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Archives for March 2022

Tigers Re-Sign Wily Peralta

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The Tigers have brought right-hander Wily Peralta back to the organization on a minor league contract, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports (via Twitter). He’ll compete for a roster spot in big league camp after a solid showing in Detroit last year. Peralta would earn a $2.5MM base salary if he makes the roster, per Petzold, with the opportunity to pick up another $500K worth of incentives.

Peralta, 32, had a strong return to the Majors last season after not pitching in the Majors in 2020 and logging a 5.80 ERA in 40 innings with Kansas City in 2019. The former Brewers hurler went from minor league signee to a regular member in the Detroit rotation, making 18 starts (plus one relief appearance) and pitching to a 3.07 ERA in 93 2/3 innings. The underlying metrics weren’t nearly as rosy, as Peralta posted a just a 14.4% strikeout rate against a 9.5% walk rate. He kept more than half his batted balls on the ground, but metrics like FIP (4.94) and SIERA (5.27) don’t paint an especially optimistic portrait.

That’s likely a large reason that, in spite of a glowing 2021 ERA, Peralta had to settle for a nonguaranteed contract in free agency. That said, while Peralta isn’t promised a roster spot, he ought to have a decent chance at making the roster after making a good impression on the organization last year.

The Tigers’ Opening Day rotation figures to included Eduardo Rodriguez, Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal, but things are less certain thereafter. Righty Matt Manning, a longtime top prospect, was hit hard in his MLB debut last year but will still have a chance to win a spot. Prospects Joey Wentz and Alex Faedo could eventually be options, but both are returning from Tommy John surgery.

It’s quite possible that the Tigers will add another veteran starter to join the ranks, thus pushing Peralta and Manning into a competition for the fifth spot on the staff. For the time being, Peralta seemingly has a better chance at cracking the roster than your average non-roster player in Spring Training.

Chris Sale Has Stress Fracture In Rib Cage, Won’t Be Ready For Opening Day

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Red Sox ace Chris Sale has a stress fracture in his right rib cage and will not be ready for Opening Day, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom announced to reporters today (Twitter links via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe). It will be “weeks, not days” before Sale is even cleared to pick up a ball and begin any form of throwing, Bloom adds.  Sale didn’t suggest a timeline other than stating that bones typically take six to eight weeks to heal.  Sale suffered the injury during the lockout during a live batting practice he was streaming on Instagram, but was prohibited from communicating it to the Red Sox until the new collective bargaining agreement was reached March 10.

Sale joined the Red Sox in a December 2016 trade and is in the third year of a five-year, $145MM extension.  He underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020, ultimately leading to a gap of almost exactly two years between MLB mound appearances.  In his nine starts in late 2021, Sale averaged 82 pitches per outing.  Sale’s work fell short of his Cy Young-caliber peak, which is to be expected at age 32 and after a long layoff, but he still managed a healthy 28.4 K% and 6.6 BB% in his 42 1/3 innings.  Two of Sale’s three postseason starts were particularly brief, but he was able to make a strong 87-pitch effort in Game 5 of the NLCS against the Astros.

The prospect of Sale missing potentially a couple months of the 2022 season is a blow to the Red Sox.  Still, the club did sign free agents Michael Wacha and Rich Hill before the lockout, and has already been stretching out Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock this spring.  Nathan Eovaldi and Nick Pivetta are also set for the team’s rotation.

Yankees To Re-Sign Anthony Rizzo

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The Yankees have settled on a first baseman, reportedly agreeing to terms with Anthony Rizzo on a two-year, $32MM guarantee. The deal pays the Sports One Athlete Management client $16MM salaries annually and gives him the opportunity to opt out after the 2022 campaign. The contract is pending a physical.

Rizzo will be returning to the Bronx, where he finished the 2021 season. New York acquired him from the Cubs in advance of the trade deadline, and he hit .249/.340/.428 in 200 plate appearances in pinstripes down the stretch. That was more or less in line with the .248/.346/.446 mark he’d put up in 376 trips to the plate with Chicago over the season’s first couple months.

It was the second straight season of reasonable but unexciting production for Rizzo. He’d posted a .222/.342/.414 line during the shortened 2020 campaign. Going back two seasons, he owns a .240/.343/.432 mark over 819 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, that production checks in nine percentage points above the league average hitter’s. It’s actually a bit below the standard (.254/.335/.455, 113 wRC+) set by first basemen around the league.

It’s been a rather sharp downturn for Rizzo as he’s entered his 30’s. He broke out with the Cubs in 2014, his age-24 campaign. Over the next six seasons, he never posted a wRC+ below 126. Overall, Rizzo hit .284/.388/.513 between 2014-19, with his 141 wRC+ in that stretch tying for twelfth among 375 qualified hitters.

Rizzo was a lineup anchor for the Cubs as they emerged from their rebuild, and he was also highly-regarded for his leadership and presence in the clubhouse. That combination made him perhaps the face of the Cubs’ most successful run in over a century. He appeared in three consecutive All-Star games from 2014-16, finishing in the top ten in NL MVP voting each season. Rizzo played a key role on Chicago’s curse-breaking World Series winner in 2016, and he remained highly productive for three years beyond that even as the team never recaptured that level of postseason success.

The Yankees would be thrilled with their investment if he were to recapture anything near that form next season. Yet there’s clearly some trepidation around the league regarding Rizzo’s back-to-back relative down years. Just 12 months ago, Ken Rosenthal and Patrick Mooney of the Athletic reported that the Cubs had put a five-year, $70MM extension offer on the table. Rizzo declined Chicago’s overture, preferring to bet on himself after his middle-of-the-road 2020 season. After continuing to produce at a similar level over a full schedule in 2021, though, he essentially finds himself accepting a pillow contract and betting on a bounceback once again.

To be sure, Rizzo still does a lot of things well. He continues to boast an enviable combination of contact and raw power. Rizzo’s 81.5% contact rate and 15.1% strikeout percentage last season were both well better than average; so too were his 90.1 MPH average exit velocity and 41.1% hard contact rate. That neither Rizzo’s bat-to-ball skills nor his bat speed have evaporated lend hope he may again find some of his old form.

It’s also possible that forthcoming rules changes could aid Rizzo as he ages (albeit not during the upcoming season). The left-handed hitter has become more pull-oriented over the past two seasons than he’d been throughout his career. Not coincidentally, he has faced a higher rate of defensive shifts that have contributed to lackluster results on balls in play. Rizzo’s .246 batting average on balls in play since the start of 2020 ranks 108th out of 114 qualified hitters. That may continue to be an issue this year, but it’s expected MLB will implement restrictions on defensive shifting beginning with the 2023 campaign.

However one feels about Rizzo’s long-term projection at the plate, there’s not as much question about the value he brings on the other side of the ball. He’s a four-time Gold Glove Award winner who was unanimously well-regarded by public defensive metrics up through 2020. Defensive Runs Saved felt he dropped off in that regard last year, but Statcast’s Outs Above Average remained bullish on his work. Rizzo seems a fairly definitive upgrade with the glove over incumbent first baseman Luke Voit, who has always been a bat-first player — even relative to the lower defensive standards of the position.

With Rizzo back in the fold, it stands to reason Voit’s name will come up in trade talks over the coming weeks. They could coexist as a first base/designated hitter pairing on many rosters, but the Yankees don’t have many DH at-bats to spare. They’ve leaned heavily on the position to keep Giancarlo Stanton from having to shoulder too significant a workload in the outfield. Even if Stanton were capable of assuming more defensive responsibilities than he has in the recent past, New York already has a projected starting outfield of Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge.

More broadly, it has become apparent in recent months the Yankees weren’t fully committed to Voit, the 2020 MLB home run leader. They traded for Rizzo at the deadline, then reportedly came close to pulling the trigger on a subsequent deal that would’ve shipped Voit out over the summer. That never came to fruition, but the Yankees were again tied to bigger names at first base this offseason. New York was in contact with the A’s about Matt Olson before Oakland traded him to the Braves. More recently, they were considered among the top handful of suitors for Olson’s predecessor in Atlanta.

With Rizzo returning to the Bronx, it no longer seems the Yankees will be in that Freddie Freeman mix. The Braves have already moved on to Olson, leaving Freeman’s future home one of the most fascinating remaining storylines of the offseason. Recent reports have generally cast the Dodgers as the leading contender for the 2020 NL MVP, with the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Padres reported to be on the outskirts of his market.

Wherever he ends up, Freeman is sure to command a deal much loftier than the one the Yankees are guaranteeing Rizzo. New York has been wary of making a long-term commitment to free agents this winter, with the desire to work out an extension with Judge seemingly looming over the offseason calculus. Yet the recent trade for Josh Donaldson and today’s agreement with Rizzo solidify that the Yankees will exceed the competitive balance tax threshold in 2022 after dipping below the marker last season.

After today’s agreement, New York has around $244MM in real payroll and $258MM in CBT obligations on the books this year, in the estimation of Jason Martinez of Roster Resource. (Luxury tax calculations are determined by summing contracts’ average annual values and player benefits as opposed to looking strictly at actual year-over-year salaries). They’ll pay a 20% fee on every dollar spent between $230MM and $250MM, as well as a 32% tax on every dollar between $250MM and $270MM. They’d face even higher penalties for exceeding $270MM and $290MM, and it’s not clear how far owner Hal Steinbrenner and the front office are willing to push things this season.

New York will see the salaries of both Aroldis Chapman ($16MM) and Zack Britton ($14MM) come off the books after this year. Judge and Gallo, both of whom have lofty projected arbitration tallies in 2022, will be hitting free agency. There should be decent long-term maneuverability for general manager Brian Cashman and his staff. How much more they’ll do in the short term remains to be seen, but a Voit trade at least looks like a very plausible next step as they try to round out the 2022 roster.

Jordan Brown first reported the Yankees and Rizzo were in agreement on a two-year, $32MM guarantee with an opt-out after 2022. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported he’ll be paid flat salaries of $16MM in each year.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Red Sox Notes: Free Agency, Bogaerts, Payroll

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The Red Sox have signed five free agent pitchers — Michael Wacha, James Paxton, Rich Hill, Matt Strahm and Jake Diekman — so far this winter. Their only meaningful change on the position player front, though, was arguably a downgrade in 2022. An hour before the lockout, Boston traded Hunter Renfroe to the Brewers in a deal that brought Jackie Bradley Jr. back to Fenway Park.

While the Sox have yet to pull off a meaningful upgrade to their position player mix, they’ve been at least loosely tied to a few of free agency’s top names. Jon Heyman of the MLB Network suggested this morning they could be in the mix for Freddie Freeman. They’re reportedly among the teams in the running for star NPB outfielder Seiya Suzuki. Before the lockout, reports tied them to each of Carlos Correa and Trevor Story.

There are myriad possibilities the Boston front office could pursue, a fact chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom acknowledged when speaking with reporters yesterday (via Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic). “We talked about this before the lockout … that we do still want to add position players to the group,” Bloom said. “The (Renfroe) trade we made on December 1 kind of flipped our lineup balance a little bit to where we have an opening for a right-handed bat. That said, in this period, especially with so much going on and so many conversations, we want to be nimble enough to take advantage of all opportunities.”

Bloom declined to specify an area of positional target, pointing to the flexibility Enrique Hernández affords the club with his ability to capably man both center field and second base. That’s been reinforced by the wide array of players they’ve reportedly inquired about, but their ties to the top two free agent shortstops are made more difficult by the presence of their All-Star in-house option there.

Speaking with reporters (including Christopher Smith of MassLive) this afternoon, Xander Bogaerts didn’t sound enamored with the possibility of changing positions to accommodate an external addition. “I’m a shortstop, man. That’s where I’ve played my whole career and obviously a position I take a lot of pride in,” the 29-year-old said. “I love being there.” Bogaerts said he and the team haven’t broached the possibility of a position change.

If Bogaerts remains steadfastly against moving off shortstop, that’d complicate any efforts by the Red Sox to make a legitimate push for Correa or Story. Correa is one of the game’s preeminent defenders at the position, coming off a Gold Glove winning campaign. Story is reportedly intent on signing with a team that’ll keep him at shortstop. It seems unlikely at this point that either will sign with a team that’s unwilling to make space for them at the infield’s most demanding position.

Unlike Correa or Story, Bogaerts doesn’t have the freedom to choose a team for 2022. Yet he will have the option of testing the open market next offseason, as he can opt out of the final three years and $60MM on his deal at the end of this season. Given how well he’s played in recent seasons, he’s certainly on a path towards triggering the opt-out, leaving Bloom and his staff to determine whether they want earmark some future funds away for a potential extension. (Star third baseman Rafael Devers is down to his final two years of arbitration control as well).

The Red Sox should have plenty of long-term flexibility, however. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource projects their luxury tax payroll for the 2022 season at $213MM, a fair bit shy of the $230MM base tax threshold. Looking ahead to 2023, a wide swath of post-2022 free agents and a potential Bogaerts opt-out could see that number plummet to just $60MM, leaving plenty of spots to be filled on the team’s active roster and a huge amount of funds with which to fill them. Bloom acknowledged as much, teasing that future financial flexibility “opens more options for us, maybe (more) than we’ve been working with the last couple years.”

Pirates Re-Sign Chase De Jong To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates appear to have resigned right-handed pitcher Chase De Jong to a minor league pact per Jason Mackey of the Post Gazette. De Jong was spotted in Pittsburgh’s Major League camp today, signaling his status as a likely non-roster invitee.

The 28-year-old De Jong returns to Pittsburgh after spending the duration of the 2021 season at the Triple-A and Major League levels for the team. While the well-traveled De Jong flashed tantalizing strikeout potential in his limited Triple-A action last season, that skillset didn’t quite translate to the big leagues after he was called up in late May of last year. An errant line drive struck De Jong in the knee in July, ultimately ending his season and leading to knee surgery. He was subsequently outrighted off Pittsburgh’s roster and elected minor league free agency in November.

All told, De Jong soaked up over 43 innings across 9 starts before his knee injury, sporting a 5.77 ERA with uninspiring peripherals. Despite the lack of results, the right-hander may serve as a source of innings for an unproven Pittsburgh pitching staff that largely remains in “let’s see what happens” mode.

A former second round pick, De Jong has yet to find much success at the Major League level but continues to get looks. Now in his sixth organization, the journeyman pitcher has pitched at least one inning at the game’s highest level in five straight seasons. He’s likely to keep that streak going if his knee proves fully recovered in the weeks to follow.

Lance McCullers Jr. To Miss Start Of 2022 Season

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Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is set to start the 2022 season on the IL, he told reporters (including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart). The right-handed pitcher continues to rehab the flexor tendon in his pitching arm that was injured during last year’s playoffs. Surgery does not appear to be in the cards at this time, and McCullers stressed he’s not dealing with a UCL issue (via Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).

While it’s still uncertain when McCullers will be able to return atop Houston’s rotation— currently he’s not even cleared to throw— Astros brass and fans should be encouraged by the news that their pitcher has not been recommended to head down the surgical route. The 28-year-old was already known to be behind in his recovery, with MLB’s lockout disrupting that recovery process, but there was still some ambiguity about the status of the player’s health.

Fortunately, several doctors have confirmed that the 2018 Tommy John recipient has not re-injured his UCL and instead have advised non-surgical PRP injections and stem cell therapy to treat the ailing tendon. This course of action is certainly preferable to a season-derailing surgery, though it still serves as an inauspicious beginning to the $85MM extension agreed upon by player and team early last year. Even with continued rehab progress and no further setbacks, McTaggart writes that McCullers figures to be out of commission “well into April,” owing to a need to build up the starter’s pitch count.

Houston will be hard-pressed to fill the shoes of their #2 pitcher behind veteran ace Justin Verlander, as the righty posted a stout 3.16 ERA and 27.1 K% across 162 plus innings last year. Difficult as that production may be to replace however, the Astros have a stable of arms who showed ample promise in the big leagues last year. Assuming good health, each of José Urquidy, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier and veteran Jake Odorizzi should do an adequate job holding down the fort until the homegrown McCullers is ready to take the hill again.

Should Houston’s top decision-makers go the way of other teams in recent days and add to their rotation depth, they will likely have the means to do so. Thanks to the new CBA, the Astros have more than $33MM to spend before hitting the first luxury tax threshold in the eyes of RosterResource, and none of the remaining pitchers on the free agent market figure to be too cost prohibitive. It remains to be seen if a deal with more Major League pitching is even on Houston’s radar, particularly if rumblings of a Carlos Correa reunion add another large salary to the books, but the Astros appear capable of weathering McCullers’ absence regardless of how the next few weeks unfold.

Showalter: McNeil In Line To Start For Mets At Second Base

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The Mets have signed each of Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha to multi-year contracts this offseason. They’re also set to welcome Robinson Canó back from a performance-enhancing drug suspension that cost him his entire 2021 campaign. The influx of players who weren’t available to the Mets last year reshuffled the offensive group and led to plenty of speculation about the future of some in-house options.

Specifically, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis have been oft-mentioned trade candidates. It’s still theoretically possible any of that trio finds themselves on the move, but first-year manager Buck Showalter told reporters this afternoon that he envisioned McNeil as the club’s primary second baseman this season.

Regarding whether he planned to divide second base duties between McNeil and Canó, Showalter said he viewed it as the former’s job. “I don’t think it will be split. Mac will get the majority [of playing time] there,” he said (via Tim Healey of Newsday). Asked about Canó’s role, Showalter replied “I think Robbie knows he’s not going to play second base for us as much as he wants to. But we hope he’s not a pure DH either. There’s the potential for him to play some first base if needed. I wouldn’t put him in the outfield.”

Obviously, the presence of Canó and Escobar would give the Mets options at second base were they to entertain trading McNeil over the coming weeks. Yet Showalter’s comments suggest it’s likelier he’ll remain in Queens and pick up the bulk of the playing time at the keystone. Projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for just a $2.8MM salary this season and controllable through 2024 via arbitration, the 29-year-old McNeil could remain in Flushing for a while if the Mets elect to keep him around.

McNeil didn’t debut in the majors until his age-26 season, but he hit the ground running. His excellent bat-to-ball skills translated to the game’s highest level, and he posted a .319/.383/.501 mark in a bit more than 1000 plate appearances over his first three MLB seasons. Yet while McNeil continued to make plenty of contact last season, his results on batted balls went backwards. The lefty hitter has never been a huge power threat, but last year’s .109 ISO (slugging minus batting average) was easily a career worst. His batting average on balls in play — which had been north of .330 in each of his first three seasons — fell to .280. As a result, McNeil posted below-average offensive numbers (.251/.319/.360 with seven homers in 426 plate appearances) for the first time in his career.

Trading McNeil this winter might’ve been a sell-low move. It’d certainly behoove the win-now Mets if they held onto him and he regained his 2018-20 form. Escobar, who’s coming off a .253/.314/.472 showing between the Diamondbacks and Brewers, seems like he’ll primarily factor in at third base. That’d leave Canó bouncing between second base, first base and designated hitter, although he’s unlikely to be the top option at any of those positions.

Pete Alonso will obviously hold down first. If McNeil takes second with Escobar at third most days, that’d push both Davis and Smith into the corner outfield/DH mix. With a presumptive primary outfield of Canha, Marte and Brandon Nimmo, each of Davis, Smith and Canó could find themselves jostling for playing time if they’re all on the roster.

Davis and Smith would figure to have a decent amount of trade appeal, but it’s hard to envision New York finding a taker for Canó. He’s still due $48MM through 2023 ($24MM in each season). Releasing him wouldn’t save the Mets any money, though, so there’s little reason not to gauge the 39-year-old’s form if he’s willing to take on a bat-first role off the bench. It’s difficult to know whether he has anything left in the tank at his age and coming off a 162-game PED ban, but Canó didn’t show any signs of slowing down when last permitted to take the field. The eight-time All-Star hit .316/.352/.544 in 182 trips to the plate during the shortened 2020 season.

Jose Martinez Signs With Mexican League’s Acereros De Monclova

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Jose Martinez has joined the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League, according to a team announcement.

Martinez broke into the big leagues in 2016 and built a reputation as a bat-first player. Though his defense at first base and in the outfield corners was clearly lacking, he could certainly hit. Spending 2016 to 2019 with the Cardinals, he played 398 games and got 1,288 plate appearances, hitting .298/.363/.458, wRC+ of 122.

Prior to the 2020 season, the Cardinals traded Martinez, Randy Arozarena and a draft pick to the Rays for Matthew Liberatore, Edgardo Rodriguez and a draft pick.  His production slipped a bit in the pandemic-shortened season, as he hit .239/.329/.388 for the Rays, before being dealt to the Cubs and not hitting at all in ten games there, finishing the season with a line of .182/.265/.295.

After the Cubs non-tendered him, he was signed by the Mets for the 2021 campaign. Unfortunately, he collided with an umpire in a Spring Training game, suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and never made it back to the big leagues. The club outrighted him at the end of the year.

This is the latest in a string of former big leaguers who have joined up with the Acereros. The club has also signed Josh Reddick, Pablo Sandoval and Keon Broxton in recent weeks.

Braves Sign Collin McHugh

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The Braves have announced that they’ve signed right-hander Collin McHugh to a two-year deal with a $10MM guarantee. The 34-year-old will make $4MM this year and $5MM next year. There’s also a $6MM club option for 2024 with a $1MM buyout.

McHugh struggled in his first taste of MLB action with the Mets and Rockies, but then established himself as a quality starter with the Astros. From 2014 to 2017, he made 102 starts, throwing 606 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.70, 22.3% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate. In that last year, he missed the first half of the season with arm injuries, but returned in July to make 12 starts and appear in two playoff games out of the bullpen, as the Astros went on to win the 2017 World Series.

From there, McHugh transitioned into a bullpen role and found immediate success, frequently pitching more than one inning. In 2018, he got into 58 games and threw 72 1/3 innings with an ERA of 1.99, 33.2% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. In 2019, he tried returning to the rotation, making eight starts at the beginning of the season. That experiment didn’t go well, as he had an ERA of 6.37 in that time. But after transitioning back to the ’pen, he got things back on track, throwing 33 2/3 innings over the remainder of the season with a 2.67 ERA.

However, despite those positive results, 2019 finished with yet another arm injury as his last appearance was in August. In 2020, he signed on with the Red Sox but the elbow issues lingered and he ended up opting out of the entire season. The Rays signed him to a $1.8MM deal for 2021, which turned into a tremendous bounceback season for McHugh. Despite multiple trips to the IL, he got into 37 games and logged 64 innings with a 1.55 ERA, 30% strikeout rate and 4.9% walk rate.

For the defending World Series champion Braves, their bullpen took a hit at the end of the season, as Richard Rodriguez, Josh Tomlin, Jesse Chavez and Chris Martin hit free agency, with Chavez and Martin both signing with the Cubs in recent days. McHugh will try to compensate for those losses, slotting into the bullpen next to other high-leverage options such as Will Smith, Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson and A.J. Minter. The club will also be hoping for Kirby Yates, who missed last year due to Tommy John surgery, to join this group at some point.

Rays Re-Sign Cody Reed To Minor League Deal

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The Rays announced this evening they’ve re-signed reliever Cody Reed to a minor league contract with an invitation to MLB Spring Training. Tampa Bay had outrighted him off their 40-man roster in November, at which point he elected free agency.

Reed has to pitch his way back onto the Rays’ big league club, but he’s appeared in the majors in each of the past six seasons. Originally a Royals draftee, Reed was traded to the Reds as part of the 2015 Johnny Cueto deal. He blossomed into one of the game’s top pitching prospects during his days with Cincinnati, but he never found consistent success in their rotation.

The left-hander debuted with ten starts for the Reds in 2016, but he was hit hard to the tune of a 7.36 ERA. He bounced on and off the roster over the next couple seasons, generally performing alright with Triple-A Louisville but never carrying that over into MLB success. The Reds moved him to the bullpen full-time in 2019, but he couldn’t carve out a permanent big league role there either. Cincinnati designated him for assignment in 2020, and Tampa Bay acquired him for pitching prospect Riley O’Brien.

Reed made 12 appearances with the Rays last season, allowing five runs in 9 2/3 innings. He struck out seven batters against six walks while dealing with a velocity drop, as his average fastball fell from the 94-95 MPH range to just north of 92 MPH. That may have been attributable to poor health, as Reed was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and underwent surgery in early June. That ended his season, but it was reported at the time of his surgery that he should be a full-go for Spring Training.

All told, Reed owns a 5.22 ERA in 136 1/3 career innings at the big league level. That’s inflated by his rough numbers as a starter, as he has a 2.77 mark in 47 relief appearances. Even when isolating to his performance out of the bullpen, Reed’s strikeout and walk numbers (21.5% and 13.7%, respectively) aren’t good. Yet he’s induced ground-balls at a huge 54.7% clip and held left-handed hitters to a .237/.329/.321 line as a reliever. He could again emerge as a situational option for skipper Kevin Cash if he’s now recovered from the thoracic outlet procedure.

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