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USA Baseball Announces Olympic Qualifying Roster

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11:10AM: The full roster has been announced by USA Baseball (Twitter link).  Beyond the names already mentioned, the roster also includes Clayton Andrews, Jonathan Bowlan, Brandon Dickson, DJ Johnson, Trevor Lane, Matthew Liberatore, Drew Parrish, Marc Rzepczynski, James Sherfy, Simeon Woods Richardson, Tim Federowicz, Mark Kolozsvary, Nick Allen, Eddy Alvarez, Logan Forsythe, Luke Williams, Eric Filia, and Jon Jay.

9:54AM: The United States Olympic baseball team will have its full roster announced later today, though MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that several well-known big league names will be part of Team USA.

Right-handers Homer Bailey, Edwin Jackson, and David Robertson will be part of the pitching mix, as will left-hander Anthony Gose.  Matt Kemp, Matt Wieters, and Todd Frazier are some of the veteran position players.  Bailey, Kemp, and Wieters all played in the majors as recently as 2020 and didn’t sign with a new team this past offseason, while Frazier appeared in 13 games for the Pirates just this season.  It was only back on May 13 that Frazier chose to become a free agent, after Pittsburgh designated him for assignment.

Beyond these experienced names, some notable youngsters will also be on the team, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe noted yesterday that Red Sox prospects Triston Casas and Jarren Duran are participating.  Rays right-handed pitching prospect Joe Ryan is also expected to be part of the team, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.  Any player not on a current 40-man Major League roster was eligible for Team USA, though naturally a team would have to agree to allow its minor leaguers to play.

Mike Scioscia will manage Team USA, and the team will take to the field on May 31-June 5 during a qualifying tournament in Florida.  The Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Canada, Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela are the other seven teams involved, and the winner of the tournament will automatically qualify for the Olympics.  The second- and third-place finishers will advance to a final qualifying tournament against Australia, Chinese Taipei, and the Netherlands on June 16-20 in Mexico, and the winner of that event will claim the sixth and final Olympic berth.

Japan, Mexico, Israel, and South Korea have already qualified for the baseball event at Olympic Games, which are scheduled to be held July 23-August 6 in Tokyo.  Originally set to take place in 2020, the Olympics were naturally postponed for a year due to the pandemic, and the Games are still slated to get underway in July despite a worsening COVID-19 situation in Japan.

Several Veterans In The Mix For Spots On Team USA Roster

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Former All-Stars David Robertson and Todd Frazier are planning to head to the U.S. Olympic Team’s training camp in Port St. Lucie, per a pair of reports from MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman (Twitter links). Sherman adds that righty Brad Brach is on Team USA’s provisional roster as well, though he’s pitching with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate at the moment, so a call to the Majors would take priority. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that Homer Bailey and Edwin Jackson are both expected to pitch for the club. Team USA, set to be managed by longtime Halos skipper Mike Scioscia, will play in a qualifier beginning May 31.

Robertson, now 36, signed a two-year, $23MM contract with the Phillies prior to the 2019 season. He’d been the game’s most durable reliever prior to that contract, averaging 65 appearances and 65 innings per year over the preceding nine seasons. Unfortunately, that run came to an end with a pair of injury marred seasons in Philadelphia that culminated in the aforementioned Tommy John procedure. Robertson tossed just 6 2/3 innings in his two years with the Phillies. He’s still hoping for a big league return at some point, per Feinsand.

Frazier recently elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Pirates. He put together a nice Spring Training with the Bucs, hitting .250/.353/.643 with three homers in 34 plate appearances. Upon being added to the big league roster and joining the club in the regular season, however, Frazier fell into a 3-for-35 slump before being designated and clearing waivers. He’ll look to get back on track in this latest venture, which could conceivably serve as a showcase opportunity or ultimately lead to a spot on the Olympic roster.

Neither Bailey nor Jackson signed with a big league club over the winter. Bailey spent the 2020 season with the Twins but was injured for much of the season. He enjoyed a respectable season between the Royals and A’s in 2019, however, tossing 163 1/3 innings of 4.57 ERA ball with a 21.4 percent strikeout rate and a 7.6 walk rate. Jackson hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since allowing more runs than innings pitched between the Blue Jays and Tigers in 2019, though he had a nice 2018 campaign in Oakland (92 innings, 3.33 ERA).

Notably, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times reported this week that Team USA also reached out to Ryan Braun about a possible match. Braun, who has also received interest from Team Israel, tells Shaikin that suiting back up for any team “doesn’t make sense for me,” adding that he “couldn’t imagine being happier or enjoying life more” than he is right now while spending time with his family. Braun said back in March that he’s “strongly leaning” toward retirement, and while he tells Shaikin he’s leaving the door cracked in case he finds himself missing the game in the future, it doesn’t sound as though Braun has any interest in returning to the game right now.

Team USA has yet to formally announce its roster or a list of players who’ll train at their camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla., but Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser reported late last month that players on 40-man rosters would not be eligible for the team. The qualifier tournament runs May 31-June 5 and features the United States, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.

Todd Frazier Elects Free Agency

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MAY 13: Frazier has elected free agency, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette tweets.

MAY 10: The Pirates announced that infielder Todd Frazier has been designated for assignment.  Ben Gamel, recently claimed off waivers from the Indians, will take Frazier’s spot on Pittsburgh’s roster.

“The Toddfather” initially signed a minor league deal with the Pirates during the offseason, then opted out of that contract near the end of Spring Training only to re-sign with the club a few days later.  Frazier did end up seeing some time on the Bucs’ big league roster, but he hit only .086/.200/.114 over 40 plate appearances.

Despite this lack of offense, the timing of Frazier’s DFA comes at something of an unexpected moment, given that Colin Moran was just placed on the 10-day injured list and Bryan Reynolds is also day-to-day with an unspecified lower-body injury.  Gamel can fill in for Reynolds, and Phillip Evans seems like the logical choice to be moved to first base, with such other internal options like Troy Stokes Jr., Hunter Owen, and minor league signing Wilmer Difo all vying for playing time until Reynolds, Moran, and Ke’Bryan Hayes are all healthy.

A veteran of 11 MLB seasons and a former two-time All-Star, Frazier was still swinging a productive bat as recently as 2019, when he hit .251/.329/.443 (104 OPS+, 106 wRC+) over 499 PA for the Mets.  Since that season, however, Frazier has only a .616 OPS over 212 PA with the Mets, Rangers, and Pirates.  Assuming he clears DFA waivers, the 35-year-old figures to get some looks from teams in need of corner infield help.  Frazier is still a capable fielder at first base and third base, and apart from his 2021 numbers, he has still been solid against left-handed pitching.

Pirates Select Todd Frazier, Designate Dustin Fowler, Place Chad Kuhl On IL

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The Pirates announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Todd Frazier, designated outfielder Dustin Fowler for assignment, placed righty Chad Kuhl on the 10-day injured list and recalled right-hander Geoff Hartlieb. Kuhl is dealing with right shoulder discomfort, and a timeline for his return was not provided.

Frazier, 35, inked a minor league deal with the Bucs over the winter and had a productive Spring Training, slashing .250/.343/.643 with three homers and a pair of doubles in 34 trips to the plate. He’s coming off a rough 45-game showing between the Rangers and Mets last season (.236/.302/.382) but was a productive hitter with the Mets as recently as 2019.

Frazier gives the Pirates some additional cover at third base in the wake of Ke’Bryan Hayes’ setback in his recovery from a wrist injury. He also gives manager Derek Shelton a right-handed platoon partner for Colin Moran, a career .236/.287/.361 hitter versus southpaws, at first base.

Fowler’s DFA comes just one day after the Pirates designated fellow center fielder Anthony Alford for assignment. The Bucs had hoped that between the pair of former top 100 prospects, they’d be able to unearth a late bloomer, but Pittsburgh center fielders have combined for an awful .170/.245/.261 output thus far in 2021 (including seven hitless plate appearances from Wilmer Difo in center).

The Pirates claimed Rule 5 pick Ka’ai Tom from the Athletics yesterday in conjunction with Alford’s DFA, and it now seems that he’ll have a clearer path to playing time in center. Left fielder Bryan Reynolds can also slide over to center if the Pirates choose, with Phillip Evans moving to left field and Frazier manning third base. Pittsburgh’s stance to this point has been that they prefer Reynolds in left field, but the departure of Fowler and Alford has obviously changed the equation. Prospect Jared Oliva may eventually get a look as well, but the Pirates’ announced an Oliva injury alongside their announcement of Hayes’ setback this morning; Oliva will miss around four weeks with a left oblique strain.

Turning to the 28-year-old Kuhl, he drew the Opening Day start for the Pirates this season but hasn’t looked right through his first four trips to the mound. He’s regained some life on his fastball after experiencing a post-Tommy-John dip in 2020, but Kuhl has also walked more batters (16) than he’s struck out (14) through his first 15 2/3 frames. He’s sitting on a 6.32 ERA at the moment and hasn’t lasted more than five innings in any of his four starts.

Kuhl is only controlled through the 2022 season, so with a return to health and a similar performance to his 2016-18 form — 4.37 ERA, 20.4 percent strikeout rate, 9.2 percent walk rate — he could be marketed as a trade asset for clubs seeking affordable arms to stabilize the rotation. He drew interest from a few clubs, including the Blue Jays, last summer. He’ll first need to get past this latest injury and string together some productive starts for that scenario to come together, though.

Pirates Notes: Frazier, Goodwin, Center Field, Oviedo

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Infielder Todd Frazier and outfielder Brian Goodwin both have May opt-out dates in their minor league contracts with the Pirates, tweets Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. Frazier had a strong spring with Pittsburgh, slashing .250/.353/.643 with three homers and a pair of doubles in 34 plate appearances, but that wasn’t enough to convince the Bucs to put him on the active roster — nor was an early injury to third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. Frazier briefly opted out of his contract with the team at the end of camp in order to search for a big league opportunity elsewhere, but he re-signed a new minor league arrangement with Pittsburgh just days later. Goodwin, meanwhile, hit .229/.317/.371 this spring after a disastrous cameo with the division-rival Reds in 2020. His struggles through 55 plate appearances in Cincinnati notwithstanding, however, Goodwin batted .258/.327/.469 in 567 plate appearances with the Angels from 2019-20 and is an overall .250/.317/.455 hitter in 1124 trips to the plate as a big leaguer. If neither veteran is in the Pirates’ plans by next month, it wouldn’t at all be surprising to see them latch on with a club that is struggling with injuries or underperformance at the infield corners or in the outfield.

A few more notes on the Buccos…

  • The Pirates bought low on former top prospects Anthony Alford and Dustin Fowler in center field, and the results to this point have been … uninspiring … to say the least. Fowler is 5-for-30 with a double, 13 strikeouts and just two walks in 34 plate appearances, while Alford is 1-for-20 with a staggering 15 punchouts in 24 trips. General manager Ben Cherington, however, told reporters this week that the club will be patient with the duo (link via MLB.com’s Jake Crouse). “We’ve got young players out there who are getting a chance to play at the Major League level for the first time with any level of consistency,” said the GM. Both Alford and Fowler were considered top 100 prospects not that long ago, but injuries and some crowded big league rosters have combined to prevent either from getting a lengthy look in the big leagues. Cherington noted that there is an “adjustment period” to be expected. That’s not to say that either has an unlimited leash, but it seems the club understandably wants more than a two-week look at a pair of 26-year-olds who can be controlled for five more years before turning things over to a short-term veteran such as Goodwin. That’s no doubt frustrating for Pirates fans who want to see a better on-field product in 2021, but for the time being it sounds like Fowler and Alford will continue to get their chances.
  • Cherington also expressed some patience with Rule 5 pick Luis Oviedo despite a recent drubbing at the hands of the hands of the Padres, who tagged him for five runs in 1 2/3 innings Monday (link via Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). While acknowledging the dismal outing against San Diego, Cherington noted that it came after a weeklong layoff from pitching in a game and indicated that the club remains “really encouraged” by the manner in which Oviedo has begun the year. Most rebuilding clubs are willing to look beyond the bottom-line results when looking for positives with young Rule 5 picks such as Oviedo, who is pitching above A-ball for the first time in his career. If he continues to struggle to this extent, the Pirates will obviously have to weigh the merits of keeping him on the roster, but based on Cherington’s comments, Oviedo seems safe for now.

Pirates Re-Sign Todd Frazier

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TODAY: Frazier has re-signed with the Pirates on a new minor league deal, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter).  The veteran will report to the team’s alternate training site.

MARCH 26: Corner infielder Todd Frazier has opted out of his minor league contract with the Pirates in favor of free agency, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

This is unlikely to be the end for the 35-year-old Frazier, who plans to continue his career, Heyman writes. Frazier has enjoyed plenty of success in the majors, having earned two All-Star nods and batted .242/.319/.448 with 218 home runs (including five seasons with between 21 and 40 HRs) and 24.2 fWAR across 4,909 plate appearances since he debuted with the Reds in 2011.His production has faded over the past couple of years, though, and he batted a subpar .236/.302/.382 with four long balls and a career-low .146 ISO over 172 PA between the Rangers and Mets in 2020.

Despite his declining numbers, Frazier looked as if he had a chance to at least be a backup for rebuilding Pittsburgh, which has a budding star at third base in Ke’Bryan Hayes and left-handed-hitting first baseman Colin Moran. Frazier, a righty, could have platooned with Moran, and he made his case for a roster spot this spring with a .250/.353/.643 line and three dingers in 28 at-bats. Instead, Frazier – who has appeared in the majors with five teams – will try to catch on with another club. Frazier’s exit suggests infielder Phillip Evans will make the Pirates’ Opening Day roster, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets.

Pirates, Todd Frazier Agree To Minor League Deal

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FEB 20: The Pirates have formally announced the signing of Frazier. He has received an invite to spring training.

FEB 19: The Pirates and veteran corner infielder Todd Frazier are in agreement on a minor league contract, longtime New York Post scribe Kevin Kernan reports (via Twitter). Kevin Williams of the Shore Sports Network writes that Frazier himself confirmed the agreement to him. Frazier, a CAA Baseball client, will head to Major League camp with the Pirates as a non-roster invitee. Frazier will earn a $1.5MM salary if he makes the club, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. The deal is pending a physical.

Frazier, who turned 35 last Friday, is a 10-year veteran who has appeared with the Reds, White Sox, Yankees, Mets and Rangers since his 2011 debut. He has consistently been an above-average producer at the plate, having slashed .242/.319/.448 (108 wRC+) with 218 home runs and 73 stolen bases in 4,909 trips. Frazier has also twice hit at least 35 homers in an individual season, earned a pair of All-Star nods and been a plus defender at third, where he has put up 20 Defensive Runs Saved and a 24.6 Ultimate Zone Rating across almost 9,100 innings at the position.

While Frazier has enjoyed an impressive career thus far, he had to settle for a minors deal with the bottom-feeding Pirates because of subpar production between the Mets and Rangers in 2020. Frazier hit a mere .236/.302/.382 (89 wRC+) with four HRs and a career-worst .146 ISO in 172 PA. Frazier also notched rather ugly Statcast numbers, evidenced in part by a .295 expected weighted on-base average that ranked in the league’s 15th percentile and barely outpaced his real wOBA of .281.

Although his production fell off last year, there’s no harm in taking a low-risk chance on Frazier from the Pirates’ perspective. Frazier could at least be a bench option for the team behind the projected third-first tandem of Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colin Moran if he earns a roster spot. If Frazier performs well in that role, the Pirates may be able to flip him elsewhere prior to the trade deadline.

Rangers Acquire Ryder Ryan From Mets As PTBNL From Todd Frazier Swap

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The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve acquired minor league right-hander Ryder Ryan from the Mets as the player to be named later from the Aug. 31 trade that sent Todd Frazier to New York.

Ryan, 25, was a 30th-round pick back in 2016 who landed with the Mets in the 2017 Jay Bruce trade. He pitched at the Double-A level with the Mets in both 2018 and 2019, working to a combined 3.51 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and 0.82 HR/9 in 77 innings — primarily as a reliever. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Ryan 24th among Mets farmhands prior to the 2019 season, calling him a potential middle reliever with a consistently average or better breaking ball.

Ryan doesn’t factor prominently into any current ranking of the Mets’ top farmhands, but the Frazier swap still didn’t work out as the now-former front office regime hoped. The veteran Frazier struggled in his return to Queens, hitting .224/.255/.388 in just 51 plate appearances. His 2021 club option was bought out at season’s end, making him a free agent.

Mets To Decline Options On Ramos, Frazier, Chirinos

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2:48pm: The Mets will also buy out their options on infielder Todd Frazier and catcher Robinson Chirinos, reports Tim Healey of Newsday. As with Ramos, neither decision is surprising. Both Frazier and Chirinos were acquired from the Rangers at the trade deadline, albeit in separate transactions.

Frazier, 35 in February, batted .236/.302/.382 in 172 trips to the plate between Arlington and Queens in 2020. His one-year, $5MM deal included a $3.5MM salary in 2020 and a $1.5MM buyout on a $5.75MM option for the 2021 season. The Mets had a net $4.25MM decision on the slugger, but he’ll head out into the open market once again.

Chirinos, 36, had a $1MM buyout on a $6.5MM option for the upcoming 2021 campaign. Given this season’s dismal .162/.232/.243 performance between the two clubs (82 plate appearances), there was no way the Mets were going to pick him up at that salary.

1:40pm: The Mets are planning to decline their $10MM club option on veteran catcher Wilson Ramos, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. It’s anything but a surprise given Ramos’ lackluster tenure in Queens. He’ll be paid a $1.5MM buyout and head back to the open market in search of a new club.

Ramos, 33, was known to be an offense-first catcher when he signed with the Mets prior to the 2019 season, but his production never reached the levels the Mets likely expected of him. His 2019 campaign was solid, particularly for a catcher (105 wRC+), but Ramos’ two years as a Met resulted in a rather pedestrian .276/.339/.410 batting line through 679 trips to the plate.

Were Ramos a strong defensive backstop, that production would make him an excellent all-around catcher, but that hasn’t been the case for some time now. He registered bottom-of-the-scale framing metrics in his two years in Queens, and his -12 Defensive Runs Saved and 15.9 percent caught-stealing rate underscore the struggles he endured. That led to some drama with Noah Syndergaard, who reportedly requested that Tomas Nido catch his starts because of Ramos’ inadequacies as a receiver. The 122 stolen bases allowed by Ramos since 2019 are far and away the most in Major League Baseball; Yasmani Grandal’s 80 are the next-highest, though he’s also logged a solid 29.2 percent caught-stealing rate in that time.

The defensive questions surrounding Ramos will complicate his market this winter, although when he’s at his best at the plate, he’s proven to be one of the more productive bats the game has to offer at the position. From 2016-19, Ramos made two All-Star teams and logged a combined .294/.346/.463 slash with 62 home runs and 72 doubles in 1687 plate appearances.

Mets Acquire Robinson Chirinos, Todd Frazier

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The Mets have acquired catcher Robinson Chirinos and infielder Todd Frazier in a pair of trades with the Rangers, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links).  Texas will receive a player to be named later in return for Chirinos, as per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link).  The Rangers have officially announced the deals, revealing that they will also get a player to be named later for Frazier, and some money will be sent to New York to complete the Chirinos deal — Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported that those cash considerations will total $360K.

Chirinos has been bothered by an ankle injury for much of the season, and eventually had a 10-day stint on the injured list to fully recover before returning to action last week.  It’s safe to assume that Chirinos’ dreadful .119/.224/.143 slash line over 49 PA is at least partially the result of that ankle problem, as the 36-year-old backstop has been a much more potent hitter over the last six seasons with the Rangers and Astros.  Chirinos hit .235/.331/.445 with 84 homers over 1953 plate appearances from 2014-19.

Anything close to that type of production would be a nice boon for the Mets, who have received little from Wilson Ramos at the plate this year.  With Tomas Nido on the IL, the Mets were thin on options behind the plate, and now could use both Chirinos and Ramos in something of a timeshare in September.

Chirinos could also be on the Mets’ radar for 2021, as the catcher has a $6.5MM club option on his services for next season ($1MM buyout).  It’s a fair price based on his past track record, though Chirinos will need to get on track at the plate or else the Mets might decline to exercise that option and seek a less-expensive catcher on the open market.  (Or, speculatively, maybe a much more expensive catcher if a change in ownership means the Mets have more dollars to spend on big-ticket talent like J.T. Realmuto.)

After playing for the Mets in 2018-19, Frazier makes his return to Queens after hitting .241/.322/.380 over 121 PA with Texas this season.  Frazier ended up playing almost every day with the Rangers, mostly at first base due to Danny Santana’s injury problems and Ronald Guzman spending much of the season at the team’s alternate training site.  Frazier also saw some time at third base, and he’ll provide the Mets with some depth and a right-handed bench bat at both corner infield positions.  Of note, J.D. Davis has been hampered over the last couple of games with a minor hip problem, so Frazier’s addition could be a particular depth add for third base if Davis has to miss any significant time.

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