YESTERDAY: The Blue Jays have released right-hander Gavin Floyd, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Floyd inked a minor league deal to return to Toronto this winter but didn’t pitch in big league camp. His 2016 season came to a close in June due to a strained shoulder capsule.

When he’s been healthy in recent years, Floyd has generally pitched well. Across his past 98 2/3 innings, he’s logged a 3.10 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. However, unfortunately for Floyd, his stretches of good health have been few and far between. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, most of Floyd’s 2014 season was wiped out by a fractured olecranon bone in his right elbow. Somewhat remarkably, he suffered the very same injury the next spring and subsequently missed the first five months of the 2015 season. Last year, he tallied 31 innings out of the Toronto bullpen with a 4.06 ERA and a 30-to-8 K/BB ratio before incurring his shoulder injury.

Floyd, 34 later this month, spent the 2016 campaign with the Jays and pitched reasonably well when healthy, logging a 4.06 earned run average with a 30-to-8 K/BB ratio in 31 innings out of the Toronto bullpen. His season, however, came to an end in late June when he hit the disabled list with a shoulder injury that later proved to be a partially torn lat muscle.

Floyd has been plagued by persistent arm issues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2013, twice fracturing the olecranon bone in his elbow in addition to his 2016 shoulder woes, but he’s steadfastly remained committed to getting back on a big league mound. He’s posted a 3.10 ERA in 98 2/3 innings since undergoing Tommy John, so the talent is clearly still there. The question with Floyd is simply one of whether his arm can hold up for the duration of a Major League season, even working in short relief stints. Certainly, it would seem that Toronto president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins are firm believers in Floyd’s abilities, as they’ve been a part of signing him in each of the past three offseasons (with Cleveland prior to the 2015 season and with the Jays last winter).

But Floyd has made good progress in his efforts to rehab his shoulder capsule strain, agent Mike Moye tells Nicholson-Smith. It’s hardly the first time he has needed to return from a fairly significant injury, but evidently there’s enough cause for optimism that he’ll again seek a return to the majors.

Once a strong bet to take the ball every fifth day, Floyd’s career took a turn late in 2012, when he dealt with a flexor pronator mass strain. While he somehow managed to appear in the big leagues in the four campaigns since, he has managed only 123 innings in that time. First came a Tommy John procedure early in 2013. Floyd’s next two campaigns both ended with olecranon fractures. And then he was hit with the shoulder issues in 2016.

When healthy, though, he has been a solid presence: in those last 123 innings, he owns a 3.51 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. His days as a starter are probably over — he last took the ball to open a game in 2014 — but that doesn’t mean he won’t draw interest.

Last year, Floyd worked to a 4.06 ERA over 31 innings for the Blue Jays, notching 8.7 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. Despite all the arm troubles, the move to the pen enabled him to sustain a career-best average fastball velocity, sitting at about 93 mph with both his four- and two-seam offerings.

It stands to reason that Floyd will draw interest. After all, he has managed to land guaranteed deals in each of the last three seasons — $4MM with the Braves, $4MM with the Indians, and $1MM with the Blue Jays — in spite of the health questions. If he can convince organizations that he’s back on track to pick up where he left off in Toronto, he’ll surely draw at least a minor-league opportunity with a real chance to crack a big league roster out of camp.

More injury updates:

• Pirates ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday for the first time since Aug. 24, his most recent start, and tossed 30 pitches – all of which were fastballs. “It went really well. I felt pretty good,” Cole said afterward (via Andrew Erickson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Cole has been on the DL since Tuesday, retroactive to Aug. 25, with right elbow inflammation – which is the latest in a series of ailments that have troubled him this year. He was previously on the DL for a month earlier this summer with a right triceps muscle strain. The earliest Cole can return from his current injury is Friday. Despite an ugly four-start stretch prior to his DL placement, Cole has still notched a 3.55 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.53 BB/9 in 114 innings this season.
• The Reds don’t expect the tightness Homer Bailey is dealing with in his right biceps to end his season, writes Cody Pace of MLB.com. “At this point, we’re not discussing that,” manager Bryan Price said in regards to the possibility of shutting down Bailey. “But it would be something that we would discuss. We’re not going to force this to happen. That’s not the goal. The goal is to get him healthy and not have to look back and not have to be as conservative as we have on the front end of this rehab.” Bailey, who exited his start last Sunday after just one inning, returned July 31 on the heels of missing nearly all of last season and the first four months this year because of May 2015 Tommy John surgery. Bailey’s latest injury is unrelated to his elbow, fortunately, but his comeback hasn’t gone smoothly this year. In 23 innings, the 30-year-old has allowed 17 earned runs on 35 hits, though he has amassed a prolific 27 strikeouts against seven walks. The Reds owe him $68MM through 2020.
• The sprained right shoulder capsule that has kept Blue Jays reliever Gavin Floyd out since late June will likely end his season, per Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The injury, which was initially diagnosed as a torn lat muscle, shouldn’t affect Floyd’s ability to pitch in 2017. The impending free agent turned in a respectable performance this year as part of Toronto’s bullpen, recording a 4.06 ERA, 8.31 K/9 and 2.32 BB/9 in 31 innings.

More from the AL East…

• The Yankees received positive news on Carlos Beltran, who exited last night’s contest with a hamstring injury, writes ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand. An MRI revealed no damage to the muscle, and the organization’s hope is that he’ll only miss a day or two. In the event of a setback, Marchand notes that the Yankees could hand right field to the combination of Aaron Hicks and Rob Refsnyder with Alex Rodriguez again receiving regular DH at-bats, or the team could elect to give Aaron Judge a long-awaited look in the Majors. GM Brian Cashman recently suggested that Judge had more work to do at the minor league level, however. The Yankees will hope to not have to even ponder such options, however; Beltran has been the club’s best hitter in 2016, batting .297/.336/.570 with 19 home runs. If the Yanks do end up selling veteran pieces, as Olney speculated above, Beltran’s bat would surely be in demand.
• Yankees prospect James Kaprielian, the team’s first-round pick in the 2015 draft, has been diagnosed with a strained right flexor tendon, reports Newsday’s Anthony Rieber. He’s headed to Los Angeles this week to meet with renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Kaprielian, a product of UCLA, has been limited to three games this season but has posted impressive numbers in his 29 innings since being drafted. The 22-year-old has a 1.55 ERA with a 36-to-5 K/BB ratio in that time.
• The Blue Jays also received some bad news on the injury front, as Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star writes that Gavin Floyd’s torn lat muscle will cost the right-hander eight to 12 weeks of action. While Floyd’s injury doesn’t require surgical repair, that timeline could sideline Floyd until anywhere from mid August to late September. The 33-year-old hasn’t been one of manager John Gibbons’ highest-leverage relievers, but Floyd has delivered 31 innings of 4.06 ERA ball with a 30-to-8 K/BB ratio. His loss further thins out a bullpen that currently has Brett Cecil on the disabled list and has seen struggles from Drew Storen all season long. (You can check out the Jays’ updated depth chart here.)
• Red Sox manager John Farrell tells Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal that outfielder Chris Young underwent an MRI in Boston on Monday, and the test revealed “a little bit more injury” than Young’s initial tests did (Twitter link). What that means for Young’s return is not yet clear; the outfielder hit the disabled list with a hamstring strain on June 24. Boston has been using the inexperienced Bryce Brentz and Ryan LaMarre in left field since Young hit the disabled list.
• Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports that Red Sox prospect Christopher Acosta has been placed on the restricted list after he left the club’s extended Spring Training facility to travel to the Dominican Repbulic without permission. Since returning to the Dominican, Acosta hasn’t reported to the team’s academy there despite being asked to do so. Boston signed the now-18-year-old Acosta in July 2014 and gave the Dominican native a $1.5MM signing bonus, Speier notes. The reasons for his actions aren’t clear, though Speier adds that Acosta doesn’t intend to quit baseball.

A few more injury items from around the league…

• An MRI of Stephen Strasburg’s back revealed “nothing serious,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker told reporters, including Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link). While the Nats have yet to receive an official diagnosis on the injury, Baker said the initial results have made the organization feel better about the injury that landed Strasburg on the 15-day disabled list this weekend. There’s no word on exactly how long Strasburg will be out, but the lack of a serious injury suggests that it could be a fairly brief stay on the DL.
• The Rays have placed closer Alex Colome on the 15-day disabled list with what has been diagnosed as medial right biceps tendinitis, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. That’s the second closer on the disabled list for Tampa Bay, though Colome’s absence from team looks like it will be considerably shorter than that of fellow closer Brad Boxberger. Topkin writes that Colome’s DL stint is retroactive to June 19, and the right-hander is hoping to return to action as soon as he is eligible on Monday of next week.
• Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports that the Blue Jays will be without right-hander Gavin Floyd for a prolonged period of time, as Floyd has been diagnosed with a tear in his right lat muscle (Twitter link). Floyd hasn’t been dominant for the Jays this season, but he’s turned in 31 innings of 4.06 ERA ball and averaged 8.7 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 with a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate out of the Toronto bullpen. The extent of the tear and the projected length of his absence are not yet known.
• Justin Morneau feels that he can be ready to join the White Sox after about 30 at-bats on a minor league rehab assignment, he tells Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago (Twitter link). Levine estimates that Morneau will be ready to join the big league roster around July 15. Morneau tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino (Twitter link) that he’s hoping to begin a rehab assignment next week and be in uniform with the Sox soon after the All-Star break. Chicago signed Morneau to a one-year contract earlier this month.
• Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News provides updates on several injured Rangers. Per Grant, Yu Darvish will face hitters in a simulated game tomorrow, as will right-hander Keone Kela, who has missed the majority of the season after undergoing surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow earlier this year. Beyond that, Grant adds that Derek Holland isn’t traveling with the team on this road trip and isn’t likely to pitch before the All-Star break. Kela is a bit over two months into his projected three-month recovery timeline, and his eventual return could be a boon for a Rangers bullpen that has seen its share of struggles in 2016.

• Clay Buchholz is still getting attention from rival scouts, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports, as the feeling is that the Red Sox could make Buchholz available in a trade.  This is reliant on Buchholz regaining his old form in the rotation, of course, and if the right-hander does indeed look like the Buchholz of old, Boston could then simply keep him to reinforce the shaky back end of its rotation.
• From that same item, Cafardo also opines that the Red Sox need to improve their bench depth by adding a veteran player or two.  An outfielder would be ideal, as that would allow Brock Holt to return to his ideal superutility role.
• The Blue Jays announced that righty Gavin Floyd has been placed on the 15-day DL with shoulder tightness.  Floyd threw just four pitches in an appearance on Saturday before taking himself out of the game.  An arm injury of any sort is ominous for Floyd, who has missed extensive time in recent years thanks to a Tommy John surgery and two elbow fractures.  Floyd has had some problems with the long ball but has otherwise pitched pretty well in a relief role for Toronto this season, posting a 4.06 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.75 K/BB over 31 innings.
• The Rays are on a 10-game losing streak and have sunk into last place in the AL East.  Not only are they looking like probable deadline sellers, but CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa wonders if it’s time for Tampa to undergo a fuller rebuild with this iteration of the roster.  The Rays have enough talent on their roster that they could again pursue their usual tactic of “constant retooling” by only moving a few notable players, though Axisa opines that the Rays’ belief in their core group could be shaken given how they’re approaching a third straight losing season.
• Jake Odorizzi and Matt Moore are sure to be targeted by other teams approaching the Rays about pitching, but Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wonders if the Rays would consider moving Chris Archer.  The ace hasn’t pitched well since midway through last season (a 4.59 ERA over his last 32 starts) but between his track record and his inexpensive contract, he would surely net a big return if Tampa made him available.

Here’s more from the eastern divisions:

• The Rangers are not only continuing their search for another catcher, but could look outside the organization for rotation help, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. A.J. Griffin may have the inside track to take the fifth starter’s job at present, says Grant, but there’s some concern about the overall starting pitching depth as camp comes to a close. As for the backstop situation, it doesn’t appear that much has changed, but Texas is still looking to improve upon its reserve options — if not to strike a more significant upgrade. (Grant notes that the club has inquired on Derek Norris of the Padres and Bryan Holaday of the Tigers.)
• Of course, interest doesn’t always mean that a deal gets done, and significant spring trades are rare. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports also reports that the Rangers have real interest in both areas (Twitter links), but he says the club thinks it has only an “outside chance” at adding a catcher and is “doubtful” to find a new pitcher. All in all, both reports suggest that Texas is looking at its options but is hardly certain to add outside pieces. And still others suggest there’s not much reason to expect movement. Jeff Wilson of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram tweets that outside inquiries have mostly been tire-kicking exercises, while MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan adds on Twitter that club officials have suggested to him that the final rotation piece will come from inside the organization.
• Reclamation righty Matt Bush isn’t in the mix for an Opening Day pen spot with the Rangers, Grant also writes, but he has been enormously impressive this spring and could be an option later in the season. Bush’s story is well-known, of course — the former first overall draft pick recently finished a prison term for severely injuring a man in a DUI.
• Aaron Sanchez has been named as the Blue Jays’ fifth starter, manager John Gibbons told reporters (including John Lott of Blue Jays Nation) this morning.  It won’t be a season-long assignment for Sanchez, however, as the righty seems to be under an innings cap and will eventually be transitioned into the bullpen as he approaches his limit.  The 23-year-old has never thrown more than 133 1/3 innings in a season.  Sanchez and Gavin Floyd emerged as the top two contenders for the fifth starter’s job during camp, and Floyd will join Jesse Chavez in the bullpen while Drew Hutchison has been optioned to Triple-A.  It stands to reason that Floyd, Chavez or Hutchison will all be rotation candidates when Sanchez is moved back to relief pitching.
• The Astros have decided to give an Opening Day roster spot to young first baseman Tyler White, as Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports. Houston’s first-base situation has been in flux all spring, but it appears that the 33rd-round draftee is in line for a significant opportunity to take the position and run with it. He is one of several players in the organization who have impressed this spring; third base prospect Colin Moran has also compiled a 1.000+ OPS in more than thirty plate appearances, though Drellich notes on Twitter that he’s not considered a roster option at this point. The same holds true of A.J. Reed, of course, who could also have a chance to make an impact later in the season.
• Angels GM Billy Eppler says that he is “not optimistic” of adding to his roster before the season starts, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez reports. Gonzalez provides a deep rundown of the club’s remaining roster considerations.

• The Jays are “willing to be much more flexible” in talks with Bautista than Encarnacion when it comes to contract length and money, Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair reports.  Encarnacion is rumored to be asking for a five-year deal, though even a four-year pact could be too much for the Jays.  The debate over contract length has reportedly already been a stumbling block in talks between Encarnacion’s camp and the Jays, with the club reportedly offering extensions of only one or two years.  It seems like Toronto will have to be flexible if the team is to keep Bautista, as its reported preference for a deal in the three-year/$75MM range is about half of Bautista’s demands.
• Paul Kinzer, Encarnacion’s agent, told Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun that his client’s reported demand for a five-year deal is inaccurate.  “We have never put a number on the terms of the length of the contract. We have never discussed a dollar amount,” Kinzer said.
• There is “no chance” the Jays re-sign both Bautista and Encarnacion, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets, as the club simply can’t put two more large salaries on the books when Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki are also signed to major deals through 2019 and 2020, respectively.  I explored the difficulties Toronto would face in extending both sluggers in a Bautista extension candidate piece last November, and given the reports since, it’s becoming increasingly possible that neither player is wearing a Jays jersey in 2017.
• Gavin Floyd will make a start in a minor league game today, which could bring more clarity to the still-unsettled fifth starter’s battle between Floyd and Aaron Sanchez.  Gibbons was rather vague in comments to reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) yesterday about whether the Jays were any closer to a decision.  Both starters have pitched very well this spring, adding to the debate as to whether the Blue Jays should go with the veteran reclamation project or the promising but still raw youngster.  Andrew Stoeten of Blue Jays Nation points out that Sanchez still has unanswered questions about whether or not he can retire left-handed hitters after getting hit hard by lefty bats last season, while an NL scout tells Jeff Blair (in the previously-linked piece) that Sanchez has the “best stuff I’ve seen anywhere this spring.  They’re crazy if they put him in the bullpen.”
• Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom opines that Sanchez should be in the rotation, arguing that if the Blue Jays put him in the bullpen again, transitioning Sanchez back to a starting role will be more difficult down the road.  Given Sanchez’s top prospect status, “it’s far more important to the organization to know whether Sanchez can stick as a starter than it is to know whether Floyd can stick as a starter….The information on Sanchez is just worth more.”

• The Rays added several veterans to an already-crowded outfield and first base mix, leaving youngsters Mikie Mahtook and Richie Shaffer disappointed but understanding about probable Triple-A assignments, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  It’s not out of the question that a roster spot could open up in the event of an injury or a trade.  The Rays have been rumored as a possible trade partner for teams looking for outfield help, and the club has been shopping first baseman James Loney for much of the winter.
• Yoan Moncada isn’t likely to be playing his natural second base position with the Red Sox as long as Dustin Pedroia is in Boston, but the Sox want to see Moncada prove himself defensively at his “base position” before shuffling him around the diamond, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford writes.  Moncada made 23 errors in 71 A-level games at second last season, so there’s certainly still work to be done in that regard, though scouts have long felt Moncada has the athleticism to play third base or the outfield.
• Several players vying for spots on the Blue Jays roster are out of options, which the Toronto Sun’s Ken Fidlin feels could impact the team’s decisions for Opening Day.  Of the four outfielders (Domonic Brown, Ezequiel Carrera, Darrell Ceciliani, Junior Lake) competing for a backup spot, for instance, Ceciliani is the only one with a minor league option remaining.  The battle for the fifth starter’s job is similarly complicated since Aaron Sanchez, Gavin Floyd and Jesse Chavez are out of options while Drew Hutchison isn’t.
• The fifth starter competition is further complicated by the fact that Sanchez and Floyd both pitched well in Grapefruit League action today, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes.  The Jays would obviously love to see heralded prospect Sanchez in their rotation, though the team also knows it use Sanchez as a setup man since he thrived in the role last season.  Alternatively, Sanchez could start while Chavez and Floyd go to the bullpen, as Chavez has swingman experience and relief work could be easier on Floyd’s arm given his injury history.
• Also from the AL East, MLBTR’s Zach Links spoke to Russell Martin about the catcher’s free agent experience last winter.

More from Shapiro and more on the Jays…

• Within that same interview, Shapiro also said that he discussed multiple concepts with Josh Donaldson’s representatives before agreeing to a two-year, $29MM contract. The club explored long-term contract scenarios that would buy out free-agent years as well as three-year deals to lock in all of his remaining arbitration seasons and also just straight one-year deals. “Josh is a guy that not only performed at an elite level from a talent perspective but provided the energy, leadership and competitive edge that, to me, fueled this team last year,” said Shapiro of the reigning American League MVP.
• With Donaldson’s contract situation now resolved, the club can turn its attention to Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Shapiro explained that the team has a clear desire to extend each player, but the question of what it will take to do so is significant. Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron attempts to price out an extension for Bautista, who will turn 36 in October and is thus considerably older than the typical extension candidate. Even elite position players in Bautista’s age class have been limited to a maximum of four years, writes Cameron, citing the contracts for Victor Martinez, Ben Zobrist and Carlos Beltran as examples of older stars that have taken four (or, in Beltran’s case, three) years on the open market. As Cameron notes, a good bit of decline will need to be expected over the term of the contract, and it’s likely that Bautista would look like an overvalued asset in a four-year deal’s final season. Ultimately, after making a four-year WAR projection and forecasting for some year-to-year regression, Cameron arrives at a four-year, $75MM pact as a reasonable price.
• There’s some sense to that deal for both sides, to be sure, though I personally wonder if Cameron’s general hypothesis that Bautista would land at four years and $90MM on the open market next year undersells his earning potential. Assuming a characteristically productive season, Bautista could be the premier bat on a thin free-agent market, and age notwithstanding, a $22.5MM annual value isn’t the top of the spectrum for premium power hitters. I’d wager that a current Blue Jays extension would have to top $80MM in total value, as I can envision enough interest in his bat to push that earning ceiling closer to, or even north of $100MM on the open market, either via an increased annual value or via a club tacking on a fifth year (at a much lower rate) as a means of pushing its offer over the top. (For those interested in further reading on Bautista, MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk profiled his extension candidacy back in November.)
• Gavin Floyd’s strong finish to the 2015 season in Cleveland impressed not only Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins (both were still with the Indians at the time), but a number of Blue Jays scouts as well, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Floyd’s fastball sat at 92 mph and touched 95 mph, writes Nicholson-Smith, and with three additional breaking pitches in his arsenal, Atkins, Shapiro and the scouting staff deemed him worthy of a 40-man roster spot if that was the final component needed to get Floyd to Toronto. “He has the make-up of a starter with a repeatable delivery and a four-pitch arsenal,” said Atkins. “We’ve also seen his work ethic up close and we know it’s going to be there.” As Nicholson-Smith notes, Floyd doesn’t need to provide much value to justify such a minimal investment.

SATURDAY, 11:59AM: Floyd’s deal with the Jays is a Major League contract, Gideon Turk of Blue Jays Plus was first to report (via Twitter).  Floyd will earn a $1MM base salary and can get up to $1MM in incentives based on how many days he spends in the 25-man roster.  He’ll also receive $500K for 90 days on the roster, $250K for 120 days and another $250K for 140 days, per Jon Heyman (Twitter links).

THURSDAY: Right-hander Gavin Floyd “appears headed for [a] deal with [the] Blue Jays,” Jon Heyman reports (on Twitter). SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that the Moye Sports client is indeed in agreement with the Jays, pending a physical.

Floyd, who turned 33 just last week, would serve as a back-of-the-rotation option for the Blue Jays, though it’s tough to imagine he’d be promised a spot in the starting five after throwing just 92 Major League innings across the past three seasons. The longtime White Sox righty underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2013 season and returned with a flourish with the Braves in 2014 (2.65 ERA in 54 1/3 innings) before missing the remainder of the season due to a fractured olecranon bone in his right elbow. Somewhat astoundingly, Floyd suffered the exact same injury in Spring Training with the Indians last year. He was thought to be lost for the season, although he did return to toss 13 1/3 effective innings of relief late in the year. Given the lengthy list of recent injuries, Floyd seemed like a candidate for a minor league deal, though details on his agreement with Toronto remain unclear.

At his best, Floyd has proven to be a highly capable mid-rotation arm, although it’s obviously been quite some time since he was healthy enough to display that over the course of a full season. Nevertheless, from 2008-12, Floyd averaged 190 innings of 4.12 ERA ball with 7.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate. When adjusting for Floyd’s hitter-friendly home park and the heightened offensive output league-wide during that period, Floyd was about eight percent better than the league-average pitcher in terms of both ERA and FIP.

Clearly, president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins, both former executives with the Indians, think highly of Floyd, as this is the second time he’s signed with a team under that duo’s leadership. Floyd had reportedly drawn interest from the division-rival Orioles on a minor league pact earlier this offseason and had also been speculatively mentioned as a fit for the Rangers, among other clubs.

Floyd will look to crack a rotation that currently has Marcus Stroman, R.A. Dickey, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ locked in place. Toronto has no shortage of candidates for the fifth spot, with Drew Hutchison, Jesse Chavez and Aaron Sanchez representing rotation options on the 40-man roster (to say nothing of non-roster invitees like Scott Diamond, Roberto Hernandez, Wade LeBlanc and Brad Penny as potential depth pieces to stash at Triple-A).

Floyd, who turns 33 later this month, spent the 2015 season in the Indians organization. He’s been largely out of action across the past three seasons due to a slew of injuries, beginning with Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for the entire 2013 season. Floyd returned strong with Atlanta in 2014 and hurled 54 1/3 innings of 2.65 ERA ball, but he fractured the olecranon bone on the tip of his right elbow and was forced to miss the remainder of the season after that promising start. Incredibly, after inking a one-year deal with Cleveland last winter, Floyd suffered the exact same injury in Spring Training — an olecranon fracture — that cost him the bulk of the 2015 campaign.

Floyd did surface with the Indians in the season’s final month, throwing 13 1/3 innings with a 2.70 ERA, seven strikeouts and four walks out of the Cleveland bullpen. Late in the season, Floyd told reporters that he because he enjoyed the city of Cleveland and loved how he was treated by the organization, he’d be interested in re-signing. However, the resurgence of Josh Tomlin and the emergence of young right-hander Cody Anderson left the Indians pretty well stocked with rotation depth.

The Orioles, on the other hand, could very much use some depth pieces for the rotation. Baltimore stands to lose left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, its most consistent starter, to free agency this offseason. That would thin out what was already a very underwhelming group of starters in 2015. The collective unit took a step backwards in large part due to struggles by stalwart Chris Tillman and his fellow right-hander, Miguel Gonzalez. In addition to that duo, the Orioles have the unproven-but-promising Kevin Gausmann as well as newcomer Vance Worley and the inconsistent Ubaldo Jimenez. Right-hander Mike Wright, too, is in the rotation picture, although he posted a 6.04 ERA in 44 2/3 innings last season in his Major League debut.

A bit more from Stearns and the game’s Central divisions…

• Also high on Stearns’ agenda is deciding on an assistant GM and an organizational structure, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets. Via Haudricourt, Stearns spoke about the characteristics he’d seek in an AGM. “Ultimately, you’re going to want one who complements your skill set and helps you run the front office from a variety of different aspects,” he explained. Stearns said he’s spoken to a number of baseball ops executives that pre-date him, presumably including Ash, but has yet to come to any firm personnel decisions. “I’ve had conversations with a number of them and I think a number of them will stay,” he added.
• The Indians will have a number of roster decisions to make following the season, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Gavin Floyd, Ryan Raburn, Mike Aviles and Ryan Webb can all become free agents, and each has expressed an interest in remaining with Cleveland. Raburn could be retained via his $3.5MM club option, as the team will decide between that sum and a $1MM buyout. Hoynes also notes that Cleveland has as many as six, if not seven arbitration eligible players (depending on Jeff Manship’s Super Two eligibility). Closer Cody Allen, in particular, could be in line for a multi-year deal, per Hoynes, though that comment seemed to be speculative.
• Though adding some additional positions to his repertoire would help Dixon Machado’s chances of making the Tigers’ roster in 2015, the team has no plans to play him anywhere but shortstop, manager Brad Ausmus told MLive.com’s James Schmehl. The Tigers view Machado as a pure shortstop, though that complicates his path to playing time in the Majors due to the presence of Jose Iglesias. Nonetheless, Ausmus was firm in his belief: “Just a shortstop, at this point. I don’t know that I’d put Machado in the (Andrew) Romine category. Although he played third base a couple of games in Toledo, I wouldn’t throw him into a utility role.” Machado, the Tigers’ No. 14 prospect, per MLB.com, hit .286/.375/.404 across two levels in 2014 but has struggled in both Triple-A and the Majors this year. Scouting reports on the 23-year-old rave about his glove but wonder if he’ll hit enough to be a regular in the Majors.

• Greg Holland will probably undergo Tommy John surgery in the near future, as the Royals announced earlier today that he has a “significant” tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament and will seek a second opinion next week. Manager Ned Yost said at the time that Holland’s ligament damage may date back to last August. As Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets, trainer Nick Kenney likened the injury to that of Masahiro Tanaka, who suffered a small tear in his own UCL last summer but has pitched without issue in 2015. That would seemingly indicate that Holland’s initial tear was relatively minor in nature but has been exacerbated by pitching through it in the 2014 playoffs and throughout the 2015 season.
• MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan writes that Holland’s injury brings his future with the Royals into question. As I noted at the time the news broke, Holland’s $8.25MM salary and arbitration eligibility this winter make it a certainty that he’ll be non-tendered this offseason if and when he undergoes Tommy John surgery. Flanagan writes that a two-year deal with a marginal 2016 base salary and an incentive-laden structure in 2017 could be a solution, though I wonder if new agent Scott Boras will be amenable to such a possibility. GM Dayton Moore hopes to see Holland remain with the Royals in the future, per Flanagan, though Moore avoided making any sort of definitive statement: “I will say that Holly is one of the very best competitors I’ve ever been around. I admire him a great deal. I hope he’s a part of our organization the remainder of his career.”
• Right-hander Gavin Floyd has missed most of the season after re-fracturing the olecranon bone in his right elbow, but he’s returned to the Indians’ bullpen late this season and tells Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer that he’d be interested in returning to Cleveland. “Despite the circumstances of not being able to play, I loved getting to know the guys and the city,” Floyd explained. “…I’d definitely be interested (in resigning) for sure.” Floyd has received strong bottom-line results working out of the ’pen, tallying a 2.61 ERA in 10 1/3 innings since returning. Floyd’s 6-to-4 K/BB ratio is less impressive, but his velocity is strong as ever. There’s been speculation about Cleveland perhaps trading a young starter to fill needs elsewhere on the roster, and as Hoynes notes, Floyd could be brought back as veteran depth to fill out the rotation should that scenario play out.
• Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos touched on the organization’s decision to send Bruce Rondon home for the season due to his effort level in an appearance with Matt Dery on 105.1 radio in Detroit (audio link). Without getting too specific, Castellanos noted that some in the clubhouse were “unhappy with his antics” but still said the move by management came as a surprise to him. Castellanos said that he and others in the organization feel that Rondon can still be a valuable part of the team going forward, adding that he feels Rondon has the raw talent to be an “All-Star caliber closer” but now needs to harness the necessary intangibles to realize that potential.