Pitchers Recently Electing Free Agency
Since the conclusion of the regular season, a number of players have elected free agency. That right accrues to certain players who are outrighted off of a 40-man roster during or after the season — namely, those that have at least three years of MLB service and/or have previously been outrighted. Such players that accepted outright assignments during the season have the right to elect free agency instead at season’s end, provided they aren’t added back to the 40-man in the meantime.
We already rounded up the position players. Now, here are the pitchers that have recently taken to the open market, along with their now-former teams (via the International League and PCL transactions pages):
- Austin Adams, RHP, Tigers
- Michael Blazek, RHP, Nationals
- David Carpenter, RHP, Rangers
- Rookie Davis, RHP, Pirates
- Odrisamer Despaigne, RHP, White Sox
- Ryan Feierabend, LHP, Blue Jays
- Brian Flynn, LHP, Royals
- Ryan Garton, RHP, Mariners
- Sean Gilmartin, LHP, Orioles
- Matt Grace, LHP, Nationals
- Deolis Guerra, RHP, Brewers (since re-signed)
- David Hale, RHP, Yankees
- Kazuhisa Makita, RHP, Padres
- Justin Miller, RHP, Nationals
- Juan Minaya, RHP, White Sox
- Bryan Mitchell, RHP, Padres
- Hector Noesi, RHP, Marlins
- Tim Peterson, RHP, Mets
- Brooks Pounders, RHP, Mets
- JC Ramirez, RHP, Angels
- Erasmo Ramirez, RHP, Red Sox
- Zac Rosscup, LHP, Cardinals
- Chris Rusin, LHP, ROckies
- Fernando Salas, RHP, Phillies
- Brian Schlitter, RHP, Athletics
- Chasen Shreve, LHP, Cardinals
- Aaron Slegers, RHP, Rays
- Josh Smith, RHP, Red Sox
- Dan Straily, RHP, Phillies
- Pat Venditte, SHP, Giants
- Dan Winkler, RHP, Giants
- Mike Wright, RHP, Mariners
AL Notes: Yankees, Astros, Red Sox
Ken Davidoff of The New York Post spoke with a Rays official in the wake of the team’s close-but-not-quite battle with the mighty Houston Astros, and the Tampa employee believes his team’s ALDS strategy could end up changing the shape of the postseason. “We gave the Yankees a blueprint for how to pitch them,” the official told Davidoff (link).
There’s certainly some merit to that takeaway. Although the Astros have been expected to steamroll their way to the Fall Classic for most of the year (Fangraphs’ playoff odds have tabbed Houston with a 30 percent-or-better chance to win the championship for much of the season), the Rays came awfully close to taking them down within the first round of the playoffs, in part via a bullpen-heavy mix-and-match pitching strategy. As Davidoff points out, just one Rays pitcher–starter Charlie Morton–threw long enough to qualify for a decision in the ALDS, with manager Kevin Cash calling on 11 separate pitchers to tame the wild Astros offense. Houston’s offense mustered just a .700 OPS in the divisional round against this all-hands-on-deck approach, and will now square off with a Yankees team that, for what it’s worth, notched a competent 4.08 collective bullpen ERA in 2019 (good for 9th in MLB). However, Tampa’s approach, it should be noted, may have had something to do with the fact that Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell, two of their frontline starters, were forced to work in limited capacity; the Yankees should be able to sport a more traditional look with their James Paxton/Luis Severino/Masahiro Tanaka starting triumvirate, although Severino’s own 2019 injury considerations could preclude an early dip into the pen by manager Aaron Boone.
- After reassigning Dana LeVangie to their scouting department, the Red Sox are in search of a new pitching coach. As Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe opines, that’s a search that could have great import for the club moving forward, as the Sox will be on to their fourth pitching coach in the last six seasons in 2020 (link). It’s also a hiring search that carries far more nuance than it might have in previous eras, as modern pitching coaches are expected to blend data and biomechanical considerations with the more traditional soft skills involved with instruction–and that’s before accounting for a coach’s personal baseball-playing background. As Abraham notes, the Twins hired Wes Johnson to be their main source of pitching instruction in 2018, despite Johnson’s complete lack of professional playing experience. The club’s ultimate selection should give some indication of the philosophical leanings of Boston’s current, interim leadership group, which includes assistant GM Eddie Romero; the new coach’s ability to reign in the talents of David Price and Chris Sale should go a long way toward finally bringing some stability to the Boston pitching post.
MLBTR Poll: Astros-Rays Game 5
Last night’s contests delivered high drama — one at the very outset, the other at the end. That left three of the four championship series spots claimed, with the Nationals joining the Cardinals in the NLCS and the Yankees already ticketed for the ALCS. But who’ll square off against New York’s savages? That’ll be decided tonight.
The pressure is on the Astros, who have already squandered two opportunities to clinch the series. Two of Houston’s three exceptional starters failed to close it out, so they’ll hand the ball to the final member of the trio. Gerrit Cole doesn’t have the Hall of Fame resume that his teammates do — yet, at least — but he’s at top form and is arguably the best of the group right now. The Rays have only scored runs in bunches once in this series, but their pesky and balanced group of hitters will try to scratch out some runs against the dominant Cole. If he had a soft spot this year, it was — like so many others — in the long ball department. Cole allowed 1.23 per nine on a 16.9% HR/FB rate during the regular season. Houston skipper A.J. Hinch may ultimately face some nervy decisions late in this game, but he’ll surely ride Cole as long as possible.
Tampa Bay counters with pure power of its own in the form of Tyler Glasnow. While he hasn’t come close to Cole, his former Pirates teammate, in overall output over the past two seasons, Glasnow has the ability to dominate as well. He’ll also have a chance to further extend his pitch count after throwing 76 pitches and lasting 4 1/3 frames in the first game of this series. That’s just the first step of the Rays’ strategy, which is sure to involve a parade of relievers once Glasnow exits. The club pushed several of its best arms hard in game four, but an intervening rest day should leave plenty of options at the disposal of manager Kevin Cash. He and the staff will be trying to navigate an almost laughably talented Houston run-production machine.
It’s hard not to like the battle-tested, star-studded Astros at home with Cole on the mound, but the Rays have already proven they won’t back down. Who do you think will take it tonight and book a date with the Yanks?
(Poll link for app users)
Astros-Rays: Who Wins Game 5?
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Astros 59% (4,963)
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Rays 41% (3,442)
Total votes: 8,405
Postseason Injury Notes: Chapman, Wacha, Diaz
Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman was seen with his left hand heavily bandaged during the team’s celebration last night, writes Dan Martin of the New York Post, but the lefty insisted that there was no serious injury at play. Rather, Chapman explained, he was hit with a bottle while jumping with teammates to celebrate the Yankees’ advancement to the American League Championship Series. There’s no indication that Chapman would need to miss New York’s forthcoming date with either the Astros or the Rays.
A few more injury situations to monitor around the league…
- Cardinals righty Michael Wacha will throw a bullpen session tomorrow, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A mild shoulder strain kept Wacha off the Cardinals’ NLDS roster, but if he comes out of this ‘pen session well and the Cards manage to topple the Braves in tomorrow’s decisive Game 5, Wacha could reemerge as an option for the pitching staff in the next round. Of course, Wacha didn’t exactly cement himself as a crucial part of a postseason roster while struggling through one of his worst big league seasons. In 126 2/3 innings, he posted a 4.76 ERA with career-worst marks in K/9 (7.4), BB/9 (3.9) and HR/9 (1.85). He’ll be a free agent this winter, so if he doesn’t return for a potential NLCS berth, Wacha may have already tossed his last pitch as a Cardinal.
- Rays slugger Yandy Diaz is still on the team’s postseason roster despite exiting Monday’s game with an apparent foot injury, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Though he’s not in tonight’s starting lineup — Joey Wendle gets the nod at third base, with Ji-Man Choi at first and Tommy Pham DH’ing — Diaz presumably remains available for pinch-hit duties or for a mid-game substitution. Wade Miley is the only lefty on Houston’s ALDS roster, but Diaz and his .314/.397/.588 slash against southpaws could quite likely emerge from the dugout if Miley makes his way to the mound.
AL Notes: Alvarez, Astros, Benintendi, BoSox, Rays
The Astros and Dodgers “were at an impasse” in trade negotiations over reliever Josh Fields at the 2016 trade deadline, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow said, before Luhnow decided to aim beyond L.A.’s farm system. As Luhnow tells MLB.com’s Alyson Footer, the Astros had had interest in Yordan Alvarez as an international signing before he agreed to a deal with Los Angeles in June 2016. “Really, it wasn’t until the day of the deadline that I remembered the Dodgers had signed Alvarez, and I thought, ‘Well, if we can’t get a minor league player that we’re really excited about, why don’t we just take a flier on this young guy that they just signed that I know we like?’ ” Luhnow said.
After that sudden brainstorm, the Fields-for-Alvarez trade was concluded fairly quickly, putting Alvarez (then a somewhat obscure 18-year-old prospect) onto a new team less than two months into his pro career. “I was surprised and a little worried. I didn’t know what a trade was,” Alvarez said. “I thought they might have been releasing me. I was really surprised, but when they explained it to me, I understood.” The rest, as they say, is history, as Alvarez blossomed in Houston’s farm system and then made an immediate impact at the big league level, hitting an incredible .313/.412/.655 with 27 homers over his first 369 Major League plate appearances.
More from around the American League…
- Andrew Benintendi put on some weight last winter in an attempt to add more power to his game, though in the wake of a down year, the Red Sox outfielder tells WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford that the new goal is “to get lighter and more athletic this offseason.” Many tabbed Benintendi to break out into superstardom in the wake of his impressive 2018 season, though he ended up hitting only .266/.343/.431 over 615 PA in 2019. Some nagging injuries played a role, though Benintendi’s added bulk didn’t translate into more power, as he posted a lower slugging percentage and fewer homers (13) than in 2018. Benintendi is hoping that better health and a more back to his old speed-based game will result in a better 2020 season.
- Also from Bradford’s piece, he notes that Trey Ball and Teddy Stankiewicz have reached minor league free agency and could be unlikely to remain in the Red Sox farm system. Ball was chosen seventh overall in the 2013 draft while Stankiewicz was Boston’s second selection (45th overall) from that same class, though neither player has reached the big leagues. Bradford takes the opportunity to look back at a draft year that ended up as almost a complete miss for the Red Sox, as only five (Mauricio Dubon, Carlos Asuaje, Matt Thaiss, Gabe Speier, and Kyle Martin) of the 40 players selected have reached the majors, and none ever suited up in a Boston uniform. Still, the 2013 draft class did plant some indirect seeds for future success — Asuaje was part of the trade package the Sox sent to the Padres for Craig Kimbrel, while Speier was included as part of the Rick Porcello trade with the Tigers.
- The Rays used a trade-heavy approach in building their roster, though beyond the low-payroll franchise’s usual tactic of trading veterans when they become too expensive, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times notes that the Rays have also looked to add MLB-ready players rather than younger prospects, while also being willing to move minor leaguers of their own. “But increasingly we’ve been more open to swapping players…earlier in their career. I think at the end of the day, we recognize that we have to be wide open to any acquisition method that gives us a team that we like better than the one we had previously, be it for today or be it for tomorrow,” GM Erik Neander said. “The more near-term sensitivity we have competitively the better position we’re in, so that’s the goal. Striking that balance has to be a constant….Where you want to be is having a mindfulness on the short-term and not having it 100 percent pushed out to the future.” A whopping 16 of the 25 players on Tampa Bay’s ALDS roster were acquired through trades, most in under-the-radar swaps.
Rays Announce ALDS Roster
The Rays announced their 25-man roster for their best-of-five ALDS showdown against the Astros, which will begin this afternoon when Tyler Glasnow takes the mound against Cy Young candidate Justin Verlander. Tampa Bay has made a handful of changes from the roster they used to win the American League Wild Card Game. Here’s how their revised roster shakes out:
Right-handed pitchers
- Nick Anderson
- Diego Castillo
- Yonny Chirinos
- Oliver Drake
- Tyler Glasnow (Game 1 starter)
- Charlie Morton (Game 3 starter)
- Emilio Pagan
- Chaz Roe
Left-handed pitchers
- Brendan McKay
- Colin Poche
- Blake Snell (Game 2 starter)
- Ryan Yarbrough
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
The Rays have a few substitutions from Wednesday’s Wild Card roster, swapping out first baseman Jesus Aguilar, infielder/outfielder Daniel Robertson and infielder Mike Brosseau in favor of left-hander/first baseman McKay, infielder Sogard and the right-handed Chirinos. The Astros are stacked with right-handed pitchers and, in fact, are only carrying one lefty (Wade Miley) on their ALDS roster at all, so the Rays have swapped out some right-handed bats for lefties (McKay, Sogard) and additional pitching depth (McKay, Chirinos).
For those unfamiliar, yes, McKay is both a first baseman/DH and a left-handed pitcher. While he hasn’t quite ascended to Shohei Ohtani levels of infamy, the No. 4 overall pick from the 2017 draft enjoyed a remarkable season in the minors this year. In a combined 73 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, McKay pitched to a 1.10 ERA with 12.5 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. On the other side of the ball, he struggled in Double-A before hitting .239/.346/.493 with five homers and a pair of doubles in 78 Triple-A plate appearances. The 23-year-old was primarily a pitcher in the big leagues and had his share of hardships, as evidenced by a 5.14 ERA in 49 innings. But McKay notched a 56-to-16 K/BB ratio and, in 11 plate appearances, went 2-for-10 with a home run and a walk. He’ll give manager Kevin Cash plenty of chances to be creative.
As was the case with their Wild Card roster, the Rays’ ALDS roster is rife with the fruits of their frequent trades. Sixteen of these 25 players were acquired via trade, while Garcia and Morton, who dominated the Athletics in Wednesday’s Wild Card win, were signed as free agents. Anderson, who struck out nearly 42 percent of the hitters he faced this season (including a video-game-esque 52.6 percent with the Rays following a trade over from Miami), is among the game’s most quietly dominant bullpen weapons.
They’ll have a tall order against a ridiculous 1-2-3 combination of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Zack Greinke in the Houston rotation, but the Rays did take four of seven games from the Astros during the regular season (albeit with three wins coming before Houston acquired Greinke).
MLBTR Poll: AL Wild-Card Matchup
The Athletics are minutes away from hosting the Rays in a wild-card matchup consisting of two of the majors’ lowest-spending teams. Even though the A’s and Rays don’t boast the spending power of fellow AL playoff clubs such as the Yankees and Astros, that didn’t stop either Oakland or Tampa Bay from enjoying outstanding regular seasons. The A’s, built by executive vice president Billy Beane and general manager David Forst, amassed 97 wins and posted the majors’ fifth-best run differential (plus-165). The Rays, led by by their own formidable two-man setup of senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom and GM Erik Neander, rival the A’s in victories (96) and run differential (plus-113, which places seventh in the game).
Oakland will initially turn to left-hander Sean Manaea in Wednesday’s matchup, even though he missed the majority of the regular season while recovering from the shoulder surgery he underwent last September. The 27-year-old Manaea was fantastic during the five starts he did make this season, though, having notched a sterling 1.21 ERA (with a less imposing 3.42 FIP) and 9.1 K/9 against 2.12 BB/9 in 29 2/3 innings. He’ll try to contain a Rays lineup that was tough on lefties during the regular campaign, as the unit logged the league’s 11th-highest wRC+ (101) versus southpaws.
Meanwhile, the Rays will count on the battle-tested Charlie Morton, a brilliant offseason free-agent signing who’s just two falls removed from serving as a playoff hero for World Series-winning Houston. The 35-year-old Morton has been among the absolute best pitchers in baseball in 2019, evidenced by the 3.05 ERA/2.81 FIP with 11.1 K/9 and 2.64 BB/9 he has put forth across a career-high 194 2/3 frames. He’ll deal with an A’s offense that has caused headaches for righties, who yielded a 104 wRC+ (the game’s sixth-highest figure) to Oakland’s hitters. Center fielder Mark Canha, first baseman Matt Olson, shortstop Marcus Semien and third baseman Matt Chapman have made life especially miserable on RHPs this season.
In all likelihood, both teams’ bullpens will figure prominently in tonight’s contest. Both groups were among the league’s most successful in the regular season, and the two look especially loaded for a one-game playoff. Reigning AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, breakout righty Tyler Glasnow and dominant in-season pickup Nick Anderson are at the forefront of the Rays’ options, while the A’s bring to the table imposing youngsters Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk, not to mention lights-out closer Liam Hendriks and workhorse righty Yusmeiro Petit, among others.
Regardless of who wins tonight, the hope is the game will rival the excitement of Tuesday’s Nationals-Brewers matchup. The home team, Washington, survived a thriller to advance to the National League Division Series. Now, will the A’s also hold serve in their stadium? Or will the Rays move on to face the top-seeded Astros in the ALDS?
(Poll link for app users)
Who Will Win Tonight's AL Wild Card Game?
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Rays 64% (1,914)
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Athletics 36% (1,057)
Total votes: 2,971
Rays Announce Wild Card Roster
As the Athletics did shortly before them, the Rays have announced their 25-man roster for tonight’s Wild Card showdown in Oakland. They’ll carry 10 pitchers, as Tampa Bay looks to have loaded up on right-handed bench bats in anticipation not only of lefty starter Sean Manaea but of the Athletics’ five left-handed relief options. Conversely, Tampa Bay is only carrying three lefty pitchers, as Oakland’s lineup is predominantly right-handed.
Right-handed pitchers
- Charlie Morton (starter)
- Nick Anderson
- Diego Castillo
- Oliver Drake
- Tyler Glasnow
- Emilio Pagan
- Chaz Roe
Left-handed pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
- Willy Adames
- Jesus Aguilar
- Mike Brosseau
- Ji-Man Choi
- Yandy Diaz
- Matt Duffy
- Brandon Lowe
- Daniel Robertson
- Joey Wendle
Outfielders
Absent from Tampa Bay’s roster are deadline pickup Eric Sogard and slugging young first baseman Nate Lowe, both of whom hit left-handed. The Rays also opted against carrying outfielder Guillermo Heredia and late-season speed specialist Johnny Davis in tonight’s winner-take-all setting.
A look at this iteration of the Rays underscores the enormous amount of work that general manager Erik Neander, senior vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom and the rest of the Rays’ front office have done in reshaping the roster over the past 18 months. Tampa Bay’s roster features 15 players who weren’t even in the organization on Opening Day 2018. Of this group of 25 players, only seven were on the Rays’ Opening Day roster to begin the 2018 season.
In fact, the Rays’ playoff roster not only contains 15 players who weren’t with the organization on Opening Day 2018 but 17 players whom it acquired via trade (counting Drake, d’Arnaud and Roe, each of whom was acquired for cash considerations or, ostensibly, purchased from another club). The only drafted/originally signed Rays on tonight’s roster are Kiermaier, Lowe, Snell, Yarbrough, Castillo and Brosseau (who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2016). Morton and Garcia signed as free agents this past offseason.
Orioles Claim Cole Sulser
The Orioles announced that they’ve claimed right-handed reliever Cole Sulser off waivers from the Rays. Baltimore had an opening on its 40-man roster after outrighting fellow righty Chandler Shepherd yesterday.
Sulser, 29, went from the Indians to the Rays in the three-team Edwin Encarnacion/Carlos Santana/Yandy Diaz/Jake Bauers deal last offseason. The former 25th-round pick made his MLB debut with Tampa Bay this season and tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings with just five hits and three walks against nine strikeouts. That was a continuation of a strong season in Triple-A, where Sulser worked 66 innings with a 3.27 ERA, 12.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 31.6 percent ground-ball rate.
Sulser averaged 93.4 mph on his heater in his brief MLB tenure this season, complementing that pitch with an 86.7 mph slider and a much more occasional changeup. He has a decent track record of missing bats in the upper minors despite never getting an opportunity with the Indians. Sulser went unclaimed in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, but he’s managed to elevate his profile in 2019. While he’s too old to be deemed a “prospect,” given that he’ll turn 30 next March, Sulser will have all three minor league option years remaining beyond this season and looks the part of a legitimately intriguing late bloomer. The Rays, who have an extremely crowded 40-man roster, cut him loose over the weekend to get the aforementioned Diaz back on the roster in advance of this week’s AL Wild Card game.
Postseason Notes: Wild Card, Brewers, Dodgers
As twenty teams prepare to pack it in for the offseason, a few odds and ends concerning those still remaining in the battle for a World Series crown…
- The 2019 playoff picture is officially set. The Rays will head to Oakland for the AL Wild Card game on Wednesday, Oct. 2, with first pitch at 8:09 pm EST. Earlier this week, Rays manager Kevin Cash appeared on MLB Network Radio, where he made comments indicating that Charlie Morton would take the ball on Wednesday for Tampa. No official word has come from the Athletics regarding their own one-game stopper, but Billy Beane hinted to the San Francisco Chronicle that Sean Manaea may have the “inside track” to tackle the opportunity.
The Nationals and Brewers will do battle on Tuesday at 8:08 pm EST in Washington D.C. for the NL play-in spot, where Max Scherzer is expected to take the ball for the Nationals. Meanwhile, Tom Haudricort of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays that Brandon Woodruff will be trusted by manager Craig Counsell to best Scherzer in the winner-moves-on affair (link). Woodruff may not carry the imposing resumé of Scherzer (nor does he possess a rare genetic variation that endows him with transfixing, multi-colored eyes), but he has looked the part of a frontline starter when healthy in 2019, with a 3.62 ERA (3.01 FIP) in 121.2 innings this season. - In other Brewers-related news, outfielder Ryan Braun expects to play in that Tuesday tilt against D.C. Haudricort also relays that outfielder Lorenzo Cain is “hopeful” for the game (link). Braun is dealing with a calf issue, while Cain has a balky ankle. As previously noted here, the Brewers may be limited to Trent Grisham or Tyrone Taylor in center if Cain is indeed too hindered to give it a ‘go’ on Tuesday night.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hasn’t yet announced the full pitching lineup for the NLDS, but he tells Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Time that he is “feeling really good” about trusting Rich Hill with potential Game 4 duties (link). Hill was only activated from the IL on September 24th but did strike out five Padre hitters in just two innings of work in that appearance. As the number-one seed in the National League, the Dodgers will host the winner of the Nats-Brewers Wild Card play-in matchup. The Dodgers, in fact, will play at home throughout the postseason, unless they face the Astros in the World Series–by posting an MLB-best 107-55 record, Houston clinched homefield advantage through the Fall Classic.