Rockies Moving Peter Lambert To Rotation
Peter Lambert will move from the Rockies bullpen to the starting rotation, manager Bud Black told reporters this evening (link via Patrick Newman of the Denver Post). He’ll step into the starting spot vacated by Kyle Freeland’s placement on the 15-day injured list. Righty Noah Davis, who was recalled from Triple-A as the corresponding move, will occupy the long relief role that Lambert had held.
The 27-year-old Lambert is no stranger to the rotation. He started 19 games as a rookie in 2019 and opened 11 of 25 appearances last season. The former second-round pick has generally struggled as a starter. He lost a spring battle with Dakota Hudson for the final spot in the Opening Day rotation, yet he has impressed out of the bullpen. Lambert has tossed 11 2/3 innings over six relief appearances, allowing just three runs. While his 10:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio isn’t particularly impressive, he has kept the ball on the ground at a huge 61.3% clip.
Freeland’s injury affords Lambert another opportunity to try to prove himself as a starter. He’ll make his first start of the season on Sunday as part of a doubleheader against the Mariners. It’s an important season for Lambert, who has quietly accrued more than three years of MLB service. He’s playing this year on a modest $1.25MM arbitration salary and will be controllable for another two seasons.
There’s clearly opportunity for Lambert to hold a spot in the rotation if he finds any level of success. Colorado’s rotation looked like arguably the worst group in MLB entering the year. It has indeed been a major problem. Their 6.33 ERA is more than a run higher than any other starting staff.
A lot of that has been because of Freeland, who entered the year as the staff ace. The veteran southpaw was tagged for 25 runs (23 earned) over his first 15 2/3 frames. His effort to figure things out will be halted for a few weeks by an elbow strain. Black told reporters that the team was hoping for a 4-6 week timeline for Freeland’s return to an MLB mound.
Rockies Place Kyle Freeland On Injured List With Elbow Strain
4:25pm: Freeland told the Colorado beat that the injury is unrelated to the home plate collision (X link via Patrick Lyons). There’s no timetable for his return. The southpaw went for imaging but said he doesn’t expect it’ll reveal any ligament damage.
3:20pm: The Rockies announced that left-hander Kyle Freeland has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow strain, retroactive to April 16. Right-hander Noah Davis has been recalled in a corresponding move.
Freeland, 31 next month, is having a rough start to his season, having allowed 23 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings over his first four starts. Most recently, he was the subject of attention for a non-pitching appearance he made. After Freeland had started Sunday’s game, he entered Monday’s contest as a pinch runner.
Catcher Elias Díaz doubled with two outs in the top of the ninth, with the Rockies tied with the Phillies at the time. Freeland ran for Díaz and went to third on a wild pitch, then later tried to score on yet another wild pitch. But as he slid into home, he collided with pitcher Jeff Hoffman, who was receiving the ball from catcher J.T. Realmuto and attempting to make a tag. Freeland was ruled out and was visibly hurt on the play, grabbing at his non-throwing shoulder (Video via MLB.com).
After the game, manager Bud Black said that Freeland was fine, per Luke Zahlmann of the Denver Gazette. Black later explained to MLB Network Radio that a stomach virus was going around the club and a couple of guys on the team were not even present at the ballpark, meaning there was essentially no position player bench to draw from, which is why Freeland was tapped for the unusual assignment.
That injury was to Freeland’s right shoulder and today’s is a strain of his left elbow. The team has not commented on today’s injury announcement, though Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post says they’re unrelated.
Whether there’s any connection to the pinch-running situation or not, it’s bad news for the Rockies either way. They have started the season 4-15 and Freeland’s injury will further thin out a pitching staff that is arguably the worst in baseball. Collectively, Colorado pitchers have a 6.01 ERA, highest in the league. The Astros are 29th at 5.24 and will likely see some stabilization now that Justin Verlander is coming off the injured list, thus bumping everyone else down a peg.
The Rockies play in a very hitter-friendly setting but it’s still been bleak. As of a few years ago, the Colorado rotation was anchored by Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and Germán Márquez, with the Rockies signing extensions with all three of those pitchers. But the latter two both required Tommy John surgery last summer, leaving Freeland as the only member of that trio left standing.
As mentioned, Freeland wasn’t out to a great start, but in a tiny sample size. Over his entire career, he has a 4.53 earned run average despite pitching half his games at Coors Field. The Rockies gave him a five-year, $64.5MM extension going into the 2022 season. To this point, it’s unclear if Freeland is facing a significant absence, but the fact that he has an elbow strain will at least lead to some worry that yet another pitcher will be going under the knife. Even if that doesn’t come to pass, the Rockies will nonetheless be proceeding without any of their core starters for the next few weeks at least.
Davis was starting in the minors so perhaps he will step in Freeland’s rotation spot for the time being alongside Cal Quantrill, Dakota Hudson, Austin Gomber and Ryan Feltner. The club will presumably provide more details about Freeland’s prognosis, either before or after tonight’s game.
2023 Rule 5 Update: April Edition
We’re three weeks into the 2024 season, and this year’s crop of Rule 5 picks has had an atypical amount of staying power. That’s perhaps in part due to the fact that only ten players were selected in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, but as of this writing, only one Rule 5 selection has been returned to his original organization.
For those unfamiliar, in order to be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, a player must not be on his team’s 40-man roster and must have played in either parts of five professional seasons (if they signed at 18 or younger) or four professional seasons (if they signed at 19 or older). The deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 by selecting their contracts to the 40-man roster typically falls in mid-November and spurs a good deal of player movement as teams jettison borderline players and non-tender candidates from their roster in order to protect younger prospects.
A player who is selected in the Rule 5 Draft must spend the entire subsequent season on his new club’s Major League roster and cannot be optioned to the minors. The player can technically spend time on the injured list as well, but at least 90 days must be spent on the active roster. If not, the player’s Rule 5 status rolls into the following season until 90 days on the active roster have been accrued. If a team at any point decides it can no longer carry a Rule 5 selection, that player must be passed through waivers and subsequently offered back to his original organization. Any other club can claim the player via waivers, but the same Rule 5 restrictions will apply to the claiming team.
Broadly speaking, the Rule 5 Draft rarely produces impact players. There are plenty of exceptions over the years, though, with names like Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, Shane Victorino, Joakim Soria, Josh Hamilton and, more recently, Garrett Whitlock and Trevor Stephan thriving in new organizations. The Rule 5 Draft dates back more than a century and has even produced a handful of Hall of Famers: Roberto Clemente, Hack Wilson and Christy Mathewson.
It’s unlikely we’ll see any Cooperstown-bound players come from this year’s crop, but the teams who opted to select a player will be content if any of these names become a viable reliever or role player for the next several seasons. Here’s a look at this year’s group of ten Rule 5 players and where they stand. We’ll do a few of these throughout the season, keeping tabs on which players survive the season and formally have their long-term rights transferred to their new clubs.
On a Major League Roster
Mitch Spence, RHP, Athletics (selected from Yankees)
Spence, 26 next month, was the first overall pick in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, and understandably so after the 2023 season he had. His 4.47 ERA might’ve been pedestrian, but the 2019 tenth-rounder led all Triple-A pitchers with 163 innings while delivering a nice blend of strikeouts (21.8%), walks (7.5%) and ground-balls (50%). For an A’s club desperately thin on starting pitching after the slew of rebuilding-driven trades for minor league arms have failed to produce much, adding a 25-year-old arm with that type of season held obvious appeal.
Spence made Oakland’s decision easy with a monster spring showing. He pitched 17 2/3 innings and allowed only six earned runs (3.06 ERA) on 15 hits and six walks with 21 punchouts. He’s worked out of the ‘pen so far in Oakland but could very well find himself making starts later in the year. Through his first 11 2/3 MLB frames, Spence has yielded four earned runs on 10 hits and four walks with a 48.4% grounder rate. He’s not in danger of losing his spot anytime soon.
Matt Sauer, RHP, Royals (selected from Yankees)
Another 25-year-old righty out of the Yankees organization, Sauer came to his new club with a much heavier draft pedigree than his now-former teammate, Spence. The Yankees selected the 6’4″ righty with the No. 54 overall pick back in 2017, but Sauer didn’t develop as quickly as hoped. He was set back by 2019 Tommy John surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season. He’s never topped 111 innings in a season, but Sauer rebuilt some prospect pedigree with a nice 2023 season that saw him pitch 68 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball in Double-A. He whiffed 29.5% of his opponents, albeit against a less palatable 10.3% walk rate.
Like his former teammate, Sauer had a nice spring that made the decision relatively easy for his new club. In 10 2/3 innings, he held opponents to three earned runs (2.53 ERA) on 13 hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts. He opened the season in the Kansas City bullpen and has thus far pitched five innings, allowing a pair of runs in that time. Sauer has walked four of his 25 opponents and fanned just two thus far. It’s a small sample, of course, but he’ll need to reverse that early trend to hang onto his roster spot — especially if the Royals continue their hot start and find themselves contending into the summer.
Anthony Molina, RHP, Rockies (selected from Rays)
The 22-year-old Molina worked as a starter in the Rays’ system last year, taking the ball 28 times (27 starts) and pitching 122 innings with a 4.50 ERA. The undersized righty has garnered praise for a solid-average heater and above-average changeup, and he showed good command in 2023 after struggling with walks earlier in his minor league career. Molina continued to show good command in spring training (in addition to a massive 60.5% grounder rate), but the regular season has been brutal for him thus far. In three appearances, he’s been tattooed for a dozen runs on 13 hits and four walks with just two strikeouts. The Rockies can afford to be as patient as they want. They’re 4-13 on the season and were never expected to contend. Still, Molina will need to improve on his early performance in order to stick on the roster.
Nasim Nunez, INF, Nationals (selected from Marlins)
The Nationals have effectively played the season thus far with a 25-man roster. Nunez made the Opening Day squad but has been M.I.A. since. He’s appeared in just five of Washington’s 16 games and received only two plate appearances, going hitless in that meaningless sample. Nunez is an all-glove and speed prospect who hit just .224/.341/.286 in Double-A last season. He did go 52-for-59 in stolen base attempts, and scouting reports have long touted his defensive excellence at shortstop. He hit just .152/.200/.182 in 35 spring plate appearances.
It’s fair to wonder how long the Nats can essentially punt a roster spot by keeping Nunez on the bench, but like the Rockies, they’re not expecting to contend this season anyhow. One would imagine that from a pure developmental standpoint, they need to find a way to get Nunez into some games and start getting him some playing time, but for now, the team appears content to just hide the 23-year-old on the bench.
Ryan Fernandez, RHP, Cardinals (selected from Red Sox)
Fernandez, 25, has just four appearances out of the St. Louis bullpen so far and has been understandably deployed in low-leverage spots while he acclimates to the majors. He’s pitched fairly well in sparse duty, holding opponents to three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings. Fernandez has averaged just under 96 mph on his heater, fanned seven opponents and issued three walks. His swinging-strike rate isn’t close to where it’s been in his minor league work, but his wipeout slider has been strong thus far. Fernandez has finished off eight plate appearances with that pitch, picking up four strikeouts and yielding only one hit. Nothing he’s done so far makes it seem like he’ll be cut loose anytime soon.
Justin Slaten, RHP, Red Sox (selected by Mets from Rangers; traded to Red Sox for LHP Ryan Ammons)
While most Rule 5 relievers are eased into low-pressure spots, that hasn’t been the case with the Sox and Slaten. He held a four-run lead to pick up a seven-out save in the team’s fourth game of the season, and the 6’4″ righty has since tallied three holds out of Alex Cora’s bullpen. In 10 1/3 innings, Slaten has allowed only one run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. Add in 6 1/3 shutout innings in spring training, and he’s looked more like a seasoned veteran than a 26-year-old who entered the season with all of 8 1/3 innings above the Double-A level. Slaten has immediately made himself an important part of Boston’s roster, and while a prolonged slump could always change things, he looks like a keeper right now.
Stephen Kolek, RHP, Padres (selected from Mariners)
Kolek, who’ll turn 27 tomorrow, began his big league tenure with four runs in 1 2/3 innings over his first two appearances. He’s since bounced back with 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball, fanning 11 hitters against three walks along the way. He punched out nearly a quarter of his opponents in Triple-A last year and did so with a huge 57.5% ground-ball rate. He hasn’t picked up grounders at such a strong level just yet (43.5%), but San Diego probably isn’t second-guessing their decision to select him. He’s already picked up a pair of holds, and his recent run of success has dropped his ERA to 4.35. Command has been a problem for Kolek in the past, but he’s only walked 8.9% of his opponents against a 26.7% strikeout rate so far.
On the Major League Injured List
Shane Drohan, LHP, White Sox (selected from Red Sox): Drohan underwent shoulder surgery in late February and is on the 60-day IL. There’s no telling yet when he’ll be medically cleared to return. As noted in the intro, Drohan needs 90 days on the active roster to shed his Rule 5 designation; even if he spends the entire 2024 campaign on the injured list, his Rule 5 status will carry over into 2025 until he picks up those 90 active days.
Carson Coleman, RHP, Rangers (selected from Yankees): Coleman is also on the 60-day injured list. Unlike Drohan, it was well known at the time of his selection that he’d be IL-bound to begin the year. Coleman had Tommy John surgery last year and is expected to be out until midsummer at the least.
Returned to Original Organization
Deyvison De Los Santos, INF, Guardians (returned to D-backs): De Los Santos has big raw power but a well below-average hit tool. The Guardians selected him on the heels of a 20-homer campaign in Double-A with the D-backs, but he hit just .227/.227/.318 in 44 spring appearances before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and getting returned to the Snakes. He’s had a big performance in a return-trip to Double-A.
Rockies Place Kris Bryant On Injured List Due To Back Strain
The Rockies announced that they have recalled outfielder Sean Bouchard from Triple-A Albuquerque. He will take the roster spot of first baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a low back strain, retroactive to April 14.
Bryant, 32, crashed into the wall at Rogers Centre this weekend while catching a ball off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.(video clip via MLB.com). He was later removed from that game and hasn’t been back in the lineup since. The fact that he wasn’t immediately placed on the IL perhaps suggests he could return after a brief absence, though further updates will perhaps provide more information. Since the move was backdated by three days, Bryant could theoretically be back with the club in a week.
Going into the 2022 season, the Rockies and Bryant agreed to a seven-year, $182MM contract. The deal has not provided the results the club had hoped for to this point, which is putting it mildly. Bryant hit well in 2022 but only played 42 games due to back problems and left foot plantar fasciitis. Last year, a left heel bruise and a fractured left index finger led to IL stints. Bryant still got into 80 games but his production dipped, and he was also out to a slow start here in 2024.
Overall, Bryant has appeared in 135 games since joining Colorado, taking 571 plate appearances. He has hit .249/.329/.391 for a wRC+ of 86. That’s well shy of the .278/.376/.504 line he put up through the 2021 season, production which translated to a 134 wRC+. There’s still plenty of time for Bryant to turn things around but each trip to the IL will only compound the frustration among the Colorado fans as the largest free agent signing in franchise history continues to go for nought.
Bryant had been playing both first base and right field prior to his injury. Elehuris Montero has seemingly taken over at the regular at first, with the outfield spots filled by Brenton Doyle, Nolan Jones and Michael Toglia. Veteran Charlie Blackmon has mostly been in the designated hitter slot but has played some right field on occasion.
Jake Cave is on the roster as a reserve outfielder but he will now be joined by Bouchard, who turns 28 next month. Bouchard has a stout line of .304/.429/.563 in his major league career, though in a small sample of 140 plate appearances. He seemed to have a chance to earn a regular role to start the 2024 season but hit just .205/.308/.341 in the spring. However, he has mashed since reporting to Triple-A, putting up a line of .315/.431/.611 so far this year.
NL West Notes: Padres, Yankees, Soto, Montgomery, Treinen, Bryant
As one might expect, December’s blockbuster Juan Soto trade between the Padres and Yankees took on several different permutations before the two sides finally agreed on the seven players involved. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the Padres had interest in 17 different Yankees players before finally agreeing on a package of four pitchers (Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito, Drew Thorpe) and catcher Kyle Higashioka in exchange for Soto and Trent Grisham. Clarke Schmidt and Chase Hampton were two of the other pitchers known to be considered when reports began to surface about the trade negotiations, and Heyman adds that the Yankees agreeing to include Thorpe instead of Hampton was one of the turning points in getting the deal done.
Though San Diego ended up taking a pitching-heavy mix of players, Heyman writes that the Friars also asked about such noteworthy position-player prospects as Spencer Jones, Roderick Arias, and George Lombard Jr. Jones is a top-100 prospect and the 25th overall pick of the 2022 draft, and he has already drawn lots of trade buzz early in his pro career. The Yankees have thus far balked at moving Jones, even in past talks with the Brewers and White Sox about Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease, respectively.
More from around the NL West…
- Jordan Montgomery will likely make his Diamondbacks debut on April 18, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Alex Weiner of KTAR 92.3 radio). Because he didn’t sign until just prior to Opening Day and therefore missed Spring Training, Montgomery started his D’Backs tenure in the minors in order to get some ramp-up work under his belt. Montgomery got up to 71 pitches over 3 2/3 innings in a Triple-A start yesterday, and though he was tagged for seven unearned runs, Lovullo said Montgomery was just working out his fastball rather than worrying about on-field results. It remains to be seen if Tommy Henry or Ryne Nelson will be removed from the rotation to make way for Montgomery, though if Montgomery is eased back into action, one of Henry or Nelson could speculatively be paired with the southpaw in something of a piggyback capacity for a turn or two through the rotation.
- Blake Treinen threw to live hitters today, in the latest step of his recovery process after suffered a bruised lung over a month ago. Treinen was hit in the chest by a line drive during a Spring Training game, and he told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that a later MRI revealed two fractured ribs in addition to the bruised lung, though the reliever is now feeling pain-free. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that the plan is to have Treinen face live hitters twice more over the next week, and then begin a minor league rehab assignment during the week of April 22.
- Kris Bryant wasn’t in the Rockies‘ lineup today after making an early exit from Saturday’s game due to back stiffness. Bryant collided with the right field wall while catching a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fly ball in the first inning Saturday, and remained in the game until being replaced in the bottom of the fourth. Bryant is considered day-to-day and manager Bud Black said he was available to pinch-hit today if necessary, though given Bryant’s lengthy injury history, any sort of health issue will naturally cause some extra concern.
Daniel Bard To Undergo Season-Ending Flexor Tendon Surgery
6:24pm: Bard told the Colorado beat that he’ll rehab from the surgery before deciding next year whether he wants to continue his playing career (X link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post).
5:05pm: Rockies right-hander Daniel Bard will require surgery on the flexor tendon in his throwing arm and will miss the rest of the season. Thomas Harding of MLB.com was among those to relay the news. Bard is already on the 15-day injured list after undergoing an arthroscopic knee procedure in February but he’ll now be destined for the 60-day IL whenever the Rockies need his roster spot for someone else.
It’s an incredibly unfortunate development for both the pitcher and the team. Bard, 39 in June, is in the second season of a two-year, $19MM extension he signed with the Rockies, a pact that looks increasingly regrettable. Bard saw his previous anxiety and control problems return last year as he walked 21.1% of batters faced and saw his earned run average balloon to 4.56. He’ll now be on the shelf for the entire second half of that deal.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course, but there were reasons that contract was eyebrow-raising even at the time. Bard pitched for the Red Sox from 2009 to 2013 and looked like a dominant reliever at times before a case of the yips sent him out into the wilderness. He walked 15.5% of batters faced in 2012 then only tossed one inning in the majors in 2013.
From 2014 to 2017, he settled for minor league deals with the Cardinals, Mets and Rangers but the control problems followed him to all those stops. Over that period, he logged 13 innings on the farm but walked a massive 44.7% of batters faced and posted 24.23 ERA.
He signed a minor league deal with the Rockies prior to 2020 and was able to mount an incredible comeback. He got back to the big leagues with Colorado and posted a 3.65 ERA over his 23 appearances, keeping his walk rate down to 9.4% while striking out 25.5% of opponents. His ERA ticked up to 5.21 in 2021 but he dropped it all the way to 1.79 the year after. In that 2022 season, he struck out 28.2% of batters faced, walked 10.2% of them and got grounders on 51.7% of balls in play. He also did that in high-leverage situations, racking up 34 saves for Colorado.
It was right around that year’s trade deadline that the Rockies signed Bard to the aforementioned extension. Given Bard’s volatile career and the fact he was a 37-year-old impending free agent on a non-competitive club, there was an argument for the Rockies to put him on the trading block and grab whatever young talent they could. Instead, they doubled down on their relationship with Bard by extending it for another two seasons. But as mentioned, his struggles returned last year and now 2024 will go down as a total loss. Once transferred to the 60-day IL, he’ll spend the rest of the year there and become a free agent again this coming winter.
Rockies Outright Warming Bernabel
March 30: Bernabel went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Double-A Hartford, per the Rockies’ transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll remain with the organization.
March 28: The Rockies announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of utilityman Alan Trejo and opened a spot on the roster by designating third base prospect Warming Bernabel for assignment. Colorado also placed relievers Daniel Bard and Lucas Gilbreath on the 15-day IL, as expected. The former is recovering from spring knee surgery and the latter from 2023 Tommy John surgery.
Bernabel, 21, ranked seventh among Rockies prospects at Baseball America this time last year but has seen his stock drop considerably after a rough 2023 season. After a standout 2021 campaign in which he slashed .313/.370/.499 between Low-A and High-A, Bernabel batted only .225/.282/.367 in 83 Double-A games. A back injury cost him more than a month of the season and quite possibly impacted his performance at the plate as well. BA dropped Bernabel to 27th in a poorly ranked Rockies farm system for the 2024 campaign, noting concerns about his below-average raw power and poor exit velocities.
Bernabel has played third base in all but one game of his pro career, when he logged a brief two-inning stint at second base. Scouting reports credit him with an average arm and enough range to handle the hot corner, but he’s not regarded as a plus defender at this time. He only spent one season on the Rockies’ 40-man roster before being designated for assignment, meaning he has two minor league option years remaining. That, paired with his youth and pre-2023 reputation could create interest from other clubs.
The Rockies will have a week to trade Bernabel or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. He doesn’t have the prior outright assignment or service time needed to reject an outright assignment, so if he goes unclaimed, Colorado can retain him and send him back to the minors (presumably, a second stint at Double-A) without needing to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him.
NL West Notes: D’Backs, Montgomery, Buehler, Monfort
The Diamondbacks officially introduced Jordan Montgomery at a press conference yesterday, with Montgomery, agent Scott Boras, and several team officials answering questions from the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports, and other media. D’Backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick said that the club initially checked in on Montgomery early in the offseason but weren’t eager to meet the asking price at the time. As Montgomery’s stay in free agency ended up stretching almost to the very end of Spring Training, GM Mike Hazen and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye started to explore the idea of re-engaging with the southpaw, and negotiations both started and ended within just a few days’ time.
The two sides agreed to a one-year, $25MM contract with a $20MM vesting player option and opt-out clause covering the 2025 season. Boras said Montgomery had some longer-term offers but “Jordan’s edict to me was, ‘I want to play for a competitive team. I want to make sure that I’m there and if I have to take something short-term to play for a competitive team, I will.’….It resulted in I think a deal that served our purposes in the short term and certainly served Jordan’s competitiveness needs and put an evaluation on I think his performance for this year and potentially next year that was appropriate for what he’s done.”
From Arizona’s perspective, adding Montgomery boosts payroll to a team-record $168MM for 2024, yet Kendrick and team president/CEO Derrick Hall are comfortable with the extra spending in order to keep the team in championship contention. While Hall hinted that the D’Backs might need another lengthy postseason trip to sustain a higher payroll into 2025, Arizona’s run to the World Series last year already provided enough of an extra revenue boost (both in ticket sales during the playoffs and more tickets already sold for this season) to justify more of all-in push in 2024.
Some other items from the NL West…
- Walker Buehler will throw four or five innings in a Triple-A rehab start on Sunday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). Sunday’s outing will be the first of four rehab starts for Buehler, as per the team’s current plans, though things remain fluid as the Dodgers want to be as careful as possible in managing Buehler’s return after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2022. Buehler is already well beyond the normal 13-15 rehab window, though obviously not every recovery process is the same for every pitcher, plus this was also the second TJ procedure of Buehler’s career. If all goes well at Triple-A, Buehler should be on track to be part of the L.A. rotation before April is over.
- “I do feel like we are on the right track,” Rockies owner Dick Monfort told the Denver Post’s Troy Renck, with Monfort citing his team’s up-and-coming core of young talent and his ongoing trust in GM Bill Schmidt and manager Bud Black. Colorado has had only five winning seasons since the Monfort family bought the team in late 2005, and things seemed to bottom out last year when the Rox lost a club-record 103 games. Still, Monfort believes in the “organic” strategy of relying on homegrown prospects and only mid-range payrolls, as Monfort is critical of the revenue disparities among Major League franchises. Denver fans have themselves long been critical of Monfort’s approach due to the lack of on-field success, and Monfort has frequently come under fire for his perpetually over-optimistic view of his team’s fortunes and the Rockies’ reliance on long-time employees. While Monfort admitted that he worries about being too loyal at times, he noted that when looking to replace former GM Jeff Bridich, he wasn’t impressed by external candidates’ plans to fix the team. “They would tell me how to win at altitude and everything they mentioned, it would not have worked, or it’s all things we have tried. I think in any business you have to have people you can trust, and I trust [Schmidt and Black],” Monfort said.
MLBTR Podcast: A Live Reaction To The Jordan Montgomery Signing, Ohtani’s Interpreter, And J.D. Martinez Joins The Mets
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers makes remarks about his former interpreter and the gambling investigation (1:20)
- The inner strife of the MLBPA seems to be fizzling out (14:35)
- We are discussing J.D. Martinez signing with the Mets when we are interrupted by… (18:30)
- Live breaking news of Jordan Montgomery agreeing to a deal with the Diamondbacks (20:25)
- Then we go back to Martinez and the Mets (25:00)
- Some more Montgomery and Diamondbacks talk (29:10)
- Rangers sign Michael Lorenzen instead of Montgomery (34:15)
- Wyatt Landford makes Opening Day roster with the Rangers but Jackson Holliday doesn’t make the Orioles (39:00)
- Rockies sign Ezequiel Tovar to an extension (45:10)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Luis García Jr, Lance McCullers Jr, and Kendall Graveman of the Astros are likely out, at the very least, until mid-June. How come none of these guys are on the 60-day injured list? Do you seen the Astros moving them there and if so, when? (49:15)
- Do you think it’s possible that the league begins to follow the Angels and Rangers footsteps and call up recent draft picks as soon as they show any signs of potential? Also, do you think it is at all possible that teams start to call up teenagers? (52:25)
Check out our past episodes!
- Mutiny In The MLBPA, Blake Snell Signs With The Giants And The Dylan Cease Trade – listen here
- Injured Pitchers, Brayan Bello’s Extension, Mookie Betts At Shortstop And J.D. Davis – listen here
- The Giants Sign Matt Chapman, Zack Wheeler’s Extension, And Blake Snell And Jordan Montgomery Remain – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Rockies Extend Ezequiel Tovar
March 26: The Rockies have formally announced Tovar’s extension. Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post, the 2031 option has a $23MM salary and $2.5MM buyout
March 24: The Rockies and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar have agreed to a long-term contract extension that will run through at least the 2030 season. The 22-year-old Tovar will earn $63.5MM over the seven guaranteed years of the deal, and the Rockies hold a club option on his services for the 2031 season that could bring the total to $84MM if triggered. Tovar is represented by the Rimas Sports Agency, and the extension will be official once the shortstop passes a physical.
Tovar was already under club control through the end of the 2028 season, and this next extension will now add at least two and maybe three more years to his time in Colorado. Due to Tovar’s young age, he’ll still be in his prime when eligible for free agency, as he’ll either be 29 or 30 years old at the end of the deal depending on whether or not the Rox exercise their club option.
Tovar entered the 2023 season as a consensus top-25 prospect in the sport. The youngster made the club’s Opening Day roster as the starting shortstop last year but got off to a difficult start before heating up towards the end of April. Tovar managed to carry that hot streak into the All Star break, hitting a solid .283/.314/.479 with nine home runs during that 65 game stretch. Unfortunately, however, Tovar struggled in the second half and hit a paltry .246/.277/.386 the rest of the way. While Tovar’s 66 extra-base hits hinted at real power potential, the youngster struck out in 27% of his trips to the plate while walking just 4.1% of the time. That undisciplined approach left him with a wRC+ of just 70, 30% below league average and fourth-worst among all qualified hitters in the majors last year.
Difficult as Tovar’s rookie season may have been, his age and prospect pedigree make it easy to imagine him finding another gear offensively in the coming years, and his glove is already nothing short of elite. Tovar’s defense at shortstop was worth a whopping 16 Outs Above Average last year, which ranks in the 99th percentile of all MLB fielders per Statcast. Fielding Bible’s Defensive Runs Saved was similarly impressed with Tovar’s work in the field, as his +12 DRS ranked behind only Anthony Volpe, Wander Franco, and Dansby Swanson among major league shortstops last year.
Glovework of that caliber can be a carrying tool that allows players to remain productive overall in the majors leagues even if they struggle at the plate. That’s particularly true at shortstop, where strong defensive players can put together star-level production with even average offensive contributions. For the Rockies, that leaves this deal as a somewhat less risky arrangement than it might seem on the surface; after all, the deal is somewhat similar to the eight-year, $70MM pact the Pirates and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes agreed to on the heels of a 2021 campaign that saw Hayes post a 85 wRC+ in 96 games. That deal maxes out at $82MM over nine years if Pittsburgh exercises its club option, a similar commitment to the $84MM over eight years Tovar will earn if his club option is exercised by the Rockies.
For Tovar, meanwhile, the deal locks in life-changing money while still affording him the opportunity to hit the open market in his prime. Of course, in signing the deal he also forgoes the opportunity to hit free agency in his mid-20s, a route which has led other players such as Bryce Harper and Manny Machado to massive paydays worth $300MM or more. On the other hand, Tovar would surely have to break out and become at least an above-average hitter in the majors to command a deal of that sort of caliber. While such an improvement with the bat can’t be ruled out, it’s certainly understandable for the 22-year-old to prioritize financial security, particularly on a deal that will still offer him a second bite of the apple following his age-29 season.
With Tovar now locked up for at least the next seven seasons, the Rockies have now set into place a clear building block for the club’s future. On the heels of the first 100-loss season in franchise history, the club spent cautiously in free agency with short-term agreements for players such as Daniel Hudson, Cal Quantrill, and Charlie Blackmon. That approach leaves little optimism for a 2024 club that appears to be buried behind four highly competitive teams in the NL West. Even so, with Tovar and another emerging youngster in Nolan Jones under long-term team control and a farm system rife with exciting prospects like Amael Amador and Chase Dollander, it’s certainly possible that brighter days lie ahead for the Rockies. With the club’s longest extension since the one afforded to Nolan Arenado prior to the 2019 season now in place, Tovar is now all but certain to be a major part of that future.
Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. first reported the extension, the seven-year term, and the total value of the contract if the club option is exercised. MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. reported the extension’s $63.5MM value over the seven guaranteed years.
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