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Angels Place Anthony Rendon On Injured List, Designate Ben Rowen

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The Angels announced a series of roster moves in advance of this evening’s game against the Rays. Star third baseman Anthony Rendon is headed back to the 10-day injured list with a left knee contusion. Reliever Mike Mayers has been reinstated from the COVID IL, while fellow right-hander Ben Rowen was designated for assignment. Outfielders Juan Lagares and Taylor Ward have been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, while righty James Hoyt was optioned.

This will be Rendon’s second trip to the IL this season. The 30-year-old missed about two weeks in April due to a left groin strain. After returning for seven games, Rendon is knocked out of action again, this time by a balky knee. On the plus side, the team says an MRI today revealed no issues (via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times), so it seems there’s reason to hope Rendon can return in relatively short order.

While the pair of injuries has made for a frustrating start to the season for Rendon, he’s again been very productive when healthy. Over his first 66 plate appearances, the two-time Silver Slugger award winner has hit .276/.348/.466 with three homers. That’s not quite the star-level offense he put up from 2017-20, but it’s still well above average. During Rendon’s last IL stint, Los Angeles leaned mostly on José Rojas and Jack Mayfield at the hot corner. The latter has since been lost on waivers to the Mariners, but Rojas looks primed for another shot after struggling the first time.

Ward also has some experience at third base, although he worked exclusively in the outfield last season. The former catcher hit .214/.283/.351 from 2019-20. He’s now in line for his first MLB work this year. Infielder Phil Gosselin was also selected to the MLB roster this week and could be an option. Lagares, who can play anywhere in the outfield, is back after going hitless in seven plate appearances early in the season.

The Angels also shuffled up the bullpen. Mayers went on the COVID IL Monday but was always expected back quickly. His return will bump Rowen from the 40-man roster. The latter, who returned to the majors this season for the first time since 2016, pitched in eight games for the Halos. Over 11 1/3 innings, he was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on 12 hits. He struck out only eight and issued a pair of walks.

COVID Notes: 5/3/21

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The latest cronavirus updates from around the majors…

  • The Angels announced that they have placed right-hander Mike Mayers on the injured list and recalled lefty Patrick Sandoval. No reason was given for Mayers’ IL placement, but the team expects him to return in the next few days, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was among those to report. That information implies Mayers’ absence is related to COVID-19. The 29-year-old Mayers broke out as part of the Angels’ bullpen in 2020 and has continued his effectiveness this season with 14 1/3 innings of 2.51 ERA/3.63 SIERA pitching and 18 strikeouts against six walks.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: 1/15/21

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The deadline to exchange arbitration figures is today at 1pm ET. As of this morning, there were 125 arbitration-eligible players who’d yet to agree to terms on their contract for the upcoming 2021 season. Arbitration is muddier than ever before thanks to the shortened 2020 schedule, which most believe will lead to record number of arb hearings this winter. Be that as it may, it’s still reasonable to expect dozens of contractual agreements to filter in over the next couple of hours.

We’ll highlight some of the more high-profile cases in separate posts with more in-depth breakdowns, but the majority of today’s dealings will be smaller-scale increases that don’t radically alter a team’s payroll or a player’s trade candidacy. As such, we’ll just run through most of today’s agreements in this post.

I’ve embedded MLBTR’s 2021 Arbitration Tracker in the post (those in the mobile app or viewing on mobile web will want to turn their phones sideways). Our tracker can be sorted by team, by service time and/or by Super Two status, allowing users to check the status on whichever groups of players they like. You can also check out Matt Swartz’s projected arbitration salaries for this year’s class, and we’ll do a quick sentence on each player’s agreement at the bottom of this post as well, with the most recent agreements sitting atop the list.

Today’s Agreements (chronologically, newest to oldest)

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Angels Claim Mike Mayers

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The Angels announced that they have claimed righty Mike Mayers off waivers from the Cardinals. The out of options hurler will compete for a pen job in camp if he can stick on the Los Angeles 40-man roster the rest of the winter.

Mayers, 27, is coming off of a forgettable campaign in St. Louis. He was given just 19 innings, over which he allowed 14 earned runs with a 16:11 K/BB ratio. In his 80 2/3 total frames at the game’s highest level, Mayers has worked to a 7.03 ERA.

Though the results clearly haven’t been there at the game’s highest level, Mayers has shown a mid-nineties fastball. He has also been quite effective at Triple-A. This past year, he turned in twenty frames of 3.15 ERA pitching there with 24 strikeouts and seven walks.

Cardinals Designate Adalberto Mejia, Select Junior Fernandez

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The Cardinals announced Tuesday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Junior Fernandez from Triple-A Memphis and designated left-hander Adalberto Mejia for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man and 25-man rosters. St. Louis also announced that right-hander Mike Mayers cleared waivers and has been assigned outright to Memphis.

Mejia, 26, was claimed by the Cardinals just last week and made only three appearances before being cut loose by his third team this season. He allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts over three innings in his short-lived St. Louis stint.

A former top 100 prospect who profiled as a fourth starter, Mejia never established himself with the Twins and has now bounced from Minnesota to Anaheim to St. Louis this season. He’s posted a 7.54 ERA in 22 2/3 innings, though he’s only a season removed from solid numbers as a starter with Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate a season ago. Mejia, though, is out of minor league options, so any club to claim him would need to allow him to try to sort things out at the MLB level, as he can’t be sent down without first clearing waivers. He’s missed time due to blister, wrist, biceps and calf injuries dating back to 2017, so durability could be an issue as well.

As for the 22-year-old Fernandez, he’s soared through three minor league levels in 2019, posting an ERA of 1.55 or better at each stop. In all, he’s totaled 61 1/3 innings with a 1.47 ERA, 11.2 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and, incredibly, no home runs allowed. He’s unlikely to have that type of success in limiting long balls in the Majors — particularly given the apparent changes to the ball in 2019 — but he’ll nonetheless give the Cards an intriguing jolt of youth in their relief corps.

Cardinals DFA Mike Mayers

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The Cardinals have designated right-hander Mike Mayers for assignment, tweets Mark Saxon of the Athletic. The club has since announced the move. Additionally, infielder Matt Carpenter has been activated from the 10-day injured list, pitching prospect Ryan Helsley has been recalled, while corner infielder Rangel Ravelo was optioned to Triple-A Memphis.

Mayers, 27, was out of options, so St. Louis had to keep him on the 25-man roster or cut bait. Ultimately, Mayers’ continued big league struggles did him in. He’s logged 13.2 innings in 12 appearances since coming off the 60-day injured list over a month ago, but his numbers were ghastly. Mayers coughed up 11 runs in that time, including two longballs, with matching strikeout and walk totals (10 apiece). That continued a rough MLB go for Mayers, who has a 7.17 ERA in 69 career games.

Mayers has some interesting raw material to work with, though. Per Statcast, his fastball and curveball each have above-average spin, and he’s generally performed well in Triple-A. A contender like St. Louis could no longer afford to keep giving MLB opportunities to an underperforming arm, but perhaps another organization with a less urgent competitive cycle will give a crack at straightening Mayers out. Any claiming team would have to keep Mayers on the 25-man roster or again expose him to waivers.

Carpenter returns from a three-week stint on the shelf with a right foot contusion. His underwhelming .215/.321/.373 line has been a surprising sore spot for an offense that looks stronger on paper than it has played to this point.

With Carpenter back and Mayers gone, the club swaps out the rookie position player (Ravelo) for a rookie arm (Helsley). Helsely’s mid-90’s fastball will return to the bullpen, while Ravelo will look to continue to build on a strong Triple-A body of work.

Cardinals Designate Chasen Shreve For Assignment

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The Cardinals announced Tuesday that they’ve designated lefty Chasen Shreve for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 25- and 40-man rosters for righty Mike Mayers, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Shreve, 29, allowed a pair of runs in two innings of work during his second go-around with the Cardinals. St. Louis acquired him from the Yankees in the trade that sent Luke Voit to New York last summer. Shreve has given them 16 2/3 innings of work out of the ’pen but has now also been twice jettisoned from the 40-man roster. This season in Triple-A, Shreve pitched to a 3.80 ERA with 10.6 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 1.05 HR/9 and a 36.3 percent ground-ball rate.

Of course, Shreve didn’t go to the Cardinals alone, and the breakout being enjoyed by 27-year-old righty Giovanny Gallegos lessens the sting of what once looked to be a decidedly lopsided swap. Gallegos also went to the Cards in that deal, and he’s been brilliant in his first full MLB season. Through 46 2/3 frames out of the bullpen, he’s pitched to an excellent 2.31 ERA with 67 punchouts against six unintentional walks. Metrics like FIP (2.39), xFIP (2.85) and SIERA (2.25) all generally agree that Gallegos has been nothing short of outstanding.

The same doesn’t hold true for Shreve, unfortunately. The Cardinals now have a week to trade him, pass him through outright waivers or release him. Shreve has enough service time to elect free agency if he does clear waivers, but doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of this season’s $900K salary. As such, he’s likely to stick with the organization if he is not traded and goes unclaimed by another team.

Quick Hits: Cards, Martinez, Reyes, Royals, Goodwin, Yanks, Ellsbury

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Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez, whose injured shoulder has kept him out of action this year, is “expected” to return at some point next month, Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “I feel so much better. Right now I’m 85 percent, 90 percent,” Martinez declared. “In two weeks … I think I’m going to be great. When I come back to the major leagues, I’m going to be 100 percent.” The electrifying 27-year-old has flashed front-line starter potential during his career, but thanks in part to his own wishes, he’ll work out of the Cardinals’ bullpen when he comes back. However, Martinez’s goal is to rejoin the Redbirds’ rotation after the All-Star break, Hummel relays. Meanwhile, though there’s no official timetable for fellow banged-up Cardinals righty Mike Mayers’ return, he’s aiming for July. The reliever went to the injured list April 16 with a strained lat.

More from St. Louis and a couple other big league cities…

  • Martinez and Mayers certainly aren’t dealing with embarrassing injuries, but the same isn’t true for teammate Alex Reyes. The prized 24-year-old suffered a fractured left pinky after punching a wall following his most recent Triple-A start, general manager Michael Girsch told Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch and other reporters Sunday. Reyes will now head to the Cardinals’ facility in Jupiter, Fla., to continue building his arm up, though this injury likely leaves the righty at least a month from returning to St. Louis, per Goold.
  • Outfielder Brian Goodwin was on release waivers a month ago, when the Royals cut him in favor of Lucas Duda. All Goodwin has done since then is slash .333/.430/.556 in 87 plate appearances as a member of the Angels, making him one of the game’s elite hitters in the early going. The Royals could end up ruing their decision to part with Goodwin, but manager Ned Yost and GM Dayton Moore explained to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star that they don’t regret the choice. Yost noted that Goodwin has struggled as a pinch hitter, which played a part in the Royals’ decision to release him, and observed that “it just made more sense” to have the lefty-swinging Duda and the righty-batting Frank Schwindel (who’s now in the minors) as pinch-hitting options and Terrance Gore as another bench choice. The Royals also had plenty of other outfield possibilities, notes Worthy, who points out Goodwin didn’t exactly make a case for a roster spot during an unproductive spring with KC.  “There probably wouldn’t have been a lot of at-bats for him,” said Moore, who suggested he’s happy Goodwin found a better opportunity elsewhere.
  • Injuries continue to haunt forgotten but well-compensated Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who last appeared in a game Oct. 17, 2017. Manager Aaron Boone said Saturday (via George A. King III of the New York Post) that Ellsbury is “dealing with different things,” “a number of little things that continue to pop up,” and “certainly” won’t return in the near term. The 35-year-old Ellsbury has battled a litany of health problems over the past couple seasons, including plantar fasciitis in 2019. The Yankees owe Ellsbury $21MM salaries through 2020 and can then cut the cord on him with a $5MM buyout.

Cardinals Notes: Martinez, Mayers, Reyes

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Carlos Martinez “feels great” as he continues to rehab his shoulder, per Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The next steps will be either a more aggressive side session or a trip to the team facility in Jupiter, Florida. The Cardinals have been treading water up until this point with a 10-9 record, but little ground has been lost in a tightly-bunched NL Central. Martinez’s return will be interesting to track, as he is a relative rarity in terms of the breadth of his usage possibilities (and therefore the breadth of his potential impact). The party line was Martinez would return to the rotation where – when healthy – he has pitched like an ace. At the same time, when he returned from injury last season, the Cards sent him to the pen where he saved five games and earned more than three outs in an outing five times. Whether the Cards bring him back as a starter, a closer or in the fireman role, he should be a big piece for a pitching staff whose starters rank 23rd in the majors with a 5.28 ERA. Let’s check in on a couple other Cardinals pitchers looking to make it back to the bigs…

  • Also from Durando, Mike Mayers – placed on the IL on April 16th – is expected to be out for “a couple of months.”  Shoulder surgery is not in the offing, however, as the Cards appear consigned to rest and rehab. There was no mention of a specific grade level on Mayers’ shoulder injury, though it stands to reason based on the recovery timeline that he suffered a Grade 2 lat strain. Mayers, 27, made eight relief appearances for the Cards this season after 50 in 2018. Overall in that span, he pitched to a 4.80 ERA with a 2.85 K/BB rate.
  • Alex Reyes has a new role in Memphis, as the right-hander has been moved into the starting rotation for the Cardinals’ Triple-A club, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. The club’s intention is to get Reyes more game time to work on his changeup and slider, though overall command consistency remains the primary goal. The plan is for Reyes to put in 40-50 pitches in his first Triple-A start, though that number could grow as he strengthens. The team says the move is purely to get Reyes more opportunity to find his stride with those secondary pitched in-game, and while in a vacuum that explanation makes sense, it’s hard to overlook potential context clues such as the ongoing struggles of the St. Louis rotation, or the continued uncertainty around Carlos Martinez’ eventual role. Reyes’s has been in the spotlight since tossing 46 shimmering innings of 1.57 ERA baseball as a 21-year-old back in 2016, though it’s been a wait-and-see game for the Cardinal faithful since then.

Cardinals Place Tyler O’Neill, Mike Mayers On 10-Day IL

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The Cardinals announced today that outfielder Tyler O’Neill and righty Mike Mayers are both headed onto the 10-day injured list. The former suffered an ulnar nerve subluxation in his right elbow while the latter has a strained lat.

A trio of reinforcements is headed onto the MLB roster: infielder Yairo Munoz along with righties Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos. This is the first call-up for Helsley. Outfielder Drew Robinson was optioned down to create the final opening.

The severity of the injuries isn’t yet known, but both come with at least some potentially for extended absences. Ulnar nerve issues aren’t necessarily huge problems, particularly for non-pitchers, but the Cards will obviously want to figure out the root cause and make sure that O’Neill is fully past the problem before bringing him back into the mix. In the case of Mayers, it’s impossible even to guess at a timeline without knowing the grade of the injury, but lat strains can be rather problematic for hurlers.

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