The 2022 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread

[JMobile]

JMobile must be down alot of money in the last 2 days.

I'll catch up.

Dodgers need to let go of Muncy. Taking up space in the lineup.

[Otters27]

The dodgers avoid the sweep with early runs

[EmpireMaker]

MLB’s August 2nd Trade Deadline is more than a month away, but the Blue Jays are already showing early interest in Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi according to Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Morosi further speculates that Kansas City’s bullpen arms may be of some interest to Toronto, whose crop of relievers currently sport the game’s 24th best ERA.
The Blue Jays for their part are hardly hurting on offense, as the team currently sports the best OPS in all of baseball. At the rate he’s producing, however, Benintendi and his .303/.368/.391 (116 OPS+) slash would be a boon to any lineup. The reigning Gold Glove winner may also be viewed as a more reliable candidate to man left field than Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who has drawn more divisive reviews of his glovework in recent seasons.
A left-handed bat his been on the Blue Jays wishlist since last offseason, though to date the only left-handed hitters to grace the Jays lineup this season with some regularity have been Cavan Biggio, backup catcher Zack Collins, and light-hitting outfielder Raimel Tapia. A hypothetical Benintendi acquisition would represent a way to diversify the handedness of the Jays’ lineup, though doing so would likely relegate Gurriel Jr. to an overqualified bench role or indirectly infringe on Biggio’s playing time.
It’s worth noting that Benintendi wouldn’t be a lock to start every game for an acquiring team, as his platoon splits, particularly this year, have painted him as much more adept hitter against right-handed pitching. Acquiring Benintendi then, who is a free agent at the end of the season, would improve the team’s outfield defense, lineup balance, and bench in one shape or another for what figures to be a minimal prospect cost.
Kansas City may seem an odd fit for reliever shopping, as their bullpen has uncharacteristically struggled to worse run prevention numbers than the Jays’. The unit is led by one of the more unheralded closers in the league however, as right-hander Scott Barlow has posted a 2.36 ERA with strong peripherals dating back to last year (107 innings). The Royals are under no obligation to ship the 29-year-old Barlow anywhere, sought after as he likely will be, due to his additional three years of team control.
With a 13-game gulf between the second-place Jays and the first-place Yankees there’s likely little expectation that a modest outfield upgrade or bullpen improvement will be the driving forces behind a second half surge. Still, the team is currently nestled atop a tight Wild Card race, with Boston, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland no more than 3.5 games back and only three playoff spots to split between them. Any acquisitions the Jays make within the next month figure to help the club field a more competitive team come October and, more pressingly, stave off a number of clubs who are a hot-streak away from upending the Wild Card race altogether.

[jrgum3]

The dodgers avoid the sweep with early runs

It's about time they hit in Coors Field this week it was tilting stacking them every day in DFS just because their implied team total was the highest on the slate.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

It's about time they hit in Coors Field this week it was tilting stacking them every day in DFS just because their implied team total was the highest on the slate.

Their offense is still good but not the same as past years. Too many gaping holes in the lineup that used to produce at a high level.

[JMobile]

Padres are coming to play the Dodgers. Dodgers will surely get a solid first place and win the series.

[Otters27]

Mariners beating up on the As again

[Cross]

425 million for Soto? How he gonna feed his kids with that???

[EmpireMaker]

The Nationals made an extension offer to Juan Soto at some point this spring, writes Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Specific timing of the proposal isn’t clear, but Dougherty adds that it’s believed the offer was made before Soto’s agent Scott Boras visited Nationals Park in late May. Soto rejected the offer, but Dougherty characterizes discussions between the two sides as “active.”
It’s at least the second offer the Nationals have put forth to the face of the franchise within the past 12 months. In February, Soto told Enrique Rojas of ESPN he’d rejected a long-term overture made prior to the lockout. Rojas reported the pre-lockout offer would’ve been for 13 years and $350MM guaranteed. Dougherty reports the Nationals went beyond $350MM in their spring proposal, but specific terms are unknown. Both Dougherty (Twitter link) and Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic (on Twitter) hear that rumors of a 13-year, $425MM offer are inaccurate.
In any event, the relatively recent proposal is the latest indication the Nationals are hopeful they can keep Soto around for the long haul. It’s at least somewhat notable that discussions remain open even after Soto again declined. In his February interview with Rojas, the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner expressed a desire to proceed year-by-year through the arbitration process in anticipation of reaching free agency at the end of the 2024 season. That wasn’t due to any expressed animosity towards the Nationals organization, but rather a desire to market himself to all 30 teams with a good chance at a record-setting payday.
Without specific terms of the proposal, it’s impossible to pin down precisely where the latest offer stacked up among the biggest in major league history. At worst, it’d have marked the third-largest guarantee ever. Only two players have ever topped the $350MM mark. Mookie Betts received 12 years and $365MM from the Dodgers on his July 2020 extension, while Mike Trout took home ten years and $360MM in new money on his March 2019 extension.
As was the case when Soto turned down $350MM over the winter, many fans are sure to bristle at the notion of rejecting a proposal at an even greater amount. That’s particularly true in the context of what’s been a relative “down year,” at least in comparison to his pre-2022 performance. Soto enters play Thursday with a .224/.375/.437 slash line. Those are the lowest such marks of his career across the board, as he’d hit at least .282 with an on-base percentage above .400 and a slugging percentage north of .500 every season from 2018-21.
Nevertheless, the first three months of this season are unlikely to have a depressing effect on Soto’s long-term value. For one, his relatively underwhelming numbers would still be a strong showing for the majority of players. Soto’s on-base and slugging marks are decidedly above the respective .312 and .394 league figures. His .224 batting average is certainly not ideal, but that’s in large part attributable to a .225 average on balls in play that’s the fifth-lowest number for qualified hitters. Soto’s average exit velocity and hard contact rate are down somewhat, so the lesser batted ball results can’t be chalked up solely to misfortune. Yet his quality of contact metrics have still been solid, and considering he entered the season owner of a .330 career BABIP, Soto seems likely to enjoy better ball-in-play results moving forward.
Owner of a .290/.424/.534 career line with more walks than strikeouts, Soto is still on track for an eye-popping payday. He amazingly won’t turn 24 until October and would hit free agency in advance of his age-26 season. Once there, he still looks a good bet to top the record $36MM average annual value for position players over more than a decade, assuming he stays healthy. A deal in excess of $400MM seems likely, and it’s not out of the question Soto and his reps could set their sights on the half-billion dollar mark. (Getting to $500MM would likely require a 13-year term at an AAV just shy of $38.5MM).
There’s of course some risk for Soto in continuing to turn down offers that’d make him among the highest-paid players in league history. Every player has some risk of a drop-off in performance or severe injury. Soto, though, will have already banked more than $25MM in arbitration earnings by the end of this season. He’ll go through the arb process twice more and figures to make another $50+MM over the next couple years before reaching the open market.
Discussions with Soto come against a backdrop of possible change for the Nationals. The Lerner family has been looking into sale possibilities for the past few months. A potential ownership shakeup has led to some uncertainty for president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez, each of whom are in the final guaranteed year of their contracts and have 2023 options that need to be decided upon next month.
The roster has undergone a major overhaul dating back to last summer’s trade deadline. Washington has kicked off a rebuild and seen the departures of key contributors to their 2019 World Series team like Max Scherzer, Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner. The Nats enter play tonight 20 games below .500, and they’re certain to move impending free agents Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz over the next four and a half weeks. They’ve not given much, if any, consideration to dealing Soto in a franchise-altering blockbuster. Rizzo flatly shot down speculation about a Soto trade four weeks ago, saying the Nationals “have every intention of building this team around” him.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Cubs win a laugher last night.

Cross slept easy.

[Stallion]

So far this season Soto hasn't done much.

[JMobile]

I'm getting my money back on the Dodgers this series

[boscokid]

Traded Kershaw for Byron Buxton. Now I REALLY need Sale to come back healthy.

[boscokid]

Tried Kershaw/Kwan for Buxton and Luis Severino but got told to pound sand

[jrgum3]

Their offense is still good but not the same as past years. Too many gaping holes in the lineup that used to produce at a high level.

It's definitely not the same with Mookie absent from the lineup. They are so much better when he's getting on base at the top of that lineup and you can see it with them struggling to produce runs.

[stevenash]

Did I miss anything?

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Did I miss anything?

[EmpireMaker]

As has been the case the past few summers, the Orioles enter deadline season among the game’s likeliest sellers. Baltimore has been amidst a full rebuild, and they’re again all but certain to finish at the bottom of the American League East. The O’s have shown signs of progress, graduating top prospect Adley Rutschman to the big leagues and going 14-12 last month, but they’re still set to field offers on a number of players.
Among the likeliest to be dealt are first baseman/designated hitter Trey Mancini and corner outfielder Anthony Santander. Mancini is set to hit free agency at the end of this season, and as of Spring Training, the club had not engaged his representatives in talks about a potential long-term deal. Barring an out-of-the-blue extension coming together over the next few weeks, the O’s figure to flip Mancini to a contender for this season’s final couple months. (Mancini’s agreement with the O’s to avoid arbitration this spring included a $10MM mutual option for 2023. Given the caliber of season he’s having, he seems unlikely to trigger his end of the pact and forego a possibility at a multi-year free agent deal).
The Mets are among the teams that has checked in on Mancini, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. New York skipper Buck Showalter is plenty familiar with the Notre Dame product, having managed in Baltimore through 2018. That encompassed Mancini’s first two full seasons as a big leaguer, so Showalter had an up-close look at his clubhouse fit and work habits.
Mancini is amidst one of the better seasons of his career. Through 295 plate appearances entering play Friday, the 30-year-old is hitting .280/.356/.421. Mancini has only hit seven home runs, but his 20% strikeout rate is a career-low. While his power output has dipped, particularly relative to his 35-homer 2019 breakout campaign, his hard contact rate is still well above-average.
Pete Alonso is having a great season at first base for the Mets, but the club figures to look into external possibilities at designated hitter. New York has gotten a .230/.311/.383 showing from the DH position, exactly league average production by measure of wRC+. Between Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis, the Mets entered the season with a seeming surplus of bat-first players who could serve as the team’s DH. Smith has instead struggled for a second straight season, hitting .194/.283/.265 in 113 MLB plate appearances and spending some time in Triple-A. Davis has a .243/.333/.345 line over 171 trips to the dish, hitting only two homers in 51 games. Like Mancini, Davis has far better batted ball metrics than his power results would suggest though.
The Mets are one of plenty of teams that either already has or will check in with O’s general manager Mike Elias regarding Mancini. Santander also figures to attract some amount of interest, and Heyman writes in a separate piece that Baltimore is willing to make him available. After a down 2021, he’s hit 14 home runs through this season’s first half. The switch-hitting outfielder owns a .235/.329/.424 line in just under 300 trips to the plate.
For the first time in his career, Santander has an on-base percentage above the league average, a testament to an approach overhaul that has allowed him to work more free passes. After swinging at more than half the pitches he’d seen in every season of his career through 2021, Santander has cut his swing rate to just over 46% this year. With that more patient approach has come a 10.5% walk rate that’s more than double the 5.1% clip he’d posted in his career through last season.
While the O’s are under time pressure to extend or trade Mancini, the club could elect to hold onto Santander if they don’t receive offers to their liking. The 27-year-old entered this season with three-plus years of big league service. He’s controllable through the end of 2024 via arbitration and making a modest $3.2MM this season. As for Baltimore’s other controllable outfielders, Heyman unsurprisingly writes the team would “have to be blown away” to move either Cedric Mullins or Austin Hays. Baltimore can keep each of Mullins and Hays through 2025.
Aside from Mancini and Santander, Baltimore’s next-most likely trade candidate may well be breakout closer Jorge López. As MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored yesterday, López has transformed from struggling starter to lights-out reliever. Through 37 innings, the right-hander has a microscopic 0.73 ERA. He’s struck out 27.1% of opponents and generated ground-balls at a massive 64% clip, a combination that is sure to lead to plenty of calls from teams looking to add a late-game weapon.
As part of a reader mailbag, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes that Baltimore would listen to offers on López, at least as a matter of due diligence. Controllable through 2024 and playing this season on a $1.5MM salary, the 29-year-old could affordably stick around for the next few seasons. It’d no doubt take a significant haul for Elias and his staff to pull the trigger on a deal, but other clubs will try to pry López away before the August 2 deadline.

[jrgum3]

Man absolutely pathetic that Lance Lynn shut the Giants down but not totally unexpected. After all this season has been full of inconsistency from the Giants offense so it figures Lynn would pitch his best game of the season so far against the Giants.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Man absolutely pathetic that Lance Lynn shut the Giants down but not totally unexpected. After all this season has been full of inconsistency from the Giants offense so it figures Lynn would pitch his best game of the season so far against the Giants.

Padres offense in a skid as well.

[boscokid]

Cobb start was promising as he works on building up his pitch count

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Cobb start was promising as he works on building up his pitch count

Snell finally had a good start but could only go 5 innings to the tune of 107 pitches.

[boscokid]

Snell no longer my problem but he is on waivers if he turns his season around. Currently I need to make a 5 man weekly rotation out of:

Cole, Urias, S Gray, J Gray, Cobb plus Sale and McCullers

[Stallion]

Good luck betting the Dodgers JMobile!

[JMobile]

Good luck betting the Dodgers JMobile!

I've been winning. Padres can't figure out the Dodgers.

[stevenash]

Whoever told the Tigers those uniforms are cool was obviously tripping on purple haze at the time.

[Otters27]

As pitcher got his first win yesterday. He was 0-5. Looked good though

[yisman]

gonsolin still undefeated.

[Cross]

I miss Javy so much, he is the best.

[Otters27]

gonsolin still undefeated.

Funny story that guy wasn't even a pitcher really at St Mary's. Outfielder

[jrgum3]

I've been winning. Padres can't figure out the Dodgers.

Yeah I had to take the free money I think that makes 14 out of 15 for the Dodgers against the Padres. That's just incredible when you take into consideration that San Diego has plenty of talent to match up with the Dodgers. They just can't find a way to beat them but that's baseball sometimes there is a team that just owns you no matter what you do.

[Cross]

Dodgers are Padres daddy for sure.

[Stallion]

14 of 15 is almost unbelievable.

[JMobile]

Dodgers go for the sweep? Betts hasn't been in the lineup at all

[EmpireMaker]

The Red Sox have placed Rich Hill on the 15-day injured list, as the left-hander is battling a left knee sprain. Right-hander Phillips Valdez was called up from Triple-A to take Hill’s spot on the active roster.
Hill suffered the injury in the fifth inning of yesterday’s start against the Cubs, as he tried to tough it out through two more batters but eventually left the game. Hill told reporters (including WEEI’s Rob Bradford) that he was waiting for the results of an MRI, but he compared the injury to the MCL problem that sidelined him for a month during the 2019 season.
The 42-year-old Hill has continued to post solid results in his 18th Major League season, with a 4.20 ERA/4.35 SIERA over 70 2/3 innings. While his Statcast numbers and advanced metrics (including a 19.5% strikeout rate) aren’t anything to write home about, Hill has still been a reliable presence within a Boston rotation that has been lacking in stability.
At the moment, that rotation is down to just three pitchers, as the Sox have been hit by injuries. Hill joins Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale (who has yet to pitch in 2022) and Garrett Whitlock on the IL, leaving Michael Wacha, Nick Pivetta, and Josh Winckowski as the only pitchers remaining in the starting five. Connor Seabold is at Triple-A and figures to be recalled to make at least one spot start.
Among the injured names, Eovaldi threw a 35-pitch bullpen session today, though it isn’t yet known if the righty may need a rehab start. Eovaldi has been on the IL since June 9 due to lower back inflammation. Sale has another rehab outing slated for Wednesday, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora told MLB.com’s Ian Browne that Sale could potentially in line to make his 2022 season debut on July 11 when the Sox play the Rays.
As for Whitlock, he has been out since June 10 due to hip inflammation. The righty has a bullpen session today and will have to make a rehab outing, but when he does return, Cora told Bradford and company that Whitlock will “pretty much likely” return to his old bullpen role, rather than as a starting pitcher. Whitlock had a 4.15 ERA over 39 innings and nine starts this season, but with a theoretical surplus of starters when everyone is healthy, the Red Sox figure Whitlock can best help the team as a multi-inning reliever — Whitlock dominated batters in such a role in 2021.