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Chris Sale To Begin Rehab Assignment; Red Sox To Recall Tanner Houck

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3:25PM: Sale threw three innings of work rather than his scheduled two in his first rehab outing today, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.  The left-hander allowed three singles in his three shutout frames, and threw his fastball in the 94-95mph range, reaching as high as 97mph.  As for Houck, manager Alex Cora told Speier and other reporters that Houck will probably start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, and be used in the bullpen for Boston’s current series against the Yankees.

11:37AM: Chris Sale is going to begin a rehab assignment today, according to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. Additionally, the Red Sox are planning on recalling Tanner Houck today, according to Dan Roche of WBZ.

As noted by Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, this would be Sale’s first game since August 13th, 2019. Shortly after that, he was shut down with elbow inflammation but was not recommended for Tommy John surgery. Sale tried to come back for the 2020 season but eventually did require Tommy John and underwent the procedure in March of 2020, missing the entirety of that season.

Without Sale, the Red Sox floundered and wound up last in the AL East, finishing the shortened season with a record of 24-36. However, 2021 has been a complete reversal so far, as the club finds itself atop the division with a record of 55-36. Despite their strong placement in the standings, the rotation has not been a strong suit for them. The starters as a whole have produced an ERA of 4.47, 21st-best in the majors, although advanced metrics are a bit more charitable, with a FIP of 3.86, xFIP of 4.11 and a SIERA of 4.20. Concerns over the rotation have also become heightened lately. Garrett Richards has put up an ERA of 6.45 and Eduardo Rodriguez one of 5.35 since the start of June. Martin Perez and Nick Pivetta have not been much better, at 4.76 and 4.85 during that same timeframe, respectively. Nathan Eovaldi has been excellent but always comes with injury concerns. He’s he hasn’t surpassed 125 innings in a season since 2015 and has already tallied 103 1/3 this year.

Sale has been one of the best pitchers in baseball during his career and, if healthy, he would be a gamechanger for any rotation. From 2012 to 2019, Sale hurled 1535 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.05, a strikeout rate of 30.8% and walk rate of 5.5%, which produced 42.8 fWAR and helped the Red Sox win the 2018 World Series in the process.

As the trade deadline approaches, the health and performance of Sale could impact the urgency with which Boston pursues rotation upgrades. The club has stayed under the luxury tax line so far, but just barely. (According to Roster Resource, their luxury tax hit is $208MM, just below the first threshold of $210MM.) That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room, if they insist on limboing under that line. But a healthy Sale would be a bigger upgrade than any trade acquisition they could hope to land in a trade.

In the meantime, the pitching staff is hoping for a boost from Houck as they begin an important series against the Yankees. Houck has put up a 3.07 ERA with 19 Ks and 3 BBs in 14 2/3 innings in Triple-A since returning from a flexor tendon strain.

Red Sox Promote Jarren Duran

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The Red Sox are promoting top outfield prospect Jarren Duran to make his major league debut tomorrow night against the Yankees, reports Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Twitter link). Boston’s 40-man roster is full, so another move is required to accommodate the formal selection of his contract.

Duran is one of the game’s more promising young talents. While he fell to the seventh round of the 2018 draft coming out Long Beach State, he immediately improved his stock upon entering pro ball. The speedster posted incredible numbers across two levels of A-ball over his first year-plus in the minors before hitting a bit of a bump in the road upon a 2019 promotion to Double-A. He spent all of 2020 at the alternate training site, where reports suggested he’d revamped his swing path to incorporate more loft in an attempt to hit for power.

Evaluators took note of Duran’s changed profile, but last year’s cancelation of the minor league season still left some question whether he’d be able to translate his new mechanics into results. He’s done all he can to answer those doubts this season, hitting a whopping .270/.365/.561 across 219 plate appearances with Triple-A Worcester. Duran has popped fifteen home runs over the year’s first half after hitting a grand total of seven round-trippers over his 880 trips to the plate between 2018-19. A livelier Triple-A baseball could account for some of that production, but there’s little question Duran’s adjustments have had a sizable impact upon his newfound power.

The improved performance has also raised Duran’s stock in the public prospect rankings sphere. Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs now slot the left-handed hitting outfielder as the game’s #55 overall prospect. (Entering the season, he wasn’t among FanGraphs’ top 133 farmhands, although he did slot seventh in the site’s rankings of Red Sox minor leaguers).

Importantly, Duran’s uptick in power hasn’t come with much accompanying swing-and-miss. His 23.7% strikeout rate this season is right in line with his 2019 mark in Double-A. That’s a bit higher than his low minors strikeout percentages but not glaringly so, and there’s little question the improved batted ball authority has been worth any small dip in contact rate.

Now that he’s in the big leagues, Duran looks likely to take over center field on a regular basis. Boston has gotten very little out of the position this year, with a cumulative .236/.300/.392 mark from their group of Kiké Hernández, Alex Verdugo, Danny Santana and Hunter Renfroe. With Duran up, the Sox can rely on Verdugo and Renfroe in the corners on most days while keeping J.D. Martinez at designated hitter. That’ll push Hernández back into the utility role for which he’s best suited. Santana’s currently on the injured list, with Marwin González expected to land on the shelf as well. One of that underperforming duo could find themselves squeezed off the roster upon their return from the IL.

The Red Sox hold a 1.5 game lead over the Rays in the American League East, so Duran’s being thrust right into the thick of a pennant race. Between his combination of Triple-A production and the Sox mediocre center field situation, it had become increasingly apparent Boston should at least give Duran an opportunity to stake a claim to the job. He’ll get that chance beginning tomorrow against their archivals, over whom they have an eight-game advantage in the standings.

Duran won’t earn a full year of major league service in 2021, nor is he expected to accrue enough service time to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player. If he remains in the majors from here on out, he’ll be controllable through 2027 and won’t reach arbitration-eligibility until after the 2024 campaign.

Red Sox Sign Matt Barnes To Two-Year Extension

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The Red Sox announced they’ve agreed to a two-year contract extension with closer Matt Barnes. The deal also contains a club option covering the 2024 campaign.

Barnes will play out the remainder of this season on the $4.5MM deal he signed last winter to avoid arbitration. He’ll receive a $1.75MM signing bonus, followed by successive salaries of $7.25MM and $7.5MM in 2022 and 2023. The option is priced at $8MM (with a $2.25MM buyout) and can escalate by a maximum of $2MM based upon Barnes’ games finished totals over the coming years. Overall, it’s an $18.75MM guarantee for the ISE Baseball client that can max out at $26.5MM if he hits all the escalators and the Red Sox exercise the option. The average annual value (calculated for luxury tax purposes) checks in at $9.375MM.

The extension removes arguably the top impending free agent reliever from next winter’s market. Barnes has generally been a solid late-inning arm, but he’s taken his game to a new level in 2021. The right-hander has worked to a sterling 2.68 ERA across 37 innings, and his peripherals are even more impressive.

Barnes has always been a premier strikeout pitcher, but his 44.6% strikeout percentage is easily a career-high. He’s walking opponents at a 7.2% clip, which would also be a personal best if he sustains it over a full season. The right-hander is throwing first-pitch strikes at a career-best rate, positioning himself well to coax hitters to chase pitches outside the zone deeper into plate appearances. That’s particularly critical for Barnes, who struggled with free passes from 2018-20.

Altogether, Barnes has been among the top late-inning arms in the league this season. Among relievers with at least twenty innings pitched, only Josh Hader and Craig Kimbrel have higher strikeout rates. Liam Hendriks and Kimbrel are the only pitchers with better strikeout/walk rate differentials than Barnes’ 37.4 percentage-point gap. Hendriks is the only reliever with a better SIERA than Barnes’ 1.73 mark, and the Red Sox righty’s 16.3% swinging strike rate is among the top 15. Barnes has deservedly earned his first career All-Star nod in 2021.

That level of dominance makes it a bit surprising he agreed to a two-year extension just a few months before reaching free agency for the first time. Hendriks, last winter’s top free agent reliever, landed a four-year, $54MM deal from the White Sox despite being a few months older than Barnes will be this offseason. Hendriks was coming off a two-year run of excellence, while Barnes has only been pitching at an elite level for a few months following a career of solid but not incredible production. It would’ve been a surprise to see Barnes match Hendriks’ deal because of that slightly lesser track record, but he still seemed a strong candidate to secure a three-year pact on the open market.

Of course, a player’s desire to reach free agency and search for the loftiest guarantee varies person-to-person. Barnes is a New England native who attended college at the University of Connecticut. He’s been a member of the Red Sox organization since he was selected in the first round a decade ago, and he’s spoken about his amenability to locking in a long-term deal a few times over the past eight months. Barnes’ affinity for the organization no doubt played a significant role in his passing up an opportunity to hear from other clubs this winter.

It’s easy to see the appeal for the Red Sox. They’ll lock in a key component of their bullpen for at least two more seasons, with the potential to keep him in the fold for a third year. If Barnes can sustain most or all of his current breakout form, they’d have an elite back-end option for manager Alex Cora at bargain prices. Even if Barnes regresses and pitches at his previous levels, the terms of the extension wouldn’t look all that unreasonable. It’s an affordable opportunity for the Red Sox to keep around a long-tenured, productive member of the organization who looks to have taken his game to new heights this year.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe first reported that the sides were nearing agreement on a two-year deal with a 2024 option. Speier was also first to report the financial breakdown.

Roster Notes: Phillies, Red Sox, Pirates

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The Phillies have placed Odubel Herrera on the 10-day injured list with left ankle tendonitis, per the team. They have selected the contract of right-hander J.D. Hammer from Triple-A to take his roster spot. Herrera’s IL placement is retroactive to yesterday, July 9th. Herrera has somewhat surprisingly emerged as the Phillies’ everyday centerfielder, slashing .241/.292/.390 in 139 plate appearances. Though that amounts to just an 85 wRC+, Herrera’s glovework has earned solid marks, making him an overall positive contibutor in center to the tune of 1.4 rWAR/0.7 fWAR.

Hammer, 26, has posted as solid 1.74 ERA in 20 2/3 innings for the Triple-A IronPigs of Lehigh Valley. He has not appeared in the Majors since 2019, when he logged 19 innings of 3.79 ERA baseball, though his peripheral numbers from that stretch suggest the baseball bounced his way more often than not. In other roster moves…

  • The Red Sox have placed Matt Andriese on the 10-day injured list with right hamstring tendinitis, selecting the contract of Austin Brice in his stead. Andriese has a 6.03 ERA as a long man this year, logging 37 1/3 innings in 26 appearances. The injury does not appear serious, but the Red Sox are taking the opportunity to make sure he’s at full strength for the second half. Brice, 29, has a 6.94 ERA in 12 appearances for the Red Sox this year.
  • The Pirates, meanwhile, have recalled Max Kranick to be the 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Mets, the team announced. He will start the second game of the twin bill. The Scranton native will put his perfect record on the line. Kranick threw five perfect innings in his Major League debut against the Cardinals on June 27th. Kranick needed just 50 pitches to retire all 15 batters he faces, striking out three and getting the win.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/7/21

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Today’s minor transactions:

  • Left-hander Ryan Buchter has cleared outright waivers, the Diamondbacks announced. Arizona designated the veteran reliever for assignment earlier in the week. Buchter was a generally productive middle innings arm between 2016-19, but he didn’t see much action in 2020 and has had a poor season in 2021. Buchter tossed 14 2/3 innings with the D-Backs, pitching to a 5.52 ERA with 13 strikeouts and walks apiece. As a player who has previously been passed through outright waivers, he has the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency.
  • The Red Sox have released left-hander Bobby Poyner, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (Twitter link). Poyner tossed 34 innings out of the Boston bullpen between 2018-19, working to a 4.50 ERA/3.68 SIERA. Boston passed him through outright waivers in January 2020, and he’d spent the 2021 campaign with Triple-A Worcester. Poyner has struggled in 13 innings at the minors’ highest level this year, allowing 15 runs on 22 hits (including six homers), two walks and three hit batsmen.
  • Nationals infielder Humberto Arteaga has apparently cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment over the weekend. Arteaga has been back in action for the Nats Triple-A affiliate in Rochester the past two nights. He’s spent most of the year with the Red Wings but was selected to the major league roster for a day last week, going 0-3 with a sacrifice fly. Arteaga was waived after the Nats acquired Alcides Escobar from the Royals to fill their vacant utility infield role.

Daisuke Matsuzaka To Retire After 2021 NPB Season

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Veteran right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka will retire following the 2021 season, as per an announcement from the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball (hat tip to The Kyodo News).  The 40-year-old last pitched during the 2019 NPB season and hasn’t since been able to get back onto the mound after undergoing cervical spine surgery last year.

Unfortunately for Matsuzaka, he will hang up his glove without one final appearance for the Lions, his original team.  Matsuzaka signed with the Tokyo-based club following the 2019 season but injuries have kept him from fully capping off his career with a 12th season in Japan’s top league.

Of course, Matsuzaka’s status as a Lions legend was already established with his outstanding initial run from 1999-2006, as “Dice-K” rose from being an 18-year-old wunderkind to one of Japan’s best pitchers.  That led to his move to North American baseball, and a high-profile posting process that ended up being won by the Red Sox during the 2006-07 offseason.  The Sox paid a then-record posting fee of $51,111,111.11 to acquire Matsuzaka’s services from the Lions, and then inked the righty to a six-year contract worth $52MM in guaranteed money.

Given the big price tag and the high expectations, it is fair to call Matsuzaka’s tenure a disappointment, given how injuries and an increasing lack of effectiveness kept him from being a consistent rotation force.  That said, it is also incorrect to call his contract an outright bust for the Sox, since Dice-K did help the Red Sox win the 2007 World Series and come within a game of another AL pennant in 2008.  Matsuzaka posted a 4.40 ERA over 204 2/3 innings during his 2007 rookie season, and then a 2.90 ERA over 167 2/3 frames in 2008 that resulted in a fourth-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting.

A rotator cuff strain limited Matsuzaka in 2008, and that was the beginning of a lengthy list of injuries that plagued the right-hander for much of the remainder of his eight seasons in the majors.  The most notable setback was Tommy John surgery in 2011, which sidelined him for most of what ended up being his final two seasons with the Red Sox.

Matsuzaka then signed with the Indians in 2013 but didn’t make any big league appearances for Cleveland, and he then went to the Mets to toss 122 innings over the 2013-14 seasons before he returned to Japan.  He appeared in parts of three seasons with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Chunichi Dragons, and though he continued to be limited by injuries, Matsuzaka did get one last day in the sun as a member of the 2018 NPB All-Star team.  (The Hawks also won the 2017 Japan Series when Matsuzaka was on the roster, though he didn’t pitch that season.)

Matsuzaka retires with an impressive career resume that include a 3.04 ERA over 1464 1/3 NPB innings, and a 4.45 ERA in 790 1/3 innings in Major League Baseball.  His list of accolades includes his World Series ring with the Red Sox, the 2004 Japan Series title with the Lions, two World Baseball Classic titles for Japan, the 2001 Sawamura Award as NPB’s best starting pitcher, seven NPB All-Star citations, and Pacific League Rookie Of The Year honors in 1999.  We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Matsuzaka on a terrific career.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/5/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Red Sox have transferred right-hander Eduard Bazardo from the minor league injured list to the 60-day IL, the team announced. Doing so will entitle the 25-year-old to MLB pay and service time while he rehabs but creates an opening on the 40-man roster. Bazardo, who’s dealing with a strained right lat, has made a pair of major league appearances this season. He has tossed three scoreless innings with a trio of strikeouts and two walks.

East Notes: Turner, Familia, Nimmo, Sale, Moreno

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It was a banner day for Trea Turner, as the Nationals shortstop celebrated his 28th birthday and tied a Major League record with his third career cycle.  Turner joins Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, Bob Meusel, and Long John Reilly as the only players since 1890 with three cycles on their resume, putting Turner in good position to claim sole possession of the record before his career is over.

Unfortunately, the achievement wasn’t without some pain for Turner, as he jammed his left middle finger while sliding into third base for the triple that completed the cycle.  Turner told reporters (including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com) that his finger was “pretty sore,” and manager Davey Martinez said Turner is day-to-day for the time being.  Turner’s big day (which also included two stolen bases) only continues what has been a big season for the shortstop, who is now hitting .318/.367/.513 with 14 homers, 18 stolen bases, and an even 50 runs and 100 hits over 341 plate appearances.

Some more injury news from around the NL and AL East divisions…

  • Jeurys Familia is expected to be activated off the 10-day injured list this weekend, Mets manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including Mike Puma of the New York Post).  A right hip impingement sidelined Familia on June 21, so he’ll miss only slightly more than the 10-day minimum.  Despite an ungainly 14.3% walk rate, Familia has a solid 3.63 ERA/4.31 SIERA over 22 1/3 IP, with a 58.5% grounder rate and a lot of soft contact helping offset his lack of control.
  • Brandon Nimmo could also potentially be back on the Mets roster this weekend.  Nimmo hasn’t played since May 2 due to what was initially called a left index finger contusion, then re-diagnosed as a potential nerve problem, and then as a small ligament tear.  This confusion led to a couple of stops and starts in Nimmo’s rehab, and an initial thought that he would be activated off the IL yesterday was held off since the team wanted him to get a bit more prep work in the minors.  Given all the setbacks, it probably shouldn’t be considered a sure deal for Nimmo until he is actually back at Citi Field, but things look promising for the outfielder.
  • Chris Sale threw live batting practice today at Fenway Park, tossing two simulated innings and reaching the 94-95mph threshold with his fastball, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams and other reporters.  Sale is slated for another live BP session at the team’s Spring Training facility this weekend, and a rehab assignment could be the next step for the left-hander.  Sale underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and has been projected to return by late July or early August, so he certainly seems to be on track with that timetable.  The Red Sox are leading the AL East despite some struggles within the rotation, and those issues could be greatly mitigated by a Sale who is healthy and anywhere close to his past superstar form.
  • The Blue Jays’ injury woes have extended to the minors, as GM Ross Atkins said that star catching prospect Gabriel Moreno suffered a “minor fracture” of his thumb after being hit by a pitch.  Atkins told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and other reporters that Moreno will “most likely” miss several weeks, and surgery hasn’t been ruled out.  Moreno has a whopping .373/.441/.651 slash line and eight homers in 145 PA at Double-A New Hampshire this season, and Baseball America ranks the catcher 32nd on their top-100 prospect list.  While this injury certainly hampers Moreno’s trade value, his development had seemingly made him more of a cornerstone piece for the Jays than a potential trade chip as Toronto approaches the deadline.  Any of Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, Reese McGuire, or Riley Adams could be more likely than Moreno to be dealt as the Jays look for upgrades on the trade market.

2021 Amateur Draft Rumors: Pirates, Mayer, Orioles, Mock Drafts

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The 2021 amateur draft begins on July 11, and with the later date comes more time for analysis, predictions, smokescreens, rumors, and possible major changes up and down teams’ draft boards.  With this in mind, there is naturally quite a bit of uncertainty over which prospects will land with which teams, as a real consensus has yet to develop in almost every single spot in the first round.

Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo, The Athletic’s Keith Law, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, and ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel have all published new mock drafts within the last week, and one constant emerged between the four pundits — the Pirates taking California high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer with the first overall (1-1) pick.  It isn’t a sure thing by any means, however, as the Pirates are said to be focused “only on position players at this point,” according to Law, so such candidates as Louisville catcher Henry Davis (Callis cites Davis as Pittsburgh’s apparent “Plan B”) or high school shortstops Jordan Lawlar and Khalil Watson could still be in the mix.  Collazo also believes the Pirates are considering Vanderbilt right-hander Jack Leiter.

The Pirates’ $14,394,000 draft bonus pool is the highest of any team, and they plan to maximize value by drafting a player at 1-1 who is thought to be less willing to insist on the full slot price $8,415,300 slot price for the first overall pick.  “I think that’s what Pittsburgh’s pick will come down to: taking the one that is clearly cheaper to sign,” McDaniel writes, which certainly isn’t welcome news to Pirates fans long frustrated by the team’s unwillingness to spend.

That being said, many teams have deployed the strategy of spreading around their draft bonus money in the past.  The most famous example was the Astros’ pick of Carlos Correa (seen as a slight reach at the time) first overall in 2012, and Houston signed Correa to a below-slot bonus and then using that saved money to sign 41st-overall pick Lance McCullers Jr. to an above-slot deal.  It also isn’t like Mayer would be a controversial choice at 1-1, considering that MLB Pipeline ranks him first on their top 250 draft prospects list, and McDaniel’s most recent prospect ranking has Mayer second overall.

While Mayer looks like the favorite at the moment, it is quite possible the perceived price tags could still fluctuate in the next three weeks.  For instance, the three pundits all note that the Tigers love Mayer, so he isn’t likely to fall beyond Detroit at the third overall pick if the Pirates and Rangers (who pick second) both pass.  As McDaniel observes, this impacts Mayer’s leverage in potential negotiations with the Pirates, since the young shortstop can be reasonably certain of at least landing a bonus in range of the $7,221,200 slot price attached to the third overall pick.

There is no consensus whatsoever in the mock drafts after a hypothetical Pirates/Mayer 1-1 pick, so if Pittsburgh went in another direction, the draft boards would be entirely blown up.  To give you an idea of the wide range of scenarios, here is the list of players cited by Callis, Collazo, Law and McDaniel as possibilities for each team drafting in the top eight, along with which pundit selected which prospect for each top-eight team in their mock draft.

  • 1. Pirates: Mayer (Callis/Collazo/Law/McDaniel), Henry Davis, Jordan Lawlar, Khalil Watson, Jack Leiter
  • 2. Rangers: Leiter (Callis), Lawlar (Collazo/Law), Davis (McDaniel), Kumar Rocker, Mayer, Watson….in a contrast to the other three pundits, Callis writes that Texas has Lawlar and Davis “on the back burner” behind Watson, Mayer, and Leiter.  “Watson has real heat at this spot,” Collazo writes.
  • 3. Tigers: Mayer, Jackson Jobe (Callis/Collazo), Leiter (Law), Brady House (McDaniel), Lawlar, Watson, possibly Rocker “as a big maybe” in Collazo’s words
  • 4. Red Sox: Lawlar (Callis), Davis (Law), Leiter (Collazo/McDaniel)….Collazo doesn’t believe Leiter would fall beyond Boston at fourth overall,
  • 5. Orioles: Davis (Callis), Colton Cowser (Law), Watson (Collazo/McDaniel), House, Harry Ford, either of Mayer/Lawler if they happened to fall….Baltimore is widely expected to take a college position player at an under-slot price, as a way of keeping money in reserve to go over-slot on other picks.
  • 6. Diamondbacks: Rocker (Callis), Davis (Collazo), Watson (Law), Lawlor (McDaniel), Jobe
  • 7. Royals: Watson (Callis), Rocker (Collazo/Law/McDaniel)….this is another minor consensus area, as Law and McDaniel believe that Rocker isn’t likely to fall beyond Kansas City.  “The market for Rocker is weirdly specific,” Law writes, citing the Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, Nationals, and Mets as perhaps the only true interested parties.  Of course, Callis projected the D’Backs to take Rocker at sixth overall, so Arizona could also be a candidate for the Vanderbilt righty.
  • 8. Rockies: House (Callis/Collazo/Law), Benny Montgomery (McDaniel), Jobe

All four mock drafts are well worth reading in full, to get a sense of what the 29 teams with first-round picks are generally targeting this year or have historically looked for in past drafts.  (The Astros aren’t included, as they lost their first-rounder as part of their punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.)

For more on the prospects themselves, you can check out the aforementioned lists from McDaniel and MLB Pipeline, Baseball America’s top 500 list, or some of the individual writeups from the Sports Info Solutions blog on such top college players as Florida outfielder Jud Fabian, Wake Forest right-hander Ryan Cusick, UCLA shortstop Matt McClain, and Mississippi right-hander Gunnar Hoglund.

AL East Injury Notes: Means, Arroyo, Walls, Borucki

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Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters that John Means is slated to return “at some point right after the All-Star break.”  Means hit the 10-day injured list on June 6 due to a shoulder strain, and his timeline wasn’t entirely clear at the time of the placement.  For now, Means is able to play catch, and will gradually work his way up to readiness over the next few weeks.

Though it’s good news that a projected return date is in place, the timing confirms that Means won’t be participating in the All-Star Game, and the left-hander certainly looked like a strong candidate for his second All-Star selection based on his first two months of work.  A return shortly after the July 12-15 All-Star break would allow time for Means to show that he is healthy for any teams interested in a deal prior to the July 30 trade deadline, though since Means is controlled through the 2024 season, there isn’t any immediate pressure on the Orioles to move Means unless a great offer comes along.

More on other injury situations from around the AL East…

  • The Red Sox placed Christian Arroyo on the 10-day IL due to a right knee contusion, with the placement backdated to June 21.  Michael Chavis was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Arroyo left Sunday’s game after a collision with teammate Enrique Hernandez, though x-rays were negative on what the club described as a bone bruise in his right shin.  Arroyo has hit a solid .264/.324/.432 over 138 plate appearances while getting the bulk of playing time at second base this season, though this is his second trip to the IL, after missing two weeks in May with a hand contusion after being hit by a pitch.
  • The Rays placed shortstop Taylor Walls on the 10-day IL (retroactive to June 23) due to right wrist tendinitis, and right-hander Drew Rasmussen has been called up to take Walls’ spot on the active roster.  Walls told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that he received a cortisone shot after trying to play through the injury for around two weeks, and he doesn’t expect to miss time beyond the minimum 10 days.  Walls made his MLB debut just over a month ago, and he has posted a respectable 95 OPS+ while hitting .222/.337/.333 over his first 95 big league plate appearances.  The Rays have used Walls as their starting shortstop since his promotion, though now that star prospect Wander Franco is on the roster, Franco is likely to get the bulk of time at the position while Walls is out.  Given how the Rays mix and match players around the diamond, Walls probably isn’t in danger of getting Wally Pipp’d by Franco, who made his own debut on Tuesday as Tampa’s starting third baseman.
  • Ryan Borucki is slated to throw a bullpen session on Friday, Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling and other reporters.  Borucki hasn’t pitched since May 7 due to a left flexor strain, and while the southpaw was tentatively scheduled to return sometime before the end of June, Montoyo didn’t commit to any firmer timeline.  “We’ll see how he does….If he throws a good bullpen, then we’ll go from there,” Montoyo said.
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