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Mets Activate Jeurys Familia From Restricted List

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The Mets announced on Thursday that closer Jeurys Familia has been activated from the restricted list after serving his 15-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. The team also recalled catcher Kevin Plawecki from Triple-A Las Vegas and optioned right-hander Rafael Montero and left-hander Sean Gilmartin to Vegas.

Familia, 27, will rejoin a Mets bullpen that currently ranks in the middle of the pack, league-wide, in terms of earned run average. Of course, that includes some problematic innings from Montero (seven earned runs, 6 2/3 frames), who was optioned out today upon Familia’s activation. While manager Terry Collins has said Familia will be eased back into the closer’s role, Addison Reed figures to see a few more save opportunities before Familia fully reclaims his previous role.

Familia was arrested back in early November after allegedly assaulting his wife, but the charges were dropped at his wife’s request the following month. As we saw last year in the suspensions of Aroldis Chapman and Jose Reyes, however, a lack of criminal charges is not necessarily an impediment to a suspension under the league’s still fairly new policy. Beyond his 15-game suspension (and the lost salary that accompanies that punishment — about $730K, in Familia’s case), the right-hander agreed to make a donation and speak to several rookie players on the matter. Familia also underwent extensive counseling sessions this offseason.

From a purely on-field vantage point, the return of Familia will be a boon to the Mets’ relief corps. Over the past three seasons, the hard-throwing righty has amassed 233 innings with a 2.20 ERA, 243 strikeouts and 70 unintentional walks. He led the National League with 51 saves in 2016, saved 43 games the year before and has led the Senior Circuit in games finished in each of the past two seasons (a combined 132 games).

Rangers Designate Mike Hauschild For Assignment

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The Rangers have designated right-hander Mike Hauschild for assignment and selected the contract of right-hander Anthony Bass from Triple-A Round Rock, per a club announcement. Hauschild was the Rangers’ Rule 5 pick out of the Astros organization. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, the Rangers will have to offer him back to Houston for $50K.

The 27-year-old Hauschild made his big league debut for the Rangers this season, tossing eight innings but yielding an unsightly 10 earned runs on the strength of 14 hits and two walks. Of those 14 hits, five of them cleared the fence — further fueling Hauschild’s struggles. He did manage seven punchouts and a 48.3 percent ground-ball rate in his eight innings, but those modest silver linings weren’t enough to keep him on the team’s active roster.

Bass, 29, will be returning for his second stint with the Rangers. The 2008 fifth-rounder (Padres) spent the 2015 season with the Rangers, pitching to a 4.50 ERA with 6.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 64 innings as the team’s primary long reliever. Last season, he logged his first year in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, tossing 203 2/3 innings with a 3.65 ERA, 6.2 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 as a member of the Nippon Ham Fighters.

Offseason In Review: Cleveland Indians

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This is the latest entry in MLBTR’s Offseason In Review series. The full index of Offseason In Review posts can be found here.

After narrowly missing a World Series championship in one of the most entertaining Game 7s the sport has ever seen, the Indians entered the winter with a clear focus on returning to that stage.

Major League Signings

  • Edwin Encarnacion, 1B/DH: Three years, $60MM (plus 2020 club option)
  • Boone Logan, LHP: One year, $6.5MM (plus 2018 club option)
  • Total spend: $66.5MM

Trades and Claims

  • Acquired RHP Nick Goody from Yankees in exchange for PTBNL
  • Acquired RHP Carlos Frias from Dodgers in exchange for cash
  • Selected LHP Hoby Milner from Phillies in Rule 5 Draft (returned to Phillies)
  • Claimed LHP Edwin Escobar off waivers from the D-backs (released to allow him to sign in Japan)
  • Claimed 1B/3B/OF Richie Shaffer off waivers from the Reds (later outrighted to Triple-A)
  • Claimed LHP Tim Cooney off waivers from the Cardinals (released, re-signed to minor league deal)

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • Brandon Guyer, OF: Two years, $5MM (plus 2019 club option)
  • Roberto Perez, C: Four years, $9MM (plus 2021-22 club options)
  • Jose Ramirez, 3B/2B/OF: Five years, $26MM (plus 2022-23 club options)

Notable Losses

Indians depth chat | Indians payroll outlook

Needs Addressed

As one would expect of a team that took the Cubs to the limit in Game 7 of the World Series, the Indians entered the offseason with relatively few needs. The entire rotation was set to return, and the team also possessed some upper-level depth options in the minors. Replacing Mike Napoli at first base and finding a suitable left-handed relief option to join Andrew Miller in the bullpen were Cleveland’s top two priorities. President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti, GM Mike Chernoff and the rest of the Indians front office — minus now-former assistant GM Derek Falvey, who was hired away by the division-rival Twins as their new chief baseball officer — did so in a big way.

Cleveland waited out a surprisingly slow market for top slugger Edwin Encarnacion (more on that pursuit below) and, much as they did in acquiring Miller from the Yankees this past summer, surprised many by adding one of the marquee names on the market. The cost fell shy of expectations for Encarnacion but remains a relatively steep investment for the tight-budgeted Indians, who entered the 2017 season with a club-record $124MM payroll, thanks largely to Encarnacion. Though he’s off to a slow start, April has historically been Encarnacion’s worst month by a wide margin, and his bat should more than offset the loss of Napoli, who returned to Texas for a third stint with the Rangers.

It was a similar story with Logan, as the early market for left-handed relief pitching was extremely steep. After Brett Cecil landed four years and just over $30MM from the Cardinals and Mike Dunn scored $19MM over a three-year term with the Rockies, Logan and fellow southpaw Jerry Blevins looked to be in line for solid multi-year contracts. That never panned out, however, as each languished on the free agent market longer than expected. And while many believed the Indians to be tapped out after their signing of Encarnacion, ownership gave the green light to spend a bit more cash.

Logan was signed to a somewhat surprising one-year deal in February, further proving the point that it typically behooves players (especially relievers) to sign early in free agency. He can still take home a total of $12.5MM if the option is exercised, but waiting out the market and securing a quality ’pen piece on a one-year deal was a nice move by the Tribe’s front office.

With some uncertainty surrounding the health of Michael Brantley as well as the departure of Rajai Davis — who signed back with the Athletics — Cleveland added some notable names on minor league contracts. Both Austin Jackson and Michael Martinez made the club and are serving as reserve pieces early in the season, though one has to imagine that the recently demoted Tyler Naquin will eventually resurface and challenge for one of their roster spots.

Finally, as has long been a hallmark of the cost-efficient Indians, Cleveland pursued extensions with a number of its young players. While efforts to lock up burgeoning superstar Francisco Lindor fell short, the team was successful in hammering out three multi-year deals. Brandon Guyer’s $5MM extension gives the club a quality outfield platoon option at a very reasonable rate through at least the 2018 season and possibly through 2019.

Jose Ramirez | Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Perez extension, too, bolsters the Cleveland bench for the foreseeable future. While some may raise an eyebrow at extending a pre-arb catcher that batted .183/.285/.294 in the preceding season, Perez is regarded as a superlative defensive backstop. He also flashed some offensive ability in 2015 when he hit .220/.348/.402 with seven homers in just 220 plate appearances. The price for catcher defense has continually risen in recent years, and Perez can likely justify the deal with his glove alone even if the bat never comes around. If it does, though, Cleveland should have a nice bargain on its hands.

The big move for Cleveland, though, was agreeing to terms on a long-term pact with perhaps its top breakout star of the 2016 campaign. Ramirez, still just 24 years of age, went from light-hitting utility man to Cleveland’s everyday third baseman last year with an excellent .312/.363/.462 batting line to accompany his 11 homers and 22 steals. He can play virtually anywhere on the diamond, as evidenced by his shift to second base this season in the early absence of Jason Kipnis. Ramirez struck out in just 10 percent of his plate appearances last year and continues to suggest that his power is still developing; he’s already homered four times in 2017.

Questions Remaining

As mentioned above, when a team comes within inches of winning the World Series and retains the vast majority of that roster, there aren’t going to be many questions. In Cleveland, the biggest unknown surrounding the team is simply health.

No one knows what to expect out of Brantley after he missed nearly the entire 2016 season due to a shoulder injury that has now required two surgeries. But the Indians made it to Game 7 last season despite receiving zero production from Brantley, arguably their best all-around player, so anything he’s able to contribute in 2017 is just a bonus. To date, he’s batted .289/.373/.489 through 12 games, reminding everyone what an excellent player he was prior to his injury.

In the rotation, Cleveland will hope for better health from Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, each of whom suffered late-season injuries that compromised the team’s postseason pitching depth. Both right-handers have front-of-the-rotation upside if they’re able to stay on the field. Combining them with Corey Kluber makes for a lethal 1-2-3 atop Cleveland’s starting five. Trevor Bauer remains somewhat enigmatic both on and off the field, but his talent is undeniable even if his results are inconsistent. Josh Tomlin finished poorly in 2016 and is off to a worse start in 2017, so if there’s one potential need, it’s at the back of the rotation.

With Cody Anderson lost to Tommy John surgery, the top depth options in Cleveland are Mike Clevinger and Ryan Merritt (who achieved folk hero status with a tremendous spot start in Toronto during last year’s ALCS). If Cleveland is going to go outside the organization anywhere on the summer trade market, my bet would be on an effort to shore up the fifth spot in the rotation. Of course, both Bauer and Tomlin have had plenty of productive stretches, and each could quickly turn his season around.

Deal of Note

Entering the winter, Encarnacion was arguably the top bat available in free agency, and the notion of him signing with the Indians would’ve been little more than a pipe dream. Deep-pocketed clubs like the Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays and Rangers were all connected to the slugger, and the Astros, who have become increasingly more aggressive with their spending, were also prominently linked to Encarnacion. When Encarnacion reportedly rejected a four-year, $80MM offer from the Blue Jays, the assumption was that he’d top that guarantee by a fairly wide margin.

Edwin Encarnacion | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Instead, Encarnacion surprisingly saw his market shrivel in a hurry. The Blue Jays, like many other teams and most pundits, assumed that Encarnacion was gone once he said no to that $80MM figure and pivoted to switch-hitting slugger Kendrys Morales on a three-year, $33MM deal. Boston, instead of spending big in an effort to replace David Ortiz, signed a quality defensive first baseman (Mitch Moreland) and moved Hanley Ramirez into primary DH duties. The Yankees made sense and were often linked to Encarnacion, but they went short-term in picking up Matt Holliday. Ditto for the Astros, who in addition to bringing Carlos Beltran back to Houston, traded for Brian McCann.

With most of the big-spending clubs suddenly lacking a place to put Encarnacion, it became wholly unclear as to where he’d end up. The Rangers were a common thought, but Texas was continually said to be averse (or fiscally unable) to adding another high-priced multi-year contract to its payroll. There was speculation about the Rockies, who had gone outside the box to sign Ian Desmond to a five-year, $70MM deal as their primary first baseman, but the oft-suggested trade of an outfielder (which would’ve moved Desmond to the outfield and freed up a space for Encarnacion) never materialized.

In the end, the bidding war for Encarnacion came down to the Indians and Athletics — as unlikely a pairing as we’ve ever seen for two teams duking it out for one of the game’s top free agents. Cleveland pushed its offer to three years, and Encarnacion cited a winning organization and closer proximity to his family in the Dominican Republic as reasons for choosing the reigning AL champs over Oakland. Encarnacion’s contract is the largest in Indians franchise history — a testament to the unexpected nature of the match between the two sides and to Cleveland ownership’s desire to return to the Fall Classic. If Cleveland does succeed in bringing home its first World Series title in nearly 80 years, the Dolan family won’t complain one bit about their investment in Encarnacion.

Overview

The Indians entered the offseason with very few holes on what was one of the most complete rosters in Major League Baseball, and they addressed their top needs with some of the biggest upgrades possible. It’s still feasible that the back of the rotation could use some augmenting some June or July, but despite the team’s 7-7 start, the Indians are the clear favorite in the American League Central division. It’ll be a surprise if they don’t return to the postseason. And if they can in fact return, this time with a healthy trio of Kluber, Carrasco and Salazar, they’ll enter October with a good chance of becoming the second AL Central team in the past five years to manage back-to-back World Series appearances.

Let’s open it up for everyone to weigh in (link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)…


Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/19/17

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Rangers announced on Wednesday that they’ve signed veteran infielder Josh Wilson to a minor league contract. He’ll head to Triple-A, though it’s not clear if he’ll first make a stop in extended Spring Training. The 36-year-old Wilson is no stranger to Texas, having spent 24 games with the Rangers back in 2014. The versatile journeyman has seen Major League time with nine teams across parts of eight big league seasons, most recently appearing with the 2015 Tigers. Wilson is a career .229/.280/.319 hitter in 430 Major League contests and a lifetime .263/.324/.395 hitter in parts of 11 Triple-A seasons. Wilson spent the 2016 campaign with the independent Atlantic League’s York Revolution, appearing in 120 games and batting .255/.299/.383 with eight homers and 14 steals.

Derek Jeter, Jeb Bush Reportedly Team Up In Effort To Purchase Marlins

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Future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter and former Florida governor Jeb Bush have both been previously reported as potential buyers for the Marlins, but the two have now teamed up in their pursuit of the franchise, reports Douglas Hanks of the Miami Herald. The primary competitor for the Bush-Jeter group appears to by New York financier Wayne Rothbaum, according to Hanks, though other groups could yet be involved in the pursuit.

Marlins president David Samson has been candid about the possibility of a sale this year, and owner Jeffrey Loria has acknowledged that there have been inquiries from potential buyers. Loria reportedly had a “handshake agreement” in place to sell the team for $1.6 billion to a group led by Joshua Kushner — the brother of Jared Kushner, who serves as a senior advisor to his father-in-law, president Donald Trump. However, Kushner reportedly did not have enough liquid assets to make the purchase at that price, and eventual rumors that Loria could be named the United States ambassador to France further complicated that potential sale. Kushner eventually issued a statement indicating that he would no longer pursue the deal.

It’s not known at this time exactly what price the Loria is eyeing in a potential sale, though some reports since the first word of the handshake agreement with Kushner have suggested that the team could sell for quite a bit less than that $1.6 billion figure. It stands to reason, though, that the Bush-Jeter group would need additional members in order to pool the requisite funds to make a purchase feasible. Jeter is one of the wealthiest stars in MLB history but still saw his career earnings end up around $265MM (though that figure does not include the undoubtedly sizable sum he has earned from endorsement deals over the past two-plus decades, to say nothing of other investments and ventures).

Charlie Gasparino and Brian Schwartz of FOX Business reported earlier this month that Jeter was working with former Morgan Stanley brokering chief Gregory Fleming (who is now with a small brokerage firm in New York, per AdvisorHub.com’s Mason Bradwell) in his effort to purchase the club. Bush, meanwhile, was said by the FOX Business duo to have enlisted Citigroup to help finance a potential bid. It’s possible that all of those parties have merged to form one cohesive effort at purchasing the Marlins organization, though concrete details on the matter have yet to emerge.

Blue Jays Plan To Call Up Mat Latos This Weekend

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The Blue Jays will start right-handers Mat Latos and Casey Lawrence this weekend in place of the injured Aaron Sanchez and J.A. Happ, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). They’ll face an Angels lineup which, as Sherman notes, is largely right-handed.

Latos isn’t on the 40-man roster, so his addition will require a corresponding 40-man roster move. At present, it doesn’t seem that the Jays have any obvious candidates to be transferred from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL, which could suggest that a DFA is on the horizon in Toronto.

Still just 29 years of age, Latos signed a minor league deal with the Jays after his second straight season of struggles in the Majors. Latos has pitched for five teams in the past two seasons, logging a combined 4.93 ERA in 186 1/3 innings between the Marlins, Dodgers, Angels, White Sox and Nationals. He had a rough Spring Training as well (6.75 ERA in 14 2/3 innings) but has been charged with just one earned run through his first nine frames in Buffalo and represents the most experienced depth option the Jays possess.

Lawrence, also 29, logged a 4.17 ERA with 6.0 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 162 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last season. He made his Major League debut with Toronto earlier this year but allowed three runs on three hits and five walks (two intentional) with two strikeouts in two innings against the Rays.

The Blue Jays, clearly, will hope the need for Latos and Lawrence to be brief. To that end, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reported last night that the team received positive news on both Happ and Sanchez yesterday. An MRI on Happ’s problematic left elbow didn’t show any structural damage. Sanchez, meanwhile, underwent a procedure to have roughly a quarter of the nail removed from his ailing finger, per Davidi, which could allow him to return to the rotation in short order. (Davidi notes that down the line, a chemical treatment to prevent the nail from growing back is an option.) Per Davidi, it’s possible that both pitchers could miss only the upcoming starts this weekend.

Angel Pagan Won’t Play In 2017

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Veteran outfielder Angel Pagan is perhaps the most talented player among unsigned free agents, but the 11-year Major League veteran tells Yamaira Muniz Perez of El Vocero that he’s planning to sit out the 2017 season and spend time with his family rather than further pursue a contract. Pagan has reportedly turned down a pair of Major League offers this winter in addition to several minor league contracts. Muniz Perez reports that the Blue Jays, Braves and Nationals were among the clubs to offer minor league deals.

Pagan says that he’s not formally retiring, as he could once again feel the urge to compete in 2018 and beyond. He also notes that the decision is not one which he made on his own but rather with his entire family. Pagan says that at present, he is “100 percent dedicated” to his family.

That the 35-year-old Pagan remained a free agent all winter after putting up a .277/.331/.418 batting line with 12 homers and 15 steals last season was something of a surprise, even if his outfield defense had deteriorated. The switch-hitter was still worth one to two wins above replacement in 2016, depending on one’s preferred defensive metric (+1 rWAR, +2.1 fWAR), and there were a number of clubs that appeared to be fits. At various points, the Jays, Braves, Nats, Pirates and Orioles were connected to Pagan. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports went so far as to report that Pagan had even reached an agreement with the Orioles at one point this winter before a failed physical sank the deal.

Whether this closes the book on Pagan’s career remains to be seen. Pagan suggested to Muniz Perez that he was never interested in taking a minor league pact this winter (as previous reports had suggested), but after sitting out the 2017 campaign he’ll assuredly have to do just that if he wishes to play in 2018. However, if a year away from the game comes with a continued desire to compete, then perhaps the notion of proving himself in Spring Training won’t be so off-putting.

Pagan’s big league debut came with the 2006 Cubs at the age of 24, but he didn’t cement himself as a big league regular until three years later with the Mets. Across the 11 years in which he played in the Majors, Pagan hit a combined .280/.330/.408 with 64 homers and 176 stolen bases between Chicago, New York and San Francisco. He won two World Series rings with the Giants and has earned more than $51MM to this point in his career.

NL Central Notes: Thames, Rosenthal, Arroyo

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Eric Thames is the talk of baseball after his preposterous start to the season — Thames is hitting .426/.491/1.000 with seven homers and six doubles through 53 plate appearances with the Brewers — the former KBO superstar spoke to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale about his transformation at the plate. Thames, 30, explains to Nightengale that going to Korea forced him to better his plate discipline; while pitchers there will often top out at 91 mph, the barrage of breaking pitches with which Thames was faced necessitated that he improve his pitch recognition and lay off pitches outside the zone. Thames jokes to Nightengale that in his first stint in American ball, he’d swing at anything within three feet of the batter’s box, but he’s become eminently more selective. Thames’ new approach drew praise from Dodgers VP Alex Anthopoulos, who was GM of the Blue Jays when Toronto let go of Thames, and from Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who called Thames’ swing “lethal,” Nightengale writes.

Brewers GM David Stearns tells Nightengale that Thames was on their radar for quite some time, and Nightengale reports that their first attempt to sign him came in the 2015-16 offseason when he still had time left on his contract with KBO’s NC Dinos. Skeptics of Thames may be interested to learn that he has already been tested for PEDs early this season, in addition to the test he took at the onset of Spring Training.

A bit more on Thames and on the NL Central…

  • On the subject of Thames’ selectivity at the plate, Fangraphs’ Jeff Sullivan breaks down the Brewers slugger’s newfound plate discipline at length. As Sullivan explains, Thames was well below the 25th percentile among Major Leaguers in terms of chasing out of zone pitches and was below the 50th percentile when it came to swinging at pitches in the zone during his first run in the bigs. Essentially, he was a free swinger that lacked the strike zone recognition to put himself in favorable counts and find pitches to drive. Now, Thames possesses one of baseball’s lowest chase rates and one of the best O-swing minus Z-swing percentages (that is to say, the percentage of pitches he chases minus the percentage of in-zone pitches at which he swings).
  • It may be a small sample of work, but Trevor Rosenthal’s early command has impressed the Cardinals to the point where he’s quickly becoming a late-inning option once again, writes MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. Rosenthal has yet to reach a three-ball count with any of the 10 men he’s faced, and his velocity is up noticeably from the 2016 season as well, per Statcast. Manager Mike Matheny tells Langosch that with several of the team’s setup options struggling, Rosenthal “is in the conversation” for a top setup gig following his early work. Rosenthal tossed a 100.6 mph fastball on Monday and is averaging 98.7 mph on his heater, according to Statcast.
  • Bronson Arroyo earned his first Major League win in 1,038 days against the Orioles yesterday, though he told reporters after the game that he’s still a bit uncertain about how well-equipped he is to continue on as a big league starter (video link via the Cincinnati Enquirer). Arroyo said that after 75 to 80 pitches, his arm is now feeling like it used to at 100 to 105 pitches, though it’s of course still early in his comeback season. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Enquirer provides more quotes from Arroyo and Reds manager Bryan Price than are available in that video. “I want to give this team the best opportunity to win the most ballgames and that’s just the way it has to be,” says Arroyo. “…if I’m feeling tired after 75, 80 pitches all the time, there might be a time where some of the young guys step into my role and I have to be the long guy in the ’pen or something like that.” Arroyo’s candor shouldn’t be mistaken for a lack of confidence, though, and Price voiced plenty of faith in the 40-year-old veteran’s ability to continue to build arm strength as the season wears on.

Reactions To Starling Marte’s Suspension

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The baseball world was collectively stunned yesterday by the announcement of an 80-game suspension for Pirates center fielder Starling Marte, who tested positive for Nandrolone — an anabolic steroid (which, as Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette details, has a long history of use in professional sports). Unsurprisingly, there have been a number of reaction pieces written, to say nothing of significant on-field ramifications for the Bucs, who will be without arguably their best player for half of the 2017 season. Some notable aftereffects and reactions…

  • The Pirates have shifted Andrew McCutchen back to center field will utilize a combination of Adam Frazier, Josh Harrison, John Jaso and Jose Osuna (who was called up from Triple-A following Marte’s suspension) in right field, as MLB.com’s Adam Berry writes in an excellent breakdown on the fallout from Marte’s 80-game ban. The Bucs have no plans to shift Josh Bell back to the outfield at this time, per Berry.
  • While the immediate reaction from many was that Marte’s suspension could open a window for touted outfield prospect Austin Meadows, GM Neal Huntington ruled out that possibility (also via Berry’s piece). “We’re encouraged by where Meadows will be at some point over the course of the summer,” Huntington told reporters. “He’s not ready right now, but we’re thrilled by where he can go.” It’s hard to refute Huntington’s assessment; even though Meadows clearly comes with a lofty ceiling, he’s followed up last year’s .214/.297/.460 showing in 175 Triple-A plate appearances with a mere .146/.217/.244 line through 46 PAs in Indianapolis this season. The Pirates typically wait until their top prospects have avoided Super Two status before promoting them to the Majors anyhow, but statistically speaking, Meadows has yet to demonstrate that he’s ready for more advanced competition.
  • Marte first tested positive early in Spring Training, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, but he was allowed to play through this point in the season as his appeal process played out. Nightengale adds that while the Pirates could theoretically make a run at Angel Pagan now with a hole in the outfield, they’ll likely pass. Huntington suggested that trades aren’t an option at this time, Nightengale adds. In Berry’s column above, Huntington indeed suggested that trades for impact players at this point of the season are “not real,” and he cast some doubt on bringing in a free agent: “We’ll always look for ways to improve the club. It would have to be someone who is a significant upgrade over our internal options.”
  • Marte’s teammates, certainly, are disappointed by the news, but they also offered messages of support following the news, writes Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. McCutchen, Josh Harrison, Gregory Polanco and Gerrit Cole were among the members of the Pirates roster quoted in Nesbitt’s column. “He’s not exiled,” Harrison told reporters. “He made a mistake.” Polanco and Cole both referred to Marte as their “brother” when speaking to the media. “When you make a mistake, you gotta pay for it,” McCutchen said to reporters before also voicing his support. “…I’m just trying to be a good friend before I am a teammate.”
  • Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was among the players to call for more testing throughout the league. Rizzo was doing an interview with Yahoo’s Big League Stew at the time the news of the suspension hit, and told them (Twitter link): “It kinda makes you angry as a player, because you know there are still flaws in the system, you know there are still guys getting away with it. For me, I’ve been drug tested zero times this year. Not once since the beginning-of-Spring-Training standard drug test. Guys are going to get away with it as long as they can and obviously everybody’s going to say they didn’t know they were doing it.” Many current and former players took to social media to call for more stringent testing policies and, in some cases, harsher punishment for first-time offenders.
  • ESPN’s Buster Olney opines that Marte’s suspension taints his legacy in Pittsburgh to the point that he can never provide a suitable return on their long-term investment in him. Marte’s suspension comes early in a pivotal season for the Pirates that may very well be McCutchen’s last year in black and yellow, Olney notes, and Pittsburgh had very little margin for error as it sought to keep up with the Cubs and Cardinals. While it’s hard to disagree with the notion that Marte’s suspension is a poorly timed blow that that Pirates could ill afford, the suggestion that he’s “torpedoed” his value beyond repair seems excessive. Marte is earning a combined $17.5MM in 2018-19 and has a pair of reasonably priced club options for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
  • Yahoo’s Jeff Passan lists a number of myths and truths about performance enhancing drugs in a reaction column, ultimately calling for transparency and regulated use of certain substances (though not necessarily Nandrolone). Passan points out that some steroids are already commonly used (e.g. cortisone injections for pain) as a reference point when citing that the term “performance enhancing drugs” is rather arbitrary in its nature. “There is a place for chemistry in baseball and all other sports, and it is in a tightly regulated, ever-evolving partnership with doctors, chemists, politicians, ethicists, management and players to develop fair rules for sport while acknowledging sport itself can benefit from the use of drugs,” writes Passan. “The rules in place now don’t work. They never have. They never will.” Passan also suggests that PEDs will never be eradicated from baseball and disagrees with any suggestion that Marte’s value has somehow been erased by the suspension, among other points.
  • Marte might be the best player (at the time of his punishment) to ever receive a suspension for performance enhancing drug use, writes The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh. Lindbergh profiles the numerous reasons that Marte has flown under the radar as one of Major League Baseball’s most underrated and unheralded stars in recent years, though certainly now that view will be tainted in the eyes of many. As Lindberg adds, there’s a cascading effect of Marte’s suspension, in that the downturn in the Pirates’ expected performance will now make a trade of McCutchen and, eventually, a promotion of Meadows all the more likely.

NL East Notes: Kendrick, Nats’ Closer, Ross, Bruce, Reyes

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The Phillies announced on Tuesday that left fielder Howie Kendrick has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to an abdominal strain, thus making him the second veteran Philadelphia addition to go down with an injury today. (Clay Buchholz will miss anywhere from four to six months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon.) “It’s like upper abdomen, lower rib cage,” Kendrick told reporters, including MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “Hopefully it’s something that’s not a nuisance, but we’ll see. It hasn’t gotten any worse over the past couple days, so hopefully it’s something that’ll be done pretty quickly.” Fellow veteran Daniel Nava could be the primary substitute for Kendrick, though certainly the injury could lead to a bit of extra playing time for Aaron Altherr or Brock Stassi as well. As noted earlier tonight, the Phils selected the contract of right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. to fill Kendrick’s spot on the roster.

Elsewhere in the NL East…

  • The Nationals are considering a change in the ninth inning, manager Dusty Baker told reporters after he had to remove Blake Treinen in the ninth inning of tonight’s game (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Jamal Collier). “This ain’t working,” said Baker of the current alignment. Indeed, the Nats entered the day with a collective 6.25 ERA out of their bullpen — fourth-worst in all of baseball. Treinen lasted a third of an inning tonight and yielded a run on two hits and two walks before giving way to Shawn Kelley, who managed to salvage a 3-1 win for the defending NL East champs. Kelley and young right-hander Koda Glover seem like the two most plausible replacement options for Baker, though it’s unlikely that there’ll be definitive word on the situation until tomorrow. (Those chasing saves in fantasy baseball can follow @closernews on Twitter for updates on ninth-inning situations around the game.)
  • Right-hander Joe Ross will join the Nationals’ rotation tomorrow night after opening the year in Triple-A Syracuse, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). The Nats optioned Ross to Syracuse in an effort to help limit his innings early in the year, though Baker acknowledged that the decision backfired on them. (Jeremy Guthrie was shelled in his lone appearance for the Nationals when he started in place of Ross.) It’s worth debating exactly how much the decision even worked toward the Nationals’ stated goal, as Ross has already thrown 9 2/3 innings in a pair of Triple-A outings. Regardless, he’ll be a welcome addition to the D.C. rotation if he can approximate the 3.52 ERA, 8.0 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and 45.5 percent ground-ball he posted through his first 181 2/3 Major League innings in 2015-16.
  • ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick interviewed Mets right fielder Jay Bruce about the slugger’s struggles following the 2016 trade that brought him to New York and the hot start he’s experienced in 2017. Bruce brushes off any previous suggestions that he “couldn’t handle” the move to the big city and the more imposing media market. Rather, he explains to Crasnick the difficulty he had being uprooted from his daily routine in Cincinnati. Bruce calls himself a “routine-oriented guy” and details that he stayed with six different teammates in addition to living out of hotels during his first few months with the Mets — all with his wife and infant son remaining behind in Ohio. “I understand how people come up with their thoughts,” Bruce tells Crasnick. “…I think it’s a pride thing with people from New York, and I get it. It’s an amazing city. It’s chewed a lot of people up and spit them out. That doesn’t even exist to me, though. This is the team I’m playing baseball for, with an incredible opportunity. I was just bad at baseball for a month.” As of this writing, Bruce is hitting a robust .275/.362/.529 with four homers in his final year before free agency.
  • There’s more concern in the Mets organization surrounding Jose Reyes’ woeful start to the 2017 season than the team is publicly expressing, writes Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. Reyes picked up a double in tonight’s loss to the Phils but is still hitting just .100/.182/.140 on the season. Reyes, Ackert notes, was brought back with the hope that he could solidify the leadoff spot and allow Curtis Granderson’s 30-homer bat to hit lower in the order, but Reyes has been dropped to the bottom third of the order due to his poor performance. Michael Conforto hit leadoff for the second time this season on Tuesday, and Granderson has been in the leadoff slot three times in the past five games as well.

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