Kuzul

Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jarrod Parker suffered yet another elbow injury that has left his baseball future in question. 

The A’s reported Parker refractured the medial epicondyle in his right elbow, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. The incident occurred on Parker’s 12th pitch during a simulated game Thursday, according to Rick Eymer of the Associated Press.

Parker has twice undergone Tommy John surgery and suffered another broken elbow last season.

The 27-year-old was the ninth overall pick in the 2007 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks and after five seasons in the minors was traded to Oakland. 

There, he made the big league roster immediately and compiled a 25-16 record with a 3.68 ERA, a 1.237 WHIP and 247 strikeouts over the 2012 and 2013 seasons. 

But he hasn’t pitched in the majors since. He was in line to be the A’s Opening Day starter in 2014—the year they went on to become one of the best regular-season teams—but was derailed by the news he’d once again need Tommy John surgery.

Eno Sarris of FanGraphs elaborated on the extent of his latest injury, which doesn’t offer much optimism:

However, A’s athletic trainer Nick Paparesta noted the initial tests on the elbow weren’t as bad as last year. 

“We’re optimistic that things go well,” Paparesta said, per Eymer. “We just want to make sure everything is right before we proceed.”

Elbow injuries have become an epidemic among major league pitchers the last decade-plus, and Parker’s continued injuries are a byproduct of the sad reality of today’s game.

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Matt Williams went from Manager of the Year to jettisoned ex-skipper of the Washington Nationals in the span of just a year. 

That’s how disappointing last season was for the team that at this time last year was the unanimous World Series favorite, per Odds Shark.   

Williams has since taken back his old job as third-base coach of the ambitious Arizona Diamondbacks. While he is finding a haven in returning to the team he won the 2001 World Series with as its third baseman, moving on from Washington wasn’t easy.

“It was tough to hear,” Williams said of his firing. “You want to do as well as you possibly do. It is what it is. That’s the way I look at it. You have choices. You can wallow or move on. I decided to move on.” 

But with a full offseason to digest the underachieving season in Washington, Williams is still a bit bothered the Nationals didn’t come close to contending, per James Wagner of the Washington Post: 

There was opportunity for us and it didn’t happen. I say that for a reason: it was us. The manager is one part of the team but everybody had great desire. … That desire, to get back to that point—whether it’s as the manager or the third base coach—to get back to a position to play in October and have a chance, that’s what burns inside me. I get a chance to do that under [Arizona manager] Chip [Hale] here, with this great staff, with these talented players and I’m excited about it.

The Nationals finished 83-79 in an average National League East and were eliminated from the playoffs with more than a week left in the season—even with NL MVP Bryce Harper on the roster. 

They won 13 fewer games than in 2014, which was the NL’s second-largest drop-off to only the last-place Milwaukee Brewers, according to ESPN.com.

Their season was a marathon of disappointment, highlighted by Harper’s clash with closer Jonathan Papelbon in an incident that shined a light on how frustrating the year had been, courtesy of MLB.com:

But Williams finds himself in a new clubhouse full of the similar ambition Washington has had in recent years. 

The Diamondbacks have added aces Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller to complement a lineup that last year scored the second-most runs in the NL with 720. 

Even in a division that houses the rebuilt San Francisco Giants and three-time defending division champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the Diamondbacks are expected to make a run at October.

“This place is special,” Williams said on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (h/t Rodney Haas of ArizonaSports.com). “You can walk upstairs and you have World Series champions, a manager [Tony La Russa] who is the chief officer of baseball that has won the World Series and has been there and done it and you can pick brains and that’s a lot of fun.”

Perhaps a new start in familiar territory is what the former skipper needs.

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Zack Cozart is nearly nine months removed from undergoing season-ending knee surgery, and the Cincinnati Reds shortstop is close to returning to full strength in spring training.

Continue for updates.

Latest on Cozart’s Playing Status

Tuesday, March 8

Manager Bryan Price confirmed that Cozart is on track to make his Cactus League debut on Saturday, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Price Comments on Cozart’s Timeline for Recovery

Sunday, March 6

Price has an expected date for the shortstop’s first exhibition game but has not revealed it yet, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com.

“I would say it would be reasonable in the next five or six days, I would think he would be very close,” he said. “I don’t think we’re in jeopardy of him not being ready for Opening Day. But he’s still got to go out there and play, and he’s got to respond well to playing on a regular basis before we can know that for sure.”

Cozart Comments on Recovery

Sunday, March 6

Given the grind and length of spring training, Cozart is fine with taking a cautious approach, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

“We always go back that there’s no point in playing on March 4. April 4 is my goal to be 100 percent,” Cozart said. “That’s not to say I won’t be 100 percent playing in games in three, four days. We’ll see. There’s a good progression going.”

Cozart will likely keep the knee brace he’s worn during workouts and batting practice at the start of the regular season, per Sheldon.

Cozart Looking to Improve upon Career Season in ’15

The five-year veteran was on pace for a career year when he suffered ACL and LCL tears in his right knee June 10 against the Philadelphia Phillies, as MLB.com showed:

Cozart was hitting a career-high .258 with nine home runs, 28 RBI and a 2.0 WAR mark. 

Eugenio Suarez filled in for the rest of the season, hitting .280, which was the fourth-best mark on the team. Suarez will likely move to third base when Cozart assumes his role at shortstop.

All indications show that Cozart is healthy and ready to take the field again. Price isn’t a closed book with the media, but he generally keeps injury disclosures close to his chest. Not clarifying a specific return date isn’t a major surprise, and Cozart should get game reps soon.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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On Saturday, Gerrit Cole voiced displeasure with the Pittsburgh Pirates for their modest contract offer to the Cy Young-caliber ace. The team responded Sunday, admitting it made a mistake in how it handled negotiations.

The Pirates initially offered their No. 1 starter a $538,000 contract—a $7,000 increase in his base salary from a year ago. However, Cole’s earnings reached $541,000 after he received a $10,000 bonus for making the All-Star team.

So they were essentially asking the hard-hurling right-hander, who finished fourth in Cy Young voting last year, to take a pay cut.

“We made a mistake in the process,” general manager Neal Huntington said, per the Associated Press. “We didn’t have to move [the figure]. We felt they made a valid point, [and] we made the adjustment.”

Cole, 25, isn’t arbitration-eligible until next year and remains under club control until 2019.

The Pirates cited club policy to not exceed a pay raise of $7,000 for players who are not arbitration-eligible. Cole said Huntington and his staff threatened a salary reduction to the league minimum of $507,500 if he didn’t agree to their offer, per Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Cole was 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA last season and started for the Pirates in their do-or-die National League Wild Card Game against the Chicago Cubs.

The 98-win team from a year ago was vested in him, but it didn’t show as much in contract negotiations.

“When you perform at a level that draws the praise of management, teammates, coaches and fans, you expect appropriate compensation,” Cole said, per Biertempfel. “I understand the business of this game, but it is hard to accept that a year of performance success does not warrant an increase in pay.”

Cole’s agent, Scott Boras, was outraged by the offer. He acknowledged the collectively bargained system that keeps players under club control for eight years is flawed but argued other teams would’ve rewarded Cole as a sign of good faith, per Biertempfel:

What kind of message does that send to players? The best deserve the best. You should reward the best. I can’t believe that is a Bob Nutting-approved (salary) system. It doesn’t ring with the conversations Bob and I had when Gerrit signed. I would think Bob would want to reward a guy for a special performance. Other teams have that system. If Gerrit was with the Mets, he’d get well over $650,000. If he was with the Marlins, he’d get more (than the Pirates will pay).

Yet Huntington fell back on the CBA when making his case for why the team didn’t offer Cole more, per the AP:

Gerrit strikes a note that most people can empathize with. I’m sure there are many people in this world who don’t feel they are adequately compensated for what they do. The challenge we have is there is a collectively bargained system in place and it’s been in place for years.

Once you make an exception, how do you draw the line? If it’s only for MVPs, what if someone wins a Cy Young? Or what if someone finishes fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting? Some clubs have the ability to go in different directions, higher or lower. We believe our system is consistent and it’s the right way to do things for us.

Cole said he doesn’t want the Pittsburgh clubhouse to “question the virtue” of the organization, per Biertempfel, but the team’s ace and his aggressive agent will likely keep this year’s negotiations in mind when they are eligible for arbitration after the season ends.

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Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez has been diagnosed with subluxation of the patella tendon after undergoing an MRI on Sunday according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Rodriguez originally suffered the injury on Saturday.

The knee remains structurally intact and the ligaments are fine, though there is swelling, per Mastrodonato, leaving a timetable to the southpaw’s recovery unclear.  

At the least, he’ll be sidelined from baseball activities for 72 hours, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. 

Rodriguez tweaked his knee when catching his spikes while backpedaling for a fly ball, per Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. Red Sox manager John Farrell indicated it was on a pitcher-fieldng-practice play, and the discomfort subsided when he was taken to the training room, per Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. 

Rodriguez is currently fourth in Boston’s rotation as he enters his second full season, but the Red Sox have huge hopes for the 22-year-old who last year showed glimpses of early greatness. 

Boston believes Rodriguez can become an elite lefty that eventually elevates his way through the rotation and complements offseason signee David Price. 

“I’m not sure why, even nationally, they don’t have much more attention on Eddie Rodriguez,” Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said, per Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. “I think he has a chance to be an outstanding pitcher.”

Rodriguez currently has a three-pitch repertoire—a mid-90s fastball, a changeup and a slider that needs work—which has created a ceiling of sorts for the young starter, per FanGraphs:

For a left-hander with a 94 [mile per hour] fastball and good changeup and decent projections, there’s a surprising amount of risk in [Rodriguez’s] line. Still, those things—and a good slider—mean that he has the upside to pay third- or fourth-starter prices in the hopes that he puts it together and turns into an ace.

Opposing batters last year hit .350 against his slider—well above the .263 against his fastball and .185 facing his solid changeup, per FanGraphs. Like a slew of young pitchers breaking into the bigs, work is usually needed on a select few pitches.

But that’s what Rodriguez is focused on this spring training, and it looks like he’ll be back on the mound early next week. 

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Gerrit Cole is a Cy Young-caliber talent for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the hard-hurling right-hander doesn’t feel as though he’s being financially compensated as such.

Cole, who isn’t arbitration-eligible until the next offseason, signed a one-year deal with the Bucs on Saturday for $531,000—the exact amount he made last year—with a $10,000 bonus if he makes the All-Star team, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune.

Negotiations were tense, as Cole said the Pirates “threatened a salary reduction to the league minimum” of $507,500 if he didn’t agree to their offer, per Biertempfel.

“When you perform at a level that draws the praise of management, teammates, coaches and fans, you expect appropriate compensation,” he said. “I understand the business of this game, but it is hard to accept that a year of performance success does not warrant an increase in pay.”

The Pirates’ initial offer was for $538,000—$7,000 more than last year’s pay, as it is club policy not to exceed that mark for players who aren’t arbitration-eligible, per Biertempfel.

Cole last year finished fourth in the National League Cy Young voting in a year when Jake Arrieta, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw were so far ahead of the pack that any of the three could’ve won the prestigious award.

Yet Cole’s 19-8 mark with a 3.07 ERA and 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings over a career-high 208 frames in just his third MLB season showed he’s among the incredible young pitchers on the rise. 

The Pirates’ $92.3 million payroll ranks as the 10th-lowest payroll in the majors, per Spotrac. The Houston Astros are the only other 2015 playoff team that pays a lower figure, but they do so with young and cost-effective talent.

Cole said he doesn’t want his teammates to “question the virtue” of the Pirates organization, but it’s hard to imagine negotiations won’t be tense next year when the first overall pick from the 2011 draft can enter arbitration.

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Austin Jackson remains a free agent as teams swing into full gear at spring training. 

Continue for updates.

Jackson Reportedly Turned Down Angels’ Offer

Thursday, Feb. 25  

The Los Angeles Angels reportedly offered Jackson a one-year deal worth around $5 million to $6 million, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com, citing a source. However, Jackson and his agent, Scott Boras, turned down the deal, seeking more money. 

Now the Angels appear set to ride with their current contingent until Opening Day, per Gonzalez. 

By acquiring Jackson at the rate reportedly offered, the Angels would’ve exceeded the $189 million luxury-tax mark, per Gonzalez, which they are currently below by $2 million to $3 million. 

It’s possible Jackson, a career center fielder, was also hesitant at the left field platoon role the Angels wanted him in alongside Daniel Nava and Craig Gentry, per Gonzalez. Without contributing as an everyday bat, Jackson wouldn’t have his value next offseason grow much.

The 29-year-old righty is a career .273/.333/.399 hitter who hits better against right-handed pitching, which would’ve made him an odd fit in Anaheim:

The Angels were criticized for not taking an aggressive approach to replace Josh Hamilton in left field while maintaining their belief they were postseason contenders. 

Gone are blue-chip free agents Jason Heyward, Alex Gordon, Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes, leaving the Halos with a pair of platoon players who struggled mightily in 2015. Jackson may not have been the answer, but Gentry and Nava are coming off seasons where they hit below .200 and played in a combined 86 games. 

With the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers each reaching the playoffs last year behind young talent, it’s hard to imagine the Angels emerging from the back of the pack in the American League West.

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Robinson Cano is coming off a mid-career skid in 2015 that elicited spiteful comments from former Seattle Mariners first base coach Andy Van Slyke in November.

Cano hit below .300 for the first time in six seasons while playing through a sports hernia that required offseason surgery as the Mariners finished 76-86—well below their preseason expectations as World Series hopefuls.

Cano’s decline in production prompted Van Slyke to slam the star second baseman in a damning November interview with CBS Sports 920AM in St. Louis. Among the many insults he unloaded, Van Slyke called Cano “the most awful player I’ve ever seen.”

On Thursday, though, Cano said the comments hardly fazed him as he recovered from surgery at home in the Dominican Republic in the offseason, per Jose M. Romero of the Associated Press:

Honestly it didn’t hurt me. Coming from a guy like him, it doesn’t bother me at all because I know how I play. If you hear the comments, first he threw me under the bus and then he was like (saying) what’s so great about myself. So you didn’t know what he was trying to say. But Andy, I don’t know, it doesn’t even matter to me.

Seattle jettisoned Van Slyke in the offseason housecleaning that included the firing of manager Lloyd McClendon and general manager Jack Zduriencik.

Yet contrary to Van Slyke’s comments, Cano—despite fighting abdominal pain—improved at the plate after Edgar Martinez supplanted hitting coach Howard Johnson in late June:

Van Slyke likely damaged his prospects of landing another gig by spilling gossip on Cano, the Mariners and the dysfunction in Seattle.

In the same interview, Van Slyke also accused Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw of requesting that team president Andrew Friedman trade embattled outfielder Yasiel Puig. Friedman denied those reports.

Cano said he’s 98 percent back to full strength, per Romero, as he enters the third season of a 10-year, $240 million megadeal that will account for nearly one-fifth of the Mariners’ payroll this year, per Spotrac. 

Here is a more extensive look at Cano’s press conference Thursday, courtesy of the News Tribune.

The Mariners replaced Zduriencik and McClendon with Jerry Dipoto and Scott Servais, respectively, as they look to reverse their misfortune as the only American League team that hasn’t reached the World Series. 

Cano believes the new management has the capability of leading such a charge.

“For a team to win you don’t need big names, you just need the right pieces. I think that’s what Jerry has done,” Cano said, per Romero. “I don’t focus on the manager, because they know how to do their job. For me, it’s more about getting to know teammates. I think Servais is going to do a great job.”

Seattle is the lone team in the AL West that hasn’t reached the playoffs over the last two seasons. The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are on the rise with young talent and postseason experience from a year ago. Even fighting for a wild-card spot in a league with such parity will be a huge challenge for Seattle.

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Dexter Fowler re-signed with the Chicago Cubs on Thursday in an agreement many speculated was a spurn of the Baltimore Orioles.     

On Tuesday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine reported Fowler had agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract with Baltimore.

However, Fowler’s agent, Casey Close of Excel Sports Management, issued a statement after the dust settled Thursday vehemently refuting Fowler made such a pact:    

In my 25 years in this business, never before have I witnessed such irresponsible behavior on so many fronts. Both the Orioles front office and members of the media were so busy recklessly spreading rumors that they forgot or simply chose not to concern themselves with the truth. The Orioles’ willful disregard of collectively bargained rules governing free agency and the media’s eager complicity in helping the Orioles violate those rules are reprehensible. Dexter Fowler never reached agreement with the Orioles and did not come close to signing with the club; any suggestion otherwise is only a continuation of an already disturbing trend.

Before reaching a deal Thursday, Fowler rejected a $15.8 million qualifying offer from the Cubs in November. Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reported Fowler’s new contract is worth $8 million for one year, with a $5 million buyout and a $9 million mutual option for 2017.

Fowler said Thursday he never offered the Orioles any confirmation he was signing with them. 

“I didn’t give [the Orioles] a verbal agreement,” Fowler said, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. “I don’t know where that came from. It didn’t come from our camp. It kind of put me in a difficult situation.”

In fact, Cubs president Theo Epstein said the two parties reached an agreement Tuesday just as reports were surfacing that Fowler would sign with Baltimore, per Gonzales.

Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ executive vice president of baseball operations, said discussions broke down when the center fielder insisted an opt-out clause be included in the three-year deal.

“We made a very competitive offer,” Duquette said, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. “There was not an agreement to terms because they kept insisting on an opt-out. I don’t see, club ownership doesn’t see the value in that type of arrangement to the Orioles. If we are going to guarantee a contract, it should be a contract.”

Heyman added it would’ve been uncharacteristic for the Orioles to offer an opt-out:

Fowler remained one of the last blue-chip free agents—even after full-squad workouts began in spring training—largely because teams would’ve forfeited a draft pick by signing him after he rejected a qualifying offer. 

The center fielder offered a stern critique of those types of clauses in the free-agency process, per Gonzales:

It was tough, but it was a learning experience. You go out there with the whole qualifying offer thing. I think it’s flawed. Guys like myself we’re veterans. We’ve been here for a while and you wait for free agency, and they’re talking about a draft pick.

That’s a guy you don’t know what’s going to happen with. And you’re reaping the consequences. So it needs to change. But it’s a blessing in disguise. You get to see both sides of things.

Yet Fowler was clearly happy the process is behind him, as he surprised and embraced teammates Thursday at camp, courtesy of CSN Chicago’s Kelly Crull:

The Cubs outfield remains crowded with Fowler’s return, but that’s a good problem for the World Series hopefuls to have.

Epstein said Fowler will return to his post in center field, while free-agent signee Jason Heyward will split time between right and center, per Gonzales. Right fielder Jorge Soler will also see time in left with hybrid catcher Kyle Schwarber. To make room for Fowler, the Cubs traded outfielder Chris Coghlan to the Oakland Athletics. 

The Cubs are already the unanimous World Series favorites with 4-1 odds, per Odds Shark, and the return of Fowler should only bolster the top of their lineup as they set their sights on their first crown in more than a century.

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Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez has inflammation in his triceps that will keep him sidelined through the weekend, according to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports.

Continue for updates.

Tigers to Hold Sanchez Out Until at Least Monday

Thursday, Feb. 25

Sanchez believes the swelling isn’t serious and should heal with time, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press:

I’m fine, I’m good. I think it’s early. We don’t have to rush anything, especially if I have the soreness. But in order for me to throw, I don’t have to take the risk of it getting worse if I want it to be ready in time.

There’s no rush right now. We have enough time to get ready for the season. We have a month and a half.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Sanchez initially experienced soreness in his throwing arm Monday, per Fenech, which prompted the team to conduct an MRI. Sanchez felt his triceps flare up while throwing a fastball during a bullpen session, per Jason Beck of MLB.com.

Ausmus noted he isn’t overly worried, per Fenech.

“It doesn’t seem to be anything concerning, but I guess you’re always cringing when it involved one of your starting pitchers,” the third-year manager said. “It’s not really in an area where we see a ton of problems with. The MRI looked good; it just showed a little inflammation there.”

Sanchez, 31, has missed time in each of the last three seasons with arm injuries and has never reached the 200-inning plateau. In 2015, Sanchez went 10-10 with a 1.28 WHIP and career-worst 4.99 ERA. The team shut him down in August after he suffered a strained rotator cuff, yet he still allowed an American League-worst 29 home runs.

The Tigers are hoping the 10-year veteran will round out the top three of a rotation anchored by Justin Verlander and offseason signee Jordan Zimmermann.

Sanchez’s injury seems like only a minor byproduct of a throwing arm returning to baseball activities after a lengthy hiatus over the winter. By returning Monday, he can squander most speculation about his health as Detroit continues camp and hopes to catapult from its last-place finish in 2015.

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