Anthony Rizzo

Latest On Anthony Rizzo

By Leo Morgenstern | May 9, 2025 at 7:44pm CDT

Back in February, veteran first baseman and free agent Anthony Rizzo expressed a desire to continue his playing career. However, he also expressed frustration over the limited market for his services and the services of other players like him. Rizzo suggested that teams didn’t “want to pay a few million dollars for veterans,” and said he wasn’t interested in signing a contract that would hurt the market for future players in a similar position. Speaking to Ken Rosenthal and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, he bemoaned “the fact that teams want you to play for basically league minimum. I’m like, you guys are crazy. You’re almost trying to ruin the market for the next guy.”

Rizzo was not credibly connected to any interested teams over the winter. Yet, his comments to Rosenthal and Kuty implied that he had received some interest, just not to the degree he would have liked. That may very well be true, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on Thursday that the Padres pursued Rizzo during the offseason. Specifically, he notes that San Diego was interested in Rizzo before pivoting to Jason Heyward instead.

Heyward and Rizzo don’t fill the same niche – Heyward is an outfielder, while Rizzo plays first base – but they are both 35-year-old left-handed batters. Still, the fact that the Padres signed Heyward wouldn’t have precluded them from signing Rizzo from a positional fit/roster-building standpoint. After all, they still needed a DH, and they ultimately signed another lefty batter, Gavin Sheets, to fill that role. What’s more, Sheets actually has a higher guaranteed salary than Heyward, even though he initially joined the team on a minor league deal; Sheets is making $1.6MM this season, while Heyward is guaranteed $1MM. If the Padres were hoping to sign him in that same price range, Rizzo’s February comments make clear he wouldn’t have accepted. And regardless, if San Diego ever made Rizzo a formal, guaranteed offer, it clearly wasn’t the kind of offer the veteran first baseman was seeking.

San Diego would have made an interesting fit for Rizzo. While he is best remembered for his years with the Cubs, he made his MLB debut for the Padres in 2011. Twelve years later, it was in a game against the Padres that Rizzo suffered the injury that led to his post-concussion syndrome diagnosis. Entering that game, Rizzo had an .823 OPS and a 131 wRC+ through his first 231 appearances with the Yankees. From that day onward, he produced a .590 OPS and a 70 wRC+ in 139 contests. So, for both of those reasons, it would have made for a nice story if Rizzo had bounced back with the Padres.

As time goes by, it becomes less and less likely that Rizzo will return to the majors, especially if he remains adamant about signing for much more than the league minimum salary. Theoretically, the Red Sox are a good fit for Rizzo after Triston Casas ruptured his left patellar tendon, likely ending his season. They have already made it clear that neither of their top prospects, Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer, will move to first base, nor will Rafael Devers. That leaves Romy Gonzalez (career .672 OPS, 82 wRC+) as the primary first baseman, and he, too, has been dealing with a minor back injury after a collision at first base on Wednesday. Ultimately, the righty-batting Gonzalez might be a fine fill-in against left-handed pitching, but the Red Sox could use another lefty bat with Casas and Masataka Yoshida both on the IL. Nevertheless, Heyman notes that a reunion between Rizzo and the Red Sox – it was Boston who drafted him before trading him to San Diego – does not “seem to be in play.”

Some contending clubs that have struggled against right-handed pitching and could make room for Rizzo in a part-time role at first base or DH include the Rangers, Blue Jays, and Royals. However, there is no reporting to suggest that Rizzo has received interest from any teams since the start of the season.

Poll: Who’s The Best Hitter Still Available In Free Agency?

By Nick Deeds | February 28, 2025 at 1:35pm CDT

With the end of February upon us, free agency has mostly been resolved for the offseason with only a handful of clearly big-league caliber free agents remaining. Unlike last year, when Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, and Jordan Montgomery were all top-10 free agents in the class who lingered on the open market well beyond the start of Spring Training, this year’s top free agents were almost entirely signed prior to the beginning of camp. At this point, just four of MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB Free Agents remain unsigned: Jose Quintana, Kyle Gibson, David Robertson, and Spencer Turnbull. Notably, all four of those unsigned players are pitchers.

While that leaves plenty of wiggle room for teams in need of pitching help due to a hole in the roster or a surprise injury to maneuver heading into March, the same can not be said on the hitting side of things. Even extending to the “honorable mentions” section of MLBTR’s list, just one hitter remains available after the Cubs’ recent signing of veteran infielder Justin Turner to a one-year deal. Slim as the pickings may be, however, there are certainly a handful of teams remaining who could use another bat in the lineup at least somewhere on the diamond. For those clubs in need of help on offense, who are the best options still remaining?

J.D. Martinez

The only hitter still available who made the aforementioned “honorable mentions” section of MLBTR’s Top 50, Martinez has an unmatched track record as a hitter but is headed into his age-37 season on the heels of a down season with the Mets. Last year, the veteran slugger managed a slash line of just .235/.320/.406 with a wRC+ of 108. That’s certainly not bad offensive production, but it’s less impressive for a DH-only player and a major step back for a hitter with a career 130 wRC+. Martinez’s strikeout rate (28.5%) and walk rate (9.9%) were both actually better than his 2023 season with the Dodgers, but that improved discipline at the plate came with a severe drop off in power as he hit just 16 homers, less than half of last year’s 33.

Even after last year’s down season, however, Martinez remains a decorated hitter with an excellent track record. He’s been above-average at the plate in each of the past ten 162-game seasons, with a .286/.355/.536 (136 wRC+) slash line overall since the start of 2014. Even last year’s down production was comparable or better than a number of bat-first players around the league who enter 2025 with starting jobs, such as Luis Arraez, Josh Bell, Andrew McCutchen, and Rhys Hoskins. Perhaps most importantly, it’s worth noting that Martinez substantially under-performed his expected numbers last year, and his .351 xwOBA was actually slightly higher than quality bats like Teoscar Hernandez and Seiya Suzuki. That suggests that even a repeat of 2024 could yield significantly stronger production.

Jose Iglesias

Few free agent hitters this year had a stronger platform season than Iglesias, who was worth 2.5 fWAR and 3.1 bWAR in just 85 games with the Mets thanks to an incredible .337/.381/.448 slash line, good for a 137 wRC+. Among second basemen with at least 250 plate appearances last year, that wRC+ is second only to Ketel Marte. Combined with Iglesias’s solid work with the glove around the infield, one would think that offense would make him a very attractive target for teams in need of help on the dirt. That’s not how things have played out so far, however. Iglesias has seemingly gotten little interest from clubs this winter, and a look under the hood helps to explain why.

Iglesias is on the older side, entering his age-35 season this year, and lacks a track record of success at the plate with a wRC+ of just 90 across more than 1,000 games in the majors. That’s not necessarily a death knell, as shown by Jurickson Profar turning last year’s breakout into a strong three-year guarantee with Atlanta, but underlying metrics suggest that Iglesias’s production last year is not anywhere near as sustainable. He was helped by an inflated .382 BABIP that’s nearly 70 points higher than his career .315 figure, and his xwOBA of .314 suggests his underlying performance was more akin to Jake Cronenworth than Francisco Lindor. Even with those potential red flags, however, Iglesias seems like the likely best option for teams in need of help on the infield.

Alex Verdugo

Verdugo won’t turn 29 until May, making him by far the youngest player mentioned on this list. He’s also found solid success at the plate before in his career, as demonstrated by his .289/.343/.435 (108 wRC+) slash line from 2019 to 2022. Those factors work in his favor, but to this point in his free agency he’s been unable to capitalize on them coming off the worst offensive campaign of his career. Verdugo slashed just .233/.291/.356 (83 wRC+) in 149 games for the Yankees last year, a figure that made him one of the ten worst hitters in the sport to qualify for the batting title. That won’t cut it for a bat-first position like left field, even if Verdugo is a quality defender at the position.

Things aren’t entirely grim for the outfielder, however. Verdugo’s .302 xwOBA suggests that his underlying performance was roughly league average last year, and his offensive production could also be improved by limiting his exposure to same-handed pitchers given that he’s a career 79 wRC+ hitter against southpaws who mostly repeated that with a 74 wRC+ last year. It’s also worth noting that Verdugo’s .253 BABIP last season was substantially worse than any other campaign of his career and a full 60 points below his career norm entering the year. While there’s little to like in Verdugo’s 2024 numbers, it would be reasonable to suggest that his youth and upside relative to the rest of the players mentioned here makes him an attractive option.

Anthony Rizzo

Rizzo is entering his age-35 season an arguably the most difficult player to evaluate on this list. He’s played just 191 games over the past two years due to a number of substantial injuries, though none of them are the type of injury that would portend future injury woes: after suffering a concussion in early May of 2023, Rizzo saw his performance decline as he unknowingly played through the injury before being diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome ahead of a season-ending trip to the injured list in August of that year. He returned in 2024 but was limited to just 92 games by a fractured forearm and a finger fracture stemming from a collision at first base and a hit-by-pitch, respectively.

Over the past two years, Rizzo has not hit well. The veteran first baseman has slashed just .237/.315/.358 (91 wRC+) since the start of the 2023 campaign, and his expected numbers don’t show clear signs of untapped potential. For a 35-year-old restricted to first base and DH defensively, that could be enough for many teams to dismiss him as a regular option. With that being said, however, Rizzo also sports a track record as one of the most consistent hitters of the decade prior to his injuries with a .268/.368/.486 (131 wRC+) slash line from 2012 to 2022. Rizzo was off to an excellent start in 2023, with a .301/.376/.513 (146 wRC+) slash line in 50 games prior to the concussion. Given his track record of success and the stark drop of production he faced amid the injuries of the past two seasons, perhaps a fully healthy campaign is all it would take to get the veteran’s career back on track.

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The four aforementioned hitters certainly aren’t the only ones remaining in free agency, though the remaining group come with plenty of question marks. David Peralta posted a strong 115 wRC+ with the Padres last year, but did so in only 260 plate appearances, is entering his age-38 campaign, and looked overmatched as a semi-regular player for the Dodgers the year prior. Whit Merrifield is a versatile fielder who posted roughly league average (97 wRC+) production with the Braves down the stretch last year, but did so only after a disastrous (63 wRC+) stint with the Phillies earlier in the season. Nick Senzel is a former top prospect who’s still just 29 years old, but has yet to hit in the majors across parts of six seasons.

Which of free agency’s remaining hitters do MLBTR readers think is the best bet for success in 2025? Have your say in the poll below:

Anthony Rizzo Hopes To Continue Playing Career

By Anthony Franco | February 21, 2025 at 11:59pm CDT

Anthony Rizzo remains unsigned as Spring Training gets underway. The 35-year-old first baseman tells Ken Rosenthal and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic that he’s hopeful of finding a landing spot for the upcoming season. However, he suggested he’s been underwhelmed by the interest he’s received even relative to diminished expectations.

“Two years ago, I had kind of a weird year with the concussion,” Rizzo conceded to The Athletic. “Then last year, I was hurt twice. My power numbers dropped. I’m surprised, but not like crazy surprised just because I’m a realist in the game and you’re getting older. The fact that teams want you to play for basically league minimum. I’m like, you guys are crazy. You’re almost trying to ruin the market for the next guy.”

Rizzo nevertheless made clear that he wants to keep playing. “I’m going to train until the season starts and even well into the season and see what happens,” the three-time All-Star said. However, he acknowledged that the market hasn’t been kind to aging hitters. “I think I have a lot to give to the game still. But at the same time, if teams are not going to want to pay a few million dollars for veterans, I’ve seen it the last 10 years of my career. It’s what happens to the older guys. They kind of get squeezed,” Rizzo told Rosenthal and Kuty. “You’ve seen it happen more and more. I’m not naive to it. It could be it.”

As Rizzo acknowledged, his past couple seasons have been impacted by myriad health issues. Initially acquired by the Yankees at the 2021 trade deadline, he re-signed on a two-year, $40MM deal after the ’22 campaign. That deal didn’t work out in large part because of injuries. Rizzo had been out to a nice start to the ’23 season. He injured his head in a collision at first base with Fernando Tatis Jr. in late May. Rizzo’s production tanked thereafter until the Yankees put him on the injured list in early August with post-concussion syndrome that they traced back to that collision. That ended his season.

The 14-year big league veteran returned last season. He got out to a slow start, hitting .224/.289/.341 across 291 plate appearances into the middle of June. Another freak injury resulted in an extended absence. Rizzo collided with Boston pitcher Brennan Bernardino at first base while trying to beat out a grounder. He broke a bone in his right arm on the fall and was immediately shelved into September. Rizzo returned for a few weeks, but he suffered another tough break when Pittsburgh reliever Ryan Borucki hit him with a pitch. That broke two fingers on his right hand. Rizzo missed the Division Series but returned for the ALCS and World Series. He reached base at an excellent .421 clip, though he only recorded one extra-base hit (a double) in 38 playoff plate appearances.

New York bought out Rizzo for $6MM in lieu of a $17MM club option, an easy call after the past couple seasons. There haven’t been any teams publicly linked to him over the past few months. MLBTR’s Steve Adams identified a few speculative fits for Rizzo and some other unsigned hitters in a post for Front Office subscribers this afternoon.

The Best Remaining Free Agent Position Players

By Steve Adams | February 21, 2025 at 3:34pm CDT

The market for free agents of any note is drying up by the day. In particular, we've seen a run on veteran pitchers. Nick Pivetta, Andrew Heaney, Cal Quantrill, Jakob Junis, John Means, Tyler Alexander, Kenley Jansen, Scott Barlow, John Brebbia, Kendall Graveman, Luke Jackson, Scott Alexander and Lucas Sims have all come off the board in the past ten days. A few bats have signed in that time as well, but typically on smaller-scale deals. Justin Turner's $6MM Cubs deal is the most notable. Each of Michael A. Taylor, Ty France, Paul DeJong and Luis Urias secured guarantees between $1-2MM.

At this stage, there simply aren't many potential big league deals left for free agent position players. That doesn't mean there aren't any, however. There are still four free agent hitters who posted better-than-average offense last year, plus another couple notable names who are looking to bounce back from their first truly poor offensive performance in the past six seasons.

Let's run through some of the remaining free agent position players on the market, with a brief look at their 2024 season, what they bring to the table, and some of the best landing spots left for each.

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Yankees Decline Club Option On Anthony Rizzo

By Mark Polishuk | November 2, 2024 at 10:48am CDT

The Yankees announced that they have declined their 2025 club option on Anthony Rizzo, and the veteran first baseman is now a free agent. It was an $11MM decision for the team, as Rizzo will receive a $6MM buyout instead of the $17MM salary he would’ve received if the option had been exercised.

The move probably ends Rizzo’s tenure of three-plus seasons in the Bronx, which began after he was a trade deadline pickup from the Cubs in July 2021. He hit well enough that the Yankees re-signed him to a two-year, $32MM deal that winter, and since that deal contained an opt-out clause after the first season, Rizzo parlayed that opt-out into another two-year, $40MM pact the following offseason.

Rizzo’s 2022 season was easily his best in New York, as he hit .224/.338/.480 with 32 homers over 548 plate appearances. He was also off to a hot start in the first two months of the 2023 campaign before his career was altered by a collision at first base with Fernando Tatis Jr. on May 28, 2023. Rizzo picked up what was deemed as a neck injury on the play and returned to action after sitting out a few games, yet he then went into a brutal slump over the next two-plus months until finally going on the IL at the start of August. Rizzo was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, which naturally led to quite a bit of controversy over how Rizzo was both misdiagnosed in the first place, and why his head-related injury went seemingly unnoticed for so long.

That IL placement ended Rizzo’s 2023 season, and he returned to more bad injury luck this year when he fractured his right forearm after another awkward collision at first base in June. Rizzo went on the 60-day injured list and didn’t return until the start of September, and he then suffered further injury when he had two fingers broken by a Ryan Borucki pitch near the end of the regular season. The broken fingers kept Rizzo out of the Yankees’ ALDS matchup with the Royals, though he returned to hit a respectable .267/.421/.300 over 38 PA in the ALCS and World Series.

Since Opening Day 2023, Rizzo has hit only .237/.315/.358 over 796 regular-season plate appearances, over 191 of 324 games. His translates to 0.6 fWAR and a below-average 91 wRC+, and since Rizzo turned 35 last August, it made for a pretty easy call for the Yankees in declining the option.

The health question is clearly paramount for Rizzo as he returns to the open market, as possible suitors will surely have concerns of what Rizzo still has in the tank after 14 Major League seasons. His track record and respected locker room presence probably means that he should be able to land some kind of big league contract for a low guaranteed salary, if likely as a platoon bat rather than a regular at first base. A return to the Yankees at a lower salary seems possible, but the likelier scenario is that New York either fortifies the lineup with a bigger bat at first base, or perhaps rotates DJ LeMahieu and others through the position.

AL East Notes: Cortes, Rizzo, Fulmer, Morel

By Mark Polishuk | October 16, 2024 at 8:47pm CDT

Nestor Cortes was set to throw what he described as a hybrid bullpen session today, telling the New York Post’s Greg Joyce (X link) and other reporters that the session would consist of 10-15 pitches each in a normal bullpen and then 10-15 pitches to hitters. It is Cortes’ latest step in his recovery from a flexor strain that has kept him out of action since September 18, and therefore kept him from participating in the Yankees’ playoff run. With no setbacks to date, Cortes aims to face live batters again this weekend, and is looking to be well enough to be activated for the World Series roster should New York advance to the Fall Classic.

Cortes can hope that his potential return goes as smoothly as Anthony Rizzo’s activation from the injured list, as Rizzo is thus far 3-for-7 with a walk over the first two games of the ALCS. Rizzo suffered two fractured fingers on his right hand after he was hit by a Ryan Borucki pitch on September 28, and he missed the last couple of regular-season games as well as the Yankees’ ALDS matchup with the Royals. Manager Aaron Boone told Joyce and company that Rizzo is still receiving near-constant treatment from the club’s medical staff in order to stay on the field.

Anthony Rizzo, Marcus Stroman On Yankees’ ALCS Roster

By Steve Adams | October 14, 2024 at 10:26am CDT

The Yankees announced their ALCS roster this morning, revealing that first baseman Anthony Rizzo and right-hander Marcus Stroman are back in the fold after sitting out their Division Series win over the Royals.

Rizzo suffered a pair of broken fingers when he was hit by a pitch in September and was seen as a borderline call for the League Championship Series as he worked through his rehab. Stroman was healthy but not included on the Division Series roster after skipper Aaron Boone made what he described as a difficult decision to exclude the veteran in favor of an extra bat in a five-game series. With the Yankees now likely to rely on four starters rather than three, Stroman is back in the mix.

Rizzo has had a rough season overall, enduring multiple IL stints and posting a career-worst .228/.301/.335 batting line in 92 games and 375 plate appearances. He’s one of the team’s most experienced playoff veterans, however, carrying 203 career plate appearances — including a hefty .276/.432/.552 slash in nine playoff games as a member of the Yankees. Rizzo was also a thorn in the side of the Guardians this season, going 5-for-13 with a double, a walk and three RBIs in the three games he was healthy enough to face them.

Stroman inked a two-year deal with the Yankees last offseason and started 29 games for them in 2024 (in addition to one relief appearance). He pitched 154 2/3 innings, logging a 4.31 ERA with a 16.7% strikeout rate, an 8.9% walk rate and a 49.2% grounder rate. Both that strikeout rate and ground-ball rate represent notable steps back from Stroman’s 2023 levels, and this year’s 90 mph average velocity on his sinker was the lowest of his career by a wide margin (replacing last year’s 91.4 mph average). The Yankees currently have Carlos Rodon, Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt lined up to start the first three games of the series, which starts tonight at 7:38pm ET in the Bronx.

Noticeably absent from the Yankees’ roster in the ALCS is southpaw Nestor Cortes. Like Rizzo, he’d been dealing with an injury and was seen as a borderline call. He’s been out with a flexor strain in his left elbow, but imaging revealed no damage to Cortes’ ulnar collateral ligament, and he’d recently been throwing after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection. Presumably, they’ll reevaluate him and consider him as a potential option for the World Series, should the Yankees topple the Guardians and advance to the Fall Classic.

The Yankees will drop speedy outfielder and pinch-running/defensive specialist Duke Ellis as well as catcher/first baseman Ben Rice from the roster for this series. Ellis appeared in only one game of the ALDS (Game 4) and did not record a plate appearance. Rice did not get into a game in the Division Series, as the Yankees instead went with utilitymen Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera at first base in place of the injured Rizzo.

Here’s the full breakdown of New York’s roster as they battle Cleveland for the AL pennant:

Catchers

Jose Trevino
Austin Wells

Infielders

Outfielders

Utility Players

Oswaldo Cabrera
Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Pitchers

Yankees Notes: Pitching Staff, Rizzo, Verdugo

By Nick Deeds | October 12, 2024 at 9:44pm CDT

The Yankees now know they’ll be taking on the Guardians in the ALCS when it begins on Monday, and manager Aaron Boone spoke to reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com) about the club’s roster plans for the coming series. Of note, Boone indicated that after bringing just 11 pitchers to the ALDS they’ll be expanding their pitching staff headed into the seven-game set, though it’s not yet clear whether they’ll use the maximum 13 pitchers allowed or settle for 12 in order to maintain a more flexible bench.

Regardless of how many pitchers end up coming, the Yankees will need to utilize four rotation arms in the upcoming seven-game series after turning to only Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt in the best-of-five ALDS. Per Hoch, Boone indicated that right-hander Luis Gil will be joining the club’s rotation for the ALCS, though neither he nor Gerrit Cole will start Game 1 with Cole scheduled for a start in Game 2 and Gil expected to start later in the series. That would seemingly leave either Rodon or Schmidt lined up to start the first game of the ALCS.

Schmidt has both the stronger regular season and postseason numbers of the pair, having posted a 2.85 ERA in 16 regular season starts and thrown 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball against the Royals during the ALDS. With that said, Rodon did strike out seven batters in his 3 2/3 innings of work during the ALDS (albeit with four earned runs on his ledger) and would be start Game 1 on an additional day of rest as compared to Schmidt. Veteran righty Marcus Stroman is also theoretically available to start if needed but seems likely to be used as a starter only in an emergency after being moved to the bullpen late in the regular season and being left off the ALDS roster entirely. Stroman could make the ALCS roster as a multi-inning reliever or emergency starter, though it’s also possible the club could want to add another short relief arm such as Mark Leiter Jr. to their bullpen mix headed into the series.

As the Yankees ponder how many pitchers to roster for the ALCS, one potential factor in that decision could be how many roster spots they need to allocate to first base. Veteran first baseman Anthony Rizzo was absent from the ALDS roster after suffering two broken fingers in the final days of the regular season. In his stead, the Yankees relied on a combination of Oswaldo Cabrera and Jon Berti at first base when facing Kansas City. The pair went a combined 3-for-12 with a double, four walks and four strikeouts during the series and could be turned to once again at first depending on Rizzo’s status.

Rookie Ben Rice was also on the ALDS roster as a first base option but ultimately did not make it into a game, making him a logical cut from the ALCS roster either for the return of Rizzo or the addition of another pitcher. Hoch relays that Boone told reporters the veteran first baseman was making “some progress” as he looks to return in time for the ALCS, though Boone didn’t get into specifics about Rizzo’s status and noted that a final decision about his availability likely would not be made until the club finalizes its roster plans on Monday.

One position that seems fairly set in stone for the Bronx headed into next week’s series, however, is left field. After a lackluster regular season that saw the Yankees briefly turn to top prospect Jasson Dominguez over him down the stretch, Verdugo received the nod in left field headed into the playoffs. While Verdugo went just three-for-14 in the ALDS this year, he did deliver a clutch performance in Game 1 where he notched two hits, knocked in the go-ahead run and made an impressive defensive play in the outfield to rob Royals second baseman Michael Massey of a hit.

Verdugo’s Game 1 heroics were evidently enough to earn him a starting nod in the left field headed into the ALCS, as Boone indicated (as relayed by Hoch) that the outfielder is “likely” to remain the club’s starter in left for their coming series against Cleveland. Dominguez, Trent Grisham, and Duke Ellis were other outfielders included on the club’s ALDS roster, Ellis’s brief cameo a pinch runner in Game 5 was the only appearance any of the three made during the series. If the Yankees ultimately decide to go to 13 pitchers on the roster, cutting one of those outfield options could be another way to free up space for more pitching.

Anthony Rizzo Won’t Be Available For ALDS

By Anthony Franco | October 4, 2024 at 7:34pm CDT

The Yankees will not carry Anthony Rizzo on their roster for the Division Series against the Royals, the first baseman told reporters (X link via Chris Kirschner of the Athletic). Rizzo broke two fingers on his right hand when he was hit by a pitch late in the regular season. The veteran said he was hopeful of being available for the AL Championship Series if the Yankees get past Kansas City.

This has been a frustrating year for Rizzo, who missed a couple months during the summer with a broken right arm. He hasn’t performed well even when healthy, hitting .228/.301/.335 over 375 plate appearances. Those are his worst numbers since his 2011 rookie campaign. It’s the second straight season in which Rizzo has struggled to make a significant offensive impact. He hit only .244/.328/.378 a year ago, in large part because he was apparently playing through post-concussion syndrome for a good portion of the season.

While Rizzo hasn’t played at anywhere near his peak level, he’s still an upgrade on New York’s other options at first base. Rookie Ben Rice primarily handled the job while Rizzo was out with the arm fracture. The 25-year-old has hit .171/.264/.349 through his first 50 MLB games, with almost all of his positive production concentrated in one three-homer game against the Red Sox. Rice’s fantastic numbers in the upper minors hint at a higher offensive ceiling that he has yet to show against MLB pitching.

Rice will probably again be the choice at first base, at least against right-handed pitching. The only other players to take any at-bats at first base this season are DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and J.D. Davis. LeMahieu, who worked in the short side of a platoon with Rice, has been on the injured list for nearly a month because of a hip impingement.

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweeted this evening that LeMahieu was taking batting practice and hopes to be on the ALDS roster. Even if he does make it back, the Yanks probably won’t give him a ton of playing time. LeMahieu had a dismal season (.204/.269/.259 in 67 games) and won’t have the luxury of game reps to get up to speed. Cabrera is a light-hitting utility player, while Davis was released in August.

Latest On Anthony Rizzo

By Nick Deeds | September 29, 2024 at 3:23pm CDT

TODAY: The Yankees didn’t place Rizzo on the injured list, instead optioning Scott Effross to Triple-A to call up Rice. Boone described Rizzo’s chances of playing in the ALDS as a “long shot,” in speaking with Hoch and other reporters today.

SEPT 28: Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) following today’s loss to the Pirates that first baseman Anthony Rizzo sustained two fractured fingers when he was struck by a pitch from Pittsburgh lefty Ryan Borucki. Hoch later added that, per Boone, the first baseman had actually fractured both his fourth and fifth fingers on his right hand. Rizzo exited the game following the incident, and it’s not yet clear when he’ll be able to return to the diamond. As noted by Hoch, Boone did not rule Rizzo out for the club’s upcoming postseason push.

“We’ll see what we have as the week moves forward,” Boone said. “It doesn’t totally rule him out. It’s a pain tolerance thing.”

It’s the latest injury-related setback for Rizzo in what has become a series of frustrating injuries during his tenure with the Yankees. After an eight-season stretch in Chicago where Rizzo was rarely injured, appearing in 94% of the Cubs’ regular season games from 2013 to his trade to the Bronx in 2021, the veteran first baseman has been far less available throughout his tenure with the Yankees. While he managed 130 games in his first full season with the club in 2022, his past two years have been marred with post-concussion syndrome and a fractured forearm that both set him down for multiple months, leaving him to appear in less than 60% of the club’s contests over the past two years.

Those injury issues have coincided with a downturn in performance for the 35-year-old, who this year is slashing just .227/.298/.334 through 91 games. It’s his worst showing in a season since the 49-game cup of coffee with San Diego that kicked off his lengthy big league career, and a far cry from the production the Yankees were surely hoping to get from him when they signed him to a two-year deal that guaranteed him $40MM prior to the 2023 season. With that being said, even losing a diminished version of Rizzo is still a blow to the Yankees’ lineup headed into the postseason.

After all, the club got lackluster production from a combination of Ben Rice and DJ LeMahieu at first base in Rizzo’s absence; only the Rockies posted a lower wRC+ at first base than the 76 the Yankees put up in Rizzo’s absence, and the club’s -1.1 fWAR at the position put them ahead of only the Astros among all AL clubs. It should also be noted that while Rizzo has hardly been the middle-of-the-lineup force he was earlier in his career since returning to the lineup on September 1, he has hit better overall with a .247/.345/.315 slash line in 84 plate appearances. That’s good for a wRC+ more than 15 points higher than the figures put up by Rice and LeMahieu’s combined efforts in his absence.

If Rizzo is healthy enough to take the field for the Yankees when the ALDS begins on October 5, it seems likely that he’ll be the best option the club has available at first base. Failing that, however, Hoch notes that Boone did confirm that Rice would be an option for the club’s postseason roster. A 25-year-old rookie, Rice is a bat-first catcher that has begun to move over to first base in recent years in part to accommodate the rapid advance of his offense. The youngster has slashed a sensational .294/.428/.661 in 30 games at the Triple-A level this year after posting similarly excellent numbers in 97 career games at the Double-A level, but he’s hit just .174/.269/.356 in a 49-game cup of coffee over the summer.

That figure includes a somewhat stronger .184/.265/.395 slash line in 132 trips to the plate against righties at the major league level. That could make him an excellent choice for a lefty-mashing platoon partner, but with LeMahieu on the IL amid a career-worst season that saw him hit just .164/.235/.206 against southpaws there aren’t many good options for that role. One possibility would be utility man Jon Berti, who sports a decent .250/.328/.384 career slash line against lefty pitching, but it would be a bold choice for the club to put Berti at first base with zero experience at the position in the middle of the playoffs, even considering his exceptional positional versatility. Switch-hitter Oswaldo Cabrera has some experience at first base and even replaced Rizzo there following his exit today, but he’s hit just .206/.251/.306 against southpaws to this point in his career.

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