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Leiter, Rocker, Pillar Make Rangers’ Roster; Carter Optioned To Triple-A

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The Rangers are moving closer to setting their Opening Day roster. They’ll break camp with touted young righties Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker in the rotation, president of baseball operations Chris Young revealed to the team’s beat (link via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). Veteran outfielder Kevin Pillar, who’d been a non-roster invitee in camp, will also make the club, while young outfielder and former top prospect Evan Carter is being optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.

Leiter and Rocker have now made the improbable rise from college teammates and top draft prospects at Vanderbilt to members of the same big league rotation. The path to get there was far rockier than most would’ve anticipated, though. Leiter was selected No. 2 overall in 2021 and has struggled with his command and susceptibility to home runs throughout his pro career. He posted an ERA north of 8.00 through 35 2/3 innings in last year’s MLB debut.

Rocker “fell” to the No. 10 pick after Leiter went to the Rangers but didn’t end up signing with the Mets, who raised concern over the state of Rocker’s elbow. Rather than return to college, Rocker pitched on the independent circuit and reentered the draft the following summer. Rocker’s stock was considered by most to be down considerably, so much so that it was a genuine shock to see Texas select him third overall. Less than a year later, Rocker required Tommy John surgery. The “Vandy Boys” collective stock had plummeted.

Fast forward, and it’s an entirely different story. Rocker looked outstanding across three minor league levels in his return from surgery and impressed enough to make his MLB debut late last year. Leiter has been the talk of Rangers camp, brandishing better velocity and sharper stuff en route to a 3.48 ERA in 20 2/3 Cactus League frames.

Even with strong spring performances, it would’ve been hard to envision both pitchers breaking camp. Multiple injuries paved the way for that to take place, however. Jon Gray broke his wrist when he was struck by a comebacker. Cody Bradford is sidelined by elbow soreness and won’t throw for a few weeks. Leiter and Rocker impressed enough that both will now begin the season in Bruce Bochy’s rotation. Given injury risks with rotation-mates Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle, it’s feasible that either could stick even when Gray and/or Bradford are healthy. Certainly, both young righties will have the opportunity to claim long-term spots on the staff.

Carter, 22, was a late-season revelation for the Rangers during their World Series-winning 2023 campaign. The 2020 second-rounder, then considered one of the sport’s top all-around prospects, debuted with a .306/.413/.645 slash in 23 games/75 plate appearances down the stretch and posted similarly excellent numbers in 72 postseason trips to the plate. Injuries hobbled Carter in 2024, however, leading to a disappointing .188/.272/.361 output in 188 plate appearances. He’s posted rough numbers in camp, too, slashing .154/.214/.205 in 42 turns at the dish.

The 36-year-old Pillar is batting .238/.292/.333 this spring. He’ll serve a backup role in the outfield, potentially platooning with Leody Taveras in center and/or logging some at-bats at designated hitter against left-handed pitching. Pillar hit .229/.291/.377 for the White Sox and Angels last season and is a career .255/.293/.406 hitter in parts of a dozen big league seasons.

Tigers Sign Manuel Margot

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March 24: The Tigers have now officially announced Margot’s signing. They also announced that he’ll make $1.3MM in the majors and $200K in the minors. There are also bonuses available, with Margot to get $300K for reaching 200, 300, 400 and 500 major league plate appearances this year.

To open a roster spot, the club placed Meadows on the 60-day injured list. He’s been battling an issue with his musculocutaneous nerve in his upper right arm. It was recently reported that he will be shut down for about four weeks. At that point, he will effectively need to restart his spring ramp-up. Based on today’s IL move, he can’t rejoin the big league club until late May.

March 23: The Tigers are signing outfielder Manuel Margot, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen, meanwhile, reports that it’s a major league deal for Margot. Financial terms have not yet been disclosed.

Margot, 30, was released by the Brewers yesterday after signing a minor league deal with the club last month. Margot posted a decent .250/.314/.375 slash line in camp with Milwaukee but was squeezed off of a roster already populated with four outfielders, with a fifth on the injured list ready to join the club when healthy. That left Margot to pursue greener pastures, which he’s now found in Detroit. The Tigers’ outfield mix has been ravaged by injuries this spring, with center fielder Parker Meadows and right fielder Matt Vierling both set to open the season on the injured list. For a team that was already in search of an additional right-handed bat, that made adding Margot something of a no-brainer for the Tigers.

Obvious a fit for the club’s needs as Margot might be, however, that doesn’t necessarily make him a slam-dunk solution. After all, the 30-year-old is coming off a career worst campaign in Minnesota where he slashed .238/.289/.337 in 343 trips to the plate across 129 games. Margot split time between all three outfield spots last year, but looked overmatched according to defensive metrics with a -4 Outs Above Average overall and negative numbers at all three outfield spots. That may suggest he’s ill equipped to contribute at least in center field on a regular basis at this point in his career, although Margot’s outstanding defensive numbers with the Rays and Padres over the years could easily justify giving him an opportunity to prove himself capable of handling center once again.

Wherever he ends up in an outfield mix that figures to include Zach McKinstry, Kerry Carpenter, and Wenceel Perez in addition to incumbent left fielder Riley Greene, Margot will need to post stronger numbers with the bat this year. While beating last year’s 79 wRC+ shouldn’t be an especially tall order, the most important piece of the puzzle for Margot this year figures to be getting back to hitting well against lefties. Margot is a career .279/.338/.415 hitter against southpaws, but last season he posted just a .269/.322/.391 line against lefties. Getting that number back to above average would be a huge boon for a heavily left-handed Tigers lineup that posted a wRC+ of just 88 against southpaws last year.

The addition of Margot to the fold appears to leave just one open spot on the club’s position player staff headed into Opening Day. Slugger Spencer Torkelson, outfielder Justyn-Henry Malloy, and non-roster utility man Jahmai Jones appear to be the final three candidates for that spot as things stand, with Torkelson standing out as the likely favorite given that both Carpenter and Torkelson himself are tentatively expected to get looks in the outfield as the Tigers attempt to piece together production without Meadows and Vierling in the fold. Torkelson lost his job as the club’s incumbent first baseman to Colt Keith when the Gleyber Torres signing pushed Keith to first base, but Torkelson’s right-handed bat offers more big league success and a higher ceiling than those of either Malloy or Jones.

Mariners Release Mitch Haniger

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The Mariners announced this morning that they’ve released outfielder Mitch Haniger. Haniger was owed $15.5MM this season, the last year of the three-year, $43MM contract he signed with the Giants prior to the 2023 season. Both Haniger himself and president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto provided statements alongside the announcement.

“Mitch has been a significant part of Mariners history and will be missed,” Dipoto said in the statement. “The day he arrived for his first spring training back in 2017, he established himself as one of the most focused, prepared, and hardest working players I’ve ever been around. We all appreciate the many ways he’s made us all better, on the field and off.”

“Putting on a Mariners uniform and playing at T-Mobile Park is something I’ll cherish forever,” Haniger said in his statement. “To our fans, my teammates, and everyone a part of this organization, thank you for embracing my family and me. We have so many great memories to look back on.”

It’s an unfortunate ending to Haniger’s tenure with the organization, which first began during the 2016-17 offseason when the Mariners acquired him from the Diamondbacks alongside Jean Segura and Zac Curtis in a deal that sent Ketel Marte and Taijuan Walker to Arizona. While Diamondbacks fans surely remember that deal fondly as Marte has grown into a star player with the club, Haniger enjoyed an impressive career of his own with Seattle over the years. Though he was often dogged by injuries throughout his tenure with the club, the outfielder remained productive and slashed .263/.337/.480 with a 124 wRC+ in 530 games from 2017 to 2022. His most impressive campaign with Seattle came in 2018, when he delivered a 137 wRC+ en route to a 5.0 fWAR/6.5 bWAR season that earned him an All-Star appearance and an eleventh-place finish in AL MVP voting that year.

Haniger departed the club for free agency following the 2022 campaign, and found a lucrative deal in San Francisco that guaranteed him $43MM over three years. Unfortunately, his first season with the Giants was one to forget as the outfielder was limited to just 61 games where he slashed a paltry .209/.266/.365 in 229 trips to the plate. Haniger was bit by the injury bug repeatedly through that season, as he suffered a fractured forearm in addition to oblique and back issues throughout the year. Despite those injuries, the Giants opted not to keep him in the fold and find out what a healthy season from their new outfielder might look like.

Instead, they shipped him back to Seattle alongside right-hander Anthony DeSclafani last winter in a deal that sent Robbie Ray to San Francisco. The surprise blockbuster reunited Haniger with the Mariners, and as he entered the season much healthier than he was the year prior there was plenty of reason for optimism that the veteran could return to form with the club. Unfortunately, that did not come to pass. Haniger struggled through 121 games with Seattle last year, slashing just .208/.286/.334 in 423 plate appearances.

It was his second consecutive season with negative WAR, and a career-high 29.8% strikeout rate offered little reason for optimism that he would be able to turn things around going forward. Haniger’s odds of recapturing his past success in Seattle further shrunk when the club acquired Randy Arozarena and Victor Robles during the 2024 season, both of whom effectively have the outfield corners locked down headed into 2025.

Haniger entered camp this year in competition with Mitch Garver and non-roster invitee Rowdy Tellez for the starting DH job, but quickly fell behind the club’s other two options when he hit just .167/.250/.389 across seven games this spring before being sidelined by shoulder soreness. He hasn’t played in a game since early March, and while a stint on the injured list appeared possible it now seems that the Mariners will instead allow Haniger to pursue opportunities elsewhere while clubs around the league are still finalizing their Opening Day roster decisions. Expecting a significant bounceback from a 34-year-old who is two full seasons removed from being an above average hitter would be a risk, but there’s little harm in another club seeing what Haniger might have left on a minor league deal should he be interested in one.

Red Sox To Include Kristian Campbell On Opening Day Roster

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Kristian Campbell will break camp with the Red Sox, as KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reports that the star prospect has been told he will be part of Boston’s Opening Day roster.  A corresponding move will be made in the coming days to create room for Campbell on the 40-man roster.

Though Campbell’s Grapefruit League performance hasn’t been stellar, it was becoming increasingly obvious in recent days that the Sox were eager to see what the 22-year-old can do at the big league level.  Vaughn Grissom was optioned to Triple-A a few days ago, leaving Campbell and David Hamilton as the remaining contenders for the second base job.  While the left-handed hitting Hamilton will get some action against right-handed pitching, the Red Sox surely aim for Campbell to get regular playing time in his first run of action in the Show.

It has been quite a rise for Campbell, who was a fourth-round pick out of Georgia Tech in the 2023 draft and flew somewhat under the radar in prospect rankings.  He started to attract attention with some big numbers in his first year of pro ball, and then gained even greater notice by being promoted all the way up the ladder to Triple-A Worcester by the end of 2024.  Campbell hit .330/.439/.558 with 20 homers and 24 steals (in 32 attempts) over 517 combined plate appearances at the high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels, including a .898 OPS over his 85 PA with Worcester.

This spring, Campbell was ranked by Baseball America as the fourth-best prospect in the sport, and MLB Pipeline (7th) and The Athletic’s Keith Law (9th) had similarly high praise.  After his college days, Campbell made some changes to his approach at the plate that transformed his hitting ability, so this make-up and maturity has impressed evaluators along with his obvious physical skills.  Campbell has something of an unusual swing that still generate lots of hard contact to all fields, plus more power could still be unlocked.  Campbell is a plus runner and he can play all over the diamond, as he has seen time at second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions over his minor league career.

He’ll check in as Boston’s second baseman in his first trip to the majors, thus perhaps filling a position that has been a revolving door at Fenway Park for the last few seasons.  Alex Bregman was initially tapped as the next second baseman when he signed his three-year, $120MM deal with the Sox this winter, but it now looks like Bregman will play in his usual third base spot now that Rafael Devers (at least publicly) has okayed the idea of becoming a designated hitter.  As MassLive’s Chris Cotillo put it, “ the Red Sox weren’t moving Rafael Devers to DH for no reason,” so the writing was on the wall that the team viewed Campbell as part of its optimal lineup.

With Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer also knocking on the door to the majors, the Red Sox have an enviable group of star prospects on the way up.  It remains to be seen if Campbell will stick at second base over the long time, or if the Sox might take advantage of his versatility by trying him out at a few different positions.

Because Campbell made at least two of the top-100 prospect lists compiled by Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB Pipeline, he qualifies as a candidate for the Prospect Promotion Incentive.  By starting on the Opening Day roster and spending the entire season in Boston, Campbell would earn the Sox a bonus draft pick if he wins the Rookie of the Year Award, or if he finishes in the top three in MVP voting in his first three seasons.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images

Braves, Angels Swap Ian Anderson, Jose Suarez

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The Braves are poised to acquire left-hander Jose Suarez from the Angels, according to a report from Ari Alexander of KPRC2. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, right-hander Ian Anderson is headed to Anaheim in exchange for Suarez.

Suarez, 27, signed with the Angels out of Venezuela and made his pro debut back in 2015. He’s spent his entire career in an Angels uniform to this point and first made it to the majors in 2019. The early days of his big league career weren’t exactly inspiring, as he carried a career 7.99 ERA in 83 1/3 innings through the end of the 2020 season with a 9.5% walk rate against a lackluster 18.6% strikeout rate.

Things turned around in a big way for the southpaw come 2021, however, and settled in to become a quality swing man for Anaheim. He pitched 98 1/3 innings that year in the majors split between 14 starts and nine relief appearances, and he was generally impressive by the results in those outings with a 3.75 ERA (119 ERA+) with a 4.12 FIP. That success carried over into the 2022 campaign, where Suarez was utilized as a more traditional back-of-the-rotation starter. He made 20 starts (and two relief appearances) for the Angels at the big league level that year, and pitched solidly enough with a roughly league average 3.96 ERA and a roughly matching 3.91 FIP. After posting successful seasons in back-to-back years, it seemed likely that the Angels would be relying on Suarez to serve as a back-end starter of swingman for years to come.

That’s not how things have transpired, however, as the lefty has been nothing short of disastrous over the past two seasons. In 86 innings of work since the start of the 2023 campaign, Suarez has struggled to a 6.91 ERA in 33 appearances, ten of which were starts. After striking out 21.5% of opponents and walking 7.9% from 2021 to ’22, the past two seasons have seen Suarez’s walk rate balloon to 11.6% while his strikeout rate has ticked down to 20.7%. He also began to give up increasingly dangerous contact, as his barrel rate ballooned from 7.4% in his successful years to 9.7% over the past two seasons. That’s led him to allow 17 homers in those 86 innings of work, more than he surrendered in either 2021 or ’22 despite pitching more innings in both of those seasons.

Suarez even found himself outrighted to the minors for much of last year, though he was added back to the club’s 40-man roster in September and remained there throughout the offseason. Now, however, he’ll head to Atlanta in hopes that a change of scenery can help get his career back on track. For the Angels, the move to part ways with Suarez comes on the heels of a mixed showing in camp where he struggled to a 6.55 ERA but struck out 25.5% of opponents while walking 9.8%. For Atlanta, he’ll offer another left-handed bullpen option who can be deployed in the middle innings, allowing Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer to be used more exclusively in high leverage situations.

Going the other way is Anderson, another reclamation project without options remaining. The right-hander, 27 in May, received NL Rookie of the Year votes in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons as he pitched to a combined 3.25 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout rate and 3.80 FIP in 30 starts during the regular season before adding an incredible 1.26 ERA in eight postseason starts to his resume over the course of those two years. That performance appeared likely to make Anderson a likely fixture of the Atlanta rotation going forward, but things took a turn for the worse in 2022 when he struggled to a 5.00 ERA (despite a 4.25 FIP) in 22 starts before he eventually went under the knife early in the 2023 campaign, undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Anderson missed the entire 2023 season while rehabbing and made 15 starts in the minor leagues last year as he got back up to speed, though his 3.44 ERA in 68 minor league innings did not lead to a return to the majors. The right-hander appeared likely to be part of the club’s rotation to start the season with Spencer Strider ticketed for the injured list entering camp, but despite a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings this spring Anderson’s camp raised concerns as he walked an eye-popping 18 opponents, or 24% of his total batters faced. With Anderson no longer in the fold, it seems likely the fifth starter job will instead go to AJ Smith-Shawver to open the season. Meanwhile, the Angels seem likely to utilize Anderson in a long relief role, though it’s at least possible he could get a look in the rotation if Reid Detmers begins the season at Triple-A.

Guardians, Rockies Swap Nolan Jones, Tyler Freeman

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The Guardians and Rockies have reached a deal that sent outfielder Nolan Jones to Cleveland in exchange for infielder/outfielder Tyler Freeman, according to a report from Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The deal has subsequently been announced.

The deal represents a homecoming for Jones, who was a second-round pick by Cleveland in 2016 and made his MLB debut with the club in 2022 before being traded to Colorado in a deal that brought back Juan Brito in November of that year. Jones went on to finish fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting that year as he posted 3.8 fWAR/4.3 bWAR for the Rockies, slugging 20 homers and swiping 20 bases while splitting time between the outfield corners and first base. In all, Jones slashed .297/.389/.542 that season, which even in the inflated offensive environment Coors Field provides was good for an excellent 137 wRC+. Meanwhile, Brito has yet to make his big league debut for the Guardians but posted a strong .256/.365/.443 line in 144 games at Triple-A for the club last year.

As impressive as Jones’s first year in Colorado was, however, he suffered a significant sophomore slump in his second year with the club. Back issues limited him to just 79 games, and when he was healthy enough to take the field he was ineffective with a lackluster .227/.321/.320 slash line. While a downturn in production should have always been expected relative to his 2023 campaign given Jones’s unbelievable .400 BABIP that year, Jones’s lost power production was something of a shock. After barreling up a whopping 15.7% of his batted balls in 2023, that number cratered to just 5.9% last year despite his overall rate of hard hit batted balls increasing from 40.9% to 44.4%. That came primarily from a massive spike in groundball rate, as Jones hit 52.7% of his batted balls on the ground last year, ten points higher than the year prior. That left him to club just three homers last year and enter his age-27 campaign with plenty of questions about what his production would look like this year.

Those questions will now be answered back in Cleveland, where Jones now appears likely to have the opportunity to lock down the club’s regular right field job, which to this point appeared likely to be filled by Will Brennan. Jones offers more proven upside than Brennan, 27, who posted roughly league average offensive numbers in a platoon role with the Guardians last year. Brennan, unlike Jones, has options remaining and can be sent to Triple-A as depth for the coming season. Should he replace Brennan on the roster, Jones could share time in right field with right-handed slugger Jhonkensy Noel if the Guardians want to spell him against left-handed pitchers, though Johnathan Rodriguez is another option on the 40-man roster.

As for the Rockies, they’ll be parting with Jones to bring in Freeman, a versatile utility bat with the ability to play quality defense all over the diamond but minimal offensive potential. A career 83 wRC+ hitter who slashed .209/.305/.321 (84 wRC+) in 118 games with the Guardians last year, Freeman spent the majority of his time in center field but also got brief looks at shortstop, third base, and second base throughout the season. With Brenton Doyle locked in as the everyday center fielder in Colorado, it seems likely that Freeman will be tasked with a more regular return to the dirt in 2025. While a utility role off the bench could be in Freeman’s future given the presence of Ezequiel Tovar at shortstop and Ryan McMahon at third base, an injury to Thairo Estrada earlier this week opened up regular playing time at the keystone for at least the start of the season. Given that, it seems likely that Freeman will either serve as the Rockies’ regular second baseman or split time with veteran utility man Kyle Farmer at the position while Estrada recovers from the broken wrist that figures to sideline him for four to eight weeks.

Freeman was projected to be part of the Guardians’ bench mix come Opening Day, likely serving as a backup center field option behind Lane Thomas as well as a potential platoon partner for either Brennan or Kyle Manzardo. It’s possible a more regular outfielder like Rodriguez or Angel Martinez could be asked to take on that role, but one potentially intriguing candidate to join the club’s roster would be Brito himself. Brito is mostly an infielder with the vast majority of his time in the minors spent at second base, but he got a look in right field last year and could be an intriguing addition to the club’s bench mix as long as they believe in Lane Thomas as a legitimate everyday option in center field.

Guardians Extend Tanner Bibee

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The Guardians have signed Tanner Bibee to a five-year contract extension that includes a club option for the 2030 season, according to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins.  The Athletic’s Zack Meisel (multiple links) reports that Bibee will receive at least $48MM in guaranteed money.  As per Meisel, the contract breaks down as a $2MM signing bonus and a $3MM salary this season, $4MM in 2026, $7MM in 2027, $10MM in 2028, $21MM in 2029, and then Cleveland holds a $21MM club option for 2030 with a $1MM buyout.

Bibee just turned 26 earlier this month, so he gets a late birthday present in the form of a life-changing contract.  Bibee has exactly two years of MLB service time, and his $48MM deal ranks as the third-most money ever given to a pitcher with between two years and two years and 171 days of service time.  The 2025 season was Bibee’s final pre-arbitration year, so the extension covers all three of his arb-eligible years and at least one of his free agent years.

A fifth-round pick out of Cal State Fullerton in the 2021 draft, Bibee quickly became the latest quality arm to emerge from Cleveland’s pitching development factory.  Bibee attracted top-100 prospect attention entering the 2023 season, and he immediately delivered on that potential by posting a 2.98 ERA in 142 innings with the Guardians.  That performance earned him a second-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting, and subsequently a full year of service time, as per the rules of the league’s Prospect Promotion Incentive plan.

There was no sophomore slump in the follow-up, as Bibee had a 3.47 ERA in 173 2/3 frames last season, with improved strikeout and walk rates from his rookie year.  Bibee also got his first turn on the postseason stage, with a 3.45 ERA in 15 2/3 innings during the Guards’ run to the ALCS.  Perhaps the only minor red flag was that Bibee (an average velocity pitcher) saw his fastball drop off rather drastically in effectiveness from 2023 to 2024, but that was balanced out by his cutter becoming an even more effective pitch.

Bibee becomes the latest in a decades-long line of quality players the Cleveland organization has signed to early-career extensions.  Identifying and locking up talent has been perhaps the key plank of the team’s success over the years, given how the smaller-market Guardians rarely sign their players to secondary contracts or big free agent deals.  Jose Ramirez is a rare example of a Guardians player who did ink a second extension to remain in the Cleve, and Ramirez and Bibee are now the only Guards players signed to guaranteed money beyond the 2026 season.  The Guardians do have some control over Emmanuel Clase and Trevor Stephan in the form of club options covering their 2027 and 2028 seasons, as per the terms of their own extensions.

If Ramirez is the cornerstone of the position-player mix, Bibee now has a similar status as the key figure of the Guardians’ rotation for the remainder of the decade.  Bibee already stepped up as a pillar of stability in what was an uncharacteristically so-so year for the Cleveland rotation as a whole, and he’ll look to again be the ace of a staff that includes Ben Lively, Logan Allen, Gavin Williams, and new arrival Luis Ortiz.  Longtime ace Shane Bieber re-signed with the Guards in December and is expected to return around midseason once he fully recovers from Tommy John surgery.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Drew Thorpe To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The White Sox announced that right-hander Drew Thorpe will undergo a Tommy John surgery.  Dr. Keith Meister will perform the procedure, and Thorpe will miss the next 13-15 months in recovery.

The news caps off a brutal stretch of health struggles for the 24-year-old righty.  Thorpe’s rookie season was cut short by a flexor strain in early August, and he underwent a surgery in early September to remove a bone spur from his throwing elbow.  The recovery process didn’t go entirely smoothly, as Thorpe got a cortisone shot in January to help overcome some lingering discomfort from the procedure.  Thorpe then had a slow ramp-up during Spring Training and didn’t make his first in-game appearance until a minor league appearance on Thursday, but then that outing was cut short when he left with elbow discomfort.

A second-round pick for the Yankees in the 2022 draft, Thorpe quickly emerged as a well-regarded prospect, and he has already been part of two major trades in his young career.  New York included Thorpe as one of the five players sent to the Padres last offseason as part of the Juan Soto trade, and San Diego then flipped Thorpe (and three other players) to the White Sox a few months later in the deal that brought Dylan Cease to the Friars’ rotation.

After that tumultuous offseason, Thorpe looked to settle in as a major piece of Chicago’s rebuilding efforts, and he looked great over 11 starts at the Double-A level.  The Sox then decided to call Thorpe straight up to the Show without a stop at Triple-A, and Thorpe perhaps understandably struggled in posting a 5.48 ERA over 44 1/3 innings against MLB hitters.

His next big league start now won’t come until at least midway through the 2026 season, as Thorpe and the White Sox will lose over a full year of important developmental time.  Even if Thorpe had started the year at Triple-A, a good showing in the minors would’ve surely gotten him back to the majors in due course, with an eye towards fully establishing himself as a part of the future on the South Side.  If there’s any silver lining for Thorpe, it is the fact that spending the year on the big league version of the 60-day injured list will bank him a full year of Major League service time.

The White Sox obviously weren’t expected to contend this season, but losing Thorpe is still a tough blow to the rotation.  Manager Will Venable announced earlier this week that Rule 5 Draft pick Shane Smith would break camp with the team, and step into the rotation spot left open by Thorpe’s absence.  Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Davis Martin, and veteran Martin Perez around out the rest of the projected starting five.

Thorpe is the fourth Sox pitcher to require a TJ surgery in the last two months, as the injury bug has taken a big bite out of the team’s ranks of young pitchers.  Prelander Berroa, Ky Bush, and 40-man roster member Juan Carela will all be sidelined into the 2026 season after undergoing the procedure.

Diamondbacks, Justin Martínez Agree To Extension

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TODAY: The Diamondbacks officially announced the deal, which per the club’s announcement also includes a conditional club option for the 2032 season. According to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the condition option is worth $3MM and triggers if Martinez has elbow surgery at any point in the deal or spends a certain number of days on the injured list.

March 21: Right-hander Justin Martínez and the Diamondbacks have reportedly agreed to a contract extension, pending a physical. The deal will pay him $18MM over five years, with a couple of club options as well. He’ll get a $2MM signing bonus and a $1.5MM salary this year. He’ll then make salaries of $2MM, $3MM, $4MM and $5.5MM in the remaining guaranteed years. The 2030 club option is valued at $7MM followed by a $9MM option for 2031. It can max out at $39MM via escalators and those options. The guaranteed portion of the deal covers his remaining pre-arbitration and arbitration seasons, while the options give the Diamondbacks two potential extra years of control.

Martínez, 23, has a limited major league track record but has impressed in that time. He had a rough debut in 2023, allowing 14 earned runs in a small sample of ten innings. But he firmly established himself last year. He tossed 72 2/3 innings over 64 appearances for the D’Backs, allowing just 2.48 earned runs per nine innings. His 11.7% walk rate was definitely on the high side but he struck out 29.5% of batters faced and got grounders on 58.9% of balls in play.

He accomplished all that with an impressive arsenal, turning his Statcast page into a sea of red. His four-seam fastball and sinker both averaged over 100 miles per hour with Martínez also mixing in a splitter and a slider. He earned seven holds and eight saves last year, cementing himself as a key leverage arm for the Snakes.

Given that eye-popping performance, it’s understandable that the Snakes would look to lock him up. It’s also easy to see why Martínez might prefer to lock up some life-changing money now. He had just converted from the outfield to the mound in 2018 prior to being signed as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. He got a $50K bonus, relatively modest compared to some of the multi-million-dollar bonuses high-profile prospects get. He has struggled with control problems throughout his minor league career and also had Tommy John surgery in 2021.

While Martínez is surely confident in his obvious talents, his trajectory has been more rocky than many other young players. That perhaps made him less likely to bet on himself than a player who already had millions in the bank and a smooth ride to the majors.

The deal is roughly in line with previous pacts for pre-arbitration relievers, as shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker. Emmanuel Clase got $20MM over five years from the Guardians going into the 2022 season. Clase then had between one and two years of service time, as Martínez does now. In both cases, the player locked up guaranteed money for their pre-arb and arb years, while giving up two free agent seasons via options. The Clase deal is tops for a reliever in this service bracket with Martínez coming in just below him.

Clase is an apt comparison for Martínez and a good illustration of what the Diamondbacks are hoping for. Clase was clearly a talented pitcher but had some uncertainty after missing the 2020 season due to a PED suspension. He pitched his first full season in 2021 and posted a 1.29 ERA over 71 appearances. The Guardians banked on Clase repeating that kind of performance going forward, a bet that has paid off. Clase has emerged as one of the best closers in baseball with a 1.72 ERA over the first three years of that deal.

The bar doesn’t need to be that high for Martínez. Even by the end of the deal, his salary stays fairly modest. Decent setup pitchers like Paul Sewald, Yimi García and Tommy Kahnle signed deals with salaries in the $7-8MM range this winter. That means Martínez will be a bargain even if he’s producing in the realm of those guys. But clearly, the ceiling is quite high and the Diamondbacks are hoping Martínez is a key part of the bullpen for years to come.

What remains to be seen is how Martínez will be utilized in the short term. Manager Torey Lovullo said this week, in video relayed by Alex Weiner of Arizona Sports, that he would likely not name a strict closer. He has two key lefties in A.J. Puk and Joe Mantiply, as well as righties Martínez and Kevin Ginkel. Based on Lovullo’s comments, he seems likely to put his pitchers in optimal platoon settings, at least until a more clear hierarchy emerges.

Moises Fabian of Mega 97.9 in New York first reported the details in Spanish, relaying the $18MM guarantee over five years and the club options valued at $7MM and $9MM. Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic later reported the same details in English. Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 reported the specific annual salaries.

Photos courtesy of Rob Schumacher, Imagn Images.

Orioles Sign Kyle Gibson

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The Orioles announced on Friday that they’ve reunited with Kyle Gibson on a one-year deal. The Rowley Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $5.25MM and can earn another $1.525MM in performance bonuses — including $150K apiece at 14, 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 starts. Baltimore placed Kyle Bradish, who underwent elbow surgery last June, on the 60-day injured list to open a roster spot.

Gibson was the top remaining free agent starting pitcher. The veteran righty has been a durable innings source at the back of various rotations. That included a 2023 season spent in Baltimore. Gibson made 33 starts and tossed 192 innings for the O’s two seasons ago. He posted a 4.73 earned run average while recording 157 strikeouts.

The Missouri product signed a $13MM free agent deal with the Cardinals during the 2023-24 offseason. He continued to work as a steady if unexciting back-end option. Gibson took 30 turns through the rotation and pitched to a 4.24 ERA over 169 2/3 innings. His 20.9% strikeout rate and 44.8% ground-ball percentage were near league average. St. Louis declined a $12MM club option in favor of a $1MM buyout at year’s end.

Gibson has nine MLB seasons with at least 29 starts and more than 150 frames. He hasn’t spent any time on the injured list within the last three seasons. His 711 1/3 innings over the past four years ranks eighth among major league pitchers. Once he’s ready for major league work, he should slot into the fifth spot in Brandon Hyde’s rotation.

That won’t be from Opening Day. While Gibson has been throwing side sessions, that’s not a direct substitute for Spring Training. Hyde told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com that Gibson will need the equivalent of a spring ramp-up. It’s not clear if he’ll consent to an optional assignment to begin the season in the minors or start the year on the injured list, but he won’t be on the active roster on Thursday.

Gibson is the third older starting pitcher whom the Orioles have added on a one-year deal. They signed Charlie Morton to a $15MM contract and brought in NPB veteran Tomoyuki Sugano at $13MM. All three project more as back-end arms at this stage of their careers.

Grayson Rodriguez received a cortisone shot to treat elbow inflammation a couple weeks ago. He’ll begin the season on the injured list. Zach Eflin leads a starting five that also includes Morton, Sugano and Dean Kremer. Swingman Albert Suárez and young lefty Cade Povich are battling to round out the rotation. Suárez entered camp as the sixth starter, but Povich has outperformed him this spring. They’ll need one of those pitchers to hold a rotation spot until Gibson is ready for regular season work.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the $5.25MM base salary and the $1.525MM in incentives. Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner reported the start breakdown. Image courtesy of Jerome Miron, USA Today Sports.

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