Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Red Sox, Garrett Crochet Expected To Table Extension Talks

By | at

March 28: While talks are on pause because of Crochet’s self-imposed Opening Day cutoff, it seems the sides got relatively close. Crochet tells WEEI’s Rob Bradford that discussions went “down to the wire” and that he didn’t feel there was a large gap. Asked by Bradford if that provided reason for optimism whenever talks resume — presumably next offseason — Crochet replied that was “definitely fair to say.”

March 27: Earlier this month, newly-acquired Red Sox southpaw Garrett Crochet set a deadline of Opening Day in extension talks with his new club. With Crochet scheduled to take the mound for Boston against the Rangers this afternoon, that deadline has now passed and it seems as though no deal is in place between the sides. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo relays that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters “not to expect” a Crochet extension at this point, while WEEI’s Rob Bradford adds that Breslow said he intends to respect Crochet’s stated desire to not negotiate during the season.

Ever since Crochet came to Boston in a trade where the Red Sox surrendered a package of four prospects headlined by top-100 talents Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery, hammering out an extension with the southpaw has seemed likely to be a priority for the club with just two seasons remaining until the southpaw reaches free agency. The 2024 All-Star made his first career MLB start on Opening Day for the White Sox last year, but that lack of experience did little to slow him down as he pitched to a 3.58 ERA (115 ERA+) while posting a sterling 2.69 FIP and striking out an incredible 35.1% of his opponents in 32 starts.

As much as the 2024 campaign did to establish Crochet as one of the league’s premiere front-of-the-rotation arms, however, it did little to settle his value on a long-term deal. As previously mentioned, the lefty had no experience as a starter in the majors or minors prior to 2024 due to injuries limiting him throughout his young career. He’d not thrown even 55 innings in a professional season before 2024, and even last year he threw just 146 innings while averaging roughly 3 1/3 innings per start in the second half. The fact that the lefty has not yet participated in a full MLB season with a starter’s typical workload works against Crochet’s value, even as the 25-year-old’s youth, tantalizing stuff and huge strikeout numbers make a case for him as among the most valuable assets in the sport.

Given the uncertainty surrounding Crochet’s value, it’s not necessarily shocking the sides were unable to agree to terms. Reporting last summer indicated that Crochet may have been targeting Tyler Glasnow’s $136.5MM guarantee with the Dodgers as a ballpark comparison for his extension talks with the White Sox, though it’s unclear how his demands may have changed after moving to Boston. That sort of outlay for a pitcher with Crochet’s health question marks may have been difficult for the Red Sox to stomach without getting to see him pitch up close, and now it appears they’ll have that opportunity in 2025. There’s nothing stopping the sides from resuming extension talks next offseason, though considering that it’ll be Crochet’s final before free agency it’s likely that another strong season from the lefty would leave the Red Sox to pay nearly full-market value in an extension next winter.

In other Red Sox news, Sean McAdam of MassLive reported this afternoon that outfielder Masataka Yoshida is headed to Boston for a consultation as he deals with a back issue. McAdam adds that Yoshida, who is on the injured list as he rehabs from offseason shoulder surgery, will remain in Boston to continue his rehab following the consultation. Yoshida was previously expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment as he builds up arm strength ahead of a return to the outfield for the first time (aside from a one-inning cameo last year) since 2023, though it now appears he’ll rehab with the big league club for at least the time being. A career .285/.343/.433 hitter across two seasons in the majors, Yoshida served as Boston’s regular DH last year but was bumped out of that spot by the signing of third baseman Alex Bregman, who pushed incumbent third baseman Rafael Devers to DH.

Tigers Acquire Brewer Hicklen From Brewers

By | at

The Tigers announced that they have acquired outfielder Brewer Hicklen from the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations. He was designated for assignment by Milwaukee yesterday as that club set its Opening Day roster. The Tigers have optioned him to Triple-A Toledo and transferred right-hander Ty Madden to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.

Hicklen, 29, has a tiny major league track record. The Brewers sent him to the plate five times last year and he also got four plate appearances with the 2022 Royals. He struck out in eight of those nine appearances without a hit.

The Tigers are surely more interested in his minor league work, which is greater in quality and quantity. He has a combined .244/.352/.469 batting line over the past four minor league seasons. That production leads to a 114 wRC+, indicating he’s been about 14% above league average. His 30.7% strikeout rate in that time is quite high but he also drew walks at a strong 11.7% clip and stole 140 bases.

The Detroit outfield has taken a number of hits in recent weeks, particularly in center field. Each of Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez and Matt Vierling started the season on the injured list due to various ailments suffered during the spring.

That left Riley Greene as the last man standing from what their projected outfield would have been a few months ago. Kerry Carpenter was once projected as the regular designated hitter but could perhaps move to the grass. That would open the DH spot for Spencer Torkelson, who was pushed off first base when the club signed Gleyber Torres to play second and moved Colt Keith to first. To bolster the group around Greene and Carpenter, the Tigers signed Manuel Margot, who had been released by the Brewers. They also recalled utility player Ryan Kreidler.

Hicklen will give the club a bit of optionable outfield depth, alongside Justyn-Henry Malloy. Given his speed, perhaps Hicklen could carve out a role as a fourth outfielder who gets thrown in for pinch-running and defensive replacement opportunities. Until then, he will presumably get regular reps in the minors.

As for Madden, he was diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain in his throwing shoulder three weeks ago. His current timeline is unclear but this transfer means he can’t be reinstated until late May at the earliest.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, USA TODAY Sports

Pirates Place Nick Gonzales On IL With Non-Displaced Ankle Fracture

By | at

The Pirates announced that second baseman Nick Gonzales is headed to the 10-day injured list after suffering a non-displaced fracture in his left ankle. Fellow infielder Enmanuel Valdez was recalled to take the active roster spot.

Gonzales made his first career Opening Day start at the keystone yesterday. He went 1-3, striking out twice before drilling a two-run home run to left field. That set up a bizarre home run trot, as an obviously hobbled Gonzales limped his way around the bases. The Pirates lifted him for defensive replacement Adam Frazier in the next half-inning. The team initially announced the injury as “recurrent left ankle discomfort,” so it seemingly predates that swing, but the pain clearly became too much to bear.

The seventh overall pick in 2020, Gonzales has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons. He hit .209 in 35 games two seasons ago. Gonzales turned in a nearly league average .270/.311/.398 slash with seven homers through 387 plate appearances last year. His power and walk rates were both middling, but he made enough contact to hit at a .270 clip. Among Pittsburgh hitters with 300+ plate appearances, only Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and Andrew McCutchen were more productive offensive players by measure of wRC+.

An already light lineup takes a hit with Frazier now in line for the majority of the second base work. The veteran is coming off a .202/.282/.294 showing across 294 plate appearances with the Royals. Frazier was an All-Star during his first stint in Pittsburgh but has hit .236/.301/.336 since being traded to San Diego at the 2021 deadline. The Bucs brought him back on a $1.525MM free agent deal to work in a utility capacity. He’ll now be tasked with regular playing time while Gonzales is out. The Pirates haven’t announced a timetable, but even a non-displaced fracture is surely going to cost him more than the 10-day minimum.

Pittsburgh acquired Valdez from the Red Sox after Boston designated him for assignment in December. The career .235/.286/.400 hitter will work behind Frazier in a backup role and is in line for his team debut. They’re both left-handed hitters, so it’s unlikely to be a platoon. Frazier gets the nod tonight, hitting eighth against Miami righty Connor Gillispie.

Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals

By | at

The Cardinals began their offseason by announcing major changes to the baseball operations staff and pledging to refocus on player development. Their efforts to free up playing time for younger players came up empty, however, and they'll run it back with nearly an identical roster.

Major League Signings

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Extensions

  • None

Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

"The message is, 'we're going young,'" Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said at the conclusion of the regular season. DeWitt's comments came on the heels of a press conference wherein longtime president of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced the 2025 season would be his last running baseball operations in St. Louis. Former Red Sox chief baseball officer and Rays senior vice president Chaim Bloom, hired as an advisor the prior offseason, would take the reins in 2026. He'd already agreed to a five-year contract.

It was a jarring change in tone for a Cardinals club that had perennially sought to compete in the National League Central. Mozeliak candidly acknowledged that the team's primary focus would not necessarily be on building the best roster for 2025, but rather on bolstering the organization's player development practice and building out the type of modern baseball operations systems and infrastructure that the Cardinals no longer possessed.

"Yes, this is a reset," Mozeliak said at the time. "Yes, this is going to be where we’re not focusing on necessarily building the best possible roster we can."

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Poll: Who Will Win The NL East?

By | at

Opening Day has finally arrived, and teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We’ll be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. That series already covered the NL West, where the Dodgers were viewed as an overwhelming favorite, and the NL Central, where the Cubs narrowly beat out the reigning division champs in Milwaukee. Now, the series continues with a look at the NL East. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Philadelphia Phillies (95-67)

After the Phillies fell to their division-rival Mets during the NLDS, it appeared the club may consider making some considerable changes as they put Alec Bohm on the market and searched for outfield help rather than rely on internal options like Brandon Marsh and Josh Rojas. Ultimately, however, the club’s additions this winter were fairly modest. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski swung a trade for a big-name pitcher in need of a bounce-back in Jesus Luzardo. The signings of Jordan Romano and Max Kepler should help out as well but both are coming off down seasons due to injuries. With Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez departing, the bullpen is arguably weaker than last season.

The Phillies will mostly rely on the same core players they trotted out last year. Fortunately, that’s the same core that allowed them to sail into the postseason with a bye through the Wild Card series last year. Zack Wheeler remains one of the very best pitchers in the entire sport, and a rotation featuring Luzardo as the likely fifth starter behind Cristopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, and Ranger Suarez when fully healthy is in the conversation for the sport’s best. In the lineup, meanwhile, Bryce Harper returns as one of the sport’s most talented hitters, and his supporting cast of battle-tested veterans like Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and J.T. Realmuto all figure to contribute with the same consistency they’ve offered in previous years. It was more than enough to win the division last year, but will the same be true in 2025?

Atlanta Braves (89-73)

This past offseason was a relatively quiet one in Atlanta, as the club’s winter was defined more by the departures of franchise stalwarts like Max Fried, Charlie Morton, and Travis d’Arnaud than any major additions, even as Jurickson Profar profiles as a substantial upgrade over last year’s platoon of Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall in left field. Other relatively marginal additions like Alex Verdugo, Nick Allen, and Hector Neris should help out somewhat as well, but the main thing Atlanta has going for it in 2025 is hope for better health. The Braves’ core was ravaged by injuries last year, with Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider both missing virtually the entire season while Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy and Michael Harris II all also missed significant time.

While health is never guaranteed, the club is all but certain to get more out of its two superstars in Acuna and Strider this year, and is overall unlikely to run into the same rash of injuries on the positional side even as Murphy is already out for the start of the season due to a cracked rib. The team that led baseball in runs scored in 2023 has brought in even more talent on offense since then while also building an impressive bullpen anchored by Raisel Iglesias and Aaron Bummer. All of that is before even considering that the club will once again enjoy the services of reigning NL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale, as well as Reynaldo Lopez as he tries to follow up on a 1.99 ERA campaign in 2025. In some ways, 2024 looked like a floor for the Braves’ talented floor. Will a bounce back be enough to win a tough division in 2025?

New York Mets (89-73)

For as talented as the Phillies and Braves are, it was the Mets who made the deepest run into the 2024 postseason of the NL East, getting all the way to Game 6 of the NLCS before falling to the eventual World Series champion Dodgers. Steve Cohen and David Stearns weren’t content to rest on their laurels this winter and made the biggest splash of any team when they signed Juan Soto to a record-shattering $765MM deal that will land him in Queens for the next 15 years. None of the club’s other moves matched that level of flash, but the returns of Sean Manaea, Jesse Winker, and Pete Alonso as well as more modest additions like Clay Holmes and A.J. Minter leave the Mets looking like a stronger club overall than they were this time last year.

Impactful as pairing Soto with Francisco Lindor at the top of the lineup figures to be, however, that won’t necessarily make the club a clear division favorite with many of the issues that made the Mets such underdogs last season still lingering. A rotation that featured little certainty on paper entering Spring Training is already getting tested by a number of injuries, and the club will rely on Mark Vientos avoiding a sophomore slump in order to lengthen a lineup that looks softer at the bottom than its counterparts in Atlanta and Philadelphia. Still, a lineup featuring two MVP finalists, two other 30-homer sluggers, and Brandon Nimmo looks impressive on paper, and a late-inning mix of Edwin Diaz, Minter, and Jose Butto should be able to preserve late leads. Will that be enough to overtake their rivals?

Washington Nationals (71-91)

The Nationals showed some signs of development last year, but ultimately sold at the trade deadline and fell well short of playoff contention when all was said and done. Still, an emerging core of James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Dylan Crews, and CJ Abrams inspired enough confidence for the Nationals to make some modest buy-side additions this winter. Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell should provide a notable upgrade over Joey Meneses and Joey Gallo at first base, while Paul DeJong and Amed Rosario offer the sort of depth on the infield that was sorely lacking last year.

With three juggernauts at the top of the division, the path to a division title in D.C. is a murky one. With that being said, every member of that aforementioned core is young, talented, and capable of breaking out before even considering the potential impact other young pieces like Brady House, Cade Cavalli, and Robert Hassell III could offer at some point in the year. The addition of Michael Soroka to a rotation that already featured solid youngsters like Gore and Jake Irvin should also offer plenty of upside. Steep as the climb to the summit of the NL East would be, it’s certainly not impossible to imagine the Nationals being the surprise of the NL this year.

Miami Marlins (62-100)

Things were bleak in Miami last year as they lost 100 games for the first time since 2019. And unfortunately for fans, there’s little reason for optimism about the potential for better days in 2025. The club made virtually no additions this winter, and moves to ship out solid pieces like Luzardo and Jake Burger figure to be far more notable than the additions of minor pieces like Matt Mervis and Cal Quantrill. The return of stalwart ace Sandy Alcantara from Tommy John surgery provides a nice story early in the year, and young phenom Eury Perez could return later this season as well. Even the club’s vaunted collection of arms seems unlikely to be enough to get them back to the playoffs given a lineup that will rely on players like Jesus Sanchez and Connor Norby to carry its run production this year, and it would likely take a miracle for them to actually come out on top in such a tough division.

__________________________________________

The Phillies, Braves, and Mets all have strong cases to be the NL East’s best team after making the postseason last year. Philadelphia stands as the reigning champion, while Atlanta featured the best team in all of baseball just two years ago. New York, meanwhile, made a deep run in the postseason just last year and added arguably the most talented pure hitter in baseball over the winter. Meanwhile, D.C. is continuing to quietly assemble a young core that could break out and compete in its own right. Even with Miami deep in the trenches of a rebuild, it figures to be a deeply competitive division in 2025. Who do you think will come out on top? Have your say in the poll below:

Who Will Win The NL East?
Philadelphia Phillies 43.15% (2,946 votes)
Atlanta Braves 31.53% (2,153 votes)
New York Mets 18.57% (1,268 votes)
Miami Marlins 3.78% (258 votes)
Washington Nationals 2.97% (203 votes)
Total Votes: 6,828

Offseason In Review: Texas Rangers

By | at

After a disappointing follow-up season to their first-ever World Series championship, the Rangers were the busiest team in the AL West over the offseason. Did they do enough to put themselves in the driver’s seat of the division?

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $56.225MM (not including Curvelo)
Total spending: $139.475MM (not including Curvelo)

Option Decisions

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

While the Rangers significantly increased payroll during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 offseasons, they weren’t nearly as active the winter after their World Series victory, despite the extra cash their success surely brought in. The reason? Declining television revenue and an unknown future for their TV broadcasts. Texas was one of many teams affected when the company then known as Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy in 2023. The Rangers negotiated a new agreement with DSG for 2024, but it was only a one-year deal, and it paid them significantly less than they had received under their previous contract.

The Rangers did not re-up with DSG (now called Main Street Sports Group) for 2025, nor did they follow the path of teams like the Guardians and Twins, who will have their TV broadcasts distributed by MLB this season. Instead, the Rangers announced the brand new Rangers Sports Network in late January. RSN will partner with several TV providers to distribute games. Presumably, the team decided this would be a more lucrative option than signing away their exclusive TV rights to another broadcast company or MLB. Still, the whole ordeal meant the Rangers were facing quite a bit of financial uncertainty for the second consecutive winter. For the first time in four years, they did not increase their payroll. Indeed, the team made it a goal to drop below the luxury tax threshold in 2025. According to the estimates from RosterResource, those efforts were successful. The Rangers' payroll sits about $4MM lower than where it was at the end of last season, while their CBT payroll is $14.5MM lower – and $4.7MM below the first tax threshold.

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Preller: Padres Exploring Eguy Rosario Trades

By | at

The Padres faced several tough roster decisions in the final days of spring training, perhaps none more difficult than their call on out-of-options infielder Eguy Rosario. The decision was eventually made to designate Rosario for assignment in favor of several veterans who were selected to the 40-man roster: Jose Iglesias and Yuli Gurriel among them. Rosario has often shown glimpses of upside and has hit well in Triple-A, for the most part. He’s also posted huge strikeout totals and poor OBP marks in the majors, however, and he had a rough showing in spring training.

President of baseball operations A.J. Preller spoke highly of Rosario in the wake of his DFA and suggested that he expects to find a trade partner for the 25-year-old (via Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune).

“Eguy’s a big league player,” Preller said. “…He’s going to get an opportunity to go elsewhere and play in the big leagues I would think immediately, and we’ll try to add some value through a trade here in the next week.”

Rosario has only appeared in 100 big league games to this point in his career, due in no small part to a crowded San Diego infield featuring high-profile and high-priced veterans like Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Luis Arraez, Jake Cronenworth and (through the 2024 season) Ha-Seong Kim. Rosario has gotten occasional calls to the big leagues when players are injured, but he’s never topped last year’s 57 plate appearances in the majors. So far, he’s posted a .245/.283/.500 line with five homers, seven doubles and a triple. He’s also drawn just four walks against 34 strikeouts.

Down in Triple-A, Rosario’s numbers look more well-rounded. He’s played parts of three seasons with the Padres’ top affiliate in El Paso and batted .275/.362/.502 in 1164 turns at the plate. A right-handed hitter, Rosario has posted much better numbers against southpaws, but he still has strong right-on-right numbers in Triple-A. That’s not the case in the big leagues, but a .146/.226/.146 slash doesn’t carry too much weight when it’s a sample of 54 plate appearances and comes in scattered, infrequent playing time. Plus, Rosario has demolished big league lefties at a .348/.348/.870 rate in 46 plate appearances. His batted-ball metrics (exit velocity, hard-hit rate, etc.) aren’t great in the majors or in Triple-A, but he’s demonstrated some clear extra-base pop.

Defensively, Rosario has spent the bulk of his time at third base — more than 3400 professional innings. However, he’s also logged more than 2600 innings at second base, another 1200 innings at short and a handful of games at both first base and in right field. Baseball America’s scouting reports on Rosario praise his plus arm but note that despite good speed and athleticism, his actions and range make him better suited for work at third or second.

Despite his minimal playing time when on the big league roster, Rosario has spent enough time in the majors to have more than one year of service time. Any team that acquires him via trade or waivers would pick up five seasons of control, though he’d have to go directly on the big league roster due to his lack of options.

White Sox Outright Oscar Colás

By | at

The White Sox announced that outfielder Oscar Colás has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Charlotte. He had been designated for assignment a couple of days ago when the club was making its final roster moves ahead of Opening Day.

Seeing this transaction would have been surprising a few years ago but is far more understandable given the way things have played out recently. Colás was a high-profile player even before joining the affiliated ranks. A native of Cuba, he had played both in that country and in Japan, building a reputation with his strong offensive stats. He also dabbled in pitching, leading to some “Cuban Shohei Ohtani” chatter, but his official track record on the mound consists of just 3 1/3 innings in Cuba.

He eventually signed with the White Sox early in 2022, getting a relatively high $2.7MM signing bonus. His first season in affiliated ball went quite well. In that 2022 season, he went from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A. Across those three levels, he hit 23 home runs in 117 games, producing a combined .314/.371/.524 batting line and 137 wRC+.

Going into 2023, he was considered one of the top 100 prospects in the league, but his stock has been falling since then. He has 301 big league plate appearances thus far with a 5.3% walk rate and 26.9% strikeout rate. His .223/.271/.309 line translates to a wRC+ of just 58. His minor league production has also fallen off. His .255/.336/.423 line at Triple-A over the past two years is better than his major league work but amounts to a wRC+ of 93, or 7% below league average. His defense hasn’t been well regarded, making that declining offense all the more troubling.

Coming into 2025, the Sox didn’t seem keen on keeping a job open for him. They already had Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi in the outfield mix and then added Austin Slater, Michael A. Taylor, Mike Tauchman and Travis Jankowski. Injuries to Tauchman and Benintendi in spring perhaps opened a path for Colás but he struck out in 38.9% of his plate appearances in Cactus League action.

He has an option remaining, so the Sox could have simply sent him to the minors. But they bumped him off the 40-man and put him on the wire, taking the risk that they would lose him completely. Any of the other 29 clubs could have grabbed him and stashed him in Triple-A but none of them were willing to give him a roster spot, an indication of where his value is right now.

Since he has less than three years of service time and this is his first career outright, he does not have the right to elect free agency. He’ll stick with the White Sox as a depth piece but without taking up a roster spot. The Sox won’t be competing this year and it seems likely that outfield playing time will be open in the second half. Robert should be one of the top trade candidates of the coming months as long as he stays healthy and the other outfielders should be on the block as well. If Colás can turn things around in Charlotte, he could perhaps get another shot at the majors later in the summer.

Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

By | at

MLBTR’s Anthony Franco held a live chat today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!

Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription

BENEFITS
  • Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
  • Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
  • Remove ads and support our writers.
  • Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker

Brewers’ Tyler Black Out Six To Eight Weeks With Hamate Fracture

By | at

Top Brewers prospect Tyler Black will miss the first six to eight weeks of the season after suffering a hamate fracture in his right hand, reports Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Black competed for a roster spot in spring training but was optioned on March 22.

Black, 24, was the No. 33 overall pick in the 2021 draft and made a brief MLB debut last season, hitting .204/.316/.245 in just 57 plate appearances. He posted a more encouraging .258/.374/.429 slash (114 wRC+) in 462 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, bringing his career line in two seasons there to a strong .272/.389/.452.

Generally considered a bat-first prospect, Black has walked in at least 13.2% of his plate appearances at every minor league stop and has gone down on strikes in just 17.3% of his Triple-A plate appearances — well shy of the league average. Black has never topped 18 homers in a season, but he makes excellent contact, draws walks in bulk and is adept at hitting the ball to all fields. He projects as a plus hitter but not necessarily a pure slugger — more of a gap-to-gap bat who can post premium on-base marks thanks to his keen eye and outstanding pitch recognition.

Defensively, Black carries less certainty. He’s played all over the diamond as the Brewers have tried to find him a home, starting out at second base but now having logged time at both infield corners and around the outfield as well. He’s a plus runner who stole 55 bases in the minors as recently as 2023, but Black has yet to settle into one spot. That could lead to a multi-position role, or the Brewers could simply install him at first base when he’s ready for a full-time look. Rhys Hoskins is only signed through the current season.

For now, Black’s path to regular playing time in the majors will be stalled for what looks like a period of multiple months. Once healthy, Black will probably need a bit of time to get back on track in Nashville. Hand injuries — hamate fractures, in particular — can at times sap a player’s power in the weeks/months after his immediate return, though because Black isn’t entirely reliant on home runs for his offensive output, perhaps that won’t be quite so glaring an issue if it happens in his case.

For now, the Brewers’ infield includes Hoskins at first base, Brice Turang at second, Joey Ortiz at shortstop and a collection of Oliver Dunn, Vinny Capra and perhaps Isaac Collins at the hot corner. None of Capra, Dunn or Collins has any real big league track record at this point. Depending on their production and the health of the rest of the infield, Black could be a candidate in a variety of roles once he’s recovered.

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

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top