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J.C. Ramirez

Injury Notes: Snell, Dickerson, Fowler, Williams, Skaggs

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As expected, the Rays have activated left-hander Blake Snell to start tonight’s game against the White Sox. The first-time All-Star will be on a limited pitch count following a two-week DL stint for left shoulder fatigue. Following a trade of Chris Archer to the Pirates, Snell looks like the only reliable starter in a Rays rotation that continues to see relievers open games more often than the starters themselves. Snell’s pre-injury performance, of course, was phenomenal; his 2.27 ERA would be more than a run lower than his career best season.

Here are a few other disabled list transactions from around the league…

  • Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson has been activated after a short stint on the disabled list; he’d been sidelined with a left hamstring strain. They’ll surely be glad to have him back after the club traded away notable outfield depth in the form of Austin Meadows at the July 31st deadline. While he’s active, Dickerson won’t be starting today’s game against the Cardinals (though he’ll presumably be available off the bench).
  • As expected after last night’s news, Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler will hit the DL after suffering a fractured foot. Fowler’s enduring a miserable season that’s by far his career worst; he’s managed to hit an absolutely wretched .180/.278/.298 across 334 plate appearances while playing middling outfield defense. Fangraphs rates him as being 1.2 wins below replacement level on the season after a 2.5 fWAR debut with the Cards last year.
  • Switch-hitting relief pitcher Taylor Williams is headed to the DL with right elbow soreness. It’s certainly bad news for a Brewers bullpen that’s seeing Corey Knebel struggle mightily of late. Williams has tossed 42 2/3 relief innings and managed to strike out 10.43 batters per nine innings, though he’s only managed to keep the ball on the ground 34.8% of the time and has walked a batter nearly every other inning on average. Williams is in the midst of his first full season in the majors after a 4 2/3 inning cup of coffee last year.
  • Angels hurler Tyler Skaggs is headed to the disabled list with a left adductor strain, the club has announced. Skaggs has described the injury as “extremely frustrating”, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. He apparently sustained it during his last start. In his stead, the Angels have called up right-hander Taylor Cole. The Angels, of course, have already seen their rotation annihilated by injuries this year, with Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani, J.C. Ramirez and Matt Shoemaker among the affected starters.

J.C. Ramirez To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Angels right-hander J.C. Ramirez will miss the remainder of the 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery, GM Billy Eppler tells reporters (Twitter link via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register). The procedure will be performed next Tuesday.

Ramirez, 29, was largely successful in his conversion from the bullpen to the rotation in 2017, tossing 147 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball for the Halos while averaging 6.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and 1.3 HR/9 to go along with a strong 51.4 percent ground-ball rate. Ramirez had never started a big league contest prior to the 2017 season but took the ball to open the game on 24 occasions in addition to three relief appearances.

Whether it was a case of correlation or causation, that significant hike in workload ended with Ramirez hitting the 60-day disabled list due to an elbow strain, which was later reported to be a small tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Ramirez received a platelet-rich plasma injection and stem-cell therapy on his right elbow in hopes of avoiding a surgical procedure that would’ve wiped out his entire 2018 season anyhow, but those treatments didn’t prove sufficient.

With Ramirez on the shelf for the remainder of the year and plenty of uncertainty surrounding righty Matt Shoemaker at present, the Angels have taken a pair of early hits to their starting pitching depth. They still have Shohei Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney, Nick Tropeano, Parker Bridwell and Jaime Barria as options, though the majority of those arms have all had some form of medical issue within the past year or two. Given the team’s fast start and some early cracks in the rotation foundation, it stands to reason that the Halos will be connected to pitching upgrades over the next few months as the non-waiver deadline draws nearer.

As for Ramirez, he’ll earn his full $1.9MM salary for the 2018 season and accrue big league service time while he mends on the disabled list. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once again this winter and shouldn’t command much of a raise, if any at all, after starting just two games and pitching 6 2/3 total frames. The Angels will have to make the call, then, whether they prefer to pay him around $2MM for the 2019 campaign or cut him loose via non-tender and perhaps try to bring him back on a minor league deal. The Angels control Ramirez through 2021, so there’s some added appeal to keeping him on the roster and paying a small price for his rehab season.

J.C. Ramirez Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Angels announced today that righty J.C. Ramirez has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament, as MLB.com’s Maria Guardado was among those to report (Twitter link). His doctors have recommended that he undergo Tommy John surgery.

After some struggles with forearm tightness to open the year, following an offseason of stem-cell treatment for a partial UCL tear, this news isn’t exactly shocking. Still, it’s a disappointing development for a player who had been such a bright spot in 2017.

Ramirez, 29, had found little success in the majors until he threw well in a relief role down the stretch for the Angels in 2016. Still, nothing jumped off the page to foretell future success, with the exception of a healthy 54.9% groundball rate on the season.

Then came a 2017 campaign in which an injury-plagued Halos’ staff was desperate for innings. Ramirez ended up making 24 starts and providing 147 1/3 frames of 4.15 ERA ball. That’s hardly ace-level stuff, and the peripherals (6.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 51.4% GB, 1.28 HR/9) did not exactly excite, but Ramirez certainly provided more than anyone had cause to expect.

While the elbow troubles at season’s end created some obvious cause for trepidation, the Angels decided it was worth the risk to keep Ramirez around. The club tendered the Super-Two-eligible hurler an arb contract and ended up paying him $1.9MM.

If Ramirez ends up going under the knife for a full UCL replacement, he likely won’t be ready to pitch competitively until this time next year (at the soonest). He would likely earn at an identical rate of pay if the team chooses to tender him a contract once again this coming fall.

Angels Notes: Rotation, Ramirez, Kinsler

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The Angels were extremely active this offseason but did little to address their rotation outside of the acquisition of rapidly budding star Shohei Ohtani. Brilliant as Ohtani’s has been early in the season, the Halos find themselves with three starters on the disabled list (Matt Shoemaker, Andrew Heaney and JC Ramirez) and limited depth beyond what’s on the big league roster. Angels GM Billy Eppler spoke with Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times about the lack of depth moves to address his starting staff this winter. “Nine felt like a reasonable number,” said Eppler of his starting options. The Halos felt they had a greater need to deepen their infield mix and, accordingly, dedicated resources to the acquisitions of Zack Cozart and Ian Kinsler. Eppler notes that if it’s determined that they need to further add to the rotation, owner Arte Moreno is likely to support those needs. As Eppler points out, Moreno took on notable salary with just a month to go in the 2017 season, adding Justin Upton and Brandon Phillips in a pair of high-profile August trades.

More out of Anaheim…

  • Maria Guardado of MLB.com notes that the injury to Ramirez is particularly concerning. The right-hander landed on the DL over the weekend with tightness in his right forearm, which is ominous for any pitcher given that it can be a precursor to a diagnosis of UCL damage. But the 29-year-old Ramirez already missed the final six weeks of the 2017 season due to a slight tear in his UCL, which he and the team elected to treat with stem-cell therapy rather than surgery. Shaikin notes in his column that an announcement on Ramirez’s status is likely to be made today. Guardado adds that Shoemaker is undergoing additional tests today, so a more precise diagnosis on him could be known soon. In more positive news, manager Mike Scioscia expressed confidence that the team will get Heaney back in the near future (via Guardado’s column).
  • As for Kinsler, he tells ESPN’s Mark Schwarz that he’ll be activated from the disabled list for Tuesday’s game against the Rangers. A groin strain cost Kinsler the first 10 days of the regular season, prompting the Angels to shift would-be third baseman Zack Cozart from the hot corner to second base in his absence. Luis Valbuena has been lined up at third base with Cozart at second, but Kinsler’s return will give the Angels the defensive alignment they drew up this offseason.

Injury Notes: Healy, Sheriff, Rizzo, J.C. Ramirez

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Mariners first baseman Ryon Healy showed up to the team’s clubhouse today in a walking boot; he twisted his ankle in a postgame workout, says Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. It’s been described as a “pretty bad sprain”, and Healy will have an MRI soon. The expectation seems to be that he will require a DL stint, though the severity of the injury is unclear at this time. Healy provided the heroics in last night’s win; it seems likely that Dan Vogelbach will receive everyday at-bats in his absence.

More injury items from around the league…

  • Cardinals left-hander Ryan Sheriff has been placed on the DL with a toe injury; the team has recalled right-hander John Brebbia from Triple-A Memphis in a related move. Sheriff was added to the roster with the news that Brett Cecil would be out for an extended period of time; he allowed one earned run in his 2 2/3 innings of work this season. Sheriff also managed a 3.14 ERA last season in 14 1/3 innings of work for the Cardinals.
  • Anthony Rizzo has missed a couple of games for the Cubs due to back tightness, says Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. The first baseman’s back has evidently been bothering him ever since the club’s trip to Cincinnati. Rizzo has just three hits (including one home run) in 32 plate appearances to begin the season.
  • J.C. Ramirez is officially headed to the DL with forearm issues, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. We noted earlier that the righty had been experiencing forearm tightness; he now joins fellow Angels starters Matt Shoemaker and Andrew Heaney on the disabled list, leaving the club incredibly thin in the rotation beyond Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Skaggs. Parker Bridwell and Nick Tropeano seem to be the likeliest candidates to get rotation attention, but for the time being the club has recalled relievers Felix Pena and Eduardo Paredes (righty reliever Akeel Morris was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake).

AL Notes: Rangers, Ramirez, Betts, Orioles

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Rangers GM Jon Daniels cast doubt on the idea of the team making any marquee additions in comments yesterday to the media, including MLB.com’s TR Sullivan. Daniels called it “unlikely” that the club would end up with a top starter, though he said he also wouldn’t “close the door” on a market that includes former ace Yu Darvish. More likely, it seems, would be a depth addition of some kind, though Daniels also emphasized that the organization is not close to any new deals. Broadly, the organization remains steadfast in its “realistic” assessment of its abilities and needs. While the anticipated roster mix is likely “to create some challenges,” says Daniels, that doesn’t mean it will vary from its strategy entering the winter. The Rangers, he says, were “not going to go all-in, spending big dollars this year, nor were we going to be looking to trade all of our young players.”

More from the American League:

  • The Angels received some promising news on righty J.C. Ramirez, GM Billy Eppler tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). Ramirez is continuing to show healing in his right elbow, where he suffered a season-ending partial UCL tear. Stem cell treatment has been promising to this point, giving the team some renewed confidence that it will receive a contribution again from Ramirez, who agreed to a $1.9MM arbitration salary after turning in 147 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball in 2017.
  • As the Red Sox prepare for an arbitration show-down with star outfielder Mookie Betts, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald argues the team never should have put itself in this position. The sides have a $3MM gap at present ($10.5MM vs. $7.5MM) and indications are they’ll resolve it in a hearing, meaning the Sox will be put in the position of presenting Betts in a less-than-positive light before an arb panel. With a prior disagreement over his 2017 pre-arb salary, the financial relationship between the sides isn’t exactly off to the most promising start. For what it’s worth, MLBTR contributor and arbitration guru Matt Swartz argued before numbers were exchanged that Betts is likelier to command a first-time arb payday on the lower side of the existing gulf.
  • Speaking of arbitration, the Orioles will evidently not commit to going to trial over their remaining cases, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Rather the club is still willing to engage in negotiations with both infielder Jonathan Schoop ($9MM filing versus $7.5MM counter) and righty Kevin Gausman ($6.225MM filing versus $5.3MM counter). Whether that’ll mean avoiding a hearing isn’t yet known, but the seeming strategic shift will at least leave remaining room for talks on a few players of quite a bit of importance to the organization’s future.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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The deadline for MLB teams to exchange salary arbitration figures with their arbitration-eligible players is today at 1pm ET. As such, there will be a veritable flood of arb agreements piling up in the next few hours — especially in light of a more universal approach to the “file and trial” method for teams. (That is to say, those teams will no longer negotiate one-year deals after arb figures are exchanged and will instead head to a hearing with those players, barring an agreemenr on a multi-year deal.)

Note that you can keep an eye on all of today’s deals using MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Tracker, which can be filtered to show only the results of the team you follow and is also sortable by service time and dollar value of the agreement. All projections that are referenced come from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s annual compilation of projected arbitration salarie

American League West

  • The Astros and Evan Gattis agreed to a $6.7MM deal for 2018, per FanRag’s Robert Murray (Twitter link). A free agent next season, Gattis lands within $100K of his $6.6MM projection. The club also has deals (for values unknown) with starters Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers Jr., and Brad Peacock, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Rangers agreed to a $1.05MM deal with infielder Jurickson Profar, tweets Murray. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, meanwhile, tweets that lefty Jake Diekman landed a $2.7125MM deal and righty Keone Kela will earn $1.2MM. Profar had been projected at $1.1MM and is controllable another three seasons. Diekman, a free agent next winter, was projected at $2.8MM. And Kela, still controlled for three more years, matched his $1.2MM projection on the dot.
  • The Athletics and closer Blake Treinen agreed to a $2.15MM deal for next year, tweets Murray. The A’s can control Treinen for another three years. He was projected at $2.3MM. Shortstop Marcus Semien has settled for $3.125MM, Heyman tweets; his $3.2MM projection was nearly spot-on. Oakland has announced that it has avoided arbitration with Liam Hendriks and Josh Phegley as well, but their salaries have yet to be reported.
  • The Angels have a one-year, $7.3MM agreement in place with right-hander Garrett Richards, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Richards, a free agent next offseason, tops his $7MM projection by a margin of $300K. The Halos have also avoided arb with first baseman C.J. Cron ($2.3MM) and left-hander Tyler Skaggs ($1.875MM), tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Cron’s total falls a ways shy of his $2.8MM projection, while Skaggs comes in just $25K south of his $1.9MM projection. Both are controllable through the 2020 season. Lastly, Murray tweets that Matt Shoemaker agreed to a $4.125MM deal. He’s controlled through 2020 and projected at $4.4MM. Fletcher also tweets that the club has agreed with righty J.C. Ramirez ($1.9MM salary vs. $2.6MM projection) and lefty Jose Alvarez ($1.05MM salary vs. $1.1MM projection). Finally, righty Cam Bedrosian has agreed at $1.1MM, Flecher tweets, which represents a payday close to his projection of $1.2MM.
  • Left-hander James Paxton will earn $4.9MM with the Mariners in 2018, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Murray tweets that the Mariners and David Phelps agreed to a $5.55MM deal. Paxton, controlled through 2020, projected to earn $5.6MM, while Phelps was pegged at $5.8MM. He’s a free agent next winter. Righty Erasmo Ramirez took a $4.2MM deal, MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports. That’s half a million shy of what the model suggested. Fellow right-hander Nick Vincent also has an agreement, but the terms aren’t yet known.

American League Central

  • New lefty Luis Avilan has agreed to a $2.45MM deal with the White Sox, Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune reports via Twitter. The recent trade acquisition came with a projected $2.3MM price tag. Fellow southpaw Carlos Rodon will receive $2.3MM, a bit of a bump over the $2MM he projected to receive. Also, utilityman Leury Garcia gets $1.175MM, which is just $25K short of his projected value.
  • The Royals and righty Nate Karns agreed to a $1.375MM deal for 2018, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports (on Twitter). That lands within $25K of his $1.4MM projection for the coming season. Kansas City controls Karns through 2020. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports (via Twitter) that Kelvin Herrera will earn $7.9375MM in 2018, landing a bit shy of his $8.3MM projection. Herrera is a free agent next winter.
  • The Indians have a $5MM agreement with righty Danny Salazar, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. He had projected to earn just $200K more, this falls right in line with expectations. Cleveland also agreed with Lonnie Chisenhall on a $5.5875MM deal, tweets Nightengale. The third baseman-turned-outfielder, who was projected to earn $5.8MM, will be a free agent following the 2018 season.
  • Trevor May has a $650K agreement with the Twins for the 2018 season, according to Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. May, who missed the entire season due to Tommy John surgery (and did some writing for MLBTR during his rehab process), had been projected at $600K. The Twins also agreed to a $1MM deal with infielder Ehire Adrianza, per La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune. Meanwhile, righty Ryan Pressly has agreed to a $1.6MM deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Both deals are identical matches with their projections. Adrianza has three years of team control remaining, while Pressly has two. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that outfielder Robbie Grossman settled at $2MM, leaving him $400K shy of his projection. Grossman is controlled for another three seasons.
  • Tigers third baseman/outfielder Nick Castellanos will earn $6.05MM, per Heyman (via Twitter). He had projected at a much heftier $7.6MM in his second-to-last season of arb eligibility. MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports (Twitter links) that the Tigers and right-handed reliever Alex Wilson settled at $1.925MM, while fellow righty Shane Greene will earn $1.95MM. Wilson was projected to earn $2.1MM, while Greene was at $1.7MM. Wilson is controlled through 2019, while Greene is under control through 2020.

American League East

  • The Yankees have knocked out some of their biggest arb cases, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter links). Shortstop Didi Gregorius receives $8.25MM and righty Sonny Gray checks in at $6.5MM. The former had projected to earn $9.0MM while the algorithm was just $100K high on the latter.Backstop Austin Romine will earn $1.1MM, Heyman also tweets, which is also $100K below the projection. Righty Adam Warren and the Yankees have a $3.315MM deal, per Murray (Twitter link). This is Warren’s final season of eligibility before hitting the open market next winter. He’d been projected at $3.1MM. Meanwhile, fellow right-hander Dellin Betances has agreed to a $5.1MM deal, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). That’s just $100K more than Betances had sought last year, when he took his case to a hearing that he ultimately lost. But it’s quite a bit more than the $4.4MM he projected to receive after a subpar season in which he played at a $3MM salary.
  • The Red Sox have agreed to pay $8.5MM to southpaw Drew Pomeranz, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). That’s short of the $9.1MM that had been projected after Pomeranz turned in a productive 2017 season. Boston and Jackie Bradley Jr. settled at $6.1MM, tweets Murray. That’s a bit north of the $5.9MM at which he’d been projected for the upcoming season. Bradley Jr., a Super Two player, has another three seasons of club control remaining. Nightengale tweets that righty Joe Kelly ($3.6MM projection) agreed to a $3.825MM deal. He’ll be a free agent next winter. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez ($2.375MM salary vs. $2.7MM projection) and righty Brandon Workman ($835K salary vs. $900K projection) are two other Sox hurlers that have agreed to terms, Speier reports (Twitter links). On the position player side, catcher Sandy Leon falls a bit under his projection $1.95MM (via Speier, on Twitter) while utilityman Brock Holt just beats expectations at $2.225MM (per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, on Twitter). The team also agreed with shortstop Xander Bogaerts for $7.05MM, Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston tweets, which comes in a bit shy of his $7.6MM projection. Boston also announced agreement with backstop Christian Vazquez, who’ll earn $1.425MM, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne (via Twitter). That’s just under the projection of $1.5MM.
  • The Blue Jays and righty Aaron Sanchez agreed to a $2.7MM deal for 2018, according to Nightengale (Twitter link). That crushes his $1.9MM projection, which was likely suppressed due Sanchez’s lack of innings (just 36) in 2017. He’s under Jays control through 2020. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, meanwhile, tweets that second baseman Devon Travis will make $1.45MM next year, falling a bit shy of his $1.7MM forecast. Other Toronto players agreeing to terms include Kevin Pillar ($3.25MM vs. $4.0MM projection) and Dominic Leone ($1.085MM vs. $1.2MM projection), MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets.
  • The Rays and closer Alex Colome settled at $5.3M, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (on Twitter). He’d been projected at $5.5MM and is controllable for three more years. They also settled at $5.95MM with outfielder/DH Corey Dickerson ($6.4MM projection) and $4.5MM with infielder Brad Miller ($4.4MM projection), per Murray (all Twitter links). Steven Souza, according to Murray will earn $3.55MM, placing him right in line with his $3.6MM projection. Dickerson and Miller are controlled through 2019. Souza is controlled through 2020.

AL West Notes: Astros, Gattis, Rangers, Ohtani, Ramirez, Angels

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In his latest Astros inbox, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart explores a number of topics pertaining to Houston’s 2018 roster and their current offseason plans. McTaggart suggests that left-handed relief will be a top priority for the ’Stros this winter and that Jake Marisnick will return for the 2018 season as the team’s primary fourth outfielder even with Derek Fisher also in the picture. McTaggart fields multiple questions on a loaded Astros rotation that will be anchored by Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton, leaving just one spot for Collin McHugh, Brad Peacock, Mike Fiers, Joe Musgrove and Francis Martes. Of the bunch, he suggests that Peacock and McHugh could both see time in the fifth spot, while Musgrove could be shifted to a more permanent ’pen role and Martes could return to Triple-A to continue developing as a starter.

More on the Astros and the division…

  • With Evan Gattis projected to earn $6.6MM in 2017 and reported interest from the Astros in Jonathan Lucroy, McTaggart also notes within that inbox column that Houston could either non-tender Gattis or try to trade him in advance of Friday’s 8pm ET non-tender deadline. Gattis posted a quality .263/.311/.457 slash in 325 PAs this season but also threw out just four of 39 potential base thieves this season (though he was 13-for-28 in that regard in 2016). With few obvious areas for an upgrade, Houston could conceivably look to add a more significant bat at DH and pursue a backup catching option that is cheaper and/or comes with a better defensive reputation. MLBTR listed Gattis as a potential non-tender candidate this week.
  • Now that the Rangers have signed righty Doug Fister, they’re likely to turn their focus to the bullpen for the time being, tweets MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. That’s not to say Texas is through adding to its rotation, but Jon Daniels and his staff will certainly want to see how the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes plays out before determining their next move on the rotation front. In a separate column, Sullivan reports that the Rangers have submitted their response to agent Nez Balelo’s seven-point memo requesting information to help Ohtani make his decision. Daniels tells Sullivan that the Rangers have been following Ohtani for years and awaiting this opportunity, adding that he “feels strongly” about what the Rangers organization has to offer the 23-year-old star. If Texas is ultimately able to add Ohtani, it stands to reason that the team might then choose to spend more aggressively on a non-rotation need. Speculating further, if Ohtani lands elsewhere, that could conceivably cause Texas to more aggressively pursue a big-name rotation upgrade.
  • The elbow strain that ended the season of Angels right-hander J.C. Ramirez was a small tear in his ulnar collateral ligament, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register, but Ramirez received positive news on that front this week. Ramirez has already undergone stem cell treatment, and a series of ultrasound exams has left doctors confident that he can avoid surgery. He’ll do some light throwing next week, in fact, and GM Billy Eppler called the recent test results “one of the more positive” outcomes the team could’ve had.

Angels Prioritizing Offensive Upgrades

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The Angels are not aiming to make a big splash in the pitching market this offseason, general manager Billy Eppler tells Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. While the team will be “keeping an eye open” on available starters and relievers, Eppler’s focus is on upgrading an offense that finished 22nd in the majors in runs last season.

The Angels will “look for value, similar to what we did last year,” with regard to pitchers, Eppler said. The Eppler-led Halos only handed out two guaranteed contracts to pitchers last winter – $5.75MM to swingman Jesse Chavez and $1MM to reliever Andrew Bailey – neither of which worked out as hoped. On the other hand, Los Angeles struck gold when it claimed reliever Blake Parker off waivers and signed fellow relievers Yusmeiro Petit and Bud Norris to minor league contracts. Only one of those three, Parker, remains under club control heading into next season. Eppler isn’t sure whether the Angels will bring either Petit or Norris back, per Fletcher, who notes that they already have most of their 2018 bullpen in place with Parker, Cam Bedrosian, Jose Alvarez, Keynan Middleton, Noe Ramirez and Blake Wood on hand.

The Angels also have a variety of in-house rotation possibilities in Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Skaggs, Matt Shoemaker, Nick Tropeano, Parker Bridwell and J.C. Ramirez, leading to Eppler’s confidence that a big-money addition isn’t necessary (notably, Eppler wasn’t willing to discuss a potential Shohei Ohtani pursuit, as he’s technically not a free agent yet). Although injuries marred the seasons of Richards, Heaney, Skaggs, Shoemaker, Ramirez and Tropeano (who didn’t pitch at all while recovering from 2016 Tommy John surgery), Fletcher relays that the only member of that group who hasn’t yet gotten medical clearance going into next year is Ramirez – whose 2017 ended in August on account of elbow soreness. The 29-year-old right-hander, who led all Angels holdovers in innings last season (142 1/3), will undergo an ultrasound on his elbow late this month, according to Fletcher.

While the Angels seem largely content with their pitchers, they could add at least one notable outsider to their group of position players, even after they managed to prevent left fielder Justin Upton from leaving in free agency. Along with Upton, center fielder Mike Trout, right fielder Kole Calhoun, shortstop Andrelton Simmons, designated hitter Albert Pujols and catcher Martin Maldonado figure to reprise their starting roles in 2018. That leaves the corner infield (either first or third, depending on where Luis Valbuena slots in) and second base ripe for upgrades.

The keystone looks like an especially big need, Fletcher observes, after Angels second basemen limped to a ghastly .207/.274/.318 batting line and a major league-worst 60 wRC+ last season. With Eppler looking for players who are adept at getting on base, previous trade target and current free agent Neil Walker (.362 OBP in 2017, .341 career) looks like someone who may pique the Angels’ interest, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk previously suggested when previewing their offseason in late October. And there are several possibilities LA could acquire via trade, including the Marlins’ Dee Gordon, whom it was interested in over the summer.

As for the corner infield, Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana Logan Morrison, Yonder Alonso, Lucas Duda are at the top of the free agent class at first base (MLBTR projects the Angels to land Alonso). Alternatively, tthe Halos could hand the reins to Valbuena and C.J. Cron at first and and go for a third baseman, whether it’s Los Angeles native Mike Moustakas, Todd Frazier, Eduardo Nunez or Zack Cozart (if he’s willing to move off shortstop) in free agency or another player via trade.

AL Notes: Upton, Angels, Tigers, Yankees

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Speaking with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports on Saturday, newly minted Angels left fielder Justin Upton noted that the free agent market has changed since January 2016, when he signed a six-year, $132.75MM contract with the Tigers, adding that “teams are looking for different things” (Twitter link). While the market shift could impact whether the 29-year-old opts out of the remaining $88.5MM on his contract after the season, it seems he’s considering vacating what’s left of the pact. “If you play well enough, there’s a job for you,” said Upton, who has slashed .279/.362/.541 with 28 home runs in 528 plate appearances in 2017. Thanks to his outstanding performance this year, the majority of those who voted in MLBTR’s latest poll on Friday expect Upton to test free agency again in the offseason.

More on the Halos and two other AL clubs:

  • Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera will serve a six-game suspension stemming from his role in a brawl with the Yankees on Aug. 24, while reliever Alex Wilson will sit three games and manager Brad Ausmus will be barred from one, per an announcement from Detroit. Major League Baseball originally handed down seven-, four- and one-game bans to Cabrera, Wilson and Ausmus, respectively, before the appeals process. Their suspensions began Saturday against Cleveland, with bench coach Gene Lamont stepping in for Ausmus.
  • As of Friday, settlement discussions between MLB and the players’ union regarding suspensions for Yankees catchers Gary Sanchez and Austin Romine were still ongoing, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. A decision is unlikely to come before Monday, per Rosenthal, who adds that the two backstops won’t serve their penalties simultaneously. Before Sanchez and Romine appealed, the former received the larger ban (four games to two).
  • Angels right-hander J.C. Ramirez will miss the rest of the season because of an elbow strain, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter link). The Halos placed Ramirez on the 60-day disabled list on Friday, which didn’t come as a surprise given that he received a platelet-rich plasma injection earlier this week and looked unlikely to return at the time. Fortunately for both team and player, general manager Billy Eppler announced that the Angels haven’t found any new structural damage in Ramirez’s elbow. The 29-year-old turned in a respectable season before the injury, tossing 147 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball and recording 6.41 K/9 against 2.99 BB/9, to go with a 51.4 percent groundball rate.
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