Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Denard Span

Trade Rumors: Montgomery, Hernandez, Castro, Mets, Span, Stratton, Fulmer

By | at

Left-hander Mike Montgomery wants to be a starting pitcher, and would like that opportunity with another team if there isn’t a spot for him in the Cubs’ rotation, sources close to Montgomery tell The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.  Montgomery hasn’t told the Cubs about any desire to be traded, though he has told the team about his preference to start.  The 28-year-old has been a valuable swingman for Chicago since he was acquired in a trade from the Mariners in July 2016, and the team has been so actively looking for starting pitching that it seems Montgomery’s role won’t change in 2018.  Cubs GM Jed Hoyer told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times and other media that Rosenthal’s report “kind of caught me by surprise….There hasn’t been any dialogue that should have spurred a report like that.  You just don’t know where it comes from.  But sometimes that happens.  Mike’s a great teammate.”  Montgomery is a valuable asset with four remaining years of team control, though he could also become a big trade chip for the Cubs if they did consider moving him.

Some more rumblings about trade talks….

  • The Phillies’ Cesar Hernandez is the latest second baseman on the Mets’ list of targets, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  Hernandez may come with the highest asking price, however, of any of the players — Ian Kinsler, Josh Harrison, Jason Kipnis — the Mets are considering, given Hernandez’s controllable salary.  One infielder the Mets aren’t interested in is new Marlins second baseman Starlin Castro.
  • The Giants are believed to have offered Denard Span as one of the three players going to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  Span would have helped fill the hole in Miami’s outfield and his $11MM salary would’ve helped the Giants offset a small portion of Stanton’s enormous contract.  The Giants continue to be linked to the Marlins in talks for Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna, though Span wouldn’t be part of those potential trades given the far different salary parameters involved.  It is fair to wonder whether Span will be wearing a different uniform in 2018, given how the Giants are looking to thoroughly upgrade their outfield both offensively and defensively.  Also in the piece, Giants GM Bobby Evans said that teams have been asking about San Francisco’s top prospects and younger players, including right-hander Chris Stratton.
  • Giants prospect Heliot Ramos is being asked about in almost every trade proposal, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly writes.  Ramos, 17 ,was the 19th overall pick of the 2017 amateur draft and he has already turned a lot of heads in his brief pro career.
  • Also from Baggarly, Bobby Evans said that teams have approached the Giants about trades that would see the Giants send a large-salaried player (and some prospects) elsewhere in what would essentially be a case of the other club buying minor league talent.  Evans said he isn’t considering those types of deals at this time, though Baggarly also writes that the Giants may be increasingly keen on getting under the luxury tax threshold this winter in order to position themselves for larger spending in the future.
  • The Rangers are one of the teams known to have contacted the Tigers about Michael Fulmer, though Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Fress Press reports that the two sides haven’t gotten very far in negotiations.  Fulmer’s ability and years of team control make him an attractive target for any club, especially the pitching-needy Rangers, though the Tigers have naturally put a huge asking price on their young righty.

Giants Could Move Hunter Pence To Part-Time Role

By | at

The Giants are casting a wide net as they search for outfield help, and they’re prepared to move Hunter Pence to a part-time role if their other acquisitions necessitate such a transition, GM Bobby Evans tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.

Evans tells Crasnick that the team’s “focus is center field” and upgrading the defense, though San Francisco has, of course, been widely linked to Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton in trade talks as well. The acquisition of a center fielder wouldn’t appear to force Pence into a timeshare at first glance, though John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted this afternoon that if the Giants are successful in adding both a center fielder and a right fielder such as Stanton, the team could put Pence and Denard Span into a left-field platoon.

Landing Stanton and an established center fielder would be a lofty goal, though Shea also tweets that a short-term fix could be an option in center field. The organization is high on 24-year-old Steven Duggar and believes he could eventually be an internal candidate to man center on a long-term basis. The 2015 sixth-rounder is likely to open next year in Triple-A, per Shea.

Of course, it remains to be seen just how the Giants will remedy their outfield situation. Joel Sherman of the New York Post also chatted with Evans, and the GM acknowledged that the poor reputation of San Francisco’s farm system makes trading with other organizations more difficult. Evans also plainly stated that the Giants would “prefer not to go over [the luxury tax barrier] for the fourth straight year.”

Adding Stanton’s $25MM average annual value to the luxury tax ledger would almost certainly put the Giants right up against that threshold. Between the average annual values of Buster Posey, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Mark Melancon, Denard Span, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Moore and Pence (plus $13.9MM in arbitration projections), the Giants already have nearly $154MM on the luxury tax ledger. That’s not even including a potential center-field addition, pre-arbitration players or the roughly $13MM of player benefits that is included in luxury tax calculations. Nevertheless, Sherman characterizes them as a legitimate suitor for the 2017 home run king.

[Related: San Francisco Giants payroll outlook]

As Crasnick notes, the Giants have been tied to virtually every outfielder on the free-agent or trade market. In addition to Stanton, San Francisco has been linked to Lorenzo Cain (link), Jackie Bradley Jr. (link), Billy Hamilton (link) and Jay Bruce (link) in the past week alone.

San Francisco outfielders were far and away the least productive unit in all of Major League Baseball last season, hitting just .255/.309/.375 while also posting the fifth-worst Defensive Runs Saved total in the game (-42). Pence, 35 next April, played no small role in those struggles. The former All-Star hit .260/.315/.385 with passable but unspectacular defense in right field. He’s owed $18.5MM next season — the final year of a five-year, $90MM contract with the Giants.

West Notes: Gattis, Diamondbacks, Cain, Span

By | at

Astros catcher and designated hitter Evan Gattis appears headed to the disabled list after receiving a concussion diagnosis yesterday, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The end of a Corey Dickerson swing caught Gattis in the head on Thursday. The team currently plans to option first baseman A.J. Reed to Triple-A Fresno and promote third baseman J.D. Davis, who was hitting .282/.345/.527 in the high minors this season. The team will have to make another move to add a catcher if it does place Gattis on the DL, however. Here’s more from the West divisions.

  • The Diamondbacks’ rotation has gone from second worst in the Majors last year to second best this season, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello notes. Petriello credits big improvements in the Snakes’ outfield defense and catching, along with Robbie Ray’s breakout, and Taijuan Walker’s addition. He also notes that Zack Godley moved from relieving to starting for the big club this year, while Archie Bradley did the opposite; both moves had a big impact on the fortunes of Arizona’s starting pitchers.
  • The 42-69 Giants are finding new roles for two veteran players, as Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group noted earlier this week. The team will use Matt Cain, who’s in the midst of a third straight season with an ERA above five, as a long reliever until his contract expires at the end of the season. (The team does have an option on Cain for 2018, but almost certainly won’t exercise it.) Chris Stratton will take Cain’s place in the rotation. And the team has told center fielder Denard Span it plans to move him to left field, although he might not actually make that move until next spring. Span, for his part, since he has “no problem” with the move, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. “If you look around the league, you don’t see too many everyday center fielders who are 33 years old,” he says. “By the same token, I think I can still play center.”

Giants Shopping Denard Span

By | at

The Giants are shopping center fielder Denard Span, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, but they’ve yet to drum up a market for the 33-year-old veteran.

Span is in the second season of a three-year, $31MM contract with the Giants, though the backloaded nature of the contract makes the notion of moving him especially tricky. Span’s deal came with just a $3MM salary in its first year, so he’s owed $19.2MM through the completion of the 2018 campaign (including the buyout of a 2019 mutual option and one more payment on a partially deferred signing bonus, per Cot’s).

Span remains a highly productive bat, hitting .286/.337/.451 with seven homers, 22 doubles and four triples despite playing his home games in perhaps baseball’s most pitcher-friendly venue — AT&T Park. It’s worth noting, though, that nearly all of his damage has been done against right-handed pitching (.234/.290/.281 vs. lefties; .299/.350/.496 vs. righties). Beyond that, the once-premium center field defender has seen his defensive ratings slip from anywhere to below average (per Ultimate Zone Rating) to disastrous (per Defensive Runs Saved).

Unfortunately for the Giants, there’s no shortage of outfield bats available. While Span is still playing center field, his sub-par performance there could lead opposing teams to view him as more of a corner option. If that’s the case, he joins a market that’s flooded with the likes of Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson, Melky Cabrera, Seth Smith, Matt Joyce, Rajai Davis, Howie Kendrick, Jose Bautista and perhaps Carlos Gomez (assuming the Marlins do not reverse course and make any of their outfielders available). That’s a fair bit of options when few contending clubs are seeking outfield help in the first place, and Span is owed more money than anyone on that list.

Injury Notes: Matz, Hughes, Cardinals, Span, Flaherty

By | at

The Mets may welcome back lefty Steven Matz sooner than later, David Lennon of Newsday reports on Twitter. Indeed, if he has a strong outing tomorrow at Triple-A, the club may allow him to make his next start at the major league level. That would obviously represent welcome news for the beleaguered Mets staff. Whether Matz can stay on the hill the rest of the way will no doubt go a long way toward determining whether New York can climb back into the postseason picture.

Here’s more on some health situations from around the game:

  • Though he’s still heading to the 10-day DL, Twins righty Phil Hughes will do so with a somewhat more optimistic outlook than had been feared, as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was among those to tweet. Hughes is dealing with right biceps tendinitis, the team says, which seems quite a bit less worrisome than the hints of a shoulder problem that had been given previously.
  • The Cardinals have provided a few injury updates, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports. Notably, lefty Tyler Lyons is nearing a return from an intercostal strain, though the precise timing of his activation isn’t yet clear. The Cards don’t expect a prolonged absence from second baseman Kolten Wong, meanwhile, who is still out with some elbow soreness but doesn’t figure to hit the DL. Interestingly, Langosch also notes, lefty Zach Duke is lining up an effort to return more quickly than is typical from his Tommy John surgery. Duke is already eyeing work against live hitters in hopes of ramping up in time to return to the Cards in August.
  • Giants center fielder Denard Span is limited by a left thumb problem, he told reporters including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link). It doesn’t appear as if it’s something that’ll require a DL stint, but it does represent yet another nick for the 33-year-old. Span is hitting just .258/.296/.398 on the year thus far, with a shoulder injury also having limited him in the early going.
  • It seems the Orioles will go without infielder Ryan Flaherty for a reasonable stretch. Per Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com, via Twitter, the veteran utilityman is going to need a platelet-rich plasma injection after suffering an injury to his shoulder/upper-back area. Flaherty, 30, is expected to need more than the minimum ten-day stay on the DL.
  • Phillies prospect Jesmuel Valentin may need shoulder surgery that could end his season, Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice reports on Twitter. The 23-year-old second baseman, who was taken 51st overall in the 2012 draft, came to the Philadelphia organization as part of the 2014 trade that sent veteran righty Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers. Valentin, who occupies a 40-man spot, had struggled to a .229/.282/.292 batting line this year but has shown a quality approach in the past and slashed .269/.341/.395 with nine home runs last year in the upper minors.

Injury Notes: Manaea, Beltre, Red Sox, Span

By | at

Athletics lefty Sean Manaea exited yesterday’s game after just two innings due to left shoulder tightness, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The departure of yet another of the Athletics’ top starters is troubling enough, but Slusser adds that Manaea’s velocity was topping out at 90 mph on Wednesday — a far cry from the 95 mph at which he usually tops out and from the 92.5 mph he’s averaged thus far in 2017. Slusser has since tweeted that Manaea did pass some initial strength tests with his shoulder today and hopes to try throwing tomorrow.

Oakland already has Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman on the disabled list, though they’ll welcome Graveman back to the rotation tonight. If Manaea needs to miss time, I’d imagine that right-handers Cesar Valdez and Paul Blackburn would be options to step into his rotation spot. Each is already on the 40-man roster, and Valdez is presently serving as the team’s long reliever after making a spot start last week.

A few more injury notes from around the game…

  • While the Rangers hoped at the time of Adrian Beltre’s most recent setback that he’d be able to join the club by the end of April, it’s now questionable whether he’ll even be ready to take the field at some point in May, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. “It’s at the point where we didn’t necessarily see the progress results we thought we would see,” manager Jeff Banister tells Sullivan. Banister said there’s still no timeline on Beltre, adding that the team is still trying to reduce the swelling and soreness in Beltre’s strained calf. Joey Gallo will continue to man third base in Beltre’s absence.
  • Red Sox reliever Carson Smith has had a setback in his recovery from 2016 Tommy John surgery, as Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com writes. Smith was throwing off a mound a couple of weeks ago but has “had to slow down,” manager John Farrell told reporters. Smith is long tossing from 110 feet but is now two weeks removed from his most recent mound session. Boston had been targeting a June return for Smith, but a July return is now more realistic, per McCaffrey. The Red Sox have had rough luck when trading for potential setup arms; in addition to losing Smith for more than a year due to Tommy John surgery just months after trading for him, the team has yet to reap any benefit from its trade to acquire Tyler Thornburg this offseason, as Thornburg has been sidelined all season by a right shoulder impingement. CSNNE.com’s Evan Drellich tweeted recently that Farrell said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that Thornburg essentially needs to progress through Spring Training all over again, which would normally consist of seven to 10 appearances.
  • The initial MRI on Denard Span’s shoulder revealed no serious injuries to the Giants center fielder (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and Chris Haft of MLB.com). Span, who has already been placed on the 10-day disabled list, said that his shoulder was in too much pain yesterday to even get through the first attempt at an MRI (via Schulman). Manager Bruce Bochy told reporters earlier today that the expectation is that Span will miss more than the minimum 10 days on the disabled list (Twitter link via Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News).

NL West Notes: Span, Maeda, Spangenberg

By | at

Here’s the latest from around the NL West…

  • Denard Span told CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic and other reporters that he hopes to miss only a few days after hurting his shoulder crashing into the outfield wall last night.  Span said he suffered a similar injury in 2012 that kept him on the DL for several weeks, though his current issue doesn’t quite seem as serious, with Span noting that “the good thing is I’ve got range of motion.”  Between Span’s injury, Hunter Pence day-to-day with a knee strain and the team’s ongoing need in left field, the Giants are in need of some roster creativity to address the outfield.  Manager Bruce Bochy raised the possibility that Brandon Belt could play left (as he is today) in order to get Buster Posey at first and Nick Hundley behind the plate, as Hundley is hitting well.  Drew Stubbs could also be promoted from the minors as further outfield depth.
  • Kenta Maeda now has an 8.05 ERA through his first 19 innings after another rough start last night, though Dodgers manager Dave Roberts still expressed faith in his starter.  “We’re definitely going to hang with him.  But we’re going to talk through some things, and see what’s best for Kenta,” Roberts told Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times and other reporters, adding that the Dodgers could potentially skip Maeda’s next start.  Maeda has been hampered by a whopping 22.6% homer rate, a lack of grounders and an increase in hard contact (though only from soft to medium contact, by Fangraphs’ calculations).  As McCullough, Maeda’s problems actually date back to last season, as Maeda was less effective down the stretch than in the first half of his MLB rookie year.
  • With Cory Spangenberg on fire at Triple-A, the Padres may be in a bit of a roster crunch, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes.  Spangenberg could be called up to take some playing time away from the struggling Ryan Schimpf at third base, though that still wouldn’t give Spangenberg the everyday at-bats the Padres want him to get, plus it also seems early to relegate Schimpf to a part-time role.  There’s also a 25-man issue in finding a place for Spangenberg, as the Padres have three Rule 5 Draft picks and three out-of-options players on their big league roster.

Injury Notes: Bumgarner, Span, Hunter, Odorizzi, Locke

By | at

There hasn’t been any talk within the Giants organization about filing a grievance against Madison Bumgarner in the wake of the ace southpaw’s dirt bike accident earlier this week, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes (subscription required).  It isn’t known whether Bumgarner had some sort of contractual clause (as many players do) prohibiting him from engaging in potentially dangerous activities like dirt biking, though if he did, the Giants would technically be within their rights to pursue recouping some of the salary owed to Bumgarner while he is on the disabled list.  Then again, as Olney notes, such a tactic “would be incredibly shortsighted and stupid” for the Giants given Bumgarner’s importance to the franchise, not to mention the fact that Bumgarner is already an enormous bargain thanks to an early-career extension.

Here’s the latest on some injury situations from around baseball…

  • Denard Span left last night’s game in the second inning after colliding with the wall while making a catch.  The Giants outfielder suffered a mild right shoulder sprain and though Span told MLB.com’s Chris Haft and other reporters that x-rays were negative, manager Bruce Bochy said Span may be out of action for a few days.  With Hunter Pence also hampered by a knee strain, the Giants may need to make some type of roster move to fill the gaps in their outfield.
  • The Rays placed right-hander Tommy Hunter on the 10-day DL with a right calf strain, recalling Chih-Wei Hu from Triple-A to fill the spot in the bullpen.  Hunter, who signed a minor league deal with Tampa Bay in February, has performed very well in his 8 1/3 innings with the club, posting a 1.08 ERA in 10 relief appearances.  Hu, 23, will be looking to make his official MLB debut after five seasons in the minors with the Rays and Twins.  Baseball America ranked Hu as the fifth-best prospect in the Rays’ system prior to this season.
  • In better news for the injury-plagued Rays, Jake Odorizzi told reporters (including Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times) that he feels ready to return from the 10-day DL after a 36-pitch bullpen session and some running drills.  Odorizzi was placed on the DL last weekend due to a left hamstring strain, though the injury wasn’t considered to be too serious.  The Rays righty is eligible to be activated on Wednesday.
  • The Marlins will probably use Jeff Locke out of the bullpen when the southpaw returns from injury, manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald).  Locke gives the Fish another lefty out of the pen, and “We still want — we’ve always talked about having a number of guys who can do multiple innings,” Mattingly said.  Locke has been sidelined with biceps tendinitis since early in Spring Training and is getting close to beginning a rehab assignment, Mattingly said, though no more specific timeline was provided beyond the skipper saying that Locke is expected back sometime in May.  Locke has primarily been a starter during his six-year MLB career, though the Pirates shifted him to the pen last year in the midst of a rough 2016 season for the left-hander.  Pittsburgh non-tendered Locke in December, and he signed a one-year, $3.025MM deal with Miami.

Olney’s Latest: Machado, Harper, Tigers, Jays, Giants

By | at

Given that Orioles third baseman Manny Machado and Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper are scheduled to reach free agency after the 2018 season, high-payroll teams will spend the next two years deciding the more worthy target, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. With that in mind, Olney polled seven evaluators on which potential $400MM player they’d prefer to sign. Six chose Machado, whom the evaluators regard as a more well-rounded player. “Harper gets credit and gets a huge part of his reputation for how far he hits home runs, but they still only count for one run,” one evaluator told Olney. “Machado is an entire field hitter who hits to the situation. He can hammer majestic homers, but can also do other things to help a team win.”

More from Olney:

  • If the Tigers don’t begin the season well, there’s a sense around the majors that they could consider moving the likes of second baseman Ian Kinsler and outfielder J.D. Martinez. Both veterans came up in offseason trade rumors and aren’t under team control for much longer. The 34-year-old Kinsler is controllable for the next two seasons at $21MM, including a $10MM option for 2018. Martinez, 30 in August, will make $11.75MM this year and then become a free agent during the winter. Notably, the slugger suffered a foot injury Saturday and will undergo an MRI on Sunday.
  • The Blue Jays “are said to be” in the market for outfield help, per Olney. Toronto is set in center (Kevin Pillar) and right (Jose Bautista), but left is questionable with Steve Pearce, Melvin Upton Jr., Ezequiel Carrera and Dalton Pompey as its in-house options.  The top free agent outfielder left on the board is Angel Pagan, whom the Jays are reportedly unlikely to sign. They do have interest in free agent utilityman Kelly Johnson, though he’s primarily an infielder.
  • Free agent catcher Derek Norris has a reputation of “sometimes clashing with pitchers,” according to Olney, who notes the 28-year-old will have to overcome that as he searches for his next employer. There are reportedly “about a half-dozen teams” interested in Norris, whom the Nationals released this week after they weren’t able to find a taker in a trade. An acquiring club would have had to take on his $4.2MM salary, of course, whereas signing him should come at a cheaper price.
  • There’s concern in Giants camp regarding the play of center fielder Denard Span, who’s not hitting or, to some evaluators, moving well. The 33-year-old fared decently at the plate in 2016 (.266/.331/.381 in 637 trips); however, he’s coming off back-to-back subpar campaigns in the field, during which he combined for minus-17 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-13 Ultimate Zone Rating. The Giants owe Span $22MM over the next three years, including a $4MM buyout for 2019.

Quick Hits: Span, Arrieta, Friedman, Translators

By and | at

Such notables as Marcus Stroman, Scooter Gennett and Ray Searage celebrate birthdays today, though one of the most famous fictional ballplayers of all time was also “born” on May 1.  Former Red Sox reliever Sam “Mayday” Malone was “born” on this day in 1948, and he posted a 4.01 ERA over 312 2/3 innings for the Red Sox bullpen from 1972-78, as chronicled in a 1993 profile by Sports Illustrated’s Steve Rushin.  That’s rather a strong ERA for Malone given his very mediocre career K/BB rate (40 K’s to 109 walks) and, as Rushin notes, his tendency to give up gigantic home runs.  Here’s some more from around the real-life baseball world…

  • “It was an easy decision” for Denard Span to sign a three-year, $31MM deal with the Giants during the offseason, the outfielder told Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  Not only did Span want to play for a contender, the Giants also showed the most interest in his services.  Other teams were only offering one- or two-year contracts, with the Nationals among the clubs that wanted to give him only a single-year pact, Span said.  The 32-year-old spent 2013-15 with the Nats and accounted for 8.8 fWAR while batting .292/.345/.404.  Span entered today’s action hitting a somewhat underwhelming .256/.358/.344 in his first 107 plate appearances as a Giant, but the contact specialist has continued to show great control of the zone with 14 walks against seven strikeouts.  Also as part of the Q&A piece, Span tells Ladson that he regrets coming back too quickly from the DL last season, as he wished he’d taken a few more weeks to be fully healthy before returning to action.
  • The Astros turned down a trade offer from the Orioles in 2013 that would’ve brought Jake Arrieta to Houston, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com reports.  It’s unknown what the O’s wanted back in the deal, though given how Arrieta has emerged as arguably the game’s best pitcher, the Astros may well be kicking themselves over not accepting the deal.  The Padres, Twins and Nationals were among the other teams also known to have been interested back when Baltimore was shopping the talented but erratic young righty, and the list is probably a lot longer given how Arrieta was widely known to have excellent stuff.  The O’s ended up swapping Arrieta and Pedro Strop to the Cubs in July 2013 for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger.
  • The Dodgers face the Rays in a rare interleague matchup this week, with Andrew Friedman returning to Tampa for the first time since leaving the franchise after the 2014 season.  Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times looks back at the five best and five worst moves of Friedman’s nine-year tenure, though Friedman’s overall contribution to the franchise was enormously positive, helping turn the Rays from perennial doormat to regular contender.  “Andrew was one of the cornerstones who helped move the organization to where it is today….His impact will be felt here for decades going forward,” Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said.
  • It wasn’t until this past offseason that the league required all 30 teams to hire a full-time Spanish translator, a move that struck many around baseball as long overdue given the number of Spanish-speaking players in the game, Maria Guardado of NJ Advance Media writes.  While players previously relied on teammates, coaches or team PR personnel to translate for them, a full-time translator is a boon to players who know little or no English in their adjustment to big league life.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top