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AL Central Notes: Witt, Polanco, Peralta, Tigers

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Bobby Witt Jr. has been one of the stars of Spring Training, as the highly-touted prospect has wowed teammates and observers at the Royals’ camp.  As a result, Dayton Moore is “very much open-minded of him being on this team as we break this camp,” the Kansas City general manager told Fantasy Alarm’s Jim Bowden in an interview Tuesday. (MLB.com’s Anne Rogers has a partial transcript.)

“I’m not going to make an advanced decision now, but we’re just going to let the player tell us” with his work, Moore said.  “Right now, we don’t have to pick our roster. But the fact that Bobby Witt is still in camp and [manager Mike Matheny] continues to play him, and the most important thing is we all know he’s earned the respect — a young talented player with a lot of hype around him who’s earned the respect of his teammates.”

Since being selected second overall in the 2019 draft, Witt has appeared in only 37 professional games, all with the Royals’ rookie league affiliate in 2019 (.262/.317/.354 in 180 PA).  Even after impressing at the Royals’ alternate training site last summer and continuing that performance into the spring, Witt would still be making a big jump in going from rookie ball to the majors at age 20.  While the Opening Day lineup might be a bit of a reach, there is certainly an increasing chance that Witt could make his MLB debut before the 2021 season is out.

More from the AL Central…

  • Jorge Polanco was removed from Tuesday’s game due to left adductor tightness, but Twins manager Rocco Baldelli thinks Polanco should be removed after “maybe a few days.”  Baldelli told MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park and other reporters that Polanco was initially hurt after an awkward landing on the baseball while trying to field a grounder, and the decision was made to take Polanco out two innings later when he reported some tightness while running out a ground ball.  With Andrelton Simmons taking over as Minnesota’s shortstop, Polanco is expected to move from his old shortstop position and get the bulk of playing time at second base.
  • Wily Peralta signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in February but hasn’t yet arrived at camp due to visa issues.  Unsurprisingly, manager A.J. Hinch told The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters that the delay will cost Peralta a shot at making the Tigers’ Opening Day roster.  Since being released by the Royals in July 2019, Peralta hasn’t pitched anywhere apart from an eight-game stint in the Dominican Winter League, so his attempt at reviving his career will now move to Detroit’s minor league camp when he eventually gets to the United States.
  • In other AL Central news from earlier today, both the White Sox (link) and Indians (link) have interest in extending some of their top players.

Latest On Danny Santana

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TODAY: Santana is being released from hospital today, as reported by multiple reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne).  Santana will still have stitches for the next two weeks.

MARCH 15: Recently-signed Red Sox utility man Danny Santana is in the hospital with a foot infection, per Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal (via Twitter). He is currently being treated with antibiotics, and there’s no timetable for his return. Barring any complications, however, it’s reasonable to expect a relatively short layoff for Santana.

Boston signed Santana earlier this month with an eye on adding him to their pool of short-bench candidates capable of playing both the infield and the outfield. It’s now worth wondering if Santana will be able to get ready in time to fully compete for an opening day roster spot. He has only two plate appearances in spring training since suiting up.

Whenever Santana does return, he’ll audition to be a right-handed complement for the bench. Especially with left fielder Franchy Cordero expected to miss the beginning of the season, there will be some playing time to be had in the outfield. That will likely go to Marwin Gonzalez unless Santana makes a very speedy recovery. Boston also has the option of moving Enrique Hernandez to left and giving some additional playing time to Christian Arroyo or another bench bat.

Indians Interested In Extending Jose Ramirez

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Jose Ramirez’s contract keeps him under the Indians’ control through the 2023 season, but Cleveland “would love to” work out another extension with the star third baseman, according to ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan.  To date, Ramirez “has resisted” the team’s overtures.

It isn’t exactly unusual that a club would have interest in keeping its star player, and it could be that Cleveland is simply doing its due diligence in checking to see if Ramirez would be willing to re-up for an even long-term commitment.  Still, such a move is noteworthy in the Tribe’s case given how the team has been focusing on moving salaries in recent years, and that strategy has only intensified in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.  Since August, the team has traded Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco and Francisco Lindor, declined to pick up Carlos Santana’s $17.5MM option for 2021, and put star closer Brad Hand on waivers last October just to try and avoid a $1MM buyout of Hand’s $10MM club option.

Dating back to John Hart’s days as the Indians’ GM, the club’s strategy for extensions has followed a pattern.  The Tribe looks to sign promising younger players to long-term deals early in their career, so Cleveland can lengthen its team control over at least a year or two (whether on guaranteed years or club options) beyond a player’s arbitration-eligible seasons.  If that young player indeed ends up blossoming into a star, the Tribe ends up with a bargain through the player’s prime years, and then the player usually ends up either traded or departing in free agency once their team control draws to a close.

While Cleveland has signed a few notable names (i.e. C.C. Sabathia, Travis Hafner, and more recently, Carrasco) to secondary extensions after those initial deals, it would be a significantly bigger financial decision to ink Ramirez to another contract given how he has so firmly established himself as one of the game’s top players.  Since the start of the 2016 season, Ramirez has hit .290/.366/.529 with 119 home runs in 2757 plate appearances, and only three players (Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Anthony Rendon) have amassed more fWAR than Ramirez’s 26.2 figure over that five-year stretch.  Ramirez has three top-3 finishes in AL MVP voting within the last four seasons, finishing second to Jose Abreu in 2020.

Prior to the 2017 season, Ramirez signed a five-year extension worth $26MM in guaranteed money.  He is entering the final guaranteed year of that deal now, though the Tribe has both a $11MM club option ($2MM buyout) on Ramirez for 2022 and a $13MM club option (with no buyout) for the 2023 season.  Ramirez turned 28 last September, so assuming Cleveland picks up both options, Ramirez wouldn’t reach free agency until his age-31 season.

With all of the Tribe’s cost-cutting over the winter, there was speculation that Ramirez could also be moved, though Cleveland isn’t yet interested in a full rebuild, adding the likes of Eddie Rosario and Cesar Hernandez to one-year contracts to make another run at a postseason berth.  However, the Indians have less than $53MM on the books for the 2021 payroll, and Cleveland doesn’t have a single player officially under contract beyond the 2021 season.  Unless the team does go into complete rebuild mode, some of that open payroll space is surely earmarked for future extensions of its next wave of young talent — chief among them Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, though as of last month, the two sides had yet to begin negotiations.

While owner Paul Dolan and Cleveland’s front office have often discussed how a smaller-market team shouldn’t devote much of its payroll to a single player, there is theoretically enough payroll room available to pay Ramirez a superstar-level salary ($30MM+ in average annual value).  The Indians reportedly offered Lindor a $200MM extension prior to the 2020 season, and while that offer came before the pandemic changed everything, it indicates that the team is willing to make a big splash to retain a star.

White Sox Discussing Extensions With Lucas Giolito, Andrew Vaughn

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The White Sox have been “engaging” with ace Lucas Giolito and top prospect Andrew Vaughn about possible contract extensions, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports.  For now, no deal appears imminent with either player.  Both Giolito and Vaughn are represented by CAA Sports.

Giolito will be paid $4.15MM in 2021 as per an arbitration-avoiding contract with the White Sox back in January, and the right-hander is under arb control through the 2023 season.  Vaughn’s MLB service clock has yet to start, so an extension would make him the third White Sox player (after Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert) in as many years to sign a multi-year contract before making his big league debut.

At the start of March, Giolito said “there haven’t really been discussions about an extension” with the team, though it appears talks have picked up to at least some extent.  To some extent, Chicago has time on its side given that Giolito is controlled through 2023, yet naturally the Sox would love to lock up Giolito now before his price tag could continue to rise.  If Giolito pitches as well in 2021 as he did over 249 innings in 2019-20 (3.43 ERA with an impressive 32.7K% and 8.6BB%), the White Sox could be looking at an extension worth tens of millions more by this time next year.

Looking at other extensions for pitchers who had between three and four years of service time, Giolito would surely be looking to top the four-year, $45MM deal Aaron Nola signed with the Phillies prior to the 2019 season.  That contract covered Nola’s first arb year — he and the Phillies were approaching a hearing — and also contained a club option that gives the Phils control over a second of Nola’s free agent years.

The White Sox could make the case that Nola was a more proven commodity with 569 MLB innings at the time of his extension and hadn’t suffered any major arm troubles, whereas Giolito already has a Tommy John procedure under his belt.  Of course, Giolito’s camp could counter that prices have simply gone up in the two-plus years since Nola’s extension, and that Giolito’s durability isn’t a concern after he averaged 175 IP in 2018-19 (and obviously Giolito could have banked many more innings if the 2020 season wasn’t shortened).

Both Jimenez and Robert signed six-year contracts with two club option years attached, with Jimenez receiving $43MM in guaranteed money prior to the 2019 season and Robert $50MM guaranteed in January 2020.  It’s probably safe to guess that White Sox GM Rick Hahn is proposing a similar framework to Vaughn’s representatives, so a full eight-year stint would keep Vaughn (who turns 23 next month) on the South Side through his age-30 season.

Selected with the third overall pick of the 2019 draft, Vaughn demolished Pac-12 pitching over three years at Cal, then got his pro career off to a quick start by batting .278/.384/.449 with six homers in 245 combined plate appearances at rookie ball, A-ball, and high-A ball.  His 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the pandemic, but Vaughn’s bat is considered so ready for prime time that he is expected to play an important role for the big league team this coming season, projected for the bulk of DH at-bats and occasionally spelling AL MVP Jose Abreu at first base when Abreu needs a DH day.

A pre-career extension would allow Chicago to install Vaughn on the Opening Day roster without any of the service-time machinations that teams often deploy to keep top prospects in the minors for just long enough to gain an extra year of control.  Like Jimenez and Robert, Vaughn is a consensus pick as one of the game’s best minor leaguers, ranking high on top-prospect lists from Keith Law (who ranks Vaughn 10th), MLB Pipeline (14th), Baseball Prospectus (14th), Fangraphs (14th), and Baseball America (21st).

Offseason In Review: Miami Marlins

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Led by a new general manager, the Marlins overhauled their bullpen and added a group of low-cost veterans they hope can supplement a growing core of young big leaguers.

Major League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

The Marlins’ winter began with the news that longtime president of baseball ops Michael Hill would depart the club after the two sides weren’t able to come to terms on an extension. Hill went on to take a job in the league offices, while the Marlins made history by tabbing Kim Ng as MLB’s first female general manager.

Ng has been considered a potential GM for years now, having previously served as an assistant GM with multiple clubs in addition to holding a prominent post within the league offices herself. She’s interviewed for several openings, and she’ll now be given the keys to a promising, up-and-coming club fresh off a surprise postseason berth. A return to the playoffs will be a tall task in a stacked division and with fewer postseason spots up for grabs in 2021.

As is often the case when new front office regimes take over, the first winter was a relatively quiet one under Ng. The Marlins were connected to come notable names — free agent Marcell Ozuna and trade candidate Willson Contreras among them — but the moves the team actually did make were far more measured when all was said and done.

Some of that is surely due to the presence of intriguing youngsters at various positions on the roster, while some is likely due to ownership’s commitment to limit spending early in its tenure. Marlins CEO Derek Jeter sought to distance the organization from a leaked payroll projection plan in his first winter on the job — one in which payroll was to drop from $115MM in 2017 to the low $80MMs in 2019-20. However, the Marlins haven’t done much to suggest that plan was not accurate, and last year’s revenue losses couldn’t have accelerated plans to spend.

That being said, the Fish still made a handful of notable additions, beginning with the signing of righty Anthony Bass to a modest two-year pact. Bass has done well in reviving his career after a nice run in Japan, and he parlayed a strong showing in Toronto last year into a guaranteed multi-year pact.

Bass is the favorite to close games in Miami this year, and while he’s not the prototypical high-strikeout, high-leverage reliever, Bass fits a similar profile to that of 2020 closer Brandon Kintzler. The 33-year-old Bass sports a sinker that averages around 95 mph, and last season’s 62.3% ground-ball rate was the tenth-highest among the 490 pitchers who threw at least 10 innings. If you up the minimum to 20 innings pitched, Bass ranked fourth among all MLB pitchers.

While Bass was the most expensive addition to the team’s bullpen, he was far from the only one. In fact, the Marlins added several relievers with a similar profile to Bass, suggesting that while they knew they wouldn’t be able to spend on the market’s top strikeout artists, they’re confident they can build a bullpen that thrives on grounders and weak contact.

Inking journeyman lefty Ross Detwiler to a big league deal came as something of a surprise, but at $850K, the price was minimal. And, like Bass, Detwiler was flat-out elite in ground-ball production last year, turning in a 58.3% mark that ranked 30th of the 490 pitchers with 10 or more innings. Dylan Floro, acquired in a trade with the Dodgers, ranked 44th on that same list. Adam Cimber, picked from DFA limbo in a deal that sent cash to Cleveland, was tied for 74th at 52.4%. Rule 5 trade acquisition Zach Pop has a career grounder rate north of 60% in the minors.

The exceptions to the ground-ball rule were righty John Curtiss, acquired in a small trade with the Rays, and Rule 5 pick Paul Campbell. Curtiss hasn’t established himself in the big leagues over a large sample but was the stingiest reliever in the game in terms of walks last year. Campbell is a spin-rate darling who doesn’t miss as many bats as one would expect.

Miami completely overhauled its bullpen mix without spending much money or surrendering much in the way of prospects, as Ng and her staff bucked the industry trend of paying up for late-inning whiffs. They’re not the only club to invest in this area this winter — the A’s also went heavy into weak contact, at least prior to inking Trevor Rosenthal — but it’ll be telling to see if the club succeeds with this approach. There are too many weak contact/ground-ball specialists here to think it’s mere coincidence, so it seems like the Marlins made a deliberate bet on a skill set they felt was undervalued.

Beyond that slew of bullpen additions, the Marlins’ primary add was former division-rival slugger Adam Duvall. Non-tendered by the Braves on the heels of a productive 2020 season, Duvall now figures to slot in as Miami’s everyday right fielder, with 2020 deadline pickup Starling Marte in center and 2019-20 offseason signee Corey Dickerson in left field. It’s a veteran group that ought to provide some value on both sides of the ball. Duvall is a low-OBP, high-powered slugger with a strong glove in the outfield corners, and the Marlins landed him at a rather reasonable $5MM rate for the upcoming season.

That the Marlins are trotting out a trio of veterans to serve as their starting outfield in 2021 highlights the disappointment stemming from a group of prospects once considered to be the future there. Lewis Brinson, Magneuris Sierra, Monte Harrison and Jesus Sanchez were all billed as top prospects at various times and were all key pieces in the Marlins’ last tear-down. To this point, none of the quartet has solidified himself as a big leaguer or really even come close to doing so. Each of Brinson, Harrison and Sanchez at least has a minor league option remaining, so there’s still some leash yet to break out.

Sierra, meanwhile, is out of options and struggling in Spring Training. We’ll find out before long whether the restructured front office is as bullish on his outlook as the regime that acquired him as part of the Marcell Ozuna trade with the Cardinals (alongside Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen). Miami already parted with one semi-notable piece of its rebuild haul, as righty Jordan Yamamoto was sent to the Mets after being designated for assignment to clear space on the roster for Bass. Yamamoto was considered the fourth-best piece in the Christian Yelich swap behind Brinson, Harrison and Isan Diaz, but he was the only one of the four to find some reasonable big league success to this point.

Elsewhere in the lineup, there’s a good bit of continuity. Brian Anderson will reprise his role at third base and in the heart of the order, providing the Marlins with a solid, underrated cornerstone. He and the former front office discussed an extension last spring, but Ng suggested over the winter that she wants a chance to evaluate Anderson firsthand before determining whether to sign him to a long-term deal. The third baseman is currently controlled through the 2023 season.

Team leader Miguel Rojas is back at shortstop, and he’ll pair with Anderson to form a strong defensive tandem on the left side of the infield — one that bodes well for the Marlins’ grounder-heavy bullpen. At second base, the hope is that Diaz can cement his spot after opting out of most of the 2020 season, but he’ll compete for time with veteran Jon Berti and have prospect Jazz Chisholm looming as well. Jesus Aguilar and Garrett Cooper will hold things down at first base, and Cooper can play some corner outfield should an injury arise. Cooper drew some offseason trade interest once Duvall was signed, but the Marlins opted not to move him.

Speaking of offseason trade interest, the Marlins’ catcher position was the source of some intrigue early in the winter. Reports of the team’s interest in Contreras led to plenty of speculation and even elicited a reaction from Contreras himself on social media, but a deal never came to pass. Miami was linked to some other options behind the dish, mostly in more speculative fashion, but in the end they’ll give another chance to Jorge Alfaro and Chad Wallach. It seems fair to believe that pairing doesn’t take a step forward in 2021, changes could be on the horizon.

As it stands, Sandy Leon was the only backstop option brought in from outside the organization, and that came on a minor league deal. He’s one of just two prominent names in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring, joining hometown “kid” Gio Gonzalez. The veteran lefty inked a minor league deal not long after camp began and is in the mix for a rotation spot. Given every team’s need for depth and innings as they exercise caution ramping pitchers back up, Gonzalez ought to have a decent chance to make the club. He’s competing with prospects like Trevor Rogers, Nick Neidert and Braxton Garrett for that spot, but he’d be a sensible add to the Opening Day roster even as more of a long reliever.

All in all, it was a relatively quiet winter for the Marlins. The bullpen has been turned over considerably, but much of the club’s fate lies with the development of burgeoning young rotation cogs like Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and the tantalizing Sixto Sanchez. Elieser Hernandez, fresh off a strong but abbreviated showing in 2020, is likely to start plenty of games this season as well. It’s an interesting and exciting mix of young arms for the Fish — one that could very well be the foundation of a more competitive wave of clubs than we’ve seen for years in Miami, with new ownership and new management now fully entrenched. The odds are against them for a playoff berth in 2021, but the future still looks bright.

How would you grade the Marlins’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)

Felix Hernandez Exits Outing With Right Elbow Discomfort

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Orioles right-hander Felix Hernandez exited his outing Tuesday with discomfort in his pitching elbow, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com was among those to report. The Orioles will know more about the injury Wednesday after they re-evaluate Hernandez, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com tweets.

Despite a fantastic run with the Mariners from 2005-19, the soon-to-be 35-year-old Hernandez was only able to secure a minor league contract during the offseason. It’s the second straight minors pact for the former Cy Young winner, who inked a deal with the Braves heading into 2020. King Felix didn’t pitch at all last year, though, instead opting out because of concerns over COVID-19.

Hernandez is nowhere near the pitcher he was during his heyday, having combined for a 5.82 ERA in 227 1/3 innings during his two most recent seasons, but he does have a legitimate chance to earn a spot in Baltimore’s rotation if he’s healthy. Alongside Hernandez, John Means, Keegan Akin, Jorge Lopez, Dean Kremer, Matt Harvey and Wade LeBlanc are among O’s who are at least competing for starting jobs.

Roenis Elias To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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MARCH 16,10:27pm: Elias has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo Tommy John surgery, per Divish, who adds that the Mariners have offered him a two-year minor league contract to keep him in the organization as he recovers.

4:06pm:: Elias will undergo surgery, Divish tweets. Further details aren’t yet available.

MARCH 14: Mariners left-hander Roenis Elías suffered a serious injury to his throwing forearm/elbow, manager Scott Servais told reporters (including Corey Brock of the Athletic and Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). He’s slated to undergo further evaluation.

With any serious injury to a pitcher’s forearm and/or elbow, one tends to fear a potential Tommy John surgery. There’s no specific indication that procedure (or any other) is yet on the table in Elías’ case. Nevertheless, it’s clear he won’t be an option to start the season and could seemingly be out an extended period of time.

Elías most recently pitched for Seattle between 2018-19, even serving as the team’s closer for part of the latter season. He was traded to the Nationals at the 2019 deadline but was limited to three innings with Washington by injuries. The 32-year-old then missed the entire 2020 season with a flexor strain in his elbow. Elías returned to the Mariners on a minor league deal in January after demonstrating improved health in an offseason showcase. Unfortunately, it seems he’s now in for another injury-related absence.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/16/21

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The latest minor moves from around the majors…

  • The Braves have reached a minor league agreement with right-handed reliever Chasen Bradford, Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. Bradford has appeared in a total of three major league seasons between the Mets and Mariners, logging a 3.89 ERA with a below-average strikeout rate (17.2 percent) and a solid walk rate (7.0 percent) across 104 innings. Along with limiting walks, the 31-year-old has induced grounders at an impressive 50.3 percent clip, which has helped him keep opposing offenses off the board. But Bradford underwent Tommy John surgery during the 2019 campaign and hasn’t pitched in the bigs since June of that season.

Offseason In Review: St. Louis Cardinals

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The Cardinals brought back a pair of familiar faces, and swung one of the winter’s biggest trades to add a new star to the lineup.

Major League Signings

Trades & Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

For the first two-plus months of the offseason, the entire NL Central seemed focused on trimming payroll rather than adding talent.  The Cardinals were no exception, as they chose to buy out Kolten Wong for $1MM rather than exercise their $12.5MM club option on the second baseman for 2021.

The decision brought a swift end to Wong’s eight years in St. Louis, and it left the team without one of the sport’s top defensive players.  For a Cardinals team that relied on excellent run prevention (the Cards ranked first in Defensive Runs Saved, fourth in UZR/150, and fifth Outs Above Average) and pitching rather than a lackluster offense, losing Wong was no small matter.

In hindsight, St. Louis fans might not have minded the long wait, as the Cardinals aggressively swung into action in late January and found a significant upgrade on Wong.  Nolan Arenado had long been speculated as a potential Cardinals trade target, and rumor became reality when the Cards landed the five-time All-Star in a complex deal that both required some reworking of Arenado’s contract, and left the Rockies fanbase irate.

The Cardinals gave up a decent but expendable pitcher in Austin Gomber and four middle-to-lower tier prospects in exchange for not just Arenado, but $51MM from the Rockies to help cover Arenado’s salary in 2021 ($35MM, with $20MM of that money deferred) and a newly-added contract year in 2027 ($15MM).  Another opt-out opportunity was inserted into Arenado’s deal after the 2022 season to go along with his previously-existing opt-out following the 2021 season, so if Arenado chooses to walk away next winter, the Cards technically won’t have paid a cent of payroll for Arenado’s services.

Since Arenado is owed $179MM through 2027, would he really consider using one of his opt-outs and leaving the bulk of that guaranteed money on the table?  If he turns in such spectacular numbers that the question is even debatable, the Cardinals would still probably consider the trade to have been worth the effort.  But, needless to say, the Cards are certainly counting on Arenado as a franchise cornerstone for the bulk of the next decade.

There is some risk on the Cardinals’ end, as Arenado is coming off a subpar 2020 season that saw him hit only .253/.303/.434 over 201 plate appearances.  A shoulder injury did hamper Arenado for much of the year, however, and between the health issue, the small sample size, and perhaps the cloud of frustration that surrounded Arenado’s final days in Colorado, there is certainly reason to expect that he can rebound with a vintage season in 2021.

With Arenado now locking down the hot corner, the St. Louis infield consists of Paul Goldschmidt at first base, Paul DeJong at shortstop, and Tommy Edman moving over to second base as Wong’s replacement.  Since the NL apparently won’t have the designated hitter slot available, Matt Carpenter will now look to win some plate appearances away from Edman at second base, but Carpenter may ultimately just be a very well-paid bench bat.  Despite Carpenter’s career track record, his lack of production over the last two seasons makes it hard to argue that he deserves more regular work on a team planning to contend.

Dexter Fowler had only been slightly more productive than Carpenter over the 2019-20 seasons, and the Cards chose to part ways with Fowler by swapping him to the Angels for a player to be named later.  Since the Cardinals are covering almost all of Fowler’s remaining salary obligations, the trade wasn’t a salary dump.  It seemed as if the Cards just wanted to move on from a player who had been an inconsistent performer over his four years in St. Louis, and clear room for younger outfielders.

The Cardinals are still putting a lot of faith in that young outfield mix, as they didn’t add any proven veteran names to the depth chart.  Apart from Harrison Bader’s big numbers against left-handed pitching, there wasn’t much offense to be found in the St. Louis outfield in 2020, but with some extenuating circumstances — star prospect Dylan Carlson was in his first MLB season, and Lane Thomas had a rough time recovering from COVID-19.

Should any of this group or Tyler O’Neill struggle again, however, the Cardinals might consider a midseason addition to finally restore some consistent pop to the outfield.  Further down the depth chart, Justin Williams, Austin Dean, or a minor league signing like Matt Szczur could find an opening for playing time, and if the Cardinals wanted to get creative, the outfield could be Nolan Gorman’s path to a quicker Major League promotion.  The team was planning to test Gorman as an outfielder and second baseman, since third base (Gorman’s regular position) is now Arenado’s spot for the foreseeable future.

While the Arenado trade was being finalized and approved by the league, the Cardinals also worked to complete two contracts for a pair of St. Louis icons.  Though other teams showed interest in both Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina (with Molina even hinting that he could retire if he didn’t get an acceptable contract offer), it always seemed somewhat inevitable that the two long-time teammates would be back for what could be their mutual final season under the Arch.

There was obviously more than just nostalgia at work in bringing the duo back.  Molina hit only .262/.303/.359 in 156 PA but his defense was still strong, and Molina was also one of the many Cardinals sidelined by a COVID-19 diagnosis.  Molina has already outlasted multiple would-be successors in St. Louis, but for now, the plan is for Molina to act as a bridge for Andrew Knizner and (in a few years) prospect Ivan Herrera.

Wainwright ended up being a pillar of stability in the rotation, leading the team with 65 2/3 innings and posting a 3.15 ERA, even if his Statcast numbers weren’t very flattering.  It may be a tall order to expect a similar performance in Wainwright’s age-39 season, yet the Cardinals may need all the help they can get considering how injury concerns have already surfaced in Spring Training; Miles Mikolas has been set back by shoulder troubles, while 2020 rookie sensation Kwang Hyun Kim has been bothered by a bad back.

The Cardinals at least explored signing Jake Odorizzi, Taijuan Walker, or James Paxton, but instead, Wainwright ended up being the only major pitching acquisition for either the St. Louis rotation or bullpen.  There are enough notable relievers still on the market (or could join the market as Spring Training cuts commence) that the Cards could certainly still add at least one veteran prior to Opening Day, but just like with their outfield, the Cardinals are counting on a lot of youngsters to step up, and for experienced hurlers like Carlos Martinez and Jordan Hicks to return strong from injuries.

Getting even one more proven arm would be very helpful for the team, but the question remains about exactly how much John Mozeliak’s front office has available to spend.  The Cardinals were reportedly looking for “cash-neutral” trades early in the offseason, and in a division where most other teams were looking to shed salaries, even standing pat payroll-wise gives St. Louis some advantage.

Before salaries were prorated due to the shortened season, the Cards went into 2020 prepared to spend roughly $167.5MM on payroll.  According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Cardinals have less than $142MM committed for 2021, factoring in the Rockies’ coverage of Arenado’s entire salary.  That would seem to indicate that there’s probably some room for additional spending during the season, if Mozeliak and GM Michael Girsch need to make an upgrade at the trade deadline.

There is a bit of a half-measures feel to the Cardinals offseason given their relatively small number of transactions, though a case can be made that the Cardinals already have enough to win the NL Central.  The team finished 30-28 last season despite a widespread coronavirus breakout in the clubhouse, so a healthier version of mostly that same roster plus Arenado looks pretty good on paper.  What worked over 60 games in 2020 may not work over 162 games, of course, so Mozeliak and Girsch could certainly have more adjustments to make.

How would you grade the Cardinals’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)

Alex Wood To Undergo Ablation Procedure On Spine

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Giants left-hander Alex Wood will undergo an ablation procedure on his spine, Maria Guardado of MLB.com was among those to report. However, the club has not ruled Wood out for Opening Day, according to manager Gabe Kapler.

Wood, a former Brave, Red and Dodger, joined the Giants for a $3MM guarantee in the offseason. He’s expected to rack up plenty of starts for the club this season if he’s healthy, though injuries have been a frequent problem for the 30-year-old dating back to his major league debut in 2013. Wood combined for only 48 1/3 innings during the previous two seasons, owing to back and shoulder problems, but he was highly effective in last fall’s playoffs as the Dodgers stormed to a World Series title. Wood threw 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the postseason, including four scoreless frames during the Fall Classic.

Although his regular-season stretch from 2019-20 didn’t go according to plan, it’s not difficult to see why the Giants took a chance on Wood over the winter. He owns a quality 3.45 ERA/3.72 SIERA across 851 2/3 innings and is familiar with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who was in the Dodgers’ front office for part of Wood’s time there. Assuming he comes back quickly from this procedure, Wood figures to join Kevin Gausman, Johnny Cueto, Anthony DeSclafani and either Aaron Sanchez or Logan Webb in the Giants’ rotation.

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