MLBTR Newsletter: MLB Looking At Expansion To 32 Teams

Courtesy of Tim Dierkes

MLB’s expansion to 32 teams is inevitable, writes Jeff Passan of ESPN citing high-ranking team and league officials. However, that expansion isn’t likely to happen until early next decade, per Passan, which aligns with recent comments by commissioner Rob Manfred.

The Mets plan to move Brandon Nimmo from center field back to left field this season to make room in center for the defensively superior Harrison Bader, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters. Starling Marte is the intended starter in right field, per Mendoza.

Brewers are restructuring C Gary Sánchez’s contract over concerns about his right wrist, which was fractured by a pitch in September. Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, rather than a guarantee of $7 million, the restructured deal is likely to have a maximum value of $7 million.

Red Sox will pay RHP Liam Hendriks $2 million this season and $6 million in 2025. His $12-million mutual option for 2026 has a $2-million buyout. His contract includes $10-million worth of bonuses tied to his workload in 2025, $5 million to his games finished and $5 million to his innings pitched. All per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Hendriks’ contract is now official.

Brewers are restructuring C Gary Sánchez’s contract over concerns about his right wrist, which was fractured by a pitch in September. Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, rather than a guarantee of $7 million, the restructured deal is likely to have a maximum value of $7 million.

Rays to Sign Amed Rosario

The Rays signed infielder Amed Rosario to a one-year, $1.5-million contract with up to $500,000 in bonuses on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Rosario will compete for the Opening Day shortstop job in camp but is ultimately likely to play multiple positions for Tampa Bay this season. Once a top shortstop prospect with the Mets and later a central part of the package sent to Cleveland in the Francisco Lindor trade in January 2021, Rosario started at shortstop for New York and Cleveland from 2018 through the deadline deal that sent him to the Dodgers last year. However, he has also played second base (for L.A.), center field (18 games in 2021), and spotted in left field (six games in 2022).

Rosario has been inconsistent in the field and underwhelming at the plate in his career. At his best, he’s a league-average bat with 15-homer power and the speed to swipe about 20 bases, but he rarely walks, making him overly dependent on hitting for average. From 2019 to ’22, he hit .282/.315/.412 (100 OPS+), but he has fallen short of that in his other three seasons, including an 89 OPS+ last year. Rosario does have a significant platoon split, but a platoon scenario doesn’t immediately suggest itself, as Rosario is yet another right-handed hitter in a Rays infield mix that also includes righties José Caballero, Isaac Paredes, Curtis Mead, Osleivis Basabe, and Junior Caminero and switch-hitter Taylor Walls, who will open the year on the injured list following hip surgery but has hit better from the right side in his career. Chalk Rosario up as another misshapen piece for manager Kevin Cash to place onto the ever-changing puzzle that is the Rays’ lineup. I’m sure Cash will find where he fits.

Injury News & Updates

Mariners 3B Luis Urías has a sore throwing shoulder and will not throw across the diamond in early infield drills, per the team.
White Sox non-roster RHP Edgar Navarro will have Tommy John surgery in early March and miss the entire 2024 season and part of 2025, per the team. The 26-year-old Venezuelan signed with the White Sox at the age of 20 in 2018 and made his major-league debut with Chicago last July, appearing in eight games before being optioned back to Triple-A in mid-September. He was outrighted off the roster in early December to make room for free-agent addition Erick Fedde.
Yankees OF Aaron Judge told reporters that the ligament that he injured in his right big toe when colliding with the Dodger Stadium wall last June will require “constant maintenance” for the rest of his career but that he is feeling good coming into camp.

Rumors

Astros have discussed an extension with RF Kyle Tucker but have not made “a hard offer or anything like that,” Tucker told Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Tucker is under team control though 2025.
Mariners “may add on the margins,” general manager Justin Hollander told reporters on Tuesday, though he didn’t rule out adding “in a more significant way.”
White Sox general manager Chris Gets told reporters that Dominic Fletcher has a “leg up” in the competition for the starting job in right field. Fletcher’s competition includes Oscar Colás, Gavin Sheets, and Zach DeLoach.
Yankees closer Clay Holmes told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that the Yankees have yet to discuss an extension with him. Holmes is entering his walk year.
MLB’s expansion to 32 teams is inevitable, writes Jeff Passan of ESPN citing high-ranking team and league officials. However, that expansion isn’t likely to happen until early next decade, per Passan, which aligns with recent comments by commissioner Rob Manfred.

Roster Moves

Orioles outrighted UT Diego Castillo to Triple-A.
Rays placed RHP Drew Rasmussen (internal brace surgery) on the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster for SS/UT Amed Rosario.
Tigers claimed OF TJ Hopkins off waivers from the Giants, designated LHP Kolton Ingram for assignment.

Minor-League and International Transactions

LHP Hyun Jin Ryu is in agreement with the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles on a contract that will make him the league’s best-paid player, per Jee-ho Yoo of Yonhap News.
Rays signed IF Yu Chang to a minor-league contract with an invitation to major-league Spring Training.
Rockies signed RHP Matt Carasiti to a minor-league contract, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America.

Tracy RingolsbyFebruary 21, 2024Comment