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Closer Role Notes: Red Sox, Pirates, Marlins

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The notion of a closer’s role has evolved over the years, but there’s never been any doubt of the importance of a reliable late-inning relief strategy. While some organizations prefer more flexible arrangements, quite a few still utilize dedicated ninth-inning men. Settling on a closer isn’t just important to a team and to fantasy baseball gurus. It’s also a factor in a player’s trade and free agent status and — especially — to his potential arbitration earnings.

Here are some early notes on spring closer situations from around the game …

  • Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke made rather clear that he views Brandon Workman as the top closing option entering camp, as Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. The club isn’t making anything official just yet, but the comments from the just-minted skipper give him a strong presumption. That’s not too surprising: the 31-year-old Workman emerged as a premium pen arm last year, when he racked up 71 2/3 innings of 1.88 ERA ball with 13.1 K/9 and 5.7 BB/9. He does have some experience closing out games, having finished 16 Boston wins as part of a committee approach last year.
  • For the Pirates, there’ll be no waiting: new skipper Derek Shelton says Keone Kela will handle the ninth, as Adam Berry of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Kela’s time in Pittsburgh hasn’t exactly been smooth, but he’s undeniably talented enough to do the job and will now be challenged with added responsibility as the organization seeks to turn the page on a brutal 2019 season. There were numerous problems on and off the field for the Bucs. By far the most important was the arrest of closer Felipe Vazquez on charges so awful that it’s hard even to think of the matter from a baseball perspective. But the organization has obviously had to make decisions to account for that departure. There is plenty of incentive for Kela, who will be a free agent at season’s end. If things go better for the 26-year-old than for the remainder of the Pirates team, he could also feature as a significant mid-season trade piece.
  • The Marlins have set about compiling a new-look bullpen this winter. It seems it’ll be anchored by one of the club’s recent veteran additions. Manager Don Mattingly strongly suggested that Brandon Kintzler is the top choice to function as closer, Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio tweets. The 35-year-old isn’t exactly a prototypical swing-and-miss, capital-C closer type. But he did turn in 57 frames of 2.68 ERA ball last year with a typically strong 54.7% groundball rate. And Kintzler has saved 49 games in his career.

Major Leaguers Discuss Astros’ Sign-Stealing Scandal

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It has been a tumultuous few weeks for the Astros, whose well-documented sign-stealing scandal has owned headlines over the past month. As a result, the club had to let go of its eminently successful GM-manager tandem of Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch after Major League Baseball suspended them for a year apiece.

Since Luhnow and Hinch lost their jobs, Astros players have been accused of wearing buzzers under their jerseys last season in order to identify which pitches were coming. The league didn’t find any evidence that occurred, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone – whose team lost to the Astros in the 2019 ALCS – didn’t dismiss it Wednesday. Boone instead noted that it’s “certainly one of those great unknowns,” per Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. Hinch also addressed the matter, stating that he has “never seen any such device used in baseball. I am not aware of any such device existing or being utilized with the Astros, the players, or any other team.”

Regardless of whether Hinch is telling the truth, it’s up in the air whether he or Luhnow will work in MLB again. Houston has already replaced the two with Dusty Baker and James Click, respectively. Baker, owner Jim Crane and Astros players will address reporters at 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, the first day of media availability at spring training, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

It’s unclear exactly what the Astros will say, but odds are they’ll take a regretful tone for their wrongdoing. Crane, after all, revealed a few weeks ago that the Astros would “apologize for what happened, ask forgiveness and move forward,” as Jeff Passan of ESPN relays.

Former Astros Marwin Gonzalez, Dallas Keuchel, Charlie Morton, Joe Musgrove and Max Stassi – all members of the franchise’s 2017 World Series-winning club – have already apologized for the team’s past misdeeds. Nevertheless, there are multiple major leaguers who have voiced disgust toward the Astros this week.

Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney – now teammates with Stassi – ripped into his division rivals, saying (via Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times): “They sure as [heck] need to do more than what they already did. That was terrible. I understand they are going to go get their (stuff) in order and they are going to have their thing to say, and they are going to hide behind the commissioner’s report and whatever. But I don’t think that’s good enough.”

Meanwhile, Phillies reliever David Robertson opined (per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia), “It’s a disgrace what they’ve done and they’re going to have to live with it and everyone knows.”

Robertson was a member of the Yankees in 2017, when the Astros defeated them in a seven-game ALCS to advance to the World Series. The typically reliable righty had a disastrous Game 6 during that series, yielding four earned runs on four hits while failing to record an out in a 7-1 loss. Robertson suggested to Salisbury that there was foul play involved in that dominant Houston performance.

“I got roughed up in Game 6,” he said. “And I felt like in that game I threw as well as I’ve ever thrown in my entire life. I had some pitches that got hit that I was a little shocked by and some pitches that didn’t get swung at that I was a little shocked by. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about what we know now. But it all comes together now and, you know, I’m upset about it, that’s for sure.”

Athletics righty Mike Fiers, an Astro from 2015-17, was instrumental in bringing Houston’s methods to light back in November. But Fiers isn’t the only member of the Athletics who knew something was wrong. GM David Forst and manager Bob Melvin, whose club finished second to the Astros in the AL West in each of the prior two seasons, informed Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the A’s complained to the league about their sign-stealing rivals. However, MLB did not take action against the Astros at that point. Had Fiers not eventually gone public with his complaints, it’s possible nothing would have been done.

Martin Prado Retires

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Longtime major leaguer Martin Prado has officially called it a career, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Heyman first reported back in November that Prado was likely to retire.

Now 36 years old, the Venezuela-born Prado began his professional career when he signed with the Braves in 2001. He debuted with the Braves in 2006, and two years later, he started to establish himself as an effective big leaguer. During his Braves heyday from 2008-12, Prado slashed .296/.346/.438 with 51 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 13.2 fWAR in 2,688 plate appearances, garnering time all over the infield and in left field along the way. He also earned his lone All-Star nod (2010) during his run in Atlanta.

Although Prado was rather productive as a Brave, they dealt him to the Diamondbacks prior to the 2013 season in a large trade that sent outfielder Justin Upton to Atlanta. The Diamondbacks quickly locked up Prado to a four-year, $40MM contract, though he only lasted a little more than a season in their uniform. They sent him to the Yankees in July 2014, but his time in New York was also fleeting. After just a few months as a Yankee, they shipped him to the Marlins ahead of the 2015 campaign.

Prado found a multiyear home in Miami, where he finished his career. He was a highly productive member of the Marlins’ roster during his first two seasons with the club, earning yet another $40MM guarantee (this time for three years) in September 2016. However, thanks in part to various injuries, Prado was unable to live up to the payday. He appeared in just 195 of a possible 486 regular-season games from 2017-19, during which he struggled to a .241/.276/.313 line and totaled only five homers in 616 trips to the plate.

Although his time in the majors didn’t end with a flourish, Prado enjoyed a much better career than most. He’ll wrap it up as a lifetime .287/.335/.412 batter with 100 HRs, 40 steals and 20.8 fWAR in 5,861 PA. Prado also earned just over $89MM in MLB, according to Baseball-Reference. MLBTR congratulates Prado for his accomplishments and wishes him well in retirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Health Notes: White Sox, Leake, Perez, Dominguez

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The White Sox opened camp with a series of unwelcome injury developments, as each of Yasmani Grandal, Lucas Giolito and Gio Gonzalez are all dealing with minor injuries (link via Daryl Van-Schouwen of the Chicago Sun Times). Grandal injured his calf in the weight room last week, and an MRI revealed a minor calf strain. Giolito is working through a strained muscle in his chest, and Gonzalez is battling some discomfort in his left shoulder. However, GM Rick Hahn expects all three to be good to go by Opening Day and referred to the injuries as “minor.” Grandal clearly isn’t overly worried about his status, as he joked with reporters that he was merely trying to get out of some running drills in Spring Training (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Scott Merkin). Giolito, meanwhile, is already throwing from 120 feet and said he’s “zero percent” concerned about his injury.

Some more health/injury notes from early on in camp…

  • Diamondbacks right-hander Mike Leake is undergoing an MRI after experiencing soreness in his left wrist following a fall at his home, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters today (Twitter links via The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan). Lovullo described the MRI as precautionary in nature, so it doesn’t seem as though the organization is overly concerned at the moment. Leake, 32, landed in Arizona following a deadline swap with the Mariners and pitched to a 4.35 ERA in 60 innings (10 starts). Leake fanned just 27 hitters in those 60 frames but was quite stingy in terms of issuing free passes as well, surrendering just eight bases on balls. The ever-durable righty made at least 30 starts for the eighth consecutive season in 2019, eating up 197 innings between Seattle and Arizona.
  • After missing the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery, Royals stalwart Salvador Perez is ahead of schedule and expected to be ready for Opening Day, new manager Mike Matheny told reporters (link via MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan). Perez is already throwing to second base without issue and is slated to meet with his doctors tomorrow for another check-in. Interestingly, Matheny suggested that Perez would not only see some time at designated hitter early in the season but also at first base, as the Royals look to be cautious with his throwing workload.
  • Phillies right-hander Seranthony Dominguez managed to avoid Tommy John surgery last year after an elbow scare, and he now appears to be on track for Opening Day, tweets Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dominguez resumed throwing in December and has now thrown three bullpen sessions — including one earlier today. The 25-year-old was lights out in his debut effort back in 2018 and took a step back in limited action in 2019 before hitting the injured list. In 82 2/3 innings between those two seasons, he’s pitched to a 3.27 ERA with 11.2 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 16 saves.

Details On Mets’ Pursuit Of Mookie Betts

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Mookie Metts? It didn’t come to fruition, but the Mets did make an effort in December to acquire superstar outfielder Mookie Betts from Boston. The Red Sox ended up trading him to the Dodgers earlier this week.

One reason talks between the Mets and Red Sox broke down? The Mets weren’t open to moving infielder/outfielder Jeff McNeil for just a year of control over Betts, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (they also wouldn’t give him to the Indians for shortstop Francisco Lindor). However, the Red Sox regarded McNeil as “integral” to a potential trade package, according to Sherman. Understandably, the Mets weren’t going to part with the versatile, inexpensive 27-year-old after he was one of the majors’ most effective offensive players from 2018-19.

While the Mets weren’t willing to surrender McNeil for Betts, they did offer packages centered on outfielder Brandon Nimmo and infielder/outfielder J.D. Davis (quality, affordable players in their own right), per Sherman. Those deals also would have included one of the Mets’ infield prospects in either Andres Gimenez or Ronny Mauricio, two top-100 farmhands. It seems the Mets, reluctant to absorb all of Betts’ $27MM salary, also would have tried to include one of their highly paid, unwanted veterans in outfielder Yoenis Cespedes or infielder Jed Lowrie in order to somewhat offset the money they’d have taken on had a deal with Boston gone through.

Considering that getting under the $208MM luxury-tax threshold was one of the main causes for the Red Sox’s decision to unload Betts (and left-hander David Price with him), adding Cespedes or Lowrie wouldn’t have been palatable for them. They wound up accepting the Dodgers’ offer of outfielder Alex Verdugo and two prospects – infielder Jeter Downs and catcher Connor Wong – saving a total of $75MM in the process.

Meanwhile, although the Mets went big-game hunting for Betts, their outfield appears as if it’ll enter 2020 with mostly the same cast. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, even though none of the team’s current options can rival Betts. However, to their credit, McNeil, Nimmo, Davis, Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith all had good seasons a year ago. It’s anyone’s guess what the Mets will get from Cespedes after injuries shelved him for the vast majority of the prior three seasons, but he’s back on a reduced salary and has always produced when healthy.

Latest On Yankees’ Rotation

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The Yankees’ rotation looked set when the month of February started, but the back surgery left-hander James Paxton recently underwent threw a wrench in their plans. They’re now lacking an obvious answer after Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ. The team will give plenty of hurlers chances to emerge as its No. 5 during spring training, though, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relays.

General manager Brian Cashman on Wednesday named five pitchers – Luis Cessa, Deivi Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga, Michael King and Jordan Montgomery – as candidates to take the last spot in New York’s rotation. The leader may be the 27-year-old Montgomery, who had an impressive rookie campaign in 2017 but hasn’t been much of a factor since then because of injury troubles. Montgomery underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2018 after throwing a mere 27 1/3 innings that year, though he did make a late-season return to a major league mound in 2019. Manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday that Montgomery’s now “in a good place” with respect to his health.

As for Montgomery’s competition, Cessa and Loaisiga have each garnered a decent amount of experience at the game’s highest level. Cessa’s heater checks in around 95 mph, but it hasn’t led to great results in the majors. He’s the owner of a 4.50 ERA/4.98 FIP with 7.37 K/9 and 2.91 BB/9 in 232 career innings. Most of his work (67 of 86 appearances) has come as a reliever. Cessa is out of minor league options, so he could end up in another organization if he doesn’t make the Yankees this spring.

Loaisiga can throw even harder than Cessa (96-97 mph), and he’s a former top-100 prospect, but his MLB production hasn’t been special, either. While Loaisiga recorded a tremendous strikeout rate of 11.18 per nine in his first 56 1/3 innings as a Yankee from 2018-19, he walked almost five per nine and only registered a 4.79 ERA/4.33 FIP. Moreover, the right-hander dealt with shoulder problems last season.

Neither Garcia nor King has appeared in the majors yet, but there’s plenty of promise in the two cases. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked the 20-year-old Garcia as the game’s 42nd-best prospect Wednesday, calling the 5-foot-10, 163-pounder  “a diminutive firecracker righty with a beautiful curveball.” However, because of his size, there are questions about Garcia’s durability. He also didn’t put up great numbers last year as an extremely young Triple-A pitcher, as he managed a subpar 5.40 ERA/5.77 FIP with 10.13 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 over 40 innings at the level.

King, 24, racked up a combined 62 2/3 innings in Triple-A from 2018-19, pitching to a sterling 2.30 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in that span. He even made a one-appearance MLB debut last season, and currently ranks as the Yankees’ 19th-best prospect at MLB.com.

Considering how volatile the back end of most teams’ rotations are, it’s entirely possible (maybe even likely) that more than one of the above hurlers will start games for the Yankees as they await Paxton’s return. The World Series hopefuls figure to get Paxton back early in the summer, so those who wind up filling his spot could be on borrowed time in that role.

Diamondbacks, Aaron Blair Agree To Minor League Deal

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The D-backs are bringing one of their first-round picks back to the organization, signing right-hander Aaron Blair to a minor league contract, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). He’s repped by PSI Sports Managament.

Blair, 27, was a supplemental first-rounder out of Marshall University in 2013. He ranked among baseball’s 100 best prospects per Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 offseasons. But while Blair was a fast riser who thrived during his first extended looks at Double-A and Triple-A, his career stalled out upon reaching the Majors.

Arizona included Blair in the franchise-altering trade that also sent Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte to Atlanta in exchange for Shelby Miller. He made his MLB debut with the Braves in April 2016, but from 2016-17 he combined to allow 64 earned runs with a lackluster 49-to-39 K/BB ratio over the life of 73 innings.

Blair eventually underwent surgery to repair a torn capsule in his pitching shoulder in April 2018 — a procedure that wound up sidelining him for not only the 2018 season but all of the 2019 campaign as well. After pitching just 2 2/3 innings between the Majors and Triple-A over the past two seasons, Blair will face an uphill battle in pitching his way back to the big leagues, but he’ll do so in his original organization — one where he had more success than he did at any point during his Braves tenure.

Padres Claim Breyvic Valera

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The Padres announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed infielder/outfielder Breyvic Valera off waivers from the Blue Jays. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, San Diego has placed right-hander Anderson Espinoza on the 60-day injured list. Espinoza underwent Tommy John surgery late last April.

Valera, 28, was designated for assignment earlier this week when Toronto finalized its one-year deal with reliever Rafael Dolis. Valera spent time with both the Jays and Yankees in 2019, though he appeared in just 17 games and took just 52 plate appearances. Overall, Valera has appeared in the Majors with five teams but played in just 54 games, hitting .223/.294/.298 in 138 trips to the plate.

Lack of MLB track record aside, the switch-hitting Valera is the owner of a .302/.374/.442 slash in 1550 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Coupled with his defensive versatility –he’s played second base, third base and all three outfield positions — it’s easy to see why so many clubs have been intrigued by his skill set and taken brief looks at him. At this point, however, Valera has exhausted all three of his minor league option years, meaning he’ll need to break camp with the Padres (or another club) or else be traded or placed on waivers once again.

MLBTR Poll: A 14-Team Postseason

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Major League Baseball’s playoff format last underwent seismic changes entering 2012, when it expanded the postseason to allow four wild-card teams into the tournament instead of two. Things have stayed the same since then, but further adjustments may be in the offing.

Beginning in 2022, the first season after the current collective bargaining agreement expires, commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB could add two more playoff qualifiers per league. That means almost half of the sport (14 of 30 teams) would have some chance of reaching the World Series when the fall rolls around. But that’s not all – MLB would hand the No. 1 team in each league a first-round bye, the higher-seeded teams that don’t have byes would select their first-round opponents and those clubs would play three-game series in one city.

On one hand, an expanded playoff setup would likely encourage more teams to make an effort to compete. There are arguably too many franchises that haven’t pushed hard enough to grab playoff spots in recent years. It could also increase television ratings and ticket sales, as clubs that might normally be out of the race late in the season would have more realistic shots at getting to October. Those are all good things from the league’s perspective.

On the other hand, there’s a case that a 14-team postseason would reward mediocrity and further water down the playoffs. In most cases, these six and seven seeds aren’t going to be juggernauts. Back in 2017, for example, the Royals and Rays would have made the tourney with 80-82 records. It’s extremely unlikely, but imagine a sub-.500 team going on a magical run in the fall and winning the whole thing. That would perhaps make a mockery of the six-month regular season. Although, of course, we don’t know how these potential changes would affect the regular campaign. It’s possible the schedule would switch to fewer than 162 games (a total that has been in place for both leagues since 1962) in order to accommodate a longer postseason.

All said, there are pros and cons to an increased group of playoff teams. Where do you stand on the subject?

(Poll link for app users)

Yankees Sign Tony Zych To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve signed right-hander Tony Zych to a minor league contract. The former Mariners reliever, a client of ISE Baseball, will be in Major League camp with the team this spring.

It’s been more than two years since Zych, 29, threw his last pitch at the big league level, as injuries have beset the righty for much of his career. Zych had surgery to repair a biceps/shoulder injury back in 2016 and was slowed by a forearm issue in 2017. He didn’t pitch at all in 2019 — an absence that stemming from 2018 thoracic outlet surgery.

Though Zych has a long line of arm troubles in his past, he’s been impressive when he’s been able to take the mound. The 2011 fourth-rounder (Cubs) has logged 72 2/3 innings in the big leagues and compiled a 2.72 ERA/3.22 FIP with 9.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9, 0.37 HR/9 and a 49.7 percent ground-ball rate. Right-handed batters have posted an awful .216/.327/.269 batting line against him, while lefties have hit him at just a .217/.311/.370 clip. Zych has faced 203 right-handed hitters in the Majors without allowing a home run.

The track record of pitchers coming back from TOS surgery isn’t great, and the Yankees have a rather impressive bullpen mix as is. But Zych’s track record of big league success is rather impressive, so even if he doesn’t crack the Opening Day roster, he’ll be a nice piece to stash in Triple-A if his arm is back at full strength.

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