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Dodgers Select Nabil Crismatt, Transfer Emmet Sheehan To 60-Day IL

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The Dodgers have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Nabil Crismatt, the team announced. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic was the first to report the move. Crismatt will join the team in time for today’s game against the Cardinals. In corresponding moves, right-handed pitcher Kyle Hurt has been optioned, while fellow righty Emmet Sheehan has been transferred to the 60-day injured list, opening up a spot on the 40-man roster.

Crismatt, 29, is quite familiar with the NL West. After making his MLB debut with the Cardinals in 2020, he made 102 appearances for the Padres from 2021-23, in addition to one appearance for the Diamondbacks last August. The Dodgers will be his third NL West team in the past 10 months. Although he struggled in 2023, ultimately getting designated for assignment by both San Diego and Arizona, he was a capable low-leverage relief arm in 2021 and ’22. Over those two seasons, he threw 148 2/3 innings in 95 games with a 3.39 ERA and 3.69 SIERA. He rarely blew the ball past opposing hitters, instead relying on a changeup-heavy approach to maintain a low walk rate and induce groundballs.

The righty got off to a poor start in 2023. His velocity was down and his command was spotty; he gave up five walks and 12 runs in 10 innings of work. Three weeks into the season, a hip strain put him out of commission for the next two months, after which he struggled to get back to the majors. Crismatt made just two more big league appearances, one for the Padres in June and one for D-backs two months later. Meanwhile, his Triple-A numbers were unsightly. He posted a 6.94 ERA and 8.06 FIP in 11 2/3 innings in the Padres organization and a 6.85 ERA and 6.04 FIP in 47 1/3 innings with the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate.

Despite his rough season in 2023, Crismatt is only one year removed from a healthy and productive campaign. Not yet 30 years old, it isn’t so far-fetched to think he could re-discover that form in 2024. Although he struggled this spring (8.44 ERA in 5 /13 IP), the Dodgers seem to think he has something to offer their big league bullpen.

Crismatt is out of options, so once he is officially selected, the Dodgers must keep him on the 26-man roster, trade him, or expose him to waivers.

Hurt, 25, is widely considered one of the Dodgers’ top pitching prospects. He threw 2 2/3 innings against the Cardinals on Saturday, facing 10 batters, striking out three, walking none, and giving up an unearned run. Despite his successful outing, he was likely optioned to give manager Dave Roberts a fresh arm in the bullpen.

Sheehan, 24, missed spring training with what was originally described as shoulder soreness, as well as some general bodily discomfort. However, when the Dodgers placed Sheehan on the 10-day IL ahead of the Seoul Series, they described his injury as forearm inflammation. Today, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports that Sheehan’s transfer to the 60-day IL is related to his sore shoulder. This is another setback for the young hurler. In mid-March, Dave Roberts suggested that Sheehan could be ready by stateside Opening Day. On March 24, Ardaya reported that Sheehan would still need “a full spring’s worth of buildup” before he could rejoin the Dodgers. Now, the earliest the righty can return is May 18.

Sheehan made 13 appearances (11 starts) last season, pitching to a 4.92 ERA, 4.41 SIERA, and an impressive 3.50 xERA. If the Dodgers have no room in the rotation when he is ready to return, he could be optioned to Triple-A, where he only made three appearances last season, or he could be a candidate to join the bullpen. His high velocity might play up out of the ’pen, and he could fill a similar role to Crismatt, albeit with a much higher ceiling.

NL West Notes: D’Backs, Montgomery, Buehler, Monfort

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The Diamondbacks officially introduced Jordan Montgomery at a press conference yesterday, with Montgomery, agent Scott Boras, and several team officials answering questions from the Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro, Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports, and other media.  D’Backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick said that the club initially checked in on Montgomery early in the offseason but weren’t eager to meet the asking price at the time.  As Montgomery’s stay in free agency ended up stretching almost to the very end of Spring Training, GM Mike Hazen and assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye started to explore the idea of re-engaging with the southpaw, and negotiations both started and ended within just a few days’ time.

The two sides agreed to a one-year, $25MM contract with a $20MM vesting player option and opt-out clause covering the 2025 season.  Boras said Montgomery had some longer-term offers but “Jordan’s edict to me was, ’I want to play for a competitive team.  I want to make sure that I’m there and if I have to take something short-term to play for a competitive team, I will.’….It resulted in I think a deal that served our purposes in the short term and certainly served Jordan’s competitiveness needs and put an evaluation on I think his performance for this year and potentially next year that was appropriate for what he’s done.”

From Arizona’s perspective, adding Montgomery boosts payroll to a team-record $168MM for 2024, yet Kendrick and team president/CEO Derrick Hall are comfortable with the extra spending in order to keep the team in championship contention.  While Hall hinted that the D’Backs might need another lengthy postseason trip to sustain a higher payroll into 2025, Arizona’s run to the World Series last year already provided enough of an extra revenue boost (both in ticket sales during the playoffs and more tickets already sold for this season) to justify more of all-in push in 2024.

Some other items from the NL West…

  • Walker Buehler will throw four or five innings in a Triple-A rehab start on Sunday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register and Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times).  Sunday’s outing will be the first of four rehab starts for Buehler, as per the team’s current plans, though things remain fluid as the Dodgers want to be as careful as possible in managing Buehler’s return after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2022.  Buehler is already well beyond the normal 13-15 rehab window, though obviously not every recovery process is the same for every pitcher, plus this was also the second TJ procedure of Buehler’s career.  If all goes well at Triple-A, Buehler should be on track to be part of the L.A. rotation before April is over.
  • “I do feel like we are on the right track,” Rockies owner Dick Monfort told the Denver Post’s Troy Renck, with Monfort citing his team’s up-and-coming core of young talent and his ongoing trust in GM Bill Schmidt and manager Bud Black.  Colorado has had only five winning seasons since the Monfort family bought the team in late 2005, and things seemed to bottom out last year when the Rox lost a club-record 103 games.  Still, Monfort believes in the “organic” strategy of relying on homegrown prospects and only mid-range payrolls, as Monfort is critical of the revenue disparities among Major League franchises.  Denver fans have themselves long been critical of Monfort’s approach due to the lack of on-field success, and Monfort has frequently come under fire for his perpetually over-optimistic view of his team’s fortunes and the Rockies’ reliance on long-time employees.  While Monfort admitted that he worries about being too loyal at times, he noted that when looking to replace former GM Jeff Bridich, he wasn’t impressed by external candidates’ plans to fix the team.  “They would tell me how to win at altitude and everything they mentioned, it would not have worked, or it’s all things we have tried.  I think in any business you have to have people you can trust, and I trust [Schmidt and Black],” Monfort said.

Dodgers Sign Drew Pomeranz To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have signed left-hander Drew Pomeranz to a minor league deal, per Alex Freedman, the broadcaster/communications director for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The lefty has been assigned to OKC.

Pomeranz, 35, is looking to get back to the majors after two lost seasons. He signed a minor league deal with the Angels this winter but was released at the end of camp, either because he triggered an opt-out or the club simply let him go when they decided he wasn’t going to break camp with the club. Either way, he hit the open market again and now has a new deal with the Dodgers.

The lefty had once been one of the most dominant relievers in the league. The Brewers acquired him at the 2019 deadline and moved him from the rotation to the bullpen, at which point Pomeranz fired off 26 1/3 innings with a 2.39 earned run average. He struck out a tremendous 45% of batters faced in that time, while also keeping his walk rate to 8% and getting grounders on 46.8% of balls in play.

The Padres decided to make a bet on that breakout, signing him to a four-year deal with a $34MM guarantee. For the first half of that deal, it looked like a brilliant move for the Friars. Over 2020 and 2021, Pomeranz made 47 appearances with a tiny ERA of 1.62. His 11.4% walk rate was on the high side but he punched out 33.7% of batters faced and got grounders at a 45.8% clip, racking up four saves and 22 holds.

But he required surgery for a torn flexor tendon in August of 2021 and hasn’t been back on a mound for a big league game since then. Over the intervening years, he has repeatedly hit setbacks in his attempts to get back in action. He underwent a “cleanup surgery” on his elbow in May of last year and was able to go on a rehab assignment towards the end of the season, but only tossed 5 2/3 innings on the farm before being shut down again.

In Spring Training with the Angels this year, he made nine appearances, striking out six batters while giving out three walks and allowing eight hits and five earned runs. That’s not nearly as impressive as his previous results but it’s a small sample and it’s fair to expect some rust after such a long layoff. The main thing is that he appears to be the healthiest he has been in almost three years.

The Dodgers are generally unafraid to take chances on talented pitchers trying to get over significant injuries and there’s effectively no risk on a minor deal like this. For Pomeranz, he can utilize the tools of an organization that has a strong track record for helping pitchers maximize their results, which could perhaps benefit both player and club if Pomeranz can stay on the hill and get in a nice groove.

Roberts Provides Updates On Buehler, Kershaw, Graterol, Treinen

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  • Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts provided a series of updates on some injured pitchers yesterday (X thread via Jack Harris of the L.A. Times). There was good news on both Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw, each of whom Roberts described as ahead of schedule. The Dodgers have made clear they’re being cautious with Buehler’s rehab from a second career Tommy John surgery, but the right-hander’s progress so far is encouraging enough that he’ll be back “sooner than I think we anticipated,” per Roberts. Kershaw, who had shoulder surgery in early November, is long-tossing from 120 feet and ahead of initial rehab projections. Roberts’ updates on righties Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen were far less encouraging. Both are playing catch but are “a ways away” from activation. Graterol was slowed by hip and shoulder troubles during camp, while Treinen suffered a bruised lung when a comeback liner hit him in the chest. The Dodgers originally suggested that it wouldn’t require a lengthy absence, but Treinen has yet to even throw a bullpen session.

Dodgers Sign Will Smith To Ten-Year Extension

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The Dodgers announced today that they have signed catcher Will Smith to a ten-year extension which runs through 2033. It is reportedly a guarantee of $140MM with no opt-outs for the Apex Baseball client, though with deferrals. Smith will get a $30MM signing bonus, a salary of $13.55MM in 2024, salaries of $13MM from 2025 to 2027, $9.5MM from 2028 to 2032 and $9.95MM in 2033. The deferrals will be paid out at a rate of $5MM annually from 2034 to 2043 and the deal will have a competitive balance tax hit of $12.2MM. Because this deal overwrites Smith’s previous $8.55MM salary for the 2024 season, the pact is effectively a nine-year, $131.45MM deal in terms of new money.

It’s an early birthday present for Smith, who turns 29 tomorrow and has somewhat quietly been one of the best catchers in the game in recent years. Dating back to his 2019 debut through the end of 2023, he hit 91 home runs and drew walks in 10.9% of his plate appearances. His .261/.357/.483 batting line coming into the 2024 season translates to a 128 wRC+. Among qualified catchers over that span, only Mitch Garver and Adley Rutschman had a higher wRC+. Each of those two were at 130 but in barely half as many plate appearances.

His glovework has also received strong grades, including 26 Defensive Runs Saved thus far in his career. Statcast considers him to have been roughly league average in terms of blocking and controlling the running game. It’s less enthused about his framing but FanGraphs considers him to be right around par in that department, while Baseball Prospectus considers him to be well above average. His 15.8 wins above replacement from FanGraphs since the start of 2019 are second among primary catchers, behind only J.T. Realmuto.

Smith was going into his second of three arbitration seasons. He made $5.25MM last year and avoided arbitration back in January by agreeing to a salary of $8.55MM for 2024, though that salary has now been overwritten by the aforementioned $13.55MM figure. He would have been eligible for another pass at arbitration in 2025 before qualifying for free agency after his age-30 season, but the Dodgers have locked him up instead.

The structure of the contract stands out as unusual, as a ten-year deal for a catcher is unprecedented. Per MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, which has data going back to the 2009-10 offseason, no backstop has ever signed a deal longer than eight years. Each of Joe Mauer, Buster Posey and Keibert Ruiz signed eight-year extensions, the longest deals for catchers in the past decade-plus.

Catchers generally experience a great deal of wear and tear due to the rigors of the position, which can make it difficult to achieve longevity in the position. In terms of deals three years or longer, the oldest age for the player’s final season was 37, which applies to the three-year deal Carlos Ruiz signed with the Phillies back in 2013 and an extension Yadier Molina signed with the Cardinals. Russell Martin’s five-year deal with the Blue Jays went into his age-36 season, the oldest age for the final season of any deal longer than three years for a catcher.

The Dodgers have committed to Smith for a longer term than any of those deals and later into his career. But in doing so, it seems they were able to compromise in terms of the average annual value and competitive balance tax hit, which is based on AAV. The nine years and $131.45MM of new money leads to an AAV $14.61MM before accounting for deferrals, which lower the present-day value of the deal to $12.2MM. Mauer got a guarantee of $184MM and a $23MM AAV back in 2010. Posey got $166.5MM and a $20.8MM AAV in 2023. Martin’s five-year deal came with an $82MM guarantee and $16.4MM AAV back in 2014.

That is not to suggest that Smith is as good as those players, merely to point out that the guarantee isn’t as unprecedented as the length. While the ten-year span is a new record for catchers, there are 12 deals with higher AAVs than $14.61MM listed on the Contract Tracker.

Smith was likely looking at one shot at a life-changing deal when he hit free agency after 2025, but he’ll lock up that money now instead of waiting. Perhaps he is sacrificing some future earning power but he now foregoes any risk of a significant injury cutting into those plans. The Dodgers get to keep a catcher who has established himself as a key piece of the roster while tamping down the luxury tax hit. The length of the deal will keep it on the books for a long time but the modest salary shouldn’t be an albatross for a high-spending club like the Dodgers.

In the long run, there will inevitably be questions that need to be answered about the domino effects of this deal. Smith may need to be moved from behind the plate to a designated hitter role over time but the presence of Shohei Ohtani will prevent Smith from getting any kind of regular role in the DH slot. The Dodgers also have three catching prospects that are considered to be top 100 talents in Diego Cartaya, Dalton Rushing and Thayron Liranzo. As those players approach the majors, the club could be facing a bit of a logjam, though that would be a good problem to have and could allow the Dodgers to bolster other areas of the roster via trade.

For today, it’s a nice bit of security for both the player and the club, cementing a relationship that had a ticking clock with less than two years remaining.

Juan Toribio of MLB.com. first reported that the two sides were working on a deal. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic first had the ten-year length while Jeff Passan of ESPN had the guarantee. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com added that there is some deferred money. Dylan Hernández of the Los Angeles Times relayed the signing bonus and the lack of opt-outs. Feinsand later provided the full breakdown and the CBT calculation.

Dave Roberts Discusses Dodgers' Infield Plans

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  • While the Dodgers are set to turn to veteran superstar Mookie Betts and second baseman Gavin Lux up the middle this season, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) yesterday that veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas will get some starts at short as well, at least against left-handed pitching. On those days, Betts will slide over to second base and push Lux to the bench. While Robert emphasized that the situation won’t be a strict platoon, Lux’s career .586 OPS against same-handed pitching and Rojas’s strong defense at shortstop make sitting Lux against certain southpaws in order to improve the club’s infield defense a sensible strategy. Rojas, 35, hit a paltry .236/.290/.322 in 124 games with the Dodgers last year but slashed a much more respectable .286/.331/.406 in 145 trips to the plate against lefties.

MLBTR Podcast: A Live Reaction To The Jordan Montgomery Signing, Ohtani’s Interpreter, And J.D. Martinez Joins The Mets

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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 Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Luis García Jr, Lance McCullers Jr, and Kendall Graveman of the Astros are likely out, at the very least, until mid-June.  How come none of these guys are on the 60-day injured list?  Do you seen the Astros moving them there and if so, when? (49:15)
  • Do you think it’s possible that the league begins to follow the Angels and Rangers footsteps and call up recent draft picks as soon as they show any signs of potential? Also, do you think it is at all possible that teams start to call up teenagers? (52:25)

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!

A’s Acquire T.J. McFarland From Dodgers, Select Him To Roster

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The Athletics announced that they have acquired left-hander T.J. McFarland from the Dodgers for cash considerations and selected him to the 40-man roster.

McFarland, 35 in June, is a veteran ground ball guy who has bounced around the league, including pitching for the A’s in 2020. He has also suited up for the Orioles, Diamondbacks, Cardinals and Mets in a career that dates back to 2013 and includes 354 major league appearances.

Last year, he was only in the majors for about two weeks with the Mets, making three appearances. He spent the majority of the year in Triple-A for the Mets and Orioles, pitching very well at that level. He posted a 2.30 earned run average in 62 2/3 innings, walking 10.2% of opponents but also striking out 25.2% of batters faced. His ground ball rate was over 62% for both Triple-A clubs he pitched for.

Those grounders have been his M.O. throughout his career, with 62.2% of the balls in play during his major league career having been pounded into the dirt. That has made him particularly vulnerable to the baseball gods, as shown in time with the Cardinals. In 2021, he had a batting average on balls in play of .261 and a strand rate of 81.5%, leading to a 2.56 ERA. The year after, he had a .333 BABIP and 60.4% strand rate, which bumped his ERA all the way to 6.61.

He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers this winter and posted a 1.35 ERA over seven spring appearances, but that club has a fairly stacked bullpen without a clear opening for McFarland. The A’s, on the other hand, are much more able to employ him.

Oakland is deep into a rebuild and came into camp with a group of relievers fairly light on experience. That issue was compounded when three of the most veteran guys went down with injuries. Trevor Gott required Tommy John surgery, putting him out of action for the whole year. Sean Newcomb is going to start the season on the injured list due to irritation in his surgically-repaired left knee while Scott Alexander has a stress reaction in his left ribs.

The A’s have been trying to quickly to make up for those losses, recently acquiring Austin Adams from the Mets and now McFarland. He’ll provide the A’s with a veteran southpaw arm to hopefully stabilize a pitching staff in flux while also perhaps serving as a guiding force for the many young arms on the team.

Shohei Ohtani Reads Statement In Relation To Former Interpreter

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Star two-way player Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers read a statement today in relation to Ippei Mizuhara, his former interpreter and friend. Mizuhara was fired last week amid his involvement with an illegal sports gambling operation.

Ohtani read the statement in Japanese, which was translated into English by Will Ireton, for a period of about 12 minutes. Video of the full thing was relayed by Talkin’ Baseball on X. Chad Jennings of The Athletic transcribed all of Ohtani’s comments, as translated into English by Ireton.

Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic was among those to relay a few days ago that Ireton would be serving as a translator for Ohtani in the wake of Mizuhara’s departure. Ireton served as Kenta Maeda’s translator when he was with the Dodgers and Ireton stayed an employee of the club after Maeda was traded to the Twins in 2020.

Reporting last week highlighted that over $4.5MM had been wired from an account in Ohtani’s name to the gambling ring. Mizuhara said that he racked up that debt by betting on sports other than baseball, then Ohtani wired the money to help him pay it off. Later, Ohtani’s attorneys contradicted the story, saying that Ohtani “had been the victim of a massive theft.” Ohtani’s version of events that he relayed today aligned with the theft story, accusing Mizuhara of using his account to wire the money and then lying about it.

Ohtani said that he was “saddened and shocked that someone who I trusted has done this.” Ohtani stated that he has never bet on baseball or any other sports and has never gone through a bookmaker to bet on sports. “Up until a couple days ago, I didn’t know this was happening.” He also flatly denied the original version of events, wherein he supposedly sent the money to help his friend Mizuhara. “Ippei has been stealing money from my account and has told lies.”

The Dodgers were in Korea last week to play the Padres as part of the Seoul Series as the initial reporting on the story was coming to light. Ohtani stated today that the media in Korea inquired about the story but Ippei never told him about the media inquiry. Ippei then told the media and Ohtani’s representatives the version of events that involved Ohtani paying off the debt. “All of this has been a complete lie,” Ohtani said.

Ohtani says he first found out about Mizuhara’s gambling after the first game of the Seoul Series, when there was a team meeting in the clubhouse. “During the team meeting, obviously, Ippei was speaking English and I didn’t have a translator on my side. But even with that, I kind of understood what was going on and started to feel that there was something amiss.” Ohtani then states that he did not know until that meeting about Mizuhara’s gambling addiction or his debt. “Obviously, I never agreed to pay off the debt or make payments to the bookmaker.”

Ohtani then states that he and Mizuhara met one-on-one in a hotel room after the team meeting. “Ippei admitted that he was sending money, using my account, to the bookmaker.” Ohtani states he contacted his representatives at that point. “When I was finally able to talk to my representatives, that’s when my representatives found out that Ippei has been lying the whole time and that’s when I started contacting the Dodgers and my lawyers.” Ohtani states that his representatives and the Dodgers found out at that point that they were being lied to.

“My lawyers recommended that, since this is theft and fraud, that we have the proper authorities handle this matter.” He concluded by saying that “The season’s going to start so I’m obviously going to let my lawyers handle matters from here on out and I am completely assisting in all investigations that are taking place right now. I’m looking forward to focusing on the season. I’m glad that we had this opportunity to talk and I’m sure there will be continuing investigations moving forward. Thank you very much.”

On Friday, MLB announced that it its department of investigations formally began the process of investigating the matter. This is a developing story that will be updated as more information comes to light.

Dodgers Outright Andre Lipcius

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Infielder Andre Lipcius has been outrighted by the Dodgers to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment last week. He will remain in the Dodgers organization as non-roster depth.

Lipcius, 26 in May, only joined the Dodgers three weeks ago via a cash deal. He was drafted by the Tigers and had been in their system until getting designated for assignment when the club claimed Buddy Kennedy last month, which led to the trade to the Dodgers.

He has largely served as a hit-over-power guy who can bounce around to multiple positions. Over the past three years, he has stepped to the plate 1,487 times in the minors, hitting just 36 home runs but drawing walks at a 13% clip and only striking out 17.9% of the time. His .264/.360/.419 batting line in that time translates to a wRC+ of 110, indicating he’s been 10% better than league average. He did that while playing the three non-shortstop infield positions and the outfield corners. He also made it to the majors, though only in cup-of-coffee fashion. He took 38 plate appearances over 13 games with the Tigers last year, hitting .286/.342/.400 in that time.

He was squeezed off the roster in Detroit and now in Los Angeles as well. Most clubs around the league are dealing with roster crunches at the end of spring and none of them put in a claim on Lipcius. Players with at least three years of service time or a previous career outright can reject a further outright assignment in favor of free agency. But Lipcius has just a few weeks of service time and this is his first outright, so he won’t qualify, meaning he has no choice but to report to Oklahoma City and try to work his way back to the majors from there.

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