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Miguel Amaya

Cubs Injury Notes: Canario, Davis, Amaya

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Cubs outfield prospect Alexander Canario suffered a badly fractured ankle and a dislocated shoulder during a Dominican Winter League game on Thursday, according to multiple sources (including reporter Arturo Bisono).  While trying to beat out a grounder, Canario awkwardly stepped on the bag and then fell to the ground in obvious pain.

It would seem like Canario will face a substantial amount of recovery time, though no timeline has yet been announced by the Cubs.  This is the second notable shoulder injury of Canario’s short career, as he also had surgery to fix a torn labrum in November 2020.  Between the canceled 2020 minor league season and then the recovery from his surgery, it isn’t surprising that Canario had modest numbers in 2021, playing with both the Giants’ A-ball affiliate and the Cubs’ high-A team.

Acquired from San Francisco as part of the Kris Bryant trade in 2021, the 22-year-old Canario hit .252/.343/.556 with 37 homers and 23 steals (from 26 chances) over 534 combined plate appearances at the high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels last season.  This excellent performance sent Canario within the top 10 of Chicago prospects, as per both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.  It also put Canario on the radar of several rival teams scouting the Cubs as possible trade partners, according to The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, but Canario’s status as a trade chip or as a possible difference-maker in Wrigleyville is now on hold until his recovers.

Brennen Davis has also been sidelined by injury, as lower back tightness limited him to just five games in the Arizona Fall League before the Cubs shut him down.  Sharma writes that the club hadn’t determined the nature of this new injury, but it doesn’t seem similar to the problem (a vascular formation on his sciatic nerve) that required Davis to undergo back surgery in June.

A consensus pick as Chicago’s second-best prospect and a top-50 prospect in all of baseball, Davis has hit .255/.363/.444 over 906 professional PA since being selected in the second round of the 2018 draft.  Multiple injuries have slowed Davis’ progress, as beyond his back surgery, Davis has also had to recover from a concussion and broken nose (after being hit by a pitch during Spring Training), as well as finger injuries in 2019.

Despite all these setbacks, Davis was still moving up the minor league ladder and playing well, before his back problems led to a down year in 2022 and a probable promotion to the majors.  Sharma notes that the Cubs are still expected to place Davis on the 40-man roster this winter, since even with the back concerns, he would surely be taken in the Rule 5 Draft.

Miguel Amaya was placed on the 40-man back in November 2019, yet the catching prospect has barely played in the following three years.  Beyond the canceled 2020 minors season, Amaya was limited to 23 games in 2021 and then 40 games in 2022 due largely to a forearm strain that resulted in Tommy John surgery.  Once Amaya made it back this season, he was limited to DH duty, and then his path back to catching was halted when he suffered a Lisfranc fracture in his left foot in mid-September.

“My offseason focus is to be the best version of me for 2023, and whatever happens, happens,” Amaya told Mark Gonzales of The Chicago Sun-Times.  “I just want to be healthy to show everyone who Miguel Amaya is and just have fun and play the baseball I know.”

Amaya has been limited to shoulder and elbow exercises while his foot heals, and while he hasn’t much recent contact with Willson Contreras, Amaya also cited the veteran catcher as an important mentor during his development.  In theory, Amaya might’ve already established himself as Contreras’ replacement if healthy, as Contreras is headed into free agency this winter.  A top-100 prospect prior to his Tommy John surgery, Amaya might be a factor for the big league roster later in 2023, though he has only 51 games at the Double-A level and nothing in Triple-A.

Cubs Prospect Miguel Amaya To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Cubs catching prospect Miguel Amaya is expected to require Tommy John surgery, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Bastian says the team believes the surgery is “imminent”. Patrick Mooney of The Athletic adds that Amaya “is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery and begin a rehab program next month.”

Regardless of when the surgery eventually takes place, it’s unfortunate news for the Cubs as Amaya is one of the organization’s top prospects. FanGraphs, Baseball America and MLB Pipeline all have the 22-year-old within the top eight on their respective lists of Cubs prospects, with MLB Pipeline having him as high as number four within the organization.

Amaya was added to the team’s 40-man roster two years ago, in order to protect him from that year’s Rule 5 draft. At the time, he had only climbed as far as High-A, but the club felt good enough about his future to give him a roster spot despite his distance from the majors. The Panamanian has often gotten high grades for controlling the running game, as well as a patient approach as a hitter. In 2019, his 13.2% walk rate and 16.8% strikeout rate both pointed to a hitter with a competent eye and mature approach at the plate. The pandemic wiped out the minor league season in 2020, but Amaya seemed to be continuing on course in 2021. In 23 Double-A games, his walk rate jumped to an incredible 19.8%, although his strikeout rate also ticked up a bit, finishing at 20.8%. Despite a .215 batting average and just a single home run, he still managed a wRC+ of 117. He last played on June 3, being sidelined with the forearm strain that has led to the upcoming surgery. Unfortunately for Amaya, he will now have his progressed stalled until he can return to health.

The Cubs will now have to make a decision on how to handle Amaya’s roster situation in 2022, given that he’s unlikely to play much, if at all. He’s already used up two of his three option years, meaning he would be out of options if he is kept on the minor league injured list for the next year. Alternatively, they could recall Amaya and place him on the major league IL. That would allow the club to retain an option that could be used in 2023, but Amaya would be entitled to major league pay and service time for as long as he is on the IL. (Unless, of course, the rules are changed in the next CBA.)

The Cubs are set to have Willson Contreras behind the dish in 2022, in what will be his last season of team control. He and Amaya are the only two catchers currently on the team’s 40-man roster. If they turn to the free agent market to find a backup to Contreras, they will be perusing a class with very limited options.

Players Added To 40-Man Roster: National 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 National League teams that are not otherwise covered on the site.

NL West

  • The Dodgers announced that they’ve selected the contracts of right-hander Mitchell White, infielder/outfielder Zach McKinstry and outfielder DJ Peters. Both White and Peters are considered to be among the club’s top 15 prospects. McKinstry isn’t generally ranked inside L.A.’s top 30, but the 24-year-old had a big season between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019 while appearing at six defensive positions (shortstop, second base, third base and all three outfield slots).
  • The Diamondbacks announced that they’ve selected the contracts of right-handers Taylor Widener and Riley Smith as well as the contracts of infielders Andy Young and Wyatt Mathisen. Widener, 24, was one of the organization’s best pitching prospects coming into the season but was blown up for an eye-popping 8.10 ERA in 100 innings. He’s only a year removed from 137 1/3 innings of 2.75 ERA ball and an 11.5 K/9 mark in Double-A, however. Smith, 24, was sharp in Double-A before struggling in Triple-A — like many pitching prospects throughout the league (and with the D-backs in particular). Young, acquired in the Paul Goldschmidt trade last winter, hit 29 homers while playing three infield positions between Double-A and Triple-A. Mathisen, 26 in December, hit .283/.403/.601 in 345 Triple-A plate appearances.
  • The Giants, surprisingly, did not add anyone to their 40-man roster prior to tonight’s deadline.
  • The Rockies selected the contracts of infielder Tyler Nevin, left-hander Ben Bowden and right-handers Ashton Goudeau and Antonio Santos (Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post first reported the news on Twitter). Those four moves will fill the team’s 40-man roster. Of the four, Bowden and Nevin draw the most fanfare. Nevin, the No. 38 pick in the 2015 draft and son of former MLB slugger Phil Nevin, posted deceptively solid numbers in an extremely pitcher-friendly Double-A environment in 2019 (.251/.345/.399 — good for a 122 wRC+). Bowden, a second-round pick in ’16, posted gaudy strikeout numbers but struggled in Triple-A after dominating in Double-A in 2019.
  • The Padres selected outfielder Jorge Ona’s contract and designated outfielder Nick Martini for assignment, as outlined here.

NL Central

  • The Cardinals announced the additions of Jake Woodford, Elehuris Montero and Alvaro Seijas while designating righty Dominic Leone for assignment (as detailed here at greater length).
  • Outfielder Corey Ray and right-hander J.P. Feyereisen will head onto the Brewers 40-man, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter). It’s not yet known if the team will make further roster additions, but it would have five additional spots to work with to do so. Ray was the fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft but is coming off of a rough season. Feyereisen, who was added in a quiet September swap, will have a chance to challenge for MLB relief opportunities. Milwaukee also added infielder Mark Mathias to the 40-man roster after acquiring him in a trade with the Indians tonight.
  • The Cubs announced that they’ve added catcher Miguel Amaya, infielder Zack Short and right-handers Tyson Miller and Manuel Rodriguez to the 40-man roster. Amaya is the most highly regarded of the bunch, ranking second among Chicago farmhands and drawing some top 100 consideration at MLB.com.
  • Four additions to the 40-man were announced by the Reds, who have selected the contracts of catcher Tyler Stephenson and right-handers Tony Santillan, Ryan Hendrix and Tejay Antone. All four rank within the club’s top 30 at MLB.com, headlined by Santillan at No. 4 and ranging all the way to Antone at No. 30. Santillan thrived in a brief Double-A debut in 2018 but struggled there in a larger 2019 sample (4.84 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 4.8 BB/9 in 102 1/3 innings). He’s still just 22, though, and is regarded as a potential big league starter. Stephenson is a former first-round pick who hit well in a highly pitcher-friendly Double-A setting (.285/.372/.410; 130 wRC+). Hendrix posted big strikeout numbers as a reliever in 2019, while Antone displayed sharp ground-ball skills as a starter and reached Triple-A for the first time.
  • The Pirates added prospects Ke’Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Will Craig, Blake Cederlind and Cody Ponce to the 40-man roster while also designating four pitchers for assignment (as explored in greater length here). Lefty Williams Jerez and right-handers Dario Agrazal, Montana DuRapau and Luis Escobar were cut loose.

NL East

Cubs Announce Player Development Changes

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According to a release from the club’s media department, the Cubs have constructed a new player development leadership structure within their baseball operations department.

Matt Dorey, formerly Chicago’s director of amateur scouting, will serve as senior director of player development. 2020 will mark Dorey’s ninth year in the Cubs organization and 13th in professional baseball. Dorey previously coached at Washington State before entering the pro ball, PD side of the game.

Bobby Basham will be working with Dorey as director of player development. Formerly a pitcher in the Reds and Padres minor league ranks, Basham has worked in a variety of roles since gaining employ with the Cubs in 2012, including time spent as a major league scouting coordinator, assistant director of advance scouting and major league strategy, and assistant director of minor league operations. It stands to reason that Dorey and Basham will be combining to handle some of the tasks Jason McLeod vacated when the latter moved into a senior vice president of player personnel role this offseason following several years in Chicago’s player development area.

Other notable changes this morning include the naming of former big league Craig Breslow as the club’s new director of pitching–a title similar to the one the Orioles gave Chris Holt recently, as notes Joe Trezza of MLB.com (link). While Breslow’s Yale background would likely position him as the most intelligent person in many a room, the club’s new director of hitting, Justin Stone, cuts an impressive intellectual figure in his own right. Stone is the founder Elite Baseball Training in Chicago, a “technology-infused baseball and softball instructional company”. He has been working with the organization since 2018 as a biokinematic hitting consultant–a modern baseball job title if ever there was one.

Additionally, Jeremy Farrell has been promoted from minor league field coordinator to a new role as Chicago’s assistant director of player development, where his years of experience as an infielder in the Pirates and White Sox systems should come in handy. Jaron Madison, who, like McLeod, worked with Cubs GM Jed Hoyer during the latter’s time as San Diego’s GM at the turn of the decade, has been named as special assistant to the president/GM.

Although the men and women working in player development are not always appreciated by fans for their efforts in fostering, honing, and instructing organizational talent, hires like these are often critical in a team’s quest for continued, year-over-year success. These moves are likely pointed toward re-positioning Chicago’s farm as a top-shelf feeder system after recent rankings tagged the Cubs with bottom-third organizational evaluations; Fangraphs pegged the club with a 20th-ranked system, while only two Chicago youngsters, Nico Hoerner and Miguel Amaya, landed inside MLB.com’s “Top 100” list.

NL Central Notes: Epstein, Cubs, Pirates, Martinez

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The latest from around the NL Central…

  • “Pitching is our main need” heading into the trade deadline, Theo Epstein told 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine and other reporters.  The Cubs were known to be looking for bullpen help even before Brandon Morrow hit the DL with biceps inflammation, and since Morrow’s injury isn’t expected to keep him out for long, Epstein said that the closer’s absence didn’t impact the team’s deadline plans.  Yu Darvish’s return from the DL theoretically helps a rotation that has been inconsistent, though Epstein gave a realistic view of what Darvish could contribute, given the right-hander’s own struggles this season.  “You can’t be overly reliant on someone who hasn’t been able to go out there and perform this year….if you put yourself in a position where you are overly reliant and defending on it at this point, it is on you then,” Epstein said.
  • Beyond pitching, Epstein also noted that “we will probably look in August for someone who can play defense or steal a bag.”  He predicted multiple moves prior to September 1, and felt the team would make one more trade prior to the July 31 deadline.  Though the president of baseball operations doesn’t “think it’s impossible” that the Cubs make a big-ticket transactions, smaller deals seem more likely, as Epstein felt “we are going to be a little more selective and opportunistic” with their options after dealing top prospects in other trades in recent years.  For instance, the Athletic’s Patrick Mooney writes that it seems “highly unlikely” that the Cubs would move catching prospect Miguel Amaya for a rental player like Baltimore’s Zach Britton.
  • With the Pirates on a run of 10 wins in their last 11 games, GM Neal Huntington said in a radio appearance today (hat tip to Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) that his team “would love to add” at the trade deadline.  “If there’s something out there that makes sense and makes us better, we’re absolutely open to that,” Huntington said.  The Pirates are still just a modest 51-49 on the season and are battling several other teams in a crowded NL playoff picture, though the Bucs are now four games back of the Braves for the final wild card slot (and 4.5 games behind the struggling Brewers, who hold the first wild card position).
  • Jose Martinez’s poor defense has made him a part-time player with the Cardinals, despite 13 homers and a .295/.361/.471 slash line this season.  Martinez tells Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he understands the team’s decision, and that he “would love to be a Cardinal for my career” even though he seems far more suited for a DH role with an American League team.  With the Cards not really positioned to be buyers or sellers, Frederickson suggests that the club could approach the coming trade deadline as “an overdue round of roster maintenance that addresses the easiest-to-solve problems and optimizes returns on pieces that don’t fit into the puzzle moving forward.”  This would include dealing Martinez, as “his value to AL teams might never be higher” given his current success and his long-term controllability through the 2022 season.
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