Blue Jays right-hander Clay Buchholz, who turned 35 last month and is closing in on another trip to free agency, told Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe that he intends to play again in 2020. But there’s one condition: Buchholz isn’t willing to pitch in the minors, Abraham reports. “I told my agent that,” Buchholz said. “I feel like I’m capable of pitching as well as I did five or six years ago. It’s not about money. It’s about considering myself a major league pitcher.” Buchholz took a minor league contract a year ago and then proceeded to revive his career with the Diamondbacks, which persuaded Toronto to hand him a $3MM guarantee last offseason. The investment hasn’t paid off for the Jays, though, as a shoulder injury has limited Buchholz to eight starts and 42 1/3 innings of 5.31 ERA/5.15 FIP ball. Buchholz could have trouble landing a guaranteed deal during the upcoming winter as a result, and that might put his career in jeopardy if he’s not up for another minor league stint.
More from around the majors…
- The Phillies reportedly showed interest in left-hander Dallas Keuchel during his long stay in free agency, but the 31-year-old suggested Wednesday that wasn’t the case. “If you don’t come calling, what is there for me to be mad about? I think a lot of those guys over there in that front office are second-guessing themselves. I would too,” Keuchel said to Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other reporters. He made those comments after stymieing the Phillies with six innings of one-run ball in a 3-1 victory for the Braves. Despite the defeat, the Phillies (75-70) are still just two games back of a wild-card spot, though they might be in better position had they signed Keuchel. The former AL Cy Young winner has posted a terrific 3.35 ERA over 96 2/3 innings since joining the Braves on a one-year, $13MM contract in June. While Keuchel’s peripherals aren’t as impressive, he’d still rank among the absolute best starters on a Philly team whose rotation has fallen flat in 2019.
- The Mets have named Terry Collins a senior advisor for player personnel, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. Collins had already been serving as a special assistant to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, so it’s unclear what new responsibilities he’ll take on in a changed role. Of course, the 70-year-old isn’t far removed from a run as the Mets’ manager. He held that job from 2011-17 – a span in which the team went 551-583 with two playoff trips, including a World Series appearance in 2015.
- Indians closer Brad Hand underwent an MRI on his left arm Wednesday, but results came back clean, manager Terry Francona revealed (via Always The Jake and James Rapien of 92.3 The Fan). Hand’s dealing with “kind of a tired arm” and will get the next couple days off, according to Francona. That’s a less-than-ideal development for a Cleveland team that’s in a three-way battle for a wild-card spot. The Indians have been without the 29-year-old Hand since Sunday, and though that was an effective performance, he yielded two earned runs on four hits in a third of an inning in the appearance preceding that one. The normally lights-out Hand has surrendered at least a pair of ER four times since the beginning of August.
