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Offseason In Review: New York Mets

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Under second-year owner Steve Cohen, the Mets had the spending spree many fans originally envisioned and are now reaping the benefits with one of the game’s most formidable rosters.

Major League Signings

Total 2022 salary added: $83.903MM
Total overall spend: $259.27MM

Trades and Waiver Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

While many teams around the league opted to wait until the new collective bargaining agreement had been hammered out to make their biggest offseason splashes, the Mets had no such reticence. By the time commissioner Rob Manfred locked out the players, the Mets had spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars on the free-agent market.

The early strike is all the more remarkable given that the Mets entered the offseason without a general manager in place. Owner Steve Cohen was in the market for a new baseball operations leader for a second straight winter. As he did following the 2021 season, Cohen set his sights high, showing interest in names like Billy Beane, David Stearns and Theo Epstein. However, a meeting with Epstein didn’t prove fruitful, and the Mets were denied permission to speak to Beane, Stearns and a host of other potential candidates as they cast a wide net.

Eventually, former Angels GM and Yankees AGM Billy Eppler was tabbed as the new head of baseball operations. A managerial search followed, and though the Mets interviewed several frequent candidates — Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro and Astros bench coach Joe Espada among them — it was veteran skipper Buck Showalter who was brought in to steer the new Cohen/Eppler-led ship on the field.

Both Eppler and Showalter represented departures from the inexperienced hires at their positions the Mets had made in recent years. Brodie Van Wagenen went from agent to general manager with no front office experience, while quickly ousted GM Jared Porter had never held the top job in a baseball operations hierarchy before his hiring. (Ditto also departed Zack Scott, who went from assistant GM to acting GM following Porter’s firing.) In the dugout, the Mets had previously hired (and near-immediately dismissed) a first-time skipper in Carlos Beltran, and he was replaced internally by another rookie manager, Luis Rojas. With several recent implosions, some of them unforeseeable, the Mets opted for more experience at those two critical leadership positions.

Within a week of joining the organization, Eppler had a trio of signings to announce. In a span of 48 hours, the Mets agreed to terms on a four-year, $78MM deal with Starling Marte and a pair of two-year deals with outfielder Mark Canha ($26.5MM) and infielder Eduardo Escobar ($20MM). The signings of Marte and Canha, in particular, closed the door on the Mets’ relationship with former All-Star right fielder Michael Conforto. New York already had Brandon Nimmo and several other outfield options on the roster, plus a crowded DH mix. Escobar joined a similarly cluttered collection of infield options, with J.D. Davis also vying for at-bats at third base, Jeff McNeil and Robinson Cano at second base, and Dominic Smith and Pete Alonso at first base.

It was a frenzied strike that got its own fair share of buzz and ostensibly looked to set the stage for subsequent trades, but the Mets’ pre-lockout fireworks were only just getting started.

A week after agreeing to terms with Marte, Canha and Escobar, the Mets jumped into the bidding on three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. The most commonly held belief seemed to be that the deep-pocketed Dodgers would hang onto Mad Max, whom they acquired alongside Trea Turner at the 2021 trade deadline. Few teams can go toe-to-toe in a bidding war with Dodgers ownership, after all, and Scherzer himself at the ’21 deadline was reportedly unwilling to waive his no-trade protection to approve a deal to either New York team (despite interest from both).

Scherzer’s reasons for nixing a trade to New York might never be fully known, but a record-shattering average annual value on a three-year deal from the Mets put to bed any hesitation he might have been feeling. The $43.33MM annual rate at which Scherzer signed absolutely trounced the prior record of $36MM and set a new high-water mark at which all future marquee free agents will surely take aim when seeking short-term deals.

We’ve yet to see it this season, of course, but the eventual debut of a Scherzer/Jacob deGrom-led rotation will give the Mets one of the greatest one-two punches of all-time. (That, unfortunately, will be put on hold even further with Scherzer set to miss six-to-eight weeks because of an oblique strain). With five Cy Young Awards and a dozen All-Star nods between them, Scherzer and deGrom are two of this generation’s most dominant performers. Cohen spent considerable resources to make it happen, but adding those two to an in-house group including Taijuan Walker, Carlos Carrasco, Tylor Megill and David Peterson, among others, gave the Mets a wealth of rotation options even after bidding farewell to Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman.

Of course, the Mets ultimately didn’t prove to be done bolstering the starting staff. With the Athletics widely known to be shopping the majority of their well-compensated veterans, the Mets made the first strike after the transaction freeze, plucking righty Chris Bassitt away in exchange for a pair of minor league right-handers.

J.T. Ginn was considered among the best arms in New York’s system, having been selected in the second round of the 2020 draft. The Mississippi State product turned in a 3.03 ERA in 92 innings across the Mets’ two Class-A affiliates in 2021. Righty Adam Oller, meanwhile, was a former 20th-rounder by the Pirates who’d been out of affiliated ball entirely, only to parlay a terrific indie ball showing into a minor league opportunity with the Mets. He posted excellent numbers in the minor league system last season, vaulting into late-blooming prospect status, and he’s already made his big league debut in Oakland.

It was hardly an inconsequential return for the A’s, and yet the Mets are surely thrilled to have made the deal. Beyond the fact that Bassitt has been flat-out exceptional in Queens — seven starts, 42 1/3 innings, 2.34 ERA, 26.9% strikeout rate, 7.0% walk rate — the Mets learned in Spring Training that they were in for another protracted absence from deGrom. Having added Bassitt to the mix became all the more important with deGrom sustaining a stress reaction in his right scapula, and Bassitt has been a large reason that deGrom’s absence hasn’t been felt as acutely as most would’ve anticipated.

The rest of the Mets’ post-lockout moves generally focused on the bullpen. New York native Adam Ottavino signed on for a reasonable one-year pact, and Eppler & Co. made a rare crosstown deal with the Yankees that swapped out righty Miguel Castro for lefty Joely Rodriguez. That trade was interesting beyond the fact that it was a nearly unheard of Yankees/Mets deal; Rodriguez had re-signed with the Yanks as a free agent over the winter and, as such, wasn’t eligible to be traded without his consent prior to June 15. As we reported at the time, Rodriguez agreed to the trade after his agent negotiated a $500K bonus to do so.

The Mets also added righty John Curtiss, knowing full well that he won’t pitch this season after last summer’s Tommy John surgery. But he’ll make scarcely more than the league minimum in 2022 with a similarly affordable $775K option for 2023. For a pitcher with a 2.86 ERA, 24.1% strikeout rate and 5.2% walk rate in 69 1/3 frames from 2020-21, it’s an eminently reasonable roll of the dice. Curtiss can be controlled through 2025 via arbitration as well, further adding to the appeal.

It was something of a surprise that the Mets’ post-lockout dealings generally stopped at this point, however. There was plenty of talk throughout the lockout that the club could be open to adding another big bat of note, with names like Kris Bryant, Freddie Freeman and Seiya Suzuki among those connected to the Mets in reports. There was undoubtedly some tactical element from various agencies with some of the many players connected to them — it never hurts to have the big-spending Mets linked to your client — but there was surely an openness from Eppler and his staff to creatively find ways to add to the roster as well. The Mets, for instance, were said to be exploring scenarios that would’ve seen them eat Eric Hosmer’s contract in order to acquire further pitching help and young talent from the Padres — though the deal obviously didn’t come together.

Beyond that scenario, there were plenty of others discussed. Reports throughout the lockout suggested that the Mets, having signed Marte, Canha and Escobar already, could look to trade from a newfound corner outfield/infield logjam. Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil all had their names hit the rumor mill at various points, with Davis in particular tied to a handful of teams looking to add to their DH mix. The Twins, Angels, Cubs and A’s were among the clubs reportedly interested in Davis, who hasn’t gotten his bat going this year amid sparse playing time. Smith, too, has struggled at the plate without a regular role. Given that the Mets were at least contemplating moves regarding the pair of now-struggling sluggers, one can imagine it’s possible their names will again surface in trade talks this summer.

By hanging onto that entire group and also adding several high-priced veterans — led by Scherzer — the Mets entered the season with a staggering, franchise-record payroll of $279MM. Their luxury-tax ledger is even loftier, sitting at $288.775MM in the estimation of Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez (or $287.966MM at Cot’s Contracts). That puts them just inches away from the newly implemented fourth tier of luxury-tax penalization, which sits at $290MM and has been offhandedly referred to as the “Cohen tax.” One of the sticking points for owners around the league during collective bargaining talks was the addition of a fourth tier of luxury penalization, reportedly due largely to a pervasive desire to prevent Cohen from bucking industry trend and spending at over-the-top levels.

Whether their proximity to that threshold will become the norm or is a one-off dalliance due to the fact that it was established after the Mets had already done the bulk of their offseason spending remains to be seen. It’s all but a given, however, that the more conservative payrolls that were the norm under the Wilpon ownership group are a thing of the past. Cohen’s Mets will always be threats to spend at the top of the free-agent market and won’t be afraid to take on salary via trade. That’ll be particularly worth keeping in mind as the trade deadline rolls around this year. The Mets don’t have too many obvious needs — as one would expect from a first-place team in a strong division — but it seems unlikely that finances will serve as the primary roadblock to Eppler acquiring any help the Mets might need a couple months down the road.

Angels, Grant Dayton Nearing Deal

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The Angels are nearing a deal with free-agent lefty Grant Dayton, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (Twitter link). Dayton, a client of KVA Sports, opted out a minor league deal with the Marlins last weekend.

Dayton, 34, has appeared in parts of five big league seasons — two with the Dodgers and three with the Braves. He carries a 3.43 ERA with a 27.6% strikeout rate against a 9.0% walk rate in 102 1/3 innings — all in relief. He’s been a generally effective reliever throughout his big league career, when healthy, although that’s a notable caveat. Dayton missed all of the 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery and has missed considerable time in subsequent seasons due to a broken foot and shoulder inflammation.

Dayton has spent the past three seasons with Atlanta, the first two of them with solid results. (His early time with the Braves overlapped with that of current Angels GM Perry Minasian, who was working in the Atlanta front office as an assistant general manager at the time.) Dayton’s 2021 campaign saw him limited to 13 frames by that shoulder issue while posting a 6.23 ERA along the way. He opened the 2022 season with Miami’s Triple-A club, pitching to a 2.35 ERA with a 24-to-5 K/BB ratio through 15 1/3 innings of bullpen work before opting out.

The Halos have a pair of lefties in their bullpen at the moment, with offseason signee Aaron Loup and homegrown southpaw Jose Suarez helping to serve as bridges to closer Raisel Iglesias. Down in the minors, lefties Kenny Rosenberg and Jhonathan Diaz give them an additional pair of  the 40-man roster. Assuming a deal is finalized, Dayton will add to that left-handed depth and could get a look in the big leagues if he’s able to keep up the form that he displayed with the Marlins’ top affiliate to begin the season.

 

Boone: Luis Gil Dealing With “Significant” Arm Injury

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Yankees right-hander Luis Gil exited his most recent minor league appearance when he grabbed his right arm and called for the trainer, and the ominous nature of that scene was reflected today when skipper Aaron Boone addressed the media. Boone told reporters that team physician Chris Ahmad had examined Gil, and while additional opinions were being sought, the injury looks to be “significant” (link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com).

The 23-year-old Gil has only made one appearance with the Yankees so far in 2022, yielding four runs in four innings of work. However, he was an important late-season call-up in 2021, when he made six starts and totaled 29 1/3 innings of 3.07 ERA ball with 38 strikeouts. Gil’s 19 walks were far too many in such a short period, but for a 23-year-old rookie it was a nevertheless impressive debut.

The Yankees have had good health in their rotation so far, with each of Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Luis Severino, Jameson Taillon and out-of-the-blue breakout Nestor Cortes Jr. holding up and throwing well. Domingo German is currently on the shelf owing to shoulder woes, but it’s been a generally healthy and effective year for the Yanks’ rotation, which ranks second in the Majors with a composite 2.99 ERA. Still, the ostensible loss of Gil robs the organization of perhaps its top depth option.

Then again, Gil has struggled mightily in Triple-A Scranton this year, logging a 7.89 ERA across six outings. He’s still missing bats at a high level (30.1% strikeout rate), but Gil has walked 14.6% of his opponents in Triple-A and yielded six homers in 21 2/3 frames (2.49 HR/9). The extent to which the current arm injury has fueled those poor results can’t be known — it’s possible he’d been pitching through pain before reaching a tipping point on that last offering — but it’s been a struggle for him this season, to say the least.

The Yankees will likely have further details on Gil’s status in the coming days, but the mere mention of “working through opinions” and a “significant” injury obviously suggests that he won’t be an option for the big league club anytime in the near future. With Gil sidelined, the top minor league depth options on the 40-man roster would be Deivi Garcia, JP Sears and Luis Medina. Garcia, once considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, had a dismal season in Triple-A last year and has allowed more runs than innings pitched so far in 2022. Sears has had a strong showing with Scranton, while Medina has struggled at the Double-A level.

Twins Outright Jharel Cotton

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May 20: Cotton cleared waivers and has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, tweets Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

May 17: The Twins will designate right-hander Jharel Cotton for assignment today in order to open roster space for right-hander Dylan Bundy, who is being activated from the injured list, manager Rocco Baldelli announced (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press).

It’ll be the second DFA of the season for the 30-year-old Cotton, who was also designated back on April 13. Cotton cleared waivers the first time around and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A St. Paul, even though he has three-plus years of service time and a prior outright — either of which would allow him to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. The Twins will have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers a second time.

Cotton was claimed off waivers out of the Rangers organization at the end of the 2021 season and has tossed 6 2/3 innings for Minnesota thus far in 2022. He’s yielded just one run and punched out seven batters in that time, but he’s also walked six batters, hit another one and thrown a wild pitch. A former top-100 prospect who went from the Dodgers to the A’s alongside Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas in 2016’s Josh Reddick/Rich Hill swap, Cotton carries a 4.60 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate, a 9.2% walk rate and a 35.5% grounder rate in 195 2/3 big league innings.

As for Bundy, he’ll return after missing nearly two weeks following a positive Covid test. The former Orioles and Angels righty was brilliant to begin the season, combining for 15 1/3 innings of one-run ball with a 12-to-1 K/BB ratio across his first three starts as a Twin. He was clobbered for six runs in six innings against the Rays in his fourth start of the season, however, and his former Orioles club jumped him for a whopping nine runs in 3 2/3 innings the day before he landed on the injured list.

That pair of disastrous outings has overshadowed Bundy’s terrific start, and he’s now sitting on a 5.76 ERA with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 4.7% walk rate through 25 innings. With Bailey Ober sidelined by a groin strain and Chris Paddack landing on the 60-day IL owing to elbow inflammation, the Twins will be all the more dependent on a rebound from Bundy. If Bundy can put that pair of ugly outings behind him and right the ship, his one-year, $5MM contract contains an $11MM club option for the 2023 season. He’ll take the mound for tonight’s game in Oakland.

Injury Notes: Wade, E-Rod, Skubal, Murphy

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The Giants placed LaMonte Wade Jr. back on the injured list with continued inflammation in his left knee, per a team announcement. Outfielder Luis Gonzalez, who was optioned earlier int he week after a hot start to his Giants tenure, is back up to take his place on the roster. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports that Wade had an MRI and is slated to see a third-party doctor this coming Monday to get a second opinion. The 28-year-old already missed nearly four weeks of the season due to left knee troubles and has appeared in just 10 games with San Francisco on the year. He’s hitting .240/.375/.360 in a small sample of 32 plate appearances, which is solid thanks to five walks and a hit-by-pitch but a ways off from last year’s pace in the power department. Wade smacked 18 homers, 17 doubles and three triples in just 381 plate appearances with the Giants last season.

While there’s surely concern throughout the Giants organization regarding Wade’s knee, his return to the injured list paves the way for the 26-year-old Gonzalez to try to prove that his .349/.397/.492 start to the season (73 plate appearances) has some legitimacy. No one should expect Gonzalez to maintain a .370 average on the balls he puts into play, but his 8.2% walk rate is solid and his 13.7% strikeout rate is downright tiny by today’s standards. While there’s surely some regression in store, Gonzalez was a prospect of some note in the White Sox system before landing in San Francisco, but he only ever received 13 big league plate appearances with the South Siders.

Some more injury notes worth monitoring around the league…

  • A recent MRI performed on Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodriguez didn’t reveal any major damage to his oblique or intercostal muscles, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic writes. On the one hand, that’s good news, but on the other, it leaves some mystery as to what is ailing the southpaw. Rodriguez left his start against the Rays this week in the first inning, having allowed six of the seven batters he faced to reach base. His fastball velocity was noticeably down, sitting at just 89.8 mph after averaging a bit better than 92 mph through his first seven outings. He’s likely IL-bound, and it seems the Tigers will continue to evaluate him as they search for the root of the issue.
  • As if the Tigers’ injury woes weren’t bad enough — Rodriguez is likely IL-bound, where he’ll join Casey Mize, Matt Manning, Tyler Alexander, Michael Pineda and Spencer Turnbull — breakout starter Tarik Skubal exited tonight’s game after taking a 100.4 mph comeback liner off his leg at the end of the fifth inning. The 25-year-old Skubal blanked Cleveland over five frames prior to exiting, dropping his ERA to 2.22 through 42 2/3 frames. He’s fanned 28.4% of his opponents against just a 4.5% walk rate on the season. The Tigers announced that Skubal has been initially diagnosed with only a contusion, but MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets that he’ll undergo additional testing tomorrow. Skubal tells reporters that he’s optimistic of making his next start, but there’s enough swelling that doctors have yet to perform imaging (hence the additional evaluation tomorrow).
  • Mariners catcher Tom Murphy, out since dislocating his shoulder on a tag play at home plate back on May 6, had a setback in his recovery and isn’t expected to come off the injured list anytime soon, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Further specifics haven’t been announced by the team just yet, but it’s a notable blow given that Murphy was out to a .303/.439/.455 start to his season, albeit through a small sample of 42 plate appearances. He’s been a .240/.321/.440 hitter overall in 687 plate appearances since joining the Mariners in 2020, and his absence will leave the team reliant on young backstops Cal Raleigh and Luis Torrens, both of whom have struggled immensely at the plate this year.

Daulton Jefferies Diagnosed With Thoracic Outlet Syndrome

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The A’s placed right-hander Daulton Jefferies on the injured list earlier today amid a series of roster moves, also optioning lefty Kirby Snead and recalling righty Jake Lemoine and left-hander Zach Logue. The A’s originally stated that Jefferies had some nerve irritation in his right arm, but manager Mark Kotsay now gives reporters a much more ominous update, revealing that the 26-year-old righty has been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome (Twitter link via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). He’s receiving a second opinion.

While not as common as Tommy John surgery, thoracic outlet syndrome often requires surgical repair — an operation that involves removing a portion of the player’s rib in order to alleviate nerve pressure. The success rate for pitchers returning from TOS hasn’t been as strong as those returning from the more common Tommy John surgery, though there are plenty of examples of hurlers who’ve returned to have successful careers. Arizona’s Merrill Kelly, for instance, had thoracic outlet surgery in September 2020 and was back on the mound for a slate of 27 starts in 2021. He’s made another eight starts of 3.27 ERA ball this season.

It’s yet to be seen whether Jefferies will undergo surgery, which would likely end his season. That’ll surely hinge on what he and the A’s hear in his forthcoming second opinion. Even in the event of a non-surgical route, an absence of some note seems safe to expect.

Selected by the A’s with the No. 37 overall pick back in 2016, Jefferies entered the year with just 17 big league innings under his belt. However, the Athletics’ offseason fire sale shipped both Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea to other clubs, opening the door for Jefferies to win a long-term spot on the starting staff. Jefferies posted a 1.17 ERA through three starts but has been rocked for 23 runs over 24 innings in his past five turns. Overall, he carries a 5.72 ERA with a 16.3% strikeout rate, a 4.7% walk rate and a 46.6% grounder rate. Metrics like fielding independent pitching (3.76) and SIERA (4.15) feel he’s been a good bit better than his ERA would indicate.

The A’s still control Jefferies for five seasons beyond the current campaign, so even if he doesn’t factor into the mix again this season, he should have ample opportunity down the road. For the time being, with Jefferies sidelined, Oakland will look to Frankie Montas, James Kaprielian, Paul Blackburn and a returning Cole Irvin, who’s slated to come off the injured list and start a game this weekend. Logue, recalled today, will probably step directly into the rotation. One of four players acquired in the trade that sent Matt Chapman to Toronto, he’s already made four appearances (three starts) and pitched to a 2.04 ERA with an 18.9% strikeout rate against a 6.8% walk rate in 17 2/3 frames.

Should the A’s need another starter in the near future, they have a pair of other newly acquired options to evaluate. Right-hander Adrian Martinez, acquired from the Padres in the Manaea trade, made his big league debut in a doubleheader against the Tigers last week and tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings with three strikeouts and no walks. Fellow right-hander and trade acquisition Adam Oller, who came over from the Mets as part of the return for Bassitt, could be an option as well. He’s already made four big league starts with the A’s, though he’s been tagged for 20 runs in 14 2/3 frames.

Dodgers Sign Pedro Baez To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have brought righty Pedro Baez back to the organization on a minor league contract, reports Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). The longtime Dodger setup man hit free agency following the 2020 season and inked a two-year, $12.5MM contract with the Astros but was designated for assignment and released by Houston earlier this season. For now, Baez is headed to the Dodgers’ complex in Arizona to work with the staff before being assigned to a minor league affiliate.

That Baez isn’t jumping directly into minor league games shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The 34-year-old was limited to just 6 2/3 innings in 2021-22 combined thanks largely to a shoulder injury that limited him to just 4 1/3 frames last year. Baez was healthy enough to take the mound for 2 1/3 innings this season, but he was tattooed for six runs in that time and sat at 90.2 mph with his fastball — a catastrophic drop from the 95.9 mph he averaged as recently as 2019.

There’s little harm in the Dodgers taking what amounts to a free look at Baez. He’ll only be owed the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster, as the Astros are otherwise on the hook for the right-hander’s 2022 salary. Given Baez’s track record with the Dodgers — 3.03 ERA, 25.3% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate, 100 holds, 356 innings — it’s understandable that L.A. brass would be hopeful of getting him back into form. Boosting Baez’s heater all the way back into the 96 mph range might be a long shot, but he had success in 2020 even with his heater sitting at a slightly lower 94.4 mph.

The Dodgers don’t necessarily need bullpen help at this point, but teams generally never feel they can have too much depth of this nature. Los Angeles relievers have combined for a 3.22 ERA and 3.29 FIP that rank fifth and fourth in the Majors, respectively, and they also have the game’s fifth-best strikeout rate (26.8%) and third-best walk rate (7.6%). That said, they’re a bit banged up as well, with Blake Treinen out until after the All-Star break, Victor Gonzalez on the 60-day IL and right-hander Tommy Kahnle recently landing on the 15-day IL.

Harris tweets that Kahnle is dealing with a bone bruise in his elbow, which the Dodgers are treating with a one-to-two-week shutdown from throwing. Adding another experienced arm like Baez, even if he’s now something of a project, gives them a lottery ticket of sorts who could potentially help later in the season if he’s able to rebuild some strength and velocity.

Braves Win Arbitration Hearing Against Luke Jackson

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The Braves have won their arbitration hearing against right-hander Luke Jackson, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’ll be paid at the $3.6MM rate submitted by the team, as opposed to the $4MM rate filed by Jackson and his representatives.

Jackson won’t pitch this season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last month, although that factor shouldn’t have impacted his hearing outcome. Arbitration panels evaluate the cases of the team and player based on prior seasons’ performance. Hearings are typically conducted in early to mid-February, if necessary, but the 99-day lockout this offseason got in the way of arbitration proceedings and forced teams and players into the uncomfortable situation of resolving discrepancies of this nature while games are being played.

The 30-year-old Jackson has had a roller-coaster career with the Braves but enjoyed perhaps his finest season in 2021, pitching 63 2/3 innings of 1.98 ERA ball and piling up 31 holds as the team’s primary setup man. He fanned 26.8% of his opponents with a strong 52.5% grounder rate, both of which helped to offset an unpalatable 11.1% walk rate. Jackson struggled considerably in 2020 but otherwise has ranged from a serviceable to high-quality bullpen piece, evidenced by a combined 3.93 ERA in 254 innings from 2017-21.

Unfortunately for Jackson, he won’t have the chance to bolster his earning power with a repeat of last year’s performance. It’s particularly poor timing — not that there’s “good” timing for a major injury and surgery — given that Jackson has five-plus years of Major League service and is slated to become a free agent for the first time following the 2022 season. He could still garner interest on a Major League deal, especially since his surgery was performed so early in the season, but the type of multi-year deal he might’ve commanded upon replicating his 2021 output is no longer feasible.

The Braves have now won hearings over two of their arbitration-eligible players, as they also topped Austin Riley in a hearing last week. They still have unresolved cases against lefty Max Fried ($6.6MM vs. $6.85MM), shortstop Dansby Swanson ($9.2MM vs. $10MM) and outfielder Adam Duvall ($9.275MM vs. $10.275MM).

Max Scherzer Likely Out Six To Eight Weeks Due To Oblique Strain

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The results of Max Scherzer’s MRI are in, and the news isn’t great for the Mets. The team announced Thursday that Scherzer has suffered a “moderate to high grade internal oblique strain” and is expected to miss six to eight weeks. He’ll be placed on the injured list alongside co-ace Jacob deGrom (stress reaction in his scapula) and right-hander Tylor Megill (biceps inflammation).

It’s a brutal blow for the Mets, who sit at 25-14 and currently hold a six-game lead over the second-place Phillies in the National League East. Scherzer sustained the injury last night when throwing a slider to Albert Pujols, telling reporters after the game that he’d been experienced some tightness before feeling a “zing” down his side on the final pitch to Pujols. The three-time Cy Young winner immediately called for the training staff and could be seen plainly stating, “I’m done” when the staff reached the mound.

The Mets shattered precedent to get Scherzer into Queens, signing the 37-year-old righty to a three-year deal worth $130MM and giving him the highest annual salary in baseball history in doing so ($43.33MM). Owner Steve Cohen and first-year general manager Billy Eppler surely had visions of the game’s most formidable one-two punch at the time, dreaming of a playoff rotation fronted by Scherzer and deGrom.

It’s possible that duo could yet lead the Mets’ staff in the postseason, but deGrom hasn’t pitched yet in 2022 thanks to that shoulder injury. The team announced earlier this week that his latest MRI revealed “continued healing” but did not provide a timetable for his return. It’s now possible that the Mets won’t have that vaunted duo healthy and on the same roster until after the All-Star break, depending on Scherzer’s recovery.

Even in the absence of Scherzer, deGrom and Megill — whose injury should be downplayed, given the strength of his early performance — the Mets still have a solid starting staff on paper. Chris Bassitt and Carlos Carrasco have been outstanding early in the season, and the Mets have gotten quality work from Taijuan Walker and (in more limited opportunities) lefty David Peterson, too. It’s likely that Williams and Peterson will be the choices to follow the trio of Bassitt, Carrasco and Walker while the Mets navigate this latest batch of injuries.

While that’s a solid group, it obviously pales in comparison to a full-strength contingent of Mets starters. And, more concerning, the depth beyond the current quintet begins to look more questionable. Veteran left-hander Mike Montgomery is pitching with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate but has been tagged for a 5.52 ERA through seven starts. Twenty-five-year-old Thomas Szapucki has been sharp through six Triple-A starts but has totaled just 21 innings in those outings. Righty Jordan Yamamoto has been a depth option for the Mets in the past, but he was removed from the 40-man roster earlier this season and only just made his minor league debut — 1 2/3 shaky innings in High-A — after missing time on the minor league injured list. Former Angels righty Felix Pena was brought in on a minor league deal, but like Montgomery, he’s struggled in Triple-A.

Given the manner in which injuries have already cut into the team’s depth, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Mets poke around the market for some depth options. Major trades this time of year are uncommon but not unheard of. Otherwise, the Mets could turn to some recently DFA’ed arms (e.g. Jharel Cotton) or veterans who’ve recently opted for minor league free agency (e.g. Drew Hutchison, Carlos Martinez) in an effort to at least stockpile some experienced options in the upper minors.

Avila: Manning Exit Not Due To Injury

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12:54pm: Tigers fans can breathe a sigh of relief, it seems. General manager Al Avila tells reporters that Manning was lifted not because of an arm or shoulder injury but because he’d become increasingly light-headed and was not feeling well (Twitter link via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press). It’s not yet clear whether Manning will require an additional rehab appearance due to the fact that today’s was cut short.

11:46am: Tigers righty Matt Manning exited his minor league rehab assignment in the third inning with an apparent injury, tweets Jason Beck of MLB.com. The 24-year-old landed on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation back on April 20 and was making his third start of his minor league rehab stint. Manning, who’d already walked three through his first 2 1/3 frames, plunked Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman before a visit from the trainer that ended with his departure from the game.

There’s no formal word from the Tigers just yet, but further injury for Manning will only add to what’s been a snakebitten rotation in Detroit this year. The Tigers currently have Manning, Casey Mize, Tyler Alexander, Michael Pineda and Spencer Turnbull on the injured list. Turnbull was expected to miss the bulk of the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer, but the other four are dealing with 2022 injuries — and they could soon be joined by free-agent signee Eduardo Rodriguez, who left yesterday’s start against the Rays in the first inning due to an injury to his left side. Manager AJ Hinch said yesterday that Rodriguez would likely require a trip to the injured list.

Manning was the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft and, for years, has been viewed as a potential building block on the Tigers’ pitching staff. He was hit hard through 85 1/3 innings during his MLB debut last year, although the majority of his outings were solid in nature. Manning was blown up for six or more runs in four of his 18 starts en route to a 5.80 ERA, but he finished the year with a more palatable 4.43 ERA in his final five outings. He pitched to a 2.25 ERA with four strikeouts, no walks and a 52% grounder rate in eight innings this season but left his second start after two innings due to shoulder discomfort.

The Detroit rotation is in shambles at the moment, though lefty Tarik Skubal appears to be in the midst of a bona fide breakout. He’s being followed by former first-rounder Alex Faedo and rookie Beau Brieske, and it’s not clear just where the Tigers will turn beyond that trio. Long reliever Rony Garcia impressed in relief of Rodriguez yesterday, and the Tigers also have veteran Wily Peralta in a long relief role at the moment. Peralta was a valuable pickup for them last year, making 18 starts and pitching to a 3.07 ERA — albeit with shakier underlying numbers. Down in Triple-A, veteran Chase Anderson has pitched fairly well on a minor league deal, as have 24-year-old hurlers Joey Wentz and Elvin Rodriguez — both of whom are on the 40-man roster.

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