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Brewers To Keep Turang At Second Base, Play Ortiz At Shortstop

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The Brewers have settled on their middle infield alignment. Manager Pat Murphy told reporters (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com) that the Brewers will keep Brice Turang at second base while moving Joey Ortiz to shortstop.

It’s a change from where the team was leaning late last week. Murphy said a few days ago that they were strongly considering bumping Turang up the defensive spectrum while playing Ortiz at second. Turang subsequently reported minor shoulder soreness. The Brewers sent him for an MRI, which came back clean. It’s not expected to impact his readiness for Opening Day, but the club understandably doesn’t want to push things by having him take the longer throws from the left side of the diamond.

“I think Joey’s more than capable, and we were really splitting hairs when we flipped (to Turang at shortstop),” Murphy explained. It had seemed back-and-forth throughout camp. That’s the luxury of having two top-tier defensive infielders even after Willy Adames’ free agent departure. Turang is coming off a Gold Glove and Platinum Glove winning season at second base. Ortiz tied Matt Chapman for the league lead in Outs Above Average at third base. Both players were viewed as potential plus shortstops while coming through the minor leagues.

The Ortiz-Turang pairing should remain one of the best defensive middle infield duos in the majors. They’ll need someone to step up at third base with Ortiz moving over. Oliver Dunn, who hit .221/.282/.316 in his first 41 MLB games last season, has had an excellent spring and will probably get the first look. He has dramatically outplayed Caleb Durbin and Tyler Black in camp. The out-of-options Vinny Capra has had a fantastic Spring Training. That gives him a strong chance to stick on the active roster — especially if Milwaukee options Durbin and/or Black — but Capra’s minor league numbers suggest he’s better suited in a utility role.

Marlins Notes: Payroll, Practice Squad, Cabrera, Gillispie

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One of the key storylines of this offseason has been the aggression coming from the nomadic Athletics. They have given out three of the largest contracts in franchise history, signing free agent Luis Severino and giving extensions to Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler.

That has at least partly been motivated by a desire to keep their revenue-sharing status away from risk. As has been reported by The Athletic through the winter, that club needed to get their competitive balance tax number up to 150% of what they receive in revenue-sharing funds. Falling short of that would leave them subject to a potential grievance from the MLB Players Association. Understandably, the MLBPA wants to be assured that the funds are being spend on player salaries.

Since the A’s will reportedly receive about $70MM in revenue-sharing funds this year, they seemingly need to get their CBT number above $105MM, give or take. Thanks in part to those aforementioned deals and others, RosterResource projects them at about $115MM.

Back in December, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Marlins were in the same situation as the A’s. Rosenthal took a look at the situation in a follow-up piece today, noting that the Marlins have not taken the same aggressive approach. RosterResource has the Marlins’ CBT number just below $87MM, more than $18MM shy of the $105MM target. As noted by Rosenthal, a midseason trade of Sandy Alcántara would drop them even further away from that line.

It seems the Marlins are far more willing to live dangerously with the situation. Rosenthal notes that the MLBPA brought revenue-sharing grievances against several clubs, including the Marlins, in 2018 and 2019. The report adds that many of those grievances were dropped but the ones against the Marlins remain active.

For the A’s, they understandably don’t want to be playing chicken with the union right now. The A’s had their revenue-sharing status revoked gradually over the course of the 2016-2021 collective bargaining agreement, with their payouts dropping by 25% annually. They only got 75% of their funds in the first year, 50% in the second, 25% in the third and none at all in the final two years. They are gradually getting their revenue-sharing status back up in the current CBA, reversing that previous plan, adding 25% per year. As they incur the costs of moving to West Sacramento and then Las Vegas, building a new stadium in the latter city, they surely don’t want to lose their payments again.

The Marlins are seemingly more cavalier. As noted by Rosenthal, the CBA runs through 2026 and these matters are collectively bargained. If the MLBPA wants to fight to strip the Marlins of their revenue-sharing payments, they will have to wait almost two years and will also have to weigh that against other CBA priorities. Rosenthal also adds that owner Bruce Sherman is likely to tout the club’s non-payroll spending, on things such as technology and infrastructure, though that’s unlikely to satisfy a union focused on player compensation. Perhaps the situation will be worth monitoring between now and the fall of 2026.

Elsewhere, the club also attracted some more negative attention from players for a different reason. As noted in a piece from Andy McCullough and Sam Blum of The Athletic, the Fish recently ran an ad on LinkedIn offering players $150 a day to be part of a practice squad, which would play against Low-A players.

The posting garnered the attention of MLB officials and players as it seemed to circumvent some existing rules. In April of 2023, the first ever CBA for minor leaguers was agreed to. That CBA established minimum salaries for minor leaguers but also gave each club a tight limit of how many minor leaguers they could have. The Domestic Reserve List, which is each club’s list of minor leaguers outside of Latin America, was dropped from 180 to 165.

The practice squad plan seemingly had the chance to skirt both the player limit and the minimum salary rules, which is why it raised flags around baseball. The Marlins pulled the ad and scuttled the plan, claiming that the ad was run before it had received proper internal vetting.

Turning to the major league roster, right-hander Edward Cabrera will start the season on the injured list, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The righty has been battling a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand. That may seem like a minor issue but it’s a persistent one for Cabrera, since he’s had blister problems on that finger dating back all the way to 2021.

Without Cabrera, the Marlins project to have a front four of Alcántara, Ryan Weathers, Max Meyer and Cal Quantrill in the rotation. Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, righty Connor Gillispie could have the inside track on taking Cabrera’s spot.

Gillispie, 27, made his major league debut with Cleveland last year. He tossed eight innings over three relief appearances, allowing 2.25 earned runs per nine. He also posted a 4.05 ERA over 113 1/3 Triple-A innings, working in a swing role there. His 10.1% walk rate at that level was a bit high but he also struck out 25% of opponents. After the season, he was non-tendered and signed a major league deal with Atlanta. He was put on waivers when that club signed Jurickson Profar, getting claimed by Miami.

In camp so far, he has thrown eight scoreless. That will seemingly get him a shot to open the season in the rotation. He still has options and can be sent back down when Cabrera gets healthy. The Marlins will also have Eury Pérez coming back around the All-Star break, though a midseason trade of Alcántara could also open up some starts. Other optionable starters on the roster include Adam Mazur and Valente Bellozo.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Orioles Option Coby Mayo To Minor League Camp

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that they’ve optioned top infield prospect Coby Mayo to minor league camp. He’ll open the season at Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore also reassigned non-roster invitees Samuel Basallo, Daz Cameron, Nick Gordon, Corbin Martin, Levi Stoudt and Thaddeus Ward to minor league camp.

Mayo, 23, has played parts of two seasons in Triple-A. He’s a .279/.376/.543 hitter in 151 career games at that level. He expressed some disappointment with the move. “It obviously sucks because you feel like you’ve proven everything you’ve needed to (in the minors),” he told reporters (including Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner). “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough. Obviously, you go back there and if you have success, it’s ’oh he’s supposed to have success because he’s already proven it,’ and if he doesn’t have success, it’s ’well obviously he’s fallen off.’ It’s kind of a lose-lose going to Norfolk.”

Manager Brandon Hyde said the move is a testament to Baltimore’s infield depth. “Good teams option players that they like,” Hyde said (via Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Banner). “More reps at Triple-A, we feel like that’s what he needs right now.”

While it’s understandable that Mayo feels he doesn’t have much more to show against minor league pitching, the Orioles weren’t likely to carry him on the Opening Day roster. He appeared in 17 major league games last season, hitting .098 while striking out 22 times in 46 plate appearances. He had a similarly poor camp, batting .190 with 13 strikeouts and no homers over 46 trips to the dish.

Mayo drilled 22 homers in 89 Triple-A contests last year. He has huge power and draws plenty of walks. There’ll be a lot of strikeouts, but Mayo has a shot to hit in the middle of the lineup at his peak. The O’s aren’t going to want him sitting on the MLB bench. Ramón Urías and (once healthy) Jorge Mateo are better fits for utility roles. Mayo isn’t going to play over Jordan Westburg at third base. The O’s have Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn and backup catcher Gary Sánchez lined up for the majority of reps between first base and designated hitter. Mayo could theoretically push Mountcastle for playing time at first base, but the latter is an established above-average hitter who is having a monster spring.

The infield depth has made Mayo the subject of some trade speculation, but it’s rare for teams to deal away prospects of that caliber. He still has two option years remaining (including this one), so there’s no pressing roster consideration. O’Hearn and Sánchez will be free agents next offseason. Mountcastle has two seasons of arbitration control remaining. There should be a clearer path for Mayo (and Basallo) to break camp in 2026. For now, it’ll probably require injuries to players above him on the depth chart to get everyday reps in the big leagues.

Braves To Sign Craig Kimbrel To Minor League Deal

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The Braves and right-hander Craig Kimbrel have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The SportsMeter client will earn a $2MM salary if brought up to the big leagues, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. He’ll spend some time building up before reporting to Triple-A Gwinnett, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com.

Kimbrel, 37 in May, has been on a rollercoaster in recent years. He had a long run as one of the most effective closers in the league, starting that tenure with Atlanta. From 2010 to 2014, he tossed 289 innings for them, allowing only 1.43 earned runs per nine. His 9.6% walk rate was a bit high but he had a massive 42.2% strikeout rate in that time. He quickly became the club’s closer and earned 185 saves in a four-year stretch from 2011 to 2014. He would continue to produce similar results for a few years, going to the Padres and Red Sox.

But as alluded to, things have been far rockier lately. A free agent after 2018, Boston gave him a $17.9MM qualifying offer. Kimbrel rejected that offer, meaning that any signing club would have to forfeit at least one draft pick. That seemed to have a significant impact on his market, as he remained unsigned until after the summer draft, which was held in June at that time. No longer tied to draft pick forfeiture, he signed a three-year, $43MM with the Cubs in early June of 2019.

Perhaps it was due to missing the first half of the season, but Kimbrel’s results were awful once he became a Cub. He eventually made 23 appearances for them that year, posting an ugly 6.53 ERA. That carried over into the shortened 2020 season, as he had a 5.28 ERA that year. Over those two seasons, he still struck out 35.2% of opponents but his 14.5% walk rate was far higher than average.

In 2021, he seemed to rebound in a big way. He made 39 appearances for the Cubs that year with a tiny 0.49 ERA. His 9.5% walk rate was still above average but a massive improvement over the previous two years. He also punched out 46.7% of batters faced. He was shipped across Chicago at that year’s deadline, with the White Sox sending Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer to the Cubs. Unfortunately, his results immediately backed up, as he posted a 5.09 ERA over the remainder of the season.

Despite that rough finish, the Sox picked up his $16MM club option, though they traded him to the Dodgers for AJ Pollock just prior to Opening Day 2022. Heading to Los Angeles seemed to work out for a while, though he again had a rough finish. He had a 33.8% strikeout rate in the first half but punched out just 20.7% of opponents in the second half. He lost the closer’s job in September and then was left off the Dodgers’ postseason roster.

Going into 2023, the Phils gave him a one-year, $10MM deal, which led to a good bounceback season. Kimbrel posted a 3.26 ERA over 71 appearances that year, with a 33.8% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. But a one-year, $13MM deal with the Orioles last year led to another downturn. He had a 5.33 ERA for Baltimore, striking out 31.5% of batters but also giving out walks 13.4% of the time. He was designated for assignment and released in September.

The overall track record is obviously impressive. Kimbrel has a career ERA of 2.59 and is fifth on the all-time saves list. He’s just seven behind Kenley Jansen, who will close for the Angels this year, and 38 away from third-place Lee Smith. But he’s been incredibly shaky in recent years, so it’s anyone’s guess what he can provide this year.

There’s little harm on a minor league deal. Atlanta can get a close-up look at him over the next few weeks and see how it goes. If he doesn’t look like he can engineer another bounceback, they can simply move on. Some veterans have guaranteed opt-outs in their minor league deals, but that wouldn’t apply to Kimbrel since he was released before the end of the 2024 season. It’s possible he negotiated some opt-outs into his deal, though no details of that nature have been reported yet.

Atlanta’s bullpen took a hit when it was reported that Joe Jiménez will likely miss the entire season due to knee surgery. They should have Raisel Iglesias, Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson and Aaron Bummer locked into four spots. One of Ian Anderson or Grant Holmes could have a long relief role. That leaves three spots available early on. Daysbel Hernández is on the roster and could secure one.

The club also has a big collection of notable guys on minor league deals, including Héctor Neris, Enyel De Los Santos, Jake Diekman, Chasen Shreve, Buck Farmer and others. That is perhaps a reflection of the club hoping to avoid the competitive balance tax this year. Per RosterResource, they project to have a $230MM CBT number, about $11MM shy of the $241 base threshold. They have opted to sign many minor league deals and hope that a handful of them turn out to be hidden gems.

Kimbrel will jump into that cluster of non-roster veterans trying to earn major league jobs. He has the most impressive track record of anyone in that group but is a few weeks behind them and will have to overcome the memories of a poor 2024 season.

Photo courtesy of Tommy Gilligan and Kareem Elgazzar, Imagn Images.

Yu Darvish Questionable For Opening Day Due To Elbow Inflammation

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Padres right-hander Yu Darvish has recently been slowed in camp. While it was initially conveyed that he had some general fatigue, manager Mike Shildt today provided a more specific and more ominous diagnosis. The skipper told members of the media, including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, that the veteran righty experienced elbow inflammation after his last start.

Shildt stopped short of saying Darvish would start the season on the injured list, describing him as day-to-day. Opening Day is just over a week away, so it’s a tight window. Any time a pitcher’s throwing elbow is involved, it’s a cause for some concern. In the case of Darvish, there may be even more concern than with some other hurlers.

Darvish has dealt with some elbow problems in the past. Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire 2015 season. He was largely health for years after that, though he hasn’t logged a huge workload in the past two seasons. He was capped at 24 starts and 136 1/3 innings in 2023. He landed on the IL in late August due to right elbow inflammation and stayed there to finish the year. In 2024, he only made 16 starts and tossed 81 2/3 innings. He missed time due to neck tightness, a groin strain, some more inflammation in that throwing elbow and an undisclosed personal issue.

That makes this the third straight season that Darvish has battled some elbow inflammation. For a pitcher who is now 38 years old, that’s less than ideal. It’s especially worrisome since rotation depth is one of the key issues on the San Diego roster. The Friars already lost Joe Musgrove for the entire season, as he required Tommy John surgery in October.

Losing Musgrove left the Padres with a rotation core of Darvish, Michael King and Dylan Cease. They signed Nick Pivetta to fill one of the back-end spots. Coming into camp, candidates for the final spot including Matt Waldron, Kyle Hart, Randy Vásquez and Stephen Kolek. However, Waldron is out of commission due to an oblique strain. Hart has also been delayed by the flu and is behind the rest of the group in terms of building up. If Darvish needs to miss some time at the start of the season, that would seemingly leave two spots open behind the King/Cease/Pivetta trio.

If it’s just a short-term absence, the overall group could look stronger in a few weeks, with both Waldron and Darvish perhaps back in the mix. A more serious issue would naturally have bigger impacts. Both Cease and King are impending free agents. That means Pivetta and Darvish are the on-paper rotation nucleus for 2026. Musgrove could be back in the mix by then but may have some workload issues after missing all of 2025. Darvish is still under contract through 2028, as part of the extension he signed with the club in 2023.

It’s also possible this could impact the trade market. San Diego has notable budgetary concerns and various parts of the roster they would like to upgrade. That has led to rumors about Cease or King being available, though Cease’s name has come up far more often. It would be a tricky balance for San Diego to strike, as they would have to feel that reducing their rotation depth is worth it for multiple upgrades at left field, first base or designated hitter.

Presumably, Darvish being hurt would reduce the chances of a Cease deal in the short term, as it would be even harder to justify a rotation subtraction. Closer to the deadline, that calculus could change if the Padres don’t manage to compete. As mentioned, both Cease and King are impending free agents and would be natural trade candidates this summer if San Diego slips behind the other National League contenders.

Photo courtesy Mark J. Rebilas of Imagn Images

Offseason In Review: Los Angeles Angels

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The Angels were the most active team in the first few weeks of the offseason. They added a mid-rotation starter and a new designated hitter to upgrade the middle third of the lineup. They went oddly quiet after that, leaving them to enter the season with a roster that again seems too thin to hang in the race all year.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $47.25MM
Total spending: $95.25MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Angels finished 63-99 under first-year manager Ron Washington, narrowly avoiding what would have been their first 100-loss campaign. Only the White Sox, Rockies and Marlins had a worse run differential. They have the longest active playoff drought in MLB at 10 years.

Shortly after the season ended, owner Arte Moreno told Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register that he expected to compete for a playoff spot in 2025. "(General manager Perry Minasian's) marching orders are we need to build a team that can compete for a playoff spot. When you get to playoffs, anything can happen," Moreno said. The owner indicated he was prepared to raise payroll to make that happen. The Angels had cut spending by more than $40MM over the 2023-24 offseason.

Expecting to add 20+ wins within one offseason, even with a payroll spike, is unrealistic. Still, the Angels began the winter with a sense of urgency that reflected a real desire to improve in the short term. They pulled off the first major trade of the offseason within hours of the World Series concluding. The Angels took the remaining two years and $26MM on Jorge Soler's contract off the Braves' hands. Los Angeles sent Griffin Canning, whom they were presumably planning to non-tender, the other way. Atlanta subsequently cut Canning themselves, confirming that was purely a salary dump on their part.

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Jung Hoo Lee MRI Shows No Structural Damage

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March 18: Fans can seemingly breathe a sigh of relief as Lee’s MRI showed no structural damage, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He’ll resume rehabbing from his back discomfort.

March 17: Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee was scratched from Saturday’s Cactus League contest due to back discomfort, and with the issue still bothering him 48 hours later, he’ll undergo an MRI, manager Bob Melvin revealed to reporters (link via Justice Delos Santos of the San Jose Mercury News). He’ll then have a followup with the team’s medical staff. Melvin anticipates having more information for the public tomorrow.

Lee, 26, signed a six-year, $113MM contract with the Giants after a terrific start to his professional career in the Korea Baseball Organization. He played in 37 games last year in his MLB debut and hit .262/.310/.331 with a pair of homers and some of the best contact skills in the sport (8.2% strikeout rate). Lee played 306 innings in center and drew average marks from Statcast with slightly below-average grades from Defensive Runs Saved. A shoulder injury suffered when colliding with the wall in trying to haul in a deep drive off Jeimer Candelario’s bat ended Lee’s rookie season; he suffered a dislocation and a torn labrum, necessitating surgery.

In his return to the Giants’ lineup this spring, the former KBO standout has looked excellent. He’s appeared in a dozen games and tallied 35 plate appearances with a .300/.400/.567 slash. Lee has homered twice and drawn four walks (11.4%).

Time will tell whether the issue proves serious enough for a trip to the injured list. The Giants initially indicated that Lee was going to miss a game or two not because of a back injury suffered during a game but rather sleeping on it in awkward fashion. Sending him for an MRI would suggest there’s something potentially more worrisome at play.

If Lee does need to miss any time, the Giants have options in center. Luis Matos and Grant McCray are both plenty capable at the position. Matos, 23, is a former top prospect who’s capable of playing all three outfield spots. He logged 19 games in center for the Giants last year. McCray played 37 games in center during his rookie season in 2024. Both young outfielders struggled greatly against big league pitching, but both have had strong performances this spring. McCray is hitting .314/.429/.514 with a homer and four steals in 42 plate appearances. Matos is batting .362/.375/.532 with a pair of homers in 48 plate appearances. Whoever lines up in center field will be flanked by left fielder Heliot Ramos and right fielder Mike Yastrzemski.

Angels Sign Travis Blankenhorn To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have signed infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The log says the deal was signed on March 6 but the deal only became apparent today when he appeared on the Angels’ lineup card, as relayed by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

Blankenhorn, 28, has an inconsistent track record. Broadly speaking, he has performed well in the minors. That has led to several brief chances in the majors, which he hasn’t been able to capitalize on. He appeared in each of the past five big league seasons, but didn’t get even 40 plate appearances in any of those. Overall, he has hit .154/.230/.264 in 100 trips to the plate, scattered across those five seasons.

But he’s had a massive tally of 3,445 minor league plate appearances. In those, he has a .256/.333/.456 batting line and 114 wRC+. That includes 1,506 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level from 2021 to 2024. In that time, Blankenhorn has 74 home runs, a 10.3% walk rate, a .254/.343/.489 batting line and 113 wRC+.

As mentioned, those strong minor league numbers have led to many call-ups. Most recently, he was with the Nats for a while in 2024 but hit .129 in 13 games. He was outrighted off the roster and elected free agency in September. Defensively, Blankenhorn is mostly an outfielder/first baseman at this stage. He has some previous experience at the other infield positions but none since 2022.

The Halos have Nolan Schanuel at first with Taylor Ward and Mike Trout projected to be in the outfield corners and Jorge Soler the regular in the designated hitter slot. They also have Ryan Noda, Niko Kavadas, Matthew Lugo and Gustavo Campero on the 40-man roster. It’s a tough path to playing time for Blankenhorn but he can at least get into some games and showcase himself, to Angels’ decision makers as well as those on other clubs.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

Reds’ Alex Young Seeking Second Opinion; Elbow Surgery Possible

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Left-hander Alex Young, in camp with the Reds on a non-roster deal this spring, is headed for a second opinion on an elbow injury, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Tommy John surgery is a possible outcome, per the report.

Young has pitched with the Reds in each of the past two seasons. Cincinnati flipped him to San Francisco last July in a deal netting outfielder Austin Slater. The Mets wound up claiming Young off waivers and non-tendering him in the offseason, at which point the Reds re-signed him to his current minor league pact.

Though he’s bounced around the league in journeyman fashion of late, Young has been quietly effective across the past three seasons. He’s pitched 96 big league innings between the Guardians, Giants, Reds and Mets during that time and turned in a 3.28 ERA with a 20.5% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate.

Young has had a rough camp in 2025, though the elbow injury likely explains his struggles. He made his spring debut on Feb. 22, tossing a scoreless outing, and then was out of game action until March 4. He got back into another game on March 8 but allowed a combined six runs in two innings between those two final appearances before getting imaging performed on his ailing elbow.

Young has pitched in parts of six major league seasons and has more than four years of MLB service. In 277 2/3 innings, he has a career 4.34 ERA with 24 holds and a save.

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