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Central Notes: O’Neill, Paddack, Madrigal

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Cardinals outfielder Tyler O’Neill missed almost a month in the middle of this season, from mid-June to mid-July, due to a left hamstring strain. He went back on the IL September 17 due to the same injury, a left hamstring strain. At the time, it was reported as a Grade 1 strain, which is the less-serious variety. Regardless, over a week later, an O’Neill return doesn’t seem close.

Team president John Mozeliak was asked about the possibility of O’Neill returning in the postseason and had this to say, per Jim Hayes of Bally Sports Midwest: “I think there’s a shot, but obviously the clock is ticking.” That doesn’t seem to indicate the Cards are banking on a return. The club has now clinched the NL Central but are seven games behind the Mets and Braves, who are tied atop the East, and even further behind the Dodgers. That means they are destined to play in the first round of the playoffs against whoever finishes with the third Wild Card spot. Each round that they survive will increase the chances of O’Neill coming back, but he wouldn’t be able to find a rehab stint with the minor league seasons winding down. Even if he’s healthy, the Cards would have to view a rusty O’Neill as a better option than their current outfielders in order for him to get a shot.

O’Neill had a career year last year by hitting 34 home runs and swiping 15 bases on his way to producing 5.6 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs. This year, various injuries have limited him to just 96 games and diminished production when on the field, with his .286/.352/.560 batting line from last year slipping to .228/.308/.392. Without him in the mix, the St. Louis outfield is currently composed of Lars Nootbaar, Dylan Carlson, Corey Dickerson, Juan Yepez, Alec Burleson and Ben DeLuzio.

More notes from the Central divisions…

  • Twins right-hander Chris Paddack underwent Tommy John surgery in May and is now targeting an August 2023 return, per Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. The surgery usually comes with a 12-18 month recovery window, but this is the second such procedure of Paddack’s career, having previously gone under the knife as a prospect in 2016. Paddack tells Park that the second recovery is going to take a bit longer, meaning the narrow end of the typical recovery window is closed. Since the best-case scenario involves Paddack missing the bulk of next year, the club will have to plan on building a rotation without him. He was just one of several Twins who missed significant time with injury this year, preventing them from hanging onto the AL Central lead that they held for a good chunk of the year. On paper, the 2023 rotation in Minnesota consists of Sonny Gray, who is sure to have his option exercised, alongside Tyler Mahle, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober for four slots. Kenta Maeda could be a factor for the fifth, though he’ll be an unknown quantity after missing all of this year recovering from his own Tommy John surgery of the internal brace variety. Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer both have options that are unlikely to be exercised, subtracting them from the equation. The club could look for outside help given the uncertainty around Maeda, though they will also have internal options like Josh Winder, Louie Varland, Cole Sands, Jordan Balazovic, Devin Smeltzer and Simeon Woods Richardson, with Paddack hopefully joining them down the stretch.
  • Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal is on the injured list and won’t be returning this season, manager David Ross tells Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Madrigal landed on the shelf September 10 due to a groin strain, his second groin-related trip to the IL this year. It’s the second straight injury-marred campaign for him, after he was limited to 54 games in 2021 and just 59 here in 2022. He hit .305/.349/.425 last year but saw that line dip to .249/.305/.282 in this campaign. He came into this season with one year and 164 days of MLB service time, meaning he’s a lock to reach arbitration as a Super Two player this winter, though he likely won’t earn a huge raise given all the time he’s missed. The Cubs aren’t likely to be competitive in 2023 but will still want to see Madrigal show better results in order to keep him in their plans going forward.

Carlos Correa Is Making His Opt-Out Decision Even Easier

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The Twins’ surprise signing of Carlos Correa to a three-year, $105.3MM contract was supposed to be the signature free-agent addition that washed away the lingering distaste of an awful 2021 campaign pushed them toward an AL Central crown. Instead, the Twins have wildly unperformed expectations for a second straight season, due in large part a once-again disastrous level of injury. Minnesota has had more IL days accrued than any team in the American League and trails only Cincinnati for the MLB lead in that odious category. (The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman took a player-by-player look at the Twins’ staggering injury woes just this morning.)

Very little has gone right in Minnesota this year, but with all the woes they’ve incurred in their catastrophic second half, Correa’s monstrous finish to the season has flown somewhat under the radar. As the team has crumbled around him, Correa has enjoyed just the type of sprint to the finish line the team had hoped for at the time of the contract.

Correa struggled in April and in July, sandwiching a paid of outstanding months between two below-average months at the plate. His bat picked up in late July, however, and he’s finishing out what could well be his only season with his strongest production of the year. Since Aug. 1, Correa is hitting .323/.405/.505 with eight homers, nine doubles and a triple in 222 plate appearances. Both his walk rate (11.7%) and strikeout rate (19.4%) during that stretch of 222 plate appearances are about two percentage points better than the levels Correa carried through the end of July.

Carlos Correa | Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Since Aug. 1, Correa ranks 10th in the Majors in batting average, ninth in on-base percentage and 25th in slugging percentage. His 162 wRC+ (indicating he’s been 62% better than the league-average hitter) in that time is tied with J.T. Realmuto for 13th in all of baseball. If you really want to cherry-pick, Correa’s ridiculous .386/.432/.670 slash over 95 plate appearances since Sept. 4 give him the fifth-best wRC+ in baseball during that time (216).

There’s no denying that Correa’s counting stats will be down from their 2021 levels when the season draws to a close. It’s at least possible that he swats another five homers and ends up tying last year’s mark off 26 long balls, though with nine games to play, it’s also unlikely. He’s not going to drive in as many runs as he did in ’21, and some of that is due to a curious power outage with runners in scoring position this season. It’s also due, however, to the simple fact that with Houston in 2021, Correa came to the plate 187 times with runners in scoring position and 304 times with men on base. This season, those numbers are currently at 116 and 248. He hasn’t been as good in big spots as he was a year ago, but also simply hasn’t had as many big spots, thanks to a Twins lineup that has routinely relied on minor league placeholders to fill in for injured regulars.

On the whole, aside from a slight dip in power (which correlates with the league-wide drop in power this season), Correa’s production at the plate in 2022 looks quite similar to in 2021. He’s hitting .289/.365/.468 as a Twin and hit .279/.366/.485 in his final season as an Astro. This year’s 89.9 mph average exit velocity is just barely shy of last year’s 90.2 mph exit velocity. He’s barreling balls more often this year than last (11.5% to 9.4%), and his overall hard-hit rate (43.8%) is a bit better than his 2021 level as well (42.5%). Essentially, Statcast feels he’s been almost the same hitter in Minneapolis as he was in Houston.

The biggest change in Correa’s valuations this season has been on the defensive side of things. His defensive ratings are down across the board, although Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating still peg him as a clearly above-average shortstop — just not the all-world, best-in-MLB-regardless-of-position defender he was in 2021. Statcast feels differently, dinging Correa at four outs below average — his first negative OAA mark since 2016.

Having just celebrated his 28th birthday last week, it seems unlikely Correa’s defensive skills have simply eroded. Repeating last year’s career-best 20 Defensive Runs Saved and massive 12 Outs Above Average was always going to be a challenge; defensive stats often oscillate just like their offensive counterparts, and the likely bet is that he’ll again be above-average across the board in 2023. He’s only made eight errors this season, six of which have been of the throwing variety. That only tells the tales of the balls Correa has gotten to, of course — hence the pitfalls of raw fielding percentage — but it does illustrate that Correa hasn’t become a clumsy-handed butcher who’s booting the routine plays.

Overall, Correa has been worth 5.0 wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference, and 4.2 WAR per FanGraphs. His .289/.365/.468 batting line is 40% better than league-average after adjusting for league and home park, by measure of wRC+, and he’s been lauded throughout the season by teammates, coaches and the front office staff alike for his influence leadership and influence in the clubhouse. It’s not necessarily the best-case outcome the Twins might’ve hoped for when signing him, but a strong four-to-five win season and positive off-the-field impact is a strong outcome all the same.

Correa has said at multiple times this season that he and his family feel at home in Minnesota and that he’s open to, if not hopeful for a long-term offer to stay with the Twins long term. That, of course, is a sensible thing for any pending free agent to say, and the fact that he’s open to a long-term deal (presumably at top-of-the-market dollars) shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s moderately notable that he’s chosen to publicly state his hope for a long-term arrangement rather than demur and say that contract talk is for the offseason, but public comments from Correa — as with most pending free agents — can be taken with a grain of salt.

The reality is that while Correa might never find the ten-year deal and $35MM-ish annual value he was likely seeking last offseason, he can absolutely find a long-term pact that will trounce the remaining two years and $70.2MM on his current contract with the Twins. Correa can very realistically command more than $30MM per year over a long term — likely with additional opt-out opportunities baked into the deal. Because of his age, even a ten-year deal would still only run through his age-37 season. Opting out has long seemed to be the likeliest outcome for Correa, as noted on last month’s update to MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings (where Correa placed fourth).

Correa’s torrid production has only improved his stock since that time. The Phillies, Cubs and Giants are reported to be among the teams that will look at free-agent shortstops. The Twins have already expressed public interest in extending the relationship. The Braves, Red Sox and Dodgers will all have their own star shortstops reach the market, creating potential openings for all three (in-house options notwithstanding). The Cardinals and Angels could need shortstops. The Orioles could theoretically be lurking and have already signaled that their payroll will increase.

The free-agent market for shortstops should be strong, and Correa’s standing among the 15 most-productive hitters in the sport over the final two months of the season has likely silenced any inkling of a doubt regarding his opt-out clause. The Twins shocked baseball in March when they signed Correa in the first place. It would register as an even bigger shock if Correa now forgoes his opportunity to return to the market on the heels of a season — and a finish — this strong.

Byron Buxton Undergoes Season-Ending Knee Surgery

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SEPTEMBER 27: Buxton underwent successful surgery this afternoon, tweets Dan Hayes of the Athletic. The recovery timeline is 6-8 weeks, so Buxton should have plenty of time for an offseason ramp-up before Spring Training.

SEPTEMBER 23: Twins star Byron Buxton is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee next week, reports Dan Hayes of the Athletic. It’s a cleanup procedure that is not expected to affect his availability for next Spring Training, but it’ll officially close the book on his 2022 season.

Buxton has spent the last month on the injured list mending a right hip strain. He’s battled soreness in his right knee off and on for much of the season. Buxton generally played through the discomfort, although the Twins did intersperse rest days in an effort to keep him off the IL. That sufficed until Buxton suffered the hip injury that knocked him out of action in late August.

The Twins had held out hope Buxton would be able to make a late-season return to aid their efforts at claiming what had been a tightly-contested AL Central. The club instead has mustered a woeful 6-15 record this month, including losing four of five games to the Guardians last weekend. That killed any playoff chances and has knocked them four games under .500. The Guardians, meanwhile, swept the White Sox this week and can clinch the division as soon as this weekend.

With official elimination from postseason contention on the horizon, the Twins have elected to shut Buxton down and turn their attention to next season. It’s obviously not the end to the year the team or Buxton had envisioned, and he was just one of a number of players sidelined down the stretch. Minnesota has also been without Tyler Mahle, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco, among others. The injury-decimated roster stumbled, while the Guardians have gone 15-7 this month to seize control of the division and all but officially book a postseason trip.

Buxton concludes his season with 92 games played and 382 plate appearances. It’s the second-highest workload of his MLB career, trailing only a 2017 campaign in which he played 140 games and hit 511 times. Buxton barely played in 2018, and he’s been limited to a hair more than half the team’s games in the past four years.

The recurring injury troubles are all the more frustrating considering Buxton has been one of the sport’s most electrifying players when able to take the field. He’s a top-tier defensive center fielder, and he’s been a well above-average offensive player since the start of the 2018 campaign. That includes this season, when the former second overall pick connected on 28 home runs and posted an overall .224/.306/.526 slash line. Last November, Buxton and the Twins agreed to an incentive-laden contract extension that guaranteed him $100MM and came with massive possible bonuses depending on his plate appearance tallies and MVP finishes over the next six seasons.

Sandy Leon To Undergo Knee Surgery

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The Twins announced that catcher Sandy Leon has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 24, and will undergo right knee meniscus surgery. Taking his place on the active roster is fellow catcher Ryan Jeffers, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. The club already had an opening on its 40-man roster for Jeffers. Should they need another roster spot in the final days of the season, they can transfer Leon to the 60-day IL since this move will keep him out beyond the end of the schedule.

Earlier today, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about Carlos Correa and highlighted the tremendous amount of injuries the Twins have suffered this season. One of the many players missing significant time was Jeffers, who went on the IL in mid-July due to a thumb contusion and has only now returned. He was having a decent season before that injury, having hit .214/.291/.375. That only amounts to a 92 wRC+, which is 8% below the league average hitter. However, this year’s league average slash line for a catcher is .227/.296/.368, 89 wRC+. Jeffers produced strong work on the other side of the ball, accruing four Defensive Runs Saved and a mark of 3.2 from the FanGraphs framing metric, allowing him to produce 1.0 fWAR in just 60 games.

Jeffers and Gary Sanchez had been splitting the time behind the plate in the Minnesota, with Sanchez taking on a larger role after Jeffers landed on the shelf. The Twins also used Caleb Hamilton for a couple of weeks before turning to the veteran Leon, who had been in the minors with the Guardians. The Twins swung a trade for Leon at the deadline and called him up to the big league team. Outside of a scorching hot 2016 season that now seems like an outlier, Leon has never been much of an offensive threat. That continued to the be the case in his time with the Twins, as he hit .179/.270/.232 for a wRC+ of 50. With just over a week remaining in the campaign and the Twins out of contention, this IL placement will finish his season. It’s unclear how long it will take him to recover from this surgery, but he will he will head into free agency in just over a month and look to heal up and find his next opportunity.

Since Sanchez is also an impending free agent, Jeffers is lined up to be the club’s primary catcher for next season. Hamilton will likely still be around as well, but it’s possible the club will look to add another established backstop during the offseason. By returning at this stage of the calendar, Jeffers will have the opportunity to get a handful of games in and finish the season on a positive note before the winter arrives. Both he and the Twins will be hoping for better results in 2023, after injuries caused them to fall short of expectations this year.

Injury Notes: Carpenter, Larnach, Brault

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Matt Carpenter was putting together a comeback season for the ages with the Yankees, hitting .305/.412/.727 with 15 home runs in 154 plate appearances before suffering a broken bone when fouling a ball into his foot. The foot fracture didn’t require surgery, but the timing of the injury placed Carpenter’s season in jeopardy. Manager Aaron Boone said yesterday that the Yankees are now hopeful that the 36-year-old Carpenter will be able to return for the final series of the regular season (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). It’s not a given, but it’d be a nice bonus for both the Yankees and Carpenter himself to get a look at his swing in a game setting before the postseason rolls around.

A  couple more injury updates from around the game…

  • The Twins added another name to their ever-growing list of season-ending injuries, as outfielder Trevor Larnach will not return before the end of the 2022 season, per Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Larnach underwent core muscle surgery early in the summer and was all but finished with a rehab assignment last week, when he sustained a wrist injury during one of the final plate appearances of his rehab assignment. The 25-year-old tells Miller that he wasn’t even able to hold a bat the day after incurring the injury. Larnach got out to a solid start in 2022, hitting .258/.331/.477 with five homers and 13 doubles through his first 145 plate appearances. He collected just four hits in 35 plate appearances before undergoing surgery, however, and now won’t return to the field this year. Larnach and teammate Alex Kirilloff are both former first-rounders who’ve been touted among the game’s 50 best prospects at multiple points in the past, but injuries have prevented them from establishing themselves as lineup fixtures at Target Field.
  • Left-hander Steven Brault’s shoulder hasn’t responded as hoped during his minor league rehab assignment, Cubs skipper David Ross said yesterday (via Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times, on Twitter). He’s headed back to Chicago to be further evaluated and won’t return to the mound this season. The longtime Pirates lefty originally inked a Major League deal with the Cubs in the offseason but had it restructured as a minor league contract due to an injury setback. The 30-year-old Brault didn’t pitch, even in the minors, until July 1 this season. He made his way to the big league roster two weeks later and tossed nine innings with a 3.00 ERA and an 8-to-5 K/BB ratio before a shoulder strain sent him back to the injured list in mid-August. Brault also missed significant time in 2019 due to a shoulder strain and missed much of the 2021 campaign due to a lat strain. Brault will be a free agent at season’s end.

Outrighted: Herget, Neuse, Sanchez

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A few updates on some recently DFA’ed players who passed through waivers, per the league’s transactions log at MLB.com…

  • Righty Kevin Herget, designated for for assignment Friday by the Rays, went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Durham. Herget made his big league debut as a 31-year-old rookie this season after grinding through the minor leagues and independent baseball for more than nine years. He tossed just 2 2/3 frames and yielded a pair of runs in that time but also recorded his first big league strikeout. Even if Herget doesn’t get another look with the Rays in 2022, his excellent work in Triple-A this year should generate interest in minor  league free agency this winter. In 93 2/3 frames, he’s pitched to a 2.98 ERA with a strong 24.9% strikeout rate and an outstanding 3.9% walk rate.
  • Athletics infielder Sheldon Neuse cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 27-year-old logged a career-high 293 plate appearances in 2022 but recorded just a .214/.273/.288 slash with four homers, four doubles and a pair of triples in that time. Neuse has consistently produced at the Triple-A level, where he’s slashed .299/.353/.471 in 1559 plate appearances, but he’s only managed a .212/.262/.296 slash in 420 Major League trips to the plate. Neuse has spent the bulk of his pro career playing third base, but he does have just over 750 innings of experience at second base and at shortstop — in addition to brief cameos at first base and in the outfield corners.
  • Veteran right-hander Aaron Sanchez, whom the Twins designated for assignment Friday, remains in the organization after clearing waivers and being assigned outright to Triple-A St. Paul. Injuries, most notably shoulder surgery, have blown up the once-promising career of Sanchez, formerly the No. 34 overall draft pick by the Blue Jays and the 2016 American League ERA leader. Since tossing 192 innings with a flat 3.00 ERA in ’16, Sanchez has thrown just 524 1/3 Major League innings (plus another 103 minor league innings) in a span of six seasons. Still just 30, Sanchez has pitched decently in Minnesota this season, tossing 27 innings with a 4.00 ERA, 25-to-7 K/BB ratio and 53.8% ground-ball rate.

Falvey: Twins To Retain Manager Rocco Baldelli

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The Twins have floundered down the stretch, losing 15 of 21 games this month to fall to 73-77 entering play Friday. They’ll need a strong finish to avoid a second straight losing season, which is certainly a disappointing outcome for a team that was 11 games over .500 in May and sat at the top of the AL Central as recently as three weeks ago.

Despite the team’s abysmal final month, Minnesota chief baseball officer Derek Falvey made clear the club had no plans to make a change atop the dugout. Speaking with reporters this afternoon, Falvey stated that the possibility of replacing skipper Rocco Baldelli “never even crossed my mind” (relayed by Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com and Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic). “Rocco’s our manager. He’s my partner in this all the way through,” the Twins baseball operations leader said. “Rocco’s a big part of our future. Not just next year, but beyond.”

Baldelli has occupied the manager’s office at Target Field for four seasons. First hired over the 2018-19 offseason, the former MLB outfielder reportedly received a four-year guarantee that came with multiple options. It isn’t clear whether the club plans to simply exercise a 2023 option in his existing deal or renegotiate a new contract, but Baldelli’s in position to lead the charge for a fifth season either way.

While the past two seasons have been underwhelming, Baldelli led the team to AL Central titles in each of his first two years at the helm. Minnesota’s 2019 team set the all-time record for home runs in a season en route to 101 wins, although they were promptly swept by the Yankees in an AL Division Series. The Twins went 36-24 during the abbreviated 2020 schedule but again were swept in the first playoff round — this time at the hands of the Astros. Minnesota entered 2021 as at least co-favorites with the White Sox to take the division again, but they posted a 73-89 season that dropped them into last place.

On the heels of that awful 2021 campaign, the Twins reloaded with an aggressive offseason. Minnesota stunningly signed Carlos Correa to an opt-out laden three-year deal in Spring Training that featured the highest average annual value ($35.1MM) for any free agent position player in history. The Twins also acquired Sonny Gray and Chris Paddack in March trades while adding Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy to the back of the rotation via free agency. The aggressiveness looked as if it’d paid off early on, with Minnesota seizing an early division lead. They doubled down at this summer’s trade deadline, bringing in Jorge López and Tyler Mahle.

Unfortunately for the organization, the roster overhaul wasn’t enough to overcome a brutal stretch of late-season injuries. Minnesota has been without Byron Buxton for a month (and announced this evening he’d undergo season-ending knee surgery). Jorge Polanco has missed nearly as much time, as has Mahle. Left fielder Trevor Larnach and catcher Ryan Jeffers have been out for multiple months. Gray has been on and off the injured list twice this year, while Minnesota lost Paddack to Tommy John surgery and was without mid-rotation starter Bailey Ober between May and mid-September. Former top prospects Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff again lost much of their seasons to injury.

That’s certainly not to say all the Twins’ struggles are attributable to poor health luck. Minnesota entered the season with a rotation reliant on Paddack, Bundy and Archer — all of whom had serious injury and/or performance concerns in the recent past. The bullpen has blown 26 leads, tied for sixth-most in the majors. While the club has hit well overall, they’ve underperformed with runners in scoring position. That’s presumably not a trend they anticipate continuing over multiple seasons, but it has contributed to the team ranking 17th in runs scored despite being 12th in on-base percentage and 11th in slugging.

Minnesota figures to be in for another active offseason as they look to get back on track. Correa is likely to opt out of his contract in search of a longer-term deal. If he departs, as many anticipate he will, the Twins would have to decide how to proceed at shortstop. They’ll also need to overhaul the bullpen and could look into upgrades in the corner outfield and at the back of the rotation. Besides Correa, the club will see Gary Sánchez, Michael Fulmer and Archer hit free agency and is likely to buy out options on Bundy and Miguel Sanó.

Twins Designate Aaron Sanchez For Assignment

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The Twins announced Friday that they’ve recalled right-hander Louie Varland from Triple-A St. Paul and designated fellow righty Aaron Sanchez for assignment in order to open a spot on the roster.

Sanchez, 30, has appeared in seven games with the Twins this season and pitched to a 4.00 ERA with a 21.6% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate in 27 innings. The right-hander was an All-Star in 2016 and led the American League with a 3.00 ERA that season but has seen that promising career derailed by a series of injuries, most notably including 2019 shoulder surgery.

Sanchez logged a career-high 192 innings back in that 2016 season, but he’s only managed 366 big league innings since that time, pitching to a 5.24 ERA along the way. The Twins will place him on outright waivers or release waivers in the next few days.

Varland, 24, will get the start for the Twins in tonight’s game. It’ll be the third of his career, as he made a pair of appearances earlier this month, pitching well through 5 1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium in his MLB debut before struggling in a five-inning outing in Cleveland.

A Minnesota native whom the Twins selected in the 15th round  of the 2019 draft out of Division-II Concordia University in St. Paul, Varland skyrocketed through the system in 2021. He’s had a strong followup showing between Double-A and Triple-A this year, logging a combined 3.06 ERA in 126 1/3 frames. He’ll be in the mix for a rotation spot for a pitching-needy Twins club next year, making his late-season audition well worth monitoring for Twins fans.

Kurt Suzuki To Retire After 2022 Season

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Longtime big league catcher Kurt Suzuki will retire once the 2022 season concludes, he tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. That comes the day after the Hawaii native’s 39th birthday.

“I feel like it’s time,” Suzuki told Fletcher. “I’ve had a great run, won a World Series, All-Star Game. Played 16 seasons. I’ve accomplished a lot of things I never would have dreamed of. I felt like it’s time for the next chapter. My three kids, all they’ve known is baseball.”

Suzuki began his professional career in 2004. A second-round pick of the A’s out of Cal State Fullerton, he made it to Oakland three years later. Suzuki debuted in June 2007 and cemented himself as the A’s primary catcher from essentially that point forward. The right-handed hitter topped 130 games every year between 2008-11, generally hitting at a slightly below-average level overall but better than average for a catcher. Suzuki’s high-contact approach made him a solid offensive backstop for much of his time in Oakland, and the A’s dealt him to the Nationals in the summer of 2012.

After finishing out that season in Washington, Suzuki wound up back in Oakland via trade in August ’13. He qualified for free agency for the first time after that year, signing with the Twins. Suzuki bounced back from a couple down offensive years to hit .288/.345/.383 and earn an All-Star nod that year, and Minnesota signed him to a two-year extension that summer. His production dipped during his final two seasons in Minnesota, but he rebounded with one of the best years of his career after signing with Atlanta going into 2017. He popped a career-best 19 home runs and hit .283/.351/.536 through 81 games, earning a midseason extension for a second season with the Braves.

Suzuki didn’t quite replicate his 2017 production, but he posted another above-average offensive season to wrap up his time in Atlanta. After hitting .271/.322/.444 with 12 longballs, he landed another multiyear deal in free agency. Heading into the 2019 campaign, the Nationals inked Suzuki to a two-year, $10MM deal to pair with Yan Gomes behind the dish. That contract paid off in year one, as the veteran hit another 17 homers with a .264/.324/.486 line in 85 regular season games. Suzuki saw his most extensive playoff action during the Nats run a World Series title that year. That included a go-ahead homer off Justin Verlander in the seventh inning in Game 2 of the World Series, the biggest play in a win that gave Washington a 2-0 series lead.

After another solid showing with Washington during the shortened 2020 campaign, Suzuki has played the last two seasons on successive one-year pacts with the Angels. He’s had a couple down years to wrap up his career, working primarily as a backup in Orange County.

Suzuki’s career totals won’t be finalized until the season concludes, but he’s not likely to change his ledger all that much over the final two weeks. As he noted, Suzuki has played in 16 consecutive big league seasons and surpassed 1600 games. He owns a .255/.314/.388 line with 143 home runs, 729 runs batted in and 594 runs scored. Suzuki made an All-Star game and played a key role on a World Series team. Baseball Reference values his career around 20 wins above replacement. FanGraphs, which factors in Suzuki’s below-average pitch framing metrics, pegs him around nine wins.

Independent of that discrepancy in value, there’s little doubt about the impressiveness of a major league career that lasted more than a decade and a half. It’s possible he’ll continue his baseball career in some capacity, as Suzuki indicated he’d be happy to discuss the possibility of assuming a non-playing role with Halos general manager Perry Minasian (with whom he’s also familiar from their overlapping stints in Atlanta). MLBTR congratulates Suzuki on his lengthy career and wishes him all the best in his post-2022 endeavors.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Twins Place Sonny Gray On IL With Hamstring Strain

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The Twins announced that they have placed right-hander Sonny Gray on the 15-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. His roster spot will go to fellow righty Trevor Megill, who has been reinstated from the COVID IL. Additionally, righty Dereck Rodriguez, who was designated for assignment on the weekend, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A.

Gray, 32, started yesterday’s game against the Guardians but was pulled after throwing just 44 pitches in two innings. Though Gray could technically return on the last day of the season, October 5, it’s quite likely that this will conclude his 2022 campaign.

Acquired from the Reds in a March trade, Gray was very good when healthy enough to take the mound. He made two other trips to the IL, one for a hamstring strain in April and another for a pectoral strain in June. Around those injuries, he made 24 starts and threw 119 2/3 innings with a 3.08 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 44.5% ground ball rate.

That has sort of been the story for the Twins as a whole as well, as they seemed to be the best team in the AL Central for much of the year until mounting injuries dragged them down. They had a lead as big as 5.5 games in late May, but have since slid down to third place, seven games back of the Guardians and three behind the White Sox. Given that their postseason chances are effectively gone at this point, it makes logical sense to let Gray put his feet up for the next little bit as opposed to taking a chance on making his injury worse. Gray joins 17 of his teammates on the IL, bringing the club’s total to 18.

Minnesota’s rotation is now left with Joe Ryan, Dylan Bundy, Bailey Ober and Josh Winder, leaving one spot to be filled. It’s possible that rookie Ronny Henriquez, who threw 73 pitches after Gray’s departure yesterday, could just step in, though that remains to be seen.

Gray is in the final guaranteed season of the extension he signed with the Reds back in 2019, though there’s a $13.1MM club option for 2023. That’s a bargain price for a pitcher of Gray’s caliber, making it a fairly easy decision for the Twins to exercise it and bring him back for 2023.

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