Jeffrey Springs Expected To Miss Multiple Months With Arm Injury
Rays southpaw Jeffrey Springs left yesterday’s start with ulnar neuritis in his throwing arm. That indicated some degree of nerve inflammation in the area and the issue is apparently serious. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Springs is expected to miss two months at a minimum.
The club is still seeking further evaluation, but Topkin ominously adds that the issue extends beyond the nerve. It’s not out of the question that surgery could be required, which would obviously extend Springs’ recovery timetable. Even in a best case scenario, Tampa Bay will be without one of its top starters for an extended stretch.
Springs went for an MRI this morning. Specifics on imaging aren’t clear, though manager Kevin Cash acknowledged to reporters before tonight’s game that he’d miss time. Springs will surely land on the 15-day injured list and seems likely to find himself on the 60-day IL at some point.
It’s a brutal development for a Tampa Bay club that has been firing on all cylinders. Springs has played his part in the Rays’ 13-0 start with a brilliant start to the season. He’d allowed only one run in 16 innings, punching out 24 while walking just four. He’d looked on his way to backing up last year’s breakout showing, when he moved from long reliever to key rotation piece after pitching to a 2.46 ERA through 135 1/3 innings.
The Rays are now down another important starter. Tampa Bay will be without Shane Baz for most or all of the year after last summer’s Tommy John surgery. Tyler Glasnow went down with an oblique strain in Spring Training and isn’t expected to return at least until the middle of May. Offseason signee Zach Eflin hit the 15-day injured list with back tightness earlier in the week.
Shane McClanahan and Drew Rasmussen are locked into the rotation. Josh Fleming has operated at the back of the staff and figures to have a long leash given the injuries. The Rays called upon top prospect Taj Bradley for his MLB debut this week. Bradley was optioned back to Triple-A Durham after that start but can be recalled to replace Springs once he lands on the IL. Luis Patiño and Yonny Chirinos are on the 40-man roster as options for the back end.
A potentially serious injury to Springs would be a tough blow from a longer-term perspective as well. The Rays bet on Springs sustaining last year’s breakout, inking him to a $31MM extension over the offseason. He’s under contract through 2026 with a club option for the ’27 campaign.
Nationals Sign Nomar Mazara, Richie Martin To Minor League Contracts
The Nationals announced they’ve signed outfielder Nomar Mazara and infielder Richie Martin to minor league deals. Both players have been assigned to Triple-A Rochester.
Mazara has logged MLB time in seven consecutive seasons. The former top prospect never emerged as the middle-of-the-order bat that evaluators and Rangers fans had expected after he mashed through the minor leagues. Mazara had serviceable numbers as a rookie but didn’t take the anticipated step forward over the next few seasons. The left-handed hitter was a slightly below-average offensive player for four seasons before being dealt to the White Sox going into 2020.
Since leaving Arlington, Mazara has fallen on particularly hard times. He’s suited up for the White Sox, Tigers and Padres, logging between 100 and 200 plate appearances in each season. Going back to the start of 2020, Mazara owns a cumulative .235/.295/.324 line with only six home runs and a 25.7% strikeout rate in 501 plate appearances.
The 27-year-old (28 later this month) signed a minor league deal with the Orioles over the winter. He spent the spring with Baltimore, hitting .231/.286/.308 in 39 at-bats. After failing to crack the roster out of camp, he was released at the end of Spring Training. A couple weeks later, Mazara catches on with the Nationals — the sixth organization of his career.
Martin’s only MLB experience has come in Baltimore. Selected out of the Oakland organization with the first pick of the 2018 Rule 5 draft, he hit .208/.260/.322 over 309 plate appearances as a rookie. That enabled the Orioles to retain his long-term contractual rights but he only appeared in 50 more games for the club over the following three seasons.
The University of Florida product is a career .212/.261/.311 hitter over 170 big league games. Martin carries a .240/.336/.366 line at the Triple-A level. Despite the tepid offense, he’s drawn interest as a depth option for his defense throughout the infield. He’ll add some insurance behind the middle infield tandem of CJ Abrams and Luis García with Rochester.
Athletics Select Tyler Wade, Designate Cal Stevenson
The A’s announced a series of roster moves today, recalling left-hander Hogan Harris and selecting utility player Tyler Wade. In corresponding moves, righty Adam Oller and infielder Nick Allen were optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas. To open a spot for Wade on the 40-man roster, outfielder Cal Stevenson was designated for assignment.
Wade is back in the majors for what’ll be a seventh straight year. A longtime prospect of some regard with the Yankees, the left-handed hitter settled into a depth role in the Bronx. He never tallied more than 145 plate appearances in a season, though he got into 103 games as a frequent pinch-runner and defensive replacement in 2021. Wade’s plus speed has allowed him to swipe 38 bases in his MLB career.
The 28-year-old got his most notable playing time after being traded to the Angels heading into 2022. He picked up 163 trips to the plate but only connected on one home run with a .218/.272/.272 batting line. The Halos outrighted him off their 40-man roster and traded him back to the Yankees last summer. He didn’t return to the majors with New York and elected minor league free agency at year’s end.
Wade hooked on with the A’s on a non-roster deal and has appeared in ten games for Las Vegas. He doesn’t have an extra-base hit but has walked six times while striking out on just seven occasions. Between his contact skills, speed and ability to cover any infield position and all three outfield spots, he’s earned a look on the big league bench. Wade doesn’t have any minor league options remaining, so the A’s will have to keep him in the big leagues or designate him for assignment now that he’s secured a spot on the 40-man roster.
While Wade steps into the infield mix, Oakland sends Allen out for the moment. The defensive specialist has long been regarded as one of the better prospects in the A’s system. He’s an excellent gloveman at both middle infield positions but faces questions about his offensive upside. Allen limped to a .207/.256/.291 line over 326 plate appearances as a rookie last season. He’s gotten starts in just five of the first 13 games this year and opened the season in a 1-16 slump. Oakland has given Aledmys Díaz and Kevin Smith most of the shortstop run in the past few days.
Wade’s promotion necessitated bumping a player from the 40-man roster. Stevenson loses his spot despite starting the season with eight hits and six walks over 29 plate appearances for Las Vegas. The 26-year-old outfielder hasn’t gotten much run at the major league level, appearing in 23 games last season with the A’s and struggling to a .167/.261/.217 line after being acquired in the Christian Bethancourt trade.
A former tenth round pick, Stevenson has been involved in a few trades as a professional. He’s also appeared in the Blue Jays, Astros and Tampa Bay organizations and put together an impressive .294/.409/.420 line over parts of five minor league seasons. Stevenson has never gotten much favor from prospect evaluators despite his plate discipline, largely because of limited power potential in his 5’9″ frame. Oakland will have a week to trade him or look to run him through waivers.
Orioles Option Cole Irvin
April 14: The Orioles have now officially announced these moves, optioning Irvin and placing Akin on the paternity list while recalling Watkins and Canó.
April 13: In a surprising move, the Orioles are optioning starter Cole Irvin to Triple-A Norfolk, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). According to Kubatko, the club is also placing reliever Keegan Akin on the paternity list and recalling Spenser Watkins and Yennier Canó from Norfolk.
The most notable of the transactions by far is Irvin’s demotion. The southpaw was one of the Orioles’ biggest acquisitions of the offseason. Baltimore traded well-regarded infield prospect Darell Hernaiz to the A’s in a deal to plug Irvin into the rotation, with pitching prospect Kyle Virbitsky also going to the O’s. The Oregon product had been a productive mid-rotation arm for Oakland over the past two seasons. He reached 30-plus starts and surpassed 175 innings in both seasons, combining for a decent 4.11 ERA.
Those results in Oakland weren’t without caveats. He never missed many bats, instead relying on excellent control and a low batting average on balls in play. Oakland’s spacious home ballpark certainly seemed to aid him in that regard, as he kept hitters to a .243/.288/.355 line at home while surrendering a .285/.330/.491 mark in road contests.
Baltimore looked past those splits, counting on Irvin’s control to carry over in a more hitter-friendly environment. While it’s far too early to make definitive judgments about that trade, it’s hard to envision a much worse beginning to Irvin’s tenure as an Oriole. He’s been tattooed for 15 runs in his first 12 2/3 innings. Irvin has surrendered a pair of homers and uncharacteristically walked eight batters. The final straw came this afternoon, when his old club teed off for six runs in four innings during an eventual 8-7 Baltimore win.
The O’s were going to be faced with a decision on the starting staff in the coming days. Righty Kyle Bradish is likely to return from the injured list next week. Manager Brandon Hyde suggested a few days ago the club wasn’t interested in going to a six-man rotation. Once Bradish is reinstated, he’ll presumably slot in alongside Kyle Gibson, Tyler Wells, Dean Kremer and top prospect Grayson Rodriguez in the rotation.
It’s likely Irvin will find himself back in the mix before long. In the absence of any injuries, pitchers can return to the big leagues after 15 days on optional assignment. If another player lands on the IL, the O’s could recall him within that 15-day window. Even without injuries, Irvin could be back in the big leagues by the end of the month. Regardless, it’s a frustrating development for an O’s front office that surely envisioned their trade pickup as a stabilizing presence in an uncertain rotation.
The demotion doesn’t seem likely to meaningfully affect Irvin from a service time perspective. He entered the season with two years and 120 days of MLB service. Players eclipse a full service year at the 172-day mark, so the southpaw only needs 52 days on the MLB roster this year to surpass the three-year threshold. The optional assignment would have to last for multiple months for him to fall short of that, in which case he’d be a non-tender candidate anyhow. As things stand, Irvin is set to reach arbitration for the first time next winter and won’t hit free agency until after the 2026 campaign.
Latest On Pirates, Bryan Reynolds
Opening Day came and went without any resolution on the long-running extension talks between Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates. Negotiations reportedly hit a snag when Reynolds’ camp pursued an opt-out chance following the 2026 season. The parties were apparently both amenable to tacking on seven years and $100MM to cover the 2024-30 seasons but didn’t reach a compromise on Reynolds’ desire to be able to test free agency midway through the deal.
The opt-out wasn’t the only issue, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports the Bucs were also resistant to including a no-trade clause. It’s not clear how adamant Reynolds is about receiving at least limited no-trade protection, though that’s perhaps another hurdle the sides will have to clear.
Sorting through the opt-out clause seems a tougher challenge than settling on no-trade rights. The Bucs already control Reynolds via arbitration through the 2025 campaign. A post-2026 opt-out would only ensure Reynolds sticks in Pittsburgh for one additional season. On a contract with guaranteed salaries running through 2030, that provision would give the All-Star outfielder relatively early flexibility to test the market while leaving the team with some extended risk in the event Reynolds suffers and injury or underperforms.
It’s not clear if the Bucs would be amenable to including an opt-out later on in a potential extension. Doing so after 2027, for instance, would ensure the club tacks on at least two more seasons of control. That might not be all that appealing to Reynolds, however. The switch-hitter is already 28 and won’t hit free agency until after his age-30 campaign even if he proceeds through arbitration. A post-2027 opt-out wouldn’t allow him to explore the market before he’s headed into his age-33 season, when the chance for a long-term free agent pact might’ve passed regardless.
Given the challenge of finding an opt-out date that could make mutual sense, Heyman writes the Pirates are open to “(moving) money around” in extension talks. Whether that’s merely restructuring the $100MM offer — which would’ve reportedly been backloaded — to get Reynolds more money up front or involves a boost to the overall guarantee isn’t clear. In any event, it’s apparent the Pirates aren’t closing the door on continued negotiations.
General manager Ben Cherington confirmed as much in a conversation with the Pittsburgh beat earlier in the week (link via Kevin Gorman of the Tribune-Review). “We’ve never had any team policy about (a deadline) on Opening Day,” Cherington said. “Out of respect to players and the team, we try to keep those conversations to the offseason and Spring Training. But if it makes sense for all parties to have a conversation during the season, there’s no policy against that. We’re open to that. … He’s playing well. From his play, it looks like he’s focused on the season. We’re focused on supporting him. If there’s anything more to talk about, we’ll keep that between him and us.”
Reynolds’ camp had reportedly pushed for an extension to be done by Opening Day. It’s not uncommon for teams or players to work beyond self-imposed “deadlines” of that nature if the sides are close enough a deal isn’t far out of reach. (For instance, Manny Machado and the Padres signed his extension a little more than a week after Machado’s initially proposed cutoff in February.)
As Cherington pointed out, Reynolds hasn’t seemed at all fazed by the absence of a Spring Training agreement. He’s off to a .340/.352/.720 start through 54 plate appearances. His five home runs are tied for third in the majors, one behind the six longballs of Pete Alonso and Ryan Mountcastle.
Angels, Chris Okey Agree To Minor League Deal
The Angels have signed catcher Chris Okey to a minor league contract, as noted by Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. According to the transactions tracker at MLB.com, he’s been assigned to the club’s Arizona complex. It stands to reason he’ll report to an upper minors affiliate in the coming weeks.
Okey, 28, had previously spent his entire career with the Reds. Cincinnati selected him in the second round back in 2016, signing him for $2MM out of Clemson. He played six seasons in their system, appearing in exactly 400 minor league games. The right-handed hitter put up a .208/.282/.329 line in a little more than 1400 plate appearances. He’s fared a little better against Triple-A pitching specifically, posting a .219/.292/.347 mark over parts of three seasons at the top minor league level.
The Reds gave Okey his first brief crack at the major league level last summer. They selected him onto the MLB roster in early June. He got into seven games as a depth catcher before being designated for assignment the following month. Okey went unclaimed on waivers, spent the remainder of the year in their system, and hit minor league free agency at the end of the season.
Now that he’s in the second organization of his career, Okey will try to work his way back to the highest level. The Halos have top prospect Logan O’Hoppe, Matt Thaiss and the currently injured Max Stassi on the 40-man roster. Chad Wallach is also in the organization as a non-roster veteran at Triple-A Salt Lake. Okey figures to slot in behind that group on the organizational depth chart and adds some insurance in the event of further injuries at the position.
Brewers Have Shown Interest In Zack Britton
The Brewers are among the teams that have shown interest in free agent reliever Zack Britton, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Heyman also reiterates the Mets’ long-standing ties to the two-time All-Star.
Britton is one of the more notable unsigned players. Heyman indicates the 12-year MLB veteran is being patient with his decision as he looks for opportunities with a contender. Both the Mets and Brewers expect to battle for a playoff spot this year, though there are presumably other competitive clubs that also have some level of interest.
The 35-year-old can no longer reasonably be expected to pitch at his peak level. Perhaps the best reliever in the game during his prime, Britton posted five sub-2.00 ERA seasons between 2014-20. He induced grounders on over 70% of batted balls in each of those years, handily topping the league in that regard annually.
Since the start of 2021, Britton has been sidetracked by elbow issues. He allowed 14 runs in 18 1/3 innings for the Yankees during the ’21 campaign, twice landing on the injured list. The second of those stints resulted in a Tommy John procedure that wiped out almost all of the following year. Britton improbably returned at the tail end of last season but walked six of nine batters faced before being shut back down. He’s held multiple showcases since the offseason began but has yet to settle on an opportunity.
The Brewers are a little light on left-handed relief options. Hoby Milner is the only southpaw in the big league bullpen. He’s started the year with five scoreless innings and posted a decent 3.76 ERA across 64 2/3 frames last season. There’s little question that Milner’s spot in the bullpen is secure. There’d presumably be some appeal in adding a second southpaw, though the Brewers could have a hard time finding room on the roster.
Milwaukee has eight relievers on the MLB roster. Milner and closer Devin Williams have spots locked down. Rule 5 draftee Gus Varland — who’s off to an impressive start — has to stay in the majors or be placed on waivers and subsequently offered back to the Dodgers. Meanwhile, each of Bryse Wilson, Matt Bush, Javy Guerra and Joel Payamps has exhausted their minor league options. They all have to remain on the MLB roster or be made available to other teams. That’d leave just one spot barring injury and Peter Strzelecki has opened the year with five scoreless innings of his own.
Former first-round pick Ethan Small and recent trade pickup Bennett Sousa are the top left-handed depth options in the bullpen. Each occupies a spot on the 40-man roster and is on optional assignment to Triple-A Nashville.
Anthony Bemboom Accepts Outright Assignment
The Orioles announced this evening that backstop Anthony Bemboom has gone unclaimed on waivers. He’s accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk and will remain in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.
Baltimore just announced this morning that Bemboom had been designated for assignment as the corresponding move to select Ryan O’Hearn onto the 40-man. It appears he’d hit the waiver wire before the official announcement and the DFA was resolved quickly when he cleared waivers this afternoon.
It’s the second time in the past six months the O’s have outrighted Bemboom. Baltimore added him to the roster at the start of the offseason, with the sides agreeing to a split contract that likely pays him higher than the typical salary for a Triple-A player. Bemboom has had the right to refuse the outright assignments. Doing so, however, would mean forfeiting his salary. It’s not surprising he accepted an assignment over the winter and will do so again after a brief return to the majors to start the season.
Bemboom got into two games this year. He’s now played at the major league level in five consecutive years, though his cumulative playing time (78 games, 206 plate appearances) is still less than half a season’s worth of work. The 33-year-old is a .158/.233/.262 hitter at the major league level. He carries a .247/.340/.392 line over parts of six Triple-A seasons and the O’s are clearly comfortable with his work with their pitching staff.
Baltimore has one of the game’s top catchers in Adley Rutschman. Veteran James McCann returned from the injured list over the weekend and will serve as Rutschman’s backup.
The Rangers’ Options At Shortstop
The Rangers were dealt one of the more notable early-season injuries. Star shortstop Corey Seager pulled up on a double during Tuesday’s night matchup in Kansas City. He was diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring. That’ll cost him a month at minimum.
Seager had been off to a .359/.469/.538 start. Texas won’t be able to replace that kind of offense — Seager himself wasn’t going to keep hitting at that rate — but it’s an obviously tough blow for a team that projects as a fringe playoff club.
Manager Bruce Bochy quickly shot down the notion of sliding Marcus Semien over to shortstop (via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). The All-Star infielder has plenty of experience from his time in Oakland, but he’s primarily played second base over the past two-plus seasons. With Seager expected to return at some point during the season’s first half, the Rangers don’t seem keen on disrupting Semien’s rhythm at the keystone only to move him back there a few weeks from now.
Instead, it seems the Rangers will turn to a combination of less proven options to cover the position. Let’s take a look at the candidates.
The Favorites
Smith picked up the first shortstop start last night, plugging right into Seager’s customary No. 2 spot in the lineup versus Royals’ righty Brad Keller. As a left-handed hitter, he could pick up the bulk of the work against right-handed pitching.
A second-round pick of the Yankees in 2019, Smith landed in Texas via the Joey Gallo trade (which’ll come up again shortly). He made his MLB debut last season, appearing in 73 games. Smith struggled through his looks at big league pitching, hitting .197/.307/.249 over 253 trips to the plate. He demonstrated a very patient approach, walking 11.1% of the time while keeping his strikeouts to a lower-than-average 19.8% clip. Yet he didn’t do much when he put the ball in play, only picking up two home runs with a well below-average 28.6% hard-contact percentage.
Smith was much better in Triple-A. He’s been a productive hitter throughout his minor league career. That continued in 2022, when he put up a .290/.395/.466 line with six homers, a 12.6% walk rate and a 20.7% strikeout percentage over 55 contests for the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock. Baseball America’s pre-2022 scouting report on Smith praised his exit velocities in the minor leagues, which he’ll need to carry over more effectively to be a productive MLB hitter.
Durán, a right-handed hitter, also began his career in the Yankees’ system. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2017, he joined Smith as part of the package sent to Texas for Gallo. (Glenn Otto and Trevor Hauver were also included.) Like Smith, Durán made his big league debut last season but didn’t perform well in his first crack, albeit with a different profile.
The 23-year-old Durán hit .236/.277/.365 in 220 MLB plate appearances. He was among the game’s most aggressive hitters, chasing nearly half the pitches he saw outside the strike zone and whiffing at more than 14% of total offerings. Durán walked at a meager 5.5% rate while punching out 24.5% of the time. He did more damage than Smith when he made contact, connecting on five home runs, ten doubles and a triple. However, he’ll need to rein in his approach to keep his on-base percentage at a suitable level.
Durán was better in Triple-A, hitting .283/.316/.531 in 33 games. His strikeout and walk rates there (27.7% and 4.5%, respectively) remained concerning, but he connected on nine long balls. Durán was a highly-regarded prospect — perhaps even more so than Smith — based on his power potential but he’s faced more questions about his swing decisions and ability to handle shortstop defensively. Durán spent most of his time at second base in the minors and played primarily third base at the big league level. He’s yet to log a single major league inning at shortstop, though Bochy named him as an option there after Seager’s injury.
Other Possibilities
There aren’t many alternatives for Texas at the moment. Brad Miller hasn’t regularly played shortstop since 2016. Prospects Luisangel Acuña and Jonathan Ornelas are on the 40-man roster but don’t seem on the radar for an immediate call. The 21-year-old Acuña has barely played above High-A and isn’t likely to play in the majors at all this season. Ornelas, 23 next month, could be a more realistic option for a midseason promotion after hitting .299/.360/.425 with Double-A Frisco last year. He has all of nine games of Triple-A experience, though.
Perhaps the Rangers will look to fortify the depth in the coming weeks. Didi Gregorius and Andrelton Simmons are still unsigned and would have to take a minor league deal if they wish to continue playing. Even then, neither would be ready to step right into a big league lineup. Maybe the Marlins would part with José Iglesias, who’s at Triple-A Jacksonville after signing a non-roster deal in Spring Training. Iglesias can opt out of that contract if he’s not in the majors by May 1; it’s not uncommon for teams to grant players in his position an early release or cash trade if another club is willing to give them an immediate MLB roster spot.
The Rangers aren’t going to make any kind of impact outside acquisition at this time of the year. That’s not necessary with Seager likely returning in late May or early June. Barring a veteran depth pickup, Texas looks set to rely on a pair of young players to man shortstop for the next few weeks.
Twins Select Kyle Garlick
April 13: The Twins have made this official today, selecting Garlick and moving Celestino to the 60-day IL. A spot on the active roster was opened by placing Farmer on the 10-day IL with a facial laceration. The club’s communications director Dustin Morse relayed last night on Twitter that Farmer had successful surgery on his lower lip and bottom four teeth.
April 12: The Twins are expected to select Kyle Garlick onto the big league roster, tweets Dan Hayes of the Athletic. Doing so would require a 40-man roster spot, which Hayes indicates would likely be achieved by transferring Gilberto Celestino from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.
Garlick has appeared at the big league level for Minnesota in each of the past two seasons. He’s combined for a .233/.283/.446 line in 269 plate appearances over that stretch. Garlick has popped 14 home runs in less than half a season’s worth of playing time, though his on-base percentage has been deflated by few walks and a strikeout rate pushing 30%.
The right-handed hitter has gotten nearly equal run in his career against left and right-handed pitching alike. He’s been far more productive with the platoon advantage, hitting .251/.301/.538 against southpaws but limping to a .203/.258/.324 line against righties. The 31-year-old is best deployed in the lesser half of a corner outfield platoon, where his power against left-handed pitching has played.
Minnesota and Garlick agreed to $750K contract at the start of the offseason to avoid arbitration. The Twins nevertheless ran him through waivers over the winter, though he accepted a minor league assignment to hold onto that guaranteed salary. He’s picked up eight hits (including two homers and a double) over seven games this year with Triple-A St. Paul.
The Twins could find themselves down a right-handed bat in the next couple weeks. Utilityman Kyle Farmer was hit in the face by a Lucas Giolito offering during this afternoon’s win over the White Sox. He walked off the field with a towel pressed up against his face. Hayes notes that initial indications are that Farmer fortunately avoided a fractured jaw, though he has a laceration around his mouth. It seems likely he’ll require a stint on the 10-day IL.
Celestino, meanwhile, underwent thumb surgery during Spring Training. That initially came with a recovery timetable in the six to eight week range. Celestino lost most of exhibition play and will have to work back into game shape. A transfer to the 60-day IL could be backdated to Opening Day and would keep him out until at least late May.