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AL Central Notes: Zimmermann, Mauer, Royals, Giolito

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There was some (exceedingly mild) AL Central intrigue this morning, as reliever Matt Belisle bounced from the Indians over to the Twins, but otherwise it has been a quiet news day. Let’s take a look in at the latest items out of the AL Central:

  • Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann says he’s ready to return to the majors after his latest minor-league start, as Peter Wallner of MLive.com reports. Zimmermann has been out for just over a month with a shoulder impingement, but he says he “feel[s] strong” and has now worked up to 89 pitches in his third rehab outing. As we noted upon his DL placement, Zimmermann has continued to post mediocre results but had at least boasted much/improved strikeout and walk numbers (9.2 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9). The Tigers are still milling around in an uninspiring AL Central race, though the odds of true contention this year remain long. Zimmermann’s hefty salary commitment and full no-trade protection — it converts to partial protection after the season — make him a difficult trade candidate, though a swap at some point can’t be ruled out entirely.
  • Twins first baseman Joe Mauer is just launching his own rehab assignment, MLB.com’s Jarrid Denney reports. Concussion-like symptoms have kept the 35-year-old out for the past several weeks. He has dealt with similar problems in the past, of course, which represents a major reason that he no longer plays behind the plate. Though he has not contributed enough on-field value to justify his lofty salary in quite some time, Mauer has been a productive hitter over the past two years. Thus far in 2018, he is slashing .283/.404/.355 with 28 walks against 22 strikeouts but just one home run through 167 plate appearances. Meanwhile, young outfielder Byron Buxton is going through some running and baseball activities, but still evidently remains some ways away from returning from a fractured toe.
  • Giving up lefty Sean Manaea helped the Royals win a World Series, but his rise in Oakland has surely left some K.C. fans wondering what might have been. As Rustin Dodd of The Athletic writes in a subscription piece, though, GM Dayton Moore has no regrets whatsoever about how things turned out. He explains how it was that the club sent Manaea to the A’s for utility star Ben Zobrist, saying that “Billy Beane was persistent” while the Royals “weren’t going to be outbid” for a key asset after coming up just shy the season prior. Now, though, Moore says the goal is to create a broad-based array of talent that will allow the organization to “compete for a long time,” hopefully without pursuing such drastic, win-now swaps.
  • Meanwhile, Lucas Giolito continues to fall shy of expectations for the White Sox. Through a dozen starts this year, including his latest yesterday evening, he carries a 7.08 ERA with just 31 strikeouts to go with 39 walks and a league-leading ten hit batters. As Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune writes, Giolito is getting plenty of leash with the rebuilding South Siders, though it’s tough to know whether or not that’s for the best given just how much he has struggled. There’s still some hope that the former top prospect will develop into a quality big league starter, writes Greenstein, and Giolito is only due to reach his 24th birthday this summer. Still, it’s fair to wonder just how long the club will keep trotting him out if things don’t improve. Skipper Rick Renteria says there haven’t been any recent discussions about sending Giolito down, though he did hint that the club has contemplated the possibility in the past.

AL Central Notes: Sano, Giolito, Tigers

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The Twins announced Thursday that they’ve reinstated Miguel Sano from the disabled list after a 24-game absence due to a hamstring strain. Outfielder Jake Cave, whom the team acquired in a spring swap with the Yankees, has been optioned back to Triple-A Rochester to clear a spot on the active roster for the slugging third baseman. Sano played a five-game rehab assignment in Rochester and homered twice, showing the club enough to bring him back to the big league roster. Eduardo Escobar has filled in ably at the hot corner (.261/.313/.478 in Sano’s absence), though by plugging Sano back into the lineup, Escobar can shift back over to shortstop and push light-hitting defensive specialist Ehire Adrianza (.220/.287/.297 this year) back into a utility role. Minnesota is three games below .500 but sits just two games out of first place in what has been a feeble AL Central division so far in 2018.

More from the division…

  • The White Sox aren’t giving much consideration to sending Lucas Giolito to the minors despite his substantial struggles to this point in the year, manager Rick Renteria told reporters after today’s loss (link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). “He’s just a young man who’s gotta continue to minimize the emotional aspect of crossing from preparation into the game and staying focused, relaxed, and hammer the zone with strikes,” Renteria said of the struggling Giolito, who was rocked for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings earlier today and now has a 7.53 ERA with more walks (34) than strikeouts (27) in 47 2/3 innings. Renteria said he doesn’t consider the struggles of Giolito and recently optioned teammate Carson Fulmer to be similar, noting that Giolito has been able to pitch into the sixth and seventh innings with greater frequency.
  • The Tigers did well in finding bargain minor league free agents in an offseason in which the front office was limited by budgetary restrictions, writes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. McCosky notes that AGM David Chadd, in particular (with help from the scouting and analytics staffs), was tasked with identifying some six-year minor league free agent pickups, leading to acquisitions of players like right-hander Louis Coleman and infielder Niko Goodrum, each of whom has contributed in the Majors so far. As the 32-year-old Coleman explains to McCosky, he was uncertain he’d even get a chance to play this offseason after receiving little interest, and he ultimately had to earn a spot on the Triple-A roster after signing a minor league deal that didn’t have an invite to big league camp. Coleman allowed just four runs with a 15-to-5 K/BB ratio and eight saves in Triple-A before being added to the big league roster, and he’s since turned in seven shutout innings in the big leagues. Goodrum, meanwhile, isn’t getting on base much (.308) but has shown unexpected pop and filled in around the diamond at multiple positions. While the success of each player has come in a small sample of work, they, along with a slate of veterans in Triple-A Toledo, are ably holding down roster spots and performing fairly well while the organization’s younger players progress toward the system’s upper levels and, eventually, the Major Leagues.

AL Notes: Morrison, White Sox, Yankees

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First baseman Logan Morrison ended up with the Twins, but many expected the Red Sox to pursue him more aggressively than they did. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe has some interesting quotes from LoMo, who smacked 38 homers for the Rays last season but ultimately settled for a meager $6.5MM guarantee with performance escalators and a vesting option. Morrison says he himself didn’t have any conversations with Boston. His agent spoke with the club during the winter meetings, but apparently “that was it,” and clearly that discussion didn’t culminate in any serious offers. “Am I surprised? I guess. I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the most shocking thing I saw [in the market].” The Sox ended up re-signing Mitch Moreland to play first base for them on a two-year, $13MM contract.

Some other American League-related items…

  • James Fegan of The Athletic has an insightful rundown of some young White Sox arms. Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech and Dane Dunning have all had their ups and downs this spring, and Fegan was able to get quotes from all of them on some recent performances in camp. For instance, Giolito spoke about his latest outing during which he allowed two runs in the first inning. “It’s one of those days where like, if one pitching isn’t working you can go to the other ones and I was able to do that for the most part after the first inning,” he said. Kopech offered some confidence in his performance. Threw a lot of changeups, changeups were good,” Kopech said. “My main two focuses were fastball command and changeup command. Both were really good. Got a lot of swings and misses on the changeup.” Anyone looking for more quotes from these young pitchers should give the article a full read.
  • The Yankees have officially tabbed right-hander Luis Severino to be the club’s Opening Day starter. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com has some notable quotes from manager Aaron Boone on the subject. “”We feel like it’s his time for it,” Boone said. “With what he was able to do last year, we feel like he’s in a really good place now. We just felt like now is the time for him to take on that role and we think he’s ready for it.” While it’s hardly surprising to hear that the third-place finisher in 2017’s Cy Young voting will throw his club’s first game of the season, the announcement also comes with the news that lefty Jordan Montgomery will officially be given the club’s fifth rotation spot and start the Yankees’ home opener.

AL News & Rumors: Astros, Tigers, ChiSox, Jays

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There remains an outside chance that Houston will trade for Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander this month, as the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo hears from major league sources that the Astros haven’t closed the door on acquiring the fireballer. There have been a slew of reports since last month on the possibility of Verlander going to the Astros, including one from FanRag’s Jon Heyman earlier this week. A source told Heyman that negotiations between the two teams had been “put to bed.” For his part, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow doesn’t expect to make a big acquisition before the month’s out. To land Verlander, who’s still due around $7MM this season and another $56MM from 2018-19, the Luhnow-led Astros would need to take on the majority of his contract and “give up a few prospects,” Cafardo writes. Not all prospects are created equally, of course, and the Tigers want legitimate young talent in return for the longtime ace and franchise icon, per various reports.

More from the American League:

  • Left fielder Justin Upton, another of the Tigers’ high-priced veterans, currently doesn’t plan to opt out of his contract in the offseason, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (via Twitter). A change of heart, which could happen given Upton’s superlative production and the Tigers’ rebuilding status, would mean walking away from the guaranteed $88MM he’s due through 2021. The soon-to-be 30-year-old Upton wasn’t great in 2016, the first season of the $132.75MM accord, but has rebounded to slash an excellent .283/.367/.542 with 25 home runs, 10 stolen bases and 4.0 fWAR through 479 plate appearances in the current campaign.
  • Right-hander Lucas Giolito will make his White Sox debut Tuesday with a start against the Twins, relays Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). The Sox acquired Giolito and a pair of fellow pitching prospects, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning, from the Nationals last winter for outfielder Adam Eaton. Giolito has since turned in 128 2/3 Triple-A innings of 4.48 ERA ball, to go with 9.37 K/9, 4.13 BB/9 and a 44.4 percent ground-ball rate. Once among the game’s most celebrated prospects, the big 23-year-old has lost some luster over the past couple seasons, though he still factors into the summer top 100 lists of FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen (No. 35), MLB.com (No. 59) and Baseball America (No. 75).
  • Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi profiles Blue Jays outfield prospect Teoscar Hernandez, whom the team acquired from the Astros for left-hander Francisco Liriano last month. Hernandez actually made his major league debut in Toronto in August 2016 and collected his first hit, a home run, against Liriano. The Dominican Republic native then called his mother and told her he’d love to play for Toronto eventually. Unsurprisingly, then, Hernandez reacted with elation when Astros assistant GM Mike Elias broke the news of the trade to him. “He told me I just got traded for Francisco Liriano and when first he told me that, I was like, ‘Really? Is this happening?’” Hernandez said. “Then I felt so happy. I don’t know why. My first reaction was like the same one when I got called up (to the majors) last year – I was so excited.” Hernandez, 24, has played with Triple-A Buffalo – not Toronto – since the deal, but rival executives Davidi polled expect him to at least serve as a quality fourth outfielder for the Jays.

Central Notes: Twins, Lopez, Winker, Reds

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A pair of Twins pitchers are set to resume throwing tomorrow, according to statements from each via Twitter. Righty Trevor May, who is contributing at MLBTR while working back from Tommy John surgery, says he will begin his march back in earnest. That drew a reply from southpaw Hector Santiago, who says he’ll do the same; he has been out for nearly a month with what the team called upper thoracic back pain and discomfort. There’s no expectation that May will return during the 2017 season, as his procedure took place this March. But Santiago conceivably could. The 29-year-old has every incentive to do just that, as he’s slated to hit the market this fall and would surely like a chance to improve upon the subpar results he has produced during his time in Minnesota.

More from the game’s Central divisions…

  • While the Twins had some other possible trade chips to move, the team never came close to making any deals beyond those it completed, assistant GM Rob Antony tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link). There was little in the way of rumors surrounding shorter-term assets like Ervin Santana, Brian Dozier or Eduardo Escobar prior to the deadline, so perhaps the team’s preference was simply to engage with other clubs on impending free agents such as Jaime Garcia and Brandon Kintzler. Speculatively speaking, righty Matt Belisle could be a name to watch in August. He’s playing on an eminently affordable one-year, $2.05MM deal and rebounded from an awful month of May with a solid June and a scoreless 12 2/3 frames (with a 13-to-2 K/BB ratio) in July.
  • White Sox prospect Reynaldo Lopez, acquired in the offseason Adam Eaton trade, is forcing his way into the team’s big league plans, general manager Rick Hahn tells Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. “He’s forcing the issue,” said Hahn. “He’s had several starts in a row that have been very impressive.” Indeed, Lopez has turned in a 2.16 ERA with a 54-to-11 K/BB ratio in his past 41 2/3 innings. Hahn also offered praise for Lucas Giolito’s recent work, though those numbers are skewed by a pair of drubbings in an otherwise solid run of 11 starts. Lopez recently appeared on the latest installment of Jason Martinez’s “Knocking Down the Door” series here at MLBTR and seems to be nearing his first Major League look with the ChiSox.
  • Reds outfield prospect Jesse Winker, who was recalled from Triple-A this week, is in line for regular playing time in the Majors now, per Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). The Reds tabbed Winker with the 49th overall pick in the 2012 draft, and he’s been considered among the game’s top 100 or so prospects for much of the past three years. Winker had a cup of coffee earlier this season but returned to Triple-A in short order, where he ultimately put together a .314/.395/.408 showing. Wrist injuries have led to a power outage for Winker over the past two seasons, but he looks to be regaining some of the pop he showed from 2013-15, as he’s homered in consecutive games for the Reds (including tonight).
  • Buchanan also provides some updates on a trio of injured Reds players in a full column. Outfielder Scott Schebler, whose absence has helped create an opening for Winker, was diagnosed with a bruised rotator cuff following an MRI exam. He’s out for at least the next two to three weeks, per Buchanan. Injured righty Scott Feldman, meanwhile, threw a three-inning simulated game today, though the timeline on his return to the Majors isn’t yet clear. And second base prospect Dilson Herrera, who had a bone spur removed from his shoulder recently, will be cleared to begin throwing in three to four months. Buchanan’s column has more quotes and context from manager Bryan Price and Reds team doctor Timothy Kremchek, so Reds fans should take a look for more details.

Heyman’s Latest: Nats, Cutch, Marlins, Cole, Cobb

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Jon Heyman of Fan Rag takes a look around the league in his latest notes columns. In addition to providing updates on every National League and American League team, he takes a particularly close look at the Nationals in separate posts. Let’s take a look at some of the items of particular relevance to the transactional landscape:

  • The Nationals are beginning to put in phone calls to rivals as they start the search for a new closer in earnest, Heyman writes. Among the players under consideration by the team, at present, are a variety of names with differing contract situations. David Robertson of the White Sox, Kelvin Herrera of the Royals, and A.J. Ramos of the Marlins all have two years remaining at less-than-bargain rates (the latter two via arbitration). Alex Colome of the Rays and Roberto Osuna of the Blue Jays, meanwhile, bring more years of cheap control — and, in all likelihood, astronomical asking prices. Then there’s old friend Mark Melancon, who is in the first year of the four-year pact he signed with the Giants — who evidently beat the Nats’ offer over the winter. Needless to say, there’s quite a lot that could change that picture over the coming months.
  • Looking back a bit, the Nationals came closer than any other team to landing Andrew McCutchen from the Pirates over the winter, Heyman adds.Per the report, the sides held talks that “revolved around three players, including Lucas Giolito and veteran Gio Gonzalez.” It’s not immediately clear what else might have been involved, and where things went south, but it’s interesting to hear those parameters. The Nats ultimately pivoted to Adam Eaton, of course, but he’s now out for the year. Perhaps it’s conceivable that the team could take another look at McCutchen, though no doubt the teams would need to start discussions anew with Giolito in Chicago, Gonzalez a key member of the Nats staff and McCutchen struggling.
  • The Marlins sale talks had seemingly been building, but Heyman writes that there’s no deal ready to be made at present. For one thing, there are whispers that the purchase price will continue to drop as the organization’s financial health comes under greater scrutiny. For another, there are still questions about where the money will come from on the buyer’s side. “[A]t least the Bush-Jeter group and maybe the Romney-Glavine group, too, [are] still seeking investors,” per Heyman.
  • Two significant recent investments made by the Marlins aren’t delivering value at present. Per Heyman, lefty Wei-Yin Chen is headed for a second opinion with his elbow issue still failing to progress. It seems the team could be bracing for a relatively lengthy absence. And Heyman notes that some in the baseball operations department weren’t thrilled at the idea of extending Martin Prado last year at $40MM over three years. He has been playing well enough, but is back on the DL with a recurring hamstring injury.
  • Pirates righty Gerrit Cole has looked strong in the early going, but Heyman says the team may not be interested in dealing him even if they continue to lag in the standings. “We’re not in any rush,” a club source tells him. “I don’t think we’re there yet.” The 26-year-old owns a 2.84 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 1.0 BB/9; while the peripherals are largely in line with his 2016 work, the improved results are supported by jumps in swinging-strike rate (9.9%) and average fastball velocity (a career-high 96.1 mph). With two more years of arb eligibility to go, Cole would likely command a big price at the deadline.
  • While the Rays entered play today just one game under .500, that doesn’t mean they aren’t readying for the possibility of selling. Of course, given the team’s pitching depth, it’s imaginable that the team could send out a veteran while still maintaining hopes of cracking the postseason. Per Heyman, Tampa Bay has “already begun calling to get a gauge on the value of Alex Cobb.” Rivals also think the club will be amenable to discussing both Jake Odorizzi and Chris Archer, he adds. Cobb, though, is the most obvious possible trade chip. The 29-year-old was homer-prone in his return from Tommy John surgery last year, but has looked solid through 56 1/3 innings this year — his last before reaching free agency. He carries a 3.67 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 to go with a 47.5% groundball rate. Cobb still isn’t getting swings and misses like he used to, but his velocity is better than ever and he has tamped down on the long balls thus far.

Nationals Notes: McCutchen, Gio, Harper, Fedde, Ross

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Last December’s Andrew McCutchen trade talks between the Nationals and Pirates included top prospect Lucas Giolito and left-hander Gio Gonzalez, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Heyman notes that talks between Pittsburgh and Washington centered around three players, and he reported back in December that Giolito and minor league righty Dane Dunning were a part of McCutchen talks. Some combination of Giolito, Dunning and Gonzalez (whose salary is roughly similar to that of McCutchen) certainly seems like a nice haul for the Pirates, though to be fair, Heyman hasn’t specifically listed that trio in a singular report, nor is it clear that said trio was ever actually offered. Furthermore, it’s not known whether the Nationals or the Pirates are the team that backed out of talks before Washington sent Giolito, Dunning and Reynaldo Lopez to the White Sox in exchange for Adam Eaton. McCutchen is off to an ugly .214/.286/.393 start at the plate, though Giolito hasn’t fared much better in the minors. Through 34 1/3 Triple-A innings, he’s posted a 6.55 ERA with 9.4 K/9, 5.0 BB/9 and a 43.3 percent ground-ball rate.

More notes on the Nats…

  • Asked about what type of money Bryce Harper will command in free agency, the GM of another club tells Heyman that he believes Harper will command closer to $500MM than $400MM on the open market. Furthermore, he stated a belief that $400MM is the “baseline” for a Harper contract in free agency. There’s been plenty of consternation among fans about whether Harper has truly lived up to the hype surrounding him in his career, though his 2015 NL MVP and .376/.491/.744 start to the 2017 campaign are undeniably strong points in his favor. Harper won’t turn 25 until the season comes to a close, and he’s already been worth 24-26 wins above replacement (depending on one’s preferred version of the metric). Whether that makes him worth an investment approaching half a billion dollars is, of course, another debate, but he certainly looks to have rounded back into form after reports of a shoulder injury that plagued him throughout a “down” season (by his standards) in 2016.
  • Nats general manager Mike Rizzo explained the team’s decision to move top prospect Erick Fedde to a bullpen role this season to Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Washington felt it would have to limit Fedde’s innings this year one way or another, and keeping him in a rotation role would’ve meant shutting him down in the minors at some point. However, by moving him to the ’pen, the Nats can not only manage his innings but also take a look at the former first-rounder on the Major League roster at some point. “If he was farther away from the big leagues in our mind, we probably would just shut his innings down when they were over, and utilize that,” said Rizzo. “…We thought all along that if we were to see Fedde in the big leagues this year, it would probably be in a relief role … as the bullpen struggled and we had three guys on the disabled list at one time, we thought this was a good time to use the transformation to get him into the bullpen.”
  • Rizzo also explained to Zuckerman that the Nats consider right-hander Joe Ross “too valuable” as a starting pitcher to consider a similar shift to the bullpen. Rizzo stated that Ross’ stuff is “too good” and referred to him as a “proven starter,” though the Nationals do currently have Ross in Triple-A in an effort to improve his effectiveness against left-handed opponents. Rizzo notes that Ross is “100 percent” healthy but may have been losing his release point as he worked deeper into starts.

Pitching Notes: Cubs, Rangers, White Sox, Indians

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The Cubs have tabbed left-hander Brett Anderson to open the season as their fifth starter, tweets Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. Consequently, fellow southpaw Mike Montgomery, whom Anderson beat out, will head to the bullpen. At $3.5MM, Anderson received one of the biggest contracts the Cubs handed out during an offseason devoid of free agent splashes for the reigning World Series champions. Given the 29-year-old Anderson’s well-known injury history, though, it stands to reason Montgomery could end up in the rotation this season. “I could see him starting,” manager Joe Maddon told Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com. “Long relief, short relief. All of it.”

  • The Rangers “have had conversations with other clubs” about acquiring starting pitching, though they didn’t delve into the “top end” of the trade market, general manager Jon Daniels told MLB Network Radio (Twitter link). Daniels doesn’t expect to land another starter from outside the organization, as he noted that the Rangers are “going internally” to address their rotation. Texas won’t need a fifth starter until April 15, when Andrew Cashner could return from biceps tendinitis, and it appears they’ll slot A.J. Griffin in as the No. 4 option behind Yu Darvish, Cole Hamels and Martin Perez, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The recovering Tyson Ross (shoulder) figures to join the starting five when he makes his 2017 big league debut, which could happen in early May.
  • Right-handed prospect Lucas Giolito has lost some of the hype that accompanied him last year, leading Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com to wonder if he’ll regain it with the White Sox organization. Previously a member of the Nationals, with whom he topped out as Baseball America’s fifth-best prospect, Giolito was part of a blockbuster December trade in which he (and fellow righties Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning) went to Chicago for outfielder Adam Eaton. Despite serving as the headlining part of the return for the Sox, and despite continuing to rank as a high-end prospect according to most outlets, skepticism has developed regarding the 22-year-old. “I think he will be a bullpen guy down the line, kind of like a Jon Rauch or Luke Hochevar,” a National League executive told Crasnick. “He got hyped up a lot and Washington found out later. Usually, the drafting team is the last to know.” Meanwhile, one member of an American League front office Crasnick spoke with isn’t as ready to write off Giolito. “As a 22-year-old who’s already missed a year with Tommy John, Lucas Giolito deserves a chance to grow and evolve,” he said. “He really hasn’t had enough innings to show us what he’s going to be.”
  • Indians righty Carlos Carrasco could begin the year in extended spring training as he looks to build up his arm strength after a bout with elbow soreness, writes Terry Pluto of cleveland.com. The Indians have two off days in the first two weeks of the season, which would enable them to be patient with Carrasco and not have to use five starters immediately.

Quick Hits: Giants, Giolito, Peralta, Kinsler

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Here’s the latest from around baseball as we head into the new week…

  • The Giants may carry five outfielders on the 25-man roster in an effort to keep Hunter Pence and Denard Span fresh, MLB.com’s Chris Haft writes.  Giants skipper Bruce Bochy said the club may also carry four outfielders plus one bench player capable of backing up at both an infield position and an outfield spot.  Pence, Span, Jarrett Parker and Mac Williamson are expected to be regulars in the San Francisco outfield this year, with Parker and Williamson platooning in left field (unless one wins the job outright).  Gorkys Hernandez, Mike Morse, Kyle Blanks, Kelby Tomlinson, Justin Ruggiano and Slade Heathcott are a few of the well-known names fighting for jobs in the Giants’ camp.
  • Lucas Giolito sees his trade to the White Sox as “an immediate breath of fresh air,” the young righty tells USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  The highly-touted Giolito struggled in his MLB debut last season, posting a 6.75 ERA and walking 12 batters (against just 11 strikeouts) over 21 1/3 innings with the Nationals while being promoted and demoted multiple times.  “Every start was like I have to do well or I’m going to get sent down to Triple-A.  The team wanted to win, and if I wasn’t going to give them an opportunity to win, then they wouldn’t want me there.  It made sense,” Giolito said.  With the Sox in more of a rebuilding phase, Giolito is looking forward to getting more for an opportunity to properly acclimate himself to the majors.
  • Jhonny Peralta is fully healthy and fully prepared for a move to third base, the veteran Cardinals infielder tells MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch.  Bothered by a thumb injury for much of 2016, Peralta batted only .260/.307/.408 over 313 PA as he lost his starting shortstop job to Aledmys Diaz.  Peralta will now battle Jedd Gyorko for regular playing time at the hot corner while looking to re-establish himself before hitting free agency next winter.  Peralta, who turns 35 in May, is hopeful of continuing to play “for a couple more years.”
  • Offseason trade rumors ended up being “just talk” and thus of no concern to Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler, the Associated Press reports.  Kinsler and several other Tigers veterans were mentioned as potential trade candidates this winter, and Kinsler praised GM Al Avila for being straight-forward about what was happening.  “To be up front and honest is always the best way to act in my opinion. That’s the way that I like to approach people, and that’s the way he approached us as a whole, as a team.  Was it different? Absolutely, it was different. Most GMs would not do that,” Kinsler said.

Bullpen Notes: Nationals, Miller, Marlins

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Some items on the always-busy relief pitching market…

  • The Nationals explored acquiring Andrew Miller at last July’s trade deadline, though balked at the idea of moving Lucas Giolito and other prospects for the ace reliever, ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian recently noted (as cited by ESPN.com’s Buster Olney in his latest subscriber-only column).  Trading for Miller would’ve solved Washington’s search for a long-term closer, and the Nats ended up moving Giolito anyway at the Winter Meetings to obtain Adam Eaton “in a market saturated with outfield options.”  This decision presents an interesting what-if for Nats fans, though the answer could simply come down to the fact that the Nationals no longer valued Giolito as highly.  “Their view of Giolito obviously changed completely.  Whatever it was, they were working to move him,” an evaluator tells Olney.
  • Speaking of Miller, this offseason’s skyrocketing relief prices have made the Indians lefty a bargain for the team, Zack Meisel of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes.  Miller is owed $9MM in each of the next two seasons, a fraction of what he would earn if he was on the open market this winter.
  • Brad Ziegler and Neftali Feliz have been mentioned as potential Marlins backup plans if they can’t sign Kenley Jansen, and MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro also adds Fernando Salas and Junichi Tazawa to the team’s list of possible candidates.  Overall, the Fish would be looking to add relievers with closing experience, though A.J. Ramos would likely remain Miami’s closer.

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