AL Notes: Garver, Eovaldi, Red Sox, Kirilloff
Rangers fans received news today regarding catcher and DH Mitch Garver, who was hit in the rib cage by a pitch from Astros right-hander Bryan Abreu during the sixth inning of Game 7 of the ALCS on Monday. Garver was removed for a pinch-hitter prior to what would have been his next trip to the plate in the eighth inning. Fortunately, however, the Rangers indicated yesterday that an MRI showed Garver’s rib cage had sustained no fractures. Of course, as noted by The Athletic’s Levi Weaver, it’s still possible that the incident could impact Garver during the World Series against the Diamondbacks even as he avoided serious injury.
Garver’s had a solid 2023 with the bat for Texas, though his injury history and lack of time behind the plate in 2023 make for an unusual platform season ahead of his first foray into free agency this November. After slashing .270/.370/.500 in 344 trips to the plate during the regular season, Garver has hit even better for the club in the postseason with a .294/.368/.529 line across 38 plate appearances, with two home runs, two doubles, and a strikeout rate of just 15.8%. If the Rangers don’t feel the need to afford him extra rest after his injury scare, Garver figures to factor into the club’s lineup regularly after drawing starts at DH during every game of the ALCS.
More from around the American League…
- Sticking with the Rangers, veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi has been a key cog in the club’s success this season. After posting a 3.63 ERA in 144 innings of work during the regular season, Eovaldi has posted quality starts all four times he’s taken the mound for Texas this postseason, with a 2.42 ERA and 26.9% strikeout rate in 26 innings of work. Eovaldi’s success with the Rangers this year prompted MassLive’s Chris Cotillo to look back at Eovaldi’s free agency last offseason, during which there was mutual interest in a reunion with the Red Sox. Cotillo notes that Boston offered the veteran righty a three-year, $51MM deal in early December, though after Eovaldi decided to hold out for a better offer, the club’s later signings of players like Kenley Jansen and Masataka Yoshida left Boston with a budget crunch later in the offseason. While the sides remained in contact until Eovaldi signed in Texas, Boston’s later offers were characterized by what Cotillo describes as “creative structures” thanks to a desire to stay under the luxury tax. Ultimately, Cotillo adds, the Red Sox pivoted to righty Corey Kluber, who posted a 7.04 ERA in 15 appearances this year, after Eovaldi landed with the Rangers on a two-year, $34MM deal.
- The Twins announced today (as relayed by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes) that outfielder and first baseman Alex Kirilloff avoided a potentially more invasive procedure on his right shoulder as Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed a cleanup procedure of the bursal sac in Kirilloff’s right shoulder today. The Twins had previously revealed that Kirilloff would require offseason shoulder surgery, though it was unclear how severe the procedure would be at the time of the announcement. Ultimately, today’s update appears to be positive news for Minnesota, as Kirilloff will reportedly focus on strengthening his shoulder and improving its range of motion “in the coming weeks” before progressing to his normal offseason routine. Kirilloff acted as the club’s primary first baseman when healthy this season, slashing a solid .270/.348/.445 in 319 trips to the plate across 88 games.
Red Sox Officially Hire Craig Breslow As Chief Baseball Officer
TODAY: The Red Sox officially announced Breslow’s hiring today, with an introductory press conference scheduled for November 2, one week from today. Principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, and team president Sam Kennedy all spoke glowingly of Breslow in statements.
“Each year, one baseball club emerges with a championship. Our organization continues to have significantly high standards and expectations with a goal of being able to compete annually for that coveted privilege,” Henry said, “We feel strongly that Craig is the right person at the right time to lead our baseball department. Craig’s understanding of the game is remarkable. What convinced us to bring him aboard in this capacity was his highly strategic philosophy and his grasp of what it takes operationally in today’s evolving game to excel at the highest level in player acquisition, development, and execution at the major league level. We are excited to welcome him back.”
Werner praised Breslow as “an extraordinary leader” while Kennedy noted the “astounding character references” the club received regarding Breslow from the likes of David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, and Cubs manager David Ross, all of whom played with Breslow during his time as a pitcher with the Red Sox. Breslow himself also released a statement.
“I couldn’t be more excited to return to the Boston Red Sox, an organization that means so much to my family and to me. I am humbled by the opportunity to lead baseball operations and to work alongside so many talented people.” Breslow said, “I know firsthand how special winning in Boston is, and I look forward to once again experiencing that passion and success with our fans.”
Oct. 25: Craig Breslow has accepted the Red Sox’s offer to take over as head of baseball operations, report Alex Speier and Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe (X link). He is expected to be named chief baseball officer, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive (on X). The team will presumably wait until Wednesday before announcing the hire.
Breslow, 43, is a Yale graduate who spent 12 seasons in the majors as a reliever. While he spread that across seven organizations, he’s best known for his time with the Sox. The New Haven native pitched 211 innings across five campaigns with Boston, turning in a 1.81 ERA for the 2013 World Series club.
After concluding his playing career in 2018, Breslow signed on with the Cubs as their director of strategic initiatives for baseball operations. He shed that wordy title when he was named director of pitching one season later. The following year, the Cubs bumped him to AGM in Jed Hoyer’s front office, a title he has held for the last three years.
Just a half-decade after first joining a front office, he’ll get his crack at running the show. Breslow replaces Chaim Bloom, who was fired midway through September with the team en route to a second straight last place finish. Boston finished the season at 78-84, an identical record as they had in 2022.
Breslow will be tasked with pushing the club back into contention in one of the game’s toughest divisions. He steps into a situation that’s certainly not devoid of talent but comes with an uncertain direction. The Red Sox ranked 11th in run scoring behind a lineup anchored by Rafael Devers and Triston Casas this past season. Former top prospect Jarren Duran took a step forward to secure an outfield spot.
Boston will have some decisions to make as they build around that group. Justin Turner is likely to decline a player option, subtracting one of their top hitters from this year. Alex Verdugo is entering his final season of arbitration eligibility and could be a trade candidate. The Sox will need better from Trevor Story at shortstop but could upgrade at second base, which was a revolving door during Bloom’s tenure. Masataka Yoshida is on hand in left field and at designated hitter, while they could explore ways to upgrade on the catching tandem of Connor Wong and Reese McGuire.
The pitching side has its share of uncertainty as well. Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock are all effective multi-inning arms who haven’t cemented themselves as starters. Brayan Bello tailed off following a promising first half. Chris Sale has battled myriad injuries in recent years. Boston’s rotation finished 22nd in ERA.
While a mediocre defense hasn’t done the pitching many favors, sorting out the rotation might be the top priority for Breslow and his front office staff. The longtime hurler unsurprisingly took on a heavy workload in building the pitching infrastructure in Chicago, as The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, Patrick Mooney, Jen McCaffrey and Chad Jennings chronicle.
The Red Sox have a solid minor league pipeline and an organizational track record of running higher-end payrolls. They’ve cut back on player spending of late, opening this season outside the top 10 for the first time this century (as covered by Cot’s Baseball Contracts). It’s unclear precisely how much ownership will make available this offseason, although it’s apparent the Sox are going to make some kind of effort to compete in 2024.
Breslow joins Texas GM Chris Young, White Sox GM Chris Getz and Seattle president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto as former MLB players who are now in charge of a front office. He landed the job over the likes of Minnesota GM Thad Levine, former Pirates GM Neal Huntington, former Giants manager Gabe Kapler and internal candidates like Eddie Romero, Michael Groopman and Paul Toboni — all of whom met with Boston brass. Various high-profile executives (e.g. James Click, Kim Ng, Derek Falvey and Mike Hazen) either declined interviews or pulled themselves out of the mix at one point or another.
It’s possible Breslow’s hiring is just the first, if most important, in constructing the new look front office. There have been reports that Boston could also hire a new #2 executive in the kind of arrangement that has become commonplace around the game.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Astros Claim Oliver Ortega From Twins
The Astros have claimed right-hander Oliver Ortega off waivers from the Twins, per Chandler Rome of The Athletic. Ortega is on the 60-day injured list.
Ortega, 27, pitched for the Angels in 2021 and 2022 but came to the Twins last offseason via a waiver claim. Between the two clubs, he has tossed 58 major league innings over 45 appearances, posting an earned run average of 4.03 in that time.
The Twins placed Ortega on the injured list in late August due to a lumbar strain and transferred him to the 60-day injured list a few days later. There’s no 60-day injured list between the World Series and Spring Training, meaning players have to be added back onto the 40-man roster. The Twins put Ortega on waivers instead but the Astros have swooped in to make a claim.
The Astros are likely intrigued by Ortega’s strong work in Triple-A this year, as he had an ERA of 1.82 in 34 2/3 innings at that level. He struck out 32.6% of batters faced, walked just 7.4% and kept the ball on the ground at a 48.1% rate. Ortega has yet to reach arbitration and has one option season remaining, allowing him to serve as a cheap depth arm with roster flexibility for the Astros.
David Peralta Undergoes Flexor Tendon Repair Procedure
Outfielder David Peralta underwent a flexor tendon repair procedure on his left/throwing arm, reports Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. The impending free agent is expected to be throwing and hitting again by March.
Peralta, now 36, was signed by the Dodgers to a one-year deal with a $6.5MM guarantee coming into 2023. He carried a career batting line of .281/.339/.457 into the season, which translated to a wRC+ of 110, indicating he had been 10% better than the league average hitter in that time.
He ended up having a down year in 2023, though it’s possible the injury played a part in that. According to Harris, the issue popped up around the All-Star break and Peralta played through it in the second half of the season. The outfielder was hitting .283/.323/.434 for a 106 wRC+ at the break but then produced a diminished line of .231/.259/.319 and 54 wRC+ after.
With his one-year deal with the Dodgers now ending, Peralta is heading back to free agency on the heels of a subpar platform. The injury gives him a plausible explanation for the poor results, though it also creates some uncertainty about the future, as it seems as though he may not be fully healthy by the time Spring Training ramps up in February. Given his age and this procedure, teams may want to wait and see how things develop over the winter before agreeing to a deal for the 2024 season.
Giants To Sign Bob Melvin, Farhan Zaidi Through 2026
The Giants held an introductory press conference to present new manager Bob Melvin today. It was announced that both Melvin and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi have agreed to deals that run through 2026, with Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic among those to relay the news. While Melvin’s deal is signed, chairman Greg Johnson said that Zaidi and the club have “agreed in principle” to a deal through 2026 which will be announced shortly, video courtesy NBCS. Zaidi announced that they will give the Padres no compensation for acquiring Melvin, per John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Melvin was manager of the Padres until now, on a deal that ran through 2024. It wasn’t known if his reported move to the Giants would affect his contract, but today’s news provides some clarity on that front. The news about Zaidi is also particularly noteworthy since his current deal was also set to expire after 2024. Though he hasn’t put pen to paper yet, it seems he will secure himself a bit of runway as well.
The Giants have been somewhat inconsistent since Zaidi was hired at the end of the 2018 season. The club finished below .500 in the two seasons prior to him joining the club and would post two more losing seasons in 2019-2020. That was followed by an incredible jump to 107 victories in 2021, though that club was eliminated by the Dodgers in the NLDS. They then dropped to 81-81 in 2022 and were expected to be ambitious in the 2022-2023 offseason as they looked to get back into contention.
They did indeed set their sights high, coming close to landing Aaron Judge before he wound up back with the Yankees. The Giants then pivoted to another free agent superstar in Carlos Correa, agreeing to a 13-year, $350MM deal, but the Giants balked at Correa’s medicals and walked away before making that deal official. By then, most of the top free agents had already signed elsewhere and the Giants eventually spread their money around to several mid-tier guys, including Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea, Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Taylor Rogers and Luke Jackson.
Though the club hovered around the postseason picture for parts of 2023, they ultimately slid down the standings and finished at 79-83. It was expected that 2024 was going to be a sort of make-or-break year for the staff, with both Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler believed to be on contracts that would expire after that season. As recently as mid-September, Johnson voiced his support for the Kapler/Zaidi duo to return in 2024. But Kapler was fired just a couple of weeks later and has now been replaced by Melvin. It seems that Johnson and the club want to give this new duo some continuity going forward and will lock them in for three years.
Despite the inconsistent results on the field, it’s understandable why the club felt it would need to present a united front. Signing a marquee free agent figures to be a big priority again this offseason and it should help with the pitch if they have things in order. Many free agents will go to whichever team offers the most money, but if they receive somewhat comparable offers from multiple clubs, other factors could act as dealbreakers. Signing onto a club with a lame duck president could have perhaps created some uncertainty in the minds of prospective signees, but today’s announcement should take that off the table.
Even if the Giants are successful in landing a big name free agent or two this winter, the path back to contention will still have challenges. The Dodgers continue to be a powerhouse and should have plenty of money to spend this offseason. The Diamondbacks are headed to the World Series right now and are loaded with young talent to keep them in good shape going forward. The Padres are a bit of a mystery at the moment but still have plenty of star power. It will be an interesting period for the Giants but the ticking clock isn’t quite as loud as it appeared to be coming into today.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Royals Outright Tyler Cropley
The Royals announced that catcher Tyler Cropley has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Omaha. They also announced that left-hander Tucker Davidson was claimed by the Orioles, something that was reported on earlier. The moves clear a couple of spots on the club’s 40-man roster before the offseason.
Cropley, 28 in December, was twice selected to the Royals’ roster in 2023. The first stint resulted in him getting designated for assignment after just a few days without getting into a game. He passed through waivers and was outrighted, getting selected back to the roster again a couple of weeks later. He was able to make his major league debut as the season was winding down, getting seven plate appearances over two games.
It’s possible that Cropley was mostly viewed as an emergency fill-in, as both Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin were on the injured list at the time. He has never really been a highly-rated prospect and has two games of experience at the Triple-A level. The Royals have now removed him from the roster and he will have the right to reject this assignment and elect free agency, since this is his second career outright. It’s unclear if he plans to do so or not.
Including players on the 60-day injured list, the Royals currently have 46 players on their 40-man roster. Zack Greinke, Matt Duffy are Brad Keller are set to become free agents at season’s end, which will drop the count to 43. The 60-day IL goes away between the World Series and Spring Training, so the Royals will have to clear at least three more spots.
Sean Casey Won’t Return As Yankees’ Hitting Coach
Yankees’ hitting coach Sean Casey will not be returning for the 2024 season due to family reasons, as he himself announced on his podcast. Joel Sherman of The New York Post was among those to relay the news. “I’m not gonna be able to come back next year,” Casey said, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, “because I have my two daughters at home. I think getting divorced a few years ago — I have those girls 50 percent of the time. I just can’t imagine being away for 8 months.” He also said, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post, “There was no offer made, but I do think I could have come back had I wanted to. That time right now is not perfect for me. We’ll see what happens in the next few years here.”
The Yankees began 2023 with Dillon Lawson as their hitting coach and struggled offensively, producing a team-wide batting line of .227/.304/.397 for the year. That amounts to a wRC+ of 94, indicating they were 6% worse than league average. It’s always tough to figure out how much credit or blame should go to a hitting coach or the players themselves. The 2023 Yankees had one of the best hitters in the world in Aaron Judge but also gave plenty of plate appearances to less-heralded journeymen like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun and Billy McKinney, as well as rookies like Anthony Volpe.
Whether Lawson had any hand in those struggles is difficult to tell but Yanks evidently felt a change was necessary, as Lawson was fired in July and replaced by Casey. The team had a wRC+ of 96 prior to that move and a 92 wRC+ after, but again, it’s tough to reach conclusions about the impact of the hitting coach in such numbers. The Yankees faded from contention and gave a lot of their late-season playing time to unproven younger players.
The Yankees will now have to find a new hitting coach for the 2024 season. As for Casey, it seems he is leaving the door open for future coaching gigs as his family situation evolves. He played in the big leagues from 1997 to 2008 but his stint with the Yankees this year was his first coaching job.
Mets To Interview Craig Counsell For Managerial Vacancy
The Mets have received permission from the Brewers to interview Craig Counsell, reports Andy Martino of SNY, and will interview him soon.
Counsell, 53, has been the manager of the Brewers since 2015 but has been a speculative fit for the Mets for a while now. David Stearns had been general manager/president of baseball operations in Milwaukee for roughly the same period of time that Counsell was manager and recently made the move to the Mets. Upon joining his new club, he almost immediately fired Buck Showalter and opened the manager position in Queens.
Given the longstanding relationship between Stearns and Counsell, many made the logical conclusion that Stearns would bring Counsell to the Mets with him. But that assumed reunion has been on hold recently, as Counsell is still technically the manager of the Brewers. It was previously reported that his contract runs through the end of October, which seemed like it was going to push any interviews with the Mets or other clubs until November, though it now appears the Brewers will let him talk to the Mets about a week early.
The Brewers have generally been successful during the Stearns-Counsell period, making the playoffs in five of the past six seasons despite not running up huge payrolls. That has naturally led to interest from other clubs, wondering what they could do with more resources. Stearns is already aboard with the Mets but it’s not a guarantee Counsell will follow him. As Martino adds, Counsell is expected to pursue other openings just as the Mets are expected to consider other candidates.
The Guardians, Angels and Padres also have managerial vacancies and would presumably have some level of interest in Counsell. It’s been reported that Dusty Baker may step away from managing as well, which would add the Astros to that list. It also can’t really be ruled out that Counsell stays with the Brewers. While he may be tempted by a bigger market and a presumably larger salary, he grew up in Wisconsin and has long-standing ties to the region. His father worked for the Brewers and Craig spent part of his playing career with the club before his managerial career began.
About a week ago, Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that the Brewers felt he would stay in Milwaukee if he was paid “what he believes is fair.” He reportedly made $3.5MM in 2023, though it’s unknown what level of compensation he would consider a reasonable bump. Given the free-spending ways of the Mets, they would likely be able to offer him a higher salary than the Brewers, though it’s unknown whether that would be enough to pry Counsell away from the club where he has those aforementioned connections.
Some might interpret the Brewers giving him permission to talk to the Mets as a sign they aren’t committed to Counsell, though another explanation would just be about timing. Teams generally prefer to have a manager in place when the offseason begins and they start talking to potential free agents. Therefore the Brewers could have it in their best interest to have Counsell start assessing his options so that they can get clarity on whether he may come back or if they themselves need to start interviewing new candidates.
Offseason Chat Transcript: Houston Astros
In conjunction with their offseason outlook, Anthony Franco held an Astros-specific chat. Click here to view the transcript.
Orioles Claim Tucker Davidson From Royals
The Orioles announced that they have claimed left-hander Tucker Davidson off waivers from the Royals. The O’s already had an open roster spot and won’t need to make a corresponding move.
Davidson, 28 in March, was once a notable prospect in Atlanta’s system but hasn’t quite delivered on that hype just yet. That has led to a fairly nomadic couple of years, starting with a trade to the Angels as part of the Raisel Iglesias deal in 2022. But he was designated for assignment by that club a year later and was flipped to the Royals for cash. Now it appears the Royals tried to pass him through waivers but the O’s have swooped in and grabbed him.
The lefty was a starter as a prospect but worked primarily in relief in 2023, likely due to the fact that he was out of options and couldn’t be easily sent to the minors. The results in the bullpen were mixed. On the negative side, he finished the year with an ERA of 5.96 between the Angels and Royals, with a subpar 19.5% strikeout rate.
On the positive side, his 8.1% walk rate and 44.2% ground ball rate were both close to league average and he was in the 81st percentile in terms of limiting hard contact. His FIP and SIERA both came in at 4.27, suggesting his .358 batting average on balls in play and 63.1% strand rate both made his ERA look worse than he perhaps deserved.
The Orioles have a few left-handed options for their bullpen already, with Cionel Pérez, DL Hall, Danny Coulombe, Nick Vespi and Keegan Akin on the roster. But some of those guys have options or could perhaps still be considered for starting gigs. Adding Davidson gives them another option to add into the mix, though the O’s have also been known to claim players and then attempt to pass them through waivers later.