As the Rockies brace for potentially unwelcome news on both second baseman Brendan Rodgers and lefty Lucas Gilbreath, they’re perhaps already giving fans a preview of one contingency plan. With Rodgers out indefinitely and possibly facing season-ending surgery, Colorado is deploying third baseman Ryan McMahon at second base today and giving former top prospect Elehuris Montero the start at third base. This is obviously just one permutation that the lineup could take if Rodgers is indeed lost for the season, as there are alternate options at both third base (Kris Bryant, Nolan Jones) and at second base (Alan Trejo). Non-roster invitee Harold Castro can play both spots (though defensive metrics view his glovework at both positions in a negative light). Rodgers was going for a second opinion on his shoulder yesterday after reportedly receiving an initial recommendation of surgery. The Rox should have further updates on his status before long.
More from the division…
- Turning to the Rockies’ pitching staff, they’re facing a somewhat uncertain rotation picture to begin the season with righty Antonio Senzatela still rehabbing from last year’s torn ACL. Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes in his latest mailbag that the target for Senzatela’s return is still sometime in May — as was reported last month — but Saunders provides a less-optimistic outlook on southpaw Ryan Rolison, who had shoulder surgery last June. Rolison is still “weeks away” from pitching in a game setting, which likely takes him out of the running to make starts for the club early in the 2023 season. Righty Peter Lambert, however, is healthy and has already made one Cactus League appearance after a generally lost pair of seasons in 2021-22. Lambert underwent Tommy John surgery in 2020, pitched just 18 innings in 2021 after recovering, and was limited to only 8 2/3 innings in 2022 due to a forearm injury and renewed elbow troubles. If he’s healthy, the former No. 44 overall draft pick (2015) could factor into the Colorado rotation early, alongside German Marquez, Kyle Freeland, Jose Urena and (likely) Austin Gomber.
- New Giants outfielder Michael Conforto has been limited to DH work so far, but he expects him to be full-go by Opening Day, writes Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Conforto tells Heyman that his surgically repaired shoulder is back to full strength, but he’s still working to regain the accuracy on his throws from the outfield. More notably, perhaps, Heyman reports that the official diagnosis of the previously nebulous injury that prompted Conforto to undergo surgery and miss the 2022 campaign was a “capsule fracture” in his right shoulder. Conforto notably suffered a dislocation and capsule tear in his left shoulder back in 2017 as well. He returned from that injury and went on to hit .261/.365/.478 over a three-year span (2018-20) before stumbling to a .232/.344/.384 output in 2021, his last healthy season.
- Veteran lefty Cole Hamels, angling for an age-39 comeback with his hometown Padres, is slated to throw his third bullpen session of spring training today, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The goal is for roughly 35 pitches. Hamels and the Padres are aiming for the lefty to be built up to around 45 pitches before he begins facing live hitters, so there’ll likely be one more ’pen session in the coming days before he takes that step. Meanwhile, veteran outfielder Adam Engel has been slowed by a calf strain and has yet to get into spring games. Engel, 31, figures to be San Diego’s fourth outfielder if he’s healthy enough to take the field come Opening Day. Manager Bob Melvin indicated last week that Engel wouldn’t play in the first week of spring games, but the team hasn’t provided a formal update on his status since.
STILL cannot believe the Giants gave Conforto that contract.
If they didn’t, somebody else probably would have. But the signing definitely reeked of desperation, and it wasn’t without irony that they’d pass on Correa but then sign Conforto, whose bill of health was far more checkered. But it’s a short-term contract, so there’s a lot less repercussion should Conforto turn out to be a bust.
I don’t get the pessimism, or the questioning of signing Conforto to that contract. It’s fairly low-risk for SF with a lot upside. He was a top 50 FA, and for the 4 seasons 2017-20, he had a wRC+ of 133. That’s 33% better than league average.
Will Leitch called the signing “incredibly savvy”. Fangraphs said the Giants, after missing out on Judge and the Correa deal blowing up, did exactly what they needed to do with the Conforto and Haniger signing. The Giants are predicted to win 88 games this season in a couple places. Given the disappointments, I’d say Zaidi did a great job this offseason.
I think it was a two-year 36 million dollar contract or something close to that. I cannot call that low risk.
Compared to 12 years and $315 million it is.
If he performs to his career norm then that contract will be a bargain and greatly improve the team. I don’t see the signing as desperation in that Zaidi brought in the best OF available for a price that the team could easily afford. The Giants have maintained sizeable purchasing power and if in the chase at mid-season they have the means to add to the roster at Aug 2 TD..
I like Engel with the new rule changes. But if Dahl finally comes of age, the Pads might have a tough choice to make.
You don’t ?
I wouldn’t be surprised if “Pessimism” is Scotty’s middle name.
Conforto comes across as a good guy. We wish him well.
retired/advisory role, First of all I called it a “fairly” low-risk deal. But you are correct on the numbers. MLBTR predicted a $15M AAV, so it was a little over that. The money isn’t that important though. The fact that it’s only 2 years means the Giants aren’t on the hook for more than that. Plus it includes an opt-out after the first year, so if all goes well it will be only a one-year deal. I guess we can agree to disagree whether that is fairly low risk or not. But it is in my view.
That comparison is insane. Nobody is comparing the contracts like that.
I can. The “risk” in a contract is that it stops you from doing something else
if it goes bad. 2 for 36 with an opt opt
is not stopping the Giants from doing anything.
David Dahl is not a bad player. He had some decent years in Colorado on a poor team. He’s got some power, and he’s the guy who nearly broke up Joe Musgrove’s no hitter with a line drive right at Jake Cronenworth. He’s not bad defensively, I think he’s had some injury problems.
tad, retired/adv is wound too tight to have a meaningful discussion. I mentioned on another thread that I liked Roughned Odor because of his Bautista fight and he insinuated some lame assertion that I wanted the Expos back. True story. Ignore the wacko.
Saying Dahl has “had some injury problems” is like saying Judge “hit a few home runs” last season.
This is getting totally out of hand. The Giants shocked almost everybody when they gave him that contract a few months ago. I didn’t think it was that difficult to understand but I guess it is. It probably won’t stop them from making other moves but this was money that could have been spent more wisely. That’s all I was trying to say. Omg!
Actually Claude I was remembering you replying to a comment of mine several months ago. You took what I said way out of proportion and context back then. Acted like I was losing my mind for absolutely no reason at all. You and Dorothy man tooth. Haven’t had any respect for you since then. Sorry.
sleep lost.
retired/advisory role, People love to use the old “money better spent elsewhere”, which is fine IMO, if they would say specifically who should have been signed instead. But generally they don’t which is simply open-ended criticism.
Not sure where you’re getting that the “Giants shocked almost everybody” when they signed Conforto. Maybe a lot of fans without deep knowledge of the alternatives, but that’s nowhere close to the response of the more knowledgeable in baseball. As stated above Will Leitch of MLB.com liked it as did Fangraphs.
Not to mention the Mets offered him what was rumored to be a $100M contract extension as he was entering his contract year. He turned it down, which was no surprise to MLBTR since they believed he would be able to top that. It was also rumored that Houston offered him 2/$30M. So it would appear that beating the Astro’s offer was the only way to sign him.
We can disagree whether signing him was good, but I think the Giants are better with him than without. SF was interested in Nimmo, but he chose to stay with the Mets. Otherwise it’s probably Pederson or Luis Gonzalez instead of Conforto in the OF.
You are reading way WAY to much into my original comment. The contract was an overpay. Almost everyone said he would get a one year make good contract. That’s ALL I’m saying.
Maybe let him play a game or two before labelling it an overpay.
Lol
retired/advisory role, I have no problem accepting your opinion that what he got is an overpay. IMO opinion $3M a year more than another team’s offer does not represent any kind of a huge overpay. Would a $32M deal not been an overpay where the $36M was?
What most people (fans?) thought he would get is irrelevant. His value is what he can get on the open market. The 1 year guess became moot when the Astro’s offered 2 years. Seiya Suzuki got about double what MLBTR estimated. Those are guesses not guidelines.
But might I remind you of your original post where you said, you “STILL cannot believe the Giants gave Conforto that contract”. You literally said the deal is beyond belief. So if you don’t want people reading too much into your comment, maybe not post something with that much of an absolute take. Unless you did not mean what you initially said, I don’t think I read too much into it at all.
It was an almost random comment. Despite what is being said today people were almost shocked with what he got from them. It was 3 months ago? Not long ago. I will say once again you are reading entirely to much into the comment. If you honestly cannot understand the meaning of the comment by now you are on your own. It’s painful to comment back to you but wow you need help.
Who are all these people you keep referring to? Fellow fans? I’d love to see a link to that supposed shock among reliable outlets, because I didn’t see that among the places I go to for baseball news and opinion.
How did I misinterpret “STILL cannot believe the Giants gave Conforto that contract”? That’s pretty clear. You seem to be the one with a problem that you can’t admit to the problem being you way overstating your take, not people reading too much into it. Yeah, the truth can be painful.
Still reading to much into it instead of just taking it for what it is.
I took it for what was written. Can’t blame me if your intent was different.
The last time Conforto played, 2021, he had a 100 OPS+ in 125 games. Exactly league average. He got hurt and didn’t play at all in 2022.
The most logical line of thinking is that after an 18 month layoff and returning from a serious injury that he won’t hit as well in 2023 as he did while healthy in 2021.
Now we are finding that he is still so injured that he can’t play in the field at all yet. Maybe he can do so by opening day, but if he can’t at all right now and hasn’t played in 18 months it means his already below average defense will be worse.
Worse offense than 100 OPS+ and worse defense than below average. That is predicated on the chance that he will be ready come opening day which is far from a sure thing.
If he can’t start in the OF come opening day that means his below average production will have to wait.
BaseballisLife, The reading comprehension is certainly low in this place. Yours is the 3rd comment saying the article states he is still injured. Nowhere in the article does it say that. What the article says is just the opposite in fact, that he’s healthy, and expected to be on the field on opening day.
The fact that he’s not playing games yet is not at all unusual in the way teams handle guys coming off surgery. The only negative I read was that he’s apparently not happy with his accuracy on throws from the OF, but I assume he’ll correct that with work.
You also pick one down year as if that’s his standard of performance. In the 3 full, and 1 short 2020 prior he averaged a 133 wRC+. Is it guaranteed that he’ll be worth his contract? No, like all FA signings there’s risk involved, and there’s probably a bit more with Conforto’s. But the upside is there, and it could pay off nicely for the Giants.
Did you read the article? It says “New Giants outfielder Michael Conforto has been limited to DH work so far”. It goes on to say he is expected to be ready to play in the OF opening day, meaning he is NOT ready today and they are not sure he will be.
If he could throw, he would be playing in the field.
Pretty much had enough of your level of loquatious stupid.
Tad, Conforto had the surgery in April 2022 after injuring the shoulder in January. He missed the entire 2022 season because of injury. You can’t get the simple stuff right and your ability to read is sorely lacking.
You’re reading into “limited to DH duty” as unable to play. You’re making a leap with that assumption. It’s not at all unusual for guys coming back from surgery to have their teams slow play them out of of caution. That does not mean he’s unable to play. He’s certainly healthy enough to bat.
BaseballisLife, You quote from the article to justify your assumptions. Limited to DH duty does not mean not healthy. There are reasons other than health, such as a team’s caution, or that he’s not happy yet with the accuracy of his throws from the OF. Your assumption of the reason, does not make the reason fact.. It also does not say limited to DH duty because on an inability to play. You just added that part in your mind.
Plus, I notice how you conveniently omitted in your selective quoting Conforto saying his shoulder was at full strength. Yeah just ignore that part, as well as this quote “he’s still working to regain the accuracy on his throws from the outfield”, since they don’t fit with your flawed reasoning.
Scottn59c, Are you a doctor? I’m not so I’ll believe the doctors that reviewed the x-rays, and medicals of the two. I would be really surprised if the doctors passed Conforto with worse medicals than Correa, whom they rejected.
Plus, saying Conforto’s health has been far more checkered is more hyperbole than truth. When active, coincidentally both have played in 80.9% of possible games. (Conforto 80.96%, Correa 80.94%.)
@Tad: You’re doing some real cherry-picking there if you’re comparing both guys “when active”. Let’s not forget that Conforto has missed an entire year and that his 2021 more or less sucked (232/.344/.384).
I’m not a doctor, that’s correct. But surgeries in BOTH shoulders, coupled with all that missed time, coupled with the article’s revelation that he is not yet up to strength in spring training leave me with a little dubiousness as to how healthy this guy is and (to me) shed light on how desperate the Giants were to save face after the Correa debacle.
Scottn59c, Okay, I take your point. But I had a reason for doing as I did. He had remained unsigned long after the season started, because as a Boras client, he was holding out. He injured his shoulder working out over the summer. I admit he probably would have gotten injured, but he did not miss the entire season last year entirely because of that injury.
The repaired shoulder has held up, and I’m guessing the doctors feel the latest repair will as well. What I don’t understand is after reading this:
“… he expects him to be full-go by Opening Day, writes Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Conforto tells Heyman that his surgically repaired shoulder is back to full strength…”
…and read that as him not being up to full strength. It’s not at all unusual, with players coming back from offseason surgery for teams to bring them along slowly out of caution.
Conforto had the surgery in April 2022 after injuring the shoulder in January. He missed the entire 2022 season because of injury.
So Scott, there’s a big difference. WAS versus IS–as in the leg goes numb on a hard slide.
Can’t wait to see if stupid does beats stupid is
Rockies have never had 100 loss season, until now?
If Bryant can finally stay healthy for a full season, they may have a chance to avoid 100 losses. But once you hurt your back, it always comes back as Bryant has shown season after season. It also depends on their pitching.
Yep, never lost 100, and I don’t think it will happen this season either. They have an incredible home field advantage, and they’ll benefit from the balanced schedule, not having to play the NLW teams 17 times each.
“incredible” ??? How so ???
Imagine that. Conforto is not healthy enough to play in the field yet. That should end up being a great contract. What is the over/under on games he plays in the OF this season? 50? 60? Oh, lets be generous, 80?
He’s not a great fielder and he’s got a noodle arm brewing. I’ll give him 40 games in the OF, 22 at DH, and 100 games on the IL. Sorry Farhan.
A few more than a 41yo Xander Bogaerts.
Foppert – just have to agree with you as Bogaerts won’t likely even play 1 game in OF as a Padre.
Try to at least make sense with your misguided negativity.
Fair point. Correction. “A few more than a 41yo Xander Bogaerts will play in any position”
For the record, if the Giants don’t win, I’d like to see it be the Padres. Don’t mistake making a point regarding Padre fans throwing stones at contracts with some perceived risk, with negativity about their position.
I think teams are following the principle that they are going to be “on the hook” for a year or 2 at the end of a contract to avoid paying a higher AAV.
Betting on the next 5-7 years and realizing they may have to reset with some older contracts later. I’d say, as opposed to the old days of resetting with inexperienced / cheaper players which either way, wasn’t going to be competitive.
It’s a new business model for getting a highly competitive team on the field for 5-7 years is all.
@foppart. I can relate to the sentiments of “If not the Giants, then Pads. If not the Pads, then Giants”. I married into a diehard Padres family, and my kids are thoroughly Padres fans. Not just by osmosis, I’ve grown to like the Pads (especially the owner), but my past and to some extent present allegiance is with the Giants. Not sure how long this mutual support “friendship” will exist between Dodgers and Padres fans, which is essentially and anti-Dodgers collaboration, but I’m good with it for now.
Ha ha. Tough gig you signed up for there !
Yeah. It’s about the owner for me. I love a warm fuzzy feel good story as much as the next man.
Luckily the Padres don’t have to worry about that since #1, Bogaerts is a SS and not an OF and #2, the last year that Bogaerts is a Padre in 2033 is his age 40 season. He won’t turn 41 until after the regular season is over.
On the other hand, the Giants do have to worry about it this season with an obviously still injured Conforto.
Ok. Correction noted.
It’s still risk. As is Machado. As is Darvish.
The only difference is that the Giants prefer to take their risk immediately and short term. If it turns ugly, it happens and 2 years later it’s over. I think they like the flexibility. The Padres are prepared to go long term take on future risk. Neither way is wrong.
We will see what happens.
Correa (almost) Judge (tried), Cueto (did), Ohtani (want to).
How is that what you are describing for Giants?
They will do it, but not as readily as others. I think they set a higher bar because of that aversion. Correa supports that. So much pressure for them to sign a big name and they vetoed it. Nah. Too much risk.
Judge exceeded their bar. Ultimate professional. Yep. He will work hard as a 41yo.
Cueto is probably a reason they are exceedingly risk averse to long contracts for pitchers.
Ohtani. Haven’t heard a peep about their interest. Not sure what their position is.
The Cueto contract was not all that bad, same with Samardzija; I’d call them a wash. Paying Cain and Timmy for past glories was at least as bad, and part of the reason Bobby Evans was sent packing.
Giants will surely express interest in Ohtani, but get very quickly rebuffed in favor of a legacy team and perpetual contender, like Yanks or Dodgers. Pads and Mets snapped up a lot of talent recently. Both seem to have endless pockets, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them vying for his services as well.
“… an obviously still injured Conforto.”
I didn’t realize you were privy to the Giants’ doctors, and training staff. SI has reported, among other sources, that he is healthy and expects to be in the OF on opening day, but given your inside information I guess they must all be wrong.
Yes. Cueto is just part of a big list. Not the worst, just the most recent.
Agree that the Cueto and Samardzija deals weren’t bad. They were market value deals with better than average return.
The Cain contract wasn’t bad either. He was extended on the heels of a 121 ERA+, 3.1 bWAR season, He followed that up with an even better 126 ERA+, a 3.9 bWAR season. Injuries took their toll after that. which was a bit unexpected since he had been durable.
The Giants were one of the 7 finalists for Ohtani, but I think he wanted a west coast AL team because of the DH. And the Angels weren’t exactly a legacy team and perpetual contender. I’ll take the field against any specific club, but the Giants do have a shot at him.
What part of he is not healthy enough to play in the OF yet did you not understand?
What part of his being healthy do you not understand. Please feel free to quote from the article where it says he is not healthy. You’re making a huge assumption, since he hasn’t played the OF in all of only 8 games so far, that he isn’t healthy enough to.
Here’s what the article does say:
“…he expects…to be full-go by Opening Day…”
“…Conforto tells Heyman that his surgically repaired shoulder is back to full strength…”
I’d Also point out that the surgery he had on the other shoulder in 2017 was the same type as the most recent. Coming back from that first surgery he posted a 123 wRC+ for the next 4 seasons, which includes his subpar 2021. He had the first surgery in Sept. 2017, and he played a full game on opening day 2018.
Pads Fans, You’re reading way too much into his being the DH in the early going. He had surgery less than a year ago. By all accounts he feels healthy. The Giants are slowing playing it out of caution. It’s not any different from what other teams do with players coming off surgery.
By all accounts he is not able to play in the field. That means he is not 100% healthy yet. If he was healthy, he would be able to play the position he was signed to play.
Who said that he is “not able to play in the field”?
All sources say he is expected to be in the OF on opening day, and he himself said that his shoulder is back to full strength. Where are you getting that he’s still injured?
BaseballisLife, Your reading comprehension is really poor.
I’m sure the Rockies would prefer Rodgers be healthy as he’s quite a valuable player BUT a silver lining here could be that Montero gets a legit shot he otherwise wouldn’t have had. He was a top 100 prospect back pre-2019 then had a horrible 2019 season, but was hurt and only got around 200 ABs. Since then 2020 was wiped out and I guess he’d kind of just fallen off the map but his 2021 and 2022 minor league seasons have been VERY impressive. And I think he could become a legit everyday player if given the chance. He’s still only 23/24!
BTW I’m not a COL fan, nor do I know anything beyond stats and what I can read — so idk if there’s some extra reason to be down on him… but from what I can see… he seems like a pretty legit prospect to me!