Dairon Blanco To Undergo Calf MRI
Royals manager Matt Quatraro provided some updates today about players on the roster, with Anne Rogers of MLB.com relaying them on X. Outfielder Dairon Blanco, who departed Saturday’s game with some cramping, will get an MRI on his calf today. Quatraro framed it as precautionary, saying the MRI was “just in case.” Meanwhile, right-hander Carlos Hernández is playing catch as he ramps up after being shut down with shoulder soreness a couple of weeks ago.
Though Quatraro downplayed the issue with Blanco, an MRI always implies some level of concern. If healthy, Blanco would likely be in line for a part-time bench role for the club, similar to the job he had last year. He got into 69 games in 2023 but only garnered 138 plate appearances, often entering games as a pinch runner or defensive replacement. He hit a solid .258/.324/.452 in that time for a wRC+ of 108 while also stealing 24 bases in 29 tries.
He was even more impressive at Triple-A, as he stole 47 bases in just 49 games at that level. His huge .347/.444/.451 slash line translated to a wRC+ of 136. He played all three outfield spots, both at Triple-A and in the majors, with his big league glovework getting positive reviews from advanced defensive metrics.
The Royals are likely to give regular playing time to Hunter Renfroe, MJ Melendez, Nelson Velázquez and Kyle Isbel between their three outfield positions and the designated hitter slot. Blanco will be backing up that group and coming off the bench as long as he doesn’t require a trip to the injured list. If he does need to miss some time, it could perhaps open a roster spot for Nick Pratto, Drew Waters or Tyler Gentry.
As for Hernández, as mentioned, he was shut down with shoulder soreness a couple of weeks ago. He played catch over the weekend and will do so again today as he starts to ramp back up. Whether he can be an option for the club early in the season will depend on how he progresses in the next little bit, with Opening Day now just over two weeks away.
Last year, he looked to be breaking out as a key reliever for the Royals. After an outing on August 4, he was sitting on an earned run average of 3.60 through 55 innings on the year. He had a 29.7% strikeout rate, 7.8% walk rate and had earned 11 holds and a save. But he stumbled down the stretch, allowing 19 earned run in his final 15 innings and boosting his season ERA to 5.27.
Hernández will be looking to get back to that excellent form in 2024, though obviously with a strong finish. The year is off to a bit of a shaky start with the shoulder issue but it’s an encouraging sign that he has resumed throwing.
Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are looking to prove that last year was a fluke. They bolstered their pitching staff to help them bounce back in 2024, but did they do enough?
Major League Signings
- RHP Sonny Gray: Three years, $75MM (including buyout of 2027 club option)
- RHP Kyle Gibson: One year, $13MM (including buyout of 2025 club option)
- RHP Lance Lynn: One year, $11MM (including buyout of 2025 club option)
- RHP Keynan Middleton: One year, $6MM (including buyout of 2025 club option)
- SS Brandon Crawford: One year, $2MM
- 1B/DH Matt Carpenter: One-year, prorated league minimum (Braves paying remainder of his 2024 salary)
2024 spending: $42MM
Total spending: $107MM
Option Decisions
- None
Trades and Claims
- Acquired RHP Riley O’Brien from Mariners
- Claimed IF/OF Jared Young off waivers from Cubs
- Traded OF Tyler O’Neill to the Red Sox for RHPs Nick Robertson and Victor Santos
- Traded OF Richie Palacios to Rays for RHP Andrew Kittredge
- Claimed 1B/OF Alfonso Rivas off waivers from Angels
- Traded RHP Guillermo Zuñiga to Angels for cash considerations
Notable Minor League Signings
Extensions
- Signed IF/OF Tommy Edman to a two-year deal to avoid arbitration
Notable Losses
- Dakota Hudson (non-tendered), Andrew Knizner (non-tendered), Jake Woodford (non-tendered), Juan Yepez (non-tendered), James Naile (released to sign in KBO), Guillermo Zuñiga, Buddy Kennedy
It’s very rare for the Cardinals to go into an offseason on the heels of a massive disappointment. In this millennium, they have missed the playoffs eight times and only twice finished below .500. Last year was one of those two, as they went 71-91 and finished fifth in the National League Central for the first time ever.
The rotation was a clear target area for change, as the club’s starters posted a collective 5.08 earned run average last year, a mark better than just four other clubs. Three spots were opened by last year’s trades of impending free agents Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty, as well as the retirement of Adam Wainwright.
There were rumors that the club may use its position player surplus to swing a trade that would upgrade the rotation, but they instead jumped in the free agent market early. By the end of November, they had already signed Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.
Whether that was the best way to go about upgrading the rotation is a matter of debate, especially with the club having also been connected to exciting names like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dylan Cease and Tyler Glasnow at times this winter. Lynn will turn 37 years old this year and is coming off a rough campaign in 2023. He posted a 5.73 ERA between the White Sox and Dodgers while allowing 44 home runs, plus another four long balls in his one postseason start. Gibson has been a fairly reliable innings eater but doesn’t have much upside at this point in his career. He’s now 36 and finished each of the past two seasons with an ERA near 5.00.
Gray is the most exciting of their pickups, as he just finished second to Gerrit Cole in American League Cy Young voting after a 2.79 ERA season with the Twins. But there’s some downside risk with Gray as well, as the Cards may have made a proverbial buy-high move. Gray’s 184 innings in 2023 were his highest tally since 2015, as he has had various injuries to deal with over the years. He’s now 34 years old and already going into 2024 with a health concern, battling a hamstring strain that’s left him questionable for Opening Day.
Some fans wanted the club to continue adding to the rotation, especially with Steven Matz having struggled so much since signing a four-year deal in St. Louis. The club’s interest in Cease reportedly lingered even after making those three signings, but nothing came together. That leaves Matz still a part of the projected rotation, especially with Gray’s injury, and the Cards hoping for a bounce back.
The much-discussed position player surplus didn’t end up factoring into the rotation, but it did affect the pitching staff in other ways. There was rumored interest in players like Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson and Dylan Carlson, but the Cards instead flipped Tyler O’Neill as their biggest trade this winter. O’Neill, who is an impending free agent and previously clashed with manager Oliver Marmol, was flipped to Boston for Nick Robertson and Victor Santos. Robertson should be able to help the club’s bullpen right away, as he already has 22 1/3 big league innings under his belt. Santos adds some non-roster depth for the rotation, but he missed all of 2023 due to injury and has fewer than 45 Triple-A innings on his ledger.
The club made another move that sent out a position player for a reliever, as Richie Palacios was flipped to the Rays and Andrew Kittredge. It may have been underwhelming for some fans as Kittredge is turning 34, missed most of the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery and is a mere rental. But Kittredge was utterly dominant in 2021 and the Cards had just grabbed Palacios off the DFA pile in June.
The bullpen was padded in other ways, as Middleton was brought aboard on a one-year, $6MM deal in free agency after a resurgent showing in 2023. The Cards also grabbed Riley O’Brien in a small trade and selected Ryan Fernandez in the Rule 5 draft.
On the position player side of things, very little has changed from last year, apart from those moves. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will still be the anchors at the infield corners. The big question is the shortstop position, as the Paul DeJong era is now over. The club is hoping top prospect Masyn Winn is the shortstop of the future, but he’s just about to turn 22 years old and hit only .172/.230/.238 in his first 137 major league plate appearances. There’s probably a bit of bad luck in there, since his .196 batting average on balls in play in that time was well below league average. He also posted a solid slash line of .288/.359/.474 in Triple-A last year.
The club has plenty of faith that he can post better results in a larger sample of work, but they also added a bit of insurance. Long-time Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford was signed to a modest one-year deal, though Crawford and the club’s decision makers made it clear that Winn is the starter. Crawford is merely around to offer guidance from his years of experience, and to serve as a safety net in the event of an injury or perhaps Winn not securing the job as hoped.
Winn’s emergence pushed Tommy Edman to center field, which is partially what caused such a logjam on the grass and led to the O’Neill and Palacios trades. On paper, Edman was going to be in center, flanked by Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar, with Carlson, Burleson and Donovan also in the mix for playing time. Those plans are currently on hold, as both Edman and Nootbaar are questionable for Opening Day due to injuries, though that will hopefully just be a short-term situation.
The club also hopes to have bolstered its bench by bringing in old friend Matt Carpenter. His 2022 renaissance didn’t continue into 2023, so San Diego traded him to Atlanta in a salary-dumping deal. Atlanta took on Carpenter’s salary to get lefty Ray Kerr, then promptly released Carpenter. That freed him up to return to St. Louis, with the Cards only having to pay the prorated league minimum for any time he’s on the roster. If he can have yet another renaissance, they will have found lightning in a bottle. If not, they can move on without really having lost much of anything beyond the opportunity cost.
Though the club is making an earnest effort to return to contention in 2024, they also did little to commit themselves beyond this year. Other than Gray, all of their signings were one-year deals. They have some interest in extending Paul Goldschmidt, though president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has said they may kick those talks into the season until they see how things are going.
“I think right now, I think everybody just wants to see how this season starts. You know, obviously, we want to get off on the right track, and then we can address things like that,” Mozeliak said.
Goldschmidt is an impending free agent and will turn 37 during the upcoming season. The club obviously likes to keep franchise legends around, with Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Wainwright all running out the clock in St. Louis in recent years. But with Goldschmidt, perhaps the club wants to wait and see if their planned bounceback season actually comes to fruition before they start committing future dollars. If they fall back again, Goldschmidt could be one of the best rental bats available at the summer deadline. They may want to keep that door open.
What also may be an issue is the club’s TV revenue uncertainty. The Cards are one of the clubs who is under contract with Diamond Sports Group, who once seemed like they were going to cease operations after 2024. The company has managed to stay afloat for now by selling some streaming rights to Amazon, but it’s still unclear how viable their long-term plan is. The Cards get over $70MM per year from Diamond and may want closure on that situation before making big decisions about the future.
In the end, it amounts to a half-in, half-out offseason. They made one splashy move by signing Gray but otherwise kept various long-term paths open. Are they good enough to compete this year? How much TV money is coming in? Will they keep Goldschmidt around or pivot to a post-Goldy era?
There’s a lot that needs to be revealed this year, but for now, the club patched their biggest holes. That may be enough in the NL Central, where there’s no clear frontrunner and it’s arguable that each of the five teams are in position to potentially surge ahead. Though the signings of Lynn and Gibson weren’t as sexy as getting someone like Cease or Yamamoto, both FanGraphs and PECOTA think the Cards are now the best team in the division, so maybe a couple of floor-raising moves and some bouncebacks will be enough to take the Central in the end.
How would you grade the Cardinals' offseason?
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C 48% (2,130)
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B 23% (1,010)
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D 20% (894)
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F 7% (302)
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A 2% (103)
Total votes: 4,439
Mariners, Jason Vosler Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mariners have agreed to a minor league pact with corner infielder Jason Vosler, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Vosler is represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.
The 30-year-old Vosler has appeared in parts of three big league seasons between the Giants and, in 2023, the Reds. He logged 20 games and tallied 65 plate appearances in Cincinnati last year, getting out to a blistering start before quickly fading. Vosler belted three homers in his first 15 trips to the plate but managed just a .106/.160/.128 slash with 20 strikeouts in 50 subsequent plate appearances. The Reds designated him for assignment in late April and outrighted him Triple-A Louisville after he went unclaimed on waivers.
Vosler spent the remainder of the season in Louisville, where he batted .240/.333/.482 with 20 home runs in 363 plate appearances. The production was right in line with league-average levels in the International League, by measure of wRC+ (99). It was also rather closely in line with Vosler’s career output at that level; in parts of five seasons and in 1747 plate appearances in Triple-A, Vosler is a .265/.342/.485 batter.
While Vosler has been primarily a third baseman in his professional career (5303 innings), he’s logged more than 1400 innings at first base and just shy of 200 in left field. He’s a left-handed hitter and will give the Mariners some lefty depth at positions where they’re lacking in that regard. Right-handed hitters Brian Anderson (third base), Michael Chavis (both corners) and Tyler Locklear (first base) are among the organization’s upper-level corner options, but the team lacks many lefty hitters of note at the infield corners.
Heading into the 2024 season, it seems like the Mariners will roll out a platoon of right-handed-hitting Luis Urias and lefty Josh Rojas at the hot corner. Urias has been slowed in camp by some shoulder soreness dating back to his offseason stint in the Mexican Winter League, but he recently made his Cactus League debut and should have time to ramp up for the year, barring any further setbacks.
Braves Option AJ Smith-Shawver
The Braves announced this morning that they’ve optioned right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver to Triple-A Gwinnett, thus ending his bid for a spot in the team’s Opening Day rotation. He’ll begin the season in the upper minors and serve as one of the team’s first lines of defense should an injury occur on the starting staff.
It’s not an entirely unexpected move. The top spots in the Atlanta rotation are set in stone, with Spencer Strider, Max Fried, Charlie Morton and Chris Sale all assured roles heading into camp. That left the fifth spot to a likely battle between Smith-Shawver, Bryce Elder and offseason signee Reynaldo Lopez, whom the Braves plan to stretch back out as a starter after spending the last couple seasons in a bullpen role.
Lopez’s contract made him a favorite to begin with, but the fact that he’s yielded just one run and three hits with a 7-to-2 K/BB ratio and 53% grounder rate in eight spring innings surely hasn’t harmed his chances. Smith-Shawver, by comparison, has been tagged for seven runs on a dozen hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in 7 2/3 spring frames. Elder, a 2023 All-Star, has had similar struggles to Smith-Shawver in his small sample of spring innings. In 7 2/3 frames, he’s been charged with six runs on the strength of 10 hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts. It might seem surprising to push an All-Star out of the rotation in favor of a converted reliever, but Elder did wilt in alarming fashion down the stretch in ’23, posting a 5.75 ERA with just a 15.1% strikeout rate against a 10.4% walk rate over his final 14 starts/72 innings.
The composition of the Opening Day rotation is in some ways immaterial — particularly for a Braves club that’ll enter the year as an overwhelming postseason favorite. In all likelihood, each of Lopez, Smith-Shawver and Elder will start games for the Braves this season. Injuries limited Fried to just 77 2/3 innings last year, while Sale has pitched only 151 innings over the past four seasons combined. Morton has been a workhorse, ranking sixth in the majors in games started and 11th in innings pitched dating back to 2018 — but he’s also entering his age-40 season. Injuries are an inevitability among big league pitchers, so the Braves will likely have to tap into their impressive collection of depth arms — headlined by Elder and Smith-Shawver — at various points in 2024.
While the Smith-Shawver demotion clearly isn’t a means of manipulating his service time, it’s still worth noting that the decision could have implications in that regard. The 21-year-old made his MLB debut in 2023 and started five games (plus one relief appearance), pitching to a 4.26 ERA with a 20-to-11 K/BB ratio in 25 1/3 innings. He picked up 50 days of service last season, meaning he’d reach a full year of MLB service with another 122 days on this year’s roster (roughly two-thirds of the season). If he reaches that full year of service, Smith-Shawver would be controllable through the 2029 season. If he spends fewer than 122 days on the roster, he’ll be controllable through the 2030 season.
Smith-Shawver soared from High-A to the majors in 2023, pitching to a combined 2.76 ERA across three minor league levels before making that MLB debut. Baseball America ranks him as the game’s No. 42 prospect. He’s ranked 63rd at FanGraphs and 69th at MLB.com.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s MLB Trade Rumors Podcast!
On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we’ll frequently answer questions from our readers and listeners. With the next episode set for Wednesday, we’re looking for MLBTR’s audience to submit their questions and we’ll pick a few to answer.
Regular season baseball is just over a week away but there are still many notable free agents unsigned and possible trades not yet consummated. If you have a question about a recent transaction, a future transaction or anything else related to the offseason or upcoming season, we’d love to hear from you! You can send your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com.
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In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The Opener: Davis, Giolito, Snell, Montgomery
As Opening Day draws ever closer, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Where will Davis land?
The Giants reportedly placed third baseman J.D. Davis on waivers over the weekend, likely signaling the end of his tenure in San Francisco. The soon-to-be 31-year-old slugger appeared to be an odd man out when third baseman Matt Chapman signed in San Francisco earlier this month, and now he’ll be available to the league’s 29 other clubs for the cost of his $6.9MM salary in 2024. Since breaking out with the Mets during the 2019 season, Davis has slashed a solid .268/.352/.443 in 528 games split between New York and San Francisco while spending time at both infield corners as well as left field and DH. At least in the eyes of Statcast, Davis made strides with his defense at the hot corner in 2023, garnering +5 Outs Above Average after posting negative marks in that category throughout his career prior. The Brewers, Cubs, and Mariners are among the handful of contenders that could make sense for Davis if they’re willing to assume the full freight of his salary.
2. Giolito’s second opinion:
Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito, who signed a two-year, $38.5MM contract this offseason — the second season of which is a player option — could miss the entire 2024 season after being diagnosed with a partial UCL tear and flexor strain earlier in camp. Surgery is on the table, as is common with UCL injuries, but Giolito was slated to receive a second opinion from Dr. Jeff Dugas today before making any final decisions on how to treat his injury. He’s clearly looking at a long absence regardless, but today’s opinion could determine which type of surgery is recommended (e.g. Tommy John surgery, internal brace surgery) or whether surgical intervention is required at all. Some players will go the rest-and-rehab route before going under the knife, as surgery is always a last resort, though it’s perhaps telling that manager Alex Cora has already publicly acknowledged the possibility of surgery.
3. When will the front-of-the-rotation southpaws sign?
Last week, agent Scott Boras indicated that new teams have begun to check in on his pair of southpaw clients, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery. The duo entered the winter as two of the top four starting pitching options on the market alongside Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Aaron Nola, though that hasn’t stopped both from lingering on the market even as Opening Day is now a matter of weeks away. Updates on the southpaws’ respective markets have been relatively few and far between, with Snell being loosely connected to the Angels over the weekend while Montgomery’s reported negotiations with the Red Sox hitting a snag over the lefty’s apparent desire for a seven-year pact. With the start of the regular season just around the corner, will either of the duo find a new home in the coming days?
Mariners’ Jackson Kowar To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
The Mariners announced that right-hander Jackson Kowar has been placed on the 60-day injured list due to a tear in his right UCL. General manager Justin Hollander told reporters (including Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times) that Kowar will undergo Tommy John surgery next week, so the righty will now be out of action until around the midpoint of the 2025 season. The 60-day IL placement for Kowar creates a 40-man roster spot for Ryne Stanek, whose signing is now official.
It’s a brutal setback for Kowar, who went into 2024 looking for a fresh start. The Royals selected Kowar 33rd overall in the 2018 draft, and viewed the righty as one of several young arms that would help spur the organization’s next contention window. Unfortunately, Kowar (and basically all of Kansas City’s pitchers to date) has yet to show much in the big leagues, with only a 9.12 ERA to show for 74 innings over the last three seasons.
Kowar made eight starts in his 2021 debut season but has since worked only as a reliever in the majors. The move to the bullpen upped his fastball velocity but not much else, as batters have continued to tee off on Kowar’s offerings. Shaky control has also been detrimental to Kowar’s cause, with a 13.7% walk rate and a modest 20.1% strikeout rate.
The Royals opted to move on from Kowar in November when he was traded to the Braves for Kyle Wright, and Kowar’s stay in Atlanta lasted just a couple of weeks, as he was flipped to the Mariners as part of the five-player trade that brought Jarred Kelenic to Atlanta. From Seattle’s perspective, the trade moved a good deal of salary off the books at the cost of Kelenic, and the M’s got to pick up a couple of younger arms in Kowar and Cole Phillips, a second-round pick for the 2022 draft. Unfortunately, Phillips was already recovering from a TJ surgery and recently had to undergo a second procedure, while Kowar has now also been sidelined with the same surgery.
News surfaced earlier this week about a possible arm injury for Kowar, adding to a list of reliever injuries Seattle has already had to address this spring. Gregory Santos has been dealing with soreness is his teres major area but is back throwing bullpen sessions, while Hollander also said that Matt Brash is upping his games of catch to throws of 90 feet. Brash was recently given the green light to start throwing again after a bout of elbow inflammation, as it appeared as though he dodged what initially appeared to be a much more serious injury. Given all these health concerns, it isn’t surprising the Mariners felt the need to spend $4MM on Stanek to reinforce the relief corps.
East Notes: Casas, Cabrera, Marsh
The Red Sox recently signed right-hander Brayan Bello to a six-year, $55MM extension that extends their team control over the youngster by two years. That deal isn’t the only possible extension for a young potential cornerstone that Boston has pursued this winter, however, as first baseman Triston Casas confirmed to reporters that he and the Red Sox have discussed a possible extension as well. At the time, Casas indicated that while he would love to spend his entire career in Boston, the club had yet to present him with anything “enticing” to that point. In the wake of Bello’s extension, Casas recently discussed his own extension negotiations with the Red Sox, as relayed by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.
In his comments, Casas reiterating that he hopes to play in Boston for “the rest of [his] career” while also providing an update on the discussions he’s had with Red Sox brass. Per Casas, the sides are still talking but there’s been “no numerical values” discussed to this point and that “nothing has really accelerated” to this point. Even as the 24-year-old makes clear he hopes to spend his entire career in Boston, it doesn’t seem as though he feels much urgency to get a deal done anytime soon.
“I think I have a lot of work to do before I feel like I can say I deserve that contract extension to be the long-term first baseman for the Boston Red Sox,” Casas said, as relayed by Speier. “…So if I don’t get that offer, I’m not upset at anybody in the organization. I’m not upset with myself.”
Although Casas claims to have not yet performed at a level that would warrant the extension he’s looking for, he certainly turned in a strong performance in his first full big league season last year. In 132 games with the Red Sox, Casas slashed an impressive .263/.367/.490 (129 wRC+) in 502 trips to the plate. That strong overall performance was bolstered by a torrid second half that saw Casas slash an incredible .317/.417/.617 in 54 games with a 175 wRC+ that was the fifth-best figure among all hitters with at least 200 plate appearances down the stretch, bested by only Shohei Ohtani, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mookie Betts. If the sides are unable to come to an agreement this spring, a 2024 campaign that even comes close to resembling his second half last year would surely improve Casas’s earning power considerably.
More from MLB’s East divisions…
- Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera was removed from his start against the Cardinals today before throwing a pitch, with Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald noting that Cabrera experienced a bout of tightness in his right shoulder while warming up for the game. McPherson adds that Cabrera’s removal from the game was precautionary, per Miami, and that Cabrera told reporters a few hours after being removed from the game that he was “already starting to feel better.” While both club and player are indicating that the issue isn’t a particularly severe issue, it’s worth noting that Cabrera was sidelined by a shoulder impingement in June of last year and missed a month of action. Should Cabrera manage to avoid a trip to the injured list to open the season, he figures to Jesus Luzardo and Eury Perez in the rotation. Southpaws A.J. Puk, Trevor Rogers, and Ryan Weathers figure to compete for the final two spots in the club’s rotation, though Braxton Garrett figures to join the rotation once he’s recovered from his own shoulder woes.
- Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh has yet to appear in a game this spring while rehabbing from arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent in early February. While the initial timeline for his return to action was three-to-four weeks following the surgery, Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer indicates that Marsh is not quite ready to return to game action at this point. Coffey adds that club manager Rob Thomson recently indicated that Marsh is “on track” with regards to his rehab and could get into a Grapefruit League game by the end of the week. Marsh, 26, slashed a strong .277/.372/.458 in 133 games for the Phillies last year and figures to be a regular fixture in the club’s outfield mix this season alongside Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas.
Brewers Notes: Williams, Frelick, Sanchez
Brewers closer Devin Williams has pitched just 1 1/3 frames across two appearances this spring thanks to a sore back, which manager Pat Murphy indicated to reporters (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) has been bothering him throughout most of the spring. After previously getting an MRI to determine the source of the issue, Murphy added that Williams is set to meet with a spine specialist in California on Wednesday to receive a second opinion and make sure that he hasn’t suffered a more serious injury. Barring a second opinion changing the club’s course, Murphy indicated that the plan for Williams is to “give him some time off” in hopes that will treat the ailment.
Williams, 29, has established himself among the game’s most elite closers in recent years. Though the right-hander made his debut late in the 2019 season, he retained rookie eligibility into the 2020 season, which saw him dominant to an superlative 0.33 ERA with a 0.86 FIP in 27 innings of work, a strong enough performance to earn him the NL Rookie of the Year award during the shortened season. Since then, he’s settled in as one of the most reliably dominant relief arms in the game, having compiled a microscopic 1.75 ERA and 2.26 FIP in 200 1/3 innings over the past four years while striking out a whopping 40.5% of batters faced.
He enjoyed a characteristically excellent season in 2023, posting a 1.53 ERA in 61 appearances while collecting a career-best 36 saves and striking out opponents at a 37.7% clip. That dominance led to some trade speculation this winter as the club parted ways with both manager Craig Counsell and ace right-hander Corbin Burnes, though no deal ever came together regarding Williams and it’s unclear if the Brewers even shopped their relief ace. The right-hander remains under team control in Milwaukee through the end of the 2025 season, so it’s possible the club could look to part ways with Williams at some point in the future, but for the time being the right-hander appears poised to return to his role as Brewers closer come Opening Day if he’s healthy enough to take the field.
More from Brewers camp…
- Murphy also spoke to reporters, including Hogg, about the prospect of young outfielder Sal Frelick moving to the infield this season. The manager indicated that he feels that Frelick’s work at third base hasn’t been “emphasized” enough and that he could be “one of the best stories in baseball.” Frelick’s potential move to the infield had been reported last month, when The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal indicated that Frelick had begun work at both second and third base. Frelick has since appeared in five games at the hot corner this spring, the same number as he’s appeared in his native right field. Should Frelick’s experiment at third base carry into the regular season on even a part-time basis, it would go a long way to sorting out at-bats in the club’s crowded outfield mix, which includes the likes of Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell and Joey Wiemer in addition to Frelick.
- Catcher Gary Sanchez has been slowed this spring by a right hand issue ever since signing with the Brewers on a big league deal last month, though as noted by MLB.com the 31-year-old backstop made it into game action ahead of schedule by appearing as the club’s DH in yesterday’s game. Sanchez was previously expected to start getting into game action on March 14, putting nearly a week ahead of schedule. That’s a good sign for Sanchez’s ability to get up to speed in time to avoid a stint on the injured list to open the season, though the club has Eric Haase also in camp and on the 40-man roster as a potential alternative backup to primary catcher William Contreras should Sanchez require more time to prepare for the coming campaign. Sanchez lingered on the free agent market through the early months of the 2023 campaign but performed well upon joining the Padres in late May, slashing .218/.292/.500 with 19 home runs in just 260 trips to the plate across his 72 games with the club.
Brown: Astros “Having Conversations” About Bullpen Additions
Astros GM Dana Brown made an appearance on MLB Network Radio this afternoon to discuss where the club stands with a matter of weeks left until Opening Day. In doing so, Brown suggested that the club is mostly set in terms of the lineup and starting rotation, and that his primary focus at this point in the spring is looking to solidfy the club’s bullpen. While Brown expressed confidence in the quartet of Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly, Bryan Abreu, and Rafael Montero, he added that the club still needs to “figure out” how to handle the middle innings following the departures of Ryne Stanek, Phil Maton, and Hector Neris this winter. The GM went on to suggest that the club is even looking at external options as it evaluates its bullpen mix.
“We are talking to clubs about trades,” Brown said, “I can’t get into that, but we definitely are having conversations about trades… we’re always looking at ways and avenues that we can get better, and if we can get better we’re going to make moves.”
With the aforementioned four relievers presumably locked into bullpen spots ahead of Opening Day, that leaves four spots in the relief corps available entering the 2024 campaign. One of those jobs appears likely to go to out of options right-hander Brandon Bielak, who posted a solid 3.83 ERA in 80 innings of work last year while swinging between starting and relief and figures to occupy a long relief role with the club this year. Other likely contenders for spots in the club’s bullpen include right-hander Dylan Coleman and southpaw Bennett Sousa, both of whom earned praise from Brown at the start of camp last month.
Looking at other options on the 40-man roster, Ronel Blanco pitched to a 4.50 ERA in 17 appearances with the club last year including seven starts, though it’s fair to wonder whether the Astros would prefer to keep him stretched out as starting pitching depth at the Triple-A level to open the season with Justin Verlander expected to open the season on the injured list. Seth Martinez, Oliver Ortega, and Parker Mushinski are other relief options with big league experience currently on the club’s 40-man, with the likes of Wander Suero and Joel Kuhnel in camp as non-roster invitees.
One potential x-factor who has yet to make his MLB debut is former top prospect Forrest Whitley, who is also already on the club’s 40-man roster. The club’s first-round pick in the 2017 draft was once a consensus top-10 prospect in the sport but has battled injuries and ineffectiveness in recent years, prompting a move to the bullpen. That being said, Whitley has battled finger inflammation this spring and was shut down from throwing in late February, potentially impacting his availability on Opening Day.
While the club certainly has a number of potentially viable options at its disposal, that group of arms vying for spots in the middle of the Houston bullpen offers little in the way of certainty. Given that, it’s easy to see why Brown would look to potentially bolster his relief corps ahead of Opening Day. That said, it’s unclear which teams could look to part with bullpen depth at this late stage in the offseason. While the Red Sox have reportedly shopped Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin this winter, the duo have been slowed by injuries this spring and are veteran, high-leverage arms who would be a significant step up from the type of middle relief relief arm Brown indicated the club is looking for. Jansen, in particular, comes with a whopping $16MM salary for the 2024 season that Houston would be unlikely to be interested in paying given their full late-inning mix.
Even as there aren’t any obvious fits for what the Astros appear to be looking for in the rumor mill at the moment, it’s not difficult to imagine an arm not yet on the radar as a trade candidate becoming available as Opening Day draws near. After all, the majority of clubs have far more bullpen options currently in camp than they can afford to roster entering the season. It’s always possible that an out-of-options reliever squeezed off another club’s roster or a non-roster invitee who isn’t breaking camp with their current organization could catch the club’s attention and prompt Brown to attempt to swing a deal, even if a more significant deal isn’t being worked on behind the scenes.