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Injury Notes: Song, Nevin, Rosenthal, Sadler

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Phillies Rule 5 pick Noah Song has been shut down due to back tightness, per Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He’s had an MRI and will be reevaluated next week, but it appears he won’t be ready to start the season.

Song, 25, is an interesting case, given he’s spent the past three years in the navy after being drafted by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. He’s also not been fully discharged, only placed in active reserve, which means he’ll be able to play baseball. It does mean he’ll still have navy commitments though, with an earlier report stating he’s effectively on part-time duty, which still requires one weekend per month and two full weeks each year. It’s not clear how that would’ve played out over the season.

In any case, Song was looking to get back up to speed quickly after three years out. As a Rule 5 draftee, the Phillies would have to keep him on the active roster for the entire season, or place him on waivers and send him back to the Red Sox if he clears. The injury does change things somewhat, as should Song open the season on the injured list the Phillies can still send him on a rehab stint to the minors for up to 30 days. He still can’t be optioned to the minors, but the Phillies would just need to ensure he spends at minimum 90 days on the active roster this season.

Here’s some other injury notes from around the game:

  • Evan Woodbery of MLive relays that Tyler Nevin’s MRI on his oblique showed a Grade 1 strain. The Tigers said yesterday that Nevin’s strain was “mild”, but offered no other details on when he might be available. As Woodbery says, MLB’s Health and Injury Tracking System says hitters typically take 27 days to recover from a Grade 1 strain. That’s not a concrete number, but it would appear to put Nevin in doubt for Opening Day. Nevin, acquired from the Orioles this winter, was competing for a bench spot on the Tigers roster this year. The 25-year-old hit .197/.299/.261 with two home runs across 184 plate appearances for Baltimore last year.
  • Sticking with the Tigers, and right-hander Trevor Rosenthal threw a bullpen yesterday and felt great, Woodbery reports. He’ll throw a live bullpen on Tuesday, with the hope being that he’ll be ready to step into a live game after that. Rosenthal, signed to a minor league deal by the Tigers this winter, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues for the past two seasons due to a range of injuries, including thoracic outlet syndrome, hip labrum surgery and a recurring hamstring injury. While it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Rosenthal need a little longer than Opening Day to be ready, the former All Star looks a good chance to get some opportunities in Detroit’s bullpen this year.
  • The Mariners won’t have right-hander Casey Sadler up to speed by Opening Day, but he is making progress in his return from rotator cuff and labrum surgery, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. Sadler missed the entire 2022 season, but faced hitters for the first time yesterday in a live batting practice session at Seattle’s spring training complex. Sadler, who was designated for assignment this winter but re-signed with the team on a minor league deal, put in easily his best season in 2021, working to a 0.67 ERA over 40 1/3 innings. It’s unclear what’s next for the former 25th round pick, but he’ll continue to work his way back with a view to regaining his spot in Seattle’s bullpen sometime this season.

Yankees Notes: Kiner-Falefa, Judge, Center Field

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As youngsters Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe make strong cases to take over the Yankees’ starting shortstop role, there’s been plenty of speculation over the future of Isiah Kiner-Falefa. That speculation has only intensified as the Yankees have announced a series of injuries that’ll affect their roster over the opening few weeks of the season and beyond.

Kiner-Falefa is owed $6MM this year, and does appear to be lagging behind in the race to win the shortstop job. The Yankees have been giving him time at second and third base, and plan to work him out in the outfield this spring, which suggests they may view him as more of a utility player at this point. Yet the team already has the highly impressive Oswaldo Cabrera capable of bouncing round the diamond as a utility option, and he’ll only earn the league minimum in 2023.

Now, with the Yankees dealing with rotation, bullpen and outfield injuries to Carlos Rodon, Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino, Tommy Kahnle and Harrison Bader, it would make some sense for the team to deal from their infield depth to address other areas. According to Brendan Kuty and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, the Yankees have had conversations with the Dodgers and Rockies over Kiner-Falefa. It’s not known the exact timeline or extent of those conversations, but it’s worth noting the Dodgers checked in on Kiner-Falefa early in the off-season prior to acquiring Miguel Rojas from the Marlins.

General manager Brian Cashman addressed the trade market to reporters, and while he didn’t specifically name Kiner-Falefa (or any other infielders), he certainly didn’t close the door on a deal involving their infielders before the start of the regular season.

“I would say typically trade conversations usually are a bit more serious in the second part of camp than the first part. I do know that’s an area of strength for this franchise right now in real time. So if somebody is looking for help, we wouldn’t be surprised if they’re knocking on our door,” Cashman said.

A trade could help them address their thinning rotation and bullpen stock, but even with Bader on the shelf for a while, it doesn’t appear the outfield is a pressing need. As Kuty notes in a separate piece, Bader’s injury likely means a temporary return to center field for Aaron Judge. That would allow the Yankees to give Giancarlo Stanton more at bats in right field, with Cabrera and Aaron Hicks likely to handle left. Rafael Ortega and Estevan Florial are other candidates to fill in with Bader out, but it appears Hicks – a career center fielder who moved to left last year – is not among them, with Kuty noting it seems the Yankees prefer to keep him in left.

Speaking of Judge, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic sheds some more light on the high profile free agency of the new Yankees captain. While it’s been widely reported that the Yankees’ decision to tack on a ninth-year and take the total value of the contract to $360MM sealed the deal, there’s been a little bit of uncertainty over the extent of the Padres late interest in the slugger. According to Rosenthal, the Padres put forward a deal in the range of $415MM over at least 12 years.

Tigers Sign Trevor Rosenthal To Minor League Deal

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TODAY: Rosenthal will earn $2MM if he makes the Tigers’ active roster, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).  Up to $2MM more is also available in incentive bonuses.

MARCH 4: The Tigers have added veteran reliever Trevor Rosenthal on a minor league deal, the team announced. The deal includes an invite to big league spring training. It’s the second stint in Detroit for Rosenthal, who made ten appearances for the team in 2019.

Injuries have kept Rosenthal out of the past two MLB seasons, with the former All Star last appearing in 2020 for the Royals and Padres. That year, Rosenthal worked to a 1.90 ERA across 23 2/3 innings for both teams. Thoracic outlet syndrome kept him out of the 2021 season when he was on the books of the Athletics taking home an $11MM salary. The Giants signed him in 2022, but he was flipped to the Brewers for Tristan Peters while he was still rehabbing. He tossed two innings of relief on a rehab assignment for the Brewers before sustaining a lat injury that ended his 2022 season.

Originally drafted in the 21st round of the 2009 draft by the Cardinals, Rosenthal worked as a starter coming up through the minors. Yet he never made a start for St Louis, and instead quickly established himself as one of the most dominant relievers in the game after making his debut in 2012. Between 2012-15, Rosenthal amassed 96 saves and worked to a 2.66 ERA over 237 innings.

While he was still punching out batters at an elite rate in 2016, a jump in his walk rate ultimately led to a decline in numbers, and between 2016-17 Rosenthal worked to a 3.89 ERA and ultimately lost the closer role. Tommy John surgery ruled him out of the entire 2018 season, and he struggled mightily in his return pitching to a 13.50 ERA over 15 1/3 innings for the Nationals and Tigers.

That was followed by a quality sample of work in 2020, before the aforementioned injuries saw him miss the next two seasons. With that in mind, it makes it quite hard to work out exactly what the Tigers are getting in Rosenthal this year. The key thing is there does seem to be a fair bit of upside here, and if Rosenthal can work his way back into anything resembling his 2020 form, the Tigers could have a nice trade chip on their hands by the summer deadline.

Quick Hits: Rangers, Slater, Groshans, Cabrera

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The start of spring training always brings plenty of reports of players experiencing ’tightness’ or ’discomfort’, and while many of those wind up being rather minor, the Rangers in particular are dealing with plenty of seemingly minor ailments this spring, as Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.

Star winter signing Jacob deGrom was experiencing left-side tightness early in camp, but is scheduled to now throw his first live bullpen session on Wednesday, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Fellow off-season recruit Nathan Eovaldi is also experiencing some left-side tightness, and is taking a few days off. Jon Gray was a late scratch from Friday’s spring game with back tightness, while Jake Odorizzi is dealing with arm fatigue and is a bit behind in his schedule. It doesn’t stop there, as Jose LeClerc and Owen White are both feeling neck tightness.

There doesn’t appear to be a great deal of concern within the Rangers, and instead it seems the team is just being extra cautious so early in the spring. “When we started spring, in addressing the pitchers especially, we said, ‘Hey, in the early part here, let us know. Anything going on, we don’t want any major setbacks. We can back off at this time.’ Spring training can be pretty long, so in the early part, you’re going to be a little bit more cautious,” manager Bruce Bochy said Friday.

Here’s some more bits and pieces from around baseball:

  • Austin Slater had an MRI on his elbow but it came back clear, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Giants announced during the week that Slater would rest for a week with elbow neuritis. The news that the MRI is clear is certainly a positive one for Slater, and it seems it won’t be long before he’s able to make his spring debut for the team. Slater hit .242/.337/.392 with seven home runs across 259 plate appearances for San Francisco last season, and looks set to serve as a bench bat for the Giants with Joc Pederson, Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski to get the bulk of the outfield reps.
  • The Marlins are giving youngster Jordan Groshans time at first base this spring, as Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports. Groshans typically handled the other infield spots coming up through the minors, and spent just 40 previous innings at first. Groshans is on the fringes of cracking Miami’s opening day roster, but if he can show he can handle first adequately it would certainly provide a boost to his chances. A first round pick by the Blue Jays in 2018, Groshans came over to the Marlins in the Anthony Bass deal last year. He got a brief cup of coffee in the big leagues, hitting .262/.308/.311 across 65 plate appearances. With Garrett Cooper, Joey Wendle, Luis Arraez and Jean Segura fairly well locked in as Miami’s infield starters, there’s no obvious path to a starting job there but the Marlins bench is a lot less certain, providing Groshans with a solid chance to stick on the active roster to begin the season.
  • Speaking of positional changes, the Yankees are planning to give Oswaldo Cabrera some time in center field this spring, Aaron Boone told the YES Network’s broadcast during today’s game against the Rays. Cabrera impressed during his rookie year, posting a respectable .247/.312/.429 line with six home runs across 171 plate appearances. Yet it was his defense that really stood out, as Cabrera, an infielder for almost all of his career, took to the outfield extremely well, earning nine Defensive Runs Saved for his work on the grass. That’s put him firmly in the race with Aaron Hicks, Estevan Florial and Rafael Ortega to be the Yankees’ opening day left fielder. It does seem more likely he winds up in a utility role though, covering the infield, corner outfield spots, and now, perhaps, center field.

Injury Notes: Peterson, Yarbrough, Garcia,

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Mets starter David Peterson will get an x-ray on his left foot after being struck by a ball there, manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday). Peterson tossed two innings in the Mets 15-4 win over Miami today.

Peterson isn’t expected to crack New York’s opening day rotation, although there’s a good chance he’d be one of the first options they called on in the event of an injury to any of the other starters. We’re obviously short on detail until the results of Peterson’s x-ray come back, but any serious injury would be a blow to the Mets’ pitching depth. Peterson worked to a 3.83 ERA over 105 2/3 innings for the Mets last year, combining a 27.8% strikeout rate with a 10.6% walk rate. The 27-year-old does have minor league options remaining, so he could either operate as a starter at Triple-A or out of New York’s bullpen. The Mets do have solid pitching depth behind their projected rotation of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Kodai Senga, Carlos Carrasco and Jose Quintana, with Peterson, Tylor Megill and Joey Lucchesi all shaping up as solid depth options. [UPDATE May 5: Peterson’s x-rays were inconclusive, and he will now get a CT scan, Showalter told Healey and other reporters.]

Here’s a couple of other injury notes from around the game:

  • Royals starter Ryan Yarbrough is dealing with a “slight groin strain” that doesn’t appear to be too serious, according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Yarbrough is scheduled to throw a bullpen session tomorrow to see how he feels. Yarbrough tossed 80 innings of 4.50 ERA ball for the Rays last year across nine starts and 11 relief appearances. Tampa Bay designated Yarbrough for assignment and then non-tendered him this winter, and he latched on with the Royals on a one-year, $3MM deal. The leftie owns a career 4.33 ERA over five seasons in the bigs, all for the Rays.
  • Pirates left-hander Jarlin Garcia left today’s 4-3 loss to the Phillies with what the team describes as left arm tightness, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com relays. Garcia gave up four earned runs on a walk and four hits in 1/3 of an inning of work. Unsurprisingly, the language used to describe the injury is very vague, and the outcome could range from a serious injury to nothing at all, and we should know more once the Pirates have evaluated him. Garcia joined the Pirates on a one-year, $2.5MM deal this winter. He’d been a successful member of the Giants bullpen for the past few seasons, working to a 2.84 ERA over 152 innings of work between 2020-22. Like many southpaws, he worked especially well against left-handed hitters, restricting them to a .192/.245/.364 line in 2022, against a .275/.327/.450 line against right-handed hitters. Rule 5 pick Jose Hernandez is the only other left-handed reliever currently projected to be on the Pirates active roster to start the year, although the team does have a number of non-roster invitees, including Caleb Smith, Daniel Zamora and Rob Zastryzny, who could come into the picture should Garcia’s tightness turn into anything that puts him in doubt for opening day.

AL East Notes: Hall, Vavra, White

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Baltimore’s opening day rotation picture is a little clearer now after manager Brandon Hyde revealed he doesn’t believe DL Hall will be stretched out enough to handle a starting workload to begin the season, per Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun. Hall had been a candidate to take a spot in a rotation that is very much up in the air behind Cole Irvin and Kyle Gibson but was experiencing lower back discomfort late in the off-season, which appears to have put him a bit behind schedule.

The question now for the Orioles is whether they option Hall to Triple-A to begin the season, or have him pitch out of the bullpen in the big leagues. Hall had a brief stint in the big leagues last season, working to a 5.93 ERA over 11 appearances (one start). That did come with a completely unsustainable .436 BABIP, and Hall did post a quality 29.7% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate to indicate he did pitch much better than the 5.93 ERA suggests.

Hall was competing for, presumably, one of three available rotation spots. Kyle Gibson and Cole Irvin look like certainties to take two spots, and Hall, Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Austin Voth and others were candidates to fill the remaining spots. With Hall now removed from that equation, it does increase the chances that top pitching prospect Rodriguez cracks the opening day rotation.

Here’s some more notes from around the AL East:

  • Sticking with the Orioles to begin with, and Ruiz reports that utilityman Terrin Vavra is day-to-day with left shoulder discomfort. According to Hyde, Vavra experienced soreness while taking pre-game batting practice. There doesn’t appear to be too much reason for concern given we’re still a little under a month away from the start of the regular season. Vavra slashed .258/.340/.337 across 103 plate appearances during his rookie year last season. He spent time in the infield and outfield, and projects as a useful versatile bench option for the Orioles going into the new season.
  • Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that Mitch White is a few weeks behind schedule but is feeling good and threw a side session today as he builds back from a shoulder impingement suffered in January. White had been a contender for Toronto’s fifth rotation spot, and while there’s nothing definitive ruling him out of that, the fact he’s still a few weeks behind schedule would suggest it’s unlikely he’ll be stretched out enough to be in the rotation picture by opening day. That would mean Yusei Kikuchi, who lost his rotation spot last year, would be the favorite to join Alek Manoah, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios in the Blue Jays’ rotation. White, acquired from the Dodgers last summer, struggled to a 7.74 ERA over 43 innings for Toronto last season. That came after a much more promising 56 innings of work with the Dodgers earlier in the season, whereby White worked to a 3.70 ERA. His peripherals were largely the same across both teams, and indeed his FIP for the Dodgers of 3.95 was actually worse than the 3.76 mark he had with the Blue Jays. White is out of minor league options.

Pirates Owner Bob Nutting Addresses Bryan Reynolds, Payroll, CBA

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8:04am: Reynolds spoke with reporters this morning about contract talks with the Pirates, and said the team has made no new offers thus far (per Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic). At this stage, Reynolds has not set a deadline for a potential deal to get done.

7:59am: The future of Bryan Reynolds has dominated Pirates-related headlines ever since his trade request early on in the off-season. Speculation looks set to bleed into the spring now, and it likely won’t stop until the Pirates either hammer out an extension with their star outfielder or trade him.

According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates’ best offer to Reynolds was a six-year, $80MM deal, while the player was seeking eight years and $134MM — both of which would have represented a franchise record contract. While a $54MM gap is significant, owner Bob Nutting said in an interview with Mackey that the team is working hard to try and bridge that at the moment.

“We’d love to see Bryan as a long-term part of the team. The piece that I was most concerned about was his level of frustration in the sense that he felt disrespected by the team. If there’s a way we can bridge the gap, we’re working hard to do that. We’re continuing this week to work hard to do it. Bryan’s important. We want to do what’s right for him, for his family and for the team. We absolutely have respect for Bryan. We want to keep lines of communication open,” Nutting said.

The trade request came on the heels of that impasse in contract negotiations, but Reynolds has still maintained his preference is to stay in Pittsburgh if the right deal can be found. On that front, however, it does appear to be make-or-break time. Another strong season of production would likely push an extension next winter well out of Pittsburgh’s price range, and while the Pirates could still likely get a strong package in return for Reynolds next winter, his dwindling years of control and increasing arbitration salary will make it trickier to justify the bounty they might receive this season.

Reynolds can be a free agent following the 2025 season, which would not appear to line up perfectly with the Pirates’ projected window of contention, which may well be just opening around 2024-25. As such, an extension which keeps him in Pittsburgh beyond 2025 or a trade for younger players with more years of control makes plenty of sense. Reynolds, 28, has established himself as one of the game’s top outfielders in recent years. The switch-hitter has compiled 12.5 fWAR, averaging an excellent .281/.361/.481 line while belting 74 home runs over the past four seasons.

In any case, there seems to be little chance of the Pirates following the Padres anytime soon, and turning their small market payroll into one more resembling that of the game’s heavy hitters.

“It’s a model that we have belief in and have had success with. As we varied away from that model, which arguably we did in ’17, ’18 and ’19, it doesn’t work very well. I think we’re right at the brink of seeing success. I think what we’re continuing to do and what we have done is try to show discipline and make sure that we’re investing in the right places. I continue to look at baseball as one part of a much broader bucket,” Nutting said.

The Bucs’ payroll has ranked 30th, 30th and 28th in the past three seasons, failing to clear the $60MM threshold. The Pirates were at a similar stage of their rebuild in 2011-12, and were running out bottom-three payrolls in those seasons. As their window of contention opened, payroll more than doubled from 2012-15 (according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts) as the Pirates enjoyed a trio of playoff seasons.

Nutting’s brief but wide-ranging interview with Mackey also touched on the new collective bargaining agreement which was agreed upon a year ago between the league and the MLB Players Association.

“There’s no question the CBA contained several things that were not good for the Pirates and very few things that were excellent for us. You also have to remember there was no baseball going on. We had a real risk of losing the season. I felt a significant sense of urgency to get on the field. Could have had a protest vote. That’s not really who I am. I’m not sure it would be good for the team, and I don’t think it would be good for baseball,” Nutting said.

“It’s the single biggest issue facing the Pittsburgh Pirates. Competitive disparity, revenue disparity and payroll disparity are all real challenges. I think it’s great [Commissioner Rob Manfred] is publicly talking about it. We simply can’t be here in the next cycle. We’ve got to see fundamental change in the economic structure of the game. I believe that we’re positioned to do it — not this year or next year but over the longer-term cycle.”

AL Notes: Kwan, Bieber, Varsho, Pearson

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After a sensational rookie season, Steven Kwan says he’s open to discussing a long-term contract extension with the Guardians, according to Zack Meisel of The Athletic.

Kwan finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting last year, after posting a .298/.373/.400 line with six home runs across 638 plate appearances. A lot of his value was in the defensive side of things, as Kwan amassed 21 Defensive Runs Saved and 10 Outs Above Average for his work in left field, contributing to a 4.4 fWAR rookie year. It was quite the rookie year for a player who was drafted in the fifth round of the 2018 draft and never featured on any top-100 prospect lists.

In any case, Kwan is now a nailed on starter for the Guardians and he says “it’s mind-blowing” to even be discussing a long-term extension. Kwan picked up a full year of service time for the Guardians last year, which means he has two more seasons of pre-arb control and then three years of arbitration before he likely hits free agency after the 2027 season. While it seems highly unlikely anytime soon, Kwan could technically be optioned to the minors still, in which case his scheduled free agency could be pushed back.

As for what a contract extension might look like, Ronald Acuna Jr.is the most obvious comp that immediately comes to mind after he signed an eight-year, $100MM contract with Atlanta after posting 4.1 fWAR in almost a full year of service time. Acuna was the consensus top prospect in all of baseball going into his rookie year, so there was a fair bit more hype and certainty around his future. On the flip side, that deal was widely considered to be extremely team-friendly at the time, given Acuna’s upside as an elite five-tool player. Regardless, it’s an interesting starting point to begin considering what a potential extension for Kwan may look like.

Here’s some more notes from around the American League:

  • Sticking with Cleveland, and one player who seems unlikely to be taking an extension is starting pitcher Shane Bieber. Cleveland’s ace told reporters he’d “love to entertain that, but right now, I’m going to focus on what I can control and that’s my work on the field.” Bieber has two remaining years of club control and is coming off a season in which he tossed 200 1/3 innings of 2.88 ERA ball, finishing seventh in AL Cy Young voting. What that means is that any extension for Bieber is going to be significant, and likely well above the biggest contract Cleveland’s ever given out, Jose Ramirez’ five-year, $124MM extension.
  • Shifting north of the border to Toronto, and headline trade acquisition Daulton Varsho is set to be a big part of the Blue Jays’ plans this season, but it seems he’ll be playing almost exclusively in left field. According to The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath, there are currently no plans for Varsho to catch any spring training games for the Blue Jays. Of course, Varsho could sporadically catch in the case of any emergency, but it’s unlikely he’d approach anything near the 55 games he caught for Arizona over the past two seasons. That’s not a huge surprise, given Toronto traded away Gabriel Moreno to get Varsho and have Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen slated to handle the catching duties this season. Varsho hit .235/.302/.443 with 27 home runs while earning 17 Outs Above Average for his outfield work in Arizona last year.
  • McGrath’s report also confirms that former top prospect Nate Pearson is being built up as a reliever this spring. While he won’t be starting, it does seem like he’ll be in more of a bulk role, rather than a one inning relief role, per McGrath. Pearson, once a top-ten prospect in all of baseball, has been restricted to just 33 largely unsuccessful big league innings since his debut in 2020, and didn’t pitch at all in 2022 as a lat strain restricted him to just 15 2/3 minor league innings. McGrath reports that Pearson was sitting at 96-97 mph, with a fastball that topped out at 100 mph.

Diamondbacks Re-Sign Jake Hager To Minor League Deal

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The Diamondbacks have re-signed infielder Jake Hager to a minor league deal, according to the MILB transaction log.

Hager, 30 in a week, slashed .240/.345/.280 for the Diamondbacks over 59 plate appearances last year. He spent the bulk of the year at Triple-A, where he picked up five home runs as part of a .261/.342/.391 line across 303 plate appearances. That was the second stint Hager had had with the Diamondbacks. After being claimed off waivers from the Mets, Arizona released him at the end of the 2021 season before bringing him back on a minor league deal.

Originally drafted 32nd overall by the Rays back in 2011, Hager toiled away in the minors for Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and Seattle before the Mets finally gave him his first taste of the majors in 2021. He didn’t hit much across a brief spell with the Mets and Diamondbacks in 2021, and all told Hager’s put together a .197/.307/.224 line across 89 career MLB plate appearances.

Hager came through the minors as a shortstop, but has bounced around the field in his short time in the majors, logging time at second, third and shortstop as well as both corner outfield spots. For the third-straight season, Hager will provide the Snakes with some infield depth in the upper minors.

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