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Life comes at you fast. After spending months at the epicenter of omnipresent trade rumors, Manaea finally switched clubhouses Sunday morning after being jettisoned to the Padres and proceeded to record four strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings against his former Athletics teammates. The 30-year-old lefty, who is entering his final season before free agency, compiled a strong 3.91 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 194/41 K/BB ratio across 179 innings (32 starts) last year in Oakland. He’ll bolster San Diego’s formidable starting rotation and is a borderline top-50 fantasy starter moving forward.
An extreme lack of starting pitching depth last year, fueled by an onslaught of injuries to several rotation anchors, led to multiple calamitous appearances from a fully-washed Jake Arrieta and incredibly erratic Vince Velasquez as the Padres’ postseason hopes evaporated during a stunning second-half collapse. Injuries may have been at the epicenter of the free-fall, but the lack of reliable depth came back to haunt San Diego and appears to be the driving force behind their decision to further stabilize the back-end of their starting rotation. With just a few days left before Opening Day, Manaea is set to join a fully-loaded rotation featuring Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell and Nick Martinez. Even if injuries strike again, they have top prospects like MacKenzie Gore, Ryan Weathers and Adrian Morejon as potential break-glass alternatives. It’s also worth mentioning that former top prospect Chris Paddack remains with the organization, at least for the moment.
The rebuilding Athletics have torn their major-league roster down to the studs in recent weeks and managed to secure a pair of intriguing prospects – Euribiel Angeles and Adrian Martinez – in exchange for their front-of-the-rotation southpaw. Angeles, a 19-year-old middle infielder who has yet to reach the upper minors, represents the clear headliner in the deal. He posted a stellar .330/.392/.445 triple-slash line with 36 extra-base hits (four homers) and 19 stolen bases across 491 plate appearances last year between Single-A Lake Elsinore and High-A Fort Wayne in his full-season debut. He’s several hyperspace jumps away from the majors, but he has the potential to be one of the core building blocks of Oakland’s long-term rebuilding effort. Meanwhile, Martinez is on the precipice of helping out at the big-league level after reaching Triple-A last year. The 25-year-old righty, who was added to the Padres’ 40-man roster last November, registered a solid 3.38 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 122/41 K/BB ratio across 125 innings between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso last season. Clearly, the Athletics are light years from contention, but they’ve managed to secure several intriguing lottery tickets as they embark on their full-scale teardown.
White Sox Lose Lynn To Knee Surgery
With Opening Day less than a week away, the White Sox’ starting rotation will be without veteran ace Lance Lynn for the foreseeable future. Chicago general manager Rick Hahn told reporters Sunday evening that the 34-year-old workhorse, who posted a sparkling 2.69 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 176/45 K/BB ratio across 157 innings (28 starts) last year, will undergo surgery to repair a slight tear in his right knee tendon. He’s expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks before being cleared to resume a throwing program and will likely require a few additional weeks to build up his stamina and pitch count before rejoining the White Sox’ rotation. There’s no definitive timetable for his return at the moment, but it sounds like he’ll be sidelined until at least late May, at the earliest. Barring a last-minute trade acquisition, either Vince Velasquez or Reynaldo Lopez would be the logical choices to fill the void. It’s a significant loss for the White Sox and fantasy managers on the precipice of the regular season.
American League Quick Hits: White Sox acquired C Reese McGuire from the Blue Jays for C Zack Collins. … Yankees acquired RHP Miguel Castro from the Mets for LHP Joely Rodriguez. … Xander Bogaerts has been held out of Grapefruit League action since last Wednesday due to general body soreness. … Frankie Montas has been named the Athletics’ Opening Day starter. … Julio Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with a solo homer and Jarred Kelenic clobbered a two-run homer in the Mariners’ victory over the Royals. … Rafael Devers crushed a three-run homer in the Red Sox’ victory over the Braves. … George Springer walloped a two-run homer in the Blue Jays’ win over the Yankees. … Jeremy Pena launched two homers and plated four runs in the Astros’ loss to the Nationals. … Spencer Torkelson, Akil Baddoo and Victor Reyes homered in the Tigers’ loss to the Phillies. … Sean Murphy went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer in the Athletics’ win over the Padres. … Wander Franco went 3-for-3 with three runs scored in the Rays’ lopsided win over the Pirates. … Miguel Sano went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and three RBI in the Twins’ blowout victory over the Orioles. … Josh Donaldson went 2-for-3 with a solo homer in the Yankees’ loss to the Blue Jays. … Noah Syndergaard recorded seven strikeouts over five innings against the Dodgers … Sonny Gray registered six strikeouts over four perfect innings against the Orioles. … Justin Verlander recorded five strikeouts over five innings against the Nationals. … Lucas Giolito was shelled for five runs (four earned) over 4 2/3 innings against the Rockies. … Jon Gray recorded six strikeouts over four innings against the Brewers. … Nick Pivetta racked up six strikeouts and yielded one run over five innings against the Braves. … Drew Rasmussen posted six strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings against the Pirates. … Logan Gilbert was charged with three runs (two earned) over 3 1/3 innings against the Royals. … Casey Mize allowed three runs over 4 1/3 innings against the Phillies. … Daniel Lynch yielded two runs over four innings against the Mariners.
National League Quick Hits: Marlins acquired RHP Cole Sulser and LHP Tanner Scott from the Orioles. ... Braves purchased the contract of RHP Darren O’Day from Triple-A Gwinnett and placed RHP Luke Jackson on the 60-day injured list. ... Padres optioned LHP Ryan Weathers to Triple-A El Paso. … Sandy Alcantara has been named the Marlins’ Opening Day starter … Madison Bumgarner has been named the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day starter. … JT Brubaker has been named the Pirates’ Opening Day starter. … Freddie Freeman was scratched from the Dodgers’ starting lineup Sunday due to illness. … Mike Clevinger was scratched from Sunday’s Cactus League start against the Athletics with knee soreness. … Bryce Harper launched two homers in the Phillies’ win over the Tigers. … Matt Olson clobbered a solo homer in the Braves’ loss to the Red Sox. … Joey Votto went 3-for-4 with a solo homer and two RBI in the Reds’ blowout win over the Diamondbacks. … Keibert Ruiz went 4-for-5 with a two-run homer and three RBI in the Nationals’ victory over the Astros. … Robinson Cano went 4-for-4 with an RBI in the Mets’ win over the Marlins. … Jorge Alfaro went 3-for-4 in the Padres’ loss to the Athletics. … Joey Wendle collected three hits in the Marlins’ loss to the Mets. … Walker Buehler surrendered five runs over five innings against the Angels. … Brandon Woodruff was charged with five runs (four earned) over five innings against the Rangers. … Aaron Nola struck out nine batters over 5 1/3 innings against the Tigers. … Pablo Lopez was charged with six runs (five earned) over 3 2/3 innings against the Mets. … Chris Bassitt allowed four runs over five innings against the Marlins. … Josiah Gray posted six strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings against the Astros. … Mitch Keller allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings against the Rays … Huascar Ynoa was charged with five runs (two earned) over 4 2/3 innings against the Red Sox. … Kyle Wright recorded six strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings against the Red Sox. … Nick Lodolo yielded two ruins over four innings against the Diamondbacks. … Dodgers reassigned DH Jake Lamb to minor league camp. … Marlins designated RHP Nick Neidert for assignment and also released OF Delino DeShields.