Done deal: Phillies trade Jimmy Rollins to Dodgers - MLB

It took a while because the Dodgers needed to trade Matt Kemp to the Padres first, but now their deal to acquire Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies is also official.

Rollins, who waived his no-trade rights to facilitate a move after 15 seasons in Philadelphia, goes to Los Angeles in exchange for left-hander Tom Windle and right-hander Zach Eflin, the latter of whom was acquired from San Diego in the Kemp swap.

Rollins is 36 years old and not many shortstops have remained above-average players at that age, but his defensive numbers were strong in 2014 and he hit .243 with 17 homers and a .717 OPS to rank solidly above par for the position offensively. He’s obviously dropped off him his MVP-winning production in 2007, but Rollins ranked fourth among all MLB shortstops in Wins Above Replacement in 2014.

Windle was a 2013 second-round draft pick, but posted mediocre numbers as at high Single-A as a 23-year-old. Eflin was a first-rounder in 2012 and also spent this past season at high Single-A, although he was just 20 and held his own. It’s not a bad return for the Phillies considering Rollins is expensive, old, and entering the final year of his contract.

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Houston Astros star Jose Altuve had surgery Wednesday on his broken right thumb, an injury that occurred in the World Baseball Classic and will significantly delay the second baseman’s 2023 debut.

The Astros announced that the 32-year-old Altuve had the procedure done in Houston and will stay there to begin his rehabilitation, with only one week left in spring training. The Astros will fly there on Sunday following their final Grapefruit League game in Florida, before playing a pair of exhibitions against their Triple-A team, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, in Texas.

Altuve was hit by a pitch on Saturday while playing for Venezuela in the WBC. He might not be ready to return to the lineup until at least late May. The eight-time All-Star and 2017 American League MVP batted .300 with 103 runs, 28 homers and 18 steals for the World Series champion Astros last season. Mauricio Dubón and David Hensley are the leading candidates to fill in for Altuve at second base.

Altuve isn’t the only Major League Baseball star who was hurt in WBC play, of course. Mets closer Edwin Díaz will miss the 2023 season because of a torn patellar tendon in his right knee as the freak result of an on-field celebration following a WBC win by the Puerto Rico national team.

BROWN DOWN

The Astros also scratched right-hander Hunter Brown from his scheduled start Wednesday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Manager Dusty Baker told reporters that Brown, who is ranked by MLB as the organization’s top prospect and competing for the last spot in the rotation, has discomfort in his lower back.

NOT QUITE READY

The New York Mets sent catcher Francisco Álvarez to Triple-A Syracuse, quashing for now the possibility of putting the prized 21-year-old on the opening day roster.

Álvarez, who made his major league debut with the Mets near the end of last season, had just three hits in 28 at-bats in Grapefruit League exhibition games. Ranked by MLB as the third-best prospect in baseball, Álvarez batted .260 with 27 homers and 78 RBIs in a combined 112 minor league games in 2022 at Double-A and Triple-A.

The Mets have newcomer Omar Narváez, a 2021 All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers, as their primary catcher with Tomás Nido likely to play mostly against left-handed pitchers.

Speaking of the Mets, Díaz turned 29 on Wednesday – a rather subdued milestone for the right-hander considering his situation. Diaz nonetheless posted in Spanish an upbeat message on his Twitter account, thanking God for another year of life and describing his health as good and his outlook as positive in this initial stage of the roughly eight-month rehabilitation process.