NL East Notes: Kolek, Nats, Arroyo, Phils
Marlins prospect Tyler Kolek is heading for a medical check-up after suffering an elbow injury and experiencing continued discomfort, MiLB.com’s Michael Leboff reports. That’s a disappointing turn of events for the 20-year-old, who scuffled in his first full professional season last year and was hoping to make strides in 2016. It’s important to note that it’s not yet clear whether Kolek will need any kind of surgery. The righty is still working to harness his high-powered fastball, and is obviously a long-term asset, but as things stand it certainly stings that Miami bypassed the promising Carlos Rodon — who’s already entrenched in a major league rotation — to take a shot on Kolek.
Here’s more from the NL East:
- The Nationals made a variety of roster moves today, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com was among those to report. Top infield prospect Trea Turner was sent down, thus ending any speculation that he might crack the Opening Day roster. Likewise, a series of veterans were moved to minor league camp, including infielder Scott Sizemore and bullpen candidates Aaron Laffey and Nick Masset. As Zuckerman explains, that appears to clarify the remaining battles in those areas, though there are still multiple possibilities for the remaining bench and pen spots.
- Nationals righty Bronson Arroyo is planning to rehab his ailing shoulder and could return to the hill as soon as June, according to MLB.com’s Bill Ladson (via TwitLonger). That’s certainly a better outlook than once had been feared, and it seems possible that Arroyo could provide rotation depth down the line if he can get back to full health.
- The Phillies appear to have stopped their search for outfield depth after adding Will Venable, according to Jayson Stark of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Philadelphia had been inquiring about a number of possibilities, but rival executives tell Stark that the sense is those efforts have been halted.
- Meanwhile, the Phillies appear to be leaning toward keeping Rule 5 pick Daniel Stumpf in the major league pen, manager Pete Mackanin tells Stark (Twitter link). The newly-extended skipper adds that Edward Mujica is “still in the mix,” but seemingly did not commit to handing him an Opening Day roster spot.
Bullpen Notes: Ohlendorf, Giles, Luebke
Here’s the latest on some relief situations from around baseball…
- Free agent righty Ross Ohlendorf has garnered multiple offers and could sign with a team as early as today, according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter link). Ohlendorf might even land a guaranteed Major League deal, Cotillo suggests. The 33-year-old opted out of his minor league contract with the Royals earlier this week, and the club subsequently released him. Ohlendorf, an eight-year veteran, threw 19 1/3 innings in relief for Texas last season and put up a 3.72 ERA, 8.84 K/9 and 3.26 BB/9. It’s worth noting that his average fastball velocity in 2015 was 93.7, a solid increase over his career mean (92.0).
- The Marlins are one of the teams connected to Ohlendorf, Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com reports. Miami took a hit to its bullpen with the news that Carter Capps will miss all of 2016 recovering from Tommy John surgery, so it makes sense that the Fish would be looking at relief help. Jim Benedict, the newly-hired Marlins VP of pitching development, is familiar with Ohlendorf from their shared time in the Pirates organization.
- The Astros‘ trade for Ken Giles surprised many in the industry, ESPN’s Jayson Stark writes, particularly since dealing five young players for a reliever seemed so counter to Jeff Luhnow’s strategy since taking over Houston’s front office. Three factors seemed to fuel the trade — the Astros’ bullpen meltdown in last year’s ALDS, the trend around the game for a lockdown relief corps for late in games, and Giles’ own unique promise as a long-term star closer.
- Pirates lefty Cory Luebke has scouts “buzzing,” tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who notes that the 31-year-old is hitting 94mph with his fastball and 87mph with his curve this spring. Luebke has an out clause in the minor league contract he signed with the Pirates last month, meaning he could be available to sign anywhere soon if he doesn’t win a spot in the Bucs’ bullpen. Luebke last pitched in the majors in 2012, having since undergone a pair of Tommy John surgeries. His most extensive action came as a Padre in 2011, when he tossed 139.2 innings of 3.29 ERA ball to accompany an outstanding 9.92 K/9 and 2.84 BB/9. San Diego then signed the seemingly emerging starter to a four-year, $12MM extension, only for Luebke to fall victim to injuries. Luebke finally returned to the field last June to throw seven innings at three different minor league levels in the Padres organization, but a flexor strain diagnosis and a subsequent minor forearm surgery brought an end to his season.
Connor Byrne also contributed to this post
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/24/16
Here are some minor moves from around baseball over the last week…
- The White Sox signed righty Chris Volstad to a minor league contract, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. The move comes less than two weeks after Volstad was released from his previous minors deal with the Braves. Volstad was an innings-eating rotation arm for the Marlins and Cubs from 2009-12 but he’s pitched just 10 1/3 big league frames since then, bouncing between five different MLB clubs and a stint in the Korea Baseball Organization.
- The Marlins released righty Preston Claiborne, as per the team’s official MLB.com transactions page. Miami took Claiborne off waivers from the Yankees last winter but he missed the entire season with a shoulder injury. Claiborne posted a 3.79 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 2.42 K/BB rate over 71 1/3 innings out of the Yankees bullpen in 2013-14.
- The Reds released southpaw Jonathan Sanchez, as per the team’s Twitter feed. Sanchez was a staple in the Giants rotation from 2008-10, tossing a no-hitter in 2009 and helping the team win the World Series in 2010. He had control problems even at his peak, however, and he posted an 8.73 ERA, 63 walks and 60 strikeouts over 78 1/3 innings in 2012-13, which was his last taste of MLB action.
NL East Notes: TJ, Wright, Marlins, Nats, Chacin
In a piece for ESPN The Magazine, Sam Miller speaks with Scott Boras about pitching injuries — focusing, particularly, on several key NL East former TJ patients who are repped by the super agent. It’s an interesting piece, and I recommend you give it a full read. Boras says that his sometimes rather public discussion of the care of arms is “not an authority-driven exercise,” but rather “an education exercise” designed to draw attention to the issue. He explains that he hopes only to help ensure that all involved — including teams and, especially, his players — are able to “make an informed decision” for themselves. As Miller notes, that was precisely the purpose of the recent Tommy John study of MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum, which endeavored to identify statistical clues of UCL tear susceptibility.
Here’s more from the National League East:
- Speaking of key injury situations, Mets third baseman David Wright faces an ongoing battle to overcome spinal stenosis, as Ron Berler writes in an excellent article for Men’s Fitness. New York will hope that he is able to remain productive and healthy, but it’s going to take a continued effort from the veteran — who has certainly been up to the task thus far, as the piece details.
- The Marlins announced several camp decisions today; among them, the team is optioning righty Kyle Barraclough and southpaw Justin Nicolino to Triple-A. Barraclough had an impressive debut last year after coming over in the Steve Cishek trade, and looked to be a power pen option to help fill in for the injured Carter Capps. He still may have that chance, but will need to keep working on refining his command after permitting eight walks to go with eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 spring innings. Nicolino, meanwhile, had good results in the earned run department but only managed two strikeouts in his 8 1/3 frames, but he’ll likely be the first man up if and when a rotation need arises.
- The Nationals have an interesting potential dilemma brewing in the outfield, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. Michael Taylor has had a strong camp, and seems clearly ready for a full test at the MLB level, but Ben Revere is now in the fold at center while Jayson Werth‘s contract (and, it might be added, standing in the organization) make it difficult to create space. From my perspective, Werth’s injury history makes him a prime candidate for regular rest, which ought to provide plenty of opportunity for all of these players. It’s interesting to note, though, that Rosenthal says the Nats likely would have traded Taylor had the club managed to sign Jason Heyward or Yoenis Cespedes over the winter.
- Off the field, but relating to it, the Nationals are engaged in a renewed effort to sell their ballpark’s naming rights, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports. Valerie Camillo, the organization’s chief revenue and marketing officer, explained that “this is a major revenue opportunity that was untapped by the team, when you look at overall picture of revenue growth potential.” Particularly with the MASN television dispute still proving a tough nut to crack, it obviously makes sense to pursue all avenues to improve the bottom line. While that may require some difficult tradeoffs with the Nationals Park name fairly entrenched, Camillo says that the club is doing it for a good reason: “It’s not as if we’ll be maximizing revenue without a competitive product on the field. We’re doing what we can to keep the fans happy, and I think the predominant thing fans want is winning.”
- Braves righty Jhoulys Chacin is making a push for a rotation job, as Michael Kolligian reports for MLB.com. He has generally been expected to land in the pen after signing a minor league pact, but skipper Fredi Gonzalez says that Chacin is “really making a case.” Gonzalez continued: “he is definitely a guy who, if he keeps pitching like he is, he’ll be in the rotation someplace.” Utilizing Chacin and other veterans in the starting staff would certainly allow the organization to be conservative in deploying its younger options — a topic I discussed in reviewing the Braves’ offseason earlier this morning.
Market Notes: Simon, Lincecum, Harang, Jimenez, Gutierrez, Fernandez
Before he signed on with the Reds, righty Alfredo Simon drew interest from some other organizations — which helps explains why Cincinnati ultimately gave him a guaranteed $2MM contract. Simon says that the Blue Jays were one team with interest, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweets. And the Marlins also reached out, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, though the club wasn’t willing to promise that kind of money to the veteran.
Here’s more on some market situations around the game:
- The Marlins appear unlikely to add Tim Lincecum despite long being said to have interest in the comeback candidate, Jackson adds in the above-linked piece. Miami expects the price will be too steep for him, too. The Fish are not being particularly aggressive in attempting to fill in for injured reliever Carter Capps, Jackson adds.
- Righty Aaron Harang is “not planning to pitch this season,” according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link), though he’s also apparently not quite ready to sign his retirement papers. Harang is leaving open the possibility that he’ll change his mind, per the report. That could suggest that the 37-year-old would entertain an appealing opportunity, but he presumably wasn’t interested in taking a minor league offer to compete for a job in camp. Harang had a tough season last year with the Phillies, but is only one campaign removed from posting a 3.57 ERA over 204 1/3 frames for the Braves.
- The Astros are among a few clubs taking a look at out-of-options Blue Jays catcher A.J. Jimenez, the Houston Chronicle’s Jose de Jesus Ortiz reports (via Twitter). Jimenez, 25, hasn’t yet cracked the majors and hasn’t done much at the plate in the upper minors while dealing with a string of injuries. But he’s a former top-30 Baseball America organizational prospect, and is said to be a high-quality defender. Houston, of course, has a need with Max Stassi sidelined by wrist surgery, and Toronto doesn’t appear to have any inclination to put Jimenez onto the active roster.
- Cuban free agent Vladimir Gutierrez has re-established some of his lost sheen with an impressive recent showcase outing, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper reports (subscription required and recommended). The 20-year-old has gone unsigned despite his strong prospect pedigree, with Cooper explaining that he’s churned through three agencies while struggling to show the same ability that first drew scouts to him in his homeland. In his most recent outing, Gutierrez touched the mid-90s with his fastball, showed a return to his typically excellent curve, and even demonstrated progress with his change, according to the report. He remains eligible to sign at any time, though he will still be subject to international bonus pools.
- Speaking of international matters, the Padres have long been expected to make some big investments in the coming months. Cuban second baseman Jose Fernandez may well be a leading name that will head to San Diego, according to a recent report from Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com (Twitter link). Fernandez reportedly left the island in search of a major league opportunity, though he has apparently not yet been granted free agency. Of course, recent rule changes could significantly impact his timeline. Fernandez, 27, is viewed as being more or less ready for major league action, and he could constitute a significant near and long-term addition for a Padres organization that lacks much certainty in the infield.
NL Notes: Cueto, Jennings, Pirates
Giants starter Johnny Cueto was hit in the head on a Billy Burns liner on the first pitch of his outing Monday night, according to various reporters, including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman. Cueto stayed in the game and pitched three innings, but was checked by team doctors after pitching and will head to the hospital in accordance with team protocol (Twitter links). One would think the Giants would have removed Cueto from the game after the incident if they had considered the issue serious (acknowledging, of course, that pro sports teams have at times underestimated the impact of potential concussions). There would have been no reason for the Giants to keep Cueto in a Spring Training game if they had any indication he was hurt. Still, the situation bears monitoring. Here’s more from around the NL.
- The grievance filed by the Marlins against the Nationals regarding former Marlins GM and manager Dan Jennings was settled in favor of the Nationals, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes. The Nationals are paying Jennings $115K to be a special assistant to GM Mike Rizzo. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported yesterday that the Marlins took issue with that salary because they owed Jennings $1.5MM based on his previous contract with them, minus his salary in his new position. The Marlins thought the Nats’ $115K salary was too low given Jennings’ responsibilities, and that they were therefore on the hook for too much of his remaining salary. Via Janes, though, the disagreement has been resolved. “It’s an old grievance, and it has been settled,” says Rizzo.
- Pirates GM Neal Huntington is excited about his organization’s Triple-A rotation, Stephen A. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The Bucs today optioned top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon to Triple-A Indianapolis and reassigned fellow starters Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault and Trevor Williams. (They also optioned outfielder Harold Ramirez and reassigned catcher Reese McGuire and lefty Kelvin Marte.) Of those starting pitchers, Glasnow and Taillon are the headliners, but Kuhl, Brault and Williams are all prospects in their own right. All could wind up pitching at Indianapolis this year (although perhaps not right away, as Nesbitt notes, since the Bucs might need to preserve a spot there for a depth starter like Kyle Lobstein or Wilfredo Boscan.) “The future is bright,” says Huntington. “You run Taillon, Glasnow, Kuhl, Brault and Williams out in one setting — that’s a very exciting group. … Each one of them brings something that’s very, very intriguing. Now you put that group of five together, it bodes well for our future.” Kuhl is a sinkerballer who pitched well for Double-A Altoona last season. Brault, a lefty, excelled at Class A+ and Double-A after arriving last winter in the trade that sent Travis Snider to Baltimore. And Williams is a recent arrival who the Bucs acquired from the Marlins when pitching guru Jim Benedict headed to Miami.
NL East Notes: Jennings, Ozuna, Wright, Flores
The Marlins have filed a grievance over the $100K salary that the Nationals are allegedly paying former Miami GM/manager Dan Jennings, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. Jennings joined the Washington front office as a special assistant to GM Mike Rizzo in January after being fired by Miami after the season. Jennings still had three years and $5.8MM remaining on his Marlins contract, including $1.5MM for 2016, and Miami owes Jennings the difference between that $1.5MM figure and his new salary for the 2016 season. The Marlins aren’t pleased about still being on the hook for $1.4MM and they claim their NL East rival is paying Jennings “well below a salary commensurate with his responsibilities,” Jackson writes.
Here’s some more from around the NL East…
- Marcell Ozuna is looking at 2016 as “a fresh start” and he’s happy to still be with the Marlins, the outfielder told Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald. Ozuna was widely assumed to be on his way out of Miami after a tough season and a reported personality clash with owner Jeffrey Loria, though a trade never came to fruition and he’s still slated to be the Marlins’ regular center fielder. Manager Don Mattingly noted that many players struggle to adjust in their second seasons in the bigs, and that “almost every club was calling us about [Ozuna]…because people see he’s that kind of talent.”
- Almost all of Wilmer Flores‘ spring action has come at third base, leading Newsday’s David Lennon to wonder if the Mets have even more concerns about David Wright‘s health. The veteran third baseman is scheduled to make his spring debut in a minor league game on Monday with an eye towards joining the Mets later in the week. The club was originally planning to limit Wright to around 130 games in order to manage his spinal stenosis, though Wright said last month that “you can’t have a plan” given the condition’s unpredictability. Flores has played only 27 games at third in the bigs and just one in the last two seasons, so the extra time could merely be the Mets’ way of getting him re-acclimated for an increased workload at the position. If Flores ends up spending more time than expected at third, Lennon notes, that will leave New York thin on backup options around the infield.
- In other NL East news from earlier today on MLBTR, the Mets are looking for a backup catcher and the Nationals have a June 15th deadline to decide on GM Mike Rizzo’s two-year contract option.
NL East Notes: Harvey, Fernandez, Hernandez, Braves, Rivero
While the Mets have made clear they don’t have any ongoing extension talks with their starters, and there isn’t a ton of pressure given their extended existing control, Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests that it may be worth at least exploring some chatter with Matt Harvey. Both the prized righty and his agent, Scott Boras, have suggested they’d be willing to engage in dialogue. Harvey, 26, is earning $4.33MM in his first of three seasons of arbitration eligibility. Sherman suggests that buying the remaining two arb years at about $29MM and adding three free agent seasons at $30MM a pop might be a fair valuation. While that seems to be a pretty fair suggestion for an outstanding 3+ starter, even in spite of his recent Tommy John surgery, from my perspective it’s somewhat difficult to imagine Harvey and Boras jumping at $119MM over five years. Such a deal would take Harvey though his age-32 season, meaning he’d hit the market at about the same stage as James Shields did last winter. It’s also far from clear that New York would be interested in such a scenario, of course, and Sherman makes very clear that any such concept is something of a longshot.
Here’s more from the NL East:
- Marlins ace Jose Fernandez, who is currently on track to hit the market with Harvey and a host of other premium players, is working on decreasing his reliance on his big fastball, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. The hope is that Fernandez will not only be able to improve — a scary proposition for opponents — but will reduce the load on his recently-repaired elbow. “We want to see him continue to pitch and continue to develop his weapons, where he’s not having to have the mentality that I’ve got to strike everybody out,” explained new manager Don Mattingly. “There’s nothing wrong with having guy hit a ground ball early in the count. … We think pitching that way keeps him healthy for a long time. It’s good for him. It’s good for us. It’s good for everybody.”
- Interestingly, the recent Tommy John research of MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum showed that the volume of what he classifies as “hard pitches” can have significant predictive power of future UCL replacements. Fernandez is the biggest name to land among the ten pitchers with the highest statistical TJ risk this year, per Woodrum’s research, which certainly suggests that thoughtful handling is warranted.
- Presumed Phillies closer David Hernandez is dealing with some “issues” with his right elbow, manager Pete Mackanin told reporters including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The skipper himself didn’t seem entirely sure of what difficulties Hernandez was having. Meanwhile, the righty says he isn’t injured and is simply trying not to overburden himself having missed a lot of camp time in recent springs, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tweets.
- In Braves camp, Cuban veteran Hector Olivera is still working to refine his hitting mechanics, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, with the team seeing signs of improvement. The first impressions of youngster Ozzie Albies have been universally positive, O’Brien adds, who may be pushing up his big league timeline (although not all the way to Opening Day this year) with his performance. Meanwhile, Atlanta may seek to utilize Jace Peterson in more of a utility role this season, O’Brien adds.
- James Wagner of the Washington Post has an interesting feature on Nationals lefty Felipe Rivero, who came over as one of two minor leaguers to accompany Jose Lobaton in the deal that sent Nate Karns to the Rays. The fireballing southpaw has focused on strengthening his arm, and hopes that touching 100 mph last year will become a more common occurrence. While he says he “was thinking too much before” in a starter’s role, Rivero now feels settled in as a pen man. “Last season,” he said, “I’d imagine that, even if I was facing Barry Bonds, I’d get him out. Or when I threw against the league’s best batters, I didn’t think about the Mets or whoever. It’s me versus you. If I strike you out, I strike you out. If you make contact, you make contact. That’s it.” Wagner notes that Rivero could factor into the team’s future closer considerations, and the 24-year-old says he’d welcome such an opportunity.
Carter Capps To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
High-powered Marlins reliever Carter Capps will undergo Tommy John surgery today, the club has announced. The 25-year-old right-hander will have his UCL replaced by surgeon James Andrews.
Both team and player had been holding out hope for a better outcome from yesterday’s visit with Andrews. It would appear that the famed elbow repairman advised in favor of the procedure, which will knock Capps out for the entirety of the 2016 season and — depending upon his recovery timeline — a piece of 2017 as well.
The news is enormously disappointing for all involved. It’s hard to overstate just how good Capps was last year — when he was healthy — and Miami surely had visions of him forming a high-quality 1-2 punch with A.J. Ramos. Indeed, there was some talk of sliding Capps into the closer role, in part to help manage his usage but also in reflection of the fact that he led all of baseball with a 0.87 SIERA on the strength of an absurd strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.8 K/9 vs. 2.0 BB/9).
It’s perhaps even more disappointing for Capps himself, who had only just reached arbitration eligibility. Despite his dominance last year, his relatively low innings count in 2015 and underwhelming prior results held him to a $988K salary. Another big season — especially if utilized in the 9th — would have set Capps up for a major raise.
Instead, he’ll enter next winter with expectations of receiving a repeat of his current-year earnings. The Marlins will surely feel that price is worth the risk, and will also control Capps for a final arb-eligible season in 2018 before he qualifies for the open market.
It remains to be seen what Miami will do to address this loss. Surely, a replacement that would match Capps in quality won’t be available (at least, for anything less than an exorbitant rate). The club still has plenty of big fastballs in the pen, but will likely be looking to add depth. Whether or not an immediate move is explored, there ought to be plenty of options as camp battles are won and lost late in the spring.
It’s worth noting that Capps landed as the tenth most likely Tommy John patient in all of baseball in the recent statistical study undertaken by MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum. As Woodrum has explained in that post and in his appearance on last week’s MLBTR Podcast, the bottom-line predictive value of his work is relatively low (although still surprisingly powerful), so the placement of Capps and other higher-risk arms shouldn’t be viewed as an expectation of surgery so much as an indication that such pitchers may be worthy of increased attention and caution by their respective teams.
NL East Notes: Mets, deGrom, Mejia, De Aza, Nola, Capps
Longtime Mets media relations executive Shannon Forde passed away this evening after an extended battle with breast cancer. She was only 44 years of age, and leaves behind a husband and two young children. Her loss has sparked a remarkable outpouring of grief, and it is evident that she had a huge impact on many people who worked for or around the team. We recommend this piece from Joel Sherman of the New York Post as we join so many others in expressing our sympathies to her family and friends.
Here are some notes from New York and the NL East:
- Mets GM Sandy Alderson said today that there are no current extension talks with the team’s slate of young starters, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. Emphasizing that he doesn’t see much “urgency” given the length of control over most of the club’s key pitchers, Alderson said that it’s also rather early in camp for such discussions to be held. “There hasn’t been any discussion with any of our starting pitchers,” he said, “not because we’re unwilling or because there isn’t any interest on the part of the players necessarily — just we are where we are in the spring-training schedule. It’s a little early. Agents don’t typically come in until later. I don’t think you can draw anything from that.”
- Meanwhile, the Mets renewed the contract of surprise ace Jacob deGrom at a rate of $607K, which is well above the minimum salary but also hardly reflects his outstanding contributions over the last two seasons. While deGrom declined to agree to that deal — a symbolic formality — it doesn’t appear that there’s any cause for hard feelings going forward, as DiComo further reports. “We haven’t talked about anything yet, and I don’t think this will affect that in any way,” said deGrom. “I think we’re still open to discussions for long-term things, but nothing’s in the works now.” For what it’s worth, as I’ve suggested before, I see deGrom as the likeliest of the New York hurlers to sign on to a long-term contract given his high rate of play, relatively advanced age, and approaching arbitration eligibility.
- Another Mets pitcher, banned reliever Jenrry Mejia, claims that he was only guilty of one of his three PED-related suspensions, as he tells Ben Berkon of the New York Times. He also accused the league of participating in some kind of “conspiracy” against him and suggested that the union had failed to adequately defend him. An MLB spokesman denied that any league official had ever even met with Mejia relating to his trio of failed drug tests. As Berkon notes, his comments don’t seem likely to help him if he chooses to seek reinstatement, though he has some time to think about how to approach that matter.
- The Mets haven’t received any interest in outfielder Alejandro De Aza and aren’t shopping him, Mike Puma of the New York Post recently tweeted. Though the veteran outfielder’s utility was greatly lessened when the club made a late strike for Yoenis Cespedes, it seems that it will take a change in circumstances for him to be moved to another organization.
- Aaron Nola impressed in his first 77 2/3 innings last year for the Phillies, and he tells MLBTR’s Zach Links (via Twitter) that he’s not interested in easing his way into things this year. “I want to go 200+ innings. I want to throw as many innings as I can,” Nola said recently. Actually, that seems like rather an attainable goal, as he ran up 109 1/3 innings in the minors last year.
- The Marlins are waiting to see what Dr. James Andrews recommends on Monday with regard to key reliever Carter Capps, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. Miami won’t seek to strike a deal for another pen arm before that time, per the report, but it seems that an addition may well be contemplated if an extended absence results. At this point, even in the best of circumstances it seems likely that Capps will be required to spend some time resting and rehabbing.