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The First Five No. 1 Picks

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The Major League Baseball amateur draft first came about in 1965. Since then, plenty of first overall picks have made a mark in the bigs, while many others have disappointed. Having already looked at the top selections from 2010-19, 2000-09, the 1990s, the 1980s and the 1970s, we’ll now turn our focus to the first five players who went No. 1 overall…

1965 – Rick Monday, OF, Kansas City Athletics:

You know you’re going back in time when you’re talking about the Kansas City Athletics, who moved to Oakland prior to the 1968 season. In any event, the KC version of the franchise made Monday the first No. 1 overall pick ever. Monday wound up as a very productive big leaguer with the A’s, Cubs and Dodgers from ’66 through 1984, during which he made two All-Star teams and batted .264/.361/.443 with 243 home runs and 31.1 fWAR. However, Monday may be best known for saving the American flag from being burnt by a couple of miscreants in LA in 1976. Take it away, Vin Scully.

1966 – Steve Chilcott, C, Mets:

  • Chilcott’s one of the few No. 1s to never appear in the majors, thanks in part to injuries. He played in the minors with the Mets and Yankees from 1966-72, but could only muster a .569 OPS during that stretch. Speaking of the Yankees, you know who went one pick after Chilcott? Mr. October, Reginald Martinez Jackson. That should still sting for the Mets.

1967 – Ron Blomberg, 1B, Yankees:

  • A fun bit of trivia: Blomberg was the first-ever DH, in 1973. In regards to the position, he told Bill Ladson of MLB.com in 2017: “I love the DH. I hate to watch the pitchers hit. It’s the most boring thing in the world, even in batting practice. The DH is like the three-point [shot] in the NBA and college basketball. It brought a lot of excitement to the game.” It’s a polarizing topic, but I totally agree with Blomberg, who had a wonderful career as a hitter when he was healthy enough to play. Although injuries limited Blomberg to 461 games and 1,493 plate appearances with the Yankees and White Sox from 1969-78, he hit .293/.360/.473 with more unintentional walks (140) than strikeouts (134).

1968 – Tim Foli, SS, Mets:

  • Statistically, Foli – taken three picks before Thurman Munson – didn’t have a great impact. The defense-first infielder was a .251/.283/.309 hitter who hit 25 homers in almost 6,600 trips to the plate as part of a half-dozen different teams from 1970-85. Nevertheless, Foli made quite a mark on the game in transactions. The Mets traded him, Mike Jorgensen and Ken Singleton (arguably a Hall of Famer) to the Expos in 1972 for outfielder Rusty Staub, who became a Mets icon. Twelve years later, Foli was part of a Yankees-Pirates deal that brought Jay Buhner to New York. Buhner didn’t last long as a Yankee, to Frank Costanza’s chagrin.

1969 – Jeff Burroughs, OF, Washington Senators:

  • We’re going so far back that Ted Williams was the Senators’ manager when they chose Burroughs, who debuted the next season. Burroughs ended up as a good major leaguer from 1970-85 with the Senators, Rangers, Braves, Mariners, A’s and Blue Jays, with whom he combined for a .261/.355/.439 line with 240 HRs and 18.3 fWAR. That said, the Senators may have been wiser to choose righty J.R. Richard, the No. 2 pick and someone who had a better career than Burroughs.

A One-Year Deal That Could Pay Off For A Decade

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It’s been more than six years since the Braves inked righty Ervin Santana to a one-year, $14.1MM deal after Spring Training was already underway. Santana, then 31, was a free agent for the first time and entered the market as one of the more appealing starters available to teams in need of a rotation upgrade. He’d just wrapped up a strong season with the Royals that saw him rack up 211 frames with a 3.24 ERA and a 3.16 K/BB ratio.

But Santana hit the market aiming quite high, reportedly seeking a contract worth more than $100MM. A big payday wasn’t exactly far-fetched — we predicted a five-year deal at a more reasonable $75MM term that winter — but teams clearly balked at a nine-figure guarantee for a pitcher who struggled with year-to-year consistency. Kansas City, after all, had only acquired Santana in a salary dump from the Angels after the righty posted an ERA north of 5.00 in a sub-replacement-level 2013 effort.

By the time Santana’s asking price dropped into the four-year, $50-60MM range as Spring Training approached, it was too late. He reportedly received three-year offers from the Twins (who’d sign him a year later) and Orioles that spring but preferred a one-year deal to reenter free agency next winter. The Braves obliged, signing Santana at the exact $14.1MM value of the qualifying offer he’d rejected four months prior.

Ervin Santana, 2014 | Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The signing worked out swimmingly for Atlanta. Santana made 31 starts, totaled 196 innings and logged a 3.95 ERA (3.39 FIP) with 8.2 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 0.73 HR/9 and a 42.9 percent ground-ball rate. The Braves finished second in the NL East that year, but their playoff miss couldn’t be pinned on Santana, who largely held up his end of the bargain. At season’s end, Santana entered the open market a second time.

Unlike the 2016-21 collective bargaining agreement, the previous arrangement allowed players to receive multiple qualifying offers in their career. As such, the Braves issued a second qualifying offer, which Santana again rejected. This time around, his expectations were set a bit lower, and by the end of the Winter Meetings he’d landed a four-year deal with the Twins that guaranteed him $55MM. The Twins lost their second-round pick to sign Santana. The Braves received a compensatory pick at the end of the first round.

As readers have likely gleaned by now, that’s where the Atlanta organization struck gold. The Braves’ organic pick that year, No. 14 overall, saw them select lefty Kolby Allard, whom they traded to Texas last July to rent reliever Chris Martin. The compensatory pick they landed in exchange for Santana turned into Mike Soroka.

Mike Soroka

At the time of the selection, Soroka was an aggressive selection. Pre-draft rankings from MLB.com, Baseball America, FanGraphs and ESPN all had Soroka ranked in the 60 to 90 range among draft prospects. He was one of the youngest players in the draft and generally pegged as more of a second- or third-round pick. In their scouting report heading into the draft, Baseball America wrote: “There hasn’t been a player out of Alberta selected in the top 100 picks since the Red Sox picked Chris Reitsma 34th overall in 1996, and while Soroka probably won’t go that high, he should end up off the board in the first few rounds in June.”

Just 17 when he was selected, Soroka nonetheless rose quickly through the Braves’ system and steadily improved his prospect stock along the way. Soroka was at least three years younger than the average age of his competition at every minor league level he competed, and before he’d reached his 21st birthday he was suiting up for the Braves at SunTrust (now Truist) Park. Shoulder troubles in that debut campaign in 2018 limited Soroka to just 25 2/3 innings in the Majors another 30 2/3 frames in the minors.

This past season, of course, unfolded quite differently. Were it not for the outrageous power display put on by division rival Pete Alonso, Soroka might well have locked up Rookie of the Year honors. The 2019 NL runner-up pitched to a pristine 2.68 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.72 HR/9 and a 51.2 percent grounder rate. Soroka was worth 4.0 fWAR and 5.6 bWAR, and he ranked well above average in terms of Statcast metrics such as opponents’ barrel rate, average exit velocity, expected ERA and expected wOBA. Considering he was 21 for most of the 2019 season, optimism regarding Soroka abounds.

With Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies already locked up long term, Soroka stands out as an obvious candidate for a long-term deal of his own. At the very least, the Braves can enjoy Soroka for four full years beyond whatever semblance of a 2020 season we get, all the way through the 2024 season. So long as Soroka’s shoulder holds up, it seems the Atlanta organization will still be reaping the benefits of that Santana signing more than a decade after the ink on his contract dried.

How The 2000-09 NL Rookies Of The Year Turned Out

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This is the start of a series in which we’ll examine how Rookie of the Year winners panned out from various decades. Let’s begin with the National League from 2000-09…

2000 – Rafael Furcal, SS, Braves:

  • Furcal won the award with ease that year, when he batted .295/.394/.382 with 3.3 fWAR, almost as many walks (73) as strikeouts (80), and 40 stolen bases. But was he a one-shot wonder? Nope. Furcal, whose final season came in 2014, wrapped things up as a .281/.346/.402 hitter with 113 homers, 314 steals, three All-Star bids and 33.1 fWAR. Aside from the Braves, he spent MLB time with the Dodgers, Cardinals and Marlins, winning a World Series championship with St. Louis in 2011.

2001 – Albert Pujols, 1B/3B/OF, Cardinals:

  • The birth of a legend. Pujols totaled 7.2 fWAR that year on the strength of a .329/.403/.610 line with 37 home runs, and he missed just one game in the process. Now a member of the Angels, he can be counted as one of the greatest players ever – a 10-time All-Star, a three-time NL MVP, a two-time World Series winner and a 656-home run man.

2002 – Jason Jennings, RHP, Rockies:

  • It’s tough to win any kind of award as a pitcher in hitter-friendly Colorado, but Jennings pulled it off in his first full season, in which he amassed 185 1/3 innings of 4.52 ERA pitching with 2.1 fWAR. Jennings had a couple more solid seasons, but his career didn’t last nearly as long as of those of Furcal and Pujols. From 2001-09 as a member of the Rox, Astros and Rangers, Jennings posted a 4.95 ERA with 12.2 fWAR over 1,128 1/3 frames.

2003 – Dontrelle Willis, LHP, Marlins:

  • The D-Train will always be one of the most recognizable hurlers in Marlins history. During a 2003 rookie campaign, he piled up 160 2/3 innings of 3.30 ERA ball to help the Marlins to their most recent playoff berth. Willis had some rough outings that postseason, but he made up for those performances with 3 2/3 scoreless innings versus the Yankees in a World Series that the Marlins won in six. Before that, Willis – a very good offensive player for his position – collected three hits, including a triple, in as many at-bats against the Giants in the NLDS. Willis’ star faded after a few terrific years, but he exited following 2011 as a two-time All-Star and the owner of a 4.17 ERA across 1,221 2/3 innings as a Marlin, Tiger, Diamondback and Red. He was also part of the earth-shattering trade that sent Miguel Cabrera from Florida to Detroit in 2007.

2004 – Jason Bay, OF, Pirates:

  • Bay was a formidable offensive player that season, when he batted .282/.358/.550 with 26 homers in 472 plate appearances. That proved to be the first of many standout campaigns at the plate for Bay, a lifetime .266/.360/.481 hitter who accumulated 222 HRs with the Padres, Pirates, Red Sox, Mets and Mariners through 2012. Bay was a three-time All-Star whom the Mets inked to a four-year, $66MM contract before 2009, though his production nosedived after he earned that payday.

2005 – Ryan Howard, 1B, Phillies:

  • Howard smacked 22 dingers in just 88 games as a rookie, and he wound up a 382-HR hitter who batted .258/.343/.515 from 2004-16 – all of which he spent with the Phillies. Howard picked up three All-Star nods, won a World Series and took home an NL MVP along the way.

2006 – Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins:

  • This was the start of an eventful career for Ramirez, who slashed .292/.353/.480 with 17 HRs and a whopping 51 steals as a rookie. Ramirez mostly continued to thrive in Miami until the team dealt him to the Dodgers in 2012. After a successful stint in LA, Ramirez signed a four-year, $88MM pact with the Red Sox before 2015. That marriage didn’t work out, though, nor did Ramirez’s short run with the Indians in 2019. It’s possible we haven’t seen the last of the 36-year-old, but if we have, he had an excellent career. Also a former first baseman, third baseman and outfielder, HanRam’s a .289/.360/.484 hitter with 271 homers, 281 steals and 41.5 fWAR.

2007 – Ryan Braun, 3B, Brewers:

  • Then a third baseman and now an outfielder, Braun batted an eye-popping .324/.370/.634 with 34 homers and 15 steals as a rookie. That was the first of many highly productive seasons for Braun, a six-time All-Star and a one-tme NL MVP who has registered a career line of .298/.360/.533 with 344 HRs, 215 stolen bases and 43.7 fWAR. While he’s now 36 and on the downside of his career, Braun’s still a solid member of the Brewers’ offense.

2008 – Geovany Soto, C, Cubs:

  • Soto starred at the plate in 2008, when he batted .285/.364/.504 and smacked 23 homers to get the NL ROY and his lone All-Star nod. But Soto’s career, some of which he also spent with the Rangers, A’s, White Sox and Angels, was pretty up and down into his final season in 2017. Soto was better than most who have set foot in the majors, however, as he hit .245/.330/.435 with 108 HRs and 16.4 fWAR.

2009 – Chris Coghlan, OF, Marlins:

  • The third former Marlin on this list, Coghlan was a .321/.390/.460 hitter during his initial year, though he rarely reached those heights again. Coghlan became a utilityman and ended up playing for four other teams (the Cubs, Phillies, A’s and Blue Jays) through 2017. He batted a respectable .258/.334/.398 with 53 HRs and 47 SBs in the bigs.

Which 15 Players Should The Athletics Protect In An Expansion Draft?

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In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR.  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve done the Angels, Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Orioles.  The Athletics are next.

First, we’ll remove free agents Marcus Semien, Joakim Soria, Yusmeiro Petit, Khris Davis, Mike Fiers, Liam Hendriks, T.J. McFarland, and Robbie Grossman from consideration.

Then, we’ll lock down this group of nine players:

Matt Chapman
Matt Olson
Frankie Montas
Ramon Laureano
Mark Canha
Sean Manaea
Sean Murphy
Jesus Luzardo
A.J. Puk

That leaves six spots for these 17 players:

Austin Allen
Luis Barrera
Franklin Barreto
Chris Bassitt
Paul Blackburn
Skye Bolt
Seth Brown
Jake Diekman
Daniel Gossett
Tony Kemp
Daniel Mengden
Sheldon Neuse
Chad Pinder
Stephen Piscotty
Burch Smith
Lou Trivino
J.B. Wendelken

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly six players you think the Athletics should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

Universal DH Should Push Pirates To Make A Change At Third Base

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As we’ve run through various National League clubs and how they might handle the likely implementation of the universal designated hitter, a common theme has been that many of the league’s better clubs have ample depth that will allow them to piece together a solid DH rotation — even if there isn’t one dedicated masher to whom those at-bats would go.

That’s not the case in Pittsburgh, where a thin roster without much offensive upside is lacking in terms of serviceable DH options. A look at the Pirates’ projected bench at Roster Resource reveals catcher Luke Maile and a series of utility types including JT Riddle, Erik Gonzalez, Jose Osuna and Guillermo Heredia. None of that quintet has been anywhere close to a league-average hitter in his career. Osuna’s career 86 wRC+ leads the pack, and he’s the only one of the bunch who has even managed a .400 slugging percentage (.439). Heredia, meanwhile, is the only one with a career OBP above .300.

However, that doesn’t mean that a universal DH spot wouldn’t give Buccos fans something to watch. The Pirates reportedly explored a possible extension for top prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes earlier this year. There’s already been some thought about a 2020 debut, and with an uncertain minor league climate at the moment, it makes sense to plug Hayes into the lineup if the MLB season is indeed able to get underway.

Hayes shouldn’t see much (or any) time at DH himself, to be clear. He’s regarded as one of the game’s premier defensive prospects, and it just so happens that at his position, third base, the Pirates are in need of an upgrade. Colin Moran turned in an astonishing -21 Defensive Runs Saved, a -8.8 Ultimate Zone Rating and -6 Outs Above Average in just 882 frames at the hot corner. Hayes, on the other hand, received a 65 (on the 20-80 scale) for his defense in MLB.com’s scouting report and a future 70 over at FanGraphs.

Moran would give the Bucs a reasonably competent bat to install at DH. He’s not a prolific slugger, but the lefty’s career 103 wRC+ against right-handers represents a markedly better option than the previously projected bench bats.

Might the Pirates have other options down on the farm? Will Craig, a 2016 first-rounder, had a down year in Triple-A. The first baseman’s right-handed bat would make a natural pairing with Moran, assuming last year’s poor showing against left-handed pitching was more an aberration than the beginning of a downward trend. If Craig is able to bounce back at the plate, perhaps the club would consider giving Josh Bell additional time at DH and playing Craig in the field. Bell rates poorly from a defensive standpoint.

Shortstop Oneil Cruz — whom many project to move to the outfield eventually — receives huge grades on his raw power but has yet to see it manifest in games. He hasn’t played above Double-A yet. Would the Pirates consider bringing him to the big leagues if there are no minor league games played? He’s already on the 40-man roster.. Cole Tucker made his MLB debut in 2019, and while the shortstop is too good a fielder to be considered a primary DH, he’s blocked up the middle by Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier at the moment. The added DH spot could help him get a few more at-bats in the big leagues.

It seems unlikely that the Bucs would go outside the organization unless it’s a very cost-efficient pickup, but even if they stick with what they have, the added DH slot should open the door for some promising youngsters to get their feet wet in the Majors.

Latest On Salary Dispute Between MLB, MLBPA

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May 20: The league is aiming to formally present the union with an economic plan by this Friday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports.

May 19: As Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association continue their standoff over player compensation in a shortened 2020 season without fans in attendance, it seems neither side is prepared to budge. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that some with the league believe they “have it cold in emails” from late March that the previously agreed-upon prorated salary arrangement was contingent on fans being in attendance. The MLBPA, of course, has contested that the standing agreement sufficiently addresses that scenario (i.e. that the players are entitled to prorated salaries even in a spectator-free setting).

Joel Sherman of the New York Post has obtained the email in question, which was sent from MLB senior vice president of labor relations/deputy general counsel Patrick Houlihan to deputy commissioner Dan Halem. Within the email, Houlihan details a conversation he had with MLBPA deputy general counsel Matt Nussbaum on the morning of March 26:

Matt asked what ‘economic feasibility’ meant in Section I. I told him it meant that we would only consider playing in neutral sites or without fans if it worked for us economically. I reminded him of [commissioner Rob Manfred]’s comments at the outset that playing in empty stadiums did not work for us economically. But I said, for example, that we might be willing to have a conversation about playing some limited number of games in empty stadiums if players agreed to reduce their daily salaries for those games, and if it was part of a larger plan that made economic sense. Matt confirmed that that is what he thought we meant, but appreciated the confirmation.

Of course, it can’t be gleaned from that email just how clearly and accurately the league’s stance was laid out by Houlihan, nor is there any direct quote or confirmation of that understanding from an MLBPA official. We also don’t know whether any additional discussions or negotiations surrounding the issue took place between that conversation and the actual ratification of the agreement. While this email certainly indicates that the two sides discussed the matter, its status as a true “smoking gun” is up for interpretation.

The league will surely seek to use this as ammunition to argue that the MLBPA represented a belief that spectator-less games would need to be accounted for in a separate negotiation. The MLBPA took a similar approach recently when agent Scott Boras ardently stated that ownership “represented during that negotiation that they could operate without fans in the ballpark,” ultimately declaring that there will be no renegotiation of the standing agreement.

Late last week, commissioner Manfred suggested that owners were facing a collective loss of as much as four billion dollars — a grim portrayal which the league argues as the driving factor in its reported proposal for a revenue-sharing plan with the players. However, Travis Sawchik of FiveThirtyEight reports that the players are of the belief that, based on what ownership has presented, they’d benefit from a season of prorated player pay much more than by simply canceling the season (Twitter thread). The league’s revenue projections, for instance, did not account for the expanded playoff format that has been suggested but not yet formally proposed, according to Sawchik. If that’s the case, the players likely feel they still have leverage.

To that end, MLBPA senior director of collective bargaining Bruce Meyer tells Sherman: “the contract itself is very clear that in the event of a partial season players will get paid pro rata salary — whether with fans or without.”

That much seems debatable based on the portions of the agreement that have been made public, but the MLBPA nonetheless appears set to stand firm on that assertion. Meyer also confirms multiple reports that the league has yet to formally propose a salary scale (presumably due to the union’s refusal to even consider the 50-50 revenue share that was reported last week).

“Rather than actually negotiating over these issues the league is focusing on leaking self-serving internal memos to the media,” Meyer tells Sherman. He goes on to add that the league has yet to provide the Players Association with any documentation to support that their revenue losses would actually align with the extent of their claims.

It’s frankly baffling that things have reached this point. The two sides swiftly worked out an agreement not two weeks after the league was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the document produced by those negotiations inexplicably failed to address this very scenario in a decisive manner that left no room for other interpretation. The implementation of a prorated pay scale in a shortened season seemed straightforward, but a later clause stating that the two sides will “discuss in good faith the economic feasibility of playing games in the absence of spectators” has proven nebulous enough to bring about the current stalemate.

The optics of a billionaires-versus-millionaires standoff is always cringe-worthy but is particularly egregious at a time when so much of the country has been laid off or furloughed. As both sides squabble over enormous sums of money, many in the general public look on with frustration and resentment.

It’s understandable that the players feel they’ve already made concessions and have now had the aforementioned “good faith” violated by the league’s call for additional cuts, but it’s also confounding that first iteration of their agreement left the door open for this publicly unfolding drama. It’s not as though playing games without fans in attendance was a radical concept at the time of the agreement; it had been a heavily speculated-upon possibility. The fact that it wasn’t expressly accounted for is a staggering omission.

If both sides are indeed drawing a hard line and are entirely averse to renegotiated terms, it stands to reason that the eventual outcome could be litigation. At that point, an arbitrator would need to consider the language within the original agreement and the alleged representations made by the league, weighing those against the purported email proof and any other evidence ownership wished to present.

Which 15 Players Should The Angels Protect In An Expansion Draft?

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In a few weeks, we’ll be running a two-team mock expansion draft here at MLBTR.  Currently, we’re creating 15-player protected lists for each of the existing 30 teams.  You can catch up on the rules for player eligibility here.

So far, we’ve done the Astros, Twins, Royals, Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Rays, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Orioles.  The Angels are next.

We’ll start by removing free agents Jason Castro, Andrelton Simmons, Julio Teheran, and Tommy La Stella from consideration.  We’ll lock down Albert Pujols, Justin Upton, Mike Trout, and Anthony Rendon due to their no-trade clauses.  We’ll also protect Jo Adell, Shohei Ohtani, and Griffin Canning out of the gate, giving us this group of seven:

Mike Trout
Anthony Rendon
Justin Upton
Albert Pujols
Shohei Ohtani
Jo Adell
Griffin Canning

That leaves eight spots for the following 28 players:

Justin Anderson
Matt Andriese
Luke Bard
Jaime Barria
Cam Bedrosian
Anthony Bemboom
Ryan Buchter
Dylan Bundy
Ty Buttrey
David Fletcher
Brian Goodwin
Andrew Heaney
Michael Hermosillo
Kyle Keller
Mike Mayers
Keynan Middleton
Felix Pena
Dillon Peters
Jose Quijada
Noe Ramirez
Luis Rengifo
Hansel Robles
Patrick Sandoval
Max Stassi
Jose Suarez
Matt Thaiss
Jared Walsh
Taylor Ward

With that, we turn it over to the MLBTR readership! In the poll below (direct link here), select exactly eight players you think the Angels should protect in our upcoming mock expansion draft. Click here to view the results.

Create your own user feedback survey

What Would The Padres Do For A DH?

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Mixing and matching in the designated hitter spot is a fairly common approach for American League clubs. That may be all the more common if, as expected, National League teams are suddenly given a DH slot to work with for 2020. The Padres have some clear candidates for steady work but could certainly end up operating with a rotation as the team’s needs evolve.

There are two fairly obvious options for regular hitter-only usage in San Diego. First and foremost is Wil Myers, who has moved all over the diamond in recent years but never really found a home. He’s got to fit somewhere, as he’s earning a $20MM annual salary from 2020 through 2022. Myers has already produced thirty dingers in a big-league season, though he slumped last year.

The other possibility is the younger and less-established Josh Naylor, a converted first baseman who’s still learning the outfield. He has options aplenty, so it’s easy enough to keep him off of the active roster, but the Friars are surely interested to see if he’s a keeper. Naylor held his own but didn’t excel in his first attempt at the majors in 2019. But the 22-year-old has shown all he really needs to against upper-minors pitching, including exceptional plate discipline. The question remains whether he can deliver steady pop in the bigs.

So, how about some kind of platoon? Well, Naylor really hasn’t been vulnerable to lefties in the minors. And Myers hasn’t shown significant splits historically. But that did change last year, when he marauded lefties (130 wRC+) while failing to show up against same-handed hurlers (87 wRC+).

Odds are, the Pads will want both of these guys to cycle through spots on the field as well, both to keep everyone fresh and to enhance the organization’s long-term flexibility with those players. Plus, there’s an opportunity here to expand the team’s options behind the dish — Francisco Mejia could get some plate appearances as the DH — and elsewhere. It’d be nice to find added rest for the high-priced Manny Machado, for instance, and keeping Franchy Cordero healthy is a priority after several injury-plagued campaigns. It would be easy enough to slot Tommy Pham, Eric Hosmer, and even Brian Dozier into the DH spot from time to time.

Kevin Kramer Undergoes Hip Surgery

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Pirates utilityman Kevin Kramer will be sidelined for a lengthy stretch after undergoing surgery on his right hip, per a club announcement. MLB.com’s Adam Berry was among those to convey the news on Twitter.

The Bucs anticipate a rehabilitation timeline of four to six months, which means Kramer will almost certainly not be a part of the team’s 2020 short-season roster. He’ll get to work rehabbing in hopes of being ready for a full Spring Training next year.

The labral repair procedure was conducted “to address recent and chronic symptoms,” per the team. Kramer had not been able to train in anticipation of a resumption of play.

Kramer had been competing in camp for a bench job with the Pirates. Before the pandemic shutdown, he had appeared in 11 Spring Training contests.

A 2015 second-round draft pick, Kramer has received sporadic MLB opportunities over the past two seasons. He has struggled to a cumulative .152/.222/.165 batting line in ninety plate appearances. Kramer has had more success in the upper minors, though last year’s .260/.335/.417 output at Triple-A represented a step back after a strong 2018 showing.

Zack Greinke’s Great Hot Stove Adventure

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Every player that reaches the majors has a hot-stove tale to tell. They’re drafted or signed into the pro ranks to start out. Quite a few are traded or move via free agency even before reaching the bigs. You have to be selected or signed onto a 40-man roster before you can put on a uniform in a MLB contest. And then there’s the inevitable moment when it all goes away … whether through retirement at the end of a lengthy career or, in many cases, a trip into DFA limbo.

All of these stories are etched on the pages of MLBTR. Some are more interesting than others. A few of these transactional career arcs touch upon many major elements of the hot stove league — the front office game that shapes the underlying sport that we watch on TV.

The transactional saga of Zack Greinke, the venerable right-hander whose latest stop is the Houston Astros, is certainly among the most notable in recent memory …

Professional Entry

  • The Royals took Greinke, an unusually polished high-school hurler, with the sixth overall pick of 2002 draft.

Prospect Status

  • Greinke quickly emerged as one of the game’s top prospects.
  • Baseball America rated Greinke 54th overall ahead of the 2003 season and 14th overall in advance of 2004.

Early Career

  • At just 20 years of age, Greinke turned in in 24 starts of 3.97 ERA ball in his debut season of 2004. But he struggled badly in his sophomore season.
  • Greinke battled mental health issues and was ultimately diagnosed with depression and social anxiety disorder. At the time, his outlook as a professional baseball player was of secondary concern. SI.com’s John Donovan wrote: “Greinke’s tortured story is, on the one end, a sad one, but on this side there is hope that it may yet turn out well.”

Extension

  • Greinke reemerged in 2007, then turned in a breakout 2008 season.
  • The Royals signed Greinke to a four-year, $38MM extension in advance of the 2009 season, adding two years of team control. He won the American League Cy Young Award in the ensuing campaign.

2010 Blockbuster

  • The Royals decided to entertain trade offers on Greinke, by then regarded as one of the game’s best pitchers, in the 2010-11 offseason. Greinke later indicated his desire to be traded.
  • A monumental set of Winter Meetings trade talks ensued. Royals Review has exhaustively documented the contemporaneous rumor mill. Greinke reportedly indicated he would exercise his no-trade rights to block a deal to the Nationals.
  • The Brewers eventually acquired Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt, and $2MM from the Royals for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi.
  • Greinke ended his tenure with the Royals with a 3.82 ERA in 1,108 innings over seven seasons.

2012 Trade Deadline Swap

  • Greinke continued to perform well in Milwaukee, but the Brewers stumbled.
  • In July of 2012, the Angeles acquired Greinke for Jean Segura, Ariel Pena and John Hellweg.
  • Greinke ended his tenure with the Brewers with a 3.67 ERA in 294 2/3 innings over two seasons.

2012-13 Free Agency

  • Greinke entered the market as the top player available and drew interest from numerous big-market teams.
  • During the Winter Meetings, the Dodgers signed Greinke to a six-year, $147MM contract.
  • Greinke ended his tenure with the Angels with a 3.53 ERA in 89 1/3 innings over one season.

2015-16 Free Agency

  • Greinke opted out of his contract after a 2015 season in which he led the National League with a 1.66 ERA.
  • Expectations were that he would re-sign with the Dodgers, but the Diamondbacks suddenly entered the market with a massive offer.
  • The Diamondbacks signed Greinke to a six-year, $206.5MM contract, setting a new record for average annual value ($34.42MM).
  • Greinke ended his tenure with the Dodgers with a 2.30 ERA in 602 2/3 innings over three seasons.

2019 Trade Deadline Swap

  • After a rough initial season in Arizona, Greinke continued to produce excellent results even as he entered his mid-thirties.
  • In a last-minute agreement consummated just before the trade deadline, the Astros acquired Greinke for Corbin Martin, J.B. Bukauskas, Seth Beer, and Joshua Rojas.
  • Greinke ended his tenure with the Diamondbacks with a 3.40 ERA in 714 2/3 innings over four seasons.

Future

  • Greinke’s contract runs through 2021. The Astros took on $53MM of the remaining salary obligations.
  • With the Astros, Greinke has a 3.02 ERA in 62 2/3 innings over one season.

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