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Evan Phillips, Michael Kopech Behind Schedule

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Dodgers right-hander Evan Phillips missed the World Series last year due to shoulder troubles, but the full scope of his injury was never made clear until camp opened this week. Phillips tells the Dodgers beat that he was diagnosed with a small tear of a tendon in his rotator cuff during the 2024 postseason (link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). The tear was not significant enough for doctors to recommend surgery, but Phillips received a cortisone injection and was shelved while his teammates closed out the postseason with a World Series win over the Yankees.

Even with the lack of surgery, Phillips could be IL-bound to begin the season, Plunkett writes. A follow-up MRI in December revealed significant healing but still some damage. Phillips has been limited in his offseason throwing program but said yesterday that he hopes to be on a mound “soon.”

The 30-year-old Phillips is a key member of the Dodgers’ late-inning relief corps when healthy. He picked up 18 saves in 2024 and another 24 saves the year prior. During his three full seasons as a Dodger, the former Braves, Orioles and Rays castoff has posted a 2.21 ERA with a big 29.6% strikeout rate against a tidy 6.5% walk rate. Phillips has saved 44 games overall and also been credited with 34 holds. He’s earning $6.1MM this year in his penultimate season of club control before reaching free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.

There’s a similarly murky update on fellow late-inning righty Michael Kopech. The Dodgers quickly moved to downplay a report that their deadline bullpen acquisition from last summer would miss a month to begin the season. GM Brandon Gomes at the time said that the team hadn’t seen “anything of concern yet” with regard to Kopech’s reportedly ailing forearm. To be fair to the team, there’s still no firm indication Kopech will be out a month, but manager Dave Roberts today conceded that Kopech, like Phillips, is “a little behind schedule” and is not a lock to be on the Opening Day roster (via The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya).

Like Phillips, Kopech played a key role in the Dodger bullpen after struggling with another organization. He posted a lackluster 4.73 ERA with the White Sox despite a huge 30.9% strikeout rate. Command was an issue with the South Siders, evidenced by a 12.6% walk rate, but a pitcher with Kopech’s raw stuff and former prospect pedigree seemed like he should fare better than he was with the ChiSox.

His fortunes indeed turned almost immediately after the trade. Kopech posted a microscopic 1.13 earned run average in 24 innings with Los Angeles. His 33% strikeout rate was a slight improvement, as was his 11.4% walk rate, but that walk rate was still about three percentage points higher than average. Kopech enjoyed a significant uptick in his opponents’ swinging-strike rate and chase rate, however, which adds some legitimacy to the improvement. He’s not going to sustain the ridiculous .167 average on balls in play or 91% strand rate he enjoyed with the Dodgers, but Kopech’s power arsenal and bat-missing abilities should make him a key arm for Roberts in the right-hander’s final season before free agency — assuming this forearm issue indeed proves minor.

The Dodgers, of course, made several meaningful splashes in the bullpen this winter, which will help to offset any missed time for Phillips and Kopech. In addition to re-signing Blake Treinen on a two-year deal, they gave out the largest contract for any reliever this winter when signing Tanner Scott on a four-year, $72MM deal. That pair will be joined by right-hander Kirby Yates, who inked a one-year, $13MM pact.

Michael Kopech Has Begun Offseason Throwing Program

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January 22: Los Angeles general manager Brandon Gomes downplayed the situation this evening. Gomes said that Kopech is amidst his offseason throwing program and said he “(doesn’t) think there’s anything of concern at this point” with their potential closer (relayed by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register).

January 21: The Dodgers are seemingly on the verge of adding two high-leverage bullpen pieces. After agreeing to terms on a four-year deal with Tanner Scott over the weekend, Los Angeles reportedly has a tentative agreement in place to sign All-Star righty Kirby Yates.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who was first to report that the Dodgers and Yates were closing in on a deal, linked the expected addition to the health status of Michael Kopech. There hadn’t been any prior indication that Kopech was facing a potential injury absence. Nightengale reports that the hard-throwing righty has been battling forearm inflammation. He has not been diagnosed with any structural damage, though Nightengale indicates that the Dodgers will take a cautious approach early in the season.

Fabian Ardaya and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote this morning that Kopech pitched through what was seemingly a minor forearm issue during last fall’s World Series run. Acquired from the White Sox in a three-team deadline deal, Kopech had a brilliant first few months in Los Angeles. He fired 24 innings down the stretch and posted a 1.13 earned run average. He struck out 33% of opposing hitters while generating swinging strikes on a fantastic 15.8% of his offerings.

Kopech’s playoff performance was a little more shaky. While he only allowed three runs in nine postseason innings, he issued seven free passes while striking out 10 batters. Kopech didn’t lose any life on his 98-99 MPH fastball, though, so that dip was probably more about small sample variance than a reflection that he was significantly hampered physically. His command has never been pristine.

For now, the forearm inflammation seems to be something worth monitoring rather than a huge concern. Nightengale suggests that Kopech could begin the season on the injured list, but no one from the team has publicly stated that’ll be the case. Even if he does miss a few weeks early in the year, the Dodgers have plenty of talent to weather his absence.

The Dodgers could have four or five potential closers. Scott closed for the Marlins for a few seasons before moving into a setup capacity with the Padres after a deadline trade. Evan Phillips had been L.A.’s primary closer for over a year before the Kopech acquisition. Phillips battled shoulder issues late in the season and wasn’t able to go in the World Series. The Dodgers brought back high-leverage arm Blake Treinen on a two-year contract early in the offseason. If they finalize the Yates deal, he could be the favorite for the ninth after saving 33 games for the Rangers. Skipper Dave Roberts will have plenty of high-octane arms he can juggle even if Kopech begins the year on the shelf.

Dodgers, Kirby Yates Reportedly Reach “Tentative” Agreement

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10:55am: There’s nothing official in place yet, per reports from Jack Harris of the L.A. Times and Ken Rosenthal and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic (among others). Harris writes that the two parties are “working toward a deal,” while The Athletic indicates “serious” negotiations are taking place. There could simply be semantics at play. Nightengale’s initial report plainly stated that a physical still needs to take place, so there’s never been firm indication of a final deal yet. A physical for a 38-year-old pitcher with Yates’ injury history isn’t necessarily a layup, but that seems to be the stage they’ve reached. If all goes well, a deal would be announced in the next few days.

9:52am: The Dodgers and reliever Kirby Yates have reached a “tentative” agreement, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The contract is pending completion of a physical. Yates, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, would be the second high-profile bullpen addition for the Dodgers in recent days; they also inked Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72MM deal over the weekend. If the physical goes well and the deal is indeed finalized, L.A. will need to make a corresponding transaction to remove someone from the 40-man roster.

It’s the latest strike in an offseason spending blitz that has seen the Dodgers make free agent plays for Scott, Blake Snell, Teoscar Hernandez, Blake Treinen, Michael Conforto and international stars Hyeseong Kim and Roki Sasaki. Those additions come as Los Angeles looks to become the first repeat World Series champion since the Yankees’ threepeat back in 1998-2000.

Manager Dave Roberts’ bullpen has been completely remade over the past six months, beginning with the deadline acquisition of Michael Kopech. In late July, closer Evan Phillips was struggling at the time of that Kopech acquisition, and much of the bullpen was in a state of flux. Since then, the Dodgers have acquired Kopech, activated Treinen from the injured list (and, this offseason, re-signed him to a two-year deal) and now signed both Scott and Yates in free agency. A late-inning contingent of Scott, Yates, Kopech, Phillips and Treinen is very arguably the most talented quintet of any team in baseball.

It should be noted, however, that Nightengale suggests the Dodgers recently learned of an injury to Kopech that could cost him at least a month of the season. Details on said injury have yet to surface, but that revelation likely played a part in the team’s decision to close an agreement with Yates.

Yates himself isn’t without risk. He’ll turn 38 in March, and he pitched all of 11 major league innings from 2020-22 due to injuries (Tommy John surgery, most notably). The veteran closer returned with a healthy but shaky season for the 2023 Braves, logging a sharp 3.28 ERA in 60 1/3 innings but also walking nearly 15% of his opponents. He improved across the board with the 2024 Rangers, firing 61 2/3 innings of 1.17 ERA ball with a gargantuan 35.9% strikeout rate. His 11.8% walk rate was still noticeably higher than the 8.2% league average but a substantial improvement over his 2023 campaign nonetheless.

Yates ranked second among all free agent relievers in strikeout rate last year, trailing only Aroldis Chapman. He paced all qualified free agent relievers in ERA and ranked seventh or better in SIERA (2.85), K-BB% (24.1) and swinging-strike rate (15.2%). No qualified free agent reliever missed bats within the strike zone as much as Yates; his opponents’ 74.3% contact rate on pitches in the strike zone sat at the top of this year’s free agent class and sat as the third-best mark in all of baseball for pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched, trailing only Josh Hader and Mason Miller.

Dating back to his breakout with the 2018 Padres, Yates has consistently been outstanding when healthy enough to take the hill. He’s pitched 257 innings in that time and boasts a 2.21 ERA, 35.5% strikeout rate, 10% walk rate and 15.2% swinging-strike rate. He’s leaned on a lethal four-seamer and splitter pairing that’s helped him miss bats in droves while piling up 93 saves and 30 holds in 262 appearances on the mound.

The Dodgers are already well into the fourth and final tier of luxury penalization. Any dollars allocated to Yates will come with a 110% tax, as was the case with Scott. RosterResource already projects the team’s luxury tax ledger to sit at a staggering $371MM; the addition of Yates could push their CBT number close to $400MM. The Dodgers were already set to owe around $108MM in overage taxes before the signing of Yates; presuming he gets an eight-figure salary, they’ll very likely owe more than $120MM in taxes alone.

Cardinals Acquire Fedde, Pham; Dodgers Acquire Edman, Kopech In Three-Team Deal With White Sox

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What’s a trade deadline without a convoluted three-team swap? The Cardinals, White Sox and Dodgers have announced a three-team, eight-player deal (possibly including up to 10 players) that breaks down as follows:

It’s a massive exchange of veteran names that’ll have significant postseason implications for a pair of National League contenders. The Cardinals, in need of rotation help and a right-handed bat, checked two boxes with today’s swap, while the Dodgers added some needed positional versatility to help cover multiple weak spots in the lineup and a hard-throwing reliever with an extra season of club control.

Starting with the Cardinals, they’ll bolster their starting staff not just this season but also in 2025. Fedde, a former first-round pick and top prospect with the Nationals, flamed out in five seasons here in MLB before heading to the KBO’s NC Dinos for one year. He spent the 2023 season in South Korea, added a splitter and changed the shape of his breaking ball, and dominated KBO opponents en route to an MVP Award. He returned to MLB on a two-year, $15MM deal with the White Sox and has immediately established himself as a new and highly improved pitcher.

In 121 2/3 innings for the ChiSox, Fedde has pitched to a sharp 3.11 ERA. His 21.5% strikeout rate is shy of league-average by one percentage point, but his 6.8% walk rate is strong and his 44.7% grounder rate is also a bit better than average. He’s avoided hard contact (88.1 mph average exit velocity, 36% hard-hit rate) and kept opponents off balance with a four-pitch mix including a cutter, sinker, slider and split-changeup.

Fedde solidifies the back of a veteran Cardinals rotation that has been without lefty Steven Matz (back strain) since late April. The Cards have been relying on righty Andre Pallante to help patch things over, and while he’s been a godsend in that role (3.42 ERA in nine starts), the 25-year-old is also already just four innings shy of his 2023 total and can be a vital piece in the bullpen as well.

The addition of Fedde will prove vital for a Cardinals club that only had three starters signed through the 2025 season as well. Sonny Gray is being paid $25MM annually from 2024-26, while Miles Mikolas is owed $20MM next year. Matz will be in the fourth and final season of his own $44MM contract next year, but his ongoing health troubles make it tough to bank on him. The Cardinals hold club options over veterans Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, but neither is a lock to be picked up. Fedde, owed $7.5MM this year and next, gives the Cardinals some long-term stability at a highly affordable rate.

In addition to their desired rotation upgrade, the Cards will get the right-handed bat they’ve been seeking. It’ll come in the form of a reunion with Pham, whom they originally selected in the 16th round of the 2006 draft. Pham made his big league debut with the 2014 Cardinals and spent the next three-plus seasons in St. Louis before being traded to the Rays in a deal that brought Genesis Cabrera and Justin Williams back to the Cardinals.

Pham, now 36, has since played for six additional teams. The Rays traded him Padres after two seasons, and he’s since signed free-agent deals with the Reds, Mets and White Sox — getting traded at the deadline in three consecutive seasons. Pham has remained productive at the plate even as he’s become a year-to-year mercenary in his mid-30s. He slashed .256/.328/.446 between the Mets and D-backs in 2023 and owns a .266/.330/.380 output in 297 plate appearances with the White Sox.

Pham won’t receive everyday at-bats in his return to Busch Stadium, but Pham’s hefty .255/.377/.471 line against lefties will make him a useful part-time player for manager Oli Marmol. He’ll make for a nice platoon partner for glove-first center fielder Michael Siani (with Pham presumably taking over in left field and Lars Nootbaar manning center against southpaws).

In order to open a 40-man roster spot, the Cardinals designated catcher Nick Raposo for assignment. The 26-year-old signed with the Cards as an undrafted free agent after the truncated five-round draft in 2020. He was selected to the MLB roster earlier this summer to help account for some catching injuries, but he didn’t get into a big league game. He’s hitting .193/.251/.349 in Triple-A this season but turned in a more encouraging .241/.321/.386 slash last year between Double-A and Triple-A. The Cards could trade him before tomorrow’s deadline, and if not, he’ll be placed on outright waivers.

That the Cardinals were able to acquire both Fedde and Pham while only surrendering Edman and a 17-year-old they just signed as an international free agent earlier this year is somewhat remarkable. It’s a nice feather in the cap of president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, general manager Mike Girsch and the rest of the St. Louis baseball ops staff. The Cards added two big league contributors to a contending club and did so not only without sacrificing any prospects — but without sacrificing anyone who’s contributed to their second-place team at any point this season.

That’s not to denigrate Edman as a player, of course — far from it. The switch-hitting 29-year-old is as versatile as he is talented when healthy, and he’ll presumably be healthy enough to join the Dodgers in short order. Edman hasn’t played this season due to a longer-than-expected recovery process from offseason wrist surgery and an ankle sprain he suffered while rehabbing that wrist. Edman has played four games with the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate on a minor league rehab assignment and figures to now continue his rehab work in the Dodgers’ system. He’ll have about two more weeks of rehab window before he needs to be activated, though Los Angeles can certainly do so sooner if they see fit.

Edman has spent four-plus seasons in the big leagues, playing second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions. He rather incredibly grades out as an above-average defender at each of those positions, per Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved alike. That jack-of-all-trades skill set is emblematic of the type of player the Dodgers try to roster as often as possible. Edman, once healthy, will give L.A. an option at shortstop or second base, helping to cover for the loss of Mookie Betts. Once Betts returns, Edman can either play shortstop (with Betts moving to second base), second base (with Betts at short and Miguel Rojas in a utility role) or anywhere in the outfield (with Rojas and Betts handling middle infield duties).

Beyond the defensive wizardry, Edman has proven himself a capable hitter. He’s yet to recreate the terrific .304/.350/.500 line he posted as a Cardinals rookie in 2019, but he’s a career .265/.319/.408 hitter in 2425 plate appearances. He’s not a big home run threat but has hit between 11 and 13 homers in all four of his full big league seasons (plus five homers in the shortened 2020 campaign). He doesn’t walk especially often (6.2%) but also rarely strikes out (16.5%). On top of that, Edman offers 88th percentile sprint speed (per Statcast) and has swiped 106 bags in 123 attempts at the MLB level (86.2%).

Edman signed a two-year, $16.5MM contract in the 2022-23 offseason, buying out his final two seasons of arbitration eligibility. He’s earning $7MM this season and another $9.5MM next year. The Dodgers are a third-time luxury tax offender in the top tier of penalization, so they’ll pay a 110% tax on the average annual value both of Edman’s contract and of Kopech’s one-year deal with the club.

Onto Kopech, the 28-year-old former top prospect gives the Dodgers one of baseball’s hardest-throwing relievers for the remainder of this year and all of 2025. He’ll be arbitration-eligible this winter and owed a raise on this year’s modest $3MM salary.

The White Sox have used Kopech both as a starter and reliever, but lackluster command of his dynamic arsenal has undercut his effectiveness in both roles. He’s been used exclusively out of the ’pen in 2024 and saved nine games while pitching 43 2/3 innings of 4.74 ERA ball. The earned run average isn’t going to draw much fanfare, but Kopech has averaged a blistering 98.5 mph on his four-seamer, fanned 30.9% of his opponents and generated a gaudy 14.1% swinging-strike rate. He’s been plagued by a 12.6% walk rate and 1.65 HR/9, but Kopech has shown flashes of potential as a powerhouse, shutdown reliever.

Kopech is currently in the midst of his best stretch of the season. After getting blown up for four runs back on July 7, he’s rattled off 5 2/3 shutout innings with an 8-to-1 K/BB ratio. The Dodgers, who have a knack for maximizing pitching performances, are surely thrilled to get their hands on a pitcher with Kopech’s blazing heater and hard slider. Whether they can coax the level of performance from him that has long seemed dormant in Kopech’s talented but inconsistent right arm remains an open question, but if they’re able to do so, he’s a high-octane weapon who can take on a leverage role in a bullpen that has seen closer Evan Phillips struggle of late.

Los Angeles will also pick up the 17-year-old Gonzalez, who’s not considered to be among the Cardinals’ top-ranked prospects but did command a relatively notable $400K signing bonus out of Panama just seven months ago. The 6’4″, 200-pound righty has pitched 21 1/3 innings for the Cardinals’ Rookie-level Dominican Summer League affiliate and posted a 4.22 ERA while punching out 28.6% of his opponents against a 7.7% walk rate.

Turning to the rebuilding White Sox’ end of the deal, their return is headlined by Vargas, who’ll presumably step right onto the big league roster. The 24-year-old ranked among the sport’s top 100 prospects heading into the 2023 season but has fallen down the depth chart in Los Angeles after struggling to carry his excellent minor league production over to the majors. Vargas has appeared in 129 big league games and taken 434 plate appearances, but he’s a .201/.294/.364 hitter in that time.

Rough as those numbers are, Vargas has continued to absolutely pummel Triple-A pitching this season. He’s hitting .290/.440/.556 in Oklahoma City and has a career .297/.412/.512 batting line there in 996 plate appearances. He’s played third base, second base, first base and left field in his career, with the bulk of his experience coming at third base and second base. Vargas has regularly been blocked by more veteran, more expensive players at those positions but should get a full run at third base or second base with his new team.

Some Sox fans may bristle at the notion of a former top prospect headlining this deal, rather than a current one, but Vargas still has five seasons of club control remaining and has already gotten his feet wet in the majors. He’s an on-base machine who’s walked at an impressive 11.1% clip even while struggling in the big leagues and has fanned in a below-average 20.7% of his MLB plate appearances. It’s not hard to envision a scenario where he improves on both of those rate stats as he gets more big league experience and begins to solidify himself as a bona fide MLB-caliber hitter.

Joining Vargas in the White Sox’ system will be Albertus and Perez: both 19-year-old infielders who signed with the Dodgers as international free agents in 2022 (Albertus out of Aruba, Perez out of the Dominican Republic). Baseball America ranked both players inside the Dodgers’ top-20 prospects heading into the 2024 season, and both currently reside in that same range on MLB.com’s updated list of the top 30 Dodgers prospects.

Albertus has split the season between the Dodgers’ Rookie-level Arizona Complex League affiliate and Class-A affiliate. He tore through the former at a .342/.479/.459 pace with more walks (18.9%) than strikeouts (14%) and is hitting .229/.317/.329 in 82 plate appearances against more advanced pitching. Baseball America credits him with a plus hit tool and the potential for average power, calling him a bat-first infield prospect who could see regular playing time across multiple positions. MLB.com lauds him for having one of the most disciplined approaches in a deep Dodgers system and calls him a potential regular at second or third.

Perez has spent the entire season in Class-A and carries a hearty .264/.380/.420 batting line with 10 homers in 350 trips to the plate. He’s walked at a huge 13.7% clip against a 22% strikeout rate despite being just over two years younger than the average player in the league. Both BA and MLB.com note that he lacks a true plus tool but is solid across the board. Like Albertus, he draws praise for an advanced approach at the plate that’s well beyond his years. Perez has good contact skills and the ability to play multiple positions.

For a White Sox club that is often characterized by low-OBP, all-or-nothing hitters, the focus on bringing in three infielders with huge on-base ceilings feels like a rather targeted focus. None of the three players are going to jump to immediately land among the top 50 prospects in the game — Vargas isn’t even prospect-eligible anymore — but they all have a relatively similar feel and offer a potential glimpse at the type of hitters that rookie GM Chris Getz would prefer to see populating his roster in future seasons.

KPRC-2’s Ari Alexander reported Sunday night that the Sox, Dodgers and Cards had engaged in some level of discussions on a three-team deal involving Fedde and Edman. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Monday that a three-team deal was nearing the finish line. Ken Rosenthal and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported that Fedde would go to the Cardinals and Edman to the Dodgers. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported that Vargas, Perez and Albertus were headed to the White Sox. FanSided’s Robert Murray reported that Pham was going to the Cardinals. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Cardinals were giving up an low-level minor leaguer.

Dodgers To Reinstate Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow

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The Dodgers have been scrambling to fill their rotation lately but will get a couple of big reinforcements back in the coming days. Manager Dave Roberts tells reporters that right-hander Tyler Glasnow and left-hander Clayton Kershaw will each come off the injured list to start on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Kershaw is on the 60-day IL and will need a 40-man roster spot to be opened prior to taking the ball. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times was among those to relay the news on X.

It’s a pretty big moment for Kershaw, who is coming back from the most significant absence of his career. The southpaw went under the knife in November to repair the gleno-humeral ligaments and capsule of his left shoulder. Though surgeries for pitchers have become quite commonplace in today’s baseball landscape, this was actually the first one for the veteran.

Kershaw was a workhorse earlier in his career but has had some health issues in recent seasons. From 2010 to 2015, he logged at least 198 innings for six straight years but hasn’t hit that number since. Recent years have seen him miss time here and there, often due to back issues, but the shoulder was the big concern in 2023. He somehow managed to toss 131 2/3 innings with a 2.55 earned run average despite his fastball velocity declining throughout the season but then was torched in his lone playoff start, only recording one out against the Diamondbacks while being charged with six earned runs.

The shoulder issue eventually require the aforementioned surgery in November and then he re-signed with the Dodgers in February. The deal is a two-year pact with the second season being a player option. Kershaw has a base salary of just $5MM in both years of the deal but with the ability to earn far more if he’s healthy. He gets an extra $1MM for getting to six starts, $1.5MM each for his seventh, eighth and ninth starts and then $2MM after his tenth. The Dodgers can’t get around this by using an opener, as a relief outing wherein Kershaw records at least nine outs also counts. At this point in the calendar, it’s still possible for Kershaw to unlock all of those bonuses and there are similar escalators for his 2025 option.

He began a rehab assignment by pitching three innings at the Single-A level on June 19. He was then shut down due to some shoulder soreness but Roberts downplayed the significance and Kershaw restarted his rehab assignment again more recently. He tossed three innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City last Saturday and then four innings on Friday, getting up to 67 pitches in the most recent outing. He’s now set to resume a big league career that already includes 2,712 2/3 innings with a 2.48 ERA.

Glasnow’s absence was far more mild, as he landed on the IL prior to the break due to some low back tightness, but the dual returns are significant for the Dodgers as they have had plenty of rotation challenges. Dustin May and Emmet Sheehan are each done for the year, with Tony Gonsolin likely to be in that camp as well. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a rotator cuff strain that landed him on the 60-day IL, meaning he can’t return before mid-August. Bobby Miller struggled enough to get optioned down to the minors while Walker Buehler was ineffective before landing on the IL with a hip issue.

Amid all of those issues, the Dodgers have been using a rotation of veteran James Paxton, rookies Gavin Stone, Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack, as well as occasional bullpen games. Getting Glasnow and Kershaw into that mix obviously helps, and the club will be promoting prospect River Ryan soon as well.

Though that group is about to be much stronger than it was heading into the All-Star break, the Dodgers are still expected to pursue rotation upgrades prior to the July 30 deadline. They have been connected to Garrett Crochet of the White Sox for weeks now and Bob Nightengale of USA Today mentions the fit again this morning, also adding that the club has interest in Tarik Skubal of the Tigers.

Though the Dodgers’ interest in Crochet has been known for a while, Nightengale adds that the Dodgers have discussed a blockbuster deal that would see them also acquire outfielder Luis Robert Jr. and maybe even reliever Michael Kopech as well. That’s not necessarily a big surprise, as teams usually discuss all kinds of various trade scenarios, with many of them not coming close to fruition.

But that does align with recent comments from president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who suggested the Dodgers would be more focused on impact additions as opposed to marginal upgrades. The club has some holes but is understandably shooting for the stars at this point. They have made the playoffs in 11 straight years now and spent wildly in the offseason, adding Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani and others. Making the postseason for a 12th straight year won’t really count as an accomplishment for the club or its fans, so aiming high at the deadline and trying for a World Series seems to be the play.

Crochet would obviously fit the bill since he’s been one of the best pitchers in the league this year with a 3.02 ERA and 35.2% strikeout rate through 20 starts. There are some concerns about his workload since he’s already thrown more innings this year than in his entire professional career prior to this campaign, but he should be able to provide an impact even if moved to some kind of relief role down the stretch.

Robert also has some durability concerns as he’s only tallied 100 games in a season once, but that one occurrence was quite impressive. He got into 145 contests for the Sox last year and hit 38 home runs, stole 20 bases and provided quality defense in center field. Injuries have been a problem before and have cropped up again this year, as he missed two months due to a right hip flexor strain. But he’s been great in his limited time, with 11 homers and 11 steals in just 45 games. His 32.6% strikeout rate is a career high but his 10.2% walk rate is almost twice his career pace.

He could fit into a Dodger outfield that has seen Mookie Betts move to the infield and then head to the injured list. Teoscar Hernández is having a good year but it’s flimsy apart from that. Andy Pages and Miguel Vargas are doing well overall but most of their damage has come against lefties. Ideally, they would be platooned with Jason Heyward, but Heyward is also on the IL. James Outman is hitting just .153/.250/.258 on the year and was optioned to the minors for a while, only getting recalled when Heyward went on the shelf. Utility players Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernández and Cavan Biggio have also struggled.

In addition to their talents, both players would be incredibly attractive due to their financial situations. Crochet is in his first arbitration season but his injury absences have limited him to a salary of $800K this year. He has two arb seasons left after this one and will be in line for a decent raises, but from a very modest base. Robert is making $12.5MM this year, far more than Crochet but still a bargain for a player of his talents. He’ll then make $15MM next year with a pair of $20MM club options after that.

Each player has significant trade value in a vacuum but it would take a massive blockbuster haul for the Dodgers to get both. Their farm system is considered strong but whether a deal can come together or not will depend on what kind of price the Sox are asking for and what other teams are offering. But at 27-73 and with a farm system that isn’t especially well regarded, it makes sense the Sox are considering trading almost anyone and it seems they are doing just that.

Kopech can’t match either Crochet or Robert in terms of huge appeal, but he would have some value in his own right. After some inconsistent results as a starter, the Sox have been using him as their closer this year with some interesting but mixed results. His 5.05 ERA isn’t going to wow anyone and his 12.7% walk rate is concerning, but he has punched out 30.9% of batters faced. He’s only making $3MM this year and can be retained via arbitration for another season after this.

As for Skubal, it’s understandable why the Dodgers or any other club would be interested. He is a Cy Young candidate this year with a 2.41 ERA, 30.8% strikeout rate, 4.6% walk rate and 47.4% ground ball rate. He’s making a modest $2.65MM and has two seasons of club control beyond this one.

But that also makes him plenty appealing to the Tigers and it’s fair to wonder how available he is. The club once seemed buried in the standings but have been hot lately, winning 11 of their last 14 and climbing to within five games of a playoff spot. Getting Skubal away from Detroit was probably going to take a haul even when they were in seller position but it’s probably become more difficult in recent weeks.

Michael Kopech Drawing Interest From Several Teams

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The White Sox are one of the game’s few clear sellers with the trade deadline still six weeks out, and teams have been showing recent interest in closer Michael Kopech, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Among the interested clubs are the Royals, Phillies and Yankees, each of whom has sent scouts to watch the hard-throwing righty in the past few weeks. Levine adds that rival clubs believe the Sox are seeking controllable pitching in return.

Kopech, 28, is in his first season as a full-time reliever after making a combined 52 starts with the ChiSox in 2022-23. He’s taken up the role of the team’s primary closer, though given Chicago’s dismal results this season, he’s only picked up five saves on the year. Kopech’s bullpen tenure got out to a strong start, but he’s hit a rough patch of late, yielding eight earned runs over his past 6 1/3 frames. That rocky stretch has ballooned his ERA from 3.18 to 4.91.

Despite that lackluster mark, there’s plenty to like about Kopech. Once touted as one of the game’s elite pitching prospects — he and Yoan Moncada headlined the White Sox’ return for Chris Sale during their last rebuild — Kopech boasts a power arsenal that helps him miss bats in droves. He’s averaged a blazing 98.7 mph on his heater this season and punched out a gaudy 32.3% of his opponents. Kopech’s 14.1% swinging-strike rate is well north of the league average. That power arsenal, as is often the case, comes with notable command issues; Kopech has walked 13.5% of his opponents in 2024 and sports an unsightly 13.6% mark dating back to 2022.

Beyond his bat-missing ability, Kopech is both affordable and controllable. He’s earning $3MM in 2024 and would be arbitration-eligible once more this winter before reaching free agency following the 2025 season. Adding Kopech for a pair of pennant chases would give any contending club a power arm with an often triple-digit heater, bat-missing slider and a newly implemented cutter that’s been a plus pitch thus far.

With regard to the interested parties, none of the three teams listed by Levine comes as a surprise. The Royals have already been canvassing the bullpen market in early June, though their status as a division rival to the White Sox might make it tougher to complete a deal with Kansas City than with Philadelphia, New York or any of the surely yet-unnamed clubs who have interest in prying Kopech from the South Siders. That said, the Royals rank 22nd in the majors with a 4.32 ERA from their relievers. Their bullpen’s collective 93.5 mph average fastball velocity (per Statcast) is 27th in the majors, while its 17.7% strikeout rate is the worst in MLB. Kopech would add the type of power, bat-missing repertoire the Royals currently lack.

The Phillies (3.55, ninth) and Yankees (3.19, third) both rank among MLB’s ten best teams in terms of bullpen earned run average. They’ve gotten there in slightly different ways, with the Phillies focusing on strikeouts (26.5%, third in MLB) while the Yankees have a below-average 21.9% strikeout rate but also possess the third-best ground-ball rate of any team (46.8%). Both teams are among the three best in baseball at limiting home runs, with the Philly bullpen sitting at 0.68 HR/9 and the Yankees narrowly trailing at 0.74 HR/9. Both clubs are luxury-tax payors in 2024, making Kopech’s relatively modest $3MM salary all the more appealing.

It stands to reason that the Royals, Phillies and Yankees are just three of many clubs looking at Kopech as the trade deadline looms next month. Bullpen help is on every postseason hopeful’s deadline wishlist every summer, and Kopech is the type of power arm that any team would love to try to maximize. While velocity is up throughout the game, and triple-digit fastballs are no longer the rarities they once were, that doesn’t take away from Kopech’s impressive repertoire. The only pitchers in MLB (min. 10 innings) who throw harder on average are Oakland’s Mason Miller, Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran, Milwaukee’s Abner Uribe, Arizona’s Justin Martinez and St. Louis’ Ryan Helsley. Kopech’s bottom-line run prevention numbers may not stand out, but other teams surely covet the upside and feel there’s a potentially elite reliever to be unlocked with a few tweaks.

White Sox Move Michael Kopech To Bullpen

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The White Sox are moving starter Michael Kopech to a bullpen role to begin the 2024 season, general manager Chris Getz announced to reporters on Thursday (X link via Sox Machine’s James Fegan). That’ll further shake up a rotation that suddenly projects to look quite different following last night’s trade sending Dylan Cease to San Diego.

Kopech was once a highly-touted prospect but has struggled to establish himself as a viable big league starter and is now on the cusp of his 28th birthday. Selected by the Red Sox with the 33rd overall pick in 2014, he was a top 100 prospect as he worked his way up the minor league ladder and was a key piece of the 2016 trade that sent Chris Sale to Boston.

The White Sox were surely hoping that Kopech would be a building block of their future rotation and promoted Kopech in August of 2018, but he required Tommy John surgery just about a month later. He missed all of the 2019 season and then sat out the 2020 pandemic season as well. After missing two full years of his development, he pitched primarily in relief in 2021 to build up his workload. He tossed 69 1/3 innings over 44 appearances that year with a solid 3.50 earned run average.

In 2022, he was finally able to secure a rotation gig at the big league level and the results were mixed. On the surface, his 3.54 ERA over 25 starts looked nice, but the numbers under the hood were less encouraging. His 21.3% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate were both a bit worse than league average. He seemed to have had some luck keeping runs off the board thanks to a .223 batting average on balls in play and 74.2% strand rate. His 4.50 FIP and 4.73 SIERA suggested that he may not have been as effective as his ERA implied.

Last year, his luck turned for the worse, as he finished the season with a 5.43 ERA. His control took a concerning blow, as he gave out walks to 15.4% of opponents. He was bumped to the bullpen late in the year but seemed like he had a path to continue starting in 2024. The Sox traded Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito at the deadline last year and then saw Mike Clevinger hit free agency coming into this winter. Rumors swirled around Dylan Cease all winter until he was finally traded to the Padres yesterday.

Despite all of those holes in the rotation, it seems the Sox don’t have much faith in Kopech as a starter at the moment and he’ll wind up in the bullpen. For what it’s worth, he’s allowed six earned run in seven innings this spring, giving out six walks in the process while also hitting two batters. He’s now just two years away from becoming a free agent so perhaps the Sox will give rotation opportunities to younger guys during their current teardown, while perhaps Kopech can turn himself into a trade chip if he can serve as an effective reliever.

Kopech doesn’t seem thrilled with his new assignment. “It’s not my first choice where I want to be,” he said to reporters, including Scott Merkin of MLB.com. “I like starting, but I’ve had success in that role. And ultimately we are looking at what’s best for the team this year. If I can help us win games in the back of the game, I’m excited to do that.”

The Sox have brought in various fresh arms to the system this year, having signed Erick Fedde and Chris Flexen while also trading for Michael Soroka, Jared Shuster, Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte. They got Jake Eder from the Marlins in last year’s Jake Burger trade. Garrett Crochet seems poised to move in the opposite direction to Kopech, jumping from a relief role into the rotation.

For now, the rotation projects to include Fedde, Flexen, Crochet and Soroka in four spots. The club was recently linked to free agent Michael Lorenzen and Clevinger as well, so a late signing could fill out the rotation. As the season rolls along, some guys will get hurt or may end up as trade targets at the deadline. Soroka and Flexen are impending free agents while Fedde is on a two-year deal. If Lorenzen or Clevinger sign, they would presumably be for one- or two-year deals.

As rotation spots open, perhaps Kopech could retake one, but the group of Shuster, Thorpe, Iriarte, Eder and others will be jockeying for auditions. With the club clearly focused on the future, they may be more inclined to give opportunities to those young and controllable guys as opposed to a 28-year-old whose club control is running out.

White Sox Notes: Cease, Kopech, Colas

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Dylan Cease was among the likelier players to be traded over the offseason. The White Sox stuck firm to an asking price that teams haven’t been willing to meet, though, and it seems the hard-throwing righty will instead be a top deadline candidate. GM Chris Getz declared at the start of camp that the Sox anticipate Cease being on the Guaranteed Rate Field mound on Opening Day.

That remains the case, assistant general manager Josh Barfield tells Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Barfield said that while opposing teams remain in contact with the Sox about Cease, there’s “nothing imminent” on the trade front. “We’re preparing him to be the Opening Day starter,” Barfield reiterated.

Barring a surprising acceleration in trade talks over the next three weeks, Cease will lead a rotation with a fair bit of uncertainty. KBO signee Erick Fedde is penciled into a spot. Getz has indicated the Sox prefer free agent pickup Chris Flexen as a starter, while trade acquisition Michael Soroka has a good chance at a rotation job. Returnees Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet are battling for spots in camp.

While Crochet is stretching out from relief work to this point in his MLB career, Kopech trailed only Cease in starts for the team last year. That makes it seem likely he’ll be in the season-opening five, but manager Pedro Grifol indicated that isn’t a guarantee. “He’s getting built up to be one of our starters,” Grifol said of Kopech (link via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). “I know we want to talk about it, but I think in about another week, we’ll talk about it. Right now, everybody is just competing.”

Kopech indicated that while he prefers to occupy a rotation spot, he’s amenable to whatever role the team asks. The right-hander worked in relief in 2021, turning in a 3.50 ERA across 69 1/3 innings. He stretched out to the rotation two seasons ago. Kopech found success in his first season as a starter, outperforming middling strikeout and walk numbers to manage a 3.54 ERA in 25 appearances. His production fell off last year, as he allowed 5.43 earned runs per nine. No other pitcher with at least 100 innings walked batters more frequently. Kopech handed out free passes at an untenable 15.4% clip.

That was one of a number of disappointing performances for the Sox as they fell to a 101-loss season. On the position player side, rookie right fielder Oscar Colás had one of the more underwhelming showings. Viewed as one of the better prospects in a thin farm system, the lefty-hitting Colás managed only a .216/.257/.314 slash line over his first 75 games.  He was optioned to Triple-A midway through the season. Colás hit .272/.345/.465 over 54 games at the top minor league level.

Getz indicated that trade pickup Dominic Fletcher is in the driver’s seat for the right field job this spring. Colás has gotten some exhibition work at first base as he looks to expand his utility for a possible bench role. The Sox have used him exclusively in the outfield during regular season play in the majors and upper minors. Colás got scattered reps at first base early in his professional career in Cuba and Japan, so he’s not entirely unfamiliar with the position, but he conceded there’s an adjustment period as he tries to acclimate to the infield dirt.

“Right now, it’s just an adjustment. I can’t say I feel completely comfortable, but I’m working on feeling comfortable again there,” the 25-year-old told reporters via interpreter over the weekend (link via Merkin). “I’ll play wherever they want me to play. What I want is just to play baseball.” Colás isn’t going to be an everyday option there but could offer cover for Andrew Vaughn over the course of the season if the Sox trust him for regular season work.

Chris Getz Discusses Kopech, Crochet

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White Sox general manager Chris Getz spoke with reporters this morning. His implication that Dylan Cease was likely to remain on the roster into the season was the most notable development, but Getz also addressed a pair of Cease’s potential rotation mates.

The first-year GM said he still views Michael Kopech as a starting pitcher (link via James Fegan of Sox Machine). Chicago moved the hard-throwing righty to the bullpen at the tail end of a dismal 2023 campaign. Kopech posted a 5.16 ERA while walking more than 15% of opposing hitters in 26 starts through the first week of September. Manager Pedro Grifol deployed him in short stints — three relief appearances and a deliberately brief start as an opener — to close the year. Kopech was tagged for seven runs in 3 2/3 frames before undergoing a season-ending knee procedure.

That was a minor cyst removal surgery that isn’t expected to affect Kopech’s preparation for the season. The bigger question is whether he’ll be able to rebound from a performance perspective. Kopech showed some promise over 25 starts two seasons ago. He turned in a 3.54 ERA, albeit with a middling 21.3% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk percentage, in 2022. That was Kopech’s first full season working from the rotation. The hope was that he’d take a step forward with greater experience in the role. It did not happen last year.

Kopech built up to starting after working in relief in the early portion of his MLB career. Injuries, most notably a Tommy John procedure, wiped out his 2019-20 campaigns. The Sox used him out of the bullpen in ’21 to keep his workload in check. He was quite good in that capacity, turning in a 3.50 ERA with a massive 36.1% strikeout percentage and a much more manageable 8.4% walk rate over 69 1/3 innings.

That general playbook is one which Garrett Crochet is hoping to follow. The former first-round pick has come out of the bullpen for all 72 of his MLB appearances dating back to 2020. An elbow ligament replacement cost him the ’22 season and the first six weeks last year. Shoulder inflammation sent him back to the injured list a month after he returned and kept him on the shelf into September. The Tennessee product finished the year with 12 2/3 innings over 13 appearances.

Crochet has nevertheless been vocal about his desire to battle for a rotation spot. The Sox certainly aren’t going to expect him to make 30+ starts given his limited reps over the past two seasons. However, Getz left the door open for Crochet to compete for an Opening Day rotation job.

“It was very clear he was excited to get a look as a starter and when you’ve got a player that has that type of conviction, I think you’re doing the player a disservice to ignore that,” the GM told reporters. “He needs to be built up further. He hasn’t had too many starter innings under his belt. That’s even going back to college. But he’s a special arm. He’s shown three pitches in the past, so he’s got the starter kit.” Fegan writes that Getz indicated Crochet could spend some time on optional assignment to Triple-A Charlotte as the southpaw trains for a heavier workload.

Cease leads the staff, while KBO returnee Erick Fedde slots into the middle. Kopech and Crochet join Michael Soroka and Jared Shuster (acquired from Atlanta in the Aaron Bummer trade), free agent pickup Chris Flexen, and incumbent depth starters Jesse Scholtens and Touki Toussaint in competition for rotation work.

White Sox Notes: Robert, Trade Market, Anderson, Coaching Staff

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The White Sox head into the offseason looking to turn things around under a new general manager after a disastrous 2023 campaign. Chris Getz, promoted from his prior post as assistant GM after the summer dismissal of Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams, met with reporters yesterday at the GM Meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. and discussed his team’s outlook. While the rookie baseball ops leader emphasized that there are winning pieces on the roster, he also acknowledged that on the whole, “I don’t like our team,” adding that it’s “not a well-rounded club” — a blunt recognition that broad changes are needed (link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

While Getz didn’t delve into specifics as to how those changes would be realized, he took an open-minded approach when asked about trade possibilities, conceding that there “are no untouchables” on his roster. That’ll surely lead to a frenzy of fan speculation regarding talents like Dylan Cease and particularly Luis Robert Jr., although Getz also noted that he won’t be “proactive” in exploring Robert trade scenarios and called the center fielder the type of player a team should build around.

The general tone of Getz’s comments, plus Robert’s talent and extremely appealing contract — he’s signed through 2025 at a total of $29.5MM guaranteed, plus club options for the 2026-27 seasons — will lead to ample interest. Still just 26 years old, Robert is fresh off a .264/.315/.542 showing in 145 games and 595 plate appearances with the South Siders. He popped 38 homers, swiped 20 bases and played standout defense in center field. It’s an MVP-caliber package of tools, and the fact that he’d earn a total of $67.5MM through 2027 if both his club options are exercised creates considerable surplus value for both the Sox or potential trade partners.

To be clear, a trade of Robert seems decidedly unlikely. Getz didn’t expressly rule it out, but it’s exceedingly rare for a player with this type of team control and affordability to be moved. Additionally, the Sox don’t appear to be embarking on another full-fledged rebuild so much as an effort to retool the roster. Names like Cease and Michael Kopech seem more attainable, speculatively speaking, as both are entering their second arbitration year and are controlled “only” through the 2025 campaign. Slugger Eloy Jimenez and lefty reliever Aaron Bummer are signed through 2024 and both have club option for the 2025-26 seasons.

Whatever trades do eventually materialize — and it seems inevitable that some deals will come together — the changes in Chicago have already begun. Hahn and Williams are out after more than two decades, and the team has already declined its $14MM team option on longtime shortstop Tim Anderson. That would’ve seemed unthinkable this time last year, as Anderson was MLB’s batting average leader from 2019-22, putting together a robust .318/.347/.473 slash in more than 1600 plate appearances over that four-year span.

Anderson’s 2023 season was an unmitigated disaster, however. The 30-year-old hit just .245/.286/.296 with only one home run on the year. His power completely eroded both due to a dip in hard contact and exit velocity but more troublingly due to a mammoth spike in his ground-ball rate. Anderson has never been a pronounced fly-ball hitter, but this year’s 61.1% grounder rate was the highest of any qualified hitter in baseball by four percentage points. Even with the ban of the most aggressive infield shifts, it’s quite difficult for any hitter to be a plus at the plate when putting such a stark percentage of his batted balls on the ground.

Despite the dismal season, the Sox haven’t ruled out a reunion with Anderson — presumably at a lower rate. Bruce Levine of 670 AM The Score reports that the Sox would consider bringing Anderson back later this offseason after he’s fielded interest from other clubs. Given the looming presence of top shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery, that might require a move to the other side of the second base bag, but Anderson has already publicly shown a willingness to make such a switch. Given the dearth of quality infield options in free agency, another club might place a bigger bet on Anderson’s track record than the Sox are comfortable making, but it’s a potential scenario to keep in mind if Anderson lingers in free agency and sees his price tag drop.

It’s also been an active week for the Sox on the coaching front, with several reported new hirings and changes to the staff. The Sox confirmed all of those previously reported new hires yesterday in announcing their finalized coaching staff for the 2024 campaign. Pedro Grifol is back for a second year managing the club, as expected. Also returning are bench coach Charlie Montoyo, pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar and third base/infield coach Eddie Rodriguez.

Chicago confirmed previously reported hires of bullpen coach Matt Wise, hitting coach Marcus Thames, and Grady Sizemore (who’s listed as a “Major League coach” but will focus on outfield and baserunning work with the team). Also joining the staff is former big league catcher Drew Butera, who was the Angels’ catching coordinator last year and will be the Major League catching coach with the ChiSox. He joins Wise and Thames as the third coach hired away from the Angels. The Sox are also bringing former big league outfielder Jason Bourgeois aboard as their new first base and outfield coach. The eight-year MLB veteran (2008-15) had been coaching in the minors with the Dodgers prior to this move, most recently serving as the organization’s outfield and baserunning coordinator.

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