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Myles Straw

Guardians Outright Myles Straw

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The Guardians sent outfielder Myles Straw outright to Triple-A Columbus, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Cleveland successfully ran him through waivers once the offseason got underway, removing him from the 40-man roster.

Straw was a lock to go unclaimed because of his contract. A team would’ve needed to assume the remaining $14.75MM in guaranteed money. Straw has cleared waivers twice this year. Cleveland outrighted him just before Opening Day. He spent almost the entire season in Triple-A. The Guards reselected his contract in mid-September but presumably always planned to take him back off the roster at year’s end.

Cleveland inked Straw to that deal early in the 2022 season. He’d posted a solid year in ’21, hitting .271/.349/.348 while stealing 30 bases and playing plus defense in center field. The Guardians reasoned that his speed and glove gave him a solid floor despite minimal power. His bat completely cratered over the next two seasons. Straw combined for only one home run with a .229/.296/.284 line from 2022-23. He didn’t hit in Triple-A this year, either, running a .240/.321/.329 mark against upper minors pitching.

As a player with less than five years of major league service, Straw would forfeit his contract to test free agency. He’s obviously not going to do that, so the Guards can keep him in Triple-A as a depth option. He only made seven MLB appearances this year, collecting one hit in four at-bats. He stole two bases in as many attempts.

Guardians Place Steven Kwan On Injured List

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The Guardians announced that outfielder Steven Kwan has been placed on the 10-day injured list. They have selected the contract of Myles Straw to take his place on the active roster. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco, currently on the 15-day injured list, has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot for Straw.

Kwan hasn’t played in a game since September 12. He was scratched from the lineup on September 13 with the club describing his issue as body fatigue, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com on X. Manager Stephen Vogt later described the issue as back soreness, per Bell.

It’s unclear how long the club expects Kwan to be out, but it seems they want him to rest for at least a week. IL stints can be backdated by as many as three days if they player has been out of the lineup, so the Guardians have presumably done so with Kwan.

For however long he’s out, the Guards will be without one of the game’s best contact hitters. Kwan has only been punched out in 9.4% of his plate appearances this year. Among qualified hitters, only Luis Arráez has been struck out at a lower rate this year. Kwan is generally not a power threat but has 13 homers this year, more than doubling his previous career high of six. He’s hitting .291/.364/.419 on the year overall for a wRC+ of 127.

In addition to the offense, Kwan has stolen 12 bases and received strong grades for his left field defense. That’s allowed him to produced 3.8 wins above replacement on the year, per the calculations of FanGraphs, second on the team to José Ramírez.

Losing a player like that would be a blow at any time, but it’s especially concerning at this part of the calendar. Perhaps the club is just giving Kwan a breather and expects him to be healthy by the time the playoffs start. But even in that scenario, any kind of setback would roll into the postseason.

With Kwan out in recent days, the Guards have been utilizing an outfield mix of Lane Thomas, Ángel Martínez, Jhonkensy Noel and Will Brennan. Thomas has been the club’s regular center fielder since coming over from the Nationals in a deadline trade but he hasn’t taken well to his new club. He has hit .217/.273/.377 for Cleveland while striking out in 37.3% of his plate appearances.

Perhaps the Guards will install Straw in center and hope for better results, though that might be a tall ask. He was outrighted off the club’s roster in March after a few years of offensive struggles. He hit .229/.296/.284 for the Guards over 2022 and 2023, leading to a combined wRC+ of 67. Since clearing waivers and getting sent down to Columbus coming into this year, his results haven’t improved much. in 123 Triple-A games this year, he’s hitting .240/.321/.329 for a wRC+ of 72.

Despite the lack of offense, Straw at least has a solid floor from his speed and defense. He has swiped 30 bags in 31 tries this year and has regularly had similar stolen base totals in previous seasons. Thomas is also capable of providing value in those departments, with 32 steals this year and defensive metrics that are roughly average for his time in center. Whether Straw will push Thomas for playing time or simply serve as a glove-first bench guy remains to be seen.

Straw signed a $25MM extension with Cleveland going into 2022, which has not worked out so far due to his aforementioned offensive downturn. Given his struggles and that contract, it was unsurprising that he went unclaimed off waivers. He had the right to elect free agency at that time since he has at least three years of service, but since he has less than five years, doing so would have meant walking away from the money still to be paid out on that deal. He unsurprisingly accepted his outright assignment and gets back on the roster today. There’s not enough time left in this season for him to hit that five-year mark, so it’s possible he’s outrighted again later this year or in the winter.

Carrasco, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Guards in the winter and made the Opening Day roster. He has made 21 starts for the club this year with a 5.64 earned run average in 103 2/3 innings. That’s obviously not amazing production but it was valuable to the club at times this year as various other starters struggled or landed on the injured list.

The club currently has a rotation of Gavin Williams, Tanner Bibee, Matthew Boyd, Joey Cantillo and Ben Lively with Alex Cobb currently on the IL due to a blister. Williams was on the IL for most of the first half of the year but has since returned. Boyd wasn’t signed until midseason as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery but has looked strong since joining the club. Cobb was a midseason trade acquisition and Cantillo has gradually pitched his way into the picture with a solid season.

That leaves less room for Carrasco than earlier in the year and he has had his own injury issues. He landed on the injured list in May due to an acute neck spasm and returned a couple of weeks later. A second IL stint put him out of action just over a month ago, with a left hip strain being the culprit. He began a rehab assignment a few days ago but the club has nudged him off the roster today.

Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers so Carrasco should be on release waivers shortly. It’s a fairly moot point as he’s likely to clear in either case. He’s making a $2MM salary this year and other clubs won’t have much use for him at this part of the calendar. He wouldn’t be postseason eligible for any other team and wouldn’t have much time to make contributions in the regular season either.

Assuming he clears waivers, he would be able to elect free agency as a veteran with plenty of years of experience, but it’s possible he decides to stay and serve as non-roster depth for the Guards and possibly get a chance to rejoin the roster for the postseason.

Guardians Outright Myles Straw

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TODAY: Straw cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

MARCH 22: The Guardians have placed center fielder Myles Straw on waivers, reports Zack Meisel of The Athletic. Any team will have the opportunity to claim him, although doing so would require taking on the entirety of the three years and $19.25MM still remaining on his contract. That appears quite unlikely. Straw figures to clear waivers, at which point the Guardians could assign him outright to a minor league affiliate.

While Straw’s 4.112 years of MLB service time give him the right to reject that outright assignment, he’s still short of the five years necessary to reject an outright and retain the money he’s owed. There’s no chance he’d forfeit that $19.25MM to go into free agency, so the likely outcome seems to be Straw clearing and heading to Triple-A Columbus while no longer occupying a spot on the 40-man roster. It’s also feasible that the Guardians could simply be gauging whether there’s a taker for Straw and, if not, could simply plug him back into their center field spot. He can be optioned to Triple-A if the club keeps him on the 40-man roster. A player does not have to be assigned outright to a minor league affiliate after clearing waivers (though that’s obviously the most common outcome).

With Straw in limbo for the time being, that leaves Steven Kwan and Ramon Laureano as locks in the Cleveland outfield. The former will see regular reps in left field. The latter had been slated for right field work but can handle center. It’s also possible the Guards will go with Will Brennan and/or Estevan Florial to fill outfield roles. Infielder Tyler Freeman has also gotten looks in center this spring. Brennan has all three minor league option years remaining, while Florial is out of minor league options. Top outfield prospect Chase DeLauter could be an option eventually, but he was never a full-time member of big league camp and was only called up on occasion to fill at-bats as needed, Meisel notes. He was never a consideration to make the Opening Day roster.

Cleveland originally acquired Straw in a now-regrettable 2021 deadline swap sending right-hander Phil Maton and catcher Yainer Diaz to the Astros. He made a strong first impression, hitting .285/.362/.377 with plus defense and baserunning down the stretch. That brought his season-long line to a solid .271/.349/.348 — just shy of league-average production (98 wRC+). Paired with Straw’s speed and glovework, it was a strong effort that served as a catalyst for the Guards to sign him to a five-year, $25MM extension with a pair of club options for two additional seasons.

Unfortunately, Straw’s bat has cratered since putting pen to paper on that deal. Over the past two seasons, he’s turned in just a .229/.296/.284 in 1114 trips to the plate. That’s about 32% worse than average, by measure of wRC+. Straw is a light-out defender in center (23 Defensive Runs Saved, 17 Outs Above Average over the past two seasons) and offers blazing speed (41-for-48 in steals since 2022), but his lack of offensive ability has severely capped his overall value. For an immensely cost-conscious Guardians club, his contract has apparently reached a point where they’ll see if another club is willing to take him on for no return other than salary relief.

Looking Through The Guardians’ Outfield Possibilities

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The Guardians surprised most onlookers by sprinting to an AL Central title last season, pulling away from the Twins and White Sox with an excellent September. Cleveland quickly dispatched the Rays in the Wild Card series before losing a closely contested Division Series against the Yankees.

There were myriad reasons for the Guardians’ success. Recurring themes were plus defense around the diamond and a general willingness to trust young position players to run with their opportunities. That was also the case in the outfield, a unit that was average overall but had a couple standout players.

Cleveland seems mostly content running things back with the same group. The Guardians have added at catcher and first base, bringing in Mike Zunino and Josh Bell via free agency. They’ve not gone outside the organization for an outfielder to this point. One could argue for adding a veteran bat considering most of the in-house candidates have limited MLB track records, and perhaps Cleveland eventually adds a lower-cost depth type like Chad Pinder or Robbie Grossman. There’s probably not an impact player coming, though, so it’s worth looking through the numerous in-house options who could vie for playing time on the Progressive Field grass.

Kwan is the most established of the Cleveland outfielders after a stellar rookie season. He hadn’t been a top-tier prospect early in his professional career but continued excellence as a minor leaguer garnered him a spot on FanGraphs’ top 100 going into last season. Kwan even exceeded those expectations, hitting .298/.373/.400 with more walks than strikeouts over his first 638 MLB plate appearances. He paired that with elite defensive marks in left field, earning a Gold Glove and a third-place finish in Rookie of the Year balloting in the process. Kwan has below-average power but does everything else so well he looks like a perfect top-of-the-lineup option for manager Terry Francona. So long as he’s healthy, the Oregon State product is the Guardians left fielder.

Straw seems likely to get another crack in center field, at least initially. Acquired from the Astros at the 2021 trade deadline, Straw stepped in as Cleveland’s primary center fielder from there forward. He’s an elite defender and baserunner and looked to have taken a step forward offensively that season, combining for a .271/.349/.348 slash between the two teams. The Guardians rewarded him last spring with a $25MM contract extension that runs at least through the 2026 campaign.

The 28-year-old’s first full season in Cleveland was mixed. He continued to play excellent defense, with Statcast crediting him for 13 outs above average for his work in center field. Like Kwan, Straw secured his first Gold Glove. The offensive output plummeted though. He hit only .221/.273/.291 across 596 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, only Jonathan Schoop and Geraldo Perdomo were less effective hitters (minimum 500 PA’s).

Straw posted some of the league’s worst batted ball metrics and didn’t connect on a single home run. His defense and baserunning means he doesn’t need to hit much to be a worthwhile everyday player, but the Cleveland front office is surely hoping for a little more output at the plate. Straw doesn’t seem in imminent danger of losing his job, but posting another sub-.600 OPS through the All-Star Break could lead the front office to consider deadline possibilities to add a little more offensive firepower in center field.

Gonzalez, who turns 25 today, was yet another success story in a loaded Cleveland rookie class. The right-handed hitter posted a .282/.308/.506 line through 41 games at Triple-A Columbus to earn his first MLB call in late May. He stuck in the majors from then on and immediately hit the ground running. Over 382 trips to the plate, Gonzalez hit .296/.327/.461 with 11 home runs and 27 doubles. He had a couple heroic moments in the playoffs as well, connecting on the walk-off home run to eliminate Tampa Bay and a game-winning two-run single against the Yankees. Those clutch hits overshadowed a mediocre .226/.250/.323 overall batting line in 32 postseason plate appearances.

It was a strong enough season to put himself on the map as a potential long-term piece in the Cleveland outfield, and he’s the likeliest player to open the year in right. Yet there’s a fair bit less certainty in Gonzalez sustaining his excellent rookie form than there’ll be in Kwan’s case. Gonzalez has never been a favorite of most prospect evaluators thanks to questions about his aggressive approach and below-average corner outfield defense. Cleveland left him unprotected in advance of the Rule 5 draft as recently as the 2021-22 offseason as a result.

Gonzalez’s great year quiets those concerns to some extent, but they’re not completely answered. He swung at nearly half the pitches outside the strike zone he saw as a rookie, placing him near the top of the league in that regard. His 3.9% walk percentage was among the lowest in the game. Perhaps Gonzalez has special enough hand-eye coordination and power that it won’t matter. He’ll need to prove it in a second extended run against MLB arms.

If Kwan, Straw and Gonzalez is Cleveland’s Opening Day outfield, Brennan seems the player most likely to break into the mix off the bench. The left-handed hitter fits the Guardians’ mold of high-contact bats, having never struck out at even a 17% clip at any minor league stop. He went down on strikes just 12.2% of the time at Triple-A last season, hitting .316/.367/.471 with nine home runs and 15 steals across 433 plate appearances. He earned a late-season MLB look and played well in his first 11 games.

Baseball America ranked Brennan the #10 prospect in a deep Cleveland farm system this offseason. The outlet praises his contact skills, athleticism and arm strength but questions his power potential. Brennan can play center field but BA suggests he’s probably a stronger defensive fit in the corner outfield. It’s easy to point to some similarities between him and Kwan, although the latter’s minor league track record was a little better. Brennan’s likely a better hitter than Straw right now and could be a candidate to take increased center field reps if Straw continues to struggle offensively — particularly since Straw can come off the bench later in games when the Guardians are looking for their best defensive unit to protect a lead.

A bat-first utility option, Palacios also made his MLB debut in 2022. He didn’t break in as well as most of the other Cleveland rookies, hitting .232/.293/.286 without a longball in his first 123 trips to the dish. It wasn’t a great first look but Palacios had a quality .279/.371/.458 line with better than average strikeout and walk marks through 45 games at Triple-A. He can play the corner outfield spots and offer some depth on the right side of the infield.

Valera, 22, is more likely a midseason possibility than a candidate to break camp. He’s on the 40-man roster but only has 42 games of Triple-A experience. After a strong Double-A showing, he hit .221/.324/.448 with nine homers in 179 plate appearances at the top minor league level, walking at a quality 12.3% clip against a 25.1% strikeout rate. Valera is the #4 prospect in the organization at BA and regarded as a potential high-OBP corner outfielder at his peak; whether he’ll be ready to contribute to a win-now Cleveland club at any point in 2023 depends on how well he shows in his first full season at Triple-A.

A former first-round draftee, Benson is a high-risk upside play at the back of the 40-man roster. His minor league track record has been wildly inconsistent. He’s coming off a great 2022 showing in Triple-A, where he mashed at a .278/.426/.522 clip with 17 homers and 16 steals through 401 plate appearances. He earned a brief MLB look but sputtered to a .168/.252/.200 line over 28 games. The left-handed hitter has always intrigued with massive power potential in a 6’5″ frame and a very discerning eye at the plate. That’s been paired with huge strikeout tallies at times throughout his minor league career, although he only fanned in a roughly average 22.7% of his trips in Columbus last year.

That’s seven players, all of whom are on the 40-man roster and controllable for a long while. Cleveland’s particularly deep in left-handed options (only Straw and Gonzalez hit from the right side). There was enough depth in that regard the Guardians felt comfortable sending Nolan Jones — another lefty bat who profiled as a corner outfielder with José Ramírez entrenched at third base in Cleveland — to Colorado for infield prospect Juan Brito.

While there’s an abundance of interesting controllable outfield options in Cleveland, none has a lengthy track record of big league productivity. Kwan looks like the safest bet after his fantastic rookie year. Everyone else comes with question marks of varying degrees.

Straw and Gonzalez seem likely to get the first crack at jobs alongside Kwan again, though they’ll have some intriguing young players on hand as contingency plans. Supplementing the group with a veteran righty bat could be a nice luxury addition for president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and his staff before the season gets underway. Any pickup would figure to be a low-cost complement to Cleveland’s various in-house young players, who’ll again be entrusted with significant roles as they look to repeat as division champs.

MLB Announces 2022 Gold Glove Winners

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Major League Baseball announced the 2022 Gold Glove award winners this evening. This season was the first in which the league added a “utility” award to honor multi-positional players, in addition to the standard nine positions in each league. There are 20 winners overall, 14 of whom received a Gold Glove for the first time. Only two players who won last year claimed the award yet again.

Five teams had multiple winners, with the AL Central-winning Guardians leading the pack with four honorees. Cleveland ranked fourth in the majors (third in the American League) in turning balls in play into outs, with opponents managing a .274 batting average on balls in play against them. That excellent defensive group was an underrated part of the quality run prevention unit that helped Cleveland to a surprising playoff berth.

Here are the full list of winners:

American League

Pitcher: Shane Bieber (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: José Berríos (Blue Jays), Jameson Taillon (Yankees)

Catcher: Jose Trevino (Yankees), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Sean Murphy (Athletics), Cal Raleigh (Mariners)

First Base: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Luis Arraez (Twins), Anthony Rizzo (Yankees)

Second Base: Andrés Giménez (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Jonathan Schoop (Tigers), Marcus Semien (Rangers)

Third Base: Ramón Urías (Orioles), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Matt Chapman (Blue Jays), José Ramírez (Guardians)

Shortstop: Jeremy Peña (Astros), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Xander Bogaerts (Red Sox), Carlos Correa (Twins)

Left Field: Steven Kwan (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Andrew Benintendi (Royals/Yankees), Brandon Marsh (Angels/Phillies)

Center Field: Myles Straw (Guardians), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Cedric Mullins (Orioles), Michael A. Taylor (Royals)

Right Field: Kyle Tucker (Astros), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Jackie Bradley Jr. (Red Sox/Blue Jays), Max Kepler (Twins)

Utility: DJ LeMahieu (Yankees), 4th career selection

Other finalists: Whit Merrifield (Royals/Blue Jays), Luis Rengifo (Angels)

National League

Pitcher: Max Fried (Braves), 3rd career selection/3rd consecutive win

Other finalists: Tyler Anderson (Dodgers), Corbin Burnes (Brewers)

Catcher: J.T. Realmuto (Phillies), 2nd career selection

Other finalists: Travis d’Arnaud (Braves), Tomás Nido (Mets)

First Base: Christian Walker (Diamondbacks), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals), Matt Olson (Braves)

Second Base: Brendan Rodgers (Rockies), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Jake Cronenworth (Padres), Tommy Edman (Cardinals)

Third Base: Nolan Arenado (Cardinals), 10th career selection/10th consecutive win

Other finalists: Ke’Bryan Hayes (Pirates), Ryan McMahon (Rockies)

Shortstop: Dansby Swanson (Braves), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Ha-Seong Kim (Padres), Miguel Rojas (Marlins)

Left Field: Ian Happ (Cubs), 1st career selection

Other finalists: David Peralta (Diamondbacks/Rays), Christian Yelich (Brewers)

Center Field: Trent Grisham (Padres), 2nd career selection

Other finalists: Víctor Robles (Nationals), Alek Thomas (Diamondbacks)

Right Field: Mookie Betts (Dodgers), 6th career selection

Other finalists: Juan Soto (Nationals/Padres), Daulton Varsho (Diamondbacks)

Utility: Brendan Donovan (Cardinals), 1st career selection

Other finalists: Tommy Edman (Cardinals), Daulton Varsho (Diamondbacks)

Guardians, Myles Straw Agree To Five-Year Extension

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The Guardians and Myles Straw have agreed to a five-year contract extension, with club options covering the 2027 and 2028 seasons, per Zack Meisel of The Athletic. The deal is worth $25MM, per Mandy Bell of MLB.com, with the options valued at $8MM in 2027 and $8.5MM in 2028. This is the third extension for the club in recent days, following the deals for Emmanuel Clase and Jose Ramirez.

Straw was drafted by the Astros in the 12th round in 2015 and earned attention in the minors for his speed and defense. He stole at least 20 bags in the minors in his first three season in 2015-2017, before swiping 70 bags between Double-A and Triple-A in 2018. He was ranked by Baseball America as one of Houston’s top 20 prospects in 2018 and 2019. That latter season, he saw his first extended stretch of MLB action, hitting .269/.378/.343 in 56 games, along with eight steals.

At last year’s deadline, he was acquired by a Cleveland team that was looking to fill an outfield that had been mired in uncertainty for quite some time. Between the two teams, he hit .271/.349/.348. That production was just barely below league average (98 wRC+), though Straw was better after the trade than before. He also stole 30 bases on the year and provided excellent defense, coming in seventh among center fielders in the 2021 Fielding Bible Award voting. Desperate that average-ish batting line, he was still worth 3.7 wins above replacement, in the estimation of FanGraphs, due to his athleticism in the field and on the bases. He should now give the team a stable presence in the middle of the outfield for years to come.

Straw finished last year with two years and 112 days of service time, just four days shy of the 2.116 Super Two cutoff for the most recent offseason. That means he wasn’t going to qualify for arbitration until after this year. This deal will cover his four remaining years of team control and at least one free agent year, with the options potentially accounting for two more. The 27-year-old Straw will be 31 in the final guaranteed year, with the options covering his age-32 and age-33 campaigns.

Prior to this extension, and the deals for Clase and Ramirez, the Guardians had a clean slate on their payroll beyond this year. Now all three of them could potentially form a core for the club to build around, with each player under control through 2028. (Ramirez’s deal is guaranteed, while Clase and Straw are each guaranteed through 2026 with the two club options.) The majority of the rest of the roster is young players who have either not yet reached or just recently qualified for arbitration.

With the White Sox still looking like division favorites, the Twins aggressively reloading after a down year and the Tigers and Royals both coming out of rebuilds, the division looks like it is on the cusp of becoming stronger in the years to come. Even with these deals, the Guardians still have plenty of payroll flexibility, even for a typically low-spending club like them, with Ramirez still earning the only significant salary in the years to come.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Astros, Indians Swap Myles Straw For Phil Maton

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The Astros and Indians have made a trade that will see Cleveland acquire outfielder Myles Straw, while Houston will land right-handed reliever Phil Maton and minor league catcher Yainer Diaz. Both teams have announced the swap.

Myles Straw | Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Straw, 26, becomes the latest acquisition in a long line of attempts for the Indians to find some consistency in the outfield. It’s been an ongoing organizational issue for the past several seasons, with center field in particular standing out as a problem.

Center field has been Straw’s lone position for Houston in 2021 (though he does have experience at shortstop as well). He’s handled the position quite nicely, turning in two Defensive Runs Saved and a 6.6 Ultimate Zone Rating in 831 innings there. At the plate, Straw has virtually no power of which to speak, but he’s still batting a passable .262/.339/.326 thanks in large part to a strong 10.3 percent walk rate. Straw’s speed is nothing short of excellent, which has contributed both to those strong defensive ratings and to his value on the basepaths, where he’s swiped 17 bases in 22 attempts on the year.

Straw is a long-term option in center for Cleveland, as he’ll finish out the season with just two-plus years of service time. He won’t have quite enough days to reach Super Two status, so he won’t be eligible for arbitration until the 2022-23 offseason at the earliest. He’s controllable through 2025.

Maton, 28, gives the ’Stros a bullpen option for the remainder of this year and for each of the two subsequent seasons, as he’s controllable through 2023 via arbitration. He’s posted a 4.57 ERA through 41 1/3 innings this season and carries a career 4.74 mark through 190 frames.

Phil Maton | Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Those numbers may not seem like much, but there’s good reason to believe that Maton could have a breakout in him. A rather pedestrian strikeout rate for the right-hander jumped to 33.3 percent last year upon arriving in Cleveland, and he’s managed that uptick so far in 2021 as well (34.3 percent). Command is something of an issue, but Maton’s rough ERA is in many ways tied to an awful and rather unfortunate .356 average on balls in play. He’s posted that .356 mark despite generally limiting hard contact nicely.

In fact, it’s possible Maton is already experiencing the positive regression those numbers seem to foreshadow. Over his past 18 games — a span of 17 2/3 innings pitched — he’s posted a 2.04 ERA while punching out 25 of his 76 opponents. Maton’s 11 walks in that time are still too plentiful, but the hits have stopped dropping in quite so frequently. He’s certainly not going to sustain this 2.00-ish ERA pace, but metrics like SIERA (3.13), FIP (also 3.13) and xFIP (3.56) all think he’s pitched far better than his raw earned run average would indicate.

The 22-year-old Diaz, meanwhile, wasn’t considered to be among Cleveland’s better prospects, but he’s having a nice season in Class-A, where he’s batting .314/.357/.464. He’s hit at every minor league stop he’s made since signing as an amateur back in 2016. He’ll be Rule 5 eligible this winter if the Astros don’t add him to the roster, though it might be hard for some clubs to justify carrying a 23-year-old catcher who’s scarcely played above A-ball (assuming he gets a late promotion to Double-A, even). Still, the Astros have been thin on catching depth in recent years, so there’s a decent chance they protect him if he keeps tearing up minor league pitching.

FOX 26’s Mark Berman first reported the trade.

COVID Notes: 3/30/21

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The latest on coronavirus-related situations around the sport…

  • The Astros announced that Myles Straw, Abraham Toro, and Garrett Stubbs have rejoined the team after clearing COVID-19 protocols.  (MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart was among those to report the news.)  The trio were absent for contract-tracing purposes in the wake of another positive test within Houston’s camp.
  • Matt Barnes’ positive COVID-19 test over the weekend was determined to be a false positive or a non-infectious positive, and the reliever has been cleared to return to Red Sox camp.  Barnes tested negative several times before being allowed to rejoin the team, and with only a few days of action missed, Barnes tells Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe and other reporters that he is ready for Opening Day.
  • Tigers pitching coach Chris Fetter tested positive for COVID-19, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jason Beck) yesterday.  Other coaches are out of camp while contact tracing and further tests are administered, though it appears to be somewhat precautionary, as Hinch said that “no one else — player, staff — has been impacted or affected by this.”  The Tigers have yet to decide who will act as on the on-field pitching coach while Fetter is quarantined.  Fetter is entering his first season with the organization after previously working as the University of Michigan’s pitching coach.

COVID Notes: 3/27/21

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The latest on the coronavirus’ impact on the sport:

Latest Updates

Earlier Notes

Quick Hits: Springer, Conforto, Straw, Greinke

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The Mets were a popular pick for outfielder George Springer before he signed a six-year, $150MM contract with the Blue Jays in January. Team president Sandy Alderson “suggested” on Monday that the Mets were willing to sign Springer for five years, not six, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Alderson added that New York likely wouldn’t have been able to extend outfielder Michael Conforto had it signed Springer. “At some point, even Steve Cohen runs out of money,” Alderson said of the team’s owner. Conforto, who turned 28 today, is three years younger than Springer and coming off an even better season at the plate. He’s due to become a free agent next winter, but the Mets expect to begin talks on an extension sometime soon.

  • With Springer no longer in Houston, the Astros appear likely to turn to Myles Straw at center field to open the season. If the Straw experiment doesn’t work out, though, it’s probable that Chas McCormick will be their fallback plan at the position, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic writes. The 25-year-old has a better chance to make the team than veteran outfielder Steven Souza Jr., whom the Astros signed to a minor league deal, as he’s already on their 40-man roster and capable of playing center, Kaplan notes. McCormick impressed during his most recent minors action in 2019, when he slashed .269/.386/.432 with 14 home runs and 16 stolen bases in 448 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A.
  • Sticking with the Astros, ace Zack Greinke is entering the last season of his contract – his age-37 campaign – but is not thinking retirement, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com relays. Based on his performance in 2020, Greinke has plenty left in the tank. Although he posted a 4.03 ERA – one of the highest figures of his potential Hall of Fame career – Greinke registered a better 3.72 SIERA with a 24.5 percent strikeout rate and an elite 3.3 percent walk rate. Greinke also induced a fair amount of weak contact, evidenced in part by the 86.8 mph exit velocity hitters mustered against him.
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