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Pirates Notes: Cruz, Davis, Rodriguez, Hedges

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The Pirates hammered out the largest contract in franchise history this spring, ending the long-running Bryan Reynolds saga with a $100MM extension. Shortly after finalizing that deal, owner Bob Nutting said the Bucs were hoping to get long-term contracts done with other players.

Nutting didn’t tip his hand as to which players the Bucs were interested in signing, though it’s easy to speculate about potential candidates. Shortstop Oneil Cruz is one option, as the 6’7″ infielder has hit 19 home runs in his first 98 big league games.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Pirates and Cruz’s representatives at Vayner Sports had discussed a longer-term deal during Spring Training. According to Mackey, talks never got particularly close and seem to have been tabled during the season.

That’s hardly a huge concern. Cruz entered the season with less than one year of service time. He won’t reach free agency until after the 2028 campaign and seems unlikely to qualify for arbitration before 2026. There’s plenty of time to rekindle talks down the line. Even if nothing ever comes together, the Pirates can keep him around for the bulk of the decade.

The more immediate concern is Cruz’s health. The 24-year-old broke his left ankle nine games into the season. He underwent surgery that came with a four-month recovery timeline, putting his projected return sometime in August. Manager Derek Shelton said over the weekend that Cruz’s rehab remains on schedule, while the young slugger reiterated he expects to return this season (link via Justice delos Santos of MLB.com).

Without Cruz, the Pirates have used a rotating cast at shortstop. Rodolfo Castro and Tucupita Marcano have split the bulk of the reps while Ji Hwan Bae and Chris Owings (who was recently designated for assignment) have also factored in. They’ve done a solid job offensively. Bucs’ shortstops entered play Monday with a .254/.336/.398 line that placed them in the top half of the league in all three slash stats. It’s been a struggle on the other side of the ball, however. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have rated Pirates’ shortstops among the two worst defensive groups this year.

Cruz isn’t without defensive questions himself. He’s faced some predictable skepticism about whether he’ll be able to stick at shortstop given his height and extremely long levers. His massive power-speed upside made him a top-tier prospect in spite of those questions, though, and the Bucs are surely hoping he’ll contribute to a potential playoff push down the stretch.

Pittsburgh has plenty more young talent approaching the major league level. Their rebuild has led to one of the game’s deeper organizational pipelines, which will be further strengthened when they pick first overall this summer. It’s the second time in three years they’re at the top of the draft.

In 2021, the Bucs tabbed Louisville catcher Henry Davis with the top selection. Two years later, he’s reached the highest minor league level. The Pirates promoted Davis to Triple-A Indianapolis yesterday, a deserved bump after he mashed at a .284/.433/.547 clip in Double-A Altoona.

Davis joins 23-year-old Endy Rodríguez — an arguably even more talented prospect — as catchers with Indianapolis. General manager Ben Cherington addressed the enviable “problem” of having two young players of that caliber sharing reps in Triple-A (link via Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic). Cherington indicated it’d be a roughly even split of playing time behind  the dish, with both players also seeing time at other positions.

Davis has gotten some work in right field this year. Rodríguez has played left field and second base in the past but been limited to catcher or first base in 2023. Cherington noted that neither is being considered for a full-time position switch, as any non-catching work is primarily a means of getting both in the lineup concurrently.

While many Pirates’ fans are surely pining for a look at one of those young players at the major league level, Cherington pushed back against the possibility of an imminent call-up. He expressed confidence in the duo of Austin Hedges and Jason Delay as a defensive pairing.

Hedges, signed to a $5MM free agent contract, is generally regarded as one of the sport’s best defensive backstops. He annually draws elite marks for his pitch framing and ability to block balls in the dirt. Hedges has been solid at controlling the running game and is routinely praised for his management of a pitching staff. That acumen is enough for teams to overlook a lack of offensive contributions, as he’s among the sport’s least effective hitters on an annual basis. He owns a .179/.240/.221 line through his first 110 plate appearances as a Pirate.

Delay has a much better .310/.359/.437 slash on the season, though he’s unlikely to sustain anything approaching his current .404 batting average on balls in play. He’s gotten solid marks from Statcast for his pitch framing over the past two seasons, however. So long as the Pirates are using Hedges as the primary catcher, it’s sensible to keep the 28-year-old Delay as the #2 option while letting Davis and Rodríguez play regularly in Triple-A.

Red Sox Expected To Promote Chris Murphy

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The Red Sox are planning to recall Chris Murphy during their upcoming series with the Guardians, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link). It’s not yet clear whether he’ll make a start or break in out of the bullpen but the Sox lost Chris Sale to the injured list last week.

In either case, Murphy is in position to make his major league debut. It’s a great birthday present for the left-hander, who turns 25 today. Murphy is already on the 40-man roster after the Sox added him to keep him out of last winter’s Rule 5 draft. They’ll only need to make an active roster move whenever he’s formally promoted.

A University of San Diego product, Murphy has spent the past few seasons in the middle ranks of the Boston farm system. Baseball America has slotted him between 12th and 15th among Sox prospects four years running. He checked in 13th at BA and 11th on Keith Law’s ranking at The Athletic last winter. Both outlets credit him with a solid four-pitch arsenal headlined by his changeup. BA and Law each suggest he has a back-of-the-rotation caliber repertoire but might be better suited for long relief thanks to inconsistent control.

Even a swing role would be strong value for a player who signed for $200K as a sixth round pick in 2019. Murphy has had a spotty showing through ten appearances with Triple-A Worcester this year. He’s allowed a 7.71 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. A .385 average on balls in play surely hasn’t helped matters, though he’s also walked nearly 13% of batters faced. He is coming off a scoreless three-inning outing last week in which he allowed only one baserunner with a trio of strikeouts.

Murphy is an upper minors pitcher who’s already on the 40-man roster and capable of covering multiple innings. He’s in his first of three option years and can bounce between Boston and Worcester without being placed on waivers. Even if his initial MLB stint is a spot start or relief appearance, he’s on the organizational radar as a depth option.

Upcoming Club Option Decisions: AL East

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Last week, MLBTR took an early look at offseason option decisions facing teams in the National League. We’ll continue our division by division series by checking in on players in the AL East whose contracts contain club or mutual options for next season. The Rays are the only AL East team not slated to have any option calls to make.

Previous entries: NL East, NL Central, NL West

Baltimore Orioles

  • Mychal Givens: $6MM mutual option ($2MM buyout if team declines, $1MM buyout if player declines)

Givens has bounced around in journeyman fashion over the past few seasons. The middle reliever returned to his original stomping grounds in Baltimore on a $5MM free agent guarantee. He hasn’t had any chance to get into a rhythm yet, however. He opened the season on the injured list with left knee inflammation. He was out until late May and made four appearances, allowing six runs in four innings while working with diminished velocity. The O’s put him back on the IL last week, citing inflammation in his throwing shoulder.

Boston Red Sox

Kluber signed a $10MM free agent guarantee with Boston over the offseason. He’d been a reliable innings-eating veteran for the Rays last year. Kluber hasn’t been a Cy Young-caliber pitcher for quite some time, but Boston envisioned him as a stabilizing mid-rotation presence in a starting staff full of unproven or injury-riddled options.

It hasn’t worked out that way. Kluber was tagged for a 6.26 ERA through his first nine starts. His strikeout rate dropped to a career-worst 17.7% clip, and he served up home runs at an untenable 2.38 HR/9 pace. The Sox bumped Kluber out of the rotation two weeks ago, pushing him into multi-inning relief. He’s tossed three innings of two-run ball in his first bullpen appearances in a decade.

An injury to Chris Sale could get Kluber another rotation opportunity, but he’ll have to pitch much better than he did in the first two months of the season for the Sox to entertain an $11MM+ option. The option price would escalate by $500K if Kluber makes 20 starts and an additional $750K apiece at 25 and 30 starts (which look unlikely based on the bullpen move).

The Sox signed Rodríguez to a $2MM free agent deal at the beginning of last offseason. He suffered an oblique strain in Spring Training and was knocked out of commission for six weeks. The 31-year-old has returned to pitch in four games but surrendered nine runs. He went back on the 15-day IL over the weekend with shoulder inflammation. This appears on its way to a buyout.

Rodríguez isn’t the only veteran lefty reliever who’s battling injury problems. Bleier landed in Boston via a change-of-scenery bullpen swap that sent Matt Barnes to Miami. While the soft-tossing southpaw is inducing ground balls at a strong 51.5% clip, that’s below the career 61.5% grounder rate he carried into the year. He’s never missed bats. The 36-year-old is a grounder specialist with elite control. He’s been uncharacteristically prone to hard contact in his early stint in Boston, contributing to a 5.85 ERA through 20 innings. The Sox placed Bleier on the 15-day IL due to shoulder inflammation a couple weeks ago. It’s early but trending towards a buyout as well.

New York Yankees

Donaldson is playing out the final guaranteed season of the four-year free agent deal he signed with the Twins in 2020. The Yankees took on the contract in the 2022 trade that also brought in Isiah Kiner-Falefa. (That trade converted a ’24 club option into a mutual option.) It’s a move New York would like to have back, with both Kiner-Falefa and Donaldson underwhelming in the Bronx.

Donaldson, the 2015 AL MVP, had his worst offensive showing in a decade last year. He hit .222/.308/.374 over 546 plate appearances while striking out at a career-worst 27.1% rate. Public metrics still loved Donaldson’s defense at the hot corner. Despite some offseason speculation the Yankees could try to offload some of his contract, they didn’t seem to come close to finding a taker and opened this season with Donaldson back at third base. He played only five games before suffering a right hamstring injury that cost him almost two months. The Yankees activated him from the IL over the weekend, and he promptly hit two home runs in his return — followed by an 0-for-4.

With a hefty $6MM buyout, there’s only a $10MM net call on the option. That’s not an outlandish price for a solid everyday player, but Donaldson’s offensive drop-off, age, and recent injury history all raise questions about whether he should be a regular on a team with playoff aspirations. Barring a summer offensive outburst from the three-time All-Star, the team is probably buying this out.

Toronto Blue Jays

  • Chad Green: Team has three-year, $27MM option (if declined, Green and team have conditional options)

Green signed a complex free agent deal as he works back from May ’22 Tommy John surgery. He’s making $2.25MM this year. At season’s end, the Jays will have to decide whether to trigger three consecutive $9MM options (essentially a three-year, $27MM contract for 2024-26). If the team declines, the right-hander would get a $6.25MM player option for next year only. If Green passes on that, the Jays would have to make a call on a two-year, $21MM option for 2024-25.

With a year removed from surgery, Green recently progressed to throwing batting practice (via MLB.com injury tracker). A post All-Star Break return to MLB action is on track. While guaranteeing Green $27MM based on a couple good months after Tommy John surgery seems unlikely, the Jays were at least open enough to the possibility to sign him to the contract in the first place. There haven’t been any notable setbacks in the four months since they put pen to paper.

The Jays acquired Merrifield from the Royals last summer. It was a buy-low move while the former American League hits leader was scuffling, and he’s gotten on track north of the border. Merrifield has a .292/.339/.413 batting line as a Blue Jay. That includes a .299/.349/.399 showing in 2023 that has locked him in as Toronto’s starting second baseman.

While Toronto has gotten what they’d wanted from Merrifield, it’s hard to envision them exercising this option. The $17.5MM price point is lofty, particularly when considering the market has tended to devalue contact-oriented second basemen. The Phillies bought out a $17MM option on Jean Segura last winter, for instance; he found a $17MM guarantee spread over two years from the Marlins on the open market. The Brewers did exercise a $10MM option on Kolten Wong but promptly traded him to Seattle in a buy-low flier for Jesse Winker. An $8-12MM per-year salary for Merrifield is more reasonable, particularly when considering that he’ll turn 35 next January.

  • Yimi García: $5MM club option ($1MM buyout); option vests at $6MM with 49 appearances or 49 innings pitched in 2023

García signed a two-year guarantee with a club/vesting option over the 2021-22 offseason. The option would vest at $6MM if he combines for 110 innings or 110 outings between 2022-23. García threw 61 innings in as many appearances last season, leaving 49 more to check off.

He’s well on his way to doing so. García has made 26 appearances and tossed 24 2/3 innings entering play Monday. He’s 23 outings or 24 1/3 frames shy of triggering the vesting provision. Unless the veteran righty sustains a notable injury, he should clear that threshold.

Even if García doesn’t vest the option, it’s not out of the question the Jays would bring him back. There’d be a $4MM difference between the club option price and the buyout. García was solid in year one, working to a 3.10 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate. A massive .368 average on balls in play has led to a 6.20 ERA thus far in 2023, but García’s peripherals are strong as ever. He’s striking out 26.5% of batters faced while inducing grounders on half the batted balls he allows. He’s averaging 96 mph on his heater. His ball in play results figure to stabilize.

Note: Austin Voth signed an arbitration contract that contained a 2024 club option. He’d remain eligible for arbitration next season even if the option is declined and has accordingly been excluded from this list.

Mariners To Promote Bryan Woo

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TODAY: The Mariners made the move official, selecting Woo’s contract and placing Gonzales on the 15-day IL with a forearm strain. To clear room for Woo on the 40-man roster, right-hander Easton McGee was transferred to the 60-day IL.

June 2: The Mariners are calling up pitching prospect Bryan Woo to start tomorrow’s game against the Rangers, tweets Corey Brock of the Athletic. Left-hander Marco Gonzales was slated to start but has been scratched with a forearm issue. It seems likely he’ll hit the 15-day injured list in a corresponding move, though that hasn’t yet been announced.

Woo, 23, is in the majors for the first time. A sixth round pick in 2021 out of Cal Poly, Woo has significantly elevated his stock in pro ball. He posted huge strikeout numbers in the low minors last season, cementing himself as one of the better prospects in the Seattle farm system. Baseball America slotted Woo seventh among M’s prospects over the offseason, praising his three-pitch arsenal and athleticism.

BA suggests Woo could settle in as a back-of-the-rotation starter at his peak. Keith Law of the Athletic credited Woo with mid-rotation upside but suggested spotty command could eventually push him towards a relief role. He’ll break into the big leagues as a starter, making the jump directly past Triple-A in the process.

The right-hander has made nine starts for Double-A Arkansas on the season. He’s posted a brilliant 2.05 ERA through 44 innings with an excellent 34% strikeout rate. Woo has kept his free passes to a 7% clip, a particularly promising development considering the strike-throwing questions some evaluators expressed over the winter.

Seattle has already gotten strong results from one rookie righty this season. Bryce Miller has excelled through six starts, adding an exciting complement to their already fantastic trio of Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. Gonzales has had a tougher go as the fifth starter, posting a 5.22 ERA over 50 innings.

While Gonzales has never missed many bats, he’s posted solid back-of-the-rotation numbers for the bulk of his Seattle tenure. He’s an excellent strike-thrower and has typically been durable. He missed around a month during the 2021 season with a forearm strain, however, and he’s again battling forearm issues. The extent of the injury is to be determined, as Brock notes he’s headed for further evaluation.

Chris Flexen filled in the rotation earlier this season. He struggled and was moved to the bullpen and fared much better in long relief. Flexen hasn’t pitched in four days and could’ve been an option to take a spot start in Gonzales’ stead, but the M’s have elected to dip into their farm system for one of their most talented young arms.

Woo won’t reach a full year of service time even if he’s up for good. He’ll be controllable through at least 2029 and wouldn’t qualify for arbitration until after the 2025 season at the earliest. Additional minor league assignments could push that timeline back.

The Mariners will need to formally add him to the 40-man roster tomorrow. Seattle is technically at capacity but could move either of Dylan Moore or Robbie Ray to the 60-day injured list without issue. Moore has already spent more than two months on the shelf; Ray is out for the season.

Red Sox Place Chris Sale On Injured List With Shoulder Inflammation

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The Red Sox have placed starter Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Corey Kluber was reinstated from the paternity list to take the active roster spot.

Sale left last night’s start in the fourth inning as his velocity was dropping. The Sox announced afterwards that he’d head for imaging. Sale addressed the Boston beat this evening, saying it’ll be around a week before he receives an official diagnosis (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). He said he doesn’t believe he’ll require surgery but it looks unlikely he’ll be back when first eligible a couple weeks from now.

Injuries have become unfortunately familiar for Sale over the past few years. One of the sport’s most durable arms between 2012-18, he’s battled health concerns since entering his 30s. He lost all of 2020 and most of ’21 to Tommy John surgery. Sale’s 2022 campaign was marred by a number of issues. He lost the first half of the year to a stress reaction in his ribs. Two starts into his return, he fractured a finger on his throwing hand when he was struck by a comebacker. Sale’s season officially ended in August when he broke his wrist in a bicycle accident.

This year’s 59 innings are already the most he’s logged since 2019. The seven-time All-Star has a middling 4.58 ERA through 11 starts. His underlying numbers are quite a bit better. Sale has punched out 28.5% of opponents and kept his walk rate to a tidy 6%. He’d had the results to match in May, posting a 2.42 ERA while holding batters to a .183/.224/.355 line in 26 frames.

Boston will have to proceed without arguably their best starter for at least two weeks. The Sox have run with Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello and James Paxton alongside Sale in the rotation. Kluber and Nick Pivetta each recently moved from the starting five to the bullpen. One of that duo — presumably Kluber, the more recent of the two to slide to relief — is likely to step back into the rotation.

Brewers To Select Jon Singleton

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The Brewers are selecting the contract of first baseman Jon Singleton, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Milwaukee has an opening on the 40-man roster after releasing Luke Voit this week, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding 26-man move.

It sets the stage for Singleton’s first major league action in nearly eight years. A top prospect during his days in the Astros’ farm system a decade ago, he signed a $10MM extension before reaching the majors. Singleton debuted midway through the 2014 campaign but slumped to a .168/.285/.335 line over 362 plate appearances. He’d get into 18 games the following year, with what seemed to be his final MLB appearance coming in October 2015.

After a season and a half in the upper minors, Singleton was hit with a third career suspension for a failed drug of abuse test. The Astros released him and he was out of the sport entirely for a couple seasons. Singleton has since spoken about his struggle with marijuana addiction. After a few years away, he began a comeback in Mexico in 2021. A monster showing there led Milwaukee to add him on a minor league deal for 2022.

Singleton has spent the past season-plus with the Brewers’ top affiliate in Nashville. He hit .219/.374/.439 there last season. The Brewers re-signed him and carried him on the 40-man roster for a spell over the offseason before waiving him on the eve of Spring Training. He returned to the organization on a new minor league deal and is hitting well for the Sounds.

In 48 games, Singleton owns a .259/.387/.489 line. He’s connected on ten home runs, walked at a stellar 17.5% clip and kept his strikeouts to a lower than average 19.3% rate. Singleton showed plenty of patience and power last season as well but he’s putting the ball in play far more consistently this year. He’s sliced his strikeout percentage more than eight points from 27.7% year over year.

As a result, Singleton earns a promotion that marks a huge moment in an incredible comeback effort. He returns to the big leagues a few months shy of his 32nd birthday having overcome the personal hurdles about which he’s been open. Now that he’s back in the majors, he’ll add a left-handed first base/designated hitter option to Craig Counsell’s bench. The Brewers have Rowdy Tellez and Darin Ruf in a first base platoon. The latter suffered a leg laceration in this evening’s game, however, raising the possibility of an injured list stint.

Duane Underwood Jr. Accepts Outright Assignment With Pirates

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Pirates reliever Duane Underwood Jr. has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis, tweets Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The right-hander went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last weekend.

This was the likeliest outcome following Underwood’s DFA. He and the Pirates had agreed to a $1.025MM contract to avoid arbitration over the offseason. Underwood has between three and five years of MLB service time, meaning he could’ve chosen free agency but would’ve had to surrender that guaranteed money to do so.

It has been a tough start to the season for the 28-year-old. Underwood logged 24 1/3 innings over 20 appearances but stumbled to a 5.18 ERA. He struck out a below-average 14% of opponents against a lofty 11% walk rate. Underwood has never had pinpoint control but he’s typically had more success missing bats. He fanned 22% of batters faced in 57 1/3 innings last year and carried a career 22.5% strikeout percentage into this season.

Given his slow start and a salary that’s a bit higher than the league minimum, it’s not surprising he went unclaimed on waivers. Underwood will head to Triple-A for the first time since 2019 (aside from one appearance there on a rehab stint last year) and try to find his form. He’d qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if the Pirates don’t add him back to the 40-man roster.

Cardinals Keeping Matthew Liberatore In Rotation, Steven Matz Working From Bullpen

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The Cardinals are keeping left-hander Matthew Liberatore in their rotation, manager Oli Marmol informed the team’s beat this afternoon (relayed by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). St. Louis is officially moving Steven Matz to the bullpen for the time being as the club is returning to a five-man starting staff after briefly using a six-man rotation.

Liberatore has started two of three appearances since being recalled in the middle of May. He’s had middling results, allowing six runs with a 9:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 11 innings. The 23-year-old had pitched very well in Triple-A Memphis earlier in the year. Over eight outings, he had a 3.13 ERA. Liberatore fanned over 30% of batters faced in the minors and induced grounders on exactly half the batted balls he allowed.

In addition to those solid minor league results, the former first round draftee is working with improved raw stuff. He’s averaging 95.2 MPH on his fastball and 77.2 MPH on his curveball this season, each of which is up 2-3 ticks from last year. That hasn’t yet translated to more whiffs at the major league level but he’d gotten swinging strikes on an excellent 14% of his offerings in Triple-A.

Liberatore has impressed the organization enough to stick alongside Jordan Montgomery, Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas and Jack Flaherty in the rotation. That’s paired with a second straight down year for Matz, who heads to relief not even halfway through a four-year, $44MM free agent contract.

Matz logged only 48 innings in his first season as a Cardinal. A shoulder impingement and an MCL tear in his left knee combined to keep him to 15 outings. He posted a 5.25 ERA in that stretch thanks largely to an elevated home run rate but posted more encouraging strikeout and walk numbers. Matz had punched out 26.1% of opponents against a 4.8% walk rate. The Cards hoped those peripherals and better health would result in a bounceback 2023 showing.

That hasn’t materialized thus far. Matz’s homer rate has dropped but he hasn’t found better results. He’s posted a 5.72 ERA as a starter with his strikeout rate dropping to 19.4%. Opponents are hitting .324/.384/.505 in 232 plate appearances. The Cards turned to Matz for multi-inning relief for the first time on Monday. He tossed 2 2/3 frames of one-run ball with four punchouts and added an extra mile per hour to his fastball.

Marmol noted the club is hopeful Matz can pitch his way back into the rotation down the line. Injuries and/or struggles from Liberatore could open that door before too long. For now, though, the veteran southpaw will be available out of the bullpen. Matz is making $10MM this season and will collect respective $12MM salaries from 2024-25.

Forrest Whitley Out 3-4 Months With Lat Strain

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Astros minor league pitcher Forrest Whitley has been diagnosed with a lat strain and will miss between three and four months, the club announced today (relayed by Chandler Rome of the Athletic). That timetable puts his 2023 campaign in jeopardy.

It’s the latest brutal blow for a player who was once among the sport’s top prospects. Whitley was a first round draftee in 2016 and looked like a potential top-of-the-rotation starter early in his pro career. Baseball America ranked the 6’7″ hurler among the sport’s ten most promising minor leaguers in both 2018 and ’19.

Things have unfortunately gone sharply downhill since then. Whitley was suspended for a violation of the minor league drug program in 2018, keeping him to eight starts that year. He battled shoulder issues the next season, then was kept out of game action by the pandemic cancelation of the minors in 2020. Whitley underwent Tommy John surgery in Spring Training 2021 and only returned towards the tail end of last season.

Whitley opened this year back in Triple-A Sugar Land. He surrendered a 5.70 ERA over 30 innings while struggling to throw strikes. Whitley’s 23.7% strikeout rate was solid but he walked nearly 13% of opposing hitters. He’s had scattershot command the past few years, though that’s not especially surprising since the injuries have prevented him from staying on the mound consistently.

The Astros added Whitley to the 40-man roster after the 2020 season to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He has still yet to reach the majors. This is his third minor league option year. Most players can only be sent to the minors in three separate seasons before being exposed to waivers. Exceptions are sometimes made for players who’ve spent a significant chunk of time on the injured list, however. Whitley would seem a prime candidate for a fourth option. That likely won’t be known until next offseason.

Houston will have to weigh whether it’s worth keeping Whitley on the 40-man regardless. They could clear a spot in-season by placing him on the MLB 60-day IL and paying him a major league salary for time spent rehabbing. There’s no injured list over the offseason and Whitley will be five years removed from the peak of his prospect stock if he doesn’t return this season.

Orioles Acquire Jose Godoy From Yankees

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The Yankees have traded minor league catcher José Godoy to the Orioles, according to an announcement from New York’s Triple-A affiliate. While there were no specifics on the return, transactions of this nature tend to see a nominal amount of cash sent the other way. Godoy is not on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

Godoy, 28, signed a minor league deal with New York in late March. He’d spent Spring Training with the Angels but was cut loose before the season started. He suited up 11 times with the Yankees’ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate, hitting .270/.341/.514 in 41 trips to the plate. He hadn’t played in a game since May 7 and has spent the past few weeks on the development list (typically used to send non-injured players to an organizational complex).

A left-handed hitter, Godoy has 26 MLB games under his belt. He’s divided those among three teams, logging cups of coffee with each of the Mariners, Pirates and Twins. The Venezuela native is a .271/.324/.412 hitter in parts of four Triple-A campaigns.

The Orioles have a pair of Triple-A catchers — Anthony Bemboom and Maverick Handley — on the minor league injured list. Godoy joins Mark Kolozsvary in Norfolk as a healthy non-roster depth option. The Yankees recently optioned Ben Rortvedt to take the majority of their Triple-A catching work.

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