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Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Hitting Coach Rick Eckstein

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Rick Eckstein’s playing career ended with the 1996 Florida Gators, where he played alongside his younger brother David.  Rick moved directly into a coaching role at the University of Florida, the beginning of what has become a respected career.

Eckstein eventually worked his way up the ladder to become the Nationals’ big league hitting coach for nearly five years, working under manager Davey Johnson from 2009-13.  Nats players Adam LaRoche, Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, and Stephen Strasburg won Silver Slugger awards under Eckstein’s watch.  After a stint with the Angels as player information coach, Eckstein became an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky.

Following a few years as the Twins’ minor league hitting coordinator, Eckstein was hired as the Pirates’ Major League hitting coach under managers Clint Hurdle and Derek Shelton.  He served in that job for nearly three years.  Rick currently serves as a consultant to MLB hitters, given his vast knowledge and experience in the game.

Rick joined MLBTR readers today for a live chat, covering the new shift rule, working with Davey Johnson, and much more.  Read the transcript here.

Angels Notes: Ohtani, Rendon, Barria

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Agent Nez Balelo of CAA, who represents Shohei Ohtani, told reporters this week that while an extension is “always” something to which they’ve been open, Ohtani has also “earned the right to play through the year, explore free agency” (link via ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez) As one would expect, Balelo spoke rather vaguely with regard to his star client’s future, stating that Ohtani is taking things “day by day” and downplaying the idea that the Angels’ lack of postseason berths during his time with the team would push the two-way sensation to a new team. “He’s so competitive, like all great players are, so of course they want to experience postseason, of course they’d love to be in the World Series,” said Balelo. “But is that the deciding factor? I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

At 28 years old, Ohtani has become one of the game’s brightest stars. He secured an All-Star berth in each of the past two seasons, winning American League MVP honors in 2021 and finishing runner-up in 2022 — while also grabbing a fourth-place finish in Cy Young voting. Since Opening Day 2021, he’s batted .265/.364/.554 with 80 homers and 37 steals in 1305 plate appearances, while at the same time pitching 296 1/3 innings of 2.70 ERA ball with a 31.4% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. There’s been plenty of talk about the bidding war he could spark heading into his age-29 season, with speculation that Ohtani could sign the largest contract ever — perhaps even pushing $500MM in total value.

More on the Halos…

  • Anthony Rendon is in Angels camp and feeling optimistic about the 2023 season despite requiring a second surgery in as many years last summer, writes Sarah Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Times. Rendon noted that returning even for a couple games late in the 2022 season brought him some peace of mind heading into the winter, and while his surgically repaired wrist wasn’t 100% throughout the winter, it’s feeling stronger now. He acknowledged that the Angels will likely be cautious with his workload and offered high praise for new teammate Gio Urshela — the trade acquisition who’ll play no small part in helping to spell Rendon when needed. Halos skipper Phil Nevin pointed out that Rendon already has one Comeback Player of the Year Award under his belt and expressed confidence that the former All-Star can return to form. Rendon, who signed a seven-year, $245MM deal with Anaheim following the 2019 season, has played in just 157 games since putting pen to paper. Fifty-two of those games came in the shortened 2020 season, when he turned in an outstanding .286/.418/.497 slash with solid defense at the hot corner. Since then, he’s played in just 105 of 324 possible games.
  • Right-hander Jaime Barria is in the mix for the sixth spot in the Angels’ rotation, writes Sam Blum of The Athletic. He’ll join a group including Griffin Canning, Chase Silseth, Tucker Davidson and Chris Rodriguez in vying for that spot. As Blum outlines, that sixth-starter role could perhaps be best occupied by someone with Barria’s swingman experience, given that off-days will necessitate the sixth spot being skipped from time to time. Barria, who’s out of minor league options, figures to make the club one way or another this year, particularly given last season’s strong showing in a long relief role. In 79 1/3 frames, the 26-year-old posted a 2.61 ERA with a well below-average 17.1% strikeout rate but a strong 6% walk rate and a 40.9% grounder rate. Barria has never missed many bats but has typically displayed strong command en route to a career 4.09 ERA in 380 1/3 innings split fairly evenly as a starter (4.03 ERA, 56 appearances) and and a reliever (4.25 ERA, 44 appearances). He and the Angels avoided arbitration with a one-year, $1.05MM deal earlier this winter.

Drew Waters Out For Six Weeks With Oblique Strain

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Royals outfielder Drew Waters will be out of action for six weeks due a left oblique strain, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Given that there’s about five weeks until Opening Day, it seems as though Waters is destined to miss the start of the season.

Waters, 24, was a second round draft pick of Atlanta and was considered one of the best prospects in the game not too long ago. Baseball America had him up in the #32 slot on their top 100 list going into 2021, with reports highlighting his defense, speed, throwing arm and ability to hit from both sides of the plate. The biggest red flag on his profile, however, was a propensity for strikeouts that has carried into the upper levels of the minors as well as the big leagues.

Waters spent 2021 in Triple-A and struck out in 30.9% of his plate appearances, finishing with a .240/.329/.381 batting line and 94 wRC+. He had some similar results in the first half of 2022 before getting flipped to the Royals alongside two other minor leaguers for a Competitive Balance draft pick. The organizational switch seemed to suit Waters, as he finished the season strong. He hit .295/.399/.541 in Omaha before getting promoted to the majors in August, then hit .240/.324/.479 in the bigs for a wRC+ of 125. Those strong numbers aside, the strikeout issues still lingered. He was punched out in 28.7% of his trips to the plate with Omaha and 36.7% with the Royals.

Even though the strikeouts are still a work in progress, it seems the club believes in Waters enough to give him a lengthy audition. The trade of Michael A. Taylor to the Twins freed up center field and seemingly moved Waters to the top of the depth chart there. He’s considered a strong defender and could prove to be a useful player out there even without strong offense, similar to Taylor, though an above-average bat would obviously be ideal.

It seems that the audition will have to be delayed, at least for a short time. If the provided timeline holds, then Waters won’t miss too much of the season, but oblique injuries are often tricky and recoveries from them don’t always go exactly as planned. For as long as he’s out, the club will have to come up with a plan to cover the position. Manager Matt Quatraro says that Kyle Isbel will “get every opportunity to grab that spot,” per Rogers. Isbel has hit just .226/.281/.361 in the majors thus far but has a much stronger line of .268/.357/.447 in Triple-A over the past two years. He also has strong defensive numbers so far and could be a very useful contributor if he hits at the major league level.

With Isbel likely moving into center for a while, that will free up some playing time in the corners for others. Edward Olivares is a straightforward outfielder in the mix, while there are also many infielders who could see time on the grass, such as Nate Eaton, Hunter Dozier, Samad Taylor and Nick Pratto. There’s also catcher MJ Melendez, who has seen some time in the outfield with Salvador Perez taking the bulk of playing time behind the plate. A non-roster wild card will be Franmil Reyes, who recently signed a minor league deal with the club. He hasn’t played much outfield in recent years but the Waters injury could potentially free up some at-bats for him in the designated hitter slot.

Brewers, Tyler Naquin Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Brewers have agreed to a minor league pact with free-agent outfielder Tyler Naquin, tweets Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The Excel Sports client will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. It’s the second non-roster deal with a notable veteran for the Brewers today, as they also signed Luke Voit to a similar pact earlier this morning.

Like Voit, Naquin will give the Brewers some potential power to add to the lineup. He’s clubbed 30 homers and turned in a solid .201 isolated power mark (slugging percentage minus batting average) over the past two seasons between the Reds and the Mets. In that time, Naquin slashed .252/.311/.454, drawing walks at a 6.9% clip against a 25.4% strikeout rate. He’s primarily played in the outfield corners over the past two seasons and is better suited for corner work, according to most defensive metrics, though he certainly has experience in center and can handle the position in a pinch.

Naquin, 31, has spent parts of seven seasons in the Majors, mostly coming with Cleveland, who selected him with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2012 draft. He’s been deployed largely as a platoon player in recent seasons and owns a career .274/.326/.468 batting line against right-handers (as opposed to a .210/.272/.339 output against lefties).

As things stand, the outfield situation in Milwaukee is a bit in flux. Christian Yelich is locked into left field, but the options in center and left have limited track records. Garrett Mitchell turned heads with a .311/.373/.459 batting line through 68 plate appearances in his MLB debut last season, but he needed a sky-high .548 BABIP to get there and also fanned in 41.2% of his plate appearances; without pronounced improvement in his strikeout rate, regression is inevitable. That said, Mitchell was a first-round pick in 2020 and posted quality minor league numbers in 2022, so it’s certainly feasible that he could establish himself.

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Tyrone Taylor could be poised for a career-high workload. He’s coming off a rather pedestrian .233/.286/.442 batting line, but he grades out as an above-average defender who’s capable of playing all three outfield spots. There’s also Jesse Winker, acquired from the Mariners earlier in the winter, though he’ll be in search of a rebound at the plate and could also see ample time at designated hitter.

Further down the depth chart, Milwaukee has top prospects like Joey Wiemer and Sal Frelick in the upper minors. Both reached Triple-A in 2022 and thrived there, albeit in sample sizes of fewer than 250 plate appearances apiece. Milwaukee also inked switch-hitting Blake Perkins to a Major League deal earlier in the winter despite the fact that he’s never played a big league game. He slashed a combined .246/.357/.456 between the Yankees’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2022.

With a big spring showing, Naquin could put himself in the running for at-bats in right field, where the right-handed hitting Taylor would make for a natural platoon partner. He could also win a bench spot on a heavily right-handed-hitting club, where the current favorites for reserve roles include Mike Brosseau, Keston Hiura and perhaps either Luis Urias or Brian Anderson (depending on which lands at third base more regularly — a situation that is dependent itself on how quickly prospect Brice Turang gets a look at second base).

The Opener: Report Dates, Infield Market, MLBTR Chats

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As the return of baseball games rapidly approaches, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. All players to have reported to camp:

The last 12 clubs have set their official report date for position players today. While the vast majority of players have already had their official report dates, and many players whose official report date was today reported early, today marks the day that every player invited to major league Spring Training for in present in camp. As always on official report dates, there’s a chance previously unknown injuries are revealed regarding players reporting for the first time today. Yankees lefty Nestor Cortes, Brewers lefty Aaron Ashby, and Mariners outfielder Taylor Trammell are among the players who were revealed to be injured upon arriving in camp this spring. Spring Training games are set to begin at the end of the week.

2. Infield Market Update

So far this week, shortstop Elvis Andrus, third baseman Edwin Rios and (just this morning) first baseman Luke Voit have all signed — Andrus with the White Sox, Rios with the Cubs, and Voit with the Brewers. Though the free agent market has largely thinned out to this point, there are still a handful of interesting players available who can contribute at the big league level.

Donovan Solano has experience at both second and third base and, though he is coming off a down season, was roughly league average with the bat in 2022 (98 wRC+). Jose Iglesias has largely been just below league average with the bat for his career outside of a outlier 2020 season with the Orioles where he posted a whopping 160 wRC+ (thanks, in large part, to a .407 BABIP that far outstrips his career .307 mark), but he has long been a reliable defender up the middle and could help an infield-needy club. Moving to first base, Yuli Gurriel and Miguel Sano remain on the market. Gurriel won a batting title in 2021 but saw his production crater in 2022, his age-38 season. Sano has been wildly inconsistent in his career and spent most of ’22 on the injured list but has as much raw power as nearly anyone in baseball.

3. MLBTR Live Chats Today

Yesterday, MLBTR had the pleasure of hosting a live chat with former MLB scout Tim Kissner for readers, the transcript of which you can read here. Today, our series of live chats with people from around the game continues as we’re excited to host Rick Eckstein, a former MLB hitting coach. Eckstein was the hitting coach for the Nationals from 2009-2013, and served as the Pirates’ hitting coach for three seasons, 2019-2021. Between those stints as a hitting coach, Eckstein also spent time as a member of the Angels and Twins organizations. In addition to his time as a major league coach, Eckstein also served as an assistant coach for the University of Kentucky. Keep an eye out for Eckstein’s chat at 3:30pm central time today.

Also today, at 11am CT, MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be hosting a live chat where he will field questions from readers. Be sure to stop by and ask any questions you might have about your favorite team or the larger baseball world as Spring Training gets underway and the offseason comes to a close. You can submit a question in advance, and use the same link to access the chat once it begins.

Diamondbacks Have Opened Extension Conversations With Corbin Carroll

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The D-Backs have opened discussions with rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll about a potential long-term extension, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Neither the numbers under consideration nor likelihood of a deal coming together are known, though Piecoro cautions no agreement appears imminent.

It’s no surprise to hear Arizona would like to keep Carroll around for even longer than their allotted six seasons of club control. The Snakes selected the 22-year-old in the first round of the 2019 draft and quickly saw him blossom into one of the sport’s most touted young players. Carroll combined for a .307/.425/.611 line in the minors last season, earning his first major league call in late August. He made it into 32 big league games, starting off with a .260/.330/.500 showing with four home runs through his first 115 plate appearances.

Carroll is now cemented on the major league roster. Arizona dealt Daulton Varsho to Toronto for young catcher Gabriel Moreno, thanks in large part to their surplus of left-handed hitting outfielders. Piecoro writes that Carroll is ticketed for left field work during the upcoming season, presumably leaving center field to Alek Thomas and right field to some combination of Jake McCarthy, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Kyle Lewis.

Among that group, none is more highly-regarded than Carroll. Each of Baseball America, ESPN and The Athletic slotted him among the game’s top three prospects this offseason, with The Athletic’s Keith Law naming him the sport’s best rookie talent. Carroll is regarded as a potential face-of-the-franchise player, with evaluators effusive in their praise for his contact skills, power and athleticism.

The D-Backs already control the Seattle native at least through the 2028 season. He won’t qualify for arbitration until after the 2025 campaign at the earliest. Arizona surely doesn’t envision sending Carroll back to the minors, though if he struggles and winds up demoted at any point, his path to arbitration and/or free agency could be delayed further.

Even if Carroll is in the majors to stay, the six-year control window means the Snakes aren’t facing any urgency to keep him off the market. That said, the chances of pushing back his path to free agency would only figure to decrease over time if Carroll performs at the level the organization expects.

It’s not uncommon for teams to try to hammer out early-career deals with young players of this caliber. A handful of players have signed extensions even before making their MLB debuts, with Luis Robert securing the largest guarantee among that subset of players. Robert — regarded by Baseball America as the game’s #2 prospect at the time — signed a six-year, $50MM guarantee that included a pair of club options over the 2019-20 offseason to extend Chicago’s window of control by two seasons. Carroll already has a bit of MLB success under his belt and is assured of a major league roster spot heading into next season. It stands to reason his camp would aim higher than the Robert deal, particularly since the extension market has advanced over the past couple years.

Rays shortstop Wander Franco and Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez have signed massive extensions within the last 14 months. Franco’s deal guaranteed $182MM over 11 years and included a club option for a 12th season. Rodríguez’s deal was more complex, guaranteeing $210MM over 12 years and including a number of club/player options that could keep him in Seattle for an eye-popping 18 seasons.

The Franco extension more closely aligns with where Carroll is at in his career. Rodríguez had already made Seattle’s Opening Day roster before signing his extension midway through last season. He was well on his way to the Rookie of the Year award and was certain to accrue a full year of service time, essentially putting him in the 1-2 year service bucket at signing.

Franco, on the other hand, signed his deal over an offseason when he had some MLB time but less than a full year of service. That makes Carroll an apples-to-apples comparison from a service perspective, although the Tampa Bay shortstop arguably had a stronger negotiating platform than the Arizona outfielder does now. Franco had played in a little more than twice as many MLB games as Carroll has, suiting up 70 times for the Rays during his debut season. He’d hit .288/.347/.463 with seven homers and a minuscule 12% strikeout rate over 308 regular season plate appearances and posted an OPS north of 1.100 in four playoff games.

That’s a more robust MLB résumé than Carroll has yet been able to accrue. Franco was also a year younger last winter than Carroll is now and arguably an even more highly-regarded prospect. Franco had ranked as the sport’s #1 prospect at Baseball America in both 2020 and ’21. He’d also played in 82 more minor league games than Carroll has. That’s attributable to a 2021 labrum tear for the Diamondback, one which required season-ending surgery after just seven High-A games.

Clearly, Carroll showed no ill effects of that procedure in 2022. He rebounded with an excellent season and is now universally regarded as one of the league’s top young talents. Yet Franco was probably a slightly safer long-term bet at the time of his contract — thanks both to the absence of any serious injuries on his history and his lengthier big league track record.

The Braves worked out a long-term deal with the eventual National League Rookie of the Year last summer as well. Michael Harris II signed for eight years and $72MM with a pair of club options in August. Harris had less than a year of service at the time of his deal but his eventual award win would earn him a full service year at season’s end. He’d already established himself as a Gold Glove caliber center fielder at the time of his contract, though his offensive projection is perhaps a bit more uncertain than Carroll’s. Harris carried an excellent .287/.325/.500 line in 268 MLB plate appearances at the time of his contract, albeit with some questions about the sustainability of his .345 average on balls in play.

Arizona’s long-term payroll outlook is wide open. The D-Backs have just $42MM in estimated commitments on the books by the 2024 season, according to Roster Resource. Only Ketel Marte has a guaranteed deal that runs beyond ’24, with respective salaries of $16MM, $16MM and $14MM between 2025-27. Arizona will open this season with a player payroll around $119MM, so there’s certainly room on the books for an extension for a player whom the organization views as a cornerstone.

That might all prove a moot point if Carroll and his camp aren’t anxious to negotiate a longer-term agreement. It’s possible he’d prefer to bet on himself to establish more of a track record before discussing an extension, particularly since he received a signing bonus worth just under $3.75MM out of high school. Whether negotiations progress will make for an interesting subplot to D-Backs’ camp over the coming weeks.

Rangers To Sign Joe Palumbo To Minor League Deal

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Left-hander Joe Palumbo took a physical today to finalize a minor league contract with the Rangers, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Assuming all went as planned, he’ll return to the organization where he began his professional career as a 30th-round draftee in 2013.

Palumbo reached the highest level with Texas between 2019-20. He combined for nine MLB appearances over those two seasons, starting four games. He threw 19 innings and allowed 20 runs, surrendering a staggering eight home runs. Palumbo struck out 26 hitters (an above-average 27.4% rate) but struggled with both walks and hard contact in that brief look.

At the beginning of the 2021-22 offseason, Texas took Palumbo off the 40-man roster. The Giants claimed him but almost immediately non-tendered him, sending him to free agency. Palumbo returned to San Francisco on a minor league pact but only pitched three times in Triple-A before being released. He’d barely pitched in 2020-21 either, spending most of that two-year stretch on the injured list.

All told, Palumbo has logged just 14 innings between MLB and the minors over the last three seasons. Prior to the injury concerns, the New York native had been regarded as one of the better prospects in the Rangers’ system. He slotted among the top 11 Texas farmhands at Baseball America each year between 2017-20, drawing particular praise for his curveball.

Palumbo is expected to be assigned directly to minor league camp once his deal is finalized. That suggests he’s not under consideration for an Opening Day roster spot but positions him to head to Triple-A Round Rock to open 2023. The 28-year-old has pitched in parts of nine minor league campaigns, carrying a 3.03 ERA with a 28.3% strikeout rate and a 9.8% walk percentage in a little less than 400 minor league innings.

Rays Notes: Diaz, Poche, Arbitration, Stadium

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The Rays expect to deploy Yandy Díaz frequently at first base during the upcoming season, manager Kevin Cash informed reporters (link via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). He’ll presumably pick up the lion’s share of at-bats there after Tampa Bay dealt Ji-Man Choi to the Pirates at the start of the offseason.

Díaz has plenty of experience at the position, logging just under 1000 MLB innings there. He led the team in first base playing time as recently as 2021 — narrowly topping Choi that season — but spent the bulk of his 2022 campaign at third base. Díaz started only 15 games at first last season and was penciled in at the hot corner on 97 occasions. Public defensive metrics have never rated him especially favorably there. Last season was no exception, with both Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved grading him among the league’s bottom five defensive third basemen.

The 31-year-old is coming off arguably the best season of his career on the other side of the ball, however. Díaz hit .296/.401/.423 with nine home runs and more walks than strikeouts in 558 trips to the plate. The Rays rewarded him with a three-year deal to buy out his final two arbitration seasons and extend their window of club control by potentially two years (including a 2026 club option). He’ll surely be in the lineup on most days and manning first base would lighten his defensive responsibilities while leaving greater opportunities at the hot corner for players like Isaac Paredes and Taylor Walls.

In other news out of Tampa:

  • The club won arbitration hearings over relievers Colin Poche and Ryan Thompson over the weekend. After the decisions were handed out, Poche expressed some frustration with the arbitrators who heard his case (link via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). “I thought my agency, and the lawyers from the Players Association, made a really strong case. I thought we had a good chance,” Poche said. “But that’s kind of what happens when you leave it up to a panel of arbitrators who have experience in the process, but they’re outside the realm of baseball. So there’s a lot of things that maybe we place more importance on that they don’t fully grasp the same level of importance.” The left-hander indicated he felt the panel wasn’t properly suited to value non-closing relievers, in particular, and opined the arbitrators didn’t place enough emphasis on his 23 holds last season. Poche stressed he had no gripes with the Rays or the manner in which they presented their case (as did Thompson), confining his criticism to the arbitrators themselves. Both players had small filing gaps relative to the salaries they’ll wind up making. Poche will make $1.175MM rather than his desired $1.3MM, while Thompson will collect $1MM instead of a $1.2MM filing figure.
  • The Rays’ efforts to get a new stadium in the Tampa area took a step forward a few weeks back when St. Petersburg mayor Ken Welch backed the club’s proposal for a redevelopment plan of the city’s Gas Plant district. That doesn’t tie the franchise to the city but sets the stage for continued negotiations. Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times provided an update on the process over the weekend, reporting the city has begun drafting a term sheet that’d commit the Rays to St. Petersburg for an initial term of 30 years if eventually agreed upon. Those drafts have yet to specify any proposed funding commitments between the city, Pinellas County and the Rays’ organization. That’ll obviously be a key issue to hammer out over the coming months, with the process expected to continue well into the summer. Wright notes the city retained a Minneapolis-based law firm last week in preparation for negotiations.

Mariners, Kean Wong Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Mariners are signing infielder Kean Wong to a minor league contract with an invitation to big league camp, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. He joins older brother Kolten Wong in the organization.

Kean Wong, 27, is a former fourth-round draftee of the Rays. He split the 2019 campaign between Tampa Bay and the Angels, later suiting up with the Halos for 32 contests in 2021. Wong has 84 MLB plate appearances to his name, carrying a .167/.188/.218 line with 23 strikeouts and two walks in that brief look.

Like his brother, the younger Wong is primarily a second baseman. He has played nearly 5000 innings at the keystone over parts of nine professional seasons. Wong also has a decent amount of experience at third base and has logged some corner outfield work.

The left-handed hitter re-signed on a minor league deal with the Angels last winter after being designated for assignment. He spent the whole year with their highest affiliate in Salt Lake, tallying 565 plate appearances through 128 games. Wong hit .262/.342/.332 with a lofty 10.8% walk percentage and average 22.1% strikeout rate. His on-base numbers were solid but came without much power, as he connected on only three home runs, 18 doubles and four triples despite playing in the extremely hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Wong did steal 41 bases in 47 attempts for the Bees, bringing him to 126 stolen bases over his minor league career. He’s now a .285/.352/.399 hitter over parts of five Triple-A campaigns. Wong joins Colin Moran, Drew Ellis and Mike Ford among the non-roster infielders with big league experience who’ll be in camp.

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