Cubs Rumors

Cubs Notes: Bullpen, Happ, Hendricks

By Steve Adams | March 7, 2023 at 9:52am CDT

The Cubs remain open to adding a left-handed reliever, writes Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, though it’s not a lock that they’ll ultimately strike a deal. The Cubs are reluctant to surpass the $233MM luxury tax barrier, and an incentive-based deal for former All-Star Zack Britton could push them past that point if he’s healthy and effective. Chicago has been “monitoring” Mike Minor as well, per the report, though his struggles in recent seasons are an understandable red flag.

President of baseball ops Jed Hoyer said just last week that he “wouldn’t be shocked” to see another reliever come into camp, although the Cubs saw a pair of options come off the board over the weekend when Will Smith signed with the Rangers and Brad Hand inked a deal with the Rockies. Chicago currently sits with a projected $225MM luxury tax figure, placing them $8MM shy of penalization. Even if a deal with Britton or Minor doesn’t come to fruition, that doesn’t necessarily close the book on the Cubs making any kind of addition. Many non-roster veterans throughout the league have opt-out provisions they could trigger if told they’re not making their current organization’s roster, and there will surely be a number of arms being designated for assignment and/or placed on waivers later this month as teams set their Opening Day rosters.

The Cubs-Dodgers Outfield Swap Puts Them In Different Positions

By Darragh McDonald | March 6, 2023 at 6:35pm CDT

The Cubs and Dodgers didn’t make a trade this offseason, but a series of transactions effectively added up to one. Here’s what I mean.

August of 2022: Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer announces they will release Jason Heyward at the end of the season.
November of 2022: Heyward officially released.
November of 2022: Cody Bellinger is non-tendered by the Dodgers.
December of 2022: Cubs sign Bellinger to one-year deal.
December of 2022: Dodgers sign Heyward to a minor league deal.

Both clubs had a long-tenured outfielder that was posting disappointing results. In both cases, they could have kept the player for one more year. Heyward still had one season left on his contract while Bellinger still had one arbitration season remaining. But in both cases, the club decided to cut bait, then swooped in to collect the other team’s castoff.

Now each club is going to be trying to coax a bounceback season from their respective new outfielder. In a vacuum, the Cubs are more likely to succeed. Bellinger has struggled over the past two years, producing a dismal .165/.240/.302 batting line in 2021 and then a subpar .210/.265/.389 slash last year. However, he was above average in 2020 and was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2019. He launched 47 home runs in that MVP season while hitting .305/.406/.629 for a wRC+ of 161. He also stole 15 bases and was graded well for his defensive work, being deemed to be worth 7.7 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs.

Heyward, on the other hand, has never really touched that kind of ceiling, and certainly not recently. He had a strong showing at the plate in 2020 but hasn’t been an above average hitter in a full season since 2015. He hit .293/.359/.439 for the Cardinals that year, leading to a 121 wRC+. He also stole 23 bases and was strong in the field, leading to a 5.6 fWAR tally. However, he’s been well below that type of production since then, including being below replacement level last year.

Bellinger was himself below replacement level in 2021, but that was at least partly caused by shoulder issues. Both players have struggled in recent years but Bellinger was an MVP not too long ago. Heyward has never been on that tier and hasn’t been close in almost a decade. Bellinger also plays the more premier position, as he figures to be the Cubs’ everyday center fielder. Heyward has played center on occasion but has primarily been a right fielder in his career. Given that Bellinger is only 27 years old and Heyward is 33, the likelihood of a return to form would seem to be stronger with Bellinger.

The Cubs seem to have backed the horse more likely to end up in the winner’s circle, but they also have way more on the line. Heyward still had $22MM left on his deal when he was released and the Cubs are still on the hook for that. Assuming he is eventually added to the Dodgers’ roster, they will only be responsible for paying him the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Cubs pay.

Bellinger, on the other hand, isn’t owed anything by the Dodgers since they didn’t tender him a contract for this year. The Cubs brought him aboard by guaranteeing him $17.5MM, in the form of a $12.5MM salary and $5MM buyout on a mutual option for 2024. That means that the Cubs are paying the salaries of both players, with the figures combining to be worth almost $40MM. The Dodgers aren’t really committed to either player right now and won’t even be paying meaningful money if Heyward does make the team.

Heyward’s chances of cracking the roster seem to have increased lately. With Gavin Lux potentially out for the entire season, it seems that Chris Taylor will be spending more time on the infield and less in the outfield. That subtracts from the club’s outfield depth a bit, perhaps increasing the need for a non-roster invitee like Heyward.

There’s also a bit of positive buzz around Heyward in spring so far. Last month, Freddie Freeman told reporters, including Alden González of ESPN, that Heyward had altered his stance and “might have unlocked something.” Heyward has four hits in ten at-bats so far this spring, including a pair of home runs. A few good spring games don’t mean much and it’s dangerous to draw meaningful conclusions from them, but it’s nonetheless encouraging, especially given the club’s penchant for helping journeymen find the best versions of themselves. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote last week that Heyward is impressing L.A. officials and expected to make the team.

Again, this isn’t to get carried away. The season hasn’t even begun and a few good spring games shouldn’t make us forget about Heyward’s past six full seasons. It’s entirely possible that he continues to disappoint and this hot spring eventually becomes a footnote. But the Dodgers have little to lose in that case. It might be a bit embarrassing if Bellinger returns to form after they let him go for nothing. But at least they saved his salary, which was projected to be $18.1MM by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. They were then able to redirect that money into players like Noah Syndergaard and J.D. Martinez, who will cost $23MM combined this year.

The Cubs are perhaps facing a much more cringeworthy worst-case scenario. There is some non-zero chance that they have to watch Heyward thrive in Los Angeles while Bellinger struggles in Chicago, as they pay the salaries of both players. Time will tell whether that scenario is likely or not, but the Cubs have almost forty million reasons to hope it doesn’t come true.

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former Cubs GM Ed Lynch

By Tim Dierkes | March 6, 2023 at 8:42am CDT

Former big league pitcher and Cubs general manager Ed Lynch chatted with MLBTR readers for more than two hours this morning. You can read the transcript here, and read up on his fascinating career below:

Before he became GM of the Cubs, Ed Lynch was a pitcher. He was drafted by the Rangers out of the University of South Carolina in the 22nd round back in 1977. A few years later, Lynch was traded to the Mets.

Lynch broke in with the Mets in 1980. Lynch led the Mets with 94 starts from 1981-85, working with rotation-mates such as Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, and Mike Scott. Known for his excellent control, Lynch ranked fifth in the NL in walk rate in ’83 and third in ’85.

Unfortunately, Lynch’s time with the legendary ’86 Mets was cut short, as he was traded to the Cubs on June 30th of that year. As Lynch later put it to Jennifer Frey of the New York Times, “It was like living with a family all year, then getting kicked out on Christmas Eve.” After the ’87 season, Lynch’s pitching career was over.

According to Frey, Lynch “went on to receive a law degree at the University of Miami. He was hired out of law school by Joe McIlvaine — then the general manager in San Diego — to serve as director of player development for the Padres.” After a brief stint under McIlvaine back with the Mets, Lynch was named GM of the Cubs in October 1994 at the age of 38.

Lynch’s top draft picks during his tenure as Cubs GM included Kerry Wood, Jon Garland, and Corey Patterson. One key Lynch trade, which I remember vividly reading about in the newspaper at the age of 15, was an August 1997 deal that sent Brian McRae, Mel Rojas, and Turk Wendell to the Mets for Mark Clark and Lance Johnson.

Those players were a key part of the 1998 Cubs, a Lynch team that broke a nine-year playoff drought. Led by a 66 home run season by Sammy Sosa and the typically-excellent Mark Grace, the ’98 Cubs also included Lynch pickups Mickey Morandini, Henry Rodriguez, Gary Gaetti, Kevin Tapani, and Rod Beck. Kerry Wood took home Rookie of the Year honors that season.

Player acquisitions during Lynch’s tenure as Cubs GM also included Brian McRae, Jaime Navarro, Todd Zeile, Luis Gonzalez, Scott Servais, Terry Mulholland, Jeff Blauser, Jon Lieber, and Eric Young. Additionally, Lynch was Cubs GM when Ryne Sandberg came out of retirement in 1996. Lynch was also responsible for the hiring of manager Don Baylor in 1999, the first minority to hold that job in franchise history.

According to a SABR article by Jon Springer, Lynch “remained in the Cubs organization for another decade as a special assistant to the GM before joining the Toronto Blue Jays as a professional scout in 2010.” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale caught up with Lynch in February 2020, revealing that he’s now working as a realtor.

Ed is the first former MLB GM to come on for a live chat here. If any other former GMs happen to read this and would like to participate, drop us a line! You get to choose which questions to publish and answer, and it only takes an hour.

Seiya Suzuki Likely To Open Season On Injured List

By Anthony Franco | March 2, 2023 at 10:15pm CDT

Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki is “highly likely” to start the year on the injured list, writes Patrick Mooney of the Athletic. That has seemed a strong possibility in recent days after an MRI revealed a strain of his left oblique.

The team didn’t provide many specifics on Suzuki’s injury. They declined to narrow down the grade of the strain or a timetable this week, only announcing it as a “moderate strain” on Tuesday. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer stopped short of ruling Suzuki out for the start of the season today but suggested an IL stint was on the table.

“We’re not going to put any firm timetables on it, but there are general expectations of what a ‘moderate’ oblique injury is,” Hoyer said (via Mooney). “That certainly puts Opening Day in strong jeopardy. We just want to make sure we get him completely healthy. When that is, I’m not sure. But when he does come back, he’s going to be ready to go and we’re not going to be concerned about it.”

Signed to a five-year, $85MM deal last offseason, Suzuki made a solid first impression against MLB pitching. He hit .262/.336/.433 with 14 home runs in 111 games, though a sprain of his left ring finger cost him a month of his rookie year. Suzuki walked at a solid 9.4% clip and made hard contact on an above-average 40.3% of his batted balls. His 24.7% strikeout rate was a couple points north of the league average but his contact rate on a per-pitch basis was strong.

It was an altogether encouraging first look, with Suzuki showing the foundation of solid or better contact skills, plate discipline and power. His year featured some peaks and valleys — most notably when he followed up a torrid first month with a dismal showing in May — but his overall offensive production checked in 16 percentage points above league average as measured by wRC+. Paired with his .315/.414/.570 showing over nine seasons at Japan’s top level, Suzuki entered 2023 as a potential middle-of-the-lineup presence.

That’ll likely be put on hold by the oblique issue. There still isn’t much clarity about when the Cubs expect him to return, though it’s not uncommon for oblique strains to sideline players for upwards of four to six weeks. If he does start off on the shelf, it appears right field will fall to Trey Mancini in the early going. Signed to a two-year free agent guarantee this offseason, the longtime Oriole is coming off a .239/.319/.391 showing with 18 homers in 587 plate appearances.

Mancini popped 35 homers back in 2019 but that season increasingly looks like an outlier in comparison to the rest of his career. He typically produces slightly above-average offensive marks, blending solid but not standout bat-to-ball tendencies and power. Mancini has a little under 2500 career innings of corner outfield work at the major league level. Public defensive metrics have generally panned his work in both left and right field, little surprise for a player who played mostly first base in college and in the minor leagues.

While a first base/designated hitter role better suits Mancini, he’s at least capable of holding down a corner outfield spot temporarily. Playing him in right field in the short term would leave a few more first base and DH at-bats for the likes of Christopher Morel, Patrick Wisdom and Edwin Ríos. The Cubs are planning to play Eric Hosmer at first base regularly against right-handed pitching but could turn to Wisdom there against southpaws.

Morel can also factor into the right field mix, as could the likes of Nelson Velazquez and non-roster invitee Mike Tauchman. Should Mancini be pressed into regular right field duty, that’d perhaps open a clearer path for first base prospect Matt Mervis — fresh off a monster season across three minor league levels — to earn his first big league call early in the year.

Cubs Have Shown Interest In Mike Minor

By Anthony Franco | March 2, 2023 at 7:55pm CDT

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this afternoon the team was still monitoring the market for left-handed relief. Patrick Mooney of the Athletic adds some specificity to that search, reporting that players like Mike Minor, Will Smith and Brad Hand have all been under consideration. Mooney also adds Zack Britton — whose appeal to the Cubs has previously been reported — as a player the club has checked in on.

Interest in Smith, Hand and Britton is fairly straightforward for a club seeking southpaw help in the later innings. They’re arguably the three top unsigned relievers of either handedness. They’re all former All-Stars with strong career track records and more recent question marks.

Smith had a rocky first half of the season in Atlanta but quietly impressed following a deadline trade to the Astros. Hand allowed fewer than three earned runs per nine innings with the Phillies last season, but that came with strikeout and walk marks that were a few percentage points worse than the respective league averages. Britton has barely pitched over the past season and a half after battling elbow issues that culminated in September 2021 Tommy John surgery.

Smith has only previously been linked to the Tigers this offseason. Evan Petzold of the Free-Press reported Detroit’s interest a couple weeks back but noted that Smith was also drawing attention from clearer-cut contenders. The Cubs are coming off a 74-88 season but were well better than Detroit in 2022 and have had a far more active offseason in an effort for immediate improvement. The only other team that has been publicly tied to Hand are the Twins.

Unlike that trio, Minor hasn’t had any recent work out of the bullpen. He pitched exclusively in relief for the 2017 Royals after two seasons lost to shoulder problems. Since then, the veteran left-hander has pitched essentially entirely as a starter. He has started all but one of 119 appearances in the last five years. Minor had quite a bit of success in that capacity with the Rangers between 2018-19. Things have gone downhill in the trio of seasons since then.

Minor has allowed more than five earned runs per nine innings in each of the past three campaigns. Between 2020-21, he at least stayed mostly healthy and served as a source of back-of-the-rotation innings. That wasn’t the case in 2022, however. Minor was limited to 98 frames over 19 starts during his lone season as a member of the Reds. He posted a 6.06 ERA with a career-worst 16.7% strikeout percentage while allowing an untenable 2.2 home runs per nine.

It’s possible Minor’s struggles are attributable, at least in part, to injury. The 35-year-old began the season on the injured list with a shoulder concern and didn’t make his season debut until early June. He finished the year back on the IL thanks to renewed shoulder issues. The former All-Star hinted at potential retirement last fall but has apparently decided to give things another go. He recently held a showcase for interested teams.

Minor could appeal to teams seeking to stockpile their rotation depth, though the Cubs are presumably eyeing him as a potential relief option. Chicago has Marcus Stroman, Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele and Drew Smyly penciled into their top four rotation spots. Hayden Wesneski, Adrian Sampson and Javier Assad headline the group competing for the final rotation job to open the year. Kyle Hendricks, who’d surely get a starting job once healthy, is reportedly looking towards May for a potential rehab stint after his 2022 campaign was cut short by a capsule tear in his shoulder.

The Cubs have been linked to a number of lefty relief options throughout the offseason. Brandon Hughes is the only southpaw assured of a season-opening bullpen job. There’s room for a second pitcher, though the club has slow-played that area despite an otherwise aggressive offseason that has brought in Taillon, Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger, Trey Mancini, Tucker Barnhart and a handful of right-handed ’pen arms.

There might not be much room left in the budget. Roster Resource projects the Cubs’ luxury tax number around $225MM, $8MM shy of this year’s base threshold. Mooney writes the organization presently views that tax marker “as a soft salary cap,” limiting the amount of flexibility for Hoyer and his front office. It seems unlikely any of the remaining relievers would secure an $8MM guarantee at this point in the offseason — Minor, in particular, might be limited to non-roster offers — but most teams prefer to leave a bit of payroll space for in-season acquisitions.

Whether ownership would approve a bump above the luxury tax if the team is competing for a playoff spot in-season remains to be seen. Owner Tom Ricketts spoke vaguely about the tax in January, saying there “will be times I’m sure in the near future where we’ll go over. But we’ll always keep in mind that there’s a balance there you have to always look to manage” (link via Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). The Cubs last paid the luxury tax in 2020.

Cubs Still Open To Signing Left-Handed Reliever

By Steve Adams | March 2, 2023 at 2:10pm CDT

Spring training is well underway, but the Cubs’ offseason work might not yet be complete. Patrick Mooney of The Athletic tweets that Chicago is still talking to some of the available left-handed relievers remaining in free agency, and president of baseball ops Jed Hoyer tells Mooney that he “wouldn’t be shocked” if he ended up bringing another arm aboard. Whether that’s on a big league or minor league deal remains to be seen.

At the moment, the only left-handed reliever on the Cubs’ roster is 27-year-old Brandon Hughes — a former 16th-round pick who wound up closing for the Cubs down the stretch on the heels of a strong debut campaign. The southpaw tossed 57 2/3 innings of 3.12 ERA ball, fanning a strong 28.5% of his opponents against an 8.8% walk rate. Hughes logged eight saves and four holds, seeing time in higher-leverage situations as the season wore on. With no set closer in place for the Cubs, he’s one of several arms who could again be in the mix for saves during the upcoming 2023 season.

As we’ve written on multiple occasions, the lone segment of the free-agent market that still has some remaining depth is left-handed relievers. Each of Zack Britton, Will Smith and Brad Hand remain unsigned, as does veteran swingman Ross Detwiler. (Lefty Jose Alvarez is also a free agent, but he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery performed last September and thus won’t pitch in 2023.) Britton recently worked out for six clubs, and the Cubs were among those in attendance.

The field for Britton might be even narrower than that sextet would suggest; since the former Orioles closer held that showcase, the Angels (who were also in attendance) have signed Matt Moore. Meanwhile, the Mets (another attendee) reportedly prefer relievers who can yet be optioned to Triple-A. The Yankees, also in attendance, are loath to add further payroll commitments and step into the fourth tier of luxury penalization. The Dodgers and Rangers were the other two clubs present for Britton’s workout.

It’s been a quiet offseason with regard to Hand, though his hometown Twins have reportedly shown some degree of interest. Hand, 33 in a couple weeks, posted a 2.80 ERA in 45 innings with the Phillies last year, although as MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald recently explored, a lot of the secondary metrics underneath that ERA stand out as red flags. Hand’s velocity, strikeout rate, walk rate, swinging-strike rate and opponents’ chase rate all clocked in at their worst levels since he became a full-time reliever, for instance. The broader track record is plenty appealing, but it’s been a couple seasons since he was a dominant late-inning force.

It’s a similar tale with Smith — another 33-year-old southpaw whose performance has dropped off in recent years. Smith’s three-year deal with the Braves didn’t go as Atlanta hoped — though he was a key figure in their ’21 World Series run — as he posted a solid but unspectacular 3.87 ERA in 121 innings after putting pen to paper on a contract that guaranteed him $40MM. His 2022 season in Atlanta was particularly shaky, as Smith walked 12.3% of his opponents en route to a 4.38 ERA, losing his grip on the closer’s role along the way.

Smith, however, enjoyed a strong rebound effort following a trade to the Astros, who made slight alterations to his release point and pitch selection (as we outlined here a couple months ago). The Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold reported last month that the Tigers had some interest in Smith but added that other clubs with greater postseason aspirations had also inquired on the lefty. The Cubs aren’t necessarily a clear-cut contender, though they stand a better chance of reaching the playoffs than a still-rebuilding Tigers club that’s recently undergone a front office overhaul.

At this juncture of the offseason, any of the remaining relievers would fall into what’s become the Cubs’ sweet spot for bullpen acquisitions. Since their ill-fated signing of Craig Kimbrel to a lucrative three-year pact, the Cubs have shied away from multi-year deals and hefty salaries for bullpen arms. Dating back to the 2019-20 offseason, they’ve signed veterans like Mychal Givens, David Robertson, Ryan Tepera, Brad Boxberger, Chris Martin, Daniel Norris, Brandon Workman and Trevor Williams in free agency — but all have been on one-year deals with guarantees randing from $1.75MM to $5MM. With limited demand for free agents on MLB deals, it seems feasible that any of Britton, Smith or Hand could be had for something in that general price range.

NL Notes: Mancini, Doolittle, Martinez, Taylor

By Darragh McDonald | March 1, 2023 at 2:15pm CDT

Cubs right-fielder Seiya Suzuki is currently sidelined with a “moderate” oblique strain. The club has yet to provide an estimated timeline for his absence, but Suzuki has already withdrawn from the World Baseball Classic. It’s unclear if he will still be injured when Opening Day rolls around, but Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports that the club is looking to use Trey Mancini as the right fielder for any time Suzuki needs to miss.

Mancini was primarily a first baseman coming up through the minors but starting playing the outfield corners with the Orioles due to Chris Davis having the cold corner spoken for. That’s allowed Mancini to log 2,480 1/3 innings of outfield experience, but most of that came in the 2017-2019 period. Mancini missed the 2020 season while in treatment for colon cancer but has primarily been at first base since his return. That was the only position he played in 2021 and he only spent 248 innings on the grass last year.

Mancini’s outfield defense hasn’t been especially well graded in his career, but it’s possible it would only be a part-time solution anyhow, with Suzuki eventually coming back to retake the position. In the meantime, the alignment could allow the club to have both Mancini and Eric Hosmer in the lineup, with the designated hitter slot available for one of the club’s many younger infielders. Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner should be in the middle with Hosmer at first, but the third base and utility/backup infield positions figure to be shared by Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, Christopher Morel, Zach McKinstry, Miles Mastrobuoni and Edwin Ríos.

Some other notes from around the National League…

Lefty Sean Doolittle is in camp with the Nationals on a minor league deal, looking to return to health after he dealt with an elbow sprain last year that eventually led to an internal brace procedure. It was reported a few weeks ago that he seemed on track to be ready for Opening Day, but that might no longer be the case. Doolittle tells Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com that there was no real setback, just that the club’s medical team advised him to take a better-safe-than-sorry approach. “Nothing specifically happened,” Doolittle said. “I think when we started to look at what it was going to take to ramp up, and where I was at, I was ahead of schedule probably by almost a month. I did have some days when I was a little more sore than I had been throwing in the offseason. Nothing bad, but we started thinking about it. We’re so far ahead, let’s slow it down a little bit.” It seems that he may no longer be an option for Opening Day, but the slowed-down approach is fine by him. “Let’s be smart about it. It’s not a race,” he added. Manager Dave Martinez is onboard with the plan as well. “When he’s ready, we want him to be 100 percent ready,” Martinez said. “We need left-handed pitchers in our bullpen. When he’s healthy, he’ll be that guy.” Doolittle had a 3.02 career ERA through the end of 2019 but has missed significant time in two of the past three years, in addition to posting a 4.53 ERA in 2021. The Nats’ only southpaw relievers on the 40-man are Matt Cronin and Jose Ferrer, neither of whom have MLB experience yet. Once Doolittle is fully healthy, he should have a path open to get back on the roster.
It was reported in mid-December that the Red Sox were interested in a reunion with slugger J.D. Martinez, but he agreed to a deal with the Dodgers that very same day while the Sox agreed with Justin Turner the day after. However, it doesn’t seem as though Boston’s interest was ever that strong, at least according to Martinez, who spoke with Rob Bradford of WEEI about the situation. “The way they made it sound was that they were in on it,” Martinez said. “During the season we never talked. Just basic talk with Chaim, and stuff. It was one of those things where we never moved forward with it.” The alignment of his deal and Turner’s doesn’t seem to have been coincidental. “A situation occurred where at the time they had the offer out to JT… Everybody talks… This was an offer that came up seeing if it was something I was interested in doing. Obviously, it was a little bit of a pay cut, but if I held up maybe I could have gotten more. We were confident about that. But at the same time I wanted a team that was going to be in October, be in the swing of things all year and give me a chance to win.” MLBTR predicted Martinez to secure a two-year, $30MM, so it’s possible he’s correct that he could have gotten more than the one-year, $10MM deal he ultimately agreed to. However, it seems he placed a priority on competition by moving from a Boston club that won 78 games last year to the 111-win Dodgers.
Sticking with the Dodgers, they will have to consider backup plans at shortstop now that Gavin Lux is out for the year. Miguel Rojas will now be the atop the depth chart there, with super utility player Chris Taylor behind him. Manager Dave Roberts tells Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times that Taylor will play shortstop about 20-25% of the time. Taylor says he’s ready for the move, having started an infield throwing program prior to the Lux injury. “I’ve been throwing from the infield and the outfield,” Taylor said. “I was trying to anticipate something happening. So I was prepared.” Getting part-time work at shortstop will be nothing new for Taylor. He only got one inning there last year but averaged more than 250 innings per year over the previous four seasons. He’ll be looking to bounce back from a down year at the plate, as he missed a month with a foot fracture and hit .221/.304/.373 for a wRC+ of 93. Moving Taylor in from the grass on occasion will subtract from an outfield mix that’s a bit more uncertain for the club than in recent years. Mookie Betts should be excellent in right, with Trayce Thompson, David Peralta and Jason Heyward potentially taking the other spots, as younger players like James Outman and Andy Pages try to break in.

NL Central Notes: Taylor, Cubs, Reynolds, Chandler

By Steve Adams and Darragh McDonald | February 28, 2023 at 4:04pm CDT

Tyrone Taylor’s recovery from an elbow sprain isn’t going as well as hoped, Brewers manager Craig Counsell tells Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The team first revealed Taylor’s injury last week and said Taylor would miss at least the first two weeks of spring games, but a more pessimistic update with games already underway clouds the 28-year-old’s readiness for Opening Day.

“We’re not any closer,” Counsell said. “As we move on here, we’re starting to be concerned for sure because we want to get him started and he’s not doing any baseball activities, and we don’t have any on the horizon.”

Taylor, 29, hit .233/.286/.442 through a career-high 405 plate appearances last season, showing plenty of pop and a good glove across all three outfield spots, which helped to offset an OBP that ranked 181st among the 205 players who tallied at least 400 plate appearances. Taylor’s right-handed bat, on paper anyway, pairs nicely with lefty-swinging outfielders like Christian Yelich, Jesse Winker and Garrett Mitchell. If the club wants to keep a right-handed bat in the outfield mix, offseason signee Brian Anderson could move from third base into right field, freeing some early time for Luis Urias at third base. Prospect Brice Turang could take second base if he makes the team, but Abraham Toro and Owen Miller could also see some time at the keystone.

There’s plenty of versatility for the Brewers to mix-and-match on the roster, which has been a hallmark of their clubs in recent seasons. Milwaukee still hasn’t provided a firm update as to when Taylor might realistically be able to get back into a game, but with Opening Day just over a month away and rehab not progressing well, an IL stint to begin the season is possible.

A few more notes from the division…

The Cubs haven’t provided a clear timetable for how long Seiya Suzuki’s strained oblique might keep him out of action — though the injury is notable enough that Suzuki has withdrawn from the World Baseball Classic. However, even in the event of some missed time, free agent Jurickson Profar isn’t a likely option for the Cubs, writes Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. The team is about $8MM shy of the $233MM luxury-tax barrier and doesn’t seem particularly inclined to cross it at this time, per Mooney, who adds that any remaining resources are likelier to be allocated to the bullpen or be earmarked for potential midseason upgrades on the trade market. If the Cubs are still pondering another addition in the bullpen, some of the top names remaining include Zack Britton, Will Smith, Brad Hand and Corey Knebel.
Imaging on Matt Reynolds revealed a Grade 1 strain in both of the infielder’s quadriceps muscles, Reds skipper David Bell told reporters (Twitter link). Despite the pair of ailments, Reynolds is only expected to be sidelined for a few days, so he should still be in the running for a bench spot on the Cincinnati roster to begin the season. The 32-year-old appeared in a career-high 93 games for the Reds in 2022 and slashed .246/.320/.332 in 272 plate appearances while appearing at every position on the diamond other than catcher.
Pirates prospect Bubba Chandler has been told that he will strictly be a pitcher this year, per Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline. A third round draft pick in 2021, he’s been playing both sides of the ball so far in his professional career. He tossed 41 1/3 innings in the minors last year with a 2.61 ERA, striking out 34.7% of batters faced while walking 16.2%. At the plate, however, he hit just .196/.331/.382, walking in 16.1% of his trips to the plate but getting punched out 33.1% of the time. It seems a return to hitting down the line hasn’t been ruled out, but he’ll focus on his mound work for the time being.

Seiya Suzuki Diagnosed With “Moderate” Oblique Strain

By Steve Adams | February 28, 2023 at 11:02am CDT

The Cubs announced Tuesday that an MRI revealed a “moderate” left oblique strain for right fielder Seiya Suzuki. The 28-year-old has already withdrawn from the World Baseball Classic, but it’s not yet clear how much time he’ll be expected to miss.

Chicago has taken a strangely vague approach to Suzuki’s injury status, declining to delve into specifics on the strain (i.e. Grade 1, Grade 2). The team originally announced Sunday that Suzuki was being hampered by tightness in his left oblique and was slated for some imaging, with the expectation that an update would be provided yesterday. Instead, manager David Ross demurred Monday and told reporters that the Cubs remained in “wait-and-see” mode. Today’s update, outside of acknowledging a strain, offers no further clarity on the severity of the injury or a potential timeline for Suzuki to return to the field. At this juncture, it’s not clear whether the team expects him to open the season on the injured list.

Suzuki, 28, is headed into the second season of a five-year, $85MM contract signed last winter. He enjoyed a strong, albeit injury-shortened debut campaign in MLB last year, appearing in 111 games and batting .262/.336/.433 with 14 home runs, 22 doubles, a pair of triples, nine steals, a 9.4% walk rate and a 24.7% strikeout rate. Suzuki missed more than a month with a finger injury and was also away from the club while on the paternity list. His production was particularly stout in the season’s first and final months, but the end-of-year output clocked in about 16% better than that of a league-average hitter, by measure of wRC+.

The Cubs’ options in right field, should Suzuki miss time, consist of utilitymen Christopher Morel and Zach McKinstry; corner infielders Trey Mancini and Patrick Wisdom (who has 199 big league innings of outfield work), minor leaguers Nelson Velazquez, Brennen Davis and Alexander Canario (all on the 40-man roster); and non-roster invitees Mike Tauchman and Ben DeLuzio (among others). Ian Happ and Cody Bellinger are expected to hold down left field and center field, respectively.

As Patrick Mooney of The Athletic points out, Ross had specifically mentioned Wisdom as an option in right field if Suzuki is sidelined. Wisdom himself was scratched from yesterday’s Cactus League game due to tightness in his groin, but he’s back in the lineup for today’s game.

Cubs Notes: Suzuki, Taillon

By Mark Polishuk | February 25, 2023 at 10:47pm CDT

Seiya Suzuki was a late scratch from the Cubs lineup, as the team announced to reporters (including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times) that the outfielder was dealing with left oblique tightness. More will be known about Suzuki once he completes some tests, though for now, there is certainly concern over his status given the rather wide range of recovery timelines associated with oblique injuries. Even if Suzuki’s issue is relatively minor, it might create an immediate problem with his planned participation on Team Japan at the World Baseball Classic.

A finger sprain cost Suzuki about six weeks of his first MLB season, but he still hit a solid .262/.336/.433 with 14 homers over 446 plate appearances with the Cubs in 2022. More will be expected from Suzuki in his sophomore year (especially for a Cubs team that plans to be more competitive) but the first order of business is to make sure that he’s healthy and that his oblique injury doesn’t lead to much missed time.

The Mets and Phillies were the other finalists for Jameson Taillon, as the New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes that Philadelphia offered Taillon slightly more than the four years and $68MM he received from the Cubs. Since Taijuan Walker signed with the Phils for four years and $72MM, it could be that the Phillies offered similar deals to both pitchers and either Walker accepted first, or perhaps Taillon opted for Chicago’s offer instead. However, Taillon said that “I thought I was going to be a Met for a while,” indicating that New York was also strongly in the running. The mutual interest between both Taillon and the Cubs may have been the deciding factor, as “the Cubs made a really strong first impression” on the first day of free agency, and the team “made it clear from day one I was a top priority. If you can nerd-out and talk pitching with me, that really works for me. They showed me a good plan. It’s been exciting.”

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