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Offseason In Review: Philadelphia Phillies

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The Phillies missed the playoffs for the tenth straight year in 2021. That hasn’t been for a lack of aggressiveness, however, and they continued to load up for another shot at snapping the drought this past offseason. Philadelphia added two more big bats to a lineup already full of stars, hoping to overcome deficiencies elsewhere on the roster with an elite run-scoring unit.

Major League Signings

2022 spending: $64.15MM
Total spending: $204.15MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signees

Notable Losses

The story for the Phillies in 2021 was much the same as it had been in prior seasons. Few teams could match the top-end talent, with Bryce Harper posting an MVP campaign and Zack Wheeler narrowly missing out on the Cy Young. The starting rotation was excellent and the team’s top position players more or less met expectations. Yet the core couldn’t entirely compensate for a weak bottom of the lineup, a below-average defense and a bullpen that stubbornly persisted among the league’s worst. The result: an 82-win season, narrowly the franchise’s best mark in a decade but in line with the average results they posted each year from 2018-20.

Failing to earn a playoff spot with this kind of core is deflating, but a top-heavy roster of this ilk is easier to address. After all, it wasn’t hard for Phils’ brass to identify the flaws. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was forthright about the team’s weaknesses at the start of the offseason. The club wasn’t committed to keeping Didi Gregorius as the primary shortstop after he struggled in the first season of a two-year deal; addressing the bullpen and outfield were priorities.

Dombrowski’s comments on Gregorius seemed to position the Phils as a viable suitor for any of the star free agent shortstops available. He name-checked top prospect Bryson Stott as a viable internal alternative, and the club’s behavior made clear that expressed faith in the 24-year-old was not mere lip service. The Phils were never closely tied to anyone of the Carlos Correa, Javier Báez, Corey Seager ilk (at least publicly), and Stott would eventually make the Opening Day roster as Gregorius’ primary competition.

Philadelphia did strike more aggressively in the other areas Dombrowski cited as targets. After buying out both Odúbel Herrera and Andrew McCutchen, they were left with two outfield vacancies alongside Harper. The Phils were linked to Starling Marte in free agency and a potential Kevin Kiermaier trade but ultimately came up empty in their pursuit of a center fielder. Just before the lockout, though, the Phils made a push for Kyle Schwarber to play left field.

A deal didn’t come together before the work stoppage, but the talks set the stage for renewed discussions a few months later. In March, the Phils and Schwarber agreed to terms on a four-year, $79MM deal. The burly left-handed hitter had struggled during the 2020 season with the Cubs, leading to an eventual non-tender. After signing on with the Nationals, Schwarber turned a corner in May and broke out as the hottest hitter on the planet by June. That continued even after an injured list stint for a hamstring strain and intervening trade to the Red Sox, with the 29-year-old looking like the kind of impact bat many have envisioned since he was selected fourth overall in the 2014 draft.

The Phillies clearly believe that’s what they’re getting, and Schwarber should be a marked upgrade over late-career McCutchen. His early tenure in Philadelphia hasn’t been great, but it’s far too soon to suggest his 2021 production was a fluke. Bringing in a bat-first player like Schwarber raised a few eyebrows, given the Phils’ longstanding defensive issues, but it was a rather straightforward pickup of one of the best players available at a position of clear need.

More surprising was how the Phillies followed up on that signing. The day after they agreed to terms with Schwarber, Philadelphia was reported to be making a strong run at Nick Castellanos. A few hours later, the Phils and Castellanos came to terms on a five-year, $100MM contract. One of 13 nine-figure deals handed out over the winter, the Castellanos signing also cost the Phils a draft choice after he’d rejected a qualifying offer from the Reds.

Castellanos is a similar player as Schwarber. A middle-of-the-lineup masher, he generates huge exit velocities and power production and consistently posts excellent numbers at the dish. Castellanos’ track record is a bit more consistent and he makes a higher rate of contact — Schwarber is more dependent on drawing walks to keep his on-base percentage up — but they’re each bat-first players with bottom-tier defensive metrics in the corner outfield.

With Harper already in tow, few would’ve envisioned the Phillies landing two of the top corner outfielders available. The implementation of the universal designated hitter does afford room in the lineup for all three players. The Phils aren’t leaving manager Joe Girardi much flexibility to rotate anyone else through the DH spot — and Harper’s been a full-time DH of late after suffering a small tear in the UCL of his throwing elbow — but the Phils have thrown defense to the wind in efforts to create an elite run-scoring group.

That’s a decision that came with its share of detractors, but it’s not without logic. Adding at least one corner outfielder opposite Harper was a necessity. Also bolstering center field would’ve been more straightforward, but the alternatives there were limited. Starling Marte was the only regular available in free agency. Players like Kevin Kiermaier, Bryan Reynolds, Cedric Mullins and even Joey Gallo were floated as possible trade candidates, but none of that group wound up changing hands. Faced with that dearth of center field options, the Phils pivoted to bringing in position player talent where opportunities presented themselves.

Would they have been better off instead signing Marte, whose deal was a near-match for Schwarber’s, alongside Castellanos? One could make that case. Yet the club was seemingly more content with the longer-term projection for Schwarber, who is four years younger than Marte with a game much less reliant on athleticism. Time will tell whether they should’ve more aggressively tried to keep the latter from the division-rival Mets, but there’s no denying the Phillies markedly improved the lineup.

That’s also true of the bullpen, where the club devoted essentially all of its remaining resources. The Phils avoided any long-term commitments there but promised a decent chunk of the 2022 payroll to typically-reliable veterans in an effort to raise the floor in the middle innings. Philadelphia landed Corey Knebel for one year and $10MM, a solid price point after the righty bounced back with a 2.45 ERA and a 29.7% strikeout rate over 27 outings for the Dodgers last season. Knebel’s 2019-20 campaigns were mostly wiped away by Tommy John surgery, and he lost a couple months to a lat injury in 2021. There are obvious durability concerns, but Knebel’s been a solidly above-average reliever when healthy since his 2017 breakout with the Brewers.

The Phils’ other bullpen pickups were more “buy low” dice rolls on formerly elite late-inning arms. Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia inked matching $6MM guarantees during Spring Training. Each was among the best relievers in the game a few years ago, but they’ve both taken steps back as they’ve entered their 30s. Hand’s velocity and swing-and-miss rate have fluctuated over the past couple seasons; Familia’s arm strength and whiffs have remained strong, but he’s been prone to bouts of wildness and occasional home run issues.

The pickups of Hand and Familia were generally reminiscent of last winter’s shot on Archie Bradley. The team has continuously shied away from longer-term commitments to relievers, seemingly averse to the volatility that plagues many late-inning arms. Attacking the bullpen with bulk lower-leverage types hasn’t worked for the Phils in years past, but it’s also hard to blame the organization for spreading their resources around. They lost Bradley, Héctor Neris and midseason trade acquisition Ian Kennedy to free agency, leaving multiple bullpen spots to plug.

Among returning relievers with 20-plus innings, only Connor Brogdon posted an ERA south of 4.00 last season. Bailey Falter and the currently-injured Sam Coonrod were the only two arms with respectable strikeout and walk numbers. José Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez are the other holdovers, joining the free agent trio of Knebel, Hand and Familia as Girardi’s most trusted arms in high-leverage spots. A trio of smaller offseason acquisitions — trade pickups Nick Nelson and James Norwood, and minor league signee Andrew Bellatti — round out the middle innings.

While the Phillies almost completely revamped last season’s bullpen, they left the starting rotation entirely unaffected. Wheeler, Aaron Nola, 2021 breakout Ranger Suárez, midseason trade pickup Kyle Gibson, and Zach Eflin are all back as the starting five. The early results have been just alright, but that’s one of the strongest on-paper groups in the majors. The Phillies probably could’ve done more to add some depth, given how thin the rotation mix is beyond that top five, but they’re clearly confident in the primary group to stay healthy and assume the bulk of the innings throughout the summer.

Castellanos and Schwarber proved the major additions on the position player side, with the rest of the unit largely status quo. J.T. Realmuto is one of the game’s best catchers. The Phils made small moves from a depth perspective, waiving Andrew Knapp and acquiring Garrett Stubbs from the Astros and Donny Sands from the Yankees. Realmuto will play as much as any backstop around the league so long as he’s healthy.

The infield consists of holdovers Rhys Hoskins, Jean Segura, Alec Bohm and the aforementioned Stott/Gregorius tandem at shortstop. The Phils added former Brave Johan Camargo on a cheap one-year pact as utility depth, essentially replacing Ronald Torreyes in that role. Camargo has earned some early playing time with a respectable start. He’s a good defender at third base, offering Girardi a possible late-game alternative there to the bat-first Bohm, and he can cover the middle infield as needed.

Aside from shortstop, the one position the Phillies identified as a target area but didn’t meaningfully address wound up being center field. After missing on Marte and their trade targets, the club circled back to Herrera on a significantly cheaper deal than the $9MM option decision they’d passed up to open the winter.

The switch-hitting Herrera was fine but not great as the primary center fielder last season, and the options behind him aren’t certain. Mickey Moniak is on the injured list, Matt Vierling has an unspectacular minor league track record, and Simón Muzziotti has barely played above High-A. Roman Quinn was cut loose at the end of last season but brought back after failing to crack the Marlins’ roster out of Spring Training. He has returned to the majors as a defensive specialist and pinch-running option.

The Phillies nevertheless dealt away from their center field group, having soured on former eighth overall pick Adam Haseley. The former University of Virginia star has never hit much in the majors, and he didn’t perform well in Triple-A last season. The Phils dealt him to the White Sox for minor league reliever McKinley Moore, a move that was no doubt easier to swallow since Haseley had been drafted by the previous front office regime.

Time will tell whether the Phillies did enough to finally put forth a better than average on-field product. The early results don’t jump off the page; they’ve started 18-19, albeit with a +18 run differential. They enter play Thursday in second place in the NL East, six games back of the hot-starting Mets.

Anything short of a Wild Card berth would count as a failure. The organization has continued to aggressively add from the outside, and this latest spending spree took them into new territory financially. Signing Castellanos pushed the Phils’ season-opening payroll to around $229MM, shattering last year’s franchise record of approximately $191MM. For the first time in franchise history, owner John Middleton is likely to pay a luxury tax penalty, as the club’s estimated $236MM+ CBT hit is more than $6MM north of the $230MM base threshold. The fee for moderately exceeding the base threshold for the first time is marginal in the context of the team’s overall spending — roughly $1.2MM, pending future acquisitions — but it’s nevertheless a notable symbolic marker for the organization to cross.

That win-now mentality is unlikely to stop, and the Phillies figure to be aggressive around the trade deadline if they’re in contention as expected. Philadelphia’s farm system is generally regarded as one of the league’s worst, but no organization is entirely devoid of minor league talent. The Phils struck to acquire Gibson and Kennedy from the Rangers at last summer’s deadline. Dombrowski, general manager Sam Fuld and their staff will be equally eager to add this time around — with the bullpen, center field and perhaps back end of the rotation standing out as potential needs.

With more than ten years in the rearview mirror since the last playoff appearance, the Phillies are feeling as much pressure as any team in baseball to show results. Missing the postseason again would raise plenty of questions about the franchise’s outlook — with particular scrutiny likely to mount about Girardi, who’s in the final guaranteed season of a three-year contract. There’s enough talent here to expect to compete, but overarching concerns about the bullpen, defense and roster depth will persist until they start winning consistently.

Mariners Return Roenis Elias To Triple-A

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May 19: The Mariners announced that Elias has been returned to Triple-A Tacoma. That he wasn’t passed through waivers indicates that he was indeed treated as a Covid substitute player, despite the fact that the team did not originally specify him as one. He’ll remain with the organization but won’t occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. Steckenrider, meanwhile, has been reinstated from the restricted list.

May 16: The Mariners have selected the contract of left-hander Roenis Elias from Triple-A Tacoma, per a team announcement. Right-hander Drew Steckenrider, meanwhile, has been placed on the restricted list in advance of their forthcoming three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Steckenrider is temporarily removed from the 40-man roster while on the restricted list, so the Mariners didn’t need to make an additional move to accommodate the return of Elias, who pitched with Seattle from 2014-15 and 2018-19.

Elias, 33, returned to the Mariners in hopes of a third stint when he signed a minor league deal prior to the 2021 season. He tore his left elbow’s ulnar collateral ligament during Spring Training 2021, however, and missed the entire season after the subsequent Tommy John surgery. He’s healthy again, having pitched 14 2/3 innings of 4.30 ERA ball with an 11-to-4 K/BB ratio in Triple-A Tacoma so far in 2022.

Elias has spent parts of four previous seasons with the Mariners, and while he’s also pitched with the Red Sox and Nationals, he’s never found much success outside Seattle. In 377 career innings as a Mariner, the Cuban-born southpaw has a 3.75 ERA, 14 saves and a shutout (during his 2014 run as a starter). He’s logged a combined 11 innings between Boston and Washington, surrendering 15 runs in those brief stints.

It could be a short stay on the roster for Elias, although it’s worth noting that the Mariners did not classify him as a Covid-related “substitute” player. Rather, Seattle made formal announcement of his selection to the 40-man roster. Team-by-team terminology tends to vary with respect to Covid substitutes, but the implication in this instance certainly seems to be that there’s some degree of permanence to this move. If that’s indeed the case, Elias can’t be sent back to Triple-A unless he first passes through outright waivers unclaimed. Even then, he’d have the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment to a minor league affiliate, should he choose.

As for Steckenrider, he’ll be away from the team for this three-game set and presumably rejoin them Thursday when they continue the current road trip in Boston. Travel regulations in Canada prevent unvaccinated athletes from entering the country to compete against Canadian-based teams.

Steckenrider, 31, was a revelation for the Mariners last year after signing a minor league deal. In 67 innings, he pitched to a flat 2.00 ERA with 14 saves, seven holds, a 21.7% strikeout rate and a 6.4% walk rate. It looked to be the start of an impressive rebound for Steckenrider, who shined as a setup man with the Marlins early in his career before injuries derailed his 2019-20 seasons. However, he’s stumbled again in 2022, limping to a 4.85 ERA with diminished strikeout and walk rates (15% and 8.3%, respectively). To Steckenrider’s credit, he’s been dogged by a bloated .356 average on balls in play, but even if one were to chalk some of his struggles up to that woeful BABIP, the sharp downturn in his K-BB% is nevertheless a concern. He’s being paid a $3.1MM salary this season and can be controlled through 2023 via arbitration.

Max Scherzer Undergoes MRI Following Last Night’s Early Exit

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11:40am: Scherzer indeed sustained an oblique injury, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The severity of the injury isn’t yet known, although as Heyman points out, even Grade 1 oblique strains can sideline players for upwards of a month. Of course, every injury is different, and there are certainly instances of players returning far sooner than that. The Mets figure to have a formal announcement on Scherzer’s status at some point today.

8:00am: Mets ace Max Scherzer pulled himself from last night’s game midway through a sixth-inning at-bat against Albert Pujols (video link). After throwing a 2-2 slider to Pujols, Scherzer immediately motioned to the dugout that he was done, calling for a trainer and promptly exiting the game. The Mets announced that Scherzer was dealing with discomfort in his left side, and Scherzer told reporters after the contest that he’d felt tightness in his side throughout the day and felt a “zing” during the Pujols at-bat (video link). “I just knew I was done,” said Scherzer. The three-time Cy Young winner added that he doesn’t believe the injury to be a “major strain.”

That’ll be determined this morning, it seems, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes that Scherzer is headed for an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. While Scherzer himself downplayed the potential severity, it’s obviously a point of concern that he both pulled himself from the game and is now undergoing a round of imaging to determine whether a trip to the injured list will be necessary.

The 37-year-old right-hander inked a record-setting three-year, $130MM contract with the Mets over the winter, making him the highest paid player (on an annual basis) in Major League history. Thus far, Scherzer has been the co-ace the Mets hoped to be acquiring when doling out that deal, pitching 49 2/3 innings of 2.54 ERA ball with a 30.6% strikeout rate against a 5.7% walk rate. He’s been a major reason that the Mets’ rotation, even without Jacob deGrom, ranks fifth in the Majors in ERA and second in FIP. Scherzer and his rotation-mates have also combined for the seventh-highest strikeout rate and the lowest walk rate of any starting staff in the big leagues.

At present, the Mets are the only team in the NL East with a winning record, and at 25-14 they hold a healthy six-game lead over the second-place Phillies. That said, even a brief absence for Scherzer, placing him on the shelf alongside deGrom and righty Tylor Megill (biceps inflammation), would be a notable blow. The Mets do have a deep staff that could potentially weather that trio of rotation injuries in the short-term, with lefty David Peterson presumably serving as the next man in line if Scherzer indeed misses time. Still, losing their $76.83MM one-two deGrom/Scherzer punch to the injured list before the pair is ever even healthy enough to take the mound on consecutive days isn’t a scenario the Mets hoped to face.

The Mets announced earlier this week that an MRI on deGrom, who has yet to pitch in 2022 due to a stress reaction in his right scapula, showed “continued healing.” He’s working through a throwing program and currently building up the distance from which he throws and the intensity level, but there’s no clear timetable for him to get back onto the mound and embark on a minor league rehab assignment. If Scherzer were to join deGrom and Megill on the IL, the Mets’ rotation would likely consist of Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, Trevor Williams and the aforementioned Peterson.

Royals Select Dairon Blanco

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The Royals announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Dairon Blanco from Triple-A Omaha and placed outfielder Michael A. Taylor on the injured list. Royals skipper Mike Matheny told reporters last night that Taylor was in contact tracing under the league’s health-and-safety protocols, though it’s not clear yet whether he’s tested positive. Regardless, it’ll be Blanco assuming his spot on the roster at least in the short term. Kyle Isbel is in center for the Royals’ series finale against the White Sox today.

The 29-year-old Blanco will be making his big league debut if he gets into a game. Originally signed out of Cuba by the Athletics back in 2017, Blanco was one of two players the Royals received when trading lefty Jake Diekman to Oakland back in 2019. He had a rough go of it in Double-A following that trade, but Blanco has posted solid minor league numbers in 2021 (.277/.350/.441) and so far in 2022 (.263/.381/.442) between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

Blanco swiped 41 bases in 55 tries last year, and he’s out to a 13-for-13 start in that department so far in 2022. At 29 years of age, he’s older than your standard “prospect,” though he still got a brief mention on FanGraphs’ 2021 rankings, where Eric Longenhagen credited him with 80-grade speed (on the 20-80 scale) and praised his strong exit velocities at the plate. He’s played center field and left field extensively with the Royals but has just one appearance in right.

It should be noted that the Royals did not specify Blanco as a Covid-related “substitute” or “replacement” when announcing they’d selected his contract. Each team’s wording tends to vary a bit on transactions of this nature, but they all typically make specific mention when someone is a pure substitute player. Those players can be sent back to the minor leagues without first passing through waivers. However, the Royals stating that Blanco’s contract has been formally selected ostensibly signals that there’s some permanence behind the move. Assuming Blanco is on the 40-man roster to stay, he’ll give the Royals some additional, optionable outfield depth for the foreseeable future.

As for Taylor, his placement on the Covid list could be due to a positive test, symptoms or continued contact tracing. If he did test positive, health protocols technically call for a 10-day absence, although players can return sooner than that with a pair of negative tests and approval from a joint MLB/MLBPA panel (one appointed medical expert from each party). In 117 plate appearances this season, Taylor is hitting .238/.333/.337 with strong marks in Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average.

Tigers Sign Trayce Thompson

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The Tigers announced Thursday that they’ve signed outfielder Trayce Thompson to a minor league contract. He’ll head to their Triple-A affiliate in Toledo. Thompson was designated for assignment by the Padres earlier this month and elected free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A El Paso.

Thompson, 31, went 1-for-14 with the Padres earlier this year prior to his DFA. He’s seen big league time in parts of six seasons, batting a combined .205/.280/.397 in 640 trips to the plate. The younger brother of NBA star Klay Thompson, Trayce is a former second-round pick (White Sox, ’09) with an obvious blend of power and speed, which was on full display when he hit .295/.363/.533 in 135 plate appearances.

Thompson has ripped 26 home runs and swiped 11 bags in about a season’s worth of MLB plate appearances and has also walked at a solid 9.5% clip. However, since that terrific rookie showing back in 2015, he’s posted a grisly .180/.258/.360 batting line with a bloated 31.1% strikeout rate. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots and has enticing raw tools, but Thompson has never put things together over a lengthy sample in the big leagues.

The Tigers could use some extra outfield depth at the moment with Austin Meadows, Victor Reyes and top prospect Riley Greene all injured. The Detroit outfield currently consists of Robbie Grossman, Derek Hill, Daz Cameron and multi-position utility options Harold Castro and Willi Castro. Backup catcher Eric Haase also has some limited experience in left field.

That list of injuries makes it sensible both that the Tigers would seek out some additional depth and that Thompson would find the opportunity to his liking. There’s a clearer path to a big league return in Detroit than he might’ve had on a deeper and healthier roster in San Diego.

Red Sox Outright Jaylin Davis

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Outfielder Jaylin Davis, designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week, went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Worcester, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). He’ll remain with the organization but no longer occupy a spot on the 40-man roster.

Davis, 27, was claimed off waivers out of the Giants organization late last month. He hadn’t been outrighted previously in his career and doesn’t have three years of big league service time, so he didn’t have the option to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.

Originally a 24th-round pick of the Twins back in 2015, Davis was traded from Minnesota to San Francisco in exchange for Sam Dyson at the 2019 trade deadline. Despite enormous Triple-A production with the Twins and Giants in ’19 — .306/.397/.590 with 35 home runs in 541 plate appearances — Davis has never managed to carry things over to the big leagues. He hit just .159/.221/.270 in parts of three seasons with the Giants (68 plate appearances) and was 2-for-4 in his pair of games with the Sox prior to his DFA.

Davis has continued to post solid power numbers in Triple-A, but he’s never replicated that 2019 production — even in the minors. He hit .230/.317/.503 with the Giants’ top affiliate last year and is out to a .257/.282/.446 start between the Triple-A clubs of the Red Sox and Giants so far in 2022. Strikeouts have become an increasing issue for Davis over the years, as evidenced by last year’s 31.7% punchout rate and this year’s mark of 32.1% in 78 plate appearances.

Chris Paddack Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Twins starter Chris Paddack underwent Tommy John surgery today, the team informed reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press). It’s the second such procedure of his career, as he previously went under the knife as a Padres prospect back in 2016.

It’s obviously a disappointing development for both pitcher and team. Minnesota just acquired Paddack on the eve of Opening Day, relinquishing closer Taylor Rogers and corner outfielder Brent Rooker to secure three years of his services (as well as reliever Emilio Pagán). The hope was that Paddack would add some depth to a rotation that had its fair share of injury concerns, but his first season in Minnesota comes to a close after five outings.

Paddack presented something of a health red flag himself, however. In addition to his prior Tommy John surgery, the righty landed on the injured list late last September due to inflammation in his throwing elbow. That proved a season-ending issue, but Paddack returned to open this year. He left his May 8 start because of renewed elbow inflammation, and reports thereafter suggested surgery might prove necessary.

The 26-year-old Paddack has proven enigmatic from both a health and performance perspective. He was lights-out as a rookie, tossing 140 2/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball in 2019. His production ticked downwards in both of the following seasons, as his ERA jumped north of 4.70 in both years while he struggled to keep the ball in the park. The Friars continued to stockpile starting pitching talent over that time, and Paddack fell outside the top five or six arms on the rotation depth chart.

San Diego explored multiple possible Paddack deals in Spring Training. He and Pagán were involved in talks with the Mets that might’ve offloaded some of Eric Hosmer’s contract to New York while sending Dominic Smith to Southern California. Mets’ brass eventually pulled out of that possible deal, and San Diego pivoted to talks with Minnesota instead.

From a performance perspective, Paddack had shown signs of turning the corner in his early run in the Twin Cities. He posted a 4.03 ERA across 22 1/3 innings, striking out 21.5% of opponents while walking just two of the 93 hitters he faced. The Texas native saw slight dips in his fastball velocity and swinging strike rate, but neither seemed especially alarming until he was pulled mid-start with the elbow concern.

Paddack is making $2.25MM this season, and he’ll be eligible for arbitration twice more. With his limited innings total, he’ll only accrue a marginal raise on that salary for 2023. He’ll certainly miss the bulk of the 2023 campaign as well, so his final arbitration raise will probably also be muted. It’s unfortunate timing for Paddack, but that affordability probably means the Twins will tender him a contract with an eye towards the end of next season and the 2024 campaign.

In the meantime, Minnesota will have to make due with their other starting pitching options. Joe Ryan and Chris Archer are the only two who have taken all seven turns through the rotation. Dylan Bundy missed some time with COVID-19, but both he and Sonny Gray — who had a brief IL stint for a hamstring strain — are back. Bailey Ober shouldn’t be far behind after making a rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul over the weekend, and well-regarded prospect Josh Winder has produced in a swing role.

That’s likely to be the primary group, although there’s a fair bit of performance and injury uncertainty with the veteran options at the back end. Kenta Maeda is hoping to make a late-season return from his own Tommy John surgery, which he underwent last September. Still, rotation help looked to be a possible midseason target for the division-leading Twins even if everyone were healthy. Paddack’s loss only figures to spur that pursuit as we move nearer to the trade deadline.

Andrew Knapp Elects Free Agency

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Catcher Andrew Knapp has cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Knapp had been designated for assignment by the Pirates a few days ago. Players can reject outright assignments and elect free agency if they have been previously outrighted in their careers or have more than five years of MLB service time. Knapp fits both of those categories, allowing him to return to the open market.

Knapp, 30, was signed by the Reds to a minor league deal this winter but didn’t make the team out of Spring Training. After being granted his release, he very quickly latched on with the Pirates to serve as the backup behind Roberto Perez. The switch-hitting Knapp got into 11 games with the Bucs but hit just .210/.310/.315, for a wRC+ of 23.

Perez recently underwent season-ending hamstring surgery, forcing the club to figure out a new plan for who would handle the receiving duties in Pittsburgh. Michael Perez had his contract selected and then the team claimed Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Blue Jays, with Knapp getting nudged out as part of the latter move.

Knapp will now be free to communicate with all 30 clubs and figure out his preferred next step. Over 320 career games, he’s hit .210/.310/.315 for a wRC+ of 70. That’s 30% below league average for all hitters, though backup catchers who can hit at a league-average rate are few and far between. The fact that he can hit from both sides of the plate could perhaps help him find a job with a team whose primary catcher has a notable platoon split.

Nats’ Dave Martinez And Mike Rizzo In Final Guaranteed Contract Year

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Nationals manager Dave Martinez and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo are each in the final guaranteed year of their respective contracts, according to a report from Jesse Dougherty and Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post.

The initial reporting on the 2020 extension for Martinez said that it was a three-year deal, which would cover the seasons through 2023. However, when the team officially announced the extension, they described it merely as a “multi-year” deal. According to this new report, the extension was actually for two years plus a club option for 2023. Asked about the situation, Martinez neither confirmed nor denied the report. “I just want people to know that I love it here and I want to be here,” he said. “I am excited for what we’re building and want to see it through for another championship.”

These details only add to the uncertainty for an organization that’s already immersed in it. The club had an incredible eight-year run from 2012-2019, which included a winning record in each year, five postseason appearances and was capped off by a World Series championship in 2019. Since then, though, the club slumped through a mediocre showing in both 2020 and 2021, the latter of those seasons including a massive sell-off of veteran talent for younger, unproven players.

Furthermore, just as the current season was beginning, a report emerged that the Lerner family are considering selling the club. On the field, the Nats are currently holding a record of 12-26, a winning percentage worse than every team in the majors except for the Reds.

This is the fifth season at the helm for Martinez, who was hired prior to the 2018 campaign. Rizzo has been a part of the club even longer, having been hired as assistant general manager in 2006. It appears that neither is guaranteed to be returning in the same role next year, making the future wide open for the club in many ways. After last year’s fire sale, they have only two players on the books beyond this season. Patrick Corbin’s deal runs through 2024, while Stephen Strasburg’s goes through 2026.

Of course, the big ticking time bomb in the room is Juan Soto, who can be controlled via arbitration through 2024. The Nationals are naturally interested in extending him, but actually doing so might be difficult. Soto’s agent Scott Boras discussed the matter in November. “The first thing that’s going to have to happen is that he knows that he’s working with an ownership that’s going to annually try to compete and win,” Boras said. “And then I think once he knows that, then he’ll be ready to sit down and talk whenever they choose to talk.” It was later reported that Soto and his camp turned down a 13-year, $350 contract offer from the Nats prior to the lockout. A player’s earning power only increases as they approach free agency, meaning that the price tag on locking Soto up long-term will only continue growing over the coming seasons, especially if he continues playing well. Through 38 games this year, he’s hitting .254/.387/.478, 146 wRC+.

That leaves the club with about two years and five months to convince Soto to stay. Between now and then, there’s very little certainty about who else will be on the team, who will be in the manager’s seat, who will be running the front office or even who will own the club.

Rays Add Luke Bard To 40-Man Roster

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The Rays have added reliever Luke Bard to their 40-man roster, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He won’t be heading to the big leagues immediately, though, as the team is keeping him on optional assignment to Triple-A Durham. Tampa Bay transferred Chris Mazza from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open space on the 40-man roster.

It’s atypical for a team to add a player to the 40-man without an immediate big league promotion, but a contractual nuance explains the decision. Bard signed a minor league deal in Spring Training, and Topkin notes that agreement came with an opt-out provision around this time. Bard either had triggered or was set to trigger the opt-out, leaving the Rays to decide whether to add him to the 40-man or grant him his release.

That Tampa Bay took the former route suggests they see him as a viable MLB relief candidate, even if he’s not headed to the majors at the moment. Bard has surrendered three home runs in only 8 2/3 innings with Durham, but he has nine strikeouts and has only issued two walks. The front office obviously believes the home run issue is a small sample blip, and Bard could soon get back to the majors for the first time since 2020.

The 31-year-old righty (the younger brother of Rockies closer Daniel Bard) has appeared in parts of three MLB seasons. That stint came with the Angels from 2018-20, with the majority of his workload coming in the middle year. Bard tallied 66 innings over 46 outings, posting a 5.05 ERA. He was a bit homer-prone in his MLB time as well, but he generated swinging strikes at a decent 12% clip and only walked 6.5% of batters faced. Bard missed all of last season recovering from right hip surgery and was outrighted off the Angels’ 40-man roster last October.

Mazza also signed a minors pact with Tampa Bay over the offseason. He broke camp with the MLB team but made just two appearances before landing on the injured list, retroactive to April 18, due to lower back spasms. Today’s transfer means he can’t return for sixty days from the date of his original placement, so he’ll be out until at least late June recovering.

The 32-year-old Mazza recently progressed to throwing live batting practice, as team broadcaster Neil Solondz tweeted yesterday. That seems to indicate he won’t be out for too much longer, but he was certain to require a minor league rehab assignment anyhow. He can embark on that assignment to get back into game shape before becoming eligible to return to the club. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last for as long as 30 days.

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