Dustin Pedroia Unsure If He’ll Play Again
The Red Sox shifted injured second baseman Dustin Pedroia to the 60-day IL on Monday after he suffered yet another setback in his problematic left knee. Pedroia met with reporters to discuss his future, revealing he’s unsure if he’ll be able to resume his career.
“I’m at a point right now where I need some time. That’s what my status is,” Pedroia told Rob Bradford of WEEI and other media. Asked if he’ll play again, Pedroia said, “I’m not sure.”
One thing is clear, according to Pedroia: Another surgical procedure is off the table. The 35-year-old has gone under the knife twice dating back to October 2016, but neither knee surgery has helped him stay on the field. Pedroia missed all but three regular-season games during Boston’s World Series-winning campaign in 2018 and has only appeared in six this year.
With it looking as if Pedroia won’t play again in 2019, he’s set to take an “indefinite break” from rehabbing his knee – which he doesn’t believe will ever heal (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com).
“Time will go on and I’ll know more about it,” Pedroia said. “I haven’t sat down and thought about retirement. I just know that right now I need a break from the everyday stresses of dealing with what I’m dealing with.”
If we have seen the last of Pedroia on the diamond, it’ll mark the end of a borderline Hall of Fame career. A second-round pick of the Red Sox in 2004, the diminutive Pedroia burst on the scene in 2007, his first full season, en route to AL Rookie of the Year honors. All he has done since then is win an AL MVP (2008), earn four All-Star nods and help the Red Sox to two World Series championships, among other accomplishments. To this point, Pedroia’s a .299/.365/.439 hitter (115 wRC+) with 140 home runs, 138 stolen bases and 51.7 rWAR/46.7 fWAR.
Thanks to the brilliance Pedroia displayed over his first several seasons, the Red Sox signed him to an eight-year, $110MM extension in July of 2013. Including this season’s $15MM salary, he’s still owed $40MM on that deal through 2021. Now, six years after Pedroia inked the first-ever nine-figure pact for a second baseman, his playing career may be over.
Red Sox Activate Brock Holt, Move Dustin Pedroia To 60-Day IL
The Red Sox have activated infielder Brock Holt from the 10-day injured list and transferred second baseman Dustin Pedroia to the 60-day IL, per a club announcement. The team also optioned left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez to Double-A Portland.
Holt’s back after eye and shoulder injuries caused a nearly two-month absence. Since Holt went to the IL on April 6, the Red Sox have seen rookie Michael Chavis emerge at the former’s main position (second base). However, Chavis will concede the keystone to Holt on Monday and line up at first.
Given his defensive versatility, playing time shouldn’t be hard to come by for Holt. The 30-year-old has seen significant action at several positions during his career, and he also enjoyed one of his most productive offensive seasons in 2018. As part of the franchise’s latest title-winning team, Holt batted .277/.362/.411 (109 wRC+) with seven home runs and steals apiece in 367 plate appearances.
Pedroia’s ongoing left knee issues have made Holt all the more valuable to the Red Sox, who have gone without the former for all but nine games since last season. Pedroia didn’t debut until April 9 this year, and he ended up back on the IL eight days later. The 35-year-old had been rehabbing his knee in the minors, but he suffered a setback on Friday. Now, because the Red Sox shifted him to the 60-day IL, Pedroia won’t be able to return for at least another few weeks. That could prove to be an overly optimistic forecast, though.
Red Sox Notes: Price, Pedroia, Holt, Eovaldi
Red Sox left-hander David Price exited his start in Houston on Saturday after facing just three hitters, according to reporters. Price was “laboring” during his abbreviated outing and saw his fastball top out around 90 mph, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic tweets. It’s a notable decline for Price, who entered the start averaging 92.4 mph on his fastball. Furthermore, this was just Price’s second game since he missed two weeks on account of elbow inflammation. [UPDATE: The Red Sox announced that Price left because of flu-like symptoms.]
Here’s more out of Boston, courtesy of Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (links here):
- The Red Sox are shutting down injured second baseman Dustin Pedroia after he suffered a setback during a Double-A rehab game Friday. Boston will reevaluate Pedroia, whose oft-problematic left knee sent him to the injured list April 18, on Monday. Manager Alex Cora admitted this is “another red flag” for the 35-year-old Pedroia, who appeared in a meager three games during the Red Sox’s World Series-winning 2018 campaign and has only played in six this season. He remains a ways off from potentially factoring back into Boston’s lineup, Cotillo observes. If there’s a silver lining to Pedroia’s absence, it’s the emergence of second baseman Michael Chavis, a 23-year-old rookie who has taken the position and run with it so far.
- While Pedroia’s nowhere close to returning, Boston’s position player group will add depth Sunday when injured utility player Brock Holt comes off the IL. Eye and shoulder issues have kept Holt out of the major league mix since April 5 and limited him to six games and 19 plate appearances. But the 30-year-old is only a season removed from slashing .277/.362/.411 (109 wRC+) and totaling 1.4 fWAR over 367 PA, a span in which he lined up all over the diamond (primarily second).
- Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is “coming along quickly” in his recovery from late-April elbow surgery, Cotillo writes. Eovaldi threw a bullpen session Saturday, his second since going under the knife, and could either throw a multi-inning sim game or embark on a rehab assignment next, per Cotillo. One of Boston’s second-half heroes in 2018, the 29-year-old Eovaldi got off to a rough start this season even before surgery, managing a 6.00 ERA/6.99 FIP with 6.86 K/9 and 4.71 BB/9 in 21 innings (four starts). Eovaldi’s in the first season of a four-year, $67.5MM contract, making his early 2019 struggles all the more alarming.
Red Sox Activate David Price From Injured List
The Red Sox announced that they’ve reinstated left-hander David Price from the 10-day injured list. He’ll start this afternoon’s game against the Blue Jays. Boston also reinstated catcher Sandy Leon from paternity leave and, in a pair of corresponding moves, optioned catcher Oscar Hernandez and righty Josh Smith to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Price’s stay on the injured list due to elbow tendinitis proved to only be a couple of weeks long. His return is nevertheless notable, as Boston has had to patch together its rotation with both Price and Nathan Eovaldi on the shelf due to injury. In recent weeks, the Sox have turned to Smith and fellow righty Hector Velazquez to start games (without receiving much in the way of quality results).
Price will join Chris Sale, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez in the top four spots of the rotation, though the fifth spot will remain somewhat of a question mark until Eovaldi returns from an April 21 elbow procedure that was expected to sideline him for up to six weeks. In 36 innings so far in 2019, Price has a 3.75 ERA with a 42-to-10 K/BB ratio. Although his velocity isn’t quite what it once was, averaging 92.3 mph, Price’s 13.6 percent swinging-strike rate marks a four-percent increase over his 2018 level and would represent a career-high if he can sustain it.
Koji Uehara Retires
Veteran reliever Koji Uehara has retired, Jim Allen of the Kyodo News reports. The 44-year-old Uehara last pitched in the majors in 2017, after which he returned to his native Japan to join the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball. It proved to be a full-circle move by Uehara, who began and ended his career with Yomiuri.
Uehara was often dominant as a starter for Yomiuri from 1999-2006 before mostly working out of the Giants’ bullpen from 2007-08. The right-hander then headed to the majors in 2009 when he signed a two-year, $10MM contract with the Orioles, who initially deployed him as a starter.
Uehara transitioned to the Orioles’ bullpen in 2010 and began a lengthy run as one of the majors’ most effective relievers. During a six-season, 324-inning span from 2010-15, Uehara’s pristine command helped him place first among relievers in two key categories – BB/9 (1.19) and K/BB ratio (9.56) – as well as seventh in ERA (2.08) and 19th in K/9 (11.42).
While Uehara’s major league excellence began with Baltimore, his tenure there was short-lived. The club traded him to the Rangers in July 2011 for reliever Tommy Hunter and a then-unproven slugger named Chris Davis, who later became the highest-paid Oriole ever and remains with the franchise today. Meanwhile, Texas clinched playoff berths in both of Uehara’s seasons with the team and won the American League the year it acquired him, though it wound up losing a classic seven-game World Series to the Cardinals.
Uehara returned to the World Series in 2013 with the Red Sox, who inked him to a one-year, $4.25MM contract prior to the season. It’s safe to say that deal ranks among the wisest the Red Sox have ever doled out, as it began a fruitful four-year union between the sides. Uehara was never greater than during his first year in Boston, where he logged 74 1/3 regular-season innings of 1.09 ERA ball and 12.23 K/9 against 1.09 BB/9. That brilliance carried into the playoffs, where Uehara earned ALCS MVP honors after combining for six shutout innings in a six-game victory over the Tigers. Uehara then totaled another 4 2/3 scoreless frames during the Red Sox’s World Series triumph over the Cardinals, whom he closed out in Game 6.
Although Uehara was never part of another title-winning team, he remained a quality reliever throughout his major league career – which concluded with a one-year stint with the Cubs. Across Baltimore, Texas, Boston and Chicago, the one-time All-Star produced 480 2/3 innings of 2.66 ERA ball with 10.7 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and 95 saves, leading to upward of $50MM in earnings.
As great as Uehara was in the majors, he’s even more accomplished in his homeland. Uehara registered a 3.02 ERA and a 112-67 record over 312 appearances and 205 starts with Yomiuri, where he earned a slew of personal and team awards. MLBTR congratulates Uehara on two outstanding decades in pro baseball and wishes him the best moving forward.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Health Notes: Tatis Jr., Upton, Price, Diaz, K. Davis
The Padres are hoping shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will return May 24, the start of a six-game road trip for the club, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Tatis went to the injured list on April 30 with a hamstring strain, temporarily derailing a phenomenal start to the 20-year-old rookie’s career. The Padres have had the luxury of using Manny Machado at short to fill in for Tatis, but moving the former off third base has left the hot corner to the light-hitting Ty France.
Here’s more on several other household names dealing with injuries…
- Angels left fielder Justin Upton remains a ways off from making his 2019 debut, as he explained to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register and other reporters Saturday. That’s not surprising, though, considering Upton was slated to miss eight to 12 weeks when he went down with a toe injury at the end of March. While Upton is one of the Angels’ best complements to Mike Trout, his absence hasn’t been ruinous thanks to the surprisingly great offensive production waiver pickup Brian Goodwin has offered in his place.
- Red Sox left-hander David Price will come off the IL to start Monday, manager Alex Cora told reporters, including Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Price will end up missing exactly two weeks after heading to the shelf with elbow tendinitis May 6. Before that, Price followed up last fall’s playoff heroics with a 3.75 ERA/3.42 FIP and a career-high 10.5 K/9 across 36 frames.
- Utilityman Aledmys Diaz left the Astros’ game Friday with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, manager AJ Hinch announced (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). The injury doesn’t seem as if it will require an IL stint, though, as Hinch noted Diaz “could possibly be back as early as next series.” Diaz had been filling in at second base since last weekend, when the team placed starter Jose Altuve on the IL, and produced at a white-hot clip before going down with his own injury. Hinch indicated the Astros will turn to Yuli Gurriel at second and Tyler White at first for however long Diaz is out.
- Athletics designated hitter Khris Davis incurred a left hip injury on May 5, and the issue continues to trouble him nearly two full weeks later, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com relays. Davis said Saturday he’s “not 100 hundred percent,” which caused the Athletics to scratch him from their lineup. Manager Bob Melvin admitted there’s “a little bit of concern” for the 31-year-old Davis, who was eminently durable with the A’s from 2016-18, though he’s hopeful the slugger will be OK by Sunday.
J.D. Martinez’s Ex-Representative Suing Over Agency Switch
In November 2017, at the start of what became a lucrative but drawn-out trip to free agency, slugger J.D. Martinez changed representation and hired famed agent Scott Boras. Now, 14-plus months after Martinez scored a five-year, $110MM guarantee from the Red Sox in February 2018, his former rep – RMG Sports Group president Bob Garber – is crying foul on his ex-client’s switch. Garber is suing Merrill Lynch; Bruce Lee, one of Merrill Lynch’s Chicago-based financial advisers; and Pierce Fenner & Smith, “alleging tortious interference with contractual relations,” Scott Holland of the Cook County Record reports.
Garber had represented Martinez since 2010, the year after the Astros drafted him, but he claims in the lawsuit that Lee helped influence Martinez to hire Boras. According to Garber, he introduced Martinez to Lee, and the outfielder later hired Lee and Merrill Lynch “to provide wealth management services,” Holland writes. However, Garber alleged, “Upon learning of Boras’ impressive book of clients. Lee decided to grab an opportunity to get a foothold into the lucrative list of baseball clients represented by Scott Boars by using Martinez as his bait.”
Garber continued that in October 2017, shortly before Martinez defected to the Boras Corporation, the player engaged in phone discussions with Lee in which Lee “told Martinez to terminate his contractual relationship with RMG and Garber, telling Martinez, among other fabrications, that Bob is done, Bob is a hack and that Bob will sell him short.” As Holland writes, Garber added that Lee met with the Boras Corporation in November “to discuss referrals for his financial advising services,” indicating the two sides employed underhanded tactics that led to Boras stealing Martinez’s business from Garber.
This is somewhat of a similar situation to one in 2018 that saw Juan Carlos Nunez sue the ACES Agency, where he formerly worked as an independent contractor. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explained at the time, Nunez alleged that “ACES founders Sam and Seth Levinson guided and funded him in a scheme to attract clients and connect them with performance-enhancing drugs.” Nunez sought “millions” in damages, but wrongdoing on the part of ACES was never proven.
Likewise, it may be difficult to show real evidence that Lee did anything to help sway Martinez to Boras. Regardless, though, Martinez’s switch to Boras had negative financial ramifications for Garber. Had Garber kept representing Martinez, RMG Sports Group would have continued to earn a 5 percent commission on his baseball-related income. Therefore, had Martinez inked the same $110MM contract with Garber on his side, RMG would have raked in $5.5MM.
It’s anyone’s guess whether Martinez would have landed the same deal had he kept Garber in place, of course. Even though Martinez entered the market as a superstar-caliber hitter, concerns over his defense and age (30 at the time) helped lead to a lack of suitors on the open market. He and the Red Sox wound up engaged in a months-long standoff, during which it seemed like only a matter of time before he’d head to Boston. That’s exactly what happened, and the Red Sox have since reaped the rewards in the form of elite production from Martinez and a World Series championship in his first season with the club.
Going forward, it’s possible the Boras-repped Martinez will collect another major payday in the coming years. His current pact includes a pair of opt-out chances, one after this season and another at the conclusion of the 2020 campaign. But if Martinez takes advantage of that opportunity during the upcoming offseason, he’d be leaving a guaranteed $62.5MM on the table.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/17/19
We’ll track some minor moves from around the league here…
- Southpaw Jerry Blevins was outrighted by the Braves, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Blevins had been designated for assignment recently; whether he’ll accept the assignment isn’t yet clear, but he has the right to decline. The veteran reliever only saw six appearances with the Atlanta organization and they didn’t go very well. He suffered a big drop-off in strikeouts last season. That being said, Blevins has compiled nearly five hundred innings of MLB pitching with a 3.57 ERA and 9.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9; it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see him back up to the majors this year.
- The Red Sox signed right-hander Dylan Thompson to a minor league contract, per an announcement from the independent American Association (Twitter link). Thompson had been slated to open the season with the AA’s Winnipeg Goldeyes before his contract was purchased by the Red Sox. A former Rockies farmhand, Thompson spent the past three seasons pitching for the AA’s Sioux Falls Canaries — primarily as a reliever in 2017 but exclusively as a starter in 2018. While his overall numbers don’t immediately jump out, the right-hander’s sinker movement is eye-opening, to say the least (as depicted in GIF form by Rob Friedman, on Twitter). Whether Thompson can parlay that wiffle-esque movement into success in affiliated ball remains to be seen, but he’ll make for an interesting addition to the lower levels of Boston’s system. He’s opened the year with Class-A Advanced Salem and allowed a pair of runs on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts in three innings.
- Left-hander Tyler Lyons accepted his outright assignment after clearing waivers this week, per an announcement from the Pirates‘ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. Lyons, 31, was dominant out of the Cardinals’ bullpen as recently as 2017 — 2.83 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.50 HR/9 in 54 innings — but has struggled since that excellent showing. The southpaw yielded 16 runs in 16 2/3 innings last season with St. Louis and was rocked for five runs in four innings with the Pirates earlier this season. He had the option of rejecting his assignment in favor of free agency but will remain in the Pittsburgh organization as he works toward another opportunity later in the year.
Red Sox Designate Chandler Shepherd For Assignment
The Red Sox announced Friday morning that they’ve designated right-hander Chandler Shepherd for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for catcher Oscar Hernandez, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Pawtucket. Hernandez will join the active roster in place of catcher Sandy Leon as he departs for paternity leave.
Shepherd, 26, has struggled through a brutal start to his 2019 campaign, pitching to a 10.01 ERA through 29 2/3 inning of Triple-A ball. He’s yielded a staggering 53 hits in that time, including 11 home runs, issued 16 walks and also been tagged for another 10 unearned runs. Shepherd, to his credit, has punched out 30 hitters in those 29 2/3 innings and did turn in a solid 2018 season in Pawtucket when he logged a 3.89 ERA in 129 2/3 innings. Despite this season’s alarming home run woes, he allowed just 13 long balls in 2018.
The 25-year-old Hernandez was the top pick in the Rule 5 Draft back in 2014 but saw only minimal time with the D-backs over the next two seasons and hit .167/.239/.262 in a tiny sample of 47 plate appearances in the big leagues. The defensive-minded backstop has thwarted 43 percent of stolen base attempts against him in his minor league career and has consistently drawn above-average framing marks, but he’s just a .190/.2440/.344 hitter in 431 plate appearances at the Double-A level and a .203/.282/.284 hitter in 225 plate appearances at Triple-A. Lack of production in the upper minors notwithstanding, Boston needs a backup catcher with Leon away from the club for a few days, so Hernandez will return to a big league roster for the first time since 2016.
AL East Notes: Gurriel, Orioles, Pop, Pedroia
The latest from around the AL East…
- The Blue Jays have gotten little from their outfielders this season, though reinforcements could be on the way in the form of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi checks in on Gurriel’s development as a utilityman, after Gurriel was sent to Triple-A in mid-April following some rough defensive showings at second base. While Gurriel has continued to see a lot of time (10 games) as a second baseman at Triple-A, he has also been moved around to shortstop and left field. The latter position seems like Gurriel’s clearest route to playing time with the Jays, as the veteran combo of Freddy Galvis and Eric Sogard have performed well as Toronto’s middle infield duo, plus Brandon Drury and (when healthy) Devon Travis will be in the second base mix.
- The Orioles are facing more challenges than just an extensive on-field rebuild, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal explores in a wide-ranging look at the organization. The piece touches on such topics as the ownership transition to John and Lou Angelos from their father Pete, the league’s displeasure at the Orioles continuing their longstanding legal dispute with the Nationals over MASN broadcast rights, and the team’s declining attendance, which reflects both the Orioles’ losing records and the larger economic realities facing the city of Baltimore as a whole. Despite the latter issues, it doesn’t seem likely that the Orioles would actually move out of Baltimore — Rosenthal notes that negotiations are already underway to secure a new lease for the team at Camden Yards, as the current deal expires in 2021.
- Orioles pitching prospect Zach Pop underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this week, sidelining the right-hander for the rest of this season and likely at least half of the 2020 season. As MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko notes, Pop was shut down in Spring Training due to a significant drop in velocity, though the 22-year-old did eventually take the field and post an 0.84 ERA over 10 2/3 relief innings at Double-A Bowie. Pop was one of the five prospects Baltimore acquired for Manny Machado last summer, and MLB.com (which ranked Pop as the 19th-best minor leaguer in the Orioles’ farm system) touted his high-90’s fastball and a “plus-plus” sinker in its scouting report.
- After his rehab assignment was shut down over the weekend, Dustin Pedroia will be back playing on Friday, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. Pedroia experienced some discomfort in his bothersome left knee, though things have improved enough for the longtime Red Sox second baseman to begin games at Triple-A (Pedroia had previously been rehabbing for Boston’s Double-A affiliate). Knee problems have kept Pedroia out of action for all but nine games since the start of the 2018 season, and with rookie Michael Chavis on fire at the plate, it will interesting to see how the Sox handle things when Pedroia is finally ready to resume regular duty.