Carlos Correa

Astros Activate Joe Smith, Move Carlos Correa To 60-Day IL

By Jeff Todd | July 12, 2019 at 4:18pm CDT

The Astros have activated righty Joe Smith for the first time this season, per a club announcement. He’ll take the spot of Cy Sneed, who was optioned down.

To create 40-man space, shortstop Carlos Correa was bumped to the 60-day IL. Correa will not be eligible to return before the end of the month, though he was not expected to be ready by that point anyway. He’s said to be nearing a rehab assignment as his fractured rib recovers.

Smith has been sidelined all year after suffering an Achilles tear over the offseason. It’s anyone’s guess what he’ll be able to contribute, but the ’Stros have good cause to find out. The 35-year-old sidearmer is due $8MM this season. He was a solid contributor in 2018, when he turned in 45 2/3 innings of 3.74 ERA ball with 9.1 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.

Lone Star Notes: Correa, Diaz, Bregman, Pence, Smith

By Connor Byrne | July 12, 2019 at 1:04am CDT

Major League Baseball’s two Texas-based teams officially got the second half of the season underway Thursday. Led by another terrific performance from right-hander Lance Lynn, who struck out 11 in seven shutout innings, the Rangers coasted to a 5-0 victory over the Astros. Both teams’ rosters were missing some key components because of injuries. Here’s the latest on a handful of those players…

Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and infielder Aledmys Diaz could start rehab assignments next week, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. A fractured rib sent Correa to the injured list May 27, halting a great start to the season for the 24-year-old star. Diaz (left hamstring strain) went to the IL the same day as Correa. Their absences have had significant consequences for a few of the Astros’ other infielders. With neither Correa nor Diaz around to man short, the Astros have often turned to franchise third baseman Alex Bregman, leaving the hot corner for first baseman Yuli Gurriel and first for Tyler White.
Speaking of Bregman, he departed in the third inning Thursday after a hard grounder off the bat of Shin-Soo Choo took an unkind hop and struck Bregman in the chin. Bregman left the field bloodied and received four stitches, manager A.J. Hinch said (via McTaggart). It’s unclear whether Bregman will sit out any time going forward. The club replaced him at short with Myles Straw.
Rangers designated hitter/outfielder Hunter Pence restarted a rehab assignment at the Double-A level Thursday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports. Pence played DH and will likely do the same Friday. After that, the Rangers hope to activate him over the weekend, per manager Chris Woodward. The 36-year-old Pence’s renaissance season came to a pause when he hit the IL on June 17 with a Grade 2 right groin strain. Pence then suffered a setback in his first rehab game July 1, causing the team to briefly shut him down.
More from McTaggart, who writes that reliever Joe Smith could rejoin the Astros’ bullpen as early as Sunday if he doesn’t incur any setbacks in the meantime. The 35-year-old right-hander has spent the past several months working back from the ruptured left Achilles tendon he suffered in a December workout. Smith, who’s in the last season of a two-year, $15MM contract, logged a 3.74 ERA with 9.07 K/9 and 2.36 BB/9 across 45 2/3 innings in 2018.

Carlos Correa Diagnosed With Fractured Rib

By Jeff Todd | May 29, 2019 at 4:45pm CDT

4:45pm: Correa has issued a statement on the injury, which occurred off the field (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan):

“I’m extremely disappointed about not being on the field with my teammates. I sustained the rib fracture during a massage at my home on Tuesday. To sustain an injury in such an unusual way makes it even more frustrating. However, I will work hard to get back on the field as quickly as possible to help our team achieve our goal of winning another championship.”

10:57am: Astros star Carlos Correa has been diagnosed with a fractured rib, Mark Berman of FOX 26 reported (via Twitter) and the team has since announced. He’s expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks and will obviously be headed for a stint on the injured list.

It’s a disappointing development for the Houston organization and its 24-year-old shortstop, who had hoped for a fully healthy season on the heels of an injury-limited 2018 campaign. Fortunately, it does not appear this issue is connected to the back and oblique issues Correa experienced last year.

Correa had looked himself in the first fifty games of the new year. Through 214 plate appearances, he carries a hefty .295/.360/.547 batting line with 11 home runs — good for a 143 wRC+.

The injury doesn’t change Correa’s revived outlook at the plate, but it will again impact his earning power. He took down a $5MM salary after winning an arbitration hearing against the ’Stros. That’s a nice start, but not the kind of scratch he’d have commanded with a typical and healthy platform season. Missing time this year will similarly limit his ability to build up a raise in his second (and second-to-last) season of arb eligibility.

Correa joins fellow stars George Springer and Jose Altuve on the injured list. Notably, reserve infielder Aledmys Diaz is also sidelined, creating some obvious challenges in the middle infield.

This being the Astros, there are still ample possibilities on hand. Alex Bregman would be a superstar at shortstop had he not been bumped to third base due to Correa, so he can slide over. The team can shift Yuli Gurriel to third, but after that it’ll need to rely on less-established players.

Infielder/outfielder Myles Straw has been summoned from Triple-A to take the open roster spot. He has played almost exclusively as an outfielder as a professional, but began spending time at shortstop this year at Triple-A. Straw and the just-promoted Jack Mayfield could share time at second base and chip in on the left side of the infield.

Both those players have a good case for a chance at the majors, though it’d be unreasonable to expect them to fill the shoes of Correa and Altuve. Houston GM Jeff Luhnow said he’d at least take a look at the external options, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets, though he noted that he’s comfortable with the organization’s overall middle-infield depth.

Injury Notes: Astros, Lyles, Vincent, Reid-Foley

By Steve Adams | May 28, 2019 at 8:52pm CDT

Astros stars Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are both being evaluated by the team’s medical staff for potential injuries, the team told reporters Tuesday (Twitter links via Jake Kaplan of The Athletic). Altuve was already on the injured list but reported feeling fatigue and soreness his right leg after playing minor league rehab games on consecutive days. That’s all the more notable given that Altuve underwent right knee surgery following the 2018 season. As for Correa, he was scratched from tonight’s lineup due to discomfort in his ribs and is being evaluated back in Houston. President of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow downplayed the potential for a serious issue, however, stating that he doesn’t expect either issue to be a long-term problem (Twitter link via the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome). It’s possible that either could be out “a couple weeks,” per Luhnow, although obviously an exact timeline is impossible to gauge until the medical staff has completed its tests.

Some more injury notes from around the league…

The Pirates announced that right-hander Jordan Lyles exited tonight’s game due to hamstring discomfort. Lyles has been one of the best one-year signings of this past offseason, but he struggled through a second straight rough Tuesday, surrendering three runs on three hits and a pair of walks in four innings of work. Though his last two outings haven’t been sharp, Lyles still boasts a 3.09 ERA, 9.1 K/, 3.1 BB/9, 0.81 HR/9 and a 43.1 percent ground-ball rate in 55 1/3 innings. The Pirates have placed Jameson Taillon, Chris Stratton and Keone Kela on the injured list in May. If he requires a trip to the IL, the Bucs could turn back to top prospect Mitch Keller, who was recalled for a spot start yesterday but optioned back today.
Giants right-hander Nick Vincent exited tonight’s game with trainers, and The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly notes (via Twitter) that Vincent was motioning toward his neck/collarbone area as he departed the game. He’s been used heavily by the Giants, frequently pitching two- or more innings at a time. Prior to the 2019 season, Vincent had never thrown more than 64 2/3 innings in a Major League season, but he’s already up to 30 2/3 frames on the year. Correlation certainly doesn’t equate to causation in this instance, but the uptick in workload is at least worth a mention. Vincent looked like a potential trade chip less than three weeks ago, as he had a 2.25 ERA and a 25-to-6 K/BB ratio in 24 innings back on May 10. Since then, he’s surrendered 13 runs in his past four appearances — a span of just 6 2/3 innings.
It appears there’s some concern regarding young Blue Jays right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, as Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com tweets that Reid-Foley exited Tuesday’s start for Triple-A Buffalo in what looked to be “a lot of discomfort.” The former second-round pick loaded the bases and walked in a run before exiting the game with a member of the Bisons’ training staff. Reid-Foley has had a tough season in Buffalo so far, entering play Tuesday with a 6.60 ERA through 45 inning of work. To his credit, he’s picked up 50 strikeouts in that time, but he’s also issued 34 walks, hit four batters and thrown four wild pitches. [Update: Chisholm tweets that the Jays are calling the injury a back strain but hopeful that he can avoid even missing a start in Buffalo.]

Quick Hits: Brewers, Kimbrel, Keuchel, Astros, Correa, A’s, Nats

By Connor Byrne | March 30, 2019 at 10:49pm CDT

The Brewers have reportedly engaged in “pretty serious” negotiations of late with closer Craig Kimbrel, who remains available even after the start of the season. Now, having lost closer Corey Knebel to season-ending Tommy John surgery, a union between the Brewers and Kimbrel looks even more plausible on paper. However, barring a massive drop in asking price, the Brewers aren’t in position to sign Kimbrel or the majors’ other big-ticket free agent, starter Dallas Keuchel, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Both Kimbrel and Keuchel rejected a $17.9MM qualifying offer from their previous team at the outset of the offseason. But even if they wind up settling for one-year contracts, odds are those deals will approach or exceed the worth of the qualifying offer. The Brewers, for their part, probably don’t even have half the value of the QO left in their budget, Haudricourt relays, as they’re already sporting a franchise-record Opening Day payroll. As a result, Haudricourt posits they’re more likely to rely on in-house reinforcements such as injured reliever Jeremy Jeffress and on-the-mend starter Jimmy Nelson than splurge on one of the two star free agents sitting on the open market.

Carlos Correa Wins Arbitration Case Against Astros

By Jeff Todd | February 5, 2019 at 2:23pm CDT

Shortstop Carlos Correa won his arbitration case against the Astros, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). The GSE client will earn $5MM rather than the $4.25MM figure that the team had submitted.

One of the game’s brightest young stars, Correa picked a poor time for his first misstep in the majors. After turning in monster offensive numbers in an injury-limited 2017 season, the former Rookie of the Year again missed time in 2018 and wasn’t quite himself at the plate. He ended up posting a .239/.323/.405 slash over 468 plate appearances.

So long as Correa can put his back issues behind him, his outlook remains quite bright. He’ll still open his arb earning period with a strong $5MM base rate, though that’s about half of what he might have taken home with a platform season that better matched his prior offensive output. (Fellow youthful star shortstop Francisco Lindor earned $10.55MM after posting his best offensive season in his final pre-arb year.)

This decision is now reflected in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.

AL Notes: Verlander, Correa, Hahn, ChiSox, Elias, Font

By Mark Polishuk | January 26, 2019 at 3:26pm CDT

Buzz from around the American League…

There haven’t been any extension talks between Justin Verlander and the Astros front office, the right-hander told reporters, including MLBcom’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter and video link). “I don’t know what their organizational plans are. It’s something I wouldn’t be opposed to….we’ll see what happens,” Verlander said. It isn’t necessarily surprising to see a lack of negotiations between the two sides at this point, since most teams wait until their offseason business is complete and Spring Training begins before turning focus to extending in-house talent. Still, there is some urgency in Verlander’s case, given that 2019 is his last guaranteed year under contract (he agreed to waive a possible vesting option for 2020 as part of his trade to Houston in August 2017). Verlander is coming off one of his finest seasons, a campaign that saw him finish second in AL Cy Young Award voting after leading the league in both K/BB rate (a career-best 7.84) and strikeouts (290, another career high) while posting a 2.52 ERA over 214 innings. There certainly doesn’t appear to be much evidence that Verlander is slowing down, even though he turns 36 in February.
There also haven’t been any long-term contract talks between Carlos Correa and the Astros, the shortstop tells the Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome. Persistent back problems limited Correa to just 468 plate appearances in 2018 and a .239/.323/.405 slash line, easily the worst of his four MLB seasons. “For me, right now is not the time to talk about [an extension],” Correa said. “Obviously coming off the injury last year and the down year. I’m looking forward to bouncing back this year, be the player I am and we go from there.” The first step is an arbitration hearing between Correa and the Astros on January 31, with Correa submitting a $5MM salary figure for 2019 and the team counting with a $4.25MM offer. This is Correa’s first of three years of arbitration eligibility, so there is still plenty of time for the two sides to eventually work out a longer-term deal once Correa feels he’s coming off a better platform year.
White Sox GM Rick Hahn said he would “be personally disappointed” if the team didn’t sign Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, though he told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin and other reporters that the mere pursuit of such top-tier stars represents a new stage of the team’s rebuild. “The fact that we are now sitting here in a potential position — or at least in a position where, if we don’t convert, people are going to be disappointed — I think is an important step forward for this organization,” Hahn said.
The Orioles aren’t likely to sign any free agents to multi-year contracts this winter, GM Mike Elias told Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com and other media, and the team could avoid any Major League contracts whatsoever for free agents. With the O’s in the early stages of a rebuild, the team wasn’t much of a candidate to be making any long-term commitments, as the focus will instead be on giving time to young players. That said, Elias didn’t close the door on any possibilities for his club, noting “we’re looking for ways to be opportunistic and true with the players that are left unsigned right now.”
Rays right-hander Wilmer Font has recently started to throw fastball-only bullpen sessions and expects to be ready for Spring Training, he tells MLB.com’s Juan Toribio. Font suffered a lat strain in late June that wound up being a season-ending injury, rather than an eight-week DL stint as originally projected. The injury brought an abrupt end to a very promising start for Font as a Ray, since the righty had a 1.67 ERA over his first 27 innings for Tampa after the club acquired him from Oakland in May. A healthy Font would give the Rays yet another intriguing pitching weapon, able of a traditional bullpen role or perhaps again working as an “opener.”

Astros File Arbitration Figures For Carlos Correa, Chris Devenski

By TC Zencka | January 12, 2019 at 10:05am CDT

The Houston Astros submitted their arbitration bids yesterday after signing fellow arb-eligibles Lance McCullers Jr., Will Harris and Brad Peacock to one-year deals. Houston failed to reach agreements with shortstop Carlos Correa, starter Gerrit Cole and swingman Chris Devenski. All three, at least for the time being, will head towards arbitration hearings to determine their 2019 salaries.

Correa is coming off a bit of a down year, while injuries have kept him to no more than 110 games in each of the last two seasons. He filed for a $5MM salary for 2019, while the Astros countered at $4.25MM. MLBTR projected a $4.625MM contract for Correa in this, his first year of arbitration. Both sides are surely hoping for a healthy bounceback campaign from Correa, a core piece of their championship winning club of 2017 who struggled to the tune of .239/.323/.405 last season. Of course, most clubs would be pretty thrilled to get a 101 wRC+ from a 23-year-old shortstop.

Devenski, meanwhile, filed for $1.65MM, with Houston countering at $1.4MM – the same number MLBTR projected for the righty. Devenski has primarily come out of the pen for Houston, pitching to a 2.74 ERA over his three major-league seasons. Last year was the worst campaign of Devenski’s three in the majors, though he was still serviceable in 47 1/3 innings, which included one start (4.18 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 4.01 xFIP). Like Correa, Devenski has two further seasons of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency after 2021.

As reported yesterday, Cole filed at $13.5MM, while the Astros countered at $11.425MM. The rather large difference of $2.075MM is understandable given this will be Cole’s last time through arbitration before hitting free agency. He had a stellar 2018 in his first year with the Astros, 15-5 with a 2.88 ERA and 12.4 K/9, a rather ridiculous number across 200 1/3 innings. No doubt it was a tremendous season, good for 5.3 rWAR, a far cry better than the 2.3 rWAR he accrued per season in Pittsburgh, which definitely complicates the valuation process for all parties.

There is, of course, still time for Houston to forego arbitration with Correa/Cole/Devenski, though the common “file and trial” practice means teams typically stop negotiating one-year deals at this juncture. It is not uncommon for parties to negotiate long-term deals during this period.

Arbitration figures for Correa and Devenski was first posted by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Cole’s figures were reported yesterday by Fancred’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter).

Unresolved 2019 Arbitration Cases

By Jeff Todd and TC Zencka | January 12, 2019 at 9:15am CDT

Yesterday’s arbitration deadline wasn’t a firm date for agreeing to terms. Rather, it was the end of the period to negotiate before submitting numbers for possible hearings. Negotiations can continue thereafter, but teams and players will now have to defend their submission numbers if they can’t bridge the gap before a hearing. Baseball arb panels simply pick one side’s number; that aspect of the process is designed to force the parties to the bargaining table.

Here’s what we know thus far about the still-unresolved cases:

Today’s Updates

The Yankees have yet to come to a deal with ace starter Luis Severino, and they may be heading to arbitration. The Yanks have submitted their bid at $4.4MM, while Severino has asked for $5.25MM, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).
Tommy Pham and the Rays have submitted their numbers for arbitration, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter). Pham filed at $4.1MM while the Rays submitted a bid of $3.5MM. Pham has had no problem expressing his honest opinion about the Rays fanbase of late, and it will be interesting to see if he gets an equal portion of honest feedback in return in his arbitration hearing.
The Oakland A’s and their closer Blake Treinen have both submitted their numbers, with the team coming in at $5.6MM while Treinen files for $6.4MM, per Fancred’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). It’s not a shock to see these sides far apart, given Treinen’s remarkable 2018 and how far above his usual standard of production last season’s numbers fell.
Washington Nationals filed at $1.725MM for newcomer Kyle Barraclough, who counters at $2MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). The former Marlin was acquired in an uncommonly early offseason trade that sent international bonus pool money the Marlins’ way.
The Diamondbacks have only one player they did not reach an agreement with, lefty reliever T.J. McFarland. The Dbacks submitted a bid of $1.275MM, while McFarland is asking for $1.675MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter).
Alex Wood submitted $9.65MM for his 2019 salary, while his new club the Cincinnati Reds countered at $8.7MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Wood will be a free agent at season’s end.
The Detroit Tigers reached agreements with all of their arbitration eligible players except for right-handed starter Michael Fulmer. Fulmer comes in at $3.4MM with the team countering at $2.8MM, the difference being 600K, per Nightengale (via Twitter).
Ryan Tepera has filed for $1.8MM while the Blue Jays submitted their bid at $1.525MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Tepera has been a reliable bullpen arm for the Jays through his first four seasons. He has two more seasons of arbitration remaining, set to reach free agency in advance of the 2022 season.
Reserve outfielder Michael A. Taylor and the Washington Nationals are a 250K apart, per Nightengale (via Twitter). Seems like a rather small sum to quibble over in the grand scheme of things, but every cent counts right now in Washington, it seems. Taylor submitted a bid of $3.5MM, with the Nats countering at $3.25MM.

Earlier Updates

Rockies star Nolan Arenado is headed for a record arb salary, unsurprisingly. The question is by how much. He has filed at a whopping $30MM, with the club countering at $24MM, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Even the lower figure would represent a record. It doesn’t seem as if the sides will go to a high-stakes hearing on this one; Jeff Passan of ESPN.com tweets that the odds are good they’ll find common ground. MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz projected Arenado to earn $26.1MM, though he also explained that it’s not hard to see that number swaying in either direction based upon a close examination of the (few relevant) comps.
Despite a monster 2018 season, Phillies righty Aaron Nola isn’t seeking to set a record first-year arb starter salary. (That belongs to Dallas Keuchel, at $7.25MM, when he was coming off of a Cy Young season.) Nola did file at a hefty $6.75MM, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia (via Twitter), while the club entered just $4.5MM. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. The Keuchel salary represented a sea change for young starters, but few others have tested the process since. MLBTR’s projection system spit out a $6.6MM figure for Nola.
Righty Gerrit Cole filed at $13.5MM, while the Astros countered at $11.425MM, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link). Teammates Carlos Correa and Chris Devenski have also yet to agree to terms. MLBTR projected Cole to earn $13.1MM in his final arb season, Correa to check in at $5.1MM in his first arb year, and Devenski to take home $1.4MM his first time through the process.
Indians righty Trevor Bauer is seeking a $13MM payday, while the club will argue instead for $11MM, per Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer (via Twitter). The Cleveland org has long utilized a file-and-trial approach on a case-by-case basis. It’s not totally clear whether that’ll be the approach here, but as Hoynes notes, the sides did go to a hearing already last year. (Bauer won.) MLBTR projected a $11.6MM payday; Swartz also explained why he thought the model was likely in the right ballpark for Bauer in a detailed post.
Passan provides a list of other players who have yet to agree to terms and who could therefore still end up before a panel. There are fifteen in total, including those already noted above as well as Kyle Barraclough and Michael Taylor (Nationals), Michael Fulmer (Tigers), T.J. McFarland (Diamondbacks), Tommy Pham (Rays), Luis Severino (Yankees), Ryan Tepera (Blue Jays), Blake Treinen (Athletics), and Alex Wood (Reds).

AL West Notes: Correa, A’s, Beltre

By Ty Bradley | November 10, 2018 at 2:59pm CDT

Astros shortstop Carlos Correa announced today at a team benefit that he underwent surgery to repair a deviated septum last Monday. The nasal affliction, said the 24-year-old, was inhibiting his ability to breathe normally, especially when running the bases. Arguably the centerpiece of the team’s 2017 championship run, the former #1 overall pick slumped to a career-worst .239/.323/.405 games last season. He especially struggled in the season’s second half, posting a putrid 45 wRC+ and 24% hard contact rate over 133 PA following a return from the DL after a bout of lower back soreness. During multiple gatherings with the reporters on a crusty Minute Maid Park surface, the former Rookie of the Year made no effort to draw a nexus between the respiratory issues and his poor performance, but did note that he doesn’t expect to have surgery to address the lower-back ailment, with the Houston Chronicle’s Brian T. Smith tweeting that the shortstop is “doing well” right now.

In other news from around the division . . .

On the heels of a wildly successful 2018 season, the A’s have announced changes to the team’s player development program, reports The Athletic’s Melissa Lockard. The club, apparently, is piggybacking on recent trends in the rookie-level Arizona League, where select teams – namely, the Padres, Indians, Cubs, and Giants – have added a second ’affiliate’ to compete in the league. In this case, it seems the move is an effort to acclimate newly-signed international players to the American way of life (and professional baseball in the country) at a far more rapid rate than in the past. Eddie Menchaca, who managed the lone AZL affiliate for the club last year, will reprise his role as manager for one of the teams, in addition to fulfilling his newly-appointed duties as Latin American player development supervisor. The club’s farm, responsible in no small part for the team’s periodic, oft-unforeseen success over the last two decades, is ranked middle-of-the-pack in Baseball America’s latest update.
Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News cites a source “close” to Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre in declaring that a decision on the 39-year-old’s future could come “within a week or so.” Beltre, of course, is deeply contemplating retirement, with a recent report by FanCred’s Jon Heyman noting that “the belief” is that the 21-year-veteran is leaning in that direction. If he is to return, Beltre seems to have given conflicting directives in the way of his future, with Grant noting that the Ranger dignitary “would like” to return to Texas but is most interested in playing for a contending team, of which category the 2019 Rangers are decidedly unlikely to fall into. The article, which details possible positional alignments for the 2019 club, in addition to revelatory quotes from GM Jon Daniels, is well worth a full read for Ranger fans of all sorts.

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