Cameron Maybin Out Four To Six Weeks With Fractured Hand
Tigers outfielder Cameron Maybin will be sidelined for the next four to six weeks due to a non-displaced hairline fracture in his left hand, manager Brad Ausmus told reporters, including Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). Maybin was hit by a pitch in yesterday’s Grapefruit League opener, leading to today’s injury news.
Maybin, 29 in April, was drafted by the Tigers with the 10th pick in the 2005 draft but traded to the Marlins in the Miguel Cabrera blockbuster back in 2007. He bounced from Miami to San Diego to Atlanta before being reacquired by the Tigers this offseason in exchange for relievers Ian Krol and Gabe Speier. Detroit’s subsequent signing of Justin Upton to a six-year deal shifted Maybin to a timeshare with the left-handed-hitting Anthony Gose in center field. With Maybin now doubtful to open the season with the club, Gose could see an increased role early on in the year.
Maybin struggled for much of his tenure with the Marlins and Padres but had somewhat of a rebound with the Braves last season, batting .267/.327/.370 with 10 homers and 23 stolen bases. His career splits don’t necessarily make him an ideal platoon partner for Gose, but Gose’s extreme struggles against fellow lefties (career .202/.256/.269 batting line) make Maybin’s .241/.298/.347 slash against lefties seem more appealing. Maybin is slated to earn $8MM this season — $2.5MM of which will be paid by Atlanta — and the Tigers hold a $9MM club option ($1MM buyout) over him for the 2017 season.
MLBTR Live Chat: 3/3/16
Click here to read a transcript of today’s live chat with host Jeff Todd.
Beane: Athletics “Exploring” Extension With Josh Reddick
Athletics president of baseball operations Billy Beane says that his organization is “exploring” a new deal with outfielder Josh Reddick, as Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM tweets. Last we heard, late in February, the sides had not engaged in talks about an extension.
As things stand, Reddick is set to reach free agency after this season. He is playing on a $6.575MM salary in his final arbitration campaign. Reddick has also made clear that he doesn’t wish to continue talks into the season, so there are only a few weeks to try to nail down a pact.
The 29-year-old has accumulated a lengthy track record of solid production at the plate, compiling a .255/.317/.441 slash line with 83 homers since the start of 2011. Other than an off 2013, he’s been a fairly consistent contributor when healthy.
A significant piece of Reddick’s value has come from his glove; at times, he has registered as an elite defender, per leading defensive metrics UZR and DRS. He has trailed off more recently, although that could conceivably be a sample blip or off year rather than a trend.
Both sides have previously expressed interest in continuing the relationship into the future, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll see eye to eye with Reddick nearing the open market. He’s a difficult free agent to predict at this point, but could conceivably earn a big payday with a strong all-around 2016 season. Meanwhile, Oakland could choose instead to dangle a qualifying offer after the season or even put Reddick on the block this summer if things don’t break right.
Podcast: Evan Grant On Rangers; Bradley Woodrum On TJ Surgery
Today’s MLBTR podcast features two great guests. First, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News hops on the show to fill us in on an upbeat Rangers camp. The topics include the signing of Ian Desmond, what Texas might do with its ample depth, whether there are any trades to explore this spring, and the extension situation with veteran third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Next, host Jeff Todd is joined by Bradley Woodrum to discuss his recent statistical research into predicting the likelihood of Tommy John surgeries. You can find the post on his findings right here on MLBTR, and Brad’s podcast discussion is essential listening for those interested in understanding it fully. He provides an excellent look at the process, the results (including what they do and don’t tell us), and what still remains to be investigated.
Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.
The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.
Peter Bourjos Eager For Fresh Start With Phillies
In December, the Phillies added to an already stacked outfield mix when they claimed Peter Bourjos off waivers from the Cardinals. The outfielder’s time in St. Louis was not terribly memorable and many pointed to his lingering hip injury as the culprit for his struggles. However, Bourjos says it was something else keeping him from playing his best with the Cards. 
“I think it was more just being in and out of the lineup. It was tough getting into a rhythm,” Bourjos told MLBTR in Clearwater, Florida on Thursday. “That’s the role I was in, that was the role I accepted, and you just try to do your best with it. It’s tough coming in and facing the set-up guy or the closer in pinch hit at-bats. It’s tough to get something going.”
Because of his inconsistent playing time, it was no surprise to Bourjos when he was exposed to waivers in the offseason.
“I didn’t really think I’d be back there, just because of how things played out down the stretch. I think I had three or four starts in the second half of the year. I didn’t really have a lot of at-bats. You can just kind of see the writing on the wall, that they had a lot of good young outfielders coming and it probably just wasn’t going to be a good fit,” said Bourjos.
Realizing that he wouldn’t be back with the Cardinals, Bourjos and agent Curtis Dishman huddled up to discuss potential landing spots and which teams would make the best fit for him. With the potential for significant and consistent playing time, the Phillies were “at the top” of his personal wish list. General Manager Matt Klentak told MLBTR back in December that his familiarity with Bourjos from their shared Angels days played a role in acquiring him, but the outfielder says that the Phillies have actually had interest in him for years, dating back to the Ruben Amaro-led front office.
It’s easy to see why the Phillies would have coveted Bourjos for so long. In 2011, the defensive wizard made a name for himself in baseball when he slashed .271/.327/.438. Now on his third big league team, Bourjos is determined to make the most of his fresh start.
“Whenever I’ve had consistent at-bats, I’ve played pretty well, and that goes back to 2013. The at-bats were consistent, but I got hurt. I was playing pretty well up until that point. It’s about getting out there and being consistent in the lineup. It kind of goes both ways, I have to prove that I can do that. I can’t get off to a bad start, I have to prove that I belong out there.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brett Anderson To Undergo Back Surgery, Out 3 To 5 Months
Dodgers lefty Brett Anderson is set to undergo surgery today on a bulging disk in his back, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports (Twitter links). Anderson is expected to miss three to five months.
The news comes as a major blow to a Dodgers organization that has rolled the dice on several starters with injury questions. Anderson accepted the team’s $15.8MM qualifying offer at the outset of the offseason, returning on a one-year deal after his first healthy season in recent memory.
This won’t be Anderson’s first procedure for a bulging disk, as he underwent a similar surgery late in 2014. He’s missed time with other maladies before and since, of course, but his back health will now be an even greater question than it had been previously.
While there’s still hope that Anderson will contribute to the staff this year, that doesn’t mean the loss won’t tell. Fellow lefty Hyun-jin Ryu is still working back from shoulder surgery and has experienced some soreness. Brandon McCarthy remains a ways off from returning from a Tommy John procedure. Even the team’s newest MLB additions — Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir — are pitchers who have long-term health questions. Likewise, righty Frankie Montas, who profiled as a young rotation possibility as the season progresses, will miss time with rib surgery. (All that after the team blew up a prospective deal with Hisashi Iwakuma over the results of his physical.)
All that being said, it isn’t as if the club is hurting for options. Alex Wood now looks like a good bet to open in the rotation, where he’s had plenty of past success (despite coming with his own questions given his unusual delivery). Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias had their moments last year. The oft-injured Brandon Beachy is back on a minor league deal. Just-signed Cuban free agent Yaisel Sierra could potentially factor in, as could a variety of rising prospects including Jharel Cotton, Chris Anderson, Zach Lee, and top prospects Jose De Leon and Julio Urias.
Anderson, who only just turned 28, turned in 180 1/3 innings of 3.69 ERA ball last year, more than justifying the risk taken by Los Angeles. Indeed, he was even better than his results by measure of xFIP (3.51) and SIERA (3.46). But he hadn’t even logged 100 frames in a single season for the four preceding years, leading to questions about how his market would develop and aiding his decision to accept the QO.
The talented southpaw will, hopefully, have an opportunity to re-establish his health at some point later in the 2016 season. He could well provide a significant boost at that point, as might McCarthy, and it’s entirely possible that the Dodgers will have plenty of options down the stretch. As things stand, though, he’ll have to battle through another tough medical setback. Needless to say, both his future earning outlook and the possibility of the team benefiting from making a second consecutive QO have taken a hit.
Carter Capps To Visit Dr. James Andrews
THURSDAY: Capps is headed to see famed surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Monday, he told reporters including Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). While that link hardly means that Tommy John surgery is inevitable, it does suggest that there’s significant concern with his elbow, and even a non-surgical option would likely involve a reasonably lengthy rest and rehab period. The club is still “weighing options,” MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro adds on Twitter.
Capps tells Spencer that he is “in the wait-and-see stage still” with regard to his elbow. Though he’s obviously hoping to avoid surgery, he added that “peace of mind would be nice” given the uncertainty he’s currently experiencing. He indicated that his MRI showed “some stuff there,” though it’s unclear when the issues cropped up. Andrews examined Capps back in 2014, advising against a procedure at the time, and the hope is that his experience (with Capps and many others) will help reach a conclusive decision.
“On the mound, stuff comes out really good,” Capps said. “It’s just really painful right at the end (of the delivery) right now. It just kind of crept up, like tightness, and then it started progressing something more. I never felt it pop or anything.”
TUESDAY: Marlins righty Carter Capps, who is expected to play a key role at the back of the bullpen, is headed for an MRI after experiencing elbow soreness, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. Per the report, Miami has begun making making trade inquiries for relief help.
While it isn’t yet clear whether Capps has received a diagnosis, let alone what it might be, it appears as if the club could be preparing for the worst. Whatever the results, Capps will seek a second medical opinion, per the report.
The 25-year-old already missed significant time down the stretch in 2015 due to a sprained right elbow. Based in part on that history, as well as his propensity for throwing hard, Capps rated as the 10th most likely pitcher in all of baseball to require Tommy John surgery in the recently-compiled research of MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum.
That was an unfortunate way for Capps to end what was otherwise a breakout campaign. Over his 31 frames on the year, he compiled a sparkling 1.16 ERA. He backed that up with exceptional peripherals, including 16.8 K/9 against just 2.0 BB/9, that suggested he was at least as good as his results. (Indeed, his league-leading 0.87 SIERA indicated he might well have been even better.)
Spencer notes that Capps had been expected to challenge A.J. Ramos for the Marlins’ closer role, based in part on a desire to give him a more limited and predictable workload. Losing him for any significant stretch would represent a significant loss for a club that has hopes of turning things around after a disappointing season last year. There are other right-handed power arms on hand in the persons of Bryan Morris and Kyle Barraclough, but neither showed anything close to Capps’ overall form in 2015 and moving them up the pecking order would open more questions in the middle relief corps.
Padres To Sign Christian Friedrich
The Padres have brought in southpaw Christian Friedrich on a minor league deal, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. It appears that he’ll join the major league side of camp.
Friedrich will presumably join a lively bullpen battle in San Diego. Indeed, he’s not even the only southpaw to enter the fray today, as the club also reportedly reached terms with veteran Matt Thornton.
The 28-year-old Friedrich, a former first-round draft pick, had spent his entire previous career in the Rockies organization. He was designated for assignment and claimed by the Angels just a few weeks back, but that claim was reversed when an issue arose in his medicals.
Friedrich first reached the majors as a starter back in 2012, but didn’t stick at the time. He spent all of last year in the Colorado pen, making for his first full MLB campaign, but was only able to manage a 5.25 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 to go with a 47.4 percent ground-ball rate over his 58 1/3 frames of action.
Jarrod Dyson Out Six Weeks With Oblique Injury
TODAY: Dyson is expected to be out for six weeks after being diagnosed with a Grade II strain, skipper Ned Yost told reporters including Dodd (Twitter link). Plans for his absence are understandably preliminary. Yost said that Orlando could see regular action but suggested that others will be given a chance to earn playing time during camp, as MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets.
YESTERDAY: Royals right fielder Jarrod Dyson left today’s spring opener with an oblique injury, and following the game, manager Ned Yost told reporters, including Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star, that Dyson is undergoing an MRI and will miss “a couple weeks, minimum, I would suspect.” The Royals expect to know more about his timeline for a return tomorrow.
An injury to the fleet-footed Dyson, who sits atop the club’s depth chart in right field as the season nears, is clearly not how the Royals hoped to begin the year as they prepare to defend a World Series title. If Dyson’s MRI comes back clean and he’s back on the field in two weeks, he’ll likely have time to get up to speed for the season. However, oblique injuries have a reputation for lingering, and a more prolonged injury could of course impact Dyson’s availability for Opening Day.
It’d be a stretch to imply that this news makes the Royals likely to go out and take any sort of action in terms of free agency or trades, though a prolonged absence from Dyson could have that effect. If anything, the early injury could serve to somewhat increase fellow left-handed-hitting outfielder Travis Snider‘s chances of making the club’s Opening Day roster. Snider, a former top prospect with the Blue Jays, is in camp on a minor league deal and a non-roster invite.
Alternatives that are already on the 40-man roster include Paulo Orlando, Reymond Fuentes, Jorge Bonifacio, Bubba Starling, Brett Eibner, Terrance Gore and Jose Martinez. If the Royals were to eventually look to the free-agent market — and that’s a very large “if” at this point — there are still a number of fairly notable names available, including Austin Jackson, Marlon Byrd, David DeJesus and former Royal Alex Rios. Additionally a number of players figure to become available later in camp, as veterans that signed minor league deals with March opt-out dates begin to exercise those clauses.
Yankees Sign Chris Denorfia To Minors Deal
TODAY: Denorfia would earn $1MM in the majors and can also reach up to $1MM in incentives, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
YESTERDAY: The Yankees have signed outfielder Chris Denorfia to a minor league deal, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports (Twitter links). His contract includes a March opt-out date.
Commenting on the deal, GM Brian Cashman suggested that New York was interested in adding right-handed-hitting depth to the outfield mix. The 35-year-old certainly makes good sense in that role, as he’s compiled a lifetime .285/.353/.419 slash against opposing southpaws.
That being said, Denorfia was available on a minors pact because he hasn’t played up to his prior standards over the past two seasons. Since the start of 2014, he has a .245/.297/.339 slash over 589 plate appearances. But he put up four straight seasons of above-average offensive production before that, and rates as a quality fielder in the corner outfield, so it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see him return to productivity if he can earn his way back onto a MLB roster.