NL Central Notes: Flaherty, Urias, Reds, Williams
Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty may be headed for a contract renewal for the second straight offseason since he has yet to agree to his 2020 contract, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. The Cards use a strict formula for giving salary raises for pre-arbitration players and Flaherty didn’t agree to his deal last year, leaving $10K in salary on the table and forcing the Cards to renew his 2019 contract for $562.1K, just $7.1K over the league minimum salary. “Flaherty wanted his disagreement with the Cardinals’ valuation of his salary noted, and that was worth the $10,000 penalty,” Goold wrotes.
As per the Cardinals’ formula, Goold reports that Flaherty is now in line for a salary close to $605K for the 2020 season — a 7.3 percent increase over the minimum salary, which is a new record raise since St. Louis adopted its formula. Still, such a raise is still very small potatoes considering Flaherty’s great 2019 numbers, and also indicative of how little leverage pre-arbitration players have in earning any extra money for outstanding performance. Flaherty is in line for a big raise once he enters the arbitration process next winter, though (barring an extension) the real big money won’t come until he hits free agency following the 2023 season.
More from the NL Central…
- Luis Urias has already “been doing pretty much everything” in preparation to get back onto the field, the Brewers infielder told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters, including full infield drills, taking batting practice from coaches, and tracking live pitches in the batter’s box. Urias had surgery on his left hamate bone at the end of January, so he is just shy of the short end of the projected six-to-eight week timeline for a return to action. The next step will come tomorrow, when Urias visits his hand surgeon and could potentially be cleared to start facing live pitching that same day. Manager Craig Counsell said Urias could potentially see some game action in roughly a week’s time, if all goes well. Acquired by the Padres in November, Urias will be competing with Orlando Arcia for the shortstop job once healthy, and it certainly seems like there’s a chance Urias will be able to avoid starting the season on the injured list.
- After a big offseason, Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams is being no less bold in his expectations for the 2020 season. “We are going to say World Series is our goal because now you look around the room and you see the talent is there and it’s just not fair to limit yourselves,” Williams told The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. (subscription required). “You can’t reach that goal if you don’t set it. It has been a few years since we have openly and brazenly said, ‘The ring is within our reach’ and it’s up to us to go and get it. That’s only fair to these players. I wouldn’t put the goal of anything less in front of them because I think they can do it.” Williams welcomes the pressure of these extra expectations, noting that the team had been building towards being a contender by undergoing “a massive culture shift” that extends from the front office through both the major and minor league coaching ranks “getting everybody top to bottom feeling that this is a championship-level organization.” Spending over $164MM on free agent talent this winter was “terrifying, but…exciting,” Williams said, since the Reds had so much belief in their pre-existing core group of players that “it was the right time to spend. It makes it easier to make that decision to go out on a limb.“
AL East Notes: Kratz, Dolis, Orioles, Nunez
“The goal this year is to win a gold medal and win a World Series. That would be a pretty good year, right?” Erik Kratz rhetorically asked The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd (subscription required), as the veteran catcher is hoping to achieve what could be an unprecedented double in professional and Olympic baseball. Kratz was a member of the United States national baseball team’s roster last November, acting as both a player and an experienced mentor to a roster comprised mostly of minor leaguers and some of the sport’s top prospects (including Jo Adell, Andrew Vaughn, Alec Bohm and more). The U.S. team will participate in an Olympic qualifying tournament later this month, and while the roster has yet to be announced, Kratz would seem like a solid bet based on his performance last November.
If potentially participating in the Tokyo Games wasn’t enough, there is also Kratz’s role as a depth catcher for the Yankees, as the 39-year-old signed a minor league deal with New York during the offseason. Kratz is entering his 19th year of pro ball and is hopeful of getting some playing time at the MLB level, which would give him appearances in parts of 11 different Major League seasons. It might also get him a World Series ring, given how the Yankees are expected to contend for a title in 2020. A championship would be a nice milestone in Kratz’s career, though the journeyman plans to keep playing for as long as possible. “I know I appreciate every day. I’ve felt like it could be my last season for the last 12 seasons,” Kratz said.
More from around the AL East…
- Blue Jays right-hander Rafael Dolis will miss at least a week of action after having his appendix removed (MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson was among those to report the news). Dolis will be re-evaluated after that first week, and it is possible the righty might not be ready for Opening Day. After last pitching in the majors in 2013, Dolis revived his career with four impressive seasons in Japan, and signed a one-year, Major League contract with Toronto this winter.
- Orioles manager Brandon Hyde updated reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com) on a few injury situations in camp. Jose Iglesias and Ramon Urias are both day-to-day with a quad injury and shin splits, respectively. Tommy Milone has a trap injury, with Hyde hoping that Milone can throw a side session within the next day or two. Righty Evan Phillips has been dealing with some soreness in his throwing elbow and underwent an MRI that “came back as nothing serious,” Hyde said, though Phillips is getting a second opinion today out of due diligence.
- In another piece from Kubatko, he notes that Renato Nunez has been diligently working out at third base this spring. Nunez was mostly restricted to DH duties in 2019, though it should be noted that some metrics give Nunez average (0 Defensive Runs Saved) to very good (+9.5 UZR/150) grades over his 606 2/3 career innings as a third baseman. The Orioles don’t need Nunez to wield a Brooks Robinson-esque glove at the hot corner, however, as Nunez would only be deployed as a platoon partner with Rio Ruiz. That would create more DH at-bats for other members of the Baltimore roster, including potentially top prospect Ryan Mountcastle. Kubatko also observes that Nunez would gain more value to the Orioles as a potential trade chip if he shows that he handle a regular defensive position.
Quick Hits: Lindor, Galvis, C. Taylor, Olympics
As recently as mid-February, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor called Cleveland “home” and expressed a willingness to stay with the club. No extension has come together yet, but Indians president Chris Antonetti said Tuesday that “neither side has given up trying,” per Paul Hoynes of cleveland.com. However, Lindor noted he has an “early March” deadline on contract talks, so it appears the Indians are running out of time to lock him up in the near future (if they haven’t already). Odds have long been against the Indians finding a way to keep Lindor from hitting free agency when his team control runs out after 2021, as the 26-year-old is on pace to wind up with one of the largest contracts in the history of the game if and when he reaches the open market.
- Reds shortstop Freddy Galvis suffered “a quad strain during a baserunning drill,” according to manager David Bell (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Galvis underwent an MRI, but the severity of the injury isn’t known at this time. The Reds looked ripe for an upgrade at short during the offseason, but they instead stuck with Galvis, whom they claimed from Toronto last August and then retained by way of a $5.5MM club option during the winter. Now, if Galvis’ injury is severe enough to cost him regular-season time, it’s unclear who will fill in at short for the Reds. Alex Blandino and Kyle Farmer might be the most logical in-house choices, but neither brings much experience to the table.
- Dodgers utility player Chris Taylor‘s out of action for the moment after taking a pitch off the back of the left shoulder, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets. There’s no indication that it’s anything but a minor injury for Taylor, whom a fractured left forearm limited to 124 games in 2019. The versatile Taylor was a highly valuable player for the Dodgers from 2017-18, but his numbers dipped last season during a campaign in which he batted .262/.333/.462 with 1.7 fWAR in 414 plate appearances.
- Major League Baseball and the MLBPA reached a deal with the world baseball governing body that will allow minor leaguers to participate in this summer’s Olympic Games, the Yonhap News Agency relays. The agreement will give national teams the right to select minor leaguers from MLB teams’ 40-man rosters to participate in the Olympics, but anyone on a 26-man roster will be protected. That means there could be some familiar names to baseball fans in the Olympics, which will include the sport for the first time in 12 years.
Health Notes: Judge, Lowrie, Alvarez, Turner
Strap in for a very mysterious batch of health updates from spring training…
- Aaron Judge‘s health status seems to be unknown to just about everyone right now. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com spoke today with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who said that Judge is going through a “car wash” of tests. “He’s obviously going through a series of tests,” Cashman said. “It’s not like one or two, it’s a number approaching seven to 10 total, so they can make sure they have a full evaluation and determine what ails him. When they’re complete, we’ll either be able to tell you we’re in the clear or we’ll be able to tell you that we have a full diagnosis and the timeframe and everything else like that.” Stay tuned.
- As if trying to outdo Cashman in providing non-answers, Mets infielder Jed Lowrie gave this update about his own status to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “I have to refer you to the organization.” After referring to the organization via general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, DiComo still got no timeline. Though Van Wagenen did say they are looking into a “transitional” brace to help him get on the field. Lowrie appeared in just nine games for the Mets last year. And it’s unclear if he’ll be able to top that in 2020.
- Astros outfielder Yordan Álvarez will sit out “three or four days” because of “knee soreness,” according to Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle. Astros manager Dusty Baker says that they’re “going to try to take it easy on him for at least three days.” This is potentially worrying for Astros fans because, as Young notes, Álvarez was playing through similar knee issues last year, although they didn’t stop him from producing Rookie of the Year-winning numbers.
- And finally, the clearest news of the bunch: Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was hit by a pitch on the back of his hand, but the X-ray came back negative (Twitter links from Ken Gurnick). If you need any more evidence of Turner being fine, he hit a home run between the HBP and the X-ray.
Latest On Boston’s Rotation
Ever since last week’s news that Chris Sale will begin the 2020 season on the injured list, there has been much speculation about how the Red Sox would fill his absence. Even though it currently seems that he won’t need to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery, the team will still need to replace him in some fashion.
It was recently revealed that the Boston brass are open-minded as to how they go about filling Sale’s innings, having put the opener strategy on the table.
Jason Mastrodonato of The Boston Herald spoke with Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke, who gave some details about a presentation from chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. (Bloom, of course, was with the Rays when they pioneered the use of the opener.)
Roenicke outlined that they are still considering using two openers, as well as using some pitchers to “pitch three innings every three days.”
It seems the approach is still in a very speculative stage. One element being considered is the stretching out of Darwinzon Hernández. Before last year, Hernández had primarily been a starter in the minors. But 2019 saw him oscillate between starting and the bullpen, making 12 starts and and five appearances at two minor levels to go along with one start and 28 relief appearances in the big leagues. What form his contribution will take in 2020 seems to still be up in the air.
“We talked about it again a couple days ago,” Roenicke said, “and I think that talk is probably going to continue on with him. Especially the better he does at more innings, we’ll probably keep talking about it. Maybe he’s at two innings and then goes to three. Then we’re like, ‘OK, do we try this guy and see how he does starting?’ Those conversations I imagine will probably happen through the years.”
Another name to watch out for is Ryan Weber, according to Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. Abraham notes that the Red Sox are trying to maximize Weber’s five-pitch mix by increasing the use of his cutter.
Much like Hernández, Weber’s position within the staff doesn’t seem to be locked down. But that doesn’t seem to be bothering him. “If I get the ball in the first inning or the third inning, I’m going to pitch the way I pitch,” Weber said. “I’m comfortable starting or relieving.” Weber made 16 starts for the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox in 2019. But at the big league level, only three of his 18 appearances were starts.
The bottom line seems to be that all options are being kept open for now. As Roenicke says, “I think we’re still hoping that one of these guys that we’re looking at in camp is going to ‘wow’ us basically and we know we can go with him as a starter every fifth day,” he said. “So I think that’s what we’re waiting for.”
If Hernández and Weber don’t provide that ‘wow’ factor, Boston does have other options, as recently outlined by MLBTR’s Connor Byrne. Though the Fenway faithful will surely be hoping for Sale’s speedy recovery and that whatever emergency measures are required are only temporary fixes.
Quick Hits: Snell, Nationals, Cubs
Rays left-hander Blake Snell, the recipient of a cortisone shot in his elbow last week, threw 20 fastballs on flat ground Tuesday and came out of it “fine,” according to manager Kevin Cash (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Snell’s slated to continue working back this week, but even if things go well, it does seem the former Cy Young winner will miss at least the opening week of the regular season, Topkin suggests. Snell’s elbow issues date back to last season, as he underwent an arthroscopic procedure in late July that shelved him for almost two months.
- Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton left the team’s game after the first inning Tuesday with a tweaked left hamstring, manager Dave Martinez told Sam Fortier of the Washington Post and other reporters. The Nationals don’t regard it as a serious injury, however, as Martinez noted that Eaton likely would have stayed in had it been a regular-season game. Meanwhile, fellow Nats outfielder Victor Robles has been battling a sore left side since last week, but he also seems to be OK. If he gets through the next few days without issue, Robles could return to the team’s lineup during the upcoming weekend, per Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com.
- It remains unclear how the Cubs will distribute playing time at second base this season, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com writes. Minor league pickup Jason Kipnis has been fighting for the starting job with holdovers Nico Hoerner, David Bote and Daniel Descalso this spring. “It really is a wait and see,” manager David Ross said of the four-way competition. A former All-Star with the Indians, Kipnis possesses the longest track record of the quartet, but his offensive production declined to a noticeable extent from 2017-19, thus stopping him from landing a guaranteed contract.
- Sticking with the Cubs, flamethrowing pitching prospect Manuel Rodriguez is down for the time being with a Grade 2 biceps strain, Bastian tweets. Rodriguez, 23, hasn’t pitched above the High-A level to this point, but the Cubs are believers in his potential. They added Rodriguez to their 40-man roster last November to prevent another team from grabbing him in the Rule 5 Draft.
NL West Notes: Rockies, Arenado, Giants, Beede
Disgruntled Rockies franchise player Nolan Arenado and general manager Jeff Bridich still haven’t met this spring in an effort to repair their damaged relationship, but the third baseman suggested Tuesday that will change (via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). “We probably will (meet),” said Arenado, who went on to state: “People are putting a light on us, saying, ‘Nolan and the GM aren’t talking.’ But the GM doesn’t come around a lot. It’s no different this year than how it’s been every other year. I think when we start trimming down the roster, then we can start having talks and see what we can do.” Those sound like somewhat optimistic comments from Arenado, but the expectation remains that the Rockies will wind up dealing him, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who observes that a trade is “inevitable.” Thanks to the whopper of an extension Arenado signed in February 2019, he could remain Rockies property for the next seven years. However, if he’s as fed up with the organization as he seems, he could choose to opt out of the deal after 2021. So, perhaps a trade will come together before then.
More on Colorado and one of its NL West foes…
- Hard-throwing right-hander Tyler Beede is a strong candidate to grab the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation, but he’s now dealing with a potentially troubling injury situation. Beede exited his start against Texas after one inning Tuesday with tightness in his pitching elbow, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle relays. The severity won’t be known until Beede undergoes testing on the joint. For now, he remains in the race to earn a spot in San Francisco’s starting staff, with Logan Webb seemingly representing his stiffest competition.
- Infielder Matt Duffy signed a minor league contract with the Rangers in January, but they weren’t the only team he talked to in free agency. Duffy told Schulman that the Giants were among the teams to “check in” on him in the offseason, but Schulman writes that it was only a “brief” conversation. Now 29 years old, Duffy got his start with the San Francisco organization. The Giants chose him in the 18th round of the 2012 draft and eventually saw him develop into a solid contributor. During the best season of his career, 2015, Duffy racked up 4.4 fWAR with the Giants.
- The Rockies are optimistic that righty Jose Mujica, the lone major league free agent they signed during the offseason, could debut in their rotation “sometime in the near future,” according to Kyle Newman of the Denver Post. Mujica, formerly with the Rays, didn’t pitch professionally last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2018. The 23-year-old’s still working back from that procedure, but he did flash quite a bit of potential during his Triple-A debut two seasons ago. He tossed 36 2/3 innings of 2.70 ERA/2.81 FIP ball with 8.35 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 at the minors’ highest level before going under the knife.
Twins Notes: Cruz, Gonzalez, Rosario
Nelson Cruz isn’t sure how long he intends to play beyond the upcoming season, but the 39-year-old slugger said earlier today that the 2020 campaign won’t be his last one, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. That’s not a huge surprise, given that Cruz’s camp has already had some talks with the Twins about extending his contract. Cruz plans to take things “year by year,” but it’s easy to imagine him continuing as long as he produces at such a high level. Cruz, who’ll turn 40 in July, suited up for 120 games and tallied 521 plate appearances with Minnesota last year, hitting at a .311/.392/.639 clip with 41 home runs and 26 doubles. His 163 wRC+ ranked fourth in the Majors among qualified hitters, trailing only Mike Trout, Christian Yelich and Alex Bregman. He’s earning $12MM this season after the Twins picked up a club option on the heels of last year’s excellent output.
Some more notes out of Fort Myers…
- Twins utilityman Marwin Gonzalez underwent a debridement of the patella tendon in his right knee this offseason, he revealed to reporters today (link via La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune). That surgery, which he described as relatively minor, had him behind schedule early in camp. However, Gonzalez made his Grapefruit League debut today and swatted a home run and a double while playing second base in his first outing of the spring. Neal notes that because Gonzalez sometimes still feels a bit of soreness after workouts, he could be held out of the team’s outfield mix early in the season to limit his running.
- Left fielder Eddie Rosario spoke with Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com about last year’s ankle injury and the manner in which it impacted him in the second half of the season. As Park points out, Statcast points to a notable dip in Rosario’s average sprint speed following his return from the IL, and Rosario himself acknowledged that he couldn’t run at 100 percent and that the ankle sprain “affected everything.” There’s probably no more glaring evidence of Rosario’s limited mobility than his defensive ratings; in 2018, Rosario posted +9 Defensive Runs Saved, a +4.2 Ultimate Zone Rating and -2 Outs Above Average. In 2019, those numbers absolutely plummeted (-6 DRS, -5.7 UZR and an MLB-worst -17 OAA). Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli tells Park that the team is pleased with Rosario’s improved mobility this spring, calling last summer’s injury “fairly significant” and echoing the fact that the 28-year-old never fully recovered from that June 26 ankle sprain.
Roster Notes: Felix, Mondesi, Mariners, Orioles
Longtime Seattle ace Felix Hernandez looks to be leading the competition for a place in Atlanta’s Cole Hamels-less rotation, Mark Bowman of MLB.com relays. The 33-year-old King Felix has given himself the upper hand with 4 2/3 innings of one-run, six-strikeout ball this spring. Hernandez, who’s competing against Sean Newcomb, Kyle Wright and Touki Toussaint for one of two spots, is attempting to revive his career back-to-back trying seasons. The former AL Cy Young winner’s recent struggles forced him to settle for a minor league contract over the winter, and if he does make the Braves, he’ll earn a $1MM salary.
- The Royals aren’t sure when Adalberto Mondesi will make his Cactus League debut, but they continue to expect the shortstop to be ready for the season opener, manager Mike Matheny stated over the weekend (via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com). “It’s just about getting him enough reps to be ready by Opening Day. We should be good,” Matheny said of Mondesi, who’s working back from the left shoulder surgery he underwent last September. Before suffering that injury, the 24-year-old turned in his second straight productive season, totaling 2.4 fWAR with a .263/.291/.424 line and 43 stolen bases.
- Turning to Hernandez’s ex-team, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times delves into the competition among infielder/outfielder Dylan Moore, outfielder Braden Bishop and infielder/outfielder Tim Lopes for the Mariners’ final two bench spots. The most major league experience of the three belongs to Moore, who took 282 trips to the plate for the Mariners last season and hit .206/.302/.389 with nine home runs and 11 steals. He saw action at every position on the diamond but catcher, even pitching an inning. Bishop’s a decently regarded prospect (Baseball America ranks him 19th in the team’s system), but injuries – including a lacerated spleen – have slowed him down. He made a brutal debut in the majors last season, batting .107/.153/.107 in 60 PA. Lopes hit well, on the other hand (.270/.359/.360 in 128 PA), and has continued to do so this spring.
- Andrew Velazquez hasn’t been an Oriole for long, having joined the club via waivers two weeks ago, but he’s making a good early impression. Velazquez, who’s among those competing for a bench role with the Orioles, is “migrating toward the front of the line of utility candidates,” Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. The switch-hitting 25-year-old spent time in the majors with the Rays and Indians from 2018-19, though he only combined for 36 plate appearances with those teams. Most of his recent work has come in Triple-A ball, where he owns a .260/.316/.415 line in 648 PA.
Phillies Notes: Lineup, Hunter, Dominguez
With the recent news that Andrew McCutchen will open the season on the IL, Phillies manager Joe Girardi will have to decide on what to do about the leadoff spot, as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com observes. Girardi mentioned Scott Kingery, Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn as options. But Girardi also “did not rule out” J.T. Realmuto, and he went on to note that he is taking the new three-batter minimum into consideration when thinking about lineup construction. “You want to bring in your lefty to face Bryce (Harper),” he says, “but I’m going to have him surrounded with my best two right-handers around him. So pick your poison.” Regardless of the solution, Girardi and Phillies fans will be hoping for McCutchen to return in short order and retake his position at the top of the lineup.
- Per reports from Matt Gelb of The Athletic and Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports, expectations are that right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter will begin the season on the IL. The 33-year-old will be ready “a month or so into the season,” Salisbury adds. Hunter’s 2019 season was ended by elbow surgery in July. But that didn’t stop the Phillies from giving him an incentive-laden deal in February. Hunter was quite effective for the Phillies in 2018, providing 64 innings with an ERA of 3.80. However, he was limited to just 5 1/3 innings in 2019 before the aforementioned elbow issues. It remains to be seen which version the Phillies will get in 2020.
- Like Hunter, righty Victor Arano also seems ticketed for the IL to open the year, according to Gelb. Arano appeared in just three of Philly’s games last season (all in April) before elbow surgery knocked his year off the rails and stopped him from building on a quality 2018. That season, Arano notched a 2.73 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 2.58 BB/9 over 59 1/3 frames.
- With Hunter and Arano joining David Robertson on the IL, that could create high-leverage opportunities for other relievers, such as Seranthony Dominguez. However, it’s still not clear if he can avoid the IL himself. Salisbury notes that Dominguez himself “believes he will be ready for opening day, but officials will be cautious.” The reliever emerged as a weapon out of the Philly bullpen in 2018, putting together 58 innings of work with a 2.95 ERA, even compiling 16 saves in the process. The following year, however, saw that ERA balloon to 4.01 over 24 2/3 innings before a ligament strain in his right elbow finished his season on June 5th. The 25-year-old pitched in a simulated game on Sunday, with Girardi noting that his fastball got up to 94 mph. That’s still short of his normal average of 98 mph, according to StatCast. But Philly fans will surely take solace in the fact that he is seemingly healthy and still has some time to ramp up to full strength.