Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. could miss as much as three months with a wrist injury that will likely require surgery. Gregory Bull/Associated Press
PEORIA, Ariz. — All-Star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres likely will need surgery for a broken left wrist and could miss up to three months, General Manager A.J. Preller said on Monday.
Tatis apparently suffered the injury early in the offseason and felt it when he began preparing for spring training, Preller said.
Reports surfaced in December that Tatis suffered scrapes on his hand and knee in a motorcycle accident in his native Dominican Republic.
The injury is a blow to a team that was looking for a fresh start following a brutal late-season collapse that left them with yet another losing record.
Tatis, 23, had a series of injuries to his left shoulder last year, when he still led the NL with 42 home runs in 130 games and finished third in balloting for the NL MVP.
The electrifying Tatis batted .282 with 97 RBI and 25 stolen bases last year. His season also included two trips to the injured list with left shoulder issues and a trip to the COVID-19 injury list.
He signed a $330 million, 14-year contract with the Padres during spring training last year.
BRAVES-ATHLETICS TRADE: Freddie Freeman’s tenure with the Atlanta Braves appears to be over after the World Series champions acquired All-Star first baseman Matt Olson from the Oakland Athletics.
Oakland is getting four players from Atlanta, including young outfielder Cristian Pache.
Freeman was the 2020 NL MVP and a five-time All-Star over 12 seasons with Atlanta, including as a veteran leader on last year’s championship team.
The 32-year-old has been revered by fans and teammates in Georgia. On Sunday, Braves pitcher Charlie Morton said that if Freeman returned, he expected the left-handed slugger would one day have his number retired and his photo plastered across the team’s spring training complex, just like franchise heroes Chipper Jones and Hank Aaron.
Oakland is also getting minor league catcher Shea Langeliers and right-handers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes.
MARINERS-REDS TRADE: Seattle acquired All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker and third baseman Eugenio Suárez from Cincinnati in exchange for a package of players.
The trade gives the Mariners what they coveted for their batting order. They’re getting a left-handed hitter who can play in the outfield and a corner infielder with major power just three seasons removed from hitting 49 home runs.
Seattle is sending pitcher Justin Dunn, outfielder Jake Fraley and top pitching prospect Brandon Williamson and a player to be named to the Reds.
Winker is coming off the best season of his career after hitting .305 with 24 home runs and 71 RBIs. He’s precisely the type of player that Dipoto had said last week he was hoping to add to the lineup.
METS: First baseman Pete Alonso said he was unhurt when his car flipped over in an accident in Tampa on Sunday.
The All-Star slugger said his wife, Haley, was in the car behind his and notified authorities.
“To me this is just really special to be here,” Alonso said Monday. “This is a really special spring training because yesterday was a really close experience to death. My car flipped over probably about three times and a guy ran a red light, T-boned me, and to me I’m just really thankful to be alive. I’m really thankful that I’m healthy. I’m very thankful to be here.
“It’s just anything can happen at any given moment, and I’m just super, super blessed to be here. Hit, took some groundballs, threw, feel normal, feel fine. I’m going to be ready to go for full activity tomorrow. It’s just taking today to do some personal work, like some one-on-one drills. But today I just feel really blessed to be here, not just alive but health as well.”
Alonso was on his way to the Mets’ camp when the accident occurred.
“One thing I was coming here to work, coming to spring training, and the next thing I know I’m kicking my windshield and trying to get out of a flipped-over car. So just really blessed to be here. Thankful nothing’s wrong. Also, thank you, Ford, for having great engineering,” he said.
The accident occurred around 6:30 p.m. Tampa police said the other driver was issued a citation for running a red light, and the crash remains under investigation.
• Ace Jacob deGrom said he intends to exercise his right to opt out of his contract to become a free agent after the season. He would give up a $30.5 million salary for 2023, including $12 million deferred, part of a deal that carries a $32.5 million club option for 2024, of which $15 million would be deferred.
The 33-year-old right-hander, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, said he wants to remain with the Mets.
“For me, I don’t want that to be any distraction,” he said. “I’m excited about this team, and I’ve said it before, I love being a Met, think it would be really cool to be one for my entire career. But the plan is to exercise that option and be in constant contact in the offseason with the Mets and Steve Cohen and the front office.”
• The Mets added an experienced arm to their bullpen, signing Adam Ottavino to a $4 million, one-year contract.
The veteran right-hander can earn another $1 million in performance bonuses.
Ottavino, who grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in New York City during previous offseasons, returns to pitch for a hometown team again. He spent 2019-20 with the Yankees before they traded him to Boston, where he went 7-3 with a 4.21 ERA and 11 saves in 69 appearances last year. He struck out 71 and walked 35 in 62 innings, then became a free agent.
The 36-year-old Ottavino, who features a sharp-breaking slider, is 32-31 with a 3.60 ERA and 30 saves in 11 major league seasons with the Cardinals, Rockies, Yankees and Red Sox.
He joins a Mets bullpen that includes closer Edwin Diaz, setup man Trevor May and versatile right-hander Seth Lugo.
YANKEES: Josh Donaldson called out new teammate Gerrit Cole last season for possible use of unauthorized grip aides but both now say they are united on bringing the New York Yankees their first World Series title since 2009.
The Yankees acquired Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and backup catcher Ben Rortvedt from the Minnesota Twins on Sunday night for catcher Gary Sanchez and third baseman Gio Urshela,
Donaldson suggested last June that Cole, the Yankees’ ace, had been trying to hide the use of the grip aides.
The 2015 AL MVP and Cole met with New York Manager Aaron Boone before the Yankees’ first spring training workout Monday.
“In the end, I think it’s going to be a nonissue,’ Boone said. “I think it already is buried and a nonissue, not to say it wasn’t a real issue last year for us. But I feel really good about those two guys, and I think both those guys understand the clubhouse culture we try and create.”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman called Cole before the trade was announced, saying he owed him the call after last year’s talk. Cole called the conversion with Donaldson “productive.”
“If you’re committed to winning a championship, this kind of stuff doesn’t matter,” Cole said. “I don’t think there was anything that needed to really be squared away, Just a little bit of listening from both sides, and getting to know a new teammate.”
Donaldson said it was a good session.
“We were just having a conversion because obviously there was a big stink that was made out of it last year, right?” Donaldson said. “I think both sides wanted to be able to meet and address the issue that was at hand as far as just hearing one another, and ultimately leading us back to our goals. Our goal is to win. Both of us are in the same clubhouse now, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
WHITE SOX: Chicago added pitching depth, agreed to a $17 million, two-year contract with reliever Joe Kelly and a $3 million, one-year deal with Vince Velasquez.
The 33-year-old Kelly is due $7 million this season and $9 million in 2023. The White Sox hold a $9.5 million option for 2024 with a $1 million buyout.
The hard-throwing right-hander went 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA and two saves in 48 appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. Kelly is 50-29 with a 3.83 ERA in 365 games and 80 starts over 10 seasons with St. Louis, Boston and the Dodgers. He played on World Series championship teams with the Red Sox in 2013 and Dodgers in 2020, and is 4-3 with a 3.55 ERA in 40 postseason appearances, including five starts.
Velasquez is 31-44 with a 4.95 ERA in 156 games and 127 starts over seven seasons with Houston, Philadelphia and San Diego. The 29-year-old right-hander was 3-9 with a 6.30 ERA in 25 appearances and 21 starts for the Phillies and Padres last year. He was released by Philadelphia on Sept. 14, signed a minor-league contract with San Diego the following day and came up from Triple-A El Paso on Sept. 17.
NATIONALS: Free agent designated hitter Nelson Cruz and Washington have agreed to a one-year, $15 million deal, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press.
The 41-year-old Cruz has 449 career home runs and becomes the first full-time DH to join a National League team since MLB’s new labor deal included a universal designated hitter.
Cruz is returning for an 18th major league season. The slugger hit .265 with 32 home runs and 86 RBI with the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays in 2021.
Cruz gets a $12 million salary this year, and the deal includes a $16 million mutual option for 2023 with a $3 million buyout.
BRAVES: Outfielder Marcell Ozuna says he has addressed teammates and is sorry to fans for an arrest last year on charges of aggravated assault by strangulation and battery after police officers said they witnessed him attacking his wife.
Ozuna returned to the team this week for the first time since his May 29 arrest. He was placed on administrative leave during Major League Baseball’s investigation and missed Atlanta’s World Series championship run last fall.
MLB suspended the 31-year-old retroactively for 20 games under its domestic violence policy in November, allowing him to return for the start of the 2022 season.
“Yeah, I talked to my team,” Ozuna said Monday, the first day of full-squad spring training workouts. “I spoke to my team and said, ‘I’m sorry, I made a mistake.’”
CARDINALS: Catcher Yadier Molina will be a late arrival for what could be his final spring training.
Molina, 39, is heading into his 19th and likely final season with St. Louis. The 10-time All-Star and nine-time Gold Glove winner agreed to a $10 million, one-year deal in August.
“I don’t have any details other than he had reached out to me a few days ago just saying that he was going to be delayed for personal issues,” St. Louis President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak said Monday. “I said that’s fine. I do hope to talk to him in the next few days to get a little clarity.”
DODGERS: Sandy Koufax is set to join fellow Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson with a bronze statue at Dodger Stadium.
The Los Angeles Dodgers said the unveiling will be June 18 before the team hosts Cleveland. The first 40,000 fans will receive a replica statue.
Koufax’s statue had been scheduled to be unveiled in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed those plans.
ORIOLES: The Baltimore Orioles have signed catcher Robinson Chirinos to a one-year contract.
Chirinos, 37, returns to the American League after playing 45 games for the Chicago Cubs last season. He hit .227 with five home runs.
RANGERS: The Texas Rangers signed free-agent outfielder Jake Marisnick, right-handed reliever Brandon Workman and lefty Matt Moore to minor league contracts that include invitations to big-league spring training.
Texas also formally announced the signing of left-handed starter Martin Perez, who last week agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract pending the completion of a physical.
Marisnick has a .228 career batting average with 61 homers in 800 major-league games. He’s spent his nine seasons with Miami (2013-14), Houston (2014-19), the New York Mets (2020), the Chicago Cubs and San Diego. He split last season with the Cubs and Padres, hitting .216 with five homers and 24 RBI.
Moore was 2-4 with a 6.29 ERA in 24 games (13 starts) last season for Philadelphia. The left-hander has a 56-60 record with a 4.64 ERA over 10 big-league seasons with five teams, including Texas in 2018. He has started 165 of his 205 major league games and was an AL All-Star in 2013 with Tampa Bay.
Workman was 1-2 with a 5.46 ERA over 29 relief appearances last season, which started with the Cubs before a two-month stint in Boston that ended with him designated for assignment July 29 and then becoming a free agent. In 2019 for the Red Sox, Workman was 10-1 with a career-high 16 saves and 1.88 ERA while holding opposing batters to a .123 average. The 32-year-old reliever was born in Arlington, Texas, and pitched at the University of Texas.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.