Matt Wieters

NL East Notes: Nationals, Plawecki, Morgan, Coghlan

By Steve Adams | February 27, 2017 at 10:54am CDT

Matt Wieters’ addition gives the Nationals at least nine Scott Boras clients on their roster — a fact that prompted Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post to explore the relationship between Boras and the Nationals. As Svrluga notes, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon were each drafted as Boras clients, and GM Mike Rizzo stated to Svrluga that he’d always draft the best talent available regardless of representation. Lefty Gio Gonzalez, meanwhile, switched to the Boras Corporation after being extended by the Nats. Still, there’s a strong relationship between Boras and Nats owner Ted Lerner, who negotiated Rafael Soriano’s two-year, $28MM deal directly with Boras and, according to Svrluga, was the “primary architect” on Strasburg’s $175MM extension. Svrluga notes that some in the organization consider the relationship between Boras and Lerner to be unhealthy.

As for Wieters, Svrluga suggests that Boras set out targeting something in the range of the five-year deals signed by Brian McCann and Russell Martin in recent seasons, which prompted the Nats to pursue Derek Norris rather than Wieters. As his price dipped, the Nationals slowly reentered the picture and ultimately came away with what could very well prove to be a nice bargain. Nats fans, and those interested in the Lerner/Boras dynamic, are strongly encouraged to read Svrluga’s column in its entirety.

A bit more from the NL East…

The Mets and Kevin Plawecki had an injury scare over the weekend when the 26-year-old catcher suffered an apparent knee injury on a play at the plate involving Nationals outfielder Rafael Bautista. However, while Plawecki was down for an extended period of time and had to be helped off the field, he’s been diagnosed with a knee contusion and should be cleared to resume workouts in the next few days, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. While Plawecki is a long shot to crack the Opening Day roster due to the presence of Travis d’Arnaud and Rene Rivera on the Mets’ roster, he once again figures to be the team’s first line of defense in the event of an injury to one of the primary two backstops (and d’Arnaud does have a lengthy injury history). While Plawecki has hit just .211/.287/.285 in 409 Major League plate appearances, he’s a lifetime .279/.331/.433 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons and is just two years removed from ranking among the game’s top 100 prospects.
Former starter Adam Morgan is now vying for a spot as a lefty in the Phillies’ bullpen and seemingly has a good chance to secure such a role, writes Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com. Manager Pete Mackanin would prefer to have two left-handers in his bullpen, Lawrence writes, and there are only five southpaws in camp with the Phils: Morgan, Joely Rodriguez, Elniery Garcia (a minor league starter) and non-roster veterans Sean Burnett and Cesar Ramos. Morgan tells Lawrence that he’d happily accept whatever role the Phillies ask of him, joking that he’d serve as the backup catcher if necessary. All but two of Morgan’s 38 Major League appearances have been starts, but the Phils have an emerging young core of rotation arms plus veterans in the form of Jeremy Hellickson and Clay Buchholz.
Chris Coghlan discussed his unique journey through professional baseball and his hopes for making the Phillies roster out of Spring Training with CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury. Coghlan, who had interest from other clubs but chose to sign with the rebuilding Phillies — drew a parallel between the present-day Phillies and the 2014 Cubs team on which he played. (The Cubs lost 89 games before surging to the postseason in 2015 and a World Series title in 2016.) “We went from not being good to being really good,” said Coghlan. “We grew together and built relationships. This team is in a transition period of trying to groom guys, but they also need older guys to bridge the gap and I thought it would be a great opportunity. … I just want to come in here, establish myself, be a great teammate, lead by example and maybe I can stick around long term and see this thing through.”

NL East Notes: Wieters, Braves, Locke, Marlins, Tazawa

By Steve Adams | February 24, 2017 at 10:26am CDT

Matt Wieters’ deal with the Nationals became official this morning, and the veteran catcher provided some more details on the non-baseball injury that agent Scott Boras alluded to in recent weeks (Twitter links via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). Boras noted that Wieters suffered a laceration on his non-throwing arm that required stitches, and Wieters elaborated on the matter, explaining that he dropped a glass water jug on his left forearm/wrist area in early November. The injury held him out of any baseball activity for a sizable 10-week time frame, but it doesn’t seem as though there are any lingering effects.

A few more items pertaining to the NL East…

Braves general manager John Coppolella sat down with Mark Bowman of MLB.com to discuss the team’s offseason and the GM’s early impressions from the first week of Spring Training. Coppolella noted that he feels the team has better bullpen depth than it’s had at any point in the past four to five years. He noted that if there’s one area that the Braves could still look to make a late addition, it’d be in the form of a bench bat. “That could be a trade or it could end up being somebody in camp right now,” said Coppolella. Notably, Atlanta has been connected to former Braves bench pieces Jeff Francoeur and Kelly Johnson in the past month, both of whom remain available.
Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that Marlins left-hander Jeff Locke underwent an MRI to examine his left shoulder, though the team is optimistic that there’s nothing seriously wrong with the southpaw. Manager Don Mattingly noted that Locke has been feeling better of late but “was still feeling something” when he played catch yesterday. Outfielder Marcell Ozuna is also nursing some shoulder discomfort, though his situation sounds less concerning; Mattingly said Ozuna is getting “an extra day” before jumping into Grapefruit League play.
Spencer also notes that the Marlins are still keeping an eye on the market for unsigned starting pitchers, including Henderson Alvarez, Jake Peavy, Colby Lewis and Doug Fister. However, they’re doing so on an “in case of need” basis, suggesting that they won’t add a notable name without an injury or unforeseen issue with a current member of the starting rotation.
Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that Marlins offseason signee Junichi Tazawa is happy to be reunited with Juan Nieves, his former Red Sox pitching coach who now occupies the same role in Miami. As Healey notes, Nieves was Tazawa’s pitching coach for the best two seasons of his career — the 2013 and 2014 seasons. During that time, the righty turned in a 3.02 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 over the life of 131 1/3 innings. Nieves observed that Tazawa’s arm angle has risen since the two worked together, which could have had an adverse effect on his performance.

Nationals Sign Matt Wieters

By Jeff Todd | February 24, 2017 at 8:05am CDT

Matt Wieters’ lengthy stay on the free-agent market has formally come to a close, as the Nationals announced on Friday that they’ve signed the four-time American League All-Star. Wieters, a client of the Boras Corporation, receives a two-year guarantee that allows him to opt out of the contract after the first season. He’ll reportedly be guaranteed a total of $21MM, with $10.5MM coming in each year of the deal (though $5MM of that sum is reportedly deferred to 2021). To make room for Wieters on the 40-man roster, the Nationals placed minor league first baseman Jose Marmolejos on the 60-day disabled list with a left forearm strain.

Wieters is the top remaining player on MLBTR’s pre-offseason top fifty list; he checked in at 16th. Though the Nats are already well-stocked with catching options, the switch-hitting Wieters now stands to receive the bulk of the duties behind the dish. He joins Derek Norris — acquired earlier in the offseason — along with holdovers Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino as catching options in a suddenly crowded mix.

It’s unclear exactly how things could play out for the Nats, but adding Wieters would hold out the promise of upgrading the catching situation while also opening some room for further transactions. Norris and Lobaton are both playing on non-guaranteed arbitration contracts, with the former set to earn $4.2MM in his second-to-last season of control and the latter entering his walk year with a $1.575MM salary. Conceivably, either of those catchers could be moved now that Wieters is on board, though multiple reports have indicated that Norris is the one the Nationals are looking to trade.

[RELATED: Updated Nationals Depth Chart]

The Nats could also consider dealing the younger Severino to address its needs at the back of the bullpen, though it’s far from clear how long Wieters will remain in place and the organization still faces long-term questions at the position. That said, the Nationals do have several other possibilities in the pipeline, including 40-man members Spencer Kieboom and Raudy Read as well as two other top-thirty organizational prospects in Tres Barrera and Jakson Reetz.

The White Sox are clearly willing to trade reliever David Robertson, of course, and could well be interested in a controllable backstop; per ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark, via Twitter, the Chicago organization has been waiting to see if the Nats would land Wieters to “rekindle” talks on Robertson. In addition to Severino, it’s also possible that the White Sox could have interest in Norris, though presumably they’d also be looking for young talent in such a scenario.

ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden tweeted not long before word of the deal broke that Wieters’s agent, Scott Boras, was “meeting with both GMs and owners” and making progress on a deal. The veteran agent has long had a strong connection with the Nats’ ownership and front office group, with the sides working out significant contracts over recent years for players including Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Jayson Werth. Young stars Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon are also repped by Boras, as are lefty Gio Gonzalez as well as recent signees Oliver Perez and Stephen Drew.

Soon to turn 31, Wieters finally returned to regular duties last year with the Orioles after two consecutive injury-plagued seasons highlighted by Tommy John surgery. But after receiving and accepting a qualifying offer last winter, Wieters was allowed to hit the open market following a disappointing season. Over 464 plate appearances, he slashed just .243/.302/.409, though he did swat 17 home runs. Though he has posted stronger offensive campaigns in the past, the veteran owns a league-average lifetime batting mark and has never quite developed into the top-level performer he once promised to be.

There are also some questions on the defensive side of the spectrum. While Boras has sought to push back against Wieters’s poor ratings in the eyes of pitch-framing metrics, his explanation isn’t entirely compelling on its face. That said, Wieters was able to cut down 35% of the runners that tried to swipe bags against him last year, helping to ease concerns over his elbow. And Baseball Prospectus credited him as a strong pitch blocker (subscription link), as it has in years past.

Of course, a fair bit of a catcher’s value lies in the nebulous world of handling a staff and calling pitches, and Wieters has drawn his share of praise in that department. (See, e.g., here.) He does face long-term questions with his sizable frame, though those risks are lessened on a short-term deal such as this. And whether he can return to being at least an average hitter remains to be seen.

All said, then, there’s some risk here, but also the promise of a steady veteran in a key position. None of the Nats’ in-house options, certainly, hold out quite as much hope. Norris has profiled alternatively as a quality hitter who isn’t polished behind the plate, and (more recently) as a power threat that can’t get on base but frames well. Lobaton, clearly, is best suited to reserve duties. And while Severino impressed in brief MLB action last year, and comes with a highly regarded defensive profile, he has yet to reach the .700 OPS barrier in a professional season.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported that the two sides were nearing a deal (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links) and Heyman (via Twitter) added that Wieters would receive a two-year guarantee with a player option/opt-out clause. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the guaranteed money (via Twitter). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post first reported the agreement and the deferred money (Twitter links). Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM added the annual breakdown (via Twitter).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Wieters, Mets, Arano, MacPhail

By Steve Adams | February 23, 2017 at 8:50pm CDT

Nationals ace Max Scherzer has been recovering from a stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger, and he’s on track to throw off a mound for the first time this spring on Saturday, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. If everything goes according to plan, he’ll progress to bullpen sessions and be game-ready in a couple of weeks, Zuckerman adds. While pitching coach Mike Maddux conceded that Scherzer could be “a start or two” behind the rest of the team’s rotation, the extra time in Spring Training (which was worked in due to the World Baseball Classic) will prove beneficial to Scherzer. Both Stephen Strasburg and Tanner Roark threw in an intrasquad game today as well, Zuckerman notes — a particularly important note for Strasburg. The 28-year-old righty saw his 2016 season end in early September due to a flexor mass strain but was able to throw his fastball, curveball and changeup in Thursday’s session.

Heyman’s Latest: Villar, Lucroy, Tigers Veterans, Utley, Weaver, Lincecum, Clevenger

By Jeff Todd | February 23, 2017 at 1:43pm CDT

After grading every team’s offseason, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag provided a bevy of information on a variety of situations around the league in his latest notes post. Some is mostly of historical interest, and there’s lots more in the article, but these are some of the highlights with transactional ties:

The Brewers “floated” an extension offer to infielder Jonathan Villar, says Heyman, but he wasn’t interested. The club’s initial offer, at least, would only have guaranteed him around $20MM. While Villar had a relatively undistinguished career before landing in Milwaukee, he was rather excellent last year and hasn’t yet turned 26. On the other hand, he won’t reach arbitration eligibility until next fall and still has to prove he can repeat that effort. Though Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio may have been willing to green-light pursuit of Matt Wieters, it seems that the front office wasn’t enthusiastic about that possibility.
While the Rangers haven’t yet opened extension talks with catcher Jonathan Lucroy, it’s still expected that a deal will at least be explored. GM Jon Daniels has acknowledged as much, though it’s unclear just when the discussions will get underway. If nothing comes together, Lucroy promises to be one of the game’s most widely pursued free agents next winter. Texas, of course, is also chatting with starter Yu Darvish and second baseman Rougned Odor.
The Dodgers explored a deal with the Tigers involving star righty Justin Verlander, per Heyman, who notes that “nothing got close.” Verlander’s hefty salary obligations were considered a barrier, though it seems his no-trade protection may not have been. The veteran righty has suggested he’d be amenable to consider a swap, and his relationship with Kate Upton would likely make Los Angeles an appealing destination. While the Dodgers have a quite a few starters on hand, it’ll be interesting to see whether the pursuit of the resurgent Verlander is rejoined at some point.
Speaking of the Tigers, the organization evidently considered quite a few other deals before largely holding pat. The Mets “seriously discussed” giving up Michael Conforto for the final season of control over star slugger J.D. Martinez, but ultimately backed down. While the Astros reportedly checked in on Miguel Cabrera, they were asking for “more than half of the $150 million remaining on Cabrera’s contract” to be paid by Detroit and apparently never offered enough for the front office to bring a deal to ownership. And both the Twins and Padres made inquiries on shortstop Jose Iglesias, but clearly nothing developed with either team.
Though the Indians had real interest in Chase Utley, the team’s offer was shy of the ultimately successful bid from the Dodgers. Still, it seems that Cleveland very nearly landed him before L.A. “stepped in late,” per Heyman.
While the Reds have said they are done adding to their MLB roster, Heyman suggests the organization could make a play for some of the veteran pitchers still available. Cincinnati may even have outbid the Padres for Jered Weaver, who earned $3MM, though it’s not clear whether the club ever did so.
Veteran righty Tim Lincecum is drawing some interest as he prepares for a showcase, according to Heyman, though surely he won’t draw as much intrigue as he did last year. It’s unclear what’s next for catcher Steve Clevenger, who has attempted to rehabilitate his image in an interview with Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. His former team, the Orioles, at least considered offering him a minor-league pact, but ultimately decided against it.

NL Notes: Smith, Wieters, Drew, Franco

By Jeff Todd | February 22, 2017 at 11:29am CDT

Giants lefty Will Smith has been shut down for a week after experiencing inflammation in his pitching elbow, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News was among those to report (Twitter links). Fortunately, an MRI has already returned clean, so it seems there’s no worry of a major injury. But while it’s still early, San Francisco’s plan to get Smith ready for Opening Day is already on a tight timeline, Baggarly notes. So long as he can progress after his rest, Smith will be given six spring appearances in preparation for the season.

Here’s more from the National League:

The Brewers, like the Rays, kept tabs on Matt Wieters up to his agreement with the Nationals, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Though Milwaukee GM David Stearns wouldn’t acknowledge whether an offer was made, he acknowledged that there was contact. “I would say we have regular contact with many agents, including Scott,” Stearns explained. “So Matt’s name came up, and we made sure we understood where the market was for him and what the potential fits were. But nothing really beyond that.”
Infielder Stephen Drew likely won’t see as much time with the Nationals as he could have elsewhere, but as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes, he nevertheless chose to reprise his role as a key reserve in D.C. His comfort with the team came into play, along with family considerations. Drew also discussed his bout of vertigo last year, which occurred due to an ear infection. He dealt with symptoms through the postseason and into the offseason, but seems to be back to normal as camp opens.
While Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco is entering only his second full season in the majors, there’s still plenty at stake, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com writes. Refining his approach at the plate and work in the field certainly seem to be on the agenda, and whether he can successfully turn his talent into consistent productivity could have a major impact on the organization’s plans. Salisbury suggests that a player such as Manny Machado could become a serious consideration for the team — he’ll be a free agent after 2018 — depending upon how Franco progresses. While it’s obviously too soon to factor in players such as Machado in any meaningful way, as Salisbury acknowledges, Philadelphia is no doubt already thinking about where Franco will end up in the long run. It does seem worth noting that, even if he isn’t able to lock down the job at third for the foreseeable future, he could ultimately be a candidate to shift across the diamond to first base.

East Notes: Wieters, Rays, Mets, Phillies, Orioles

By Connor Byrne | February 21, 2017 at 8:01pm CDT

The offer the Rays made to catcher Matt Wieters before he agreed to join the Nationals on Tuesday fell well short of Washington’s $21MM guaranteed proposal, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays were willing to hand Wieters $6MM in guarantees and give him a chance to exceed the $10MM mark via incentives on a one-year contract. While Tampa Bay would have been happy to reel in Wieters at that price, it’s not too broken up about losing out on his services, per Topkin. As the Rays await the return of injured free agent signing Wilson Ramos, they’ll be “very content” with Curt Casali, Luke Maile and Jesus Sucre as their top options at catcher, manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday.

NL Notes: Sosa, Norris, Wieters, Magic, Ichiro

By Jeff Todd | February 21, 2017 at 1:53pm CDT

The Cubs’ rocky relationship with former star Sammy Sosa — or, perhaps, the lack thereof — has been well documented. But Sosa himself hasn’t been much willing to discuss it, until participating in a chat with MLBTR contributor Chuck Wasserstrom at his personal blog. Sosa admits to some mishandling of the end of his tenure with the Cubs, saying: “My intention was to finish my career in Chicago. … The only thing we cannot do is turn back time. We can’t do that. But hey, we have to move forward. I understand I made a mistake. I regret it, definitely, but I have to move on.” There’s quite a bit of interesting information for Cubbies fans to digest; you’ll want to give the interview a full read.

Here’s more from the National League:

Nationals manager Dusty Baker strongly hinted that the club will look to find a taker for catcher Derek Norris after agreeing to terms with Matt Wieters, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets. “There’s always someone looking for a front line catcher,” the veteran skipper said of Norris. The addition of Wieters creates an immediate glut at the catching position for the Nats, who also employ reserve Jose Lobaton and prospect Pedro Severino. While the immediate speculation turned to the youthful Severino, who’d be a much more likely candidate to help the Nats address another need at the major league level than is Norris, he still has options and likely maintains an important place in the team’s long-term picture at the catching position.
Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron opines that the Nationals’ deal with Wieters doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. While the price is reasonable enough, says Cameron, it’s just not clear that Wieters represents a significant enough upgrade over Norris to make it worthwhile. I’d note that the maneuvering could make greater sense if Washington were instead considering parting with Lobaton, whose switch-hitting capabilities aren’t as useful with a fellow two-sided hitter joining the mix, though the above-cited comments from Baker suggest that’s not the likely outcome.
In his own look at the Wieters move, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests that the signing was largely driven by the special relationship between agent Scott Boras and the Nationals’ ownership group. As discussed in our post on the deal, Boras and the Nats have linked up on a variety of contracts in recent years, often coming to fruition when the super agent sits down with principal owner Ted Lerner. As Rosenthal puts it, “Nats ownership … operates to its own rhythm, with Boras frequently calling out the beats.”
NBA legend and part Dodgers owner Magic Johnson has taken over as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, and you can find all the details at MLBTR’s sister site, Hoops Rumors. Despite his new duties, Johnson’s role with the baseball organization won’t change, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter links). “Whenever we need Magic, he’s been available,” says Dodgers president & CEO Stan Kasten. “That won’t change.”
Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki suffered a bruised knee in a collision with fellow outfielder Brandon Barnes today, as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports (links to Twitter), though it was perhaps notable for reasons other than the actual injury. The ageless Ichiro is expected only to miss a few days, but did require — incredibly — the very first training-room treatment of his 16-year MLB career. Teammates used the opportunity not only to mark that occasion, but also to have some fun at Barnes’ expense. A note, signed by Ichiro, was left at his emptied locker informing him that he had been cut loose and wishing him good luck in Korea.

Rays Have Made Offer To Matt Wieters

By Steve Adams | February 16, 2017 at 8:13am CDT

The Rays’ interest in free-agent catcher Matt Wieters is serious enough that they’ve made a formal offer, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. However, the team’s offer is “likely for one year” and would be less lucrative than whatever figure Wieters and agent Scott Boras are still hoping to find in free agency. FanRag’s Jon Heyman first tweeted word of Tampa Bay’s offer to Wieters, though he cautioned that they may not be the front-runner to land his services.

Even a $10MM guarantee would be a fairly surprising sum for the Rays to offer, Topkin opines, though he notes that perhaps “creativity and incentives” could push the potential value of an offer beyond that threshold. Tampa Bay’s hope is that the switch-hitting Wieters will be enticed by the opportunity to work with a superior pitching staff and receive regular at-bats between catcher and, later in the year (when Wilson Ramos is healthy enough to take some of the time at catcher), designated hitter.

The question Wieters and Boras must now weigh is how long they’re willing to wait out the spring market. An injury to a contending club’s starting catcher would immediately create a new potential landing spot and could certainly lead to a larger offer (in terms of total dollars and/or years), but there’s certainly no guarantee of any such fit arising. Wieters’ camp could also look to drum up a bidding war between teams that are willing to sign him for one year; ESPN’s Jayson Stark tweeted yesterday that the Nationals still have interest in Wieters but wouldn’t be likely to offer anything more than a one-year pact. It’s not clear whether Boras and Wieters have dropped their asking price to the one-year range just yet, though I’d imagine that if they did, there’d be more clubs beyond the Rays and Nationals that were willing to try to make something work.

As it stands, the Rays will enter the season with Curt Casali and Luke Maile as their lead catchers on the 40-man roster, with veterans Michael McKenry and Jesus Sucre in camp as non-roster invitees. Ramos is reportedly eyeing a May return to the team, Topkin tweeted yesterday, but that’s an ambitious goal for a catcher who suffered his second career ACL tear late last September.

The 30-year-old Wieters is coming off a season in which he batted .243/.302/.409 with 17 home runs in 464 plate appearances. His at-bats were limited early on as he ramped back up to full durability after missing much of the 2014-15 seasons due to Tommy John surgery, but Wieters was catching a significant workload by September of last season. He routinely draws poor framing marks, however, and his market has seemingly been hampered by that fact this winter as teams place a continually growing emphasis on that ability when evaluating backstops.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Swihart, Rays, Wieters

By Steve Adams | February 13, 2017 at 11:50am CDT

Though it’ll be a week or more before either Drew Pomeranz or Steven Wright is able to throw off a mound (as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes), Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski stated that he feels the Sox are deeper in rotation options than the vast majority of clubs (Twitter link via Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal). Mastrodonato’s colleague, Evan Drellich, recently took a look at the team’s lack of established options beyond the top six of Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, Pomeranz and Wright, though, noting that each of Henry Owens, Roenis Elias and Brian Johnson comes with question marks. (The Sox also have Kyle Kendrick in camp on a non-roster invite.)

There’s a bit of a disconnect in the messaging being put forth by manager John Farrell and Dombrowski, as Farrell stated yesterday that Wright’s rehab has “certainly” taken longer than the team anticipated (via Mastrodonato’s column), while Dombrowski said today (Twitter link via the Globe’s Alex Speier) that the rehab of Wright and Pomeranz has progressed “as expected.” Speier adds in a second tweet that Dombrowski said there’s no room for additions on the MLB roster, but if the team adds any additional non-roster players, they’d likely be pitchers.

More on the Sox and the rest of the division…

Also from Mastrodonato’s column, Farrell acknowledged that Blake Swihart’s remaining minor league option could work against him in Spring Training. Both Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez are out of options, and the Red Sox won’t want to expose either to waivers at the end of camp, which seemingly signals a trip to Triple-A Pawtucket to open the season for Swihart. Certainly, injuries could change the plan for the Sox, but it’s tough to see all three fitting on the roster. “We’ve got three guys that are fully healthy, that’s No. 1, particularly with what Blake went through last year and the surgery in the offseason,” Farrell told Mastrodonato. “But with Sandy, Christian and Blake, yeah we feel really good about the core group that’s there. We’ll see how things unfold.”
Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that after the Rays passed on Franklin Gutierrez and Byung Ho Park, they’ll likely to see which right-handed bats emerge as potential additions over the course of Spring Training (unless Matt Wieters “falls to them,” he notes). Tampa Bay was tied to a number of right-handed bats, with Mike Napoli, Chris Carter and Mark Reynolds all linked to the Rays at one point (in addition to Gutierrez and Park). The Rays could add either a first baseman or second baseman to serve as a platoon partner for Logan Morrison and/or Brad Miller. Also of note, regarding the Rays, Topkin adds that past interest in right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter could suggest that he’d be a fit as a late pickup.
As the Orioles began to report to Spring Training in Sarasota, Fla., GM Dan Duquette was asked by the Baltimore media once again today if there’s any chance of a reunion with Matt Wieters now that his market has seemingly been stagnant for so long. Via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, Duquette replied that Orioles “made a choice” when they signed Welington Castillo to a two-year, $13MM deal (with a player option/opt-out clause after year one) back in December. Duquette did note that he’s still on the hunt for further pitching depth, even after acquiring young right-hander Gabriel Ynoa from the Mets last Friday.

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