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Tigers Notes: Margot, Vierling, Rogers

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The Tigers placed outfielder Manuel Margot on the 10-day injured list due to left knee inflammation and recalled fellow outfielder Brewer Hicklen from Triple-A, per a club announcement.

Margot has gone 6-for-19 (all singles) to begin his Tigers tenure. He joins Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez on the injured list for a Detroit club that has seen too many injuries in its outfield corps. The team didn’t provide an immediate timetable for Margot’s return. Notably, the left knee is not the same knee that Margot injured back in 2022, when he missed about half the year with a strained patellar tendon in his right knee.

The 29-year-old Hicklen was acquired from the Brewers on March 28 in exchange for cash. He’s hitless in a tiny sample of nine big league plate appearances but has appeared in parts of four Triple-A seasons, slashing .244/.352/.476 in 1366 plate appearances at the top minor league level. Hicklen will join Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and utilitymen Zach McKinstry, Ryan Kreidler and Andy Ibanez as outfield options for skipper A.J. Hinch.

The Tigers added in a separate announcement this morning that Vierling, who’s been out all season with a strained rotator cuff, is beginning a throwing program today. There’s still no firm timeline for his return, though Hinch noted to reporters that a motivated Vierling was out on the field playing begin throwing in 30-degree weather this morning — both a testament to his eagerness to return and the improved state of his shoulder (link via The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen).

In other Tigers injury news, the team scratched catcher Jake Rogers today due to tightness in his left oblique. As MLive’s Evan Woodbery points out, this means that reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal will be caught by a different catcher for the first time since 2023. Backup Dillon Dingler is getting the start today, snapping a streak of 37 consecutive Skubal starts caught by Rogers.

There’s no indication from the Tigers whether Rogers will require an MRI or a trip to the injured list. Veteran Tomas Nido is on hand in Triple-A Toledo as an experienced option to pair with the 26-year-old Dingler if Rogers is forced to miss any time.

Rogers, 30 next week, is out to a .222/.364/.333 start in his first six games of the season. He’s a premium defender behind the dish and has been looking to rebound from a down year at the plate in 2024, when he batted just .197/.255/.352. As recently as 2023, Rogers popped 21 homers in a season while batting .221/.286/.444.

No Structural Damage In Blake Snell’s Shoulder; Dodgers Hoping For Short-Term Absence

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April 8: An MRI confirmed that Snell is not facing any structural damage in his shoulder, per the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett. His treatment will likely include an injection of some sort, but the team is hopeful the two-time Cy Young winner will only require a short-term absence.

April 6: The Dodgers have placed left-hander Blake Snell on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder.  The placement is retroactive to April 3.  Right-hander Matt Sauer was called up from Triple-A to take Snell’s spot on the active roster.

Despite allowing eight walks in nine innings of work this season, Snell emerged with a 2.00 ERA over his first two starts of the season.  It seems as if this shoulder issue developed in between Snell’s last outing on April 2 and a bullpen session today, as Jack Harris of the L.A. Times reports that Snell talked with GM Brandon Gomes and team trainer Thomas Albert in the aftermath of the bullpen.

This is the tenth visit to the injured list Snell has taken over his 10 MLB seasons, and today’s news continues his career-long theme of both health concerns and early-season issues.  Snell is somewhat infamously a slow starter, with a 3.95 ERA over 555 2/3 career innings prior to the All-Star break, and then a 2.32 ERA in 500 innings over the second halves of seasons.

These splits notwithstanding, there are few pitchers in the game better than Snell when he’s in top form, as evidenced by his two Cy Young Awards.  The 2024 campaign was another example of Snell’s hot-and-cold tendencies, as he signed with the Giants late in Spring Training and subsequently spent much of the first three months either injured or struggling, until the switch flipped and Snell posted a 1.23 ERA over his final 80 1/3 frames of the season.

Snell was encouraged enough by this spectacular finish to opt out of the final season (and $30MM) of his contract with the Giants, and that decision proved to be wise, as Los Angeles signed Snell to a five-year, $182MM free agent deal.  The contract is worth “only” around $160MM-$165MM in current value since $65MM of Snell’s salary is deferred, yet it still represented the big long-term payday that eluded Snell in his previous trip to free agency.

The fact that Snell has already gone on the IL will bring some fresh questions about the Dodgers’ investment, yet there isn’t any indication that Snell’s shoulder inflammation is anything serious.  It does leave the Dodgers in a bit of a tricky spot when it comes to filling Snell’s rotation spot, as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki are both only being used once per week, replicating the standard usage of a Japanese pitching rotation.  Landon Knack, Justin Wrobleski, and Bobby Miller are the likeliest candidates to receive a Triple-A call-up and at least one spot start in Snell’s place.

In the bigger picture, Tony Gonsolin is on a Triple-A rehab assignment, and Clayton Kershaw (toe/knee surgeries) and Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John surgery) are expected to be available later in the season.  Shohei Ohtani is also slowly ramping up his pitching workload in preparation of his mound debut in a Dodgers uniform, though it will still be at least a couple of months before Ohtani becomes available from a pitching perspective.  In theory, Los Angeles has enough pitching depth available or eventually available to withstand another injury-riddled year like 2024, though Snell’s injury underlines the difficulty the Dodgers face in trying to maintain and preserve a staff of so many pitchers with significant durability questions.

Yankees Designate Adam Ottavino For Assignment

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The Yankees announced this morning that they’ve designated veteran righty Adam Ottavino for assignment in order to clear roster space for fellow righty reliever Ian Hamilton, who’s being reinstated from the 15-day injured list.

It’s the second time the Yankees have designated Ottavino for assignment in the past week; he cleared waivers, elected free agency and quickly re-signed after his previous DFA. The 39-year-old righty and New York City native has pitched in three games with the Yankees and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings — albeit with four walks. He’s also punched out three of the nine batters he’s faced.

The swift turnaround likely didn’t come as a surprise after his quick DFA and re-signing. Veteran pitchers, especially relievers who can’t be optioned to the minors, can often find themselves in this situation. The Yankees themselves have gone through similar situations in the past with righties David Hale and Ryan Weber; both pitchers were designated for assignment by the Yankees several times in the same season, quickly clearing waivers and re-signing on each occasion.

If Ottavino is comfortable with the setup, it’s quite possible he’ll go the same route following this DFA. Fans sometimes bristle at the nature of these carousel scenarios, but the player tends to be on board. Since he can’t be optioned, the recurring DFAs/re-signings effectively amount to being optioned and resummoned to the majors when a fresh arm is needed. If Ottavino (or any other player in this situation) grows weary of the gambit, electing free agency presents a clear path to finding a more palatable situation. However, as a Brooklyn native, he may be more amenable to a cyclical arrangement of this nature than most other veterans with his level of service time (13+ years). And, of course, if another club chooses to claim Ottavino, he’d gladly head to a new club willing to carry him in the big league bullpen.

Selected 30th overall by the Cardinals back in 2006, Ottavino made his MLB debut with St. Louis in 2010 and then spent the 2012-18 seasons as a mainstay in the Rockies’ bullpen after being claimed off waivers by Colorado early in the 2012 campaign. Since reaching free agency, he’s repeatedly signed with his hometown Yankees and Mets, plus a one-year stay in Boston (where he attended college) after being traded over from the Yankees in 2021.

In his more than 13 years of MLB service, Ottavino has tallied 744 2/3 innings with a 3.48 ERA, 46 saves, 194 holds, a 27.2% strikeout rate and a 10.4% walk rate. He’s tacked on another 12 2/3 innings across five years and eight series in the postseason.

As for the 29-year-old Hamilton, he opened the season on the 15-day injured list. He was slowed by a lengthy bout with a viral illness early in camp which set him back a few weeks. He was hit hard in three Triple-A rehab outings, but the Yankees apparently feel his stuff is crisp enough and his arm is built up enough to rejoin the big league ’pen.

Hamilton was a minor league signee for the Yankees in 2023. He’d previously bounced from the White Sox, to the Mariners, to the Phillies, to the Twins, to the Guardians via the DFA carousel but has since broken out as a steady member of Aaron Boone’s relief corps. In 95 2/3 innings for New York across the past two seasons, he’s posted a 3.10 ERA with a 27.4% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate, 16 holds and three saves.

The Opener: Lopez, MRIs, MLBTR Chat

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Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye out for today:

1. Lopez going under the knife:

Last week, Braves manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that right-hander Reynaldo Lopez’s arthroscopic shoulder surgery is scheduled for today. As noted by David O’Brien of The Athletic, the extent of repair necessary won’t be known until surgery begins. A simple cleanup could have Lopez back on the mound this year, whereas a more significant issue would threaten the remainder of his 2025 campaign. Some sort of timetable for Lopez’s return seems likely to be made available once the procedure is complete. In the meantime, the Braves are relying on AJ Smith-Shawver, Grant Holmes, and Bryce Elder in the rotation behind Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach.

2. Robles, Marte await MRI results:

Mariners outfielder Victor Robles and Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte were placed on the injured list over the weekend due to a shoulder injury and hamstring strain, respectively. Both were serious enough issues that neither Seattle nor Arizona felt the need to wait for testing before making an IL stint official, and both players were scheduled to undergo MRIs yesterday, per Adam Jude of The Seattle Times and Alex Weiner of AZSports. When those results become available, fans should have a better idea of how long the Mariners will be without their leadoff man and how long the D-backs will be without their superstar hitter. Seattle called up outfielder Dominic Canzone while Robles is out of commission, though many Robles’ right field reps could go to Luke Raley, with Rowdy Tellez slotting in at first base and several players cycling through the DH spot in the lineup. Rookie Tim Tawa has filled in at second for Marte, and utilityman Garrett Hampson could see time there as well.

3. MLBTR Chat Today:

Each MLB team is now around ten games into the season, and some expected contenders like those in Atlanta and Arizona have struggled while more surprising teams like the Giants and Angels have done quite well for themselves. There’s still plenty of baseball left to go, however, and if you have questions about which starts to believe in or are already looking towards July’s trade deadline then MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

Brewers Acquire Quinn Priester

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The Brewers and Red Sox have announced a trade sending right-hander Quinn Priester from Boston to Milwaukee. In return, the Sox receive prospect Yophery Rodriguez, a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick in this year’s draft and a player to be named later or cash considerations.  Milwaukee cleared a roster spot by designating left-hander Grant Wolfram for assignment and subsequently dealing him to the Orioles.

Priester, 24, is a former first-round pick and notable prospect. The Pirates took him 18th overall in 2019. As he climbed the minor league ladder, he was considered one of the top young players in the league. Baseball America ranked him the #58 prospect in baseball in 2022 and #88 in 2023. He was flipped to Boston at last summer’s deadline, a straight one-for-one swap which sent Nick Yorke the other way.

Despite his pedigree, he hasn’t broken through at the major league level yet. Between the Pirates and Red Sox, he has 99 2/3 innings pitched in the big leagues with a 6.23 earned run average. His 15.2% strikeout rate is well below par and his 9% walk rate is close to average, though his 55.2% ground ball rate is quite strong.

The minor league work has been stronger. He has thrown 184 Triple-A innings since the start of 2023 to the present. His 4.16 ERA isn’t especially impressive but he underlying numbers are better. He has a 25.8% strikeout rate in that sample and an 8.5% walk rate. He’s kept more than half of balls in play on the ground. His .318 batting average on balls in play and 66.9% strand rate are both on the unfortunate side, which is why his 3.44 FIP looks far more palatable than his ERA.

The Brewers have a strong reputation for working with pitchers, having helped many to reach their full potentials. Given Priester’s background and intriguing minor league numbers, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take notable steps forward in Milwaukee. He has less than a year of service time, so there will be long-term benefits if they can help him out.

On the other hand, it also seems like a hefty price to pay and a reflection of the current pitching predicament in Milwaukee. They currently have seven starting pitchers on the injured list, some of them unlikely to return in the short term. Brandon Woodruff missed the entire 2024 surgery recovering from shoulder surgery and is still working his way back. Robert Gasser had Tommy John surgery in June and won’t be available in the first half. DL Hall has a strained lat and is also on the 60-day injured list alongside Gasser, meaning he’s not close to a return. Tobias Myers and Aaron Ashby are both on the shelf with oblique strains. Aaron Civale has a hamstring strain. Nestor Cortes landed on the IL yesterday with a flexor strain.

That all leaves Freddy Peralta as the only healthy member of the club’s projected rotation. To patch together a staff around him, the club has had to reach deep into its alternatives. Tyler Alexander was to start the season in a swing role but has moved way up the chart. Elvin Rodríguez was pitching in Japan last year, mostly in relief. He signed with the Brewers in the winter but has options and was slated to start the season in the minors before the injuries. Chad Patrick just got added to the 40-man in November and was also projected for the Triple-A rotation until the bodies kept dropping.

As the injuries were piling up in the spring, the Brewers signed Jose Quintana, though he hasn’t been able to help them yet. Due to his late start, he agreed to be optioned in order to effectively do a delayed spring training and is still getting built up. Priester could jump right into the big league rotation this week, as his last outing was throwing four Triple-A innings on April 7th. He has one option year left, so he could be sent to the minors if other pitchers get healthy in the coming months and he gets pushed down the pecking order.

Getting immediate rotation help on the trade block is usually difficult at this time of year. Most clubs still think they have a shot at competing, especially in the age of expanded playoffs, and likely want to keep a robust stable of arms on hand. The high rate of pitching injuries in the modern game only enhances the need, as teams know they will need far more than five starters to get through a season.

But the Red Sox seemingly need Priester far less than they did when they acquired him. In the offseason, they made a few notable additions to the rotation mix. They acquired Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed Walker Buehler. They also signed Patrick Sandoval, though he’s recovering from UCL surgery and is still a few months away from joining their rotation.

The Sox had to start 2025 with Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford on the injured list, but that wasn’t enough to get Priester to the big leagues. They started the season with Crochet, Buehler, Tanner Houck, Richard Fitts and Sean Newcomb in the rotation. Cooper Criswell and Hunter Dobbins are also on the 40-man roster and capable of working in long relief roles or in the Triple-A rotation.

Both Bello and Giolito are on rehab assignments and should be with the big league club in the next week or two. They should slot in next two Crochet, Buehler and Houck. Dobbins is already back in Triple-A after serving as the 27th man in yesterday’s double-header. If the Sox want to keep Newcomb, they could move him to the bullpen while optioning Fitts and Criswell. As mentioned, Sandoval could be in the mix later in the year.

That’s a fairly healthy amount of rotation depth even without Priester in it, which seemingly allowed the Sox to feel comfortable moving on, even with the risk that further injuries throughout the season could cut into that depth.

As mentioned, most clubs aren’t very willing to part with notable starting depth this early in the season, so the Brewers have paid up to get some from Boston. The draft pick the Sox receive will be the 33rd overall selection this summer. That comes with a slot value of around $2.77MM, per Carlos Collazo of Baseball America. That’s a pretty nice chance to add some young talent to the system in a few months.

They are also adding young talent to the system today, getting Rodriguez and perhaps another player later. As for Rodriguez, he was a noteworthy international signing out of the Dominic Republic, with the Brewers giving him a $1.5MM signing bonus. He has played 165 professional games thus far between the Dominican Summer League, Single-A and High-A. He has a combined batting line of .254/.361/.408 in that time.

Baseball America ranked him Milwaukee’s #14 prospect coming into the year. They note that he’s likely to be moved off center field into a corner over time, which will put more pressure on his bat to carry the profile.

Still, from the Sox perspective, it looks like a nice bit of business. Priester didn’t appear to be in their short-term plans. He was on pace to be out of options next year and may have been on track to getting squeezed off the roster. By pulling the trigger today, they have subtracted a depth piece but added some notable future talent.

For the Brewers, despite all their injuries, they’re hanging in the race with a 5-5 record. Priester can hopefully help them stay afloat and has some future ceiling, given his past pedigree. If he clicks, he can be a long-term solution for them as well. Cortes, Civale, Woodruff, Alexander and Quintana are slated for free agency after this year. Peralta has a club option for 2026 but will be a free agent after that.

Wolfram, 28, was a somewhat surprising signing in the winter. He had previously spent his career in the minors with the Rangers, but reached free agency after 2024. The Brewers gave him a 40-man spot in December, though he’s still looking for his major league debut. He was called up yesterday when Cortes landed on the IL but optioned back down after the game.

The Brewers will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next for him. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade interest would need to be gauged in the next five days. Perhaps some club could be interested based on his minor league work, which is presumably what caught the eye of the Brewers. In the years since the minors were cancelled in 2020, Wolfram has thrown 249 minor league innings with a 3.94 ERA. He has a high 12.2% walk rate in that time but has also punched out 29.6% of opponents.

Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster and BoSox Injection first reported the terms of the trade.

Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, John E. Sokolowski and William Glasheen, Imagn Images

Royce Lewis Remains A Few Weeks From Beginning Rehab Assignment

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Royce Lewis was cleared for a running program over the weekend, three weeks after sustaining a moderate left hamstring strain. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters that Lewis is likely around three weeks from being able to begin a minor league rehab assignment (link via Phil Miller of the Minnesota Star-Tribune).

The third baseman’s rehab hasn’t hit any kind of snag. Rather, Falvey said the Twins always anticipated that the recovery “was going to take four to six weeks, maybe six-plus weeks.” The team didn’t provide a public timetable initially, only noting that the injury wasn’t as severe as the right quad strain that cost him more than two months at the beginning of last season.

Lewis has been plagued by injuries, particularly lower half issues, throughout his career. The 2017 first overall pick has yet to top last season’s 82 games or 325 plate appearances in an MLB season. Lewis has been very productive when healthy. He’s a .268/.327/.497 hitter with 33 home runs over 605 career plate appearances — the equivalent of one full season. He added another four homers in six postseason contests in 2023.

Losing his bat has been a blow to a lineup that has had a frigid start to the season. They entered play Monday with a .198/.266/.315 team batting line, putting them alongside the Braves and Pirates as the least productive offenses in the early going. They’ve dropped seven of their first 10 while getting outscored by 14 runs. It’s an ugly first couple weeks after last season’s September collapse cost them a Wild Card spot.

Jose Miranda and Willi Castro have divided the third base playing time. Miranda has gone 5-29, striking out 10 times without drawing a walk. Castro has been more productive, collecting four doubles and a home run among his eight hits. He’ll play almost every day while bouncing around the diamond after Lewis’ return. Miranda and Ty France, to a lesser extent, have probably seen the biggest uptick in playing time.

Brooks Lee also opened the season on the injured list. He dealt with lower back tightness late in Spring Training. Lee is much closer to a return, as he began a rehab stint at Low-A Fort Myers over the weekend. Lee, the 2022 eighth overall pick, put up a .221/.265/.320 line over 50 games as a rookie last season. He had fantastic numbers in 25 Triple-A contests (.308/.368/.606) and could take over at second base when he’s activated. That’d push Castro more firmly to third base while allowing the Twins to use any of France, Miranda or potentially Edouard Julien at first base until Lewis returns.

Red Sox To Place Connor Wong On Injured List With Broken Finger

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The Red Sox will place catcher Connor Wong on the 10-day injured list, skipper Alex Cora told the Boston beat after tonight’s loss to Toronto (via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic). Wong broke his left pinkie finger on a catcher’s interference in the first inning. Cora said the Sox have not decided the corresponding move yet.

Wong has started seven of the Sox’s 11 games behind the dish. He only has two hits (both singles) and three walks over his first 23 at-bats. Wong had a career-best .280/.333/.425 showing with 13 longballs through 487 plate appearances last year. Boston dealt top catching prospect Kyle Teel as part of the Garrett Crochet trade. They committed to Wong as their starter while acquiring Carlos Narváez from the Yankees to work as the backup.

Narváez is now in line for the most significant playing time of his young career. The 26-year-old has appeared in 11 major league games over the last two seasons. He hit .254/.370/.412 with 11 homers over 96 Triple-A contests last season, though that came with a concerning number of strikeouts. The Red Sox strongly valued his receiving and game-calling acumen when they acquired him.

Blake Sabol, acquired in an offseason deal with the Giants, is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Recalling him to serve as Narváez’s backup would be the straightforward move. Sean McAdam of MassLive writes that it’s the expected transaction. The lefty-swinging Sabol is a career .243/.313/.392 hitter with 13 longballs in 382 trips to the plate. While he might have a higher offensive ceiling than Narváez, he doesn’t have as strong a defensive reputation. Sabol was more of a third catcher/corner outfielder for most of his San Francisco tenure. Statcast credits him with a decent arm but subpar blocking and framing grades.

Ivan Herrera Out At Least A Month With Bone Bruise

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The Cardinals placed catcher Iván Herrera on the 10-day injured list this morning. His stay will last well beyond the minimum. Manager Oli Marmol told the team’s beat that Herrera was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee (link via MLB.com’s John Denton). He’ll be out for at least a month.

Herrera was out to a blistering start to the season, headlined by his three-homer performance last Wednesday against the Angels. That was remarkably the first three-homer game by a catcher in the franchise’s history, which goes back to the 1880s. The 24-year-old is hitting .381 with four longballs in 24 plate appearances overall. Herrera hit .301/.372/.428 over a career-high 72 games last season, so there’s reason to believe he could be one of the better offensive catchers in baseball.

Marmol confirmed that they’re not considering Willson Contreras as a backup option behind the plate. That was more or less established when St. Louis selected Yohel Pozo from Triple-A Memphis as the corresponding move for Herrera’s IL placement. St. Louis will stick to the plan of keeping Contreras as their everyday first baseman. Pozo will back up Pedro Pagés for the time being.

President of baseball operations John Mozeliak told Denton and other reporters that the front office will keep an eye on the catching market. That’d presumably be strictly at depth options, as they’ll want to keep Herrera’s path to regular playing time open once he’s healthy. Former fourth-round pick Jimmy Crooks is one of the organization’s more talented prospects as well. He’s getting his first real look at Triple-A pitching after a .321/.410/.498 showing last year in Double-A. The Cards didn’t want to rush him to the majors in response to the Herrera injury, but they could look for an experienced catcher to add organizational depth alongside Crooks in Memphis.

Orioles Acquire Grant Wolfram From Brewers

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The Orioles announced the acquisition of left-hander Grant Wolfram from the Brewers for minor league outfielder Daz Cameron and cash. Milwaukee had designated Wolfram for assignment this morning as the corresponding move for the Quinn Priester trade. He’ll take a spot on Baltimore’s 40-man roster and was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The O’s transferred righty Albert Suárez to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.

Wolfram, 28, continues to await his major league debut. The 6’7″ southpaw pitched in the Texas farm system between 2018-24. He topped out at Triple-A and qualified for minor league free agency last offseason. Milwaukee saw enough in his minor league numbers to sign him to a major league contract. Wolfram opened the season on optional assignment to Triple-A. They called him up for the first time yesterday but did not get him into a game before designating him for assignment.

The lefty worked three Triple-A frames in the Milwaukee system. He gave up two runs while issuing four walks and recording three strikeouts. Wolfram pitched well in the Pacific Coast League a year ago. He turned in a 3.34 earned run average with a strong 25.6% strikeout rate across 56 2/3 frames with the Rangers’ top affiliate. While Wolfram has had spotty command throughout his minor league tenure, his fastball-slider combination has gotten a decent number of whiffs. He sits in the 94-95 MPH range with both his four-seam and sinker. Wolfram is in his first of three option years, so the O’s can keep him in Norfolk for a while if he holds his spot on their 40-man roster.

Cameron was not on Baltimore’s 40-man roster, so he won’t occupy an immediate spot with Milwaukee. He finished last season with the A’s. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers at the beginning of the offseason. They ran him through waivers early in Spring Training and kept him in the system when he accepted a minor league assignment.

The son of former Brewer Mike Cameron, Daz was a supplemental first-round pick and highly-regarded prospect. He hit .200/.258/.329 across a personal-high 186 plate appearances with the A’s last season. That essentially matches his career .201/.263/.330 slash over parts of four seasons. The 28-year-old Cameron has played parts of seven Triple-A campaigns. He’s a .250/.339/.425 hitter in more than 1800 plate appearances at the top minor league level.

Suárez landed on the 15-day IL last week with what the team initially called shoulder inflammation. They announced the injury today as a subscapularis strain. He’ll be down through at least the end of May. Suárez opened the season in long relief after Cade Povich won the fifth starter job during Spring Training. He had only made one appearance before the injury. Suárez was a valuable swingman last season, tossing 133 2/3 frames of 3.70 ERA ball while starting 24 of 32 appearances.

Mariners Outright Hagen Danner

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The Mariners announced that right-hander Hagen Danner cleared waivers and will be outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma. The righty had been designated for assignment last week when the club added Luis F. Castillo to the roster. Seattle also placed Victor Robles on the 10-day injured list with a dislocated left shoulder and recalled Dominic Canzone — moves that were reported yesterday.

Players have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency if they have either a previous career outright or at least three years of major league service time. Neither applies to Danner, so he’ll stick with the Mariners as depth but without taking up a roster spot.

The M’s are likely glad about that. They were intrigued enough by Danner to grab him off waivers from the Blue Jays in January. His track record isn’t long, for a few reasons. He was drafted as a catcher and tried his hand at that spot for a few years before moving to the mound. Since taking the hill, he has posted some decent rate numbers but has also been held back by some injuries.

In the majors, he has just one third of an inning to his name. In the minors, he has tossed 116 2/3 innings from 2021 to the present. Thanks to various injuries, he hasn’t hit the 40-inning mark in any individual season. But he has a 2.93 earned run average, 28.3% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate.

Over the course of a long season, the Mariners will surely need fresh arms from time to time, as all clubs do. If Danner gets back to the majors, he still has one option year and just 52 days of service time.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

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