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Previewing Upcoming Club Option Decisions: National League

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In the past two days, MLBTR has taken a look at how players with contractual options could impact the upcoming free agent class. We looked at players with vesting provisions on Tuesday before turning our attention to American League players under control via team options yesterday. Today, we’ll check in on their National League counterparts.

Braves

It has been strange year for Morton, who starred on last year’s World Series winner. He re-signed on a $20MM deal with a matching option for next season. Through 22 starts and 122 2/3 innings, the two-time All-Star has a slightly underwhelming 4.26 ERA. That’s largely attributable to a dreadful first couple months, however. He has an ERA of 3.55 or below in each of the past three months, carrying a cumulative 3.44 mark while holding opponents to a .198/.276/.369 line since June 1. Morton is still sitting in the mid-90’s with his fastball, striking batters out at a quality 27.3% clip and has ironed out his control after some uncharacteristic wildness through his first few starts. At first glance, a $20MM salary seems pricey for a pitcher entering his age-39 season with Morton’s overall numbers, but he’s not shown any signs of physical decline and has looked great lately. If he keeps at this pace for another two months, the Braves will probably welcome him back. That, of course, assumes Morton wants to continue playing. He’s hinted at retirement in years past and set fairly strict geographic limitations on his market during his latest trips to free agency.

Mets

The Mets acquired Vogelbach from the Pirates to add a left-handed platoon bat to what had been an underwhelming designated hitter mix. He’d hit .228/.338/.430 through 75 games in Pittsburgh and has raked at a .341/.473/.568 clip over his first couple weeks in Queens. For a negligible $1.5MM salary, keeping Vogelbach around feels like an easy call. He’s technically arbitration-eligible through 2024 regardless of whether the Mets exercise his option. The option price should be more affordable than whatever he’d receive through arbitration next offseason, so if the Mets surprisingly declined the option, they’d likely non-tender him entirely.

  • John Curtiss, RP ($775K option, arbitration-eligible through 2025)

There’s nothing new to report on Curtiss. He signed a big league deal just before Opening Day with the knowledge that he’d likely miss all of this season recovering from last August’s Tommy John surgery. He was immediately placed on the injured list. Next year’s option is valued at barely above the league minimum salary, so it’s just a matter of whether the Mets plan to devote him a roster spot all offseason. Curtiss is controllable through 2025 if the Mets keep him around.

Phillies

Segura has been the Phils’ primary second baseman for the past four seasons. He’s generally hit at a slightly above-average level, relying on excellent bat-to-ball skills to prop up an aggressive offensive approach. He’s paired that with above-average defensive ratings at the keystone. He’s lost most of this season after fracturing his finger on a bunt attempt, but he’s healthy now and performing at his typical level. Across 195 plate appearances, he owns a .284/.324/.421 line with seven home runs. Segura is a good player, but a $16MM call will probably be too much for a Philadelphia club that already has five players on the books for more than $20MM next season (and will add a sixth notable salary — more on that shortly). The market also hasn’t been particularly robust for second base-only players in recent years. Segura will be headed into his age-33 season.

This one’s a no-brainer for the Phillies to exercise. Nola is one of the sport’s top pitchers, a picture of durability and consistently above-average numbers (aside from a blip in his 2021 ERA that didn’t align with still excellent peripherals). One can argue whether Nola’s a true ace, but he’s at least a high-end #2 caliber arm. He’s given the Phils 144 2/3 innings of 3.17 ERA ball this season, striking out 27.9% of batters faced against a minuscule 3.6% walk rate. Even on a $16MM salary, he’s a bargain.

Reds

Wilson signed a complex free agent deal with the Yankees during the 2020-21 offseason. A one-year guarantee, the deal contained player and team options for 2022. Wilson and the Yankees agreed that if he triggered his $2.3MM player option for 2022, the team would get a 2023 option valued at $500K above that year’s league minimum salary. That provision carried over to the Reds when Wilson was dealt to Cincinnati at the 2021 trade deadline, and he indeed exercised the player option last winter. Next year’s league minimum is set at $720K, so Wilson’s option price will come in at $1.22MM.

It’s certainly affordable, but it still seems likely the Reds will let him go. The 34-year-old (35 next week) southpaw underwent Tommy John surgery in June, meaning he won’t return until late in the ’23 season at the earliest. He made just five appearances this season and posted a 5.29 ERA over 34 innings last year.

Brewers

Wong presents a tricky case for a Milwaukee club that typically runs slightly below-average player payrolls. He’s hitting .255/.336/.425, offense that checks in around 11 percentage points above league average according to wRC+. It’s among the better showings of his career. He doesn’t have huge power, but Wong’s an effective baserunner with plus bat-to-ball skills and good strike zone awareness. He’s a good but certainly not elite offensive player, one who’s performed about as well as Milwaukee could’ve reasonably hoped when signing him over the 2020-21 offseason.

What seems likely to determine whether the Brewers bring him back is how they evaluate his defense. A two-time Gold Glove award winner, Wong has rated as one of the sport’s best defensive second basemen for the majority of his career. Public metrics have unanimously panned his work this year, though, with Statcast’s Outs Above Average pegging him as the worst defensive second baseman in 2022. Wong’s speed has also taken a step back, and perhaps the Brewers think he’s just past his physical prime as he nears his 32nd birthday. If that’s the case, they probably buy him out, since Wong’s value has been so heavily concentrated in his glove. If they feel this year’s downturn is just a blip and expect he’ll return to his old ways on defense, then keeping him around makes sense. Like Segura, Wong could be affected by the market’s recent devaluation of second basemen. It’s also worth noting that Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Milwaukee was open to trade offers on Wong before this summer’s deadline. They didn’t move him, but it’s perhaps an indication the front office is leaning towards a buyout.

Boxberger has spent the past couple seasons on low-cost contracts in Milwaukee and generally performed well. He carries a 2.51 ERA through 43 innings this season, albeit with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk rates. Boxberger has a career-worst 8.4% swinging strike rate, and the front office could view his strong run prevention mark as little more than a mirage. The financial cost is modest enough they could nevertheless keep him around, particularly since manager Craig Counsell has trusted Boxberger enough to give him plenty of high-leverage opportunities (largely with good results).

Rockies

Oberg is technically controllable for another season via club option, but the Rockies will obviously decline it. He earned a three-year extension after the 2019 season on the heels of two consecutive sub-3.00 ERA campaigns, no small feat for a reliever calling Coors Field home. Unfortunately, Oberg has dealt with persistent blood clotting issues that prevented him throwing from a single major league pitch throughout the course of the contract. The 32-year-old hasn’t officially announced his retirement, but he admitted in May he’s no longer actively pursuing a return to the field. He’s taken on a role in the Colorado scouting department to stay involved with the organization.

Dodgers

  • Max Muncy, INF ($13MM option, $1.5MM buyout)

One of the game’s best hitters from 2018-21, Muncy has had a disappointing season thus far. Seemingly nagged by health issues tied to a ligament tear he suffered in his elbow late last season, he’s had a huge downturn in his offensive production. Muncy still boasts elite strike zone awareness, but his results on contact are way down. Overall, he carries a meager .180/.317/.360 line across 366 trips to the plate.

Still, given what Muncy’s shown himself capable of in the past, it seems unlikely the Dodgers let him go to save $11.5MM. This is an organization that annually runs one of the league’s highest payrolls, and they’ve shown a willingness to place one-year bets on players with upside but risk (e.g. tendering a $17MM arbitration contract to Cody Bellinger on the heels of a .165/.240/.302 season disrupted by injuries). They’ll probably do the same with Muncy and hoping he rediscovers his prior form with another offseason to rehab his elbow.

The Dodgers signed Duffy to a one-year guarantee this spring knowing he wasn’t likely to factor into the plans until midseason. He’d been shooting for a June return but has still yet to make his Dodgers debut, although he’s reportedly throwing at the team’s Arizona complex. It’s unlikely the Dodgers bring him back for $7MM given his recent health woes, but he could change those plans if he makes it back to the mound late in the season and looks like a potential impact arm, as he did at times with the Royals.

Hudson signed a one-year guarantee over the offseason and quickly emerged as a key high-leverage option for manager Dave Roberts. He dominated over 24 1/3 innings, pitching to a 2.22 ERA with an excellent 30.9% strikeout rate while averaging north of 97 MPH on his fastball. The veteran righty looked like one of the sport’s best relievers for two months, but he unfortunately blew out his knee trying to field a ground-ball. He tore his left ACL and is done for the year. The Dodgers could still roll the dice given how well he’d pitched before the injury, but that’s no longer a foregone conclusion. A $5.5MM decision isn’t onerous — particularly for L.A. — but there’s plenty of risk in Hudson’s profile given the injury and the fact that he’ll be headed into his age-36 season.

The Dodgers added the veteran Alberto on a fairly surprising big league deal. He’s been a below-average offensive player for three years running, with his solid contact skills not quite compensating for a lack of power and one of the game’s most aggressive approaches. He’s played a limited utility role, serving as a right-handed bench bat capable of splitting his time between second and third base. Next year’s option price is very affordable, but the Dodgers can probably find a hitter with a bit more punch to play the role Alberto has assumed.

Nelson underwent Tommy John surgery last August, but the Dodgers brought him back for the league minimum salary to get a cheap option on his services for next year. He’s been on the injured list for all of 2022, as expected. Whether the Dodgers keep him will depend on how he looks at the start of the offseason, but $1.1MM for a 33-year-old who posted a 1.86 ERA and punched out 37.9% of his opponents in 29 innings when last healthy is beyond reasonable.

Padres

The Padres have spent the past few years trying to get out from under the money they owe Myers. The extension to which they signed him in January 2017 never worked out, as he’d been a roughly average hitter aside from a monster showing in the shortened 2020 campaign up until this season. The 2022 season has been a disaster, as Myers owns a .233/.277/.295 showing through 159 plate appearances and has lost two months to a right knee injury. He’s healthy now but relegated to fourth outfield duty. Myers will probably find a big league opportunity somewhere this offseason, but it’ll come with a new team and with a substantial pay cut.

Giants

Longoria is nearing the end of an extension he first signed with the Rays a decade ago. His production dipped late in his stint with Tampa Bay, and Longoria slogged through a trio of mediocre seasons through his first four years in San Francisco. He’s had an offensive resurgence over the past two years, carrying a .254/.340/.468 line in 470 plate appearances going back to the start of 2021. Longoria’s still a good hitter and capable defender at the hot corner, but he’s dealt with plenty of injury concerns as he’s gotten into his late 30s. He’s gone on the injured list five times in the last two seasons, including long-term absences for a shoulder sprain and hand surgery. The hefty buyout means it’d only be an extra $8MM for San Francisco to keep him around, but it seems likely they’ll look to get younger at the hot corner. It’s possible the three-time All-Star takes the decision out of their hands entirely, as he told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle in June that he’s not ruling out retiring after this season.

Yonathan Daza Leaves Game Due To Shoulder Sprain

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  • Outfielder Yonathan Daza suffered what the Rockies described as a left shoulder sprain in today’s game against the Cardinals.  Daza suffered the injury while making a running catch to rob Nolan Arenado of a hit in the first inning, as the momentum took Daza to the ground and he immediately grabbed at his shoulder.  Now in his third MLB season, Daza has hit .299/.345/.367 over 307 plate appearances with Colorado in 2022, getting the majority of playing time as the Rockies’ starting center fielder.

Injury Notes: Gore, Bryant, Flaherty, Twins

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Newly acquired Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore will resume throwing this Friday, manager Dave Martinez told reporters this weekend (Twitter link via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). Gore, the former No. 3 overall draft pick and top pitching prospect in the sport, has been sidelined since July 25 due to elbow soreness. A previous MRI did not reveal structural damage, however, and the Nats were clearly comfortable with Gore’s medical records upon reviewing them in advance of the Juan Soto blockbuster that sent him from San Diego to Washington. Presumably, he’ll require a minor league rehab stint before jumping into the big league mix for the Nationals, but Friday’s throwing session will be an important first step to monitor as he begins that progression. Assuming good health, Gore looks poised to play a pivotal long-term role in the Nationals’ rotation, joining Josiah Gray (acquired in last summer’s Max Scherzer/Trea Turner deal) as a building block acquired at the deadline.

Gore absolutely overpowered opponents through early June, pitching to a 1.50 ERA with a 30% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate across the first 48 innings of his career. He’s been tagged for 27 runs in 22 innings since that time, however, working with diminished velocity along the way. Gore only pitched 50 1/3 innings last year (plus some work at the team’s Spring Training complex while going through a mechanical reset), so workload was always expected to be something of an issue in 2022. The Nationals have not made clear the extent to which they’ll monitor his innings moving forward.

Some more health situations to monitor around the league…

  • Rockies outfielder Kris Bryant is currently in a walking boot due to a case of plantar fasciitis, and there’s no timetable for his return to the field, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes within a broader look at another disappointing season for the Rockies. Colorado signed Bryant to a seven-year, $182MM contract over the winter but have thus far received just 42 games and 181 plate appearances from the former Rookie of the Year and NL MVP. Bryant’s power was MIA early in the year while playing through a back injury that required two IL stints, but he did bat .330/.398/.567 with 13 extra-base hits (five homers, eight doubles) in 108 plate appearances between his most recent trips to the injured list.
  • Cardinals righty Jack Flaherty believes issues with his mechanics led to his latest trip to the injured list, per MLB.com. The starter spent most of the season on the injured list due shoulder problems, returning to make three starts in June before returning to the 60-day IL. That means he’s ineligible to return until late August, though he has started throwing this week, trying to iron out those mechanical issues and potentially starting a rehab assignment soon. “You start doing things incorrectly for a while and then you repeat it over and over again — eventually something is going to flare up,” Flaherty says. “The goal was to clean things up and sharpen things up so that that doesn’t happen. That’s what we’ve been working on, so hopefully things stay that way.” If he can return before the season is out, he could provide a boost to the rotation down the stretch, though the Cards added Jose Quintana and Jordan Montgomery at the deadline to proactively address the situation.
  • The Twins expect righties Josh Winder and Bailey Ober to begin throwing bullpen sessions Tuesday, tweets Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Winder has been widely regarded as a top-100 prospect this year and has given Minnesota 45 1/3 frames of 3.77 ERA ball in his big league debut, but shoulder troubles have slowed him of late (as has been the case in past seasons as well). Ober has made 27 starts for the Twins dating back to 2021, pitching to a 4.14 ERA along the way and serving as a generally solid back-of-the-rotation arm. He’s been out since June 1 due to a groin strain that proved more severe than originally believed. The Twins remain hopeful that each of Winder, Ober, outfielder Trevor Larnach and right-hander Kenta Maeda (recovering from 2021 Tommy John surgery) will be able to return in September, tweets Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Meanwhile, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North tweets that right-hander Randy Dobnak will head out on a minor league rehab assignment Thursday, giving the Twins some additional depth on the horizon.

Rockies Claim Dinelson Lamet, Designate Ashton Goudeau

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Aug. 7: The Rockies announced that Goudeau has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Albuquerque. He will remain in the organization as depth but without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

Aug. 5, 1:00pm: The Rockies announced the claim of Lamet, adding that right-hander Ashton Goudeau has been designated for assignment in order to create roster space.

12:46pm: The Rockies have claimed right-hander Dinelson Lamet off waivers from the Brewers, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports (Twitter link). Lamet, whom the Brewers acquired alongside Taylor Rogers and prospects Esteury Ruiz and Robert Gasser in Monday’s surprising Josh Hader trade, was designated for assignment just 48 hours after being acquired.

At the time of Lamet’s DFA, Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns told reporters that Lamet “has a good arm and was included in the trade to help balance out the deal” but that “subsequent transactions” made him a tougher fit on the roster. The Brewers added right-handers Matt Bush and Trevor Rosenthal in separate trades one day after acquiring Lamet.

Still, the quick DFA makes it fair to wonder how prominently Lamet ever truly factored into the plans. The 2020 Cy Young candidate has been beset by injuries since late in that truncated season and has yielded 14 runs in just 12 2/3 innings this season. His fastball, which averaged 97 mph in 2020, has averaged 95.3 mph this season. Of particular note for the Padres, who are barreling toward a second straight season paying the luxury tax, Lamet is earning $4.775MM in 2022. Including him in that trade meant not only jettisoning a player who had ostensibly been squeezed out of a roster spot but also who’d have a non-zero impact on the team’s luxury ledger. Stearns’ usage of the phrase “balance out the deal,” then, could be interpreted as referencing talent or in more fiscal terms.

Regardless, the Rockies now stand to potentially benefit from both their division-rival and the NL Central leaders feeling their rosters lacked space for Lamet. As recently as 2020, the 6’3″, 228-pound Lamet looked like a foundational piece in San Diego. He made a full slate of 12 starts during that pandemic-truncated campaign, pitching to a brilliant 2.09 ERA with a 34.8% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 36.9% ground-ball rate. That showing was good enough to land Lamet, then having just turned 28 years old, a fourth-place finish in National League Cy Young voting.

However, Lamet’s 2020 season also ended with him heading to the injured list with a biceps injury sustained in his final outing of the season. He’d go on to miss the 2020 postseason, and his 2021 season was limited to just 47 innings on account of a forearm issue that twice sent him to the injured list.

Those injuries, coupled with this year’s poor showing, have resulted in a grisly 5.46 ERA in the now-30-year-old Lamet’s past 59 1/3 Major League innings. In addition to the diminished fastball, he’s seen his strikeout rate plummet from that 34.8% mark to 26.9%, while his walk rate has spiked from 7.5% to a dismal 11.4%. Lamet may have had some bad luck in 2021, posting a .344 batting average on balls in play despite allowing hard contact at well below-league-average levels, but that’s not been the case at all in 2022. Yes, his .412 BABIP is through the roof, but so too is his opponents’ average exit velocity (a blistering 93.1 mph) and his 50% hard-hit rate.

For a pitching-needy team like the Rockies, however, there’s little harm in taking a relatively low-cost look at Lamet. They’ll be owed the prorated portion of his salary — about $1.6MM between now and season’s end — but can also control him via arbitration this winter if he impresses down the stretch. Viewed through that lens, there’d have been a case for any of the clubs higher on the waiver priority (e.g. Nationals, A’s, Tigers, Royals, Pirates) claiming Lamet, but despite the right-hander’s obvious talent, not every club is going to be bullish on his chances to rebound (or on taking on that extra chunk of cash at this point in the season).

Goudeau, also 30, has pitched 20 1/3 innings in this, his second stint with the Rockies, for whom he made his MLB debut back in 2020. He’s been tagged for a 7.08 ERA with a 17% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate, however, both well worse than the league average. His work in Triple-A Albuquerque has been even rougher, evidenced by 43 earned runs allowed in just 37 innings of work (10.46 ERA).

Deadline Recap: National League

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Following one of the wildest deadlines in recent memory — and, perhaps, the most significant deadline trade in living memory — even die-hard baseball fans could be forgiven for losing track of all the action. To get you caught up, here’s a recap of the weird, the wild, and the wacky over the last few days.

San Diego: It’s highly unlikely that anyone reading this post is unaware of the sport-shaking mega-deal that sent Juan Soto to San Diego, and there isn’t much to say about it that hasn’t already been said by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco. Though they’ll almost certainly have to run the three-game Wild-Card-series gauntlet this year, hyper-aggressive president of baseball operations A.J. Preller — who also acquired top-line closer Josh Hader in a deal with the Brewers and free-agent-to-be Brandon Drury from the Reds — has pushed all of his chips into the center of the table, effectively giving his club three seasons to win a World Series. Soto is under control through 2024, and Hader will be a free agent at the conclusion of the 2023 season.

Given the size of the package Preller sent to Washington — and the caliber of players therein — anything less than at least one title will feel like a bust. That said, that no opposing pitcher will relish the prospect of facing Soto, Manny Machado, and Fernando Tatis Jr. (currently nearing a rehab assignment) in order is a massive understatement, and the Friars will be a force to be reckoned with come October. In San Diego, the future is now.

Atlanta: While one of the league’s hottest teams could have been forgiven for more-or-less standing pat — particularly after locking up third baseman and MVP candidate Austin Riley to a ten-year, $212MM extension — the defending champs were once again active. President of baseball ops Alex Anthopoulos added a major piece to an already strong bullpen, acquiring Raisel Iglesias, in a last-minute deal with the Angels. The Braves also revamped the back half of their roster, acquiring Jake Odorizzi, Robbie Grossman, and Ehire Adrianza to shore up their rotation, outfield mix, and bench, respectively.

Oddly, they also subtracted a bit, sending former closer Will Smith to the Astros in the Odorizzi deal and back-end bullpen stalwart Jesse Chavez to the Angels in the Iglesias deal, but there’s little doubt that the team is stronger after the moves than it was before. Odorizzi provides depth to a rotation that includes a struggling Ian Anderson and rookie sensation Spencer Strider, who may be on an innings limit. The switch-hitting Grossman is a strong righty bat who can share time with the left-handed Eddie Rosario following Adam Duvall’s season-ending surgery. Adrianza offers cover at several positions, including second base, where Ozzie Albies’ timeline on a return from injury remains murky. Iglesias both strengthens and balances a previously lefty-heavy bullpen that, in addition to Smith, had given a great many high-leverage innings to A.J. Minter and Tyler Matzek.

Milwaukee: In one of the stranger — if, perhaps, shrewder — moves of the deadline period, the first-place Brewers subtracted a pretty major piece, sending all-world closer Josh Hader to the Padres in exchange for a ready-made high-leverage replacement in Taylor Rogers, the oft-injured but wildly talented Dinelson Lamet, and a pair of prospects. It’s an on-its-face odd move for a serious contender to trade away its most dominant player, but it’s also the sort of tough decision small-market teams (a la the Rays) have had to make to keep a contention window open for as long as possible.

The addition of Rogers softens the blow considerably, and one day after dealing Hader, Milwaukee followed by acquiring righties Matt Bush and Trevor Rosenthal, further back-filling the ’pen to account for the loss of Hader. Trading Hader — who’ll be a free agent following the 2023 season and could top $15MM in salary next year– now rather than in the offseason gave the Padres two playoff runs with the superstar closer but also maximized the Brewers’ return. Outfielder Esteury Ruiz, in particular, is a largely MLB-ready addition. Devin Williams, Rogers, Bush and eventually Rosenthal give the Brewers plenty of late-inning options.

New York: To the surprise of just about everyone, the Mets — who held a three-game division lead over the Braves entering play Tuesday — didn’t make any major moves. They did add a pair of potential contributors in Darin Ruf (exchanged for J.D. Davis, Thomas Szapucki, and a pair of low-minors pitchers to share DH duties with fellow recent arrival Daniel Vogelbach) and reliever Mychal Givens. They’d been linked to Josh Bell (sent to the Padres as part of the Juan Soto deal) and Trey Mancini (to the Astros) as well as Willson Contreras and Ian Happ (both among the only significant pieces not to move). Ultimately, general manager Billy Eppler didn’t pull the trigger on a move of the scale that had been expected of a first-place team owned by Steve Cohen.

While Givens, who’s had an excellent year with the Cubs, should strengthen an already strong bullpen and Ruf will likely improve surprisingly anemic DH production, manager Buck Showalter will have to largely get by with in-house options the rest of the way.

Los Angeles: The Dodgers entered the deadline period as co-favorites to land Juan Soto and reportedly attempted to at least engage the Angels on Shohei Ohtani. Despite these lofty aspirations, the owners of the NL’s best record had a comparatively quiet deadline, with no move remotely rivaling the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner blockbuster of a year ago.

Instead, the Andrew Friedman-led front office kept things relatively cool (at least by their recent standards), acquiring reliever Chris Martin from the Cubs for utility-man Zach McKinstry and struggling outfielder/DH Joey Gallo from the Yankees for pitching prospect Clayton Beeter. Nothing the Dodgers could have done would have changed much in the regular season — even with Juan Soto and Josh Hader headed to San Diego, L.A. is all but a lock to win the NL West and a first-round bye. Manager Dave Roberts will have largely have to make do with what he’s got as the Dodgers attempt to get back to the World Series following 2021’s disappointing NLCS loss to the Braves.

St. Louis: Though they came up short in the Juan Soto bidding and watched rumored target Frankie Montas head to the Bronx, the Cardinals — who sat 2.5 games back of the Brewers in the NL Central and a game behind the Phillies for the final NL Wild Card spot entering play Tuesday — hardly stood pat. The Cards added left-handed starter Jose Quintana and right-handed reliever Chris Stratton in a deal with the Pirates, as well as southpaw Jordan Montgomery from the Yankees. Though the latter move came at the cost of currently injured but broadly productive outfielder Harrison Bader, there’s little doubt that the Cards emerge from the deadline with a much stronger pitching staff for the final ride of Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols, and Yadier Molina than they had before.

The Cards entered the deadline with little stability in rotation beyond Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, and Dakota Hudson. With offseason signee Steven Matz still on the shelf (and ineffective when he’s been on the field), Quintana and Montgomery should immediately solidify the rotation and give the St. Louis faithful a real shot to send their aging legends into the sunset with a playoff appearance — if not a division title.

Philadelphia: Though only on the periphery of the NL East race, the Phils added several pieces at the deadline, headlined by starter Noah Syndergaard. Thor isn’t the dominant force of his first several Mets years, but he has had a solid bounce-back season with the Angels and will solidify the back end of an already solid rotation — and, perhaps, take the ball in the decisive third game in the Wild Card round.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski also added young outfielder Brandon Marsh to an outfield mix that badly needed a plus defender of this type. Veteran reliever David Robertson strengthens a middle-of-the-pack bullpen and takes the place of struggling veteran Jeurys Familia, who was designated for assignment. The Phils also picked up infielder Edmundo Sosa in a small deal with the Cardinals, adding a standout, versatile defender — albeit one with a light bat.

Washington: The departure of generational talent Juan Soto from a team that went from a World Series title to cellar-dwelling in a flash makes yesterday a sour day for Nats fans, but the haul Mike Rizzo pulled back in return for Soto (and first baseman Josh Bell) could portend much sweeter days ahead. The Nats all but emptied out the top ranks of the Padres’t farm system, adding a coterie of high-caliber prospects in left-hander MacKenzie Gore, shortstop C.J. Abrams, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood, and righty Jarlin Susana alongside make-weight first baseman Luke Voit. In a smaller deal, the Nats also picked up minor league outfielder Trey Harris in a swap sending Ehire Adrianza to the Braves.

Time will tell if Rizzo’s return matches the value of perhaps the best pure hitter since Barry Bonds, but with his club unlikely to contend anytime soon and Soto making clear he had no interest in the best extension offer the Nats were willing to give him, he may not have had much of a choice. They may no longer have Soto, but Washington fans will have more than their fair share of young talent on display for at least the next half-decade.

Cincinnati: The Reds, mired in mediocrity, continued a payroll-driven sell-off. Cincinnati held several of the more intriguing pieces of the deadline period in starters Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle and versatile infielder Brandon Drury. The team broke the deadline logjam, sending Castillo to the Mariners late last week for a quartet of prospects headlined by infielders Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo. They hardly stopped there, however, shipping off Mahle to the Twins for three prospects, Drury to the Padres for one, and outfielder Tommy Pham to the Red Sox for a player to be named later.

How long it will take for them to return to contention remains to be seen, but the substantial prospect haul brought back in the last few days should help speed things along. For the time being, though, the product on the field is going to be underwhelming.

Chicago: One of the more confusing teams to read in the offseason, the Cubs had several substantial pieces — including Willson Contreras and Ian Happ — rumored to be on their way out. Instead, they’ll remain on Chicago’s north side for at least the remainder of the season. Happ has a year of control remaining, but the decision by the Cubs/ front office to hang on to Contreras, one of the better bats (non-Soto division) available at the deadline and a free agent at season’s end, is perhaps the most vexing non-move of a deadline in which trades came fast and heavy.

The team did make several deals, however, effectively emptying out the top half of their bullpen. Chris Martin is now a Dodger (in exchange for utility-man Zach McKinstry), and Scott Effross, David Robertson, and Mychal Givens were shipped out to Yankees, Phillies, and Mets, respectively, each in exchange for a minor-league arm. Whether they seek to either hold on to Contreras long-term or simply receive draft pick compensation by issuing him a qualifying offer at season’s end remains to be seen.

Miami: The Marlins — owners of perhaps the most impressive reserve of young, controllable arms in the big leagues — entered the deadline period on the far periphery of the NL Wild Card race. This is something of a disappointment for a team that shelled out real money to add pop to their lineup (they signed Avisail Garcia ahead of the lockout and Jorge Soler after it) with little to show for it, leading to speculation that the club might trade one of its many controllable arms (per the rumor mill, Pablo Lopez) for a controllable bat.

No such deal came to fruition, but GM Kim Ng did send relievers Zach Pop and Anthony Bass to the Blue Jays for 2018 first-rounder Jordan Groshans. The shortstop, who’s also seen time at third and in the outfield, has an intriguing profile and has consistently gotten on base at all levels of the minors, but his power output has fallen off a cliff in his first taste of Triple-A.

San Francisco: Despite listening to offers on impending free agents Carlos Rodon and Joc Pederson in the midst of career years, the disappointing Giants — currently hovering around both .500 and the periphery of the NL Wild Card race but well shy of last year’s torrid pace — largely stood pat at the deadline, making only a handful of minor moves. They acquired infielder Dixon Machado (from the Cubs) and catcher/infielder Ford Proctor (from the Rays) before swapping Darin Ruf for J.D. Davis, pitcher Thomas Szapucki, and a pair of minor-league arms. They also traded away a handful of more minor pieces, including catcher Curt Casali and left-hander Matthew Boyd (to the Mariners for a pair of minor leaguers), and rehabbing right-hander Trevor Rosenthal (to the Brewers for another minor leaguer).

Pittsburgh: With several members of the Pirates’ loaded farm system making their way to the bigs this season, things may finally be starting to look up for the long-suffering Pittsburgh faithful. While 2022 won’t be the year that ends the club’s seven-season playoff drought, the Bucs entered the deadline as clear sellers. They made only a single significant move, sending reclamation project Jose Quintana (signed in the offseason for only $2MM) and reliever Chris Stratton to the division-rival Cardinals for a young arm with some big-league experience in Johan Oviedo and third base prospect Malcom Nunez.

Arizona: A team on the rise but with little to offer in the way of attractive rental talent, the Diamondbacks had one of the quieter deadlines across the majors. They did make a pair of moves, however, shipping David Peralta to the Rays for low-minors catcher Christian Cerda and righty Luke Weaver to the Royals for 26-year-old corner infielder Emmanuel Rivera, who hasn’t hit much in parts of two big-league seasons but showed real pop in the minors.

Colorado: The Rockies gave the rumor mill a bit of grist, with starter Chad Kuhl and reliever Carlos Estevez both reportedly drawing interest, but they ended the day the only team in the majors not to make a trade in the deadline period. They did shell out a bit of money, signing 37-year-old closer Daniel Bard to a two-year, $19MM extension on Saturday — a move that perplexed many onlookers given Bard’s age and status as an otherwise prototypical trade candidate.

Rockies Fielding Trade Offers On Chad Kuhl, Carlos Estevez

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The Rockies are receiving trade interest on starter Chad Kuhl and reliever Carlos Estevez, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Feinsand suggests both pitchers could find themselves on the move before this evening’s deadline.

It’d be a bit surprising if the Rockies followed through on a Kuhl deal, as reports from over the weekend suggested they were optimistic about their chances of keeping the right-hander on a contract extension. Whether Colorado fielding trade interest is a matter of simple due diligence on the front office’s part or an indication they’ve not as close as hoped on an extension isn’t clear, but it seems general manager Bill Schmidt and his staff are at least open to offers over the coming hours.

Kuhl, who signed a $3MM guarantee over the winter, had excellent numbers early this season. He carried a 3.56 ERA through the end of May. He’s hit a major rough patch of late, though, allowing five-plus runs in three of his last five starts while failing to work into the sixth inning on any occasion. Since tossing a complete game shutout against the Dodgers on June 27, he’s allowed 22 runs in 20 2/3 innings. That has brought his season line up to a 4.59 ERA with a personal-low 16.6% strikeout rate.

Like Kuhl, Estévez is an impending free agent. The 29-year-old has made 41 appearances this season, pitching to a 4.79 ERA through 35 2/3 innings. He’s striking out a below-average 21.9% of opponents against an elevated 11.6% walk rate. Those aren’t great bottom line numbers, but the 6’6″ hurler still has 95th percentile fastball velocity and can limit damage. His hard hit percentage is in the 55th percentile and his barrel percentage in the 61 percentile. For a pitcher who plays his home games at Coors Field, that’s certainly important.

The Rockies are 46-58 and ten games out of a playoff spot, making them sellers on paper. However, that’s also been the case in the past and they have still avoided trading obvious candidates. Last year, they held onto C.J. Cron, Trevor Story and Jon Gray, despite all three heading into free agency. With Kuhl, there have been rumors of his interest in signing an extension, much like Cron did last year. Whether the club would pivot and strike a deal including him or Estévez remains to be seen.

Rockies Place Kris Bryant On Injured List

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The Rockies have placed Kris Bryant on the 10-day injured list due to plantar fasciitis in his right foot, per a team announcement. Infielder Alan Trejo has been recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque in his place.

It’s already the third IL trip of the year for Bryant, who inked a seven-year, $182MM contract with the Rockies over the winter. The first season of that contract clearly hasn’t gone as hoped, although it’s worth pointing out that since returning from his second IL stint due to a back injury, Bryant has been on an absolute tear at the plate. Through his first 17 games with Colorado, the former NL Rookie of the Year and MVP hit .270/.342/.333 without a home run. Since returning from his back troubles, however, Bryant has raked to the tune of a .330/.398/.567 clip with five home runs and eight doubles in 108 trips to the plate.

That production is more in line with what owner Dick Monfort and general manager Bill Schmidt had in mind when signing Bryant to that massive free-agent contract, but there’s no getting around the disappointment in a trio of IL trips before the trade deadline has even arrived. That’s now seven trips to the injured list for Bryant since the 2018 season. In addition to the back strain that twice shelved him this year and this new bout with plantar fasciitis, Bryant has missed time due to a sprained finger and multiple shoulder strains. Dating back to the 2018 season, Bryant has played in just 469 of the 649 games played by his teams (72.2%).

Rockies Haven't Received Trade Calls On Charlie Blackmon

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  • Rockies GM Bill Schmidt told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post) that the club hasn’t received any trade asks about Charlie Blackmon, though it doesn’t seem like Blackmon would waive his 10-and-5 rights to allow a deal anyway.  Blackmon has spent his entire professional career in the Colorado organization, and “I think it would be much more fulfilling for me to be successful with the Rockies than it would be to do it somewhere else, after what I’ve been through and the commitment from both sides.”  Blackmon already said last October that he was planning to exercise his 2023 player option (worth at least $10MM), and intimated to Saunders and other reporters that his perspective hadn’t changed.

Rockies, Daniel Bard Agree To Extension

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1:05pm: Bard’s contract will guarantee him “about $19MM,” Feinsand tweets.

12:52pm: The Rockies and closer Daniel Bard are finalizing a contract extension, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). Jon Heyman of the New York Post, meanwhile, reports that the Rockies have already reached an agreement on a two-year extension for Bard, a client of ISE Baseball (Twitter links).

Daniel Bard

All indications throughout the summer have been that the Rockies aren’t interested in trading the 37-year-old Bard and rather hoped to keep him beyond the current season. It now appears they’ve succeeded in that goal.

On paper, Bard seemed like the optimal trade candidate: a 37-year-old reliever on an expiring contract and in the midst of a dominant season for a last-place team. The Rockies, however, march to the beat of their own drum perhaps more than any team in the sport and have made a habit of hanging onto conventional trade candidates, even if it means losing key players for nothing, as they did last summer when declining to trade Jon Gray and surprisingly choosing not to issue him a qualifying offer.

Rockies owner Dick Monfort has outwardly spoken about his belief that the team has the makings of a winning club, even if the on-field results have overwhelmingly suggested otherwise in recent seasons. General manager Bill Schmidt, who was elevated from scouting director to the GM’s chair last year after GM Jeff Bridich’s dismissal, plainly told Danielle Allentuck of the Denver Gazette earlier this month that he did not envision being a major seller at this year’s deadline because the organization believes in the talent on the roster. Manager Bud Black has echoed similar sentiments in recent days, rhetorically questioning why the team would trade a “Range Rover” (Bard) for a “Honda Accord” (a package of minor league prospects, presumably).

While it’s certainly fair to question the inherently risky decision to extend a 37-year-old reliever, it’s simultaneously easy to see how the Rockies have become enamored of Bard in the ninth inning. Merely making it back to the Majors after a seven-year absence would’ve been a feel-good story on its own, but Bard not only engineered one of the most improbable comebacks in recent memory — he’s quickly ascended to the ranks of the elite in MLB.

A late-season swoon sent Bard’s 2021 ERA soaring to 5.21 following the trade deadline, but he’s been an absolute powerhouse in Black’s bullpen this year, pitching to a 1.91 ERA with a 27.6% strikeout rate and a 53.8% ground-ball rate. Bard’s 12.2% walk rate is noticeably higher than the league-average mark of 9.1% among relievers, but his penchant for grounders and inducing generally weak contact (87.2 mph average exit velocity) has helped him to mitigate any damage that might arise from at-times spotty control. Bard is also averaging a blistering 98.1 mph on a sinker that can reach triple-digits and make hitters look downright foolish at times.

Relievers are volatile, as Bard himself has shown with his 2021 and 2022 results, so there’s plenty of risk that this deal turns out poorly for the Rockies. The current version of Bard, though, is about as good a reliever as you’ll find anywhere in the league — and the Rockies are clearly confident in his ability to sustain this output even as he approaches his 40th birthday.

From a payroll vantage point, Bard will add another notable salary to a 2023 roster that could well set a new franchise-record in payroll before the front office makes a single roster move. The Rox had $110MM on next year’s books already, and that was before factoring in Bard’s new extension and an $18MM player option that Charlie Blackmon seems likely to exercise. Colorado will also owe arbitration raises to each of Robert Stephenson, Garrett Hampson, Tyler Kinley, Peter Lambert, Austin Gomber and Brendan Rodgers. All of that should push the team right up against or somewhere beyond the current franchise-record mark of $145MM. Further additions this winter could send the Rockies into entirely new payroll territory.

The Rockies will take– and, based on social media reaction, already have taken — plenty of flak for their commitment to retaining a core of players that has generated only a .445 winning percentage dating back to the 2019 season. And while the team’s resistance to rebuilding and staunch belief that the makings of a contender are present can both fairly be questioned, it’s also somewhat refreshing to see a club continue to try to put together a winning club rather than lean into the type of arduous, multi-year rebuilds that have proliferated the sport in recent years. Even if this group never breaks through and emerges as a true postseason contender in future seasons, the Rockies are at least trying — and that’s more than several teams can say each season.

Rockies Remain Unlikely To Trade Daniel Bard, C.J. Cron

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The Rockies have dropped seven of their last ten games, falling into last place in the NL West. They’re set to miss the postseason for the fourth consecutive year, but they remain opposed to any kind of dramatic overhaul. General manager Bill Schmidt flatly rejected the idea of a rebuild earlier this month, and it seems likely they’ll hold onto most or all of their shorter-term players as well.

Closer Daniel Bard and first baseman C.J. Cron have drawn reported interest over the past few weeks, but the Rox haven’t seemed especially urgent to move either player. That remains the case, as both Danielle Allentuck of the Colorado Spring Gazette and Nick Groke of the Athletic relay that neither is likely to be dealt. Both Allentuck and Groke write that Colorado is optimistic about its chances of signing the 37-year-old Bard to a contract extension that’d keep him from hitting the open market this winter as scheduled. Cron, meanwhile, is already under contract for next season at a modest $7.5MM salary.

Speaking with reporters yesterday, Colorado manager Bud Black metaphorically suggested the Rockies have been underwhelmed with the trade offers they’ve received on their veteran players. “We’re fielding calls. We’ve got some players who are desirable,” Black said. “And I can’t speak to it, but I’ll give you some perspective. Team A might call on one of our players and their front office might say, ‘We like this guy.’ And our front office will say, ‘Well, yeah, he’s a good player, you should be on that player. … But this happens a little bit, too. Hey, you guys have a Range Rover. We’ll take your Range Rover and we’ll give you our Honda Accord.’ And teams expect you to do that. Why would we do that? ‘How could you not trade your Range Rover?’ Because we might try to keep our Range Rover! Rather than trade it for your Subaru!”

The Rockies actions in recent seasons have reflected a similar sentiment. While most non-contenders are happy to take the best offer on the table for the bulk of their impending free agents, Colorado declined to trade any of Cron, Jon Gray or Trevor Story at last year’s deadline. It paid off in Cron’s case, as they eventually agreed to a two-year extension and have been rewarded with the slugger’s .280/.335/.521 showing this season. Gray and Story departed in free agency, however, and Colorado received no compensation for the former after surprisingly deciding against issuing him a qualifying offer.

They’re set to adopt a similar approach to this summer’s deadline. Groke writes that Colorado is also hoping to extend starter Chad Kuhl, who’s slated for free agency this winter himself. The righty has expressed openness to staying in Denver, and the organization shares the desire to keep him around. The 29-year-old signed a $3MM guarantee over the winter after being non-tendered by the Pirates. He’s made 19 starts and soaked up 98 innings with mixed results.

Kuhl had excellent numbers early on, carrying a 3.56 ERA through the end of May. He’s hit a major rough patch of late, though, allowing five-plus runs in three of his last five starts while failing to work into the sixth inning on any occasion. Since tossing a complete game shutout against the Dodgers on June 27, he’s allowed 22 runs in 20 2/3 innings. That has brought his season line up to a 4.78 ERA with a personal-low 16.6% strikeout rate.

Spotty recent run notwithstanding, there’s some merit to the Rox’s desire to hold onto Kuhl beyond this season. He’s handled himself well at Coors Field, pitching to a 4.17 ERA while holding opponents to a manageable .258/.313/.428 line through nine home starts. Largely thanks to a quality slider, he’s mostly done well against right-handed batters. Kuhl’s lack of a trustworthy changeup has always contributed to marked platoon concerns, but his sinker-slider mix generally aligns with those of pitchers (i.e. Gray, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela) whom the Rockies have relied upon in recent years. Depending on the price point, keeping Kuhl around as a lower-cost option at the back of the rotation is defensible — particularly since the trade demand from other clubs figures to be modest given his numbers this month.

Shortstop José Iglesias and right-hander Alex Colomé are each ticketed for free agency as well. Igleias, as a contact-oriented infielder, could hold modest appeal to contenders looking for utility depth. Colomé doesn’t miss many bats, but he’s a solid strike-thrower and ground-ball specialist in the middle innings. Whether Colorado will deal either for a lower-level prospect or two remains to be seen, although both Allentuck and Groke posit that Colomé is the likeliest player on the roster to be traded.

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