Players Avoiding Arbitration: 3/21/22
Tomorrow afternoon is the deadline for teams and arbitration-eligible players to exchange filing figures. Some players will go to hearings that will linger into the regular season, but many others will be motivated to settle on a contract before that point. A few early agreements have trickled in throughout the day. All projected salaries are from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
- The Royals announced this evening they’ve agreed to terms with infielder Adalberto Mondesi. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (via Twitter) he’ll make $3MM, a hair under his $3.2MM projection. Mondesi was limited to 35 games and 136 plate appearances by various injuries this past season. He posted a .230/.271/.452 line with six homers and 15 stolen bases — an encapsulation of both Mondesi’s enviable combination of power and speed, as well as his concerning plate discipline. Kansas City can control him through 2023.
- The Guardians and shortstop/outfielder Amed Rosario are settling at $4.95MM, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN (via Twitter). That’s right in line with his $5MM projection. Acquired from the Mets last offseason, the former top prospect hit .282/.321/.409 with 11 homers and 13 steals over 588 plate appearances. Rosario comes with one additional season of club control, as Cleveland can keep him around through 2023.
- The Reds and utilityman Nick Senzel have settled at $1.25MM, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (on Twitter). That’s narrowly above his $1.1MM projection. Senzel, a former #2 overall pick and top prospect, has had trouble staying healthy in recent years. He’s taken 616 cumulative plate appearances in his first three big league seasons, including just 124 trips to the plate last year. The 26-year-old is a career .246/.308/.396 hitter and remains controllable through 2025 after qualifying for early arbitration as a Super Two player this year.
- The Reds also agreed to terms with outfielder Tyler Naquin, Murray reports (Twitter link). It’s a $4.025MM deal, a bit north of his $3.6MM projection. The lefty-hitting Naquin picked up a career-high 454 plate appearances last season, hitting a solid .270/.333/.477 with 19 home runs. Defensive metrics weren’t fond of his work, but Naquin still looks likely to see plenty of action at all three outfield spots this season. He’ll reach free agency at the end of the year.
- Murray reports the Blue Jays and right-hander Ross Stripling have settled at $3.79MM, a few hundred thousand dollars under his $4.4MM projection. A successful starter early in his career with the Dodgers, Stripling has stumbled over the past couple seasons. He posted a 4.80 ERA in 101 1/3 innings this past season and looks as if he’ll begin this year in a swing role after Toronto’s offseason efforts to bolster the rotation. Stripling will hit the open market after the season.
Reds Notes: Castellanos, Winker, Brach, Senzel
Nick Castellanos figures to be one of the offseason’s most sought-after free agency commodities, as there doesn’t appear to be much doubt that the outfielder will opt out of the final two years and $34MM of his current Reds contract. Such talks, however, are to be saved for the offseason, as Castellanos told The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters that he is only thinking about the Reds’ playoff race.
“Any speculation about free agency is nothing that’s come from my mouth,” Castellanos said. “Right now, the only thing that’s next for me is focusing on winning here. We have a chance to win here. I’m not going to squander that opportunity by thinking about something that’s after the season.”
Castellanos entered today’s action with 26 homers and a .321/.377/.578 slash line over 478 plate appearances, a performance that earned the first All-Star nod of his career. As he approaches his age-30 season, Castellanos looks well-positioned to land a much heftier deal than two years/$34MM, though playing for a winning team is his chief priority. The Reds will have to come up with a big offer to keep Castellanos in the fold, but their case of providing Castellanos with a winning environment will be bolstered if they can reach the postseason for the second consecutive year.
A healthy Jesse Winker would greatly help Cincinnati’s chances of landing the second NL wild card berth, as the slugger has been on the 10-day injured list since August 16 due to an intercostal strain. Reds manager David Bell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mike Petraglia) that Winker could start a minor league rehab assignment next weekend, “on the very positive, optimistic end of things.” While there is clearly a lot of caution baked into Bell’s statement, he noted that Winker is “definitely progressing,” with an increased amount of baseball activity expected for this week.
Brad Brach, meanwhile, has already started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Louisville and is on pace to be back in Cincinnati’s bullpen sometime this week. Brach went on the 10-day IL on August 8 due to a right shoulder impingement, after posting a 5.59 ERA over his first 29 innings in a Reds uniform.
The outlook is much less clear for Nick Senzel, however. Bell told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon and other reporters that Senzel recently had a second opinion about his surgically-repaired left knee, and “It seems that it’s going to take a while for him to get back and healthy. I don’t know what that means for the rest of the season, but it didn’t sound like it was going to be any time real soon.”
Senzel underwent the arthroscopic procedure in late May and was supposed to miss only 4-6 weeks, though he was eventually moved to the 60-day IL. The Reds activated him in mid-August, only to send Senzel back to the IL after fluid was discovered in his knee. Senzel is currently rehabbing at the Reds’ Spring Training facility in Arizona, hoping to make a return and salvage something from what is unfortunately looking like a lost season. The second overall pick of the 2016 draft has been hampered by multiple injuries during his brief career, limiting him to 163 games (and a .246/.308/.396 slash line) and 616 PA since the start of the 2019 season.
Reds Place Nick Senzel On Injured List
AUGUST 19: The Reds have reversed their option on Senzel and placed him back on the injured list, Krall told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer) this evening. While the club initially believed him to be healthy, further examination revealed some fluid in his surgically-repaired knee. A new timetable for Senzel’s return has not yet been defined.
AUGUST 15: Mike Freeman has been designated for assignment by the Reds, the team has announced. His roster spot was needed for Nick Senzel, who was activated off the 60-day IL and optioned to Triple-A.
Freeman was traded from Cleveland to Cincinnati in the offseason and has appeared in 37 games for the Reds this season. He’s served as a utilityman for the club, spending some time at each position except for right field and catcher. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to provide much value with his bat. In 65 plate appearances, the 34-year-old has a slash line of .186/.262/.186, producing a wRC+ of 23. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he’ll be able to elect free agency, since he’s been outrighted in the past.
Senzel underwent knee surgery in May and began rehabbing two weeks ago. He hasn’t yet lived up to the prospect hype the preceded his 2019 call-up. Since then, he has played in 163 big league games, with a line of .246/.308/.396, for a wRC+ of 83. Reds general manager Nick Krall tells C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic that they plan on continuing to use him at multiple positions as he tries to work his way back onto the big league roster.
NL Injury Notes: d’Arnaud, Ynoa, Flaherty, Mikolas, Sims, Antone, Senzel
The Braves are planning to activate Travis d’Arnaud from the 60-day injured list this week, possibly on Tuesday when the team begins a series with the Reds. Manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that d’Arnaud is slated to catch all nine innings of a minor league rehab game tomorrow, representing a final step in his recovery from surgery to repair a thumb ligament. A Silver Slugger winner in 2020, d’Arnaud hasn’t played since May 1 of this season, contributing to Atlanta’s near-total dearth of production from the catcher position.
Huascar Ynoa is also working his way back from a broken hand, as Snitker said the righty threw 68 pitches in his most recent rehab outing on Friday, and is scheduled to toss roughly 85 pitches in his next outing. With a 3.02 ERA over nine starts and 44 2/3 innings, Ynoa was a nice surprise for Atlanta’s rotation prior to his injury, and he could be used as either a starter, long reliever, or both upon his return to the active roster.
More injury updates from around the National League…
- “I’m going to pitch in Pittsburgh,” Jack Flaherty told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters, indicating that he plans to return from the 60-day IL during the Cardinals‘ upcoming series with the Pirates from August 10-12. A left oblique strain put Flaherty on the IL on June 1, leaving the Cards without their ace for a big chunk of the season. Miles Mikolas is also tentatively scheduled to return for next weekend’s series against the Royals, as Mikolas is working through a minor league rehab assignment of his own. Mikolas missed the entire 2020 season due to flexor tendon surgery, then made just one start in May before heading back to the IL due to forearm tightness.
- Some bullpen reinforcements look to be on the way for the Reds, as Lucas Sims might be activated from the 10-day IL on Sunday, and Tejay Antone could be ready sometime this week. Both relievers went on the injured list in the final week of June — Sims with a sprained right elbow, and Antone with a right forearm strain. Reds manager David Bell told Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer and other reporters that Sims has “a pretty strong chance” of returning tomorrow, while Antone’s timeline is more tentative since he was only scheduled to begin his rehab assignment today. “We want to get him back as quick as we can, but we want to do it in a way that is best for Tejay, and we can have him for the rest of the year and he doesn’t have to deal with this anymore at all, even next year or beyond,” Bell said.
- Nick Senzel‘s status is even more uncertain, as Bell said Senzel is “still not recovering exactly how we would want him to” after a week of rehab games. Senzel underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at the end of May, and was initially given a recovery timeline of 4-6 weeks. Things are open-ended enough that Bell said Senzel might return to the Reds within a couple of days if he shows improvement, but for now, the oft-injured Senzel is once again sidelined.
NL Central Notes: Senzel, Gant, Cardinals, Cubs, Hoerner
It’s going to be longer than originally expected before the Reds get Nick Senzel back on the field, as manager David Bell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon) that Senzel isn’t likely to be activated from the 60-day injured list as soon as he is immediately eligible. “I would think towards the end of July before we would see him back here,” Bell said. “That’s a bit of a guess, but just because there’s not an exact clear day right now. He’s definitely progressing the right way, but it’s just taken some time.”
Senzel was initially placed on the 10-day IL on May 21 and he underwent arthroscopic left knee surgery five days later, with Cincinnati shifting him to the 60-day IL in June when an 40-man roster spot was required. The 60-day placement backdates to May 21, so Senzel would have been eligible to return just after the All-Star break. While pushing Senzel’s return date back from mid-July to late July isn’t a huge delay on paper, it does represent even more lost time for a player who has unfortunately become an injured-list regular during his young career. On the plus side, Senzel has already started some light baseball activities, such as pre-game throwing over the last few days.
More from the NL Central…
- The Cardinals are shuffling their rotation, as manager Mike Shildt told MLB.com’s Zachary Silver and other reporters that right-hander John Gant is moving to the bullpen. Gant has a 3.76 ERA over 14 starts and 64 2/3 innings, though a 6.00 SIERA, a host of advanced metrics and a league-high 48 walks indicate that Gant has been very fortunate to post such a respectable ERA. Though control has been an issue for Gant throughout his career, he has posted good results as a reliever in the past, so the Cards are hopeful he can help out a struggling bullpen. As for the open rotation spot, it will likely be recently-signed veteran Wade LeBlanc moving from the pen to the starting five.
- Three injured Cubs pitchers are slated to begin Triple-A rehab assignments this weekend, as The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro was among those to report that right-hander Dillon Maples (triceps strain) will begin his rehab today, while right-hander Trevor Williams (appendicitis) and left-hander Justin Steele (hamstring strain) will get underway on Sunday. In addition, infielder David Bote (dislocated shoulder) might start a rehab assignment next week.
- There isn’t yet any word on when Nico Hoerner might begin his own rehab work, though the Cubs infielder/outfielder continues to make progress a month after being placed on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain. “It was a four-to-six-week injury, and four weeks was Tuesday [June 22]. So I think we’re at the right pace,” Hoerner told Russell Dorsey of The Chicago Sun-Times and other reporters. Hoerner has been ramping up activity over the last week, taking part in base-running drills and facing live pitching from Williams during the righty’s recent bullpen session. Hoerner was off to a very nice start prior to his injury, hitting .338/.405/.432 over his first 84 plate appearances.
Reds Reinstate Aristides Aquino From Injured List
The Reds announced they’ve activated outfielder Aristides Aquino from the 60-day injured list. Fellow outfielder Mark Payton was optioned to Triple-A Louisville to create active roster space. To open a 40-man roster spot for Aquino, utilityman Nick Senzel was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.
Aquino fractured the hamate bone in his left hand in mid-April. The break required a surgical repair, and the 27-year-old ultimately wound up missing two months. Prior to the injury, Aquino had served as something of a designated pinch-hitter, coming off the bench in all ten of his appearances. With Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos having incredible seasons in the corner outfield, Aquino figures to assume that role once again.
The Reds are in a bit of a bind when it comes to Aquino. He burst onto the MLB scene in 2019, hitting a staggering 14 home runs in 115 plate appearances that August. Aquino really struggled over that season’s final month, though, and he didn’t perform at the start of 2020 either. Ultimately, he spent a good portion of last year at the alternate training site. He’s not a natural fit in center field, and with Winker, Castellanos and Joey Votto ahead of him on the depth chart at the bottom of the defensive spectrum, there’s not been much of an opportunity for manager David Bell to give Aquino everyday run.
Aquino is out of minor league option years, meaning the Reds can’t send him to Louisville without designating him for assignment. Given the promise he flashed as a rookie, Cincinnati hasn’t wanted to run the risk of losing him for little or no return on waivers or via a small trade. That dilemma will likely keep him on the Reds bench for now.
Senzel was placed on the injured list on May 21, retroactive to May 19. The transfer rules him out for 60 days from the time of his original IL placement- not today- so he won’t be eligible to return to the majors until mid-July. The 25-year-old, who has dealt with a barrage of health problems throughout his professional career, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee shortly after going on the IL.
The procedure originally came with a four-to-six week rest period. There’s no indication that’s meaningfully changed. He’ll surely need to go on a minor league rehab assignment before getting back to the big leagues. If he’d been tracking towards the latter end of his projected timeline anyhow, there’s little harm for the Reds in moving him to the 60-day IL and giving him an extra few days to rehab, particularly considering his injury history.
Nick Senzel To Undergo Knee Surgery
Reds infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, manager David Bell announced (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). The Reds expect Senzel to miss approximately four to six weeks.
The news come five days after the Reds placed Senzel on the 10-day IL, and it’s the latest injury-related setback the former second overall pick and premium prospect has endured in his young career. Senzel previously dealt with issues with his shoulder (including surgery), ankle, groin, and finger, and he also missed time with an illness last season.
Thanks in part to his ongoing health woes, the 25-year-old Senzel hasn’t yet established himself as hoped in the majors. Since he debuted in 2019, Senzel has batted .246/.308/.396 with 15 home runs and 18 stolen bases in 616 plate appearances. He was off to a .252/.323/.315 start this year with one long ball and two steals over 124 PA prior to this injury.
Defensively, Senzel has been quite versatile, having made starts this season at second, third and in center field (primarily the latter). Cincinnati has mostly used Tyler Naquin in center when Senzel hasn’t played there, while the Reds have Jonathan India and Eugenio Suarez as their current starters at second and third. However, their infield is also without regulars Joey Votto and Mike Moustakas, who are on the IL.
Reds Place Nick Senzel, Wade Miley On 10-Day Injured List
The Reds placed infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel and left-hander Wade Miley on the 10-day injured list, the team announced. Senzel is dealing with left knee inflammation while Miley has a left foot sprain. In other moves, Cincinnati also designated right-hander Carson Fulmer for assignment, selected the contract of right-hander Brad Brach, and called up outfielder Scott Heineman and righty Ashton Goudeau.
Senzel has missed the last three games with the knee issue, and he’ll now make what has unfortunately become a rather familiar trip to the injured list. The 25-year-old has been set back by a wide variety of health problems in his young career, ranging from shoulder surgery to injuries to his ankle, groin, and finger, as well an illness-related absence last season and multiple bouts of vertigo. The second overall pick of the 2016 draft, Senzel has yet to really capitalize on his potential due to all these injuries, with a modest .246/.308/.396 slash line over his first 616 plate appearances in the majors.
Miley left his most recent start after 4 2/3 innings due to his foot injury. An MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage, so it’s possible Miley could return after just the minimum 10 days, and perhaps only miss one start thanks to a Reds off-day on May 24. The veteran southpaw has a 3.50 ERA/3.72 SIERA over 43 2/3 innings this season, succeeding despite a below-average strikeout rate by limiting hard contact. Miley’s year, of course, was highlighted by his no-hitter against the Indians on May 7.
Brach signed a minors contract with Cincinnati earlier this month, after he elected free agency rather than accept an outright assignment to the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in April. The 35-year-old has already been a member of three different organizations in 2021, after being released by the Mets in February. Brach’s first appearance for the Reds will officially put him on the books for his 11th Major League season, though he struggled over 66 2/3 innings with the Cubs and Mets in 2019-20.
Fulmer has been well-traveled himself over the last year, as he has been claimed five times off the DFA wire since July 2020. Beginning with the White Sox, Fulmer’s sojourn included stints with the Tigers, Orioles, and two different stops with the Pirates before landing with the Reds in March. The results haven’t been good for Fulmer in Cincinnati, however, as he posted a 6.66 ERA over 25 2/3 frames out of the Reds bullpen. It’s probably fair to assume that Fulmer’s time with the Reds could be nearing an end, given his past popularity on the waiver wire.
Goudeau can even top Fulmer’s mark, as Goudeau has been a part of six different waiver claims and six different organizations since November. After making his MLB debut with 8 1/3 innings for the Rockies in 2020, Goudeau now looks to be in line to make his first Major League appearance of 2021 after his many trips through DFA limbo.
Reds Activate Shogo Akiyama From Injured List, Shuffle Defensive Alignment
The Reds announced Friday that they’ve reinstated outfielder Shogo Akiyama from the 10-day injured list and put Joey Votto on the injured list in his place. Votto is expected to be out three to four weeks after fracturing his thumb in yesterday’s game. Akiyama has yet to play in 2021 due to a hamstring injury.
Perhaps of more interest to Reds fans will be the new-look defensive alignment the team is rolling out in the wake of Votto’s injury and Akiyama’s return. They’ll open this weekend’s series against the Indians with Mike Moustakas sliding over to first base in Votto’s place, while Nick Senzel moves from center field to second base. Eugenio Suarez is back at third base today, with Kyle Farmer stepping in for him at shortstop. Tyler Naquin is in Senzel’s customary center field, and Akiyama is getting a day in left while Jesse Winker serves as the designated hitter.
This particular alignment obviously won’t be the norm in Votto’s absence, as the Reds won’t have the DH in most of the games they play over the next month. But Moustakas sliding over to first base and Senzel moving from a crowded outfield into the infield could be frequently featured tactics. Second baseman Jonathan India has ample experience at third base, of course, so it’s possible we’ll see a frequent infield of India, Suarez, Senzel and Moustakas. Meanwhile, the Reds will rotate Winker, Naquin, Nick Castellanos and Akiyama in the outfield. Presumably, with the first three all hitting so well to begin the year, they’ll be viewed as the starting trio.
That said, the club surely still has hope of a better performance for Akiyama in is second season at the MLB level. The former Seibu Lions star signed a three-year, $21MM deal with Cincinnati in the 2019-20 offseason, and while he got on base at a nice clip last year, he struggled to hit for much average or power. The now-33-year-old Akiyama batted .245/.357/.297 with six doubles, a triple, no home runs and seven steals (10 attempts) through his first 183 big league plate appearances.
Injury Notes: Elieser, Brantley, Bracho, Senzel
Marlins righty Elieser Hernandez left today’s start in the third inning due to what the team described as “inflammation in his right biceps tendon.” Hernandez experienced a big velocity drop after his previous two innings of work, and manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola) that he initially thought it could be a recurrence of the blister problem that has bothered Hernandez in the past. Mattingly didn’t have any updates about Hernandez’s status after the game, other than to say “obviously, it’s something that we’ll have to be careful with.”
After posting a 3.16 ERA over the small sample size of 25 2/3 innings in 2020, Hernandez was being eyed by the Marlins as a candidate for a much more extended breakout this year. However, with Hernandez now possibly sidelined and Sixto Sanchez and prospect Edward Cabrera already nursing injuries, Miami already finds itself short on pitching depth. The Marlins have a bit of flexibility due to off-days both tomorrow and on April 9, but with Hernandez possibly facing an IL stint, De Nicola suggests the club could again look to acquire some veteran starting depth to replace the recently-retired Gio Gonzalez.
More injury updates from around baseball…
- X-rays were negative on Michael Brantley‘s right wrist after the Astros slugger was hit by a pitch from Oakland’s Cole Irvin today. Brantley remained in the game to play left field in the bottom half of the inning, but was replaced by pinch-hitter Chas McCormick the next inning when it was Brantley’s next turn at the plate. Manager Dusty Baker told MLB.com’s Alyson Footer and other reporters that the team initially feared a much worse injury: “I went out to talk to Michael, he couldn’t feel his fingers….He’ll probably be sore for a couple days. He couldn’t turn the bat head over so he’s day to day until then.” McCormick was playing in just his second career big league game today, though on a Houston club that was already lacking in outfield depth, McCormick looks to be the top fill-in option if Brantley has to miss a significant amount of time.
- Right-hander Silvino Bracho suffered a left oblique strain in his final spring outing, Giants manager Gabe Kapler told Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group and other reporters. Bracho is back playing catch but he will kept off a mound for the next 7-10 days. The oblique problem represents yet another health setback for Bracho, who missed all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery and then pitched only a single inning in 2020 due to both a setback in his TJ recovery and then a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. With 89 2/3 total MLB innings on his resume, Bracho had spent his entire pro career in the Diamondbacks organization before signing a minor league deal with the Giants during the offseason.
- Nick Senzel left the Reds‘ first game of the season due to a shoulder injury, but the outfielder returned to action today as a midgame defensive substitution. He also received one plate appearance in the Reds’ 9-6 victory over the Cardinals. There was certainly reason to fear the worst given Senzel’s lengthy injury history, though manager David Bell told reporters (including the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith) that Senzel’s issue was “nothing serious” and that Senzel could be “back in the lineup in a matter of a day or two.”