Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Crawford visiting Meister:
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford has been struggling with soreness in his shoulder lately, and yesterday the Mariners revealed (as relayed by Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times) that he was set to visit with Dr. Keith Meister “to make sure [they’re] on the right track.” Any visit with a surgeon is going to be cause for concern among fans, but Mariners brass seemed to downplay the severity of the situation and added they expected to have an update on Crawford today. The shortstop is headed into the final year of his extension with Seattle and rebounded from a tough 2024 last year to hit a respectable .265/.352/.370 while playing 157 games at shortstop. If Crawford was to begin the season on the injured list, it would be an immediate test of the Mariners’ infield depth. Top prospect Colt Emerson is approaching the big leagues, but Leo Rivas and Ryan Bliss are already on the 40-man roster, whereas Emerson would need to have his contract selected. For a short-term absence, plugging Rivas in at shortstop seems likelier.
2. Cole returns to the mound:
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is poised to make his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery when the Red Sox visit Steinbrenner Field later today. The game is scheduled for 1:05pm local time in Florida and will pit Cole against Red Sox youngster Connelly Early, who made a big first impression in the majors last year with a 2.33 ERA in four starts. Cole is obviously one of the most talented pitchers in baseball when healthy and won a Cy Young Award back in 2023. However, he’s made just 17 starts since then due to elbow issues. Now headed into his age-35 season, it’s fair to wonder exactly what the longtime ace will look like once he returns to the mound.
3. Alberto waiver resolution:
The White Sox put Rule 5 pick Alexander Alberto on waivers this week, and that process should be resolved today. The Sox will have to offer him back to the Rays if he goes unclaimed, but any other team could pluck Alberto from the waiver wire before then if they’re willing to adhere to Rule 5 draft restrictions. The 24-year-old has yet to even throw a pitch in Double-A but impressed last year with a 2.59 ERA in 48 2/3 innings of work. It was understandable for a rebuilding club like the White Sox to roll the dice on him, but if he was unable to make the club’s bullpen out of camp (thanks in large part to a 10.80 ERA in 6 2/3 spring innings), it’s unclear if there will be another team willing to taking a shot on the towering 6’8″ righty.
Hmm. No mention of the WBC results…
Venezuela Red Sox beat USA Red Sox 3-2.
Makes you wonder what Abreu and Anthony will talk about for the next month.
Probably talk about how Judge is not clutch in big moments. He is the MLB version of Connor McDavid. Mr. Regular Season.
Oilers fan here. (Insert middle finger emoji)
Sabe – Could have been worse, imagine if Whitlock gave up the gamewinning hit to Abreu.
Or Whitlock and Bregman and Schwarber and ERod. Was there a rule that there had to be a Red Sock, current or former, on the telly at all times? Rico Petrocelli, Don Zimmer, Tom Brunansky, Cal Schiraldi and the Bambino also competed
Judge is no less clutch than anyone else. WBC and playoff stats and performance consist of small samples and a lot of randomness and luck.
Hank – Early was sensational today, 5 innings 1 hit 2 walks 0 runs and that’s against most of the Yankees regulars.
They are crazy to send him down to AAA, but that’s probably what will happen.
It’s jinxed
The Sox didnt like what they saw in Alberto, or they didnt like the numbers in 6.2 innings this spring? They knew he was rough around the edges.
I had said all off season that he would need at least until July to get in a rhythm, and had thought that the White Sox, being in a rebuild, were prepared to go through some of those growing pains with Alberto on the big league roster. I had thought that aspect of drafting Alberto out of A ball made sense and that it could prove to be a big coup.
The Sox rotation isnt spectacular by any means. Alberto could have worked in a low pressure, clean up role this season and he might have hit his stride with some innings under his belt.
Releasing Alberto makes the Sox look foolish for drafting him in the first place. It is now a careless pick with little savvy and less patience with a pitcher who still has significant upside. Im not saying he is Eury Perez but he has the same length. He has a similar delivery. He could have pitched in the bullpen and potentially developed into a pitcher with top of the rotation stuff.
Thats what the Sox thought too but Murakami Fever took hold and the Sox waived Alberto for Nick Sandlin and Jordan Hicks, a trade that cost them 16M over the next two seasons. Hicks didnt fair much better this spring.
The Hicks trade seemed more about grabbing Sandlin and taking a chance on a guy who had been at one time an effective pitcher. And as you’re implying, small sample size for the spring…
I haven’t seen Alberto pitch, haven’t seen any White Sox ST games but I seriously doubt it’s as simple as he had bad stats in a small sample size. ST is as much about how the manager and coaches think players will fit in and develop as much as it is current ability. If he goes back to the Rays and ends up a solid player feel free to shout ‘told you so’ but the alternate argument of giving him a few months in the majors to work it out is he’s taking a spot of someone else who might get greater benefit from the shot (Again, I don’t know enough about the White Sox to say who gets that spot on the roster than Alberto isn’t getting, I’m just pointing out the logic).
Rule 5 in general is a complete lottery and generally speaking even the ones that work out best rarely become anything truly great. It’s a cheap gamble. There’s usually a reason why teams don’t protect these guys. The pick wan’t foolish, it was a standard shot in the dark.
Im not the “I told you so” sort, my angle is the strategy with the rule5 pick in December. If you didnt have plans to commit to the player in December, why pick him? For a tryout? You want to bring him in and work with him for a month or two?
You watched his tape, you knew what he needed to work on. The advantage of the pick is in taking an older prospect who has potential and making him your own. He gets options in ’27, with some patience, you have four seasons to work with him. In a rebuild, that should have been the goal and the mindset from the day you asked had him change clubs.
Yku bring him in for a tdykut withkut thay sort of committment, you let the player dictate his future. If decides he wants to go back to Tampa because he’s homesick, he starts going 80% and gets released. If you tell him from day one that ykur being rostered for the full season, he knows his future is in Chicago and buys in.
Rule5 is an untapped gem and a golden opportunity for every team. There are many good players, esoecislly to a rebuilding team, that are worth rostering for a full season, even if they dont play up to replacement level.
*excuse the typos, have a few lines ringing and couldn’t get to the edits.
I’m happy enough if I write the correct word I’m thinking of, no need to apologize for spelling and grammar.
I’m going to again bring up the question, whose spot would Alberto be taking? Another young arm who might have a better chance to develop? An older mediocre player who might have value more as role model for some of the younger developing pitchers?
In my opinion rule 5 is always just about a tryout. It’s at worst a 50k investment to see if someone will work out (100k minus the 50k in sell back). Maybe one of your coaches sees something and says well maybe we try this and he’ll be better. Your own people get to evaluate him in a way that tapes, stats, and scouts can’t.
I posted my thoughts on this is another thread, “White Sox Finalize Opening Day Rotation”
The Sox hit TWO R5 picks last season, which will never happen again anytime soon.
It is absolutely ridiculous to me that teams are making decisions based on sample sizes of 6 IP, or let’s say 23 ABs. Spring stats mean nothing. Now, you can determine a lot from a guy’s approach, mechanics, and whatnot. But not from spring stats! Look, almost anything can happen for a short period of time. But luck runs out. Hitters start facing real pitchers, not 4A guys who will never sniff MLB or vets working on stuff. Yet teams do this and that’s why each year we see guys make teams based on unsustainable spring results and then they inevitably fall back to earth after the season starts.
It’s not only based on spring stats, it’s the latter as you’ve noted. The team had an entire spring to evaluate Alberto and he has had command issues even at A+. The Rule 5 draft is a lottery pick and they mostly don’t work out anyway. The White Sox have other players they want to keep on their 40-man so it’s not a big deal.
Yeah hes just a lottery ticket and there are just so many in a camp, any camp! Factor that time x30. Highly unlikely another team values him over their other 26 to ride and die for a season. So it likely comes down to a binary decision w Tampa and maybe they make a small deal. Besides they still have Paez.
I wouldn’t be too harsh on the Sox ABS 27, think when it comes to Rule 5 management, this current front office seems to know what its doing. It’s rare for any pickup to make it all season long and the Sox had 2 last year and an all star to boot in Shane Smith!
Wow I’m surprised the Astros haven’t gotten a pitcher injury. Apart from Pena’s finger fracture (in the WBC), there hasn’t been a spring training injury yet. And hope Crawford gets well.
Bad/ Sad news…. Says Brais is gonna have a hard time “cracking” opening day roster because his fastball is down… So this is what it feels like when your idol is,dear I say washed up…Gonna be hard to watch MLB games with the thought of never seeing his crooked neck again…Time to light a few votive candles ( and warm the house up)…
Great game last night. Harper’s homer was awesome. Too bad Judge couldn’t perform on the big stage. Congrats to Team Venezuela.
I like the 1,2,3 format and the app looks cleaner. Nice work!