NL Central Notes: Reds, Wong, Hutchison, Szczur
In an appearance on the podcast hosted by C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams shared some interesting thoughts on his team and possible areas for innovation. (You can find a writeup of Williams’ comments and a link to the podcast right here.) Williams spoke in particular about the notion of “breaking down the barriers between roles,” both for pitchers and position players. Especially for a small-market team, he said, it’s necessary to question traditional thinking. While it’s hardly clear that the Reds will be tinkering just for the sake of experimentation — Williams says that creative approaches will be attempted “in the context of the talent we have coming” — he did note that it’s intriguing to imagine the possibility of a staff made up mostly of multi-inning pitchers who aren’t strictly classified as starters or relievers. It’s a fun and worthwhile listen.
Here’s more from the NL Central:
- Cardinals GM John Mozeliak expressed some displeasure with recent comments from second baseman Kolten Wong, as ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon writes. Wong had stated rather forcefully that he was uninterested in sharing time at second — a possibility that has been discussed (externally, at least) due both to his continued struggles at the plate this spring and the presence of Jedd Gyorko. Though Wong softened his initial statement, making clear he wants to remain in St. Louis, Mozeliak said he felt the “comments were a little tough given the fact we have other players playing well.” The veteran executive took a measured tone, but made clear where the organization stands. “Starting Sunday, we’re playing to win,” he said. “Whenever a player is trying to accomplish something in spring training, that can’t be an excuse for why things aren’t going well.”
- Righty Drew Hutchison was officially removed from the battle for the Pirates‘ final rotation spot, with the team announcing that he has been optioned to Triple-A. That leaves righties Trevor Williams and Tyler Glasnow fighting for the fifth starter’s job. Both reached the majors last year after strong showings in the upper minors, though neither established himself at the game’s highest level. The young hurlers have each staked their claim in differing ways this spring, with Williams posting a 2.63 ERA with a dozen strikeouts against just two walks over 13 2/3 frames and Glasnow racking up 23 Ks — but also allowing nine runs on 19 hits and six free passes — over his 14 1/3 innings.
- The Cubs have made their final Opening Day roster decisions, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Outfielder Matt Szczur and infielder Tommy La Stella are both slated for reserve roles. Szczur, who’s out of options, had been mentioned as a possible trade candidate had he ended up missing out on the Chicago roster. Meanwhile, lefty Brian Duensing will open the season on the DL after being slowed earlier in camp due to back spasms.
Cardinals “Making Progress” In Contract Talks With Yadier Molina
The Cardinals are “making major progress” in extension talks with star catcher Yadier Molina, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag. With positive momentum toward a deal, it now seems an accord is “getting close,” per the report.
Molina said over the weekend that he would not be willing to discuss a new deal during the season, seemingly setting an Opening Day deadline to wrap talks up one way or another. If it doesn’t come to fruition, then the 34-year-old would almost certainly hit the open market after the season. Though his contract does include a $15MM mutual option, with a $2MM buyout, there’s little likelihood of both sides wanting to exercise that clause.
The terms under consideration aren’t clear at this point, but Heyman notes that the sides were working to bridge initial differences in the length of the new deal. Molina’s representatives opened with a four-year request, with the organization coming in at two seasons. That leaves three as the natural (and, in this case, seemingly reasonable) compromise point, though of course options could also be used to tweak the consideration in either direction.
NL Central Notes: Peralta, Rangers, Arroyo, Bard
Here’s the latest from the NL Central…
- Some Rangers officials watched Brewers righty Wily Peralta start this weekend as Texas continues to look for rotation depth, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. It’s been a rough pair of seasons for Peralta, who was limited to 108 2/3 IP in 2015 due to an oblique injury and then posted a 6.68 ERA through his first 13 starts last season. After a demotion to the minors, however, Peralta returned in good form, posting a 2.92 ERA over his final 61 2/3 innings. Peralta will earn $4.275MM this season and isn’t eligible for free agency until after 2019, so Grant notes that he would fit the Rangers’ preference for a controllable pitcher. Milwaukee and Texas have already linked up on two trades since David Stearns took over as the Brewers’ GM, most notably last summer’s five-player swap that saw Jonathan Lucroy join the Rangers.
- Barring anything unforeseen in the next week, it looks like Bronson Arroyo will make the Reds‘ starting rotation, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. Arroyo is still scheduled for a minor league start on April 2 so he won’t officially break camp with the Reds, but the 40-year-old righty is on pace to return to the big leagues for the first time since June 15, 2014. Arroyo has pitched in just two minor league games since that date due to Tommy John surgery and a torn tendon his rotator cuff.
- Daniel Bard hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2013 due to injuries and a loss of control, though as Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com writes, the former Red Sox setup man is refusing to give up hope of a career revival. Bard signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals last summer, and Gammons notes that the contract was actually a two-year pact, as Bard was in need of a significant mechanics overhaul. Now throwing from a lower arm slot, Bard has seen his command improve. Gary LaRocque, the Cardinals’ director of player development, thinks Bard may start the season at the Double-A level.
Latest On Kolten Wong
3:22pm: Wong asked the Post-Dispatch to clarify his earlier comments and emphasized that he’d like to remain a Cardinal. Wong’s full statement is available at this link. Here’s an excerpt:
“I’m not trying to sell my self to any other team. My play speaks for itself and what kind of player I can be. I want to be that player for the Cardinals. If the worst-case scenario comes down, I understand there are a lot of good guys on this team right now. If it’s my time to get moved, it’s my time to get moved. But at the end of the day, I want to be a Cardinal. And that’s the most important thing.”
1:35pm: With Jhonny Peralta set to open the season as the Cardinals’ third baseman, they’ll need to find a place for Jedd Gyorko, who swatted a team-high 30 home runs in 2016. Gyorko could wind up at second base, where the right-handed hitter would platoon with the lefty-swinging Kolten Wong, though the latter made it clear Sunday that he wants no part of a timeshare.
Asked if he’d rather the Cardinals trade him than use him as a part-time player, Wong told Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “One hundred percent. I don’t want to be here wasting my time. I know what kind of player I am. If I don’t have the belief here, then I’ll go somewhere else.”
Wong hasn’t requested a trade – notably, the Cardinals rebuffed at least one interested suitor during the winter – and he indicated he’ll “be ready to do what I gotta do to help the team win.” Still, Wong’s frustrated that the Cardinals might not follow through on general manager John Mozeliak’s offseason plan to get him more second base time this year. In fairness to the Redbirds, though, Wong hasn’t necessarily established himself as a full-time-caliber player since debuting in the majors in 2013. The 26-year-old owns a modest .248/.309/.370 batting line in 1,469 plate appearances, including an even worse .247/.290/.327 in 336 PAs versus same-handed pitchers, and is coming off a year which featured a demotion to Triple-A. Plus, it would behoove the Cardinals to find at-bats for Gyorko, the better offensive player.
While Wong has underwhelmed at the plate, that hasn’t been the case at the keystone, where he has totaled 19 Defensive Runs Saved and put up a 9.0 Ultimate Zone Rating in the majors. Wong’s cognizant of the value he has provided the Cardinals in the field.
“On defense, I’m one of the best second basemen in the league,” he declared. “I believe that and I know that.”
Both Mozeliak and manager Mike Matheny agree with Wong, having heaped praise on his defensive skills during the offseason. Of course, Mozeliak was responsible for giving Wong a five-year, $25.5MM extension last March. Wong addressed that deal Sunday and wondered aloud whether he’ll finish the contract in St. Louis, per Frederickson. Regardless, he believes the pact entitles him to a longer leash.
“When you are given a contract, you are expected to get a chance to work through some things and figure yourself out,” he said. “Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, all these guys never figured their stuff out until later on down the road. It’s the big leagues. It’s tough, man. For me, the biggest thing is I just need people to have my back. When that comes, it will be good. But, I think right now, it’s just staying with my play, understanding I’m working toward getting myself more consistent, understanding what kind of player I can be. If that’s going to be with another team, so be it.”
Despite Wong’s displeasure with his current situation, he noted he doesn’t “want to come off as being like bitter or anything” and credited Gyorko for an “amazing” 2016.
Latest On Yadier Molina Extension Talks
SUNDAY: The Cardinals are “prepared to make a significant offer to keep” Molina in the fold, according to chairman Bill Dewitt Jr. (via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). “We’d love to have him stay,” Dewitt added. While Molina “would love to stay,” he noted that there are “too many catchers making more money” than him (though only Buster Posey, Russell Martin and Brian McCann have higher salaries among backstops). On whether the Redbirds would be willing to make Molina the majors’ highest-paid catcher, Dewitt stated: “He would certainly be one of the highest-paid catchers. Part of that is (annual average value), part of it is length. That all factors into what he ends up looking for and what makes sense for the club.”
SATURDAY: Yadier Molina has set Opening Day as the deadline to reach a contract extension with the Cardinals, the catcher tells MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (Twitter links) and other reporters. Like most players, Molina doesn’t want to be distracted by negotiations dragging on into the season. If a new deal isn’t reached, the longtime St. Louis star said he isn’t afraid to hit the open market.
The two sides began preliminary talks about a new deal over a month ago, and Cards GM John Mozeliak said last week that the team would be open to continuing discussions into the season, since the Cardinals “are not a deadline organization, historically.” It seems as if the Cardinals are trying to be as flexible as possible in handling Molina’s extension case, perhaps a wise tactic when determining the future production of a workhorse catcher who turns 35 in July.
Molina has already signed two extensions with the Cardinals during his career, and is entering the last guaranteed season of a five-year, $75MM pact. (That deal contains a $15MM mutual option for 2018 with a $2MM buyout, though like most mutual options, it seems quite unlikely to be exercised.) It’s hard to argue that the catcher hasn’t been worth that investment, as Molina has hit .296/.341/.412 since the start of the 2013 season while generating 12.1 fWAR and has continued to provide his customary strong defense behind the plate. While Molina’s performance dipped a bit in 2015, he bounced back to hit .307/.360/.427 over 581 PA last season.
While the Cardinals have extended certain veteran stars (such as Molina himself and Adam Wainwright) rather than letting them test free agent waters, the club has also been willing to let franchise icons leave — i.e. Albert Pujols — if it feels the cost will be too prohibitive. While Molina obviously won’t require nearly as massive a commitment as Pujols, there aren’t many catchers who have remained both healthy and productive enough to merit an eight-figure annual salary into their mid-to-late 30’s.
Molina, for his part, tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters that he isn’t close to the end of his career. “I’ve still got many years in the tank. Believe me,” Molina said. “I feel great. I feel like a 20-year-old kid.” Molina’s remarkable durability notwithstanding, the Cardinals could explore extending Molina and then using him at first base in future years to keep him fresh and to ease top prospect Carson Kelly into catching duties.
NL Notes: Cubs, Padres, Cardinals, Dodgers
Unlike last season, when he took nearly three weeks to accept a summer demotion to Triple-A, Cubs infielder Tommy La Stella would be willing to head to the minors without incident this year, according to manager Joe Maddon (via Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago). A season-opening role with Triple-A Iowa is a possibility for La Stella, who’s battling outfielder Matt Szczur for the Cubs’ final bench spot. Szczur is the only one of the two who’s out of options, which could bode poorly for La Stella. The Cubs “haven’t decided everything or anything yet,” per Maddon, but he believes Szczur is a major league-caliber player and an ideal teammate.
More from the National League:
- Yangervis Solarte (second base) and non-roster invitee Erick Aybar (shortstop) are likely to open the season as the Padres’ double-play combination, manager Andy Green suggested to Owen Perkins of MLB.com on Saturday. Solarte has spent the majority of his career at third base, but he also has experience at the keystone. His move across the diamond will open up the hot corner for a combo of Ryan Schimpf, who emerged from anonymity to hit 20 home runs as a 28-year-old rookie last season, and Cory Spangenberg. Aybar, meanwhile, has long been a capable shortstop, but he endured a poor 2016 split between Atlanta and Detroit and then settled for a minor league deal with the Padres last month. Nevertheless, the 33-year-old has impressed Green. “Erick’s done a lot of things we really like in camp so far,” said Green. “I enjoy the type of person he is, the way his mind works, the way he’s hit the ball around the yard.”
- Career minor leaguer Jose Martinez has won the Cardinals’ fourth outfielder spot, leading the team to demote Tommy Pham to Triple-A Memphis. This is the second straight year the Cardinals have chosen an untested 28-year-old for a reserve outfielder role. Jeremy Hazelbaker, now with the Diamondbacks, unexpectedly emerged last spring and then slashed a useful .235/.295/.480 with 12 homers in 224 plate appearances as a rookie. Martinez, a .324/.392/.483 hitter in 885 Triple-A plate trips, has mashed this spring en route to a roster spot. Pham hasn’t, further influencing St. Louis’ decision, but he does own a quality .245/.333/.455 line in 358 major league PAs.
- As of earlier this week, the Dodgers considered outfielder Andre Ethier doubtful for Opening Day on account of a “mild” herniated disk in his lower back. It now appears Ethier’s a lock to miss the beginning of the season, as the soon-to-be 35-year-old won’t resume baseball activities until the first week of April, tweets Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times. The Dodgers don’t consider Ethier’s injury a serious one, though. “I think it’s actually a good sign,” said manager Dave Roberts. “It’s not a six- to eight-week thing as I understand it” (Twitter link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register).
NL Notes: Peralta, Aybar, Padres’ Pen, Bradley, Goeddel, Susac
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny suggested Friday that Jhonny Peralta, not Jedd Gyorko, will win the team’s third base job, according to Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “He’s looked as good as we had hoped,” Matheny said of the 34-year-old Peralta, who dealt with a thumb injury last season and slashed a modest .260/.307/.408 in 313 plate appearances. Gyorko posted far superior production last year, when he hit .243/.306/.495 with a team-high 30 home runs in 438 PAs. Nevertheless, it appears he’ll open 2017 as a frequently used utilityman — a role he’s better suited for than Peralta.
Here’s more on some roster situations around the National League:
- It seems that Erick Aybar currently holds the inside track to the Padres‘ starting shortstop job, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Aybar hasn’t hit much this spring — he’s slashing .273/.319/.318 through 16 games — but seems to be the logical solution barring a trade. Luis Sardinas, meanwhile, is competing for a spot as a utility player, per manager Andy Green. He has spent some time in left field in a bid to enhance his versatility, and will seemingly be jockeying with options such as Cory Spangenberg and Rule 5 pick Allen Cordoba.
- Meanwhile, the Padres are still sorting through a variety of bullpen options, as AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. Rule 5’er Miguel Diaz seems to be well-positioned, while either Trevor Cahill or Jarred Cosart will also likely crack the pen if either fails to make the rotation. (The odds of both functioning as starters increased, it seems, with an injury to Christian Friedrich.) Veterans Craig Stammen, Carter Capps, and Kevin Quackenbush are among the notable names also in the running. Capps seems unlikely to be ready in time, per Cassavell, while Quackenbush’s poor showing in camp could result in an assignment to Triple-A.
- The division-rival Diamondbacks have settled on their own starting five, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports. That grouping — Zack Greinke, Taijuan Walker, Robbie Ray, Shelby Miller, and Patrick Corbin — contains no surprises, but manager Torey Lovullo did note an interesting decision on another hurler. Former top prospect Archie Bradley will open the year in the major league bullpen. The 24-year-old has struggled in his MLB opportunities over the past two seasons and has allowed 13 earned runs on 23 hits over 14 2/3 innings this spring. While he could still factor as a long-term rotation possibility — Bradley has produced quality results of late at Triple-A — the club will see whether the move to a relief role helps spur some positive momentum.
- When the Phillies optioned outfielder Tyler Goeddel to minor league camp Friday, they informed him he’d likely start 2017 at the Double-A level, writes Matt Breen of Philly.com. Considering he spent all of last season in the majors, Goeddel isn’t thrilled with his multi-level demotion. “I’m not too happy about that but you can’t control it,” said Goeddel, who hit a meager .192/.258/.291 in 234 PAs as a Rule 5 pick in 2016. With Nick Williams, Roman Quinn and Dylan Cozens set to comprise the Phillies’ Triple-A outfield, there aren’t any openings for Goeddel at that level. Regarding those three, Goeddel stated: “I know who’s at Triple-A with Cozens, Williams and Quinn. But I was still surprised. They hadn’t really told me anything so it was definitely surprising.”
- A neck issue has kept Brewers catcher Andrew Susac out of action for the past week-plus, but an MRI on Friday revealed no structural damage to his trapezius, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Susac will be able to ramp up his rehab as a result, though he’ll still start the year on the disabled list. Milwaukee will open with Jett Bandy and Manny Pina as its top options behind the plate.
Minor MLB Transactions: 3/22/17
Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Braves released southpaw Matt Marksberry, according to the pitcher himself earlier this week on his Facebook page. Marksberry posted a 5.06 ERA, 7.8 K/9 and 1.35 K/BB rate over 26 2/3 innings with Atlanta from 2015-16. He suffered a severe health scare last fall when he was placed in a medically-induced coma following a seizure that caused a collapsed lung, though Marksberry appears to be recovering well from that terrifying situation.
- The Cardinals signed righty Josh Zeid to a minor league deal, as per Zeid himself via Twitter. Zeid pitched 48 1/3 innings out of the Astros bullpen in 2013-14, after joining the organization as part of the trade package sent by Philadelphia to Houston for Hunter Pence in July 2011. Zeid spent 2015 and 2016 in the minors with the Tigers and Mets, respectively, and he most recently pitched for Israel in the World Baseball Classic.
- Outfielder David Denson announced his retirement from baseball via a message on his Facebook page. Denson made history in 2015 when he became the first active player in affiliated baseball to publicly announce that he was gay, and he tells Tom Haudricourt and Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that “leaving the game has nothing to do with my coming out. That wasn’t a factor at all. This was a decision I made purely from a baseball standpoint.” Instead, Denson said that he simply lost his passion for playing the game. Denson was a 15th-round pick of the Brewers in the 2013 draft, and he hit .229/.338/.368 over 1269 career plate appearances, making it to the High-A level in Milwaukee’s farm system.
- The Blue Jays released outfielder Jacob Anderson, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Toronto picked Anderson out of high school with the 35th overall selection of the 2011 draft, though he only made it as high as A-ball in five pro seasons, managing a .204/.271/.302 slash line.
Rotation Notes: Royals, Cardinals, Padres
The Royals have named Nate Karns their fifth starter, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes (Twitter links). That means veterans Travis Wood and Chris Young will pitch out of the bullpen. Karns joins a rotation that also includes Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Jason Hammel and Jason Vargas. Karns, who arrived in a winter trade for Jarrod Dyson, posted a 5.15 ERA and 4.3 BB/9 with the Mariners last year, but with a reasonably promising 9.6 K/9 over 94 1/3 innings. The potential to compete for a rotation spot was a key reason Wood agreed to a two-year, $12MM deal with the Royals over the offseason, but it appears he’ll instead pitch in relief, a role in which he had success as a member of the Cubs in both 2015 and 2016. Here’s more on rotations throughout the game.
- Manager Mike Matheny confirms that Michael Wacha will serve as the Cardinals‘ fifth starter, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Wacha appeared to have the inside track on the job after the team lost top prospect Alex Reyes to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. Joining Wacha in the rotation will be Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake and Lance Lynn. The loss of Reyes and the injury situations of a number of pitchers (including Wacha, Tyler Lyons and Marco Gonzales) leave the Cardinals with somewhat depleted depth. Lynn, who is pitching without restrictions as he returns from his own Tommy John surgery, says he’s aiming to reliably make his starts and accumulate innings. “If you set yourself below that, why take the ball?” he says.
- The Padres face a different problem as they attempt to assemble their 2017 rotation, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes. Veterans Jhoulys Chacin, Jered Weaver and Clayton Richard have nailed down rotation spots, leaving two open. Of the five remaining starters competing, though, three (Jarred Cosart, Christian Friedrich and Paul Clemens) are out of options, limiting the club’s flexibility. One or two of those pitchers could head to the bullpen (although sending two potential starters to the bullpen would create a different set of roster questions), and Friedrich, who’s dealing with arm soreness, could be placed on the DL. Still, it’s possible the Padres could end up with a starting pitcher or two on the waiver wire as the season opens. Luis Perdomo, meanwhile, led the Padres in innings pitched last year, but he’s eligible to be optioned, so he might head to Triple-A El Paso.
Pitching Notes: Cardinals, Red Sox, Yankees, Rangers
The Cardinals have tabbed Michael Wacha to begin the season as their fifth starter, tweets Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. That’s not particularly surprising, as St. Louis optioned one of Wacha’s competitors, Luke Weaver, to Triple-A on Saturday after he showed poorly over five spring training innings. The other contender for the Redbirds’ last starting role, former closer Trevor Rosenthal, fell behind the 8-ball when he dealt with right lat muscle soreness earlier this month. Barring an injury, the other four-fifths of the Cardinals’ season-opening rotation will consist of Carlos Martinez, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake and Lance Lynn.
- Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright finally seems to be putting his long bout with right shoulder bursitis behind him, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Wright, a 2016 All-Star whose season ended in August after he injured his shoulder as a pinch-runner, threw three hitless innings against the Twins on Saturday. The 32-year-old indicated afterward that he’s “in good position to be ready for Opening Day.”
- Ernesto Frieri served as a more-than-capable reliever with the Padres and Angels from 2010-13, when he combined for a 2.79 ERA, 12.28 K/9 and 4.36 BB/9 over 229 1/3 innings, before he flamed out over the next two seasons with the Halos, Pirates and Rays. After taking 2016 off to repair his mechanics, the 31-year-old Frieri believes he’s poised for a career renaissance with the Yankees, per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. “Before, I was a thrower,” Frieri said Saturday. “I’d just throw fastballs and I got away with that, too. But I had that deception. And now I have that deception back.” Frieri, who’s attempting to make the Yankees’ roster after signing a minor league contract Thursday, threw two scoreless innings for Colombia during the World Baseball Classic and touched 95 mph. His average fastball velocity in 2015 was 91.2.
- Rangers right-hander Tyson Ross will throw live batting practice for the first time this year on Wednesday, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Ross, who’s on the mend from October surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, “has met all checkpoints on time or early so far,” Grant adds. The expectation when the Rangers signed Ross in January was that he’d be ready for major league action by May or June.