Wade LeBlanc Announces Retirement
Left-hander Wade LeBlanc has decided to retire, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports (Twitter link). The 37-year-old LeBlanc is hanging up his cleats after pitching in parts of 13 Major League seasons with nine different teams, as well as a stint in Japan with the Saitama Seibu Lions in 2015.
Originally a second-round pick for the Padres in the 2006 draft, LeBlanc has pitched in a number of different roles over his long career. The southpaw has seen work as a full-time starter, full-time reliever, and most often a little bit of both, with teams usually eyeing LeBlanc in various types of swingman or long relief roles. Interestingly, despite the “veteran lefty” mold, LeBlanc didn’t see much specialist work since left-handed batters actually did more damage (.843 OPS) against him than right-handed batters (.763 OPS).
Never a big strikeout pitcher or a high-velocity arm, LeBlanc relied more on off-speed pitches than his fastball, and got out by generating soft contact. When LeBlanc was getting that weak contact and keeping the ball in the park, he was quite effective, though home runs became an increasing problem in recent years.
Of LeBlanc’s nine MLB teams, his longest stints came with the Mariners (333 1/3 IP), Padres (293 1/3 IP), and Marlins (117 1/3 IP). He most recently saw action with the Cardinals, signing a contract in June when the Cards were besieged with pitching injuries.
LeBlanc helped stabilize things by posting a 3.61 ERA over his 42 1/3 innings in a St. Louis uniform, helping the team tread water until eventually going on a major hot streak down the stretch. Unfortunately, LeBlanc wasn’t there to enjoy that success, as he was sidelined with an elbow injury and was reportedly set to undergo some type of medical procedure to address his elbow in September.
LeBlanc will retire with a 4.54 career ERA over 931 1/3 Major League innings. We at MLBTR congratulate LeBlanc on an excellent career and we wish him the best in his post-playing endeavors.
Mariners Release Chance Sisco
The Mariners announced that catcher Chance Sisco has been released. Between Sisco’s release and three players (George Kirby, Erick Mejia, and Sal Romano) assigned to the minor league camp, Seattle now has 34 players remaining in their big league spring camp.
Between Tom Murphy, Cal Raleigh, and Luis Torrens, the Mariners already have a fair bit of catching depth in place, and Joseph Odom is also in camp on a minor league deal. Sisco might have simply been the odd man out, and he’ll now test free agency to see if he can catch on with another team. With clubs always in need of experienced depth behind the plate, the odds are good that Sisco will land a new opportunity somewhere.
Sisco has played in 196 games with the Orioles and Mets since the start of the 2017 season, and he has batted only .197/.317/.337 over 608 plate appearances in the majors. It seemed like his offense was trending up slightly in limited action with Baltimore in 2019-20, but he had only a .430 OPS over 83 PA last season.
Orioles Avoid Arbitration With Trey Mancini
The Orioles have avoided an arbitration hearing with Trey Mancini, as the team announced that the two sides have agreed to a contract for the 2022 season. The deal also contains a mutual option for the 2023 campaign. The Athletic’s Dan Connelly (via Twitter) reports that Mancini will earn $7.5MM in 2022, and the mutual option is worth $10MM with a $250K buyout. Mancini is represented by Frontline.
Mancini and the O’s couldn’t reach common ground on a deal prior to the deadline for exchanging arbitration figures, and there was a $625K gap between the two numbers — the Orioles offering $7.375MM and Mancini seeking $8MM. With the buyout money factored in, Mancini is guaranteed $7.75MM in 2022, bringing his total earnings closer to his desired figure. MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected Mancini for a $7.9MM salary, a nice bump up from the $4.75MM salaries Mancini received in his first two arb-eligible seasons.
Of course, Mancini didn’t receive a raise last winter since he didn’t play in 2020, taking the year off to battle colon cancer. Receiving a clean bill of health heading into last season, Mancini won AL Comeback Player Of The Year honors after hitting .255/.326/.432 with 21 home runs over 616 plate appearances in his return to action.
2022 is Mancini’s third and final season of arbitration eligibility, and he is schedule to hit free agency next winter. While the inclusion of the mutual option technically represents something beyond just a flat one-year deal, mutual options are rarely exercised by both parties. In short, the option doesn’t make it any more or less likely that Mancini will still be an Oriole at this time next year, and it remains possible that the rebuilding O’s could still trade Mancini to a contender at some point prior to the trade deadline.
John Means is the only remaining member of Baltimore’s arbitration class that has yet to agree to terms on his 2022 contract. Means submitted a $3.1MM figure while the Orioles submitted a $2.7MM figure, and barring an agreement, the two sides are set to eventually meet in an arbitration hearing.
Bobby Witt Jr. Makes Royals’ Opening Day Roster
The Royals will be placing Bobby Witt Jr. on their Opening Day roster, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). The superstar prospect and second overall pick of the 2019 draft is set to officially begin his big league career when the Royals host the Guardians on Thursday.
There was no doubt that Witt would be making his big league debut at some point this season, as his .285/.352/.581 slash line over 285 Triple-A plate appearances in 2021 indicated that he was very ready for the next step. Royals president of baseball operations Dayton Moore said last month that Witt would get the “opportunity” to earn his way onto the Opening Day roster, and Witt has only cemented his case after crushing Spring Training pitching.
The new Collective Bargaining Agreement may have also removed an obstacle to Witt’s chances of breaking camp with the Royals. Under the old CBA, the team would have been tempted to leave Witt in the minors long enough to ensure that he wouldn’t gain a full year of service time in 2022, thus giving the Royals an extra year of control over Witt’s services through the 2028 season.
However, the “Prospect Promotion Incentive” in the new labor deal creates the possibility that Kansas City could earn a bonus pick in the 2023 amateur draft if Witt is on the roster for a full year of service time, and if he finishes in the top tier of awards consideration (a top-two finish in AL Rookie Of The Year balloting, a top-five MVP finish, or placement on the first or second-team All-MLB lineup).
Naturally, Witt’s status as one of the game’s top prospects qualifies him as one of the minor leaguers eligible for this PPI plan. Baseball Prospectus and MLB Pipeline each listed Witt atop their most recent rankings of the game’s best minor leaguers, while Fangraphs and Keith Law both ranked Witt second, and Baseball America third. This kind of praise has followed Witt for years, as he is regarded as a five-tool talent by most evaluators.
Originally drafted as a shortstop, Witt is set to begin his career as a third baseman, owing to the presence of Adalberto Mondesi and Nicky Lopez in the middle infield. There is some fluidity in that alignment, as Mondesi is an injury risk, and Whit Merrifield would likely move back to second base in the event that Lopez has to step in at shortstop. Keeping Witt at third base might be the smoothest choice for his development, however, as Witt could stay at the hot corner in more or less uninterrupted fashion, rather than juggling between different positions on a regular basis. If Witt was moved to shortstop or even second base, K.C. could use Hunter Dozier back at third base.
Yankees Acquire Jose Trevino From Rangers
The Rangers and Yankees have announced a trade, as catcher Jose Trevino is headed to New York in exchange for right-hander Albert Abreu and left-hander Robby Ahlstrom.
The deal represents the latest shuffle in the Yankees’ catching situation, after Gary Sanchez was dealt to the Twins as part of the blockbuster deal that brought Josh Donaldson, Ben Rortvedt, and (Trevino’s former Texas teammate) Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx. The initial plan seemed to be a defense-first platoon of Rortvedt and Kyle Higashioka, though Rortvedt has yet to play in any Spring Training games due to an oblique strain. With Rortvedt not expected to begin the season on the active roster, the Yankees instead now turn to a more experienced big leaguer in Trevino, who has 156 MLB games played to Rortvedt’s 39.
Trevino and Higashioka are both right-handed hitters, making for more of an imperfect platoon fit than the Higashioka/Rortvedt combo, yet the first priority still seems to be defense considering Trevino’s lack of offensive pop. Over his 516 career plate appearances with the Rangers, Trevino has batted only .245/.270/.364. Framing-wise, Statcast considered Trevino to be among the best in baseball last season.
Today’s trade marks the third notable swap between the Yankees and Rangers in less than a year, following last season’s deals that saw Texas sent Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor to New York. It’s probably safe to assume that the two teams discussed Trevino, Abreu, or Ahlstrom at some point during those many negotiations before things finally lined up due to changing roster needs.
For the Rangers, the acquisition of Mitch Garver made Trevino expendable, as Jonah Heim now takes over as the backup catcher. Meibrys Viloria and Yohel Pozo are also in camp on minor league deals, and top prospect Sam Huff is still in the mix at catcher, even though he played only at first base after returning from knee surgery early last season.
It wasn’t long ago that Abreu was garnering attention on top-100 prospect lists, except injuries and control problems hampered his progress up the minor league ladder. Abreu has a 3.77 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and an 11.26% walk rate over 455 2/3 innings in the minors, and he started 87 of his 115 games. In the majors, Abreu didn’t do much to retain a foothold in the Yankees’ bullpen, posting a 5.68 ERA and 12.6% walk rate in 38 innings as a big leaguer.
Abreu is out of minor league options, thus making him something of an expendable piece for the Yankees. The Rangers will replace Trevino with Abreu on their 40-man roster and see if the righty can get a fresh start working out of the Texas relief corps.
Ahlstrom was selected in the seventh round of the 2021 draft, and the former Oregon Duck has yet to officially begin his pro career. Baseball America’s pre-draft scouting report described the southpaw as “a fiery presence on the mound,” with the ability to consistently throw each of his three pitches (fastball, curve, changeup) for strikes. The latter two pitches are only graded as average, however, and Ahlstrom’s fastball generally clocked in the 88-89mph range, topping out at 92mph.
Cubs Select Jesse Chavez’s Contract
Jesse Chavez has officially made the Cubs’ Opening Day roster, as the team announced that it had selected the veteran right-hander’s contract. No corresponding move needed to be made, as the Cubs had an open spot on their 40-man roster.
There isn’t much surprise to the move, as it was widely expected that Chavez would crack Chicago’s roster when he signed his split contract earlier this month. Chavez’s first game will officially make it 15 MLB seasons for the 38-year-old, and his second stint as a Cub, after tossing 38 innings for the Wrigleyville team in 2018.
A rough 2020 season with the Rangers meant that Chavez had to settle for minor league contracts in the 2020-21 offseason, with Chavez first signing with the Angels and then with the Braves after Los Angeles cut him at the end of Spring Training. The end result was the first World Series ring of Chavez’s long career, as he eventually made Atlanta’s roster and then pitched 33 2/3 innings in the regular season and 6 1/3 more frames in the playoffs.
Chavez posted a 2.14 ERA during the regular season, and while his 3.69 xFIP/3.58 SIERA indicate some good fortune, the righty helped his case with a solid 27.1% strikeout rate. Most strikingly, Chavez didn’t allow a single homer in either the regular season or postseason, a surprising outcome for a pitcher who has long struggled at keeping the ball in the park.
The bullpen has been a priority for the Cubs this winter, as Chavez joins David Robertson, Mychal Givens, Daniel Norris, Chris Martin, Adrian Sampson, and Robert Gsellman as new relief options to join the club. Chavez figures to pitch in his usual middle relief role, though he also received four pseudo-starts last year as an opener.
AL East Notes: Pearson, Borucki, Harvey, Judge, Meadows, Rays, Pollock
The Blue Jays are dealing with some injury concerns in their bullpen, as Nate Pearson is dealing with a non-COVID illness and Ryan Borucki left yesterday’s game with discomfort in his right hamstring. Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link) and other reporters that Borucki will undergo an MRI. More will be known about Borucki’s situation when the MRI results are in, but for Pearson, his illness has limited him to only two appearances thus far in Grapefruit League action.
In all likelihood, Pearson’s illness will keep him from making Toronto’s Opening Day roster. While this issue seems less serious than the other injuries that have sidelined the righty over the last two years, it represents yet another setback for the former top prospect. As for Borucki, the southpaw has been a pretty solid reliever when healthy, though he missed almost all of the 2019 season due to elbow problems and over two months of last season with a forearm strain. If another IL stint is required for Borucki, Tim Mayza will be the only left-hander in the Jays’ projected bullpen, which could open the door for Anthony Kay, Tayler Saucedo, or Andrew Vasquez to break camp.
More from around the division….
- The Orioles are considering re-signing Matt Harvey, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Harvey struggled to a 6.27 ERA over 127 2/3 innings with Baltimore last season, a performance that didn’t lead to any publicly-known interest in his market this winter. Harvey’s situation is further clouded by the possibility of a suspension of at least 60 games. A new deal would surely take the form of a minor league contract, and if Harvey is suspended, he’ll need some extra time anyway to get ramped up to pitch.
- There doesn’t appear to be much new on the extension front between Aaron Judge and the Yankees, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the two sides aren’t close to an agreement. Judge has stated that he doesn’t want negotiations to continue after Opening Day, so it seems as though quite a bit of progress will have to be made over just five days’ time.
- Also from Rosenthal, he reports that the White Sox proposed a trade to the Rays that would’ve seen Austin Meadows head to Chicago in exchange for Craig Kimbrel. Though Tampa Bay has reportedly been discussing Meadows in other trade talks, the Rays turned down the Kimbrel offer, which isn’t a surprise considering that the closer’s $16MM salary for 2022 would’ve taken up an outsized portion of Tampa’s limited payroll.
- The White Sox ended up dealing Kimbrel to the Dodgers yesterday for another outfielder in AJ Pollock. Beyond Chicago’s talks with the Rays, there is another AL East connection to that swap, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the Red Sox were one of the teams interested in Pollock. The right-handed hitting Pollock would’ve been a nice balance for Boston’s current corner outfield tandem of Alex Verdugo and Jackie Bradley Jr., both of whom swing from the left side. Beyond just a platoon split, Pollock would’ve been mostly an everyday option, but the Red Sox seem committed to Bradley getting more of a regular share of outfield duty even though Bradley is coming off a dreadful season at the plate.
Padres, Mets Reportedly Stalled On Hosmer Trade Talks
4:57PM: Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that talks may have stalled entirely after the two sides “hit a snag” in negotiations. Sherman is even more blunt, saying the proposed trade “is not going to happen.”
8:50 AM: A potential deal between the two sides would be a little more complex than initially presumed. Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter), the Padres would unsurprisingly need to eat a fair amount of the money owed to Hosmer in order to make this deal work. Specifically, the Padres would cover roughly $30MM or more of Hosmer’s deal, bringing Hosmer’s per annum down to $6-7MM per year, per Sherman.
The Mets would also get reliever Emilio Pagan in the deal. Pagan has at times looked like a premier bullpen arm during his five seasons in the bigs with the Mariners, Rays, A’s, and Padres. The 30-year-old is an option to close games if he stays in San Diego, whereas in New York he would slot into a fairly deep collection of right-handed setup arms that includes Adam Ottavino, Drew Smith, Miguel Castro, Trevor May, and Seth Lugo.
7:55 AM: The Mets have spent the offseason pushing full-bore towards fielding a competitive squad, but the fragility of an offseason win became clear yesterday with the news of ace Jacob deGrom being shut down for the next four weeks. The panic alarm has sounded, but the Mets are not without solutions.
In fact, they just so happen to have been in conversation with the Padres for the past couple of weeks about different trade scenarios, at least one of which could bring another arm to New York to help plug the leak. Per The Athletic’s Dennis Lin, Ken Rosenthal, and others, a potential deal could center around Eric Hosmer and Chris Paddack heading to the Mets, while Dominic Smith would go to San Diego.
The Padres have been trying to move off of Hosmer’s money for quite some time now, and the freewheeling Mets may now have a big enough need in the rotation to consider taking him back. There’s some urgency for the Padres here, as Hosmer’s partial no-trade clause turns into full 10-and-5 rights at the end of this season. Of course, if he is traded, Hosmer’s contract has a clause that says he cannot be traded twice without his consent, so he will essentially get his no-trade clause by the end of the 2022 campaign regardless for whom he plays.
With $59MM over four years left on his deal, Hosmer does not have positive trade value – not after fWAR totals of 0.0, 0.9, -0.3, and -0.1 over the past four seasons. Entering his age-32 season, one doesn’t expect Hosmer to flourish overnight. Furthermore, the Mets absolutely have no need for him, not with Pete Alonso on the roster.
Acquiring Hosmer would mean pushing the Mets deeper into luxury tax territory with a payroll nearing $300MM, notes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The Mets might be willing to take him if they can reinforce their rotation at the same time, however.
Enter Paddack. The 26-year-old has three years of team control remaining and significant upside. He’s far from a sure thing, however. His numbers declined for the third consecutive season last year when he finished with a 5.07 ERA across 108 1/3 innings. A slightly torn UCL might be the cause of the decline, but that’s not necessarily a situation that has totally resolved itself. Paddack would, therefore, be an option to slide into deGrom’s rotation spot, but he’s far from a panacea for the Mets’ long-term concerns.
In the short term, he might not even be an upgrade over Tylor Megill, the presumptive fifth starter in deGrom’s absence. Megill posted a 4.52 ERA/4.69 FIP over 18 starts covering 89 2/3 innings in 2021 – his first taste of big league action. The Mets could certainly begin the season with Megill in the rotation and see how things go from there.
For the Padres part, their motivation would mostly be to shed Hosmer’s contract. They have enough rotation depth, theoretically, to weather the loss of Paddack, and in Smith, they’d be getting back a comparable bat that’s cheaper, more versatile, and with more theoretical upside than Hosmer. He’s also under team control for two more seasons beyond 2022, though those seasons aren’t guaranteed, should he continue to struggle at the dish.
For the first part of his career, the story on Smith was that he needed at-bats, but his natural position of first base was spoken for, so his ceiling was no more than that of a bit player. Then the designated hitter came to the NL in 2020, Smith starting taking flyballs in left field, and the offensive promise came to fruition with a .316/.377/.616 line over 199 plate appearances during the shortened campaign.
He again saw fairly stable playing time in 2021, but the numbers cratered to an 86 wRC+ by way of a .244/.304/.363 line across 494 plate appearances , more than doubling his previous career-high in that regard. The Padres do need a left fielder, and Smith could step right in at first base were this deal to go down. Still, for San Diego, this deal is mostly about moving off of Hosmer. There are options out there for left field – including former Met Michael Conforto – but Smith would certainly be worth rostering if acquiring him meant removing Hosmer from the payroll.
Latest On Jose Ramirez, Guardians
TODAY: Hoynes provides some more details on the negotiations, writing that the Guardians made an offer to Ramirez on Tuesday. Ramirez and his representatives made a counter-offer on Wednesday, and the team then halted talks the following day.
APRIL 1: The Guardians have had some extension discussions with star third baseman José Ramírez since the lockout was lifted. Those talks, which as of earlier in the week hadn’t yet progressed to an actual exchange of numbers, don’t appear to have gotten very far.
Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com reports that conversations between the Guardians and Ramírez about a long-term deal “have bogged down, if not ended.” Even if talks haven’t completely fizzled out, Hoynes adds that the organization has set an Opening Day deadline for an extension to be in place. If no deal is agreed upon by next Thursday, it seems the plan is to just carry the three-time All-Star into the season on the option the team exercised last November.
It doesn’t come as a huge surprise that negotiations between Cleveland and Ramírez haven’t seriously progressed. The Guardians have never guaranteed a player more than the $60MM they spent on free agent Edwin Encarnación over the 2016-17 offseason. Even with Ramírez two years from hitting free agency, a long-term deal with the three-time Silver Slugger Award winner would probably exceed twice that amount.
If there’s no deal in place by next week and the Guardians cut off talks, rival clubs figure to gauge his trade availability. There’d be no shortage of league-wide demand in Ramírez, one of the sport’s best overall players. The Blue Jays — where former Cleveland executives Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins have key front office roles — are the one team known to have checked in with Guardians brass about Ramírez this winter. There are surely other clubs who have inquired, but there’s no indication Cleveland has given much thought to trading him.
At the very least, it seems the Guardians will keep Ramírez for the first few months of the season. Cleveland has designs on contending, and dealing their best player would represent a major blow to the team’s chances. It’d also be a source of frustration for a fanbase that is only a year removed from seeing previous face of the franchise Francisco Lindor shipped off to the Mets as his potential free agency loomed.
If the Guardians haven’t locked Ramírez up beyond 2023, though, there’ll be plenty of pressure on the team to get off to a good start. If they fall out of playoff contention by July, the 29-year-old could be one of the most talked-about players in advance of the trade deadline. Even a year and a half of club control over Ramírez would be incredibly valuable if he keeps up his recent form, particularly given his affordability. He’s playing this season on a $12MM salary and can be brought back in 2023 via $14MM club option.
In other Guardians extension news, Hoynes writes that Cleveland is “deep in negotiations” with closer Emmanuel Clase. No deal has yet been finalized, but Hoynes relays that Clase’s reps at Nova Sports Agency are en route to the team’s Spring Training facility in Arizona to meet with the right-hander and team officials.
Garrett Crochet To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
TODAY: Crochet has decided to get the surgery, the reliever told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters.
APRIL 1: Just minutes after announcing the headline-grabbing trade of Craig Kimbrel to the Dodgers in exchange for outfielder AJ Pollock, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn announced that lefty Garrett Crochet is likely to require Tommy John surgery (Twitter link, with video, via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).
“The preliminary MRI reading is not great,” said Hahn. “There appears to be some damage to the ligament, which will very likely require Tommy John surgery.” Hahn added that Crochet will first seek a second opinion.
Crochet, 22, has all the makings of a star reliever — if not eventually a high-end member of the Chicago rotation. Drafted out of the University of Tennessee with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Crochet made his Major League debut just months later, joining the Sox late in the 2020 season. He spent the entire 2021 campaign in the Chicago bullpen as well.
Thus far, through 60 2/3 innings at the MLB level, Crochet boasts a 2.54 ERA with a 29% strikeout rate, a 10.7% walk rate and a 42.1% ground-ball rate. Crochet has averaged better than 97 mph on his heater that can reach triple digits and notched above-average swinging-strike rates. That said, Crochet did give the Sox an injury scare in 2020, when he saw hit the injured list with a flexor strain following a velocity dip. He returned and managed a healthy 2021 season, with the exception of a back injury that knocked him out for a few weeks, but Crochet’s arm appeared healthy until he exited yesterday’s Cactus League game with a trainer.
If Tommy John surgery is required, the Sox would be without Crochet for the entirety of the 2022 season and quite likely for the early portion of the 2023 campaign. Crochet would continue to accrue service time while rehabbing on the 60-day injured list, although given that he’s currently sitting on just 1.028 years of service, the Sox can still control him all the way through the 2026 campaign.
With Crochet out of the mix and Kimbrel traded, Chicago’s back-of-the-game options consist of closer Liam Hendriks, lefty setup man Aaron Bummer and righty setup man Kendall Graveman. Veteran Joe Kelly, who joined the Sox on a two-year deal this winter, will be an option before too long but is expected to miss the first couple weeks of the season after getting a late start in camp (due to a late 2021 biceps injury that slowed his offseason regimen and put him a bit behind schedule).