Snell finally gets his Giants deal

NATIONAL LEAGUE

San Francisco Giants
NEWS: San Francisco signed left-handed starter Blake Snell to a two-year, $62M deal with an opt-out after 2024.
IMPACT: High
BHQ SPIN: In another significant offseason move, the Giants added the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. Snell will join a rotation that is dealing with injuries to Alex Cobb, Tristan Beck, and Sean Hjelle and addresses the lack of rotation depth in San Francisco. Considering the Giants’ proclivity to deploy their starters in an atypical fashion, Snell will have trouble matching the career-high 180-inning threshold he’s attained in each of the two seasons in which he claimed the Cy Young Award. On top of that, he’s likely to experience a delayed start to the season having signed so late and has dealt with injuries throughout his career. A 165 IP projection nets Snell 11% of starting pitcher innings, lining him up as the team’s #2 starter while taking PT from Mason Black (who looked headed for the #5 role prior to the signing). Keaton Winn will also experience a reduction in PT as he’ll be the first starter ousted from the rotation when Cobb returns from the injured list in late April.
––Crumpler

 

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Minnesota Twins
NEWS: Minnesota announced that pitchers Jhoan Duran, Anthony DeSclafani and Caleb Thielbar will start the season on the injured list.
IMPACT: High
BHQ SPIN: With Duran out, a timeline for his return has not yet been established. The team is calling it a moderate strain, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Duran out more than the minimum. Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart will handle ninth-inning duties while Duran is on the shelf.. We will deduct 1% of PT and 10% of saves from Duran and split the saves between Jax and Stewart. We’ll see if Mgr Rocco Baldelli tips his hand before the start of the season and make additional changes where necessary. We overprojected in team innings this spring while the Louie Varland-DeSclafani battle played out so we won’t reassign innings missed from Duran at this point. But with word that DeSclafani’s injury could be season-ending, we’ll deduct 5.5% from him and add 3% to Varland, who has all but locked up the No. 5 spot with this news. With Thielbar sidelined, Kody Funderburk should make the team as the second lefty out of the pen and Steven Okert becomes the top lefty option. We’ve deducted 2% from Thielbar and added 1% to Funderburk and 1% to Okert. 
–Green

Houston Astros
NEWS: José Urquidy was diagnosed with a forearm strain and will begin the season on the IL.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: Urquidy joins Justin Verlander, Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis García on the shelf to begin the season, further depleting the Houston rotation. No timetable was given for Urquidy’s return, other than he’ll be shut down for a few days. But speculation is that the IL stint could run longer than 15 days. In his stead, the club likely will turn to Ronel Blanco, who has had a fantastic spring with 11.2 scoreless IP aided by 13 strikeouts and four walks. Blanco, 30, started seven games last season (in 17 appearances) and logged a 4.50 ERA with 52 Ks and 28 BB in 52 IP. We’ve slightly reduced Uriqudy’s IP total and given it to Blanco for now. 
–Hershey

Oakland Athletics
NEWS: Oakland optioned infielder Tyler Soderstrom to the minors.
IMPACT: Medium
BHQ SPIN: In a surprising move, the A’s optioned top prospect Sodertstrom to Triple-A. He spent the final two months with the big league club in 2023 but struggled to a 35 wRC+. Despite that ugly performance, he was projected to figure significantly into the A’s plans for 2024. The lefty slugger was set to be the backup catcher while seeing time at both first base and DH. Those plans have now been scratched as the club determined he needed more seasoning in the minors to begin the year. His .121/.167/.182 spring slash line likely made the decision easier, but it was shocking nonetheless. With Soderstrom out of the picture for Opening Day, Carlos Pérez has a leg up on the backup catcher role. The 33-year-old produced replacement level numbers (1.0 fWAR) across 68 games in that role for the A’s in 2023. The team is likely to call upon Soderstrom as soon as he’s deemed ready to face big league pitching, which could lead to an abbreviated stay in the majors for Perez. For now, the veteran backstop will earn 20% of PT while Soderstrom sees a significant reduction in his share of PT across three positions.
––Crumpler

Cleveland Guardians
NEWS: Cleveland announced that 1B Kyle Manzardo has been reassigned to minor league camp.
IMPACT: Low
BHQ SPIN: We had been anticipating Manzardo beginning the year in AAA as the most likely outcome, so we’ve only slightly decreased his projected at-bats, leaving a significant portion in anticipation of a midseason call-up. If Manzardo made the team, he would have split first base and designated hitter duties with Josh Naylor. Instead, the team will likely give Naylor the bulk of time at first base and use a floating designated hitter to try out several options. Rule 5 pick Deyvison De Los Santos may be the immediate beneficiary, but any of the players currently competing for roles in center field and right field (Ramón Laureano, Myles Straw, Will Brennan, Estevan Florial, and Tyler Freeman) could also see increases in at-bats.
–Williams

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