NL East Notes: Phillies’ Outfield, Keuchel, Granderson
The Phillies will soon face a decision with regard to their outfield when Roman Quinn returns from the injured list, writes Matt Breen of Philly.com. Quinn, who played nine innings in a rehab game yesterday, is out of minor league options and will need to be added to the active roster. Given his speed and ability to play all three outfield slots, the organization will retain the soon-to-be 26-year-old. That means either optioning Nick Williams to Triple-A Lehigh Valley or designating fellow out-of-options outfielder Aaron Altherr for assignment. Parting ways with Altherr is the “most likely scenario,” per Breen, though the organization seemingly would prefer to find a way to keep him. As Breen further notes, losing Altherr on waivers and the seeing Quinn go down with another injury would leave the Phils without a backup center fielder on the 40-man roster. Between non-roster journeyman Lane Adams starting the season in Triple-A for the Phils and the number of outfielders designated by other organizations over the course of a season, though, a short-term injury to Quinn could probably be patched over.
Some more from the division…
- The Mets have continued to keep tabs on Dallas Keuchel‘s market, SNY’s Andy Martino writes, though at this point it’s still more due diligence than anything else. Fifth starter Jason Vargas still has supporters within the organization, and any move to add a starter would require pushing him out of the rotation and possibly off the roster in the second season of a two-year, $16MM deal. Vargas posted a 4.50 ERA with a more solid 15-to-6 K/BB ratio in 18 spring innings. He allowed a pair of runs on eight hits and a walk with just two strikeouts across five innings in his season debut earlier this week.
- It hasn’t taken long for young Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson to look to veteran Curtis Granderson as a mentor, as David Wilson of the Miami Herald explains. Coming out of Spring Training, Brinson requested that his locker in the Marlins’ clubhouse be adjacent to Granderson, and the two have quickly formed a bond. “I pick Curtis’ brain,” says Brinson. “I asked if I could be next to him in the locker room just so if I have a question on anything that crosses my mind, I can ask him and if he has anything to ask me, if he wants to go over anything with me we’re right next to each other.” The 38-year-old Granderson is among the game’s most respected and popular players, and beyond the fact that he remains a productive bat against right-handed pitching, the Marlins surely saw appeal in adding this exact type of leadership to a young, developing club when signing him.
Injury Notes: Reds, Wood, Rays, Duffy, Jays, Marlins
Reds left-hander Alex Wood, who’s on the injured list with lower back tightness, isn’t nearing a return. While Wood is progressing in his recovery, it may have been “a little aggressive” on the Reds’ part to expect a mid-April debut, manager David Bell said Sunday (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Given that Wood has been battling back problems since late February, he’ll need to build up his innings before taking a major league mound again, Nightengale notes. Wood’s situation is undoubtedly a significant disappointment for the Reds. After all, Cincinnati acquired the ex-Dodger’s final year of team control with the hope that he’d slot in near the top of its made-over rotation for the entire season.
More injury updates from around the league…
- The back and hamstring issues that forced Rays third baseman Matt Duffy to open the season on the injured list will shelve him until at least mid-May, Rodney Page of the Tampa Bay Times writes. This is the latest unfortunate injury-related development for Duffy, who missed 71 games two years ago and sat out another 30 during what was still a productive campaign in 2018. Yandy Diaz and Daniel Robertson have occupied third in Duffy’s absence so far this season.
- The Blue Jays have shut down lefty Clayton Richard for two weeks on account of a right knee stress reaction, Scott Mitchell of TSN reports. Richard, acquired from the Padres in the offseason, had been slated to make his Blue Jays debut against Baltimore on Monday. That start will instead go to righty Sean Reid-Foley, whom the Jays will need to recall from Triple-A Buffalo. Meanwhile, southpaw Ryan Borucki, who’s on the IL with elbow discomfort, is making progress but will miss at least one more start, manager Charlie Montoyo revealed Sunday (per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).
- The Marlins announced that they’ve placed right fielder Garrett Cooper on the IL with a left calf strain. Cooper said he’ll sit out a few weeks, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. It’s the second consecutive early season injury for Cooper, who began 2018 as the Marlins’ starting right fielder before going down for months with a partially torn wrist tendon sheath. His newest injury led the Marlins to recall power-hitting outfielder Peter O’Brien from Triple-A New Orleans.
Health Notes: Kershaw, Perez, Johnson
Dodgers southpaw Clayton Kershaw may not be all that far from returning to the MLB mound, but he has a few more steps to take. As Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports on Twitter, the star hurler could soon be cleared for a minor-league rehab assignment — if he’s able to complete a live BP session tomorrow without incident. Supposing things go well and Kershaw is ready to resume competitive action next week, he’ll still need to build up his pitch count before returning to the Dodgers roster. It’s not yet clear how many rehab starts he’d need before being activated.
More health notes from around the game …
- The Tigers announced Friday that pitching prospect Franklin Perez will miss the first four to six weeks of the season due to tendinitis in his right shoulder. He’ll rehab at the team’s spring facility in Lakeland, Fla. for the time being. The shoulder tendinitis is the latest health-related setback for 21-year-old, who also missed most of the 2018 campaign with lat and shoulder issues. Perez, who threw just 19 1/3 innings last seasons, was one of the key pieces Detroit received from the Astros in the 2017 blockbuster that sent Justin Verlander to Houston. Considered at the time of that deal to be one of baseball’s premier minor league arms, Perez has seen his prospect star dim as injuries have prevented him from taking the hill. Fortunately for the Tigers, he’s still quite young and has ample time to develop, but the ongoing arm issues are a troubling trend.
- There’s an even tougher diagnosis for Marlins prospect Osiris Johnson, as Wells Dusenbery of the Sun Sentinel reports on Twitter. The youngster appears to be sidelined for all of the 2019 season after undergoing surgery for a right tibial stress fracture. Taken in the second round of last year’s draft, the shortstop is considered a high-risk, high-upside talent. He turned in good results at the Rookie level but stumbled in a late promotion to the Class A level. This was to be an important year of development for Johnson, who only turned 18 last October.
Marlins Release Dan Straily
8:44am: Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill announced to reporters that Straily has been released by the organization (Twitter link via Joe Frisaro of MLB.com). Mish tweets that Straily is going on release waivers today, meaning he’ll become a free agent if he clears on Wednesday at 1pm ET. Assuming that happens, he’ll receive the aforementioned 45 days’ termination pay and can can sign with any club for any amount of money (on top of that termination pay from Miami).
7:52am: In a fairly surprising move, the Marlins have designated right-hander Dan Straily for assignment, according to Craig Mish of SiriusXM (all Twitter links). The Marlins will now have a week to trade him or release him. Left-hander Caleb Smith has made the Marlins’ Opening Day rotation in what was expected to be Straily’s spot, Mish adds.
Straily, 30, was acquired from the Reds in a January 2017 trade that cost the Marlins right-hander Luis Castillo (along with the since-reacquired righty Austin Brice and minor league outfielder Zeek White). Straily made 33 starts for Miami in his first year with the club and tallied another 23 starts for the Fish in a 2018 season that was slowed a bit by a forearm strain early in the year. In all, he gave the Marlins 304 innings of 4.20 ERA ball with averages of 8.0 strikeouts, 3.3 walks and 1.5 homers allowed per nine innings pitched.
On the heels of that output, Miami and Straily agreed to a $5MM salary earlier this winter, avoiding arbitration in the process. Today’s DFA will save the Marlins about $3.8MM of that $5MM sum, as even if Straily is released, the organization would only owe him 45 days’ termination pay (roughly $1.2MM). Ultimately, those cost savings were surely at the heart of the move. There’s little doubt that Straily is a better option for the Miami pitching staff than fellow veteran Wei-Yin Chen, but Miami will retain Chen and his fully guaranteed $20MM salary and instead part ways with a veteran arm whose salary was only partially guaranteed.
Miami has reportedly been exploring trades for Straily all offseason, including prior to tendering him at that $5MM rate, but without any success. As such, it may be difficult for them to find a partner in the coming days, though perhaps a club with injury issues in its rotation will have some interest — if not via trade then via straight waiver claim. Straily did rank in the 70th percentile of MLB pitchers in terms of fastball spin and in the 80th percentile in terms of curveball spin, so he could hold particular appeal to clubs that emphasize spin rate. If he goes unclaimed, Straily will become a free agent who is eligible to sign with any club for any amount of money while still pocketing the $1.2MM owed to him by Miami.
As for the Marlins, they’ll now trot out a younger rotation consisting of Jose Urena, Trevor Richards, Pablo Lopez, Sandy Alcantara and Smith, with Chen lined up as the long man in the bullpen. Elieser Hernandez, Jeff Brigham and Jordan Yamamoto are all on the 40-man roster as depth options.
Developmentally speaking, one can hardly fault the rebuilding Marlins for wanting to give as many of their growing stable of arms an opportunity as possible, though the fact that doing so now means paying a reasonably useful Major League arm to pitch somewhere else is hardly ideal. The truly questionable element of the whole equation will be the decision to tender Straily in the first place a youth movement was always the preferred route for the rotation. Presumably, though, when that decision was due in early December, Miami still had confidence in its ability to find a trade partner.
NL Notes: Chen, Gyorko, d’Arnaud, Kendrick
Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen will open the year in the Marlins’ bullpen, Wells Dusenbery of the Sun Sentinel tweets. It’s the latest less-than-ideal development in what has been a subpar Marlins tenure for Chen. The 33-year-old did take this setback in stride, though, per Dusenbery. Now in the fourth season of a five-year, $80MM contract, Chen has pitched to a 4.75 ERA/4.38 FIP with 7.33 K/9 and 2.49 BB/9 in 289 2/3 innings since going from Baltimore to Miami. Fifty-three of Chen’s 57 Marlins appearances have come as a starter, including all 26 last season.
Elsewhere in Miami’s staff, the club has shut down Rule 5 pick Riley Ferrell because of biceps tendinitis, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. The Marlins had been leaning toward keeping the 25-year-old right-hander, whom they plucked from Houston in December. Ferrell could factor into the Fish’s bullpen plans this season if he’s healthy and retained.
The latest on a few other NL teams…
- Cardinals infielder Jedd Gyorko is likely to start 2019 on the 10-day injured list, which will lead to roster spots for Yairo Munoz and Drew Robinson, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. Gyorko has been dealing with a calf problem throughout the month. He’ll be an important bench player for the Cardinals when he returns, having posted three straight above-average offensive seasons with the club over a combined 1,321 plate appearances.
- Likewise, Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud seems ticketed for the IL, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com relays. The oft-injured d’Arnaud is still working back from the Tommy John surgery he underwent on his right elbow last May. With d’Arnaud out and Devin Mesoraco having failed to make the team, it appears Tomas Nido will open the season as Wilson Ramos‘ backup. Aside from d’Arnaud and Ramos, Nido is the lone catcher on the Mets’ 40-man roster.
- Infielder/outfielder Howie Kendrick won’t begin the year on the Nationals’ roster, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Kendrick will instead remain in Florida to continue rehabbing from the hamstring strain he suffered two-plus weeks ago. It’s unclear when Kendrick will rejoin the Nationals, but when he does, he’ll be in line for his first major league action since incurring a ruptured right Achilles last May. That catastrophic injury derailed what was shaping up to be another quality offensive campaign for Kendrick.
Bryan Holaday, Pedro Alvarez Opt Out Of Marlins Deals
8:50pm: First baseman Pedro Alvarez has also opted out of his deal, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, who adds that outfielder Harold Ramirez will not exercise his out clause. Both Holaday and Alvarez have 48 hours to decide whether to go to Triple-A New Orleans, Frisaro notes. Alvarez has raked this spring with a .324/.400/.647 line in 34 at-bats, but the former star prospect hasn’t been much better than a league-average hitter across 3,321 major league PAs with the Pirates and Orioles. The 32-year-old struggled mightily across 127 PAs in Baltimore last season, when he hit a meager .180/.283/.414.
5:17pm: The Marlins are releasing catcher Bryan Holaday, who exercised the opt-out in his minor league contract, per Craig Mish of SiriusXM.
Holaday spent the 2018 campaign in Miami serving as the primary backup to star J.T. Realmuto, whom the team traded to the Phillies in the offseason. With Realmuto out of the picture, Holaday has been competing with Chad Wallach to work as a reserve behind Jorge Alfaro this season. But it appears Wallach has won the battle over Holaday, who hit .276/.364/.310 in 29 at-bats during spring training. That was an improvement over the .205/.261/.258 line Holaday authored over 166 PAs last year with the Marlins.
Offensive issues have been the norm for the 31-year-old Holaday, a .234/.274/.320 hitter in 606 PAs, though he has held his own at times behind the plate. Just last year, Holaday threw out a league-leading 45 percent of would-be base stealers (17 of 38) and, per Baseball Prospectus, offered above-average marks as a pitch framer and blocker.
Roster Notes: Rox, Brewers, Phils, Nats, Reds, Marlins
The latest on several teams’ rosters…
- First baseman Mark Reynolds will make the Rockies’ roster, Nick Groke of The Athletic tweets. A Rockie from 2016-17, Reynolds rejoined the club on a minor league deal this past January after spending last season with the Nationals. In his return to Colorado, the 35-year-old Reynolds will back up the team’s headlining offseason acquisition, Daniel Murphy.
- More from Groke, who reports catcher Brett Nicholas has requested and received his release from the Rockies. However, it’s possible the Rockies will try to keep Nicholas, Groke adds. An ex-Ranger, with whom he totaled 110 plate appearances from 2016-17, Nicholas signed a minors pact with the Rox in November. He has always faced an uphill battle to make the team, though, considering it has Chris Iannetta, Tony Wolters and Tom Murphy on its 40-man roster.
- Catcher Erik Kratz won’t crack the Brewers’ roster, leaving him to await his trade/waiver fate, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. This had been the expected outcome for Kratz, who’s stuck behind Yasmani Grandal and Manny Pina on Milwaukee’s depth chart.
- Infielder Philip Gosselin won’t make the Phillies, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia relays. It seems the 30-year-old will remain on hand as minor league depth, however. The journeyman has accrued 579 major league PAs, though he didn’t play much at the MLB level from 2017-18, and batted .263/.314/.361.
- The Nationals have informed left-hander Vidal Nuno he won’t make their roster, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Nuno now has six days to decide whether to opt out of the minor league deal he signed in January. The 31-year-old has logged solid results this spring, having allowed two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings while recording six strikeouts against one walk. Nuno was similarly effective across 33 innings with Tampa Bay last year, when he put up a 1.64 ERA (with a much less impressive 4.46 FIP) and 7.91 K/9 against 2.73 BB/9.
- The Reds have sent right-hander Anthony Bass to minor league camp, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Bass had been competing for a bullpen spot with the Reds after they signed him to a minors deal in December. He owns a 4.51 ERA/4.20 FIP with 6.07 K/9 and 3.31 BB/9 and a 47.9 percent groundball rate in a combined 299 1/3 innings with the Padres, Astros, Rangers and Cubs.
- The Marlins are “expected” to retain Rule 5 pick Riley Ferrell, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports. The club took the right-hander fourth overall from the Astros in December, and he has since pitched well over 6 2/3 spring innings (two earned runs allowed on five hits and five walks, with 10 strikeouts). Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of FanGraphs regard the 25-year-old Ferrell as “at least a big league-ready middle reliever with a chance to be a set-up man.”
Marlins Select Contract Of Curtis Granderson
The Marlins announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson while optioning fellow outfielder Austin Dean to Triple-A New Orleans. Three non-roster players — lefty Mike Kickham, righty Hector Noesi and catcher Rodrigo Vigil — were all reassigned to minor league camp, too. Miami now has a full 40-man roster.
Granderson, who turned 38 last week, split the 2018 season between the Blue Jays and the Brewers and posted a combined .242/.351/.431 batting line with 13 home runs, 22 doubles and a pair of triples in 403 plate appearances. He’s had a rough Spring Training, but Granderson was reportedly likely to make the club from the beginning of camp.
The Marlins surely value having a veteran with his level of experience working with what figures to be a very young outfield mix, but he won’t be an everyday option for them in the outfield. Granderson’s numbers against left-handed pitching have continually deteriorated, rendering him as a strict platoon and pinch-hitting option at this point in his career. Defensively, he’ll be limited to the outfield corners.
The exact composition of Miami’s outfield is beginning to come into focus now that Dean has somewhat surprisingly been optioned out. Lewis Brinson looks locked into the center field job on the heels of a torrid spring, while Garrett Cooper, Peter O’Brien and Rosell Herrera are all still outfield options on the 40-man roster who remain in camp and on the 40-man roster. Gabriel Guerrero is also still in camp as a non-roster player who could yet crack the Opening Day roster.
NL East Notes: deGrom, Lowrie, Taylor, Jones
Though there are just over two weeks between now and Opening Day, Mets ace Jacob deGrom said Tuesday that he’s still “optimistic” about coming to terms on a long-term deal with the organization (link via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Whatever talks have transpired, both the Mets and deGrom’s camp have done a good job of keeping things under wraps, as there’s been little reported on the matter since camp opened despite deGrom’s standing as one of the game’s elite talents. The right-hander stated again today that he “definitely” wants to be a part of the Mets’ future. It’s been one month since deGrom was reported to have placed an Opening Day deadline on extension talks with the Mets. He’s slated to earn $17MM in 2019 — his second-to-last season of arbitration eligibility — and is currently on track to become a free agent after the 2020 season.
More from the NL East …
- On the health side, the Mets have seen encouraging progress from a few players. Jed Lowrie has resumed baseball activities and could be on track to return from his knee sprain early in the season. There’s even an “outside shot” that he’s on the active roster on Opening Day, DiComo says. And backstop Travis d’Arnaud is expected to head north with the big league club after missing almost all of 2018, DiComo adds. d’Arnaud, who avoided arbitration at a $3.515MM salary, has continued to check boxes this spring as he recovers from Tommy John surgery.
- Nationals outfielder Michael Taylor is turning heads inside and outside the organization, Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic writes (subscription link). While Victor Robles will be given a shot to make good on his promise, the Nats are also considering scenarios where he slides to right field to enable Taylor to roam in center. Utilizing such an alignment when there’s a lefty on the hill would also facilitate rest for Adam Eaton, who has been limited by leg ailments ever since arriving in Washington. Soon to turn 28, Taylor has had chances to seize regular time in the past but hasn’t managed to reach base consistently enough to fully realize his potential. He spent the winter working on swing mechanics and preparing to “stay[] strong on the mental side” with a more “positive” mindset. Taylor will enter the season fourth on the depth chart, but could still have ample opportunity with the Nats in the season to come and beyond.
- The Marlins pursued veteran outfielder Adam Jones before he signed with the Diamondbacks, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Those were the only two teams with interest in Jones, who suggested he was not inclined to consider minor-league offers. The Marlins ended up securing the services of some other veteran players on favorable terms, including a minors pact with outfielder Curtis Granderson; the club’s level of financial interest in Jones is not known. Jones says he “want[s] to play a few more years for sure, at least.”
NL East Notes: Phillies’ Outfield, Mets’ Bullpen, Solis, Lopez
Offseason additions of Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen have left the Phillies with an overcrowded outfield mix that will likely lead to some roster shuffling. As The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro examines at length (subscription required), the Phils now have five outfielders — Odubel Herrera, Roman Quinn, Nick Williams, Aaron Altherr and Dylan Cozens — all on the 40-man roster beyond their two big-name pickups. Both Herrera and Quinn are currently nursing minor injuries, but they’re also the two most logical options for center field. Williams, meanwhile, isn’t viewed as an option in center, per manager Gabe Kapler, which severely clouds his future with the team. Williams does have minor league options remaining, but he could also hold appeal as a trade asset marketed to other clubs in search of outfield help. (The same could be true of Herrera, but he’s owed $24.5MM through 2021 and had a down season in 2018.) Of the Phillies’ current outfielders, both Altherr and Quinn are out of minor league options, which only enhances the likelihood of some roster moves in the next couple of weeks.
Elsewhere in the division…
- Because of the numerous off-days baked into the early-season schedule, the Mets are likelier to open the season with seven relievers than they are with eight, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo are locks to hold down five of those spots, and Puma adds that non-roster lefties Luis Avilan and Hector Santiago are strong candidates to claim the other two slots. Both veterans signed minor league contracts with invites to Spring Training, and both have thrown quite well to open camp. That’d give manager Mickey Callaway three lefties to utilize out of the ‘pen early in the season, although it wouldn’t leave the team with too much in the way of roster flexibility. With so many veteran relievers on board, the only three pitchers of that bunch who could technically be optioned to the minors would be Lugo, Gsellman and Diaz — none of whom would figure to be sent down to the minors at any point. If the Mets do eventually shift to carrying eight relievers, they’d be able to use that final ‘pen slot to shuffle some fresh arms back and forth between the Majors and Triple-A Syracuse.
- Left-hander Sammy Solis was caught “completely off guard” by the Nationals‘ decision to release him, the pitcher tells Richard Justice of MLB.com. Solid seemingly took the abrupt and unexpected news in good stride, thanking the organization and expressing some disappointment over having to say goodbye to longtime teammates. As manager Dave Martinez explains, the move was made with an eye toward giving Solis a chance to find another organization before the season begins. “For me, it was more about giving Sammy an opportunity to latch on with another team and get a chance to have that Spring Training elsewhere,” said Martinez. The Nats also shed $713K in salary with the move, which surely played a factor as well. The 30-year-old Solid has had a pair of unsightly seasons over the past two years, including a 2017 campaign that was shortened by elbow troubles. He maintains that he’s healthy now, though, and one would imagine that a lefty who averaged nearly 94 mph on his fastball to go along with a 12.9 percent swinging-strike rate in 2018 will garner interest — even if only on a minor league contract.
- Right-hander Pablo Lopez is making a strong case to open the season in the Marlins‘ rotation, but manager Don Mattingly said this weekend that no decisions have been made as to who’ll round out the rotation behind Jose Urena and Dan Straily, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Lopez tossed four perfect innings and picked up four punchouts in his most recent outing against a Nationals lineup featuring many regulars. He’s now allowed just one run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in nine spring frames. Wei-Yin Chen‘s contract — he’s owed $42MM over the next two seasons — makes him a likely candidate to get a long look, while other rotation hopefuls include Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Richards and southpaw Caleb Smith.