AL East Notes: Sims, Stroman, Ramirez, Bogaerts, Rodriguez
Spring training provides many opportunities for teams to interact with their fans, but it isn’t often that you hear about a club actually signing one. But the Yankees did just that for ten-year-old Landis Sims, an inspiring young man who miraculously has devised a way to play baseball despite being born without hands or lower legs. It’s a great story, courtesy of ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand, and well worth a read. Congratulations to Landis on his opportunity in Yanks camp!
Here’s more from the AL East:
- Budding Blue Jays staff ace Marcus Stroman has impressed plenty already, but Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca writes that he’s working on taking the next step by tinkering with a quick pitch to keep hitters off balance. More notable than the new offering itself, perhaps, is the process behind it. “I always like to pick hitters’ brains,” explains Stroman, “and the biggest thing sometimes hitters say that messes them up is when pitchers change their tempo, change their motion, change their delivery.” Generally, the soon-to-be 25-year-old righty says that he “feel[s] extremely strong out there on the mound” this spring.
- While the focus on Red Sox first baseman Hanley Ramirez has revolved around his transition in the field, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports that he’s also working to re-tool his swing. The surprising Travis Shaw is doing all he can to push Ramirez this spring, but Boston skipper John Farrell says he’s pleased with what he’s seen thus far at the plate from the veteran. His swing is “more compact,” says Farrell, “more of a line-drive approach.” Ramirez started strong last year offensively but faded to a substandard .249/.291/.426 overall batting line on the season.
- As Rob Bradford of WEEI.com writes, Ramirez once wrestled with the decision whether to accept an early-career extension, ultimately accepting one with the Marlins. Now, current Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts could be facing a similar choice. While Bogaerts previously suggested that Boston had not initiated talks, his response was somewhat different when asked recently. “I would just say I’m working hard, and will keep working hard,” he said when asked about a possible long-term deal. “People who work hard get good rewards, so we’ll see what happens what happens with that in the end. I’m just trying to focus on the game now.” While it’s not yet clear whether serious talks are underway, or whether they will ultimately occur this winter, it is certainly interesting to consider whether Boston will make a real run at locking up the Scott Boras client, a former top prospect who broke out last year and still has four years of team control remaining.
- The Red Sox have a limited window to get enticing young lefty Eduardo Rodriguez ready to open the season in the rotation, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports. He is staying off of the mound for the time being after recently suffering a tweak to his right kneecap. Boston is proceeding cautiously with a pitcher who is expected to be a key cog for years to come, and appears to feel good about leaning on its depth if that proves necessary. The 22-year-old contributed 121 2/3 innings of 3.85 ERA pitching last year, with 7.2 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9, and with 170 total frames (including his Triple-A output) he seems ready to take on a full season’s workload if he can return in time for a full ramp-up.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/7/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league, each courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise cited…
- The Tigers have signed former Astros right-hander Lucas Harrell to a minor league contract, Eddy reports. Harrell reportedly threw for Detroit earlier in Spring Training, prior to the club’s deal with Bobby Parnell. While the Parnell deal was, at the time, believed to be the final move on the pitching side of the coin for the Tigers in Spring Training, Harrell will now be coming on board after all. Harrell, 30, spent the 2015 season pitching in Korea and logged a marginal 4.93 ERA in 171 2/3 innings with the LG Twins, though it should be noted that the KBO is a notoriously hitter-friendly league. Harrell’s 171 2/3 innings showed the durability that he’s displayed for much of his pro career. His best season came with Astros in 2012, when he tallied a 3.76 ERA in 193 2/3 innings (32 starts) out of the Houston rotation.
- Also inking a minor league deal last week was right-hander Josh Roenicke, who inked such a pact with the Angels. The 32-year-old Roenicke (nephew of former Brewers manager and current Halos coach Ron Roenicke) last appeared in the Majors with the 2013 Twins, recording a 4.35 ERA across 62 innings of work. Though he was once a notable prospect in the Reds’ system, Roenicke never blossomed into a regular contributor in the rotation or bullpen at any of his big league stops. He’s spent the past two seasons with the Triple-A affiliates for the Rockies, Nationals and Brewers, recording a collective ERA north of 6.00.
- The Cubs have signed outfielder Ryan Kalish to a minor league pact. Formerly a top prospect with the Red Sox, Kalish is quite familiar to Cubs executives Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod. The 27-year-old didn’t play in 2015 after a minor league deal with the Blue Jays reportedly fell through. Kalish saw his most recent professional action with the Cubs in 2014, when he logged 157 plate appearances with the big league club. He’s a lifetime .245/.293/.350 hitter in the Majors and a .257/.325/.405 hitter at the Triple-A level. He’ll serve as organizational depth with the Cubs, presumably, as the team already has a very crowded outfield picture at the big league level.
- Shortstop Justin Sellers and first baseman Josh Satin have both signed with the Padres on minor league deals. The 30-year-old Sellers spent a bit of time with the Pirates and White Sox organizations last year but didn’t produce much in the minors. Sellers didn’t appear in the bigs last year, but he logged Major League time each year from 2011-14, hitting .198/.280/.294 across 287 plate appearances. Satin, meanwhile, spent parts of those same 2011-14 seasons with the Mets, batting .243/.346/.351. He spent last season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, where he batted .247/.347/.357. Satin has typically been considerably more productive against left-handed pitching, making him a useful platoon option for the Padres’ system.
Speculative Jhonny Peralta Replacements For The Cardinals
The Cardinals are still reeling from the loss of Jhonny Peralta, perhaps for as long as three months, due to what is believed to be a torn ligament in his left thumb. While the book isn’t closed on Peralta’s recovery timeline just yet — he’s still headed to St. Louis to receive a second opinion on the injured digit — it would appear that Jedd Gyorko will step into the vacancy. Acquired in an offseason swap with the Padres that was made in part to keep Peralta fresh and in part to subtract Jon Jay (and his remaining salary) from a crowded outfield picture, Gyorko is the favorite to absorb Peralta’s at-bats, with Greg Garcia and Aledmys Diaz also representing internal options.
The problem with that scenario, of course, is that Gyorko isn’t a shortstop. He played some short out of necessity for the Padres last year after their widely panned platoon of Alexi Amarista and Clint Barmes failed to yield dividends. Gyorko was about three to four runs below average in 220 innings at the position in the estimation of Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved, and UZR pro-rated his defensive contributions to -17.6 runs over a 150-game spell. Clearly, there’s danger in extrapolating a small sample of 220 innings in that manner and treating it as fact, but Gyorko wasn’t even perceived as a plus defender at his more natural positions of second and third base, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he graded out very poorly at the most difficult infield position on the defensive spectrum.
Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron provided a quick glimpse at the injury and listed Erick Aybar as perhaps the most logical stopgap the Cardinals could pursue in an effort to upgrade. Aybar is a free agent at season’s end on a rebuilding Braves club, so the fit certainly stands out as logical. Cameron also noted that the Mets have a potential infield surplus with both Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada slated to fill reserve roles (the latter of those two is rumored to be on the bubble when it comes to the 25-man roster, anyhow), though he aptly notes that the Mets may not want to help strengthen another National League contender.
As MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes, GM John Mozeliak acknowledged that, depending on the severity of the issue, the club could pursue outside help at the shortstop position. Each of the names suggested by Cameron is indeed a logical fit for the Cardinals. Here’s a look at a few names from around the league that could potentially be looked at if the Cardinals wish to address the unexpected void with a player from outside the organization…
Trade Possibilities
- Erick Aybar, Braves: As noted above, Aybar is one year from free agency on a rebuilding club that has shown a willingness to trade virtually any veteran piece it has (Freddie Freeman excluded). Atlanta has internal options that it could consider long-term pieces (Dansby Swanson, Ozhaino Albies), and while they’re not particularly close to the Majors, the Braves could slot someone like Daniel Castro or a minor pickup of their own in at short in the event of an Aybar trade.
- Ruben Tejada/Wilmer Flores, Mets: Tejada was recently awarded an extra day of service time, making him a free agent following the season. He’s said to be on the fringe of New York’s 25-man roster this spring, and Flores could serve as the club’s primary backup all over the infield even if Tejada were to be traded. It seems far less likely that the Mets would move Flores, who has a fairly productive season last year and offers more offense in a reserve capacity with multiple years of club control remaining, but the team was famously open to trading him last summer.
- Nick Ahmed/Chris Owings, D-backs: As recently as last spring, this combination looked like a potential long-term alignment for the Diamondbacks, but that’s less the case this spring. For one, Arizona went out and acquired Jean Segura to field one of the spots — likely shortstop — thus displacing the defensively gifted Ahmed from an everyday role. Beyond that, Brandon Drury had a strong season and worked his way onto multiple top 100 prospect rankings, giving the D-backs another potential option at second. Drury could play third base as well, though Arizona has Jake Lamb as a big-league-ready option at third base — one that could handle the spot long-term. With Segura, Ahmed, Owings, Drury and Lamb, the Snakes seemingly have five infielders for three spots.
- Eduardo Nunez/Danny Santana, Twins: While Nunez isn’t known for his glovework himself, he’s more experienced than Gyorko at the position and is coming off a solid season with the bat, having slashed .282/.327/.431 in 204 plate appearances with Minnesota. Santana is out options and has yet to proven himself in the field or at the plate. After a BABIP-fueled rookie season, Santana cratered in 2015 and now looks like a utility player for the Twins. Neither player is a definitive upgrade, but both would deepen the club’s infield mix and provide greater shortstop experience than the Cards’ incumbent options. Minnesota wouldn’t be anxious to shed either player, but doing so could create a utility role for top prospect Jorge Polanco. Their preference, though, could be to get him everyday at-bats in the minors.
- Chris Taylor/Luis Sardinas, Mariners: Both infielders are competing for the right to back up Ketel Marte at shortstop. Taylor, a career .313/.394/.460 hitter at Triple-A, struggled badly in the Majors this past season but offers more offensive upside than Sardinas. On the other hand, Sardinas is probably a more sure-handed defensive option despite his own big league struggles at the plate and a more pedestrian .285/.315/.365 batting line in his Triple-A career.
- Freddy Galvis, Phillies: Galvis doesn’t bring much to the table from an offensive standpoint, and the returns on his defensive work at shortstop are mixed. Ultimate Zone Rating feels that Galvis has been about average over the life of his 1567 career innings there, whereas Defensive Runs Saved feels he’s cost his team 10 runs there. If Cardinals scouts feel that Galvis is a passable shortstop, then perhaps they’ll overlook last year’s .263/.302/.343 batting line, which rated more than 20 percent worse than the league average after adjusting for his home park (76 wRC+, 77 OPS+). For what it’s worth, he did homer seven times and swipe 10 bases in his 603 plate appearances.
- Nick Franklin, Rays: Considering how long Franklin’s name has been bounced around, it almost feels like he should be in his late 20s. That comes with the territory for a player who made his big league debut and played a whole season before he even turned 23 years old, though. Franklin only turned 25 last week, and while he hasn’t developed into the everyday infielder that he was projected to, he hit .266/.353/.500 in 221 PAs at Triple-A Durham last year. The presence of Brad Miller and Tim Beckham could effectively block Franklin in Tampa Bay.
Free Agents
- Everth Cabrera: The former NL stolen base champ barely played in 2015, hitting .208/.250/.229 in 105 plate appearances with the Orioles. He wasn’t much better in the minors, batting just .230/.302/.259 in 150 PAs between the Orioles and Giants. Cabrera is nearly three years and a PED suspension removed from providing value at the Major League level, but the Cards could take a look on a minor league deal and hope to benefit from a resurgence.
- Willie Bloomquist: At 38 years old with a .238/.262/.287 batting line across his previous two seasons in Seattle, Bloomquist probably isn’t on radars as anything more than a veteran on which to take a minor league flier with a utility role in mind.
Suffice it to say, there aren’t any enticing options currently on the free agent market, though the Cardinals could find some options late in camp as veterans on minor league deals with out clauses begin to exercise those provisions.
Submit Your Questions For This Week’s MLBTR Mailbag
It’s Monday, which means we’re gearing up for another edition of the MLBTR Mailbag. In last week’s edition, Jeff Todd and I fielded questions on the Craig Kimbrel trade, Ian Desmond‘s contract with the Rangers, a theoretical Manny Machado extension, the Royals’ right field situation and the Braves’ rotation.
If you have a question you’ve been mulling over and would like MLBTR’s take, let us know: mlbtrmailbag@gmail.com. We can’t get to every question, of course, but remember that you can also send questions our way on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in the weekly live chats hosted by myself and Jeff Todd, respectively. Also remember that Mailbag questions are welcome throughout the week, so feel free to send them at any time.
NL Notes: Cubs, Heyward, Pirates, Morton, Span
The Cubs have several players, including Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, Dexter Fowler and Trevor Cahill that turned down more money elsewhere to sign in Chicago, tweets Jon Heyman. The Cardinals‘ best offer is to Heyward is “thought to [have been]” $200MM over 10 years, while the Nationals, as previously reported, offered the outfielder $200MM+ over 10 years, albeit with significant deferrals, Heyman tweets. The three bids between the two teams were pretty much comparable (link), but Heyward simply preferred the Cubs over the other clubs. The outfielder, he adds, liked the team’s nucleus and, personally, he has a good history of playing at Wrigley. Heyman also notes that the other teams would have been willing to give him an opt-out as well.
A few more notes from around the NL…
- Charlie Morton is hopeful that his groundball-inducing ways will translate to hitter-friendly Citzens Bank Park, PhillyVoice’s Ryan Lawrence writes. Morton produced a 4.81 ERA, 6.7 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 pitching with the Pirates, although with an excellent 57.3% ground ball rate. “I had a theory about smaller parks, and the ground that outfielders have to cover, it’s minimized when you have a smaller park,” Morton says. “So if you can pitch to contact and pitch to weak contact, especially ground balls, I think you’ll do really well. Knock on wood, but I’ve had some success at Great American Ball Park, Great American Small Park. I think some of the reason why that is is because if I’m inducing weak contact or ground balls.” Morton has, indeed, posted a career 3.83 ERA in 54 innings at “Great American Small Park,” better than his career 4.54 ERA. That could merely be a sample-size issue, however. In any case, if Morton succeeds in the tight confines of Citizens Bank Park, he could perhaps, as Lawrence points out, fetch a prospect or two for the Phillies this summer.
- Highly touted minor league right-handers Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow represent options this season should any pitcher in the Pirates’ rotation fall to injury or struggle significantly, GM Neal Huntington told Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. However, while the Pirates recognized that Taillon and Glasnow could factor into the club’s rotation in 2016, they didn’t bank on that fact. Pittsburgh added veterans Jon Niese (via trade with the Mets) and Ryan Vogelsong (via free agency) to round out the rotation. Huntington noted that Glasnow still needs to refine his changeup before making it to the Major Leagues, saying Glasnow is “still doing minor league hitters a favor” when he turns to his changeup over his electric fastball. Taillon is now two years removed from Tommy John surgery and will have his innings monitored this year.
- Giants outfielder Denard Span talked with MLB Network Radio’s Cliff Floyd and Casey Stern about his free agency this winter and his goals for his first season with the Giants (audio link). “This team, they took a chance on me,” said Span. “A lot of other teams were shying away, but the Giants just showed how much they really wanted me, and so it made it an easy decision for me. … The fact that they pursued me and pursued a couple other guys — [Jeff] Samardzija and [Johnny] Cueto — it makes me feel good that they feel like, they didn’t go to the postseason last year, and I’m one of the missing pieces to help them get back there.” Among the other topics covered by Span are his first impressions of future Hall of Fame skipper Bruce Bochy and how he plans to work on outfield communication with the man he displaced in center field — Angel Pagan (who will now slide over to left field).
Jeremy Hellickson On Offseason Trade
As a part of the Diamondbacks’ efforts to remold themselves into a contender, they sent one of their starters off to a rebuilding club. In November, the D-backs shipped Jeremy Hellickson to the Phillies in exchange for 20-year-old righty Sam McWilliams. Hellickson, unlike McWilliams, comes with a lengthy track record at the big league level — something that could theoretically have appealed to the win-now Diamondbacks — but he’s struggled in recent seasons, logging a 4.73 ERA over the past three seasons after an outstanding start to his career. The Diamondbacks decided to use his relatively sizable projected salary elsewhere.
Leading up to the deal, Hellickson says that he didn’t get a phone call from anyone in the organization indicating that a move might be coming down. However, he sensed that he could be traded at any moment. “I didn’t have any indication [that a deal could happen], you just kind of get a feeling with the direction that they’re going in,” Hellickson said in Clearwater, Fla. late last week. “I didn’t know that they were going to sign guys for that much money after trading me, but I just got the feeling that was going to happen.”
After Hellickson’s departure, the Diamondbacks spent $206.5MM on Zack Greinke; paid a hefty premium in terms of player personnel to acquire Shelby Miller (Ender Inciarte, Dansby Swanson and Aaron Blair); signed Tyler Clippard to a two-year, $12.25MM deal; and acquired Jean Segura and righty Tyler Wagner from the Brewers for Chase Anderson, Isan Diaz and Aaron Hill. Now, after winning 79 games in 2015, the D-backs could very well contend for the NL West crown. Even though the Phillies seem more likely to wind up in the cellar of the NL East than at the top, Hellickson says that he isn’t bothering to concern himself with his former club’s dealings.
At the age of 28, Hellickson is one of the team’s “veteran” starters, along with 32-year-old Charlie Morton (a fellow offseason trade acquisition). Hellickson admits that it’s an odd role to play for someone who is on the right side of 30.
“It is a little bit weird being one of the veteran guys on this rotation,” said Hellickson. “It was kind of the same situation alst year [in Arizona] but the game is getting younger. There are guys getting called up at 21 or 22 years old. I don’t feel old at 28, but 28 is kind of old in this game right now.”
Hellickson and the Phillies avoided arbitration back in January with the right-hander getting $7MM instead of his projected $6.6MM salary. After this season, the Scott Boras client is headed towards free agency. Hellickson may or may not rack up wins this season, but the former American League Rookie of the Year could position himself for a nice payday with a rebound campaign in 2016.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
White Sox Notes: Jackson, Alexei, Latos
The White Sox may finally have wrapped up an interesting offseason with today’s announcement of the signing of outfielder Austin Jackson to a one-year, $5MM contract. He’ll join a series of other new faces on the MLB roster in Chicago, none of whom — including the trade acquisitions — are guaranteed or controlled for more than two years. The overall financial commitment is quite minimal, and the South Siders still look to have plenty of long-term flexibility.
Here’s the latest on a few of those additions, and one notable departure:
- Jackson will indeed be Chicago’s primary center fielder, GM Rick Hahn told reporters including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin (Twitter link). That means that Adam Eaton, fresh off of a quality campaign in the first year of his extension, will line up primarily in the corner outfield. Clearly, the team’s overall glovework on the grass should be much improved, as the team’s preexisting alignment likely would’ve featured Melky Cabrera and Avisail Garcia on both corners.
- As something of an added bonus, the Sox kept Jackson from the division-rival Indians, per Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (Twitter links). Cleveland felt it would have needed to go north of $5MM to add Jackson, who seemed to prefer to play in Chicago.
- Padres shortstop Alexei Ramirez asked to go on a road trip to play the White Sox, his longtime club, as Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com reports. Ramirez called it “really emotional” to suit up for the only MLB organization he’d ever played for previously, saying that he put in “eight years of defending, 100 percent energy, eight years of being the first to show up and work hard every day” in Chicago. Ramirez added that San Diego’s $4MM contract was the sole firm offer he received this winter.
- Newly-signed White Sox righty Mat Latos says that he’s eager not just to show his form on the mound, but also to rebuild his image, as Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com reports. “Maybe I needed a wake-up call,” said the 28-year-old. “I’m very direct, and I’ve just got to pick and choose my battles and learn to just hold onto some things. If I had some issues with things that went on with Cincinnati, I needed to keep them to myself. That was just a slip-up on my part. That was me dummying up. Just a bad lapse of judgment.” In an email, GM Rick Hahn suggested that the organization wasn’t scared off by a player’s reputation, preferring instead to sit down with each individual and make an assessment. In the case of Latos, it isn’t hard to see how the organization might’ve believed he would be motivated to make good on a $3MM investment.
Jairo Diaz To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
Rockies reliever Jairo Diaz is set to undergo Tommy John surgery after suffering a partial UCL tear, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. The 24-year-old will certainly miss all of the coming season and may not quite be ready for the start of 2017, depending upon his recovery timeline.
Diaz, 24, had been expected to challenge for a role in the Colorado bullpen. He owns an upper nineties fastball that he pairs with a high-velo slider, but has struggled to keep the ball in the zone and doesn’t induce a ton of swings and misses.
Last year, he contributed 19 innings of 2.37 ERA pitching, with 8.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9, in his first extended stint at the major league level. Of course, Diaz sent most of his season at Triple-A and wasn’t quite as productive. There, he spun 64 2/3 frames with a 4.18 ERA while providing evidence of his control problems (8.4 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9).
White Sox To Sign Austin Jackson
The White Sox have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Jackson on a $5MM contract, Jon Heyman writes (all Twitter links). Jackson is a Scott Boras client.
Heyman notes that Jackson could have signed with the Angels for more money, but preferred to stay in Chicago (where he played with the Cubs last season) and play center field, rather than left. Late last month, it was reported that Jackson had rejected an offer from the Angels in the $5MM-$6MM range.
Jackson, 29, batted .267/.311/.385 in 527 plate appearances last season, spending most of the year with the Mariners before heading to the Cubs in a late-August deal. His hitting has, on the whole, been mildly disappointing the past two seasons, as he struggled to hit home runs in pitcher-friendly Seattle and has largely continued his career-long trend of being strikeout-prone. He has generally produced good value on the bases, however (despite stealing only 17 bases compared to ten times caught last year). Jackson is also fairly young and has maintained a reasonably high baseline level of performance, producing over 2 fWAR in five of his six seasons in the big leagues.
Jackson played center in Seattle but spent most of his time in the corners after being traded. His defense has graded as about average in center field — UZR rated him as 7.5 runs above average in center last season but was less favorable in the two years before that, while Defensive Runs Saved has marked him as about average in all of the last three seasons. He has rated as a better defender than incumbent White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton, who had a good year with the bat in 2015. It’s possible Eaton could move to a corner, or maybe Jackson could take at bats in center when Eaton isn’t playing and also play occasionally in a corner himself. Eaton is currently dealing with a shoulder issue, but via CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes (on Twitter), the White Sox do not seem overly concerned about Eaton’s health.
It isn’t surprising that the White Sox would be interested in Jackson, given their reported pursuits of outfielders like Dexter Fowler and Alex Gordon. Jackson’s signing will likely cut into Avisail Garcia‘s playing time, and though Jackson is far from a perfect player, he appears to be a significant upgrade (keeping in mind that Garcia is 24 and could improve). Garcia hit a disappointing .257/.309/.365 last season while struggling defensively in right. Jackson’s presence strengthens a White Sox defense that rated as worst in the Majors last season, via Fangraphs. The Jackson deal continues a busy South Side offseason that has also included the additions of Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie, Mat Latos, Alex Avila, Dioner Navarro and others, as the Sox have attempted to remake a roster that came up well short of expectations in a 76-win 2015 season.
Jackson’s $5MM price tag appears very reasonable for a player of his caliber. Before last offseason began, MLBTR projected that Jackson would receive more than twice that much, at $12MM for one year. Perhaps, though, the slow-developing outfield market influenced Jackson’s payday. Last week, MLBTR’s Steve Adams listed the White Sox as one of several teams that could have interest in Jackson.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AL East Notes: Warren, Yankees, Rays
When it comes to pitcher Adam Warren, the Yankees didn’t know what they had until it was gone, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal writes. The Yankees’ acquisition of Starlin Castro got plenty of attention, but the less heralded Warren could be tricky for New York to replace. Warren, 28, gave the Yankees 17 starts in addition to providing much needed help in the bullpen. He can also be controlled for another three years in arbitration, which is another major plus.
Here’s more from the AL East:
- Rays first baseman-turned-pitcher Dan Johnson says he is committed to getting better at his new craft, with no real timetable for getting things down pat, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. “I’m into it,” he said. “It’s completely up to the Rays how they want to work it. I’m coming in with an open mind. Send me to the Dominican league, I don’t care.” Johnson played first base for the Rays over parts of three seasons and spent 2015 with the Cardinals and Reds organizations.
- Orioles Rule 5 Draft pick Joey Rickard is turning heads in Sarasota, Florida, as Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com writes. “I like him,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of the outfielder. “Good defender in center and left so far. Timing is everything. He’s 24, lot of guys start figuring it out. He’s kind of come into his own the last year, carried it over into winter ball. He’s got a chance to make our club.” Rickard was plucked from the Rays organization over the winter.
- Rays right-handers Brad Boxberger and Jake Odorizzi as well as center fielder Kevin Kiermaier all turned down meager raises as a matter of principle in 2016. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times checked in with all three players about their decision and all three indicated that they did not take the matter personally this offseason.
- Over the weekend, MLBTR caught up with Blue Jays hurler Marco Estrada to discuss his return to the Blue Jays and his decision to forego testing the open market this offseason.