Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Trevor Rosenthal Undergoes Thoracic Outlet Surgery

By | at

APRIL 8: Rosenthal underwent thoracic outlet surgery Thursday, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com tweets. He’ll be re-evaluated in eight weeks.

APRIL 7: After opening the season on the injured list due to a shoulder problem, Athletics closer Trevor Rosenthal could now require thoracic outlet surgery to address the injury, manager Bob Melvin announced to reporters Wednesday (Twitter link via Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News). It’s a sudden and troubling development for a struggling A’s club. The procedure would come with “at least” a 12-week recovery time, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The right-hander is weighing his options and is expected to make a decision in the near future.

Rosenthal, 30, spent much of the offseason seeking a lucrative multi-year deal after turning in an absolutely dominant performance between the Royals and the Padres last season. However, when he wasn’t able to find a long-term deal to his liking, the hard-throwing righty opted for a one-year deal at a strong $11MM rate to serve as the closer at the pitcher-friendly O.Co Coliseum.

It was a surprise investment for an A’s club that spent most of the winter idling on the sidelines as teams throughout the league sifted through the free-agent market. Only after the A’s were able to shed a notable portion of Khris Davis’ contract did they enter the free-agent waters, and even then, their initial expenditures were modest, one-year commitments to Yusmeiro Petit, Sergio Romo and Mitch Moreland. Rosenthal was an entirely different type of spend, and it’s now an open question whether they’ll get any real return on what was a major splash by their standards.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is the latest in a series of setbacks for Rosenthal, who broke into the league as one of the game’s most dominant young relievers with the Cardinals but has since struggled to stay healthy. Tommy John surgery wiped out Rosenthal’s entire 2018 season, and when he returned with the Nationals in 2019, he developed a sudden case of the yips. Rosenthal walked 26 of the 85 batters he faced between Washington and Detroit that season. He also hit another four batters and snapped off nine wild pitches in just 15 1/3 innings. He tried to find himself with the Yankees’ Triple-A club but faced just five hitters with Scranton, issuing three walks, hitting a fourth batter and throwing another wild pitch.

Those immense struggles made Rosenthal’s comeback in 2020 all the more remarkable. Not only did he rediscover some big league success, he emerged as one of the most dominant relievers in all of baseball. Through 23 2/3 innings between Kansas City and San Diego, Rosenthal notched a 1.90 ERA with an overpowering 41.8 percent strikeout rate, a strong 8.8 percent walk rate and a fastball that averaged 98.1 mph. It was vintage Rosenthal.

From here, the future is sadly muddied once again. The track record for pitchers coming back from thoracic outlet surgery is generally poor, and few pitchers have undergone both Tommy John surgery and a TOS procedure in such close proximity. Matt Harvey is the most prominent example of a pitcher to undergo both operations in a short time, missing the 2014 season due to Tommy John and then undergoing TOS midway through the 2016 campaign. Obviously, he’s been unable to rediscover the dominant form he displayed early in his career.

There are certainly success stories among pitchers who’ve had surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome. Recently retired righty and current Rangers general manager Chris Young credited the procedure with saving his career, and Rosenthal’s former Cardinals teammate, Jaime Garcia, enjoyed a productive three-year stretch upon returning from his own TOS operation.

For the Athletics, the new development on Rosenthal means they’ll be extra reliant on veterans like Romo, Petit and Jake Diekman in the late innings. Right-handers Lou Trivino and J.B. Wendelken have had their share of success in the big leagues as well; Wendelken in particular has been quietly dominant dating back to 2018. The A’s also have a former top 10 overall pick, left-hander A.J. Puk, as an intriguing option in the ’pen this year as he looks to put his own injury woes in the rearview mirror.

George Springer Suffers Quad Strain

By | at

APRIL 8: Springer has a low-grade strain, according to manager Charlie Montoyo. He’s unlikely to debut until at at least April 15, Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets.

APRIL 7: Blue Jays center fielder George Springer looked as if he could make his 2021 debut Thursday, but there’s no longer a chance of that happening. Springer felt tightness in his right quad while running the bases on Tuesday and has undergone an MRI, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star was among those to report. The Jays are still awaiting the results of Springer’s MRI.

When Toronto signed Springer to the largest guarantee in free agency – a six year, $150MM pact – the hope was obviously that he would be part of their lineup beginning Opening Day. But the three-time All-Star suffered a Grade 2 left oblique strain during spring training, which has prevented him from debuting this year, and this latest issue will keep him out for at least a little more time. Springer appeared in 140 or more games in each season with the Astros from 2016-18, but he missed 40 contests in 2019 and sat out nine times during the abbreviated 2020 campaign.

The Blue Jays planned to enter the season with Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. flanking Springer in the outfield. Sans Springer, they have mostly turned to Randal Grichuk in center. Grichuk has gotten off to a hot start and helped offset Springer’s absence, though there’s no doubt the latter is the better option when he’s healthy.

Diamondbacks Place Ketel Marte On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Andrew Young

By | at

The Diamondbacks have placed Ketel Marte on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain, the team announced. Andrew Young has been recalled from the Taxi Squad to take his roster spot.

This is a tough blow for the Diamondbacks, who are off to a 2-4 start this season. Marte is off to an incredible .462/.500/.846 start to the season, already posting 0.7 fWAR in six games. The long-term outlook is as of yet unclear. That said, the initial plan was to have Marte assessed with an MRI tomorrow in Phoenix before making an decision, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (via Twitter). That they went ahead and made the move prior to that evaluation isn’t a great sign.

Young, 26, came to the Diamondbacks from the Cardinals as part of the Paul Goldschmidt deal. He made his Major League debut last season with 34 plate appearances across 12 games. Young, like Marte, can move around the diamond defensively. Tim Locastro is playing centerfield today, where Marte started each of the first six games.

Upcoming Changes To MLBTR Commenting Policy

By | at

My April 6th poll regarding the MLBTR comment section received over 5,800 responses, and the post had over 650 comments.  The MLBTR readership is passionate about how we handle commenting on sensitive topics like domestic violence, COVID-19, and politics.  The poll results:

  • 67.1% would like comments to remain closed on posts related to domestic violence
  • 63.8% would like comments to remain closed on posts related to COVID-19
  • 56.6% would like comments to remain closed on posts related to politics, such as MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game out of Georgia
  • 74.4% would like MLBTR to continue attempting to remove comments that are unrelated to the topic of the post
  • 73.0% would use a button that allows you to mute specific commenters

I gave this data a lot of thought, and I also gave consideration to the individual comments left on the post.  I’ve gotten emails from people saying that they’re done with MLBTR because we have been closing comments on sensitive topics.  I’ve also gotten emails from people saying they will stop visiting MLBTR if we open comments on sensitive topics.  I hope people don’t leave.  We’re doing the best we can.  It’s clear there’s not a solution that will make everyone happy.

After much deliberation, here is what I’ve decided to do.  These new policies are subject to change.

  • We are going to create a mute button.  You will be able to easily mute all comments from a specific user, which will include the entirety of a thread started by that person.
  • We are going to continue closing comments on domestic violence posts.  I’m glad two-thirds of respondents agree with that choice.  There isn’t really a baseball discussion I want to host on those posts.
  • We are going to open comments on COVID-19 posts.  We started closing these over a year ago, when there was a lot unknown about COVID.  At this point, I hope it’s possible to discuss the implications of baseball COVID cases on rosters without debating the disease itself.  I don’t see why a baseball website should host political opinions or arguments on COVID.  This will be a test to see whether those comment sections can be apolitical.
  • We are going to open comments in cases where baseball and politics intersect, such as MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game out of Georgia.  This was a difficult decision.  My feeling is that each individual already has the ability to “close” comments on a given post, by not clicking to reveal its comments.  I lean toward putting the power in the hands of readers: if you feel that the comments on certain posts or topics are not worth reading, you should not read them.  And if you do decide to wade into a sensitive topic, that is at your own risk, and you’ll have the ability to mute people you feel are not adding value.  You’ll also have the “flag” button for comments that violate our policy, which will be added to the Trade Rumors iOS app soon.
  • With the above point in mind, I am going to make a few changes to ensure that viewing the comments is an intentional experience.  On desktop web as well as the iOS app, rather than have the comments show automatically below the post, we are going to put in a View Comments button, similar to what we’ve long had on mobile web.  You will have to purposely click View Comments to see them.

As a reminder, our commenting policy still requires that you avoid the following:

  • Attacks, insults, or trolling toward other commenters, the MLBTR staff, journalists, team personnel, players, or agents
  • Otherwise harassing other commenters in any way
  • Commentary that is unrelated to the subject matter of the post.  Take special note of this one.  74% of respondents don’t want off-topic comments, and once comments are open on COVID-19 and political posts, there will be little excuse for that.  A post about a Braves IL move is not an opening to discuss the All-Star Game decision; there will be a contained post for that.
  • Inappropriate language
  • Inappropriate avatars or images
  • Spam links or self-promotion
  • Personal contact information in the comments section

Specifically when it comes to attacks, insults, trolling, and harassment, doing this will still get you banned.  It is also important to note that we don’t try to assess who “started it,” and someone else getting away with a violation doesn’t justify yours.  We catch as much as we can.  If someone trolls or insults you, we ask that you flag their comment and resist the temptation to respond in kind.  Once the mute button is available, we will ask that you flag their comment and then mute them.

As I mentioned, this is subject to change.  If we find that commenting policy violations increase drastically and/or require a greatly increased amount of moderation time from our staff, we may choose to close comments to better focus on the core aspects of running MLB Trade Rumors.

These policy changes will go into effect when our mute button is rolled out on the website, likely by the end of April.  Until then, this policy remains in place.  The mute option will not initially be available in the Trade Rumors app, but we’ll get to work on that.  Once that’s done I intend to turn our focus to other ways we can improve MLBTR, and I’ll be surveying readers on that topic.

White Sox Place Billy Hamilton On Injured List, Call Up Nick Williams

By | at

The White Sox placed Billy Hamilton on the injured list after he tweaked his hamstring in yesterday’s ballgame. Nick Williams has been called up to take his place on the roster  while Jace Fry was moved to the 60-day injured list. Williams had to be added to the 40-man roster, per the Athletic’s James Fegan (via Twitter).

Williams will get right into the action today. He is starting in left and batting seventh against the Royals. Williams, 27, was hardly Plan A for the White Sox this season, but he’ll have his cleats in the grass for their home opener nonetheless. Eloy Jimenez, of course, was the scheduled left fielder, but he tore his pectoral in the spring and will be out for four to five months.

Rookie Andrew Vaughn has split time in left with Hamilton to start the season. Leury Garcia has been one option for left, but he’s experiencing some leg tightness of his own, though he is available off the bench, notes Fegan. Garcia may also be needed at shortstop while Tim Anderson is on the injured list. Danny Mendick gets the start at short today.

As for Williams, he’ll be making his first Major League appearance since 2019. He hit .254/.313/.420 in 903 plate appearances with the Phillies from 2017 to 2019, a 94 wRC+ for his career. His role with the Phils was largely usurped by Bryce Harper as he saw his playing time and productivity diminish significantly in 2019. Prior to that season, he had posted a 110 wRC+ and 102 wRC+ in back-to-back seasons.  He signed with the White Sox this past January.

Red Sox Activate Eduardo Rodriguez

By | at

The Red Sox have officially activated Eduardo Rodriguez for his much-anticipated first start of the 2021 season, the team announced. He will take the hill for today’s ballgame against Baltimore. Rodriguez, of course, will be making his first start since 2019 after missing last season due to myocarditis brought on by COVID-19. Rodriguez began this season on the injured list because of elbow inflammation.

It’s somewhat appropriate that Rodriguez be able to make his return against the Orioles, with whom he spent many of his development years. He came to the Red Sox in a deadline deal for Andrew Miller in July of 2014. He would make his debut for the Red Sox the following season, and he’s been a key piece of their rotation ever since.

The corresponding roster move was made yesterday when Tanner Houck was optioned to Boston’s alternate training site. He appeared in two games, starting one, totaling six innings. He gave up two earned runs on seven hits, but also managed an impressive 10:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Houck will almost certainly be back this season, potentially as early as next week as the Red Sox kick off a 16-game stretch without a day off, beginning this Saturday.

COVID Notes: 4/8/21

By | at

Some good news on the COVID front today…

  •  Tigers’ pitching coach Chris Fetter was cleared to rejoin the team, per the Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen (via Twitter). Fetter tested positive for coronavirus at the end of March, and he’s been away from the team since. He will re-join the club for their upcoming series in Cleveland.
  • Spencer Turnbull is throwing and will soon move to the Tigers’ alternate site, tweets Stavenhagen. When he does return, the Tigers could consider moving to a six-man rotation. Turnbull developed a bit of a niche following this offseason as a guy with some breakout potential, but that was obviously tempered somewhat when news broke of his positive test on March 20th. The Tigers will be glad to welcome him back to the rotation.

Offseason In Review: Detroit Tigers

By | at

It was another offseason of short-term veteran additions for the Detroit Tigers.

Major League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

None

Notable Losses

On January 18, 2016, the Tigers inked Justin Upton to a six-year, $132.75MM free agent contract. The first overall pick of the 2005 draft was a three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He was MLBTR’s fourth-ranked free agent of the 2015-16 free agent class. Entering his age-28 season, he was coming off a 4.2 bWAR campaign in his only year with the Padres. In short, he was a get.

Upton wouldn’t stay long, however. He was gone by mid-2017, traded to the Angels, who re-worked his contract to avoid an opt-out clause Upton could have triggered after 2017. Had he stayed in Detroit to complete that deal, Upton would be entering the final year of that contract this season.

Somewhat amazingly, Tigers GM Al Avila – who took over the August before the Upton offseason – had not signed a single free agent to a multi-year deal since Upton. The nearly-five-year drought ended this offseason. Come on down, Robbie Grossman. The former A’s left fielder signed a whopping two-year, $10MM deal to achieve this important landmark in the Tigers’ rebuild. Make no mistake, it is an important landmark.

Detroit has yet to really pull themselves from the rebuild that started back in 2017. Signing Grossman isn’t exactly analogous to the intent-to-contend contacts we’ve seen in the past for Jayson Werth, Jason Heyward, or even George Springer this winter, but the Grossman deal does represent an important signal that the Tigers believe the time is coming when they will be ready to contend again.

The time is right, considering the arrival of much-touted pitching prospects like Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, and soon, Matt Manning. For now, however, those youngsters haven’t shown to be impact contributors in the Majors. Their careers are just beginning, however.

As for Grossman , he’s flown under the radar as a productive hitter over the past five seasons. He was particularly good over 192 plate appearances last year for the A’s. He slashed .241/.344/.482, good for a 127 wRC+. He does just enough in almost every facet of the game, including with the glove. He walks at an above-average rate, avoids strikeouts at an above-average rate, he runs better than most, and he fields his position well enough. He doesn’t hit for a ton of power, and he’s not really elite at any one thing.

For the Tigers, the Grossman deal – as well as the rest of their offense – wasn’t so much about capturing upside, however. The ceiling on their roster rises or falls with the fortunes of their young players: Mize, Skubal, Willi Castro, Akil Baddoo, Gregory Soto, Bryan Garcia, and eventually, Manning, Isaac Paredes, Spencer Torkelson, Daz Cameron, Riley Greene, and others. Grossman represents a desire to raise the floor for this team and prevent the sort of disastrous season that might slow their organizational momentum.

So, too, does the return of Jonathan Schoop on a one-year, $4.5MM deal. Schoop hit .278/.324/.475 in 177 plate appearances last season, a solid 114 wRC+. He’s better defensively than you might think, given his power profile at the plate. He was worth 4 outs above average in 2020, trailing only Adam Frazier and Nicky Lopez among second baseman. He also added the ability to play first and third during spring training.

Wilson Ramos has long been thought of as a bat-first catcher, but the Tigers feel good enough about his ability to usher this young staff into the Majors to sign him to an affordable one-year deal. Jake Rogers hopes to claim the position in the long-term, but they can take their time with the 26-year-old with the veteran Ramos on hand.

Similarly, Jose Ureña and Julio Teheran hope to keep the Tigers’ young arms from overwork. Teheran somewhat surprisingly won his rotation spot while on a minor league deal this spring. He showed some promise, if not to return to the guy he was in Atlanta, at least to post better numbers than in 2020. He was an unmitigated disaster for the Angels with a 10.50 ERA/6.19 SIERA over 31 1/3 innings. Over nine starts, he made it as deep as five innings exactly two times, particularly struggling to keep the ball in the yard. He served up 12 home runs while only striking out 20 hitters.

Ureña made five starts in 2020 with a 5.40 ERA, but he was made largely expendable by a strong stable of young rotation candidates in Miami. How long he stays in Detroit’s rotation will be dependent on a number of factors, including how he fares early in the season.

Derek Holland came out of spring training with real positivity about his re-captured velocity and ability to be a difference-maker for the Tigers out of the pen. Truth be told, he’s a low-cost gamble for the Tigers, who will need a plethora of bullpen arms to survive the 162-game season and protect their young arms. Holland may have some worldly wisdom to impart, himself having once been a promising rotation arm on a World Series team. He flashed some of that promise as a member of the Giants’ rotation in 2018, but it’s been a rough couple of seasons since then.

The same can be said for Nomar Mazara, who overlapped with Holland in Texas during the 2016 season. There was legitimate hope that a change of scenery might have prompted a breakout with the White Sox in 2020, but a complete lack of power tanked those expectations. He hit just .228/.295/.294 across 149 plate appearances with a meager .066 ISO. There’s little reason to expect Mazara’s power to have completely evaporated, so the Tigers will give him another chance to “come into his own” as their everyday right fielder. If nothing else, he doesn’t even turn 26 until late April, so a breakout isn’t inconceivable. The track record is hard to ignore, however. If he’s able to muster a wRC+ north of 100, it will be the first time in his career he’s able to do so.

Baddoo rounds out their offseason additions. Taken in the Rule 5 draft from the Twins, the speedy outfielder had a mere 29 games in High-A to his name before this season. He has shown a good approach and a bit of pop in the little minor league action he saw with Minnesota, but he should have an opportunity to play in Detroit.

It would seem unlikely that the 22-year-old would stick on the roster the whole season, but then he launched a home run on the first Major League pitch he saw. He hit a grand slam the next day and a walk-off single the day after that. Suddenly, there’s a bit of excitement around the Silver Spring native. Through four games, he rocks a comical .455/.455/1.182 triple slash line. One of these days, Baddoo will play a Major League game and fail to register a hit, but it hasn’t happened yet. The hype train has left the station and room is running out on the bandwagon.

None of these moves are meant to move in the needle like, say, Upton back in the day. But with this grab bag of veterans, the Tigers hope to foster a more competitive atmosphere, a structural foundation to allow the kids the space to grow at their own speed. This team is not likely to compete this season, they’re more-or-less the unanimous pick to finish last in the AL Central, but it’s arguable that even a month or two of competitive play could prove beneficial to the youth on the roster. Best case, young players like Mize and Skubal take off, and the rest of the roster is capable enough to give some legs to the Tigers as a first half surprise team. Alternatively, any of these veterans might be flipped at the deadline, and none weigh heavy on the long-term ledger  – not even Grossman.

How would you grade the Tigers’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)

 

Mets Place Dellin Betances On Injured List, Call Up Trevor Hildenberger

By | at

The Mets have placed right-hander Dellin Betances on the 10-day injured list because of a right shoulder impingement, per Newsday’s Tim Healey and others (via Twitter). Trevor Hildenberger will take his place on the active roster. Hildenberger will be added to the 40-man roster, which will now be full.

Betances, 33, made his first appearance of the season yesterday. He surrendered one run in one inning of work without giving up a hit. He walked one and struck out one. Injuries have been a central piece of Betances’ narrative since joining the Mets. He threw 11 2/3 innings last year in 15 appearances, finishing with a 7.71 ERA/4.91 FIP while striking out just 18.6 percent of hitters and struggling with his control. He had a 20.3 percent walk rate in 2020. This, of course, came after injuries robbed him of all but one appearance in his final season with the Yankees.

Hildenberger now becomes the latest solution to the Mets’ bullpen woes. The 30-year-old didn’t appear in the Majors last season, signing a minor league deal with the Red Sox but never making it to the roster. He does have 132 appearances from his time with the Twins from 2017 to 2019.

He was particularly good in his debut season back in 2017 when he made 37 appearances with a 3.21 ERA/3.02 FIP. The ball did not bounce his way the following two campaigns, however, when he posted a combined 6.35 ERA across 95 appearances totaling 89 1/3 innings, despite having a 4.58 FIP over that same span. An absurdly-high .459 BABIP over 22 appearances in 2019 might have been to blame for his bloated ERA that season.

Quick Hits: Sanchez, Correa, Torres

By | at

Anibal Sanchez continues to prepare himself for the 2021 season. This upcoming Saturday in Miami, he will throw a bullpen session for a few teams, per Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (via Twitter). The Phillies were linked to Sanchez this winter, while the Nationals have more recently expressed an interest in bringing the 37-year-old back to DC for a third season. Given the level of comfort between the two sides, the Nats certainly make for a logical match. Their need is clear enough with Patrick Corbin and Jon Lester on the injured list as part of the COVID-19 protocols. The team has not revealed whether either player tested positive or if they are currently out because of contact tracing protocols. Either way, the organization lacks rotation depth. It’s worth mentioning that one of the reasons that Sanchez didn’t sign one of the Major League offers he received this winter was because of concern about COVID, however. Even so, given the need for pitching around the game and Sanchez’s 15-year career as a Major League starter, a signing shortly after Saturday’s bullpen certainly seems on the table. Let’s check in elsewhere around the game…

  • There are few issues more central to the Astros’ future than Carlos Correa’s impending free agency. The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan addresses some of the complexities facing the Astros’ future at short. If Correa were to leave in free agency, prospect Jeremy Pena “is an excellent defender and he’s improved enough offensively in the last two years that he has everyday player potential,” writes Kaplan. Pena has not yet appeared above High-A, so his performance this season will provide a key data point. Given the plethora of shortstops about to hit the open market, however, the Astros could considering trying to snag one of them as a one-year stopgap as the Twins did this winter with Andrelton Simmons and the Blue Jays did with Marcus Semien. Banking on one of those players being available at that price point is risky, however. Still, now that Francisco Lindor has tied his long-term future to the Mets, there may be even more uncertainty for those shortstops behind him in the pecking order. To dig in further, definitely check out Kaplan’s full piece here.
  • Thinking about that future shortstop market, one has to wonder if the Yankees might be a prime player in next year’s shortstop market. Questions persist about Gleyber Torres’ ability to stick defensively at shortstop, per Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The Yankees chose to bring back DJ LeMahieu this winter, thereby blocking Torres’ most natural position and locking him into shortstop. That said, there are always ways to re-assemble a roster, especially with a player as malleable as LeMahieu. Still, keep an eye on the 24-year-old Torres this season. If he’s not able to pick up his defensive play, the Yankees might find themselves in a position to exploit a robust shortstop market next winter.

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

hide arrows scroll to top