MLBTR Podcast: Free Agent Power Rankings, Ohtani’s Stolen Money And The A’s Moving To Sacramento
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- MLBTR’s 2024-25 Free Agent Power Rankings (1:30)
- Gerrit Cole didn’t crack the rankings due to his specific opt-out situation with the Yankees (6:30)
- The upcoming free agencies of Alex Bregman of the Astros and Pete Alonso of the Mets (9:20)
- Is there any scenario where Juan Soto of the Yankees is not the top free agent? (15:15)
- Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, charged with bank fraud (19:40)
- Athletics to play in Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas (32:40)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- How can a pitcher blow a save in the seventh inning? How early can a save be blown? (38:25)
- Do you think the Tigers will release Javier Báez? It is painful to watch him. (41:15)
- Who could the Braves target inside or outside the organization to replace Spencer Strider? (45:15)
Check out our past episodes!
- Reviewing Our Free Agent Predictions And Future CBA Issues – listen here
- Baseball Is Back, Will Smith’s Extension, Mike Clevinger And Jon Berti – listen here
- A Live Reaction To The Jordan Montgomery Signing, Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter, And J.D. Martinez Joins The Mets – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Astros To Activate Justin Verlander On Friday
The Astros will reinstate Justin Verlander from the injured list prior to Friday’s game against the Nationals, manager Joe Espada announced to the Astros beat this morning (X link via Chandler Rome of The Athletic). Verlander will start Friday’s game in what’ll be his season debut. The three-time Cy Young winner opened the season on the 15-day injured list after he was slowed by shoulder fatigue early in spring training.
Verlander’s return is a boon for an Astros rotation that has been hammered by injuries, even beyond the expected absence of Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia Jr., both of whom are still on the mend from surgeries that ended their 2023 seasons. Houston saw Verlander slowed by shoulder troubles early in spring, lost Jose Urquidy to a forearm strain and recently placed Framber Valdez on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation.
The Astros have already cycled through multiple depth starters, including rookies Blair Henley and Spencer Arrighetti. Even with an unexpectedly dominant start to the year for Ronel Blanco — previously the team’s sixth starter but now a vital member of the staff who’s already thrown a no-hitter in 2024 — Houston starters have the fifth-worst ERA in Major League Baseball at 5.13. The quartet of Henley, Arrighetti, J.P. France and Hunter Brown have combined to yield a staggering 44 runs in just 36 1/3 innings of work.
At 41 years old, it’s fair to wonder how long Verlander has left as a high-end starter. But he looked the part in 2023 when he tossed 162 innings of 3.22 ERA ball, fanned 21.5% of his opponents against a 6.7% walk rate, and maintained a solid 94.4 mph average on his heater. He’s been tagged for an ugly 11 earned runs over seven innings in two minor league rehab appearances, but he’s also fanned nine of 39 opponents in that time (23.1%) and issued just two walks (5.1%).
Verlander’s return should at least prevent the ‘Stros from needing to give any more starts to any of the team’s rookies for the time being. He’ll step into the rotation alongside Cristian Javier, Blanco, France and Brown. Houston will hope for better results from sophomores France and Brown, both of whom were solid rotation pieces in their 2023 rookie showings. (Though France wilted in rather glaring fashion down the stretch last year.) Brown, in particular, was one of the game’s top pitching prospects prior to last year’s debut. He’s had an awful start to the season, headlined by a nine-run shellacking at the hands of the Royals, but he held a powerhouse Braves lineup to two runs over six innings in a rebound effort last night.
Turning back to Verlander specifically, the timing of his return bears particular importance. His two-year, $86.666MM contract contains a vesting $35MM player option for a third season. If he’s able to throw 140 innings in 2024, he’ll have the right to exercise that player option and lock himself in at $35MM next year — provided he finishes the season without an arm injury that would prevent him from pitching in 2025. If his shoulder causes further problems and sends him back to the injured list, the conditions of that player option will become far more pertinent. As it stands, the future Hall of Famer should have ample time to reach the requisite 140 frames.
Astros Outright Wander Suero
Astros right-hander Wander Suero went unclaimed on outright waivers following his recent DFA and has been assigned to Houston’s Triple-A affiliate, per the Astros’ transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll have the right to reject that assignment in favor of free agency, both by virtue of his big league service time (more than three years) and by the fact that he’s previously been outrighted in his career.
The 32-year-old Suero appeared in just one game and faced only one hitter with the Astros prior to his DFA. The veteran righty inked a minor league deal with Houston over the winter, was summoned to the big leagues to add a fresh arm to a beleaguered bullpen, and wound up surrendering a walkoff single to Salvador Perez in his lone outing as an Astro. It’s possible he’ll stick around as a depth option.
Suero had made five appearances with Triple-A Sugar Land before being called up. He tossed five innings of two-run ball, punching out five hitters without issuing a walk. That’s a solid start to building off what was a strong performance at the Triple-A level last season. Suero pitched 47 times for the Dodgers’ top affiliate in 2023, turning in a 3.26 ERA with an above-average 25.9% strikeout rate in the Pacific Coast League.
That earned him a few scattered looks at Dodger Stadium, although the vast majority of his big league time has come with Washington. Suero pitched for the Nationals from 2018-21, including 78 appearances for the World Series team in 2019. Suero posted a sub-4.00 ERA in two of his first three seasons but stumbled to a 6.33 mark in 42 2/3 frames in 2021. That kicked off a nomadic phase of his career that has bounced him between the Angels, Dodgers and Astros systems.
Astros Promote Forrest Whitley
2:28pm: The Astros made it official, announcing Whitley’s recall with Spencer Arrighetti optioned in a corresponding move. Arrighetti’s rotation spot will likely be taken by Justin Verlander, who is expecting to be activated off the injured list shortly.
12:31pm: The Astros are recalling former top prospect Forrest Whitley for his first MLB promotion, reports Michael Schwab of the Juice Box Journal (X link). He’s already on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to make a corresponding active roster transaction.
Whitley, now 26, took a circuitous route to the majors. He was a first-round pick in 2016 out of a San Antonio high school. The 6’7″ righty dominated for his first year and a half, pitching his way to Double-A as a teenager. By 2018, he looked the part of a potential ace and the top pitching prospect in the sport.
Things haven’t played out the way Whitley or the Astros envisioned from that point. He was hit with a 50-game suspension for violating the minor league drug policy going into the ’18 season. Whitley battled shoulder issues the following year and lost his feel for the strike zone. The canceled 2020 campaign cost him another year of reps, although Houston nevertheless made the easy call to select him onto the 40-man roster to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Whitley has held that spot ever since, although it didn’t always seem as if that were a guarantee. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2021 and posted subpar results when he returned. His control issues resurfaced as he pitched to a 6.53 ERA in the upper minors in 2022. He got off to another rough start last season before sustaining a lat strain that ended his year in May. The Astros were granted a fourth minor league option as a result of Whitley’s injury history.
The front office decided to keep him on the 40-man roster throughout last offseason. They moved him to the bullpen this year upon optioning him to Triple-A Sugar Land. Whitley hasn’t gotten off to a great start, allowing four runs on a trio of homers in three innings, but he’s a fresh arm for a bullpen that has been tasked with 71 innings through the season’s first three weeks. Only the Dodgers and Padres — who leaned heavily on their relief groups during their abbreviated series in Seoul a week before every other team’s Opening Day — have used their bullpens more heavily than Houston has.
While Whitley’s promotion isn’t going to be met with the same level of fanfare as it would have a few years ago, it’s surely rewarding for the righty all the same. It’s the culmination of a nearly eight-year climb through the minors that has been littered with injury setbacks. It could prove to be a fairly brief call — Houston may need to continue cycling through middle relievers until their rotation finds any kind of groove — but he could get the chance to make his debut.
Injury Notes: Garrett, Davis, Lowe, Verlander
The Marlins have been without left-hander Braxton Garrett all season. A shoulder impingement sent the 26-year-old to the injured list to begin the year. Garrett seemed to be nearing a return to the majors after throwing six innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Jacksonville last week, but he has run into a bit of a setback. Manager Skip Schumaker told reporters that Garrett felt a “dead arm” when throwing a bullpen session today (link via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com).
That isn’t believed to be related to the shoulder injury, yet it could push back his return all the same. Schumaker said Garrett will go for further testing. Getting the former #7 overall pick back in fairly short order would be a needed boost for a club that is off to the worst start in franchise history (3-14). Garrett was a key piece of the rotation a year ago, working 159 2/3 innings with a 3.66 ERA.
A few other injury notes:
- The A’s placed J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list shortly before tonight’s game against the Cardinals. The third baseman has a right adductor strain. Speedy outfielder Esteury Ruiz was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas in his place. Davis has gotten the nod at the hot corner for 14 of Oakland’s first 16 contests. He’s off to a slow start, hitting .196/.255/.373 with a lofty 29.1% strikeout rate. Manager Mark Kotsay turned to Abraham Toro at third base tonight.
- Rays outfielder Josh Lowe could be nearing his season debut. Skipper Kevin Cash said that Lowe will head out on a rehab stint with Triple-A Durham on Thursday (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Lowe was delayed early in camp by inflammation in his left hip. As he worked back from that issue, he strained his right oblique. That knocked him out of game action for a month. Lowe is coming off a breakout season, having hit .292/.335/.500 with 20 homers and 32 steals in 501 plate appearances. The Rays have used Richie Palacios and Amed Rosario in a right field platoon with Lowe on the shelf. They’ve each hit well in the early going, but they’re both capable of bouncing around the diamond once Lowe is ready to return to the lineup.
- Justin Verlander has one final hurdle to clear before he’ll make his season debut. Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters that the three-time Cy Young winner will throw a bullpen session tomorrow (X link via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). If that goes according to plan, Verlander will be reinstated from the 15-day injured list for this weekend’s series in Washington. The 41-year-old is coming off a four-inning rehab stint with Double-A Corpus Christi, in which he threw 78 pitches.
Astros Outright Cooper Hummel
Catcher/outfielder Cooper Hummel, whom the Astros designated for assignment last week, went unclaimed on outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He hasn’t been outrighted before and doesn’t have three years of MLB service, so Hummel can’t reject the assignment. He’ll remain in the organization as a depth piece.
Hummel is no stranger to the DFA circuit, having bounced from the Mariners, to the Mets, to the Giants, to the Astros just from the end of the 2023 season until now. The 29-year-old has just 227 big league plate appearances under his belt, most of which came with the 2022 Diamondbacks. He’s a .166/.264/.286 hitter between the D-backs and the Mariners (10 games in 2023). Those numbers aren’t much to look at, but Hummel hit .262/.409/.435 in Triple-A last season and walked at a mammoth 18% rate along the way. He’s a .287/.419/.488 hitter in 992 overall plate appearances in Triple-A.
Given that standout production in the upper minors and his unusual blend of defensive versatility, Hummel makes a nice depth option for the Astros to be able to stash in Triple-A. He’s logged more than 1800 innings in left field, 1054 frames behind the plate, 508 innings at first base and another 296 innings in right field. He also still has a minor league option remaining, so if he plays his way back onto the 40-man roster, he doesn’t necessarily need to be exposed to waivers a second time if Houston wants to send him down.
AL West Notes: Stephenson, Canzone, Verlander, Valdez
Robert Stephenson ended his minor league rehab outing after four pitches yesterday, as the Angels right-hander called for the team trainer and then left the mound. Manager Ron Washington told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that Stephenson would be undergoing tests, but didn’t offer any other details about the situation.
Shoulder inflammation kept Stephenson from pitching during Spring Training, yet after beginning the season on the 15-day injured list, the reliever seemed to be making good progress in his recovery and was looking to be part of the Angels’ roster before April was over. Yesterday’s news seems to put that timeline in jeopardy, and the only hope now is that Stephenson’s setback is less ominous than it seemed. A dominant four-month stretch with the Rays last season turned Stephenson into one of the more sought-after commodities in the free agent relief market this past winter, and the Angels landed the righty on a three-year, $33MM contract.
More from around the AL West….
- Mariners outfielder Dominic Canzone likely seems headed for the 10-day IL after suffering a left AC joint sprain in today’s game. In the second inning, Canzone collided with the wall while catching a Mike Tauchman fly ball, and had to be removed from the game. Playing in his second MLB campaign, Canzone has hit .219/.286/.531 over 35 plate appearances for Seattle, hitting three homers as part of his early-season power surge. Canzone and Dylan Moore have shared a left-field platoon, but if Canzone is out, Moore could get more of a regular role, or the Mariners could have Luke Raley assume the lefty-swinging side of the platoon.
- There was plenty of concern for Framber Valdez‘s health when elbow soreness sent the southpaw to the Astros‘ 15-day injured list earlier this week, but it seems like Valdez may have avoided a serious problem. Valdez told MLB.com and other media today that he aims to start throwing again on Tuesday, and doesn’t think he’ll need a minor league rehab assignment. “I feel a lot better now than I did then, and I’ll continue my routine as a starter,” Valdez said. Needless to say, a return after the minimum 15 days would be a fantastic outcome for Valdez and the Astros, who are already dealing with a lot of injuries in the rotation.
- Justin Verlander is one of those other Astros arms on the shelf, yet the future Hall-of-Famer is on pace to make his 2024 debut on Friday in a start against the Nationals. Verlander threw 77 pitches over four innings in his second and likely final Triple-A rehab start yesterday. Some shoulder soreness delayed Verlander during Spring Training, so the 41-year-old was placed on the 15-day IL to begin the season in order to give him more time to ramp up and prepare for his 19th big league campaign.
Astros Re-Sign Miguel Diaz To Minor League Contract
The Astros re-signed reliever Miguel Díaz to a minor league deal, tweets Chandler Rome of the Athletic. He has been assigned to Triple-A Sugar Land.
Díaz elected free agency yesterday after being outrighted off Houston’s MLB roster. It didn’t take long for his camp and the team to circle back on a new deal that’ll keep him in the organization. Díaz had previously made all of one appearance in an Astro uniform. Houston had only claimed him from the Tigers last week. He tossed a scoreless inning in his lone outing but was pushed off the roster when the Astros called up Blair Henley for a spot start. Díaz is out of minor league options, so a DFA was the only way to remove him from the big league team.
A former Rule 5 pick of the Padres, Díaz logged the majority of his MLB time with San Diego between 2017-21. He struggled early on, which isn’t surprising for a player who had never pitched above the High-A level before the Friars selected him. Díaz found more success in a minuscule sample of work with Detroit between 2022-23, tossing 17 2/3 frames of two-run ball. That he nevertheless went unclaimed on waivers suggests teams view those numbers with a fair amount of skepticism.
Díaz tallied 57 frames with a 5.05 earned run average for Detroit’s top affiliate last season. While that’s not an eye-catching number, his 28.6% strikeout percentage was a few points better than the league mark. He’ll look to build off that work with Sugar Land and get back to the majors in short order. Houston has leaned heavily on its bullpen this week, so it’s possible they’ll need to bring up more fresh arms in the next few days.
Astros To Select Joel Kuhnel
The Astros are going to add right-hander Joel Kuhnel to their roster, with Chandler Rome of The Athletic among those to relay the news. Left-hander Parker Mushinski will be optioned to open an active roster spot while Wander Suero has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot, per Rome.
The Astros haven’t had an off-day since last Thursday and their bullpen has been getting heavy use of late. On Monday, the injury of Framber Valdez led to the club sending out Blair Henley to make his major league debut, but he couldn’t make it out of the first inning. Cristian Javier had a fine start on Tuesday but then Spencer Arrighetti made his major league debut on Wednesday and was only able to log three innings. Then Hunter Brown was pummelled yesterday, allowing nine earned runs on 11 hits while only recording two outs.
Amid all of that, the relievers have had to grind through innings, which included Mushinski throwing 54 pitches over 2 2/3 on Wednesday. He was likely looking at being down for a few days after that so the club has optioned him out for a fresh arm.
Kuhnel, 29, has 83 2/3 innings of big league experience. Most of that was with the Reds, though he joined the Astros in a cash deal in June of last year. His 6.02 earned run average for his career is obviously not impressive, nor is his 19.3% strikeout rate, though there are some more encouraging numbers to look at. His fastball averages in the mid-90s, he’s limited walks to a 6.5% clip and he’s been able to keep 52.5% of balls in play on the ground.
The Astros designated him for assignment in January and the righty elected free agency but the Astros brought him back via a minor league deal. He’ll now get a chance to join the beleaguered bullpen and hopefully give them a boost. He has an option remaining and can perhaps be kept as a depth arm if the club needs yet another roster move in the days to come. He also has less than two years of service time and can be retained for future seasons if he continues to hang onto that 40-man roster spot.
Suero, 32, has been on a similar trajectory to Kuhnel in that he also signed a minor league pact with Houston in the winter and had his contract selected to help out the staff this week. He was added on Tuesday and put into that night’s game against the Royals. He came to the mound in the bottom of the 10th and allowed a single to Salvador Perez, scoring the free runner from second and ending the game without Suero recording an out.
He was optioned the next day to get Arrighetti onto the active roster and has now lost his spot on the 40-man as well. The Astros will have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he will have the right to elect free agency, both due to his three-plus years of service time and a previous career outright.
He has a 4.75 ERA in 193 1/3 major league innings in his career, striking out 25.4% of opponents with a walk rate of 8.6%. But he had a 4.10 ERA from 2018 to 2020 and a 6.57 ERA since then. Despite the shaky results of late, plenty of clubs need pitching right now and Suero’s option means that he won’t require an active roster spot.
Miguel Diaz Elects Free Agency
Reliever Miguel Díaz elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, the Astros informed reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle). Houston had designated him for assignment on Monday.
Díaz made all of one appearance in an Astro uniform. Houston had only claimed him from the Tigers last week. He tossed a scoreless inning in his lone outing but was pushed off the roster when the Astros called up Blair Henley for a spot start. Díaz is out of minor league options, so a DFA was the only way to remove him from the big league team.
A former Rule 5 pick of the Padres, Díaz logged the majority of his MLB time with San Diego between 2017-21. He struggled early on, which isn’t surprising for a player who had never pitched above the High-A level before the Friars selected him. Díaz found more success in a minuscule sample of work with Detroit between 2022-23, tossing 17 2/3 frames of two-run ball. That he nevertheless went unclaimed on waivers suggests teams view those numbers with a fair amount of skepticism.
Díaz tallied 57 frames with a 5.05 earned run average for Detroit’s top affiliate last season. While that’s not an eye-catching number, his 28.6% strikeout percentage was a few points better than the league mark. Those swing-and-miss numbers should allow Díaz to secure a minor league deal now that he’s on the open market.