Dave McCarty Passes Away
Former major league first baseman/outfielder Dave McCarty has passed away after a cardiac event, the Red Sox announced. He was 54.
A Stanford product, McCarty was the third overall pick in the 1991 draft by the Twins. Baseball America ranked the 6’5″ right-handed hitter as a top 25 prospect in the sport over the next two seasons. McCarty reached the majors in May ’93. He played parts of three seasons in Minnesota, hitting .226/.275/.310 before being traded to the Reds. Cincinnati flipped McCarty to the Giants around six weeks later. He played parts of two seasons with San Francisco before again finding himself on the move, this time to Seattle.
McCarty had his most productive year in 2000 with the Royals. He appeared in a career-high 103 games and turned in a .278/.329/.478 batting line with 12 homers. He bounced to the Devil Rays and A’s before landing with the Red Sox on a waiver claim in 2003. McCarty played in 89 games as a role player for the World Series winning team the following season. He hit four homers, including a walk-off shot to center field against the Mariners in May. He finished his playing career after the ’05 season and worked as an analyst on NESN for the next few years.
Over parts of 11 years in the majors, McCarty played in 630 games. He hit .242/.305/.371 with 36 home runs, 68 doubles and 175 RBI. He suited up for seven teams, saw some action in the postseason in 2003, and collected a World Series ring the following year. MLBTR joins others around the game in sending our condolences to the McCarty family, his friends and former teammates.
Which Hot Or Cold Starts Are For Real?
The 2024 season is just a few weeks old. There’s still a lot of time for narratives to shift and plenty of exciting or deflating changes are surely coming up over the horizon. Nonetheless, the games in April count just as much as the games in September. Some clubs have already banked some valuable wins while others have put themselves in a real hole.
Looking at the FanGraphs Playoff Odds today and comparing them to where they were ahead of the Seoul Series, there are five clubs that have increased their postseason chances by more than 10%. Meanwhile, six clubs have seen their odds drop by more than 10%. Which of those are just small-sample blips and which are signs that the club’s talent level is meaningfully different than expected? Let’s take a glance.
Orioles
The defending champions of the American League East were given just a 51.8% chance of making it back to the postseason, per the FanGraphs odds from before any games had been played. They have started out 12-6 and seen their odds jump to 76.5% today, a difference of 24.7%.
Baltimore continues to get huge contributions from its young core and role players alike. Jackson Holliday‘s big league career is out to a slow start, but others have picked up the slack, with Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and Cedric Mullins off and running. Even Ryan O’Hearn, who was acquired in a small cash deal from the Royals, continues to thrive. On the pitching side, Corbin Burnes has been the expected ace while Grayson Rodriguez continues to cement himself as a quality big league arm. There are some question marks at the back end with Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin out to wobbly starts, but Kyle Bradish and John Means are both on minor league rehab assignments and could rejoin the club soon.
The 18 games they have played so far have come against the Angels, Royals, Pirates, Red Sox, Brewers and Twins.
Royals
The Royals entered the season with playoff odds of just 13.1% but they have gone 12-7 so far, bumping themselves up to 33.2%, a difference of 20.1%.
An improved rotation gets a lot of the credit. Between last year’s trade for Cole Ragans, the offseason signings of Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, as well as the emergence of Alec Marsh, it’s a whole new look alongside Brady Singer. None of those five have an ERA higher than 4.32 so far this year. On the position player side of things, Bobby Witt Jr. is further proving himself to be a superstar, while Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino are healthy and productive.
They have faced the Twins, Orioles, White Sox, Astros and Mets thus far.
Yankees
The Yanks had strong odds to begin with, starting out at 71.2%. A hot start of 13 wins and 6 losses has already bumped those all the way to 85.9%, a jump of 14.7%.
Health was a big factor for the Yankees last year, with players like Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón all missing significant time. This year, Gerrit Cole is on the shelf, as is LeMahieu. But new face Juan Soto has been great so far, while Stanton, Cortes and Rodón are back in decent form.
The injuries or lack thereof will probably remain a focus for the months to come, especially with so many key players in their mid-30s. Last year, the club was 45-36 through the end of June, but mounting injuries led to them going 20-33 through July and August.
They have started their season by playing the Astros, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Marlins and Guardians.
Brewers
The National League Central is arguably the most up-for-grabs, with the five clubs fairly close in terms of talent. Despite being the reigning division champs, the Brewers were given just a 30.6% chance of making the postseason, below the Cardinals and Cubs. They’ve started out 11-6 and are now at 43.5%, a 12.9% bump.
There have been quite a few nice performance on the offensive side of things. Willy Adames had a bit of a down year in 2023 but is off to a good start in this campaign. Brice Turang and Blake Perkins are also putting up better numbers than last year. Joey Ortiz has done well since coming over from the Orioles in the Burnes trade. The loss of Burnes and the injury to Brandon Woodruff left the club without their co-aces, but Freddy Peralta has stepped up with a 2.55 ERA and 39.4% strikeout rate through his first three starts.
They have faced off against the Mets, Twins, Mariners, Reds, Orioles and Padres so far.
Mets
After a disastrous 2023 season and a relatively quiet winter, the Mets opened this year with their odds at 27.6%. A 10-8 start has already bumped them to 38.7%, an 11.1% difference.
They have been especially strong of late, as they started out 0-5 but have gone 10-3 over their last 13 contests. The bounceback plays on Luis Severino and Sean Manaea seem to be going well so far. Edwin Díaz is healthy again and already has four saves. On the position player side, Brett Baty seems to be taking a step forward. DJ Stewart is carrying over last year’s hot finish, and the Tyrone Taylor pickup looks like a nice move.
They have lined up against the Brewers, Tigers, Reds, Braves, Royals and Pirates.
Giants
The Giants added plenty of talent this winter and opened the season with playoff odds of 44.6%. But an 8-11 start has already dropped them to 34%, a difference of 10.6%.
Stretching out Jordan Hicks is going great so far, but Blake Snell showed a lot of rust in his first two starts after signing late in the offseason. On offense, acquisitions like Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman and Nick Ahmed have produced subpar offense, and the same goes for incumbents like Mike Yastrzemski, Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada.
They have squared off against the Padres, Dodgers, Nationals, Rays and Marlins thus far.
Cardinals
Despite a dreadful 2023 campaign, expectations were high for the Cards coming into this year after they remade their rotation. But a middling start of 9-10 has dropped their playoff odds from 50.1% to 38.7%, a difference of 11.4%.
Injuries have been playing a notable role in the early going for the Cards, with Sonny Gray, Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson and others missing time. The Lance Lynn signing looks good so far, as he has a 2.18 ERA through four starts, but Kyle Gibson is at 6.16. Both the veteran Paul Goldschmidt and the youngster Jordan Walker are out to terrible starts at the plate. The Cardinals’ long list of injuries opened up playing time for guys like Alec Burleson and Victor Scott II, who have each struggled immensely.
They have faced the Dodgers, Padres, Marlins, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Athletics to this point.
Mariners
The Mariners just missed the playoffs last year but still opened this season with a 60.8% chance of getting back there. A tepid start of 9-10 has seen those odds slide to 49.1%, a difference of 11.7%. Things were even more dire before they swept the Reds this week, as they were 6-10 prior to that.
The rotation has surprisingly been a problem thus far. An injury to Bryan Woo bumped Emerson Hancock into the rotation, but Hancock has an ERA of 7.98 through three starts. Each of Luis Castillo and George Kirby also have poor results, though those may be based on luck. Both have a high BABIP and low strand rate, so both have a FIP just above 3.00, about three runs lower than their ERA.
Julio Rodríguez is the biggest disappointment on the position player side. He is striking out at a 34.6% clip and walking just 5.1% of the time while still looking for his first home of the year, leading to a line of .219/.269/.260. Luke Raley, Mitch Garver and J.P. Crawford have also looked lost at the plate, with none of that trio posting a wRC+ higher than 75 so far.
The M’s have played the Red Sox, Guardians, Brewers, Blue Jays, Cubs and Reds.
Marlins
The Fish swam into the playoffs last year, their first postseason berth in a full season in 20 years. They followed that with an offseason mostly focused on overhauling their front office and player development system. A disastrous 4-15 start has already dropped this year’s playoff odds from 27.9% to 2.3%, a difference of 25.6%.
Injuries have been a huge factor, as the club’s former starting pitching surplus quickly became a deficit. Sandy Alcántara required Tommy John surgery last year, and Eury Pérez followed him down that path this year. Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett also missed some time due to shoulder troubles. A.J. Puk‘s attempted move from the bullpen to the rotation is not going well so far, and Jesús Luzardo is struggling badly. Max Meyer was doing well but he was optioned to the minors to monitor his workload after he missed all of last year recovering from his own Tommy John procedure. The offense has been pretty bad across the board, as not a single member of the team has a wRC+ of 105 or higher. Jake Burger hit the injured list earlier this week, removing one of their top power bats from that already weak group.
They faced the Pirates, Angels, Cardinals, Yankees, Braves and Giants to start the year and have yet to win back-to-back games.
Astros
The Astros have been a powerhouse for years and opened this season with an 86.2% chance of returning to the postseason. But they have stumbled out of the gates this year with a record of 6-14, dropping their odds to 59.7%, a 26.5% drop.
Like some of the other clubs mentioned above, health has been a big factor here. Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia each underwent elbow surgery last year and are still rehabbing. So far this year, the Astros have lost Justin Verlander, José Urquidy and Framber Valdez to the IL, giving them a full rotation on the shelf. (Verlander will return tomorrow.)
With those prominent arms not around, others haven’t really picked up the slack. Hunter Brown has an ERA of 10.54 through four starts while J.P. France is at 7.08. Prospect Spencer Arrighetti was called up to fill in but has been tagged for nine runs over seven innings in his two outings. Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu have surprisingly been bad out of the bullpen, with each having an ERA of 6.00 or higher. On offense, José Abreu has been awful, hitting .078/.158/.098. That performance got him bumped down in the lineup, and he’s been ceding playing time to Jon Singleton lately.
The Astros began the year playing the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers, Royals and Braves.
Twins
The Twins are the reigning champs in the American League Central but made some budget cuts this winter. Their 6-11 start has moved their playoff odds from 66% to 38.6%, a shift of 27.4%.
Once again, injuries are a big part of the story here. Oft-injured Royce Lewis went down with a quad strain on Opening Day, and Carlos Correa followed him later, subtracting the club’s left side of the infield. The only guys with at least 30 plate appearances and a wRC+ above 100 are Ryan Jeffers, Alex Kirilloff and the currently-injured Correa. Multiple injured relievers, most notably Jhoan Durán, have left the bullpen shorthanded.
In the rotation, the club lost Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle from last year’s club, but their main attempt at replacing those guys was to acquire Anthony DeSclafani on the heels of a pair of injury-wrecked seasons. He required flexor tendon surgery and will miss the rest of the year. The incumbents haven’t been much help. Chris Paddack, Louie Varland and Bailey Ober each have an ERA above 6.50, though Ober has rebounded after being shelled for eight runs in just 1 1/3 innings in his season debut.
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Some of these are probably just flukes, and the results will even out over the rest of the season, but some of these clubs might be showing us who they really are. Which ones do you believe in? Have your say in the polls below, the first one for the hot starts and the second one for the cold starts. (Note: you can select multiple options in each poll.)
Which of these hot starts are for real?
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Orioles 50% (4,587)
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Yankees 24% (2,201)
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Brewers 10% (948)
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Royals 10% (883)
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Mets 5% (484)
Total votes: 9,103
Which of these cold starts are for real?
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Marlins 39% (3,900)
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Cardinals 21% (2,105)
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Twins 14% (1,360)
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Giants 10% (1,026)
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Astros 10% (1,018)
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Mariners 6% (612)
Total votes: 10,021
2023 Rule 5 Update: April Edition
We’re three weeks into the 2024 season, and this year’s crop of Rule 5 picks has had an atypical amount of staying power. That’s perhaps in part due to the fact that only ten players were selected in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft, but as of this writing, only one Rule 5 selection has been returned to his original organization.
For those unfamiliar, in order to be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, a player must not be on his team’s 40-man roster and must have played in either parts of five professional seasons (if they signed at 18 or younger) or four professional seasons (if they signed at 19 or older). The deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 by selecting their contracts to the 40-man roster typically falls in mid-November and spurs a good deal of player movement as teams jettison borderline players and non-tender candidates from their roster in order to protect younger prospects.
A player who is selected in the Rule 5 Draft must spend the entire subsequent season on his new club’s Major League roster and cannot be optioned to the minors. The player can technically spend time on the injured list as well, but at least 90 days must be spent on the active roster. If not, the player’s Rule 5 status rolls into the following season until 90 days on the active roster have been accrued. If a team at any point decides it can no longer carry a Rule 5 selection, that player must be passed through waivers and subsequently offered back to his original organization. Any other club can claim the player via waivers, but the same Rule 5 restrictions will apply to the claiming team.
Broadly speaking, the Rule 5 Draft rarely produces impact players. There are plenty of exceptions over the years, though, with names like Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, Shane Victorino, Joakim Soria, Josh Hamilton and, more recently, Garrett Whitlock and Trevor Stephan thriving in new organizations. The Rule 5 Draft dates back more than a century and has even produced a handful of Hall of Famers: Roberto Clemente, Hack Wilson and Christy Mathewson.
It’s unlikely we’ll see any Cooperstown-bound players come from this year’s crop, but the teams who opted to select a player will be content if any of these names become a viable reliever or role player for the next several seasons. Here’s a look at this year’s group of ten Rule 5 players and where they stand. We’ll do a few of these throughout the season, keeping tabs on which players survive the season and formally have their long-term rights transferred to their new clubs.
On a Major League Roster
Mitch Spence, RHP, Athletics (selected from Yankees)
Spence, 26 next month, was the first overall pick in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, and understandably so after the 2023 season he had. His 4.47 ERA might’ve been pedestrian, but the 2019 tenth-rounder led all Triple-A pitchers with 163 innings while delivering a nice blend of strikeouts (21.8%), walks (7.5%) and ground-balls (50%). For an A’s club desperately thin on starting pitching after the slew of rebuilding-driven trades for minor league arms have failed to produce much, adding a 25-year-old arm with that type of season held obvious appeal.
Spence made Oakland’s decision easy with a monster spring showing. He pitched 17 2/3 innings and allowed only six earned runs (3.06 ERA) on 15 hits and six walks with 21 punchouts. He’s worked out of the ‘pen so far in Oakland but could very well find himself making starts later in the year. Through his first 11 2/3 MLB frames, Spence has yielded four earned runs on 10 hits and four walks with a 48.4% grounder rate. He’s not in danger of losing his spot anytime soon.
Matt Sauer, RHP, Royals (selected from Yankees)
Another 25-year-old righty out of the Yankees organization, Sauer came to his new club with a much heavier draft pedigree than his now-former teammate, Spence. The Yankees selected the 6’4″ righty with the No. 54 overall pick back in 2017, but Sauer didn’t develop as quickly as hoped. He was set back by 2019 Tommy John surgery and the canceled 2020 minor league season. He’s never topped 111 innings in a season, but Sauer rebuilt some prospect pedigree with a nice 2023 season that saw him pitch 68 1/3 innings of 3.42 ERA ball in Double-A. He whiffed 29.5% of his opponents, albeit against a less palatable 10.3% walk rate.
Like his former teammate, Sauer had a nice spring that made the decision relatively easy for his new club. In 10 2/3 innings, he held opponents to three earned runs (2.53 ERA) on 13 hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts. He opened the season in the Kansas City bullpen and has thus far pitched five innings, allowing a pair of runs in that time. Sauer has walked four of his 25 opponents and fanned just two thus far. It’s a small sample, of course, but he’ll need to reverse that early trend to hang onto his roster spot — especially if the Royals continue their hot start and find themselves contending into the summer.
Anthony Molina, RHP, Rockies (selected from Rays)
The 22-year-old Molina worked as a starter in the Rays’ system last year, taking the ball 28 times (27 starts) and pitching 122 innings with a 4.50 ERA. The undersized righty has garnered praise for a solid-average heater and above-average changeup, and he showed good command in 2023 after struggling with walks earlier in his minor league career. Molina continued to show good command in spring training (in addition to a massive 60.5% grounder rate), but the regular season has been brutal for him thus far. In three appearances, he’s been tattooed for a dozen runs on 13 hits and four walks with just two strikeouts. The Rockies can afford to be as patient as they want. They’re 4-13 on the season and were never expected to contend. Still, Molina will need to improve on his early performance in order to stick on the roster.
Nasim Nunez, INF, Nationals (selected from Marlins)
The Nationals have effectively played the season thus far with a 25-man roster. Nunez made the Opening Day squad but has been M.I.A. since. He’s appeared in just five of Washington’s 16 games and received only two plate appearances, going hitless in that meaningless sample. Nunez is an all-glove and speed prospect who hit just .224/.341/.286 in Double-A last season. He did go 52-for-59 in stolen base attempts, and scouting reports have long touted his defensive excellence at shortstop. He hit just .152/.200/.182 in 35 spring plate appearances.
It’s fair to wonder how long the Nats can essentially punt a roster spot by keeping Nunez on the bench, but like the Rockies, they’re not expecting to contend this season anyhow. One would imagine that from a pure developmental standpoint, they need to find a way to get Nunez into some games and start getting him some playing time, but for now, the team appears content to just hide the 23-year-old on the bench.
Ryan Fernandez, RHP, Cardinals (selected from Red Sox)
Fernandez, 25, has just four appearances out of the St. Louis bullpen so far and has been understandably deployed in low-leverage spots while he acclimates to the majors. He’s pitched fairly well in sparse duty, holding opponents to three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings. Fernandez has averaged just under 96 mph on his heater, fanned seven opponents and issued three walks. His swinging-strike rate isn’t close to where it’s been in his minor league work, but his wipeout slider has been strong thus far. Fernandez has finished off eight plate appearances with that pitch, picking up four strikeouts and yielding only one hit. Nothing he’s done so far makes it seem like he’ll be cut loose anytime soon.
Justin Slaten, RHP, Red Sox (selected by Mets from Rangers; traded to Red Sox for LHP Ryan Ammons)
While most Rule 5 relievers are eased into low-pressure spots, that hasn’t been the case with the Sox and Slaten. He held a four-run lead to pick up a seven-out save in the team’s fourth game of the season, and the 6’4″ righty has since tallied three holds out of Alex Cora’s bullpen. In 10 1/3 innings, Slaten has allowed only one run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. Add in 6 1/3 shutout innings in spring training, and he’s looked more like a seasoned veteran than a 26-year-old who entered the season with all of 8 1/3 innings above the Double-A level. Slaten has immediately made himself an important part of Boston’s roster, and while a prolonged slump could always change things, he looks like a keeper right now.
Stephen Kolek, RHP, Padres (selected from Mariners)
Kolek, who’ll turn 27 tomorrow, began his big league tenure with four runs in 1 2/3 innings over his first two appearances. He’s since bounced back with 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball, fanning 11 hitters against three walks along the way. He punched out nearly a quarter of his opponents in Triple-A last year and did so with a huge 57.5% ground-ball rate. He hasn’t picked up grounders at such a strong level just yet (43.5%), but San Diego probably isn’t second-guessing their decision to select him. He’s already picked up a pair of holds, and his recent run of success has dropped his ERA to 4.35. Command has been a problem for Kolek in the past, but he’s only walked 8.9% of his opponents against a 26.7% strikeout rate so far.
On the Major League Injured List
Shane Drohan, LHP, White Sox (selected from Red Sox): Drohan underwent shoulder surgery in late February and is on the 60-day IL. There’s no telling yet when he’ll be medically cleared to return. As noted in the intro, Drohan needs 90 days on the active roster to shed his Rule 5 designation; even if he spends the entire 2024 campaign on the injured list, his Rule 5 status will carry over into 2025 until he picks up those 90 active days.
Carson Coleman, RHP, Rangers (selected from Yankees): Coleman is also on the 60-day injured list. Unlike Drohan, it was well known at the time of his selection that he’d be IL-bound to begin the year. Coleman had Tommy John surgery last year and is expected to be out until midsummer at the least.
Returned to Original Organization
Deyvison De Los Santos, INF, Guardians (returned to D-backs): De Los Santos has big raw power but a well below-average hit tool. The Guardians selected him on the heels of a 20-homer campaign in Double-A with the D-backs, but he hit just .227/.227/.318 in 44 spring appearances before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and getting returned to the Snakes. He’s had a big performance in a return-trip to Double-A.
Whitey Herzog Passes Away
Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog has passed away at 92. The Cardinals announced the news on Tuesday morning. Herzog’s family provided a brief statement, as relayed by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (on X): “Whitey spent his last few days surrounded by his family. We have so appreciated all of the prayers and support from friends who knew he was very ill. Although it is hard for us to say goodbye, his peaceful passing was a blessing for him.”
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred released the following statement:
“Whitey Herzog was one of the most accomplished managers of his generation and a consistent winner with both ‘I-70’ franchises. He made a significant impact on the St. Louis Cardinals as both a manager and a general manager, with the Kansas City Royals as a manager, and with the New York Mets in player development. Whitey’s Cardinals’ teams reached the World Series three times in the 1980s, winning the Championship in 1982, by leaning on an identity of speed and defense that resonated with baseball fans across the world.
On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Whitey’s family, his friends across the game, and the fans of the Cardinals and the Royals.”
Herzog is best known for his legendary managerial run, but his time in professional baseball started as a player. He signed with the Yankees out of high school and spent a few seasons in the New York farm system. The Yankees traded him to the Washington Senators on the eve of the 1956 campaign. Herzog made his MLB debut in Washington, appearing in more than 100 games as a regular outfielder and hitting .245/.302/.337 as a rookie.
After Herzog made brief appearances with the Senators in each of the next two campaigns, Washington sold his contractual rights to the then-Kansas City A’s. He spent parts of three seasons with the A’s, hitting at a slightly above-average clip (.268/.383/.384) in 209 games. Herzog continued to produce solid results as a part-time player for two years after being traded to the Orioles before finishing his playing days with a brief stint in Detroit. Over parts of eight seasons, he hit .257/.354/.365 with 25 home runs and 172 runs batted in.
While that would’ve been a solid enough career in its own right, Herzog’s status as one of the sport’s all-time figures developed in his post-playing days. After a brief stint as an A’s scout, he moved into coaching and player development with the Mets. After the 1972 campaign, he landed his first managerial gig with the Rangers. That didn’t go well, as Texas stumbled to a 47-91 record and Herzog was fired before the end of the season when the Rangers seized the opportunity to hire Billy Martin.
Herzog spent the next year on the Angels’ coaching staff, a stint that included a four-game run as interim manager. It wasn’t until 1975 when he got his first extended managerial opportunity. The Royals tabbed Herzog that July to take over from Jack McKeon. He led the team to a 41-25 record down the stretch, although that wasn’t enough to overcome a middling 50-46 start to snag a playoff berth.
While the ’75 team fell a few games shy of the postseason, the Royals found plenty of success over the next few years. Herzog guided the team to three straight AL West titles from 1976-78, the first playoff trips in franchise history. While they were knocked off by the Yankees in the ALCS in all three seasons, that stretch of excellent regular season showings was a prelude to October success the following decade.
Unfortunately for Royals fans, that came with their in-state rivals. After the Royals missed the playoffs in ’79, Herzog was hired by the Cardinals as both manager and GM. He set about rebuilding the team around speed, defense and contact hitting at the expense of power. While the so-called “Whiteyball” was initially met with some derision, Herzog guided the Cardinals back to the top of the sport.
St. Louis missed the postseason during his first two seasons at the helm before a 92-win showing to snag the NL East title in 1982. After sweeping the Braves in the NLCS, they took on the Brewers in the Fall Classic. The Cards came back from a 3-2 series deficit, erasing a 3-1 lead in Game 7. St. Louis missed the postseason over the next two years but rattled off 101 wins to secure another NL East title in 1985.
Herzog was named the Senior Circuit’s Manager of the Year. A six-game triumph over the Dodgers in the NLCS set the stage for a matchup with his old team. The Cards dropped a classic seven-game set to the upstart Royals, the first title in franchise history. There was no shortage of controversy. With the Cardinals up 3-2 in the series and taking a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth in Game 6, a missed call at first base by Don Denkinger spurred a rally in which Kansas City came back for a 2-1 win. The Royals won the seventh game convincingly.
St. Louis made it back to the World Series once more during Herzog’s tenure. They knocked off the Giants in the 1987 NLCS to set up a showdown with the Twins. That also went seven games, with Minnesota coming back from a 3-2 series deficit to win it. Herzog managed the Cards for another three seasons but didn’t make it back to October. His managerial days ended midway through the 1990 campaign, although he later had a brief stint leading baseball operations for the Angels.
Including his interim work with the Halos, Herzog managed parts of 18 seasons in the majors. He won nearly 1300 regular season games, three pennants and one World Series. The veterans committee inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 2009. He was enshrined in St. Louis’ organizational Hall of Fame a few years later. MLBTR joins countless others around the game in sending condolences to Herzog’s family, friends, loved ones and the many players whose careers he impacted over the decades.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Royals Sign Zach Davies To Minor League Deal
The Royals announced this evening that they’ve signed starter Zach Davies to a minor league pact. The Boras Corporation client has been assigned to Triple-A Omaha.
Davies adds a veteran rotation option to the upper levels of the K.C. system. He was in Nationals camp this spring but didn’t make the MLB roster and was cut loose just before Opening Day. The 31-year-old righty had struggled in exhibition play, allowing 14 runs in as many innings across four starts.
That came on the heels of a rough 2023 campaign. Davies was tagged for seven earned runs per nine through 18 starts with the Diamondbacks a year ago. He missed some time with a back injury and was released in the days leading up to Arizona’s postseason run. Davies had turned in more serviceable back-of-the-rotation production in the preceding season. He managed a 4.09 ERA despite middling strikeout and walk numbers over 134 1/3 frames with the Snakes in 2022.
Davies doesn’t throw hard and has never missed many bats. He nevertheless posted solid results early in his career on the strength of above-average control and a lot of ground-ball contact. Davies has started exactly 200 games at the major league level and owns a 4.36 ERA in a little more than 1000 innings. He has allowed 5.43 earned runs per nine over the past three seasons, though, in part because his formerly strong walk rates have ticked upwards.
Kansas City’s rotation has been excellent in the first couple weeks. Only the Red Sox had a lower rotation ERA entering play today, as K.C. starters have worked to a microscopic 1.60 mark in their first 10 starts. Cole Ragans, Brady Singer, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Alec Marsh have each taken the ball two times.
The Royals kicked veteran righty Jordan Lyles into multi-inning relief and have Daniel Lynch and Jonathan Bowlan as rotation depth in Omaha. Minor league signee Luis Cessa had initially been assigned to Triple-A but was recently moved to the development list after walking five of his first 23 opponents.
Royals Acquire Colin Selby From Pirates
The Royals have acquired right-hander Colin Selby from the Pirates in exchange for minor league left-hander Connor Oliver. Both teams have announced the trade, and Kansas City further noted that left-hander Josh Taylor has been shifted to the 60-day injured list to create space for Selby on the 40-man roster.
Pittsburgh designated Selby for assignment earlier this week, and today’s trade ends Selby’s time with the Bucs after parts of seven pro seasons. A 16th-round pick for Pittsburgh in the 2018 draft, Selby has pitched at Triple-A Indianapolis in each of the last three seasons, with a solid 3.57 ERA and a strong 29.22% strikeout rate over 35 1/3 innings at the top rung of the minor league ladder. Selby’s strikeout totals have spiked upwards since he became a full-time relief pitcher in 2021, and he has posted very high grounder rates, including a superb 61.2% groundball rate in 30 1/3 Triple-A frames last season.
Control is Selby’s main issue, as his walks have shot upwards along with his missed bats. The right-hander has a 16.23% walk rate during his Triple-A career, as well as a 13.2% walk rate over his 24 career innings in the majors. Selby posted a 9.00 ERA in his MLB debut last season, hampered by his free passes and four home runs allowed in his small sample size as a big leaguer — even with a 48.5% grounder rate against Major League batters, Selby couldn’t limit the damage when he allowed fly balls.
K.C. was intrigued enough by Selby’s potential to arrange a trade, and the 26-year-old will now head to Triple-A Omaha so the Royals’ pitching development staff can get a closer look. The Royals felt strongly enough to use a 40-man roster spot on Selby, though Taylor’s uncertain health situation created some flexibility on the team’s roster situation.
Taylor developed both a musculocutaneous nerve issue and left biceps soreness during Spring Training, leading the Royals to place him on the 15-day IL to begin the season. The move to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset Taylor’s clock from its initial retroactive placement of March 25, but it does mean that he’ll now be out of action until at least the last week of May.
It’s another tough setback for Taylor, who has been plagued with back problems for the better part of three years. He missed the 2022 season entirely and underwent surgery last summer to address a herniated disc in his back, hopefully solving that issue once and for all. Between the back injuries, a shoulder impingement, and elbow tendinitis, Taylor has appeared in just 86 games and thrown 72 2/3 innings since the start of the 2020 season. This is Taylor’s second year in Kansas City, as the Royals acquired him from the Red Sox for Adalberto Mondesi in January 2023.
Oliver is a 22-year-old southpaw drafted in the 17th round in 2023, and his pro resume thus far consists of a single inning with the Royals’ complex league team last year. The Miami of Ohio product had a 3.89 ERA in 14 starts and 78 2/3 innings in his final year of college ball.
Voters Reject Stadium Tax For Royals And Chiefs
Voters in Jackson County, Missouri voted overwhelmingly against a sales tax measure that would have given money to the Royals and Chiefs, per reports from Dave Skretta of the Associated Press and Mike Hendricks of The Kansas City Star. 58% of voters were against the measure with just 42% in support.
The Royals currently play in Kauffman Stadium while the Chiefs play in Arrowhead Stadium, with both facilities sitting next to each other as part of the Truman Sports Complex. The Royals are hoping to build a new stadium at a new location, revealing some plans back in February. The Chiefs are hoping to stay at Arrowhead but were hoping to secure funding for renovations. Sam Robinson of Pro Football Rumors recently took a look at the news from the Chiefs’ perspective.
The proposed measure would have replaced an existing three-eighths of a cent capital improvements sales tax, which was approved by voters in 2006, with a new three-eighths of a cent sales tax that would run through 2064. Per the proposal, the money from that tax would help pay for the Royals’ planned new ballpark and renovations of Arrowhead.
Royals owner John Sherman said he was “deeply disappointed” with the result but didn’t reveal what his next steps would be. “We will take some time to reflect on and process the outcome and find a path forward that works for the Royals and our fans,” he said.
Owners of sports franchises often dangle the threat of leaving town as a means of hopefully extracting public money for building or upgrading stadiums. This is something Sherman did in recent weeks, per Hendricks. “This is about sustaining ourselves as a major league city,” Sherman said last month. “There’s lots of cities that would love to have these franchises.”
Per this week’s reporting, Sherman has backed off of that stance, saying that it was an idea that came from political strategists. “Somebody smarter than me finds that is a message that resonates,” he said to a question about the threat of leaving Kansas City. “But I answer that question with, ‘This is my hometown.’”
The club could alter their proposal to voters but it didn’t seem as though Sherman had a strong appetite for that in the wake of yesterday’s results. “There is no redo of this campaign,” said a joint letter from Sherman and Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt. “This is not going back on the ballot in November. There is no plan B.”
Per the reports from Skretta and Hendricks, voters were against the plan for various reasons, including the lack of financial details and the potential impact on downtown businesses, while some felt the money could be better spent on other priorities like affordable housing or public transportation. The Royals also initially proposed two possible spots for relocation, one on the eastern part of the downtown and the other in Clay County, Missouri, across the Missouri River. They eventually scrapped both of those and settled on a different downtown neighborhood known as the Crossroads, but the plans for that site were still considered to be lacking in detail.
Kauffman Stadium opened in 1973 and is the sixth-oldest of the 30 stadiums in Major League Baseball. Fenway Park opened in 1912, the Cubs began playing in Wrigley Field in 1916, Dodgers Stadium opened in 1962, Angel Stadium in 1966 and the A’s began their tenure at the Oakland Coliseum in 1968. Assuming the A’s successfully move to Las Vegas in the coming years as planned, the Royals will move up to fifth on that list.
The current lease for both the Royals and Chiefs runs through January 31, 2031. The Royals had planned to move into their new stadium for the start of the 2028 season but it’s possible this setback may force them to change that target.
Royals Sign Brian O’Keefe To Minor League Deal
The Royals announced Monday that they’ve signed catcher Brian O’Keefe to a minor league contract. He’ll report to Triple-A Omaha tomorrow. O’Keefe spent spring training in the Twins organization after signing a minor league deal with Minnesota, but he was released late four days ago.
O’Keefe, 30, has appeared with the Mariners in each of the past two MLB seasons. He has only 25 big league plate appearances under his belt, during which he’s gone 3-for-22 with a pair of doubles. The former seventh-round pick (Cardinals, 2014) is a career .247/.333/.475 hitter in three minor league seasons — including a .238/.328/.504 slash (93 wRC+), 23 home runs and 25 doubles last season.
Behind the plate, O’Keefe has been roughly average in terms of controlling runners (career 25% caught-stealing rate; 18% in 2023). He’s regularly posted excellent framing marks in the upper minors, per Baseball Prospectus.
The Royals don’t have an immediate opening for help behind the plate. Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin are both on the big league roster and will handle the entirety of catching duties between them. Kansas City signed veteran Austin Nola to a one-year major league contract in the offseason and started him in Triple-A Omaha, but the Storm Chasers announced over the weekend that he’d been placed on the injured list. That created a need for some extra depth alongside Logan Porter and Tyler Cropley; O’Keefe will fill that role for the time being and give the Royals an experienced option in the event of an injury to Perez or Fermin.
AL Central Notes: Royals, Cease, Tigers
The Royals‘ Opening Day roster has begun to come into focus, as the Royals recently optioned first baseman Nick Pratto, outfielder Drew Waters, and catcher Austin Nola to the minor leagues. Those positional cuts from camp helped to clarify the club’s bench mix, as manager Matt Quatraro told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers) yesterday that infielder Nick Loftin and outfielder Dairon Blanco have both made the club’s Opening Day roster. Blanco will slot into a reserve outfielder role behind MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel, Hunter Renfroe, and Nelson Velazquez. Meanwhile, Loftin will step into a bench role previously ticketed for veteran Adam Frazier, who is set to become the club’s Opening Day second baseman with Michael Massey expected to begin the season on the injured list due to lower back tightness.
It’s an unfortunate development for Massey, who celebrated his 26th birthday earlier this week. The infielder was the club’s everyday option at the keystone last year and performed well on defense but struggled with the bat throughout the season. The youngster showed signs of life in the second half, however, slashing a respectable .250/.285/.458 with 11 home runs in 229 trips to the plate over his final 60 games in 2023. That display left him in line to receive the lion’s share of playing time at second once again this year even after the Royals added Frazier and Garrett Hampson in free agency. Now that Massey is set to begin the season on the shelf, however, Frazier will have the opportunity to play his way into a larger role early in the season. The 32-year-old veteran has been a roughly league average bat consistently throughout his career, with a .269/.331/.393 slash across eight seasons in the big leagues, including a .240/.300/.396 showing with the Orioles last year.
As for the trio of recent cuts, none of them are especially surprising. Pratto appeared unlikely to have a role with the big league club to open the season thanks to first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino‘s return from labrum surgery and Nelson Velazquez’s emergence as a credible slugger at DH. Waters, similarly, is the odd man out in the club’s crowded outfield mix. Both former top prospects will open the season at Triple-A, providing them an opportunity to receive regular reps they couldn’t get with the big league Royals. Nola starting the season in the minors is hardly a surprise, either, as he joined the club on a split contract that was seemingly designed to allow him to be a backup to Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin at the Triple-A level.
More from around the AL Central…
- The White Sox recently dealt right-hander Dylan Cease after months of rumors and speculation, shipping him to the Padres in exchange for a prospect package headlined by Drew Thorpe. Club GM Chris Getz recently spoke to Scott Merkin of MLB.com about the trade and noted that San Diego was one of two clubs who made “significant offers,” with Merkin reporting that the Rangers were the second place finisher for Cease’s services. Getz also made clear that the sides did not engage in extension negotiations amid the winter’s trade rumors, adding that while the club would have “loved” to keep Cease in the fold long term, he felt such an arrangement “wasn’t realistic.” That’s somewhat understandable, as Chicago suffered a 101-loss season last year and appears to have a long way to go before contending again, even in a relatively weak AL Central division. Given that reality, it would’ve been surprising to see the club commit to the sort of significant outlay that would have been required to retain the runner-up for the 2022 AL Cy Young award.
- Tigers youngster Sawyer Gipson-Long once appeared likely to compete with other youngsters such as Casey Mize, Reese Olson, and Matt Manning for a role in the club’s starting rotation alongside Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, and Kenta Maeda. Unfortunately for Gipson-Long, he’s been nursing a left groin strain throughout camp that, as noted by Evan Woodbery of the Detroit Free Press, will lead to him opening the season on the injured list. Gipson-Long, who the club acquired at the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for right-hander Michael Fulmer, made his big league debut late in the season last year and impressed during four starts in the majors. In 20 innings of work, the right-hander posted a 2.70 ERA with a 3.16 FIP while striking out an excellent 31.7% of batters faced. With Mize and Olson now set to start the season in the rotation, Gipson-Long figures to head to Triple-A Toledo once healthy, where he’ll provide Detroit with quality rotation depth alongside Matt Manning and wait for an opportunity in the big leagues.
Royals Release Sandy Leon
The Royals announced this evening that they’ve catcher Sandy Leon has requested and been granted his release by the organization. Leon had signed with the club on a minor league deal back in January.
Leon, 35, made his big league debut with the Nationals back in 2012 and has made appearances in every major league season since thanks to his strong reputation as a glove-first catcher. Those frequent opportunities have come in spite of a career .208/.276/.311 slash line at the plate and a below-average wRC+ in eleven of his twelve seasons as a major league player. It’s thanks to his stellar work behind the plate that he continues to receive reps in the majors. Leon has received high marks for work behind the plate from outlets such as FanGraphs, Statcast, and Baseball Prospectus throughout his career, with the former ranking him especially well in pitch framing during his stint with the Red Sox from 2015 to 2019.
The Royals seeming brought Leon in as insurance behind the club’s current catching tandem of Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin, allowing them to more comfortably move youngster MJ Melendez to the outfield on a full-time basis. Since then, however, Kansas City signed Austin Nola to a big league split-contract that will allow him to serve as the club’s third catcher headed into the 2024 season. That left Leon as a mostly superfluous addition for the club, and the veteran hit just .118/.167/.118 this spring while striking out in seven of his 18 plate appearances with the club. Between that performance and the fact that Leon is largely blocked at that big league level in Kansas City, it’s not necessarily a shock that the sides are parting ways.
With Opening Day on the horizon, Leon will return to free agency in search of a major league deal or, more likely, a more attractive minor league pact that offers him a clearer path back to the majors. Given the constant need for catching depth around the game, he should have little trouble securing such an arrangement, which would also allow him to serve as a mentor for younger catchers the club has in its minor league system. As for the Royals, the club will likely lean on the likes of Tyler Cropley and Logan Porter in the event that injuries force the club to rely on a fourth catcher behind Perez, Fermin, and Nola.