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Newsstand

Phillies Activate Jose Alvarado, Matt Moore; Select Odubel Herrera

By Connor Byrne | April 26, 2021 at 3:04pm CDT

The Phillies have activated left-handers Jose Alvarado and Matt Moore from the injured list and selected the contract of center fielder Odubel Herrera, per a club announcement. The team optioned lefty Bailey Falter, righty Spencer Howard and outfielder Mickey Moniak in corresponding moves.

The Phillies went the past week without Alvarado and Moore, whom they placed on the COVID list along with infielder Ronald Torreyes on April 19. None of those players tested positive for the virus.

The most noteworthy move here is the return of Herrera, a 29-year-old who last appeared in the majors in 2019. Herrera was a standout with the Phillies earlier in his career, leading the team to sign him to a five-year, $30.5MM extension heading into the 2017 season. Two years later, though, Major League Baseball issued an 85-game suspension to Herrera for a violation of the MLB-MLBPA joint domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse policy. The Phillies outrighted Herrera in January 2020, and he was off their 40-man roster until today.

Philadelphia’s hope is that Herrera will provide a spark in center, which has been a problem position for the club this season. The Phillies have divided playing time among Moniak, Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn, though their production has been horrid. They’ve hit a combined .114/.213/.177, which pales in comparison to Herrera’s lifetime .276/.333/.423 mark through 2,492 plate appearances.

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Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Transactions Coronavirus Jose Alvarado Matt Moore Odubel Herrera

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Astros Sign Martin Maldonado To One-Year Extension

By Steve Adams and Connor Byrne | April 21, 2021 at 11:55am CDT

April 21: The Astros announced today that they’ve signed Maldonado to an extension. The team didn’t disclose terms, although Feinsand reports that Maldonado is guaranteed $5MM on the one-year deal, which contains a $5MM vesting option for the 2023 season.

April 13: The Astros are finalizing a one-year contract extension with catcher Martin Maldonado, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (via Twitter). The new pact would also contain a vesting option for the 2023 season. Maldonado is a client of MVP Sports Group.

The 34-year-old Maldonado is in his second different stint with the Astros since they acquired him from the Angels for left-hander Patrick Sandoval leading up to the July 2018 trade deadline. Maldonado divided some of the next year between the Royals and Cubs, only to return to the Astros in a 2019 deal that sent infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp to Chicago. The Astros were impressed enough with Maldonado’s work that they prevented him from exiting in free agency with a two-year, $7MM guarantee.

Maldonado typically hasn’t offered much as a hitter, evidenced by his lifetime .217/.291/.352 line in 2,541 plate appearances, though he did put up a career-best .215/.350/.378 last year. Maldonado’s off to a dreadful .094/.121/.094 start with 15 strikeouts against one walk in 33 PA this season, but the Astros are willing to roll the dice for another year, no doubt owing in large part to the veteran’s history of well-regarded work behind the plate. Maldonado has earned extremely high lifetime marks from Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric, piled up 75 Defensive Runs Saved and thrown out an easily above-average 36 percent of would-be base thieves since debuting with the Brewers in 2011.

Barring any behind-the-plate changes in Houston, it’s slated to bring back its two current catchers – Jason Castro is the other – in 2022. Castro inked a two-year, $5MM contract in free agency, though he has only taken seven trips to the plate this season. Of course, considering Maldonado and Castro for a cheap duo, the Astros could still seek an upgrade(s) in the coming months if Maldonado and Castro don’t produce to the club’s liking.

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Houston Astros Newsstand Transactions Martin Maldonado

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No Extension Negotiations Between Braves, Freddie Freeman

By Connor Byrne | April 20, 2021 at 10:19pm CDT

First baseman Freddie Freeman has become an institution in Atlanta since his career began in 2010, but there is a chance this will be his final season with the Braves. The reigning National League Most Valuable Player is not signed beyond this season, and if he does reach the open market over the winter, he’ll be one of the game’s highest-profile free agents. As of now, Freeman and the Braves are not progressing toward a long-term contract.

Asked about extension talks with the Braves, Freeman said Tuesday (via Jeff Schultz of The Athletic), “There is no negotiations.” Freeman added that discussing a deal during the season “would be a distraction and I don’t like distractions. My main focus is the game tonight and I don’t think there’s going to be much talking any time soon.”

Freeman has already received one lucrative payday from the Braves – an eight-year, $135MM extension in February 2014. As a soon-to-be 32-year-old, Freeman won’t sign a deal that long again, but a five- to six-year contract worth $25MM or more per season doesn’t seem outlandish. One comparable could be the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt, who inked a five-year, $130MM guarantee with the Cardinals in 2019 at the age of 31. However, that was an extension hammered out several months before Goldschmidt could have gone to free agency, meaning the Cardinals weren’t competing against anyone for his services. The Braves may not have the luxury of avoiding a multi-team bidding war for Freeman if they’re unable to lock him up before the offseason opens.

Whether with Atlanta or another club, Freeman has done enough to earn a second nine-figure deal. The four-time All-Star has batted .294/.383/.510 (139 wRC+) with 245 home runs in 6,036 plate appearances, and he has missed only four games dating back to the beginning of the 2018 season. Freeman’s currently on pace for another tremendous year, having hit .233/.387/.517 (140 wRC+) with five HRs and a 14:6 BB:K ratio in 75 plate appearances. While Freeman’s batting average is uncharacteristically low, Statcast data suggests his .188 BABIP will eventually soar closer to his lifetime mark of .339.

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Atlanta Braves Newsstand Freddie Freeman

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Adrian Morejon To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Connor Byrne | April 20, 2021 at 6:18pm CDT

Padres left-hander Adrian Morejon will undergo Tommy John surgery, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. He’ll miss the rest of this season and likely a sizable portion of next year as a result.

Morejon last appeared for the Padres on April 11, when he departed a start against the Rangers during the first inning with a left forearm strain. A Tommy John procedure looked like a realistic possibility for the 22-year-old at that point, and that’s unfortunately the route he will have to take.

Morejon, a Cuba native, signed an eyebrow-raising $11MM bonus with the Padres in 2016 and has since ranked among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects on an annual basis. However, Morejon hasn’t yet taken on a significant workload during a professional season, having never thrown more than 65 1/3 innings in an individual year. He combined for 27 1/3 major league innings as a swingman from 2019-20 before earning a rotation spot heading into this season with 14 frames of 3.21 ERA ball and 17 strikeouts in spring training. But Morejon’s 2021 will now end after just two starts and 4 2/3 innings.

The season-long loss of Morejon is obviously a blow to the Padres’ depth, but the team is still in enviable shape in its rotation. Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, Dinelson Lamet, Chris Paddack and Ryan Weathers are their top options in the majors, and elite prospect MacKenzie Gore could debut sometime this season.

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Newsstand San Diego Padres Adrian Morejon

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Neil Walker Announces Retirement

By Connor Byrne | April 20, 2021 at 4:42pm CDT

Longtime major league second baseman Neil Walker has retired from baseball at the age of 35. Walker broke the news to Sweeny Murti of WFAN as a guest on the “30 for Murti” podcast.

A Pittsburgh native, Walker was a first-round pick (No. 11) of his hometown Pirates in 2004. Five years later, Walker made a 17-game big league debut, and he became both a regular and a consistently solid contributor beginning the next season. During a 3,386-plate appearance run from 2010-15, the switch-hitting Walker put up five seasons of at least 2.4 fWAR (including a career-high 4.1 in 2014, when he won a Silver Slugger Award) and batted .273/.338/.443 with 93 home runs.

Walker’s time with the Pirates concluded when they traded him to the Mets for left-hander Jon Niese prior to the 2016 campaign. The move didn’t work out at all for the Bucs, with whom Niese’s production spiraled, though Walker continued to perform well in Queens. He batted .275/.344/.462 and smacked 33 HRs over 757 PA in a Mets uniform in parts of two seasons, but with the team out of contention late in 2017, it traded him to the Brewers for the stretch run.

Walker didn’t re-sign with the Brewers, instead returning to New York n a one-year, $4MM guarantee with the Yankees. With a .219/.309/.354 line in 398 trips to the plate, Walker turned in his worst offensive season as a regular in 2018. He enjoyed somewhat of a bounce-back campaign the next season on a $2MM deal as a member of the Marlins, though he still had to settle for a minor league contract with the Phillies going into 2020. While Walker did make it to the majors for a 12th straight season, he struggled enough over 18 games that the Phillies designated him for assignment in September.

Although Walker had a less-than-ideal ending, he still enjoyed a far more successful and lucrative career than the vast majority of major leaguers. He’ll end with a .267/.338/.426 line, 149 homers and 21.6 fWAR/19.6 rWAR across 1,306 games and 5,152 trips to the plate. Walker also earned nearly $52MM in the bigs, per Baseball-Reference.com.

MLBTR congratulates Walker on an impressive career and wishes him the best in retirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Miami Marlins Milwaukee Brewers New York Mets New York Yankees Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Pittsburgh Pirates Neil Walker Retirement

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Yasiel Puig To Sign With Mexican League Team

By Connor Byrne | April 20, 2021 at 3:42pm CDT

Outfielder Yasiel Puig hasn’t been able to find work in the majors, but it does appear he’ll play professional baseball in 2021. Puig will sign with Veracruz of the Mexican League, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes reports.

Now 30 years old, Puig starred with the Dodgers at times from 2013-18. However, there were some off-field issues along the way, including two reckless driving arrests. The Dodgers moved on from Puig in a trade with the Reds heading into 2019, during which he went on to slash .267/.327/.458 with 29 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 611 plate appearances between Cincinnati and Cleveland.

Statistically, Puig did enough with the Ohio teams to earn another contract going into last season, but he sat on the open market into the summer. While the Braves appeared to have a deal with Puig in the middle of July, that fell through when he tested positive for COVID-19. Puig didn’t end up playing in MLB last season as a result, nor did he garner major interest as a free agent this past offseason – likely because of serious off-field allegations.

Last October, a woman filed a civil lawsuit against Puig, who she claims sexually assaulted her at a Los Angeles Lakers game in 2018. Puig and his legal team categorically denied those allegations last week, when the 30-year-old called them “totally false.” He also expressed a desire to return to MLB, but he’ll have to play at a lower level for at least the time being.

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Newsstand Transactions Yasiel Puig

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Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib

By Mark Polishuk | April 19, 2021 at 3:51pm CDT

APRIL 19: Marte suffered a non-displaced fracture in the 12th rib on his left side, the Marlins announced. He’ll go five to seven days without baseball activities, and then the Marlins will re-evaluate him. In the meantime, he’ll head to the IL.

APRIL 18: Marlins outfielder Starling Marte left today’s game in the middle of a ninth-inning plate appearance due to what appeared to be an injury to his side or oblique area.  After the first two pitches of the at-bat, Marte grabbed at his side, and was taken out of the game after being observed by manager Don Mattingly and a team trainer.

Speaking to The Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson and other reporters after the game, Mattingly said that Marte wanted to keep playing, but the skipper opted to be cautious.

“He’s a big part of what we do.  He’s that cog in the offense, defense, on the bases….That’s the reason to pull him out of the game,” Mattingly said.  “You don’t want to lose this guy for six weeks.  It could be a couple weeks.  It could be 10 days.  It could be five days.  We want it to be the minimum.”

While Marte will undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury, Mattingly comments seem to indicate that the center fielder will miss at least some time, and likely make a trip to the 10-day injured list.  If the injury is indeed oblique-related, it would be the third such injury of Marte’s career, though the first two IL stints (in 2012 and 2018) didn’t keep Marte out of action for too long.

Nonetheless, any setback is an unfortunate interruption to Marte’s superb start, as he had a .310/.414/.483 slash line and two home runs over his first 70 PA of the season.  Magneuris Sierra is the most probable candidate to step into center field duty if Marte does have to miss an extended amount of time, and Miami could also call up Lewis Brinson or Monte Harrison from the alternate training site.

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Miami Marlins Newsstand Starling Marte

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Jay Bruce Announces Retirement

By Anthony Franco | April 18, 2021 at 11:05pm CDT

Yankees first baseman Jay Bruce has announced he’s retiring from baseball (via Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic). Today’s game against the Rays will be the final outing of Bruce’s 14-year MLB career.

“After 14 incredible seasons, I’ve decided to make the very difficult decision to retire from baseball. All I ever wanted to be ’when I grew up’ was a baseball player, and to say that I got to live out my dream would be the understatement of a lifetime. This sport gave me more than I could’ve ever asked for,” Bruce wrote as part of his announcement (the full statement is available at the above link).

A first-round pick of the Reds in 2005, Bruce would quickly become one of the sport’s most promising young talents. He was a top 100 prospect in each of his first three years in pro ball, eventually becoming Baseball America’s #1 farmhand entering the 2008 season. Bruce made his major league debut in May of that year and hit a decent .254/.314/.453, earning a fifth-place finish in National League Rookie of the Year balloting.

Two years later, Bruce settled in as the middle-of-the-order bat many evaluators expected he’d become. Between 2010-13, the left-handed slugger hit a very productive .262/.337/.489 (119 wRC+), earning back-to-back All-Star selections in 2011-12 and a pair of Silver Slugger awards and down-ballot MVP support in 2012-13. Bruce fell off a bit in 2014-15, but he rebounded offensively in 2016 and earned his third and final All-Star selection.

The bulk of Bruce’s career was spent with the Reds, but he continued to produce for a few years after leaving Cincinnati. He hit a career-high 36 home runs during a 2017 season split between the Mets and Indians and popped 26 homers as recently as 2019. He was an above-average hitter during his time with the Mets, as well as in his brief stints in Cleveland and Seattle.

Unfortunately, Bruce’s production has fallen off as he’s entered his 30’s, with increasing struggles to reach base at a passable clip. He didn’t perform well with the Phillies last year and had to settle for a minor-league deal with the Yankees over the offseason. A Spring Training injury to Luke Voit opened up an opportunity for Bruce to begin the year as New York’s first baseman, but he’s stumbled to a .118/.231/.235 line in 39 plate appearances as a Yankee.

Struggles in his final couple seasons notwithstanding, Bruce had a very strong career. Not including any stats he may accrue in this afternoon’s game, the Texas native concludes with a .244/.314/.467 slash line across 6642 MLB plate appearances, making him six percentage points better than the league average hitter by measure of weighted runs created plus.

Bruce had five separate seasons in which he was at least fifteen points above average at the plate. The well-respected veteran had 1455 hits, including 319 home runs, scored 839 times and drove in 951 runs. Altogether, Bruce was worth around 20 wins above replacement and accrued just shy of $103MM in career earnings, per Baseball Reference. MLBTR congratulates Bruce on a fine career and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

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Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Guardians New York Mets New York Yankees Newsstand Philadelphia Phillies Seattle Mariners Jay Bruce Retirement

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Nationals Place Stephen Strasburg On Injured List, Select Paolo Espino

By Anthony Franco | April 18, 2021 at 10:56am CDT

10:56 am: Strasburg felt shoulder discomfort after a recent bullpen session, manager Dave Martinez tells reporters (including Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com). A subsequent MRI revealed the inflammation. The Nationals hope his absence won’t be particularly long, although there’s no current defined timetable for his return.

9:44 am: The Nationals announced they’ve placed right-hander Stephen Strasburg on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 15, with right shoulder inflammation. Righty Paolo Espino was selected from the alternate training site to start this afternoon’s game in Strasburg’s stead. Additionally, Washington placed reliever Wander Suero on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain and recalled righty Ryne Harper.

Washington did not give a timetable for Strasburg’s return. Today’s IL placement is the latest injury setback for the star right-hander, who was limited to just two starts during the shortened 2020 season by carpal tunnel syndrome. The 32-year-old was also hampered by a leg injury during Spring Training, but it didn’t prevent him from beginning this season on the active roster. Unfortunately, he’ll now deal with a shoulder issue after a pair of regular season starts.

Espino, 34, made a pair of appearances for the Nats last season. That was his first big league time since 2017, the only other year in which he’s appeared in the majors. While Espino was outrighted off the 40-man roster last fall, he returned to the organization on a minor-league deal. He’ll make a spot start today against the Diamondbacks.

Suero left yesterday’s appearance after facing just one batter and was reported to be headed for an MRI, so it’s no surprise he’s headed to the injured list. Harper will return to take Suero’s place in the bullpen for now.

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Newsstand Transactions Washington Nationals Paolo Espino Ryne Harper Stephen Strasburg Wander Suero

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Cody Bellinger Has Hairline Fracture In Left Leg

By Connor Byrne | April 16, 2021 at 10:56pm CDT

Dodgers slugger Cody Bellinger hasn’t played since April 5, and it doesn’t appear a return is imminent. A recent test on Bellinger’s injured left leg revealed a hairline fracture, manager Dave Roberts told Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times and other reporters. Roberts added that “it’s not a day-to-day thing.”

Bellinger landed on the 10-day injured list April 9 (retroactive to April 6), at which point it was believed he only had a left calf contusion. The Dodgers seemed optimistic Bellinger would return in fairly short order, but that won’t be the case. However, it’s not yet clear how much more time the 25-year-old outfielder/first baseman will miss.

Bellinger helped the Dodgers to NL West titles in each of his four full seasons, and the former MVP was a key part of last year’s World Series-winning club. Bellinger opened this season as the Dodgers’ center fielder, but the depth-laden team has had the luxury of turning to Chris Taylor, Mookie Betts and AJ Pollock (mostly Taylor) at the position during his absence. Even with Bellinger on the shelf for most of April, the Dodgers have stormed out of the gates to an 11-2 record – the best mark in the majors.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Newsstand Cody Bellinger

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