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Mike Trout Downplays Interest In Spring Contract Talks

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3:15PM: Trout provided some clarification in a follow-up comment to Torres (Twitter link), saying that his original statement “didn’t mean” he would be holding off extension talks until next offseason.

11:17AM: On the heels of Bryce Harper’s deal with the Phillies, Angels superstar Mike Trout was asked today about his own contract situation. Though he’s still two years away from the open market, there has been no shortage of speculation about the possibility of the Halos pursuing another extension with the game’s greatest current player.

Trout’s comments may not have closed the door to talks, but they were anything but a positive sign for those who’d like to see a deal come together. When asked by Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link) whether he’d like to work on a new contract, Trout responded:

“With spring training you want to get ready for the season. You don’t wanna worry about anything else.”

There are several ways to take that sort of comment, to be sure. It’s oblique enough that it arguably shouldn’t be taken to signify much of anything. Then again, Trout has to this point been fastidiously non-committal regarding his future (or even the possibility of near-term talks). And the stakes are high, as this offseason provided a potential window for the Halos to secure the franchise’s greatest-ever player for the long run.

There’s no necessary rush for the Angels, who can explore talks next fall. Trout enjoys no-trade protection and there’s zero indication that the Angels have any interest in dealing him regardless. With Trout already slated to receive $33.25MM in each of the next two seasons and plenty already in the bank, he’s unlikely to grant much of a discount.

Still, the clock is ticking on Trout’s tenure with the club. If indeed talks aren’t to be held in earnest this spring, that leaves the 2019-20 offseason as perhaps the only remaining realistic extension window. Trout is said to be focused on playing for a winning team; the Halos have missed the postseason in each of the past four seasons and have an at-best-uncertain outlook for the coming campaign. Today’s comments probably don’t represent a major change in the situation, but they do serve to highlight what’s at stake in the near future for the Angels organization.

AL Notes: Angels, Rangers, Lindor, Sano

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Angels owner Arte Moreno discussed a few topics of interest today, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register covered. Moreno spoke positively of his interactions with the city of Anaheim regarding the club’s ballpark, seemingly representing an improvement in relations. He also gave a vote of confidence to the Billy Eppler-led front office. Most interestingly, though, Moreno explained the organization’s approach to spending on player contracts. It’s not about staying beneath the luxury tax line, he said; rather, the organization budgets to “allocate about 50 percent of [its] revenue towards payroll.” Moreno also added that he “bust[s] through that every year,” so it seems there’s some flexibility. Generally, though, the position helps explain some of the team’s spending patterns — including its approach this winter. Moreno says there’s still cash available for mid-season additions. Meanwhile, it’s still tough to gauge whether there’s a realistic possibility of a new deal with the incomparable Mike Trout. As MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger writes, Trout declined to comment on the possibility of a new deal at all, while Moreno would do little more than reiterate that there is interest on the team’s behalf.

More from the American League:

  • The Rangers are considering the possibility of pursuing extensions with several young players, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. At this point, though, it’s not clear that the team has engaged any agents. Neither is it evident which players might be approached. Sullivan tabs Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, and Jose Leclerc as the likeliest candidates. That would indeed seem to be a plausible trio. All have reasonable cases for significant money. Mazara is already into his arbitration years. Gallo and Leclerc have one more campaign to go, but each promises to accumulate the kinds of counting stats (home runs and saves, respectively) that pay well in arbitration.
  • There’s little doubt that the Indians would love to find a way to extend star shortstop Francisco Lindor, who has reportedly spurned record-setting offers in the past. He says he’s still happy for the time being to go year to year, as Zack Meisel of The Athletic tweets. Lindor says he “love[s] everything about Cleveland,” but right now is “focused on arbitration” (so far as contractual matters go). That’s working out just fine, as he took down a big $10.55MM first-year arb payday. Ultimately, Lindor says, he may consider a long-term deal, though he certainly did not sound as if that’s something he’s particularly keen to pursue. Per Lindor: “If the Indians come up with the right numbers and at some point it happens — which, I’m not even thinking about — we’ll see.”
  • True, reports on conditioning entering camp are a tired trope. But given all the heartache over the years surrounding the physical form of Twins slugger Miguel Sano, it seems relevant that he’s said to be in the best shape of his life — or, at least, the best shape of his MLB career. As Dan Hayes of The Athletic writes (subscription link), Sano embarked upon a robust workout program this winter and seems to be in top form. Whether that extends to his productivity on the field remains to be seen, but it’s a positive start.

Angels Notes: Payroll, Trout, Stadium

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In the course of a lengthy discussion of Mike Trout’s status with the Angels, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (subscription link) drops a note regarding the team’s immediate payroll situation. The Halos, he says, “could top” last year’s team-record payroll, which checked in right around $165MM for the third-straight campaign. Whether that suggests there’s significant room to add depends upon how far past the prior line the team is willing to go; at the moment, the club already projects to have over $162MM in commitments on its books for the present season. With some creativity, though, the team could perhaps still pursue a significant addition this winter — especially if it is willing to allocate some of its relatively clean post-2020 payroll space. The club has added over $27MM in 2019 payroll so far this winter, but it has done so without adding a dime to its future balance sheets.

  • Regarding Trout, the above-linked post covers a fair bit of ground on the broader landscape of large contracts, though it largely (and understandably) leaves unanswered the ultimate question: how much money would it take to keep Trout from testing the open market? He’s far and away the best player in baseball — you’ll need to rub your eyes to make sure you’re reading this leaderboard properly — so much so that any other contract comps feel all but silly to make. Still, former Marlins president David Samson, whose quotes appear liberally throughout the post, claims that even Trout isn’t worth $40MM annually. Of course, Samson also advocates some other dubious positions, such as the notion that, as a front office leader, he would “have a very hard time telling my owner that Bryce Harper is worth $30 million a year when I can have Juan Soto making $555,000.” That sort of imbalance, of course, is baked right into the financial structure of the game. There’s no question any team would rather get more player for less money, but the cost to acquire freely available, established talent is vastly greater than that to retain pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players due only to the constraints on the earning power of less-experienced players. In any event, the potential future market value of Trout will be decided in an open bidding scenario, the outcome of which is impossible to predict at present. What seems clear, though, is that he will reasonably anticipate an opportunity to earn a monumental sum of money along with the chance to choose his destination; the Angels, it stands to reason, would need to offer an immense sum to keep him from checking out the alternatives.
  • So, how likely is an extension for Trout? Not very, says Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter), who cites “whispers” that there’s not much hope of something coming together in the near-term. The club itself was unwilling to disclose the status of talks, if any, per Ardaya. According to Heyman, the Halos do still intend to try to get some chatter going. It’s hard, though, to see why Trout would have much reason to bite unless the organization offered something truly outrageous. He’s already guaranteed to have earned hundreds of millions of dollars over the course of his playing career, so it’s not as if he’s still looking for that first big contract. And with two years still to go before reaching the open market, Trout will presumably prefer to see how things develop on and off the field before committing — unless, perhaps, he’s so comfortable in Anaheim that he simply prefers to stay.
  • Quite a bit can change in two years’ time, after all. To take but one example, it’s tough to know how the Angels’ ballpark situation will look by that time. While the long-term plans remain up in the air, the club has now formally secured a one-year deal with the city of Anaheim to keep the club in Angels Stadium through the 2020 season, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweets. That’ll leave some added breathing room for both the club and the municipality to try to line up on a plan for the future. It seems the smart money remains on a local solution, though there’s no real indication at this point exactly how things will shake out. Major renovations and new construction both appear to be possible outcomes.

Quick Hits: Trout, A’s, Lowrie, Barreto, Cardinals

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Despite Mike Trout’s presence, the Angels are stuck in no-man’s land as a club that doesn’t look like a clear-cut contender, Buster Olney of ESPN observes (subscription required). As brilliant as Trout has been, the Angels haven’t made the playoffs or won more than 85 games in a season since 2014, leading Olney to note there’s a legitimate argument they should consider a Mariners-esque rebuild. However, the Angels have signed starters Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill in win-now moves this winter, and Olney concedes it’s unlikely they’ll blow things up in the final two years of Trout’s contract. The 27-year-old Trout “desperately” wants to win, and the Angels are uninterested in trading him, writes Olney. But moving Trout to jump-start a rebuild is something the Angels should at least consider if he’s unwilling to sign an extension, Olney argues.

Here’s more from around the game:

  • Although Jed Lowrie was among the majors’ premier second basemen from 2017-18, during which he totaled 8.5 fWAR in 1,325 plate appearances as a member of the Athletics, the A’s won’t bring the free agent back. With Lowrie currently on the open market, Oakland acquired his replacement, Jurickson Profar, on Friday. The fact that Profar’s younger and cheaper than Lowrie led the A’s in that direction, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. While the 25-year-old Profar will earn a projected $3.4MM in 2019, Lowrie, 34, is seeking a three-year contract, according to Slusser. MLBTR estimates the switch-hitting Lowrie will find a three-year, $30MM pact, though Slusser writes that “many industry experts” are anticipating a two-year deal in the $18MM to $20MM range.
  • The Profar acquisition will also have an effect on A’s middle infield prospect Franklin Barreto, long one of their top farmhands. Trading for Profar suggests the A’s aren’t convinced Barreto can be part of the solution at second, posits Slusser, who adds that the team could shift the 22-year-old to the outfield (where he has racked up some experience in the Venezuelan Winter League) or even deal him. If Barreto does stick around, it’s likely he’ll “take on more of a utility role,” general manager David Forst said. Forst remains bullish on Barreto, as he added, “He’s going to be a valuable guy for us, his bat is going to play.”
  • Having acquired Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Miller, most of the Cardinals’ heavy lifting for the offseason is already done prior to the New Year. The club hasn’t ruled out picking up another reliever to join Miller & Co., though, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests. The Cards will also land a backup catcher – potentially by way of a minor league contract, per Goold – and perhaps another left-handed bench bat. St. Louis did acquire lefty-hitting reserve Drew Robinson from the Rangers earlier this month, but the 26-year-old utilityman hasn’t produced much in the majors and still has another minor league option remaining.

Free Agent Rumblings: Jones, Miller, Phillies, Eovaldi

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Adam Jones hopes to keep playing “at least four or five more years,” the veteran outfielder told reporters (including MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko) this weekend at his #StayHungry Purple Tailgate charity event in Baltimore.  Jones turned 33 last August and is coming off a season that saw him hit .281/.313/.419 with 15 homers over 613 plate appearances for the Orioles, making for his lowest home run and slugging average totals since 2008, and below-average run production overall (98 wRC+).  Between his age and the offensive dropoff, Jones may face a difficult market as he test free agency for the first time in his 13-year career, though he is realistic about his prospects.  “It’s like [being] the senior that some people want that not everybody wants, as opposed to the sophomore that everybody wants.  I take it back when I was in high school and getting flirted with a little bit,” Jones said.  “But at the same time, I’ve got no stress. The Orioles have been good to me financially over my career. I just know that I have a lot to offer someone else and I have a lot of gas in the tank.”

A reunion with the Orioles doesn’t appear to be in the cards for now, as Jones said that he hadn’t heard from the team since the season ended.  This isn’t necessarily unusual, as Baltimore only just installed Mike Elias as its new general manager in mid-November, and Elias could have interest in re-signing a team legend to act as an on-field mentor through the Orioles’ rebuilding phase.  Still, Jones’ tribute-filled final game of 2018 campaign (and his own comments following the team) certainly seemed to hint that the two sides would be parting ways.

Here’s more on some other free agents around the game….

  • The Phillies are the latest team to express “active interest” in southpaw Andrew Miller, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports (Twitter link).  The previously-reported Cardinals and Mets are also among the teams looking at Miller, though the left-hander isn’t yet close to signing with anyone.  Injuries limited Miller to just 34 innings in 2018, and likely contributed to his overall middling numbers (at least in comparison to his outstanding performance from 2014-17).  Still, with such a track record, it isn’t surprising that Miller is getting lots of attention from a wide range of teams.  Philadelphia is a natural suitor, as the Phils have loads of money to spend this winter and could want more of a veteran late-game presence to complement star rookie Seranthony Dominguez.
  • Bryce Harper’s name has naturally been attached to the Phillies as they seemingly prepare to embark on a spending spree, to the point that “it’s amazing how many people inside this sport almost assume that the Phillies will be the highest bidder in this auction” for Harper, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark writes (subscription required).  Philadelphia has enough financial resources and available future payroll space to pursue anyone in the free agent market…or maybe even in future markets, as Stark speculates on the idea of Mike Trout and Harper both playing in the Phillies outfield in 2021.  Trout still has two years left on his Angels contract, of course, and thus it’s far too early to guess at what might happen down the road, especially since the Angels have every intention of keeping their superstar.  (“I would bet that Arte would spend $10 billion not to have to read the sentence: ’Arte Moreno was the owner who let Mike Trout walk away,’ ” one executive joked to Stark.)  Still, the Phillies’ financial might and their close proximity to Trout’s hometown of Millville, New Jersey make them seem like a logical candidate should Trout ever test the open market.
  • Nathan Eovaldi is one of the most sought-after names on the free agent starting pitching market, yet “there is a team or two toying with trying to sign him as a reliever,” the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo writes.  Eovaldi’s superb results out of the Red Sox bullpen during their World Series run has surely contributed to this idea, and with two Tommy John surgeries to his name, a case could be made that relief work would be less stressful on Eovaldi’s arm.  This being said, it would be incredibly surprising to see Eovaldi sign on as a reliever after so strongly re-establishing his credentials as a starting pitcher last season.

West Notes: Trout, Beltre, Andrus, Bumgarner, Posey

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Mike Trout just concluded yet another MVP-caliber season, yet team success has continued to elude the superstar.  Trout has only been part of one playoff team (in 2014) and has yet to win even a single postseason game after eight seasons.  With Trout only signed for another two years, the Angels may need to turn things around quick to have a better chance at extending or re-signing him, and Trout indeed told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that playing for a contender is a “huge” factor in deciding his future plans.  “I want to come to the ballpark playing for something.  That’s everybody’s goal here as a player.  You don’t want to come playing for nothing,” Trout said.  This being said, he still holds the Angels organization in high regard: “My years here we haven’t been winning, but they’ve been taking care of me.  I enjoy coming to the ballpark.  It (stinks) when it’s September and you’re out of it. But when I was a kid they took a chance on me.  We’ll see how it goes. I’ve got a couple more years and we’ll go from there.”  Trout also laughed off the idea of the Angels trading him over the next two years, per Fletcher, saying he “for sure” expects to remain with the franchise through at least 2020. In hopes of keeping Trout beyond then, the Halos are expected to discuss an extension with him during the offseason, Fletcher writes.

Elsewhere around the majors’ West divisions…

  • There is a chance the left side of the Rangers’ infield will consist of two new starters next season, as third baseman Adrian Beltre could retire and shortstop Elvis Andrus has an opt-out in his contract. In the latest update regarding the two close friends, Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram tweets that Beltre is “genuinely torn” on whether to come back in 2019.  Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News believes Beltre will walk away, and he explains why in a piece which pays respect to the future Hall of Famer. Andrus, meanwhile, is still planning to stay with his current contract, as was the case a few weeks ago, according to Wilson. Vacating the remainder of the deal would mean leaving a four-year, $58MM guarantee on the table, which may be too risky in the wake of a down season for Andrus.
  • The Giants are open minded with what to do with ace Madison Bumgarner as they seek a new baseball operations leader, CEO Larry Baer suggested Sunday. The team “does not plan to dictate a timetable for contention or major decisions such as trading or keeping” Bumgarner, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Instead, the Giants will listen to the candidates’ opinions on the best course of action in regards to Bumgarner, who’s only under control for another year. As for longtime battery mate Buster Posey, the soon-to-be 32-year-old will remain behind the plate when he returns from hip surgery next season – perhaps as early as Opening Day, per Schulman. “There’s been no discussion about him playing any other position,” executive vice president Brian Sabean said. “He’s our franchise player and he wants to catch.”
  • More on the Giants, who plan to go into next season with Steven Duggar as their Opening Day center fielder, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweets. The 24-year-old got his first taste of major league action this season and hit a below-average .255/.303/.390 (87 wRC+) in 152 plate appearances, though he did account for four Defensive Runs Saved and a 1.4 Ultimate Zone Rating in 345 innings as a center fielder. Baseball America (subscription required) ranks Duggar as the Giants’ sixth-best prospect.

AL West Notes: Fast, Correa, McCullers, Sipp, Simmons, Rangers

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Astros director of research and development Mike Fast has left the organization, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart was among those to cover (via Twitter). The former Baseball Prospectus scribe joined the organization well in advance of its rise to prominence, forming a key part of the front office team assembled by GM Jeff Luhnow. Fast tells Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (subscription link) that he’s hoping “to latch on with another team” in some capacity, though he did not otherwise offer any clues as to the reason for his departure or his expectations in pursuing a new opportunity.

It’ll be interesting to see both where Fast lands and how he’s replaced. Here’s more from Houston and some division rivals …

  • The postseason-bound Astros are getting ready for the ALDS, which means a focus on health. As Kaplan reports (Twitter links), star shortstop Carlos Correa will get some time off to rest his back before ramping back up next week. Meanwhile, Lance McCullers Jr. will throw from the pen upon returning to action early next week. Ensuring that Correa is at full strength is obviously of critical importance to the organization’s hopes of repeating as World Series champs. Though he hasn’t hit to his typical standards this year, Correa undeniably possesses the talent to be a force in October. Likewise, getting back McCullers, who has been sidelined with a forearm strain, would also be notable. Though it may not be likely that he’ll shoulder anything approaching a starter’s workload in the playoffs, McCullers would represent another high-quality arm on a staff that’s already loaded with them.
  • Astros southpaw Tony Sipp is flipping the script in 2018, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle writes. The veteran reliever discusses his tough moments over the last two seasons with candor. It came as a wake-up call, he suggests, when he found himself “having to answer questions about making a team when your contract is guaranteed,” as occurred this spring. As it turns out, the 35-yer-old has bounced back from a pair of homer-plagued seasons, posting a 2.06 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 35 frames in 2018. He’ll return to the open market this winter, but first will play an important role in the ’Stros postseason pitching mix.
  • The Angels have faced their share of disappointments this year, but have also watched as shortstop Andrelton Simmons has cemented himself as a premium all-around performer alongside the peerless Mike Trout. Indeed, the 29-year-old Simmons has again topped 5 fWAR with a blend of solid, contact-oriented hitting and otherworldly defense. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have designs on improvement, however. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register explores, the game’s premier defender is hoping some added strength will lead to a power boost going forward.
  • While the Rangers have only just begun looking for a new skipper, after firing Jeff Banister today, that doesn’t mean it’s too soon to begin thinking of the possibilities. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News runs through some of the names he believes could be considered for the job, including interim skipper Don Wakamatsu. There are plenty of notable names contemplated in the post, so Texas fans will want to give it a full read and reach their own conclusions on the right path for the organization to take.

Quick Hits: Gore, Trout, Zobrist, Orioles

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After spending parts of five seasons in the big leagues, Terrance Gore finally collected his first Major League hit, notching a single during the Cubs’ 10-3 loss to the Nationals yesterday in the first game of a double-header.  Though Gore has appeared in 55 games since the start of the 2014 season, he has only 16 career plate appearances due to his exclusive usage as a pinch-runner and late-inning defensive sub.  Gore’s speed made him a valuable roster piece during the Royals’ two postseason runs in 2014 and 2015, and he’ll likely see similar work for the Cubs down the stretch this season and potentially into October.

Here’s more from around the baseball world…

  • The Angels are expected to approach Mike Trout about an extension this winter, which The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required) feels could determine whether or not the team would ever consider trading the game’s best player.  Management has been adamantly opposed to the thought of dealing Trout in the past, and the general feeling is that Arte Moreno wouldn’t okay a Trout trade as long as he owns the Angels.  If Trout declines an extension or gives an indication that he’ll test free agency when his current contract is up after the 2020 season, however, Rosenthal feels that the Angels “would know where they stood” in counting the superstar outfielder as part of their long-term plans.  The Halos could still just aim to build around Trout over the next two seasons or, conceivably, at least think about the possibility of a trade that could instantly add a lot of young talent to the Angels’ organization.  “One of the best talents in the history of the game is rarely explored in the market. A team might be willing to do something absolutely insane to acquire him. We just don’t know,” one rival executive said about a potential Trout trade.
  • As you might expect, Ben Zobrist has no regrets about signing with the Cubs in the 2015-16 offseason, the veteran super-utilityman tells The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney.  The decision has already led to one World Series ring for Zobrist, and unlike his other suitors that winter (a list that includes the Giants, Mets, and Nationals), the Cubs are still postseason contenders in 2018.  Zobrist has strongly rebounded from a down year in 2017 to hit .313/.387/.458 over 443 PA for the Cubs this season, so it’s fair to say that the team is also quite satisfied in its decision giving Zobrist a four-year, $56MM deal that winter.
  • The Orioles are lacking in multi-positional players, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes, giving the team yet another area to address as it enters a rebuild period.  Not even any of the players acquired by the O’s in their deadline deals looks like a candidate for such a role in the future, though the team will be looking at what Jonathan Villar, Breyvic Valera, and Steve Wilkerson can do at multiple positions.

West Notes: Trout, D-backs, Acuna, Giants, Hundley, Holland

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The out-of-contention Angels have arguably wasted another year of control over baseball’s best player, center fielder Mike Trout, with whom they still haven’t even won a playoff game since his rookie campaign in 2012. But even though Trout’s team control is dwindling (2019 is the penultimate year of his contract), the Angels should continue trying to win with the future Hall of Famer – not trade him – Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times opines. While Trout would warrant a massive return in a trade, Shaikin argues that even the best prospects aren’t sure bets to produce in the majors or avoid injuries, using the package the White Sox received from the Red Sox for Chris Sale in 2016 as an example.

Of course, as opposed to shopping Trout – which, despite the Angels’ struggles, has always looked incredibly improbable – the Halos could try to keep him for the long haul. Trout is fond of Anaheim, Shaikin notes, though he writes that there aren’t any compelling reasons for the player to ink a contract extension now. Asked Friday about the possibility of signing a new deal, Trout told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register:  “I don’t know. It’s up to them. Obviously you’ve got to finish out the season and worry about it in the offseason. I don’t want to worry about it right now.” Trout added that his main objective is to win, and while that hasn’t happened in Anaheim, he didn’t throw its front office under the bus. Rather, he rightly suggested that injuries have played a huge role in the Angels’ disappointing season.

Here’s the latest on a couple other West-based teams:

  • Twenty-year-old Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna may be on his way to joining Trout as an elite player, which is a difficult reality for the Diamondbacks, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic explains. The Venezuelan-born Acuna signed with the Braves for a $100K bonus four years ago, but before that, the Diamondbacks believed they were on the verge of adding him for $80K. Junior Noboa, the Diamondbacks’ vice president of Latin American operations, revealed to Piecoro that the two sides reached an agreement in the Dominican Republic. However, rules state a player must officially sign in his home country, and by the time Acuna returned to Venezuela, the Braves had made a stronger offer, according to Noboa. “They accepted it before I could come back with another offer,” Noboa said of Acuna’s camp. Acuna disagrees with Noboa’s version of the story, as he said through an interpreter Thursday: “There was a difference between what was promised and what was eventually settled upon. They gave me an initial number and then afterwards that wasn’t it. That’s why I wasn’t on board with signing.” Regardless, as Piecoro notes, Acuna was not a superstar prospect when he chose Atlanta over Arizona. Thus, whether he’d have developed into the player he is now had he signed with a different team is anyone’s guess.
  • The Giants would be wise to re-sign upcoming free agents Nick Hundley and Derek Holland, opines The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, who writes that re-upping the former “figures to be a top priority” (subscription required). Hundley’s approaching the end of his second season in San Francisco, where he has backed up star catcher Buster Posey. It’s no surprise the Giants are prioritizing the position, though, considering Posey underwent season-ending hip surgery last month and could miss the start of next year. Offensively, the 35-year-old Hundley has made a case for a new deal by hitting a passable .235/.294/.407 (90 wRC+) in  245 PAs. On the other hand, Baseball Prospectus has Hundley ranked among the majors’ worst defensive backstops this season. Holland, a minor league signing last winter, has been a major bargain for the Giants. After his career went into a tailspin with the Rangers and White Sox from 2015-17, the soon-to-be 32-year-old has bounced back to log a 3.54 ERA/3.87 FIP with 8.96 K/9 and 3.54 BB/9 in 152 2/3 innings (31 appearances, 27 starts).

Injury Notes: Wright, Trout, Altuve, Judge, Bryant

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In a rare piece of encouraging news for the woebegone Mets, the team announced that injured third baseman David Wright will begin a rehab assignment on Sunday, when he’ll play five innings for the club’s Class-A affiliate in St. Lucie. It’s not clear whether the 35-year-old Wright has a real chance to return this season, but if he does come back, it would be one of the greatest triumphs of the 2018 campaign. After all, a laundry list of upper body injuries limited Wright to just 75 appearances from 2015-16 and have completely kept him out of MLB action over the past couple years. The seven-time All-Star hasn’t appeared in a major league game since May 27, 2016, or a minor league contest since Aug. 26, 2017.

Catching up on other notable injury news from around the majors…

  • The Angels placed center fielder Mike Trout on the 10-day disabled list Friday, retroactive to Aug. 6, with right wrist inflammation, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to report. Trout’s balky wrist has kept him out of action since Aug. 1, perhaps derailing the perennial MVP candidate’s chances of taking home his third such award in 2018.
  • Speaking of AL MVPs, last year’s winner, Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, has been out since July 26 with right knee soreness. Unfortunately, Altuve will remain on the shelf at least through the Astros’ current homestand, which ends Aug. 15, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros’ middle infield did get some good news Friday when shortstop Carlos Correa returned from a lower back injury that kept him on ice for six weeks.
  • Continuing with the theme of injured AL superstars, Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge is getting “better and better every day,” manager Aaron Boone informed George A. King III of the New York Post and other reporters Friday. Boone added he’s “optimistic” that Judge, who has been unavailable since July 26 with a chip fracture in his right wrist, will progress to picking up a bat “in the next couple of days.” New York has struggled to replace the great Judge, evidenced by its consistent use of the underwhelming Shane Robinson in the outfield during the slugger’s absence.
  • Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, out since July 26 with left shoulder inflammation, told Patrick Mooney of The Athletic and other reporters Saturday that he “absolutely” expects to return in 2018. In order to preserve his body, Bryant noted that he “plans to alter his gameday routine,” writes Mooney, who adds that the 26-year-old would like to play until he’s 40.
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