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Report: Red Sox Taking Offers On Rick Porcello, Others

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The defending World Series champion Red Sox are at least opening the door to some surprising sell-side moves, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter links). Though the club is obviously not going to divert from its attempt to repeat, it seems there’s a movement afoot to pare back some existing payroll.

The true end goal here isn’t clear. Boston already splurged to re-sign Nathan Eovaldi, giving him a four-year deal at a $17MM rate of pay, and it doesn’t seem as if the club is interested in doing anything that would substantially harm its competitive position. The division, after all, promises to be quite competitive — to say nothing of the top-heavy American League.

Still, the Sox are said to be “openly listening” to offers for veteran right-hander Rick Porcello, who’ll earn $21MM this year before reaching free agency. Yet more surprisingly, the club is said to be “willing to talk about” star shortstop Xander Bogaerts (projected $11.9MM arbitration salary in final season of eligibility) and quality center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. ($7.9MM, second-to-last season of eligibility).

Parting with any of these players would clearly harm the team’s 2019 roster — unless, that is, there was a plan in place to add a different piece to fill the opening. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the idea would indeed be to repurpose any payroll savings, perhaps opening the door to some bullpen reinforcements.

While that’s sensible from one perspective, it still feels like an incomplete picture. After all, it’s not as if the Boston organization has high-quality fill-in pieces knocking down the door.  In Porcello’s case, at least, there’s an argument that the Red Sox have sufficient depth after bringing back Eovaldi, but it obviously wouldn’t be as good as the sturdy 29-year-old. Bogaerts is not remotely replaceable from within; presumably, the club would go onto the market for a different option at short. As for Bradley, it’s easy to imagine Andrew Benintendi taking over in center, but that’d still leave an outfield opening that would need to be addressed in some regard (perhaps in part through reliance upon Steve Pearce and other existing reserves).

It’s fair to wonder just what the Sox could anticipate recouping in hypothetical trades. Porcello’s hefty salary limits his appeal, making him more of a candidate to be dealt for another spendy veteran or perhaps a limited prospect return. Bogaerts has plenty of rental value, though the Red Sox would be dealing with fellow contenders to find a fit and there’s limited demand at the shortstop position. Bradley is controllable fr two years and could fit in plenty of places, though his offensive numbers have been down and he’s not the type of piece that most teams would go wild to acquire — particularly with some similar players potentially also available via trade.

Generally speaking, boosting the farm would certainly be of interest, but it’d be quite tricky to do that and save money without significantly damaging the team’s immediate competitiveness. Sussing out how this potential strategy could make sense in the aggregate is frankly difficult to do without contemplating multiple successive transactions. It’s certainly a fascinating development for the Red Sox and the broader market, but it is tough to guess at this point how it might all play out.

Red Sox Notes: Pitching Staff, Kinsler, Moreland

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We checked in on Boston earlier Sunday in the aftermath of its loss on Saturday to the Yankees, who tied the teams’ ALDS matchup at a game apiece.  Here’s yet another set of notes on the Red Sox as they prepare for Game 3 on Monday:

  • The Red Sox have chosen Nathan Eovaldi, not Rick Porcello, to start Game 3, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe was among those to report. Porcello is slated to take the ball in Game 4, though manager Alex Cora said that could change if the Red Sox need him out of the bullpen Monday, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com tweets. Game 2 starter David Price also seems likely to be available in relief, Ian Browne of MLB.com relays. As for the 28-year-old Eovaldi, a former Yankee whom the Red Sox acquired from the Rays in July, he’s in line for his first playoff appearance. The hard-throwing right-hander earned his way into Boston’s October rotation by logging a 3.33 ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 54 regular-season innings with the team.
  • Second baseman Ian Kinsler – who, like Eovaldi, joined the Red Sox in a late-July trade – may be a regrettable pickup in the wake of an Aug. 3 hamstring injury, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe observes. Kinsler got off to a nice start with Boston, but since suffering the injury, his production has plummeted. The 36-year-old has slashed a measly .234/.280/.295 with a subpar 85.1 mph average exit velocity in 34 games dating back to his return from the disabled list, notes Speier. Further, his ongoing presence in the Red Sox’s lineup has kept Brock Holt – who thrived in September – on the bench. And Speier goes on to point out that adding Kinsler cost the Red Sox young reliever Ty Buttrey, who turned in quality numbers for the Angels after the trade and may have helped shore up Boston’s bullpen had it kept him. Of course, as Speier writes, there’s still time for Kinsler to emerge as a key contributor for Boston this postseason. He did collect a hit in each of their first two playoff games, including an RBI double on Saturday.
  • After leaving Saturday’s game with right hamstring tightness, first baseman Mitch Moreland is receiving “aggressive treatment,” Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston was among those to tweet. His status for Monday is still up in the air, but as was the case late Saturday, Cora expects Moreland to remain on Boston’s ALDS roster, per Cotillo.

Red Sox Notes: Price, Porcello, Eovaldi, Moreland

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Red Sox left-hander David Price has been among the majors’ best starters for the majority of his career, but playoff success has eluded the 33-year-old. In his latest disappointing October performance, Price threw 1 2/3 innings of three-run ball Saturday during a 6-2 loss to the Yankees, who evened the teams’ ALDS matchup at a game apiece. Amazingly, Price now owns an 0-9 record and a 6.03 ERA over 10 postseason starts, though his ongoing struggles on the game’s biggest stage won’t lead the Red Sox to pull him from their rotation. Both manager Alex Cora and pitching coach Dana LeVangie expressed confidence in the five-time All-Star after Saturday’s game, per Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. While Mastrodonato argues that the Red Sox should think about shifting Price to a relief role for the rest of the postseason, the team’s not considering it. Price is “one of our starters,” said Cora, who added that he simply had a “bad outing” in Game 2.

Given that the ALDS is only a best-of-five series, Boston won’t need Price to start again versus the Yankees. But after throwing just 42 pitches Saturday, Price could function as a reliever before the series is out. Price told Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and other reporters he’d be ready to pitch again as early as Game 3 on Monday, and he also declared (via Mastrodonato) that he’s “looking forward to winning games in October as a starter.”

More on Boston, whose series is shifting to New York for Games 3 and 4:

  • The Red Sox are deciding between right-handers Rick Porcello and Nathan Eovaldi for the third game of the series, Cora said Saturday (via Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston). It appears they’ll turn to Porcello, though, as Eovaldi suggested he’s lined up for Game 4, Rob Bradford of WEEI tweets. Porcello’s only a few days removed from working out of Boston’s bullpen, having thrown 15 pitches and picked up a pair of outs in the eighth inning of its Game 1 win Friday. The 29-year-old functioned solely as a starter during the regular season, as has been the case throughout his career, and pitched to a 4.28 ERA/4.01 FIP with 8.94 K/9 and 2.26 BB/9 in 191 1/3 innings. Porcello has been more effective on the road than at home this year, which seems to bode well for the Red Sox’s current situation. He posted a 4.77 ERA/4.63 FIP at Fenway Park during the regular season and a 3.86 ERA/3.48 FIP outside of Boston.
  • First baseman Mitch Moreland exited Saturday’s game in the eighth inning because of right hamstring tightness, Cora announced (via Cotillo). It doesn’t seem to be a serious issue, however, with Cora saying that Boston probably won’t remove Moreland from its ALDS roster. If healthy, the left-handed hitter’s likely to start Monday against Yankees righty Luis Severino, Cotillo writes. Boston replaced him Saturday with the righty-swinging Steve Pearce – who, to his credit, has outproduced Moreland against RHPs this year.

Playoff Notes: Wright, Barnes, Hicks

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Steven Wright won’t pitch again in the ALDS, per Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston via Twitter. Wright, arbitration eligible for the second time this winter, returned in 2018 to post a 2.68 ERA (4.37 FIP) in sixteen relief appearances and four starts after losing most of 2017 to invasive surgery that repaired cartilage in his knee. The knuckleballer had an MRI after feeling discomfort in the surgically repaired knee before the game, making him a last minute scratch from Alex Cora’s bullpen in Friday’s ALDS game one, and he will see a knee specialist when the team arrives in New York. In an earlier piece, Drellich noted that Wright’s replacement on the ALDS roster would likely come from a pool of Bobby Poyner, Heath Hembree, Hector Velazquez or Brian Johnson. For last night at least, even Rick Porcello was surprised to hear his name called, per this fun peak behind the curtain from Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Boston manager Alex Cora recognized the need for improvisation during the playoffs – as using Porcello in relief was plan “C and a half.” The injury likely affects Boston’s playoff rotation, as mid-season acquisition Nathan Eovaldi could slide up a day to take Porcello’s scheduled start in game three if the latter isn’t ready to go on two days rest.

More from the Red Sox, Yankees ALDS…

  • Drellich also writes that now might be the time for Matt Barnes to step up as the potential stopper the Red Sox need. With Craig Kimbrel an impending free agent, Barnes’ moment could extend through next season. Boston’s offseason decisions do not probably hinge on playoff performance – he’s been in the organization since 2011 and they likely have a sense for his abilities – but it’s an interesting narrative to track. The 28-year-old reliever would certainly be a cheaper option over Kimbrel –  he’s arb eligible for the first time this offseason – and his stuff compares – Barnes’ 14.01 K/9, 4.52 BB/9, 53 GB% to Kimbrel’s 13.85 K/9, 4.48 BB/9, 28.2 GB % in 2018. Collecting saves in 2019 would certainly net Barnes a larger pay bump his second time through arbitration. For next season, however, he provides Boston with a lower-cost option to close out games.
  • Across the diamond, MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports Aaron Hicks aggravated his bothersome right hamstring Friday. Hicks was forced to leave the game after singling off Chris Sale in the fourth and was scheduled for an MRI. Hicks has struggled with a series of nagging injuries during his Yankees tenure, to his oblique, intercostal muscle and now his hamstring – which he injured on September 24th before being cleared of a tear two days later. Brett Gardner is likely to get the start in game two if Hicks can’t go. More concernedly for Hicks, hamstring injuries are notoriously tricky as they often lead to overcompensation and further injury down the line if tested too early. One hopes Hicks can get healthy and stay healthy, lest he earn the ever-ominous label of “injury prone” leading up to his 2019 free agency. Hicks will be arbitration eligible for the final time this offseason and due a raise after hitting .247/.368/.465 with a 127 wRC+.

 

Injury Notes: Seager, Red Sox & Orioles Pitchers, Gray

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We just checked in on Rangers righty Andrew Cashner. Here are a few more injury situations worthy of note from around the game:

  • What seemed at first like a minor issue for Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager is beginning to seem a bit more concerning. While he’s apparently dealing with tightness in his back, manager Dave Roberts says it’s “oblique-ish” in location, as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Though Seager is said to be improving, it’s still not clear when the star youngster will return to the lineup. He also weighed in on the injury, saying that he doesn’t expect to have any trouble getting ready for Opening Day, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets.
  • Red Sox manager John Farrell gave updates on a variety of players to reporters, including Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. That includes lefty Roenis Elias, who has been diagnosed with an intercostal strain that will sideline him for at least a few weeks. A minor thumb issue for righty Rick Porcello doesn’t appear to be posing many problems. And while it’s not strictly an injury matter, it’s worth noting Farrell’s comments on righty Tyler Thornburg, who still needs to build up shoulder strength. That’s common for hurlers that are new to the organization, says Farrell, who cites a “period of adaptation” as pitchers “go through our shoulder maintenance program.”
  • Meanwhile, Red Sox lefty David Price isn’t yet ready to throw, but is able to go through a pitching motion, Drellich adds on Twitter. It’s promising, at least, that there’s forward momentum as he works through a flexor strain.
  • Time is tight for Orioles righty Chris Tillman, who is still not ready to return from his shoulder issues. He will need to progress smoothly to appear in the first week of the season, manager Buck Showalter told reporters including Rich Dubroff of PressBoxOnline.com (via Twitter). There’s perhaps a bit more breathing room for O’s closer Zach Britton, who’s working through oblique pain. Showalter says that he may appear in Grapefruit League action next after a pen session today, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun tweets.
  • Orioles righty Logan Ondrusek is taking the always-ominous trip to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. Ondrusek talked about how he experienced the elbow injury, explaining that he felt it on a single pitch but didn’t think more of it until he woke up with soreness that evening. He notes that it’s tough for pitchers who are going year to year to deal with potentially significant injuries. In his case, it’s not clear how his contract will work out. Ondrusek agreed with the O’s on a MLB deal that didn’t guarantee him all of his $650K salary.
  • Athletics righty Sonny Gray says he was surprised to learn of his lat strain, as Jimmy Durkin of the Mercury News reports. An MRI was ordered just to be on the safe side, which revealed “a little bit of a strain there that’s just going to take a little time to heal.” Gray says he’s confident he’ll return in relatively short order — and regain his former trajectory. “There’s no doubt in my mind that when this thing gets knocked out that I’m going to be back to being the guy I’ve always been,” he says. “It’s just another little test that I’ve got to deal with.”

Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello Win Cy Young Awards

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Max Scherzer of the Nationals and Rick Porcello of the Red Sox have won the Cy Young Awards in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced tonight.

That’s the second time the 32-year-old has taken home the hardware, though his prior award came in the American League (in 2013, with the Tigers). Scherzer led the N.L. with 228 1/3 innings, twenty wins, and a 0.968 WHIP. He ended the year with 2.96 ERA with 11.2 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.

That showing was good enough to beat out Cubs hurlers Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks — who finished second and third, respectively. Scherzer ended up with 25 of the 30 first-place votes, reflecting a strong consensus, but in truth it was a widespread field full of worthwhile contenders. That includes the absurdly dominant Clayton Kershaw, who probably would have run away with the award had he not missed a dozen starts due to injury, and the dearly departed Jose Fernandez, who garnered down-ballot consideration after a dominant season that ended in tragedy.

Porcello’s win came over fellow finalists Justin Verlander of the Tigers and Corey Kluber of the Indians. All were worthy contenders in a year in which nobody put up a truly dominant year. The best A.L. pitchers on a rate basis was reliever Zach Britton, who managed a fourth-place finish despite the innings limitations inherent to his job.

The vote came with its share of controversy. Verlander received 14 of the 30 available first-place votes, but narrowly missed the award when he was left off of two ballots altogether. The 33-year-old threw 227 2/3 innings of 3.04 ERA ball, with 10.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9, whereas Porcello racked up 223 frames of 3.15 ERA pitching on the back of 7.6 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9. The difference, perhaps, was that the ultimate victor managed a sparkling 22-4 win-loss record, whereas Verlander carried a less notable 16-and-9 mark.

AL East Notes: Osuna, Tazawa, Porcello, Yankees

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Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna gave Toronto fans a scare on Tuesday when he exited the team’s Wild Card game with the trainer, but the 21-year-old told reporters today that he expects to be ready to go for the ALDS on Friday (Twitter link via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi). Osuna explained that he felt a “stretch” in his shoulder at the time, but doctors informed that there’s no major issue and that he simply needs a couple days of rest. Osuna followed up a dominant rookie campaign with a remarkably similar sophomore effort, posting a 2.68 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9 to go along with 36 saves in 74 innings of work.

More from the AL East…

  • Junichi Tazawa’s time with the Red Sox may be coming to an end, writes Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Once one of the team’s most trusted setup men, Tazawa’s struggles in 2016 have probably left him on the outside looking in when it comes to Boston’s playoff roster, and, as a free agent at season’s end, that would mean he’s pitched his last game in a BoSox uniform (barring a new contract in the offseason, of course). As Drellich points out, Tazawa pitched well against lefties this season, but if the team wants another weapon against left-handed bats, Fernando Abad would be the go-to option. As it stands, Drellich writes that Craig Kimbrel, Brad Ziegler, Koji Uehara, Robbie Ross, Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and Drew Pomeranz are the likeliest members of the Red Sox to comprise the postseason relief corps. The 30-year-old Tazawa logged a 4.17 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 in 49 2/3 innings this season but struggled for much of the summer after a strong start.
  • Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski tells Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that when he drafted Rick Porcello as the Tigers’ GM, he expected that Porcello would eventually blossom into a top-of-the-rotation arm. However, while Porcello has reached that status in 2016, Dombrowski explained that the manner in which his right-hander has done so is different than his initial vision. “When we drafted him we thought of him as this flamethrowing top-of-the-rotation type guy,” said Dombrowski. “What he’s done is he’s adjusted to the game.” Dombrowski went on to laud Porcello’s command, stating that he never dreamed it could develop to the point that it has. Porcello himself talked about the difficulties he felt after getting off to a poor start to his Boston tenure, likening last season’s prolonged slump to the one that earned him a demotion back to the minors in his second big league season. He added that he’s not making any assumption that his 2016 success is here to stay: “I don’t want to get complacent and be like, ‘I’ve done this now. I’ve arrived. Now I can stop.’ As appreciative as I am of that recognition, I can’t allow myself to think like that.”
  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t expect to receive an extension from the team before his contract expires at the end of the 2017 season, writes MLB.com’s Barry Bloom. “I assume things will play out the way they’ve played out for a long time here, where we will go through next year and collective ownership will decide what we want to do as we move forward,” said Cashman, who expects that the same process will be applicable to manager Joe Girardi. “Unless ownership tells me otherwise, there’s that built-in assumption that we play our contracts out and then they’ll decide.”

AL Notes: Porcello, White Sox, Headley, J. Hamilton

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Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello has been at his best during his 33 starts with Boston when he has relied on his sinker, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com details. During his first 20 starts last season, Porcello threw his sinker 28 percent of the time against lefties and 41 percent versus right-handed hitters – down from career rates of 42 and 52 percent, respectively – and he pitched to an ugly 5.81 ERA. After a stint on the disabled list, Porcello returned and finished the season strong (3.14 ERA in eight starts) while throwing sinkers 44 percent of the time to lefty batters and 58 percent against righties. He’s at 49 and 57 percent this year, respectively, and has been among the top pitchers in baseball with a 2.76 ERA, 9.92 K/9, 1.65 BB/9 and 49.4 percent ground-ball rate over 32 2/3 innings (five starts). “He had to work extremely hard to get the sink back, to get that mindset back, because he had gotten away from it a little bit,” pitching coach Carl Willis told Lauber. “But once you get to that point, I think it’s simple because it allows him to then be himself and pitch to his strengths.” In addition to throwing more sinkers, Porcello helped his cause by changing his arm slot late in Spring Training after he raised it slightly thanks to an increased use of four-seam fastballs, per Willis.

More from around the American League…

  • White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams says the team has gotten over the Spring Training Adam LaRoche saga, which isn’t a surprise considering the club’s AL-best 17-8 record. “I had to do what was best for all parties. I’ve tried to stay above the fray and chose the road less traveled — the high road. We don’t talk about it anymore,” he told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Williams, of course, took plenty of heat from White Sox players when he told LaRoche that his son had to spend less time in the clubhouse, leading the first baseman/designated hitter to retire in March with $13MM left on his contract.
  • Yankees third baseman Chase Headley failed to amass a single extra-base hit in April while batting .150/.268/.150 in 71 plate appearances, and his struggles are thanks in part to his home ballpark. “Everybody talks about how good of a ballpark Yankee Stadium is to hit in, but it’s pretty big with the exception of right field,” he told FanGraphs’ David Laurila. “The rest of it plays as big, or bigger, than most yards. It’s maybe a better fit for guys who hit the ball high down the line than it for guys who hit the ball like I have for a lot of my career.” Headley is “working on” hitting the ball in the air more to right field and wants to increase elevation in general to combat defensive shifts. The 31-year-old has a 46.8 percent ground-ball rate and a fly ball percentage of 29.8 percent this season. Both of those numbers are worse than his career rates of 44.6 and 33.6, respectively.
  • Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton began a minor league rehab assignment Saturday in Double-A and totaled two at-bats, per Dave Sessions of MLB.com. Hamilton, who missed all of Spring Training with left knee problems, will need to accrue at least 20 to 30 ABs during his rehab assignment before rejoining the Rangers, manager Jeff Banister said. It’s unclear how Hamilton, who hit .253/.291/.441 with eight home runs in 182 plate appearances last year, will fit into the Rangers’ outfield plans when he returns. In addition to Hamilton, Shin-Soo Choo should come back later this month month from a calf injury to join an outfield that has mostly relied on Nomar Mazara, Delino DeShields and Ian Desmond this year.

AL East Notes: Kimbrel, Porcello, Jays, Orioles, Yankees

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Craig Kimbrel’s Red Sox career hasn’t gotten off to a particularly auspicious start, but manager John Farrell tells ESPN Boston’s Scott Lauber that the club still has “full trust” in its closer. While many fans might be panicking to some extent with Kimbrel having compiled a 5.00 ERA with a pair of homers allowed through his first nine innings of work, Lauber notes that Kimbrel encountered a similarly unproductive stretch to open last season before righting the ship and dominating over the season’s final five months. Kimbrel blames location of a few poorly placed fastballs to Chris Davis and Colby Rasmus for the pair of homers, noting that it’s early and that by season’s end, “…we’re going to be looking back at this and talking a little differently.”

More from the AL East…

  • Though Rick Porcello’s $82.5MM contract extension with the Red Sox is often lumped in with other ill-fated signings in Boston, the Herald’s Evan Drellich writes that Porcello has quietly begun to make the deal look more palatable. Across Porcello’s past 11 starts (dating back to his activation from the DL last August), he’s posted a 3.51 ERA with the eighth-best K/9 rate among AL starters (9.51) and the sixth-lowest BB/9 rate (1.64). GM Mike Hazen spoke highly of Porcello’s perseverance through a difficult first half last season, and Porcello himself spoke to Drellich about mechanical adjustments he’s made and a lack of well-executed pitches during his struggles. A rival executive from an AL team said of Porcello’s deal that it’s “not the most club-friendly, but not terrible,” which isn’t exactly a glowing review but speaks to the possibility that Porcello could still make good on the contract. I’d also add that while Porcello’s 4.66 ERA this season is unsightly, he rates third among MLB starters in K%-BB% and is regarded much more favorably by metrics like xFIP (2.89) and SIERA (2.54).
  • It remains unclear whether David Murphy will seek to join another organization after opting out of his deal with the Twins, but if he does, the Red Sox don’t have interest in bringing him back, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reports (Twitter link). Murphy spent the spring with Boston, but exercised his opt-out clause and was released just before the start of the season when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
  • Following Chris Colabello’s 80-game suspension for a failed PED test, Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com doesn’t expect the Blue Jays to “replace” the first baseman/outfielder in a traditional sense by acquiring another right-handed bat (links to Twitter). Rather, he notes that a contact-oriented, left-handed bat that can handle first base, outfield and DH is a more pressing need for the Blue Jays, who already have a very right-leaning lineup that is prone to strikeouts. Also impacting the Jays’ current roster construction, he tweets, is the fact that backstop Russell Martin is dealing with some lingering neck issues. Morosi further lists (link) the Cardinals as an eventual trade deadline partner given the presence of left-handed first basemen Matt Adams and Brandon Moss on their roster.
  • For now, at least, the Blue Jays appear likely to bring third baseman Matt Dominguez onto the major league roster, as Sportsnet.ca’s Nicholson-Smith and Shi Davidi report (Twitter links). Toronto plans to option righty Drew Hutchison back down to clear an active roster spot, but needs to wait for him to clear optional assignment waivers since he has over three years of service. (That’s a revocable waiver placement that is typically a formality.) Manager John Gibbons suggested that the Jays prefer to have a right-handed hitter who can play third and first, which points to Dominguez. The 26-year-old hasn’t seen the majors since 2014, but has shown twenty-homer pop before and is off to a solid .311/.333/.475 start in his 66 Triple-A plate appearances on the year.
  • Yahoo’s Jeff Passan chatted with Orioles closer Zach Britton about the struggles of Baltimore’s four once-vaunted pitching prospects under now-former pitching coach Rick Adair. Britton — along with Jake Arrieta, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz — was at one point looked as a building block for the rotation in Baltimore. Instead, only Tillman has experienced success in the Orioles’ rotation (and probably not to the extent which many had hoped), though Matusz and especially Britton have been productive in relief roles. In Britton’s view, the Orioles’ pitching philosophies between the minors and Majors were contradictory. “They took away the individual approach to everything,” he explained to Passan. “Things we did extremely well in the minor leagues to get to the big leagues – we were told that just doesn’t work here.” Britton feels that Arrieta could have flourished in Baltimore under new pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti but says his former teammate may have lost confidence in his abilities toward the end of his Baltimore tenure.
  • Short-term injuries to Aaron Hicks and Alex Rodriguez have left the Yankees with some roster difficulties, writes River Ave. Blues’ Mike Axisa. With both players sidelined around five to six days, the Yankees are looking at playing with a two-man bench, which of course is hardly ideal. Axisa notes that the club does have some 40-man flexibility due to other more serious injuries, though, and opines that placing both Hicks and Rodriguez on the 15-day DL (even if it’s longer than needed) is preferable to simply playing short for a few days. Axisa runs down some bench options in the duo’s absence, including Nick Swisher, who is hitting well in Triple-A and will see his first outfield action tonight.
  • Yankees’ minor-league righty James Kaprielian, the club’s first-round choice from 2015, has been shut down with elbow inflammation, the club announced (via Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal, on Twitter). He’ll hit the minor league DL and will be “treated conservatively” before he begins throwing again, per the club, which says there’s still no timetable for his return. Kaprielian, 22, was seen as a quick-to-the-majors arm, and he has impressed thus far in his professional career. Over 18 innings in three starts this year at the High-A level, he owns a 1.50 ERA with 22 strikeouts against just three walks and eight hits.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Betts, Bogaerts, Porcello, Chavez

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There are several big-picture reasons for the Yankees’ lack of free agent spending this offseason, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan writes.  With a new collective bargaining agreement looming, the Yankees may be hesitant to commit millions more in player salaries until they know what the new luxury tax and revenue-sharing formulas will entail.  Sources tell Passan that the luxury tax limit is likely to be raised from $189MM and New York therefore has a better chance of getting under the new threshold to lower its yearly penalty rate.  Between cutting down on luxury tax payments and losing several huge contracts (Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, etc.) over the next two seasons, it could position the Yankees to splurge in the incredibly star-studded 2018-19 free agent market.  The crown jewel of this free agent class is Bryce Harper, who has long been considered a future Yankees target — “their future marriage is considered so inevitable by most in the sport,” Passan writes.

Here’s more from around the AL East…

  • The Red Sox may not be in a rush to sign Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts to extensions, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes.  Even if Betts and Bogaerts continue to blossom into superstars, waiting another year to explore extensions might cost Boston only a couple of million dollars, a negligible amount for a big-market team.  The two players may themselves have reason to wait, as Speier cites the argument from Over the Monster’s Matt Collins that Betts and Bogaerts may want to see what the next CBA holds before committing to long-term deals.  Given the huge recent free agent contracts signed by players in their 20’s, Betts and Bogaerts also might not want to sign away any of their free agent years in an extension when a much larger score could await them down the road.
  • In a recent podcast interview with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, Rick Porcello discussed the decision process that went into signing his four-year, $82.5MM extension with the Red Sox last offseason.  Without that contract, Porcello would’ve been a free agent this winter on the heels of a pretty shaky 2015 campaign.  Despite the righty’s struggles, Bradford notes that Porcello still could’ve found himself a healthy contract on the open market — Jeff Samardzija and Ian Kennedy both landed large multi-year deals despite coming off of rough seasons themselves, and Porcello is four years younger than either of those pitchers.
  • Jesse Chavez’s arbitration hearing with the Blue Jays took place Friday and a decision is expected today, according to the Associated Press.  Chavez is arguing for a $4MM salary in 2016 while the Jays countered with a $3.6MM offer.
  • Mark Trumbo is excited to be an Oriole, he tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, though he was surprised when the O’s acquired him from the Mariners since he didn’t know the club had interest.  Trumbo believes he’s a better first baseman than outfielder, though with Chris Davis now back at first for years to come in Baltimore, Trumbo says “it doesn’t matter to me one bit” where he slots into the lineup as long as it helps the team win.
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