It seems veteran hurler Joakim Soria is drawing quite a lot of interest from the American League West. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that the Angels, Astros, Athletics, and Rangers are all pursuing Soria to some degree. Of course, most teams could stand to add an experienced late-inning reliever coming off of a quality season, so it stands to reason that just about every club in a competitive division would give a look. Soria, 36, registered a strong 2.82 ERA last year in Oakland, though that’s hardly a determinative measure on its own for a reliever in a shortened season. The well-traveled hurler managed only a 9.6% swinging-strike rate, his lowest in quite some time, and suddenly shifted to being a heavy flyball pitcher (though he wasn’t punished with many home runs in the short sample).
More from the pitching market:
- After wrapping up a greatly disappointing tenure with the Tigers, Jordan Zimmermann is taking quite a different free agent journey than his first one. It’s fair to wonder whether he’d consider retiring, but the 34-year-old tells MLB.com’s Jason Beck (Twitter link) that he’s instead preparing for another campaign. Zimmermann is sure to draw interest, but not on a guaranteed big-league pact. He has largely been ineffective since coming to Detroit five seasons back and is now also recovering from a forearm injury.
- The Red Sox could soon get a good sense of the return timeline for star lefty Chris Sale. Per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter), Sale is expected to throw from a mound at some point in the next two weeks or so — if all goes as planned. It’s promising that he’s already nearing that milestone, having undergone his Tommy John procedure at the end of March of 2020. It is hard to imagine that Sale will be ready for the start of the season, but perhaps he could resume competitive pitching relatively early in the 2021 campaign.
- Also on his way back is Sale’s former teammate David Price. He posted a video on Twitter showing that he’s hard at work preparing for the upcoming season. The Dodgers will surely be interested to see how the ball is coming out of the once-great lefty’s hand after a long respite. Price, who was acquired in a blockbuster nearly one year ago, has yet to take the ball with his new team. He opted out of the 2020 season.
- Teams looking for a spot starter and long reliever will soon have another option to consider. Southpaw Wade LeBlanc is still plugging away despite suffering a tough elbow injury last year. Per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link), LeBlanc is in good enough form that he’s now preparing for a showcase. LeBlanc posted a resurgent 2018 season but has struggled more recently, so he’s sure to land a non-guaranteed deal when he does sign.
It seems odd that the Rangers are pursuing him. They won’t have any late-game leads to protect.
Lol
Rangers are just looking to flip him to a playoff contender at the deadline for some minor league prospects
Lol they’re going to convert him into a starter
Yet the team that probably needs RP the most, the Phillies aren’t looking into Soria?
Yeah, I’m confused as well. He’s cheaper, and he’ll be going for a shorter deal while still producing at a high level.
I’m also confused why the Rangers are rumored, but I’ll take it. WAAAYY better than Jesse Chavez. I already loved the Hernandez/J. Rodriguez/R Montero trio from last season, and now we get Hernandez/J, Rodriguez/Soria (maybe)/ Leclerc and then guys like Brett Martin and Jimmy (slim) Herget. That’s a really good pen. People underrate our pen like crazy.
Yes they do. I am really looking forward to this year
Fellow Ranger fan here. Time to face the facts here, boys. Although it’s fine to be optimistic about Young getting a shot in the front office, this team is going to be awful and again dwelling in the AL West basement. JD is terrible and has been given every opportunity to fail with no repercussions. The deal he’s known for netted us an average shortstop, an average journeyman catcher and a good closer until we decided to ruin that too along with his career. The bullpen can be good, however the Rangers actually developing young arms into sturdy major league talent is a dream that will never come to fruition. Our rotation will comprise of 27 names all of which posting 4.50+ ERA, and a WHIP nearing 2.0. The line up with hit plenty of balls out of the ballpark, but none of that will matter as no one will be on base and the team BP may sniff .250. Relievers won’t matter when you enter the 2nd inning down 13 with no hopes of a future, because your farms is comprised of poor coaching and no talent.
We let Preller walk and in a short time he’s turned a team with no hopes and dreams into a contender, all the while keeping a core crop of talent for depth and the future. Until we get serious a ownership group and some accountability in the front office this team will lose 90-100 games year in and year out. But, at least the ballpark looks like a party barn and we have some A/C.
What exactly ARE the Phillies doing? No one seems to know. The only possible explanation is that their hands are tied until Realmuto is off the board.
I think the Phillies and the Angels are busy with the “tastes great vs less filling” debate. Building their pitching staffs is next after that is settled.
Jays in on LeBlanc?
Sox in on contending?
“Oh, oh, Good comeback, Potsie!”
Jays are “in on” Mel Blanc, the voice of Buggs Bunny/Daffy Duck.
I give LeBlanc serious credit to battle for so long.
Yeah thought for sure he’d retire after ‘Friends’ but he keeps on plugging away
Same with Price. When ‘Family Ties’ came to an end, I figured Skippy was done.
Weird for Price to show throwing fastballs in a odd looking gym is supposed to generate excitement. Thanks for working so hard David.
I’ve wanted Siri’s for a while now. A little less each year.
The fly ball rate is concerning when we travel to the band boxes back East. He gait to stay in big boy stadiums out West last year.
LeBlanc is a gamer when healthy. Pitched really well for the Mariners until the elbow issues starting popping up
Sale is a guy can count on doing everything required to get back on the mound as fast as possible and not just sit on his contract, don’t believe a bunch with that mentality these days in the game.
Think Price falls into the category also, if he wants to play. Him sitting out 2020 IMO was for family reasons. He’s made enough during his career to chuck 30m away. How many during these grab every dime days think like that? Boras would have a conniption fit.
With the pro-rated salaries, Price only opted out of about $9M last year, but can’t fault him for doing so. E-Rod was really the only MLB player who was seriously affected by COVID. Let’s hope that’s 100% behind him.
Lots of big name players who can no longer live up to their contract opted out last year. Bet there was some union and owner pressure on em to do so. It’s a conspiracy I tell ya !
David Price and Busty Poser bailed on their teams last season. that reality can’t be lost on any teammate, especially the Gigantes who barely missed on the playoffs and had to make do with catchers not ready for prime time…
So did LAD and Boston each not owe $9M? Or did the pro-rated portion still count against the luxury tax?
The magnitude of the stupidity by Boston just keeps growing if the opt-out eliminated the money from the luxury tax calculation. If Mookie signs in Boston for $35 for 12 or something comparable then in year 1 of his contract their payroll goes up by $8M X 60/152 a year and the Price opt-out reduces that by $9M so not doing the deal nets over a $1M to the Red Sox.
The Red Sox many not have the 4th pick in 2021 under that scenario but their future sure would look a lot better than it does right now. I wonder what ownership did to offend Mookie to the point of wanting out so badly? With the world being in the state that it is right now I’m guessing it’s a racial issue. What else would turn off a player from staying in a location where the fans love him? I seriously doubt the weather, or his teammates or the TV commercial opportunities. So what else could it have been?
My hope is some day a reporter uncovers the underlying issues that forced Mookie out and incented ownership to rehire a previously fired convicted cheater. My guess is that there is a dirty owner or two that got blackmailed by Cora and an owner who was advised to promote diversity in light of what they did to piss off Mookie. It’s all speculation but there is not other obvious way to connect the dots..
Dorothy – Have you heard ANYTHING about EROD’s status? Is he past the heart risk stage? Can he exercise at full speed yet? Can he start throwing soon? Will he make it to Spring Training on time and ready to do a usual Spring Training set of activities?
You know what else you can count on Chris Sale for? Going into the tank when August hits. Also Price is a D-Bag of epic proportions and I’m not sure why you would make him out to be some kind of hero. He ran and hid under the bed instead of earning a ring with the Dodgers.
You do realize so called “hiding under the bed” is pretty much state ordered in California since last winter.. Right? Only home grown terrorists can go out and burn down buildings.. throw rocks etc without penalty there.
I know what the liberal terrorist did in Portland, Seattle and Washington is disgusting. Those people are pure evil, glad you pointed that out to everyone. Liberals suck!
Mystery Team – for every guy like you who trashes great players like Sale and Price there are a dozen fans who look at the numbers and realize they are both potential HOFers. You don’t have to like a guy to be reasonable with your comments. Price opts out due to COVID and you have NO IDEA what family situation might have caused that but you belittle him? Says volumes about you.
Sale going in the tank in August? Get some perspective!! Sale is the best pitcher in baseball most years until the All-Star break. Nobody else can say that. Then, he returns to being human in August and September. Four months of super elite and two months of average isn’t the same as him going in the tank. You need perspective!!
Until dbag Cora screwed with his mechanics in 2019 Sale had pitched as a starter for 7 years. His two years with Boston led to 2.11 and 2.90 ERAs and sub one WHIPS. I’ll take him over almost any other pitcher in baseball. When healthy, he’s as masterful as Randy Johnson in his prime. Sale was elite for 7 years and had an off season thanks to a MORON manager who started Spring Training improperly then tried to alter his delivery leading to a severe injury. Sale is the ultimate team player and got screwed when Ferrell got fired and the worst manager in the history of the Red Sox took over. Thank god the hitters and starters had such dominant years in 2018 to off-set the moron’s in game decisions. Cora did everything he could to lose the ring but the hitters and then the SPs won out in the end. If it had anything to do with Cora, why was 2019 so bad. Simple. His mistakes weren’t off-set by career years by so many players. Those career years had NOTHING to do with Cora.
I still can’t believe the Red Sox went dumpster diving and found the cheater sitting amongst the garbage.
One last point about Price. The Dodgers were prohibitive favorites to make it to the World Series. No professional athlete drops out when a ring is that close unless there is an imminent fear that forces him to drop out.
I’m hoping you are just a naive teenager with a big mouth, not an adult that has severe issues to say the things you said. You want to bad mouth a guy that’s up to you. Cheating is a great reason to bad mouth a person. Keeping his family safe, not so much.
How has Jordan Zimmerman’s contract never came up in the “worst contracts in sports history” conversation?
Look at Wayne Garland’s 10 year contract with Cleveland from 1977-1986 for a comparison. Another top 10 worst of all time!
You have to look at it in context. It might have been only the 4th worst contract on Detroit at the time.
VMart $68M/4 for -2.1 bWAR
Miggy $240M/8 for 4.8 bWAR thru 5 years
Fielder $46M for 2 years + $30M to trade him, for a total of 7 WAR.
ah yes, the Tiggers…breaking hearts again and again…
Zimmerman has Tampa Bay reclamation project written all over it.
Jordan Zimmermann has condo in Florida with drink in hand written all over him. He just can’t read the writing.
Most players get to this point, where they still want to play and essentially have to go through the process of having teams tell them “not interested” to realize it is time to hang them up.
“We’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game, we just don’t…don’t know when that’s gonna be. Some of us are told at eighteen, some of us at forty, but we’re all told”
It’s good to see some relievers sign for a change.. Lots of bullpens need upgrading. I’m afraid some might way too long.
Zimmerman’s going to be lucky if he can sign a minor league contract at this point.
I look for Zimmerman to sign a minor league pact with the Brewers
You will think it’s him and then it’ll end up being some Zimmerman you never heard of before even though u follow baseball everyday just like the Brewers last 2 signings. It’s a conspiracy I tell ya !
I have a feeling David Price is going to have an excellent year if he’s actually healthy.
If you consider whining like a child and getting mad and stomping his feet when anyone criticizes him…sure, I agree.
Twins should sign Zimmerman to a minor league pact, gives him a chance to prove himself and win a job on a contender. Low risk potential high reward
There’s a Sale at Penney’s!
gotta wonder what Zim can do outside of DET. He fell off as soon as he got there.
Is Price getting a ring opting out of last year?
Jordan Zimmermann was stellar in his first month with the Tigers before his neck injury which essentially has derailed his career since. But he was a stand up guy and never made excuses and always gave his full effort even if the results were not good. I think it would be great if he could catch on with some team and resurrect his career. Sadly, that is unlikely and his market is at best going to be a minor league deal with a spring invite. After failing to make the big club out of spring training he will end up making the hard decision to retire.
That’s exactly what happened . Five or so starts in, he looked like yet another Detroit ace. Then came the neck injury. Then went Zimmermann’s usefulness.
It was Mike Ilitch’s signing. Can’t blame the eminently blamable Al Avila for that one.
Nice to have the Angels linked to a Relief Pitcher.
Does this mean you will stop wringing your hands over Claudio?
After watching him on the Nats for years, I’m really shocked how his Detroit tenure turned out.
The Orioles could bring back Leblanc. He only pitched 1 game for them last year.
He pitched 6
Zimmermann on a team where he is a back of the rotation option probably wouldn’t be terrible. Twins, Rays, Maybe even a return to the Nationals.
Angels need Soria the most so he will wind up in Houston. Angels GM will say “ we made him a competitive offer”.