As Spring Training continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Cole, Yankees await second opinion.
News broke yesterday that veteran Yankees ace Gerrit Cole has been recommended for Tommy John surgery after undergoing tests on his elbow over the weekend. It’s a potentially brutal blow to the Yankees’ hopes of returning to the World Series in 2025, but nothing is set in stone just yet as Cole and the club are seeking a second opinion before making a final decision on the right-hander’s path forward. Specifically, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that Cole is set to consult with noted surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache about the issue. ElAttrache is one of the country’s preeminent sports medicine figures and, notably, met with Cole about his elbow just last year during Spring Training when a bout of elbow inflammation sidelined the righty for most of the first half.
2. Mets in need of catching help:
With youngster Francisco Alvarez set to miss the next six to eight weeks due to hamate surgery, the Mets are now facing a scramble for catching help with Opening Day just over two weeks away. Backup catcher Luis Torrens figures to step into the starting role for the Mets while Alvarez is out, but the club has no other catchers on the 40-man roster with Jakson Reetz and his eight games of MLB experience standing out as the most experienced non-roster catcher in camp. The club’s lackluster internal solutions make an addition appear likely before Opening Day, with veterans Yasmani Grandal and James McCann still on the market.
3. Non-roster veterans await opportunities:
With Spring Training beginning to wind down and teams beginning to plan out their Opening Day rosters in earnest, there are a number of veterans in camp on minor league deals who will be on the outside looking in when it comes to the big league roster of their current organization. It’s likely that the majority of those veterans will opt out and return to free agency in hopes of finding a major league opportunity elsewhere, as infielder Nicky Lopez seems poised to do after being re-assigned to minor league camp yesterday. As injuries (such as the aforementioned issues faced by the Yankees and Mets) begin to pile up around the league, that could create opportunities for some non-roster veterans in camp with other clubs to get snapped up relatively quickly once they get the chance to opt out closer to Opening Day.
How about an MLBTR article on best non-roster options availiable?
@mikenmn
That’s actually a really cool idea. I like it!
Only if u pay for it and will still be hours behind and vague $$$ in it for the money
Kyle Gibson.
Short article.
If this Cole fiasco doesn’t get Cashman fired nothing will.. We are down two starters plus holes in the starting roster and luxury tax penalty at 110% on whatever we spend going forward! Could it get any worse? Cashman would NEVER spend this kind of doe on players if it was his money!
Who had Gerritt Cole needing surgery after they had the chance to let him walk on their Brian Cashman Got Fired Raffle Card?
This is why teams lose when it comes to player opt-outs. Should’ve said “see ya” and shifted to someone younger.
Young pitchers get hurt too. Most of them aren’t as good as Gerrit Cole.
True, but most of them also don’t cost nearly as much as Cole will to sit on the sidelines for a year.
Plus there is more of a possibility they will never be able to fully recover in the future to be worth the cost.
But they don’t cost $38,000,000
Stan – For all the time/effort/money spent on analytics, they still don’t factor in health history. It’s crazy. Durability is extremely undervalued by the community that is *supposed* to identify what is undervalued.
Another recent example is Liam Hendriks who has looked horrible thus far in ST.
Hopefully he can turn things around in the regular season.
@fever
But Cole has been a workhorse and it is very hard to find pitchers with clean health histories. If you are limiting yourself to top flight pitchers with clean health histories that is a REAL short list.
Patriot – I’m limiting myself to pitchers who didn’t miss half a season with an elbow injury last year ;O)
@fever
Totally get where your coming from, the thing I would point out though is that he looked full strength in the playoffs.
I would bet that most teams do have internal analytics they have developed on their own for health history,
Hank – You could be right. If so, they don’t value or use it as much as they should.
Keeping Cole through 2028 was just as bad, if not worse, than the Red Sox rushing to extend Sale in 2019.
Now the Yanks will be lucky if they get 2-year’s worth of Cole out of the 4 years on his contract. It’s a $54M mistake, and that’s being conservative.
Didn’t the Yankees say see ya? And Cole said no no let me come back. You can’t fault the Yankees for taking him back as a guy who’s been an absolute ace the whole time with them.
Great – So you’re saying he deserves his current contract based on the past, not on the expected future?
That’s a unique way of looking at things, to put it mildly.
Well,the Cashman made a good decision to not offer a fifth year after the opt out. However, the Cashman should have taken into consideration the fact that he missed half the season and should have just wished him good luck. A major blunder by him. Think what they could have done with 36 million for each of the next 4 years. This likely surgery screws up cole’s Cooperstown chances. It really is too bad.
James McCann? How about Steve Chilcott?
Still stings after 59 years.
I don’t care how desperate the Mets are, grandal is NOT the solution. I’d definitely go with McCann. He’s an excellent defensive catcher and his lack of hitting can be picked up by others in this strong lineup.
If it’s only 8 weeks why are we picking someone up? I’m genuinely asking here.
If it’s like 5 games then can’t get use someone from AAA?
We have Senger, Williams and Reetz. Aren’t they enough for a few spot starts?
8 weeks is a lot of games, a third of the season, and catcher is a really important position since it effects the pitching also. Having a vet like mccann who has handled major league pitching staffs before over a complete unknown could easily be worth the money.
Luis Torrens is going to take every one of those starts except for the few “day game after night game” scenarios, which comes to like 4-5 starts over that span.
We just need someone for those few starts.
PiazzaParty: Even when Alvarez comes back, having a veteran like McCann, who has a lot of MLB experience and even caught a no-hitter, wouldn’t be a bad thing. He could also help the younger guys.
You have to factor in the possibility of Torrens himself getting injured in that time frame. Signing a McCann now gives him a couple weeks to get to know the pitchers.
I hope Torrens doesn’t become the DJ Stewart of this year.
I don’t see the sense in signing someone, taking away a 40 man slot, on the off chance your back up catcher gets injured.
Nah to McCann. Major framing issues.
If he can handle a staff and keep the ball from rolling to the backstop he should be seriously considered. Framing is a fringe skill.
Mets need pitch framing more then you may think i.e. Senga.
Don’t worry, they won’t be getting either of them.
Second opinions usually end up like first opinions. Unfortunately, I think Cole is done for the year.
Was shocked he didn’t have to undergo it last year this time when the reports happened then. Dude got a whole year, made it to the world series and God was like “dude you AINT EVEN gonna cover first after I did you THAT SOLID!? Okay TJS it is for you bucko” as the rest of us eagerly await what God already knows
That should be what infield coaches tell all pitcher every spring training during pitchers fielding practice:
“Remember, this is important. if you don’t cover first properly, an unspecified deity will smite your elbow!”
Canuckleball: Ah, he can be a cruel god that watches over baseball. After watching a full season of the White Sox and their Keystone Kops defense, it was amusing to see a team in the world series have an inning like that in game five.
The advantage of a large market payroll is depth. As good as Gerrit Cole has been the last 7+ years, how many other teams could lose their number one pitcher and still have pitchers as accomplished as Stroman, Fried and Rodon to rely on. I don’t root for the Yankees, but I sure as hell watch them 4+ times every single week.
It’s why the NFL is the best run league. Cap and floor means it’s pretty much a fair playing field. Green Bat can keep their best players but the Brewers typically can’t
It’s pretty much the opposite. No NFL team can keep their best players. Teams are always having to let good players go due to the cap. Those great dynasties of the 1970’s and 1980’s, like the Steelers, Cowboys, Raiders, and 49ers, would have never been able to thrive for years in the current NFL.
Yankees could very well also go out and pull down Luis Castillo or Dylan Cease as well. I sort of wonder if this doesn’t create a pre-emptive Cubs move on another starter. Dang, DiPoto…pack out Castillo’s money for some offensive potential.
Dylan Cease isn’t getting moved unless the Pads are clearly out of it by the deadline. Yankees don’t have the prospect capital to get him right now.
For a year of Cease they do. They won’t use it. They have 4 pretty solid near ready or ready pieces. I’ve seen every inning the Yankees have played this spring.
Yankees have one of the worst farms in baseball, who do they have that would get him? You’re also forgetting there are multiple other teams that could use a top SP that would have more capital to play with.
I’m not forgetting them. I just didn’t continue a longer comment. I’d have to imagine the Cubs are a little more trigger finger itchy to get something worked out for a starter today.
I’m not sure why everyone thinks the Yankees have no one. I’ve seen every inning of every Yankee game this spring and they’ve had guys turn the corner.
One year of Cease won’t command a massive ransom. Seattle needs to move the needle a bit and could use Castillo to move salary.
Jones is a starting probabiy with SD. As much has been reported in speculation. It’s really whether the Steinbrenners want to take the hit.
The system will never mean as much to the Yankees as most other teams. It needs to matter. But they can throw cash around in the off-season. I just don’t feel they’re as trapped as most teams would be is all.
Yankees get a lot of hoped downfall cast on them from the outside. Then they get so much pessimism even losing spring training games from their own fan base. I dont see him going down as insurmountable. They don’t need more issues though.
For 1 year of cease? How much did SD get for 1 year of Juan freaking Soto. King was unproven as a starter at the time. They got depth pieces, and intriguing King but with only 2 years of control, and 1 solid prospect in Thorpe. Cease is not Soto.
I’m not saying it’s GOING to happen. I’m just saying it’s possible. It’s just hard to read their mind at this point. Send some offensive prospects to Seattle. DiPoto is out fielding questions from the media and fans at this point why they haven’t done anything really. I think they get 14M off the books packing Castillo out. They can use that money off the books.
I think of I had this team make up I’d be trying to win is all. AL East has a whole lot of 83-85 win type teams on it right now.
Cease is not getting traded. The Padres were listening to offers on Cease, King and anyone else with a year remaining but the largest part of that was so they can make roster additions. Now, their roster is pretty much set. The only way the Padres trade Cease now would be for an extremely high upside ml ready corner outfielder and a pitcher to slot into the rotation to replace Cease.
SD wants near MLB talent that’s what they got from the Yankees. Who do the Yankees have that near MLB ready besides maybe Jones who struck out 200x and 42% of his AB’s last year and 33% of his ABs the year before that. That’s not good for minors think how that will translate at the next level.
We have some folks not watching the Yankees this spring.
@Dock name the prospects then that you think are capable of getting Cease…
I’m watching the game now. One year of Cease and salary relief? I don’t speculate. I’ve been on that side. So much can happen. Yankees can also resign Cease more so than some clubs. Like I said…Jones is the starting point probably. But I usually don’t go in on all the this for that. I donf think Lombard should be dealt. But they have some near ready guys taking hacks. Most people rely on past stuff. Which is dangerous with prospects. I’m seeing a LOT of adjustments in these guys. Jones, Ben Rice, probably not Wells. Probably not Lombard. Myself? I’d seriously be marketing Dominguez around.
I know these aren’t the deep prospects a lot of people think about casually. But it’s a good core group. And it’s how scouts think.
To qualify Myself I scouted the Midwest League for the Rockies leading up to the deadline.
If the Yankees are seeing what I’M seeing in this group. They’ll try to win this season without Cole.
Biggest win was NOT signing Soto. They made some good moves with the savings.
I like this team. I dont like the injuries and Cole going down. But I do think there’s a lot of upside that might cover some gaps. But you have to be forward looking on what you’re seeing.
SD doesn’t need 13MM in salary relief all the impact FA are gone so there’s no point in saving a couple bucks this year.
Jones has serious holes in his game as I was saying before striking out over 40% in the minors is a scary thing to see.
Dominguez is about to be your starting CF right now so that’s just creating another whole for your team. Lombard Jr. is 2-3 years away. Warren would be intriguing from Pad’s perspective but had a really bad 2024.
I guess my whole point was Yankees don’t have the spare prospects to where it doesn’t create more needs on their current team.
You’re not seeing the Yankees play.
Thing is conversations don’t have to be either or. I don’t disagree with you. I just disagree with absolute statements.
Stuff gets close to happening..then doesn’t. Or it does.
But I’d imagine Cashman is on some calls today. And the Yankees can get creative.
And we might seen ANOTHER team like the Cubs push a button they were on the edge about.
ReyDay- I will say this any discussion with Lombard in it involving Cease needs to end quick…for me. Alcantara is probabky a better option. Atleast he’s coming back from TJ. He has a lot of control. Yanks gonna have to break an egg. But it’s BS to not try and go for the ring.
Yankees have the pieces to make a Cease trade happen, but not without subtracting from the current team. If Cease does become available, other teams will be able to offer a better package.
For those prospects to work a third team will have to get involved
They were showcasing their #29 prospect today. Nice reliever. High leverage guy. So many things come to nothing. So I don’t even like speculating. But I DO think they can make something happen. And unlike with so many teams…the Yankees can make it financially happen as well.
Scouts also make their bones here. We’re hearing about several front end replacements. But digging deeper St Louis has a guy.
I do like how they’ve mitigated atleast some risk on offense.
I dont think of Soto as a miss at all.
Missing Soto was a win for the Yankees. He’s a fit everywhere at some price point, but at that price he’s a much better fit with the Mets.
It’s going to take some creativity to fill those holes. Friedman or Preller could do it. We’ll have to see if Cashman can be that creative.
Dropped- I might not be Cease. But there’s someone out there. Lordy…send the Mariners some offensive potential.
Cubs should just also get in sending Nico Hoerner to Seattle for Castillo already.
Stroman, Fried and Rondon are good depth options but honestly they are such a wild card I could see them all getting hit a ton this season. Cole with be a big loss to stabilize that rotation.
Thinking ahead here but fried gets hit hard in October.
@believeirotnot: “….but fried gets hit hard in October.” Like in his Game 6 WS clincher against the Astros in ’21? 6 innings 4H, 0 BB, 0 ER. Go ahead and use his appearance vs the Phillies when he pitched after losing 15 lbs due to the flu to base your “analysis” on. Fried’s going to be excellent for the Yanks staff this year. Btw—-I’m a Braves fan so no Yankee bias here.
Like in his Game 6 WS clincher against the Astros in ’21? 6 innings 4H, 0 BB, 0 ER.
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You’re citing a game from 2021, and his overall playoff record is fairly dismal
Cole was immediately in the rotation when he returned last year. He threw over 100 pitches in his fifth start. He threw a meaningless complete game late in September. Then in the postseason, he was given a full load. All this after missing nearly half the season. Seems extremely ill advised. But that’s Dr. Boonedoggle and Brainless Cash Man, fearless ruiners of pitching arms.
They wore him out then extended him. Terrible management! No one was going to pay him more money but the Yankees. Atleast NFL teams have the sense to let running backs walk after wearing them out
Doctor Vinny Boombatz said Cole was fine last year!
Can you all backtrack everything you’ve said about Marcus Stroman in the last 2 months as well? “HE’S A 6TH STARTER HE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL TO BE IN THE BULLPEN” and it took less than 30 minutes for someone in front of him to get hurt. Papa John’s isn’t even that quick.
@Troy Percival’s iPad
Stroman is done as a starter, even if he ends up being a starter. His high GB% was helping him pitch and stay competitive for years but last year was his lowest GB% and worst SIERA.
Get em Troy ! Spot on brother.
We still don’t want stroman. You think a season of marginal starts is worth 36 mil? I’d rather sign Kyle Gibson, at least he won’t trigger an 18 mil option for next year doing the same mediocre sht as stroman
Given the appalling number of injuries to significant players, especially Baltimore and NY, an article about which teams have been hit worst, and which teams have the best ability to deal with the losses would be fascinating.
It’s full stop time for a reassessment on the modern trend of developing modern starters in max effort closer style. Of course perfection would be having 5 closer types go 9. But we have what are essentially closer makeups going 6. Time to pitch again. The analytics will say high velocity and Ks….but the unknown was how the bodies would hold up. Not well. Has to start down in youth baseball. The showcase model isn’t working. We’re throwing billions into dead contracts. That’s not very efficient either.
I mean the Yankees should know as well as anyone, we won championships with guys like Jimmy key, David wells, El duque, late career coney, I mean these guys weren’t high velo max effort types. They need to get back to teaching how to truly pitch and sequence a hitter
For sure. But it’s an overall problem in the game now. I do think they need to go get someone.
Do you think that pitchers and coaches don’t know or teach sequences? The issue is more likely that pitchers probably don’t throw their secondary offerings very often.
Most of them are looking to break into the league, and then looking for big FA bucks. I don’t think I’d be pulling back if I thought my heater or my sweeper would get me out of a jam.
Joe Brady-
I’m a former pitching coach and Midwest League professional scouting. My opinions aren’t just my own.
It’s full stop time because of speculation?
Freddieneetgibby-
It’s far from speculation that there’s a barge of TJs out there in the last 10 years you could roster in the billions. A TJ is almost a prerequisite now.
If you’re talking about Cole. His 1st opinion is to get TJ. That’s not speculation that’s medical opinion.
Looks like it’s Tampa’s division to lose.
Toronto’s ! lol
Reetz hit a grand slam in yesterday’s game, so clearly stepping up to get the job.
It was a hanger
Maybe but this guy if given a chance will be better then everyone except maybe McCann. Give him regular playing time and let him settle in and he will surprise you.
The entire division was projected to be as few as 4 games separating first from last, and that was before Cole got hurt.
I’m not sure that giving regular playing time to a non-roster rookie and hoping to be surprised should be part of the plan.
Maybe the Yankees should have called Cole’s bluff and allowed him to opt out last year and not given him the extra year to void it? I’m guessing they didn’t get medical reports before doing so, like they would with a new signing?
This is from 11/24 right after he gave up his opt out:
Cashman said Cole didn’t needed any medical procedures and New York hopes he is healthy.
“But how many pitchers are, right?” Cashman said. “I’ll go through the free agent meetings and I’ll go through all the players in the marketplace that are over a certain age and they’re all going to have their warts and some pitch with them and some can’t pitch with them. But he’s obviously made us feel really good about how he came back.”
Cashman is a toad.
How can he keep his job any longer ? He’s so bad at GMing the Yankees, you can’t even hate them anymore smh….
Yeah the other available pitchers may have warts but not at $36m a year.
New York hopes he is healthy.
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I could be misinterpreting this, but it sounds like he took Cole’s word for it. With $144M on the line, would it be out of line to ask for medical clearance before allowing him to opt back in?
Dr Boras would have been offended.
If he would have lead then to a WS winner and a cy young or two, then I wouldn’t have minded them giving him an extra year/ cash.
As it’s been, no way I would have done it. He’s already one the highest paid pitcher of all time and he wanted more as he hits his decline ? No thanks
Probably was the Yankees so desperate for pitching and cashman has no poker face.
I think they would be better off now and in the future w Burnes and Fried then Fried and a decline Cole ( even if healthy )
To Mr Showtime, and Bill,
They did NOT give him the extra year. Cashman said NO and then Cole decided he wanted to keep the old contract, as is.
Yasmani could be solid short term replacement for mets
Just not mccann again pls lord
I want nothing to do with Grandal. I’d rather start the season with Torres/Reetz, Senger at the ready.
Agree, bring back Nido, great defensive catcher and knows organization at a very low cost.
100%. Jamie Moyer won 16 games at age 45. His max velocity had to be like 83mph.
NY could also grab a cheap veteran in camp with another team. Royals have Luke Maile, but I’m sure there are others.