Giants Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Mariners To Spend? Tigers To Contend? And Managerial Vacancies

By Mark Polishuk | October 4, 2023 at 9:54am CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Mark Polishuk is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

The start of the playoffs, with Mark and Anthony making their World Series predictions (1:20)
The Mariners fell just shy of the postseason, so how will the team reload in the winter to address several problem areas on the roster? And, could the M’s splurge on the biggest marquee signing of all in Shohei Ohtani? (3:18)
Eduardo Rodriguez’s opt-out clause is the biggest question mark facing the Tigers as their offseason begins, but could Detroit be relatively close to getting back into contention next year? (7:18)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

How will the Dodgers address their pitching needs this offseason, and is J.D. Martinez a candidate to be re-signed after his strong year in Los Angeles? (14:05)
How does a manager impact a team’s ability to lure free agents, plus a broader look at the four current managerial vacancies with the Angels, Giants, Guardians, and Mets (22:12)

Check out our past episodes!

Free Agent Pitching Dark Horses, Padres To Cut Payroll, and If The Angels Should Rebuild — listen here
Front Office Changes in Boston and New York, and the New Rays Stadium Agreement — listen here
Free Agent Class Preview: Catcher and First Base, Germán Márquez Extension and the Dodgers’ Rotation — listen here

Injury Notes: McCarthy, Pham, Giants, Hoskins

By Nick Deeds | October 3, 2023 at 10:32pm CDT

The Diamondbacks announced this evening that outfielder Jake McCarthy had been removed from the club’s playoff roster prior to tonight’s opener of the Wild Card series against the Brewers, with infielder Jace Peterson taking McCarthy’s place on the roster. Per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, McCarthy sustained an oblique injury during batting practice just before the game. McCarthy will be ineligible to play in both the Wild Card series and the NLDS, though he could return to the club’s postseason roster for the NLCS in the event he makes it that far.

McCarthy had a breakout season for the Diamondbacks last year, with a .283/.342/.427 slash line in 99 games with the club. Unfortunately for both Arizona and McCarthy, he struggled to live up to his rookie campaign during his age-25 season this year. Over 312 trips to the plate in 2023, McCarthy hit just .243/.318/.326 as his power nearly completely evaporated- after slugging 27 extra base hits including eight home runs in 2022, he managed just 14 extra base hits with two home runs this year. Replacing McCarthy as a left-handed bat off the bench is Peterson, who has batted .211/.304/.307 in 133 games this year split between Oakland and Arizona.

More injury news from around the league…

Sticking with the Diamondbacks, fellow outfielder Tommy Pham has been dealing with injury struggles of his own, telling MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert that he’s currently battling turf toe and left open the possibility that he would receive an injection to help alleviate the pain before the game earlier tonight. Pham’s slashed a solid .256/.328/.446 over 129 games with the Mets and Diamondbacks this year but has largely been limited to playing DH since the start of September, perhaps due in part to his current ailment.
During the end-of-season press conference for the Giants today, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi provided updates on a pair of injured players. As relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, outfielder Austin Slater is set to undergo arthroscopic elbow surgery this offseason after several years of discomfort in the area. Slater, who slashed .270/.348/.400 in 89 games for San Francisco this season, figures to be ready for Spring Training in February. Pavlovic also relays that right-hander Alex Cobb is set to get a second opinion on the hip impingement that left him on the injured list for the last few weeks of the season in the near future. Cobb, who turns 36 later this week, was the club’s only regular starter behind ace Logan Webb and performed well in that role when healthy enough to take the field, posting a 3.87 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 151 1/3 innings of work.
Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who has been out all season due to a torn ACL, threw out the first pitch prior to the club’s win over the Marlins in Game 1 of the Wild Card series this evening. That might not be his only part in Philadelphia’s postseason run if the club makes it back to the World Series, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted today that Hoskins is set to head to the club’s stay-ready camp in Clearwater, Florida to begin facing pitchers in live batting practice. The news represents a major step in Hoskins’ recovery and leaves the door open for Hoskins to return at the end of the club’s postseason run if they can make it that far, much like how teammate Kyle Schwarber made it back from a torn ACL of his own to DH for the Cubs during the 2016 World Series.

Zaidi: Marco Luciano Will Have “The Chance” To Be Giants’ Everyday Shortstop In 2024

By Nick Deeds | October 3, 2023 at 9:41pm CDT

With longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford’s contract having run its course, the Giants will be looking at a new starting shortstop in 2024 for the first time in over a decade. While the club pursued Carlos Correa in free agency last offseason to take over the reins at short, the club now appears poised to stay internal as they look for their future shortstop. As relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters as much during his end-of-season presser today, saying that “As we sit here now, we want to give Marco Luciano the chance to be the everyday guy next year.”

“If anything, his call-up was slowed down by the injury he had this year,” Zaidi added. “We would have liked to see him up here a little bit more, but he’s worked his way up and earned this opportunity and we’re really excited about what we saw the last couple of weeks.”

With that vote of confidence, it seems fairly safe to assume that the club won’t pursue significant upgrades up the middle, instead placing Luciano at short with Thairo Estrada, who was among the club’s most valuable hitters in 2023 alongside Lamonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores, remaining at second base. Luciano hit .231/.333/.308 with a 37.8% strikeout rate during his time in the big leagues this year, though of course that was a minuscule sample size of just 45 plate appearances. More representative of the talent that made Luciano a consensus top-40 prospect in the game entering the 2023 campaign is his .259/.356/.479 slash line in 292 career minor league games, including a .223/.334/.442 slash line in 320 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this year.

The shortstop position was far from the only thing Zaidi addressed during the presser, of course. Zaidi noted (per Pavlovic) that he hopes to create a more athletic roster with improved defense this offseason, citing both Luciano and fellow rookie Tyler Fitzgerald as possible pieces of the puzzle in that regard. Fitzgerald slashed .219/.265/.469 in 34 plate appearances at the big league level this year while playing both third base and center field. In 121 games between the Double-A and Triple-A level in 2023, Fitzgerald slashed an impressive .292/.365/.511.

Zaidi also discussed the club’s managerial search following the club’s dismissal of Gabe Kapler last week. As relayed by Pavlovic, Zaidi indicated that the club plans to begin the interview process next week with internal candidates before expanding to asking for permission to interview candidates from other organizations. As the club looks for a new manager, Zaidi also indicated that the Giants are heading into 2024 with uncertainty about his own future as things stand, confirming to reporters (including Danny Emerman of KNBR) that he’s headed into the final year of his contract in 2024.

Coaching Notes: Guardians, Albernaz, Giants, Yankees, Casey, White Sox

By Mark Polishuk | October 1, 2023 at 4:46pm CDT

The Guardians will interview Giants bullpen/catching coach Craig Albernaz about their upcoming managerial vacancy, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Terry Francona may officially announce his retirement as Cleveland’s skipper as early as tonight, so the Guardians are already lining up what is expected to be a long list of possible replacements.

Albernaz (who turns 41 later this month) has spent the last four seasons on the Giants’ coaching staff. A longtime catcher in the Rays’ and Tigers’ farm systems from 2006-14, Albernaz then became a coach, field coordinator, and manager for Tampa Bay at the minor league level. His experience as a manager consists of a partial season with the Rays’ short-season A-ball affiliate in 2017, and then a full year with the Rays’ high-A affiliate in 2018.

Slusser notes that the Giants might interview Albernaz for their own managerial opening, and interim manager Kai Correa and third base coach Mark Hallberg could also be considered. Since a managerial change usually begets changes on the coaching staff, Slusser feels teams could try to make some hires away from San Francisco, with pitching coach Andrew Bailey reportedly on the Yankees’ radar. There hasn’t been any indication that New York pitching coach Matt Blake could be in danger of losing his job, so it isn’t known exactly what role the Yankees might have in mind for Bailey.

More on other possible coaching moves from around baseball…

Sticking with the Yankees, hitting coach Sean Casey told the New York Post’s Greg Joyce that he has been asked to return in 2024, though he first had to discuss matters with his family before deciding one way or the other. Casey took over the hitting coach job at midseason on essentially a 1.5-year contract, with an understanding that the two sides might re-evaluate things after the season. While the Yankees’ lack of batting prowess has been an issue before and after Casey’s hiring, he has won some immediate support — Aaron Judge praised Casey’s work, while both GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone have asked Casey to keep coaching. Joyce observes that Cashman’s support of Casey might indicate that Boone will also be returning as manager, since Boone and Casey are good friends. [UPDATE: Speaking with The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner and other reporters, Casey said that he hasn’t received a former offer to return next season.}
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol implied that some changes are coming to his coaching staff, though was short on details with the Chicago Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen (X link) and other reporters because “it’s a very sensitive issue. We talk about the staff, we talk about people who have been in the game a long, long time. Unfortunately, this is a game that’s predicated on wins and losses.” Like Grifol himself, several members of the staff are finishing their first season with the White Sox, including bench coach Charlie Montoyo, third base coach Eddie Rodriguez, hitting coach Jose Castro. It isn’t known if any of these specific coaches might be in jeopardy, or if the Sox are looking at some of the longer-standing holdovers. [UPDATE: assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler will be reassigned to a role in the minor league system, James Fegan of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.]

Giants Activate Brandon Crawford From 10-Day IL

By Nick Deeds | October 1, 2023 at 11:34am CDT

The Giants have activated shortstop Brandon Crawford from the 10-day IL ahead of the club’s season finale against the Dodgers this afternoon, as noted by Maria I. Guaradado of MLB.com. Outfielder Heliot Ramos was optioned in the corresponding move. Crawford will bat leadoff and start at shortstop in today’s game at Oracle Park.

Crawford’s appearance today could well be his final one as a Giant. The bay area native was a fourth-round pick by San Francisco in the 2008 draft and has been a staple of the franchise ever since he made his debut in 2011. A three-time All Star, Crawford has won World Series championships with the Giants in 2012 and 2014. He’s a four-time Gold Glove award winner and added a Silver Slugger award to his mantle back in 2015. He was one of the club’s top players as recently as 2021, when he slashed .298/.373/.522 in 138 games en route to a fourth place finish in NL MVP voting, behind only Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, and Fernando Tatis Jr. as the Giants won 107 games to capture the NL West crown.

Unfortunately, things have taken a turn for the worse in 2023 as Crawford has struggled with both injuries and ineffectiveness. He’s made four trips to the injured list this year, and when healthy enough to take the field has slashed .197/.276/.319 with a career-high 25% strikeout rate in 316 trips to the plate. That figures to limit interest in his services this offseason, particularly as he’ll turn 37 before Spring Training 2024. Further complicating matters is Crawford’s previously indicated desire to end his career in a Giants uniform. Top infield prospect Marco Luciano made his big league debut earlier this season, and the 22-year-old youngster figures to get first crack at the club’s starting shortstop job next year with Crawford no longer under contract.

Whether or not today marks the end of Crawford’s time in San Francisco, it’s been a phenomenal run. Over 13 seasons with the Giants, Crawford has slashed .250/.319/.396 while playing superlative defense at shortstop. He’s collected 1,392 hits, 290 doubles, and 146 home runs across his 1,653 games suited up for the Giants.

As for Ramos, the 24-year-old outfielder’s season comes to a close with just 57 trips to the plate in the big leagues, during which he hit a paltry .186/.246/.321. In 263 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level, Ramos posted far more respectable numbers, with a .300/.382/.546 slash line in 263 trips to the plate while logging time at all three outfield spots.

NL West Notes: Melvin, Haniger, Musgrove, Rojas

By Mark Polishuk | September 30, 2023 at 12:04pm CDT

With the Giants looking for a new manager and Bob Melvin’s future with the Padres perhaps in question, there has already been speculation that the two situations could be simultaneously resolved by Melvin leaving San Diego to take over the Giants’ dugout. Melvin is both from the Bay Area and is both a former Giants player (1986-88) and A’s manager (2011-21). It was during that stint in Oakland that Melvin worked with Farhan Zaidi, when the Giants’ current president of baseball operations was a member of the Athletics’ front office.

Melvin is under contract for the 2024 season, so the Padres would have to fire the skipper to allow him to change jobs. While there have been plenty of rumblings that Melvin might be replaced, the possibility that he might immediately join a division rival could complicate the situation for the Padres, and they might explore the possibility of some kind of trade if the Giants did have interest in hiring the veteran manager. A meeting of Padres officials is set to take place Monday, so some kind of resolution to Melvin’s status in San Diego could possibly be coming pretty quickly.

Zaidi: Giants Hopeful Of New Managerial Hire By Start Of Free Agency

By Anthony Franco | September 29, 2023 at 10:14pm CDT

The Giants made a significant change this afternoon, firing skipper Gabe Kapler as his fourth season at the helm was coming to a close. Bench coach Kai Correa will serve as the interim manager for the final series against the Dodgers.

President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi spoke with reporters after Kapler’s dismissal. He indicated the front office’s preference is to have a new hire in place by the beginning of the free agent period (link via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). That starts five days after the conclusion of the World Series.

“It’s a pretty universal trait that you want a manager who players want to play for, whether it’s young players and getting them motivated to get the most out of them or free agents who have heard your manager has a good reputation,” Zaidi told the S.F. beat. “I think that’s going to matter a lot.”

Zaidi did not indicate that Kapler’s presence as manager was harmful to the team’s free agent pursuits, to be clear. Yet he noted the club had decided to look for “new and different leadership in our clubhouse, a different dynamic there.” After making the call to move on from Kapler, it’s understandable they’d prefer to have a new manager in place as they try to sell the organization to upcoming free agent targets.

Over his five-year tenure leading baseball operations, Zaidi and his staff have come up short on multiple pursuits of top-of-the-market talents. They pursued Bryce Harper over the 2018-19 offseason but reportedly balked at the long-term offer he was seeking (and eventually found from Philadelphia). San Francisco made a run at Aaron Judge last winter but came up short when the defending MVP returned to the Yankees on a record-setting deal. They agreed to terms on a $350MM pact with Carlos Correa, only for that to fall through on the physical.

The Giants have been active in the middle tiers of free agency but haven’t signed a guarantee larger than the $44MM Carlos Rodon deal under Zaidi. With roughly $110MM in guaranteed money on the books for next season, San Francisco could try again to land a top-of-the-market player. They’ll surely be among the teams courting Shohei Ohtani, while Cody Bellinger could be a fallback target if Ohtani heads elsewhere. San Francisco had interest in Bellinger — with whom Zaidi is familiar from their time with the Dodgers — before he signed with the Cubs on a $17.5MM bounceback deal last offseason. After an excellent rebound campaign, Bellinger seems in line to top $200MM on his next free agent trip.

Giants Fire Gabe Kapler

By Leo Morgenstern | September 29, 2023 at 10:12pm CDT

The Giants have fired manager Gabe Kapler, according to a club announcement.

“After making this recommendation to ownership and receiving their approval, I met with Gabe today to inform him of our decision,” reads a statement from president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi. “In his tenure as Giants manager, Gabe led our team through an unprecedented pandemic in 2020 and a franchise-record 107 wins and postseason berth in 2021. He has been dedicated and passionate in his efforts to improve the on-field performance of the San Francisco Giants and I have tremendous respect for him as a colleague and friend. On behalf of the Giants organization, we wish Gabe the best of luck in his future endeavors and thank him for his contributions over the last four years.”

Kapler was three games away from completing his fourth season at the helm for San Francisco. During his tenure, the team has gone 295-248 (.543), although much of that success came during a single winning campaign. In 2021, the Giants shocked the baseball world, going 107-55 and briefly dethroning the Dodgers atop the NL West. Kapler was named NL Manager of the Year; he subsequently signed an extension running through the 2024 campaign.

However, the Giants have gone 159-162 (.495) since, failing to make playoffs in each of the past two seasons. This year has been especially disappointing, as the team was firmly entrenched in the Wild Card race until mid-September. They have now lost ten of their last 13 and were officially eliminated from contention late on Tuesday night. This marks the second time Kapler has lost his job amid similar circumstances. He was fired by the Phillies in October 2019 following two straight seasons in which Philadelphia failed to make the playoffs. In both years, the Phillies were in the Wild Card conversation until a disappointing September collapse knocked them out of the race.

Not long ago, Giants chairman Greg Johnson expressed in no uncertain terms that Zaidi and Kapler would both be back with the team in 2024. More recently, however, Zaidi made some comments on KNBR radio that suggested Kapler might be on the hot seat after all.

When asked about Kapler’s job status, the executive answered, “I think we all just have to look at how we can improve across the board. That’s the personnel on the roster, that’s our culture in the clubhouse. … When you’re in do-or-die games like those games in Arizona, you want them to feel different. And I think we’re really going to have to ask ourselves if we were prepared to sort of elevate our level of focus and play for those games that really mattered down the stretch.”

Evidently, the Giants do not feel as if Kapler’s managerial style is conducive to a winning clubhouse atmosphere. This lines up with some recent comments from Giants ace Logan Webb, who told reporters on Monday (including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News), “We have to make some big changes in here to create that winning culture.”

There is little point in speculating about clubhouse atmosphere from outside, but as for the team’s on-field results, Kapler cannot be held responsible for all the Giants’ problems. As spring training began, the PECOTA projection system from Baseball Prospectus had San Francisco pegged for an 82-win season. FanGraphs Depth Charts projected 83 wins for the Giants on Opening Day. As things currently stand, the team is on pace to finish with 79 or 80 wins, and they could still win as many as 81. That’s well within the margin of error for a projection system. Thus, while the team’s performance in September has been disappointing, it’s hard to say they massively underperformed all year.

In more concrete terms, it’s not as if Kapler had a star-studded roster to work with. After Webb and closer Camilo Doval, the Giants don’t have many impact players. LaMonte Wade Jr., Mike Yastrzemski, Wilmer Flores, Joc Pederson, Thairo Estrada, and Michael Conforto are all solid contributors, but not exactly the players you picture at the heart of the order for a postseason club. Meanwhile, the rotation has been a sea of uncertainty behind Webb and Alex Cobb all year long.

Nevertheless, the Giants have decided to move on from Kapler, and they wasted no time in doing so. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests, the question of whether or not Kapler would keep his job might have become too distracting, to a point where the team saw no reason to wait until the end of the year to make a change.

Susan Slusser was the first to report that Kapler had been relieved of his duties.

NL West Notes: Rockies, Giants, Heyward

By Nick Deeds | September 28, 2023 at 4:33pm CDT

As the Rockies shift their focus towards the offseason, Kyle Newman of The Denver Post writes that the club is looking to “make up ground” regarding its pitching development and analytics department. While Newman notes strides the club has made recently in those departments, the news isn’t entirely good.

On the pitching side of things, the club has been successful in looking to diversify its stockpile of arms in the minor leagues rather than simply focusing on sinker-slider pitches as they have previously. That being said, one prospect tells Newman that the changes have left the club’s planning for the pitchers they draft as unfocused. What’s more, the rash of injuries the Rockies suffered in the big league rotation this year (including Tommy John surgery for rotation stalwarts Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez) exposed the club’s lack of upper-level pitching depth, a situation that has forced the club to aggressively target pitching help not only in the last two drafts but also at the trade deadline this year.

Looking at the club’s analytics department, while the organization is in the midst of constructing what Newman describes as an analytics-specific building the Rockies call “the Lab”, Newman points out that most organizations around the major leagues already have their own version of such a building. That leaves the project as little more than playing catch-up relative to other organizations. Another example of the Rockies working to merely catch up to the competition is seen in their analytics staff. While prospects in the organization tell Newman that there’s a newfound emphasis on providing the players with digestible data thanks to each level of the organization sporting an analytics coordinator who travels with the team, the Rockies still employ just 11 full-time analysts total, tied for the second-fewest in the majors.

Meanwhile, in a Q&A with the organization’s blog, Rockies GM Bill Schmidt discussed the club’s future and cited the club’s aggressive acquisition of pitching talent as a reason for optimism regarding the club’s future. “We’re trying to make ourselves better and improve our talent base, and along the way, hopefully some of those guys are going to help us,” Schmidt said, “I think we’ve added 38 pitchers over the last two years through trades, the draft and international signings. You would like to think that even if a third of those guys hit, it’s going to help us.”

When asked about organization goals for the Rockies headed into the offseason, Schmidt kept things relatively vague, acknowledging that the club is “not where we need to be by any means” but simply pointing to a need to add depth to the big league roster rather than naming specific areas the club is looking to improve headed into the offseason.

More from the NL West…

In losing director of pitching Brian Bannister to the White Sox as Chicago reworks its front office, the Giants have suffered a hefty loss to their pitching infrastructure. Evan Webeck of The Mercury News recently wrote about Bannister’s departure, noting that pitchers in the organization such as righty John Brebbia and veteran starter Alex Cobb were shocked to see the club let Bannister go, calling him a “miracle worker.” Webeck notes that the club seemingly plans to fill Bannister’s role by giving increased responsibility to other members of the club’s pitching infrastructure, with pitching coach Andrew Bailey and assistant pitching coach J.P. Martinez both mentioned as key pitching minds who remain with the organization.
The Dodgers have utilized platoons aggressively to great success in their outfield this year, and perhaps no player embodies that success better than Jason Heyward. Heyward’s .270/.343/.481 slash line in 365 plate appearances this season is his best offensive performance since the shortened 2020 campaign, and his best since his rookie season back in 2010 over the course of a full season. That offensive surge is thanks to LA’s focus on optimizing his matchups in order to minimize his at-bats against left-handed pitchers. As a result, Heyward has taken just 27 plate appearances against lefties all season, allowing his career .268/.353/.435 slash line against righties to shine through. As noted by Jack Harris of the LA Times, the mutual appreciation between Heyward and the Dodgers organization lays the groundwork for a possible reunion in 2024 even as Heyward is slated to return to free agency come November. For Heyward’s part, he says it would be “an honor” to be asked to return to the team next season.

NL Injury Notes: Hoskins, Davis, Mitchell, Candelario, Alzolay

By Leo Morgenstern | September 27, 2023 at 8:38am CDT

Phillies manager Rob Thomson isn’t ruling out the possibility that Rhys Hoskins will play in the postseason. More specifically, the skipper told hosts on the WIP Morning Show that if Philadelphia makes it back to the World Series, Hoskins could be available to DH or pinch-hit.

The first baseman tore his ACL during spring training and has not played for the Phillies since last October. However, he’s taking batting practice and running the bases, and he appears to be progressing well. The possibility of his return remains a long shot – Philadelphia would have to make the World Series first, and even then, it’s no guarantee – but still, this is encouraging news for the club.

Hoskins has an .846 OPS and a 126 wRC+ in his career, both of which would rank second among qualified Phillies hitters this season. He was instrumental to the team’s postseason run last fall, clubbing six home runs and driving in 12 across 17 games.

In other National League injury news…

J.D. Davis exited early on Tuesday night after a rough slide into third base. The Giants later informed reporters (including Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area) that the third baseman had suffered a shoulder strain, although the severity of the injury remains unclear. The 30-year-old has been San Francisco’s most durable player this season, leading the team in plate appearances and games played.
Brewers rookie Garrett Mitchell was spotted on the field ahead of Tuesday night’s contest with the Cardinals. The outfield prospect has been on the injured list since mid-April, but he is hoping to return for the playoffs. The 25-year-old told reporters (including Adam McCalvy of MLB.com) that he could remain on the IL for the rest of the regular season but still make the postseason roster. He is awaiting one final medical appointment before he is fully cleared to return, and he seems optimistic about his chances to play some kind of role for the Brewers this October.
Cubs manager David Ross spoke to reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) to provide an update on Jeimer Candelario. Chicago’s big addition at the trade deadline has been on the IL since September 11 with a lower back strain, but he could return as soon as this evening against the Braves. The Cubs could certainly use his switch-hitting bat in the lineup as they try to fend off their opponents in the Wild Card race over the final five days of the season. In other Cubs news, closer Adbert Alzolay is making progress in his attempt to return from a forearm strain. He is hoping to face live hitters in the next few days.

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