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Alex Reyes

Marlins Have Shown Interest In Aroldis Chapman

By Anthony Franco | January 17, 2023 at 9:05pm CDT

The Marlins are among the teams with interest in Aroldis Chapman, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Miami becomes the first team known to have checked in on the seven-time All-Star reliever this offseason, though Heyman suggests there are multiple clubs in the mix.

While the Fish are apparently keeping an eye on Chapman, it’s not clear how strong their interest is. Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald reported this afternoon the Marlins hadn’t put forth a formal offer. According to the Herald, Chapman is hoping to sign with a team in the relatively near future and has been working out in the Miami area, where he lives.

One of the sport’s best relievers for more than a decade, Chapman remained a valuable late-game arm as recently as 2021. He secured an All-Star nod that season and provided the Yankees with a 3.36 ERA through 56 1/3 innings. His walk and home run numbers were a bit alarming but the overall results were solid. New York trusted him enough to give him the ninth inning, where he saved 30 games in 34 attempts.

Had Chapman hit free agency coming off that season, he’d likely have been in line for a solid multi-year pact. The big southpaw had easily the worst season of his career in 2022, sending him to the open market with his value at a low ebb. Chapman posted a 4.46 ERA across 36 1/3 innings, the first year in which he’d allowed more than four earned runs per nine. He walked 17.5% of opposing hitters, the second-highest rate of his career and the loftiest clip of any reliever with 30+ innings pitched last year.

Chapman paired the abundance of free passes with the lowest strikeout percentage of his career. He fanned 26.9% of batters faced, the first time he’d punched out fewer than 30% of opponents. Even that diminished mark for Chapman was still firmly better than average, however. That’s also true of his fastball velocity. His heater sat at 97.5 MPH, a lower figure compared to his peak when he routinely averaged north of 100 MPH. Yet even that version of Chapman was among the sport’s hardest-throwing southpaws. New Philadelphia teammates Gregory Soto and José Alvarado were the game’s only lefties who topped Chapman in average fastball speed.

Given the quality of even the “lesser” stuff he’s brandishing, Chapman could certainly right the ship and reemerge as a quality high-leverage piece. His 2022 issues weren’t limited to his on-field inconsistency though. The 34-year-old (35 next month) had a pair of stints on the injured list. He missed time early in the year to Achilles tendinitis before a late-season injured list stint that arose when a tattoo got infected. That led to some frustration from Yankees brass, and New York left Chapman off their playoff rosters entirely after he didn’t report to a team workout shortly before the start of the postseason.

That certainly seemed to bring an unceremonious end to Chapman’s generally productive seven-year tenure in the Bronx. There was never much doubt he’d catch on elsewhere. Part of a left-handed relief class that has bizarrely lagged the rest of the free agent market, Chapman lingers in free agency alongside the likes of Andrew Chafin, Will Smith, Matt Moore and Brad Hand.

Jackson and Mish write that the Marlins are broadly surveying the market for potential relief help. The Herald reiterates the team’s previously-reported interest in former Cardinals closer Alex Reyes, who continues to work his way back from last May’s shoulder surgery. Jackson and Mish write that Reyes is hopeful of signing with Miami. He’d also be a high-risk upside flier considering his recent health history, though Reyes is far younger than Chapman and throws right-handed. The Fish already have a trio of southpaws — Tanner Scott, Steven Okert and Richard Bleier — locked into their bullpen, so they don’t necessarily have to narrow down targets based on handedness.

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Miami Marlins Alex Reyes Aroldis Chapman

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Marlins Showing Interest In Alex Reyes

By Anthony Franco | December 13, 2022 at 10:45am CDT

The Marlins have checked in with the representatives for free agent reliever Alex Reyes, report Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The former All-Star closer is coming off a season lost to shoulder surgery.

Reyes has had an unfortunate number of injuries over the course of his career. One of the sport’s top pitching prospects during his days in the Cardinals system, he debuted in the big leagues with 46 innings of 1.57 ERA ball in 2016. That’d be almost the entirety of his major league work for a while, though, as he underwent Tommy John surgery the ensuing offseason. That cost him all of the 2017 campaign. Rehab from the TJ procedure and a subsequent lat strain limited him to just one MLB appearance in 2018, and he pitched only four times at the highest level in ’19 while struggling in the minors in his attempt to return to form.

St. Louis shuttled him on and off the active roster throughout the abbreviated 2020 season, but he finally carved out a full year in 2021. Working exclusively in relief, the righty tossed 72 1/3 innings with a 3.24 ERA. He carried a 1.52 mark while holding opponents to a .154/.307/.210 line in the first half to secure the aforementioned trip to the Midsummer Classic. The stretch run was a disaster, though, as he was tagged for a 5.52 ERA across 31 frames. Reyes’ strikeout and walk numbers were roughly the same in both halves, but he became increasingly homer-prone towards year’s end. That carried over into the playoffs, where Reyes surrendered a walk-off homer to Chris Taylor in the final National League Wild Card game.

While it wasn’t clear at the time, that looks as if it’ll be Reyes’ final pitch in a Cardinals uniform. St. Louis flirted with the idea of moving him to the rotation last offseason, but those plans were scuttled when he felt renewed soreness in his shoulder. He underwent surgery in May and St. Louis non-tendered him at the end of the season rather than pay an arbitration salary projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz at $2.85MM.

That’s at least partially motivated by the fact that Reyes isn’t expected to be ready for Opening Day, as Jackson and Mish point out. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote last month the 28-year-old was targeting a return to game action by May, suggesting he’s still a few weeks behind the typical pitcher’s schedule as he builds back arm strength.

Despite the delayed timetable, it’s understandable other teams would consider rolling the dice on his upside. The Blue Jays and Dodgers have also been linked to Reyes at points this offseason. Reyes struck out 30% of opponents while averaging around 97 MPH on his fastball in 2021, and hitters came up empty more than half the time they offered at his mid-80s slider. A sky-high 16.4% walk rate was cause for some trepidation even before his latest lost season, but there’s no doubt a fully healthy Reyes boasts an electric arsenal. He also saved 29 games in 2021, suggesting he’s capable of taking on a ninth-inning role if entrusted with that responsibility.

Miami had a slightly below-average bullpen in 2022, finishing 22nd in ERA (4.15) and 13th in strikeout percentage (24%). Anthony Bass, their top reliever, was dealt to the Blue Jays midseason, while they flipped Jeff Brigham to the Mets at year’s end. Steven Okert, Richard Bleier and Tanner Scott are on hand as left-handed options, but the depth from the right side is lacking behind Dylan Floro. Adding a power righty arm makes some sense, and new manager Skip Schumaker has some familiarity with Reyes after spending this past season as the Cards bench coach.

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Miami Marlins Alex Reyes

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Blue Jays Notes: Senga, Bassitt, Taillon, Reyes, Brantley, Gallo

By Mark Polishuk | December 6, 2022 at 2:47pm CDT

The Blue Jays are exploring several roster upgrades, with Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reporting that the club has interest in such players as Kodai Senga, Jameson Taillon, Alex Reyes, and Michael Brantley.  “There doesn’t appear to be traction…at the moment” between the Jays and Chris Bassitt, though the right-hander is another free agent hurler at least under consideration for the team.

Starting pitching is Toronto’s clearest need, and as one agent told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, the Blue Jays are “all over the pitching market” right now.  To this end, it is fair to speculate that the Jays have at least checked in on basically every available arm, which has been the team’s strategy for the previous three offseasons.  Davidi adds that the Jays also “have some degree of interest” in Carlos Rodon, Nathan Eovaldi, and their own incumbent free agent in Ross Stripling.  Past reports have indicated that the Jays have extended an offer to Andrew Heaney, and they were interested in Kyle Gibson (before Gibson rejected Toronto’s one-year, $10MM offer to sign an identical deal with the Orioles), and even Justin Verlander, before Verlander joined the Mets.

Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman have solidified the front end of the Blue Jays’ rotation, but there is a lot of uncertainty afterwards, given how Jose Berrios and especially Yusei Kikuchi struggled in 2022.  There isn’t necessarily a guarantee that Kikuchi will even get a clear shot at a starting role, since he could at best be competing with Mitch White for the fifth starter’s job, or perhaps even be relegated to the bullpen if the Jays end up acquiring two new starters this winter.

As noted by both Nicholson-Smith and Davidi, the fact that the Jays were considering getting into Verlander’s market (even on a short-term deal) is another sign of how aggressive the team is willing to be, and perhaps a sign of how far they’ll stretch the payroll.  Bigger spending may be somewhat inevitable given the rising costs involved in the pitching market this offseason, though it might be a reach to see the Blue Jays spend what it will take to sign Rodon or perhaps even Senga, considering how the Japanese ace is drawing a lot of attention from multiple teams.  Speculatively, the Jays’ relative lack of interest in Bassitt could have to do with Bassitt’s desire for at least four guaranteed years, which may be a tall order for a pitcher heading into his age-34 season.

Reyes represents another kind of pitching addition, as the former top prospect is an intriguing bounce-back candidate who would fit on a lot of teams.  That said, Reyes also carries plenty of risk given his long injury history, including a shoulder surgery that kept him from pitching whatsoever in 2022.  It will be interesting to see how Reyes’ market materializes, as the Blue Jays and other teams will naturally be weighing the injury concerns, but the sheer amount of interest could still lead to a decent payday for the right-hander.

Beyond the pitching market, the Jays are also looking for left-handed hitting outfielders.  A gap in the outfield emerged after Toronto dealt Teoscar Hernandez to the Mariners, and a lefty swinger could help add balance to a largely right-handed Blue Jays lineup.  Brantley is one possibility, and while he is a player the Jays reportedly came very close to signing in the 2020-21 offseason, health questions also surround Brantley’s market.  Shoulder problems that eventually required surgery limited Brantley to only 64 games last season, and he has missed a lot of time earlier in his career with other injury woes.

Such names as Brandon Nimmo and Cody Bellinger have also been linked to the Jays’ outfield search this winter, and agent Scott Boras told Nicholson-Smith and Hazel Mae (Twitter link) that Toronto indeed had interest in both of his clients.  Boras also said the Blue Jays had interest in another client in Joey Gallo, another left-handed hitter.

Gallo is coming off a thoroughly rough 2022 season, hitting only .160/.280/.357 with 19 homers over 410 plate appearances with the Yankees and Dodgers.  Gallo’s “three true outcomes” style will always limit his offensive productivity to some extent, yet he is only entering his age-29 season, and Gallo’s strikeouts haven’t stopped him from posting some big offensive numbers in the past.  As recently as 2021, Gallo posted a 4.2 fWAR season, and his ability to play a decent center field would also be of interest to a Jays team that would ideally like to give George Springer more time in a corner outfield spot.

With Gallo, Bellinger, and probably Brantley all in line to receive one-year bounce-back types of contracts, the Jays could be planning to address the outfield with just a shorter-term addition, and then focus on a longer-term addition for the rotation.  The Blue Jays appear to be open to all possibilities, however, and their pursuit of free agents is also obviously impacted by what they might do on the trade market, especially with their catching depth being in high demand.

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Toronto Blue Jays Alex Reyes Carlos Rodon Chris Bassitt Jameson Taillon Joey Gallo Kodai Senga Michael Brantley Nathan Eovaldi Ross Stripling

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Dodgers Have Interest In Xander Bogaerts, Alex Reyes

By Maury Ahram | November 27, 2022 at 1:16pm CDT

The Dodgers have joined the growing list of suitors for four-time All-Star and two-time World Series Champion Xander Bogaerts, according to reporter Marino Pepén. Pepén adds that the Cubs and Twins have also joined Bogaerts’ market, adding to a list that also houses the Phillies, Red Sox, and Padres.

With the departure of Trea Turner, the Dodgers are among the teams looking to secure a shortstop this winter, having recently been connected to the Brewers’ Willy Adames. MLBTR predicted that Bogaerts will receive a seven-year, $189MM deal this offseason.

The 30-year-old hit a strong .307/.377/.456 in 2022, witnessing a noticeable drop in power compared to 2021 (23 HRs, .493 slugging in 2021; 15 HRS, .456 slugging in 2022). Nevertheless, Bogaerts posted his fifth-straight season with a wRC+ over 125 and kept his strikeout rate below 19% for the eighth season in a row. Additionally, the nine-year vet posted his strongest defensive season of his career by measure of every publicly available metric (4 Defensive Runs Saved, 4.9 Ultimate Zone Rating, 5 Outs Above Average). Bogaerts’ glove had been discussed as his primary flaw, having been rated as a below-average defender and a candidate for an eventual position change. His strong defensive 2022 season will likely aid his ability to remain at the premium shortstop position, positioning him for a contract near $200MM.

From a financial standpoint, Bogaerts, along with Dansby Swanson, represent cheaper alternatives to Carlos Correa and Turner (both projected to sign contracts worth more than $250MM by MLBTR). Nevertheless, with the recent non-tendering of Cody Bellinger and the decision to decline Justin Turner’s 2023 club option, the Dodgers currently have only $152MM committed to their 2023 payroll, per RosterResource (after finishing the 2022 season with more than $260MM on their books). A Dodgers/Bogaerts deal would push the team up to $179MM — leaving ample room for another potential blockbuster signing.

The Dodgers have also been linked to free agent reliever Alex Reyes, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected the two-time All-Star to receive $2.85MM in his penultimate trip through the arbitration process, but the Cardinals opted to non-tender the flamethrower.

Reyes, who was once ranked as one of the best prospects in all of baseball, has dealt with ailments his entire career. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2017, tore a tendon in his lat in 2018, and underwent shoulder surgery in 2020. After a healthy 2021 season where Reyes earned All-Star honors while pitching to a 3.24 ERA in 72 1/3 innings with a robust 30.0% strikeout rate, albeit with an extremely high 16.4% walk rate, injuries returned. Reyes would be forced to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery in May, wiping out his entire 2022 season.

Despite Reyes having an unclear timetable to return, the Dodgers have earned a reputation for signing injured relievers to multi-year contracts, with the expectation that the player will perform in the later years of the deal. Additionally, Dodgers’ pitching coach Mark Prior has been highly regarded in recent years for his work, with Los Angeles’ bullpen pitching to the second-lowest ERA (2.87), fourth-highest strikeout percentage (26.7%), and second-lowest walk percentage (7.5%) in the entire league.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Notes Alex Reyes Xander Bogaerts

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Cardinals Non-Tender Alex Reyes

By Anthony Franco and Simon Hampton | November 18, 2022 at 5:04pm CDT

The Cardinals announced they’re not tendering a contract to right-hander Alex Reyes or outfielder Ben DeLuzio. Both players head to free agency. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had predicted a $2.85MM arbitration salary for Reyes, while DeLuzio is not eligible for arbitration.

Reyes was once touted as one of the best prospects in all of baseball, regularly featuring on various publication’s top-100 lists, including a fourth-place ranking on Baseball America’s pre-2017 list of the best prospects in baseball. The foundation of that was some elite stuff, headlined by a triple-digit fastball and a lethal curveball.

After blowing away minor league batters, he made his big league debut in 2016 and didn’t disappoint. The then-21-year-old tossed 46 innings of 1.57 ERA ball, giving up just one home run and striking out batters 27.5% of the time. He looked every bit a major league pitcher, and looked certain to be a atop Cardinal rotations for many years to come.

Tommy John surgery prior would wipe out his 2017 campaign, but he looked like he was back to his best on minor league rehab stints in 2018, striking out 44 batters across 23 innings and four starts. Yet disaster would strike after Reyes was activated, as he went down just four innings into his first start back, and eventually undergoing season-ending surgery on a torn tendon in his lat.

He’d return in 2019, but walked six batters in three innings and was immediately optioned to the minor leagues. That began yet another injury-plagued year and Reyes would only add 37 1/3 innings of 6.03 ERA ball in the minors, as he again spent most of the season on the injured list.

The Cardinals brought him back in 2020, but now opted to utilize him out of the bullpen. While the walks were still a concern (16.3%), Reyes posted the best season since his 2016 effort, tossing 19 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, striking out batters 31.2% of the time. He followed that up with a lights out start to the 2021 campaign, pitching to a 1.52 ERA as St Louis’ closer and earning a trip to the All Star game. The second half was a different story though, and Reyes was dropped from the closer role and wound up with a dismal 5.52 second half ERA.

Injury problems returned again in 2022, and Reyes underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in May wiping out his season and leading the Cardinals to move on from him today. As it went, that rookie season accounted for 1.3 of his career 1.7 fWAR, an unfortunate return for a player who was once seen as a foundation piece in St Louis.

With that being said, his raw stuff still appears to be there, and despite all the injury problems his velocity has remained steadily in the upper-90s. Depending on his health, Reyes could make a very attractive reclamation project for any number of teams. He’s only 28, and teams would certainly love the opportunity to take a chance on an arm like his.

DeLuzio is the other Cardinal to be non-tendered. The center fielder appeared in 22 games in 2022, mostly as a defensive replacement as he made just 25 plate appearances, batting .150/.292/.200. Though many of the players being non-tendered today are arbitration-eligible, it’s not uncommon to see non-arbitration players informed they won’t receive a contract, as the Cardinals have done here to free up a 40-man spot.

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Newsstand St. Louis Cardinals Transactions Alex Reyes Ben DeLuzio

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Cardinals Acquire Jose Fermin From Guardians

By Steve Adams | November 9, 2022 at 11:33am CDT

The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired minor league infielder Jose Fermin from the Guardians in exchange for cash. Fermin has been selected to the 40-man roster in St. Louis, the team added. The Cardinals also reinstated righties Alex Reyes and Drew VerHagen from the 60-day injured list, bringing their 40-man roster to a total of 38 players.

Fermin, 24 in March, spent the 2022 season with Cleveland’s Triple-A affiliate and batted .215/.336/.322 with just a 13.9% strikeout rate against a 12.7% walk rate. He’s hit just 22 home runs in 415 minor league games and 1687 plate appearances, which underscores the lack of power that scouting reports on Fermin have emphasized. He stole 28 bases in just 105 games as recently as 2019, but Fermin only swiped nine bags in 90 games and 330 plate appearances in Triple-A this year.

While Fermin played plenty of shortstop early in his minor league run with Cleveland, he was deployed exclusively at second base and third base in 2022. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote prior to the 2022 season that Fermin rarely swings and misses but “lacks passable big league physicality and is a better fit at second base than shortstop.”

For the Cardinals, Fermin will give them a right-handed hitter with experience at three infield positions and solid bat-to-ball skills. Fermin would’ve been eligible to be selected in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, but St. Louis obviously saw enough in him that they preemptively made a move to acquire him and add him to the 40-man roster. This is the first time Fermin has been selected to a 40-man, so he’ll have a full slate of three minor league option years — assuming he sticks on their roster for that long, anyhow.

The moves to reinstate Reyes and VerHagen were a formality. Reyes missed the entire 2022 season due to shoulder surgery and has now managed just 145 innings in the Majors since making his debut back in 2016. He’ll be in line to earn a projected $2.8MM in arbitration this winter, and the Cardinals will likely have to weigh non-tendering the once-vaunted prospect.

VerHagen, meanwhile, missed time with shoulder and hip impingements in 2022 and didn’t pitch after being placed on the injured list on July 17. Signed to a two-year, $5.5MM deal in March — the first post-lockout, Major League free-agent signing for fans of random MLB trivia — the 32-year-old VerHagen was unable to replicate the success he’d found pitching overseas in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. In 21 2/3 innings with the Cardinals, he logged a 6.65 ERA with a 17% strikeout rate against a bloated 13.2% walk rate. He’s owed $3MM next season.

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Cleveland Guardians St. Louis Cardinals Transactions Alex Reyes Drew VerHagen Jose Fermin

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Cardinals Recently Met With Nolan Arenado; Team Also Planning To Pursue Catching Help

By Steve Adams | October 26, 2022 at 2:13pm CDT

It’s been a Cardinals-heavy day in the news, with the team agreeing to re-sign Adam Wainwright for what will be his 18th Major League season. St. Louis also announced that a trio of coaches will not return for the 2023 season — one day after losing bench coach Skip Schumaker, who’ll become the new Marlins manager. Beyond that pair of headlines, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak held court with the Cardinals beat, revealing in an extensive press conference that he recently met in person with Nolan Arenado about the third baseman’s looming opt-out (link via Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Beyond that, Mozeliak pledged that the Cardinals’ payroll will increase and unsurprisingly acknowledged he’ll be on the lookout for a successor to Yadier Molina this offseason.

Chief among those details is the team’s recent meeting with Arenado, who can opt out of the remaining five years and $144MM on his contract this winter. Mozeliak indicated there’s a sense of optimism regarding a resolution on that front, though there’s nothing official between the two parties just yet.

A year ago, that opt-out provision was far from a lock to come into play. Arenado chose to forego an opt-out clause last winter, when he could’ve returned to the market and sought a larger guarantee than the six years and $179MM he had remaining on the contract. Arenado was coming off a strong season but far from his best year, having batted .255/.312/.494 in his first season following a trade from the Rockies.

One year can make quite a difference, however. A sensational 2022 campaign has Arenado among the front-runners for National League MVP honors (alongside teammate Paul Goldschmidt), and with $144MM remaining on the deal, an opt-out now looks far likelier. The nine-time Gold Glove winner and five-time Platinum Glover turned in a sensational .293/.358/.533 batting line with 30 home runs, 42 doubles, a triple, a career-low 11.6% strikeout rate and his typical brand of elite defense at the hot corner. Despite the fact that he’ll turn 32 next April, Arenado suddenly has an easy case to eclipse the remaining money on his contract.

Granted, it’s rare for players of this age to secure contracts of more than five years in length, although exceptions are often made for the game’s top stars. One need only look to this past March, when Freddie Freeman inked a six-year deal with the Dodgers — one that, as will be the case with Arenado, begins in his age-32 season. Even if the market were to draw a hard line at five years for Arenado, there’d surely be a greater annual value than his current $28.8MM waiting for him in free agency. Annual salaries in excess of $30MM have become increasingly common, and Arenado himself at one point held the record for position player AAV ($32.5MM). That AAV took a hit when the Cardinals tacked on an additional year and $15MM at the time of the trade — but also granted Arenado a second opt-out opportunity.

Since Arenado signed his extension, Anthony Rendon ($35MM), Mike Trout ($36MM), Carlos Correa ($35.1MM), Corey Seager ($32.5MM) Francisco Lindor ($34.1MM) have all inked deals with annual salaries equal to or in excess of Arenado’s original AAV (to say nothing of Gerrit Cole’s $36MM annual value with the Yankees and Max Scherzer’s $43.33MM with the Mets). On the heels of such a brilliant season, Arenado could well find an AAV in the mid-30s over a five- or six-year term.

Understandably, the Cardinals appear to have little interest in allowing things to reach that point. Arenado’s opt-out decision is due five days after the World Series draws to a close, but the Cardinals can spend the interim trying to persuade him to stay. Tacking on an additional year or perhaps restructuring the deal to pay him at an annual rate more commensurate with the sport’s top hitters could well be in play over the next couple weeks.

All of that dovetails with Mozeliak’s comments about a forthcoming payroll hike. The Cardinals already have $105MM in guaranteed salary between Arenado, Goldschmidt, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Giovanny Gallegos, Paul DeJong and Drew VerHagen (though the Rockies are reportedly covering $21MM of Arenado’s 2023 salary under the terms of the trade). Whatever salary Wainwright agreed to will add to that figure, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects just shy of $40MM in salary for the team’s 11 arbitration-eligible players. There are some non-tender candidates within — Mozeliak mentioned Alex Reyes’ name when discussing looming 40-man roster decisions, per Jones — but the majority of that arbitration class is a lock to return.

That gives the Cardinals more than $150MM on the books before even factoring in a slate of pre-arbitration players to round out the payroll. Jones notes that last year’s payroll, following trade deadline acquisitions, clocked in around $170MM. Extending or restructuring Arenado’s contract won’t necessarily impact the 2023 payroll on its own — he’s owed $35MM and the Rockies are paying that $21MM to the Cardinals even if Arenado were to opt out —  but there are clearly other needs to consider.

Catching help, as Mozeliak acknowledged, figures to be among the most critical needs. Molina, a franchise icon, has played the final game of his Major League career, but the win-now Cardinals unsurprisingly aren’t content to merely hand the reins over to Andrew Knizner or prospect Ivan Herrera. Jones notes that the team will likely be looking for a starting-caliber option and not a part-time player.

The free-agent market has a handful of starting options, headlined by longtime division rival Willson Contreras but also including Christian Vazquez and Omar Narvaez. On the trade market, Oakland’s Sean Murphy will be available as the A’s continue their rebuild, and the Blue Jays have a surplus at backstop with Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk and Gabriel Moreno all on the 40-man roster and capable of shouldering a starter’s workload at the MLB level. Other options, of course, will emerge.

With Wainwright back, the rotation doesn’t figure to be a dire need, though depth could be pursued. The Cards will have Wainwright, Mikolas, Matz, Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery as the likely top five, with Dakota Hudson, Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson and Jake Woodford serving as depth. Mozeliak and his staff will still likely be on the hunt for upgrades at some combination of shortstop, outfield and designated hitter, however, as the Cardinals look to inject more force into the lineup. Bullpen help is a near-annual need for every contending club.

For the time being, now that Wainwright’s status has been resolved, all roads will point to Arenado. Whether he and the Cardinals are able to reach a middle ground will not only shape the long-term outlook of the organization as we know it but also the very fabric of the 2022-23 offseason. If Arenado were to reach free agency, he’d join the likes of Aaron Judge, Trea Turner and Correa atop another star-studded open market.

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Notes St. Louis Cardinals Alex Reyes Andrew Knizner Ivan Herrera Nolan Arenado

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Alex Reyes To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

By Steve Adams | May 23, 2022 at 11:00pm CDT

Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes is staring down yet another injury-related setback, as he’s scheduled for surgery on his shoulder late this month, tweets Katie Woo of The Athletic. MLB.com’s John Denton first reported that Reyes would require surgery to repair his right shoulder (Twitter link).

Reyes met with renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday, and he confirmed a team recommendation that surgery will be required. The exact nature of the procedure has not yet been announced by the Cardinals. Woo adds that while the surgery is likely to end his season, there’s at least a small chance Reyes will be able to return late in the year.

It’ll be the third major surgery for Reyes in the past five years. The righty underwent Tommy John surgery back in Spring Training of 2019 and has since gone under the knife to repair a torn tendon in his latissimus dorsi muscle. Reyes also missed time with shoulder trouble back in 2020, though he didn’t require surgery at the time.

The expected shoulder procedure, then, is just the latest in a long line of physical ailments that have combined to derail what looked to be one of the sport’s most promising young talents. Reyes, for years, was heralded as a potential ace, frequenting top prospect rankings throughout his minor league tenure. Heading into the 2017 season, Baseball Prospectus ranked him as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, while Baseball America ranked him fourth and MLB.com ranked him sixth.

At that time, Reyes had barely retained his rookie and prospect status after an electrifying MLB debut in 2016, when he pitched 46 innings of 1.57 ERA ball. However, Reyes had Tommy John surgery before he had the chance to follow up on that debut. That surgery, paired with the previously mentioned lat and shoulder troubles, combined to limit Reyes to just 87 total innings from 2017-20 (big leagues and minors combined). He pitched a career-high 72 1/3 innings for the Cardinals in 2021, all coming as a reliever, leading the team with 29 saves. Reyes punched out more than 30% of his opponents but also issued walks at an untenable 16.4% clip.

The hope heading into the 2022 season was that Reyes, like Jordan Hicks, could potentially be stretched out to either again work as a starter or to provide a multi-inning option in high-leverage spots. This latest bout of shoulder trouble, however, nixed that possibility before it ever even truly began. Now, Reyes’ very future in the organization could be in question.

At 27 years of age (28 in August), Reyes has just 145 Major League innings under his belt. Despite that paltry total, he’ll reach five years of Major League service this season, due largely to the significant amount of time he’s spent on the Major League injured list. He’ll likely add another full season of IL time to that ledger. The Cards will be able to retain him via arbitration this winter, and given that he’s unlikely to pitch at all, he’d likely be in line for a repeat of this year’s $2.9MM salary. It’s a modest sum, but the Cards will still need to determine whether they’ll make that commitment to a player who has averaged 29 innings per year over his first five MLB campaigns.

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Alex Reyes Shut Down Due To Shoulder Soreness

By Mark Polishuk | May 15, 2022 at 4:45pm CDT

Cardinals right-hander Alex Reyes has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder problems, and it now looks like Reyes could be missing significantly more time.  Manager Oli Marmol told reporters (including Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat) that Reyes was shut down after he experienced some continued soreness in his right shoulder after a throwing session this week.

Reyes had already undergone an MRI, and perhaps ominously, is now looking for a second opinion before deciding on his next course of action.  Marmol described the news as “very” discouraging, and noted that Reyes has “been through a lot…you hope he can make it back.”

Considered one of baseball’s very best prospects during his time in the St. Louis farm system, Reyes’ career has been a series of stops and starts due to injuries.  A Tommy John surgery in 2017 cost Reyes the most time on the injured list, but his shoulder has also been a consistent source of concern for the last few years.

After tossing only 72 2/3 innings from 2016-20, the Cardinals opted to make Reyes a full-time reliever in 2021, and the result was both a healthy and impressive season.  The righty posted a 2.48 ERA and a 30% strikeout rate over 72 1/3 frames as the Cards’ primary closer for much of the year, though Reyes was hampered by walks and home runs.  This included the homer that ended the Cardinals’ season, as Reyes allowed Chris Taylor’s walkoff home run in last year’s NL wild card game.

Reyes received a stem cell injection in March, and after being moved to the 60-day injured list, wasn’t eligible to pitch until after June 8.  It now seems unlikely that he’ll make that target date, and there would seem to be plenty of doubt that Reyes will be able to pitch at all in 2022.

Reyes turns 28 in August, and is earning $2.85MM this season in the second of three arbitration-eligible years.  Should Reyes miss most or all of the 2022 campaign, he would receive only a minuscule raise or his salary would just remain at $2.85MM, which wouldn’t represent a huge financial outlay for St. Louis.  A non-tender can’t be ruled out until we know more about Reyes’ injury status, but given how well Reyes has pitched when healthy, the Cardinals would probably lean towards retaining him to see if he can avoid the IL in 2023.

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Cardinals Select Aaron Brooks, Place Alex Reyes On 60-Day Injured List

By Anthony Franco | March 25, 2022 at 4:12pm CDT

The Cardinals have selected right-hander Aaron Brooks to the 40-man roster, the team informed reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). He’ll break camp with the club. To clear roster space, righty Alex Reyes has been placed on the 60-day injured list.

St. Louis signed Brooks to a minor league deal in late January. The 31-year-old had spent the prior two seasons in the Korea Baseball Organization, working out of the Kia Tigers’ rotation. He pitched to a 2.50 ERA in 151 1/3 innings his first year, leading the Tigers to bring him back for another season. Brooks only made 13 starts and tallied 78 frames last season, but he posted a solid 3.35 ERA in that time.

Brooks only struck 20.1% of opposing hitters over that two-year stretch. Yet he virtually never handed out free passes, walking just 4.4% of batters faced. Of most interest to the Cardinals, he induced grounders on more than three quarters of the balls put in play against him in both his KBO seasons. St. Louis has perhaps the game’s top collection of infield defenders (Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman, Paul DeJong and Nolan Arenado), and they’d set out this offseason to target pitchers capable of playing to that strength.

They identified Brooks, despite his 6.49 ERA in 170 2/3 career big league innings. The former ninth-round pick suited up with each of the Royals, A’s and Orioles before heading to South Korea but never found much success. The Cards clearly believe he’s capable of performing better with a strong defense behind him, and he can factor into either the rotation or the bullpen for first-year skipper Oli Marmol. St. Louis will be without Jack Flaherty to open the year, giving Brooks a shot to compete for the final rotation spot behind Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas.

It was also already known they’d be without Reyes in the early going, and he’s now officially going to miss at least the first two months of the season. The hard-throwing reliever received a stem cell injection in his shoulder last week and wasn’t expected to be available until late May or early June. Today’s IL placement rules him out until at least the second week of June.

In addition to the Brooks/Reyes news, St. Louis announced they’ve signed utilityman Cory Spangenberg to a minor league deal. The 31-year-old appeared in every big league season between 2014-19, spending the bulk of that time with the Padres. Like Brooks, he’s coming back to the U.S. after a two-year stint in an Asian league — in his case, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

Spangenberg, a left-handed hitter, has a fair bit of experience at each of second base, third base and left field. He owns a .256/.315/.389 line in just under 1400 MLB plate appearances. He combined for a .257/.330/.463 mark in two seasons with the Seibu Lions and will add some versatile depth to the high minors of the St. Louis system.

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