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Neil Walker Announces Retirement

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Longtime major league second baseman Neil Walker has retired from baseball at the age of 35. Walker broke the news to Sweeny Murti of WFAN as a guest on the “30 for Murti” podcast.

A Pittsburgh native, Walker was a first-round pick (No. 11) of his hometown Pirates in 2004. Five years later, Walker made a 17-game big league debut, and he became both a regular and a consistently solid contributor beginning the next season. During a 3,386-plate appearance run from 2010-15, the switch-hitting Walker put up five seasons of at least 2.4 fWAR (including a career-high 4.1 in 2014, when he won a Silver Slugger Award) and batted .273/.338/.443 with 93 home runs.

Walker’s time with the Pirates concluded when they traded him to the Mets for left-hander Jon Niese prior to the 2016 campaign. The move didn’t work out at all for the Bucs, with whom Niese’s production spiraled, though Walker continued to perform well in Queens. He batted .275/.344/.462 and smacked 33 HRs over 757 PA in a Mets uniform in parts of two seasons, but with the team out of contention late in 2017, it traded him to the Brewers for the stretch run.

Walker didn’t re-sign with the Brewers, instead returning to New York n a one-year, $4MM guarantee with the Yankees. With a .219/.309/.354 line in 398 trips to the plate, Walker turned in his worst offensive season as a regular in 2018. He enjoyed somewhat of a bounce-back campaign the next season on a $2MM deal as a member of the Marlins, though he still had to settle for a minor league contract with the Phillies going into 2020. While Walker did make it to the majors for a 12th straight season, he struggled enough over 18 games that the Phillies designated him for assignment in September.

Although Walker had a less-than-ideal ending, he still enjoyed a far more successful and lucrative career than the vast majority of major leaguers. He’ll end with a .267/.338/.426 line, 149 homers and 21.6 fWAR/19.6 rWAR across 1,306 games and 5,152 trips to the plate. Walker also earned nearly $52MM in the bigs, per Baseball-Reference.com.

MLBTR congratulates Walker on an impressive career and wishes him the best in retirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yasiel Puig To Sign With Mexican League Team

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Outfielder Yasiel Puig hasn’t been able to find work in the majors, but it does appear he’ll play professional baseball in 2021. Puig will sign with Veracruz of the Mexican League, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reports.

Now 30 years old, Puig starred with the Dodgers at times from 2013-18. However, there were some off-field issues along the way, including two reckless driving arrests. The Dodgers moved on from Puig in a trade with the Reds heading into 2019, during which he went on to slash .267/.327/.458 with 29 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 611 plate appearances between Cincinnati and Cleveland.

Statistically, Puig did enough with the Ohio teams to earn another contract going into last season, but he sat on the open market into the summer. While the Braves appeared to have a deal with Puig in the middle of July, that fell through when he tested positive for COVID-19. Puig didn’t end up playing in MLB last season as a result, nor did he garner major interest as a free agent this past offseason – likely because of serious off-field allegations.

Last October, a woman filed a civil lawsuit against Puig, who she claims sexually assaulted her at a Los Angeles Lakers game in 2018. Puig and his legal team categorically denied those allegations last week, when the 30-year-old called them “totally false.” He also expressed a desire to return to MLB, but he’ll have to play at a lower level for at least the time being.

Twins Place 3 On COVID List, Select Luke Farrell

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The Twins have placed a pair of outfielders – Max Kepler and Kyle Garlick – as well as left-hander Caleb Thielbar on the COVID-19 injured list, the team announced. Kepler tested positive for the virus, manager Rocco Baldelli announced to Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com and other reporters. Garlick tested positive over the weekend, while Thielbar is on the list as a close contact.

The Twins have been hit hard by COVID over the past several days, as their games against the Angels on Saturday and Sunday were both postponed. The club was previously scheduled to face the Athletics on Monday, but they were also unable to play then. However, the Twins will return to action Tuesday with a doubleheader in Oakland.

To fill their empty roster spots, the Twins reinstated outfielder Brent Rooker from the 10-day IL, added lefty Lewis Thorpe as the 27th man for their doubleheader, recalled infielder Travis Blankenhorn and selected righty Luke Farrell. The 29-year-old Farrell appeared with four different teams – most recently Texas – from 2017-20 and combined for a 5.00 ERA in 63 innings. The Twins signed him to a minor league deal during the offseason.

Athletics Designate Ka’ai Tom For Assignment

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April 20: The A’s have formally announced Tom’s DFA. The move clears roster space for Stephen Piscotty to be reinstated from the paternity list. Oakland also announced that lefty Reymin Guduan has been reinstated from the 10-day IL and will serve as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Twins.

April 19: The Athletics have designated outfielder Ka’ai Tom for assignment, per the MLB transactions page (h/t: Martin Gallegos of MLB.com). Tom was a Rule 5 pick from Cleveland, and he’ll be offered back to the Indians if he clears waivers.

The 26-year-old Tom earned a roster spot in Oakland thanks to a strong spring, during which he slashed .310/.412/.552 with four extra-base hits (two doubles, a home run and a triple) in 34 plate appearances. But Tom was unable to carry that performance into the regular season, as he collected just one hit (a single) and six strikeouts in 16 PA before the A’s designated him.

Tom hasn’t produced in the majors yet, but he has done well in the minors since the Indians used a fifth-round pick on him in 2015. During the most recent minors season in 2019, Tom put together a .290/.380/.532 line with 23 homers in 554 plate trips between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

Mariners Activate Kyle Lewis From Injured List

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April 20: The Mariners announced that Lewis has been reinstated from the injured list. Braden Bishop was optioned to their alternate site in a corresponding move.

April 19: The Mariners will activate center fielder Kyle Lewis from the 10-day injured list prior to their game against the Dodgers on Tuesday, manager Scott Servais told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and other reporters.

Lewis hasn’t made his 2021 debut yet as a result of a deep bone bruise he suffered in his right knee toward the end of spring training. The injury has so far prevented Lewis from building on a terrific 2020 season in which he won American League Rookie of the Year honors. Lewis took home the award after slashing .262/.364/.437 (126 wRC+) with 11 home runs in 242 plate appearances and succeeding on five of his six stolen base attempts. He was also quite durable last year, missing just two of the Mariners’ 60 games.

Even without Lewis, the Mariners have come racing out of the gates this year with the AL West’s leading record (10-6). They’ve done so in spite of below-average offensive production from Taylor Trammell, who has filled in for Lewis in center. Trammell has hit .152/.278/.304 (77 wRC+) with 23 strikeouts in 54 trips to the plate. Trammell has swung a better bat since a rough 1-for-13 start to the season and is regarded as one of the club’s top prospects, however, so he could still factor into the equation in left field even with Lewis back in the fold.

AL Notes: Yankees, Rendon, Mondesi, Rays

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The Yankees were supposed to be one of baseball’s premier teams this year, but they haven’t looked the part so far. The club is currently in a tailspin, having lost five in a row to fall to an American League-worst 5-10. Nevertheless, general manager Brian Cashman isn’t panicking. The longtime executive gave votes of confidence to the Yankees’ roster and manager Aaron Boone on Monday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Cashman indicated the Yankees aren’t going to make any knee-jerk decisions with their roster or in their dugout as a result of their poor start. “That’s the message to our players: ‘We do believe in you,” he said. “We know what you’re capable of. This is a bad stretch, and we’re going to get through this together.” Cashman did admit that owner Hal Steinbrenner is “disappointed” with how the team has performed, but it doesn’t seem as if that will lead to any kind of drastic changes. “I’ve got a lot of trust in the people we have,” Cashman declared.

  • Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon began baseball activities Monday, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Rendon landed on the 10-day injured list April 12 (retroactive to April 11) with a left groin strain, though he won’t return when he’s first eligible on Wednesday. The Angels have used Jose Rojas, Jack Mayfield and Luis Rengifo at third over the past week, but all three have failed to produce. Rojas, who leads the Angels in playing time at the hot corner since Rendon went down, has gotten one hit in 19 plate appearances. Mayfield and Rengifo are a combined 1-for-8.
  • Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi has already missed three weeks with a right oblique strain, and a return doesn’t appear imminent. Manager Mike Matheny said Monday that Mondesi is “doing limited control movement” and hasn’t begun taking swings since he went on the IL on March 30. The Royals have gotten off to a surprising 9-5 start without Mondesi, in part because fill-in Nicky Lopez has put up respectable production in his stead, but they surely want last year’s stolen base champ back sooner than later.
  • The Rays placed left-hander Ryan Sherriff on the restricted list April 3 when he decided to take time off from the game, but he has returned to the organization, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Sherriff will head to minor league camp in order to get himself back into pitching shape. The 30-year-old has only thrown one-third of an inning for the Rays this season, but he held opposing offenses scoreless over 9 2/3 innings in 2020. Sherriff added another two scoreless frames against the Dodgers in a pair of World Series appearances.

MLBTR Poll: Boston’s Hot Start

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After ending the shortened 2020 season with a 24-36 record and a last-place finish in the American League East, the Red Sox were not a popular playoff pick entering the current campaign. Sure, the team reunited with World Series-winning manager Alex Cora, but its offseason was otherwise a fairly low-key one. The big-market Red Sox’s largest free-agent guarantee went to utility player Enrique Hernandez, who signed a two-year, $14MM guarantee, and they didn’t make any blockbuster acquisitions on the trade market. They also knew they would spend a sizable chunk of 2021 without left-handed ace Chris Sale, who isn’t quite 13 full months removed from Tommy John surgery.

With a forgettable 2020 and an understated winter in their rear-view mirror, the Red Sox began this season poorly with a three-game sweep at the hands of the lowly Orioles. At that very early point, it looked as if Boston might be in for another lean year, though the team has since done a 180. The Red Sox climbed out of their hole with a stunning nine straight victories, and while they have lost three of five since then, they’re still an impressive 11-6, atop the American League and 2 1/2 games up in the AL East. They earned their latest victory Monday in an 11-4 drubbing of the White Sox and ace Lucas Giolito, whom they chased in the second inning after pummeling him for eight runs over one-plus frame.

The Red Sox have been a well-rounded outfit during their sizzling start, as their offense and pitching have combined to give the club the AL’s top run differential (plus-28). As of this writing, the Red Sox are second in the majors in wRC+ and third in runs scored, owing largely to their three best hitters (J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts) and solid complementary performances from Alex Verdugo, Christian Vazquez and Christian Arroyo. Meanwhile, Nathan Eovaldi has carried their Sale-less rotation, and their bullpen has received great work from the likes of Matt Barnes, Matt Andriese, Phillips Valdez and Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock, among others. Between its starters and relievers, Boston owns a respectable 3.70 ERA/3.89 SIERA.

The rest of the AL East hasn’t looked nearly as sharp as the Red Sox to this point. The Rays, the defending division champions and pennant winners, are in second at 8-8. The injury-riddled Blue Jays are 7-9, as are the Orioles, though Toronto is far more likely than Baltimore to threaten Boston over a 162-game schedule. And then there’s the last-place Yankees, who have done seemingly nothing right during a surprising 5-10 start.

In most cases, it’s much too soon to crown a club or write one off, but the Red Sox have looked like the class of their division thus far. Do you think they’re good enough to hang in the AL race the rest of the way?

(Poll link for app users)

Phillies Place 3 On Injured List

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5:13pm: No Phillies players are known to have tested positive for COVID, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

3:27pm: The Phillies announced that they have placed a pair of left-handers – Jose Alvarado and Matt Moore – as well as infielder Ronald Torreyes on the COVID-19 injured list for undisclosed reasons. The club recalled lefties Damon Jones and Cristopher Sanchez to fill in for Alvarado and Moore, while infielder Nick Maton is up for Torreyes. It’s unknown how much time Alvarado, Moore and Torreyes will miss.

Alvarado, an offseason pickup from Tampa Bay, has been a key part of the Phillies’ bullpen so far. Through 5 2/3 innings, the 25-year-old has averaged a career-high 99.5 mph on his fastball and held hitters to one run on four hits and two walks, also adding 10 strikeouts.

Moore hasn’t fared nearly as well as Alvarez. The 31-year-old returned from a one-year stint in Japan in free agency on a $3MM guarantee, and while he did claim a spot in the Phillies’ rotation, his first three starts have been a disaster. Eleven innings into his season, Moore has yielded 12 earned runs on 17 hits, including four homers, and 12 walks (15 strikeouts).

Torreyes has garnered the least playing time of the three, having appeared in three games and totaled five plate appearances so far.

In other Phillies news, the team announced that first base coach Paco Figueroa and and coaching assistant Bobby Meacham have entered COVID protocols. Infield coach Juan Castro will take over for Figueroa during his absence, while Triple-A LeHigh Valley manager Gary Jones will handle third base duties. Meacham had been filling in since third base coach Dusty Wathan went into COVID protocols last week.

Giants Select Trevor Gott

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The Giants have selected the contract of right-hander Trevor Gott, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report. The club also recalled left-hander Sam Selman and optioned outfielder Steven Duggar and catcher Chadwick Tromp. With hurlers Jake McGee and Logan Webb on the COVID list, the Giants won’t have to make a corresponding 40-man move to clear room for Gott.

Gott and Selman will give the Giants’ bullpen a pair of fresh arms after their relievers totaled 11 2/3 innings over the weekend in the team’s three-game series against the Marlins. The 28-year-old Gott was a regular in San Francisco’s bullpen in each of the previous two seasons, but the club designated him for assignment in February and then retained him after he cleared waivers.

In 2019, his first season with the Giants, Gott threw 52 2/3 innings of 4.44 ERA ball, but he finished with a more palatable 3.73 SIERA and posted above-average strikeout and walk percentages of 26.6 and 7.9, respectively. Gott wasn’t able to build on the positives last season, though, as he yielded 13 earned runs on 13 hits (including seven homers) across 11 2/3 frames. He also ended the year with as many walks as strikeouts (eight).

Cubs Reinstate Brandon Workman, Dan Winkler; Reassign Pedro Strop

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April 17: Chicago announced they’re reinstating Workman and Winkler from the IL in advance of this afternoon’s game against the Braves. Steele has been optioned to the team’s alternate training site in South Bend, while Strop has been reassigned to the alternate site. Under the league’s 2021 health and safety protocols, Strop needs not be exposed to waivers to be removed from the 40-man roster as a COVID-19 replacement.

April 12: The Cubs have placed three members of their bullpen – right-handers Jason Adam, Brandon Workman and Dan Winkler – on the COVID-19 injured list, Robert Murray of FanSided was among those to report. The move came “out of abundance of caution” after bullpen coach Chris Young tested positive for COVID-19. To take the pitchers’ places, the Cubs recalled fellow hurlers Brad Wieck and Justin Steele, and they selected Pedro Strop’s contract, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com.

It’s unclear how much time Adam, Workman and Winkler will miss, but all three are quarantining away from the club, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. The Cubs have received a combined 11 1/3 innings from Adam, Workman and Winkler this season. Adam has been the most successful of the three, having given up one earned run and struck out seven hitters in 3 2/3 innings. Workman has surrendered three runs (two earned) over 3 2/3 frames, but he has totaled five strikeouts. Winkler has yielded one ER on two hits and struck out five across four innings, though he has succeeded despite walking a batter per nine.

The Cubs signed Strop to a minor league contract in the offseason, and the righty is now in line for his second MLB stint with the organization. Now 35 years old, Strop was highly effective for most of his prior Cubs tenure, which ran from 2013-19. He surpassed the 60-frame mark in three of those seasons and combined for 373 innings of 2.90 ERA ball. Strop temporarily left the Cubs to join the division-rival Reds in free agency entering the 2020 campaign, but he threw a mere 2 1/3 innings before Cincinnati designated him for assignment.

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