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Pirates Place Corey Dickerson On 10-Day IL

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The Pirates have placed outfielder Corey Dickerson on the 10-day injured list, per a club announcement. A right posterior shoulder strain is the cause of the placement.

It’s not entirely clear what kind of absence is to be anticipated. Dickerson will cease throwing for at least ten days, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (Twitter link). Whether there’s any possibility of an activation after the minimum absence isn’t known.

Righty Jordan Lyles was activated from his own season-opening IL stint to take the open roster spot. He’ll step into the rotation, but obviously won’t be much help to a lineup that is now missing another of its best bats.

For now, the Bucs won’t add another outfielder to the active roster, preferring instead to lean on Melky Cabrera, JB Shuck and Pablo Reyes in the corners. Infielders Colin Moran and Kevin Newman are each getting some preparatory work in the outfield in case they’re needed, MLB.com’s Adam Berry notes on Twitter.

Yankees Acquire Jake Barrett

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The Yankees announced today that they have claimed righty Jake Barrett off waivers from the Pirates. Fellow right-hander Ben Heller was shifted to the 60-day injured  list while he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery.

Barrett already spent the offseason bouncing between rosters; now he’s doing so again to open the season. He’ll start things off at Triple-A with the New York organization, where he’ll represent a depth option should a need arise in the big league pen.

As we’ve now discussed several times in recent months, Barrett is looking to rediscover the form he showed back in 2016, when as a 24-year-old rookie, he gave the Diamondbacks 59 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball with nearly a strikeout per inning. He’s posted a 5.03 ERA in 34 big league innings since that time and spent most of 2018 at Triple-A, pitching to a 2.87 ERA with 11.3 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 over 53 1/3 innings.

Brewers Claim Donnie Hart

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The Brewers have claimed southpaw Donnie Hart off waivers from the Dodgers, per a club announcement. Milwaukee moved righty Bobby Wahl to the 60-day injured list to create roster space.

Hart was optioned to Triple-A to begin his tenure with the Brewers organization. He’ll wait there for an opportunity to arise. Hart had been claimed in the middle of camp by the Los Angeles organization but obviously wasn’t a key part of their plans.

Since breaking into the majors with an eye-opening 2016 debut —  one earned run in 18 1/3 innings —  Hart has seen his results decline. He managed a 3.71 ERA in 43 2/3 frames in the following season, but the peripherals weren’t terribly promising. Last year, he was knocked around in twenty appearances — a dozen earned runs on 31 hits with an ugly 13:12 K/BB ratio — and ended up spending most of the year at Triple-A.

Hart did continue dominate at the highest level of the minors. He has been tough on pre-MLB batters at all levels, but has been especially excellent at Triple-A, where he owns a 2.40 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 over 56 1/3 innings. If he can find a way to translate those K/BB numbers to the majors, and continue to generate groundballs as he has (52.6% in the big leagues), the soft-tossing 28-year-old could be an interesting pen piece.

Poll: When Will Kimbrel & Keuchel Sign?

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The season is now well underway, and there’s still no evidence that free agent hurlers Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel are close to inking new deals. It has mostly been crickets on the markets for both.

Kimbrel’s slate of potential suitors isn’t any clearer now than it was when we examined his market situation in early March. Neither has anything of significance occurred since we took a look at the possible Keuchel suitors about a week ago.

Those accomplished hurlers have to this point evidently not been willing to settle for pillow deals. It’s hard to blame them for that stance. It also makes it that much harder to guess how things will turn out — and when there’ll be a resolution.

Teams are continuing to make long-term investments in existing players through contract extensions, so it’s not as if they aren’t willing or able to consider future commitments at this stage of the season. But the ongoing insistence on multiple years seemingly makes it likelier that talks will continue to drag.

Waiting until after the June draft would allow the players to shed draft compensation requirements. When last we saw players approaching this caliber languish on the market into the season, one (Stephen Drew) inked in May while the other (Kendrys Morales) waited until just after the draft. Both settled for single-season deals.

When do you think Kimbrel will end up signing? (Link for app users.)

And how about Keuchel? (Link for app users.)

Orioles Select Matt Wotherspoon, Designate Pedro Araujo

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The Orioles announced today that they have selected the contract of righty Matt Wotherspoon. He’ll take the roster spot of fellow righty Pedro Araujo, who was designated for assignment.

Wotherspoon was picked up a few years back in exchange for international bonus pool money. He has been bypassed in the Rule 5 draft but will now get his first crack at the majors at 27 years of age. Last year, he pitched to a 4.60 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 over 94 Triple-A frames.

Araujo, a 2017 Rule 5 pick, only needed to be kept on the MLB roster briefly in 2019 for his rights to be permanently transferred to the O’s. But he’d still have required a 40-man spot that the Baltimore organization obviously wasn’t interested in committing. He’ll now be offered back to the Cubs if he clears waivers.

Miguel Andujar Hopes To Avoid Surgery For Shoulder Injury

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While the threat of surgery remains, Yankees third baseman Miguel Andujar says he does not believe he’ll need to go under the knife, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports. Andujar has already been placed on the 10-day injured list.

Andujar, 24, says his shoulder still feels strong and that he has received promising results from initial physical tests. He’s slated for “physical therapy,” with a reevaluation due “in a couple weeks.”

Ackert chatted with a shoulder expert who provides some information regarding the typical rehab course for this sort of injury — what the club has characterized as a small labrum tear. It seems the likely process will be to establish range of motion in the joint and then begin strengthening.

There are still hurdles, but it seems there is a legitimate hope that Andujar will not require a procedure that would end his season prematurely. Throwing will likely be a loftier challenge than hitting, given the nature of the injury, so it’s also at least theoretically possible that Andujar will be able to return in a DH capacity before he’s fully prepared to man the hot corner.

Royals Select Homer Bailey, Designate Chris Ellis

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The Royals have selected the contract of righty Homer Bailey, who’ll slide into the club’s rotation. To create roster space, righty Chris Ellis was designated for assignment.

Bailey, who’s a month from his 33rd birthday, will try to resurrect his career in Kansas City. He earned the chance after turning in 13 1/3 innings of 4.05 ERA ball in camp, with 7.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. Once a quality rotation piece with the Reds, Bailey has struggled to a 6.25 ERA in just 231 2/3 innings over the past four seasons while dealing with significant arm issues.

As for Ellis, the 26-year-old just made his first MLB appearance after winning a spot out of camp as a Rule 5 pick. He’ll be offered back to the Cardinals if he isn’t claimed. Ellis has spent most of his time in the minors as a starter. Last year, he pitched to a 3.93 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 132 2/3 innings with the Cards’ top two affiliates.

On the face of things, this transaction isn’t a terribly significant one. Rule 5 picks are dropped with quite some frequency, after all, and veteran starters such as Bailey are often tapped for innings. But the Royals evidently found something to like in Ellis, with skipper Ned Yost saying that the club wanted to “give it a full look” because they liked his stuff. (Via Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star, on Twitter.) If that’s truly the case, it’s a bit odd that the organization couldn’t find room for Ellis on a roster that includes several low-upside veteran pitchers and a bizarre bench mix featuring two first basemen/designated hitters (Lucas Duda and Frank Schwindel, who supplement Ryan O’Hearn and Jorge Soler) and an outfielder who’s known almost exclusively as a pinch runner and defensive replacement (Terrance Gore).

Indians Extend Terry Francona

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The Indians have announced a two-year contract extension with skipper Terry Francona. He’ll be at the helm through the 2022 season.

Francona has already managed six full seasons in Cleveland, so he’ll have run the dugout for nine in total by the end of this contract. That would top his eight-season tenure with the Red Sox and four-year stint with the Phillies.

To this point, the arrangement has been quite successful. Under Francona’s leadership, the club has a .562 winning percentage — which is actually a bit shy of the .574 mark his charges in Boston managed during his run there.

The Indians haven’t yet gotten over the hump, but have come achingly close to a World Series under Francona. They’ve run off three-straight division titles and have been to the postseason four times in six seasons. The club pushed the Cubs to the brink in 2016, narrowly losing a memorable World Series.

Braves Extend Ronald Acuna

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3:34pm: The Braves have formally announced the extension.

Acuna will earn $1MM in both 2019 and 2020, $5MM in 2021, $15MM in 2022 and $17MM annually from 2023-26, Heyman tweets. There’s a $10MM buyout on his first $17MM option for the 2027 season.

11:27am: In an exclamation point on a spring full of extensions, the Braves are finalizing a $100MM deal with elite youngster Ronald Acuna, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The eight-year contract comes with two option years, priced at $17MM apiece with a $10MM buyout, per the report. Acuna is represented by Alex Salazar of Gatemore Sports & Entertainment.

The agreement will begin with the present season, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). It’ll therefore run through at least the 2026 season, with options for the 2027 and 2028 campaigns. Acuna, who entered the current campaign at 21 years of age and with 159 days of MLB service, was on track to qualify for arbitration in 2021 (as a Super Two) and reach free agency after the 2024 campaign. Accordingly, the new deal guarantees two would-be free-agent campaigns and gives the Atlanta organization control over two more.

Acuna won the National League’s Rookie of the Year Award last season at twenty years of age. The multi-dimensional young star launched 26 home runs and slashed .293/.366/.552 in 487 plate appearances. He also swiped 16 bags and is considered a quality outfield defender, making him one of the highest-upside players in all of baseball.

Taking this sort of financial security is understandable for a player who didn’t secure a large bonus and still was several years removed from arbitration. But it took a massive bite out of his potential earning power as a professional ballplayer. Acuna will now be under team control through his age-30 season, with the deal maxing out at $124MM if both options are exercised.

There’s obviously very real risk in any deal of this magnitude, but the contract is laden with upside for the Atlanta organization. Excellent young players always deliver huge surplus value during the earlier portion of their careers, when they’re earning relative peanuts; that’s the nature of the system. But locking up Acuna now also delivers the potential for the gravy train to continue into the future.

Acuna might reasonably have anticipated something in the range of $50MM in arbitration earnings, with potential for more if he enjoys good health. If he keeps anything like his current pace, he’d have been in line for a monstrous free-agent contract in advance of his age-27 season. Instead, the Braves now have control over four more of Acuna’s mid-prime seasons — campaigns that could otherwise have been sold to the highest bidder at prices we can’t really even foresee at this point in time.

Unsurprisingly, given his excellence, Acuna has commanded a larger guarantee than the few other players who’ve done deals this early in their careers. Eloy Jimenez just received a $43MM promise from the White Sox, more than any sub-1.000 service player, before making his debut. The Acuna deal blows that guarantee out of the water. That was inevitable: Acuna has much greater upside as an all-around performer, has already established himself in the majors, and is still younger than Jimenez.

But it’s fair to ask whether Acuna’s contract structure is really preferable to that of Jimenez. If both of their contracts are maxed out through options, the former will have earned $124MM over ten years and sacrificed four free-agent seasons, while the latter will have received $75MM for eight years but will in effect have given up only one open-market campaign (as we explained in the post on his signing). What the Braves were willing to do obviously isn’t known, but Acuna might have been better served to have sought a lesser guarantee (with Jimenez as a presumptive floor) that secured his financial future while leaving more future free-agent seasons available to work with in the long run.

There was never really any doubt that Acuna was a central part of the Braves’ long-term plans, but that’s now all the more clear. The club will hope that Acuna functions as an affordable superstar for the decade to come, keeping open a lengthy contention window.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Royals Acquire Andrew Susac

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The Royals have acquired backstop Andrew Susac from the Orioles, per a club announcement. Cash considerations are heading to Baltimore in return.

Susac, 29, was dropped from the 40-man roster earlier this year and failed to crack the Baltimore roster in camp. He has seen minimal MLB action in the past several seasons and accumulated just three hundred total plate appearances in five seasons of action.

With several other options available at Triple-A, the O’s obviously felt they could part with the depth. Susac will give the Royals some experience at their top affiliate. He’ll also provide organizational depth, though he’s out of options and therefore cannot be shuttled up and down with ease.

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