Bichette On Future In Toronto, Long-Term Goals
Throughout a disappointing season for the Blue Jays, the long-term future of stars Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been a focal point. Rumors surrounding the pair of second-generation stars dominated headlines early in the summer as the Jays struggled, though they were somewhat quelled by GM Ross Atkins saying in early June that trading either Guerrero or Bichette “doesn’t make any sense” for the organization.
Even as their 2024 playoff hopes dwindled, the Jays only sold off impending free agents in advance of the trade deadline. Yusei Kikuchi, Danny Jansen, Yimi Garcia and Trevor Richards were all on the move. Bichette, Guerrero, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman and others stayed put, with the clear indication being that the Blue Jays hope to retool this offseason and get back on track to contend in 2025.
Bichette and Guerrero are only controlled through the end of the 2025 season, which has brought continued speculation about the possibility of one or both players being moved this winter. Some of the Guerrero speculation has died down in the weeks since the trade deadline, though. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported after the deadline that the team still hoped to sign Guerrero long-term. Bassitt appeared on Chris Rose’s podcast and voiced his belief that even though Guerrero has not yet signed an extension, he indeed wants to be in Toronto long-term. Now, it appears Bichette’s teammates needn’t do any talking or speculating on his behalf. He’s publicly making it clear that he hopes to stay in Toronto alongside his longtime friend, Guerrero, and win a title as a Blue Jay.
“When I had time to think about what I want, basically, my ultimate goal really is to play with Vladdy (Guerrero Jr.) forever, to win a championship with him and to do that with this organization,” Bichette tells Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “I’m 100 percent committed to doing whatever it takes to accomplish those things. That’s where I’m at.”
As Davidi explores at length in a piece Jays fans, in particular, will want to read in its entirety, that sets the 2024-25 offseason as one of the most pivotal in franchise history with regard to player personnel decisions. There’s nothing that says the Jays can’t let Guerrero and/or Bichette reach free agency, test the market, and then re-sign both players anyhow — but it’s certainly an easier and more controlled process when they’re not competing with an open market and other potential bidders for the 26-year-old Bichette and 25-year-old Guerrero.
From a payroll perspective, the Jays should be able to make dual extensions for the pair of former All-Stars work. Jose Berrios and Yariel Rodriguez are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season. Berrios, Rodriguez, the aforementioned Gausman and George Springer are the only four Blue Jays on guaranteed contract beyond the 2025 campaign. Toronto opened the 2024 season with a roughly $225MM payroll, currently sits at about $217MM after their deadline sell-off, and only has about $124.5MM in commitments for the ’25 season at the moment, per RosterResource.
That number notably does not include an arbitration raise for Guerrero — a figure that’ll likely shoot well beyond $25MM on the heels of his outstanding 2024 season. Arb raises for Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Genesis Cabrera, Daulton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk, Dillon Tate, Alek Manoah and Ernie Clement could all be in the offing as well, though some members of that class will be non-tendered or traded.
Even if the bulk of that class is retained, it’s reasonable to think that between arb raises and rounding out the roster with league-minimum players, the Blue Jays could still come in around $185-190MM in total commitments. New contracts for Guerrero and/or Bichette wouldn’t necessarily need to come with substantial raises until the 2026 season. That’d leave $35-40MM for the Blue Jays to still augment their existing roster even while simply adhering to last year’s payroll levels.
Of course, nothing says that the payroll can’t and won’t rise. The Jays are owned by a multi-billion dollar company — Rogers Communications — in theory giving them room to pursue just about any player they want (as we saw with last offseason’s earnest pursuit of Shohei Ohtani). There’s no firm indication yet that they plan to be aggressive bidders for top free agents like Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman or Willy Adames, but there’s also no reason to think they can’t swim in the deepest waters the free agent pool has to offer.
The question facing the Jays will be one of how much they want to tie up in long-term allocations. Extending either Guerrero or Bichette would presumably require signing said players well into the 2030s. So would signing Soto, while the remaining top names on the market could all sign through somewhere in the 2030-32 range if their markets come together as hoped. Long-term deals for homegrown talents like Bichette and Guerrero will only maintain the status quo; it’s clear there are further reinforcements needed, so Atkins and president Mark Shapiro — assuming both stay in place after this year’s disappointing campaign — will need to balance potential extensions with the need to further fortify a roster that fell woefully shy of expectations in 2024.
Obvious as it seems, it also bears emphasizing that Bichette’s pledge only carries so much weight. He doesn’t have any no-trade protection under the three-year, $33.6MM contract he signed to buy out his three arbitration seasons. He has no direct say over whether he’ll even be in Toronto next year, let alone for the next six, seven, eight, nine or ten years. At the same time, his assertion to Davidi plainly underscores that he’s not only open to but hopeful of signing a long-term deal to stay in Canada alongside his longtime teammate and friend.
Bichette speaks to Davidi about reflecting during his current injury absence, thinking back to his A-ball days with Guerrero when the two were fresh-faced 18-year-olds talking about winning as many championships as possible together. He adds that through reflection, he’s “learned a lot more about myself through failure,” referencing his 2024 struggles, both in terms of what he hopes to accomplish on the field and as a leader in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse. (Again, Jays fans are encouraged to read the interview in full, as it’s rife with candid quotes and earnest self-assessment from Bichette.)
The 2024 season has indeed been an ugly one for Bichette. Even before sustaining the calf injury that’s sidelined him for more than a month (his second calf strain of the season), he was stumbling through the worst season of his professional career. In 331 plate appearances, he hit just .222/.275/.320 with four home runs and five stolen bases. Bichette’s 19% strikeout rate is actually lower than his career 20.6% mark, but while he was still making frequent contact, the quality of his batted balls took a nosedive. Bichette has career-low marks in exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate this season. His line-drive rate is the third-lowest of his career. His ground-ball rate is the third-highest. He hit only six infield flies in 601 plate appearances in 2023 but popped up five times in this year’s 331 plate appearances. Bichette’s contact rate on pitches in the strike zone was a career-best 91.7% — but his contact rate on balls off the plate was a career-worst 57.5%.
Prior to his ’24 struggles, Bichette was one of the most consistently impressive hitters in the American League. From 2019-23, he slashed a combined .299/.340/.487, averaging 27 homers, 40 doubles, two triples and 16 steals per 162 games played. Bichette may not have had top-of-the-scale power, speed or contact skills, but every component of his offensive tool kit played out at an above-average level, and while he’s never been a plus shortstop he’s also only had one year with truly poor defensive grades (2022).
This year’s struggles will complicate any extension talks with Bichette, of course. With a typical season, he’d have been on track to be a free agent heading into his age-28 season — a middle infielder with plus offense at a younger-than-typical age for free agency. Talk of a $250MM+ or even $300MM contract could have been in play. Such lofty heights probably aren’t attainable on the heels of a career-worst year at the plate that’s now seen multiple calf injuries keep him on the bench for two to three months. Finding a middle ground could be difficult, though an extension that allows Bichette to increase his earning power — whether via opt-out opportunities or perhaps via a series of vesting options, a la Carlos Correa in Minnesota — could offer create alternatives to help bridge the gap.
For now, the goal will simply be to get back on the field in 2024. Bichette tells Davidi that getting back on the field, knowing the injury is behind him and feeling like himself again will all be a mental boost heading into the offseason. Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling tweets that Bichette is slated to begin a rehab assignment with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate tomorrow, which will likely last four to five games and include time at both shortstop and designated hitter. That could at least give Bichette two weeks to feel confident that his calf is back to full strength, but the bigger questions — for both him and the organization — are looming as the winter approaches.
Pirates Outright Billy McKinney
Sept. 9: McKinney went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the Pirates’ transaction log at MLB.com. He can either elect free agency now or accept the assignment and become a minor league free agent at season’s end.
Sept. 6: The Pirates designated outfielder Billy McKinney for assignment Friday, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to catcher Joey Bart, who’s been reinstated from the injured list.
McKinney was traded from the Yankees to the Pirates over the winter in exchange for international bonus pool space. He’s spent the bulk of the season with Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate where he’s missed time with injury but posted a sound .295/.396/.450 batting line in 154 plate appearances when healthy. Pittsburgh selected him to the 40-man roster late last month, and he’s appeared in 10 games, hitting .200/.286/.240 in that small sample.
A 2013 first-round pick by the A’s, McKinney has found himself involved in plenty of notable trades over the years. He went from Oakland to the Cubs as part of the Jeff Samardzija trade in 2014, then was flipped from Chicago to New York as part of the 2016 Aroldis Chapman blockbuster. The Yankees eventually traded McKinney to Toronto as part of their deal for veteran lefty J.A. Happ.
McKinney has gotten looks with seven different big league organizations but never topped 276 plate appearances in a single big league season with one team. He’s played in 321 MLB games and picked up 943 plate appearances, batting .209/.284/.386 in that time. The former top prospect has appeared in parts of seven Triple-A seasons and slashed .274/.359/.504 with 56 homers in 1304 plate appearances at that level.
Red Sox Designate Rich Hill For Assignment
The Red Sox announced Friday that they’ve designated left-hander Rich Hill for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Luis Guerrero, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Worcester.
Hill, 44, returned to the majors after sitting out the first two-thirds of the season. He’d said dating back to early in the offseason that he planned to wait until midway through the 2024 campaign before pursuing a return, taking the downtime to be with his family and, ideally, then being fresher for the finish to the current season. Hill began the 2023 season as a solid innings eater at the back of the Pirates’ rotation but faded considerably following a trade to the Padres.
Last month, Hill showcased for big league clubs and drew a wide array of scouts. He said at the time he felt he was ready to throw five innings and jump right onto a big league mound. The grizzled southpaw signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox — incredibly, his eighth career free-agent deal with Boston — and was indeed up in the majors after just one Triple-A appearance, wherein he tossed a pair of shutout innings.
The Sox didn’t plug Hill into the rotation, instead opting to use him in the bullpen. His first two outings could scarcely have gone better. He tossed 2 2/3 perfect innings, fanning three opponents. Over his next two appearances, Hill was tagged for a combined two runs on a homer and three walks. He fanned another two batters along the way. Overall, Hill pitched just 3 2/3 innings during his latest Red Sox run, logging a 4.91 ERA with five strikeouts and three walks.
Now that Hill has been designated, he’ll head to waivers. He’d be ineligible for a new club’s playoff roster if he’s claimed, though it’s at least somewhat feasible that a postseason contender seeking some pitching depth could still make a low-risk pickup and plug him into one of the final spots on its staff. If not, Hill can head to Worcester to continue pitching in Triple-A or again become a free agent. It’s not entirely clear whether he’ll aim to continue pitching, and with his 45th birthday coming next March, it’s fair to wonder how long he intends to keep going. At the very least, Hill fanned one-third of the batters he faced during this brief Red Sox run (five of 15), so there’s some reason to believe he could still have a bit left in the tank.
Guerrero, 24, has had a nice season in Triple-A, pitching to a 3.31 with a huge 33.1% strikeout rate but also a bloated 13.4% walk rate in 54 1/3 innings. MLB.com ranks him 28th among Sox farmhands, touting a fastball that sits 96-98 mph and reaches 100 mph at times. He complements that pitch with a splitter and slider. Guerrero throws hard and misses bats in bunches, but like so many young flamethrowers, his effectiveness is undercut at times by shaky command. This year’s 13.4% walk rate for Guerrero is an exact match for his career rate across all minor league levels combined.
Nationals Claim Michael Rucker, Designate Travis Blankenhorn
The Nationals announced Friday that they’ve claimed right-hander Michael Rucker off waivers from the Phillies and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn for assignment. Rucker was optioned to Triple-A Rochester. Washington’s 40-man roster remains at capacity.
The 30-year-old Rucker was designated for assignment by the Phillies earlier this week when they selected Nick Nelson’s contract from Triple-A. The Phils picked Rucker up in a cash deal with the Cubs back in February after he’d been designated for assignment in Chicago. He never got into a game with the Phillies in the majors, instead spending most of the season on the 60-day injured list owing to an arterial vasospasm in his right hand. The Phils reinstated and optioned him prior to the trade deadline. He’s pitched 26 minor league innings this season and been tagged for a 6.58 ERA, with the bulk of the damage coming in Triple-A.
Grim as Rucker’s run-prevention has been, his 26.7% strikeout rate and 8.6% walk rate are both fine marks (particularly the former). He’s also kept the ball on the ground at a strong 45.2% clip. Rucker, however, has been plagued by an astronomical .479 average on balls in play during his time with the IronPigs.
As recently as 2022, Rucker was a solid member of the Cubs’ bullpen. He pitched a career-high 54 2/3 innings and logged a 3.95 ERA with a 21.8% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate in that time. His followup effort in 2023 resulted in a more troubling 4.91 ERA in 40 2/3 frames, but his strikeout and walk numbers remained generally serviceable and his grounder rate spiked to a strong 51.4%. Overall, Rucker carries a 4.96 ERA in 123 1/3 innings as a major leaguer.
As for Blankenhorn, he’s spent the past two seasons as a depth option in the Nationals’ system, appearing in a combined 23 games and batting .145/.232/.210 in 69 trips to the plate. Those are obviously woeful numbers but come in a small sample; Blankenhorn popped 23 homers for the Nats’ Rochester affiliate last season while batting .262/.360/.517, and he’s tallied another 26 big flies in Triple-A this year while hitting .238/.322/.499.
Originally a third-round pick by the Twins back in 2015, Blankenhorn has bounced around the diamond in his pro career, seeing time at all of the non-shortstop infield positions and in both outfield corners. He’s a career .154/.230/.264 hitter in exactly 100 big league plate appearances but carries a more productive .254/.343/.489 slash and 74 homers in 363 Triple-A games. This is Blankenhorn’s final minor league option season. He’ll presumably clear waivers and soon become a minor league free agent, whether by rejecting an outright assignment or by exercising that right at season’s end.
Marlins Outright Ali Sanchez, Kent Emanuel
Marlins catcher Ali Sanchez and left-hander Kent Emanuel both went unclaimed on waivers following their recent DFAs and have been assigned outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Both players can reject the assignment in favor of free agency if they choose, as is their right as players who’ve been previously outrighted in their careers.
Sanchez, 27, appeared in 31 games with the Fish and tallied 96 plate appearances. It was his third season with at least some big league action and by far the most playing time he’s received in the majors to date. Miami picked him up in a cash deal with the Cubs after Sanchez hit .240/.338/.388 in 41 games with Chicago’s Triple-A affiliate, but the journeyman backstop only managed a .167/.211/.190 batting line during his brief run with the Marlins.
While Sanchez hasn’t hit in 110 big league plate appearances, he’s played in parts of five Triple-A seasons and owns a lifetime .270/.344/.400 batting line at that level. As far as catchers go, that’s solid production, particularly given his massive 40% caught-stealing rate and typically above-average framing marks in Triple-A (via Baseball Prospectus). Even if Sanchez accepts his assignment to Jacksonville, he can become a minor league free agent at season’s end. He should draw plenty of interest as a depth option on a minor league deal this winter, given his defensive skills and offensive track record at the Triple-A level.
Emanuel, 32, has now been designated for assignment and outrighted to Jacksonville a stunning five times this season by the Marlins. He’s pitched 17 2/3 innings in the majors and yielded a 6.62 ERA over his five stints with Miami this season. He’s had similar results in Jacksonville, recording a 6.15 ERA, 19.2% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate in 45 1/3 innings.
Some may wonder why Emanuel continues to stick with the Marlins organization, but the two parties clearly have a good relationship and understanding as to how he’ll be utilized. And while a massive slate of five DFAs in a single season doesn’t exactly sound appealing, Emanuel is a journeyman lefty who has picked up 46 days of major league service time and pay this season. That’s $183K on top of his minor league earnings this season.
It’s not exactly uncommon to see minor league veterans in this type of up-and-down role willing to ride the DFA/outright carousel, knowing full well that they’ll be at or near the top of the list the next time the club needs a short-term fresh arm. The Marlins used lefty Devin Smeltzer in a similar role last year, and we’ve seen other teams like the Guardians (Anthony Gose) and Yankees (Ryan Weber, David Hale) adopt the approach over the years.
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Brian Cashman On Yankees’ Dominguez/Verdugo Decision
Since a blistering start to the season, highlighted by a 21-7 showing in May, the Yankees have played at a sub-.500 pace, recording a 40-41 record dating back to the beginning of June. They’re 1-3 since the calendar flipped to September and have dropped seven of their past 11 games. A lineup anchored by Aaron Judge and Juan Soto has remained among the more productive units in the game, but the Yankees’ other outfield spot has been a weak point in the lineup for much of the season. Top prospect Jasson Dominguez is healthy and awaiting a big league opportunity as he rips through Triple-A pitching, but the Yankees have thus far stuck with struggling veteran Alex Verdugo — much to the chagrin of the fan base.
General manager Brian Cashman addressed the subject today, telling reporters that if Dominguez were to be called up to the majors, he’d need regular at-bats the team does not currently believe to be available (link via the New York Post’s Greg Joyce). Cashman suggested that Dominguez is “doing everything he needs to” in Triple-A at the moment but also pointed to recent improvement in Verdugo’s results.
“The evaluations that we’re having with our field staff and player development staff, front office staff, is just what is going to give us the best chance to win,” said Cashman. “As of right now, we’re staying pat with what we’ve got.”
It’s a frankly vexing stance for the GM to take, given the rate at which Verdugo has produced (or rather failed to do so) for the bulk of the season. Coming over in an offseason trade with the archrival Red Sox, Verdugo got out to a nice start in his Yankees tenure, hitting .267/.358/.446 through the end of April. Had he continued at or close to that pace, it’d be understandable and plenty defensible to say that the veteran Verdugo can’t simply be pushed aside. That hasn’t been the case. Dating back to May 1, Verdugo has posted an anemic .227/.276/.337 batting line. That’s 28% worse than league-average, by measure of wRC+ (72).
For much of that time, the Yankees didn’t have the luxury of even making a tough decision. Dominguez spent the early portion of the season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery performed last September. He was able to begin a rehab assignment in May and was optioned in June when that rehab window ended. At that point, Verdugo’s struggles hadn’t persisted much longer than a month. Judge and Soto were healthy and producing. There wasn’t a clear-cut path to an everyday role. Dominguez wound up suffering a fairly severe oblique strain in Triple-A — one that cost him more than six weeks of action.
Dominguez returned to action in late July, and since then has received all of one game in the big leagues — a quick look as the 27th man in this year’s Little League Classic, after which he was returned to Triple-A. Calls for the Yankees to swap out the veteran Verdugo have since mounted, and Dominguez’s torrid play with the Yankees’ top affiliate isn’t going to quell them anytime soon.
In 41 Triple-A games this season, Dominguez is sporting a hefty .313/.371/.497 batting line — 25% better than average in the Triple-A International League. After striking out in about a quarter of his minor league plate appearances last year, he’s cut that rate to 18.5% in Triple-A this season. Dominguez has been on a particularly potent heater over his past 20 games, slashing .375/.438/.613 with five home runs. Verdugo has turned in a .225/.260/.296 slash in that same time.
There’s no real service time gamesmanship at play here. Dominguez wouldn’t reach a full year of service time in 2024 even if he were called to the majors today. He’d also retain his rookie eligibility into the 2025 season as long as he spent fewer than 34 days on the active roster and accumulated fewer than 95 at-bats between now and the end of the regular season. However, as J.J. Cooper and Matt Eddy of Baseball America highlighted recently, Dominguez wouldn’t even be eligible to net the Yankees a draft pick under the CBA’s prospect promotion incentives, as one of the requirements for the PPI eligibility is having fewer than 60 days of MLB service. Dominguez already surpassed that total while on the major league injured list due to the aforementioned Tommy John surgery.
The Post’s Jon Heyman reported last night that there was a “spirited” debate among Yankees decision-makers on whether to call Dominguez to the majors this month and swap him into the lineup for Verdugo. The decision to keep Dominguez in the minors is hardly unanimous among the team’s decision-makers, per the report, with several Yankees execs strongly advocating for Dominguez’s promotion. However, both Cashman and manager Aaron Boone have faith in Verdugo’s abilities, Heyman writes.
On the one hand, the Yankees are a lock to reach the postseason whether they’re playing Verdugo or Dominguez every day. At 80-60, they’re tied with the Guardians for the fifth-best record in MLB. On the other, New York’s recent slide has also dropped them a half-game behind the Orioles for the division lead.
It’s debatable whether Dominguez would’ve shifted the Yankees’ fortune in any of their recent losses — he alone isn’t likely to have flipped the script in a four-run loss to Texas or a seven-run loss to St. Louis, for instance — but there’s no denying that the potential difference between Dominguez and Verdugo over the final three-plus weeks could prove pivotal in closing that half-game gap in the standings. That could be the difference between a Wild Card berth or a division-winning, first-round bye for the Yankees.
Dominic Smith Elects Free Agency
First baseman Dominic Smith elected free agency rather than accept his outright assignment to Triple-A Louisville after being designated for assignment by the Reds, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He can now sign with any club for the remaining three weeks of the regular season. However, Smith would not be postseason-eligible for a new club, and non-contenders may prefer to give those at-bats to a younger player who can be controlled beyond the current season. Smith, who has more than six years of MLB service, would become a free agent again at season’s end.
Smith’s time with the Reds proved quite brief. The 29-year-old appeared in only nine games and batted .192/.276/.269 in a tiny sample of 29 plate appearances before he was designated for assignment and passed through waivers unclaimed. The bulk of his 2024 season was spent in a Red Sox uniform. Boston signed Smith back in May after Triston Casas sustained a rib fracture and gave the longtime Mets first baseman 84 games and 278 plate appearances as their regular first baseman while Casas was shelved. Smith held his own with a .237/.317/.390 slash that was a bit below league-average in that time (96 wRC+), but the Sox moved on once Casas was healthy.
A former first-round pick (No. 11 overall) by the Mets, Smith long ranked among their top prospects prior to his debut and looked to be delivering on that status in 2019-20, when he hit .299/.366/.571 and belted 21 homers in a combined 396 plate appearances across those two seasons.
In the four seasons since that impressive showing, Smith’s bat has wilted. He admitted after the fact that he’d tried to play through a small tear of the labrum in his right shoulder during his 2021 season, which understandably didn’t go well. An ankle injury the following season further hobbled Smith. His numbers in 2023-24 ticked back up a bit, but Smith’s offensive output in each of these past two seasons has nonetheless checked in below-average. Overall, since that potential 2019-20 breakout, Smith has slashed .241/.311/.360 between four teams (Mets, Nats, Red Sox, Reds).
The Other, Other NL MVP Candidate
For much of the season Shohei Ohtani has been the presumptive National League MVP favorite. Maybe that wasn't the case on Opening Day, but an injury to teammate Mookie Betts early in the summer and an injury to D-backs star infielder Ketel Marte cleared his path. The Ohtani hype is understandable. He's been the National League's best hitter this year by many measures, pacing the Senior Circuit in slugging percentage (.613) and wRC+ (167). Ohtani is fifth in the NL in batting average, fourth in OBP, first in homers and runs scored and second in runs batted in. He's also swiped 46 bags and is a veritable lock to have a 45-45 season, with a chance at becoming MLB's first ever 50-homer, 50-steal player in a season.
Lately, there's been a push by Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor to tighten the race, however. Dating back to July 1, Lindor boasts a sensational .310/.384/.587 slash. He's in the midst of a torrid 15-game hitting streak, which he started just one game after seeing a 12-game hitting streak end. Since the beginning of July, Lindor has more than twice as many multi-hit games (22) than he does hitless games (10). Defensive metrics are a bit split on him this year, with Defensive Runs Saved curiously pegging him as average while Statcast grades him as one of the best defensive players in the entire game. Regardless, Lindor and his .274/.343/.501 batting line (plus 30 homers and 26 steals) lead the NL in both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference WAR.
It's not quite fair to the rest of the field to call this a pure two-horse race, though Lindor and Ohtani are certainly the favorites at the moment. Cincinnati standout Elly De La Cruz could thrust himself further into the conversation with a big finish, but many voters will be turned off by the fact that however excellent his season has been -- and it's been excellent -- it's happened as a member of a non-contending Reds club.
There's still one other viable MVP candidate who's not getting the love, and who probably won't get the love -- but absolutely should.
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Blue Jays Claim Emmanuel Ramírez, Designate José Cuas
The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Emmanuel Ramírez off waivers from the Marlins, per announcements from both clubs. The Fish had designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Jays announced that Ramírez has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo and that fellow righty José Cuas has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Ramírez, 30, made his big league debut with the Marlins this season but pitched to a rough 6.97 ERA in 20 2/3 innings out of the Miami bullpen. He’s been considerably better with their Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville, recording a 3.76 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in 40 2/3 frames. He posted similar numbers in a 2023 season split between the Yankees’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.
Ramírez has averaged 93.9 mph on his four-seamer and paired that with a splitter and lesser-used slider to round out a three-pitch repertoire. He has a full slate of minor league options remaining, despite his age, so he could be a flexible depth arm for the Jays next season if they opt to keep him on the 40-man roster. For now, he’ll get an audition in the final three-plus weeks of regular-season play.
Cuas, also 30, was a waiver claim out of the Cubs organization earlier in the summer. He wound up pitching only three MLB innings with the Jays and allowing three runs. The rest of his time in the organization came in Triple-A Buffalo, where he was roughed up for a dozen runs in 15 2/3 innings of work.
From 2022-23, Cuas was a solid, if command-challenged reliever who notched a 3.84 ERA in 103 innings between the Royals and Cubs. Kansas City traded him to Chicago in a ’23 deadline swap that sent designated hitter/outfielder Nelson Velázquez back to the Royals. Cuas posted good results down the stretch with the Cubs despite a high walk rate, but the glut of free passes caught up to him this season. He’s walked at least 12% of his opponents in all three of his big league seasons and also plunked an alarming 3.2% of the batters he’s faced. In 17 1/3 innings this year, Cuas has a 7.71 ERA.
Cuas will now head to waivers, where all 29 other clubs will have the chance to claim him. He has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season and has demonstrated an ability to miss bats in bunches in spite of pedestrian velocity, thanks largely to a sweeper that generates huge whiff rates.