Thursday on MLBTR: Giants Beck Sidelined And More Including Lengthy Look At Rockies

Giants RHP Beck Diagnosed with Aneurysm in Upper Right Arm

Giants righty Tristan Beck has been diagnosed with an aneurysm in his right upper arm. Beck has yet to determine his course of treatment, thus the likely length of his absence is difficult to determine, but manager Bob Melvin told reporters on Thursday that Beck will not be on the Opening Day roster.

It seems the team is anticipating that Beck will be out for a significant amount of time, though Melvin didn’t rule out Beck returning at some point this season. Though a similar timetable for Beck cannot be assumed, it is informative to remember that the Yankees’ David Cone missed for months of the 1996 season after having an aneurysm removed from his right shoulder, though Cone did return to pitch effectively down the stretch and into the postseason that year.

Beck entered camp as a likely back-end starter in a paper-thin Giants’ rotation that could best be described as Logan Webb and a lot of wishful thinking. Behind their 27-year-old ace, the Giants had:

— Top prospect Kyle Harrison, a rookie who threw 102 1/3 innings last year between Triple-A and seven major-league starts.

— Free-agent addition Jordan Hicks, a converted reliever with eight major-league starts to his name who threw 65 2/3 innings of pure relief last year.

— Right-handed prospect Keaton Winn, a rookie who threw 100 1/3 innings last year between Triple-A and the majors.

— And Beck, who is entering his age-28 season and spent most of his rookie year last year as a long reliever.

You can now scratch Beck off that list, and Winn has been slowed by nerve irritation in his pitching elbow in camp although Winn resumed throwing last Sunday.

The pitchers next in line appear to be 25-year-old Taiwanese righty Kai-Wei Teng, who split last year between Double- and Triple-A with middling results but is on the 40-man roster, and non-roster prospect Mason Black, a 24-year-old who pitched better at the same levels, each of whom threw around 125 innings last year.

Upside abounds there, of course, but, in terms of projectability, that’s not merely not a contending rotation, it’s arguably not even a major-league rotation, and depth/innings concerns abounded even before Beck’s diagnosis.

Rumors connecting the Giants to free-agent and defending National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell have been circulating as of late, but one could argue that the Giants could sign both Snell and Jordan Montgomery (they’ll likely sign only one, if either) and still have an insufficient rotation heading into the season, as they’d still be relying on Hicks and/or unproven prospects on the back end.

The Giants do plan on getting internal rotation reinforcements during the season from the returns of Alex Cobb (from hip surgery) and Robbie Ray (from May 2023 Tommy John surgery), though the latter isn’t expected back until after the All-Star break.

To make matters worse for Beck, if he does follow Cone’s precident, his return could coincide with Ray’s, and Ray could thus bounce him back to the bullpen, meaning this injury could cost Beck not only a big chunk of his season but what could be his best chance to establish himself as a major-league starting pitcher.

The most important thing here, of course, is Beck’s health. Aneurysms are scary and dangerous, so it’s good that Beck, who had complained of discomfort in his pitching hand, sought attention, got a proper diagnosis, and is getting the attention he needs. If only the same was true for the Giants’ rotation as a whole.

Mets RHP Max Kranick to Open Season on IL

Mets righty Max Kranick will open the season on the injured list after suffering a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring. Kranick will be shut down for seven to 10 days, according to the team, after which he’ll effectively need to start from scratch in building up for the season.

Kranick, whom the Mets claimed off waivers from the Pirates in January, was a long shot to make the Opening Day roster, but ace Kodai Senga’s posterior capsule strain increased Kranick’s chances of battling his way into the Mets’ Opening Day rotation prior to this injury.

On the flip side, Kranick is out of options but will now be able to go on a minor-league rehab assignment to give the Mets a longer look before they need to decide on his roster status.

Now 26, Kranick debuted in the Pirates’ rotation in late June of 2021 but did not pitch well. In 2022, he made just six appearances between the majors and minors before having Tommy John surgery that June. He returned to action in the minors last August but has thrown just 29 1/3 innings over the last two years combined, last appearing in the majors in May of 2022.

Brandon Dixon Retires

Journeyman utility man Brandon Dixon announced his retirement on social media on Thursday. A third-round pick by the Dodgers out of the University of Arizona in 2013, Dixon was traded to the Reds in the three-player deal that sent Todd Frazier from Cincinnati to the White Sox in December 2015.

Dixon made his major-league debut with Cincinnati in May 2018 and appeared in 117 games for the Tigers in 2019, playing everywhere but catcher and shortstop. After that, however, he only got into 43 more major-league games, 33 of them with his hometown Padres last year.

Dixon also played in the Australian Baseball League during the 2014–15 offseason and in Nippon Professional Baseball in 2021. A .286/.349/.518 hitter in Triple-A, Dixon appeared in parts of five major-league seasons compiling roughly one year’s worth of plate appearances (658) over which he hit .224/.266/.397 (74 OPS+) with 22 home runs, 32 doubles, four triples, 74 RBI, 66 runs scored, and 244 total bases.

He also posted a 4.15 ERA over five big-league pitching appearances (totaling 4 1/3 innings) and once struck out Marcus Semien on three pitches. We at MLBTR wish Dixon all the best in the next phase of his life.

Roster Moves

• Tigers claimed IF Buddy Kennedy off waivers from the Cardinals, designated UT Andre Lipcius for assignment.

Minor-League Transactions

• Mets signed RHP Jon Duplantier to a minor-league contract, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

• Rays signed C Francisco Mejía to a minor-league contract with an invitation to major-league Spring Training.

From Trade Rumors Front Office

In his latest exclusive article for Front Office subscribers, MLBTR’s Steve Adams puzzles over the Guardians’ offseason. As Steve details, not only have the Guardians been largely silent this offseason, making just a handful of low-level moves, but the moves they did make were arguably counter-productive:

Had they simply held onto [Enyel] De Los Santos, kept Christian Bethancourt as the backup [catcher] to [Bo] Naylor, and non-tendered [Ramón] Laureano, they could’ve had $15MM or so to work with.

At this stage of the offseason, that’d likely be enough to plug J.D. Martinez into the DH spot. We know it’d have been enough to sign Justin Turner. Perhaps that’d mean going with [Estevan] Florial in a larger role than planned in right field, while waiting for [George] Valera to arrive, but the lineup would look more complete. And, in that scenario, perhaps there’d have been enough money left over to make a run at a corner outfielder like Adam Duvall or Tommy Pham. No, it still wouldn’t have been a dominant lineup, but it’d look far more credible than the current iteration.

If enough things break the Guardians’ way—the Naylors [Josh and Bo] sustain their breakouts, some combination of [Andrés] Giménez, [Steven] Kwan and Laureano rebound, [Kyle] Manzardo debuts and hits immediately, [Brayan] Rocchio provides average offense—perhaps the lineup could still be OK. But that’s a lot to bank on, and it’s hard to see a scenario where this team hits for demonstrably more power than in 2023. Hitting for power isn’t everything, of course, but the Guardians’ utter aversion to doing so is putting them behind the eight ball. Having a deep lineup of contact-oriented hitters isn’t a bad thing if all of those hitters can reach base and hit for average with consistency, but the bottom third of Cleveland’s lineup looks dreadful, which is probably going to lead to lots of stranded runners.

Ask Darragh

The interminable Boras FA drag out seems to have also slowed trades to some degree. Once the “Boras Three” are off the board do you expect a few more impactful trades? Or will injuries in Spring Training be the only impetus for trades? —Peter

Thanks so much for the question, Peter!

I think you’re probably correct that the free agents lingering on the open market have also had an effect on the trade block. For instance, the Reds called up the White Sox about Dylan Cease at one point, only to have the Sox ask for four of their best prospects in return. The Reds scoffed at that and signed Frankie Montas instead.

Other clubs probably view the situation similarly. Why decimate our farm system for Cease when Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Michael Lorenzen, and others are just sitting there? There are some low-spending clubs that won’t be suitors for those free agents, but a club like the Sox would want as many clubs at the table as possible in order to generate frenzied bidding.

Perhaps the “Boras Three” coming off the board would get the wheels turning a bit, but who knows how long that’s going to take? We’re now in the month of March, and Opening Day is less than a month away. Generally speaking, it’s pretty rare for blockbuster trades to occur at this part of the calendar.

Most clubs have addressed their roster needs and the impetus to get a deal done is low. As mentioned, a club dangling someone like Cease generally wants lots of others on the phone so that they can drive up the price. That’s hard to do now when most clubs can say they feel good about their rosters. Once the season gets going and guys get hurt or underperform, it will become harder for clubs to assert that they don’t really need upgrades.

Circling back to Cease, the Sox will probably wait until the deadline at this point. That is when they will have the greatest chance of having multiple suitors clamoring to get something done. The hard deadline could perhaps create the urgency for some club to get their offer over the line. And for Cease specifically, he had a bit of a down year in 2023, but the peripherals were still strong, so the extra few months could give him a chance to put some better numbers on the board and increase his trade value.

Generally speaking, it’s rare for a huge trade to happen at this late stage, since most clubs have addressed their needs by now. But then again, this offseason has been quite slow to come together and plenty of clubs have notable holes but are playing chicken with Boras. Perhaps that will lead to an unusual late-winter push by some club to get something done. And as you alluded to, a notable injury could always change the calculus in a hurry. —Darragh McDonald

Rocky Times

• Colorado's No. 21 prospect Carson Palmquist left his outing early with tightness in his right (non-throwing) shoulder, in the trapezius muscle. Palmquist pitched an inning-plus, and gave up a hit and struck out one -- Mike Trout on three pitches. The Rockies expect to know more about his injury on Thursday.

• Lefty Ty Blach rose from non-roster status to make the team last spring. On Wednesday, he stranded an inherited runner and finished his outing with two scoreless innings. Blach has a shot at a long relief or spot starter role.

• Catcher Elias Díaz limped out of the batter’s box after flying out to left field in the second inning, and was seen later with his right thigh heavily wrapped. Díaz said he does not believe the injury was serious.

• The Rockies used a lineup with a regular season look and saw Kris Bryant and Ryan McMahon deliver two hits apiece. Nolan Jones, however, is 0-for-10 so far this spring.

Jones struggled in Cactus League play last year as well, and ended up spending two months at Triple-A Albuquerque. The difference is the Rockies know him better.

“You’ve got to get to know him, but he, Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar will be in there tomorrow -- back-to-back games,” Black said.

• After giving up two hits and a run against the Brewers in his Spring Training debut, closer candidate Justin Lawrence struck out one in a scoreless frame.

• Former top pick Riley Pint walked one and threw a wild pitch, but converted his third straight scoreless outing.

• Catching prospect Drew Romo entered the game as a reserve and continued his hard-contact spring with a double.

• Outfield prospect Zac Veen was on base twice, but was caught stealing twice, once on a pickoff move. Veen stole eight bases last spring and, true to personality, is being aggressive again this spring