As Spring Training approaches, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Ward, Angels await arbitration decision:
Per the Associated Press, outfielder Taylor Ward and the Angels went to arbitration on Friday, with a decision expected sometime this week. Ward requested a salary of $4.8MM for the 2024 campaign, while the club countered at $4.3MM. Teams have typically won arbitration cases more often than players have in recent years, and that’s held up so far this season. Both center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and southpaw Jose Suarez lost their cases against the Marlins and Angels, respectively. In addition to Ward, a pair of Orioles players are awaiting decisions on their 2024 salaries after going to arbitration: outfielder Austin Hays and right-hander Jacob Webb.
Ward took a step back from his All-Star level 2022 campaign last season but still provided above average offensive production. The 30-year-old slashed .253/.335/.421 in 97 games before having his season cut short by facial fractures caused by Ward getting struck in the face by a pitch from Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s projections indicate Ward is expected to earn $4.5MM in his second trip through arbitration, though the panel of three arbiters who heard the case must choose between one of the two salaries submitted.
2. Twins roster moves upcoming:
The Twins agreed on big league deals with a pair of veterans over the weekend. First baseman Carlos Santana came aboard on a one-year, $5.25MM contract while right-hander Jay Jackson is in line for a one-year deal with as-of-yet unreported salary terms. Both deals are pending physicals. The Twins have a full 40-man roster as things stand, meaning both additions will require a corresponding move before they can be made official. Corresponding moves typically take the form of a simple DFA of a player on the roster, though occasionally a team will try to clear 40-man roster space by trading excess talent near the back of their 40-man for lower-level talent that doesn’t yet require a roster spot. One such example occurred late last month, when the Rangers shipped outfielder J.P. Martinez to Atlanta in a deal that made room for right-hander David Robertson on the 40-man roster.
3. White Sox getting active:
The White Sox made a pair of trades over the weekend, shipping relief arm Gregory Santos to the Mariners in exchange for right-hander Prelander Berroa, outfielder Zach DeLoach, and a Competitive Balance Round B draft selection while sending right-handed prospect Cristian Mena to the Diamondbacks to land outfielder Dominic Fletcher. The additions of Fletcher and DeLoach, in particular, leave the club with vastly improved outfield depth at the big league level to plug one of the most glaring holes on the Chicago roster.
While the two trades the Sox made over the weekend were fairly minor, the club has not been shy about the fact that right-hander Dylan Cease is being shopped to interested teams this winter. While the righty has garnered interest from plenty of teams this winter including the Orioles, Reds, and Mariners, no club has been willing to meet Chicago’s lofty asking price to this point. With Spring Training creeping closer by the day, will either GM Chris Getz or a rival club give in to make a deal happen?
I’m surprised it hasn’t been reported on here, given it is a rumor.
MLB Network Radio host Jim Memolo said Saturday that somebody who has worked in MLB told him “the Angels are about to sell.” The same person also speculated Mark Cuban as a potential buyer.
hopefully mark can buy the angels, it would be a dream come true for angels fans.
Right, because reckless spending in free agency has really worked out for the Angels in the past.
I can imagine Cuban sitting down with Sam Blum after every game talking about the fine points of Angels Baseball.
Hasn’t MLB rejected Cuban’s interest in the past?
Will Cuban select his baseball players factoring in DEI and not just talent? Would that be a worse approach than what’s happening now with the Angels under Arte?*
*This is likely not a serious question, but I’d enjoy an overreaction if someone thinks it is.
I would select my players based on diversity rather than talent! For instance, I would make sure I had a catcher and a center fielder and a closer and a lefty starter and some guys who hit for power and some for average and some who get on base a lot and some who are fast runners and some who play good defense and some who are good every day and some who are good platoon options and some who hit a lot of foul balls and some who are a good clubhouse presence and some who are fan favorites and especially someone who hits well against lefty curveball throwers with men in scoring position on Tuesday nights when the temperature is between 76 and 83 degrees with low humidity and a slight breeze blowing.
I don’t want Cuban as an owner. I’d be surprised if he got owners approval.
Why@hayzee, I don’t think you understand what DEI means.
I’m not exactly sure what that would mean on the field as the game is already dominated by what the lawyers call “protected groups”. It would certainly provide an interesting look into front offices…
Hey West. They’ll need to add Woman with a Y chromosome who will demand to play in a dress.
And move them to Dallas.
If anything I can see him buying the a’s, he was pushing for a gambling district by the mavs arena, and the law hasn’t even passed yet. He could buy the hooters casino demolish it, with the Tropicana and build a new casino next to the stadium
As much sense as this makes, it’s the A’s we’re talking about. They don’t seem to do anything logical. Besides, I think Fisher sees the $green$ pastures of Vegas ahead and has no desire to sell.
Also I think if he sells the team in a certain window he will pay a steep tax penalty the owners put that in the relocation deal, I’m sure the buyer would pick it up. The stadium is going in a nice spot on the strip.
Arte selling the team would literally be the only thing that can help with the Ohtani dagger. I hope this is true.
Just not sure how true it is with the Cuban rumors, I believe he is still a minority owner of the mavs. Also I feel like he sold the mavs waiting for Texas to legalize gambling, since you can’t do both. Not saying Arte isn’t trying to sell, and hopefully it happens
@Rexhudler86, yeah my hope is Arte truly ready to sell the team again. I know Cuban kicked around buying the Pirates and/or a new franchise a few years back, but MLB did not sound enthusiastic about his entering the owners realm. Cuban is a long shot, but Arte selling the team seems a lot more plausible.
Yeah I agree the Cuban rumor is false, the Arte moreno interested in selling could have legs last time he randomly put it up with no notice. He has had issues with the city since day one, he can sell, and they can solve the stadium issue. Cuban could just buy hooters demolish it, and have a monorail to the Vegas a’s. He has interest in the gambling industry and I believe you can’t do both.
MLB has passed (or screwed) Cuban over for ownership twice in the past (for the Rangers, then the Cubs). Cuban has stated publicly that he will never attempt to buy a baseball team again; that MLB clearly does not want him as an owner, so he won’t waste his time with them ever again.
That said, times change. If Cuban really wanted to get into baseball, he could have done what Steve Cohen did: buy a minority stake in a team. Then when the owner is ready to sell, you’re not considered an MLB “outsider” and have a leg up in the approval process.
Finally an article that doesn’t mention Yankees or red sox “interest” I guess there has to be a .168 hitter in the article for the Yankees to be “interested” or a mention of cheating or a last place finish to bring up the Red Sox.
Oh, tell us where the Yankees and Red Sox hurt you.
Based on Fangraphs WAR projections, the Yankees have a 94 or 95 win season ahead of them. Why wouldn’t you want to talk about that?
He’s a Red Sox fan. They’ve hurt him in many ways.
Here is your reporting on tbe guardians. It appears the guardians are still gaurding, back to you in the studio.
Waiting on trading Cease is a gamble. I respect setting a price and sticking with it though. The gamble is that Spring Training will bring inevitable season ending injuries to someone’s rotation. If the right team gets hit, the White Sox will probably get their price. If not, they might have to settle for what they can get. Then there is the crap out possibility of Cease being the one that gets injured in which case the Sox get nothing.
Personally, I would probably accept around 80 cents on the dollar right now for Cease. It is just not worth the gamble to get a small upgrade in prospects for a team like Chicago that is practically out of the race already. Sometimes it is best to cash in before you lose even more.
They are rarely in the race to begin with.
7+ weeks until OD in the mainland. Plenty of time.
Once a legit headliner is on the table, the other secondary pieces will fall into place for Cease to change address. Burnes rental at least set the floor for both WSox and buyers to know what is realistic vs wishful thinking on 2yrs of control.
I’d wait. While he’s not quite as good as Burnes he makes less money and will be had for 2 years. He has much more value. I wouldn’t accept anything close to Milwaukee’s return.
Someone will give them an elite prospect plus 3 more decent ones.
Roob: Still like the Reds as potential match. Lowder will be target, but Cincy will turn down.
Arroyo, Petty and anyone’s guess on ancillary 1-2 pieces might be framework for a realistic deal that can happen.
I think the Sox are sticking to their price and are hoping that all the defensive upgrades this off-season will help cease and the other pitchers enough that they’ll be sought after at the deadline.
The moves they’ve made don’t look like moves you make to win games but if you want to make pitchers look good statistically then all the glove first guys make sense.
This isn’t a terrible strategy tbh. I understand the Sox are aiming to improve pitching based on their defensive acquisitions. Upgrading the defense gives you a few extra wins. They upgraded SS, C, depth in outfield and pitching, RF. Sox went from bottom 5 defense to above average in 1 offseason.
It’s not at all a gamble. He is coming off his worst season as a starter. It wouldn’t take much for him to regain form and become one of the hottest trade deadline additions.
My 3 big bets of over 10,000 this year:
1. Under Red Sox on 79.5 wins
2. Under Dodgers 103.5 wins
3. Over Tigers 79.5 wins
locks
Use me as a downvote.
Red Sox or Dodgers fan spotted
@Liberalsteve
Based on FG’s depth charts for the Red Sox, their win projection would be around 83-79.
Based on FG’s depth charts for the Dodgers, their win projection would be around 98-64.
Based on FG’s depth charts for the Tigers, their win projection would be around 77-85
LS
Can you please point me to your comments from previous years regarding locks
Thank you
Good luck with that. No such thing as a “lock”.
vrad
“No such thing as a “lock”.”
Of course there is
What a ridiculous thing to say
I’d agree with all three of those. Tigers win the Central with 85-87 wins. Boston looks like a 76-80 win team. LAD will win lots of games but likely have lots of SP injuries as well. If they stay healthy I’d put them over 103.5 though…big if though.
Regression. That is a word that Cleveland’s young starters will learn this year. They’ll be lucky to finish higher than last year, especially after they trade Bieber and Clase.
Dodgers won 100 last year whiile being decimated with injuries. I’d guess the additions are at least 3.5 WAR improvements. OVER
But…I hate the Dodgers. They stole Kirk Gibson in 1988 and I’ve never forgiven them 😉
I won’t be surprised if they win 110 games. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if they “only” won 95 with players being injured and not meeting expectations. Either way they will be good.
MCBB
“I won’t be surprised if they win 110 games. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if they “only” won 95 with players being injured and not meeting expectations. Either way they will be good.”
This is a reasonable take. But probably centered a bit high
Predictions/projections should always be a range, not av specific number
“Dodgers win 100 games but miss the World Series again” is a lazy annual prediction, but more often than not it seems to come true.
JC
“Dodgers won 100 last year whiile being decimated with injuries. I’d guess the additions are at least 3.5 WAR improvements. OVER”
That in no way means they will win 4 more games this year.
That’s just not how it works
@JimmyCatfish
Those are paper wins not actual wins.
I just want to know whether Chicago could sweeten a Cease deal by including Desist. Great battery.
I don’t get it
Ready to see the mariners go get snell or cease
Snell seems a little too pricey for Seattle, although we haven’t seen the contract yet so who knows.
Cease is possible, but how much does he improve that staff? I guess he could work as good rotation depth but given the supposed price tag, that would be a lot to pay for a #4 or #5.
Slots in as #2 behind Castillo.
Cease is not a 4or 5. He would be a terrific 3 for your team.
I wonder if they will still wear the samurai helmet now that Ohtani is gone.
That’s what I was wondering too. I’d say probably not.
A pair of Mickey Mouse ears is next
“Its not a rebuild! I swear!” Wherr have I said.. er heard that before?
I’m going to guess Cole Sands and Nick Gordon are the odd men out for the Twins. Unless they have a trade lined up for Farmer.
Since Getz didn’t get what he wanted it makes sense to hold out until the trade deadline. There will be more interested teams at the deadline to drive the price up. As far as Cuban being an owner..the CWS would be the team to buy and move it to Nashville or some other up and coming city.
Moving the white Sox to Nashville is the last thing I want.
Is this an editorial opinion piece or a news article? Ending the paragraph in a question denotes speculation rather than reporting.
Getz needs to change gears abit from his dumpster diving for scrubs & trading major league pieces. With FA market still constipated he should pitch 1-or 2-year offers to Snell and Ryu… it would repay the faithful who bleed black and white while giving him more trade chips for July. You can’t out-Oakland Oakland…