Diamondbacks Release Joaquin Arias
The Diamondbacks have released infielder Joaquin Arias, as per the club’s official Twitter feed. The veteran had been in Arizona’s camp on a minor league contract.
Arias had appeared in parts of eight MLB seasons since 2006, with the majority of his action coming in the form of 321 games played with the Giants from 2012-14. Arias played primarily at third base in San Francisco but also saw significant time at second and short. While he didn’t hit much (a .644 OPS in 784 PA) during that stint, Arias was a valuable utility piece for the Giants and he earned two World Series rings along the way. He only appeared in 40 games for the club in 2015 and was outrighted off the 40-man roster in August.
The Diamondbacks’ crowded infield situation made it difficult for Arias to find a job. Jean Segura, Chris Owings and Jake Lamb are slated to start with Nick Ahmed, Brandon Drury and Phil Gosselin all in the mix for backup roles, leaving Arias with no room.
Orioles Notes: Snider, Wright, Gonzalez, Kim
Ryan Powell’s pro baseball career consisted of four seasons in independent leagues before becoming a scout in 2013, and his mother Wendy never got to see her son play his final game. With Wendy now suffering from brain cancer, the Orioles arranged for Powell (the club’s head of independent scouting) to play an inning during the team’s intrasquad game on Tuesday with both his parents in attendance. MLB.com’s Brittany Ghiroli has the full story, which includes information on how you can donate to various cancer charities by bidding on one of Powell’s specialty bats, autographed by several MLB players. Here’s more from Baltimore…
- While the Orioles may still add a left-handed hitting outfielder and a lefty reliever, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko doesn’t expect the club to bring back former Orioles Travis Snider or Wesley Wright. Snider and Wright are both free agents after being recently cut by the Royals and Diamondbacks, respectively.
- The release of Miguel Gonzalez wasn’t a popular move within the Orioles clubhouse, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes, as Gonzalez was extremely well-liked by his teammates. There was “a lot of anger” about the move both yesterday and today, Ghiroli tweets, and “guys are upset, shocked by the whole thing.” The transaction has logic from a business perspective, as Gonzalez hasn’t pitched well and the O’s could recoup around $4MM of Gonzalez’s $5.1MM salary by releasing him now (or they could get the entire salary off the books if the righty is claimed by another team). Gonzalez also had a minor league option remaining, however, so Baltimore’s decision to release him instead of sending him to Triple-A “has to scare practically every player in that clubhouse,” as Encina writes.
- The Orioles have had their share of messy situations this spring, Encina noted in another article, including the fact that $7MM investment Hyun Soo Kim likely won’t make the Opening Day roster. Kim’s contract stipulates that he can’t be optioned to the minors, and while the Orioles got out of a similar situation with another Korean player in Suk Min Yoon two years ago, that move was helped by Yoon being able to find a higher salary with a Korea Baseball Organization team. According to Encina, the O’s are having a tough time finding a KBO club willing to top Kim’s $7MM salary over the next two seasons. Between Kim, Yoon and the Orioles’ controversial signing of pitcher Seong-min Kim a few years ago, Encina wonders if the team is hurting its chances of signing future Korean talent.
Yankees’ Bryan Mitchell To Miss Three Months With Fractured Toe
Yankees right-hander Bryan Mitchell will miss three months due to a fractured toe, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports (Twitter link). Surgery may be necessary, though that won’t be decided until Mitchell visits a specialist, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). In addition, Mitchell also has Grade 3 turf toe.
Mitchell suffered the injury while covering first in yesterday’s Spring Training camp against the Braves. In that very same game, incredibly, Andrew Miller also suffered a chip fracture in his right wrist, leaving the Yankees potentially down two key relievers in a matter of innings.
Miller has said he plans to pitch through the injury to his non-throwing hand, though Mitchell unfortunately had no recourse. The Yankees were building around a potentially superb bullpen this season led by the Aroldis Chapman/Miller/Dellin Betances trio, though Chapman is suspended for the first 30 games, Miller is dealing with his wrist problem and now Mitchell is also hitting the DL.
The 24-year-old Mitchell was expected to take on a greater role with the Yankees this season, stepping into the swingman job left open after Adam Warren was dealt to the Cubs in the Starlin Castro trade. With so many injury questions within the Yankees’ rotation, Mitchell was tabbed as a key depth piece who could step up as a starter if necessary. With Mitchell out of action, it could open the door for Anthony Swarzak or rookies Luis Cessa or Johnny Barbato to join Ivan Nova as New York’s primary rotation depth option.
The righty looked impressive in 14 2/3 spring innings, allowing just one earned run and one walk while recording 11 strikeouts. Mitchell posted a 5.31 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 1.89 K/BB rate over 40 2/3 innings from 2014-15, with 20 of his 23 appearances in the bigs coming out of the New York bullpen. He possesses a big fastball, averaging 96.1 mph on the pitch last season.
Red Sox Name Travis Shaw As Starting Third Baseman, Pablo Sandoval To Bench
Red Sox manager John Farrell informed media members today that Travis Shaw has won the starting third base job. The move relegates Pablo Sandoval, still owed $75MM on his contract through the 2019 season, to a bench role.
While the Sox have openly stated all spring that roster spots will be determined by performance, it’s still eye-opening to see Sandoval go from vaunted offseason signing to backup in the span of just one year. Sandoval struggled badly in his first season in Boston, hitting just .245/.292/.366 over 505 plate appearances and posting terrible defensive numbers (-21.9 UZR/150, minus-11 Defensive Runs Saved) at the hot corner.
Farrell noted (hat tip to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald) that Shaw’s defense clinched the decision, which makes sense given that both players hit well during Spring Training — Shaw has an .898 OPS over 58 spring PA, while Sandoval has an .848 OPS over 39 PA. Sandoval also missed some dealing with a bad back, which looks like it cost him valuable playing time.
Though Sandoval was recently scouted by the Padres, there hasn’t been much trade chatter about the veteran third baseman, which isn’t exactly surprising given his big contract and poor season. The Panda is just one of multiple payroll albatrosses on Boston’s payroll; between Sandoval, Rusney Castillo and Allen Craig, the Red Sox have almost $38MM tied up in players who aren’t expected to be everyday players (or, in Craig’s case, even in the majors). That’s not counting Hanley Ramirez, who also heavily underachieved in his first year in Boston and is owed $66MM through 2018 with another $22MM available in a vesting option for 2019. If the Red Sox were to trade Sandoval or any of these players, they would very likely have to eat more of the salary owed or take on another bad contract to facilitate a deal.
Shaw, meanwhile, is under team control through the 2021 season and has made a semi-out of nowhere ascent to a Major League starting lineup. A ninth-round draft pick in 2011, Shaw was a decently well-regarded prospect (Baseball America ranked him as the 19th best prospect in the Red Sox system prior to 2015, and 26th prior to 2014) who made a large impression in his rookie season, hitting .270/.327/.487 over his first 248 PA in the bigs. Shaw is a first baseman by trade but has appeared in 104 games at third in the minors and eight games at the position last season with the Sox.
John Schuerholz Steps Down As Braves President
Longtime Braves executive John Schuerholz will step down from his role as the club’s president into the newly-created role of Vice Chairman, as announced per a Braves media release. Executive vice presidents Mike Plant and Derek Schiller, both with the team since 2003, will step in under the new titles of president of development (Plant) and president of business (Schiller).
Stepping down as president allows the 75-year-old Schuerholz to escape some of the day-to-day business associated with the job, though he tells MLB.com’s Mark Bowman that he’ll certainly continue to be involved with the Braves.
“There is so much joy to me to be a part of this great game,” Schuerholz said. “I love it. It’s not a chore for me to come into the office. It’s not a chore for me to go to my work. But I keep being reminded by my lovely wife that I’m doing too much of that grinding and working on holidays and so on and so forth. That’s how I am. It’s not work for me.”
As he enters his 51st season working in pro baseball, Schuerholz has had one of the most decorated careers of any executive in the game. After breaking into the business working for his hometown Orioles, he joined the expansion Royals’ front office in 1969 and assumed many roles over the next 21 years with the team, including serving as general manager from 1981-1990 (a stint that included a World Series title in 1985). He took over as the Braves’ GM in October 1990 and the club proceeded to go on a historic run of success.
In Schuerholz’s stint as GM from 1991-2007, the Braves won an incredible 14 straight NL East titles, a streak interrupted only by the 1994 strike season. The highlight of that run was the 1995 World Series championship, making Schuerholz part of the very short list of executives to build World Series winners with two different franchises. Schuerholz stepped away from GM duties after the 2007 season to become Atlanta’s club president.
West Notes: Dodgers, Wood, Wolters, Bush
After a Spring Training in which they’ve beset by injuries, the Dodgers‘ thrifty offseason looms large, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes. The Dodgers’ lengthy injury list (including players who were hurt before the spring started) currently features Andre Ethier, Brett Anderson, Hyun-jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy and Frankie Montas, who all figure to miss significant time, along with Howie Kendrick, Yasmani Grandal, Mike Bolsinger and others, whose maladies currently appear to be somewhat less serious. “It’s one of those freak things, that everything is happening at once,” says Kendrick. “Better it happen here than later, and then hopefully we get on with our season.” The Dodgers’ core issue, as Nightengale sees it, is that despite being a financial powerhouse, they want to succeed by accumulating depth and staying patient, rather than by paying the prices (either in money or in top prospects, of which they have many) necessary to acquire star players. That means they won’t be willing to trade their best young talent for upgrades now, even when they’ve been bitten by the injury bug. Here’s more from the West divisions.
- Dodgers starter Alex Wood looks like a rebound candidate, FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan writes. That would be a bit of good news for the team’s beleaguered rotation. Wood has raised his release point, which had fallen during his uneven 2015 season. He might also be in the process of regaining some of the velocity he’s lost as well — it fell from an average of 91.7 MPH in 2013 to 89.3 last season, and his pitches this spring have been closer to his 2013 levels.
- Catcher Tony Wolters was an unlikely choice to make the Rockies‘ roster, but he’ll head north with the big-league team thanks in part to his ability to play at the middle infield positions as well as behind the plate, Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. When the Rockies claimed Wolters in February, he had never played above the Double-A level. He initially played shortstop in the Indians organization before switching to catching in 2013. That versatility could make him more useful in extra-inning games — and, I’d think, in long games in general, of which Coors Field has many. “We didn’t know the kid until spring training started,” says manager Walt Weiss. “Over the course of six weeks, he won a lot of people over. That’s hard to do in this game.”
- The Rangers believe Matt Bush could pitch in the Major Leagues in 2016, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. Bush, of course, was the first overall pick by the Padres in the 2004 draft, but the path he’s taken since then has been rocky, to say the least. He flamed out as a shortstop, and more troublingly, had a number of run-ins with the law, including a drunk-driving incident that resulted in him hitting a motorcyclist and spending more than three years in jail. But one member of the Rangers’ minor-league staff, Roy Silver, was in contact with Bush during his incarceration and had experience working with Josh Hamilton and other addicts. Bush, now a pitcher, is currently hitting 100 MPH from the mound.
Rule 5 Pick Chris O’Grady Returns To Angels
9:45pm: The Angels have announced that they’ve accepted O’Grady’s return, which means they paid the Reds $25K. O’Grady has been assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake.
2:45pm: Reds’ Rule 5 selection Chris O’Grady has cleared waivers and been offered back to the Angels, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports on Twitter. With all the other clubs in the league passing on a chance to take over the left-hander’s Rule 5 rights, Los Angeles will have three days to decide whether to take him back.
O’Grady, 25, is a former tenth-round pick out of George Mason. He spent last year at Double-A and Triple-A in the Halos’ system, working to a combined 3.28 ERA with 8.9 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9 over 57 2/3 frames. But O’Grady struggled some in spring action, allowing 10 earned runs on 10 hits over 9 2/3 innings — though he also recorded eight strikeouts against only three walks.
East Notes: Rickard, Banuelos, Eveland
Outfielder Joey Rickard has been told that he’s made the Orioles‘ roster, Roch Kubatko of MASN tweets. Of course, it comes as little surprise that Rickard, a Rule 5 pick from the Tampa Bay organization, would make the team after batting .390/.463/.576 this spring. Rickard could be having a significant impact on the Orioles’ roster composition, too, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan recently noted. Hyun Soo Kim is unlikely to make the Orioles’ 25-man and his immediate future is unclear, and while Kim’s .182/.229/.182 performance this spring is part of the reason why, but Rickard is part of the reason too. As Sullivan notes, Rickard doesn’t have much power (he only had two home runs all of last season in the minors) but was successful last year thanks to his abilities to hit for contact and control the strike zone. Rickard might also be able to add value with his defense and baserunning. If everything goes right, that could make him similar, as a player, to the late Ryan Freel, who was surprisingly productive for the Reds from 2003 through 2006. Here’s more from the East divisions.
- Braves lefty Manny Banuelos is fighting elbow soreness, and there’s no timetable for his return, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. A recent MRI indicated there was no damage, but the Braves are determining their plan for Banuelos, who had Tommy John surgery three years ago and had surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow last September. Banuelos, who was competing for a job in the Braves’ rotation, says he doesn’t think his current soreness is a huge problem. “Doesn’t feel like it, but we’ll see,” he says. “I’m not worried too much. I wish I could pitch, man.”
- Rays lefty Dana Eveland has an opt-out Friday, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. Eveland is competing for a role in the Rays’ bullpen and has gotten good results in Spring Training, striking out eight batters and walking three in 10 2/3 innings while allowing three runs, none earned. He signed a minor-league deal with the team in September.
Padres Notes: Preller, Trade Deadline, Wood, Lincecum
Padres president Mike Dee denies recent whispers that GM A.J. Preller’s job is in danger after the team’s failed attempt at contention last season, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. “Not true,” says Dee. “We have more confidence and excitement about him as GM than when we hired him in 2014. … He’s here for the long haul.” Dee says one reason the team hired Preller was because of his background in acquiring amateur talent, and it will take awhile for his efforts in that area to bear fruit. Notably, the organization is already rumored to have committed almost $30MM to talent that will become available in next summer’s Latin American amateur market — a huge figure, particularly given the penalties that will be involved. Here’s more on the Padres.
- Sherman also has some fun details of the Padres’ activity — or lack thereof — on the trade market last summer. They were reportedly offered only outfielder Junior Lake from the Cubs in return for Ian Kennedy. The Mets offered pitching prospect Michael Fulmer (later the key to the Yoenis Cespedes deal) for Justin Upton, but the Padres were concerned about Fulmer’s long-term viability as a starter. The Yankees, meanwhile, offered infield prospect Jorge Mateo for Craig Kimbrel (who, of course, later netted a considerable return from the Red Sox). They let Kennedy and Upton walk, but will receive compensation picks for them.
- After trading Nick Vincent to the Mariners, Preller says he doesn’t think the team will make any more significant deals before the start of the season, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. “I don’t really think so,” says Preller. “I think at this point, our focus has been more on some of the position battles, the competitions to round the club out. But you never want to say no.” As Lin notes, the team acquired Kimbrel just as the season started last year, but it doesn’t appear they plan on something like that happening again. Preller adds that the team is happy with Wil Myers at first base, seemingly in response to a question about whether they might pursue someone like James Loney (who’s now in limbo after being told he won’t make the Rays’ Opening Day roster) to platoon with him.
- Former phenom Brandon Wood — who belted a remarkable 43 home runs as a 20-year-old for Class A+ Rancho Cucamonga in 2005 but never made an impact in the Majors — is now 31 and preparing for his first season as a minor-league manager, Ted Berg of USA Today writes. Before the 2006 season, Baseball America rated Wood (then with the Angels) the third-best prospect in the game. Now he’s set to manage the short-season Tri-City Dust Devils. Wood says anxiety was his undoing as a player, recalling that he at times struggled to control his body because he wasn’t breathing enough.
- The Padres are expected to be keenly interested in free agent starter Tim Lincecum, Jon Heyman writes (Twitter links). Lincecum is rumored to be throwing 90 MPH off flat ground, Heyman reports, but he hasn’t yet had a showcase (even though there has been talk of a showcase for months now), saying he wants to be “perfect” for it. Lincecum is making his way back from hip surgery.
Andrew Miller Suffers Chip Fracture In Right Wrist
7:08pm: Miller has a chip fracture in his right wrist, Curry tweets. He will see a hand specialist to determine the best course of action to treat it.
4:39pm: Miller has undergone X-rays and they came back negative, Jack Curry of YES tweets. Miller still has to have a CT-scan.
3:03pm: Yankees reliever Andrew Miller left today’s action after taking a comebacker to his right wrist. It has been diagnosed as a bruise for now, but Miller is headed for further testing, as George A. King III of the New York Post was among those to tweet.
With Aroldis Chapman out for the first thirty games of the season, Miller was expected to reprise his closing duties from a year ago. The high-powered lefty has firmly established himself as one of the game’s very best relievers, and any absence would certainly tell. Of course, the Yankees also have yet another top-quality pen arm in Dellin Betances.
It’s obviously far too soon to know the prognosis, and the injury is far less worrisome than had it been to his opposing hand. But with Opening Day less than a week off, even a brief absence could well require a trip to the DL.