Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

A’s Designate Aaron Brooks For Assignment

By | at

The A’s announced this morning that they’ve activated right-hander Luis Medina from the 60-day injured list. To make room for Medina on both the club’s active and 40-man rosters, right-hander Aaron Brooks was designated for assignment.

Brooks, 34, signed with the A’s on a minor league deal over the winter and was called up last month to help fill out the club’s rotation mix amid a number of injuries to key veterans such as Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, and Paul Blackburn. He ultimately made four starts for the A’s, pitching to a 5.82 ERA with a 5.59 FIP in 21 2/3 innings of work with a strikeout rate of just 10% against a 6% walk rate. With potential long-term pieces like JP Sears and Mitch Spence currently filling out the rest of the club’s rotation mix, Brooks’s mediocre performance wasn’t enough to justify a rotation spot for the righty now that Medina is healthy enough to take the mound.

Going forward, the A’s will have one week to either trade Brooks or attempt to pass the veteran righty through waivers. Should he clear waivers, the veteran would have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency should he wish to do so. Despite his lackluster results this year, it’s feasible that a club in need of starting pitching depth could have interest in the righty. After all, he’s a veteran of six major league seasons who has compiled 56 appearances and 32 starts in the majors during that time as a back-end starter and long reliever who enjoyed some success overseas while pitching in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2020-21.

Brooks’s spot both on the 40-man roster and in the starting rotation will be taken by Medina, who the A’s acquired alongside Sears and Ken Waldichuk in the Frankie Montas trade at the 2022 trade deadline. The 25-year-old made his big league debut with the A’s last year and struggled to a 5.42 ERA in 23 appearances, 17 of which were starts. Medina’s difficulties at the big league level were primarily attributable to his unsightly 11.5% walk rate, which clocked in less than ten points below his 21.4% strikeout rate.

Despite those ugly peripheral marks, Medina’s 96.1 mph average velocity on his fastball offers plenty of reason for excitement about his abilities if he figure out his command, and his performance improved as the 2023 season continued with a 4.22 ERA and 4.04 FIP in his final 70 1/3 innings of work last year. Medina’s tantalizing upside made him a strong candidate for the fifth starter role in Oakland entering the season until he found himself sidelined by a grade 2 MCL sprain in early March. Medina has been shelved ever since, but now is healthy enough for the A’s to once again offer him the opportunity to join their rotation alongside Sears, Spence, Joey Estes, and Hogan Harris.

Dodgers Notes: Miller, Snell, Kershaw

By | at

Dodgers youngster Bobby Miller made his second rehab start last night as he works his way back from a bout of shoulder inflammation that has kept him out of action since mid-April. As noted by Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times, manager Dave Roberts told reporters that Miller experienced “a little velocity drop” during the start. While a drop in velocity can often be a sign of a physical issue of some sort, Roberts suggested that the club does not believe Miller to have been dealt any sort of physical setback in his recovery process.

Lower velocity could help to explain Miller’s rough final line last night, as he allowed four runs on five hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings of work without recording a strikeout. That shaky performance doesn’t seem to have altered the club’s plans for Miller, however, as MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that Miller is scheduled to make his next rehab start at the Triple-A level before the Dodgers decide on whether or not he’s ready to rejoin the big league club. A fully healthy return from Miller would surely be a shot in the arm for the club, as the 25-year-old looked good in 22 starts during his rookie season last year with a 3.76 ERA and 3.51 FIP in 124 1/3 innings of work.

More notes from L.A….

  • A recent report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests that the Dodgers “made a late play” to land left-hander Blake Snell before he ultimately signed with the Giants on a two-year, $62MM deal. That the Dodgers had interest in Snell prior to his deal with San Francisco comes as something of a surprise given reporting from Heyman back in December that indicated the Dodgers had no interest in the reigning NL Cy Young award winner. Of course, in the months between those reports the market for Snell dried up considerably and he began to entertain short-term offers. Given Snell’s 10.42 ERA in five starts this year with the Giants, L.A. may have ended up better off by entering the season with a rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, James Paxton, and Gavin Stone. With Paxton and Walker Buehler both scheduled to hit free agency following the 2024 campaign, it’s possible the Dodgers could once again be a suitor for Snell’s services this winter should he rebound enough to opt out of year two of his deal with the Giants.
  • DiGiovanna also relays that the club’s longtime franchise face is making progress as he looks to work his way back from shoulder surgery. Lefty Clayton Kershaw faced six hitters in a live bullpen session yesterday, and in conversation with reporters (including DiGiovanna) compared to outing to an outing that would happen in the early stages of Spring Training during a normal year. The plan for Kershaw is currently for him to work his way towards a rehab stint after bumping up to two innings during his next bullpen session. As the Injury Tracker at MLB.com notes, the veteran lefty appears to be around six weeks away from a return to the big leagues, a timeline which would put him on track to return around the All Star break next month. Kershaw pitched through shoulder troubles last year, posting a 2.46 ERA in 24 starts for the Dodgers during the regular season, but ultimately opted to undergo surgery after a disastrous postseason start against the Diamondbacks where he allowed six runs while recording just one out.

Angels Option Reid Detmers

By | at

The Angels announced tonight that they have optioned struggling left-hander Reid Detmers to Triple-A Salt Lake following tonight’s loss to the Mariners. No corresponding move to replace Detmers on the active roster was announced.  [UPDATE: Right-hander Ben Joyce was called up from Triple-A today to take Detmers’ spot, the team announced.]

The move comes on the heels of a difficult start for Detmers against Seattle this evening, where he surrendered five runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three in 3 2/3 innings of work. Tonight’s blowup start is the eighth consecutive difficult start for Detmers, who entered tonight with a brutal 8.59 ERA across 36 2/3 innings of work in his last seven appearances. During that time, the lefty has struck out just 21.5% of batters faced, a significant step down from the 26.1% figure he posted during his 2023 campaign. Perhaps more disconcertingly, Detmers allowed a whopping nine home runs over those seven starts, lifting his home run/fly ball rate this year to a hefty 13.2%.

Given the lefty’s deep struggles over the course of nearly two months of work, it’s hardly a surprise that the Halos would option him to the minors in hopes he can right the ship. After all, the lefty is only in his age-24 season and has flashed the upside of a potential front-end starter at points in his career, including when he punched out a whopping 34.9% of batters faced in his first four starts this season while posting a 1.19 ERA and 1.54 FIP in 22 2/3 innings of work. That inconsistency has been a hallmark of Detmers’s performances since the Angels selected him tenth overall in the 2020 draft. Of the lefty’s 70 career starts in the majors, he’s posted a game score of 60 or higher in 23 of them while posting a game score below 40 in 20 of them. That frustrating combination of clunkers and gems has left Detmers with the career numbers of a slightly below-average major league pitcher (4.60 ERA, 93 ERA+, 4.13 FIP) for his career despite his obvious talent.

Detmers’ demotion could have implications on the lefty’s service time if he spends most of the remainder of the 2024 campaign in the minor leagues. The lefty entered the 2024 season with two years and 64 days worth of service time and has currently accrued 65 days worth of service time to this point in the season. Players accrue 172 days worth of service time across a full season in the majors, meaning Detmers will need to spend at least 43 more days on the major league roster or injured list this season in order to finish the year with three years of service time. If he spends less than 43 days in the big leagues throughout the rest of the 2024 season, the lefty’s first opportunity to reach free agency will be pushed back from after the 2027 campaign until after the 2028 campaign. Fortunately for Detmers, manager Ron Washington told reporters (including Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register) after the game that his move to the minors isn’t expected to be a “permanent” one.

“The whole idea is we just want to get him in an environment where it’s not results that you’re going to be worrying about, and find your stuff,” Washington said, as relayed by Fletcher. “This is not something that’s going to be permanent… We just feel like he needs to be in an environment where he can refind who he is.”

While the lefty attempts to work his way back onto the big league roster in Anaheim, the Angels will need to find a fifth starter to complement their current rotation mix of Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, Griffin Canning, and Jose Soriano. Right-hander Zach Plesac is the hurler with the most big league experience the Angels have available in the minors, but he’s not on the club’s 40-man roster and has struggled to a 6.52 ERA in eleven starts at the Triple-A level this year. That could leave the Angels to turn to lefty Kenny Rosenberg, who sports a 3.92 ERA and 4.16 FIP in 43 2/3 innings of work at the big league level since he made his debut in 2022 and sports a 3.86 ERA in eleven starts at Triple-A this season.

Another option, as noted by Fletcher, could be injured right-hander Chase Silseth. Silseth posted a 3.96 ERA in sixteen appearances swinging between the rotation and bullpen for the Angels last year but was shelved after just two starts this season due to a bout of elbow inflammation. Since then, however, he’s begun a rehab assignment that saw him throw three innings during his first rehab start yesterday. While Silseth will surely need more time rehabbing in the minors before he’s ready to start in the majors, Fletcher points out that the Angels could postpone their fifth starter decision for nearly two weeks thanks to upcoming days off on June 6 and June 10.

Brewers Had Offseason Extension Talks With Willy Adames

By | at

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio spoke to reporters, including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, about a variety of topics prior to last night’s game in Milwaukee. Perhaps most noteworthy of those topics was the future of shortstop Willy Adames, who is currently slated to hit free agency following the 2024 campaign. Attanasio was candid about the fact that the club made “plenty of offers” to Adames throughout the offseason in hopes of retaining him on a long-term deal. While Attanasio did not provide further details on those offers, his comments appeared to suggest that he does not have confidence in his ability to keep Adames in Milwaukee long term at this point.

“He’s the best,” Attanasio said of Adames, as relayed by Hogg. “…Willy’s performance got to a point where it would be – we’ll see what happens after the season – but he’s going to command quite a significant package as a free agent.”

Attanasio certainly isn’t wrong to suggest that Adames has increased his stock with his play so far this season. The 28-year-old had generally established himself as an above-average shortstop on both sides of the ball entering the 2023 campaign, with a .255/.322/.448 slash line (110 wRC+) to go with a whopping 10 Outs Above Average during the 2022 campaign. While 2023 saw Adames maintain those top-of-the-scale defensive metrics at shortstop, his offense took a significant step back.

Despite career best strikeout (25.9%) and walk (11.1%) rates last season, Adames posted a career-worst 94 wRC+ while slashing a paltry .217/.310/.407 in 638 trips to the plate last year. That lackluster production was primarily due to Adames suffering a bit of a power outage. While his 64 home runs and 78 doubles between the 2020-22 campaigns gave him a healthy .220 isolated slugging across those three campaigns, 2023 saw that figure drop to just .190 as he slugged just 24 homers and 29 doubles. That combined with a career-worst .259 batting average on balls in play left Adames as a below average bat overall last year, raising some questions about his ability to command a significant deal this winter.

Fortunately for Adames, he’s largely put those concerns to bed with his performance in the first third of the 2024 campaign. He’s maintained the positive trends in terms of plate discipline from last year, sporting a healthy 10.4% walk rate while cutting his strikeouts down to just 20.7% of the time. On top of that, his .197 ISO suggests his power production is trending in the right direction, as does his hard-hit rate rebounding from just 36.1% last year to 40.7% so far this season. All that has left Adames with a solid .256/.335/.453 slash line (125 wRC+) to go with his best wOBA (.346) since 2021.

What’s more, it’s possible there’s even more offensive potential in Adames’s performance he has yet to tap into as indicated by his career-best .362 xwOBA. That figure is tied with Bryce Harper for 33rd among all qualified hitters this year, placing Adames’s expected production in the same stratosphere as elite infielders like Matt Olson and Rafael Devers. Even if Adames doesn’t end up reaching those heights this year, his current production at the plate in conjunction with defense at shortstop that has ranked in the 96th percentile or better of qualified fielders in each of the past three seasons is sure to make him among the most enticing infielders available this winter.

In the meantime, Adames has helped lead the Brewers to a command 6.5 game lead over the field in the NL Central as they’ve posted a 35-23 record to this point in the season. With such a solid lead in the division, one would be forgiven for assuming that Adames will remain in Milwaukee at least through the end of the 2024 campaign as the club continues to push towards its sixth playoff appearance in seven seasons. GM Matt Arnold indicated to reporters (including Hogg) during the conversation with Attanasio that nothing is guaranteed ahead of the trade deadline this summer, however, as he declined to say that the club’s star shortstop would be off the table this July.

“From my perspective you can never close the door on anything, but he is the heartbeat of our team in a lot of ways,” Arnold said, as relayed by Hogg. “Always want to stay open minded but also recognize the value that he brings to us everyday.”

If the Brewers were to collapse over the next two months, it would hardly be a surprise to see a budget-conscious club that prefers to avoid rebuilding and attempt to contend in perpetuity shop Adames around in hopes of finding longer term assets who could help the club win in the future. It’s much trickier to decipher whether they would seriously consider parting ways with Adames at the deadline if they remain firmly in the playoff picture, however. The Brewers famously dealt Josh Hader to the Padres at the trade deadline while in contention back in 2022, and the loss of the club’s closer surely helped to contribute to the 29-31 record from August 1 onward that left them on the outside looking in during the postseason that year.

On the other hand, the two prospects Milwaukee acquired in the deal, outfielder Esteury Ruiz and lefty Robert Gasser, have both gone on to contribute to the big league club in big ways this season. The Brewers flipped Ruiz during the 2022-23 offseason in order to land catcher William Contreras in a three-team deal with the Braves and A’s, and Contreras has since broken out as one of the league’s very best catchers. As for Gasser, the 25-year-old rookie has looked nothing short of dominant in four starts with the Brewers this season, posting a sterling 1.96 ERA and 2.52 FIP in 23 innings of work.

Given the major success the club has enjoyed in turning the prospects from that deal into production at the big league level less than two years later, it stands to reason that Milwaukee brass would at least consider parting ways with Adames if they felt they could reasonably replace his production down the stretch and come out ahead in the long term. On the other hand, the club’s struggles in 2022 following the Hader trade highlight the risks involved in such a maneuver and could leave Arnold’s front office reluctant to run the same risk just two seasons after it potentially cost the Brewers a postseason berth.

Brian Anderson, Michael Chavis Opt Out Of Minors Deals With Mariners

By | at

Infielders Brian Anderson and Michael Chavis have both opted out of their minor league deals with the Mariners, according to Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto on X. Both players now figure to return to the open market as free agents.

Anderson, 31, is the more established big leaguer of the two. The Marlins’s third-round pick in the 2014 draft, Anderson made his big league debut with the club back in 2017 and hit a decent .262/.337/.369 in 25 games for the club that year. That cup of coffee was enough to earn Anderson a more regular role in Miami, and he quickly established himself as one of the more reliable bats in a Marlins lineup lacking in thump. From 2018 to 2020, Anderson slashed .266/.350/.436 with 42 home runs and 74 doubles in 341 games while splitting time between third base and right field with the Marlins. That performance was worth a wRC+ of 115, which was good for 11th among all qualified third baseman during that three year period while his 7.2 fWAR ranked 12th.

Unfortunately, Anderson would find his career derailed by injuries in 2021 as he missed nearly four month with oblique and shoulder issues. While he managed to appear in 67 games in between stints on the injured list, Anderson posted pedestrian numbers when he was healthy enough to take the field, hitting .249/.337/.378 with just 7 home runs and 9 doubles in 264 trips to the plate. His injuries woes continued in 2022, as he missed two months of time across three trips to the injured list for shoulder and back issues while posting a career-worst .222/.311/.346 slash line in 98 games with the club.

The back-to-back campaigns filled with injuries and ineffectiveness were enough for the Marlins to decide to non-tender Anderson during the 2022-23 offseason, making him a free agent for the first time in his career. The infielder landed on his feet with a one-year deal with the Brewers that winter, though a .226/.310/.368 slash line in 361 trips to the plate with the club last year did little to re-establish him as a big league regular. Anderson found himself designated for assignment before the 2023 season came to a close and lingered on the free agent market into Spring Training before eventually joining the Mariners.

As for Chavis, the 28-year-old was once a first-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2014 and was a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball prior to his big league debut. His career hasn’t lived up to that potential to this point, however, as after a decent rookie season where he slashed a roughly league average .254/.322/.444 in 95 games, he’s posted a slash line of just .231/.265/.382 over the past four seasons split between the Red Sox, Pirates, and Nationals. Chavis was outrighted off of Washington’s 40-man roster back in October and elected free agency as a result, eventually landing with the Mariners on a minor league deal in January.

Since joining the Mariners, both Anderson and Chavis have posted solid numbers at the Triple-A level for the club. Anderson has slashed .270/.358/.439 in 176 trips to the plate, while Chavis has impressed with a .290/.367/.485 line in 191 trips to the plate. Unfortunately for the pair, an excellent performance from Dylan Moore as the club’s right-handed utility infielder has left either without an obvious path to big league playing time with the Mariners, particularly after Luis Urias was optioned to the minors to act as depth already on the 40-man roster.

In addition to their solid slash lines at the Triple-A level this year, both veterans can offer solid versatility. The duo split time at both first and third base for the Rainiers during their time in Tacoma, and Anderson has past experience in right field while Chavis has played not only the outfield corners but also second base throughout his career. Looking ahead, it’s fairly easy to imagine in need of infield depth jumping at the chance to sign either player on a minor league deal. Even so, it seems unlikely that interested clubs would be confident enough in the 2024 performances of either player to offer a big league pact given the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.

Red Sox To Place Vaughn Grissom On 10-Day Injured List

By | at

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, including Ian Browne of MLB.com, following today’s win over the Tigers that second baseman Vaughn Grissom will need to be placed on the 10-day injured list due to what he termed a “mild” hamstring strain. Grissom exited the game after pulling up while running out a groundout earlier in the game, leading to catcher Connor Wong replacing Grissom at the keystone. According to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, Cora indicated to reporters that Wong’s surprise appearance at second base today was due to utility infielder Romy Gonzalez not being available, although he did not specify what was ailing Gonzalez or if he would be available tomorrow afternoon.

The news about Grissom constitutes another brutal injury blow for a Red Sox club that has struggled to stay healthy this year, particularly on the positional side. Grissom himself has appeared in just 23 games this season after being sidelined into May by a hamstring strain during Spring Training. Fortunately, as noted by Browne, that strain impacted his left hamstring, while today’s injury was a right hamstring strain. That Grissom’s injury is a new one should allow him to return to action more quickly than if he had re-injured the same hamstring as before, but he’ll nonetheless miss at least the next ten days without a clear timetable for his return to action.

When he’s been healthy enough to take the field, the start to Grissom’s Red Sox tenure has been a difficult one. He’s hit just .159/.209/.163 in 86 trips to the plate for Boston so far this season. That’s a particularly difficult pill to swallow for Red Sox fans given the fact that veteran southpaw Chris Sale, who the club swapped to Atlanta in order to acquire Grissom, has dominanted to a 2.12 ERA and NL-best 2.11 FIP in his first ten starts with the club, helping to anchor the club’s rotation alongside Max Fried in the absence of ace Spencer Strider.

While Grissom’s production to this point won’t exactly be difficult for the Red Sox to replace, his absence will only serve to further compound the club’s other positional injuries. Trevor Story, Triston Casas, Tyler O’Neill, and Masataka Yoshida are all already on the injured list, with Story out for the season and Casas also facing a lengthy absence. Fortunately, the club’s situation is not without silver linings. Cora told reporters (including MassLive’s Christopher Smith) earlier today that O’Neill’s ailing knee has responded well to a cortisone shot and the club figures to be without the outfielder for only the ten day minimum, a timeline which should allow him to return to action early next week.

Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe relayed similarly optimistic news regarding Yoshida, who told reporters that he’s no longer feeling any negative effects from the thumb injury that sidelined him last month. That won’t help the Red Sox in the short term, as Yoshida will still need to build up after a month of time rehabbing the injury before he can return to the big league club, but it’s still an encouraging sign for a team that figures to be without Grissom for at least a couple of weeks. Both Yoshida and O’Neill were hitting at an above-average clip overall at the time of their injuries, and if healthy should be able to step into the club’s outfield mix as key pieces alongside Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu.

The impending return of O’Neill, in particular, should be a relief for the Red Sox as it can provide the club with the opportunity to utilize versatile rookie Ceddanne Rafaela, who has mainly played center field for the club this year, on the infield dirt while Grissom is unavailable. In the meantime, the club figures to turn to Enmanuel Valdez and David Hamilton up the middle, with Gonzalez also a potential contributor at the keystone should he return to action in the coming days.

Julio Teheran To Opt Out Of Minors Deal With Cubs

By | at

Veteran right-hander Julio Teheran is opting out of his minor league deal with the Cubs, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Teheran signed with the Cubs back in April after a brief stint with the Mets earlier this year but now appears poised to return to the open market as a free agent.

Teheran, 33, has pitched in parts of 13 big league seasons since he made his debut with the Braves back in 2011. The right-hander first stepped into a full time role with the club as a member of their rotation back in 2013 and spent the next seven seasons in a mid-rotation role with the club, making at least 30 starts in each of those seasons and pitching to a 3.64 ERA (111 ERA+) with a 4.22 FIP overall during that time. That impressive durability allowed him to post the ninth-most innings among all big league pitchers across those seven seasons while making less starts than only Jon Lester, Jose Quintana, and Max Scherzer during that timeframe.

Teheran’s time with the Braves came to an end following the 2019 campaign, however, and he’s bounced between several MLB organizations in the five years since then. He’s pitched for the Angels, Tigers, Brewers, and Mets at the big league level during that time and spent the 2022 campaign out of affiliated ball, instead pitching in the Atlantic League and Mexican League that year. The right-hander’s results at the big league level have left something to be desired since he departed Atlanta; in 110 2/3 big league innings since the start of the 2020 season, Teheran has posted a 6.10 ERA with a nearly matching 6.11 FIP while striking out just 16.1% of batters faced.

While those results certainly leave something to be desired, Teheran’s 14-appearance stint with the Brewers last year, where he posted a league average 4.40 ERA with a 4.93 FIP in 71 2/3 innings, provided some reason for optimism that he could still be a useful arm at the big league level. That was enough to earn Teheran a one-year big league deal with the Mets in early April, although he only made one start for the club before being designated for assignment and returning to the open market. That’s when Teheran landed with the Cubs, who at the time were dealing with injuries to Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon in the rotation while veteran starter Kyle Hendricks was struggling badly.

Since then, however, Steele and Taillon have returned from the shelf to join Shota Imanaga in the club’s rotation and youngsters Ben Brown and Javier Assad have impressed in starting roles of their own, clouding Teheran’s path back to the big leagues in the Cubs organization. With the aforementioned quintet, Hayden Wesneski, and perhaps even Hendricks all ahead of him on the organizational depth chart, it’s understandable that Teheran would prefer to return to the open market in hopes of finding a club that can offer him a clearer path to the big leagues.

Teheran’s performance at Triple-A Iowa during his time with Chicago is unlikely to help him in that endeavor, as he struggled badly with an 8.82 ERA in 32 2/3 innings of work. Still, it’s certainly feasible to imagine a club in need of starting depth offering Teheran a spot in their minor league system, where an injury or two could create an opportunity for the 33-year-old to make his way back to the majors.

Giants, Camilo Doval Discussed Extension Last Year

By | at

4:40pm: Slusser has since updated her report to note that the previously reported $50MM figure is not accurate. She adds that the offer was “closer to what an extension for a pre-arb reliever would have been,” although the specific terms of the offer are not clear.

2:54pm: The Giants and closer Camilo Doval had talks last year about a contract extension that would have paid Doval around $50MM, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  It isn’t known if the Giants have since made a larger offer, or if the two sides have continued negotiations in any significant fashion.

In terms of the timing of the $50MM offer, Slusser writes that Edwin Diaz’s five-year, $102MM deal with the Mets from November 2022 happened “not long before” the talks between Doval and the Giants.  It might therefore be safe to guess the two sides held discussions during Spring Training 2023, as teams routinely explore longer-term contracts with their in-house players during spring camp.

Doval is still a pre-arbitration player, as the right-hander will only enter the arb process for the first of three times this coming offseason.  He is slated to hit free agency following the 2027 campaign, so it seems likely that the Giants’ offer covered Doval’s remaining two pre-arb seasons, his three arbitration years, and at least one of his free agent seasons, with possibly a club option or two also attached.

It would’ve been quite the financial commitment for a pitcher who had only 94.2 MLB innings under his belt heading into the 2023 season, especially for a Giants team that has been wary of giving any kind of long-term contract to a pitcher since president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi took the front office.  It should be noted that the spring of 2023 did see the Giants complete a five-year, $90MM extension with Logan Webb, though a longer-term deal with a front-of-the-rotation starter carries less risk than a longer-term deal to a reliever.

There haven’t been many relief pitchers in history who have landed contracts (whether extensions or free agent deals) worth $50MM or more.  Doval was also something of a lightly regarded international prospect who signed for a $100K bonus in 2015, so even if he viewed the offer as unsatisfactory in the wake of Diaz’s deal resetting the market, it must’ve taken quite a bit of confidence on Doval’s part to pass up the life-changing security of San Francisco’s extension.

Now two months into the 2024 season, Doval’s decision to bet on himself is still looking sound.  Doval has a 2.89 ERA over 90 1/3 innings since Opening Day 2023, with an outstanding 30.4% strikeout rate, a 55.6% grounder rate, and a fastball averaging 99.2 mph.  Some other metrics stand out as red flags, as Doval has always been prone to walks, and his hard-contact numbers have been decidedly below average over the last two years.

Since traditional counting stats like saves are valued by arbiters moreso than deeper analytics, the number that might matter most to Doval’s future earnings are his Doval’s 75 saves in 87 chances over the last three seasons.  Assuming he stays healthy and effective for the remainder of 2024, he’ll head into his first round of arbitration with a strong three-year platform of quality results in the ninth inning.  This will subsequently line him up for increasingly larger salaries in his next two arb years if all goes well, and then a free agent deal in the 2027-28 offseason (when he is 30 years old) that might possibly set a new standard for closer contracts.

That is still a ways down the road, of course, which speaks to the longer-term risk that Doval is taking in foregoing an extension.  Nothing is preventing Doval and the Giants from coming together on a long-term deal at any point over the next four seasons, or San Francisco might also now be open to another options for their highest-leverage innings.  As Slusser writes, rookie Randy Rodriguez has looked good in his first taste of MLB action, and might be a potential closer of the future.  This could mean the Giants might eventually explore trading Doval in order to address needs elsewhere on the roster, while saving a bit of money on Doval’s escalating arbitration salaries, and perhaps selling high to some extent.  Those elevated hard-contact rates, for instance, or Doval’s continued control problems might have given the Giants some more concerns over Doval’s long-term viability than they had in the spring in 2023.

Alex Cora: No Plans To Discuss Red Sox Extension Mid-Season

By | at

Red Sox manager Alex Cora entered the 2024 season without a contract lined up for 2025, and comments he made to reporters, including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, yesterday indicate that he and the club do not intend to discuss a possible contract extension during the season.

“We’ll play it out, and whatever is decided is decided,” Cora said, per McCaffrey. “…My situation will be taken care of in the future, whatever the organization decides — or whatever I decide to do.”

Cora has been at the helm of the Red Sox since 2018, with the exception of the shortened 2020 season when he was replaced by Ron Roenicke while serving a one-year suspension due to his role in the 2017 Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Boston, of course, won the World Series during the first season of Cora’s tenure. The Red Sox missed the postseason in 2019, however, and upon Cora’s return to he manager’s chair in 2021 have generally hovered in the vicinity of .500 with 277 wins and 267 losses entering play today. They’ve made the postseason just once during Cora’s second stint with the club, advancing to the ALCS in 2021 after securing a Wild Card spot.

Of course, much of the blame for that mediocre performance in recent seasons lies at the feet of the front office, which is currently on its third head of baseball operations since Cora joined the staff in 2018 after hiring former Cubs assistant GM Craig Breslow as chief baseball officer this past offseason. Given the turmoil the Red Sox have faced at the top of their baseball operations department and a payroll that has surpassed $200MM just once in the past five seasons after reaching a peak of more than $236MM in 2019 (per Cot’s Baseball Contracts), it’s hard to place Boston’s struggles in recent years at the feet of Cora.

In fact, the Red Sox have generally exceeded expectations to this point in the 2024 campaign, posting an even 29-29 record entering play today despite minimal additions after last year’s 84-loss campaign and significant injuries to key pieces such as Lucas Giolito, Garrett Whitlock, Trevor Story, and Triston Casas. The club’s solid play amid those injuries and low expectations have reinforced Cora’s reputation around the league as one of the game’s most respected managers, and should make him an enticing managerial candidate in the event that he doesn’t return to the Red Sox in 2025. Cora’s situation brings to mind that of former Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who departed Milwaukee after choosing to enter the 2023 season without an extension in favor of a five-year, $40MM contract with the Cubs this past winter.

McCaffrey notes that Cora was “keenly aware” of Counsell’s deal with the Cubs this past season, and it would hardly be a surprise if he hoped to land a similar deal for himself this winter. On the other hand, it’s at least possible Cora could look to take his impending free agent status as an opportunity to move out of the dugout entirely. The 48-year-old has previously suggested that he would like to move to a front office role at some point down the line, although he noted last autumn that he was not yet ready to make the jump.

Coincidentally, the Red Sox themselves figure to be in the market for an addition to their front office brain trust this winter, with Sean McAdam of MassLive.com noting that Breslow recently told reporters he doesn’t expect to hire a second-in-command until this winter. That’s hardly a surprising development, as it was reported just last month by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that the club had hired an outside consulting firm to conduct an audit of the organization and offer Breslow recommendations regarding potential changes. As noted by McAdam, Breslow suggested that the ongoing audit could have an influence over his decision regarding the GM job, noting that it could nudge them toward promoting an in-house candidate or indicate that they’d be best served hiring from outside the organization.

While the opening in Boston’s front office and Cora’s previously stated long-term career goals appear to line up, there’s been no indication from either side that Cora and the Red Sox are considering the possibility of their manager moving upstairs next season. Instead, it appears that decisions by all parties, both regarding Cora’s future in the organization and the vacant GM role below Breslow in the baseball operations hierarchy, will be set aside until this winter as the club attempts to weather a storm of injuries and return to the postseason after back-to-back last place finishes in the AL East.

Phillies Claim Freddy Tarnok

By | at

The Phillies announced that they have claimed righty Freddy Tarnok off waivers from the Athletics.  Tarnok has been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after first being activated off the 60-day injured list.  To create room on the 40-man, the Phils moved right-hander Dylan Covey to the 60-day IL.

It wasn’t publicly known that Tarnok had been designated for assignment, but Oakland had to make some kind of decision since was nearing the end of his 30-day rehab assignment.  Tarnok has pitched in six games for Triple-A Las Vegas since May 8, and with a 13.50 ERA to show for those 7 1/3 innings of work, Tarnok might have simply pitched himself out of the Athletics’ plans.  Tarnok has been on the IL since Opening Day due to inflammation in his right hip, and he was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day at the start of May.

A third-round pick for the Braves in the 2017 draft, Tarnok made his MLB debut in the form of a single game and two-thirds of an inning pitched during the 2022 season.  That winter, Atlanta dealt Tarnok to Oakland as part of the huge three-team, nine-player trade that sent William Contreras and Joel Payamps to the Brewers and Sean Murphy to the Braves, with Tarnok being one of the younger, controllable players the A’s landed in one of several fire-sale type trades during their latest rebuild.

Tarnok’s first (and officially only) season with the A’s consisted of five outings and 14 2/3 innings due to multiple injuries.  Shoulder problems led to a 60-day IL stint to begin the 2023 campaign as well, and hip surgery then ended his season altogether in August.  Recovery from that hip procedure lingered into the offseason and Spring Training, necessitating Tarnok’s IL stint at the start of this year.

Unsurprisingly, Tarnok has run into some troubles keeping the ball in the park in the Pacific Coast League, and his walk and strikeout rates have been average at best even prior to 2024 across his 71 career Triple-A innings.  However, Tarnok has a solid 4.18 ERA in those 71 Triple-A frames, and is still only 25 years old.  There’s no risk for the Phillies in having some more big league-ready rotation depth ready at Lehigh Valley in the event of injury, or if Philadelphia just wants to give some of its starters extra rest in advance of what the team hopes will be a deep postseason run.

Covey has yet to pitch this season after suffering a shoulder strain during Spring Training, and he likely would’ve been placed on the 60-day IL much earlier than today had the Phillies been in need of a 40-man roster spot.  As a reminder, a 60-day IL placement is retroactive to the start of the initial 15-day placement, so Covey can now technically be activated at any time since it has already been more than 60 days since Opening Day.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top