Yankees, Royals, Marlins Among Teams To Have Recently Scouted Henderson Alvarez
The Yankees, Royals and Marlins are among the teams that have scouted a recent throwing session from right-hander Henderson Alvarez, The Athletic’s Marc Carig reports while chronicling the 29-year-old’s latest comeback efforts. Alvarez has frequently taken to social media to post clips of his workouts and bullpen sessions, and he’s drawn at least a few speculative scouting assignments, although obviously no deal has come together yet. If or when he does sign, it’d surely be on a minor league pact.
Since being named to the NL All-Star team as a 24-year-old back in 2014, Alvarez has thrown just 37 innings in the Major Leagues and 116 1/3 innings of affiliated ball in the minors. He’s also tallied 165 1/3 frames in the Mexican League. Alvarez underwent shoulder surgery in both 2015 and 2016 — the effects of which have largely derailed what looked to be an otherwise promising career. However, he remains motivated to return to the big leagues, telling Carig: “I know I can still give more.”
Alvarez did pitch in affiliated ball last year, throwing 53 innings with the Nationals’ Triple-A club. Like most pitchers in Triple-A — the Pacific Coast League in particular — he was plagued by home runs, serving up 15 long balls en route to a 5.94 ERA. After being cut loose by the Nats, Alvarez returned to Mexico to make six starts for los Tigres de Quintana Roo. In 34 2/3 innings, he logged a 3.12 ERA with a 23-to-5 K/BB ratio and a 57.6 percent ground-ball rate. He closed out the season with a complete-game victory wherein he allowed one run.
The Yankees have lost Luis Severino for the season (Tommy John surgery) and James Paxton for more than a month of the regular season (back surgery), so it’s only natural to see them at least exploring depth additions in the rotation. At the moment, it looks as though Jordan Montgomery will take the fourth spot behind Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ. The competition for the fifth spot includes Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga, Mike King and Chad Bettis, among others.
The Royals, meanwhile, don’t have a defined fifth starter, and club decision-makers have been open about the possibility of bringing in a veteran option even as they allow their plethora of highly regarded young arms to compete for that starting job. Brad Keller, Danny Duffy, Jakob Junis and Mike Montgomery should hold down the top four spots. The competition for the team’s fifth starter presently is vast and could ultimately be a revolving door early in the year if the club opts to use an opener. Jesse Hahn, Eric Skoglund and Chance Adams are among the names on the 40-man roster vying for a look. Top prospects Brady Singer, Daniel Lynch and Jackson Kowar could all be factors eventually as well.
Rotation help isn’t as needed in Miami, where the Marlins have a wealth of controllable options with MLB experience who’ll comprise one of the game’s youngest starting staffs. Sandy Alcantara, Caleb Smith, Pablo Lopez, Jose Urena and Jordan Yamamoto have the most experience, and the wave of high-end arms immediately behind them includes the likes of Sixto Sanchez, Nick Neidert and Edward Cabrera. But Alvarez’s lone All-Star season in ’14 came as a Marlin, and a comeback with the Miami organization would make for a compelling storyline in South Florida.
AL Notes: Yankees’ Rotation, Royals, Perez
Some notes on the Yankees and Royals to kick off Sunday morning:
- Jordan Montgomery is the “overwhelming favorite” for the fourth spot in the Yankees’ rotation, notes George King III of the New York Post. That’s not especially surprising, given that the lefty’s Tommy John procedure is now 21 months behind him. The 27-year-old’s strong 2017 rookie season positions him well to step up in the wake of injuries to Luis Severino and James Paxton. The final spot in the rotation is still entirely up for grabs, although King feels Jonathan Loaisiga is the early frontrunner. Surprisingly, King notes that right-hander Clarke Schmidt could be in the fifth starter mix after turning some heads early in spring training. The 24-year-old was the Yankees’ first-round pick out of the University of South Carolina in 2017, but he’s made all of three career starts above High-A, thanks largely to rehab from a Tommy John of his own. That, coupled with Schmidt’s roster status (he needn’t be added to the 40-man until after this season), would seem to make him a long shot for a season-opening role.
- One pitcher who might not be as strong a contender for the Yankees’ final rotation spot is Luis Cessa, whom King says the club “seemingly likes…in the bullpen.” That jibes with a similar report from Bryan Hoch of MLB.com earlier this week, although Hoch’s report came before news broke of Severino’s season-ending Tommy John surgery. From the outside, it appeared that blow could have changed the calculus on Cessa’s potential usage, but it seems he’s still more likely to occupy a bullpen role in 2020. The 27-year-old has started 19 of his 86 career MLB appearances, but he was used exclusively as a reliever in 2019.
- Salvador Pérez logged four innings behind the plate in the Royals’ spring training game Friday (h/t to the Associated Press). That marked his first catching action since his Tommy John surgery last March. “It was kind of like Opening Day — once you catch the first pitch, it’s a regular game,” Pérez said postgame, via the AP. “I blocked some balls, threw to second base between innings. It was all great.” At last check, the 29-year-old was on track to be ready for Opening Day. In 2018, Pérez hit just .235/.274/.439 (89 wRC+), but he’s long shouldered extremely high workloads behind the plate in Kansas City.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Devers, Blue Jays, Biggio, Yankees, Garcia
The Red Sox have not broached the subject of a contract extension with Rafael Devers, though the player says he’s open to it, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Of course, that’s a boilerplate response from Devers, and one of the reasons agents are so important for players. Devers, represented by Nelson Montes de Oca of Rep 1 Baseball, can let a shoulder shrug do his talking while rightfully laying contract responsibilities at the feet of his agent. He will be arbitration-eligible for the first time after this upcoming season, so he can expect to field extension questions on a regular basis, though neither party has cause to be in any particular rush.After playing a starring role in the Red Sox 2018 World Series win, Devers didn’t disappoint with a .311/.361/.555 line last season with 32 home runs and 115 RBIs. He also notched a league-leading 54 doubles. Devers isn’t set to hit free agency until after the 2023 season. Let’s see what else is going on in the AL East…
- Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoya says Cavan Biggio is the Blue Jays second baseman. Still, given how spring training takes shape, Biggio will be keeping his outfielder glove within reach. The particularly contingency to track, per The Athletic’s Jayson Stark (via Twitter), is Joe Panik. Outside of those two, it’s not a deep field of second base contenders. Santiago Espinal, 25, hit .317/.360/.433 in his first taste of Triple-A in 2019, certainly showing enough to get a look this spring. Brandon Drury and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. also have experience at the keystone. Gurriel is ticketed as the everyday starter in left field, which is a position of equal or greater need for the Blue Jays unless something clicks for a youngster like Billy McKinney or Forrest Wall. Travis Shaw, theoretically, could also see time at second base, but he’s more likely to get his at-bats at first, third, or the designated hitter spot. Ruben Tejada, 30, and Kevin Smith, 23, are also both in camp as non-roster invitees.
- Yankees top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia is pushing to fill the injury void in manager Aaron Boone’s rotation, and good as he’s looked thus far, Garcia is unlikely to win a rotation job out of spring camp, per Newday’s David Lennon. The undersized right-hander has done nothing but impress over the last calendar year, and he continues to do so in spring training, keeping hitters off-balance with a power heater. Garcia, 20, won’t be rushed to the majors, despite the injuries. Still, given his progress last year, it wouldn’t be entirely shocking to see him in the majors sometime around his 21st birthday in May. That’s still too aggressive to be an expectant timetable – but given the uncertainty in the Yanks’ rotation and the level of competition in the division, an early debut for Garcia certainly can’t be ruled out.
Latest On Aaron Judge’s Shoulder Injury
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge underwent testing this morning to examine his right shoulder, reports Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters including Erik Boland of Newsday that all those tests—including an MRI—have come back negative thus far, but Judge will noentheless undergo further testing on Monday.
As of now, there’s still no timetable for when Judge might appear in his first Spring Training game, but Boone remains optimistic that his start right fielder will be ready for Opening Day.
Judge reportedly felt discomfort under his right pec while swinging this morning. The 27-year-old hasn’t taken batting practice on the field yet this spring, with the injury restricting him to taking swings in indoor cages. On Thursday, we heard that Judge would be out another week while recovering from the shoulder soreness.
The Yankees’ battles against injuries have been well-documented, and this spring has largely been a continuation of a 2019 season that was played shorthanded. If Judge’s shoulder issues turn out to be something serious, he would be the fifth core Yankee to hit the shelf with a significant ailment, joining outfielders Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks and pitchers Luis Severino and James Paxton.
Judge personally has had his own struggles with health, missing a significant portion of each of the last two seasons due to oblique and wrist injuries. After his historic rookie campaign in 2017, we’ve yet to see a full year of Judge, who’s in the inner circle of baseball’s best players when he’s on the field. Here’s hoping that 2020 is the year Judge gets a full year of action.
Yankees Notes: Judge, Stanton, Severino, Frazier
Already bedeviled by injuries early this spring, the last thing the Yankees need is more unwelcome news on that front. However, in yet another less-than-ideal development, right fielder Aaron Judge will likely be down for at least another week, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports. Judge is “doing well” in his recovery from a sore right shoulder, per manager Aaron Boone, but he hasn’t progressed beyond hitting in the cage. Boone added that there’s “plenty of time” for Judge to ramp up before the season starts, but it’s still a situation worth monitoring for a Yankees club that’s also down two other starting outfielders in Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton.
- Speaking of Stanton, Joel Sherman of the New York Post looks back on a 2017-18 offseason that saw the Yankees acquire him and strike out in their pursuit of two-way star Shohei Ohtani. Three days after Ohtani went to the Angels, the Yankees landed the high-priced Stanton – then the reigning NL MVP – in a trade with the Marlins. Stanton would not have been a Yankee had they gotten Ohtani because there wouldn’t have been room for the two of them at DH, Sherman observes. While Stanton had a very productive first year as a Yankee and Ohtani has barely pitched because of injuries, his tenure in New York hasn’t gone well since then. Stanton was just about nonexistent last season because of his own health woes and is now battling a calf injury that could shelve him for Opening Day. Moreover, the Yankees are still on the hook for eight more seasons and $244MM of the 30-year-old Stanton (Ohtani makes a relative pittance, on the other hand), so Sherman argues that the team’s “going to have to continue to build rosters that assume his regular absence and do it with a payroll elevated by his contract.”
- Like Stanton, ace right-hander Luis Severino has seldom been available of late. Severino missed nearly all of last season as a result of injuries to his shoulder and lat, and he’ll sit out the entire 2020 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery this week. The Yankees, expecting Severino to remain the force he was from 2017-18, signed him to a four-year, $40MM extension before 2019. They’ve gotten pretty much nothing from that contract so far, though Bradford William Davis of the Daily News opines that there shouldn’t be any regret on the Yankees’ part for giving Severino the deal. Indeed, he was one of the best pitchers in the game at the time, then coming off two straight seasons of 190-plus innings, so durability wasn’t a question at that point. And as someone who won’t turn 27 until next February, there’s still time for Severino to make good on his reasonably priced pact.
- If the injury troubles that have limited Judge and Stanton since last season continue, it could open up playing time for outfielder Clint Frazier. Formerly a touted prospect, the 25-year-old racked up a career-high 245 major league plate appearances and hit .267/.317/.489 with 12 home runs last season, but he spent mid-June through the start of September in the minors to work on his defense. Although Frazier has long been a rumored trade candidate, he remains with the club, and he’s now vying for an everyday spot in its lineup, as Spencer Fordin of MLB.com writes. As Fordin details, Frazier has made a mechanical change at the plate – an approach he credits ex-teammate Matt Holliday for – and is hoping it helps him break through as a full-time major leaguer. “A lot of times, people have talked about my bat speed, but I never really felt like it was always there,” Frazier said. “I felt like I was trying to shoot a gun with it on safety. There were things stopping it along the way and I didn’t feel like I wanted it to. I feel like this move is giving me my best chance.”
MLBTR Video: Giancarlo Stanton Out With Calf Strain; Brewers Finalizing Deal With Freddy Peralta
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with a calf strain, while the Brewers are finalizing a five-year deal with righty Freddy Peralta. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explains what it all means in today’s video:
6 Potential Trade Targets For Yankees’ Rotation
The Yankees’ rotation took a beating Tuesday with the loss of ace-caliber right-hander Luis Severino, who will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the entire season. This will essentially end up as the second straight lost year for Severino, who starred from 2017-18 before tossing just 12 innings last season on account of shoulder and lat injuries. The Yankees did just fine in Severino’s absence in 2019, winning 103 games and the AL East title, but the latest development on the 26-year-old is no doubt horrible news for the club. That’s especially true when considering the Yankees will open 2020 without left-hander James Paxton, either their third- or fourth-best starter, as he’ll be out until sometime in May or June after undergoing a back procedure three weeks ago.
In an ideal world, the Yankees would have began the year with Severino, Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ complementing Gerrit Cole. But they’re now left to choose from some combination of Jordan Montgomery, Jonathan Loaisiga, Deivi Garcia, Luis Cessa, Mike King, Chad Bettis and Nick Tropeano to fill out their rotation. That’s obviously assuming the Yankees stay in-house to address their issues. Free agency’s just about empty at this point, as general manager Brian Cashman suggested Tuesday when he said, “The winter marketplace this time of year, it doesn’t exist.” Finding a solution via trade at this juncture doesn’t seem much more likely, considering Cashman indicated he expects to rely on internal options to replace Severino and Paxton, but the Yankees are better off trying that route if they want to make a high-upside play before the season.
Admittedly, most (or all) of the below names probably aren’t available at the moment. Nevertheless, let’s explore some enticing starters the Yankees could potentially acquire in the coming weeks or at least consider taking a look at around the July trade deadline…
- Jon Gray, RHP, Rockies: Colorado’s of the belief (delusion?) that it’s going to push for a playoff spot this season, making it unlikely Gray will go anywhere before then. But if the team flounders over the first few months of the campaign, he’s a candidate to end up on his way out. The 28-year-old has plenty of value as someone with two seasons of control left, not to mention an ultra-affordable $5.6MM salary in 2020. Gray averaged 96 mph on his fastball last year and notched a 3.84 ERA/4.06 FIP with 9.0 K/9, 3.36 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent groundball rate over 150 innings.
- Chris Archer, RHP, Pirates: Pittsburgh probably won’t win anything this year or next (Archer’s last two seasons of control), so it would make sense to listen to offers. However, the team may prefer to keep the 31-year-old for now in hopes that he rebuilds his value after a nightmarish season and a half in its uniform. Archer turned in an awful 5.19 ERA/5.02 FIP with a career-worst 4.14 BB/9 in 119 2/3 innings last year. On the bright side, he fanned almost 11 hitters per nine, continued to average around 94 mph on his fastball and was much more effective in the second half of the season. And for what it’s worth, Archer has shown he can flourish in the Yankees’ division, the AL East, where he pitched from 2012-18 with the Rays.
- Matthew Boyd, LHP, Tigers: Boyd has been a popular name in the rumor mill for quite some time, but the Tigers haven’t traded him because they’ve apparently placed an exorbitant asking price on the southpaw. That’s understandable with Boyd under control through 2022 and due a reasonable $5.3MM this season. At the same time, they seemingly haven’t worked to extend Boyd, so perhaps a trade will come together sometime this year. All that said, preventing runs has never been Boyd’s strongest suit. He posted a sterling 11.56 K/9 with a 2.43 BB/9 a season ago, but he still ran up a 4.56 ERA/4.32 FIP and continued a trend of logging low groundball percentages (35.6).
- Caleb Smith, LHP, Marlins: Smith was already a Yankee once, but they traded him to the Marlins in a 2017 deal that netted them the aforementioned King. Although Smith was unproven at the time, he has turned into a decent piece for Miami. Dating back to 2018, Smith has pitched to a 4.41 ERA/4.73 FIP with 9.99 K/9, 3.63 BB/9 and an unsightly 26 percent grounder rate. Those certainly aren’t great numbers, though the fact that he has four years of control (including one more pre-arbitration season) helps make him pretty valuable. While the Marlins are still a ways from competing for a playoff spot, they’ve not shown a willingness to trade the 28-year-old Smith thus far.
- Yu Darvish, RHP, Cubs: The Cubs were supposed to shake things up this offseason, partly in an effort to cut payroll, but they haven’t made any substantial trades yet. Getting rid of the four years and $81MM left on Darvish’s contract would help them duck the dreaded luxury tax, and there has been some interest around the league in the 33-year-old since last season ended. The Yankees were rumored to be among the teams in on Darvish when he was a free agent after 2017, but that doesn’t mean they’d want him now. Moreover, Darvish has a full no-trade clause that he doesn’t intend to waive. That NTC will become a 12-teamer sometime during the year, though, so he won’t have total say on his future for much longer.
- Jose Quintana, LHP, Cubs: As with Darvish, moving Quintana would aid the Cubs in avoiding the tax, though it would also weaken their chances of competing in 2020. Quintana’s due $10.5MM this season, his last year of team control. The Yankees are familiar with Quintana, who belongs in the team’s “ones who got away” pile. He pitched in the Yankees’ minor league system several years back before blossoming into a quality starter with both Chicago teams.
Royals lefty Danny Duffy and Giants righties Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto are among other veterans who may be attainable via trade, but there’s a good case the Yankees would be better off relying on internal arms than pushing for either. Even most of the other names listed come with obvious flaws, so it would be reasonable if Cashman would rather see what he has in the organization for now before doing anything drastic in an effort to make up for the losses of Severino and Paxton. Remember, along with Paxton, the Yankees should get suspended righty Domingo German by the summertime, leaving them with a couple in-house reinforcements. But if the Yankees’ starting staff falls short leading up the deadline, it figures to be a key area of focus for the Cashman-led World Series hopefuls, and any of the above names may wind up on their radar.
Giancarlo Stanton Questionable For Opening Day Following Calf Injury
In yet another bit of unwelcome injury news for the Yankees, manager Aaron Boone told reporters Wednesday that Giancarlo Stanton sustained a calf injury while working in the outfield yesterday (Twitter link via Joel Sherman of the New York Post). Stanton has already undergone an MRI, which revealed a Grade 1 strain in his ailing right calf. Boone suggested that Stanton will “be down for a bit” and implied that the slugger could miss time early in the season.
If the mounting rash of injuries in Yankees camp are beginning to feel familiar, that’s probably because the New York organization endured similar health struggles in 2019. The Yankees have already lost James Paxton for at least the first month of the season due to back surgery and lost Luis Severino for the year due to Tommy John surgery. Right fielder Aaron Judge has also been slowed by shoulder troubles so far and has yet to get into a Grapefruit League.
The Yankees can still lean on an alignment of Judge, Brett Gardner and Mike Tauchman. Stanton figures to rotate between the outfield corners and the designated hitter slot, the latter of which could now be filled more regularly by Miguel Andujar and Mike Ford in Stanton’s absence. If Stanton is indeed on the IL to open the season, that could increase Clint Frazier‘s chances of opening the season on the Major League club.
Stanton, acquired in December 2017, enjoyed a strong ’18 campaign with the Yankees when he hit .266/.343/.509 with 38 homers. Biceps and knee injuries limited Stanton to just 18 regular season games in 2019, and the 2020 season isn’t off to a much better start. At this point, it’s not clear that Stanton will miss much of the regular season, but a Grade 1 strain is the least severe degree of strain. Barring setbacks, it shouldn’t be a long-term issue, and he could have time to ramp back up for a productive year.
The 30-year-old Stanton is being paid $26MM in 2020 under the terms of the then-record 13-year, $325MM deal he signed with the Marlins prior to the 2015 season. He’ll have the opportunity to opt out of his contract at the end of the 2020 season, although it’s extraordinarily difficult to envision him walking away from the remaining seven years and $218MM he’d be owed from 2021-27.
MLBTR Video: Yankees’ Luis Severino Needs Tommy John Surgery
Yankees righty Luis Severino will undergo Tommy John surgery this week; MLBTR’s Jeff Todd discusses the implications in today’s video. Jeff also has info on other spring injuries as well as thoughts on possible Yoan Moncada extension talks.
Luis Severino To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
7:45pm: Severino will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday, the team announced.
2:05pm: Doctors have recommended Tommy John surgery for Yankees righty Luis Severino, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters Tuesday (Twitter link via Newsday’s Erik Boland). He’ll miss the entire 2020 season and potentially some of the 2021 campaign, depending on his recovery.
This is the second hit to a rotation that was enhanced over the winter through the addition of Gerrit Cole. The club is also facing uncertainty regarding southpaw James Paxton, who underwent back surgery and is expected to be sidelined until at least early May.
With Severino down for the season and Paxton set to miss several weeks of the 2020 campaign, at minimum, an imposing Yankees rotation now looks more mortal. Cole, of course, is still a bona fide ace, but the top options behind him are now Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ. Both veterans have been durable sources of innings in recent seasons, and Tanaka in particular has been a consistent producer.
Beyond that trio, the Yankees will turn to a host of incumbent options — including Jordan Montgomery, Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Cessa, Mike King and Deivi Garcia. Veteran righties Chad Bettis and Nick Tropeano are both in camp as non-roster invitees as well.
This’ll be the second consecutive lost season for Severino, who totaled a mere 20 innings between the regular season and the playoffs. Shoulder and lat injuries held the 26-year-old down last year from spring through September. That slate of injuries has combined to wipe out nearly all of the first two years that were covered under the four-year, $40MM extension Severino signed just one year and 10 days ago. He’ll be paid $10.5MM in 2020 while rehabbing on the 60-day injured list, and he’s set to earn salaries of $10.75MM in 2021 and $11.5MM in 2022. The Yankees also hold a $15MM club option (with a $2.75MM buyout) for the 2023 season.