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Spencer Howard

NL East Notes: Mets, Conforto, Phillies, Marlins

By Mark Polishuk,Connor Byrne and Anthony Franco | March 30, 2021 at 9:11pm CDT

With the Mets still engaged in extension talks with Francisco Lindor, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets that the team is waiting to resolve things with Lindor before continuing negotiations with their other major extension candidate, Michael Conforto.  Lindor has made it clear that he wants to reach a new deal by Opening Day, whereas Conforto and agent Scott Boras have each expressed a bit more flexibility to talk during the season, though Conforto has said he would “ideally” prefer to also have a potential new contract finalized before games get underway.

More from the NL East…

  • The Phillies announced this afternoon they’ve reassigned outfielder Odúbel Herrera to the alternate training site. Adam Haseley has made the Opening Day roster. Herrera and Haseley were among the group competing for the Phils’ center field job. The latter was set back by an early-March groin strain but has apparently made a quick enough recovery to be ready for Thursday’s season opener.
  • In other Phillies news, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer) that top prospect Spencer Howard will work primarily out of the bullpen in 2021. It’s not a permanent switch, as Dombrowski stressed the organization sees Howard as a starting pitcher long-term. The Phils are being particularly cautious in monitoring the young righty’s innings after he worked just 71 minor-league frames in 2019 and was limited to 24.1 MLB innings during last year’s shortened season.
  • The Marlins have sold the naming rights to their ballpark, Danilo J. Santos of the Fish Stripes blog reported (Twitter link).  Mortgage company loanDepot purchased the rights, and thus the former Marlins Park will now be known as loanDepot Park, according to Fox Sports 640’s Andy Slater (via Twitter).  Terms of the multi-year contract haven’t been announced, though as the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson notes, the news concludes the Marlins’ long search for a naming-rights partner that has been ongoing since the stadium opened in 2012.
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Phillies Health Notes: Didi, Eflin, Howard

By Connor Byrne | March 17, 2021 at 6:37pm CDT

A few Phillies health updates, courtesy of Matt Gelb of The Athletic:

  • Shortstop Didi Gregorius left Tuesday’s game after taking an 89 mph fastball off the back of the head from Blue Jays right-hander Tanner Roark. Manager Joe Girardi said at the time that Gregorius was dealing with“a minor, minor headache” (via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia), but he then told Gelb and other reporters that the Phillies will re-evaluate him on Friday. Going without Gregorius for any period of regular-season time would be a shot to the Phillies’ offense, as he batted .284/.339/.488 with 10 home runs in 237 appearances and appeared in all 60 of their games last year. That performance persuaded the Phillies to re-sign Gregorius to a two-year, $28MM guarantee in free agency.
  • Right-hander Zach Eflin will not pitch this week because of a back injury that the Phillies are somewhat concerned about, Girardi said. Just as Gregorius is a key cog in Philadelphia’s offense, Eflin is an integral part of its rotation. The top complement to the one-two punch of Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, Eflin is looking to build on a career year in which he logged personal-best numbers in several categories. Eflin finished 2020 with a 3.97 ERA/3.50 FIP, excellent strikeout and walk percentages (28.6 and 6.1, respectively), and a strong 47.4 percent groundball rate over 59 innings. If Eflin isn’t ready for the start of the season, it could open the door for Vince Velasquez to claim the open spot in the Phillies’ rotation, Gelb notes.
  • In yet another unwelcome bit of news for Philly’s staff, righty Spencer Howard still hasn’t been cleared to throw after going down with back spasms earlier this week. The 24-year-old had been in line to compete for a spot in the club’s rotation, but that appears to be out the window for the time being. Howard, whom Baseball America ranked as the game’s 27th-best prospect in 2020, made a rocky debut last year with six starts and 24 1/3 frames of 5.92 ERA ball (with a more encouraging 4.87 SIERA). However, he did dominate the High-A and Double-A levels in 2019.
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East Notes: Yankees, Phillies, Rays

By Connor Byrne | March 15, 2021 at 8:28pm CDT

The latest from the majors’ East divisions…

  • Yankees left-handed reliever Zack Britton’s arthroscopic elbow surgery on Monday went according to plan, manager Aaron Boone announced to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. Boone didn’t provide a timeline for when Britton could return, but it was initially reported that the Yankees might go three to four months without their integral setup man. Meanwhile, third baseman Miguel Andujar has “a muscle strain” in his right hand/wrist and “a bit of a nerve issue,” Marly Rivera of ESPN tweets. Again, though, there’s no official word on how long Andujar will have to sit out.
  • Phillies righty Spencer Howard didn’t make his scheduled outing Monday on account of back spasms, per manager Joe Girardi (via Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer). While the severity of the issue is unknown, it may make it even less likely for Howard to win a season-opening spot on the Phillies’ roster. Howard could eventually emerge as part of the solution in the Phillies’ rotation, but he only managed a 5.92 ERA/4.87 SIERA during his 24 1/3-inning major league debut last season.
  • Sticking with the Phillies, infielder/outfielder Brad Miller is dealing with an oblique strain, Matt Gelb of The Athletic relays. Girardi said the Phillies will re-evaluate Miller in five to six days, but the club has not ruled him out for Opening Day. Miller, who previously played with the Phillies in 2019, reunited with the team on a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee in the offseason. He earned that payday after slashing .232/.357/.451 with seven home runs in 171 plate appearances a Cardinal a season ago.
  • Rays outfielder Brett Phillips will miss three to four weeks with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Phillips suffered the injury Sunday, and it now appears the 2020 playoff hero will sit out until at least the middle of April. However, the Rays still have Kevin Kiermaier, Randy Arozarena, Austin Meadows, Manuel Margot and Yoshi Tsutsugo available in the outfield.
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Brad Miller Brett Phillips Miguel Andujar New York Yankees Notes Philadelphia Phillies Spencer Howard Tampa Bay Rays

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NL Notes: Jeffress, Nationals, Varsho, Howard

By Mark Polishuk | March 8, 2021 at 2:55pm CDT

The Nationals’ release of Jeremy Jeffress yesterday carried some mystery, both because it came so early in Spring Training (and within three weeks of Jeffress signing with the Nats) and because GM Mike Rizzo used the odd phrasing of describing the release as due to “personnel reasons.”  Rizzo didn’t provide much further clarification in speaking with Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com and other reporters today, apart from saying that Jeffress’ release was “an employment issue” and not related to on-field performance.

Jeffress himself has weighed in, texting Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post to say that the Nationals’ given reason for releasing him was “not true,” without specifying what the club said.  The veteran reliever also wrote a pair of tweets yesterday, one stating “I’m not what they say I am, I’m what God says! I don’t deserve this false negativity!” and another since-deleted tweet saying that his former agent “jus ruined my life.”  It remains to be seen if the reason behind Jeffress’ release will ever fully come to light, but if nothing else, this uncertain situation would seem to hamper Jeffress’ chances of catching on with another team.

More from the National League…

  • “Catcher/center fielder” isn’t exactly a common defensive skillset, and while Daulton Varsho saw more time in the outfield than he did behind the plate in his rookie season, the Diamondbacks are clear about their top prospect’s future role.  “We see him as a catcher who can play other positions, not as a center fielder who can catch,” Arizona assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye told The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan.  Varsho is happy to play wherever, and the outfield might be his clearest path to more MLB playing time in 2021, considering the D’Backs have Carson Kelly and Stephen Vogt as their regular catching duo.  The team doesn’t want to take too much time away from Varsho’s development as a catcher, however, given the amount of specialized work that goes into learning the position at the big-league level.
  • The Phillies also face a question about how to deploy a top prospect, as Spencer Howard has never thrown more than 112 innings in any of his four pro seasons.  As Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes, the Phils could start Howard in the minors since rotation space could be hard to find, or they could manage his innings throughout the season in a relief role on the MLB roster.  The latter option would leave the door open to Howard eventually making some starts in 2021, though it would require the Phillies to also keep Howard stretched out in something of a swingman role so he could more easily shift into working as a starting pitcher.  A second-round pick for the Phillies in the 2017 draft, Howard’s minor league climb was slowed by some shoulder problems in 2019, and he has yet to pitch at Triple-A ball.  Philadelphia promoted Howard to the majors last summer after watching him at the alternate training site, and Howard posted a 5.92 ERA over 24 1/3 innings and six starts.
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Phillies Place Spencer Howard On Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | September 13, 2020 at 10:34am CDT

SEPTEMBER 13: The Phillies are placing Howard on the 10-day injured list, the club announced. Reliever Connor Brogdon is up from the alternate site to replace Howard on the active roster. Additionally, right-hander Ramón Rosso has been added to the roster as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader against the Marlins. He’ll get the start in the first game of the twin bill.

SEPTEMBER 12: Phillies right-hander Spencer Howard left tonight’s game in the fourth inning due to stiffness in his throwing shoulder, the team announced.  Howard had just allowed a three-run homer to the Marlins’ Brian Anderson before being visited on the mound by manager Joe Girardi and a team trainer before departing the game.

Any sort of arm problem for a pitcher obviously isn’t good news, and a shoulder issue is of particular concern in Howard’s case — as The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro pointed out, a similar injury caused Howard to miss two months of the 2019 season.  If the problem here is truly just stiffness or discomfort, it’s possible Howard could be back after just a missed start or perhaps an extra day or two of rest, but naturally the Phillies will be as cautious as possible in making sure the star prospect is healthy.

Saturday’s abbreviated outing has been indicative of Howard’s struggles over his first taste of the majors, as the righty took a 5.66 ERA into tonight’s start against Miami.  Howard had a 2.25 K/BB rate and 7.8 K/9 over his first 20 2/3 innings, with his BABIP (.343) and xwOBA (.334, compared to a .380 wOBA) indicating at least some bad luck.  Anderson’s home run tonight, however, was already the sixth long ball surrendered by Howard this season, and he has been hit hard in his second or third times through opposing lineups.

Howard’s prospect pedigree notwithstanding, it isn’t unexpected that a 24-year-old rookie who had never pitched above Double-A ball would have some struggles in his first MLB season.  If Howard has to miss time, however, it leaves the Phillies short an arm in the midst of a stretch of 18 games in 14 days.  Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler have been carrying an otherwise shaky Philadelphia rotation, though Wheeler may be questionable to make his next start due to a nasty fingernail injury.

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Phillies Promote Spencer Howard

By Mark Polishuk | August 9, 2020 at 3:20pm CDT

August 9: Howard has officially been promoted to the Phils’ active roster. His addition comes with a couple of corresponding roster moves, as reported by Todd Zolecki of MLB.com: RHP Enyel De Los Santos was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, and left-hander Cole Irvin was optioned off the active roster to the team’s alternate training location.

August 8: Phillies pitching prospect Spencer Howard is set to make his Major League debut on Sunday.  According to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Howard has been told that he will be starting one of tomorrow’s games in the Phils’ doubleheader with the Braves.  Another transaction will need to be made in order to open room for the right-hander on the 40-man roster.

Howard, a second-round pick in the 2017 draft, has looked impressive in his brief pro career, posting a 3.28 ERA, 3.80 K/BB rate, and 12.0 K/9 over 211 1/3 minor league innings.  None of those innings have come at Triple-A, and Howard only tossed 30 2/3 frames at Double-A last season, due in part to some shoulder problems that limited his overall workload to 71 total innings in 2019.

"<strongSpencer Howard” width=”200″ height=”300″ />

Nevertheless, there was speculation dating back to Spring Training that Howard would eventually suit up for the Phillies in 2020, even if the club was looking to manage his innings so as to not over-extend his arm.  As per Lauber back in March, the shortened nature of the 2020 season will help Howard in this regard, as he could now end up pitching quite a significant portion of the schedule for a team in need of pitching depth.  Due to the week of postponed games in the wake of their exposure to the Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak, the Phillies have only played seven games, and Sunday is the first of six doubleheaders remaining on Philadelphia’s schedule.

While Howard’s lack of Triple-A experience provides a reasonable case for the Phillies in holding off on his big league promotion, it should also be noted that waiting until a couple of weeks into the season ensures the Phils an extra year of control over Howard before he gains enough service time for free agency.

Howard is a consensus choice as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, with Keith Law, Fangraphs, Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Baseball Prospectus all ranking him between 22nd (from Law) and 36th (BP) on their preseason lists of the sport’s best minor leaguers.  A fastball that regularly sits in the mid-90’s and has gone as high as 99mph is Howard’s signature pitch, and he also has what Fangraphs describes as “three nasty secondary pitches” in a curveball, changeup, and slider, though all of these offerings are less consistent.  Howard’s control is also solid, as Baseball America’s notes that his “delivery is simple and repeatable.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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Bryce Harper Stumps For Spencer Howard To Make Rotation

By TC Zencka | July 18, 2020 at 12:15pm CDT

Philadelphia Phillies top third base prospect Alec Bohm understands the dynamics of service time manipulation, and he understands the business sense behind holding him back in the minors to start the year, per Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “That’s a smart business move,” Bohm said.

Bryce Harper isn’t quite as accommodating, speaking out recently about the possibility of Spencer Howard – another top Philly prospect –  not making the Opening Day roster, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. With intrasquad games such a heavy component of the ramp-up to Opening Day this season, Harper has seen Howard’s stuff up close and personal – and he’s impressed.

The Phillies rotation is set with Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Jake Arrieta slotted into the top spots with some competition for the final two roles. Still, there are plenty of capable veteran arms on hand, giving the Phils some plausible deniability when they decide that Howard needs more seasoning. Vince Velasquez, Zach Eflin, and Nick Pivetta all spent time in Philly’s rotation last season, and some combination of the three figure to get the early turns on the bump.

Howard, 24 in ten days, has a higher ceiling than those three, but he’s only pitched as high as Double-A – he made just 6 starts in Reading last year after starting the year in High-A. Given traditional development paths, it would be surprising for Howard to make the rotation from the jump – but that’s not to say he’s not capable.

As for Bohm, the 23-year-old is the long-term answer at third base for the Phillies. Like Howard, he made it as high as Double-A last season, hitting .269/.344/.500 across 270 plate appearances. His case for making the big league roster out of camp gained some traction over the winter, but all indications were – under normal circumstances – for Bohm to continue to develop in Triple-A at the start of 2020.

As in the rotation, the Phillies could certainly make room for Bohm if they so desired, but there’s more than enough veteran talent on-hand to make due. Jean Segura and Scott Kingery can split time between second and third, and veterans Josh Harrison and Neil Walker are also in camp as non-roster invitees. Jay Bruce slots in as the regular designated hitter – another veteran totally capable of handling a starting role, even if he might be better suited to the bench. In a vacuum, there’s room for Bohm, but it’s also not against baseball wisdom to give the vets a couple of weeks or more to prove they’re still capable of handling starter’s minutes.

With the shortened schedule, teams need only keep their top prospects off the major league roster for the first 6 games to secure an additional year of team control down the road. The issue, of course, has been hotly debated for years now, culminating in a grievance filed by Kris Bryant against the league. His grievance was unsuccessful. The issue persists year after year with players like Harper taking up the mantle to speak out for the rights of younger players. Service time manipulation of this sort will continue to be a hot button issue until it’s addressed – in some form or fashion – at the time of the next CBA negotiation in 2021.

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How The Delayed Season Impacts The Phillies

By Steve Adams | March 23, 2020 at 12:45pm CDT

Last week, MLBTR’s Connor Byrne took a look at how the delayed start of the 2020 season will impact the Yankees. We’ll be running out a look at how all 30 clubs will be impacted in the days and weeks to come.  And since we’ve already tackled the Phillies’ Offseason in Review, let’s now turn to how this will impact their roster choices down the road.

First and foremost, left fielder Andrew McCutchen should have ample time to rehabilitate his knee. The 33-year-old tore his left ACL last year and was expected to be ready to join the Phillies’ lineup at some point in April. With the season pushed back until at least May 10 — quite likely longer than that — McCutchen should be good to go for the year’s first game, barring any sort of setback.

He may not be the MVP-caliber talent he once was, but McCutchen was an important part of the Philadelphia lineup all the same. In 59 games and 292 plate appearances, he posted a .256/.378/.457 batting line with 10 homers, 12 doubles and a triple. Cutch’s career-best 16.4 percent walk rate and sky-high OBP were badly missed on a team that posted a pedestrian .319 OBP on the whole. That mark tied them for 19th in MLB, and McCutchen’s primary replacement, Jay Bruce, had the fourth-worst OBP in the Majors at .261 (min. 300 plate appearances).

McCutchen’s likely inclusion on the Opening Day roster should impact the bench mix as well. His presence would push Bruce into a more limited role and likely mean that one of Nick Williams or Roman Quinn misses out on the 26-man roster. Given that Williams has a minor league option remaining and Quinn does not, it seems likeliest that Williams would be the odd man out. The Phils have explored trading Williams in the past, and one would imagine that with a full-strength outfield that possibility would be a bit likelier.

The composition of the bench is of extra note given the abnormally large slate of non-roster players in camp hoping to secure a backup job with the Phillies; Josh Harrison, Phil Gosselin, Neil Walker, Logan Forsythe and Ronald Torreyes are among the slew of infielders Philadelphia inked to minor league pacts this winter.

On the pitching side of things, the projected delay ought to give right-hander Tommy Hunter time to ramp up. He’s on the mend from 2019 elbow surgery and was expected to miss the first month of the year prior to the shutdown. Hunter’s health is far from a given after he missed nearly all of last year with a forearm injury, which is why he took a one-year, make-good deal that only promises him an $850K base salary. But when healthy, Hunter has turned in 69 1/3 innings of 3.50 ERA ball with the Phillies. Considering the overwhelming number of injuries that left the Philly bullpen in a state of disrepair a year ago, any healthy contributions from the veteran Hunter will be a most welcome addition.

As is the case with the bench, the Phillies have a deluge of veterans competing for bullpen jobs on non-roster deals. Francisco Liriano, Drew Storen, Bud Norris, Anthony Swarzak and Blake Parker were all invited to camp. A healthy Hunter leaves one less spot to win.

Things are less certain for two other relievers: Seranthony Dominguez and David Robertson. The former underwent an MRI after experiencing a setback in his recovery from last summer’s elbow troubles and acknowledged significant concern. With a poor enough diagnosis, he could miss the entire 2020 season regardless, but if non-surgical treatment is recommended, the delay could buy him time to rehab. Robertson, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John surgery last August. The club’s hope had been that the right-hander could return in the season’s second half, and if the season doesn’t get underway until the summer, he’d theoretically be available for a greater portion of the year.

Perhaps the most interesting scenario is what the implications could be for the rotation. As Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer explored over the weekend, the delayed start to the season lessens the need for the Phillies to monitor the workload of prized pitching prospect Spencer Howard. Considered one of the game’s 40 best prospects by each of Baseball America, MLB.com, ESPN, FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus, Howard totaled just 99 1/3 innings between the regular season and the Arizona Fall League in 2019.

General manager Matt Klentak has previously spoken about the need to make sure he has enough innings left in his arm to contribute down the stretch, and a shorter season should reduce his workload overall. That could also afford Howard fewer innings to develop in Double-A and Triple-A, but Howard ripped through Class-A Advanced en route to a Double-A promotion and found similar success there in 2019 (2.35 ERA, 38-to-9 K/BB ratio in 30 2/3 innings). He’ll surely open the season in the minors, but a similarly aggressive ascension in 2020 shouldn’t be ruled out.

Howard’s timeline to the big leagues will directly impact the bullpen composition and perhaps the very future in the organization for once-touted righties Vince Velasquez and Nick Pivetta. Both have a minor league option remaining, and it’s possible that both could yet emerge as viable pieces in the ’pen (or that injuries elsewhere in the rotation will keep one or both in a starting role). Howard’s emergence as a top-half-of-the-rotation complement to Aaron Nola is a best-case scenario for the organization as a whole, but that could still have a significant individual impact on pitchers like Pivetta, Velasquez, Ranger Suarez, Cole Irvin, Enyel De Los Santos and JoJo Romero.

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Quick Hits: Howard, International Prospects, Smith, Pirates

By Mark Polishuk | March 22, 2020 at 12:17am CDT

A shortened 2020 season would make Spencer Howard a larger factor in the Phillies’ plans, according to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Since Howard threw only 71 minor league innings in 2019 due to shoulder problems and was shut down at midseason, the Phils were going to ease him back into action this year under an innings limit at both the minor league and (if all things progressed well) Major League levels.  If the 2020 season ends up being something of an abbreviated sprint, however, the right-handed prospect could end up pitching for Philadelphia as early as the new Opening Day, working in a starting or relief role and still potentially not approaching an innings cap that Lauber estimates could be around 130 frames of work.

A few more items as we kick off Sunday…

  • Baseball America’s Ben Badler (subscription required) looks at five prospects who are lined up to join Major League teams when the international signing window opens on July 2.  The Padres, Brewers, Braves, Indians, and Rangers have already been respectively connected to each of the five youngsters, with Atlanta and Cleveland each prepared to give out bonuses in the $1MM range.
  • Fraidel Liriano, another shortstop from the Dominican Republic, is expected to land the largest bonus of the quintet, as Badler writes that the Rangers will give Liriano around $1.5MM.  Liriano could eventually wind up at third base or second base rather than shortstop, though some scouts were intrigued by his hitting potential, with Liriano’s “strong hands and quick wrists, producing whippy bat speed.”
  • Twelve teams contacted Kevan Smith during the catcher’s free agent stint this winter, Smith tells John Perrotto of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, though he was surprised to be on the open market at all.  The Angels non-tendered Smith rather than go through the arbitration process with him (MLBTR projected Smith to earn a $1.3MM salary in 2020), a decision that left Smith feeling “pretty stunned…I thought I was on solid footing there.”  Smith ended up signing a minor league deal with the Rays after surveying his options, saying, “You start looking around and see what’s going to be your best opportunity and what team you’re most comfortable with.  You pick and choose, and it comes down to who’s the most interested.  I definitely felt the Rays wanted me to be here.”  Playing in Tampa Bay also brings Smith to the East Coast and at least a bit closer to his home in Pennsylvania, though the Pittsburgh native said he didn’t hear from the Pirates this winter, despite the Bucs’ need for catching.
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NL Notes: Wong, Nationals, Martinez, Howard

By Anthony Franco | February 16, 2020 at 7:35am CDT

Some notes from around the National League:

  • Kolten Wong would be open to discussing a long-term extension with the Cardinals, he told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this week. The 29-year-old has settled in as a productive everyday second baseman in recent seasons. Since the start of 2017, Wong has compiled a productive .274/.357/.409 slash (105 wRC+). More importantly, he’s emerged as one of the game’s top defenders at the keystone. Wong will make $10.25MM in 2020, the final guaranteed year of the early-career extension he signed. St. Louis also holds a $12.5MM club option ($1MM) on his services that would easily be exercised if he continues to produce at his recent levels.
  • The Nationals’ World Series winning 2019 season started dreadfully, as they won just 19 of their first 50 games. Last fall, ownership said they never considered parting ways with manager Dave Martinez amidst the slow start. One more bad week last May, though, and the front office could have contemplated a change, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. One name discussed internally as a potential Martinez replacement: Buck Showalter, who, as Rosenthal notes, worked with Nats GM Mike Rizzo in Arizona from 1998-2000. Of course, that’s little more than an historical footnote now, as Martinez should be on solid footing after leading a remarkable turnaround. He and Rizzo are each entering the final guaranteed year of their contracts (although the Nationals have an option on Martinez for 2021). That said, neither Martinez nor Rizzo expressed worry about their situations as camp opens, and Rosenthal writes that “chances are” both will eventually work out extensions.
  • The Phillies plan to start top pitching prospect Spencer Howard slowly in 2020, the organization tells Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The hope is to conserve some innings in the early going so the organization needn’t worry about shutting Howard down if they find themselves in a playoff race. “Every pitch he throws in March is a pitch he’s not going to be able to throw in September,” GM Matt Klentak told Lauber. “It’s not because something is wrong, and it’s not because we don’t like him. It’s because we like him a lot, and we need to set him up for success to pitch deep into the season this year.” The 23-year-old, Baseball America’s #27 overall prospect, threw fewer than 100 minor-league innings in 2019, in part due to a midseason shutdown with shoulder soreness. Nevertheless, it seems he’s likely to make his MLB debut at some point in 2020 now that his arm is fully healthy.
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