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Tigers Make Changes To Coaching Staff

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Tigers manager A.J. Hinch announced a series of changes to his coaching staff this morning (Twitter link via Jason Beck of MLB.com). Most notably, hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh and quality control coach Josh Paul will not return to the organization in 2023.

Meanwhile, assistant hitting coach Mike Hessman and third base coach Ramon Santiago will not be on the Major League coaching staff but have been offered new roles in player development. Gary Jones, who served as first base coach until being struck by liner that fractured his ankle in late May, will return to the big league staff in a to-be-determined role. Former big leaguer Alfredo Amezaga, who joined the Major League staff late in the season after serving as the Tigers’ Triple-A first base coach, will be the first base coach on next year’s big league staff.

The forthcoming addition of a new hitting coach and assistant hitting coach aren’t a surprise after a disastrous 2022 season in Detroit. Tigers batters ranked in the bottom six of all MLB teams in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, posting a combined .231/.286/.346 line in 2022. Detroit hitters ranked dead last in the Majors in home runs (110), runs scored (557), slugging percentage and wRC+ (81). Their 6.5% team walk rate was 29th in the Majors, ahead of only the White Sox, and their 24.1% team strikeout rate was the fourth-highest in Major League Baseball. Key young players like Riley Greene and especially Spencer Torkelson fell shy of expectations, while notable veterans like Javier Baez and Jonathan Schoop had some of the worst offensive output of their careers.

Reshaping the organization’s hitting hierarchy will be among the many initiatives on the docket for newly hired Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris, who replaced longtime general manager Al Avila. Harris, the former Giants general manager and Cubs assistant general manager, spoke at his introductory press conference about a need to emphasize development at all levels of the organization, including the Major Leagues. Installing new voices to work with the team’s hitters will be one of the first steps toward that end in what figures to be an active offseason throughout the Tigers organization.

34 Players Become Free Agents

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The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.

None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.

There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Central Notes: Cabrera, Hicks, Alzolay

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Tigers veteran Miguel Cabrera will turn 40 years old in April, shortly after beginning the final guaranteed season of the mega extension he signed back in 2014. Though he’s not quite the hitter he was back then, he’s still going to be a part of Detroit’s plans next season. “We expect Miggy to be here,” manager A.J. Hinch tells Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. “We expect him to do his part in the offseason to prepare himself to be healthy and be productive and be the icon that he is.”

As noted by McCosky, Cabrera’s 2022 got off to a nice start, as he kept his batting average above .300 into July. However, he has slumped badly since then while dealing with various nagging injuries, currently sitting on a batting line of .251/.299/.315 for the year. That production amounts to a wRC+ of 76, or 24% below league average, which is well below Cabrera’s previous low of 92 from 2017.

Going into the season, it seemed as though Cabrera was on the verge of being nudged out of the club’s plans, as they spent aggressively in the offseason to try to compete in 2022. With the promotion of first base prospect Spencer Torkelson, it was fair to wonder if an awkward situation was approaching with the club trying to compete and Miggy standing in the way. Instead, Torkelson and the Tigers both fell way shy of expectations, with the youngster hitting just .197/.281/.301 so far this year and club sporting a record of 64-93.

The fact that Cabrera is still owed $32MM next year doesn’t mean he is immune from being cut from the team if he continues to underperform. Just last year, the Angels designated Albert Pujols for assignment in May while he was playing out the final year of his contract at a $30MM salary. Both Hinch and new president of baseball operations Scott Harris voiced their support for Cabrera being a part of the 2023 club, though how much of a role he gets to play is likely to be determined.

Some more notes from the Central divisions…

  • The Cardinals are planning to reinstate right-hander Jordan Hicks from the injured list for their final regular season series, which begins tomorrow in Pittsburgh, according to MLB.com. Hicks went on the IL on September 17, retroactive to September 15, due to right arm fatigue. He has long tantalized fans with his triple-digit velocity but also been frequently set back by command issues and injuries. This season, he’s made 34 appearances and has a 4.92 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate, 57.5% ground ball rate but a 13.6% walk rate. The Cards have already clinched the NL Central and can use their final games to assess the condition of Hicks’s arm before they begin a series against whichever team winds up in the final Wild Card spot.
  • Cubs right-hander Adbert Alzolay seemed to be a potential rotation building block last year, appearing in 26 games with 21 of those being starts, logging 125 2/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA. However, this year, a shoulder strain landed him on the injured list to begin the season and he only made his season debut a couple of weeks ago. This mostly lost season has resulted in several pitchers surpassing him on the depth chart and perhaps leading to a move to the bullpen. Alzolay discussed this possibility with Patrick Mooney of The Athletic and seems fine with it. “If my role is best out of the bullpen, being a long guy, being a guy that can throw in the eighth or close a game or whatever, I feel like I have the weapons to do that,” Alzolay says. “You won’t have me every five days there, but you can have me every two or three days. I can go and throw three or four innings, or I can go and throw one inning late in the game. So I feel like there are a lot more options there, and then that allows the team to go and be aggressive during the offseason.” The Cubs’ 2023 rotation will likely consist of Marcus Stroman, Kyle Hendricks and Justin Steele, with Keegan Thompson, Hayden Wesneski, Javier Assad, Adrian Sampson and Caleb Kilian having put themselves into consideration to varying degrees. With all of those options, and perhaps some offseason additions, it makes sense for Alzolay and the team to consider new ways for him to be a contributing member of the staff.

Tigers Place Matt Manning On Injured List, Select Miguel Diaz

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9:24am: The Tigers formally announced the moves. Manning goes directly to the 60-day injured list in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Diaz, although that’s a technicality, as he can be activated as soon as the season is over. The 60-day minimum does not carry over into next season. Carpenter, meanwhile, heads to the 10-day injured list with a lumbar strain, also ending his 2022 campaign.

9:12am: The Tigers have selected the contract of righty Miguel Diaz and will place both right-hander Matt Manning and outfielder Kerry Carpenter on the injured list, tweets Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Kody Clemens has been recalled from Triple-A Toledo alongside Diaz, filling the extra spot on the roster. Manning reported some arm fatigue and tightness in his forearm last night, and while manager A.J. Hinch stated that the team doesn’t believe there’s a serious injury at play, they’ll shut him down for the remainder of the season out of caution (via The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen, on Twitter).

Manning, 24, is the only of the Tigers’ vaunted rotation trio to avoid undergoing surgery this season, though he still missed a substantial portion of the season due to shoulder troubles. Assuming this is indeed a minor arm issue, though, he can be penciled in for Spring Training readiness, which can’t necessarily be said for either Casey Mize (Tommy John surgery in June) or Tarik Skubal (flexor tendon surgery in August). Detroit staked considerable hopes in that trio, and with good reason. Each of the three has impressed on the mound when healthy, but as is so often the case with pitching prospects, injuries have altered the calculus.

Manning’s season will draw to a close with just 63 Major League innings and another 20 1/3 Triple-A frames from a rehab assignment. He was sharp when on the mound, however, giving the Tigers a 3.43 ERA with an 18.3% strikeout rate, a 7.2% walk rate and a 40.1% ground-ball rate. Manning took considerable steps forward from last year’s ugly debut (5.80 ERA in 85 1/3 innings), recording improvements in strikeout rate, walk rate, swinging-strike rate and chase rate on pitches off the plate — all while yielding a much lighter average exit velocity. Injury concerns notwithstanding, there are ultimately quite a few positive takeaways from his second big league season.

Diaz, 27, will get a late look after working 65 innings out of the bullpen in Toledo and pitching to a 4.29 ERA with a 24.2% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate and a hefty 52.3% grounder rate. The right-hander spent the 2017-21 seasons in the Padres organization, dating back to his time as a Rule 5 pick out of the Brewers system in 2016.

San Diego selected Diaz directly out of A-ball and carried him on the roster all season in 2017. The lack of upper-minors seasoning showed, as Diaz was rocked for a 7.34 ERA through 41 2/3 innings as a seldom-used, low-leverage bullpen option. He pitched 42 innings with the Friars just last season, however, logging a much-improved 3.64 ERA with a sharp 26.2% strikeout rate but a bloated 11% walk rate.

Carpenter’s back injury will end a meteoric rise through the system for the former 19th-round pick (2019). After a nondescript run in Double-A last year, Carpenter — who never ranked among the organization’s best prospects — belted 30 home runs and posted OPS marks north of 1.000 in a combined 400 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A before ascending to the Majors.

Carpenter swatted another six round-trippers and hit .252/.310/.485 in 113 plate appearances at the MLB level, firmly inserting himself into the mix for an outfield spot in 2023 and beyond. He won’t get the opportunity to end that storybook season on his own terms, but his rise is one of very few bright spots in an otherwise largely catastrophic Tigers season.

AL Notes: Picollo, Harris, Tigers, Perez, Rangers, Diaz

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After Dayton Moore was fired earlier this week, Royals GM J.J. Picollo was promoted to lead the Royals’ baseball operations department, and he met today with the media (including The Kansas City Star’s Lynn Worthy and 610 Sports Radio’s Josh Vernier).  Much has yet to be determined heading into what could be a busy offseason for the club, and Picollo said he has yet to make a decision on manager Mike Matheny or any members of the coaching staff.

In terms of players, Picollo said that the front office is “in the very infantile stages” of considering an extension for Bobby Witt Jr., though the team is indeed interested in such a deal.  The 22-year-old is completing a strong rookie season, and an extension would both solidify Witt as a cornerstone piece of the Royals’ future, and also give K.C. some cost certainty going forward.  Witt is already controlled through the 2027 season, however, so there isn’t necessarily any rush for Picollo and company to immediately work out an extension.

More from around the American League…

  • The AL Central’s other new front office boss also met with reporters earlier this week, with new Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris telling The Detroit Free Press’ Evan Petzold and other media members that the club simply plans to improve, without a specific timeline or any indication as to whether the Tigers will take a step back to reload, or try to build and contend in 2023.  “I am treating this as an opportunity for us to get better this winter….And we’re going to look up at the end of the winter and we’re going to have a much better feel for when the most competitive Tigers team is going to come out,” Harris said.  “That’s how I believe every baseball team should be built.  I don’t believe in strict five-year plans with specific benchmarks that you have to reach year over year.  There’s too much variability in the sport to define a plan as concretely as that.”
  • Impending free agent Martin Perez and the Rangers will wait until after the season to discuss an extension, according to The Athletic’s Levi Weaver (Twitter link).  There has been speculation for months that both and Perez and the team were interested in reaching a new deal to keep the left-hander in Arlington, and while a deal hasn’t yet been reached, there is still plenty of time for the two sides to talk before Perez is scheduled to hit the open market.  Perez is enjoying a career year, with a 2.90 ERA over 183 1/3 innings and his first All-Star selection.
  • Yandy Diaz has missed the Rays’ last five games due to a sore shoulder, but the infielder told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that he is doing “a lot better” after getting a cortisone shot earlier this week.  It doesn’t appear as though Diaz will require a trip to the injured list, but it also isn’t yet known when he might be back on the field.  Diaz has been a big part of Tampa’s offense, hitting .292/.399/.419 over 549 plate appearances this year, resulting in an excellent 145 wRC+.

Tigers Place Joe Jimenez On 15-Day Injured List

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The Tigers placed right-hander Joe Jimenez on the 15-day injured list due to a right lumbar spine strain.  Right-hander Angel De Jesus was called up from Triple-A to take Jimenez’s spot on the active roster for the remainder of the regular season.

Jimenez told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that he has been dealing with the injury for over a month, and he’d been wearing an electronic stimulation device on his back.  Yesterday, however, Jimenez said the back pain “felt different and I just said, ’Hey, I’m not going to put the team in a bad position. I’m just going to do everything I can to get back soon.’ ”

While further imaging and tests are inevitable, it doesn’t seem as though the spine strain will keep Jimenez from a relatively normal offseason, or from being ready for Spring Training.  That’s good news for both Jimenez and the Tigers, as the 27-year-old (28 in January) looks to build on what has been a career year.

Consistency has been difficult to come by for Jimenez over his six MLB seasons, even though he was an All-Star in 2018.  Over 209 1/3 innings from 2017-21, Jimenez posted a 5.72 ERA over 209 1/3 innings out of Detroit’s bullpen, and there was some speculation that the Tigers could even non-tender him last winter.

However, the Tigers’ decision to hang onto Jimenez ended up being one of the best calls of an otherwise rough year in the Motor City.  Jimenez posted a 3.49 ERA and an elite 33.3% strikeout rate over 56 2/3 innings in 2022, as well as plenty of other Statcast metrics that were well above the league average.  That 3.49 ERA undersold Jimenez’s dominance, as he had a 2.30 SIERA and 2.70 xFIP.  Four of Jimenez’s 22 earned runs were allowed over his last two outings, likely due to his increased back pain.

Between these numbers and Jimenez also being arbitration-controlled through the 2023 season, there was lots of interest in Jimenez heading into the trade deadline, but no teams met the Tigers’ reportedly high asking price.  With Scott Harris now installed as Detroit’s president of baseball operations, it is possible Harris could revisit the trade market and explore selling high on Jimenez, assuming that rival teams aren’t wary of the spine strain.  Or, the Tigers could simply hang onto Jimenez and hope that he can again help a bullpen that was the team’s only real strength this past season.

Harris: Tigers Plan To Hire General Manager

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The Tigers made their most important front office hire of the offseason yesterday, tabbing former Giants general manager Scott Harris as president of baseball operations. At a press conference this afternoon, Harris informed reporters (including Tony Paul of the Detroit News and Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press) he’ll look for a new GM who can serve as his top lieutenant in baseball ops.

“These jobs are increasingly large and complicated,” Harris said. “Every single year they get more complex. Having another bright and talented person to partner with in these jobs is critically important. I think it gives you an edge, bringing more talented people to this front office and empowering them to make decisions that ultimately can put out a better team on the field. That’s what we’re trying to do, and I think a GM is going to be a big part of that.”

Harris himself had served in that role for the last three years, working as San Francisco’s GM under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. The Tigers gave him both an elevated title — a common occurrence for front office hirings, since teams often deny employees’ attempts to interview for lateral positions — and the opportunity to lead an organization for the first time. He’ll now search for a person to work in the point role he occupied for Zaidi the past few seasons in the Bay Area.

Last summer, former GM Al Avila promoted both Sam Menzin and Jay Sartori to assistant general manager. That makes both potential candidates for a bump to GM if the club stays internal. Menzin, it’s worth noting, led day-to-day baseball ops on an interim basis for the roughly five weeks between Avila’s dismissal and Harris’ hiring. While Harris didn’t mention either by name, he noted that internal executives would be under consideration if they fit the criteria he desires. Petzold speculates that Diamondbacks special assistant Jason McLeod could also garner a look, no surprise considering McLeod worked alongside Harris in the Cubs front office before the latter made the jump to San Francisco.

There’s no specific timeline for the GM hire, but Detroit’s front office heavy lifting is not finished. Harris will have final decision-making authority regardless of who is eventually tabbed. One of his key early calls will be settling upon a second-in-command.

Tigers To Hire Scott Harris As President Of Baseball Operations

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The Tigers’ search for a new front office leader has reached its conclusion, as they’re set to hire Giants general manager Scott Harris as their new president of baseball operations, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). Tigers owner Chris Ilitch fired Al Avila from his post as general manager back on Aug. 10.

Harris spent three seasons as the Giants’ general manager, working in that role under San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. He’d previously spent eight seasons with the Cubs (2012-19), rising from director of baseball operations to the title of assistant general manager. Prior to that, he worked for Major League Baseball as the league’s coordinator of Major League operations. Harris, who graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 2009 and got his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in 2015, has also spent time with the Nationals (2008) and Reds (2010).

A key lieutenant to baseball ops leaders Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer during the Cubs’ most recent run of prominence, Harris was hired away by San Francisco in Nov. 2019 and played an even larger role with the Giants as they authored an MLB-best 107-win season in 2021. The Giants nonetheless fell to the archrival Dodgers in the National League Division Series, however, and the 2022 season has been every bit as disappointing as the 2021 campaign was heartening in San Francisco. This year’s Giants have, to date, faceplanted with a 69-77 record and have been out of the postseason picture for the majority of the summer. They’ll look to reload for the 2023 season, but they may be in the market for a new general manager to work under Zaidi.

Harris will now step into the spotlight for an organization that’s had an even more disheartening 2022 season than the one he’s leaving behind. The Tigers, encouraged by a 69-66 post-April showing in 2021, expected 2022 to be a turning point at the end of a nearly half-decade rebuilding effort. Detroit had gone to great lengths to build out its research and analytics department, and the hiring of A.J. Hinch as manager prior to the 2021 season represented a clear “win-now” mindset. Heading into 2022, top prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene were on the cusp of joining touted young pitchers Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning on the big league roster, and Detroit had enjoyed strong 2021 showings from Jeimer Candelario, Rule 5 pickup Akil Baddoo and veteran second baseman Jonathan Schoop, among others.

An active offseason brought free agents Javier Baez, Eduardo Rodriguez and Andrew Chafin to Detroit, where they were joined by trade acquisitions Austin Meadows and Tucker Barnhart. Unfortunately, nearly every single one of those acquisitions (save for Chafin) has flopped to date, owing to a combination of poor health, off-the-field issues and simple poor performance. Their lack of production has been compounded by an overwhelming rash of injuries, most notably Mize requiring Tommy John surgery and Skubal undergoing flexor surgery. Manning is healthy now but missed most of the year due to shoulder trouble. Beyond that, key 2021 performers like Baddoo, Schoop and Candelario have struggled immensely.

It was a catastrophic season that cost Avila his job and now places Harris squarely in the midst of his own conundrum. The Tigers have Rodriguez signed for another four years and Baez for another five, pending future opt-out clauses that, at present, appear unlikely to be exercised. Meanwhile, Torkelson and Greene, expected to be key cogs that drive the engine of a more competitive lineup, have often looked overmatched in their debut efforts. Mize will miss a substantial portion of the 2023 season, and the same could be true of Skubal. The young core that served as such a source of optimism is at least temporarily in tatters.

Enough went wrong in 2022 that the Tigers reportedly at least pondered listening to offers on Skubal at the trade deadline, before his injury troubles flared up. A swap always seemed unlikely, but the very fact that such a possibility even merited consideration is emblematic of the stalled rebuilding efforts and the challenges that Harris will now face.

It seems unlikely that ownership will green-light yet another arduous rebuilding effort, but at the same time, there’s no easy fix in store. The Tigers appear further from contending than they did a year ago at this time — certainly more than just one or two acquisitions away from righting the ship. Meanwhile, last winter’s additions of Baez and Rodriguez have added some notable heft to future payrolls, and injuries have at least temporarily thinned out the promising young core.

There are some parallels between the current Tigers and the 2020-22 Giants that Harris helped to overhaul. No one pegged the Giants as anywhere close to the best team in baseball heading into the 2021 season, and even the 29-31 showing by the 2020 Giants exceeded some expectations after a run of three seasons that saw the club play at a 214-272 pace. Both play in cavernous home parks that could appeal to pitchers looking to rebuild their stock after tough seasons and/or injuries.

The Giants, under Harris and Zaidi, developed a reputation as one of the best teams in baseball (if not the best team) at revitalizing the careers of pitchers. Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Drew Smyly, Tyler Anderson and Jakob Junis are just some of the names who’ve gone to San Francisco in the past few years and significantly improved their stock. They also showed a knack for unearthing quality hitters in little-noticed moves (e.g. Mike Yastrzemski, Donovan Solano, Darin Ruf). Surely, Ilitch hopes that Harris can bring some of that success to his new home in Detroit.

Harris is jumping into a situation that’s less common — albeit certainly not unheard of — for newly hired baseball ops leaders. Many owners cut bait on a GM or president and bring in a new voice and perspective to help guide the club through a rebuild, but what was supposed to be the heavy lifting of the rebuild has already been performed in Detroit. It’ll now be incumbent upon Harris to find a way to further build out the organization’s infrastructure, add some new faces to the roster and get more out of current underperformers (e.g. Baez, Torkelson) without completely tearing things back down to the studs.

If there’s a small silver lining, it’s perhaps that the Tigers play in a fairly weak American League Central division. There’s no Dodgers-esque juggernaut looming atop the standings.  That bodes well for a return to contention sooner than some critics may expect, but a lot will need to go right for the Tigers to prevent their current eight-year playoff drought from ballooning to a decade.

AL Notes: Rodriguez, Cabrera, Story, Eovaldi, Red Sox

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Julio Rodriguez has missed the Mariners’ last two games due to lower back soreness, and the rookie star told The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and other reporters that “I feel a few days of rest will be the best thing for it.”  There’s a chance Rodriguez could be back as early as Monday’s game with the Angels, though manager Scott Servais noted that the situation is “day to day,” especially since Monday’s contest is an afternoon start.

As much as Seattle needs all hands on deck for its playoff chase, nobody wants to risk a longer-term injury to Rodriguez, who has already emerged as one of baseball’s brightest stars.  After a brief slump in August, Rodriguez has a whopping 1.259 OPS over 59 plate appearances in September, even though he said is still getting used to the physical toll of a full Major League season.  “I’m not familiar with playing for such a long time,” Rodriguez said.  “It’s been teaching me a few things and I’m learning about my body and how to keep it healthy.”

While the Mariners hope Rodriguez’s rookie year will be extending deep into October, here are some more items from around the American League…

  • The Tigers will activate Miguel Cabrera from the 10-day injured list on Monday, and infielder Kody Clemens has already been optioned to Triple-A to make room for Cabrera on the active roster.  A left biceps strain has kept Cabrera on the shelf since September 2, but he’ll return for some more action in his 20th Major League season.  Over 393 PA this year, Cabrera is hitting .256/.305/.317 with four home runs.  Since a milestone watch is inevitably attached to Cabrera, the veteran slugger’s 506 career homers is three back of Gary Sheffield for 26th place on the all-time list, and Cabrera’s 3079 career hits put him 10 behind Ichiro Suzuki for 24th all-time.
  • Trevor Story has missed five games due to left heel soreness, but he is tentatively slated to return to the Red Sox lineup on Tuesday, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams).  In other injury news, Nathan Eovaldi threw 65 pitches during a four-inning simulated game today, and the next step could be a minor league rehab game on Friday.  Eovaldi has missed almost a full month due to right shoulder inflammation, but is hoping to get back to the mound at least one more start with the Sox before the season is over.
  • The Red Sox designated Kevin Plawecki for assignment after Friday night’s game, and both the late timing of the transaction and the transaction itself didn’t sit well within the clubhouse.  Both Eovaldi and Rich Hill spoke to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford about Plawecki’s popularity and the importance of veteran leaders in general on a team, with Eovaldi saying “I think sometimes that goes a little further than productivity or whatever on the field.”  After today’s 13-3 victory over the Royals, McWilliams and other reporters noted that the Sox were playing Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” within the clubhouse, a song adopted by Plawecki as both a walkup song and as a team anthem in 2021.

David Price To Decide On Future After 2022 Season

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3:27PM: Price hasn’t yet made a decision about retirement, telling reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) that he’ll make the call after the season.  For now, he is focused on recovering from his wrist injury and getting back to the Dodgers before the season is over.

12:16PM: Former Cy Young winner, and two-time runner-up, David Price plans to retire after the 2022 season, announced by Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Price stated that “It’s just time,” and that “Everything on my body hurts.”

Price, now 37, was originally drafted in the 19th round of the 2004 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but chose to attend the baseball factory Vanderbilt University. As a junior, he recorded an 11-1 record with a 2.63 ERA in 133 1/3 innings, striking out 194 batters in the process and earning college baseball’s top honor, the Dick Howser Trophy.

After his dominant college career, he was drafted first overall in 2007 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now known as the Tampa Bay Rays) and given a six-year, $11.25MM contract, with a then second-largest signing bonus in MLB history of $5.6MM. Price quickly rose through the minor league ranks, and made his Major League debut in September of 2008, helping the Rays make the postseason and, interesting trivia alert, earning a postseason win before a regular-season win.

Price would then spend his next five and a half seasons tormenting the American League with the Rays, pitching to a dominant 3.19 ERA over 1129 2/3 innings with an 82-48 record and helping Tampa Bay reach the playoffs in 2010, 2011, and 2013. During this stretch Price was a three-time All-Star (2010, 2011, and 2012), finished second in 2010 for Cy Young against Félix Hernández, and edged out Justin Verlander in 2012 for the AL Cy Young award — pitching to a 2.56 ERA in 211 innings with a 20-5 record, garnering some MVP votes in the process.

However, at the 2014 trade deadline with the team below .500, the Rays opted to trade Price to the Detroit Tigers in a three-team deal that brought back Drew Smyly, Nick Franklin, and Willy Adames and sent Austin Jackson to the Seattle Mariners. This Tigers team, headlined by three current Cy Young winners in Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Price, and accompanied by future Cy Young winner in Rick Porcello, barely took the AL Central from the Royals and was swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2014 ALDS.

After the 2014 season, Price and the Tigers avoided arbitration and agreed on a $19.75MM salary for the 2015 season, setting a record for the largest one-year deal for an arbitration-eligible player. Price showed he was worth every penny, continuing his dominance in 2015 with a 2.53 ERA in 146 innings and earning a trip to his fifth All-Star Game in his seven-year career. Nevertheless, the Tigers fell flat in 2015 and decided to flip Price at the trade deadline to the Toronto Blue Jays for Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd, and Jairo Labourt. With the Blue Jays, Price continued to bully batters, pitching to a 9-1 record with a 2.30 ERA in 74 1/3 innings – ending the year making a combined 32 starts across both teams, with a 2.45 ERA in 220 1/3 innings and finishing runner up to Dallas Keuchel in that year’s Cy Young voting.

David PriceAlthough still without much playoff success, Price spun his great career and commanding contract-year performance into a massive seven-year, $217MM contract with the Boston Red Sox and bolding stating that he “was just saving all my postseason wins for the Red Sox.” His first year with Boston was rough, with Price posting a then-career worst ERA of 3.99 in 230 innings, a far cry from the 2.90 ERA he had posted during the 2012-2015 seasons. However, Price did make 35 starts, the highest market for a pitcher since Chris Carpenter in 2010. Price then battled with various elbow injuries in the 2017 season, starting the season on the injured list and returning to it in late July before returning in mid-September as a reliever to help the Red Sox’s playoff run. Nevertheless, Price returned relatively healthy in the 2018 season, posting a 16-7 record in 176 innings (30 starts) with roughly career average strikeout and walk rates, 24.5% and 6.9%, respectively, en route to his first World Series ring. Most notably, Price was able to shake off his substandard playoff performance moniker, pitching to a 3.46 ERA in 26 innings (5 starts), striking out 23 and only walking 12 as the Red Sox won the World Series for the fourth time in 15 seasons.

Price once again dealt with injuries in the 2019 season, first with left elbow tendonitis and later with a left wrist triangular fibrocartilage cyst that ended his season early. However, when healthy, Price provided solid back-of-the-rotation support, pitching to a career-high 4.28 ERA in 107 1/3 innings. Importantly, Price began to lose effectiveness against right-handed hitters, with righties slashing .257/.314/.460 for a .773 OPS in 2019 compared to a slash line of .234/.293/.402/.695 in 2019. After the 2019 season, new Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom shocked the baseball world by sending Price and former MVP Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in what was largely considered a cost-cutting move. The trade brought Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong, and Jeter Downs to the Red Sox.

Finally a Dodger, Price opted out of the COVID-shortened 2020 season before returning in a primarily bullpen role for the first time since 2008. He pitched to a palatable 4.03 ERA in 73 2/3 innings, appearing in 39 games. However, he posted a career-low K% of 17.8% as well as a career-high BB% of 8.0% — seeing his average fastball velocity drop to 91.9 MPH. Additionally, while righties continued to square up the ball, posting a combined .270/.330/.432 slash line good for .762 OPS, lefties also began hitting Price, resulting in a .276/.353/.419 slash line with a .772 OPS – a far cry from the .210/.291/.381/.672 slash line Price gave up to lefties in the 2018 season (his last full season).

The 2022 season has been a strong rebound bullpen year for Price, with the southpaw posting a 2.58 ERA in 38 1/3 innings with a 23.3 K% and 5.0 BB%. With the Dodgers recently securing a postseason berth, Price can look to chase one more coveted ring before walking off into the sunset on his terms.

Price retires as a 5-time All-Star, Cy Young winner, and World Series Champion. For a five-to-six-year period, he was among the best pitchers in the sport. MLBTR congratulates him on his excellent run and successes, and wishes him the best in retirement.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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