Milwaukee signs Strange-Gordon to minor league deal
Former All-Star Dee Strange-Gordon signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday and been assigned to the alternate training site in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Strange-Gordon, who turns 33 today, had gone to spring training with the Cincinnati Reds with a minor league contract and was released on March 26 after hitting .281 with no homers and four RBIs in 32 at-bats over 10 games.
He had been working out at shortstop with the Reds. Strange-Gordon has primarily played second base and also has experience in the outfield.
He made the NL AllStar team with the Dodgers in 2014 and with Miami in 2015.
The Brewers wanted to address some depth concerns in the infield after trading Orlando Arcia to the Braves this month and losing Tim Lopes and Mark Mathias to injuries in spring training. Lopes and Mathias are both on the 60-day injured list.
“This is a signing that’s just about depth, I think,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday. “And I think about the trade of Orlando, really. He’s another infielder. He’s an infielder with big league experience. We’ll get him ready and he’ll be a guy available to us if the need arises.”
Strange-Gordon batted .200 with no homers, three RBIs and three steals in 33 games for the Mariners last season. He led the NL in batting average, hits and stolen bases in 2015 with the Marlins. He also led the NL in steals in 2014 and 2017.
He has a .286 career batting average with 333 steals.
PADRES’ LAMET EXITS COMEBACK START EARLY » Padres right-hander Dinelson Lamet left his season debut after two scoreless innings due to right forearm tightness.
Lamet appeared to be pitching well against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out four after a single to start the game. He threw 19 strikes out of 29 pitches, reaching 97 mph on his fastball.
The 28-year-old Lamet had not pitched since leaving his final start of 2020 with elbow discomfort and missing the playoffs. He received multiple opinions that surgery wasn’t needed and underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy in the offseason.
Lamet had Tommy John surgery in 2018 and didn’t return until the second half of 2019.
Lamet was 3-1 in 12 starts last year, when he finished fourth in balloting for the NL Cy Young Award.
The Padres were swept in the three-game series and closed out a 1-5 homestand with their seventh loss in nine games overall.
Padres manager Jayce Tingler was ejected in the eighth inning of a 4-2 loss after he calmly walked out to argue balls and strikes with home plate umpire Tom Hallion.
BÁEZ, LINDOR HIT HOMERS » The Cubs-Mets game in Chicago had a couple big homers Wednesday.
The Cubs’ Javier Báez hit a grand slam in a 16-4 victory. Báez struck out four times Tuesday. Báez became the first player to go 0 for 4 with four strikeouts in one game and then hit a grand slam in the next since Gorman Thomas did it for Milwaukee in the first two games of the 1978 season, according to STATS.
Also, Francisco Lindor hit his first homer for New York when he connected against Zach Davies in the first.
Entering the night, Lindor was batting just .171 as a Met. The Mets signed him to a 10-year, $341 million contract extension on the eve of Opening Day.
MALDONADO, ASTROS AGREE TO ANOTHER YEAR » Catcher Martín Maldonado and the Houston Astros agreed to a $5.5 million, one-year contract for 2022.
The deal includes a $5 million salary for 2022 and a $4 million team option for 2023 with a $500,000 buyout. The 2023 salary would become guaranteed at $5 million if Maldonado plays in 90 or more games this year.
Maldonado is making $3.5 million in 2021.
WHITE SOX, INDIANS POSTPONED BY SNOW » The Indians postponed Wednesday night’s game in Cleveland against the White Sox because of snow, cold weather and a soggy field.
Up to 4 inches of snow fell overnight in the Cleveland area, and there was still snow covering the infield tarp at Progressive Field when then game was called about five hours before the scheduled first pitch.
The AL Central teams will make up the postponement during Chicago’s next visit to Cleveland by playing a doubleheader on May 31.
SHORT DEBUTS FOR TIGERS » Detroit recalled infielder Zack Short from the alternate training site, and he made his big league debut, drawing two walks.
“I tried to make the game as normal as possible,” Short said. “Just a little bit colder than normal.”
The temperature in Detroit at game time was 40 degrees.
Short also made a nice play at third base on Moran’s grounder in the fourth, although that wasn’t enough to prevent Pittsburgh’s three-run inning in the Pirates’ 3-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader.
ASTROS HAVE LOST 9 OF 10 » Houston lost for the ninth time in its last 10 games. Houston also was 7-10 last year before winning eight in a row.
“We’re 3½ games back, 17 games into a season that’s 162 games long, just get to work, get back into rhythm,” Alex Bregman said.
The Astros head home for a four-game series against the Angels starting today. RHP Cristian Javier (1-0, 2.08 ERA) gets the start in the first game. Houston optioned reliever Peter Solomon to the alternate training site to add Javier to the active roster.
GERMAN REJOINS YANKEES » Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán (0-2, 9.00 ERA) will rejoin the club from the alternate training site to make his third start after missing all of 2020 serving a ban for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.