Some more items from both the NL and AL West…

• Andres Munoz will start a Triple-A rehab assignment on Tuesday, as the Mariners reliever is on the way back from a deltoid strain that has sidelined him since April 8.  Thought to be a minor injury at the time, Munoz was then bothered by a sore shoulder that required a PRP injection, extending his time on the IL to just shy of two months.  Munoz only pitched 3 1/3 innings over four appearances before heading to the injured list, but assuming everything goes as planned, he’ll be back in the Seattle bullpen and looking to follow up his outstanding 2022 season.
• Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson told reporters (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) that he will throw a bullpen on Tuesday.  It’s a positive step for Hudson, who hasn’t pitched since tearing his left UCL last June.  During the last update on Hudson two weeks ago from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, the veteran righty was throwing but without any specific plans for a rehab assignment due to some continued discomfort in his knee.  Hudson said today that he’d received a cortisone injection in his knee, and was hoping that the bullpen session would be the first step towards a “ramp up” of his recovery.
• Angels GM Perry Minasian provided some news on some injured Halos players to the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher and other reporters, though neither Anthony Rendon or Chris Rodriguez seems close to a return.  Rendon has been taking part in some light baseball activities, but even with more than two weeks passed since Rendon hit the 10-day IL due to a groin strain, Minasian wasn’t sure of a timeline for when Rendon might return or take on a fuller rehab process.  Rodriguez underwent shoulder surgery in November 2021 and didn’t pitch at all in 2022, then had a setback in early April after starting the season on the 15-day IL.  It doesn’t appear as though there was any further damage to Rodriguez’s shoulder, as Minasian said the team has “done what we need to do medically” to assess the situation, and Rodriguez is throwing again but not off a mound.

“From the day he showed up here, he was not in awe of anything,” Servais said of Caballero, going on to praise the 26-year-old’s baserunning, on-base ability and defense. “…He understands how to play and he doesn’t back off.” President of baseball ops Jerry Dipoto had similar praise, telling Corey Brock of The Athletic that Caballero “has been terrific in every way.”

Caballero has indeed impressed, surging out to a .276/.371/.431 batting line with a pair of homers, three doubles and a 6-for-6 showing on the basepaths through his first 24 games (70 plate appearances). He’s had a bit of good fortune on balls in play (.333), but even if his average took a slight step back, an 11.4% walk rate would keep his on-base percentage plenty strong.

The plate discipline hasn’t been a small-sample fluke, either; Caballero has a career 13% walk rate in the minors and has chased pitches off the plate at a lower rate than the average big leaguer thus far in his young career. Statcast also credits him with 92nd percentile sprint speed, so there’s good reason to believe he can keep swiping bags at a high rate of success.

Caballero’s immediate strong play further shines a light on the mounting struggles of veteran second baseman Kolten Wong, whose .177/.259/.208 batting line (108 plate appearances, 40 wRC+) ranks among the worst in baseball. Wong’s 20.4% strikeout rate is the worst of his career, and he’s making hard contact at career-worst levels as well (85 mph average exit velo, 24% hard-hit). Statcast ranks Wong in the fifth percentile of MLB players or lower in each of hard-hit rate, average exit velocity, barrel rate, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage and expected wOBA. His once plus sprint speed is down to the 37th percentile as well.

In the wake of such a miserable start to the season, Wong has already begun to cede time at second base to Caballero. The rookie has made five starts at second base since Wong’s name was last penciled into the starting lineup. Wong has been on the bench, but the Mariners will have to figure out how to align their infield and bench mix before long. Mariners GM Justin Hollander told reporters yesterday that utilityman Dylan Moore could be reinstated from the injured list during the team’s current homestand (Twitter link via Divish).

Moore, who over the winter signed a three-year, $8.875MM contract that bought his final arbitration seasons and one free-agent year, has yet to play in 2023 due to oblique and core injuries. He’s played in four minor league rehab games, however, and the team apparently believes he could be back on the big league roster with only a few more. The current homestand runs through May 31.

The 30-year-old Moore has had  an up-and-down run with the Mariners since debuting in 2019, alternating between poor and strong showings at the plate on an every-other-year basis. He’s a career .208/.317/.384 hitter, though as evidenced by a .255/.358/.496 showing in 159 plate appearances in 2020 and a .224/.368/.385 line in 255 plate appearances last year, he has plenty of on-base ability and some pop in his bat. Moore has 35 home runs and 65 steals in 381 career games, and he’s drawn outstanding defensive ratings at second base, third base and in both outfield corners.

Seattle’s bench currently consists of backup catcher Tom Murphy, the aforementioned Haggerty (who has had minimal playing time so far) and struggling veterans Wong and AJ Pollock. Barring an injury elsewhere in the lineup, it’s likely someone from that bench group will be displaced by Moore’s return. Haggerty has minor league options remaining, and that route would preserve more depth, but he batted .256/.335/.403 last season in 201 plate appearances, showing plenty of defensive versatility himself. The Mariners will have to weigh that against the poor starts of both Wong and Pollock in determining their preferred course of action.

The Mariners are also anticipating a return to health for some important bullpen arms (Twitter links via Divish). Closer Andres Munoz and righty Penn Murfee are both expected to join the Mariners on their upcoming road trip, which runs from June 1-11. Munoz has been throwing bullpen sessions, and Murfee has responded well to a platelet-rich plasma injection. Both will need quick tune-ups on minor league rehab stints, but they’re only a matter of weeks away.

Munoz, 24, broke out as one of the best relievers in baseball in 2022 when he pitched to a 2.49 ERA with a stellar 38.7% strikeout rate against a 6% walk rate. He averaged a whopping 100.3 mph on his heater, and his 21.6% swinging-strike rate trailed only Edwin Diaz among all big league pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched.

Murfee, meanwhile, has pitched 82 1/3 innings of 2.73 ERA ball dating back to last year’s MLB debut. He’s fanned 27.9% of his opponents against an 8.3% walk rate without displaying the type of platoon splits that many fellow sidearmers tend to carry. Lefties have batted just .210/.297/.305 against Murfee, while right-handers have posted an even more dreadful .165/.232/.303 slash.

White is already on the 60-day injured list. He suffered an adductor strain two games into his Triple-A season and was initially expected to miss two months. That won’t come to be, as White unfortunately is headed under the knife yet again. His 2021 campaign was cut short by the first surgery he underwent on his left hip. The former first round draftee then missed the bulk of last season due to a sports hernia surgery.

For a third consecutive year, White is now going to be sidelined by a notable procedure. The initial estimate suggests he could return sometime in August, though the organization would surely be cautious with his ramp-up based on his extensive injury history. Even in the best case scenario, he’s now set to miss the majority of the year.

White hasn’t played a big league game since 2021. A well-regarded prospect during his time climbing the minor league ranks, he stumbled to a .165/.235/.308 line in 306 MLB plate appearances between 2020-21. He’s spent the bulk of the past couple years on the injured list and has only gotten Triple-A reps when healthy enough to take the field.

The Mariners signed White to a $24MM extension before he made his big league debut. He’s making $3MM this season and due successive salaries of $7MM and $8MM over the next two years. The Mariners have a pair of club options thereafter but they’re certainly trending towards declining those given White’s various health issues.

Seattle also got unfortunate news on star reliever Andrés Muñoz. The hard-throwing righty has been out since April 8 with a deltoid strain. He’d been nearing a rehab assignment but suffered a minor setback. Divish tweets that he experienced some shoulder soreness during a recent bullpen session. The M’s sent Muñoz for an MRI, which revealed some inflammation. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection and isn’t expected to begin a minor league stint until the end of the month.

Muñoz was one of the game’s best relievers in 2022. He worked to a 2.49 ERA through 65 innings, striking out an incredible 38.7% of batters faced while keeping his walks to a solid 6% rate. That understandably earned him plenty of high-leverage looks as the season wore on, as he saved four games and held 22 more leads.

Moore only played in one game for the AquaSox, tallying three plate appearances. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that Moore experienced some core discomfort coming out of that game. He’ll be returned from his rehab assignment and head to Philadelphia for an MRI.

The right-handed hitter indicated his current soreness isn’t in the oblique area. It’s concerning nevertheless, as Moore had a core injury late last season that necessitated offseason surgery. His upcoming imaging will be with the surgeon who performed that procedure, according to Divish.

Moore signed a three-year extension in February. That was a testament to the value the Seattle front office and coaching staff put on his defensive flexibility, baserunning and right-handed bat. Moore’s offense has been up-and-down throughout his career, but he’s coming off a .224/.368/.385 showing in 255 plate appearances. Consistently high strikeout totals have resulted in a lowly .208 career batting average. Moore draws plenty of walks and has enough power to post roughly league average on-base (.317) and slugging (.384) marks after considering Seattle’s pitcher-friendly park.

The Mariners planned for Moore to platoon with trade acquisition Kolten Wong at second base. The lefty-hitting Wong has taken the bulk of the at-bats, with a handful of plate appearances going to Sam Haggerty and José Caballero. Seattle second basemen enter play Friday with a woeful .088/.171/.103 line over 77 trips, largely because of Wong’s frigid start with his new team. The veteran infielder is hitting .098/.190/.098 over 16 games as a Mariner.

In more fortunate injury news, reliever Andrés Muñoz is set to begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Tacoma next week, tweets the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude. Muñoz hit the injured list on April 8 with a deltoid strain. It seems he’s in line to return not long after a minimal 15-day absence. The flamethrowing right-hander worked 65 innings of 2.49 ERA ball with an elite 38.7% strikeout percentage last season, breaking through as one of the sport’s best late-game weapons.

Coming off a dominant 2022 campaign, Munoz hasn’t allowed a run in 3 1/3 innings of work so far this season, though his strikeout rate has declined to only 20 percent.  Manager Scott Servais told reporters (including The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish and The Athletic’s Corey Brock) that imaging didn’t reveal any structural problems for Munoz, though he has been feeling pain in the back of his shoulder and he has had trouble recovering after outings.  Likely related to this issue, the Mariners haven’t used Munoz on back-to-back days yet.

Munoz didn’t have quite a normal Spring Training, as the team took a slower progression to his ramp-up work as a nod to Munoz’s recovery from offseason foot surgery.  It could be that Munoz just needs a little more time to properly build his arm strength, and the IL placement seems somewhat precautionary in nature.  “We’re playing the long game,” Servais said, referring to the Mariners’ hope that this IL stint gets Munoz on track for the remainder of the season.

Seattle didn’t enter the season with a true closer, as while Paul Sewald got the bulk of save chances in 2022 and was expected for more or less the same this year, the M’s were taking a more situational approach to their late-game situations.  Munoz was seen as a candidate to perhaps eventually become the first-choice closer, or the Mariners could have simply continued to use him when needed in any sort of high-leverage scenario.  Servais said that Matt Brash will now get more usage in Munoz’s role with the righty out of action.

Bukauskas was claimed off waivers from the Diamondbacks in January, and then designated for assignment and outrighted off of Seattle’s 40-man roster.  His only other MLB action came in 2021, when he posted a 7.79 ERA over 17 1/3 innings for Arizona.  A former top-100 prospect during his time in the Astros farm system, Bukauskas has posted some interesting numbers since becoming a full-time relief pitcher the minors, and the move to the bullpen looks to have solved the control problems that began to emerge for Bukauskas as a starter.  He’ll now get another crack at the majors as part of the Mariners’ bullpen shuffle.

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.

Muñoz, 24, had a tremendous breakout last year, posting a 2.49 earned run average over 64 appearances. That ERA probably shortchanges Munoz a bit, who struck out 38.7% of batters faced while walking just 6% of them and got ground balls at a 52.6% clip. ERA estimators all thought he actually deserved better, including a 2.04 FIP, 1.84 xERA and 1.74 SIERA. After the club was eliminated from the postseason in October, he underwent foot surgery, but he’s already out of a walking boot and began a throwing program two weeks ago.

The fireballer has emerged as a key piece of the club’s bullpen, something they seemingly anticipated when they extended him after the 2021 season. The righty had just returned from Tommy John surgery and made a single appearance that year, but the M’s had enough faith to sign him to a four-year, $7.5MM extension with three club options. That could keep him as a fixture of the club’s relief corps through the 2028 season, and his current health is surely a good sign for the club going into 2023.

Other notes from around the league…

• Dipoto also provided an update on another reliever in 32-year-old Casey Sadler, who is coming off a season lost to shoulder surgery but is going to be ready to go for Spring Training this year. In 2021, Sadler made 42 appearances for the M’s with a ridiculous 0.67 ERA. That level of run prevention was in no way sustainable, with Sadler benefitting from a .188 batting average on balls in play and 90.9% strand rate. But his 25.5% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 62.9% ground ball rate all point to an excellent campaign nonetheless, with Sadler pegged for a 2.48 FIP, 2.41 xERA and 3.06 SIERA. Unfortunately, he required the surgery on his shoulder in March of 2022, which kept him out for all of that year. The Mariners outrighted him off the roster in November but re-signed him to a minor league deal. “If we get that ’21 version of Casey Sadler with the bullpen group we currently have, that just takes us to a different level,” Dipoto said. Despite trading Erik Swanson to the Blue Jays in the Teoscar Hernández deal, the M’s bullpen is still pretty packed. Munoz should be joined by Paul Sewald, Diego Castillo, Matt Brash, Penn Murfee, Matt Festa and Trevor Gott, as well as Rule 5 draftee Chris Clarke. If the rotation is fully healthy, Chris Flexen should be in the bullpen as well as a long reliever. Sadler was so good in 2021 that he could force his way into the picture if he looks like he’s back on track. Despite the crowding, pitcher injuries are fairly inevitable and this pile of depth should serve Seattle well as the season progress.
• Orioles utility player Terrin Vavra, 26 in May, cracked the majors last year and managed fairly well by hitting .258/.340/.337 in his first 103 plate appearances. That production was just barely below league average, with his wRC+ coming in at 97, though he hit a much sturdier .324/.435/.451 in Triple-A. Between the two levels, he played second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions, making him a usefully versatile piece of the club’s roster. It seems he’s not satisfied with that level of versatility and has been working to add first base to his repertoire this offseason. “I don’t think until I really play a game over there, I’ll truly feel the most comfortable, but that’s what spring training’s for,” Vavra tells Nathan Ruiz of The Baltimore Sun. “I think I’ll get some opportunities to showcase that and showcase other talents and try and make my case. I want to be able to show that I can do that, and I want the coaching staff to be confident if they had to send me out there, Day 1 of spring training even.” The O’s have been looking to find left-handed bats to complement right-hander Ryan Mountcastle in the first base mix, acquiring Lewin Díaz and Ryan O’Hearn this offseason, as well as signing Franchy Cordero, Josh Lester and Nomar Mazara to minor league deals. But Vavra, who also hits left-handed, could have a leg up on that group since none of them are on the 40-man but Vavra is. On the other hand, Vavra has option years remaining and could be ticketed for some more time in the minors if he gets squeezed off the active roster.

Going forward, Munoz will receive base salaries of $1.5MM, $2MM and $2.5MM from 2023-25, years he otherwise would have been eligible for arbitration. Seattle’s club options cover what would have been Munoz’s first three free agent years, with the options starting at $6MM in 2026 before increasing to $8MM in 2027 and finally $10MM in 2028. Those option years can be boosted by up to $1MM through escalators based on games finished the previous season. Finishing 20, 30, 40, and 45 games between 2025-27 would each escalate the following season’s club option by $250K. Hitting those same benchmarks during the 2026-28 campaigns would trigger an extra $500K apiece in incentives during that season. None of the options comes with a buyout.

Seattle’s confidence in Munoz was rewarded this season, as the righty was among the best relievers in the sport this season. In 65 regular season innings this year, Munoz posted a fantastic 2.49 ERA and an even more impressive 2.04 FIP while racking up 96 strikeouts before appearing in all five of Seattle’s games this postseason. Averaging 100 mph on his fastball, Munoz is a flamethrower who combines his 52.6% groundball rate (less than a percentage point behind the likes of Sandy Alcanatara) with the sixth highest strikeout rate in the majors this year. Among the five pitchers above him, only Jacob deGrom has a lower walk rate, and Munoz ranks third in all of baseball to only deGrom and Edwin Diaz in K/BB.

Munoz did all this while playing through injury, as president of baseball ops Jerry Dipoto announced yesterday that Munoz would undergo surgery on his foot this offseason. While no specifics were provided on the surgery, the expectation appears to be that Munoz will be ready for spring training next year.

Given Munoz’s elite stuff and results, the contract now looks like stellar value for the Mariners. At the time he signed the deal, Munoz was relatively new to the organization. He’d undergone Tommy John surgery in early 2020, and he was rehabbing from that when the M’s acquired him from the Padres at the 2020 trade deadline. He missed almost all of 2021, making just one appearance at the end of the campaign. Nevertheless, Seattle offered him some financial security last winter, taking the chance he’d break out after the extended layoff. He’s done exactly that, and the team’s reward for rolling the dice on Munoz is another six seasons of affordable control over a 23 year old relief ace.

With the year wrapped up, a couple key Mariners players are going under the knife. Corner outfielder Jesse Winker underwent a procedure on his left knee, president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto informed reporters (including Jake García of KING 5 News). He’ll also undergo neck surgery at some point in the future. A cervical disc bulge in his neck sent Winker to the injured list just before the start of the playoffs, causing him to miss Seattle’s postseason run.

Meanwhile, reliever Andrés Muñoz will need to undergo surgery on his foot, Dipoto said (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). Muñoz pitched through whatever discomfort had been bothering him and didn’t spend any time on the injured list this season. He was also called upon by skipper Scott Servais in all three games of the ALDS.

Dipoto didn’t provide many specifics about either player’s surgeries, although there’s no indication either is expected to be hampered by next Spring Training. Winker figures to get an opportunity to again cement himself as the organization’s primary left fielder. Acquired from the Reds as part of a deal that saw the M’s assume the remainder of Eugenio Suárez’s contract, Winker had a tough debut season in the Pacific Northwest.

He hit .219/.344/.344 through 547 plate appearances. An excellent 15.4% walk rate was enough to prop up slightly above-average offensive production overall, but it was markedly below his .292/.392/.552 combined line from 2020-21. Paired with subpar defensive marks in left field, Winker rated right around replacement level. Seattle signed the 29-year-old to a two-year contract to avoid arbitration in June. He’ll make $8.25MM in 2023 and hit free agency at the end of the year.

Muñoz, on the other hand, should be a fixture on the roster for quite some time. The M’s signed the hard-throwing righty to a $7.5MM guarantee last offseason on the heels of two seasons mostly lost to Tommy John surgery. They tacked on an extra three seasons of potential club control, through 2028, a move that looks excellent after the 23-year-old returned with 65 innings of 2.49 ERA ball this season. Muñoz punched out an otherworldly 38.7% of opposing hitters on the back of a triple-digit fastball and wipeout slider and he now looks like one of the best late-game weapons in the sport.

In other injury updates, Dipoto announced that backstop Cal Raleigh was headed to see a specialist after tearing a ligament in his left thumb (via Adam Jude of the Seattle Times). It isn’t clear if he’ll eventually have to undergo surgery. Star center fielder Julio Rodríguez played through a small finger fracture at the end of the year. Neither seems to be in danger of missing any time at the start of next season.

NOVEMBER 30: The Mariners are finalizing agreement on a four-year extension with reliever Andrés Muñoz that guarantees at least $7.5MM, report Daniel Kramer and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (Twitter link). The deal contains three club options, reports Jon Morosi of MLB.com (on Twitter).

Muñoz, a client of Hector Gomez, had been controllable via arbitration through 2025. The deal buys out his final pre-arb season in 2022, as well as all three arb years. The Mariners extend their window of control by three seasons via the club options.

It’s a fascinating agreement, as Muñoz has made exactly one appearance in a Seattle uniform. He recorded two outs during the M’s season finale against the Angels, his first big league work since his time with the Padres in 2019. Those two seasons mark the entirety of Muñoz’s big league career, as he has just 23 2/3 innings of 3.80 ERA ball under his belt at the highest level.

That limited track record is on account of both youth and injury. The Mexico native is still just 22 years old (23 in January), having reached the big leagues at age-20. He blew out his elbow in Spring Training with San Diego in 2020, requiring a Tommy John procedure. While he was rehabbing, Seattle acquired him as part of the seven-player Austin Nola deal. He spent the next year recovering under the eyes of Mariners’ medical personnel before returning to health in time for the season’s final game.

That lack of track record makes Muñoz a rather atypical extension candidate, but it’s also easy to understand why the Seattle front office jumped at the opportunity to lock in some eminently affordable rates over the coming seasons. Muñoz possesses electric stuff, including one of the game’s hardest fastballs. He averaged triple digits on the pitch during his 2019 rookie campaign. Upon his return from injury, that average heater had “dipped” to 99.6 MPH. Were Muñoz to emerge as a potential closer or even simply a high-leverage relief arm, he’d stand to earn far greater than a cumulative $7.5MM through arbitration. And that’s before considering the most appealing part of the deal from a team perspective — the opportunity to extend their window of control an additional three seasons.

From Muñoz’s perspective, the deal affords him the opportunity for up-front financial security. It’s possible he’ll wind up underpaid, if he lives up to his immense upside. Yet it’s difficult to fault a player his age for locking in this kind of money, particularly given that he’s yet to establish himself within a big league bullpen. Even independent of injury concerns, Muñoz comes with questions about his strike-throwing ability. He routinely walked upwards of 11% of opponents in the minors until 2019, and there’s a chance he never develops adequate command to match his power arsenal.

While the team can shoulder that kind of risk with relatively minor cost, Muñoz struggling early in his career could have had a significant impact on his earnings. He’ll forfeit a fair bit of ceiling in order to avoid that downside. All told, it’s a fascinating gambit for Seattle — one that, while unconventional, has the opportunity to pay off handsomely if Muñoz emerges as a late-game weapon.

Munoz hasn’t pitched in a big league game since September 15, 2019, when he was finishing up his rookie season with the Padres.  The 22-year-old’s career was put on hold due to Tommy John surgery in March 2020, and another setback this past spring added some extra time onto his rehab efforts.  Munoz finally began a minor league rehab assignment on September 17, and made one rookie ball appearance and three Triple-A appearances before getting the call to Seattle.

During his injury recovery, Munoz was dealt to the Mariners as part of their big seven-player swap with the Padres prior to the 2020 trade deadline.  He might now go from afterthought to instant hero if he can provide the M’s with anything in their late-season playoff push, though it remains to be seen exactly what Munoz can deliver after so much time on the shelf.

A Padres international signing out of Mexico in 2015, Munoz’s big league resume consists a 3.91 ERA over 23 innings in 2019, with a nice 30.9% strikeout rate but also a rather high 11.3% walk rate.  That has more or less been the story for Munoz throughout his minor league career, as his big high-90’s fastball has led to a lot of missed bats, though control has often been an issue.  This big velo is certainly an intriguing weapon for a team in the postseason hunt, as Munoz might be something of a secret weapon out of Seattle’s bullpen.

The lack of information about Smith’s IL placement would seem to indicate a COVID-related issue, but details aren’t known about the right-hander’s situation (a positive test, contact tracing, waiting on a test result, vaccine side effects, etc.), nor could any be forthcoming given the league-mandated privacy regulations about the COVID list.  If a quarantine is required, Smith will miss not just the rest of the regular season, but also likely the ALDS if the Mariners advanced that far.

After a brutal start to the season with the Astros, Smith has turned things around since being dealt to the Mariners at the deadline, posting a 2.00 ERA over his 18 innings in Seattle.  Smith has improved his strikeout rate since joining the M’s and has surrendered only one home run, as opposed to giving up four homers in his 21 2/3 frames in Houston.

• Good news for the Reds’ bullpen: Left-hander Amir Garrett will pitch in his first spring training game of the year Saturday, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. Forearm soreness has slowed Garrett, perhaps the favorite to close for the Reds if he’s healthy. The 28-year-old notched a 2.45 ERA/2.82 SIERA and fanned hitters at a massive 37.7 percent rate across 18 1/3 innings in 2020.
• With Carlos Carrasco reportedly to miss six to eight weeks because of a torn hamstring, the Mets are stretching lefty Mike Montgomery out and considering him as a swingman, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com relays. Montgomery, whom the Mets signed to a minors pact, has racked up 183 appearances and 70 starts since he debuted in 2013. The former Mariner, Cub and Royal has combined for a respectable 3.84 ERA during his 541-inning career, though his ERA hovered around the 5.00 mark in each of the previous two seasons.
• Mariners reliever Andres Munoz suffered a “little setback” in his recovery from Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago and hasn’t taken the mound since, manager Scott Servais told Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times and other reporters. Munoz underwent the procedure almost exactly one year ago (March 20, 2020), and the Padres then dealt him to the Mariners in a seven-player trade last August. Considering how long it takes to return from TJ surgery, Munoz wasn’t likely to debut with the Mariners until sometime this summer, but now it appears they may have to wait a bit longer. Still just 22, Munoz impressed in his first season, 2019, when he pitched to a 3.91 ERA/3.72 SIERA in 23 innings, struck out 30.9 percent of batters and averaged 99.9 mph on his fastball.

Feb. 13: The Seattle Mariners have an agreement in place with James Paxton, per Chad Dey of Sportsnet650 (via Twitter). The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal confirms the deal. Paxton will make $8.5MM on a one-year deal with bonuses upping the potential value to $10MM, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). “Big Maple” will earn an additional $750K with 10 games and $750K at 20 games, adds MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Paxton is represented by the Boras Corporation.

By signing for just one season, Paxton will have the opportunity to prove his good health and return to the open market. It’s no small thing that he’ll get to do so in an environment where he’s comfortable, having made T-Mobile Park his home from 2013 to 2018. Assuming good health, Paxton should have no trouble reaching those performance incentives to make this contract a clean $10MM.

Health hasn’t always been Paxton’s strong suit, of course. Before missing most of 2020 with a left flexor strain, Paxton spent time on the injured list with knee inflammation, left forearm contusions twice, lower back inflammation, a strained pectoral muscle, a left elbow contusion, a strained tendon in his middle finger, as well as twice hitting the shelf in 2014 with a left Latissimus dorsi muscle strain (read: back). He made just five starts for the Yankees this season after 29, 28, 24, and 20 the four years prior. Despite the litany of ailments, Paxton had largely persevered before missing most of 2020.

It’s worth mentioning, the Mariners have been clear about their intentions to run out a six-man rotation in 2021. Still, a healthy season would get Paxton well past the 20 games threshold, and the additional time between starts is more likely to help Paxton make it to 20 games than hurt. The 32-year-old will slot near the top of the Mariners’ rotation along with fellow southpaws Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi, and Justus Sheffield. Right-handers Chris Flexen and Justin Dunn are expected to round out the six-man crew.

For the Mariners, the deal has little downside. Seattle still has a payroll under $100MM and their long-term flexibility intact. Meanwhile, they get to return Paxton to the team that drafted him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. He made 102 starts over six seasons for the Mariners, earning himself a reputation as a starter with frontline potential by way of a 3.58 ERA/3.13 FIP over 582 1/3 innings to that point. The Mariners dealt him to the Yankees following the 2018 season for Dom Thompson-Williams, Erik Swanson, and Sheffield. The Mariners will now enjoy at least one season of Paxton and Sheffield in the rotation together.

On the diamond, Paxton has the potential to move the needle for the Mariners. Limited to just 20 1/3 inning in 2020, Paxton entered free agency on the heels of an uninspiring 6.64 ERA. His 90.7 mph opponents’ exit velocity was a career-high, and his average heater dipped by about three miles per hour. A 32.1 percent groundball rate continued a two-year spike in flyball rate, which led to more home runs allowed in the Bronx. Prior to joining the Yankees, however, Paxton had a 44.7 percent groundball rate.

Many of Paxton’s other metrics, however, were more bullish. He registered a 4.37 FIP/3.88 SIERA, typically-strong 28.9 percent strikeout rate and a 7.8 percent walk rate that was better than the league average of 9.2 percent. At this price point, betting on a return to his career norms is a reasonable gamble for the M’s, who continue to position themselves as a potential sleeper in a year when the AL West looks more wide open than ever.

• The Rockies announced they’ve activated outfielder Ian Desmond from the restricted list. Outfielder David Dahl and right-handers Peter Lambert and Scott Oberg are back from the 60-day injured list, putting Colorado’s 40-man roster tally at 38. Desmond opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns and is entering his final year under contract. Dahl underwent shoulder surgery in September, capping a miserable season. Lambert, meanwhile, underwent Tommy John surgery in July. Oberg unfortunately also had to go under the knife, undergoing thoracic outlet surgery to alleviate blood clots in September.
• The Indians reinstated right-hander Jefry Rodríguez from the 45-day injured list (via Tribeinsider). While working at Cleveland’s alternate training site, the 27-year-old went down with a strain in his throwing shoulder in early September. Rodríguez worked 98.2 innings of 5.20 ERA ball with the Nationals and Indians between 2018-19 but didn’t pitch in the majors in 2020. Cleveland’s 40-man roster now sports 35 players.
• The Rays activated pitchers Jalen Beeks, Yonny Chirinos, Colin Poche and Cody Reed from the 45-day injured list (via Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). Each of Beeks, Chirinos and Poche has undergone Tommy John surgery over the past few months, meaning none will be ready (or even particularly close) at the start of next season. Reed suffered an injury to his left pinky finger shortly after being acquired from the Reds. He’s expected to be a full-go for spring training, Topkin notes.
• The Mariners have brought outfielder Mitch Haniger, catcher Tom Murphy and right-hander Andres Muñoz off the 45-day injured list, per Greg Johns of MLB.com. Haniger has dealt with a series of brutal injuries since emerging as one of the sport’s quieter stars, but he’s finally expected to be healthy next spring. Like Haniger, Murphy missed the entire 2020 season; the backstop broke a bone in his foot on the heels of a breakout 2019. Muñoz underwent Tommy John surgery while part of the Padres’ system in March. Still, the Mariners acquired the fireballing 21-year-old before the trade deadline as part of the return for Austin Nola, Austin Adams and Dan Altavilla. Seattle now has 35 players on the 40-man roster.

After already picking up Jason Castro from the Angels in another trade earlier today, the Padres will further bolster themselves behind the plate with Nola, though Nola brings extra versatility to the table.  While Nola has primarily worked as a catcher this season, he has a lot of experience at first base and second base, plus a handful of games as a third baseman and corner outfield.

Since Nola might be considered more of a super-utility piece than as a pure catcher, he will essentially replace both backup infielder France and backup catcher Torrens on San Diego’s roster.  The Padres are likely to use Nola all around the diamond while perhaps still going with Castro and Austin Hedges as their primary catching tandem, though Nola will surely also see some time at catcher.

As Ken Rosenthal speculated, the Padres did move a catcher to Seattle as part of the deal, though it was Torrens rather than Hedges or (the currently injured) Francisco Mejia.  It isn’t out of the question that one of that duo could be traded elsewhere in another future swap for the aggressive Padres.  Besides Castro, San Diego has also added Mitch Moreland and Trevor Rosenthal in deals with the Red Sox and Royals over the last two days, and the Padres remain in the hunt for such big-name pitchers as Mike Clevinger and Lance Lynn.

Originally a fifth-round pick for the Marlins in the 2012 draft, Nola plugged away in the minors before finally making his MLB debut last season at age 29.  Since reaching the bigs, Nola has done nothing but produce for the Mariners, hitting .280/.351/.476 with 15 homers over 377 career plate appearances heading into today’s action.  He is also controlled through the 2025 season, though San Diego might not necessarily view Nola as a long-term asset given that he turns 31 in December.

Altavilla has been a somewhat inconsistent contributor during his five years out of the Mariners bullpen, amassing a solid career 4.08 ERA over 106 innings and missing a lot (9.9 K/9) of bats.  He only pitched 14 2/3 innings in 2019 and had a 7.71 ERA through his first 11 2/3 frames this season.  As a hard-throwing righty, Altavilla will basically fill the bullpen depth spot left behind Gerardo Reyes, who was moved to the Angels in the Castro trade.

Adams could potentially factor into the Padres’ plans in 2020, as the right-hander has been rehabbing in the hopes of a late-season return after undergoing knee surgery in September 2019.  Over 38 career innings with the Nationals and Mariners since the start of the 2017 season, Adams has a 3.79 ERA, 2.33 K/BB rate, and a whopping 14.9 K/9.  MLBTR’s Steve Adams examined the righty’s hidden-gem potential back in April and, as always, the pitcher now going to San Diego is not to be confused with the other right-handed Austin Adams, who is currently with the Twins.

Turning to the Mariners’ end of the trade, Trammell is the clear centerpiece, and this is the second time in two years that Trammell has been part of a major deadline swap.  The outfielder was part of the prospect package going to San Diego last July in the seven-player, three-team swap that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds and Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig to the Indians.  Trammell will now become part of a loaded young outfield core in Seattle that includes Rookie Of The Year favorite Kyle Lewis and top prospects Julio Rodriguez and Jarred Kelenic.

Being dealt twice in 13 months’ time, however, could be an indication that Trammell’s star has somewhat dimmed.  He didn’t perform overly well at the Double-A level last year, hitting a combined .234/.340/.349 in 514 combined PA with the Reds’ and Padres’ affiliates.  MLB.com ranked Trammell as the 16th-best prospect in baseball prior to the 2019 season but dropped him to 57th in their pre-2020 listing, citing “a pull-heavy approach” that didn’t serve him well at Double-A.  Overall, however, the scouting report was still impressed by Trammell’s speed, and his “impressive combination of athleticism, hitting ability and power potential even when he struggled.”

France has been an under-the-radar contributor for the Padres, hitting .314/.375/.510 in his first 56 plate appearances.  The 26-year-old was something of an unheralded 34th round pick out of San Diego State in 2015, but France did nothing but hit in the minors and has acquitted himself well at the plate in the big leagues.  France has played mostly corner infield positions during his career, though he also has experience at second base, so his right-handed bat could spell both the left-handed hitting Shed Long Jr. and even Kyle Seager when a southpaw is on the mound.

Though Torrens only has 70 big league games (including seven this season) to his name, he is now the most experienced receiver in a Seattle catching corps that consists of rookie Joseph Odom and Joe Hudson.  Tom Murphy is currently on the 45-day injured list recovering from a fractured metatarsal in his left foot, leaving the door open for the Mariners’ other backstops to make an impression.  A veteran of seven pro seasons with the Yankees and Padres, Torrens has a solid .272/.343/.404 slash line in 1584 career minor league PA, though just a .479 OPS over 168 PA with San Diego at the big league level.

Munoz is a longer-term asset for the Mariners, as the 21-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery last March.  With a fastball that sits just a hair below 100mph, Munoz made his MLB debut last season, posting a 3.91 ERA, 2.73 K/BB, and 11.7 K/9 over 23 innings for the Padres.  Control has been a slight issue for Munoz (5.5 BB/9) over 106 career minor league innings, but there is definitely closer-of-the-future potential if he can fully harness his heater.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal was the first to report that the Mariners and Padres were “in active talks” about a Nola trade, and also later reported Torrens’ inclusion and that players on both sides were being informed of their involvement.  ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reported that the trade had been completed, and that it was a seven-player swap that included Trammell and Adams.  As for the other players in the trade, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times was first on Altavilla, The Athletic’s Jim Bowden was first on France, and The Athletic’s Dennis Lin was first on Munoz.

Photographs courtesy of USA Today Sports Images