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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.

Matt Wieters Expected To Play For Team USA

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Free-agent catcher Matt Wieters is expected to play for Team USA at this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. He could join several other notable veterans on the roster.

This is the first report centering on Wieters since he became a free agent at the end of last season. The 34-year-old spent the previous two seasons as a member of the Cardinals, with whom he backed up Yadier Molina and hit .212/.274/.399 with 11 home runs in 224 plate appearances. Defensively, the Cardinals’ version of Wieters threw out 8 of 20 would-be base thieves – good for a 40 percent rate that checks in above his solid career mark of 32 percent.

Wieters is also a former National, but he’s best known for his run with the Orioles from 2009-16. The fifth overall pick in the 2007 draft, Wieters was an uber-prospect (Baseball America’s ranked him No. 1 twice) who was dubbed “Mauer with Power.” He may not have lived up to that hype consistently, but he did make four All-Star appearances with the Orioles and hit between 22 and 23 home runs in three different seasons. Overall, Wieters has batted .249/.313/.409 (92 wRC+) with 146 home runs in 4,428 plate appearances as a major leaguer. Whether Wieters will resurface in the bigs remains to be seen, but it appears he’ll at least play competitively again this summer.

Cardinals Make Multiple Roster Moves

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The Cardinals today made a series of roster moves, placing LHP Kwang-Hyun Kim on the 10-day injured list and activated Andrew Miller from the IL, via Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Additionally, they’ve swapped backup catchers, optioning Andrew Knizner and reinstating Matt Wieters from the injured list (courtesy of Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

According to Goold, Kim was taken to the hospital this morning due to a kidney ailment. He’ll be released today, and the Cardinals are optimistic that the lefty will pitch again this season once he undergoes treatment. His IL placement is retroactive to Wednesday, September 2.

With Kim slated to start Sunday’s game, the Cardinals will have to scramble to cobble together a starting rotation in the coming days. Indeed, Dakota Hudson, originally expected to start the second game of today’s doubleheader, will instead start tomorrow. The Cardinals will opt for a bullpen game in Saturday’s nightcap.

Kim, who inked a two-year, $8MM deal with the Cardinals following his success in the KBO, has been one of the most reliable pitchers in the St. Louis staff thus far, having notched a 0.83 ERA through his first 21 2/3 innings of MLB work (4 starts).

Meanwhile, neither Wieters nor Knizner has received much playing time with Yadier Molina hogging all the catcher reps in St. Louis, but the Cardinals will give the nod to the veteran Wieters, now healthy after suffering a broken toe. Miller will rejoin the Cardinal bullpen after missing 12 games due to left shoulder fatigue. He’s pitched just 5 2/3 innings for St. Louis this year, notching a 4.76 ERA and striking out 6 batters.

IL Placements: P. Baez, Knebel, Swanson, Wieters

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There were several 10-day injured list placements around the majors Thursday afternoon. Here’s a rundown…

  • The Dodgers placed reliever Pedro Baez on the IL with a right groin strain and recalled righty Josh Sborz. Baez was in the midst of yet another quality season before the wheels came off in his three most recent appearances, in which he allowed a combined four earned runs on three hits (including two homers) in 2 2/3 innings. In all, he has pitched to a 3.97 ERA/5.35 FIP with 6.35 K/9 and 3.97 BB/9 over 11 1/3 frames.
  • Brewers reliever Corey Knebel went down with a strained left hamstring. The team recalled infielder/outfielder Mark Mathias to take Knebel’s roster spot. 2020 has been a rough go for Knebel, a former star closer who has slumped in his first action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2019. The 28-year-old, who has allowed at least one earned run in five of nine appearances, owns a 9.45 ERA with 9.45 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 across 6 2/3 innings.
  • The Mariners sent righty Erik Swanson to the shelf with an ominous-sounding injury – a forearm strain. Despite averaging almost 96 mph on his fastball and totaling seven strikeouts against one walk, Swanson has allowed nine earned runs on seven hits and three HRs in 5 1/3 innings.
  • The Cardinals put catcher Matt Wieters on the IL when they activated starting backstop Yadier Molina. Wieters is dealing with a left toe contusion. Andrew Knizner will back up Molina in place of Wieters, who has gone without a hit in 13 plate appearances on the year.

Cardinals Re-Sign Matt Wieters

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January 22: The Cardinals announced the signing. Their 40-man roster is full.

January 19: The Cardinals have agreed to a new contract with catcher Matt Wieters, as per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  The deal will pay Wieters $2MM in guaranteed money, with another $1MM in incentives available.  Wieters is represented by the Boras Corporation.

The A’s and Rockies each showed interest in Wieters this winter, though the 33-year-old will return for his second year in St. Louis after hitting .214/.268/.435 with 11 home runs over 183 plate appearances for the Cards in 2019.  It was a solid enough performance to earn a guaranteed deal for the coming season, as Wieters had to settle for a minor league pact last winter.

Wieters hasn’t been a consistent offensive force since his heyday with the Orioles, and Baseball Prospectus has graded him as one of the league’s worst pitch-framers for several seasons.  Still, Wieters provides value as a switch-hitter and above-average pitch blocker, and he also gives the Cardinals some veteran catching depth behind Yadier Molina.

With Wieters back in the fold, the Cardinals can continue to allow the promising Andrew Knizner to develop at his own pace, though Knizner has already made his big league debut and hit .283/.362/.453 over 341 PA at the Triple-A level.  Both Molina and Wieters are free agents after the coming season, so Knizner could potentially step in as the heir apparent, though it wouldn’t be surprising to see Molina continue in at least a time-share role since the longtime Cardinal has said he intends to play beyond the 2020 season.

Cardinals Notes: Ozuna, Ravelo, Wieters, CarMar, Reyes

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Some tidbits from the Cardinals as the team holds its Winter Warm-Up fan event this weekend…

  • Marcell Ozuna continues to linger as a possibility to rejoin the team, though Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears from a source that the Cardinals will “have to up their offer for him to return.”  Ozuna recently hinted that the Cards and Rangers were his two top suitors, and reports from earlier this month suggested that the Reds were also still in the mix.  That said, there have also been rumblings that the Rangers’ top outfield (and first base) target might be Nicholas Castellanos rather than Ozuna, and it remains to be seen if Cincinnati will further add to its rather crowded outfield after signing Shogo Akiyama.  The Cardinals themselves have quite a few outfield options to juggle, of course, and between that depth and potentially the lack of a strong bidding war for Ozuna’s services, the club may not see a reason yet to offer him a larger contract.
  • Reports from last week indicated that Rangel Ravelo was receiving interest from a KBO League team, though Cardinals president John Mozeliak told Goold and other media members that a trade was apparently very close to fruition.  Trading Ravelo to South Korea would have lessened the outfield surplus, though St. Louis instead addressed that issue by dealing Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to the Rays as part of a swap that involved four players and two draft picks.  As Mozeliak put it, “that’s when I took the toothpaste and tried to jam it back in the tube” in terms of walking back the Ravelo trade with the unnamed KBO team.  Since Ravelo is still somewhat buried on the Cardinals’ long list of outfield candidates, one wonders if those trade talks could be revisited (assuming the Korean team is still interested) should the Cards make another addition, such as perhaps an Ozuna signing.
  • Mozeliak told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers) that he is “hopeful” that Matt Wieters will return as the St. Louis backup catcher.  As of last week, the Athletics were also known to have interest in Wieters’ services, though Mozeliak said that “I’m hoping we’ll get Wieters done, I really am.  Still need to dot i’s and cross the t’s on that.”  Wieters hit .214/.268/.435 with 11 home runs over 183 plate appearances for the Cards last season, with positive grades as a pitch-blocker from Baseball Prospectus even while ranking near the bottom of the league in framing.  The fact that Mozeliak directly mentioned Wieters perhaps hints at a deal being close, Rogers noted, as the executive rarely names specific targets.
  • “It feels great to be a starter again,” Carlos Martinez told reporters (including the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Rick Hummel) at the Winter Warm-Up event.  Martinez has pitched well as the Cardinals’ closer in each of the last two seasons, and the right-hander said he prefers to start, though he likes both starting and relieving — “Whatever situation they put me in, I’m going to help the team.”  Shoulder problems necessitated Martinez’s shift to the bullpen, though he is now eager to get back to the rotation after claiming “100 percent” health following a minor shoulder surgery and a PRP injection in October.  The St. Louis rotation already features Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, Dakota Hudson, and newly-signed Kwang-Hyun Kim, though needless to say, Martinez won’t have any trouble regaining a slot if he returns to his 2015-17 form.
  • Alex Reyes is another Cardinals pitcher that sees himself eventually as a starter, though for now, the young righty is just happy to finally be healthy.  “Mentally, I think what helped the most is just not being around rehab, rehab, rehab. It’s been three years of strictly rehab for me…I thought it was huge for me to be able to be with my family,” Reyes told Rogers and other reporters.  Once considered one of the sport’s top prospects, Reyes has been limited to just seven MLB innings over the last three seasons due to Tommy John surgery, lat muscle surgery, a broken finger on his non-throwing hand, and a pec injury.  If Reyes can finally stay on the field, he will likely be pitching out of the Cards’ bullpen as the team gets him re-acclimated to a regular pitching schedule.

NL Central Notes: Wieters, A’s, Cards, Arenado, Akiyama, Brewers

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The Cardinals and Athletics were first linked to Matt Wieters during the Winter Meetings, and a month after those initial reports, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that St. Louis and Oakland continue to have interest in the veteran backstop.  Wieters served as the Cards’ backup catcher last season, hitting .214/.268/.435 with 11 home runs over 183 plate appearances and 67 games — perhaps more playing time than was expected, given that workhorse Yadier Molina was limited to 113 games due to thumb injuries.  Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes (Twitter link) that the Cardinals have an offer out to Wieters and are hopeful of a reunion, to the point that a locker has been kept open for Wieters.  The A’s would also be looking to use Wieters as a backup catcher behind promising youngster Sean Murphy, though Wieters could potentially have a larger role if Murphy were to struggle in his first full MLB season.

More from the NL Central…

  • Nolan Arenado has been frequently mentioned as a trade possibility for the Cardinals, though Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch feels a potential deal with the Rockies “probably won’t” happen.  Roadblocks include Arenado’s contract, which is both expensive and contains an opt-out clause after the 2021 season.  While Arenado is a clear upgrade over virtually any other third baseman in the game and Matt Carpenter is coming off a rough 2019 campaign, Carpenter’s presence as the Cards’ in-house third base option further complicates matters since Carpenter is unlikely to carry much trade value.  In terms of moving him to another position, Paul Goldschmidt has first base covered, and Frederickson writes that “the team has thoroughly dismissed the notion of Carpenter spending time in the outfield again.”
  • The Reds’ offseason plans put an early priority on Shogo Akiyama, and the outfielder told reporters (including The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans) that Cincinnati was the first team to make him a contract offer.  “I was very inspired by their passion for how much they really wanted me.  I wanted to respond to that.  That’s why I chose the Reds,” Akiyama said via an interpreter.  Several other teams had interest in Akiyama’s services, though the Reds came out on top with a three-year, $21MM deal with the center fielder.  Akiyama becomes the first Japanese player in Reds history, and Rosecrans’ piece explores how the team has looked to improve its Asian scouting practices in recent years, as former Reds GM Walt Jocketty preferred to focus Cincinnati’s international signing efforts towards Cuban players (i.e. Raisel Iglesias, Aroldis Chapman).
  • With Jedd Gyorko now in the fold, Brewers GM David Stearns told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that he is “comfortable” with the club’s remodeled infield.  “We feel like we have a number of players who fit in a variety of different ways, and that’s really helpful,” Stearns said. “It gives us options.  It gives us depth. It allows us to see not only how the rest of the offseason unfolds, but how the first part of the season unfolds, in terms of how we want to structure a roster, how we want to play different players.”  Many of the Brewers’ infield pickups (Gyorko, Luis Urias, Eric Sogard, Ryon Healy) have multi-position capability, while first base has also been addressed with Justin Smoak as the top complement to Ryan Braun, who is slated for time at both first base and in the outfield.

FA Rumors: Reds, Ozuna, Giants, Didi, Brewers, Thames, Rox, Chirinos

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The Reds continue to show interest in free-agent corner outfielder Marcell Ozuna, Jon Morosi of MLB.com and Jon Heyman of MLB Network relay. In fact, the Reds and Ozuna’s camp have been in contact in the past 24 hours, Morosi adds. However, Ozuna is not expected to sign during this week’s Winter Meetings, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Instead, he seems inclined to wait for third basemen Anthony Rendon and Josh Donaldson to sign, which Sherman observes would leave him as the top bat on the open market (though Nicholas Castellanos may have something to say about that). A four-year deal is in play for Ozuna, Sherman suggests.

  • The Giants, Brewers and Reds were the runners-up for shortstop Didi Gregorius, per reports from Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. The presence of his former Yankees manager Joe Girardi in Philadelphia helped influence Gregorius to take the Phillies’ one-year, $14MM offer on Tuesday. Of the other teams involved, the Giants’ inclusion is particularly interesting. They already have an expensive veteran shortstop in Brandon Crawford, who has a sterling defensive reputation. Speculatively, the Giants could have been after Gregorius with the intention of playing him at second base. They wound up acquiring a different infielder, former Angel Zack Cozart, on Tuesday.
  • The Brewers are considering a reunion with first baseman/outfielder Eric Thames, general manager David Stearns told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters Tuesday. The club bought out Thames’ option for $1MM last month in lieu of paying him $7MM next season, but doing so left the Brewers dangerously thin at first base. Outfielder Ryan Braun may be an option at the position, but manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday (via Haudricourt) that he’s not going to be the Brewers’ primary choice there in 2020.
  • Robinson Chirinos, Austin Romine and Matt Wieters are among the available catchers the Rockies have spoken with, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports. The offensively solid Chirinos looks like the most appealing of the trio, as he could earn a multiyear contract worth in the neighborhood of $10MM. Whether the Rockies would be willing to go to those lengths is unknown, though it’s obvious they need help behind the plate. Their catchers (including current starter Tony Wolters) posted bottom-of-the-barrel offensive production in 2019.

FA Rumors: Ozuna, Braves, J. Castro, Stammen, Peraza, Grandy

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The Braves are interested in free-agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. This isn’t the first connection between the sides, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported last month that the Braves were one of the clubs in on Ozuna. Now, though, it seems the Braves are willing to aggressively pursue the 29-year-old qualifying offer recipient. In the event third baseman Josh Donaldson leaves Atlanta for another team, the Braves would regard Ozuna as a viable fallback option, Morosi suggests. MLBTR predicts Ozuna will reel in a three-year, $45MM guarantee, and if he lands anywhere near that neighborhood, he should fall well short of Donaldson’s next contract. That said, replacing Donaldson’s bat with Ozuna’s would still leave a sizable hole at third base for the Braves.

Here’s the latest on several other free agents…

  • The Angels, Astros, and Rangers are among the organizations with interest in backstop Jason Castro, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). With Yasmani Grandal and Travis d’Arnaud off the market, the 32-year-old Castro could be the best catcher left on the board. The pitch-framing savant’s coming off a strong season in Minnesota, where he batted .232/.332/.435 in 275 plate appearances and earned positive grades in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric.
  • Several teams appear to be in the market for reliever Craig Stammen. The right-hander’s most recent team, the Padres, as well as the Astros, Diamondbacks, Reds, White Sox, Blue Jays and Cardinals have all expressed interest, per Morosi (Twitter links). Stammen, whom MLBTR projects for a two-year, $10MM guarantee, has put together a strong career divided between Washington and San Diego. The 35-year-old logged a 3.29 ERA with 8.01 K/9, 1.65 BB/9 and a 50.8 percent groundball rate in 82 innings last season as a Padre.
  • The Reds are one of the teams with interest in Japanese center fielder Shogo Akiyama, president of baseball operations Dick Williams revealed (via Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer). Clubs have until Dec. 19 to sign Akiyama, who had an impressive run with the Seibu Lions from 2011-19. It’s unclear what a potential Reds-Akiyama union would mean for Nick Senzel, their starting center fielder last season. Senzel could perhaps move to the corner outfield, which does look like a need area for the Reds.
  • The Cardinals are interested in re-signing backup catcher Matt Wieters, according to general manager Michael Girsch (via Goold). Whether it’s Wieters or someone else, the team seems intent on adding a veteran to play behind Yadier Molina. Wieters could wind up in Oakland if he doesn’t go back to St. Louis, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Athletics have shown interest in the 33-year-old to back up Sean Murphy. This is the second straight offseason in which Wieters has landed on the A’s radar.
  • The Orioles and Indians are two of the four teams that have shown interest in infielder Jose Peraza, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). The Reds non-tendered Peraza last week on the heels of an unproductive season, but he’s only a year removed from a respectable showing. The 25-year-old’s also controllable via arbitration through 2022.
  • Although he hopes to play next season, there has been little interest in outfielder Curtis Granderson, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The soon-to-be 39-year-old Granderson is a revered clubhouse presence who has enjoyed an outstanding career, but he’s a free agent at an inopportune time. Granderson struggled to a .183/.281/.356 line with minus-1.4 fWAR in 363 plate trips with the Marlins last season.

NL Notes: Urias, Rockies, Wieters, Marlins

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We’ve already seen a pair of headline-grabbing moves by National League clubs this morning. We’ll round up some smaller reports from the Senior Circuit.

  • The Padres aren’t prepared to hand the second base job to Luis Urías without competition, reports A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com as part of a reader mailbag. While the organization remains bullish on the 22-year-old long-term, the Pads must find alternative options in case his early-career woes persist, Cassavell opines. Despite elite minor-league numbers, Urías has gotten off to a rocky start as a big leaguer, slashing just .221/.318/.331 (79 wRC+) in his first 302 MLB plate appearances. Interestingly, Cassavell expects the Padres to at least gauge rival teams’ interest in Urías- which would surely be robust- this offseason, if for no other reason than to “learn what (he would) be worth.”
  • The Rockies are likely to non-tender pitchers Chad Bettis and Tyler Anderson, observes the Denver Post’s Patrick Saunders in a broader look at the upcoming offseason. Both Bettis and Anderson were useful back-end starters for Colorado not too long ago, although injuries and/or underperformance made this outcome inevitable for each. Bettis slogged to a 6.08 ERA in 39 appearances (36 in relief) this season. Anderson, meanwhile, was limited to five starts before suffering a season-ending knee injury, and Saunders reiterates that he’s not expected to be fully recovered by next spring. Jettisoning Bettis (projected $3.8MM salary) and Anderson (projected $2.625MM salary) will save payroll-tight Colorado around $6-7MM.
  • The Cardinals are likely to pursue another one-year deal with catcher Matt Wieters, opines Anne Rogers of MLB.com as part of a mailbag. The 33-year-old signed with St. Louis for $1.5MM last offseason and figures to command a similar salary this go-round, Rogers adds. Wieters again ranked among the worst defensive catchers in baseball this season, but he offers respectable power for a catcher (.214/.268/.435 in 183 PA in 2019). The Cardinals also value Wieters’ veteran presence and switch-hitting bat off the bench, Rogers adds.
  • The Marlins are set to hire Wellington Cepeda as bullpen coach, reports Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Cepeda, 42, managed the Diamondbacks’ rookie-level Arizona League affiliate in 2019, his first season as a minor-league skipper. Cepeda has a background as a minor-league pitching coach, Frisaro adds. He’ll work with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, Jr., who is returning for a second season. Cepeda will have his work cut out for him, as Miami’s young bullpen was among MLB’s worst in 2019.
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