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The Opener: Albies, Yankees, Mariners, Eovaldi, MLBTR Chat

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

1. Albies to begin rehab assignment:

The Braves have dealt with plenty of injuries throughout the season, ranging from the early losses of Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. to the more recent absence of Austin Riley. They’re finally on the cusp of getting a key player back, however, as manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman) that second baseman Ozzie Albies is nearing a return to action after two months on the shelf due to a wrist fracture. The 27-year-old is set to begin a short rehab assignment today and will be activated Friday against the Marlins if all goes well.

Albies, a switch-hitter, still feels discomfort when swinging left-handed and will have to exclusively swing right-handed upon returning. Fortunately, Albies has always hit much better when batting righty throughout his career, and Snitker confirmed that he’ll be able to play second base during his rehab assignment. Whit Merrifield, who was signed shortly after Albies’ injury and has performed well as the club’s second baseman in his absence, will now be an option in left field and at third base, where fellow in-season acquisitions Ramon Laureano and Gio Urshela currently reside.

2. Series Preview: Yankees @ Mariners

The Yankees are headed out west today to take on the Mariners in a three-game set that will have significant implications on the AL playoff picture. The Yankees currently hold a three-game lead over the Orioles in the AL East, and while the loser of that duel will also make the postseason as a Wild Card team, the division crown is still noteworthy as it will likely be tied to a bye through the Wild Card round. Meanwhile, the Mariners are not currently in playoff position but are just two games out of the final AL Wild Card spot. FanGraphs still gives them a shot at the postseason with 10.7% odds.

In order to keep those hopes alive, the Mariners will have to take down the Yankees in this series, which begins at 6:40pm local time tonight. Righty Luis Gil (3.18 ERA) is set to take the mound for the Yankees opposite 24-year-old Bryan Woo (2.38 ERA). The next day, lefty Nestor Cortes (3.90 ERA) is scheduled to take on right-hander Bryce Miller (3.18 ERA). The series wraps up with right-hander Clarke Schmidt (2.41 ERA in 13 starts) taking on Logan Gilbert (3.24 ERA) on Thursday.

3. Eovaldi option watch:

As laid out by MLBTR’s Steve Adams yesterday, Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is just four innings shy of triggering a vesting player option valued at $20MM. He’s pitched four or more innings in 24 of his 26 starts this season, so it’s extremely likely that Eovaldi will see that option vest today. The 34-year-old (35 in February) will still have the right to turn down that player option and once again test free agency, but it provides some insurance in the event that Eovaldi suffers an injury in the season’s final weeks — or perhaps simply an easy means of resolving his offseason status early if the Texas native is happy with the Rangers and does not wish to go through free agency again. Eovaldi should have no problem topping that $20MM guarantee on the market, however. He’s pitched to a 3.67 ERA in 152 frames this season and touts a combined 3.65 ERA, 23.7% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 49.8% grounder rate in 296 frames over his two seasons as a Ranger.

4. MLBTR Chat:

The postseason is almost upon us, and clubs have begun to get eliminated as the remaining contenders make their final pushes towards the playoffs. In the AL, the Tigers and Mariners are nipping at the heels of the Twins for the final AL Wild Card spot. In the NL, the Diamondbacks, Mets, and Braves are in locked in a close race to take the final two Wild Card spots behind San Diego. If you’re wondering about your team’s hopes of a World Series championship this fall or how your club could approach the coming offseason, MLBTR’s Steve Adams is holding a live chat with readers at 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

Report: Buster Posey Spearheaded Extension Talks With Matt Chapman

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The Giants’ six-year, $151MM extension for third baseman Matt Chapman marked a departure from the organization’s reluctance to commit to players on long-term deals under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, though perhaps there’s an explanation for that. Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic reports that Giants ownership was “frustrated” by the lack of progress in talks between Zaidi and Chapman’s agent, Scott Boras, and intervened. Franchise icon Buster Posey, who bought a minority stake in the team in 2022 and is one of six members on the board of directors, took a lead role in the talks and negotiated the framework of the deal with Chapman himself, according to Baggarly. Readers are highly encouraged to check out the piece in full, as it contains a slew of details on the unusual nature of the Chapman negotiations.

Posey personally taking on such a prominent role in a franchise-altering negotiation is a potentially damning indictment on Zaidi’s status within the organization. The sixth-year president of baseball operations signed an extension just last year, but what was originally reported as a three-year contract has since been revealed to be a two-year contract covering the 2024-25 seasons and containing what’s effectively a club option for the 2026 season.

It’s not clear that the pair of reports, which surfaced within a week of one another, is evidence that Zaidi is on the proverbial hot seat. At the same time, it seems fair to infer — particularly in light of the revelation regarding his contract — that he’s not on quite as steady ground as it may have seemed even a few weeks ago. Giants ownership has publicly backed Zaidi whenever given the opportunity, but Posey’s prominent role in Chapman’s extension only raises questions of potential dissatisfaction. The Giants won’t be reaching the postseason this year, and they’re tracking toward what would be a fifth losing season in six under Zaidi’s tenure.

While the end result is the same regardless of who’s negotiating the contract, the journey to that agreement is notable. Maybe this was just a one-off where the board felt Posey, as a former player, could appeal directly to a player he’s gotten to know over the course of the current season. If things have reached the point where ownership has genuinely lost faith in Zaidi’s vision and/or his ability to close deals, that would be a far more alarming development and likely the portent for a change of note in the front office.

It’s worth noting, of course, that the Giants have signed plenty of free agents under Zaidi’s watch (MLBTR Contract Tracker link). The majority have been short-term pacts, however. The Giants let successfully rehabilitated pitchers like Kevin Gausman and Carlos Rodon walk rather than pay market price for either pitcher. (The latter decision seems wise; the former is regrettable.) They pursued Bryce Harper in free agency but reportedly stopped just $20MM or so short of Harper’s eventual contract with the Phillies. A pursuit of Aaron Judge ultimately only served to drive up the price for the Yankees, who kept their homegrown star. A massive 13-year deal with Carlos Correa was scuttled when the Giants raised concerns about Correa’s physical.

Center fielder Jung Hoo Lee (six years, $113MM) is the only free agent the Giants have signed for more than Jordan Hicks’ four years or more than Blake Snell’s $62MM guarantee. The aversion to long-term deals has certainly kept the Giants’ payroll outlook clean, but the results on the lower-cost free agent deals made have frequently failed to pan out. Mitch Haniger and Jorge Soler both signed three-year deals and were both dumped in salary-driven trades before the second season of said contracts commenced. Tommy La Stella was released two years into a three-year contract. The Giants dumped the final season of Anthony DeSclafani’s three-year deal on the Mariners along with Haniger. The second season of Ross Stripling’s two-year deal was sent to the A’s in a salary dump deal. Michael Conforto has been a roughly league-average bat over the life of his two-year, $36MM deal. Smaller-scale two-year deals for Luke Jackson (dumped along with Soler) and Tom Murphy have backfired.

Zaidi undoubtedly built plenty of goodwill with home-run signings of Gausman, Drew Smyly, Derek Holland and (the first time) DeSclafani. Low-cost pickups of Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr., Joc Pederson, Darin Ruf, Donovan Solano and Thairo Estrada (among others) have also been unmitigated successes. But many of those early success stories have since moved on, while others have seen their effectiveness fade. And the recent low-cost acquisitions haven’t had the same level of impact on the organization, while the farm has seen several top prospects stall out.

All of that is vital context when trying to ascertain what the Chapman report signals for Zaidi and his future with the organization. Zaidi himself downplayed the scenario to Baggarly, suggesting he and ownership worked “in sync” and telling Baggarly that ownership involvement is to be expected on a contract of this magnitude. That’s true, broadly speaking, though ownership circumventing both the front office and the player agent to hammer out a deal is not typical business.

Given the Giants’ likely interest in keeping Snell — another Boras client — the manner in which the Chapman deal came together is all the more intriguing. The Boras Corporation also represents a significant number of free agents this offseason: Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, Yusei Kikuchi, J.D. Martinez, Nick Martinez, Sean Manaea and Tyler O’Neill are among the most notable Boras clients that could be on the market this winter (as can be seen in MLBTR’s Agency Database).

Mike Trout Open To Discussing Move Off Center Field

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The Angels are wrapping another lost season, one in which Mike Trout was kept to a career-low 29 games. As he gears up for the offseason, the three-time MVP indicated he was open to a possible position change in an effort to stay healthy.

Trout hasn’t played a single inning outside of center field in more than a decade. It’s possible that’ll change in his age-33 season. Trout told the Halos beat this evening that he’s willing to discuss playing more frequently in the corners and/or getting increased reps as a designated hitter.

“I think there’s definitely going to be some conversations in the offseason. It’s reality,” Trout said (link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). “I know I have a certain amount of years on my deal and I knew when I signed my contract, I’d eventually move to a corner. But is it next year? I don’t know. But we’ll have conversations.”

The 11-time All-Star elaborated that “everything’s on the table” to attempt to keep himself on the field. “Whether that’s moving to a corner or DHing more, I’ll leave it up to the front office to come up with a plan,” he added. It doesn’t sound as if the future Hall of Famer has yet had any conversations with GM Perry Minasian and his staff, but that could be a key storyline going into the offseason.

Trout still has the athleticism to play a good center field when he’s at full strength. He had decent defensive grades over 681 innings last season. Statcast placed him in the 90th percentile among major leaguers in sprint speed this year. If he were to move to a corner, he should be a defensive asset. Trout logged nearly 900 innings in the corners early in his career. It’s common for center fielders to move down the defensive spectrum as they get into their 30s — both to stay healthy and to make way for younger, rangier defenders up the middle.

The health caveat has been an all too familiar one for Trout. He has fallen short of 120 games in each of the past four years. This is the third of four seasons in which he won’t reach 85 appearances. A right calf strain ended Trout’s 2021 season by the middle of May. He lost some time in ’22 due to back spasms. A left hamate fracture all but ended his season on July 4 last year. (He made a brief return in August before quickly shutting things back down.)

This year may have been the most frustrating of all. Trout went on the injured list at the end of April after suffering a meniscus tear in his left knee. He underwent surgery that came with an initial four-to-six week recovery period. It wasn’t until shortly after the All-Star Break that he was able to begin a minor league rehab assignment. The Angels quickly halted that when Trout experienced renewed knee soreness. Testing revealed another meniscus tear that required a second surgery and officially ended his season.

Making matters worse, Trout hasn’t been able to pinpoint exactly when he suffered the knee injury. It could have come while he was on defense or running the bases. His 2021 calf strain came as a baserunner, while last year’s hamate fracture was a fluke injury on a swing. Those obviously wouldn’t have been avoided by a position change. Still, reducing his defensive workload could take some of the overall toll off his body and hopefully keep him in the batter’s box.

Trout remains an excellent offensive player, even if he has probably taken a step back from his MVP form. He hit .263/.367/.490 over 362 plate appearances last year. While a meager .194 average on balls in play left him with a .220 batting average and .325 on-base mark this season, he drilled 10 homers over just 126 trips to the plate. A heathy Trout clearly remains the best hitter on the team.

The Angels have left fielder Taylor Ward under arbitration control for another two seasons. Ward has had a quietly excellent second half and might be the team’s second-best offensive player. Right field has been a huge weakness. The Angels have gotten a .208/.288/.371 showing from that position. That mostly falls on Jo Adell, who hasn’t made enough contact to come close to the massive expectations he generated as a prospect. Former first-round pick Jordyn Adams is getting a look there with Adell on the injured list, but Adams had a mediocre season in Triple-A.

If the Angels decide it’s best for Trout to move to right field — or to left, with Ward kicking to right — they’d need to find an answer up the middle. That’s far easier said than done. Mickey Moniak has a .264 on-base percentage in 401 plate appearances as Trout’s primary replacement in center. Kevin Pillar is probably retiring at season’s end. Barring a surprise Cody Bellinger opt-out, the free agent class is headlined by Harrison Bader. The likes of Cedric Mullins, Jose Siri, Leody Taveras and Trent Grisham are potential offseason trade candidates, but that’s largely because none of them are coming off great years.

Trout is going into the seventh season of the 12-year extension he signed back in 2019. He’s under contract for $35.45MM annually through the 2030 campaign. Trout, who has full no-trade rights, has previously shot down the idea of requesting a trade on multiple occasions.

Phillies Moving Taijuan Walker Back To Rotation

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Taijuan Walker will make his return to the Phillies’ rotation on Thursday against the Mets, manager Rob Thomson told reporters (link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). Philadelphia had moved the veteran righty to the bullpen at the end of August.

Walker made three relief appearances. He gave up two runs in three innings against the Blue Jays on September 3 and surrendered three runs in two innings to the Marlins four days later. Walker is coming off a better showing on Saturday, when he held the Mets scoreless over three frames. In total, he has allowed five runs (four earned) with only two strikeouts in eight innings since the bullpen move.

That’s not exactly a dominant performance, but the Phils haven’t had a better answer for the fifth starter role. Tyler Phillips, Seth Johnson and Kolby Allard each got one look in the #5 rotation spot. Phillips didn’t make it out of the first inning and gave up six runs against Toronto. Johnson allowed nine runs and didn’t get through the third inning versus Miami in his MLB debut. The Mets tagged Allard for four runs over three innings on Saturday. Johnson and Phillips have already been optioned back to Triple-A; Matt Gelb of the Athletic tweets that Allard will move to the bullpen.

Philadelphia’s fifth starter role has been a mess since Spencer Turnbull suffered a lat strain in June. Walker has a 6.50 earned run average across 14 starts. Cameos for Michael Mercado and the aforementioned trio of Phillips, Johnson and Allard have yielded disastrous results.

Fortunately, that shouldn’t be a big deal in the postseason. Thomson can cut down to his excellent top four of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. Walker should return to the bullpen in October if he makes the playoff roster. An injury to any of Philadelphia’s top four starters would make things a lot less comfortable, but they’re trending towards a first-round bye with the kind of high-end rotation talent they can rely upon in the postseason.

For now, Walker will have a couple chances to try to finish the regular season on a high note. After Thursday’s start in Queens, he’ll be lined up for a home outing against the Cubs. The Phils only need to turn to their fifth starter twice more in the regular season. They could try to line Walker up for the final start against Washington on September 29 if they’re already locked into the #1 or 2 seed in the National League and want to give an extra day of rest to their projected postseason rotation.

Mariners Outright Seby Zavala

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The Mariners sent catcher Seby Zavala outright to Triple-A Tacoma. Seattle designated him for assignment on Friday when they promoted Emerson Hancock to take Luis Castillo’s spot in the rotation.

That was a predictable transaction. The M’s had only promoted Zavala a few days earlier when Castillo hit the injured list. Seattle didn’t need a fifth starter for a few days between Castillo’s IL placement and the Hancock recall. They briefly added to their depth behind the plate by calling Zavala to serve as the #3 catcher behind Cal Raleigh and Mitch Garver. Zavala didn’t get into a game before being DFA for the third time of the season.

Zavala was presumably aware that this stay on the roster could be brief. He at least picked up a few days of major league pay. Acquired from Arizona in the Eugenio Suárez deal, Zavala has hit .154 in 18 games for Seattle this season. He’s hitting .188/.325/.376 across 33 contests with Tacoma. The 31-year-old defensive specialist has a .205/.268/.345 slash over parts of five seasons in the majors.

As was the case when Zavala cleared waivers for the first two times this season, he has the right to elect free agency. It’s likelier he’ll accept the assignment and stick around as injury insurance for Raleigh and Garver. Zavala would become a minor league free agent at the start of the offseason unless the M’s call him back up.

Guardians’ George Valera To Undergo Patellar Tendon Surgery

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Guardians outfield prospect George Valera is headed for season-ending surgery, tweets Mandy Bell of MLB.com. The 23-year-old sustained a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee while trying to make a catch at the wall in Triple-A. The procedure comes with a six-to-nine month recovery timetable, so it’s likely Valera will open next season on the injured list.

Injuries have sapped some of Valera’s value. The lefty-swinging outfielder appeared at the back half of Baseball America’s top 100 prospect lists in both 2022 and ’23. Valera underwent hamate surgery during the 2022-23 offseason and has had brief injured list stints because of hamstring issues in the last couple years. He’d been healthy between the start of May and the middle of September this year, spending the entire time on optional assignment to Triple-A Columbus.

Valera had hit very well through Double-A. His Triple-A numbers are closer to average. He’s a career .229/.336/.424 hitter in 205 games at the level. That includes a .248/.337/.452 line with 17 homers in 374 plate appearances this year. While Valera has a strong 12% walk rate, he has gone down on strikes at a lofty 27% clip. A center fielder early in his career, he has played all but nine innings in the corners or at designated hitter this year.

Cleveland has carried Valera on the 40-man roster going back to the 2021-22 offseason. He has spent the past three seasons on optional assignment. Most players can only be optioned to the minors in three separate seasons. MLB sometimes grants teams a fourth option for players who have less than five full seasons on a minor league or MLB roster.

Valera, who didn’t play a full season at an affiliate until 2021, could be a candidate for a fourth option. That’d afford the Cleveland front office an extra year of flexibility. If Valera is out of options going into next season, Cleveland would need to carry him in the majors or make him available to other teams once he is ready to return from the injured list.

Marlins Outright Jonathan Bermúdez

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Left-hander Jonathan Bermúdez has been sent outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency though it’s not yet clear if he has chosen to do so.

Bermúdez, 28, has been on and off the Marlins’ roster over the past few weeks. He was first selected to the Miami 40-man on August 25, but was designated for assignment a few days later. He passed through waivers in early September and accepted an outright assignment to Jacksonville, getting selected back to the roster a few days later. His second stint on the roster, like the first, resulted in him being designated for assignment after a few days.

Around those transactions, Bermúdez has been able to make his major league debut, though in limited fashion. He has tossed 6 2/3 innings over three appearances, allowing six earned runs via 11 hits, including two home runs. He has also given out two walks and hit two batters while striking out four.

When not in the majors, he has thrown 74 2/3 innings at the Double-A level over 14 starts, putting up a strong 2.53 ERA there. He has also thrown 23 2/3 Triple-A innings but with a 6.46 ERA, that coming across three starts and three long relief outings.

All players with three years of service time or a previous career outright have the ability to elect free agency rather than accepting another outright assignment. Bermúdez spent some time on the 40-man rosters of the Astros and Giants in 2021-22. Though he didn’t make his major league debut back then, he did get outrighted by the Giants and earn the right to reject future outright assignments. But he accepted an outright with the Marlins just a few weeks ago and could perhaps do so again.

The Marlins would likely be happy if he does indeed accept again. Their pitching staff has been shattered by injuries this year, with ten hurlers currently on the injured list. The Fish are not in contention but still have two weeks of the season to get through and might need Bermúdez on the roster again before the offseason arrives.

Poll: Paul Goldschmidt And The Qualifying Offer

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Heading into the 2024 season, the main question surrounding Paul Goldschmidt was one of whether the Cardinals would be able to get an extension done. Interest in a new contract for Goldschmidt was reported as far back as December, but president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in January that extension talks could be tabled until early in the season. At the time, Goldschmidt was fresh off a .268/.363/.447 batting line in 154 games. That didn’t come close to his 2022 NL MVP season (.317/.404/.578, 35 homers) — but it was still well north of the league average and made Goldschmidt one of the more productive first basemen in the game.

Fast forward a few months, and the narrative has changed dramatically. Goldschmidt got out to the worst start of his career and seemed wholly unable to recover. He posted below-average offensive numbers in April, May and June, slashing a .225/.294/.361 in 349 plate appearances over that stretch. By measure of wRC+, the perennially excellent Goldschmidt had been 15% worse than an average hitter at the plate.

Even if one looked at the dip from his 2022 production to his 2023 output as the potential beginning of a decline, a drop-off of this magnitude was nonetheless a genuine surprise. Goldschmidt hadn’t simply had some poor luck on balls in play; his strikeout rate spiked to a career-worst 28.7%. His 8.3% walk rate was nowhere near his career mark. Goldschmidt was still hitting the ball hard, but his contact was less frequent and much of that hard contact was coming in the form of hard grounders rather than well-struck liners and flies. Goldschmidt’s 43% ground-ball rate in the season’s first three months was his highest since 2017.

Since that point, things have begun to turn around. Goldschmidt had a modestly productive showing in July (107 wRC+) and has seen his bat truly take off from August onward. He’s hitting .275/.315/.483 since the calendar flipped to July — including a .286/.338/.493 slash since Aug. 1. Again, this isn’t a simple change in fortune on balls in play. Goldschmidt’s 28% strikeout rate from the season’s first three months is down to 23.5% since July 1 — and just 21% since Aug. 1.

Despite that substantial dip in strikeouts, Goldschmidt hasn’t necessarily become more selective at the plate. He’s still not walking nearly as often as he used to — 5.5% since July 1 — nor is he chasing off the plate any less than he did in the season’s first three months. What he has done, however, is become much more aggressive on pitches within the strike zone. Goldschmidt’s typically patient approach led him to swing at just 61.4% of pitches in the strike zone from Opening Day through the end of June. Since then, he’s offered at 68.1% of such pitches. His overall swing rate through three months was at 46.2%, but he’s up to 49.4% in the three months since.

Goldschmidt has had 50 plate appearances end on one pitch this season. He’s hitting .347 and slugging .694 on those pitches. Of those 50, 26 came in the season’s first three months. About 7.4% of his plate appearances lasted one pitch. Since July 1, nearly 10% of his plate appearances have been of the one-pitch variety. It’s not a huge difference, but it lends credence to the fact that Goldschmidt has been more aggressive and been better off for it.

It’s been a tale of two seasons for Goldschmidt (pardon the cliche). His first half looked like that of a player on the decline — mounting strikeouts, lesser contact, and an across-the-board deterioration in his results. The past two-plus months, however, tell another story. Goldschmidt may not be the MVP-level hitter he was just two seasons ago, but he’s been clearly above-average since July, including an outrageous .394/.429/.636 slash in his past 70 plate appearances. His walks are down and may not recover if he maintains his more aggressive approach, but he’s hitting for average and power alike. If Goldschmidt had flipped his two halves, starting this hot and then fading toward league-average, his down season likely wouldn’t have garnered much attention.

As it stands, league-average is precisely where Goldschmidt is at. His .246/.303/.414 batting line comes out to an even 100 wRC+. His OPS+ (98) is only 2% worse than average. An average-hitting first baseman isn’t generally a QO candidate, but if the Cardinals believe Goldschmidt can sustain his late surge, then there’s good reason to make an offer. Even if he accepts, a $21.2MM salary for a player whom they believe can continue in the vicinity of a .275/.315/.483 pace would be defensible. And if he walks, the Cards would of course be entitled to draft compensation. On the flip side, if Goldschmidt were to accept and revert to his first-half form, it’d be a clear misstep that sets the franchise back in 2025 as they look to return to contending.

It all comes down to how much the Cardinals believe in Goldschmidt’s second-half renaissance and how much they’re willing to risk in the name of bolstering their 2025 draft pool. Six months ago, Goldschmidt would’ve seemed like a no-brainer QO recipient. Three months ago, the decision would’ve seemed like a no-brainer — for the opposite reason. Now, the Cardinals will fall somewhere in the middle. Let’s open this up for a poll:

Blue Jays Claim Tyler Heineman, Designate Brian Serven

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The Blue Jays announced that they have claimed catcher Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Red Sox. Boston had designated him for assignment a few days ago. Catcher Brian Serven has been designated for assignment by the Jays in a corresponding move.

Heineman, 33, clearly has some fans in the Toronto front office as this is his third stint with the club. He signed a minor league deal with the Jays going into 2022 and added to the club’s roster early that year, though he went to the Pirates on waivers in May of that season. In April of 2023, the Bucs designated Heineman for assignment and flipped him to the Jays for utility player Vinny Capra. That stint lasted until December of last year, when the Jays put him on waivers and lost him to the Mets.

The Mets later designated Heineman for assignment in January and flipped him to the Red Sox for cash. Heineman has served as an up-and-down depth catcher for the Sox this year, but perhaps became expendable by Boston acquiring Danny Jansen to bolster their catching depth, the same deal that opened some playing time behind the plate in Toronto.

Heineman has bounced around quite a bit in his career, never securing more than part-time work. He has appeared in five big league seasons but has just 286 plate appearances in 106 games over those. He has a combined batting line of .216/.297/.280 for a wRC+ of 66.

That’s not amazing production but his defense tends to be strong. Each of Statcast and Baseball Prospectus have given him positive grades for his framing, blocking and throwing. FanGraphs also grades him as a plus framer and lists a tally of six Defensive Runs Saved in his career.

It’s also possible that there’s a bit more in his bat, based on his numbers on the farm. From 2019 to the present, he’s hit .279/.372/.432 in the minors for a 107 wRC+, walking 11.3% of the time and striking out in just 17% of his plate appearances. That includes 51 games for Triple-A Worcester this year with Heineman posting a 14.1% walk rate, 16.1% strikeout rate, .252/.379/.403 batting line and 111 wRC+.

Perhaps the Jays see a path to Heineman providing plus defense and at least some adequate offense in the majors. He will finish this season with less than three years of service time, meaning the Jays can theoretically control him for four more years if he carves out a role as backup to Alejandro Kirk. However, Heineman will be out of options next year and will therefore be harder to keep on the roster.

To make room for Heineman, the Jays are risking losing Serven. He has appeared in 28 games for the Jays this year, mostly after the aforementioned Jansen trade opened up playing time alongside Kirk. Serven’s defensive metrics are roughly league average for the most part, but he has struck out in 31% of his plate appearances, leading to a line of .159/.243/.222 and a 38 wRC+. When combined with his earlier time with the Rockies, he has now slashed .187/.247/.293 in 299 big league plate appearances for a 43 wRC+.

The Jays will put him on waivers in the coming days. It’s possible he could attract interest based on his minor league numbers. He has hit .243/.325/.435 for an 87 wRC+ dating back to 2021. That includes a .265/.390/.379 line and 111 wRC+ in 40 Triple-A games this year. He still has one option season remaining after this one and less than two years of service time.

Rockies Activate Antonio Senzatela

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September 16: The Rockies have made it official, with Senzatela reinstated and right-hander Jake Bird optioned as the corresponding move.

September 14: The Rockies are planning to activate right-hander Antonio Senzatela from the 60-day IL for his season debut on Monday against the Diamondbacks, as noted by Manny Randhawa of MLB.com. The Rockies’ 40-man roster currently stands at 39, meaning a corresponding 40-man move will only be necessary to activate Senzatela if the vacancy is filled before his return.

The 29-year-old righty is poised to suit up for his eighth season in the big leagues, all of which have been spent in the Rockies organization. Senzatela was limited to just two starts in 2023 due to an elbow sprain before ultimately undergoing Tommy John surgery last July. Prior to that, the righty had emerged as one of the club’s better pitchers since a breakout 2020 season where he posted a 3.44 ERA in 12 starts. In 59 starts from 2020 to 2022, Senzatela pitched to a solid 4.38 ERA that’s actually 10% better than league average by ERA+, a stat that adjusts for park factors to account for the inflated offensive environment at Coors Field.

What’s more, the righty actually sported an even stronger 3.96 FIP over that same time frame. While he struck out just 14.4% of batters faced over those three seasons, Senzatela’s ability to limit walks to a clip of just 5.3% and keep the ball on the ground (50.6% grounder rate) to limit home runs allowed him to post solid peripherals that gave the Rockies enough confidence to extend him following the 2021 season on a five-year deal worth $50.5MM that includes a club option for the 2027 season. Unfortunately, the contract hasn’t exactly gone well to this point as Senzatela’s 2022 season was cut short by an ACL tear, and his last two campaigns have been more or less wiped out by Tommy John surgery and the subsequent rehab process.

Despite the right-hander now being set to make less than 25 starts over the first three years of the contract, however, it’s not hard to imagine him being a valuable piece for the Rockies headed into 2025. After all, Senzatela’s grounder-heavy game plays quite well at elevation and it’s not hard to imagine a rotation that pairs him with some combination of German Marquez, Cal Quantrill, Kyle Freeland, Ryan Feltner, and Austin Gomber finding some level of success, at least by the standards of a Rockies franchise that has struggled to find consistent pitching results even in its most competitive years. With a rare rotation surplus in Colorado and other young arms like prospect Carson Palmquist currently at the Triple-A level, it’s even possible to imagine the Rockies having enough arms available for their 2025 rotation that they could listen to trade offers involving a pitcher like Quantrill or Gomber, as they reportedly did prior to this summer’s trade deadline.

As the Rockies head towards the finish line of what could be their second consecutive 100-loss campaign, dealing an arm from the rotation could allow them to address other areas of the roster and supplement the club’s core pieces like Ryan McMahon, Brenton Doyle, and Ezequiel Tovar on the positional side. For now, though, Senzatela and the Rockies figure to focus on getting the right-hander some starts at the big league level down the stretch as he looks to shake off the rust and head into his first healthy offseason since he signed the aforementioned extension.

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