Quick Hits: Nationals, Schwarber, Martinez, Royals, Dozier, Red Sox, Prospects, Blalock, Yorke
Kyle Schwarber is now a member of the Washington Nationals, in no small part because of Nats manager Dave Martinez, per ESPN. Schwarber, of course, won a World Series with Martinez as his bench coach in Chicago. In fact, Martinez was the Cubs bench coach for the first three years of Schwarber’s career. Said Schwarber, per ESPN, “I love [Martinez] to death. I’m so excited to play for this guy. He only wants to win.” Washington hopes Martinez can help Schwarber recapture some of the magic that made him a star in Chicago. Schwarber will also reunite with Starlin Castro, with whom he played as a rookie on the 2015 Cubs. Elsewhere…
- Royals Assistant General Managers Scott Sharp and Jin Wong remain active in reaching out to agents about potential free agents, writes MLB.com’s Jason Beck. The Royals have been one of the more proactive teams in the Majors so far this winter, coming to terms with Mike Minor, Greg Holland, Michael A. Taylor, and Carlos Santana to Major League deals, all before the new year. The Royals are still potentially on the lookout for a left-handed bat, notes Beck. With just about $87MM in payroll commitments, the Royals have just a couple million before matching last year’s payroll. It wasn’t long ago, however, that Kansas City ran up payrolls over the century mark, so it’s possible they could extend yet another Major League contract, should the right deal fall their way.
- Ryan O’Hearn, Franchy Cordero, and Nicky Lopez are the only pure left-handed bats on the roster, and only the latter has a guaranteed spot as a regular player. Adalberto Mondesi and Carlos Santana are switch-hitters who will be in the lineup every day, but both have traditionally fared better hitting from the right side. In terms of their targets, Beck also notes that the Royals are growing comfortable with Hunter Dozier as the regular third baseman. All that in mind, a lefty corner outfielder would fit nicely onto the roster. Should they not find a bat at an appropriate price point, however, the Royals are believers in the long-term ability of Khalil Lee, who is a candidate for playing time in 2021.
- Red Sox prospect Bradley Blalock was a 32nd round draft choice in 2019, but after adding 10 pounds and roughly six miles per hour to his fastball, the 20-year-old right-hander will enter 2021 as a player to watch, per Alex Speier of Baseball America. Blalock is more-or-less just beginning his professional career, having signed out of high school for $250K in July of 2019. The Georgia native made just four appearances in rookie ball, giving up five earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out four over 6 2/3 innings. Elsewhere in the system, the prospect gurus at MLB.com name Nick Yorke as a player who could rise quickly through Boston’s system, writing, “The California prep product has the sweet right-handed swing, bat speed, pitch recognition and discipline to potentially become a .300 hitter with 20 homers per season.” Yorke was the No. 17 overall selection of the 2020 draft.
Red Sox Notes: Pivetta, Prospects, E-Rod, Yorke
Nick Pivetta will likely get a look late in the season with the Red Sox, but the team has kept its newly acquired right-hander at the alternate training site long enough to delay his path to free agency by a year, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe observes. Pivetta entered the year at two years, 94 days of MLB service, needing 78 more days to reach the three-year plateau. With each individual day of the 2020 season accounting for roughly 2.77 days of service time in this year’s prorated schedule, he’d have needed 29 days to get there. That won’t be possible based on his current trajectory, as Pivetta just started in a simulated game yesterday, meaning he won’t be an option to join the Boston rotation until next week.
It could all be a moot point if Pivetta doesn’t solidify himself in the big leagues, of course. The right-hander showed flashes of his potential at times with the Phillies and is able to miss bats in bunches. Consistency has eluded him, however, and the Phils flipped him to Boston in last month’s trade for Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree. Pivetta can now be controlled through the 2024 season, but he’ll need to improve upon the 5.23 ERA and 4.64 FIP he’s posted over the past three seasons.
More on the Red Sox…
- Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom spoke with Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald about player development and the decision to leave prospects like Tanner Houck down at the alternate site for much of the season — even as the big league roster saw continued struggles from journeymen who likely aren’t part of the long-term plan. Bloom cited a “big picture” approach to roster construction multiple times, suggesting that even if a prospect at the alternate site is a better option than someone on the MLB roster, that prospect’s development may not yet be finished. The remaining schedule is limited at this point, of course, but Bloom did indicate that additional young talent could yet get a look in the Majors. “There is one guy in particular I can think of that we’ve been building towards hopefully getting him an opportunity before the end of the year,” Bloom said without delving into specifics. (Speculate away, Sox fans!)
- Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, who did not pitch in 2020 after developing myocarditis as an after-effect of his bout with Covid-19, is in Boston for another wave of testing, manager Ron Roenicke told reporters today (link via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). The team has yet to determine how he’ll build up for his expected 2021 return. The club still doesn’t have a clear picture of when Rodriguez can resume baseball activities, though Roenicke expressed hope that he’ll be able to begin a strength program “within the next couple months.” The Sox might have to limit Rodriguez’s workload next year, pitching coach Dave Bush acknowledged. “For a guy like Eduardo Rodriguez, 200 innings last year and zero this year, we’re still figuring out exactly what we can expect from him next year and what’s a reasonable amount so he can pitch and be part of the rotation,” said Bush.
- The Red Sox announced this morning that they’ve added 2020 first-rounder Nick Yorke to their 60-man player pool. The 18-year-old infielder obviously won’t be a consideration for the big leagues this season, but he’ll spend the final couple weeks of the season getting some development work in with the team’s staff. Right-hander Colten Brewer, who is on the 45-day injured list and already known to be done for the year due to a finger injury on his pitching hand, was removed from Boston’s player pool.
Red Sox Sign First-Rounder Nick Yorke
The Red Sox have inked first-round pick Nick Yorke, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). He’ll receive a $2.7MM bonus.
That’s well shy of the $3,609,700 slot value allocated to the 17th overall selection with which York was taken. That was the expectation when the Sox surprisingly nabbed the high-school second baseman, who wasn’t widely seen as a first-round talent entering the draft.
The Boston organization obviously had a lot of faith in Yorke. Signing him to an under-slot deal also allowed the team to make more noise in the later rounds.
[RELATED: American League Draft Signings Picks & Bonus Info]
Yorke did draw one top-100 pre-draft ranking, from Baseball America. The calling card here is his hitting ability, which the Sox obviously feel bullish about. It’s not clear how much pop Yorke will develop, and there are varying views on where he’ll end up defensively, but the bat is compelling enough — in the Boston org’s view, anyway — to warrant the lofty selction.
Red Sox Will Reportedly Sign First-Rounder Nick Yorke To Below-Slot Deal
The Red Sox used the 17th pick in Wednesday’s first round on high school second baseman Nick Yorke, and it appears the two will reach an agreement. It’s “expected” that Yorke will sign for less than the $3.61MM slot value of his selection, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. The Red Sox have a bonus pool of $5,129,900, but they’re working without a second-rounder after losing it as a result of a sign-stealing scandal.
As Matt Eddy of Baseball America notes, Yorke became the first high school second baseman to come off the board in the opening round since LeVon Washington (a former Rays pick who didn’t sign) in 2009. Otherwise, only Rich Puig (1971), Terry Lee (1974) and Blake DeWitt (2004) have done it.
The California-born Yorke came into the draft “as one of the best pure hitters on the West Coast thanks to a well-balanced swing and excellent timing,” J.J. Cooper of Baseball America writes. However, MLB.com only placed Yorke in the No. 139 spot among this year’s draft prospects, citing concerns with his defense and a past shoulder surgery.