Injured List Placements: Thompson, Bolt, Cabrera
Catching up on some of today’s injury news…
- Nationals right-hander Mason Thompson was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right biceps strain. Washington called up Hunter Harvey from Triple-A in the corresponding move, with the former Orioles top prospect getting his first look with his new team since the Nats claimed him off waivers from the Giants two weeks ago. Thompson threw only three pitches before being forced out of last night’s outing against the Mets. X-rays are negative, and Thompson is also undergoing an MRI today, Washington manager Dave Martinez told MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato and other reporters.
- The Athletics placed Skye Bolt on the 10-day IL with a right oblique strain. Left-hander Adam Kolarek was called up from Triple-A. After debuting with five games for Oakland in 2019, Bolt didn’t see any action in 2020 and then played in 34 total games with the Giants and A’s last season. Bolt has some big numbers with Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate but hasn’t brought that pop to the majors, with only an .090/.116/.164 slash line over 71 career plate appearances in the Show.
- Edward Cabrera has been placed on the minor league injured list, as the former Marlins top prospect is dealing with a right biceps injury. Beyond the delayed start that everyone faced for Spring Training, Cabrera’s spring work was also delayed by a visa issue, hence his extra time in the minors. While this particular injury isn’t thought to be too serious, Cabrera did miss two months last season due to an inflamed nerve in that same right biceps. Among the many highly-touted young arms in the Marlins organization, Cabrera is one of the most promising, regularly featuring on top-100 lists over the last three seasons. The right-hander made his MLB debut last season, posting a 5.81 ERA over 26 1/3 innings for Miami.
Angels Place Jose Quijada On 10-Day Injured List, Select Brian Moran, Designate Kyle Tyler
The Angels announced a trio of corresponding roster moves, including the placement of left-hander Jose Quijada on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain. Quijada’s placement is retroactive to April 8. Fellow southpaw Brian Moran will replace Quijada on the active roster after the Halos selected his contract, and right-hander Kyle Tyler was designated for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot.
It seems as though Quijada’s injury may have taken place last night, as Jeff Fletcher of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link) notes that Quijada was warming up in the bullpen, but then didn’t come into the game as expected to face a left-handed batter. The southpaw might now face a lengthy absence given the nature of oblique injuries, and depending on the severity of the strain.
Quijada has spent three of his four MLB seasons with Los Angeles, amassing a 4.85 ERA over 29 2/3 relief innings. Counting his rookie season with the Marlins in 2019, Quijada has a 5.31 ERA in 59 1/3 career innings, as his tenure has included a lot of missed bats (32% strikeout rate) but also a lot of wildness (15.6% walk rate).
Aaron Loup was the only other lefty in the Angels’ bullpen, necessitating the selection of Moran’s minor league contract. After joining L.A. on that minors deal back in November, Moran is now lined up to make his first MLB appearance since 2020. Moran is another former Marlin, with a 6.55 ERA over 11 career Major League innings with Miami and Toronto in 2019-20.
While that represents Moran’s big league resume, he has bounced around to several different organizations since the Mariners picked him in the seventh round of the 2009 draft. This is actually Moran’s second stint with the Angels, as the Halos acquired him via a post-Rule 5 Draft trade in 2013, but Tommy John surgery sidelined Moran for all of 2014 and kept him from ever pitching for L.A. Moran has a solid 3.05 ERA over 516 1/3 career innings in the minors.
Tyler has now been designated for assignment four times in under a month, and his first three trips to the DFA wire saw the righty switch teams. Originally an Angel back on March 19, Tyler was designated and then claimed/designated by both the Red Sox and Padres before landing back in Anaheim on another waiver claim on Friday. Tyler made his Major League debut last season, with a 2.92 ERA over 12 1/3 innings out of the Angels’ bullpen
Diamondbacks Place Luke Weaver On 10-Day IL
The Diamondbacks announced that right-hander Luke Weaver has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation. The placement is retroactive to April 8. Left-hander Kyle Nelson has been called up from Triple-A to take Weaver’s spot on the active roster. In other moves, the D’Backs outrighted southpaw Caleb Baragar and righty Humberto Mejia to Triple-A, as both of the recently-designated pitchers cleared waivers.
Weaver tossed two-thirds of an inning of relief work in Thursday’s 4-2 Arizona win over the Padres, allowing a run on three hits. An elbow issue could be the reason behind that shaky outing, though Weaver was also dealing with a blister problem during the end of Spring Training. Weaver worked exclusively as a starter in 2019-21, but the D’Backs are using him as a reliever in the early going of the season, so this IL stint could delay any eventual return to the rotation.
Nelson will now step into Arizona’s bullpen, and the southpaw’s first appearance will mark his Diamondbacks debut. Nelson has pitched in each of the last two seasons, with only a 12.19 ERA to show for 10 1/3 innings in The Show. The D’Backs claimed Nelson off waivers from the Guardians in November, after Nelson had spent all five of his professional seasons in Cleveland’s organization.
Giants Promote Heliot Ramos
12:03PM: The Giants have officially announced the move. Right-hander John Brebbia has been placed on the bereavement list to create a 40-man roster space.
8:12AM: The Giants are promoting outfield prospect Heliot Ramos to the big leagues, as initially reported by Munger English Sports Management (Ramos’ agency). Ramos is expected to make his debut today for the Giants’ game against the Marlins.
With southpaw Trevor Rogers scheduled to start for Miami, the right-handed hitting Ramos is a logical fit for tonight’s lineup, and perhaps for throughout the season given the left-handed tilt of the Giants outfield. Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson, Steven Duggar, and the currently-injured LaMonte Wade Jr. all swing from the left side, though San Francisco also has Darin Ruf, Austin Slater, Mauricio Dubon, and Luke Williams as available right-handed bats. Utilityman Williams might end up being the odd man out to make room for Ramos, as Williams still has three minor league options.
The 22-year-old Ramos has long been seen as one of the Giants’ best prospects, and he has been a regular on top-100 rankings since he was selected 19th overall in the 2017 draft. His stock has somewhat dropped as a result of not playing in 2020, and then a 2021 campaign that saw Ramos hit a modest .254/.323/.417 over 495 combined plate appearances at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Still, The Athletic’s Keith Law rated Ramos 70th on his preseason top-100 list, Baseball America had Ramos in the 94th spot, and Fangraphs has Ramos ranked 101st.
Ramos only just turned 22 in September, and BA’s scouting report notes that Ramos has made his way up the minor league ladder “usually as one of the younger players at every stop.” Along the way, Ramos has shown glimpses of his potential, if there is some master-of-none aspect to his performance. As Fangraphs’ report puts it, “while it’s easy to call him a five-tool player since he’s competent in every aspect of the game, scouts struggle to figure out what Ramos’ one carrying tool is.”
At the plate, Ramos has hit .270/.340/.448 over 1625 PA in the minors, with 47 homers and 41 steals (out of 64 attempts). He has also struck out in 440 of those at-bats, and evaluators note that his swing lacks some loft, and that Ramos has looked a little susceptible to off-speed pitches. Ramos is expected to eventually move to right field due to his relative lack of top-tier speed and his good throwing arm, but Ramos has mostly played as a center fielder throughout his career and has looked decent up the middle. The Giants are probably likely to use Ramos primarily in center, though he has the flexibility to play at any of the three outfield positions based on situations.
Ramos hit well in the small sample sizes of Spring Training (10 PA) and the early stages of the Triple-A season (13 PA). While he didn’t break camp with the team, his quick promotion means that Ramos should still clock a full year of service time should he remain on San Francisco’s active roster for the remainder of the season. The newly-instituted Prospect Promotion Incentive could also somewhat mitigate the Giants’ service-time concerns, though Ramos may technically not qualify. As per The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, prospects are PPI eligible if they “are included in two or more of the preseason top-100 prospect lists put out by Baseball America, MLB.com or ESPN,” and of those three specific outlets, Ramos only cracked BA’s list.
Red Sox Extend Garrett Whitlock
The Red Sox have announced a four-year extension with right-hander Garrett Whitlock, with club options also covering the 2027 and 2028 seasons. Whitlock will earn $18.75M over the four guaranteed years (2023-26) of the deal, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, and the 2027 option is worth $8.25MM with a $1MM buyout. The 2028 option would pay Whitlock $10.5MM, with a $500K buyout. With escalators, the option years can be worth up to $4MM more in extra money per season.
Whitlock was already controlled via arbitration through the 2026 season, so the extension gives the Red Sox some cost certainty and also some extra control over his first two free agent years. Sean McAdam of The Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link) has the annual breakdown, starting with a $1MM signing bonus. Whitlock earns $1MM in 2023, $3.25MM in 2024, $5.25MM in 2025, and $7.25MM in 2026.
If the escalators both max out, Whitlock will land a total of $44MM over the six-year term of the extension. Cotillo adds that Whitlock is also still eligible for the league’s bonus pool for pre-arbitration players both this season and in 2023, so the righty has the opportunity to land even more money.
It’s not a bad payday for a pitcher who is barely a year removed from his MLB debut, and who has still never pitched at the Triple-A level. An 18th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2017 draft, Whitlock had some strong numbers in his first three pro seasons but underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2019. Without any sort of 2020 season, Whitlock was seen as something of an under-the-radar choice when the Red Sox selected him away from New York in the December 2020 Rule 5 Draft.
As it turned out, Whitlock now stands as one of the best Rule 5 success stories in recent memory. The rookie posted a 1.96 ERA, 49.7% grounder rate, 27.2% strikeout rate, and 5.7% walk rate over 73 1/3 innings, acting as a lockdown multi-inning reliever out of the Red Sox bullpen. Whitlock’s surprise emergence was a major factor in Boston’s run to the ALCS, and the team has now locked him up as a contributor for the better part of the decade.
The contract escalators are tied in part to innings totals, which reflects the possibility that Whitlock might eventually go from the bullpen to the rotation. There was some consideration given to deploying Whitlock as a starter this year, but the Sox are opting to be as flexible as possible with the righty’s usage. Whitlock will be teamed with Rich Hill in piggyback fashion to begin the year, which also frees Whitlock up to pitch in other games in high-leverage situations.
This is the third extension of Chaim Bloom’s tenure as Boston’s chief baseball officer, and the second involving a relief pitcher, following the two-year, $18.75MM pact finalized with Matt Barnes last summer. Despite the similar guaranteed salaries, there isn’t much of a comp between the two contracts, as Barnes was just a few months away from entering the free agent market. Whitlock, on the other hand, turns 26 in June, and thus wouldn’t have been hitting the open market until he was on the verge of his age-31 season.
While his $247.5K draft bonus was larger than usual for an 18th-rounder, and the new pre-arbitration pool provides an extra avenue for more earnings for pre-arb players, it isn’t hard to see why Whitlock (with a TJ surgery already on his resume) would be eager to guarantee himself a life-changing fortune so early in his career. There was obvious appeal from Boston’s side as well, since the extension is a good deal for the team even if Whitlock remains “only” a shutdown reliever. Should Whitlock eventually emerge as a starter, the Red Sox stand to benefit from this early investment in the right-hander.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Guardians, Myles Straw Agree To Five-Year Extension
The Guardians and Myles Straw have agreed to a five-year contract extension, with club options covering the 2027 and 2028 seasons, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. The deal is worth $25MM, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com, with the options valued at $8MM in 2027 and $8.5MM in 2028. This is the third extension for the club in recent days, following the deals for Emmanuel Clase and Jose Ramirez.
Straw was drafted by the Astros in the 12th round in 2015 and earned attention in the minors for his speed and defense. He stole at least 20 bags in the minors in his first three season in 2015-2017, before swiping 70 bags between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018. He was ranked by Baseball America as one of Houston’s top 20 prospects in 2018 and 2019. That latter season, he saw his first extended stretch of MLB action, hitting .269/.378/.343 in 56 games, along with eight steals.
At last year’s deadline, he was acquired by a Cleveland team that was looking to fill an outfield that had been mired in uncertainty for quite some time. Between the two teams, he hit .271/.349/.348. That production was just barely below league average (98 wRC+), though Straw was better after the trade than before. He also stole 30 bases on the year and provided excellent defense, coming in seventh among center fielders in the 2021 Fielding Bible Award voting. Desperate that average-ish batting line, he was still worth 3.7 wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs, due to his athleticism in the field and on the bases. He should now give the team a stable presence in the middle of the outfield for years to come.
Straw finished last year with two years and 112 days of service time, just four days shy of the 2.116 Super Two cutoff for the most recent offseason. That means he wasn’t going to qualify for arbitration until after this year. This deal will cover his four remaining years of team control and at least one free agent year, with the options potentially accounting for two more. The 27-year-old Straw will be 31 in the final guaranteed year, with the options covering his age-32 and age-33 campaigns.
Prior to this extension, and the deals for Clase and Ramirez, the Guardians had a clean slate on their payroll beyond this year. Now all three of them could potentially form a core for the club to build around, with each player under control through 2028. (Ramirez’s deal is guaranteed, while Clase and Straw are each guaranteed through 2026 with the two club options.) The majority of the rest of the roster is young players who have either not yet reached or just recently qualified for arbitration.
With the White Sox still looking like division favorites, the Twins aggressively reloading after a down year and the Tigers and Royals both coming out of rebuilds, the division looks like it is on the cusp of becoming stronger in the years to come. Even with these deals, the Guardians still have plenty of payroll flexibility, even for a typically low-spending club like them, with Ramirez still earning the only significant salary in the years to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Yankees Outright Jeisson Rosario To Double-A
TODAY: Rosario has cleared DFA waivers and been outrighted to Double-A, the Yankees announced.
APRIL 7: The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve designated outfielder Jeisson Rosario for assignment and formally selected the contract of veteran utilityman Marwin Gonzalez.
Rosario, 22, was claimed off waivers from the archrival Red Sox last month. He’s yet to make his big league debut or even take a plate appearance at the Triple-A level. Rosario spent the 2021 season with Boston’s Double-A affiliate and slashed .232/.335/.307 with three homers, 15 doubles, a triple and a 12.3% walk rate against a concerning 27.9% strikeout rate.
Acquired from the Padres in the trade that sent Mitch Moreland to San Diego, Rosario draws praise from scouts for his speed, plate discipline and defense in center field. Most scouting reports raise concerns about his hit tool, and his performance thus far in his minor league career has indeed reflected those red flags. Rosario could yet develop into at least a quality bench piece whose game is centered around value with the glove and on the bases, but he’ll need a good bit more refinement in the upper minors before that happens. The Yankees will have a week to trade Rosario or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
The Yankees also announced Thursday morning that catcher Ben Rortvedt has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right oblique. It’s not an unexpected move, as Rortvedt has been ailing for some time now. Acquired in the trade that brought Josh Donaldson to the Bronx and sent Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez to Minnesota, Rortvedt is a glove-first backstop who’ll give the Yankees a backup option to Kyle Higashioka. New York more recently acquired another defensive-minded catcher, Jose Trevino, in a trade with the Rangers. Given Rortvedt’s injury, Higashioka and Trevino will be the two catchers on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster.
Mariners Sign Daniel Ponce De Leon
The Mariners have signed right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon, according to Tacoma Rainiers announcer Mike Curto (Twitter link). Ponce de Leon will take the hill immediately for Triple-A Tacoma, scheduled to start today in the second game of a doubleheader.
The Angels inked Ponce de Leon to a minors contract during the lockout but released him earlier this week. The righty didn’t get a long look in official Cactus League action, as Ponce de Leon pitched just two innings in a single Spring Training game. It marks the second time in less than seven months that Ponce de Leon has been released, after the Cardinals cut him shortly before the end of the 2021 season.
Today’s start for the Rainiers will mark Ponce de Leon’s first official pro game outside of the St. Louis organization. The Cards selected de Leon in the ninth round of the 2014 draft, and he has appeared in the majors in each of the last four seasons working in a swingman capacity. With 22 starts in 57 career MLB games, Ponce de Leon has a 4.33 ERA and 23.9% strikeout rate over 147 2/3 innings in The Show, but his biggest issue has been a lack of control. Ponce de Leon has a 12.7% walk rate in the majors, and his walks have also been on the rise even in the minors over the last few seasons.
The 2021 season saw Ponce de Leon miss about two months due to two separate shoulder-related IL stints, and he posted a 6.21 ERA over 33 1/3 frames for the Cardinals. With his walk total (22) almost matching his strikeouts (24), Ponce de Leon became an expendable piece for the Cards. He’ll now look to catch on with the Mariners, providing some rotation or long relief depth at the Triple-A level.
Pirates Recall Roansy Contreras
TODAY: The Pirates officially called up Contreras prior to today’s game, while Underwood was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain.
APRIL 8: The Pirates are planning to recall pitching prospect Roansy Contreras, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Reliever Duane Underwood Jr. left yesterday’s game against the Cardinals with right hamstring discomfort, and the Bucs are opting to add another arm to the staff. Contreras is already on the Pittsburgh 40-man roster.
Contreras is among the most promising pitchers in the Pittsburgh farm system. Acquired from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon deal last winter, the righty broke out with an excellent first season with the Bucs. While he missed some time with a forearm issue, Contreras made 12 Double-A starts and pitched to a 2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings. The Dominican Republic native punched out a stellar 34.9% of batters faced against a 5.5% walk rate, earning a bump to Triple-A and then the majors late in the year.
Along the way, the 22-year-old impressed evaluators. Each of Baseball America, FanGraphs, The Athletic and ESPN slotted Contreras among the game’s top 100 prospects this winter, with FanGraphs placing him inside their top 50. He draws praise for a fastball that averaged north of 96 MPH in his big league debut, as well as a pair of breaking balls with decent control. FanGraphs suggests he could soon develop into a mid-rotation starter.
It’s not clear how the Bucs will use Contreras, or if this latest promotion is for good. He’s in his second of three minor league option years, and Pittsburgh could send him back to Triple-A Indianapolis in short order. The Pirates drew some criticism for optioning top shortstop prospect Oneil Cruz to start the season. Like Cruz, Contreras picked up two days of big league service time last year but has extremely little experience at the minors’ top level.
Rangers To Place Jon Gray On IL With Blister
Jon Gray developed a blister in last night’s season opening game against the Blue Jays. Though he initially said he expected to make his next start, the club will be placing him on the IL. Spencer Patton will be recalled to take his place on the roster. (Twitter links from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News)
Gray was signed in the offseason to a four-year, $56MM deal to front a rotation that was otherwise composed of younger and less-experienced arms. Although this set back is unfortunate news for Rangers fans, there doesn’t seem to be much need for panic. As noted by Grant, the club has a few off-days coming up (on April 13th and 18th), meaning they won’t need a fifth starter until April 23rd, two weeks from now. After the shortened Spring Training following the lockout, certain rules have been changed for the start of the season. While the minimum length of stay on the injured list for pitchers and two-way players is increasing to 15 days this season, that won’t go into effect until May 2. From April 7 through May 1, pitchers and two-way players can be placed on the 10-day injured list. This move seems to merely be a precautionary one, using the gaps in the schedule and the temporary rule change as a way to make sure Gray can quickly heal up before the six-month grind that lies ahead.
Dane Dunning is on the hill today and will take up one rotation spot. Martin Perez, who was also signed in the offseason to add some veteran presence, should have another. Taylor Hearn and Spencer Howard should have the final two slots.
As for Patton, the 34-year-old returned to MLB last year after a four-year stint in Japan. In 42 1/3 innings for the Rangers last year, he put up an ERA of 3.83 with a 27.9% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate.