Rays righty Nick Anderson, on the mend from surgery that installed a brace to stabilize a damaged ligament in his elbow, tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that he’s progressing through rehab and currently throwing from 60 feet. The 31-year-old originally sustained a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in Spring Training 2021 but opted for rehab rather than Tommy John surgery after both the Rays’ medical staff and renowned surgeon Dr. Keith Meister advised that course of treatment. He returned to the big leagues in September but didn’t look close to his 2019-20 form in doing so. Anderson acknowledged that had he initially opted for surgery, he might be in a better place, rehab-wise, than he currently is, but explained that the decision is never so easy.
“Obviously, looking back at it, I’m like, well, shoot, I should have just got cut open right away when I had the injury,” says Anderson. “That would have solved that and I would have been back like the beginning of this year. But what do you do? You don’t ever really know. You just make a choice and roll with it, and hope it’s the right one.” Topkin notes that Anderson is expected back at some point in the middle of the 2021 season.
Some more from the division…
- Red Sox right-hander Garrett Whitlock proved to be a sensational find in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, emerging as a key reliever who helped fuel Boston’s return to the postseason in 2021. Whitlock, who’s been a starter for the majority of his career, tells Stan Grossfield of the Boston Globe that he enjoys starting and “love[s] the routine behind it and everything,” but he took a team-first approach in adding that the competitor in him will work in any role he’s asked. The Sox, however, clearly haven’t ruled out the possibility of Whitlock transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation at some point, though, as the right-hander himself explained. “They told me to come in prepared to be, like, fighting for a starting job, and they’ll reevaluate it from there,” says Whitlock. “So I’m going to build up and I’m going to go in and be as prepared as I can be.” The comments from Whitlock come amid a much lengthier profile of the right-hander — an interesting look at his back story and journey to the Majors, wherein he even opines that Tommy John surgery “saved his life” by giving him the needed downtime for valuable introspection and to get into a better place, mentally, than he had been previously.
- Matt Barnes’ 2021 was a tale of two seasons, as the Red Sox righty pitched to a dominant 2.25 ERA with a 42% strikeout rate through his first 44 innings before his performance fell off a cliff. Barnes yielded a dozen runs, surrendered four homers and walked nine batters in his final 10 2/3 innings of the season — a stretch of 10.13 ERA ball that led to what would’ve previously been an unthinkable omission from the postseason roster. Barnes, who signed a two-year extension worth $18.75MM in the midst of that hot streak during July, spoke to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com about the manner in which his season spiraled out of control and expressed confidence in a 2022 rebound. Barnes called it the “craziest year of his life” and a “perfect storm” of circumstances that led to his struggles, beginning with the development of some bad habits when he’d pitched quite a bit in a short period of time. He then missed more than two weeks after a positive Covid-19 test and feels he “ran out of time” to recalibrate and get back into form. He’s owed $7.25MM in 2022 and $7.5MM in 2023 before the Sox must decide on an $8MM option for 2024, so a return to the form he showed up through early August is particularly important for both Barnes and the club.
I wouldn’t give up on Barnes.
Ditto here. Barnes can get too cute with his curve ball and forget to throw his over powering FB a bit more often at times, but I’m glad also the team signed him for a good salary as compared to what many other either FA, or to be FA guys of his ilk have gotten of late and especially like ex sox guy Joe kelly, who was the epitome of lose his mind on the mound and get too cute and get blown up, then had 1 good post season run and turned it into what? 25m??
Saw a particular sox site thinking boston should resign him now that the LAD bought out his last season.. Please no..
Kelly was the epitome of a fine pitcher, so long as he was in his control years. Mediocre production at a cheap price. he was never someone I’d pay a lot for. The $25M/3 that LAD paid was almost closer money.
I actually disagree. I’ve always preferred Kelly whose fast ball was one tick higher. If batters stop swinging at his curve, they seem able to jump on Barnes’ fastball. No one expected a meltdown like we saw in 21. Thankfully Whitlock seems to have that team spirit we just don’t see enough of anymore.
The Dodgers definitely overpaid for Kelly a bit, I agree. Makes Barnes deal look pretty decent.
Kelly had an amazing second half in 18 and the Dodgers paid hoping he was fulfilling his long mentioned potential. Had he continued like I. 18, some would say the Dodgers deal was team friendly. The problem is with relievers, there are so few HOFers who were able to do it for so long. A couple more need to be enshrined (i.e. Billy Wagner) but overall it’s the one position that the voters haven’t watered down.
The Red Sox need more reliable pen pieces. It would be good to let Whitlock start as long as the bullpen is solid. Houck and Whitlock would be nice rotation pieces.
He needs to develop one more pitch before he can be put in the rotation. When the sox say they want to see him prep to be a starter, I’m sure it is to see how he’s progressed for the future more than it is for him cracking the rotation this year that already has 6 guy for 5 spots
They did that with Jonathan Papelbon and Daniel Bard. Papelbon went back to the bullpen where he thrived and Bard was an unmitigated disaster (though nice comeback story after going 7 years between appearances in the big leagues). Whitlock was outstanding out of the bullpen and it may be better to keep him there, especially with Ottavino possibly leaving as a free agent
Personally, unless the team is going to suddenly possess excess talent in the pen, I want at least Whitlock as the closer to start spring training. Who knows if he will have a similar type season but unless Sale and Eovaldi falter, Whitlock and maybe also TH are more valuable in the 8th and 9th innings in today’s game
Steve, I think you meant to say that Anderson is expected back in the middle of the 2022 season (not 2021).
Sale, Eovaldi, and Pivetta are locked into the rotation. They just signed Rich Hill, Michael Wacha, and James Paxton (should be back mid-season). Tanner Houck deserves a shot, Connor Seabold looks MLB ready, and Kutter Crawford looked like an ace in the Dominican Winter League. IMO I think Whitlock should stay in the bullpen because they don’t have many great relievers. Should’ve taken Graterol when they had the chance.
Sale, Eovaldi, and Pivetta are locked into the rotation. They just signed Rich Hill, Michael Wacha, and James Paxton (should be back mid-season). Tanner Houck deserves a shot, Connor Seabold looks MLB ready, and Kutter Crawford looked like an ace in the Dominican Winter League. IMO I think Whitlock should stay in the bullpen because they don’t have many great relievers. Should’ve taken Graterol when they had the chance.
You can say that again?
Graterol the team felt was an injury waiting to happen. No need to revisit the past but let’s be honest, Verdugo has been a blessing and Wong looked fine in a limited back up role. Downs? Who knows? Which would most prefer, Greterol or the combo of Verdugo, Wong and Downs? I’m fine with the deal today.
Don’t forget Kenta Maeda was also part of the deal coming back to Boston. Maeda of course, is expected to miss most of the season due to TJ surgery. Maeda says he expects to be ready by September, which could still put him in line to be the Twins opening day starter given the current state of things
Dewey – Be fair. It was a horrible deal. Wong is at best a back-up catcher for his career. I don’t believe Downs will even make the majors and if he does he will be a back-up too. Verdugo has been in Boston for two years and he’s no better than Benny. All that hype for a slightly above league average player. Verdugo is a FA in 2025 so Boston probably won’t even have a division title by the time he moves on. But he got to watch his old team win a ring and maybe even more during his time in Boston!
That’s the problem when you trade your best player and get nothing of value back. Player potential eventually runs out if not realized and none of the LAD clowns are going to realize any greatness in Boston. Mookie will maintain his greatness in LAD though. And this all happened over money and racism and the fans are paying the steep price for the owners ignorance.
They are also paying a steep price for Bloom’s ignorance. All $27MM that was saved in 2020 and the $36MM that was saved in all years subsequent is being wasted by Bloom.
Did you know in 2018 Boston spent $168MM on active payroll? They also spent $18MM on players that were injured for a total of $186MM. Owners also paid $41.2MM for unrelated mistakes that carried forward. DD stayed on budget and never overspent that year and they won a ring.
In 2022, Bloom has already spent $185.5MM and has $6.275MM left under the old CAP.
Based on the FACT that Bloom’s spending is almost the exact same amount DD spent for the entire 2018 season, can you call Bloom’s spending effective? The talent level is way down from 2018 but the money is actually up if you compare 40 man rosters from both years and it’s only February!!
All the excuses the Bloom apologists make are evaporating. The money is no longer something to blame on DD because Bloom has no albatross players anymore except Price which is on him. He basically took the $73MM of new available money and threw it away on mediocre players.
This off season Bloom added Wacha, Paxton who can’t pitch, Hill and JBJ and it only cost him $30MM ish and it’s not clear any of the new pieces are better than what they had before the deals. That’s a GM over his head and drowning in his first major market job. Bloom’s no longer in Kansas and needs to start clicking his shoes in hopes of going to a small market where his behavior is acceptable to fans with low expectations.
KD, please on the racism crap. The owners of the Sox are flaming liberals, the reason Mookie was traded is he wanted top dollars. Mgmt was not going to spend that money on one player. I loved Mookie as a player and stated in the past, he should have been traded after the 2018 Championship. He was at his highest value and constantly stated his desire, duly earned, was going the FA route.
Bostonbob = Interesting phrasing. Flaming liberals? Care to clarify? Sounds like you may need some diversity training!!.
Look, you don’t trade your franchise player especially when your organization practically prints money because of the success of the team and loyalty of the fans. It’s hard to feel sorry for a guy asking his fair price when the owners are making exorbitant profits on the fans.
This ownership group completely abandoned the fans when they made the Price/Betts deal. There is absolutely nothing you can write that would change my mind to think asking for your fair market value is a selfish or greedy thing to do as a player.
Also, ANY financial issues in 2018 or 2019 or 2020 were all caused many years ago and had nothing to do with the team that won a ring for Boston. DD should have been allowed to continue his plan since he was spending less than the CAP on active players and had won 3 straight division titles. Success became a way of life during the DD years.
Now the team is an annual embarrassment considering the lack of talent and huge profits.
Considering Renfroe had a better year last year than Mookie complaining about his trade two years later is silly. Betts was never re-signing in Boston and probably only took the Dodgers extension due to the uncertainty surrounding last years free agent market and who would be willing to spend
Besides the fact that he wasn’t going to re-sign with us, BTV has Betts’ contract value as -68.8M, and Verdugo as +38.3..
Not that I rely much on BTV, but they do try to support their assessments with numbers.
Rsox – Clearly you don’t have much of an understanding of finance. Mookie got $65MM in year one of a 13 year contract. That money if spread across the life of the contract would be worth roughly 1/3 of it’s present day value.
Mookie did great and got $319MM for 13 years!! (go read about Net Present Value and educate yourself). There was no discount!! Mookie negotiated a fair market value.
Also, Mookie’s OPS+ for 2021 was 128 which for him is an off year as you pointed out. Hunter Renfroe’s OPS+ in 2021 was 112 which is 4 points higher than his career OPS+ which is 108. Mookie’s career OPS+ is 134.
Your uneducated comment about Renfroe having a better year is pure ignorance to the facts.
Complaining about trading the best player since Ted Williams should be something all fans should be doing two years later. You must be one of those fair weather fans. No commitment to the players.
So not only was your Renfroe statement wrong and ignorant so was your evaluation of the GREAT contract Mookie got from LAD.
He got his fair market value as promised when he was a Red Sox player!!
The Red Sox ownership while making billions chose to go cheap and lose their franchise player!!! Idiots!! Worst mistake since Babe Ruth!!
I have been a Red Sox fan my whole life and you are correct; i have no commitment to the players.
I’ve watched Wade Boggs leave Boston for the Yankees. Roger Clemens for Toronto. Mo Vaughn for the Angels. I watched Nomar quit on the team in the middle of what wound up being a historic season in Boston. And saw Manny finally wear out his welcome after almost 8 years of “Manny being Manny”. It’s great when players choose to stay for the long haul (David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Varitek) but at the end of the day they are all mercenaries leaving for the highest bidder. Henry and Co. Were never going to offer Mookie $400 million. The Sox offered him 10/$300 million, he countered with $420 million, which he didn’t get even from the Dodgers.
As KD mentioned, he took less from the Dodgers ($306,657,882, and not the $319M KD mentioned). So his annual salary is $23.6M against the $30M that the RS offered. He obviously wasn’t staying to accept that low a salary.
Loved the back and forth. KD please type instead of dictating. it’s simply too long to read. That said, Mookie was leaving from the moment the duck boats went back into storage. I hate ownership for what they did to the memory of Mr. Yawkey who grew up in a different world. True racism would have been if he put limitations on his donations. Where would the city be today? He saved the team for the city and look what he did for The Jimmy Fund.
Others know my view on Ortiz who I feel used PEDs and should be enshrined in the City’s HOF but not Cooperstown. The team in my view changed their HOF requirement to retire his number because they were scared if he didn’t get enshrined I. upstate NY, their rules would have prevented his number from getting retired. Now retire 23 and 24 so Evans and Tiant can have their days in person. To have given out those numbers to others was just wrong.
Rsox – Mookie got $419MM in current dollars which is WAY MORE than a 12 year deal at 35MM!!
SO FOR THE RECORD
Mookie’s LAD Contract has a NPV (net present value) of $319MM
The NPV on the 12/$420MM is actually $278MM!!
Mookie’s LAD contract bagged him $31MM additional dollars over the outrageous deal he asked Boston for!! Why? Because of the $65MM one time bonus paid in YEAR 1 of the contract!!
So many uninformed people on this site have suggested Mookie took a discount in LAD because they don’t get how contracts work or the concept “time value of money”!! He got MORE and COVID had no impact. LAD just wanted an elite player way more than Boston did. That’s why they have a ring since the deal and Boston went from being a contender to a pretender!!
Rsox – You might want to take a class on contracts and finance because what you said is INCREDIBLY WRONG!!
Dewey = I don’t dictate I type. I have a lot to say and this is a great place to express viewpoints. My obsession with documenting facts to support my opinion makes things longer but I enjoy when others write back with agreeing or disagreeing arguments that are based on facts they present.
Fans who insult because they don’t agree or think my comments are too long should just skip my comments because frankly they aren’t the type of fans I’m addressing my comments to. Anyone can write a one line insult because this is an anonymous format and that’s the cost for people like me to find real fans who understand how to have a discussion on a topic.
I contribute much less than I used to because I don’t find too many compelling discussions. Half the people think this is twitter so the comments should be one line long and many simply can’t deal with someone who disagrees with them. It’s hard to find worthy discussion partners on this site. Things have really tailed off over the years.
I still read what you write despite not agreeing with it very often and I still present the facts if your opinions appear to skew them. I am on the same page with you on Evans and Tiant and because I have documented the impact of juice on the baseball I believe
NO PLAYER SHOULD BE HELD OUT OF THE HOF FOR USING OR ALEDGEDLY USING STERIODS
because there is no proof it altered the HRs hit by players, nor the results of any games. Also the players had owners condoning their actions along with the Commissioner until Congress got involved.
So in the end taking steroids didn’t impact the INTEGRITY of the results of games like the HOU cheating scandal, the CWS scandal of 1919 and the net impact to the results and stats of the game are no more verifiable than those of Mike Schmidt and others addicted to amphetamines!!. It’s hypocritical of Selig, the HOF and Sports writers since it was good for the game at the time and was supported by all parties until Congress got involved.
At some point the impact of the juice in the ball will completely negate the validity of the Steroid Era and when that happens, the HOF will become far less of a joke if they finally allow the stars from the era into the HOF.
I don’t think Seabold looks MLB-ready. He got lit up pretty good in the AZFL. But I would like to see him be given a shot in the BP. Crawford is still of interest. Graterol still hasn’t done anything. He has some talent, but his 3.97 ERA with the LAD, with a 2.5 K/W is mostly ‘okay’. Mostly on par with guys like Taylor, Brasier, etc.
And I hate to say it, but Whitlock has looked to good to put in the rotation. The dude was a killer coming out of the BP.
Joe – absolutely agree! I would leave Whitlock in the bullpen! Sale, Eovaldi, Hill, Pivetta, and Wacha or Houck make 5 plus a swingman/long reliever, so there is no need to move Whitlock (and he is absolutely needed in the pen). Seabold, Crawford, and Winckowski are all possible depth starters.
If Eovaldi and Hill are gone in 2023, then Whitlock can move to the rotation then.
At least KD is consistent……Always wrong! Lol