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Francis Martes Suspended Full Season For PED

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Astros righty Francis Martes has been suspended for 162 games after testing positive for the banned performance enhancing drug baldenone. It was his second such test; he had previously served an 80-game suspension during the 2019 season.

Martes was once considered a high-grade prospect and still owns a 40-man roster spot. He was working back from Tommy John surgery, which would’ve cost him all of last year even were it not for the suspension.

It has now been quite some time since Martes enjoyed success on the field. He reached the majors in 2017 but didn’t stick after throwing 54 1/3 innings of 5.80 ERA ball with 11.4 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9. Martes has only made it through 25 minor-league frames over the past two campaigns.

Martes’s future is now very much in doubt. At the same time, he only reached his 24th birthday in November. He’ll obviously need both to reevaluate his decisionmaking process and rediscovery his form on the mound if he’s to carve out a big league career.

Braves Extend Alex Anthopoulos, Brian Snitker

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The Braves announced Monday morning that they’ve promoted general manager Alex Anthopoulos to president of baseball operations and extended his contract through the 2024 season. The Atlanta organization also announced contract extensions for manager Brian Snitker and his entire coaching staff; they’ll now be in place through the 2021 season. Anthopoulos had previously bee under contract through the 2021 season, while Snitker was signed through 2020 with a club option for 2021.

“I am very pleased that Alex will be leading the Atlanta Braves’ baseball operations for years to come,” chairman Terry McGuirk said in the press release announcing the news. “Since he joined the organization, Alex has continued the winning tradition that Braves fans have come to expect.”

Alex Anthopoulos | Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

The 42-year-old Anthopoulos has been the Braves’ head of baseball operations since Nov. 13, 2017, when he was hired following the ousting of GM John Coppolella. The former Blue Jays GM and Dodgers vice president of baseball operations wasted little time in orchestrating a complex, financially motivated swap with one of his former clubs; in December 2017, Anthopoulos traded Matt Kemp and the remainder of his contract to the Dodgers in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy, Charlie Culberson, Scott Kazmir and $4.5MM.

The remainder of the 2017-18 offseason was a quiet one for Anthopoulos, although his spring pickup of Anibal Sanchez proved to be one of the minor league signings in recent memory, as Sanchez completely revitalized his career as a key rotation piece for the division-winning Braves.

Since that first offseason at the helm, Anthopoulos has become considerably more active both in trade and free agency. The Braves, under Anthopoulos, have shied away from long-term deals for aging veterans but have been aggressive in short-term pacts, signing the likes of Josh Donaldson, Dallas Keuchel, Marcell Ozuna, Cole Hamels, Travis d’Arnaud and Chris Martin to one- and two-year deals. Lefty Will Smith is the only free agent under this regime to sign a deal of three years. Anthopoulos has been active at both trade deadlines under his watch as well, acquiring pitchers Kevin Gausman, Shane Greene, Mark Melancon, Darren O’Day and the aforementioned Martin in a series of July swaps.

The best moves the Braves have made under Anthopoulos were surely locking down a pair of their own core pieces, however. Ronald Acuna Jr.’s eight-year, $100MM contract and Ozzie Albies’ seven-year, $35MM contract are two of the most extreme examples of club-friendly deals throughout the sport. That pairing surrendered a stunning eight would-be free-agent seasons (four apiece), giving the Braves control over the majority of their prime years at well below-market rates. In the long run, both deals should provide exceptional levels of flexibility both in terms of actual payroll and luxury-tax obligations.

Anthopoulos’ track record isn’t spotless, of course. The Gausman acquisition paid dividends in 2018 but yielded disastrous results in 2019. It’s still rather surprising that he agreed to take on all of the $14MM owed to Melancon for the 2020 season in last July’s trade. And time will tell whether the decision to let Donaldson walk rather than match (or at least come close to matching) the Twins’ $92MM guarantee. All of that said, there’s little question that Anthopoulos has helped to maintain a strong farm system while supporting the big league roster with sensible, short-term additions. The Braves are in position to contend for a third straight division title in the NL East, and there’s little reason to think that won’t be the case for years to come, thanks to a controllable core centered around Acuna, Albies, Dansby Swanson, Mike Soroka and Max Fried.

Brian Snitker | Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Turning to the 64-year-old Snitker, he’s now locked in for what will be his fourth and fifth full years with the reins in Atlanta’s dugout. A Braves lifer who has spent a staggering 40-plus years in the organization in some capacity, Snitker served as a minor league coach, minor league manager, Major League bullpen coach and Major League third base coach before taking over as interim manager in 2016. This is the second short-term extension he’s signed since being hired as the club’s full-time skipper.

“Winning consecutive division titles illustrates the leadership and impact of Brian and his staff,” Anthopoulos said of the extension. “We are happy to know they will be leading the Braves through the 2021 season.”

Under Snitker’s leadership, the Braves have played at a 318-292 clip (.521) — including a 187-137 showing over the past two seasons. His 90-72 record in 2018 helped him to win National League Manager of the Year honors. However, the Braves have also yet to advance in a postseason series under Snitker. They were bounced by the Dodgers in the 2018 NLDS and by the Cardinals in the 2019 NLDS.

Also receiving contract extensions through the 2021 season Monday were catching coach Sal Fasano, pitching coach Rick Kranitz, bullpen coach Marty Reed, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, third base coach Ron Washington, bench coach Walt Weiss, first base/outfield coach Eric Young Sr. and assistant hitting coach Jose Castro.

Rob Manfred Addresses Astros Scandal

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In an interview with ESPN’s Karl Ravech and during a press conference at the Braves’ Spring Training camp earlier today, commissioner Rob Manfred discussed a number of topics surrounding the game, but the bulk of attention was directly on the ongoing fallout from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.

Asked by Ravech why no Astros players were suspended or fined as part of the league’s investigation, Manfred said that “in a perfect world it would have happened.  We ended up where we ended up in pursuit of really, I think, the most important goal of getting the facts and getting them out there for people to know it.”

Players were given immunity so that the league could freely acquire information on the details of the now-infamous sign-stealing process, which involved Astros players alerting (using signals ranging from whistling to banging a trash can) teammates at the plate as to what pitches were coming, after the Astros used real-time video technology to observe rival catchers’ signs.  Such use of available video was forbade in a memo sent from the Commissioner’s Office to teams in 2017, but Manfred said Astros players weren’t made aware of the seriousness of the offense.

“The memorandum went to the general manager, and then nothing was done from the GM down,” Manfred said. “So we knew if we had disciplined the players in all likelihood we were going to have grievances and grievances that we were going to lose on the basis that we never properly informed them of the rules.  Given those two things, No. 1, I knew where, or I’m certain where the responsibilities should lay in the first instance and given the fact we didn’t think we could make discipline stick with the players, we made the decision we made.”

Since the league’s ruling on the Astros’ punishment last month, Major League Baseball has faced widespread criticism from both fans and rival players about not only a seeming lack of discipline directed towards Houston players, but also at the franchise itself.  While the Astros were fined $5MM and lost four draft picks, the fact that the organization wasn’t formally stripped of its 2017 World Series title has not sat well with many around the sport.

As Manfred told the Associated Press and other journalists, the league considered such a singular measure but decided against taking the championship away from the Astros.

“First of all, it had never happened in baseball,” Manfred said.  “I am a precedent guy.  The 2017 World Series will always be looked at as different, whether not you put an asterisk or ask for the trophy back.  Once you go down that road as for changing the result on the field, I just don’t know where you stop.”

In regards to Astros players, Manfred told Ravech that the outrage directed at the team has served as a measure of additional punishment unto itself.  “I think if you watch the players, watch their faces when they have to deal with this issue publicly, they have paid a price,” Manfred said.  “To think they’re skipping down the road into spring training, happy, that’s just a mischaracterization of where we are.”

The early response to Manfred’s comments have not been positive, with particular criticism directed towards his rather flippant description of the Commissioner’s Trophy (as Manfred told Ravech, “The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act“).  As much as the league and the Astros would like to put the incident behind them, that outcome doesn’t seem possible in the near future given the amount of attention that several of the game’s biggest stars continue to focus on the situation.  It also doesn’t help that Astros management and players continue to dig themselves into deeper public relations holes on a near-daily basis, whether it’s giving non-specific apologies during awkward press conferences, being unduly outraged at being accused of different methods of cheating during the 2017-19 span, and all the while insisting that the 2017 World Series was legitimately won.

The heated comments between the Astros and rival players has troubled Manfred, particularly statements from such pitchers as Ross Stripling and Mike Clevinger that Astros players might be hit by pitches as retaliation.  Manfred met with several MLB managers today, and told reporters at Sunday’s press event that, “I hope that I made it extremely clear to them that retaliation in-game by throwing at a batter intentionally will not be tolerated, whether it’s Houston or anybody else.  It’s dangerous and it is not helpful to the current situation.”

In addition, Manfred told Ravech that the league is preparing “a memorandum about intentionally throwing at batters.  It’s really dangerous.  Completely independent from the Astros investigation, we’ll be issuing a memorandum on hit by pitches which will increase the disciplinary ramifications of that type of behavior.  I think that will be a tool for dealing with whatever flows from the Houston situation.”

If the Astros controversy wasn’t enough, there’s also the other ongoing league investigation into another championship team’s alleged improper use of video equipment, namely the 2018 Red Sox.  Manfred said that he hopes that investigation will be concluded within two weeks’ time.  It isn’t known what punishment could await the Boston organization, though as with the Astros case, Red Sox players were also given immunity in exchange for their insight on the matter.

Red Sox Sign Kevin Pillar

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7:37pm: This one’s in the books, with the Sox announcing the signing.

5:25am: The Red Sox are reportedly in agreement on a one-year, $4.25MM deal with free-agent outfielder Kevin Pillar. The All Bases Covered Sports Management client is said to be set for a physical this weekend, after which the deal will be officially announced by the club (assuming all goes well).

Kevin Pillar | Zach Gardner/MLBTR Photoshop

Pillar, 31, was non-tendered by the Giants earlier in the winter after hitting .259/.287/.432 with a career-high 21 home runs in 2019. He’d been projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $9.7MM in arbitration. Pillar also swiped 14 bags — his fifth straight season with at least that many — and struck out in just 13.8 percent of his plate appearances. However, the longtime Blue Jays center fielder also only walked at a 2.8 percent clip — a career low — and the resulting .287 on-base percentage was one of the worst marks of any qualified MLB hitter.

Defensively, he played a roughly average center field by measure of metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average. That’s a step back from the days when he graded out as one of MLB’s premier defensive players, but Pillar is still at least a serviceable option in center and likely an above-average glove in the corners.

Following the trade of Mookie Betts, the Red Sox had an all-left-handed-hitting outfield comprised of Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr. and newly acquired Alex Verdugo. Pillar will give them a right-handed hitting complement to that bunch as well as insurance against an injury (or perhaps an eventual trade of Bradley) at any of the three positions. He’s a career .281/.313/.453 hitter against southpaws, so while he’s not exactly a lefty masher, he’s still a bit above average in those situations.

Dumping the salaries of Betts and David Price (well, half of his deal) in the Dodgers trade dropped the Red Sox south of the $208MM luxury tax threshold by a bit less than $10MM. They should be able to bring Pillar aboard while maintaining ownership’s preference to remain south of that cutoff.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported that the two sides were close to a deal. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal added that a Major League pact was in the works. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that a deal had been reached, and Heyman tweeted the final guarantee.

Mike Clevinger To Undergo Knee Surgery

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7:03pm: Clevinger is expected to be able to return to action in six to eight weeks, the team tells reporters including MLB.com’s Mandy Bell (Twitter link).

8:58am: Indians ace Mike Clevinger is slated to undergo surgery to repair a partial tear of the medial meniscus in his left knee, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic (Twitter link). Clevinger has been on crutches after sustaining the injury while training earlier this week. A timetable for his return is not yet known.

While a meniscus tear typically isn’t a season-ender, it also seems highly unlikely that Clevinger would be ready to open the season in the Cleveland rotation. The extent of his rehab will be determined following the operation, but even a return on the short end of typical meniscus timelines would leave Clevinger with little (if any) time to ramp up for the season.

The Indians, for the first time in several years, will head into the season as underdogs in the American League Central — and the loss of Clevinger for any portion of the season will only dampen their hopes. The team is deep in pitching options, but Clevinger and fellow righty Shane Bieber were the two best options at manager Terry Francona’s disposal. (Carlos Carrasco, of course, is immensely talented but more of a wild card following last year’s battle with leukemia.)

Bieber and Carrasco figure to front the rotation now, and the Indians will likely choose among Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Adam Plutko, Jefry Rodriguez, Logan Allen and Scott Moss to round out the final three spots in the rotation. Both Plesac (3.81 ERA in 115 2/3 innings) and Civale (2.34 ERA in 57 2/3 innings) looked sharp in their respective MLB debuts in 2019, although fielding-independent pitching metrics considered both to be more than a full run worse than his eared run average. Plutko has been up and down with the Indians over the past three seasons, posting a combined 5.08 ERA/5.61 FIP in 189 2/3 frames. Rodriguez posted similar results to the rest of that group (4.63 ERA/4.54 FIP in 46 2/3 innings).

The 22-year-old Allen, meanwhile, is a well-regarded southpaw who came over in last summer’s three-team Trevor Bauer/Franmil Reyes/Yasiel Puig blockbuster. He’s light on big league experience but considered one of the organization’s more promising arms. Moss, too, was acquired in that swap. Unlike Allen, he’s yet to make his big league debut. He did post strong numbers in the upper minors in 2019, however, including a hearty 159 strikeouts in just 130 2/3 frames. Control is an issue for the 6’6″ lefty, but he’ll get a look as a potential option in the coming weeks.

Jeremy Hellickson Retires

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1:02pm: Hellickson tells Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register that he has indeed opted to retire. He’d have required another surgery to repair his shoulder and opted against the arduous process of rehabilitating from that procedure. Best wishes to Hellickson in his post-playing days.

11:24am: Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson isn’t likely to pitch in the upcoming season, Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio reports (via Twitter). The 32-year-old righty battled shoulder problems for much of the 2019 season with the Nationals and suffered an offseason setback in rehabbing the injury.

Hellickson proved to be a shrewed minor league pickup for the Nats in 2018, tossing 91 1/3 innings of 3.45 ERA ball over the course of 19 starts. That showing earned him a big league deal to return to the Nationals late last winter, but his shoulder woes limited him to 39 innings, during which time he was tagged for 27 runs (6.23 ERA) on 47 hits and 20 walks with 30 strikeouts. His final pitch of the season came on May 19.

What’s next for Hellickson remains unclear. He could certainly rehab the issue between now and the offseason in hopes of pursuing a minor league deal and another comeback effort next winter. Then again, Mish at least implies that the righty has contemplated calling it a career.

Whatever route he takes, Hellickson will have plenty of fond memories on which to look back. A fourth-round pick by the (Devil) Rays back in 2005, he burst onto the scene and won American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2011 when he racked up 189 innings with a 2.95 ERA. Hellickson was similarly excellent the following season, and although he endured some rough seasons in the next couple of years, he also enjoyed a solid bounceback effort with the 2016 Phillies in addition to his strong work with the ’18 Nats.

All told, Hellickson has pitched 1269 1/3 innings in the big leagues, compiling a 76-75 record and a 4.13 ERA with 6.6 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and 1.3 HR/9 along the way. Hellickson never made an All-Star team but did win a Gold Glove Award in 2012 and took home a World Series ring as a member of the 2019 Nationals. He’s earned more than $35MM in his career to date when factoring in his above-slot $500K bonus from the ’05 draft. Perhaps that’s not quite the career that he and many onlookers hoped for when he was ranked a top 10 overall prospect and subsequently won Rookie of the Year honors, but it’s a career that virtually any player would be thrilled to call his own.

Astros Hold Press Conference On Sign-Stealing Scandal

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In the latest confounding development out of the Astros organization, the club held a curious press conference today regarding the team’s still-boiling sign-stealing scandal. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle is among the reporters covering the event on his Twitter feed.

In a long-awaited moment, star players Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman offered only cursory statements on a matter that has sparked outrage from many quarters. Team owner Jim Crane had new manager Dusty Baker ask for forgiveness on behalf of a team he only just joined. And Crane continued his attempt to confine a controversy that has morphed into a broadening crisis, offering what came off as a dismissive take on the matter.

Bregman stated that he is “really sorry” and added that he “hope[s] to regain the trust of baseball fans.” Altuve expresed “remorse” and said that “the whole organization feels bad about what happened in 2017.” That was all for now.

Crane also brought out Baker, who replaced the uniformed leadership (A.J. Hinch) from the periods during which the Astros engaged in a longstanding, widely suspected and ultimately discovered effort to steal signs utilizing technology and then convey those signals to batters in real time. The widely respected Baker asked for forgiveness on behalf of the players. Suffice to say, it was curious to ask him to do so.

Baker said the players “showed tremendous remorse, sorrow, and embarrassment” in a private team meeting last night. Perhaps we’ll hear more of that when the Astros open their clubhouse to reporters, but it was not quite on display in the initial comments.

Most of the talking was done by team owner Jim Crane, who continued to try to separate himself and the team’s players from the fiasco. He pinned the blame on Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow, both of whom Crane canned in the aftermath of the release of the findings of MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

Crane says that he agrees with commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision not to punish the players involved in the scandal. The organization’s “leaders enabled, condoned, and did not stop” the sign-stealing effort. Crane called the players “a great group of guys” who merely lacked “proper guidance from our leaders.” It’s quite a contrast to Manfred’s report, which specifically described a “player-driven effort.”

Crane not only sought absolution for the players he’s still paying to perform on the field. He also left no doubt as to his views on his role in the situation — namely, that he had nothing to do with it. While he panned Hinch and Luhnow for their failure of leadership, Crane evidently feels no similar responsibility.

Per Crane:

“Clearly the report states that I didn’t know about it. Had I known about it, I’d have done something about it.”

And what of his accountability, as the organization control person?

“No, I don’t think I should be held accountable.”

Crane’s rather craven approach to the matter continued as he addressed several other notable points. He acknowledged that the organization “broke the rules,” but maintained that he does not believe the sign-stealing effort had any “impact” on the team’s World Series win — leaving unaddressed the question why so much effort was put into the scheme. Frankly, no further proof beyond the concerted scheme is needed for the proposition that the people in uniform felt it improved their chances of winning.

Crane addressed the question of whether the team engaged in more recent, somewhat different cheating efforts: “I truly believe there were no buzzers ever.” Whether or not he’s sincere in that, the possibility of 2019 sign-stealing schemes is a matter that seems sure to be explored further.

Crane also noted there’ll “be some changes” in the team’s baseball operations department. He had originally maintained that the overall culture was not a problem, disputing Manfred’s report in that regard. But recent reporting has exposed the role of the baseball ops staff in originating and perpetuating the sign-stealing scheme. Several current employees were implicated clearly in a way that was not documented in the report.

Mariners Sign Taijuan Walker

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5:10pm: The Mariners have announced Walker’s return to Seattle. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Austin L. Adams was placed on the 60-day injured list. The 28-year-old Adams — not to be confused with Austin D. Adams, who signed a minor league deal with the Twins earlier this winter — underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL last October.

12:59pm: It’s a one-year, $2MM deal, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). The pact also comes with another $1MM available in incentive money.

12:42pm: All indications are that the Mariners have or soon will reach an agreement to bring back former hurler Taijuan Walker. The free agent was spotted in Seattle’s camp and has since posted a rather suggestive tweet about his next destination.

Previous indication was that the M’s had a standing MLB offer out to Walker. Other clubs were also in pursuit; he had recently put on a showcase for the Cubs, for instance. As it turns out, the 27-year-old will return to where he got his start. The Mariners chose him with the 43rd overall pick of the 2010 draft and called him up to the majors for the first time in 2013. Walker never quite came into his own in Seattle but did have two productive campaigns. He ended up being dealt away — one of many players spun off in recent seasons by GM Jerry Dipoto.

The Diamondbacks got some good work from Walker, including 157 1/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball in 2017, before losing him to Tommy John surgery. A year later, his rehab from said operation was slowed by a strained shoulder capsule that ultimately wiped out nearly all of his 2019 campaign. Although Walker made it back to the MLB mound late in 2019, the Snakes decided it wasn’t worth the investment of one more arbitration-eligible season to bring him back.

Health permitting, it seems that Walker will now slide into the fifth spot of a Seattle rotation that’ll also include Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, Justus Sheffield and fellow offseason pickup/Tommy John returnee Kendall Graveman. There’s a good deal of upside in the second through fifth slots in the rotation behind the quietly solid Gonzales, but the Seattle rotation is also rife with uncertainty.

Depth options such as Justin Dunn, Erik Swanson, Nick Margevicius and Nestor Cortes Jr. could all get some run in 2020, be it do to injuries within the big league staff or merely poor performance. Non-roster options who could head to Triple-A if they don’t break camp with the club include veteran Wei-Yin Chen and former top prospect Manny Banuelos, each of whom signed minor league deals this winter.

MLB Announces Rule Changes For 2020 Season

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Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday the implementation of several rule changes that will take place in 2020 — most notably the previously reported three-batter minimum for pitchers, the expansion of standard roster size from 25 to 26 players, a two-way player designation rule and a longer injured list/optional assignment minimum for pitchers and two-way players.

From the league’s official release:

  • Three-Batter Minimum: The Official Baseball Rules have been amended to require the starting or any relief pitcher to pitch to a minimum of three batters, including the batter then at bat (or any substitute batter), until such batters are put out or reach base, or until the offensive team is put out, unless the substitute pitcher sustains injury or illness which, in the umpire crew chief’s judgment, incapacitates him from further play as a pitcher.  The three-batter minimum will become effective in 2020 Spring Training beginning on Thursday, March 12th.
  • Rosters through August 31st and Postseason: Active Roster limits from Opening Day through August 31st and including Postseason games shall be increased from 25 to 26.  In addition, Clubs will be permitted to carry a maximum of 13 pitchers from Opening Day through August 31st (plus Postseason games).
  • September Rosters: From September 1st through the end of the Championship Season (including any tiebreaker games), all Clubs must carry 28 players on the Active Roster. In addition, Clubs will be permitted to carry a maximum of 14 pitchers during this period.
  • Two-Way Player Designation: Players who qualify as “Two-Way Players” may appear as pitchers during a game without counting toward a Clubs’ pitcher limitations. A player will qualify as a “Two-Way Player” only if he accrues both: (i) at least 20 Major League innings pitched; and (ii) at least 20 Major League games started (as a position player or designated hitter) with at least three plate appearances in each of those games, in either the current Championship Season or the prior Championship Season (for 2020 only, this will include 2019 as well as 2018).  The Club must designate that player as a “Two-Way Player” in advance of that game. Once a Club designates a qualified “Two-Way Player” that designation will remain in effect, and cannot change, for the remainder of that Championship Season and Postseason.
  • Position Players Pitching: Any player may appear as a pitcher following the 9th inning of an extra inning game, or in any game in which his team is losing or winning by more than six runs when the player enters as a pitcher.
  • Extra Player Rule: The previous “26th player rule” will be replaced with the “27th player rule” for all applicable Championship Season games prior to September 1st. The 27th player shall not count toward any pitcher roster limits described above.  Thus, a Club may designate 14 pitchers in games under circumstances where the Major League Rules would permit a 27th Active player.
  • Injured List Reinstatements and Option Period for Pitchers: Clubs may not reinstate pitchers or Two-Way Players from the Injured List until 15 days have elapsed from the date of the initial placement for such injury – an increase from 10 days.  In addition, the option period for pitchers will be lengthened from 10 days to 15 days.
  • Reduction in Challenge Time: Managers will now have up to 20 seconds to challenge a play instead of 30.

Most of these rules were known in advance, but the league’s announcement today formally brings them into MLB canon. The three-batter minimum is perhaps the most controversial of the bunch, as it’ll greatly reduce the presence of left-handed relief specialists — commonly referred to as LOOGYs (“Left-handed One Out Guys”) — and place a considerably greater emphasis on relievers who lack substantial platoon splits. The usage of left-handed specialists, though, had generally decreased in recent seasons.

The newly implemented three-batter minimum is yet another “pace of play” initiative from commissioner Rob Manfred — put in place in an effort to reduce the average time of games and decrease the downtime within. To date, however, games have yet to see any meaningful decrease in average time, while walks, strikeouts and home runs are at an all-time high. Fewer pitching changes could theoretically reduce game times, but there’s no guarantee that the rule will have that effect and any reductions figure to be rather minimal. It’s certainly possible that the new rule results in fewer time-consuming pitching change and additional balls in play, but the increase of balls in play could also have an adverse impact on a given game’s overall length.

The two-way player designation — sure to be referenced as the Shohei Ohtani Rule — will impact players such as Ohtani, Michael Lorenzen and Brendan McKay while also perhaps slightly reducing the frequency with which position players appear on the mound. It’s certainly possible that additional players will eventually qualify for such designation, but few will be impacted up front.

As for the return to a 15-day IL minimum and an expanded 15-day option minimum for pitchers and two-way players, that rule has been put in place to reduce the frequency of phantom IL stints that have been used to effectively carry extra arms in the bullpen. The Dodgers have paced the game with regard to usage of that tactic, and the Giants, under former L.A. GM Farhan Zaidi, were more regularly employing the move as well.

Managers have long bemoaned the previous iteration of roster expansion, which allowed MLB clubs to carry anyone from their 40-man in the Major Leagues. It was common to see teams nearly double the size of their bullpen under that rule, thus greatly increasing the number of pitching changes and generally making it more difficult to gameplan. The new rule will still afford teams some additional flexibility — but on a much smaller scale.

Broadly speaking, today’s announcement does little to impact the fabric of the game — particularly relative to prior rule changes (e.g. the advent of instant reply) and proposed rule changes (e.g. pitch clocks, beginning extra innings with a runner on second base, etc.). It’s a further reminder, however, that Manfred and his charges aren’t afraid to implement changes they deem best for the sport. Larger-scale changes — be it the implementation of the DH in the National League, the recently reported alterations to the postseason structure, expansion to new markets or something that has yet to come to light — feel inevitable down the road.

Giants Sign Wilmer Flores

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February 12: The Giants have announced the signing, adding that right-hander Reyes Moronta has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Moronta underwent shoulder surgery late in the 2019 season and is expected to miss substantial time in 2020.

Flores will earn $3MM in 2020 and 2021, tweets Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 2022 club option is valued at $3.5MM and comes with a $250K buyout.

February 4, 7:00pm: Flores’ contract with the Giants is a two-year deal worth more than $6MM guaranteed, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. The Giants will also have a club option for a third season.

2:40pm: The Giants and free-agent infielder Wilmer Flores have agreed to a multi-year deal, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). The Giants will need to make a 40-man roster move in order to create space for him.

"<strongWilmer Flores | Gregory J. Fisher-USA TODAY Sports” width=”200″ height=”300″ />

The 28-year-old Flores spent the 2019 season with the division-rival Diamondbacks but was limited to 89 games by a foot injury that sidelined him from late May until late July. When healthy, Flores turned in a strong .317/.361/.487 batting line with nine home runs and 18 doubles in 285 plate appearances. While most of Flores’ power output came against left-handed pitching (.337/.367/.615), the longtime Mets utilityman also hit for average and got on base against righties, albeit without much extra-base pop (.304/.358/.404).

The exact manner in which Flores fits into the Giants’ infield rotation isn’t clear. He can back up Brandon Belt at first base and Evan Longoria at third base, although it’s likely that non-roster invitee Pablo Sandoval will also be viewed as a backup at the corners. Flores could log semi-regular reps at second base, with Donovan Solano serving in a traditional utility role, although that doesn’t leave regular at-bats for young Mauricio Dubon at the position. Dubon, though, has been working out in the outfield and could earn himself a lengthy audition in center field, which would help to create additional playing time for Flores at second base.

Bringing Flores aboard on a multi-year agreement doesn’t bode well for 2019 Gold Glover Yolmer Sanchez, who agreed to a minor league contract with San Francisco just last week. Sanchez reportedly passed on big league offers for the chance to earn himself regular playing time at second base with the Giants, but the acquisition of Flores doesn’t help his chances any.

Looking further ahead, the Giants still have Belt, Longoria and Brandon Crawford all signed to guaranteed contracts through at least 2021, so there’s no creation of an everyday spot for Flores on the horizon. That’s nothing new for Flores, however. He’s typically appeared in more games and logged more plate appearances than your average bench bat but has also only topped 500 plate appearances once in seven Major League seasons.

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