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Offseason In Review: Oakland Athletics

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The rebuilding A’s made only a few moves to address their big league roster, as much of the offseason news continued to focus on the club’s impending departure from Oakland.

Major League Signings

2023 spending: $13MM
Total spending: $13MM

Option Decisions

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

A long and twisted series of events that leads to finding a green armadillo in Las Vegas might sound like the plot of another Hangover sequel, yet it could also describe the Athletics’ relocation efforts.  MLB owners gave unanimous approval in November to the franchise’s plan to relocate, and the team recently released some eye-popping renderings of their proposed “spherical armadillo” ballpark on the Strip, which is planned to open for the start of the 2028 season.

Much has yet to be settled until then, including the rather important detail of where exactly the A’s will be playing during the 2025-27 seasons.  Next year’s edition of the Offseason In Review could be devoted to the Salt Lake City Athletics or the Sacramento Athletics, as the Athletics have been exploring alternate cities as their short-term home.  Since NBC Sports California could opt out of its broadcast contract with the A’s if the club moves out of the Bay Area, the team’s first option is to extend its lease at the Coliseum beyond its current end date following the 2024 season, yet the city of Oakland is (unsurprisingly) not too enthused about continuing the relationship.  At least, not without possibly trying to negotiate a new expansion team out of the league in exchange for letting the Athletics temporarily stay put.

Even the Vegas end of the move isn’t exactly solidified.  The league is pushing so hard for the Athletics’ relocation that it doesn’t seem likely that the move would fall apart altogether, though questions remain — a Nevada teachers’ union has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s funding law that earmarked $380MM in public money towards the ballpark, the overall uncertainty about the new stadium’s financing and construction plans, and the fact that Las Vegas citizens seem mixed at best about the A’s coming to town.

Between all these factors and the Oakland fans’ open disdain towards owner John Fisher, it seems like several more years of awkwardness are in store before things start to turn for the Athletics organization.  Finding a silver lining in the on-field product seems like a longshot, given how the A’s have gone 110-214 over the last two seasons and seem destined for another triple-digit showing in the loss column in 2024.

Given how the Athletics have already dealt most of their prominent (and most expensive) veterans, GM David Forst didn’t do much in the way of continuing the fire sale this winter.  Forst said during the Winter Meetings that Aledmys Diaz, Seth Brown, Paul Blackburn weren’t likely to be traded, and while it can be assumed that the A’s are always listening to trade offers, the team still needs players on the roster.  And, some stronger performances from any of these more experienced names in the first half of the 2024 campaign could well bolster their trade value heading into the deadline.  Blackburn might be a key name to watch in this regard, since he is a free agent after the 2025 season and teams are forever looking to add pitching.

The rotation was a need for the A’s themselves this winter, resulting in a couple of familiar Bay Area names joining the club.  Alex Wood signed in free agency after spending the last three years with the Giants, and the A’s also lined up with the Giants on a rare trade between the local rivals in order to bring Ross Stripling to Oakland.  These two moves represent the Athletics’ biggest expenditures of the offseason, as Wood will earn $8.5MM on a one-year deal, and the A’s are covering $9MM of the $12.5MM owed to Stripling on the final year of his contract.

Neither veteran was too pleased about their usage within the Giants’ patchwork pitching tactics, but Wood and Stripling will get plenty of opportunity to work as full-time starters in Oakland.  Wood started 12 of 29 games in 2023, working as a swingman, bulk pitcher behind an opener, or in a piggyback capacity while posting a 4.33 ERA over 97 2/3 innings.  Wood’s traditionally solid strikeout and walk rates both plummeted to well below the league average last year, though it could be argued that his ever-shifting roles (and five weeks missed due to a pair of stints on the injured list) might’ve contributed to these struggles.

Stripling had an even tougher time of things with a 5.36 ERA over 89 innings, and injuries and a hybrid rotation/bullpen deployment were also a story of his season.  The right-hander did pitch better as the season went on, however, which could hint that he might have a smoother time of things in a more stable capacity as a starting pitcher.

Returning to trade deadline possibilities, a return to form for either Wood or Stripling will surely make them prime candidates to change uniforms at midseason, which could open up rotation jobs for some of the Athletics’ younger arms.  Some of this group (Joe Boyle, Kyle Muller, and Rule 5 Draft pick Mitch Spence) are already competing for the fifth starter’s role, which is open since both Luis Medina and Ken Waldichuk will begin the season on the injured list.  It remains to be seen when exactly either hurler might be back on the mound, underscoring the Athletics’ reasoning for acquiring experienced arms like Wood and Stripling.

Experience was also the watchword for the Athletics’ bullpen additions.  Of the seven pitchers who made the most appearances for Oakland in 2023, only Lucas Erceg is still with the team, so some veteran help was needed for a relief corps that is thin on Major League innings.  Trevor Gott and Scott Alexander signed low-cost one-year deals and might have hidden-gem potential, since both righties outperformed their ERAs last season.  Gott had a 4.19 ERA over 58 innings with the Mariners and Mets while not receiving any BABIP (.343) luck, while Alexander’s 3.75 SIERA was well below his 4.66 ERA in 48 1/3 innings for San Francisco.  A .325 BABIP was particularly harmful to an extreme groundball pitcher like Alexander, whose numbers might normalize if he gets better fortune with balls in play.

Gott and Alexander figure to work in setup roles no matter who (if anyone) winds up as the Athletics’ full-time closer.  Top prospect Mason Miller is making a bid for the job with a very impressive Spring Training performance, as the A’s are keeping Miller in the bullpen this year as a way of easing him back to action after a long string of injuries.  Erceg or Dany Jimenez could also be in the ninth inning mix.

The A’s mostly stood pat on the position-player side, though Tony Kemp (who signed with the Reds) was a notable departure after four seasons in Oakland.  The newly-acquired Abraham Toro is something of a replacement for both Kemp and Kevin Smith, as Toro has experience at first base, second base, and third base, and can step into the corner outfield in a pinch.  Third base figures to be Toro’s most steady position, and Toro and Diaz figure to share the hot corner until prospect Darell Hernaiz makes his expected Major League debut this season.

Zack Gelof, Nick Allen, and Ryan Noda should form the rest of the starting infield, with Brent Rooker as the primary DH and one of Shea Langeliers or Tyler Soderstrom behind the plate.  Brown, JJ Bleday, and speedster Esteury Ruiz are the projected starting outfielders, with rookie Lawrence Butler looking for a larger role and former Athletic Stephen Piscotty back on a minor league deal and looking to get back to the majors after spending 2023 in the White Sox farm system.  Miguel Andujar is an interesting wild card on the roster, as the former Yankees star prospect is looking for a fresh start after being claimed off waivers from the Pirates, and he hit well after a September call-up with the Pirates last season.

It isn’t the most inspiring lineup on paper, which is why the A’s will be hard-pressed to avoid the AL West basement.  There is some talent here, however, as Noda, Rooker, and the rookie Gelof all delivered well above-average production in 2023.  Gelof’s 133 wRC+ (from a .267/.337/.504 slash line and 14 homers) came over just 300 plate appearances, though it was enough to make the second baseman look like a potential building block for an A’s team in desperate need of some true cornerstones.

A rebuilding team is only going to spend so much on veteran players anyway, yet the Athletics’ projected payroll is the lowest in baseball by a substantial margin.  As per RosterResource’s projections, the A’s currently have only $59.3MM on the books for 2024 — well behind the $82MM in slated spending for the Pirates, who rank 29th of the 30 teams.

Fisher has been adverse to spending even when the A’s were fielding contenders, yet even beyond the lack of available money, Forst’s attempts to add any reinforcements were naturally complicated by all of the negativity surrounding the Athletics’ forthcoming move.  For players who had leverage in determining their next team, there wasn’t much interest in joining a franchise entering a lame-duck season in front of a fanbase that is understandably hostile towards the organization.  It perhaps isn’t surprising that so many of the Athletics’ additions this winter have prior experience playing for the Giants if not the A’s themselves, so the new faces are at least familiar with the Bay Area and the unusual situation facing the Athletics this coming season.

If the Athletics’ 57th season in Oakland will indeed be their last, it is probably going to be an inauspicious ending to a history that includes the “Swingin’ A’s” powerhouse teams of the 1970s, Rickey Henderson and the Bash Brothers in the late ’80s, and the Moneyball underdogs of the last two decades.  The focus will be on letting the kids play and hopefully building some momentum in the rebuild towards 2025 and beyond, no matter where the team ends up playing.

How would you grade the Athletics' offseason?
F 45.05% (937 votes)
D 27.36% (569 votes)
C 18.94% (394 votes)
B 5.29% (110 votes)
A 3.37% (70 votes)
Total Votes: 2,080

Mariners’ Jackson Kowar To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Jackson Kowar has been placed on the 60-day injured list due to a tear in his right UCL.  General manager Justin Hollander told reporters (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times) that Kowar will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, so the righty will now be out of action until around the midpoint of the 2025 season.  The 60-day IL placement for Kowar creates a 40-man roster spot for Ryne Stanek, whose signing is now official.

It’s a brutal setback for Kowar, who went into 2024 looking for a fresh start.  The Royals selected Kowar 33rd overall in the 2018 draft, and viewed the righty as one of several young arms that would help spur the organization’s next contention window.  Unfortunately, Kowar (and basically all of Kansas City’s pitchers to date) has yet to show much in the big leagues, with only a 9.12 ERA to show for 74 innings over the last three seasons.

Kowar made eight starts in his 2021 debut season but has since worked only as a reliever in the majors.  The move to the bullpen upped his fastball velocity but not much else, as batters have continued to tee off on Kowar’s offerings.  Shaky control has also been detrimental to Kowar’s cause, with a 13.7% walk rate and a modest 20.1% strikeout rate.

The Royals opted to move on from Kowar in November when he was traded to the Braves for Kyle Wright, and Kowar’s stay in Atlanta lasted just a couple of weeks, as he was flipped to the Mariners as part of the five-player trade that brought Jarred Kelenic to Atlanta.  From Seattle’s perspective, the trade moved a good deal of salary off the books at the cost of Kelenic, and the M’s got to pick up a couple of younger arms in Kowar and Cole Phillips, a second-round pick for the 2022 draft.  Unfortunately, Phillips was already recovering from a TJ surgery and recently had to undergo a second procedure, while Kowar has now also been sidelined with the same surgery.

News surfaced earlier this week about a possible arm injury for Kowar, adding to a list of reliever injuries Seattle has already had to address this spring.  Gregory Santos has been dealing with soreness is his teres major area but is back throwing bullpen sessions, while Hollander also said that Matt Brash is upping his games of catch to throws of 90 feet.  Brash was recently given the green light to start throwing again after a bout of elbow inflammation, as it appeared as though he dodged what initially appeared to be a much more serious injury.  Given all these health concerns, it isn’t surprising the Mariners felt the need to spend $4MM on Stanek to reinforce the relief corps.

Joey Votto Discusses Blue Jays, Reds, Free Agency

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Now that Joey Votto is officially a member of the Blue Jays, he spoke with multiple reporters (including the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, and The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath and C. Trent Rosencrans) to discuss his trip through free agency, and his eventual landing spot with his hometown team.

After a long offseason of waiting, the first baseman’s contract seemed to come together pretty quickly, as Votto said he called Jays GM Ross Atkins last week to discuss the eventual minor league deal.  Though Votto felt he might’ve been able to land a guaranteed contract elsewhere, the idea of a minors deal with the Jays in particular proved tempting as a challenge.

“I need the time to prepare and resharpen my game.  A goal of mine is to be fully prepared the second I return to major league competition.  The major league level is about execution,” Votto told McGrath and Rosencrans in a text message.

To this end, Votto is fully open to starting the season in Triple-A if he needs more time to ramp up.  In fact, he told Nicholson-Smith and company that he “signed the deal assuming that that was going to be the case.  I’m trying to prove I’m still a capable player and the last couple of seasons were not real.  And I have confidence that that will be the case.”

The six-time All-Star is entering his age-40 season, so there are some obvious questions about whether or not Votto can still be productive as he looks towards what would be his 18th Major League season.  It already seemed like Votto was starting to decline when he posted (by his past standards) subpar numbers in both 2019 and 2020, but he then rebounded with another big campaign in the 2021 season.  However, his performance dipped after over the last two seasons, seemingly due in part to a longstanding shoulder issue that became too painful for Votto to ignore.  He underwent rotator cuff surgery in August 2022, and hit only .204/.317/.394 over 618 total plate appearances over the last two seasons.

Perhaps the most important aspect is that Votto is feeling healthy as he enters spring camp, and that he is viewing his new assignment with the Blue Jays as a completely fresh start.  “I get to once again move towards, for the second time in my professional career, (trying to) make it to the major leagues.  And it excites me,” Votto said.  “It excites me to be in a hotel room in Florida, to take a shuttle or an Uber to the ballpark and be a minor-league player with an unknown number just trying my very best to make a team.  It invigorates me.  It’s what I feel I’ve been about, and it brings me great joy….I just I want to work and I want to compete and I want to fit in. I want to get along with guys, I want to be liked and I want to represent myself, my family and my country well.  And this is the perfect opportunity.”

While Votto has embraced being a minor league signing, he did think such an offer was going to eventually come from the Reds.  He told both McGrath/Rosencrans and Wittenmyer that his initial aim was to spend his entire career in Cincinnati, and even after the Reds declined their $20MM club option on his services for 2024, he figured he would eventually be offered a minors contract or a big league deal with a small guarantee by his longtime organization.

Instead, it seemed like the Reds were ready to move on to their next generation of young talent, as president of baseball operations Nick Krall even outright said in late January that “we don’t plan to bring [Votto] back as of now.”  Votto doesn’t seem to have any hard feelings, noting that “the Reds team is STACKED and there didn’t appear to be playing time for me so we had to pivot.”

As it turned out, Votto ended up being “grateful for the free agent experience,” as he told Wittenmyer.  “The vast majority of it was growth and learning about myself and things I need to change.”  Simply being on the open market was new for Votto, who never been a free agent due to his two prior extensions (a three-year, $38MM deal and his big ten-year, $225MM contract) with Cincinnati.

“There was a part of me that was scared, because it becomes uncharted waters for me,” Votto told Wittenmyer.  “It’s intimidating because I’d never as an adult been by myself.  I was always tied to an organization and specifically [the Reds].  But quickly, I was like, ’No, this is good.  You need this as a man, as an individual.  You need this to grow.  And what is the next step you need to take  Are you done?’ I answered that quickly: No.  So what’s the answer?  Let’s get to work.”

Marlins Sign Mychal Givens To Minor League Deal

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The Marlins have signed right-hander Mychal Givens to a minor league contract, MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola reports (X link).  The deal will become official when Givens passes a physical, and the veteran reliever will receive an invite to Miami’s big league spring camp.

2023 was essentially a lost season for Givens, who was limited to only four big league innings over six appearances with the Orioles, and 15 more frames in the minors.  The righty battled knee inflammation at the start of the season, and then quickly had to go on the injured list again due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder.  Baltimore opted to designate Givens for assignment and ultimately release him in August when Givens was activated from the 60-day IL.

It wasn’t much a return on what was a $5MM investment for the O’s last winter, between a $3MM salary and then a $2MM buyout on the Orioles’ end of a mutual option.  That said, the logic behind the signing was quite sound, as Givens has generally been a very solid reliever over his nine big league seasons.  Givens has a 3.47 ERA over 461 2/3 innings with five different teams, mostly the Orioles in his prior stint with the club from 2015-20.

Walks have been a consistent problem for Givens throughout his career, and his 12.1% career homer rate is on the high side (if inflated by a couple of particularly rough years in 2019-20 in terms of keeping the ball in the yard).  On the plus side, Givens has posted consistently above-average strikeout rates, and his signature four-seamer has plenty of spin.  The velocity of that fastball, however, has dropped from 94.8mph in 2021 to 93.5mph in 2022, and then to just 91.5mph last year though obviously in a very small sample size.

Assuming the 33-year-old is back to full health, Givens has some quality upside as a non-roster invite to Miami’s camp.  Since A.J. Puk is now slated to join the rotation, Steven Okert was traded to the Twins, and Dylan Floro and David Robertson both left in free agency, the Marlins’ projected bullpen is lacking in experience behind Tanner Scott and JT Chargois.  Yonny Chirinos and Matt Andriese are also in camp on minor league deals, though might be utilized as swingmen rather than as true relievers.

Giants Place J.D. Davis On Waivers

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The Giants have placed third baseman J.D. Davis on waivers, FanSided’s Robert Murray writes (via X).  The move comes just a week after San Francisco signed Matt Chapman, which seemed to make Davis an odd man out in the team’s corner infield picture.

With Chapman now at third base, Jorge Soler at DH, and LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores slated as a platoon tandem at first base, there wasn’t much room for Davis to find everyday playing time, making him something of an overqualified bench piece.  Chapman’s contract came after months of speculation that he would eventually land in San Francisco to re-unite with his former manager Bob Melvin, so really, trade rumors have been surrounding Davis for much of the offseason.

The waiver-wire move indicates that a trade couldn’t be found, yet that doesn’t mean that there isn’t interest in Davis’ services.  It could be that rival clubs weren’t willing to meet whatever asking price Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was seeking, and were content to wait and see if Davis would just end up available to be claimed.  By that same logic, it seems possible that Davis might also clear waivers entirely if no team wants to assume the $6.9MM salary he is owed for the 2024 season, after an arbitration panel ruled in Davis’ favor at a hearing last month.

The fact that Davis went to a hearing provides an interesting wrinkle to his salary situation, as per the terms of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.  Salaries for arbitration-eligible players are not fully guaranteed until they make the Opening Day roster, or (as noted by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area) unless they agree to a salary without going to a hearing — your standard “team and player have avoided arbitration” situation.

However, in going to a hearing, Davis could be subject to the CBA clause stating that San Francisco can part ways with him for a prorated portion of his $6.9MM salary.  That prorated sum will be 30 days’ worth of termination pay if Davis is released earlier than 16 days prior to the start of the Giants’ season (their first game is on March 28), and 45 days’ worth of pay if he is released after that 16-day checkpoint.  Davis might well have grounds for a grievance if the Giants try this tactic, as he has been tearing it up at the plate in Spring Training, and could therefore argue that he isn’t being released “for failure to exhibit sufficient skill or competitive ability,” as detailed in the CBA wording.

Barring a potential grievance, the Giants would save roughly $5.793MM by releasing Davis before the 16-day threshold.  It isn’t an insignificant sum, especially for a team that is approaching luxury tax status.  RosterResource projects the Giants for a tax number of just under $231.3MM, leaving the club with only a little breathing room before hitting the $237MM tax line.  Given how the Giants have pursued several high-salaried stars in recent years, paying the tax altogether probably isn’t seen as a huge barrier for ownership or the front office, yet naturally the team would ideally like to pay as little tax as possible.  San Francisco could potentially still be adding another big salary to the ledger before Opening Day, as the Giants remain linked to top starters Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery on the rumor mill.

Davis hit .248/.325/.413 with 18 homers over 546 plate appearances with San Francisco in 2023, as hot starts and finishes to the season bookended a pretty severe slump over the summer months.  The offensive production translated to a 104 wRC+, which is drop from the 118 wRC+ Davis posted over his first six MLB seasons with the Astros, Mets, and Giants.

While Davis’ bat has long been pretty solid, he has been something of a man without a defensive position.  The public metrics give him decent grades over 287 2/3 innings as a first baseman, though Davis’ work at third base has generally been considered subpar.  His 2023 performance drew at least mixed reviews, as Outs Above Average (+5) and UZR/150 (+0.8) had a positive view of his third base glovework, while the Defensive Runs Saved (-11) metric was much less impressed.

On paper, the Cubs, Brewers, Blue Jays, Rays, Nationals, Rangers, Guardians, Mariners, White Sox, Athletics, and Padres are teams that all have clear or hypothetical needs at either corner infield position or at DH, so any could potentially fit as Davis’ next landing spot.  Even a relatively modest $6.9MM salary could provide an obstacle in some of these situations, and the presence of such other free agents (such as J.D. Martinez, Brandon Belt, or Evan Longoria) who could fill at least one of Davis’ positions might further complicate his market.

Emmet Sheehan To Begin Season On Dodgers’ Injured List

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Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan will start the season on the injured list, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times).  Sheehan has yet to pitch this spring due to some shoulder discomfort and what Roberts described as general body soreness earlier this week, though Roberts initially indicated a few days ago that Sheehan could be ready for the Dodgers’ first game in North America on March 28.

The 2024 season gets underway earlier than usual for the Dodgers, who face the Padres in a two-game series in Seoul on March 20-21.  The team then has a couple of days off to recover from jet lag before facing the Angels in the final three games of the Spring Training schedule, and then starts the rest of their 160-game slate by hosting the Cardinals on March 28 when the rest of the league also gets into action.  Technically, a 15-day IL placement for Sheehan would mean that he’d miss only one start given the unusual nature of the schedule, though it stands to reason that L.A. will give him as much time as he needs to fully recover and get ready for regular trips to the mound.

A sixth-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2021 draft, Sheehan made his MLB debut last season and posted a 4.92 ERA over 60 1/3 innings.  Sheehan probably wouldn’t have risen to the Show quite so quickly if the Dodgers hadn’t been so snakebitten by rotation injuries, yet he at least held his own against big league hitters despite some unimpressive hard-contact and walk rates.

Though Sheehan has only 9 2/3 Triple-A innings on his resume, he did enough in his first taste of the majors to put himself into the competition for the fifth spot in the Dodgers’ rotation at the start of camp.  This injury will now put that quest on hold, and might ultimately turn Sheehan into more of a Triple-A depth arm depending on how his health progresses, and how many of the regular starters miss time on the IL.

Since Sheehan no longer in the mix, Michael Grove, rookies Gavin Stone and Kyle Hurt, and swingman Ryan Yarbrough are all in the running for starts.  Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, James Paxton, and Bobby Miller make up the top four in the Los Angeles rotation, and Walker Buehler is also expected to start the season on the IL as he continues his recovery from Tommy John surgery.  Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May should also factor into the mix after the midpoint of the season.

Rangers Claim Jose Barrero Off Waivers From Reds

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The Rangers announced that infielder Jose Barrero was claimed off waivers from the Reds.  Reporter Francys Romero (X link) revealed earlier today that Barrero was heading to Texas, though Romero indicated that the transaction was a trade rather than a waiver claim.  In a corresponding move, Texas placed right-hander Carson Coleman on the 60-day injured list, as Coleman will be out until at least midseason recovering from Tommy John surgery.

It wasn’t long ago that Barrero was seen as a building block prospect, with Baseball America ranking him as the 33rd-best minor leaguer in the sport prior to the 2022 season.  However, Barrero struggled badly at the plate in both Triple-A and in the big leagues in 2022, even though he got back on track in the minors with a nice .258/.333/.540 slash line with Triple-A Louisville in 2023.  Barrero is now out of minor league options, and since several other Reds infielders have now passed him on the depth chart, Cincinnati apparently viewed the 25-year-old as expendable.

Barrero has hit only .186/.242/.255 over 447 career plate appearances in the majors, and it remains to be seen if he can produce even passable numbers against big league pitching.  Still, it wouldn’t be the first time that a post-hype prospect has become a late bloomer after a move to a new organization, and Barrero’s Triple-A numbers indicate that he hasn’t entirely lost his batting eye.

Even beyond the hitting contributions, Barrero also offers good speed (69 steals in 87 attempts during his minor league career) and quality defense at multiple positions.  Barrero has mostly played shortstop during his pro career, but has also gotten some action as a second baseman and even in center field, as the Reds looked for creative ways to find playing time for their many infielders.

Barrero’s versatility is a benefit to a Rangers team that has some early questions within their infield.  First baseman Nathaniel Lowe is battling an oblique strain and might need to start the season on the 10-day injured list.  Josh Jung was sidelined with a minor calf strain three weeks ago and is showing improvement, though isn’t yet back to full baseball activity.  The duo of Ezequiel Duran and Josh H. Smith can cover third base if Jung needs to miss any regular-season time, though Duran might be needed at first base in Lowe’s absence, Barrero can help pick up the slack.

Matt Duffy and Jared Walsh are also in camp on minor league deals and top prospect Justin Foscue seems ready for his MLB debut, though Barrero’s presence now gives the Rangers more depth to work with as Opening Day approaches.  Since Barrero is out of options, Texas would have to either carry him on the 26-man roster or expose him to waivers in order to send him back down to Triple-A, and this status could make it a little tricky for Barrero to break camp with the team depending on how the Rangers want to line up their roster.

AL West Notes: Snell, Angels, Jung, Pollock, Verlander, Astros

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In a recent edition of the Willard and Dibs podcast, ESPN’s Buster Olney predicted Blake Snell will sign with the Angels, based on “conversations with people…who know Blake” and Snell’s apparent enjoyment of pitching in southern California.  Olney added the natural “depending on where the money falls” caveat, and things could also change depending on how the pitching market might yet play out, in regards to injuries suddenly changing the outlook for a would-be contender.  Agent Scott Boras said this week that he’d been hearing from some new suitors in regards to Snell and Jordan Montgomery since Spring Training opened, though both pitchers remain unsigned as we’re now into the second week of March.

The Angels were linked to Snell back in December, with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writing at the time that Snell was “their priority” as a front-of-the-rotation pitcher to replace Shohei Ohtani.  There hasn’t been much public movement between the two sides since, though the Halos also haven’t done anything else to upgrade their rotation, as their offseason pitching moves have been largely focused on bullpen additions.  The Angels have traditionally been reluctant to sign pitchers to big multi-year commitments, though since Snell is reportedly open to taking a shorter-term contract (likely with at least one opt-out clause), this could help find common ground towards a landing spot in Anaheim.

Other items from around the AL West…

  • It has been about three weeks since Josh Jung was shut down due to calf soreness, and the Rangers aren’t yet ready to him “ratchet up his running program,” according to Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today (X link).  Another MRI on Jung indicated some improvement with his calf, but the team is still being cautious, which is understandable given Jung’s important role as the starting third baseman.  Jung has already made his mark with a big rookie season that included an All-Star nod and a World Series ring, with Jung hitting .308/.329/.538 slash line in 70 postseason plate appearances.  It seems possible that Jung might need to start the season on the 10-day injured list if he misses much more Spring Training time, though the injury doesn’t appear to be overly serious.
  • AJ Pollock is at the Mariners’ spring camp in something of an unofficial coaching mentorship role, Shannon Drayer of MyNorthwest.com writes.  MLB Trade Rumors has learned that Pollock is still exploring his playing options and hasn’t officially retired, though since the longtime outfielder just turned 36, it isn’t a surprise that he might be exploring what’s next once he does decide to hang up the cleats.  Pollock played in 49 games for Seattle last season before being traded to the Giants at the deadline, and hit only .165/.215/.308 in 144 total plate appearances.  Pollock has an .892 OPS over 422 PA just as recently as the 2021 season, though he had a subpar year with the White Sox in 2022 before his bigger performance dropoff last year.
  • Justin Verlander told MLB.com and other reporters that he threw around 60 pitches during a bullpen session on Friday, and is up to lower-90s velocity on his fastball.  It seems like another positive step for Verlander as he continues to ramp up after a minor shoulder problem delayed his start to Spring Training.  The Astros have already announced that Verlander will begin the season on the 15-day IL, though that placement is just to give him more time to get ready, rather than any true concern over his health.
  • Since both Verlander and J.P. France have been slowed by shoulder issues, the Astros rotation is a bit of a question mark as Opening Day approaches.  While the team gauges what arms might fill in for Verlander or France on a temporary basis, The Athletic’s Chandler Rome notes that Houston will be in particular need of starters due to a busy early schedule.  The Astros play 20 games in the first 21 days of the season, and Rome feels the club could even go with a six-man rotation in April to keep everyone as fresh as possible.  That would open the door for Ronel Blanco and Brandon Bielak to both make the rotation if France also needs some IL time, or one of Blanco/Bielak could work as a long reliever.

Oswald Peraza Shut Down For 6-8 Weeks Due To Shoulder Strain

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Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza has been diagnosed with a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder, manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters this morning.  Peraza will be shut down for the next 6-8 weeks for further evaluation.

Peraza recently missed 10 days of Spring Training due to discomfort in his shoulder, and returned to action to play in two games earlier this week before he was sidelined again due to continued soreness.  The infielder received an MRI and other tests over the last two days, and the unfortunate result is that Peraza will now miss a big chunk of the season.  In the best-case scenario that Peraza is able to return to baseball activity in just six weeks, he’ll still need to properly ramp up and make up for his lost spring prep time, so late May might be the most optimistic possible recovery timeline.

Ranked as a top-70 prospect heading into each of the last two seasons, Peraza made his big league debut in 2022 and impressed with a .306/.404/.429 slash line in 57 plate appearances.  He took a big step back (.191/.267/.272) in the larger sample size of 191 PA last season, though Peraza spent the majority of his season at Triple-A due to the somewhat crowded nature of New York’s infield.  Anthony Volpe and Gleyber Torres had the middle infield positions covered, and Peraza received most of his playing time as a third baseman once DJ LeMahieu primarily moved to first base in place of the injured Anthony Rizzo.

Defense has never been much of an issue for Peraza, as he is considered a very strong fielder at multiple infield positions.  This has led to some speculation that Peraza could even eventually supplant Volpe (last year’s AL Gold Glove winner) at shortstop, though the Yankees seem locked in on Volpe as their shortstop of the future.  Since Torres and Rizzo could both be free agents next winter, plenty of space might soon open up in the infield for Peraza to step in as the new regular second baseman or third baseman, though naturally the first order of business is just to have a healthy and productive 2024 season.

It wasn’t clear if Peraza would even start this season on the 26-man roster, as the Yankees have recently been searching the market for a veteran backup infielder who could handle shortstop as Volpe’s backup.  Finding such a player to pair with Oswald Cabrera or Jahmai Jones in a backup capacity would allow the Yankees to play Peraza at Triple-A on an everyday basis, and the team’s desire for experienced bench depth is even more pronounced now that Peraza will miss the better part of 2-3 months.

Jeter Downs, Kevin Smith, Jordan Groshans, and Josh VanMeter are currently in New York’s camp on non-roster deals.  Jorbit Vivas (acquired from the Dodgers along with Victor Gonzalez in December) is an interesting prospect who is lacking in Triple-A experience, let alone any playing time as a big leaguer.  Looking at the names remaining in free agency, players like Donovan Solano or Hanser Alberto could be theoretical fits, even if they aren’t really options as a backup shortstop.  Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggested earlier today that the Yankees might seek out players who become available later in Spring Training, either via roster cuts or due to opt-outs in pre-existing minor league contracts.

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