But What Do I Know? . . . Liam Hicks, Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Dave Winfield

February 23, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

Some Canadian baseball news and notes from the past week:

Hicks to catch Cy Young Award winner today

Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) is scheduled to make his first Grapefruit League start with the Miami Marlins today when he catches 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara.

Alcantara missed the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Marlins selected Hicks in the Rule 5 draft from the Detroit Tigers in December. That means Hicks must be on the Marlins’ Opening Day roster or be offered back to the Tigers. The 25-year-old Hicks reported to Marlins’ camp in January to get an early start with the organization. He has been working with Marlins’ catching coach Joe Singley and has impressed manager Clayton McCullough.

“We look to Liam just to go out there and go compete,” McCullough told MLB.com last week. “That’s all you can do, and trust the work that you’re putting in. We don’t expect it to be perfect right away, and nor should he . . . I’m proud of the work Liam’s put in, and [he has] come as advertised as a super teammate.”

After honing his skills with the Toronto Mets, Hicks was selected in the ninth round of the 2021 MLB draft by the Texas Rangers. He has since played parts of four minor league seasons in the Rangers’ and Tigers’ organizations. In 2024, he batted .264 with a .379 on-base percentage (OBP) with six home runs in 113 games in double-A.

Quantrill reports to Marlins’ camp

Joining Hicks in Marlins’ camp is veteran right-hander Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.). The two will likely be working as batterymates this spring.

With six big league seasons with the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians and Colorado Rockies under his belt, Quantrill elected to sign a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Marlins on February 12.

“Personally, I think it’s a great opportunity,” Quantrill told reporters of signing with the Marlins on February 13. “But I think more importantly, this is an exciting young team. The league is getting younger and I think this team is in a really good position to take a step forward and I want to be part of that.”

After toeing the rubber at Coors Field last summer, Quantrill is looking forward to pitching in the more pitcher friendly loanDepot Park in Miami.

Quantrill, who turned 30 on February 10, was non-tendered by the Rockies following the 2024 season and became a free agent. He went 8-11 with a 4.98 ERA in 29 starts for the Rockies last year.

In all, the Terriers and Junior National Team alum is 43-34 with a 4.07 ERA in 161 appearances (123 starts) in his major league career.

Brash looking good in Mariners’ camp

“Dude, he’s got the nastiest slider in the league.”

That was Mariners’ catching prospect Harry Ford‘s assessment of right-hander Matt Brash (Kingston, Ont.) when M’s manager Dan Wilson asked Ford about Brash’s stuff following a bullpen session on February 15.

That’s clearly good news for Brash, who after undergoing Tommy John surgery last May, is on track to return to the M’s bullpen by the end of April.

In that February 15 bullpen session, Brash threw more sliders than he had in any session since the surgery. He threw another bullpen on Friday.

In 2023, in his second big league campaign, the 6-foot-1 Brash developed into a go-to late-inning reliever for the Mariners. He led major league pitchers with 78 appearances and had a 9-4 record and a 3.06 ERA. He fanned 107 batters in 70 2/3 innings, good for a 13.6 strikeout-per-nine-inning rate.

Pivetta’s contract with Padres includes contingencies

The San Diego Padres officially signed Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C.) to a four-year, $55-million contract on Monday.

As I noted last week, it’s a backloaded contract. Pivetta will receive a $3-million signing bonus and a $1-million salary in 2025. He will be paid $19 million in 2026, $14 million in 2027 and $18 million in 2028.

But Ronald Blum, of Associated Press, shared in an article on Thursday that the contract includes contingencies for the Padres. One of them stipulates that Pivetta’s $14-million salary in 2027 will become a team option “if at any point through 2026 he has a specified injury or surgery related to the injury and is on the injured list for more than 130 consecutive days in any season or in a one-year period.” That means that Pivetta could be a free agent again after the 2026 season.

Pivetta, 32, declined the $21.05 million qualifying offer made to him by the Boston Red Sox on November 20. That meant that the team that signed him (the Padres) would have to surrender a compensatory pick prior to the third round in this year’s draft to the Red Sox.

The Junior National Team alum 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, Pivetta has pitched in eight major league seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies and Red Sox. He owns a career 56-71 record and a 4.76 ERA in 223 games (178 starts).

Naylor debuts with D-Backs

Josh Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) made his Cactus League debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. Batting third and playing first base, he went 0-for-2 with a ground out and a strike out in the D-Backs’ 12-8 loss to the Rockies.

On December 21, Naylor was dealt to the Diamondbacks by the Cleveland Guardians for right-hander Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick.

In 2024, Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) registered career-highs in home runs (31) and RBIs (108) in 152 games for the Guardians. For his efforts, he was selected to the MLB All-Star Game for the first time.

The 2024 campaign was Naylor’s fifth with the Guardians and his sixth overall. He made his big-league debut with the Padres in 2019.

Help Dante Nori collect his own baseball cards

Philadelphia Phillies outfield prospect Dante Nori (Toronto, Ont.) is attempting to collect every variation of his first Bowman card which was issued in 2024. He sent out the following message on X last Sunday:

The day after this post, Nori reported that he had been able to cross some of the cards off his want list, but he still needs several of them.

A first-round pick of the Phillies in the 2024 MLB draft, Nori, who’s the son of former Toronto Raptors coach Micah Nori, is a speedy left-handed hitting outfielder who honed his skills at Northville High School in Michigan. In 14 games with the class-A Clearwater Threshers in 2024, the 20-year-old recorded a .424 OBP and had a triple and four stolen bases.

Happy Birthday Howie Starkman!

Happy 80th Birthday to Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Howie Starkman! Born in Toronto, Starkman spent more than four decades as an executive with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was initially hired as director of public relations on July 4, 1976 and he served in that capacity until 1998. In that role, he was in charge of media relations, broadcasting, travel and team publications. He was also responsible for the club’s “Name the team” contest prior to the inaugural season that resulted in the Blue Jays name. While with the Blue Jays, he doubled as a public relations official for Major League Baseball for 15 World Series and 10 All-Star games. In 1999, Starkman was elevated to vice-president of media relations with the Blue Jays, before transitioning to vice-president, special projects from 2002 to 2014. In 2014, the Blue Jays established the Howard Starkman Award and named Starkman the first recipient. This award is handed out annually to the Blue Jays Employee of the Year “who best exemplifies the values of integrity, innovation, accountability, team work and a passion for winning.” Starkman was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Remembering former Maple Leaf Elston Howard

Please take a moment to remember former New York Yankees catching great Elston Howard who would’ve turned 96 today. Before becoming the first Black player to suit up for the New York Yankees, he honed his skills with the International League’s Toronto Maple Leafs in 1954. That season, he won the International League’s MVP Award when he batted .330 with 22 home runs and 109 RBIs in 138 games. Sadly, he passed away in 1980 when he was just 51.

Winfield retires from MLBPA

Former Blue Jays DH Dave Winfield has retired from the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). He had served in an executive role for MLBPA for many years.

“This decision, made after careful reflection and in consultation with his family, marks the end of an extraordinary chapter in baseball history — one defined by passion, sacrifice, and unwavering commitment both to the game and our union,” said MLBPA executive director Tony Clark about Winfield in a statement.

Winfield batted .283 and collected 3,110 hits – including 465 home runs – in 2,973 games in parts of 22 major league seasons. Canadian baseball fans remember him best for his season with the Blue Jays in 1992. In that campaign, a 40-year-old Winfield batted .290 and had 26 home runs and 108 RBIs. He also recorded the game-winning hit for the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the World Series.

Please support the Easter Seals Conn Smythe Dinner

The 74th annual Conn Smythe Sports Celebrities Dinner will be held at the Royal York hotel in Toronto on Wednesday. This event is held each year to benefit Easter Seals, an organization that is very near and dear to my nephew Kalin’s heart. Kalin is an ambassador for Easter Seals Camp Woodeden in London and has been going there for 17 years. He has cerebral palsy and his involvement with Easter Seals has changed his life.

The celebrities at this year’s Conn Smythe dinner will include former Toronto Maple Leafs star Doug Gilmour, ex-Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Rob Butler, two-time World Series-winning manager Cito Gaston and legendary Blue Jays executive Paul Beeston.

At the event, you will meet many of the children that benefit from Easter Seals and see how your support helps them and their families. You will be helping them obtain life-saving equipment that without Easter Seals they wouldn’t be able to afford.

Your support will also help send children to one of Easter Seals summer camps where they will make lifelong friends and gain valuable confidence.

For more information on how you can purchase tickets for this event, click on the link below.

Conn Smythe 2025 – Tickets

Trivia question

This week’s trivia question: Josh Naylor will play first base for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season. Who was the last Canadian to play first base for the Diamondbacks? Please share your answer in the “Comments” section below.

Last week’s trivia answer

The answer to last week’s trivia question (Max Scherzer has 216 career big league wins. Who is the last 200-game winner the Toronto Blue Jays have had in their starting rotation?) was Mark Buehrle in 2015.