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Dodgers Release Chris Taylor

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The Dodgers announced that outfielder Chris Taylor has been released, in order to open up roster space for Tommy Edman’s activation from the 10-day injured list.  Edman returns after missing a little more than two weeks due to ankle inflammation, but the bigger headline is the end of Taylor’s nine-year run in Dodger Blue.

The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya initially reported that Taylor had been designated for assignment, and Ardaya and several other members of the Dodgers beat noted that Taylor didn’t have a locker in the team’s clubhouse today, but the transaction was a straight release, rather than what might’ve been a token stay for Taylor in DFA limbo.  Since obviously no team was going to claim Taylor off waivers and take on the remainder of his salary, the Dodgers instead chose to just cut ties more promptly.

Taylor came to the Dodgers back in June 2016, as the return in an under-the-radar trade that sent Zach Lee to the Mariners.  Taylor was a useful utility infield piece for L.A. over the remainder of that season, but the full breakout didn’t come until the next season, when Taylor suddenly hit .288/.354/.496 with 21 homers over 568 regular-season plate appearances, and then won NLCS MVP honors to help the Dodgers reach the World Series.  He went onto deliver solidly above-average numbers through the 2021 season, and then re-signed with the team on a four-year, $60MM free agent deal that also includes a $12MM club option (and $4MM buyout) for 2026.

Things weren’t the same after that big long-term deal was inked.  Taylor hit .265/.343/.461 over 2382 PA from 2017-21, but that production plummeted to a .222/.307/.369 slash line over 1119 PA since Opening Day 2022.  A decrease in playing time naturally followed, and by this season, Taylor had become a sparingly used bench piece on the star-studded Los Angeles roster, appearing in 28 games but with only 35 trips to the plate.

While his struggles over the last few seasons have marred the end of his Dodgers tenure, Taylor (who turns 35 in August) has unquestionably been a big figure in the team’s success over the last decade.  Taylor became something of a poster child for the Dodgers’ ability for getting great results out of previously unheralded players, and his ability to play all over the diamond made him a valuable utility option.  Taylor has made at least 174 MLB appearances as a shortstop, second baseman, left fielder, and center fielder, plus he has also logged plenty of time in right field and at third base.  His NLCS MVP award and two World Series rings were the highlights of a postseason career that saw Taylor bat .247/.351/.441 over 266 playoff plate appearances.

There is some irony that Taylor’s release came at the same time as Edman’s return from the IL, as Edman has essentially taken over Taylor’s old role as a multi-position threat.  With Enrique Hernandez, Miguel Rojas, and the newly-signed Hyeseong Kim now all getting more playing time or taking up room on the bench, the Dodgers decided it was time to move on from Taylor entirely.

Los Angeles owes Taylor the remainder of his $13MM salary for 2025 (roughly $9.55MM still to go), as well as the $4MM buyout of his 2026 option.  If another team signs Taylor, that club will owe him only the prorated MLB minimum salary for any time he spends on their active roster.  That sum will be subtracted from the remainder of the money the Dodgers owe to Taylor.

Jose Alvarado Issued 80-Game PED Suspension

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12:16PM: The Phillies reinstated right-handed Jose Ruiz from the 15-day injured list, and he’ll take the open spot on the 26-man roster now that Alvarado has been moved to the restricted list.

Dombrowski provided some background on Alvarado’s situation when speaking with reporters (including Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer) today.  Alvarado told Dombrowski that he didn’t take the PED knowingly, as Alvarado believes it stemmed from his usage of a weight loss drug during the offseason.  After the reliever’s positive test, Alvarado tested negative on two subsequent follow-up tests.  As expected, Dombrowski didn’t address trade possibilities, and noted that the Phillies’ “abundance of starters” could help provide an internal answer to their bullpen needs.

10:37AM: Major League Baseball announced that Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado has been issued an 80-game suspension for a violation of the league’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.  Alvarado (who turns 30 on Wednesday) has tested positive for the PED known as exogenous Testosterone.  In addition to the 80 games lost in the regular season, Alvarado is also ineligible for any postseason action if Philadelphia reaches the playoffs.

The stunning news leaves the Phillies without not just their closer, but one of the few reliable members of what has been an overall shaky bullpen.  Jordan Romano’s early struggles quickly cost him the closer’s role, and Alvarado stepped in as the primary stopper by converting all seven of his save opportunities.  Alvarado has a 2.70 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate, 47.3% grounder rate, and a career-best 4.8% walk rate over 20 innings for the Phils, and that major improvement to his control was seemingly the headline story of the left-hander’s season.

Now, of course, those numbers have to be called into question in the wake of the league’s ruling.  This is the final guaranteed year of the three-year, $22MM extension Alvarado signed with the Phillies in February 2023, and the Phils hold a $9MM club option (with a $500K buyout) on his services for 2026.  Exercising that option was looking like a no-brainer move for the Phillies just hours ago, yet the team might now prefer to part ways with Alvarado if any doubts remain about the sustainability of his performance.

The shorter-term financial impact on Alvarado is also significant, as the suspension will cost him roughly $4.18MM of his $9MM salary for the 2025 season.  That money is also subtracted from the Phillies’ books, which may bring their estimated luxury tax number (as per RosterResource) under the maximum penalty threshold of $301MM.

That being said, it seems likely that Philadelphia will re-invest that money into reinforcing its bullpen.  The Phillies were surely already looking to add relief pitching even before Alvarado’s suspension, and that need has become even more pronounced now that the team’s closer will be out until mid-August.  President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is likely going to be challenged to make a quick trade, as even the few teams clearly out of playoff contention will put a high asking price on any trade chips this early in the season.

Romano hasn’t allowed a run over his last seven innings of work, so after a brutal start to the season, he might get the first crack at any save situations.  Matt Strahm or Tanner Banks might also get some looks in late-game situations, or the Phillies could use a committee approach rather than settling on a single full-time closer.

Orioles Fire Manager Brandon Hyde

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The Orioles announced that manager Brandon Hyde has been fired.  Third base coach Tony Mansolino will become the interim manager, while the coaching staff was further shaken up since Major League field coordinator and catching instructor Tim Cossins was also let go.

“Brandon Hyde is someone I have come to know and deeply admire, not only for his extensive knowledge of baseball, but also for his exceptional leadership as a manager,” Orioles owner David Rubenstein said in the club’s official media statement.  “I am sincerely grateful for his significant accomplishments over the past six years, which have greatly benefited both the Orioles and the city of Baltimore.  However, as is sometimes the case in baseball, change becomes necessary, and we believe this is one of those moments. The Orioles organization is truly appreciative of everything Brandon has contributed during his tenure, and we wish him nothing but success in whatever path he chooses next in the world of baseball.  Brandon is a man of great character, and we thank him for his dedication and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Today’s news would’ve seemed hard to fathom two months ago, when the O’s entered the 2025 season again looking like a strong contender to reach the playoffs for the third year in a row.  Unfortunately, Baltimore has been perhaps the biggest disappointment in baseball this year, as the team stumbled out of the blocks to a 15-28 record.  Of the four teams with 15 or fewer victories this season, three have already changed managers within the last two weeks, as Hyde’s dismissal comes on the heels of the Pirates firing Derek Shelton and the Rockies firing Bud Black.

Orioles GM Mike Elias acknowledged his own role in the team’s struggles, noting in the press release that “as the head of baseball operations, the poor start to our season is ultimately my responsibility.  Part of that responsibility is pursuing difficult changes in order to set a different course for the future.  I want to thank Brandon for his hard work, dedication, and passion all these years, and for returning the team to the playoffs and winning an AL East Championship.  His many positive contributions to this organization and to Baltimore will remain, and we wish he and his family the best.”

Hyde was initially hired as the Orioles’ skipper during the 2018-19 offseason, soon after Mike Elias was hired as the club’s new general manager.  The duo became the faces of the multi-year rebuild project that took the O’s through three dismal losing seasons in 2019-21 before Baltimore made a somewhat surprisingly early return to competitive baseball by posting an 83-79 record in 2022.  That winning season was the harbinger for the Orioles’ AL East title and a 101-win campaign in 2023, as Hyde captured AL Manager of the Year honors.  That huge season was followed up with 91 wins and a wild card berth in 2024.

Neither of those trips to the postseason, however, resulted in even a single victory, let alone a series win.  Even before the O’s were swept away by the Royals in the 2024 Wild Card Series, some cracks were showing in Baltimore’s foundation — the club had only a 33-33 record after the All-Star break, as compared to a 58-38 record in the first half.  Still, with so much position player talent in place as the Orioles’ core, the expectation going into the offseason was that Rubenstein (in his first offseason as the club’s owner) would be open to boosting payroll in order to augment the pitching help that the O’s needed as the final pieces of the puzzle.

Instead, the Orioles spent more modestly, and their main pitching additions were one-year investments in Tomoyuki Sugano (who was coming to MLB for the first time after a long career in Japan) and longtime veteran Charlie Morton.  While Sugano has performed well, Morton’s disastrous performance cost him his rotation job, adding to a litany of struggles within Baltimore’s rotation.  Injuries and under-performance have left the Orioles with a pitching staff that ranks at or near the bottom of the league in most major statistical categories, both in the rotation and in the bullpen.

More troubling results have some on the offensive side, as much about every member of the lineup has taken a step backwards from their 2024 numbers.  Losing Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser to injury hasn’t helped, and Gunnar Henderson also spent time on the IL at the start of the year.  But, health woes don’t explain why Adley Rutschman’s production has fallen off a cliff since the middle of 2024, or why Ryan Mountcastle or offseason addition Tyler O’Neill have also posted subpar numbers.

How much of this is directly Hyde’s fault is an open question, of course, as obviously Hyde wasn’t the one who added or didn’t add necessary pieces to the roster.  It is also fair to assume that decisions over playing time (i.e. how much or how often the young budding stars were incorporated into the lineup) were made by both Hyde and the front office, rather than just the skipper himself.

Still, several changes were made to Baltimore’s coaching staff after last season, indicating that upper management felt some alterations were necessary, even if Hyde’s job was seemingly safe.  And, given both the high expectations and the depths of the Orioles’ brutal start, Rubenstein, Elias and company may have felt that a managerial change needed to be made sooner rather than later, in order to see what the O’s might be able to salvage from the season.

The situation puts some extra pressure on Mansolino as the 42-year-old takes on his first assignment as a manager at the Major League level.  Mansolino has several years of managerial experience at multiple levels of Cleveland’s farm system, which led to a temporary job as the big league third base coach in 2020, as the club’s staff was shuffled around due to manager Terry Francona’s medical leave.  The 2020 campaign proved to be Mansolino’s last in Cleveland, as he was hired by the Orioles to become the team’s new third base coach.

If Mansolino can get the O’s turned around, he’ll have a great case for himself as the team’s next full-time manager heading into 2026.  Perhaps moreso than the questions surrounding the managerial situation is what today’s news means for Elias, who could potentially be on the hot seat himself in the wake of what now may be a sudden end to the Orioles’ competitive window.  In some ways, firing the architect of what is still a strong core of talent on paper would be even more surprising than firing Hyde, though it is worth noting that Elias wasn’t hired by Rubenstein himself.

Hyde completes his tenure with a 421-492 record over parts of seven seasons.  He’ll leave Baltimore along with Cossins, who USA Today’s Bob Nightengale described as a close friend of the ex-skipper.  Cossins has been a member of the Orioles staff for the entirety of Hyde’s tenure, and the two also worked together in the Cubs organization before joining the Orioles in the 2018-19 offseason.

Photo courtesy of Mitch Stringer/Imagn Images

Ben Joyce Undergoes Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

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The Angels announced today that right-hander Ben Joyce underwent surgery on his right shoulder this morning and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Joyce is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the rest of the campaign.

It’s a tough break for the Halos and one of baseball’s fastest throwers. Joyce, 24, has thrown 49 innings with the Halos to this point in his career. His fastball has averaged 101.6 miles per hour, while he’s also mixed in a cutter, sinker, slider and changeup. Despite that huge velocity, he’s more of a ground-ball pitcher, with a 53.7% rate in that department. His 21% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate are subpar, but he’s still managed to post a 3.12 earned run average.

He landed on the 15-day IL about two weeks into the season due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Joyce and the Angels seemed to initially think it was a minor issue. He framed the IL stint as precautionary at the time, saying that he “just kind of thought it was normal soreness, and ended up getting reevaluated and just a little more inflamed than we wanted it to be. So [we’re] just trying to get ahead of it.”

But last week, the Halos transferred him to the 60-day IL, indicating that the prognosis had changed. Now it seems to have gotten far worse, with Joyce going under the knife. The announcement was lacking in specifics about the procedure but the main takeaway is that 2025 will essentially be a lost season for Joyce.

The Halos have one of the worst bullpens in the league this year. Their relievers have a collective ERA of 7.07, tied with the Nationals for worst in the majors. Both clubs are almost two runs clear of their competition, as the Diamondbacks are the next-worst bullpen with a 5.18 ERA. That’s part of the reason the Angels are 17-24 so far. Getting Joyce back could have helped but that won’t happen now.

Joyce came into this year with one year and 75 days of big league service time. He’ll continue adding to that while on the IL and will therefore finish this year at 2.075. He’s slated to qualify for arbitration after 2026 and free agency after 2029.

Photo courtesy of David Banks, Imagn Images

Dodgers Promote Dalton Rushing, Designate Austin Barnes For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced that they have selected catching prospect Dalton Rushing to their roster. Fellow catcher Austin Barnes has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported the Rushing promotion prior to the official announcement while Robert Murray of FanSided relayed the Barnes DFA.

Rushing, now 24, was selected by the Dodgers in the 2022 draft. It was technically a second-round pick, 40th overall, though that was the club’s top selection that year. It was moved back ten spots due to the Dodgers going over the third tier of the Competitive Balance Tax in 2021. The club gave him a signing bonus of just under $2MM, right around slot value.

Since then, Rushing has done nothing but mash at the plate. He has stepped to the dish 1,150 times in total, for various minor league clubs. He has been struck out at a reasonable 21.5% pace in that time, while drawing walks at an excellent 15.6% clip. He has 54 home runs and a .277/.412/.519 batting line, which translates to a 154 wRC+.

That production would be excellent from any position but especially for a catcher, a spot that generally comes with lower offensive expectations. He’s also considered a good defender behind the plate, only adding to his prospect stock. The combination makes Rushing a consensus top 50 prospect. Baseball America currently lists him at #31 with MLB Pipeline having him at #15. In the preseason, FanGraphs gave him the #8 spot, ESPN and Keith Law of The Athletic both had him at #16.

Despite Rushing’s obvious talents, it was unclear how the Dodgers would fit him in. Will Smith has been the club’s regular catcher for years and is signed through 2033. Teams with two good catchers will sometimes use the designated hitter spot to distribute more at-bats but the Dodgers can’t do that. They have Shohei Ohtani in the DH spot every day and he’s also signed through 2033.

That led the Dodgers to have Rushing dabble at other positions. He has played a bit of first base and left field in the minors, though he’s still been behind the plate more often than he’s been in those spots.

With Barnes being the corresponding move, it seems Rushing will slot into the catching mix alongside Smith. Perhaps his ability to play other positions will help both backstops get into the lineup. Freddie Freeman has first base locked down, but there’s a path for Rushing to get some outfield playing time.

Both Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman are currently on the injured list. That leaves the club with an outfield alignment consisting of Andy Pages, Michael Conforto and James Outman, with utility guys Hyeseong Kim and Chris Taylor contributing on occasion as well. Pages is the only guy in that group currently hitting well, so perhaps Rushing will be able to take some playing time from the others.

It’s too late in the season for Rushing to earn a full year of service time, at least the traditional way. As a top prospect, he technically has a path to earning a full year of service by finishing in the top two of Rookie of the Year voting, though that will be a challenge. No one is currently running away with the NL ROY race but Rushing is still weeks behind others who have been up all year. Even the best prospects will sometimes struggle when first promoted to the majors, so there’s no guarantee that Rushing can just storm through the rest of the season.

Regardless, it seems the club plans for Rushing to be up for good, since they are moving on from Barnes. If Rushing struggles and they want to send him back down, Hunter Feduccia is also on the 40-man roster. Assuming Rushing finishes 2025 shy of the one-year service line, he’ll be under club control through 2031, so he and Smith can theoretically be the catching duo for years to come.

As for Barnes, he has been serving as a glove-first backup catcher for over a decade now. He has appeared in 612 games for the Dodgers, dating back to his 2015 debut. He has a combined .223/.322/.338 line in that time, which translates to an 85 wRC+. That indicates he’s been about 15% worse than the league average hitter, but catchers are generally about 10% worse than league-wide par, so that’s not bad output for a backup catcher.

Since he also provided good work behind the plate in that time, he has been a fairly solid member of the roster, leading the Dodgers to sign him to a modest extension in 2022. They were satisfied enough with his performance to pick up a $2.5MM club option for the 2025 season.

However, his offense seems to have a hit new low this year. He is striking out at a 31.8% clip, easily the highest of his career, while his 2.3% walk rate is a personal worst by a notable amount. He currently has a .214/.233/.286 slash and 44 wRC+.

Given that Barnes is now 35 years old, the club may not have much hope of a turnaround. The combination of his struggles and Rushing’s ascendance has pushed Barnes off the roster. The Dodgers will now technically have a week of DFA limbo to work out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would have to come together in the next five days.

There’s not likely to be much interest, based on his salary and recent performance. If he clears waivers, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping his entire salary coming to him. If he ends up on the open market, another club could sign him and pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Dodgers pay.

Photos courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Bryan Terry and Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Major League Baseball Rules That Permanent Ineligibility Ends At Death

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Major League Baseball issued a statement on a landmark decision today. Commissioner Rob Manfred had decided that players on the permanently ineligible list will lose that status once they die. This means that players like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are now off the permanently ineligible list, as well as 15 others.

“Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. today issued a policy decision regarding the status of individuals who have passed away while on the permanently ineligible list,” the league’s press release says. “This issue has never been formally addressed by Major League Baseball, but an application filed by the family of Pete Rose has made it incumbent upon the Office of the Commissioner to reach a policy decision on this unprecedented issue in the modern era as Mr. Rose is the first person banned after the tenure of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to die while still on the ineligible list. Commissioner Manfred has concluded that MLB’s policy shall be that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual.

In a letter to Jeffrey M. Lenkov, the attorney for Mr. Rose, Commissioner Manfred wrote, ’In my view, a determination must be made regarding how the phrase ‘permanently ineligible’ should be interpreted in light of the purposes and policies behind Rule 21, which are to: (1) protect the game from individuals who pose a risk to the integrity of the sport by prohibiting the participation of such individuals; and (2) create a deterrent effect that reduces the likelihood of future violations by others. In my view, once an individual has passed away, the purposes of Rule 21 have been served. Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list.’

Commissioner Manfred further wrote, ’While it is my preference not to disturb decisions made by prior Commissioners, Mr. Rose was not placed on the permanently ineligible list by Commissioner action but rather as the result of a 1989 settlement of potential litigation with the Commissioner’s Office. My decision today is consistent with Commissioner Giamatti’s expectations of that agreement.

’Commissioner Giamatti’s comments were completely reasonable given that, at the time, the Hall of Fame did not have a rule barring people on the permanently ineligible list from Hall of Fame consideration. In fact, Shoeless Joe Jackson was afforded the opportunity to be voted upon in 1936 and again in 1946.’

To establish clarity for the administration of the Major League Rules, the decision in this matter shall apply to individuals in the past or future who are posthumously on the permanently ineligible list. There are 17 deceased individuals disciplined since the founding of the Commissioner’s Office impacted by today’s announcement, including Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver and Lefty Williams; Joe Gedeon; Gene Paulette; Benny Kauff; Lee Magee; Phil Douglas; Cozy Dolan; Jimmy O’Connell; William Cox; and Pete Rose.”

Most baseball fans are well aware of the complexities of the Rose situation. He was one of the best players of all-time strictly in terms of on-field ability. He is the MLB all-time leader in hits with 4,256. He would have been a slam-dunk Hall-of-Famer but blocked his own path with his off-field behavior.

Rose was a player-manager with the Reds in 1984 and he continued serving as the skipper into the 1989 season, even though he stopped playing after 1986. During the 1989 campaign, an MLB investigation determined that Rose had bet on baseball, including bets on the Reds while he was managing. He only bet on the Reds to win and there’s no suggestion that he tried to fix games, but that was still a violation of MLB’s biggest rule.

Any player or coach who bets on a game involving his own team receives a lifetime ban, which Rose did indeed receive. In 1991, the Hall of Fame passed a rule that anyone with a lifetime ban would not be eligible to be inducted.

Rose passed away in September of 2024. Prior to that, he had long pushed for his reinstatement without success but has now been removed from the list posthumously. It was reported in the offseason that the league was considering a petition on Rose’s behalf from various people, including Rose’s daughter Fawn.

Now that he has been removed from the ineligible list, Rose can be considered for the Hall of Fame. Bob Nightengale of USA Today relays a statement from the Hall stating that the individuals involved in today’s ruling will be under consideration as part of the 2027 deliberations. The Era Committee process works in a three-year rotating cycle. In one year, they consider players from the Classic Baseball Era, which includes those whose major contributions were prior to 1980. Then there’s the Contemporary Baseball Era, which is for players whose contributions were mostly after 1980, and then a year for managers/executives/umpires from the same era.

2024 was a “Classic Baseball Era” year, with the Hall selecting Dick Allen and Dave Parker for induction. 2025 will see the Contemporary Era get consideration, with the managers/executives/umpires getting their turn in 2026, followed by a return to the Classic Baseball Era in 2027.

That doesn’t mean Rose is a lock to get in at that time. Hall of Fame voters are instructed to consider a player’s integrity and character alongside his contributions on the field. In addition to Rose’s gambling, he has also been accused of having sexual relationships with underage girls during his playing days. Those developments emerged about a decade ago and ended Rose’s broadcasting career. ESPN provided details on the legalities of those issues in 2017 and on Rose’s comments the situation in 2022.

Apart from Rose, Jackson is the most notable name here. Most baseball fans are familiar with the “Black Sox” scandal, where Jackson and several other members of the White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series in exchange for payment from a gambling syndicate. Commissioner Landis eventually gave lifetime bans to Jackson, Cicotte, Felsh, Gandil, McMullin, Risberg, Weaver and Williams.

The decision has been a part of baseball lore for more than a century now, becoming the subject of several books as well as the films Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams. Jackson was one of the top players in baseball at his peak but wasn’t able to play beyond his age-30 season due to the ban. His defenders point out that his performance during the World Series doesn’t align with someone trying to lose, as he hit .375/.394/.563 over the eight games in the best-of-nine series.

As referenced in today’s statement, Jackson wasn’t formally excluded from voting but he got just two votes in both 1936 and 1946, when the memory of the scandal was still somewhat fresh. It’s possible that the passage of time has led to a change in attitude from the baseball world, but his candidacy will surely be hotly debated in the years to come.

Many of the other players are mere footnotes in this decision. A handful of them were banned for gambling infractions before they had the chance to rack up the accolades necessary for Hall of Fame consideration. Back in March, the Hall of Fame announced adjustments to the Era Committee voting process. In order to be elected, a candidate must receive 12 of 16 votes. Any candidate receiving fewer than five votes will not be eligible for the next cycle three years later. If a candidate gets four or fewer votes on two separate occasions, they will be considered permanently ineligible for future consideration.

Photo courtesy of Sam Greene, Imagn Images.

Rangers Place Corey Seager On Injured List

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The Rangers announced Tuesday that they’ve placed shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day injured list. The move is retroactive to May 11. Seager is again dealing with a right hamstring strain — the same injury that sent him to the IL from April 23 to May 3. Catcher Kyle Higashioka has been reinstated from the 10-day IL in a corresponding move. He’d missed the previous 12 days with an intercostal strain.

It’s surely a frustrating situation for Seager and the Rangers. As mentioned, he only just returned from the IL barely a week ago, but it seems he wasn’t 100% healthy. He only played once in the past week and the club has now decided to put him back on the shelf.

Since the move is retroactive, he could potentially return in just over a week. Regardless, the Rangers will be without one of their better bats for a while. The club’s offense has scuffled enough this year to force various changes, including a coaching staff shake-up. Seager has not been a part of the problem when in the lineup. He has a .300/.346/.520 line and 143 wRC+ for the year. He’s one of just three players on the team with at least 100 plate appearances and a wRC+ above 113, with Wyatt Langford and Josh Smith being the others.

Despite that, the club has managed to stay afloat in the American League playoff race, currently sporting a 21-21 record. They will now have to try to keep things rolling without one of their best players.

The last time Seager was on the IL, Smith took over as the regular shortstop, though Smith is himself banged up. He missed Monday’s game due to back soreness and is out again today, with Ezequiel Durán covering short for those two games. Sam Haggerty might be the next line of defense at the position while Smith is out.

Assuming Smith feels better in a day or two, he would jump back in there. As mentioned, he is one of the Rangers having a great year at the plate, currently sporting a .316/.395/.474 line and 149 wRC+. Durán, on the other hand, is hitting .130/.160/.174.

Higashioka’s reinstatement will give the Rangers three catchers. When Higashioka’s injury popped up a few weeks ago, Tucker Barnhart was selected to the roster to serve as Jonah Heim’s backup. Heim is catching tonight with Higashioka in the designated hitter spot. Joc Pederson is often the DH but he doesn’t start against lefties, so perhaps Higashioka will take the small side of a platoon with him at times. The Rangers are facing southpaw Kyle Freeland and the Rockies tonight.

Teams are sometimes reluctant to use a catcher in the DH spot, as an injury to the player behind the plate would then force them to move the DH to the catcher position. Moving a DH into any defensive spot means a team forfeits its DH and puts the pitcher into the lineup. Having a third catcher on hand gives the club a chance to avoid that scenario.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Jairaj, Imagn Images

Cubs Promote Moises Ballesteros

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May 13: The Cubs have formally selected Ballesteros’ contract, per a team announcement. Happ heads to the 10-day IL, as expected, while a 40-man roster spot was freed up by transferring righty Tyson Miller from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. Miller has been out all season due to a hip impingement.

May 12: The Cubs intend to promote catching prospect Moisés Ballesteros for tomorrow’s game against the Marlins, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Ian Happ is headed to the 10-day injured list, Levine adds. Happ has missed the past three games with oblique discomfort. Ballesteros is not on the 40-man roster, so the Cubs will need to make another move in that regard.

Ballesteros, 21, is one of the top young offensive players in the minors. He’s a career .288/.371/.459 hitter over five professional seasons. His production has remained remarkably consistent as he has climbed the ladder. Ballesteros has posted an OPS above .800 at each stop. That includes a ..311/.368/.477 slash for Triple-A Iowa over the past two seasons.

The lefty-hitting Ballesteros has been on fire to begin this year. He’s out to a .368/.420/.522 start over his first 34 Triple-A contests. He has connected on four homers, seven doubles and one triple while limiting his strikeout rate to a minuscule 10.7% clip. Among hitters with 100+ plate appearances, he’s second in the International League in batting average and ranks among the top 11 hitters in both on-base percentage and slugging. He’s seventh in the league in OPS, and every other player in the top 10 is at least 24 years old.

Unsurprisingly, Ballesteros’ bat has always been his calling card on scouting reports. He was viewed as an advanced hitter when he signed for $1.5MM out of Venezuela during the 2021 amateur signing period. He climbed towards the top of an excellent Chicago farm system as he continued to prove himself against higher-level pitching.

Ballesteros ranked among the league’s Top 100 prospects on offseason lists from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, Keith Law of The Athletic and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs had him outside his offseason Top 100 but ranked him sixth in the Cubs’ system in December. He is up to 37th overall on BA’s in-season update.

The reports are quite similar across the board. He’s praised for his well-rounded offensive ability but faces questions about his defensive fit. Ballesteros is listed at 5’8″ and has a heavyset build (though he’s reportedly slimmed down a bit in recent years). He’s drawn comparisons to Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk as a result. Kirk has developed into a solid defensive catcher but faced questions about his glove as a prospect. There are perhaps even greater concerns about Ballesteros’ receiving acumen and ability to control the running game. Opponents have gone 27-31 in stolen base attempts in his 191 1/3 innings as a catcher this season.

It’s unlikely that he’ll get much work behind the dish in the short term. Carson Kelly has obliterated opponents to a .303/.443/.671 slash over his first 25 games. Miguel Amaya has an impressive .286/.309/.506 line over 22 contests. They’ve been the National League’s most productive catching tandem. Ballesteros can occasionally spell Michael Busch at first base, but his clearest path to at-bats would come as a designated hitter. Seiya Suzuki has drawn into left field while Happ has been day-to-day. Suzuki should play left regularly for the extent of Happ’s IL stint.

Happ has been out to a typically productive start at the top of Craig Counsell’s batting order. He owns a .269/.364/.381 line through 187 plate appearances. His power numbers are a bit lighter than usual, but the on-base mark would be the best of his career. He’d been amidst an 0-14 skid leading up the injury but had collected hits in seven straight games before that. His IL stint can be backdated to May 10, meaning he’ll be eligible to return next week.

It remains to be seen if Ballesteros will stick with the big league club once Happ is healthy. He’s past the point where he can accrue a full year of service time through the traditional means, though he meets the prospect criteria to potentially earn a bonus service year via the Prospect Promotion Incentive. He’d get a full service year if he finishes top two in Rookie of the Year voting. The Cubs would not receive an extra draft choice in that instance because they didn’t promote him early enough in the season. If this is a permanent promotion, Ballesteros would be well-positioned to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2027-28 offseason even if he doesn’t earn the full service year.

Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images.

Evan Longoria To Sign One-Day Contract, Retire As Member Of Rays

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Three-time All-Star and 2008 American League Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria will sign a one-day contract to officially retire as a member of his original organization, the Rays, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He’ll be honored in a ceremony before the Rays’ game on June 7.

Longoria sat out the 2024 season and said last summer that he was not pursuing a return to playing but was also not formally filing his retirement paperwork just yet. That left the door ever so slightly cracked for one final comeback bid, but Longoria will now formally call it a career after nearly 2000 big league games and more than 8200 major league plate appearances.

Longoria, 39, was the No. 3 overall pick by the Rays out of Long Beach State back in 2006. He was in the majors less than two years later, getting his first call to the majors on April 12, 2008. He signed a six-year, $17.5MM extension just six games into his major league career. At the time, bets of that magnitude on such young and unproven players were nowhere near as commonplace as they are in today’s game.

That extension, which contained a trio of club options, was the largest deal ever guaranteed to a player with such little MLB experience at the time it was signed. Longoria wasted little time in proving it money well spent. He hit .272/.343/.531 with 27 homers, 31 doubles and a pair of triples as a rookie, making the American All-Star team just a few months into his MLB career.

From 2008-13, Longoria was on the short list of best players in MLB. Only Miguel Cabrera, Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez generated more wins above replacement than Longoria’s 34.8 in that span, per FanGraphs. His 12th-inninng walk-off home run (video link) in the final game of the 2011 regular season wound up propelling Tampa Bay to the postseason that year, and Longoria’s celebratory trot with both arms above his head as he rounded first base is a timeless memory for Tampa Bay fans — one that the team commemorated with a statue outside of Tropicana Field.

Longoria proved such a bargain and such a critical piece to the Rays’ success that in November 2012, they extended him for a second time — this time on the first nine-figure contract in franchise history. Tampa Bay exercised all three of Longoria’s club options in one fell swoop and tacked on another six years and $100MM in new money (bringing the total guarantee to $136MM over nine seasons).

Longoria didn’t quite keep up his early career form, but in five subsequent seasons with the Rays (2013-17) after signing that second contract, he still slashed .265/.325/.457 (113 wRC+) while maintaining his brand of standout defense at the hot corner. FanGraphs (19.8 WAR) and Baseball-Reference (22 WAR) suggested he was still one of the game’s top 25 or so position players even if he wasn’t quite at the very top of the sport anymore.

With Longoria set to secure 10-and-5 rights early in the 2018 season — ten years of service, including five straight with the same team — the Rays made the decision to look for a trade in the 2017-18 offseason. Players with 10-and-5 rights gain full no-trade protection, and Longoria’s remaining five years and $81MM were more palatable to larger-market clubs than the cost-conscious Rays. In December 2017, the Rays lined up on a swap sending Longoria to San Francisco in exchange for outfielder Denard Span, infielder Christian Arroyo, lefty Matt Krook and righty Stephen Woods. At the time of the swap, Arroyo was a few years removed from being a first-round pick out of high school and was considered to be a top-100 prospect on some rankings.

Longoria’s first season as a Giant was a disappointment — the least-productive of what would end up being 16 seasons in the majors. He bounced back to league-average offense with solid defense in 2019, but at that point his days of star-level output were behind him. Longoria had a down showing in 2020 and posted big rate stats in a more limited, part-time role in 2021-22. He signed a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks in 2023 and had a nice first half of the season before fading down the stretch.

That 2023 season with Arizona, during which Longoria played in the second World Series of his career, will now officially prove to be his last. He’ll walk away from the game with a career .264/.333/.471 batting line, 342 home runs (tied with Ron Santo for 108th all-time), 431 doubles (145th all-time), 26 triples, 58 stolen bases, 1017 runs scored and 1159 runs batted in (185th all-time).

Longoria made three All-Star teams, won three Gold Gloves, won a Silver Slugger and landed MVP votes in six of his 16 MLB seasons. FanGraphs pegged him at 55.2 wins above replacement, while Baseball-Reference was even more bullish, crediting him with 58.9 (133rd all-time among position players). Between his pair of extensions and that final one-year deal with the D-backs, he earned more than $148MM in a 16-year career that will garner some legitimate consideration among the electorate when his name is on the Hall of Fame ballot five years from now.

Diamondbacks To Promote Jordan Lawlar

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The Diamondbacks are poised to recall top prospect Jordan Lawlar, according to a report from Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Lawlar is already on the club’s 40-man roster, so only an active roster move will be necessary to promote the former No. 6 overall pick.

The promotion is a long time coming for Lawlar, who actually made his big league debut back in 2023 with a 14-game cup of coffee in late September. He hit just .129/.206/.129 in that brief stint in the majors, though the Diamondbacks nonetheless had enough belief in their top prospect to carry him on their postseason roster that year as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement. He got only two plate appearances during that postseason run, although he did draw a walk and score a run against the Rangers in the World Series.

It seemed like a given that Lawlar would play a big role in the Diamondbacks’ 2024 plans after his debut in 2023, but things unfortunately didn’t quite work out that way as he was limited to just 23 games last year by thumb surgery and a hamstring strain. The youngster hit an astounding .367/.439/.592 in the brief period he was healthy enough to play at the Triple-A level last year, but there simply wasn’t enough time left in the calendar for Lawlar to get a promotion to the big leagues by the time he was back in game shape after those injuries.

Headed into 2025, Lawlar was once again held back from joining the big league roster. That’s in part due to the presence of clear everyday players at every position he plays (Ketel Marte at second base, Eugenio Suarez at third base, and Geraldo Perdomo at shortstop), but also an acknowledgment of Lawlar’s lost season in 2024 and the developmental hurdles associated with that.

After Lawlar lost nearly an entire year of reps, Arizona brass appeared to be concerned about the impact a part-time role in the majors would have on his development. Lawlar has forced the issue across 37 games at Triple-A so far, however, with a .336/.419/.579 slash line in 179 plate appearances. Lawlar’s knocking on the door has evidently become impossible to ignore, and the Diamondbacks will now need a find a way to work all four of those infielders, first baseman Josh Naylor, and DH Pavin Smith into the lineup on a regular basis.

Piecoro notes that manager Torey Lovullo said he believes that if Lawlar could get into four games per week while mixing and matching positions, then that would be enough playing time for him to stay fresh and avoid falling behind on his development.

Removing any of Suarez (117 wRC+), Marte, (154 wRC+), Smith (175 wRC+), Naylor (125 wRC+), or Perdomo (138 wRC+) from the lineup for even a day is a not insignificant hit to the Diamondbacks’ offense, though of course Lawlar’s own contributions as a consensus top-30 prospect in the sport for a fourth consecutive season could help to balance out those losses. Smith typically only plays against right-handed pitching, so Lawlar could slide into the DH slot against lefties fairly seamlessly. The other four are all everyday players, but theoretically each could sit just once a week with Smith covering first base when Naylor is sitting so Lawlar can DH and Lawlar filling in around the rest of the infield.

An arrangement along those lines would likely keep veteran players like Suarez and Marte fresher, allow each of the club’s regulars to stay in the lineup as much as possible, and get Lawlar plenty of exposure to big league pitching as he works to establish himself at the big league level. Speculatively speaking, if Lawlar takes to the majors well, the D-backs could look into moving someone like Suarez (a pending free agent after this season) at the trade deadline to open up a more regular role for the youngster while bolstering a bullpen that has lost both A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez to the injured list. Injuries can always open up other avenues to at-bats.

For now the 21-20 Diamondbacks need to dig themselves out of fourth place in the NL West and put themselves ahead of teams like the Cardinals and Phillies in the NL Wild Card race. They’ll hope that Lawlar, still just 22, can provide a spark. He’s hit at an above-average clip at every level of the minors while showing off effective defense all around the infield. He’s also an excellent baserunner, having swiped 39 bags in 2022 and 36 the following year. This season, he’s already gone 13-for-14 on the bases in just 37 games. Lawlar is the sort of dynamic, all-around player who can help virtually any team, even one that already boasts a top-seven offense in the majors like the Diamondbacks.

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