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AL Notes: Brantley, Robert, Montas, Diaz

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As relayed by Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Astros GM Dana Brown went on the club’s pregame radio show to discuss the status of veteran outfielder Michael Brantley, who has battled a shoulder injury throughout the year and only appeared in 12 games for the club to this point as a result. According to Brown, Brantley has been dealing with renewed soreness but has been “battling trying to get back” and that he felt “a little better” after taking batting practice today. Brown hopes that he’ll be able to return to the lineup for the club’s series against Seattle, which begins tomorrow.

With Brantley sidelined, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker are the left-handed hitting regulars on the Astros, with righty bats Jake Meyers and Mauricio Dubon having spent time in center field while Chas McCormick moves to left to cover for Brantley. With Alvarez working through an ailment of his own, it’s possible that Brantley won’t return to the lineup until he’s ready to play the outfield, with manager Dusty Baker having recently stated that the club is looking to avoid playing Alvarez on the field due to his elbow issue. Brantley has slashed .262/.273/.429 to this point in the season, though that stat line only represents a tiny sample size of 44 trips to the plate thanks to Brantley’s injury woes.

More from around the American League…

  • Star White Sox slugger Luis Robert Jr. exited today’s game against the Red Sox due to knee soreness after stealing his 20th base of the season. He was replaced in the game by outfielder Trayce Thompson. According to Scott Merkin of MLB.com, Robert will be evaluated further tomorrow in Chicago. Robert has been a rare bright spot in what has been an otherwise brutal White Sox season, with a .264/.314/.542 slash line and 38 home runs through 144 games this season while playing quality defense in center field. If Robert requires a stay on the shelf to end the season, Thompson, Oscar Colas, and Adam Haseley figure to be the club’s options in center field going forward.
  • The Yankees have been without right-hander Frankie Montas all season, though it’s possible that could change before he departs for free agency this offseason. As noted by Greg Joyce of the New York Post, manager Aaron Boone told reporters this afternoon that it’s “possible” Montas could make his way back to the big leagues before the end of the year, as the club and player are still talking about next steps for the 30-year-old. Montas made his second rehab start at the Triple-A level yesterday, tossing two scoreless innings on 25 pitches with two strikeouts.
  • Rays infielder Yandy Diaz exited today’s game against the Blue Jays due to what what the club has termed right hamstring tightness, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. While the severity of the injury is not currently known, with the postseason creeping ever closer an injury of any significance would be a significant blow to the Rays. The club has already lost Brandon Lowe and Luke Raley to injury, and Diaz has been the club’s top offensive performer with a .327/.407/.515 slash line in 594 trips to the plate. Fortunately for the Rays, the club has a deep bench of quality youngsters including Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda, and Curtis Mead who can help cover for injuries, though the hole Diaz would leave in the lineup headed into the postseason would be difficult to fill. [UPDATE: Rays manager Kevin Cash told Topkin and other reporters postgame that Diaz’s removal was “more precautionary” in nature than a serious injury concern, and that Diaz is now feeling better.]

Michael Kopech Undergoes Minor Knee Procedure

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White Sox right-hander Michael Kopech underwent surgery to remove a cyst from his right knee this morning, per a club announcement. The rehab process is expected to take six to eight weeks.

Assuming his recovery progresses as anticipated, Kopech should have a normal offseason. It’s nevertheless a sour conclusion to a disappointing year for the 27-year-old. The Sox surely hoped the one-time top prospect would take a step forward in his second full season as a big league starter. Kopech had pitched to a 3.54 ERA a year ago, and while his peripherals were never that impressive, his performance regressed well beyond expectations.

Kopech’s 2023 campaign concludes with a 5.43 ERA across 129 1/3 frames. His 22.7% strikeout rate was a bit above last year’s mark. Yet his walks spiked from an already worrisome 11.5% rate to a completely untenable 15.4% clip. Kopech also surrendered over two home runs per nine innings. Between the walks and the longballs, he has the highest FIP (6.47) of any pitcher with 100+ frames.

Chicago kicked Kopech to the bullpen this month. He finished his season with three relief outings and a “start” as an opener in which he worked one inning. He allowed at least one run in each of those appearances.

New general manager Chris Getz and his front office will have to decide Kopech’s role this offseason. He was effective as a multi-inning reliever two seasons ago, tallying 69 1/3 frames of 3.50 ERA ball with an elite 36.1% strikeout rate and a decent 8.4% walk percentage. Since stretching back out into the rotation to open the ’22 campaign, he’s allowing 4.52 earned runs per nine with a 22% strikeout percentage and 13.6% walk rate.

The Sox have almost no certainty in their starting five. Dylan Cease is locked in as the staff ace, though he’s coming off a relatively disappointing season himself on the heels of last year’s Cy Young runner-up performance. Mike Clevinger is likely to opt for a $4MM buyout over his end of a $12MM mutual option. Jesse Scholtens and Touki Toussaint are better served for depth roles. Garrett Crochet has angled for a starting spot but only logged 10 MLB innings this year because of injury.

That all seems to point to Kopech getting another crack at a rotation spot. He’ll certainly need to perform better than he did this year if he’s to hold that job for a full season. The ’24 campaign will be his second season of arbitration eligibility. Kopech will receive a slight raise on this year’s $2.05MM salary (barring a surprise non-tender) and is on track for free agency after 2025.

White Sox Expected To Hire Josh Barfield, Brian Bannister, Gene Watson To Front Office Roles

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Diamondbacks director of player development Josh Barfield is expected to leave the D’Backs for a new job in the White Sox front office, according to MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and Steve Gilbert (X link).  Barfield will step into the role of assistant general manager, under newly-hired Sox GM Chris Getz.

Barfield isn’t the only newcomer to Getz’s staff, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via X) reports that the White Sox have also hired Brian Bannister for a role in pitching development and Gene Watson for a player development job.  Bannister has worked as the Giants’ director of pitching since December 2019, while Watson was an assistant GM and VP of Major League scouting with the Royals.

Fans may know the 40-year-old Barfield best from his playing career, as he appeared in 309 Major League games with San Diego and Cleveland from 2006-09.  He continued playing in the minors and in independent ball until 2013, and then started his post-playing career as a scout with the D’Backs in 2016, moving his way up the front office depth chart until assuming his current role during the 2019-20 offseason.

Bannister is another former player, tossing 667 1/3 innings with the Mets and Royals from 2006-10.  (Notably, Getz and Bannister were teammates in Kansas City in 2010.)  Since retiring, the 42-year-old Bannister worked from the Red Sox from 2015-19 in a variety of roles, ranging from scout, to assistant pitching coach, to a more analytical front office position as a director of pitching analysis and development.  This led to a similar position in San Francisco, as Bannister worked in a uniformed on-field role except in 2022, when league rules didn’t permit Bannister to participate in his coaching role because he wasn’t vaccinated.

Watson also has some past Kansas City ties to Getz and Bannister, as Watson has worked for the Royals for all but one season from 2006-23, as Watson worked for the Angels in 2021.  A longtime scout and evaluator, Watson has also worked with the Padres, Braves, and Marlins during a career that began back in 1997.  Watson has been interviewed for GM jobs in the past, including the Angels’ opening in 2021 that eventually went to Perry Minasian, though the Halos were impressed enough to still hire Watson away from K.C. for an advisory position.

The three hires bring some fresh voices into the White Sox front office, giving Getz (who has been working for Chicago since 2016) some different perspective as he embarks on his first stint running a baseball operations department.  Getz’s promotion continued the criticism that the Sox organization is too insular in its thinking, but today’s hires act as something of a counter to the idea that the White Sox are set in their ways.  Barfield and Bannister, like Getz, are younger executives with past playing experience who perhaps have a bit more of a modern analytical approach to player development, whereas Watson brings some old-school scouting knowledge into the fold.

White Sox’s Jimmy Lambert To Undergo Minor Ankle Surgery

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White Sox reliever Jimmy Lambert will undergo surgery to remove a bone spur from his right ankle, reports Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. It’ll end his 2023 campaign but isn’t expected to linger too deep into the offseason.

Lambert has pitched in each of the last four big league seasons. He had his best showing in 2022, logging a career-high 47 innings with a 3.26 ERA. He didn’t recapture that success this year, allowing 5.26 earned runs per nine over 37 2/3 frames. He struck out a decent 23.8% of batters faced but walked opponents at an alarming 11.6% clip.

It seems likely Lambert has pitched through some measure of ankle discomfort for the bulk of the season. This is his second injured list stint of the year. He first landed on the shelf with inflammation in late May, missing around three weeks of action.

Lambert entered this season with one year and 134 days of major league service. He surpassed the two-year threshold but seems likely to fall a little shy of Super Two arbitration qualification thanks to a pair of optional stints that accounted for roughly six weeks in Triple-A this summer. He’ll be out of options next season, meaning the Sox would have to keep him in the MLB bullpen or take him off the 40-man roster entirely.

White Sox GM Chris Getz Discusses Club’s Future

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Newly-minted White Sox GM Chris Getz spoke with reporters (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) yesterday about the team’s future with him now at the helm.

Getz has already confirmed that manager Pedro Grifol will return in 2024, but the club’s new GM elaborated on that decision yesterday, noting that the Sox’s disappointing season in 2022 put Grifol in a “tough situation” this season.

“His experience is very valuable with all the different roles he’s had in this game.” Getz said of Grifol, “He has experienced winning. He’s determined to get this right. I think that different type of support, he’ll benefit from. And I think that the leadership starting with myself could really help him do that.”

Getz added that he will need to go through an “assessment period” over the last few weeks of the season where he will spend time with Grifol, the coaching staff, and the players in order to determine what needs to happen to improve the team headed into 2024. That being said, he did indicate that his goal is to regain the “edge” that he believes the club has lost in recent years. Getz went on to suggest that he hoped to improve the club’s professionalism going forward, a goal that tracks with recent comments from former White Sox reliever Kenyan Middleton, who criticized the organization’s clubhouse culture.

In addition to reshaping the club’s culture, Getz also discussed ways he hopes to improve the team on the field headed into 2024, with an emphasis on athleticism. It’s a sensible goal for the offseason given Fielding Bible ranks Chicago 29th of MLB’s 30 teams in terms of team Defensive Runs Saved with a -46 figure, while only seven teams have stolen less bases than the White Sox this year. In pursuing that goal of increased athleticism, Getz indicates the club will “exhaust” ways to improve the team, a philosophy that extends to potentially moving players currently on the roster.

While it’s not exactly a surprise that a club flirting with a 100-loss season like the White Sox would consider dealing players from their big league roster, it’s still a noteworthy position for Getz to take. The White Sox figure to have significant space to make additions this season with a projected 2024 payroll of just under $100MM per RosterResource, though that figure doesn’t include arbitration contracts for players like Dylan Cease, Andrew Vaughn, and Michael Kopech. While that should give the club room to pursue free agents to improve the club, Getz’s plans to explore deals involving their current roster indicate a more significant retool could be possible for the south siders this offseason.

White Sox Select José Ureña

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TODAY: The Sox have officially announced Urena’s selection, and right-hander Declan Cronin was placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to September 6) in the corresponding move.  Cronin is dealing with blisters on his throwing hand.

SEPTEMBER 8: The White Sox are planning to select José Ureña’s contract from Triple-A Charlotte, allowing the veteran to start on Saturday against the Tigers, as first reported by Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Chicago has an open spot on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding transaction will not be necessary. However, the White Sox will have to make a move to open up space on the active roster.

Ureña last pitched in the majors for the Rockies in April. He signed a major league deal with Colorado during the offseason but was designated for assignment and subsequently released after just five starts. The Rockies are still on the hook for his guaranteed salary, so the White Sox will only need to pay him the prorated portion of the $720K minimum salary for as long as he stays with the MLB club.

The right-hander signed a minor league deal with the Nationals in May but failed to earn a promotion back to the majors, pitching to a 6.31 ERA in 15 starts at Triple-A Rochester. He was released in early August and quickly signed a new deal with the White Sox, reporting to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. Ureña has looked much better in his four outings with the Knights than he did with the Rochester Red Wings, posting a 3.37 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. He has increased his strikeout rate while decreasing his walk rate, and he has not allowed a home run in his last three games.

His recent turnaround at Triple-A is promising, but Ureña still has a ways to go to prove he can be a capable big league starter once again. He gave up 22 runs across 18 1/3 innings with the Rockies this year, and he owns a 5.61 ERA and 5.16 SIERA over the last five seasons.

Be that as it may, the White Sox will take any help they can get in the rotation right now. Their starters rank last in baseball with a 6.26 ERA since the trade deadline. Michael Kopech, who is moving to the bullpen in favor of Ureña, has been the number one culprit, walking 26 batters and pitching to an 8.10 ERA in his last six starts. It wasn’t so long ago that manager Pedro Grifol said, “[Kopech] not being a starter is not anywhere close to what we’re thinking.” However, Kopech’s poor performance has forced the team’s hand. Grifol confirmed to reporters, including Merkin, that the White Sox still view Kopech as a starter long-term, but he will spend the rest of the 2023 season in the bullpen.

With just over three weeks remaining in the regular season, Ureña will have the chance to earn another three or four starts. If he continues to perform like he has at Triple-A Charlotte, he could pitch his way to another major league contract for 2024.

Diamondbacks Claim Seby Zavala, Designate Buddy Kennedy

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The Diamondbacks announced that have claimed catcher Seby Zavala off waivers from the White Sox. The backstop was designated for assignment by the Sox earlier this week. Infielder Buddy Kennedy was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported on the Zavala claim prior to the official announcement.

Zavala, 30, served as the backup to Yasmani Grandal for most of this season. His defensive grades have largely been strong in his career and this year has been no exception. His seven Defensive Runs Saved puts him in the top 10 among catchers around the league this year, with most of the others around him having done so with more playing time. He’s also considered to be above-average in terms of pitch framing.

The problem this year has been at the plate, not behind it. Zavala has struck out in 38.7% of his plate appearances and walked at just a 5.7% clip this year. His .155/.207/.304 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of just 34. Among hitters with at least 170 plate appearances this year, only Austin Hedges and Brenton Doyle have worse production by measure of wRC+. Zavala spent about a month on the injured list after suffering an oblique strain in early August but the Sox designated him for assignment when he was done rehabbing instead of adding him back to the roster.

Recent struggles notwithstanding, it’s understandable why the Diamondbacks would be interested. Zavala’s glovework gives him a decent floor and his bat has been better in the past. As recently as last year, he hit .270/.347/.382 for a wRC+ of 111. His 31.2% strikeout rate was still on the high side but he also walked in 9.3% of his plate appearances.

Arizona will bring him aboard and add him to their catching mix. Zavala is out of options and will need to continually justify his active roster spot, but he can be controlled for four more seasons after this one if he does so. Gabriel Moreno is having a solid season and should continue to get the bulk of the playing time, with Zavala sliding into the backup role. Carson Kelly had that gig for a while but was released last month and signed with the Tigers. José Herrera has been in the backup role since then but he is optionable and has subpar numbers both offensively and defensively this year.

Kennedy, 24, was hitting .318/.447/.480 in Triple-A when the Diamondbacks selected his contract last month. He then hit just .167/.310/.208 in the majors and got optioned back down to Reno last week. The club will put him on waivers in the coming days. He’s still optionable and has less than a year of service time, which could appeal to other clubs around the league. But Arizona was able to pass him through outright waivers in November of last year and could do so again. If that were to happen, he would have the right to elect free agency since it would be his second career outright.

White Sox Claim Yohan Ramirez From Pirates

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The White Sox announced that they have claimed right-hander Yohan Ramirez off waivers from the Pirates. The righty will report to Triple-A Charlotte, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago’s 40-man roster count is now at 39.

Ramirez, 28, has generally combined high strikeout and ground ball tallies in his career while also giving out his fair share of walks. In 34 1/3 innings for the Pirates this year, he had a 3.67 earned run average, striking out 20% of batters faced while walking 9% and keeping the ball on the ground at a 59% clip. In 22 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, he had a 4.43 ERA, 33% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 54.2% ground ball rate.

The Bucs designated him for assignment last week to make room on the roster for their September call-ups and the White Sox have decided to grab him. The latter club had a couple of open roster spots anyway, having recently bumped out-of-options players Seby Zavala and Brent Honeywell Jr. off their roster. They have used one of those open roster spot to grab an intriguing arm to add to their depth.

Ramirez is in his final option season, meaning the Sox can stash him at Charlotte for the rest of the year while they get a look at him, but he will be out of options next year. If he continues to hold onto his roster spot, he can be retained for four more seasons beyond the current campaign.

Luis Robert Jr. Is Delivering In His First True Full Season

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Luis Robert Jr. has seemed like a staple of the White Sox for a long time now, having debuted back in 2020. However, he wasn’t able to have a full, healthy season in any of his first three campaigns. He avoided the injured list in 2020, but played only 56 games that year due to the schedule being shortened by the pandemic to just 60 contests. He would then miss significant time due to a right hip flexor strain in 2021, getting into just 68 games that year. That was followed by a 98-game season last year, with IL trips due to COVID-19, blurred vision and a wrist sprain.

By the end of 2022, he had certainly been able to showcase his talent. He came into this year with 36 home runs in 222 games and a batting line of .289/.334/.474, which translated to a wRC+ of 122, indicating he was 22% better than league average in that time. He had also stolen 26 bases and been given strong grades for his center field defense. FanGraphs calculated him as being worth 6.7 wins above replacement in that time, a strong tally on a per-game basis but a limited output in terms of volume.

The 2023 campaign has finally allowed us to see what Robert can do over a full, healthy season. He dealt with some quad cramping over the weekend and is still out of the lineup today, but hasn’t been placed on the injured list at any point this year. He’s appeared in 128 games with almost a month still remaining on the schedule. His 5.3% walk rate and 28.4% strikeout rate are both worse than league average, but he’s doing significant damage when he connects, with 35 home runs and 33 doubles. His .272/.324/.560 batting line amounts to a 135 wRC+.

Defensively, Robert has continued to shine as well. He as 7 Defensive Runs Saved this year, a figure bested by just five center fielders around the league. Outs Above Average is even more enthused, with Robert’s tally of 12 in that category tops at his position, tied with Brenton Doyle of the Rockies. Robert also has 17 steals in 21 tries, helping him put up 5.2 fWAR on the year already. If it weren’t for the amazing two-way exploits of Shohei Ohtani, Robert would be in the American League Most Valuable Player conversation alongside players like Corey Seager, Julio Rodríguez and Bobby Witt.

It’s been a dismal season for the White Sox overall, with the club sporting a record of 53-84. Those poor results promoted a deadline selloff, with players like Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn and others getting sent out of town for prospects. That was followed by a front office shakeup that saw both president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn relieved of their duties last month.

But the shining star of Robert has been a bright spot in the otherwise-gloomy season and perhaps a key reason why the club is hopeful of a quick return to contention. Assistant general manager Chris Getz was recently promoted to general manager, with owner Jerry Reinsdorf saying that part of the reason for staying in-house was that Getz is already familiar with the organization and will perhaps be able to deliver a quick turnaround, as opposed to an outsider who might take time before making bold moves.

Though the Sox sold some players at the deadline, they were mostly limited to those nearing free agency, holding onto more controllable pieces like Robert, Dylan Cease, Eloy Jiménez and Andrew Vaughn. There are still plenty of holes to fill on the roster and it will be a challenge to patch them all in one winter, but the club has a couple of things in its favor. One of them is the incredibly weak division, where the 66-71 Guardians are still in the playoff hunt in September this year, meaning the path back to contention isn’t quite as steep as it would be elsewhere. The second thing is that core of solid players, headlined by Robert.

Robert has two more guaranteed years on his contract, followed by a pair of $20MM club options that each come with $2MM buyouts. Those look bargains right now and will certainly be triggered, even if Robert were to drop back slightly from his MVP-caliber performance.

That puts something of a long-term target in front of the Sox, who should be able to bank on Robert being on the team through 2027 at least. Jiménez and Vaughn can be controlled through 2026 and Cease through 2025. That gives them at least two more years with that core four, three years with the Robert-Jiménez-Vaughn triumvirate and another year of Robert after that. Time will tell whether or not they can build on that in the years to come, but Robert has shown that they have a strong foundation to work with.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

White Sox Designate Seby Zavala For Assignment

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The White Sox announced today that catcher Seby Zavala has been reinstated from the injured list and designated for assignment. He was on a rehab assignment, working his way back from an oblique strain, but the club doesn’t seem to have room for him on the roster.

Zavala, 30, has been serving as the backup catcher to Yasmani Grandal for much of this year. Defensively, he’s been quite strong, with a tally of seven Defensive Runs Saved in just 464 2/3 innings. Only six backstops are ahead of him in that category this year, and Jose Trevino is the only one of those to do so with a lighter workload. He also has a positive grade from the FanGraphs framing metric, this year and each previous season as well.

Unfortunately, he’s paired that strong defense with a terrible season on offense. He has walked in just 5.7% of his trips to the plate and struck out in 38.6% of them. His .155/.207/.304 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of just 34, indicating he’s been 66% worse than the league average hitter. Only Austin Hedges and Brenton Doyle have a lower wRC+ this year, among hitters with at least 170 plate appearances.

Zavala landed on the injured list about a month ago due to a left oblique strain. In his absence, the club has been giving some playing time to 25-year-old Korey Lee, who is also hitting poorly but in just eight games this year so far. Zavala recently began a rehab assignment but it seems the club is going to continue with Grandal and Lee getting the playing time down the stretch, as they decide how to proceed next year. Since Zavala is out of options and the club apparently didn’t want to put him back on the active roster, that left them little choice but to bump him off the 40-man.

Despite his obvious struggles with the bat, it’s a bit surprising to see the Sox cut him loose. Grandal is an impending free agent, meaning they have a question mark at the catcher position next year. They will be hoping for Lee to take the job and run with it but he is hitting just .045/.160/.045 so far this year and will need a backup even if he does get some runway to prove himself next year. Zavala has also shown better offensive results in the past, including a line of .270/.347/.382 just last year. That was fuelled by a .404 batting average on balls in play but still made him a valuable part-time player when combined with his glovework.

The Sox will now put Zavala on waivers in the coming days, where it’s possible he could garner interest as a glove-first backup, though his out-of-options status means he would need an active roster spot. He would be ineligible to join that club for the postseason since it’s after the August 31 cutoff, but if some team does put in a claim, they can control Zavala for four more seasons beyond this one. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency due to a previous career outright.

Going forward, the Sox will perhaps be on the lookout for help behind the plate this winter. As mentioned, Grandal is set to depart for free agency, meaning Lee and Carlos Pérez will be the only backstops on the 40-man roster soon. Both of those guys will still have an option year remaining, perhaps allowing the Sox to bring a veteran into the mix. Prospect Edgar Quero has yet to reach Triple-A but is playing well at Double-A and should move into the long-term picture at some point.

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