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Scott Oberg Undergoes Surgery To Remove Blood Clots; Career In Jeopardy

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Rockies right-handed reliever Scott Oberg underwent surgery Thursday to treat blood clots in his pitching elbow, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports. The procedure could end Oberg’s career, according to Harding.

This is now the third surgery Oberg has undergone in an effort to cure this problem. The troubles began in 2018, and they led to a premature ending to his season in 2019. Oberg then missed the entire 2020 campaign and had thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, though there had been optimism that he would return this year before suffering another setback.

A 15th-round pick of the Rockies in 2012, Oberg made his debut with the Rox in 2015 and went on to appear with the club in five straight seasons. Despite the injuries, Oberg put together an excellent stretch from 2018-19, in which he totaled 114 2/3 innings of 2.35 ERA ball. The Rockies signed Oberg to a three-year, $13.5MM extension after 2019, but it obviously hasn’t worked out as hoped.

Latest On Will Harris

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8:58pm: Harris has numbness in his fingers, but there is no blood clot, and he will not require thoracic outlet surgery, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com was among those to report.

2:05pm: Nationals right-hander Will Harris underwent a procedure to remove a small blood clot from his right arm, manager Dave Martinez announced this afternoon (Twitter link via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). There’s no timetable for a return to the mound just yet, though Martinez thankfully noted that Harris is “moving in the right direction” and that the procedure went well.

Suffice it to say, it looks quite unlikely that the Nats will have Harris available to them to begin the season. If the 36-year-old righty does indeed begin the season on the injured list, the Nats will turn to Tanner Rainey and Daniel Hudson as the primary right-handed setup options for likely closer Brad Hand.

Harris is entering the second season of a three-year, $24MM contract he inked with the Nats in the 2019-20 offseason. The veteran righty turned in a sharp 3.06 ERA in 17 2/3 frames last year, though he also had some red flags in his stat line. While his 10.7 K/9 mark was the second-highest of his career, that’s a misleading stat, as Harris’ overall strikeout percentage (25 percent) was his lowest mark since 2015. The discrepancy is due to a considerable increase in both his walk rate (6.1 percent in 2019; 10.7 percent in 2020) and his opponents’ batting average (.195 in ’19; .280 in ’20). The velocity on Harris’ cutter also fell to a career-low 91.0 mph.

That said, last year was obviously anything but a typical season, and Harris was a rock-solid setup man for the Astros in the five prior seasons. From 2015-19, Harris gave the ’Stros 297 innings of 2.36 ERA ball, striking out 27 percent of his opponents against a tidy 6.2 percent walk rate. His 52.5 percent ground-ball rate in that time was also well above the league average. The Nats owe Harris $8MM both this year and next year — his age-36 and age-37 seasons.

Orioles Make Several Roster Moves

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The Orioles have placed first baseman Chris Davis on the 60-day injured list with a lower back strain, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among those to report. The team also made the re-signing of left-hander Wade LeBlanc official. LeBlanc is in the mix for the Orioles’ rotation/long man role, while that is no longer the case for lefty Keegan Akin. The O’s optioned Akin, outfielder Jahmai Jones and infielder Richie Martin, per Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com, and they reassigned lefty Fernando Abad and first baseman/outfielder Chris Shaw.

Manager Brandon Hyde implied earlier this week that Davis could be headed for the long-term IL, so this news doesn’t come as any kind of surprise. Nevertheless, it’s the latest unfortunate development for the 35-year-old Davis, whose career has been an abject disaster since the Orioles re-signed him to a seven-year, $161MM contract before 2016.

When Davis received his deal, he had established himself as one of the game’s fiercest sluggers, as he smashed 53 home runs in 2013 – his lone All-Star season – and added another 47 in 2015. Davis was a 38-HR hitter in the first year of his deal, though he has totaled a mere 28 (none during an injury-limited 2020) with a .169/251/.299 in 929 trips to the plate since 2018. The Orioles have stuck with Davis during his massive on-field decline, and he still has another year on his contract after this one.

Reds Release Dee Strange-Gordon, Jesse Biddle

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5:59pm: The Reds have also released Biddle, per Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Biddle saw almost no action with the Reds last season, throwing two-thirds of an inning, but he did toss nine frames of three-run ball and post 12 strikeouts against two walks this spring.

12:19pm: The Reds announced Friday that they’ve released veteran infielder/outfielder Dee Strange-Gordon. They also reassigned lefty Jesse Biddle, lefty Brandon Finnegan and catcher Rocky Gale to minor league camp.

Strange-Gordon, 32, at one point looked to be a candidate to land the shortstop job in Cincinnati. However, over the past several weeks the club has taken a long look at returning Eugenio Suarez to that position. A strong spring showing by infield prospect Jonathan India, who has spent time at second base and third base, has made that outcome more likely.

While Strange-Gordon could’ve still been in line for a bench role, it seems the Reds prefer to go with in-house options like Kyle Farmer, Kyle Holder and perhaps Mike Freeman as utility men off the bench. That’ll send the fleet-footed Strange-Gordon back to the open market on the heels of a solid .281/.361/.313 showing in 36 spring plate appearances. Obviously, the slugging percentage is a bit problematic, but Strange-Gordon also swiped four bases without being caught and walked four times against just five strikeouts. He turned in a disappointing .200/.268/.213 showing with the 2020 Mariners, albeit in just 82 plate appearances.

Offseason In Review: Milwaukee Brewers

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With the NL Central wide open, the Brewers made a pair of late free agent strikes to solidify their roster for another run at the playoffs.

Major League Signings

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Defense wasn’t a strength for the Brewers in 2020, as they posted lackluster finishes in such league-wide categories as Outs Above Average (ranking 16th of 30 teams), Defensive Runs Saved (22nd), and UZR/150 (24th).  These numbers were going to improve anyway with former Gold Glover Lorenzo Cain back in action, but glovework may now become a real plus now that Kolten Wong and Jackie Bradley Jr. are on the roster.

After eight seasons in St. Louis, Wong became a free agent after the Cardinals declined their $12.5MM club option on the second baseman for 2021.  Several teams had interest in Wong over the course of the winter, and he was able to parlay that interest into a two-year contract and at least $18MM in guaranteed money, moving from the Cards to a division rival that is very familiar with what Wong brings to the table.

If Wong comes close to his career .261/.333/.384 slash line (94 OPS+, 96 wRC+), the Brewers won’t mind such slightly below-average production as long as Wong keeps providing elite-level defense.  The signing may also have the secondary impact of helping Keston Hiura’s game, as the defensively-challenged former second baseman now moves from the keystone to first base.  Such a position switch will lessen Hiura’s defensive responsibility and possibly allow him to focus more on his hitting, as Hiura went through a sophomore slump after his big 2019 rookie season.

The Brew Crew had three established outfield starters in Cain, former NL MVP Christian Yelich, and Avisail Garcia, yet signing Bradley made a lot of sense.  It has been over two years since Cain has been a productive regular, as he struggled through an injury-riddled 2019 and then opted out of much of the 2020 season.  Garcia (signed to a two-year, $20MM deal last offseason) at least provided passable center field defense filling in for Cain but suffered through a rough year at the plate.  Even Yelich had a down year by his standards, never quite looking on track over 247 plate appearances while posting a .205/.356/.430 slash line with 12 homers.

Into this mix comes Bradley, who joined Wong as another defensive standout hitting the open market after eight seasons with his original team.  It seemed like there was at least some chance Bradley could end up back with the Red Sox considering how long he remained a free agent, though Boston made other moves to replace Bradley in the Fenway Park outfield.  As the winter wore on, many of the other teams linked to Bradley also addressed their outfield needs with other players, perhaps just because clubs preferred these other options, or maybe because Bradley’s rather hefty contract demands might have immediately lost the interest of some suitors.

Bradley will earn $13MM of his $24MM guarantee in 2021, and the outfielder then has an $11MM player option to either rejoin the Brew Crew in 2022 or re-enter free agency.  The contract seems pretty palatable for both sides — Bradley gets an extra year of security, and even if he does struggle in 2021 and end up exercising his option out of necessity, $24MM isn’t so big a sum that it would significantly hamper even a smaller-market team like Milwaukee.

That said, the Brewers didn’t necessarily act like most other smaller-market franchises operated in the wake of 2020’s revenue losses.  The team was originally slated for a payroll of roughly $102.5MM in 2020 prior to the pandemic and the league shutdown, and as we approach Opening Day 2021, the Brewers have (according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts) approximately $96.9MM committed to this season’s payroll.  There are some sizeable deferrals within the 2021 salaries for both Bradley and Wong, but in terms of money on the books, the Brew Crew could certainly match or surpass their projected 2020 payroll figure depending on any in-season additions.

Since the Brewers didn’t do much of anything transaction-wise until February, president of baseball operations David Stearns might not have known exactly how much of a budget he had to work with for much of the offseason, or it was perhaps something of a tactical move to wait out the market in search of potential bargains.  Even after signing Wong, Milwaukee still made a strong attempt to sign Justin Turner before the longtime Dodger third baseman ended up re-signing with his old team.

Turner wasn’t the only bigger free agent bat under consideration, as the Brewers reportedly looked into Marcell Ozuna, Marcus Semien, and Eddie Rosario during the winter.  Whether the team was doing due diligence on available free agents or had a more serious interest in any of these other names isn’t known, but it does represent an interesting alternate picture of Milwaukee’s offseason.  The Brewers, after all, didn’t produce much offense last season, but their two biggest additions were defensive stars with middling offensive track records, whereas the likes of Ozuna or Rosario would have been clear bat-first additions.

Had Turner been signed instead of Bradley, it’s fair to assume Milwaukee looks to add a veteran outfielder on a minors contract or a low-cost MLB contract to fill that void in the outfield.  However, with Turner back in Los Angeles, that left third base as the position in need of some veteran reinforcement.

Milwaukee brought back an old friend in Travis Shaw, whose minor league deal has already been guaranteed by the team. The Brewers parted ways with Shaw after he struggled through a miserable 2019 season, but he did rebound to some modest extent in hitting .239/.306/.411 over 180 PA with the Blue Jays last year.  If Shaw can at least get back to producing against right-handed pitching, the Brewers can deploy a third base timeshare of Shaw and right-handed hitters Daniel Robertson and Orlando Arcia.

That duo could also factor into the shortstop picture if Luis Urias isn’t get ready for regular big league work.  Arcia was seen as a possible non-tender candidate heading into the offseason, but the Brewers chose to retain him as insurance in the wake of Urias’ forgettable 2019 season, which was hampered by both a wrist injury and a case of COVID-19.  Robertson was signed to a one-year, $900K deal as further utility depth, as the former Tampa Bay Ray first-round pick can play any infield position and has some experience at a corner outfielder.

Tim Lopes and Jace Peterson were also signed as utility candidates, yet the Brewers went another direction in tendering a contract to Dan Vogelbach.  This decision was made before Hiura was moved to first base, and before it became apparent that the National League wasn’t going to adopt the DH again for the 2021 season.  Vogelbach is out of minor league options and without a real position on the roster, so he stands out as a potential trade candidate in the final days of Spring Training.  Conversely, the Brewers could simply cut him before Opening Day and only owe him around $339K of his $1.4MM salary for the 2021 campaign.

The lack of a universal DH might have also closed the book on Ryan Braun’s career, as the longtime Brewers fixture recently said he hasn’t been doing any offseason training and is “strongly leaning” towards hanging up his glove.  Since nothing is yet official, Milwaukee fans can still hold out hope for a storybook late-season comeback scenario, but in all likelihood, the Brewers are already in the post-Braun era.

Rich Hill and Trevor Rosenthal were two of the Brewers’ targets for the rotation and bullpen this winter, but with neither hurler signed, Milwaukee’s pitching mix will look pretty similar to its collection of arms from the 2020 season.  Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Adrian Houser join the re-signed Brett Anderson atop the rotation.  While it sounds odd to refer to the oft-injured Anderson as an innings-eater, the grounder specialist has been mostly healthy for the last two seasons and will provide some veteran experience at the back of the rotation.

Freddy Peralta won the fifth starter’s job over Josh Lindblom, but in a season that will require as many pitchers on hand as possible, the Brewers will likely be even more flexible than usual with its pitching plans.  A six-man rotation, piggybacked starters, openers — nothing seems off the table in 2021.  With this in mind, veteran minor league signings like Jordan Zimmermann, Zack Godley, Brad Boxberger or Blaine Hardy could perhaps stick around (and not exercise any opt-out clauses) even if they don’t crack the Opening Day roster, since there should be plenty of opportunity for big league action throughout the season.

And, it probably bears mentioning that Josh Hader is still a Brewer.  Despite some rumors during the winter, it didn’t appear as though the Brewers ever strongly considered moving their relief ace (or maybe co-ace, considering Devin Williams’ emergence).  Hader is earning $6.675MM in his first year of arbitration eligibility and he is still under control through the 2023 season, so while a trade might eventually happen down the line, it doesn’t appear the southpaw is going anywhere in the near future.

While much of the offseason chatter in the NL Central focused on the players the Cubs, Reds, and (prior to the Nolan Arenado trade) Cardinals were letting go, the Brew Crew somewhat quietly flew under the radar and didn’t part ways with any major pieces.  As flawed as the 2020 team was, it was still able to squeak into the expanded playoff bracket, and now the Brewers will return with Bradley, Wong, Cain, and what they hope are several bounce-back candidates in the lineup.

How would you grade the Brewers’ offseason? (Poll link for app users)

Astros Sign Lance McCullers Jr. To Five-Year Extension

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MARCH 26: The extension is official, the Astros announced.

MARCH 24: Lance McCullers Jr. won’t be heading to free agency next winter after all. One month after making clear he hoped to forgo the open market and stick with the Astros, the right-hander has reportedly agreed to a five-year contract extension that will begin in 2022 and run through the 2026 season. McCullers, a client of the Boras Corporation, will reportedly be guaranteed $85MM and receive a limited no-trade clause.

Because the deal doesn’t kick in until the 2022 campaign, it does not impact the Astros’ luxury tax ledger for the current season. That’s a critical point for the ’Stros, who have worked diligently to remain south of the $210MM threshold. The contract reportedly comes with a $3.5MM signing bonus, salaries of $15.25MM in 2022-23 and a $17MM annual salary from 2024-26.

McCullers, who’s about to embark on his age-27 campaign, has been a career-long Astro to this point. The team used the 41st overall pick on him in 2012, and he has since produced quality results in the majors. Dating back to his big league debut in 2015, McCullers has pitched to a 3.70 ERA/3.61 SIERA with an above-average strikeout rate (26.4) and a tremendous 55.2 percent groundball rate across 508 2/3 innings. With the exception of 2016, when his walk rate spiked to 12.8 percent, he’s generally kept that mark better than the league average as well.

Durability has been a problem for McCullers, though, as he has never even reached the 130-inning mark in a season. He topped out at 128 1/3 frames in 2018, the year after he helped pitch the Astros to a World Series championship, before undergoing Tommy John surgery.

McCullers missed all of 2019 as a result of the procedure, but he did make a strong return last year with 11 starts and 55 innings of 3.93 ERA/3.95 SIERA pitching, solid strikeout and walk percentages (24.7 and 8.8, respectively) and a 59.7 percent grounder rate. Still, this is an unprecedented guarantee for a starting pitcher who’s never made more than 22 starts in a big league season.

While it’s risky for the Astros to make this type of commitment to a hurler who has had trouble staying healthy, they know McCullers is at least a mid-rotation-caliber starter when he does take the mound. And this move will lead to less uncertainty in Houston’s starting staff a year from now, as veterans Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander could depart in free agency next offseason. Even if those two exit, the Astros figure to return McCullers, Jake Odorizzi, Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy in 2022.

Of course, next winter’s free-agent class looks a bit less interesting with McCullers off the market. But Greinke, Verlander, Trevor Bauer (if he opts out of his Dodgers deal), Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman are among many established starters who could be searching for new deals then.

It’s an obviously strong class, and the Astros can afford to be major players in the market if they choose, given that even after this new McCullers deal they’re at $91.7MM in guaranteed money on the books. For a club that’s topped $160MM in payroll in each of the past four seasons now (prior to prorating in 2020), there will be ample room to spend on the open market.

Mark Berman of FOX 26 first reported that an agreement was in place. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported the terms, while MLB Network’s Jon Heyman and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale added contractual details (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tigers Release Greg Garcia

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MARCH 26: The Tigers announced that they have granted Garcia his unconditional release.

MARCH 25: Veteran infielder Greg Garcia will not make the Tigers’ season-opening roster, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com was among those to report. It’s unclear whether Garcia, who signed a minor league contract with an opt-out clause in the offseason, will remain with the organization.

A Cardinal and Padre from 2014-20, Garcia carries quite a bit of experience in the middle infield and at third base. The Tigers are slated to start Jonathan Schoop at second base, Willi Castro at shortstop and Jeimer Candelario at the hot corner, but Garcia could eventually factor in as a backup at those positions if he does stay with the club. Along with providing defensive versatility, the 31-year-old has batted a respectable .245/.354/.339 in 1,303 major league plate appearances.

In other Tigers news, manager AJ Hinch announced Thursday that catcher Grayson Greiner has made the roster as Wilson Ramos’ backup, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic relays. Non-roster invitees Dustin Garneau and Eric Haase will remain with the team until the end of the spring, but it’s unknown whether they’ll stick around beyond then.

Wade LeBlanc Signs New Contract With Orioles

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MARCH 26: LeBlanc has rejoined the Orioles on a split contract that comes with a $700K salary if he makes the majors, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets.

MARCH 25: Left-hander Wade LeBlanc has opted out of the minor league contract he signed with the Orioles in February, per Dan Connolly of The Athletic. He’s now a free agent, though Connolly notes that a return to the Orioles isn’t out of the question.

The well-traveled LeBlanc, 36, spent last season in the Baltimore, where he endured immense struggles. LeBlanc finished the year with six starts and 22 1/3 innings of 8.06 ERA/5.77 SIERA pitching, and he managed a paltry 4.9 strikeout-walk percentage along the way.  He fared decently this spring with eight innings of two-run, three-hit ball and seven strikeouts, though he did walk five hitters.

LeBlanc was one of a few experienced starters the O’s signed to minors deals during the offseason, when they also inked Matt Harvey and Felix Hernandez to minors deals. Harvey earned a roster spot Thursday, while Hernandez’s status is uncertain as he recovers from elbow discomfort.

Twins Bench Coach Mike Bell Passes Away

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In shocking and sad news, the Twins announced that bench coach Mike Bell has passed away at the age of 46. He had been suffering from kidney cancer.

Bell was one of many members in his family who enjoyed a long career in baseball. The grandson of former major league outfielder Gus Bell, the son of ex-third baseman and manager Buddy Bell, and the brother of former infielder and current Reds skipper David Bell, Mike Bell was the 30th overall pick of the Rangers in 1993. The ex-third baseman appeared in the majors in one season – 2000 – as a member of the Reds, his hometown team and one near and dear to his family’s heart.

After wrapping up his run as a professional player in 2005, Bell moved on to the minor and major league coaching ranks in 2007. He was also the director of player development with the Diamondbacks before becoming a prominent part of Twins manager Rocco Baldelli’s staff prior to last season. He garnered interest as a managerial candidate from the likes of the Mets, Orioles, Red Sox and Pirates over the past couple offseasons.

MLBTR sends our condolences to Bell’s family, the Twins organization and everyone affected by this tragic and sudden loss.

Nick Anderson Suffers Partial Tear Of Elbow Ligament

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MARCH 26: The Rays have placed Anderson on the 60-day injured list and added righty Andrew Kittredge to their 40-man roster, per a team announcement. Kittredge had an opt-out for the end of camp in the minor league deal he signed with the Rays, but he’ll stay put. He contributed 111 1/3 innings of 4.93 ERA/3.90 SIERA pitching with the Rays from 2017-20.

MARCH 25: The Rays’ bullpen received terrible news Thursday: Right-hander Nick Anderson suffered a partial tear of his elbow ligament and will likely be out until past the All-Star break, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Surgery has not been recommended at this point.

Considering how much the reigning American League champion Rays lean on their bullpen, the loss of Anderson for at least a few months is an especially troubling development. Anderson has been absolutely lights-out dating back to his 2019 debut with Miami, which traded him to Tampa Bay before that season’s deadline.

Now 30 years old, the hard-throwing Anderson was a 32nd-round pick of the Brewers in 2012 who spent time in independent ball before he broke out in the bigs. Anderson owns a stellar 2.77 ERA/2.14 SIERA with a 42.2 percent strikeout rate and a 6.5 percent walk rate across 81 1/3 innings. While Anderson did miss time last year with forearm issues, he dominated over 16 1/3 frames with a measly 0.55 ERA and similarly jaw-dropping strikeout and walk percentages of 44.8 and 5.2, respectively. He wasn’t nearly as successful in the playoffs, in which he surrendered nine earned runs on 16 hits and totaled nine strikeouts against four walks in 14 2/3 innings.

Anderson led the Rays with six saves during the regular season in 2020, but they’ll have to lean on other end-of-game options until at least sometime in the summer. Diego Castillo, Pete Fairbanks, Chaz Roe and Ryan Thompson are among possible solutions for the Rays, whose bullpen – thanks in no small part to Anderson – ranked third in the majors in ERA a year ago.

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