Tag Archives: Trevor Story

Boston Red Sox Acquire Adalberto Mondesi from Kansas City Royals

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Adalberto Mondesi is seeing red (sox)…

The 27-year-old Dominican American professional baseball shortstop has been acquired by the Boston Red Sox from the Kansas City Royals for left-handed reliever Josh Taylor, providing middle-infield depth to buttress losses this winter to free agency and injury.

Adalberto Mondesi The Red Sox also will be receiving a player to be named or cash considerations as part of the deal.

The Red Sox also officially announced their one-year contract with outfielder Adam Duvall and designated right-handed reliever Matt Barnes for assignment in a corresponding move. The 32-year-old Barnes, who has spent his entire nine-season major league career with the Red Sox, was 0-4 with four saves and a 4.31 ERA last season.

Mondesi, whose star-level tools made him a top prospect but whose inability to stay healthy has limited him to 358 games in seven seasons, is recovering from a torn ACL in his left knee. Boston lost shortstop Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres and second baseman Trevor Story to internal bracing surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, leaving a significant middle-infield gap.

Enrique Hernandez, who has played center field for the Red Sox over the past two seasons, is expected to take over at shortstop, where he has played 100 career games.

Mondesi has spent most of his career at shortstop, though he has dabbled at second and third base in the past. He will make $3.045 million this season.

Kansas City once saw Mondesi as a foundational player in its rebuild, and he looked the part in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, hitting for power and stealing 75 bases with his elite speed. For him to be packaged with a player to be named later and return only a reliever illustrates how far Mondesi’s stock has fallen. Over his seven seasons, Mondesi’s career line is .244/.280/.408 with 38 home runs and 133 stolen bases.

Taylor, 29, has been effective in his two full seasons with the Red Sox but missed all of 2022 with a back injury.

In 2021, he struck out 60 in 47⅔ innings, walked 23 and allowed only two home runs. Taylor, who has thrown multiple bullpen sessions recently and is expected to be healthy in time for spring training, will join Aroldis Chapman — who recently signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal — Amir Garrett and perhaps Angel Zerpa as left-handers in the Royals’ bullpen.

Kansas City might not be done dealing, either. Earlier in the week, it traded center fielder Michael A. Taylor to Minnesota, and sources told ESPN the Royals have spoken with teams about utilityman Hunter Dozier — who’s owed $17.25 million over the next two seasons — and infielder Nicky Lopez, who had a WAR of 4.2 in 2021.

Josh Rojas Ends Home Run Drought with Three Home Runs

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Josh Rojas is officially on fire…

The 27-year-old Latino professional baseball star and Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman, who had yet to record a home run this season, hit three of them Friday afternoon in a 10-6 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Josh RojasIn the process, Rojas became the 13th player in team history to accomplish the feat.

“This was a pretty good feeling, especially coming into the game with zero and leaving with three,” Rojas said. “It’s a pretty awesome feeling.”

It was the first three-homer game of Rojas’ career. He’s the fourth player to go deep three times in a game this season, joining Boston Red Sox‘s Trevor Story, the New York Yankees‘ Anthony Rizzo and Toronto Blue Jays‘ Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

He took advantage of the friendly hitting conditions at Wrigley Field, as the wind was blowing at 25 mph.

“I went out during batting practice and I knew it was blowing out pretty hard,” Rojas said. “I knew it would be a good day to put the ball in the air.”

Rojas, 27, homered off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks in the third and fifth innings, then hit one off reliever Mychal Givens in the seventh. He is the second player in Diamondbacks history to tally his first three home runs of a season in the same game, joining Erubiel Durazo in 2002.

Rojas admitted he tried to hit a home run in his first at-bat but popped out; then, after hitting three home runs in his next three plate appearances, he once again attempted to hit one out and instead was called out on strikes.

“First at-bat I was trying to hit a homer,” Rojas said with a smile. “It didn’t work out … I was definitely trying to hit a fourth home run, especially with a good lead.”

Said Arizona manager Torey Lovullo: “When you try to generate, when you try to hit a home run — go back as far as little league — it never happens.”

The Diamondbacks’ seven home runs — the last of which came off the bat of Christian Walker, who leads the National League with 10 — marked the most a team has hit in a game this season.

Arizona left fielder David Peralta homered twice, while Chicago’s Christopher Morel and Ildemaro Vargas went back-to-back in the seventh. By the final out, the Diamondbacks and Cubs had combined to hit 11 home runs, tying the mark for most in a game at Wrigley Field.

It was the fifth game in Wrigley’s history to feature 11 combined home runs, and the first since 2006.

“These days [have] happened here, in this stadium, for a long, long time,” Lovullo said. “No lead is safe.”

Jose Iglesias Agrees to One-Year Contract with Colorado Rockies

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Jose Iglesias is headed to Colorado…

The 32-year-old Cuban professional baseball shortstop has agreed to a one-year contract with the Colorado Rockies, according to The Associated Press.

Jose IglesiasIglesias, who is represented by MVP Sorts Group, will earn $5 million.

Bringing in Iglesias all but shuts the door on a return of free-agent shortstop Trevor Story, who is set to become the latest big-name player to exit the Rockies.

Before the 2021 season, the team traded perennial All-Star and Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Story turned in a 24-homer, 20-steal season in ’21 as the Rockies missed the playoffs for a third straight year.

Iglesias batted .271 last season over 114 games with the Los Angeles Angels and 23 with the Boston Red Sox. He was an MLB All-Star in 2015 while a member of the Detroit Tigers.

Iglesias, who made his debut in Major League Baseball in 2011, has also played with the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles during his 10-year-career.

Carlos Correa Looking for Long-Term Contract with Houston Astros

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Carlos Correa is looking for a long-term deal…

The 26-year-old Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop says he’s hoping for a long-term contract with the Houston Astros, but wants to seal any deal before Opening Day.

Carlos Correa

“I feel so good, my body feels so great and I feel like I’m going to have such a great season that once the season starts, I don’t want to be involved with or distracted with those conversations,” said Correa after the Astros held their first full-squad workout of the spring.

The Astros avoided arbitration with Correa, who can become a free agent at the end of the season, by signing him to a one-year, $11.7 million contract.

Correa has spent his entire career with the Astros after they selected him with the first overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft. He said he’d like to stay in Houston, but so far, the team hasn’t talked to him about an extension.

“There’s no talks right now about that,” he said. “Talks are nowhere right now. I leave that up to my agent and the organization, but right now, there’s no talks about it. I haven’t heard from them since the arbitration was settled. That’s where we are right now.”

If Correa does hit the free-agent market, he’ll do it with a strong group of shortstops that could include Javier Báez, Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story and Corey Seager. Correa will be just 27 years old when he’s eligible for free agency if he doesn’t agree to an extension with the Astros.

 

“I’ll be really young. I’ll be one of the youngest players going to free agency next year,” he said. “I feel like it would take the right deal to stay here. I’m not going to sell myself short, but at the same time, I know what I’m worth. … I’m expecting to have a great, healthy season, which will help my case for free agency being the youngest shortstop out there. We’ll see how it goes.”

Houston’s other two stars on the infield have already agreed to long-term contracts — second baseman Jose Altuve signed a five-year, $151 million deal in 2018 and third baseman Alex Bregman agreed to a six-year, $100 million contract in 2019. The Astros lost star outfielder George Springer this offseason when he signed a six-year, $150 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

Correa, who was the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year, is a career .276 hitter with 107 homers and 397 RBIs in six major league seasons. He hit .264 with five homers and 25 RBIs in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but he heated up in the postseason where he had six homers and 17 RBIs to help the Astros to the America League Championship Series.

Ronald Acuña Jr. Receives First-Ever Silver Slugger Award

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It’s a silverfirst for Ronald Acuña Jr.

The 21-year-old Venezuelan Major League Baseball baseball outfielder for the Atlanta Braves has received his first Silver Slugger Award, awarded annually to the best offensive player at each position in both the American League and the National League, as determined by the coaches and managers. 

Ronald Acuna Jr.

For the year, Acuña hit .280/.365/.883, with 127 runs (leading the National League), 41 home runs, and 37 stolen bases (leading the league). He missed the 40–40 club by three stolen bases.

Acuña’s Braves teammates Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies are among the first-time winners on the National League side, along with Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger.

First-timers for the American League are Cleveland Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, New York Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu, Houston Astros infielder Alex Bregman and Minnesota Twins catcher Mitch Garver.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout was awarded his seventh Silver Slugger Award after batting .291 with 45 home runs and 104 RBIs this season.

World Series champion and Washington Nationals slugger Anthony Rendon, a two-time winner, Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich and former Arizona Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke, who was dealt by the D-backs to the Astros at the trade deadline, completed the National League list.

Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz, a three-time winner, Astros outfielder George Springer and Boston Red Sox teammates Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts rounded out the American League winners.

Selections are based on a combination of offensive stats, including batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in addition to the managers’ and coaches’ views of a player’s overall offensive value.