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Tyler Stephenson To Get MRI On Back

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Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup due to some back pain, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reported yesterday. Today, manager Terry Francona tells Sheldon that the backstop is headed for an MRI.

“He’s going to be fine,” Francona said yesterday. “It just didn’t seem to make sense to push something through.” While Francona downplayed the severity of the issue yesterday, the fact that Stephenson is going for an MRI today suggests that it perhaps didn’t improve as hoped in the past 24 hours or so.

Ideally, the MRI will find nothing and Stephenson can be back in the lineup soon, but it will be a situation worth monitoring since the Reds don’t have a ton of depth behind the plate. Stephenson and Jose Trevino are the only two catchers on the 40-man roster at the moment. Trevino is an excellent defender but has hit just .236/.275/.362 in his career, production which translates to a wRC+ of 74.

Stephenson, on the other hand, isn’t well regarded behind the plate but has hit .267/.343/.427 in his career for a 106 wRC+. He is likely to take the bulk of the time at the catching position, though Trevino would have to step up if Stephenson needed to miss any time. That would be an upgrade defensively but a downgrade offensively.

The club would also need to figure out who to add to the roster alongside Trevino. Austin Wynns is a veteran who is in camp as a non-roster invitee. His defense is generally ranked as adequate but he has only hit .230/.277/.332 in his 673 big league plate appearances, leading to a 65 wRC+. He played for the Reds a bit last year and they re-signed him to a minor league deal, so they clearly like him as a depth option.

The chart will look fairly thin if Stephenson needs time on the injured list, though some other players might shake loose as camps break. Players like Tomás Nido (Tigers), Reese McGuire (Cubs) and Luke Maile (Royals) are currently NRIs with other clubs and might be available as final roster decisions are made in the coming weeks. Though for the Reds, they best-case scenario would just be a healthy Stephenson.

Cubs Have Reportedly Had Talks With Lance Lynn

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The Cubs and veteran righty Lance Lynn are in talks on a potential one-year deal, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who adds that the Cubs are eyeing some further rotation depth. That said, Lynn could potentially emerge as a bullpen piece. The right-hander told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal earlier in the offseason that his agent had gotten calls from teams curious about using Lynn out of the bullpen, and he sounded open to the idea at the time.

Lynn, 37, spent the 2024 season with his original club, the division-rival Cardinals. He made 23 mostly solid starts, logging a 3.84 ERA with a 21.3% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate in 117 1/3  innings. The righty averaged only five innings per appearance and had a pair of 15-day IL stints due to discomfort and inflammation in his right knee.

Even with the limited workload, it was a bounceback effort for the 13-year veteran, who’d been torched for a 5.73 earned run average in 183 innings between the White Sox and Dodgers the year prior. Lynn was baseball’s most homer-prone starter that year, serving up an average of 2.16 long balls per nine frames. He trimmed that to a far more manageable 1.23 in his return effort with the Cardinals.

If the two parties to come to terms, Lynn would be a fairly surprising addition. Chicago already has Justin Steele, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd locked into rotation spots. Presumptive fifth starter Javier Assad will open on the injured list due to an oblique strain but isn’t expected to be sidelined long-term. In the meantime, swingman Colin Rea could step into the rotation after signing a one-year, $5MM contract earlier in the winter.

The Cubs also have several young arms who are on the cusp of MLB readiness. Ben Brown, Jordan Wicks and Caleb Kilian are all already on the 40-man roster, as is journeyman Cody Poteet. Prospects Cade Horton and Brandon Birdsell aren’t yet on the 40-man but have both reached Triple-A. Horton, in particular, is generally ranked among the sport’s top 100 prospects.

Any of those arms might need to be relied upon in the early stages of the season anyhow, as at this point it’s hard to imagine Lynn would be ready to jump into a big league rotation or bullpen with domestic Opening Day just two weeks out. The Cubs’ season, of course, starts next week during their Tokyo Series showdown against the Dodgers.

Chicago’s payroll currently sits at an estimated $194.6MM, per RosterResource, while their estimated CBT number checks in at $214.5MM. That places them $26.5MM away from the luxury tax threshold. Signing Lynn on what would surely be an affordable one-year deal would still leave the Cubs with more than $20MM in space between their current levels and that CBT barrier, providing ample room for in-season dealings as the front office sees fit.

Lucas Giolito To Begin Season On Injured List

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Red Sox righty Lucas Giolito will begin the 2025 season on the 15-day injured list, manager Alex Cora announced this morning (link via Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe). Giolito exited his Grapefruit League debut earlier this week after one inning due to tightness in his hamstring. A subsequent MRI revealed a low-grade strain, the right-hander himself revealed to the team’s beat this morning (link via MassLive’s Sean McAdam). While Giolito isn’t being shut down from throwing entirely, it seems they’ll back off enough that Opening Day won’t be realistic.

Giolito, 30, signed a two-year, $38.5MM contract with the Sox in the 2023-24 offseason but has yet to throw a regular season pitch for them. A partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow last spring led to an internal brace procedure that wiped out his entire 2024 campaign. His elbow was healthy enough to get back on the mound this week and put him in position to break camp in the rotation, but the hamstring issue will prevent that from happening. The team hasn’t put forth a specific timetable for his return, though it’s relatively encouraging that it’s being termed “low-grade” and that Giolito is still throwing.

The Red Sox will now open the season with three starting pitchers on the injured list. Giolito joins Brayan Bello (shoulder) and Kutter Crawford (knee) in that regard. That leaves the Red Sox with a group including Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler and two of Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts, Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski in the rotation.

Giolito tells Rob Bradford of WEEI that he doesn’t feel the IL stint is necessary but acknowledged that it’s the team’s call. “If I were in charge, I would like to throw a ’pen tomorrow,” says Giolito. “I don’t know they want me to do that.” The right-hander notes that he felt 100% after playing catch this morning and is hoping it’ll be a minimum stay on the injured list.

With two starters already shelved, it seems the Sox will opt for the extra cautious route despite some ostensible protest from Giolito himself. The team can ill afford to see Giolito go down with a more severe strain that’d sideline him for a lengthier period. If he’s out for only a minimal stay, he could be reinstated just 12 days into the 2025 campaign, as Opening Day IL placements can be backdated by the maximum three days.

Cardinals Sign Phil Maton

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The Cardinals announced this morning that they’ve signed right-hander Phil Maton to a one-year deal. The Paragon Sports International client will reportedly make $2MM. Left-hander Bailey Horn was designated for assignment to make room for Maton on the club’s 40-man roster.

Maton, 32 later this month, was among the better relief arms still available on the free agent market at this late point in the calendar. Drafted in the 20th round by the Padres back in 2015, Maton will suit up with the Cardinals for his ninth MLB season and hope to continue a stretch of quality work that began with the Astros back in 2022. The first five seasons of Maton’s career saw him struggle despite solid peripherals, with a subpar 4.76 ERA in 215 1/3 innings of work across 209 appearances. He struck out 26.4% of opponents during that time while walking 9.2%. Those numbers were decent enough to keep Maton rostered with San Diego and Cleveland over the years, but he eventually wound up in Houston late in the 2021 season.

The righty’s middling results continued with the Astros through the end of 2021, but by the start of the 2022 season a switch seemed to have flipped. His 25.2% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate over the past three seasons aren’t markedly different than what they were earlier in his career, but the veteran’s results have improved drastically as he’s posted a 3.50 ERA with a 4.11 FIP in 195 2/3 innings of work across 206 games.

After hitting free agency for the first time in his career prior to the 2024 season, Maton signed on with the Rays but struggled with a 4.58 ERA in 40 appearances for them last year. Fortunately for the right-hander, he was traded to the Mets for the stretch run and turned a corner, dominating to the tune of a 2.51 ERA across his final 31 appearances of the regular season.

Now, Maton is headed to St. Louis as the first and perhaps only major-league free agent signing the club will make this offseason. The Cardinals’ plans for the winter were largely hamstrung by an inability to find a trade partner for veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado, resulting in an extremely quiet offseason that was defined most by the departures of key veterans like Paul Goldschmidt in free agency.

Despite the Cardinals’ lack of activity this offseason, they’ve long been known to want a veteran relief arm who could fill the role Andrew Kittredge played last year and create a bridge between closer Ryan Helsley and the rest of a relatively young late-inning mix. They now appear to have found that player in Maton, who has just five career saves but has recorded 42 holds over the past three seasons.

Making room for Maton on the 40-man roster is Horn, a fifth-round pick by the White Sox in the 2020 draft. The 27-year-old lefty was traded to the Cubs in exchange for Ryan Tepera at the 2021 trade deadline and was eventually added to his new club’s 40-man roster, but did not make his big league debut in Chicago. He was traded back to the White Sox last February in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for the return of Cody Bellinger, but was then designated for assignment and traded to Boston in April. He made his big league debut for the Red Sox last June but struggled badly with a 6.50 ERA and 7.00 FIP in 18 innings of work.

During the offseason, Horn was designated for assignment by the Red Sox but picked up off waivers by the Tigers in November. He lasted on Detroit’s 40-man roster for just a month and was claimed off waivers by St. Louis in early January. He’ll now likely return to the waiver wire for the fourth time in the last 11 months. The Cardinals will have one week to either trade Horn or put him through waivers, where he can be claimed by any club willing to offer him a spot on their 40-man roster.

If Horn clears waivers, the Cardinals will get the opportunity to outright him to the minors as a non-roster depth option. That said, Horn is an optionable left-handed reliever who averages 95 mph with his heater and has a track record of missing bats in the upper minors. He could make him an attractive candidate for a waiver claim despite his lackluster results in the majors last year.

Katie Woo of The Athletic was first on the terms.

The Opener: Spring Breakout, Rule 5, Rangers

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After an early morning free agent signing and a notable injury development, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Spring Breakout begins today:

MLB’s Spring Breakout prospect showcase begins today after debuting during Spring Training last year. 16 games are set to be played as part of the showcase, with all 30 clubs participating. Only two of those games are scheduled for today, however: a Grapefruit League match between the Red Sox and the Rays scheduled for 7:05pm ET, and a Cactus League game between the Dodgers and Cubs scheduled for 6:05pm PT.

The two AL clubs will square off in a star-studded game that figures to feature six top-100 prospects, including top-ten talents Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Carson Williams. Meanwhile, the NL clubs six top-100 talents of their own. Among the prospects suiting up for L.A. are left-hander Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope, both of whom were drafted by the Cubs back in 2023 but shipped to the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season as the return for first baseman Michael Busch.

2. Teams nearing decision time on Rule 5 draft picks:

Yesterday saw the Reds return their selection in this offseason’s Rule 5 Draft, infielder Cooper Bowman, back to the Athletics. The move made Bowman, 25, the first of this winter’s 15 Rule 5 selections to be sent back to his original team. It’s likely several more players will follow in Bowman’s footsteps over the coming weeks, as Rule 5 picks must be carried on their new club’s active roster for the entire season and cannot be optioned to the minor leagues. With clubs now starting to finalize their Opening Day rosters, it’s likely that at least some of the remaining 14 Rule 5 draftees will fail to break camp with their new clubs and return to their original organization.

One player who appears poised to avoid that fate, at least for the time being, is infielder Gage Workman. Workman was plucked from the Tigers by the Cubs in this offseason’s Rule 5 draft and was included on Chicago’s travel roster for the upcoming Tokyo Series, which suggests that the club plans to keep Workman in the fold at least for the time being. The White Sox, Marlins, Angels, Athletics, Nationals, Blue Jays, Rays, Twins, Braves, Padres, and Brewers all have Rule 5 draftees currently in camp, with Tampa and Atlanta each holding onto two draftees.

3. Rangers facing rotation questions:

The Rangers suffered a scare in the rotation earlier this week, as both right-hander Tyler Mahle and left-hander Cody Bradford were sent for MRI exams due to potential arm injuries. Both MRIs came back clean, but with the hurlers facing soreness in their forearm and elbow respectively and just two weeks left before the regular season begins, it’s fair to wonder if both hurlers will be back to pitching and built up enough to start the season in the club’s rotation. If either pitcher suffers a setback or the Rangers simply decide to take things slowly with even one of the two veterans, that would open the door for a youngster like Jack Leiter or Kumar Rocker to break camp with the team in the rotation.

Jeff McNeil To Begin Season On Injured List Due To Oblique Strain

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Mets infielder Jeff McNeil has been diagnosed with a strained right oblique that will sideline him for Opening Day, manager Carlos Mendoza announced to the team’s beat this morning (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). He’ll be shut down entirely for seven to ten days, and the expectation is that McNeil will be out a total of three to four weeks.

McNeil, 33 in April, is coming off a .238/.308/.384 performance in 472 plate appearances last year. He popped 12 homers, tallied 26 doubles and went 5-for-6 in stolen base attempts while continuing to display excellent bat-to-ball skills (14.4% strikeout rate). He played his customary brand of solid defense in more than 800 innings of work at second base and also chipped in nearly 200 frames of corner outfield work, where he drew average grades from Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average alike.

Over the past two seasons, McNeil has turned in a roughly average .257/.323/.381 batting line (99 wRC+) with 22 homers in 1120 plate appearances with solid defense at three spots on the diamond. It’s a far cry from the combined .307/.370/.458 slash (130 wRC+) posted by McNeil through the first five seasons of his career in 2018-22, but an average hitter and defender with plus contact skills is still a nice contributor on any club. His injury subtracts a reliable if unspectacular bat from the lineup and will likely prompt the Mets to lean on a younger option with less track record in the majors.

New York has plenty of infield options, but McNeil’s injury could pave the way for Luisangel Acuña to get the Opening Day nod at the position. He could face competition from Brett Baty (though he’s more of a third baseman) or non-roster invitees in camp like Donovan Walton and Luis De Los Santos. Infielder Ronny Mauricio has yet to play in a spring game while finishing off his rehab from last spring’s ACL tear, but at last check the Mets said he was targeting mid-March for his Grapefruit League debut. Just based on his lack of reps so far, he feels like a stretch. Outside of Baty, none of the options in camp have performed particularly well in their small sample of spring plate appearances.

McNeil is the latest in a mounting number of injured Mets. He’ll join Francisco Alvarez (hamate fracture), Sean Manaea (oblique strain), Frankie Montas (lat strain) and Nick Madrigal (fractured shoulder) as spring training IL casualties. That set comes with a varying range of expected return timelines. Madrigal is out for the entire season. Montas will likely be sidelined into late May. Manaea and McNeil could return in mid-to-late April, assuming there are no hiccups in their recovery.

MLBTR Podcast: Lawrence Butler’s Extension, Gerrit Cole’s TJ, And Rays’ Ownership Pressured To Sell

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will the Cubs win the NL Central and how would you rank the AL Central clubs? (34:25)
  • Will the spring injuries lead to some deals and keep the hot stove burning into April? (41:35)
  • Should fans of the Dodgers be worried by how many old/injury-prone players are on the roster? (47:50)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Rockies Option Drew Romo, Adael Amador

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The Rockies announced Wednesday that they’ve optioned catcher Drew Romo and second baseman Adael Amador. Both players made their MLB debuts last season but will start this year in the minors.

That’s more notable for Romo. Colorado called up the former second-round pick last August in tandem with the decision to release veteran Elias Díaz. Romo started 13 games behind the plate. He struggled in his first look at big league pitching. The switch-hitting Romo hit .176 without a home run through 53 plate appearances.

Colorado re-signed Jacob Stallings on a $2.5MM free agent deal. The 35-year-old backstop had a nice 2024 season in a part-time role. Stallings hit a career-best .263/.357/.453 with nine homers across 281 plate appearances. His far more modest career numbers suggest he’s unlikely to repeat those numbers, but he should provide a steady hand defensively. Stallings is a former Gold Glover who works well with a pitching staff.

The Rockies may be reluctant to overwork Stallings, who caught around 600 innings last year. That opens the door for one of Colorado’s controllable catchers to play their way into semi-regular playing time. Romo and Hunter Goodman are the only other catchers on the 40-man roster. Goodman didn’t have an impressive ’24 season overall (.190/.228/.417), but he hit five homers in September to provide some positive momentum going into the offseason.

If there were an open camp competition to split time with Stallings, Goodman has had the clear advantage. He’s hitting .368 with four walks and three strikeouts in 23 Spring Training plate appearances. Romo had just two hits and a walk while striking out four times in 17 at-bats. Thomas Harding of MLB.com wrote over the weekend that the Rox are prioritizing Goodman’s work behind the plate after using him more frequently in the corner outfield last season.

The Rockies also have five-year MLB veteran Austin Nola in camp on a minor league deal. He’s hitting .364 in 11 games. The Rox could theoretically opt for a Stallings/Nola tandem, but it seems likelier they’ll give the 25-year-old Goodman a longer look. Romo, who hit .297/.339/.499 for Triple-A Albuquerque last year, should continue playing regularly in the minors.

Amador, 22 next month, never had much of a shot of breaking camp. He played in 10 MLB games last year while Brendan Rodgers was on the injured list. The Rox surprisingly jumped him directly from Double-A, and he hit .171 over 36 plate appearances. Amador hit .296 this spring, but he’s due for his first Triple-A experience. The Rockies brought in Kyle Farmer and Thairo Estrada on cheap one-year deals to handle second base until Amador is ready for regular MLB playing time.

Latest On Potential Twins Sale

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The Pohlad family’s attempts to sell the Twins hit a major roadblock last month. Justin and Mat Ishbia, who had seemed to be the frontrunners, withdrew from the process to increase Justin Ishbia’s minority stake in the White Sox.

When the Ishbia brothers were still in the mix, the Pohlad family was reportedly hoping to have a sale completed by Opening Day. LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minnesota Star-Tribune writes that hope of settling on a buyer by Opening Day is no longer on the table. Neal speculates that a mid-late summer timeline for a deal could be more realistic.

Neal writes that he still anticipates the Pohlads will find a buyer. Dan Hayes of The Athletic wrote in the immediate aftermath of the Ishbia withdrawal that the Pohlads could consider taking the franchise off the market if they didn’t find a suitable asking price. To be clear, the Star-Tribune report isn’t refuting that. Rather, Neal writes that the Pohlads are receiving sufficient interest to believe that they’ll eventually find what they deem to be an acceptable bid.

The identities of those bidders aren’t known. The Ishbias were the only publicly reported suitor, though reports have long suggested they weren’t the only interested party. Forbes estimates the franchise’s value around $1.46 billion; Sportico’s projection is approximately $1.7 billion. The Orioles, the most recent franchise sold, went for a $1.725 billion purchase price in January 2024.

Offseason In Review: Kansas City Royals

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The Royals began the offseason with a three-year signing to keep their excellent rotation intact. They traded from that starting staff a month later to acquire a new leadoff hitter. Kansas City hoped to follow up with an impact offensive acquisition that never materialized. They instead turned to the relief market late in the winter to add a veteran closer.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $35MM
Total spending: $80MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Extensions

  • Signed LHP Cole Ragans to three-year, $13.25MM deal to cover final pre-arb year and first two arbitration seasons

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

The Royals were perhaps the most surprising playoff team of 2024. Kansas City had a 30-win improvement relative to the preceding season. They held the Orioles to one run in two games to sweep their Wild Card series. The Yankees knocked K.C. off in the Division Series, but the Royals' window has reopened after a nine-year postseason drought.

They remain one of the more top-heavy contenders. Kansas City's success was built around an elite rotation and an MVP-caliber season from Bobby Witt Jr. They preserved a crucial piece of that rotation just before free agency opened. Kansas City signed Michael Wacha to a three-year, $51MM extension to keep him from opting out and testing free agency. The veteran righty rejoins Seth Lugo as the 2-3 arms behind breakout left-hander Cole Ragans.

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