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Indians' Oscar Mercado day-to-day with wrist sprain
Cleveland Indians outfielder Oscar Mercado remains day-to-day after an MRI showed he has a mild left wrist sprain, according to the team.
Mercado suffered the injury while making a diving catch in an exhibition game Thursday against the San Francisco Giants.
Mercado, 25, is penciled in for a starting spot in the outfield this year. His versatility will allow manager Terry Francona to play him in any of the three outfield positions, but mostly in center.
Mercado batted .269 with 15 homers and 59 RBIs in 118 games last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Comment -
Cubs are going to dominate division. Should be running away with it by the all star break.Comment -
Kole Calhoun had spent his entire pro career in the Angels’ organization until the club bought him out for $1MM in lieu of a $14MM team option last November. The two sides had some discussions about a reunion over the offseason, reports Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic, but talks didn’t get particularly far.
“(There was) never really a moment I thought I’d be back,” Calhoun told Ardaya. Instead, the corner outfielder inked a two-year, $16MM contract (with a 2022 club option) to join his hometown Diamondbacks in December.
As Calhoun himself points out, it’s not particularly surprising the Angels didn’t ardently pursue a reunion. That’s not a knock on Calhoun, who was solid again in 2019. He hit .232/.325/.467 (108 wRC+) with his typical strong right field defense. All told, he was worth upwards of two fWAR in five of his six full seasons in Anaheim.
Rather, the organization’s reluctance merely reflects its comfort with the current outfield mix. Justin Upton was always certain to get an opportunity for a bounce-back season in left field. Brian Goodwin, meanwhile, looks to have established himself as a solid placeholder in right until top prospect Jo Adell reaches the majors, which will almost certainly be at some point in 2020. David Fletcher, having been displaced as the everyday third baseman by Anthony Rendon, is in line for some work in the outfield as a utility option, as well, Ardaya notes.
With the Angels shelling out $245MM for Rendon and making multiple additions to the starting rotation this offseason, it never seemed likely they would top the market to bring back Calhoun. There’s no animosity, as Calhoun called his time in Anaheim “a heck of a ride,” before telling Ardaya he’s turning his attention to Arizona, where he figures to be the Snakes’ top option in right field.Comment -
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez slowed with sore back
BRADENTON, Fla. -- New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez was scratched from batting practice Saturday due to a sore back, although manager Aaron Boone said he doesn't think the problem is serious.
Boone said he thought the soreness stemmed from Sanchez playing back-to-back games for the first time in spring training. Boone said he expected Sanchez would be shut down on Sunday, but didn't rule out a return to game action in a few days.
"His back was a little sore this morning," Boone said. "Nothing I'm too concerned about. I think that's kind of normal wear and tear [after] first back-to-backs kind of thing. I don't think it will be much of an issue."Comment -
Dodgers' Mookie Betts out until at least Wednesday with stomach issue
A stomach issue that prevented Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts from playing Friday is expected to keep him out of spring training games until at least Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts told reporters Saturday.
The problem first popped up Friday night, when Betts was scratched from playing against the Seattle Mariners about an hour before the game.
Roberts told reporters that the team believed it was related to something Betts ate.
Betts, who joined the Dodgers via trade from the Boston Red Sox last month, is making $27 million in 2020 before becoming an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The 27-year-old is 5-for-19 with one double and one RBI in seven spring training games.Comment -
Good luck getting your points back.Comment -
Got to watch the giants today with their #1 broadcast crew... realize how much I enjoy them.Comment -
The Nationals have renewed Juan Soto’s contract and will pay the outfielder $629.4K in 2020, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (Twitter link). The two sides were unable to agree on a salary for 2020, and thus the Nationals simply set their own figure for Soto’s contract in the coming season, as is the team’s right since Soto is a pre-arbitration player.
Each club has its own methodology for determining how much beyond the $563.5K minimum salary pre-arb players can earn, usually based on some type of formula that assigns extra money for service time and/or significant achievements. Pre-arbitration players can’t really negotiate since the club controls their rights, so the large majority of pre-arb players simply agree to whatever figure is offered. Some pre-arb players coming off particularly outstanding seasons, however, feel they should be better rewarded for this performance, and sometimes opt to turn down the team’s offered raise rather than accept what they feel is simply inadequate compensation.
Needless to say, Soto has delivered far above and beyond the slightly more than $1.1MM in salary he has earned over his first two MLB seasons. As Soto enters his age-21 season, the phenom has already hit .287/.403/.535 with 56 homers over 1153 plate appearances, and played a primary role in the Nationals’ 2019 World Series championship. As per Fangraphs’ evaluations, Soto has already delivered $67.9MM worth of production with his 8.5 career fWAR.
The Cardinals’ Jack Flaherty was another young star who took a renewal this spring rather than accepting his club’s terms, and several other notable players (including Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Carlos Correa, Blake Snell, Josh Hader, and even Soto’s Nats teammate Ryan Zimmerman) have also their pre-arb deals renewed over the years. Flaherty described his decision to turn down the Cards’ offer as a matter of “principle,” and a protest against baseball’s salary structure rather than against his particular team.
As we saw with Trout, Snell, and Zimmerman, contract renewals didn’t lead to hard feelings that prevented those players from signing lucrative multi-year extensions with their teams. There seemingly hasn’t been much news about a potential extension between Soto and the Nationals, though since Soto is controlled through the 2024 season, there isn’t any huge urgency on Washington’s part.
That said, Soto will become arbitration-eligible next winter and is sure to qualify as a Super Two player, so he’ll take four trips through the arb process instead of the usual three. That will only make Soto’s price tag rise even higher if he continues to perform at his elite level, and thus the Nats would certainly have interest in gaining some cost certainty over the young superstar. Scott Boras, Soto’s agent, is usually more likely to advise his clients to test free agency rather than accept an extension, and Soto would potentially be in line for a record-setting contract since he is scheduled to be a free agent in advance of his age-26 season. Boras does have a long history of doing business with the Nationals, however, so it wouldn’t be surprising if a deal was indeed worked out to keep Soto in the District.Comment -
Yep. NL Central wide open. Like the Reds chances...Comment -
yea reds could bang this yearComment -
The Nationals should be paying Soto waaay more.Comment -
In the wake of a couple of newsworthy pre-arbitration contract renewals over the weekend, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd took to YouTube on Monday to offer a detailed explanation of the process. If you’re interested in checking it out, click the video below:
Here are the some of latest and most notable team-imposed pre-arb salaries for 2020:
- The Rays have renewed the contracts of outfielder Austin Meadows and left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Meadows will earn $578,900, and Yarbrough will get $563,400. In Meadows’ case, it’s possible he and the Rays will work out a long-term arrangement in the near future. There’s interest from both sides in making that happen, after the 24-year-old broke out in 2019 with a .291/.364/.558 line, 33 home runs and 12 steals. For now, Meadows still has five years of team control left; he’s not slated to even reach arbitration until after the 2021 season. Yarbrough has the same amount of control left, but the Super Two player is scheduled for his first trip through arbitration next winter. The 28-year-old was a rather effective member of the Rays’ pitching staff from 2018-19.
- The Red Sox have renewed third baseman Rafael Devers for $692,500, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe tweets. This will be the last pre-arb year for Devers, who’s eligible to reach arbitration for the first of three potential times next offseason. It stands to reason the Red Sox will try to keep Devers around for the long haul, considering his tremendous output last year, but the two parties haven’t engaged in extension talks yet.
- The Athletics have renewed first baseman Matt Olson on a $603,500 salary, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Oakland was interested in extending Olson as of last season, but there haven’t been any rumblings about his long-term future since June. If nothing changes by next winter, the big-hitting Olson will head to arbitration for the first of three possible trips.
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Reds definitely most over rated team in here already.Comment
