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Cubs’ Brailyn Marquez Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

By Anthony Franco | July 25, 2022 at 6:49pm CDT

Cubs left-hander Brailyn Márquez underwent debridement surgery on his throwing shoulder last month, vice president of player development Jared Banner told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). He’ll miss the remainder of the 2022 season.

It’s a second consecutive lost season for Márquez, who hasn’t thrown a pitch in an affiliated game since 2020. That was a lone appearance during which he recorded two outs in relief to make his major league debut. He otherwise spent the abbreviated season at the alternate training site, and he’s lost each of the past two years to injury.

Before the health woes set him off track, Márquez was regarded as one of the sport’s most promising arms. He placed among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects entering both the 2020 and ’21 campaigns, showing mid-rotation or better upside when healthy. Márquez averaged around 98 MPH on his heater during his lone big league outing, flashing the power arm that led BA to place a top-of-the-scale grade on his fastball.

Márquez is still only 23 years old, so there’s a fair bit of time for him to made good on his promise if he can put the shoulder woes behind him. He’s spent the past two seasons on the minor league injured list, so he’s collected all of three days of major league service to date. He’s continued to count for a spot on Chicago’s 40-man roster throughout that time, and he’ll remain on the roster while on the minor league IL. Chicago could elect to recall Márquez and place him on the major league 60-day IL at any time to clear a roster spot, but doing would require paying him at the prorated portion of the $700K MLB minimum salary.

Red Sox Acquire Abraham Almonte From Brewers

By Anthony Franco | July 25, 2022 at 6:11pm CDT

The Red Sox acquired outfielder Abraham Almonte from the Brewers in exchange for cash this afternoon, according to an announcement from Milwaukee. The switch-hitting outfielder had been on a minor league deal with the Brew Crew. He won’t occupy a spot on the Sox’s 40-man roster at this time, and his transactions tracker at MLB.com indicates he’s been assigned to their Triple-A affiliate in Worcester.

Almonte is trying to earn a big league opportunity for what would be his tenth consecutive year. He broke into the majors in 2013 with the Mariners, and he’s bounced around the league as a depth outfielder for the past decade. Almonte has never played in more than 82 games in any major league season, but he’s suited up with each of the Mariners, Padres, Indians, Royals, Diamondbacks and Braves at the highest level.

In just over 1300 career plate appearances, Almonte owns a .234/.302/.374 line. He hit .216/.331/.399 across 175 plate appearances with Atlanta last year before the Braves outrighted him off their roster in August. The 33-year-old has had an excellent season with Milwaukee’s top affiliate, mashing at a .293/.380/.533 clip with 11 home runs and a robust 11.7% walk percentage through 48 games in Nashville.

Almonte has some center field experience early in his career, but he’s worked exclusively in the corner outfield and at designated hitter this year. Boston hasn’t gotten much production at either corner outfield spot. Alex Verdugo has underwhelmed in left, while Boston’s right fielders (primarily Jackie Bradley Jr., Rob Refsnyder and Christian Arroyo) have combined for a league-worst .196/.259/.319 showing. Almonte will add some experienced non-roster depth to the upper levels of the farm system.

Reds Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Cam Collier

By Anthony Franco | July 25, 2022 at 5:52pm CDT

The Reds have agreed to terms with first-round pick Cam Collier on a $5MM deal, tweets Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports reported over the weekend that Collier was expected to receive a bonus in that range. That’s well north of the $3.6598MM slot value associated with the #18 pick, with which the infielder was selected. Collier had been committed to the University of Louisville, but he’ll instead make the jump to pro ball.

The overslot bonus reflects the fact that he was widely regarded as one of the best players in the class. Each of Baseball America, The Athletic, MLB Pipeline, ESPN and FanGraphs placed him among their top ten prospects in pre-draft rankings. Keith Law of the Athletic was the most bullish, naming Collier the #2 prospect in the draft. The $5MM bonus falls between the slot values of the ninth and tenth overall selections, better aligning with his prospect reputation than the #18 pick would suggest.

A left-handed hitter, Collier won’t turn 18 years old until November. He was originally slated to be a member of the 2023 class, but he enrolled at a Florida junior college this spring to qualify for this year’s draft. Despite his youth, Collier had very good numbers in JUCO ball, reaffirming his stock as one of the better offensive players in the class. Evaluators suggest the 6’2″ infielder should blossom into an above-average to plus hitter with solid raw power. Collier has already moved to third base, but reports indicate he has a decent chance to stick at the hot corner, where his plus arm should be an asset.

Kevin Kiermaier, Mike Zunino To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

By Anthony Franco | July 25, 2022 at 4:42pm CDT

The Rays will be without two key players for the rest of the season. Manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and Joe Trezza of MLB.com) that center fielder Kevin Kiermaier has elected to undergo surgery to address a labrum issue with his left hip. Catcher Mike Zunino is also done for the year, as Topkin reports (on Twitter) he’ll need surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome. Cash said Kiermaier is expected to be ready for next Spring Training; the longer-term timetable for Zunino remains unclear.

Both Kiermaier and Zunino were already on the 60-day injured list. Kiermaier was initially diagnosed with hip inflammation, while Zunino’s problem was first termed left shoulder inflammation. The team quickly thereafter revealed Zunino may be battling thoracic outlet syndrome, however. He received Botox treatment in hopes of remedying the issue without going under the knife, but that evidently proved unsuccessful. Thoracic outlet surgery has become fairly prevalent for pitchers, with hurlers like Stephen Strasburg, John King, Brendan McKay and Daulton Jefferies requiring the procedure within the past year. It’s been far less common an occurrence for position players.

Kiermaier and Zunino were known to be facing lengthy recovery processes even before today’s news, so there was already a fair bit of urgency for the club to address the vacated center field and catching positions. Tampa Bay already added help in the latter area, bringing in Christian Bethancourt in a deal with the A’s. Neither Bethancourt nor incumbent Francisco Mejía has performed so well the Rays should rule out further upgrades behind the dish, although the market is fairly shallow. Willson Contreras is one of the game’s most obvious trade candidates, but the Cubs will have plenty of interest around the league in perhaps the top rental bat on the market. Bethancourt’s former teammate, Sean Murphy, is drawing attention as a controllable option, although the acquisition cost for three and a half seasons of his services would be even more substantial than the haul required to land Contreras.

Oakland also has one of the better center fielders who could be available, with Ramón Laureano having three-plus seasons of remaining club control. Beyond Laureano, it’s a murky market there as well, with Bryan Reynolds and Cedric Mullins seemingly unlikely to move. The Royals could market Michael A. Taylor to capitalize on perhaps the best season of his career, while the Nationals may be willing to part with Víctor Robles amidst another down year. The Rays are also without Harold Ramírez and Manuel Margot due to injury, leaving them to rely on Josh Lowe and Brett Phillips — neither of whom is doing much at the plate — alongside Randy Arozarena in the outfield.

The deadline outlook will be the most immediate concern for the Tampa Bay front office, but the longer-term ramifications of today’s news could be the end of Kiermaier’s and Zunino’s tenures in Tampa Bay. Each is in the final guaranteed year of his respective contract. The Rays hold a $13MM option on Kiermaier’s services for 2023, but it’s hard to envision the club bringing him back at that sum. The lefty-hitting outfielder had a modest .228/.281/.369 showing over 221 plate appearances on the season. Between his age (32) and another significant lower body injury, one may wonder how much longer he’ll remain one of the sport’s best defensive outfielders.

Zunino, meanwhile, will hit the market coming off one of the more disappointing years of his career. He popped 33 home runs a season ago, leading the Rays to bring him back on a $7MM option. He managed only a .145/.198/.304 showing in 36 games this year. The 31-year-old is among the sport’s top defensive backstops, but the combination of his woeful 2022 numbers and the TOS procedure deals a tough blow to his stock as he heads towards free agency.

Mets Rumors: Bell, Mancini, Szapucki

By Steve Adams | July 25, 2022 at 4:16pm CDT

There’s not much traction at present between the Nationals and Mets on a potential Josh Bell swap, reports SNY’s Andy Martino. Bell is one of several designated hitter candidates in whom the Mets are known to have interest, but it seems as though talks between the two parties haven’t proved fruitful. Pat Ragazzo and Michael Marino of Sports Illustrated/Fan Nation report that the Mets put forth an offer for Bell and a Nationals reliever that included an upper-level minor league starter and outfielder.

The Mets moved last week to begin augmenting their DH rotation, flipping reliever Colin Holderman to the Pirates in a trade that brought Daniel Vogelbach back to Queens. Vogelbach, however, figures to be a pure platoon option, whereas the switch-hitting Bell would be an everyday option who’d push Vogelbach into a bench role. The Mets have continued to look for potential DH upgrades even in the wake of the Voeglbach deal, Martino writes, with Trey Mancini, C.J. Cron and Willson Contreras among those who might still be under consideration.

They won’t have the opportunity to evaluate Mancini today, as he’ll take a seat on the heels of an 0-for-22 swoon at the plate. That offensive freefall has dropped Mancini’s batting line from a robust .285/.359/.429 (124 wRC+) to .268/.345/.404 (113 wRC+). Mancini has still been better than a league-average hitter on the whole, but it’s a poor time for him to struggle through his toughest patch of the season, particularly from a team vantage point.

The Orioles won 10 games in a row to thrust themselves onto the fringes of the American Wild Card chase prior to the deadline, but they’ve since gone 2-4 against the Rays and Yankees in a pair of road series. Mancini’s slump obviously isn’t the sole cause of the team’s momentum slowing down, but it was a contributing factor as Baltimore dropped a few close games. It’s also suboptimal for a club that could still move Mancini prior to next Tuesday’s trade deadline; an 0-for-22 doesn’t wipe out all of Mancini’s trade value, of course, but it’s tougher for a rival front office to give up a prospect of note for a hitter in such a pronounced slump.

Cron has a robust .292/.347/.546 line on the year, but it’s questionable whether the Rockies would consider moving him when he’s cheaply signed for 2023, particularly since Colorado GM Bill Schmidt has already pushed back against a major sell-off. Contreras seems a virtual lock to move in the next eight days, but the Mets reluctance to deal from the top of the farm system would make landing perhaps the top rental bat available a challenge.

Bell, Mancini and Vogelbach were just a handful of the Mets’ reported targets as they look to bolster the lineup, and Martino reported last week that GM Billy Eppler and his team were exploring trade scenarios involving both Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis. Clearly, there’s some turnover to be expected. Martino even floats the possibility of the Mets dealing Vogelbach if they land an impact bat, although there’s no indication that’s especially likely.

The exact return the Mets might surrender in order to bolster the lineup is, of course, wholly dependent on the caliber of player on which they settle — but Mike Puma of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that minor league lefty Thomas Szapucki has drawn some interest from other teams as New York has poked around the trade market. The 26-year-old lefty has yielded a staggering 15 runs in just five Major League innings across the past two seasons, but Szapucki has had a nice year in Triple-A Syracuse, pitching to a 3.48 ERA with a huge 31.9% strikeout rate against an 11% walk rate in 62 innings.

Those 62 frames have been scattered over 16 starts, which comes out to an average of under four innings per outing. That’s a bit of a strange phenomenon, even in today’s game, but the Mets have been cautious with Szapucki’s workload after he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 and season-ending surgery on his ulnar nerve last summer. He began the year throwing just two to three innings per start but has continued to build up his pitch count over the course of the year, peaking with a season-high 93 pitches back on July 6.

The Mets and other clubs may want to be cautious with his overall innings total and his pitch count on a game-to-game basis, but he’s a reasonably youthful lefty who can be controlled at least six years beyond the current campaign. Even if there’s some injury risk, he has three average or better pitches and could certainly operate as a multi-inning reliever down the road if his arm doesn’t prove capable of a starter’s workload. Speculatively, Szapucki would fit the billing of the “upper-level starting pitcher” the Mets are said to have offered to Washington in Bell talks, though there’s no specific indication that Szapucki was part of that offer.

MLBPA Rejects MLB’s “Final” Proposal On International Draft

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | July 25, 2022 at 3:53pm CDT

The Major League Baseball Players Association announced Monday that it has rejected Major League Baseball’s latest (and purportedly “final”) proposal regarding the implementation of an international draft. The MLBPA’s statement reads as follows:

“The Players Association today rejected what MLB characterized as its “final” proposal to establish a draft and hard slotting system for international entrants.

Players made clear from the outset that any International Draft must meaningfully improve the status quo for those players and not unfairly discriminate between those players and domestic entrants. To this end, the Players Association made a series of proposals aimed at protecting and advancing the rights of international amateurs.

Our draft proposals — unprecedented in MLBPA history — sought to establish minimum guarantees in player signings, roster spots, infrastructure investments, playing opportunities, scouting opportunities as well as enforcement measures to combat corruption. We also made proposals to compensate international signees more fairly and in line with other amateurs, and to ensure that all prospects have access to an educational and player development safety net.

At their core, each of our proposals was focused on protecting against the scenario that all Players fear the most — the erosion of our game on the world stage, with international players becoming the latest victim in baseball’s prioritization of efficiency over fundamental fairness. The League’s responses fell well short of anything Players could consider a fair deal.”

An MLB spokesperson released a statement of their own (relayed by James Wagner of the New York Times):

“MLB has worked to reach agreement with the MLBPA to reform the international amateur system in ways that would address longstanding challenges and benefit future players. We are disappointed the MLBPA chose the status quo over transitioning to an international draft that would have guaranteed future international players larger signing bonuses and better educational opportunities, while enhancing transparency to best address the root causes of corruption in the current system.”

The system for acquiring international amateur players has remained a topic of negotiation between the league and union going back years. It was a particularly prevalent point of discussion in the most recent collective bargaining talks, with the league’s desire for and the MLBPA’s opposition to an international draft emerging as a late sticking point in the parties’ efforts to finalize a new CBA last spring. Eventually, the parties agreed to temporarily table international draft discussions while ratifying the remainder of the CBA and ending the lockout. The sides gave themselves until July 25 to agree upon a draft, with the condition that the qualifying offer system for free agents would be eliminated if a draft were implemented.

It would appear that no draft will be put in place, although the July 25 deadline was a mutually agreed upon date between the league and union the parties could revise if they wanted to do so. The “final” terminology of the league’s proposal indicates no additional discussions are on the horizon, but it’s at least worth remembering that in March, the union rejected multiple CBA offers MLB had presented as its last proposal before the sides eventually agreed to circle back and reconvene in time to avoid the final cancelation of regular season games.

That certainly doesn’t mean the same process will play out in this case, however, particularly since it seems the parties weren’t anywhere close to agreeable terms. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter) the MLBPA leadership was so dissatisfied with the league’s offer they never brought it to the players for an official vote, as the union leadership has authority to do. Union leaders did inform player reps they planned to reject the offer before officially doing so, according to Heyman, to which there were no objections.

There indeed seemed to be a large gap between the sides to bridge, primarily on the amount of money that would be allotted for signing bonuses. The league’s “final” offer involved the creation of a $191MM bonus pool to be distributed among the players taken in the 20-round draft; the MLBPA had been seeking $260MM. The league wanted fixed, hard slots associated with each selection that could neither be exceeded nor undershot; the union wanted slot values to serve as a floor but afford the flexibility for teams to go overslot. Additionally, there was a reported gap in the proposed maximum bonuses for undrafted free agents — with the league offering $20K and the MLBPA proposing $40K.

MLB has maintained that even a $191MM bonus pool would be a boon for players relative to the status quo, claiming it’d result in more than $20MM extra going to international amateurs than had been the case under the existing system. The union has countered the bonuses for the top international players would still fall short in comparison to those of domestic draftees and that any overall financial boost would be more than counteracted by international players’ forfeiture of their ability to choose their first team.

The league has also expressed concern about the current system’s incentivizing teams and players to verbally agree to deals well in advance of players reaching their 16th birthday. A hard-capped draft would all but eliminate that occurrence, but the union has expressed its belief that tighter enforcement against verbal agreements would achieve the same purpose without necessitating a draft.

If this truly marks the end of negotiations, the status quo for both the international amateur setup and the qualifying offer will remain. That’s a notable development for upcoming free agent markets, as teams will still have to forfeit draft picks and/or international signing bonus space to sign players who received and rejected the QO. The MLBPA has sought to remove that non-monetary cost associated with adding any free agents, but that hasn’t proven a sufficient enough inducement for the union to agree to the league’s vision for an international draft. Even if this closes the book on the issue for a while, it stands to reason the league’s desire for a draft will come up again during future CBA negotiations.

Tigers To Sign First-Rounder Jace Jung

By Steve Adams | July 25, 2022 at 11:45am CDT

The Tigers are in agreement with No. 12 overall draft pick Jace Jung, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com. The now-former Texas Tech standout will receive his full slot value of $4,590,300. The team has yet to formally announce the deal, though that’s presumably coming in the near future.

Jung, the younger brother of top Rangers third base prospect Josh Jung, looked like a slam-dunk first-rounder throughout a strong season at the plate. The left-handed-hitting 21-year-old turned in an outstanding .335/.481/.612 batting line with 14 home runs, 18 doubles, a triple, five steals (in five tries) and more walks (59) than strikeouts (42) through 295 plate appearances during his junior season with the Red Raiders.

The younger Jung brother spent the vast majority of his college career at second base, and that’s where he’s expected to play as a professional. There’s little doubt among scouts that Jung has the tools to be a well above-average hitter at the position, as scouting reports agree that he has above-average to plus raw power with above-average pitch selection and a potentially plus hit tool — all of which are complemented by his all-fields approach. There’s less optimism about Jung’s defensive future, given questions about his range and arm strength. Jung profiles as a bat-first second baseman whose advanced offensive profile could allow him to move quickly through the minor leagues.

Heading into the draft, Jung ranked as No. 8 prospect on the board, per The Athletic’s Keith Law, also landing ninth at MLB.com, ninth at Baseball America, 13th at ESPN and 20th over at FanGraphs.

Twins Sign Michael Feliz To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | July 25, 2022 at 11:22am CDT

The Twins have signed right-hander Michael Feliz to a minor league contract and assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate, the St. Paul Saints (as announced by the Saints themselves). Feliz, a client of Octagon, was designated for assignment by the Red Sox earlier this month and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Feliz, 29, has seen action in parts of eight big league seasons, mostly coming with the Astros and Pirates, The right-hander was one of four players (alongside Joe Musgrove, Colin Moran and Jason Martin) traded from Houston to Pittsburgh in the trade that brought Gerrit Cole to the Astros. He spent parts of four seasons in the Pittsburgh bullpen, at times looking like a viable late-inning reliever but also lacking the consistency to remain in a leverage role.

Feliz’s best season in the Majors came with the Pirates in 2019, when he pitched 56 1/3 innings of 3.99 ERA ball and punched out 30.5% of his opponents. Feliz’s 11.3% walk rate and 1.76 HR/9 mark that season were obvious areas that could be improved upon, but it was a generally encouraging season for a then-26-year-old hurler who had ranked among the best pitching prospects in the Astros’ system prior to his inclusion in the Cole trade.

Since that season, however, Feliz has been beset by shoulder, forearm and elbow injuries. Between those injuries and subpar performance on the mound (which, of course, could well have been impacted by those health troubles), he’s pitched just 25 Major League innings with an ugly 8.28 ERA dating back to Opening Day 2020.

Feliz’s average fastball, however, which sat at 96.3 mph back in 2017, is down to just 93.8 mph through this year’s small sample. That said, he’s found success this season for the most part in spite of that diminished heater. In 3 1/3 big league frames, he’s allowed one earned run on a hit and two walks with four strikeouts. And, with the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, Feliz carried a 3.28 ERA with a 27.7% strikeout rate against an 8.9% walk rate through 24 2/3 innings.

Bullpen help is a glaring need for the Twins. Breakout rookie Jhoan Duran and starter-turned-reliever Griffin Jax have served as the only consistent arms in an otherwise woeful relief corps, which figures to be an area the front office will address over the next week-plus. Bringing Feliz into the fold gives them another depth option for the final few months of the season, but it’d be a surprise if Minnesota didn’t acquire at least one veteran arm (if not two or more) prior to Aug. 2.

League, MLBPA Exchange Proposals On International Draft

By Mark Polishuk | July 24, 2022 at 11:10pm CDT

July 25 is the deadline for Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association to come to an agreement on an international player draft, which would replace the current international signing system and end the qualifying-offer system for big league free agents. The two sides have been in negotiations for weeks, and ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez (all via Twitter links) reports that counter-proposals were exchanged within the last two days. The union put forth a new offer on Saturday, and the league quickly countered again today with what MLB said was a final offer.

“There was some movement on the money,” Gonzalez writes, with the league increasing its offer from a $181MM bonus pool for the top 600 players to $191MM. Of course, this is still well below the $260MM bonus pool the MLBPA was and is still seeking, and there wasn’t any word on whether or not the league’s new proposal involved fixed slot prices. According to past reports, the union wanted slot prices acting only as minimum expenditures for the assigned selections, whereas MLB wanted hard slots that couldn’t be exceeded for any pick.

Also, the two sides differed on the amount of money available for signings of undrafted players, as the MLBPA wanted a $40K limit and MLB wanted only $20K. This other financial aspect was one of many differences floated between the union and the league (as illustrated by The Athletic’s Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal), and it isn’t known if any common ground on these issues has been reached.

There are definitely still some hurdles, as Gonzalez notes that the MLBPA “still isn’t satisfied with some of the other aspects of the league’s proposal.” With less than 24 hours to go until the deadline, it would seem unlikely that a deal will be reached on the creation of an international draft, considering that the two sides remain some distance apart. Then again, back in March, it didn’t seem like a new collective bargaining agreement was going to be reached in time to avoid the cancellation of games, but the two sides were rather quickly able to make up a lot of ground in order to launch a shortened version of Spring Training and a full 162-game schedule.

The question of the international draft was the last outstanding issue from the offseason’s CBA talks, as the two sides agreed on the broader new collective bargaining agreement in March in order to end the lockout, and talks resumed this summer about the possibility of the draft. If no agreement is reached, the current rules regarding the international signing system and qualifying offers would remain in place through the term of the new CBA, which expires following the 2026 season.

Beyond just acting as the last vestige of the CBA negotiations, the talks also have a sizable impact on baseball business as a whole. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden observes that with the international talent-acquisition process and QO-related draft compensation undecided, teams have been waiting until after tomorrow’s deadline to propose major trade offers, as clubs want to be sure about their future avenues to obtaining young talent before considering moving any current prospects at the August 2 trade deadline.

NL West Notes: Soto, Padres, Merrill, Wood, Giants, Heaney, Taylor

By Mark Polishuk | July 24, 2022 at 10:47pm CDT

Speculation continues to swirl over which team (if any) could pry Juan Soto away from the Nationals before the trade deadline, or even which clubs are the top contenders as we approach August 2. According to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of The New York Post, the Nats may be “focusing on one or two teams at the moment,” with the Cardinals seen by some rivals as a likely contender to be one of those clubs due to St. Louis’ amount of MLB-ready talent. As far as the NL West goes, however, a rival executive tells The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that “I think San Diego is as likely as the other 28 teams combined. They have the players and they have [A.J.] Preller.”

Certainly, the Padres’ president of baseball operations is always open to bold moves, and that confidence extends to the team’s prospects in the sense that the Padres “are confident they can keep replenishing their farm system.” While San Diego has already dealt quality blue-chippers in other deals over the years, more intriguing new names keep emerging. For instance, Rosenthal writes that teams have shown interest in shortstop Jackson Merrill and outfielder James Wood, the Padres’ two top picks from the 2021 draft. Merrill and Wood were both high school selections who are still a few years away from the bigs, so in regards to Soto, the Padres could hang onto the young duo as future building blocks while dealing other prospects who better fit the Nationals’ demands.

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