Cardinals Option Jordan Walker, Sign Taylor Motter To Major League Contract
The Cardinals have signed utilityman Taylor Motter to a major league deal, the club announced. In a corresponding active roster move, they optioned highly-touted rookie Jordan Walker to Triple-A Memphis.
Walker, one of the consensus top young talents in the sport, broke camp with the MLB club. He’s been passable if unexceptional through his first 78 plate appearances. He’d drawn plenty of attention for a season-opening 12-game hit streak that matched an MLB record for a player his age. Walker has collected hits in 16 of his 19 starts overall, though his game logs mostly consist of one-hit performances. He’s gotten to two hits on just four occasions and has yet to put up a three-hit game. Overall, the former first round draftee is hitting .274/.321/.397 with a pair of home runs in 20 contests. That offensive output is almost exactly league average, as measured by wRC+.
That’s certainly a respectable showing for a player who has yet to reach his 21st birthday. Many hitters Walker’s age are still in the low minors or in college. League average offense through his first three weeks in the majors is no small feat. That said, the organization clearly wasn’t enamored with some of the underlying indicators. He’s punched out 20 times while walking on just three occasions, with both marks checking in worse than league average. To his credit, Walker is hitting the ball with authority when he’s making contact, but he’s swung and missed at 16.4% of the pitches he’s seen. Only eight qualified hitters are whiffing more often.
St. Louis evidently feels he’s better served honing his pitch selection in Triple-A despite his solid overall results. Walker has never played a Triple-A game. He skipped right to the big leagues after a .306/.388/.510 showing in 119 Double-A contests. He’ll presumably continue to get everyday corner outfield reps in Memphis. Drafted as a third baseman, Walker has begun seeing more outfield time in deference to Nolan Arenado. Public defensive metrics have given him below-average marks in his limited body of MLB work (170 innings).
The Cardinals have given Walker the bulk of the right field time. Evidently, they’ll now turn the outfield over to some combination of Alec Burleson, Dylan Carlson, Tyler O’Neill and Lars Nootbaar. Nootbaar is mashing but the rest of the group has been off to middling starts. Burleson and O’Neill have also posted roughly average numbers, while Carlson has limped to a .234/.294/.298 line.
While there are some legitimate concerns about Walker’s early statistical profile, the lack of overwhelming production from those competing for outfield reps makes this an eyebrow-raising decision from the Cards’ front office. St. Louis can point to performance concerns as justification for the move, but it’s at least likely to spur some questions from fans. It’s possible the demotion will wind up extending the Cardinals’ window of club control.
Had Walker played the entire season in the majors, he’d have picked up a full year of MLB service. That’d have put him on track to reach arbitration after the 2025 season and first hit free agency following the 2028 campaign. An optional stint lasting more than 20 days would delay the free agent trajectory unless Walker earns “bonus” service time by returning and securing a top two finish in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. Barring a surprisingly long stay in the minors, he’d likely still get to arbitration over the 2025-26 offseason as a Super Two player. The Cardinals were clearly comfortable enough with potentially burning a pre-arbitration season to carry Walker on the Opening Day roster; they’ve surprisingly started just 9-15 and currently sit at the bottom of the NL Central in spite of that move.
While the Walker demotion is the higher-profile transaction, it’s also surprising to see the Cardinals move so quickly to bring Motter back into the fold. St. Louis had designated the veteran utilityman for assignment over the weekend once Paul DeJong returned from the injured list. Motter cleared waivers but had the right to decline an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency. Reports this morning suggested he was prepared to stick in the organization, though perhaps that was with an understanding with club officials that he’d be brought back to the majors imminently.
In any event, Motter will rejoin the MLB roster. He joins DeJong as middle infield insurance behind Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman and primary designated hitter Nolan Gorman. The 33-year-old Motter has appeared in seven games this year, collecting four hits and two walks through 20 trips to the dish. He’s a career .192/.264/.310 hitter at the highest level.
Dodgers Outright Jake Reed
Relief pitcher Jake Reed has gone unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers over the weekend, according to the transactions log at MLB.com. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, though he’d have the ability to elect free agency.
Reed made just one MLB outing with L.A. after being selected onto the 40-man roster last Friday. He was tagged for six runs while recording only two outs at the hands of the Cubs. The Dodgers DFA him the next day and quickly passed him through waivers.
While it surely wasn’t the kind of outing Reed had envisioned, it did mark a third consecutive year in which he made it to the majors. The Oregon product has had multiple stints with the Dodgers between time as a Met and Oriole. All told, he’s thrown 27 1/3 innings over 29 big league outings. Reed owns a 7.57 ERA with middling peripherals at the highest level.
The former fifth round draftee has been more effective in the upper minors. Reed has allowed exactly four earned runs per nine through 218 career Triple-A frames across seven seasons. He’s punched out more than a quarter of opposing hitters against a 9.6% walk percentage at the top minor league level.
L.A. previously sent Reed through outright waivers last offseason. Players with multiple career outrights have the ability to decline a minor league assignment in order to return to the open market. It isn’t clear whether Reed plans to test free agency or accept an assignment back to OKC.
Injury Notes: Skubal, Hendricks, Suarez, Lynch
The Tigers have been without left-hander Tarik Skubal since he underwent surgery to repair a flexor tear in his forearm last August. Detroit hasn’t provided a specific recovery timeline for the 26-year-old hurler, though he’s out until at least late May after starting the year on the 60-day injured list. Skubal is soon to hit a notable marker in his rehab process, as he’s in line to throw his first post-surgery bullpen session this week (link via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press).
Skubal will certainly need multiple ‘pen sessions and likely some live batting practice work before he’s ready to step into game action. Petzold notes the club is still without a firm timetable on when he might embark on a minor league rehab stint. That he’s throwing is obviously a plus and provides some hope he could return when or not long after he’s first eligible. Skubal developed into perhaps Detroit’s best pitcher before the injury, working to a 3.52 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout percentage through 21 starts last year.
Some updates on other injured pitchers around the league:
- Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa on Thursday, tweets Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. The right-hander is still working back from a capsular tear in his throwing shoulder suffered last August. He’s been throwing for the better part of six weeks but the club has understandably taken a cautious approach to building him up. Hendricks will require multiple rehab starts, with Levine suggesting the hope is he can return to the Wrigley Field mound in the middle of May. The 33-year-old worked to a career-worst 4.80 ERA over 84 1/3 innings last season. He’s headed into the final guaranteed year of his contract, with the Cubs deciding on a net $14.5MM decision for 2024 ($16MM option, $1.5MM buyout) at year’s end.
- The Phillies are also sending one of their starters on a rehab stint this week. Left-hander Ranger Suárez will pitch two innings with Double-A Reading on Thursday, relays Matt Gelb of the Athletic. According to Gelb, he’s expected to make three or four minor league appearances before making his MLB season debut in the middle of May. The southpaw was slowed by a bout of forearm inflammation in Spring Training, part of a tough exhibition season from a health perspective for Philadelphia. He threw a personal-high 155 1/3 innings with a 3.65 ERA and an excellent 55.4% ground-ball percentage in 29 starts last year.
- Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch threw a bullpen session this afternoon, tweets Anne Rogers of MLB.com. He’s expected to log three innings in an extended Spring Training game on Thursday before beginning a rehab stint. That could position Lynch for his season debut in mid-May after a strain in his throwing shoulder shut him down at the end of Spring Training. One of the expected key starters for K.C. coming out of their rebuild, Lynch has had up-and-down results in his first two big league campaigns. He allowed a 5.13 ERA across 131 2/3 innings last season. With Kris Bubic lost for the season and Brady Singer struggling in the early going, a step forward from the 26-year-old Lynch takes on all the more importance for the Royals in the long term.
Rockies Designate Jose Urena For Assignment
The Rockies have designated starter José Ureña for assignment, tweets Suzie Hunter of DNVR Sports. The move creates a spot on the active roster for the expected reinstatement of Germán Márquez from the 15-day injured list tomorrow. Colorado’s 40-man roster tally dips to 39.
Ureña has spent parts of two seasons in Colorado. He first signed a minor league contract with the Rox last May. The club added him to the major league roster in early July. The sinkerballer started 17 big league games last season, pitching to a 5.14 ERA across 89 1/3 innings. While Ureña only punched out 15.2% of opposing hitters, he kept the ball on the ground on over half the batted balls he surrendered.
It wasn’t a resoundingly successful effort, though the 31-year-old showed enough for the Colorado front office. The Rockies re-signed him on a one-year, $3.5MM free agent contract at the start of the offseason. That deal, which also included a team option for the ’24 campaign, ensured he’d get another crack in the season-opening rotation.
Things haven’t played out the way the organization would have hoped. Ureña has been tagged 22 runs over 18 1/3 frames through his first five starts. He has a ghastly 9:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio and is inducing swinging strikes on a career-worst 7.2% of his offerings. This year’s 44.3% grounder rate is also down a few points from his typical level. He hasn’t made it past five innings in any of his five outings, all of which Colorado has lost.
The struggles were pronounced enough for the Rockies to move on from Ureña just a few weeks into the season. He has more than enough service time to refuse an optional assignment to the minor leagues. The only way to take him off the MLB roster was a DFA, which’ll almost certainly involve eating the remainder of the contract.
Other clubs are unlikely to trade for or claim Ureña and assume the roughly $3MM remaining on his deal. He’s a virtual lock to hit free agency — either by release or rejection of an outright assignment — within the next week. In all likelihood, he’ll be looking at minor league offers at that point.
The Rox will welcome Márquez back to front a rotation that also includes Kyle Freeland, Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner. Righty Noah Davis has filled in for Márquez while he’s been on the shelf with a minor forearm strain. Antonio Senzatela, who has been out since last summer with an ACL tear, began a rehab stint with Triple-A Albuquerque this evening and should be back in the majors within the next couple weeks.
Brewers’ Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick Undergoing Surgeries
Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell will need to undergo shoulder surgery after receiving a second opinion, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The procedure, scheduled for next week, will address a subluxation in his left shoulder.
Manager Craig Counsell informed reporters on Friday that a surgical option looked likely. A specific timetable hasn’t been announced but Counsell noted at the time that surgery would threaten his entire season. It’s a brutal blow to halt an impressive start to the year for the 24-year-old. The UCLA product had connected on a trio of home runs with a .259/.306/.446 line through 62 trips to the plate.
Mitchell is sure to land on the 60-day injured list whenever Milwaukee needs to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. He’ll collect service time for his time spent rehabbing and surpass the one-year threshold this season. The former top prospect won’t reach arbitration until after the 2025 campaign.
With Mitchell out, the Brewers have kicked rookie Joey Wiemer from right to center field. The biggest uptick in playing time has gone to Blake Perkins, while Brian Anderson has rotated between third base and right field. Owen Miller and Mike Brosseau have picked up a few extra infield reps while Anderson has been on the grass.
Mitchell’s injury theoretically could’ve opened the door for another top outfield prospect, Sal Frelick, to make his major league debut. Unfortunately, Frelick coincidentally suffered a left thumb injury while playing for Triple-A Nashville at the same time Mitchell went down. McCalvy tweets that Frelick also required surgery to repair the UCL in his thumb. He’s already gone under the knife and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.
A Boston College product, Frelick has mashed at a .323/.399/.464 clip in parts of three minor league seasons. The 2021 first round draftee had played his way to Nashville last year and hit .365/.435/.508 in 46 games. He’d been off to a slow start through this season’s first few weeks, though his overall minor league track record could’ve put him on the radar for a promotion. He’ll instead be out into June. Because Frelick suffered the injury while in the minor leagues, he won’t accrue any MLB service for his time spent on the IL.
Padres, Jose Iglesias Agree To Minor League Contract
The Padres are signing veteran shortstop José Iglesias to a minor league deal, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Iglesias had just opted out of a contract with the Marlins last week.
Iglesias spent the 2022 campaign with the Rockies. He played in 118 games and tallied 467 trips to the plate as Colorado’s primary shortstop, hitting .292/.328/.380 with a meager 12% strikeout rate. Iglesias demonstrated continued excellent contact skills and a similar overall offensive profile as he’s shown throughout his career. He typically runs high batting averages without a ton of power or many walks. In a little more than 4000 MLB plate appearances, the Cuba native is a .279/.319/.382 hitter.
That offense was more than reasonable while Iglesias was playing a Gold Glove caliber shortstop early in his career. 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.
As a result, he’s been limited to successive non-roster deals with Miami and now San Diego. Iglesias stuck in the Marlins organization for a couple weeks after failing to crack the roster out of Spring Training. He didn’t appear in a Triple-A game before triggering his opt-out though. He’ll presumably join the Padres’ top affiliate in El Paso in the coming days.
Despite the dip in his defensive marks, Iglesias brings more than 4000 MLB innings of shortstop experience to the organization. The Friars already have Xander Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim and perhaps Fernando Tatis Jr. as options to play shortstop in the majors. Iglesias adds a veteran as injury insurance and could perhaps branch out to other infield spots in El Paso.
Nationals Win Appellate Court Victory In MASN Dispute With Orioles
There was a key development in the long-running battle between the Orioles and Nationals over local broadcasting fees this morning. The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled in favor of the Nationals after a hearing on unpaid rights fees (full judgment transcript).
The Nationals and Orioles jointly own the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which carries local broadcasting rights for both clubs. The Baltimore organization has a majority share (presently around 76%, dropping to 67% by 2032). That came as part of the agreement between the Orioles and Major League Baseball to facilitate the relocation of the Expos from Montreal to Washington — into the Orioles’ territorial range — nearly two decades ago.
As part of that deal, the sides agreed to share telecasting money owed by MASN to the clubs for broadcasting rights. An arbitration panel was created to resolve possible disputes between the franchises in calculating those fees. After the sides failed to come to an agreement for the period covering 2012-16, the issue went to arbitration. The panel — a committee made up of representatives from three other MLB teams — ruled closer to the Nationals’ desired number than the Orioles had found appropriate (albeit nearer to the O’s proposed figure than Washington’s). Baltimore and MASN appealed, questioning the league’s impartiality.
A court found in the Nationals’ and league’s favor on that issue back in 2019. The court ruled the network owed the Nationals roughly $105MM in unpaid rights fees. The Orioles appealed that decision, which was finally resolved today.
The appellate court’s judgment was unanimously in favor of the Nationals on the issue of impartiality. The higher court agreed there were no grounds for contesting the arbitration panel’s findings. (Hayes Gardner of the Baltimore Sun notes the Orioles have the right to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for review but suggests it’s unlikely the Court would have any interest in hearing the appeal.)
While it’s certainly a win for the Nationals, the New York court’s judgment wasn’t an unequivocal end to the dispute. The appellate court found the lower court had overstepped its authority in awarding the $105MM in past damages. While the arbitration panel’s ruling is no longer in dispute (barring a seeming unlikely successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court), the organizations have to return to the table to sort out the extent and payment of MASN’s overdue rights fees pursuant to a separate provision of their contract.
Uncertainty about the MASN rights payments has been an ongoing issue for both franchises for over a decade. It was particularly troublesome over the offseason, as the Lerner family’s attempts to sell the Nationals have reportedly stalled in recognition of the local broadcasting dispute. Even with a key legal victory now in hand, the dispute doesn’t appear to be coming to a close anytime soon as the sides regroup to sort out how much money the network owes to the Nats. MLB has sought to broker a permanent settlement between the Nationals and Orioles to facilitate a potential sale of the Washington franchise but has thus far been unsuccessful.
A’s Move Shintaro Fujinami To Relief
The Athletics are moving right-hander Shintaro Fujinami from the rotation to a relief role, manager Mark Kotsay told reporters before tonight’s game against the Angels (relayed by Martín Gallegos of MLB.com). Kotsay left open the possibility for an eventual move back to the starting staff but suggested the club would first “assess” Fujinami in shorter stints.
Oakland signed Fujinami to a one-year, $3MM deal over the winter. It was one of the more intriguing low-cost dice rolls of the offseason. Fujinami had shown excellent arm speed and quality strikeout stuff at times in his career in Japan. That had often been paired with huge walk totals to the point that his NPB club, the Hanshin Tigers, frequently moved him between the top roster and their minor league club.
The A’s gave Fujinami a crack at a rotation job to bring him to Oakland. The 6’6″ hurler issued 17 walks in 18 2/3 innings in Spring Training, yet the A’s stuck with the plan to keep him in the Opening Day starting staff. Fujinami has taken four times through the rotation but has yet to find any success. He’s allowed 24 runs in only 15 innings, walking 12 batters and surrendering 19 hits. Fujinami only once made it past the fifth inning and took the loss in all four outings.
It’s obviously not how the team nor the 29-year-old had envisioned his first few weeks in the majors. They’ll hope for better results in short stints, where Fujinami’s power arsenal could be more effective. He’s averaged just under 97 MPH on his fastball and gotten a decent number of swinging strikes on both his splitter and slider. He’s issued far too many walks and given up plenty of hard contact out of the rotation though.
The A’s lost a member of their relief corps to injury, as righty Adrián Martínez landed on the 15-day injured list with a strain in his throwing elbow. Kotsay told repairers that Martínez underwent an MRI and is shut down from throwing for the next few days while the club awaits imaging results (Gallegos link). A more specific timeline will be dependent on the MRI but it’d seem likely he’ll be out beyond two weeks.
Fujinami and recent trade acquisition Sam Long offer the ability to work multiple innings in relief. Meanwhile, it seems as if another offseason pickup — KBO signee Drew Rucinski — could take the vacated rotation spot. Rucinski has been on the IL all season due to a hamstring issue. He’s now made three rehab starts with Triple-A Las Vegas, reaching five innings and 72 pitches yesterday. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s reinstated to make his A’s debut later this week.
Rangers Release Clint Frazier
The Rangers have released corner outfielder Clint Frazier from his minor league contract, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Kennedi Landry of MLB.com indicates it was a mutual decision between player and team (Twitter link).
Frazier had signed the non-roster deal shortly before the start of Spring Training. He got a long run in exhibition play, taking 47 at-bats over 21 games. Frazier hit .234/.308/.426 with a pair of home runs, five walks and 16 strikeouts. That wasn’t enough to secure a big league job out of camp. The 28-year-old started the season with Triple-A Round Rock, appearing in 15 games. Frazier hit .250/.350/.442 with a lone home run over 62 trips to the plate for the Express.
The former fifth overall draftee now heads back to the open market in search of a new landing spot. Frazier is looking to get back to the bigs for what’d be a seventh straight year. He spent the first five seasons of his career in the Bronx, combining for a .239/.327/.434 line in a little more than 800 plate appearances. Frazier was released over the 2021-22 offseason and hooked on with the Cubs on a one-year contract. He only played in 19 MLB games with Chicago before being designated for assignment and outrighted off the roster.
Frazier is coming off consecutive subpar seasons. He’d looked like a potential middle-of-the-order bat at times with the Yankees early in his career, drawing plenty of walks and flashing the plus power that once made him a top-tier prospect. His consistency was impacted both by lofty strikeout rates and various injury concerns, particularly recurring issues with concussion-like symptoms. That early-career production should land Frazier another minor league opportunity elsewhere.
The Rangers have used a rotation throughout left field. Travis Jankowski, Bubba Thompson, Josh H. Smith, Robbie Grossman and Ezequiel Durán have all tallied between 10 and 20 plate appearances at the position. It’s been a predictable problem area, as that collection of players has combined to hit only .176/.272/.221 while manning the position.
Braves, Daniel Robertson Agree To Minor League Deal
The Braves are signing infielder Daniel Robertson to a minor league contract, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). The MVP Sports Group client had been a free agent since the Rays released him at the end of Spring Training.
Robertson, 29, logged big league action each season from 2017-21. The majority of that time came in Tampa Bay, where Robertson had the best year of his career in 2018. Through 88 games, the righty-hitting infielder posted a .262/.382/.415 line while walking at an excellent 12.6% clip. He slumped to a .213/.312/.295 slash in 73 contests the next season, leading the Rays to designate him for assignment going into 2020.
The former 34th overall draftee saw time with the Giants and Brewers over the next couple seasons. He combined to hit only .164/.303/.274 in 90 trips to the plate. Robertson spent last season in Triple-A with the Phillies and Twins but didn’t hit well at either stop. He posted a .172/.250/.207 showing through 29 Spring Training at-bats in a brief return to the Rays’ organization this year.
In spite of falling on some hard times in recent seasons, Robertson owns a reasonable .227/.338/.345 line in parts of five big league campaigns. He’s continued to draw plenty of walks even as his strikeout tallies have mounted over the past couple years. He’s a .240/.337/.342 hitter in just under 1000 trips to the plate in Triple-A.
Robertson has logged over 4000 minor league innings at shortstop and has ample experience at second and third base as well. He’ll add some upper minors infield depth, presumably joining prospect Braden Shewmake and fairly recent big leaguers Hoy Park, Charlie Culberson, Joe Dunand, Joshua Fuentes and Yolmer Sánchez at Triple-A Gwinnett.