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Rangers Hire Bruce Bochy As Manager

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The Rangers have hired Bruce Bochy as the club’s next manager, announcing that Bochy has signed a three-year contract.

There was increased speculation in recent days linking Bochy to the job, especially when Rangers GM Chris Young (who played under Bochy on the 2006 Padres) visited the veteran manager at his home in Nashville, rather than a formal interview.  Interim Rangers manager Tony Beasley was the only other candidate known to receive an interview, further adding to the idea that the team had narrowed its focus towards bringing Bochy back to the dugout after three years away from the game.

Bruce BochyIn the team’s official press release, Bochy said he is “incredibly excited to be joining the Texas Rangers.  Over the last several days, I’ve had extensive conversations with Chris Young and other individuals in the organization, and I had the chance to meet with [co-owner] Ray Davis.  Their vision and commitment to putting together a club that can contend and win year in and year out is impressive, and I became convinced I wanted to be a part of that.  If I was going to return to managing, it had to be the right situation.  I strongly believe that to be the case with the Rangers, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Bochy brings 25 years of experience as a Major League skipper, managing the Padres from 1995-2006 and then the Giants from 2007-2019.  During his long career, the 67-year-old Bochy has overseen rebuilding clubs, contenders, and teams that took dips in performance and then returned to contention — there have been enough ebbs and flows that Bochy actually has a career losing record, at 2003-2029.

However, Bochy’s resume also includes some major successes.  The Giants won three World Series titles in 2010, 2012, and 2014 under Bochy’s leadership, as the “Even Year” mini-dynasty brought the organization back to championship glory for the first time since 1954.  (Ironically, the 2010 Giants defeated the Rangers in the Series.)  Bochy also managed another NL pennant winner in the 1998 Padres, which marked the last time that San Diego reached the World Series.

The hire represents a change in direction for the Rangers, as the club tended to hire first-time managers when Jon Daniels was in charge of baseball operations.  (Interim manager Don Wakamatsu ran the team for 10 games in 2018, and was the only one of the last six Texas managers to have any previous MLB experience as a skipper.)  Of course, Daniels was himself fired in August, shortly after ex-manager Chris Woodward was also let go.

Daniels’ firing reportedly even caught Young by surprise, as Young suddenly found himself in charge of an organization that is eager to start winning.  Texas spent big last winter in signing Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Jon Gray, and while the team itself felt 2023 might be a more realistic target date for a return to contention, the 2022 club didn’t show much progress in posting a 68-94 record.  This clearly wasn’t good enough for Davis and the Rangers’ ownership group, who didn’t even wait until the end of the season before overhauling the front office.

With Texas sitting at six consecutive losing seasons, there is certainly pressure on Young and Bochy to start delivering some better results in 2023.  The Rangers are again expected to be aggressive this winter, whether that manifests itself as more splashy free agent signings, or trades for proven veterans.

The Royals, White Sox, and Marlins are now the only teams looking to fill managerial vacancies.  In addition to Bochy’s hiring, the Blue Jays (John Schneider), Angels (Phil Nevin), and Phillies (Rob Thomson) all officially signed their interim skippers from 2022 for the full-time positions.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Blue Jays Hire John Schneider As Manager

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The Blue Jays have officially removed the interim label from John Schneider, announcing today that the 42-year-old has been hired as the team’s manager.  Schneider was signed to a three-year contract, with a club option for the 2026 season.

A longtime member of the Jays organization, Schneider was promoted to the bench coach job prior to the 2022 season, but he took over as interim manager when Charlie Montoyo was fired on July 13.  Toronto held a 46-42 record at the time of Montoyo’s firing, but had played inconsistent baseball to that point, and was in the midst of a major slump that cost Montoyo his job.

This opened the door for Schneider, who stabilized matters by leading the Blue Jays to a 46-28 record over the remainder of the season.  Toronto captured the top wild card spot in the American League, though the Jays’ playoff trip was both short-lived and painful — the Mariners swept the Blue Jays in the Wild Card Series, as the Jays were shut out in Game 1 and then suffered a major bullpen breakdown in Game 2.

Despite the postseason disappointment, there was a sense that Schneider had done enough to earn the full-time managerial job.  He reportedly has plenty of support from within the clubhouse, and while Jays GM Ross Atkins left a bit of wiggle room during his recent end-of-season meeting with the media, he also stated that “it will be very difficult for us to find better than John Schneider” as the team’s next bench boss.

Schneider has spent his entire pro career with the Blue Jays, starting when he was a 13th-round pick for the club in the 2002 draft.  After six seasons in the minors, Schneider retired from playing due to injuries and moved into the coaching ranks, slowly working his way up the organizational ladder.  Schneider managed the Blue Jays’ rookie ball affiliate, both A-ball affiliates, and the Double-A affiliate from 2008-18, before receiving a promotion to the big league coaching staff prior to the 2019 season.  As it happened, Schneider’s climb coincided with the progress of several of Toronto’s young stars, so he was a familiar face in the dugout once the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Jordan Romano, and others arrived in the big leagues.

The early returns on Schneider as a Major League manager are promising, and the three-year deal represents the front office’s confidence in their new skipper.  However, Schneider faces immediate pressure as the leader of a team that has World Series aspirations, yet fell so devastatingly short in 2022.  Schneider’s own decision-making drew criticism following the epic Game 2 collapse, though in the view of the front office, the outcome of one game (important as that game was) wasn’t enough to erase Schneider’s work as manager over the previous three months.

Schneider becomes the third interim manager to receive a full promotion for 2023, following the Phillies’ Rob Thomson and the Angels’ Phil Nevin.  With Toronto finalizing their managerial situation, that leaves the White Sox, Royals, Marlins, and Rangers as the teams still looking to find a new skipper.

Ted Leonsis’ Group Emerging As Front-Runner In Nationals’ Ownership Sale

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Six months ago, the Lerner family announced they were exploring the possibility of a sale of the Nationals. As the offseason nears, some clarity has emerged on that process. David Aldridge, Britt Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic write that a group led by businessman Ted Leonsis is now the “clear front-runner” to eventually take over the Nationals. The Talk Nats blog first reported in late September the Leonsis group had broken through as the most likely party to buy the Nats.

Leonsis is already a key factor in the D.C. sports scene, as his Monumental Sports & Entertainment owns the NBA’s Wizards, the NHL’s Capitals and the WNBA’s Mystics. (The Lerners are a minority owner in that venture). Landing the Nationals would give Leonsis control over the D.C. franchises in three of the four major men’s sports leagues, The Athletic notes, a distinction currently only held by the Kroenke family that owns the Los Angeles Rams, Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets. Leonsis isn’t mounting a solo ownership bid, however. The Washington Business Journal reported in August that private equity businessman David Rubenstein is also part of the group; it is unclear whether anyone else is involved.

Previous reports have also linked South Korean businessman Michael B. Kim and mortgage mogul Stanley Middleman to the sales process. There were reportedly upwards of five bidders in talks with the Lerner family at one point, but The Athletic reports that Leonsis’ group seized control roughly a month ago.

While it appears that Leonsis and company are now in the driver’s seat to push the deal across the finish line, the closing of the sale isn’t imminent. Aldridge, Ghiroli and Rosenthal hear the sale isn’t likely to be finalized before the December 4-7 Winter Meetings in San Diego. That appears to be the more optimistic end of the timetable, as The Athletic writes it’s possible the sale isn’t finished until after the calendar flips to 2023.

As The Athletic notes, Leonsis also controls his own regional sports network, NBC Sports Washington. Monumental Sports & Entertainment had previously purchased 33% of NBC Sports Washington, and it bought out NBCUniversal’s 67% share this past August. Not coincidentally, NBC Sports Washington holds the local broadcasting rights to Capitals, Wizards and Mystics games.

The Nationals’ local broadcasting contract currently runs through the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which it shares with the Orioles. The Orioles own approximately 75% of the network, while the Nationals own the remaining share. The two franchises have been embroiled in rights fees litigation for the better part of a decade. The Washington franchise won a major victory in 2019 when an arbitrator ruled the Orioles owed the Nats $105MM. The Baltimore organization appealed that decision, and the matter has still yet to be decided by the New York State Court of Appeals.

While The Athletic notes it’s unclear how or if the sale of the Nationals would affect the MASN dispute, Talk Nats tweeted in August that Leonsis’ group would be interested in reaching a settlement with the Orioles to buy out of the MASN deal. If that did come to pass, the Nationals would presumably then be broadcast on the NBC Sports Washington platform. That’d obviously be a complicated process that requires negotiations with the Orioles, but it does seem to offer a glimmer of hope for a resolution to the saga.

The Lerner family first bought the Nationals in 2006, paying $450MM. The specific prices under consideration in their sale aren’t clear, but Daniel Kaplan of the Athletic wrote last month they were seeking $2.5 billion.

Jose Ramirez To Undergo Hand Surgery, Expected To Be Ready For Spring Training

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Guardians star José Ramírez will undergo surgery on his right hand early next month, agent Rafa Nieves tells Enrique Rojas of ESPN (Twitter link). The procedure is not expected to impact his readiness for next Spring Training. Tenchy Rodriguez was first to report (on Twitter) that Ramírez would have to undergo surgery.

Ramírez first suffered the injury midseason, Rojas adds, but he played through the issue as the Guardians ran down and eventually cruised to an AL Central title. He remained in the lineup on a more or less everyday basis, appearing in 157 regular season games and starting all seven of the club’s postseason contests at third base. Ramírez did miss two games in late June due to a right thumb injury but avoided the injured list all season.

Whether directly related to the thumb issue or not, the four-time All-Star slowed down after an otherworldly first few months. Ramírez carried a .292/.389/.641 line through 244 plate appearances on June 13. By measure of wRC+, he was the fifth-best qualified hitter in the game to that point. Ramírez first suffered the thumb injury at some point during a series against the Rockies that ranged from June 14-16, however (link via Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com). From that point forward, he posted a .273/.336/.446 line in 441 trips to the plate. Even the seemingly diminished version of Ramírez was an above-average player, but his second half was well below the MVP-caliber form he’s shown at his best.

After Cleveland’s elimination at the hands of the Yankees yesterday, Ramírez has decided to go under the knife. The expectation is that the issue will be corrected in plenty of time so as not to interrupt his preparation for next season. Assuming all goes according to plan, the 30-year-old should head into 2023 as one of the top handful of players in the sport.

Ramírez signed a team-friendly seven-year contract extension with Cleveland in Spring Training, ensuring he remains with the only organization he’s ever known. He’s due $119MM over the next six seasons, a bargain for the kind of production on both sides of the ball he provides at his peak. He’ll remain the integral piece of a young Cleveland lineup that was roughly average overall this season. The Guardians got solid contributions from a number of young players (i.e. Steven Kwan, Óscar González and Andrés Giménez) and will look to build off this year’s surprising division title over the coming seasons.

Fernando Tatis Jr. Undergoes Follow-up Procedure On Wrist

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Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. underwent a second procedure on the fractured left wrist which required surgery back in March, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. There was no setback in Tatis’ recovery from the first surgery, per the report. However, given that Tatis is also on the mend from September shoulder surgery, Padres medical staff and multiple specialists agreed that the second procedure, performed last week, could provide greater long-term stability. Padres president of baseball ops A.J. Preller tells Acee that the recovery timetable of this new surgery aligns with that of September’s shoulder operation. Tatis is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

Of course, Tatis won’t be a part of the Padres’ Opening Day roster, regardless. His nightmarish 2022 year has included not only three surgeries to address two injuries but also an 80-game PED suspension, which was handed down on Aug. 12. He cited a ringworm medication which, unbeknownst to him contained a banned substance, as the reason for his positive test and did not appeal the punishment.

The exact amount of time Tatis will miss early next season is dependent on the Padres’ performance over the next few weeks, as postseason games count toward the suspension. He was suspended for the final 48 games of the Padres’ regular season and was unpaid during that time.

Tatis, 23, originally injured his wrist during an offseason motorcycle accident that the team didn’t learn of until the lockout lifted. (Teams were barred from communicating with their players in any form during the 99-day lockout.) The shoulder issue, meanwhile, dates back to a pair of subluxations suffered during an otherwise stellar 2021 season — the first on a swing early in the season and second while sliding into second base in July. Despite the pair of shoulder injuries, Tatis not only avoided surgery but recorded a .282/.364/.611 batting line with 42 home runs and 25 steals in 130 games (546 plate appearances).

There are still 12 years remaining on the 14-year, $340MM contract extension Tatis signed following his second season in the Majors. He’ll be paid $7MM in 2023 (minus the prorated portion of that salary for any days still remaining on his suspension). He’s then owed salaries of $11MM in 2024, $20MM in 2025-26, $25MM in 2027-28 and $36MM annually from 2029-36. His contract affords him full no-trade protection through 2028 and limited no-trade protection (to 13 teams of his choosing) thereafter. If not traded in 2029-30, he’d gain 10-and-5 rights heading into the 2031 season and then once again be able to veto any trade.

Cardinals Sign GM Michael Girsch To Multi-Year Extension

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The Cardinals recently signed general manager Michael Girsch to a multi-year contract extension, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Assistant GM/scouting director Randy Flores also just signed a new multi-year deal, Goold reports, keeping both in the organization beyond 2022.

Both Girsch and Flores had been on expiring deals, so it’s no surprise St. Louis struck to keep each in the fold at this time. Girsch has been in the organization since 2006, working up to AGM by 2011. The Cards promoted him to general manager in 2017, a move made in conjunction with bumping Mozeliak from GM to president of baseball ops. That promotion came with a new contract that kept Girsch in St. Louis through 2020, and he subsequently signed a two-year extension before today’s multi-year pact. It isn’t clear how long the current arrangement runs, but it’ll at least keep Girsch around through 2024.

Girsch has worked as Mozeliak’s top lieutenant for some time, and that arrangement will continue next year and beyond. Mozeliak has final say in baseball operations, but Girsch was sufficiently happy with his role in St. Louis he declined an opportunity to pursue the Mets’ front office vacancy (a position that would’ve come with a chance to lead baseball operations) last offseason. The Notre Dame graduate is clearly content to continue with underneath Mozeliak in the Cardinals’ front office hierarchy. He’ll try to help St. Louis to a fifth consecutive playoff berth this offseason.

Flores, a former big league reliever, was hired as amateur scouting director in August 2015. He began overseeing the team’s drafts the following season, a role he’s now held for seven years. Dylan Carlson, Tommy Edman, Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman and Brendan Donovan are among St. Louis draftees of the Flores era who played key roles on this year’s NL Central-winning club, and 2020 first-rounder Jordan Walker has blossomed into one of the top few minor league talents in the game. The 47-year-old Flores earned a bump to assistant GM (one of three individuals to hold that title within the Cards’ front office) over the 2018-19 offseason.

Kodai Senga To Trigger Opt-Out And Become Free Agent

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Right-hander Kodai Senga is planning to trigger the opt-out in his contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and become a free agent, according to a report from Sankei Sports (Japanese language link). Senga and the club agreed to a five-year extension back in December, though that contract contained an opt-out clause after the first season. Senga will be a free agent and won’t be subject to the MLB-NPB posting system. It was reported in August that Senga planned to pursue MLB opportunities this winter and it now seems he will follow through on those plans.

Senga has been with the Hawks for his entire career thus far, making his first appearance back in 2012. It has been reported for many years that he has desired to make the leap across the Pacific to join MLB, though the Hawks are known for never posting their players. Instead, Senga has had to wait until he accrued nine years of NPB service time, at which point players are allowed to become free agents. While he was one year away from the open market, he agreed to the aforementioned extension, but only with the opt-out provision in place. He earned $5.3MM in 2022 and now has a chance to substantially add to that.

Senga, who will turn 30 in January, already has a track record as one of the best pitchers in Japan in recent years. Over his 11 seasons, he’s thrown 1,089 innings with a 2.59 ERA, 1,252 strikeouts and 414 walks. In 2022, he threw 144 innings with a 1.94 ERA, striking out 156 batters against 49 walks.

A year ago, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote that Senga has “exploding” fastball movement as part of a four-pitch mix. The report doesn’t think much of the cutter or slider, with Senga’s splitter being highlighted as his best secondary pitch. Longenhagen notes that Senga has shown the ability to maintain his velocity as a starter and will likely get chances to try that in the majors, though he could also thrive as a two-pitch reliever as a fallback option.

Senga figures to be a popular target for MLB teams and not just for his talents. Players coming from overseas generally have their markets tempered slightly by the fact that they are not proven at the major league level. This year’s crop of free agents will include some elite arms like Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodon, with all of them sure to secure massive paydays. For teams unwilling to shop at the very top of the market, Senga will figure to be an attractive option.

Also, since the Hawks refused to post Senga and held onto him until their club control was completely exhausted, there will be no posting fee to consider. Under the posting system, the signing team has to pay the Japanese club a fee, the value of which is dependent on the size of the contract: 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. However, that won’t be an issue at all in the case of Senga, meaning any MLB team that signs him will only have to pay the strict value of the agreed-upon contract.

Hanshin Tigers To Post Shintaro Fujinami

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The Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball are going to make right-hander Shintaro Fujinami available to MLB clubs this offseason via the posting system, according to a report from Kyodo News. Back in September, reports from Japan (Japanese link from Sponichi Annex and English link from The Japan Times) relayed his desire to attempt the move to North America. It now seems that the club will grant him his wish.

Fujinami, who will turn 29 in April, figures to be an interesting addition to this winter’s free agent market, though a very difficult one to predict. Going back to his high school days, Fujinami was a highly-touted young arm that was often compared to Shohei Ohtani when they were in the same draft class. Fujinami was first mentioned on MLBTR back in 2012, showcasing the hype that has followed him around for some time.

He lived up to that hype in his first few seasons but subsequently spent a long time battling control issues. (This eight-minute video from Yakyu Cosmopolitan is recommended for those who want a rundown of Fujinami’s whole career, though it was made before the 2022 season.) In 2013, Fujinami was thrown directly into the Tigers’ rotation in his age-19 campaign. He responded to that bold assignment by throwing 137 2/3 innings with a 2.75 ERA, 126 strikeouts, 44 walks and a couple of hit batters. He followed that up with two more excellent seasons, throwing 163 innings in 2014 with a 3.53 ERA and then 199 frames in 2015 with a 2.40 ERA.

In 2016, he was still fairly effective, but took a step back from that 2015 peak. His ERA went up to 3.25 and he walked 70 batters in 169 innings. The control issues would only grow from there, as he issued 45 walks in just 59 innings in 2017, eventually getting sent down to the minors. He’s been up-and-down between the minors and the Tigers in each season since then, struggling to earn enough trust to maintain a more permanent spot in Hanshin.

That was still the case here in 2022, as Fujinami made nine appearances down on the farm and 16 with the Tigers. In those 16 appearances for Hanshin, he logged 66 2/3 innings with a 3.38 ERA, striking out 65 while walking 21 batters. He faced a total of 276 batters, meaning his walk rate was 7.6%, which is actually respectable. For reference, this year’s MLB average was 8.2%. That’s a huge improvement over 2021, where he walked 40 out of 238 batters face for a rate of 16.8%.

All of this seems to make Fujinami a high-risk, high-reward possibility for teams in free agency. On the one hand, he has hit 126 km/h (1o1 mph) with his fastball and has been elite in the past. Despite his decade-long track record, he’ll be just 29 years old next season. On the other hand, he has struggled so badly in recent years that the Tigers haven’t let him be anything more than a depth arm since 2016. There is likely to be a wide variance in how he is viewed by MLB clubs, with some completely uninterested and others willing to take a chance on his arsenal with the aim of helping him harness his tools.

Once he is formally posted, there will be a 30-day window where MLB clubs can negotiate with his representatives. If a deal is reached, the signing team will also owe money to the Tigers, with that amount being relative to the size of the contract given to Fujinami. Any big league team that signs him would owe the Tigers a fee equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. If he does not reach an agreement with an MLB team, he will return to the Tigers for 2023.

Qualifying Offer Set At $19.65MM For 2022-23 Offseason

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This year’s qualifying offer will be set at $19.65MM, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. This will set a new record for the QO, which generally trends upward from year to year. The previous high was $18.9MM heading int0 the 2020-21 offseason, and the QO then dropped last winter down to $18.4MM.

The qualifying offer changes on an annual basis because it is an average of the salaries of the 125 highest-paid players in baseball. Naturally, as salaries increase with inflation and increased revenue in the game, the qualifying offer also goes up. Last year’s decline was likely a reflection of the pandemic (i.e. canceled games and diminished attendance led to a decrease in expenditures from some clubs) bu it seems that the spending environment has broadly rebounded. A look at the QO totals since its creation….

  • 2012-13: $13.3MM
  • 2013-14: $14.4MM
  • 2014-15: $15.3MM
  • 2015-16: $15.8MM
  • 2016-17: $17.2MM
  • 2017-18: $17.4MM
  • 2018-19: $17.9MM
  • 2019-20: $17.8MM
  • 2020-21: $18.9MM
  • 2021-22: $18.4MM
  • 2022-23: $19.65MM

It wasn’t clear whether or not the qualifying offer system would remain in place this winter, as the league offered to scrap the QO if the MLB Players Association agreed to replace the current international signing system with a draft for international players. This issue lingered even beyond the settlement of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement back in March, but when the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on an int’l draft in July, that ensured the qualifying offer will continue through at least the length of the CBA (through the 2026 season).

The QO has always been an interesting subplot of the free agency, if not necessarily a popular one for players and agents who feel the qualifying offer can act as a limitation on a player’s market. The qualifying offer is a one-year, contract that any team can issue to any free agent who hasn’t already received a QO in the past. If the player accepts, he returns to his team on that $19.65 payday — if he rejects, the team will receive draft pick compensation if the player signs elsewhere, and the player’s new club will also have to give up at least one pick as a penalty for the signing.

Top free agents typically reject the qualifying offer, since they are likelier to land long-term contracts and their suitors usually aren’t bothered too much at the idea of paying an extra QO penalty to sign these stars. However, some players have accepted the QO, opting to take the one-year contract as something of a pillow contract if the player is coming off a bit of a down year production-wise, or perhaps an injury-shortened season. Teams also must make a strategic call about whether or not to issue a QO to some free agents, as clubs may not want to be on the hook for $19.65MM to a particular player (free agents who accept a QO cannot be traded until June), but clubs are also keen to add extra draft picks whenever possible.

Tyler Matzek To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Braves left-hander Tyler Matzek, who was left off the NLDS roster due to elbow discomfort, is undergoing Tommy John surgery today, manager Brian Snitker announced to reporters (Twitter link via Jeff Schultz of The Athletic). Given the timing of the surgery, Matzek will likely miss the entire 2023 season as well.

There’s never really a good time for a baseball player to undergo go Tommy John and then have to spend 12-18 months recovering, but the timing here is especially unfortunate for both Matzek and the team. After winning a fifth-straight NL East crown, the club just began its postseason run yesterday, leaving Matzek off the roster. Now that the prognosis is known, Matzek can be ruled out of the entire playoff run and then some.

2022 was his third season with Atlanta after a lengthy absence due to “the yips.” He pitched for the Rockies in 2014 and 2015 but then dealt with control problems so bad that he was relegated to the minors for chunks of the 2016-2019 period, including missing the 2017 season entirely and pitching in indy ball in 2018. He eventually made his way back to the majors and established himself as a useful piece of the Atlanta bullpen. From 2020 to the present, he’s thrown 135 2/3 innings with a 2.92 ERA, 38.2% ground ball rate and 27.4% strikeout rate, despite a high 13.4% walk rate.

In addition to that strong work in the regular season, Matzek has shown a knack for taking things up a notch in the playoffs. In 2020, he threw 8 2/3 innings with a 1.04 ERA and followed that up with a 1.72 mark in 15 2/3 frames last year, playing a big role in helping Atlanta grab their first World Series title since 1995. Unfortunately, he won’t get a chance to build on his track record of postseason heroics here in 2022. Without Matzek, the club will charge ahead in their attempt to repeat as champions with A.J. Minter and Dylan Lee as their only lefty relievers.

Looking ahead to next year, Matzek, who turns 32 next week, is eligible for arbitration again after earning $1.4MM here in 2022. He will be due a raise for 2023, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting his salary to come in around $1.8MM. The team could consider not tendering Matzek a contract since he likely won’t be able to contribute at all in 2023. However, if they did tender him a contract, they would still be able to control him for 2024. Since Matzek will likely miss the entire season, he wouldn’t be able to push his 2024 salary much beyond his 2023 number, if at all. Players who are free agents but about to embark on a significant absence will often sign two-year deals with the signing club aware they won’t see a return on their investment until the second half of the deal, and Matzek’s final two arb years could effectively function in that way if the Atlanta front office considers him worth the gamble.

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