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AL Injury Notes: Anderson, Rays, Cabrera, Schmidt

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The latest injury updates from the American League…

  • The White Sox expect to activate shortstop Tim Anderson from the injured list when he’s first eligible Thursday, manager Tony La Russa told Scott Merkin of MLB.com and other reporters. The former batting champion has been down since April 5 with a strained left hamstring, and the White Sox have turned to a combination of Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick in Anderson’s absence. Garcia has gotten off to a terrible start this year, while Mendick has been great over an admittedly tiny sample size of 12 plate appearances.
  • The Rays placed right-hander Chris Archer on the IL on Saturday with forearm tightness, but they’re optimistic he won’t miss too much time, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. While Archer won’t throw during the next few days, the hope is that he’ll return to the mound by the end of next week. Archer, with whom the Rays reunited on a $6.5MM guarantee in free agency, has been limited to two appearances and 4 1/3 innings in the early going.
  • More on the Rays from Topkin, who writes that center fielder Kevin Kiermaier ran “at about 70 percent” Monday and could return to their lineup within a week. Kiermaier went on the IL on April 6 with a left quad strain, and the Rays have since used a combination of Manuel Margot and Brett Phillips in center.
  • The left biceps strain that sent Tigers designated hitter/first baseman Miguel Cabrera to the iL over the weekend is mild, Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets. The Tigers are hopeful that Cabrera will miss “the shortest amount possible.” Cabrera came out of the gates slowly before the injury, as the future Hall of Famer has hit .125/.222/.292 in 27 plate appearances this season.
  • Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt, who is dealing with an elbow strain, received a cortisone injection Monday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. He could go back to throwing either this week or next if all goes according to plan. Schmidt was only supposed to sit out four weeks when he went on the shelf in February, but his injury hasn’t healed as quickly as expected.

Injury Notes: Kim, Alfaro, Andujar, Schmidt, Reds

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Kwang Hyun Kim is slated to toss a 90-pitch simulated game today, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told reporters (including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).  Kim tossed another simulated game earlier this week, so the left-hander may be just about on the verge of rejoining the Cards’ rotation during the team’s upcoming series against the Phillies from April 16-18.

Back problems sidelined Kim for a good chunk of Spring Training, requiring an injured list placement to begin the season.  The 32-year-old is looking to build off an impressive debut season in Major League Baseball, as Kim posted a 1.62 ERA over 39 innings (thanks to a 50% grounder rate and a lot of soft contact) in 2020.

More injury updates from around the sport…

  • Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro was scratched from yesterday’s lineup due to what the team described as “lingering tightness in his left hamstring.”  Manager Don Mattingly told SportsGrid’s Craig Mish and other reporters the Marlins may decide tomorrow whether or not an IL stint is required.  Counting today, Alfaro will have been sidelined for four straight games, and Miami doesn’t have another off-day until April 19.  Should Alfaro hit the injured list, Sandy Leon is the only catcher in the Marlins’ farm system with any big league experience, so the team could select his minor league deal and install Leon as Chad Wallach’s backup.
  • Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided updates on Miguel Andujar and Clarke Schmidt to reporters (including ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera and Newsday’s Erik Boland).  For Andujar, he is already hitting off a tee and will start hitting out of the batting cage next week as the 26-year-old is trying to recover from right carpal tunnel syndrome.  Schmidt, meanwhile, is getting a second opinion on his bothersome right elbow, which is still giving him discomfort after almost seven weeks.  Schmidt was shut down back in February for what was supposed to be three or four weeks due to a common extensor strain in his right elbow — for what it’s worth, Boland noted that Boone today described the injury as simply a “right elbow strain.”
  • Shogo Akiyama and Sonny Gray are each progressing well in their injury recoveries, writes Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. Akiyama has been expected to return from a hamstring injury in early-mid May, and Reds manager David Bell says the outfielder has had “zero setbacks” in his rehab. Gray, meanwhile, is in line to make his return from a back injury by the end of next week. It’s a little less clear when Cincinnati can expect Michael Lorenzen back; the right-hander’s recovery from a shoulder strain is “not as going fast as he would like,” Bell said (via Sheldon).

Luke Voit To Start Season On Injured List; Yankees Select Jay Bruce

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11:53 am: The Yankees have officially selected Bruce to the 40-man roster. Right-hander Clarke Schmidt was placed on the 60-day injured list (elbow) in a corresponding move. Additionally, non-roster invitees Robinson Chirinos and Derek Dietrich have been released from their minor-league contracts. Both are now free agents.

11:14 am: The Yankees are planning on selecting the contract of outfielder/first baseman Jay Bruce, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports (Twitter link). The veteran slugger had been in camp as a non-roster invitee. New York is also expected to hold onto Mike Tauchman, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). At the very least, the Yankees don’t plan on exposing the out-of-options Tauchman to waivers, says Andy Martino of SNY (Twitter link), although a trade could still be a possibility.

Expected starting first baseman Luke Voit will begin the year on the injured list, Marly Rivera of ESPN was first to report. Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed Voit has suffered a meniscus tear in his knee and will undergo surgery. He’ll be shut down from baseball activities for the next three weeks (via Erik Boland of Newsday). New York expects Voit back “considerably sooner than” June, Boone said (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com), but it seems possible the reigning home run champ could be out of action into May. In the interim, Bruce will be New York’s primary first baseman, relays Hoch.

The Yankees will have to officially add Bruce to the 40-man roster before Opening Day. The 33-year-old has hit for plenty of power but struggled to reach base in recent years, combining for a .212/.259/.510 line with 32 home runs across 436 plate appearances since the start of 2019. That kind of production would be a steep drop-off from Voit, who raked at a .277/.338/.610 clip last year.

Bruce will at least offer a left-handed bat to help balance a righty-heavy lineup. Tauchman also offers a lefty bat off the bench, and he’s capable of playing anywhere in the outfield. He’ll be limited to reserve duty behind Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner, assuming he isn’t traded. The 30-year-old has drawn rather strong interest around the league.

Injury Notes: Naughton, Schmidt, Thorpe

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Angels prospect Packy Naughton has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 UCL sprain in his elbow, per Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic (via Twitter). Naughton is ranked 19th among prospects in the Angels’ system per Baseball America and 12th per MLB.com. Naughton joined the Angels at last year’s trade deadline from the Cincinnati Reds as part of the return for outfielder Brian Goodwin. He had been the Reds’ 20th-ranked prospect per Fangraphs’ mid-season report. Naughton will likely be shut down for a time, though he season would not be in jeopardy, given that a Grade 1 strain suggests there’s no tear in the elbow ligament. Still, any injury to the UCL raises the specter of Tommy John surgery, though jumping to that point would be premature at this time. It’s certainly an inopportune time for the 24-year-old. He wasn’t expected to compete for a rotation job, but he was likely ticketed for the Triple-A rotation, and therefore not too far down the line in terms of depth options for the Angels.

  • In brighter news, Clarke Schmidt says he has “relieved” his elbow injury and he expects to be back in action soon, per Erik Boland of Newsday Sports (via Twitter). The 25-year-old made his Major League debut for the Yankees, albeit in just a 6 1/3 inning sample. Regardless, he is competing this spring for his place in the line behind the Yankees’ top five starters. Having made just three starts in Double-A to round out 2019, Schmidt undoubtedly would have spent 2020 in Triple-A, had there been a minor league season. As is, he’ll be in camp with other young arms like Deivi Garcia, Michael King, Luis Medina, and Nick Nelson, trying to prove themselves ready to step-in for a particularly injury-prone New York rotation. Schmidt was shut down just over a week ago for what was supposed to be 3-4 weeks, though it’s possible he returns to action sooner.
  • After a difficult and vague leave of absence last spring, Twins’ southpaw Lewis Thorpe is healthy, back in camp, and in a better place mentally, writes the Athletic’s Dan Hayes. Said manager Rocco Baldelli, “I think the sky’s the limit for him. I think he’s a major-league starting pitcher that could definitely establish himself, at some point, hopefully in the very near future, and a guy that can throw a lot of innings. He’s got a very vast arsenal. He can do a lot of things with the baseball.” The Melbourne native has long been a guy with the tools to be a successful starter. Despite a 6.14 ERA/4.77 FIP across 44 big-league innings in 2019 and 2020, Thorpe is worth keeping an eye on. ZiPS is the most bullish of the projection systems, forecasting 106 innings and 1.1 fWAR at the Major League level. If nothing else, with injury concern baked in the back 60 percent of the Twins rotation (Michael Pineda, J.A. Happ, Matt Shoemaker), there is some room for some surprise production from someone in the Twins system.

Yankees Shut Down Clarke Schmidt For 3-4 Weeks

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Yankees pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt has been shut down due to a common extensor strain in his right elbow, manager Aaron Boone told The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (Twitter links) and other reporters.   This appears to be the only issue with Schmidt’s elbow, as an MRI didn’t reveal any ligament damage.

Boone said Schmidt will be kept out of action for three to four weeks, thus putting Schmidt out of consideration for the Opening Day roster as he’ll need more time to get ramped up.  The Yankees will surely be as careful as possible with Schmidt, one of their top prospects and a young arm who was seen as a potential contributor to the pitching staff as early as this season.  The Athletic’s Keith Law ranks the right-hander as the 48th-best prospect in the sport, and Schmidt also features in top-100 prospect rankings from Baseball America (64th), Fangraphs (75th), MLB Pipeline (83rd) and Baseball Prospectus (96th)

Schmidt (who just turned 25 two days ago) made his MLB debut in 2020, posting a 7.11 ERA with seven strikeouts and five walks over 6 1/3 innings of work.  Selected 16th overall in the 2017 draft, Schmidt pitched well over 114 minor league innings and was expected to make his Triple-A debut in 2020 before the minor league season was canceled, though the Yankees thought enough of his work at their alternate training site to give him a cup of coffee in the Show.

Given his lack of Triple-A experience, Schmidt was probably likely to begin the season in the minors anyway, given how New York has their provisional starting five (Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German) already in place.  Given the number of injury concerns for those pitchers, however, plus the general need for teams to have as much pitching depth as possible as everyone rebuilds their innings limits after 2020, it certainly isn’t good news that the Yankees are already down a starting option for at least the first few weeks of the 2021 campaign.

Post-Trade Notes: The Lance Lynn Deal

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The Rangers took some heat for not trading Lance Lynn at the deadline this summer, with most onlookers more than a little befuddled that a last-place Rangers club didn’t move its top pitcher with a year and a half remaining on his contract despite widely reported interest. At the time, president of baseball ops Jon Daniels merely indicated that the offers for Lynn weren’t enticing, but The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal now shines light on the larger reason that Lynn wasn’t moved. Per the report, Lynn would have considered opting out of the remainder of the 2020 season if traded to a club for which he did not wish to pitch. The number of teams to which Lynn would have approved a deal isn’t clear, but that stance obviously tied Daniels’ hands in his efforts to coax an acceptable return out of a trade partner.

Ultimately, of course, the Rangers traded Lynn to the White Sox and landed six years of an immediate rotation replacement, righty Dane Dunning, as well as 2019 sixth-rounder Avery Weems. Now that the trade is in the books, a few more notes on the activity (or lack thereof) surrounding Lynn leading up to the deal…

  • Despite considerable uncertainty in the rotation behind Gerrit Cole, the Yankees weren’t engaged with the Rangers on Lynn this winter, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Lynn seemingly checks plenty of boxes for the Yankees, as he’s been baseball’s most durable arm the past two seasons and would only come with a $10MM luxury tax hit (with just $8MM in actual 2021 salary thanks to a slightly front-loaded contract). Sherman suggests on Twitter that Lynn might have cost the Yankees pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt, who is similar to Dunning in that he’s a Top 100 type of arm who made his MLB debut in 2020 (albeit with a more limited workload and less success than Dunning). There’s no indication that the Rangers actually made that ask, but the two righties are indeed somewhat comparable in terms of age, team control and prospect status.
  • The Padres, however, were in on Lynn prior to his trade to the White Sox, according to Rosenthal and colleague Jayson Stark (Twitter link). Rosenthal notes that the Friars are concerned about the number of innings their rotation can provide in 2021, which makes sense with Mike Clevinger out for the year due to Tommy John surgery and Dinelson Lamet ending the 2020 campaign due to his own arm troubles. As such, it stands to reason that San Diego will continue to monitor the market for other sources of innings, be it via trade or free agency. The Padres already owe a combined $86.05MM to the group of Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer, Wil Myers, Drew Pomeranz, Clevinger, Craig Stammen, Matt Strahm and Pierce Johnson, and they have arbitration deals yet to work out with Lamet, Tommy Pham, Zach Davies, Emilio Pagan and Dan Altavilla. With needs in the rotation, the bullpen and on the bench, it’s not clear how aggressively they can spend on any one individual piece.
  • The Rangers will monitor Dunning’s workload in 2021 after he missed the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery and pitched just 34 Major League innings in 2020, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Dunning estimates that between simulated games at the White Sox’ alternate training site and that seven-start MLB debut, he tossed around 90 frames in 2020, per Wilson. He’ll be on a similar plan in 2021 to that of fellow young Texas righty Kyle Cody, who also missed 2019 due to surgery. More importantly, Wilson notes that Daniels indicated an intent to pursue some veteran starters to add depth to the rotation in the coming months. It’s not likely that the rebuilding Rangers will be in on any of the market’s top names, of course, but there ought to be plenty of affordable names looking for opportunities later this winter.

Examining The Yankees’ 2021 Payroll Situation

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The Yankees 2020 season was a success by most measures – except for the 2nd-place finish behind Tampa Bay. The Rays took them out in the postseason as well, which was particularly galling with a payroll that (for a full season) floated around $265MM. The Rays, by contrast, fielded a payroll of around $73MM. As opposed to the old days, when the Yankees division rivalry with the Red Sox might prompt a spending spree to put them over the top, the Rays pose a new kind of threat. The Yankees cannot delude themselves into thinking their loss in 2020 has anything at all to do with money. The Yankees have to explore the possibility of doing more with less.

If there’s a model for the Yankees to mimic, it’s the Dodgers more so than the Rays. Though, considering that Andrew Friedman – the architect of these Dodgers – came from the Rays, one could argue that modeling oneself after the Dodgers is mimicking the Rays. The Yankees – lest we forget – are no slouches themselves when it comes to roster construction. Besides, it’s not any easier to become the Rays overnight than it is to become the Yankees overnight. Still, signs point to the Yankees facing a dramatic cut in payroll, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Sherman suggests the Yankees will want to steer clear of exceeding the $210MM luxury tax line, which means taking a significant step back payroll-wise. Making it easier for GM Brian Cashman will be a whole slew of contracts coming off the books: James Paxton ($12.5MM), Masahiro Tanaka ($23MM), DJ LeMahieu ($12MM), J.A. Happ ($17MM), Jacoby Ellsbury ($5MM), and Brett Gardner ($7.5MM).

Taking into account potential arbitration raises, Sherman pegs the Yankees current 2021 payroll to be around $171MM, which leaves probably a little more than $30MM in payroll space if the Yankees do intend to stay south of the luxury tax line. Non-tendering or trading Gary Sanchez would save $5MM, but they would need to fill his roster spot in that case.

Otherwise, they need a middle infielder – or to bring LeMahieu back. If LeMeahieu leaves, they could explore the possibility of finding a glove-first shortstop to shore up the defense while moving Gleyber Torres to second. While it’s not fun to  consider the possibility of losing LeMahieu, they could probably withstand his departure, especially with Clint Frazier looking like a viable starting outfielder. Not to diminish LeMahieu’s importance – he is the batting champ, after all – but the Yankees would otherwise return most of a crew that scored the 4th-most runs in the majors in 2020.

As much as the Yankees like LeMahieu, they have greater need in the rotation – and the money crunch is real. If Tanaka were to, say, accept a qualifying offer, their available money gets cut in half pretty quickly. LeMahieu, meanwhile, is looking at a contract that nets him $20MM per season, if MLBTR readers are to be believed.

Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Deivi Garcia, Jordan Montgomery, Clarke Schmidt, and Domingo German provides manager Aaron Boone with a better group of rotation arms than many teams have, but they’re largely unproven (or coming off lost seasons in the case of Severino/German). Especially returning to a full 162-game season, depth is key in the rotation, a lesson Yankees’ fans know well. Without any additions, the Yankees would lean heavily on Cole for the second consecutive season. As good as he was this year, he can’t win a pennant all his own.

All that said, there could be some real bargains on the free agent market this winter. It’s an offseason unlike any we’ve ever seen before. With teams planning to cut payroll almost across the board because of the revenue losses caused by the pandemic, it’s hard to pinpoint any specific club that’s definitely going to spend big money. New York could explore moving some of their committed money – like the $13MM owed to Zack Britton and his 1.89 ERA in his final season on the books – but again, given the revenue losses all across baseball, there aren’t likely to be a lot of places to dump payroll.

Yankees Promote Clarke Schmidt

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The Yankees have selected right-hander Clarke Schmidt’s contract, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News was among those to report. They optioned righty Ben Heller in a corresponding move.

The 24-year-old Schmidt, whom the Yankees chose 16th overall in the 2017 draft, has become one of their highest-regarded prospects, owing in part to impressive minor league production. He divided last season between High-A and Double-A, combining for a 3.47 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 90 2/3 innings.

In the wake of his 2019 performance, Schmidt earned top 100 prospect rankings at The Athletic (No. 51), Baseball America (No. 64), ESPN.com (82), and MLB.com (94). Keith Law of The Athletic wrote that the former Tommy John patient has a chance to turn into a No. 3-4 starter in the majors.

If Schmidt’s able to provide mid-rotation type of production immediately, it would be a boost to the playoff-contending Yankees, whose starting staff hasn’t lived up to expectations in 2020. Gerrit Cole hasn’t given the club the elite production it anticipated when it signed him to a nine-year, $324MM contract last winter; James Paxton has dealt with injuries and struggled when healthy; and J.A. Happ and Jordan Montgomery have fallen flat. The Yankees’ best starter has been Masahiro Tanaka, who has logged a 3.38 ERA/3.85 FIP over 26 2/3 innings.

AL Notes: Yankees, Pillar, Choo

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Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ needs 10 starts and 62 innings this season in order for his $17MM option for 2021 to vest. Happ isn’t on pace to reach either milestone – he has three starts and 12 2/3 frames thus far – and he suggested the Yankees are trying to prevent him from reaching those marks. “It actually doesn’t take too much to figure out sort of what could be going on,” Happ said of his usage (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). “I think I can help our team. I’d like to be out there every five days.” Even if Happ’s right, it’s hard to blame the Yankees for not wanting him around at such a lofty salary in 2021. After struggling in 2019, the first guaranteed campaign of a two-year, $34MM guarantee, the 36-year-old Happ has yielded nine earned runs on 10 hits (including four homers) with six strikeouts against 10 walks this season.

  • Outfielder Kevin Pillar hopes to remain with the Red Sox, but the soon-to-be free agent understands he’s a trade candidate as the Aug. 31 deadline approaches (via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom informed Pillar that he’ll listen to offers for the 31-year-old in the coming days. It would be a surprise if Pillar’s still a member of the Red Sox on Sept. 1, considering their status as non-contenders, Pillar’s waning team control, and the fact that he’d be more useful to a playoff-caliber club. Since signing a one-year, $4.25MM contract with the Red Sox last winter, Pillar has lined up at all three outfield positions and batted a playable .257/.316/.419 in 114 plate appearances.
  • As a pending free agent, Rangers designated hitter/outfielder Shin-Soo Choo realizes he could pop up in trade talks with Monday looming, as Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram writes. “Every year, it’s been, ‘Trade Choo, trade Choo,’ but this year I have a very strong feeling,” Choo said. From the Rangers’ standpoint, though, finding a taker for Choo would likely be difficult. The 38-year-old, normally a quality offensive player, has slumped to a .216/.306/.365 line with three home runs in 85 plate appearances this season. That’s unappealing production at any price, let alone the prorated $21MM Choo is earning. Regardless, as someone who has procured 10-and-5 rights, Choo has the ability to veto any trade.
  • More on the pitching-needy Yankees, who seem likely to promote right-handed prospects Clarke Schmidt and Deivi Garcia over the weekend for their major league debuts, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post suggests. Either Schmidt or Garcia could be trade bait for the club before Aug. 31, observes Davidoff; if not, they may be able to help the Yankees’ staff. The 24-year-old Schmidt and Garcia, 21, are regarded as a pair of the Yankees’ top farmhands, with MLB.com ranking the former second in their system and placing the latter at No. 3.

Mike King Makes Yankees’ Opening Day Roster; Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt Assigned To Scranton

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Right-hander Mike King has made the Yankees’ Opening Day roster, manager Aaron Boone told reporters this afternoon (Twitter link via the New York Times’ James Wagner). Top pitching prospects Deivi Garcia and Clarke Schmidt, meanwhile, will open the season on the alternate roster in Scranton.

A stress reaction in King’s elbow limited him to just 48 innings in 2019, but he impressed the organization enough to make a brief MLB debut in September and to crack the Opening Day roster in ’20. The 25-year-old King, acquired in the trade that sent Caleb Smith and Garrett Cooper to the Marlins, posted a sub-2.00 ERA in 161 1/3 innings in his last full season back in 2018. He logged a 4.18 ERA with a 28-to-6 K/BB ratio in 23 2/3 frames in a very hitter-friendly Triple-A setting last year.

King isn’t as highly regarded a prospect as either Garcia or Schmidt, but he’s further along in his development and considered to be much more polished. Garcia did pitch 40 innings in Triple-A last year, but he’s also four years younger than King. He could very well still make his MLB debut at some point in 2020. Schmidt, too, has a chance at cracking the roster at some point, although the 24-year-old has only pitched 19 innings above the Class-A Advanced level. Both Schmidt and Garcia were ranked among the game’s 100 best prospects according to each of Baseball America, MLB.com and The Athletic prior to the season.

With Masahiro Tanaka working his way back from a concussion and Luis Severino out for the year due to Tommy John surgery, King could get a chance to start a game or two early in the season. However, Tanaka also tossed a 20-pitch bullpen session this afternoon (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch), and he could be back in the fold for the Yankees at month’s end.

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