Shildt: Merrill Traveling With Padres For Korea Series
Over the past few weeks, it has become increasingly likely that top prospect Jackson Merrill would break camp with the Padres. While the team has yet to make that official, manager Mike Shildt implied this evening the 20-year-old was trending towards a spot on the Opening Day roster.
“Jackson Merrill is going to Korea,” Shildt told reporters, in reference to San Diego’s season-opening series in Seoul against the Dodgers next week (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com). “He’s earned his way on the plane. He’s earned what’s coming after the plane.”
That’s not quite a declaration that the Padres are calling him up. San Diego and Los Angeles are allowed to bring 31 players with them to Seoul, although only 26 will be on the active roster for games. That theoretically leaves open the possibility of Merrill traveling with the team and not being activated for the series. Yet Shildt’s not particularly subtle nod to “what’s coming after” the flight is all but a formal announcement that he will break camp. As Cassavell notes, the Padres would likely have had Merrill continue working in minor league camp this week if they weren’t planning to call him up.
A first-round pick out of a Maryland high school in 2021, Merrill is on track to be San Diego’s Opening Day center fielder. That’s a position he has never played in a minor league game. He made five starts in left field with Double-A San Antonio a year ago. Other than that, his entire professional experience had come on the infield. With San Diego having far more infield depth than outfielders, Merrill spent the offseason working as an outfielder. He has played on the grass in Spring Training and evidently impressed the organization enough defensively.
Merrill has limited experience facing upper level pitching. He has never played in Triple-A and only had 46 games of Double-A experience. Merrill put up a solid .273/.348/.444 line in 211 plate appearances in a pitcher-friendly setting at that level. He has impressed in Spring Training, punctuating a recent hot streak with an opposite-field homer off Zac Gallen this afternoon. Merrill is now up to a .343/.395/.600 slash with three walks and strikeouts apiece in exhibition play.
The Padres entered camp with only three outfielders on the 40-man roster: Fernando Tatis Jr., José Azocar and Jurickson Profar. San Diego would need to select Merrill’s contract but can do so without a corresponding move, as they only have 37 players on the 40-man roster.
Mets Among Teams Showing Interest In J.D. Davis
The Mets are among the teams that have inquired about free agent third baseman J.D. Davis, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). Seven teams have shown interest since Davis was released by the Giants, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, who adds that the veteran infielder should sign in the next few days.
Davis’ late entry to the free agent market offers a low-cost opportunity for teams to bolster their third base depth before Opening Day. The 29 other clubs passed on the chance to assume a $6.9MM arbitration tab via waivers over the weekend. Davis is almost certainly going to sign for one year at a modest base salary, but he should find a major league deal and could get a starting job.
While his time in San Francisco ended on a contentious, unceremonious note, Davis is coming off a career-high workload. He appeared in 144 games and surpassed 500 plate appearances last season for the first time as a big leaguer. He connected on 18 homers and had a roughly league average .248/.325/.413 batting line. That’s well below the .276/.363/.457 slash which he compiled in more than 1200 trips to the plate between 2019-22.
Davis has 20-homer power and draws walks at a strong rate. He strikes out a little more often than the average hitter and has hit just under .250 in three of the last four seasons. He’s not a great defender, but public metrics were divided on his 915 2/3 innings at the hot corner last year. Defensive Runs Saved graded him well below par (-11 runs), while Statcast estimated he was four runs better than average.
Perhaps no team is more familiar with the 30-year-old than the Mets. Davis played in Queens between 2019 and the ’22 trade deadline, when New York swapped him to the Giants as part of a four-player package for Darin Ruf. The Mets haven’t gotten much out of the third base position since that point. Only the A’s had lesser offensive production there last season. Mets third basemen (primarily Brett Baty and the since-traded Eduardo Escobar) combined for a .212/.266/.324 showing.
New York’s only MLB infield acquisitions this winter have been a $2MM flier on utility player Joey Wendle and a waiver claim for Zack Short. They lost Ronny Mauricio, who might have been the starter at third, for the season when he tore his ACL in winter ball. Baty is expected to get the lion’s share of playing time as the Mets evaluate whether the former top prospect should be an everyday player in 2025 and beyond. New York is expected to take a similar look at Mark Vientos as the primary designated hitter, although he’ll also rotate through third base on occasion.
Signing Davis would raise the floor at either third base or DH and reduce the team’s reliance on both Baty and Vientos. The front office doesn’t seem to consider that an absolute must — they’ve proceeded deep into the spring without meaningfully addressing the position — but they’ve kept lines of communication open with veterans who could provide a short-term upgrade. That has been most apparent in their wait on J.D. Martinez, with whom they’re still in contact.
SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that the Mets consider Davis a better fit for the roster than Martinez because of his ability to play defense. He’d also be a lot more affordable. He received a little over $1.1MM in termination pay from the Giants and seems likely to command just a few million dollars at this stage of spring. The Mets are paying a 110% tax on spending, so a hypothetical $3MM salary for Davis would cost them around $6.3MM overall. He has over five years of major league service, so he’d return to the open market next winter assuming he signs a one-year contract.
Zaidi, Hannaford Discuss J.D. Davis Release
J.D. Davis‘ time with the Giants ended in unceremonious fashion when the team placed him on release waivers yesterday. He’ll go unclaimed and become a free agent, at which point his camp will look for other opportunities before Opening Day.
It’s a financially motivated move for the Giants, who bumped Davis from the starting lineup when they signed Matt Chapman. Their incumbent third baseman had previously prevailed in an arbitration hearing and was slated for a $6.9MM salary. Barring a surprising successful grievance on Davis’ behalf, the release means he’ll receive a fraction of that from San Francisco. The collective bargaining agreement provides that arbitration-eligible players released more than 15 days before the start of the season “for failure to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability” are entitled to 30 days termination pay — slightly more than $1.1MM, in Davis’ case.
The most recent CBA introduced a new provision that arb-eligible players who settle without a hearing would be entitled to their full salary in the event they were released before Opening Day. That does not apply to players who go to a hearing — the provision incentivizes players on the fringe of rosters to settle — which makes Davis’ choice to proceed with a hearing consequential in retrospect.
Davis’ agent, Matt Hannaford of ALIGND Sports Management, criticized the team’s process leading up to the exchange of filing figures — implying that the team didn’t leave the player with much choice. “In my 22 years in the business, I’ve never seen a club in arbitration make their one and only offer less than an hour before the exchange deadline that ended up hundreds of thousands of dollars below their filing number,” Hannaford told reporters (link via John Shea and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle).
“The way the Giants negotiated gave J.D. no choice but to go to a hearing, which he did, and which we won. It’s unfortunate the club has handled things the way they have, but I’m confident in the player J.D. is and the value he will bring to his next team. I know he will end up in a better situation when all is said and done.”
The Giants’ official filing figure was $6.55MM. In response to Hannaford’s comments, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic and other reporters the team first offered “just slightly under $6.4MM.” Zaidi indicated the Giants did not consider that the team’s best and final offer and said that Davis’ camp replied that the number for a settlement “has to start with a 7.” Zaidi did not address the timing of the team’s offer but said ALIGND’s response came roughly 10 minutes before the time when teams and players are required to submit filing figures.
“They then filed at 6.9, and several hours after the deadline, called looking to engage in a settlement,” Zaidi said of Davis’ camp. “We said that out of fairness to our other negotiations and to maintain credibility with our policy going forward, we were not in a position to negotiate once the exchange deadline had passed.”
Nothing in the rules precludes teams and players from continuing to negotiate a settlement beyond the filing deadline. However, as a matter of policy, virtually every team declines to discuss one-year arbitration terms after the exchange date. Clubs view this as a way to deter players from anchoring future negotiations by submitting a filing figure that is higher than what they might expect to win at a hearing. (Teams sometimes get around their own “file-and-trial” policies by discussing multi-year deals, but that’s not always the case.)
Whether there was room for further negotiation before the filing exchange date, Zaidi didn’t deny Hannaford’s assertion that the team’s lone official offer was indeed below the rate at which they eventually filed. That makes it easy to understand why Davis declined that proposal.
One can debate whether his camp should have been more motivated to settle based on the possibility that the Giants may look to get out of the contract in Spring Training, but that’s far easier to say with the benefit of hindsight. While San Francisco had clearly viewed Chapman as a target all winter, they didn’t land him until well into Spring Training. The signing of Jorge Soler to a three-year deal to serve as designated hitter, blocking another path to playing time for Davis, also occurred after the filing exchange.
In any case, the chain of events seems likely to cost Davis some money. All 29 other teams passed on the opportunity to take his $6.9MM salary off outright waivers over the weekend. Zaidi said the Giants unsuccessfully looked for a trade partner between signing Chapman and cutting Davis loose. Hannaford tells Shea and Slusser that he’s hopeful that Davis will sign fairly quickly, but it’s not likely that he’ll make up the nearly $5.8MM difference at this stage of the offseason.
It’s possible his camp and the MLB Players Association will consider a grievance in an attempt to recoup some of that money, essentially arguing that Davis hadn’t failed to demonstrate sufficient skill. There’s no recent precedent for a successful grievance of that ilk, however. Davis’ release was not tied to a work-related injury, which would have been the basis for retaining his full salary.
Cases like this are rare, but it’s possible the Davis saga becomes a point of contention in the next round of CBA negotiations. Giants outfielder Austin Slater, a member of the MLBPA executive subcommittee, tells Shea and Slusser that fully guaranteeing arbitration salaries was a goal of the union’s the last time around.
“That was something we fought for, and we got. However, the league wasn’t willing to guarantee it if you went to a hearing. That remained the same. It was technically a win. Obviously, this is a very odd situation. And so there’s maybe more light brought onto it than previous years,” Slater told the Chronicle. “You never want to see something like that happen, but if there was a bright side out of it, it’s that guys are engaged and noticed that’s something that shouldn’t happen from a players’ union standpoint. Obviously, we love to have Chappy here. We’re thinking of J.D. as a person.“
Padres Still Showing Interest In Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall
The Padres have left open the possibility of bringing in veteran outfield help well into Spring Training. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the Friars are still involved in the respective markets for free agents Michael A. Taylor, Adam Duvall and Tommy Pham, among others. The Athletic’s Dennis Lin has also linked the Padres to Pham on a few occasions in recent weeks.
Taylor is the only viable everyday center fielder still on the open market. He remains one of the sport’s top defensive outfielders as he nears his 33rd birthday. By measure of Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average, Taylor rated anywhere between five to seven runs above par in nearly 1000 innings of center field work for the Twins a year ago. DRS has credited him with 65 runs saved at the outfield’s most important spot over his decade in the major leagues.
That’s sufficient to make Taylor a viable bottom-of-the-lineup regular so long as he’s contributing anything offensively. He did enough at the plate in Minnesota, connecting on a personal-high 21 home runs and stealing 13 bases over 388 plate appearances. Taylor has some power, although it comes with a lot of empty at-bats. He punched out more than a third of the time en route to a .220 average and very poor .278 on-base mark. Taylor has gotten on base less than 30% of the time in three of his last four seasons.
The offensive inconsistency has led teams to shy away from his asking price. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote last week that Taylor views himself similarly to fellow glove-first center fielders Kevin Kiermaier and Harrison Bader, each of whom signed for one year and $10.5MM earlier this offseason. While he is coming off a superior platform year to Bader and doesn’t have the same injury history as Kiermiaer, it’s hard to envision Taylor finding that kind of salary a few from Opening Day.
That’s particularly true from a San Diego team that has spent much of the offseason cutting payroll. From a roster perspective, though, the Padres might be the most straightforward fit. José Azocar is a .249/.292/.341 hitter in 153 big league contests. He has rated as a quality defender in his own right, but he might have an even lighter bat than Taylor does.
The Padres will probably want to keep Azocar in a fourth outfield capacity. As things stand, that’d likely mean calling upon Jackson Merrill as their starting center fielder. Merrill, 20, hasn’t played above Double-A. Primarily a shortstop prospect, he has worked in the outfield this spring. The lefty-hitting Merrill is one of the sport’s top minor league talents, but relying on him as a starting center fielder would be a gamble even for a San Diego team that is generally aggressive about promoting its prospects.
Merrill has zero minor league innings at the position. That’s on top of his limited experience facing advanced pitching. The former first-round pick has held his own at the plate this spring, hitting .286/.355/.357 in 31 trips to the plate. He’s drawn three walks while striking out twice but only has two extra-base hits (both doubles).
Further complicating matters, the Padres don’t have a clear solution in left field. Even if the Friars feel Merrill is ready to face big league arms, they could play him in left to accommodate a Taylor signing. That’d bump Jurickson Profar to the bench. So too would signing one of Duvall of Pham, both of whom are righty-hitting corner options. They’re similarly valuable players, as MLBTR’s Nick Deeds explored over the weekend. Duvall brings more power to the table, while Pham is more consistent at getting on base.
In any case, the Padres will need to make some kind of outfield transaction in the next few days. Azocar, Profar and Fernando Tatis Jr. are the only outfielders on the 40-man roster. Minor league signees Óscar Mercado, Tyler Wade and Brad Miller remain on the major league side of camp as possible bench additions.
San Diego is faced with those questions sooner than almost anyone else. They begin their regular season with a two-game series against the Dodgers in South Korea on March 20-21. The Padres will fly to Seoul two days from now. Acee notes that if they do sign a veteran outfielder, that player would likely skip the Korea series and remain in minor league camp to build up for the rest of the season.
Rays Option Junior Caminero
The Rays optioned top infield prospect Junior Caminero to Triple-A Durham among their camp cuts this afternoon, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. That takes him out of the mix for an Opening Day roster spot.
Caminero always seemed like a long shot to secure a season-opening big league job. The Rays promoted the 20-year-old directly from Double-A last September. Caminero played in seven regular season games and was available off the bench for the team’s Wild Card series against the Rangers. While that at least put him on the radar for a potential Opening Day spot, the likelier outcome has been that he’d head to Durham for the first time.
Tampa Bay added a pair of shortstops over the winter. Trade pickup José Caballero will get the starting nod, while the Rays took a $1.5MM flier on Amed Rosario as a right-handed hitter who can bounce around the diamond. Isaac Paredes should get the majority of the third base reps with Yandy Díaz at the opposite corner. Curtis Mead is another righty bat who can move around the infield. Mead isn’t yet established at the MLB level but turned in an excellent .294/.385/.515 slash line over 61 Triple-A contests a year ago.
While Caminero is light on upper level experience, he has destroyed opposing pitching through Double-A. The right-handed hitter owns a .316/.383/.555 mark in three minor league campaigns, including a .324/.384/.591 line between High-A and Double-A a year ago. Baseball America, FanGraphs, The Athletic’s Keith Law and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel all rank him among the sport’s five most talented prospects.
Caminero has experience at all four infield positions. Most scouting reports indicate he’s best suited for third base. That may eventually lead the Rays to consider trade possibilities with Paredes, whom they control via arbitration for another four seasons. That’s not something with which they’ll need to concern themselves before Opening Day.
The minor league assignment is likely to have an impact on Caminero’s service trajectory. He accrued 10 days of MLB service after his September promotion. Caminero would need to be on the MLB roster for 162 days if he’s to surpass the one-year threshold in 2024. Spending more than a few weeks in Durham would prevent him from reaching that mark (unless he plays his way into a full service year with a top-two finish in Rookie of the Year balloting). That’s not an indication the Rays are gaming Caminero’s service time — there’s clearly legitimate developmental reason to get him time in Triple-A — but it’s a notable effect all the same.
Giants Notes: Cobb, Hjelle, Black
The Giants have made a pair of key late-offseason additions to the offense, adding Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman since the opening of Spring Training. They join new center fielder Jung Hoo Lee in an overhauled lineup, leaving the starting rotation as the glaring question.
San Francisco has been frequently tied to top remaining starter Blake Snell, in part because of injuries to some of their in-house options. Robbie Ray, Alex Cobb, Tristan Beck and Sean Hjelle are all likely to begin the season on the injured list. However, Cobb appears slightly ahead of schedule as he works back from last year’s hip labrum repair.
The veteran righty got through a 25-pitch bullpen session yesterday and will throw live batting practice early next week. Manager Bob Melvin told reporters that while the team will be cautious not to push Cobb too quickly, they’ve “probably sped (the timeline) up a little bit” based on his progress (via MLB.com). The team announced a six-month recovery timetable for Cobb to log game action of any kind when he underwent surgery on Halloween.
It now looks as if he could be on track for a minor league rehab assignment earlier than that. To this point, the Giants have kept him off the 60-day injured list — a move that would prevent him from pitching at the MLB level before May 27.
The Giants also provided an encouraging update on Hjelle, who was diagnosed with an elbow sprain earlier in the week. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that he’s on track to begin a throwing program in one week after receiving a second opinion. The team had announced on Tuesday that Hjelle would be down for two weeks before going for reevaluation. The injury almost certainly still rules him out of the season-opening rotation mix, but it’s a positive development that his complete shutdown won’t last too long.
San Francisco has three locks for the Opening Day rotation: Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks. Righty Keaton Winn is the frontrunner for the #4 job. He was delayed early in camp with what seems to be minor elbow soreness and is still expected to be ready for Opening Day. Unless the Giants dip into free agency for someone like Snell, Jordan Montgomery or Michael Lorenzen, the fifth spot will be up for grabs.
Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic tweets that former third-round pick Mason Black “appears poised” to take a season-opening rotation job. The Lehigh product was scheduled for his third start of Spring Training this evening, but the game was rained out. He has logged five innings over his first two appearances, allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
Black, a 24-year-old righty, is not on the 40-man roster and has yet to make his MLB debut. He split last season almost evenly between the two highest levels of the minors. Black combined for a strong 3.71 ERA while striking out an excellent 30.3% of opposing hitters across 123 2/3 innings. He issued a few too many walks in a very hitter-friendly environment in Triple-A but hasn’t handed out a free pass yet this spring. Baseball America recently ranked him the #8 prospect in the organization, crediting him with a plus sinker/slider combination and fine if unexceptional control.
Kevin Gausman Expects To Be Ready For Regular Season
Kevin Gausman is one of a few Blue Jays pitchers who has been a bit behind this spring. The Jays scratched him from a throwing session on Monday as he dealt with “general fatigue” in his throwing shoulder. While any mention of shoulder discomfort for a pitcher of Gausman’s caliber will raise some concern, it doesn’t appear to be an issue that’ll carry into the year.
Manager John Schneider said yesterday the Jays were hopeful to have their ace working off a mound again by next Monday. In an appearance on SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio with Steve Phillips and Xavier Scruggs this afternoon, Gausman downplayed any concern. “Just had to slow it down a little bit and not jump in to facing hitters right away, but I’ll be ready for the regular season,” he said.
There are just under three weeks until Opening Day. Gausman, if healthy and fully built up, would get the call for that tilt against the Rays. The Jays certainly aren’t going to force the issue for a largely symbolic honor, so they could elect to hold off his season debut until their series opener against the Astros on April 1.
That would likely leave the Opening Day assignment to Chris Bassitt. He and Gausman will be joined in the season-opening starting five by José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi. The Jays expected Alek Manoah to secure the fifth starter role entering camp, but he has been delayed by shoulder soreness. If he’s not available to start the season, righty Bowden Francis seems the likeliest candidate to step in. Francis pitched to a 1.73 ERA over 20 MLB appearances in long relief last year. He has never started a big league game but reached as many as four innings out of the bullpen. Francis has started two of three spring appearances, working eight frames of three-run ball with 10 strikeouts.
Mitch White must also make the MLB roster or be offered to other teams, as he has exhausted his minor league options. He has worked in a swing capacity at the big league level and owns an ERA just under 5.00 over 161 1/3 MLB innings. Unlike Francis, White is off to a rocky start to the spring. He has walked six with just a pair of strikeouts in six innings spanning three relief outings. He’d probably be ticketed for long relief if Francis grabs the fifth starter spot.
Offseason signee Yariel Rodríguez and top prospect Ricky Tiedemann could factor into the rotation mix over the course of the year. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet wrote last night that neither player is viewed as a realistic candidate to break camp, however. Rodríguez sat out last season after pitching in the World Baseball Classic as he waited for MLB to declare him a free agent. Tiedemann had a pair of stints on the minor league injured list and was limited to 44 innings over 15 appearances across four levels.
The Jays will need to be cautious with the workloads for both pitchers, an easier task if they open the year in Triple-A. They’ve each been a little behind in camp. Rodríguez has battled back spasms and Tiedemann was delayed by leg inflammation. Neither injury is serious and both pitchers should soon see game action.
Dodgers Moving Mookie Betts To Shortstop
The Dodgers are flipping their middle infield alignment. Mookie Betts is getting the start at shortstop while Gavin Lux will be at second base for this evening’s Cactus League matchup against the Reds. Manager Dave Roberts called the switch “permanent, for now” when chatting with reporters (link via Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic).
While that leaves open the possibility of returning to their previous arrangement at some point, Betts is going to open the season at the infield’s toughest position. The Dodgers entered camp planning to have the former MVP at second base with Lux at shortstop. The latter’s inconsistent throwing accuracy this spring changed the equation, as Roberts acknowledged last night.
There’s no question about Betts’ premium athleticism and overall defensive acumen. Still, this is a notable bet to place on a player with so little infield experience at the MLB level. Betts didn’t play the infield regularly as a major leaguer until last season. The Dodgers gave him 485 innings at second base and 98 frames at shortstop. Betts drew a strong +6 grade from Defensive Runs Saved at the keystone. Statcast, on the other hand, estimated he was one run below par. His sample as a shortstop is too small to draw significant conclusions, although he was charged with three errors there against only two errors at second base.
That Betts immediately played a solid second base after spending most of his 10-year MLB career in right field offers some optimism about his chances of handling the left side of the infield. Yet it’s clearly not what the Dodgers intended coming into camp. Betts had at least had ample second base experience during his time as a prospect in the Red Sox’s system, logging almost 2000 innings there before being pushed to the outfield thanks to the presence of Dustin Pedroia. His minor league shortstop experience consisted of 13 starts between rookie and short-season ball in 2011-12.
The left side infield defense becomes an important storyline for the Dodgers. Betts will be joined on most days by third baseman Max Muncy, a below-average defender who’s in the lineup for his bat. The Dodgers have a few shortstop-capable options off the bench. Miguel Rojas is a plus defender. Enrique Hernández and Chris Taylor can log shortstop action as part of their utility responsibilities. Rojas hasn’t produced much offensively over the past two seasons, though, while neither Hernández nor Taylor is a good fit for everyday shortstop work.
Lux will move back to second base. He has spent the majority of his MLB career there after moving off shortstop as a prospect. That was partially because the Dodgers had Corey Seager and Trea Turner, respectively, through the 2022 season. It was also a reflection of anxiety-related throwing issues that Lux battled when he was a prospect. Public defensive metrics have graded him as an above-average second baseman. His throwing has been less of an issue on the right side of the diamond. He has plus range for the position.
Keeping Lux in the starting lineup at all is a calculated move on the Dodgers’ part to maximize their offense. They could have bumped him to the bench or optioned him to Triple-A once they determined he wasn’t a viable shortstop. That would have allowed them to keep Betts at second and install Rojas back into the lineup. Doing so would have subtracted a promising bat. The lefty-swinging Lux had a solid .276/.346/.399 line over 471 plate appearances in 2022, making him a much better offensive contributor than Rojas is. He missed all of last season after tearing the ACL in his right knee during Spring Training.
Roberts indicated that Betts could occasionally slide back to second base on days when Lux is out of the lineup. That’d most frequently come against left-handed pitching and allow a right-handed hitter like Rojas, Hernández or Taylor to step in at shortstop. They could also time those substitutions to improve the infield defense when they’re starting a ground-ball pitcher like Bobby Miller. L.A. has a few key high-grounder relievers (e.g. Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, Ryan Brasier) who’d also benefit from a better defensive alignment behind them late in games.
Roberts Noncommittal On Gavin Lux As Opening Day Shortstop
The Dodgers are faced with a surprising shortstop question midway through Spring Training. Expected starter Gavin Lux has been charged with a pair of errors in his first 10 1/3 innings of exhibition work. Lux has had a few more erratic moments, skipping a pair of throws to first base but being bailed out on scoops by Freddie Freeman.
His throwing accuracy is concerning enough it could impact his spot in the lineup at the start of the season. “I don’t know,” manager Dave Roberts replied when asked if Lux would be the Opening Day shortstop (link via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times). “Obviously, performance is paramount at this level for a team vying to win a championship. So I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know that it will be in the vein of whatever gives us the best chance to win.”
Throughout the offseason, the L.A. front office maintained that Lux was going to be the regular shortstop. They reportedly considered trade possibilities, particularly Milwaukee’s Willy Adames, but clearly had Lux atop the internal options. That might still be the case, but Roberts’ comments add some urgency for him to sort out his throwing.
This isn’t the first time that he has struggled with seemingly straightforward throws. He battled his accuracy at times in the minors, which he conceded was tied to anxiety. That’s part of the reason the Dodgers moved the one-time top prospect to second base early in his career, although Corey Seager and Trea Turner had blocked his path to shortstop anyhow. Los Angeles was prepared to move Lux back to shortstop last year. A Spring Training ACL tear instead ended his season before it began.
Playing on the right side of the infield suited him well. He was charged with five throwing errors over 819 2/3 second base innings in 2022. That’s a higher than average rate but certainly not untenable. Public defensive metrics have graded him as an above-average second baseman overall thanks to his plus range.
Mookie Betts is moving to the keystone this year. That would bump Lux to shortstop but obviously places extra stress on his arm. Signing Shohei Ohtani means the Dodgers will need Max Muncy to play regularly at third base. Muncy is a below-average defender, putting a little more pressure on the L.A. shortstop to compensate.
That’s part of the reason that Adames, one of the game’s top defensive infielders, was an appealing target. Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic wrote this evening that the Dodgers have continued interest in Adames, but Milwaukee remains reluctant to part with him. The Brewers have Joey Ortiz on hand as a potential shortstop replacement, but they could need to rely on Ortiz at either second or third base throughout the season. Adames is also a strong presence in the Milwaukee clubhouse and a solid offensive contributor as an annual threat for 25-30 homers.
A preseason Adames trade seems unlikely with roughly two weeks until Opening Day. He’d surely come up in deadline talks if Milwaukee falls out of contention, but they’ll make a push to defend their title in a wide-open NL Central.
It’d probably take that kind of significant upgrade for the Dodgers to look outside the organization. They have options to solidify the defense if they’re not sold on Lux handling the position at the moment. Miguel Rojas remains a plus defender. He owns a .236/.286/.322 batting line over the past two seasons, so the Dodgers would prefer to keep him in a depth role, but there’s no question Rojas could more than capably handle the position. He’d be a significant offensive downgrade from Lux, who hit .276/.346/.399 in 2022.
Enrique Hernández and Chris Taylor are utility players who could cover shortstop at times. Betts even started 12 games there a year ago. There’s no indication the Dodgers are considering playing Betts at shortstop full time, but that’s a theoretical possibility that would allow them to keep Lux at second base.
Of course, the ideal outcome is that Lux settles in as he continues to build his defensive workload. It’s fair to expect some amount of rust in all facets for a player coming back from a year-long injury absence. His minor league issues make the recent throws more alarming, but it’s possible he’ll get increasingly comfortable with more reps. The Dodgers start the season early with a two-game set against the Padres in South Korea on March 20-21.
Abraham Almonte To Sign With Mexican League’s Olmecas De Tabasco
Veteran outfielder Abraham Almonte is in agreement with the Olmecas de Tabasco of the Mexican League, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (X link). Former MLB infielder José Peraza is also headed to Mexico, per McDaniel. He agreed to a deal with the Leones de Yucatán.
Almonte, 34, has reached the majors in each of the last 11 seasons. That’s a rather remarkable stretch for a player who has never been a regular. Almonte has only once topped 70 big league games in a year, but he has gotten depth opportunities for eight MLB clubs overall. His most recent major league action came in Queens. The switch-hitter played in eight games with the Mets last summer.
In a little less than 1400 MLB plate appearances, Almonte owns a .233/.300/.371 batting line. He’s coming off a .220/.361/.464 showing in 50 contests over three minor league levels in the Mets’ farm system. If Almonte is to extend his streak of reaching the big leagues to 12 years, he’ll first need to earn another minor league opportunity during the season.
Peraza reached the majors in seven consecutive campaigns between 2015-21. He was a reasonably highly-regarded prospect during his time in the Dodgers and Reds organizations early in his career. Peraza has hit .266/.306/.372 as a big leaguer. As with Almonte, he last saw the majors as a member of the Mets, although that came three years ago. He spent last year in the New York farm system, hitting .261/.315/.366 in 41 Triple-A games.