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Quick Hits: Schedule, Twins, A’s, Minor League Pay

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The Nationals and Yankees are tentatively scheduled to play on July 23, according to Joel Sherman and Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, which would make for a big Max Scherzer vs. Gerrit Cole pitching matchup to highlight Opening Day.  It might still be at least a week or two before the 2020 schedule is officially finalized, however, as the league is still considering a number of factors, chief among them coronavirus outbreaks around the United States.  “Better, the league believes, to take its time, see how the [COVID-19] testing of personnel goes this week and the preferences expressed in feedback from clubs,” Sherman and Marchand write.  “So the current schedule can change drastically and, if it does, the union will have to provide its blessing again.”

More from around baseball…

  • Tomorrow is the deadline for teams to submit their initial 60-man player pool, and details are already beginning to emerge about which players may or may not be included.  The Twins’ taxi squad will include top prospects Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, and Brent Rooker,  SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson tweets.  Caleb Thielbar, who rejoined Minnesota on a minors contract last winter, is also expected to be on taxi squad duty.
  • The Athletics will initially split their player pool into two groups, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports, with much of the big league roster training in Oakland and the taxi squad potentially training in nearby Stockton — the home of the Athletics’ Class-A affiliate — if a deal can be finalized with Stockton city officials.  Offseason minor league signings Ryan Goins, Carlos Perez, Jordan Weems, and Lucas Luetge will all be in Oakland, while taxi squad players include such notable prospects as Tyler Soderstrom, Daulton Jefferies, Nick Allen, Dustin Fowler and (as per MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez) Robert Puason.
  • Slusser also provides updates on some Athletics players who were battling injuries during the spring but are now on track to be ready for Opening Day.  A.J. Puk “has been throwing bullpen sessions for months” following a shoulder strain in the spring, and looks to be ready to begin the season in Oakland’s rotation.  Right-hander Daniel Mengden is also ready to be part of the pitching mix after recovering from arthroscopic elbow surgery in February.  After being sidelined with an intercostal strain during Spring Training, Stephen Piscotty said he is now “100 percent with no limitations.”
  • The Rays and Rangers are the latest teams to commit to paying their minor leaguers through the end of July, as respectively reported by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Minor leaguers in each organization will continue to receive their $400 weekly stipends for at least another month.

Latest On Teams With Positive Coronavirus Tests

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After multiple members of the Texas Rangers organization tested positive for COVID-19, some employees told ESPN that they “fear for their health and hope the organization will allow employees to work from home after feeling pressure to come into the office,” per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. That’s a troubling revelation coming out of Texas, and a reminder of the power that employers yield over their workers during this difficult time. The Rangers, of course, will have the opportunity to reassess their work-from-home policies in light of these positive tests – and hopefully do so. Given unemployment rates around the country, those with highly-coveted positions within sports franchises are in a difficult position should they disagree with their employers in terms of readiness to return to work. None of the Rangers’ positive tests belonged to players, coaches, or baseball personnel, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Teams generally face less public scrutiny with how they handle non-baseball-personnel staff, so let’s see how a couple other teams are handling confirmed positive tests…

  • The Brewers are newly among those clubs with positive COVID-19 tests within the organization, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Many of those who tested positive were asymptomatic, but apparently not all of them. It’s unclear at this time if those positive tests were from staff members or players. Regardless, the Brewers are forging ahead, set to bring a group of 45 players to compete for the eventual 30-man regular-season roster. The rest of the 60-man roster will train at the team’s Class A facility in Appleton, Wisconsin. Players will face intake testing for COVID-19 as they arrive at team facilities.
  • The Indians have had players test positive from their homes, the team facility in Arizona, and from the Dominican Republic, per The Athletic’s Zack Meisel. Team President Chris Antonetti says that the cases have been isolated and there have not been any large-scale breakouts. Interestingly, some staff members have decided to sit out the season, though no players within the organization have as of yet decided to abstain from play. Clearly, the concerns are real across the league, and it’s up to teams to work with their staff and players to make sure everyone feels safe heading into this truncated season. The players face the most visibility, but there are obviously many more employees from every team who will face increased risk in the coming months now that baseball is coming back.

Rangers Will Not Include Brian Flynn In 60-Man Player Pool

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The Rangers on Friday advised left-hander Brian Flynn that he will not land a spot on Texas’ 60-man player pool, MLBTR has learned. The former Royals southpaw had been in Spring Training on a minor league deal.

Flynn, 30, spent the 2016-19 seasons in Kansas City, working to a combined 3.76 ERA with 6.3 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 0.66 HR/9 and a 49.4 percent ground-ball rate in 162 2/3 frames. He’s primarily worked as a reliever throughout his big league career, although he’s made six starts between the Royals and his earlier seasons in Miami.

The 2019 season was particularly rough for Flynn, as a UCL sprain early in the year limited him to 29 1/3 innings. He struggled to a 5.22 ERA upon returning from that injury, turning in a 22-to-17 K/BB ratio and a 42.4 percent grounder rate that was a ways off the 52 percent mark at which he’d sat during his best seasons.

Back during the initial version of Spring Training, Flynn had allowed one run on two hits and four walks with eight strikeouts in six innings of work.

*The original version of this post indicated that Flynn had been released. MLBTR has since learned that he will not be released from his contract but will not be part of the club’s 60-man player pool.

Amateur Draft Signings: 6/24/20

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Several more draft picks from the second through fifth rounds have agreed to deals with their first-ever major league organizations. Here are the latest updates…

  • The Cardinals announced the signing of second-round pick Masyn Winn on Wednesday, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch relays. Winn will earn $2.1MM, which is above the $1,338,500 recommended slot value of his pick (No. 54), per Jim Callis of MLB.com. Winn, a Texas high school shortstop/right-hander who committed to Arkansas before the draft, is a legitimate prospect on both ends, according to Callis.
  • The Red Sox have reached a deal on a $1.75MM bonus with third-round choice Blaze Jordan, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. It’s a well-above-slot pact for Jordan, a high school third baseman from Mississippi whose pick (89) came with a recommended value of $667,900.
  • The Rangers have inked a pair of picks, third-rounder Tekoah Roby and fifth-rounder Thomas Saggese, TR Sullivan of MLB.com tweets. Roby, a high school righty from Florida who went 86th overall, signed for $775K (recommended slot value: $699,700). Despite coming off the board much later at 145, Saggese received $800K – easily above the $375,200 slot. Saggese is a high school shortstop from California.
  • The Rockies announced the signings of third-round left-hander Sam Weatherly (Clemson) and fifth-round shortstop Jack Blomgren (Michigan). Financial details aren’t yet known in either case. Weatherly’s pick (81) came with a slot value of $755,300, while Blomgren’s (140) was assessed at $394,300.
  • Mets fifth-rounder Eric Orze landed a deal for just $20K, Callis reports. His pick, No. 150, was worth a much more lucrative $357,100. As Callis notes, it’s easy to root for Orze, who has overcome cancer twice. On the mound, the righty from the University of New Orleans offers “an above-average, 92-95 mph fastball, an average slider and an above-average splitter,” Baseball America writes.

West Health Notes: A’s, D-backs, Mariners, Giants, Rangers

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Players who are at high risk of contracting the coronavirus have the right to opt out of participating this season, but they’d still receive full pay and service time. Athletics reliever Jake Diekman, who has ulcerative colitis and who had his colon removed in 2017, is one of those players. Diekman, however, informed Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he has no interest in opting out of the campaign – at least, not yet. “I’ve never thought once about opting out,” said the southpaw, though he added: “Say two or three guys on the team get it, we’ve all been around each other. I don’t know if I’d opt out in the middle of the season, but it definitely worries you.” Slusser also spoke with A’s utility player Chad Pinder, whose wife is expecting a baby in September, about the season. Pinder said, in part: “We have to do it right — or it just might not work. But there is a risk to this.”

  • An unnamed player on the Diamondbacks tested positive for the coronavirus in Arizona within the last month, general manager Mike Hazen said Wednesday (via Bob Nightengale of USA Today). That player was not using their facility, though, Hazen added. It’s unclear how his recovery has gone.
  • The Mariners have “had a few players test positive” for the virus, general manager Jerry Dipoto said Wednesday (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Fortunately, Dipoto went on to reveal that “they’re asymptomatic, and they feel great.”
  • More on the Mariners, who are uncertain whether outfielder Mitch Haniger will be ready for the resumption of spring training, according to GM Jerry Dipoto (via Divish). The past year has been an injury-filled nightmare for Haniger, who only played in 63 games in 2019 and then underwent two offseason surgeries – one a core procedure, the other a dissectomy. In better news for the Mariners, reliever Austin Adams – who underwent surgery on a torn ACL last fall – is set for camp. The 29-year-old Adams may have broken out for the Mariners last season with 32 innings of 3.94 ERA ball and a whopping 14.91 K/9.
  • Giants corner infielder Pablo Sandoval and lefties Tony Watson and Tyler Anderson will all be good to go for camp’s return, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets (1, 2). Catcher Aramis Garcia could be ready to come back in mid- to late August, meanwhile, and reliever Reyes Moronta may be set by then or in September. Sandoval had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last September; Watson dealt with shoulder issues before spring training shut down; Anderson underwent a procedure on his left knee last summer; Garcia’s still recovering from February hip surgery; and Moronta’s on the mend from the right shoulder surgery he had in September.
  • Rangers left-hander Joely Rodriguez is back to throwing after suffering a lat strain in April, but he won’t be ready for the start of the season, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Rodriguez should return at some point during the campaign, though. Texas lured Rodriguez back to the majors on a a two-year, $5.5MM contract in free agency after the former Phillie thrived in Japan from 2018-19.

Amateur Draft Signings: 6/20/20

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Let’s catch up on the latest draft signings …

  • The Astros were able to wrap up all of their draft business, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. In addition to picking up some undrafted free agents, the Houston organization inked its four draftees. The key signing was Alex Santos, a high school hurler who’ll turn pro after being offered $1.25MM — a fair bit over the $870,700 slot he was chosen at. Zach Daniels and Tyler Brown each signed for near their slot amounts, while fifth-rounder Shay Witcomb took just $56K and left the team with room to ink Santos.
  • Also inking for $1.2MM was Rangers’ choice Dylan MacLean. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported the news on Twitter. MacLean was a fourth-round pick in the draft, signing for more than double his slot amount. MacLean is a southpaw hurler out of Central Catholic High School in Oregon.
  • The Braves went well over slot to sign fifth-rounder Bryce Elder, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis (Twitter link). Elder will receive $850K, far north of the $336,600 allocation for the 156th overall pick.
  • As he said he would, Tigers fourth-rounder Gage Workman has reached agreement on a deal with his new team. The Detroit organization announced the signing, though it isn’t yet known what the Arizona State infielder will receive to forego a return for another run with the Sun Devils. Still just twenty years of age, Workman posted a lifetime .298/.372/.496 mark at ASU. He’s likely to begin his pro career as a shortstop.
  • The Cardinals announced that they’ve signed third-rounder Levi Prater. He’ll earn $575K ($627,900 slot value), Callis tweets. Callils notes that Prater is a right-handed hurler with a 90-93 mph fastball.
  • The Phillies added fourth-rounder Carson Ragsdale and fifth-rounder Baron Radcliff, per Callis (Twitter links). Ragsdale will earn $225K, well under the $497,500 slot value. Radcliff, a Georgia Tech outfielder, is slated to take home $100K, which will also leave some savings since his draft slot came with a $371,600 pool allocation.
  • The White Sox chased some serious mid-round savings. Third-round choice Adisyn Coffee has inked for $50K and fourth-rounder Kade Mechals went for $10K, Callis reports (Twitter links). Both are right-handed hurlers, Coffee from Wabash Valley College and Mechals out of Grand Canyon. It’s not hard to interpret these signings: the White Sox wish to reallocate the rest of the slot money ($733,100 and $517,400, respectively). The club is believed to be lining up a big bonus with second-rounder Jarred Kelley, though he hasn’t yet signed.
  • Rays third-rounder Hunter Barnhart is heading to Tampa Bay on a $585K bonus, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. The Rays saved some cash in inning Barnhart, whose third-round slot carried a value of $604,800.
  • High school righty Marco Raya has agreed to terms with the Twins. Callis tweets that he’ll receive a $410K bonus, which isn’t far shy of the $442,900 slot value. Raya is foregoing a commitment to Texas Tech. Though he’s hardly a power hurler, he’s said to have an “interesting four-pitch mix.”

Astros Report COVID Infection; Rangers Close Spring Facility

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As Texas reports a growing barrage of coronavirus infections, its two MLB franchises each were in the news in relation to the virus. Fortunately, in both cases it seems there’s no particular cause for alarm.

Astros GM James Click said today that the team had a player at the team’s spring facility in West Palm Beach, Florida test positive for COVID-19. (Via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, on Twitter.) The player is said to be doing just fine at the moment.

Per Click, the team’s procedures helped avoid any spread beyond the lone player. (It was not specified whether he was a major or minor leaguer.) “There were no other positive tests,” Click says.

The Nationals share the recently constructed complex but have not opened it to their players. AP’s Howard Fendrich tweets that the Nats did have one minor-league player in the Dominican Republic test positive. The player was not at the team’s facility there and those that were have tested negative, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports (Twitter link).

As for the Rangers, they’ve decided to halt the activities they had been overseeing in their spring home in Arizona, Tim Brown of Yahoo reports on Twitter. Though there haven’t been any positive tests or presumptive coronavirus cases, the organization decided to hit pause while the league sorts out testing and related protocols.

It seems that approach could be adopted more broadly. Today’s revelations of coronavirus concerns in several camps, in particular that of the Phillies, emphasizes the point that baseball needs to get its house in order if it is to put on any kind of 2020 season.

Rangers Sign Top Two Draft Picks

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The Rangers this morning will formally announce the signing of their top two picks, Mississippi State second baseman Justin Foscue and Elizabethton High School (Tenn.) outfielder Evan Carter, according to executive vice president of communications John Blake. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that Foscue signed for a $3.25MM bonus, which checks in south of the No. 14 overall selection’s $4.037MM slot value. Carter will get a $1.25MM bonus, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. His No. 50 slot carried a $1.47MM value.

Foscue, 21, batted .331/.395/.564 as a sophomore and was out to a .321/.464/.509 start as a junior prior to the college season’s shutdown. Dating back to the beginning of his sophomore season, Foscue has drawn 45 walks against 35 strikeouts through a combined 378 plate appearances. Scouting reports on Foscue paint him as a bat-first second baseman with particularly intriguing exit velocities at the plate, but he’s not regarded as a strong defensive prospect or a plus runner.

Foscue ranked as high as 19th on the draft rankings from Kiley McDaniel at ESPN. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen pegged him 26th in this year’s class, and Foscue also checked in at No. 32 at MLB.com, No. 36 at Baseball America and No. 63 at The Athletic.

As for Carter, his selection was somewhat of a surprise. The Duke commit didn’t appear on any pre-draft rankings — even BA’s Top 500 — although that hardly means he’s not a prospect of note or that another club wasn’t similarly intrigued in his abilities. Texas scouting director Kip Fagg told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News after the draft that Carter and other lesser-heralded Rangers pick “would have really popped” had they been able to play out the 2020 season. It’s commonplace for a breakout senior season to send a prospect skyrocketing up rankings, and the Rangers believe they “beat teams to these guys,” Fagg tells Grant. In the aforementioned tweet from Grant, he reports that the Royals were eyeing Carter in the third round.

Undrafted Free Agent Signings: 6/16/20

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This year’s five-round draft left a lot of deserving players looking for deals on the open market. Here’s a roundup of some of the many recent undrafted players who have reached agreements with MLB organizations:

Amateur Draft Signings: 6/13/20

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Let’s kick off this Saturday morning by checking in on some of the latest post-draft signings from around the league. We’ll update this post periodically throughout the day as more news trickles in…

Latest Signings

  • Cardinals fourth-rounder Ian Bedell will sign with the team, the right-hander told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers.  Terms of the agreement weren’t revealed, though the 122nd overall selection has a $469K slot value.  “I would have gone back to school if the signing bonus wasn’t there, but they made a good offer, and I couldn’t be happier,” said Bedell, who grew up as a Cards fan.  Draft pundits had a pretty wide range of opinions on Bedell’s draft stock (The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked him as the 58th-best prospect in the draft class, Fangraphs 85th, MLB Pipeline 88th, and Baseball America 105th), though those rankings still represent somewhat of a steal for the Cardinals with the 122nd pick.  Bedell drew praise for his command and control of his pitches rather than his pure arsenal, and he pitched very well in the Cape Cod League last summer.

Earlier Today

  • The Phillies and third-rounder Casey Martin have reached an agreement, Martin told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb (subscription required).  The 87th overall pick has a $689.3K slot price attached, and while Martin didn’t specify the terms of his contract, the Arkansas shortstop said the deal was a “fair amount for where I was picked and for my value.”  Martin didn’t play well before the 2020 college season came to an abrupt end, which may explain why he fell to the third round despite late-first/early-second round grades from prospect analysts (MLB Pipeline ranked Martin as the 30th-best prospect available in the draft).  There are questions surrounding Martin’s ability to avoid strikeouts and whether or not he could remain at shortstop in the long term, though he carries a lot of hitting potential and outstanding 70-grade speed.
  • The Astros have agreements in place with a couple of their draft picks from this week’s abbreviated MLB draft. Fourth-round selection Zach Daniels has an agreement in place, though the terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The Astros also came to terms with shortstop Shay Whitcomb from UC San Diego, who was the 160th and final pick of this draft (Mark Berman of KRIV Fox 26 had the report).  Though Whitcomb was the final player chosen, the slot value of that pick is still $324.1K, a significant bump from what those undrafted players can command. Players who went undrafted can sign with any team of their choosing, but only for a maximum payout of $20K. 
  • Orioles fifth-round selection Carter Baumler has plans to sign with Baltimore, per Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun. Baumler is a 6’2″ right-handed pitcher hailing from Dowling Catholic High School in Iowa. The 133rd overall pick of the draft carries a slot value of $422.3K. Baumler’s deal will come in well above slot at $1.5MM, tweets Mason McRae of Prospects 365 (confirmed by Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register). As Birch writes in a full piece, Baumler turned down two other teams before agreeing to sign with the Orioles. Had he not received an offer to his liking, Baumler was ready to play college ball for Texas Christian.
  • Rangers second-rounder Evan Carter will sign his first professional contract rather than attend Duke University, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. Carter is a lefty-swinging outfielder out of Elizabethton High School in Tennessee, and was picked by the Rangers with the 50th overall pick in the draft. The financials of his deal have not been disclosed, but the slot amount for the 50th overall selection is $1,469,900.
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