Mining the News (10/9/23)

• Jung-hoo Lee 이정후 might get posted this offseason.

Lee doesn’t have Yamamoto’s high profile and he’ll come at a significantly lower price tag, but Lee could very well land a healthy contract himself during an offseason that is generally short on premium free-agent position players. Like Yamamoto, Lee is also 25 years old, would be subject to a posting fee, and has impressed observers over seven seasons of international ball.

Lee has hit .340/.407/.491 over 3946 career plate appearances for the Heroes, with 65 homers and 244 doubles. His resume includes KBO League MVP honors in 2022, five KBO Gold Gloves for his defense (mostly in center field), and a standout performance for South Korea’s team in the last World Baseball Classic.

• Reliever Yariel Rodriguez is now a bullpen option for teams to consider.

Per reporter Francys Romero, Cuban right-handed reliever Yariel Rodriguez has been granted his release by the NPB’s Chunichi Dragons. Rodriguez figures to apply for MLB free agency in the near future, which could put him on the radar to sign with a big league club ahead of the 2024 season. The Dragons have not confirmed the report.

He pitched for Cuba during the WBC but took this past season off.

American League

Angels

• The team expects Anthony Rendon to “play and be engaged”.

Minasian said he’s had conversations with Anthony Rendon about the need for him to play and be engaged with the team — both of which were an issue this season. But Minasian was still confident in Rendon’s future with the Angels, saying, “I’m expecting him to come in on a mission to help this team go where it needs to go.”

Also, the team expects to compete next season.

Minasian reiterated that trying to re-sign Ohtani is the club’s top priority this offseason and that the goal is to compete next year.

Athletics

• Shea Langeliers, Luis Medina, and Ken Waldichuk made mid-season adjustments.

… and second-year players Shea Langeliers and Ken Waldichuk made midseason adjustments that resulted in strong second halves.
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He pointed specifically to the improvements Waldichuk and Luis Medina made from the start of the season …

Here is what I could find on the adjustments:

Langeliers: “[The adjustment] is really just focused on approaching the strike zone and being aggressive toward the strike zone. Basically, just simplifying my approach, not worrying about game planning too much — as to what they’re throwing — and just being aggressive.”

Medina: Some general comments about adjustments but nothing concrete.

Waldichuck:” The fact that he was able to recognize and diagnose the flaw in between innings represents positive growth in what is his first full season in the Majors.

“Being able to make that adjustment is definitely an improvement from where I was earlier in the year,” Waldichuk said. “Especially on days where you try to throw as hard as you can and it doesn’t come out well, experience definitely helps and plays a role in just being able to attack those guys, get ahead and throw the right pitches at the right time.”

There was a point in this season when Waldichuk’s struggles led to him falling out of the rotation and shifting to a relief role. That demotion to the bullpen helped him both reshape his mentality on the mound as well as refine his arsenal of pitches, which on Saturday featured a fastball that maxed out at 96.2 mph and a sweeper that was thrown 28 times, producing seven of his 14 total whiffs.”

• The team plans on creating a plan on how to utilize Mason Miller.

One of the team’s biggest offseason priorities is figuring out a plan for how to use the incredibly talented but injury-bitten Mason Miller in order to keep him on the mound for an entire season. Forst praised Kotsay and pitching coach Scott Emerson for creating a role for Miller in September that allowed him to stay on a starter’s schedule while throwing 50-60 pitches in relief every fifth day.

“I don’t know that that exact role exists on a 13-man staff over the course of six months. But it’s clear we need to find something that works for Mason because his talent is immense,” Forst said. “We’ll have the conversations (about how to use him), but clearly the most important thing is keeping him out there because he is a unique talent.”

Blue Jays

• Prospect Ricky Tiedemann will not be throwing his changeup much in the Arizona Fall League.

MLB’s No. 31 overall prospect undoubtedly had some extra juice in the tank early, consistently sitting at 93-95 mph in the first few innings, ramping his heater up as high as 96. His first time through the order also featured a steady diet of low-80s sweepers, as it accounted for his first two punchouts and befuddled Peoria batters.

While Tiedemann noted that the sweeper began to slip as his pitch count rose, he began to lean heavily on his heater later in at-bats, utilizing it to finish each of his final four strikeouts. His best offering – a 70-grade changeup – was used sparingly as he continues to hone his arsenal. Just 11 days since his final regular-season start, the lefty was able to stay in rhythm, quickly ramping back up upon arriving in Arizona.

If he happens to struggle, this adjustment might be the reason.

Orioles

• The team had an improvement plan ready for Ryan O’Hearn when he showed up at camp:

When O’Hearn showed up at spring training, the Orioles’ trio of hitting coaches — Ryan Fuller, Matt Borgschulte and Cody Asche — didn’t just have a plan; they had a whole portfolio on how to help O’Hearn improve.

They fixed his posture first, eliminating the hunching that allowed him to drive the ball to left field really well but exposed him with anything inside. He started hitting balls on a backspin to right field. They worked with him on understanding how to hit breaking balls better, in the air and not pounded into the ground.

“It wasn’t, ‘Man, I’m getting lucky,’” O’Hearn said of his at-bats this spring. “I was really starting to make space in my stance and able to adjust to different pitches.”

Red Sox

• The plan is for Trevor Story to remain at shortstop for at least one more season.

Moreover, with shortstop Marcelo Mayer expected to debut by 2025 (perhaps late 2024), Trevor Story is likely to move to second base meaning a long-term solution at second base isn’t something the Red Sox are expected to pursue this winter.

• Trevor Story’s arm was not at full strength at the season’s end.

Story said he felt his arm would continue to adapt with a normal offseason this winter, one in which he’ll focus on shoulder and forearm mobility to build back the last bit of strength. He feels his arm is close to what it was at his peak from 2016-18.

No way.

Season: ISO, maxEV, Barrel%
2022: .196, 113, 11%
2023: .114, 110, 10%

Royals

• The team is undecided on how they want games closed out next season and might use a committee.

When the Royals traded Chapman and then Scott Barlow at the Deadline, they handed the closer role over to Carlos Hernández and gave him every opportunity to show that his future on this team was pitching the ninth inning.

The 26-year-old had a 7.82 ERA after the All-Star break and allowed 11 runs in 6 2/3 innings in September, when the Royals held more leads than they had all season.

“We were trying to get exposure and experience to certain guys in leverage situations against certain parts of the lineup to see if they were ready for that role,” Picollo said. “But as we sit here today, we’re going to have to find somebody. Or it may be a group of guys, closer by committee.”

• The General Manager considers the infield set.

Picollo thought the infield was set, praising the improvement in defense. Vinnie Pasquantino is set to return from injury at first base next year, with Michael Massey at second, Witt at short, and Maikel Garcia at third. Picollo said the team would look to bring in more outfield production, with an eye towards improving the depth of the organization.

White Sox

• Michael Kopech will be considered as a starter going into next season.

Michael Kopech struggled as a starter this season, moving to the bullpen for a few September outings before succumbing to knee surgery. Grifol has already stated Kopech will be viewed as a starter next year. Once Kopech recovers from surgery (a 6-8 week timeline), new hire Brian Bannister will get to work on turning his career around. Presumably pitching coach Ethan Katz will be involved as well.

Yankees

• The team believes Giancarlo Stanton needs to rework his stance and swing.

After that? Casey said Stanton may need to hit reset.

“Start back from the ground up, getting back to the basics that made him great and getting back to his good foundation,” the hitting coach said.

Casey said that Stanton would benefit from “getting a little more athletic” at the plate, which could help his vision, too.

“Right now,” Casey added, “he’s just a little careful with the wide stance, not a huge load. It’s more of a careful swing. I think there’s more of an athlete in there. … If you go back and look at him (in the past), maybe just a little bit more upright, a little more rhythm in his hands, a little more of a dance out there in the box.”

National League

Cardinals

• Tekoah Roby showed good velocity and pitch mix in the AFL after spending much of the 2023 season on the IL.

Roby certainly looked the part in his Arizona Fall League debut on Tuesday evening. Texas’ No. 5 prospect started and went three scoreless innings for the Scottsdale Scorpions in a 10-inning, 1-0 victory over the Glendale Desert Dogs. He surrendered just one hit and struck out five of the 10 batters he faced.

“Any time I can have my changeup working, which is my fourth pitch, it’s going to be a good night,” said Roby, who threw 31 of 43 pitches for strikes. “I felt very comfortable. I had pretty much everything working, which is awesome. I think I got a strikeout on every pitch.”

A third-round pick from a Florida high school in 2023, Roby can attack hitters with pitches that move in different directions. His 92-96 mph fastball gets on hitters quickly because of the extension in his delivery and features good carry at the letters, while his upper-70s downer curveball drops through the bottom of the zone. His low-80s slider and fading low-80s changeup move in opposite directions horizontally.

Cubs

• Pete Crow-Armstrong might need to make some adjustments to hit major-league pitching.

“He struggled,” Hoyer said. “He probably realized that he has to make certain changes offensively. Realizing that now is really key. This is the big leagues. This is the best league there is. The pitching is a lot better than it is in the minors. It’s seeing that up close and personal and realizing, ‘OK, there’s probably adjustments that I have to make.’

“I told him I actually believe that will end up being the single best thing that could happen to him, in a lot of ways.”

Diamondbacks

• Tommy Pham has been battling turf toe for a while.

. @Dbacks outfielder Tommy Pham said he is still battling turf toe and may receive an injection for it before tonight’s game.

— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) October 3, 2023

Giants

• Marco Luciano will likely be the shortstop next season.

Most notably, Zaidi said that he would be willing to start next season with 22-year-old Marco Luciano as Brandon Crawford’s heir at shortstop.

“As we sit here now, we want to give Marco Luciano the chance to be the everyday guy,” Zaidi said. “If anything, his callup was slowed down by the (hamstring) injury he had. We would have liked to see him a little bit more. But he’s worked his way up and earned this opportunity and we’re really excited about the last couple weeks.”

• Austin Slater will have offseason elbow surgery.

Giants say Austin Slater will have arthroscopic elbow surgery, that’s been bothering him for years. Alex Cobb will soon get a second opinion on his hip.

— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) October 3, 2023

Padres

• As expected, Manny Machado had elbow surgery.

Padres star third baseman Manny Machado underwent elbow surgery on Tuesday with the team hopeful that he’ll be able to return by the start of the 2024 season.

The operation — a right elbow extensor tendon repair — had been planned for weeks. Machado has played through tennis elbow in his right arm for parts of the past two seasons, but that injury worsened down the stretch in 2023 and forced him into a DH role, while he missed time on multiple occasions.
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Team officials have noted that recovery from the surgery takes longer on the throwing side than hitting. So it’s possible Machado begins 2024 in the same DH role in which he finished the 2023 season while he continues to build up his throwing arm.

Rockies

• Kyle Freeland has a stronger arm and a different changeup.

Lefty Kyle Freeland dealt with a velocity drop, some misplaced pitches, and a 3.64 run support average. But he found exercises to strengthen his arm, and discovered an adjustment to help his changeup.

The velocity bump was real.

On the other hand, I could not find any changes in his changeup.