Angels fans have been anxiously awaiting the debut of Fletcher, who isn’t considered one of the organization’s elite prospects (No. 21, per MLB.com) but has laid waste to Triple-A pitchers thus far in 2018. The former sixth-round pick (2015) has slashed .350/.394/.559 with six homers, 25 doubles, five triples and seven steals (in nine tries) so far in the Triple-A season. Incredibly, he’s punched out just 21 times in 274 plate appearances.

As the Halos’ Triple-A affiliate tweeted over the weekend, the 24-year-old Fletcher was leading all of Minor League Baseball with 85 hits, 36 extra-base hits, 25 doubles and 138 total bases. That superlative production landed him on a recent edition of Jason Martinez’s Knocking Down the Door here at MLBTR.

Exactly where Fletcher lines up on the diamond in the big leagues remains to be seen. He’s split his time between the two middle infield positions in the minors thus far in 2018, and while Ian Kinsler slumped badly early in the season, he’s been swinging a much better bat of late. Kinsler has a .797 OPS over the past month, and in his past 13 games, he’s slashing a ridiculous .352/.397/.759 with six homers and four doubles in 58 plate appearances.

The Angels had to place Andrelton Simmons on the disabled list due to a freak ankle sprain recently — Simmons injured himself on the dugout steps — and Zack Cozart has shifted over to shortstop in the interim. It’s possible, then, that Fletcher could see some time at shortstop, with Cozart sliding back over to the hot corner on days when Fletcher is penciled in at short.

The outlook on Shoemaker looks to subtract a second rotation piece from the rotation for the foreseeable future. J.C. Ramirez has already undergone Tommy John surgery and won’t pitch again this season. For the time being, that leaves the Angels with a rotation mix of Shohei Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs, Andrew Heaney, Jaime Barria, Nick Tropeano and Parker Bridwell atop the depth chart. While those are certainly seven capable starters, there’s no shortage of recent injury issues among the group, either.

It’ll be the second straight season in which Shoemaker has undergone surgery to address a nerve issue in his forearm. While the righty has shown to be a plenty capable rotation arm at times in the big leagues — he logged a 3.80 ERA in 431 1/3 innings from 2014-16 — he’s never made more than 27 starts in a season and has never topped 160 innings as a Major Leaguer. While the Angels surely hope to see him return to the roster by season’s end, Shoemaker’s lack of durability makes it difficult to count on him for any meaningful contributions moving forward.

Wood, 32, joined the Angels via waiver claim last season and has posted a 3.77 ERA with 32 strikeouts against 11 walks in 28 2/3 innings out of the Halos’ bullpen. However, he landed on the DL with an elbow impingement late in April, which eventually prompted further testing and eventually revealed the UCL damage.

Now, with surgery to address that damage set for this Friday, it appears that the injury could ultimately spell the end of Wood’s time with the Angels. Wood entered the season with five years, 131 days of MLB service time, meaning he’ll be a free agent at season’s end. He’ll finish out the season on the 60-day DL, and while he could certainly return to the Halos on a minor league deal, he’ll also be able to gauge interest from all 30 clubs on the open market.

With the Rangers struggling and Hamels in his final year under contract, the former World Series MVP has often been cited as a potential deadline trade chip.  Some players in Hamels’ position have used their no-trade clause to garner some extra money and/or future security, though it doesn’t seem like Hamels would be particularly inclined to insist that a new team (for example) automatically pick up the $20MM club option on his services for 2019.  It’s worth noting that several of Hamels’ nine non-protected teams are contenders, so Texas might not necessarily have to worry about the no-trade clause at all to potentially deal the left-hander.  Miller’s full piece is well worth a read, as Hamels discusses several topics about his past and future in baseball.

Some more from the AL West…

• An MRI revealed some damage to Blake Wood’s ulnar collateral ligament, the Angels told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters today.  Wood will receive a second opinion before deciding on his next course of action.  The extent of the damage isn’t known, though the worst-case scenario would be that Wood undergoes Tommy John surgery and is thus sidelined through at least half of the 2019 season.  Wood has been on the DL for the last month due to an elbow impingement, and had posted a 2.31 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 1.43 K/BB rate over 11 2/3 IP out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season.  Wood is a free agent this winter, and would be facing some type of incentive-heavy, minor league deal at best if he does face a Tommy John absence.
• The Angels’ balancing act of using Shohei Ohtani as a two-way player has been “perfect” based on Ohtani’s projected and assumed values as a pitcher and as a hitter, according to ESPN.com’s Sam Miller.  “The miracle isn’t just that we get to see a player who is as good at hitting and as good at pitching as Ohtani is.  It’s that we get to see one who is precisely this good at each so that this usage makes sense,” Miller writes.
• As part of a reader mailbag piece, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes that he would “be surprised” if Brian McCann is with the Astros in 2019.  McCann is in the final guarantee year of his contract and the Astros hold a $15MM club option on him for next season.  This option vests into a player option should McCann has 601 PA and at least 90 starts at catcher this season, and doesn’t end the year on the disabled list, though obviously Houston could manage McCann’s workload to ensure he doesn’t hit the vesting threshold.  The hot-hitting Max Stassi has already cut into McCann’s playing time, though McTaggart isn’t sure that Stassi (a longtime prospect) would necessarily be the starting catcher going forward if the Astros parted ways with McCann.  It’s worth noting that the Astros were linked to J.T. Realmuto in trade rumors last winter, and the team has the minor league trade chips to manage such a big acquisition.  McCann, 34, has above-average run creation numbers (111 wRC+) via his .248/.347/.396 slash line in 118 PA this season, though his production over the last five years has generally been closer to league-average.
• The Athletics’ pick of Matt Chapman with the 25th overall selection of the 2014 draft came about due to something of a “reverse Moneyball” situation, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (subscription required).  Chapman had only modest hitting numbers in college ball but his skillset was heavily praised by A’s scouts; unlike the events of the film and Michael Lewis’ book, Billy Beane and company decided to go against the statistics to choose Chapman, as a private workout for the team prior to the draft helped answer the front office’s concerns.  The pick looks like a great one for the A’s, as Chapman has broken out into one of the game’s most promising young stars.

Fellow righty Justin Anderson receiving his first call to the majors to take the open roster spot. The team had an open 40-man spot to accommodate the selection of his contract. Another right-handed reliever, Eduardo Paredes, is also heading back to the majors after some time on optional assignment.

The Halos added Wood late in the 2017 season and then agreed to an arbitration contract with him just before the tender deadline. He’s earning $1.45MM for the 2018 season.

Details of the injury aren’t yet known, but this sort of malady typically sidelines a pitcher for a fairly substantial stretch of time. To take but one recent example — which may or may no be of much predictive value — the Dodgers shut down Alex Wood for about a month when he was diagnosed with an elbow impingement back in 2016.

Wood, 32, has given the Angels 11 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA ball thus far. While he has only managed 7.7 K/9 against 5.4 BB/9, he’s sporting a fairly typical 10.0% swinging-strike rate and 96 mph average fastball. Wood has also generated groundballs at an excellent 58.6% rate in the early going.

While the Angels would surely rather continue trotting Wood out there, turning to Anderson represents an interesting alternative. The 25-year-old has opened eyes in the upper minors after a strong showing in camp. Through 8 2/3 innings at the Double-A and Triple-A thus far in the regular season, he has racked up a 14:2 K/BB ratio while allowing just two hits and no earned runs. That’s certainly an intriguing development for a pitcher who, entering the season, had averaged less than seven strikeouts per nine as a professional.

Here’s today’s slate of players that have avoided the arb process and locked in at least a partial guarantee for the upcoming season (arbitration contracts are not fully guaranteed, but each of these players will be guaranteed one sixth of the agreed-upon sum unless specifically negotiated otherwise). All projections are via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz…

• The Padres announced that lefty Robbie Erlin has agreed to a contract for 2018. The 27-year-old missed all of 2017 due to Tommy John surgery and was projected to earn $700K through arbitration. Terms of his deal have not yet been reported.
• The Braves appear to have agreed to terms with just-claimed righty Chase Whitley, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Whitley, who was projected to earn $1.0MM in his first season of arb eligibility, is said to be in line for an opportunity to work as a starter. It’s a split deal that would pay Whitley $800K in the majors, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets.
• The Mariners agreed with Andrew Romine on a $1.05MM contract, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Romine, a versatile infielder, was claimed off waivers after the end of the 2017 season.
• Outfielder Abraham Almonte has reached a deal to avoid arbitration with the Indians, per a club announcement. He had featured as a possible non-tender candidate but instead found common ground with the organization. Almonte, 28, slashed just .233/.314/.366 in his 195 trips to the plate in 2017. He had projected to earn a $1.1MM payday in his first season of arbitration eligibility but will take home $825K, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
• The Royals have agreed to terms with righty Mike Morin to avoid arbitration, the club announced. He’ll receive a split contract, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan tweets, with a $750K annual earning rate in the majors and $250K in the minors. Morin, who projected at $700K, drew a mention on MLBTR’s non-tender candidates list. Indeed, his contract reflects the middling season that he turned in. Morin allowed 16 earned runs in twenty MLB frames, though he was more effective at Triple-A.
• Yimi Garcia and the Dodgers have avoided arbitration, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter). Garia projected to command only a $700K salary after missing all of 2017 following Tommy John surgery; he’ll end up taking home $630K, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Now 27, Garcia had established himself as a significant member of the Dodgers’ bullpen in 2015, when he compiled a 3.34 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 over 56 2/3 innings. But injuries limited him in the ensuing season and ultimately culminated in a UCL replacement.
• Per a club announcement, the Indians have agreed to a contract with righty Dan Otero. Otero will take home $1.3MM, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian (via Twitter). He was projected to command $1.4MM. The 32-year-old Otero has been an unmitigated bargain for Cleveland over the past two years, turning in 130 2/3 total innings of 2.14 ERA pitching despite averaging just 6.5 K/9 in that span. Otero has succeeded with unfailing command (just 19 walks since joining the Indians) and a hefty groundball rate (over 60% in each of the past two seasons).
• The Angels and righty Blake Wood agreed to a one-year, $1.45MM deal that falls well shy of his $2.2MM projection, as FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman was the first to report (via Twitter). Wood struggled mightily in Cincinnati before being picked up by the Halos late in the year and turning his season around a bit. In 17 innings with the Angels, he posted a 4.76 ERA with a much more promising 22-to-4 K/BB ratio. Heyman notes that he can earn up to $50K worth of incentives as well.
• The White Sox announced that they’ve signed right-hander Danny Farquhar to a one-year deal worth $1.05MM — a pact that falls shy of his $1.5MM projection. In 49 1/3 innings between the Rays and ChiSox, the 30-year-old logged a 4.20 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 5.1 BB/9 and a 41.7 percent ground-ball rate.

Wood had been designated recently by Cincinnati after a pair of dreadful outings. But he certainly has a big arm and some track record of success in the majors.

The Halos will hope that Wood becomes the team’s latest reclamation success — perhaps helping to make up for the absence of David Hernandez, who was dealt away at the deadline. Since, the Angels have managed to climb into the thick of the AL Wild Card race.

Wood, 32, carried a 3.69 ERA until he was lit up on August 11th. Now, just two weeks later, that figure has ballooned all the way to 5.65. But he does still have solid-enough peripherals, with 9.7 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9 along with a 53.6% groundball rate, and still works in the 97 mph range with his heater.

If Wood can prove his worth in Los Angeles, the club may also consider retaining him for the future. He’s earning $1.275MM this year and can be tendered arbitration once more this fall.

It’s a bit surprising to see Cincinnati cut ties with Wood, who is eligible for arbitration one final time in 2018 after earning $1.275MM this year. The 32-year-old does carry an ugly 5.65 ERA, but that’s due in large part to the staggering nine earned runs he allowed in his last two outings. (More generally, too, he carries a low strand rate of 62.1% and has been tagged for a lofty .364 BABIP by opposing hitters.) Of course, that pair of disastrous appearances also likely paved the way for today’s move.

Despite the less-than-exciting earned run average, Wood has averaged 9.7 K/9 against 4.6 BB/9 on the year while sporting a 53.6% groundball rate. And he still delivers an upper-nineties heater that could hold appeal to other organizations.

That said, the Reds surely at least looked for takers and perhaps found insufficient interest. And the move makes way for Chacin, a 24-year-old who has steadily risen through the ranks over the past three years and figures to be a bullpen option for 2018 and beyond.

Chacin has spent the entirety of 2017 at Triple-A, posting a 2.60 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 over 69 1/3 innings in 44 appearances. That multi-inning versatility could give the Reds yet another flexible arm — part of an acknowledged strategy of the organization.

• Wily Peralta and Carlos Torres have agreed to one-year deals, according to the team’s Twitter account. Peralta will earn $4.275MM (compared to $4.4MM projection), per Heyman. Torres was projected to make $2MM, but will get slightly more at $2.175MM, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (via Twitter).
• Reliever George Kontos gets $1.75MM from the Giants, Heyman tweets. He had projected at $1.7MM.
• The Diamondbacks also reached agreement with lefty Patrick Corbin, righty Randall Delgado, and catcher Chris Herrmann, per Jack Magruder of Fan Rag (links to Twitter). Delgado gets $1.775MM and Herrmann receives $937,500. As for Corbin, he’ll take home $3.95MM, per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (via Twitter), which falls a bit shy of his $4.2MM projection.
• Infielder Eduardo Nunez will receive $4.2MM from the Giants, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). San Francisco has also reached agreement with lefty Will Smith, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). He’ll receive $2.5MM, just over his $2.3MM projection, Heyman tweets.
• The Phillies settled at $4.2MM with righty Jeanmar Gomez, per Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). He falls just a big shy of his $4.6MM projection.
• The Cardinals have announced arb deals with Trevor Rosenthal and Kevin Siegrist. Rosenthal receives $6.4MM, per Heyman (via Twitter), which is just $100K over his projection. Siegrist projected at $1.9MM, but his salary has yet to be reported.
• Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom have each avoided arbitration with the Mets. Harvey gets $5.125MM in his second arb year, per James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter). Meanwhile, deGrom will receive $4.05MM in his first trip through the arb process, per ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin (via Twitter). New York has also agreed with lefty Josh Edgin, Rubin tweets, though terms remain unreported.

Earlier Updates

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• It would seem, then, that the Reds would be content to move Bruce for a package centering around one quality prospect — a seemingly reasonable expectation for a player that is slashing .271/.323/.572 with 25 homers on the season. Jocketty suggested that he expects added action over the weekend, but added that “basically the same clubs” have been sniffing around on the veteran with no teams being “really aggressive” to this point. Defensive metrics do peg Bruce as one of the worst defenders in all of baseball this season, though Buchanan notes that he’s spoken to evaluators with other clubs who don’t believe Bruce’s glovework to be nearly as poor as Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating would otherwise depict.
• Jocketty says there hasn’t been any action on shortstop Zack Cozart, who is playing a quality shortstop. The trouble there seems to be that there just isn’t a clear need on a contender. With another season of affordable control to go, he is probably more likely to be dealt in the winter.
• In terms of the team’s pitching, Jocketty suggested there’s no real likelihood of righties Anthony DeSclafani and Dan Straily changing uniforms. “I don’t think we’d consider anything,” Jocketty said of the former. “Clubs inquire about certain players, but never want to trade you anything, so what’s the point?” As for Straily, Buchanan suggests there’s “no thought” of a deal since he’s a functional and affordable arm that would not draw a notable trade return.
• Buchanan also notes that relievers such as Ross Ohlendorf, Blake Wood, and Tony Cingrani could conceivably be dealt if there’s interest, as all will rise in price next year. None have been particularly impressive, with Wood and Cingrani posting solid earned run averages without the peripherals to match. Ohlendorf is striking out better than a batter per nine and will be a free agent after the season; his mid-nineties fastball and old-time charm could make him a depth option.
• Meanwhile, the Reds announced today that long-injured righty Homer Bailey has been activated for a start on Sunday. The 30-year-old last appeared early in 2015 and is on the comeback trail from Tommy John surgery. After originally charting an aggressive schedule, the team slowed him down after a few hiccups along the way. Cinci extended Bailey just before the 2014 campaign, which was his last before qualifying for free agency, agreeing to a six-year, $105MM pact. Over 2012-13, Bailey put up 417 innings of 3.58 ERA pitching, leading to the investment, but he wasn’t quite as good in the first year of his new deal before succumbing to arm troubles. Needless to say, his ability to return to form will be an important storyline for a Reds club that still has a good amount of money invested in several aging players.

Wood, a 30-year-old righty, last pitched in the majors in 2014. He had been a regular contributor to the Royals pen over the 2010-11 seasons, throwing 119 1/3 innings of 4.30 ERA ball, but ended up requiring Tommy John surgery.

Last year, Wood pitched for the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate. Over 58 2/3 innings, he worked to a 3.53 ERA. Notably, he managed a 10.7 strikeout-per-nine rate while issuing just under four free passes per regulation game.

• The Cardinals have outrighted right-hander Keith Butler off the team’s 40-man roster, according to the MLB.com transactions page. St. Louis has also released center fielder Shane Robinson. The 25-year-old Butler has yet to establish himself in the bigs, but has been quite good in the upper minors. Robinson, 30, has seen his role reduced and was no longer a valuable piece for a Cardinals club that just picked up Jason Heyward.
• The Nationals have released catcher Jhonatan Solano, also per MLB.com. Solano, the older brother of Marlins second baseman Donovan Solano, has seen minimal big league time over the past two years and did not have a clear role in the organization moving forward.
• The Indians announced that they’ve re-signed right-handers Shaun Marcum and Dustin Molleken to minor league deals with invitations to Spring Training. Marcum, 33 next month, was of course a fixture in the Blue Jays and Brewers rotations from 2007-12, though he dealt with his share of injuries in that time. Still, he posted a 3.67 ERA in 830 1/3 innings in that span before thoracic outlet syndrome in 2013 required surgery and has kept him on the shelf since. He did make it back to a minor league mound with Cleveland last season, posting a 2.35 ERA in 15 1/3 Triple-A innings in August.
• Molleken, 30, made 54 relief appearances for Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate last season and posted big strikeout numbers but also struggled with his command, to an extent. In 74 1/3 innings, he pitched to a 4.84 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.
• The Pirates have signed a familiar name to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training in the form of Brad Lincoln, per the club’s transactions page. Lincoln was selected fourth overall by the Bucs in 2006. He struggled through the early portion of his career but got off to a good start as a reliever in 2012 and was flipped to the Blue Jays for the man who was drafted 10 picks after him in ’06 — Travis Snider. Toronto would eventually deal Lincoln to the Phillies for Erik Kratz and Rob Rasmussen. Lincoln struggled with Philly but had success in Pittsburgh and Toronto, posting a 3.76 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in 119 2/3 innings from 2012-13.
• The Pirates also announced a host of other signings, including righties Collin Balester, Blake Wood, and Deolis Guerra, lefty Jeremy Bleich, and shortstop Gustavo Nunez.
• The Twins have re-signed infielder/outfielder Eric Farris to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, reports 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson (on Twitter). The 28-year-old hit .280/.316/.356 with Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate last season, playing primarily center field.

• Angels: RHP David Carpenter, RHP Dane De La Rosa, C John Hester
• Braves: RHP Pedro Beato
• Cubs: C Eli Whiteside
• Diamondbacks: 3B Andy Marte
• Giants: 2B Brandon Hicks
• Indians: MI Elliot Johnson
• Marlins: OF Brian Bogusevic
• Mets: LHP John Lannan, SS Omar Quintanilla, C Taylor Teagarden
• Orioles: RHP Josh Stinson
• Padres: OF Jeff Francoeur, 3B Chris Nelson
• Phillies: SS Reid Brignac, LHP Jeremy Horst, RHP Jeff Manship
• Pirates: SS Michael Martinez, RHP Vin Mazzaro, 1B Chris McGuiness
• Rangers: 1B/OF Mike Carp, LHP Ryan Feierabend, 2B Josh Wilson
• Red Sox: OF Corey Brown, 2B Ryan Roberts
• Royals: INF Pedro Ciriaco, RHP Blake Wood
• Tigers: RHP Kevin Whelan
• Yankees: LHP Josh Outman

• The Angels have outrighted corner infielder Ryan Wheeler, tweets Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Wheeler, 26, was designated on Monday. He has a career .310/.354/.471 slash over three seasons at the Triple-A level, but has yet to find success in limited MLB action.
• Royals pitchers Blake Wood and Chris Dwyer have cleared outright waivers and accepted their assignments to Triple-A, the club announced on Twitter. The 29-year-old Wood has seen action in parts of four MLB seasons, including 119 1/3 relief innings with the Royals over 2010-11, while Dwyer has enjoyed only a brief cup of coffee last year with K.C.

• The Royals have placed both Chris Dwyer and Blake Wood on outright waivers, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. Both hurlers were designated recently to clear space for September call-ups. Once a top prospect, Dwyer has struggled to a 5.59 ERA working mostly in relief at Triple-A this year, while Wood has yet to re-establish himself since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012.
• The Indians announced that they have outrighted outfielder Chris Dickerson to Triple-A Columbus.  Cleveland acquired Dickerson from the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later back in July.  GM Chris Antonetti traded for Dickerson because he valued his ability to play all three outfield positions and ability to hit against right-handed pitching.

Here’s some more from around baseball as we kick off the week…

• The Royals will place right-hander Blake Wood on waivers tomorrow, MLBTR’s Zach Links reports (Twitter link).  Wood was designated for assignment last week.
• Evan Gattis has been a big part of the Braves’ lineup, but the catcher’s defensive limitations could see the club trade him to an AL team, Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes (AJC subscription required).  Gattis could be better served by a regular DH role, while the Braves could trade him for a long-term outfield solution given that Justin Upton and Jason Heyward are both only signed through 2015.  Gattis played some left field himself in 2013, though he was a defensive liability there as well.
• It doesn’t seem likely that the 2015 Cubs rotation will feature both Edwin Jackson and Travis Wood, ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers writes.  The Cubs may be stuck with Jackson due to his contract, though Wood is only on a one-year, $3.9MM deal (with two years of arbitration eligibility left).  Wood has a 5.15 ERA in 162 2/3 IP this season and could be a non-tender candidate, though he still has some value as an innings-eater.
• The White Sox have some holes to fill in the rotation, bullpen and lineup, yet Grantland’s Jonah Keri sees them as a possible sleeper team for 2015.  The Sox have lots of payroll space to address those issues and build around their core of Jose Abreu, Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Adam Eaton.
• A veteran player suggests to ESPN’s Buster Olney (Insider subscription required) that players who fail two PED tests should be limited to one-year contracts for the remainder of their career.  This would be a deterrent against players with one suspension on their record potentially using PEDs again in the hopes of scoring a big multiyear deal.  As the veteran put it, “If I was someone who had been suspended before, why wouldn’t I use again?  If you’ve robbed a bank before and you see that you could again and still walk away with millions, why wouldn’t you?“
• Also from Olney, he feels the Rockies have “an easy decision” to decline Brett Anderson’s $12MM option for 2015, as the team can’t afford to commit that much payroll space to a pitcher with Anderson’s injury history.  This would likely end Anderson’s tenure in Colorado, as Olney notes he wouldn’t accept a cheaper one-year deal from the Rockies when he could rebuild his value elsewhere in a more pitcher-friendly ballpark.
• Several key members of the Giants and Tigers hail from Venezuela, and FOX Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi looks at how both teams approach scouting and development in the country.