Mining the News (11/8/24)

Free Agents

• Trey Mancini is attempting a comeback.

A comeback, Mancini realizes, is no easy feat.

But the fire that wavered after his life-altering and life-threatening cancer diagnosis has rekindled. He feels more well-rounded — there’s so much more than baseball — because the year away allowed him to work through what was “a lot to process.” Now, he hopes, a full offseason of work will lead him to one more opportunity to play the game he loves.

“Honestly, for a couple months, I thought I was going to be done. And I really enjoyed this year. I’ve enjoyed life. But at the same time I really do think I have something left to give the game,” Mancini said. “I’m going to prepare and act as though I’m going to spring training, and just hoping and trying and praying that the opportunity arises.”

• Jorge Polanco expects to be ready for baseball activities in January.

Free agent INF Jorge Polanco is recovering on schedule after surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his left knee, his agent, Ulises Cabrera, told me today.

Polanco, 31, is on track to be cleared for full baseball activity by January. @MLBNetwork

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 4, 2024

• While I usually avoid rumors, I’ve seen several quotes that MLB teams expect Roki Sasaki to be posted this offseason.

With MLB executives now expecting Roki Sasaki to be posted, it’s the Dodgers who are seen as favourites for the 23-year-old phenom with the 100 m.p.h. fastball and the 2.35 ERA in Japan’s highest league.

• I’ve posted another timeline on Ha-Seong Kim 김하성, here is another one from his former GM with a May to July return time.

The Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee wrote a few weeks ago that Kim was aiming for a return in April or May. Preller left the situation more open-ended. The executive noted that Kim isn’t slated to begin a throwing program until close to the start of the season. As for a return to game action, Preller loosely floated “May, June, July” as viable outcomes.

American League

Angels

• Jorge Soler will play some in the outfield.

“It was a move we felt like we needed to make sooner than later,” Minasian said. “We spent the last three weeks looking at our club, in general, and the strengths and weaknesses. We identified Jorge as somebody that would really fit. It’s right-handed power. It’s somebody that can change a game with one swing of a bat and can go play the outfield if you need him.”
…
Minasian said they haven’t planned how much Soler will play in the outfield just yet and could see a scenario where they keep all five outfielders on the roster.

“We’ll see where it goes” Minasian said. “It’s definitely possible we keep all five.”

Astros

• With Alex Bregman being a free agent, several tidbits have come out on possible replacements. First, Zach Dezenzo is getting work at third base …

Corner infield prospect Zach Dezenzo’s future is at first base or left field. Brown even hinted at Dezenzo competing for the club’s everyday first-base job. Brown said Dezenzo has “got a little more work to do at third base,” before stopping himself.

“Can he get it done? Yes,” Brown said. “But if we have Bregman, it will be tough for him to get reps there.

“Depending on what happens with Bregman, he may get a chance to play some third base, although Bregman would be the priority.”

… and Brice Matthews is not ready for the majors.

Matthews spent the last two weeks of the season in Triple-A and played a total of 21 games at third base after spending most of his college and early pro career at shortstop. Houston will have a hole at hot corner if Alex Bregman departs as a free agent, but Matthews’ bat probably needs another half-season in the Minors and his defense at third base needs a lot more work. He has just average arm strength and inconsistent accuracy with his throws, so he may be best suited for center field or second base in the long term.

• At the 30-second point, the GM stated that Chas McCormick might get platooned this upcoming season with …

Dana Brown anticipates tendering contracts for Jake Meyers and Chas McCormick.

Brown sounds bullish on McCormick in the future. pic.twitter.com/1b19bIRtWI

— Ari Alexander (@AriA1exander) November 5, 2024

… Taylor Trammell his likely platoon partner …

The Astros are acquiring outfielder Taylor Trammel from the New York Yankees, sources tell @TheAthletic

— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) November 4, 2024

Name: Career OPS vs LHP, vs RHP
McCormick: .864, .687
Trammell: .385, .714

… but Trammell can no longer play centerfield.

Trammell also gradually became less of a viable option in center with just two innings of work at the position in 2023, further putting pressure on his bat to perform.

• Lance McCullers Jr. should be ready by Spring Training.

Right-handers Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia, both of whom missed last season because of injuries, are expected to be ready for Spring Training.

McCullers, who has not pitched since the 2022 World Series, has been playing catch this offseason without any issues.

• Luis Garcia should be in the initial rotation.

Garcia, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2023, was throwing breaking balls and fastballs up to 94 mph during his live batting practice sessions near the end of the season and continues to progress well.

“We hope he’s ready and part of our rotation so that some of these other guys can be part of the depth,” Brown said of Garcia. “With these injuries, you never know. … I’m very optimistic.”

I don’t like that he was only touching 94 mph because pitchers usually sit 2 mph or 3 mph below their max. The lowest Garcia has averaged in a season was 92.8 mph in 2023.

Orioles

• Brandon Young is on the team’s “radar screen”.

So might Brandon Young, the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year, who Elias brought up in an August 10th news briefing in St. Petersburg, Florida as being on the team’s “radar screen.”

Young should be added to the 40-man roster by November 19th to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

Rays

• Christopher Morel could play in the outfield.

Overall, Morel’s production was not that of a quality regular last season, particularly due to his lackluster defense. While Morel has the versatility to play anywhere on the field, with reps in the majors at all three outfield spots, second and third base, and even shortstop, he’s been below average with the glove at all of those positions. While he likely profiles best as a DH, Topkin suggests that the club hopes to expand Jonathan Aranda’s role next year after he slashed .234/.308/.430 in 44 games in the big leagues this season. Aranda also profiles best as a DH, and Topkin suggests that the club figures to juggle Aranda, first baseman Yandy Diaz, and second baseman Brandon Lowe between DH and the right side of the infield in 2025.

The Rays tried Morel primarily at second base when he played in a position in 2024, but if Lowe and Aranda figure to get the lion’s share of starts at the keystone and DH Topkin suggests they could give him a look in left field. If Morel is able to revert to the offensive form he showed with the Cubs earlier in his career, whatever defensive shortcomings the youngster would have in an outfield corner would be more than made up for by his bat.

Tigers

• The team is working with Casey Mize to improve his secondaries.

“I think there were some positives this year for Casey,” Harris said. “I think he’s pitching with a different fastball than he’s ever had before. That fastball can be explosive at the top rail. He can miss bats at the top rail with it. I think some of the adjustments we are looking for, and that he is actively working on, are with his secondary pitches, to find the slider that he can command to both sides of the plate, to find the split that can go strike to ball, that could really put a hitter away when he gets to two strikes.”
…

“He still has all of the God-given ability in the world,” Harris said. “He is one of the more determined workers we have in our clubhouse. We’ve just got to find a way, now that he’s healthy and now that he is removed from the [surgery]. … I think just refining a little bit of both the [pitch] shapes and the way he’s executing the shapes can unlock that potential and translate it into performance.”

Twins

• Royce Lewis might move to second base next season.

Falvey wouldn’t commit to Lewis shifting to second base because he’s not certain how the roster will look when spring training opens in just over three months. But the Twins’ top decision-maker did say the club will speak to Lewis about the possibility in case he’s needed there.

“We would just want to make sure he’s as prepped as possible to play,” Falvey said. “He indicated even at the end of the season if he was prepped and planned for what that’s going to look like, it’s really important. Some of that will depend on the personnel that we acquire, don’t acquire — how it all shakes out. But we want him to stay open-minded to that.”

• Carlos Correa will remain at shortstop as he manages his plantar fasciitis.

The plantar fasciitis in Correa’s right foot is progressing ahead of where the shortstop was with his left foot a year ago, Falvey said. If Correa stays healthy, the Twins intend to keep him as their starting shortstop and not switch him to third base.

“He’s still young,” Falvey said. “He’s a tremendous shortstop. I see no reason why he wouldn’t be as long he manages the plantar issues in a positive direction. … He’s tracking in a positive direction. He’s got good plans for how he’s going to handle it therapeutically and I think he’s in a good place.”

White Sox

• Colson Montgomery will play shortstop next season even though he’s playing at third base in the fall league.

But don’t read too much into that defensive switch, other than an Arizona Fall League necessity. Not for the White Sox, and especially not for Montgomery.

“I’m not a third baseman, let me say that,” Montgomery said. “Let me point that out and put that in bold. I’m not a third baseman. I’m a shortstop in my eyes.”

“He is a shortstop,” White Sox general manager Chris Getz said. “Listen, when a player gets experience at other positions, it’s generally a positive. The fact that he showed that he can play third base is not surprising at all. Obviously, the more reps you get at certain positions, generally speaking, you get more comfortable. But with that being said, we view him as a shortstop.”

Yankees

• Jasson Domínguez was slowed by his Tommy John surgery and oblique strain.

The Yankees believe Domínguez was impacted by a late start to his season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and then an oblique strain at Triple-A.

National League

Braves

• Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider will not be ready by Opening Day.

President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters on Tuesday at the General Managers Meetings that neither Ronald Acuña Jr. nor Spencer Strider will be ready by Opening Day.

Cardinals

• The GM goes over his choices for next year’s rotation.

“Really, it’s just about positioning ourselves this offseason for ultimate flexibility,” said Mozeliak, who will be attending MLB’s General Mangers Meetings in San Antonio, Texas, next week. “Going into next year, we still have Miles [Mikolas], Sonny [Gray], [Steven] Matz, [Erick] Fedde, Pallante and McGreevy knocking on the door. So, we feel like we have some depth there. As the offseason plays out, we’ll decide if there’s something else that we feel like we need to add to that rotation, but we just want to go into it with flexibility.”
…
“You think back to less than a year ago, when we pursued [Gibson, Lynn and Middleton], and I felt like they fit in really well and I think they were really helpful,” Mozeliak said. “But things also have emerged since then, right? Pallante pitched really well, and we traded for Fedde. So, we’re certainly in a different spot than we were a year ago. But yes, those veteran guys did everything that we had hoped for.”

Cubs

• Nico Hoerner won’t be ready for Spring Training …

Nico Hoerner is "feeling good" after having right forearm surgery on Oct. 11. It was the first surgery he has ever had.

“Road to recovery is going well,” he says.

But he also couldn't say with certainty that he'll be a full go when spring training starts in February.

— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) October 31, 2024

… and if needed, Matt Shaw and James Triantos are his backups.

If needed, Hoyer mentioned both Shaw and James Triantos as options at second base while Hoerner gets up to speed.

Dodgers

• Clayton Kershaw will have surgery on his knee and foot.

Wednesday, Kershaw — who has already said he plans to return to the Dodgers in 2025 — will go under the knife. The future Hall of Fame left-hander confirmed Friday he will undergo surgery to address his bothersome left foot that ended his 2024 season, while also disclosing a new injury that will require surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee. Dr. Neal ElAttrache will handle the knee, while Dr. Kenneth Jung will handle the foot.

“It’s gonna be a two-for-one special,” Kershaw quipped.

• Shohei Ohtani had shoulder surgery and his recovery timelines are unclear.

Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the issue Tuesday. Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the procedure. The Dodgers said Ohtani is expected to be ready for the start of spring training.

What it means for the two-way star’s immediate future remains unclear. Ohtani was building up as a pitcher throughout October as he made his way back from a second major elbow ligament reconstruction but never progressed to the point of facing hitters. While this surgery addressed a different arm altogether, it’s uncertain if it will alter Ohtani’s projected return as a pitcher.

Giants

• The team is moving Tyler Fitzgerald off shortstop and Marco Luciano to the outfield.

Posey, speaking with reporters in San Antonio, said the Giants are looking for a shortstop. Said Fitzgerald did a good job there last year, but can play multiple positions.

For Marco Luciano, the hope is moving him into the outfield can help unlock him at the plate. They’ll…

— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) November 5, 2024

Reds

• The team is still considering moving Matt McLain to the outfield.

Meanwhile, Matt McLain played one game in center field in the Arizona Fall League and six at second base, where he was scheduled to play for the Reds last season before suffering a shoulder injury in spring training.

Krall said the team is keeping its options open with McLain, who played center field in college at UCLA, where he also played shortstop and third base. He’s playing wherever he can to get more at-bats in Arizona.

• The team is not declaring next season’s corner infielders.

When asked about the corner-infield situation — namely Encarnacion-Strand and third baseman Noelvi Marte — Krall made it clear there will be no free rides next spring under new manager Terry Francona.

“Some guys are going to have to come to Spring Training and actually earn spots,” Krall said on Oct. 8. “They’re not going to be given spots.”

• Christian Encarnacion-Strand is dealing with scar tissue in his injured hand.

That’s why the Reds sent Encarnacion-Strand to the Arizona Fall League after the season. The early returns have been promising. He was batting .500 (7-for-14) in four games with four walks and five strikeouts in his first 19 plate appearances. But he isn’t out of the woods with the hand injury.

“He had a setback with some scar tissue,” Krall said. “Nothing serious, but he should be playing [this] week. Hopefully he’s continuing to move forward in his rehab progression.”