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Blue Jays Notes: Stripling, Jansen, Kirk, Tiedemann

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Ross Stripling played two and a half campaigns in Toronto after being acquired from the Dodgers in a 2020 deadline trade. The right-hander had a quality second full season as a Blue Jay, throwing 134 1/3 innings of 3.01 ERA ball over 32 outings (24 starts) last year. It was a well-timed return to his early-career form, as Stripling hit free agency for the first time this offseason.

That set the stage for a two-year, $25MM pact with the Giants — one which allowed him to opt out and retest the market next offseason after collecting half that sum. Stripling tells Shi Davidi of Sportsnet the incumbent Jays were among four teams that remained in the bidding throughout the process and said the club was willing to match the $25MM guarantee. However, he indicated the Giants’ willingness to include the opt-out was a decisive factor in his call to head to San Francisco. “I loved my time in Toronto and they were in the mix to the very end,” he told Davidi. “Essentially what it came down to was the Giants offered me an opt-out after the first year and the Blue Jays wouldn’t. That made it a no-brainer, really. … Once (the opt-out) was on the board, it was like, man, you can’t walk away from that. It’s as simple as that.”

The 33-year-old Stripling pointed to the three-year, $63MM deal which Toronto gave Chris Bassitt headed into his age-34 season as an example of the kind of earning power he could have next winter if he pitches well in San Francisco. Stripling began last year in a swing role after struggling between 2020-21. Replicating last season’s production over a full rotation workload could position him as one of the more intruding mid-rotation options in next winter’s class.

In other Toronto news:

  • Manager John Schneider discussed the team’s catching duo, telling reporters the club isn’t planning to utilize the likes of Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk at designated hitter as often as they did last season (link via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). While Jansen was only penciled into the DH spot three times, Kirk was in the lineup for 50 such contests. Curtailing that workload isn’t too surprising considering the Jays signed Brandon Belt away from San Francisco to work as the primary DH. Belt’s 2022 season was cut short by a knee procedure but Toronto nevertheless rolled the dice on a $9.3MM free agent deal. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. locked in at first base, Belt is likely to log the vast majority of his work at the bat-only position. That’d keep Kirk and Jansen behind the dish, with Schneider estimating there’ll be a “pretty even split” at the position. Matheson notes that Kirk figures to be behind the dish for Alek Manoah’s starts. An injury to Belt could change the calculus but the current plan seems to be for the Jays to use their backstops a little less often to keep them fresher. Toronto’s enviable depth at the position allowed them to deal top prospect Gabriel Moreno to Arizona to add Daulton Varsho to the outfield.
  • Moreno’s departure vaulted left-hander Ricky Tiedemann to the top of the Jays’ farm rankings at Baseball America. The 6’4″ hurler had a breakout showing in his first fill professional season, reaching Double-A at age 20. Now one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, Tiedemann has been in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee. The youngster recently experienced a bit of soreness in his throwing shoulder, Schneider told reporters (including Hazel Mae). It doesn’t seem the club is particularly concerned, as the manager indicated Tiedemann could throw a side session on Wednesday after being shut down for a few days. The former third-round pick isn’t a candidate to break camp with the big league club; he figures to start the season at Double-A New Hampshire if healthy.

Diamond Sports Planning To File For Bankruptcy; MLB Planning To Stream Games For Free Temporarily

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Diamond Sports Group, the corporation that owns 14 Bally Sports regional sports networks, is expected to file for bankruptcy March 17, according to a report from Josh Kosman of The New York Post. The timeline will be awkward for Major League Baseball since the 2023 season opens on March 30, but the league plans to step in and broadcast the games themselves.

It had been reported for some time that Diamond is in financial trouble and they forewent interest payments worth roughly $140MM to creditors last month. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said at that time that the league was monitoring the situation, hoping that Diamond would make its payments but also drawing up contingency plans. It was subsequently reported that the league had hired multiple former RSN executives for a newly-created Local Media department, seemingly to get in position to take over broadcasting duties where necessary.

The problem stems from continued cord-cutting as fewer customers are paying for cable bundles these days, opting instead to use streaming services. That leads to decreased revenue from ad sales and cable contracts, creating situations where RSNs are paying teams more for rights fees than they are able to make back from those revenue streams. Per Kosman’s report, there are at least four teams where Diamond plans to reject the contracts via the bankruptcy proceedings. The teams in question are the Reds, Diamondbacks, Guardians and Padres, with the San Diego deal currently $20MM in the red on an annual basis.

The report goes on to state that MLB’s plan is to take over the local TV broadcasts of those teams, as well as streaming them for free in those local markets as they negotiate lower deals with cable companies. It’s not yet clear if fans in blacked-out markets would be able to access those streams in the short-term. If deals are reached, the league plans to offer over-the-top service for around $15 per month. As Kosman notes, that’s lower than some other streaming deals, with the Red Sox charging $29.99 per month. The league also already tried to acquire the rights to all 14 teams currently controlled by Diamond but were turned down. Those clubs are the Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Marlins, Padres, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, and Twins.

A similar situation has arisen with Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns AT&T SportsNet and is a minority owner of Root Sports. It was reported last month that Warner was planning to get out of the RSN business, which would have implications for the Rockies, Astros and Pirates, though not the Mariners. Warner only owns 40% of Root Sports Seattle with the Mariners owning the other 60%. Kosman’s report indicates the league plans to take over those broadcasts eventually as well, though not by Opening Day.

This is a fluid situation and many of the details are still being worked out, but it’s possible there is a sea change approaching in how Major League Baseball delivers its broadcasts to its fans. Most out-of-market games are available to paying subscribers via MLB TV, though these RSN deals have always taken precedent, leading to blackouts that prevent fans from watching their local club on the platform. Many fans have been critical of the way these blackouts are applied, with some subscribers saying that their home is covered by various overlapping blackout areas. The people of Iowa, for instance, have often complained that they can’t watch games featuring the Cubs, White Sox, Cardinals, Twins, Royals or Brewers. That’s an extreme example but highlights the sorts of issues with the current system. Manfred has expressed a desire to move to a new system that would allow customers to purchase broadcasts regardless of where they are, though it’s unclear how long it would take to get such a model in place.

Whenever that new system is in place, it will also have implications for the finances for teams. These RSN deals have long been a significant source of club revenue that seems to now be drying up. Streaming will present new revenues sources, of course, and already has. The league has previously agreed to lucrative deals with streaming platforms like Apple and NBC and may strike other deals in the future.

For now, it seems the immediate concern is making sure that the broadcasts for the 2023 season are maintained. Kosman reports that the league plans to retain current local announcers for any broadcasts that it takes over and it doesn’t seem as though there are any current concerns of games being missed. Assuming the league is successful in all of these plans, it’s possible that fans won’t notice much difference in their baseball consumption here this year, but the field may be wide open for changes down the line.

AL West Notes: Athletics, Bleday, Munoz, Trammell, deGrom, Eovaldi, Schroeder

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The Athletics announced several cuts to their Spring Training roster today, and outfielder JJ Bleday was one of the players optioned to Triple-A.  Bleday had been competing with Cristian Pache and Esteury Ruiz for the center field job, and manager Mark Kotsay told reporters (including The San Francisco Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara) that “it’s not an easy decision” in picking between the trio since the A’s eventually want to see what all of them can do at the big league level.  All of Pache, Ruiz, and Bleday will “impact this club at some point” in 2023, Kotsay said, but in determining the Opening Day roster “there’s going to be factors that go into it…not just performance but roster construction, depth at the position.”

Kotsay also noted that Pache might have an advantage since he is out of minor league options, whereas Ruiz and Bleday both have options remaining.  Bleday and Ruiz each joined the A’s this offseason, as Bleday was acquired from the Marlins for A.J. Puk last month, and Ruiz came to Oakland as part of the big three-team, nine-player swap with the Brewers and Braves that saw Sean Murphy land in Atlanta.  Pache, meanwhile, was part of last March’s blockbuster deal with Atlanta, as Pache was one of four players the A’s acquired in exchange for Matt Olson.  Earlier this month, MLBTR’s Steve Adams wrote about the many outfielders vying for playing time for Oakland this season, beyond just the center field situation.

More from around the AL West…

  • Andres Munoz underwent foot surgery last October, and the Mariners reliever told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times that three screws were placed into his ankle as part of the bone-fusion procedure.  The injury dated back to Munoz’s days as a high school track athlete, and a 2020 procedure to remove a piece of fractured bone from the ankle didn’t do the trick, as Munoz said that during the 2022 season, “on almost every pitch, I felt some kind of pain.”  Under those circumstances, Munoz’s 2022 numbers are all the more remarkable, as the right-hander posted a 2.49 ERA and an elite 39.2% strikeout rate over 65 innings out of Seattle’s bullpen.  The Mariners have been taking it slow with Munoz this spring, as he has started throwing live batting practice sessions and is slated to pitch in a Cactus League game during the coming week.
  • In other Mariners news, manager Scott Servais told MLB.com and other media that outfielder Taylor Trammell is “probably three weeks away, something like that, from a bat in his hand.  But he’s focused right now on gaining strength back in that wrist and the hand.”  Trammell underwent hamate bone surgery in mid-February, and was initially projected for a recovery period of at least seven weeks.  Servais’ update would seemingly end any chance of a return for Trammell at the low end of that projected timeline, though a 10-day injured list stint already seemed inevitable to give the outfielder more time to ramp up.
  • Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi will both start minor league games on Monday, according to The Athletic’s Levi Weaver (Twitter link).  DeGrom will pitch for the Rangers’ Double-A team, while Eovaldi takes the hill for the Triple-A club.  Due to some tightness in his side early in camp, deGrom has yet to pitch in any games this spring, as Texas has been cautious in gradually managing his workload.  Eovaldi pitched in one Cactus League game before also feeling some tightness in his side, so he was briefly shut down to recuperate.
  • Former Astros prospect Jayson Schroeder announced his retirement from baseball via his Instagram page (hat tip to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle).  Schroeder was the Astros’ second-round pick in the 2018 draft, but he struggled during his brief pro career, posting a 6.95 ERA over 134 2/3 minor league innings.  Houston released Schroeder in December.

Injury Notes: Marte, Guzman, Guerrero, O’Hearn, Hall

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Starling Marte will undergo further tests on Monday after being hit in the head by an Elvin Rodriguez pitch in today’s game.  Marte was able to walk off the field by himself and initial concussion tests were negative, yet the Mets will naturally be very careful in monitoring any sort of head-related injury.

It was only Marte’s second game of Spring Training, as he didn’t take the field until last Friday due to the Mets’ desire to slowly bring Marte back up to speed following groin surgery in November.  The club expected the outfielder to be ready for Opening Day, and that should still be the case, if Marte has indeed escaped injury after today’s scary incident.

More injury updates from around baseball…

  • Ronald Guzman left today’s Cactus League game in obvious pain after throwing a pitch, and Giants manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Evan Webeck of the Bay Area News Group) that Guzman was undergoing tests for discomfort in his forearm.  It’s an ominous turn of events for Guzman, who has been one of Spring Training’s more interesting stories as he pursues a new chapter in his career as a two-way player.  The former Rangers/Yankees first baseman inked a minor league deal with the Giants, in large part because San Francisco was the only team willing to give Guzman a chance to pitch.
  • Knee inflammation kept Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from participating in the World Baseball Classic, and the Blue Jays slugger hasn’t played in any spring games since last Friday.  However, Guerrero has been facing live pitching and taking part in fielding drills, and manager John Schneider told reporters (including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson) that Guerrero reported no issues after running the bases.  If all goes well after another base-running session tomorrow, the Jays will have a better idea of when Guerrero can get back to game action.  With over two weeks to go until Opening Day, it doesn’t yet appear as though Guerrero is in danger of missing any of the regular season, but more will be known once the first baseman is fully ramped up.
  • Orioles outfielder/first baseman Ryan O’Hearn is day to day with a sore knee.  The injury is a minor setback in what has been a red-hot Spring Training for O’Hearn, as he tries to win a job on Baltimore’s bench.  In other Orioles news, manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski and other media that DL Hall threw “extremely well” during a live batting practice session, and is slated for another live BP on Tuesday.  Hall’s progress in camp has been slowed by lower-back problems and he has yet to pitch in a game, so the southpaw’s only chance of making the Opening Day roster is as a reliever.

AL Notes: Astros, Rizzo, Turner

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Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. began playing catch yesterday, and threw 30 times per reporters including the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome. In addition, Rome also notes that slugger Yordan Alvarez hit soft toss today as he builds toward game action after being delayed this spring by hand soreness.

These positive health updates are excellent news for the Astros. Alvarez is among the very best hitters in all of baseball, and any time missed by the slugger would surely be a massive blow to the Astros offense as they attempt to win a second straight World Series following their 2022 championship run. McCullers, meanwhile, is expected to begin the season on the injured list, but a swift return to action would be a major boon for Houston, which lacks much starting depth beyond unproven prospects and Brandon Bielak, who is currently slated for a long relief role in the big league bullpen.

More from around the American League…

  • Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, that first baseman Anthony Rizzo is dealing with a “cranky” back, though Rizzo is expected to return to game action Tuesday. Rizzo, who will play this season at age 33, has battled back injuries throughout his career and has had to sit more frequently in recent years to manage the ailment. He underwent an epidural last September due to the lingering issue, though it appears that procedure has not completely solved his struggles. Despite his occasional injury woes, Rizzo has been among the most consistent bats in the league for over a decade now, posting above average marks by measure of wRC+ in eleven straight seasons while playing at least 80% of his club’s games since the beginning of the 2013 season.
  • Justin Turner was among the bigger acquisitions for the Red Sox this offseason, and the veteran seems to be progressing well after getting hit in the face with a pitch last week. Turner told reporters, including MLB.com’s Ian Browne, that he had his stitches removed today and is set to return to baseball activities ahead of the schedule provided by manager Alex Cora this past Wednesday. Turner, 38, is expected to primarily play DH for the Red Sox when he returns to action, which Turner expects to be as soon as Opening Day. The longtime Dodgers was a late bloomer, having his breakout season at age 29 in Los Angeles, but since then has been a stable bat with a well above average OPS of .866 in 1,075 games since the start of the 2014 season.

Injury Notes: Walker, Vespi, Votto

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The Cardinals got a bit of a scare when Jordan Walker appeared to injure his shoulder while sliding into second base during yesterday’s spring contest. However, after some examination, it seems like Walker is fine. “I’m good. I’m fine. I’m going to go hit after this (meeting). …I knew it wasn’t anything serious,” Walker said to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Walker did not have an MRI and will take batting practice today, per John Denton of MLB.com.

The fact that Walker is fine will surely be welcome news to the Cards and their fans. Though he doesn’t turn 21 until May, he’s one of the top prospects in the league and is pushing for a spot on the Opening Day roster. He spent all of last year in Double-A, hitting 19 home runs and stealing 22 bases in 119 games at that level. His .306/.388/.510 batting line was 28% better than league average, by measure of wRC+.

A natural third baseman, Walker has been moved to the outfield due to the Nolan Arenado-shaped obstacle at the hot corner. Now Walker will be looking to crack an outfield mix consisting of Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar, Juan Yepez and Alec Burleson.

Some other health notes from around the league…

  • Orioles left-hander Nick Vespi tells Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner that he’s scheduled to pitch tomorrow. The southpaw underwent surgery to repair a hernia in January and has been held out of spring action until now. Vespi made his MLB debut last year and posted a 4.10 ERA over 25 appearances, striking out 25% of batters faced, walking 7.1% of them and getting grounders at a 42.7% clip. It’s possible that Vespi could take his game to another level, as he also made 26 Triple-A appearances last year without allowing an earned run and even better rate stats. If Vespi is back to health, he should slot into the club’s left-handed relief mix next to Cionel Pérez and Keegan Akin.
  • The Reds announced their lineup for today’s Spring Training game and it features Joey Votto batting second and playing first base. This will be his first Cactus League game of the year, as he’s been working his way back from August shoulder surgery. Votto spoke about his rehab in January, expressing confidence in his ability to get back to 100% health at some point, although he wasn’t sure if that would be at the start of spring. Though he’s missed the first handful of spring contests, he’ll now be back on the field with over two weeks to go until Opening Day. This will be Votto’s 17th year for the Reds and the final guaranteed season of the $225MM extension he signed back in 2012. The 39-year-old will make $25MM this year and then the club has a $20MM option for 2024 with a $7MM buyout. Votto struggled last year before the surgery, hitting .205/.319/.370 for a wRC+ of 92. But the year prior, he launched 36 home runs and had a much stronger line of .266/.375/.563, 139 wRC+.

Quick Hits: Walker, Glasnow, Dodgers

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Top Cardinals prospect Jordan Walker left today’s spring training game against the Astros with a shoulder strain suffered while sliding into second base, according to MLB.com’s John Denton (Twitter links).  The team is listing Walker as day-to-day and he’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow, but manager Oli Marmol said the team’s medical staff is “not overly concerned,” and that Walker even wanted to keep playing.

The 20-year-old Walker has been on fire in Spring Training, raising speculation that he could break camp with St. Louis and make his Major League debut on Opening Day. The 21st overall pick back in 2020, Walker has crushed minor league pitching and wound up with a .306/.388/.510 line slash with 19 home runs at Double-A last year. It remains to be seen how Walker’s shoulder problem might impact his immediate future or the Cards’ development plans, though since Walker has yet to play any Triple-A ball, there was some sense that he might not break camp with the Cards no matter how well he performs in spring action.

More from around the majors….

  • Rays manager Kevin Cash provided reporters (including Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times) an update on Tyler Glasnow, saying that the right-hander is still in the “treatment” phase of his recovery from a Grade 2 oblique strain.  Glasnow hasn’t thrown a ball in almost two weeks, which tracks with the 6-to-8 week timeline initially attached to his recovery process.
  • The Dodgers don’t see having a set closer as “a necessity,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters, including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.  “I think the most important question to answer is whether you think our ‘pen is going to be really good, and we do,” Friedman said.  “And then it’s about the mindset of each one of those guys, keeping them in the best headspace to go out and have a lot of success…. I think our bullpen is going to be a real strength and exactly how it’s deployed, I think we have some time to figure it out.”  Evan Phillips might be the key figure as the bullpen’s fireman, though as manager Dave Roberts hinted, Phillips’ ability to pitch in all manner of high-leverage situations might conversely make him too important to be restricted to just the ninth inning.  Brusdar Graterol, Daniel Hudson, Caleb Ferguson, or Alex Vesia are also among the relievers who could be called upon for save situations.

Twins Notes: Buxton, Polanco, Gordon, Miranda, Kirilloff, Rotation

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Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey met with reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park) today at the Twins’ spring camp, and provided several injury updates.  The news is particularly good for Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco, as Falvey said both players are on track to be in the lineup on Opening Day.

“Relying on our medical folks on what they think are the best next steps…but they’re still telling us that [Opening Day is] in play barring anything changing.  And both guys’ feedback has been positive,” Falvey said.

Buxton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in September, while Polanco didn’t play after August 27 last season due to knee inflammation.  Polanco tried to return in September, but was shut down during a minor league rehab assignment when his left knee continued to feel sore.  With an eye towards both these injuries, the Twins have been slowly easing Buxton and Polanco into spring activity, restricting both players to live batting practices and backfield workouts rather than any game action.  It isn’t yet clear when either player might make their Spring Training debut, but it seems as though the club doesn’t feel Buxton or Polanco will need too many at-bats to get sharp.

A little over a week after suffering a high ankle sprain during a Grapefruit League game, Nick Gordon has started running and hitting, Falvey said.  Naturally any kind of high ankle injury is a concern, but it would seem that Gordon might have landed on the low end of the “wide range of outcomes” manager Rocco Baldelli mentioned last week when discussing possible recovery timelines.  The Twins will be cautious with Gordon but, if all continues to go well, he might also be on target for Opening Day without the need for a season-opening stint on the injured list.

Jose Miranda is also making good progress in his recovery from a sore shoulder, as Falvey said the infielder has started a throwing program.  While Miranda’s shoulder forced him to withdraw from Puerto Rico’s World Baseball Classic team, it hasn’t kept him entirely off the field in Spring Training, as Miranda has still been able to play as a designated hitter.  With just under three weeks to go until Opening Day, Miranda seems on pace to recover in time to take his planned role as Minnesota’s regular third baseman.

Amidst all these positive updates, however, the news isn’t quite as good for Alex Kirilloff.  In comparison to Buxton and Polanco, Kirilloff is “probably the one that’s a little bit behind our schedule,” Falvey said, noting that “it’s kind of a tolerance thing on a daily basis for him” as Kirilloff works his way back from wrist surgery.

Kiriloff made his MLB debut in 2021, and the former top prospect has thus far hit .251/.295/.398 over 387 Major League plate appearances over the last two seasons.  Unfortunately for Kirilloff, each of those seasons was prematurely ended by surgeries on his wrist.  As The Athletic’s Dan Hayes wrote last month, Kirilloff’s surgery last August was particularly “drastic,” with the intention of correcting Kirilloff’s wrist problem once and for all.  As such, the Twins are taking their time with Kirilloff, holding him out of games and even out of live-pitching sessions, if Kiriloff feels he is only up to work in the batting cages.

With all of these position-player health issues facing the Twins, the pitching staff has been a comparatively lesser concern, as Minnesota’s rotation candidates have by and large looked both healthy and in good form during their spring outings.  It has gotten to the point that Falvey said the team is weighing the possibility of a six-man rotation.

“That wasn’t our plan as we entered camp,” Falvey said.  “It still, I wouldn’t say, is our plan, but there’s at least a conversation we’ve been having internally about how that could work and what it would mean for the bullpen, how would we navigate that.  Some of it will be health-dependent, but we’re open to the conversation maybe more now than I was a month ago.”

A six-man rotation would create a spot for Bailey Ober to get some MLB starts, as Ober would join the projected rotation of Pablo Lopez, Tyler Mahle, Kenta Maeda, Joe Ryan, and Sonny Gray.  The Twins aren’t likely to finalize any rotation plans until after Lopez returns from the WBC, but a six-man rotation would give more rest to Mahle and Maeda as they return from injuries.  It would also help Minnesota navigate a pretty busy early schedule, as the club has only two off-days in the month of April.

Injury Notes: Song, Nevin, Rosenthal, Sadler

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Phillies Rule 5 pick Noah Song has been shut down due to back tightness, per Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He’s had an MRI and will be reevaluated next week, but it appears he won’t be ready to start the season.

Song, 25, is an interesting case, given he’s spent the past three years in the navy after being drafted by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. He’s also not been fully discharged, only placed in active reserve, which means he’ll be able to play baseball. It does mean he’ll still have navy commitments though, with an earlier report stating he’s effectively on part-time duty, which still requires one weekend per month and two full weeks each year. It’s not clear how that would’ve played out over the season.

In any case, Song was looking to get back up to speed quickly after three years out. As a Rule 5 draftee, the Phillies would have to keep him on the active roster for the entire season, or place him on waivers and send him back to the Red Sox if he clears. The injury does change things somewhat, as should Song open the season on the injured list the Phillies can still send him on a rehab stint to the minors for up to 30 days. He still can’t be optioned to the minors, but the Phillies would just need to ensure he spends at minimum 90 days on the active roster this season.

Here’s some other injury notes from around the game:

  • Evan Woodbery of MLive relays that Tyler Nevin’s MRI on his oblique showed a Grade 1 strain. The Tigers said yesterday that Nevin’s strain was “mild”, but offered no other details on when he might be available. As Woodbery says, MLB’s Health and Injury Tracking System says hitters typically take 27 days to recover from a Grade 1 strain. That’s not a concrete number, but it would appear to put Nevin in doubt for Opening Day. Nevin, acquired from the Orioles this winter, was competing for a bench spot on the Tigers roster this year. The 25-year-old hit .197/.299/.261 with two home runs across 184 plate appearances for Baltimore last year.
  • Sticking with the Tigers, and right-hander Trevor Rosenthal threw a bullpen yesterday and felt great, Woodbery reports. He’ll throw a live bullpen on Tuesday, with the hope being that he’ll be ready to step into a live game after that. Rosenthal, signed to a minor league deal by the Tigers this winter, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues for the past two seasons due to a range of injuries, including thoracic outlet syndrome, hip labrum surgery and a recurring hamstring injury. While it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Rosenthal need a little longer than Opening Day to be ready, the former All Star looks a good chance to get some opportunities in Detroit’s bullpen this year.
  • The Mariners won’t have right-hander Casey Sadler up to speed by Opening Day, but he is making progress in his return from rotator cuff and labrum surgery, as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. Sadler missed the entire 2022 season, but faced hitters for the first time yesterday in a live batting practice session at Seattle’s spring training complex. Sadler, who was designated for assignment this winter but re-signed with the team on a minor league deal, put in easily his best season in 2021, working to a 0.67 ERA over 40 1/3 innings. It’s unclear what’s next for the former 25th round pick, but he’ll continue to work his way back with a view to regaining his spot in Seattle’s bullpen sometime this season.

Yankees Notes: Kiner-Falefa, Judge, Center Field

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As youngsters Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe make strong cases to take over the Yankees’ starting shortstop role, there’s been plenty of speculation over the future of Isiah Kiner-Falefa. That speculation has only intensified as the Yankees have announced a series of injuries that’ll affect their roster over the opening few weeks of the season and beyond.

Kiner-Falefa is owed $6MM this year, and does appear to be lagging behind in the race to win the shortstop job. The Yankees have been giving him time at second and third base, and plan to work him out in the outfield this spring, which suggests they may view him as more of a utility player at this point. Yet the team already has the highly impressive Oswaldo Cabrera capable of bouncing round the diamond as a utility option, and he’ll only earn the league minimum in 2023.

Now, with the Yankees dealing with rotation, bullpen and outfield injuries to Carlos Rodon, Frankie Montas, Lou Trivino, Tommy Kahnle and Harrison Bader, it would make some sense for the team to deal from their infield depth to address other areas. According to Brendan Kuty and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, the Yankees have had conversations with the Dodgers and Rockies over Kiner-Falefa. It’s not known the exact timeline or extent of those conversations, but it’s worth noting the Dodgers checked in on Kiner-Falefa early in the off-season prior to acquiring Miguel Rojas from the Marlins.

General manager Brian Cashman addressed the trade market to reporters, and while he didn’t specifically name Kiner-Falefa (or any other infielders), he certainly didn’t close the door on a deal involving their infielders before the start of the regular season.

“I would say typically trade conversations usually are a bit more serious in the second part of camp than the first part. I do know that’s an area of strength for this franchise right now in real time. So if somebody is looking for help, we wouldn’t be surprised if they’re knocking on our door,” Cashman said.

A trade could help them address their thinning rotation and bullpen stock, but even with Bader on the shelf for a while, it doesn’t appear the outfield is a pressing need. As Kuty notes in a separate piece, Bader’s injury likely means a temporary return to center field for Aaron Judge. That would allow the Yankees to give Giancarlo Stanton more at bats in right field, with Cabrera and Aaron Hicks likely to handle left. Rafael Ortega and Estevan Florial are other candidates to fill in with Bader out, but it appears Hicks – a career center fielder who moved to left last year – is not among them, with Kuty noting it seems the Yankees prefer to keep him in left.

Speaking of Judge, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic sheds some more light on the high profile free agency of the new Yankees captain. While it’s been widely reported that the Yankees’ decision to tack on a ninth-year and take the total value of the contract to $360MM sealed the deal, there’s been a little bit of uncertainty over the extent of the Padres late interest in the slugger. According to Rosenthal, the Padres put forward a deal in the range of $415MM over at least 12 years.

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