Tarik Skubal Discusses Surgery Rehab
Left-hander Tarik Skubal had a nice breakout season in 2021, tossing 149 1/3 innings that year with a 4.34 ERA. He seemed to take a step forward in 2022, getting his ERA down to 3.52 through 21 starts. Unfortunately, he required flexor tendon surgery in August, wiping out the rest of that season and likely some portion of his 2023 as well. With Spring Training just around the corner, Skubal has begun throwing from flat ground and discussed his rehab progress with Chris McCosky of The Detroit News.
“Everything has gone really well,” Skubal said. “The arm is responding well. I can’t complain about anything. I like where I’m at.” Though he seems encouraged by the progress, it seems he doesn’t want to set a specific target for his return. “I hate to put a date on it,” he said. “I’m going to be focusing on my day-to-day progress. I’m not going to set a date and then, if I’m not back by that date, be discouraged.” But if someone were to say he won’t return at all this year? “I’d call them a liar.”
The fact that Skubal is feeling good is surely encouraging, but the return from flexor tendon surgery can be tricky. Danny Duffy underwent the procedure in October of 2021 and was signed by the Dodgers with the hope of returning at some point the following season. However, a setback during his recovery eventually caused him to miss the entire campaign. Matthew Boyd had the same surgery in September of 2021 and returned to the mound just shy of a year later.
Boyd signed with the Tigers this offseason and is now Skubal’s teammate. “It’s a long process and it’s not linear,” Boyd said of his experience. “That was my first time being on the IL like that, my first time having that experience. The rehab process has its ups and downs, and that was unique. It takes patience, and that produces perseverance, right? And that is staying strong.”
For his part, Skubal seems to acknowledge that he has to keep a level head and can’t start ramping up too quickly. “Yeah, that’s been my problem for the last six months,” Skubal said. “Even before the surgery, that was my problem. But, these guys do a good job. I think I am progressing, and that is what I’m chasing — progress. If I can just get a little better each day and keep progressing, that’s going to put me back on the field at the right time.”
The Tigers rotation seems to be in wait-and-see mode for 2023, since there are question marks around so many of their long-term pieces. Casey Mize had Tommy John surgery in June of last year and will miss most or perhaps all of 2023. Spencer Turnbull will be back in action this year but missed all of 2022 due to his own Tommy John procedure. Matt Manning only made 12 starts last year due to shoulder inflammation and then finished the year on the injured list due to a forearm strain, though he was reported as healthy back in November. Eduardo Rodriguez signed a five-year deal with the Tigers but the first season saw him miss time both due to injury and personal issues, making just 17 starts. He’ll look to get back on track in 2023 but can opt out of the remainder of his deal after the season.
With all of that uncertainty, the club signed Boyd and Michael Lorenzen to one-year deals. They figure to be in the Opening Day rotation next to Manning, Rodriguez and Turnbull, with other options on the 40-man such as Joey Wentz and Beau Brieske. If the club is out of contention this summer, Boyd and Lorenzen could be trade chips if they are pitching well, since they will be impending free agents. Whenever Skubal is healthy and back on track, he’ll jump into that mix. He’s on pace to qualify for arbitration after the upcoming season and reach free agency after the 2026 campaign.
Tigers, DJ Peters Agree To Minor League Deal
The Tigers agreed to a minor league contract with outfielder DJ Peters, as first indicated on the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Toledo.
The 27-year-old Peters ranked among the Dodgers’ top 20 prospects at Baseball America from 2018-21, reaching the big leagues as a 25-year-old during the ’21 season but struggling in limited opportunities. Peters logged just 34 plate appearances with the Dodgers before being designated for assignment after they acquired Danny Duffy, at which point the Rangers claimed him off waivers.
While the Dodgers’ outfield was generally full at the time of that transaction, the Rangers had far more opportunity. Peters appeared in 52 games and tallied 206 plate appearances down the stretch in Texas, showing impressive power but also extremely shaky plate discipline. Overall, between the two clubs, Peters hit .197/.242/.422 with 13 home runs, nine doubles, a triple, a pair of steals, and 34.2% strikeout rate against a 5% walk rate in 240 plate appearances.
The Rangers retained Peters’ rights into the offseason but granted him his release in order to pursue an opportunity with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization. Peters improved on his K-BB profile in the KBO, fanning at a reduced 21.8% clip against a more palatable 7.3% walk rate. However, his .228/.299/.402 batting line in 354 trips to the plate still resulted in him being waived this past July.
Peters has long been touted for his above-average speed, huge raw power and the defensive tools needed to play center field, but he’s yet to break through in the game’s upper levels. He’s a career .240/.343/.415 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons, but he’s also punched out in 30.2% of his 540 plate appearances at that level. Unlike his brief stints in the Majors and in the KBO, Peters does have a strong 11% walk rate in Triple-A, at least.
It’s an intriguing set of tools overall, particularly for a Tigers club with little certainty in the outfield (as recently explored by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco). Former top prospect Riley Greene will presumably return to his role as the everyday center fielder, and he’ll be joined in the outfield by veteran Austin Meadows, who struggled at the plate in 2022 before missing time due to vertigo-like symptoms, a pair of Achilles injuries and eventually an agreed-upon absence with the team that allowed him to focus on his mental health, which he candidly disclosed to fans via social media.
The other outfield reps will be divided up among players like Akil Baddoo, Kerry Carpenter and trade acquisition Matt Vierling. Outfield prospect Parker Meadows — Austin’s younger brother — is also on Detroit’s 40-man roster, and they’ll have veteran speedster Jonathan Davis and well-regarded prospect Justyn-Henry Malloy (acquired from the Braves in exchange for Joe Jimenez) in camp as non-roster invitees. It’s feasible that the right-handed-hitting Peters could eventually play his way into that mix, especially when considering that each of Greene, Baddoo, Carpenter and both Meadows brothers bat from the left side of the plate.
Players That Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins
Just about every baseball team has a full 40-man roster now, with the Astros the only team with an open spot at the moment. That means that just about every transaction, be it a free agent signing or a waiver claim, requires a corresponding move.
However, that could soon change as the injured list is coming back soon. There’s no IL from the end of a season until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for the next campaign, which they will do next week. That means some clubs could potentially gain a bit of extra roster flexibility at that time, since players on the 60-day IL don’t count against a team’s roster total. However, it’s worth pointing out that the “60 days” don’t start until Opening Day, which is March 30 this year. That means, though a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL next week, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later.
With some notable free agents still unsigned like Jurickson Profar, Andrew Chafin, Michael Wacha, Elvis Andrus and many others, it’s possible that teams interested in their services might try to hold off on getting a deal done until next week. Or perhaps clubs that have players they would like to sneak through waivers will try to do so now, before rival clubs gain that extra roster flexibility with the IL opening up. Then again, some clubs will need to keep in mind non-roster players they are planning to promote by Opening Day and might hold off on making a move until that time.
Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon, sorted by division.
AL East
The Blue Jays have a pair of pitchers on their 40-man roster who are returning from Tommy John surgery. They should be on a similar timeline, as they each underwent the procedure in June of last year, though Green will most likely return first since relievers generally require less time to build up arm strength compared to starters. Regardless, the recovery time period for TJS is about 12-18 months, meaning neither pitcher is likely to return until midseason at the earliest. Ryu recently said he was targeting a July return.
The Red Sox shortstop recently underwent an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow, a similar operation to Tommy John. Though he’s confident he’ll return at some point, he’s slated to miss most of the upcoming season and is certainly headed for the injured list.
The Orioles lefty underwent Tommy John surgery in late of April of 2022. With the 12-18 month recovery window for TJS, he could theoretically return in the first couple of months of the season, so the O’s may not want to transfer him to the injured list until they have some clarity about his timeline.
Scott Effross/Luis Gil/Frankie Montas
Effross is a lock for the Yankees‘ injured list as he underwent Tommy John in October and will likely miss the entire 2023 campaign. Gil had the same surgery but in May, which means he’ll likely be out until midseason. The situation with Montas is a bit less clear, as he’s dealing with shoulder inflammation that is expected to keep him out for the first month of the season. Unless he suffers some sort of setback, he probably won’t be placed on the 60-day IL right away.
The Rays have a couple of hurlers bound for the IL as Baz underwent Tommy John in September while Kittredge had the same surgery in June. They’re both going to miss the first half of the year, with Baz potentially missing the entire season.
AL Central
Mize underwent Tommy John surgery in June and should be placed on the Tigers‘ IL at some point. Skubal’s case is a bit less certain after he underwent flexor tendon surgery in August. The club hasn’t provided a timeline for his recovery but some recent comparables can give us some idea. Danny Duffy underwent the procedure in October of 2021 and was hoping to return by June of 2022, though a setback prevented him from pitching at all on the year. Matthew Boyd went under the knife for flexor tendon surgery in September of 2021 and didn’t return to a big league mound until September of 2022.
Crochet of the White Sox underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year but was already stretched out to throwing from 120 feet in November. Whether he’s able to return in the early parts of 2023 or not will depend on his continued progression in that recovery process. In a less conventional situation, Liam Hendriks announced last month that he’s beginning treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s unknown how long his treatment will take but general manager Rick Hahn said they don’t expect updates “prior to Opening Day at the very earliest.”
Paddack was recently extended by the Twins though he underwent Tommy John in May of last year and likely won’t be ready to return until the middle of the upcoming campaign. Lewis tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year, the second year in a row that he suffered that unfortunate injury. At the time, his recovery timeline was estimated at 12 months, which likely puts him on the shelf until midseason as well.
AL West
It was reported last month that the Rangers lefty will require shoulder surgery. It was said that the timeline will become more clear in the aftermath of the procedure but he’s likely to miss the entirety of the upcoming season.
NL East
The Phillies superstar underwent Tommy John surgery in November and the club has announced they expect him to be out of action until around the All-Star break in July.
Both these Braves pitchers underwent Tommy John last year, with Ynoa going under the knife in September and Matzek in October. That makes them both long shots for appearing at all this year, but especially not in the first half.
Max Meyer/Anthony Bender/Sixto Sanchez
The Marlins have a couple of arms that will certainly miss time this year and one more that’s a wild card. Meyer and Bender both underwent Tommy John in August and will miss most of the upcoming campaign. Sanchez underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in October with the club announcing at that time they expected him back by spring. It was reported last month that Sanchez is already throwing bullpens, which perhaps points against an IL stint. However, after the shoulder issues completely wiped out his 2021 and 2022 seasons, it’s hard to know how much to rely on his health going forward.
The Mets signed Mendick after he was non-tendered by the White Sox. The infielder/outfielder tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year and missed the second half of the season. There haven’t been any updates on his status recently, but further clarity will likely come when camp gets rolling.
Tanner Rainey/Stephen Strasburg
The Nationals have one fairly straightforward case in Tanner Rainey, who underwent Tommy John in August and will likely miss most of the upcoming season. What’s less clear is the situation surrounding Strasburg, who’s hardly pitched at all over the past three years due to thoracic outlet syndrome and various issues seemingly related to that. He made one appearance in the big leagues last year, pitching 4 2/3 in one start in June but went on the IL right after and never returned. He spoke about the issue in September, saying he hadn’t thrown in months and that he is “not really sure what the future holds.”
NL Central
Ethan Roberts/Codi Heuer/Kyle Hendricks
Roberts underwent Tommy John in June and likely won’t be available for the Cubs until midseason. Heuer had TJS in March but the latest reporting suggests he won’t return until June or July. The status of Hendricks is less clear, with the righty trying to recover from a capsular tear in his shoulder. The club is hoping to have him back by Opening Day but also said they won’t rush him. He recently said that he’s expecting to be on a mound by March 1.
Vladimir Gutierrez/Tejay Antone
Gutierrez, a Reds righty, underwent Tommy John in July and should miss the first few months of the upcoming season at least. Antone was rehabbing from a Tommy John of his own when he suffered a flexor strain in his forearm. He announced today he’s received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the issue and suggested he might miss the first half of the season.
The Pirates right-hander required Tommy John in June and will miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.
NL West
Antonio Senzatela/Tyler Kinley
The Rockies have a couple of murky situations on their hands with these hurlers. Senzatela tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last year and required surgery in August. The timeline at that point was given at 6-8 months, which would place his return somewhere in the February-April window. Whether he’ll require a lengthy IL stint will depend on if his recovery is still on that track. Kinley was diagnosed with an elbow strain and a flexor tear in his forearm in June of last year. He underwent surgery in July with the club announcing they expected him to miss one calendar year, which should prevent him from pitching early in the campaign.
Walker Buehler/Blake Treinen/J.P. Feyereisen
The Dodgers have a trio of pitchers that are likely to miss most or perhaps all of the upcoming season. Buehler required Tommy John in August and could potentially return very late in the year. Treinen underwent shoulder surgery in November with an estimated recovery time of 10 months. Feyereisen underwent shoulder surgery in December and won’t be able to begin throwing until four months after that procedure, or around April. His eventual return to game shape will depend on how long it takes him to progress from simply throwing to getting up to full game speed.
The Giants signed the right-hander in free agency, despite Jackson undergoing Tommy John in April. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters last month that there was a chance Jackson begins the year on the 60-day IL, though that doesn’t seem to indicate any kind of setback. “He’s doing great in his rehab, so we’re going to wait and see how he’s doing in spring training,” Zaidi said.
Quick Hits: Narvaez, Gallo, Monfort, Tatis Jr., Mets
Omar Narvaez signed a one-year, $8MM deal (with a $7MM player option for 2024) with the Mets just before Christmas, and Will Sammon of The Athletic shed a little more light on the market for the veteran backstop before he eventually wound up in New York. Sammon notes that the Giants strongly considered a move for Narvaez while the Twins, Tigers and Reds all had varying levels of interest.
The Giants have since inked Roberto Perez, the Reds are set with the trio of Tyler Stephenson, Curt Casali and Luke Maile while the Twins signed Christian Vazquez to the position. The Tigers are an interesting one though, as they’ve only added Triple-A backstop Donny Sands in a trade with the Phillies. They’re set to use some combination of Eric Haase, Jake Rogers and Sands in 2023 but it’s interesting to hear they were at least interested in a higher profile addition there this winter. If they do still look to add an external catcher, Gary Sanchez, Robinson Chirinos and Kevin Plawecki are the remaining notable catchers on the market.
Here’s some more bits and pieces from around baseball:
- Joey Gallo could be set to see a bit of time at first base in 2023. As Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic noted in a recent mailbag, Gallo could well be the back up first baseman to Alex Kirilloff. That’s not to say Gallo will be on the bench, as the former Ranger, Yankee and Dodger will get plenty of reps in the outfield, but if Kirilloff’s struggles extend into 2023 the Twins could utilize Gallo a fair bit at the position. He rates well as a defender in the outfield, and has made just one appearance at first since 2018 but he’s also graded out solidly defensively at first in his time there.
- Rockies owner Dick Monfort made headlines recently when he boldly stated he thought the Rockies could play .500 ball this season. That’d be a big ask in a competitive NL West, and the Rockies have done little to improve on their 68-94 record in 2022. Whatever record they wind up with this year, Monfort – in an interview with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post – said they wouldn’t go down the rebuilding path: “I guess the connotation on rebuilding is you just get rid of everybody. You try to draft low, which we’re not [going to do]. We’re not trying to get the first pick. We’re not going to tank. We never have, never will,” Monfort said.
- With the Padres adding Xander Bogaerts on a long-term deal and still having Manny Machado under contract for at least the next season, the left side of their infield appears set. Of course, that led to an expectation that Fernando Tatis Jr. would head to the outfield moving forward. That still looks to be the case, although the player didn’t commit to a position and said he’s been working out in both the infield and outfield this winter (via Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Tribune-Review). It’s been a challenging few seasons for Tatis, but he also added that he’s feeling “as close to 100%” as he’s been the past few seasons after dealing with wrist and shoulder injuries, and is expecting to be a full participant in spring training.
- Sammon’s report in The Athletic also includes details on the Mets plans for Tylor Megill and David Peterson. Both players figure to be in and around the team at some stage over the course of the season, but Sammon reports that the team’s ideal scenario would be to have both players go to Triple-A to start the season and work as starters there, rather than starting the season in the big league bullpen. Of course, injuries in the spring could force one or both of them into rotation spots to begin the season anyway, but it seems the Mets are hoping to avoid using them in relief roles to begin the season.
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Collin Balester
Righty Collin Balester was part of the last-ever Montreal Expos draft in 2004, as the club took him in the fourth round out of Huntington Beach High School. Though he came from a surfing family, according to Baseball America, Balester moved quickly through the lower minors. By 2007, he was considered the Nationals’ best prospect and a future number one or two starter.
During the summer of ’08, Balester was deemed ready to join the rotation of the tanking Nationals club. He made a career-high 15 starts as a 22-year-old rookie, putting up three quality starts in the process.
Balester eventually moved into a relief role for the Nats, but was traded to the Tigers in December 2011. His career also included stops in the Rangers, Pirates, Reds, and Giants organizations, as well as a stint with KBO’s Samsung Lions. Along the way, Balester underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2013, battling to get back to the Majors with the Reds in after a gap of more than three years.
Ultimately, Collin topped 200 total innings in the Majors in parts of six different seasons. Along the way he managed to strike out Ken Griffey Jr., Buster Posey, Freddie Freeman, and Chipper Jones, among many others. Now 36, Collin owns a juice shop with his wife called Local Roots, and also does logistics for an expedited shipping truck company. Give him a follow @Ballystar99 on Twitter.
Collin took questions from MLBTR readers today, covering a wide range of topics including being traded, pitching in Korea, being on the 2012 Tigers, and his juice and smoothie recommendations. Click here to read the transcript!
If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to host you for a future chat! It only takes one hour, and you get to choose which questions to publish and answer. Contact us here!
Tigers Sign Jonathan Davis To Minor League Deal
The Tigers today announced a batch of 22 non-roster players that received invitations to major league Spring Training. That group included plenty of players who had already been in the system, as well as those signed to previously-reported minor league deals. One name on the list that wasn’t already expected to be in camp was that of outfielder Jonathan Davis, indicating he’s been signed to a minor league deal.
Davis, 31 in May, has appeared in the past five major league seasons, but primarily as a reserve outfielder. He didn’t play more than 64 games in any of those campaigns and has appeared in 171 contests overall. He hasn’t been able to take advantage of those brief opportunities thus far, having hit .185/.291/.245 in 350 career plate appearances for a wRC+ of 54. He’s fared much better in the minor leagues, with a Triple-A slash line of .260/.366/.419 for a 113 wRC+, though he hasn’t been able to come close to that in the bigs. The Brewers outrighted him off their roster in September and he became a free agent at season’s end.
Despite that low offensive output, Davis will bring a solid floor thanks to his speed and defense. Statcast considered his sprint speed to be in the 70th percentile last year, which has helped him steal 18 bases in 21 career tries while also producing eight Outs Above Average in 858 2/3 outfield innings.
The Tigers don’t have much certainty in their outfield mix at present. Riley Greene should be getting everyday action in center field but is still very young and has just 93 games of major league experience. Austin Meadows spent much of last year on the injured list and only got into 36 games. Akil Baddoo followed up a breakout 2021 with a dismal 2022 where he hit just .204/.289/.269. Kerry Carpenter had a nice debut but in a small sample of just 31 games. Depth options on the 40-man include Matt Vierling and Tyler Nevin, neither of whom are fully established big leaguers at this point. Davis will serve as a veteran option for a club that was decimated by injuries last year and surely would like to have plenty of depth on hand. If he makes his way back onto the roster, he’s out of options and can’t be easily sent back to the minors, but he could be retained for future seasons since he has between two and three years of MLB service time.
Tigers, Cesar Hernandez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Tigers and veteran infielder Cesar Hernandez are in agreement on a minor league contract, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Octagon client will be invited to major league camp this spring. If Hernandez makes the roster, he’ll earn a $1.5MM base salary with the potential to unlock more via incentives, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press adds.
Hernandez spent the 2022 season with the Nationals but struggled to the worst offensive performance of his decade-long MLB career, batting just .248/.311/.318 in 617 plate appearances. Hernandez, who’ll turn 33 in May, surprisingly connected on only one home run with the Nationals — despite having swatted a career-high 21 long balls a year prior. Dating back to 2018, Hernandez had averaged 14 homers per 600 plate appearances, making last year’s power outage particularly unexpected.
Defensively, Hernandez has traditionally been a second baseman, although the Nats gave him some time at third base and in left field last year. Hernandez posted roughly average defensive grades at second base in 2019-20 before seeing metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average agree that his glovework at the position had swiftly declined, beginning in 2021. Both DRS and OAA felt he was average or better in limited looks at third base and in left field, for what it’s worth.
Although last season marked an obvious low point for Hernandez, he’s long been a solid everyday option at the keystone. From 2016-21, the switch-hitter notched a combined .271/.348/.394 batting line with a modest blend of power and speed, consistently above-average walk rates and consistently lower-than-average strikeout rates. That’ll be the player the Tigers hope they’re getting on this non-guaranteed deal.
The Tigers’ infield mix is relatively full, but it’s possible Hernandez could still carve out a role. As it stands, the team hopes to deploy Spencer Torkelson at first base, Jonathan Schoop at second, Javier Baez at shortstop and Nick Maton at third. That said, Torkelson, the former No. 1 overall pick, didn’t establish himself as a viable big league bat in his rookie campaign and will presumably need to earn his spot in the lineup this spring. If he struggles, it’s feasible that Schoop could spend some time at first base, which would open up some potential reps at second for Hernandez. Furthermore, if the Tigers are comfortable bouncing him to multiple spots, Hernandez could simply win a utility role out of the gate.
Read The Transcript Of Our Chat With Former MLB Pitcher Jacob Turner
Considered the “consensus top high school righthander available” by Baseball America back in 2009, Jacob Turner was drafted ninth overall by the Tigers out of Westminster Christian Academy in Missouri. He stood at 6’5″, 210 lbs and touched 98 with his fastball. Adviser Scott Boras was able to get the 18-year-old Turner a $5.5MM Major League contract, most of which came in the form of a signing bonus.
After two years in the minors, MLB.com ranked Turner the 15th prospect in the game, ahead of future stars such as Nolan Arenado, Zack Wheeler, and Francisco Lindor. Turner made his MLB debut at the age of 20, pitching well against the Angels for Jim Leyland’s Tigers. At that point in late 2011, Turner profiled as a future number two or three starter in the Majors.
The following year, Turner picked up his first big league win on July 22nd against the White Sox. The 2012 Tigers would go on to win the pennant, but they’d do so without Turner. The day after that first career W, they sent him packing to the Marlins for more immediate help in the form of Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante.
By late May 2013, Turner had secured a spot in a Marlins rotation that also featured Jose Fernandez, Tom Koehler, Ricky Nolasco, Nathan Eovaldi, and Henderson Alvarez. Turner’s age-22 season would turn out to be his best, as he put together 20 starts with a 3.74 ERA that year.
Things took a turn in 2014, as Turner lost both his rotation and 40-man roster spots with the Marlins, joining the Cubs on a waiver claim. An elbow injury spoiled Turner’s 2015 season, which ended in a crosstown waiver claim by the White Sox. Turner went on to a stint with the Nationals, followed by returns to the Marlins and Tigers. For the 2019 season, Turner moved to KBO’s Kia Tigers.
Turner’s time in MLB was over before his 30th birthday, certainly not the career some expected of him back when he was starring in high school and the low minors. But he still competed for parts of seven seasons in the bigs, pitching 369 innings and making 56 starts. The 22-year-old kid was pretty darn good in the Majors in 2013, going at least seven innings five different times that year. One career highlight: a one-run, complete game victory over the Padres that year. Across those seven seasons, Turner punched out many of the game’s stars, including Bryce Harper, Buster Posey, Carlos Beltran, Jose Bautista, Nolan Arenado, David Wright, and Freddie Freeman.
Still only 31 years old, Turner now runs a company that “helps educate athletes around money and helps them be good stewards of the money earned in their careers,” as he puts it. He’s on Twitter @TheSuddenWealth, where he posted a thread last summer about his experiences that ended up going viral. Jacob notes that people can DM him on Twitter to get in touch, and you can view his website here.
Jacob took questions from MLBTR readers earlier today. Click here to read the transcript!
If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to have you for a chat with our readers! It’s a great way to interact with fans for an hour, and you get to choose which questions you publish. Click here to contact us.
Rockies Sign Harold Castro To Minor League Deal
The Rockies have landed infielder Harold Castro on a minor league deal, MLBTR can confirm. The move was first reported by Efrain Zavarce of IVC Networks. The deal comes with an invite to major league spring training. Castro is represented by the MAS+ Agency.
Castro, 29, put up a .271/.300/.381 line with seven home runs over 443 plate appearances for the Tigers last year, good for a wRC+ of 94, or a bit below league average. Castro is a utility player in every sense of the word, and appeared at every position bar catcher and right field in 2022. The bulk of that work was logged in the infield, with a fairly even split around the four positions.
Originally signed by the Tigers back in 2011 out of Venezuela, Castro had spent his entire career with the organization. He debuted with a ten plate appearance cup of coffee in 2018, and went on to appear in 351 games for the Tigers over the next five seasons, putting up a combined .284/.309/.377 line with 15 home runs in that time.
Castro should compete for a bench spot in spring, and would seem to have a decent chance of making the roster. Elehuris Montero can cover the corner infield spots, but the Rockies don’t currently have a clear backup for rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar.
MLBTR Poll: American League Central Favorite
The American League Central has had three different winners in the past three years. The Twins took the top spot in both 2019 and the shortened 2020 season but have since seen injuries hamper them significantly in the past two campaigns. A resurgent White Sox club took over in 2021, making the playoffs for a second consecutive year for the first time in franchise history. Many thought those two clubs would be battling it out in 2022 but a young Guardians team pulled off a surprise upset as both the Twins and Sox were snakebit by poor health. During that time, both the Royals and Tigers have been struggling to come out of rebuilds.
With just over three weeks until pitchers and catchers report, how much has the picture changed this offseason? There’s are still a few unsigned free agents and some trades could always change the picture, but let’s take a look at where things stand now.
Cleveland Guardians – 2022 Record: 92-70, projected 2023 fWAR: 45.1
The Guardians were the youngest team in baseball last year and expectations were fairly modest at this point one year ago. However, they snuck up on everyone and took the crown. Many will debate whether it was sustainable or a fluke, but they’ve gone into the offseason in a good position to repeat. Since so much of the roster was young and controllable, their most notable free agents were Austin Hedges and Bryan Shaw. That means the vast majority of the club that won 92 games last year will be back, with plenty more exciting prospects potentially joining them throughout the year.
Since they lost so few players at the end of last year, it’s been a fairly quiet winter for the club so far. However, they did make two notable additions by signing Josh Bell and Mike Zunino. Those two should help bolster the squad, and there will also be reinforcements coming from within. Prospects Brayan Rocchio, George Valera and Logan Allen all reached Triple-A last year and could make their MLB debuts this year, with Tanner Bibee, Daniel Espino and others not far behind.
Chicago White Sox – 2022 Record: 81-81, projected 2023 fWAR: 40.6
The Sox won 93 games in 2021 and were picked by many for a repeat in 2022. Unfortunately, many of their lineup regulars spent significant time on the injured list or disappointed or both. The rotation got huge results from Dylan Cease and Johnny Cueto but the rest of the rotation dealt with various ailments and slumped when on the mound. Manager Tony La Russa also dealt with health issues down the stretch and decided not to return to the dugout for 2023, leading to the hiring of Pedro Grifol.
They lost Cueto in free agency, along with their long-time fan favorite José Abreu. It’s hoped that Andrew Vaughn can come in from the outfield and take over for Abreu at first, which should at least help the team by subtracting his awful defense on the grass. Andrew Benintendi was signed to take over one of the outfield spots in Vaughn’s absence while Mike Clevinger was signed to replace Cueto in the rotation. It’s a fairly similar roster to the ones that won 93 games two years ago and 81 games last year. Better health might be enough to get them back to the 2021 form, but they’ve already lost their closer for an undetermined amount of time with Liam Hendriks starting treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Minnesota Twins – 2022 Record: 78-84, projected 2023 fWAR: 42.0
After two straight divisions titles in 2019 and 2020, it’s been two disappointing campaigns in Minnesota. A mountain of injuries kept them below .500 in each of the two most recent campaigns. They were also facing the loss of a superstar this winter as Carlos Correa opted out of his contract and seemed unlikely to return. He then underwent one of the most surprising trips through free agency in recent memory, agreeing to a 13-year deal with the Giants that was later scuttled when the club grew concerned by the long-term health of his right leg. Correa then agreed to a 12-year deal with the Mets, though that agreement was also kiboshed by the medicals. That culminated in Correa coming back to Minnesota on a six-year guarantee with four vesting options.
Getting Correa back is a nice coup for the Twins but it still means they’ve effectively ended up back where they started. Christian Vázquez was signed to replace the departing Gary Sánchez and they’ve also taken a gamble on a Joey Gallo bounceback, but the roster currently looks fairly similar to the one that disappointed last year. Better health alone could get them right back into the race and they hired a new head athletic trainer to try to help in that department. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if injuries were an issue again since many of their key players appear to be prone to IL trips.
Detroit Tigers – 2022 Record: 66-96, projected 2023 fWAR: 30.0
The Tigers were a popular sleeper pick for a postseason berth about this time last year. They had many exciting prospects on the cusp of their debuts, including Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson. They decided the time was right to strike by signing Javier Báez and Eduardo Rodriguez, as well as upgrading via trade. Unfortunately, just about everyone on the roster had a disappointing season, especially on offense. The team hit just .231/.286/.346 for a wRC+ of 81 that was dead last in the majors. Their collective 110 home runs was also last and 17 behind the nearest team.
It seems like 2023 will be about figuring out how to proceed. The club fired general manager Al Avila and brought in Scott Harris as president of baseball operations. Since then, they’ve traded away a couple of relievers in Joe Jiménez and Gregory Soto while also signing a couple of starters to one-year deals in Matthew Boyd and Michael Lorenzen. It seems the all-in approach is on hold until they figure out which parts of their roster to build around.
Kansas City Royals – 2022 Record: 65-97, projected 2023 fWAR: 30.7
The Royals have finished below .500 in each of the past six seasons. Their attempted rebuild was failing to bear fruit, which led to major shakeups this winter. Both manager Mike Matheny and president of baseball operations Dayton Moore were fired, with Matt Quatraro now in the skipper’s chair and J.J. Picollo the chief baseball decision maker. The roster changes have been fairly modest so far this winter, with Zack Greinke the most notable departure, though he’s still a free agent. The additions include Jordan Lyles, Ryan Yarbrough and Aroldis Chapman.
The club has some exciting young players in Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and MJ Melendez, but many of their top draft choices have gone to pitchers that have disappointed thus far. Daniel Lynch, Kris Bubic, Jackson Kowar, Alec Marsh, Jonathan Bowlan and Asa Lacy were all taken in the first or second round of the draft and haven’t yet delivered much to be excited about. However, Brady Singer showed in 2022 that the narrative can be flipped. Turning young players into viable big leaguers is key for a club that doesn’t throw around piles of cash in free agency. The recent lack of success in that regard has hurt them and they’ll need to do better somehow.
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While the Tigers and Royals seem likely to be using this year to evaluate younger players, the other three clubs all have a plausible path to winning the division. The Guardians are reigning champs and have added Bell to give them some extra thump. The Sox have stars like Tim Anderson, Luis Robert and Dylan Cease but just need everyone to stay healthy. It’s a similar story for the Twins who have elite players like Correa and Byron Buxton but need to keep them and others off the injured list. The three clubs are separated by just 4.5 projected WAR, according to FanGraphs, which points to an exciting battle in the upcoming campaign.
What do you think? Can the Guardians repeat or will one of their competitors surpass them? Have your say in the poll below.
(poll link for app users)
Who Will Win The AL Central In 2023
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Guardians 47% (5,232)
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Twins 26% (2,891)
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White Sox 18% (2,036)
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Tigers 5% (514)
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Royals 4% (445)
Total votes: 11,118