Mariners southpaw Charlie Furbush is undergoing a blood injection therapy to his shoulder in hopes of speeding his recovery, MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports, but he might not return to action for “several months.” Furbush suggested that he could resume throwing in about three weeks’ time, but given his rotator cuff issues last year and continued difficulties, it certainly seems likely that the club will bring him along cautiously.
Here’s more from the American League:
- We checked in earlier today on Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion, as he’s not expected to engage in further contract talks before the season starts. Jon Heyman of MLB Network joins Ben Nicholson-Smith in reporting that there’s nothing scheduled with Encarnacion (Twitter link).
- Heyman also adds on Twitter that Jose Bautista could be willing to consider a four-year arrangement to stay in Toronto, despite his ask of five or even six years in an extension. Of course, that would be at a superstar rate of pay — Heyman suggests $30MM annually. The club, meanwhile, is believed to be interested in a three-year pact that might looking something like the Yoenis Cespedes deal.
- The Athletics could continue to hold contract talks with outfielder Josh Reddick into the regular season, John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group reports. (Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle noted yesterday evening that talks between the two sides were “percolating a little bit.”)While previous indications were that there’d be a deadline at the end of the spring, it appears there’s a willingness to keep talking if negotiations are showing sufficient promise of completion. If a new deal can’t be struck, Reddick will reach free agency after the season. He currently sits at sixth among pending free agents on the pre-season power rankings by MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes.
- Athletics righty R.J. Alvarez underwent a procedure to remove bone chips from his pitching elbow, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Alvarez was roughed up in his twenty MLB innings last year and has yet to harness his command, but has generated some whiffs with his mid-90s fastball and slider combo.
- The Indians have shifted Trevor Bauer into the bullpen to open the season, as Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal was among those to report. That leaves Cody Anderson and the just-extended Josh Tomlin as the four and five starters as things get underway. As Lewis notes, both Bauer and Anderson have displayed significant increases in their fastball velocity this year. Both president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and manager Terry Francona emphasized that Bauer remains in the rotation picture and will play a significant role — indeed, he had strong results this spring — but it’s certainly an interesting decision on a highly promising player who has yet to fully settle in at the major league level. It bears noting that the 25-year-old is all but certain to qualify as a Super Two after the season, so any loss of innings could have a significant impact on his future earnings.
- Injured catcher Chris Gimenez will suit up for the Rangers on Wednesday in a “last-ditch effort” to make the team, Jeff Wilson of the Star-Telegram tweets. Gimenez currently appears to be on the outside looking in after the Rangers acquired Bryan Holaday from the Tigers. The catcher will now have to make a big impression on team brass while dealing with an infected left leg.
- At one point, the Tigers would have asked for catcher Brett Nicholas and more for Holaday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. However, the Rangers were able to acquire Holaday while hanging on to Nicholas. Instead, they parted only with right-hander Myles Jaye and catcher Bobby Wilson. Meanwhile, Detroit plans on slotting the newly-acquired Jaye in their Double-A rotation, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets. In the long term, he says, the club believes that Jaye can be a major league reliever.
willreily
Actual question: I’m not a Jays fan, but I’m curious what would be their fans reaction to not resigning either E.E or J.B? After not resigning David Price, this seems like it would make the Blue Jays fans really mad.
basquiat
Shapiro has never worried about how the fans felt.
JeffyM
I think it depends on the offer. If the offer really was only 2 or 3 years and 50-75, I don’t think that’s a valiant effort to resign. However I don’t think 5 or 6 year offers make sense either. If I’m Shapiro I offer a 4 year 100 million offer with an opt out after 2 years. Maybe even front load it 30, 25, 20, 25.
Mark 20
Jays fans as a whole are going to be extremely upset. Me on the other hand, Id be satisfied if we retained one of the two, which even now, doesnt look like itll happen. If we dont sign either, we better grab strasburg next year and another good bat.
DAKINS
You can’t really compare the Price situation to those two. Nobody thought the Jays were going to be short-sighted enough to offer Price what Boston did.
JB, and to a lesser extent EE, are players who blossomed in Toronto, and both (JB is absolutely a lock) might end up on the Ring of Excellence in the SkyDome. Fans would absolutely be upset if they don’t resign.
stormie
EE will almost certainly be gone. The team has enough 1B/DH types, especially if they manage to hang on to Jesus Montero. If Bautista will accept 4 years and has another strong year in ’16 (and good enough defense that it doesn’t seem like he’ll have to imminently become a DH himself), then you have to take a chance and throw a contract his way. He’s the heart and soul of the team and the Jays will still be contenders in ’17 and ’18 and can use him, it would be foolish to let him walk because you’re worried about his performance in ’19 or ’20 when they may not even be contending still (depending on how Martin and Tulo are holding up and whether Donaldson stays on after his arb years).
stymeedone
With the current rate of exchange, the Toronto fans would be 20% less mad than a U.S. fan.
jrwhite21
The price of the Canadian dollar rose from $.68 to $.77 relative to the USD today so that’s pretty crazy if you’re into currency exchange rates and such
southpaw2153
Lol
TwinsVet
Fans are quick to forgive letting popular players walk if the the team continues their winning ways. And they don’t fill seats to watch a losing team despite the presence of a favored veteran.
Fans should always advocate for smart baseball decisions that give the team the best chance of winning. And often that means letting superstars walk.
Lance
the jays got good use out of EE and JB…..but it’s smart to let them go if they’re going for 5-year deals at their ages.