Mining the News (10/15/24)

American League

Mariners

• Jorge Polanco had knee surgery.

Seattle Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco underwent surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee and expects to be ready for the beginning of spring training, sources told ESPN.

Rangers

• Josh Jung had surgery on his wrist.

On Friday, the club gave a number of injury updates, mostly notably about third baseman Josh Jung, who underwent an ECU tendon release surgery performed on his right wrist by Dr. Steven Shin in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Jung missed the majority of the year with a fractured right wrist after being hit with a pitch just four games into the regular season.

• Evan Carter had back surgery.

The Rangers also announced that outfielder Evan Carter had an ablation procedure performed by Dr. Troy Foster in Dallas last week.

Carter missed the majority of the regular season with a back strain. He initially missed seven games from May 11-17 with back soreness, but he returned without an IL stint.

Royals

• The team has high hopes for Kyle Wright next season.

The Royals would like to bring back Wacha, who has a $16 million player option, and if he doesn’t return, the team may look at the market to replace him. They are optimistic about Kyle Wright, who missed the entire season after shoulder surgery, but are not going to rely on him in his first year back. Both Picollo and Quatraro stressed the need to have depth, and that the team had good luck with injuries they may not have next year.

• The GM has high praises for Maikel Garcia and MJ Melendez.

Picollo stated his desire to stick with infielder Maikel Garcia and outfielder MJ Melendez. Garcia also provides defensive upside, while Melendez has flashed some offensive pop.

National League

Brewers

• Aaron Ashby could still be utilized as a starter.

One of the players Murphy discusses was Aaron Ashby. The lefty once looked like a budding starting before getting derailed by shoulder issues. He finished 2024 on a strong note out of the bullpen but it seems the skipper hasn’t given up on the possibility of the southpaw being a rotation option again in the future.

“If you’re asking me today if he belongs in that late inning role, I’d say no,” Murphy said. “I’d say he’s more of a candidate to throw more innings because his stuff is pretty special and there’s a variety there. That’s going to be discussed, the path. And it has to be player-driven. The player has to want certain things or at least be in a healthy discussion about it.”

• Sal Frelick will be tried at third base again.

So could Frelick’s ability to play third base — something Murphy said the Brewers would try again in Spring Training after a similar project in 2024.

Cubs

• Top catching prospect, Moises Ballesteros will not play any first base in the AFL.

Ballesteros did get eight games in at first base during the regular season between Iowa and Tennessee, though only two came at the higher level. There’s only one mitt he’s concerned with in Arizona, however.

“They haven’t said anything to me about playing first base,” Ballesteros said. “I’ve been focusing on playing catcher, and that’s what my focus is on now.”

I see his time in the AFL as a showcase for one of the 2025 catcher jobs.

Dodgers

• Clayton Kershaw may still have surgery on his toe.

Kershaw, 36, underwent offseason surgery to repair the glenohumeral ligaments and capsule in his left shoulder and returned in July, delivering seven starts with a 4.50 ERA in 30 innings before the pain in his toe became too much to bear. Last week, Kershaw acknowledged “there’s a chance” he will need another surgery to address his toe.

• The team will likely go with a six-man rotation next season.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman alluded Sunday to the likelihood that the Dodgers would go to a six-man rotation next season to accommodate Japanese right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani, the latter of whom will be coming off a second major elbow ligament reconstruction.

Mets

• Brandon Nimmo has been dealing with plantar fasciitis this season.

Brandon Nimmo revealed to The Athletic after Sunday night’s Game 1 loss in the National League Championship Series that he has been dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot since May.

Nationals

• The GM talked about the future of the corner positions without a mention of Andrés Chaparro

“We like the depth that we have at third base,” Rizzo said. “We’ve got House in the Minor Leagues, we’ve got [No. 9 prospect Yohandy] Morales in the Minor Leagues that we think are going to be terrific players at both corners of the infield. [José] Tena has been superb over there since he came back, especially offensively. … And we’ve got [Trey] Lipscomb, who’s already a big-time defender that’s got to work out some things offensively. So we feel pretty good at that position.”

Chaparro doesn’t seem to be in the Nationals plans. Limiting his value even more is that he’ll start the season as Util-only

Padres

• The team has discussed Ethan Salas and/or Leodalis De Vries debuting next season.

With Higashioka potentially in line for a hefty raise this winter, however, Acee suggests that San Diego brass could instead look to part ways with both him and Kim this winter as they wait for the impending arrival of the club’s top prospects. Catcher Ethan Salas entered the 2024 season as a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball after reaching the Double-A level as a 17 year old, but Acee notes that shortstop prospect Leodalis De Vries, who turned 18 just two days ago, is even more highly regarded by Padres brass.

What’s more, Acee notes that there have been discussions within the organization about the possibility of both teenage phenoms making their big league debuts as soon as 2025.