Yankees Reinstate Jazz Chisholm
August 23: The Yankees have now made it official by announcing Chisholm’s reinstatement.
August 22: The Yankees will activate Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the injured list tomorrow, reports Andy Martino of SNY (on X). New York optioned Oswald Peraza back to Triple-A this evening to open an active roster spot.
It’s a remarkably quick turnaround. Chisholm’s season initially looked as if it could be in jeopardy when he damaged the UCL in his left (non-throwing elbow) a couple weeks ago. The Yankees quickly made clear they expected Chisholm back this year, although they didn’t anticipate this level of progress. As recently as last Friday, New York’s big deadline acquisition was reportedly targeting a return at some point in September.
Barring a last-minute change of plans, Chisholm will instead get back on the diamond after a minimal stint. He’ll draw back in at third base, where Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera have split the work over the last week and a half. That could be a significant boost to the New York lineup. Chisholm had been on an absolute tear early in his tenure in the Bronx. He already has seven homers with a .316/.361/.702 slash in 14 games as a Yankee.
Chisholm isn’t the only player who should soon return to the Yankee infield. Anthony Rizzo and Jon Berti are each scheduled to begin rehab assignments in the next few days (per the MLB.com injury tracker). Berti is headed to Double-A Somerset tomorrow; Rizzo is expected to join him there at some point this weekend. Position players can spend up to 20 days on a minor league rehab assignment.
Both Berti and Rizzo are on the 60-day injured list and have been out for multiple months. The former has only played in 17 games since the Yankees acquired him from Miami in a trade around Opening Day. Berti has been out since late May after suffering a significant strain in his left calf. Rizzo broke his right arm in a collision with Red Sox pitcher Brennan Bernardino in mid-June.
The Yankees called up 25-year-old Ben Rice to handle the majority of the first base work after that. Rice has struggled in his first look at MLB pitching, running a .180/.279/.374 slash. The rookie had a three-homer game against Boston last month but only has four longballs in his other 44 contests.
Cubs Release Josh Staumont
The Cubs released reliever Josh Staumont from his minor league contract, tweets Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. It’s not clear if the right-hander triggered an opt-out or if the Cubs simply decided they weren’t going to call him up.
In either case, Staumont returns to the market just two weeks after signing with Chicago. The 30-year-old pitched twice for Chicago’s top affiliate in Iowa. He walked five batters while recording only three outs. Staumont had run a much more impressive 16:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 2/3 frames with the Twins’ top affiliate earlier in the season. He clearly did not have any kind of command in his very small sample in Iowa.
A former second-round pick of the Royals, Staumont pitched parts of five seasons with Kansas City. He posted an above-average 26.2% strikeout rate but walked more than 13% of batters faced through 168 1/3 innings. The Royals non-tendered him last winter. Staumont signed a big league deal with Minnesota that guaranteed him $950K. He made 25 appearances for the Twins, working to a 3.70 ERA over 24 1/3 innings. His walks remained high and his strikeout rate dropped sharply to 17.6%, so Minnesota cut him loose when they brought in Trevor Richards at the trade deadline.
Staumont’s camp can again look for minor league opportunities for the next few weeks. He’d need to sign with a team by September 1 to be eligible for postseason play with his new club, though that’s a secondary consideration to pitching his way back to the majors.
Phillies’ Rodolfo Castro Suffers Season-Ending Thumb Injury
Phillies infielder Rodolfo Castro, who is on optional assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, is out for the season. Matt Gelb of the Athletic reports (on X) that Castro tore a ligament in his right thumb and will miss the rest of the year.
It’s a minor hit to Philadelphia’s infield depth. Castro is on the 40-man roster but hasn’t played for the Phils this season. The 25-year-old has spent most of the year on the minor league injured list. He hasn’t hit well in 23 minor league contests and didn’t make much of an impact in 14 MLB games for the Phils last year.
A switch-hitter with some defensive flexibility, Castro played in 180 games over parts of three seasons with the Pirates. Philadelphia acquired him in a one-for-one swap for left-hander Bailey Falter at the 2023 deadline. Falter has been a decent back-end starter for the Bucs this year, working to a 4.02 ERA across 21 appearances. Even though he wouldn’t have had a path to a rotation spot in Philly, that trade worked out squarely in Pittsburgh’s favor.
The Phils could recall Castro and place him on the major league 60-day injured list if they want to open a 40-man roster spot at some point. It’s also possible they simply release him to clear a 40-man opening. This is Castro’s last minor league option year, so the Phils would need to carry him on next year’s MLB roster or place him on waivers. He’s not a lock to hold his roster spot all offseason even if Philadelphia keeps him for the remainder of the year.
Nick Ahmed Elects Free Agency
Nick Ahmed elected free agency after going unclaimed on outright waivers, per the transaction log at MLB.com. The Dodgers had designated the veteran shortstop for assignment on Monday.
Ahmed signed with the Dodgers a month ago. With Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas out at the time, Los Angeles added Ahmed directly onto the major league roster. The defensive stalwart started 14 games at shortstop. He continued to provide defensive value but didn’t produce much offensively. While Ahmed hit a go-ahead home run to help beat the Giants (his former team) early in his Dodger tenure, he ultimately hit just .229/.245/.292 in 49 trips to the plate.
Between San Francisco and L.A., Ahmed carries a .232/.271/.300 batting line through 221 plate appearances. While he has never been a huge offensive threat, Ahmed has particularly struggled at the dish over the last two seasons. The two-time Gold Glove winner remains a strong defender, but the lack of firepower at the plate has squeezed him off a trio of rosters within the past two seasons. The Dodgers have welcomed Betts and Rojas back in recent weeks. Even with Betts returning to the outfield, they were comfortable enough with their infield depth to waive deadline pickup Amed Rosario after five games.
Ahmed is now free to look for a third team of the ’24 season. If he signs elsewhere before September 1, he’d be eligible for postseason play with another club.
Padres Option Matt Waldron
The Padres optioned starter Matt Waldron to Triple-A El Paso. San Diego recalled reliever Logan Gillaspie to step into the bullpen before tonight’s series opener with the Mets.
Waldron, MLB’s lone knuckleballer, has held a rotation spot all year. He has made 26 starts and is second on the team behind Dylan Cease with 142 2/3 innings. His 4.79 ERA belies decent peripherals. Waldron has a roughly average 21.6% strikeout percentage and has kept his walk rate to a tidy 6.6% clip. Hitters have generally had a tough time making hard contact against him. An abnormally low 67.1% left on base rate is the biggest factor in Waldron allowing nearly five earned runs per nine. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA suggest his peripherals should point to an ERA in the low-4.00s.
Things have gone downhill over Waldron’s last few starts. He carried a 3.71 ERA into the All-Star Break. He has given up exactly eight earned runs per nine innings in 36 frames during the second half. Waldron has surrendered five-plus runs in four of his last five starts. The Twins blitzed him for 12 hits and 10 runs in 4 1/3 innings last night.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets that the assignment is about giving Waldron some rest before the stretch run. While it’s possible that fatigue has played a role in the righty’s recent struggles, Waldron isn’t too far beyond last year’s innings total. He combined for 133 2/3 frames between the majors and Triple-A a season ago. There seems to be something amiss with his recent skid, so the Padres will give him at least a couple weeks away from big league hitters. A pitcher cannot be recalled from an optional assignment for at least 15 days unless he’s replacing another pitcher who is going on the injured list.
San Diego doesn’t have an off day until September 3. They’ve got a handful of rest days built into their September schedule but will need a full rotation for the next two weeks. The Friars have Cease, Michael King, Joe Musgrove and Martín Pérez in their rotation for now. There’s still not much clarity on whether Yu Darvish will be able to return from the family matter to which he’s attending. Randy Vásquez is the top depth arm on the 40-man roster. He has a 4.63 ERA over 17 major league starts this year and has been hit extremely hard (8.78 ERA) in the Pacific Coast League.
The demotion shouldn’t have much impact on Waldron from a service time perspective. He entered the year with 54 days of MLB service and has already topped the necessary 118 days on the active roster to surpass the one-year service mark in 2024.
What Might It Cost To Extend Garrett Crochet?
Despite months of trade speculation, Garrett Crochet was not moved at the deadline. His contract status seemed to be a big reason. A few days before the deadline, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Crochet sought an extension if he was going to pitch in the postseason. Whether he'd simply have refused to play in October if he landed with a contender isn't clear. Crochet didn't have the leverage to force a team to sign him long term.
At the same time, Crochet's stance complicated the White Sox's efforts to find a package they felt worthwhile. GM Chris Getz seemed taken aback by the public revelation of Crochet's extension desire (link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). While Getz maintained that the relationship between the player and team was still strong, he said the manner in which the situation was addressed was "a bit hurtful ... considering I felt like we could have handled it a little bit differently."
The Sox continued to discuss Crochet right up to the July 30 deadline. No deal came together. Only the White Sox know whether that's because of the extension hold-up. In any case, he'll finish out the year in Chicago. Crochet could be the most popular trade candidate of the upcoming offseason. The Sox are very unlikely to be competitive in the next two seasons. Chicago should try to move Crochet this winter.
Maybe they won't need to make progress on an extension to do so. Crochet's desire for a long-term deal was tied to his workload reaching a level which he'd never approached in college or the minor leagues. His camp was worried about his arm health if he pitched into October. That's not happening with the White Sox, who can pull back on his workload in an effort to keep him on the field. They're already doing so. Crochet hasn't thrown more than four innings in a game since the start of July. That's generally not a performance question but a clear goal to avoid stressing his arm. Chicago pulled him yesterday after 57 pitches and four innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts.
Even if an extension isn't an absolute necessity to facilitate a trade, Crochet is presumably still amenable to discussing a long-term contract. That's unlikely to come with the White Sox, who are at the nadir of a rebuild and have never guaranteed a player more than $75MM (the ill-fated Andrew Benintendi deal). If a contender wanted to extend Crochet -- either as a condition of a trade or simply after acquiring him -- what kind of price could it take?
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Joey Votto Announces Retirement
Joey Votto has stepped away from baseball. The star first baseman, who had been on a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, announced his retirement on Instagram on Wednesday evening. He didn’t get to the majors with his hometown team but played an illustrious 17-year career with the Reds.
Votto provided a lengthy statement alongside a brief video of him departing Sahlen Field, home of the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. Votto thanked his family, various former teammates and coaches, and the fans. He expressed some regret that he wasn’t able to make it to the big leagues with the Jays, adding that he’s “just not good anymore” before thanking the Canadian fanbase for their support and expressing his love for Cincinnati. “I was myself in this sport. I was able to be my best self. I played this sport with every last ounce of my body, heart, and mind. Thank you for everything,” he concluded.
The Reds drafted Votto out of a Toronto prep school in 2002. He’d emerged as one of Baseball America’s top 50 prospects by the time he hit his way to Triple-A five years later. Votto debuted as a September call-up in ’07. He hit the ground running in 24 games and would break through as their everyday first baseman the following year.
Votto hit .297/.368/.506 with 24 homers and 32 doubles in his first full season. He finished runner-up to Cubs catcher Geovany Soto in Rookie of the Year balloting. Votto emerged as an elite hitter by year two, hitting .322/.414/.567 with 25 longballs and 38 doubles. He finished in the top 10 among qualifiers in all three slash stats.
That kicked off a nearly decade-long run during which Votto was among the game’s best players. He had arguably his best season in 2010. Votto led the majors with a .424 on-base percentage and topped the National League with an even .600 slugging mark. He hit .324 with 37 homers and a career-best 113 runs batted in. It was a dominating performance by counting and rate stats alike that nabbed him a rather convincing win over Albert Pujols and Carlos González in NL MVP balloting. Votto was the best player on a Cincinnati team that won 91 games and an NL Central title.
It was the first of four straight seasons in which the lefty hitter topped the NL in on-base percentage. He led the league in walks every year from 2011-13. His extraordinarily patient approach occasionally made him a target of criticism among some fans who preferred he were more aggressive, but Votto also filled a prototypical run producer role. He ranked 20th in RBI and 21st in homers among MLB hitters between 2010-13. Among hitters with 1500+ plate appearances, only Miguel Cabrera and Joe Mauer hit for a better average. Votto led the majors in OBP and ranked seventh in slugging. Votto made the All-Star Game in all four seasons and thrice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. Cincinnati made the playoffs in three of those years, although they never advanced past the Division Series.
Midway through that run, the Reds committed to Votto as the face of their franchise. They signed him to a 10-year, $225MM extension early in the 2012 season. It remains the biggest investment in the organization’s history. While the team didn’t have a ton of success over the decade, that’s not any fault of their first baseman. He remained an impact hitter until the tail end of the contract.
A quad injury wiped out the bulk of Votto’s 2014 campaign. He returned at full strength the following year, hitting .314/.459/.541 to snag a third-place MVP finish. He would lead the NL in on-base percentage in each of the three seasons after that, earning two more top 10 MVP placements in the process. Between 2015-18, he hit .312/.442/.525 with 106 homers while walking more often than he struck out.
The 2018 season was the final of Votto’s six All-Star campaigns. His production tailed off between 2019-20 and it seemed he’d firmly entered the decline phase of his career. While that was the case to some extent, Votto had one more excellent year ahead of him. He rebounded with a surprising 36-homer outburst (tied for the second-most he hit in any season) with a .266/.375/.563 slash in 2021. That proved to be his last strong season, as he stumbled to replacement level numbers while battling shoulder issues between 2022-23.
Votto earned a well-deserved salute from Cincinnati fans in his final game at Great American Ball Park last September. The guaranteed portion of his contract wrapped up and the Reds made the obvious call to buy him out in lieu of a costly club option for 2024. Votto signed the minor league deal with the Jays during the only free agent trip of his career. He suffered an ankle injury in his first Spring Training game, keeping him on the IL well into July. Votto returned to action midway through the month but hit .143 in 15 Triple-A contests before deciding it was time to move on.
While that keeps him from ever appearing in a Jays uniform at Rogers Centre, it allows him to retire having spent his entire MLB career with one team. He’s one of the best players in Reds’ history and is among the most productive first basemen in league history. Votto will surely garner serious Hall of Fame consideration when his name appears on the ballot in five years.
By Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric (designed to provide a comparison point for players against Hall of Famers), Votto ranks 12th among first basemen. The 11 players above him are either in the Hall of Fame or, in the cases of Pujols and Cabrera, locks for induction when first eligible. The player just behind Votto, Rafael Palmeiro, is not in the Hall, largely because of his ties to performance-enhancing drugs. The following three players — Willie McCovey, Todd Helton and Eddie Murray — were all inducted.
Votto didn’t provide quite the level of power associated with a Hall of Fame first baseman. He steps away with 356 homers (29th at the position) and 1144 runs batted in (49th). Those are no small accomplishments for the vast majority of players, of course, but Votto’s overall excellence was driven primarily by his on-base ability. He finishes his career with a .294 average and a huge .409 on-base percentage. He led the NL in the latter category on seven occasions.
While Votto surprisingly never won a Silver Slugger award — overlapping in the NL with Pujols and Paul Goldschmidt during his prime played a role — he had six top 10 MVP finishes. He earned a Gold Glove in 2011 and the aforementioned MVP honors the year prior. Baseball Reference valued Votto’s career around 64 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs credited him with 59 WAR. That’s right at the threshold at which position players tend to receive legitimate Hall of Fame consideration.
Votto would certainly have offers to stay involved in the game if he wishes to do so. He complemented his litany of on-field accomplishments with a cerebral approach to hitting and a sarcastic wit that’d no doubt provide coaching or media opportunities if he wanted to take them. Votto didn’t tip his hand in his retirement announcement about any plans for the future. We at MLBTR congratulate him on a fantastic career and wish him the best in his post-playing days.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Braves Notes: Minter, Holmes, Gurriel
Braves reliever A.J. Minter underwent season-ending hip surgery today, the team announced. Manager Brian Snitker said last week that Minter was going under the knife, though he didn’t specify whether it’d be a season-ending procedure. That seemed to be the case when Atlanta moved Minter to the 60-day injured list in tandem with the Gio Urshela signing. Today’s announcement officially closes the book on any chance of the southpaw making a return in the playoffs.
Minter’s year concludes with a 2.62 ERA across 34 1/3 innings. He fanned an above-average 26.1% of opponents against an 8.2% walk rate. That’s a solid strikeout and walk profile but a tick below the numbers he’d posted from 2022-23. Minter fanned more than 30% of his opponents in each of the previous two years, topping 60 innings in both seasons.
Hip discomfort has plagued Minter for a few months. He initially went on the IL in late May with inflammation. His return from that injury proved relatively short-lived and necessitated the year-ending surgery. It’s possible that marks the end of his Atlanta tenure. The former second-round pick will hit free agency during the upcoming offseason. He still has a shot at a multi-year deal, though that’s not the lock it had seemed earlier in the season.
Dylan Lee stepped into the bullpen in Minter’s place. He’s joined in the relief group by Grant Holmes, who moved back to the bullpen this week. Snitker announced before Tuesday’s game that the Braves were kicking Holmes to relief after they reinstated Reynaldo López from the injured list (X link via David O’Brien of the Athletic). The 28-year-old rookie had made four starts between late July and the middle of this month. He pitched fairly well, working to a 4.57 ERA with an impressive 28% strikeout rate in 21 2/3 innings.
There’s not any room for Holmes to maintain a spot in the rotation unless the Braves wanted to go to a six-man staff. Chris Sale, Max Fried, López, Spencer Schwellenbach and Charlie Morton all have spots secured. Holmes exhausted his minor league options while he was a prospect in the Oakland farm system. The Braves can’t send him to Triple-A without running him through waivers. Holmes has pitched well enough this season that he’d very likely be claimed, so the Braves will keep him in a multi-inning relief capacity. Holmes tossed two scoreless innings against Philadelphia on Tuesday and is up to a 3.45 ERA through 47 frames on the season.
That doesn’t leave much flexibility for any kind of roster maneuvering. Of Atlanta’s eight MLB relievers, only Lee still has options remaining. Schwellenbach is their only starter who can freely be sent down, although he’s pitching so well that the team has no reason to consider doing that. The 13-pitcher limit could eventually push the Braves to make a call on whether to continue carrying both Luke Jackson and Jesse Chavez in the middle innings.
Injuries have been an unfortunate theme for Atlanta throughout the season. That continued this week with Austin Riley suffering a hand fracture that’ll sideline him for well over a month. Urshela is the short-term answer at third base, though the Braves seem to be considering a contingency option in the minors. As Francys Romero reported (on X) earlier this week, Atlanta is giving Yuli Gurriel third base playing time at Triple-A Gwinnett. He had played exclusively first or second base for the Stripers until Riley’s injury; he has started the past two games at the hot corner.
Gurriel signed a minor league deal with Atlanta in April. He’s having a very strong season with Gwinnett, hitting .297/.378/.493 with 12 homers and a strong strikeout and walk profile. That has yet to get him back to the majors after well below-average seasons with the Astros and Marlins in 2022-23. The 40-year-old infielder hasn’t started an MLB game at third base since 2019, instead spending almost all of his time at first base in recent years.
Alex Bregman Discusses Elbow Soreness
Alex Bregman returned to the Astros’ lineup this afternoon, hitting atop the order while playing designated hitter. Bregman’s leadoff homer accounted for the only run in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox. That was his first at-bat in a week, as the two-time All-Star hadn’t played since last Wednesday because of inflammation in his right elbow.
Bregman’s return to the order doesn’t mean he’s at full strength. Breaking him back in at DH suggested the Astros were still concerned about him throwing the ball across the diamond. Bregman acknowledged that could be a problem for the foreseeable future. The third baseman told reporters after the game that his defensive work will be “a fluid situation” for the remainder of the season (link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). Bregman made clear that he wasn’t dealing with any structural damage in his UCL but noted he’d need to “try to mitigate” swelling on a daily basis.
That is far from a declaration that he won’t return to third base, yet it seems likely he’ll get a fair amount of run at designated hitter down the stretch. That could push Yordan Alvarez more frequently into left field. Houston has also given catchers Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini sporadic DH work as a means of keeping them fresh while getting both players into the lineup. Caratini, as the #2 option behind the plate, could lose a few reps. Diaz has started two of the past three games at first base, where the Astros had been using a Jon Singleton/Zach Dezenzo platoon. That’s another potential avenue for manager Joe Espada to keep both catchers in the lineup.
The bigger question is how the Astros would cover third base if Bregman’s playing time there is curtailed. Rookie Shay Whitcomb is evidently the first choice. Houston called him up on Thursday and has given him the past five starts at the hot corner. Whitcomb has had a great year in Triple-A, hitting .293/.378/.530 with 25 homers and 26 stolen bases. He’d struggled with strikeouts throughout his minor league career before taking a significant step forward in that regard this season.
At this point, there’s no indication that Bregman is dealing with anything especially worrisome. It’s nevertheless a situation worth monitoring as the Astros work to lock down another division title and into the upcoming offseason. Bregman will be a free agent for the first time and has a case as the second-best position player in the class behind Juan Soto.
As MLBTR explored in greater detail last week, Bregman has rebounded from a dismal start to the season. He has hit the ball harder as the year has progressed and has been on a power barrage this month. While his overall .261/.318/.450 season line is still below his standard level, that’s attributable to the poor start. Bregman is playing as well as ever over the past couple months.
Dodgers Outright Brent Honeywell
August 21: Honeywell has accepted his outright, per OKC broadcaster Alex Freeman on X.
August 20: Dodgers righty Brent Honeywell went unclaimed on waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Honeywell has a previous career outright, so he can decline the assignment in favor of minor league free agency.
A top prospect when he was a member of the Rays’ system, Honeywell battled various injuries before getting a real look at the MLB level. He finally got that opportunity last season, combining for 52 1/3 relief innings between the Padres and White Sox. Honeywell posted serviceable middle relief numbers in San Diego before being hit hard with the Sox. That cost him his roster spot in Chicago and left him to sign a minor league deal with the Pirates over the winter.
The 29-year-old spent the first half of the year with Pittsburgh’s Triple-A team. He turned in a 4.85 ERA with a modest 19.6% strikeout percentage across 39 innings. While it wasn’t the most dominant showing, the Bucs called him up in July. He made two appearances before Pittsburgh designated him for assignment and lost him on waivers to Los Angeles. The Dodgers gave Honeywell 10 outings in low-leverage spots. He posted a 2.21 ERA through 20 1/3 frames. That’s despite a well below-average 15.2% strikeout rate and 6.5% swinging strike percentage. The Dodgers squeezed him off the roster over the weekend when they promoted Ben Casparius.
Honeywell carries 4.26 ERA across 80 1/3 innings over parts of three big league campaigns. If he reports to OKC, he’d be eligible for minor league free agency at the start of the offseason unless the Dodgers call him back up.