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Cardinals Name Oliver Marmol Manager

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Oct. 25: The Cardinals have formally introduced Marmol as the 51st manager in franchise history. He signed a three-year contract that’ll run through the 2024 season, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Oct. 24: The Cardinals are set to announce bench coach Oliver Marmol as the team’s next manager, according to Katie Woo and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).  The Cards have called a press conference for Monday morning to officially introduce Marmol.

The hiring concludes an unusual start to the St. Louis offseason, as there wasn’t any indication that previous manager Mike Shildt’s job was in danger before the Cardinals surprisingly fired Shildt 10 days ago.  As president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters, “philosophical differences” emerged with Shildt, and while some reports have surfaced about what some of those differences may have been, it appears the issue was indeed with Shildt alone.  It seems as though the Cards will be bringing back most of their coaching staff for 2022, though a new bench coach will now be needed with Marmol being elevated to the top job.

Oliver Marmol

Marmol was seen as a candidate essentially from the moment the news broke of Shildt’s firing, and at age 35, Marmol is now the youngest current manager in the big leagues.  He is also the first person of color to work as the Cardinals manager in over 80 years, since Mike Gonzalez briefly managed the team on an interim basis in both 1938 and 1940 (a total of 23 games).

Despite his young age, Marmol already has plenty of experience on the bench.  Originally a sixth-round pick for the Cards in the 2007 draft, Marmol played four seasons in the minors before transitioning to coaching and managing in the St. Louis farm system.  He has spent the last five seasons on the Cardinals’ MLB coaching staff, working two years as first base coach before working as Shildt’s bench coach for the last three seasons.

Marmol is now the third manager Mozeliak has hired during his tenure as the team’s GM and president of baseball operations, and like predecessors Shildt and Mike Matheny, Marmol also has longstanding ties to the St. Louis organization.  In a sense, Marmol is something of a blend of the two previous skippers — he has Matheny’s relative youth and more recent playing experience, but also a resume of managerial experience in the minors and coaching experience in the majors, a la Shildt.  Marmol has been mentioned as a potential manager of the future for the Cardinals and other teams, so the Cards’ hiring decision may have been partially inspired by a desire to keep Marmol in the fold.

The newly-minted skipper will face plenty of expectations in the top job, as the Cardinals have reached the postseason in three straight seasons but suffered two early exits (losing to the Dodgers in this year’s wild card game and to the Padres in the 2020 wild card series) and a four-game sweep to the Nationals in the 2019 NLCS.  St. Louis fans are always expecting to win, and since 2022 will be Yadier Molina’s farewell season, there is perhaps even extra pressure for extended playoff success next year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Poll: Astros/Braves, Who Wins The World Series?

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The Fall Classic is set to begin on Tuesday, with the Astros and Braves meeting in Game 1 of the World Series.  This is the first time these two clubs have met in the World Series, though they were pretty frequent postseason opponents back when the Astros were in the National League.  Between 1997 and 2005, Atlanta and Houston met five times in NLDS play, with the Braves coming out on top in three of those matchups.

The Braves are heading to the World Series for the tenth time in their history, and in search of their fourth championship.  While nothing will ever top the 1914 Miracle Braves as the franchise’s signature comeback story, the 2021 team isn’t that far off, considering how this year’s Braves were only 52-55 heading into action on August 3.  By this point, Atlanta had already lost Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mike Soroka to season-ending injuries, and Marcell Ozuna was away from the team (and soon to be put on administrative leave by the league) due to domestic violence charges.

However, the Braves were far from done.  An aggressive trade strategy saw outfielders Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler, and future NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario all added prior to the trade deadline, and Atlanta went 36-18 the rest of the way.  A lackluster NL East undoubtedly helped, but the Braves kept it going into October, defeating the Brewers in the NLDS and then ousting the defending champion Dodgers in the NLCS.  That last win was particularly sweet for Atlanta, considering the blown 3-1 lead against Los Angeles in the 2020 League Championship Series.

The Astros had a bit of an easier time of it in the regular season, battling with the A’s and Mariners for the AL West lead for much of the year but eventually pulling ahead in comfortable fashion.  Even without such familiar names as George Springer or Justin Verlander, Houston could still rely on several core members (i.e. Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Yuli Gurriel) of its last two pennant winners, plus a pitching staff that has been almost entirely overhauled since the Astros were last in the World Series in 2019.

This will be the fourth time the Astros have reached the Fall Classic, with Houston’s lone championship coming back in 2017.  As you might have heard, there was more than a little controversy attached to the Astros’ success in 2017, so it’s safe to say that another championship won’t erase the “buzzers and garbage cans” cloud that may hang over the franchise for some time to come.  Yet, that hardly matters to a group that has turned over a great number of its personnel since that 2017 season.  Dusty Baker, for instance, has been manager for just the last two years, and it’s hard to not feel some sentiment for the veteran skipper trying to win the first World Series of his long managerial career.

Who is your pick to win it all?  And, as an added bonus, how many games will be required?  (poll link for app users)

Organizational Notes: Wiley, Rockies, Padres, Rays, Prieto

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Rockies director of pitching operations Mark Wiley is retiring, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports.  Wiley has worked in his current position since 2012, though he previously worked for Colorado’s organization as a player personnel director (in 2000) and as a front office assistant (2006-07).  Wiley might be best known for his seven stints as a big league pitching coach, serving in the role on two separate occasions with each of the Orioles, Indians, and Marlins, and coaching once with the Royals.

All in all, the 73-year-old Wiley has been in baseball for 52 years in many different roles.  Apart from his pitching coach gigs and his three jobs with the Rockies, Wiley has also worked as a scout, a minor league manager and coach, special assistant to former Marlins GM Michael Hill, and he had an 11-year playing career that included 21 Major League games.  We at MLBTR wish Wiley all the best in retirement, and congratulate him on a fine career.

More on other organizational items….

  • While many experienced former managers have been connected to the Padres’ search for a new skipper, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the team has “at least inquired about the interest of at least one former player working as a college coach, multiple former players currently on major league staffs and at least one longtime player working in television.”  There was some sense that the Padres might hire a seasoned manager after GM A.J. Preller’s first two hires (Jayce Tingler and Andy Green) were running a big league club for the first time, yet team chairman Peter Seidler has said that experience is again not a prerequisite for the job this time around.
  • The Rays are installing Chris Prieto as the team’s new first base coach, according to Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times.  Ozzie Timmons will move over to become the full-time assistant hitting coach, after splitting time between assistant hitting duties and first base duties.  Prieto is a veteran of six seasons on the Mariners’ coaching staff from 2014-19, working as Seattle’s first base coach in 2018 and the third base coach in 2019.  For the last two years, Prieto has been working with the Rays as an outfield/baserunning coordinator in Tampa’s farm system.

Latest On Dusty Baker

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Dusty Baker is headed back to the World Series, after the veteran manager’s Astros triumphed over the Red Sox in the ALCS.  This is the sixth time Baker has been part of the Fall Classic as a player (winning with the Dodgers in 1981), coach, and manager, and he is the ninth manager to lead both an American League and a National League team to a league pennant.  While capping off his managerial career with a championship would seem like a storybook ending, Baker isn’t planning to retire even if the Astros win it all, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

Back in December, Baker was somewhat non-committal about his future with Houston, saying “Depends how I feel. Depends on how the team feels about me….You never know what changes are going to come about in life.”  More recently, however, Baker has stated that he does want to keep managing into 2022 and perhaps beyond.  Rosenthal writes that Baker would love to collect the 13 more regular-season victories he needs to reach 2000 wins for his managerial career, and obviously Baker has interest in helping guide the Astros to another run at the Commissioner’s Trophy in 2022.

Baker’s contract with the Astros is up after the season, as he was originally signed to a one-year deal with a 2021 club option year.  Both Baker and team management has indicated that they will hold off on negotiations until after the year, though Baker has a pretty notable supporter in Astros owner Jim Crane.  Talking with FOX 26’s Mark Berman, Crane reiterated that the two sides will talk after the playoffs are over, but said “Dusty deserves another shot for next year.  We’ll see where it goes.”

Given all of the success Baker has enjoyed in his two seasons in Houston, it would count as a surprise at this point if the 72-year-old isn’t back on the bench next season.  That said, there wasn’t much normal about the circumstances of Baker’s hiring in the first place, as the veteran skipper was brought on to replace the fired A.J. Hinch in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.  Crane personally hired Baker as manager even before the hiring of new general manager James Click, and most GMs would prefer to have their own managerial hire in place.  Crane would obviously have the final say-so if he made a point of retaining Baker, though the owner has said that he and Click will mutually decide on Baker’s future.

How The Astros Built Their AL Championship Team

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The Astros will be playing in the World Series for the third time in five seasons, though only six players remain from that 2017 championship team, and only four of that group (minus the injured Lance McCullers Jr. and the non-rostered Marwin Gonzalez) actually appeared in Houston’s ALCS victory over the Red Sox.  While the Astros continue to rely on some familiar cornerstones of that controversial 2017 team, there has been quite a bit of roster overhaul over a relatively short period of time, not to mention a new manager and GM in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal.

Proving that there is no one way to design a great team, the Astros used several different methods of transactions to collect their players.  Perhaps just as importantly, the Astros have been able to retain key talents through contract extensions, or by re-signing players once they reach free agency.  Here is the breakdown of how the Astros built their latest pennant winner….

Homegrown, international signings: Jose Altuve (2007), Framber Valdez (2015), Jose Urquidy (2015), Cristian Javier (2015), Luis Garcia (2017)

Landing a franchise second baseman, three members of a starting rotation, and a key swingman via the international signing market is impressive enough.  But, the Astros’ feat stands out even more considering that none of these five players were considered blue-chip prospects at the time of their signings, and were signed for merely thousands of dollars.

Altuve’s legend is well-known by this point, as the diminutive second baseman was inked for a modest $15K bonus and has now become a Houston sports icon.  The savings extended into Altuve’s first multi-year deal (a four-year pact worth $12.5MM in guaranteed money plus club options for 2018 and 2019) but Altuve then scored a much bigger payday with his second extension, a five-year/$151MM pact that runs through the 2024 campaign.

Going forward, the Astros’ international investment in their pitching corps might be an even more important overall development than landing Altuve.  Valdez, Urquidy, Garcia, and Javier combined for a 3.38 ERA over 498 1/3 innings, and all four pitcher are controlled through at least the 2025 season.  The quartet has already become an integral part of one contending team, and considering the veteran losses the Astros could face in free agency this offseason, Houston can feel some level of comfort in already having a new wave of arms already in place.

Homegrown, amateur draft: Jason Castro (2008 draft, first round, 10th pick), Carlos Correa (2012 draft, 1-1), Alex Bregman (2015, 1-2), Kyle Tucker (2015, 1-5), Jake Meyers (2017, 13-391), Chas McCormick (2017, 21-631).

Let’s begin with the caveat of Castro, who began his career in Houston through the lean years of the team’s rebuild, but left for the Twins as a free agent in the 2016-17 offseason — just before the Astros broke through to reach the Fall Classic.  Castro returned to Houston this past winter, signing a two-year, $7MM free agent contract.

There is also McCullers (the 41st overall pick of the 2012 draft), a huge part of the Astros’ regular season success in 2021 but whose postseason has been marred and possibly ended by injury.  Brandon Bielak (2017, 11-331) also threw 50 innings mostly as a reliever in 2021, but hasn’t been included on Houston’s postseason rosters.

Center field was seen as a weak link for the Astros in the wake of George Springer’s departure in free agency, yet the team ended up getting very solid production from Myles Straw for much of the season, and then from the rookie tandem of Meyers and McCormick when Straw was dealt at the trade deadline.  Meyers is another injury absence from the ALCS, so McCormick and Jose Siri look to be handling center field duties during the World Series.

That leaves the three gems of the Astros’ extensive rebuild, as the club made no pretense about its intent to bottom out with multiple losing seasons in order to restock with premium young talent at the top of the draft.  Hard as it may seem now, but Correa was actually seen as a bit of a surprise as the first overall pick in 2012, as the Astros took a more “signable” player so they could spread out their draft bonus money on other picks.  With both Correa and McCullers developing into stars, that plan worked to perfection.

Tanking for multiple years gave Houston multiple chances to score on high draft picks, which is why the Astros haven’t really suffered any consequences for drafting consecutive 1-1 picks (Mark Appel in 2013, Brady Aiken in 2014) who didn’t reach the majors.  Indeed, after not reaching an agreement with Aiken due to concerns over his UCL health, the Astros received the second overall pick in the 2015 draft as compensation.  The result was the selection of both Bregman and Tucker within the first five picks, which stands out as one of the more impressive first-round hauls in recent memory.

International free agent signings: Yuli Gurriel (July 2016)

While Altuve and company turned out to be incredible bargains on the international amateur market, the Astros had to pay Gurriel $47.5MM on a five-year deal, outbidding several teams for the Cuban star as he made the jump to Major League Baseball.  Gurriel didn’t make his big league debut until he was 32 years old, and while there has been some inconsistency along the way, Gurriel has proven to be a very solid contributor, with a .293/.337/.467 slash line over 2721 career plate appearances in The Show.

Despite a lackluster 2020 season, Gurriel still received a contract extension in late September 2020, giving Houston control over Gurriel in 2021 (for a $6.5MM salary) and 2022 (a club option worth $8MM, with a $500K buyout).  The extension surprised many at the time, though it has proven to be one of GM James Click’s canniest moves, as Gurriel rebounded with the best season of his six-year MLB career and won the AL batting title.  Unsurprisingly, Astros owner Jim Crane has already implied that Gurriel will be back with the team via that club option.

Free agent signings: Michael Brantley, Jake Odorizzi, Ryne Stanek, Jose Siri

Brantley signed a two-year, $32MM deal to join the Astros in the 2018-19 offseason, and then re-signed with the club for that exact same contract this past winter.  While Brantley missed some time with relatively minor injuries this season, he has still been a productive hitter, adding to the success of his overall tenure in Houston.  Brantley has hit .310/.367/.474 with 35 home runs over 1332 PA in an Astros uniform, twice receiving All-Star nods.

The Marlins non-tendered Stanek (rather than pay him a projected $800K) in the wake of a mediocre 2020 performance.  The Astros swooped in with a $1.1MM deal and ended up landing a controllable reliever who bounced back pretty nicely with a 3.42 ERA and 28.6% strikeout rate over 68 1/3 innings, though Stanek’s control and hard-contact numbers weren’t impressive.  Stanek has stood out as a workhorse in the playoffs, with a 1.35 ERA over eight appearances and 6 2/3 innings during Houston’s run.

Odorizzi was another signing from the most recent offseason, though Odorizzi didn’t sign his $23.5MM contract until March.  Between missing part of the usual Spring Training ramp-up and then suffering multiple injuries, Odorizzi’s innings were managed for much of the season, though he did contribute a 4.21 ERA over 104 2/3 frames.  Thus far in the postseason, Odorizzi has only pitched in one game, tossing four innings in relief of Garcia in the Astros’ 9-5 loss to the Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALCS.

Siri was a minor league signing who had never played as much as a game in the majors until this past September 3, and now he’ll very likely to be headed to the World Series as Meyers’ replacement.  Siri played seven seasons in the Reds’ farm system (and was briefly a Mariner and a Giant via waiver claims) before signing with the Astros this past winter, and he posted a .956 OPS in his first 49 PA as a big leaguer.

Trades: Justin Verlander hasn’t thrown a pitch this season due to Tommy John surgery, and his tenure with the Astros could be over if he signs elsewhere in free agency this winter.  Verlander is certainly worthy of mention, of course, given his huge role in the 2017 World Series after the Astros nabbed him from the Tigers on August 31, 2017, and how Verlander then re-upped with Houston on a two-year, $66MM extension.  (Unfortunately, Verlander has thrown only six innings over the course of that extension.)

Beyond the injured Verlander, ten players on the ALCS roster were acquired via trade…

  • Yordan Alvarez: As this section indicates, the Astros are no strangers to notable deals at the trade deadline.  However, this one from 2016 drew only a little attention at the time, yet picking up Alvarez from the Dodgers for reliever Josh Fields has turned out to be one of the steals of the decade.  Alvarez has looked like one of baseball’s best hitters when healthy, and just earned ALCS MVP honors for his huge series against Boston.
  • Zack Greinke: Completed just under the buzzer at the 2019 trade deadline, Houston acquired Greinke from the Diamondback for a four-prospect package of J.B. Bukauskas, Josh Rojas, Corbin Martin, and Seth Beer.  Rojas was the least-regarded of the four youngsters at the time, though he has gone on to enjoy the most success thus far at the big league level.  Greinke has been mostly solid, if generally not quite up to his past ace-level performance during his two-plus seasons in Houston, and his strikeout rate took a big dip in 2021.  While Greinke tossed 171 innings, some injuries late in the season has turned him into something of a depth arm on the playoff roster, as Greinke has thrown only 2 1/3 innings this postseason.
  • Martin Maldonado: A two-time trade acquisition, the Astros first landed Maldonado from the Angels a few days’ prior to the 2018 deadline, then brought him back on deadline day 2019 after Maldonado had played with the Royals and Cubs earlier that season.  Maldonado has become a Houston fixture, as the team has signed him to a pair of contract extensions that will keep him in the fold until at least the end of the 2022 season.
  • Aledmys Diaz: The versatile Diaz has been a valuable utility piece for the Astros since being acquired from the Blue Jays in November 2018.
  • Ryan Pressly: The right-hander was already an underrated reliever during his time with the Twins, but he took it to another level after the Astros landed him in a July 2018 trade.  Pressly signed an extension prior to the 2019 season that now stands as a three-year, $27.5MM deal after Pressly unlocked a vesting option to guarantee his salary for 2022 season — a $10MM price the Astros are surely happy to cover given how well Pressly has pitched.
  • Basically The Entire Bullpen: The Pressly trade is the headline move, and Houston has generally looked to the trade market in assembling its relief corps.  Blake Taylor was acquired as part of the Jake Marisnick trade with the Mets in December 2019, while fellow southpaw Brooks Raley was picked up from the Reds in August 2020.  The Astros targeted bullpen help in three separate trades near this year’s deadline, including the surprising acquisition of Kendall Graveman and (the now-injured) Rafael Montero from the AL West rival Mariners.  The emergence of McCormick and Meyers gave the Astros enough comfort to trade Straw to the Indians for Phil Maton, as well as another young outfielder in Bryan De La Cruz and a swingman in Austin Pruitt to the Marlins for Yimi Garcia.  Graveman has been the best of the new faces in both the regular season and playoffs, while Maton has added some key innings in the postseason.

Dodgers To Start Walker Buehler In NLCS Game 6

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The Dodgers have announced that Walker Buehler will get the start in tonight’s crucial Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.  Buehler will take the ball in place of Max Scherzer, who was initially slated to start but was scratched yesterday.

Buehler didn’t look sharp in Game 3 against the Braves, allowing two earned runs (and four runs total) on six hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings.  He’ll now take the ball again on only three days’ rest, working on short rest for just the second time in his career, and the second time this postseason.  Los Angeles deployed Buehler for both Games 1 and 4 of the NLDS, and also on three days’ rest, Buehler held the Giants to one earned run over 4 1/3 innings of work.

Since this is the only instance of Buehler pitching on short rest, it is hard to say whether or not his shaky performance in Game 3 (which came a week after Game 4 of the NLDS) was due to after-effects from having only three days to recover and prepare between starts.  Surely the Dodgers would have felt much more comfortable having Buehler fully rested for a potential Game 7, though given how the Dodgers have more or less used an “all hands on deck” philosophy with their postseason pitching mix, it wouldn’t have been shocking if Buehler had been used to record some key outs in relief of Scherzer in Game 6.

That possible scenario didn’t come to pass, however, as Scherzer continues to be bothered by the “dead arm” that plagued him in his Game 2 start against the Braves.  Scherzer was pitching for the third time in six days in that outing, after he had thrown 110 pitches in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Giants, then came into Game 5 as a closer to seal the series with a scoreless ninth inning.  Returning to the mound three days later against Atlanta, Scherzer threw 79 pitches in 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on a walk and four hits (though with seven strikeouts).

In the big picture, Buehler is type of ace a team would love to have on the mound for a possible elimination game, except for the X-factor of how the short rest could impact his work.  It remains to be seen exactly how long of a leash Buehler will receive from manager Dave Roberts, as while Buehler is an ace, the Dodgers don’t have any margin for error being down 3-2 in the series.  Pulling Buehler after, for example, another 3 2/3 innings will leave a lot of outs for the Dodgers bullpen to cover, especially since Joe Kelly has already been removed from the NLCS roster due to injury, and Justin Bruihl’s availability may also be in question due to arm soreness.

Using Buehler tonight also raises the question of how the Dodgers will handle the pitching in a potential Game 7, though obviously L.A. just wants to win tonight before worrying about tomorrow’s issues.  Julio Urias (Game 4’s starter after pitching in relief in Game 2) would also be working on short rest if he pitched in Game 7, though since the Dodgers have already had two bullpen games in this series, normal starter/reliever roles would quite likely be thrown out the window in a Game 7 scenario.  It also isn’t known if Scherzer will be available for any action at all, even a one-inning appearance.

Quick Hits: Thames, Tsutsugo, Minors

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Eric Thames is planning on holding a showcase in Korea in November, according to a report from MK Sports relayed by The Athletic’s Sung Min Kim. The slugger previously played in Korea from 2014 to 2016 and parlayed his star turn there into a three-year, $16MM deal with the Brewers for the 2017-2019 seasons. He had a solid run over the length of that deal, playing 383 games, hitting 72 home runs and slashing .241/.343/.504. That production was 18% better than league average, according to wRC+. But it only amounted to 5 fWAR due to his defensive limitations. The Brewers passed on a 2020 option, leading Thames to sign a one-year deal with the Nationals. That turned out to be a miserable campaign for Thames, as he hit just .203/.300/.317. He then signed with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Unfortunately, as Kim notes, Thames missed all but one game this year due to a torn achilles. It’s unclear who will be invited to the showcase, but it stands to reason that interest from MLB teams will be limited, given how the past couple of years have gone. However, if this winter’s Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations lead to a universal DH, as has been widely speculated, that could theoretically increase the chance of Thames getting offers, though likely only of the minor league variety.

Some other items of note from the baseball world…

  • The Pirates have interest in re-signing Yoshi Tsutsugo, according to Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports.  Given how Tsutsugo performed (.268/.347/.535 with eight homers in 144 plate appearances) after signing with the Pirates in August, it isn’t a surprise that the Bucs would want him back in the fold.  Returning to Pittsburgh on a short-term (or one-year) deal makes sense for both sides, Stumpf reasons, as Tsutsugo would get a full season as a platform year for a bigger deal in the 2022-23 offseason, while the Pirates would get a relatively inexpensive player who could maybe be flipped at the trade deadline.  A few weeks ago, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about Tsutsugo’s breakout with the Pirates.
  • Over at Baseball America, in relation to the CBA expiring December 1st, J.J. Cooper answers a question about a theoretical work stoppage and how that would impact the minor leagues. Cooper reminds readers about previous stoppages and how the minor leagues continued essentially as normal. However, only players not on a 40-man roster were allowed to participate since the MLBPA includes every player who is on one. If the next strike or lockout follows historical precedent, that means baseball fans could get their fill with minor league ball while waiting for the big leagues to return. Cooper also relays that the 1994 Rule 5 draft took place during the most recent strike of 1994. This situation could theoretically pop up again, as the current CBA expires December 1st, with the Rule 5 draft typically taking placing a the end of the Winter Meetings, in the second week of December.

Carlos Carrasco Undergoes Surgery To Remove Bone Fragment From Pitching Elbow

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5:51 pm: Carrasco isn’t expected to miss more than around one week of Spring Training action, reports Tim Healey of Newsday (Twitter link).

1:47 pm: The Mets announced that right-hander Carlos Carrasco underwent surgery yesterday in New York to have a bone fragment removed from his throwing elbow.  No specific timeline was given on Carrasco’s recovery, except that he will “resume baseball activities later this winter.”

2021 was already an injury-riddled season for Carrasco, who tossed only 53 2/3 innings over 12 starts after suffering a torn right hamstring during Spring Training.  Initially projected to miss between 6-8 weeks, Carrasco instead didn’t make his season debut until July 30, and then didn’t look like himself in posting a 6.04 ERA.  Carrasco’s 4.44 SIERA was more flattering, but his 21.1% strikeout was by far his lowest since the 2013 season (when Carrasco tossed only 46 2/3 innings in his first year back after Tommy John surgery).

It could be that the bone fragment was a factor in Carrasco’s lack of results, so with this procedure now in the books, the veteran might be able to return to his old form in 2022.  As non-descript as the wording of the Mets’ press release was, the fact that Carrasco will be able to do some type of offseason prep provides something of a positive view that he’ll be ready for Spring Training.

In the bigger picture, of course, another injury is naturally a concern for a pitcher who is entering his age-35 season and already has a significant history of health issues.  Beyond the Tommy John surgery, Carrasco missed three months of the 2019 season battling leukemia before making a stirring return in September as a reliever out of the Indians’ bullpen, and then pitching well as a starter (2.91 ERA/3.91 SIERA) over 68 innings in 2020.

Carrasco is entering the last guaranteed season of the four-year, $47MM extension he signed with Cleveland in December 2018.  The righty is set to earn $12MM in 2022, and the Mets hold a $14MM club option ($2MM buyout) on Carrasco for 2023 that vests into a guaranteed deal if Carrasco tosses 170 innings next season and finishes the year with a clean bill of health.  After acquiring Carrasco as part of the Francisco Lindor blockbuster last offseason, the Mets are certainly hoping for more in Carrasco’s second year with the team, especially since both Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard could leave in free agency this winter.

Brewers Part Ways With Hitting Coach Andy Haines

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The Brewers won’t renew the contract of hitting coach Andy Haines for the 2022 season, according to multiple reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy).  Assistant hitting coach Jacob Cruz may also be on the way out, as the Brewers have informed him that he is free to look into other job opportunities.

Haines was initially hired in November 2018, while Cruz joined the Brew Crew following the 2019 campaign.  While Milwaukee has reached the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, the Brew Crew has often relied on pitching, defense, and a deep bullpen to bail out a lackluster offense.  Since the start of the 2019 season, the Brewers rank 18th of 30 teams in runs, 21st in wRC+ (93), 28th in batting average (.238), 13th in on-base percentage (.322), and 20th in slugging percentage (.413).  Milwaukee’s 24.7% strikeout rate is also the fifth-worst of any team over that three-year period.

Things seemed to come to a head in the Brewers’ NLDS loss to the Braves this October, as Milwaukee managed only 24 hits and six runs over the four-game series, with four of those runs coming in Game 4.  The Brewers also scored two runs in their two-game loss to the Dodgers in the 2020 Wild Card series, so all told, the Brewers have been shut out in three of their last six postseason games.

Haines and Cruz aren’t solely responsible for this lack of production, of course, as downturns from the Brewers’ two highest-paid players (Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain) have hampered the team’s ability to generate offense.  As well, Willy Adames exploded at the plate after being dealt to the Brewers in May, Luis Urias enjoyed some measure of a breakout season, and Avisail Garcia hit well this season after struggling in 2020.  However, the overall lack of consistency throughout the lineup didn’t leave much margin for error in putting runs on the board.

Prior to his three seasons in Milwaukee, Haines was the Cubs’ assistant hitting coach in 2017-18 and Chicago’s minor league hitting instructor in 2016.  Haines also has eight years of experience as a hitting coach and manager in the Marlins’ farm system, giving him a longstanding relationship with Yelich dating back to the former NL MVP’s prospect days.

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