Nelson Cruz

Padres Notes: Hosmer, Myers, Suzuki, Cruz, Montesino

By Mark Polishuk | March 13, 2022 at 5:53pm CDT

Eric Hosmer and Wil Myers have been regulars in trade rumors for months, and that status hasn’t changed now that the lockout is over. The Padres have been “aggressively shopping” both players in trade talks, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, in an effort to clear some salary and roster space, plus create some more flexibility under the competitive balance tax.

Even with the tax threshold rising to $230MM this season, the Padres are already projected for a luxury tax number just shy of $218MM (as per Roster Resource). Since the Padres did exceed the CBT last season, they’d have to pay the larger “two-timer” penalty for crossing the threshold in consecutive years, so all things considered, the club would surely prefer to avoid a second tax overage if at all possible.

Getting either Hosmer or Myers off the books would help greatly in this regard. Since a player’s tax number is determined by the average annual value over the life of his contract, Hosmer’s tax number is $18MM per season and Myers is $13.83MM, though both players are set to earn more in actual dollars. Myers is owed $20MM in 2022 and there is a $20MM club option on his services for 2023 with a $1MM buyout, while Hosmer is owed a total of $59MM over the 2022-25 seasons.

These pricey contracts also don’t hold a ton of appeal to other teams, which is why San Diego has explored any number of scenarios to try and swing a deal. The Padres have looked to try and attach a prospect (Luis Campusano and Robert Hassell were mentioned) to Hosmer in talks with the Rangers and Cubs last summer, as some kind of sweetener is likely necessary to move the first baseman. Beyond the $59MM, Hosmer has also posted essentially replacement-level production (0.6 fWAR) since the start of the 2018 season. Myers has been similarly inconsistent over that same timeframe but his 5.5 fWAR has clearly marked him as the more productive of the two. If Myers may be the easier trade candidate, however, the Padres’ needs in the outfield would only be increased if Myers was suddenly no longer around.

This isn’t to say that San Diego isn’t already eyeing replacements. As Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune puts it via Twitter, the Padres’ “Plan A” would seem to be a scenario where the club signs Seiya Suzuki and Nelson Cruz, while moving one of Hosmer or Myers. Several other teams have been linked to both Suzuki and Cruz, though in Cruz’s case, recent reports have indicated the Padres could be a finalist for the veteran slugger. Even with one of Hosmer or Myers dealt, plans to add two prominent free agent bats could seem to indicate that the Friars are willing to spend at least in the range of that $230MM tax threshold.

In other team news, first base/outfield prospect Daniel Montesino will miss the 2021 season due to Tommy John surgery, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Montesino signed for a $1MM bonus during the 2020-21 international signing period, and posted a big .934 OPS over 243 plate appearances for the Padres’ Dominican Summer League squad last year. MLB Pipeline (24th) and Baseball America (29th) each listed Montesino within their rankings of San Diego’s top 30 prospects.

Mariners Notes: Festa, Cruz, Cameron

By Anthony Franco | February 26, 2022 at 9:23am CDT

Mariners reliever Matt Festa underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020, just a few weeks after Seattle outrighted him off their 40-man roster. As is typically the case for TJS patients, he lost around a year and a half rehabbing and didn’t return to minor league games action until last July. The righty had an excellent second half with Triple-A affiliate Tacoma, working to a 2.95 ERA over 21 1/3 innings. He punched out a whopping 36% of batters faced while walking a minuscule 3.5% of opponents, but that wasn’t enough to earn another look in a Seattle bullpen that was among the league’s best.

Because he’s no longer on the 40-man roster, Festa is not subject to the ongoing lockout. Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times writes that he’s been participating in Seattle’s minor league camp and flashed mid-90s fastball velocity in workouts this week. If he maintains that form throughout camp, he could be an option for Seattle in the event of injuries or underperformance among the big league relievers. Festa, 29 next month, posted a 4.70 ERA/4.97 SIERA over 30 2/3 big league innings between 2018-19. He’ll need to recapture a spot on the 40-man roster to get back to the MLB level.

Have Certain Free Agent Former MLB Stars Already Played Their Last Game?

By Tim Dierkes | December 27, 2021 at 2:32pm CDT

This year, we’ve seen former quality MLB players such as Joakim Soria, Daniel Murphy, Cody Allen, Nick Markakis, Hector Rondon, Jordan Zimmermann, Welington Castillo, and Nate Jones decide to retire. All current MLB free agents are experiencing the first work stoppage of their career right now. Should the lockout end sometime in February, there could be a burst of concentrated free agent signings and trades unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.

While that will likely work out just fine for the likes of Carlos Correa, Kris Bryant, and Freddie Freeman, a free agent frenzy could also include a cold shoulder toward former MLB stars nearing the end of their careers. Instead of putting the finishing touches on rosters with a sprinkling of February or March one-year MLB deals and minor league deals, front offices will be working to acquire many significant star and mid-tier free agents and trade targets when the lockout ends. It stands to reason that many veterans with declining skills will be told they need to wait even longer before a team is willing to commit. That could leave former stars without jobs. Rich Hill has a deal with the Red Sox heading into his age-42 season, but let’s take a look at eight elder statesmen who may at least consider retirement.

Albert Pujols: 42 in January, Pujols mashed lefties and gave the Dodgers a veteran presence off the bench this year. Back in October, he said, “I don’t think my time to retire has come. I don’t want to sit in my house next year, knowing that I can still keep playing.” Pujols is 21 home runs shy of 700 for his career, and he’d be aided by the addition of the NL DH.
Ryan Zimmerman: Zimmerman, 37, had an October send-off at Nationals Park but hasn’t publicly made a decision about retirement. At a press conference, he said, “Do I want to keep playing? I think I can keep playing. I think I had a really good year with the role that I was supposed to do, and now it’s a decision of whether I want to keep doing that, or do I want to be around my family a little bit more. I think the only thing I kind of told Davey is I started the season around 50/50 and it hasn’t gone up.” GM Mike Rizzo said Zimmerman has an MLB contract with the team as long as he wants it.
Brett Gardner: Gardner, 38, scuffled with the bat this year but wasn’t much worse than he was in 2016 or ’18. He wants to return to the Yankees in 2022, but chose a $1.15MM buyout over a $2.3MM player option.
Nelson Cruz: Cruz, 41, has been defying age for many years but managed only a 96 wRC+ in 238 plate appearances after a trade to the Rays. Before the season, Cruz said “retirement is not on my mind,” and now he might have the chance to DH in the National League. Cruz is tied with Jeff Bagwell and Vladimir Guerrero at 40th on the all-time home run leaderboard with 449. It’s easy to see Cruz striving for the 500 club, which currently has 28 members.
Jed Lowrie: Lowrie, 38 in April, played only nine games from 2019-20, encompassing his contract with the Mets. This year, surprisingly, he played 139 games for the A’s. Lowrie struggled in the season’s final two months, but thus far he’s given no indication he’s looking to retire.
Zack Greinke: Greinke, 38, gave up 20 earned runs over 15 1/3 innings in his final four regular season appearances, ballooning his ERA from 3.41 to 4.16. He battled through COVID-19 and neck soreness, but capped his season by giving the Astros four scoreless innings to start Game 4 of the World Series. Asked after the game if he wants to continue playing, Greinke declined to answer. Back in March, Greinke said, “Hopefully, I’ll pitch a lot longer still, but a lot of things come into play on whether you’re allowed to pitch as long as you want to and stuff.”
J.A. Happ: Happ, 39, posted a 6.77 ERA in 19 starts for the Twins, but managed a 4.00 mark in 11 outings after being traded to the Cardinals. He’s given no indication about retirement.
Jon Lester: Lester, 38 in January, also pitched better upon a trade to the Cardinals this year. Asked in September about playing in 2022, Lester was reportedly noncommittal. He reached his 200th career win on September 20th.

Quick Hits: Red Sox, Hill, Twins, Cruz, Rockies, Black

By Darragh McDonald | November 25, 2021 at 10:47pm CDT

Rich Hill has already emphatically stated that he’ll be back for 2022, a season in which he’ll be 42 years old. But would the Red Sox be interested in a reunion with the Massachusetts native? “There is an interest, without a doubt,” Hill told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. “There’s a need on the other end. [But] the need for starting pitching is very apparent throughout the league — not just in Boston. It’s also many other clubs that need it.”

The lefty is certainly correct about the demand throughout the league, as starting pitchers have been flying off the shelves so far this offseason. In just over three weeks since free agency began, Eduardo Rodriguez, Justin Verlander, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Anthony DeSclafani and Andrew Heaney have all been inked already, with Alex Wood reportedly close to signing as well. Despite his age, Hill figures to garner lots of interest as well, given his solid 2021 campaign. His tally of 158 2/3 innings was the second-highest of his career, trailing only the 195 innings he logged as a 27-year-old in 2007. Between the Rays and Mets last year, he put up an ERA of 3.86 with a strikeout rate of 22.7% and walk rate of 8.3%, producing 1.7 fWAR in the process.

The Red Sox have already lost Eduardo Rodriguez to the Tigers, leaving them with a rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck, with Connor Seabold, Kutter Crawford and Garrett Whitlock among the options for the back end. There’d certainly be room to add Hill into the mix, though whether they prefer Hill to some other options on the market remains to be seen.

More tidbits from around the league…

After an excellent 258-game stretch with the Twins over three different seasons, Nelson Cruz was traded to the Rays before last year’s deadline. Although the club isn’t completely ruling out a reunion, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be the top of their to-do list this winter. Dan Hayes of The Athletic spoke to GM Thad Levine about the situation. “In a most ideal case, when you’re building a roster you would like to have a DH spot as an open position to rotate guys through and give them a partial day of rest,” he said. “We have chosen to go a different route in each of the last couple seasons because we felt we had an elite DH.” As noted by Hayes, the club is going to be primarily focused on pitching for now, which makes sense given that they’ve lost Jose Berrios to trade, Michael Pineda to free agency and Kenta Maeda to Tommy John surgery. Cruz also struggled after being traded to the Rays, hitting .226/.283/.442, for a wRC+ of 96, raising questions about how productive he will be as a 41-year-old in 2022. But Levine still left the door open a crack, saying they “want to keep the DH spot open to allow for a bunch of players to rotate through that position, unless something exceptional comes our way, at which point we’d have to review it.”
Bud Black is heading into his sixth season as the skipper of the Rockies, which is also the final year of his current contract. In a recent mailbag, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post says he heard that extension talks were ongoing, but that he “checked that out with general manager Bill Schmidt, who told me that wasn’t true. Schmidt added, however, that talks with Black are certainly possible in the coming months.” Schmidt was the VP of scouting with the Rockies from 2007 until May of 2021. At that point, he was named interim GM, in the wake of the resignation of Jeff Bridich, before officially getting the job last month. As he enters his first offseason in the GM chair, it’s unclear whether he considers Black to be part of the future he envisions for the franchise. Black, 64, has a record of 349-359 in his time with the Rockies and an overall record of 998-1072 when combined with his nine seasons with the Padres.

Injury Notes: Cronenworth, Cruz, Baz, Odorizzi

By Mark Polishuk | September 16, 2021 at 10:45pm CDT

After suffering a small fracture in his left ring finger after being hit by a Julio Urias pitch on September 10, Jake Cronenworth’s status was in question, though the Padres were holding off putting Cronenworth on the injured list. It now looks like the utilityman will return this week for the Padres’ critical series with the Cardinals, San Diego manager Jayce Tingler told The Athletic’s Dennis Lin and other reporters. The versatile Cronenworth has mostly played second base and shortstop this season, and Tingler said that Cronenworth could see action at both positions as well as some first base time.

Between an All-Star appearance this season and a second-place finish in the 2020 NL Rookie Of The Year vote, Cronenworth has emerged as a big force in San Diego’s lineup. Beyond just his multi-positional ability, the 27-year-old has also batted .274/.350/.369 with 24 homers in his first 773 plate appearances at the MLB level, and this season took another step forward by hitting left-handed pitching almost as well as he has performed against right-handers. Though Cronenworth (like pretty many of the Padres) had been in a hitting slump over the last few weeks, he had collected two hits in each of the three games prior to his injury.

More injury updates from around baseball….

Nelson Cruz left tonight’s game due to a right forearm contusion after being hit by a Tyler Alexander pitch. X-rays were negative on Cruz, and Rays manager Kevin Cash told The Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin (Twitter link) and other reporters that the slugger should be “fully available” for tomorrow’s game against the Tigers. That said, Cruz might not play just for precautionary reasons and because Cash said Cruz might have been due for an off-day even before the minor injury. After being acquired in a July trade with the Twins, Cruz got off to a slow start in Tampa, but has started to heat up again over the last couple of weeks.
After Shane Baz was scratched from a Triple-A start today, there was speculation that the Rays might give the star pitching prospect his big league debut during this series against Detroit. However, reporter Patrick Kinas tweets that Baz was actually scratched due to back spasms, though the issue might only sideline Baz for a few days. Baz has only continued to impress since making his Triple-A debut earlier this season, as the right-hander has a 1.76 ERA and a very impressive strikeout (36%) and walk (6.2%) rates over 46 innings with the Durham Bulls. MLB Pipeline ranks Baz as the 20th-best prospect in the game, and he stands out as a very intriguing x-factor of a weapon for the Rays heading into the playoffs.
The Astros placed Jake Odorizzi on the 10-day injured list earlier this week due to a foot injury, and Odorizzi more directly described the issue to reporters (including The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome) as “a mid-foot sprain.” The injury was caused by a “flukey” bad step that forced Odorizzi out of Monday’s game in the second inning. Fortunately, Odorizzi didn’t think the problem was serious, and the right-hander believes he’ll be able to return from the IL when first eligible on September 24.

Rays Expected To Place Ji-Man Choi On 10-Day IL, Activate Nelson Cruz From COVID List

By Mark Polishuk | August 23, 2021 at 3:50pm CDT

The Rays are expected to place first baseman Ji-Man Choi on the 10-day injured list tomorrow, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports, as Choi is battling tightness in his left hamstring. A ready-made replacement is likely to come in the form of slugger Nelson Cruz, who was placed on the COVID-related injury list yesterday as a precautionary measure since Cruz was feeling ill. However, since Cruz has since tested negative for COVID-19, he should be activated prior to the Rays’ game on Tuesday against the Phillies.

Choi hit a double and then scored in the first inning of Tampa’s 9-0 victory over the White Sox yesterday, though he hurt his hamstring running the bases and had to be replaced prior to the top of the second. This is already the third IL stint of the year for Choi, whose recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery kept him from making his 2021 debut until May 16, and he also had a minimum 10-day IL trip in June due to a left groin strain.

Through it all, the 30-year-old has remained productive, hitting .250/.364/.435 with nine home runs over 236 plate appearances. This translates to a 128 wRC+ and a 129 OPS+, and Choi’s 46.6% hard-hit ball rate and 14.4% walk rate are also personal bests. Most of Choi’s playing time has come against right-handed pitching, and Choi has hit righties to the tune of an .879 OPS over 172 PA.

Yandy Diaz and Brandon Lowe are likely to assume first base duties while Choi is out, though Topkin notes that Cruz might be an answer in the very short term. The Rays won’t have the DH spot during their upcoming two-game set in Philadelphia, so the club could potentially use Cruz as a first baseman to keep his bat in the lineup. Cruz has never played first base at either the MLB or minor league level during his 21 professional seasons, and he hasn’t seen any work at any position since the 2018 campaign.

AL East Notes: Archer, Cruz, Urshela, Blue Jays

By Darragh McDonald | August 22, 2021 at 9:03pm CDT

Chris Archer’s long-awaited return from the IL didn’t go as planned. The righty returned to the hill today after spending more than four months on the shelf, but then left the game after throwing 41 pitches over two innings due to hip tightness. Although Archer initially went on the IL in April because of forearm tightness, his rehab was slowed by hip soreness in recent weeks. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays word from Rays’ manager Kevin Cash, who says that today’s hip soreness was not in the same spot as the previous hip issues. Archer himself told Joey Johnston of the Tampa Bay Times that coming out of the game was precautionary. “I noticed a little drop in my fastball [velocity], and I felt the tightness in my hip,” Archer said. “…I thought it was smart to take a little breather, leave it at two innings.” The hurler has now thrown just 6 1/3 innings since the end of the 2019 season, after missing all of 2020 because of undergoing surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome. Whether this is a minor setback or something more serious remains to be seen. In spite of his early exit, the Rays racked up a 9-0 victory over the White Sox, moving to 4 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees.

Rays Place Nelson Cruz On COVID-19 Injured List

By Anthony Franco | August 22, 2021 at 11:02am CDT

The Rays have placed designated hitter Nelson Cruz on the COVID-19 injured list, the team announced. Right-hander Chris Mazza has been recalled from Triple-A Durham to take his active roster spot.

The team hasn’t announced whether Cruz tested positive for the virus or has simply been experiencing symptoms. Cruz was originally penciled into today’s starting lineup against the White Sox. Brett Phillips has been plugged into the lineup in his place, taking right field while bumping Austin Meadows to Cruz’s customary DH position.

Cruz is only hitting .198/.257/.448 over 96 plate appearances since being acquired by Tampa Bay in late July. He mashed at a .294/.370/.537 clip with the Twins before the trade. The Rays currently hold a four-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East race.

Twins’ President Derek Falvey Discusses Deadline Moves, 2022 Outlook

By Anthony Franco | August 4, 2021 at 10:45pm CDT

Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey met with reporters last weekend to discuss the team’s activity leading up to the trade deadline (video clip available from KSTP-TV). Minnesota’s baseball ops head also offered some hints at the team’s plans for the upcoming offseason, unsurprisingly suggesting they’re eyeing a return to contention as soon as 2022.

“(This year) has not been what we wanted. But we still feel we have a lot of talent in the clubhouse for 2022, 2023 and beyond,” Falvey told reporters. Not coincidentally, the Twins generally acquired prospects at the higher levels of the minor leagues with a chance to contribute at the major league level in the near future. Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman, acquired from the Rays for Nelson Cruz, are both at Triple-A. The players acquired from the Blue Jays for José Berríos — Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson — are both in Double-A, as is Alex Scherff, whom the Twins added from the Red Sox for Hansel Robles.

Moving Berríos for Martin and Woods-Richardson was obviously the Twins’ biggest deadline decision. Falvey indicated the club saw both players as among the top 50 prospects in the league, and he was particularly effusive in his praise of Martin, whom Minnesota viewed as one of the top two talents in the 2020 draft class. The 22-year-old split his time evenly between shortstop and center field in the Blue Jays’ system, and Falvey indicated Martin would continue to see action at both positions in his new organization.

While there’s certainly reason for excitement regarding the young players added to the system in recent weeks, the front office clearly needs to add immediate big league help this offseason if the Twins are to challenge the White Sox. That’s most apparent in terms of the starting rotation, which has lost Berríos, J.A. Happ and Matt Shoemaker from the season-opening group and could also see Michael Pineda depart in free agency this winter. Kenta Maeda will obviously be among the starting five next season, and young right-hander Bailey Ober has probably shown enough promise to have the inside track on a spot as well.

There’s very little clarity beyond those two. Falvey pointed to Randy Dobnak, who struggled early in the year and has been out since mid-June with a finger injury, as a potential internal option. Minnesota has been giving starts to Charlie Barnes and Griffin Jax of late, and it’s possible Ryan or Strotman get their first big league calls later this season. Someone from that group could pitch well enough down the stretch to earn a permanent spot, but there’s enough uncertainty overall that Falvey flatly acknowledged “we’re going to need to add to that” via trade or free agency this winter.

The Twins should have the financial resources to make a couple noteworthy additions on the pitching staff. The team has just $49.2MM in guaranteed commitments on the books for next season, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Arbitration raises for Byron Buxton, Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey and Luis Arraez will probably add somewhere in the $20MM range to that ledger, but that’d still leave quite a bit of breathing room relative to their approximate $125MM payroll for 2021.

The position player group looks mostly set. Core players like Buxton, Josh Donaldson, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Arraez and the catching tandem of Mitch Garver and Ryan Jeffers are under team control, as are highly-touted young players like Trevor Larnach, Alex Kirilloff and top prospect Royce Lewis. (Miguel Sanó is under contract as well, although he’s amidst a second consecutive disappointing season, so it’s arguable the Twins should pursue a first base upgrade).

That lineup core still looks like a potentially productive one, although the Twins are now without their best hitter of the past few seasons after trading Cruz to the Rays. Before the trade, Cruz was quite vocal about his affinity for the Twins organization, and Falvey said the front office would “never rule anything out” regarding the possibility of making a run at the 41-year-old in free agency this winter.

AL Notes: Rogers, Bregman, Athletics, Kluber

By Mark Polishuk | July 24, 2021 at 10:37pm CDT

Unsurprisingly, Twins southpaw Taylor Rogers “is very popular on the trade market,” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. There is enough interest that the reliever has a “good chance to be dealt” even though Minnesota is reportedly reluctant to move players who are under team control beyond this season. Rogers has one more arbitration year remaining before free agency in the 2022-23 offseason.

Rogers has somewhat quietly been one of baseball’s most effective relievers since just about the moment of his MLB debut in 2016, as the left-hander has a 3.15 ERA, 27.9% strikeout rate, and a 22% K-BB rate over 314 2/3 career innings out of Minnesota’s bullpen. He has kept up that form in 2021, with a 3.35 ERA and a whopping 35.5% strikeout rate that ranks 11th among all hurlers with at least 40 innings pitched this season. This is the type of high-level performance that could be the difference-maker in a pennant race, so while the Twins undoubtedly have a huge asking price for Rogers, another team could be willing to take the plunge to upgrade its bullpen for both the rest of this season and into 2022.

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