MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Sam Hentges Out 12 To 14 Months Due To Shoulder Surgery
Guardians left-hander Sam Hentges will undergo shoulder surgery next week, the team announced. Dr. Neal ElAttrache will repair both the labrum and capsule in Hentges’ left shoulder, and the recovery period is expected to be in the range of 12 to 14 months. In all likelihood, the procedure will keep Hentges out of action not only for the balance of the 2024 season but also the entirety of the 2025 campaign. Hentges has been out since July 10 with what was originally termed inflammation in his left shoulder.
It’s an awful blow for the Guardians and the 28-year-old Hentges alike. The former fourth-round pick had a rough debut campaign as a starter in 2021 but has thrived as a reliever across the past three seasons. Dating back to 2022, Hentges boasts a terrific 2.93 ERA with a 27.7% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate, 58.1% grounder rate and just 0.52 HR/9. Metrics like FIP (2.66) and SIERA (2.93) feel he’s been as good or perhaps even better than that more rudimentary earned run average would indicate.
As Hentges broke out as a quality reliever, the Guardians increasingly trusted him in higher-leverage spots. Former manager Terry Francona and (to a lesser extent) rookie skipper Stephen Vogt wound up trusting Hentges in a pivotal setup role to star closer Emmanuel Clase. He’s picked up 32 holds and one save over the past three years and been remarkably effective while pitching in those pressure-packed spots; Hentges only has one blown save in those 34 save situations into which he’s been placed.
Hentges and the Guardians agreed to a one-year, $1.1625MM deal this season in his first trip through the arbitration process as a Super Two player. He’s controllable for another three seasons but would be owed a small raise in arbitration next year after pitching 23 2/3 innings of 3.04 ERA ball and collecting nine holds this season. He’d then likely be owed that same salary for the 2026 season. Since he can be controlled through 2027, it’s likely the Guards will still tender him a contract and be content to pay him around $3MM combined for the 2025-26 seasons even though he won’t pitch in the former.
Yankees Outright Nick Burdi, Phil Bickford
The Yankees have outrighted relievers Nick Burdi and Phil Bickford, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Both right-handers were designated for assignment over the weekend when the Yanks reinstated Ian Hamilton and Clarke Schmidt from the 60-day injured list.
Burdi, 31, pitched 9 2/3 innings for the Yankees and allowed only two runs (1.86 ERA), but he also walked nine of his 45 opponents and plunked another pair. Put another way, he allowed 24.4% of his opponents to reach base without putting the ball in play, which obviously made that small-sample ERA feel rather unsustainable. The flamethrowing righty and former top prospect still sits 97.7 mph with his four-seamer, but Burdi’s career has been devastated by injuries and this year hasn’t been an exception. He was twice placed on the 15-day IL due to a right hip injury, eventually moving to the 60-day IL after the second of those two placements.
Burdi was the No. 46 overall draft pick in 2014, going to the Twins after a standout career as Louisville’s closer. Multiple arm injuries, including a pair of Tommy John procedures, have derailed him. He’s appeared in 31 big league games and tallied only 25 MLB innings, pitching to a 6.48 ERA with a big 32.5% strikeout rate but also a glaring 16.4% walk rate in that time.
Bickford, 29, pitched in an even smaller slate of 8 1/3 innings for the Yankees this year. He was tagged for nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits and one walk with six strikeouts in that time. Another former top pick — No. 18 overall to the Giants in 2015 — Bickford had a big season with the 2021 Dodgers when he pitched 50 1/3 innings of 2.50 ERA ball out of the Los Angeles bullpen.
He’s been unable to replicate that success in the three seasons since, however, working to a combined 5.07 ERA in 136 1/3 innings while his fastball his dipped by a mile per hour and while his walk and strikeout rates have trended in the wrong direction. Bickford has a lifetime 4.62 ERA in 189 big league frames, but the entirety of his success has been confined to that excellent 2021 showing.
Both Burdi and Bickford can reject their outright assignments in favor of free agency. Even if they accept, they’ll be able to become minor league free agents at season’s end.
Cardinals To Promote Thomas Saggese
The Cardinals are set to call up infield prospect Thomas Saggese for his major league debut, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so St. Louis will need to formally select his contract from Triple-A Memphis. The Cards already have a pair of vacancies on the 40-man, however, so they’ll only need a corresponding move on the active 28-man roster.
Saggese, 22, was acquired from the Rangers in the 2023 deadline trade sending left-hander Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton to Texas. Baseball America currently ranks him as the system’s fifth-best prospect. He’s hitting .253/.313/.438 with 20 home runs, 23 doubles, three triples, nine steals (in 13 attempts), a 23.1% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in 528 plate appearances this season. BA describes Saggese as a “bat-first middle infielder” with an aggressive approach but above-average contact skills and a knack for barreling the ball.
Though he’s spent time at all three infield positions to the left of first base, Saggese’s primary position in the minors has been second base. He’s logged more time at shortstop than second base this season, perhaps in a bid to diversify his skill set, but Masyn Winn‘s breakout has solidified shortstop at Busch Stadium and Nolan Arenado remains entrenched at the hot corner. Saggese’s clearest path to a regular role with the Cardinals will be at second base, which scouting reports feel is his best position anyhow. He has competition in the long term, primarily in the form of Nolan Gorman, but the slugging Gorman has struggled this season and has yet to clearly stake his claim as the Cards’ second baseman of the future.
Gorman’s struggles reached a boiling point last month, when he was optioned to Triple-A himself. The Cardinals have been using versatile Brendan Donovan at second base since, but Donovan has been hobbled by a foot injury recently and (speculatively speaking) could be bound for the injured list. Even if Donovan avoids and IL stint, calling Saggese to the majors both gives the Cardinals a short-term alternative and affords them a look at a potential key piece of their future infield.
Saggese also provides some insurance for Winn at shortstop in the event that Donovan misses either a couple more games — he was out of Sunday’s lineup — or heads to the injured list. Prior to the Saggese move, Jose Fermin was the only shortstop option on the roster other than Winn and Donovan. If Donovan is sidelined for any period of time, Fermin would’ve been ticketed to step in and second base, leaving the Cards with no real backup to Winn at short.
Saggese would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason and would’ve been a slam-dunk to be selected, so the Cardinals were always going to add him to the roster prior to mid-November’s protection deadline. The current health status of their infield group may have forced the issue a bit sooner, but that’ll only serve to get Saggese some late-season reps against big league pitching — a notable development for him given that he’d almost certainly have been called to the majors at some point in 2025 anyhow. He obviously won’t receive a full year of service at this point, so Saggese remains on track for free agency no earlier than the 2030-31 offseason and arbitration eligibility no sooner than the 2027-28 offseason.
Mariners Claim Austin Kitchen, DFA Jason Vosler
The Mariners have claimed left-hander Austin Kitchen off waivers from the Marlins, per a team announcement out of Miami. In a corresponding move, Seattle has designated first baseman Jason Vosler for assignment.
Kitchen, 27, was designated for assignment over the weekend after a brief, but meaningful, stint with the Marlins. The club claimed him off waivers from the Rockies in June, and he made his MLB debut at the end of July. Unfortunately, his first few tastes of big league action in Miami weren’t particularly successful; he gave up 12 runs (11 earned) over seven innings before his DFA. On the bright side, he has a 2.96 ERA and 3.74 FIP across 48 2/3 minor league innings this season split between the Rockies and Marlins organizations.
The left-hander will now report to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. He will not be eligible to pitch for Seattle in the postseason, but he offers a bit of additional depth down the stretch. What’s more, he still has two option years remaining, so if the Mariners like what they see from Kitchen, they could easily choose to keep him around in 2025.
Vosler, 31, played 10 games with the Mariners this season during a brief call-up between mid-July and early August. He went 5-for-28 with a .519 OPS. However, he has looked much better at Triple-A, batting .299 with 28 home runs and a .934 OPS in 111 games. Despite his minor league success, he did not have a path to meaningful playing time in Seattle, so it’s not too surprising to see him cut from the 40-man roster. It’s likely he clears waivers, after which he will presumably elect free agency, either right away or at the end of the season. Vosler has played for five different organizations, including three at the MLB level, over a professional career that has spanned more than ten years.
Guardians Designate Anthony Gose For Assignment
The Guardians designated left-hander Anthony Gose for assignment … again. Cleveland announced Monday that Gose has been DFA in favor of fellow southpaw Joey Cantillo, who has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus.
It’s the fourth DFA of the past month for the out-of-options Gose, who has fully embraced the depth role in which the Guardians have placed him. He can’t be optioned to the minors, so Cleveland has continually designated him for assignment and passed him through waivers, at which point Gose has either accepted an outright assignment or briefly elected free agency and near-immediately re-signed on a new minor league deal.
It’s an odd cycle but not an entirely unfamiliar one. The Yankees have gone this route with righties David Hale and Ryan Weber in the past. The Marlins have done the same this year with lefty Kent Emanuel, just as they did with Devin Smeltzer in 2023. Gose is clearly fine with the tumultuous and somewhat unconventional arrangement, as he’s getting frequent MLB service time and pay out of it and agreeing to return to the organization each time. Granted, not all of those situations featured such rapid-fire selections to the majors and immediate DFAs, but it’s conceptually the same scenario.
Gose allowed two runs in an inning of work during his most recent brief stint with the Guards. He’s pitched in three games this season and yielded runs in all of them, combining for five runs on nine hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. He’s posted better run-prevention numbers in Triple-A, logging a 3.27 earned run average with a hearty 32.8% strikeout rate against a more troubling 14.7% walk rate.
The 2024 season is Gose’s first year back from a Tommy John procedure that wiped out his entire 2023 campaign. A former second-round pick who ranked as one of the top prospects in the game during his days as a center fielder, he’s still looking to establish himself as a viable big league option in the bullpen. Gose has pitched 32 innings in the majors since making the switch to the mound and recorded a 4.78 ERA with big strikeout numbers (29.7%) and also big walk issues (12.3%).
A two-way star in high school who had some draft interest as a pitcher, Gose was brandishing a fastball that averaged 99.3 mph when he made his mound debut in 2021. He’s since undergone elbow surgery and seen that average heater dip to 95.2 mph — still a well above-average mark (particularly for a lefty), but not the same type of overpowering offering it was a few years back. Gose is still piling up strikeouts in Triple-A, but the command of his fastball/slider combination is a work in progress. He’ll head back to waivers and likely clear quickly before returning to the Guardians, whether via outright assignment or again electing free agency and signing a new minor league pact while he awaits his next call to the majors.
Mets Designate Pablo Reyes, Select Eddy Alvarez
The Mets have selected the contract of recently acquired infielder Eddy Alvarez from Triple-A Syracuse and designated fellow infielder Pablo Reyes for assignment in order to open space on the active roster and 40-man roster, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. Alvarez was acquired from the Red Sox in exchange for cash earlier today.
Like Alvarez, Reyes was also acquired from the Red Sox in exchange for cash — although that swap took place back in May. The Mets selected him to the big league roster earlier this month when rosters expanded to 28 players. Reyes did not make a plate appearance with the Mets but did score a run after entering their Sept. 1 game as a pinch runner. He hit .183/.234/.217 in 64 plate appearances with Boston earlier this season.
The 31-year-old Reyes gave the Red Sox nearly league-average offense last season — .287/.339/.377 in 185 plate appearances — but has generally been a light-hitting utilityman in a big league career that’s now spanned four teams (Pirates, Brewers, Red Sox, Mets) across parts of six seasons. In 572 plate appearances at the MLB level, Reyes is a .248/.309/.349 hitter. He’s spent time at every defensive position other than catcher — pitcher included — but has primarily been a second baseman/shortstop/third baseman.
A career .277/.347/.450 hitter in parts of six Triple-A seasons, Reyes has a solid minor league track record but has never found extended success in the majors. He’s out of minor league options and thus can’t be sent down without clearing waivers first, and even then he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency by virtue of the fact that he’s been outrighted previously in his career. He’ll head to waivers now that he’s been DFA and will likely clear, as he did back in May when Boston also designated him for assignment.
Rangers To Promote Kumar Rocker
The Rangers are promoting top pitching prospect Kumar Rocker to the majors, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The No. 3 overall pick from the 2022 draft will make his major league debut and start Thursday’s game against the Mariners, per the report. Texas will need to formally select Rocker’s contract to add him to the 40-man roster prior to that debut appearance.
News of Rocker’s call to the big leagues comes just two days after manager Bruce Bochy downplayed the chances of him pitching in the majors this season. That was followed a day later by GM Chris Young stating that a promotion of Rocker was still under consideration. Now, in what’ll be just his 17th total appearance since being drafted, Rocker will toe the rubber on a major league mound.
Rocker’s journey to the majors has been an odd one. He and Jack Leiter were star teammates at Vanderbilt University and widely considered to be in the mix for the top overall selection in the 2021 draft. Leiter went second overall — to the Rangers, of course — while Rocker “slipped” to the tenth pick, held by the Mets. New York ultimately did not sign Rocker, citing concerns over his physical.
Rather than return to college, Rocker signed with the independent Tri-City ValleyCats of the Frontier League. He retained his draft eligibility but was not seen as a consensus top-10 pick the second time around. Reactions to the Rangers’ selection of Rocker with the No. 3 pick in 2022 ranged from surprised to stunned. Rocker looked sharp in his first six starts at the High-A level the season following his selection, but he suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery and knocked him until July of the current season.
Since returning, Rocker has rewarded the Rangers’ faith in spades. He made three shaky starts with the Rangers’ Rookie-level affiliate in the Arizona Complex League but has since gone on an utter tear, obliterating minor league lineups and forcing his way into the Rangers’ plans sooner than anyone would’ve reasonably expected after he went under the knife last year.
Rocker skipped over High-A this season and went right from the ACL to Double-A. In five starts there and another two with Triple-A Round Rock, he’s pitched 29 2/3 innings of 0.91 ERA ball with a laughably dominant 47-to-4 K/BB ratio. He’s fanned 44.3% of his opponents against a minuscule 3.8% walk rate. He’s yielded all of one home run during that run of seven starts. In his two Triple-A outings, he’s fanned 18 hitters against one walk in ten innings.
Rocker’s meteoric rise through the Rangers’ system means that he and Leiter will now be reunited not just as teammates but as rotation-mates in the major leagues. The Rocker/Leiter pairing will give Texas fans a potential glimpse of the future — a silver lining near the end of an otherwise disappointing season where the Rangers never seemed to be a true contender to defend last year’s World Series crown. Leiter certainly hasn’t staked a claim to a long-term rotation spot just yet, but he’s looked better in his three recent starts than he did in a trio of spot starts earlier this season when he appeared overmatched.
Depending on how the final few weeks go for Leiter and Rocker, one or both exciting young hurlers could more convincingly force his way into the Rangers’ early 2025 plans. It’s unlikely Texas would simply pencil both into the rotation and bank on a full season of starts, but the former NCAA standouts are now both squarely in the short-term plans for the organization. Next year’s rotation will be fronted by Jacob deGrom, Tyler Mahle and Jon Gray, health permitting, and it’s possible righty Nathan Eovaldi will be back as well. He’ll trigger a $20MM player option once he completes nine more innings, but given how well he’s pitched this season he’ll also likely turn that down and return to the open market. Righty Dane Dunning and lefty Cody Bradford are also in the mix for starts next season.
Mets Acquire Eddy Alvarez
The Mets have acquired infielder Eddy Alvarez from the Red Sox in exchange for cash, per the teams’ transaction logs at MLB.com. Alvarez was on a minor league deal and eligible to be traded as such. He won’t be postseason-eligible with his new team due to the fact that he’s joining the organization after the Aug. 31 eligibility deadline, but he’ll give the Mets some infield depth in the wake of Jeff McNeil‘s season-ending wrist fracture.
Alvarez, 34, has appeared in parts of three big league seasons, spending time with the Marlins and Dodgers from 2020-22. He’s played a total of 50 games and recorded 142 plate appearance with a lackluster .183/.262/.262 batting line in that time. He’s been far better in a larger sample of Triple-A work, however. Alvarez has slashed .247/.348/.463 in 114 games with Worcester this season, smacking 18 homers and going 18-for-25 in stolen base attempts. His 24.1% strikeout rate is higher than average, but so is his 10.6% walk rate. Alvarez has appeared in eight Triple-A seasons and owns a career .277/.381/.467 slash in 1855 plate appearances there.
Defensively, Alvarez has seen time at every position other than catcher and first base. He’s primarily been a middle infielder, with 3777 career innings at shortstop and 1930 innings at second base (minors and big leagues combined).
The Mets don’t necessarily need to turn to Alvarez right off the bat. With McNeil out for the remainder of the regular season, they can turn to Jose Iglesias as the primary second baseman, with versatile Pablo Reyes occupying a utility role on the bench (and, of course, with MVP candidate Francisco Lindor at shortstop). Down in Triple-A, the Mets have top prospect Luisangel Acuna already on the 40-man roster in the event of further injury.
That said, the Mets are also without infield prospect Brett Baty for another several weeks due to a fractured finger. Between Baty, McNeil and Ronny Mauricio (out for the year with an ACL tear), the Mets’ infield depth is pretty banged up at the moment. In the event of an additional injury on the MLB side, Acuna could be called into action, or New York could turn to a non-roster veteran in Triple-A like Mike Brosseau, Yolmer Sanchez or perhaps the newly acquired Alvarez. Even if he never sees the majors with his new club, he’ll give the Mets some late-season depth and versatility to help navigate a handful of hits to their infield depth chart.
Astros Outright Parker Mushinski
Left-hander Parker Mushinski went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment last week, the Astros announced Monday. He’s been assigned outright to Triple-A Sugar Land and will remain with the organization but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. Mushinski’s DFA came as the corresponding move for Kyle Tucker‘s return from the 60-day injured list.
The 28-year-old Mushinski has pitched in each of the past three seasons with Houston, logging a combined 33 innings of relief and pitching to a 5.45 ERA along the way. He’s fanned 17.4% of his opponents against an 8.1% walk rate and kept 45.2% of his batted balls on the ground. He’s had spotty command against lefties but generally prevented them from hitting for power, evidenced by a career .255/.354/.327 slash from opposing southpaw bats. However, righties have tattooed Mushinski at a brutal .280/.357/.587 clip in his career. He’s faced 84 righties in the big leagues and surrendered 13 extra-base hits (five homers, eight doubles).
While Mushinski hasn’t had much big league success, he does have a sharp track record in Triple-A. The 2017 seventh-rounder out of Texas Tech has pitched in parts of four seasons at the top minor league level and sports a collective 3.25 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate there. That’s come over a sample of 127 1/3 innings, with all but one of his 118 appearances at the Triple-A level coming out of the bullpen. Mushinski isn’t a particularly hard thrower — his four-seamer has sat just over 92 mph this season — but he’s nevertheless missed bats at a high level in the upper minors, both in terms of swinging-strike rate and his raw strikeout rates.
This is Mushinski’s first career outright assignment, and he also lacks three full seasons of big league service. As such, he can’t reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency for the time being. He’ll be able to become a minor league free agent in the offseason, however.