just 20.8% of batters faced. Now, it appears he may be at risk of returning to the IL. The acquisition of Yimi Garcia had already pushed Santos out of the role of primary set-up man for closer Andres Munoz, but his absence could afford arms like Collin Snider and Tayler Saucedo additional late-inning opportunities.

4. Luis Rengifo dealing with “flare-up” in wrist:

Angels infielder Luis Rengifo spent three weeks last month on the IL due to inflammation in his right wrist, and Anaheim manager Ron  Washington told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) yesterday that the injury hasn’t entirely gone away as Rengifo suffered a “flare-up” of the same injury. The club plans to re-evaluate Rengifo today before deciding on next steps, but an absence would be the latest in a long and frustrating line of injury news for the Halos. Rengifo has only been back in action for eight games. Since then, Mike Trout’s short-lived rehab assignment has been halted amid a setback in his return from meniscus surgery, and Anthony Rendon returned to the injured list due to back inflammation. If Rengifo also misses additional time, the Angels will likely use Luis Guillorme and Michael Stefanic at the hot corner alongside Brandon Drury at second base, and Zach Neto at shortstop.