AL West Notes: Mariners, Rangers, Astros
Some news and notes from around the American League West…
- While Spring Training impressions were limited due to the mid-March shutdown, the Mariners were still encouraged by the progress demonstrated by some expected key players, manager Scott Servais said this week on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link, with audio). In particular, lefty Justus Sheffield and righties Justin Dunn and Logan Gilbert looked to have taken notable strides. Sheffield, the centerpiece of the Mariners’ James Paxton return, allowed two runs on five hits and no walks with 12 punchouts in eight spring innings. Dunn, acquired alongside Jarred Kelenic in the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster, whiffed 10 hitters in six innings while holding opponents to two runs in 6 2/3 frames. Gilbert, Seattle’s first-rounder in 2018, pitched four shutout innings with four strikeouts, no walks and one hit. The M’s are hopeful that this trio can soon ascend to the big league rotation alongside Marco Gonzales as the organization emerges from an accelerated rebuilding process. There’s clearly more to the belief that strides were made than those surface-level stats, but the trio’s showing nevertheless was heartening for Mariners fans.
- Rangers slugger Joey Gallo spoke with reporters about the dimensions of the newly constructed Globe Life Field, noting that the team’s new home park was “playing big as hell” during his batting practice session (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). Gallo pointed out that the park is particularly deep in center field, where it’s 407 feet straightaway. That said, as Grant points out, the distance may not make a huge difference for Gallo, whose home runs to center field have averaged 434 feet in distance. GM Jon Daniels added that Gallo has been hitting with the roof closed, and opening it while hitting game balls against live pitching could change things. Still, it’d be a notable change for the Rangers to suddenly find themselves in a pitcher-friendly or even neutral park after long playing in one of the game’s most hitter-friendly stadiums. Gallo did offer positive reviews of the park’s artificial surface, calling it the “best turf I’ve ever been on” and touting its lack of “lingering side effects.” Gallo acknowledges that Rangers players were worried about the surface heading into the season, but his early experiences have allayed some of those concerns.
- The Astros are facing a potential exodus in the outfield this coming offseason, and Jake Kaplan of The Athletic notes in his latest mailbag column that they’re looking at a similar slate of departures post-2021, when Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Carlos Correa and Lance McCullers Jr. could all hit the open market. Houston will see George Springer, Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel and Josh Reddick hit the market after whatever type of 2020 season we get. Given their poorly regarded farm system — not to mention the loss of draft picks in 2020-21 — the ‘Stros are faced with an increasingly precarious position. It’s of course possible that the Astros could yet work out some extensions with various members of that core, but it’s also eminently apparent that a fair bit of roster turnover can be expected in the next couple of years — with several high-profile names likely to depart.
AL Notes: JDM, Red Sox, Astros, Click, Yanks, LeMahieu
Let’s check in on some of the American League’s highest-profile clubs…
- Major League Baseball handed down its decision on Boston’s sign-stealing scandal from its World Series-winning season in 2018 a couple weeks ago, stripping the Red Sox of their second-round pick this year and suspending scout/replay coordinator J.T. Watkins for the upcoming campaign. Count designated hitter J.D. Martinez among those who are not pleased with Watkins’ short-term ban. The superstar slugger told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, “They just ruined this guy’s career with no evidence.” In regards to the overall punishment, Martinez said to Abraham: “If they went to court with that, it would get thrown out. There was nothing there. The judge would laugh.”
- Speaking of teams that have recently been embroiled in sign-stealing scandals … Astros general manager James Click succeeded Jeff Luhnow atop the front office in the offseason as a result of the prior regime’s transgressions. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle profiles Click, how he has adjusted to the job, how the rookie GM’s trying to work through the coronavirus and how he’s attempting to change the culture of a franchise in turmoil. As you’d expect, Click has stayed in touch with owner Jim Crane and new manager Dusty Baker during the pandemic. Regarding the Astros as a whole, Click said to Rome: “I have a better feel for the organization now. While it’s not ideal to do it remotely, it is certainly something that can be done. It’s hard to say how much more of a feel I have for the organization, but definitely more, and I’m hoping they also have a feel for me. We’re all still getting to know each other.”
- As we covered last week, the Yankees could lose one of their MVPs, infielder DJ LeMahieu, when free agency opens next offseason. Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News argues that they shouldn’t risk it, writing that the Yankees need to do all they can to keep the soon-to-be 32-year-old LeMahieu from hitting the market with an extension. LeMahieu stated in March that he and the Yankees haven’t engaged in “serious” negotiations, so it’s unclear how much of a priority he is for New York. However, you can’t go against Ackert’s point that he’s a key part of the team’s current roster. LeMahieu played all over the Yankees’ infield after signing a two-year, $24MM contract going into last season, slashed .327/.375/.518 with 26 home runs and 5.4 fWAR in 655 plate appearances, and was in the running for AL MVP honors.
KBO/NPB Notes: Rucinski, C. Stewart, N. Soto
We’re nearing the start of the 2020 season for the Korea Baseball Organization, whose campaign will begin at 1 a.m. ET on Tuesday with fives games set to take place. If you’re still awake then, you’ll be able to catch the NC Dinos-Samsung Lions matchup on ESPN, which reached a broadcast deal with the KBO on Monday. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams pointed out a couple weeks ago, both teams feature some familiar faces. Ex-major leaguers Aaron Altherr, Mike Wright and Drew Rucinski are members of the Dinos, and Seunghwan Oh, Tyler Saladino, David Buchanan and Ben Lively are on the Lions’ roster. If you want to learn more about those two teams and the rest of the league’s other clubs, check out this in-depth primer from ESPN.com.
With that, we’ll dive into some more baseball notes out of Asia…
- The right-handed Rucinski, who will start the Dinos’ opener, appeared in the majors with the Angels, Twins and Marlins from 2014-18. He immigrated to the KBO prior to last season and wound up recording an impressive 3.05 ERA over 177 1/3 innings. Rucinski spoke with Kyle Glaser of Baseball America (podcast) about what life is currently like in the KBO, whose season will get underway without spectators. “It’s kind of weird because the fans are such a big part of the game here,” said Rucinski, who has tossed two exhibition games without anyone in attendance. That’s just one of the topics covered in their chat (coronavirus precautions and family life are also among them). The interview’s worth a full listen.
- Shifting to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks righty Carter Stewart discussed his experience abroad with Kyodo News and the Japan Baseball Weekly Podcast. Stewart was the eighth overall pick of the Braves in 2018, but he was unable to reach an agreement with them, so he decided to sign in Asia last year. The 20-year-old indicated that he’s pleased with his choice. “I think the baseball is fantastic over here,” Stewart said. “I really enjoy the fan base. I enjoy the people. I enjoy everything about it, so what is the driving factor for me to go back home? Maybe at some point I’ll have an opportunity to go back to the States, but I have no restraints for staying over here until I’m 50.”
- Looking ahead to major league free agency next offseason, infielder/outfielder Neftali Soto could be a name to keep in mind. Soto was a 2007 third-round pick of the Reds who has not produced in the majors, but he mashed in the minors with the Nationals in 2017 and has carried that into NPB. Since signing with the Yokohoma Baystars before the 2018 season, Soto has batted .288/.355/.594 with a whopping 84 home runs in 1,043 trips to the plate. He’s a back-to-back HR champion, having amassed 41 two years ago and 43 in 2019. Between those numbers and his defensive versatility, he could find himself on MLB teams’ radars in the offseason.
Quick Hits: Snell, Draft, Torkelson, Molina, Jefry
It’s not quite a Cy Young Award, but Rays southpaw Blake Snell captured another unique honor by winning the MLB The Show Players League championship today. (MLB.com’s Mandy Bell, Adam Berry, Do-Hyoung Park and Juan Toribio have the details.) The tournament featured one player from each team competing in a round-robin regular season of games of MLB The Show, with the top performers advancing to the postseason. Snell dominated play in both the regular season and playoffs, including a three-game sweep of Lucas Giolito in the best-of-five World Series.
Snell’s victory clinched an extra donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast. Each of the 30 players represented a different local Boys & Girls Club, with every Club receiving charitable donations from the league, the players’ union, and Sony Interactive Entertainment. Full details on the tournament are available here.
Some more notes from around the non-virtual baseball world…
- There seems to be an increasing expectation that the Tigers will take Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson with the first overall pick in the amateur draft, according to both Lynn Henning of the Detroit News and Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. While nothing will be certain until Torkelson’s name is called, the slugger is considered the top prospect available by many pundits, and is perhaps something of a safer pick. Perfect Game national director Brian Sakowski tells Fenech that the lack of spring baseball created less opportunity for any prospect to showcase new skills or have a breakout performance, so while Vanderbilt’s Austin Martin may not necessarily be behind Torkelson on Detroit’s draft board, the lack of clarity about Martin’s future defensive position might inspire the Tigers to just go with Torkelson’s more obvious power potential. Henning is even more straight-forward in his assessment, writing “the Tigers are all but certain to take Torkelson,” as he would immediate become the headline bat in a Detroit farm system that is rich in quality young arms but short on blue chip hitting prospects.
- Yadier Molina raised some eyebrows by recently saying that he was open to play for another team besides the Cardinals when he reaches free agency, though Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch still feels Molina will ultimately remain with the Redbirds. “The Cardinals need Molina more than any other team needs him, and no other team would appreciate him like the Cardinals do,” Frederickson writes, and a reunion should eventually happen “as long as sanity and reason remain at the heart of the conversation.” That said, if another team could emerge as a potential suitor for the veteran catcher, Frederickson speculates the Angels could be a possibility, given Molina’s ties to Albert Pujols and Tony La Russa (who was hired in November as a special advisor to the Halos’ baseball operations department).
- Jefry Rodriguez started eight of his 10 games with the Indians last season, though Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga feels the right-hander could be a swingman option for the Tribe if the 2020 season gets underway. It was an open question as to whether or not Rodriguez would have made Cleveland’s Opening Day roster under normal circumstances, but his ability to work in multiple roles and pitch multiple innings could be helpful in a shortened season, given a compressed schedule and the likelihood that regular starters would be on a reduced workload. The 26-year-old Rodriguez came to Cleveland from Washington as part of the Yan Gomes trade in November 2018, and he posted a 4.63 ERA, 6.4 K/9, and 1.57 K/BB rate over 46 2/3 innings last season.
Quick Hits: Bloom, Draft, Krause, White Sox, Rangers
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom described some of the challenges that will come out of the unique circumstances surrounding this year’s MLB Draft in a discussion with the Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Bloom’s organization is particularly aware of the value of an additional year of scouting, which allowed the team to select Andrew Benintendi in the first round in 2015—something that probably wouldn’t happen if teams’ exposure was limited to his nondescript freshman season the year before. But that’s precisely the scenario teams find themselves in now: they won’t have the same feel for which draft-eligible players would have taken an additional leap this season and might have to base those judgments on just a few weeks of play. In addition, the shortened format of the draft (no more than 10 rounds) could influence teams’ strategy, especially in the later rounds, where clubs might look to take risks on players who will command more than $20K (the maximum amount for which teams can sign undrafted players). All this means that more high school players might opt to forego pro ball in favor of a collegiate scholarship.
- Former Chicago Bulls front office executive Jerry Krause has received plenty of scrutiny recently, thanks to ESPN’s Michael Jordan docuseries, “The Last Dance.” But Krause’s tenure as the Bulls’ GM was bookended by a career as a baseball scout, where he worked most prominently with the White Sox. The Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales reflects on Krause’s astute eye and resolution as a scout; he was instrumental in swaying White Sox higher-ups to make a play for shortstop Ozzie Guillen (then a Padres minor-leaguer), who would of course go on to play 13 years and rack up 19.5 WAR with the South Siders—not to mention his role in managing the 2005 World Series team.
- Beginning May 15, the Rangers will institute pay cuts for some of their full-time employees, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Per Grant, employees above a certain salary threshold will have their pay reduced by roughly 10-20%, which will affect approximately half of the team’s full-time staffers. That said, there won’t be any layoffs or furloughs at this time. A number of high-rankings Rangers execs, including GM Jon Daniels, had already begun taking pay cuts in April, but this round will expand the scope of those measures. They’re one of just a few teams that won’t be paying teams in full through May, with a handful of teams implementing similar pay cuts, while the Rays have furloughed some of their employees.
AL West Notes: Calhoun, Rangers, Athletics, Astros
Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun suffered a horrible injury – a fractured jaw – when he took a 95 mph pitch to the face in early March. Fortunately, though, Calhoun’s doing well in his recovery. Calhoun told MLB Network Radio (via Brice Paterik of the Dallas Morning News} that he’s “back up to 100 percent.” He’s in line to play a key role for the Rangers this year after turning in a productive 2019 campaign, and could be a breakout candidate, but it took some time for the light bulb to go on for the former high-end prospect. The 25-year-old Calhoun believes he owes some of his recent success to Rangers general manager Jon Daniels. “JD really flat out just told me the stuff I needed to work on and he was saying at the time I don’t think I was doing as well offensively,” Calhoun said. “He said ‘if you’re going to be an offense only guy you’ve got to put up offense only numbers, like J.D. Martinez type numbers.” Calhoun got into better shape after that talk with Daniels, and the results have been encouraging since then. Check out Paterik’s piece for more quotes from Calhoun.
- Former Athletics minor leaguer Miguel Marte has passed away of COVID-19 at the age of 30, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Marte, a catcher/first baseman from the Dominican Republic, played in the A’s system from 2008-12. He left behind a wife and two children. If you’re interested in helping them, a GoFundMe page has been set up.
- The Astros have also lost somebody to the coronavirus. Bill Gladstone, who owned Single-A affiliate the Tri-City ValleyCats passed away of the illness Thursday, according to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. “Bill was a class act with a great passion for the game,” the Astros said in a statement. “Our entire Astros family sends our heartfelt condolences to his son, Doug, his daughter, Susan and to the entire Gladstone family.”
- As a result of the pandemic, roughly half of the Rangers’ full-time employees in baseball and business operations will face a reduction in pay after May 15, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Those cuts in salary could range from 10 to 20 percent, and there’s no indication as to how long they’ll last, but the Rangers aren’t planning to lay off any of those employees at this point.
Quick Hits: Puig, Giants, Daniels, Starling
Let’s check in on three of the majors’ franchises…
- A report over the weekend all but placed free-agent outfielder Yasiel Puig in a Giants uniform. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco doesn’t seem nearly as confident a deal will come together, though, and Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic via text, “We are not having any conversations (internal or external) about player transactions at this point.” However, as Baggarly notes, that doesn’t mean a Puig signing isn’t under consideration. There’s a freeze on transactions because of the coronavirus, so even if the Giants do intend to pick up Puig, they’ll have to continue to wait to make the move. For what it’s worth, it wasn’t long ago that the Giants reportedly showed interest in Puig, who has a couple important connections in San Francisco. Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler were both members of the Dodgers organization during at least part of Puig’s run with the Giants’ archrivals from 2013-18.
- Optimism about a 2020 season getting underway seems to be growing. One idea that came to the forefront last week includes a three-state plan in which Arizona, Florida and Texas would divvy up the games. Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels spoke about that with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, saying: “For a variety of factors, it makes a lot of sense. We’ve had some involvement from a due diligence standpoint, but I would not want to overstate that piece of it. I think [Dodgers president] Stan Kasten said about one percent of all ideas have become public; there have been a lot of ideas. That’s just one.” If a season does occur, the Rangers – after a fairly aggressive winter – will look to bounce back from three straight sub-.500 campaigns. Their roster doesn’t seem likely to undergo any more significant changes before a potential season happens. Asked how much time the Rangers have recently spent talking to other teams about upgrading their club, Daniels told Grant, “Very little; close to none.”
- Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star details how Royals outfielder Bubba Starling is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. As you’d expect, Starling is hoping to return to the field as soon as possible. The out-of-options 27-year-old had been competing to earn a roster spot before spring training shut down. Starling’s a former No. 5 overall draft pick in 2011 who had a run as an outstanding MLB prospect, but his career hasn’t gone according to plan thus far. He debuted in the majors last year and batted just .215/.255/.317 over 197 plate appearances. Starling also hasn’t been very productive in Triple-A ball, where he has hit .255/.305/.376 in 805 attempts, but he could still make a rebuilding KC team that’s in position to give chances to unproven players.
Quick Hits: Ohtani, 1994-95 Strike, Baseball Coverage
Some injury and coronavirus news from around the baseball world:
- Shohei Ohtani has progressed to throwing bullpen sessions around twice per week, Angels’ GM Billy Eppler tells MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). He’s throwing approximately 35 pitches per session at “80-85%” effort level, Eppler adds. Under normal circumstances, Ohtani would be nearing readiness to face live hitters in some capacity next month, Eppler says, but that’s obviously made difficult by social distancing requirements. The two-way star was estimated to need until mid-May to return to an MLB mound; assuming his rehab continues without a setback, he figures to be ready if the 2020 season resumes.
- MLB’s most recent long-term shutdown came twenty-five years ago, when a labor dispute resulted in the cancellation of the 1994 World Series and a delayed start to the following season. With that in mind, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, Ben Nicholson-Smith and Arden Zwelling revisited the mid-90’s strike. A number of former players, including Shawn Green and Aaron Sele, spoke about the challenges of staying mentally and physically prepared without a specific return date in sight. Sele and former MLB manager Bob Boone also noted the injury risks for players, especially pitchers, of ramping up quickly once the season was set to return. The whole piece is worth a read for those interested in the challenges current players could face if the 2020 season is able to resume.
- The coronavirus has dealt a blow to small businesses of all sorts in recent months. Baseball websites like this one are no exception. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe spoke with MLBTR founder Tim Dierkes and Baseball Reference founder Sean Forman about the challenges facing each site. With MLB on hiatus and transactions prohibited, baseball-related web traffic and advertising revenue have predictably taken a corresponding step back. As you’ve seen here in April, we’ve ramped up our original articles to fill the content void. For more on the state of MLBTR, check out Tim’s post from earlier this month.
Quick Hits: State Plan, Cape Cod, Dalkowski
A three-state plan is reportedly on the table for Major League Baseball in 2020, but it may go beyond that. Ken Rosenthal says (via Fox Sports) that MLB could go to five, 10 or even 12 states in an effort to make a season happen. MLB has no idea when a season could potentially begin, but “there is a lot of motivation” among team owners to get things underway, according to Rosenthal.
- The coronavirus pandemic forced the Cape Cod League to cancel its 2020 season Friday. “The decision was based on the health concerns and safety needs of all involved,” the league announced. “Following CDC guidelines and medical recommendations, the league determined it would be impossible to guarantee the safety of players, coaches, umpires, host families, volunteers and fans during this unprecedented health crisis.” The season had been scheduled to begin June 13, but league executives unanimously voted to call it off, and it’ll be the first year without the college summer league since 1946. As noted by Teddy Cahill of Baseball America, considering the league’s importance for scouting and development, it’s a major blow to the players involved who won’t get to further prove themselves in 2020. Plenty of high-end talent has come out of the league in the past. According to the CCBL, “One in every six Major League Baseball players has played in the Cape Cod Baseball League.”
- MLBTR extends its condolences to the family and friends of former Orioles minor league left-hander Steve Dalkowski, who passed away of COVID-19 at the age of 80, per Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant. Dalkowski never pitched in the majors, but he nonetheless made quite a mark on the sport. Joe Posnanski of The Athletic recently wrote an interesting profile of Dalkowski, who could be both incredibly dominant and incredibly wild at the same time. He once struck out 24 and walked 18 in a game, and was also the author of a no-hitter in which he totaled 18 punchouts and free passes apiece; those were just some of the many statistical oddities in his career. There’s no footage of Dalkowski during his playing days, but Cal Ripken Sr. estimated that his fastball clocked in at 110 mph. Ted Wiilliams once called him “the fastest pitcher in baseball history.” If you’re familiar with the movie “Bull Durham,” the character of Nuke LaLoosh was based on Dalkowski. He also helped inspire the Steve Nebraska character in “The Scout.”
AL Notes: Cora, Red Sox, Indians, Blue Jays
Ex-Red Sox manager Alex Cora was just suspended for 2020 thanks to the role he played as the Astros’ bench coach during their 2017 sign-stealing scandal. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and president Sam Kennedy made it sound earlier this week as if they wouldn’t bring Cora back at the end of his ban, but Kennedy may be open to it after all (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com). Kennedy told “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria” of WEEI that Cora’s “a great baseball manager.” As for whether the Red Sox would rehire him, Kennedy said: “We’ll talk about that down the road. We just removed Ron Roenicke’s interim tag and he’s going to lead our club going forward. I think a lot of Alex’s future depends on how he approaches this suspension period.” For at least this season, Roenicke – Cora’s former bench coach – will manage the team.
More on a couple other American League franchises…
- The Indians have taken a step to compensate the majority of their employees for the foreseeable future during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve committed to paying their full-time staff their entire salaries through at least the end of June, Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com report. Forty of the Indians’ senior staff members took pay cuts so the rest of the full-time staff could receive their typical salaries. The Indians have furloughed part-time workers and interns, on the other hand, but they could make the same amount of money or even more by way of unemployment benefits, according to Passan. While most of the league’s teams have committed to paying their non-player employees through May, the Indians are among the few that we know will extend beyond that point.
- As a result of the season postponement, two fans recently filed a lawsuit against all 30 MLB teams and ticket companies StubHub, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and Last Minute Transactions because they haven’t been able to get a refund for tickets purchased for 2020. The Blue Jays are not among the teams that have refused to give fans their money back, however, president Mark Shapiro told Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star. “We have fielded every single call and whenever there has been a hardship, or a circumstance, that has necessitated a refund, we have refunded those tickets,” said Shapiro, who added, “We have not fought any of those and will continue to do that.” Shapiro’s under the impression that the league’s “very close” to announcing “a broader policy on refunds and exchanges.”