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Archives for September 2024

Giants Select Donovan Walton

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The Giants have selected infielder Donovan Walton’s contract from Triple-A Sacramento, the team announced. To make room for Walton on the active roster, the club optioned outfielder Luis Matos to the minor leagues. The Giants already had an open spot on the 40-man roster.

Walton, 30, will get the start in tonight’s contest with the Padres, playing second base and batting ninth. Brett Wisely, who has gotten most of his playing time since the All-Star break at second base, will slide over to short. Walton’s promotion is most likely related to shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald’s back tightness, which forced him to exit yesterday’s game in the third inning. Thankfully, Fitzgerald’s MRI showed no signs of structural damage (per Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle), and there is no indication he will require a trip to the injured list. Walton will be around to cover until Fitzgerald is ready to return to action.

This will be Walton’s first trip back to the majors since 2022. Selected by the Mariners in the fifth round of the 2016 draft, the versatile infielder (and occasional outfielder) made his MLB debut with Seattle in 2019. He appeared in 37 games for the M’s from 2019-22, going 18-for-92 (.196) with a .575 OPS. The Mariners sent him to San Francisco in May 2022, and he appeared in 24 games for the Giants, going 12-for-76 (.158) with a .482 OPS. Unsurprisingly, San Francisco non-tendered him at the end of the season, but he re-signed with the club in December 2022. After an injury-shortened 2023 season, he signed another minor league pact to return to the Giants in 2024. Following an impressive showing at Triple-A – he’s hitting .306 with an .821 OPS – Walton has finally made his way back to the major leagues. He could get at least a few starts while Fitzgerald is on the mend. After that, he will presumably be DFA’d at some point in the coming weeks before electing free agency again this offseason.

Rangers Activate Jacob deGrom

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Today: The Rangers have officially activated deGrom to make his first start of the 2024 season. In a pair of corresponding moves, the team optioned right-hander Owen White to Triple-A and transferred Corey Seager to the 60-day IL.

Sept. 10: Jacob deGrom makes his season debut on Friday. The Rangers announced that the two-time Cy Young winner will start that evening’s game in Seattle. It will be his first major league appearance since April 2023. deGrom underwent Tommy John surgery last June.

While deGrom’s return comes too late to give Texas any hope of a playoff push, it’s part of what should be a very exciting series. The Rangers will turn to top prospect Kumar Rocker for his MLB debut in Thursday’s opener. deGrom goes the following night. Manager Bruce Bochy told the beat this evening that Max Scherzer will be reinstated from the 15-day injured list to start on Saturday (X link via Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News). Texas will need to create space on the 40-man roster for both Rocker and deGrom.

deGrom has gotten through four rehab starts within the past few weeks. He has mowed down minor league hitters, striking out 15 while allowing only five baserunners over 10 2/3 innings. deGrom tossed four scoreless innings in just 49 pitches with Double-A Frisco on Saturday. Kennedi Landry of MLB.com wrote over the weekend that the Rangers had envisioned deGrom throwing somewhere around 60 pitches in that outing, though they ultimately elected to cap him at four innings when he pitched so efficiently. That could point to a potential 65-75 pitch count during this week’s start.

The Rangers should get three or four starts from deGrom before the end of the season. They’re not going to be of much significance in the standings (beyond the indirect effect of playing the Mariners, a fringe contender, at least once). Getting deGrom back for a few starts should at least give the pitcher and the front office some comfort going into the offseason. deGrom had battled a handful of arm issues late in his Mets tenure. He only managed six starts and 30 1/3 innings with Texas before suffering the significant elbow injury.

Few players are more important to the Rangers’ hope of a return to contention in 2025. deGrom may still be the best pitcher on the planet when healthy. He was utterly dominant for the Mets when he was able to pitch. He’d carried that form over in his first month in a Texas uniform, working to a 2.67 earned run average while striking out almost 40% of batters faced.

deGrom is going into the third season of a five-year, $185MM free agent deal. He’ll make $40MM next season, followed by successive salaries of $38MM and $36MM through 2027. The Tommy John surgery triggered a conditional team option in his deal for 2028. That’s valued at $20MM, though deGrom could push it to $30MM if he finishes in the top five in Cy Young balloting in any of the next three years.

Scherzer, meanwhile, has been out since the start of August because of a shoulder issue. He’d also missed most of the season’s first half rehabbing offseason back surgery and battling a nerve problem in his throwing hand. Scherzer has been limited to eight starts this season, turning in a 3.89 ERA across 39 1/3 innings. The future Hall of Famer will be a free agent next offseason. Scherzer has already declared he intends to continue pitching; he’ll be one of the top risk/reward plays in the starting pitching class.

Corey Seager To Undergo Sports Hernia Surgery

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Today: As expected, the Rangers have transferred Seager to the 60-day IL, making room for deGrom on the 40-man roster and formally ending Seager’s 2024 season.

Sept 12: Corey Seager will undergo season-ending sports hernia surgery tomorrow, Rangers GM Chris Young told reporters (link via Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News). The five-time All-Star was placed on the 10-day injured list last week with what the team initially announced as hip discomfort. Texas could move him to the 60-day IL in a procedural move to activate Jacob deGrom tomorrow.

It’s the second sports hernia surgery of the year for Seager. He underwent the same procedure in January, albeit with an important distinction. Seager’s previous hernia was on his left groin; Grant writes that tomorrow’s procedure will address the right side. The injury is not expected to impact the shortstop’s readiness for Spring Training.

Seager suffered his previous hernia injury during last year’s postseason. He attempted to rehab without surgery but went under the knife a couple months later when the initial treatment plan was unsuccessful. That set him back during Spring Training but did not require a season-opening injured list stint. He’ll hope for a similarly swift recovery this time around so as not to have much of an impact of his offseason.

It’s a sour end to another excellent season for Seager. He popped 30 homers with a .278/.353/.512 batting line over 533 plate appearances. He started the year slowly, likely in part because of his limited ramp-up after January’s surgery. He has been one of the best players in the league since the start of May, raking at a .290/.362/.569 clip with 28 of his home runs. By measure of wRC+, Seager has been one of the ten best qualified hitters since May 1.

While this was a step back from last year’s MVP runner-up showing, Seager’s first few seasons in Arlington couldn’t have gone much better. He has been an All-Star in all three years as a Ranger. He has reached 30 homers in each. Texas disappointed this season, but Seager was obviously the best player on last year’s World Series winner. He’ll make $32MM next season before receiving $31MM annual salaries for the final six years of his $325MM free agent contract.

Josh Smith has taken over as the primary shortstop in Seager’s absence. He’ll presumably get the majority of the playing time there in the final couple weeks of the season. Smith was a rare bright spot in the Ranger lineup earlier in the year. He stepped in at third base when Josh Jung was out and was arguably the team’s second-best player behind Seager. Smith’s production has dropped off sharply in the second half, though he still carries an impressive .265/.350/.407 slash in 134 games overall.

Yankees To Skip Marcus Stroman’s Next Start

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The Yankees are moving Marcus Stroman to the bullpen, at least for the time being. Stroman would have been lined up to make his next start on Sunday against the Red Sox, but manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic) that the Yankees plan to skip Stroman’s turn in the rotation. Instead, the right-hander will be available out of the bullpen.

Boone has had six healthy starting pitchers at his disposal since the Yankees reinstated Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt from the injured list this past weekend. At first, it was Nestor Cortes who lost his spot in the rotation; he was scheduled to start last Saturday, but instead, he appeared as a piggyback reliever for Schmidt. However, Cortes returned to the rotation last night, tossing five innings of one-run ball against Boston. Boone says Cortes will remain in the rotation for at least his next start (per Jorge Castillo of ESPN).

Thus, Stroman is the odd man out this time around. Boone suggests the Yankees could stick with a five-man set-up the next time through the rotation as well (per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com), which likely means more time in the bullpen for Stroman. This surely comes as a disappointment for the veteran, who was certainly planning to be a full-time starter – and hopefully start in the postseason – when he signed a two-year, $37MM guarantee with the Yankees last offseason. That said, with the way he has performed this year, the Yankees’ decision shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

On the surface, Stroman got off to a typical start in 2024. Through the All-Star break, he was 7-4 with a 3.51 ERA. However, his underlying metrics were concerning, including a low strikeout rate (17.4%) a high walk rate (10.5%), a high home run rate (1.29 HR/9), and a career-worst 4.94 SIERA. His opponents produced a .330 expected wOBA, significantly higher than the .315 league average this season.

With all that in mind, it’s no wonder Stroman’s ERA has risen dramatically in the second half. He has given up 29 runs (26 earned) in 43 1/3 innings of work, good for a 5.40 ERA. Although he has improved his control (6.7% walk rate) and gotten his home runs in check (0.62 HR/9), he has only struck out 31 of the 195 batters he has faced (15.9% strikeout rate). His 4.48 SIERA marks an improvement from the first half, but it’s still poor. On top of that, Stroman’s expected wOBA has only gotten worse. He is one of 92 pitchers who have thrown at least 750 pitches since the All-Star break. Among that group, his .362 xwOBA ranks last.

Stroman was solid in his latest outing, tossing 5 1/3 and giving up three earned runs against the Royals. However, he lasted just 3 2/3 and gave up five runs on nine hits against the Rangers the start before that. All things considered, Stroman isn’t having a bad season, but simply put, the Yankees have five other starting pitchers who give them a better chance to win games right now.

Reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole is a lock atop the rotation, while Gil is enjoying a tremendous rookie campaign. Schmidt was enjoying a breakout of his own before he hit the IL in late May. He looked just as sharp in his return last weekend. Carlos Rodón has had his ups and downs this year, but he has an ace pedigree and strong numbers in the second half (3.33 ERA, 3.17 SIERA). Finally, Cortes has had trials and tribulations of his own this season, but his overall numbers are stronger than Stroman’s, and Cortes has looked especially sharp his last two times out (1 ER, 12 K, 9 1/3 IP).

Funnily enough, Yankees GM Brian Cashman claimed back in 2019 that he didn’t trade for Stroman at that year’s deadline because he “felt [Stroman] would be in [the] bullpen in the postseason.” The righty seemed to take those comments personally, and Cashman ended up apologizing to him during negotiations this past winter (per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press). However, Stroman reportedly took the news that he would be moving to the bullpen with grace (per Hoch). According to Boone, Stroman will be “ready to go” in whatever role the team needs him down the stretch.

Giants Notes: Snell, Yastrzemski, Conforto

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The Giants already extended one potential free agent by when they inked third baseman Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151MM contract that overrode the remaining two years and $34MM on his previous pact and negated the opt-out clause he was sure to exercise. Now, the recruiting pitch for another likely opt-out candidate is on. Giants righty Logan Webb appeared on Chris Rose’s podcast this week and suggested he’s doing everything he can to convince Blake Snell to re-sign on a longer-term deal and plant roots in the Bay Area (YouTube link, with Snell talk beginning at the 18:15 mark). Asked by Rose how he can help make sure Snell is back with the Giants in 2025, Webb replied:

I’m going to do everything [I can]. I don’t know how that’s all going to work out. I kind of hope they do what they did with Chappy — start conversations now, so we’re not bidding against other teams. I’m sure there’s teams in our division that are going to try hard to get him. Teams need good starting pitching, and he’s been the best in baseball since the beginning of July. It’s been awesome to watch, and he’s one of my favorite teammates. Hopefully we do everything we can to get him back.

He didn’t have a spring training, right? … He was kind of scuffling. I think he was doubting himself a little bit. And then, all of a sudden, look what happens when he gains some confidence. He’s back to Blake Snell. He’s a two-time Cy Young Award winner. Not many guys are two-time Cy Young Award winners, and you can see it when he throws. He’s throwing pellets. It’s unbelievable, as a lefty. I don’t know how anybody hits this. We’ve got to do everything we can to get him back. I do think he should be a big part of our future going forward.

Webb noted to Rose that he doesn’t plan to campaign to the front office in unprompted manner — though public-facing comments of this nature are in a way indirectly doing so — but would offer his opinions and any feedback if asked. It’s clear that Webb, a perennial Cy Young candidate himself, values Snell’s on-field contributions as well as the left-hander’s presence in the clubhouse.

The assertion that Snell has been baseball’s best arm dating back to early July is hard to argue, too. Snell’s no-hitter gained plenty of attention, but as I explored in a piece for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers a couple weeks ago, Snell has picked up his annual second-half momentum and looks to be back in Cy Young form. He obviously won’t win the award this season after a dismal start to the season that included him twice landing on the injured list, but since returning from his latest IL stint on July 9, Snell has a 1.45 ERA in 68 1/3 innings. He’s punched out a gaudy 36.5% of his opponents, offsetting a higher-than-average 10.5% walk rate, and allowed two or fewer runs in 11 of his 12 starts (the exception being a three-run, six-inning quality start on Aug. 7).

That run of dominance makes Snell’s opt-out an easy call — the alternative would be a $30MM player option for the 2025 season — but it’s not clear whether the front office has engaged with agent Scott Boras (who also reps Chapman). The Giants have been reluctant to make weighty long-term offers to free agent pitchers under the current front office regime. Webb’s five-year, $90MM extension is the largest contract the Giants have given to a pitcher under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in both years and dollars. They haven’t signed a free agent for more than three years (Anthony DeSclafani’s $36MM deal) or for more than a total of $44MM (Carlos Rodon’s two-year deal). Snell should breeze past both marks.

Snell isn’t the only Giant whose future is uncertain, of course. The Giants have a wide slate of potential free agents but also some borderline arbitration calls. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski spoke with Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle about his own status. The 34-year-old is owed a raise on his $7.9MM salary this offseason and has turned in a fairly typical season by his standards, slashing .237/.310/.441 with 15 home runs and quality defense in right field.

Yastrzemski has been a fine value at his current salary, but an arb raise could push him north of $10MM. For a player in his mid-30s who’s unlikely to return to his standout 2019-20 form, that could be present a difficult decision as the non-tender deadline approaches in November — particularly since the Giants have a number of younger outfield options. Heliot Ramos has solidified himself in the 2025 outfield, and center fielder Jung Hoo Lee will be back next year after undergoing shoulder surgery that ended his season back in May. Grant McCray, 23, has looked a bit over his head in 85 plate appearances so far (.247 OBP, 41% strikeout rate), but he had a decent showing in Triple-A this year. He and/or Luis Matos could push into the picture next season.

Perhaps there’s a scenario where Yastrzemski is more of a part-time player, but his salary could be steep for that role. He made clear to Slusser he hopes to be back, however, even mentioning a willingness to sign a two-year deal that’d lower his contract’s average annual value. We don’t typically see players heading into their final arbitration season voice willingness to sign for only two years, but Yastrzemski is older than most players with five-plus years of service and also spoke of how he’s “grown so in love with” the organization, the stadium, the clubhouse and the city itself.

Slusser also adds that outfielder Michael Conforto, a free agent at season’s end, is hoping to return to San Francisco. It’s difficult to envision a scenario where both Yastrzemski and Conforto are back next year, however, as the Giants will want to earmark playing time for Ramos and Lee and surely want to leave the door open for at-bats for younger outfielders like McCray and Matos. One of Conforto or Yastrzemski, at most, seems feasible.

The 31-year-old Conforto has never regained his star-level form after undergoing shoulder surgery two years ago, but he’s popped 16 homers for the Giants this season while batting .229/.307/.430. He’s been about 7% better than average after weighting for his home park, by measure of wRC+, but he’s also sitting on the lowest full-season walk rate of his career (9.3%) and his highest strikeout rate (25%) since 2017.

Conforto likely won’t come close to the two-year, $36MM contract he received from the Giants two offseasons ago this time around. Familiarity with the player could prompt some interest in a reunion from the San Francisco front office, but he hasn’t been a handily above-average bat since 2020 at this point. A modest one- or two-year deal could be the outcome this offseason, and a Giants club hoping to establish more of an offensive identity moving forward might prefer to shuffle the lineup rather than largely maintain the status quo.

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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MLBTR’s Steve Adams hosted a live chat today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers.

 

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Rangers Extend Chris Young

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The Rangers on Friday announced that they’ve agreed to a multi-year contract extension with general manager Chris Young, who’d been in the final season of his previous deal, which ran from 2021-24. The team did not specify the length of the new contract. Young was also promoted and now holds the title president of baseball operations.

“Chris Young’s impact on the Texas Rangers organization has been immense over the last four years,” managing partner and majority owner Ray Davis said within today’s press release. “His leadership and vision were instrumental in helping bring a World Series championship to Arlington for the first time, and he is passionate about producing a consistent winner on the field year in and year out for our fans. Our baseball operations group, from scouting and player development to the Major League team, is in great hands with CY at the helm for many years to come. I look forward to continuing our work together.”

Young, 45, joined the Rangers’ front office in Dec. 2020 after spending two seasons working in MLB’s central office as the league’s senior vice president of on-field operations, initiatives and strategy. Given his background, he was a somewhat out-of-the-box hire, but the Rangers weren’t the only club with interest. Mets owner Steve Cohen also spoke to Young about a potential baseball operations leadership role, but Young removed his name from consideration for that post. Just weeks later, he accepted the title of GM with the Rangers. As a Dallas native, it was a homecoming for Young and helped to explain why he quickly withdrew from consideration for the Mets post.

At the time of his hiring, Young was second on the Rangers’ baseball ops hierarchy to then-president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. Daniels had helmed baseball operations in Arlington since 2006, but Young’s hiring proved to be a portent for a changing of the guard. Less than two years after tabbing Young as the general manager, Daniels was fired in Aug. 2022. Young took over baseball operations and, in his first full season steering the ship, saw his club defy all preseason expectations by bringing home the first World Series title in franchise history.

The success can hardly be attributed to Young alone, of course. Daniels’ fingerprints were all over the 2023 Rangers, whether in the form of prior free agent signings (e.g. Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray), previous trades (Adolis Garcia, Nathaniel Lowe, Mitch Garver) or homegrown contributors (Josh Jung, Leody Taveras, Jose Leclerc). That said, it was Young who was leading the front office when Texas signed Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Robbie Grossman and others. He also oversaw the acquisitions of Max Scherzer, Jordan Montgomery, Chris Stratton and Aroldis Chapman (admittedly paying what now looks like an excessively steep price of Cole Ragans). This past offseason’s slate of modest, payroll-limited moves included fruitful signings of Kirby Yates, David Robertson and Michael Lorenzen.

The 2024 season hasn’t at all been the followup to last year’s title that ownership, Young, the rest of the organization and fans of the Rangers envisioned. It was well known heading into the year that Texas would have several key arms on the shelf (Scherzer, deGrom, offseason signee Tyler Mahle), but the hope was that last year’s juggernaut offense would help keep the team afloat until those big arms returned to the fray.

That didn’t happen at all, however. Seager was injured early (and recently returned to the IL due to a need for sports hernia surgery). Jung missed considerable time for a second straight season. Garcia, Lowe, Taveras, young outfielder Evan Carter and catcher Jonah Heim have all taken significant steps back. Top prospect Wyatt Langford, last year’ No. 4 overall pick, broke camp with the team and has picked up steam since a slow start. However, he’s still sitting on a roughly league-average batting line and hasn’t broken out into immediate stardom like many hoped after a torrid spring training.

The result has been a 71-76 record that’s left the Rangers 7.5 games out of both the division lead and the Wild Card chase. Texas hasn’t technically been mathematically eliminated from postseason play yet, but short of a miraculous scenario where they win out for the rest of the season, they’re not going to get there. Some of that is reflective of moves that haven’t paid off and missed opportunities elsewhere. Some is indicative of the manner in which ownership’s unwillingness to spend amid concern about their television revenue effectively tied Young’s hands last winter.

Regardless of this year’s poor results, it seems ownership remains convinced that Young is the right voice to continue guiding the franchise moving forward. The Princeton grad has long been touted as one of the game’s brightest and most inquisitive minds, and he sees the game differently than many of his peers, given his 13-year career as a pitcher with the Padres, Mets, Mariners, Royals and very same Rangers he’s now tasked with constructing.

Dodgers Outright Nick Ramirez

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Left-hander Nick Ramirez went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He’s been outrighted in the past and will have the option to reject in favor of free agency. Even if he accepts the assignment, Ramirez can become a minor league free agent at season’s end.

The Dodgers acquired Ramirez from the Yankees back on April 2 in a deal sending cash to the Bronx. The Yankees’ DFA of the then-34-year-old Ramirez (who’s now 35) caught many off guard, as Ramirez had pitched to a strong 2.66 ERA in 40 2/3 innings with the Yankees in 2023. The soft-tossing southpaw had a below-average 16.3% strikeout rate last year in the Bronx but countered that with a terrific 5.2% walk rate. It had been a solid season, but Ramirez was nevertheless an early-season roster casualty.

He never made it to waivers following that Yankees DFA, but Ramirez has now twice gone unclaimed following a Dodgers DFA this season. He’s struggled in 13 1/3 big league innings, allowing nine runs on 18 hits and seven walks with only five punchouts. He’s fared better in OKC but hardly overwhelmed the league; in 31 Triple-A frames this season, Ramirez has a 4.65 ERA, 19.2% strikeout rate and 4.6% walk rate.

Cardinals Interested In Re-Signing Andrew Kittredge

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Much of the focus on the Cardinals’ slate of offseason moves was on the team’s rebuilding of its rotation. Signings of Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn have all paid off to varying extents. One of the team’s less-heralded moves, however, has proven equally important for the 2024 season. The trade of infielder/outfielder Richie Palacios to the Rays in exchange for reliever Andrew Kittredge has been a win-win swap. Tampa Bay has enjoyed a .350 OBP and quality defense at multiple positions from Palacios. The Cards have benefited from one of the most consistent setup men in the National League. And while Kittredge is a free agent at season’s end, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the team expects to talk to Kittredge about a new contract in the near future.

Kittredge, 34, is in his first full season back from 2022 Tommy John surgery but has shown little signs of rust following that arduous rehab. He pitched 11 2/3 innings for Tampa Bay late last season and has been one of the most heavily used relievers in baseball this season. His 66 appearances tie him for tenth in the sport, and his 63 relief innings are tied for 33rd among 173 qualified relievers.

Kittredge hasn’t simply provided volume, however. His 33 holds lead the National League and trail only Houston’s Bryan Abreu (35) for the MLB lead. He’s pitched to a 2.86 ERA, posting slightly better-than-average strikeout and walk rates of 23.5% and 7.5%, respectively. Opponents have kept the ball on the ground at a 44.5% clip against him — again, a bit better than league-average.

It’s fair to suggest that Kittredge could be in for some regression, particularly as he enters what’ll be his age-35 season. His rate stats are all sharp, but none are elite. He’s benefited from a .257 average on balls in play that’s 35 points shy of his career mark, and he hasn’t exactly been a soft-contact savant; Statcast measures Kittredge with worse-than-average marks in hard-hit rate (40.9%, 31st percentile), barrel rate (9.1%, 22nd percentile) and average exit velocity (89.5 mph, 32nd percentile).

That said, Kittredge has always gotten by with middle-of-the-pack exit velocity and hard-hit marks — though this year’s spike in barrel rate is uncharacteristic. This year’s opponents’ chase rate, contact rate (both in the zone and off the plate) and swinging-strike rate are each right in line with his career marks as well. Kittredge has lost about a mile per hour off both his sinker and slider relative to his peak showing in 2021, but that season will likely stand out as the best of his career. Even if there’s some regression in store, Kittredge looks fully capable of posting a mid-3.00s ERA with quality rate stats across the board. This version of him is still unequivocally a valuable, effective reliever.

Using MLBTR’s Contract Tracker to look at recent precedent, there aren’t many multi-year deals for relievers beginning in their age-35 season or later — particularly non-closing relievers. Teams are increasingly wary to commit to players in their mid-to-late 30s, and relievers are of course notably volatile. Chris Martin’s two-year, $17.5MM deal with the Red Sox is the top deal for setup men in this age bracket over the past three years; his contract began in his age-37 season. Veterans like Collin McHugh (two years, $10MM with the Braves) and Ryan Brasier (two years, $9MM with the Dodgers) have also commanded multi-year pacts. Kittredge has a steadier track record than Brasier. He throws considerably harder than McHugh did at the time of his contract in Atlanta. A two-year deal between the McHugh and Martin figures could make sense for both parties, speculatively speaking.

If the Cardinals succeed in keeping Kittredge in St. Louis, they’ll keep a late-inning corps that’s been a strength together for the 2025 season. Closer Ryan Helsley is controllable through 2025. Fellow setup men JoJo Romero and Ryan Fernandez (a very nice Rule 5 find) are under club control through 2026 and 2029, respectively.

The Opener: deGrom, Fitzgerald, NL Wild Card

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With just over two weeks left to go in the regular season, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. deGrom returns:

Jacob deGrom will pitch in the big leagues for the first time in more than a year when the Rangers activate him from the 60-day IL to face the Mariners in Seattle at 7:10pm local time. The 36-year-old is on the shortlist for the most dominant pitchers of the 21st century when healthy, but he’s struggled to stay on the mound in recent years. Dating back to 2018, deGrom sports a 2.08 ERA (191 ERA+) and 2.11 FIP with an eye-popping 35.6% strikeout rate. That dominance has come across just 108 starts, however, and things have gotten more drastic in recent years; while deGrom boasts a 2.03 ERA (198 ERA+) and 1.59 FIP with a comical 43.2% strikeout rate since the start of the 2021 season, that encompasses just 32 starts and 186 2/3 innings of work.

The right-hander will only get a few opportunities to pitch in the majors before the season comes to a close, but it’ll still be exciting for not only Rangers fans but baseball fans as a whole to have arguably the league’s best pitching talent on the mound again. The Rangers will need to make corresponding 40-man and active roster moves prior to deGrom’s start, although the former can be achieved by moving Corey Seager to the 60-day IL ahead of his impending sports hernia surgery.

2. Fitzgerald to undergo MRI:

In what has largely been another disappointing season for the Giants, the emergence of Tyler Fitzgerald as their regular shortstop has been a bright spot. The club’s fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Fitzgerald made his MLB debut last year and opened the season as a utility option. The versatile hitter, who will celebrate his 27th birthday over the weekend, has taken on a larger role in recent months and pulled it off with aplomb. In 49 games since being installed as the club’s regular shortstop, Fitzgerald boasts a huge .304/.356/.571 slash line 12 homers, 13 doubles, and ten stolen bases in 13 attempts.

Given Fitzgerald’s emergence as a top contributor, it was a worrying sign for fans in San Francisco when he was removed from yesterday’s game after just three innings. As noted by Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle, Fitzgerald told reporters that his back locked up on him before the game began and worsened through the early innings. The shortstop added that he wasn’t particularly concerned about the situation given that he deals with similar back issues “every year,” but nonetheless noted that he’s set to undergo an MRI today.

3. NL Wild Card race heats up:

The race for the third NL Wild Card spot figures to get very interesting this weekend as the two most likely clubs to grab that spot, the Braves and Mets, are both staring down tough matchups. Atlanta is welcoming the 87-59 Dodgers to Truist Park for a four-game set that begins tonight, while the Mets are ticketed for a three-game set in Philadelphia against the 88-58 Phillies. With the Braves (79-67) just one game back of the Mets (80-66), both series against the NL’s top dogs are particularly pivotal.

It’s also worth noting that the Diamondbacks (82-64) and Padres (82-65) hold the top two Wild Card spots by margins that are hardly insurmountable, and a free-fall by either club could shake up the race in a big way. The only other club with even a 1% chance of winning a Wild Card spot per FanGraphs is the Cubs, who took two of three from the Dodgers earlier this week to stay alive but face a five-game deficit that leaves them needing a miracle to get back into the race.

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