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Nationals To Designate Gabe Klobosits For Assignment

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The Nationals are designating reliever Gabe Klobosits for assignment, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (on Twitter). The move clears a space on Washington’s 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

Klobosits made his first 11 MLB appearances last season. The 6’8″ righty averaged nearly 95 MPH on his fastball but didn’t get great results, allowing eight runs in 11 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and walks apiece. The Auburn product had a very nice season in the high minors, combining for a 1.64 ERA with a solid 28.9% strikeout percentage and 8.8% walk rate between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester.

The 26-year-old paired his fastball with a split and a slider during his limited big league time. He didn’t miss many bats in the majors but had a fair bit of success during his preceding minor league run. Washington will have a week to trade Klobosits or place him on waivers. If another team put in a claim, they’d be able to option him to the minor leagues in each of the next two seasons.

Twins, Padres Discussing Chris Paddack, Taylor Rogers

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7:25pm: Talks between the two sides have also involved Minnesota closer Taylor Rogers, report Kevin Acee and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). There are certainly more players than just Paddack and Rogers in discussions, but the clubs are evidently contemplating scenarios that could see either team land immediate big league help.

6:36pm: The Twins and Padres are working on a trade that would send right-hander Chris Paddack to Minnesota, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic (Twitter link). San Diego has been kicking the tires on possible Paddack deals in recent days.

Paddack, 26, has spent the past three years in the San Diego rotation. The Padres acquired the Texas native from the Marlins in a 2016 trade that sent closer Fernando Rodney to South Florida. It quickly became apparent that was a heist for San Diego, as Paddack developed into one of the sport’s better pitching prospects not long after.

The Friars carried Paddack on their Opening Day roster in 2019. He looked like a mid-rotation arm in the making as a rookie, working 140 2/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball. Paddack punched out a strong 26.9% of batters faced that year while only walking 5.5% of opponents. The 21.5 point gap between his strikeout and walk percentages checked in 17th among 130 hurlers with 100+ innings pitched.

Unfortunately, Paddack hasn’t built upon that success in the past two seasons. He pitched to a 4.73 ERA over 12 starts during the truncated 2020 schedule. That looked to be a possible small-sample blip, inflated by the fact that one in every four fly balls he allowed cleared the fences. Yet his ERA jumped again last year, checking in at 5.07 in 108 1/3 frames.

Paddack’s home run rate came back to earth, but he allowed nearly 40% of baserunners to score. That’s more a product of poor sequencing than anything else, and the Twins presumably believe he’ll more closely approximate his 76.4% strand rate of 2019-20 than last season’s mark moving forward. That said, one can’t approximate Paddack’s recent struggles entirely to home run and baserunner luck.

In each of the past two seasons, Paddack’s strikeout rate has dipped relative to the year prior. Last year’s 21.6% mark was a couple points below the league average, although his swinging strike rate has held steady in the 11% range. Perhaps even more concerning, he has allowed hard contact well above the league mark in each of the past two years. Paddack particularly struggled with right-handed batters last season, allowing same-handed opponents to put up a .325/.354/.547 line.

Those factors make him a difficult pitcher to value. He still sports excellent control, throws in the mid-90s, and owns an excellent changeup. Yet he’s also prone to a lot of hard contact and has seen his results go downhill over the past couple years. Moreover, he ended last season on the injured list due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. That hasn’t impacted him this spring, but it’s at least of moderate concern to any team considering acquiring him.

Paddack and the Padres agreed to a $2.25MM salary to avoid arbitration. He’ll be controllable via that process through 2024. There’s a case for the Padres to hold onto him in hopes of a bounceback, but it’s not clear there’s room for him in the rotation. Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, the recently-acquired Sean Manaea and Nick Martínez (whom they signed to a four-year deal this offseason) look like the season-opening starting five. Mike Clevinger will begin the year on the IL but will have a rotation spot whenever he returns. The Friars also have Ryan Weathers, one-time top prospect MacKenzie Gore and Reiss Knehr as depth options for any inevitable injury concerns.

Given that plethora of arms, the Friars have contemplated dealing from both their rotation depth. San Diego has reportedly been looking to upgrade in the corner outfield, but Rogers’ inclusion in talks with the Twins demonstrates the possibility for upgrades on other areas of the roster.

Rogers, 31, has emerged as one of the sport’s better late-inning arms. He posted an ERA between 2.61 and 3.07 in each season between 2017-19, tossing 55+ innings in all three years. The southpaw allowed a bit more than four runs per nine in the shortened 2020 season, but his underlying numbers remained excellent and he returned to form last year.

In 2021, the University of Kentucky product worked to a 3.35 mark over 40 1/3 innings. He punched out a career-high 35.5% of batters faced while walking only 4.8% of opponents, averaging a personal-best 95.5 MPH on his heater. Among relievers with 40+ frames, only Liam Hendriks, Josh Hader, Raisel Iglesias and Craig Kimbrel had a bigger strikeout/walk rate differential than Rogers’ 30.7 point gap.

With the Twins reeling towards a last-place finish, Rogers was a frequently-mentioned trade target leading up to the summer trade deadline. He sprained the middle finger on his pitching hand in late July, though, essentially killing any chance of a midseason deal. That proved a season-ending malady.

The Twins have been aggressive this offseason in an attempt to immediately bounce back. There’s not been much indication Rogers was available in trade this winter, yet he’s entering his final year of club control. He’ll play the 2022 campaign on a $7.3MM salary before hitting the open market, where he’s on track to be one of the top relievers available.

That dwindling window of control could increase Minnesota’ comfort parting with Rogers, particularly if the deal allows them to address a rotation that looks like the club’s weak point. The Twins have added Sonny Gray, Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer to join Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober in the starting five.

Both Bundy and Archer are coming off miserable 2021 seasons tarnished by injury. Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey has expressed confidence in the internal options, particularly with highly-regarded prospect Josh Winder on hand as the likely first call in the event of injury. Still, there’s enough uncertainty that adding to that group if the opportunity presented itself always seemed likely. There’s no guarantee a deal will get across the finish line, but the Twins pursuit of Paddack reflects they’re not averse to picking up another arm.

Royals Rework Whit Merrifield’s Contract

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6:58pm: Merrifield’s escalators are based on the number of days he spends on the injured list, MLBTR has learned. So long as he spends fewer than 110 days on the IL this year, he’ll receive the full $6.75MM in 2023.

6:19pm: The Royals announced this evening they’ve agreed to a restructured contract with infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield. The club has preemptively exercised his 2023 team option, and the parties have added a mutual option covering the 2024 season. Merrifield is represented by Warner Sports Management.

Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports the financial breakdown of the deal (on Twitter). Merrifield will make $7MM in 2022 and $2.75MM in 2023 (with an additional $4MM in possible escalators). The deal also contains an $18MM mutual option for 2024 that contains a $500K buyout.

It’s an atypical tack for a team to take, but the Royals and Merrifield have had a very productive 12-year relationship. The Kansas City organization is generally regarded as one of the more loyal in the sport, and the Royals front office was steadfast about keeping Merrifield even as they rebuilt in recent seasons. There’s little question club brass is fond of the University of South Carolina product, and that affinity presumably contributed to their decision to exercise his 2023 option a year early.

Of course, there was never much doubt it’d be picked up. Kansas City signed Merrifield to a four-year extension that guaranteed him $16.25MM back in January 2019. That was a very affordable deal reflecting his status as a late bloomer, as Merrifield didn’t break camp on an Opening Day roster until 2017 — his age-28 campaign. With no path to free agency until his mid-30s, Merrifield elected to lock in some guaranteed earnings, while the club avoided his salaries escalating especially high via arbitration.

Under the terms of his previous contract, which had been front-loaded, Merrifield had been slated to make $3.25MM this year with a $7MM club option that would’ve escalated to $11MM for 2023 had he avoided a lengthy IL stint. As Mark Feinsand of MLB.com points out (on Twitter), the renegotiation more evenly distributes the team’s commitments over the next two years, paying Merrifield more up-front while clearing some payroll space next season.

Kansas City’s payroll jumps to around $97MM, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. The team’s 2023 commitments dip to approximately $36MM. Kansas City isn’t punting on the 2022 campaign, but they’re a bit of a longshot competitor in the AL Central. With young players like Bobby Witt Jr., Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez set to arrive this year, the 2023 season and beyond should be firm win-now seasons. The front office will have a bit more money with which to work next offseason, while Merrifield is no doubt happy for the immediate raise (and the insurance that preemptively exercising the option guarantees in the event of a catastrophic injury this year).

Brewers Acquire Alex Jackson From Marlins

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Just hours after acquiring Víctor Caratini from the Padres, the Brewers have landed another catcher. Milwaukee is picking up Alex Jackson from the Marlins in exchange for minor leaguers Hayden Cantrelle and Alexis Ramirez, according to announcements from both teams.

Milwaukee already had a pair of vacancies on the 40-man roster, and Jackson has been optioned to Triple-A Nashville. Milwaukee is still set to open the year with a catching tandem of Omar Narváez and Caratini, but Jackson joins prospect Mario Feliciano as depth options on the 40-man roster.

Jackson, 26, spent less than a season as a Marlin. The Fish acquired from the division-rival Braves for Adam Duvall last summer. He appeared in 42 games with Miami late last year, hitting .157/.260/.278 while striking out in 48.8% of his 123 plate appearances. That marked Jackson’s most extended MLB work, as he’d picked up just 50 plate appearances in Atlanta between 2019-21.

Obviously, Jackson will need to make more contact moving forward. The right-handed hitter is a former 6th overall pick and top prospect, though, drawing praise from evaluators for big raw power and arm strength behind the dish. Jackson has popped 42 home runs and 29 doubles in 597 career Triple-A plate appearances. That’s massive power production, although it’s been accompanied by a .234 batting average and .318 on-base percentage.

Jackson has one option year remaining, so the Brewers can stash him at Nashville for the rest of this season. If he stays on the 40-man roster, Milwaukee will have to decide whether to carry him on the active roster in 2023. For now, he’ll add some depth to a catching group that just lost Pedro Severino to an 80-game PED suspension and saw Brett Sullivan shipped to San Diego in the Caratini deal.

Cantrelle was a fifth-round pick in 2020 out of the University of Louisiana. The 23-year-old drew some praise for his athleticism and defensive aptitude on draft day, but he’s coming off a rough professional debut. Cantrelle hit .175/.376/.313 in 341 High-A plate appearances during his first pro action last year. He stole 28 bases and walked in an incredible 22.6% of his trips to the dish, but Cantrelle also fanned 26.4% of the time and only had 20 extra-base hits. Baseball America slotted him 37th in the Milwaukee farm system this winter.

Ramirez signed as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic during the 2017-18 signing period. He pitched at a pair of rookie ball levels during his first two professional seasons. Ramirez hasn’t pitched in game since 2019; after the 2020 minor league season was canceled, he spent all of last season on the minor league injured list. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote last July that he was up to 96 MPH with a potential above-average slider in 2019.

Brewers Acquire Victor Caratini From Padres

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The Brewers fortified their catching situation this afternoon, announcing the acquisition of Víctor Caratini and cash considerations from the Padres. San Diego picks up fellow catcher Brett Sullivan and outfield prospect Korry Howell in return. It’s a quick strike for Milwaukee to find a #2 backstop in the wake of an 80-game suspension to presumptive #2 Pedro Severino, who tested positive for the banned substance Clomiphene this week.

Caratini spent one season in San Diego after coming over from the Cubs alongside Yu Darvish last offseason. He functioned as Darvish’s personal catcher, lining up behind the dish in 29 of the righty’s 30 starts. The switch-hitting backstop also saw more action than anticipated in non-Darvish outings, as expected starter Austin Nola was limited to 56 games by injuries.

Ultimately, Caratini tallied a personal-high 356 plate appearances during his lone season in San Diego. He hit .227/.309/.323 with seven home runs, a fair bit worse than the .250/.327/.372 line he’d put up in the prior four seasons as a reserve option in Chicago. Last season’s 9.8% walk percentage and 23% strikeout rate were both in line with his respective career marks, but he managed just seven homers and nine doubles en route to a subpar .096 ISO (slugging minus batting average).

Caratini’s average exit velocity and hard contact rate were surprisingly strong, but he negated much of his extra-base potential by hitting the ball on the ground more than half the time. Even if he can’t add more offensive impact, he should offer some decent at-bats off the bench for skipper Craig Counsell. Caratini has been better from the right side of the dish over the course of his career, a trait that pairs well with lefty-hitting #1 catcher Omar Narváez.

The Caratini acquisition is clearly tied to Severino’s suspension, which had left Milwaukee without an obvious backup catcher. The Brewers are set to welcome Severino back in the second half of the year, but Caratini could have a path to securing the job with a strong start to the season. He’s making $2MM after avoiding arbitration this offseason, and he’ll be controllable once more through that process before hitting free agency after 2023.

From the Padres perspective, the trade would appear to be a vote of confidence in out-of-options backstop Jorge Alfaro. San Diego acquired Alfaro, with whom president of baseball operations A.J. Preller is quite familiar from their time in the Rangers organization, in a small trade with the Marlins before last November’s tender deadline. It was a mere cash transaction, but that the Friars affirmatively struck to add Alfaro rather than let Miami non-tender him into free agency (which it had become apparent the Fish were set to do) suggested the Friars had hopes of Alfaro breaking camp.

It would appear he’s in line to do just that after a fantastic showing in Spring Training. Alfaro had ten hits, including four homers, in 24 at-bats in Cactus League play. That’s far less meaningful than his more modest .258/.309/.399 career regular season showing, but Alfaro is a former top prospect whom many evaluators had projected as a possible regular thanks to his power at the plate and strong throwing arm. He’ll presumably make the club as Nola’s backup, with top prospect Luis Campusano also on the verge of the big leagues.

Sullivan, too, could find himself in that mix. The 28-year-old has never played in the majors, but he landed a major league deal with the Brewers this winter after qualifying for minor league free agency. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen writes that he’s a contact-oriented hitter who could be a depth option in the short-term, albeit without much power or a great arm.

The lefty-hitting Sullivan is only coming off a .223/.302/.375 line in Triple-A. The Brewers obviously preferred to go externally rather than turn the backup catching job over to him to start the season. Yet the fact that both Milwaukee and San Diego were willing to commit him a 40-man roster spot suggests he’s of appeal to multiple clubs.

Howell, meanwhile, is a former 12th-round selection out of an Iowa junior college. Baseball America slotted the right-handed hitting outfielder 29th in the Milwaukee farm system this offseason, praising his athleticism and plate discipline but noting concerns about his bat-to-ball skills. That’s borne out in his minor league numbers, as Howell punched out in 28.9% of his trips to the plate in High-A last season. That mark jumped to 39.6% upon a late-season promotion to Double-A. Even with the strikeouts, Howell was particularly productive at the former stop, though. He hit 12 homers and stole 20 bases in 69 games while walking at a strong 11.1% clip, showcasing the combination of athleticism and patience BA noted.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported the Padres were trading Caratini to the Brewers for a pair of minor leaguers. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the return of Sullivan and Howell.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Mets Sign John Curtiss To Major League Contract, Select Travis Jankowski

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The Mets are signing reliever John Curtiss to a major league deal, general manager Billy Eppler told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and Tim Healey of Newsday). The team is also selecting outfielder Travis Jankowski to the major league roster for Opening Day. Curtiss will make $770K this season, and next year’s option is valued at $775K, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).

Curtiss isn’t expected to pitch for the entire 2022 campaign. The 29-year-old righty suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament while pitching for the Brewers last August, an injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery. Milwaukee had just acquired Curtiss from the Marlins at that summer’s trade deadline. He’d had an excellent first half in Miami, pitching to a 2.48 ERA in 40 innings with a solid 24.8% strikeout percentage and tiny 5.6% walk rate.

Milwaukee no doubt envisioned Curtiss serving as an important bullpen piece both down the stretch and over the next few seasons, but he only managed six relief appearances as a Brewer. They non-tendered him in November, electing against carrying an injured pitcher on the 40-man roster all winter. Curtiss only has a bit more than two years of MLB service, so he’ll be controllable via arbitration even beyond the 2023 option year. The Mets will take a low-risk dice roll to see if Curtiss can be a member of the big league bullpen next year and beyond. While rehabbing, he’ll pick up a big league salary and MLB service time on the injured list.

Curtiss will spend the entire season on the 60-day injured list, but the Mets first have to clear a 40-man roster spot to sign him to a big league deal. To do so, they’ve designated utilityman Travis Blankenhorn for assignment. New York claimed the left-handed hitter off waivers from the Mariners in June. That concluded a series of waiver claims for the former third-round pick, who bounced from the Twins to the Dodgers to Seattle and then Queens in a span of a few weeks.

Blankenhorn has only tallied 28 plate appearances at the big league level. He owns a solid .253/.361/.460 slash in a pair of Triple-A campaigns, though, and can still be optioned to the minor leagues for another season. That could lead another club to acquire Blankenhorn via minor trade or waivers in the next week.

Once Curtiss’ deal is made official, the Mets will place him on the 60-day IL and free a 40-man roster spot. That’ll go to Jankowski, who cracked the Opening Day roster after signing a minor league contract this offseason. He adds a fleet-footed player with experience at all three outfield spots to the New York bench. He has played 400+ innings everywhere on the grass as a big leaguer, with the bulk of that experience coming in center field.

The 30-year-old will serve as a speed/defense specialist behind the starting outfield of Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte and Mark Canha. The lefty-swinging Jankowski has never been much of a threat at the plate, as he owns a .239/.322/.318 line in a bit more than 1,100 big league plate appearances.

Jordan Hicks To Begin Season In Cardinals’ Rotation

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The Cardinals will open the season with former closer Jordan Hicks as their No. 5 starter, reports John Denton of MLB.com (Twitter link). The flamethrowing sinkerballer has appeared in 112 Major League games but will be making his first big league start whenever he takes the mound this year.

There’s been talk of bringing Hicks to camp and stretching him out as a starter dating back to late last season, but it’s nevertheless something of a surprise that he’ll be tabbed for rotation work to begin the season. Were it not for injuries to Jack Flaherty and Alex Reyes, Hicks may well have opened the year as a member of the St. Louis bullpen once again, but instead it seems he’s beaten out offseason additions Drew VerHagen and Aaron Brooks for the final starting job behind Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas.

Working as a starting pitcher isn’t an entirely foreign role for Hicks, it should be noted. He appeared in 37 minor league games before making his big league debut, and 34 of those came out of the rotation. The Cards are still in the process of building Hicks up, as Denton adds that the Cards are hoping he’ll be able to complete two to three innings his first time out against the Royals next Tuesday.

The move of Hicks into the rotation comes on the heels of a two-year stretch in which the right-hander has thrown just 10 Major League innings. The 25-year-old righty underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2019, sidelining him for the remainder of that season and setting the stage for a return in summer of the 2020 season. Of course, the 2020 season wound up not even beginning until late July. Hicks, who had experienced a slight setback in his rehab and was deemed a high-risk individual due to Type 1 diabetes, opted out of that 2020 season, citing health and safety concerns.

He returned to the mound early in the 2021 campaign but landed back on the shelf just a month into the season, due to soreness in his surgically repaired right elbow. Hicks was initially shut down from throwing for a six-week period, but he wound up unable to resume throwing until late August. At that point, the Cardinals opted for a cautious approach to his rehab rather than rushing him back and dropping him into the middle of a postseason push. Hicks did pitch in a pair of games in the Arizona Fall League, and he’s been healthy enough this spring that the Cards feel comfortable pushing him in a new role.

Whether the move to a starting role is permanent or not remains to be seen, but it’s easy to see why the Cardinals are intrigued by the idea of Hicks shouldering a larger workload. The right-hander is one of the game’s most electric talents, averaging a blistering 100.6 mph on a sinker that has helped him post a 63% ground-ball rate in his career. Hicks doesn’t rack up strikeouts quite like some might expect for a pitcher with his velocity (22.5% strikeout rate), and his 13.4% walk rate is a bit concerning. Still, a ground-ball pitcher with this type of velocity and the Cardinals’ all-world infield defense behind him could take his game to a new level if he’s healthy and able to work a notable slate of innings in 2022.

Diamondbacks To Select Oliver Perez, Designate Caleb Baragar

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The D-backs have selected the contract of veteran left-handed reliever Oliver Perez and, in a corresponding roster move, designated fellow southpaw Caleb Baragar for assignment, according to the team’s transactions page.

Perez, 40, joined the D-backs on a minor league deal on March 21 and has logged 3 1/3 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed thus far during Cactus League play. This will mark his second stint with the D-backs, for whom he also pitched in 2014-15.

Perez has spent the past four seasons in Cleveland, pitching to a combined 2.57 ERA with a 28.5% strikeout rate against a 6.8% walk rate over the life of 94 2/3 innings. Only 3 2/3 of those innings came in 2021, however. Perez was cut loose early in the year, and he spent the rest of the season pitching with los Toros de Tijuana in the Mexican League. He’d been slated to return to los Toros in 2022, signing there during the lockout and announcing his intention to retire after the season. However, once it became clear that the season could get underway only about a week later than originally scheduled, Perez reversed course and signed on with a Major League organization.

It still seems as though this could be the final year of a lengthy and largely successful Major League career for Perez, who had a roller-coaster run as a starting pitcher early in his career but reinvented himself as a reliever in his 30s. Since moving to the ’pen on a full-time basis in 2012, Perez carries a 3.45 ERA in 350 innings spread across five different organizations.

Turning to the 27-year-old Baragar, this marks his second DFA of the spring. A ninth-round pick of the Giants back in 2016, he’s seen Major League time with San Francisco in each of the past two seasons, pitching to a combined 2.78 ERA with an 18.8% strikeout rate, a 9.1% walk rate and a 21.7% ground-ball rate.

Despite that strong bottom-line run prevention, Baragar has now been designated for assignment both by the Giants and by the D-backs, who claimed him off waivers last month. Fielding-independent marks don’t paint as rosy a picture as Baragar’s more rudimentary ERA, due largely to his pedestrian K-BB% and an extremely low home-run rate — the latter of which doesn’t mesh particularly well with his sky-high 58.1% fly-ball rate.

Over the past two seasons, nearly 14% of the fly-balls put in play by Major League hitters have gone for home runs, whereas Baragar has seen just 5.3% of his flies clear the fence. Playing his home games at the spacious Oracle Park and inducing pop-ups at an above-average rate have both surely helped him, but it nevertheless seems inevitable that he’s in for some regression with regard to that minuscule homer-to-flyball ratio.

Baragar, who’ll turn 28 this weekend, has multiple minor league options remaining, so he could be looked at by another club as a possible depth option in the bullpen. He’s been tagged for an 8.01 ERA and surrendered nine home runs through 30 1/3 innings in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting, but he carries a 4.06 ERA and respectable strikeout and walk percentages in 421 minor league innings on the whole. The D-backs will have a week to trade him or attempt to pass him through waivers.

Tigers Announce Several Transactions, Finalize Opening Day Roster

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The Tigers announced a landslide of roster moves Wednesday as they set their Opening Day roster. Most notable among them is the formal selection of top prospect Spencer Torkelson’s contract. It was already known that Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2020 draft and a consensus top-five prospect in all of baseball, would make the Opening Day roster, but his promotion to the big leagues is now official.

Detroit also selected the contracts of right-handers Drew Hutchison, Jacob Barnes and Will Vest. In a series of corresponding 40-man roster moves, Detroit designated left-hander Miguel Del Pozo for assignment and placed catcher Jake Rogers (recovering from Tommy John surgery), Spencer Turnbull (recovering from Tommy John surgery) and Jose Cisnero (strained right shoulder) on the 60-day injured list.

The Tigers also announced an additional series of placements on the 10-day injured list: lefty Andrew Chafin (groin strain), outfielder Derek Hill (hamstring strain) and righty Kyle Funkhouser (shoulder strain) are all beginning the season on the 10-day IL. Top outfield prospect Riley Greene is being placed on the minor league injured list after fracturing his foot late in Spring Training. The Tigers also announced that righty Elvin Rodriguez made the roster over infielder Willi Castro, and the team has assigned veteran right-handers Chase Anderson (Triple-A) and Wily Peralta (Class-A Advanced) to minor league affiliates to begin the year.

None of Hutchison, Vest or Barnes has an extensive track record of big league success, but they’ve all logged MLB action in the past and will give Detroit some bullpen depth early in the season, particularly while Cisnero sits out at least the first two months of the season mending a shoulder injury. That absence is perhaps the most surprising revelation in today’s sequence of moves. Cisnero was behind schedule to start camp and felt some discomfort in his most recent outing, but prior to today’s announcement there was no indication he’d require such a lengthy absence. It’s a notable loss for the Tigers, given the 32-year-old’s 3.45 ERA, 24 holds and four saves over the past two seasons.

Chafin, who signed a two-year, $13MM contract with an opt-out after the 2022 season will hope for a minimal absence. There’s been no indication from the club that he’s expected to require a long stay on the IL, but he’s been trending toward a 10-day placement since originally experiencing pain at the end of March. Hill has also been ailing since the final day of March, so his move to the IL doesn’t rate as much of a surprise.

As for the 29-year-old Del Pozo, he lasted the offseason on Detroit’s 40-man roster after allowing two runs on eight hits and no walks with four punchouts during a brief Detroit debut late in the 2021 campaign. He’s allowed a total of 20 runs in 18 1/3 Major League innings, however, and didn’t help his cause this spring when he appeared in two games and was tagged for a combined five runs in just one inning of work. Detroit will have a week to trade him or try to pass him through outright waivers.

Veterans Anderson and Peralta will give the Tigers some pitching depth in the minors to begin the season. Anderson joined the club on a minor league deal in mid-March and allowed three earned runs on nine hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts in five innings during camp. He’s struggled substantially in the Majors across the past two seasons but from 2014-19 was a solid back-of-the-rotation arm, logging a combined 3.94 ERA in 857 innings between the D-backs and Brewers.

Peralta seems even likelier to be added to the big league roster, despite his assignment to a Class-A affiliate. The right-hander had a strong showing in Detroit last year after signing a minor league pact, pitching to a 3.07 ERA across 18 appearances (17 starts) — a total of 93 2/3 innings. But Peralta was slow to get to camp, owing to visa issues, and he’ll remain at the Tigers’ Lakeland facility, where their High-A team plays, as he builds up toward game readiness. Peralta didn’t make it to Tigers camp until this past weekend and didn’t have time to get into an official spring game, but once he’s built up he’ll be an option to join the club’s rotation or pitch in a long-relief role.

Orioles To Select Anthony Bemboom, Chris Owings

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The Orioles have finalized their Opening Day roster, which will include non-roster invitees Chris Owings and Anthony Bemboom, manager Brandon Hyde announced to reporters this morning (Twitter link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). Both will need to be selected to the team’s 40-man roster, but the O’s have a pair of open spots, so no corresponding moves will be necessary (barring additional activity on the waiver wire, trade market, free agency, etc.).

Owings, 30, went 6-for-26 with a homer and three doubles in 26 plate appearances during Spring Training, though he also posted an unsightly 10-to-1 K/BB ratio. A lack of walks isn’t a new issue for Owings, who has drawn a free pass in just 5.4% of his 2396 career plate appearances at the MLB level. Owings briefly appeared with the Rockies in each of the past two seasons, hitting a combined .298/.372/.536 in a tiny sample of 94 trips to the plate.

Owings’ broader track record is that of an OBP-challenged utilityman with a bit of pop and above-average speed, evidenced by a lifetime .243/.288/.372 batting line, 37 homers and 78 steals. He smacked a career-high 12 home runs with the D-backs in 2017 and averaged 15 steals per year as a primarily part-time player in Arizona from 2015-18. Owings has experience playing each of shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield slots. He grades out as a well-below-average defender at short but has average or better defensive marks at every other position, per Defensive Runs Saved. DRS pegs him as a plus defender at second base, though other metrics like Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average have him closer to a scratch defender there. Owings will likely hold down a utility spot with the O’s to begin the year.

As for Bemboom, he’ll serve as Baltimore’s backup behind veteran starter Robinson Chirinos. All eyes in Baltimore will be on top overall prospect Adley Rutschman, the 2019 No. 1 overall pick and the clear catcher of the future, but he was stalled in Spring Training by a triceps injury. He’s still ramping up toward game action and will likely require some minor league work before the O’s even consider bringing him up to the big league roster.

In the meantime, Bemboom will get some big league time for a fourth consecutive season. He made his big league debut with the Rays in 2019 before being traded to the Angels, where he’s spent a fair bit of time on the big league roster. In 54 total Major League games and 144 plate appearances, the 32-year-old Bemboom is a .178/.241/.287 hitter. He went 4-for-13 with a double during Spring Training and carries a career .252/.347/.398 batting line in parts of five Triple-A seasons.

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