West Notes: Black, Giants, Soderstrom
Rockies manager Bud Black and owner Dick Monfort are discussing a contract extension that would keep Black in Colorado beyond the 2024 season, per a report from MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. Harding notes that while Black and Monfort acknowledged that they are “talking” about a deal, no agreement has been reached at this point and it’s unclear if a deal will come together prior to Opening Day, which is now less than two weeks away.
Per Harding, Monfort indicated that the club’s focus remains on preparing for the regular season, but that he nonetheless hopes that the sides will be able to reach an agreement. There’s certainly reason for optimism that the sides will eventually work out a deal in some capacity, as the veteran manager has inked one-year extensions in each of the past two springs and reporting in previous years has indicated that the Rockies and Black have a long-standing unofficial agreement on a rolling year-to-year deal where either side can walk away after any given season.
Black, 66, spent nine years as manager of the Padres from 2007 to 2015 (including a 2010 season that saw him win the NL Manager of the Year award) before joining the Rockies prior to the 2017 season. He led the club to back-to-back postseason appearances in his first two years with the club but the club has struggled badly under his leadership over the past five seasons, never winning more than 74 games in a season and even suffering the franchise’s first ever 100-loss campaign in 2023, when the team lost 103 games en route to a last place finish in not only the NL West but the entire National League; only the Royals and A’s lost more games last year. With that being said, Monfort is well-known for being loyal to his employees and valuing continuity in the organization, so it’s not necessarily a surprise that he would be interested in continuing the club’s relationship with Black beyond the 2024 campaign.
More from around MLB’s West divisions…
- The Giants are set to enter the regular season with little certainty in their starting rotation behind staff ace Logan Webb. With veterans Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray starting the season on the injured list where they’ll be joined by youngsters like Tristan Beck and Sean Hjelle, the club figures to lean on offseason signing Jordan Hicks and top prospect Kyle Harrison to fill out the middle of its rotation. That still leaves two spots undecided, however, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted today that manager Bob Melvin brought up right-handed rookie Mason Black as one arm the club is likely to turn to for a rotation spot this season. Black, 24, was the club’s third-round pick in the 2021 draft and posted a solid 3.71 ERA in 29 starts split between the Double- and Triple-A levels last year. Slusser adds that other possibilities for the final spots in the rotation and/or bullpen mix are fellow youngster Keaton Winn and non-roster veterans Daulton Jefferies and Spencer Howard. Of course, that could all change if the club’s reported run at left-hander Blake Snell were to bear fruit.
- The Athletics announced earlier this evening that they have optioned catcher Tyler Soderstrom to Triple-A, effectively ending the 2020 first-round pick’s bid to open the 2024 season with the club. Soderstrom, 22, was a consensus top-100 prospect entering last season as a well-regarded, bat-first catcher. Things came off the rails for the youngster upon making his major league debut, however, as he hit a paltry .160/.232/.240 in 138 trips to the plate during a 45-game stint in the majors last year. Soderstrom’s first taste of big league action saw him strike out in 31.2% of his plate appearances while recording just four extra-base hits. His struggles continued this spring as he recorded just four hits against eight strikeouts in 34 trips to the plate across 14 games, prompting Oakland to send him back to the minors for additional development time. In the meantime, the club appears likely to rely on a tandem of Shea Langeliers and non-roster invitee Carlos Perez behind the plate to open the season.
Giants Notes: Cobb, Hjelle, Black
The Giants have made a pair of key late-offseason additions to the offense, adding Jorge Soler and Matt Chapman since the opening of Spring Training. They join new center fielder Jung Hoo Lee in an overhauled lineup, leaving the starting rotation as the glaring question.
San Francisco has been frequently tied to top remaining starter Blake Snell, in part because of injuries to some of their in-house options. Robbie Ray, Alex Cobb, Tristan Beck and Sean Hjelle are all likely to begin the season on the injured list. However, Cobb appears slightly ahead of schedule as he works back from last year’s hip labrum repair.
The veteran righty got through a 25-pitch bullpen session yesterday and will throw live batting practice early next week. Manager Bob Melvin told reporters that while the team will be cautious not to push Cobb too quickly, they’ve “probably sped (the timeline) up a little bit” based on his progress (via MLB.com). The team announced a six-month recovery timetable for Cobb to log game action of any kind when he underwent surgery on Halloween.
It now looks as if he could be on track for a minor league rehab assignment earlier than that. To this point, the Giants have kept him off the 60-day injured list — a move that would prevent him from pitching at the MLB level before May 27.
The Giants also provided an encouraging update on Hjelle, who was diagnosed with an elbow sprain earlier in the week. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that he’s on track to begin a throwing program in one week after receiving a second opinion. The team had announced on Tuesday that Hjelle would be down for two weeks before going for reevaluation. The injury almost certainly still rules him out of the season-opening rotation mix, but it’s a positive development that his complete shutdown won’t last too long.
San Francisco has three locks for the Opening Day rotation: Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks. Righty Keaton Winn is the frontrunner for the #4 job. He was delayed early in camp with what seems to be minor elbow soreness and is still expected to be ready for Opening Day. Unless the Giants dip into free agency for someone like Snell, Jordan Montgomery or Michael Lorenzen, the fifth spot will be up for grabs.
Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic tweets that former third-round pick Mason Black “appears poised” to take a season-opening rotation job. The Lehigh product was scheduled for his third start of Spring Training this evening, but the game was rained out. He has logged five innings over his first two appearances, allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
Black, a 24-year-old righty, is not on the 40-man roster and has yet to make his MLB debut. He split last season almost evenly between the two highest levels of the minors. Black combined for a strong 3.71 ERA while striking out an excellent 30.3% of opposing hitters across 123 2/3 innings. He issued a few too many walks in a very hitter-friendly environment in Triple-A but hasn’t handed out a free pass yet this spring. Baseball America recently ranked him the #8 prospect in the organization, crediting him with a plus sinker/slider combination and fine if unexceptional control.
Giants Considering Trading From Group Of Young Pitchers
The Giants are entertaining the idea of trading from their group of young and controllable pitching prospects, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He says that signing a veteran will make it more likely but it’s a path they are already considering. As for who is in this group that Rosenthal is referring to, he lists lefties Kyle Harrison and Carson Whisenhunt as well as righties Tristan Beck, Keaton Winn, Mason Black and Hayden Birdsong.
The rotation in San Francisco doesn’t look like a strength right now. They recently had Alex Wood and Jakob Junis reach free agency, with Sean Manaea following them by opting out of his contract. The club picked up their option on Alex Cobb, but he’s going to miss at least the first month or so of the season due to hip surgery.
That leaves the club with Logan Webb and a number of questions. Anthony DeSclafani has dealt with ankle, shoulder and elbow injuries over the past two seasons, limiting him 118 2/3 innings of fairly ineffective work. Ross Stripling posted a 5.36 ERA in his 89 innings this year. Harrison debuted in 2023 but has just 34 2/3 innings of major league experience, in which he allowed eight home runs. Winn and Beck also debuted but they also have limited workloads so far and less prospect hype than Harrison.
None of Black, Whisenhunt nor Birdsong are on the 40-man roster, but Black has reached Triple-A and the latter two have made it to the Double-A level. Baseball America currently lists Whisenhunt as the club’s #5 prospect, Black at #8 and Birdsong at #12.
There is a lot of potential in that group but very few sure things. Subtracting someone from the flock would be a risk, but Rosenthal frames it as something that might need to be considered in order to add young, athletic position players.
On the whole, the club’s defense wasn’t strong in 2023. Their collective -15 Defensive Runs Saved and -17.1 grade from Ultimate Zone Rating were both in the bottom third of the league. Outs Above Average was a bit more bullish, giving them a +15, but it’s perhaps worth pointing out that Thairo Estrada alone had a +20. Brandon Crawford, now a free agent, was second on the club with +6.
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi stated at the start of the offseason that upgrading the outfield defense was a priority. Since then, the club signed one of the youngest free agents available in 25-year-old Jung Hoo Lee. Perhaps further outfield changes could be considered, with bat-first guys like Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger still in the mix for playing time.
Zaidi also said that Marco Luciano will have the chance to take over the shortstop position to replace Crawford, but then later said that they would still consider bringing in depth because “it makes sense for us to have some insurance.”
Generally speaking, finding young and athletic players in free agency is hard to do. Since it takes six years of service time to reach the open market, most players don’t get there until close to or after their 30th birthday. With the Giants looking to get younger and more athletic, it makes sense that they jumped at the chance to sign Lee, but he was a unique exception since he was coming over from the Korea Baseball Organization.
If the Giants are looking for another young player to help with their athleticism, free agency offers limited options. That’s particularly true of the shortstop position, where Tim Anderson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are some of the standouts. Teams like the Reds, Twins, Rays, Cardinals and Orioles have lots of position players and could be willing to make a deal, but they would all likely be looking for young and controllable pitching in return.
As with any potential trade scenarios, the chances of something getting done will ultimately depend on the offers coming the other way. It will also depend upon the other paths the Giants pursue. They have been connected to starting pitching upgrades, including reported interest in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Yariel Rodríguez. They have also had some interest in free agent position players like Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger. There are still many moving pieces but it seems as though there’s a non-zero chance of them making some young and controllable pitchers available, which will surely intrigue many rival clubs around the league.