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Angels, Amir Garrett Agree To Minor League Deal

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Veteran left-hander Amir Garrett has signed a minor league contract with the Angels, according to the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The Beverly Hills Sports Council client has been assigned to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees.

Garrett spent spring training with the Giants as a non-roster invitee. After an up-and-down 2023 season, he was going to need to impress this spring to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. Instead, he gave up nine runs in 6 1/3 innings of work, allowing 13 hits, seven walks, and two home runs while striking out only three of the 38 batters he faced. He was released last week.

The 31-year-old Garrett spent the 2022-23 seasons in Kansas City, working to a combined 4.39 ERA in 69 2/3 innings of work. The hard-throwing southpaw fanned exactly a quarter of his opponents in each of his two seasons as a Royal, but his longstanding command issues escalated to new heights. He walked 16.9% of his opponents with the Royals — including a sky-high 17.9% mark in 2023. Garrett routinely managed to navigate that highwire act, logging a 3.33 ERA in last year’s 24 1/3 innings, but he was released over the summer and didn’t make it back to the big leagues after signing minor league deals with both the Guardians and the Giants (who re-signed him just before camp opened).

Prior to his time in K.C., Garrett was a mainstay in the Reds’ bullpen. From 2018-20, he notched a 3.60 ERA with 49 holds, a save, a huge 30.2% strikeout rate and a bloated 11.6% walk rate. There’s little doubting Garrett’s raw ability to miss bats. His career 12.6% swinging-strike rate is well above average, and his 15.1% mark during his peak run with Cincinnati borders on elite. At this point, there are 325 1/3 innings of big league work showing his command to be well below average, however. It’s unlikely he’ll ever get to the point where he has plus command, but if he can even get back to the levels he had with the Reds, as opposed to the alarming walk issues he displayed in Kansas City, he could reemerge as a quality setup man.

For the time being, Garrett will serve as depth for an Angels club that dedicated the bulk of its offseason to remaking the bullpen. The Halos signed Robert Stephenson, Matt Moore, Luis Garcia, Jose Cisnero, Adam Cimber and Adam Kolarek to big league deals over the winter (though Kolarek was later outrighted to Triple-A). Anaheim also acquired righty Guillermo Zuñiga from the Cardinals and inked veteran Hunter Strickland to a minor league deal.

The Opener: Montgomery, Steele, LeMahieu

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With MLB’s 2024 regular season officially underway, here are three things worth keeping an eye on for MLBTR readers headed into the weekend:

1. Montgomery deal to be made official:

The Diamondbacks landed the last top-tier free agent on the market earlier this week when they signed southpaw Jordan Montgomery to a one-year deal that includes a vesting option for the 2025 season. Montgomery, 31, helped the Rangers defeat Arizona in the World Series just five months ago but now figures to join the Diamondbacks’ rotation alongside Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Brandon Pfaadt when the group is at full strength. Montgomery’s deal with the Snakes is expected to be made official today with a press conference to introduce the club’s newest arm, as noted by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. The club won’t need to make a corresponding move to add Montgomery to its 40-man roster after designating infielder Emmanuel Rivera for assignment yesterday.

2. Steele headed to the IL?

It was a rough Opening Day for the Cubs, as the club not only fell 4-3 in extra innings against the Rangers in Texas last night but staff ace Justin Steele exited the game in the fifth inning due to what manager Craig Counsell termed a hamstring strain. Counsell did not sound optimistic about Steele’s odds of avoiding a trip to the injured list over the issue and declined to speculate on a timetable for the lefty’s return to a big league mound in the immediate aftermath of the injury. Instead, Counsell indicated that the club will know more after Steele undergoes an MRI scheduled for today.

The 28-year-old hurler has been a major bright spot for the Cubs in recent years and finished fifth in the NL Cy Young award race last season. Since the start of the 2022 campaign, Steele has pitched to an excellent 3.09 ERA with a nearly identical 3.08 FIP in 297 innings of work across 55 starts. Steele’s dominance continued in his first start of the 2024 campaign, as he held the reigning World Series champions to just one run on three hits and a walk across 4 2/3 innings of work while striking out six. While Steele is out of commission the Cubs figure to either rely on Drew Smyly, who took the loss last night after entering the game in the tenth inning last night, or else turn to a younger arm currently at Triple-A such as Hayden Wesneski or Ben Brown to fill the gap in their rotation mix.

3. LeMahieu to undergo second MRI:

Veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu began the 2024 campaign on the Yankees’ injured list after fouling a ball off his foot during Spring Training. While it once appeared likely that the injury would result in only a minimal absence, Brendan Kuty of The Athletic earlier this week reported that the swelling in LeMahieu’s foot had yet to go down. The club scheduled a second MRI for today in hopes of confirming the severity of the issue after the injury hadn’t improved as much as both player and club were hoping. It’s possible today’s testing will provide more clarity on the veteran’s timetable for return, but in the meantime New York figures to turn to Oswaldo Cabrera and newly-acquired utilityman Jon Berti at the hot corner in LeMahieu’s absence. The 35-year-old LeMahieu was roughly league average at the plate in a down season last year but has a strong .285/.358/.430 slash line since joining the Yankees prior to the 2019 season.

Players Who Sign Extensions Prior To MLB Debut Are Not PPI Eligible

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A player who signs a contract extension prior to making his major league debut is not eligible for the prospect promotion incentive, reports JJ Cooper of Baseball America. He specifically mentions Jackson Chourio of the Brewers and Colt Keith of the Tigers, who both signed extensions with their respective clubs this offseason, as players who are not PPI eligible.

The latest collective bargaining agreement introduced the PPI to encourage clubs to carry top prospects on Opening Day rosters, rather than hold them down in the minors to gain an extra year of control, a move generally referred to as service time manipulation.

A major league season is 187 days long and a player needs 172 days in the big leagues to earn one year. By holding a player down in the minors for a few weeks, a club can prevent that player from getting to the one-year mark. Since a player needs a full six years of service to qualify for free agency, the club can gain an extra year of control over a young player by doing this. Some of the oft-cited examples of this practice are Kris Bryant of the Cubs and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays, both of whom were top prospects who were called up a few weeks into their respective rookie seasons, thus coming up just short of one year of service.

In an attempt to curb this behavior, the CBA introduced the PPI system, whereby teams could earn an extra draft pick by promoting certain players early in the season. To qualify, a player had to be on at least two out of the three top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, as well as being rookie eligible and have fewer than 60 days of service time. If such a player was called up early enough in the season to accrue 172 days of service the traditional way*, they would be PPI eligible and could net their club an extra pick just after the first round. To earn a pick, a PPI eligible player has to either win a Rookie of the Year award or finish in the top three of voting for Most Valuable Player or Cy Young prior to qualifying for arbitration.

(*There was another new measure in the CBA to disincentive service time manipulation, whereby a player could earn a full year of service even if called up too late. If they were otherwise PPI eligible and finished in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, they could be bumped up to a full year, but they would not earn their clubs an extra pick. This situation arose with Adley Rutschman of the Orioles in 2022, who finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting despite missing the first few weeks of the season. He earned a full year of service but the O’s would not have received a bonus pick for that if he had finished first.)

This new detail provides an extra wrinkle, as Chourio and Keith would have been in play for PPI picks. Both of them are top prospects who signed offseason extensions and then cracked Opening Day rosters. However, this new development means they won’t be in play for those bonus picks after all.

On the flip side, Cooper adds that Michael Busch of the Cubs and Joey Ortiz of the Brewers are PPI eligible. When Matt Eddy of Baseball America outlined the PPI rules back in February, he noted that players who debut in the majors and are then traded do not have PPI status with their new club. Busch debuted with the Dodgers last year and was traded to the Cubs this winter while Ortiz debuted with the Orioles before being flipped to the Brewers. Eddy provided a further update today, stating that they are PPI eligible since they were not moved via midseason trades.

Justin Steele Likely Headed To IL With Hamstring Injury

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Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele left his Opening Day start early on Thursday after fielding a bunt and falling as he flipped the ball to first base. He seemed to be holding his left hamstring as he walked off the field, per Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic. The team later confirmed to reporters (including Sharma) that Steele exited the game with left hamstring tightness.

After the game, a 4-3 loss to the Rangers in extra innings, Cubs manager Craig Counsell used the word “strain” to describe Steele’s injury (per Sharma). He added that the All-Star left-hander will likely go on the injured list, but as Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune notes, the skipper would not speculate about how much time Steele could miss. The southpaw will undergo an MRI on Friday (per Montemurro), after which the team will likely have a better idea about the severity of his injury and how long he might spend on the IL.

Counsell told reporters, including Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times, that the team does not yet have a plan for who will take Steele’s spot in the rotation. Left-hander Drew Smyly and right-hander Hayden Wesneski seem to be the most likely candidates, given their presence on the 40-man roster and recent experience pitching out of the big league rotation. Smyly, 34, made 23 starts for the Cubs last year, while Wesneski, 26, made 11. However, Smyly found success in a bullpen role down the stretch in 2023; he made some starts this spring but was largely preparing to start the season as a reliever. Meanwhile, Wesneski struggled tremendously as a starter last year (5.51 ERA, 6.26 FIP) and looked even worse in six outings (four starts) this spring.

Ben Brown, 24, is one more name on the 40-man roster to keep an eye on. He transitioned to a bullpen role last season, but he has recent starting experience and looked sharper than either Smyly or Wesneski this spring. What’s more, his move to the bullpen may have simply been a way to accelerate his path to the major leagues, not a permanent change. He was quite good in 19 minor league starts last season, pitching to a 3.81 ERA and racking up 120 strikeouts in only 85 innings pitched. However, his lack of experience may work against him; Brown has yet to make his MLB debut.

Whether it is Smyly, Wesneski, Brown, or another arm entirely, the Cubs have a difficult decision to make before what would have been Steele’s next turn in the rotation: the final game of the home opener series against the Rockies on Wednesday, April 3.

Rangers Re-Sign Matt Duffy

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After opting out of his minor league contract with the Rangers a few days ago, Matt Duffy has re-signed with the team on a new minor league deal (per his player page on MLB.com). He was assigned to Triple-A Round Rock.

Duffy has never been able to live up to the high bar he set for himself in his rookie campaign with the Giants. He hit .295/.334/.428 with 12 home runs and 12 stolen bases that season, finishing as the runner-up for the 2015 NL Rookie of the Year. Still, he had a handful of productive seasons from 2016 to ’21. The righty batter made the most of his above-average contact skills to compensate for limited power; over 366 total games, he put up a .708 OPS and 98 wRC+. He also held his own at all four positions around the infield.

Unfortunately for Duffy, things have gone downhill over the last two seasons. He spent 2022 with the Angels and ’23 with the Royals, putting up equally disappointing offensive numbers each year. The veteran has continued to field all three bases serviceably, but his versatility has hardly been enough to make up for his meager bat. Duffy continued to struggle at the plate this spring, and the defending World Series champions were unable to offer him a job on their Opening Day roster. The spot he might have earned went to fellow NRI Jared Walsh; Walsh also had a rough couple of years in 2022 and ’23, but he significantly outperformed Duffy this spring.

Now, Duffy will report to Triple-A. With first baseman Nathaniel Lowe already on the injured list, Duffy provides Texas with some extra depth in case another infielder suffers an injury. Considering his versatility and extensive MLB experience, he could be one of the first names the Rangers call upon. Still, he has to start hitting again at Round Rock if he wants to make his way back to the majors.

Mariners Re-Sign Brian Anderson

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The Mariners released third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson from the minor league deal he was on earlier this week, but he’s already inked a new minor league pact to return to the M’s organization, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Anderson is headed to Triple-A Tacoma to begin the season. He’ll give the Mariners some corner depth with plenty of big league experience.

From 2017-22, Anderson was a regular with the Marlins, including a peak where he was one of the team’s best players for several seasons. From 2018-20, Anderson slashed .266/.350/.436 (115 wRC+), serving as a steady contributor in the middle of Miami’s lineup. He walked at a solid 9% clip along the way, struck out at a lower-than-average 21.6%, and even popped 20 homers during the 2019 season. Anderson split his time between third base and right field with Miami, posting above-average defensive marks at both spots.

Over the past three seasons, his bat has taken a step back, prompting the Marlins to non-tender him following the 2022 season. A change of scenery with the Brewers didn’t bring about the return to form he’d hoped. Since 2021, Anderson has 1008 big league plate appearances but just a .231/.317/.362 slash to show for it — accompanied by an inflated 27.2% strikeout rate that’s a good bit higher than his former levels.

Injuries have undoubtedly played a role in his decline. An oblique strain, a pair of shoulder subluxations — both requiring a 60-day IL stint — and multiple IL stints due to back injuries have taken their toll. But Anderson also had a nice showing in his limited look with the Mariners this spring, hitting .250/.344/.536 with two homers and two doubles in 32 trips to the plate.

The Mariners are far from set at third base or in right field, where they’re relying on a platoon of Luis Urias/Josh Rojas and a rebound from the oft-injured Mitch Haniger, respectively. They’re both reasonably shaky scenarios, and it’s not hard to see injuries and/or uneven performance prompting the M’s to tap into their upper-level depth — particularly if Anderson continues to produce the way he did during Cactus League play.

Offseason In Review: New York Yankees

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The Yankees’ offseason was highlighted by a blockbuster trade, but some major injury concerns have threatened to undermine New York’s work in upgrading the roster.

Major League Signings

2023 spending: $23.25MM
Total spending: $41.25MM

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hitting back-to-back is a pitcher’s worst nightmare, and having Gleyber Torres and a healthy Anthony Rizzo bookend those two elite sluggers in the lineup should also cause a few sleepless evenings.  Between this impressive top of the lineup, and fresh input from newly-hired hitting coach James Rowson and assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, there is plenty of hope that the Yankees can improve upon their strangely punchless offense from the 2023 season.

Soto is slated to hit free agency next winter as he heads into his age-26 season, and the outfielder and agent Scott Boras surely have an eye towards the biggest non-Shohei Ohtani contract in baseball history.  Since the Yankees are one of the few teams who can afford such an expenditure, it’s certainly possible this won’t be Soto’s only season in the Bronx, but New York paid quite a premium for just one guaranteed year of Soto’s services.

Kyle Higashioka may have been expendable within the Yankees’ catching depth chart, but the real score for the Padres in the Soto trade was four talented and controllable young pitchers.  Michael King emerged as an intriguing starter with New York last year and looks to step right into San Diego’s rotation — at worst, King can be a lockdown reliever for the Padres if he doesn’t stick as a starting pitcher.  Drew Thorpe is a top-100 prospect who the Padres flipped to the White Sox as part of the Dylan Cease trade package.  Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez are also big league-ready arms and one of them likely would’ve won a rotation job had Cease not been acquired.

Trent Grisham was the other player acquired from San Diego, and though he is only earning $5.5MM via an arbitration-avoiding deal, his inclusion in the trade may have been a bit of a salary dump from a Padres deal that was eager to payroll this winter.  (Obviously Soto was the pricier figure in this equation, as his $31MM salary for 2024 is the highest ever given to a an arbitration player.)  Grisham is an outstanding defender whose hitting has dropped off over the last two seasons, and he seems to be ticketed for at least backup duty within an intriguing Yankees outfield mix.

The first-choice outfield alignment looks to be Soto in right field, Judge in center field, and new acquisition Alex Verdugo as the left field starter at least against right-handed pitching.  When a southpaw is on the mound, the Yankees will probably use Judge in left field and Grisham will step into center field.  Giancarlo Stanton will get most of the DH at-bats and might get some occasional looks in the outfield, though as GM Brian Cashman rather bluntly stated last November, it may simply be unlikely that Stanton can stay healthy for the entire season.  Judge figures to get a good dose of DH usage regardless of Stanton’s availability, since one of the Yankees’ chief priorities this year is keeping Judge healthy amidst the added physical strain of regular center field work.

A rare trade between the Yankees and Red Sox brought Verdugo into the fold, and between Verdugo and Soto, New York now has two legitimate left-handed bats to help balance out a lineup that was overloaded with right-handed hitters.  Verdugo has been exactly a league-average (100 wRC+, 100 OPS+) hitter over the last two seasons, and given the whispers of behind-the-scenes discord with Boston manager Alex Cora, a change of scenery might be just what Verdugo needs to get on track.

An in-form Verdugo, a healthy Stanton, and steps forward from highly-touted youngsters Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells would suddenly make the lineup look a lot more Bronx Bomber-esque, rather than simply “improved.”  A rebound year from DJ LeMahieu would also help, but the infielder’s 2024 season has gotten off to a rough start with a bone bruise that will begin his season on the injured list.

The Yankees had been looking for infield and utility depth even before LeMahieu got hurt, as Oswald Peraza is facing an extended absence while recovering from a shoulder strain.  The need was finally filled just yesterday when Jon Berti was acquired as part of a three-team trade with the Marlins and Rays.  Berti brings a ton of speed and defensive versatility to the roster, and his ability to draw walks and make contact has led to some occasional above-average offensive production over his six MLB seasons.

Landing Berti came at the cost of catcher Ben Rortvedt and minor league outfielder John Cruz, though New York is confident that Wells is ready to take on a larger share of the catching duties with Jose Trevino.  Wells’ defense could be the x-factor in whether or not he can move into a full platoon or even a playing-time edge over Trevino, and gauging by Wells’ minor league numbers, his bat is at least ready for the Show.  In other bench news, waiver claim Jahmai Jones won a spot on the Opening Day roster, and he brings more multi-positional utility to the mix.

The aforementioned search for a utilityman type led the Yankees to explore such free agents as Enrique Hernandez, Tony Kemp, Amed Rosario, and old friends Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Gio Urshela.  In terms of position players, the Yankees made some more high-profile explorations, as the team had interest in the likes of Cody Bellinger, Jung Hoo Lee, Jeimer Candelario, Kevin Kiermaier, and probably several other free agents whose talks with the Bombers weren’t publicized.

Since the Soto trade was completed in early December, it seems as though the Yankees decided relatively early to go with the one-year strike for Soto rather than a longer-term deal with Bellinger or even Lee as their major offensive addition of the winter.  Cashman’s front office couldn’t have known at the time that Bellinger’s market would be limited enough that he would settle for an opt-out laden three-year, $80MM deal with the Cubs, and naturally it makes sense that the Yankees would want to pounce on Soto and solidify the lineup as early as possible.  It’s easy to say this with hindsight being 20-20, but if New York had been comfortable enough to try and wait Bellinger out, the team could’ve landed a big bat at a lower average annual value than Soto, and King and company might still be on the roster.

Or, the Yankees might have flipped King, Thorpe, Brito, or Vasquez in another trade, perhaps for a frontline starter with more big league experience.  There is some irony in Thorpe being a centerpiece of the Padres’ Cease deal given how the Yankees themselves talked at length with the White Sox about Cease, but it seemed like Chicago’s insistence on landing Spencer Jones in any Cease trade package was a deal-breaker for New York.

Even though offense was the team’s larger need heading into the offseason, the Yankees were reportedly involved in the bidding for several starters and relievers, on both the free agent and trade fronts.  Beyond Cease, the long list of pitchers the Yankees at least checked in on included Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Corbin Burnes, Shane Bieber, Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola, Shota Imanaga, Josh Hader, Yariel Rodriguez, Michael Lorenzen, Jordan Hicks, Robert Stephenson, Hector Neris, Phil Maton, Ryan Brasier, and two of New York’s own free agents in Wandy Peralta (who signed with the Padres) and Keynan Middleton (with the Cardinals).

Yamamoto was one of the chief targets, and was reportedly offered a ten-year, $300MM deal (with two opt-out clauses) to begin his Major League tenure in the Bronx.  Yamamoto passed on that contract for a 12-year, $325MM deal with the Dodgers, as his decision might’ve been influenced by such factors as a big $50MM signing bonus, the flexibility offered by the six-man Los Angeles rotation, and of course the chance to play with a Japanese baseball icon like Ohtani.

Jordan Montgomery was another former Yankee who drew attention from his old club, as the Bombers were said to be in on the left-hander up until the moment Montgomery finally landed with the Diamondbacks for a one-year deal with a vesting player option for 2025.  Blake Snell was on the Yankees’ radar for much of the offseason, and the team’s reported six-year, $150MM offer to Snell in January stands as the largest offer known to have been on the table throughout Snell’s own extended stay in free agency.  The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner ended up signing a two-year, $62MM deal with the Giants that includes an opt-out next winter, as the Bombers didn’t revisit their six-year offer after moving onto Marcus Stroman as a rotation alternative.

Stroman inked a two-year deal worth $37MM in guaranteed money, and another $18MM could become available via a vesting player option for the 2026 season.  With two All-Star nods and a history of success in the AL East on his resume, Stroman is a nice get for the Yankees, and his grounder-heavy approach should play well with New York’s solid infield defense.  Injuries marred the back half of what was looking like a great 2023 campaign for Stroman with the Cubs, however, and adding to the list of health issues facing the Yankees rotation.

Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodon combined for only 127 2/3 innings last year, leaving both starters in pursuit of bounce-backs.  Clarke Schmidt pitched decently well in his first full MLB season, and Luis Gil pitched well enough in Spring Training that New York will use Gil as the fifth starter, though Gil himself has only 33 1/3 career innings in the majors and missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The biggest question mark of all, however, is one of the Yankees’ most indispensable players.  Gerrit Cole will open the season on the 60-day injured list, meaning he won’t be an option until at least late May as he recovers from nerve inflammation and edema in his throwing elbow.  Missing at least two months is naturally still an infinitely preferable scenario to the initial worry that Cole might need some kind of season-ending surgery, yet the Yankees still have to navigate a big chunk of the season without arguably the sport’s best pitcher.  It isn’t a coincidence that the team’s interest in Snell and Montgomery seemed to spark back up after the news broke of Cole’s injury, but it looks like the Yankees will rely on Gil and their internal arms to hold the fort until Cole is able to return.

Even a late strike for Snell or Montgomery at a relative discount price would have had serious financial implications.  RosterResource’s projections put the Yankees’ payroll at $299.7MM, and their luxury tax number at just over $310.5MM.  The latter figure puts New York well over the highest tax threshold of $297MM, after the team just barely stayed under the $297MM number in 2023.  Since 2024 will be the Yankees’ third consecutive year of surpassing the luxury tax, it all adds up a whopping 110% tax added to any further payroll additions the Yankees might make.

It’s perhaps a reach to say that a team with such a gigantic payroll is hugely concerned with an even larger tax bill, as there’s certainly more pressure for the Yankees to get back into contention.  Yet, the Bombers did keep their free agent spending relatively in check, and the $30MM average annual values offered to Yamamoto and Snell seemed to represent something of a limit to how much New York was willing to offer.  Soto, Torres, Verdugo, Clay Holmes, and (pending a club option) Rizzo are all free agents next winter, representing some significant money coming off the books for the Yankees as they decide how to reload for 2025.

Though the relief corps was pretty successful last year, New York heads into Opening Day with some noteworthy changes in the bullpen.  With Peralta, Middleton, and former relief stalwart King all gone, the Yankees will look to make up those innings with Caleb Ferguson and Victor Gonzalez (both acquired in separate trades with the Dodgers) and minor league signing Nick Burdi.  Luke Weaver was re-signed to a low-cost guaranteed deal, and Cody Morris, Cody Poteet, and any number of other pitchers already in the farm system or signed to minor league contracts could emerge as the season progresses.  The Yankees and pitching coach Matt Blake have developed a knack for getting good results out of unheralded bullpen options, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see some other unexpected name or a pitcher not even currently in the organization emerging for some high-leverage work later on in the season.

Between the flurry of additions big and small, it was a busy winter in the Bronx, which isn’t surprising for a Yankees team coming off a rare non-playoff season.  Players and team executives either hinted or outright stated last fall that some changes had to be made to get the club back into contention, extending from both roster moves to more clubhouse-related issues like Judge’s desire to see a difference in both the type of analytical information presented to the players, and in how this info is presented.  These types of alterations aren’t as public as the sight of Soto wearing Yankees pinstripes, of course, and despite all of the roster moves and internal fixes, ultimately a lot of the Yankees’ success in 2024 might simply hinge on Cole’s health.

Nick Senzel Suffers Broken Thumb

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Nationals third baseman Nick Senzel suffered a broken thumb while fielding a ball prior to today’s game, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. It’s unclear how long the injury will keep him out but it’s likely to be at least a few weeks.

It’s an incredibly unfortunate development for a player who has generated such excitement but has been frequently beset by injuries. He was ready for a fresh start in 2024, with the Nationals planning to have him be their everyday third baseman, but he’ll instead be facing yet another injury setback.

Senzel, 29 in June, was selected by the Reds with the second overall pick in 2016 and was considered one of the top prospects in the league as he climbed the minor league ladder. But since he made his major league debut in 2019, he has made frequent trips to the injured list, having never played more than 110 games or taken more than 420 plate appearances in a season. He has undergone surgery to repair a torn finger tendon, to remove bone spurs from his elbow and to address to torn labrum in his shoulder. He’s also missed time due to an ankle sprain and knee injuries, one of them requiring arthroscopic surgery.

Around all those ailments, his performance has been underwhelming. He has hit .239/.302/.369 in his 1,366 major league plate appearances, which translates to a wRC+ of 77. He was non-tendered by the Reds after last year, then the Nats decided to take a chance on him, giving him a $2MM deal.

They were undoubtedly hoping that a change of scenery and some regular playing time could help him get back to the form that made him such a hyped-up prospect. Manager Dave Martinez said way back in December that the club was planning to install him as an everyday third baseman, showing a great deal of faith in Senzel. But instead, he’s now facing yet another injury absence.

For as long as he’s out, the Nats will have to come up with other options. Utility player Ildemaro Vargas is on the roster and could perhaps step in for a time. Jake Alu is also on the 40-man roster and can play multiple positions. Carter Kieboom, like Senzel, is a former first-round pick with a diminished stock in recent years. He’s out of options and was outrighted off the roster a couple of weeks ago. Trey Lipscomb had a hot spring but isn’t on the 40-man either.

How the club proceeds may depend on how long Senzel is expected to be out. But for now, it’s not the start to the 2024 season that Senzel or the Nationals were hoping for.

Rangers Place Tyler Mahle On 60-Day Injured List

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The Rangers announced today that right-hander Tyler Mahle has been placed on the 60-day injured list. Combined with yesterday’s outright of infielder José Barrero, the club opened two spots to select the contracts of right-hander José Ureña and first baseman Jared Walsh, moves which were previously reported.

Mahle, 29, underwent Tommy John surgery in May while with the Twins. He reached free agency after last year and signed with the Rangers, a two-year deal with a $22MM guarantee, with the club knowing they weren’t going to get any contributions from Mahle in the first few months of that deal. He’ll join Jacob deGrom, who is also rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, on the 60-day IL as both pitchers look to come back later in the year.

Notably, right-hander Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day IL but has not been placed on the 60-day IL and it doesn’t seem like he will, at least for now. He underwent back surgery in December and it was announced at that time that he would probably be sidelined into June or July. However, more recent developments have suggested he may be able to beat that timeline, with manager Bruce Bochy suggesting a few weeks back that Scherzer was ahead of schedule.

“My guess is we do not do that,” general manager Chris Young said about the matter yesterday, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. Today, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News relays that Scherzer threw a bullpen and characterized himself as “early February,” suggesting he’s perhaps about six weeks behind schedule.

Placing Scherzer on the 60-day injured list, whether it’s now or later, would mean he’s ineligible to be activated until late May. It seems like he may be able to return somewhere in that vicinity, so the Rangers are leaving that option open for now. If the timeline changes in the weeks to come, they could transfer him to the 60-day IL at that point and it will be backdated to his recent placement on the 15-day IL. In other words, even if he gets transferred to the 60-day IL a month from now, he could still be reinstated in late May.

The Rangers’ rotation will likely change a lot over the course of the year. They will start the season with Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning and Cody Bradford but reinforcements will be coming throughout the year. Michael Lorenzen was recently signed but he’ll need a few weeks to build up into game readiness. It sounds like Scherzer won’t be far behind him with Mahle and deGrom to follow as the season progresses.

Rays Release Francisco Mejia

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Francisco Mejia’s return to the Rays organization will be a brief one. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel reports that the Rays released the veteran backstop, who’d signed a minor league deal in late February. Mejia is once again a free agent.

The 28-year-old Mejia signed a minor league deal with the Angels over the winter but was granted his release early in camp after the Halos apparently changed their plans behind the dish. He returned to the Rays a few days later in hopes of winning a roster spot with the club for whom he’d suited up over the three prior seasons.

Mejia only tallied 19 plate appearances in big league camp with the Rays but hit well in that small sample, going 6-for-18 with a pair of doubles, a walk and two strikeouts. Mejia was in the mix for some catching time alongside Rene Pinto, competing with fellow non-roster invitee Alex Jackson in that regard. Yesterday’s acquisition of Ben Rortvedt altered the Rays’ plans, however. Rortvedt opened the season as the second catcher alongside Pinto, pushing Jackson to Triple-A alongside journeyman Rob Brantly. With Mejia again left as something of an odd man out, he’ll head back to the market in search of new opportunities.

Once one of the game’s top all-around prospects, Mejia has yet to hit at the major league level despite piling up more than five years of service time between Cleveland, San Diego and Tampa Bay. He touts an excellent .306/.350/.519 batting line in 633 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, but despite showing promise in his first season with the Rays, he’s just a .239/.284/.394 hitter in nearly 1100 MLB plate appearances.

Mejia’s defense has also been panned over the years. He’s long been graded as a below-average framer, and his ability to control the running game completely evaporated last season. In 2023, he threw out just four of the 42 runners who attempted to take a bag against him. Statcast also ranks him as one of the least-effective catchers in the game when it comes to blocking balls in the dirt.

Despite the lack of big league success, Mejia is a switch-hitter with an impressive track record in Triple-A who’s still just 28. Catching help is always in demand around the league, and while a team certainly isn’t likely to plug the former top prospect right onto its big league roster, he should find opportunities to join someone’s Triple-A club and work his way back to the big leagues.

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