Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mariners Place Robbie Ray On 15-Day Injured List

By | at

5:44PM: Ray suffered a Grade 1 strain, Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer).  The team’s plan is to shut Ray down for two weeks and then re-evaluate after that period of daily treatment.  Ray told media that he began to develop some flexor pain during the second inning of yesterday’s game.

3:24PM: Left-hander Robbie Ray has been placed on the Mariners’ 15-day injured list due to a left flexor strain.  Southpaw Gabe Speier was called up from Triple-A to take Ray’s spot on the active roster.

Ray made his season debut last night and only lasted 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks.  Even with Ray’s history of control issues, the five walks is probably the biggest indicator that something wasn’t quite right with Ray, and he threw 91 pitches over his 3 1/3 frames of work.  The Mariners have yet to publicly comment on the severity of Ray’s injury or a possible return timeline, but it would certainly seem like he’ll miss more than the minimum 15 days just out of pure caution in dealing with injuries in the forearm or elbow area.

After Ray won the AL Cy Young Award as a member of the Blue Jays in 2021, Seattle inked him to a five-year, $115MM free agent contract in the following offseason.  Ray’s first season as a Mariner wasn’t up to the level of his 2021 performance but it was still solid, as the southpaw posted a 3.71 ERA, 27.4% strikeout rate, and a slightly below-average 8% walk rate.  Ray continued to allow a lot of hard contact, but that has been the norm throughout his MLB career.

Just three days into the 2023 season, the Mariners have already had to deal a notable rotation injury, after getting through 2022 with a remarkable run of health from its starters.  While the M’s have four off-days between today and April 25, the construction of their schedule means they will need a fifth starter in Ray’s absence, though Seattle has a very qualified replacement in Chris Flexen.  Trade rumors swirled around Flexen (and Marco Gonzales) for much of the offseason, though the Mariners’ decision to hang onto their starting depth is now looking wise in hindsight, especially if Ray is facing any kind of extended absence.

Speier is now set to make his first appearance in a Seattle uniform, after being claimed off waivers from the Royals last November.  Speier is also the only left-handed pitcher in a bullpen stacked with right-handed relievers, so Speier’s inclusion will add some balance to the relief mix.  A veteran of four MLB seasons, Speier has a 3.83 ERA over 40 career innings with the Royals, appearing in rather sporadic fashion for Kansas City since making his debut in the Show in 2019.

MLB Investigating Incident Between Fan, Anthony Rendon

By | at

April 1: Rendon, Angels’ manager Phil Nevin and GM Perry Minasian all told reporters that they couldn’t comment on the matter due to MLB’s investigation. Rendon is in the Angels’ lineup batting fourth and playing third base.

March 31: Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was involved in an argument with an A’s fan during the clubs’ Opening Day contest yesterday (video provided by Jared Carrabis of DraftKings). Rendon first accused the fan of calling him a “b****” as part of a brief exchange, in which he was holding the fan’s shirt through the guardrail. The All-Star then called the fan “a motherf*****” and quickly swiped towards the fan’s head with his left hand.

On the swipe, Rendon didn’t appear to make contact with the spectator, who pulled away. At that point, Rendon walked down the dugout. There’s no indication the situation continued beyond that, nor does the video cover any of the preceding chatter that led Rendon to confront the fan.

It’s unclear if anything will come of the situation. However, it seems there’s at least some chance Rendon could face discipline. Major League Baseball told Sam Blum of the Athletic it is “aware of the video and … now looking into the matter” (Twitter link). MLB hasn’t provided any further word, nor have the Angels commented.

The Oakland Police Department is also monitoring the situation, a police spokesperson tells Blum (via Twitter). OPD “is investigating a battery that occurred on March 30, 2023, following an event in the 7000 block of Joe Morgan Way (the address of RingCentral Coliseum). At this time, no victim has contacted OPD; however, surveillance video of the incident has surfaced. As a result, OPD created an incident, made a report, and is actively investigating.”

The Halos are off today. Rendon is expected to address the situation tomorrow when the club meets with the media.

Braves To Place Max Fried On Injured List

By | at

Braves’ manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including David O’Brien of The Athletic) that ace Max Fried will go on the injured list as he manages a hamstring problem. Fried exited his Opening Day start after just 43 pitches. It seems the team is in no hurry to make the move official though, and may wait until Fried’s next spot (Wednesday against the Cardinals) to finalize the move. Any IL stint would of course be backdated to his last appearance.

While the news that Fried is IL-bound is never positive, there’s still nothing to suggest his injury is any more or less concerning than when Snitker initially indicated he’d probably head to the IL after his start. Snitker indicated at the time that Fried may only miss one start, so unless anything changes there seems to be a good chance that Fried only misses the mandatory 15 days.

A short trip to the IL is undoubtedly positive news for Atlanta, but it’s always a tough blow to lose the ace of the staff early in the season. Fried has been exceptional in the past few years, working to a 2.69 ERA across 407 innings between 2020-22. The best of those years came last season when he finished second in NL Cy Young voting to Miami’s Sandy Alcantara on the back of 185 1/3 innings of 2.48 ERA ball, which included an elite 4.4% walk rate.

It’s unclear yet who the Braves will turn to in Fried’s place on Wednesday, and their rotation picture has been muddied a little by the spring injuries to Kyle Wright and Mike Soroka. Wright is on the IL while Soroka is at Triple-A building back up after only getting one start late in spring training. Wright can’t return until April 11, and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports that Ian Anderson and Bryce Elder are options to take Fried’s spot.

Giants Select Bryce Johnson, Option Brett Wisely

By | at

The Giants announced a series of roster moves today, selecting outfielder Bryce Johnson to the active roster and optioning Brett Wisely to Triple-A. The team transferred Luke Jackson to the 60-day IL to make room for Johnson on the 40-man roster.

Johnson, a sixth round pick back in 2017, appeared in a handful of games for the Giants last year, tallying 19 plate appearances and picking up two hits. He was outrighted off the roster but remained with the organization into 2023. At Triple-A, Johnson put together a solid .290/.369/.401 slashline across 352 plate appearances, adding in five home runs and 31 stolen bases. He’ll provide some speed off the bench for the Giants.

Wisely was acquired from the Rays in a trade this winter for Tristan Peters. A 15th round pick by the Rays in 2019, Wisely’s bounced around the diamond a fair bit, earning reps in the infield and outfield. He slashed an impressive .274/.371/.460 with 15 home runs at Double-A last year but was traded just prior to the Rule 5 draft, as the Rays would’ve needed to add him to their 40-man roster or risk losing him in the draft had they not found a trade partner. Wisely did get in to the Giants opener for his first taste of big league action, playing two innings of center field, but the Giants evidently decided to send him back to the minors to continue his development.

Jackson underwent Tommy John surgery in April last year, so is still rehabbing from that. The Giants signed him to a two-year deal knowing he’d likely miss the first few months of the season, so this decision to shift him to the 60-day IL is not overly surprising. It does mean the earliest he’ll return is May 31. Jackson had a breakout year in 2021, working to a 1.98 ERA over 63 2/3 innings of relief for Atlanta.

Giants Sign Gary Sanchez To Minor League Deal

By | at

April 1: The Giants have announced the signing.

March 31: The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent catcher Gary Sanchez, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Sanchez will make a salary of $4MM if he cracks the major league team, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal is pending a physical. Sanchez, a client of the MDR Sports Management, can opt out of his contract if he’s not in the big leagues by May 1. For now, he’ll head to the team’s spring facility to get some extra work in extended spring training.

Sanchez, 30, spent the 2022 season with the Twins after being traded to Minnesota alongside Gio Urshela in the deal that sent Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt to the Bronx. It was the first season Sanchez had ever spent with another organization, and while his oft-panned defensive ratings improved considerably with the Twins, his bat was nowhere near its peak levels.

In 471 plate appearances with Minnesota, Sanchez slashed .205/.282/.377 with 16 home runs and 24 doubles. His strikeout rate, while down from its peak level, was still a bloated 28.9%. Sanchez’s production against lefties, or lack thereof, was particularly problematic. In 126 plate appearances, he slashed just .165/.270/.284.

Sanchez’s peak seasons in 2016-17 and 2019 feel like a distant memory. Even with a lost 2018 season sandwiched in the middle of those three standout years, he batted a combined .247/.329/.518 over that stretch, averaging 26 homers per season (and 46 homers per 162 games played). In the three years since, he’s turned in a combined .195/.287/.394 batting line.

As previously noted, Sanchez’s glovework did appear to be on the upswing in Minnesota. Twins brass was regularly complementary of the work that he put in, and Defensive Runs Saved went from dinging him at a -10 clip in 2021 to crediting him at +1 in 2022. Sanchez also posted positive pitch-framing grades per both FanGraphs and Statcast, and his 28% caught-stealing rate was a few ticks higher than the league-average 25%. On the whole, it was arguably the best defensive showing of his career.

For the Giants, adding further depth behind the plate is sensible, given the general struggles of former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart and the lack of clear alternatives behind him. Veteran Roberto Perez opens the season as the other backstop on the big league roster, along with Rule 5 catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol. San Francisco also has veteran Austin Wynns in Triple-A. Sanchez figures to eventually join him.

Bart, now 26 years old, was hailed as one of the sport’s top prospects from the moment he was drafted in 2018, but in parts of three MLB seasons he’s batted .222/.294/.351 with a sky-high 38% strikeout rate. He’s been vastly better in relatively limited Triple-A action, batting .293/.358/.464 in 310 plate appearances, but he’s yet to carry any of that production over to the big leagues.

The 2023 season will be a crucial one for Bart, who’s entering his final minor league option season. The extent to which he’s able to develop will have major long-term ramifications for the organization as a whole. Sanchez gives them another short-term alternative and a possible replacement in the event of an injury, but it’s unlikely he’ll supplant Bart behind the dish anytime soon, as the Giants likely feel they need to give Bart as much opportunity as possible before determining whether a long-term switch is merited.

Padres Sign Jake Cronenworth To Seven-Year Extension

By | at

April 1: The Padres have now announced the deal. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that it’ll be an $80MM pact over the seven year term. As previously reported, the deal doesn’t start until 2024 though so it won’t affect the Padres’ luxury tax calculation this year. Dennis Lin of The Athletic adds that it includes a limited, eight-team no trade clause.

March 31: The Padres have reached an agreement with infielder Jake Cronenworth on a seven-year extension, reports Dennis Lin of The Athletic.  According to Lin, the contract starts with the 2024 season.  Lin notes that Cronenworth “has already passed his physical and the deal is expected to be announced on Saturday.”  Cronenworth is represented by CAA Sports.

Cronenworth, 29, has proven capable of playing second base, first base, and shortstop in his big league career thus far.  Though Cronenworth has by far played second base the most since coming up in 2020, the Padres’ signing of shortstop Xander Bogaerts in December pushes him to first base for 2023.  Cronenworth’s new contract runs through 2030, adding further long-term stability to an infield that already has Bogaerts and third baseman Manny Machado signed through 2033.  About a month ago, the Padres signed Machado to an extension, as the superstar was otherwise expected to deploy his opt-out clause after ’23.

Cronenworth was drafted by the Rays in the seventh round in 2015 out of the University of Michigan, where he pitched and played infield.  In December of 2019, the Rays traded Cronenworth and Tommy Pham to the Padres for Hunter Renfroe, Xavier Edwards, and Esteban Quiroz.  After he won the International League batting crown in ’19, Baseball America rated the two-way Cronenworth as a 45-grade prospect.  At the time they wrote, “Cronenworth is a heady player who gets the most out of his average tools.”

The Padres asked Cronenworth to hit pause on the pitching idea in 2020, and he made their Opening Day roster in July of that pandemic-shortened season.  The left-handed-hitting Cronenworth ended up getting the bulk of the Padres’ innings at second base as a rookie that year, at a time when Eric Hosmer was their first baseman and Fernando Tatis Jr. their shortstop.  Cronenworth and Alec Bohm tied for second in the 2020 NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Devin Williams.

The Padres signed Ha-Seong Kim in December of 2020, and talked at the time about getting Cronenworth some reps in the outfield.  That didn’t come to pass, but Cronenworth did spend time in ’21 filling in for Tatis at shortstop.  He also earned his first All-Star nod, and posted a 116 wRC+ on the season.

Cronenworth settled in at second base for 2022, making another All-Star team though ultimately slipping a bit to a 109 wRC+.  Cronenworth’s solid defense around the infield, above-average hitting, durability, and versatility led to 4.1 WAR in each of the ’21 and ’22 seasons.  With exactly three years of service after ’22, Cronenworth inked a one-year arbitration deal for 2023 worth $4.225MM.

Cronenworth’s new seven-year deal, then, buys out his final two arbitration years plus another five of free agency.  The seven-year term is perhaps the most surprising element, as it will carry Cronenworth through the age of 36.  Back in January, the Mets signed second baseman Jeff McNeil to an extension that also bought out two arbitration years, but that contract bought out two free agent years with an option for a third.  Another point of comparison is the Rockies’ March 2022 extension for Ryan McMahon, which bought out two arbitration years and four free agent seasons.

We’ve yet to see a dollar figure on Cronenworth’s extension, but surely the competitive balance tax played a significant role in the deal.  As you know, a team’s CBT payroll is calculated using the average annual values of multiyear contracts.  Unexpectedly long terms and therefore lower AAVs have been a theme throughout GM A.J. Preller’s offseason.  Robert Suarez got five years, Bogaerts received 11, Yu Darvish had five years added, and Michael Wacha signed what is considered a four-year deal.

Cronenworth’s new extension doesn’t affect the Padres’ 2023 payroll, which at an estimated $276MM currently sits above the third tax tier of $273MM.  Should the team end 2023 above $273MM, their top draft pick in 2024 will be pushed back ten spots – in addition to the tax penalties owed as a third-time payor.

Cronenworth joins Machado, Bogaerts, Darvish, Tatis, Suarez, and Joe Musgrove as Padres signed through at least 2027.  Before accounting for Cronenworth, but including Nick Martinez and the aforementioned six players, the Padres’ 2025 CBT payroll exceeds $137MM.  Kim, the Padres’ current second baseman, is signed through 2024.

A pair of big-name Padres are still on one-year arbitration deals: Juan Soto and Josh Hader.  Regarding Soto, slated for free agency after 2024, Lin writes, “there have been no indications that the Padres have engaged the star outfielder in serious talks about a potentially record-setting extension.”

In a March article for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, MLBTR’s Steve Adams laid out a Hader extension scenario that would reduce this year’s luxury tax hit, writing, “If the Padres want to keep threading the creative contract needle, offering Hader the longest (if not the largest) contract ever signed by a reliever would probably only qualify as the fourth- or fifth-craziest move they’ve made over the past calendar year.”

Yankees Designate Estevan Florial For Assignment

By | at

The Yankees announced they’ve designated outfielder Estevan Florial for assignment to make room for right-hander Colten Brewer to be added to the big league roster.

It seems highly unlikely that Florial, once one of the game’s top prospects, passes through waivers unclaimed, so this is almost certainly the end of his tenure in the Bronx. The Yankees could look to trade him before he’s exposed to waivers, and given he’s still only 25 and has hit well in the minors, it’s likely teams – particularly rebuilding ones – would have interest in taking a flier on the outfielder.

Signed by the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic, Florial rose through the minors as a toolsy outfielder in the Yankees’ system. Last year at Triple-A, Florial slashed .283/.368/.481 with 15 home runs across 461 plate appearances, swiping 39 bags in the process. Unfortunately, those strong numbers in the top level of the minors haven’t translated to the big leagues, and Florial has hit just .185/.302/.278 over 63 plate appearances, striking out in exactly one third of those appearances.

In Florial’s defense, he’s never really been given an extended run in the majors to settle in, and so it’s entirely possible that a rebuilding team with less urgency could afford Florial some regular game time to find his groove.

With an off day immediately following Opening Day, the Yankees had obviously felt comfortable running a pitcher short and carrying three outfielders – Florial, Aaron Hicks and Franchy Cordero – on their bench. But with the team back in action today something had to give, and they’ll evidently remove Florial from the roster to make room for Brewer.

Brewer, 30, had been acquired from the Rays in exchange for cash last week, where he’d been in camp on a minor league deal. Brewer tossed 91 innings of relief for the Padres and Red Sox between 2018-21, working to a 5.04 ERA with a 20.3% strikeout rate and a 13.4% walk rate. He spent last season with the Royals on a minor league deal, but after working to a 4.76 ERA at Triple-A he was released in August after failing to crack the big league roster.

Nationals Sign Kevin Plawecki To Minor League Deal

By | at

The Nationals signed veteran catcher Kevin Plawecki to a minor league deal, per Andrew Golden of the Washington Post. Plawecki, 32, spent camp with the Pirates but was released when he failed to make the Opening Day roster.

Plawecki is coming off a 2022 season in which he hit .220/.286/.286 with eight doubles in 186 plate appearances for the Red Sox and Rangers. That a bit south of his career line of .235/.313/.341 amassed over eight big league campaigns. He was generally regarded as a decent defensive-minded backup earlier in his career, but his framing and blocking numbers have declined a bit in recent years and sit more around the league average these days.

The Nats have Keibert Ruiz as their long-term catcher in the big leagues with Riley Adams backing him up. There’s no indication yet that the Nationals are planning to alter that catching duo, but should they look to move Plawecki on to the big league roster he’s known as a strong clubhouse presence and provide a useful veteran presence on a rebuilding Nationals team.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top