January 26, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

Pivetta, Quantrill, Toro remain unsigned

With under three weeks until pitchers and catchers report to spring training, three veteran Canadian big leaguers remain unsigned.

Nick Pivetta

In December, I wrote that right-hander Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) was poised to earn the highest single-season salary by a Canadian big-league pitcher. Now, I’m starting to doubt that. On November 19, the 31-year-old right-hander declined the Boston Red Sox qualifying offer that would’ve guaranteed him $21.05 million next season. That salary would’ve been the highest single-season salary ever by a Canadian major league pitcher, surpassing the $14 million that Ryan Dempster (Gibsons, B.C.) earned with the Chicago Cubs in 2012.

In the early off-season, the market for Pivetta seemed strong, with some experts predicting he could be in line for a three-year deal worth more than $60 million. There were reports that Pivetta had met with the New York Mets and that the Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds were interested. But there hasn’t been a single update about Pivetta from a mainstream baseball insider in at least three weeks.

Pivetta went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) for the Red Sox in 2024. He struck out 172 batters in 145 2/3 innings. In total, he has pitched in eight major league seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Red Sox. He owns a career 56-71 record and a 4.76 ERA in 223 games (178 starts).

Cal Quantrill

Quantrill was non-tendered by the Colorado Rockies following the season and he became a free agent. The 29-year-old righty went 8-11 with a 4.98 ERA in 29 starts for the Rockies in 2024. The Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum led Canadian big-league pitchers in starts (29) and innings pitched (148 1/3), while his eight wins and 110 strikeouts ranked second. This off-season, almost nothing has been written about where Quantrill might pitch in 2025. He has toed the rubber in six big-league seasons and is 43-34 with a 4.07 ERA in 161 appearances (123 starts).

Abraham Toro

Similar to Quantrill, I haven’t read a report about Toro that has linked him to any MLB team this off-season. The 27-year-old infielder was designated for assignment by the A’s on August 27 after batting .240 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in 94 big league games with them. He completed the season with the triple-A Las Vegas Aviators. In total, Toro has played in parts of six major league seasons with the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners and A’s. In 365 big-league games, he owns a .220 batting average with 34 home runs and 134 RBIs.

Caissie rated top Canadian prospect by Baseball America, MLB Pipeline

Baseball America and MLB Pipeline unveiled their Top 100 MLB prospects lists this week. MLB Pipeline has Chicago Cubs outfield prospect Owen Caissie (Burlington, Ont.) at No. 54, while Baseball America has him at No. 64. He is the sole Canadian on the lists.

Chosen by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2020 MLB draft, Caissie never played a game in the Padres’ organization before he was dealt to the Cubs. Since then, the left-handed hitting outfielder has played four seasons in the Cubs’ organization and established himself as one of the team’s top prospects. In November, Caissie, 22, was added to the Cubs’ 40-man roster. The Fieldhouse Pirates and Junior National Team alum spent the 2024 season with the triple-A Iowa Cubs and batted .278 with 19 home runs, 75 RBIs and 11 stolen bases, while posting an .848 OPS, in 127 games. His performance earned him the Canadian Baseball Network’s Randy Echlin Award, as the top Canuck hitter in the affiliated minor league ranks.

Koskie elected to Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame

Longtime Minnesota Twins third baseman Corey Koskie was elected to the Twins Hall of Fame on Friday. He becomes the second player born in Canada to be honoured by the Twins after Justin Morneau (New Westminster, B.C.) who was elected in 2020.

Koskie will be inducted in a pre-game ceremony at Target Field on August 17.

The Anola, Man., native suited up for 816 games in seven seasons (1998 to 2004) with the Twins and hit .280 with 101 home runs and an .836 OPS. According to the Twins’ news release, Koskie’s .280 career batting average and .966 career fielding percentage lead all Twins third basemen (minimum of 425 games). Koskie completed his big-league career with stints with the Blue Jays in 2005 and the Brewers in 2006.

“For more than two decades, Corey Koskie’s presence and impact have been felt across Twins Territory, embodying what it means to be a Minnesota Twin through his leadership and community stewardship,” Twins President & CEO Dave St. Peter said in a statement. “Corey was a clubhouse leader, a critical offensive catalyst and one of the best defensive third basemen in club history on several of the most important Minnesota Twins teams of the last 25 years.”

Martin helped Sabathia to Hall of Fame

Montreal native Russell Martin received nine votes in this year’s National Baseball Hall of Fame voting in his first year of eligibility. That’s not enough to keep him on the ballot for future consideration. But the Canadian catcher definitely helped left-hander CC Sabathia get elected. While Martin was with the New York Yankees, he caught 30 games in which Sabathia appeared. With Martin as his battery-mate, the 6-foot-6 left-hander posted a 3.28 ERA (Sabathia’s career ERA was 3.74). That’s the second lowest ERA Sabathia had with any catcher that caught him in at least 30 games (He had a 3.07 ERA in 45 appearances with Francisco Cervelli as his catcher). Sabathia registered 186 strikeouts in 205 1/3 innings while Martin was his battery-mate.

Jenkins congratulates Sabathia

Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.), who became the first Canadian elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, shared this congratulatory message for Sabathia on his social media accounts:

Happy 64th Birthday to Wayne Gretzky!

Happy 64th Birthday to 1973 Chatham Kinsmen Peewee baseball team alum, Wayne Gretzky! After his hometown of Brantford, Ont., was eliminated in the playoffs that year, Gretzky, who was an infielder, was picked up by Chatham and added to their roster for the national championship tournament. That proved to be a good decision. Gretzky played eight games for Chatham and helped them win the national title. Gretzky is in the middle row, fourth from the left, in the picture below.

Remembering Roy Yamamura

Vancouver Asahi legend and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Roy Yamamura was born in Vancouver on this date in 1907. The speedy shortstop was a leader on the Asahi team, spending 18 seasons with them as a player and manager. Unfortunately, when the Second World War broke out, Yamamura and his teammates, along with 22,000 other Canadians of Japanese descent, were sent to internment camps. The Canadian government considered all Japanese people in the country enemy aliens, even if they were born in Canada. But Yamamura refused to let the dark days of internment spoil his love of baseball. Following the war, he moved East and later played baseball for Nisei teams in Hamilton, Ont., and Montreal, Que. He passed away on March 10, 1990 in Toronto.

How the Blue Jays landed Tom Henke

There are many great things about being friends with Bob Elliott. One of them is the incredible stories he’s able to share from his reporting days. This past Friday represented the 40th anniversary of the Blue Jays selecting Tom Henke as a free agent compensation pick from the Texas Rangers for the Rangers signing free agent Cliff Johnson. I just assumed it was another genius move by Pat Gillick until I talked to Bob. Bob says it was Blue Jays scout Moose Johnson who deserves the credit. Here’s a passage from the story Bob wrote for the National Baseball Hall of Fame program when Gillick was inducted in 2011. Earlier in his career, Bob had asked Gillick about the landing Henke.

“That was all Moose Johnson,” said Gillick.

The Jays were at the compensation draft and were set to take Donnie Moore from Atlanta, but the Angels grabbed him first.

Then they were going to select Expos right-hander Bill Cutshall, Bobby Mattick’s pick, but Argenis Salazar was selected from the Montreal roster by St. Louis. The rule was a team could not lose more than one player. The Toronto table was in a state of panic.

“Moose said there’s this big tall guy, he wears glasses, with the Rangers who can pitch … of course he couldn’t pronounce his name,” said Gillick.

That big tall guy with glasses was Henke, who became the greatest relief pitcher in Blue Jays’ history.

Happy Birthday to Steve Green!

Happy 47th Birthday to Baseball Canada alum and former Angels pitcher Steve Green who was fittingly born in Greenfield, Que.! Selected by the Angels in the 10th round of the 1997 MLB draft, the 6-foot-2 right-hander pitched professionally for 13 seasons. His sole big-league appearance came against the A’s on April 7, 2001 when he started and held the A’s to two runs in six innings. Green also pitched for Canada on multiple occasions, including in the 2006 World Baseball Classic when he recorded the save in Canada’s 8-6 upset win over the United States.