AL East Notes: Fairbanks, Jays, Arroyo, Duran, Donaldson
Rays’ right-hander Pete Fairbanks was removed from today’s game due to right lat tightness, per Rays broadcaster Neil Solondz. Manager Kevin Cash spoke with reporters, including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, saying that more information will be forthcoming but that Fairbanks is “going to miss some time.” Topkin relays that Fairbanks will undergo an MRI on Monday.
It’s been a fairly quiet offseason for the Rays so far, at least in terms of bringing in new faces, as their biggest move of the past few months has been to extend Wander Franco. In terms of new additions, it’s been Corey Kluber, Brooks Raley and Jason Adam. Of course, the team wasn’t desperate for upgrades, having won the AL East in each of the past two seasons. Fairbanks has somewhat quietly emerged as a dominant part of the club’s pitching staff over those two seasons. Since the start of the 2020 campaign, he’s thrown 69 1/3 innings with a 3.25 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate. If Fairbanks is headed for the IL, the club would certainly miss that level of performance. They’d be well-equipped to weather his absence, given the many talented arms they have in their relief corps, such as Andrew Kittredge, J.P. Feyereisen and JT Chargois. However, given that the AL East is expected to be a heated four-team standoff, every inch will count in the next six months.
Elsewhere from around the division…
- The Blue Jays are set to begin the season with an Opening Day payroll around $171MM, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. That would be a new franchise record, going just beyond the $163MM of 2017, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts. But it’s possible that the spending could be pushed even further, according to team president/CEO Mark Shapiro. “Those wins from like 90 to 93 are usually the most important ones and you usually have to outpace revenue at some point,” Shapiro told Scott Mitchell of TSN. “When they start to outpace our budget, then it’s up to me to go (to ownership) and propose and say, ‘Here’s what we feel another addition beyond our budget could mean.’ We never feel limited by that.” The Jays somehow missed the playoffs last year despite winning 91 games, as that was only good enough for fourth place in the stacked AL East. The club has been aggressive in making moves for the upcoming campaign, adding free agents such as Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi, as well as trading for Matt Chapman and Raimel Tapia. Despite looking good on paper, Shapiro knows that they will inevitably need resources to react to events as the season unfolds. “We’re going to face something that none of us are thinking about right now.”
- Christian Arroyo got his first taste of outfield action on the spring today, manning right field for the Red Sox. Manager Alex Cora was apparently pleased, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Arroyo has played all four infield positions in his career but never on the grass. However, Boston’s recent signing of Trevor Story has reduced his likelihood of seeing any significant playing time on the dirt, forcing him to attempt to expand his defensive repertoire. Enrique Hernandez and Alex Verdugo figure to be fixtures in the outfield mix, leaving one spot up for grabs. J.D. Martinez will still be the club’s primary designated hitter but will apparently see more time in the field this year. Jackie Bradley Jr. is also around, though he’s coming off an awful campaign with Milwaukee, posting a wRC+ of just 35, the lowest in the league among hitters with at least 200 plate appearances. Jarren Duran was thought to be in the mix, despite a lackluster showing in his MLB debut last year, but the club announced today that he’s been optioned to Triple-A. Taking all that into consideration, there’s a path for Arroyo to earn himself some playing time, should he adapt well to the defensive switch. In 57 games with the Red Sox last year, he hit .262/.324/.445 for a wRC+ of 106.
- Josh Donaldson is under consideration to be the Yankees’ leadoff hitter, according to manager Aaron Boone. Newsday’s Erik Boland relays word from the skipper, who had this to say about the idea: “Guy that controls the strike zone like he does, the ability to get on, power, great hitter…yeah, he’s definitely someone I would consider.” Boone is certainly correct about Donaldson’s on-base abilities, as the slugger has posted an above-average walk rate for each of the past nine seasons. While he might not fit the classic model of leadoff hitter, Donaldson would certainly fit the recent trend of opting for on-base ability over speed. It wouldn’t be the first time the experiment was tried, as he was pencilled into the top spot of the lineup seven times by the Jays in 2015, the year he went on to be crowned AL MVP. In those seven games, he hit .276/.313/.586 over 32 plate appearances. That amounted to a wRC+ of 137, not too far below his season-long number of 154, suggesting Donaldson didn’t seem to be bothered by the switch.
Yankees Sign Shelby Miller To Minor League Deal
The Yankees have signed right-hander Shelby Miller, as per a team press release. Miller has been invited to the Yankees’ big league spring camp.
Still only 31 years old, Miller is best known for his time with the Cardinals and Braves, when he posted a 3.22 ERA over 575 1/3 innings from 2012-15. With a third-place finish in NL Rookie Of The Year voting and an All-Star appearance in 2015, Miller looked like one of baseball’s burgeoning young pitching stars, but he simply was never the same after being dealt to the Diamondbacks in a now-infamous trade for Arizona fans.
Miller struggled in 2016 in part due to a finger injury, and then pitched only 38 more innings during his D’Backs tenure due to Tommy John surgery. Since then, Miller has bounced around to four different teams trying to revive his career, most recently pitching for the Cubs and Pirates in 2021. The righty had a combined 9.24 ERA over 12 2/3 big league innings last season, but at least his Triple-A statistics (2.96 ERA, 37.75% strikeout rate over 24 1/3 IP) provided some cause for optimism.
While Miller technically made four Triple-A starts last year, they were more of the abbreviated variety, and he seems to be more or less a full-time relief pitcher at this point in his career. New York will be the latest team to try and get Miller on track, and he would hardly be the first ex-starter to find a second act as a viable reliever. At the cost of a minor league deal, there’s no risk for the Yankees in seeing what Miller has in camp, and perhaps stashing him at Triple-A should he accept the assignment. Given the relatively short time between now and Opening Day, it doesn’t seem like Miller has a shot at breaking camp with the team.
Yankees Notes: Cashman, Judge, Gardner, Payroll
Yankees GM Brian Cashman met with reporters yesterday, discussing numerous Bronx Bombers-related topics with Newsday’s Erik Boland (Twitter links), MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, The Associated Press, and other media members.
Aaron Judge‘s contract was one of the subjects addressed, as the star slugger didn’t agree to terms with the club on his 2022 salary before last Tuesday’s deadline to file arbitration figures. As it stands, Judge and the Yankees will now head to a hearing, with Judge seeking $21MM and the Yankees offering $17MM — the $4MM gap is the largest between any player and team slated for an arb case this spring.
However, a much larger contract could be in the offing. Judge is set for free agency next winter, and Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner has already stated that the club will discuss a long-term extension. Cashman said the same Saturday, with a nod to Judge’s preference to have all negotiations wrapped up prior to the start of the season.
“Between now and Opening Day we’ll make an offer and he’ll obviously receive an offer and all the conversions will have taken place and will either resolve into a multiyear deal or it won’t,” Cashman said. “We’re committed. We’ll make an offer and hear what he has to say in response and then it will be pencils down before Opening Day.”
It should be noted that the opener probably isn’t an absolute deadline, as the two sides aren’t likely to cease talks if they’re on the proverbial two-yard line towards finalizing an extension. Most players have shared Judge’s preference to restrict contract talks to the offseason, yet it isn’t uncommon for major extensions to be announced a few days or even a few weeks beyond Opening Day.
In fact, Judge himself told The New York Post’s Dan Martin and other reporters Saturday that there could be some flexibility to his April 7 deadline. “If there are negotiations [after Opening Day], I won’t be talking to [the media] about it at all. We haven’t decided yet, but for right now, that’s what we’ve got.”
Given that the Yankees have rarely extended players in the Hal Steinbrenner era, the fact that the two sides are talking long-term is itself notable, and a nod to just how well Judge has performed over his first six seasons. If a multi-year pact can’t be arranged, it isn’t out of the question that the two sides might still just work out a one-year pact in order to sidestep the potential awkwardness of an arbitration hearing. As Martin notes, the Yankees haven’t gone to a hearing since 2016.
“Our position has always been, we wind up only in a hearing if we’re dragged there,” Cashman said. “We only go when forced to go. We’re not afraid of going. Our history shows that we stay out of that arena unless we’re compelled to get there.”
Judge’s situation might dominate the headlines for the Yankees in their final days of camp, as the team could be finished with its major offseason work. “We’re prepared to go with what we have here,” Cashman said, while acknowledging that the door is always open in some respect for potential new moves: “We’ve stayed in touch and engaged a lot of clubs about our needs. If something comes out of those discussions, great.”
In terms of what any new additions might cost, Cashman noted the financial “flexibility” provided by ownership “doesn’t mean it [the payroll] won’t get higher but that doesn’t mean it will either.” Team spending has been a hot issue in the Bronx over the last two years, as the Yankees looked to get under the luxury tax line in 2021, then largely sat out free agency both before and after the lockout. (This isn’t to say that the offseason has been all that quiet, given that the Yankees’ five-player blockbuster deal with the Twins is arguably the winter’s biggest trade.)
Cashman did point out, however, that the Yankees are set to have their highest-ever payroll. Roster Resource projects the club for roughly $245.9MM in actual dollars spent on payroll, with a luxury tax number of just under $262.3MM. That latter figures not only puts New York back in excess of the $230MM tax threshold, but beyond the first tier ($250MM) of penalization. That means that the Yankees are currently slated to pay a 32% surtax on every dollar spent beyond the threshold, given they reclaimed “first-timer” status after getting under the tax line last year.
A new deal with longtime Yankee Brett Gardner isn’t likely to cost all that much, though it remains unclear if Gardner is a candidate to return for a 15th season in the pinstripes. “Right now we’re focused on what we have,” Cashman said in regards to the roster, while also adding that he has had multiple talks with Gardner’s representatives since Spring Training opened.
In theory, New York already has plenty of outfield depth on the roster, between the starting trio of Judge, Aaron Hicks and Joey Gallo, Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar capable of playing on the grass, and Marwin Gonzalez, Tim Locastro and Ender Inciarte all in the mix. With injuries an ever-looming threat, a reunion with Gardner could be feasible, especially since Gardner has been such an important clubhouse leader.
Yankees Claim Jeisson Rosario From Red Sox
The Yankees announced that outfielder Jeisson Rosario was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox. Rosario has been optioned to the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate.
The 22-year-old Rosario was designated for assignment earlier this week when the Sox needed a 40-man roster space to accommodate Trevor Story. Rosario began his career in the Padres farm system, and came to Boston as part of the August 2020 trade that saw Mitch Moreland dealt to San Diego.
Rosario has a .256/.366/.332 slash line over 1675 minor league plate appearances. He hasn’t shown much power thus far, and his offensive contributions have mostly come in the form of on-base skills and speed (with 48 steals in 77 chances). Rosario is considered a good defensive center fielder, however, and has also spent some time in right field and a handful of games as a left fielder.
AL East Notes: Mancini, Means, JDM, Marwin
The Orioles haven’t engaged either first baseman/designated hitter Trey Mancini or lefty John Means about a contract extension, reports Dan Connolly of The Athletic. Mancini is set to become a free agent at season’s end. Means is controlled through 2024.
It’s wholly unsurprising, as the Orioles haven’t had an appetite for any long-term investments during their ongoing rebuild. Even the one-year, $7MM deal they agreed to with right-hander Jordan Lyles prior to the lockout was seen as a surprise, as the O’s hadn’t previously given out more than a $3MM guarantee to any free agent since hiring general manager Mike Elias more than three years ago.
Still, as Connolly explores, the lack of an extension and the seemingly inevitable trade of Mancini — be it in the next couple weeks or this summer — will be a wildly unpopular move both among fans and in the clubhouse. Mancini, the 2021 Comeback Player of the Year, was already a fan favorite in Baltimore before overcoming stage-3 colon cancer and returning to the field with a generally productive 2021 season. He’s also entrenched as a clubhouse leader in Baltimore. The O’s will start spending money at some point once they’re ready to emerge from what’s now a four-year tanking effort, but at the moment they project to just a $64.5MM payroll — $23MM of which is dead money still owed to Chris Davis.
More from the AL East…
- Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez will likely see increased time in the outfield this season, writes Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. While Martinez will continue to operate as Boston’s primary designated hitter, manager Alex Cora also said this week that Martinez will likely start in right field against left-handed pitchers — effectively pushing Jackie Bradley Jr. (who’ll start in right field against right-handed pitchers) into a platoon role. There won’t be a set DH on days against left-handed opponents, as Cora said he’ll use those opportunities to keep others in the lineup fresh. Martinez has played primarily left field when he’s been on the outfield grass in recent years, but Cotillo notes that Cora’s preference is to keep Alex Verdugo in left, Enrique Hernandez in center, and not move the outfielders around so frequently.
- Veteran utilityman Marwin Gonzalez is in camp with the Yankees on a minor league deal, and manager Aaron Boone tells Dan Martin of the New York Post he hopes the switch-hitting Gonzalez will play his way into a roster spot, citing a desire for more versatility off his bench. “That’s something I think Tampa [Bay] has done a really good job of,” said Boone. “Their roster complements one another really well. I hope that’s the case with us.” Meanwhile, Newsday’s Erik Boland tweets that Gonzalez is “all but a lock” to make the Yankees’ roster despite having inked a minor league contract. The recent agreement to expand rosters to 28 players for the early portion of the season certainly can’t hurt Gonzalez’s chances. He’d earn a $1.15MM salary if he’s added to the big league roster.
Andrew Miller Announces Retirement
Veteran reliever Andrew Miller is retiring after 16 Major League seasons, Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. In a text to Goold, Miller looked back on his career and gave to those who helped him along the way:
“The list of people who took me aside, put their arm around me, made me laugh when I needed to, or taught me something is endless. It’s safe to say I would have been faced with the next chapter much earlier on if it weren’t for them. As someone who thought their career was practically over in 2010, to be able to experience everything I did along the way is incredible. You shouldn’t ever hear complaints from me. It was a heck of a run.”
After being selected as the sixth overall pick of the 2006 draft, Miller was initially seen as a cornerstone piece of the Tigers’ future before he became part of one of the biggest trades in Detroit’s franchise history. Miller was one of six players dealt from the Tigers to the Marlins in exchange for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in December 2007, though after three injury-plagued seasons in South Beach, the Marlins also parted ways with the left-hander.
Miller was dealt to the Red Sox in the 2010-11 offseason, and after more struggles in 2011, Miller became a full-time reliever in 2012 and essentially never looked back. The southpaw became one of baseball’s top relief pitchers, working in a variety of different roles depending on his team’s needs. Whether as a closer, set-up man, multi-inning workhorse, or lefty specialist, Miller became a valuable bullpen weapon in any capacity.
As flexible bullpens have become more and more prominent in recent years, it is also very easy to point to Miller as a trailblazer. As Cardinals teammate Adam Wainwright simply put it, Miller “changed the game and he kind of took that relief role back to when it first started, guys who could do two, three innings – and he was the guy who did it in the postseason.”
From 2013-17, Miller was next to unhittable, posting a 1.82 ERA, 41.1% strikeout rate, and 7.4% walk rate over 291 2/3 innings with the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, and Indians. That tremendous stretch saw Miller named to two AL All-Star teams, and receive top-10 Cy Young placements in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.
Miller received a World Series ring for his contributions to Boston’s 2013 championship team, even if injuries kept him participating in the postseason. However, as Wainwright noted, Miller was at his best in baseball’s biggest spotlight. Miller retires with a tiny 0.93 ERA over 38 2/3 innings in the playoffs, even winning 2016 ALCS MVP honors with Cleveland in 2016. That particular season saw Miller help carry an injury-riddled Cleveland pitching staff to within an inch of a World Series, falling to the Cubs in extra innings in Game Seven.
“He kind of revolutionized all of it – your best pitcher doesn’t have to be your starter or your closer,” Cardinals pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “And he was the best pitcher on multiple staffs. What he did in the postseason to help his team was groundbreaking. I don’t think anybody really duplicated what he’s done – as far as throwing multiple innings in the hairy innings, whenever they are.”
Miller’s success was reflected in his free agent value, as he landed a four-year, $36MM deal from the Yankees in the 2014-15 offseason. Hitting the open market again following the 2018 campaign, Miller signed a two-year, $25MM contract with the Cardinals that became a three-year, $37MM pact when he pitched enough innings in 2020 to trigger a vesting option.
Injuries began to hamper Miller later in his career, and both his velocity and his overall performance took a step back over his three years in St. Louis. Miller had only a 4.34 ERA over 103 2/3 regular-season innings in a Cards uniform, but again remained effective come October. Over seven postseason games and 5 2/3 innings with the Cardinals, Miller didn’t allow a single run.
If anything, Miller drew even more respect from teammates and peers off the field, due to his work with the MLB Players Association. A longtime team union rep and a member of the MLBPA executive board, Miller was one of the most prominent and outspoken voices representing the players’ causes both during his career, and particularly this offseason during the lockout. While Miller will never himself play under the terms of the 2022-26 Collective Bargaining Agreement, it will stand as something of a legacy for his contributions to players both present and future.
“I have an appreciation for what he did for the entire game of baseball,” Wainwright said of Miller’s MLBPA work. “As many hours as that guy put in for the union over these past few years is kind of staggering. He may retire and that means this whole offseason he still spent 16 hours on the phone a day, for us, for who’s next – that means a lot.”
The 36-year-old Miller will retire with a career 4.03 ERA, 27.1% strikeout rate, 979 strikeouts, 10.6% walk rate, 63 saves, and 141 holds over his 829 innings with seven different Major League teams. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Miller on a great career, and we wish him all the best in retirement.
For the last word on Miller’s career, the lefty himself sums things up as part of his text message….
“I feel very fortunate that my career worked out the way that it did. Of course there were tough stretches, injuries, and times of doubt. I also won’t deny that I can find myself in moments of wondering what if this or that had happened differently, could it have somehow been better? I’m usually pretty quick to be able to step back though and see how lucky I have been. The hard times were necessary for me to grow and to be able to appreciate the highs along the way. Ultimately, I was able to play for many great franchises, wear historic uniforms, and play in some amazing ballparks. I made some of the best friends I will ever have in life through the game. I was able to work with the union and see the good it can do for players while learning so much about the game.”
31 Players On Track For Arbitration Hearings
201 arbitration eligible players have reached agreements with their teams on a 2022 salary, most of which occurred just prior to Tuesday’s filing deadline.
According to Jake Seiner of The Associated Press, 31 arbitration eligible players remain unsigned and are on track for hearings. Due to the lockout, the hearings are expected to take place during the season if agreements are not reached. The full list of unsigned players, which includes Aaron Judge, Willson Contreras, and Dansby Swanson, can be found in our tracker. Judge, having submitted a $21MM figure against the Yankees’ $17MM submission, represents the largest gap at $4MM.
All the other gaps are less than $2MM, and the smallest is the $200K separating Lucas Giolito and the White Sox. Yesterday, Giolito told reporters that the sides were only $50K apart prior to filing, which the righty described as “very unfortunate, disheartening.”
The Braves have five of the 31 cases, with Swanson, Adam Duvall, Luke Jackson, Max Fried, and Austin Riley. Six of the 31 players were traded this offseason: Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier, Gary Sanchez, Chris Bassitt, and Jacob Stallings.
A look at the number of hearings by year in the last decade:
- 2021: 8
- 2020: 12
- 2019: 10
- 2018: 22
2017: 15 - 2016: 4
- 2015: 14
- 2014: 3
- 2013: 0
- 2012: 7
Multiyear deals are always an option, and we record those in our extension tracker.
White Sox Place Jonathan Stiever On 60-Day IL, Claim Yoan Aybar
The White Sox have placed right-hander Jonathan Stiever on the 60-day injured list, the team announced. Chicago also claimed southpaw Yoan Aybar off waivers from the Yankees, just days after the Yankees themselves claimed Aybar off waivers from the Rockies.
Aybar’s velocity and strikeout potential got him as high as the Rockies’ Double-A affiliate last season, though he is still very much a work in progress as a pitcher, after converting to the mound from the outfield prior to the 2018 season. As a hurler, Aybar has a 5.06 ERA and a 14.62% walk rate over 131 2/3 minor league innings, with a 24.9% strikeout rate.
The White Sox don’t have much left-handed depth in their bullpen beyond Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet, and the team has made a point of adding several southpaws to their Spring Training camp as non-roster invitees. Aybar probably isn’t likely to be on the radar for a big league promotion, but he’ll add more depth in the minors and perhaps serve as a project.
Stiever underwent lat surgery back in August and was initially expected to be ready for Spring Training, though the 60-day IL placement gives him more time to get fully healthy. Stiever was a fifth-round pick for the White Sox in the 2018 draft, and he has already gotten a brief taste of the majors, albeit in the form of three games and 6 1/3 innings over the last two seasons. Over 247 IP in Chicago’s farm system, Stiever has a 4.26 ERA and 26.86% strikeout rate, starting all 56 of his games. Once fully recovered, Stiever projects as a depth starter or potential bullpen long man for the Sox later in the season.
New York City Reportedly Set To Lift Vaccination Requirement For Professional Athletes
New York City mayor Eric Adams will announce tomorrow that the municipality’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement for professional athletes will be lifted, according to a report from Sally Goldenberg of Politico. The news means that unvaccinated players on the Yankees and Mets — who were previously prohibited from playing in home games — will no longer be blocked from playing at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field, write Adrian Wojnarowski and Jeff Passan of ESPN.
ESPN writes that MLB officials had been in contact with the mayor’s office in recent days about the possibility of the Yankees and Mets being down some players for home games. League officials had maintained optimism the situation would eventually be resolved, but Wojnarowski and Passan report that the MLB Players Association had recently sent a memo to agents who represent players on those teams about the possible consequences they’d face for missing games on account of vaccination status.
As part of the new collective bargaining agreement, that includes lost service time and pay. That now only figures to be relevant in Toronto, as the Canadian government is preventing unvaccinated players from entering the country. That won’t have any impact on the Mets, but the Yankees are slated to play ten road games against the Blue Jays this season. Unvaccinated players are still prohibited from participating in those games and will be placed on the restricted list for those contests.
Blue Jays Have Shown Interest In Brett Gardner
The Blue Jays have reached out to show some interest in veteran outfielder Brett Gardner, tweets Newsday’s Erik Boland, although Boland adds that the 38-year-old Gardner is still hoping that the Yankees will make an offer for him to return. Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears similarly, writing that the Jays have checked in on Gardner but some clubs wonder whether he’d actually sign with a team other than the Yankees, given the history between the two parties.
Gardner hit .222/.327/.362 with 10 homers, 16 doubles and four triples while playing more center field than the Yankees probably would have hoped in 2021. Aaron Hicks‘ injuries, however, pushed Gardner into a prominent share of time in center, where he logged 816 innings. That was just the second time since 2015 that Gardner had played even 40 games in center, and to his credit, he rated only a bit below average there. For a 38-year-old who’s become more accustomed to left field, it was about as solid a showing as could be expected.
Interest from the Jays makes some sense, given that their roster is exceptionally right-handed. Gardner hit just .213 against righties in 2021, but part of that was due to an abnormally low .243 average on balls in play against them. He walked in 13.9% of his plate appearances versus right-handed pitching against a 20.2% strikeout rate that clocks in below the league average.
Gardner is far from the hitter he once was, when he batted a combined .257/.338/.413 with 109 homers and 130 steals in 1024 games with the Yankees from 2013-19. With the Jays, however, he’d be viewed as a part-time player — a lefty bat off the bench whose primary role would be to offer some occasional breathers or injury insurance for right-handed outfield options like Lourdes Gurriel Jr., George Springer, Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk. He’d presumably be attainable on a one-year contract, but it’d be understandable if Gardner felt somewhat conflicted about leaving the only team he’s known after 14 big league seasons and 17 professional campaigns, dating back to his selection in the third round of the 2005 draft.