With less than eight weeks remaining until Opening Day, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Hernandez DFA comes due:
Lefty reliever Darwinzon Hernandez was designated for assignment by the Orioles last week, and the conclusion to that is expected sometime today. Hernandez was DFA’d to make room for Cole Irvin on the 40-man roster following his acquisition by Baltimore from the A’s. Hernandez was a rather successful reliever for the Red Sox from 2019-2021, posting a 3.66 ERA (131 ERA+) and 3.85 FIP over 78 2/3 innings, despite walking 17% of his opponents along the way. The lack of command caught up to him in 2022, however, as he walked 18% of his opponents, yielded four long balls and served up 16 runs in just 6 2/3 innings (21.60 ERA).
Those struggles led to the Red Sox DFA Hernandez earlier this offseason, at which point he was claimed off waivers by the Orioles, who now hope to pass Hernandez through waivers themselves. If Hernandez makes it through waivers, Baltimore will be able to assign him outright to Triple-A, where he can serve as bullpen depth for them in 2023.
2. Arbitration for Mariners, Hernandez looms:
Yesterday, the Mariners sorted out two of their three outstanding arbitration cases, with the club winning its arbitration case against righty reliever Diego Castillo in the afternoon before going on to ink utilityman Dylan Moore to a three-year extension in the evening. That leaves one unresolved arbitration case for Seattle, and it’s perhaps the most important one: right fielder Teoscar Hernandez, whom the Mariners acquired from the Blue Jays via trade earlier this offseason. Of players and clubs who exchanged arbitration figures this offseason, Hernandez and Seattle have the largest gap between their asks: $2MM, with Hernandez filing for $16MM and the Mariners countering at $14MM. Hernandez is set to become a free agent following the 2023 season.
3. MLBTR Player Chat today:
MLBTR is excited to continue our player live chat series by welcoming right-hander Scott Feldman, who pitched in 13 MLB seasons. The best years of his career came from 2013-2015, when he pitched to a 3.83 ERA (4.13 FIP) across 77 starts and 470 1/3 innings for the Cubs, Orioles, and Astros. In swapping uniforms from the Cubs to the Orioles ahead of the 2013 trade deadline, Feldman was packaged with Steve Clevenger in exchange for Pedro Strop and future NL Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta. Overall, Feldman pitched to a 4.43 ERA with an identical 4.43 FIP across 1386 1/3 innings and suited up for the Rangers, Cubs, Orioles, Astros, and Reds throughout his time in the big leagues. Be sure to tune in at 10am CST today for Feldman’s live chat, where he will field questions from MLBTR readers!
