Orioles Acquire Adam Plutko, Release Yolmer Sanchez
TODAY: Sanchez has cleared waivers and been granted a release, the Orioles announced.
MARCH 27: The Orioles have acquired right-hander Adam Plutko in a trade with the Indians, The Baltimore Sun’s Jon Meoli reports (Twitter link). The O’s have officially announced the deal, noting that Plutko was acquired for cash considerations. Infielder Yolmer Sanchez has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move to open a spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster.
Plutko is out of minor league options, so the trade allows Cleveland to receive at least a modest return for a player who wasn’t likely to make their Opening Day roster, rather than lose Plutko for nothing on the waiver wire. Plutko’s 40-man roster space can now be filled by Bryan Shaw, who was in camp on a minor league contract and had already been told that he will make the team.
Originally an 11th-round pick for the Tribe in the 2013 draft, Plutko has a 5.05 ERA/5.71 SIERA over 217 1/3 big league innings, starting 36 of his 50 career games. Plutko doesn’t miss many bats (only a 16.9% career strikeout rate) and he’s had a lot of trouble keeping the ball in the park, with a 2.03 HR/9 over his four MLB seasons. On the plus side, he doesn’t issue many walks, and he has displayed some elite spin on his curveball.
Plutko is already 29 years old but still controllable through the 2024 season, which is undoubtedly of interest to the Orioles. Plutko wasn’t consistent enough to lock down a regular starting job with the pitching-rich Indians, but he’ll immediately become a candidate for the fifth spot in a Baltimore rotation that includes John Means, Matt Harvey, Dean Kremer, and Wade LeBlanc. Alternatively, Plutko could also be deployed out of the bullpen as a long reliever or swingman.
The Plutko trade is a logical pickup for the Orioles, but the follow-up transaction is unusual, as Sanchez was projected to be the team’s starting second baseman. The O’s claimed Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox in October, and while Baltimore could simply be taking a calculated risk that another team won’t claim the former Gold Glover, the DFA would seem to indicate that Sanchez isn’t seen as a big factor in the Orioles’ plans.
Sanchez avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $1MM deal for the 2021 season, but since arb contracts are only guaranteed once the player makes the Opening Day roster, the Orioles will only owe Sanchez 45 days of termination pay (roughly $250K) for being cut in the last half of Spring Training. While not a huge savings, the financial aspect of the Sanchez DFA can’t be overlooked as a notable factor, considering how the Orioles have been looking to save money whenever possible this offseason.
If Sanchez ends up elsewhere, Pat Valaika, Ramon Urias, Jahmai Jones, and non-roster invite Stevie Wilkerson are on hand as second base options. The Orioles could juggle playing time between multiple members of this group rather than stick with a true everyday second baseman.
Offseason In Review: San Francisco Giants
The Giants revamped their pitching staff with short-term contracts, and while they did a lot of roster-shuffling heading into the 2021 season, they generally stood pat in the big picture to position themselves for the winter of 2021-22.
Major League Signings
- Kevin Gausman, SP: One year, $18.9MM (accepted qualifying offer)
- Tommy La Stella, IF: Three years, $18.75MM
- Anthony DeSclafani, SP: One year, $6MM
- Jake McGee, RP: Two years, $5MM (including $500K buyout of $4.5MM club option for 2023)
- Aaron Sanchez, SP: One year, $4MM
- Alex Wood, SP/RP: One year, $3MM
- Curt Casali, C: One year, $1.5MM
- Jose Alvarez, RP: One year, $1.15MM (including $100K buyout of $1.5MM club option for 2022)
- Matt Wisler, RP: One year, $1.15MM
- John Brebbia, RP: One year, $800K
- Chadwick Tromp, C: One year, $583K
- Jason Vosler, 3B: One year, MLB contract
- Total spend: $60.833MM
Trades & Claims
- Acquired OF LaMonte Wade Jr. from the Twins for SP/RP Shaun Anderson
- Acquired P Carson Ragsdale from the Phillies for RP Sam Coonrod
- Claimed SP/RP Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Orioles
- Selected SP Dedniel Nunez from the Mets in the Rule 5 Draft
Notable Minor League Signings
- Nick Tropeano, Scott Kazmir, Dominic Leone, Justin Bour, Silvino Bracho, Anthony Banda, Arismendy Alcantara, Zack Littell, Shun Yamaguchi, James Sherfy, Jay Jackson, Rico Garcia, Jeremy Walker, Phil Pfeifer
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Drew Smyly, Tony Watson, Tyler Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Andrew Suarez, Aramis Garcia, Daniel Robertson, Chris Shaw, Tyler Heineman, Chris Herrmann, Jeff Samardzija (still unsigned)
San Francisco was one of baseball’s busiest teams this offseason, both in terms of sheer volume of signings, and even in total dollars considering the relative lack of league-wide free agent spending. Yet once the 2021 season ends, it’s possible that Tommy La Stella and Jake McGee will be the only players remaining from this (modest) spending spree, as the Giants stuck primarily to one-year commitments.
A few of these deals carry some extra term, like Jose Alvarez‘s club option or at least one year of additional arbitration control over Matt Wisler, Curt Casali, and John Brebbia. For the most part, however, the Giants left themselves with the “flexibility” that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi looks for when considering player additions and team payroll.
As it turned out, the Giants’ biggest expenditure of the offseason was one of their very first moves, as Kevin Gausman decided to accept the club’s one-year, $18.9MM qualifying offer and remain in the Bay Area. Gausman received some multi-year offers from the Blue Jays and other teams during his QO consideration period, and also discussed a multi-year arrangement with the Giants before ultimately just accepting the qualifying offer. If these talks provided any sort of foundation, it wouldn’t be a shock if Gausman and the Giants found common ground on an extension over the next few days or weeks.
After struggling in 2019, Gausman rebounded nicely with a strong 3.62 ERA/3.24 SIERA over 59 2/3 innings and an outstanding 32.2% strikeout rate and 25.7 K-BB%. Albeit in a shortened season, these were easily career highs for Gausman, giving him an interesting decision in regards to the qualifying offer. Toronto reportedly had a three-year, $40MM offer on the table, and only seven free agents (and only one pitcher in Trevor Bauer) landed more than $40MM in guaranteed money all winter. However, Gausman chose to bet on himself by locking in that $18.9MM single-season payday and giving himself the opportunity for a richer multi-year deal next winter, when more teams might be more open to spending.
The rotation was a clear priority for a Giants team that had several arms slated for free agency. Of the seven pitchers who made multiple starts for San Francisco in 2020, only three will return — Gausman, veteran Johnny Cueto, and 24-year-old Logan Webb. Filling the next two spots will be some combination of Anthony DeSclafani, Aaron Sanchez, and Alex Wood, though Wood’s status is uncertain for Opening Day following an ablation procedure on his spine.
As ominous as this injury sounds, Wood may not end up missing much (if any) time, giving the Giants some depth in figuring out their rotation. Aside from Gausman, none of the other starters pitched particularly well in 2020, and Sanchez didn’t pitch at all following shoulder surgery after the 2019 campaign. Having Webb step forward as a big league regular would be a nice building block for the Giants’ future plans, and Cueto rediscovering any of his old form would be a good way to salvage from value from the last guaranteed season of his six-year, $130MM contract. As for the others, the Giants are simply hoping that they’ve found at least one “next Gausman” among the group.
The bullpen remains a fallback option for any of the pitchers, and Wood pitched well enough as a reliever for the Dodgers last season that the relief corps could be his ultimate landing spot if he can’t stay healthy enough to stick as a starter. There isn’t a ton of starting depth down on the farm, but Ashton Goudeau, Conner Menez, Anthony Banda, and Shun Yamaguchi all have at least a bit of MLB experience. Veteran Scott Kazmir is also on hand after signing a minor league deal, though it remains to be seen if Kazmir will continue his comeback attempt in the wake of a rough Spring Training.
Nick Tropeano has made only one start in the last two seasons, but the righty might also factor into the rotation in a swingman capacity. Tropeano’s minor league deal stands a good chance of being selected for the Opening Day roster, putting him in line to join a few other new faces in the San Francisco bullpen.
After an overall shaky four-year stint with the Rockies, McGee revived his career and picked up a World Series ring by posting a 2.66 ERA over 20 1/3 innings for the Dodgers last season. McGee allowed a lot of hard contact, but countered that problem by missing a lot of bats, recording an eye-popping 33 strikeouts against just three walks. The southpaw now moves to the other side of the Los Angeles/San Francisco rivalry and looks to be the favorite for the closer’s job, though manager Gabe Kapler has indicated that several pitchers could get save chances based on specific in-game situations.
Tyler Rogers, Reyes Moronta (back after missing all of 2020 due to shoulder surgery), or new arrivals Wisler or Alvarez could all be in the mix for those save opportunities. Wisler’s slider-heavy arsenal netted him 35 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings for Minnesota last season, though the Twins still chose to non-tender the right-hander, perhaps due to Wisler’s lack of much real Major League success in five seasons prior to 2020. Alvarez is something of the opposite, having posted solid numbers as a bullpen workhorse for the Angels and Phillies from 2015-19 before a groin injury sidelined him for much of 2020.
For the combined price of $2.3MM, there’s plenty of bargain potential with either Wisler or Alvarez. Brebbia is more of a long-term play, since he is controlled through the 2023 season and might not pitch at all in 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June.
While San Francisco didn’t break the bank on any of their winter moves, they did at least check in some bigger names. On the pitching side, Jake Odorizzi and Tomoyuki Sugano were on the Giants’ radar, and they even did some due diligence on signing Bauer. For position players, such names as Jackie Bradley Jr., Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, and Marcell Ozuna all received consideration.
Amidst all those outfield targets, however, the Giants’ top free agent splurge added to a seemingly crowded infield. Tommy La Stella’s three-year, $18.75MM deal was a nice signing of a player who has been a solidly above-average hitter (albeit rarely in an everyday capacity) for much of his career, and his addition only further strengths the team’s depth.
Ideally, Brandon Belt will be the starting first baseman and Evan Longoria will get most of the playing time at third base. However, Longoria is still bothered by plantar fasciitis, while Belt is recovering from a miserable offseason that included heel surgery, a case of COVID-19, and then a bout of mononucleosis. While Belt got onto the field for the final week of Cactus League games and might yet be available for Opening Day, it’s understandable why the Giants looked to add corner infield help.
La Stella has played extensively at second base and third base throughout his career, Donovan Solano can handle the same two positions and also back up Brandon Crawford at shortstop, while lefty-masher Wilmer Flores can step in at first, second, or third base whenever a southpaw is on the mound. Moreover, La Stella, Longoria, and (via a club option) Flores are the only infielders controlled beyond the 2021 season, so La Stella’s deal is part of a longer-term infield plan for San Francisco.
The long-term answer at catcher could end up being top prospect Joey Bart, but since Bart struggled in his first 111 MLB plate appearances, San Francisco needed a reliable veteran backstop for Buster Posey. Curt Casali will fill that role in both 2021 and potentially 2022 (given his extra year of arbitration control) once the Giants have a better idea of their next step at catcher. After undergoing hip surgery in 2018, Posey didn’t play well in 2019 and then opted out of the 2020 season, so it’s hard to know what to expect from him this year. The Giants’ $22MM club option on Posey for 2022 doesn’t seem like it will be exercised, so barring another contractual arrangement, Posey could be another of the longtime Giants fixtures hitting the open market.
That upcoming Giants free agent class undoubtedly looms larger in Zaidi’s thinking. Only three players are officially on the team’s books for 2022, totaling roughly $30.8MM in payroll expenditures, which hints at some potentially major spending in the future. Much of that heavy lifting could come in next offseason’s free agent market, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if Zaidi and GM Scott Harris picked up a controllable contract at this year’s trade deadline regardless of whether or not the Giants are in the playoff race.
By holding off on spending now, the argument can be made that the Giants are playing for the second National League wild card spot at best, given how loaded the Dodgers and Padres look in the NL West alone. While the Giants contended for a slot in the expanded playoff field last season, however, they were also still a sub-.500 team (29-31), and Zaidi/Harris may want more time to evaluate what they have in some players after the wholly unusual circumstances of the 2020 campaign.
In the outfield, for instance, Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson have been revelations since joining the Giants in 2019, but one more full season would likely cement them as building blocks even though both players turn 31 this season. Mauricio Dubon might now be the Giants’ center fielder of the future rather than a middle infielder of the future, but with star prospect Heliot Ramos looming, Dubon’s position isn’t yet settled. Signing a Marcell Ozuna or a Jackie Bradley might have solved a question that the Giants could already have an internal answer for, so the team chose to mostly stand pat in the outfield (aside from acquiring LaMonte Wade Jr. from the Twins) and stick with Austin Slater and Darin Ruf as depth options.
San Francisco fans may have been hoping for a bigger spending spree that would fully herald a return to contention, but the Giants have opted to keep building slowly. The tough division may limit the Giants as a surprise team for 2021, yet finding a few more pieces of their next foundation would count as a win, particularly if construction will begin on that foundation in the relatively near future.
How would you grade the Giants’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)
Grade the Giants' offseason
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B 41% (1,030)
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C 35% (870)
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A 10% (248)
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D 10% (244)
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F 5% (115)
Total votes: 2,507
Pirates Re-Sign Todd Frazier
TODAY: Frazier has re-signed with the Pirates on a new minor league deal, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter). The veteran will report to the team’s alternate training site.
MARCH 26: Corner infielder Todd Frazier has opted out of his minor league contract with the Pirates in favor of free agency, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.
This is unlikely to be the end for the 35-year-old Frazier, who plans to continue his career, Heyman writes. Frazier has enjoyed plenty of success in the majors, having earned two All-Star nods and batted .242/.319/.448 with 218 home runs (including five seasons with between 21 and 40 HRs) and 24.2 fWAR across 4,909 plate appearances since he debuted with the Reds in 2011.His production has faded over the past couple of years, though, and he batted a subpar .236/.302/.382 with four long balls and a career-low .146 ISO over 172 PA between the Rangers and Mets in 2020.
Despite his declining numbers, Frazier looked as if he had a chance to at least be a backup for rebuilding Pittsburgh, which has a budding star at third base in Ke’Bryan Hayes and left-handed-hitting first baseman Colin Moran. Frazier, a righty, could have platooned with Moran, and he made his case for a roster spot this spring with a .250/.353/.643 line and three dingers in 28 at-bats. Instead, Frazier – who has appeared in the majors with five teams – will try to catch on with another club. Frazier’s exit suggests infielder Phillip Evans will make the Pirates’ Opening Day roster, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets.
White Sox Sign Jake Lamb
TODAY: The Sox officially announced the deal, confirming that Lamb’s deal is a Major League pact. In a corresponding move, left-hander Nik Turley was designated for assignment. Turley was claimed off waivers from the Athletics last week.
MARCH 29: The White Sox have an agreement to sign free agent third baseman Jake Lamb, pending a physical, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter). Lamb spent the spring with the Atlanta Braves, who ultimately stuck with Pablo Sandoval as their backup at the hot corner. He will need to clear waivers before this deal is official.
Lamb should have a certain degree of comfort with White Sox manager Tony La Russa. La Russa was the Chief Baseball Officer of the Diamondbacks during Lamb’s heyday from 2014 to 2017. Lamb hit .250/.336/.462 with 69 home runs in 1,752 plate appearances over that span. Injuries hit Lamb hard since then, however.
He did have a small-sample resurgence with the A’s last year, posting a 141 wRC+ in 49 plate appearances with Oakland. Combined with 50 plate appearances in Arizona where he posted just a 14 wRC+, however, and the numbers balance to 77 wRC+, almost exactly matching his mark from the previous two seasons.
The White Sox are a little light on depth, but it’s not exactly clear where Lamb might fit. The logical jump is that Lamb’s signing is a reaction to losing Eloy Jimenez, but there’s not a natural way to shift the roster to make that line of thinking track. Yoan Moncada plays Lambs’ natural position at third, though he has offered to play the outfield in the past, including last offseason when Chicago was entertaining making a run at free agent Anthony Rendon. That would seem to be a lot to ask of Moncada coming off the difficult season he endured in 2020.
More than likely, he’s simply slated for organizational depth. If he’s added to the Major League roster, he could see time at designated hitter in the event that Andrew Vaughn either doesn’t make the roster or does make the roster and spends time in left field, where he’s started two of the past three spring games.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/30/21
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- Shortly after the Mariners released righty reliever Matt Magill, the team brought him back on a two-year minors pact, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. Magill has appeared in the majors in parts of five seasons (including with the Mariners in 2020), and put up a 4.63 ERA in 149 2/3 innings with strikeout, walk and groundball rates that have rated below average. His season came to a premature end last September when he underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
- Nationals first baseman Jake Noll and right-hander Dakota Bacus went unclaimed on the waiver wire and have been reassigned to minor league camp, as per a team announcement. The duo were both recently designated for assignment. The 27-year-old Noll has received 30 MLB plate appearances with Washington and batted .276/.300/.345 in that tiny sample, while also hitting .285/.327/.410 over 489 PA at the Triple-A level. Bacus, meanwhile, yielded 10 runs through 11 1/3 innings in his MLB debut last year. The 2012 ninth-rounder has had a respectable ERA and strong ground-ball rate at virtually every minor league stop but has never missed bats at a high rate or limited walks all that effectively. Both players will stick with the Nats as depth options.
- Right-hander Kevin McCarthy will remain in the Red Sox organization, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets. The former Royal’s minor league contract with the Sox included an upward mobility clause that would have enabled him to leave the organization had he not earned a 40-man roster spot, but McCarthy will now report to Triple-A. McCarthy appeared in only five games in 2020 but the groundball specialist was a steady member of the Royals pen from 2017-19, posting a 3.65 ERA and 59.5% grounder rate over 177 1/3 innings (154 games) in that three-season stretch.
Ji-Man Choi To Undergo Arthroscopic Knee Surgery
Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi will be sidelined for three to five weeks after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee, manager Kevin Cash announced this morning (Twitter link via Rays broadcaster Neil Solondz). Because the surgery has yet to be performed, a concrete timeline is not yet known, but he’ll likely be out into May. Choi’s surgery is set for tomorrow morning.
Choi has been hobbled by discomfort in his knee this spring and hasn’t suited up for a game since mid-March. He appeared in just five official Grapefruit League games before being shut down, and it now looks as though his absence will ultimately span a couple of months in total. Yoshi Tsutsugo has been logging some time at first base and could see extra at-bats in Choi’s absence, and the Rays also have Yandy Diaz and Mike Brosseau as options there. Second baseman Brandon Lowe played a handful of games at first base in 2019 as well.
The 29-year-old Choi has spent the past two and a half seasons with the Rays, turning in a strong .257/.359/.461 batting line with 30 homers, 45 doubles and three triples through 821 trips to the plate. Based on the strength of that showing, he and the Rays agreed to a one-year, $2.45MM contract over the winter during his first trip through the arbitration process.
Red Sox Designate John Schreiber For Assignment, Option Michael Chavis
The Red Sox announced a series of roster moves Tuesday as they get closer to solidifying their Opening Day squad. Boston reinstated outfielder Franchy Cordero from the Covid-19 injured list and designated right-hander John Schreiber for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. The Sox also optioned infielder Michael Chavis and right-hander Colten Brewer to their alternate training site in Worcester.
Schreiber, 27, was claimed off waivers out of the Tigers organization back in February. He didn’t get a long look this spring, allowing a pair of runs on five hits and a walk in 1 1/3 innings through two appearances before being optioned two weeks ago. He’s spent time with the Tigers over the past two seasons as well, logging a 6.28 ERA in 28 2/3 frames at the big league level.
Obviously, those results aren’t much to look at, but Schreiber has a career 1.99 ERA in the minors — including a 2.28 mark in 59 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A. The sidearmer punched out 25.6 percent of opponents in the Majors against a tidy 6.2 percent walk rate, and right-handed batters managed only a lowly .192/.270/.311 output against him during the 2019 season. The Sox surely hope he’ll clear waivers and give them a depth candidate.
The 25-year-old Chavis is a former first-round pick who opened some eyes early in his debut campaign with the Sox but has struggled since. He hit .212/.259/.377 in 158 trips to the plate last year, and while he did belt six long balls this spring, his overall offensive game wasn’t without red flags. Chavis batted .250/.292/.600 in 65 plate appearances, striking out 20 times (30.7 percent) against just two walks (3.1 percent). High strikeout and marginal walk rates have persisted throughout Chavis’ career to date, so the Sox will send him down to continue to work on his approach.
With Chavis being sent down to begin the season, that likely means fellow infielder Christian Arroyo will make the club. The former top prospect is out of minor league options, which may have given him a leg up in the race, but he’s turned in a respectable .269/.309/.462 batting line with a trio of homers himself in 55 plate appearances.
The 28-year-old Brewer, meanwhile, has tallied 80 1/3 innings of relief for the Sox over the past two seasons, but he struggled in 2020 and saw his troubles continue in Spring Training. Brewer notched a respectable 4.12 ERA in 54 1/3 innings back in 2019, but he was tagged for 16 earned runs in 25 2/3 frames last year (5.61 ERA) and served up seven runs in 6 1/3 innings this spring.
The Sox also received some concerning news on righty Ryan Braiser, who is headed for an MRI after straining his left calf while working in a “B” game yesterday (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com). Brasier has been slowed in camp by a fractured pinkie but looked to be trending toward a return early in the season. The MRI will tell how substantial a setback this will be, but Brasier was on crutches this morning, and manager Alex Cora told reporters that the situation “doesn’t look too promising.”
Red Sox, Tyler Olson Agree To Minor League Deal
Left-handed reliever Tyler Olson has agreed to a deal with the Red Sox, his representatives at Ball Players Agency announced on Twitter this morning. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo tweets that it’s a minor league deal and Olson will head to extended Spring Training in Fort Myers, rather than the team’s alternate site in Worcester, to begin the year.
Olson, 31, signed with the Cubs last offseason but didn’t pitch in the big leagues in 2020. He was an oft-used member of the Indians’ bullpen from 2017-19, working to a combined 3.46 ERA with a 25.7 percent strikeout rate and a 10.1 percent walk rate through 78 frames.
Some fans may recall Olson’s brilliant 2017 campaign, during which he held opponents scoreless for 20 innings upon being called up from Triple-A for his team debut. Things obviously didn’t go as well for Olson in 2018-19, but he was still serviceable, logging a combined 4.66 ERA over those two seasons while actually increasing his strikeout rate.
Boston is likely to open the season with southpaws Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor in the bullpen, but there’s little in the way of left-handed relief depth in the organization behind that pair. The vast majority of bullpen candidates in the upper minors with the Sox are right-handed. Stephen Gonsalves, Kyle Hart and Matt Hall are the most experienced lefties likely to open the year at the Red Sox’ alternate site, and each has worked primarily as a starter in the minors.
Marlins To Option Sixto Sanchez
The Marlins will option prized pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez to their alternate site/Triple-A to begin the season, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports (Twitter links). They’ll open the year with a four-man rotation.
While the first reaction of many fans will be to assume this is a decision driven by service time, that’s not the case in this instance. Sanchez racked up 103 days of service in 2020, meaning he only needs 69 days of service this season to reach a full year. The Marlins would need to keep Sanchez in the minors for at least 118 days in order to delay his free agency by another season at this point, and there’s no plausible scenario where that happens — barring an unfortunate and untimely injury while continuing to ramp up at the team’s alternate site.
In all likelihood, Sanchez will be up in the big leagues within the first few weeks of the season. Sanchez has been behind in camp after being in Covid-19 protocols early on, and he didn’t make his Grapefruit League debut until March 15. He’s still appeared in only three games and tallied just eight innings of work, so it’s understandable that the Marlins don’t want to drop him right into the big league rotation before he is sufficiently stretched out. In the meantime, they’ll be able to carry an extra reliever or an extra bench player, and early off-days will give them the luxury of skipping the fifth spot of the rotation until mid-month (when Sanchez will presumably be ready for his ’21 debut).
The Herald’s Craig Mish tweets that the Marlins are eyeing an innings target of about 150 to 160 for Sanchez in what will be his first full season at the MLB level. The 22-year-old flamethrower debuted last summer and hurled 39 innings of 3.46 ERA ball with a huge 58 percent ground-ball rate, a 20.9 percent strikeout rate and a 7.0 percent walk rate. Once he’s built up a bit more, Sanchez will step into the rotation behind Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Elieser Hernandez and Trevor Rogers.
Eloy Jimenez Out At Least Four Months Due To Ruptured Pectoral Tendon
MARCH 29: Jimenez will undergo surgery Tuesday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. His recovery will take four to five months.
MARCH 25: The White Sox roster has taken a crucial blow before the season is even underway, as general manager Rick Hahn announced Thursday that left fielder Eloy Jimenez has suffered a ruptured left pectoral tendon and will require surgery. He’s expected to miss five to six months of action, putting his season in jeopardy. Jimenez exited yesterday’s Cactus League game with an apparent injury to his left arm after he attempted to rob a home run.
An absence of any length for Jimenez would have been a notable hit to the White Sox’ chances, but losing Jimenez for the majority of the season is a particularly emphatic gut punch for the South Siders. Jimenez, 24, belted 31 homers as a rookie in 2019 and improved across the board in his rate stats in 2020, slashing .296/.332/.559 with 14 dingers and 14 doubles in just 226 trips to the plate. He was on a tear this spring as well, hitting .319/.360/.532 with two homers, two doubles and a triple in 50 plate appearances.
The injury is particularly significant for the Sox due to the lack of experienced replacements in camp. Utilityman Leury Garcia has outfield experience but seems unlikely to be pressed into an everyday role, and the top options on the 40-man roster — Blake Rutherford, Micker Adolfo, Luis Gonzalez — have yet to play in the Majors beyond two stray plate appearances for Gonzalez. The Sox do have Billy Hamilton and Nick Williams on minor league deals, but neither has hit much in his recent sample of big league work.
Meanwhile, Hahn called the notion of recently signed prospect Yoelki Cespedes (Yoenis’ younger brother) jumping directly to the big leagues “premature” (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin). The GM also suggested that the club will get presumptive designated hitter Andrew Vaughn some work in left field as the Sox evaluate internal options (Twitter link via Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune). Vaughn is already looking likely to be thrust into the Majors after skipping both Double-A and Triple-A, and tackling left field would present another challenge given that his history is as a first baseman. Speculatively, this seems like a case where the solution lies outside the organization.
There ought to be multiple options around the league for the White Sox to consider in the coming days as veterans opt out of minor league contracts with other teams. Jay Bruce has just such a clause in his Yankees contract, for instance, and he’s not a lock to make the club. New York also has the out-of-options Mike Tauchman, who has drawn trade interest from as many as eight teams. The Reds are facing a similar quandary with slugger Aristides Aquino. Unsigned options on the free-agent market include Josh Reddick, Yoenis Cespedes and Yasiel Puig.