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Pedro Baez

Dodgers Release Pedro Baez

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The Dodgers have released Pedro Baez, according to the right-hander’s MLB.com profile page.  Baez made his return to the organization when he signed a minor league contract in May.

Baez appeared in three games with the Astros before being released in late April, but didn’t return to the mound until July, when he pitched with the Dodgers’ Arizona Complex League affiliate.  Moving to Triple-A Oklahoma City at the end of July, Baez struggled to a 14.29 ERA over 5 2/3 innings in OKC, with much of that damage coming in his final outing.  Just yesterday, Baez allowed five runs without recording a single out against the Sugar Land Skeeters.

From 2014-20, Baez was a very dependable member of the Los Angeles bullpen, posting a 3.03 ERA over 356 innings with the Dodgers and helping the team capture the World Series in 2020.  However, Baez’s strikeout rate and fastball velocity both started to decline during that 2020 season, but that didn’t stop Houston from inking the right-hander to a two-year deal worth a guaranteed $12.5MM.

That deal ended up being a bust for the Astros, as Baez threw only 6 2/3 innings in a Houston uniform before being released in April.  Shoulder problems kept Baez on the sidelines for the majority of the 2021 season, and given his near-total lack of results over the last two years, there is certainly a fear that Baez may no longer be effective as a big league pitcher (or perhaps even as a Triple-A pitcher) at age 34.

The Dodgers would’ve only owed Baez the prorated portion of the Major League minimum salary if he’d reached their active roster, so with this release, the Dodgers cost themselves nothing by seeing if a familiar face could regain his old form.  The Astros are responsible for what remains of Baez’s $5.5MM salary for the 2022 season, and that figure will only lessen by a prorated minimum salary if another team should sign Baez and add him to the MLB roster.

Dodgers Sign Pedro Baez To Minor League Deal

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The Dodgers have brought righty Pedro Baez back to the organization on a minor league contract, reports Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). The longtime Dodger setup man hit free agency following the 2020 season and inked a two-year, $12.5MM contract with the Astros but was designated for assignment and released by Houston earlier this season. For now, Baez is headed to the Dodgers’ complex in Arizona to work with the staff before being assigned to a minor league affiliate.

That Baez isn’t jumping directly into minor league games shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The 34-year-old was limited to just 6 2/3 innings in 2021-22 combined thanks largely to a shoulder injury that limited him to just 4 1/3 frames last year. Baez was healthy enough to take the mound for 2 1/3 innings this season, but he was tattooed for six runs in that time and sat at 90.2 mph with his fastball — a catastrophic drop from the 95.9 mph he averaged as recently as 2019.

There’s little harm in the Dodgers taking what amounts to a free look at Baez. He’ll only be owed the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster, as the Astros are otherwise on the hook for the right-hander’s 2022 salary. Given Baez’s track record with the Dodgers — 3.03 ERA, 25.3% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate, 100 holds, 356 innings — it’s understandable that L.A. brass would be hopeful of getting him back into form. Boosting Baez’s heater all the way back into the 96 mph range might be a long shot, but he had success in 2020 even with his heater sitting at a slightly lower 94.4 mph.

The Dodgers don’t necessarily need bullpen help at this point, but teams generally never feel they can have too much depth of this nature. Los Angeles relievers have combined for a 3.22 ERA and 3.29 FIP that rank fifth and fourth in the Majors, respectively, and they also have the game’s fifth-best strikeout rate (26.8%) and third-best walk rate (7.6%). That said, they’re a bit banged up as well, with Blake Treinen out until after the All-Star break, Victor Gonzalez on the 60-day IL and right-hander Tommy Kahnle recently landing on the 15-day IL.

Harris tweets that Kahnle is dealing with a bone bruise in his elbow, which the Dodgers are treating with a one-to-two-week shutdown from throwing. Adding another experienced arm like Baez, even if he’s now something of a project, gives them a lottery ticket of sorts who could potentially help later in the season if he’s able to rebuild some strength and velocity.

Astros Release Pedro Baez

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The Astros informed reporters (including Jake Kaplan of the Athletic) this afternoon that reliever Pedro Báez has cleared waivers and been unconditionally released. This was the anticipated outcome after the team designated the right-hander for assignment on Tuesday.

Báez’s tenure in Houston comes to a disappointing end. Signed to a two-year, $12.5MM guarantee in January 2021, he wound up making just seven appearances in an Astros uniform. His tenure was set back by an early positive COVID-19 diagnosis, which delayed his season debut. During his attempt to ramp-up after recovering, Báez came down with shoulder soreness that necessitated a lengthy stay on the injured list. Houston didn’t activate him for his team debut until the second week of August.

His return lasted just two weeks. Báez’s results were fine, but his fastball velocity — which had been in the 94-96 MPH range during his two prior seasons with the Dodgers — had plummeted south of 91 MPH. Báez went back on the IL in late August with more shoulder soreness and didn’t return last year. He returned to the mound to open the 2022 campaign, but he averaged just north of 90 MPH on his heater through three outings. Báez was tagged for six runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings.

Paired with his diminished arsenal, those subpar results convinced the front office to pull the plug. At the time of his designation, Houston general manager James Click praised Báez’s work ethic and attempts to rediscover his velocity but conceded the team hadn’t gotten “the progress we had hoped to see to get him back to the form he was in when we signed him” (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com).

The Astros will remain on the hook for the approximate $4.9MM still due to Báez for the rest of this season. They’ll also owe him a $2MM buyout on a 2023 club option. Any other team can now take a look on a low-cost deal. A team that signs Báez would owe him only the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum salary, which would be subtracted from Houston’s expenditures, for any time he spends in the majors.

Astros Designate Pedro Baez For Assignment

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The Astros have designated right-hander Pedro Baez for assignment and recalled righty Seth Martinez from Triple-A Sugar Land, the team announced Tuesday.

Baez, 34, is just weeks into the second season of a two-year, $12.5MM contract that also contained a club option for the 2023 season. He missed the majority of the 2021 season due to shoulder troubles, however, pitching just 4 1/3 innings. He’s been limited to 2 1/3 frames thus far in 2022, during which time he’s been clobbered for six runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks with two punchouts. Baez’s fastball, which averaged nearly 98 mph at its peak and sat at 96 mph as recently as 2019, has averaged just 90.2 mph so far in 2022.

Houston will technically have a week to trade Baez or place him on outright waivers, but that’s a generally moot point. Another team isn’t going to take on the remainder of this season’s $5.5MM salary or the $2MM buyout he’s still owed on next year’s club option — not with his recent shoulder troubles and alarming velocity dip. Even if Baez were to be passed through outright waivers, he could reject an outright assignment to a minor league affiliate, elect free agency and retain his salary based on the level of big league service time he’s accrued.

The most likely outcome here is that the Astros will eat the remaining $4.91MM on Baez’s salary, as well as the $2MM buyout on next year’s option and simply release him. Baez would be free to sign with a new club, at which point that team would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time he spent in the Majors. That sum would be subtracted from the $6.91MM the ’Stros otherwise owe him.

Disheartening as Baez’s brief time with the Astros was, he was a well-regarded late-inning arm for the Dodgers in the years leading up to his free agency. From 2014-20, Baez tallied 356 innings of 3.o3 ERA ball with 100 holds, three saves, a 25.3% strikeout rate and an 8.2% ground-ball rate. He tacked on another 29 1/3 innings of 3.99 ERA ball in the playoffs, and if you set aside a rough showing in the early stages of his career (2014-15), Baez notched a 2.70 mark in 26 1/3 postseason innings from 2016-20.

Astros Reinstate Pedro Baez From Injured List

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The Astros announced they’re activating reliever Pedro Báez from the 60-day injured list in advance of tonight’s game against the Rockies. Bullpen colleague Rafael Montero is landing on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder discomfort in a corresponding move. To open space for Báez on the 40-man roster, the club transferred righty Andre Scrubb from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Báez, signed to a two-year deal over the winter, is finally in line to make his Astros debut. The 33-year-old missed a few weeks in Spring Training after testing positive for COVID-19, then felt soreness in his right shoulder during his attempt to ramp up a throwing program. The latter issue has kept him out of action for the past few months as the soreness has persisted. Fortunately, he’s now apparently healthy and able to contribute for the stretch run.

During his time with the Dodgers, Báez was quietly one of the league’s more consistent and productive relievers. He posted an ERA between 2.63 and 3.35 during each of his seven seasons in L.A. While Báez’s run prevention numbers never wavered, his peripherals have tailed off in recent seasons. The righty struck out a career-worst 18.6% of opponents last year with accompanying dips in swinging strike rate and velocity.

That came in a 17-inning sample during an anomalous year, though, and the Astros felt comfortable enough to add Báez on a $12.5MM guarantee. If he pitches at or near the level he showed throughout his Dodgers’ tenure, Báez would be a significant upgrade to a Houston relief unit that’s middle of the pack in terms of ERA (3.97) and strikeout/walk rate differential (15.2 percentage points).

Houston added Montero alongside Kendall Graveman from the Mariners at the trade deadline as part of an effort to shore up the bullpen. Montero had a nightmarish time in Seattle, but he’d begun his Astros tenure with six innings of one-run ball. He left Sunday’s game against the Twins with a shoulder issue, though, and his recovery timeline remains uncertain.

Scrubb is also down with a shoulder issue. The 26-year-old landed on the IL on July 19 with a strain. Today’s transfer rules him out for sixty days from that date, so he’s looking at a mid-September return in a best case scenario. There’s no word on whether or not the team expects he’ll be able to pitch again this season.

Manager Dusty Baker provided reporters (including Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and Mark Berman of FOX 26) with updates on a pair of different injured players. Star third baseman Alex Bregman still isn’t ready to return, and his allotted twenty-day rehab window has passed. League rules stipulate that position players not prepared to return after the conclusion of their rehab period must remain inactive for at least five days before reembarking on a minor league assignment, so Bregman can’t return to game action until Friday.

Starter José Urquidy, meanwhile, is scheduled to begin his own rehab assignment tomorrow. Baker said the club is hopeful he’ll be back on a big league mound by September 1. Urquidy has been out since June 30 with right shoulder discomfort.

Astros Notes: Garza Jr., James, Bregman, Báez, Brantley

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The Astros have designated Ralph Garza Jr. for assignment, according to Chandler Rome of The Houston Chronicle. Rome speculates that this move is to facilitate the activation of Josh James. Before today’s game, general manager James Click told reporters, including Fox 26’s Mark Berman, that James was close to returning. James has shown flashes of excellent for the club over the past few years, especially his 2018 debut, wherein he threw 23 innings with an ERA of 2.35. But since that time, he’s struggled with both inconsistency and injuries, most notably undergoing hip surgery in October of 2020. The Astros made some additions to their bullpen before Friday’s trade deadline, bringing in Kendall Graveman, Yimi Garcia, Rafael Montero and Phil Maton. Getting James back into the fold could further bolster the relief corps as the team gears up for a pennant race. The club is currently atop the AL West, 5 1/2 games ahead of the Athletics.

As for Garza, he made his major league debut earlier this year and has thrown 11 innings out of Houston’s bullpen, with an ERA of 4.09 and a solid strikeout rate of 28.6%, but a poor walk rate of 14.3%. Although those numbers aren’t excellent, Garza is 27 years old and can be optioned to the minors, meaning he could be of interest to a club that just created some vacancies at the deadline.

More from Houston…

  •  As noted in Mark Berman’s tweet above, Click is hoping that Alex Bregman and Pedro Báez could return by “this homestand, but we’re still assessing.” The Astros are currently on the road, meaning that Click was likely referring to the upcoming homestand from August 5th to 11th. Báez had been a mainstay of the Dodgers’ bullpen until reaching free agency after the 2020 season and signing with Houston. But he’s yet to make his debut for the Astros, largely because of a shoulder injury. Getting him healthy would be helpful for the bullpen, but nowhere near as impactful as the return of Bregman. The third baseman has been one of the best players in baseball in recent years but has missed more than a month with a quad injury. Before being placed on the IL, Bregman had a wRC+ of 120, which is actually his lowest mark since his 2016 debut.
  • Michael Brantley left today’s game with “right ankle discomfort”, according to Rome. The 34-year-old outfielder is having an excellent season at the plate, hitting .330/.384/.477, for a wRC+ of 143, which would be the second-best of his career, after putting up a wRC+ of 151 in 2014.  After the game, manager Dusty Baker said x-rays were negative and that he didn’t expect Brantley to hit the IL.

Injury Notes: Jays, Fried, Astros, Freeland

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A few health updates from around the game…

  • Center fielder George Springer’s Blue Jays debut is on hold yet again. As of Sunday, manager Charlie Montoyo was optimistic Springer would debut tonight, but that wasn’t the case. Springer is “not ready yet,” Montoyo said (Twitter links via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet), though he did take batting practice and run the bases on Tuesday. Montoyo added that “[Springer] feels great except the running.” The former Astro has been trying to work back since suffering a right quad strain three weeks ago. In better news for the Blue Jays, ace Hyun Jin Ryu is recovering well from the right glute strain he incurred Sunday and shouldn’t miss a start, Nicholson-Smith relays.
  • The Braves are “likely” to activate left-hander Max Fried from the 10-day injured list next Tuesday or Wednesday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com tweets. If true, it’ll go down as roughly a three-week stay on the IL for Fried, who suffered a right hamstring strain during his most recent start on April 13. Once he returns, the 2020 NL Cy Young contender will try to rebound from a ghastly three-start, 11-inning stretch in which hitters victimized him for 15 runs (14 earned) on 23 hits and five walks.
  • Tuesday brought some positive and negative health-related developments for the Astros’ pitching staff. The good news: Southpaw Framber Valdez is making tremendous progress from a left ring finger injury and could rejoin their rotation sometime in June, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic relays. Valdez turned in a stellar performance in 2020, but he hasn’t gotten a chance to follow up on it this year. As for the bad news, righty reliever Pedro Baez has halted his throwing program on account of lingering shoulder soreness. The Astros transferred Baez from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Monday, meaning he won’t make his first appearance with the club until June 9 at the earliest. Houston signed the former Dodger to a two-year, $12.5MM guarantee over the winter.
  • Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland said Tuesday that he will “absolutely” pitch in the majors this season, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter links). Freeland, a little over a month removed from suffering a strained pitching shoulder, had an “outstanding” bullpen session on Tuesday and could throw a sim game next week, according to manager Bud Black. However, there’s still no clear timetable for a potential 2021 debut for Freeland, who finished third on the Rockies in innings (70 2/3) and recorded a 4.33 ERA/4.95 SIERA with a 51.5 percent groundball rate last season.

Astros To Activate Jose Altuve, Place Jake Odorizzi On 10-Day IL

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5:43pm: Houston has also optioned infielder Abraham Toro and moved righty reliever Pedro Baez from the 10-day IL to the 60-day version, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic tweets. Baez inked a two-year, $12.5MM contract in free agency, but he hasn’t made his Astros debut yet. He began the season on the COVID-19 list, and then the Astros moved him to the 10-day IL on April 10 because of shoulder soreness.

3:13pm: The Astros will activate second baseman Jose Altuve from the COVID-19 list and place right-hander Jake Odorizzi on the 10-day injured list, Mark Berman of Fox 26 was among those to report. The team has also recalled righty Peter Solomon.

Altuve hasn’t played since April 13 on account of a positive COVID test. Before that, the former AL MVP got off to a strong .318/.380/.455 start over 50 plate appearances. The Altuve-less Astros primarily turned to Aledmys Diaz at the keystone during Altuve’s absence, and he performed well as a fill-in, evidenced by his .245/.327/.388 line through 55 trips to the plate.

Odorizzi is dealing with a right pronator muscle strain that forced him to exit his start against the Angels on Saturday after he threw just five pitches. Signed to a two-year, $23MM contract before the season, Odorizzi has been the weakest link in the Astros’ rotation thus far, having yielded nine earned runs on nine hits (including three homers) with 11 strikeouts against three walks in eight innings. The Astros expect Odorizzi to miss two starts.

COVID Notes: 4/10/21

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The latest coronavirus-related situations from around baseball…

Latest Moves

  • Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez isn’t available today due to COVID protocols, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe).  Martinez isn’t feeling well and could be back in the lineup as early as tomorrow, though the team is being cautious until Martinez gets his test results back. UPDATE: Martinez has been placed on the COVID IL, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Glove (via Twitter). Michael Chavis has been recalled to take his roster spot for the time being.

Earlier Today

  • The Blue Jays placed Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on the COVID-19 injured list, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (via Twitter). Santiago Espinal was activated to take his roster spot. Gurriel left Friday’s game after feeling vaccine-related symptoms, so he’s not likely to be out for too long.
  • Ryan Borucki, meanwhile, makes a quick return from the COVID IL. Ty Tice has been optioned. Tice made one appearance, tossing a pair of scoreless innings.
  • The Astros shifted Pedro Baez from the COVID-19 injury list to the regular 10-day injured list.  Baez is suffering from right shoulder soreness, as manager Dusty Baker told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters that Baez “was trying to do too much too soon” in his preparations to return from the COVID list.  Baez was placed on the COVID list in early March, so he missed a good chunk of Spring Training while sidelined.  Since being put on the normal IL required Baez to be returned to the 40-man roster, the Astros had to move Austin Pruitt to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding move.
  • The Yankees reinstated both Gio Urshela and Rougned Odor from the COVID-19 injury list, the team announced.  In corresponding moves, infielder Tyler Wade was optioned to the alternate training site, and first baseman Mike Ford had been optioned to the alternate site after last night’s game.  It was only a brief absence for Urshela, who ended up missing just last night’s game due to some side effects after receiving a vaccine.  Odor himself was only in COVID protocols due to standard intake and testing procedure after he was acquired in a trade from the Rangers earlier this week.
  • Cubs first base/catching coach Craig Driver has tested positive for the coronavirus and has returned to Chicago, the team told reporters (including The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro).  Contact tracing and testing revealed no other positive results within the team’s traveling party over the last three days.  Driver is in his second season on the Cubs’ coaching staff, after spending the previous two seasons as the Phillies’ receiving coach and bullpen catcher.

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Astros Notes: Odorizzi, Valdez, Baez, Scrubb, James

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Astros’ brass met with reporters (including Brian McTaggart of MLB.com and Jake Kaplan of the Athletic) in recent days and provided updates on a host of sidelined pitchers. Righty Jake Odorizzi will make his regular-season debut sometime during the team’s initial homestand, which runs from April 8-14. The Astros inked Odorizzi to a two-year, $23MM guarantee in free agency, but he’s behind the 8-ball after sitting on the open market until earlier this month.

The Odorizzi signing came on the heels of Framber Valdez’s fractured finger early in Spring Training. At the time, there had been fear the left-hander would require surgery and miss the entire season. Valdez is attempting to rehab the injury without going under the knife, and it seems the early returns are positive. Pitching coach Brent Strom called the latest reports on Valdez’s health “very, very exciting and very good,” although the Astros have yet to provide word on a potential target date for his return.

Houston is also without a few key relievers due to health situations. Righty Pedro Báez – like Odorizzi, one of Houston’s offseason additions – won’t be ready for major league action for at least the first couple weeks of the season. The team hopes he’ll be back on the mound in late April. Báez, whom the Astros signed to a two-year, $12.5MM guarantee, has been on the COVID-19 injured list for three weeks. Fellow right-hander Andre Scrubb is looking at a mid-April return after leaving a recent Cactus League game with shoulder soreness.

Another righty, Josh James, is targeting late May or early June for a return of his own. The 28-year-old underwent surgery to repair a labral tear in his left hip at the end of last October.  The procedure initially came with a six-to-eight month recovery timetable, so it seems James is right on schedule.

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