Rays Reinstate Wander Franco
June 26: The Rays have officially reinstated Franco, per broadcaster Neil Solondz, with Jonathan Aranda being optioned in a corresponding move.
June 25: The Rays are hopeful of activating shortstop Wander Franco from the 10-day injured list on Sunday, manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including The Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin). Franco hasn’t played since May 30 due to a right quad strain, though he did rejoin the Rays today after finishing a five-game minor league rehab assignment. Cash said that Franco will meet with team trainers before the official go-ahead is given to reinstate him to the active roster.
Quad and hamstring problems bothered Franco even prior to his IL stint, as Cash said that for “maybe a month’s worth of games, he just wasn’t himself.” This is reflected in Franco’s splits, since the star shortstop posted a .912 OPS in his first 87 plate appearances of the season, but then slumped to a .566 OPS over 103 PA in May.
However, Franco now appears to be healthy, and ready to fully build on his excellent 2021 rookie season. Considering baseball’s top prospect before his debut last season, the 21-year-old Franco lived up to those high expectations, to the point that the Rays jumped to extend him via the biggest contract in club history.
Getting Franco back into the everyday lineup will be a huge help for a Rays team that hasn’t gotten much consistent hitting. Tampa’s typically excellent pitching (particularly the rotation) has helped keep the Rays afloat in the tough AL East, as the Rays still have a 39-32 record and are in possession of a wild card berth. Getting even average hitting would help the Rays solidify that playoff positioning, and perhaps help them cut into the Yankees’ big division lead.
Franco isn’t the only reinforcement on the way, as Drew Rasmussen is tentatively slated to return during the Rays’ upcoming series (June 30-July 3) against the Blue Jays. Rasmussen was retroactively placed on the 15-day IL due to a hamstring strain on June 12, and more will be known about his status once he completes three innings of live batting practice today at the Rays’ Spring Training facility.
Pete Fairbanks is also on the comeback trail, as the right-hander has yet to pitch this season after suffering a partial lat tear in March. Fairbanks is scheduled for his own live BP session on Monday and then a Florida Coast League game on Thursday, and may join Triple-A Durham for a rehab assignment afterwards.
Brewers Place Hunter Renfroe On IL With Calf Strain
The Brewers announced that outfielder Hunter Renfroe has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 23, with a left calf strain. Infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes was recalled to take his place on the active roster.
Losing Renfroe’s bat is a notable blow to the Brewers’ lineup, as he’s been arguably the club’s best hitter this season. Acquired in an offseason trade with the Red Sox, Renfroe is hitting .247/.300/.490. His wRC+ of 116 is the highest among Milwaukee hitters with at least 200 plate appearances.
The club hasn’t provided any updates about the severity of the issue or an expected timeline, but it’s perhaps worth pointing out that calf strains are notoriously tricky to deal with. For example, Mike Trout landed on the IL with a calf strain in May of last year. Although he was expected to return in 6-8 weeks, it ended up wiping out the remainder of his season. Of course, every injury is different and it’s entirely possible that Renfroe is dealing with a much milder issue than the one Trout faced last year.
The Brewers are 41-33, tied with the Cardinals for the NL Central lead. However, they are a pitching-heavy team that doesn’t have an elite offense. The entire team’s batting line on the season is .232/.311/.401. That amounts to a wRC+ of 99, just a hair below league average. With one of their most-productive hitters now sidelined for an undetermined amount of time, that’s likely to go in the wrong direction.
This also further depletes an outfield mix that already subtracted Lorenzo Cain in recent weeks. With Renfroe sitting out the past few days, the club has slotted Christian Yelich, Andrew McCutchen, Tyrone Taylor and Jonathan Davis through the outfield positions and designated hitter role. All four of that group have a wRC+ between 83 and 101, fitting the team’s theme of mediocre offensive output.
Even before this injury, the outfield stood out as an area where the Brewers could look to improve at the trade deadline. If this injury should linger and keep Renfroe out of action through the August 2 cutoff, it should only enhance Milwaukee’s resolve to make an addition of some kind on the grass.
Diamondbacks To Select Dallas Keuchel
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo informed reporters, including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, that lefty Dallas Keuchel will start Sunday’s game for the club. Keuchel isn’t currently on Arizona’s 40-man roster, meaning a corresponding move of some kind will be required.
Keuchel, 34, began the season with the White Sox, in the final season of the three-year deal he signed with them prior to the 2020 campaign. His first season of the deal was brilliant, as he threw 63 1/3 innings in the shortened season with a 1.99 ERA. However, there were reasons to be skeptical of those results, with the advanced metrics grading him less kindly, possibly due to his .255 BABIP and 4.7% HR/FB rate. Indeed, the pendulum swung the other way in 2021, with Keuchel’s ERA shooting up to 5.28. In 2022, things got even worse, as his ERA was at 7.88 after eight starts when the White Sox released him.
Once Keuchel cleared release waivers, any other team could sign him for the prorated league minimum rate, with the White Sox on the hook for the remainder. The Diamondbacks stepped up and offered him a minor league deal, reuniting Keuchel with Brent Strom, who was the pitching coach with the Astros during Keuchel’s best seasons but is now with the D-Backs. That deal came with opt-outs on June 25, July 3 and July 11. With yesterday being the first of those opt-outs, it’s possible that motivated the team to make the move, though it’s not known if Keuchel indeed triggered his opt-out. Since signing that deal, Keuchel made a pair of starts at the Complex League level, logging 12 innings and allowing six earned runs, 17 strikeouts and a pair of walks.
The Diamondbacks have used four primary starters this year: Zac Gallen, Madison Bumgarner, Merrill Kelly and Zach Davies. The fifth slot was taken by Humberto Castellanos for most of the season until he landed on the IL at the end of May. Since then, the club has been patching the last spot together, giving the occasional spot start to the likes of Tyler Gilbert and Luke Weaver. But it seems now they will give the ball to Keuchel and see if he can take over a role and stabilize the back end of the rotation.
Currently 32-41, the Diamondbacks are 8 1/2 games out of a playoff spot at the moment. With just over a month to go until the August 2 trade deadline, the club will likely be considering doing some selling in that time, at least when it comes to players with short windows of control. Keuchel himself isn’t likely to garner huge amounts of interest, given that he just had to settle for a minor league deal. However, it’s possible Arizona will trade another member of the rotation between now and then. Zach Davies is on a one-year contract and headed towards free agency at the end of the year. There is a mutual option for 2023, though those are almost never picked up by both sides. After a miserable season with the Cubs in 2021, Davies is having a nice bounceback here in 2022, putting up a 3.94 ERA through 80 innings.
If the club pulls the trigger on a deal, Keuchel could potentially provide some veteran innings down the stretch. For him personally, he’ll look to show some improved results before returning to free agency at the end of the year.
Mets Notes: McCann, Scherzer, Holderman, deGrom
James McCann was activated from the 10-day injured list prior to today’s 5-3 win over the Marlins, and the catcher went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored in his first game since May 10. McCann had to undergo surgery to fix a broken left hamate bone, costing him a little beyond the initial six-week recovery timeline. Nevertheless, McCann is back behind the plate and looking to finally get his Queens tenure on track. Since signing a four-year, $40.6MM free agent deal in the 2020-21 offseason, McCann has hit only .227/.290/.341 over his first 142 games and 476 plate appearances in a Mets uniform.
Neither Tomas Nido or Patrick Mazeika shone while McCann was out, so there isn’t much chance of McCann losing his starting job….unless the aggressive Mets either added a short-term catcher (i.e. a pending free agent like Willson Contreras) or perhaps promoted star prospect Francisco Alvarez. While Alvarez is crushing Double-A pitching, it would be bold to see the Mets promote him past Triple-A and directly to the majors, so the club would certainly prefer to just see McCann flash some of his good hitting form from the 2019-20 seasons.
More from the Amazins…
- There was some speculation that Max Scherzer could be activated from his own IL stint this weekend, but the ace will instead make another minor league rehab start. As Scherzer told MLB.com’s Paige Leckie and other reporters, he “got a little sore” after tossing his last rehab outing, plus a subsequent bullpen session, and continued rehab on his left oblique. “In order to pitch and to start [in the majors] on Sunday, I was going to have to be perfect….I couldn’t check that box,” Scherzer said. This doesn’t really count as a setback for the former Cy Young Award winner, given that a return tomorrow would have put him ahead of schedule from the 6-to-8 week timeline initially attached to his recovery. Should all go well in this next rehab outing, Scherzer might be able to return to the Mets for their series against the Rangers next weekend (July 2-3).
- Speaking of rehab assignments, right-hander Colin Holderman will start for Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday, Mets skipper Buck Showalter told Leckie and other reporters. Holderman was (retroactively) placed on the 15-day IL on June 8 due to a right shoulder impingement, but it seems as though the rookie is making good progress. Over his first 11 1/3 innings in the majors, Holderman has posted a 3.18 ERA, 30.4% strikeout rate, and 8.7% walk rate.
- Jacob deGrom threw his second live batting-practice session, tossing over 20 pitches. (The New York Post’s Mike Puma was among those to report the news.) DeGrom has another BP session scheduled, and he could then perhaps be lined up for a minor league rehab assignment. It marks yet another step in deGrom’s recovery from a stress fracture in his scapula, as deGrom has yet to pitch this season — or in almost a full year, as deGrom’s appearance on July 7, 2021 was his last before a forearm injury eventually ended his 2021 campaign.
- Left-handed relief pitching will be among the Mets’ priorities at the trade deadline this summer, Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes. While the club will look for bullpen help in general, Chasen Shreve and Joely Rodriguez are the only southpaws in New York’s bullpen, and both have been a little shaky this year.
Yankees Interested In Luis Castillo
We’ve already heard about a few teams with interest in the Reds’ starting pitching, and it isn’t surprising that the Yankees are also on that list. According to The Athletic’s Peter Gammons, the Yankees have “talked” with Cincinnati about right-hander Luis Castillo, and Reds scouts have been watching pitching prospect Will Warren (currently throwing for the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate).
Starting pitching would ostensibly not be a major priority for the Bronx Bombers, given how the rotation has been arguably the league’s best over the first three months of the season. Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Luis Severino, Nestor Cortes, and Jordan Montgomery have all looked excellent, and the rotation as a whole ranks first in baseball in walk rate (5.4%) and strikeout rate (25.4%), and second in cumulative fWAR (7.7) and ERA (3.00).
However, even beyond the “you can never have enough pitching” credo, there is certainly reason for Yankees GM Brian Cashman to be looking to reinforce his staff. Severino tossed only 18 regular-season innings over the course of three injury-riddled seasons from 2019-21, and thus his workload might need to be managed down the stretch. Likewise, Cortes has never thrown more than 119 2/3 combined innings in any pro season, while Taillon has also battled a number of injury problems throughout his career.
While none of Severino, Cortes, Taillon, Cole, or Montgomery have run into any real health issues thus far in 2022, that collective durability could actually be more of a reason for Cashman to proactively seek out another starter. Since it’s very rare to have an entire rotation stay intact throughout a full season, the Yankees could look to add before trouble (inevitably?) strikes, since waiting until a problem arises could decrease New York’s leverage with the Reds or any other team dangling pitching.
Gammons also figures the Yankees will make another attempt to acquire Frankie Montas, after the Yankees engaged the A’s in trade talks back in March. Castillo has also been on New York’s radar in the past, when the Bombers reportedly rejected Cincinnati’s ask of Gleyber Torres and more for Castillo back in January 2021.
The Reds will certainly have another high asking price on Castillo in the coming weeks. The righty is arguably the top pitcher available prior to the August 2 trade deadline, due to both his front-of-the-rotation ability and his contractual status — Castillo isn’t scheduled for free agency until after the 2023 season. He has been more solid than spectacular thus far in 2022, but it could be that Castillo is still ramping up after missing the first month of action due to shoulder soreness.
While Warren certainly wouldn’t be the centerpiece of any Castillo trade package, the 23-year-old righty is already gaining attention in his first year of pro ball. An eighth-round pick for the Yankees in the 2021 draft, Warren is ranked by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline as the 27th-best prospect in New York’s farm system, and he has a 3.72 ERA over 55 2/3 combined innings at high-A (35 IP) and Double-A (20 2/3 IP) in 2022. His two newest pitches are his best offerings, as the Yankees’ pitching development staff helped Warren turn his slider and two-seamer into plus pitches. It already seems like Warren would be a good fit as a relief pitcher down the road, according to Pipeline’s scouting report, though he might be able to work in a rotation if he can successfully mix his slider and two-seamer with a more average changeup and curveball.
Texas Notes: No-Hitter, Pena, McCullers, Duran, Hearn, Garver
Cristian Javier, Hector Neris, and Ryan Pressly combined for the 14th no-hitter in Astros history, as Houston earned a 3-0 win over the Yankees today in the Bronx. Javier handled much of the work over seven innings, with Neris and Pressly each contributing an inning of hitless pitching to stifle the lineup of the league-leading Yankees. It was the first time in over 19 years that New York had been no-hit, also at hands of the Astros — six Houston pitchers blanked the Yankees on June 11, 2003.
More from both the Astros and Rangers, as we run down baseball news from the Lone Star State….
- Jeremy Pena is likely to return to Houston’s lineup on Sunday, as the rookie shortstop took batting practice today. Left thumb discomfort sent Pena to the 10-day injured list on June 15, though an MRI didn’t reveal any damage. It thankfully looks like only a minor injury for Pena, and he’ll now get to resume his outstanding rookie season. Making his MLB debut earlier this year, Pena has hit .277/.333/.471 with nine homers over his first 211 plate appearances, though his hot bat had been cooling off in the two weeks prior to his IL stint.
- Lance McCullers Jr. was the pitcher throwing to Pena, with McCullers tossing around 20 pitches during the overall BP session. McCullers told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that his repertoire included changeups, sinkers, and a slider, and he was throwing as hard as 93mph. Since suffering a flexor tendon strain during last year’s postseason and then a rehab setback in January, McCullers has been slowly working his way back, and is still likely a month or so away from a minor league rehab assignment.
- After today’s 3-2 win over the Nationals, the Rangers optioned left-hander Taylor Hearn and infielder Ezequiel Duran to Triple-A. Corresponding moves will be made prior to tomorrow’s game. Hearn was the bulk pitcher in today’s bullpen game, allowing only two walks over four scoreless innings, though it was a rare quality outing an otherwise rough season for the southpaw. Even with today’s game on his ledger, Hearn still has a 5.86 ERA over 63 innings, starting 13 of his 14 games. Texas called Duran up to the majors for his MLB debut earlier this month, and the top-100 prospect hit .258/.281/.435 with two home runs over 64 PA. Duran had been seeing most of the playing time at third base, but with Josh Smith now back from the IL, Duran will continue his development with an everyday role at Triple-A rather than part-time duty in the Show.
- Mitch Garver went 0-for-2 with a walk against the Nats today, dropping the veteran’s slash line to .201/.288/.383 for the season, over 170 PA. Garver has been trying to play through a damaged flexor tendon in his throwing forearm, but he told reporters (including Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News) that he would make a decision by the All-Star break whether or not to undergo season-ending surgery. With a 7-8 month recovery time required for the surgery, Garver would miss little to none of Spring Training by getting the procedure relatively soon. It is possible Garver could instead try to rehab the forearm problem without surgery, but Grant writes “that route is more uncertain” in terms of a recovery timeline or what it might mean for Garver’s 2023 season. Since suffering the flexor injury, Garver hasn’t been able to play catcher, so the Rangers have been limiting him to DH or pinch-hitting duty.
Brewers Place Miguel Sanchez On IL With UCL Discomfort
6:47PM: In positive news, “nothing major” was revealed by Sanchez’s MRI, Brewers manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). For now, the plan is to re-evaluate Sanchez after a rest period.
2:50PM: The Brewers announced a batch of roster moves today, with four-right handed pitchers involved. Trevor Gott and Jandel Gustave were each reinstated from the 15-day injured list. To create room for those two on the active roster, Peter Strzelecki was optioned to Triple-A Nashville and Miguel Sanchez was placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to June 22, with right UCL discomfort.
The club hasn’t provided a timeline for Sanchez, but the wording of the announcement is certainly ominous. The ulnar collateral ligament is the part of the elbow that, when damaged, requires Tommy John surgery. If Sanchez is experiencing discomfort in that area, it certainly raises the possibility that he will need such a procedure. Although, to be clear, no announcement of next steps has been made as of yet.
First selected to the big league team in June of last year, he has since thrown 39 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for Milwaukee, with a 4.12 ERA. He hasn’t had a tremendous amount of strikeouts or grounders in that time, but seems to have overcome a 12.4% walk rate by getting infield pop-ups at a 21.6% clip, much better than the MLB average, which is usually just under 10%. His strikeout numbers are more impressive in the minors, however, as he’s struck out 107 of 436 batters faced over four Triple-A seasons. That amounts to a 24.5% rate. The 28-year-old’s career will now be placed on hold while he will surely undergo further testing to figure out how to proceed.
The Milwaukee bullpen has dealt with its share of injuries, as Sanchez joins Jake Cousins, Luis Perdomo and Justin Topa as the relievers on the IL. The return of Gott and Gustave will surely help bolster the squad, though. The bullpen has outsized importance at the moment due to the injuries to the rotation, as Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff and Aaron Ashby are all sidelined as well. With so many arms out of action, each healthy hurler becomes that much more important. The Brewers and Cardinals are deadlocked at the top of the NL Central at the moment, with each club sporting a 40-33 record coming into today.
Phillies Select Mark Appel
6:11PM: The Phillies have officially selected Appel’s contract and placed Brogdon on the COVID-IL.
8:10AM: The Phillies announced to reporters, including Matt Gelb of The Athletic, that they are placing right-hander Connor Brogdon on the COVID-related injured list. Taking his place on the roster will be fellow righty Mark Appel.
Whenever Appel gets into a game, it will be his MLB debut, thus concluding one of the more unique journeys to the big leagues. As the Astros were in the midst of a years-long rebuild, they racked up a number of premium draft picks, which they were able to use to select players like George Springer, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman. Those players ended up forming a huge part of the core of the team, which would go on to make the playoffs in six out of the past seven seasons and is likely to do so again this year, including the now-controversial 2017 World Series championship. One that didn’t quite go as planned for the club, however, was the selection of Appel with the first overall draft pick in 2013.
Appel had actually been selected twice before but wasn’t signed. The Tigers selected him out of high school in the 15th round back in 2009, though Appel wound up going to Stanford instead. By the time 2012 rolled around, Appel was seen as the top talent in the draft, but he came with signability concerns. The Pirates selected him eighth overall but Appel indeed returned to Stanford. Once drafted and signed by the Astros, Appel was instantly considered one of the top prospects in the game, with Baseball America ranking him #39 in 2014 and then #31 in 2015. However, Appel’s numbers seemed to slip as he reached the higher levels of the minors. In 2015, between Double-A and Triple-A, his ERA came in at a middling 4.37, along with a strikeout rate of just 19.1% and walk rate of 8.9%. On the heels of that season, the Astros traded Appel and four other prospects to the Phillies for Ken Giles and Jonathan Arauz.
The change of scenery didn’t seem to help much, as Appel dealt with injuries and underperformance in the Phillies’ organization. He was selected to the club’s 40-man roster prior to the 2017 season but was designated for assignment and outrighted at the end of that campaign. In February of 2018, Appel decided to step away from baseball, opening up about his decision in a candid interview. However, in March of last year, it was reported that Appel was attempting a comeback attempt, after missing three entire seasons.
In 2021, Appel split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, throwing 71 1/3 innings. He managed just a 6.06 ERA, though some rust would certainly be understandable after such a long layoff. He started 15 of his 23 appearances last year but has switched over to relief entirely in 2022, with much improved results. In 19 Triple-A appearances this season, he’s thrown 28 frames with a 1.61 ERA, along with a 21.8% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 47.3% ground ball rate. Based on that performance, he’s now getting the call he’s waited so long to receive.
In spite of all the twists and turns on that journey, Appel is now just 30 years old, turning 31 in about three weeks. This selection to the big league roster is a testament to his determination and perseverance. The hurler himself took to Twitter and attempted to sum up his feelings on this incredible day. “Completely overwhelmed. I have so many thoughts I want to share but can’t find the words, so I’ll just say this: I’m thankful. Today, I get to play a game I love as a Major League Baseball player.”
Rangers Outright Spencer Patton To Triple-A
The Rangers announced that right-hander Spencer Patton has been outrighted off the 40-man roster and assigned to Triple-A Round Rock. Patton was designated for assignment earlier this week.
Now in his fifth MLB campaign, Patton has a 3.86 ERA and 52.6% grounder rate over seven innings this season, all in April. He then missed just under three weeks on the injured list due to an oblique strain, and was assigned to Triple-A after his activation.
This is Patton’s second stint in Texas, as the 34-year-old broke into the big leagues with the Rangers in 2014-15. An offseason trade to the Cubs saw Patton contribute 21 1/3 innings of 5.48 ball to the 2016 World Series champs, and that was also Patton’s last Major League experience prior to a four-year stretch in Nippon Professional Baseball. Patton performed well with the Yokohama BayStars, as his 3.68 ERA over 205 2/3 relief innings in Japan caught the attention of big league scouts, and eventually led to the Rangers signing Patton to a split contract in February 2021.
The return to the majors was largely successful, as Patton had a 3.83 ERA, 27.9% strikeout rate, and 8.7% walk rate over 42 1/3 frames with Texas last season. However, Patton has seemingly become an odd man out of the bullpen picture for now, though by passing through the waiver wire unclaimed, he’ll remain in the Rangers organization and wait for another call at some point this summer.
Royals Exploring Andrew Benintendi Trades
With the Royals struggling, Andrew Benintendi has been seen as a logical trade candidate as the deadline approaches. To this end, “the Royals are actively seeking a buyer for” the outfielder, The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham writes.
There isn’t any indication that a deal could be close, and it would be a little surprising to see Benintendi moved with more than a month remaining before the August 2 trade deadline. That said, Kansas City president of baseball operations Dayton Moore doesn’t always wait until the last minute to swing significant deadline moves. The Royals dealt Martin Maldonado and Homer Bailey in separate trades in mid-July 2019, and Kelvin Herrera and Jon Jay were moved in June of 2018.
In short, if a team steps up early to make what Moore deems to be an acceptable offer, K.C. could opt to get a jump-start on its deadline plans. With only a 26-43 record heading into today’s action, the Royals have the second-worst record in the American League, and have sunk to last place in the AL Central. Since the Royals have several of their best young players already in the majors and more on the way at Triple-A, it remains to be seen exactly how extensive their sell-off could be, beyond obvious pending free agents like Benintendi, Zack Greinke, or Carlos Santana. Such names as Michael A. Taylor or even longtime staple Whit Merrifield could potentially be available, depending on how much of a remodel Moore feels is necessary.
Of course, this wasn’t the plan for Moore and company, as the Royals thought they were on the verge of a breakout heading into the 2021 season. That offseason saw the club pick up veterans like Santana, Taylor, Mike Minor, and (in a three-team trade with the Red Sox and Mets) Benintendi to augment their younger core, but the results simply haven’t been there for the team.
Benintendi hasn’t been part of the problem, as he has hit .285/.339/.426 with 20 home runs over 825 plate appearances in a Royals uniform. With a 110 OPS+/111 wRC+ in that stretch, it represented a solid bounce-back for Benintendi after a subpar 2019 season in Boston and then essentially a lost 2020 season that was limited to 14 games by a rib injury. In addition to the above-average offense, Benintendi (who turns 28 on July 6) has also been a big contributor in the field, winning a Gold Glove for his left field work in 2021.
Last year’s work earned Benintendi an $8.5MM salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility, with the outfielder defeating the Royals in a hearing last month. Benintendi has roughly $4.4MM still owed in salary, so moving him earlier rather than later would allow the Royals to save a few dollars. As a rental player, Benintendi wouldn’t net Kansas City a huge prospect return, but he’d certainly bring back a quality minor leaguer or two. Any number of clubs in need of left field help and/or left-handed hitting could potentially fit as trade partners for Benintendi — speculatively, the Rays, Yankees, Guardians, Braves, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Mets, Marlins, or Rangers all make some sense as suitors.