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Nori Aoki To Retire At NPB Season’s End

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Former big league outfielder and current member of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows Nori Aoki is set to retire following the 2024 campaign, per an announcement from the Swallows yesterday (hat tip to The Yomiuri Shimbun). Aoki, 42, spent parts of six seasons in the majors in addition to a lengthy career in Japan.

Aoki’s career first began with the Swallows back in 2004 when he debuted at the age of 22. He made it into just ten games with Yakult that year, going 3-for-15 at the plate with a walk, a stolen base, and six strikeouts. That tiny sample size did nothing to suggest what Aoki would go on to do in his first full season with the club, however, as he slashed an excellent .344/.387/.417 in 144 games during the 2005 season, becoming just the second player in NPB history (after Ichiro Suzuki) to collect 200 hits in a single season.

He improved to even greater heights throughout his mid-20s, slashing 15-to-20 homer power to go along with fantastic contact and baserunning skills. As his plate discpline developed, he even began to walk more than he struck out, leading to a dominant stretch of seasons from 2007 to 2010 where he walked at a 10.6% clip against a minuscule 9.8% strikeout rate in addition to his aforementioned solid power and impressive base-stealing abilities, and even crossed the 200-hit barrier for a second time in 2010 to become the only NPB player in history to achieve the feat twice.

Given the excellence he had demonstrated throughout his time with the Swallows, it was hardly a surprise when he was quickly snapped up by the Brewers on a two-year deal after being posted for major league clubs prior to the 2012 season. In Milwaukee, Aoki was a slightly above average hitter with a solid .287/.355/.399 slash line. While he only hit a combined 18 home runs over his two seasons with the Brewers, he swiped 50 bags while hitting 57 doubles and 7 triples in that same period. That was a strong enough performance for Milwaukee brass to pick up Aoki’s club option for the 2014 season, but he did not last the offseason with the club and was swapped to the Royals in a deal that brought lefty Will Smith to the Brewers.

After departing the Brewers, Aoki wouldn’t stick around with an MLB club for more than a season at the time for the rest of his time in stateside ball. After acting as the regular right fielder in Kansas City for the club’s AL pennant-winning 2014 season, Aoki departed in free agency to sign with the Giants but was limited to just 93 games when he suffered a broken leg and a concussion in two separate hit-by-pitch incidents. Aoki then signed a one-year deal with the Mariners in 2016 but began to show some signs of decline, notably stealing only seven bases in sixteen attempts with the worst strikeout and walk numbers of his MLB career, though he did display his best power numbers since his rookie 2012 campaign with the Brewers.

Aoki’s final season in the big leagues came back in 2017 and saw him change uniforms several times. The veteran outfielder was claimed off waivers from the Mariners by the Astros during the 2016-17 offseason. Aoki struggled somewhat through 70 games with Houston, however, and ended up traded to the Blue Jays at the deadline that year alongside Teoscar Hernandez in a deal that brought Francisco Liriano to Houston. Aoki managed to catch fire down the stretch, however, and while his playing time was further split between the Blue Jays and Mets over the final two months of the season he slashed .281/.294/.594 for Toronto in August before slashing .284/.371/.373 in Queens that September.

Following the end of his MLB career, Aoki returned home to the Swallows and has played for the club in each of the past seven seasons. Now 42, the veteran is the league’s oldest active player and has collected more than 7,000 plate appearances with a .313/.392/.445 slash line in 1,713 NPB games. Between NPB and MLB play, Aoki has stepped up to the plate more than 10,000 times with 2,765 hits, 470 doubles, 51 triples, 179 homers and 279 stolen bases. We at MLBTR congratulate Aoki on a fine career and wish him all the best in his post-playing pursuits.

Royals Place Chris Stratton On 15-Day Injured List

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The Royals placed right-hander Chris Stratton on the 15-day injured list due to a right forearm flexor strain.  Left-hander Angel Zerpa was called up from Triple-A Omaha in the corresponding move.

Only 16 days remain in the regular season, so between the calendar and the usually serious nature nature of forearm and flexor-related injuries, it seems likely that Stratton’s 2024 campaign is over.  If the strain is mild, Stratton could conceivably return to action if the Royals make a deep playoff run, but the larger concern at this point could be whether or not the 34-year-old could be facing a surgical procedure that could threaten some (or all) of his 2025 season.

Stratton has allowed five runs over his last two appearances and two innings of work, but even if his injury factored into these rough outings, the righty has already been struggling in his first season in Kansas City.  Stratton has a 5.55 ERA over 58 1/3 innings, along with a 17.1% strikeout rate and 12.8% walk rate that are both far below the league average.  The K% and BB% rates are both career lows for Stratton over a full MLB season, while his ERA is only a touch better than the 5.57 ERA he posted with the Angels and Pirates in 2019.

The right-hander bounced back from that tough 2019 campaign with solid results and a full-time move to relief pitching over the next four years, posting a 3.91 ERA in 255 1/3 frames with the Pirates, Cardinals, and Rangers.  That includes a 3.92 ERA and a career-best 7.4% walk rate in 82 2/3 innings with St. Louis and Texas last year, and four more innings in the playoffs as Stratton won a World Series ring on the Rangers’ championship squad.

That performance provided a platform for Stratton to land a two-year, $8MM free agent deal with the Royals this past winter.  The deal is technically a one-year contract with a player option for 2025, as Stratton can choose to take either a $500K buyout or remain in the last year of the deal for a $4.5MM salary next season.  Between his subpar performance and now this injury, Stratton seems like a lock to pass on his opt-out clause.

While Stratton wasn’t delivering much in the way of results, his absence will leave K.C. short of an innings-eating bullpen arm.  Zerpa’s 4.40 ERA over 47 innings could provide a bit of a boost, but Stratton joins Will Smith (back spasms) and Hunter Harvey (mid-back tightness) on the list of injured Royals relievers.  In Harvey’s case, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers writes that Harvey has started throwing but the team isn’t yet sure when or if the right-hander might able to return to action.

AL Notes: Buxton, Correa, Lorenzen, Cortes

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Byron Buxton was feeling discomfort in his hip as recently as Wednesday, and Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes that this setback scuttled the Twins’ plans for Buxton to begin a minor league rehab assignment this weekend.  Right hip inflammation has kept Buxton on the injured list since the middle of August, depriving the Twins lineup of a big bat with 16 homers and a .275/.334/.528 slash line over 335 plate appearances.  While Minnesota has dealt with a number of injuries this season, losing Buxton seems to have been a particular blow to the roster, as the Twins are only 6-14 over their last 20 games.

Reinforcements are needed, yet there’s no word on when either Buxton or Carlos Correa might be able to start a rehab assignment, as manager Rocco Baldelli told Helfand and other reporters today.  Correa hasn’t played since July 12 due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, and the shortstop has been feeling good while taking part in running drills.  This is “some level of significant, but we still have a ways to go,” Baldelli said.  “We’ll see if we can build on that and keep moving in a positive direction.”

Some other items from around the American League….

  • While Minnesota is struggling, the Royals rebounded from a seven-game losing streak with a three-game sweep of the Twins this weekend.  Kansas City is also getting healthier, as manager Matt Quartaro told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters that Michael Lorenzen is slated to begin a minor league rehab assignment on Tuesday.  Lorezen was placed on the 15-day IL on August 28 due to a left hamstring strain, so the right-hander looks like he shouldn’t miss much time beyond the 15-day minimum.  Acquired from the Rangers in a deadline trade, Lorenzen had great results in his first five starts as a Royal, delivering a 1.85 ERA in 24 1/3 innings.
  • The returns of Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt gave the Yankees a rotation surplus, relegating Nestor Cortes to a relief role as a piggyback pitcher behind Schmidt on Saturday.  “I’m never going to leave my teammates out to dry.  You’re always going to get my best effort, no matter if I’m happy or not,” Cortes told ESPN and other media, yet the left-hander also made it clear that he was “upset” over the role change.  “I felt like I’ve been, amongst all the starters, the workhorse here,” Cortes said.  “Once [Gerrit] Cole went down, they picked me to be the Opening Day starter — not necessarily the No. 1, but the Opening Day starter.  I had to switch my routine there.  Now they do this.”  After an injury-plagued 2023 season, Cortes has a 3.97 ERA over 163 1/3 innings this year, with an unimpressive set of Statcast metrics except for an excellent walk rate.  Cortes will return to starting duty when the Yankees adopt a six-man staff for the next turn through the rotation, yet it remains to be seen how New York deploys Cortes, Cole, Gil, Schmidt, Carlos Rodon, and Marcus Stroman for the remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs.

Royals Outright Dan Altavilla

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The Royals announced this afternoon that right-hander Dan Altavilla has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Omaha. The right-hander was designated for assignment by Kansas City earlier this week when they activated him from the 60-day injured list but did not add him back to the 40-man roster.

Altavilla, 31, was a fifth-round pick by the Mariners back in 2014 who made his big league debut in Seattle during the 2016 season. He provided solid middle relief for the club in the first few years of his career with a combined 3.28 ERA and 4.32 FIP in 79 2/3 innings of work from 2016 to 2018, but struggled badly over the next three seasons with the Mariners and Padres. In 36 1/3 innings of work across 41 games between 2019 and 2021, Altavilla posted a 5.70 ERA with a 4.55 FIP before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June of the 2021 season.

The right-hander’s time with the Padres came to a close shortly after he went under the knife, and though he signed a two-year minor league deal with the Red Sox prior to the 2022 season he never made it into a big league game in Boston. He made his return in the minors with the Red Sox, however, with a 3.00 ERA but a lackluster 14.3% strikeout rate in eight appearances that spanned 12 innings in total before he was released by the club in August of that year. He didn’t catch on with another club down the stretch in 2023 but found a minors pact with the Royals back in December.

In Kansas City, Altavilla found his first big league opportunity since 2021 when the club selected his contract back in June. Unfortunately, the righty made just five appearances that saw him surrender six runs in just 3 2/3 innings of work before he found himself back on the injured list due to an oblique strain. He began a rehab assignment early last month but struggled at the Triple-A level during that time with a ghastly 9.39 ERA in eight appearances. That led the Royals to designate the righty for assignment once he had reached the maximum rehab time in the minor leagues, though he evidently went unclaimed on waivers and now will return to Omaha with the Royals as a non-roster depth option for the club down the stretch.

While the Royals have struggled to get consistent results from their bullpen this year with a relief corps that’s bottom five in the majors by ERA since the calendar flipped to August and bottom six overall this season, it nonetheless seems unlikely that the club would turn to Altavilla down the stretch barring injuries forcing the clubs’ hand. Lucas Erceg, John Schreiber, and James McArthur form a solid enough back-end trio for the club with strong peripherals despite mediocre results, and the trio of Kris Bubic, Sam Long, and Carlos Hernandez have performed well in the middle innings of late to leave few reasons for the club to make a change as they enter the stretch run in position to make the postseason for the first time since their 2015 World Series championship.

Royals Designate Dan Altavilla For Assignment

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The Royals announced that right-hander Dan Altavilla has been designated for assignment. He had been on the 60-day injured list and was on a rehab assignment but it seems they didn’t want him to retake a spot on their 40-man roster, so he’s now in DFA limbo instead.

Altavilla, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason and was selected to their roster in June. He made five appearances for the club, allowing six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings via five hits, three walks and breaking Mookie Betts’ hand.

The righty then landed on the 15-day injured list due to a right oblique strain, later getting transferred to the 60-day IL. He started a rehab August 6 and was coming up to the end of his 30-day maximum rehab window. Since he’s out of options, the club was going to have to add him back onto both the 40-man and active rosters, but they decided to cut him loose instead.

Since it is the post-deadline part of the schedule, Altavilla will be placed on waivers in the coming days. If he were to pass through unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency, both due to having a previous career outright and at least three years of service time.

His recent major league stint with the Royals adds a small amount of data to his career stats. He now has 119 2/3 innings pitched with a 4.36 ERA in seven different seasons. His 26% strikeout rate is quite strong but his 12.2% walk rate is definitely on the high side. Most of that came from 2016 to 2021 as he didn’t pitch in the majors in either 2022 or 2023, missing most of that time due to Tommy John surgery.

Athletics Claim CJ Alexander

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder CJ Alexander off waivers from the Royals and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas. Alexander was listed as released on the MLB.com transactions logs but it appears he was still on waivers. Outfielder Esteury Ruiz has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Alexander, 28, was drafted by Atlanta back in 2018 but was one of three players who came to the Royals in the July 2022 trade that sent a Competitive Balance draft pick the other way. The Royals selected him to their roster this summer and he has a small sample of major league experience. He has been sent to the plate eight times with three strikeouts and one hit, a single.

The A’s are surely more interested in his larger sample of work in the minors. That includes 350 Triple-A plate appearances this year with 16 home runs and a line of .303/.352/.554. That production leads to a 130 wRC+, indicating that Alexander was 30% above league average even in the heightened offensive environment in the International League this year.

That production is likely propped up a bit by a .355 batting average on balls in play that will be hard for him to maintain. But even with a bit of regression, his bat could perhaps still be an asset and he also provides some defensive versatility as he is capable of playing all four corner positions. He will still have two option years remaining after 2024, so the A’s don’t need to add him to the active roster any time soon. He also has just a few days of major league service time, meaning he has plenty of cheap club control remaining.

The club effectively had a free roster spot due to the status of Ruiz. He landed on the 10-day IL back in May due to a strained left wrist, so he’s already been out well beyond 60 days already. He is eligible to be reinstated at any point, but that won’t be happening. He began a rehab assignment in July but was shut down due to continued soreness in the wrist. Manager Mark Kotsay said last week that Ruiz won’t be able to return this year, per Martín Gallegos of MLB.com on X.

Ruiz will stay on the 60-day injured list for the remainder of the season, collecting major league pay and service time. There’s no IL from five days after the World Series until the start of Spring Training, so Ruiz will need to retake a roster spot in the offseason.

Royals Outright Austin Nola, Release CJ Alexander

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September 4: Nola has been outrighted to Triple-A Omaha and Alexander released, per the transactions tracker of each player at MLB.com.

August 31: The Royals announced that catcher Austin Nola and infielder CJ Alexander have been designated for assignment.  The moves open up roster space for Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman, who are now officially part of the K.C. roster after being respectively claimed off waivers from the Cardinals and Rangers.

Nola signed a split contract with the Royals during Spring Training, but the veteran of five MLB seasons has yet to officially bank any big league playing time during the 2024 campaign.  The Royals briefly called Nola up in June but he was sent back to Omaha without appearing in any games, and Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin have stayed healthy and handled every single inning behind the plate for Kansas City this season.  Injuries also cost Nola all of April, and he hasn’t provided much offense with only a .156/.248/.296 slash line over 163 plate appearances in Omaha.

This made Nola expendable, and now Brian O’Keefe and Rodolfo Duran are the remaining catching depth options at Triple-A.  The Royals might conceivably try to shore up the catching ranks with another veteran, or Nola might simply remain with the team if he clears waivers.  Nola has been outrighted before, so he can opt for free agency if he clears waivers and Kansas City tries to outright him off the 40-man roster.

Alexander has neither a past outright assignment on his ledger, nor the minimum five years of MLB service time to reject an outright, so he might just be optioned back to Omaha if no other teams make a claim.  Alexander just made his Major League debut this season, appearing in four games for the Royals and knocking one single in eight trips to the plate during his brief stint in the Show.

A 20th-round pick for the Braves in the 2018 draft, Alexander was acquired by the Royals as part of the Drew Waters trade in July 2022.  His minor league numbers generally consisted of solid power but low averages and OBPs prior to 2024, when he has put it all together to hit .303/.352/.554 with 16 homers over 350 Triple-A plate appearances.  In the field, Alexander has played mostly third base during his minor league career, with some time at first base and in both corner outfield slots.

Since Alexander just turned 28, he isn’t exactly an up-and-coming type of prospect, but could be another waiver claim candidate if a team is looking for some infield depth.  He also has two minor league option years remaining, making him a flexible roster piece going forward.

MLBTR Podcast: Royals’ Reinforcements, Promoted Angels, And The Terrible White Sox

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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 Darragh McDonald is joined by Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What’s the problem with the White Sox? Is it an owner not willing to spend? Is it inept senior management in getting taken in trades and a poor plan for success? What is it going to take to become competitive again? Are there other factors that keep top free agents from coming to the White Sox? Franchise culture? Moving a family to Chicago? Inability to develop talent? (20:35)
  • Who should the Rangers be looking at this winter? A center fielder? A backup catcher and pitching? (30:50)
  • As a big Braves fan, I am curious to see what they do about shortstop for 2025 and beyond. Whom do you think ends up starting there? It seems unlikely Nacho Alvarez Jr. seizes the position, right? Do we move on from Orlando Arcia? My preference would be to re-sign Whit Merrifield to play there. Could he handle shortstop? What do you guys say? (36:40)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Royals’ Manager Matt Quatraro To Return To Team On Wednesday

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September 3: Quatraro attended a memorial service after the passing of his mother Dorann Stagnitta at age 84, reports Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star. He is expected to return to the team before tomorrow’s game against the Guardians. MLBTR sends our condolences and best wishes to Quatraro and his family.

September 2: The Royals announced this morning that manager Matt Quatraro is away from the team while he tends to a personal matter. While Quatraro is away, bench coach Paul Hoover is set to serve as the club’s manager. It’s as of now unclear how long Quatraro expects to be away from the club.

Quatraro, 50, took the reins in Kansas City following the club’s decision to fire Mike Matheny after the 2022 season. His rookie season as manager was a tough one, as he piloted the club to a dreadful 56-106 record and a last place finish in the AL Central. A midseason breakout from star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. provided some optimism for the future, however, and the Royals decided to invest in attempting to contend in the short term over the offseason by handing free agent deals to veteran pieces like Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. Despite those investments, the Royals entered the 2024 campaign widely expected to miss the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season.

The club has shattered those expectations under Quatraro’s guidance, however, as the club has posted an excellent 75-63 record to this point in the year that places them firmly in Wild Card position and 3.5 games behind Cleveland for the AL Central crown in a surprising season that has long seemed sure to earn their skipper consideration for the AL Manager of the Year award this fall. As the club gears up for the final month of the regular season, however, they’ll be without Quatraro for an indefinite amount of time.

Taking Quatraro’s place at the helm of the Royals for the time being is Hoover, 48. A former big leaguer who appeared in 40 games across seven seasons between 2001 and 2010, Hoover joined the Royals as Quatraro’s bench coach last year. Prior to taking his current role in Kansas City, he served as the manager of the Rays’ rookie ball team in 2012 before later serving as the club’s minor league catching coordinator and eventually being promoted to the big league staff as the club’s major league field coordinator. He served on Kevin Cash’s coaching staff in that role from 2019 to 2022. Now, Hoover will be tasked with piloting the surprise contenders through at least part of the season’s final stretch, and potentially into the postseason depending on the length of Quatraro’s absence.

Marlins Claim Anthony Veneziano, Designate Three Players For Assignment

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The Marlins announced a huge batch of transactions today, including the previously reported claim of right-hander Lake Bachar. They also claimed left-hander Anthony Veneziano off waivers from the Royals. They also reinstated left-hander Josh Simpson from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville. To open 40-man roster spots for those three, they designated catcher Alí Sánchez, left-hander Kent Emanuel and right-hander Emmanuel Ramírez for assignment. Sánchez and Ramírez were on the active roster, so those two spots will be taken by infielder Xavier Edwards, who has been reinstated from the 10-day IL, and right-hander Anthony Maldonado, who has been recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville.

Veneziano was just designated for assignment on September 1, which happened to be his 27th birthday. He has a minimal big league track record, having tossed 2 1/3 innings with the Royals last year and another two innings this year.

The Marlins are likely interested in his pre-2024 track record, as it hasn’t been the lefty’s best season. He has tossed 90 innings at the Triple-A level this year with a 4.80 earned run average, 19.3% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate. But in 2023, he had a 3.55 ERA in his 132 minor league innings, striking out 23% of batters faced while limiting walks to an 8.7% clip.

Baseball America ranked him the #5 prospect in the Royals’ system coming into 2024. The results haven’t been as impressive this year but it’s understandable that the Marlins would still have hope of getting him back on track. He will still have two option years remaining after the current campaign, so they can get a close-up look at him in the minors and see if there’s a path towards better results in the long term.

Sánchez, 27, was added to the club’s roster in June and got into 31 games for the Fish. Unfortunately, he hit just .167/.211/.190 in his 96 plate appearances. He has generally performed well at the Triple-A level but without bringing it up to the majors. He has hit .276/.348/.409 at Triple-A from 2021 to the present, leading to a 97 wRC+ in a sample of just under 1,000 plate appearances. But he has a career line of .175/.221/.216 in the majors and is out of options.

Emanuel, 32, has been on and off the Marlins’ roster all year. He signed a minor league deal with the club in the winter and this is now the fifth time he’s been designated for assignment. Each time has seen him clear waivers, get outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville and later have his contract selected again. Given that pattern, it wouldn’t be a shock to see it all play out once more. Around those transactions, he has a 6.62 ERA in 17 2/3 major league innings and a 6.15 ERA in 45 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Ramírez, 30, was first selected to the club’s roster back in April and has appeared in 15 big league games, the first of his career. He has a 6.97 ERA in those, though his peripherals are closer to average. He has a 22.8% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate on the year. His 54% strand rate is on the unlucky side, which is why his 4.63 FIP and 3.85 SIERA are far apart from his ERA. He also has a 3.76 ERA in 40 2/3 Triple-A innings this year.

All three of Sánchez, Emanuel and Ramírez will have to be placed on waivers in the coming days since the trade deadline has passed. Since it’s now September, they won’t be postseason eligible with any club that puts in a claim.

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