Happy Valentine’s Day to all of those who are celebrating! With pitchers and catchers reporting for most of the baseball world tomorrow, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Profar stands alone.
With Michael Wacha agreeing to terms in San Diego this morning, Jurickson Profar is the last man standing from MLBTR’s Top 50 free agent list back in November. With pitchers and catchers formally reporting this week — and many others already down in their teams’ spring camps — there figures to be some increased urgency for the remaining names to find landing spots (hence recent deals for Wacha, Andrew Chafin, Michael Fulmer).
Of course, the opening of camps could create some new opportunities for the remaining free agents; it’s likely that teams will run into some unexpected health issues in the coming days and weeks. On the pitching side of things, we’ve already seen the Yankees’ rotation impacted by Nestor Cortes Jr.’s grade 2 hamstring strain and by Frankie Montas’ shoulder injury. The Brewers announced last week that Aaron Ashby is dealing with shoulder fatigue and might not be ready for the start of the regular season. Reds reliever Tejay Antone is out for an extended period to begin the season after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection to address a flexor strain.
None of those pitching injuries will directly impact Profar’s market, but as position players begin to report to camp, go through intake physicals and begin ramping up for the season, new opportunities could come to light. Any corner outfield injuries that pop up in the weeks to come will be worth keeping a close eye on with regard to Profar.
2. Arbitration season continues:
The Angels went to arbitration against infielder Luis Rengifo yesterday, according to the AP. In his first trip through arbitration, Rengifo’s camp filed at $2.3MM while the Angels countered at $2MM. Due to Rengifo’s status as a first time arb-eligible player, this hearing is particularly crucial for his future earnings as arbitration salaries tend to use previous salaries as a baseline. Rengifo joins fellow Angel Hunter Renfroe and a trio of Rays (Colin Poche, Harold Ramirez, and Ryan Thompson) among players waiting on an announcement of the decision after their arbitration hearing earlier in the month. Per the AP, nine more players remain scheduled for hearings throughout the week.
3. MLBTR Chat Today
Do you have any questions regarding your favorite team or the larger baseball world as the 30 clubs gear up for Spring Training and make their last minute offseason moves? MLBTR’s Steve Adams will be fielding questions from readers today during a live chat at 11am CT. If you would like to ask questions in advance, you can do so here. That same link will also take you to the chat when it begins if you would like to participate live.