Blue Jays Notes: Ryu, Barger, Lopez, Lukes
Left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu, now nine months out from last summer’s Tommy John surgery, is throwing from 90 to 120 feet and still aiming for a mid-July return to the Blue Jays’ pitching staff, writes Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. He’s throwing off flat ground for now but could progress to mound work by mid-April. The timeline aligns with the goal that Ryu stated back in December, but it’s positive development that he’s progressed through his spring throwing program without setbacks and hasn’t had to push that goal further down the road.
Ryu, who’ll turn 36 later this week, is entering the final season of a four-year, $80MM contract signed prior to the 2020 season. He finished third in AL Cy Young voting during the shortened ’20 campaign and gave the Jays 31 roughly average starts in 2021 before an elbow injury limited him to 27 innings and resulted in surgery last June. If he’s indeed able to return at any point midsummer, he could be a boon to a rotation that currently is hoping for rebounds from fourth and fifth starters Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi. Each of Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman and offseason signee Chris Bassitt delivered strong results in 2022, and top prospect Ricky Tiedemann is looming as an option at some point in 2023 as well.
Turning to more immediate matters on the roster, the Blue Jays announced last night that they’ve optioned infielder Addison Barger to Triple-A, thinning the race for the team’s final bench spot in the process. Barger, a sixth-round pick in 2018, was selected to the 40-man roster back in November on the heels of a combined .308/.378/.555 showing across three minor league levels. He had a nice Grapefruit League showing, batting .294/.351/.441 in 37 trips to the plate, but the 23-year-old still has just eight regular-season games at the Triple-A level under his belt.
Barger ranks as the club’s No. 4 prospect Baseball America and landed at No. 53 on FanGraphs’ Top 100 prospect rankings heading into the 2023 season. He’s undoubtedly viewed as a key piece for the Jays in the future, but the infield already has veterans Matt Chapman, Bo Bichette and Whit Merrifield lined up from third base to second base, to say nothing of bench options like Santiago Espinal and Cavan Biggio in the mix for at-bats. As such, Barger will head to Buffalo and continue to get regular reps that might not be available to him at the MLB level.
With Barger out of the mix for now, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets that it’s likely either infielder/outfielder Otto Lopez or outfielder Nathan Lukes will claim the team’s final bench spot. Lopez, 24, went 5-for-17 with a homer, a triple and a walk playing for Canada in the World Baseball Classic and is 7-for-15 with a double and a triple in Jays camp this spring. He’s primarily been a middle infielder in the minors but has at least 500 innings in both left field and center field in his professional career. Lukes, who has yet to make his MLB debut, is hitting .278/.342/.389 in 41 spring plate appearances and can play all three outfield spots. He’d give a righty-heavy Toronto lineup another left-handed bat, whereas Lopez is another right-handed stick.
AL East Notes: Manoah, Bautista, Yankees’ Injuries
The Blue Jays made a “contract suggestion” to star right-hander Alek Manoah this winter, but apparently the sides were not close, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Manoah is part of a young core, alongside Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr., that have been speculated as possible targets for long-term extensions.
Manoah, 25, put up a quality season last year, working to a 2.24 ERA over 196 2/3 innings and finishing third in AL Cy Young voting. That followed on from a strong rookie year in 2021, and cemented Manoah as one of the sport’s brightest young starting pitchers. As such, it’s not a huge surprise that the Blue Jays would have some level of interest in locking up the former eleventh overall pick long term. For his part, Manoah is still five years away from free agency but four of those should be arbitration-eligible, as Manoah is likely to qualify as Super Two player at the end of the season.
Here’s some more notes from around the AL East:
- The chances of Orioles closer Felix Bautista making the Opening Day roster appear to be growing, with manager Brandon Hyde looking to get Bautista into three or four more games before the team breaks camp, according to Roch Kubatko of MASN. He’s been highly effective in his two outings to date, displaying his triple-digit fastball. Bautista’s camp had been slowed by shoulder and knee injuries to start, but he looks to be on track now. That’s a huge positive for the Orioles, as the closer worked to a 2.19 ERA over 65 appearances last season.
- Bryan Hoch of MLB.com provides an update on some of the injured Yankees in camp. Starting with the bad news, reliever Tommy Kahnle has been unable to throw as scheduled as he battles biceps soreness. Kahnle re-signed with the Yankees this winter on two-year, $11.5MM deal after a few seasons with the Dodgers. He had been projected as a vital late-inning member of the Yankees’ bullpen, but it appears the start of his season will be delayed. It’s not known yet when Kahnle is next scheduled to pitch, but obviously it’s not great news for his recovery timeline.
- Left-hander Carlos Rodon returned to throwing yesterday and was feeling good, according to Hoch. There were plenty of fears after the Yankees announced that the oft-injured starter would be shutdown for 7 to 10 days with a forearm strain, but an MRI showed no UCL damage and it seems Rodon is back on track to start ramping up for the season. It’s already been confirmed that Rodon will start the season on the injured list, but a positive return to throwing for the six-year, $162MM free agent signing hopefully means it won’t be a long wait before he can make his Yankees debut.
- Hoch also reports that Harrison Bader is doing “better than anticipated,” relaying a quote from manager Aaron Boone. It’s a rather vague statement and there’s no indication that Bader is on track any sooner than the initially projected six week recovery timeline (three weeks of regular season action), but it’s at least a positive development as the Yankees look to overcome a number of injuries early in the season. Bader impressed in the playoffs for the team after coming over from the Cardinals at the deadline last year, crushing five home runs in nine games before the team was eliminated in the ALCS.
Blue Jays Sign Ernie Clement To Minor League Deal
The Blue Jays have signed infielder Ernie Clement to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The A’s released Clement over the weekend.
Clement, 27 next week, had gone 2-for-11 with a walk, a strikeout and a stolen base in camp with Oakland, who claimed him off waivers from the Guardians back in September. He’s totaled 312 plate appearances and appeared in 109 big league games over the past two seasons, posting a tepid .204/.261/.264 batting line in that time. He’s also posted plus defensive grades in a small sample of innings at third base and is capable of bouncing around the entire infield.
The versatile Clement has spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a .261/.311/.419 hitter with experience at all four infield positions and in left field (to say nothing of extensive work at center field back in his college days at the University of Virginia). He’s not on the 40-man roster for now, but if the Jays eventually add him, he does have a minor league option remaining.
Toronto has a full big league infield and already has multiple bench spots allotted to infielders Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal, so the addition of Clement is likely just a pure depth move. Barring some late injuries in camp, he’ll likely open in the upper minors and give the organization some defensive versatility and a bit of speed to stash in Buffalo.
Blue Jays Notes: Stripling, Jansen, Kirk, Tiedemann
Ross Stripling played two and a half campaigns in Toronto after being acquired from the Dodgers in a 2020 deadline trade. The right-hander had a quality second full season as a Blue Jay, throwing 134 1/3 innings of 3.01 ERA ball over 32 outings (24 starts) last year. It was a well-timed return to his early-career form, as Stripling hit free agency for the first time this offseason.
That set the stage for a two-year, $25MM pact with the Giants — one which allowed him to opt out and retest the market next offseason after collecting half that sum. Stripling tells Shi Davidi of Sportsnet the incumbent Jays were among four teams that remained in the bidding throughout the process and said the club was willing to match the $25MM guarantee. However, he indicated the Giants’ willingness to include the opt-out was a decisive factor in his call to head to San Francisco. “I loved my time in Toronto and they were in the mix to the very end,” he told Davidi. “Essentially what it came down to was the Giants offered me an opt-out after the first year and the Blue Jays wouldn’t. That made it a no-brainer, really. … Once (the opt-out) was on the board, it was like, man, you can’t walk away from that. It’s as simple as that.”
The 33-year-old Stripling pointed to the three-year, $63MM deal which Toronto gave Chris Bassitt headed into his age-34 season as an example of the kind of earning power he could have next winter if he pitches well in San Francisco. Stripling began last year in a swing role after struggling between 2020-21. Replicating last season’s production over a full rotation workload could position him as one of the more intruding mid-rotation options in next winter’s class.
In other Toronto news:
- Manager John Schneider discussed the team’s catching duo, telling reporters the club isn’t planning to utilize the likes of Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk at designated hitter as often as they did last season (link via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). While Jansen was only penciled into the DH spot three times, Kirk was in the lineup for 50 such contests. Curtailing that workload isn’t too surprising considering the Jays signed Brandon Belt away from San Francisco to work as the primary DH. Belt’s 2022 season was cut short by a knee procedure but Toronto nevertheless rolled the dice on a $9.3MM free agent deal. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. locked in at first base, Belt is likely to log the vast majority of his work at the bat-only position. That’d keep Kirk and Jansen behind the dish, with Schneider estimating there’ll be a “pretty even split” at the position. Matheson notes that Kirk figures to be behind the dish for Alek Manoah’s starts. An injury to Belt could change the calculus but the current plan seems to be for the Jays to use their backstops a little less often to keep them fresher. Toronto’s enviable depth at the position allowed them to deal top prospect Gabriel Moreno to Arizona to add Daulton Varsho to the outfield.
- Moreno’s departure vaulted left-hander Ricky Tiedemann to the top of the Jays’ farm rankings at Baseball America. The 6’4″ hurler had a breakout showing in his first fill professional season, reaching Double-A at age 20. Now one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, Tiedemann has been in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee. The youngster recently experienced a bit of soreness in his throwing shoulder, Schneider told reporters (including Hazel Mae). It doesn’t seem the club is particularly concerned, as the manager indicated Tiedemann could throw a side session on Wednesday after being shut down for a few days. The former third-round pick isn’t a candidate to break camp with the big league club; he figures to start the season at Double-A New Hampshire if healthy.
Injury Notes: Marte, Guzman, Guerrero, O’Hearn, Hall
Starling Marte will undergo further tests on Monday after being hit in the head by an Elvin Rodriguez pitch in today’s game. Marte was able to walk off the field by himself and initial concussion tests were negative, yet the Mets will naturally be very careful in monitoring any sort of head-related injury.
It was only Marte’s second game of Spring Training, as he didn’t take the field until last Friday due to the Mets’ desire to slowly bring Marte back up to speed following groin surgery in November. The club expected the outfielder to be ready for Opening Day, and that should still be the case, if Marte has indeed escaped injury after today’s scary incident.
More injury updates from around baseball…
- Ronald Guzman left today’s Cactus League game in obvious pain after throwing a pitch, and Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Evan Webeck of the Bay Area News Group) that Guzman was undergoing tests for discomfort in his forearm. It’s an ominous turn of events for Guzman, who has been one of Spring Training’s more interesting stories as he pursues a new chapter in his career as a two-way player. The former Rangers/Yankees first baseman inked a minor league deal with the Giants, in large part because San Francisco was the only team willing to give Guzman a chance to pitch.
- Knee inflammation kept Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from participating in the World Baseball Classic, and the Blue Jays slugger hasn’t played in any spring games since last Friday. However, Guerrero has been facing live pitching and taking part in fielding drills, and manager John Schneider told reporters (including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson) that Guerrero reported no issues after running the bases. If all goes well after another base-running session tomorrow, the Jays will have a better idea of when Guerrero can get back to game action. With over two weeks to go until Opening Day, it doesn’t yet appear as though Guerrero is in danger of missing any of the regular season, but more will be known once the first baseman is fully ramped up.
- Orioles outfielder/first baseman Ryan O’Hearn is day to day with a sore knee. The injury is a minor setback in what has been a red-hot Spring Training for O’Hearn, as he tries to win a job on Baltimore’s bench. In other Orioles news, manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski and other media that DL Hall threw “extremely well” during a live batting practice session, and is slated for another live BP on Tuesday. Hall’s progress in camp has been slowed by lower-back problems and he has yet to pitch in a game, so the southpaw’s only chance of making the Opening Day roster is as a reliever.
AL East Notes: Hall, Vavra, White
Baltimore’s opening day rotation picture is a little clearer now after manager Brandon Hyde revealed he doesn’t believe DL Hall will be stretched out enough to handle a starting workload to begin the season, per Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun. Hall had been a candidate to take a spot in a rotation that is very much up in the air behind Cole Irvin and Kyle Gibson but was experiencing lower back discomfort late in the off-season, which appears to have put him a bit behind schedule.
The question now for the Orioles is whether they option Hall to Triple-A to begin the season, or have him pitch out of the bullpen in the big leagues. Hall had a brief stint in the big leagues last season, working to a 5.93 ERA over 11 appearances (one start). That did come with a completely unsustainable .436 BABIP, and Hall did post a quality 29.7% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate to indicate he did pitch much better than the 5.93 ERA suggests.
Hall was competing for, presumably, one of three available rotation spots. Kyle Gibson and Cole Irvin look like certainties to take two spots, and Hall, Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish, Austin Voth and others were candidates to fill the remaining spots. With Hall now removed from that equation, it does increase the chances that top pitching prospect Rodriguez cracks the opening day rotation.
Here’s some more notes from around the AL East:
- Sticking with the Orioles to begin with, and Ruiz reports that utilityman Terrin Vavra is day-to-day with left shoulder discomfort. According to Hyde, Vavra experienced soreness while taking pre-game batting practice. There doesn’t appear to be too much reason for concern given we’re still a little under a month away from the start of the regular season. Vavra slashed .258/.340/.337 across 103 plate appearances during his rookie year last season. He spent time in the infield and outfield, and projects as a useful versatile bench option for the Orioles going into the new season.
- Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that Mitch White is a few weeks behind schedule but is feeling good and threw a side session today as he builds back from a shoulder impingement suffered in January. White had been a contender for Toronto’s fifth rotation spot, and while there’s nothing definitive ruling him out of that, the fact he’s still a few weeks behind schedule would suggest it’s unlikely he’ll be stretched out enough to be in the rotation picture by opening day. That would mean Yusei Kikuchi, who lost his rotation spot last year, would be the favorite to join Alek Manoah, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios in the Blue Jays’ rotation. White, acquired from the Dodgers last summer, struggled to a 7.74 ERA over 43 innings for Toronto last season. That came after a much more promising 56 innings of work with the Dodgers earlier in the season, whereby White worked to a 3.70 ERA. His peripherals were largely the same across both teams, and indeed his FIP for the Dodgers of 3.95 was actually worse than the 3.76 mark he had with the Blue Jays. White is out of minor league options.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Dealing With Knee Inflammation, Withdraws From WBC
Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. suffered some right knee soreness while running the bases during a Spring Training game on Friday, and an MRI revealed minor inflammation but no structural damage. Manager John Schneider told reporters (including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson) that Guerrero is “just doing treatment today and staying off of his feet,” in the hopes that the short rest will help correct what appears to be a relatively minor issue for now.
Unfortunately for Guerrero and the Dominican Republic’s national team, however, the timing of the injury occurred just before Guerrero was preparing to join the D.R. club in advance of the World Baseball Classic. As a result, Guerrero has pulled out of what would have been his first WBC appearance. Naturally, Guerrero and the Jays don’t want to risk further injury under any circumstance, and especially not since the full extent of Guerrero’s knee problem isn’t yet known.
Guerrero is perhaps the cornerstone of a Blue Jays team that hopes to contend for a World Series title in 2023, and the two-time All-Star is looking to rebound in some sense from his 2022 campaign. While Guerrero hit .274/.339/.480 with 32 home runs in 708 plate appearances in 2022, this 132 wRC+ performance still represented a step down from his 166 wRC+ in 2021. Guerrero hit .311/.401/.601 with 48 homers in 698 PA that season (leading the league in OBP, slugging percentage, and home runs) and finished second in AL MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani.
As Matheson notes, Brandon Belt and Cavan Biggio are the top choices to fill in at first base if Guerrero has to miss any significant time, though Belt hasn’t started yet started playing spring games. Coming off a pair of injury-shortened seasons, Belt was being brought along slowly, and the Blue Jays intended to use him primarily as a DH this season with Guerrero locked in at first base. Whit Merrifield also has a bit of experience at first base, albeit with only 15 big league games at the position over his seven MLB seasons.
AL Notes: Miranda, Biggio, Dirden
Twins third baseman José Miranda has withdrawn from the World Baseball Classic due to shoulder soreness, reports Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He was set to play for Puerto Rico in the upcoming tournament but will instead stick in camp with the Twins.
Manager Rocco Baldelli spoke with members of the media about the issue today, with Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com relaying some pertinent quotes (Twitter links). It seems the main issue is throwing, as Miranda is still able to hit and will be serving as the designated hitter in some upcoming games. “We’re still quite hopeful that he’s going to be ready to go Opening Day, but he’s not throwing right now,” Baldelli said. “We don’t have larger concerns or long-term concerns. We think he’s going to be OK, but he needs some time.”
It doesn’t seem like Miranda is in danger of an extended absence since he can still serve as the DH, but if he can’t take the field, the club will have to think about who will play third base until Miranda is ready to go. This offseason, the Twins traded away Gio Urshela and Luis Arraez, clearing out their corner infield spots for players like Miranda and Alex Kirilloff. Without Miranda, the hot corner could potentially be manned by Kyle Farmer or Donovan Solano.
Some other notes from around the American League…
- Cavan Biggio has primarily been an infielder for the Blue Jays but could spend significant time in the outfield this season. Manager John Schneider tells Keegan Matheson of MLB.com he expects Biggio to play “a ton” of outfield this year, perhaps as much as a 50-50 split with his infield work. Biggio has 383 innings of outfield work on his résumé thus far, significantly less than the over 2,000 innings he’s split between second base, third base and first base. Whit Merrifield, acquired at the trade deadline this year, seemed to take over as the club’s primary option at second base after coming aboard. With Matt Chapman and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the corners and players like Santiago Espinal and Addison Barger competing for bench jobs, it’s possible Biggio’s best path to playing time is on the grass/turf. The regular outfield in Toronto should consist of George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Kevin Kiermaier, but Biggio could perhaps serve as the fourth outfielder if Merrifield, who also plays the outfield, is sticking at the keystone. Biggio hit .240/.368/.430 in his first two seasons for a 118 wRC+ but has dealt with back injuries in the past two, leading to a diminished line of .213/.320/.353, wRC+ of 90.
- Astros outfielder Justin Dirden is impressing in camp and could potentially nab a roster spot at the end of spring. “Who knows? We’ll see who’s injured, who’s not, who’s playing well and what we need. Everyone is getting about the same shot to impress us,” manager Dusty Baker tells Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. “I’m impressed with him. We’re impressed with him. That’s why he’s here. He’s getting a lot of playing time, a lot of looks, and he’s playing well. He’s playing very well.” It’s been quite a journey for Dirden, 25, who was not selected in the shortened 2020 draft and signed with the Astros afterwards as an undrafted free agent. He’s been tearing the cover off the ball since that time, including a .274/.397/.537 line in 2021 between Class-A and High-A. Last year, he got bumped to Double-A and hit 20 home runs in 92 games, slashing .324/.411/.616 for a wRC+ of 157. He got a late-season promotion to Triple-A and struggled but is now turning heads in Grapefruit League games. His ability to play center field gives him a chance to compete with Jake Meyers for a backup outfielder job behind Chas McCormick, Michael Brantley, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. Those four are expected to take up the three outfield jobs and designated hitter slot, but an injury could always open up a path for both Meyers and Dirden to make the team. Brantley is making his way back from last year’s shoulder surgery while Alvarez is dealing with continued hand soreness.
Blue Jays Hire James Click As Vice President Of Baseball Strategy
The Blue Jays announced Monday morning that former Astros general manager James Click has been hired as their new vice president of baseball strategy.
In Click’s new role, he’ll work “closely with general manager Ross Atkins and department heads on strategic planning, decision making, and evaluation.” Click will also “work across both professional and amateur levels to identify best practices, develop plans, and implement strategies.”
The Astros rather surprisingly moved on from Click just weeks after winning the 2022 World Series. Reports of mounting friction between Click and team owner Jim Crane began to surface late in the 2022 regular season, and upon conclusion of the postseason, Crane put forth a one-year extension offer that was generally viewed as a token offer that never stood a chance of being accepted. Houston spent most of the offseason operating without a general manager before hiring now-former Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown to fill that vacancy in January.
There’s been little doubt that Click would land on his feet with another club. His three-year stint as the general manager in Houston resulted in three playoff berths, after all, two of which (2021-22) saw the ‘Stros take home the American League pennant. While it’s only fair to acknowledge that the prior front office regime, headed by Jeff Luhnow, laid the groundwork for a good deal of that success with acquisitions/signings of stars like Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and others, Click oversaw trades acquiring Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero, signed free agents like Hector Neris and Ryne Stanek, and was in the GM seat for extensions of both Ryan Pressly and Alvarez.
Prior to his that three-year run with Houston, Click spent 15 years in the Rays organization. The Yale graduate first joined Tampa Bay as a baseball operations coordinator back in 2006 and slowly made his way up the organizational ladder, spending time with most departments along the way before eventually being tapped the Rays’ vice president of baseball operations in 2017. He held that post for three years before being hired away by Houston in the fallout from MLB’s investigation into the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
The Blue Jays didn’t specify a length on Click’s contract, though it stands to reason that regardless of contract length, he’ll again emerge as a candidate for teams seeking either a general manager or president of baseball operations in the future. It’s a relatively similar situation to the one that brought Ben Cherington to the Jays for a few years. Cherington, the former Red Sox GM, was hired as a vice president of baseball operations in Toronto back in 2016, less than a year removed from being ousted in Boston. He held that post through the fall of 2019, when the Pirates hired Cherington as their new general manager.
Any future GM/president appointments for Click will obviously depend on his own appetite for returning to a position with baseball autonomy and the slate of candidates he finds himself interviewing against, but at the very least there will surely be interest in a 45-year-old exec with 15 years of experience in one of the game’s model baseball ops departments (Tampa Bay) and a three-year run in Houston that included three playoff berths, two World Series appearances and a World Series championship.
AL East Notes: Manoah, Shapiro, Rortvedt, Bautista
“I don’t think there’s been any talks about anything” involving a long-term extension between Alek Manoah and the Blue Jays, the right-hander told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. Noting that he is under team control through 2027, Manoah didn’t seem to expect any negotiations in the near future, saying “I don’t think I’m a priority right now.” The right-hander did state that “there’s no hard feelings, it’s just the business part of it” in regards to both the lack of talks, and Manoah’s decision to again take a salary renewal from the Jays rather than officially agree to their offered salary for his pre-arbitration season. Manoah will earn $745,650 in 2023, and he might become eligible for arbitration as early as next winter if he gains Super Two status.
Extending Manoah would give the Jays come cost certainty over what might be some increasingly pricey arbitration years, given how impressive he has looked in his first two MLB seasons. After a strong rookie campaign, Manoah took things a step further in his first full season, posting a 2.24 ERA over 196 2/3 innings and finishing third in AL Cy Young Award voting. If an extension didn’t come, Manoah said “I’m completely happy riding out that [arbitration] process and allowing the team to go spend money on other guys and me continuing to earn my value and earn what I hope to get one day,” though he also stated that “I want to play in Toronto for a long time.”
More from around the AL East…
- Sticking with the Blue Jays, there was some surprise that the team surpassed the luxury tax threshold for the first time this winter, and bumped its real-dollars payroll from $175MM (already a club high) in 2022 to a projected $211.7MM heading into Spring Training. But, team president Mark Shapiro told The Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm that “on the expense side, this is the way we envisioned it” after going through their rebuilding phase. “Once we have that mass of talent, we want to put it in a position to sustainably be a championship-calibre team. So we need to surround it with talent, where we have gaps,” Shapiro said. “But not build the team solely through free agency, supplement a team through free agency….The thought was we’d always have to ramp up payroll as we went.” The Jays have some regular shoppers in the higher-end free agent market over the last four offseasons, signing such players as George Springer, Hyun Jin Ryu, Kevin Gausman, and (most recently) Chris Bassitt to expensive long-term deals, while also investing in some pricier trade targets and contract extensions.
- The Yankees announced earlier this week that catcher Ben Rortvedt underwent surgery to remove an aneurysm in the posterior artery near his left shoulder, and that he’ll miss at least a month before resuming baseball activities. The injury was “really shocking” to Rortvedt, as he told The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty, since he first assumed that the soreness in the pointer finger of his glove hand was a normal side effect of catching. But, after he noticed his finger was starting to turn blue, Rortvedt went for further examination, and apparently not a moment too soon. According to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Armin Tehrany, such a circulation problem created “the risk of permanent soft tissue damage,” and Rortvedt “might [have needed] to get something amputated.” Fortunately, it looks like Rortvedt won’t miss all that much time, and the catcher will finally get to start his Yankees career after missing the 2022 season due to oblique and knee injuries.
- Felix Bautista threw another bullpen session today, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes, as the Orioles closer was aiming to ramp up to 80-85 percent readiness. Bautista is still recovering from left knee problems that cropped up at the end of last season, as well as an offseason problem for strengthening his throwing shoulder. Today’s work marked Bautista’s sixth throwing session overall, so he appears to be on pace to reach his stated goal of making the Opening Day roster. Bautista’s first MLB season was a thorough success, as he posted a 2.19 ERA and an elite 34.8% strikeout rate (albeit with a below-average 9.1% walk rate) over 65 1/3 innings, becoming one of many breakout players for the surprising Orioles.