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Astros To Acquire Taylor Trammell From Yankees

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The Astros are acquiring outfielder Taylor Trammell from the Yankees, according to a report from Chandler Rome of The Athletic. The return headed to the Bronx is not yet known.

Trammell, 27, was selected 35th overall in the 2016 draft by the Reds and was regarded as a top-100 caliber prospect as recently as 2021. By that point, he had been a part of multiple trades, heading from the Reds to the Padres in the three-team deal that sent Yasiel Puig to Cleveland before eventually being shipped from San Diego to Seattle as part of the seven-player deal that brought Austin Nola to the Padres. Though he was traded multiple times before reaching the Triple-A level, Trammell hit fairly well in his first taste of the level with the Mariners’ affiliate in Tacoma and earned a call up to the big leagues during the 2021 season.

Unfortunately, that call-up did not go well. Trammell hit just .160/.256/.359 with a 73 wRC+ in 178 trips to the plate across 51 games during his first season in the majors. While he flashed considerable power with eight home runs during that time, he struck out at a completely untenable 42.1% clip that left him as a lackluster option in the outfield, where he was capable of playing center but not a particularly strong defender. The results would improve somewhat over the next two years as Trammell rode the shuttle between Tacoma and Seattle. In 173 plate appearances at the big league level over those two seasons, he hit an improved .176/.285/.378 that was just 6% worse than average by measure of wRC+ thanks to an excellent 12.7% walk rate in conjunction with his impressive power.

That said, Trammell was still striking out more than 30% of the time in the majors, even as he tore up the Triple-A level to the tune of a .268/.381/.500 slash line throughout his time at the level. Trammell also gradually became less of a viable option in center with just two innings of work at the position in 2023, further putting pressure on his bat to perform. This led the Mariners to designate him for assignment back in March rather than keep him on the Opening Day roster. Trammell was promptly plucked off waivers by the Dodgers while veteran outfielder Jason Heyward dealt with a back injury, but appeared in just five games before being designated for assignment in mid-April.

That move led the Yankees to claim Trammell from the Dodgers, though he similarly lasted just five games on New York’s big league roster before being DFA’d for the third time in just over a month. This time, the move stuck and Trammell cleared waivers, allowing the Yankees to outright him to the minors. Once at Triple-A, Trammell hit fairly well with a .256/.381/.488 slash line in 106 games. Now, Trammell is on the move once again and will begin the 2024-25 offseason with the Astros. For Houston, the 27-year-old should provide additional outfield depth behind the right-handed Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers and could compete for a job on the club’s bench during Spring Training next year.

Gerrit Cole Triggers Opt-Out In Deal With Yankees

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TODAY: The Yankees’ deadline to decide on Cole is 4pm CT on Monday, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (X link).  The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today that the deadline was on Monday, rather than tonight.

NOVEMBER 2: Right-hander Gerrit Cole has triggered the opt-out in his deal with the Yankees, per Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan of ESPN on X. However, he is not yet a free agent, as the club has a chance to void the opt-out by tacking on an extra year at the same $36MM salary as the rest of the contract.

Cole’s original deal with the Yanks was for $324MM over nine years with even salaries of $36MM in each season, starting in 2020. Per that deal, he could opt out after five years, walking away from the final four years and $144MM. The Yanks could then tack on another $36MM for 2029 and negate the opt-out. Now that Cole has triggered his opt-out, the Yankees now have to effectively decide if they want Cole back for $180MM over the next five years. If not, Cole will return to free agency.

For the first few years of the contract, Cole continued to pitch to his usual excellent standards. From 2020 through 2023, he tossed 664 innings, allowing 3.08 earned runs per nine. He struck out 31.1% of batters faced, limited walks to a 5.9% clip and got grounders at a 41.1% clip. He racked up 15.4 wins above replacement in that time, per the calculations of FanGraphs, fifth in the majors behind Zack Wheeler, Corbin Burnes, Kevin Gausman and Aaron Nola. He won the American League Cy Young last year by posting a 2.63 ERA over 209 innings.

Throughout that time, it seemed quite obvious how the contract situation would play out. Cole would make the no-brainer decision to trigger his opt-out while the Yanks would make the equally-easy decision to add on the extra year, bringing their total commitment to $360MM over 10 years.

But the road ahead became a little less certain as things developed in 2024. Cole dealt with some elbow inflammation during spring training and was shut down for a while. No structural damage was found but he was sent to the 60-day injured list as he underwent his non-surgical rehab. He was eventually able to get back on the mound, making his season debut in the middle of June.

He was a little shaky at first, with a 6.75 ERA through his first four starts, but his numbers were far more Cole-like from there. He posted a 2.67 ERA in his final 13 starts of the year. His 25.7% strikeout rate wasn’t quite all the way back to his usual level but his 6.8% walk rate was still quite strong. He made another five postseason starts with a 2.17 ERA, helping the Yanks reach their first World Series since 2009.

While Cole has seemed like his old self for months, the Yanks may still have to think about this one. As seen in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the largest deal for a pitcher aged 34 or older was the five years and $185MM that the Rangers gave to Jacob deGrom. That deal hasn’t gone well so far, as deGrom required Tommy John surgery and hardly pitched for the Rangers in the first two years of that pact. The Yankees would have to essentially match that deal to prevent Cole from getting away. As mentioned, tacking on the extra year would mean committing to paying Cole $180MM over the next five years, just shy of the deGrom deal.

Cole’s record of durability is far better than deGrom’s. Cole has thrown almost 2,000 innings to this point in his career while deGrom was just over 1300 when he signed with Texas. Still, Cole is just recovered from a notable absence related to his throwing elbow. Most of the other pitchers in this age bracket signed shorter deals with higher average annual values, with Wheeler’s recent extension with the Phillies coming in at $126MM over three years. Max Scherzer’s deal with the Mets was $130MM over three, though he was a few years older, starting that deal at age-37.

The Yankees are facing the prospect of Juan Soto hitting free agency and Cole is potentially a second superstar departure. Some have argued that the Soto situation should motivate the Yanks to keep Cole, just to stave of that possibility of losing two stars on the heels of a frustrating World Series loss. On the other hand, some have suggested that the Yanks might welcome having an extra $36MM of payroll space to use on luring Soto back to the Bronx.

The latter line of thinking would leave a big hole in the rotation, but it wouldn’t be an awful group without Cole. The projected rotation would still include Carlos Rodón, Luis Gil, Clarke Schmidt, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman. If the Yanks let Cole go, they could focus on Soto and circle back to him later or pursue some other starting pitchers. They had reported interest in Blake Snell last winter and he is opting out of his deal, becoming a free agent again. The market will also feature Burnes, Jack Flaherty, Max Fried and plenty of others. Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde and dozens of other could be available in trade.

It’s one of the more interesting decisions of the offseason. Most free agent contracts bring back the best returns in the early years and get more painful as the deals go along. The Yankees have a chance to walk away after the best years and perhaps avoid the downside. But doing so would mean letting one of the best pitchers in the league slip through their fingers. They have until Sunday evening to decide, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today on X.

Yankees Decline Club Option On Lou Trivino

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The Yankees announced that they declined their $5MM club option on Lou Trivino’s services for the 2025 season.  No buyout was attached to the option, and the 33-year-old reliever will now head to the open market.

Trivino hasn’t pitched in the majors since Game 3 of the 2022 ALCS, as he suffered an elbow sprain during the following Spring Training and then underwent a Tommy John surgery in May 2023.  He returned to the mound to toss 11 minor league innings in New York’s organization this season, though he dealt with elbow inflammation that delayed the start of his rehab work, and then some shoulder soreness brought an early end to his 2024 season.

The Yankees non-tendered Trivino last offseason and then re-signed the righty to a $1.5MM guaranteed contract with the $5MM option for 2025.  These types of contracts for pitchers recovering from major arm surgeries have become fairly common around the league, as the Bombers were betting that Trivino would get healthy and show enough to put himself into the club’s plans for next season.  However, Trivino’s continued health concerns made it a pretty easy call for New York to move on.  Another contract with the Yankees wouldn’t be a surprise, if the team still has interest in Trivino but simply at a lower price point than $5MM.

Trivino has a 3.86 ERA over 284 2/3 MLB innings, with 263 of those innings coming with the Athletics from 2018-21.  The A’s dealt Trivino and Frankie Montas to the Yankees in a prominent deal at the 2022 trade deadline, and Trivino had a 1.66 ERA in his first 21 2/3 frames in the pinstripes, as well as 3 2/3 scoreless innings in the 2022 playoffs.

12 Players Elect Free Agency

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As the offseason nears, a number of players elect minor league free agency each week. These players are separate from six-year MLB free agents, who’ll reach the open market five days after the conclusion of the World Series. Eligible minor leaguers can begin electing free agency as soon as the regular season wraps up. These players were all outrighted off a team’s 40-man roster during the year and have the requisite service time and/or multiple career outrights necessary to reach free agency since they weren’t added back to teams’ rosters.

Electing free agency is the anticipated outcome for these players. There’ll surely be more to test the market in the coming weeks. We’ll offer periodic updates at MLBTR. These transactions are all reflected on the MiLB.com or MLB.com logs unless otherwise stated.

Infielders

Pitchers

* Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported that Dalbec, Westbrook, and Keller have elected free agency. Francys Romero reported that Barrero has elected free agency.

Yankees Decline Club Option On Anthony Rizzo

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The Yankees announced that they have declined their 2025 club option on Anthony Rizzo, and the veteran first baseman is now a free agent.  It was an $11MM decision for the team, as Rizzo will receive a $6MM buyout instead of the $17MM salary he would’ve received if the option had been exercised.

The move probably ends Rizzo’s tenure of three-plus seasons in the Bronx, which began after he was a trade deadline pickup from the Cubs in July 2021.  He hit well enough that the Yankees re-signed him to a two-year, $32MM deal that winter, and since that deal contained an opt-out clause after the first season, Rizzo parlayed that opt-out into another two-year, $40MM pact the following offseason.

Rizzo’s 2022 season was easily his best in New York, as he hit .224/.338/.480 with 32 homers over 548 plate appearances.  He was also off to a hot start in the first two months of the 2023 campaign before his career was altered by a collision at first base with Fernando Tatis Jr. on May 28, 2023.  Rizzo picked up what was deemed as a neck injury on the play and returned to action after sitting out a few games, yet he then went into a brutal slump over the next two-plus months until finally going on the IL at the start of August.  Rizzo was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, which naturally led to quite a bit of controversy over how Rizzo was both misdiagnosed in the first place, and why his head-related injury went seemingly unnoticed for so long.

That IL placement ended Rizzo’s 2023 season, and he returned to more bad injury luck this year when he fractured his right forearm after another awkward collision at first base in June.  Rizzo went on the 60-day injured list and didn’t return until the start of September, and he then suffered further injury when he had two fingers broken by a Ryan Borucki pitch near the end of the regular season.  The broken fingers kept Rizzo out of the Yankees’ ALDS matchup with the Royals, though he returned to hit a respectable .267/.421/.300 over 38 PA in the ALCS and World Series.

Since Opening Day 2023, Rizzo has hit only .237/.315/.358 over 796 regular-season plate appearances, over 191 of 324 games.  His translates to 0.6 fWAR and a below-average 91 wRC+, and since Rizzo turned 35 last August, it made for a pretty easy call for the Yankees in declining the option.

The health question is clearly paramount for Rizzo as he returns to the open market, as possible suitors will surely have concerns of what Rizzo still has in the tank after 14 Major League seasons.  His track record and respected locker room presence probably means that he should be able to land some kind of big league contract for a low guaranteed salary, if likely as a platoon bat rather than a regular at first base.  A return to the Yankees at a lower salary seems possible, but the likelier scenario is that New York either fortifies the lineup with a bigger bat at first base, or perhaps rotates DJ LeMahieu and others through the position.

Yankees Exercise Club Option On Luke Weaver

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The Yankees announced that they have exercised their club option on right-hander Luke Weaver for the 2025 season. He’ll make a $2.5MM salary in the upcoming campaign.

The decision is not surprising at all. The Yankees showed a lot of faith in Weaver and it paid off in a big way. Though he was once a first-round pick and top prospect, his initial career success led into a real rough patch.

Weaver showed some promise as a starter at the start of his career but posted a 5.95 earned run average over the 2020-2023 period. He was designated for assignment by the Mariners in September of 2023 and landed with the Yankees, making three appearances for the Yanks as they ran out the clock on that season.

They must have seen something they liked in that time, as they re-signed him in January, a one-year deal that included a $2MM salary in 2024, a club option for 2025, as well as incentives and escalators.

The gamble paid out in a huge way, as Weaver just wrapped up an excellent season. He tossed 84 innings out of the Yankee bullpen this year with a 2.89 earned run average. He struck out 31.1% of batters faced while keeping his walk rate to a 7.9% level. He earned 22 holds and took over as closer late in the year, earning four saves. He made another 12 appearances in the postseason with a 1.79 ERA, earning four more saves.

Weaver’s $2.5MM club option came with escalators but they didn’t kick in until 100 innings pitched, presumably allowing him to lock in extra earnings if he eventually returned to the rotation. But since he stayed in relief all year, he wasn’t able to push the value of the option up.

$2.5MM is peanuts for a major league club, especially one like the Yankees that generally runs one of the higher payrolls in the league. For how well Weaver pitched this year, this was one of the most no-brainer decisions of the offseason.

Mets Among Roughly 11 Teams To Reach Out To Soto

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Day One of the offseason means the Juan Soto pursuits are underway. Until Monday, only the Yankees are allowed to discuss salary figures. However, other teams can touch base with his camp to broadly express interest and pitch their organizations now that the World Series is finished.

The top free agent has gotten no shortage of attention. Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that 11 teams were in contact with Soto’s camp by Thursday morning. The Post’s Mike Puma relays that the Mets — widely perceived as the top challenger to the incumbent Yankees — were among them.

Soto getting attention from more than a third of the league isn’t surprising. There isn’t a single front office that wouldn’t love to add him. The number of legitimately plausible suitors is much smaller. Soto’s contract demands figure to be prohibitive for all but a handful of teams, though Heyman writes that two unidentified small-market franchises were among the initial eleven. Still, it’s hard to envision Soto landing with a team that isn’t a traditional behemoth.

To that end, Heyman floats the possibility of Soto’s camp looking to top $700MM without any deferred money. While Shohei Ohtani hit that mark before adjusting for the deferrals, the deal’s net present value was well south of $500MM. MLB calculates the Ohtani deal just shy of $461MM for luxury tax purposes, while the Players Association puts it around $438MM. Either number still represents an all-time record. The Ohtani contract is the only one in MLB history to top $400MM.

There’s not much doubt that Soto is going to beat both versions of the NPV of the Ohtani deal. Doing so on a contract with a present value of $700MM is a massive ask. It’d require breaking the guarantee record by upwards of $240MM. Getting there would require at least $50MM annually over a 14-year term. Ohtani’s deferral-adjusted $46.06MM average annual value is the only AAV north of $44MM.

No free agent has signed for 14 years. Fernando Tatis Jr. is the only player to sign a 14-year contract, though his $340MM deal was an extension signed before his age-22 season. Bryce Harper got to 13 years as a free agent going into his age-26 season, as Soto is now. Harper took a relatively diminished $25.38MM annual salary, and while Soto is certainly going to beat that, shattering the AAV record and signing the longest free agent contract of all time would be an ambitious ask.

Of course, Soto is going to start free agency with extremely high expectations. The process seems likely to carry well into the offseason, perhaps beyond December’s Winter Meetings. Every high-payroll franchise figures to be linked to Soto in some capacity. The general expectation is that there’ll be a huge bidding war between Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and Mets owner Steve Cohen, in particular. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has already stated that the organization has the payroll flexibility to consider a run at “pretty much the entirety of the player universe.”

Puma notes that while the Mets may shy away from signing players who require draft compensation, they’re unsurprisingly willing to make an exception in Soto’s case. He’ll decline a qualifying offer, so the Mets would forfeit their second- and fifth-highest draft choices and $1MM in international bonus pool space to sign him.

That’s a non-issue for a player of Soto’s caliber. If the Mets are reluctant to surrender draft compensation, that could be a factor for their other free agent pursuits. They’ll be heavily involved on free agent pitchers. Corbin Burnes and Max Fried will get QOs, but Blake Snell and Jack Flaherty are ineligible. Borderline QO candidates include Michael Wacha, Nick Martinez and Nick Pivetta. As with Soto, they could consider Burnes and Fried to be exceptional free agents for whom they’re willing to take a hit to their farm system. That’ll be a subplot in what should be a fascinating offseason in the Big Apple.

Offseason Outlook: New York Yankees

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It's a quick turnaround for the Yankees after last night's gutting defeat. The front office will jump right into offseason work. The most immediate focus is on their ace's complicated opt-out decision. After that, they'll make a push to retain a likely Hall of Famer who'll set a new contract record in the next few months.

Guaranteed Contracts

  • Aaron Judge, CF: $280MM through 2031
  • Gerrit Cole, RHP: $144MM through 2028 (Cole can opt out this winter; Yankees could void the opt-out by exercising $36MM club option for '29)
  • Carlos Rodón, LHP: $108MM through 2028
  • Giancarlo Stanton, DH: $96MM through 2027 (including buyout of '28 club option)*
  • DJ LeMahieu, 3B: $30MM through 2026
  • Marcus Stroman, RHP: $18MM through 2025 (deal contains $18MM vesting/player option for '26 if Stroman pitches 140+ innings next season)

* Marlins are covering $30MM of Stanton's contract between 2026-28, so Yankees are on the hook for $66MM

Option Decisions

  • RHP Gerrit Cole can opt out of final four years and $144MM; Yankees could void the opt-out by exercising $36MM club option for '29
  • Team holds $17MM option on 1B Anthony Rizzo ($6MM buyout)
  • Team holds $5MM option on RHP Lou Trivino
  • Team holds $2.5MM option on RHP Luke Weaver

Additional Obligations

2025 financial commitments (if Cole doesn't hit free agency): $183.5MM
Total future commitments (if Cole doesn't opt out): $662.5MM

Arbitration-Eligible Players (projected salaries via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)

Non-tender candidates: Berti, Mayza, Grisham, Brubaker

Free Agents

There's no bigger story of the offseason than Juan Soto. That's true not only for the Yankees but MLB as a whole. Soto's next contract is almost certainly going to surpass $500MM. There's a reasonable chance the guarantee begins with a 6. He should break the record both for average annual value and overall guarantee (assuming one takes the net present value of the Shohei Ohtani deal rather than the $700MM figure, which does not account for the contract's $680MM of deferrals).

The Yankees are obviously going to try to keep Soto in the Bronx. His first season couldn't have gone much better. Soto had arguably the best full year of his career. He just turned 26 and is theoretically only entering his prime, at least offensively. The defense probably won't age well over the course of a deal that stretches beyond a decade, but it doesn't really matter. Soto's floor at the plate is better than any free agent's in recent memory.

Every high-payroll team will be tied to Soto. There's a chance it comes down to a bidding war between the New York franchises. The Mets are clearly going to be all-in. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns stoked the flames last week, saying the franchise's ample payroll space "means that pretty much the entirety of the player universe is potentially accessible." The biggest offseason question may be whether Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is willing to be outbid by Mets owner Steve Cohen on a player who was instrumental in pushing the Yankees to their first pennant in 15 years.

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Latest On Aaron Boone

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Yankees manager Aaron Boone is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, though the Yanks can retain him for 2025 via a club option. Boone told Chris Kirschner of The Athletic yesterday (X link) that he was focused on the World Series and hadn’t had any recent contract talks. Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes that the club is expected to “at least” pick up that option, suggesting Boone is likely to be back next year.

Boone, 51, is in the final days of his seventh season as the Yankee skipper. The club has had plenty of success in that time, making the postseason in six of those seven seasons. Nonetheless, many fans have been displeased with his tenure, perhaps due to the lack of postseason success or the fact that the club dipped to a record of 82-80 in 2023 and missed the playoffs entirely.

But the 2024 campaign was a big bounceback for the club. They went 94-68, winning the American League East and having the best record in A.L. After getting a bye through the Wild Card round, they defeated the Royals in the ALDS and the Guardians in the ALCS.

The World Series has been a challenge so far, with the Yanks dropping the first three games to the Dodgers. They managed to stay alive with a victory in game four last night but still face a steep path to victory.

Many will be unhappy if the Yankees can’t pull off an unprecedented comeback, but it’s not terribly surprising that Boone has seemingly earned himself some extra job security. How much a manager can impact on-field performance is something that can be endlessly debated but there’s usually a rough correlation between positive results and keeping the gig. With the strong regular season in 2024 and the club making it to the World Series for the first time since 2009, it would be a shock if Boone weren’t invited back for 2025.

Even if he is back in the dugout next year, what remains to be decided is what the contract will look like. Generally speaking, teams don’t like their managers or front office members to be in lame-duck status, so the Yanks may not simply pick up the option. The Yankees and Boone could agree to some sort of extension, perhaps by adding another guaranteed year or another option for 2026.

However, the Yankees did let Boone manage as a lame duck once before. His original contract was a three-year deal starting in 2018 with a club option for 2021. They eventually picked up that option and he skippered the club in ’21 with his future uncertain. It wasn’t until October 19 of that year that it was reported that he would be coming back. He and the club agreed to a new three-year deal for the 2022-24 seasons with the aforementioned option for ’25.

World Series Notes: Rodon, Flaherty, Cole, Phillips

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While the big news from last night’s World Series game was the shoulder injury suffered by Shohei Ohtani, he wasn’t the only player dealing with an ailment during yesterday’s game. As noted by SNY’s Andy Martino last night, Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon was pitching through a blister on one of his fingers during his start last night, which saw him surrender four runs on six hits as he struck out three in 3 1/3 innings of work.

Blister issues can cause problems with a pitcher’s grip on certain pitches. In the regular season, it’s not uncommon for a pitcher dealing with a blister to be sidelined for a short trip to the injured list until a blister fades and they can resume pitching unimpeded, but Rodon downplayed the seriousness of the issue to Martino last night as he suggested the blister was “not a big deal” and that it won’t impact his availability going forward in the World Series as the Yankees look to fight their way back from an 0-2 deficit. Rodon went on to note that he’s dealt with blister problems before in his career, though this is the first time he’s had one this year.

Overall, Rodon’s sophomore season with the Yankees has been a bit of a mixed bag. The southpaw posted a decent 3.96 ERA (104 ERA+) and struck out 26.5% of opponents while making 32 starts, but he also surrendered a career-high 31 homers and has struggled to this point in the postseason. In 17 2/3 innings of work across four postseason starts, Rodon has struggled to a 5.60 ERA overall, albeit with two strong performances against Cleveland in the ALCS that saw him strike out 15 of the 41 batters he faced. Fans in New York are surely hoping that they’ll get that version of Rodon in Game 6 if the series if the series makes it back to Los Angeles, though for now the team will have to focus on breaking through for their first win of the series.

More notes from the postseason…

  • Rodon isnt the only starter who’s been dealing with a day-to-day injury in this series, as Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty dealt with some hamstring tightness during his start in Game 1 of the World Series, according to manager Dave Roberts. As relayed by the Los Angeles Times’s Mike DiGiovanna, Roberts does not believe the issue to be a serious one. That’s good news for the Dodgers, as the club’s injury-plagued rotation would have few options to replace Flaherty if he were to go down. The right-hander struggled through the division series against the Padres and the championship series against the Mets but looked quite good in his start against the Yankees as he struck out six in 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. Flaherty is next expected to take the ball in a potential Game 5 on Wednesday, following tomorrow’s start by Walker Buehler and a bullpen game on Tuesday.
  • Flaherty’s opponent in the series is expected to be Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, and Martino reports that the Yankees currently intend to keep it that way as the club “has not considered” the possibility of starting Cole on short rest in Game 4 of the series if the Yankees are facing elimination. While Martino adds the possibility cannot be completely ruled out, it would be a major departure from the way Cole has been utilized throughout his career. The 34-year-old righty has pitched on short rest only once before in his career, during the 2020 ALDS against the Rays, and while he was effective in that start the Yankees may be less willing to risk his health now that Cole half a decade older and wrapping up a season that saw him miss half the year due to elbow troubles.
  • Turning back to the Dodgers, right-hander Evan Phillips was left off the club’s World Series roster amid a number of nagging ailments including arm fatigue as well as tightness in his lat, triceps, and biceps. Phillips discussed his situation with DiGiovanna in more detail yesterday, noting that an MRI revealed nerve irritation in his right shoulder. Phillips described the issue as “nothing majorly concerning,” however, and suggested that the decision to leave him off the roster primarily had to do with the fact that the Dodgers wouldn’t be allowed to replace him if he were to more seriously injure himself since he was already injured before the series began. Phillips hasn’t ruled out the possibility he could be added to the roster if another pitcher is injured, though Roberts has previously suggested veteran righty Joe Kelly might be first in line as an injury replacement.
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