MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Marlins Still Discussing Deal With Yuli Gurriel
The Marlins’ interest in free-agent first baseman Yuli Gurriel first came to light back in late January, although after initially looking as though it might lead to a deal, Miami instead backed off its pursuit. The two parties remain in contact and are still discussing a potential contract, however, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. Any deal between the two parties, at this point, would likely be a minor league contract, he adds.
It’s been a quiet offseason with regard to Gurriel, who has been tied to the Twins and Astros, in addition to the Marlins. Minnesota, however, has since signed Donovan Solano to fill this same type of role (right-handed-hitting infielder who’ll see plenty of time at first base), while the Astros simply don’t have much in the way of at-bats to offer. Houston signed Jose Abreu to a three-year deal early in the offseason and re-signed Michael Brantley to split time with Yordan Alvarez in left field and at designated hitter. Alvarez has been a bit banged up this spring, with hand soreness keeping him from swinging a bat, but there’s no indication he’s slated to be delayed into the regular season. Astros GM Dana Brown even acknowledged last month that it’d be challenging for Gurriel to get many at-bats on the roster as currently constructed.
Gurriel, 39 in June, is looking for a rebound after turning in a rough .242/.288/.360 batting line in 584 plate appearances last season. His bat-to-ball skills remained excellent (12.5% strikeout rate), but Gurriel’s 5.1% walk rate was his lowest since 2018, while his .117 ISO (slugging minus batting average) was a career-low mark. Meanwhile, his once vaunted defensive grades dipped to below-average (-2 Defensive Runs Saved, -9 Outs Above Average).
Tough as the 2022 season might have been, Gurriel is also just a year removed from winning an American League batting title and Gold Glove. In 2021, he slashed .319/.383/.462 with 15 home runs and 31 doubles. And, even while struggling in 2022, he still managed a solid .265/.298/.441 slash in 181 plate appearances against left-handed pitching.
The Marlins reportedly offered Gurriel a bit more than $2MM on a guaranteed deal earlier in the winter, but it seem that guarantee of a roster spot is no longer on the table now that spring training is well underway. There should still be room for Gurriel to win a bench job, however. Backup catcher Nick Fortes and utilityman Jon Berti have two spots locked down. Whichever of Bryan De La Cruz or Jesus Sanchez isn’t in left field on a given day will likely hold a third spot. (Sanchez, notably, is out of minor league options.) The fourth spot is more up for grabs, however, with infielders Jordan Groshans and Jacob Amaya among the infielders on the 40-man roster (in addition to non-roster invitees like Garrett Hampson).
Miami’s original vision for Gurriel was a right-handed bench bat who could help out at each of first base, second base and third base — despite his lack of recent experience at the latter two positions. Ostensibly, that role is still there for the taking, if he’s willing to come to camp on a nonguaranteed deal and compete for it.
There’s also the possibility for increased time at first base. While incumbent Garrett Cooper has quietly been an underrated and consistently productive force in the lineup when healthy, injuries have been far too frequent for the talented 32-year-old. Since being acquired in the 2017-18 offseason, Cooper has missed time due to wrist, hand, back, elbow, calf and finger injuries, in addition to a stay on the 7-day concussion list last summer. Gurriel would provide some veteran insurance and perhaps a backup at other positions, if Miami feels he’s still a capable option at the hot corner and/or second base.
Cubs Notes: Bullpen, Happ, Hendricks
The Cubs remain open to adding a left-handed reliever, writes Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, though it’s not a lock that they’ll ultimately strike a deal. The Cubs are reluctant to surpass the $233MM luxury tax barrier, and an incentive-based deal for former All-Star Zack Britton could push them past that point if he’s healthy and effective. Chicago has been “monitoring” Mike Minor as well, per the report, though his struggles in recent seasons are an understandable red flag.
President of baseball ops Jed Hoyer said just last week that he “wouldn’t be shocked” to see another reliever come into camp, although the Cubs saw a pair of options come off the board over the weekend when Will Smith signed with the Rangers and Brad Hand inked a deal with the Rockies. Chicago currently sits with a projected $225MM luxury tax figure, placing them $8MM shy of penalization. Even if a deal with Britton or Minor doesn’t come to fruition, that doesn’t necessarily close the book on the Cubs making any kind of addition. Many non-roster veterans throughout the league have opt-out provisions they could trigger if told they’re not making their current organization’s roster, and there will surely be a number of arms being designated for assignment and/or placed on waivers later this month as teams set their Opening Day rosters.
More from Wrigley…
- Left fielder Ian Happ is slated to reach free agency following the 2023 season and could be positioned as one of the top names on the market with another big season in 2023, but he tells Mark Feinsand of MLB.com that his hope is to remain with the Cubs long-term. “It would be weird to wear another jersey,” says Happ, whom the Cubs selected with the ninth overall draft pick back in 2015. “I would love to stay here and I would love to be a part of the next great Cubs team, but we’ll see.” In addition to Happ, next year’s outfield market is slated to include Teoscar Hernandez, Hunter Renfroe, Cody Bellinger, Joey Gallo and perhaps Michael Conforto, depending on his player option. In general, the 2023-24 class will be a lighter group than this past offseason, and that’s especially true now that Rafael Devers and Manny Machado have foregone trips to the open market in favor of extensions. Happ could do the same, of course, but the Cubs didn’t sign any of Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Kris Bryant or Willson Contreras to extensions before they reached six years of service time (and thus qualified as free agents). Based on Happ’s comments, he’ll at least be open to it if they want to try to change that trend with him this spring.
- Kyle Hendricks threw a bullpen session on Monday, writes Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. That marks the first full-strength, max-effort bullpen session for the veteran right-hander since last July, when he underwent surgery to repair a torn capsule in his shoulder. (Hendricks previously threw off a mound in late February and earlier this month but did not do so at full intensity.) The plan for Hendricks is to throw 10 bullpen sessions of this nature before he progresses to facing hitters. Hendricks will open the season on the 15-day injured list, and he’s not likely to complete that slate of 10 bullpen sessions until mid-April. From there, he’d need to throw live batting practice before progressing to a minor league rehab assignment, where he’d surely need multiple starts to build up. The 33-year-old Hendricks was one of the NL’s most durable and consistently effective starters from 2015-20, pitching to a 3.17 ERA over the life of 967 innings in that time. He’s stumbled to a 4.78 ERA in 48 starts over the past two seasons, however, as he’s become increasingly homer-prone. Hendricks is entering the final guaranteed season of a four-year, $55MM contract, though the Cubs hold a net $14.5MM decision on him for the 2024 campaign ($16MM option with a $1.5MM buyout).
Revisiting The Best Fits For Jurickson Profar
Jurickson Profar was one of just three players on our annual Top 50 free-agent list here at MLBTR who hadn’t agreed to terms on a new contract prior to the calendar flipping to 2023. Two months later, Profar is still a free agent and, unsurprisingly, is the final unsigned member of that same top 50 list.
It’s fair to wonder just how aggressive he and agent Scott Boras were early in the winter. Profar began his offseason by declining a $7.5MM player option. While he never seemed likely to sign any kind of mega-deal, even as someone who’s more bearish on the player than many, I anticipated that he’d surpass that level of compensation. We put a relatively modest two-year, $20MM prediction on Profar’s eventual contract, but MLBTR was lower than many on the veteran switch-hitter; the New York Post’s Jon Heyman put down a four-year, $48MM estimate, and The Athletic’s Keith Law pegged him at $15-18MM annually over a term of three to four years. To be clear, the intent in highlighting those predictions is not to criticize them — we’ve had more than our share of misses in this regard — but rather to highlight that there was a wide range of outcomes that onlookers viewed as reasonable with regard to Profar.
Whatever contract Profar and Boras sought clearly hasn’t been there to this point. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic wrote this morning that Profar was at one point seeking a contract that’d pay him $10MM per season. It’s worth emphasizing that Kuty doesn’t specify whether that’s a current asking price or whether it’s on a multi-year pact. Regardless, Profar turned down a $7.5MM deal to remain in San Diego, so it’s not a huge shock to see there’s been a point where his camp was eyeing an eight-figure annual salary.
It’s hard to imagine Profar securing that $10MM AAV at this point, even on a one-year deal. Prices on recent free-agent signings have been more modest than early in the winter. Late signees like Matt Moore ($7.55MM), David Peralta ($6.5MM), Andrew Chafin ($6.25MM), Michael Fulmer ($4MM), Elvis Andrus ($3MM), Brad Hand ($2MM), Robbie Grossman ($2MM) and Will Smith ($1.5MM) have all come in south of that $10MM sum. No free agent has reached a $10MM AAV since Carlos Correa finalized his deal to return to the Twins on Jan. 11.
Perhaps Profar can yet buck that trend. He only just turned 30 and is coming off a decent 2022 season in which he batted .243/.331/.391 with 15 home runs and a career-high 36 doubles. He has above-average bat-to-ball skills, has upped his walk rate over the past couple seasons, and generally graded as an average or slightly worse defender in left field for the Padres.
That last point, in particular, is worth expanding on a bit. Many onlookers have wondered why Profar hasn’t emerged as a more viable option for the many teams in need of infield help. Profar, after all, was the game’s No. 1 overall prospect a decade ago when he was rising through the Rangers’ ranks as a shortstop. However, he’s since had a pair of shoulder surgeries, moved to the other side of the second base bag, and (during his time with the A’s) developed a case of the yips that eventually pushed him to left field.
The A’s traded Profar to San Diego after just one year, and the Padres gave him all of 197 innings at second base from 2020-22 — none of which came this past season. The Friars were shorthanded enough in the infield that they signed Robinson Cano after he was released by the Mets on the heels of a .195/.233/.268 showing. That they were content to give that version of Cano 40 innings at second base but didn’t move Profar into the infield isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of his ability to play the position.
At this point, it’s hard to consider Profar anything other than a left fielder. He’s played 156 innings of center in the big leagues (2020-21 in San Diego) and 208 innings in right field (again, 2020-21 with the Padres), but neither sample drew strong or even average ratings. Profar’s average sprint speed, per Statcast, was in the 32nd percentile of MLB players in 2022. His outfield jumps were in the 37th percentile, and his 87 mph average velocity on his throws from left field ranked 95th among 156 qualified outfielders. With limited speed, below-average jumps and below-average arm strength, center or right could be a stretch for Profar.
Profar is a switch-hitter with slightly better-than-average results at the plate, modest defensive upside in left field and perhaps an emergency infield option. He walks at a high clip and puts the ball in play far more often than the standard big league hitter. The quality of that contact isn’t particularly strong (87.5 mph exit velocity, 34.3% hard-hit rate, 4% barrel rate), but there’s something to be said for just putting the ball in play — particularly as shifts are more limited in 2023 and beyond. A slightly above-average offensive left fielder isn’t a star, but it’s a solid player. Jean Segura has a similar skill set in the infield, and he received $17MM on a two-year deal.
Even that type of deal might be out of reach at this point, but assuming Profar can still land a one- or two-year deal in the near future, he can obviously help a club in search of some corner outfield reinforcements. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco took a look back in early January at which teams made the most sense for Profar based on their lack of left field production in 2022, but it seems like an exercise worth revisiting. The market and many rosters have changed since that time. Profar is now the only viable regular remaining in free agency, and several teams that might’ve made sense as a suitor back on Jan. 2 look less likely to add him now. The Rangers, for instance, have since signed Robbie Grossman. The Marlins moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. to center and acquired Luis Arraez to play second, which means they’ll stick with Jesus Sanchez and Bryan De La Cruz in left.
Let’s take a look at some clubs that still seem like they could use in left field — and perhaps why those teams haven’t yet more earnestly pursued Profar. He’d likely require somewhere that can grant him mostly regular playing time, which makes the incumbent Padres a tough fit once Fernando Tatis Jr. returns and joins Juan Soto and Trent Grisham in the outfield.
Postseason Hopefuls
- Yankees: The Yankees are one of the most oft-cited — if not the most oft-cited — speculative fits for Profar. It’s not hard to see why, considering their left fielders combined for a .224/.312/.391 output last season. Oft-injured Aaron Hicks, still owed three years and $30.5MM on his contract, and young Oswaldo Cabrera are the two favorites. The latter outproduced the former by a wide margin last season, but Hicks’ contract will probably get him another look. The Yankees are loath to step into the fourth and final luxury-tax tier, however, and signing Profar (or just about anyone, really) will put them into that bracket and come with a 90% dollar-for-dollar hit on any contract. There’s also no clear indication that Profar is a huge upgrade over in-house options. His .243/.331/.391 slash line last year isn’t that different from the .224/.312/.391 output for which the Yankees combined. Yes, Profar’s numbers would probably tick up a bit playing his home games at Yankee Stadium instead of Petco Park. But even the Yankees’ tepid left field production last year was good for a 103 wRC+; Profar was at 110 himself.
- Braves: Atlanta’s left fielders hit .238/.285/.431 in 2022, and that includes a combined 175 productive plate appearances from Adam Duvall, Robbie Grossman and William Contreras, none of whom are on the team any longer. Veterans Marcell Ozuna (.226/.274/.413 in 2022) and Eddie Rosario (.212/.259/.328) are the primary options here, with Sam Hilliard, Jordan Luplow, Eli White and non-roster invitees Kevin Pillar and Magneuris Sierra providing depth. There’s clearly room for an upgrade, but the Braves are paying Ozuna and Rosario a combined $27MM in 2023 and probably don’t want to sign a third left fielder to add to that sum. More broadly, the Braves just haven’t spent much of anything in free agency this winter; their lone big roster splash was a trade bringing Sean Murphy in from the A’s. They’re into the first tier of luxury territory, so Profar would cost them 20% penalty on top of his contract.
- Rays: Tampa Bay has been looking for a left-handed bat for much of the winter. Profar would help to balance out the lineup, likely splitting time with Randy Arozarena in left field and at designated hitter. That could cut into Harold Ramirez‘s playing time or push him to first base more often, with Yandy Diaz sliding back to third (at the expense of Isaac Paredes). As with most Rays moves, it’d require a whole lot of moving parts and likely push some MLB-worthy bats off the roster and into the upper minors to serve as depth in the event of injuries. Profar’s offensive upside is limited, so the Rays probably feel confident they can match it with in-house options. The likely price tag hurts as well.
- Rangers: The Rangers already signed Grossman, so perhaps they have no interest in adding another outfielder. Grossman’s not a clear everyday option in left field, though, and center fielder Leody Taveras is a little banged up, which could push Adolis Garcia from right to center early in the season. If Texas had a clear option at DH, this wouldn’t work as well, but they don’t. The Rangers could add Profar, go with him/Taveras/Garcia across the outfield when everyone’s at full strength, and use Grossman as a reserve corner outfielder and part-time DH.
Rebuilding Clubs
- Royals: Kansas City doesn’t have a single established outfielder on the roster. They’ll go with a combination of Edward Olivares, Kyle Isbel, Nate Eaton, catcher/outfielder MJ Melendez, corner bat Hunter Dozier and, once healthy, former top prospect Drew Waters. Olivares, Isbel, Eaton, Melendez and Waters all have minor league options remaining. Non-roster vets like Franmil Reyes and Jackie Bradley Jr. could eventually impact this group, too, but there’s room for a solid veteran right now. Then again, the Royals waited until they’d cleared the salaries of Adalberto Mondesi and Michael A. Taylor in respective trades with the Red Sox and Twins before they even brought righty Zack Greinke back on a one-year, $8.5MM contract. They may not want to or have ownership permission to sign another free agent with a notable salary.
- Reds: The Reds will cycle through Wil Myers, TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley, Will Benson, Nick Solak, Stuart Fairchild and perhaps non-roster veteran Chad Pinder in the outfield corners this season. Myers will see his share of time at first base, too, as Joey Votto recovers from 2022 shoulder surgery. Friedl and particularly Fraley hit well enough last year that it’s understandable if Cincinnati wants to get them some extra looks, but Fraley has been on the IL five times in the past three seasons, including a 60-day IL stint last year for knee troubles. Center fielder Nick Senzel has also had repeated health troubles. Signing Profar deepens the lineup and adds a potential deadline chip for a rebuilding Cincinnati club, but the Reds have spent under $14MM in free agency and probably view Myers as the lone corner-outfield addition they’d prefer to make.
- Tigers: The Detroit outfield is composed largely of rebound candidates, where each of Akil Baddoo, Austin Meadows and top prospect Riley Greene will look for better results in 2023 than they had in 2022. Twenty-five-year-old Kerry Carpenter will also get his share of opportunity after a blasting 36 homers between the upper-minors and MLB. Reserve option Matt Vierling can and will at times handle all three outfield spots. From a depth standpoint, prospects Parker Meadows (Austin’s younger brother) and Justyn-Henry Malloy could both reach the big leagues in 2023, but Meadows hasn’t played above Double-A and Malloy has only eight games there.
Realistically, you could squint and shoehorn Profar onto a number of teams. He’s not going to be so highly compensated that he couldn’t be pushed to a bench role eventually or even traded, and enough teams have at least one shaky option in the outfield corners that you could justify signing him as an upgrade. At this point, it could take a spring injury to really motivate a team to sign him at a decent salary, though.
The other element at play here is the looming World Baseball Classic. Profar, a native of Curacao, is suiting up for the Netherlands and could look to use the tournament to showcase himself for MLB clubs. The WBC will give him some reps to help get ready for the season, and it’s possible that a big league team will suffer an outfield injury while the tournament is ongoing. If that happens, Profar could pitch himself as a game-ready replacement who could join up with a new team and be ready to step right onto the Opening Day roster.
Rangers’ Leody Taveras Shut Down Due To Oblique Strain
Rangers center fielder Leody Taveras is dealing with a “low-grade” oblique strain, general manager Chris Young tells Rangers beat writers (Twitter link via Kennedi Landry of MLB.com). He’ll be out for at least seven to ten days. It’s still possible Taveras will be ready for Opening Day, but that’ll obviously depend on how he mends.
Taveras, 24, rated as one of baseball’s top 50 or so prospects prior to making his 2020 debut, due largely to his speed and potential for standout glovework in center field. He managed only a .188/.249/.321 slash in 319 plate appearances from 2020-21 but broke out with a career-best .261/.309/.366 showing in 341 plate appearances during the 2022 season. That still checked in about seven percent worse than an average MLB hitter, by measure of wRC+, but given his overall defensive aptitude, that was solid enough to land him the likely everyday center field job in 2023.
Dating back to that 2020 MLB debut, Taveras in just over a full season’s worth of games (180) and turned in a sparkling 10 Defensive Runs Saved and 11 Outs Above Average. He’s also gone 29-for-35 on the basepaths, swiping bags with a hefty 82.9% success rate. That impressive total comes despite Taveras sporting just a .280 career OBP at the moment. Between his speed, the slightly larger bases and new rules limiting pitchers throwing over to bases, Taveras has the potential to be a force in the stolen-base department if he can even replicate last year’s modest improvements in on-base percentage. To his credit, he slashed his strikeout rate from 32.2% down to 25.8%, so some of the improvement at the dish appears sustainable.
All that will depend on his health, of course. Even Grade 1 oblique strains can shelve players for around a month of action, but every injury instance is different. If Taveras’ current oblique issue is indeed minor enough that a 10-day down period will get him back into game shape, being ready on March 30 doesn’t seem out of the question.
If, however, it’s determined in seven to ten days’ time that Taveras still needs some down time, a season-opening IL stint becomes likelier. In that scenario, the Rangers could either move Adolis Garcia from right field back to center field, or they could keep Garcia in right and go with light-hitting speedster Bubba Thompson in center. Robbie Grossman has the inside track on left field work for Texas in 2023, but he’s not going to factor into any contingency plans in center, where he’s played all of 11 innings over the past seven seasons.
The Rangers have a deep but generally unproven collection of outfielders vying for a spot on the bench. Former top infield prospect Josh Smith has seen increasing time in the outfield and could conceivably work in some sort of platoon arrangement with Grossman in left field. Veterans Travis Jankowski and Clint Frazier are in camp as non-roster invitees, as is 28-year-old Elier Hernandez, who made his MLB debut with Texas last season. Utilityman Brad Miller has plenty of experience in the outfield corners, too, and slugger Dustin Harris is already on the 40-man roster as well.
Cardinals Notes: Arenado, Fermin, Pitching Staff
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado has watched several teammates play into their age-40 seasons in recent years, but he tells MLB.com’s John Denton that as things stand right now, he’s not planning to follow Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright down that path. Arenado tells Denton he’d like to play until age 38 — long enough that his infant daughter can eventually watch him play in the Majors. Calling it quits at 38 would also give Arenado an earlier path to spending more time with his young family, of course. As you’d expect, Arenado qualifies that the age-38 plan is subject to change, noting that his body, on-field performance and other factors will play sizable roles in the decision as time passes.
On a surely related note, Arenado talks with Denton about the intensity with which he prepares for and plays the game, acknowledging that it can take a toll on him. Arenado wonders whether that intensity can be “too much” for both his own psyche and, at times, his teammates, adding: “I actually need to relax more.” It’s an interesting look at Arenado’s personality, mentality and place within the organization. Cards fans — and, more broadly, fans of Arenado in general — will want to check it out in full.
A few more items pertaining to the Cards…
- Infielder Jose Fermin has a strained quadriceps and will be shut down for at least the next two weeks, manager Oli Marmol announced to reporters this morning (Twitter link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Acquired in a November trade with the Guardians, the 23-year-old Fermin (24 late this month) has been competing for a bench spot, but this injury all but eliminates the possibility of him landing on the Opening Day roster. He’s out to a 1-for-8 start thus far in Grapefruit League play and is coming off a shaky .215/.336/.322 showing in 330 Triple-A plate appearances a year ago. Even while struggling in Triple-A, however, Fermin fanned at a tiny 13.9% clip against a hearty 12.7% walk rate. He’s long drawn praise for his bat-to-ball skills, above-average speed and above-average defensive potential. He has very little power, but a healthy Fermin could seemingly make the Cardinals as a versatile utility player with a knack for putting the ball in play. He’s in the first of three minor league option seasons and is already on the 40-man roster, so he could potentially impact the team’s bench mix for several years.
- Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat takes a thorough look at the Cardinals’ pitching depth, noting that this is the deepest staff of arms the Cards have carried in some time. A few items of particular note include that righty Drew VerHagen and lefty Zack Thompson, both of whom have been rotation options in the past, have been brought along on reliever schedules this spring. Sophomore righty Andre Pallante started 10 games for the Cards in 2022, but it seems the team is monitoring his workload even as he preps to pitch for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic; the Cards have asked that Team Italy not push him beyond 45 pitches in any outing. Pallante is likely ticketed for a relief role in 2023, given the presence of Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty in the rotation (with Matthew Liberatore, Dakota Hudson, Jake Woodford and top prospect Gordon Graceffo all on hand as depth options). It should be noted that Matz is the only member of that rotation signed/controlled beyond 2023, however, so the Cards will surely be hoping for some in-house arms to step up and prove they can be relied upon in 2024 and beyond (even if the addition of an arm or two next winter feels inevitable).
Twins’ Nick Gordon Diagnosed With High Ankle Sprain
TODAY: Gordon’s MRI didn’t show any damage beyond the sprain, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters (including Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune).
MARCH 3: Twins utilityman Nick Gordon exited today’s game after making an off-balance throw to first base, and he’s been diagnosed with a “mild to moderate” high ankle sprain, tweets Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic. Gordon, who was in the game at second base, was wearing a walking boot and on crutches after the game. He’s out through at least Monday, though he’ll continue to be evaluated in the interim.
Manager Rocco Baldelli fortunately told reporters after the game that the issue doesn’t look too severe, though he noted “there’s a wide range of outcomes” in his return timetable (via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). Even if turns out to be a relatively minor concern, Baldelli suggested Gordon was likely to require “a little time off his feet.”
Gordon, 27, broke out with a solid .272/.316/.427 batting line, nine homers, 28 doubles, four triples and six stolen bases in 443 plate appearances last season. The former No. 5 overall pick perhaps hasn’t lived up to that draft billing, but he entered spring training with a spot locked down as a vital utility option in Minnesota. Gordon saw time at second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield slots for the Twins in 2022, and his offensive output was 11% better than a league-average hitter, by measure of wRC+.
The Twins boast a deep group of position players, with Donovan Solano and Kyle Farmer both joining Gordon as backup infield options, while defensive standout Michael A. Taylor provides another option at all three outfield slots. Minnesota’s signing of Solano likely pushed corner outfielder/designated hitter Trevor Larnach off the big league roster by simple virtue of the fact that he has a minor league option remaining. If Gordon were to miss any time early in the season, Larnach would likely find himself all but assured an Opening Day roster spot — particularly since fellow outfielder Gilberto Celestino is out for the next six to eight weeks following thumb surgery.
Phillies’ Andrew Painter Undergoing Testing On Elbow
TODAY: An update on Painter will come Sunday or Monday rather than today, Thomson told reporters (including Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer). The manager said Painter “is in good spirits,” but Thomson otherwise declined to give details on the nature of the testing or whether or not Painter or the team are looking for a second opinion.
MARCH 3: Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter, arguably the top pitching prospect in all of baseball, reported feeling “tenderness” in his elbow and has been sent for testing, manager Rob Thomson announced to reporters Friday (link via Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer). The skipper did not provide further specifics on the type of tests being performed or the organization’s level of concern. More information is expected to be provided tomorrow.
Just 19 years old, Painter was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2021 draft and has soared through the Phillies’ system to the cusp of MLB readiness in less than two years’ time. He pitched across three levels in 2022 — Class-A, Class-A Advanced and Double-A — working to a combined 1.56 ERA with a massive 38.7% strikeout rate, a strong 6.2% walk rate and a tiny 0.43 HR/9 mark through 103 2/3 frames. Both Baseball America and MLB.com rank Painter as the game’s best pitching prospect and one of the top six overall prospects in the sport.
Despite his youth and lack of Triple-A seasoning, Painter was vying for a spot in the Phillies’ Opening Day rotation. Philadelphia currently has Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez and offseason signee Taijuan Walker locked into spots, but Painter has been competing with Bailey Falter (among others) for the fifth and final place in Thomson’s rotation. He just made his Grapefruit League debut earlier in the week, tossing a pair of innings against the Twins and allowing a run on three hits and no walks with one strikeout. Painter tossed 29 pitches in that outing, regularly hitting 99 mph with his heater.
[Related: The Phillies’ Fifth Starter Possibilities]
There’s little sense in speculating as to what type of injury, if any, Painter may be battling. The Phillies are concerned enough to send him for testing of some degree, which is cause for obvious trepidation among the fan base. Then again, it should be emphasized that it behooves the Phillies to proceed with as much caution as possible, given Painter’s upside and long-term value to the club. To this point, there’s no indication that the team expects a serious injury to be at play.
If Painter were to miss time, be it a brief shutdown in camp or a stay on the injured list once the season is underway, Falter’s grip on the final rotation spot would likely tighten. The 25-year-old appeared in 20 games with the Phils last year, 16 of them starts, and pitched to a solid 3.86 ERA through 84 frames. Falter’s 21.2% strikeout rate was a bit below average, but his 4.9% walk rate was among the best in baseball — tied for 20th-best among the 159 pitchers who tossed at least 80 innings.
Rockies Likely To Move Ryan McMahon To Second Base
In the wake of a potentially season-ending shoulder injury to second baseman Brendan Rodgers, Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post that his team’s likeliest course of action will be to slide third baseman Ryan McMahon over to second base (Twitter link). The current plan would be to leave Kris Bryant in left field and evaluate both Elehuris Montero and Nolan Jones at third base over the course of spring training, though Sherman notes that Schmidt did not entirely rule out a trade of some degree.
The 28-year-old McMahon is no stranger to second base, having logged more than 1600 big league innings at the position. As recently as 2021, McMahon logged 368 innings there and, despite that small sample, piled up impressive totals in Defensive Runs Saved (9), Ultimate Zone Rating (2.9) and Defensive Runs Saved (2). There’s little doubt that McMahon can handle the position from a defensive standpoint, but he also grades out as one of the sport’s top defenders at third base; moving him off that position comes with a price.
It’s a sub-optimal arrangement all around for the Rox, as is always the case in the wake of a major injury. Rodgers won a Gold Glove for his work at second base in 2022, and McMahon might well have done the same were it not for the perennial excellence of his former teammate, Nolan Arenado. McMahon has been a Gold Glove finalist in each of the past two seasons, logging a hefty 23 DRS and 20 OAA in that time (despite some occasional work at second base along the way). Whatever shape the infield takes, the overall defense is going to be weaker without McMahon at the hot corner and Rodgers at second base.
Montero, 24, got his first big league audition with the Rockies in 2022. The former top prospect — acquired in the trade that sent Arenado to St. Louis — struggled to a .233/.270/.432 slash with a huge 32.4% strikeout rate against a 4.3% walk rate in 185 plate appearances, however. Scouting reports have generally pegged him as a below-average defender at third base with enough power to potentially still carve out a regular role as a corner infielder.
His shaky big league debut notwithstanding, Montero tattooed Triple-A pitching, raking at a .310/.392/.541 clip with vastly superior walk and strikeout rates of 9.1% and 21.2%, respectively. He connected on 21 homers in just 482 plate appearances between Triple-A and the big leagues, demonstrating his power potential.
Jones is also 24 and also a former top-100 prospect. The Rockies acquired him from the Guardians over the winter, likely with the initial expectation that the infielder-turned-outfielder could factor into the corner mix to some extent at Coors Field. The injury to Rodgers and subsequent opening at third base gives Jones a chance to get a look at his natural and most oft-played position, however. He’s logged 3261 professional innings at third base.
Like Montero, Jones made his MLB debut in 2022 but turned in below-average offense: a .244/.309/.372 slash in 94 plate appearances with the Guardians. He didn’t post quite as gaudy numbers as Montero in Triple-A, but Jones’ .276/.368/.463 slash with Cleveland’s top affiliate was impressive nevertheless.
Between the two former top prospects, Montero could have the leg up when it comes to making the Opening Day roster, if only because he cannot be freely sent to Triple-A. Montero is out of minor league options, whereas Jones still has one option year remaining. The two do form a natural platoon. Montero is a right-handed bat, while Jones bats left-handed. As such, there’s potentially room for both on the Opening Day roster if they turn heads in camp — and, crucially, if the Rockies don’t pursue a trade to address either second base or third base.
As far as the potential trade market is concerned, there are any number of speculative alleys the Rockies could explore. Each of the Orioles (Jorge Mateo, Ramon Urias), A’s (Tony Kemp), Red Sox (Bobby Dalbec), Yankees (Isiah Kiner-Falefa) and Royals (Nicky Lopez, Hunter Dozier) have infielders who’ve at least been loosely mentioned on the rumor circuit this offseason.
Of course, it’s not clear that all of those names are definitive upgrades over Colorado’s in-house options, and the stronger likelihood is that the Rox just fill the need from within. Both Montero and Jones are controllable for six more seasons, after all, and while these surely aren’t the circumstances under which the team hoped to be able to evaluate the pair at the MLB level, the newfound opportunity to do so at least offers some potential good to come from an otherwise unfortunate injury to Rodgers.
Pirates Sign Domingo Leyba To Minor League Deal
The Pirates have signed infielder Domingo Leyba to a minor league contract, tweets John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com. Leyba is already with the club at their spring training facility.
Leyba, 27, has appeared in parts of two big league seasons but tallied only 126 plate appearances, during which time he’s posted an unsightly .152/.238/.223 batting line. While that’s certainly not the most appealing line (to put it mildly), it’s a relatively small sample of plate appearances that has built up over sporadic playing time between the D-backs and Orioles. The switch-hitter has spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a career .296/.342/.525 hitter in 755 trips to the plate.
Defensively, Leyba has logged substantial time at both shortstop (3615 innings) and second base (3247 innings) in his professional career. He’s also spent more than 700 innings at the hot corner and made brief appearances at first base and in left field. He’s not a burner on the basepaths by any means, but he did swipe a dozen bags in the minors with the Padres last season while only being thrown out one time.
Leyba was once a fairly well-regarded prospect, ranking as the No. 3 prospect in the Diamondbacks’ system back in 2017, per Baseball America. He’s obviously yet to pan out as hoped, but he’s still just 27 years of age and has a solid track record in the upper minors. It’s little more than a depth signing for the Pirates, who have Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base, Oneil Cruz at shortstop and will hope for one of Rodolfo Castro, Ji Hwan Bae or prospect Nick Gonzales to eventually seize second base this season. Leyba can provide some insurance at all three spots, and given his Triple-A track record and defensive versatility, he could eventually pop up on the Pirates’ bench later this season.