Red Sox Rumors

Injury Notes: Seager, Price, Red Sox, Scherzer, Mariners

By Steve Adams | March 13, 2017 at 1:04pm CDT

Dodgers star Corey Seager won’t appear in a game for the team at all this week, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (Twitter links via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times). Roberts said over the weekend that Seager, who finished third in last season’s MVP voting thanks to a .308/.365/.512 batting line and strong glovework at short, is dealing with an “oblique-ish” injury. While there’s still time for Seager to ramp back up for the season, oblique issues have a tendency to linger. Seager hasn’t played since March 3 and now seemingly won’t get into action until the final third of the month. McCullough adds that lefty Scott Kazmir also isn’t likely to pitch in a game this week as he continues to tweak his delivery after leaving his most recent Cactus League outing due to tightness and limited mobility in his hip.

A few more injury issues worth keeping an eye on around the league…

David Price told Red Sox reporters that he’s not 100 percent certain exactly what the injury he’s facing is, but in fairly strange fashion, noted that he’d have opted for surgery if he were 22 or 23 years old (via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). “They said if I was 22 or 23, they’d have told me to go have surgery,” said Price. “…I’ve gone through this. This is something I feel like happens every spring training. It’s those first four to five weeks of spring training that I feel like I go through this every single year, and this year was just a little bit worse.” Pressed on the specifics of the injury Price stated that he’s not sure what precisely set off the alarm bells for doctors but added that his elbow feels good and offered no concern regarding his ulnar collateral ligament. There’s no timeline for his recovery, though Drellich notes that it’s looking likely that Price will be on the DL to open the season.
Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal provides updates on a pair of mending Red Sox relievers (Twitter links). Setup man Tyler Thornburg, acquired in the trade that sent Travis Shaw to Milwaukee this winter, is slated to throw off a mound on Wednesday. Thornburg hasn’t appeared in a game since March 1 but appears to be nearing a return to action. As for last season’s setup acquisition, Carson Smith (who underwent Tommy John surgery before pitching in the regular season), he threw a 15-to-18 pitch bullpen session today, which marks his first mound work since undergoing his Tommy John procedure.
Nationals ace Max Scherzer voiced with confidence on Monday that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Scherzer, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, has been slowed by a stress fracture in his right ring finger but said plainly on Monday, “I’m gonna do it,” when asked about being ready for the start of the season. Manager Dusty Baker offered a similar take, stating that Scherzer is “a little bit behind but not as far behind as it looked like he was going to be at the beginning” of camp.
Mariners setup man Steve Cishek is all but certain to begin the season on the disabled list, per Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 30-year-old side-armer had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip last October and is still at least one week, if not two weeks, away from throwing off the mound, according to manager Scott Servais. “I think coming into this camp, it was no secret that we were projecting that he might start the season a little bit late,” said Servais.“We’re still on that schedule.”
Within that same piece, Dutton notes that the Mariners got better news on right-hander Tony Zych, who is already throwing off a mound and will face hitters in live BP this week. And in a second column, Dutton adds that the Mariners got positive news following an MRI on right-hander Shae Simmons. There’s no ligament damage in Simmons’ elbow, as the hard-thrower is instead dealing with a strained muscle in his forearm. He’ll be out for the next couple of days, but it seems that the former Brave has staved off any form of serious injury.

Quick Hits: Royals, Rebuilds, Quentin, Payrolls

By Mark Polishuk | March 12, 2017 at 11:35pm CDT

The Royals are pushing to contend in 2017 but if the team is out of the race in July, GM Dayton Moore has told outside executives that impending free agents Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar will all be available, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Moore stopped short of completely confirming this report, though he did tell Sherman that “we would have to consider it [a fire sale] if things do not go right.” 2017 has long been seen as the last year of the Royals’ run of contention with this core group, though the team is considering pursuing a reunion with at least one or two of the quartet this winter once they hit free agency. As the Yankees did with Aroldis Chapman last season, K.C. could deal several of their free agents to reload on prospects or MLB-ready talent and then try to re-sign one or more of the traded players back onto the roster. Sherman figures the Mets will keep tabs on Cain and/or Moustakas given their uncertainty in center field and third base.

Here’s some more from around baseball…

There’s no set timetable for when a rebuilding team should start trying to compete again, as C. Trent Rosencrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer hears from several general managers who have either led their teams through rebuilds or are currently within the process of building for the future. The Cubs’ blueprint for rebuilding seems to have worked perfectly, though GM Jed Hoyer noted that the team’s decision to spend on veteran talent following an 89-loss season in 2014 was made in part because too much losing would’ve been detrimental. “We were very concerned about a losing culture and bringing up our young players. If you bring your players up in a culture that accepts losing, at some point it’s going to have a negative impact on those guys,” Hoyer said.
Now that he is finally healthy, Carlos Quentin felt he owed it to himself to give baseball one more shot, the veteran outfielder tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. “I didn’t want to look back five years from now and say, ’I should have just picked up the phone and made a call and swallowed my ego and pride and done it the right way,’ ” Quentin said. The Red Sox signed Quentin to a minor league deal this winter, and at age 34 and having not appeared in a big league game since July 26, 2014, Quentin is comfortable with the fact that he faces a long road to crack Boston’s deep roster.
The Dodgers have the more “dead money” on their payroll than any other team in baseball, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards observes. Los Angeles has $47.4MM committed to players who are not on their 40-man roster (whether they’ve been traded, released or are still in the organization but just not on the 40-man) this season. The Padres ($35.1MM), Yankees ($26.5MM), Angels ($22.4MM) and Red Sox ($22.3MM) round out the top five, though San Diego is by far the leader in terms of dead money as a percentage of overall payroll. A whopping 54.8% of the Padres’ 2017 payroll is going towards players who are no longer on the team’s 40-man roster — Melvin Upton Jr., James Shields, Hector Olivera and Jedd Gyorko.

East Notes: Red Sox, Braves, Mets

By Connor Byrne | March 12, 2017 at 9:23am CDT

It didn’t surprise Clay Buchholz that the Red Sox traded him during the offseason, the right-hander told reporters – including Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald – on Sunday (Twitter links). Buchholz is now with the Phillies, though he expected Boston to send him to the White Sox as part of the Chris Sale deal. “This is probably good for me, getting out of Boston in general,” said Buchholz, who had been a member of the Red Sox since they selected him in the first round of the 2005 draft. “It stinks to say that but seems like more people remember bad things that happened rather than good things.” Buchholz had his down moments in Boston, including a rough 2016, but posted respectable numbers in 1,167 2/3 innings with the Sox (3.96 ERA, 6.93 K/9, 3.21 BB/9, 47.8 percent ground-ball rate) and had arguably his best season in 2013 as part of a World Series-winning club.

Pitching Notes: Rangers, Astros, Marlins, O’s, Red Sox, Jays

By Connor Byrne | March 11, 2017 at 10:21pm CDT

While it’s possible the Rangers will bring back right-hander Colby Lewis to compete for a spot in their banged-up rotation, there hasn’t been any movement toward re-signing the free agent, general manager Jon Daniels told Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. The 37-year-old Lewis is unwilling to take a minors deal, reports Fraley, so the Rangers will have to remove someone from their 40-man roster if they hand him a major league contract. Nearly all of Lewis’ career has been spent in Texas, where he pitched his first three seasons (2002-04) and the past seven (2010-16). He threw 116 1/3 innings of 3.71 ERA ball last season, though his FIP, xFIP and SIERA each hovered around the 5.00 mark.

The latest on a few other American League pitchers:

No full-time reliever eclipsed the 90-inning mark in either of the previous two seasons, but several could do it this year, observes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. There’s “a growing desire” among GMs and managers to utilize certain relievers for multiple innings, relays Sherman, who writes that the Astros’ Chris Devenski and the Marlins’ David Phelps are prime candidates to serve as bullpen workhorses in 2017. “Not every reliever is built for a versatile role. [Devenski] is,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. The right-hander was sensational across 108 1/3 frames as a rookie last year, when he threw 83 2/3 innings out of the bullpen and delivered a 1.61 ERA, 8.98 K/9 and 1.26 BB/9. Phelps was great at preventing runs in both roles (2.22 ERA in 24 1/3 innings as a starter, 2.31 ERA in 62 1/3 relief frames), but the righty only worked an inning at a time from the bullpen. Miami’s now stretching him out to throw 50 pitches in a given appearance, if necessary. “I look at Phelps like Andrew Miller,” manager Don Mattingly told Sherman. “I can use him in multiple ways. I can pitch him a few innings or I can have him close a game. You can’t do it on a daily basis. He still needs his rest. You know in bigger situations in the fifth and sixth innings you can see him.”
One of the Orioles’ top starters, righty Chris Tillman, will open the season on the 10-day disabled list, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Tillman has been dealing with shoulder issues for the past few months, and he underwent a platelet-rich plasma injection in December. The Orioles won’t need a fifth starter until April 15, notes Kubatko, who lists Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson, Gabriel Ynoa, Jayson Aquino and Chris Lee as possibilities to slot into their rotation during Tillman’s absence.
Red Sox left-hander David Price threw Saturday for the first time since suffering a flexor strain earlier this month, per Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Manager John Farrell came away encouraged, calling it “a good day for David,” but a return still doesn’t exactly seem imminent for the ace. “All of the early phase of throwing are going to be short, controlled effort and energy,” said Farrell. “We’re not even mapping out distances right now. We’re more interested in seeing how his arm responds to even the light throwing.”
Blue Jays southpaw T.J. House left the team’s game against the Tigers in an ambulance Friday after a line drive struck him in the head. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer any skull fractures and is “doing well,” GM Ross Atkins told Jayson Stark of ESPN on Saturday. The club will be “extremely conservative” in deciding when to clear House to return to the mound, Atkins added.

Pitching Notes: Rockies, Gee, Kendrick, Wheeler

By Jeff Todd | March 10, 2017 at 10:30pm CDT

With today’s awful news about righty Chad Bettis, the Rockies face a dilemma in the rotation. As Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes, the club had believed it was looking for one starter to step up in camp, but now it needs two. It was debatable already whether the club ought to have added a starter, but now the need is all the more apparent. A variety of youthful competitors are on hand, of course, along with 30-year-old southpaw Chris Rusin, who’s probably best suited for a return to the bullpen. While there’s plenty of interesting talent, the Rockies may feel a need to find more certainty as they seek to push toward contention.

Here’s more on a few pitching situations from around the game:

Signed to provide the Rangers with depth, righty Dillon Gee may now be in position to take a spot in the Opening Day rotation with Andrew Cashner sidelined. As T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com writes, Gee says he feels healthy and likes the way he’s throwing. As he works back to full health following thoracic outlet surgery, Gee is also working to smooth out mechanical issues he identified in his work last year with the Royals.
It’s a similar story for Kyle Kendrick, who’s importance to the Red Sox has risen with David Price’s health issues. Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports that the 32-year-old won’t have an opt-out opportunity until June 15th, which gives the club some flexibility, though it’s possible he’ll be needed earlier. As Drellich writes, the Sox are encouraged by Kendrick’s initial showing, with manager John Farrell noting that the team likes that he’s working off of his sinker and cutter rather than relying on the four-seam fastball. From Kendrick’s perspective, “I feel right with where I’m at with my stuff.”
Mets righty Zack Wheeler is drawing some good reviews from his early showing on the mound, as Marc Carig of Newsday reports on Twitter. An “evaluator” tells Carig that Wheeler is showing a “smooth delivery” and that the ball is coming out of his hand well. That’s encouraging for the Mets, who have the depth to account for any further delays from the righty but no doubt want to see him contributing in the majors sooner than later.

Injury Notes: Seager, Red Sox & Orioles Pitchers, Gray

By Jeff Todd | March 10, 2017 at 7:02pm CDT

We just checked in on Rangers righty Andrew Cashner. Here are a few more injury situations worthy of note from around the game:

What seemed at first like a minor issue for Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager is beginning to seem a bit more concerning. While he’s apparently dealing with tightness in his back, manager Dave Roberts says it’s “oblique-ish” in location, as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Though Seager is said to be improving, it’s still not clear when the star youngster will return to the lineup. He also weighed in on the injury, saying that he doesn’t expect to have any trouble getting ready for Opening Day, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets.
Red Sox manager John Farrell gave updates on a variety of players to reporters, including Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. That includes lefty Roenis Elias, who has been diagnosed with an intercostal strain that will sideline him for at least a few weeks. A minor thumb issue for righty Rick Porcello doesn’t appear to be posing many problems. And while it’s not strictly an injury matter, it’s worth noting Farrell’s comments on righty Tyler Thornburg, who still needs to build up shoulder strength. That’s common for hurlers that are new to the organization, says Farrell, who cites a “period of adaptation” as pitchers “go through our shoulder maintenance program.”
Meanwhile, Red Sox lefty David Price isn’t yet ready to throw, but is able to go through a pitching motion, Drellich adds on Twitter. It’s promising, at least, that there’s forward momentum as he works through a flexor strain.
Time is tight for Orioles righty Chris Tillman, who is still not ready to return from his shoulder issues. He will need to progress smoothly to appear in the first week of the season, manager Buck Showalter told reporters including Rich Dubroff of PressBoxOnline.com (via Twitter). There’s perhaps a bit more breathing room for O’s closer Zach Britton, who’s working through oblique pain. Showalter says that he may appear in Grapefruit League action next after a pen session today, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun tweets.
Orioles righty Logan Ondrusek is taking the always-ominous trip to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. Ondrusek talked about how he experienced the elbow injury, explaining that he felt it on a single pitch but didn’t think more of it until he woke up with soreness that evening. He notes that it’s tough for pitchers who are going year to year to deal with potentially significant injuries. In his case, it’s not clear how his contract will work out. Ondrusek agreed with the O’s on a MLB deal that didn’t guarantee him all of his $650K salary.
Athletics righty Sonny Gray says he was surprised to learn of his lat strain, as Jimmy Durkin of the Mercury News reports. An MRI was ordered just to be on the safe side, which revealed “a little bit of a strain there that’s just going to take a little time to heal.” Gray says he’s confident he’ll return in relatively short order — and regain his former trajectory. “There’s no doubt in my mind that when this thing gets knocked out that I’m going to be back to being the guy I’ve always been,” he says. “It’s just another little test that I’ve got to deal with.”

AL East Notes: Severino, Benintendi, Bautista, Orioles

By Steve Adams | March 9, 2017 at 8:41am CDT

Despite the fact that Luis Severino was dominant in 23 1/3 innings of relief last year after flopping in the rotation, the Yankees still view the 23-year-old as a starting pitcher, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. That’s fine with Severino, who tells Davidoff: “Of course I want to be a starter.” Pitching coach Larry Rothschild tells Davidoff that Severino still has a starter’s mentality and adds some optimism that the talented righty can overcome the “bumps in the road” that he incurred in 2016. Severino shined as a 22-year-old rookie, logging a 2.89 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 50.3 percent ground-ball rate in 62 1/3 innings back in 2015. However, he was clobbered for an 8.50 ERA and 11 homers in 47 2/3 innings as a starter last year before shifting to the ’pen. Working in short relief, Severino posted a 0.39 ERA and allowed just eight hits with a 25-to-10 K/BB ratio in 23 1/3 frames. He’s competing with Chad Green, Luis Cessa, Bryan Mitchell and Adam Warren for the two open rotation spots in the Bronx.

D-Backs Assistant GM Jared Porter Traces His Path to Arizona

By brettballantini | March 8, 2017 at 6:55pm CDT

A 69-win season spelled an abrupt end for the D-backs front office regime that was led by chief baseball officer Tony La Russa (who remains in the organization in another capacity), general manager Dave Stewart and senior vice president De Jon Watson.

Enter new Arizona GM Mike Hazen, who tapped former standout Boston execs Amiel Sawdaye and Jared Porter, along with former Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, to remake a franchise that may have lost its way.

We caught up to Porter, Arizona’s senior vice president and assistant GM, in order to get a peek into the changes the Diamondbacks are implementing this season.

But in part one of this interview, Porter traces his remarkable fortune in the game so far, including four championships (three in Boston, one with the Chicago Cubs). Is he a lucky charm? Well, Diamondbacks fans can be heartened that in his first seasons in Boston and Chicago, he helped the clubs snap World Series droughts of 86 and 108 years, respectively:

—

Much is made of the Boston roots of Mike Hazen, Amiel Sawdaye, you, and even new manager Torey Lovullo. Given the different roles you all played with the Red Sox, did you conceive of a time when you might all be together again, with commensurate promotions?

I’m very fortunate to have been able to learn from and work with so many talented executives in Boston. It’s one of those things where you don’t realize just how much your career can be shaped by who you work for and learn from early on—and it’s immeasurable.

In my case, I happened to get an internship working with and for the best executive in baseball history, Theo Epstein. The culture that Theo created in Boston (and now in Chicago, with Jed Hoyer) is so unique. I feel like I’ve been part of an incredible and captivating baseball operations think tank ever since I started as an intern with Boston in 2004, with everybody working as hard as they can and trying to learn as much as they can, with the freedom and comfort to express opinions and explore both old and new ways of thought with regards to player evaluation, acquisition, development and analysis. I’m forever grateful to Ben Cherington, for hiring me and giving me my first opportunity.

That think tank culture is certainly something we are going to try as hard as we can to replicate in Arizona. Along with others such as Theo, Jed, Ben, Raquel Ferreira, Brian O’Halloran, Jason McLeod, and Allard Baird, Mike and Amiel were big parts of that culture, with their fingerprints all over Boston’s World Series championships and current roster.

Did you have an inkling that you were valued to such a degree by Mike that he would seek you out in Arizona as he did? When you left Boston after the 2015 season, leaving them behind for a year, was there any sort of exit interview/between the lines/wink-wink where you had a sense you might work together again down the line?

Things never seem to happen in a linear manner when it comes to a career path, so there was never any sort of “wink-wink,” but Mike, Amiel, and myself have always been very close and have always enjoyed working together. With that said, the preexisting relationships I had when I went to the Cubs along with some very strong ones I developed over the year-plus I spent in Chicago made it a very tough place to leave, on both a personal and professional level.

I think the Cubs will be just fine without me, though!

What was your adjustment moving from a Ben Cherington front office in Boston to Theo’s in Chicago? Given the enormous successes both teams have had, there must be a lot of similarities. But is there a single contrast that stands out?

We all worked together for so many years in Boston, making the front offices very similar in style and goals. It was a smooth transition from Boston to Chicago, given the similar styles and scouting/development infrastructures coming from what Theo instilled in all of us in Boston.

The biggest difference between the two front offices is that the Cubs have really pressed forward with regards to analytics and new forms of data analysis, because Theo was able to pick up from he left off in Boston while starting from scratch in Chicago. Data analysis is nonstop for them, with a perfectly designed platform to access all of this information. From minor league coaches, to scouts, to major league coaching staff, the analytics make everyone more efficient and knowledgeable. It’s an area that we have already started, and will continue to press forward with, on the Diamondbacks.

Does Theo give you crap for walking into a 103-win team and cherry picking a ring?

[Laughing] No, he doesn’t. But I give it to myself!

Admittedly, it was great timing for me. I’m really lucky that he and Jed gave me the chance to be a part of winning a World Series with the Cubs. The ring is a nice bonus, but the amount I was able to learn being around those guys again for another year-plus, and being ingrained into the great culture they (along with manager Joe Maddon) have created in Chicago is my biggest takeaway. Theo’s probably given me more crap for cherry picking from the culture, and I don’t blame him. They have a great thing going there.

As long as we’re talking Cubs, can you give me your personal Game 7 experience?

Oh man, what an incredible game and series. [Ex-Cubs pitcher and current team exec] Ryan Dempster said it best on the bus ride from Progressive Field to the airport after the game, something to the effect of, “There’s no way the Cubs were going to win their first World Series in 108 years without some sort of dramatic story within the game.”

And it’s true. The twists and turns throughout the Series and specifically in Game 7 were captivating and gut-wrenching. The Indians were and are a great team; it could have gone either way. I’ve been fortunate to be a part of a few world champions over the years, so the best part for me is seeing players, coaches, front office executives and scouts win one for the first time. To me, that provides an incredible amount of gratitude. It serves as a reminder of how tough it is to be part of a team that wins it, and also how lucky all of us who work in baseball are to be a part of it.

Speaking of breaking 108-year droughts, do you practice any particular superstitions in spite of being an analytics-driven kind of fella?

I don’t want to say too much here—and acknowledging that it’s the players who win games on the field—but we’ll do just about anything in the front office suite during a game to change our luck and try to will the team to get a few runs. Typically it involves a lot of hot dogs, chocolate cake, and even the occasional vegetable crudité and tapenade combo.

Part two of this Q&A, which focuses on Porter’s preferred statistics/metrics for player evaluation, his front-office responsibilities in Arizona and the Diamondbacks’ 2017 roster, will run tomorrow afternoon.

Follow Brett Ballantini on Twitter: @PoetryinPros.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Sachs / Arizona Diamondbacks communications department.

AL East Notes: Alvarez, Tillman, Britton, Price, Sandoval

By Jeff Todd | March 8, 2017 at 12:17pm CDT

Meanwhile, the Orioles are engineering a position change for former outfielder Dariel Alvarez, as Meoli further reports. The live-armed 28-year-old will go to minor-league camp and hopefully earn a job in the low minors as a reliever. Baltimore has had success with such transitions in the past, having done the same with current MLB hurler Mychal Givens — which also provides the team with a blueprint for Alvarez. While Alvarez will continue to spend some time working on his bat — he fell off in the power department last year but has been productive at times in the upper minors — the focus will turn to the mound. The timing of the move was driven by Alvarez’s contract situation, manage Buck Showalter suggested. “[L]ooking at the landscape, we don’t want his optionable status to come and go,” said Showalter. “Someone is going to do this at some point. We’ve got this year and next year to option him. Perfect world, he’s knocking on the door as a pitcher next year.”

Here’s more from the AL East:

Key Orioles hurlers Chris Tillman (shoulder) and Zach Britton (oblique) appear to be progressing as hoped. As Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun tweets, the pair of hurlers just completed bullpens without issue, though it’s still not known when they’ll be ready for competitive action. Needless to say, the O’s are counting heavily on both pitchers, and will hope to see them take the mound in a spring contest sooner than later. For the time being, though, it’s encouraging that they’re continuing to maintain forward momentum.
Much the same situation holds true with regard to Red Sox southpaw David Price, who recently was diagnosed with a flexor strain and bone spurs. While it has only been a few days, he could be ready to throw again as soon as Friday if he feels up to it, manager John Farrell told reporters including Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). It still seems hard to imagine that Price will be able to ramp up in time to be ready for Opening Day — at least, while maintaining a sufficiently cautious approach — but the Red Sox are no doubt concerned more with avoiding any hiccups on his way back.
The Red Sox aren’t yet ready to declare Pablo Sandoval the starting third baseman, but Silverman argues the team ought to go ahead and acknowledge that fact. While the club couldn’t have been sure what it would see from Sandoval this spring, he has not only shown up in shape but has provided evidence that he’s ready to return to being an effective player. Whether Farrell is using the situation to maintain motivation, or has other reasons, he’s not ready to say that Sandoval has regained his job at the hot corner. And that’s just fine with Sandoval, who says that’s not his primary objective. “I do have goals, but my goals are to be healthy,” Sandoval tells Silverman. “If I’m healthy and continue to work, I think I can help my team win games.”

East Notes: Kolek, Owens, Bautista, Gurriel

By Jeff Todd | March 6, 2017 at 11:01pm CDT

Righty Tyler Kolek, who the Marlins selected second overall in the 2014 draft, remains an important part of the club’s long-term plans — even though Tommy John surgery and performance questions cloud his outlook. As Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel reports, Kolek is embarking upon the all-important ramp up back toward competitive pitching. He’s frustrated by the inevitably slow progress, but seems to be putting in all the work that has been demanded of him. Miami farm director Marco DelPiano says he still believes that Kolek has the talent to excel in the majors, though clearly there’s a long way to go to realizing that potential.

Here’s more from the game’s eastern divisions:

The Red Sox continue to see less-than-ideal results from lefty Henry Owens, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes. Once a highly regarded prospect, and still an important part of the organization’s rotation depth, Owens most recently coughed up four free passes in an inning of work. Though the 24-year-old got a head start on throwing over the offseason, in hopes of a smooth launch with his mechanics, he acknowledges that “it hasn’t carried over yet.” Manager John Farrell says it’s a continuation of a long-known issue. “It’s something we talked about before camp,” he said. “The improved command is a primary objective. Today it wasn’t there.”
Jose Bautista spurned a much bigger contract offer to return to the Blue Jays, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. The veteran outfielder could have scored a three-year deal with “well over $50MM in guaranteed money,” per the report, but chose to head back to Toronto for one year at a $18.5MM guarantee (combined with a mutual and then a vesting option). While it’s not clear from where it issued, the offer is said to have materialized in mid-January, which is particularly notable when considering the oft-discussed narrative that sluggers like Bautista weren’t able to generate much interest this winter. Bautista, 36, says he considered all relevant factors. Ultimately, he says, “this is here I’m happy and comfortable.”
Meanwhile, John Lott of The Athletic takes an interesting look at one of Bautista’s newest teammates in the Blue Jays organization, youngster Lourdes Gurriel. Though he’s not expected to factor at the MLB level this year — it’s still not even clear where he’ll end up in the field, though he’ll start out as a shortstop — the 23-year-old had a significant role in the club’s offseason approach. Gurriel ultimately turned down an offer from the Cardinals that was similar to the $22MM he got from Toronto. Of course, he’ll have to pay the people who brought him out of Cuba out of that contract; Gurriel says the cost is “in the millions.” Lott explores the interesting path taken by Gurriel (and older brother Yulieski) in a story that’s well worth a full read.

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