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Dylan Moore Headed For MRI With Core Discomfort

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Mariners utilityman Dylan Moore hasn’t played all season. He suffered a Grade 1 oblique strain during Spring Training, an injury that shut him down from baseball activities for a few weeks. It looked as if he was nearing his return, as he embarked on a rehab assignment with High-A Everett on Tuesday.

Moore only played in one game for the AquaSox, tallying three plate appearances. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that Moore experienced some core discomfort coming out of that game. He’ll be returned from his rehab assignment and head to Philadelphia for an MRI.

The right-handed hitter indicated his current soreness isn’t in the oblique area. It’s concerning nevertheless, as Moore had a core injury late last season that necessitated offseason surgery. His upcoming imaging will be with the surgeon who performed that procedure, according to Divish.

Moore signed a three-year extension in February. That was a testament to the value the Seattle front office and coaching staff put on his defensive flexibility, baserunning and right-handed bat. Moore’s offense has been up-and-down throughout his career, but he’s coming off a .224/.368/.385 showing in 255 plate appearances. Consistently high strikeout totals have resulted in a lowly .208 career batting average. Moore draws plenty of walks and has enough power to post roughly league average on-base (.317) and slugging (.384) marks after considering Seattle’s pitcher-friendly park.

The Mariners planned for Moore to platoon with trade acquisition Kolten Wong at second base. The lefty-hitting Wong has taken the bulk of the at-bats, with a handful of plate appearances going to Sam Haggerty and José Caballero. Seattle second basemen enter play Friday with a woeful .088/.171/.103 line over 77 trips, largely because of Wong’s frigid start with his new team. The veteran infielder is hitting .098/.190/.098 over 16 games as a Mariner.

In more fortunate injury news, reliever Andrés Muñoz is set to begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Tacoma next week, tweets the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude. Muñoz hit the injured list on April 8 with a deltoid strain. It seems he’s in line to return not long after a minimal 15-day absence. The flamethrowing right-hander worked 65 innings of 2.49 ERA ball with an elite 38.7% strikeout percentage last season, breaking through as one of the sport’s best late-game weapons.

Latest Details On A’s Stadium Process

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A potentially monumental change to the MLB landscape was announced late last night. A’s team president Dave Kaval confirmed the club was firmly turning its attention to Las Vegas in its stadium search after months of parallel discussions with both Vegas and Oakland.

The A’s entered into an agreement to purchase 49 acres in Las Vegas for what they hope to be the location of their next stadium. That led Oakland mayor Sheng Thao to announce the end of negotiations between the city and the franchise regarding a potential new Howard Terminal ballpark in Oakland.

Given yesterday’s events, it now seems very likely the A’s will relocate to Vegas within the next few years. Nothing has yet been finalized, however; the franchise’s land purchase is not the same as a binding stadium agreement, which involves many more hurdles at the government level. A’s leadership and Nevada politicians have both expressed general optimism about a stadium agreement getting done, though there’s still plenty of work to be done in sorting out the details.

Howard Stutz, Tabitha Mueller and Sean Golonka of the Nevada Independent shed more light on the proposal the A’s are likely to put in front of the state legislature within the next couple months. The A’s would invest around $1 billion for the construction of the new ballpark. The organization is seeking the creation of what Kaval calls an “incentives package” for half a billion dollars in public funding. According to the Nevada Independent, the general idea would be to use tax dollars created by the stadium project itself — primarily sales taxes of consumers at the new stadium and its surrounding area (Kaval suggested the end goal would be to create a mixed use development reminiscent of Atlanta’s Battery) — to pay off $500MM worth of bonds issued by the county.

According to the Independent’s report, Nevada legislators have been generally briefed on the proposal. They haven’t yet received concrete details nor made any firm commitments on the project. Various reports have suggested Nevada governor Joe Lombardo is generally supportive of the project, though a spokeswoman tells the Independent that “(t)here is no set timeline (for an official stadium agreement). The financial elements of the concept are still being discussed.” Stutz, Mueller and Golonka note that the legislature remains in session through June 5. If no agreement is in place by then, the legislature could call a special session to continue negotiations into the summer.

The A’s lease at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland runs through the end of next season. Kaval has pegged 2027 as a target date for a new facility in Las Vegas. He told reporters last night the organization was hopeful of having a binding stadium contract in place by the end of this year and breaking ground on the stadium in 2024. (Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the A’s need to have a stadium agreement signed by next January 15 or they’d forfeit their status as revenue sharing recipients.)

Obviously, there’d be a two-year gap between the end of the A’s lease at the Coliseum and the target date for the new facility in Vegas. Kaval addressed that this afternoon, telling the media the organization was open to both extending their lease at the Coliseum by two years or finding a temporary home in Las Vegas (as relayed by Shayna Rubin of the Bay Area News Group). The A’s Triple-A club, the Aviators, play in Vegas and could potentially house the MLB team while ballpark construction is ongoing.

Kaval made clear the club has no plans to displace the Triple-A team over the long term (link via Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal). “The Aviators are going to stay as part of this,” Kaval said. “Kind of like how there’s the Golden Knights and Silver Knights, we’re going to have the A’s and Aviators both in the community. We’re going to have our major league team and our Triple-A team co-located.” He pointed out the Astros (Houston to Sugar Land) and Twins (Minneapolis to St. Paul) both have their top affiliates in close proximity to the major league club.

While there’s obvious optimism on the part of A’s leadership about their next steps in Las Vegas, there’s predictably disappointment and anger among some in Oakland. The Oakland mayor was critical of the A’s negotiating tactics in announcing the end of discussions regarding the Howard Terminal project last night. Thao doubled down this morning, accusing the franchise of pulling the rug out from under talks at a time when city officials perceived they were making progress.

“Based on the A’s desire to achieve certainty in 2023, we laid out a detailed and specific plan to bring the project forward to a City Council vote this summer,” she told reporters (link via Rachel Swan and Sarah Ravani of the San Francisco Chronicle). “But it has become clear that we are not able to reach acceptable terms and that the A’s are not good partners in the effort.” She added the city had recently hired a mediator to shepherd daily negotiations throughout this week, saying the sides “were the closest we had ever been to making a deal” until Kaval informed the city about the land deal in Vegas yesterday evening.

Swan and Ravani note that Thao has left open the possibility of reopening negotiations. That’d presumably require a major setback in the A’s efforts in Las Vegas at this point. For now, the organization’s focus is clearly on getting a stadium agreement hammered out in the Nevada legislature, which would then allow the A’s to petition MLB for relocation. Commissioner Rob Manfred has already expressed his support for the A’s efforts in Las Vegas, announcing last year the league would waive the A’s relocation fee if they went there. Formal relocation requires approval from 75% of the league’s ownership groups.

Alex Wood To Miss Several Weeks With Hamstring Strain

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Giants starter Alex Wood left his start on Tuesday in the third inning after straining his hamstring while fielding a bunt. San Francisco placed him on the 15-day injured list the next morning, and it seems he’s in for an absence well beyond that minimum.

San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler told reporters this evening Wood will be out “several weeks, at least” (relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). There’s still not a ton of specificity in that timeline, but it’s clear he won’t be back in early May.

It’s another unfortunate issue for Wood, a typically effective pitcher who has battled various injury concerns throughout his career. The left-hander only topped 150 innings in four of his first ten MLB seasons. He’s had at least one IL stint in every year since 2015. Back and shoulder issues have typically been his most nagging concerns, but he’s now in for a notable absence due to a lower half injury.

While Wood missed a bit of time in both 2021-22, he managed to make 26 starts in each of those seasons. He posted a 3.83 ERA through 138 2/3 innings during his first year in San Francisco. The Giants re-signed him on a two-year, $25MM contract headed into 2022. Wood surrendered a 5.10 ERA over 130 2/3 frames last year.

That middling run prevention came with far better peripherals. He posted better than average strikeout, walk and ground-ball marks. A .315 batting average on balls in play and very low 63.9% left-on-base rate were the main culprits for Wood allowing more than five earned runs per nine. Estimators like FIP (3.76) and SIERA (3.45) felt he deserved quite a bit better.

Wood had been off to an alright start in 2023. He’d allowed four runs (two earned) through his first 10 innings. The 32-year-old had walked six batters but fanned 11. He’ll have to put things on pause for a while before trying to reestablish himself in advance of next offseason’s free agency. Offseason signee Ross Stripling now looks likely to return to the rotation alongside Logan Webb, Sean Manaea, Alex Cobb and Anthony DeSclafani. Stripling had been set to work primarily as a multi-inning reliever after struggling with home runs through the season’s first couple weeks.

Padres Reinstate Fernando Tatis Jr.

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Fernando Tatis Jr. is back in the majors. The Padres officially reinstated him from the restricted list following the completion of his performance-enhancing drug suspension on Thursday evening. San Diego optioned infielder/outfeilder Brandon Dixon to Triple-A El Paso to open room on the big league roster. The Friars transferred reliever Robert Suarez from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Tatis steps into the leadoff spot tonight against Arizona right-hander Ryne Nelson. He’ll play right field in his first MLB contest since October 3, 2021. Tatis is expected to play right field on a near everyday basis in 2023. He lost his former shortstop position when San Diego inked Xander Bogaerts to a $280MM free agent contract over the winter. With Ha-Seong Kim, Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado rounding out the infield, Tatis gets kicked onto the grass.

While there’ll certainly be some intrigue about how he acclimates to a position at which he has just 151 1/3 innings of MLB experience, the primary question will be how quickly he finds his stride offensively. Tatis was one of the game’s best hitters over his first three seasons, combining to hit .282/.364/.611 between 2019-21. By measure of wRC+, that was the ninth-best offensive output among batters with at least 500 plate appearances.

Whether the 24-year-old can recapture that kind of production remains to be seen. Since his last MLB game, he’s undergone three surgeries — two on the left wrist he fractured in a motorcycle accident, one on his left shoulder that had ailed him back to 2021. He also tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Clostebol and was handed an 80-game suspension at the start of last August. That carried into this season, with Tatis sitting out the Friars’ first 20 games. San Diego has opened with a middling 9-11 start, allowing ten more runs than they’ve scored.

Tatis was permitted to play in Spring Training. He got into 16 exhibition games, hitting .273/.340/.432. Shortly after the regular season opened, Tatis went on a rehab stint with El Paso. He was the best hitter in the Pacific Coast League for a week. Tatis blasted seven home runs, walked six times and struck out on just three occasions in eight games. He hit .515/.590/1.212 in 39 trips to the plate for the Chihuahuas before reporting to the Padres a few days ago.

Players on the restricted list don’t count against the 40-man roster. To clear a spot, San Diego transferred Suarez to the 60-day IL. That backdates to his Opening Day placement on the injured list but still officially rules him out until the final week in May.

Suarez opened the season on the IL with inflammation in his throwing elbow. He was shut down from throwing at the start of this month after feeling continued discomfort and is without a clear recovery timetable. It’s an inauspicious start to the five-year, $46MM contract he inked at the start of last offseason. The hard-throwing Suarez provided the Padres 47 2/3 innings of 2.27 ERA ball during his initial MLB campaign last year, emerging as one of their highest-leverage relievers by the playoffs.

Max Scherzer Given 10-Game Suspension; Will Not Appeal

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7:53pm: In a surprising twist, Scherzer informed reporters this evening he’s elected not to appeal after all (video provided by SNY). The right-hander said he’d initially believed an appeal would be heard by a neutral arbitrator but later was informed it would go in front of an MLB official. (Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic specifies that special assistant to the commissioner John McHale would have heard the appeal.) As a result, Scherzer conceded he wouldn’t win and has elected not to pursue it.

He’ll begin serving his ban tonight and is ineligible to return until May 1. Because Scherzer was suspended for an on-field rules violation, the Mets are not permitted to replace him on the active roster. They’ll roll with 25 players for the remainder of the month.

6:56pm: Major League Baseball announced Thursday evening that Mets star Max Scherzer has been suspended for ten games for “violating the prohibitions on foreign substances.” He was also fined an undisclosed amount, which Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports at $10K (Twitter link).

Foreign substance ejections come with an automatic ten-game suspension, so this has seemed likely since Scherzer was thrown out of yesterday’s start against the Dodgers. Scherzer stated after yesterday’s game that he’d appeal any suspension. Heyman tweets this evening that he plans to do so. Scherzer has been adamant he was only using legally-permissible rosin, swearing on the life of his children in the process. Umpires Phil Cuzzi and Dan Bellino, however, explained after the game that Scherzer’s hand was stickier than any other they had inspected previously.

Bellino opined that Scherzer had used “something likely more than rosin” based on its stickiness. MLB’s announcement reflected a similar sentiment. “Based on the umpires’ training to detect rosin on a pitcher’s hands, they concluded that the level of stickiness during the fourth inning check was so extreme that it was inconsistent with the use of rosin and/or sweat alone,” the league wrote. MLB’s press release says umpires “appropriately ejected Mr. Scherzer from the game” at that point.

While the league apparently believes Scherzer applied an illicit substance other than rosin, its press release also points to another potential justification for the ejection/suspension. MLB points out that it sent a memo to clubs during Spring Training reminding that “when used excessively or otherwise misapplied (i.e., to gloves or other parts of the uniform), rosin may be determined by the umpires to be a prohibited foreign substance, the use of which may subject a player to ejection and discipline.” Whether because of the umpiring crew’s determination Scherzer had used a non-rosin sticky substance or the possibility the three-time Cy Young winner applied too much of the otherwise permissible rosin, the league imposed discipline.

It was reported back in June 2021 the league was planning to crack down on the use of “sticky stuff” that pitchers use to improve their grip on the baseball but also to increase spin rates. Two players were suspended not too long after that, with Héctor Santiago of the Mariners getting hit later that same month, followed by Caleb Smith of the Diamondbacks in August. No suspensions were handed out last year, but it was reported in February the league was planning to further crack down this year.

Scherzer declined comment when speaking with Mets’ reporters this evening. He said only that his camp is “working on it” in reference to fighting the ban (relayed by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). There’s sure to be more clarity on the appeals process over the next few days.

If Scherzer indeed has to sit out for a week and a half, it’ll deal another hit to a rotation already down Justin Verlander, José Quintana and Carlos Carrasco to injury. That has pushed David Peterson and Tylor Megill into the starting five alongside Kodai Senga and previously necessitated a spot start from José Butto.

Skipper Buck Showalter told reporters tonight that left-hander  Joey Lucchesi will be recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to start tomorrow’s game against the Giants (via Mike Puma of the New York Post). It’ll represent Lucceshi’s first MLB action in nearly two years. He lost all of last season to Tommy John surgery.

Jose Iglesias Opts Out Of Deal With Marlins

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Shortstop José Iglesias has triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Marlins, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Feinsand adds that Iglesias is returning to free agency, indicating Miami has chosen not to override the opt-out by adding him to the big league roster.

The veteran infielder lingered on the open market for the bulk of the offseason. He caught on with the Fish on a minor league pact during the second week of March. Iglesias collected three hits in 15 at-bats over seven exhibition games. He had a chance to retest free agency a couple weeks later after the Marlins informed him he wouldn’t make the Opening Day roster.

Iglesias passed on the first opt-out and agreed to stick in the organization. He never appeared for Triple-A Jacksonville, though, and he’ll now return to the open market in search of a new opportunity. Iglesias is only a season removed from being a regular shortstop in the major leagues. He played in 118 games and tallied 467 trips to the plate for the Rockies last year, hitting .292/.328/.380 with a meager 12% strikeout rate.

The 33-year-old still brandishes excellent bat-to-ball skills. He’s never been one to take many walks or hit for home run power. Iglesias’ best seasons were built around high batting averages and strong marks for his shortstop defense. Public metrics have soured on his glove since he’s gotten into his 30s. Statcast has pegged him as a league average defender in each of the past two seasons. Defensive Runs Saved, meanwhile, has graded him a staggering 26 runs worse than average at the position since the start of the 2021 campaign.

A team that feels Iglesias is still a viable shortstop defender could have interest in his services. The Dodgers recently lost Miguel Rojas to the injured list and have considered using Mookie Betts at shortstop for the first time in his MLB career. They’d make sense as a speculative fit for Iglesias, who has over 8000 big league innings. Teams like the Reds and A’s have gotten very little out of the position through the season’s first couple weeks.

That’s also true of the Marlins. Miami’s shortstops own a meager .226/.269/.290 line over 67 plate appearances. General manager Kim Ng and her staff nevertheless prefer to stick with their MLB options rather than turning to Iglesias. The Fish have given the bulk of the work there to Jon Berti, with Joey Wendle and Garrett Hampson picking up a few at-bats.

Reds, Rangers Join Teams Seeking Overdue Rights Fees From Diamond Sports

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The Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy continues, with a handful of new teams seeking missed payments. According to reports from Daniel Kaplan of the Athletic and Alden González of ESPN, the Rangers and Reds joined an MLB motion seeking overdue rights fees this week.

MLB first filed that motion in early April on behalf of the Twins and Guardians. Diamond, the corporation which operates the Bally Sports networks that carry local broadcasts for nearly half of major league teams, informed those clubs it wouldn’t meet its scheduled payments on April 1. The D-Backs filed a separate motion shortly thereafter seeking missed rights payments.

Diamond apparently also recently failed to meet its obligations to the Rangers and Reds. Despite the missed payments, the Bally Sports networks have continued to operate and carry local broadcasts in each market through the season’s first few weeks. Kaplan reports that the Rangers’ deal calls for Diamond to pay the team $111MM this season. The precise value of the first missed payment is unknown.

González writes that the Reds’ situation is a bit different from those of the other clubs. The Reds have an ownership stake (the precise extent of which is unreported) along with Diamond in the Bally Sports Ohio network that carries games in Cincinnati. As a result, they’re bucketed separately from the other franchises involved in the litigation. According to González, Diamond entered into a 15-day window to meet its obligations to the Reds, beginning Monday. If it fails to do so, the team would be able to get out of the deal and turn in-market local broadcasting responsibilities over to MLB.

The other clubs will have to wait a while longer for resolution. The bankruptcy court has scheduled a hearing for May 31 to consider MLB’s motion for those teams’ overdue fees. Diamond is expected to continue all broadcasts until then. The Reds’ partial ownership offers a potentially quicker endpoint in their case, though that’s only if Diamond doesn’t meet its obligations to them in the intervening two weeks.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has stated on numerous occasions that the league is prepared to take over local broadcasting for teams whose contracts are defaulted. For any local broadcasting deals that fall through, MLB would be able to make games available in-market through streaming and cable platforms free of blackout restrictions.

A’s Turn Attention To Las Vegas, Agree To Land Purchase For Nevada Stadium Site

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The Athletics appear on track to relocate to Las Vegas by 2027. According to a report from Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the A’s have agreed to a land deal to purchase 49 acres (with an option for an additional eight acres) just west of the Las Vegas strip. The land deal is the only official step to this point. There is no formal stadium agreement yet, but it’s clear the franchise is firmly turning its attention away from its current home.

“For a while we were on parallel paths (with Oakland), but we have turned our attention to Las Vegas to get a deal here for the A’s and find a long-term home,” team president Dave Kaval told Akers. “Oakland has been a great home for us for over 50 years, but we really need this 20-year saga completed and we feel there’s a path here in Southern Nevada to do that.”

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the news in a statement to the Review-Journal: “We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year.”

Oakland mayor Sheng Thao confirmed that negotiations between the A’s and its current city are ending (via Sarah Ravani of the San Francisco Chronicle). There’d been reports of progress between the sides in recent months as they negotiated over a possible Howard Terminal stadium in Oakland’s Jack London Square. With the revelation that won’t come to be, the mayor excoriated franchise leadership, accusing them of using negotiations with Oakland merely “to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas.”

“I am deeply disappointed that the A’s have chosen not to negotiate with the City of Oakland as a true partner, in a way that respects the long relationship between the fans, the City and the team,” Thao said. “The City has gone above and beyond in our attempts to arrive at mutually beneficial terms to keep the A’s in Oakland. In the last three months, we’ve made significant strides to close the deal. … In a time of budget deficits, I refuse to compromise the safety and well-being of our residents. Given these realities, we are ceasing negotiations and moving forward on alternatives for the redevelopment of Howard Terminal.”

Howard Stutz and Tabitha Mueller of the Nevada Independent first reported late Wednesday night that the A’s and Las Vegas lawmakers have neared agreement on a stadium deal. Both the Nevada Independent and the Review-Journal report the plan is for a 35,000-seat facility with a partially retractable roof. Kaval confirmed to Akers the site is located roughly a mile north of Allegiant Stadium, home to the Raiders, and around a mile west of the Golden Knights’ T-Mobile Arena.

“It’s really in the sports district,” Kaval said. “So you have all the stadiums kind of clustered in one spot. I think that creates a powerful zone, a kind of energy to it that will benefit the community and also help us be successful running a baseball team.”

The club has not yet gotten official sign-off from state and local legislators. Both reports indicate that Nevada governor Joe Lombardo and top state lawmakers are in general support of the A’s plans, however. The team will make a formal proposal to state and local officials at a later date, though there no longer seems to be much doubt regarding its eventual approval. That the A’s have already entered into the land agreement points to the franchise’s comfort in getting a stadium deal done.

Once an agreement is finalized with the Nevada legislature and governor’s office, the A’s will be able to formally apply to MLB for relocation. Given Manfred’s comments, there’s no reason to believe that won’t receive a stamp of approval. MLB has previously set January 15, 2024, as a deadline for the A’s to have a binding stadium agreement in place if they’re to retain their status as revenue sharing recipients.

Assuming a deal with Las Vegas is indeed finalized by next January, Kaval confirmed plans to begin stadium construction at some time next year. The goal is for the facility to be ready for the opening of the 2027 season.

According to Stutz and Mueller, the plan is for the A’s to cover costs of the stadium. They’d be aided by the creation of a new taxation district covering the area which would allow for the reinvestment of sales tax proceeds and various tax credits. That plan still needs formal legislative approval from both the state and county. The parties will surely work on the specifics over the coming months.

It’s a monumental development for the sport, one that all but ensures the franchise’s forthcoming relocation. It’ll be the first time a club has changed cities in nearly two decades; the most recent relocation occurred in 2005, when the Montreal franchise moved to Washington and rebranded from the Expos to the Nationals. Previously, there’d been no relocations in MLB since 1972.

If the club’s final season in Oakland indeed turns out to be 2026, it’ll end a nearly six-decade run. The A’s first moved to Oakland in 1968, relocating from Kansas City. They’d go on to win four World Series, including a stretch of three consecutive titles within their first six years. They’ve played in the Coliseum for the entirety of that run. Now the fifth-oldest active park in MLB, the Coliseum has been a source of derision from the likes of players, fans and broadcasters in recent years.

Stadium situations for the A’s and Rays have become a significant concern for the league. The Rays have made progress in the past few months on a potential deal to stick in the Tampa area beyond the expiration of their lease in 2027, though nothing is yet official. With the A’s now set on relocation, it seems there’ll be official resolution on both situations within the next three to four years. Manfred has previously suggested the league wouldn’t consider expansion until those stadium issues are sorted out.

The A’s departure comes at a time when the organization has slashed spending and embarked on a full rebuild. No team opened the season with a lower player payroll than their approximate $56.8MM mark, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts. The on-field results have been dismal. They’ve started the season 3-16 and been outscored by a league-worst 86 runs.

The franchise’s likely move from Oakland to Las Vegas aligns with very different trajectories for the broader sports landscape in those cities. Oakland will have lost each of its NBA, NFL and MLB franchises dating back to 2019. The Warriors stayed in the Bay Area but moved to San Francisco; the Raiders preceded the A’s in departing Oakland for Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, the Nevada metropolis will have picked up franchises in each of the NHL, NFL and MLB since 2016. Vegas was granted the Golden Knights as an expansion franchise seven years ago before the Raiders’ relocation took effect in 2020.

KBO’s Hanwha Eagles Sign Ricardo Sanchez, Release Burch Smith

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The Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization announced they’ve signed left-hander Ricardo Sánchez to a $400K contract (h/t to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News).He takes the roster spot of righty Burch Smith, who was released after suffering a strain in his throwing shoulder. Sánchez is a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Sánchez, 26, has been with the White Sox after signing a minor league deal in February. The Venezuelan-born hurler has thrown 6 2/3 innings over three appearances at Triple-A Charlotte, allowing four runs. He’ll apparently be granted his release to pursue this opportunity in South Korea. The $400K guarantee is quite likely a notable jump over what he had been making in Triple-A.

The bulk of Sánchez’s professional experience has been spent in the minors. His MLB résumé consists of three outings for the Cardinals in 2020. He’s logged 123 innings at the Triple-A level, allowing just under five earned runs per nine. Sánchez has a slightly below-average 20.2% strikeout rate and a serviceable 8.2% walk percentage over that stretch.

Smith signed an $800K contract with the Eagles last winter. It didn’t pan out as either team or player had hoped thanks to injury. Smith only lasted into the third inning of his season debut before suffering the shoulder strain. It’s not uncommon for KBO teams to release foreign-born players who suffer an injury given the league’s limit of three foreign players per team. Félix Peña and Brian O’Grady are the Eagles’ other foreign players.

It’s a tough break for Smith, who seems likely to return to free agency. (According to Yoo, he’s presently on waivers.) The 33-year-old has pitched in parts of five big league campaigns. He owns a 6.03 ERA over 191 innings, mostly in relief. Smith’s last MLB action came in 2021, when he posted a 5.40 ERA over 43 1/3 frames for the Athletics.

Rockies Notes: McMahon, Montero, Trejo, Gomber, Senzatela

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The Rockies reshuffled their infield during Spring Training. After losing Gold Glove second baseman Brendan Rodgers to a potential season-ending shoulder injury, Colorado announced plans to kick Ryan McMahon over from third to second base. McMahon’s versatility freed the hot corner for Elehuris Montero, but the Rox are considering pulling the plug on that experiment after a rough first few weeks.

Manager Bud Black announced yesterday that Colorado was “going to take a step back and take a look at our situation at third” (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). McMahon has gotten the nod there in each of the last two games after starting his first 16 contests at the keystone. That has pushed utilityman Alan Trejo into the lineup at second base and relegated Montero to the bench.

The moves come in response to defensive struggles for the 24-year-old Montero. He’s been charged with three errors while recording only 13 assists in 88 innings at the hot corner. Statcast has pegged his glove as two plays below average in that limited sample. Defense has long been a question mark for Montero, who developed a reputation as a bat-first corner infielder as a prospect. Saunders writes that Colorado could consider optioning him back to Triple-A Albuquerque to get more consistent work on defense.

McMahon is one of the sport’s best defensive third basemen. There’s no question he’s a sizable upgrade with the glove over Montero. The move subtracts one of Colorado’s more interesting young hitters from the lineup, though. Trejo, who could stand to receive the biggest uptick in playing time, is a stable glove-first infielder but doesn’t bring much to the table offensively.

Montero initially joined the organization a little over two years ago in the Nolan Arenado trade. He and left-hander Austin Gomber were the top talents in a return that was widely panned from Colorado’s perspective. While Arenado has performed at an MVP level in St. Louis, the Rockies haven’t yet gotten much big league production from Montero.

Gomber at least provided the Rox with back-of-the-rotation innings in 2021. He worked to a 4.53 ERA — a respectable figure for a pitcher calling Coors Field home — through 115 1/3 innings during his first season with the club. He had a harder time last year, struggling to a 5.56 ERA while getting kicked to the bullpen midseason. The former fourth round pick has returned to the starting five this year but gotten off to a very tough start..

After giving up nine runs in a loss to the Pirates this afternoon, Gomber owns a 12.12 ERA through four outings. He’s allowed five home runs in 16 1/3 innings of work. The 6’5″ hurler candidly acknowledged after today’s appearance he’s having a hard time maintaining confidence through these struggles (link via Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette).

Gomber took responsibility for his disappointing performance and pointed to his subpar command in the early going, but he also noted he’s felt some pressure given the monumental trade in which he was acquired. “I’m not trying to be (Arenado),” Gomber said. “I’m just trying to be myself, but I feel like I’m having a hard time staying in that lane right now.”

It’d obviously be unreasonable to expect Gomber (or any player in that deal) to offer the kind of value Arenado brings to the table. Yet the Rockies are certainly expecting more than the southpaw has shown so far. They’ve been desperate for reliable rotation work. Rockies starters entered play Wednesday 28th in the majors with a 5.40 ERA; they’ll end the night with the league’s second-worst mark.

While the rotation figures to be problematic all season, Colorado should at least get a boost whenever Antonio Senzatela gets back on the mound. The righty has been targeting a May return from last summer’s ACL tear. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, he’s expected to begin a minor league rehab stint with Double-A Hartford on Sunday.

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