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COVID Notes: Astros, Red Sox, Cordero

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Latest notes

  • Major League Baseball released its latest set of COVID-19 testing results this afternoon. Out of 13,718 monitoring tests conducted this week, five (all belonging to players) returned a positive result, marking a 0.04% positivity rate. None of the week’s 81 intake tests came back positive.

Earlier today

  • Health and safety protocols will keep eight Astros pitchers away from the team for the time being. Right-handers Bryan Abreu, Pedro Báez, Luis García, Cristian Javier, Francis Martes, Enoli Paredes and non-roster invitees Ronel Blanco and Hector Velázquez are all currently away from camp, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle). Those players’ placement on the COVID-19 list does not mean they have tested positive for the coronavirus; a player can enter health and safety protocols due to exposure to someone who tested positive. Indeed, general manager James Click rejected the notion the team was suffering an outbreak, pointing out (via Rome) that the COVID protocols “cast a wide net” in an attempt to reduce viral transmission. There are no current plans to pause team activities, Click says.
  • Franchy Cordero was delayed in reporting to spring training because of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, but he’s now in camp and taking an intake physical, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic). If all goes well, Cordero could start team workouts today. The 26-year-old outfielder was a key part of Boston’s trade return for Andrew Benintendi.

West Notes: Astros, Giants, Ramos, A’s, Jefferies

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The Astros can’t rule out making an external addition to their starting rotation mix, writes Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. General manager James Click has a somewhat uncertain stable of starters upon whom he can rely, with his Astros losing a considerable chunk of innings via the departures of Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley. The rotation currently projects as Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Lance McCullers, and some combination of Jose Urquidy, Josh James, and Framber Valdez. However, given the potential limitations on McCullers’s workload and the unproven back-end options, Click may dip into the free-agent pool for insurance. That said, pickings are slim this time of year, with the likes of Marco Estrada, Clayton Richard, and Danny Salazar (to name just a few) representing the most experienced free agents. For what it’s worth, minor-leaguers Bryan Abreu and Cristian Javier have impressed Click thus far and could contribute to the rotation this year.

Here’s more from baseball’s West divisions…

  • Giants prospect Heliot Ramos is expected to be out of commission for at least a few weeks after suffering an oblique strain on Friday, reports John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 20-year-old outfielder sustained the injury while making a throw home during the Giants’ matchup with the Rockies. Per Shea, Ramos will be re-evaluated this weekend, but is likely to be on the shelf for two weeks at minimum. Ramos is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the number 65 prospect in baseball, and the third-best in the San Francisco organization. He’s reached as high as Double-A and appeared in last year’s Arizona Fall League. He wasn’t invited to Major League camp this year, but has been brought up to participate in a couple of the Giants’ Cactus League games.
  • An MRI of Athletics prospect Daulton Jefferies showed no issues with the elbow, though the right-hander does have a strain in his upper bicep, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The Oakland organization had some fear that Jefferies may have sustained an elbow injury when he exited a February 24 game prematurely. Per Gallegos, we won’t know exactly when Jefferies will be able to throw again until he visits a specialist tomorrow. Jefferies, 24, is coming off a solid 2019 season in which he made it to Double-A, throwing 64 innings of 3.66-ERA baseball at that level.

 

Players Added To 40-Man Roster: American League

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We’re going to see a whole lot of players added to 40-man rosters in advance of tonight’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft. We will use this post to track those contract selections from American League teams that are not otherwise covered on the site.

AL West:

  • The Athletics made just one addition to the 40-man roster, righty Daulton Jefferies, which resulted in the DFA of righty Jharel Cotton (more on that move here).
  • The Rangers will add at least four players to their 40-man, per MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter). Infielder Sherten Apostel, outfielder Leody Taveras, and hurlers Demarcus Evans and Tyler Phillips are all reportedly set to get a slot. Taveras is the most exciting name of this bunch; by the reckoning of some observers, he’s one of the club’s best prospects. Apostel came over in the Keone Kela trade. The two pitchers are upper-minors arms who could contribute in 2020.
  • There’s 40-man movement elsewhere in Texas as well. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle tweets that the Astros have tacked on four players: Taylor Jones, Cristian Javier, Enoli Paredes, and Nivaldo Rodriguez. The last of those is the one that came from the farthest reaches of the prospect map (half a season of High-A ball); clearly, the ’Stros see him as an up-and-comer and were worried other teams would as well. Jones had a strong season at Triple-A and could fight for a bench spot. Javier and Paredes could be in the MLB bullpen mix after running up the farm ladder with high strikeout rates in 2019.
  • The Angels have selected second baseman/outfielder Jahmai Jones and lefty Hector Yan, according to the club. Both players (Jones – No. 6; Yan – No. 17) rank among the Angels’ top 20 prospects at MLB.com. The 22-year-old Jones is a 2015 second-rounder who spent the past two seasons at the Double-A level, where he hit .234/.308/.324 in 544 plate appearances in 2019. Yan, a 20-year-old native of the Dominican Republic, rose to Single-A ball this past season and notched a 3.39 ERA/3.17 FIP with a whopping 12.22 K/9 against 4.29 BB/9 over 109 innings.

AL Central:

AL East:

  • Infielder Santiago Espinal and righty Thomas Hatch were the Blue Jays’ pair of roster additions on Wednesday. Toronto jettisoned Tim Mayza and Justin Shafer from the 40-man roster in a pair of corresponding moves, as explored at greater length here.
  • The Orioles announced that they’ve selected the contracts of left-hander Keegan Akin, right-hander Dean Kremer, infielder/outfielder Ryan Mountcastle and outfielder Ryan McKenna. Mountcastle, a former first-rounder, has long been considered among the organization’s most promising minor leaguers. Akin posted a down year in Triple-A in 2019 but has generally been successful and is viewed as a near-MLB ready arm.
  • The Red Sox have added infielders C.J. Chatham and Bobby Dalbec, outfielder Marcus Wilson, and lefties Kyle Hart and Yoan Aybar to their 40-man, the team announced.The most hyped farmhand there is Dalbec, whom MLB.com ranks as the Red Sox’s second-best prospect. The 24-year-old reached the Triple-A level for the first time in 2019 after obliterating Double-A pitching, and he posted a .257/.301/.478 line with seven home runs and 29 strikeouts against just five walks over 123 trips to the plate.

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