Notes

NL Postseason Notes: McNeil, Marte, Edman, Freeman

By Leo Morgenstern | October 6, 2024 at 9:06am CDT

The Mets could potentially get a big boost to their lineup if they advance to the NLCS. Manager Carlos Mendoza revealed to reporters (including Tim Britton of The Athletic) that Jeff McNeil will join the team’s taxi squad today, two days after welcoming his second child. The second baseman/corner outfielder has not played since September 6, when he fractured his right wrist as he pulled back a bunt attempt on a high-and-inside curveball from Reds’ left-hander Brandon Williamson. It’s possible McNeil will be ramped up and ready to play in time for the NLCS, should the Mets win two more games against the Phillies in the NLDS. However, Mendoza made it clear that it’s too soon to offer a definitive timeline for McNeil’s return.

McNeil, 32, got off to a dismal start over the first three months of the 2024 campaign. Then, he turned a corner in July, hitting eight home runs and 15 doubles with an .859 OPS and 140 wRC+ over his final 55 games. The veteran looked much more like the version of himself that won a Silver Slugger and a batting title in 2022. Even if he can’t get back to quite that level of performance, his lefty bat should be a valuable addition to a righty-heavy Mets lineup; he could take over from Jose Iglesias at second base or Starling Marte in right field with a right-handed starting pitcher on the mound.

Speaking of Marte, the 35-year-old outfielder took a Zack Wheeler fastball off his left forearm yesterday. As Britton pointed out, the pitch hit Marte in almost the exact same spot where Phillies reliever Jeff Hoffman plunked him with a sinker three weeks earlier. Marte remained in the game yesterday, running the bases and taking a couple more at-bats, but he was removed in the bottom of the eighth amid a flurry of late-game defensive switches and substitutions. There’s no reason to believe he’s nursing anything more than a minor contusion, but it’s possible he could use a day to rest. After Hoffman beaned him in September, Marte took the next game off. He started the game after that on the bench before entering as a pinch hitter.

More notes from the NL postseason teams…

Tommy Edman started in center field for the Dodgers last night, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. His most interesting at-bat, however, was the double play he grounded into with runners on the corners in the bottom of the fifth. Facing the right-handed Jeremiah Estrada, the switch-hitting Edman chose to hit from the right side (h/t to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). It was the first time all season Edman attempted to bat right-handed against a right-handed pitcher. To that point, he batted as a lefty against the other two right-handers he faced last night: Dylan Cease and Bryan Hoeing. It was an unconventional, but not entirely unreasonable, choice for Edman, who hit .181 with a .523 OPS and 51 wRC+ in 117 plate appearances as a lefty batter this season. Conversely, he went 14-for-34 (.412) with four home runs, a 1.299 OPS, and a 250 wRC+ in a tiny sample size of plate appearances as a righty. Indeed, Edman has hit better as a righty in every season of his career. However, when he tried batting right-handed against right-handed pitchers on occasion last season, the results were poor. He produced a .665 OPS and 77 wRC+ in 61 trips to the plate. Even worse, he went 0-for-4 batting righty against righties over two games in 2021. It will be worth watching to see if Edman continues this experiment against Estrada or any of the Padres’ other right-handers.
Nursing a sprained right ankle, Freddie Freeman’s status was questionable heading into the NLDS. Yet, the Dodgers first baseman played all nine innings of Game 1, going 2-for-5 at the dish. He also stole a base. Later on, Freeman revealed to reporters (including Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic) that he is also dealing with a bone bruise in his ankle. He says the bruise started to bother home around the fourth inning last night. Nevertheless, the famously durable superstar believes he can do it all again today – with the help of the Dodgers training staff. After the game, manager Dave Roberts joked that Freeman was “certainly medicated” (per Rosenthal), while Freeman expressed his gratitude to the training staff for getting him game-ready despite his significant injuries.

Pirates Notes: Skenes, Bednar, Hayes

By Nick Deeds | October 5, 2024 at 10:21pm CDT

After a difficult season that saw the Pirates flash signs of life in the first half with a 48-48 record before crashing to a 28-38 record after the All-Star break, Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington discussed a few of the club’s key players as they team now looks ahead toward the 2025 campaign and the coming offseason.

Chief among those was like NL Rookie of the Year favorite Paul Skenes. For all of the club’s faults this year, Skenes was the most obvious bright spot as he was nothing short of dominant practically from the moment he made his big league debut back in May. In 23 starts from then on, Skenes posted an eye-popping 1.96 ERA with an excellent 2.45 FIP. With a 33.1% strikeout rate across his 133 innings of work, Skenes was perhaps the most dominant pitcher in all of MLB this year. The one flaw in is otherwise dominant rookie campaign was volume, as Skenes threw just 160 1/3 innings of work in total this year between the major and minor leagues. That includes eight starts where Skenes failed to pass 80 pitches in his outing.

Fortunately, that seeming unwillingness to have Skenes pitch deep into games faded as his season continued, with the right-hander ultimately throwing more than 100 pitches in six of his 23 big league outings. What’s more, Cherington told reporters (including Alex Stumpf of MLB.com) that the hard-throwing righty could find himself unleashed completely next year. Cherington indicated that the Pirates do not currently plan on “any sort of hard limits” on Skenes’s innings or pitch counts headed into 2025, leaving the door open for Skenes to post an even stronger season next year should he be able to post something close to this season’s results over a full slate of 30 starts. The righty figures to headline Pittsburgh’s rotation next year, followed by Jared Jones and Mitch Keller. There’s some uncertainty at the back of the club’s rotation behind those three, but Johan Oviedo, Luis L. Ortiz, and Bailey Falter could all be in the mix for starts as well.

Looking beyond the rotation, Cherington notably also offered a vote of confidence in longtime closer David Bednar, who struggled badly throughout the 2024 campaign and was eventually removed from the closer role in late August. Bednar’s results improved over the month of September but his peripheral numbers remained shaky, as he posted a solid 3.38 ERA but walked (ten) more batters than he struck out (nine) across 10 2/3 innings of work. That left Bednar with an overall ERA of 5.77 on the year, and while his 4.80 FIP offered some reason for optimism even that figure was still worse than average as it was held back by a 10.7% walk rate.

Given Bednar’s brutal performance and a fairly considerable $6.6MM salary projection for next season courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the club explore moving on from Bednar this winter. If that possibility is on the table, however, Cherington did not acknowledge it. On the contrary, Stumpf notes that Cherington suggested Bednar could even recapture the closer’s role in time for 2025. Even in spite of Bednar’s poor performance, such an outcome would hardly be a shock. After all, the club has few proven relievers under team control besides Colin Holderman and Bednar dominated to the tune of a 2.25 ERA with a 2.56 FIP over the 2021-23 seasons. If Bednar can even come close to that sort of production next year, he’d be well worth the $6.6MM investment via arbitration.

Now turning to the positional side, Cherington also provided a small update (as relayed by Stumpf) on third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. A former top-of-the-line infield prospect who enjoyed something of a breakout campaign in 2023 where he paired excellent defense with a roughly league average at, Hayes appeared sure to join Skenes, Jones, and Oneil Cruz among the club’s core this season. Instead, injuries derailed Hayes’s year completely. He was limited to just 96 games by a disc problem in his back that sent him to the injured list twice this year and left him playing through pain for the majority of the year when he was on the field. The injury marred campaign led to disastrous results, as Hayes hit just .233/.283/.290 in 396 trips to the plate alongside defensive numbers that were a far cry from previous seasons.

Difficult as 2024 was for Hayes, however, Cherington expressed optimism about the infielder’s status as he looked ahead to 2025. The GM acknowledged that there’s “always some level of concern” regarding an injured player until he’s once again on the field, but added that he believes the club is better informed about Hayes’s injury situation and that the third baseman is “excited” to return to action in 2025. When Hayes was unable to take the field this year, Jared Triolo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa were the club’s primary options at the hot corner this year. Both players are in line to return to the club next year and could continue backing up the position in the event Hayes struggles to stay on the field in 2025 as well.

Management Notes: Marlins, Twins, Angels

By Nick Deeds | October 5, 2024 at 8:48pm CDT

With the majority of teams done playing for the year, many clubs have already gotten a head start on making moves that will eventually impact the 2025 squad. While free agency won’t open until next month, a number of clubs have already announced changes to their staffs as they look for new voices following disappointing seasons.

Among those clubs is the Marlins, who parted ways with manager Skip Schumaker when the 2024 season came to a close in a long-anticipated move that will allow president of baseball operations Peter Bendix to select his own manager for the first time after replacing Kim Ng at the head of Miami’s baseball operations last offseason. While Schumaker has generally been regarded as among the most attractive potential managerial candidates available this winter, the Marlins will have to look elsewhere to replace the 2023 NL Manager of the Year, and their new manager will have a tall task after the club initiated a complete overhaul of their coaching staff that the club’s new skipper figures to pilot.

While the Marlins have surely already begun their managerial search, the club has not yet been reported to have interest in any possible names for the job. That being said, there’s at least one candidate who has seeming thrown his hat into the ring: 16-year MLB veteran Anibal Sanchez, who pitched for the Marlins from his big league debut in 2006 through the first half of the 2012 season. Sanchez, who officially retired back in 2023, has no affiliated coaching experience but has previously expressed interest in coaching or managing in the majors at some point in the future.

Even so, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported yesterday that the long-time hurler has reached out to the team to convey interest in the position. It would be something of a shock if the Marlins decided to hire Sanchez, however. The 40-year-old, as previously mentioned, has no significant coaching or managerial experience. That’s not always an obstacle to hiring a manager, of course; David Ross was hired to helm the club’s dugout following the 2019 season just three seasons after he retired and without any significant coaching experience on his resume. With that being said, Ross had strong ties to then-president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. There is no such clear connection between Sanchez and Bendix, who spent his entire career prior to joining the Marlins in a Rays organization that Sanchez never pitched for.

Other notes from around the league…

Looking toward upper management, the Twins recently made waves when longtime GM Thad Levine, who has served as the #2 to chief baseball officer Derek Falvey throughout Falvey’s entire tenure in Minnesota, stepped down from his role with the club in order to pursue other opportunities. With Falvey and manager Rocco Baldelli both set to remain in their positions for 2025, Levine represents the most significant departure from club management on the heels of a disappointing season where the Twins missed the playoffs following a massive collapse in September. Levine recently commented on his departure (as relayed by Phil Miller of the Minnesota Star Tribune) and emphasized that he’s parting ways with the club on good terms. “I kind of liken myself to Mary Poppins — the kids know how to clean up their rooms now and take their medicine,” Levine told reporters, including Miller. “They don’t need someone singing in the background to do it.” Notably, Levine has been a candidate for top baseball operations jobs in recent years, including the Red Sox chief baseball officer position for which he was a finalist last winter.
Turning even further up the food chain to comments from ownership, Angels owner Arte Moreno has at times indicated an openness to selling the franchise in the past. In 2022, the now-78-year-old went as far as to announce the exploration of a possible sale, though it was just a few months later that he seemingly changed his mind and took his franchise of the market. Back in February, Moreno indicated that he plans to continue his ownership “long-term” and had previously rebuffed potential buyers, insisting the club was off the market. In a phone interview with Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register this afternoon, however, Moreno indicated the door for a potential sale my not be fully closed. “I can’t tell you about the future,” Moreno said (as relayed by Fletcher) “If someone makes some stupid, crazy offer, I’ve got to do what’s best for the family. I do the best I can to run it as a business.” While it seems unlikely that a sale will ultimately come together given the fact that Moreno seemingly set the bar at a “crazy offer” in order to get a deal done, the comments are still nonetheless a notable shift in tone from just eight months ago for the longtime owner.

Division Series Roster Notes: Padres, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, Tigers

By Mark Polishuk | October 5, 2024 at 1:24pm CDT

We’ve already covered some notable roster additions for the Guardians and Mets as the Division Series begins, and the Royals are sticking with the same 26 players used in the Wild Card Series against the Orioles. Now that all eight teams in the LDS rounds have revealed their rosters, here are the details…

The Padres made two changes from their NLDS roster, adding left-hander Martin Perez and right-hander Alek Jacob and removing Joe Musgrove and infielder Nick Ahmed. Musgrove was obviously out due to his impending Tommy John surgery, while replacing Ahmed with a pitcher gives San Diego 13 pitchers to go with 13 position players. Perez is one of five southpaws on San Diego’s roster, as ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez (X link) was among those who noted that the Padres are guarding themselves as best they can against Shohei Ohtani and other powerful left-handed Dodgers bats.
The Dodgers will go with an even mix of 13 batters and 13 pitchers, and rookie Edgardo Henriquez has made the list of available arms. Henriquez only made his MLB debut on September 24 and he has played in just three games as a big leaguer, but Los Angeles will give the hard-throwing righty a look in October to add some velocity to the bullpen. It’s probably safe to assume that Henriquez wouldn’t have made the cut if the Dodgers weren’t ravaged by pitching injuries, yet the rookie also got the nod over veteran Joe Kelly, who had an inconsistent year but was pitching well after returning from the IL in mid-September. On the position player side, L.A. didn’t include either Kevin Kiermaier or James Outman, so Andy Pages will be the only true backup outfielder along with utilitymen Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor in the bench mix.
The Phillies will use 14 position players and 12 pitchers in their NLDS matchup with the Mets, with left-hander Kolby Allard joining the relief corps. Allard has worked as something of a swingman throughout his career, and this ability of covering multiple innings earned Allard the spot, as manager Rob Thomson told MLB.com’s Paul Casella and other reporters. “He’s going to probably give us the most length if we get into an extra-inning game….so I just wanted as much length as we could get,” Thomson said. Utilityman Weston Wilson also got the Phils’ last bench spot, as Casella observes that Wilson brings more positional versatility than outfielder Cal Stevenson.
The Yankees went heavier on position players (15) than pitchers (11) for their ALDS roster against the Royals. Anthony Rizzo is missing the series due to two broken fingers and DJ LeMahieu wasn’t yet activated from the injured list, but New York still has plenty of room on its bench, including pinch-running specialist Duke Ellis. The Yankees appear to be loading up on bats to take on the Royals’ tough rotation and more porous bullpen, which left right-hander Marcus Stroman off the ALDS roster as the odd man out of the starting staff.
The Tigers made just one change from their Wild Card Series roster, as rookie righty Keider Montero has been included in place of Casey Mize. Montero posted a 4.76 ERA over 98 1/3 innings in his first Major League season, starting 16 of 19 games. This doesn’t necessarily mean Montero will start against the Guardians in the ALDS, however, as Detroit’s pitching staff (apart from ace Tarik Skubal) is very malleable in terms of specific roles.

Contract Notes: Kiner-Falefa, Heaney, Flexen

By Steve Adams | September 30, 2024 at 11:50am CDT

The Pirates drew plenty of scrutiny for designating first baseman Rowdy Tellez for assignment when he was four plate appearances shy of reaching a $200K bonus in his contract, though management has publicly disputed that the bonus had anything to do with the decision. Another Pittsburgh veteran ultimately landed in a similar spot, but infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa tells Alex Stumpf of MLB.com that he declined an opportunity to enter the lineup and collect a $250K bonus. The infielder finished the season at 496 plate appearances, when his contract would’ve afforded him a $250K bonus for reaching 500 trips to the plate. Manager Derek Shelton initially omitted Kiner-Falefa from the Pirates’ Sunday lineup but, upon learning of the looming bonus, attempted to plug the infielder back into the lineup.

“I didn’t think it was fair to take a spot from [Liover Peguero], or one of the young guys, an opportunity to play at Yankee Stadium away from them,” says Kiner-Falefa, whom the Pirates acquired from the Blue Jays at the trade deadline. “I got hurt this year. I missed a month. If that doesn’t happen, or if we’re actually in a real race, I crush those incentives by a long shot. So, at the end of the day, I feel like I didn’t deserve it from that aspect. It’s nothing the team did. They tried to make it right at the end. That meant a lot to me right there. I’m thankful to [Shelton] and the organization to give me that opportunity.”

A couple more interesting contract notes from the final weekend of the season…

Rangers lefty Andrew Heaney began his final start of the season Sunday at 156 innings, just four frames away from unlocking a $1.5MM bonus in his two-year deal. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that although he was hit hard through the first three innings of the game (seven runs allowed), Heaney was allowed to complete the fourth inning as a reward for the selflessness he’s shown in his two seasons with the club and for the value he’s provided as a teammate in the clubhouse. “[General manager Chris Young] said we are going to do the right things by people, by players and by fans,” Heaney tells Grant. “Chris and [manager] Bruce Bochy are baseball lifers and they understand what it means. I believed everything Chris told me when I signed here. It has been everything he presented and more.” The 33-year-old Heaney finished out the 2024 season with a 4.28 ERA in his 160 frames and logged an overall 4.22 ERA in 307 1/3 innings over his two years in Texas. He’s a free agent this winter.
Right-hander Chris Flexen has eaten innings at the back of the White Sox’ rotation amid the team’s historically feeble season, and the club made sure in his final start of the season that Flexen was able to reach the final incentive milestone in his one-year, $1.75MM contract, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale points out. Flexen’s deal called for $250K bonuses at each of 75, 100, 125 and 160 innings. The right-hander entered Sunday’s start with 153 2/3 innings under his belt. Flexen made the decision pretty easy for the Sox, as he tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Angels. Still, few would’ve questioned the decision to pull Flexen after six scoreless innings, 88 pitches and a 7-0 lead. But the Sox made sure to send Flexen back out for the seventh and only lifted him after he’d recorded that first out to get him to that 160-inning threshold. He finished out the season with a 4.95 ERA, leading the team in innings and ranking second to Garrett Crochet with 30 starts. Flexen will head back to free agency this winter.

AL Notes: Reinsdorf, Blue Jays, Rays, Diaz

By Mark Polishuk | September 29, 2024 at 11:06pm CDT

The White Sox won five of their last six games but couldn’t avoid history, as the 41-121 club had the most losses of any team in the modern era. In an open letter to fans today, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf described the season in such terms as “a failure,” “embarrassing,” “completely unacceptable,” and others, while noting that “as the leader of this organization, that is my ultimate responsibility. There are no excuses.”

In terms of what is next, Reinsdorf said the team is “embracing new ideas and outside perspectives” to get things on track. “This will include further development of players on our current roster, development within our system, evaluating the trade and free agent markets to improve our ballclub and new leadership for our analytics department, allowing us to elevate and improve every process within our organization with a focus for competing for championships….When named general manager in 2023, Chris Getz and his staff immediately began conducting a top-to-bottom evaluation of our existing operations. Chris is rebuilding the foundation of our baseball operations department, with key personnel changes already happening in player development, international scouting, professional scouting and analytics. Some of these changes will be apparent quickly while others will need time to produce the results we all want to see at the major-league level.”

AL West Notes: Alvarez, McCormick, Sborz, Drury

By Mark Polishuk | September 29, 2024 at 8:31pm CDT

Yordan Alvarez’s status is the biggest question mark facing the Astros as the postseason begins, but manager Joe Espada said Alvarez will take batting practice tomorrow. “That’s a really good sign. Just the fact that he’s able to hit and rotate and do stuff that a couple days ago I thought he wasn’t going to be able to do in a matter of days,” Espada told reporters, including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.

Alvarez hasn’t played since suffering a knee sprain while sliding on September 22, and it seems possible that the Astros might not tip their hand about his availability until Tuesday morning, when they have to release their rosters for their AL Wild Card Series with the Tigers. Waiting until the relative last minute makes it harder for the Tigers to prepare, and it also gives Alvarez and the Astros as much time as possible to evaluate the star slugger’s knee health.

Outfielder Chas McCormick might be another late roster decision, though MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes (X link) that McCormick took live batting practice today and is set for another live BP session tomorrow. McCormick has been sidelined since September 10 due to a fracture in his right hand, but has been able to take part in other baseball activities over the past week.

Red Sox Notes: Yoshida, O’Neill, Castiglione

By Mark Polishuk | September 29, 2024 at 6:25pm CDT

Masataka Yoshida is set to undergo an MRI on his right shoulder, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) after today’s game. Earlier today, Carlos Yamazaki of Tokyo Sports reported (via X) that Yoshida was considering having surgery, as Yoshida said he has been bothered by shoulder soreness for much of the season.

The 31-year-old Yoshida didn’t play in Boston’s season-ending 3-1 win over the Rays today, thus ending his second MLB season with a .280/.349/.415 slash line and 10 home runs over 421 plate appearances. That translates to a 115 wRC+ in 2024, and after he had relatively similar numbers in 580 PA in 2023, Yoshida now has a 112 wRC+ over his 248 games and 1001 trips to the plate as a big leaguer.

Between these solid numbers and the fact that he is one of the league’s toughest players to strike out, Yoshida’s first two Major League seasons have been quite respectable overall. However, more than “respectable” was expected when the Sox signed him to a five-year, $90MM deal during the 2022-23 offseason. Seen as an overpay of a contract from former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, Yoshida seemed to answer his critics with some very strong numbers in 2023 before fading down the stretch.

His 2024 was limited in another sense, as Yoshida was almost exclusively a designated hitter. While Cora reiterated today that Yoshida’s usage was more due to Boston’s outfield surplus than due to concerns about Yoshida’s defense, the fact remains that Yoshida played in just one game as an outfielder this season. The left-handed hitting Yoshida was also largely used only against right-handed pitching, further limiting his playing time.

More will be known about Yoshida’s shoulder once the MRI is complete, but if surgery is necessary, that further complicates his status heading into 2025. With three years and $54MM remaining on his contract, Yoshida is a tough player to move in any trade talks, and his trade value will dip further if any health uncertainty is attached. Some room in Boston’s outfield could open up if Tyler O’Neill departs in free agency, but two star Red Sox outfield prospects (Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell) are expected to be part of the big league roster at some point in 2025, further crowding the picture.

There’s also a chance O’Neill is re-signed, as he told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford and other reporters that he spoke with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow today, and the two both expressed “mutual interest” in a reunion. Breslow also spoke publicly earlier this week about the club’s keenness in possibly bringing the Canadian slugger back for 2025 and beyond.

Injuries have continued to plague O’Neill, as he was limited to 113 games and 473 PA this season due to three relatively brief stints on the 10-day IL. The good news is that when O’Neill was able to play, he delivered to the tune of 31 homers and a .241/.336/.511 slash line, and a 131 wRC+. O’Neill had an elite barrel rate and excellent walk and hard-hit ball rates, even if he also posted one of the baseball’s worst strikeout rates (33.6%). The right-handed hitting O’Neill also had some drastic splits, as he had only a .693 OPS in 317 PA against righty pitching but a whopping 1.180 OPS in 156 PA against southpaws.

The splits are perhaps less of an issue for the Red Sox than other teams, as having a powerful right-handed bat is particularly helpful on a Sox roster that is overloaded with lefty swingers. That said, Boston’s future outfield prospects perhaps cloud the chances of O’Neill’s return, and his injury history does add an extra element of risk for the Sox or any team that signs him to a multi-year contract. It’s not out of the question that O’Neill could accept a one-year qualifying offer to take a $21MM-ish payday and stay in Boston in 2025, but there seems to be a greater chance that O’Neill would reject a QO and seek a heftier contract on the heels of his strong season.

Finally, today’s game marked the final broadcast for longtime radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione, who is retiring from regular announcing duty after 42 years of calling Red Sox games. He was recognized by the Hall of Fame as this year’s winner of the Ford Frick Award, and several Sox legends took part in a pregame ceremony today honoring Castiglione’s tenure as the voice of Red Sox Nation. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Castiglione on his incredible career.

Red Sox Notes: Refsnyder, Whitlock, Pivetta

By Nick Deeds | September 28, 2024 at 10:15pm CDT

Back in August, Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder seemed uncertain about whether he wanted to continue his playing career in 2025 or begin working towards his post-playing goal of moving into a front office role somewhere in the sport. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported this evening, however, that Refsnyder now appears to have made up his mind to continue playing in 2025.

“I’ll be 34 in spring training. I could see myself playing for a couple more years honestly, if the situation is right,” Refsnyder said, as relayed by Cotillo. “Especially if I’m here.”

Refsnyder has made his desire to remain in Boston abundantly clear, and it seems all but certain his wish will be granted at least for next season. The Red Sox hold a $2MM club option of the 33-year-old for next year, a bargain price considering his excellent production with the club this season. In 307 trips to the plate across 93 games played this year, Refsnyder has slashed an excellent .283/.359/.471 (130 wRC+) in his part time role as a backup outfielder and platoon bat against left-handed pitching. Overall, Refsnyder has posted a solid .278/.367/.427 slash line (121 wRC+) with 18 homers and 10 steals in 727 plate appearances since he first donned a Red Sox uniform back in 2022.

Refsnyder’s likely return will place him in the midst of what is sure to be a very crowded outfield mix next season. While Tyler O’Neill figures to become a free agent this winter, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu both appear poised to return to the club. Meanwhile, Ceddanne Rafaela has split time between the outfield and infield this year but is best suited to playing center field, where he excels defensively. That leaves the club with a full outfield before even considering the fact that top prospect Roman Anthony is banging on the door to the majors and figures to be ready for big league action as soon as early 2025, and it’s even possible that the club could look to re-sign O’Neill or a similarly capable right-handed slugger this winter. The DH offers little help in breaking up the logjam in Boston either due to the presence of Masataka Yoshida, who remains under contract through the end of the 2027 season.

Given the glut of outfield talent available to the Red Sox for the moment, it would hardly be a shock to see the club pursue a trade this winter, perhaps leveraging that outfield depth in order to bolster the club’s pitching staff. The rotation in Boston has been quite good with a 3.77 ERA that ranks top five in the majors this year, but a bullpen that posted a lackluster 4.44 ERA this year and figures to lose both Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin in free agency is an obvious place for potential improvement. With that being said, it’s also possible the bullpen could get some internal reinforcements headed into next year.

Right-hander Garrett Whitlock underwent an internal brace surgery on his right elbow back in May and has been working his way back to the mound ever since, with Cotillo among those to note that he threw a baseball for the first time since going under the knife recently. As Whitlock works his way back in hopes of a healthier 2025 season, Cotillo notes that after years of both the righty and the Red Sox believing he was a long-term rotation piece for the club, Whitlock is now more focused on staying healthy.

“Honestly, I’ve told them, whatever can keep me healthy (is the best role),” Whitlock said yesterday, as relayed by Cotillo. “That’s where I’m at. We’re going to dive in with medical and see where that goes.”

If Boston brass and Whitlock believe that a move to the bullpen could help keep the righty healthier going forward, that would add a potential high-leverage arm to the club’s mix that could help them to make up for the impending losses of Jansen and Martin. The right-hander sports a strong 3.39 ERA overall for his career, but that figure plummets to a sparkling 2.65 when looking only at his 132 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen. Combined with his 28.1% career strikeout rate out of the bullpen, it’s easy to imagine Whitlock becoming one of the game’s most fearsome relievers if he fully committed to the role.

A move to the bullpen for Whitlock would leave the club with a hole in the rotation, however, and that would only be further exacerbated by the impending departure of veteran righty Nick Pivetta. It’s been a solid year for the 31-year-old hurler, as he’s posted a 4.14 ERA with a 4.06 FIP in 145 2/3 innings of work that should make him an attractive option for clubs in need of help towards the back of their rotation this winter. That’s a description that fits the Red Sox, who currently have only Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, and Brayan Bello penciled into their rotation. Lucas Giolito figures to return from elbow surgery at some point next year, and the club has solid depth options like Quinn Priester, Richard Fitts, and Cooper Criswell available as well, but there’s plenty of room in the club’s starting mix another addition.

Even so, it’s unclear if a return to Boston is in the cards for Pivetta next year. The right-hander told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe recently that there have been no talks between he and the front office about extending their relationship beyond this season, though he did express an openness to returning to Boston next year. With that being said, after a disappointing season that’s seen the club finish in the vicinity of .500, it’s possible that the club could look to improve its rotation by signing a more impactful free agent than Pivetta. Former Red Sox hurler Nathan Eovaldi and left-hander Sean Manaea are among the mid-rotation arms that figure to be available this winter who would likely represent an upgrade over Pivetta for Boston.

NL West Notes: Gonsolin, Freeman, Bryant, Snell

By Mark Polishuk | September 28, 2024 at 2:43pm CDT

Unless “something really unforeseen” happens, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Tony Gonsolin probably isn’t going to be part of the team’s postseason roster. Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery about 13 months ago and was considered a longshot to pitch any big league innings this season, though Gonsolin did return in time to pitch 7 2/3 innings over three Triple-A rehab appearances. As Roberts implied to the Los Angeles Times’ Jack Harris and other reporters, however, Gonsolin is still viewed by the Dodgers as something of an emergency option, as it would be asking a lot of any pitcher who go from a year of inactivity right into the tension of important postseason relief innings.

While Gonsolin likely won’t factor into the L.A. playoff plans, Roberts was less concerned about Freddie Freeman’s bad ankle, as the manager was very optimistic Freeman would be ready for the start of the NLDS a week from today. Freeman suffered a sprained ankle in the Dodgers’ 7-2 win over the Padres on Thursday, and was seen on crutches and in a walking boot later that night. X-rays were negative on the ankle, however, and Freeman benefits from some extra time off before the Dodgers play their first postseason game.

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