AL Notes: Rays, Rangers, Rupp, Bird, Orioles, Brantley
Neither left-hander Dan Jennings nor righty Daniel Hudson will make the Rays’ roster, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The futures of both relievers are now in question, but the Rays expect a resolution in each case within 24 to 48 hours, according to Topkin. Jennings is due $2.375MM this year, though the majority of that’s not guaranteed because it’s an arbitration salary. As such, the Rays could release Jennings and only pay one-fourth of that sum. Hudson, on the other hand, has a guaranteed $5.5MM coming his way. However, his previous employer – Pittsburgh – is covering $1MM of that. The Pirates traded Hudson to the Rays in a deal for outfielder Corey Dickerson last month.
More from the AL…
- The Rangers have interest in catcher Cameron Rupp, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Rupp’s currently in limbo after the Phillies designated him for assignment Sunday morning. For the moment, the out-of-options Juan Centeno is the Rangers’ projected backup catcher behind starter Robinson Chirinos (Rupp has two options left). The Rangers also have minor league backstop Jose Trevino on their 40-man roster.
- Yankees first baseman Greg Bird missed most of last season with a right foot injury and is once again dealing with an issue in that area. While Bird will see a foot specialist Monday, the Yankees are hopeful he’ll avoid a long-term absence. “(We are) at least a little bit optimistic, based on the pictures, but tomorrow should tell us a lot as far as what it is time-wise, all those kinds of things. Hopefully we’ll get some good answers tomorrow,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). In the event Bird does miss time, Tyler Austin could serve as the Yankees’ primary first baseman, Boone suggested (per Billy Witz of the New York Times).
- The Orioles attempted to reunite with one of their ex-players – free-agent utilityman Ryan Flaherty – on a minor league contract, but he’ll head elsewhere on a big league deal, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The identity of Flaherty’s next team isn’t known. The 31-year-old hasn’t been on the open market for long, having opted out of the minors pact he had with the Phillies on Thursday.
- Indians outfielder Michael Brantley will begin the year on the disabled list, paving the way for Tyler Naquin to make the team, Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com tweets. Brantley has made progress in his recovery from the right ankle surgery he underwent last October, but he’s not quite ready for regular-season action.
Market Notes: Youth, Holland, Werth, Rays, D-backs
The fans are more excited about youth than ever before, writes Grant Brisbee of SB Nation. That’s good news for the owners, as they’re getting rich off the youth movement flooding this era of baseball. Young players are cheap, and Brisbee points out why that matters in an example featuring the Astros’ World Series lineup. Their first five hitters were George Springer, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel; the latter made about $5MM more in 2017 than the first four combined. Having elite young talent under control on relatively cheap salaries allows teams the financial flexibility to fill a few holes en route to a championship-caliber roster. As Brisbee notes, player salaries are determined more by circumstance than by talent nowadays, describing this fact as “the secret of baseball, the only part of Moneyball that really matters.” After seeing proof of concept from the Cubs and Astros in recent years, fans are actually getting excited about rebuilds and trades for prospects, which means ownership has less of a reason to spend money on players that Brisbee describes as “just a guy” types. This quote from his piece describes it best: “Prospects aren’t just future major leaguers; they’re memorable seasons and postseason runs that haven’t happened yet.”
A few more market-related items…
- Jim Bowden of The Athletic confirms in a tweet that the Braves, Diamondbacks and Cardinals have all checked in on free agent reliever Greg Holland. However, none of them feel as though they can be competitive financially based on the right-hander’s current asking price. Bowden suggests that Holland should take the best offer on the table. With less than a week left until opening day, it’s hard to argue that point.
- Jayson Werth is still looking to continue his career, as he tells Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The 38-year-old is currently working out and waiting for someone to give him an opportunity. He’s coming off a season in which he hit just .226/.322/.393 and missed nearly three months due to a toe injury, though he still managed double-digit homers in half a season’s worth of plate appearances. The fact that his walk rate has been above 10% in every season of his career could also make him worth a look.
- Werth could be a good fit in theory for the Rays. The club is still on the lookout for a right-handed hitter who can play the outfield, according Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera represent the top remaining options on the free agent market. Players like Domingo Santana and Hunter Renfroe could potentially be had in a trade, though neither of them would come cheap.
Rays Sign Curt Casali
The Rays have signed catcher Curt Casali, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports. It’s a minor league contract for Casali, whom the Rangers released Wednesday, according to Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times.
Casali is headed back to familiar stomping grounds, having been a member of the Rays organization from 2013-17. He collected 466 major league plate appearances during that time, including a meager 13 last season, and batted .199/.285/.385. While Casali obviously wasn’t a significant offensive threat during that stretch, he did earn positive defensive grades, and he threw out 31 percent of would-be base stealers (29 percent was league average).
Now that he’s back with the Rays, the 29-year-old Casali will once again be part of a behind-the-plate mix headlined by starter Wilson Ramos and backup Jesus Sucre. Ramos and Sucre are the only catchers on the Rays’ 40-man roster.
Angels, Rays Complete C.J. Cron Trade
The Angels have acquired infielder Luis Rengifo from the Rays, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). He becomes the player named later in the deal that sent first baseman C.J. Cron to Tampa Bay about a month ago.
Rengifo, 21, joined the Mariners organization in 2014 as an international signee from Venezuela. He went to the Rays in a multi-player swap last August. Rengifo spent last year at the Class A level, where he posted a .250/.316/.397 batting line with a dozen home runs and 34 steals over 554 plate appearances.
AL Notes: Rays, Cobb, Archer, Twins, Tigers, A’s
Even though right-hander Alex Cobb is still a free agent as the regular season closes in, there won’t be a reunion between him and the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. Cobb’s not going to end up signing for a price the Rays deem palatable, Topkin suggests, even though he’s amid a highly disappointing trip to free agency after rejecting the team’s $17.4MM qualifying offer at the outset of the offseason. As they begin life without Cobb, the Rays are set to use a four-man rotation – something their top starter, Chris Archer, discussed with Travis Sawchik of FanGraphs. “The concept makes sense,” said Archer, who noted it’s particularly logical for low-payroll teams to have “four guys on the shuttle making $500,000 each,” as opposed to one player earning $2MM-plus. Although, Archer cautioned that it’s “hard to sustain” a bullpen-heavy plan over the course of a 162-game season. Archer’s also wary about how teams going to more of a bullpen approach could affect player development, as he explained to Sawchik, whose quote-filled piece is worth reading in full.
More from the AL:
- Twins infielder Erick Aybar will be able to ask for his release if the team doesn’t add him to its roster by Friday, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reports (all Twitter links here). It’s unclear whether Aybar would accept a Triple-A assignment (the club hasn’t discussed it with him, per chief baseball officer Derek Falvey), but his chances of eventually landing a spot with the Twins may have improved Sunday with starting shortstop Jorge Polanco‘s 80-game suspension. Polanco got the news of his positive PED test a month ago, Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those to tweet, but the Twins themselves weren’t aware of it until Sunday, Falvey said.
- In better news for the Twins, righty Ervin Santana is “progressing as expected” in his recovery from February finger surgery, according to Falvey (via Berardino). He should be back toward the tail end of the 10- to 12-week recovery timeline, Berardino notes.
- Tigers righty Mike Fiers‘ back issues could force him to start the season on the disabled list, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press relays. If so, both Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd would make a Detroit rotation whose only sure bets at the moment are Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann and Francisco Liriano. The Tigers guaranteed Fiers $6MM over the winter with the hope that he’d grab a starting spot, but he hasn’t made a good case for himself this spring, having surrendered 12 earned runs on 10 hits and eight walks, with seven strikeouts, in 11 1/3 innings. Nevertheless, thanks to his veteran status, the Tigers are willing to give the 32-year-old Fiers “leeway,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. As such, if Fiers is healthy, he’ll be in their season-opening rotation.
- Athletics right-hander Raul Alcantara could lose his 40-man roster spot when their deal with righty Trevor Cahill becomes official, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Alcantara, 25, is out of options and hasn’t produced in Oakland, where he combined for 46 1/3 innings of 7.19 ERA/7.45 FIP ball from 2016-17.
AL East Notes: Torres, Pomeranz, Davis, Orioles, McKay
The Yankees will deploy Gleyber Torres in roughly a “50-50” split between second base and shortstop at Triple-A this season, manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters. Torres has spent the vast majority of his four pro seasons as a shortstop but received some time at second base over the last two seasons and third base in 2017. One of the game’s top prospects, Torres is expected to make his big league debut at some point this season, and second base could be his ultimate position in New York given Didi Gregorius‘ presence at short. With Gregorius slated for free agency after the 2019 season, however, Torres’ presence gives the Yankees flexibility at both middle infield positions going forward.
Here’s some more from around the AL East…
- “I felt great. I felt normal,” Drew Pomeranz told media (including the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman) after a 33-pitch simulated throwing session today. The Red Sox southpaw has missed time with a mild flexor strain and his status for the start of the season is still in question, though today’s result was a good step for Pomeranz. Between this outing and the positive updates on Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez yesterday, there is a chance Boston could begin the year without having to turn to minor league depth starters Hector Velazquez or Brian Johnson.
- The Orioles optioned Austin Wynns to Triple-A today, as reported by MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli and others. Wynns had been competing with Andrew Susac and Chance Sisco for the secondary catcher role, as Caleb Joseph is in line for the bulk of playing time behind the plate. Sisco is ranked by both MLB.com and Baseball America as the third-best prospect in Baltimore’s system, and has long been considered the Orioles’ catcher of the future. With that in mind, however, the O’s may prefer to keep Sisco in the minors for now in order to give him everyday at-bats rather than limit him to a part-time role.
- As also noted in Ghiroli’s piece, Chris Davis made his return to the Orioles‘ lineup today after a two-week absence due to a forearm injury. Davis is tentatively scheduled to play in a minor league game tomorrow, assuming he feels ready to go. Despite losing a good chunk of the spring to the injury, Davis is still expected to be ready for Opening Day.
- Both the Rays and Brendan McKay are intent on seeing if the top prospect can reach the big leagues as a two-way player, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times outlines how McKay and the team are preparing and managing his workload for this unique challenge. McKay, the fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft, is thus far considered to be more polished as a pitcher, according to both the Rays and rival scouts. A decision may eventually have to be made about McKay’s position at some point in the future, but that doesn’t appear to be in the cards anytime soon. “This is absolutely no gimmick. This is for real,” Rays farm director Mitch Lukevics said. “This is every day, seven days a week that we’re getting Brendan McKay prepared to take on a full season and do both, as a starting pitcher and first baseman, with some DH.”
AL Notes: Rays, Miller, Stroman, Ellsbury, Tigers
The Rays are likely to continue with first baseman Brad Miller, which would seem to rule out potential pursuits for either free agent Adam Lind or just-designated Twin Kennys Vargas, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. It’s unclear, though, whether Miller will primarily occupy first, second base or the designated hitter spot this season, Topkin adds. Miller on Saturday saw his first action since Feb. 23 (he was out with a toe injury), so he may not be ready for Opening Day. He also struggled mightily a year ago (.201/.327/.337 across 407 plate appearances) and is on an arbitration awarded salary of $4.5MM that the Rays would be able to escape without much consequence prior to the season. Nevertheless, it seems they’ll stick with Miller.
More from around the AL…
- Shoulder inflammation has troubled Blue Jays star Marcus Stroman this spring, but the right-hander told reporters Saturday that he’ll be available during the team’s first turn through the rotation this year. After throwing a pair of scoreless frames Saturday in his first spring outing of the year, Stroman said (via ESPN.com): “I thought [Saturday’s game] went really well. I’m ready to rock — just progress over the next two starts and looking forward to pitching against the Yankees on [April 1].” Needless to say, that’s welcome news for the Jays, for whom Stroman delivered 201 highly effective innings in 2017 (3.09 ERA), thanks in part to an excellent 62.1 percent groundball rate.
- Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury stands “a strong chance” to begin the season on the disabled list, George A. King III of the New York Post writes. Ellsbury has been battling an oblique injury that has kept him out since March 1. The Yankees are, of course, built to go without him, given the presences of fellow outfielders Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks. Their other outfield role may well go to young utilityman Tyler Wade to start 2018, King suggests.
- Whether he begins the season in the majors or at Triple-A, Tigers left-hander Daniel Norris will continue to work as a starter, general manager Al Avila informed Katie Strang of The Athletic (subscription required). “Right now, I would say, for me that’s not in his future,” Avila said when asked if Norris could fill a relief role. “Because we all believe he is a starting pitcher.” The 24-year-old Norris is competing for a job in a Tigers rotation mix that lacks certainty beyond Michael Fulmer, Jordan Zimmermann and Francisco Liriano. Mike Fiers, whom the Tigers signed in free agency with the idea that he’d occupy a starting spot, has “been bad” this spring, in part because he’s dealing with back issues, according to Avila.
AL Notes: Morrison, White Sox, Yankees
First baseman Logan Morrison ended up with the Twins, but many expected the Red Sox to pursue him more aggressively than they did. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe has some interesting quotes from LoMo, who smacked 38 homers for the Rays last season but ultimately settled for a meager $6.5MM guarantee with performance escalators and a vesting option. Morrison says he himself didn’t have any conversations with Boston. His agent spoke with the club during the winter meetings, but apparently “that was it,” and clearly that discussion didn’t culminate in any serious offers. “Am I surprised? I guess. I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the most shocking thing I saw [in the market].” The Sox ended up re-signing Mitch Moreland to play first base for them on a two-year, $13MM contract.
Some other American League-related items…
- James Fegan of The Athletic has an insightful rundown of some young White Sox arms. Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and Dane Dunning have all had their ups and downs this spring, and Fegan was able to get quotes from all of them on some recent performances in camp. For instance, Giolito spoke about his latest outing during which he allowed two runs in the first inning. “It’s one of those days where like, if one pitching isn’t working you can go to the other ones and I was able to do that for the most part after the first inning,” he said. Kopech offered some confidence in his performance. Threw a lot of changeups, changeups were good,” Kopech said. “My main two focuses were fastball command and changeup command. Both were really good. Got a lot of swings and misses on the changeup.” Anyone looking for more quotes from these young pitchers should give the article a full read.
- The Yankees have officially tabbed right-hander Luis Severino to be the club’s Opening Day starter. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com has some notable quotes from manager Aaron Boone on the subject. “”We feel like it’s his time for it,” Boone said. “With what he was able to do last year, we feel like he’s in a really good place now. We just felt like now is the time for him to take on that role and we think he’s ready for it.” While it’s hardly surprising to hear that the third-place finisher in 2017’s Cy Young voting will throw his club’s first game of the season, the announcement also comes with the news that lefty Jordan Montgomery will officially be given the club’s fifth rotation spot and start the Yankees’ home opener.
East Notes: Walker, Reed, Nationals, Orioles, Rays
Neil Walker‘s one-year, $4MM deal with the Yankees seems like one of the better bargains achieved by a team in an unprecedentedly slow offseason for free agents, and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post looks back to last offseason when the infielder was discussing a longer-term pact with the Mets. At some point last winter, the Mets floated a three-year extension for Walker that would’ve been worth “about” $42MM, per Davidoff. Presumably that would include the 2017 season, during which he was already set to be paid $17.2MM, as it seems unlikely both that the Mets would offer three new years with Walker returning from back surgery and equally unlikely that Walker’s camp would reject said notion (though that’s just my own speculation). If that number is indeed accurate, Walker will obviously come out behind ($21.2MM over the first two of those three seasons), though certainly no one saw this type of free-agent freeze coming. Davidoff adds that Walker’s camp tried to reignite those “contentious” discussions later in the winter, but the Mets declined.
Regarding his own free agency this past offseason, while there were some early rumblings connecting him and the Pirates, Walker tells reporters that there’s “no validity” to those rumors and that he and his agents “didn’t hear from them once the entire offseason” — even when it was clear recently that he’d come at a rather affordable rate (via Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
More out of the game’s Eastern divisions…
- Addison Reed tells Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that playing for the Red Sox and pitching at the hallowed grounds of Fenway Park exceeded his expectations in 2017, adding: “…and I expected it to be pretty damn good.” However, Reed openly admits that a return to Boston wasn’t high on his list as he headed into free agency this winter. While he had nothing against the Red Sox and spoke glowingly of the organization, his preference was to end up with a Midwest team. (Speier notes that his wife is from Ohio.) Reed achieved that feat by landing a two-year deal with the Twins, and while he took a shorter deal than most predicted, it seems possible that that outcome was in part due to his self-imposed geographic limitations.
- Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo acknowledged to reporters today that right-hander Koda Glover‘s shoulder is taking longer to heal than the team anticipated (Twitter link via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). Glover’s uncertain status notwithstanding, Rizzo doesn’t feel the team needs to go outside the organization for additional bullpen help, Janes notes. The GM said he likes what he’s seen from right-handers Trevor Gott and Austin Adams this spring, and the Nats of course have deepened their bullpen over the past nine months with the acquisitions of Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle, Brandon Kintzler and, earlier this spring, Joaquin Benoit.
- Janes also tweets that Rizzo was adamant that the Nationals “would never” keep top outfield prospect Victor Robles in a bench role. While many Nats fans may be hoping that the ballyhooed 20-year-old can make the roster in a reserve capacity, Rizzo’s comments further reinforce the idea that the Nats will keep Robles in a regular role with Triple-A Syracuse until an everyday opening presents itself at the big league level.
- The Orioles‘ roster further took shape yesterday with the news that outfielder Joey Rickard has been optioned to Triple-A and veteran infielder Ruben Tejada was assigned to minor league camp. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com looks at the team’s utility infielder opening, noting that Engelb Vielma, Luis Sardinas and Danny Valencia are all candidates. While Valencia, of course, doesn’t have shortstop experience, the O’s have two viable shortstop options on the roster in Manny Machado and Tim Beckham. Kubatko adds that the O’s could take a look at Erick Aybar if he doesn’t make the Twins’ roster this spring, and he notes that Baltimore could also pursue a reunion with Ryan Flaherty if he does not break camp with the Phillies.
- Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tackles a host of Rays roster scenarios as he strives to project the 25-man unit that’ll break camp for Opening Day. Interestingly, he paints veteran lefty Dan Jennings as a potential trade candidate and doesn’t project him to make it to the Opening Day roster, instead projecting starting pitching prospects Yonny Chirinos and Ryan Yarbrough (a fellow lefty) to crack the Opening Day bullpen. Topkin runs through playing time scenarios in the outfield and all around the infield, so Rays fans in particular will want to take a look at one of the more educated guesses you’ll come across for how things will shake out between now and Opening Day.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/11/18
Sunday’s minor moves…
- The Rays have released left-hander Dan Runzler, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. The 32-year-old Runzler joined the Rays last month on a minor league deal after spending 2017 with the Pittsburgh organization. Runzler threw four big league innings with the Pirates, which represented his first action in the majors since 2012. He was more of a factor at Triple-A, where he tossed 41 1/3 frames of 3.08 ERA/4.28 FIP ball. Runzler’s previous MLB experience consisted of 72 1/3 IP with the Giants from 2009-12.