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Trevor Story

West Notes: Stripling, Story, Beltre

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Dodgers righty Ross Stripling nearly completed a no-hitter in his first big-league start, but he headed into the season with the far more modest hope of avoiding going back to Double-A, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times writes. “I knew we were going to have a lot of guys filter down to Triple-A and that might push guys back to Double-A,” he says. “When they kind of told me early in spring that I was going to Oklahoma City, that was a good thing for me. I was happy to be going up a level.” Beginning the season at Double-A wouldn’t have seemed at all unreasonable for Stripling, at least on paper — it would have been his third year at the level, but he made only 13 starts at Double-A Tulsa while returning from Tommy John surgery in 2015. Instead of going back to Tulsa this year, Stripling quickly made his way to the big leagues and enjoyed an improbable level of immediate success. The last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his big-league debut, Kepner writes, was Bumpus Jones of the 1892 Cincinnati Reds. Here’s more from the West divisions.

  • Another emerging player, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, has “hit the ground trotting” with a seven-home-run binge to start the season, writes ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. “He’s been so composed right from the beginning of Spring Training,” says manager Walt Weiss. “He knew he had an opportunity coming into camp, and with some kids, it’s too much for them. But with Trevor, I think it elevated his game. It brought out the best in him.” As Crasnick points out, Story probably would have played for Triple-A Albuquerque this April had it not been for Jose Reyes’ domestic-violence suspension.
  • The Rangers formally announced Adrian Beltre’s two-year, $36MM extension as a press conference this afternoon. Perhaps it’s unsurprising given that the new deal takes him through his age-39 season, but Beltre says he wants to retire as a Ranger, as Stefen Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Of course, it’s not clear whether that means Beltre will retire when his new deal ends — he remains very productive even at 37, finishing seventh in AL MVP balloting last year and getting off to a fine .283/.340/.52 start so far in 2016.

West Notes: Preller, Belt, Susac, Story, Skaggs, Wandy, Cotts

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The Padres very nearly passed on A.J. Preller in the club’s 2014 general manager hiring process, Bryce Miller of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. President Mike Dee says he had settled on another candidate — very likely, now-Angels GM Billy Eppler, but took Preller up on his request for a final sit-down “just as a kind of courtesy, because he was so good throughout the process.” Preller obviously made a great final impression, because Dee left the meeting convinced in the young executive and told San Diego chairman Ron Fowler the next morning that he’d “had a change of heart overnight.” The story details how the organization’s current leadership group came together, and is well worth a full read.

Here’s more from out west:

  • The Giants plan to meet with representatives of first baseman Brandon Belt this week to discuss a long-term contract, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. Baggarly takes a deep and excellent look at the complicated matter of valuing the soon-to-be 28-year-old, talking with Belt and GM Bobby Evans about the upcoming talks. For his part, Belt says he hopes to remain in San Francisco but notes: “It’s all going to come down to what’s fair. And, you know, I hate to say it like that, but that’s the reality.” Evans declined to offer any thoughts on what might be fair from the team’s perspective, but said that the organization “believe[s] in his bat, his defense, his character and the continuity that he, if healthy, can add to our lineup.” He went on to note some of the matters that may hold down the team’s bottom-line on price: “Strikeouts are certainly a challenge for him, but he’s also a guy who gets on base at a pretty fair clip. It’s a fair debate in the sense of the different perspectives. But on some level, injuries have been more of an issue than performance.”
  • While Angel Pagan is showing well this spring, the Giants are dealing with concerns at the catching position, Baggarly further reports. In particular, presumed backup Andrew Susac is struggling with soreness in his right wrist, which was operated on last fall. While there are options on hand, including veterans George Kottaras and Miguel Olivo, and the younger Trevor Brown, Susac has long been viewed as a legitimate talent and will be looking to play an increasingly important role in support of the great Buster Posey.
  • Trevor Story has made a strong case to take over at shortstop for the Rockies this spring, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. GM Jeff Bridich wouldn’t commit to a decision, but praised Story’s ability and approach in camp and certainly suggested he’d continue to have every opportunity to win the job as camp draws to a closer — regardless of service-time considerations. Meanwhile, promising backstop Tom Murphy has been sent down to minor league camp, with expectations that he’ll get plenty of time at Triple-A, but could well find his way to the majors at some point during the season to come.
  • Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs will return to competitive action on Thursday for the first time since his Tommy John procedure, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. The Halos’ rotation hasn’t developed quite as hoped this spring, making Skaggs’ already-important comeback all the more critical. Fletcher suggests he could be ready for regular season action as soon as late April.
  • The Astros are getting close to making some decisions in rounding out their bullpen, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart explains. Lefties Wandy Rodriguez and Neal Cotts have opt-out dates of Saturday, per the report, and they are embroiled in competition with a group of other arms — including the out-of-options Dan Straily.

Daniel Descalso Out “Several Weeks” With Fractured Left Hand

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Rockies infielder Daniel Descalso has a “very small” fracture to his left hand, manager Walt Weiss told reporters, including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter links). He is expected to miss “several weeks” with the injury, Weiss added, as will southpaw Tyler Anderson, who is dealing with an oblique issue but wasn’t expected to challenge for a roster spot.

Descalso was penciled in as the club’s utility infielder, but he’ll now certainly be on the shelf for Opening Day and some stretch beyond. That may help open things up for some younger options. Colorado was already deciding between Christhian Adames and Trevor Story to fill in for Jose Reyes at shortstop, and both now look like good bets to crack the majors (so long as Colorado is willing to put Story on track for Super Two status).

The Rockies will be hopeful of a bounceback from Descalso when he returns. Never much of a threat at the plate, he fell to a paltry .205/.283/.324 batting line in 209 plate appearances last year despite the benefits of hitting at Coors Field. That line was good only for a 43 wRC+. Descalso is most valued for his defensive versatility, of course, and continued to show a playable glove at both middle infield positions last season.

Quick Hits: Offseason Moves, Moreland, Nats, Story

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ESPN’s Jayson Stark polled a vast number of executives to get their take on the offseason’s dealings. Stark asked execs to name the most-improved and least-improved clubs from each league, the best and worst free-agent signings and trades as well as the most outrageous contract issued this winter (among other categories). The D-backs and Red Sox were runaway winners in the “most-improved” category in the NL and AL, and Stark notes that a common refrain was that this type of hyper-aggressive offseason for the Diamondbacks was “hard to fathom.” Zack Greinke and David Price top the list of best free-agent signings in Stark’s poll, which I find rather curious, as each was a record-setting agreement for players, with Price landing the biggest deal ever for a pitcher and Greinke setting his own record in terms of average annual value. (I’d have figured more execs would’ve been down on the overwhelming risk that accompanies each deal.) The next two names on the list — Ben Zobrist and especially Howie Kendrick — are more in the line with the type of “value” signings one would expect to draw praise from executives. Other categories from Stark include best one-year deal — where, interestingly, Yoenis Cespedes received four votes due to the fact that few believe there’s any realistic chance of him opting into the final two years of his deal — best signing for $3MM or less and best minor league signing. The whole piece is a fun read for those who track offseason dealings carefully.

A few miscellaneous notes from around the league…

  • Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland revealed today that he played the final two months of the 2015 season with a stress fracture in his left foot, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. Moreland believed the stress fracture stemmed from alterations he made to his foot positioning following 2014 ankle surgery, but he’s healed up now and ready to go for the 2016 campaign. The exact date that the injury crept up isn’t specified, but Moreland’s .269/.326/.425 batting line from the season’s second half, while solid in its own right, pales in comparison to the .286/.333/.532 line he posted prior to the All-Star break. Additionally, Moreland describes a spur-of-the-moment meeting that he initiated with assistant GM Thad Levine the night before his arbitration hearing was scheduled, during which the two talked for about 90 minutes and resolved the matter themselves.
  • James Wagner of the Washington Post examines what might’ve been had Ian Desmond, Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister accepted extension offers from the Nationals when they were made. Desmond somewhat famously rejected a contract said to be seven years and $107MM, although as Wagner points out, that’s a bit misleading due to the fact that Desmond’s two-year, $17.5MM deal that covered the 2014-15 seasons was folded into that value, and the extension (unsurprisingly, in light of this offseason’s happenings) came with deferred money. Zimmermann received an extension offer of $105MM over five years and was narrowly able to top that in free agency, Wagner notes. (He doesn’t list specific numbers in reference to a Fister extension offer.) While the Nats hoped to extend all three players at one point, their absence now clears the way for players like Joe Ross, Tanner Roark and Trea Turner as well as offseason addition Daniel Murphy, in some regards.
  • Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes is expected to be suspended under MLB’s domestic violence policy at some point before the season begins, and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets that manager Walt Weiss indicated that shifting DJ LeMahieu (who inked a two-year deal with Colorado earlier today) over to shortstop is not a consideration. LeMahieu was a shortstop for much of his minor league tenure but has developed into a very sound defender at second base, so it stands to reason that the Rockies don’t want to alter his routine with a temporary position change. Rather, Weiss said that well-regarded prospect Trevor Story is in the mix for playing time in the very likely event that the team is without Reyes. All of this, of course, could have some impact on the aforementioned Desmond, who just yesterday was linked to the Rockies by FOX’s Ken Rosenthal.

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