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MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Mariners To Spend? Tigers To Contend? And Managerial Vacancies

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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 Mark Polishuk is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The start of the playoffs, with Mark and Anthony making their World Series predictions (1:20)
  • The Mariners fell just shy of the postseason, so how will the team reload in the winter to address several problem areas on the roster? And, could the M’s splurge on the biggest marquee signing of all in Shohei Ohtani? (3:18)
  • Eduardo Rodriguez’s opt-out clause is the biggest question mark facing the Tigers as their offseason begins, but could Detroit be relatively close to getting back into contention next year? (7:18)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • How will the Dodgers address their pitching needs this offseason, and is J.D. Martinez a candidate to be re-signed after his strong year in Los Angeles? (14:05)
  • How does a manager impact a team’s ability to lure free agents, plus a broader look at the four current managerial vacancies with the Angels, Giants, Guardians, and Mets (22:12)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Free Agent Pitching Dark Horses, Padres To Cut Payroll, and If The Angels Should Rebuild — listen here
  • Front Office Changes in Boston and New York, and the New Rays Stadium Agreement — listen here
  • Free Agent Class Preview: Catcher and First Base, Germán Márquez Extension and the Dodgers’ Rotation — listen here

Perry Minasian Discusses Ohtani, Payroll, Nevin

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Angels GM Perry Minasian conducted the club’s end-of-season presser this afternoon, and in doing so discussed an array of topics with reporters following a brutally disappointing 2023 campaign that saw the club go 73-89 during Shohei Ohtani’s last season under club control and miss the postseason for the ninth consecutive season.

Speaking of Ohtani, Minasian told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) that he believes “this is a place that he enjoys playing and this is a place that he loves.” Though he acknowledged that Ohtani was disappointed that the club didn’t improve in 2023 (instead posting an identical record to the 2022 club), he adds that “you get the feeling that this is a place he really, really appreciates, respects. And we’ll just have to see what happens over the course of the offseason.”

Minasian’s comments regarding Ohtani, while reiterating the the team would love to retain the two-way phenom next season, give Angels fans little reason for optimism as Ohtani heads to the open market with a chance at a record-setting free agent deal, even as he rehabs from an elbow procedure that will keep him off of the mound until 2025. Further casting doubt on a potential return to Anaheim for Ohtani were comments from Minasian regarding the club’s payroll outlook, as the GM admitted (as relayed by Sam Blum of The Athletic), that he couldn’t say whether or not ownership would be willing to replicate the club’s 2023 payroll, which was the highest of Arte Moreno’s tenure as owner. Re-signing Ohtani would almost certainly require a massive financial outlay, to say nothing of the other additions necessary to build a contender around both him and fellow generational star Mike Trout.

While Minasian said that Moreno is “motivated to win”, he also admitted that he isn’t yet certain whether or not the club was able to duck under the luxury tax threshold by the end of the year. In service of that goal, the clubs lashed payroll in the final months of the season by putting half-a-dozen veteran players on expiring deals on waivers, including major deadline acquisition Lucas Giolito. If the Angels do wind up paying the luxury tax in 2023, it will be the first time they’ve done so under Moreno’s ownership.

Minasian also discussed the club’s decision to part ways with manager Phil Nevin and the uncertain futures of members of both the coaching staff and front office. Minasian noted (per Blum) that the club had not yet made any final personnel decisions beyond moving on from Nevin as manager, who was let go due to a “collaborative” decision between Moreno and Minasian himself. As Blum notes, it’s an interesting departure from the decision to fire manager Joe Maddon last summer, which was made by Minasian alone. It would appear the club hasn’t begun to determine who will replace Nevin as manager, as Fletcher notes that Minasian told reporters that the club does not yet have a list of potential managerial candidates, and that there’s no timeline for a decision at this point.

Angels Part Ways With Phil Nevin

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The Angels are making a managerial change. As first reported by Sam Blum of the Athletic (on Twitter), the club has decided not to retain Phil Nevin, whose one-year contract expired at season’s end. General manager Perry Minasian is scheduled to hold a press conference tomorrow, which appears to indicate he’ll retain his position.

Nevin spent a season and a half at the helm. The 52-year-old took over on an interim basis when the club dismissed Joe Maddon in June 2022. At the end of that season, the Halos signed him to a one-year extension and removed the interim tag. It essentially served as a trial run for Nevin, who’d only joined Maddon’s coaching staff heading into the ’22 campaign.

Unfortunately for Nevin and the organization, the 2023 season played out in largely the same disappointing fashion as it had in prior years. Los Angeles made a run at competing in their final season with Shohei Ohtani under arbitration control. They started reasonably well, playing slightly above .500 ball in each of the first four months. An 8-3 run coming out of the All-Star Break led the front office to push further in a win-now direction, dealing top prospect Edgar Quero as part of a package for Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López. That pushed the Halos past the luxury tax barrier for the first time in two decades.

Almost immediately after that deal, the Halos’ postseason expectations crumbled. They lost seven straight from deadline day onwards, burying them in the standings. By the end of August, the Angels had placed a host of veterans (Giolito and López included) on waivers in hopes of dipping back below the tax threshold. It remains unclear if that effort was successful. Los Angeles would go just 17-36 in the season’s final two months, concluding with a 73-89 record that exactly matched last year’s mark. They dropped to fourth place in the AL West.

On the heels of that kind of collapse, it’s not surprising to see the team make a managerial change — particularly with Nevin’s brief contract having already expired. At the same time, it’s hard to know how much of the blame falls on the manager. The Halos have rapidly churned through dugout leaders without success. Nevin was their fourth manager since 2018 alone.

Longtime skipper Mike Scioscia stepped down at the end of the ’18 campaign. Brad Ausmus was at the helm for 2019. The Angels fired him when Maddon became available, but he only made it through two and a half seasons. None of those skippers oversaw even one winning record. The Angels haven’t finished above .500 since 2015 and are tied with the Tigers for the longest active playoff drought at nine years.

That’s made worse by an uncertain, arguably bleak, future. The Angels face the potential loss of Ohtani this offseason. Even if they manage to re-sign him on what’d almost certainly be the largest contract in major league history, he’s unlikely to pitch for all of next season. Mike Trout played one game from July 4 onward due to a hamate fracture. Anthony Rendon’s backloaded contract pays him $38MM annually for three more years. The farm system is among the thinnest in MLB, as the Angels have aggressively pushed players to the majors and traded prospect talent in order to address short-term deficiencies on the roster.

The Halos aren’t devoid of positives, of course. Trout remains one of the game’s best hitters when healthy, even if his production took a step back from MVP level to merely excellent. Shortstop Zach Neto and catcher Logan O’Hoppe look like regulars. Nolan Schanuel had an impressive rookie showing considering he jumped to the majors within a month of being drafted out of Florida Atlantic, where he was generally facing mid-major college pitching. He’ll eventually need to demonstrate more power, but running a .402 on-base percentage through 29 major league contests within that context is remarkable. Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers remain promising controllable rotation pieces.

Overall, that’s still a below-average collection of organizational talent. The Angels face an uphill battle ascending beyond any of Houston, Texas or Seattle in the AL West — particularly if Ohtani were to land elsewhere. It’ll be a challenging position for whomever the Halos tab to lead the dugout. The Angels join the Mets and Giants as teams that have moved on from their manager in recent days. The Guardians will need to replace Terry Francona — who has all but officially announced his retirement — leaving four current vacancies around the league.

As for Nevin, he should be able to find a position on another major league staff this winter. While his initial foray into major league managing wasn’t successful, the former infielder has a decade and a half of coaching experience. He previously managed in the Tigers’ and Diamondbacks’ systems and has been on a big league staff since 2017. Nevin spent a year as the third base coach for the Giants, held the same position with the Yankees for five seasons, and was the Halos’ third base coach before replacing Maddon.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

AL West Notes: Mariners, Astros, Angels

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On the heels of the club’s elimination from postseason contention last night, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh spoke with reporters (including MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer), as he reflected on the 2023 season. In doing so, he delivered a clear call to action for the club’s front office headed into the offseason.

“We’ve got to commit to winning… to going and getting those players. You see other teams going out, going for it, getting big-time pitchers, getting big-time hitters. We have to do that to keep up.” Raleigh said, before expressing frustration with the organization’s decision to deal closer Paul Sewald ahead of the trade deadline.  “We lost a few close games, later in the game, and we could’ve used him.” Among Seattle’s 23 losses after shipping out Sewald, the Mariners led or were tied headed in the late innings in ten of them.

Raleigh went on to compare the Mariners’ approach to that of the Rangers, who clinched their first postseason berth since 2016 thanks to Seattle’s loss last night. “They’ve added more than anybody else, and you saw where it got them this year,” Raleigh said, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat, that’s for sure. But going out and getting those big names… would help this clubhouse, would help this team.” While Raleigh acknowledged the strength of Seattle’s homegrown core, he reiterated that “sometimes, you have to go out and you have to buy. That’s just the name of the game, and we’ll see what happens this offseason. Hopefully, we can add some players and become a better team.”

Looking ahead to 2024, the Mariners should be in good position to make additions. Per RosterResource, the club has just under $107MM on the books for 2024, with a payroll of just over $119MM for luxury tax purposes, while that doesn’t include arbitration-level contracts for players like first baseman Ty France, it should still give a Mariners club that spent an estimated $152MM with a luxury tax payroll of just over $196MM plenty of room to make additions, should they choose to do so. [UPDATE: Raleigh partially walked back his statement in an apology today, saying that while he wants to win, “I just want to apologize to my teammates, my coaches, fans. It wasn’t a time to talk about what-ifs in that scenario.”]

More from around the AL West…

  • The Astros paired with the Houston Rockets to acquire AT&T SportsNet Southwest, from Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday, as noted by MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. The regional sports network, which is set to be rebranded as Space City Home Network, will air Astros games in time for the 2024 campaign. The team’s current channels and TV broadcasting team will remain in place. The move brings to a conclusion uncertainty regarding Houston’s broadcast situation for the 2024 campaign, as Warner Bros. Discovery announced earlier this year that they planned on exiting the RSN business.
  • Sam Blum of The Athletic recently took a look at the state of the Angels organization, interviewing various current and former team personnel, including players. The report provides insight into the club’s player development apparatus, which clearly appears to be lagging behind the standards set by other big market organizations. As Blum notes, the Angels are among the increasingly small group of teams that does not yet have a dedicated lab for either pitching or hitting, while the club’s major league spring training facility has been shut down for the past three springs, forcing big league spring training into the club’s minor league facility. Despite the club playing in one of America’s largest markets, one former coach told Blum that the club operates as “a typical small-market team.” The Angels, of course, have not made the playoffs in 2014 and figure to lose two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who won the AL MVP award in 2021, and figures to do so again in 2023.

AL West Notes: Scherzer, Rangers, A’s, Schanuel

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Rangers right-hander Max Scherzer hasn’t been ruled out for contributing to the Rangers’ postseason push this year despite having suffered a teres major strain earlier this month. Just two weeks after being placed on the IL with the issue, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News noted that Scherzer had worked his way up to throwing a “light” bullpen today. Scherzer wouldn’t put a timeline on his potential return, telling reporters (including Grant) that “If you target dates, you get emotional & then you compete with the injury.”

Scherzer managing to return to the Rangers this postseason would provide a massive boost to the club’s pitching staff, which offers little certainty beyond lefty Jordan Montgomery and veteran righty Nathan Eovaldi without its future Hall of Fame ace fronting the rotation. It’s been an up-and-down year for Scherzer, who’s posted a 3.77 ERA and 4.33 FIP in 152 2/3 innings of work this year. While those numbers are uncharacteristically close to average for the veteran ace, he seemingly flipped a switch upon being traded to Texas. The righty posted a 2.21 ERA and 2.47 FIP in his first six starts with the club with a 33.6% strikeout rate, looking like vintage Scherzer before a pair of injury-shortened starts that preceded his trip to the injured list.

More from around the AL West…

  • Sticking with the Rangers, the club activated left-hander Josh Sborz from the 15-day IL today and optioned lefty Jake Latz to Triple-A in a corresponding move. While Sborz sports a well below average 5.80 ERA in 49 2/3 innings of work this year, his peripheral stats indicate a much stronger performance as indicated by his 3.90 FIP, 3.41 xERA, 3.24 xFIP, and 3.11 SIERA. Much of this discrepancy comes from an extremely low 55.3% strand rate combined with an excellent strikeout rate (30.6%), solid walk rate (8.3%), and strong groundball rate (46.8%). If Sborz’s results can improve, he could be a valuable left-handed option out of the club’s bullpen headed into the postseason.
  • MLB commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed in an interview with the Associated Press today an earlier report by Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that MLB owners will vote on the Athletics’ relocation bid during the owners’ meetings, which are scheduled for November 14-16. Akers also notes that the club is expected to announce the architect for the impending stadium prior to that announcement, with that decision expected to come as soon as next month. At least 75% of owners will need to approve the relocation proposal, though that is widely expected to be all but guaranteed.
  • Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel has been out of action since fouling a pitch off his knee on Monday, which prompted him to exit the game in the seventh inning. While he’s missed the past two games nursing the injury, manager Phil Nevin indicated to reporters (including MLB.com) that the club was hopeful Schanuel would be able to return to the starting lineup as soon as Friday, following the club’s day off tomorrow. The Angels’ first-round pick in this year’s draft, Schanuel was called up to the big league club just one month after being drafted and has performed admirably in his first taste of both major league and professional pitching this summer, with a .284/.407/.343 slash line that clocks in at 16% better than league average by measure of wRC+. The club has relied on Brandon Drury at first base in Schanuel’s absence.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Free Agent Pitching Dark Horses, Padres To Cut Payroll, and If The Angels Should Rebuild

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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, pinch-hitting host Mark Polishuk is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • MLBTR continues previewing the free agent class, with a focus on which starters and relievers might be flying a bit under the radar as quality signings for 2024 (0:50)
  • The Padres are planning to reduce payroll next season, and could some broader front office changes also be coming? (11:00)
  • After another losing season and with the possible departure of Shohei Ohtani, would the Angels explore rebuilding (and trading Mike Trout) to get the franchise back on track? (15:06)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will the Twins re-sign Sonny Gray or Tyler Mahle, and what kind of contracts could each pitcher land in free agency?(23:03)
  • Could the Braves’ pitching injuries short-circuit their postseason chances? (28:48)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Front Office Changes in Boston and New York, and the New Rays Stadium Agreement — listen here
  • Free Agent Class Preview: Catcher and First Base, Germán Márquez Extension and the Dodgers’ Rotation — listen here
  • Waiver Claim Fallout, September Call-Ups and the Biggest Strength of Each Playoff Contender — listen here

AL Injury Notes: Bautista, Mountcastle, Correa, McGuire, Sandoval

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Félix Bautista is inching closer to his return, but his status for the postseason remains up in the air. Manager Brandon Hyde recently spoke to reporters (including Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun) about his star closer, suggesting that the right-hander is running out of time to get back on the mound. It’s not that Bautista has suffered a setback, but he just hasn’t progressed quickly enough to give Hyde much confidence that he can return for the playoffs.

It’s a disappointing development for the Orioles, who are set to embark on their first postseason run since 2016. The 28-year-old has emerged as one of the most dominant relief arms in the game, with a 1.85 ERA across his first two seasons in the majors.

In happier news, Ryan Mountcastle is nearing his return to Baltimore’s lineup. As Ruiz reports, the first baseman took batting practice before this evening’s game against the Nationals. Hyde suggested he could be reinstated tomorrow; if not, he should be back on the field sometime this week.

Here’s some more news from around the American League…

  • The Twins expect Carlos Correa will be ready to play in the AL Wild Card series, and indeed, it’s possible he could be back by the final series of the regular season. Manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune) that the star shortstop could rejoin the team this weekend in Colorado. Correa has been playing through plantar fasciitis for most of the year, and the question is not whether his injury has healed, but simply if he has rested enough to be able to manage the pain throughout the playoffs. The Gold Glove winner has been taking groundballs in recent days, and he claims to be feeling better.
  • Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire left tonight’s game against the Rays with a left thumb contusion. It’s not a particularly serious diagnosis, but still, it’s not impossible this marks the end of McGuire’s season. The lefty batter hit .271/.314/.365 in 69 games as a backup catcher for Boston. He will be arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter.
  • The Angels have placed starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval on the 15-day IL. To replace him on the active roster, they have recalled Kolton Ingram from Triple-A Salt Lake. Sandoval exited his start last night against the Rangers with tightness in his right oblique, and the injury has proven to be serious enough to end his season six days early. This marks Ingram’s third fleeting call-up of the 2023 season; in 4 1/3 innings for the big league club, he has given up five runs on seven hits. However, his numbers are much better in the minors, where the 26-year-old boasts a 2.95 ERA in 61 innings pitched.

Mike Trout Intends To Play For Angels In 2024

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The Angels are completing their eighth consecutive losing season, and might lose one of the game’s iconic players in Shohei Ohtani to free agency.  Ohtani’s potential departure adds extra sting to this latest disappointing year in Anaheim, and it has led to some questions regarding the club’s other icon in Mike Trout.  The outfielder said in early September that he was planning to speak with upper management after the season about “the direction of everything and what the plan is,” and Trout shed some more light on those post-season discussions when speaking with reporters today, describing them as routine.

“I go through this every year,” Trout told the Los Angeles Times’ Sarah Valenzuela and other reporters.  “There’s private conversations I have with Arte [Angels owner Arte Moreno] and John [team president John Carpino].  And like I said, I’m doing the same thing I did the last, what, 13 years?  Going into the offseason, clearing my mind and getting ready for spring and wearing an Angels uniform in spring.”

Specifically noting his Spring Training plans seemed to be Trout’s way of downplaying talk that he could request a trade.  The Angels’ lack of success has led to plenty of speculative trade buzz around Trout for the last several years, and yet there has never been any indication that the club is open to moving the outfielder, or that Trout himself would welcome or seek out a deal.  Trout has some control over his fate via the full no-trade clause included in the ten-year, $360MM extension he signed with Los Angeles in March 2019, so the Halos wouldn’t be able to deal him without his permission.

“I got seven years left on the contract.  I know there’s a lot of speculation out there….Nothing’s changed,” Trout said.

Beyond the Angels’ losing records, the last few seasons have been doubly challenging for Trout from a health perspective.  A series of separate injuries have limited Trout’s playing time to some extent in each of the last seven seasons, though since Opening Day 2021, he has played in only 237 of a possible 486 games.  A nagging calf strain cost Trout most of the 2021 campaign, he played in just 119 games in 2022 due to back problems, and a hamate bone surgery limited Trout’s 2023 tally to 82 games, and only one appearance after July 3.

“It’s tough. It’s been hard on me….I just want to be out there and injuries suck,” Trout said today.  “All the hard work and stuff and just freak stuff happens.  But [I’m] trying to stay positive.”

“Coming into this season, I think the biggest thing was trying to be healthy and that was my goal.  Went into the offseason with a plan, hired a lot of people to work on my body.  My body felt great and a freak thing happened.  Broke my hand.  Came back probably sooner than I should have, but I wanted to be out there with the guys.”

With a .283/.382/579 slash line and 66 homers in 1007 plate appearances from 2021-23, Trout is still clearly one of the game’s best players when he has been able to stay on the field, which only adds to the frustration for Trout himself, the fanbase, and everyone in the Angels organization.  Over six seasons with both Ohtani and Trout as teammates, there hasn’t been very much time when both players have been healthy and in top form.  Of course, even if Trout and Ohtani had been firing on all cylinders, it is fair to wonder if that still would’ve been enough to get the Angels into contention given the consistent issues throughout the rest of the roster.

The Angels are expected to bid on Ohtani to some extent this winter, though it remains to be seen if Ohtani will leave for a larger offer and/or simply a team that can offer a better chance to win.  Should he indeed leave, it remains to be seen if the Halos would consider a rebuild for the first time in Moreno’s two decades as owner, or if Moreno would order the front office to reload for another shot at contending in 2024.

Moving Trout would only seem like a reality if Los Angeles will attempt a full teardown, and such a deal would be tricky to manage even beyond Trout’s no-trade clause.  On the one hand, there would undoubtedly be interest in a superstar like Trout, and some teams might feel their training staffs might be better equipped to help him stay healthy.  On the other, Trout also turned 32 last month, is owed $248.45MM over the next seven years, and is coming off three injury-plagued years — these factors are red flags for possible trade partners, and obstacles for the Angels in finding proper value back.

Angels Select Carson Fulmer, Place Mike Trout On 60-Day IL

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The Angels are calling up right-hander Carson Fulmer, as noted by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. He’ll take the active roster spot of lefty Tyler Anderson, who was placed on the injured list yesterday with left knee soreness. A 40-man roster spot was cleared for Fulmer by placing outfielder Mike Trout on the 60-day IL, with manager Phil Nevin confirming to reporters (including Bollinger) that the veteran star’s season is over. The club also announced that infielder Mike Moustakas has been reinstated from the 10-day IL, with first baseman C.J. Cron going on the injured list to clear space on the active roster.

Fulmer was selected eighth overall in the 2015 draft by the White Sox and made his major league debut back in 2016, though he was never able to full establish himself in the majors. He posted a 6.56 ERA across 94 2/3 innings of work between 2016 and 2019 with Chicago before making brief cameos in Detroit, Baltimore, and Cincinnati over the 2020 and 2021 seasons. In those two seasons, Fulmer combined for a 6.00 ERA and 4.59 FIP in 36 innings of work.

Fulmer didn’t pitch in the majors in 2022, instead spending the season with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City. He posted a 2.86 ERA in 56 2/3 innings at that level last year, strong enough numbers that the Angels opted to offer him a minor league deal back in May. Things didn’t go as smoothly for Fulmer this year, however, as he posted a 5.27 ERA in 41 innings of work with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City. Nonetheless, Fulmer will get his first taste of big league action since 2021 with the Angels as they look toward what remains of their depth to help cover innings for the season’s final stretch.

The addition of Fulmer to the roster officially brings the season to an end for Trout, who appeared in just one game after landing on the injured list with a left hamate fracture in early July. It was a relative down season for Trout when he was on the field, as the superstar slashed .263/.367/.490 in 362 trips to the plate with the Angels this year. Of course, those numbers still clock in at 34% better than league average by measure of wRC+ and really only constitute a down season by Trout’s incredibly lofty standards. Trout will look toward a return to the field in 2024, where better health hopefully awaits him after averaging just 79 games a season since the start of the 2021 campaign.

Also done for the year is Cron, who slashed a decent .260/.304/.476 in 224 trips to the plate with Colorado this year but saw his performance take a nosedive following a trade to Anaheim. In 15 games with the Angels, Cron posted a brutal .200/.259/.260 slash line that was good for a wRC+ of just 42. A pending free agent this offseason, Cron will face stiff competition from players like Rhys Hoskins, Garrett Cooper and Brandon Belt who are also primarily limited to first base defensively. Cron’s placement on the IL makes way for the return of Moustakas, who similarly posted solid numbers in Colorado before suffering a downturn in performance upon heading to Anaheim. Overall, Moustakas has slashed .252/.300/.404 in 370 trips to the plate this season.

AL West Notes: Astros, Anderson, Rendon, Murphy

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The Astros have been without outfielder Michael Brantley for most of the past week due to soreness, which according to manager Dusty Baker (as relayed by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome) is “mostly” in his surgically repaired shoulder. That’s troublesome news for Houston, as the veteran outfielder has played in just 12 games since he was shut down for shoulder surgery last summer. That Brantley’s been forced off the field by his ailing shoulder once again raises questions as the Astros gear up to defend their title as the reigning World Series champions this fall, though it’s at least somewhat encouraging that the club hasn’t yet elected to place him on the injured list.

Brantley’s absence would normally be expected to allow Yordan Alvarez to move into left field, freeing up the DH spot for a bat like rookie catcher Yainer Diaz. Things aren’t quite that simple, however, as Alvarez is dealing with injury issues of his own. The slugger told reporters, including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, recently that he hasn’t been able to play the field recently after “feeling something” in his elbow earlier in the month while swinging the bat. The incident has left the Astros acting cautiously with their superstar slugger, who has slashed .293/.410/.578 in 106 games with the club this year. While Rome notes that Alvarez was taking fly balls and throwing in the outfield before today’s game, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle relayed yesterday that Baker is still trying to avoid using Alvarez in the outfield during games.

With Brantley unavailable and Alvarez seemingly restricted to DH, the club figures to rely on the services of Jake Meyers and Mauricio Dubon in the outfield for the time being. With Kyle Tucker entrenched in right field on an everyday bases and both Meyers and Dubon grading out as solid center fielders defensively, the unfortunate injury situation with Brantley and Alvarez has nonetheless allowed the Astros to improve their outfield defense by moving Chas McCormick into left field rather than utilizing him in center.

More from the AL West…

  • Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson saw his season come to an end today, as the club placed him on the 15-day IL with left knee soreness (as noted by MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger) following today’s game against the Twins. Anderson was poised to start tomorrow’s game for Anaheim, though no replacement starter has been announced to this point. Anderson’s first year with the Angels was a difficult one, as the lefty posted a 5.43 ERA and 4.93 FIP in 141 innings of work. Anderson signed a three-year, $39MM deal with the club early last offseason after posting a fantastic season in 2022 with the Dodgers.
  • Sticking with the Angels, Bollinger also relays that third baseman Anthony Rendon isn’t expected to return from the injured list this season, according to club manager Phil Nevin. 2023 will go down as yet another injury-marred campaign for the veteran third baseman, who has been on the shelf since early July with a shin injury and has played just 148 games since the start of the 2021 campaign. Rendon, who slashed .236/.361/.318 with a wRC+ of 95 in 183 trips to the plate this year, has three years and roughly $116MM left on his contract with the club headed into 2024.
  • The Mariners have been without catcher Tom Murphy for over a month due to a thumb fracture and was shut down from baseball activity earlier in September due to the issue. While that diagnosis put the remainder of his 2023 in doubt, it’s possible that there’s reason for optimism regarding Murphy’s ability to return this year, at least in the event that Seattle makes it to the postseason. MLB.com notes that Murphy was poised to undergo an MRI yesterday to determine whether he could resume baseball activities, though no update has been provided regarding the catcher’s status at this point. Murphy’s hit exceptionally well in a back-up role this year behind Cal Raleigh, with a .290/.335/.538 slash line in 159 trips to the plate this year. The club has recently been relying on Luis Torrens as their second catcher in Murphy’s absence.
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