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Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Latest On Rangers’ Infield

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Elvis Andrus has been the Rangers’ everyday shortstop since he debuted in 2009, but those days are coming to an end. He’ll take on a utility role in 2021, while Isiah Kiner-Falefa will have an opportunity to become the Rangers’ starting shortstop, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports.

The 32-year-old Andrus has thrived at times, which led the Rangers to give him an eight-year, $120MM extension that kicked in during 2015, but his production has tumbled in recent seasons. Dating back to 2018, Andrus has batted a dismal .260/.306/.378 (73 wRC+) with 21 home runs and 39 stolen bases across 1,187 plate appearances. He’ll now play multiple positions in the rebuilding Rangers’ infield, where they have questions everywhere, including at second base. Rougned Odor has been Andrus’ longtime double-play partner, but his starting job also isn’t set in stone, Grant tweets.

The Rangers may want to jettison Andrus and Odor in trades, but it would be difficult to find takers for either. Andrus has another two years and $28MM left on his contract, while Odor’s deal includes two more seasons at $27MM (including a $3MM buyout for 2023). Those are steep commitments for players who have offered poor production for multiple seasons in a row. In Andrus’ case, Grant notes he has 10-and-5 rights, and his $15MM club option for 2023 would turn into a player option in the event of a trade. With those facts in mind, it will be that much more of a challenge for the Rangers to trade him.

Kiner-Falefa, like Andrus and Odor, has not hit much in the past few seasons. He came into the league in 2018 and has since batted .260/.319/.351 (75 wRC+) with eight homers and 18 steals in 846 PA. Kiner-Falefa has seen action at a handful of positions, though, and he even earned an American League Gold Glove Award for the work he did at third base in 2020. The Rangers are hopeful the 25-year-old’s value will increase at short, though it’s unclear who will start for the team at third. It’s “likely” they’ll pick up a third baseman on a one-year deal in free agency to help bridge the gap to prospect Josh Jung, according to Grant.

Gold Glove Nominees Announced

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The 2020 Rawlings Glove Glove Award finalists have been released, with the Cubs netting the most nominations with seven. The Mets, Nationals, Phillies, Brewers, Rays, and Red Sox were shut out.

The awards for defensive prowess will be handed out based on defensive metrics alone this year, since managers and coaches weren’t able to see players outside their regional bubble. Moving to a metrics-based system, even for a year, certainly make for interesting television, especially since these awards can make an impact on arbitration cases. Considering the uncertainty of a 60-game season, awards could carry greater weight than usual in those proceedings, thought that’s just speculation. Without further ado, here are this year’s nominees:

AL Pitcher

NL Pitcher

AL Catcher

NL Catcher

AL First Base

NL First Base

AL Second Base

NL Second Base

AL Third Base

NL Third Base

AL Shortstop

NL Shortstop

AL Left Field

NL Left Field

AL Centerfield

NL Centerfield

AL Right Field

NL Right Field

Nicky Lopez of the Royals was originally left off the list, but he is in fact a nominee at second base, one of four nominations at the keystone in the American League. It’s the only position with four nominations.

There are a few other interesting things of note. Perennial candidates like Andrelton Simmons and Matt Chapman did not make the list this year due to shortened seasons, nor did last season’s Outs Above Average leader Victor Robles. Both Gurriel brothers earned nominations this year, with the younger Lourdes (LF) joining perennial candidate Yuli (1B).

There are also a couple of largely part-time players that made the cut, like Hoerner of the Cubs and Mendick for the White Sox. Neither was the everyday second baseman, but they did reach the inning minimum of 265 total defensive innings. They qualified at second because that’s where they played the most innings. Mendick, for example, registered just 226 innings at second, but with 27 innings at third and 15 at shortstop, he ended the year with 268 total defensive innings played.

Catchers required a minimum of 29 games, which is how we got a pair of White Sox catchers making the top-3. Pitchers had to throw a minimum of 50 innings.

The winners will be selected using the SABR Defensive Index and announced on November 3rd, per sabr.org.

Quick Hits: Rangers, Andrus, Red Sox, Pérez, Cardinals, Cruz

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The Texas Rangers are paying Elvis Andrus for another two seasons at $14.25MM per season, but their long-time shortstop might have to start yielding minutes to Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Anderson Tejeda, writes Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News. While one consideration might be the $15MM vesting option the Rangers hold on Andrus for 2023, the fact is Andrus hasn’t provided positive value with the bat since 2016 and 2017, the only two seasons of his 12-year career with a wRC+ north of 100. The last remaining member of the Rangers’ back-to-back World Series squads in 2010 and 2011, Andrus long provided value with the glove to offset his subpar bat, but the defensive numbers have slipped a touch and, at his price point, the Rangers can’t afford for him to be a one- or two-dimensional player. Andrus himself admits that he’s been slow to adapt, saying in a quote provided by Grant, “The toughest thing for me is to not to believe my instincts during the game and to actually believe more in a piece of paper, or report. That’s where the game is right now. I think that’s what I’ve been a little hard-headed about.”

  • Boston Red Sox lefty Martin Pérez is glad he remained with the team through the trade deadline. The 29-year-old veteran is trying to do his part to mentor the young players on an inexperienced Boston staff, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Said Pérez, “I’ve been at this level for a couple of years and I’ve learned from a lot of guys. Now it’s time for me to let the youngest guys know what they have to do.” The Red Sox have leaned on Pérez in a season where they’ve lacked veteran options. Boston holds a $6.25MM option for Pérez next season, a reasonable price point for the kind of production he’s offered this season (4.07 ERA across 42 innings).
  • Jesus Cruz has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the Cardinals’ alternate site, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). Cruz was designated for assignment last week. Cruz, 25, appeared in just one game for the Cardinals this season, yielding 2 earned runs on 3 hits and a walk. Cruz has been in the Cardinals organization since 2017, marching steadily up the organizational ladder year-by-year. In 2019, he stuck out 13.1 batter per nine innings across Double-A and Triple-A, but struggled with his comman, surrendering 6.8 BB/9. He worked a 6.02 ERA across 61 1/3 innings between the two levels.

AL West Notes: Rangers, Kiner-Falefa, A’s Camp Battles

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Before spring training shut down, the Rangers’ Isiah Kiner-Falefa made his presence known while vying for the 26th roster spot. Kiner-Falefa, 25 on Monday, put up big numbers this spring after ditching a high leg kick –  though his swing could use further simplification, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Kiner-Falefa returned home to Hawaii for now, but when/if the season reboots, he’ll have a chance not only to crack the Rangers’ roster, but to play a significant role. Kiner-Falefa brings interesting upside to the Rangers’ roster because of his positional versatility. The past two seasons he has not only served as the Rangers’ backup catcher, appearing in 35 and 38 games behind the dish, respectively, but he’s also seen time at third base and in the middle infield. The bat has not been there over the course of his first two big-league seasons (.253/.315/.344, 71 wRC+), but given what they saw thus far in the spring, expectations are that Kiner-Falefa could push for additional playing time at third base where Todd Frazier is slated to sit first chair. Elsewhere out west…

  • The Oakland Athletics have a few positions still up in the air after truncated spring training, per MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos. Second base remains likely in the hands of favorites Franklin Barreto and Tony Kemp. Presumably, Kemp could protect Barreto against tough right-handers while getting his feet wet in the big leagues. Kemp’s value largely comes as a clubhouse presence and versatile offensive contributor, to use the term loosely, as he has struggled at the dish with a .233/.314/.367 career line. Kemp, 28, has yet to produce a slugging percentage over .400 for a full season, and it’s hard to imagine his power playing up in the Coliseum.
  • That said, Gallegos makes the argument that the more compelling battle was that of the two presumptive backups: Jorge Mateo and Vimael Machin. Mateo, 24, has more name recognition, and his speed and athleticism certainly make him worth watching. He’s out of options, and if he doesn’t make the team out of camp, Mateo is unlikely to make it through waivers given his bench-ready skillset. That’s extra incentive to keep him around, but they face the same issue with Machin, a Rule 5 pick from the Cubs. The A’s could try to work out a deal with Chicago to keep Machin, 26, in the organization. Otherwise, the roster crunch is real, as none of Mateo, Barreto, or Kemp have any options remaining. Chad Pinder is already entrenched as the primary utility option off the bench, leaving probably one spot max in the long-term for the runners-up in the battle for second base.

 

Rangers Notes: Kiner-Falefa, Pence, Closer, Volquez

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The Rangers have essentially put an end to Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s days as a catcher, writes Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram. Kiner-Falefa, 24, was drafted as an infielder and didn’t suit up behind the plate until being asked to learn the position in 2016. He’s logged 30-plus games behind the dish each year since that 2016 campaign, and manager Chris Woodward said this week that Kiner-Falefa might catch on rare occasions, but he’ll now function primarily as an infielder. Learning such a demanding position in the upper minors and at the MLB level is no easy task, and Kiner-Falefa candidly acknowledged that while he was 100 percent dedicated to learning the craft, he was still uncomfortable behind the plate. “When I was catching this year, I was feeling a lot of pressure just based on the pitcher’s career,” he said. “I did everything I could to call the game the right way, be the best receiver I could possibly, and I kind of forgot everything else.” Kiner-Falefa added that he feels as though he’s “home” again, returning to his infield roots.

More out of Arlington…

  • Hunter Pence isn’t bothered by seeing his role with the club reduced as Texas auditions younger players down the stretch, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes. Rather, he took the reduced role in stride and called a team meeting to urge that the entire roster buy into the youth movement. “I’m going to put my best foot forward no matter the situation,” Pence explained. “I’m happy every day I am at the park, and I’m going to give everything I have … Part of being on a team is not worrying about playing time. Whether I play less, more or the same, I will give what I have.” Fellow veteran Shin-Soo Choo echoed the sentiment, praising Woodward’s communication and the manner in which he cares for his players. Choo is under contract with the Rangers next season, so the play of the team’s young talent down the stretch could impact his role next season. Pence, a strong candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, is a free agent at season’s end, though one can only assume he has interest in re-upping with his hometown team.
  • While Shawn Kelley had been closing games for the Rangers prior to landing on the injured list last month, he’ll return to a setup role now that he’s been activated, Woodward said yesterday (link via Brian Dulik of MLB.com). Jose Leclerc lost the handle on ninth-inning duties earlier this season but has regained that role for the time being despite a recent blown save and a total of four runs allowed in seven innings since the All-Star break. With Texas fading from Wild Card contention, it makes sense to put Leclerc back into the role the club envisioned when signing him to an extension during Spring Training. The Rangers are obviously invested in helping the flamethrowing young righty return to form and surely still hope that he’ll be a top-tier late-inning option for them for the foreseeable future.
  • The Rangers announced yesterday that veteran righty Edinson Volquez is embarking on a minor league rehab assignment, beginning with the club’s Rookie-level Arizona League affiliate. The 36-year-old Volquez made a brief return from his second career Tommy John surgery early in the season, only to go down with another elbow issue that has sidelined him since April. Volquez initially feared a third tear of his UCL, but it seems he’s avoided that fate. Now, he hopes to make it back to a big league mound for one last run in 2019 so that he can retire on his own terms following the season.

Rangers Acquire Tim Federowicz, Place Isiah Kiner-Falefa On IL

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The Rangers announced today that they’ve acquired catcher Tim Federowicz from the Indians. The return is not yet known. His contract has been selected to the MLB roster.

Fellow receiver Isiah Kiner-Falefa was placed on the 10-day injured list. He’s dealing with a sprained ligament in his right middle finger, which explains the acquisition of Federowicz. To open 40-man space, the Rangers shifted injured pitching prospect Taylor Hearn to the 60-day IL.

For the Rangers, this move obviously wasn’t about installing offense into the lineup. The team simply wanted a reliable reserve catcher.

Federowicz, 31, has seen action in parts of seven MLB seasons. Through 360 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, he carries a .199/.247/.323 slash. He had been playing at Triple-A Columbus to open the year, carrying a .278/.353/.411 batting line in 103 trips to the dish.

AL West Notes: Astros, Gossett, Kiner-Falefa

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There are “two developing holes” on the Astros roster that the team could address at the trade deadline, ESPN’s Buster Olney writes in his latest Insider-only column.  One is a big bat capable of filling the left field or DH spots, and the other is a potential closer.  For the former, Houston has a number of internal candidates on hand (Marwin Gonzalez, Evan Gattis, Josh Reddick, Jake Marisnick) who have either struggled or been battling injuries, while youngsters like J.D. Davis, Tony Kemp, or prospect Kyle Tucker represent more options as manager A.J. Hinch juggles his lineup.  Ken Giles has a 4.50 ERA and has allowed a lot of hard contact this season (.368 xwOBA), though he’s also given up just one walk and one homer in 18 innings, against 16 strikeouts.  Given Giles’ struggles last postseason, however, the Astros could very well look at pitchers like Kelvin Herrera or Brad Hand to bolster themselves for some important ninth innings come this October.

Here’s some more from around the AL West…

  • Sticking with the Astros relief corps, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link) believes the team could specifically target a left-hander at the deadline.  While Chris Devenski and Hector Rondon can handle left-handed batters, the only actual southpaw in the Houston pen is Tony Sipp, who has become a spare part rather than a regularly-used arm.  The questions surrounding Giles notwithstanding, Rosenthal thinks adding a lefty might be the only real relief need for Houston, as the Astros have one of the best overall bullpens in the game.
  • Athletics starter Daniel Gossett left today’s game after five innings due to elbow tightness, though he told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle) that his removal was precautionary.  “I just didn’t want to overextend anything or have it lead to anything that might be worrisome,” Gossett said.  The right-hander will undergo an MRI tomorrow in Oakland.  Any missed time for Gossett would further thin out an already injury-riddled A’s pitching staff, as Gossett was himself a rotation fill-in while Brett Anderson and Andrew Triggs were out on the disabled list.
  • Rookie Isiah Kiner-Falefa has emerged as a versatile part of the Rangers roster, and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News chronicles at how Rangers scout Steve Flores came upon the youngster almost by accident.  Kiner-Falefa initially caught Flores’ attention while the scout was on hand to watch another member of Kiner-Falefa’s high school team in Hawaii, and the interest developed to the point that Texas selected Kiner-Falefa in the fourth round of the 2013 draft.

Quick Hits: Colon, Bibens-Dirkx, Odor, Rangers, Anthopoulos, Bae

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Timeless right-hander Bartolo Colon celebrated his 45th birthday this week, so he’ll soon become just the 18th player in major league history to pitch in the majors beyond that benchmark. Colon is also the oldest to hurl a pitch since Jamie Moyer back in 2012. Value metrics are divided on his effectiveness so far this season; Baseball Reference pegs his contributions at 1.6 WAR, while Fangraphs believes his 2018 production to be exactly replacement level. In any case, it would have been difficult at season’s outset to imagine Colon exceeding his current results. A 3.51 ERA and 7.20 K/BB ratio are welcome numbers to a Rangers rotation that sports the sixth-highest combined ERA in major-league baseball.

It’ll be fun to see just how long Colon can keep up this pace. But in the meantime, here are some minor notes from last night…

  • In other Rangers news, Jeff Wilson of the Star Telegram examines the job security of a pitcher and a position player in Arlington. Austin Bibens-Dirkx pitched well on the whole in his last start (though he was a victim of some bad fielding behind him), Wilson notes that the club is more likely to give Matt Moore a longer look before ceding his spot in the rotation to Bibens-Dirkx. Meanwhile, Wilson notes that struggling second baseman Rougned Odor has two options remaining. With Jurickson Profar putting together quality at-bats of late, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa producing at a better clip than Odor, there’s a chance the club might consider letting the latter work out his issues in the minors.
  • In a subscription-only piece for The Athletic, Bill Shaikin examines the storyline of Alex Anthopoulos leaving the Dodgers organization to run a Braves club that’s currently leading the NL East. While Anthopoulos felt like he had “as good a job as there was in baseball” with the Dodgers, his reshaping of the Braves’ payroll has helped to set them up for success as they near the end of a lengthy rebuild. Trades of Jim Johnson, Matt Kemp and some international bonus pool money shipped to the Angels has set the stage for Atlanta to complement its young core through free agency and perhaps even the midseason trade market.
  • Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides an update on Pirates prospect Bae Ji-hwan via Twitter. Bae is reportedly on his way back to the United States after cooperating with police in South Korea on suspicion of a domestic violence incident. He’ll be allowed to participate in baseball activities pending the outcome of an investigation into said incident. Bae was one of a few players that the Braves reportedly offered “extra-contractual compensation” recently and were thus barred from signing in the last international signing period.

AL West Notes: Rangers, Miranda, Sipp, Bedrosian

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The Rangers announced tonight that second baseman Rougned Odor (left hamstring strain) and right-hander Doug Fister (right hip strain) have both been placed on the 10-day disabled list. In their place, the team has activated reliever Tony Barnette from the DL and recalled catcher/infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa from Triple-A Round Rock. There’s no indication that either injury is considered to be long-term, with both Odor and Fister eligible to return from the DL on April 20. Kiner-Falefa will be making his big league debut the first time he gets into a game; the former fourth-round pick hit .288/.350/.390 through 569 trips to the plate in Double-A last season.

Some more AL West news…

  • Lefty Ariel Miranda will remain the Mariners’ fifth starter for the time being, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. He’ll take the ball on April 17 when the fifth spot in the rotation next comes up, Divish notes, rather than right-hander Erasmo Ramirez, who is working his way back from a lat strain. However, the team doesn’t want to rush Ramirez back and will keep him on a slower progression while entrusting Miranda with a larger role. The 29-year-old Miranda is no stranger to the Seattle rotation, having made 39 starts for the M’s over the past two seasons after being acquired in a one-for-one swap that sent Wade Miley to Baltimore.
  • The Astros announced today that they placed left-hander Tony Sipp on the 10-day DL and recalled righty James Hoyt from Triple-A in his place. (MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart first reported that Sipp would hit the DL.) With Sipp on the shelf, the Astros are going with an all-right-handed bullpen for the foreseeable future, though the ’Stros do have options in that regard if they decide to change course. Lefties Buddy Boshers and Reymin Guadan are both on the 40-man roster and both pitching for Triple-A Fresno.
  • The Angels are keeping an eye on Cam Bedrosian’s velocity, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The struggling setup man, however, insists that he’s not injured, though he acknowledges that the drop from an average of 96 mph to 93 mph on his fastball is an issue. Bedrosian feels that he developed some bad mechanical tendencies upon returning from a groin strain last season and is trying to get back to his old delivery. Pitching coach Charles Nagy noted that the dip in velocity is a “concern,” though Bedrosian also attributes his early results to simply not locating his pitches effectively.

Players Added To The 40-Man Roster

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As detailed earlier this morning at MLBTR, the deadline for Major League clubs to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from next month’s Rule 5 Draft is tonight. Because of that, there will be literally dozens of moves between now and 8pm ET as teams make final determinations on who to protect and who to risk losing in next month’s Rule 5 draft. This process will lead to smaller-scale trades, waiver claims and DFAs, but for some clubs the only necessary moves will simply be to select the contracts of the prospects they wish to place on the 40-man roster. We’ll track those such moves in this post…

Click to check in on other teams that have selected players to their 40-man rosters …

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