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Rangers Sign Robbie Grossman

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The Rangers announced agreement with veteran outfielder Robbie Grossman on a one-year major league contract. The deal will reportedly guarantee him $2MM and can max out at $5MM via performance bonuses. Grossman is an Alliance Sports Management client.

To create a spot on the 40-man roster, Texas placed reliever Brett Martin on the 60-day injured list. He underwent shoulder surgery last month and the club announced he’ll miss “a majority” of the upcoming season.

Grossman, 33, joins the sixth team of his big league career. He’s played parts of ten MLB seasons, suiting up with the Astros, Twins, A’s, Tigers and Braves going back to 2013. A switch-hitter, Grossman has carved out an outfield role at various stops thanks in large part to his quality production from the right-handed batter’s box. For his career, he owns a .279/.377/.413 line with an excellent 13.1% walk rate and modest 19.6% strikeout percentage against left-handed pitching.

The former sixth-round draftee continued in his lefty-masher capacity last season. He hit .320/.436/.443 in 149 trips against southpaws. He paired that with just a .163/.253/.256 showing over 328 plate appearances versus right-handed pitching. That resulted in a modest .209/.310/.311 line over 120 games overall, with Grossman performing at a below-average level both before and following a midseason trade from Detroit to Atlanta.

That points to Grossman taking on more of a situational platoon role, though he’s not typically a liability against right-handed pitching. While he’s consistently better against lefties, he owns a career .232/.335/.363 line against righties that isn’t too far below league average. Grossman has never hit for much power and strikes out more often from the left side of the plate, though he’s typically adept at working deep counts and drawing plenty of walks no matter the pitcher’s handedness.

Defensively, Grossman is limited to the corner outfield. He’s logged more experience in left field but has an extensive body of work at both spots, with public metrics rating him as a roughly average gloveman. He’ll primarily factor into the left field mix in Arlington, with Adolis García penciled into everyday work in the other corner position. Left field is much more of a question mark, one Texas GM Chris Young has suggested on a number of occasions he was hoping to plug externally.

Rangers’ left fielders combined for a .186/.253/.255 line last season. They finished at the bottom of the league in all three rate stats, with their slugging mark checking in nearly .080 points below that of the 29th-ranked Mariners. Grossman isn’t a huge power threat but should help the club rebound from an on-base perspective, particularly if manager Bruce Bochy deploys him more frequently in friendly platoon situations.

Left-handed hitting utilityman Brad Miller is going into the second season of a $10MM free agent deal. He had an awful first year in Texas, hitting just .212/.270/.320 while missing half the team’s games due to a hip injury. Miller posted a much stronger .250/.344/.487 line against right-handed pitching between 2018-21, however. Texas figures to give him a chance to rebound in left field, with Grossman on hand to take some at-bats against lefty arms.

Speedster Bubba Thompson and former infield prospects Josh Smith and Ezequiel Durán could all play their way into left field reps as well. None of that group made much of an offensive impact last season. That’s also true of Grossman on the whole, though he’ll at least add a solid career track record to a hodgepodge of left field possibilities. It’s certainly possible Texas looks to augment the group with a more established veteran in a midseason trade — particularly if they’re in the playoff hunt by July — but they figure to mix and match out there in the season’s early going.

Tacking on Grossman’s modest salary brings Texas’ 2023 payroll commitments around $198MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. That’s well into franchise record territory already, with owner Ray Davis and the front office kicking off consecutive offseason spending sprees to try to vault back to competitiveness. They’re currently sitting on a six-year playoff drought, tied with Baltimore for the fourth-longest active streak in the American League. Grossman’s deal takes them around $221MM in luxury tax commitments. That’s $12MM shy of the $233MM base threshold, leaving a decent amount of space for midseason acquisitions even if they want to dodge any overage fees.

Signing Grossman looks likely to take the Rangers out of the mix for any of the remaining free agent corner outfielders. Jurickson Profar is the top player still unsigned and his market now looks as clouded as ever. Ben Gamel and Tyler Naquin are among lower-profile role-playing corner outfielders still looking for jobs.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported Grossman and the Rangers were in agreement. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported it was a one-year, $2MM guarantee with $3MM in additional incentives.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rangers Have Had Talks With Robbie Grossman

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The Rangers have had discussions with free-agent outfielder Robbie Grossman about a potential contract, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter link). The 33-year-old would give them another option to jump into their currently unsettled left field mix.

Pitching has been the overwhelming focus for the Rangers throughout the 2022-23 offseason, as they’ve signed Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney while also acquiring Jake Odorizzi in a trade with the Braves. Two of the three spots in the team’s outfield seem generally spoken for, with slugger Adolis Garcia likely ticketed for everyday work in right field and defensive standout Leody Taveras slated for regular work in center field.

Left field is another story entirely. The position has gone unaddressed this winter even though Rangers left fielders were the least-productive unit of all 30 MLB clubs in 2022, when they ranked dead-last in the Majors in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Texas left fielders combined to post an almost unfathomably feeble .186/.253/.255 batting line. That translated to a 47 wRC+, or roughly 53% worse than league-average production after weighting for home park and the league run-scoring environment. Rangers left fielders also struck out at a 29.6% clip (28th in MLB), hit 11 home runs (27th), and managed only five doubles (last in the Majors) and no triples.

There’s no clear, MLB-ready top prospect looming, either. The Rangers’ hope, to this point, has seemingly been that some combination of former top prospect Josh Smith, veteran utilityman Brad Miller, former first-round pick Bubba Thompson, infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias and a slate of minor league signees (e.g. Clint Frazier, Travis Jankowski, Elier Hernandez) can patch the position together.

However, Texas general manager Chris Young said last week that he’s still open to the possibility of adding an outfielder from outside the organization. Grossman obviously fits that bill, and while he might not be ticketed for everyday work himself, the veteran switch-hitter could at the very least occupy the short half of a potential platoon arrangement.

Grossman was an above-average bat in five of six seasons from 2016-21, with 2019 being the lone exception. He slipped to a .209/.310/.311 output in 477 plate appearances this past season between the Tigers and Braves, but he maintained his long track record of production against left-handed pitching. He mashed southpaws at a .320/.436/.443 pace in 2022 and is a career .279/.377/.413 hitter against lefties.

Grossman has had productive stretches against righties, too, though he’s been inconsistent in that regard. He’s batted .232/.335/.363 in his career against righties and walked at a hefty 12.7% clip, but over the past two seasons, Grossman has looked overmatched when batting from the left side of the dish: .196/.308/.331 (82 wRC+) in 793 plate appearances. Among the Rangers’ in-house options in left field, both Miller and Smith bat from the left side of the dish, making Grossman a somewhat natural platoon partner for either.

While Grossman was a defensive liability early in his career, he’s improved his glovework over time. Over the past four seasons, he’s tallied 2422 innings in left field and been a scratch defender per Defensive Runs Saved (0), while Ultimate Zone Rating (6.2) and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (2) feel he’s been a bit better.

Read The Transcript Of Our Live Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Deck McGuire

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Deck McGuire was drafted 11th overall in 2010 by the Blue Jays as a starting pitcher out of Georgia Tech, signing for $2MM.  Baseball America ranked him 95th among all prospects shortly after that.  At the time, BA felt that McGuire’s “good stuff and polish” and college resume would result in a quick path to Toronto’s rotation.

Things went off track for McGuire in 2012 at Double-A, however.  Eventually, the Blue Jays traded McGuire to the A’s for cash considerations in July 2014.  He signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in 2015, and another one with the Cardinals after that season.  McGuire continued finding Triple-A jobs, signing with the Reds prior to the 2017 campaign.

After a strong 2017 season as a starter at the Double-A level, the Reds rewarded the tenacious McGuire with a September call-up.  He made his MLB debut at the age of 28, entering a bases loaded situation against the Cardinals and inducing a double play off the bat of Harrison Bader.  McGuire even got to finish that season with a start at Wrigley Field, tossing five scoreless with only two hits allowed and a strikeout of Kris Bryant.

Following the ’17 season, McGuire moved back to the Jays on a minor league deal.  By May, he was working out of the bullpen for the team that had drafted him eight years prior.  In June of that year, the Rangers claimed McGuire off waivers, trading him to the Angels shortly thereafter.  He made it back to the bigs for a few spot starts, also working out of the Halos’ bullpen that year.

After being part of three MLB organizations in 2018, McGuire signed a deal with KBO’s Samsung Lions.  He made 21 starts for that club, including the 14th no-hitter in KBO history.  McGuire landed with the Rays on a minor league deal in February 2020.  That minor league season was lost to the pandemic, and McGuire moved to the Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League for ’21.

McGuire started the ’22 season in the Atlantic League, which he parlayed into another minor league deal with the Reds.  McGuire wrapped up his pitching career last December, writing on Twitter, “For 12 years I got to live out my dream of being a professional baseball player.”

McGuire’s journeyman career was not what anyone expected when the Blue Jays drafted him 11th overall, but his perseverance got him to the Majors for 51 2/3 innings with the Reds, Blue Jays, and Angels.  Even in that brief time he struck out Bryant, Jose Altuve, Rafael Devers, and Ryan Braun, among many others.  McGuire pitched for seven different MLB organizations while also spending multiple seasons overseas.

Asked about his post-retirement plans, Deck wrote in an email, “As of right now my plans are to stay in the game somehow. I’m currently working with some guys and youth teams in my area of Colorado. I’m gonna head back to Georgia Tech in the fall to graduate and be around the program.”  You can follow Deck on Twitter @deckmcguire.

Today, Deck chatted for over an hour with MLBTR readers, talking about the differences between KBO and MLB, the pressure of being a high draft pick, dealing with hecklers, and much more.  Read the transcript here.

Zack Britton Working Out For Six Teams Today

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Former All-Star closer Zack Britton is hosting a workout for six interested clubs today, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports that the Mets are one of the six teams in attendance. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic adds that the Angels, Giants, Dodgers, Cubs and Rangers were also in attendance. The Angels, in particular, have been linked to Britton in recent weeks. Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, meanwhile, writes that the Tigers have had interest in Britton, though it doesn’t seem they attended today’s showcase.

It’s the second time the 35-year-old Britton has thrown for teams this offseason, though the first was more of a leaguewide showcase. That took place back in mid-January, and it stands to reason that today’s workout will offer his most interested suitors a chance to get another look at him as he gears up for a potential signing. That Britton would offer multiple showcases to interested teams isn’t necessarily a surprise, given that he pitched just two-thirds of an inning in 2022 and only 18 1/3 frames in 2021.

Once one of the game’s elite relievers, Britton has seen his star fade in his mid-30s as injuries have begun to take their toll. The lefty had his elbow scoped in March 2021, which cost him the first two months of that season. He returned in June but quickly went down with a hamstring strain that sidelined him another few weeks. The return from that balky hamstring proved similarly short-lived, as an elbow strain again sent him to the injured list.

In Sept. 2021, Britton underwent surgery to address that second elbow issue. The hope was that, like the arthroscopic procedure in March, removing some bone spurs would alleviate the issue. Instead, surgeons determined that Britton’s ulnar collateral ligament had suffered enough damage that a Tommy John surgery was required. He missed almost all of the 2022 season but did make an improbable late-September return. However, that amounted to just three games, during which time Britton walked six of nine batters faced before going back to the injured list yet again. He averaged 92.8 mph on his fastball in that time — nowhere close to the 94.9 mph he averaged during his last healthy season in 2020 (and even further from the 96.9 mph on his sinker at its peak).

That peak, of course, was one for the ages. From 2014-20, Britton notched a superhuman 1.84 ERA in 367 1/3 frames. He punched out 24% of his opponents against a 9.2% walk rate in that time, and Britton’s 76.2% ground-ball rate over that period cemented him as the best ground-ball pitcher since 2002, when batted-ball data of that nature began being carefully tracked. Britton posted a laughable 80% ground-ball rate in 2016 and was at 79.1% in 2015 and 77.2% in 2019 — the three highest single-season marks ever posted by a qualified pitcher.

Whether he can get back to that form in his mid-30s is an open question. Given his diminished velocity and recent elbow woes, it seems like a long shot. But, given that Britton isn’t likely to command more than an incentive-laden deal with a low base salary, there’s plenty of sense in taking a low-cost risk, given the obvious talent and track record of dominance.

Rangers Still Open To Outfield Addition

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It’s been a busy offseason for the Rangers in terms of pitching acquisitions, with Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney joining the rotation alongside holdovers Jon Gray and Martin Perez (who accepted the team’s one-year, qualifying offer at the outset of free agency). Texas has also acquired veteran Jake Odorizzi in a deal with the Braves and brought in a slew of veteran players — pitchers and hitters alike — on non-roster deals with invites to spring training.

One glaring hole from the 2022 club that’s yet to be addressed, however, is the outfield. Adolis Garcia has one spot locked down (likely right field), and Texas seems content to turn center field over to fleet-footed, slick-fielding Leody Taveras. Left field remains a question mark, however, and although the team has been connected to names like Bryan Reynolds and old friend Jurickson Profar even since the calendar flipped from 2022 to 2023, the Rangers haven’t brought an outfielder into the mix on a guaranteed deal.

General manager Chris Young didn’t exactly strike an aggressive tone in discussing the void, but he did tell Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News that his front office will “continue to monitor leading up to spring training and through spring training” to “see what the options are both internally and externally.”

It’s a fairly generic statement, admittedly, but Young’s comments come on the heels of several other front office leaders around the league all but proclaiming that their teams are done making additions to the roster (e.g. Giants, Mariners, Reds). Given that context, it’s at least somewhat notable that Young is still speaking about the possibility of bringing in talent from outside the organization.

Of course, the free-agent market for outfielders has largely been picked over, and the asking price for the aforementioned Reynolds — which Texas and other clubs have clearly deemed too high — isn’t likely to come down anytime soon. That said, Profar is still looking for an employer for the 2023 season, and the market has a handful of solid platoon bats who could be paired with what’s currently a hodgepodge of unproven youngsters and veteran rebound hopefuls. David Peralta, Robbie Grossman and Tyler Naquin are among the yet-unsigned possibilities.

As it stands, the Rangers have Josh Smith, Bubba Thompson, Mark Mathias, Brad Miller and Ezequiel Duran on the 40-man roster. Thompson is the only pure outfielder by trade — the others are infielders with some outfield experience — but he also needed a .389 BABIP to offset his 30.9% strikeout rate and get to a .265/.302/.312 slash in last year’s MLB debut. That clocked in 23% below-average, by measure of wRC+. As for the team’s non-roster invitees, they’ll give looks to Travis Jankowski, Clint Frazier, Joe McCarthy and Elier Hernandez.

The Rangers are already in line to shatter their previous franchise-record payroll, soaring past that old $165MM mark with what Roster Resource projects as a $196MM Opening Day outlay. Any addition at this point isn’t likely to be all that expensive, barring an unlikely scenario where the Rangers take on a contract of some note in a trade. It’s fair to wonder just how high ownership is willing to push payroll, but after spending nearly $825MM in free agency over the past two offseasons alone, it’s likely that they’d provide Young with the green light to make another modestly price addition (e.g. Profar, Peralta) if the front office determines that to be a prudent course of action.

Rangers left fielders ranked dead-last in the Majors last season in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, combining to post an almost unfathomably feeble .186/.253/.255 batting line. That translated to a 47 wRC+, or roughly 53% worse than league-average production after weighting for home park and the league run-scoring environment. Rangers left fielders also struck out at a 29.6% clip (28th in MLB), hit 11 home runs (27th), and managed only five doubles (last in the Majors) and no triples.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

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The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Players That Could Move To The 60-Day IL Once Spring Training Begins

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Just about every baseball team has a full 40-man roster now, with the Astros the only team with an open spot at the moment. That means that just about every transaction, be it a free agent signing or a waiver claim, requires a corresponding move.

However, that could soon change as the injured list is coming back soon. There’s no IL from the end of a season until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training for the next campaign, which they will do next week. That means some clubs could potentially gain a bit of extra roster flexibility at that time, since players on the 60-day IL don’t count against a team’s roster total. However, it’s worth pointing out that the “60 days” don’t start until Opening Day, which is March 30 this year. That means, though a team can transfer a player to the 60-day IL next week, they will likely only do so if they aren’t expecting the player back until end of May or later.

With some notable free agents still unsigned like Jurickson Profar, Andrew Chafin, Michael Wacha, Elvis Andrus and many others, it’s possible that teams interested in their services might try to hold off on getting a deal done until next week. Or perhaps clubs that have players they would like to sneak through waivers will try to do so now, before rival clubs gain that extra roster flexibility with the IL opening up. Then again, some clubs will need to keep in mind non-roster players they are planning to promote by Opening Day and might hold off on making a move until that time.

Here are some players who are expected to miss some significant time and could find themselves transferred soon, sorted by division.

AL East

Hyun Jin Ryu/Chad Green

The Blue Jays have a pair of pitchers on their 40-man roster who are returning from Tommy John surgery. They should be on a similar timeline, as they each underwent the procedure in June of last year, though Green will most likely return first since relievers generally require less time to build up arm strength compared to starters. Regardless, the recovery time period for TJS is about 12-18 months, meaning neither pitcher is likely to return until midseason at the earliest. Ryu recently said he was targeting a July return.

Trevor Story

The Red Sox shortstop recently underwent an internal brace procedure on his throwing elbow, a similar operation to Tommy John. Though he’s confident he’ll return at some point, he’s slated to miss most of the upcoming season and is certainly headed for the injured list.

John Means

The Orioles lefty underwent Tommy John surgery in late of April of 2022. With the 12-18 month recovery window for TJS, he could theoretically return in the first couple of months of the season, so the O’s may not want to transfer him to the injured list until they have some clarity about his timeline.

Scott Effross/Luis Gil/Frankie Montas

Effross is a lock for the Yankees’ injured list as he underwent Tommy John in October and will likely miss the entire 2023 campaign. Gil had the same surgery but in May, which means he’ll likely be out until midseason. The situation with Montas is a bit less clear, as he’s dealing with shoulder inflammation that is expected to keep him out for the first month of the season. Unless he suffers some sort of setback, he probably won’t be placed on the 60-day IL right away.

Shane Baz/Andrew Kittredge

The Rays have a couple of hurlers bound for the IL as Baz underwent Tommy John in September while Kittredge had the same surgery in June. They’re both going to miss the first half of the year, with Baz potentially missing the entire season.

AL Central

Casey Mize/Tarik Skubal

Mize underwent Tommy John surgery in June and should be placed on the Tigers’ IL at some point. Skubal’s case is a bit less certain after he underwent flexor tendon surgery in August. The club hasn’t provided a timeline for his recovery but some recent comparables can give us some idea. Danny Duffy underwent the procedure in October of 2021 and was hoping to return by June of 2022, though a setback prevented him from pitching at all on the year. Matthew Boyd went under the knife for flexor tendon surgery in September of 2021 and didn’t return to a big league mound until September of 2022.

Garrett Crochet/Liam Hendriks

Crochet of the White Sox underwent Tommy John surgery in April of last year but was already stretched out to throwing from 120 feet in November. Whether he’s able to return in the early parts of 2023 or not will depend on his continued progression in that recovery process. In a less conventional situation, Liam Hendriks announced last month that he’s beginning treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s unknown how long his treatment will take but general manager Rick Hahn said they don’t expect updates “prior to Opening Day at the very earliest.”

Chris Paddack/Royce Lewis

Paddack was recently extended by the Twins though he underwent Tommy John in May of last year and likely won’t be ready to return until the middle of the upcoming campaign. Lewis tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year, the second year in a row that he suffered that unfortunate injury. At the time, his recovery timeline was estimated at 12 months, which likely puts him on the shelf until midseason as well.

AL West

Brett Martin

It was reported last month that the Rangers lefty will require shoulder surgery. It was said that the timeline will become more clear in the aftermath of the procedure but he’s likely to miss the entirety of the upcoming season.

NL East

Bryce Harper

The Phillies superstar underwent Tommy John surgery in November and the club has announced they expect him to be out of action until around the All-Star break in July.

Huascar Ynoa/Tyler Matzek

Both these Braves pitchers underwent Tommy John last year, with Ynoa going under the knife in September and Matzek in October. That makes them both long shots for appearing at all this year, but especially not in the first half.

Max Meyer/Anthony Bender/Sixto Sanchez

The Marlins have a couple of arms that will certainly miss time this year and one more that’s a wild card. Meyer and Bender both underwent Tommy John in August and will miss most of the upcoming campaign. Sanchez underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in October with the club announcing at that time they expected him back by spring. It was reported last month that Sanchez is already throwing bullpens, which perhaps points against an IL stint. However, after the shoulder issues completely wiped out his 2021 and 2022 seasons, it’s hard to know how much to rely on his health going forward.

Danny Mendick

The Mets signed Mendick after he was non-tendered by the White Sox. The infielder/outfielder tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in June of last year and missed the second half of the season. There haven’t been any updates on his status recently, but further clarity will likely come when camp gets rolling.

Tanner Rainey/Stephen Strasburg

The Nationals have one fairly straightforward case in Tanner Rainey, who underwent Tommy John in August and will likely miss most of the upcoming season. What’s less clear is the situation surrounding Strasburg, who’s hardly pitched at all over the past three years due to thoracic outlet syndrome and various issues seemingly related to that. He made one appearance in the big leagues last year, pitching 4 2/3 in one start in June but went on the IL right after and never returned. He spoke about the issue in September, saying he hadn’t thrown in months and that he is “not really sure what the future holds.”

NL Central

Ethan Roberts/Codi Heuer/Kyle Hendricks

Roberts underwent Tommy John in June and likely won’t be available for the Cubs until midseason. Heuer had TJS in March but the latest reporting suggests he won’t return until June or July. The status of Hendricks is less clear, with the righty trying to recover from a capsular tear in his shoulder. The club is hoping to have him back by Opening Day but also said they won’t rush him. He recently said that he’s expecting to be on a mound by March 1.

Vladimir Gutierrez/Tejay Antone

Gutierrez, a Reds righty, underwent Tommy John in July and should miss the first few months of the upcoming season at least. Antone was rehabbing from a Tommy John of his own when he suffered a flexor strain in his forearm. He announced today he’s received a platelet-rich plasma injection to treat the issue and suggested he might miss the first half of the season.

Max Kranick

The Pirates right-hander required Tommy John in June and will miss the first half of the upcoming campaign.

NL West

Antonio Senzatela/Tyler Kinley

The Rockies have a couple of murky situations on their hands with these hurlers. Senzatela tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee last year and required surgery in August. The timeline at that point was given at 6-8 months, which would place his return somewhere in the February-April window. Whether he’ll require a lengthy IL stint will depend on if his recovery is still on that track. Kinley was diagnosed with an elbow strain and a flexor tear in his forearm in June of last year. He underwent surgery in July with the club announcing they expected him to miss one calendar year, which should prevent him from pitching early in the campaign.

Walker Buehler/Blake Treinen/J.P. Feyereisen

The Dodgers have a trio of pitchers that are likely to miss most or perhaps all of the upcoming season. Buehler required Tommy John in August and could potentially return very late in the year. Treinen underwent shoulder surgery in November with an estimated recovery time of 10 months. Feyereisen underwent shoulder surgery in December and won’t be able to begin throwing until four months after that procedure, or around April. His eventual return to game shape will depend on how long it takes him to progress from simply throwing to getting up to full game speed.

Luke Jackson

The Giants signed the right-hander in free agency, despite Jackson undergoing Tommy John in April. President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters last month that there was a chance Jackson begins the year on the 60-day IL, though that doesn’t seem to indicate any kind of setback. “He’s doing great in his rehab, so we’re going to wait and see how he’s doing in spring training,” Zaidi said.

Rangers Hire Ian Kinsler As Special Assistant

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The Rangers announced Monday that they’ve hired four-time All-Star Ian Kinsler as a special assistant to general manager Chris Young. Kinsler is slated to serve as the manager for Team Israel in the upcoming World Baseball Classic but will begin his duties in this new role with the Rangers following the WBC.

Kinsler, 40, was a 17th-round pick by the Rangers back in 2003 and, despite that humble draft status, reached the Majors early in the 2006 campaign. He never looked back. Kinsler finished seventh in AL Rookie of the Year voting after turning in a .286/.347/.454 batting line with 14 home runs, 27 doubles, a triple and 11 steals in 120 games, and by 2008 he’d made the first of those four All-Star appearances.

Kinsler spent eight seasons in a Rangers uniform, hitting .273/.349/.454 with 156 home runs and 172 steals in 4791 trips to the plate. Traded to Detroit prior to the 2014 season, he went on to play another six years with the Tigers, Rangers, Red Sox and Padres. The Rangers inducted him into their team Hall of Fame this past summer — the 26th player to receive that honor.

In his new position, Kinsler will join a handful of former big leaguers — including some former teammates — in providing some insight to the baseball operations staff. He joins Michael Young, Darren Oliver, Colby Lewis, Nick Hundley and Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez as a special assistant to Young. The Rangers didn’t provide concrete details on Kinsler’s duties in his new role, noting only that he’ll assist Young “in many facets of baseball operations.”

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher And Current Scout Tim Fortugno

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Tim Fortugno’s path to a Major League life was an unlikely one.  He’d played in high school, but didn’t seem to have much shot at the Majors.  But as Danny Knobler told it in a Bleacher Report article, Tim threw around a tennis ball during his lunch hour on a construction job as a 20-year-old, which led to him joining the baseball team at Southern California College.

He was drafted multiple times, but didn’t end up signing due to shoulder pain.  After a bout of acupuncture seemed to heal Tim’s shoulder, he landed with the Mariners on a $500 signing bonus.

Fortugno was eventually traded to the Phillies, who went on to sell his contract to the Brewers for $2,500 and 12 dozen baseballs.  The Angels snagged the lefty in the Rule 5 draft, and in 1992 Fortugno made his MLB debut at the age of 30.

In his second big league appearance, Tim pitched the game of his life: a complete game, 12 strikeout, 129 pitch masterpiece against a vaunted Tigers lineup featuring Tony Phillips, Travis Fryman, Cecil Fielder, and Mickey Tettleton.  Toward the end of that season, Tim gave up George Brett’s 3,000th hit – only to pick him off first base.

Tim bounced around after that, eventually finishing his career in Taiwan.  Despite pitching only 110 1/3 innings over three seasons with the Angels, Reds, and White Sox, Fortugno can list Brett, Roberto Alomar, Don Mattingly, and Edgar Martinez among his strikeout victims.

After his pitching career, Fortugno moved into scouting.  He spent seven years with the Rangers and 14 with the Mets, and has worked for the Rays since October 2019.

Tim chatted with MLBTR readers today, providing many interesting answers about a life in scouting.  Click here to read the transcript.

If you’re a current or former MLB player, join us for a one-hour live chat!  It’s easy and fun and you get to choose which questions you publish and answer.  Click here to contact us.

Rangers Sign Bernardo Flores Jr. To Minor League Contract

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The Rangers have signed left-hander Bernardo Flores Jr. to a minor league deal, as initially reported by Flores’ Mexican League club, Diablos Rojos del Mexico (Twitter link).  Flores also addressed the news himself, on his own Twitter feed.

Flores was released by the Rockies last spring, and he caught on with the Reds on a minor league contract before being released again, prior his signing with Diablos Rojos.  The southpaw had a 7.13 ERA over his 17 2/3 innings with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, and then a more respectable 4.15 ERA in 26 frames of Mexican League action.  Walks were a big issue for Flores at both stops, continuing the control problems that began to significantly emerge during Flores’ 2021 season, while he was pitching in the minors in the Rockies and Cardinals organizations.

Originally a seventh-round pick for the White Sox in the 2016 draft, Flores’ tenure with Chicago culminated in his MLB debut — two innings over two games in the 2020 season.  St. Louis claimed Flores off waivers in April 2021, and he appeared in only one game with the Cardinals at the Major League level during what ended up as an injury-hampered year for the southpaw.

The 27-year-old will try to add to this brief MLB resume by catching on with the Rangers, though a move to relief pitching might be Flores’ best way of getting back to the Show.  Flores has started 93 of his 100 career games in the affiliated minor leagues, but his numbers largely hit a wall once he reached the Triple-A level.  Flores has only a 6.15 ERA over 60 innings of Triple-A ball, with unimpressive strikeout (16.84%) and walk (12.98%) rates.  There’s no risk for the Rangers in giving him a look during camp, and then perhaps keeping him as rotation depth in the minors or perhaps as a bullpen option.

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