Roto Riteup: July 31, 2023

We now go live to the New York Mets front office:

On the Agenda

1. Making Moves
2. Bumps and Bruises
3. Comeback Trail
4. Streaming Pitchers

Making Moves

The weekend started with the Dodgers moving to shore up their oft-injured pitching staff, acquiring Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly from the White Sox for Trayce Thompson, Jordan Leasure, and Nick Nastrini. Lynn will make his debut in style on Tuesday with a prime matchup against Oakland; or, at least it would be prime given a previous (good) version of Lynn, who has a 6.47 ERA (5.22 FIP) and 1.46 WHIP over 21 starts in 2023. “Dodgers fix pitchers” will need to do a lot of work for a guy who has most recently allowed a total of 13 ER in his previous two starts.

If their performance on the field wasn’t a big enough clue, the Mets officially raised their white flag with a trade of David Robertson to the Marlins for two Rookie-level prospects. Robertson picked up his first Save on Sunday and is a key addition for the Marlins to continue their playoff push, while the Mets can now dream of their new-and-improved 2028 competitive window.

In other Mets domino news, it turns out that the famously competitive (and known grade-A red-ass) Max Scherzer didn’t actually come to the Mets to be a part of a rebuild and was reportedly none too pleased about the “new” direction New York is taking. One talk with the “brass” later and Mad Max is now a Ranger, waiving his no-trade clause to join a team with actual championship aspirations. Scherzer traveled to Texas along with (I presume) a suitcase stuffed with $36 million, with the Rangers sending infield prospect (and Ronald brother) Luisangel Acuña to New York. Scherzer is expected to make his debut on Thursday against a White Sox roster that might somehow be even worse post-deadline.

For anyone not fluent in Scherzer red-assery revenge-mode, this almost certainly ends with Chicago getting hit by a truck.

But what about Justin Verlander? The rumors are swirling that he could be next to abandon the ol’ apple but the Mets also reportedly value Verlander much higher than Scherzer and currently aren’t willing to ship him out with the same sack of cash. I mean, why would they trade him? After all, GM Billy Epler just said New York isn’t punting on 2024 and all they’re doing is improving their farm system. Bah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Aren’t you proud of me for making it through that whole sentence without laughing? Please, Billy, tell me more about your 2024 aspirations…We’re all dying to hear them.

Third in the AL West and sixth in Wildcard, the Angels continue to “go for it”, ruining the fantasy value of C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk in the process. Cron and Grichuk head out of the thin air of Colorado in exchange for a pair of LA’s top-20 prospects in RHP Jake Madden (#7) and LHP Mason Albright (#18). Cron will slide into his normal spot at first, mercifully displacing the ghost of Mike Moustakas, while Grichuk will shore up an outfield that has recently been utilizing a Cabbage.

The St. Louis fire sale is in full swing:

Jordan Montgomery joins a Rangers rotation that just refuses to stop expanding, going to Texas (with Chris Stratton in the sidecar) in exchange for an addition to St. Louis’s quickly increasing collection of prospect quarters, getting Tekoah Roby, Thomas Saggese, and John King. The funniest thing about this return might be the classic STL thirst trap that Eric Logenhagen just laid out in his latest analysis on the trade:

Saggese has a very old school baseball vibe about him: no batting gloves; a simple, wristy swing that sprays fastballs the other way; and sound infield defense reliant on effort and feel more than athleticism.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, is a surer way of getting the Cardinals all hot and bothered than hearing about a combination of no batting gloves with more effort than athleticism. Noth. Ing.

Jordan Hicks leaves behind the 100-degree heatwave St. Louis was stuck in for a week, heading now to the Great White North of Canada and the greener grasses of Toronto. Hicks and his 5.2 BB/9 will likely join a committee of closers for the Blue Jays for the time being, as incumbent Jordan Romano (lower back) was recently placed on the IL. But once Romano comes back, Hicks the setup guy should be yet another solid gear in Toronto’s excellent bullpen.

(Probably still) Coming Soon to a Team Near You: Jack Flaherty, Giovanny Gallegos, Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson.

All you Cardinals haters might be laughing now but just you’s wait until St. Louis is right back to doing what they do best in the Mozeliak Era – winning upwards of 90 games and being very competitive in the NL Central race. Just. You’s. Wait.

Bumps and Bruises

Taylor Ward, unfortunately, took a baseball to the face over the weekend and could miss the rest of the season after being placed on the 60-day IL.

Ha-Seong Kim 김하성 had to leave Sunday’s game after injuring his shoulder while sliding into home. Consider him day-to-day but manager Bob Melvin has already announced he’s likely to miss today’s opener at Colorado.

J.D. Martinez is set to undergo an MRI after his hamstring forced him out of Sunday’s lineup. No timetable will be known until after the imaging but it’s probably not a good sign that manager Dave Roberts said Martinez was unable to run or swing a bat.

Will Smith left Sunday’s game after getting hit on the elbow in the first inning but the X-rays fortunately came back negative. Consider him day-to-day.

Mookie Betts (ankle) missed his second game in a row with soreness but will get an extra day of healing with the Dodgers having an off-day on Monday.

Anthony DeSclafani (flexor strain) was placed on the 15-day IL and will be shut down from throwing for at least a few weeks. IE. Goodbye, remaining fantasy usefulness in 2023.

Alex Kirilloff gets hot, Alex Kirilloff gets hurt. This is how things go. Kirilloff came out of the ASB blazing, hitting 4 HR in a six-game stretch but will now head to the IL with a right shoulder strain. The good news is, it’s not his wrist?

Comeback Trail

Brandon Woodruff will make his third (and possibly final) rehab start on Tuesday at Triple-A (Nashville), reaching 52 pitches in his most recent appearance for High-A (Wisconsin). If all goes well, this would line up Woodruff for a return to the Milwaukee rotation for a deadline-enhanced, spicy, little two-step next week, getting an ever-depleted Colorado team away from Coors before going on the road to face the White Sox.

Nestor Cortes (shoulder) will also make his third (and possibly final) rehab start this week and could rejoin the Yankees rotation early next week for their series with the White Sox.

Clayton Kershaw came out of a three-inning sim game on Saturday but will need at least one more outing on Thursday before he’ll be able to rejoin the Dodgers rotation. If all remains well, we could see him return sometime next week, possibly in Arizona.

Nathan Eovaldi (forearm) is expected to return after only a minimum stay on the IL, with manager Bruce Bochy saying on Sunday he expects Eovaldi back when first eligible on August 11 to face the Giants. Once Eovaldi returns, rotation decisions will be forced; he and Scherzer are locks but there are only three more spots for Jon Gray, Martín Pérez, Dane Dunning, Andrew Heaney, and Jordan Montgomery.

Jonathan India (plantar fasciitis) and the Reds are hopeful he’ll only require a minimum IL stint after joining the list on Sunday. He’ll be first eligible on August 8. In his absence, Christian Encarnanician-Strand should continue to see regular at-bats.

Streaming Pitchers

Streaming Pitcher for Today: What is, none? Correct! The answer was, who should you stream between Jake Irvin (vs MIL), Noah Syndergaard (@HOU), and Austin Gomber (vs SDP)?

High-Risk Streamer for Today: See above.

Streamer for Tomorrow: Ben Lively 라이블리, LAA @CHC