Phillies Sign Zack Wheeler To Extension
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has been open with his desire to extend ace Zack Wheeler before he reaches free agency at the end of the 2024 season, and he got it done Monday, announcing that Wheeler has signed a three-year extension covering the 2025-27 seasons. The Wasserman client will reportedly be guaranteed $126MM on the contract, which does not include any options or opt-out opportunities.
As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, that $42MM annual rate is the largest on any contract extension in the sport’s history and the fourth-largest AAV on any contract ever, placing Wheeler only behind Shohei Ohtani, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Wheeler has now been added to MLBTR’s list of the game’s largest AAVs ever, as well.
That the contract begins in 2025 rather than overriding the final season of the right-hander’s current five-year, $118MM contract is notable for luxury tax purposes. Because the deal goes into place in 2025, Wheeler’s CBT hit will remain $23.6MM for the upcoming season before vaulting substantially in 2025. The Phillies were already into the second tier of luxury penalization, and a significant boost for Wheeler would’ve pushed them into the third tier, dropping their top pick in the draft by 10 spots.
Wheeler already has more than ten years of major league service time, and he’ll hit five years with the Phillies at the end of the 2024 season. That’ll give him 10-and-5 rights, granting Wheeler the power to veto any potential trade over the life of his new contract with the Phils.
It’s rare for any nine-figure deal in free agency to wind up being considered a bargain, but Wheeler has been worth every penny of his original $118MM contract — and then some. Currently 33 years old, Wheeler ranks fourth in Major League Baseball with 629 1/3 innings pitched dating back to 2020, the first season of the contract. His 3.06 ERA, 2.90 FIP and 3.42 SIERA rank 11th, fourth and 15th among 121 qualified big league pitchers in that time.
Since signing with the Phils, Wheeler has punched out 26.7% of his opponents against a sparkling 5.3% walk rate. Despite the homer-friendly nature of Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Wheeler has yielded an average of just 0.74 homers per nine frames — closely in line with his career mark of 0.83.
Wheeler’s 96 mph average fastball velocity in 2023 was down from its 97.3 mph peak (set in 2021), but he actually posted excellent swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates, sitting at 13.% and 36.6%, respectively. Those two marks were not only his best as a Phillie but the best single-season marks he’s posted in either category in his entire career to date. When opponents did manage to make contact against Wheeler, it was typically of the feeble variety. Hitters averaged a dismal 86.9 mph exit velocity against Wheeler this past season, placing the right-hander in the 88th percentile of big league pitchers.
Detractors can point to Wheeler’s 3.61 ERA in 2023 as a sign of decline, but as already laid out, Wheeler missed bats at career-best levels in 2023, maintained plus velocity and kept his walk rate among the league’s best. The primary skill change in Wheeler’s approach was a decline in grounders (41.2% — down from 49.6% in his first three years with Philly). That led to a few more home runs but correlated with the uptick in missed bats. Given that the Phillies annually trot out a poor defensive alignment behind their pitchers, the increase in missed bats is a better portent of long-term success than a reliance on keeping balls on the ground anyhow. Wheeler’s 71.3% strand rate — an outlier mark when looking at his year-to-year levels — figures to regress closer to the 74.3% mark he carried into the 2023 season. Assuming that indeed plays out, so long as Wheeler maintains something close to his current K-BB%, there’s a good chance his ERA will improve accordingly.
The dominance for Wheeler stretches far beyond his regular season work, however. He’s been an integral part of the Phillies’ deep playoff over the past two seasons — his first two tastes of postseason action to this point in his career. Wheeler has made 11 appearances (10 starts, one relief) and piled up 63 1/3 innings of 2.42 ERA ball with a 28.6% strikeout rate against a 4.2% walk rate while pitching in the postseason.
With Wheeler now entrenched in Philadelphia through the 2027 season and Aaron Nola also re-signed for another seven seasons, the Philadelphia rotation is set for the foreseeable future. That pair will continue to lead the way, with Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez and Taijuan Walker all controlled/signed for multiple additional seasons. Suarez is arbitration-eligible through the 2026 season, while Walker is signed through 2027 and Sanchez is controllable all the way through 2028. Strong as that group may be, the Phillies continue to be linked to a possible short-term deal with reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell — though signing Snell would catapult the team into the top tier of luxury penalization, which would push the team’s top draft choice back ten spots and likely mean more than $35MM in taxes on top of any salary.
Barring a one final, surprising splash on the free agent or trade market, the Phillies have other depth options in house. Former Tigers righty Spencer Turnbull and former Braves/Rangers southpaw Kolby Allard both signed big league deals over the winter. The Phils also have a stable of touted pitching prospects including Andrew Painter (currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery), Mick Abel and Griff McGarry all working their way toward MLB debuts, giving them some quality young options. Painter isn’t likely to pitch at all in 2024 while recovering from last summer’s surgery, but he was in the mix to be the team’s fifth starter last year in spring training despite being just 19 years old during camp. He’ll be firmly in the 2025 rotation mix, though the team will presumably have him on some form of innings limit.
The Wheeler extension will take the Phillies north of $200MM in payroll commitments for the 2025 season before the first pitch of the 2024 campaign is even thrown, and with him now signed through the 2027 season, the Phils have a quartet of nine-figure deals they’ll be paying out at least four years down the road (Wheeler, Nola, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper). From a CBT standpoint, the Wheeler deal all but ensures that the Phillies will again be luxury tax payors next season at the very least. RosterResource projects Philadelphia for a hefty $229MM of luxury obligations next season, and that doesn’t even include next offseason’s dealings or any of the team’s arbitration-eligible players.
Wheeler would have been one of the top arms available in a deep class of free agent pitchers next winter. The 2024-25 offseason will still feature Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Shane Bieber, Walker Buehler, Scherzer and Verlander — pending further extensions among the group. Gerrit Cole also has an opt-out in his contract next winter, though the Yankees can (and very likely will, barring any sort of major injury) override that opt-out by picking up a club option for a tenth season at $36MM.
Wheeler would’ve landed behind younger aces like Burnes and Fried in terms of overall earning power, but as this extension shows, his earning power on a strict AAV basis very well could have been the highest of the bunch. Instead, he’ll anchor a deep Phillies rotation that’ll take aim at a third consecutive NLCS appearance in 2024 and look to secure the World Series title they fell just short of back in 2022.
ESPN’s Buster Olney first reported that the two parties had agreed to a multi-year extension. Matt Gelb of The Athletic first reported the terms of the contract.
Josh Donaldson Announces Retirement
Third baseman Josh Donaldson announced his retirement today on The Mayor’s Office (YouTube link). Back in November, he expressed an openness to playing one more year under the right circumstances, but it now seems the Bringer of Rain has decided it’s time to hang up his spikes.
Donaldson, now 38, took a winding path to the major leagues and was a late bloomer, but he nonetheless reached incredible heights as a big leaguer once everything aligned.
While playing third base at Auburn University, he began to learn how to catch. The Cubs then selected him as a catcher with the 48th overall pick in the 2007 draft. In July of 2008, he was traded to the Athletics, one of four players going to Oakland in exchange for Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin.
As he climbed the minor league ladder with his new club, his bat was considered ahead of his glove, an understandable situation given that he was relatively new to catching. He made his major league debut in 2010 but hit just .156/.206/.281 in his first 34 plate appearances.
He was stuck in the minors in 2011 and then spent 2012 being shuttled between the majors and the minors, gradually spending more time at third base over that stretch. His breakout season finally came in 2013, when Donaldson was 27 years old. Now done with catching for good, he got into 158 games for the A’s that year as their everyday third baseman. He hit 24 home runs and drew a walk in 11.4% of his plate appearances, only striking out at a 16.5% rate. His .301/.384/.499 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 147 and he got strong grades for his defense at the hot corner, leading to a tally of 7.3 wins above replacement from FanGraphs and 7.2 from Baseball Reference. He finished fourth in American League MVP voting.
Donaldson followed that up with a similarly excellent season in 2014 and the A’s made the postseason for a third straight year, but made a quick playoff exit all three times. The club decided to undergo a huge roster overhaul that winter, a frequent occurrence for the club and its persistent financial concerns. Going into 2015, the club traded away guys like Brandon Moss, Jeff Samardzija and also flipped Donaldson to the Blue Jays for a four-player package.
His first season in Toronto would eventually prove to be the best of his career. He launched 41 home runs and slashed .297/.371/.568 for a wRC+ of 154. The Jays won the A.L. East that year and Donaldson launched another three home runs in that year’s playoffs as the Jays advanced as far as the ALCS. He was graded as worth 8.7 fWAR and was voted as that year’s A.L. MVP, just ahead of Mike Trout.
He would go onto to have another excellent season for the Jays in 2016, hitting 37 home runs that year as they advanced to the ALCS yet again. He scored the winning run in the ALDS by dashing home from second on a fielder’s choice to secure an extra-inning victory over the Rangers.
But in 2017, injuries started to crop up, which would go on to be a key issue in the rest of his career. He was still excellent that season, slashing .270/.385/.559 while hitting 33 home runs, but was limited to 113 contests due to a calf strain. He and the Jays agreed to a $23MM salary for 2018, his final year of arbitration control. Since the Jays had fallen to fourth place the year prior, there were some trade rumors around Donaldson that winter but he ultimately stayed put.
He spent much of that year on the injured list due to shoulder and calf issues. With the Jays out of contention at the August waiver deadline, he was flipped to Cleveland for Julian Merryweather. Donaldson only played 16 games for Cleveland after that deal as he continued battling his injuries.
He finally reached free agency that winter, but with a limited amount of momentum. Thanks to his late-bloomer trajectory, he was going into his age-33 season and coming off an injury-marred campaign. Alex Anthopoulos, who acquired Donaldson when he was making decisions for the Blue Jays, had become the general manager in Atlanta prior to the 2018 campaign. He gave Donaldson a one-year “prove-it” deal worth $23MM.
Donaldson bounced back tremendously with Atlanta, getting into 155 games, walking in 15.2% of his plate appearances and hitting .259/.379/.521 for a 131 wRC+. He then rejected a qualifying offer from Atlanta and then signed a four-year, $92MM deal with the Twins. Issues with his right calf cropped up again in 2020, as he only played 28 games during that shortened season, but was able to get into 135 contests the year after and launch 26 home runs in the process.
With two years still left on that deal, the Twins flipped him to the Yankees alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt, with Gio Urshela and Gary Sánchez going the other way. Donaldson was healthy enough to get into 132 games in 2022 but his production tailed off. He only hit 15 homers and struck out at a 27.1% clip, leading to a line of .222/.308/.374. He spent much of 2023 on the injured list and was released at the end of August, joining the Brewers for the stretch run before returning to free agency this winter.
It wasn’t a storybook ending but Donaldson nonetheless managed to weave together quite a career. Despite not truly breaking out until the age of 27, he still managed to get into 1,384 games and rack up 1,310 hits. That latter figure includes 287 doubles, 12 triples and 279 home runs. He had matching tallies of 816 runs scored and runs batted in, stealing 40 bases in the process. He received an MVP award, three All-Star selections and two Silver Sluggers. His fiery personality which drove him to succeed also rankled some people around the game, as he often quarrelled with umpires, coaches and fellow players, but that combination of his talent and prickly character will likely lead him to being one of the more memorable players of his era. We at MLBTR salute him on his many accomplishments and wish him the best in whatever comes next.
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Injury Notes: Gausman, Kahnle, Bednar, Medina
Kevin Gausman is dealing with “general fatigue” in his throwing shoulder, manager John Schneider told reporters (including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) on Monday morning. The Blue Jays ace underwent an MRI that fortunately revealed no structural damage or injury. While that’s clearly a relief, there’s going to be some level of concern whenever a pitcher of Gausman’s caliber is battling any kind of shoulder discomfort.
The Jays elected to have Gausman skip his scheduled throwing session on Monday. He’ll be reevaluated later in the week. There’s nothing to suggest his availability for Opening Day is in jeopardy at this point. It’s nevertheless a situation to which the Jays will pay close attention. Alek Manoah is also battling what appears to be minor shoulder soreness. They’re the bookends to a projected rotation that’ll include a middle trio of Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi and José Berríos. Right-hander Bowden Francis is probably the top option to step into the season-opening starting five if anyone from that group begins the year on the shelf.
A few other pitching injury situations early this week:
- Tommy Kahnle hasn’t seen any game action this spring. He has been throwing side sessions, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone indicated the team is bringing him along more deliberately after he finished the 2023 season on the IL with shoulder inflammation (relayed by Greg Joyce of the New York Post). Boone indicated that Kahnle might not get on a Grapefruit League mound until close to the end of camp. That at least raises the possibility of opening the regular season on the 15-day injured list to buy him a little more time to get to full strength. Kahnle logged 40 2/3 innings in his return to the Bronx last year, his heaviest workload since 2019. He turned in a 2.66 ERA with a strong 29.1% strikeout rate in a setup capacity.
- Pirates closer David Bednar is battling what seems to be minor tightness in his right lat, skipper Derek Shelton said over the weekend (via MLB.com). The two-time All-Star has yet to get on the mound in exhibition play as the team keeps an eye on the situation. Bednar is a force at the back of the Pittsburgh bullpen and one of the sport’s best relievers overall. He has turned in a 2.25 ERA through 179 2/3 innings for the Bucs after his inclusion in the Joe Musgrove trade return. Bednar allowed an even two earned runs per nine over 67 1/3 frames a season ago. He paced the National League with 39 saves.
- The A’s pulled right-hander Luis Medina in the second inning of today’s Cactus League matchup against the Reds. Oakland announced that he sprained his right knee and didn’t provide any timetable for his return. Medina, a key piece of the Frankie Montas trade return, made his MLB debut last season. He started 17 of 23 appearances as a rookie, turning in a 5.42 ERA across 109 2/3 frames. Medina is battling for the #5 spot in the rotation. Paul Blackburn, JP Sears and offseason acquisitions Ross Stripling and Alex Wood look likely to take the top four jobs. Joe Boyle would be the expected choice for the #5 spot if Medina starts the year on the injured list.
Cardinals Have Not Recently Inquired On Snell, Montgomery
With top left-handers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery still unsigned into March, agent Scott Boras declared today that four new teams had checked in regarding those pitchers since the opening of spring camps. It doesn’t seem the Cardinals are among that group. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that, as of this afternoon, the Cards had not recently reached out to Boras about Snell or Montgomery.
That’s not a surprise, particularly as it pertains to Snell. St. Louis hasn’t been substantively tied to the defending NL Cy Young winner at any point. They’d left the door ajar to bringing Montgomery back at the time they traded him to the Rangers, but that possibility seemed more or less closed with the front office’s activity early in the offseason. The Cardinals added Sonny Gray on a three-year, $75MM pact as their big rotation pickup. They brought in Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson as hopefully stable sources of innings at the back end.
Gray’s tenure in Cardinal red has started somewhat shakily. The three-time All-Star was removed from his Spring Training appearance today with right hamstring tightness. Gray declined comment pending the results of an MRI; the team is expected to provide more information tomorrow.
While Gray’s status could theoretically spur the Cardinals to seek out additional pitching depth, that won’t be known until the team gets clarity as to whether he’s still on track to be ready for Opening Day. Even if he does need to spend time on the IL, a push for Montgomery or Snell would be a surprise.
St. Louis has roughly $185MM on the books for the upcoming season, according to RosterResource. That’ll be a franchise high for Opening Day, approximately $8MM above last year’s team-record figure. Their competitive balance tax number is around $215MM. Signing either pitcher, especially Snell, would push them near or beyond the $237MM luxury tax threshold. The cost for narrowly exceeding the threshold for the first time isn’t all that significant — a 20% hit on spending between $237MM and $257MM — but Goold notes that team officials have suggested they have no desire to push into tax territory.
If Gray remains on track for Opening Day, he’ll front a rotation also including Gibson, Lynn, Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz. Should anyone from that group miss time, young southpaws Matthew Liberatore and Zack Thompson are probably next on the depth chart. Drew Rom made his MLB debut late last year but was tagged for an 8.02 ERA over eight starts. Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein are also on the 40-man roster and have yet to reach the big leagues.
That’s a questionable group of depth starters for a team expecting to compete in the NL Central. Mike Clevinger and Michael Lorenzen headline the crop of unsigned starters beyond Snell and Montgomery. If the asking price for that duo is beyond the Cardinals’ liking, players like Zack Greinke, Eric Lauer and Noah Syndergaard wouldn’t command more than a few million dollars if they’re able to find a major league offer of any kind.
Phillies Reportedly Have Not “Seriously Discussed” Blake Snell
The Phillies hammered out their second recent nine-figure pitching investment this morning. Philadelphia’s three-year, $126MM extension with Zack Wheeler follows their $172MM guarantee over seven seasons to retain Aaron Nola in free agency. There’s been chatter about the possibility of adding the defending NL Cy Young winner to form an elite trio, but that has always seemed like a stretch — even for a franchise that spends as aggressively on star talent as the Phillies do.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote over the weekend that the Phils had interest in Snell if he takes a short-term contract. However, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported differently this afternoon. According to Gelb, the Phillies have not “seriously discussed” a pursuit of Snell, regardless of the contract length required.
Snell declined a qualifying offer from the Padres at the beginning of the offseason. Gelb suggests the Phils weren’t interested in signing a player who rejected a QO, which would require them to forfeit their second and fifth picks in the 2024 draft and $1MM in bonus pool space for international amateurs. Philadelphia did relinquish their right to a compensatory pick by re-signing Nola, though that would have been only one draft choice that fell after the fourth round. (Snell is the only of the seven players who declined the QO who remains unsigned.)
Even independent of the draft compensation, the Phillies haven’t seemed a great fit for Snell since they retained Nola. Philadelphia has $246MM in player commitments for the upcoming season, as calculated by RosterResource. That’s a little north of last year’s $243MM franchise-record Opening Day mark. The Phils have nearly $262MM in competitive balance tax commitments. They’re going to exceed the CBT for a third consecutive season, leading to higher penalties as a three-time payor.
Philadelphia is already set to pay roughly $13MM in luxury taxes. Further additions either during the offseason or around the deadline will add to that mark. The Phils would pay a 62% tax on their approximate next $15MM in spending. That’d be followed by a 95% charge on the following $20MM and a 110% tax on any money thereafter.
A short-term contract for Snell would assuredly come with a lofty average salary, heightening the CBT commitments. A $35MM annual value, as a hypothetical, would add around $28MM to Philadelphia’s tax bill on top of the money going to Snell. It would also vault the Phils past the $277MM line that marks the third tier of CBT penalization, pushing their top pick in the 2025 draft back 10 spots in the process. A longer-term commitment could soften the CBT hit but would add another extended pitching investment to the Nola, Wheeler and Taijuan Walker contracts — which all run through 2026 or later.
Every team would benefit from installing Snell into their rotation in the short term. The Phillies have a strong starting five already, though. Wheeler, Nola, Ranger Suárez, Walker and Cristopher Sánchez is a good group. Philadelphia took a flier on Spencer Turnbull as a long man/sixth starter and added Kolby Allard and Max Castillo as further rotation depth. Prospects Mick Abel and Griff McGarry are higher ceiling options who could make their respective big league debuts in 2024. Andrew Painter is likely to miss all of this season recovering from Tommy John surgery, yet he should be a factor in the ’25 starting staff.
Cubs Notes: Tauchman, Imanaga, Taillon
Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman has had plenty of uncertainty in his career. He’s bounced around from the Rockies to the Yankees and Giants, spent 2022 with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League and settled for a minor league deal with the Cubs going into 2023. But in 2024, he seems to have a bit more clarity on the path ahead of him. He tells Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times that manager Craig Counsell told him at the start of Spring Training that he has already made the team.
‘‘From a personal standpoint, [it’s] given me a little freedom to trial-and-error a couple of things, rather than really focusing on the results, focusing on ‘making the team,’ ’’ Tauchman said. ‘‘Because now it’s about getting ready for March 28 and the subsequent games that we have.’’
Tauchman, now 33, got added to the Cubs’ roster last year when Cody Bellinger was injured but played well enough to stick around even when Bellinger returned. He got into 108 games, drawing a walk in 14% of his 401 plate appearances. His home run total of eight was fairly modest but he was on-base enough to be above average at the plate overall. His .252/.363/.377 slash line translated to a wRC+ of 107. He also stole seven bases and got strong grades for his time on the grass, most of which was in center field. In 584 innings in center, he produced three Defensive Runs Saved and got a +1 from Outs Above Average.
That solid showing was enough for the Cubs to tender him an arbitration contract, with the two sides eventually agreeing to a $1.95MM salary. For part of this offseason, Tauchman may have been seen as the on-paper center fielder between Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ. Prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong would have been another option but he’s considered a glove-first player, is still shy of his 22nd birthday and has just 47 games played above Double-A.
The Cubs recently re-signed Bellinger and he figures to take the center field job. He also plays first base but it seems like the Cubs will give Michael Busch a chance to take that spot. That will likely leave Tauchman in a fourth outfielder role while Crow-Armstrong gets regular reps in Triple-A. An injury could always change things, with Happ currently dealing with a mild hamstring strain, but Tauchman seems to have a refreshingly secure gig for the time being.
Elsewhere in Cubs’ tidbits, the rotation figures to be an area of focus this year as the club looks to take a step forward after just missing the playoffs last year. Collectively, Cub starters had a 4.26 ERA last year which put them 14th in the majors. Since the club is going into 2024 with a fairly similar roster, improvement in the rotation could be a difference maker.
Marcus Stroman departed via free agency and the club signed Shota Imanaga to take his spot. Imanaga will be looking to make the transition from Japan, where pitchers often throw once a week, to the five-day cycle in North America.
Bruce Levine of 670 The Score relays that the club plans on using off-days and spot starters to help him with the adjustment, which could perhaps lead to some extra starts for optionable depth arms. The club figures to have Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, Jameson Taillon and Imanaga in four rotation spots, with one more spot available to Jordan Wicks, Javier Assad, Hayden Wesneski, Caleb Kilian or Ben Brown.
Everyone in that latter group has options and may start the season in the minors but it sounds like there will be opportunities to make big league appearances as the season rolls along. The occasional spot start will be used to give Imanaga and the other guys a breather and injuries are fairly inevitable for pitchers, which will open other chances.
Taillon will be looking for a bounceback season, as his first campaign with the Cubs wasn’t strong, finishing with a 4.84 ERA. That potential bounceback season is off to a bumpy start, however, as Lee reports that Taillon is dealing with some soreness in both of his calves. That issue doesn’t seem debilitating and he still appears to be on track for Opening Day if he doesn’t experience any setbacks, but it’s a situation worth monitoring over the weeks to come since a return to form for Taillon will be important for the Cubs this year.
Orioles Notes: Mullins, Henderson, Bradish, Rotation
Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins exited Monday’s Grapefruit League contest against the Twins with discomfort in his hamstring, the team announced. Mullins drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second base on a grounder. He then walked off the field under his own power two pitches into the next at-bat. Enrique Bradfield Jr. replaced him on the bases.
Fortunately for O’s fans, it seems the situation is relatively minor. Manager Brandon Hyde called Mullins’ exit “precautionary” following the game (X link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). Concern is low enough that the team isn’t even planning on performing an MRI or any other imaging to determine if there’s a more serious issue at play. Mullins is considered day-to-day for now, according to Hyde.
The 29-year-old Mullins has been a steady contributor on both sides of the ball for the Orioles over the past three seasons, although the 2023 campaign was his worst and, perhaps not coincidentally, least healthy of the three. Mullins had a pair of IL stints last season due to right groin strains, finishing out the season with a .233/.305/.416 slash (99 wRC+), 15 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 116 games. He missed only nine total games the two seasons prior, batting a combined .274/.339/.460 with 46 big flies and 64 steals. If there’s any sort of setback, infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo and top outfield prospect Colton Cowser are on hand as options to see time in center field.
Mateo has traditionally been a shortstop, but the team has already suggested that the wealth of infield talent on the Baltimore roster will likely push Mateo into the outfield more frequently in 2024. The fleet-footed Mateo’s primary spot in recent years, shortstop, sounds as though it’ll be handled primarily by reigning AL Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson in 2024. While Henderson is capable of playing both shortstop and third base at a high level, the 22-year-old said yesterday that his playing time would be “leaning more toward shortstop” (X link via the Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich).
Henderson has played shortstop, third base and (much more briefly) second base so far in the big leagues. He split his time between the two left-side infield positions nearly evenly in 2023, logging 594 innings at third base and 584 at shortstop. Defensive metrics touted his glovework at both spots, but he drew stronger marks at shortstop (particularly from Defensive Runs Saved, which pegged him at +10). Third base, then, will likely be left to a combination of Jordan Westburg, Ramon Urias and prospect Coby Mayo, though Mateo could also see time there. Current No. 1 overall prospect Jackson Holliday has been playing second base this spring, while each of Westburg and Urias can play basically anywhere in the infield. Mayo’s primary position is third base, though there’s some thought he could eventually move to first base or an outfield corner. Regardless, he’s not yet on the 40-man roster.
Of course, a substantial part of the focus in Orioles camp right now is on right-hander Kyle Bradish, who’s currently attempting a rest/rehab approach to mending a sprain in his right ulnar collateral ligament. Bradish had a platelet-rich plasma injection before the O’s even publicly announced the injury, and Weyrich writes that he’s been throwing pain-free from flat ground.
While general manager Mike Elias struck an optimistic tone, he also preached caution and declined to place a timeline on the right-hander’s potential return. Bradish himself noted that follow-up MRIs have shown “accelerated healing” of the ligament so far, Weyrich writes, though that doesn’t yet mean he’s dodged a long-term absence. Bradish has yet to throw off a mound and currently isn’t throwing at full intensity. The early results are perhaps cause for some cautious optimism, but there’s a ways to go in the process.
For the time being, it doesn’t seem as though Bradish’s injury will prompt the Orioles to make another notable acquisition. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com downplayed the possibility of the Orioles signing a big-name free agent, writing that the team appears satisfied with its depth at present. Baltimore picked up Julio Teheran on a minor league deal late last week and could give him a look early in the season, but Kubatko more specifically noted that he’d be “floored” to see the O’s pursue an opt-out-laden deal with a top free agent like Jordan Montgomery.
U. L. Washington Passes Away
Former big league shortstop U. L. Washington passed away on Sunday at the age of 70 after a battle with cancer.
“We mourn the loss of Royals Baseball Academy graduate and 1980 American League Champion U. L. Washington and send our condolences to his family and friends,” the Royals said in a statement earlier today.
“So sorry to hear my friend my teammate UL Washington has died of cancer,” Hall of Famer George Brett said in his own statement on X last night. “He was a great player. I will always be thankful of our time together with the Royals.”
Born in Stringtown, Oklahoma, Washington played collegiate baseball at Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma for one year before being admitted into the Royals Baseball Academy in 1973, which he attended alongside the likes of Frank White and Ron Washington. After spending several years in the Kansas City system, Washington made his big league debut at the age of 23 in 1977, though he was limited to a 10-game cup of coffee in the majors that season as the Royals went on to win 102 games before falling to the Yankees in the ALCS. Washington grew into a larger utility role with the club over the next two seasons, batting a combined .257/.304/.338 while playing solid defense at both second base and shortstop.
By 1980, Washington had developed into the club’s everyday shortstop and enjoyed the best season of his career to that point, slashing .276/.336/.375 in 153 games in conjunction with slick fielding. Washington’s first season as a regular saw the club reach the World Series, though they ultimately fell to the Phillies in a six-game set. Washington was a key contributor during the club’s postseason run not only in the field but also at the plate, where he went 10-for-33. After struggling somewhat during the strike-shortened 1981 season, the then-28-year-old returned to form in 1982 with a career year that saw him slash an above-average .286/.337/.412 despite missing a month due to injury. Washington came back down to Earth over his final two seasons with the Royals, batting just .233/.294/.310 in a combined 207 games despite recording a 40-steal season in 1983.
The switch-hitter’s tenure in Kansas City came to an end upon being dealt to the Expos in January 1985 in exchange for a package featuring southpaw Mike Kinnunen. Washington played in a utility capacity for the Expos, spending time at shortstop as well as second and third base while slashing .249/.301/.352 in 209 trips to the plate with the club. Washington hit free agency following the 1985 season, but did not sign with a club until partway through the 1986 campaign when he latched on with the Pirates. The then-32-year-old shortstop would finish his career in Pittsburgh, appearing in 82 games over two seasons with the club.
Washington finished his major league career with 907 games under his belt across eleven seasons, 757 of which came as a member of the Royals. A career .251/.313/.343 hitter, he stole 132 bases and clubbed 166 extra-base hits throughout his career while recording 5,864 1/3 innings at shortstop. Though Washington’s playing career in the majors came to a close in 1987, his time in the game was far from over. He began his coaching career as a manager in the Pirates’ system in 1989 before moving on the act as a hitting coach in the Royals, Dodgers, Twins, and Red Sox organizations. During his time as a coach, he worked with future stars such as Tim Wakefield and Mookie Betts.
MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball world in sending our condolences to Washington’s family, friends, loved ones, and former teammates.
Sonny Gray Headed For MRI After Early Exit; Tommy Edman May Not Be Ready For Opening Day
Top Cardinals starter Sonny Gray exited today’s spring start with a trainer in the middle of an at-bat against Washington’s Nick Senzel. The team announced shortly afterward that Gray was experiencing tightness in his right hamstring. Gray declined to comment on the potential injury after exiting, instead stating that he wanted to talk to the team’s training staff and learn more about the issue before speaking with the media (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Gray missed roughly a month of the 2022 season with a strain in that same right hamstring as a member of the Twins back in 2022. Goold further tweets that Gray is headed for an MRI to determine the severity of the issue.
An absence of any real note would be a nightmare scenario for the Cardinals. While the Cards overhauled their rotation this winter, Gray is the lone front-of-the-rotation arm the team brought in. Lance Lynn isn’t far removed from posting high-end results himself, but he’s 36 years old and coming off arguably the worst season of his career. He, like fellow mid-30s veteran Kyle Gibson, was signed more as a durable source of innings than to be a clear playoff-caliber starter.
Gray, 34, is fresh off a Cy Young runner-up finish in the American League. He pitched 184 innings of 2.79 ERA ball last season, fanning 24.3% of his opponents against a 7.3% walk rate. Gray’s 2.83 FIP was a near-identical match with his ERA, though metrics like xFIP and SIERA, which normalize home run rate, were more bearish and pegged him in the mid- to upper-3.00s. Gray’s 5.2% homer-to-flyball ratio was less than half the 12.3% career mark he carried into the 2023 campaign. The Cardinals signed him for three years and a total of $75MM back in November. He’s slated to be joined by Gibson, Lynn, Steven Matz and Miles Mikolas in one of the game’s oldest rotations.
Even if Gray can’t quite replicate his 2023 performance, he’s the clear top starter on that St. Louis staff. Were he to miss time, the drop-off between Gray and his replacement would be substantial. At present, the top options to step into the staff in his stead would presumably be lefties Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson and Drew Rom. Righties Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein are both on the 40-man roster as well, though neither has made his MLB debut yet.
The Cardinals, at least thus far, haven’t brought in any veteran big league starters on non-roster deals. That’s understandable, as most players open to that type of deal would take a look at the veteran rotation in St. Louis and see a lack of opportunity — but the lack of any proven depth could also be an issue in 2024, depending on how the rest of the staff holds up.
Gray isn’t the only key member of the Cardinals who’s facing some health-related uncertainty. Tommy Edman, formerly the team’s shortstop and now slated to serve as the Cardinals’ everyday center fielder, isn’t recovering from arthroscopic wrist surgery as swiftly as the team hoped. Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that “internal concern is growing” that Edman might not be ready for Opening Day. Edman still hasn’t been cleared to face live pitching, Woo writes, and despite the fact that Opening Day is just over three weeks away, there’s not even a timetable for when that might happen.
Fourth outfielder Dylan Carlson would step into the starting job in center field if Edman is on the injured list to begin the season, per the report. Lars Nootbaar played plenty of center field last season, but perhaps if the plan is for him to play left field regularly when Edman is healthy this season, the team simply wants Nootbaar getting as many reps in that position as possible. Carlson’s role as a fourth outfielder would be cycling through all three spots anyhow.
Edman, 28, had a disappointing 2023 at the plate while playing through pain in that now surgically-repaired wrist for much of the season. The versatile switch-hitter spent nearly a month of the ’23 season on the injured list due to inflammation in that wrist, and when he was healthy his output at the plate dropped from .265/.324/.400 in 2022 (106 wRC+) to just .248/.307/.399 in 2023 (92 wRC+).
In the event that Edman indeed requires a stint on the injured list to begin the season, that’d open up a spot on the bench for the Cards. That wouldn’t necessarily need to be an outfielder, as utilityman Brendan Donovan is no stranger to the outfield, and as previously noted, Nootbaar can handle center field work as well. That said, an outfielder would be the most logical candidate. Lefty-swinging Michael Siani and Alec Burleson are both on the 40-man roster already and both have minor league options remaining. Siani is regarded as a plus defender in center field and would offer premium speed off the bench, while Burleson would be limited to first base and the corners but give the Cards some power that the bench currently lacks.