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Xander Bogaerts

AL East Notes: Austin, Kelly, Walker, Bogaerts, Holt, Hardy

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The suspension appeals for Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin and Red Sox setup man Joe Kelly have both been heard. Austin’s suspension has been reduced from five games to four, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link), while Kelly’s six-game suspension was upheld (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). Both players were suspended and fined for their respective roles in the bench-clearing brawl two weeks back.

Some more notes from the division…

  • With Austin suspended, Neil Walker could pick up those starts at first base, and the opportunity will be an important one for him, writes Newsday’s Steven Marcus. With Austin and rehabbing Greg Bird likely to hold down first base, Gleyber Torres now at second base, Miguel Andujar at third base and Brandon Drury on the mend, Walker’s role with the Yankees is becoming increasingly muddied as he battles through a dismal start to the season. Walker, who is hitting just .172/.232/.203, made no excuses for his poor start and said his shortened Spring Training and injury history aren’t at the root of his struggles.
  • Xander Bogaerts could return to the Red Sox today, writes Chad Jennings of The Athletic (subscription link), which would cut into the playing time of a resurgent Brock Holt, who is hitting .340/.400/.520 through his first 55 trips to the plate. Holt chats with Jennings about his lost 2017 season which was ruined by recurring symptoms of vertigo that impacted him at the plate and in the field. Boston made the decision to hang onto Holt and instead trade Deven Marrero to the D-backs in Spring Training, entrusting Holt to be the primary utility infielder in the process. Now, however, there’s at least some minor injury concern with Holt; he exited last night’s game with tightness in his hamstring and is set to be re-evaluated today (Twitter link via Jennings). If he requires a DL stint, the Sox could potentially just flip Holt and Bogaerts, placing the former on the disabled list while activating the latter.
  • Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tackles a host of Orioles questions from readers in light of the team’s awful start to the season, with topics ranging from the slow starts by Alex Cobb and Chris Tillman to the eventual promotion of Austin Hays. Of note, Kubatko reveals upon being asked about a possible J.J. Hardy reunion that the longtime O’s shortstop “seems quite content at home with his family.” Kubatko notes that he even broached the idea with some within the organization after Tim Beckham’s injury and was told that no one within the org seems to think that Hardy is reconsidering his current situation. The 35-year-old Hardy spent the past seven seasons as Baltimore’s primary shortstop but hit .217/.255/.323 through 73 games in an injury-plagued 2017 season and didn’t sign anywhere as a free agent this winter.

AL Notes: Manaea, Red Sox, Bogaerts, Rays, Twins

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The Red Sox entered play Saturday with the majors’ best record (17-2), the majors’ most runs (123) and the majors’ top triple-slash line (.293/.361/.497). None of that fazed Athletics left-hander Sean Manaea, who no-hit the Red Sox over nine innings of 10-strikeout, two-walk ball to become the first hurler to accomplish the feat this year. It’s the seventh no-hitter in Athletics history and the first for the franchise since Dallas Braden tossed a perfect game against Tampa Bay in May 2010. And remarkably, it occurred on nearly the 25th-year anniversary of the last time the Red Sox were on the wrong end of a no-hitter. Back on April 22, 1993, Chris Bosio of the Mariners held the Sox out of the hit column.

  • In better news for the Red Sox, shortstop Xander Bogaerts could return as early as Friday, Sean McAdam of BostonSportsJournal.com was among those to report (Twitter link). Bogaerts, who went on the disabled list April 9 with a cracked bone in his left ankle, is set to play a pair of rehab games with Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Red Sox have won nine of 11 without Bogaerts, which is all the more impressive when considering he got off to an otherworldly start (.368/.400/.711 in 40 plate appearances) before landing on the DL.
  • Meanwhile, teammate Tyler Thornburg is “still a ways away from the majors,” Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. But the reliever, who has been pitching in extended spring training, will rejoin the Red Sox during their upcoming homestand (beginning April 27) and could throw batting practice, per Abraham. Thornburg remains on the mend from the thoracic outlet syndrome surgery he underwent last summer. The righty hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2016, when he was among the game’s premier relievers as a member of the Brewers.
  • Rays righty Yonny Chirinos is now a full-fledged member of their rotation, manager Kevin Cash told Bill Chastain of MLB.com and other reporters Saturday. Tampa Bay opened the season with an unconventional three-man starting staff (Chris Archer, Blake Snell and Jake Faria), with Chirinos among those working as a “Bullpen Day” starter, but it saw enough from him during his first few outings to officially make it a four-man group. The 24-year-old has tallied 20 innings of 2.70 ERA/3.49 FIP ball in four appearances thus far. After throwing 50-some pitches in each of his first two games, Chiirnos racked up 75 and 89, respectively, in the previous two. He’s now stretched out enough to get into the 100 range, per Cash, and will start Sunday against Minnesota.
  • Chirinos will face Twins righty Phil Hughes, whom the team has reinstated from the disabled list. The Twins optioned pitcher Gabriel Moya to Triple-A to make room for Hughes, who had been on the shelf with a strained oblique. The 31-year-old Hughes hasn’t pitched in a big league game since July 14, 2017, thanks to the thoracic outlet syndrome revision surgery he underwent in August. At $13.2MM per year through next season, Hughes is one of the Twins’ highest-paid players, though he has struggled mightily since a sensational 2014 with the team. When he was healthy enough to pitch last season, Hughes logged a 5.87 ERA with a meager 30.7 percent groundball rate over 53 2/3 innings (14 appearances, seven starts).

Red Sox Place Xander Bogaerts On Disabled List

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The Red Sox announced that they’ve placed shortstop Xander Bogaerts on the 10-day disabled list due to a “small crack in the talus bone in his left ankle.” Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston first reported that the Sox were going to place Bogaerts on the DL with a bone injury in his foot, adding that Bogaerts is in a walking boot (all Twitter links).

While any kind of broken bone is worrying, it seems this is rather a minor injury. Indeed, the Sox’ announcement indicates optimism that Bogaerts can return in 10 to 14 days. They’ve recalled infielder Tzu-Wei Lin from Triple-A Pawtucket in the meantime.

Nevertheless, it’s unfortunate to see Bogaerts face an obstacle after he had turned in a strong opening run to the 2018 campaign, with a .368/.400/.711 slash over his first forty plate appearances. Last season was a bit of a down year at the plate for Bogaerts, who is still just 25 years of age. He’s already earning a healthy $7.05MM salary this year and could command a big payday in his final season of arbitration eligibility if he can return in relatively short order and continue to be productive with the bat.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Bogaerts, Yankees, Didi

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Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts suffered a left ankle injury Sunday, causing him to leave their game against the Rays, the team announced (via Rob Bradford of WEEI, on Twitter). Boston’s further evaluating Bogaerts, who has been one of the driving forces behind its 8-1 start this season. The 25-year-old’s hitting a red-hot .368/.400/.711 with two home runs through 40 plate appearances. The Red Sox replaced Bogaerts on Sunday with utilityman Brock Holt.

More on Boston and its archrival:

  • Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius, who’s in his penultimate year of team control, would like to remain in the Bronx for the long haul. Asked this weekend if he’d be open to signing an extension, Gregorius told Randy Miller of NJ.com, “If they offer me something and I get a chance to stay here, I’ll stay here.” The Yankees and Gregorius haven’t discussed a new deal to this point, the 28-year-old informed Miller. Whether that will happen is unclear, especially with Orioles star shortstop Manny Machado slated to hit free agency next winter. Machado could be a target for the Yankees next offseason, which would put Gregorius’ future in question. Gregorius has held his own since joining the Yankees in 2015, though, meaning they could be content with him at short. He has hit a tremendous .367/.513/.900 with three homers in 39 trips to the plate this season.
  • Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is making progress in his recovery from the left knee surgery he underwent in October, manager Alex Cora told Ian Browne of MLB.com and other reporters Sunday. Pedroia is slated to begin running the bases Tuesday, which would be the final hurdle in his recovery, Browne notes. Should that go well, Pedroia would remain on track to return in May. The Red Sox have been well-equipped to go without Pedroia early this year, thanks to the presence of Eduardo Nunez.
  • Yankees first baseman Greg Bird, out since undergoing right ankle surgery in late March, is on schedule to come back sometime within the original six- to eight-week timetable, Danny Knobler writes for MLB.com. “I don’t have a bad ankle,” Bird said Sunday. “That was told to me by the doctor. I just had a bone spur that had to be taken out.” Injuries have beset Bird since he debuted in 2015, having held him to a meager 94 regular-season games in his career. His latest issue has led New York to use Tyler Austin and Neil Walker at first base this year. Austin has been productive in Bird’s stead, though, with a .231/.310/.500 line and two HRs in 29 PAs.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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The deadline for MLB teams to exchange salary arbitration figures with their arbitration-eligible players is today at 1pm ET. As such, there will be a veritable flood of arb agreements piling up in the next few hours — especially in light of a more universal approach to the “file and trial” method for teams. (That is to say, those teams will no longer negotiate one-year deals after arb figures are exchanged and will instead head to a hearing with those players, barring an agreemenr on a multi-year deal.)

Note that you can keep an eye on all of today’s deals using MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Tracker, which can be filtered to show only the results of the team you follow and is also sortable by service time and dollar value of the agreement. All projections that are referenced come from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s annual compilation of projected arbitration salarie

American League West

  • The Astros and Evan Gattis agreed to a $6.7MM deal for 2018, per FanRag’s Robert Murray (Twitter link). A free agent next season, Gattis lands within $100K of his $6.6MM projection. The club also has deals (for values unknown) with starters Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers Jr., and Brad Peacock, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • The Rangers agreed to a $1.05MM deal with infielder Jurickson Profar, tweets Murray. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, meanwhile, tweets that lefty Jake Diekman landed a $2.7125MM deal and righty Keone Kela will earn $1.2MM. Profar had been projected at $1.1MM and is controllable another three seasons. Diekman, a free agent next winter, was projected at $2.8MM. And Kela, still controlled for three more years, matched his $1.2MM projection on the dot.
  • The Athletics and closer Blake Treinen agreed to a $2.15MM deal for next year, tweets Murray. The A’s can control Treinen for another three years. He was projected at $2.3MM. Shortstop Marcus Semien has settled for $3.125MM, Heyman tweets; his $3.2MM projection was nearly spot-on. Oakland has announced that it has avoided arbitration with Liam Hendriks and Josh Phegley as well, but their salaries have yet to be reported.
  • The Angels have a one-year, $7.3MM agreement in place with right-hander Garrett Richards, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). Richards, a free agent next offseason, tops his $7MM projection by a margin of $300K. The Halos have also avoided arb with first baseman C.J. Cron ($2.3MM) and left-hander Tyler Skaggs ($1.875MM), tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Cron’s total falls a ways shy of his $2.8MM projection, while Skaggs comes in just $25K south of his $1.9MM projection. Both are controllable through the 2020 season. Lastly, Murray tweets that Matt Shoemaker agreed to a $4.125MM deal. He’s controlled through 2020 and projected at $4.4MM. Fletcher also tweets that the club has agreed with righty J.C. Ramirez ($1.9MM salary vs. $2.6MM projection) and lefty Jose Alvarez ($1.05MM salary vs. $1.1MM projection). Finally, righty Cam Bedrosian has agreed at $1.1MM, Flecher tweets, which represents a payday close to his projection of $1.2MM.
  • Left-hander James Paxton will earn $4.9MM with the Mariners in 2018, tweets Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. Murray tweets that the Mariners and David Phelps agreed to a $5.55MM deal. Paxton, controlled through 2020, projected to earn $5.6MM, while Phelps was pegged at $5.8MM. He’s a free agent next winter. Righty Erasmo Ramirez took a $4.2MM deal, MLB.com’s Greg Johns reports. That’s half a million shy of what the model suggested. Fellow right-hander Nick Vincent also has an agreement, but the terms aren’t yet known.

American League Central

  • New lefty Luis Avilan has agreed to a $2.45MM deal with the White Sox, Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune reports via Twitter. The recent trade acquisition came with a projected $2.3MM price tag. Fellow southpaw Carlos Rodon will receive $2.3MM, a bit of a bump over the $2MM he projected to receive. Also, utilityman Leury Garcia gets $1.175MM, which is just $25K short of his projected value.
  • The Royals and righty Nate Karns agreed to a $1.375MM deal for 2018, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports (on Twitter). That lands within $25K of his $1.4MM projection for the coming season. Kansas City controls Karns through 2020. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports (via Twitter) that Kelvin Herrera will earn $7.9375MM in 2018, landing a bit shy of his $8.3MM projection. Herrera is a free agent next winter.
  • The Indians have a $5MM agreement with righty Danny Salazar, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. He had projected to earn just $200K more, this falls right in line with expectations. Cleveland also agreed with Lonnie Chisenhall on a $5.5875MM deal, tweets Nightengale. The third baseman-turned-outfielder, who was projected to earn $5.8MM, will be a free agent following the 2018 season.
  • Trevor May has a $650K agreement with the Twins for the 2018 season, according to Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. May, who missed the entire season due to Tommy John surgery (and did some writing for MLBTR during his rehab process), had been projected at $600K. The Twins also agreed to a $1MM deal with infielder Ehire Adrianza, per La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune. Meanwhile, righty Ryan Pressly has agreed to a $1.6MM deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Both deals are identical matches with their projections. Adrianza has three years of team control remaining, while Pressly has two. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets that outfielder Robbie Grossman settled at $2MM, leaving him $400K shy of his projection. Grossman is controlled for another three seasons.
  • Tigers third baseman/outfielder Nick Castellanos will earn $6.05MM, per Heyman (via Twitter). He had projected at a much heftier $7.6MM in his second-to-last season of arb eligibility. MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports (Twitter links) that the Tigers and right-handed reliever Alex Wilson settled at $1.925MM, while fellow righty Shane Greene will earn $1.95MM. Wilson was projected to earn $2.1MM, while Greene was at $1.7MM. Wilson is controlled through 2019, while Greene is under control through 2020.

American League East

  • The Yankees have knocked out some of their biggest arb cases, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter links). Shortstop Didi Gregorius receives $8.25MM and righty Sonny Gray checks in at $6.5MM. The former had projected to earn $9.0MM while the algorithm was just $100K high on the latter.Backstop Austin Romine will earn $1.1MM, Heyman also tweets, which is also $100K below the projection. Righty Adam Warren and the Yankees have a $3.315MM deal, per Murray (Twitter link). This is Warren’s final season of eligibility before hitting the open market next winter. He’d been projected at $3.1MM. Meanwhile, fellow right-hander Dellin Betances has agreed to a $5.1MM deal, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). That’s just $100K more than Betances had sought last year, when he took his case to a hearing that he ultimately lost. But it’s quite a bit more than the $4.4MM he projected to receive after a subpar season in which he played at a $3MM salary.
  • The Red Sox have agreed to pay $8.5MM to southpaw Drew Pomeranz, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). That’s short of the $9.1MM that had been projected after Pomeranz turned in a productive 2017 season. Boston and Jackie Bradley Jr. settled at $6.1MM, tweets Murray. That’s a bit north of the $5.9MM at which he’d been projected for the upcoming season. Bradley Jr., a Super Two player, has another three seasons of club control remaining. Nightengale tweets that righty Joe Kelly ($3.6MM projection) agreed to a $3.825MM deal. He’ll be a free agent next winter. Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez ($2.375MM salary vs. $2.7MM projection) and righty Brandon Workman ($835K salary vs. $900K projection) are two other Sox hurlers that have agreed to terms, Speier reports (Twitter links). On the position player side, catcher Sandy Leon falls a bit under his projection $1.95MM (via Speier, on Twitter) while utilityman Brock Holt just beats expectations at $2.225MM (per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick, on Twitter). The team also agreed with shortstop Xander Bogaerts for $7.05MM, Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston tweets, which comes in a bit shy of his $7.6MM projection. Boston also announced agreement with backstop Christian Vazquez, who’ll earn $1.425MM, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne (via Twitter). That’s just under the projection of $1.5MM.
  • The Blue Jays and righty Aaron Sanchez agreed to a $2.7MM deal for 2018, according to Nightengale (Twitter link). That crushes his $1.9MM projection, which was likely suppressed due Sanchez’s lack of innings (just 36) in 2017. He’s under Jays control through 2020. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, meanwhile, tweets that second baseman Devon Travis will make $1.45MM next year, falling a bit shy of his $1.7MM forecast. Other Toronto players agreeing to terms include Kevin Pillar ($3.25MM vs. $4.0MM projection) and Dominic Leone ($1.085MM vs. $1.2MM projection), MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets.
  • The Rays and closer Alex Colome settled at $5.3M, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (on Twitter). He’d been projected at $5.5MM and is controllable for three more years. They also settled at $5.95MM with outfielder/DH Corey Dickerson ($6.4MM projection) and $4.5MM with infielder Brad Miller ($4.4MM projection), per Murray (all Twitter links). Steven Souza, according to Murray will earn $3.55MM, placing him right in line with his $3.6MM projection. Dickerson and Miller are controlled through 2019. Souza is controlled through 2020.

AL East Notes: Donaldson, Cards, Hardy, Bogaerts

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Some news and rumblings from around the AL East…

  • The Cardinals “are expected to strongly pursue” a trade for Josh Donaldson during the offseason, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter).  The Cards’ internal interest in Donaldson was initially reported last July though at that time, no offers had been made.  Jedd Gyorko saw the bulk of action at third base for St. Louis last season (with Greg Garcia getting a fair amount of action as a left-handed hitting complement) and Gyorko could be a possible candidate to be headed back to the Blue Jays as part of a deal.  The Cardinals have a surplus of both outfielders and multi-positional infielders, so they’re a fit for Toronto’s needs as potential trade partners.  Of course, there hasn’t been any indication that the Jays are actually shopping their star third baseman.  Donaldson is a free agent after the 2018 season, though with the Jays planning to contend next year, it would take a massive offer to get them to part ways with the former AL MVP.
  • J.J. Hardy will “re-evaluate” his 2018 plans once this season is concluded, though the veteran shortstop tells Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com that, in terms of considering retirement, “I don’t think I can go there yet.”  Hardy’s seventh (and perhaps final) season with the Orioles has been a frustrating one, as he struggled in the first few months and then suffered a fractured wrist in mid-June.  The O’s will certainly buy out Hardy for $2MM rather than exercise their $14MM club option on his services for 2018, though Hardy is hopeful of working out a new deal to remain in Baltimore.  Given Tim Beckham’s emergence and Hardy’s injury problems and lack of production in recent years, it certainly seems as if Hardy would have to take a reserve role if he did return to the club.  I recommend reading the full piece, which is a wide-ranging and at times emotional discussion of Hardy’s career, his Orioles stint and his family.
  • In a podcast interview with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford (transcript link), Xander Bogaerts provides details on the hand injury that curtailed his production over the summer.  Bogaerts was hit on the right hand by a pitch on July 6 and simply wasn’t the same afterwards, hitting just .193/.270/.293 over his next 200 plate appearances.  “Looking back I probably should have taken a few days off. I thought with the All-Star break coming up I would have been find, home resting it,” Bogaerts said.  “But when I came back it never got better….It was a little more serious than I thought.”  The Red Sox shortstop received two cortisone shots to treat his injured hand and said he has started to feel like his old self over the last month, as evidenced by his .800 OPS in the month of September.  Needless to say, an in-form Bogaerts would provide a big boost to the Sox in the postseason, especially given other injury concerns within Boston’s lineup.

East Notes: Red Sox, Yankees, Osuna, Marlins

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With the likes of Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi all controlled for at least another three seasons, the Red Sox are positioned to have an excellent core of young position players for the next several years. Team president Sam Kennedy spoke recently on the CSNNE Baseball podcast about his club’s desire to keep that core intact, and CSN’s Evan Drellich provides a number of highlights from that talk. Kennedy stated that extensions for that collection of young players is “something that we talk about a lot,” though he neglected to elaborate on any specifics. Kennedy further explained the various voices that weigh in on such matters, noting that CFO Tim Zue plays an integral part in evaluating the long-term financial ramifications for the team. Kennedy called Zue the Red Sox’ “Godfather of business analytics,” and Drellich adds that Zue works closely with the Red Sox’ baseball analytics head, Zack Scott, with regularity.

More from the game’s Eastern divisions…

  • Yankees GM Brian Cashman tells Travis Sawchik of Fangraphs that he and Cubs president of baseball ops Theo Epstein agreed to the framework of last summer’s Aroldis Chapman trade about three days before the trade actually went through. According to Cashman, he had to wait 72 hours for ownership approval from Hal Steinbrenner as he mulled the situation over with his family and other key Yankees staffers. Cashman reveals to Sawchik that this past summer was not the first time he’s strongly recommended employing a rebuilding approach — within the column he suggests that the Yankees should have traded Robinson Cano before he hit free agency — but the 2016 campaign marked the first time in which ownership conceded. Cashman adds that he doesn’t fault Steinbrenner for not green-lighting past rebuilding efforts, telling Sawchik: “[Steinbrenner] says, ‘Cash, you’re the director of baseball operations, you get to look at things at 5,000 feet. But as a pilot, I’m in charge of network ratings, ticket sales, advertising commitments to our sponsors, a whole host of things.’ So he had to look at things at 30,000 feet. Sometimes those decisions don’t match up with what I’d recommend, and I understand and respect that. Being an owner is not easy.” The entire interview is well worth a full read for Yankee fans or any readers that are interested in the baseball operations/ownership dynamic.
  • The Blue Jays aren’t expecting Roberto Osuna’s stay on the disabled list to be lengthy in nature, tweets MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm. Per general manager Ross Atkins, the Blue Jays don’t think Osuna will require more than the minimum 10-day stay that is provided by the new disabled list this season. That’s excellent news for a Jays team that, on paper, carries plenty of question marks surrounding its relief corps. In Osuna’s absence, veteran Jason Grilli and sophomore reliever Joe Biagini will handle whatever save opportunities arise.
  • Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that veteran outfielders Brandon Barnes and Matt den Dekker did not exercise the opt-out provisions in their minor league deals with the Marlins at the end of Spring Training (Twitter link). As such, both figure to head to Triple-A New Orleans, where they’ll serve as depth options that could surface in the Majors should the Fish incur an injury or look to add some versatility to the bench down the line. Barnes, a career .242/.289/.356 hitter, posted just a .426 OPS in Spring Training but was solid in Triple-A last season. Meanwhile, den Dekker hit .281/.306/.596 in Spring Training and is a lifetime .236/.318/.359 hitter in the bigs. Both can play all three outfield positions.

AL East Notes: Betances, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Betts

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The Yankees will go to an arbitration hearing with right-hander Dellin Betances, general manager Brian Cashman tells MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). Betances filed for a $5MM salary in arbitration, while the Yankees countered at $3MM, so there’s a sizable gap between the two sides. In addition to the immediate $2MM that’s at stake, a $5MM salary in 2017 would give Betances a considerably larger platform for future salaries in the arbitration process. Betances is one of 23 unresolved arbitration cases left in baseball — all of which can be monitored using MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker.

A bit more from the American League East…

  • Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins spoke to reporters, including Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (Twitter link), following his team’s re-signing of Jose Bautista to a one-year, $18.5MM deal (with a 2018 mutual option and a 2019 vesting option). Atkins acknowledged that the Jays have “clear” needs in the bullpen and at backup catcher. That suggests that the Jays won’t simply stick with in-house options at either position, and the Toronto GM noted that both the trade market and free-agent market are under current consideration to fill those needs. A number of backup catching options have come off the board recently, though names like Kurt Suzuki, Hank Conger, Brayan Pena and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are all still out there.
  • Red Sox skipper John Farrell met with the Boston media today and addressed a number of roster issues, including the team’s outlook at third base and in the rotation (Twitter links via Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal). Per Farrell, there’s still a “note of competition” at the hot corner between Pablo Sandoval, Brock Holt and Rule 5 pick Josh Rutledge. Sandoval’s contract, presumably, makes him the favorite, but I’d wager that he’ll be on a short leash and will have to show semblance of rebound potential in Spring Training and/or early in the year. Also, it sounds as if only Chris Sale, David Price an Rick Porcello are assured rotation spots, as Farrell said the final two spots will be a competition between Drew Pomeranz, Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez.
  • MacPherson’s colleague, Tim Britton, adds that Farrell also discussed the Red Sox’ catching situation (all Twitter links). Farrell said that as it stands, Sandy Leon is heading to camp as the No. 1 catcher, but Blake Swihart will be able to challenge him for that role. Britton notes that Farrell didn’t mention Christian Vazquez. However, Vazquez is out of minor league options, and the team isn’t sure how Swihart’s ankle will be able to hold up for regular work behind the dish, so Britton’s interpretation of the situation is that Leon and Vazquez will open the year as Boston’s catching tandem.
  • Looking at the bigger picture for the Red Sox, the team has yet to sit down with star outfielder Mookie Betts about an extension, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. The 24-year-old said there haven’t been talks, and hinted that he’s not particularly interested in pursuing a long-term arrangement. Betts said that his preference is to focus on his play while going “one year at a time” for his salaries. Meanwhile, shortstop Xander Bogaerts largely demurred when asked whether he had engaged in any long-term contract talks.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: American League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures has come and gone, and there have been dozens of agreements broken throughout the league today. So many, in fact, that I’ve split the list up into a pair of league-specific posts to avoid having 100-something names in this list. You can see all the NL players here, and both of these will be updated as quickly as we’re able.

Many teams use the arbitration exchange as a hard deadline for negotiations on one-year deals — a “file and trial” approach which effectively means that once figures are exchanged, the only option they’ll pursue before a hearing is a multi-year deal. (The Mets and Orioles are both adopting that approach this year, and other teams to use that strategy in the past include Astros, Blue Jays, Braves, Marlins, Rays, White Sox, Pirates, Reds and Nationals.)

The most significant arb agreements of the day have been snapped off into their own posts already. We’ll continue adding the smaller-scale agreements from the American League right here (all projections referenced are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and all arbitration agreements and filings can be monitored in MLBTR’s 2017 Arbitration Tracker)…

  • The Rangers have announced agreement on a deal to avoid arbitration with lefty Jake Diekman. With today’s deadline having passed, the sides did exchange figures — $3.1MM versus $1.9MM — but obviously were already nearing a number. The high-powered southpaw projected at $2.6MM, and will receive $2.55MM, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).
  • The Mariners announced that they’ve avoided arb with all eight of their eligible players, which includes Jean Segura (reported last night), Danny Valencia, Jarrod Dyson, Leonys Martin, Drew Smyly, James Paxton, Evan Scribner, Nick Vincent. Numbers aren’t all in yet, but Valencia took home $5.55MM, per FanRag’s Robert Murray (on Twitter). Martin will earn $4.85MM, per Heyman. They were projected at $5.3MM and $6.3MM, respectively. Meanwhile, Dyson gets $2.8MM, Heyman tweets, which lands just over his $2.5MM projection. Smyly will receive $6.85MM — right at his $6.9MM projection — while Scribner gets $907,500, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Paxton will land at $2.35MM and Vincent will receive $1.325MM, per Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (via Twitter), both of which fall shy of their respective projections ($2.7MM and $1.5MM).
  • Catcher Martin Maldonado will receive $1.725MM from the Angels, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). That’s just over his $1.6MM projection.
  • The Tigers announced that they settled with third baseman Nick Castellanos. He projected at $2.8MM, but will receive $3MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
  • Jeremy Jeffress and Jurickson Profar have each avoided arbitration with the Rangers, per Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegarm (via Twitter). Jeffress receives $2.1MM, while Profar will receive $1.005MM. Also of note, the Jeffress deal includes incentives that can add up to $250K in incentives, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). He’ll get $50K apiece upon reaching 55, 60, 65, and 70 innings. He had projected for a $2.9MM salary, but his legal issues late last year certainly dented his bargaining power.
  • The Athletics have avoided arbitration with catcher/DH Stephen Vogt, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports on Twitter. Vogt will receive $2.965MM, falling shy of his $3.7MM projection. Oakland has also reached agreement with starter Sonny Gray for $3.575MM, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter), which is just shy of his $3.7MM projection. Also, reliever Liam Hendriks has agreed to terms, per John Hickey of the Mercury News. He’ll get $1.1MM, per Heyman (via Twitter).
  • Righty Adam Warren will get $2.29MM from the Yankees, per Baseball America’s Josh Norris (via Twitter). That’s just a shade under his $2.3MM projection. New York also announced deals with shortstop outfielder Aaron Hicks and lefty Tommy Layne, among other players whose arrangements were previously reported. Layne receives $1.075MM, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter).
  • The Orioles have avoided arbitration with second baseman Jonathan Schoop, per Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). He’ll receive $3.475MM, just over his projection of $3.4MM.
  • Adding to their previously reported deals, the Red Sox have announced agreement with all but two of their arb-eligible players. Salaries were reported by MLB.com’s Ian Browne for the players avoiding arb: shortstop Xander Bogaerts gets $4.5MM ($5.7MM projection), utilityman Brock Holt receives $1.95MM ($1.7MM projection), righty Joe Kelly will earn $2.8MM ($2.6MM projection), catcher Sandy Leon takes home $1.3MM (the same as his projection), lefty Robbie Ross gets $1.825MM (just $25K over his projection), and new righty Tyler Thornburg will earn $2.05MM (just under his $2.2MM projection).
  • Two moreplayers have avoided arbitration with the White Sox, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (via Twitter). Among those not previously reported, starter Miguel Gonzalez gets $5.9MM and reliever Zach Putnam receives $1.175MM. That clearly indicates that Gonzalez and the Sox utilized his prior-years’ arb starting points, rather than his much lower earnings with the team last year. Putnam, meanwhile, had projected for $975K.

Earlier Updates

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AL Notes: Red Sox, Athletics, Tigers

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It seems increasingly unlikely that the Red Sox will utilize a full-time DH, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. “We’re not looking to have just a DH,” said president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. “I think really in today’s game the only way you really do that is to have somebody like David Ortiz and most of the time you really prefer to have some flexibility. It’s not to say somebody won’t settle in most of the time, but your goal is to use the flexibility of the players at this point. We’ll see how that all fits in.” That does leave open the possibility of a regular, of course, and some players who’d profile as a designated hitter — such as big-budget free agent Edwin Encarnacion (who has spent plenty of time recently at first) or the aging Carlos Beltran (who also plays the outfield) — could spend at least some time in the field, possibly allowing the club to slot Hanley Ramirez or others in the hitter-only hole on occasion. It is fair to wonder, too, whether any changes to the CBA — an increased luxury tax floor, if not also the addition of an active roster spot — might change the team’s thinking.

Here’s more from Boston and the rest of the American League:

  • Even if the offseason is relatively quiet from an acquisition standpoint, the Red Sox may be in a position to explore some extensions, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes. For Boston, the three obvious candidates are surely shortstop Xander Bogaerts and outfielders Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. None figure to come cheap, particularly as their service clocks and stat lines have continued to build, but Britton provides some quotes from rival executives discussing the benefits and drawbacks of pursuing longer-term contracts. Scott Boras, who reps Bogaerts and Bradley, indicated that talks thus far have involved only their pending arbitration cases, and Britton says that the club has yet to seriously consider deals. But it’ll certainly be interesting to see whether discussions take place in earnest later in the offseason.
  • The Red Sox have hired Gary DiSarcina as their new bench coach to replace the outgoing Torey Lovullo, as Gerry Callahan of WEEI first reported (story via WEEI.com). A Massachusetts native, DiSarcina has previously skippered Boston’s Triple-A affiliate and has most recently been a part of the Angels’ coaching staff.
  • There’s still quite a lot to be sorted out for the Athletics this winter, and we don’t have a ton to go on in assessing the organization’s direction. But there are a pair of pieces worth looking into for fans looking for the sense of those who follow the team most closely. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle takes stock of the free agent outfield options, citing reunions with Josh Reddick and Brandon Moss as unlikely. But the organization may look to take a shot on KBO star Eric Thames, she says, while Carlos Gomez and perhaps even Austin Jackson representing possibilities in center. Meanwhile, with some chatter surrounding key veterans Sonny Grey, Steven Vogt, and Sean Doolittle, Joe Stiglich of CSNBayArea.com examines the possibility of one or more significant swaps. He suggests that Doolittle, an affordable but oft-injured power lefty, could be the most likely of that trio to change hands.
  • With the Tigers gauging trade interest in much of their roster, it’s mostly guesswork at this point as to who’s drawing the kind of interest that could lead to a deal. Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets that the team has drawn hits on all of its biggest names, including second baseman Ian Kinsler, as well as underperforming starters Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey. We’ve yet to hear much in the way of clear connections between Detroit and rival organizations, though. The Dodgers think Kinsler would fit nicely in L.A., per a tweet from Jon Morosi, but the teams did not discuss the matter at the GM Meetings.
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