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Padres Designate Eguy Rosario, Tyler Wade For Assignment

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The Padres finalized their Opening Day roster. As previously reported, they selected catcher Martín Maldonado and infielders Jose Iglesias and Yuli Gurriel onto the roster. San Diego created one vacancy on Tuesday when they returned Rule 5 pick Juan Nunez to the Orioles. They cleared the final two spots by designating out-of-options infielders Eguy Rosario and Tyler Wade for assignment.

Both moves were expected. San Diego announced on Monday that outfielder Brandon Lockridge had made the club. Maldonado, Iglesias, Gurriel, Lockridge and Gavin Sheets would round out the bench and designated hitter position. That left no room for Rosario and Wade, neither of whom could be sent to the minors without going on waivers.

Rosario, 25, has taken exactly 100 major league plate appearances over the past three seasons. He’s a .245/.283/.500 hitter. He has hit five homers but struck out 34 times while drawing four walks. The righty-swinging infielder hit .200 with three homers but 16 strikeouts over 61 plate appearances this spring. He owns a .275/.362/.502 slash line in nearly 1200 career Triple-A plate appearances. There’s a decent chance he’ll land elsewhere on waivers.

Wade appeared in 90 games last season in a utility role. He hit .217/.285/.239 through 156 plate appearances. The Padres signed him to a $900K deal to avoid arbitration in his final year of control. That included a $1MM club option for 2026. Wade has more than five years of service time, so he could decline a minor league assignment while retaining that salary if he goes unclaimed. He hit .209 with one homer in 19 Spring Training games.

Meanwhile, left-hander Omar Cruz cracked the Opening Day bullpen. San Diego added him to the 40-man roster in November to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He’ll make his big league debut with his first appearance of the season. The 26-year-old southpaw worked 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball in Spring Training. He pitched mostly in a long relief role last year in the upper minors. Cruz combined for a 3.96 ERA with an excellent 32.3% strikeout rate over 86 1/3 innings between the top two minor league levels. He’ll provide a long relief option out of Mike Shildt’s bullpen with Bryan Hoeing and Jhony Brito each starting the year on the injured list.

Astros’ Luis Garcia Going For Second Opinion On Elbow

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The Astros shut down Luis Garcia last week after the righty experienced renewed soreness in his elbow. The team hasn’t provided much in the way of specifics since then, but manager Joe Espada told the beat on Tuesday that Garcia was going for a second opinion (relayed by Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle).

Garcia underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2023. He hasn’t pitched in a major league game since then. Garcia was targeting a second-half return last season, which would have aligned with the standard TJS rehab timetable. They pulled back after he experienced elbow soreness. That theoretically allowed them to slow-play his recovery as he targeted a 2025 return.

The 28-year-old was going to begin this season on the injured list, but he’d been on a throwing program this spring. They shut that down last week after the latest bout of elbow discomfort. Espada didn’t say whether surgery was again a possibility. Any mention of a second opinion tends to be alarming, though it doesn’t guarantee Garcia sustained a significant injury. In any case, he’s unlikely to pitch anytime soon, since the Astros will presumably exercise caution given his recent history.

Houston will open the season with a starting five of Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, Spencer Arrighetti, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski. Garcia joins Lance McCullers Jr., Cristian Javier and J.P. France on the injured list. McCullers could return within the first few weeks, but he hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since the 2022 World Series because of repeated setbacks of his own.

Ryan Gusto and Colton Gordon, neither of whom have pitched in the majors, project as the top depth arms on the 40-man roster. Gordon is beginning the season with Triple-A Sugar Land. The 26-year-old Gusto will break camp and work in long relief, the Astros announced earlier this week. He’ll be in line for his major league debut after working 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball this spring (albeit with seven walks).

Gusto actually received his first MLB call last September. The Astros tabbed him to start their final regular season game after clinching the AL West. They didn’t want to burn one of their playoff starters for what was a meaningless game, and they would’ve needed to add Gusto to the 40-man roster that offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. Unfortunately for Gusto, the game was canceled by rain, delaying his big league debut by a few months.

Rangers Release Cody Thomas

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The Rangers released outfielder Cody Thomas from his minor league contract. Texas also officially selected Kevin Pillar onto the 40-man roster after announcing yesterday that he’d make the team. They had an opening after outrighting Dane Dunning earlier in the week. Additionally, the Rangers reassigned a number of minor league signees to Triple-A Round Rock: Joe Barlow, Tucker Barnhart, Caleb Boushley, David Buchanan, JT Chargois, Matt Festa, Adrian Houser, Patrick Murphy (minor league injured list), Hunter Strickland, Alan Trejo and Chad Wallach.

Thomas signed a minor league deal after spending the ’24 season in Japan. The lefty-hitting outfielder spent most of the season with the minor league affiliate of the Orix Buffaloes. He only appeared in 10 NPB games and went 0-18 with seven strikeouts. Thomas went 2-18 this spring. He walked three times with six strikeouts.

An Oklahoma product, Thomas appeared in 29 MLB games with the A’s between 2022-23. He has hit well over parts of three seasons in the Pacific Coast League. The 6’4″ outfielder owns a .292/.356/.585 slash with 42 homers in 176 Triple-A games.

In other Rangers news, Patrick Corbin will begin the season in Triple-A. The veteran southpaw has more than enough service time to refuse any minor league assignments, but he agreed to be optioned because he didn’t sign his one-year free agent deal until March 18. That nearly coincided with the birth of his third child, so he did not pitch in any games this spring.

GM Chris Young told reporters on Tuesday that Corbin will start two games with Round Rock before being recalled (relayed by Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News). Young identified April 11 as the target date for Corbin’s team debut. Texas will go with Nathan Eovaldi as their Opening Day starter. Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle, Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker round out the season-opening starting five.

Yankees Place Eight Players On Injured List

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The Yankees announced eight injured list placements on Wednesday afternoon. Clarke Schmidt (rotator cuff tendinitis), JT Brubaker (rib fractures), Clayton Beeter (shoulder impingement), Ian Hamilton (virus), Scott Effross (hamstring strain) and Jonathan Loáisiga (rehab from elbow surgery) all landed on the 15-day injured list. As position players, Giancarlo Stanton (elbow epicondylitis) and DJ LeMahieu (calf strain) went on the 10-day IL. All placements were retroactive to March 24, the earliest date for 10-day or 15-day stints.

None of the moves come as a surprise. Loáisiga has been rehabbing last April’s UCL procedure and will be out at least into May. Stanton didn’t participate in Spring Training and faces an uncertain recovery timeline because of injuries to both elbows. Beeter has been throwing side sessions but didn’t see any game action in camp due to the shoulder issue. LeMahieu, Schmidt, Brubaker and Effross all suffered injuries in Spring Training. Hamilton isn’t hurt but didn’t make his Spring Training debut until last Thursday after being delayed by illness. He needs a couple weeks to continue his build-up.

The only surprise is that the Yanks did not place Jake Cousins on the 15-day IL this afternoon. He was delayed by a forearm strain and did not pitch in games this spring. Cousins has been throwing side sessions but it seems unlikely that the team would throw him directly into regular season action without any Spring Training appearances. It’s possible they’ll make another move when they officially set their Opening Day roster tomorrow.

One player who’ll certainly be on that roster: catcher J.C. Escarra. The Yankees announced over the weekend that the 29-year-old (30 next month) made the team, providing social media video of manager Aaron Boone informing him of that decision. Escarra secures the backup job behind Austin Wells and will make his major league debut once he gets into a game. The Yankees placed him on their 40-man roster at the beginning of the offseason so he wouldn’t reach minor league free agency.

A left-handed hitter, Escarra combined for a .261/.355/.434 line with nearly as many walks as strikeouts across 493 minor league plate appearances last season. The Yankees cleared a path for him to grab the backup job by trading Jose Trevino and Carlos Narváez over the winter. The spot was Escarra’s to lose entering camp, and he solidified it by hitting .302 with three homers in 19 games. Escarra was playing in the independent ranks and in Mexico as recently as 2023. Two years later, he’s breaking camp with an MLB team.

Rockies, Mickey Moniak Agree To Major League Deal

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The Rockies are in agreement with Mickey Moniak on a one-year, $1.25MM contract, report Mark Feinsand and Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The Angels released the former first overall pick yesterday. Moniak, a Wasserman client, has a little over three years of service time and is technically controllable through 2027 via arbitration. Colorado has not announced the signing. They opened a 40-man roster spot by waiving Greg Jones, who was claimed by the White Sox this afternoon.

Moniak had gone to an arbitration hearing with the Halos. He prevailed and was awarded a $2MM salary. However, arbitration salaries are only fully guaranteed if the player and team mutually agree to them without a hearing. The distinction was introduced in the most recent collective bargaining agreement, at least partially to incentivize players to agree to deals without going to hearings.

Players who go to a hearing (regardless of whether they win or lose) are only guaranteed termination pay until the beginning of the regular season. Players released before or early in Spring Training receive 30 days termination pay; those released within 15 days of Opening Day are guaranteed 45 days termination pay. Moniak obviously fell into the latter bucket, so he received roughly $484K from the Angels when he was cut loose.

That’s on top of the money he’s guaranteed from the Rockies, meaning he has now locked in around $1.73MM for this season. That’s about $270K below what he had won in the hearing, but it’s roughly $230K above the Angels’ $1.5MM filing figure during the arbitration process. Moniak lands just shy of the midpoint between his and the Halos’ respective filing numbers.

Moniak, a lefty-hitting center fielder, has spent the last two seasons playing a semi-regular role with the Angels. He had a productive 2023 season, hitting .280/.307/.495 with 14 homers in 85 games. A massive 35% strikeout rate made it unlikely he’d be able to keep up that production. His numbers indeed fell off last season, as he hit .219/.266/.380 over 418 plate appearances. Moniak cut his strikeout rate to a slightly more palatable 27.3% mark, but that came with a dramatic drop to his ball-in-play results.

The Angels are moving Mike Trout to right field this season. That reopened the path for Moniak and another former top prospect, Jo Adell, to work as a center field platoon. Moniak had a terrible Spring Training, batting .191 while striking out 18 times in 58 plate appearances. Adell’s numbers were even worse (.172/.194/.375 in 67 PAs), but the Angels decided to move on from Moniak and cut a little more than $1.5MM from their payroll.

Moniak projects as a fourth outfielder in Colorado. Brenton Doyle is one of the better all-around center fielders in MLB. Jordan Beck, Sean Bouchard and minor league signee Nick Martini round out the corner outfield after last week’s Nolan Jones/Tyler Freeman swap. The signing probably doesn’t bode well for Sam Hilliard, another left-handed hitter who was slated to work as the fourth outfielder. Moniak and Hilliard are both out of options, so they’ll need to break camp or be exposed to waivers. Moniak is clearly going to make the team. Hilliard batted .137 while striking out nearly half the time this spring.

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

Giants Select Christian Koss

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The Giants announced that they’ve selected infielder Christian Koss onto the 40-man roster. He’ll break camp and will make his major league debut once he gets into a game. San Francisco optioned Grant McCray and Brett Wisely while reassigning non-roster invitees Joel Peguero and Max Stassi to Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants also placed Jerar Encarnacion on the 10-day injured list with a fracture in his left hand that’ll require surgery. They placed catcher Tom Murphy on the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot for Koss.

Koss, 27, is entering his second season in the San Francisco organization. The Giants acquired him from the Red Sox in a minor league deal on the eve of the ’24 campaign. It was the second trade of his career. Koss was initially a 12th-round pick by Colorado and went to the Red Sox in a minor trade in 2020. He reached Triple-A in the Boston system before being traded.

The UC-Irvine product divided his first season with San Francisco between the top two minor league levels. He raked at a .386/.453/.627 clip over 25 Double-A games but posted a more modest .257/.332/.415 line across 197 Triple-A plate appearances. Koss played quite well in Spring Training, hitting .341 with five walks and seven strikeouts through 47 trips to the plate. He can bounce around the infield and provides a speed element off the bench. Koss and Casey Schmitt will work as utility players behind Tyler Fitzgerald, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman.

Murphy, who has dealt with plenty of injuries throughout his career, is currently shelved with a herniated disc in his back. He has received multiple epidural injections. He’ll miss at least the first two months of the season. Sam Huff will begin the season as the backup catcher behind Patrick Bailey.

Astros To Select Brendan Rodgers

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March 26: Rodgers’ contract contains a $2MM base salary plus another $300K of incentives tied to plate appearances, Ari Alexander of KPRC-2 reports. Rodgers would receive $50K bonuses for reaching each of 200, 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 plate appearances.

March 25: The Astros will select Brendan Rodgers onto the major league roster, manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of The Houston Chronicle). The former Rockies second baseman breaks camp after signing a minor league deal last month.

Rodgers didn’t exactly force his way into the picture with a huge Spring Training. He hit .233 without a home run over 44 plate appearances. Still, it was surprising that he needed to settle for a minor league deal in the first place. Rodgers is a former third overall pick who spent four seasons as Colorado’s primary second baseman. He has never lived up to the top prospect billing, but he’s been a better than replacement level performer.

The 28-year-old hit .267/.314/.407 with 13 homers across 539 plate appearances last season. Like many Colorado hitters, he had extreme home/road splits. Rodgers hit .328/.396/.502 at Coors Field and .214/.247/.323 away from Denver. The thin air in Colorado can flatten pitchers’ breaking stuff, which causes trouble for a lot of Rockies hitters as they try to adjust to sharper stuff when on the road. The Astros will hope for some positive regression in Rodgers’ road production to compensate for the expected drop-off in his numbers at home.

Rodgers won a Gold Glove at second base in 2022. Public metrics have painted that as an outlier season; he has graded as a middling defender by Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast in every other year. Rodgers hasn’t played anywhere other than the keystone since 2021. That’ll limit his versatility as a bench piece.

Houston will use Jose Altuve primarily in left field. While Mauricio Dubón is technically the starting second baseman, he’s capable of playing essentially anywhere. Rodgers could draw into the lineup at second on days when Espada wants to move Dubón around to rest someone else. As a player with more than five years of service, Rodgers cannot be sent to the minors without his consent.

The Astros have two openings on their 40-man roster at the moment. They’ll add Rodgers, Cam Smith, Rafael Montero and Steven Okert by Opening Day. They’ve already informed the out-of-options Cooper Hummel that he won’t make the team. He’ll be designated for assignment or waived. They can easily open the final spot by transferring an injured pitcher (e.g. J.P. France, Cristian Javier) to the 60-day injured list.

Dan Altavilla Opts Out Of White Sox Deal

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Dan Altavilla exercised an out clause in his minor league deal with the White Sox, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The right-hander was granted his release and is again a free agent.

Chicago gave Altavilla a non-roster invite to big league camp in December. He had a solid Spring Training, working 9 2/3 innings of three-run ball with 11 strikeouts. The White Sox nevertheless opted not to carry him on the big league roster, sending him back to the open market.

Altavilla made five appearances for the Royals last season. He gave up six runs across 3 2/3 frames before sustaining an oblique strain that knocked him out of action for two months. Kansas City waived him rather than reinstate him onto the MLB roster once he was healthy. That was Altavilla’s first major league work since he made two appearances for the Padres in 2021.

The 32-year-old spent most of last season with K.C.’s Triple-A club. He turned in a 3.51 ERA with a 22.2% strikeout rate and a 12.9% walk percentage across 41 innings. The Triple-A and Spring Training numbers should land him a minor league deal somewhere.

Mets Likely To Remove Alexander Canario From 40-Man Roster

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Mets outfielder Alexander Canario is not expected to break camp with the major league club, reports Mike Puma of The New York Post. The 24-year-old is out of minor league options, so he’ll likely be removed from the 40-man roster in the next day or two. Puma indicates the Mets expect to place Canario on waivers. Alternately, they’d have five days to explore trade possibilities if they first designate him for assignment. If they couldn’t find a trade partner, they’d need to waive him.

Canario’s out-of-options status could lead to him bouncing around the league. It facilitated his move to the Mets in the first place, as the Cubs designated him for assignment and traded him to New York for cash in February. That wasn’t a great landing spot for Canario. The Mets already had Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Jose Siri, Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte essentially locked onto the MLB roster. Canario provided injury insurance during camp, and a potential fifth outfielder if the Mets lined up a late-offseason Marte trade.

Neither happened, so there wasn’t really a path for Canario no matter how well he played this spring. (Speedster José Azocar, who is also out of options, finds himself in a similar situation.) The righty-hitting Canario hit .306 in 17 exhibition contests. He connected on three home runs and drew seven walks, but he also punched out in 15 of his 43 plate appearances. It’s the same three true outcomes profile that he has displayed throughout his minor league career. Canario drilled 18 homers with a robust 11.3% walk rate in only 64 Triple-A games in the Cubs’ system last offseason, but his 30.4% strikeout rate meant the Cubs weren’t willing to carry him on the MLB roster.

Assuming he’s indeed waived (or traded for a nominal return) this week, Canario could attract interest from a team with less outfield depth. He owns a .252/.345/.521 line in parts of three Triple-A campaigns. He’s best suited in right field but can handle center in a pinch. Any claiming team would need to carry him on the MLB roster or again send him into DFA limbo, of course. If Canario goes unclaimed on waivers, the Mets would keep him in the organization without carrying him on the 40-man.

Red Sox Likely To Select Sean Newcomb

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Minor league signee Sean Newcomb is likely to begin the season as the Red Sox’s fifth starter, manager Alex Cora tells reporters (including Alex Speier of The Boston Globe). The Sox would need to add the southpaw to their 40-man roster if he breaks camp.

Newcomb hasn’t held a consistent rotation role for seven years. He started 30 games for the Braves in 2018. The former first-round pick hasn’t reached five starts in an MLB season since then. Newcomb looked like a potential mid-rotation arm early in his career. Scattershot command pushed him to the bullpen and eventually into journeyman territory. Newcomb has allowed a 6.66 earned run average in 98 2/3 frames divided between three teams since the start of 2020.

The 31-year-old has made seven MLB appearances for the A’s in each of the last two seasons. He worked 10 innings last year and walked eight batters while recording seven strikeouts. He gave up seven runs. Newcomb had opened the year on the 60-day injured list with left knee soreness and was released in July, so he barely pitched. The Massachusetts native signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in January.

Newcomb has had a fantastic Spring Training. He has worked 14 1/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out 13 against three walks. He nevertheless would not have secured a season-opening rotation spot if not for a few injuries. Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford are all beginning the year on the injured list.

Giolito and Bello should be back by the middle of April, so Newcomb’s stint in the rotation might be brief. He’ll land behind Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler and Richard Fitts to begin the year. If he pitches well, Newcomb could kick into the bullpen. As a player with over five years of service time, he could refuse any minor league assignments once he officially cracks the 40-man roster.

Boston will also need to open a roster spot for top prospect Kristian Campbell, who’ll break camp and should play regularly at second base. Zach Penrod and Chris Murphy are candidates to move to the 60-day IL if the Sox don’t want to designate anyone for assignment.

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