Gavin Stone Dealing With Shoulder Inflammation
March 3: Roberts told the Dodgers beat this morning that the team “dodged a bullet” with regard to Stone (link via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). Imaging revealed inflammation in Stone’s surgically repaired shoulder but no structural damage. He’ll be shut down from throwing for a couple of weeks but for now does not appear to be facing a monthslong absence.
March 2: Dodgers right-hander Gavin Stone is battling shoulder discomfort, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of The California Post and Sonja Chen of MLB.com). Stone is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season.
It’s a concerning setback for a pitcher who missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing surgery on that shoulder. It was a significant operation that involved repair to his labrum, capsule and rotator cuff. Stone underwent the procedure in October ’24 and was immediately ruled out for the following season.
The 27-year-old entered camp without restrictions and tossed a perfect inning with two strikeouts in his Spring Training debut last week. Stone threw a bullpen session between game appearances and came out of that work with the shoulder flareup. There’s no indication anything is amiss structurally. Stone is shut down from throwing for the time being, an understandable precaution given his health history.
Stone was amidst a quality ’24 season before the injury. He had a 3.53 earned run average across 140 1/3 innings. His 20% strikeout rate was a hair below average but he limited walks and hard contact. He looked the part of a mid-rotation arm.
The Dodgers are planning to open the season with a six-man rotation. Stone had a good chance to win a spot had he gotten through camp healthy. Blake Snell is trending toward a season-opening injured list stint of his own after battling postseason arm fatigue.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Roki Sasaki should occupy the top four spots. Ohtani isn’t pitching in the World Baseball Classic and could be on a tight pitch count for his first few starts. Emmet Sheehan has been delayed in camp by an illness but should have sufficient time to build up for Opening Day. He’d probably win a rotation spot as well.
That would leave one rotation spot available. River Ryan missed all of 2025 rehabbing Tommy John surgery but is back to health this spring. Lefty Justin Wrobleski could start or work out of the bullpen. Landon Knack remains on the 40-man roster as a depth starter; he has been hit around through his first two Spring Training outings. Veteran southpaw Cole Irvin is in camp as a non-roster invitee.
Right-hander Kyle Hurt does not appear to be in the rotation mix. Roberts told reporters that the Dodgers view the 27-year-old as a reliever who could work multiple innings. Hurt didn’t make an MLB appearance last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in July ’24. He has looked sharp early in camp, striking out six of 11 batters faced over his first three appearances. Hurt has fired three innings of one-run ball as he tries to claim an Opening Day bullpen spot.
Will Venable Discusses White Sox’s Catching Mix
The White Sox have a pair of potential long-term starting catchers. Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero were each highly-regarded prospects who showed promise as rookies. Teel was particularly good after being called up in early June.
Teams inquired about Chicago’s willingness to trade one of that duo early in the offseason. It doesn’t seem talks ever got far. Teel and Quero now seem all but assured to begin the season with the White Sox. That leaves them with a decision to make on third catcher Korey Lee, himself a former first-round pick who might be squeezed out of the picture.
Lee exhausted his last minor league option in 2025. The Sox need to keep him on the MLB roster at this point. Teel and Quero have options but aren’t in jeopardy of getting sent down. Teel hit .273/.375/.411 through his first 78 MLB games. Quero batted .268/.333/.356 over 111 contests.
Manager Will Venable addressed the catching plans on Monday. “I think it really is going to take care of itself,” the second-year skipper told reporters (including Scott Merkin of MLB.com and LaMond Pope of The Chicago Tribune). “We know that we like Kyle catching and hitting against righties. We know that Edgar can DH. We’ll have a couple of guys who will fill that DH spot versus right-handed pitching.”
Teel, a left-handed hitter, hit .290/.388/.448 against righties. The Sox gave him 52 plate appearances against southpaws, in which he hit .186 without a home run while striking out 20 times. Quero is a switch-hitter whose numbers were much better from the right side. He batted .357/.394/.457 against lefties compared to a .220/.301/.301 line while hitting left-handed.
Venable indicated that the Sox would use Quero more frequently behind the plate when an opposing lefty is on the mound. That’d allow them to spell Teel against southpaws, though the manager added it won’t be a strict platoon. The Sox are still rebuilding and presumably don’t want to firmly lock either player into a platoon role within their first two seasons in the big leagues.
Does that leave room on the roster for Lee? Most teams prefer not to carry three catchers when they’re primarily using a four-man bench. Assuming Quero sees a decent amount of run as a DH against righties, the third catcher would provide Venable more in-game flexibility. If they wanted to pinch-hit for Teel against a tough lefty reliever, they could plug Lee in behind the plate instead of moving Quero there (which would forfeit the DH). There’s also simply the likelihood that another team would claim Lee if the Sox tried to run him through waivers at the end of camp.
Lee didn’t get much of a look last season, only taking 40 plate appearances in 25 MLB games. He put up a solid .255/.313/.405 showing in Triple-A but is a career .193/.234/.321 hitter against big league pitching. Lee had a strong defensive reputation as a prospect. Statcast hasn’t looked favorably on his pitch-framing work in the majors, but he has a plus arm and seems to work well with the pitching staff.
The Padres reportedly had some interest in Lee last summer. They wound up trading for Freddy Fermin from Kansas City instead. San Diego’s already thin catching depth has been hit by injury, but they might be better served signing a veteran to a minor league deal. Their backup catcher Luis Campusano is also out of options, so they’d need to consider Lee a definitive upgrade to put Campusano on waivers.
Speculatively, Lee’s former team in Houston could look for a backup catcher after losing Victor Caratini to free agency. The Rays, Rockies or Mariners are other potential fits to upgrade the #2 catching spot on the depth chart.
Angels Notes: Neto, Moore, Lowe
The Angels and franchise shortstop Zach Neto worked out a $4.15MM arbitration settlement in January. That covered the first of four years of arbitration eligibility for the former first-round pick, who reached Super Two status this offseason.
If the sides discussed the possibility of any kind of longer-term deal, those talks apparently didn’t progress. Neto’s agent, Ryan Hamill of CAA, tells Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times that the Angels did not make any official long-term offers over the offseason. It’s unclear if the sides will have any conversations during Spring Training.
The Angels didn’t make any long-term commitments. All their free agent activity was limited to one year, with no individual player making more than $5MM. They also signed an atypically short one-year contract with new manager Kurt Suzuki (reportedly after talks with Albert Pujols about the job fell through).
It was a disappointing offseason for Halos fans who have endured the sport’s longest active playoff drought at 11 years. That was even before owner Arte Moreno’s baffling comments last week, in which he claimed that surveys indicated that “winning is not in (fans’) top five” concerns when attending games. Even if one believed that to be true of the fanbase, it’s a bizarre statement for an owner to make on the record, knowing it’ll get the attention of the players and coaches.
Neto told Shaikin he “really (doesn’t) have an answer to that” when asked if Moreno’s comments would be a concern for him in extension talks. However, he spoke broadly about valuing loyalty and said he’d be amenable to a long-term deal. “If it happens, it happens. I would love to stay here. I would love to be here. But, if it doesn’t, then not every road is meant to be.”
That may all be a moot point. The Angels terminated their local television deal with Main Street Sports this offseason, subtracting an important revenue source. MLB is handling their in-market distribution this year. Neto is coming off consecutive seasons that Baseball Reference valued around five wins above replacement. He’s on track to hit free agency at 29. There’s a decent chance it’d take a $200MM+ offer if the Angels wanted to buy out multiple free agent years.
Neto will be a fixture in the middle of the diamond for the next few seasons in either case. There’s far less certainty around him around the infield dirt. The Halos brought back Yoán Moncada on a one-year, $4MM deal to work as the primary third baseman. Christian Moore is the favorite at second base, where Vaughn Grissom, Denzer Guzman and non-roster invitees Nick Madrigal and Adam Frazier could all be in the mix.
Moore, the eighth overall pick in 2024, played 411 2/3 innings at the keystone as a rookie. He has been a full-time second baseman in pro ball and for the majority of his college career at Tennessee. The Angels gave Moore four innings at third base after subbing Moncada out of Saturday’s game.
Suzuki told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register) that Moore could get a start at the hot corner while Moncada is playing for Cuba at the World Baseball Classic. They’d ideally expand the second-year infielder’s versatility, which could make it easier to carry a veteran second baseman like Frazier or Madrigal on the bench.
In one bit of injury news, offseason trade pickup Josh Lowe is battling what appears to be minor soreness in his left oblique (via the MLB.com injury tracker). Lowe said he’ll miss a few days but doesn’t anticipate it threatening his availability for Opening Day. The right oblique has given Lowe problems over the past two seasons, so it’s a relief that the current issue on the opposite side.
Royals Designate Dairon Blanco For Assignment
The Royals announced they’ve designated outfielder Dairon Blanco for assignment. That’s the necessary 40-man roster move to finalize their one-year deal with Starling Marte, which is official.
Blanco has been a depth outfielder in Kansas City for the past four seasons. He played in nearly half the team’s games between 2023-24 but wasn’t much of a factor last year. Blanco got into nine contests and only took eight plate appearances at the major league level. He went 1-6 with a double while stealing three bases in five attempts.
The 32-year-old (33 in April) missed the first six weeks of the season battling Achilles tendinopathy in his right foot. He returned to health in mid-May and spent the majority of the year on optional assignment. The Cuba native batted .253/.332/.405 with eight homers across 294 plate appearances in Triple-A. He stole 32 bags while getting cut down just three times over 77 games.
A right-handed hitter, Blanco has league average numbers (.257/.312/.416) over 285 MLB plate appearances. The Royals have seemingly been skeptical that’d remain the case over a larger sample. Kansas City outfielders had an MLB-worst .225/.285/.348 batting line last season. Although the outfield has been an issue for the better part of a decade, the Royals never gave Blanco much of a starting opportunity.
They had kept him on the big league roster for the second half of 2023 and all of ’24 as a bench piece. Blanco’s top-of-the-scale wheels made him an asset as a pinch runner. He went 55-67 in stolen base tries over that season and a half. Blanco entered 48 games as a pinch runner. No one else in MLB reached even 20 pinch-running appearances over those two full seasons.
Kansas City has five days to trade Blanco or place him on waivers. He still has a pair of minor league options remaining. He’s on the older side for a player whose game is built so much around his legs, as he didn’t depart his home country until he was 23 and made his MLB debut at 29.
Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Anthony Franco
- Good evening, hope you all enjoyed your weekend!
- Steve needed today off so we're flipping chat schedules this week. He'll run one on Friday afternoon, going to keep this one around an hour
Red Wright Hand
- 4/112 million for Freddy Peralta to sign extension with Mets. You think that gets the deal done?
Anthony Franco
- $28M AAV seems reasonable but I think it's a year light. Have a tough time seeing why he's taking less than Ranger Suarez money without at least seeing what's out there
- If he has another season like 2025, I assume he's getting six years and north of $200M
Youk
- Do you think it’s the right move for the Sox to trade an OF? I’d love to lengthen the lineup with an infielder but it’s really hard to find a fair matchup and I would hate to lose any of the four.
Anthony Franco
- Nah I think they're fine with Durbin and giving Mayer some leeway. I'd keep all four
LeagueWide
- Any predictions for a late offseason trade before Opening Day? The FA market is pretty barren, so teams looking for an impact arm or bat don't have many options left.
Anthony Franco
- Hope I'm wrong but I'm not really seeing anything big at this point. Most teams are at least saying they want to compete this year and as you mentioned, there's no real opportunity to backfill in free agency if you're trading away an impact player
- Feels like a Paredes deal before Opening Day is viable but a long shot. If that doesn't happen, it's probably mostly tinkering at the back of rosters for the next couple months
Giant Hopes
- The Giants have a glut of outfielders. The Royals need outfielders. Is there a match there?
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Tigers’ Troy Melton Delayed By Elbow Inflammation
TODAY: Melton told the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters that he is “not too concerned about anything long-term” with his elbow issue. “We’ll know more for sure in a couple of days or a week. But I’m pretty positive for the time being,” Melton said.
FEBRUARY 27: Tigers right-hander Troy Melton has halted his throwing program due to elbow inflammation, the team announced. Manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive) that the second-year pitcher is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.
Melton pitched well as a rookie. Promoted shortly after the All-Star Break, he logged 45 2/3 innings. He started four of his 16 appearances and pitched to a 2.76 earned run average. Melton fanned 20% of batters faced against a league average 8.3% walk rate. He performed well enough to earn a spot on Detroit’s playoff roster, though he surrendered five runs across 8 1/3 frames.
Although Melton worked mostly out of the bullpen in his first season, he projects as a long-term starter. Melton posted a sub-3.00 ERA across 18 appearances (16 starts) in Triple-A before his promotion. He may have been in the mix for a rotation spot this spring if not for the late free agent signings of Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander.
Valdez and Verlander slot behind Tarik Skubal in Hinch’s starting five. Casey Mize and Jack Flaherty will round out the group if everyone gets through camp healthy. KBO signee Drew Anderson can work in long relief or as a spot starter; he’d presumably draw into the rotation if anyone from the starting five is injured. That would have left the Tigers to decide whether to carry Melton as multi-inning leverage reliever or have him stay stretched out in the Triple-A rotation.
There’s no indication he’s facing a long-term absence. The team will be cautious with any elbow concern for one of their more talented young pitchers, of course, but it doesn’t seem out of the question he could be back after a fairly minimal injured list stay to begin the year.
Brenton Doyle Battling Wrist Sprain
Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle has a sprained left wrist, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The defensive stalwart has sat out the last three Spring Training contests after experiencing soreness pregame on Wednesday. He’ll continue to rest for a few days before heading for follow-up examination.
There’s no indication at this point that Doyle’s availability for Opening Day is in jeopardy. That probably won’t be known until he’s reevaluated. The two-time Gold Glove winner has a month to get ready for the start of the regular season. The Rockies haven’t provided any specifics on the severity.
Doyle is looking to rebound offensively after a rough year. He hit .233/.274/.376 across 538 plate appearances, ranking among the bottom five hitters in MLB in on-base percentage (min. 500 PAs). It was a disappointing follow-up to a more encouraging 2024 campaign. Doyle had connected on 23 homers and stolen 30 bases while batting .260/.317/.446 two seasons ago. The slash line was right around average after accounting for the Coors Field effect.
If Doyle can get back to near league average at the plate, he’d be a very valuable all-around player. He’s a good baserunner and, as the aforementioned hardware illustrates, among the best defensive players in the sport. The Rockies have gotten trade calls on the 27-year-old but understandably didn’t have interest in what would have been a sell-low trade over the offseason. Doyle qualified for early arbitration as a Super Two player and is making a $3.1MM salary. The Rockies have him under contractual control through the 2029 season.
A healthy Doyle will be Warren Schaeffer’s primary center fielder. If the injury is serious enough that it impacts his regular season availability, the Rox would probably move offseason trade acquisition Jake McCarthy to center. Jordan Beck, Mickey Moniak, Zac Veen and Tyler Freeman could split the corner outfield work.
Wayne Granger Passes Away
Former MLB reliever Wayne Granger passed away on Wednesday at 81. The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced the news this evening.
Granger, a 6’4″ right-handed pitcher, was a native of Springfield, Massachusetts. He signed with the Cardinals as an amateur free agent and debuted with St. Louis during the 1968 season. Granger tossed 44 innings of 2.25 ERA ball as a rookie. He made one mop-up appearance in that year’s World Series, getting through two scoreless innings in a blowout loss in Game 6 against the Tigers. Detroit would win the decider the next night, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit.
That wound up being Granger’s final appearance of his first stint in a St. Louis uniform. The Cardinals traded him to Cincinnati alongside 23-year-old outfielder Bobby Tolan for Vada Pinson, a star center fielder who was by that point in the decline phase of his career.
It turned out to be a win for the Reds. Pinson played one season with the Cardinals, hitting .255 with 10 homers, and was traded to Cleveland a year later. Tolan had a brief peak but had three excellent seasons as a table-setter in front of the bigger bats as the Big Red Machine dynasty developed.
Granger was a bullpen workhorse over his three seasons in Cincinnati. He led the majors in appearances (90) and games finished (55) during his first year with the Reds. Granger threw 144 2/3 innings — a huge amount out of the bullpen even at a time when most relievers went multiple innings — and worked to a 2.80 ERA. The ’69 season was the first in which MLB officially recognized the save statistic. Granger picked up 27, tying him for third-most in the majors.
He had a similar showing the following year. Granger again posted a sub-3.00 ERA while logging 84 2/3 innings during the regular season. He led the majors with a career-high 35 saves, which was at the time the most in a season in MLB history (including retroactive tallies from before it was officially recognized as a stat).
That was mostly a reflection of the changing way in which teams used their relievers. It certainly didn’t hurt that a 102-win Cincinnati team gave Granger plenty of opportunities to shut the door. He pitched quite well in his own right, however, although that unfortunately didn’t extend to the postseason. Granger gave up five runs in two innings over a pair of appearances in the 1970 World Series. The Reds dropped a five-game set to the Orioles.
Granger played one more season in Cincinnati, again leading the National League in appearances in 1971. The Reds traded him to the Twins after that season. Granger pitched one year in Minnesota before kicking around to a handful of clubs (Yankees, a second stint in St. Louis, White Sox, Astros and Expos).
He retired after the 1976 season and was inducted into the Reds’ team Hall of Fame six years later. Granger finished his career with a 3.14 ERA across 638 2/3 innings. He recorded 108 saves and struck out 303 opponents. MLBTR sends condolences to his family, friends, former teammates and loved ones.
Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript
Anthony Franco
- Good afternoon everyone, hope all is well!
- Kind of a boring week in terms of baseball news but hey, we're closing in on meaningful games! Let's discuss
donaldmac3@comcast.net
- What is the first thing the Chisox should do to get back to their winning ways, and I know better pitching is essential. I was born in Chicago nearly 80 years ago, and I have followed the Sox my entire life. Baseball is the best game.
Anthony Franco
- Agreed, pitching's the big hangup here. I still think this is a below-average position player group in 2026 but you can see it coming together with Teel, Montgomery, Quero, the upside play on Murakami, potential solid role players in Meidroth/Acuña
- Pitching's still pretty far behind. I like the Newcomb/Kay fliers well enough to raise the floor, buy Shane Smith as a league average starter. It's a low-upside pitching staff for now, though
- Biggest factor long term is whether one of Schultz and Smith dials in the strikes enough to be a top-of-the-rotation arm. They're eventually going to need to add a stable #2/3 type via free agency or trade, but it's not the time yet to push in for that
LFGM
- Last season the MLBTR team was on point about the Mets biggest issue being SP, as that ended up being their downfall, even if the first two months of the year it looked like a miss, what do you guys think this year’s team biggest weakness is?
Anthony Franco
- I think they're pretty well balanced this year, nothing concerns me quite as much as the lack of high-end starting pitching did at this time last season.
If there is some kind of fatal flaw that tanks the season, it'd probably be the bullpen? It's a solid group but the late innings are heavily reliant on rebounds from Williams/Weaver and if those don't happen, they'd be in some trouble
- Right there with the Phillies as the top teams in the NL East for me though. Not sure if others on the MLBTR staff are a little lower on them
Brewers Fan
- Is there a rhyme or reason to when each teams off-season review comes out? To you wait on ones that you think may still make moves? Or is it just random draw?
Anthony Franco
- Mostly random. We do try to start with the teams that we feel are less likely to make a significant move between when we publish it and Opening Day
- We're basically down to Giolito and Littell as the remaining free agents who'd get more than a cursory mention in an OiR anyway, so it's not as big a deal this year. Was more of a consideration during the "Boras Four" year or certainly the lockout one when we had to drag the series well into the regular season
- There's also just a logistical thing where Mark Polishuk takes around six of these every year and Tim Dierkes usually does the Chicago teams. Neither of them are full-time MLBTR employees -- the site is obviously Tim's focus but he's often tied up with behind the scenes stuff with the developers, web features, etc. -- so the teams that they claim are subject to their other scheduling stuff in a way that mine, Darragh's and Steve's are not
Steve
- If Endy Rodriguez keeps up a good pace this spring, do you see the Pirates keeping him on the roster as a DH/Backup C&1B, or is the roster constructed in a way that blocks him completely?
Anthony Franco
- Certainly don't think he's blocked. Bart's out of options but Davis and Rafael Flores can both be sent down, so they could roll with Endy as the backup catcher and keep the latter two in Triple-A
- Given how little Endy has played the last two years, my guess is they roll with Davis/Bart and start Rodríguez in Indy, but it's not like Davis has done enough at the major league level that he needs to be on the active roster
Connor with a K
- Given Bob Nutting's historical aversion to giving up control/arn years of young talented players (e.g. Skenes, Chandler), do you think it's realistic that Konnor Griffin actually makes the Opening Day roster even if he has a monster spring?
Bounty
- What do you think the over/under on Konnor Griffin breaking camp with the big club? I really need him to go to the minors so I can select him with the first overall pick in our taxi portion of the roto auction league I'm in.
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Seidler Family Weighing Five Offers For Padres
February 27th: Lin provided an update today, clarifying that Kudla and Brees did not submit a formal bid but are considering partnering with one of the other bidding groups.
February 26th: The Seidler family’s efforts to sell the Padres appear to have accelerated in recent weeks. Sheel Seidler, widow of former Padres owner Peter Seidler, dropped or settled most of her litigation against Peter Seidler’s brothers earlier this month. That cleared the way for the family to ramp up a sales process that began in November.
Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that five prospective buyers have submitted bids. Previous reporting had identified Joe Lacob, José E. Feliciano and Dan Friedkin as suitors.
Lacob, the owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, had previously shown interest in buying the Angels and Athletics. Feliciano is a Santa Monica-based private equity mogul whose firm is a lead owner of the English Premier League team, Chelsea F.C. Friedkin was born in San Diego but is now based out of Texas. He has various business interests and also owns a Premier League club, the Liverpool-based Everton F.C.
Most American sports fans will be more familiar with another potential buyer. Dennis Lin and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported this afternoon that Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees has partnered with Vuori CEO Joe Kudla to make a run at buying the franchise. Vuori is a San Diego-based clothing company that specializes in athleisure. Brees played the first five seasons of his career with the Chargers.
Assuming Lacob, Feliciano, Friedkin and the Kudla/Brees groups have made offers, that’d be 80% of what seems to be the remaining field. The identity of the final bidder isn’t known.
Earlier this month, Sportico estimated the franchise value around $2.31 billion. It seems the Seidler family is aiming a fair bit higher. Acee writes that people within the industry anticipate the sale price will land north of $2.5 billion. Rosenthal and Lin report that the Seidlers are seeking a purchase price closer to $3 billion than to the estimation from Sportico.
Anything north of $2.5 billion would be a record for an MLB franchise. Steve Cohen’s 2020 purchase of the Mets from the Wilpon family was for roughly $2.475 billion. That remains the high-water mark. More recent sales of the Orioles and Rays have landed in the $1.7 billion range. Peter Seidler’s group purchased the Padres for $800MM in 2012. The reports from the Union-Tribune and The Athletic — each of which are worth a full read for San Diego fans — suggest an agreement could be reached around Opening Day.