Shoulder Surgery Under Consideration For Blake Treinen
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen battled shoulder discomfort in 2022 and missed the bulk of his year. Unfortunately, that remains a problem heading into the offseason, and it seems as if the injury will carry into next season.
L.A. general manager Brandon Gomes told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) this evening the team and Treinen are still working through treatment possibilities. While Gomes characterized surgery as one of multiple options under consideration, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register ominously reports that a procedure is “likely.” If Treinen did have to go under the knife, Plunkett adds, he’d require a 10-month recovery period and thus miss most or all of the 2023 campaign.
Treinen was limited to just five regular season appearances this year. He was on the injured list from April to September. Reinstated at the start of September, he made just two appearances before going back on the IL. The Dodgers activated Treinen for the postseason, calling upon him just once.
The injuries that caused that stop-and-start remain a concern, and Plunkett writes that both Treinen’s rotator cuff and labrum would be fixed if he goes under the knife. That’s certainly not what the Dodgers envisioned when signing the right-hander to an $8MM contract for 2023 in May. That deal also contains a club option for the 2024 campaign that’d be valued anywhere between $1MM and $7MM depending upon Treinen’s health for next season. Obviously, surgery wiping out much or all of his season — if necessary — would make it unlikely the Dodgers would trigger the option.
During his last healthy season, the veteran sinkerballer was one of the sport’s top late-game arms. The former All-Star worked to a 1.99 ERA across 72 1/3 innings in 2021, racking up grounders at a 52.6% clip.
Red Sox Planning To Use Garrett Whitlock As Starter In 2023
The Red Sox are planning to deploy right-hander Garrett Whitlock out of the rotation in 2023, general manager Brian O’Halloran told reporters at the GM Meetings (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). O’Halloran added that Tanner Houck could get a look as a starter as well, although that decision hasn’t yet been made.
“With Whit, we told him to plan to be a starter and we expect him to be a starter,” the GM told reporters. “With Tanner, we said something similar. We talked through that he will go through the offseason planning to be a starter and we’ll build him up as such. But there’s a little bit (less) definition around his role and he knows it could go in either direction.” O’Halloran added the decision to move Whitlock to the rotation “was a little bit more clear and definitive” than the situation with Houck, whose role figures to be determined in part by the course of the Boston offseason.
Whitlock has worked almost exclusively as a reliever in his MLB career. Since being selected from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft, the UAB product has made 68 relief appearances and nine starts. Whitlock has frequently worked multiple innings out of the bullpen, however, emerging as one of the league’s most valuable relievers. He’s tallied 112 2/3 innings of 2.24 ERA ball as a reliever, striking out a well above-average 28.1% of opponents. Whitlock predictably hasn’t been quite so dominant as a starter, but he owns a 4.15 ERA with a decent 23.5% strikeout rate and a stellar 5.5% walk percentage in that time.
The 26-year-old doesn’t have much experience turning a big league lineup over three times, but he mixes three pitches and has handled hitters from both sides of the plate. That gives Whitlock a chance to be a quality starting pitcher, the role he filled throughout his time in the minors.
Boston signed Whitlock to an $18.75MM guarantee during Spring Training. He’s controllable via a pair of club options through 2028, and Cotillo notes that deal contains some innings-based incentives — ones which Whitlock cementing himself in the rotation would help him unlock.
As for Houck, he started 13 of 18 appearances in 2021 but came out of the bullpen 28 of 32 times this year. Houck also worked multiple innings frequently, but he’s had more marked platoon splits than Whitlock has. Left-handers this year had a .259/.376/.400 line against the 26-year-old hurler, who stifled righties to a .205/.269/.227 line. Houck’s heavy reliance on his fastball and slider at the expense of a changeup or splitter have led to some concern among evaluators about his ability to turn lineups over three times as a starter.
Boston will unquestionably add to their rotation over the coming months. At present, the Sox have just Nick Pivetta, Chris Sale, James Paxton and now Whitlock as rotation pieces for 2023. Former top prospect Brayan Bello could get into that mix, as could Houck, but only Pivetta looks like a safe bet for innings. Sale and Paxton have barely pitched the past couple years because of injury, while Bello’s rookie season was up-and-down. The Sox are seeing Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill hit free agency.
Mets Decline Mutual Option On Mychal Givens
The Mets have declined their end of a mutual option with reliever Mychal Givens, general manager Billy Eppler informed reporters (including Will Sammon of the Athletic). He’ll collect a $1.25MM buyout and head back to the open market.
New York added Givens from the Cubs at the trade deadline. Chicago had inked him to a $5MM guarantee over the offseason, and the righty provided them with a 2.66 ERA through 40 2/3 innings. New York sent minor league pitcher Saúl González to the North Siders to add him for the stretch run, but Givens had a somewhat disappointing couple months in Queens.
The 32-year-old posted a 4.79 ERA over 20 2/3 innings for skipper Buck Showalter. He had a roughly average 22.7% strikeout rate and a 45% ground-ball percentage, but he was plagued by an elevated .368 batting average on balls in play. Givens cut his walks to just 6.8% with the Mets, but he’d walked 11% of opposing hitters as a Cub.
The longtime Oriole heads back to the open market. He’s appeared with five different teams over the last three years, generally missing bats in the middle innings but battling inconsistent control. Givens has posted an ERA between 3.00 and 4.00 in each of the last three seasons, and he’s likely to find another one-year deal in free agency this winter.
Rockies Outright Three Players
The Rockies announced they’ve outrighted three players — pitchers Ty Blach and Helcris Olivarez and outfielder Wynton Bernard — off their 40-man roster. Colorado also confirmed the losses of catcher Dom Nuñez and infielder Ryan Vilade on waivers. Removing those five from the 40-man drops their tally to 32.
A former Giants starter, Blach inked a minor league deal with his hometown Rockies over the offseason. He made Colorado’s roster out of Spring Training and pitched in long relief. Blach soaked up 44 1/3 mostly low-leverage innings for the Rox, posting a 5.89 ERA. The soft-tossing southpaw only struck out 15% of batters faced but had an excellent 5.7% walk rate and a useful 43% grounder rate. He has between three and four years of big league service and would’ve been eligible for arbitration this offseason. Blach was only projected for an $800K salary, but the Rox will reallocate his roster spot.
Olivarez has never pitched in the big leagues. Colorado selected him onto the 40-man roster over the 2020-21 offseason to keep him being taken in the Rule 5 draft. The hard-throwing southpaw had been a quality prospect during his early days in the farm system, but he managed only a 6.05 ERA in 99 2/3 High-A innings in 2021. He spent almost all of this year on the injured list with a shoulder strain.
Bernard is a minor league veteran who began his professional career a decade ago. He made his MLB debut at age 32 this August, earning the long-awaited call after a .333/.387/.590 showing in Triple-A. He started 10 games in the big leagues and collected 12 hits in 42 at-bats, but he didn’t draw a walk and only managed one extra-base hit (a double).
Blach and Bernard have the right to refuse an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency. Olivarez, on the other hand, will stick in the organization for 2023 and look to work his way back onto the 40-man roster.
Pirates Claim Ryan Vilade
The Pirates have claimed outfielder Ryan Vilade off waivers from the Rockies, per announcements from both clubs. Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster is now full.
Vilade, 23, was the No. 48 overall pick in the 2017 draft and ranked among the Rockies’ best prospects just last offseason, landing No. 6 on Baseball America’s organizational rankings. The team over at BA also placed Vilade tenth among Rox farmhands just this past summer.
Despite replaying the Triple-A level for a second time in 2022, Vilade had a season to forget, hitting just .249/.345/.352 with five home runs and ten stolen bases in 99 games. The Oklahoma native was drafted as a shortstop but has quickly slid down the defensive spectrum, first moving to third base and now spending the bulk of his time in the outfield corners. Vilade’s glove was never his carrying tool, however, as he was viewed as a bat-first prospect from the time of his selection.
Vilade’s bat indeed stood out in the lower minors, but after the canceled 2020 minor league season he jumped from High-A in 2019 directly to Triple-A and turned in lackluster results. He’s now played 216 games at that level and owns a .269/.342/.385 slash in 948 plate appearances. He made a brief MLB debut in 2021 but went hitless in seven plate appearances.
The Pirates will hope that a change of scenery and some new coaching can help coax another level out of Vilade’s bat in the upper minors. He won’t turn 24 until February and has a pair of minor league options remaining, so he can give the Bucs some flexible outfield depth if he survives the offseason on the 40-man roster.
Giants Claim Dom Nunez, Select Isan Diaz
The Giants announced they’ve claimed catcher Dom Nuñez off waivers from the Rockies. San Francisco also selected infielder Isan Díaz onto their 40-man roster. The Giants announced that infielders Ford Proctor and Taylor Jones, outfielders Bryce Johnson and Austin Dean, and right-hander Zack Littell all went unclaimed on waivers.
Nuñez changes organizations for the first time in his career. The left-handed hitting backstop entered pro ball as a sixth-round draftee of Colorado back in 2013. Nuñez made his MLB debut in 2019 and has appeared in three of the last four seasons, mostly as a depth player. He has appeared in 111 big league games, tallying 347 plate appearances of .180/.280/.373 hitting. Nuñez has walked in an excellent 12.4% of his plate appearances but struck out at an untenable 34% rate in the majors.
The 27-year-old has one minor league option year remaining. If he holds his spot on the Giants 40-man roster all winter, they can freely bounce him between San Francisco and Triple-A Sacramento next season. An Elk Grove native, Nuñez has a .240/.336/.400 line in parts of eight minor league seasons. He joins Joey Bart and Austin Wynns as catchers on the 40-man roster.
Díaz is a former top prospect who went to the Marlins in the Christian Yelich trade. He hit only .185/.275/.287 over 500 trips to the plate from 2019-21. Miami outrighted the switch-hitting second baseman off the 40-man roster in March, and he cleared waivers at the time. The Giants acquired him for cash not long after and assigned him to Sacramento for the 2022 campaign.
The 26-year-old connected on 23 longballs in 83 Triple-A games this year. He posted an excellent .275/.377/.574 line with a 13% walk rate to put himself back on the radar. San Francisco didn’t call up Díaz at any point during the season, but they’ll devote him a 40-man roster spot for now to keep him from hitting minor league free agency. He still has a minor league option remaining, so he can bounce between San Francisco and Sacramento if he holds the 40-man spot over the winter.
San Francisco acquired Proctor from the Rays in August. He made his big league debut late in the season, appearing in seven games. Jones came over from the Astros on waivers in September, while Dean was claimed last offseason. Johnson is a former sixth-rounder who made his MLB debut in September, getting into 11 games.
Littell has the most experience of the group of outrighted players. The right-hander has pitched in parts of five big league seasons with the Twins and Giants. Littell was a high-leverage arm in 2021, pitching to a 2.92 ERA across 61 2/3 frames. He only managed a 5.08 ERA through 44 1/3 innings this year. Rather than tender him an arbitration contract in the $900K range, San Francisco ran him through waivers.
Proctor and Johnson will remain in the organization and try to play their way onto the 40-man roster. Littell, Dean and Jones will have the ability to qualify for minor league free agency.
Phillies Claim Luis Ortiz, Andrew Vasquez From Giants
The Phillies announced that they have claimed two relievers off waivers from the Giants. Right-hander Luis Ortiz and left-hander Andrew Vasquez will jump to Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Phillies also outrighted five players: right-handers Mark Appel and Hans Crouse, lefties Kent Emanuel and Damon Jones, along with infielder Yairo Munoz.
Ortiz, 27, spent a few years with the Orioles but signed a minor league deal with the Giants for 2022. A highly-touted prospect from his time with the O’s, he’s dealt with some injuries and been pushed from starting to relieving as time has gone on. He spent most of 2022 in Triple-A, throwing 67 1/3 innings with a 4.54 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. His peripherals were quite strong, as he struck out 25.4% of batters faced, walking just 4.6% of them and getting grounders on 42.4% of balls in play. He also got 8 2/3 innings of MLB action, with a 1.04 ERA in that small sample. He still has options remaining, meaning the Phillies will have the ability to keep him in the minors as a depth arm.
Vasquez set a career high with 10 MLB games this year, splitting that time between the Blue Jays and Giants. He allowed six runs in 8 2/3 innings but he posted a 2.23 ERA over 32 1/3 Triple-A innings. The southpaw struck out almost 35% of opponents at the minors’ highest level, making him of appeal to a number of teams on the waiver wire.
Appel made his big league debut almost a decade after being selected first overall in the 2013 draft. He worked 10 1/3 innings over six relief appearances but ended the year on the injured list with elbow inflammation. Crouse was a former highly-regarded pitching prospect who came over from the Rangers in the Kyle Gibson/Spencer Howard trade. He debuted with two appearances last year but only pitched five times in Triple-A in 2022.
Jones is a former 18th-rounder who has five appearances in the last two years. Emanuel joined the organization off waivers from the Astros last winter but never pitched with Philadelphia. Munoz played in 29 games this year, hitting .221/.250/.404.
Munoz, Emanuel and Appel can become minor league free agents. Crouse and Jones will remain in the system without occupying a 40-man roster spot.
Mets Claim Tayler Saucedo From Blue Jays
The Mets have claimed reliever Tayler Saucedo off waivers from the Blue Jays, according to announcements from both teams. Toronto also announced that righty Casey Lawrence went unclaimed on waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster.
Saucedo has pitched in the big leagues in each of the last two seasons. He made 29 appearances in 2021 but only got into four big league games this year. In 28 1/3 combined innings, the southpaw has posted a 5.40 ERA. He’s only punched out 15.3% of opposing hitters, but he’s racked up ground balls at an incredible 58.7% clip. Saucedo has also held left-handed batters to a meager .182/.280/.295 line in 50 plate appearances, giving him an opportunity to carve out a role as a left-on-left specialist.
He had a much different profile with Triple-A Buffalo this year, only inducing grounders at a 40.5% clip but punching out 34.1% of batters faced. The Tennessee Wesleyan product has a 3.77 ERA in 93 career innings at the Triple-A level. He still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, meaning he can move back and forth between Queens and Triple-A Syracuse over the next couple seasons if he holds his 40-man roster spot. The Mets relied primarily on Joely Rodríguez as their left-handed bullpen arm this year, but he’s now a free agent. Adding further lefty depth figures to be a priority for general manager Billy Eppler and his staff.
Lawrence returned to the majors this season for the first time since 2018. The swingman soaked up 18 innings across six relief appearances, putting up a 7.50 ERA with a 13.9% strikeout rate. The 35-year-old had a strong 2.79 mark across 126 innings with Buffalo. He’s previously been outrighted, so he’s likely to decline the outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency.
Dodgers Considering Qualifying Offer For Tyler Anderson
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, there’s a “good chance” the Dodgers will extend a $19.65MM qualifying offer to left-hander Tyler Anderson.
Teams have until 4pm Central on Thursday to decide whether or not to issue qualifying offers to eligible players, giving the Dodgers about 24 hours left to make a final decision. If they indeed extend the offer to Anderson, he will have 10 days to talk to other teams and decide whether to accept it or turn it down.
The fact that Anderson is even a candidate for the offer speaks to what an incredible breakout season he had in 2022. Coming into the year, he had a career 4.62 ERA and fairly average peripherals with a 20.5 strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 39.1% ground ball rate. The Dodgers gave him a one-year, $8MM deal for his age-32 season.
That turned out to be a tremendous bargain for the club, as Anderson’s work in Dodger blue far surpassed any of his previous seasons. He appeared in 30 games and tossed 178 2/3 innings with an incredible 2.57 ERA, barely half of his previous average. His rate stats were still fairly similar to his previous ones, though he did drop his walk rate to a stingy 4.8%.
Where he seems to have made strides was inducing poor contact from opposing hitters. He was in the 98th percentile in terms of hard hit rate, going from 33% in 2021 to 28.5% in 2022. His average exit velocity was also 98th percentile while his chase rate was 95th and his barrel rate was 86th. At least part of this could be credited to his changeup, which he threw 31.6% percent of the time compared to just 24.6% of the time in 2021.
Regardless of how he did it, the improvements are enough that the Dodgers are considering a salary more than double what they paid a year ago. If Anderson were to turn down the offer and sign elsewhere, they would be entitled to draft pick compensation. Since the Dodgers paid the competitive balance tax in 2022, their pick would be pushed back until after the fourth round. A signing team would also be subject to the forfeit of at least one pick, with other penalties on the table as well, depending on whether the team was a CBT payer or revenue sharing recipient.
Whether Anderson would accept the offer or not is an interesting question. On the one hand, this is likely his best chance at earning a hefty multi-year paycheck, since he’s coming off a season that could well be the best of his career. On the other hand, he never had a salary above $2.5MM prior to getting the $8MM from the Dodgers a year ago. If he suddenly had a $19.65MM offer on the table, it would likely be hard to turn it down. Based on his excellent campaign, plenty of teams would be interested in signing him, though having to surrender at least one draft pick would temper their offers to some degree.
Mariners Claim Gabe Speier From Royals; Outright Casey Sadler, Ryan Borucki
The Mariners announced they have claimed left-hander Gabe Speier off waivers from the Royals. Additionally, they have outrighted lefty Ryan Borucki and right-hander Casey Sadler.
Speier has appeared in each of the last four seasons with the Royals. He hasn’t gotten an extended look over any part of that stretch. This year’s 17 appearances and 19 1/3 innings were career highs, and he’s worked a cumulative 40 innings. Speier has a 3.83 ERA, and his 20.2% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk percentage are right around average.
A former Red Sox draftee, Speier averages around 94 MPH on his sinker but leaned more heavily on his slider. He’s only managed a 6.67 ERA across 112 innings at the Triple-A level, thanks largely to a dismal 14.51 mark over 26 2/3 innings with Omaha this year. Speier was battered for 51 hits and 11 home runs in that stretch, but the M’s will take a shot on a change of scenery. The 27-year-old still has an option year remaining, so the M’s can move him between Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma next year if he holds his spot on the 40-man roster.
Borucki is squeezed off the depth chart in his place. The M’s acquired the southpaw from the Blue Jays this year. The 28-year-old combined for a 5.68 ERA over 25 1/3 innings with the two clubs, only striking out 18.9% of batters faced while struggling to keep the ball in the yard. He was projected for a $1.1MM salary if tendered an arbitration contract, but the M’s evidently determined they weren’t prepared to pay that sum.
Parting with Sadler is a bit more surprising, as the righty was excellent during his last healthy season. He posted a microscopic 0.67 ERA over 40 1/3 innings for the M’s in 2021. He punched out an above-average 25.5% of batters faced and racked up grounders on over three-fifths of batted balls against him. Sadler looked like a high-leverage weapon, but he didn’t pitch in 2022 after undergoing shoulder surgery in Spring Training.
Seattle could’ve retained the 32-year-old by tendering him an arbitration contract, which was projected in the $1.025MM range. They evidently determined not to carry him on the 40-man roster all winter given the injury, and no other club placed a waiver claim despite the chance to retain him at that modest rate.
Both Borucki and Sadler are eligible for minor league free agency, and it’s a virtual lock they’ll each hit the open market in the next few days. Both will serve as experienced depth options for clubs seeking bullpen help, although Sadler may have to demonstrate his health for suitors.