Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Red Sox Claim Phillips Valdez Off Waivers, Place Pedroia On 60-Day IL

By | at

The Red Sox have claimed right-hander Phillips Valdez off waivers from the Mariners, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Dustin Pedroia was placed on the 60-day injured list.

Valdez, 28, had been designated for assignment on Friday following the Mariners’ claim of Taylor Williams, another right-handed reliever. He debuted with Texas last year and was claimed off waivers by Seattle in November, but was unable to stay on the roster for the entirety of the offseason. In his brief Major League stint last year, he tossed 16 innings of 3.94-ERA ball, striking out 18 batters. He was deployed exclusively as a reliever after spending the majority of his minor-league career as a starter. We’ll have to wait and see how the Red Sox view his future role, but evidently they like Valdez enough to give him a shot with the team.

Pedroia’s placement on the 60-day IL isn’t reflective of any new developments in his recovery from left knee complications: after suffering a “significant setback” this winter, Pedroia targeted late May or June as the most optimistic date for his return to the field, meaning that those first 60 days were always out of the question. And with Pedroia having only appeared in nine games over the last two seasons, Boston surely hasn’t been planning around a sizable contribution from the former MVP.

Orioles Outright Richard Urena

By | at

The Orioles announced today that they’ve outrighted infielder Richard Urena to Triple-A Norfolk after he cleared waivers. That means he’s no longer a member of the 40-man roster, but he’ll nonetheless be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Urena had been designated for assignment on Friday when the O’s claimed Andrew Velazquez, another infielder. Urena will have a chance to compete with Velazquez and others for a reserve role with the Major League club, which currently has Hanser Alberto and Jose Iglesias installed as the starting middle infield. There’s a whole host of middle infielders with MLB experience—including the likes of Stevie Wilkerson, Richie Martin, and Pat Valaika—in competition for a bench spot on the Baltimore roster.

Urena, who came up as a shortstop, is a capable second and third baseman, and even occasionally suited up in left field for the Blue Jays last year. After parts of three seasons in the Majors, his offensive performance has not been especially impressive, as he’s notched a .636 OPS with just two home runs through 263 plate appearances. Urena spent the majority of the 2019 season at the Triple-A level, posting a .274/.314/.393 batting line with six home runs.

Mariners Sign Rymer Liriano

By | at

The Mariners have signed outfielder Rymer Liriano to a minor-league contract with an invitation to MLB spring training, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The club has since confirmed the agreement.

Liriano hasn’t reached the majors since a brief stint with the 2017 White Sox. Between that time in Chicago and some work with the 2014 Padres, he has compiled 167 MLB plate appearances with a .220/.293/.287 slash (66 wRC+).

He spent 2019 with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, where he hit .209/.346/.403 with ten home runs in 247 plate appearances. Still just 28 years old, Liriano came up as a center field prospect in the San Diego system but was used exclusively in the corners last season. He’ll presumably vie for a spot in an uncertain Seattle corner outfield mix this spring.

Al Notes: Thornton, Jays, Romero, Calhoun

By | at

Some news and notes from American League spring training camps:

  • Trent Thornton is the favorite to claim the final spot in the Blue Jays’ season-opening rotation, reports Scott Mitchell of TSN. The 26-year-old actually led the Jays in innings (154.1) last season, but the results weren’t in line with what one would want from a staff ace. He posted a 4.84 ERA with slightly worse than average strikeout (22.0%) and walk (9.0%) rates. This offseason, the front office went to work on bolstering that pitching staff. They signed Hyun-Jin Ryu and Tanner Roark to multi-year deals, brought back Matt Shoemaker, and acquired Chase Anderson in a trade with Milwaukee. Another offseason addition, Shun Yamaguchi, figures to be Thornton’s biggest competition for the #5 rotation spot. Because of his experience in relief in NPB, however, Yamaguchi seems more likely to open the season in the bullpen, Mitchell reports.
  • Seeing that new-look staff in action will be a bit more difficult for some Blue Jays’ fans. Beginning this season, live Jays’ games will be blacked out on MLB.tv throughout Canada, reports Andrew Stoeten of the Athletic. Instead, Canadian viewers will have to subscribe to Sportsnet NOW to stream games. A subscription to that platform also offers non-baseball programming but doesn’t come with the MLB.tv advantage of offering live access to every MLB game in real time. It’s surely frustrating news for a certain segment of the Canadian fan base.
  • Twins’ reliever Fernando Romero won’t report to the team “for the foreseeable future,” manager Rocco Baldelli tells Jeff Wheeler of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. A visa issue resulted in Romero being denied entrance to the United States. He’ll now need to resubmit several documents to gain customs’ approval, Wheeler reports, a process that could take several weeks. It’s possible Romero misses all of spring training, he adds. A lengthy delay would be a blow to the 25-year-old’s hopes of earning a big league bullpen job out of camp. Long one of the organization’s top prospects, Romero struggled in 15 MLB relief appearances in 2019.
  • Willie Calhoun has a firm hold on the Rangers’ left field job, notes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. More importantly, it seems Calhoun’s found a better peace of mind as he enters spring training than he’d carried into previous seasons, as Grant explores. After some tumult following his early-season demotion in 2019, the 25-year-old has forged stronger relationships with many in the organization. Grant’s profile is worth a full perusal for those interested in Calhoun’s growth as a person and player.

Yoenis Cespedes Not Ruling Out Potential Opening Day Return

By | at

FEBRUARY 23: Cespedes’ stalemate with the media is over, it seems. He addressed his health situation with reporters (including Dicomo) this morning. Via interpreter, Cespedes says he’s “happy with the progress.” Asked if he could potentially be ready for Opening Day, the outfielder replied “if I continue progressing the way that I am, yes.” The hope is for Cespedes to start spring training game action by mid-March, relays Tim Healey of Newsday (via Twitter).

FEBRUARY 21: New Mets skipper Luis Rojas discussed his initial impressions of still-rehabbing outfielder Yoenis Cespedes at this stage of camp. As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports, the veteran seems to be showing a fair bit of promise as he looks to return from injury — but he also still has a ways to go.

Per Rojas — Cespedes isn’t on speaking terms with the media at the moment — the 34-year-old is participating in about three-quarters to four-fifths of the activities of his healthy teammates. It’s a “progression” that Cespedes is working through with the team’s trainers.

The big question remains whether and when the former star will be able to contribute on the MLB field. That’s still unclear. He hasn’t yet fully tested his surgically repaired heels and ankle. But there’s progress, per Rojas, who says this “was a really big week” in Cespedes’s recovery.

It remains fascinating to watch this situation unfold. Cespedes has been a dynamic player for the Mets, when available. But he missed all of 2019 after being sidelined for large chunks of the preceding two seasons. And we haven’t seen his current form after weathering those major procedures and dealing with a high-profile dispute over how they occurred that cost him a huge chunk of his remaining guaranteed money.

Age is also a consideration, as Cespedes will turn 35 in October. Then there’s the question of how he’ll fit on the Mets roster and take to what’s likely to be less than a full-time role (at least unless or until he proves worthy of more).

It remains to be seen how this’ll proceed. But it’s certain that Rojas will be answering a lot of questions on Cespedes over the coming months — particularly if the outfielder declines to revisit his media silence. Ultimately, the rookie skipper and the front office may face some tough decisions.

Camp Battles: Cubs’ Second Base Mix

By | at

The Cubs started seven different players at second base in 2019 with generally uninspiring results. Addison Russell, Ben Zobrist and Tony Kemp are now gone. Let’s take a look at the options who remain to fill that spot on the north side in 2020.

  • Jason Kipnis: Chicago signed Kipnis to a minor-league deal after Cleveland cut bait last offseason. The former star has slumped to a .236/.305/.403 (85 wRC+) mark over the past three seasons, especially struggling against left-handed pitching. His defensive metrics are mixed, with UZR more bullish than DRS or Statcast. At 32 (33 in April), the Illinois native probably won’t be returning to his 2015-16 heights, but there’s hope he can offer reasonable production on both sides of the ball. With that in mind, Kipnis looks to be a good bet to make the Opening Day roster, Patrick Mooney of the Athletic reported today.
  • David Bote: Bote got the lion’s share of playing time at second last season, although he’s capable of bouncing around the infield. The 26-year-old has put up league average numbers over his first 566 plate appearances (.257/.362/.422). There’s a lot of swing-and-miss to his game, though, and his career 11.1% walk rate seems a bit inflated by some opportunities hitting in front of the pitcher. The organization clearly believes in him, having extended him through 2024 (with a pair of club options) last spring.
  • Nico Hoerner: The Cubs’ top prospect, Hoerner made it up for a September cameo. A polished hitter coming out of Stanford, he always profiled as a fast riser, but the club may prefer to slow things down a bit. Mediocre results over his first 82 MLB plate appearances certainly won’t sour the organization on him, but Hoerner only logged 294 plate appearances in the high minors, all in Double-A. There’s a case to be made for giving him some seasoning at Triple-A.
  • Daniel Descalso: A late-career swing change seemingly reinvigorated Descalso’s career in Arizona in 2018. The Cubs bought in, signing him to a two-year deal last offseason. Unfortunately, he fell completely flat, hitting just .173/.271/.250 (42 wRC+) in 194 plate appearances. 2018 now looks like an outlier rather than a breakout, as Descalso’s been at least ten percentage points below average at the plate in every other season of his career.
  • Robel García: García, 26, is a phenomenal story, having parlayed a stint in Italy to a return to affiliated ball (and eventually his MLB debut) in 2019. He obliterated the minors to the tune of a .284/.369/.586 line in 388 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A. That came with a 30.9% strikeout rate, though, and the whiffs became an even bigger issue in his MLB audition. García struck out in 35 of his 80 MLB plate appearances with an unpalatable 20.9% swinging strike rate. That he’s even in consideration for the job is remarkable considering where he was a year ago; he’ll have to alleviate the swing-and-miss to be a viable everyday option, though.

Also in camp as non-roster invitees are Corban Joseph, Carlos Asuaje and Hernán Pérez. Joseph has intrigued teams recently with quality minor-league numbers, but he’s a 31-year-old with 94 MLB plate appearances to his name. Asuaje, meanwhile, is coming off a disappointing tenure in the KBO, while Pérez has hovered around replacement-level over parts of eight seasons as a utility option. Each would seem to need an eye-opening spring to earn the job. Ditto prospect Trent Giambrone, who is also in camp but was left unprotected for (and went undrafted in) the Rule V draft.

Ian Happ could have added another name to the mix. However, the coaching staff considers Happ more of an option in center field, Mooney reports. Thus, it seems likeliest one of the names above picks up the slack at the keystone in 2020.

Tony Clark: MLBPA’s ‘Strong Preference’ Rays Remain In Tampa Bay

By | at

The Rays’ deliberations about splitting their season between Tampa Bay and Montreal have their fair share of logistical difficulties. Among them could be opposition from the team’s players, who would face unique living and family challenges if the plan were ever to get green-lit.

Until tonight, however, the Players Association had remained quiet about the matter. MLBPA executive director Tony Clark made his first comments in an interview with Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Understandably, the union is wary of such a move.

“It would be our strong preference that the club and the players remain in Tampa Bay, and that they’re identified with playing in one market,” Clark told Topkin. He added getting the players to go along with a split-season arrangement would “be difficult.”

However, he didn’t foreclose the possibility of player approval entirely. “I’m not going to say it’s impossible that we couldn’t come to an agreement that’s acceptable for them to split between Tampa Bay and Montreal,” the union head told Topkin. He added the MLBPA would have questions and concerns, predictably, as details of the plan take further shape. The union hasn’t received specifics since the initial conversations were announced last June, Topkin relays.

Rays’ officials expected some opposition from the MLBPA but are optimistic any challenges could be sorted out, Topkin says. Specifically, owner Stuart Sternberg has posited that the move could be a boon for Rays’ players. The arrangement would be more profitable than the organization’s current situation, the thinking goes, enabling the club to expand its perennially low payrolls. That, obviously, would mean higher player salaries. That’s plausible enough, but the Players Association figures to want more than Sternberg’s word he’ll loosen the purse strings before signing off on such a monumental change.

No move is imminent regardless. The target date for the beginning of the split season is 2028, Topkin reports, perhaps because of opposition from St. Petersburg city officials. That leaves plenty of time for further discussion. It seems, however, the Rays have become increasingly serious about moving forward in recent months. The organization and officials from Montreal are working to sort out details, including approval from both the league and union, as well as the opening of new stadiums in each market, Topkin adds. There’s sure to be more news on this front as the plan becomes more defined.

The Rays’ long-term future will be one of many areas of focus for the MLBPA in the coming months and years. The collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2021 season. Between the icy free agent markets in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 offseasons, potential seismic changes to the game’s playoff structure, and perhaps some player resentment of the arbitration process, Clark and his staff will have plenty of issues to work through with the league.

Latest On Dodgers’ Pitching Plans

By | at

The Dodgers have no shortage of options for their starting rotation. Even after trading Kenta Maeda to the Twins, Los Angeles has Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Alex Wood, Julio Urías, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Ross Stripling and Jimmy Nelson on the 40-man roster. So too is prospect Mitchell White, but he doesn’t figure to be in the mix out of the gate after posting a 6.50 ERA in 63.2 innings at Triple-A last year.

That’s plenty for manager Dave Roberts to work with, but he offered a bit of clarity on the situation today. Urías will open the season in the rotation, Roberts told reporters (including Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times). Gonsolin, it seems, will not be in that mix, Castillo adds. Roberts noted the 25-year-old has a chance to break camp with the club as a reliever, though.

A relief role is not in the cards for the club’s top pitching prospect. May is currently viewed as a starting pitcher only, Castillo relays. The 22-year-old thus seems likely to open the season in the rotation at Triple-A Oklahoma City, he adds.

None of this news is especially surprising, although it does shine some light on the situation. Gonsolin made six starts (and five relief appearances) for L.A. in 2019. The former ninth-rounder was effective in his 40 MLB innings, working to a 2.93 ERA with a 22.7% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 41.7% ground ball rate. Impressively, he compiled a 4.35 ERA/4.38 FIP in 41.1 innings in the hitter-friendly PCL. Baseball America’s #82 overall prospect, Gonsolin’s long-term future is presumably still as a starter. Given the Dodgers’ pitching depth, though, it seems his immediate path to big league innings is in relief.

That won’t be the case for Urías, who actually worked mostly out of the bullpen in 2019. His results (2.49 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate, 38.7% ground ball rate) were even better than Gonsolin’s. That pen role was never expected to be permanent, though. Still just 23 and once the game’s consensus top pitching prospect, Urías’ 2019 innings were constrained a bit by health troubles. After logging nearly 80 innings last year, it seems he’s ready to shoulder a starter’s workload again.

May, too, served in a swing role in 2019 after making his MLB debut in August. BA’s #20 overall prospect, he showed well in his limited time in the show. He only made five starts at Triple-A before his promotion, though, and an early minor-league assignment, if indeed that comes to fruition, could help the club keep his innings in check as well.

If it weren’t clear already, Roberts has no problem deploying the pitching staff in a nontraditional manner. There’ll be ample innings to go around, and the club will surely rely on more than five of the names above to start games over the course of the year. If healthy, Buehler, Kershaw and Price seem like locks to take the ball every fifth day, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a few different names penciled in behind them as the year progresses. That runoff should also aid a bullpen that is the closest thing the Dodgers have to a weakness. It’s an enviable situation for the NL West favorites.

Health Notes: Paxton, Rodgers, Morrow, Buttrey

By | at

As spring training games kick off, let’s check in on some injury situations around the game.

  • The early stages of James Paxton’s recovery from February back surgery have been promising, reports Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. Paxton is “optimistic” he’ll begin a throwing program around ten days from now, relays Ackert. Paxton suggested he could be back in the Yankees’ rotation by May, which would be at the early end of the three to four month estimate for his recovery immediately post-surgery. A prompt return from the southpaw is perhaps even more important with Luis Severino now dealing with uncertainty of his own. The 31-year-old Paxton posted a solid 3.82 ERA with strong strikeout (29.4%) and walk (8.7%) rates over 150.2 innings in his first season in pinstripes in 2019.
  • Rockies’ infielder Brendan Rodgers is ahead of schedule in his own recovery from surgery. The season-ending shoulder procedure he underwent last June was expected to keep him out until sometime in May, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com, but that timetable could be moving up. Rodgers is hitting without pain, Harding reports, and the infielder estimated he could log reps at DH by March 3. The next step, Harding adds, is for Rodgers to begin a throwing program from shortstop, although he’s already throwing from 160 feet without pain, he says. The former top prospect tells Harding not to rule out a potential Opening Day return.
  • In less promising news, Cubs’ reliever Brandon Morrow has been shut down “for at least a few days” with a “mild right upper chest strain,” reports Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (Twitter link). Morrow’s timetable for return is unclear, Bastian adds. Standing alone, a non-arm problem wouldn’t be all that worrisome at this stage of spring training. With Morrow’s litany of prior injuries, though, it’s certainly concerning to hear he’s again fighting through pain. Morrow re-signed with the Cubs on a minor-league deal this offseason after injuries wrecked his first two years with the organization. When healthy, the 35-year-old has proven a highly-effective option in the late innings.
  • Another high-leverage reliever, Angels’ right-hander Ty Buttrey, expects to throw off a mound by next Thursday, reports Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Buttrey suffered an intercostal strain last week, but it never seemed particularly serious. He should be a full go for Opening Day, Fletcher adds.

Red Sox Hire Jerry Narron As Bench Coach

By | at

The Red Sox have hired Jerry Narron to serve as Ron Roenicke’s bench coach, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Narron had spent the last three seasons in the same role with the Diamondbacks.

Although it’s a change of scenery for Narron, he should inherit a fairly familiar situation. It won’t be the first time he’ll have held the title of Red Sox bench coach; in 2003, he was second-in-command to manager Grady Little for Boston’s run to the ALCS. He’s also coached in tandem with new Sox manager Ron Roenicke, working as Milwaukee’s bench coach concurrent with Roenicke’s five-year stint as the Brewer skipper.

Narron brings to the table his own experience as a Major League manager, having presided over the Rangers and Reds in the early 2000s for 633 total games. His teams compiled a 291-341 record in his career and never appeared in postseason play.

Between his days as a coach and Major League catcher, the 64-year-old Narron has been around the MLB game for 32 seasons—not to mention plenty more coaching and playing in the minor leagues.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top