Dodgers Rumors

Quick Hits: Martinez, Spangenberg, Ethier

By charliewilmoth | March 20, 2017 at 3:50pm CDT

There has been little information available today about Tigers slugger J.D. Martinez, who at last check underwent an MRI for a foot sprain. Now MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets that Martinez will undergo a stress CT scan in Charlotte on Friday. Martinez rolled his ankle, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes, while making a catch against the Marlins on Saturday. He underwent initial tests later in the weekend, but the Tigers have not yet released them. X-rays have indicated he didn’t break any bones, but ligament damage is a possibility. Obviously, a significant injury would be a big blow to the Tigers’ offense. Martinez batted .307/.373/.535 with 22 homers in 517 plate appearances last season. Here’s more from around the league.

The Padres are aiming to get 2B/3B Cory Spangenberg time in the outfield, writes MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. Spangenberg missed most of the 2016 season due to a quad injury, and as he works his way back onto the Padres’ roster, the team wants him to become more versatile. Outfielders Alex Dickerson, Manuel Margot and Collin Cowgill are hurt, potentially creating opportunities for Spangenberg. The team would also like to get his left-handed bat into the lineup against righties.
Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier has a stiff back and will have an MRI today, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. Ethier himself does not seem particularly worried about the situation and says the team simply wants more information so that it knows how to treat him, tweets Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. Nonetheless, Ethier has already missed time due to back and hip issues this spring, and he collected just 26 plate appearances last season thanks to a broken tibia.

NL West Notes: Padres, Rollins, Ethier

By Mark Polishuk | March 19, 2017 at 9:23pm CDT

Here’s the latest from the NL West…

Service time considerations could play a role in the Padres’ Opening Day roster decisions on Luis Perdomo and Manuel Margot on the Opening Day roster, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Perdomo, a Rule 5 Draft pick last offseason, clocked a full year of MLB service time in 2016, posting a 5.71 ERA, 6.4 K/9, 2.28 K/BB rate and a whopping 59% grounder rate over 146 2/3 innings. Margot, one of the game’s top prospects, had a 12-day cup of coffee in the bigs last season. Keeping both Perdomo and Margot in the minors for a few weeks to begin 2017 would allow the Padres to gain an extra year of control over both players. In Margot’s case, the extra minor league seasoning could be necessary since Margot has missed the last two weeks of camp with a knee injury.
Jimmy Rollins is off to a slow start in the Giants’ camp, with just three hits in his first 26 at-bats for an ungainly .113 average. Despite the lack of production thus far, the veteran infielder tells Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group that he isn’t yet feeling a crunch to perform given his non-roster status. “I’d love to start driving some balls. But pressure? No, it’s not pressure. You start doing that, then you’re really starting to go the wrong way,” Rollins said. As Baggarly notes, Rollins’ performance is somewhat difficult to evaluate since he appeared in only 41 games last season and none after June 8, so “the Giants must determine whether Rollins’ lack of results is due to diminished skills or whether he’s a veteran who needs a little extra time to regain his stroke.” Rollins gave no hints as to how he would proceed in his career if he didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
Andre Ethier will undergo an MRI on his back on Monday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Ethier has been bothered by lower back stiffness over the last two weeks and, since this is an unfamiliar injury for the veteran outfielder, Roberts said the club will “take it slow” in giving Ethier time to recover. Ethier played just 16 games last season due to a broken leg, and he is entering his last guaranteed year under contract with L.A. He needs at least 550 plate appearances for his $17.5MM option to vest for 2018, and while that much playing time may have been questionable anyway given the crowded Dodgers outfield, a significant back injury would certainly put it out of reach.

Rays Notes: Cobb, Weeks, Whitley, Boxberger

By Mark Polishuk | March 18, 2017 at 9:25pm CDT

Some rumblings out of Tampa Bay…

Alex Cobb is drawing “potential interest” from the Cubs, Dodgers, and other teams as a trade target, The Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin writes. The determining factor, as Topkin notes, is how Cobb performs in his first full season back after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2015. The righty returned late last season to make five starts (and post an 8.59 ERA in 22 IP), and still drew some offseason trade buzz as teams likely were looking to buy low. The Cubs and Dodgers, of course, both have past connections to Cobb and the Rays in the form of Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman. If Cobb returns to his 2012-14 form and Tampa is out of contention, he’ll be a prime trade chip at the deadline.
Cobb is entering his last year before free agency, and he tells Topkin that he is being realistic about the possibility that he’ll be dealt since the Rays rarely retain top players hitting the open market. “It’s just the way things unfold here. If you were a betting man, [a trade] probably would be the way to go,” Cobb said. The fact that 2017 could be his last year in a Rays uniform has been weighing on Cobb due to the “life-changing stuff” that has taken place over his 13 years with the franchise. “Then you go into the clubhouse and you see all the faces, people that I’ve seen since I was 18, that really have been your family since then….You think about it, and it’s sad. It’s sad that it’s a possibility I could no longer be around here,” Cobb said.
Rickie Weeks’ minor league deal with the Rays will pay him $1.5MM if he makes the big league roster, Topkin reports in another item, with $600K more available to the veteran in incentives. In that same piece, Topkin looks through some of the roster decisions facing the Rays during the spring, as the club’s choices are complicated by several out-of-options players. Nick Franklin, for instance, could lose his utility job to Daniel Robertson, or Erasmo Ramirez could be dealt to a team in need of starting depth.
Chase Whitley, who also underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2015, pitched four scoreless innings in Spring Training action on Saturday. Manager Kevin Cash told reporters, including Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times, that while Whitley is slated for a relief job, “we’re not ruling out him starting, either. It depends on how the numbers and how the injuries pan out, but right now, we saw last year what he can do coming out of the bullpen. There’s a lot of value to that.” The pen (specifically a long relief role) is still Whitley’s best bet to make the roster, and a spot could open up should Brad Boxberger start the year on the DL. Boxberger has been sidelined all spring with a bad back, but expects to pitch in a minor league game on Tuesday.

NL West Notes: Thole, Giants Outfield, Padres, Dodgers

By Mark Polishuk | March 18, 2017 at 8:06pm CDT

News and rumblings from around the NL West…

Josh Thole suffered a “significant” hamstring tear that Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo expects will sideline the catcher for the season, Lovullo told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Thole is getting a second opinion on the injury and surgery is a possibility. The veteran catcher was in Arizona’s camp on a minor league deal battling for the backup role, though signs pointed to Thole starting the year at Triple-A.
While the Giants have many homegrown stars on their roster, the team has been strangely unsuccessful in their attempts to draft and develop everyday outfielders, Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group writes. Marvin Benard (a 50th round pick in 1992), was the last Giants draftee to play as a full-time starting outfielder for more than one season. Part of the issue is that San Francisco has acquired so many notable outfielders in free agency and trades, ranging from Barry Bonds to Hunter Pence. “There are things that you do that de-emphasize young players at those outfield positions,” GM Bobby Evans said. “At the same time, I still think you should require opportunity for these guys to break through. It may be an area where we haven’t emphasized it as much because we’ve had other options from other sources. I just think it’s harder to patient sometimes with outfielders because there are so many other alternatives in terms of the free agent market and trades.” Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson are looking to break the “curse” as the two youngsters battle for the left field job this spring.
The Padres have so many prospects in camp after their international spending splurge that some players (including highly-touted Cuban lefty Adrian Morejon) have been used in simulated games since they don’t have enough roster space for proper minor league games, ESPN’s Keith Law writes in his latest subscription-only piece. Law provides an in-person analysis of several Padres and Dodgers prospects, with particularly good reviews given to Morejon, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Dodgers righty Walker Buehler.

NL West Notes: Kazmir, Arroyo, Rockies, Blash

By Steve Adams | March 16, 2017 at 7:07pm CDT

Dodgers left-hander Scott Kazmir threw a five-inning simulated game today and told reporters after the outing that he felt better (Twitter links via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times). However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed concern over Kazmir’s velocity to the L.A. media, noting that the southpaw’s fastball was sitting between 82 and 84 mph. Roberts adds that Kazmir is healthy (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick) but now needs to build up sufficient arm strength to restore his velocity. The 33-year-old Kazmir has been slowed this spring by hip tightness that has limited his mobility and hindered his mechanics. He’s vying for a spot at the back of the Dodgers’ rotation and is owed a combined $32MM over the final two seasons of a three-year, $48MM contract (although some of that money is deferred).

NL West Notes: Greinke, Senzatela, Rockies/Dodgers Renewals

By Jeff Todd | March 14, 2017 at 8:27am CDT

Diamondbacks righty Zack Greinke again showed less-than-ideal velocity in his latest spring outing, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. The veteran hurler did push over 90 at times, but fell back to the 86 to 88 mph range later in his start. Still, pitching coach Mike Butcher said Greinke is “right where he needs to be at this point,” suggesting that the heat could still build over camp. As Piecoro explains, there’s plenty more to Greinke’s game than velocity, though clearly more is generally better. Last year, Greinke averaged 91.3 mph with his four-seamer and 90.7 with his two-seam fastball, both of which were career lows, but only by a half of a mile per hour or so.

Here’s more from the NL West:

The Rockies are giving a real look at young righty Antonio Senzatela in their suddenly wide-open rotation battle, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding writes. Though he only managed seven starts at Double-A last year, owing to a conservative course of care for shoulder soreness, Senzatela has impressed this spring. With Colorado seeking to fill two jobs, the 22-year-old could be in the running. While it seems likely he’ll have rather strict innings limits for the upcoming season, Senzatela could conceivably be of greater utility early on. Manager Bud Black praised his repeatable mechanics and ability to spot multiple pitches in the zone, which led to some “funny swings” in his most recent outing.
Meanwhile, the Rockies have continued to decline to consider large raises for their pre-arb players, with Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reporting that the organization renewed several important youngsters. Shortstop Trevor Story, outfielder David Dahl, catcher Tom Murphy, and righties Chad Bettis and Jon Gray were all renewed after failing to agree with the team’s proposed numbers. Story and Gray each got marginal raises over the minimum, earning $540K apiece; it’s not clear what the remaining players will get. Colorado has long drawn the ire of agents for its approach to setting pre-arb salaries, though it’s entirely within the rules to handle things this way.
It’s a similar situation with the Dodgers, though young stars Corey Seager and Joc Pederson will earn somewhat more than their peers in Colorado. As Heyman reports, both players were renewed after highly productive seasons, with Seager receiving $575K and Pederson checking in at $555K. Though the latter was nearly as productive offensively as the former, and is one service class ahead, the club likely saw fit to recognize Seager’s NL Rookie of the Year nod and third-place finish in the MVP voting. Meanwhile, exciting young southpaw Julio Urias was also renewed, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Orange County Register. He’ll receive $540K during whatever portion of the season he ends up playing in the majors.

NL Notes: Reds, Rockies, Wisler, Schafer

By Jeff Todd | March 13, 2017 at 5:25pm CDT

Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams gave an interesting interview to David Laurila of Fangraphs that’s worth a read. The top Cincy baseball decisionmaker noted that it’s harder for clubs of that market size to pay solid veterans on short-term deals during a rebuilding campaign, which is one of several factors that tends to make the process more painful. But the organization is plainly committed to doing it and doing it right. Williams detailed many different initiatives underway after an exhaustive review of “where we thought dollars would have a better return on investment than at the major league payroll level.” You’ll want to give the post a full read.

Here’s more from the National League:

With Ian Desmond set to miss a chunk of time early in the season, the Rockies are sorting through their options for filling in, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. Mark Reynolds is the obvious choice as a primary replacement, of course, but the team will need to line up some bodies behind him. With manager Bud Black saying the club hopes to “take advantage” of the versatility of some of their own players, he lined up each of Jordan Patterson, Stephen Cardullo, and Cristhian Adames at first in drills. Whether the organization might look at external names isn’t known, but Black did say that he has not heard any discussion surrounding former Rockies first bagger Justin Morneau.
Righty Matt Wisler is still trying to establish himself for the Braves, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. The 24-year-old has been hit hard this spring, as he was in the majors last year, and there doesn’t seem to be much chance that he’ll crack the MLB rotation unless there’s an injury or big performance downturn during the season. Still, manager Brian Snitker says he’s a believer — at least in the quality of Wisler’s offerings. “[I]t’s just location– fastball location,” Black said of Wisler’s struggles. “He’s just got to keep working on location. The stuff is there. The kid’s stuff is too good not to be successful.”
Jordan Schafer’s efforts to make the Cardinals roster as a lefty reliever have run into some difficulties, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch Reports. The 30-year-old is dealing with forearm soreness, with the root cause yet to be determined. He hadn’t been particularly effective in his five outings anyway, and struggled upon reaching Triple-A briefly last year with the Dodgers organization. But Schafer was actually quite impressive at Double-A in 2016, working to a 3.15 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over forty frames.

Injury Notes: Seager, Price, Red Sox, Scherzer, Mariners

By Steve Adams | March 13, 2017 at 1:04pm CDT

Dodgers star Corey Seager won’t appear in a game for the team at all this week, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (Twitter links via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times). Roberts said over the weekend that Seager, who finished third in last season’s MVP voting thanks to a .308/.365/.512 batting line and strong glovework at short, is dealing with an “oblique-ish” injury. While there’s still time for Seager to ramp back up for the season, oblique issues have a tendency to linger. Seager hasn’t played since March 3 and now seemingly won’t get into action until the final third of the month. McCullough adds that lefty Scott Kazmir also isn’t likely to pitch in a game this week as he continues to tweak his delivery after leaving his most recent Cactus League outing due to tightness and limited mobility in his hip.

A few more injury issues worth keeping an eye on around the league…

David Price told Red Sox reporters that he’s not 100 percent certain exactly what the injury he’s facing is, but in fairly strange fashion, noted that he’d have opted for surgery if he were 22 or 23 years old (via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). “They said if I was 22 or 23, they’d have told me to go have surgery,” said Price. “…I’ve gone through this. This is something I feel like happens every spring training. It’s those first four to five weeks of spring training that I feel like I go through this every single year, and this year was just a little bit worse.” Pressed on the specifics of the injury Price stated that he’s not sure what precisely set off the alarm bells for doctors but added that his elbow feels good and offered no concern regarding his ulnar collateral ligament. There’s no timeline for his recovery, though Drellich notes that it’s looking likely that Price will be on the DL to open the season.
Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal provides updates on a pair of mending Red Sox relievers (Twitter links). Setup man Tyler Thornburg, acquired in the trade that sent Travis Shaw to Milwaukee this winter, is slated to throw off a mound on Wednesday. Thornburg hasn’t appeared in a game since March 1 but appears to be nearing a return to action. As for last season’s setup acquisition, Carson Smith (who underwent Tommy John surgery before pitching in the regular season), he threw a 15-to-18 pitch bullpen session today, which marks his first mound work since undergoing his Tommy John procedure.
Nationals ace Max Scherzer voiced with confidence on Monday that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Scherzer, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, has been slowed by a stress fracture in his right ring finger but said plainly on Monday, “I’m gonna do it,” when asked about being ready for the start of the season. Manager Dusty Baker offered a similar take, stating that Scherzer is “a little bit behind but not as far behind as it looked like he was going to be at the beginning” of camp.
Mariners setup man Steve Cishek is all but certain to begin the season on the disabled list, per Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 30-year-old side-armer had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip last October and is still at least one week, if not two weeks, away from throwing off the mound, according to manager Scott Servais. “I think coming into this camp, it was no secret that we were projecting that he might start the season a little bit late,” said Servais.“We’re still on that schedule.”
Within that same piece, Dutton notes that the Mariners got better news on right-hander Tony Zych, who is already throwing off a mound and will face hitters in live BP this week. And in a second column, Dutton adds that the Mariners got positive news following an MRI on right-hander Shae Simmons. There’s no ligament damage in Simmons’ elbow, as the hard-thrower is instead dealing with a strained muscle in his forearm. He’ll be out for the next couple of days, but it seems that the former Brave has staved off any form of serious injury.

Quick Hits: Royals, Rebuilds, Quentin, Payrolls

By Mark Polishuk | March 12, 2017 at 11:35pm CDT

The Royals are pushing to contend in 2017 but if the team is out of the race in July, GM Dayton Moore has told outside executives that impending free agents Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar will all be available, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Moore stopped short of completely confirming this report, though he did tell Sherman that “we would have to consider it [a fire sale] if things do not go right.” 2017 has long been seen as the last year of the Royals’ run of contention with this core group, though the team is considering pursuing a reunion with at least one or two of the quartet this winter once they hit free agency. As the Yankees did with Aroldis Chapman last season, K.C. could deal several of their free agents to reload on prospects or MLB-ready talent and then try to re-sign one or more of the traded players back onto the roster. Sherman figures the Mets will keep tabs on Cain and/or Moustakas given their uncertainty in center field and third base.

Here’s some more from around baseball…

There’s no set timetable for when a rebuilding team should start trying to compete again, as C. Trent Rosencrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer hears from several general managers who have either led their teams through rebuilds or are currently within the process of building for the future. The Cubs’ blueprint for rebuilding seems to have worked perfectly, though GM Jed Hoyer noted that the team’s decision to spend on veteran talent following an 89-loss season in 2014 was made in part because too much losing would’ve been detrimental. “We were very concerned about a losing culture and bringing up our young players. If you bring your players up in a culture that accepts losing, at some point it’s going to have a negative impact on those guys,” Hoyer said.
Now that he is finally healthy, Carlos Quentin felt he owed it to himself to give baseball one more shot, the veteran outfielder tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. “I didn’t want to look back five years from now and say, ’I should have just picked up the phone and made a call and swallowed my ego and pride and done it the right way,’ ” Quentin said. The Red Sox signed Quentin to a minor league deal this winter, and at age 34 and having not appeared in a big league game since July 26, 2014, Quentin is comfortable with the fact that he faces a long road to crack Boston’s deep roster.
The Dodgers have the more “dead money” on their payroll than any other team in baseball, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards observes. Los Angeles has $47.4MM committed to players who are not on their 40-man roster (whether they’ve been traded, released or are still in the organization but just not on the 40-man) this season. The Padres ($35.1MM), Yankees ($26.5MM), Angels ($22.4MM) and Red Sox ($22.3MM) round out the top five, though San Diego is by far the leader in terms of dead money as a percentage of overall payroll. A whopping 54.8% of the Padres’ 2017 payroll is going towards players who are no longer on the team’s 40-man roster — Melvin Upton Jr., James Shields, Hector Olivera and Jedd Gyorko.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Astros, Royals, Gagne

By Connor Byrne | March 12, 2017 at 4:20pm CDT

Two weeks ago, the Dodgers were leaning toward having left-hander Julio Urias open the season in their rotation. It now appears he’ll begin in the minors as they attempt to tamp down his workload, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The 20-year-old phenom threw a career-high 122 innings between the majors and minors in 2016, and LA wants to keep him fresh this season for a potential playoff run. Should the Dodgers send down Urias, they’d choose among Brandon McCarthy, Alex Wood and “wild card” Hyun-Jin Ryu to fill their final two rotation spots, adds Sherman (Twitter links here).

Elsewhere around the majors…

Houston’s acquisition of catcher Brian McCann from the Yankees in November played a key role in their December signing of designated hitter Carlos Beltran, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow informed Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. “As we recruited Beltran, bringing McCann over was a big part of getting Beltran to accept coming over here,” said Luhnow. Teammates in New York from 2014-16, McCann and Beltran have already been quite valuable behind the scenes for the Astros, per Luhnow. “These two guys have been a tremendous boost to the environment in our clubhouse,” he stated. “I’m so glad they’re here.”
When he accepted the Royals’ two-year, $12MM guarantee as a free agent last month, southpaw Travis Wood seemed like a decent bet to start 2017 in their rotation. But another offseason acquisition, trade pickup Nate Karns, has emerged over Wood and Chris Young as the clear favorite for Kansas City’s last starting spot, tweets Sherman. The right-handed Karns, 29, made 46 starts with the Nationals, Rays and Mariners from 2013-16 and logged a 4.19 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.69 BB/9 over 249 innings. The 30-year-old Wood worked solely as a reliever with the World Series champion Cubs last season, which came after he racked up 133 starts in Cincinnati and Chicago from 2010-15. He recorded the same ERA as Karns (4.19) to go with 7.11 K/9 against 3.15 BB/9 during that 776-inning span.
Free agent reliever Eric Gagne, 41, is making a case for a contract in the World Baseball Classic, though the Team Canada righty and 2003 NL Cy Young winner realizes he’d first have to succeed in the minors to have any chance at returning to the majors. “I know the game, I know how it happens, I know they need spots on the 40-man roster and don’t want to release a young guy for a 41 year old, so of course I’d be willing to do anything,” the former closer told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Gagne, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2008, worked out for five teams before the WBC, writes Davidi, and has since fared well in the tournament. “Words are irrelevant at this point. Clubs are seeing it with their own eyes,” Gagne’s agent, Scott Leventhal, told FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

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