Twins Discussing Extension With Byron Buxton
Byron Buxton is currently on the injured list due to a fractured hand, but the Twins have given him something to think about while he mends. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that Minnesota is hoping to sign Buxton long-term and recently offered him a deal that guarantees him more than $70MM and also includes escalators and incentives — presumably based on health and days spent on the active roster.
Now 27 years old, Buxton was the No. 2 overall draft pick back in 2012 and at various points topped prospect rankings at Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN. There were some early growing pains at the plate as Buxton struggled with strikeouts and was unable to tap into his considerable raw power, but in recent years he’s shown the all-around talent that made such a high draft pick and such a vaunted prospect.
Dating back to 2019, Buxton has batted .282/.322/.581 with 33 home runs, 44 doubles, four triples and 21 stolen bases (in 25 attempts). That includes an otherworldly showing so far in 2021, when he’s slashed .369/.409/.767 with 10 home runs and 11 doubles in just 110 plate appearances. Given that Buxton is arguably the best defensive player in baseball, regardless of position, that production at the plate makes him one of baseball’s most valuable players on a per-game basis.
The problem for Buxton, of course, has been staying on the field. That outstanding 2019-21 output came over a sample of just 540 plate appearances, thanks to a barrage of injuries. Some have been fluky in nature — his current injury came when he was hit by a pitch; his 2018 fractured toe happened when he fouled a ball into his foot — but as Rosenthal points out, Buxton has made 11 career trips to the injured list. That number doesn’t even include a quartet of minor league IL placements for various injuries, including a pair of left wrist strains.
There isn’t one nagging injury that continues to hamper Buxton, which is both encouraging and frustrating at the same time. He’s dealt with migraines and concussion symptoms after all-out plays in the outfield, a partially torn a ligament in his thumb while sliding into the bag on a stolen base, surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder, and also landed on the IL due to a variety of strains and sprains over the years.
Because of that litany of injuries, Buxton is one of the toughest players in baseball to assess from a contractual standpoint. The aforementioned .282/.322/.581, 33-homer, 44-double output came in a span of 153 games — roughly one full season’s worth of play. Very few players could put together a stretch that impressive over a full season — and certainly not with comparable defensive value — but Buxton has only played 100 games in a Major League season on one occasion. It’s easy to argue that even a half season of Buxton is worth $10MM-plus, but it’s also understandable if the Twins are reluctant with the extent of their guarantee.
One piece of context that ought to be addressed when looking at any potential extension for Buxton is service time. He’ll be a free agent after the 2022 season and is arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter, but that’s due largely to the fact that Buxton wasn’t given a September call-up back in 2018.
Buxton landed on the Major League injured list early in 2018 with what was hoped to be a minimal stay due to migraine issues, but he fouled a ball into his foot during a rehab assignment and suffered a hairline fracture. He attempted to play through the injury at the MLB level but had perhaps the worst three-week stretch of his career while doing so. Buxton was eventually placed back the IL and, upon being activated, was optioned to Triple-A. He then incurred the aforementioned wrist strains, further prolonging his stay in the minors.
Buxton returned from the minor league IL to hit .356/.400/.596 in 12 games down the stretch with Triple-A Rochester, but he wasn’t included among the Twins’ September call-ups. That omission kept Buxton from crossing the threshold from two years of MLB service to three years and pushed his path to free agency back by a year.
GM Thad Levine acknowledged at the time (link via The Athletic) that Buxton’s representatives at Jet Sports Management were “displeased” and “disappointed” with the decision. Buxton himself told the Minneapolis Star Tribune the following December that his omission from the team’s collection of September call-ups “didn’t go over well,” though he later added that he still hoped to spend his entire career with the Twins organization.
The Twins did give Buxton a healthy raise for a Super Two player coming off an injury-decimated season that winter ($1.75MM), but it’s hard to imagine that the September 2018 issue wouldn’t resurface to some extent during present-day extension talks. That doesn’t mean a deal can’t be worked out, of course. It merely adds another layer to what already figured to be an immensely complex set of negotiations.
There aren’t many recent examples of a center fielder with five-plus years of big league service time forgoing free agency and signing an extension, although Aaron Hicks and Charlie Blackmon do serve as potential points of reference. Hicks signed a seven-year, $70MM contract in the spring of 2019 (six years, $64MM of new money). Blackmon signed a six-year, $108MM contract just after Opening Day 2018 (five years, $94MM in new money). Both had five-plus years of service time at the time of their extensions, as Buxton does now, but both were considerably older than Buxton is now. Buxton is also further from the open market at present by virtue of the fact that he’s negotiating midseason rather than during Spring Training of his walk year. Hicks and Blackmon could very well be talking points raised during discussions, but those data points are far from direct parallels.
Notably, Rosenthal suggests there’s a chance the Twins could trade Buxton if the two parties can’t come to terms on a contract extension, though such a move would seem likelier in the offseason than when Buxton is on the injured list with a broken hand. That’s something of a surprise in and of itself, as even in spite of their poor 2021 showing, the Twins have a promising young core of controllable hitters and ample payroll flexibility to reload their pitching staff this offseason. There’s no indication that the Twins are gearing up for a lengthy rebuilding effort, and it’d be hard for them to simultaneously trade Buxton prior to Opening Day 2022 and still claim to be aiming to contend next year.
Braves Acquire Joc Pederson From Cubs
The Braves and Cubs have swung a notable trade, as outfielder Joc Pederson is on his way to Atlanta in exchange for first base prospect Bryce Ball. Both teams have announced the trade, and there doesn’t appear to be any money changing hands in the deal. This means the Braves will absorb all of the approximately $1.84MM remaining of Pederson’s $4.5MM salary for the 2021 season, as well as the $2.5MM buyout of the $10MM mutual option on his services for 2022.
Pederson addresses a clear and obvious need in the outfield for Atlanta after superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. was lost for the season due to a torn ACL. Pederson has a lot of center field experience over his career, though it is probably more likely that he’ll be deployed mostly as a corner outfielder for the Braves. With Pederson handling left or right field on a regular basis and Guillermo Heredia getting the bulk of the work in center field, the Braves can toggle between Orlando Arcia, Ehire Adrianza, Ender Inciarte and Abraham Almonte for the other corner spot and as backup options.
Some type of right-handed hitting option might be necessary as a complement to Pederson, who has a modest .271/.348/.339 slash line in 66 PA against left-handed pitching this season. His decision to sign a free agent deal with the Cubs last winter was made in part because Chicago offered Pederson a chance to every day rather than in a platoon capacity, and his numbers are still an improvement from his overall career line against left-handed pitching. The batting average and OBP are at least respectable enough that the Braves might still use Pederson as more or less an everyday player just to plug one outfield hole.
It also possible the Braves could add another outfielder on the trade market, since today’s swap indicates that the club hasn’t conceded anything in the wake of Acuna’s devastating injury. Atlanta has a 44-45 record but sits just 3.5 games back of the Mets for first place in the NL East. Since the Braves have a tough schedule between now and the July 30 trade deadline (five games against the Mets, three against the Phillies, and three each against playoff contenders Tampa Bay and San Diego), it also isn’t out of the question that Pederson could be flipped again if the Braves struggle over the next two weeks and decide to sell some pieces.
An above-average bat for most of his seven seasons with the Dodgers, Pederson was also dealt to the Angels in a rather infamously scuttled deal prior to the 2020 campaign, but he remained on L.A.’s blue team long enough to capture a World Series ring. He posted a .991 OPS over 37 plate appearances during the Dodgers’ postseason run, providing a happy ending after a struggle (.681 OPS in 138 PA) of a regular season.
The Braves had some interest in Pederson as a free agent, but he ended up signing with Chicago, and still hasn’t really gotten himself right at the plate. Pederson has been a slightly below-average (95 wRC+, 96 OPS+) hitter in 287 total plate appearances this season, hitting .230/.300/.418 with 11 home runs. All 11 of those homers have come against right-handed pitching, yet while Pederson sought out more playing time against lefties during the winter, the irony is that he has now struggled to hit righties for two straight seasons. Pederson has only a .218/.285/.442 slash line in 221 PA against righties this year.
The Cubs have a 44-46 record, only a half-game behind the Braves in the standings and yet seemingly a world apart in terms of expectations for the remainder of the 2021 season. Chicago has won just six of its last 25 games, thanks to a crushing 11-game losing streak that seems to have put them in a seller’s mindset as the deadline approaches. As a rental player, Pederson was a natural trade chip to be moved, and speculation has swirled for months that such impending free agents (and franchise cornerstones) such as Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Anthony Rizzo could be on the move by July 30.
Today’s trade could be the first of many for the Cubs over the next two weeks, and the Wrigleyville side has already picked up one interesting minor leaguer in Ball. A 24th-round pick for Atlanta in the 2019 draft, Ball was a power-heavy prospect who immediately displayed that skill in his first pro season, batting a cumulative .329/.395/.628 with 17 homers over 263 PA with the Braves’ rookie league and A-ball teams in 2019. It hasn’t been as smooth for Ball this year, however, with only a .207/.354/.396 slash line in 212 PA at high-A ball, including a power dropoff resulting in only six home runs and a big reduction in slugging percentage.
MLB Pipeline ranked Ball as the 12th-best prospect in the Braves’ farm system, so he is more than just a lottery ticket at age 23 if the Cubs development system can sharpen his hitting potential. For the sake of future trade speculation, Ball isn’t really enough of a premium first base prospect that it would make a Rizzo trade any more likely than it already is, necessarily. (By that same token, dealing a first base prospect probably also isn’t a hint about Freddie Freeman‘s future with the Braves, though Freeman certainly doesn’t look like a trade candidate.)
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Red Sox Promote Jarren Duran
The Red Sox are promoting top outfield prospect Jarren Duran to make his major league debut tomorrow night against the Yankees, reports Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Twitter link). Boston’s 40-man roster is full, so another move is required to accommodate the formal selection of his contract.
Duran is one of the game’s more promising young talents. While he fell to the seventh round of the 2018 draft coming out Long Beach State, he immediately improved his stock upon entering pro ball. The speedster posted incredible numbers across two levels of A-ball over his first year-plus in the minors before hitting a bit of a bump in the road upon a 2019 promotion to Double-A. He spent all of 2020 at the alternate training site, where reports suggested he’d revamped his swing path to incorporate more loft in an attempt to hit for power.
Evaluators took note of Duran’s changed profile, but last year’s cancelation of the minor league season still left some question whether he’d be able to translate his new mechanics into results. He’s done all he can to answer those doubts this season, hitting a whopping .270/.365/.561 across 219 plate appearances with Triple-A Worcester. Duran has popped fifteen home runs over the year’s first half after hitting a grand total of seven round-trippers over his 880 trips to the plate between 2018-19. A livelier Triple-A baseball could account for some of that production, but there’s little question Duran’s adjustments have had a sizable impact upon his newfound power.
The improved performance has also raised Duran’s stock in the public prospect rankings sphere. Eric Longenhagen and Kevin Goldstein of FanGraphs now slot the left-handed hitting outfielder as the game’s #55 overall prospect. (Entering the season, he wasn’t among FanGraphs’ top 133 farmhands, although he did slot seventh in the site’s rankings of Red Sox minor leaguers).
Importantly, Duran’s uptick in power hasn’t come with much accompanying swing-and-miss. His 23.7% strikeout rate this season is right in line with his 2019 mark in Double-A. That’s a bit higher than his low minors strikeout percentages but not glaringly so, and there’s little question the improved batted ball authority has been worth any small dip in contact rate.
Now that he’s in the big leagues, Duran looks likely to take over center field on a regular basis. Boston has gotten very little out of the position this year, with a cumulative .236/.300/.392 mark from their group of Kiké Hernández, Alex Verdugo, Danny Santana and Hunter Renfroe. With Duran up, the Sox can rely on Verdugo and Renfroe in the corners on most days while keeping J.D. Martinez at designated hitter. That’ll push Hernández back into the utility role for which he’s best suited. Santana’s currently on the injured list, with Marwin González expected to land on the shelf as well. One of that underperforming duo could find themselves squeezed off the roster upon their return from the IL.
The Red Sox hold a 1.5 game lead over the Rays in the American League East, so Duran’s being thrust right into the thick of a pennant race. Between his combination of Triple-A production and the Sox mediocre center field situation, it had become increasingly apparent Boston should at least give Duran an opportunity to stake a claim to the job. He’ll get that chance beginning tomorrow against their archivals, over whom they have an eight-game advantage in the standings.
Duran won’t earn a full year of major league service in 2021, nor is he expected to accrue enough service time to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player. If he remains in the majors from here on out, he’ll be controllable through 2027 and won’t reach arbitration-eligibility until after the 2024 campaign.
Angels Sign Adam Eaton
The Angels announced the signing of veteran outfielder Adam Eaton to a major league contract. To create 40-man roster space, left-hander Dillon Peters has been designated for assignment.
Eaton signed a one-year, $8MM deal with the White Sox over the offseason. He’d generally been a solid performer over his previous four seasons with the Nationals, but it was still a bit of a curious decision given Eaton’s underwhelming 2020 campaign. The left-handed hitter slashed just .226/.285/.384 across 176 plate appearances with Washington last season.
Obviously, the White Sox front office expected he’d be able to bounce back offensively, but that hasn’t yet proven to be the case. While Eaton got off to a strong start to his (second) White Sox tenure, he tailed off rather quickly and has ultimately managed similarly disappointing results as he did last year. He took 219 trips to the dish with Chicago this season, managing just a .201/.298/.344 line with five home runs. Eaton has punched out in a career-worst 25.1% of his plate appearances, his first season with a strikeout percentage higher than the league average. That’s a concerning development for a player whose peak seasons were built upon his ability to put the ball in play to all fields and hit for high batting averages.
The Sox designated Eaton for assignment and granted him his unconditional release earlier this week. They’ll remain on the hook for the bulk of his salary, with the Angels paying Eaton only the league minimum from here on out (just less than $250K after prorating). It’s a no-risk roll of the dice for an Angels team that has had something of a revolving door in right field over the course of the year.
Taylor Ward has played quite well of late and likely has the inside track to the job. Left fielder Justin Upton is currently on the injured list, though, and Eaton’s lefty bat can offer a complement to the series of right-handed hitters (Ward, Upton, Phil Gosselin, Juan Lagares) the club has on hand as corner outfield options. Eaton has a more respectable .235/.316/.404 line against right-handed pitching over the past two seasons, so there’s reason to think he could still offer some value in a platoon role.
Peters hasn’t appeared in the majors this year, spending the campaign at Triple-A Salt Lake. The 28-year-old has tossed 41 1/3 frames of 4.35 ERA ball in that hitter-friendly environment. Peters’ strikeout and walk numbers in Triple-A (26.8% and 7.3%, respectively) are quite strong, but he’s also given up an alarming twelve home runs in eight starts. He has seen big league action with the Marlins and Angels between 2017-20, tossing 132 2/3 innings of 5.83 ERA/5.22 SIERA ball. The Angels will have a week to trade Peters or expose him to waivers.
Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com was first to report Eaton’s deal was a major league contract.
MLB Places Trevor Bauer On Administrative Leave
July 14: MLB and the MLBPA have agreed to extend Bauer’s administrative leave period through July 27, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
July 8: Major League Baseball and the union have agreed to extend Bauer’s leave by another seven days, the league announced.
July 2: Major League Baseball announced in a press release that Bauer has been placed on administrative leave:
MLB’s investigation into the allegations made against Trevor Bauer is ongoing. While no determination in the case has been made, we have made the decision to place Mr. Bauer on seven-day administrative leave effective immediately. MLB continues to collect information in our ongoing investigation concurrent with the Pasadena Police Department’s active criminal investigation. We will comment further at the appropriate time.
Placement on administrative leave is not a disciplinary action, and — as MLB’s statement acknowledges — does not reflect any finding of the league’s investigation. Players placed on administrative leave continue to be paid and to accumulate Major League service time. This is the most common step for the league to take while players are investigated under the league’s domestic violence policy.
MLB has unilateral authority to place players accused of a violation of the policy on seven-day administrative leave. Any further administrative leave placements, which would take effect in seven-day increments, have to be consented to by the MLB Players Association.*
June 30: The particulars of the 67-page ex parte restraining order are chronicled by Brittany Ghiroli and Katie Strang of The Athletic. Bauer and his representatives will have an opportunity to respond to the allegations during a formal hearing scheduled for July 23. Readers are warned that the piece contains many graphic and disturbing allegations.
June 29, 9:45pm: A spokesperson for the Pasadena Police Department confirmed they’re investigating the allegation against Bauer, Janes relays.
8:28 pm: Dodgers star Trevor Bauer is being investigated by the Pasadena Police Department after a woman accused him of assault, reports TMZ Sports. The alleged victim was granted a temporary ex parte restraining order today, according to TMZ.
Bauer’s agent Jon Fetterolf released a statement denying the allegations (relayed by Jeff Passan of ESPN). Fetterolf claims Bauer and the alleged victim had a pair of consensual sexual encounters and called the allegations contained in the restraining order “baseless.” TMZ reports that Bauer is cooperating with authorities and that the case is likely to be sent to the Los Angeles County District Attorney to determine whether charges are warranted.
Under the terms of the joint MLB-MLBPA Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, Major League Baseball has the authority to issue discipline regardless of whether criminal charges are ultimately filed. MLB is aware of and looking into the matter, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.
*An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the administrative leave window can be extended at the discretion of commissioner Rob Manfred. The post has been updated to reflect that any extensions of the administrative leave period beyond the initial seven days must be agreed upon with the MLB Players Association. MLBTR regrets the error.
White Sox Release Adam Eaton
The White Sox announced Monday morning that outfielder Adam Eaton has been granted his unconditional release. He’s now a free agent available to any other team for the prorated league minimum.
Eaton, 32, returned to Chicago on a one-year, $7MM contract this past winter after spending four years with the Nationals and winning a World Series there. He’d struggled through a tough showing during last summer’s shortened 60-game schedule, but Eaton was productive in his other three years with the Nats, hitting .288/.377/.425 in 1133 plate appearances from 2017-19. The Eaton reunion wasn’t the big outfield splash for which ChiSox fans were pining early in the offseason, but it was a reasonable enough roll of the dice at an affordable price considering Eaton’s generally strong track record.
Things (obviously) didn’t go according to plan for either Eaton or the White Sox, however. While he got out to a great start in the season’s first 15 games (.268/.379/.482 in 66 plate appearances), Eaton’s production cratered not long after. From April 20 through the time he was designated for assignment on July 7, he mustered only a .173/.262/.286 batting line with a sky-high (by his standards) 27.4 percent strikeout rate; entering the season, Eaton carried a career 16.8 percent punchout rate and had never fanned in more than 19 percent of his plate appearances during a single season.
While Eaton’s contract contained an $8.5MM club option for the 2022 campaign (which carries a $1MM buyout), that option buyout is now the responsibility of the White Sox, along with the remaining $3.1MM on Eaton’s contract. He’ll again be a free agent at season’s end. A new team that signs him will owe him the prorated league minimum — about $252K from now to season’s end. That sum would be subtracted from the roughly $4.1MM the Sox still owe him.
As for the White Sox, they’ll continue leaning on an outfield mix that currently features Brian Goodwin, Billy Hamilton, Adam Engel, Gavin Sheets, Andrew Vaughn and Leury Garcia. Slugger Eloy Jimenez, however, will have his minor league rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Charlotte tomorrow, according to the team, further signaling that his return isn’t too far off.
Jimenez began his rehab assignment with Class-A Advanced on Friday and can be on rehab for up to 30 days — or until the Sox deem him ready for a big league return. He’s been out for the entire season so far after rupturing a pectoral tendon during Spring Training and undergoing subsequent surgery. Center fielder Luis Robert, meanwhile, is still expected back later this summer after suffering a Grade 3 strain of his hip flexor at the end of April. The Sox could still pursue outfield upgrades in the 18 days leading up to the trade deadline, but the positive progress of Jimenez can only make them feel a bit better about their internal outlook.
Pirates Select Henry Davis With First Overall Pick Of 2021 Draft
The Pirates have taken Louisville catcher Henry Davis with the first overall pick of the 2021 draft. The 21-year-old Davis joins Jeff King (1986), Kris Benson (1996), Bryan Bullington (2002) and Gerrit Cole (2011) as players drafted by the Pirates with the first overall selection, and Davis is the first Louisville player to be taken 1-1.
The pick ends weeks of speculation about Pittsburgh’s intentions with the top pick, and Davis’ selection counts as a bit of a surprise considering that high school shortstop Marcelo Mayer was seen as the favorite. However, Davis was also mentioned as a candidate on the Bucs’ radar, and in recent days, there seemed to be an increasing possibility that the Pirates might opt for Davis or one of two other well-regarded high school shortstops in Jordan Lawlar and Kahlil Watson. This is Pittsburgh’s second draft under general manager Ben Cherington, and the team also went with a college player early last year, taking New Mexico State shortstop Nick Gonzales with the seventh overall pick.
Considering Davis’ pedigree, the Pirates aren’t exactly reaching by taking the backstop with the 1-1 selection. However, since multiple reports have indicated the Pirates plan to spread out their bonus pool money, it’s fair to assume their choice of Davis may be tied to a willingness on his part to agree to a bonus south of the $8,415,300 assigned slot value for the first overall pick. Any money saved in signing Davis will allow Pittsburgh to allocate more of its $14,394,000 draft bonus pool to its other picks within the first 10 rounds, theoretically allowing the Pirates to select and then sign any blue chip talents that may have fallen down the draft board due to signability concerns.
Fangraphs and The Athletic’s Keith Law each ranked Davis as the second-best overall prospect of this year’s draft class, behind Mayer. Baseball America and ESPN.com’s Kiley McDaniel each had Davis fourth in their rankings, while MLB Pipeline ranked him fifth. Whether Davis will stick as a catcher is a matter of some debate, as his blocking and receiving still needs some polish, but both McDaniel and Fangraphs note that Davis’ issues with framing won’t be an issue if and when Major League Baseball implements a robotic strike zone. Additionally, Davis has a very powerful throwing arm, with BA and Pipeline each giving him a 70-grade arm on the 20-80 scouting scale. (McDaniel even goes so far as to call it a “70-or-80-grade arm.”)
It’s possible Davis will eventually have to move to a corner infield or corner outfield slot. No matter his position, however, Davis’ bat will seem to play anywhere — Fangraphs even called him “arguably the safest prospect in the draft because he plays a premium position, has impact raw power, and has no contact red flags.” Perhaps the most highly-regarded college bat of the draft class, Davis has something of an unusual swing, but also (as per Baseball America) “standout zone recognition, pure bat-to-ball skills and plus power to his pull side to make everything work.”
MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis was the first to report that the Pirates were drafting Davis.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
2021 MLB Draft, Day One Results
The 2021 MLB Draft is underway, and we’ll be keeping track of tonight’s picks as they’re announced. The draft will get underway this evening with the first 36 picks — the first round proper, the compensatory round (which consists of just one pick, the Reds’ extra selection granted when Trevor Bauer rejected their qualifying offer last winter and signed with the Dodgers for more than $50MM), and then Competitive Balance Round A.
Rounds 2-10 (plus the included compensation picks and Competitive Balance Round B) will take place on Monday afternoon, and then rounds 11-20 will take place Tuesday afternoon. This year’s draft is to 20 rounds from five rounds in 2020, and the current expectation is that the 2022 draft will return to its old 40-round format, though the draft structure will be one of many topics under discussion when the league and the players’ union negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement this winter.
For more on these stars of the future, check out the prospect rankings and scouting reports compiled by Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB Pipeline, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. As well, here is MLB Pipeline’s breakdown of the slot values assigned to each pick in the first 10 rounds, as well as the bonus pool money available to all 30 teams.
The selections…
- Pittsburgh Pirates: Henry Davis, C, University Of Louisville
- Texas Rangers: Jack Leiter, RHP, Vanderbilt University
- Detroit Tigers: Jackson Jobe, RHP, Heritage Hall High School (OK)
- Boston Red Sox: Marcelo Mayer, SS, Eastlake High School (CA)
- Baltimore Orioles: Colton Cowser, OF, Sam Houston State University
- Arizona Diamondbacks: Jordan Lawlar, SS, Jesuit Prep (Dallas, TX)
- Kansas City Royals: Frank Mozzicato, LHP, East Catholic High School (CT)
- Colorado Rockies: Benny Montgomery, OF, Red Land High School (PA)
- Los Angeles Angels: Sam Bachman, RHP, Miami University (Ohio)
- New York Mets: Kumar Rocker, RHP, Vanderbilt University
- Washington Nationals: Brady House, SS, Winder-Barrow High School (GA)
- Seattle Mariners: Harry Ford, C/OF, North Cobb High School (GA)
- Philadelphia Phillies: Andrew Painter, RHP, Calvary Christian Academy (FLA)
- San Francisco Giants: Will Bednar, RHP, Mississippi State University
- Milwaukee Brewers: Sal Frelick, OF, Boston College
- Miami Marlins: Kahlil Watson, SS, Wake Forest High School (NC)
- Cincinnati Reds: Matt McLain, SS, UCLA
- St. Louis Cardinals: Michael McGreevy, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
- Toronto Blue Jays: Gunnar Hoglund, RHP, University Of Mississippi
- New York Yankees: Trey Sweeney, SS, Eastern Illinois University
- Chicago Cubs: Jordan Wicks, LHP, Kansas State University
- Chicago White Sox: Colson Montgomery, SS, Southridge High School (IN)
- Cleveland Indians: Gavin Williams, RHP, East Carolina University
- Atlanta Braves: Ryan Cusick, RHP, Wake Forest University
- Oakland Athletics: Max Muncy, SS, Thousand Oaks High School (CA)
- Minnesota Twins: Chase Petty, RHP, Mainland Regional High School (NJ)
- San Diego Padres: Jackson Merrill, SS, Severna Park High School (MD)
- Tampa Bay Rays: Carson Williams, SS/RHP, Torrey Pines High School (CA)
- Los Angeles Dodgers: Maddux Bruns, LHP, UMS-Wright Prep (AL)
- Cincinnati Reds (compensatory pick): Jay Allen, OF, John Carroll Catholic High School (FL)
- Miami Marlins (Competitive Balance Round A): Joe Mack, C, Williamsville East High School (NY)
- Detroit Tigers (CBR-A): Ty Madden, RHP, University of Texas
- Milwaukee Brewers (CBR-A): Tyler Black, 2B, Wright State University
- Tampa Bay Rays (CBR-A): Cooper Kinney, 2B, Baylor High School (TN)
- Cincinnati Reds (CBR-A): Matheu Nelson, C, Florida State University
- Minnesota Twins (CBR-A): Noah Miller, SS, Ozaukee High School (WI)
Ronald Acuna Jr. Tears Right ACL, Will Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
JULY 11: Acuna was placed on the 60-day injured list. Utilityman Johan Camargo has been recalled to take his place on the active roster. The Braves will leave a vacancy on the 40-man roster for now.
JULY 10, 10:20PM: The worst-case scenario has occurred, as the Braves announced that Acuna suffered “a complete tear of his right ACL” and will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery. ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan estimates a recovery timeline of 9-10 months for Acuna, so the outfielder will very likely miss time at the start of the 2022 campaign.
JULY 10, 5:13PM: Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. had to be carted off the field after suffering an apparent injury to his right leg or knee in today’s game against the Marlins. Acuna suffered the injury while trying to make a jumping catch of a Jazz Chisholm fly ball that instead went for an inside-the-park homer. Acuna attempted to walk off the field under his own power, but he had to halt midway to the dugout, and was visibly in pain as he sat on the ground.
More will be known about Acuna’s status after the game, but at first glance it certainly looks like a potential season-ending injury for the superstar outfielder. This is actually the fourth time Acuna has had to make an early exit from a game this season due to an injury, but while those previous instances resulted in just a couple of missed games, today’s injury appears to be much more serious in scope.
Acuna is enjoying yet another huge all-around season, one that earned him a starting nod on the NL All-Star team. The 23-year-old has hit .283/.394/.596 with 24 home runs over 360 plate appearances, along with 17 stolen bases and an NL-leading 72 runs scored. Only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Fernando Tatis Jr. had accumulated more fWAR this season than Acuna’s 3.9 mark, further cementing his status as one of the sport’s brightest talents.
Unfortunately, it now seems like Acuna’s fourth MLB season will be at least put on hold, and quite possibly ended altogether. It isn’t a reach to say that the Braves’ fate is tied to Acuna, and if he is indeed facing a long-term absence, the team might decide to throw in the towel and become sellers at the July 30 trade deadline. Atlanta entered today’s play 4.5 games behind the Mets for first place in the NL East, but the Braves have only a 43-44 record, and (according to Fangraphs) a 14.8% chance of reaching the postseason.
Red Sox Sign Matt Barnes To Two-Year Extension
The Red Sox announced they’ve agreed to a two-year contract extension with closer Matt Barnes. The deal also contains a club option covering the 2024 campaign.
Barnes will play out the remainder of this season on the $4.5MM deal he signed last winter to avoid arbitration. He’ll receive a $1.75MM signing bonus, followed by successive salaries of $7.25MM and $7.5MM in 2022 and 2023. The option is priced at $8MM (with a $2.25MM buyout) and can escalate by a maximum of $2MM based upon Barnes’ games finished totals over the coming years. Overall, it’s an $18.75MM guarantee for the ISE Baseball client that can max out at $26.5MM if he hits all the escalators and the Red Sox exercise the option. The average annual value (calculated for luxury tax purposes) checks in at $9.375MM.
The extension removes arguably the top impending free agent reliever from next winter’s market. Barnes has generally been a solid late-inning arm, but he’s taken his game to a new level in 2021. The right-hander has worked to a sterling 2.68 ERA across 37 innings, and his peripherals are even more impressive.
Barnes has always been a premier strikeout pitcher, but his 44.6% strikeout percentage is easily a career-high. He’s walking opponents at a 7.2% clip, which would also be a personal best if he sustains it over a full season. The right-hander is throwing first-pitch strikes at a career-best rate, positioning himself well to coax hitters to chase pitches outside the zone deeper into plate appearances. That’s particularly critical for Barnes, who struggled with free passes from 2018-20.
Altogether, Barnes has been among the top late-inning arms in the league this season. Among relievers with at least twenty innings pitched, only Josh Hader and Craig Kimbrel have higher strikeout rates. Liam Hendriks and Kimbrel are the only pitchers with better strikeout/walk rate differentials than Barnes’ 37.4 percentage-point gap. Hendriks is the only reliever with a better SIERA than Barnes’ 1.73 mark, and the Red Sox righty’s 16.3% swinging strike rate is among the top 15. Barnes has deservedly earned his first career All-Star nod in 2021.
That level of dominance makes it a bit surprising he agreed to a two-year extension just a few months before reaching free agency for the first time. Hendriks, last winter’s top free agent reliever, landed a four-year, $54MM deal from the White Sox despite being a few months older than Barnes will be this offseason. Hendriks was coming off a two-year run of excellence, while Barnes has only been pitching at an elite level for a few months following a career of solid but not incredible production. It would’ve been a surprise to see Barnes match Hendriks’ deal because of that slightly lesser track record, but he still seemed a strong candidate to secure a three-year pact on the open market.
Of course, a player’s desire to reach free agency and search for the loftiest guarantee varies person-to-person. Barnes is a New England native who attended college at the University of Connecticut. He’s been a member of the Red Sox organization since he was selected in the first round a decade ago, and he’s spoken about his amenability to locking in a long-term deal a few times over the past eight months. Barnes’ affinity for the organization no doubt played a significant role in his passing up an opportunity to hear from other clubs this winter.
It’s easy to see the appeal for the Red Sox. They’ll lock in a key component of their bullpen for at least two more seasons, with the potential to keep him in the fold for a third year. If Barnes can sustain most or all of his current breakout form, they’d have an elite back-end option for manager Alex Cora at bargain prices. Even if Barnes regresses and pitches at his previous levels, the terms of the extension wouldn’t look all that unreasonable. It’s an affordable opportunity for the Red Sox to keep around a long-tenured, productive member of the organization who looks to have taken his game to new heights this year.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe first reported that the sides were nearing agreement on a two-year deal with a 2024 option. Speier was also first to report the financial breakdown.