Joba Chamberlain made his first relief appearance since being named a member of the Yankees’ bullpen — and not their starting rotation — during Saturday’s spring game against the Tigers. He threw a scoreless inning, allowing two hits but also racking up a strikeout. The 24-year-old had a 14.09 ERA and a 2.48 WHIP over his first 7 2/3 innings of Grapefruit League play and officially lost the Yanks’ final rotation spot to Phil Hughes this week. Chamberlain had a 2.84 ERA and a 7/1 K/BB ratio in 6 1/3 innings out of the bullpen during last year’s playoffs and should do well in a setup role this season.
Rangers don’t plan to make qualifying offer to Adrián Beltré
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Rangers GM Jon Daniels said he doesn’t expect the club to make a $17.9 million qualifying offer to free agent third baseman Adrián Beltré, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports. Daniels has been in touch with the 39-year-old, who may retire.
Beltré battled hip and hamstring issues throughout the past season, limiting him to 119 games. He hit .273/.328/.434 with 15 home runs and 65 RBI in 481 plate appearances. Going by adjusted OPS, his mark of 98 — 100 is average — was his lowest in a season since 2009 with the Mariners. Beltré’s career average is 116 and he put up a 132 in 2017 and 128 in ’16.
Beltré appears to have some stuff left in the tank. He may not be an All-Star-caliber player anymore, but he can still hit at an average level and he is still an above-average defender. It’s just a matter of his body holding up to allow him to do what he needs to do. If Beltré does decide to re-up with the Rangers for 2019, the club will be prepared to move Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Jurickson Profar over to the hot corner as they did in 2018 in the event Beltré gets bitten by the injury bug.
