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Cardinals Option Nolan Gorman

By Steve Adams | September 20, 2022 at 8:24am CDT

The Cardinals announced late last night that infielder Nolan Gorman has been optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Fellow infielder Juan Yepez was recalled from Memphis in his place.

It’s the first trip back to the minors for Gorman, who entered the season ranked among the sport’s top 50 prospects heading into the 2022 season. Gorman captivated Cards fans with a Herculean run through Triple-A prior to his initial promotion, raking at a .308/.367/.677 clip and belting 15 home runs in just 147 plate appearances. Upon his initial promotion, he delivered on the considerable hype surrounding his bat, slugging three homers in his first 11 games and carrying an OPS north of 1.100 in that time. Gorman cooled but was solid through the All-Star break.

It’s been a struggle for the 22-year-old as the season has worn on, however. He’s hit just .207/.273/.388 in the second half — including a grisly .150/.227/.250 with a 39.4% strikeout rate over the past month. Gorman has long been considered a bat-first prospect, and it’s worth noting that he moved from third base to second base once the Cardinals acquired Nolan Arenado, so Gorman’s current position is still relatively new to him. That said, both Defensive Runs Saved (-5) and Outs Above Average (-11) are quite down on his glovework through the first 549 innings of his career there.

Some early struggles in the career of a 22-year-old isn’t any great surprise, and Gorman still figures to be a key part of the Cardinals’ future moving forward. For now, he’ll be in Triple-A for at least 10 days, as he can only return sooner than that if he’s replacing an injured player. From a service time vantage point, Gorman won’t finish the current season with a full year (nor would he have even if he’d remained on the roster through season’s end). He’ll still be controllable for at least the 2028 season, though with 122 days of service under his belt, he could wind up reaching arbitration a year early as a Super Two player, if he accrues full years of service time in 2023-24. The more pressing short-term question is simply one of whether he’ll return this season and whether he’ll be a part of the team’s postseason roster.

With Gorman optioned out, second base seems likely to belong to Brendan Donovan for the time being. A rookie himself, the 25-year-old Donovan never generated the same prospect fanfare as Gorman but has nonetheless turned in a strong .282/.391/.373 batting line through 418 plate appearances to begin his big league career. Donovan has nowhere near the same level of power (or much power at all), but he’s walked at a hearty 12.4% clip while showing good bat-to-ball skills and proving to be a tough strikeout (15.6%).

In the long-term outlook, Donovan profiles best as a Swiss army knife who can play nearly any position at a capable level. He’s already logged time at all four infield spots and in both outfield corners this year, drawing particularly strong marks in small samples at the hot corner. Like Gorman, he’s controllable another six seasons, as he’ll finish the 2022 campaign about a week shy of a full year of service time. That’ll make him a slam-dunk Super Two player, barring future optional assignments, placing him on pace for arbitration following the 2024 season.

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St. Louis Cardinals Brendan Donovan Nolan Gorman

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Previewing The 2022-23 Free Agent Class: Catchers

By Anthony Franco | September 19, 2022 at 10:55pm CDT

There’s only two weeks left in the regular season, and half the league is all but officially out of postseason contention at this point. All 30 teams are assuredly looking ahead to the offseason to some extent, and that’s all the more true for the clubs that are merely playing out the string. Identifying free agent targets is a big part of that offseason prep work, so it’s worth taking an early look at the players who’ll be available on the open market.

Over the coming weeks, MLBTR will go around the diamond to preview the free agent class. We’ll begin today with the backstops, a group that seemed rather deep entering the 2022 season but has since seen most of its membership struggle through subpar years.

Top of the Class

  • Willson Contreras (31*)

Contreras is the unquestioned top player on this year’s catching class. He’s one of the game’s preeminent offensive backstops, eclipsing 20 home runs in each of the past three full seasons. Contreras hits a lot of ground-balls and has a fair bit of swing-and-miss to his game, but his exit velocities and hard contact rates are consistently well above average. That’s also true of his bottom-line results. Through 462 plate appearances, Contreras carries a .246/.351/.471 line that shatters the .229/.297/.370 mark compiled by catchers around the league. He’s tailed off a bit in the second half after an All-Star first few months, but he has a multi-year track record as one of the better hitting catchers in the game.

The concerns with Contreras lie on the other side of the ball. He owns a solid arm, but public pitch framing metrics have never been enamored with his work. Reports leading up to the trade deadline suggested some teams were wary of adding him midseason, questioning his ability to adapt to and manage a new pitching staff on the fly. That’s perhaps not as concerning for teams considering a free agent pursuit — Contreras would have part of the offseason and Spring Training to connect with his pitchers — but there was ostensibly enough worry about his game-calling acumen that no team met the Cubs lofty asking price this summer. How much one should read into Contreras not being traded is tough to tell, but it will have a tangible effect on his free agent market. He’s now eligible for the qualifying offer, which he’ll surely receive and reject. Any signing team will have to surrender a draft choice to bring him aboard, which wouldn’t have been the case if he were moved midseason, since players traded midseason are ineligible for a QO.

Regulars

  • Christian Vázquez (32)

A longtime member of the Red Sox, Vázquez was dealt to the Astros midseason. He’s assumed more of a 1b/backup role there behind Martín Maldonado, but he was a regular in Boston and will likely be viewed as such by any team that signs him this offseason. Vázquez is a solid two-way catcher, an above-average defender who’s generally competent with the bat. He’s rated as a high-end pitch framer throughout his career, although his numbers have been roughly average the past two years. He’s typically solid at cutting down opposing base-stealers, and he’s drawn strong reviews for his game management and leadership in a clubhouse. Vázquez isn’t an impact hitter, but he puts the ball in play and consistently runs strong batting averages. His .275/.318/.396 line is about average overall but clearly above-average for a catcher, and he’s capable of holding his own at the bottom third of a lineup. Vázquez may not have a standout skill, but he’s a well-rounded player who’d be an upgrade for a fair number of teams.

  • Omar Narváez (31)

Narváez has had an atypical career. He’s had individual seasons as a well above-average hitter, a quality left-handed bat with excellent plate discipline and strong contact skills. He earned a reputation as a bat-first player during his early days with the White Sox and Mariners, both because of his productivity at the dish and his dismal pitch framing marks behind it. Since being traded to Milwaukee heading into the 2020 season, Narváez has flipped the script. He’s rated as a dramatically better receiver — one of the sport’s best, in fact — but been a below-average hitter in two of three years. That includes 2022, where he’s stumbled to a .214/.301/.324 line with just four homers in 269 plate appearances. Narváez has shown the ability to be one of the league’s better catchers on both sides of the ball, just never at the same time.

  • Austin Hedges (30)

Hedges has never hit, but he’s been a primary catcher in San Diego and Cleveland for the past half-decade based on his excellent glove. He’s an outstanding pitch framer who’s thrown out an above-average 30% of attempted basestealers for his career. The Guardians are among the league’s best teams at preventing runs, and they’ve trusted Hedges with guiding their talented pitching staffs for two-plus seasons. Among regulars, Hedges may be the least productive offensive player in MLB though. He’s hit below .180 for four straight years, not topping a .255 on-base percentage or a .315 slugging mark in any of those seasons. There’ll probably be teams willing to live with the lack of output at the plate because of Hedges’ defensive reputation, but he makes plenty of outs at the bottom of a lineup.

  • Gary Sánchez (30)

Acquired from the Yankees to serve a hybrid catcher/DH role in Minnesota, Sánchez has gotten a fair bit of defensive work due to a Ryan Jeffers thumb fracture. He has an excellent arm but has been much maligned for his work as a receiver. Sánchez’s pitch framing metrics this season are a hair above-average, but he’s struggled in that regard in prior years and consistently has trouble blocking balls in the dirt. While he’s been alright for Minnesota defensively, he hasn’t lived up to his reputation as a bat-first player. He’s hitting .213/.279/.382 over 420 plate appearances, connecting on 14 home runs but struggling to reach base for a third consecutive season. Sánchez’s early-career days as an impact bat in the Bronx are now well in the rearview mirror, but he still offers more pop than most catchers.

  • Tucker Barnhart (32)

The Tigers acquired Barnhart from the Reds at the start of last winter, believing they’d solidified a position of need with a respected veteran. Unfortunately for both Barnhart and Detroit, he’s posted the worst season of his career. Over 277 trips to the plate, he has only one homer and a .209/.274/.256 slash. Barnhart has always been a below-average hitter, but this year’s on-base and slugging marks are easily career lows. He’s a good defender who’s highly regarded for his ability to handle a pitching staff, a broadly similar player to Hedges but two years older and with a more solid than elite pitch framing track record.

  • Mike Zunino (32)

Zunino has shown high-end potential at his best. Consistently excellent defense gives him a high floor, but he’s also shown more offensive upside than most of the glove-first players on the market. That includes a 2021 campaign in which he blasted 33 home runs and slugged .559. Even with a strikeout rate in excess of 35%, Zunino was a quality hitter and very valuable all-around player. Had he replicated his 2021 production, he’d likely have been the #2 catcher on the market this winter, but his 2022 campaign was a disaster. He hit .148/.195/.304 in only 36 games before being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome that required season-ending surgery. He’s expected to be ready for Spring Training, but it’s tough to know what to make of a player coming off that kind of platform year.

  • Roberto Pérez (34)

Pérez’s story isn’t too dissimilar from Zunino’s. A career-long regular, he was set to reprise that role in 2022 but had the year mostly wiped out by injury. In his case, it was a left hamstring strain that necessitated surgery. He played in just 21 games, his first season with the Pirates after a career spent in Cleveland. Pérez is a Gold Glove caliber defender at his best, but he’s typically been a well below-average hitter. He did connect on 24 homers in 2019, but he has a .171/.269/.295 mark in parts of three seasons since then.

Backups/Depth

  • Robinson Chirinos (39)

Chirinos opened the season as Baltimore’s starting catcher, but he lost the job when Adley Rutschman was called up midseason. He struggled badly early on, and he carries only a .178/.266/.278 line over 204 plate appearances on the year. He’s consistently rated as a below-average receiving catcher.

  • Kevin Plawecki (31)

Designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week, Plawecki finished his time in Boston with a disappointing .217/.287/.287 showing across 175 plate appearances. He’d hit well in limited action as Vázquez’s backup from 2020-21, but he’s been a below-average offensive player for the bulk of his career. He’s had a very tough time throwing out attempted basestealers, but he’s a capable receiver.

  • Curt Casali (34)

A career-long #2 catcher, Casali brings a decent right-handed power bat to the bench. He strikes out a lot but offers a solid blend of plate discipline and power. Casali lost a chunk of this season to an oblique strain and has a .211/.310/.331 line between the Giants and Mariners. He’s typically slightly below-average at both controlling the run game and pitch framing.

  • Kurt Suzuki (39)

Suzuki has 15 years of big league experience, including a good run as a regular. A productive bat-first catcher in his prime, he’s struggled for two straight seasons with the Angels. He carries a .179/.263/.299 line over 152 trips to the plate this year.

  • Austin Romine (34)

Romine has split the 2022 campaign between three teams, suiting up with the Angels, Cardinals and Reds. He’s been a depth option at all three spots, and he owns just a .181/.211/.295 mark over 111 plate appearances. Romine was a productive backup for the Yankees early in his career, but he’s settled into journeyman status while struggling offensively since leaving New York.

  • Sandy León (34)

Another glove-first journeyman, León had a very good 2016 season with the Red Sox but has otherwise been a well below-average hitter. He’s not hit above .200 or slugged north of .300 in any of the past five seasons. León has spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, but he’s appeared in 32 big league games with the Guardians and Twins.

  • Jason Castro (35)

Castro was a solid regular for a while with the Astros and Twins, compensating for high strikeout totals with excellent walk rates and pitch framing marks. He had a productive 2021 season as a backup after returning to Houston on a free agent deal, but this year has been a disaster. Castro hit .115/.205/.179 over 34 games and eventually underwent season-ending surgery on his left knee. He told reporters in Spring Training he’d consider retirement after this season (link via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). It remains to be seen how the disappointing trajectory of his 2022 campaign plays into that decision.

  • Stephen Vogt (38)

The well-regarded Vogt returned to Oakland, where he’d been a productive fan favorite in the middle of the last decade, for the 2022 campaign. He’s bounced between catcher, first base and designated hitter but owns just a .168/.251/.315 line over 171 plate appearances. It’s his third consecutive well below-average season.

Note: Yadier Molina is playing on a one-year contract with the Cardinals and will technically qualify for free agency at season’s end. He’s already declared 2022 will be his final season, so he’s been excluded from this list in anticipation of his retirement.

* Listed ages are the player’s age for the 2023 season. All stats through play September 18.

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2022-23 MLB Free Agents MLBTR Originals

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NL Central Notes: Ashby, Lauer, Peralta, Thompson, Newcomb

By Darragh McDonald | September 19, 2022 at 10:40pm CDT

The Brewers are planning to activate left-hander Aaron Ashby to start tomorrow’s game, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Ashby went on the IL August 22 due to shoulder inflammation and will now return after just under a month. The southpaw likely won’t be ticketed for extended duty at first as he hasn’t ventured out onto any kind of rehab assignment. He spoke to McCalvy about the decision, saying that he has been feeling good in recent bullpen sessions, getting up to around 30 pitches.

The Brewers are in a tight postseason race, currently sitting two games behind the Phillies for the final National League Wild Card spot with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season. Given that narrow timeframe, it seems the club has opted to try and get Ashby back on the mound quicker than perhaps they would have under different circumstances. With Eric Lauer and Freddy Peralta also landing on the IL in recent weeks, the club’s rotation has been a bit snakebit recently, which might have also motivated the club to get aggressive with Ashby’s return. Lauer and Peralta could get back into the mix soon as well, with McCalvy relaying that Lauer could return on Friday, though in a short stint similar to Ashby. Peralta might be a bit behind those two, having just started mound work today.

Through 96 1/3 innings on the year, Ashby has a 4.58 ERA with a very strong 27% strikeout rate and 55.6% ground ball rate. However, he’s been held back by a 10% walk rate and a 19.7% HR/FB rate.

Other notes from around the division…

  • Just like the Brewers, the Cubs will also be bringing back one of their starters for truncated work down the stretch. Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune relays word from manager David Ross that right-hander Keegan Thompson will be activated in the coming days to pitch out of the bullpen. Thompson has had a solid sophomore effort here in 2022, throwing 104 1/3 innings so far with a 3.97 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate and 40% ground ball rate. His campaign was interrupted by low back tightness, sending him to the IL a month ago. With the season winding down and the Cubs well out of contention, they will let Thompson throw a bit more at the big league level before the offseason arrives.
  • Left-hander Sean Newcomb, designated for assignment by the Cubs on the weekend, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, per Montemurro. That’s hardly surprising, given that Newcomb already cleared waivers earlier this year and has an ERA of 8.78 for the season. Players who have been previously outrighted or those with over three years of MLB service time are eligible to reject outright assignments and elect free agency. Newcomb qualifies on both counts, meaning he could head to the open market if he so chooses, though it’s unclear at this point if he’s made a decision in that regard.
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Chicago Cubs Milwaukee Brewers Notes Aaron Ashby Eric Lauer Freddy Peralta Keegan Thompson Sean Newcomb

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Marlins Shut Trevor Rogers Down For Rest Of Season

By Darragh McDonald | September 19, 2022 at 8:45pm CDT

Marlins left-hander Trevor Rogers tells Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald that he will be shut down for the remainder of the season. The southpaw left Saturday’s start due to an injury that has now been diagnosed as a lat strain. Although it’s only a Grade 1 strain and thus minor, there’s not enough time left in the season to heal up and return to action.

Rogers, 24, made a brief MLB debut in 2020 and followed that up with an excellent 2021 campaign. He threw 133 innings last year with a 2.64 ERA, 28.5% strikeout rate, 8.4% walk rate and 40.1% ground ball rate. He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, behind only Jonathan India.

It seemed like the Marlins had yet another talented young starting pitcher in their stable but it’s been a very disappointing season here in 2022, with just about every element of his game taking a downturn. Through 107 innings, he has a 5.47 ERA, 22.2% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 42% ground ball rate. It’s possible that health has been a factor, as he spent about a month on the injured list earlier this year due to back spasms and now has this lat strain. Regardless, it’s surely not the campaign that he or the Marlins would have hoped for.

In the short-term, the Marlins can survive for a few weeks with a four-man rotation of Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Edward Cabrera and Jesus Luzardo. They have an off-day on Thursday and another on Monday, meaning they won’t strictly need a fifth starter until the start of October.

In the long run, the club will have to decide how much they want to pencil Rogers into their plans. The Marlins are reportedly thinking about trading from their rotation surplus this offseason as a way to give a boost to next year’s lineup. Rogers is a potential candidate himself, though his stock is surely at a low point right now relative to a year ago. It might be worthwhile for the club to hope for better results next year and allow his trade value to rebound, though it’s also possible they consider him the most expendable of its current group. Each of the four aforementioned hurlers are sporting an ERA under 4.00 this year and none of them will reach free agency this winter. Despite his down season, Rogers has four years of club control remaining after this one and has yet to reach arbitration. That would make him an intriguing trade target for any club who believes 2022 was a blip and that 2021 was closer to his true form.

Rogers hasn’t yet been formally placed on the injured list but surely will be as soon as the club needs his roster spot. Since he won’t be returning this year, they could place him on the 60-day IL and use his 40-man roster spot for a waiver claim or to promote someone within the system for a cup of coffee down the stretch.

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Miami Marlins Trevor Rogers

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Rangers Interested In Signing Kevin Plawecki After Release From Red Sox

By Darragh McDonald | September 19, 2022 at 5:45pm CDT

5:45pm: Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News confirms the Rangers’ interest while relaying that the corresponding move would be placing infielder/outfielder Nick Solak on the injured list. Solak was recently diagnosed with a season-ending foot fracture. However, the transaction won’t happen right away, as Rob Bradford of WEEI relays that Plawecki can’t officially sign until 1:00pm on Wednesday.

5:30pm: The Red Sox have released catcher Kevin Plawecki, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Plawecki had been designated for assignment on Friday. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports on Twitter that the backstop will be signing with a new team “imminently.” Robert Murray of FanSided reports that the Rangers are expressing “serious interest” in signing Plawecki.

Plawecki, 31, has been with the Red Sox since signing with them in January of 2020. He spent much of the past few years serving as the backup behind Christian Vazquez, getting into 24 games in the 60-game 2020 season, followed by 64 last year and 61 here this year. He had a decent showing at the plate in the first two of those years but has slumped here in 2022, hitting just .217/.287/.287, wRC+ of 62.

With the Sox sliding out of contention and Plawecki heading into free agency at season’s end, it made logical sense to give more playing time to Reese McGuire and Connor Wong, since both of them come with years of control beyond the current campaign. However, it was reported yesterday that certain players on the team didn’t see it quite so simply, lamenting the loss of Plawecki as a veteran clubhouse leader.

Regardless of Plawecki’s reputation among his fellow players, he wasn’t likely to be claimed off waivers given his tepid performance and $2.25MM salary for this year. It seems that he has indeed cleared waivers and become a free agent, leaving Boston on the hook for the remainder of that contract. For whoever ends up grabbing Plawecki, they would only have to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount being subtracted from what the Sox pay.

For the Rangers, they currently have Jonah Heim as their primary catcher with Sam Huff as the backup. Huff has options and can thus be sent down to the minors if the club prefers to have Plawecki on the roster, or they could also carry three catchers given the expanded September rosters.

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Boston Red Sox Texas Rangers Transactions Kevin Plawecki Nick Solak

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Mets Reinstate Max Scherzer, Tylor Megill

By Darragh McDonald | September 19, 2022 at 3:40pm CDT

The Mets announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game, reinstating right-hander Max Scherzer from the 15-day injured list and fellow righty Tylor Megill from the 60-day IL. The club already had a vacancy on their 40-man roster for Megill but needed to open two spots on the active roster, doing so by optioning right-hander Stephen Nogosek and left-hander Alex Claudio.

Scherzer returns after just a minimum stay on the 15-day IL, which is surely a huge relief for everyone in the Mets’ world. Scherzer had missed about six weeks earlier in the season due to a left oblique strain and seemed to injure himself in the same area a couple of weeks ago. Scherzer and the club were hopeful that they had caught the issue early, referring to it as mere “fatigue” in the muscle. They had expressed optimism that the righty could return after a short breather on the IL, which has indeed come to pass.

When healthy enough to take the mound, the 38-year-old has been everything the Mets could have hoped for when they signed him in the offseason. Through 20 starts, he has a 2.26 ERA, 30.6% strikeout rate, 4.6% walk rate and 29.3% ground ball rate. Despite missing extensive time, he’s accrued 4.1 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs, ranking him 12th in the majors. He’ll now return to the rotation alongside Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker and Chris Bassitt, one of the rare moments this year when the club’s top five starters have all been healthy at the same time. That could potentially be a difference maker over the final two weeks of the schedule, with the Mets clinging to the top spot in the NL East but just one game ahead of Atlanta.

Earlier in the year, when the rotation was not fully healthy, the Mets turned to Megill to help fill in. He performed admirably at first, not allowing a run in his first two starts and holding onto a 1.93 ERA through the end of April. Unfortunately, he was hit hard over the next few weeks and then was placed on the IL in mid-June due to a right shoulder strain, only returning today. His ERA on the season jumped up to 5.01 during that rough stretch, though it’s fair to wonder if the shoulder issues were contributing to that. He has been rehabbing in the minors over the past three weeks but in single-inning relief appearances. That figures to be his role the rest of the way, though it has been previously reported that the Mets plan on returning him to a starting role next season. There’s a lot of uncertainty about next year’s rotation, since deGrom, Walker, Bassitt and Carrasco all have options or opt-outs, leaving Scherzer as the only one of the current group that’s guaranteed to return.

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Tigers To Hire Scott Harris As President Of Baseball Operations

By Steve Adams | September 19, 2022 at 2:18pm CDT

The Tigers’ search for a new front office leader has reached its conclusion, as they’re set to hire Giants general manager Scott Harris as their new president of baseball operations, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). Tigers owner Chris Ilitch fired Al Avila from his post as general manager back on Aug. 10.

Harris spent three seasons as the Giants’ general manager, working in that role under San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. He’d previously spent eight seasons with the Cubs (2012-19), rising from director of baseball operations to the title of assistant general manager. Prior to that, he worked for Major League Baseball as the league’s coordinator of Major League operations. Harris, who graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 2009 and got his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management in 2015, has also spent time with the Nationals (2008) and Reds (2010).

A key lieutenant to baseball ops leaders Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer during the Cubs’ most recent run of prominence, Harris was hired away by San Francisco in Nov. 2019 and played an even larger role with the Giants as they authored an MLB-best 107-win season in 2021. The Giants nonetheless fell to the archrival Dodgers in the National League Division Series, however, and the 2022 season has been every bit as disappointing as the 2021 campaign was heartening in San Francisco. This year’s Giants have, to date, faceplanted with a 69-77 record and have been out of the postseason picture for the majority of the summer. They’ll look to reload for the 2023 season, but they may be in the market for a new general manager to work under Zaidi.

Harris will now step into the spotlight for an organization that’s had an even more disheartening 2022 season than the one he’s leaving behind. The Tigers, encouraged by a 69-66 post-April showing in 2021, expected 2022 to be a turning point at the end of a nearly half-decade rebuilding effort. Detroit had gone to great lengths to build out its research and analytics department, and the hiring of A.J. Hinch as manager prior to the 2021 season represented a clear “win-now” mindset. Heading into 2022, top prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene were on the cusp of joining touted young pitchers Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning on the big league roster, and Detroit had enjoyed strong 2021 showings from Jeimer Candelario, Rule 5 pickup Akil Baddoo and veteran second baseman Jonathan Schoop, among others.

An active offseason brought free agents Javier Baez, Eduardo Rodriguez and Andrew Chafin to Detroit, where they were joined by trade acquisitions Austin Meadows and Tucker Barnhart. Unfortunately, nearly every single one of those acquisitions (save for Chafin) has flopped to date, owing to a combination of poor health, off-the-field issues and simple poor performance. Their lack of production has been compounded by an overwhelming rash of injuries, most notably Mize requiring Tommy John surgery and Skubal undergoing flexor surgery. Manning is healthy now but missed most of the year due to shoulder trouble. Beyond that, key 2021 performers like Baddoo, Schoop and Candelario have struggled immensely.

It was a catastrophic season that cost Avila his job and now places Harris squarely in the midst of his own conundrum. The Tigers have Rodriguez signed for another four years and Baez for another five, pending future opt-out clauses that, at present, appear unlikely to be exercised. Meanwhile, Torkelson and Greene, expected to be key cogs that drive the engine of a more competitive lineup, have often looked overmatched in their debut efforts. Mize will miss a substantial portion of the 2023 season, and the same could be true of Skubal. The young core that served as such a source of optimism is at least temporarily in tatters.

Enough went wrong in 2022 that the Tigers reportedly at least pondered listening to offers on Skubal at the trade deadline, before his injury troubles flared up. A swap always seemed unlikely, but the very fact that such a possibility even merited consideration is emblematic of the stalled rebuilding efforts and the challenges that Harris will now face.

It seems unlikely that ownership will green-light yet another arduous rebuilding effort, but at the same time, there’s no easy fix in store. The Tigers appear further from contending than they did a year ago at this time — certainly more than just one or two acquisitions away from righting the ship. Meanwhile, last winter’s additions of Baez and Rodriguez have added some notable heft to future payrolls, and injuries have at least temporarily thinned out the promising young core.

There are some parallels between the current Tigers and the 2020-22 Giants that Harris helped to overhaul. No one pegged the Giants as anywhere close to the best team in baseball heading into the 2021 season, and even the 29-31 showing by the 2020 Giants exceeded some expectations after a run of three seasons that saw the club play at a 214-272 pace. Both play in cavernous home parks that could appeal to pitchers looking to rebuild their stock after tough seasons and/or injuries.

The Giants, under Harris and Zaidi, developed a reputation as one of the best teams in baseball (if not the best team) at revitalizing the careers of pitchers. Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Drew Smyly, Tyler Anderson and Jakob Junis are just some of the names who’ve gone to San Francisco in the past few years and significantly improved their stock. They also showed a knack for unearthing quality hitters in little-noticed moves (e.g. Mike Yastrzemski, Donovan Solano, Darin Ruf). Surely, Ilitch hopes that Harris can bring some of that success to his new home in Detroit.

Harris is jumping into a situation that’s less common — albeit certainly not unheard of — for newly hired baseball ops leaders. Many owners cut bait on a GM or president and bring in a new voice and perspective to help guide the club through a rebuild, but what was supposed to be the heavy lifting of the rebuild has already been performed in Detroit. It’ll now be incumbent upon Harris to find a way to further build out the organization’s infrastructure, add some new faces to the roster and get more out of current underperformers (e.g. Baez, Torkelson) without completely tearing things back down to the studs.

If there’s a small silver lining, it’s perhaps that the Tigers play in a fairly weak American League Central division. There’s no Dodgers-esque juggernaut looming atop the standings.  That bodes well for a return to contention sooner than some critics may expect, but a lot will need to go right for the Tigers to prevent their current eight-year playoff drought from ballooning to a decade.

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Detroit Tigers Newsstand San Francisco Giants Scott Harris

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Rangers Claim Drew Strotman

By Steve Adams | September 19, 2022 at 1:04pm CDT

The Rangers announced Monday that they’ve claimed right-hander Drew Strotman off waivers from the Twins, who’d designated him for assignment over the weekend. Texas opened a spot on the 40-man roster by transferring veteran utilityman Brad Miller from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.

Strotman, 26, came to the Twins in July 2021 alongside right-hander Joe Ryan in the trade that sent Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay. At the time of the swap, Strotman had been in the midst of a solid season — albeit with some worrying command issues — at the Triple-A level and looked like he could potentially join Ryan as a fast-tracked arm to the big leagues. His walk rate, however, failed to improve in his new environs, and Strotman became increasingly homer-prone following the swap.

Strotman had Tommy John surgery in 2018, and while his velocity has generally recovered, that surgery and the ongoing command issues created some some concerns that he may have to move from a starting role to the bullpen. The Twins tried that approach in 2022, surely hoping that Strotman’s fastball and cutter would play up in shorter stints. It hasn’t worked out, however, as the 2017 fourth-rounder has pitched to a grisly 6.44 ERA with a career-worst 13.8% walk rate in 50 1/3 innings of bullpen work with Triple-A St. Paul this season. Strotman’s 24.2% strikeout rate and 51.1% grounder rate are both solid but aren’t strong enough to offset the persistent location issues.

This is Strotman’s second season on a 40-man roster, meaning he’s already been optioned to the minors twice (at the end of Spring Training ’21 and at the end of this past Spring Training). That burns through two of his minor league option years, leaving him with just one more season of options (2023) — assuming he even sticks on the Rangers’ 40-man roster that long.

As for Miller, the move to the 60-day injured list formally ends his season. He was originally placed on the 10-day IL with a right hip strain back on Sept. 9. After hitting .236/.331/.480 with 40 home runs in 718 plate appearances from 2019-21, Miller’s first season with Texas has to be considered a disappointment. He signed a two-year, $10MM deal over the winter but turned in an ugly .212/.270/.320 output in 241 plate appearances while thrice hitting the injured list due to neck and hip injuries. He’s set to earn $4MM next season on the back half of a slightly front-loaded two-year deal, so Texas will hope that better health brings about something closer to that 2019-21 form.

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Minnesota Twins Texas Rangers Transactions Brad Miller Drew Strotman

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Ryan Weber Elects Free Agency

By Steve Adams | September 19, 2022 at 10:36am CDT

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Yankees announced Monday that right-hander Ryan Weber rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, instead electing free agency.

This marks the fourth time the Yankees have designated Weber for assignment and passed him through outright waivers since June. On each occasion, Weber has rejected the outright assignment, renegotiated a new minor league contract and returned to the organization in a matter of days. It seems eminently plausible that’ll happen yet again; Weber and the Yankees have clearly been comfortable with this arrangement all season, and at this juncture of the schedule, it seems unlikely that he’d jump to a new organization for the final couple weeks of the 2022 campaign. Re-signing would perhaps position him for one more run before the end of the season, should the Yanks yet again need to tap into their Scranton depth.

We’ve seen plenty of veterans ride this DFA carousel and routinely return to the same club, though rarely has it been so extreme. (The most recent similar case, oddly, is another Yankees scenario — with righty David Hale back in 2018.)  It’s an atypical relationship, to say the least, but it’s also one that has paid dividends. Weber has given the Yankees 10 2/3 innings spread over five games this season and allowed just one run, striking out three and issuing one walk along the way. He’s also been sharp in Triple-A, logging 39 2/3 frames of 3.86 ERA ball with a 27-to-5 K/BB ratio.

Weber’s several stints with the Yankees this year have pushed him north of three years of MLB service time, so if he’s re-selected to the 40-man roster at any point between now and season’s end, he’d technically be controllable via arbitration. That said, given the frequency of this summer’s DFAs and outrights, it’s likely he’d be removed from the 40-man again following the season. Weber now carries a 5.02 ERA, 14.6% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 53.2% ground-ball rate in 177 2/3 Major League innings split between six teams over an eight-year span.

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New York Yankees Transactions Ryan Weber

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Wilmer Difo Elects Free Agency

By Steve Adams | September 19, 2022 at 8:29am CDT

Infielder Wilmer Difo went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment and has rejected the Diamondbacks’ outright assignment to Triple-A Reno in favor of free agency, as first indicated on the transaction log at MiLB.com. As an outrighted player with more than three years of service time, he’d have been able to become a free agent at season’s end even if he accepted.

The 30-year-old Difo appeared in just three games with the D-backs, going 0-for-6 in that time. He’s spent parts of eight seasons in the Majors and logged nearly five years of MLB service time, however, hitting a combined .250/.311/.353 in 1306 big league plate appearances. Most of that time has been spent with the Nationals in a utility capacity, although Difo did make 240 plate appearances with the Pirates in 2021 and post a respectable .269/.329/.384 slash.

Difo has spent the bulk of the current season in Reno, where his offensive output largely mirrors that Pittsburgh production from one year ago (albeit in a much more hitter-friendly setting). In 306 Triple-A plate appearances, the switch-hitter has a .269/.312/.398 batting line with seven homers, 15 doubles and four steals. He’s played primarily shortstop and third base this season, but Difo also has more than 2300 professional innings at second base and has now appeared at every spot on the diamond other than catcher (though he’d probably prefer to forget the eight runs he allowed in two innings of mop-up duty with the ’21 Pirates).

Given that he cleared waivers, there may not be an immediate opportunity for Difo in the dwindling 2022 regular season. However, he grades out as a solid defender at shortstop and has plenty of defensive versatility, so he ought to find another opportunity on a minor league deal with a team hunting for infield depth this offseason.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Transactions Wilmer Difo

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