Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Sandy Alcantara To Make Rehab Start Tonight

By | at

Reigning National League Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara was diagnosed with a UCL sprain earlier this month, but he’s set to make a rehab start in Triple-A Jacksonville tonight, the team announced. Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald, who first reported that Alcantara would start in Jacksonville tonight, tweets that Alcantara has had multiple pain-free bullpen sessions. If things go well in tonight’s rehab appearance, it would seem there’s a real chance that Alcantara could return to the active roster before the end of the season.

It’s surely welcome news for Fish fans, though also perhaps the source of some trepidation. With any injury to the ulnar collateral ligament — the ligament that is replaced in Tommy John surgery — there’s concern of a potential yearlong absence in a worst-case scenario. The majority of UCL injuries tend to result in surgery, though that’s certainly not a universal outcome. Masahiro Tanaka, Ervin Santana, Aaron Nola and Anthony DeSclafani are among the pitchers who have been diagnosed with UCL injuries but avoided surgery. The 28-year-old Alcantara will hope to add his name to that list.

It’s been a tough year for the Miami ace so far. Alcantara has taken the ball 28 times and eaten up 184 2/3 innings, but his 4.14 ERA is nearly two full runs higher than the 2.28 mark that fueled last year’s Cy Young win. Alcantara hasn’t experienced a velocity drop, but his strikeout rate, walk rate, ground-ball rate and home run rate are all worse than in 2022’s career-best season. He’s also given up hard contact at higher levels.

With Alcantara on the shelf, the Marlins have been using Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera and the returning Eury Perez — who’d previously been optioned to the minors to monitor his workload — as their regular starters. Reliever Bryan Hoeing took the ball this past weekend, tossing 4 1/3 innings in his first start since early July. Miami’s starter for tomorrow’s series opener against the Brewers is currently listed as TBD.

The Marlins don’t have any shot at winning the division. The Braves sport MLB’s best record and clinched the NL East some time ago. However, Miami is only a half game out of the third Wild Card spot in the National League. They’re trailing the Cubs for that spot and are one game up on the Reds in the standings. This weekend’s series against the Brewers is a tough task — particularly with Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta lined up to start for Milwaukee — but the Fish close out the season with seven games against the Mets and Pirates, who currently share identical 71-81 records. The Cubs finish with three games in Atlanta and three in Milwaukee. The Reds’ final games will be against the Pirates, Guardians and Cardinals.

Rangers Likely To Put Martin Perez Back In Rotation

By | at

The Rangers moved a then-struggling Martin Perez from the rotation to the bullpen in early August, but the left-hander has righted the ship and pitched well enough of late that they’ll likely plug him back into the starting staff for the final stretch of the season. “I think that’s fair to say,” manager Bruce Bochy replied when asked by Jeff Wilson of Rangers Today if Perez had pitched his way back into a rotation role.

The decision to move Perez into a relief role was sensible at the time. The veteran southpaw made 20 starts for Texas earlier this year but had limped to a 4.98 ERA in 108 1/3 innings in that role — a far cry from 2022’s stellar 2.89 ERA in 32 starts (196 1/3 innings). The bullpen move has helped Perez get back on track; in 13 relief appearances, he’s logged 28 innings of 2.57 ERA ball with a 19-to-6 K/BB ratio and an enormous 65.9% ground-ball rate. That includes a particularly strong stretch over his past nine appearances, where he’s allowed just two runs in 15 2/3 innings while sporting a 15-to-3 K/BB mark.

Right-hander Jon Gray lasted just 2 1/3 innings yesterday before giving way to Perez, who came on to toss 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and earn his tenth win of the season in the process. Perez tossed 64 pitches, allowed three hits and a walk, and punched out five batters in that nearly spotless performance. It was a much-needed respite for a Rangers bullpen that had been tasked with covering 23 innings in the team’s past six games.

Southpaw Jordan Montgomery is locked in as the Rangers’ top starter now that Max Scherzer’s regular season is likely over due to a strained teres major. Nathan Eovaldi is still building back up from a lengthy IL stint due to a forearm strain. He pitched five innings in his most recent outing — his longest since originally hitting the IL back in July. Dane Dunning and Gray have also been making regular starts, although Gray has hit a wall of late, yielding 13 runs in 13 2/3 frames over his past four starts combined. Rookie left-hander Cody Bradford made a start earlier this week — his seventh of the year but his first since late July — and was tagged for six runs in three innings.

Texas also has veteran starter Andrew Heaney as an option to start down the stretch, but there’s financial motivation for them to keep him in the bullpen role to which he was recently shifted. The second season of Heaney’s two-year, $25MM contract is a player option valued at $13MM, but that would jump to a $20MM value if he pitches 150 innings in 2023. He’s currently at 138 1/3 innings on the year, and keeping him in a relief role will likely keep that player option at the lower of those two values.

Perez’s return to the rotation will come at a pivotal time in the game’s most tightly contested division. The Rangers and Mariners are tied with identical 84-68 records, both sitting just a half game behind the division-leading Astros. Beyond that, Texas and Seattle play seven of their final ten games this season against one another, making every start of critical importance. If Perez indeed makes another start or two and helps push the Rangers into the postseason, he’d be an option to take the ball in a playoff start as well.

A strong finish to the year in a return to a starting role would also bode well for Perez this offseason, when he’ll once again be a free agent. His work out of the ’pen has improved his season line to a 4.49 in 136 1/3 innings. This season’s 15% strikeout rate is down considerably from last year’s 20.6% mark, and it’s a similar story with his ground-ball rate (51.4% in 2022; 45.6% in 2023). That said, if Perez can close out the year on a high note and perhaps show well in the postseason, he’ll have a decent case as a back-of-the-rotation innings eater who should command interest from clubs in need of innings.

Tigers Name Jeff Greenberg General Manager

By | at

The Tigers announced Thursday morning that they’ve hired Jeff Greenberg as their new general manager. The 37-year-old Greenberg worked with current Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris with the Cubs, serving as the team’s director of pro scouting, director of baseball operations and assistant general manager during an 11-year career there. In 2022, Greenberg was hired away from baseball entirely, joining the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks as an associate general manager, but he’ll return to MLB and occupy a critical role as the No. 2 name on the Tigers’ revamped baseball operations hierarchy.

“I’m thrilled to add an executive of Jeff’s quality to our baseball operations leadership team,” Harris said in a press release this morning. “Throughout this search, it was important for me to find someone who can fit seamlessly into the culture we’re building here. I also wanted to bring in someone with a fresh perspective and new ideas that could challenge us on a daily basis and make us all better as we strive towards our goal of bringing postseason baseball back to Detroit. We’re excited to welcome Jeff, his wife, Erin, and their sons, Leo and Sam to the Tigers family.”

Per the Tigers’ press release, Greenberg “oversaw the strategic systems and processes in hockey operations” with the Blackhawks, while also having a hand in scouting and player development. That vantage point in another sport figures to indeed bring some unique perspective to his new role with the Tigers organization.

“It’s an extraordinary honor to take on this role with one of the most historic franchises in Major League Baseball,” Greenberg said in his own statement. “Throughout my conversations with Scott, Chris Ilitch and the rest of the team with the Tigers, it became clear that this organization is headed in a great direction with an incredible culture of development and innovation that I’m excited to be part of. Another constant message in those conversations was that Tigers fans want to see winning baseball deep into October. I’m excited to get to work with our front office on off-season and longer-term plans to make that our reality.”

The Tigers’ front office has seen a good amount of turnover since Al Avila was fired as general manager a year ago. Longtime Tigers assistant GM David Chadd also parted ways with the organization in the aftermath of Avila’s dismissal, reuniting with former Tigers president Dave Dombrowski in Philadelphia. Scouting director Scott Pleis was not retained after spending a decade in that role.

Greenberg joins Harris and assistant GM Rob Metzler — hired away from the Rays — as high-profile external additions who’ve joined the baseball operations department in the past year. There’s certainly been some continuity as well, however. Assistant general managers Jay Sartori and Sam Menzin, vice president of player personnel Scott Bream, and vice president of player development Ryan Garko were all retained by the new regime and still hold those same titles.

The Opener: Twins, Guerrero, Raley

By | at

As the final stretch of the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Twins on the verge of clinching:

Despite having the day off today, the Twins (81-72) could clinch the AL Central crown by the end of the night. Their magic numbers over both the Guardians (72-81) and Tigers (71-81) sit at one, meaning that if both teams lose tonight, the Twins will officially become the 2023 AL Central champions. Clinching early will give the Twins the luxury of proceeding cautiously with some of their ailing regulars in advance of the postseason. Shortstop Carlos Correa has already been placed on the injured list after playing the bulk of the season with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Third baseman Royce Lewis is set to undergo an MRI today after exiting Tuesday’s game due to hamstring soreness. With a guaranteed playoff spot, the Twins can much more comfortably rely on Willi Castro and Kyle Farmer to cover for Lewis and Correa as that pair hopes to heal up ahead of the playoffs.

2. Guerrero to undergo MRI:

Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was out of the lineup for yesterday’s win over the Yankees, and MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson notes that the slugger has undergone an MRI due to right knee soreness. It’s been a down year for Guerrero (by his standards), as the 24-year-old has slashed just .264/.342/.440 in 644 trips to the plate this season. Still, that production (115 wRC+) leaves him as a critical cog in the Toronto lineup surpassed only by shortstop Bo Bichette, particularly with both Brandon Belt and Danny Jansen on the injured list. If Guerrero requires a trip to the injured list, the club figures to rely on the likes of Spencer Horwitz and Cavan Biggio to handle first base in the interim.

3. Raley to undergo MRI:

Rays outfielder Luke Raley is also set to undergo an MRI today, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Raley told reporters (including Topkin) that he’s dealing with numbness in his left arm to the point that he had no power behind his most recent swing. Raley’s been out of the lineup for nearly a week now due to the issue. The 29-year-old slugger is slashing .249/.333/.490 with a 129 wRC+ in 406 trips to the plate this year while splitting time between the outfield and DH. Raley’s absence has created additional opportunities for righty slugger Harold Ramirez and youngster Jonathan Aranda in recent days, and that figures to continue if Raley requires a trip to the injured list.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Front Office Changes in Boston and New York, and the New Rays’ Stadium Agreement

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

Plus, we answer your questions, including:

Check out our past episodes!

Byron Buxton To Begin Rehab Assignment

By | at

Byron Buxton will begin a rehab stint at Triple-A St. Paul tomorrow, the Twins announced (relayed by Dan Hayes of the Athletic). He’ll start out as a designated hitter.

Buxton hasn’t played in an MLB game since he was placed on the injured list on August 4. While that stay on the shelf was related to a hamstring strain, soreness in his right knee has been the more pressing concern. Knee issues had kept Buxton from playing defense at any point this season. He got a start in center field when he began a rehab assignment at St. Paul three weeks ago, but he was quickly pulled off that stint when the knee flared back up.

The Twins should officially sew up the AL Central title by this weekend. They would clinch on tomorrow’s off day if both Detroit and Cleveland lose. They’re unlikely to track down the AL West winner to secure a first-round bye, so it’s highly likely they’ll go into October as the #3 seed in the American League. That leaves them a little under two weeks to sort things out for the postseason.

Minnesota is giving Carlos Correa at least a week and a half on the injured list to rest his left foot after playing through plantar fasciitis for the bulk of the season. They’ll now get another look at Buxton as he works to get to game readiness before the playoffs. While there are only four games remaining on the Triple-A schedule, Buxton could shake off more rust in low-leverage MLB contests during the final week of the regular season.

It isn’t clear whether that’ll include more action in the outfield. Manager Rocco Baldelli has previously left open the possibility of trying Buxton back in center field after the break in his rehab stint.

When healthy, Buxton is among the best defensive outfielders in the game. With the knee issue robbing him of that aspect this season, he’s having a down year. Buxton is hitting .207/.294/.438 with 17 home runs across 347 plate appearances. That’s middling production for a strict DH. Edouard Julien, who has been Minnesota’s primary DH with Buxton out, carries a .268/.378/.458 line over 371 trips in his rookie campaign. If the Twins have a fully healthy infield of Alex Kirilloff, Jorge Polanco, Correa and Royce Lewis for the postseason (Lewis is day-to-day with hamstring soreness), the Twins could consider Julien their top DH option.

Padres’ Tim Hill Undergoes Finger Surgery

By | at

Padres reliever Tim Hill underwent surgery today to address a ligament injury in his left ring finger, tweets Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He won’t throw for six to eight weeks but is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

Hill, 34 in February, has spent the last four seasons as a situational option out of the San Diego bullpen. A sidearming lefty, he doesn’t throw hard but works from a low enough arm angle to usually keep the ball on the ground. Hill’s grounder percentage has been a bit north of 60% for three years running, while his career mark is just below that threshold. That resulted in consecutive sub-4.00 ERA showings from 2021-22, but his results this season haven’t been as impressive.

Over 44 1/3 innings, Hill posted a 5.48 ERA. He struck out fewer than 13% of batters faced for the second straight year. While Hill kept his walks and grounders in his customary range, he struggled when opponents were able to elevate the ball. Right-handed hitters posted a .378/.431/.602 batting line in 110 plate appearances. Righties have frequently given him trouble, which isn’t uncommon for low-slot lefties, but this year’s results were easily a career worst.

Hill has generally fared well against same-handed batters. From 2020-22, he kept lefties to a .212/.299/.303 line in 262 trips to the plate. Opponents found more success this season, putting up a .275/.352/.400 mark over 92 plate appearances.

The Padres and Hill agreed on a $1.85MM salary to avoid arbitration last winter. He’d be due a modest raise on that figure if San Diego wanted to keep him around for his final season of eligibility. Given his diminished results, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Padres opt against tendering him a contract.

Nick Madrigal Suffers Grade 2 Hamstring Strain

By | at

September 20: The strain is of a Grade 2 variety, Madrigal told reporters (including Bruce Levine of 670 The Score). That’s a reasonably significant injury that often requires a few weeks of recovery, though Madrigal stated he’s without a current timetable for a return.

September 19: The Cubs placed infielder Nick Madrigal on the 10-day injured list, with a retroactive placement date of September 17.  Infielder Jared Young was called up from Triple-A Iowa to take Madrigal’s spot on the active roster.

Madrigal suffered a right hamstring strain that forced him to make an early exit from Saturday’s game, and after a few days of examination, a trip to the IL became inevitable.  “We got some imaging and it’s worse than expected,” Cubs manager David Ross told MLB.com and other reporters.

This is the second time Madrigal has strained his right hamstring this season, with the previous injury costing him most of July.  Despite that somewhat lengthy past timeline, Ross is “not ruling out hopefully postseason [availability]” for the infielder should the Cubs reach the playoffs.  “He’ll still be working and trying to get back, but it’s just the same hamstring — just worse than we thought.”

Madrigal has hit .263/.311/.352 over 294 plate appearances this season, and that lack of pop made playing time hard to come by earlier in the season.  With Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner entrenched in the middle infield positions, Madrigal was limited to mostly part-time at-bats with Patrick Wisdom at third base.  Madrigal began to earn a larger share of playing time throughout the summer, and even after Jeimer Candelario was acquired at the trade deadline, Madrigal still got some looks at the hot corner when Candelario was utilized at first base (with Cody Bellinger playing center field).

More third base time opened up when Candelario hit the IL with a bad back last week, and with Madrigal now also out, Wisdom and Christopher Morel figure to split time until Candelario returns.  Chicago’s fight for a wild card slot has been hampered by a few notable injuries in the last few weeks, with Marcus Stroman missing significant time and the likes of Candelario, Adbert Alzolay, Michael Fulmer, and now Madrigal all out.

Qualifying Offer Value To Land Around $20.5MM

By | at

The qualifying offer for the upcoming offseason will be in the $20.5MM range, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The specific number may not be known until shortly after the conclusion of the regular season.

It’ll be the highest QO value in league history. The offer price is calculated by averaging the salaries of the 125 highest-paid players in the majors. That figure generally increases year over year as overall spending rises.

The annual progression of the QO value since its implementation during the 2012-13 offseason:

  • 2012-13: $13.3MM
  • 2013-14: $14.4MM
  • 2014-15: $15.3MM
  • 2015-16: $15.8MM
  • 2016-17: $17.2MM
  • 2017-18: $17.4MM
  • 2018-19: $17.9MM
  • 2019-20: $17.8MM
  • 2020-21: $18.9MM
  • 2021-22: $18.4MM
  • 2022-23: $19.65MM
  • 2023-24: roughly $20.5MM

Teams can make the qualifying offer to an impending free agent who has a) never previously received a QO in their career and b) spent the entire 2023 season on their roster. It’d be a one-year offer valued at that approximate $20.5MM price point. Players tagged with the QO have five days to decide whether to accept that lofty one-year salary or decline in search of a free agent contract. Signing a player who rejects a qualifying offer from another team requires forfeiture of a draft choice and potentially international signing bonus space, depending upon the signing club’s revenue sharing status. A team receives compensation for the loss of a player who turned down a QO and signed elsewhere.

14 players received qualifying offers last offseason. Joc Pederson and Martín Pérez accepted. The other 12 players declined, though Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Brandon Nimmo subsequently ended up re-signing with their previous team.

Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Matt Chapman, Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray and Josh Hader are among the players who are near locks to receive and reject the QO this winter. Jordan Montgomery and Lucas Giolito were taken out of QO consideration by midseason trades, while Eduardo Rodriguez and Marcus Stroman are ineligible as previous recipients.

Riley Greene Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

By | at

September 20: Greene required Tommy John surgery, manager A.J. Hinch informed reporters (including Chris McCosky of the Detroit News). The Tigers nevertheless anticipate he’ll be ready for Spring Training. Notably, Greene is a left-handed thrower, so the procedure was on his non-throwing arm.

September 19: Outfielder Riley Greene will undergo what the Tigers described as a “surgical intervention” on his ailing right elbow tomorrow, according to a team announcement.  Greene has been on the 10-day injured list due to elbow inflammation since September 2, though today’s announcement referred to the injury as a sprain.

The exact nature of the procedure isn’t known, as while it will surely bring Greene’s 2023 season to an official end, it isn’t yet known if he’ll be ready for the start of Spring Training.  As noted by multiple Tigers beat writers, the surgery appears to be somewhat exploratory in nature, so Greene’s status won’t be known until doctors have had a chance to access and repair whatever damage exists.

Between the elbow problem and a stress reaction in his left fibula earlier this season, Greene has been limited to 99 games and 416 plate appearances in his second MLB season.  When healthy, however, Greene showed some of the form that made him the fifth overall pick of the 2019 draft.  Greene hit .288/.349/.447 with 11 home runs and 51 runs scored, as well as seven stolen bases in as many attempts.  A .384 BABIP surely contributed to this production, but Greene also made plenty of hard contact, and his .344 wOBA was notably lower than his .363 xwOBA.  His public defensive metrics in center field were below average, and while better health might improve Greene’s glovework wherever he plays in 2024, his eventual destination might be a corner outfield spot.

The hope is obviously that Greene’s elbow problem isn’t overly serious, and that the recovery process won’t eat up much of his regular offseason work and preparation for next year.  While the Tigers are headed for another losing season, things have somewhat turned around in Motown after their thoroughly dismal 2022 campaign.  Many of the team’s young pitchers have returned from the injuries that marred the 2022 season, and Greene, Spencer Torkelson, and Kerry Carpenter have provided some spark to a lineup that still figures to be an offseason focus for improvement.

In other Tigers injury news, Alex Faedo was placed on the 15-day IL due to a blister on his right middle finger.  Faedo might be able to pitch again this season since his placement is retroactive to September 16, but it seems likelier that the righty might be done for 2023.  Faedo has a 4.45 ERA over 64 2/3 innings this season, starting 12 of his 15 games and moving into a multi-inning inning relief role in September.

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

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top