Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for July 2023

Dodgers Have Shown Interest In Lucas Giolito

By | at

The Dodgers are among the teams showing interest in White Sox righty Lucas Giolito, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB.com. It’s a natural fit, given the Dodgers’ need for rotation reinforcements and the White Sox’ status as likely sellers of short-term pieces. Giolito is a free agent at season’s end.

Giolito, who’ll turn 29 tomorrow, figures to be of interest to a wide variety of contending clubs. He’s in the midst of a strong season, is earning a $10.4MM salary this season, and has a strong track record dating back to his 2019 breakout. Similarly, the Dodgers figure to cast a wide net as they survey the trade market for starting pitching help. While it’s certainly of note that they’ve shown some interest in Giolito, there’s also no indication that there have been any advanced talks for the righty or that he, in particular, is being pursued more aggressively than the many other starters expected to popular the trade market. In some regards, it’d actually be more surprising to learn that the Dodgers weren’t interested in Giolito, given how logical the pairing is.

Los Angeles’ starting staff has been ravaged by injuries this season. The Dodgers have already lost Dustin May for the season (flexor surgery), and they’ve endured lengthy absences from each of Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin and struggling offseason signee Noah Syndergaard. Prospect Ryan Pepiot won the fifth starter’s job in camp this spring but suffered an oblique injury at the end of camp that has kept him out for the entire first half. Ace Clayton Kershaw hit the injured list late last month due to discomfort in his left shoulder. They knew coming into the year that Walker Buehler would be out until at least September after undergoing Tommy John surgery on Aug. 23 last summer.

The Dodgers have tapped into their pitching-rich system to patch things over, already calling up top prospects Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan and Gavin Stone for their big league debuts. Miller and Sheehan are both in the rotation at the moment, as is 26-year-old righty Michael Grove, who entered the ’23 season with just 29 1/3 big league innings under his belt. Grove has been tagged for a 6.89 ERA, however, struggling at a similar level to the previously mentioned Syndergaard (7.16 ERA in 55 1/3 innings).

Giolito isn’t missing bats at the same level as his 2019-20 peak, when he posted a massive 32.7% strikeout rate, but his results are in line with his best prior seasons. He’s sitting on a 3.45 ERA with a strong 25.3% strikeout rate and similarly impressive 7.4% walk rate. With the exception of last year’s 4.90 ERA, which looks like a clear outlier, Giolito has posted an ERA between 3.41 and 3.53 every season since 2019. Overall, he carries a 3.80 ERA in his past 701 2/3 big league innings. The right-hander is also averaging just under six innings per start in 2023, so he’d help give a break to the bullpen of any team to which he’s traded.

The White Sox figure to seek a strong return in any trade for Giolito.  He’s one of the top arms on the market — arguably the top arm — and is a clear qualifying offer candidate at season’s end if they don’t trade him. As a 29-year-old free agent with a strong and durable track record, Giolito would be a slam dunk to reject that offer and hit the open market in search of a long-term, likely nine-figure deal. In the event that he signed elsewhere, the White Sox would receive a compensatory draft pick after Competitive Balance Round B in the 2024 draft (roughly in the mid-70s). In order to trade the righty, the ChiSox would need to feel they’re receiving greater value than the value of that theoretical 2024 draft selection.

Giolito recently landed in the top spot on MLBTR’s list of the top 50 deadline trade candidates — a reflection both of his on-field value and of the simple likelihood of him being traded in the next 19 days. (He also placed fourth on MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings late last month.) The South Siders initially only planned to make rental players available, but recent reports have suggested that they’re now open to offers on the majority of their roster, save for the young core of Luis Robert Jr., Dylan Cease, Eloy Jimenez and Andrew Vaughn. In either scenario, Giolito figures to be available and among the likeliest stars to change hands in the next few weeks.

Yordan Alvarez, Jose Urquidy To Begin Rehab Assignments

By | at

Slugger Yordan Alvarez and starter Jose Urquidy will begin minor league rehab assignments with the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate tomorrow, the team announced. Houston has been without Alvarez for five weeks due to an oblique strain. Urquidy has been out more than two months due to shoulder troubles. Alvarez figures to be the first of the pair back to the active roster; Urquidy hasn’t pitched since late April and will surely require multiple rehab starts with full rest between them before reemerging as a rotation option. Still, it’s welcome news for an injury-plagued Astros club that is lacking both in the lineup and the rotation at the moment.

In recent weeks, general manager Dana Brown has publicly declared his two top needs at the trade deadline to be a left-handed bat and a starting pitcher. For much of the summer, Brown had suggested the bat was the larger priority, but just yesterday he flipped the script and indicated that pitching help is perhaps an even greater need. That’s understandable, as the ’Stros have not only been without Urquidy but also Lance McCullers Jr. (season-ending flexor surgery) and Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery). To top it off, ace Framber Valdez has been pitching through a sprained ankle in recent weeks, while righty Cristian Javier had his most recent start skipped to “give him a breather” after a run of poor results, per Brown.

The looming returns of Alvarez and Urquidy — barring any setbacks during their respective rehab stints — surely doesn’t quell the Astros’ desire to add help in either area. Brown’s comments on his team’s needs were made with full knowledge that both players would be returning at some point before the deadline (or perhaps shortly after, in Urquidy’s case). Even if both could be inserted into the lineup immediately after the break, the Astros would still have glaring needs.

In the rotation, Houston is currently relying on Valdez and a trio of inexperienced arms: top prospect Hunter Brown, swingman Brandon Bielak and rookie J.P. France. Presumably, Javier will rejoin the group after the break, and the Astros have also taken looks at righties Ronel Blanco and Shawn Dubin — both currently in Triple-A. There’s minimal depth beyond that group, and France’s strong 3.26 ERA to date isn’t supported by his shakier under-the-surface numbers. Most of the team’s young arms are also already nearing last year’s season-long workload; their innings could present concerns in the final 72 games.

Adding Alvarez and his characteristically excellent .277/.388/.589 batting line (and 17 homers) back into the lineup will be an obvious boon, but the Astros likely need more help than that. Jose Altuve is back on the injured list due to an oblique strain of his own, and Houston hitters have been a middle-of-the-pack group overall. The Astros rank 10th in the Majors in runs scored (417), 17th in batting average (.247), 19th in on-base percentage (.316) and 14th in slugging percentage (.407). The only left-handed bat in the lineup with Alvarez out has been outfielder Kyle Tucker. The hope had been that Michael Brantley would make his season debut soon, but manager Dusty Baker revealed earlier this month that the veteran hitter had “plateaued” in his efforts to make it back from 2022 shoulder surgery; a timetable for his return remains unclear.

Who Could The Pirates Trade At The Deadline?

By | at

The Pirates jumped out to a hot start in 2023, sitting on a 20-9 record at the end of April that made it seem like the days of rebuilding were suddenly in the rearview mirror. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to maintain that, falling back to earth with an 8-18 record in May. Ownership was still supportive of buying at the deadline as recently as June 21, but the club has continued to slide in the standings.

The Bucs now find themselves with a record of 41-49. They are fourth in the National League Central, well behind the Reds and Brewers. They’re also behind the third-place Cubs, who have the best run differential of the bunch and a soft schedule coming out of the break. FanGraphs currently pegs Pittsburgh’s playoff odds at just 1.4%.

Barring a tremendous surge after the All-Star break, the club will likely have to set their sights on 2024. That will mean having discussions about trading away veterans, both to recoup some younger players to help in future seasons and to open up playing time for the players they already have. Let’s take a look at some options, though there aren’t too many players on the roster who fit the bill.

Rental Players

Rich Hill

Hill continues to defy Father Time and is still a reasonably effective starter at the age of 43. He’s tossed 98 innings over 18 starts this year and currently has a 4.78 ERA, striking out 21.1% of batters faced while walking 9% and getting grounders at a 35.9% clip. He’s making $8MM this year, with about $2.6MM still to be paid out when the deadline rolls around.

He won’t command a huge return as a back-end innings eater, but the Bucs could perhaps line up with some club that simply wants a guy to take the ball every five days. Just a couple of years ago, the Nationals were able to get Lane Thomas in return for a 37-year-old Jon Lester and his 5.02 ERA at that time. The Pirates shouldn’t expect that kind of return on Hill, but it serves to demonstrate that they could at least take a flier on someone by putting Hill out there.

Carlos Santana

Santana, 37, isn’t likely to be a huge deadline addition at this stage of his career. However, it was just a year ago that the Royals were able to trade him to the Mariners for a couple of younger relievers. This year, he’s still showing his good approach at the plate, with his 10.5% walk rate and 18% strikeout rate both better than average. He’s hit nine home runs, but his .233/.311/.390 batting line is a bit below average, translating to a wRC+ of 91.

The switch-hitter has always been a bit better against lefties and that continues to be the case this year, as he’s slashing .260/.348/.416 against southpaws for a wRC+ of 109. There are likely some contenders who would be happy to utilize him as a short-side platoon bat and pinch-hitter off the bench. His first base defense continues to be considered above average. He’s making $6.725MM this year, which will leave around $2.2MM at deadline time.

Ji Man Choi

Choi, 32, appeared in nine games before a strained Achilles tendon in his left foot sent him to the injured list. He was reinstated just before the break, and his form in the next few weeks will likely determine his trade interest. He’s hit .237/.340/.428 in his career with a 13.1% walk rate, leading to a wRC+ of 114. The left-handed hitter has been especially strong with the platoon advantage, hitting .245/.351/.454 against righties in his career for a 124 wRC+. He’s earning $4.65MM this year and about $1.5MM will be remaining at the end of the month.

Austin Hedges

Hedges has long been considered one of the best defensive catchers in the game but doesn’t provide much with the bat. That’s especially true this year, where he’s hitting just .179/.230/.232. His wRC+ of 26 is dead last in the league among players with at least 170 plate appearances. Yet he continues to get work based on his defensive acumen and strong reputation for working with pitchers.

Trading catchers in midseason is generally tricky, as it can be challenging to learn an entirely new pitching staff on the fly. If the Bucs can’t line up a trade for that reason, they may have to think about moving on from Hedges regardless. Catching prospect Henry Davis is already up with the big league club to get his bat in the lineup but is playing the outfield at the moment. The club’s other top catching prospect, Endy Rodríguez, is in Triple-A and perhaps ready for a promotion. Both Davis and Rodríguez play other positions and it remains to be seen who the club considers its true “catcher of the future,” so perhaps they could use the last few months of the season to get a look at one or both.

Andrew McCutchen

McCutchen makes theoretical sense as a trade candidate since he’s 36 years old, an impending free agent and performing well at the plate this year. The Rangers have reportedly expressed interest, but all signs seem to point to Cutch staying put. He’s been quite open about how happy he is to be back in Pittsburgh and plans to spend the rest of his career there. The club is apparently on board with that and doesn’t seem to have any designs on trading him.

Signed/Controlled For One Extra Year

Jarlín García

García has a 2.89 ERA dating back to 2019 and had that figure at 3.74 last year but was non-tendered by the Giants. The Bucs swooped in and signed him to a $2.5MM deal with a $3.25MM club option for 2024. Unfortunately, he’s been on the injured list all year due to a biceps injury. Players on the IL can still be traded, but there won’t be much interest unless he shows some progress in the next few weeks.

Longer-Term Players

Mitch Keller

There are no indications the club has any plans of trading Keller. In fact, he’s the best rotation building block they have, with his 3.31 ERA this year putting him just outside the top 10 in the National League. But although he’s only been breaking out over the past year or so, his control is dwindling since he’s a bit of a late bloomer. Debuting back in 2019, he struggled in his first few seasons before putting things together recently and now has just two seasons of control left beyond this one.

The Bucs are in a similar situation with Keller to where they were with Bryan Reynolds not too long ago. Reynolds was clearly an important member of the club but there was a ticking clock as his free agency was getting closer. In that case, the two sides lined up on an extension to potentially keep him in Pittsburgh through 2031, and a similar decision might have to be made on Keller.

David Bednar

Bednar, 28, continues to cement himself as one of the better relievers in the league. He has a 1.27 ERA this year, striking out 29.8% of hitters while walking just 5%, earning 17 saves in the process. Given the volatility of reliever performance, there could be an argument for the Bucs to cash in while his trade value is high, as they can currently market him with three seasons of control beyond this one. However, Bednar’s a fan favorite, having been born in Pittsburgh and raised in the area. Since the club has shown flashes that suggest the rebuild won’t go on for much longer, it seems unlikely they would consider moving a key piece like Bednar. As with Keller, other teams will still surely try, but he’s likely staying put.

Connor Joe

Joe isn’t anywhere close to free agency, as he will have four years of club control remaining after this one. But while many of the players on the club’s roster are in their mid-20s, Joe will be turning 31 next month. He’s also having a decent season, hitting .240/.332/.421 for a wRC+ of 106 while playing first base and the outfield corners. Perhaps the club would be tempted to put him on the trading block now since his trade value will likely only decrease as he ages and becomes more expensive. He’ll finish this year with his service time at 2.136 and could qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player.

_______________

Ultimately, the Bucs don’t have too much to offer as sellers this winter. The veterans they do have will get some interest but won’t be headlining any blockbuster deals. If they get on a hot streak in the next few weeks, perhaps they just decide to hold onto everyone and hope for a strong finish. But their chances of contention should be much stronger next year and they could start lining things up for that.

By moving Hedges, they could get a look at Davis and Rodríguez as catchers at the big league level while continuing to evaluate their bats. By moving Santana, Choi and/or Joe out of the first base/designated hitter/corner outfield mix, they could open up plate appearances for players currently in the minors, whether that’s a prospect like Liover Peguero or a potential late bloomer like Miguel Andujar. The latter struggled in the majors earlier this year but has hit .409/.459/.634 in Triple-A since accepting an outright assignment two months ago. If added to the club’s roster later this year, they could retain him via arbitration for 2024.

Angels Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Nolan Schanuel

By | at

The Angels have agreed to terms with first-round pick Nolan Schanuel, reports Carlos Collazo of Baseball America. He’ll receive the full slot value of $5.253MM for his No. 11 overall selection.

Schanuel, 21, is a left-handed-hitting first baseman whose bat is his carrying card. In three years at Florida Atlantic University, the 6’4″ infielder turned in a .386/.516/.698 batting line — highlighted by a comical .447/.615/.868 slash with 19 homers, 18 doubles and four triples in 289 plate appearances this past season. He draws particularly strong reviews for his preternatural contact abilities and plate discipline; Schanuel struck out in just seven percent of his plate appearances in his three years at FAU while walking at a 17% clip. In his final season of college ball, he posted a ridiculous 71-to-14 walk-to-strikeout ratio — a mammoth 24.6% walk rate against just a 4.8% strikeout rate.

Despite the tantalizing offensive profile, Schanuel was ranked a bit lower than his ultimate selection on most prospect lists heading into the draft. Keith Law of The Athletic listed him as the draft’s No. 18 prospect, while Schanuel sat 22nd at ESPN, 26th at MLB.com, 30th at Baseball America and 33rd at FanGraphs. That’s largely due to defensive limitations — Schanuel is a pure first baseman with an outside chance handling some corner outfield work — and a hit-over-power profile. Some scouting reports give Schanuel the chance to eventually develop plus power, but most peg him for average or above-average pop (50- to 55-grade on the 20-80 scale). Presumably, based on this selection, the Angels are in the camp that believes he can reach that plus power ceiling.

Schanuel’s advanced approach gives him the potential to sprint through the minor leagues and contribute at the MLB level in short order. Kiley McDaniel’s scouting report at ESPN suggests he could be in the Majors within a year’s time — a much swifter path to the big leagues than most prospects in a given draft class.

The Angels have had uncertainty at first base in each of the past two seasons, as Jared Walsh has been unable to replicate his 2021 breakout (due largely to health troubles). Schanuel gives them a potentially fast-tracked prospect who can provide sound defense and at least average power and speed — all while excelling at putting the ball in play and getting on base.

Rockies To Sign Chris Flexen

By | at

The Rockies have agreed to a deal with free-agent righty Chris Flexen, reports Thomas Harding of MLB.com. The O’Connell Sports client will join Colorado’s Triple-A rotation in Albuquerque for the time being and provide the Rox with some much-needed starting pitching depth.

Flexen, 29, was designated for assignment by the Mariners earlier in the month and went through an unusual cycle that saw him traded to the Mets and immediately designated for assignment a second time. The Mets took on the remainder of Flexen’s $8MM salary as a means of effectively purchasing reliever Trevor Gott from Seattle but weren’t interested in retaining Flexen themselves; he was released a few days after that second DFA.

Originally drafted by the Mets in 2012, Flexen never found his footing in his first several looks at the big league level but broke out overseas in the Korea Baseball Organization, thriving with the Doosan Bears in 2020. His lone season of KBO excellence (3.01 ERA in 116 2/3 innings) was enough for the Mariners to sign him to a two-year, $4.75MM deal the following offseason.

Flexen made good on that investment during his first two seasons in Seattle, logging a tidy 3.66 ERA in 317 1/3 innings, mostly working out of Seattle’s rotation. He was pushed to the bullpen following the 2022 trade deadline, when the Mariners acquired Luis Castillo, but generally continued pitching well in a relief setting. Even with that move to shorter stints, Flexen’s combined workload from 2021-22 was enough to trigger an $8MM vesting option for the 2023 season.

Heading into the 2023 campaign, Flexen was locked in as the Mariners’ long reliever and sixth starter — not because of his own performance but simply due to the depth the M’s had in the rotation. He quickly returned to the rotation after Robbie Ray required season-ending flexor surgery and a UCL repair, but things haven’t gone well for Flexen in any role this year. He appeared in 17 games — just four of them starts — and was tagged for a grisly 7.71 earned run average.

Flexen’s 3.66 ERA from 2021-22 never quite lined up with his below-average 16.5% strikeout rate, but a downturn of this magnitude still couldn’t have been expected. He’s been extraordinarily homer-prone this year (2.36 per nine innings) and has seen his generally strong command trend to worse-than-average levels as well (9.7% walk rate). That said, Flexen has also been plagued by a .350 average on balls in play, and his staggering 21.6% homer-to-flyball rate is sure to regress closer to his career 10% mark (though pitching in Colorado or Albuquerque likely won’t help that cause).

The Rockies aren’t in a position to be particularly picky with their rotation at the moment. Colorado entered the year with a suspect rotation in the first place and has seen the vast majority of its starters hit the injured list or perform poorly enough to be cut loose. Right-hander Jose Urena was released less than two months into the season despite signing a guaranteed $3.5MM deal over the winter. German Marquez underwent Tommy John surgery on May 12. Antonio Senzatela returned from last year’s torn ACL early in the season but lasted just two starts before being shut down with an elbow strain; he’s on the 60-day injured list at the moment. Young righty Ryan Feltner suffered a skull fracture in mid-May when he was hit by a Nick Castellanos comebacker. He thankfully avoided a more catastrophic injury but, like Senzatela, is on the 60-day IL and hasn’t pitched in two months.

Lefty Kyle Freeland was the lone member of the team’s Opening Day rotation who looked like he’d make it through the first half of the season unscathed — until he suffered a dislocated right (non-throwing) shoulder in the team’s final game before the All-Star break. He’ll quite likely head to the injured list himself.

In the wake of that staggering slate of injuries, the Rockies are left with a patchwork starting pitching staff that’s in dire need of reinforcements. Flexen may be bound for Triple-A right now, but that seems like it could be a short-term stay. Colorado’s only healthy starters at the moment are lefty Austin Gomber, righty Chase Anderson — another veteran acquired amid this wave of injuries — and right-hander Connor Seabold. They’ve taken looks at younger and less-experienced arms like Peter Lambert, Karl Kauffmann and Noah Davis this season, but none have performed well. On the whole, Rockies starters have “overtaken” the A’s for the worst ERA in baseball, currently sitting at a disastrous 6.47 mark in that regard.

There’s a clear path back to the Majors for Flexen in Colorado — perhaps clearer than with any other club that might’ve had interest. The Rays, for instance, were linked to Flexen over the weekend but have a deeper staff. There’s a short-term opening in Tampa Bay’s rotation, but it’s plenty feasible that as they get healthier, Flexen would again be pushed out. While pitching his home games at Coors Field certainly isn’t an enviable task, Flexen surely recognized the broader opportunity to settle back into a consistent starting role in Colorado and the staying power it presents. Even if his struggles continue, the Rockies will likely welcome a veteran innings eater to simply patch things over in the season’s final months. And, as the previously mentioned Urena demonstrated last year when he was acquired under relatively similar circumstances, if he handles that role well the Rockies could well be open to re-signing him on a guaranteed deal.

For now, Flexen will build up in Albuquerque and wait for a spot in the big leagues, but that opportunity could — and very likely will — present itself before long.

The Opener: 2024 Schedule, Harrison, Quintana

By | at

As the All-Star break continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. 2024 MLB schedule to be revealed:

Per an MLB announcement, the 2024 regular season schedule is expected to be revealed today at noon CT. The 2024 campaign will be the second to use the balanced schedule brought on by the most recent collective bargaining agreement in 2022. The new schedule, which is being used this season, reduced games against a club’s division rivals from 19 per opponent to just 13 per opponent while adding additional interleague games to the point that every MLB franchise plays every other franchise at least once in each season. Today’s full schedule announcement comes on the heels of yesterday’s reveal that the league will visit four countries beyond the US and Canada in 2024.

2. Harrison heads to the IL:

The Phillies will return from the All-Star break tomorrow without infielder Josh Harrison, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a wrist contusion yesterday. It’s been a difficult 2023 campaign for Harrison, as the 35-year-old veteran has slashed just .219/.274/.313 with a wRC+ of 59 in 106 plate appearances. No timetable for Harrison’s return has been announced. Kody Clemens, Drew Ellis, and Jake Cave are among the options to replace Harrison on the bench in Philadelphia ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Padres.

3. Quintana continues rehab:

Mets left-hander Jose Quintana is scheduled to throw a simulated game today, according to MLB.com. Afterwards, the Mets are poised to make a decision on whether or not Quintana is ready to join the club’s rotation. The veteran southpaw has yet to throw a pitch for the club since signing a two-year, $26MM deal this past offseason. When healthy, Quintana has been a solid mid-rotation starter throughout his 11 seasons in the big leagues. He owns a career 3.75 ERA, 10% better than league average by measure of ERA+, with a 3.62 FIP. He posted a particularly excellent campaign last season, as he pitched to a 2.93 ERA (139 ERA+) and 2.99 FIP in 165 2/3 innings of work with the Pirates and Cardinals.

A’s To Promote Tyler Soderstrom

By | at

The A’s are promoting top catching/first base prospect Tyler Soderstrom before Friday’s game against the Twins, MLBTR has confirmed. The call-up was first reported by Christopher Correa of the Turlock Journal.

Oakland selected Soderstrom with the 26th overall pick out of a California high school in 2020. The left-handed hitter was regarded as a bat-first catcher on draft day. He’s lived up to that profile in the minors, hitting .272/.333/.525 in 260 professional games.

Soderstrom has been a top young talent for the past couple seasons. He participated in the Futures Game in 2021 (which he did again last weekend) and ranked among Baseball America’s top 25 prospects the following year. Soderstrom traversed three minor league levels last season, hitting .267/.324/.501 while spending the majority of his time in High-A.

He’s spent the entire 2023 campaign with Triple-A Las Vegas. Soderstrom has popped 20 home runs and slugged .536 in 69 games in that extremely hitter-friendly environment. He’s posted middling strikeout and walk numbers, drawing free passes just 6.6% of the time against an elevated 27.6% strikeout percentage. His .303 on-base percentage is last among the 68 hitters with 200+ plate appearances in the Pacific Coast League.

Of course, the 21-year-old was generally facing pitching much older than him at the top minor league level. Heading into the season, Soderstrom was on the Top 100 lists at all of BA, The Athletic, ESPN and MLB Pipeline. Scouting reports are effusive in their praise for his offensive ability. Soderstrom is credited with one of the best hit/power combinations of any player in the minor leagues.

The biggest question, as has been the case since draft day, is his eventual position. Prospect evaluators suggest he’s a well below-average receiving catcher who’s likely to move off the position. That’s before considering the presence of Shea Langeliers, whom the A’s have used behind the dish as their potential long-term replacement for Sean Murphy.

Soderstrom has split his time between catcher and first base with Las Vegas this season. He’s gotten 35 starts behind the plate, 24 nods at first base and nine outings as a designated hitter. Catcher and first are the only positions he’s played in pro ball, though both Baseball America and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel suggested he could be athletic enough to handle third base or the corner outfield if he doesn’t catch regularly.

A’s skipper Mark Kotsay will presumably find ways to get Soderstrom in the lineup on an everyday basis. He could take some starts from Langeliers while working in at first base or DH. Rule 5 draftee Ryan Noda is having a strong rookie campaign and will presumably play whichever of first base or DH that Soderstrom isn’t manning. Brent Rooker and Seth Brown seem likely to take most of their reps in the corner outfield.

There haven’t been many causes for celebration for A’s fans this season. Friday’s game will offer the fanbase and organization a glimpse of what they hope is a more exciting future. Soderstrom joins 2021 second-round selection Zack Gelof in getting his first MLB nod. Gelof isn’t quite the caliber of prospect Soderstrom is, but they’re both generally regarded among the top handful of young talents in the organizational pipeline.

Because he appeared on the preseason Top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, Soderstrom would be eligible for a full year of service time if he can squeeze out a top-two finish in AL Rookie of the Year balloting. That’s a tall task with less than half a season’s worth of playing time, however. It’s likely he’ll end up shy of a full service year; in that case, he wouldn’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2026 season and is controllable through 2029. Future assignments to the minor leagues could push that back further.

The A’s have one opening on the 40-man roster after waiving right-hander Adam Oller this week. They’ll need to create another vacancy to select the contracts of both Gelof and Soderstrom.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Athletics To Promote Zack Gelof

By | at

The Athletics are planning to add infield prospect Zack Gelof to their roster prior to Friday’s game, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The club already has a vacancy on their 40-man after losing right-hander Adam Oller off waivers to the Mariners earlier today.

Gelof, 23, was selected by the A’s in the second round of the 2021 draft.  He’s generally considered to be a very talented hitter, though one with a penchant for aggressiveness that can make him strikeout prone. Last year, he played 96 games between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting .270/.352/.463 for a wRC+ of 107. He walked in 11.4% of his plate appearances but struck out at a 27.5% clip. This year, he’s played in 69 Triple-A games, striking out in 27.9% of his trips to the plate but walking in 13.3% of them. His .304/.401/.529 batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 122 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.

Defensively, Gelof was a third baseman in college but concerns around his throwing arm have led the A’s to gradually move him to second base, the only position he’s played this year. Speed could be a factor in his game as well, with Gelof having stolen 20 bases in 25 attempts this year. He’s currently considered the #3 prospect in the Athletics’ system by MLB Pipeline and #5 at FanGraphs.

The A’s have used various players at the keystone this year, none of whom have locked down a job. Tony Kemp has played regularly, though he’s hitting just .197/.286/.283 and is capable of playing other positions. It’s a similar story for Jace Peterson, who’s slashing .209/.299/.309 but is capable of moving elsewhere. Ditto for Aledmys Díaz, who’s hitting .209/.260/.286 in a multi-positional role. Jordan Diaz has hit at a subpar rate in a small sample of 32 games this year and can be optioned to the minors.

It seems like Gelof will get a chance to square off against big league pitching and see if he can take over the second base job in Oakland. This will be his first time on a 40-man roster, meaning the club can retain him for six seasons beyond this one, even if he’s up in the majors for good. Future optional assignments could potentially push that back but the focus in the immediate future will likely be on seeing how he performs. The club is the worst in the majors right now with a record of 25-67, giving them plenty of incentive to try out young players like Gelof as they try to build a better roster for future campaigns.

The Well-Timed Breakout Of Jordan Hicks

By | at

Not a lot has gone right for the Cardinals this year. They came into the season with a talented roster and hopes of contention but have repeatedly struggled to get into a groove. Their record sits at 38-52, placing them 11.5 games back in the National League Central and 11 games back in the Wild Card race. They don’t often find themselves as clear deadline sellers, having only once finished below .500 this century, which was way back in 2007. But barring a massive turnaround in the next three weeks, they will likely be selling this year, something that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak essentially admitted earlier today.

Thankfully, there are some factors that could make this a particularly fruitful sell-off for the Cards. For one thing, the expanded playoffs and some wide-open divisional races are seemingly making this year a seller’s market. The Cards have a number of controllable position players they could move without significantly hurting their chances of returning to contention next year. They also have some impending free agents of note, such as Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty.

Another impending free agent who should be garnering plenty of interest is reliever Jordan Hicks. The fireballer has been in the club’s bullpen since 2018, though Tommy John surgery in June 2019 prevented him from appearing in the latter half of that campaign or at any point in 2020.

His performance in his career has been unusual in that he has elite velocity, averaging over 100 mph on his fastball in his career. But somehow, that hasn’t translated into the huge strikeout numbers one would expect. By the end of the 2022 season, he had tossed 177 2/3 innings over 147 outings, striking out 23% of batters faced. That strikeout rate is right around league average, whereas other gas-spewing pitchers like Aroldis Chapman, Edwin Díaz or Félix Bautista often run their rates into the 40s or even the 50s.

Here in 2023, Hicks seems to have finally unlocked a new level in that department. He’s thrown 36 2/3 innings over 36 outings, punching out 32.9% of batters faced. His 13.8% walk rate is still on the high side but that’s right in line with his previous work and not too dissimilar from other late-inning arms. Chapman has walked 12.4% of batters faced in his career. Josh Hader is at 10.2% in his career and 11.3% since the start of 2020. Hicks is getting fewer ground balls than in previous seasons but his 53.5% rate this year is still well above league average.

The new strikeout rate has helped to lower his ERA to 3.93, compared to 4.84 last year and 5.40 the year before. He likely deserves even better, as his .357 batting average on balls in play is above league average and above his marks in previous seasons. His 3.47 SIERA and 3.12 FIP suggest he could get even better results if that BABIP normalizes going forward. He’s also produced these results while ascending into the closer’s role with Ryan Helsley on the injured list, with Hicks racking up seven saves in the past four weeks.

One thing that might be fuelling this breakout is a change in his pitch mix. He has primarily been a sinker-slider guy in his career, with 90% of his offerings being one of those two pitches, while also occasionally mixing in changeups, cutters and four-seam fastballs. According to Statcast, Hicks had thrown only 20 four-seamers prior to his surgery and then just nine over the past two seasons. He has thrown 73 of them this year. He’s also added a sweeper, throwing 150 of those this year, with opponents batting just .107 and slugging just .250 in plate appearances ending with that offering. The sweeper seems to pair well with his sinker/two-seamer, as shown in this tweet from Rob Friedman, aka the Pitching Ninja.

This is still just a few months of results we’re talking about, but the change in repertoire seems to point to a legitimate progression as opposed to just small sample noise. The Cardinals would surely have preferred to be in contention right now, using this new and improved version of Hicks to bolster their chances in a postseason race. But they will at least have the opportunity to squeeze some extra future value out of it via trade prior to the upcoming deadline. If he had discovered this new level of performance next year instead, they may not have benefited from it at all.

The timing is also potentially significant for Hicks personally, allowing him to go into the open market with a strong platform season if he can maintain it for the next few months. He cracked the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster in 2018 when he was just 21 years old and has never been optioned, putting him on pace to finish this season with exactly six seasons of service time and thus qualify for free agency just after he turns 27 years old in September. Relief pitchers don’t usually secure very long deals in free agency. No one has ever topped five years and contracts of that length are quite rare.

Some clubs may be skeptical given that he has a longer track record of being just okay and will have a much smaller span of time with the improvements. But we have seen clubs take significant gambles on pitchers based on limited samples before. Drew Pomeranz was a starter for much of his career but transitioned into more of a relief role in 2018 and 2019 before getting a four-year, $34MM deal from the Padres. It was a similar story for Liam Hendriks, who had been closing for two years, one of which was the shortened 2020 season, before landing a $54MM guarantee over three years from the White Sox. Robert Suarez spent most of his career in Japan before parlaying one strong MLB season into $46MM over five years.

That’s not to say that Hicks is a lock to secure a contract similar to those, especially since few of those deals have worked out well for the signing clubs, which may lead to more hesitancy in the relief market this offseason. But clubs have shown they are willing to bet on a small sample of improved results when they have reason to believe it could be carried forward. Those three pitchers were all in their early 30s when they secured their deals, whereas Hicks will be significantly younger.

Hicks has always had the velocity and now seems to be figuring out how it deploy it in a more effective way than he ever has before. With his quick rise through the minor leagues and time missed due to his surgery, he’ll be hitting the open market at an usually young age for a relief pitcher and with very few total innings on his arm. For now, he should be able to help the Cardinals recoup some extra value at the deadline before helping himself cash in this winter.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Rob Manfred Meets With Oakland Mayor To Discuss A’s Stadium Situation

By | at

Since the Athletics announced back in April that they’d agreed to purchase land for a stadium site in Nevada, a relocation to Las Vegas has seemed like a foregone conclusion. Commissioner Rob Manfred did little to dispel that notion yesterday when detailing the Athletics’ progress in the relocation application process, but he also took a meeting with Oakland mayor Sheng Thao at her request during this week’s All-Star break, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. In a separate Q&A, Thao tells Rosenthal that she requested the sit-down in large part due to Manfred’s prior public claims that the city of Oakland had not put forth a stadium proposal.

“Through the press, we have heard that Manfred has stated there was no proposal,” said Thao, who arrived at the meeting with copies of 268 pages worth of design guidelines, development plans and transactional documentation. “We wanted to dispel that notion. If people were misinformed, we wanted to make sure everybody had all the real-time information of how close we were to a ballpark.”

Fans of the A’s and other clubs alike will want to read both pieces in full. The first piece contains direct links to the hundreds of pages of material Thao brought to the presentation, while Rosenthal’s Q&A with Thao provides on-record stances from the first-term mayor, who was elected to her position back in January.

Thao repeatedly emphasized that her priority is to keep the A’s in Oakland, citing (among other factors) the larger market size, the less extreme weather and the larger plot of land for the A’s; the city’s Howard Terminal proposal includes a 100-acre real estate development, as opposed to the current nine-acre plot being discussed in Las Vegas.

Asked whether the city would be amenable to an expansion franchise following the potential relocation of the A’s, Thao replied that Las Vegas is the more logical site for an expansion club, citing the Athletics’ 50-year history in Oakland and pointing to the longstanding ties to fans in the city. Critics will surely point out the perennially poor attendance, but Thao countered by calling that factor a two-way street.

“You can’t divest from a team to make them one of the worst teams in the league — the fans know it, owners know it, everyone knows it — and then expect there to be a strong fanbase as well,” she told Rosenthal. “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.”

For his part, Manfred simply told Rosenthal that he and Thao had a “good meeting.” He told Thao he’d pass the contents of her presentation onto MLB’s three-person relocation committee. Thao told Rosenthal the city is very much open to continuing to work with the A’s and work on its proposal. It still feels like a long shot, given that the Nevada senate recently approved the team’s stadium plan and governor Joe Lombardo recently signed a bill proposing $380MM in public funding.

Indeed, while A’s hopefuls may see a glimmer of hope with Manfred and Thao meeting, Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets that a source called the meeting “much [ado] about nothing,” adding that it’s likely “too little, too late” for the city of Oakland in its efforts to rekindle talks.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top