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Mets Designate Alexander Canario, Outright Jose Azocar

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TODAY: Azocar cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, DiComo reports.  There isn’t any word yet on Canario’s status.

MARCH 27: The Mets will designate outfielders Alexander Canario and Jose Azocar for assignment today, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. It was already reported earlier in the week that Canario didn’t make the club and likely would be removed from the 40-man roster. Both outfielders are out of minor league options and thus cannot be sent to Triple-A unless they first clear waivers.

It’s the second time Canario has been bumped from a 40-man roster this spring. The Cubs cut him loose and traded him to the Mets for cash earlier in March.

The 24-year-old Canario (25 in May) has light-tower raw power but staggering strikeout issues that have been apparent throughout his time in the minors and his brief time in the majors. He fanned in more than 30% of his Triple-A plate appearances last season and has gone down on strikes in 42% of his small sample of MLB plate appearances. Canario’s 63.5% contact rate in Triple-A last year would’ve ranked last in the majors by more than two percentage points, and in his 45 MLB trips to the plate he’s made contact at an even lower 59.8% clip.

It’s a glaring and troubling contact profile. Canario has big time power when he does put bat to ball, as evidenced by a 37-homer campaign on his minor league resume, but that came back in 2022. Canario’s offensive output has declined in each of the past two minor league seasons. He’s still hit at an above-average level, but the combined .257/.345/.502 output (115 wRC+) over those two years is a ways shy of the 133 wRC+ he posted during that 37-homer campaign. He’s had a nice spring, hitting .306/.419/.611 with three homers in 43 plate appearances, but the contact problems loom large; he’s also fanned 15 times — a 34.9% rate.

Canario is an average runner or slightly below and is generally considered a corner outfielder rather than a center fielder. A club looking for some low-cost thump in the outfield corners could certainly take a look, but Canario’s skill set (corner only, middling contact) is one that gives many front offices pause (hence the multiple DFAs this spring).

As for Azocar, he’s more of a prototypical, speed-and-defense focused fourth outfielder. The 28-year-old (29 in May) has played in three big league seasons with the Padres and posted a .243/.287/.322 slash in 397 plate appearances. He’s a career .288/.320/.438 hitter in 799 Triple-A plate appearances and logged a .250/.283/.318 line in 46 trips to the plate this spring. He has glaring platoon splits, but not in the manner most would expect; the righty-swinging Azocar is a much better hitter against right-handed pitching to this point in his young big league career.

Statcast credited Azocar with 91st percentile sprint speed in 2024, though he’s had some issues on the basepaths despite that plus speed, succeeding in only 18 of his 27 stolen base attempts (66.7%). Azocar can play all three outfield positions at a high level.

Both players will be in DFA limbo for a maximum of one week. The Mets can place them on waivers at any point in the next five days and can also explore trade possibilities during that time. If there’s no trade by day five, they’ll both be placed on waivers, which are a 48-hour process themselves.

Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals

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The Cardinals began their offseason by announcing major changes to the baseball operations staff and pledging to refocus on player development. Their efforts to free up playing time for younger players came up empty, however, and they'll run it back with nearly an identical roster.

Major League Signings

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Extensions

  • None

Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

"The message is, 'we're going young,'" Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said at the conclusion of the regular season. DeWitt's comments came on the heels of a press conference wherein longtime president of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced the 2025 season would be his last running baseball operations in St. Louis. Former Red Sox chief baseball officer and Rays senior vice president Chaim Bloom, hired as an advisor the prior offseason, would take the reins in 2026. He'd already agreed to a five-year contract.

It was a jarring change in tone for a Cardinals club that had perennially sought to compete in the National League Central. Mozeliak candidly acknowledged that the team's primary focus would not necessarily be on building the best roster for 2025, but rather on bolstering the organization's player development practice and building out the type of modern baseball operations systems and infrastructure that the Cardinals no longer possessed.

"Yes, this is a reset," Mozeliak said at the time. "Yes, this is going to be where we’re not focusing on necessarily building the best possible roster we can."

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Preller: Padres Exploring Eguy Rosario Trades

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The Padres faced several tough roster decisions in the final days of spring training, perhaps none more difficult than their call on out-of-options infielder Eguy Rosario. The decision was eventually made to designate Rosario for assignment in favor of several veterans who were selected to the 40-man roster: Jose Iglesias and Yuli Gurriel among them. Rosario has often shown glimpses of upside and has hit well in Triple-A, for the most part. He’s also posted huge strikeout totals and poor OBP marks in the majors, however, and he had a rough showing in spring training.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller spoke highly of Rosario in the wake of his DFA and suggested that he expects to find a trade partner for the 25-year-old (via Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune).

“Eguy’s a big league player,” Preller said. “…He’s going to get an opportunity to go elsewhere and play in the big leagues I would think immediately, and we’ll try to add some value through a trade here in the next week.”

Rosario has only appeared in 100 big league games to this point in his career, due in no small part to a crowded San Diego infield featuring high-profile and high-priced veterans like Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Luis Arraez, Jake Cronenworth and (through the 2024 season) Ha-Seong Kim. Rosario has gotten occasional calls to the big leagues when players are injured, but he’s never topped last year’s 57 plate appearances in the majors. So far, he’s posted a .245/.283/.500 line with five homers, seven doubles and a triple. He’s also drawn just four walks against 34 strikeouts.

Down in Triple-A, Rosario’s numbers look more well-rounded. He’s played parts of three seasons with the Padres’ top affiliate in El Paso and batted .275/.362/.502 in 1164 turns at the plate. A right-handed hitter, Rosario has posted much better numbers against southpaws, but he still has strong right-on-right numbers in Triple-A. That’s not the case in the big leagues, but a .146/.226/.146 slash doesn’t carry too much weight when it’s a sample of 54 plate appearances and comes in scattered, infrequent playing time. Plus, Rosario has demolished big league lefties at a .348/.348/.870 rate in 46 plate appearances. His batted-ball metrics (exit velocity, hard-hit rate, etc.) aren’t great in the majors or in Triple-A, but he’s demonstrated some clear extra-base pop.

Defensively, Rosario has spent the bulk of his time at third base — more than 3400 professional innings. However, he’s also logged more than 2600 innings at second base, another 1200 innings at short and a handful of games at both first base and in right field. Baseball America’s scouting reports on Rosario praise his plus arm but note that despite good speed and athleticism, his actions and range make him better suited for work at third or second.

Despite his minimal playing time when on the big league roster, Rosario has spent enough time in the majors to have more than one year of service time. Any team that acquires him via trade or waivers would pick up five seasons of control, though he’d have to go directly on the big league roster due to his lack of options.

Brewers’ Tyler Black Out Six To Eight Weeks With Hamate Fracture

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Top Brewers prospect Tyler Black will miss the first six to eight weeks of the season after suffering a hamate fracture in his right hand, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Black competed for a roster spot in spring training but was optioned on March 22.

Black, 24, was the No. 33 overall pick in the 2021 draft and made a brief MLB debut last season, hitting .204/.316/.245 in just 57 plate appearances. He posted a more encouraging .258/.374/.429 slash (114 wRC+) in 462 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, bringing his career line in two seasons there to a strong .272/.389/.452.

Generally considered a bat-first prospect, Black has walked in at least 13.2% of his plate appearances at every minor league stop and has gone down on strikes in just 17.3% of his Triple-A plate appearances — well shy of the league average. Black has never topped 18 homers in a season, but he makes excellent contact, draws walks in bulk and is adept at hitting the ball to all fields. He projects as a plus hitter but not necessarily a pure slugger — more of a gap-to-gap bat who can post premium on-base marks thanks to his keen eye and outstanding pitch recognition.

Defensively, Black carries less certainty. He’s played all over the diamond as the Brewers have tried to find him a home, starting out at second base but now having logged time at both infield corners and around the outfield as well. He’s a plus runner who stole 55 bases in the minors as recently as 2023, but Black has yet to settle into one spot. That could lead to a multi-position role, or the Brewers could simply install him at first base when he’s ready for a full-time look. Rhys Hoskins is only signed through the current season.

For now, Black’s path to regular playing time in the majors will be stalled for what looks like a period of multiple months. Once healthy, Black will probably need a bit of time to get back on track in Nashville. Hand injuries — hamate fractures, in particular — can at times sap a player’s power in the weeks/months after his immediate return, though because Black isn’t entirely reliant on home runs for his offensive output, perhaps that won’t be quite so glaring an issue if it happens in his case.

For now, the Brewers’ infield includes Hoskins at first base, Brice Turang at second, Joey Ortiz at shortstop and a collection of Oliver Dunn, Vinny Capra and perhaps Isaac Collins at the hot corner. None of Capra, Dunn or Collins has any real big league track record at this point. Depending on their production and the health of the rest of the infield, Black could be a candidate in a variety of roles once he’s recovered.

Red Sox Place Liam Hendriks On 15-Day IL

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March 28: Despite the season-opening IL placement, Hendriks is not facing a severe injury, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic writes. He’s already been examined by Dr. Keith Meister, who performed his Tommy John surgery, and received a cortisone injection to help alleviate some inflammation and discomfort stemming from a compressed nerve. There’s no structural damage in Hendriks’ elbow. He’ll be shut down from throwing for three to five days but expects to resume throwing during next week’s series against the Orioles.

March 27: The Red Sox announced a slate of transactions to finalize their Opening Day roster, including a surprise placement of righty Liam Hendriks on the 15-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. Fellow right-hander Cooper Criswell, who had appeared ticketed for Triple-A Worcester, will instead break camp with the big league club.

Boston also selected the contracts of lefty Sean Newcomb and top prospect Kristian Campbell. Both have formally made the Opening Day roster. Lefties Chris Murphy and Zach Penrod were placed on the 60-day injured list to open spots. Murphy is recovering from UCL surgery performed last spring. Penrod was diagnosed with a left elbow sprain earlier in camp.

Additionally, the Red Sox placed Masataka Yoshida on the 10-day IL as he continues building back up from offseason shoulder surgery. Righties Brayan Bello (shoulder strain), Kutter Crawford (patellar tendinopathy) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring strain) were all placed on the 15-day IL, as expected.

Hendriks, who turned 36 last month, is entering the second season of a two-year, $10MM deal. The Red Sox signed him knowing that he’d miss most of all of the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The expectation early in camp was that he and offseason signee Aroldis Chapman could compete for ninth-inning work. The tide changed quickly. Chapman fanned 14 of the 30 batters he faced and held opponents to two runs in 7 1/3 innings. Hendriks allowed seven runs on 14 hits in just 6 1/3 frames. He didn’t walk anyone but also only whiffed four of the 32 hitters he faced.

The Red Sox haven’t yet provided a timetable for when Hendriks might return to the mound. For now, there’s no indication that he’s dealing with a long-term injury. Presumably, manager Alex Cora will have more information regarding his potential timetable when he meets with the media later today.

Dodgers Acquire Noah Davis From Red Sox

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve acquired righty Noah Davis from the Red Sox in exchange for cash. He’ll go onto the team’s 40-man roster and be optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Los Angeles placed righty Emmet Sheehan, who’s recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day injured list to create roster space.

Davis had been a non-roster player with Boston after signing a minor league deal. It seems likely that he had an upward mobility clause in his deal, which if exercised requires his current club to make him available to all 29 other teams and let him go if another team is willing to put him on the 40-man roster.

Davis, 28 next month, is a former 11th-round pick by the Reds who’s spent the bulk of his career in the Rockies organization. Cincinnati traded him to Colorado in 2021’s Mychal Givens swap. He’s pitched in three MLB seasons with the Rox, logging a grisly 7.71 earned run average in 51 1/3 innings. Davis has fanned 17.3% of his opponents against a 9.2% walk rate. Both are worse than the league average (the strikeout rate in particular).

Despite the shaky track record, Davis has held his own (relatively speaking) in an intensely hitter-friendly environment with the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s Albuquerque Isotopes (the Rockies’ top affiliate). His 5.06 ERA in 133 1/3 innings there doesn’t look like much, but he ranks 19th in the PCL in ERA over the past three seasons (among pitchers with 130+ innings). Only four pitchers in that span have kept an ERA under 4.00 in as many innings.

Davis had a decent spring. He allowed five runs in 9 1/3 frames, which isn’t great, but did so while yielding only seven hits and recording a 9-to-1 K/BB ratio. He’ll give the Dodgers some rotation depth at a time when Sheehan, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, River Ryan, Tony Gonsolin and Kyle Hurt are all on the injured list.

Guardians’ Tanner Bibee Scratched From Opening Day Start Due To Illness

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The Guardians announced Thursday that right-hander Tanner Bibee has been scratched from his scheduled Opening Day start due to acute gastroenteritis (or, the stomach flu). Cleveland will give the nod to fellow right-hander Ben Lively in his place.

It’s an unfortunate development for the recently extended Bibee, who is just days removed from signing a five-year, $48MM contract extension. It’s unlikely he’ll miss significant time with the illness, but Opening Day starts are a cherished occasion for pitchers. Bibee figures to have opportunities in the future, but this would’ve been his first Opening Day nod. Shane Bieber started for Cleveland in each of the past two seasons — Bibee’s only two years in the majors.

On the flip side, it’s an unexpected chance for Lively to also get his first career Opening Day nod. The notion of Bibee as an Opening Day starter would’ve been beyond far-fetched just a few short years ago. The now-33-year-old righty pitched only one big league inning in 2019 and didn’t pitch in the majors at all from 2020-22. Lively spent the 2020-21 season with the Samsung Lions of the Korea Baseball Organization, returned to North America on a minor league deal with the Reds, and didn’t make it back to the majors until 2023. He pitched 88 2/3 innings for Cincinnati that year and logged a 5.38 ERA.

The Guardians still brought Lively in on a major league contract last year, guaranteeing him a $750K salary. He crushed any and all expectations, rattling off 151 innings with a 3.81 earned run average, an 18.7% strikeout rate, a 7.2% walk rate and a 41.9% ground-ball rate. Lively misses bats at a well below-average level, but he has sharp command and managed to strand runners at a much higher rate than average (78.4% compared to league-average 72.1%). He and the Guardians settled on a one-year, $2.25MM contract this offseason to avoid an arbitration hearing.

Bibee and Lively will be joined in Cleveland’s rotation by righties Luis Ortiz and Gavin Williams, as well as southpaw Logan Allen. The bullpen will have several long relief options, including veteran swingman Jakob Junis, prospect Joey Cantillo and former standout righty Triston McKenzie, who’s looking to bounce back after a dismal 2023-24 run and rocky spring training. McKenzie suffered a UCL strain back in 2023 and avoided surgery but has not pitched anywhere close to the same level since sustaining that elbow injury.

Rays Select Coco Montes

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The Rays announced Thursday that they’ve selected infielder Coco Montes to the 40-man roster and immediately optioned him to Triple-A. It’s likely that Montes had an out clause or upward mobility clause in his deal. The Rays, keen on keeping him around, will dedicate their open spot to him for the time being. The 40-man roster is now at capacity. Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, he did indeed have an upward mobility clause and interest from other clubs.

Additionally, Tampa Bay announced that righty Alex Faedo (shoulder inflammation) was placed on the 15-day injured list and infielder Ha-Seong Kim (recovery from shoulder surgery) was placed on the 10-day injured list.

Montes, 28, was a prospect with the Rockies who worked his way up to make his major league debut in 2023. He hit just .184/.244/.316 in 41 plate appearances and was outrighted off the roster before the end of that season. Midway through 2024, he went overseas to join the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He hit .272/.308/.391 in 46 games for that club.

The Rays then signed him to a minor league deal. They were presumably intrigued by that better showing in Japan, or perhaps Montes’s minor league numbers.  He slashed .323/.405/.551 in Triple-A over 2023 and 2024. Even in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League, that was 32% better than average. Defensively, he has played the three infield positions to the left of first base as well as some left field.

Tampa didn’t have a spot on the Opening Day roster for him but didn’t want him to get away, so they’ve slotted him onto the 40-man. They had an open spot after relinquishing Rule 5 pick Mike Vasil a few days ago. Montes will give the club a bit of extra depth at multiple positions.

Astros Designate Cooper Hummel For Assignment

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The Astros have designated catcher/infielder/outfielder Cooper Hummel for assignment and placed righty J.P. France on the 60-day injured list as he recovers from last summer’s shoulder surgery. That pair of moves opens two additional spots on a 40-man roster that already had two vacancies. The four openings will go to righty Rafael Montero, lefty Steven Okert, second baseman Brendan Rodgers and top prospect Cam Smith, all of whom have been selected to the 40-man roster and are on the Opening Day club.

Houston also placed outfielders Pedro Leon and Taylor Trammell on the 10-day injured list due to a knee strain and calf strain, respectively. Right-handers Shawn Dubin, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., Kaleb Ort and Forrest Whitley have all been placed on the 15-day IL.

The Astros had telegraphed all these moves. They’d already announced that Montero, Okert, Smith and Rodgers were making the team. Houston had previously informed Hummel that he would not break camp. Since he’s out of options, that made a DFA or waiver placement inevitable. France, who’ll be out into at least July rehabbing last year’s shoulder procedure, was an obvious 60-day IL candidate to open the final roster spot.

Houston claimed Hummel off waivers from the Giants last spring. They outrighted him off the 40-man roster a couple weeks later but reselected his contract in June when they released José Abreu. He spent most of the season in Triple-A, exhausting his final option season in the process. Hummel went 0-8 with a pair of strikeouts in his big league work. He had a solid year in Triple-A, hitting .277/.419/.454 with a massive 17.9% walk rate through 442 plate appearances.

The Astros will have five days to trade Hummel or place him on waivers. He’s not viewed as a regular behind the plate, but he can catch on occasion while playing first base or the corner outfield. His patient plate approach has translated to a .285/.419/.480 career slash in Triple-A. He owns just a .159/.255/.275 line with a 31.9% strikeout rate over 82 major league games.

Trammell, Whitley, Ort and Dubin are all out of options themselves. Their Spring Training injuries delay the Astros’ need to make a decision on any of them, as they’ll begin the year on the major league IL. Ort has the best chance of holding a roster spot once he returns after pitching to a 2.55 ERA with a 28% strikeout rate last season.

Cubs Designate Cody Poteet For Assignment

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The Cubs announced Thursday that they’ve designated right-hander Cody Poteet for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to righty Brad Keller, who has now formally been selected to the roster. The Cubs also placed righties Tyson Miller (left hip impingement), righty Ryan Brasier (groin strain) and infielder/outfielder Vidal Brujan (elbow sprain) on the injured list and recalled righty Eli Morgan from Triple-A Iowa.

Poteet, 30, was the lone player the Cubs received in the trade sending Cody Bellinger to the Yankees. That swap was always more about dumping Bellinger’s salary than adding to the system, and today’s DFA only further underscores that reality.

A fourth-rounder by the Marlins in 2015, Poteet has pitched in parts of three big league seasons between Miami and New York. He posted a 2.22 ERA in 24 1/3 frames for the Yanks last year and carries an overall 3.80 mark in 83 MLB innings. He was sharp in 53 minor league innings last year as well, recording a 3.40 ERA. Poteet isn’t a flamethrower, sitting 93.8 mph with his four-seamer and 92.6 mph with his sinker. He complements those fastballs with a slider, curveball and changeup, rounding out a five-pitch arsenal.

Poteet has punched out 20.2% of his big league opponents against a 10.2% walk rate. Both are worse than average, though not necessarily by wide margins. In parts of five Triple-A campaigns, he’s logged a 4.47 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. Poteet still has a pair of minor league options remaining, so if a team acquires him in a trade or claims him off waivers, he can be optioned directly to Triple-A. That could make him an appealing target for clubs seeking affordable rotation depth.

The Cubs owed Bellinger $52.5MM over the next two seasons, though he can opt out of the contract this year and trim $20MM off that guarantee if he feels there are greener pastures in free agency. Chicago paid $5MM of that sum to help facilitate the swap but saved $47.5MM overall. Bellinger was seen as a poor fit on the roster, with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki in the outfield mix and Michael Busch at first base. Time will tell whether the club is better off for it, but for the moment the only thing they have to show for the trade is salary relief and about $25MM of breathing room between the current payroll and the luxury tax threshold.

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