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Jose Bautista might get picked up by the Braves or Rays. He better hurry.Comment -
Adam Wainwright to miss start, uncertain for Opening Day roster
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright was scratched from his spring training start Sunday because of a hamstring injury, team president John Mozeliak told reporters.
Wainwright will undergo further evaluation, according to Mozeliak, who told St. Louis radio station KMOX 1120 that the veteran right-hander's injury is "hopefully not serious."
Jordan Hicks replaced Wainwright as the Cardinals' starting pitcher for Sunday's game against the Washington Nationals. Mozeliak and the Cardinals are uncertain whether the injury will prevent Wainwright from making the Opening Day roster.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is expected to address Wainwright's injury later Sunday.
Wainwright, 36, went 12-5 with a 5.11 ERA in 24 games last season and was expected to have a spot in the Cardinals' rotation this season.Comment -
JMobile, Dinelson Lamet was taken out in the 2nd inning with an elbow injury...hopefully nothing serious but I don't like the sound of it.Comment -
[quote=jjgold;5683305]I win again like usual
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[quote=Whippit;7921056]miami won't lose a single eastern conference game through end of season[/quote]Comment -
Take the money, save your brain. Smart dude!!Comment -
The Phillies signed rookie Scott Kingery to a six-year contract that includes three team options for 2024, 2025 and 2026 at rates of $13, $14 and $15 million. I'll predict the Phillies pick up those options as Kingery projects as a valuable Ben Zobrist-type utility guy with power, speed and good defense all over the diamond. You can't blame Kingery for taking $24 million in guaranteed money now, but the contract could end up a nice bargain for the Phillies.Comment -
looks like Lamet will be out for a month minimum, hopefully that is it.
I have cooled on Myers quite a bit after watching him play daily for a couple of years now. He has all the potential in the world but has a lot of mental lapses offensively and defensively. 2 years in a row he has gone through ridiculously long batting slumps and can't seem to get out of his own way many times. He did go see a sports psychologist in the offseason to help him with the mental game so hopefully that bears fruit this season and makes him more consistent.Comment -
The Yankees announced that first baseman Greg Bird will undergo surgery on Tuesday “to remove a small broken spur on the outside aspect of his right ankle.” He’ll miss approximately six to eight weeks as a result.Comment -
The Rangers have re-signed right-hander Bartolo Colon and infielder Trevor Plouffe to minor league contracts, according to a team announcement. Both players will report to Triple-A Round Rock.Comment -
The Mets have claimed outfielder Bryce Brentz off waivers from the Pirates, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to report.
The 29-year-old Brentz joined the Pirates via trade with the Red Sox in February, but he didn’t last long in Pittsburgh. The club placed him on waivers this past weekend. Because Brentz is out of options, he’ll have to go through waivers again if the Mets attempt to send him to the minors. If that doesn’t happen immediately, it likely will when star outfielder Michael Conforto comes off the disabled list. Assuming the other New York outfielders stay healthy early in the season, Conforto would be part of a contingent that features other well-known names in Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares.
Although Boston chose Brentz in the first round of the 2010 draft, he has barely played in the majors thus far. He collected just 90 plate appearances with the Red Sox, in fact. The righty-swinger spent all of last season at the Triple-A level and posted a healthy .271/.334/.529 line (138 wRC+) with 31 home runs in 494 plate appearances.Comment -
The Padres are in the process of finalizing their pitching plans for the start of the coming campaign. Righty reliever Adam Cimber has forced his way onto the Opening Day roster after turning in an unexpectedly excellent spring, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune reports on Twitter. The 27-year-old built off of a quality 2017 effort in the upper minors — over which he threw 80 2/3 innings of 2.90 ERA ball with 7.3 K/9 and just 1.1 BB/9 — by posting nine scoreless frames in the Cactus League. Meanwhile, veteran righty Chris Young will not break camp in the majors, Acee also tweets. It’s not known at this point whether he’ll exercise his opt-out clause, but that’s at least an option for the towering 38-year-old, whose spring (15 strikeouts but also four home runs in 14 1/3 innings) largely imitated his past two seasons’ output (116 strikeouts but also 35 home runs in 118 2/3 innings).
Here are a few more notes from the National League:
- It seems increasingly unlikely that the Brewers will make a move to alleviate their evident logjam of bats. As Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports, that has left some eyebrows raised among the team’s players, some of whom still aren’t sure exactly how much playing time they’ll get once the season gets underway. It’s not exactly a new subject, of course, as the Milwaukee roster has been under a microscope all winter long. But it’s interesting to consider it from the player’s perspective, as Nightengale does. As third baseman Travis Shaw puts it: “Depth is a nice problem to have, but I’m sure it sucks individually for a couple of guys.” Meanwhile, skipper Craig Counsell says “there’ll be a lot of shuffling going on” early in the season, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports, but also notes that he anticipates some clarity to emerge as the season goes along.
- Pedro Moura of The Athletic takes a long look (subscription link) at talented Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo, who drew much better reviews in camp this year than he did in his brief MLB call-up in 2017. The change wasn’t to his swing mechanics, though. Instead, Verdugo impressed the organization by making strides with his work ethic and attitude. As Moura documents, those improvements were the result of intentional offseason effort, though Verdugo’s overall level of professionalism also surely remains a work in progress.
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Yankees have lowest payroll ranking since 1992
NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees are on track to open the season this week with baseball's seventh-highest payroll, their lowest ranking since 1992, according to projections by The Associated Press.
The Boston Red Sox will top the major leagues at about $223 million, ending the Los Angeles Dodgers' four-year run as the top spender. The San Francisco Giants will be second at around $203 million, and the Chicago Cubs are set to be third at about $183 million.
The Dodgers and Washington Nationals will each be at approximately $180 million, and the Los Angeles Angels will be next at about $170 million. The Yankees will be at around $167 million -- their lowest payroll since 2003.
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New York has not been ranked as low as seventh since 1992, when it finished ninth at $34.5 million in the final season of owner George Steinbrenner's two-year suspension. The Yankees rose to third the following year and topped the major leagues from 1994-97 and 1999-2013, interrupted by a season in which Baltimore finished $207,000 ahead. They were second to the Dodgers for each of the previous four years.
"I think it's good for the game," said Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, who took a pay cut from $25 million to $10 million this year. "Shows where the game is at as far as money-wise. Hopefully that translates into more signings next offseason."
New York owner Hal Steinbrenner vowed to get under the luxury tax threshold for the first time since the current tax started in 2003. New York has paid $341 million in penalties over 15 years.
Boston has not been the highest spender since at least 1990, the earliest year figures compiled by Major League Baseball are readily available.
If the Yankees and Dodgers stay under the threshold, their base tax rate would drop from 50 percent to 20 percent in 2019, putting them in better position next offseason for a free-agent class that includes Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Josh Donaldson.
The Dodgers set a record with a $270 million Opening Day payroll in 2015 but lowered it to $234 million at the start of the following season and $226 million when 2017 began.
The Oakland Athletics and the Chicago White Sox project to have the lowest payrolls, at about $71 million.
"I've been in Oakland most of my career. This seems big to me," said Yankees pitcher Sonny Gray, acquired from the Athletics last summer. "I don't know if all the time money dictates talent. But we have a ton of talent."
Angels outfielder Mike Trout is the highest-paid player for the first time at $34.08 million, which includes a $33.25 million salary and a prorated share of his signing bonus. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw dropped to second at $34 million after leading the list for three straight years. Arizona pitcher Zack Greinke fell one spot to third at $31.95 million, followed by a trio at $30 million: Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta, Boston pitcher David Price and Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera.
The average salary is on track to be around the same as last year's opening figure of $4.45 million, perhaps slightly higher. While many free agents took large cuts, other players with existing multiyear deals had large increases.
Figures are based on rosters as of Monday afternoon, three days before Opening Day rosters are set. They were obtained by the AP from management and player sources and include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses for players on the 25-man active roster and disabled lists. Termination pay for released players and buyouts for unexercised 2018 options are included, as are cash transactions in trades.Comment -
Last Exhibition Day today. Can't believe regular baseball is here.Comment -
Let’s go Thursday night baseball on ESPN!!Comment -
The latest on some injury situations from around baseball…
- Angels manager Mike Scioscia told The Athletic’s Pedro Moura and other reporters that Ian Kinsler has been battling some groin tightness and may not be able to play on Opening Day. Zack Cozart has played second base in each of the last two nights for Anaheim and could potentially fill the role during the season if Kinsler is out, though that would leave a vacancy at Cozart’s expected position of third base. It isn’t yet known if Kinsler will require any DL time, though Kaleb Cowart would be the probable replacement since he is already on the 40-man roster and could most easily slide into the infield mix.
- The Twins will place right-hander Phil Hughes on the disabled list to begin the season, manager Paul Molitor told reporters (including The Athletic’s Dan Hayes). Hughes is still recovering from a left oblique strain, and there is a chance he could be ready to return when the Twins need a fifth starter on April 11. Hughes is looking to rebound after two seasons marred by thoracic outlet syndrome procedures, and if he doesn’t end up in Minnesota’s rotation, he could potentially step into a long relief role.
- The Nationals made a series of expected DL placements today, announcing that Daniel Murphy and Joaquin Benoit will begin the season on the 10-day disabled list. Right-hander Koda Glover will be placed on the 60-day DL, thus opening a roster spot for Miguel Montero, whose contract was officially selected. Montero was already told over the weekend that he would be breaking camp as the Nats’ backup catcher, and in making the 25-man roster will now earn $1.3MM for the season as per the terms of his minor league contract with the team. Murphy is still recovering from knee surgery last fall, Benoit has a forearm strain and Glover has been bothered by shoulder issues.
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