NL East

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper will undergo elbow surgery Nov. 23, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters Wednesday.

Don’t let Tommy John freak you out. It doesn’t mean Harper would miss 2023. Shohei Ohtani had Tommy John surgery on Oct. 1, 2018. He returned to DH for the Angels on May 7, 2019.

— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) November 16, 2022

Harper, who also suffered a broken thumb that kept him out for a chunk of the Phillies' regular season, initially suffered a UCL tear in May. He was limited to designated hitting duties as the Phillies made an improbable push to the World Series.

In 99 regular-season games, Harper slashed .286/.364/.514 and posted 18 home runs and 65 RBI.

He was more prolific in the postseason, slashing .349/.414/.746 with six home runs and 13 RBI.

Should Harper miss time to start the season, Nick Castellanos would presumably slot back into right field, while Brandon Marsh holds down center and Kyle Schwarber plays left.

Terry Francona of the Cleveland Guardians and Buck Showalter of the New York Mets took home top honors in the Manager of the Year voting announced on Tuesday.

Francona beat out Brandon Hyde of the Baltimore Orioles and Scott Servais of the Seattle Mariners for the American League award. It's the third time he's been named Manager of the Year with the Guardians (2013, 2016).

Oh, captain! Our captain!

Terry Francona has been named American League Manager of the Year for the 3rd time in his Hall of Fame career.#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/AqinuSWyZF

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) November 15, 2022

Terry Francona has been Manager of the Year in 3 of his 10 seasons in Cleveland. That's 30% by my math.

— Anthony Castrovince (@castrovince) November 15, 2022

Francona received 17 of 30 first-place votes and 112 total points. Hyde, who led the Orioles to a surprise 83-79 record, finished second with 79 points (nine first-place votes). Servais finished third thanks to his second- and third-place votes that gave him 43 points.

Houston Astros skipper Dusty Baker finished ahead of Servais in first-place votes (three to one), but he was only named on a total of 13 ballots. Servais was named on 23 ballots.

Expectations were understandably muted for the Guardians coming into 2022. They were coming off an 80-82 record in 2021, had the youngest roster in MLB the third-lowest payroll this season.

The steady hand of Francona, as well as breakout seasons for some of those young players, resulted in Cleveland winning the AL Central for the first time since 2018. Andrés Giménez and Emmanuel Clase joined veteran superstar José Ramírez as All-Stars this year.

Steven Kwan finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting and won the AL Gold Glove award for his contributions in left field.

The Guardians' young roster included 16 rookies who made their big-league debut in 2022. Despite all of their inexperience, they rarely looked overmatched on the field. Their season came to an end with a five-game loss to the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series.

Francona led MLB's youngest team to 92 wins and the ALCS. He did it by investing/believing in his players and adapting his team's play style to his roster's strengths. He has already had a HOF career, but it may be his best managerial work yet.

He should win Manager of the Year.

— Guardians of The Land (@OurCLEGuardians) November 15, 2022

Francona did start talking about the end of his managerial career because of a series of health issues that kept him out of the dugout for most of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

"When the day comes that losses don't affect you," Francona told reporters shortly after Cleveland's season ended, "then it's probably time to hang it up. I'm not there."

The Guardians' success in 2022 and potential to keep improving next season appears to have given Francona a new lease on things. The AL's best manager will look to get his team over the hump in 2023.

Showalter joins Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox as the only managers in MLB history to win Manager of the Year four different times. He previously won in 1994 with the New York Yankees, in 2004 with the Texas Rangers and in 2014 with the Baltimore Orioles.

Your 2022 NL Manager of the Year! 👏 pic.twitter.com/d8Yvst8C9f

— New York Mets (@Mets) November 16, 2022

The first manager to win the award in 4 separate decades. The first Mets manager to win the award.

Congrats to Buck Showalter on being named 2022 NL Manager of the Year! 👏 pic.twitter.com/8eyvyctIWo

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) November 16, 2022

Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves and Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers were the other finalists from the senior circuit. All three managers came from teams that won at least 101 games during the regular season.

Voting was incredibly tight, with each of the top three finishers receiving at least seven first-place votes. Showalter pulled ahead with 10 second-place votes and seven third-place votes.

Roberts only had nine total second- and third-place votes. Snitker received five votes each for second and third place, but he had to settle for third place overall because Roberts had one more first-place vote (eight to seven).

Buck Showalter wins his first NL Manager of the Year award to go along with his three from the AL. As in the AL, no manager appeared on all 30 ballots. The full vote: pic.twitter.com/AVPVP7X5fb

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 16, 2022

This is the first time a Mets manager has ever been honored as the NL's top skipper.

As has been the case throughout his managerial career, Showalter immediately stepped in and turned around a franchise lacking a consistent organizational vision. He's only had eight losing seasons in 21 years as a manager.

"He loves to point out other teams messing up, I'll tell you that," Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt told The Athletic's Andy McCullough and Ken Rosenthal in May. "It's everything—rundowns, cutoffs, relays, everything. He's like, 'Listen, this wins and loses you ballgames. This is how we're going to do it. We're going to do it the right way.' Not always the easiest way. But he wants you busting your butt and doing everything the right way."

Showalter got the Mets to do things the right way. They were starting from a position of power with the highest payroll in MLB after signing Max Scherzer and Starling Marte.

But Mets fans saw in 2021 what can happen when there is a lack of direction and organizational philosophy when the team collapsed in the second half of 2021 under Luis Rojas.

Things got so bad at one point in 2021 that Mets players were mocking the home fans for how they reacted to the team's struggles.

Congrats to Buck Showalter, who has won NL Manager of the Year. Of all the moves the Mets made last off-season, the most critical one was putting Buck in charge. He changed so much about how the team played and operated. It’s hard to overstate the significance of the hire.

— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) November 16, 2022

Congratulations to Mets manager Buck Showalter on winning the 2022 NL Manager of the Year

He absolutely changed the culture here and led the Mets to only their 4th 100+ win season in team history. He also led them to a 24 win improvement from 2021

— Joe DeMayo (@PSLToFlushing) November 16, 2022

With Showalter at the helm and better injury luck, the Mets led the NL East for most of the season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Even though New York's season came to an early end with a loss to the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card series, Showalter's managerial expertise and owner Steve Cohen's deep pockets are going to keep the franchise close to the top of the NL standings in 2023 and beyond.

Facing the possibility of losing Jacob deGrom, the New York Mets are keeping their eyes on other top-tier starting pitchers available in free agency.

Per SNY.tv's Andy Martino, the Mets are "considering" making a run at Justin Verlander and plan to pursue Japanese star Koudai Senga.

Martino noted the Mets front office has been floating the idea of signing Verlander to a short-term deal with a high annual salary, similar to Max Scherzer's deal, for months.

Even though Martino did say the Mets remain engaged with deGrom's camp, there does appear to be significant interest in the two-time National League Cy Young winner from other teams.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported last week the Texas Rangers have interest in the top of the free-agent pitching market, including deGrom and Carlos Rodón.

The Rangers seem poised to make a big splash in free agency for the second successive year. They signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray to deals totaling $556 million, but the team still finished 68-94 in large part because its rotation was one of the worst in MLB.

Texas was previously linked to Clayton Kershaw, but The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported the left-hander is nearing a one-year deal to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Verlander and deGrom are in somewhat similar positions this offseason. Both players come with injury concerns, but their short-term upside is so huge it could completely transform a rotation.

Injuries have limited deGrom to 156.1 innings over the past two seasons combined. The right-hander did pitch well in 11 starts this season with a 3.08 ERA and 102 strikeouts.

Verlander is the favorite to win his third career American League Cy Young award. He led MLB with a 1.75 ERA and 0.83 WHIP in 175 innings during the 2022 regular season after missing all of last year following Tommy John surgery.

Senga, 29, has spent 11 seasons pitching for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Nippon Professional Baseball. He has a 2.59 ERA with 1,252 strikeouts in 1,089 innings in 224 NPB games.

The Mets seem like they are going to be aggressive this offseason after winning 101 games in 2022. They lost to the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card series.

The Atlanta Braves signed Ronald Acuña Jr. to an eight-year, $100 million contract extension in April 2019, and the right fielder reportedly will not be traded.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Monday that the National League East team is "not considering" dealing the 24-year-old.

"While the club, as a matter of policy, does not award no-trade clauses, a player who signs an extension does it with the implicit understanding he will not be traded," Rosenthal wrote. "Obviously, things can change—a player, for example, eventually might want out. But if the Braves break the trust they've created internally, players will become more resistant to the extensions that have positioned the team for long-term success."

While Acuña's résumé includes the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year Award, three All-Star selections and two Silver Slugger Awards, durability is something of a concern after he tore his right ACL last season.

He played just 82 games in 2021 and missed Atlanta's run to the World Series title, and then he appeared in 119 games in 2022. He posted solid numbers with a .266/.351/.413 slash line, 15 home runs, 50 RBI and 29 stolen bases, but he was unable to replicate his head-turning numbers from his first and only full season in 2019.

Acuña finished that year with a .280/.365/.518 slash line, 41 home runs, 101 RBI, 37 stolen bases and 127 runs. The final two figures marked NL bests and hinted at a bright future.

His absence has dampened some of that enthusiasm, but there is still reason to think Acuña will be a major part of the Braves' core for the foreseeable future.

A trade would change that calculus, but it doesn't seem like one will happen.

If Jacob deGrom doesn't return to the New York Mets next season, don't expect him to join the team's National League East rival in Atlanta.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, it is "highly unlikely" the Braves will sign the right-hander or add a shortstop other than potentially re-signing their own Dansby Swanson.

"The Braves are reluctant to enter into a deal with any player who takes up too high a percentage of their payroll, knowing in future seasons the salaries of their young players will rise," Rosenthal wrote.

Atlanta has a solid rotation with Max Fried, Kyle Wright and Spencer Strider leading the way, but deGrom would be quite the addition.

When healthy, it is hard to find a better pitcher in the league than the nine-year veteran. His resume includes a National League Rookie of the Year, two NL Cy Young awards, an ERA title and four All-Star selections.

Yet there is an element of risk that comes with signing him, especially since he will surely command a major salary as one of the top prizes on the free agency market.

After all, deGrom is 34 years old and coming off two injury-marred campaigns. DeGrom started just 11 games in 2022 and 15 in 2021, which is a far cry from the durability he showed earlier in his career.

Not counting the shortened 2020 season, deGrom started at least 22 games every year of his career since he entered the league in 2014. That included a stretch of four seasons with 30 or more starts, including when he posted a league-best 1.70 ERA in 2018.

There was also something of a dropoff, even in a limited sample size in 2022, as he posted a 3.08 ERA compared to the 1.08 mark he had the prior season.

From the Braves' perspective, it seems they are focused on keeping their young core together after winning the 2021 World Series and reaching the playoffs for the fifth straight time this past year.

Giving deGrom a significant deal could limit some of the financial flexibility to keep that core in place, so Atlanta fans may need to look elsewhere if they are looking for an offseason addition.

The Miami Marlins have promoted Caroline O’Connor to president of business operations.

Continuing to advance to new levels. 📈

Congratulations, Caroline! pic.twitter.com/jCROM4hc2T

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) November 14, 2022

O'Connor is the second woman to serve as president of a Major League Baseball team, following Catie Griggs of the Seattle Mariners, but the Marlins are the first major U.S. sports franchise to have women as both president and general manager.

Miami hired Kim Ng as GM in 2020, and she became the first woman to hold the position in one of the four major sports leagues.

"When I talk to young girls, I really like them to see me in my role because I didn’t feel like I had that role model," O'Connor said, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. "And I want people to see themselves when they see me and know that it is a possibility."

O'Connor has been with the Marlins since 2017, working as the chief operating officer since 2019.

She is expected to oversee all of the club's business operations, including sales and marketing.

"Her leadership will continue to guide the Marlins organization toward our goal of sustained success while strategizing additional new ventures to grow our business and enhance our brand recognition," owner Bruce Sherman said.

Derek Jeter, who hired O'Connor, stepped down as the organization's CEO in February.

The Marlins will look to O'Connor and Ng to help a team coming off back-to-back losing seasons.

The New York Mets made one of the first, and most important, moves of the Major League Baseball offseason by signing Edwin Díaz to a long-term deal.

Some of New York's focus should turn to the trade market to add help for Díaz and even bolster the starting rotation that could lose Jacob deGrom in free agency.

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi, the Mets are among a few teams that are interested in the available pitching that the Tampa Bay Rays have on their roster.

Sources: Mets, Cubs, and Reds have been in touch with the #Rays about their available pitching. The Angels have shown interest, too, as previously reported. @MLBNetwork @MLB https://t.co/WToEdP5PYf

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 14, 2022

Tampa Bay is notorious for trading some of its top talents, and it already made one deal this offseason by shipping Ji-Man Choi to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The most notable name on the Tampa Bay roster is Tyler Glasnow, but he would require a large return of prospects. The Mets have a slew of prospects, led by catcher Francisco Álvarez, ready to hit the majors in 2023, and it may not be wise for the front office to trade away some of their top young players in this instance.

The best approach to trading with the Rays could be to go after their bullpen arms to add help in front of Edwin Díaz ahead of the expected fight between the Mets, Atlanta and Philadelphia in the National League East.

Jason Adam, Brooks Raley, Shawn Armstrong and Pete Fairbanks could be available for a lower cost. The Mets could add one or two of them to the bullpen and it would make that unit better going into 2023.

New York could even go after Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs or Ryan Yarbrough to build up depth at the back end of the rotation, or for the fifth and sixth innings to bridge the gap between starters and the top bullpen arms.

As of Monday morning, the Mets have Max Scherzer, Carlos Carrasco, Tylor Megill and David Peterson on the 40-man roster as potential starters. They may be better off chasing a starter in free agency than sending a mix of top prospects to Tampa Bay for Glasnow.

There are only three left-handed arms on the current 40-man roster. The Mets could call up the Rays to look at Springs, Raley or Colin Poche to balance out their pitching staff a bit.

Raley, who had a 2.68 ERA in 2022, has some playoff experience from his two seasons in Houston. He had 61 strikeouts to 15 walks in his 53.2 innings of work in the regular season.

Poche is a younger bullpen option than Raley. He produced 64 strikeouts in 58.2 innings, but he also walked 22 batters and had a 3.99 ERA.

Springs could be a back-end starter, a role that Yarbrough and Drew Rasmussen could also fill if the Mets pursue an addition to their starting rotation.

Both Springs and Rasmussen threw over 135 innings and struck out over 120 batters in 2022. They would be capable of filling a No. 4 or No. 5 starter role that could help the Mets overtake the Braves and Phillies on pitching depth.

The word "depth" is vital to the Mets' approach this offseason. They need to have depth behind Scherzer in the rotation and in support of Díaz in the bullpen.

Tampa Bay has a plethora of available arms who could help the Mets with that, and they may not come at expensive prices. A mid-tier prospect or two would be worth the deal for one pitcher, or the Mets could package some promising prospects to bring in multiple arms from the Rays.

A trade with Tampa Bay is one of the many avenues the Mets should explore, and it could become even more important to add pitching depth in a deal with the American League East squad if deGrom bolts in free agency.

The Philadelphia Phillies are aiming high in their quest to find an upgrade at shortstop in free agency.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the reigning National League champions are believed to have "real interest" in four-time All-Star Xander Bogaerts.

Bogaerts could be a fallback plan because the Phillies have been heavily linked to Trea Turner. Bogaerts became a free agent by opting out of the final three years and $60 million remaining on his deal with the Boston Red Sox.

Appearing on 97.5 The Fanatic earlier this week (h/t John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia), The Athletic's Jayson Stark said there have been "some interesting rumblings" that Turner wants to be in Philadelphia.

While both players will carry expensive price tags this offseason, Bogaerts could be more appealing to the Phillies because he may not cost as much as Turner. He is eight months older and has seen his power decline in each of the past three seasons.

Since posting a career-high slugging percentage in 2019 (.555), Bogaerts' power output has dropped by nearly 100 points to .456 this past season. He remains one of the best pure hitters at shortstop, posting a .307 average and .377 on-base percentage in 2022.

Boston's key decision-makers, including chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and general manager Brian O'Halloran, told reporters this week their top priority is re-signing Bogaerts.

It's not a surprise the Phillies will likely want to get involved in the Bogaerts sweepstakes. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has built a career on signing marquee players in free agency.

The Phillies only have $140.2 million in guaranteed salary commitments on their books for next season.

Bryson Stott was Philadelphia's primary shortstop in 2022. The 25-year-old rookie was used primarily for his defense. He only hit .234/.295/.358 with 10 homers and 49 RBI in 127 games.

The Philadelphia Phillies fell short in the World Series, but they may have another superstar on their roster as they attempt to reach the sport's biggest stage again next season.

"There's some interesting rumblings that he wants to be here," Jayson Stark of The Athletic said of free-agent shortstop Trea Turner during an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic.

Turner is part of a loaded free-agency class at shortstop that also features Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson as the headliners.

Philadelphia potentially being interested in one of them doesn't come as much of a surprise considering it reached the World Series largely relying on Bryson Stott and utility man Edmundo Sosa at the position.

They can each be solid players but don't exactly inspire the same level of fear in opposing pitchers as Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins and Nick Castellanos do as part of a powerful lineup.

Upgrading at shortstop by adding Turner to that group would be daunting to the rest of the National League East.

The 29-year-old's resume includes two All-Star selections, the 2019 World Series title when he was a member of the Washington Nationals and the 2021 batting title when he hit .328 across 148 games for the Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers.

He spent the 2022 campaign in Los Angeles and slashed .298/.343/.466 with 21 home runs, 100 RBI and 27 stolen bases as a multi-tool player who can impact the game a number of ways. Turner can also play a serviceable shortstop and has been responsible for a combined nine defensive runs saved above average throughout his career, per FanGraphs.

Turner will be a highly coveted free agent this offseason, but a desire to join the Phillies would surely help the reigning National League champions in their pursuit.

Miami Marlins right-hander Pablo López is available in trade discussions this offseason, per MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

Miami nearly dealt López to the New York Yankees at the Aug. 2 trade deadline for a package that included Gleyber Torres, according to Heyman. It's unclear if the Pinstripes have reengaged the Marlins in negotiations.

López has spent his entire five-year career with the Marlins and put together an impressive 2022 campaign, finishing 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 174 strikeouts in 180 innings across 32 starts.

The 26-year-old has been consistent over his career. He has started 94 games since 2018, posting a 3.94 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 489 strikeouts across 510 innings.

In addition, López is under team control through 2024 with two seasons of arbitration eligibility before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2025. With his consistent play and the term on his contract, he is a prime trade candidate this winter.

The Marlins desperately need hitters after batting .230 in 2022, tied for the third-lowest average in baseball. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics were worse.

With a rotation that includes Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Rogers, Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett, the Fish can afford to lose López in order to acquire a bat to put alongside Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz.

The Marlins had a rough 2022 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs for the 18th time in 19 seasons after finishing 69-93, fourth in the NL East. Bringing in at least one more hitter should be a priority.

However, it's unclear who the club might target.

Some good hitters are available on the free-agent market, including Anthony Rizzo, Josh Bell, Jean Segura and Xander Bogaerts. It remains to be seen whether Miami, which had a $96.3 million payroll in 2022—the fifth-lowest in baseball—would be willing to spend the kind of money it would take to bring in a marquee hitter.