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A’s Notes: Coliseum Negotiations, Clark, Hernaiz

By Nick Deeds | February 24, 2024 at 9:34pm CDT

As the A’s final season on their lease at the Oakland Coliseum kicks into gear, it remains unclear where the club will make its home from 2025 to 2027 while waiting for the club’s planned stadium in Las Vegas to be completed. A spokesperson for the A’s recently told Sam Blum of The Athletic that the club is willing to share the Coliseum with a pair of local soccer teams during the 2025 season and that negotiations regarding the Athletics’ short-term future in Oakland are ongoing.

The sides recently had their first meeting regarding extending the club’s stay in Oakland since the A’s announced their plan to relocate to Las Vegas last year. The club has a significant financial incentive to remain in the Bay Area for the 2025-27 campaigns, as staying in their current market would allow them to maintain their current TV deal, which Blum notes the A’s stand to receive $67MM annually from. A move to Salt Lake City or Sacramento, the other reported finalists for the A’s temporary home, would give NBC Sports California the ability to drop the deal.

That reality has brought the A’s back to the negotiating table with Oakland and, if the club’s reported willingness to share the stadium is any indication, accept at least some concessions in order to remain in Oakland for three more seasons. While the club has begun to attempt to negotiate a longer stay at their current stadium, it remains unclear how willing the city of Oakland is to compromise. Oakland mayor Sheng Thao has previously indicated that the A’s would not be welcome to remain in the Coliseum temporarily without significant concessions, up to and including the promise of an expansion franchise bringing baseball back to Oakland in the future. Thao’s camp seemingly remained committed to that stance as talks began last week, leaving the A’s odds of securing a temporary lease in Coliseum murky.

More from around the A’s and the city of Oakland…

MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark recently spoke to reporters, including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, regarding the club’s uncertain future. In his comments, Clark noted that “players had questions” about the future location of the A’s, while adding that “you would like to see come to some higher level of clarity” given the relatively short amount of time until a decision needs to be made. While the club’s lease in Oakland won’t expire until after the 2024 season comes to a close, the ambiguity over the A’s home in 2025 could complicate the creation of next year’s schedule, which Shea notes is meant to be available to teams in May. Once the A’s choose a location for the 2025-27 seasons, the location will require MLBPA approval. For his part, Clark indicated that there “may be things we need to address” regarding the A’s choice for an interim home regardless of whether the A’s remain in Coliseum or move to a minor league facility in Salt Lake City or Sacramento.
A’s infield prospect Darell Hernaiz figures to be on the big league radar at some point this season after he impressed with a .338/.393/.486 slash line in 71 games at the Double-A level last year before he went on to hold his own with a .300/.376/.418 triple slash in 60 games at the Triple-A level. Hernaiz has played shortstop almost exclusively throughout his professional career, making only brief cameos at second and third base. With the club likely to rely on Nick Allen at shortstop to open the season, however, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com relays that, per manager Mark Kotsay, Hernaiz will get regular reps at third base this spring. The hot corner could provide Hernaiz with a quicker path to the big leagues this season as the A’s are currently without a clear starting option at the position, with Abraham Toro standing as Hernaiz’s primary competition for the third base job to open the season barring any external additions.

MLBPA Director Tony Clark Discusses Pitch Clock, Free Agency, Olympics

By Nick Deeds | February 24, 2024 at 7:41pm CDT

MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark spoke to reporters, including David Brandt of the Associated Press, today about an array of topics including the adjustments made to the pitch clock this offseason and the state of the free agent market.

The players on MLB’s competition committee voted against the slate of rules changes which were approved back in December, and Clark made clear that he feels adjustments to the pitch clock, which was implemented prior to the 2023 campaign, are being made much too quickly. Clark noted that the rules changes “warranted a much longer dialogue” before being put into place. The clock, which allowed 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 seconds with runners on last year, will allow only 18 seconds with runners on in 2024. No adjustments were made to the clock when the bases are empty.

“We just had the biggest adjustment this league has ever seen in regards to length of game and how the game was affected, by including a clock,” Clark said, as relayed by Brandt. “Rather than give us another year to adjust and adapt to it, why are we adjusting again, and what are the ramifications going to be?”

Clark added that his primary concern regarding the pitch clock is pitcher health, noting that shortening recovery time between pitches could leave the game’s hurlers more susceptible to injury. The pitch clock modification wasn’t the only change made to the rules this winter. The runners’ lane has been widened to allow players to take a more direct path to first base, the maximum number of allowed mound visits in a game has been reduced from five to four, and pitchers who are sent to warm up for an inning cannot be replaced without entering the game to face at least one batter.

Also discussed during the presser was the possibility of a free agent signing deadline, which MLB commissioner Rob Manfred advocated for earlier this month. Manfred suggested that a deadline in December would allow “two weeks of flurried activity” surrounding the annual Winter Meetings, though he noted that the MLBPA had rebuffed the idea of a signing deadline in the past. Clark confirmed the union’s opposition to the idea, suggesting that “A deadline, in all likelihood, is going to do more damage to players in those conversations than the other way around.”

The possibility of a signing deadline has become a hotly debated topic in the media and among fans this winter thanks at least in part to lack of movement at the top of the free agent market in recent weeks. With Spring Training already underway, four of the top seven free agents from this winter’s addition of MLBTR’s Top 50 free agents list remain unsigned in Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Matt Chapman. Each member of that quartet is represented by the Boras Corporation, which has developed a reputation for encouraging its clients to be patient upon hitting free agency. It’s a tactic that has yielded a range of results in the past; while Bryce Harper famously landed a $330MM guarantee back in March of 2019, Carlos Correa instead settled for a surprising short-term deal with the Twins in March of 2022.

While it’s clear that the league hopes to curtail the ability of both agencies and clubs to slow-play free agency and create a short, active signing window akin to those seen in other major North American sports leagues, the MLBPA’s resistant to such a plan makes it unlikely that a proposed deadline would find much suggests when collective bargaining talks begin in advance of the current CBA’s expiration on December 1, 2026.

Clark also spoke to reporters about the possibility of MLB players partaking in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, a possibility which has begun to gain steam as MLB has suggested they’ll consider the possibility. In his comments, Clark echoed Manfred by noting that while the possibility of big leaguers participating in the Olympics is an exciting one for players and that there’s been “a lot of dialogue” about it, there remains a long way to go before making the idea a reality. In addition to working out the logistics of having major leaguers participate with the International Olympic Committee, both MLB and the MLBPA would need to sign off on players participating in the games.

Enrique Hernandez Reportedly Deciding Between Four Teams

By Nick Deeds | February 24, 2024 at 6:27pm CDT

Free agent utility player Enrique Hernandez is deciding between the Giants, Angels, Twins, and Padres, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The news comes on the heels of a report yesterday that indicated Hernandez was nearing a decision.

Hernandez, 32, opened the 2024 season as the starting shortstop for the Red Sox, though he struggled both with the glove and at the plate in the role. After slashing .222/.279/.320 in 323 trips to the plate with Boston in the first half of the season, the club shipped Hernandez to the Dodgers for the stretch run. It was a homecoming for Hernandez, who had already played in L.A. for six seasons before signing in Boston prior to the 2021 season via free agency, and in his return to the Dodgers he found some success in a bench role. Hernandez slashed a roughly league average .262/.308/.423 down the stretch in L.A. while bouncing between every spot on the diamond except for catcher.

The veteran has generally been utilized as a bench bat throughout his career, filling in all over the diamond thanks to his versatility and often getting reps against southpaws due to a career .801 OPS against left-handed pitching. That being said, Hernandez typically provides slightly below average offense overall. Since first joining the Dodgers prior to the 2015 season, Hernandez sports a career slash line of .239/.310/.408, good for a wRC+ of 93. That lack of offensive presence has typically kept him from securing a full-time role; 2023 was just the second season of Hernandez’s career where he totaled 500 plate appearances in a season despite routinely appearing in 130 or more games for his club.

Looking at the reported suitors for Hernandez’s services, the Angels are perhaps the least surprising given their previously reported interest in the 32-year-old. It’s easy to see why the Halos would have interest in Hernandez’s services. While the club has plenty of interesting pieces backing up superstar Mike Trout in the lineup, the club’s lineup offers little in the way of certainty. Trout and former star slugger Anthony Rendon have been plagued by injury woes in recent years that have kept both veterans off the field more often than not, while exciting youngsters like Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel have potential but are hardly a guarantee to produce in the majors after short stays in the minor leagues.

Hernandez’s versatility would allow him to cover for virtually any player in the Anaheim lineup in the event of injury or under-performance, and the DH spot left open by the departure of Shohei Ohtani could provide Hernandez a path to semi-regular at-bats even in the event the club’s starting lineup manages to stay healthy and effective. Hernandez’s versatility could also allow the club to offer more consistency to 26-year-old infielder Luis Rengifo, who appears poised to enter the year as the club’s starting second baseman but appeared at six different positions in 2023.

The other three suitors for Hernandez’s services had not been publicly connected to the veteran previously. That being said, each of them could make plenty of sense as a fit for the utility man. The Padres, in particular, are in clear need of outfield depth after entering the spring with just two outfielders on their 40-man roster in Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jose Azocar. They’ve added Jurickson Profar on a big league deal since then and have non-roster invitees such as Oscar Mercado attempting to earn a roster spot in Spring Training, but Hernandez would offer the club a steady, veteran presence off the bench who can handle all three outfield spots and could take pressure off prospects like Jackson Merrill and Jakob Marsee to prove themselves ready for regular big league action.

The roster fit for Hernandez in Minnesota and San Francisco is a little less obvious, as both clubs already have crowded positional mixes. With that being said, the presence of Hernandez could provide the Giants with some veteran stability at shortstop should youngster Marco Luciano not hit the ground running at the position, and Hernandez’s right-handed bat could serve as a strong complement to an outfield featuring a trio of lefty regulars in Michael Conforto, Jung Hoo Lee, and Mike Yastrzemski.

Meanwhile, the Twins have a several young lefty bats in their lineup such as Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff, and Matt Wallner. Adding Hernandez to the club’s positional mix would give the club a right-handed bat to complement those youngsters while also providing a clear backup option in center field should oft-injured star Byron Buxton return to the shelf at some point this season. Buxton also isn’t the only piece on the Twins’ roster that has struggled with injuries in recent years, as each of Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, and Carlos Correa also dealt with injury woes last season. While it might be hard for Minnesota to fit Hernandez on their roster as things stand, the club could attempt to clear roster space by shopping fellow utility player Kyle Farmer or even simply option Jose Miranda, who figured to serve as a right-handed bat off the club’s bench this year, to Triple-A to open the season.

Jackie Bradley Jr. “Open” To Continuing Career

By Nick Deeds | February 24, 2024 at 4:21pm CDT

Veteran center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. remains “open” to continuing his career, according to a report from Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. Abraham adds that Bradley has continued to work out throughout the offseason in hopes of returning to the field this spring.

Bradley, 34 in April, signed with the Royals on a minor league pact last spring and managed to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster, though his time in Kansas City ultimately did not go how either side surely hoped it would. While Bradley continued to flash impressive defense in a part-time role with the Royals to open last season, racking up +4 ratings according to both Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved for his work on the outfield grass, he struggled badly at the plate before being released in early June.

In 113 plate appearances for the Royals last year, Bradley slashed a paltry .133/.188/.210 with a 25.7% strikeout rate, a 4.4% walk rate, and just six extra-base hits. That translates to a wRC+ of just 2, meaning Bradley’s offensive performance last year was 98% below that of a league average hitter. There’s reason to believes those dreadful results weren’t entirely earned by Bradley. His BABIP of just .173 last year was more than 100 points below his career .283 mark, and his expected wOBA was more than 60 points below his expected figure.

With that being said, even better fortune at the plate would have been unlikely to turn Bradley into even an average contributor at the plate last year. Even Bradley’s xwOBA of .242 was 12th-lowest among all major league hitters last year with at least 100 plate appearances, and dead last among outfielders who hit that same benchmark. Last year’s disappointing numbers were a continuation of the struggles Bradley has dealt with since departing Boston following the shortened 2020 campaign. Over the past three seasons, Bradley has hit just .176/.238/.275 in 309 games with the Brewers, Blue Jays, and Royals. While his defensive abilities in the outfield have remained impressive during that time, the lack of offense still left Bradley with negative fWAR in each of those years.

At this stage in his career, it would be a major surprise for Bradley to regains the form he showed during his peak seasons with the Red Sox. From 2015 to 2020, the former first-round pick posted a 102 wRC+ while posting elite defensive numbers in center field, allowing him to generate 16.7 fWAR. That figure places him 13th among all outfielders during that stretch, sandwiched between Marcell Ozuna and Starling Marte and ahead of the likes of Andrew McCutchen and Michael Brantley.

Unlikely as it is that Bradley returns to those heights, it would hardly be a surprise if a club in need of outfield depth took a chance on Bradley’s services, though his market would surely be limited to minor league offers. After all, Bradley’s defense remained strong even during his dismal stint with the Royals last year, and the veteran outfielder could serve as a mentor for young players throughout the spring if signed. Abraham even notes that Bradley spent part of his offseason working with young superstar Juan Soto in order to improve the 25-year-old phenom’s glovework in the outfield as he looks to bounce back from a pair of seasons that have seen his defense slip in the eyes of defensive metrics.

NL Central Notes: India, Ashby, Santana, Pirates

By Mark Polishuk | February 24, 2024 at 3:22pm CDT

Plantar fasciitis sidelined Jonathan India last summer, and the injury is still impacting the Reds infielder’s availability as Spring Training begins. Manager David Bell told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith and other reporters that India isn’t slated to appear in a game until March 7 or 8, as India’s plantar fasciitis tore during the offseason and is still causing him some discomfort. On the plus side, the tear means that India won’t need to undergo surgery on his foot, and Bell said that India is still able to take part in baseball activity as he builds up to being game-ready.

Health is just one of many uncertainties hanging over India as he begins his fourth Major League season. Already the subject of frequent trade rumors due to Cincinnati’s plethora of up-and-coming infield talent, India looks to be moving into a utility role if he remains with the Reds, as he could be playing all over the infield, at DH, and perhaps in left field.

Other items from around the NL Central…

Aaron Ashby is eager to be back after missing virtually all of the 2023 season due to arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder. Describing the procedure to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ashby said “I essentially had some calcified muscle on my rotator cuff, and they went in there and clipped it right off. Once I got out of surgery the doctor was like, ’This was best-case scenario for you.’ It’s a minimal surgery in terms of what they did, but a shoulder surgery is a shoulder surgery, and it’s tricky at times.” The southpaw’s only game action in 2023 was seven innings of minor-league rehab work in September, but he has been making good progress in Spring Training and is hoping to win a spot in the Brewers rotation, though Rosiak notes that bullpen work could help ease Ashby back into regular activity.
Carlos Santana had interest in returning to the Pirates as a free agent this winter, with Santana telling Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he expressed this to the team when he was traded to the Brewers prior to last summer’s trade deadline. The Bucs still had some interest during the offseason even after signing Rowdy Tellez to ostensibly fill the void at first base, but Santana didn’t know why an agreement wasn’t reached. “My agent has a very good relationship with the team, but he didn’t tell me anything. I wanted to come back, but there was nothing going on,” the first baseman said. Santana instead joined the Twins on a one-year, $5.25MM deal, and the Pirates will head into 2024 with Tellez and Connor Joe as the first base platoon and Andrew McCutchen returning as the primary DH.
This could be something of a tough read for Pirates fans, but The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt and Ken Rosenthal details some of the missteps that have slowed the team’s rebuild, such as a lack of success in international signings and some instances of a disconnect between traditional baseball teachings and the more modern approach of GM Ben Cherington. However, the largest issue is naturally the team’s lack of spending under owner Bob Nutting, as there is less margin for error for Cherington’s front office when operating within a tight budget. Nesbitt and Rosenthal’s piece was published a day before the Pirates announced a five-year, $77MM extension with Mitch Keller, which is one instance of how the Bucs have been slightly more willing to spend in order to lock up young cornerstone players.

AL Central Notes: Twins, Miller, Valera, Carpenter

By Mark Polishuk | February 24, 2024 at 1:24pm CDT

The Twins brought back four players from the Mariners in exchange for Jorge Polanco last month, though Minnesota’s first target was right-hander Bryce Miller, Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports. Miller and fellow rookie Bryan Woo were among the most sought-after trade targets of the winter, yet the Mariners weren’t eager to move either pitcher, or anyone from their crop of young and controllable starters. While Polanco fills a big need for Seattle at second base, he is only under team control through the 2025 season, so any kind of Polanco-for-Miller swap would’ve needed to be much different on Minnesota’s end to land Miller’s services.

Marlins Sign Tim Anderson

By Anthony Franco | February 24, 2024 at 11:09am CDT

TODAY: The Marlins have officially announced Anderson’s signing. Sandy Alcantara (who will miss all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery) was placed on the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot for Anderson.

FEBRUARY 22: The Marlins and free agent shortstop Tim Anderson are in agreement on a one-year, $5MM contract, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN. The deal is pending a physical. Anderson is repped by Excel Sports Management.

Anderson, 30, was arguably the best shortstop in a very weak middle infield class. A two-time All-Star and 2019 batting champ, he looked like one of the better shortstops in the majors as recently as a season ago. He’s coming off the worst year of his career, though, as he struggled to a .245/.286/.296 batting line in 524 plate appearances. Anderson connected on just one home run.

While his offensive profile has never been driven primarily by power, he reached double digits in homers each year between 2017-21. That dropped to six homers in a 2022 season cut short by a ligament tear in his left middle finger, although he still managed a .301/.339/.395 slash. His entire offensive profile plummeted last season.

Anderson struck out in 23.3% of his plate appearances, his highest rate since 2018. He put more than three-fifths of his batted balls on the ground, a personal-high clip. That led to his worst average and on-base marks since 2018 in addition to the lowest power production of his career.

That led the White Sox to buy Anderson out for $1MM in lieu of a $14MM club option, ending a strong eight-year run on Chicago’s South Side. General manager Chris Getz has kicked off at least an abbreviated rebuild, bringing in Paul DeJong on a modest $1.75MM free agent deal to solidify the defense.

Anderson has increasingly struggled on that side of the ball as well. By measure of Defensive Runs Saved, he has rated a combined 23 runs below average over the past two seasons. Only Bobby Witt Jr. has a lower total at the position. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric hasn’t been nearly as bearish, grading Anderson slightly below par in both years. It’s possible that lower body injuries have played a role in that downturn. Over the past three seasons, he has missed time with a left hamstring strain, a right groin strain, and a sprained left knee (in addition to the aforementioned finger injury).

The veteran infielder expressed a willingness to move to the other side of the second base bag. That won’t be necessary in Miami, which has sought shortstop help throughout the winter. The Fish let Joey Wendle depart after a lackluster 2023 campaign. Jon Berti is best suited in a utility role, while none of Xavier Edwards, Jacob Amaya or Vidal Bruján is established at the MLB level.

Miami has a two-time batting champ, Luis Arraez, at the keystone. The up-the-middle pairing of Anderson and Arraez isn’t likely to be a great defensive group, but there’s significant offensive upside if Anderson rebounds. Between 2019-22, Anderson had an excellent .318/.347/.473 line in more than 1600 trips to the plate. Among hitters with at least 2000 plate appearances over the past five seasons, he’s still third in batting average. Arraez leads the way at .326, while only Freddie Freeman (.315) also stands above Anderson, who has hit .300 since 2019.

It’s a fairly inexpensive pickup for the Fish on what is remarkably their first major league free agent deal of the offseason. That means it’s also the first MLB contract for new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who has presided over a quiet winter in South Florida. Ever present payroll constraints contributed to Miami’s decision to let Jorge Soler walk after a 36-homer season. They haven’t replaced Soler at DH or addressed the rotation in response to Sandy Alcantara’s Tommy John surgery, but Anderson brings a higher ceiling than last year’s collection of shortstops.

Roster Resource calculates the team’s player payroll around $100MM. That’s above last season’s approximate $93MM season-opening mark but still places them firmly in the league’s bottom third in spending. Miami will need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move once the signing is finalized, but that’ll likely be accomplished by placing Alcantara on the 60-day injured list.

If Anderson returns to form, he’ll have a shot at a better multi-year deal a year from now. He’ll return to free agency next winter in advance of his age-32 season. Willy Adames headlines what otherwise looks like another weak group of free agent shortstops. Gleyber Torres will be the top second baseman, while Anderson and Amed Rosario (who signed a $1.5MM deal with Tampa Bay this week) are the most interesting rebound candidates.

Reds, Mike Ford Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | February 24, 2024 at 10:21am CDT

TODAY: The Reds officially announced their deal with Ford, and MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (via X) has the contractual details. Ford will earn $1.3MM if he makes the big league roster, and another $125K is available in bonus money. Ford can opt out of his contract on March 23 if he hasn’t been promised a spot on the Opening Day roster.

FEBRUARY 23: The Reds have agreed to a minor league deal with first baseman/designated hitter Mike Ford, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The ZS Sports client would earn $1.3MM in the big leagues and can pick up another $125K worth of incentives on the deal, which contains opt-out dates both during spring training and during the regular season.

Ford, 31, posted huge power numbers with the Mariners in 2023, slashing .228/.323/.475 with 16 homers in just 251 trips to the plate. That power was accompanied by an above-average 9.6% walk rate but also a bloated 32.3% strikeout rate. The former Yankee farmhand has long had plus power and questionable contact rates, so the 2023 season wasn’t out of the norm in that regard. However, last season also represented Ford’s longest and most productive stretch in the big leagues. He’d never reached even 200 plate appearances in a major league season prior.

The left-handed-hitting Ford hasn’t been allowed to face lefties much in his career but torched them in 24 plate appearances last year and has actually fared better against fellow southpaws in his career at large. It’s only 108 plate appearances, but he’s a .268/.343/.577 hitter versus lefties compared to .200/.303/.389 against righties (in a much larger sample of 611 plate appearances).

Cincinnati already has more infielders than infield at-bats available — so much so that Spencer Steer is being moved to left field on a full-time basis in 2024. Even still, the Reds have Jeimer Candelario, Jonathan India, Noelvi Marte, Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain and Christian Encarnacion-Strand in line to rotate around the infield and throughout the DH spot. Ford gives Cincinnati a left-handed depth option who can handle first or DH work in the event of injuries or some regression from any of its promising young infielders. As it stands, Candelario, Encarnacion-Strand and India are in line to see the most action at first base and DH, but a strong spring could thrust Ford into that mix — or, considering the spring opt-out date(s) in the deal, at least serve as an audition for another club seeking some lefty-hitting thump.

Reds Sign Tony Kemp To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 24, 2024 at 10:19am CDT

TODAY: The Reds officially announced their deal with Kemp. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (via X) reports that Kemp will earn $1.75MM if he makes Cincinnati’s active roster, with another $750K in bonuses available. Kemp can opt out of his deal on March 23 if he hasn’t been promised a spot on the Opening Day roster.

FEBRUARY 23: The Reds have signed infielder/outfielder Tony Kemp to a minor league deal, per Jon Heyman of The New York Post. The Ballengee Group client also receives an invite to big league camp.

Kemp, 32, is coming off a down year with the Athletics. He walked more than he struck out, 10.5% rate to 9.5%, but didn’t do much damage when he put the ball in play. He slashed just .209/.303/.304 for a wRC+ of 77. The baseball gods may have been frowning on him a little bit, as his .221 batting average on balls in play was well below the .297 league average last year. But on the other hand, Kemp’s never been a huge threat with the bat, with poor career metrics in terms of exit velocity, hard hit rate and barrel rate.

But there are some attractive attributes as well, including defensive versatility. He has over 2,000 innings of big league experience at second base and left field, in addition to brief time at the other two outfield spots and shortstop. He also racked up double-digit steal totals in each of the past two seasons.

The Reds are loaded with position-player talent all over the diamond, with Jeimer Candelario, Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, TJ Friedl, Noelvi Marté, Jonathan India, Will Benson, Tyler Stephenson, Jake Fraley all battling for playing time. But many of the guys in that group are still fairly young and inexperienced. If any of them have some sort of setback in terms of results, the club would probably prefer they get regular reps in the minors as opposed to sitting on the big league bench.

The club has also signed veteran infielders like Josh Harrison, Erik González, Hernán Pérez and Mark Mathias to minor league deals. Kemp will jump into that mix and try to play his way into a veteran bench role at some point.

AL East Notes: Sale, Tiedemann, Ramirez

By Mark Polishuk | February 24, 2024 at 9:15am CDT

The Chris Sale-for-Vaughn Grissom trade between the Braves and Red Sox caught many in baseball by surprise, including Sale himself. The veteran southpaw related in a recent appearance on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast (hat tip to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford) that being dealt “wasn’t even in the realm of possibilities. That wasn’t even a thought that crossed my mind” heading into the offseason. As Sale plainly put it, “Why would anybody want me at this point?” in the wake of multiple injury-plagued seasons.

There was also the factor of Sale’s 10-and-5 no-trade rights, so he could’ve rejected the chance to join the Braves. However, after less than a day of discussing things with his family and inner circle, Sale okayed the deal, with some Grapefruit League geography playing a major role. The Braves’ spring facility in North Port, Florida adds only roughly an hour to Sale’s commute from his home, so “I can still live my life while being part of this team in spring training. That was probably the most important thing. One hundred percent. My kids play sports. They’ve got school stuff going on.” Sale also relayed the amusing item that the first proper conversation he had with Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow after weeks of texts and “phone tag” was when Breslow let Sale know the trade was in the works.

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