Rockies Rumors

NL Notes: Gray, Dodgers, Reds

By charliewilmoth | March 23, 2016 at 8:19pm CDT

Rockies righty Jon Gray has an abdominal strain, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “He felt something,” said manager Walt Weiss after the Rockies’ Cactus League game Tuesday. “We don’t know the extent of it. … We are always going to use caution in a situation like that.” The team does not know when Gray will return. Gray, the Rockies’ top pick in 2013, was ticketed for a spot in the rotation. David Hale, Christian Bergman or Chris Rusin could take his place, although Rusin hasn’t yet pitched this spring due to inflammation in his finger. Here’s more from the National League.

By setting their sights on the future, the Dodgers stand to waste what could be their last three years with Clayton Kershaw, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times writes. Kershaw is signed through 2020 but can opt out of his deal after 2018. This offseason, the Dodgers allowed Zack Greinke to depart for Arizona via a similar opt-out clause, and their rotation is now a jumble due to a variety of injuries to pitchers like Brett Anderson, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy and Mike Bolsinger. (The Dodgers say they are planning on improving this season by getting better performances from players they already controlled, like Yasiel Puig.) If the Dodgers don’t build contending teams around Kershaw, Hernandez warns, he could depart just as Greinke did. Kershaw’s own take on this issue is less heated than Hernandez’s, however. “I can only speak for what’s happened since I’ve been here, and every single year I feel we’ve had the chance to win,” he says. “That’s really, as a player, all you can ask for.”
With less than two weeks to go before Opening Day, the Reds still have plenty of open spots in their bullpen, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. J.J. Hoover will serve as the team’s closer, but what happens after that is unknown. Tony Cingrani, Caleb Cotham, Dayan Diaz, Jumbo Diaz, Drew Hayes, Ryan Mattheus, Chris O’Grady, J.C. Ramirez, Keyvius Sampson, Pedro Villarreal and Blake Wood are all battling for spots. (One would think, though, that some of those, like Cingrani and Jumbo Diaz, would be more likely than others.) From that group, O’Grady is worth watching, since he’s a Rule 5 draftee who the Reds are likely to lose if he doesn’t make the team. Another Rule 5 pick, outfielder Jake Cave, is battling for a spot on the bench, and one of his competitors is Yorman Rodriguez, who’s out of options.

West Notes: Preller, Belt, Susac, Story, Skaggs, Wandy, Cotts

By Jeff Todd | March 21, 2016 at 10:46pm CDT

The Padres very nearly passed on A.J. Preller in the club’s 2014 general manager hiring process, Bryce Miller of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. President Mike Dee says he had settled on another candidate — very likely, now-Angels GM Billy Eppler, but took Preller up on his request for a final sit-down “just as a kind of courtesy, because he was so good throughout the process.” Preller obviously made a great final impression, because Dee left the meeting convinced in the young executive and told San Diego chairman Ron Fowler the next morning that he’d “had a change of heart overnight.” The story details how the organization’s current leadership group came together, and is well worth a full read.

Here’s more from out west:

The Giants plan to meet with representatives of first baseman Brandon Belt this week to discuss a long-term contract, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. Baggarly takes a deep and excellent look at the complicated matter of valuing the soon-to-be 28-year-old, talking with Belt and GM Bobby Evans about the upcoming talks. For his part, Belt says he hopes to remain in San Francisco but notes: “It’s all going to come down to what’s fair. And, you know, I hate to say it like that, but that’s the reality.” Evans declined to offer any thoughts on what might be fair from the team’s perspective, but said that the organization “believe[s] in his bat, his defense, his character and the continuity that he, if healthy, can add to our lineup.” He went on to note some of the matters that may hold down the team’s bottom-line on price: “Strikeouts are certainly a challenge for him, but he’s also a guy who gets on base at a pretty fair clip. It’s a fair debate in the sense of the different perspectives. But on some level, injuries have been more of an issue than performance.”
While Angel Pagan is showing well this spring, the Giants are dealing with concerns at the catching position, Baggarly further reports. In particular, presumed backup Andrew Susac is struggling with soreness in his right wrist, which was operated on last fall. While there are options on hand, including veterans George Kottaras and Miguel Olivo, and the younger Trevor Brown, Susac has long been viewed as a legitimate talent and will be looking to play an increasingly important role in support of the great Buster Posey.
Trevor Story has made a strong case to take over at shortstop for the Rockies this spring, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. GM Jeff Bridich wouldn’t commit to a decision, but praised Story’s ability and approach in camp and certainly suggested he’d continue to have every opportunity to win the job as camp draws to a closer — regardless of service-time considerations. Meanwhile, promising backstop Tom Murphy has been sent down to minor league camp, with expectations that he’ll get plenty of time at Triple-A, but could well find his way to the majors at some point during the season to come.
Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs will return to competitive action on Thursday for the first time since his Tommy John procedure, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. The Halos’ rotation hasn’t developed quite as hoped this spring, making Skaggs’ already-important comeback all the more critical. Fletcher suggests he could be ready for regular season action as soon as late April.
The Astros are getting close to making some decisions in rounding out their bullpen, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart explains. Lefties Wandy Rodriguez and Neal Cotts have opt-out dates of Saturday, per the report, and they are embroiled in competition with a group of other arms — including the out-of-options Dan Straily.

NL West Notes: Arenado, Alexei, Padres, Norris, Dodgers

By Steve Adams | March 18, 2016 at 11:51pm CDT

Nolan Arenado has quickly blossomed as arguably the best player on the Rockies, but there have been no talks of a long-term deal between the two sides to this point, tweets Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Soon to turn 25 years old, Arenado had a monster season in 2015, batting .287/.323/.575 and leading the NL in homers (42), RBIs (130) and total bases (354) while also earning a Gold Glove. In his first trip through arbitration this winter, the Wasserman client took home a hefty (relative to other first-time arb players) $5MM payday, and he’ll go through that process three more times due to his status as a Super Two player before hitting the open market following the 2019 season. The Rockies, then, still have plenty of time to talk extension, though the price will only escalate if Arenado keeps producing at that level.

Daniel Descalso Out “Several Weeks” With Fractured Left Hand

By Jeff Todd | March 15, 2016 at 2:39pm CDT

Rockies infielder Daniel Descalso has a “very small” fracture to his left hand, manager Walt Weiss told reporters, including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter links). He is expected to miss “several weeks” with the injury, Weiss added, as will southpaw Tyler Anderson, who is dealing with an oblique issue but wasn’t expected to challenge for a roster spot.

Descalso was penciled in as the club’s utility infielder, but he’ll now certainly be on the shelf for Opening Day and some stretch beyond. That may help open things up for some younger options. Colorado was already deciding between Christhian Adames and Trevor Story to fill in for Jose Reyes at shortstop, and both now look like good bets to crack the majors (so long as Colorado is willing to put Story on track for Super Two status).

The Rockies will be hopeful of a bounceback from Descalso when he returns. Never much of a threat at the plate, he fell to a paltry .205/.283/.324 batting line in 209 plate appearances last year despite the benefits of hitting at Coors Field. That line was good only for a 43 wRC+. Descalso is most valued for his defensive versatility, of course, and continued to show a playable glove at both middle infield positions last season.

Offseason In Review: Colorado Rockies

By Jeff Todd | March 8, 2016 at 11:58pm CDT

Last summer’s Troy Tulowitzki deal seemed to promise the launch of a rebuilding effort, but the Rockies didn’t act as a seller this winter.

Major League Signings

Gerardo Parra, OF: Three years, $27.5MM
Jason Motte, RHP: Two years, $10MM
Chad Qualls, RHP: Two years, $6MM
Mark Reynolds, 1B: One year, $2.6MM
Total spend: $46.1MM

Trades and Claims

Acquired LHP Jake McGee, RHP German Marquez from Rays in exchange for OF Corey Dickerson, 3B Kevin Padlo
Acquired LHP Wander Cabrera from Cubs in exchange for LHP Rex Brothers
Acquired RHP Yency Almonte from White Sox in exchange for RHP Tommy Kahnle
Claimed IF/C Tony Wolters off waivers from Indians

Extensions

Adam Ottavino, RHP: Three years, $10.4MM
DJ LeMahieu, 2B: Two years, $7.8MM (arb-only)

Notable Minor League Signings

Yohan Flande (re-signed), Brock Huntzinger, Ryan Raburn, Brian Schlitter, Jackson Williams, Rafael Ynoa (re-signed)

Notable Losses

John Axford (non-tendered), Rafael Betancourt (retired), Brothers, Brooks Brown, Dickerson, Christian Friedrich, Kahnle, Kyle Kendrick, Michael McKenry, Justin Morneau (declined option), Wilin Rosario (non-tendered)

Needs Addressed

GM Jeff Bridich and his front office surely feel they’ve significantly upgraded the team’s bullpen with a series of veteran additions. Jason Motte and Chad Qualls — whose signings were announced in tandem — were added to bolster the back of the pen from the right side, while Jake McGee delivers premium K:BB rates from the left. They are the key new arms that will help to gobble up relief frames, hopefully in a more productive fashion than many of the outgoing arms. While last year’s overall unit was probably more below-average than terrible, Colorado bid adieu this winter to John Axford (55 2/3 innings in 2015), Christian Friedrich (58 1/3), Rafael Betancourt (39 1/3), Tommy Kahnle (33 1/3), Brooks Brown (33), and LaTroy Hawkins (22 1/3 before his summer trade and eventual retirement).

With righty Justin Miller and lefty Boone Logan also providing late-inning options, there’s certainly hope for improvement — though it doesn’t help that the club just lost Jairo Diaz, a fairly interesting power arm, to Tommy John surgery. The question, though, is whether the price was right. Spending $16MM in total for two years apiece of Motte and Qualls isn’t a huge investment, at least for most of the league, but both come with real questions (including age) and neither deal seems to represent a screaming value. The real eye-opener was McGee, who is a legitimately excellent reliever but who comes with some injury questions and required the sacrifice of four years of Corey Dickerson and his rather impressive bat.

Of course, Dickerson was only shipped out after the Rox added Gerardo Parra. He unquestionably represents an upgrade defensively, though he doesn’t seem to possess near the offensive upside of the younger and cheaper player he’s replacing. The everyday outfield alignment — also including Carlos Gonzalez and Charlie Blackmon, either one of whom could also have been traded — is entirely left-handed, which obviously creates some questions. But Colorado tendered Brandon Barnes and added Ryan Raburn on a minors deal, so there will be some options against opposing southpaws.

The only other significant major league acquisition was slugger Mark Reynolds, whose power will be a sight to behold in Coors Field even if his on-base percentage isn’t. He’s a low-cost add who figures to split time with the southpaw-swinging Ben Paulsen at first while contributing some pop off of the bench. That pairing will step in for Justin Morneau, who missed much of last season and received a $750K buyout when the club declined its end of a $9MM mutual option.

Questions Remaining

The questions in Colorado always seem to begin with the rotation, and at first glance it’s hard to fathom that the organization did not add any MLB-level starters over the winter. After all, last year’s revolving-door staff threw less innings than any other and produced at a level rivaled only by the Phillies.

To be fair, though, the Rockies figure to welcome back several pitchers who missed all or most of 2015, and as I posited at the offseason’s outset, it never made much sense to plow money into marginal free agent hurlers to convince them to come to Coors. Injury rehabbers Jordan Lyles and Tyler Chatwood figure to slot directly into a rotation led by last year’s two best performers: veteran lefty Jorge De La Rosa and surprisingly productive righty Chad Bettis. There’s ample uncertainty not only within, but also behind that foursome, but there are plenty of options floating around. Certainly, Colorado will hope that at least one of its advanced younger arms — among them, Jon Gray, Eddie Butler, Jeff Hoffman, Tyler Anderson, and Tyler Matzek (if he can overcome his anxiety issues) — will make some real strides in 2016.

While the pen has been bolstered with the three aforementioned additions, that doesn’t mean it’s an unquestioned strength. There are plenty of arms in camp, but not many of the depth pieces have demonstrated MLB track records. Beyond the core five noted above, the most experienced pitchers on hand are righties Christian Bergman and Gonzalez Germen and southpaw Chris Rusin (who has mostly worked as a starter). Scott Oberg threw nearly sixty frames in the majors last year, though the results were not promising, and Miguel Castro — a big part of the Tulo deal — could force his way into the picture. Of course, the club will be looking forward to the return of quality righty Adam Ottavino, who signed a multi-year pact while rehabbing from a UCL replacement and could make his way back by the middle of the year.

The biggest single uncertainty in the Colorado organization, though, may be shortstop Jose Reyes, who is set to stand trial after being charged with assaulting his wife over the offseason. There’s a real prospect of jail time, if not also immigration consequences, not to mention the near-certainty of a significant suspension. (Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman just took a thirty-game ban for an incident in which he was neither arrested nor charged.) Reyes has already been placed on administrative leave by commissioner Rob Manfred.

While the matter obviously carries far broader import than a typical player-contract issue, it has also created something of an odd situation from the team’s perspective. It’s an unquestioned loss on the field, as the 32-year-old had been a solid 3-WAR type of player in recent years before a tough 2015. Certainly, Reyes is much more established than potential replacements Cristhian Adames and Trevor Story, and if nothing else could in theory have generated some trade value. But from a broader perspective, it could well be that an extended absence will actually be a net positive for the Rockies. After all, he’s still owed $48MM — for the next two seasons and a buyout on his option — and the club will pocket any amount that he doesn’t earn due to his reprehensible alleged crimes.

Players like Adames and Story — and the above-mentioned Paulsen — are among the newer names that are likely to receive at least a look at some point in 2016. Behind the dish, relative newcomers like Dustin Garneau and Tom Murphy will fight for opportunities to back up (and, perhaps, eventually supplant) veteran Nick Hundley. But the real excitement on the young position player front — represented by outfielders David Dahl and Raimel Tapia, as well as third baseman Ryan McMahon — may be another year or so away.

Deal Of Note

Dealing away hitters for arms has long seemed an intriguing strategy for an organization that has had trouble not only in attracting free agent pitching, but in developing its own. (Indeed, Bridich discussed just that in his appearance on the MLBTR Podcast.) In that sense, then, the decision to sign Parra and ship out an incumbent option (Dickerson) for a pitcher (McGee) holds immediate interest.

Dickerson represents an intriguing but hardly flawless asset as a player. He’s a lightly-regarded fielder and was limited to just 65 games last season due to plantar fasciitis. There’s no question his value is lower than his batting line would suggest due to those considerations. That being said, the 26-year-old has done nothing but hit since cracking the bigs. Over 925 plate appearances, he owns a .299/.345/.534 slash with 39 home runs. While that obviously must be adjusted to account for Coors, it still works out to an excellent 125 OPS+ and 124 wRC+. The Rays will get four years of control over Dickerson, including one at the league minimum.

To be sure, the 29-year-old McGee is a top-tier reliever who has consistently turned in premium results. Since his first full season in 2012, he has provided 226 2/3 innings of 2.58 ERA pitching with an outstanding 11.4 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. Like Dickerson, he has some limitations — most notably, the simple fact that he works from the pen rather than the rotation. McGee is controlled for just two more seasons — not at super-cheap rates (beginning with $4.8MM this year) — and carries a somewhat risky Tommy John profile given his time missed last year (and other factors).

Ultimately, perhaps, the main concern with the deal isn’t so much the overall value proposition as it is the side of the equation taken by the Rockies. McGee is one of the best pen southpaws in the game, but it’s unclear how many winnable games he’ll be handed by an underwhelming Colorado starting staff. And while he could certainly be flipped for even greater value than the Rox gave up to get him — assuming the team will be willing to entertain a mid-year sell-off — a half season at Coors Field probably isn’t an optimal platform for a trade.

All that being said, the decision on Dickerson can’t be understood in isolation. In a perfect world, a Colorado bat-for-arms scenario would probably involve sending out a few relatively expensive years of a hitter in exchange for a controllable starter. The 30-year-old Gonzalez (who is owed $37MM for two more seasons) represented a plausible centerpiece in such a swap, particularly after he finished with a huge second half. His uneven recent performance and concerning injury history make him a fairly risky asset for a club like the Rockies, despite his evident ability, and there seemed to be a decent bit of plausible demand.

But the club decided to hold onto CarGo rather than pursuing a strategy like that taken with regard to Tulowitzki. Of course, adding a strong young rotation piece for the veteran may or may not have been an achievable goal this winter, but in many respects his non-trade is an even more notable event than was the move to get McGee for Dickerson.

Overview

It’s certainly still possible that Gonzalez could change hands at the trade deadline, and he will be a closely-watched name if Colorado isn’t keeping up in the NL West come July. (The same holds true of McGee.) CarGo’s health will go a long way toward determining the club’s competitiveness as well as his trade value, of course, but the overall complexion of this offseason could change if there’s a future fallback plan in place.

The overall situation poses a difficult and ongoing balancing act for Bridich, who is trying to build for the future while maintaining some near-term competitiveness with a bottom-third payroll. It is ultimately difficult to criticize the Rockies too harshly for trying to put some pieces around players like Gonzalez and rising superstar Nolan Arenado, who along with solid regulars such as D.J. LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon make for a nice core on the position-player side of the equation. Of course, the same rationale could have led the organization to hold onto Tulowitzki, who was instead cashed in for prospects and cost savings. And it’s fair to wonder if Colorado would have been better off taking bolder action this winter in one direction or the other after parting with its homegrown star.

At the end of the day, the bottom line seems the same as ever: unless and until the organization can entrench some quality starters at the major league level — whether or not a fully-committed rebuild is undertaken to make that possible — it may continue to confront the same kinds of hard-to-win dilemmas with regard to its best players.

With all of this said, we’ll open up critique of the club’s offseason to readers via poll (link to poll for mobile app users)…

NL West Notes: D-Backs, Padres, Inciarte, Lincecum, Blash, Reyes

By Jeff Todd | March 8, 2016 at 2:10pm CDT

Diamondbacks executives Tony La Russa and Dave Stewart tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that their winter wasn’t just about near-term contention. The club has also picked up some younger assets since the front office turned over, and was careful to protect its most prized younger assets — Jake Lamb, Brandon Drury, Archie Bradley — who La Russa deemed “too dear” to be dealt. That being said, there’s no question that the haul given up for Shelby Miller — along with other decisions to give up controllable talent to free up money and add other pieces — was about maximizing the club’s chances now, with several key players in their primes and Zack Greinke joining the fold. As Stewart puts it, “you trade the unknown for the known.”

Interestingly, Stewart added that the Padres had “big interest” in center fielder Ender Inciarte before he was shipped to Atlanta in the Miller deal. But San Diego wasn’t willing to deal away Tyson Ross or Andrew Cashner to get him, according to the D-Backs GM. That’s certainly a bit surprising to hear in regard to Cashner, who — despite his established ceiling — is coming off of an uninspiring 2015 season and is destined for free agency after the season.
The Padres have been “very active” in pursuing free agent righty Tim Lincecum, agent Rick Thurman said in an appearance on The Mighty 1090 (via Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune). Teams are waiting for the former Cy Young winner to put on a showcase, which Thurman now says will take place within the next two weeks. He explains that Lincecum preferred to work his way back to form on his own before signing, with the plan being to “build[] up his arm strength so that when he actually goes and does a showcase he’s going to be game-ready.”
Meanwhile, Lin has an interesting piece on Padres hopeful Jabari Blash, who says he’s come a long way since he was a laid back teenager in his native U.S. Virgin Islands. The towering 26-year-old is still raw, of course, which is why he was available in the Rule 5 draft. San Diego will give him every opportunity to make good on his talent and earn a spot this spring, writes Lin.
Commissioner Rob Manfred says that he’ll be prepared to move quickly on disciplining Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes once his legal proceedings are completed, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports. Manfred explained that he doesn’t rush a decision, only to learn something new thereafter. “My expectation is, once that process plays out, we’ll be in position to act quickly,” he said. “We’ll have access to all the facts.”

Jairo Diaz To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Jeff Todd | March 6, 2016 at 6:50pm CDT

Rockies reliever Jairo Diaz is set to undergo Tommy John surgery after suffering a partial UCL tear, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. The 24-year-old will certainly miss all of the coming season and may not quite be ready for the start of 2017, depending upon his recovery timeline.

Diaz, 24, had been expected to challenge for a role in the Colorado bullpen. He owns an upper nineties fastball that he pairs with a high-velo slider, but has struggled to keep the ball in the zone and doesn’t induce a ton of swings and misses.

Last year, he contributed 19 innings of 2.37 ERA pitching, with 8.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9, in his first extended stint at the major league level. Of course, Diaz sent most of his season at Triple-A and wasn’t quite as productive. There, he spun 64 2/3 frames with a 4.18 ERA while providing evidence of his control problems (8.4 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9).

Chicago Notes: Sox, CarGo, Cubs, Fowler

By Steve Adams | March 4, 2016 at 5:58pm CDT

The White Sox have long been connected to both free agents and trade targets that can help the club in the corner outfield, and Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago/670 The Score writes that the Sox aren’t done searching for upgrades. The Sox could turn their focus to Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez and Reds right fielder Jay Bruce, per Levine, though his report makes no indication that there have been trade discussions about either player. One rival general manager told Levine that the Rockies asked for his top two minor leaguers, plus a big league player and absorption of most of the remaining $37MM on Gonzalez’s contract. Of course, that’s a highly subjective statement; for instance, the top two minor leaguers for a club like the Angels — a team that has been linked to outfield trade targets — would be considerably less valuable than the top two minor leaguers for a club like the Rays or Cardinals, each of which was linked to outfield trade targets this winter as well. What’s clear from the anonymous GM quoted by Levine is that the Rockies’ asking price would be steep, and the team seemingly doesn’t have much interest in eating salary on the deal.

A bit more on Chicago’s two clubs…

The Cubs finalized contracts with all of their pre-arbitration players today, the club announced, and the Sun-Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer notes that the pre-arb agreements should take the Cubs’ payroll north of $150MM for the first time. While the team presently sits just shy of that mark at $149.232MM, awarding the final roster spot to a player like Rex Brothers or Shane Victorino, who have base salaries of $1.42MM and $1MM, respectively, would push the Cubs beyond that milestone. Somewhat notably, Wittenmyer points out that reigning Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant was renewed for a healthy $652K — a considerably larger sum than most pre-arbitration players (especially players with less than a year of service) would receive.
While Bryant and his pre-arb peers were forced to take whatever the Cubs decided to give them, others have reportedly chosen to come to Chicago despite receiving similar or greater offers elsewhere. Jesse Sanchez of ESPNChicago.com says that held true of Dexter Fowler, who rejected offers from multiple other clubs “for multiple years and more money.” While the magnitude of the contract discounts in some Cubs’ free agent contracts seem to have been somewhat overplayed — indeed, in some cases, factors such as length and the presence of opt-outs in alternative offers make it unclear whether there was a true discount at all — this report certainly suggests that Fowler had plenty of opportunities to earn a good bit more elsewhere. “You create the right culture,” said manager Joe Maddon, “you would get guys wanting to stay with you longer, irrespective of money.”

Rockies, Ryan Raburn Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | March 4, 2016 at 1:52pm CDT

The Rockies are in agreement with outfielder Ryan Raburn on a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman (links to Twitter). Raburn, a client of CSE’s Keith Grunewald, will earn $1.5MM if he makes the big league roster and can request his release on March 28 if he hasn’t been added to the roster by that date, per Heyman.

Raburn, 35 in April, will give Rockies skipper Walt Weiss a weapon off the bench to complement the team’s all-left-handed-hitting starting outfield of Gerardo Parra, Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez. He’s traditionally been a huge weapon against left-handed pitching and lived up to that billing again in 2015, when he was one of baseball’s most dangerous bats against southpaws, batting .325/.415/.589 with eight homers in 176 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. The Indians, who declined a $3MM club option on Raburn at season’s end, limited him to just 25 PAs against righties, so he’s very clearly a platoon option at this stage of his career. However, that lefty-heavy outfield should give Raburn plenty of opportunity for at-bats if he makes the club, and putting his bat at Coors Field with the consistent benefit of the platoon advantage could yield some gaudy production.

NL West Notes: Dodgers, Greinke, Rosales, Gray, Samardzija

By Steve Adams | March 2, 2016 at 10:33pm CDT

Dodgers lefty Hyun-jin Ryu is being given some extra rest after feeling discomfort in his surgically repaired left shoulder, writes MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick. Neither Ryu nor manager Dave Roberts would characterize the discomfort as a setback, with Ryu saying he didn’t feel significant pain, and Roberts adding that the discomfort is a normal part of the recovery process from this type of surgery. Nevertheless, the status of Ryu’s shoulder will be something the Dodgers monitor closely this spring in his first season back from surgery to repair a torn labrum. Ryu was recently said to be about two weeks behind the rest of the Dodgers’ starters (Twitter link via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times), and that was prior to today’s news.

More on the Dodgers and their division…

Gurnick tweets that lefty Brett Anderson is also dealing with an ailment, as his Friday start is uncertain after he tweaked his back throwing live batting practice yesterday. Anderson underwent some tests today to determine the nature of the potential injury, and as Gurnick notes, he does have a history of back troubles, having undergone surgery in 2014.
Sticking with the mildly macabre Dodgers injury theme, righty Josh Ravin will be out for eight to 12 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured left forearm that he injured earlier this week in a car crash, McCullough tweets. As was noted at the time of the injury, Ravin was perhaps an unlikely candidate to make the club out of Spring Training, but the injury of course removes any doubt.
Diamondbacks scouting director Deric Ladnier told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that ace Zack Greinke joined him and other D-backs scouts in south Florida earlier this winter to watch some amateur games as the club scouted in preparation for the June draft. “I’m not saying he’s going to help us make decisions because he’s not, but I do like listening to him because he brings a different perspective,” said Ladnier. “Shame on me if I don’t.” Greinke’s interest in scouting is nothing new, Piecoro writes. In fact, Ladnier, who was the Royals’ scouting director when Greinke was drafted, invited Greinke into the Royals’ draft meetings on a number of occasions. Piecoro notes that Greinke also attended some scouting meetings with the Brewers and Dodgers. “He follows it diligently,” said Ladnier. “It’s something he loves to do. I have no problem with him coming in and peeking his head in.” Greinke clearly has plenty of innings left in his arm, but I doubt he’d have difficulty finding a team interested in adding him as a special assignment scout following his playing days.
Infielder Adam Rosales, who is with the Padres on a minor league deal/non-roster invite to Spring Training this season, spoke to MLB.com’s Corey Brock about the transaction whirlwind in which he was involved back in 2014. In a span of 13 days, Rosales was designated for assignment three times and claimed off waivers three times — each by either the Rangers or Athletics. Rosales called the sequence “challenging,” but eventually found some levity in his plight. “You just have to see some humor in it … and take it in stride and appreciate the opportunities you have,” he explained. GM A.J. Preller, who was an assistant GM with the Rangers at the time of that ordeal, spoke highly of Rosales’ versatility and clubhouse presence, explaining some of the reasoning behind his signing of Rosales this winter.
Rockies prospect Jon Gray debuted his new curveball in his first spring outing today, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, and was pleased with the outcome. Gray says he was surprised by the number he threw (seven), thinking he’d throw three or four over his two-inning affair. Gray spoke to Saunders about his aim to develop two different curves — one to throw for strikes and one to bounce in front of the plate as an out pitch — as he seeks to deliver on the promise that made him the No. 3 pick in the 2013 draft.
Giants GM Bobby Evans talked with MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby about his pursuit of Jeff Samardzia this offseason. “The benefit of Posey, the benefit of Dave Righetti and [bullpen coach] Mark Gardner, the benefit of AT&T Park and the benefit of a support cast where he’s not expected to be the No. 1 or No. 2 guy, all those elements combined to allow us to make the investment,” said Evans of the five-year, $90MM deal he used to reel in Shark (terrible pun intended — my apologies). Samardzija admitted to Ringolsby that the barrage of rumors swirling around his name wore on him last summer, to some extent, though he didn’t blame any of his 2015 struggles on the stress associated with that talk. The Giants, Ringolsby writes, feel there’s still untapped potential in Samardzija’s powerful arm.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Show all

Headlines

Rockies Rumors

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect