The Yankees have announced that they will bring first baseman Greg Bird back onto the MLB roster in time for tomorrow’s game, as Sweeny Murti of WFAN first reported on Twitter. Tyler Austin was optioned to create active roster space. Bird is finally back to health after struggling all year with ankle issues. As Murti notes, the 24-year-old turned in an 11-for-26 performance in his rehab stint. The Yankees will surely hope he can maintain that momentum upon his returning after posting an anemic .100/.250/.200 batting line in his first 72 plate appearances on the year.
Here’s more from the AL East:
- Orioles closer Zach Britton gave some details on the positive outlook surrounding his bothersome left knee, as Roch Kubato of MASNsports.com writes. In the near term, Britton says, he ought to be able to continue pitching as he has since the problem first arose back in 2014. Looking ahead, he doesn’t believe he’ll need even minor offseason surgery.
- The Orioles will be exercising added caution with another pitcher, prospect Cody Sedlock, Kubatko further explains. Sedlock, 22, is dealing with a forearm strain, though executive VP of baseball ops Dan Duquette says it “sounds like it’s a muscle strain.” Still, Sedlock has already missed time with an elbow issue and the organization is understandably taking care. The 2016 first-rounder owns a 5.90 ERA through ninety frames at the High-A level this year, with 6.9 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9.
- Likewise, 2016 Red Sox draftee Jay Groome will be shut down with a forearm strain, as Ian Browne of MLB.com tweets. The southpaw entered the season with quite a lot of hype but has encountered some troubles at the Class A level. He threw 44 1/3 innings over 11 starts there, with a 6.90 ERA and 11.8 K/9 against 5.1 BB/9 on his ledger. Of course, Groome only just turned 19, and clearly he’s still showing quite a bit of talent with that impressive strikeout rate. At this point, there’s no reason to think the injury will stunt his progress.
- The Red Sox and Yankees appear to be gearing up for a big international spending period, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag writes. Both organizations have struck deals to acquire pool money, boosting their initial $4.75MM allocations up to $8MM apiece. Heyman wonders whether the two AL East giants might be lining up a pile of cash to tempt Japanese superstar Shohei Otani, if he decides to make a move to the majors this winter, though it’s certainly also possible that the clubs are simply planning to add as much young talent from Latin America as they can.
Can a team sign a international player to a 1yr deal so he can get a bigger one the following year? So can the Red Sox sign Shohei Otani to that 1yr deal with a promise of a bigger contract the following year
Teams don’t make promises. That’s why they have contracts.
What if they pinky swear?
You would have to be a complete idiot to trust the Red Sox organization, where mistakes are often buried in Pawtucket to keep them inside the salary cap.
Inside the salary cap??? There’s no cap in baseball….
Speaking of mistakes Ellsbury comes to mind with no place to hide him
In theory, yes. But like Zac said, if Otani shows he can’t play at a high level, the Red Sox, or whichever team he goes to, can just let him walk or tender him because I think he’d still be arb eligible.
Most players that come over won’t have any control past their initial contract, but it can be negotiated (Jose Abreu)
Abreu had a clause that allowed him to opt out of the contract and into his final 2 years of arbitration.
Players aren’t arb eligible until they have 3 years service time.
With the new CBA, all IFA signings are minor league deals. That means the team has 2-3 seasons before the player is arbitration eligible (3 if not a Super Two) and 6 before they hit free agency. They can include clauses that say that the player can be a free agent sooner or that he has to be on the major league roster by a certain date or have the option of becoming a FA, but they have no vested interest in promising a bigger contract.
That does not preclude the team from offering an extension after the 1st season, but why would they do that for a guy making the major league minimum for 1-2 more years?
The Red Sox already spent 7.3 Million.
soxprospects.com/international.htm
this article is showing up in the Giants channel.
Why was this tagged to the Giants?
Just to rub it in their faces.
Or a mistake. Probably the former, though.
Gearing up for big international free agent spending. That is hilarious. The Padres spent more on one player last season than any team can spend total this coming IFA season. Teams like the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox have spent 4-5-6-7 times as much on one guy as the Yankees could possibly spend in July.
Nice to see the O’s moving forward with caution on Sedlock. No reason to rush him.
OTANI can get a Bonus which controls him for like 6yrs..of he makes the MLB club next Spring (assuming he signs between now and then) he likely will play 2018 at + $535k minimum MLB salary..then have 2 more yrs of control followed by 3 arb yrs..his initial bonus wether is $1 dollar or $5mil..won’t mean much as in a yr pr 2 he will be signing a $100 million extension+…. (If he is any good)..and remember Japan needs to post him 1st as he is not a FA yet there..so the obligatory $20mil for a talent like OTANI is going to have to be paid to his Japanese team if and when he is posted… OTANI makes like $10mil (US) in endorsements a year right now in Japan so his signing bonus won’t be as important as his desire to be Babe Ruth II (he is known as the Japanese Babe Ruth)..he will go to a team that allows him to Pitch AND play on a regular basis…as well as a team that fits his laid back personality.. I think LAD..NYY and Bos are too big of Markets for his liking.. A place like SD..Texas..Seattle might be more of a fit to his personality… So we will see…
You guys go to high school together? Funny you act as if you know him personally.