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AL Injury Notes: Judge, Mariners, Orioles

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A few injury updates from the American League:

  • Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge wasn’t in their lineup against the Orioles on Wednesday because of soreness in his left side, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com writes. Manager Aaron Boone doesn’t seem all that concerned, as he said, “With the off day tomorrow I don’t want to take any chances.” Still, it’s notable in light of Judge’s extensive injury history. He missed a large amount of time in 2018 after suffering a fractured wrist on a hit by pitch, which was obviously just a bad break, but then sat out a combined 92 games from 2019-20 because of oblique, rib and calf problems. Judge has been excellent when healthy, though, and has begun this season with an eye-popping .364/.391/.636 line with two home runs in 23 plate appearances.
  • Mariners center fielder Kyle Lewis is progressing in his recovery from a bone bruise in his right knee and could make his season debut during the team’s April 16-20 homestand, Corey Brock of The Athletic tweets. The injury has prevented Lewis from building on last season’s American League Rookie of the Year-winning campaign, in which he batted .262/.364/.437 with 11 home runs and five stolen bases over 242 plate appearances. The Mariners have mostly used Taylor Trammell in center during Lewis’ absence.
  • Sticking with the Mariners, first baseman Evan White exited their game against the White Sox on Wednesday with tightness in his left quad, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. The team replaced White with Jose Marmolejos. White was off to a less-than-ideal start to the season even before the injury, as the 24-year-old has collected just three hits in 24 plate appearances and struck out seven times. The Mariners signed White to a six-year, $24MM extension before last season, but he wound up struggling to a .176/.252/.346 line with a 41.6 percent K rate in 202 PA as a rookie then.
  • Orioles outfielder DJ Stewart might be back in their lineup this weekend, according to manager Brandon Hyde (via Joe Trezza of MLB.com). Stewart hasn’t played yet this year on account of a hamstring issue that has shelved him for a little over a month. The 27-year-old lined up in the corner outfield in all 31 of his appearances in 2020, and he put up an unusual .193/.355/.455 batting line with seven home runs 112 trips to the plate. Despite a low batting average and a 33.9 percent strikeout rate, Stewart’s ability to draw walks (17.9 percent) and hit for power (.261 ISO) carried him to an impressive wRC+ of 124.

Mike Soroka Shut Down For 2 Weeks Because Of Shoulder Inflammation

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The Braves will shut down right-hander Mike Soroka for two weeks after he felt shoulder discomfort at their alternate site Tuesday, Mark Bowman of MLB.com was among those to report. Soroka has also been recovering from a torn right Achilles tendon and hasn’t pitched in the majors this year as a result.

While Soroka doesn’t have any structural damage in his shoulder, the Braves will still have to wait a little while longer for him to return their rotation. Soroka thrived with the team in his only full season, 2019, in which he pitched to a 2.68 ERA over 174 2/3 innings en route to an All-Star berth. But he wasn’t able build on that because of last year’s injury, which limited him to three starts. He hasn’t taken the mound in the bigs since Aug. 3, 2020.

With Soroka not ready for the season, the Braves opened the year with Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Ian Anderson and Drew Smyly as the top four in their rotation. Fifth option Huascar Ynoa threw five scoreless innings in a win over the Nationals on Wednesday.

Mariners Place James Paxton, Jake Fraley On Injured List

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12:35pm: The Mariners announced that Paxton and Fraley have both been placed on the 10-day injured list. Paxton has been diagnosed with a left forearm strain, while the MRI confirmed a hamstring strain for Fraley. The Mariners recalled outfielder Braden Bishop and righty Ljay Newsome from their alternate training site to take their spots on the roster.

8:22am: James Paxton returned to the Mariners’ rotation last night after two years in the Bronx, but his start was cut short by another forearm injury, as he exited after just 1 1/3 innings. Outfielder Jake Fraley, meanwhile, left the game with what the team later announced as a hamstring strain after making a diving catch in left field. Both players will undergo an MRI this morning, manager Scott Servais told reporters after the game (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times).

Paxton’s 2020 season with the Yankees was cut short by a forearm strain, so it’s obviously a concerning development for him to suffer this type of injury — particularly so early in the season. The lefty did tell Divish and others that the pain he’s feeling in his arm isn’t at the same level as it was when he sustained that injury last summer.

The Mariners brought Paxton back to the organization on a one-year, $8.5MM free agent deal over the winter. The 32-year-old had interest from several teams, as one would expect based on his track record of success, but he seemingly preferred to return to Seattle. Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto noted at the time of the signing that Paxton had been sharp in workouts for MLB teams and gave the club something of a “hometown discount.”

The reunion looked to be going well in Spring Training, where Paxton struck out half of the 34 batters he faced and allowed just one run during Cactus League play. For the time being, he struck an optimistic tone that the current issue could be muscular in nature and something from which he can quickly return.

As for Fraley, the 25-year-old is out to an unusual start to his 2021 season. He’s just 1-for-10 through five games, but he’s drawn eight walks and been hit by a pitch, leading to a bizarre .100/.500/.200 batting line through his first 19 plate appearances. Acquired from the Rays as part of the Mike Zunino trade, Fraley hasn’t hit much in two prior stints with the Mariners in 2019-20, but he only tallied 70 plate appearances during that time. He’s a career .286/.362/.480 hitter in the minors — including a .276/.333/.553 showing in 38 Triple-A games.

For the moment, however, it seems that an IL stint could be on the horizon, which will have the baseball world watching intently. The most straightforward move for the M’s would simply be to recall Braden Bishop from their alternate site, as he’s on the 40-man roster already, but Seattle also has top prospect Jarred Kelenic on the cusp of his first big league promotion as well.

Kelenic’s service time status was thrust into the national spotlight when now-former CEO Kevin Mather blatantly indicated in a Q&A with the Bellevue Rotary Club that the 21-year-old Kelenic had turned down an extension offer and wouldn’t be called to the Majors until mid-April (the general point at which the Mariners would gain an extra year of control over Kelenic). Kelenic missed some time in Spring Training with a minor knee injury, but he returned to the lineup and immediately went 3-for-6 with a double and a homer in two games before being reassigned to minor league camp, so the injury looks to be behind him.

It still seems likelier that the Mariners will turn to Bishop for the time being, as calling up Kelenic now would still give him enough time to accrue a full year of Major League service in 2021. That would no longer be the case as soon as next weekend, however.

Turning back to the pitching staff, the Mariners were already using a six-man rotation, so it’s likely they’ll simply shorten up to five starters for the time being and carry an extra reliever. The bullpen had to cover 7 2/3 innings last night and took a beating at the hands of the White Sox in the process, so Seattle would probably prefer to get a fresh arm into the relief mix anyhow.

It’s at least worth noting that as with the Fraley/Kelenic situation, the Mariners have a highly regarded pitching prospect who is near MLB readiness: 2018 first-rounder Logan Gilbert. While this comment didn’t draw as much attention as the Kelenic revelation, Mather indicated in that same interview that he expected Gilbert to be pitching in the Majors by mid-April (obviously, an allusion to his service time). Gilbert, however, only tossed a pair of innings in Spring Training before being reassigned to minor league camp, so he may not yet be built up to the point where he’s an option even in the event that Paxton is shelved for a notable period of time. If the Mariners want to stick with a six-man rotation and Paxton does miss some time, they could give a few starts to Ljay Newsome and/or Nick Margevicius. Before too long, however, Gilbert seems likely to emerge as an option at the big league level.

White Sox Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

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The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve placed shortstop Tim Anderson on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 5, due to a strained left hamstring. Anderson exited Sunday’s game due to tightness in his hamstring, and it would seem that discomfort has not dissipated. Fellow infielder Danny Mendick was recalled from the Sox’ alternate site in Schaumburg to take Anderson’s spot on the roster.

With Anderson sidelined temporarily, the Sox are down two of their best hitters early in the season. Anderson’s absence obviously isn’t expected to be as lengthy as that of Eloy Jimenez, who is expected to miss the majority of the season due to a ruptured pectoral tendon, but his absence will be felt in the short-term.

Anderson, 27, was out to just a 3-for-15 start in 2021, though his work at the plate since Opening Day 2019 speaks for itself. He’s been not just one of Chicago’s best hitters over the past two seasons but one of the best hitters on the planet, raking at a .331/.357/.514 batting line with 28 homers, 43 doubles and a triple in 739 trips to the plate.

Mendick, a career .260/.292/.404 hitter in 154 big league plate appearances won’t replicate that offensive output, but he’ll give the South Siders a solid glove to install at the position while Anderson’s injury heals. He’s in the lineup at shortstop today, batting ninth for the series finale against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

Twins Select Brandon Waddell, Place Brent Rooker On Injured List

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The Twins will place outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker on the 10-day injured list with a cervical strain in his neck and select the contract of left-hander Brandon Waddell from their alternate training site today, the club announced. Hard-throwing young righty Edwar Colina was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Waddell. Colina is dealing with inflammation in his right elbow.

Rooker, 26, was the No. 35 overall pick back in the 2017 draft and has had some rough luck early in his big league career. He burst onto the scene with a .316/.381/.579 slash through seven games last summer before sustaining a fractured forearm when he was hit by a pitch. That injury ended his season, and Rooker will now head back to the injured list after just appearing in just three games in 2021.

Rooker is a bat-first prospect who isn’t likely viewed as the team’s long-term answer in left field, but his power bat is still expected to get a legitimate audition when he’s healthy. He can shift between first, left field and DH, and given that his most recent minor league work in 2019 produced a .282/.399/.530 batting line in 67 games between Double-A and Triple-A, it’s not hard to see why the organization is bullish on him. The Twins did not give an immediate indication as to how long the new injury is expected to sideline Rooker.

As for the 26-year-old Waddell, an eventual big league audition with the Twins appeared likely after the former Pirates farmhand turned heads in Spring Training. Waddell yielded five runs in 9 1/3 innings, but he also struck out 15 of the 36 hitters he faced (41.7 percent) and showed what the Twins felt was a demonstrably improved arsenal. Minnesota claimed him off waivers from Pittsburgh at the end of the 2020 season and managed to sneak Waddell through waivers in late February, but his absence from the 40-man roster proved brief.

Waddell has a pair of minor league options remaining, so the Twins will be able to send him down to their alternate site in St. Paul without exposing him to waivers for a second time. For now, he’ll join Taylor Rogers and Caleb Thielbar as a third lefty in manager Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen.

Blue Jays Sign GM Ross Atkins To Five-Year Extension

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9:32am: Atkins’ contract begins at the end of this season, so it covers the 2022-26 campaigns, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet tweets. He’s now signed one year longer than Shapiro.

8:37am: The Blue Jays announced Wednesday that they’ve signed general manager Ross Atkins to a five-year extension. The exact length of Atkins’ prior contract wasn’t publicly known, though he last inked an extension in June 2019. This new five-year pact lends some clarity to his contractual status and cements that Atkins and president Mark Shapiro, who was extended through the 2025 season earlier this year, will continue to head up Blue Jays operations for the foreseeable future.

Ross Atkins | Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

Originally hired as the team’s general manager in Dec. 2015, Atkins has spent the past five years heading up Toronto’s baseball operations department. There were some lean years for the Jays from 2017-19 as Atkins, Shapiro and their front office team turned over the farm system and worked to compile a core upon which they could build. The Jays currently have the game’s third-best farm system, according to both Baseball America and The Athletic. The fruits of those efforts to restock the farm already began to manifest in 2020, when the Jays nabbed a playoff spot in last year’s expanded field.

With the likes of Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez all coming together at the big league level, the Jays began supplementing that core on the free-agent market heading into the 2020 season. Hyun Jin Ryu inked a four-year, $80MM deal to head up a rotation that had vaunted pitching prospect Nate Pearson on the horizon, and the Jays made a larger splash this past offseason when they inked George Springer to the largest deal in franchise history: a six-year, $150MM contract.

Some of the current roster — Guerrero, Rowdy Tellez, Danny Jansen — was acquired prior to the hiring of Atkins. As is the case with most front-office shuffles, there’s some groundwork laid by the prior group that continues to shape the long-term direction of the club and some continuity from regime to regime. Tony LaCava, for instance, was an assistant GM under Alex Anthopoulos and still holds a key position (senior vice president of player personnel) in the current group.

[Related — GM Trade History: Blue Jays’ Ross Atkins]

Acquiring Hernandez from the Astros in exchange for Francisco Liriano is likely the most notable success on the trade market under Atkins, while key international signings like Gurriel and Alejandro Kirk have begun to provide value at the MLB level as well. Time will tell whether the investment in Springer proves fruitful, but the Ryu investment has paid off so far and it’s hard to fault a one-year pact for a player of Marcus Semien’s caliber. There have certainly been missteps along the way — the Randal Grichuk trade worked out nicely; his extension did not — but Atkins has clearly commanded the confidence of ownership and is now being rewarded with a lengthy extension for his efforts.

For all of the Jays’ recent spending, the affordable nature of their young core gives them the flexibility to continue being aggressive on the market next winter. There was a clear stopping point this winter, as the Jays cooled their spending despite some a relatively questionable rotation composition. But the Jays only have about $65MM committed to the 2022 roster at present, and the only sizable arbitration raises on the docket figure to be Hernandez (who’ll get a bump from this year’s $4.325MM salary) and Guerrero (who’ll be arb-eligible for the first time).

The Blue Jays aren’t considered division favorites in 2021, but they have one of the game’s top farm systems, a promising core of controllable young big leaguers upon which to build, and considerable payroll flexibility heading into a historically strong class of free agents next winter. The future looks bright.

Comment Section Poll

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At a certain point last year, it seemed that the comment section of every post MLBTR wrote involving domestic violence, politics, or COVID-19 devolved into a trainwreck of insults and arguments.  Rather than use our employees’ time to moderate the comment section, I decided to close comments entirely on these topics.  I didn’t start MLBTR with the goal of hosting or moderating arguments on these topics, but they are inextricably linked with baseball.  Judging from the emails I received last week and the comments left on unrelated posts, many MLBTR readers would like a space in our commenting section to discuss MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game out of Georgia.

I think one potential improvement we can make is to introduce a mute button, giving you the power to mute all the comments and threads by a particular person.  I’ve talked to our developers, and this is a feature we can create.  We will probably have it ready by the end of the month.

MLB Trade Rumors wouldn’t exist without you, and if the majority of our reader base wants open commenting on sensitive topics, it’s something I have to consider.  I’m not sure yet whether it is a majority, but it’s time to find out.  Before any decisions are made, I’d like to gather poll data to see specifically what MLBTR readers want.  Please take a few minutes and fill out this survey.  Click here to view the survey results.

 

Minor MLB Transactions: 4/6/21

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Tuesday’s minor moves:

  • The Tigers outrighted Christin Stewart to their alternate site after he cleared waivers, per a team announcement. The club designated the 27-year-old outfielder for assignment last week. Stewart appeared in the majors in each of the previous three seasons, during which he combined for a .225/.300/.376 line with 15 home runs in 587 plate appearances.
  • The Royals designated catcher Meibrys Viloria and righty Scott Blewett last week, but it appears both players will stay in the organization. They announced that Viloria will head to Double-A, while Blewett will go to their alternate site. The 24-year-old Viloria batted .215/.266/.287 with one homer in 201 trips to the plate with the Royals from 2019-20. Blewett, also 24, was a second-round pick of the Royals in 2014 who made a two-appearance, three-inning major league debut a season ago. He put up a disastrous 8.52 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 46 walks in 81 1/3 Triple-A frames in 2019.

East Notes: Springer, Phillies, E-Rod, Marlins

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Here’s the latest from the majors’ East divisions:

  • Blue Jays center fielder George Springer took live batting practice Tuesday and seems to be on track to make his season debut Thursday, Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets. The Jays signed the former Astros star to a six-year, $150MM contract in the offseason, but they have been without Springer so far because of a Grade 2 oblique strain. Toronto nonetheless entered Tuesday with a 3-1 record, though, and has received tremendous production from center field fill-in Randal Grichuk in the early going.
  • The Phillies re-signed Didi Gregorius to a two-year, $28MM contract in free agency, but he wasn’t the team’s preferred option at the position. Rather, the Phillies were hoping to sign Andrelton Simmons, and they believed in January that they had a legitimate chance to bring him aboard, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Simmons wound up signing a one-year, $10.5MM pact with the Twins late that month – just a few days before Gregorius agreed to remain in Philadelphia. While Gregorius is the more threatening hitter, the Phillies were interested in switching to Simmons because he’s the better defender, according to Rosenthal.
  • Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will make his first start since 2019 on Thursday in a matchup against Baltimore, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com writes. Elbow inflammation forced Rodriguez to the injured list to begin this season, which was especially disappointing after he missed all of last year because of issues relating to COVID-19 and myocarditis. Fortunately, it looks as if Rodriguez dodged a significant injury. This will be an important season for Rodriguez, 27, as he’s due to become a free agent next winter. During his most recent action, he posted a 3.81 ERA with a solid 24.8 percent strikeout rate in 203 1/3 innings.
  • Marlins righty Elieser Hernandez will undergo an MRI on Tuesday evening, manager Don Mattingly said (via Christina De Nicola of MLB.com). It seems to be a precautionary measure on the Marlins’ part, as Mattingly suggested Hernandez is making progress since he went on the IL on Monday with right biceps inflammation. Hernandez performed brilliantly during an abbreviated 2020, helping the Marlins to the playoffs with a 3.16 ERA/3.17 SIERA and elite strikeout (32.1) and walk (4.7) percentages across 25 2/3 frames, but had a more difficult time in his first start of this year last Saturday. In a win over the Rays, Hernandez gave up two earned runs in 2 1/3 innings before exiting.

Padres Place Fernando Tatis Jr. On 10-Day IL

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Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. exited their game against the Giants on Monday with what looked like a potentially disastrous left shoulder injury. The Padres found out Tuesday that Tatis suffered a “slight labrum tear” that will require a stint on the 10-day injured list, general manager A.J. Preller announced, though the results of his MRI were “pretty positive,” per Scott Miller of Bleacher Report. The Padres are recalling infielder/outfielder Brian O’Grady to fill Tatis’ roster spot.

It’s still not known how long Tatis will sit out, but the Padres don’t anticipate that he will need surgery. Preller told Bob Nightengale of USA Today and other reporters that there wouldn’t be any long-term risk in letting Tatis play again this year, and the Padres are hopeful he could return from the IL as soon as he’s eligible.

All things considered, it’s very encouraging news for the Padres, who signed Tatis to a 14-year, $340MM contract extension before the season. The 22-year-old burst on the scene with an outstanding performance from 2019-20, and though the Padres will miss him for as long as he’s out, they remain a highly talented team with an interesting shortstop substitute on hand. The team signed former Korea Baseball Organization Ha-Seong Kim to a four-year, $28MM deal in free agency, and he’ll start in Tatis’ place Tuesday.

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