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Welington Castillo Receives 80-Game PED Suspension

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TODAY: Castillo has officially been suspended after testing positive for banned performance-enhancer Erythopoieton, per a league announcement.

YESTERDAY: White Sox catcher Welington Castillo has been slapped with an 80-game suspension following a failed PED test, per Dominican journalist Americo Celado. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets the same, and it seems that an announcement from the league could come tomorrow.

Castillo, 31, signed a two-year, $15MM contract with the White Sox in the offseason and will forfeit nearly half of his $7.25MM salary on the 2018 season as a result of the 80-game ban. For the time being, it seems likely that Omar Narvaez will step up as the team’s primary catcher, though the Sox will need to make another move to add a backup to the equation.

Kevan Smith could conceivably be an option eventually, though The Athletic’s James Fegan tweets that he was just placed on the disabled list yesterday. Chicago doesn’t have another catcher on its 40-man roster, so it could have to select either Alfredo Gonzalez or Brett Austin from Triple-A Charlotte.

Blake Swihart figures to draw his fair share of speculation in connection with the ChiSox, as the agent for the seldom-used Boston backstop recently requested that the Red Sox trade his client. Looking to the waiver wire, the A’s designated Dustin Garneau for assignment yesterday, and he could be a quick fix to at least give the White Sox another option behind the plate while Smith mends.

Though the Sox are just 14-31 on the season, it’s a tough loss for the team all the same. Castillo got off to a fine start this season, hitting .270/.314/.477 with six homers through his first 32 games and 118 trips to the plate. He’s done a good job of controlling the running game (32 percent caught-stealing rate), as well.

Castillo, of course, becomes the second prominent player in the past week to be hit with an 80-game ban for a failed PED test. Robinson Cano tested positive for a banned diuretic that acts as a masking agent to performance-enhancing substances last week. Rosenthal notes that Castillo tested positive for a banned substance but not directly for a steroid, so it seems possible that he had a similar substance to that of Cano in his bloodstream at the time of the test.

Trade Candidate: Cole Hamels

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The Rangers faced an uphill battle even before the season began, as they were chasing the defending World Series champions in the AL West. Now that the club is off to a 20-31 start, looking up at three other teams sporting winning records, it’s all but inevitable that the Texas organization will explore sales of veteran assets this summer.

There are a few interesting players to watch on the Rangers’ roster, with Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus certainly among them. But both of those veterans are currently situated on the DL, rather than the left side of the Texas infield, so it’s not the best time to look in at their market.

Instead, it’s southpaw Cole Hamels who seems the clearest possible trade piece at the moment. He’s a highly accomplished pitcher, with a resume that includes 16 postseason starts, who’s playing on an expiring contract. Through 58 2/3 innings on the season, Hamels owns a 3.38 ERA that’s nearly a spot-on match for his career average. While he’s no spring chicken at 34 years of age, that’s not much of a concern for a rental asset.

That’s not to say there aren’t any countervailing factors here. For one thing, Hamels wasn’t great last year, when he failed to record an ERA of 3.65 or below for the first time since way back in 2009. Even his 4.20 earned run mark, moreover, arguably required some good fortune. Hamels held opposing hitters to an unsustainable .251 batting average on balls in play. For the first time ever, he failed to record a double-digit swinging-strike rate (9.7% on the year) and struck out less than seven batters per nine (6.4). Hamels also hit the shelf for the first time in a long time owing to an early-season oblique injury.

There were some legitimate questions, then, entering the current season. Some, perhaps, have been answered. Though he missed eight starts in 2017, Hamels has otherwise been a paragon of durability, taking the ball thirty or more times in nine straight seasons (2008 through 2016). Unless something crops up between now and the trade deadline, teams will surely view Hamels as an excellent health bet over the final few months of the season.

But what kind of performance can be expected? In many regards, Hamels’s 2018 performance has encouraged. In particular, he has rebounded in terms of swings and misses (12.1% swinging strikes; 9.8 K/9). But there are some issues. Hamels has continued to hand out more free passes than he did earlier in his career. He has coughed up 1.69 homers per nine on a an 18.6% HR/FB rate. And he’s again benefiting from a low (.255) BABIP-against. The Statcast numbers indicate that opposing hitters have been unfortunate to record only a .317 wOBA, as their contact against him spits out a .352 xwOBA.

Taken together, it seems reasonable to view Hamels as a solid and reliable mid-rotation piece, but not a top-of-the-rotation arm. He’s producing a wide array of fielding-independent pitching numbers (4.94 FIP/4.12 xFIP/3.85 SIERA) thus far on the year, but all suggest that he’s more good than great at this stage.

Of greater importance, perhaps, is Hamels’s contract, which was originally signed with the Phillies just in advance of the 2012 trade deadline. The lefty is earning $22.5MM this season. Even if a contender feels that he’s worth every penny — which, as the above discussion suggests, may or may not quite be the case — that’s enough coin to be a potential stumbling block for teams that face luxury tax or other budgetary concerns.

There are some other contractual complications, too. The deal comes with a $20MM vesting/club option that carries a $6MM buyout. It’s not going to vest owing to the number of innings Hamels threw last year, but it’ll require some added financial wrangling nevertheless. An acquiring team could consider picking up Hamels at that rate for 2019, depending upon how the season shakes out, but also likely won’t want to sign up for the big buyout at the point of acquisition.

The Texas front office will not only have to sort out those matters, but will do so against the knowledge that Hamels has significant no-trade rights as well. He can be shipped to the Braves, Mariners, Phillies, Nationals, Rays, Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, and Astros without consent. Otherwise, the lefty will need to be consulted before a deal can be consummated. That may not necessarily prove a major stumbling block, but the presence of the option could come back into play if he’s not particularly interested in a certain locale for future seasons.

Certainly, the possibility for a tough-to-navigate situation does exist. While it still feels quite likely that Hamels will be dealt, it’s tough to say at this point exactly how it will come together.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nationals, Josh Edgin Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Nationals have agreed to a minor league deal with left-handed reliever Josh Edgin, as noted on MLB.com’s transactions log and as tweeted by the team’s Triple-A play-by-play announcer, Eric Gallanty. The longtime Mets reliever recently opted out of his minor league deal with the Orioles.

Edgin, 31, missed the 2015 season and the bulk of the 2016 campaign due to Tommy John surgery, but his lengthy run in the Mets’ bullpen should make him a familiar face to most Nats fans. The southpaw held a relief role with the Mets from 2012-17 and has a career 3.49 ERA with 8.1 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 0.9 HR/9 and a 45.1 percent ground-ball rate in 129 big league innings.

Last season, Edgin tossed a career-high 37 innings for the Mets and posted a 3.65 ERA that’s right in line with his career mark, though his strikeout and walk rates weren’t as sharp as they were prior to his surgery. In those 37 frames, he averaged just 6.6 K/9 against an elevated 4.4 BB/9 with an average fastball velocity of 91.3 mph, which checks in more than a full mile per hour south of his peak pre-surgery levels.

The Nationals recently selected the contract of veteran lefty Tim Collins from Triple-A, giving them another southpaw option to pair with the heavily used Sammy Solis in the MLB bullpen but also leaving their Syracuse affiliate with an entirely right-handed relief corps. Edgin will give the Chiefs a much-needed lefty option and will give the Nats another depth piece to consider in the event of an injury to either Solis or Collins.

Rangers To Select Austin Bibens-Dirkx

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The Rangers announced tonight that they’ll select the contract of right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx from Triple-A Round Rock, and he’ll start Thursday’s game against the Royals. Texas has an open spot on the 40-man roster, so they’ll only need to make a 25-man move to accommodate the promotion of Bibens-Dirkx.

The 33-year-old Bibens-Dirkx made his big league debut last season after a 12-year minor league odyssey that began as a 16th-round pick of the Mariners back in 2006. He appeared in 24 games with Texas last year and totaled 69 1/3 innings of 4.67 ERA ball, averaging 4.9 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and 1.82 HR/9 with a 39.9 percent ground-ball rate.

Though only six of those 24 appearances were starts, Bibens-Dirkx has worked primarily out of the rotation since joining the Rangers organization prior to the 2017 season. That’s been his role with Round Rock this year, too, where he’s made eight starts with a 3.72 ERA and a 32-to-8 K/BB ratio in 38 2/3 innings.

[Related: Texas Rangers depth chart]

Bibens-Dirkx will step into a rotation spot that has been vacated due to injuries incurred by both Matt Moore and Martin Perez. It’s not clear whether he’ll simply be making a one-off spot start or if he’ll get multiple opportunities while Perez and Moore work their way back, though both of those injured lefties have struggled substantially in 2018. Cole Hamels, Doug Fister, Mike Minor and Bartolo Colon round out manager Jeff Banister’s rotation at present, though that group’s composition figures to change in the coming months as the Rangers begin to field trade interest on their short-term veteran assets.

Mariners Agree To New 25-Year Lease To Remain At Safeco Field

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The Mariners announced Wednesday night that the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District Board approved the terms of a new 25-year lease for the team to remain at Safeco Field. There are also a pair of three-year options on the lease that could extend the Mariners’ stay in the park all the way through 2049.

“We want this ballpark to be our home for the next 100 years,” said Mariners chairman John Stanton in a statement. “Safeco Field should be to Seattle and to the Mariners what Wrigley Field is to Chicago and the Cubs and Fenway Park is to Boston and the Red Sox. We sincerely appreciate our partnership with the PFD, who share our vision to ensure that our fans will continue to enjoy Major League Baseball in a state-of-the-art facility for decades to come.”

Full specifics of the deal are available in the team’s announcement above, but the Mariners will be contributing roughly $650MM to the PFD over the life of the lease, which will go toward rent, maintenance, improvements and a neighborhood improvement fund, among other expenditures.

The agreement for the Mariners comes at a time when many organizations are gravitating toward new (and often unnecessary) playing facilities. The Braves recently moved into SunTrust Park after just 20 seasons at Turner Field, while the Rangers are prepping to move into a new facility in 2020 despite the fact that Globe Life Park (formerly Ameriquest Field and the Ballpark in Arlington) opened in 1994. The D-backs, too, are in the nascent stages of moving into a new stadium after Maricopa County recently agreed to let the team begin searching for locations for a new facility.

Mariners Select Contract Of John Andreoli

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The Mariners announced that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder John Andreoli from Triple-A Tacoma and optioned right-hander Dan Altavilla to Tacoma in his place. Seattle had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move in that regard wasn’t required.

Andreoli, 28 in early June, will be making his first appearance in the Majors after spending seven seasons in the Cubs’ minor league ranks. He inked a minor league pact with Seattle back in December and has gotten off to a strong .294/.353/.452 start in Triple-A, where he hit three homers, seven doubles and two triples while also going 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.

While Andreoli never ranked as one of the Cubs’ very best prospects, he has a history of strong performances and solid on-base tendencies in the minors, as evidenced by a career .261/.364/.414 slash in parts of four Triple-A seasons. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen gave him an honorable mention on last year’s ranking of the Cubs’ prospects, calling him a plus runner “with an awkward swing but a terrific feel for the strike zone.” Indeed, Andreoli has walked in 13.2 percent of his career plate appearances in Triple-A.

[Related: Updated Seattle Mariners depth chart]

The addition of Andreoli will give the Mariners some needed depth in the outfield as the team’s roster is left reeling in the wake of last week’s suspension for Robinson Cano and this week’s announcement that Dee Gordon will miss at least 10 days due to a fractured toe. With Gordon and Cano out of the lineup, the Mariners will lean on Ben Gamel, Guillermo Heredia and Mitch Haniger in the outfield, with Gordon Beckham and Andrew Romine getting action at second base. Andreoli can handle all three outfield spots, which should give manager Scott Servais a bit of flexibility when writing out the lineup card.

As for Altavilla, he’ll look to get back on track in Tacoma after an uneven start to the season. The hard-throwing 25-year-old is currently sporting a solid 3.24 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings of work, but he’s also issued a dozen walks and thrown four wild pitches.

A’s Place Khris Davis On DL, Designate Wilmer Font, Recall Franklin Barreto

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The A’s announced a series of roster moves on Wednesday, placing slugger Khris Davis on the 10-day DL due to a strained right groin and designating right-hander Wilmer Font for assignment. In place of Davis and Font, the A’s have recalled top infield prospect Franklin Barreto and right-hander Daniel Gossett from Triple-A Nashville.

[Related: Oakland Athletics depth chart]

Oakland’s press release announcing the moves didn’t indicate a timeline for Davis’ return, though there’s no indication that his injury is especially serious or that he’s facing a prolonged absence. The 30-year-old slugger is off to a .235/.307/.497 start to the season and has swatted 13 homers in 205 trips to the plate. While his walk rate is down to 7.3 percent after last season’s career-high mark of 11.2 percent, Davis’ 25.9 percent strikeout rate is also his lowest mark since registering a 22.2 percent mark as a rookie. Davis, a free agent at season’s end, is currently on pace for a third consecutive 40-homer season despite his cavernous home park.

With Davis out of action, the A’s can turn to Mark Canha or Chad Pinder for some looks in the DH slot. Barreto’s return to Oakland could also give the team additional opportunities to give any of their primary infielders a breather by taking a day at DH, and Barreto himself could of course see some looks there as well. He’s hitting .235/.352/.445 with six homers and seven doubles in 152 Triple-A plate appearances this season. While his 13.4 percent walk rate is far and away a career-best, Barreto’s 29.6 percent strikeout rate in Triple-A is a continuation of the contact troubles he showed in Nashville last season.

As for Font, this marks the second time the hard-throwing righty has been designated for assignment in 2018. While he’s certainly an intriguing bullpen option on the heels of last season’s ridiculous 11.9 K/9 and 32.1 percent strikeout rate as a starter in the Dodgers’ system, Font has been hammered for 10 homers in just 17 big league innings en route to a 12.71 ERA between L.A. and Oakland this season. The Athletics will have a week to trade Font or try to pass him through outright waivers and send him to the minors for further refinement.

Knocking Down The Door: Alcantara, De Los Santos, Fletcher, Jimenez, Santana

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“Knocking Down the Door” is a regular feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.

Sandy Alcantara, SP, Marlins (Triple-A New Orleans) | Marlins Depth Chart

In this rebuilding season, the Marlins are taking the opportunity to evaluate several young starting pitchers at the Major League level. Dillon Peters and Trevor Richards are back in Triple-A after getting an extended look. Jarlin Garcia made six starts before being moved to the bullpen. He was replaced in the rotation by Rule 5 pick Elieser Hernandez. Triple-A starters Zac Gallen and Ben Meyer have both been good enough to warrant a promotion, and 22-year-old Pablo Lopez (1 ER in 31 2/3 IP) has been one of the best pitchers at the Double-A level. Next in line, though, should be Alcantara, the prized prospect acquired from the Cardinals in the offseason trade of Marcell Ozuna.

After tossing eight shutout innings in his latest start, the 22-year-old right-hander’s debut with the Marlins has to be on the horizon. Alcantara doesn’t have the high strikeout rate that you’d expect from a top prospect, but he throws in the mid-to-high 90s—he averaged 98 MPH in eight relief appearances last season—and has been a strike-throwing machine as of late. Since walking 16 batters over his first six starts, Alcantara has been in control over his last three outings with only one walk in 20 innings, including back-to-back starts without issuing a free pass. As a comparison, he walked a batter in all but one of his 22 Double-A starts last season.

If the Marlins hold off and give Alcantara two more Triple-A starts, he could make his ’18 debut when they face his former team in St. Louis between June 5th-June 7th.

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Enyel De Los Santos, SP, Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley) | Phillies Depth Chart

The Phillies’ rotation is on a roll—they have the sixth-lowest ERA in the Majors and the third most quality starts—and currently have no weak link in their five-man rotation. But despite lacking a clear path to the Majors, De Los Santos is making it obvious that he’s ready when needed.

After allowing a run in each of his first three Triple-A starts, the 6’3″ right-hander stepped it up a notch with three consecutive scoreless outings, a quality start on May 16th (6 IP, 3 ER) and another gem yesterday (7 IP, ER, BB, 5 K). At just 22 years of age, De Los Santos is dominating at the Triple-A level (1.39 ERA, 3.0 BB/9 and 9.7 K/9) and also has a 150-inning season under his belt at the Double-A level. With the Phillies primed for a playoff run, it’s almost certain that the young workhorse will figure into their plans at some point.

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David Fletcher, INF, Angels (Triple-A Salt Lake) | Angels Depth Chart 

Replacing an accomplished 12-year veteran who is struggling mightily at the plate with an unproven prospect who is putting up huge numbers in Triple-A is not an easy decision. While the 35-year-old Ian Kinsler is no longer the hitter who slashed .288/.348/.484 with 28 homers back in 2016, he’s probably not as bad as he’s looked through his first 149 plate appearances of 2018, either (.197/.275/.288). Regardless, the Angels have to at least be considering whether it’s time to give the 23-year-old Fletcher a chance.

After a subpar performance during his first full season in the upper minors in 2017 (.655 OPS in 111 games between Triple-A and Double-A), the former sixth-round draft pick has taken a huge step forward in 2018. He already has 20 multi-hit games and 28 extra-base hits—he had 24 total extra-base hits in 2017—while striking out just 13 times in 193 trips to the plate. A rare 0-fer on Tuesday has his slash line down to .356/.401/.599 in 192 plate appearances. Capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop, Fletcher could be used in a utility role while taking at-bats away from Kinsler, who is currently in a 5-for-34 rut.

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Eloy Jimenez | USA Today Sports Images

Eloy Jimenez, OF, White Sox (Double-A Birmingham) | White Sox Depth Chart

It’s not surprising that 19-year-old Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been the most impressive and most talked-about prospect in Double-A since the start of the season. But Jimenez, who began the season on the disabled list with a strained pectoral muscle, is quickly making up for lost time. The 21-year-old debuted on April 19th and, after going hitless in his first 11 at-bats, is now hitting .328/.360/.608 with eight homers and 11 doubles.

While he doesn’t have the plate discipline of Guerrero or Juan Soto, another impressive 19-year-old who made his MLB debut with the Nationals this past weekend, Jimenez doesn’t strike out a ton. He has 21 total strikeouts (a 15.9 percent clip) and has gone without a strikeout in 15 of his 31 games. When he does put the ball in play, it’s often very loud. There’s also a clear path to the Majors on a rebuilding White Sox team with one of the least-productive group of outfielders in baseball.

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Dennis Santana, SP, Dodgers (Triple-A Oklahoma City) | Dodgers Depth Chart

Digging deep into their starting pitching depth is nothing new for the Dodgers. They’ve been doing it for years and, for the most part, their second wave of starting pitching has done an excellent job. This year has been no exception with Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu on the disabled list and Walker Buehler (2.38 ERA in six starts), Ross Stripling (3.26 ERA in four starts) and Brock Stewart (one run in four innings in his lone spot start) doing their part to hold down the fort. Next in line could be the 22-year-old Santana, who threw six shutout innings with only three singles allowed and 11 strikeouts in his Triple-A debut over the weekend.

After he struggled badly in seven Double-A starts last season (5.51 ERA, 6.3 BB/9), an MLB debut in 2018 did not appear to be in the cards despite being added to the 40-man roster over the offseason. But that’s changed after eight impressive Double-A starts (2.56 ERA, 3.3 BB/9, 11.9 K/9) and, probably even more so, after whiffing 11 hitters without issuing a walk over six shutout innings in his Triple-A debut. Like Kenley Jansen and Pedro Baez, Santana started his professional career as a position player—he was a shortstop for one season after signing in 2013—so he should feel at home in the Dodgers’ clubhouse.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Reds Place Raisel Iglesias On Disabled List

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The Reds announced this afternoon that they’ve placed closer Raisel Iglesias on the 10-day disabled list due to soreness in his left (non-throwing) biceps. Fellow righty Austin Brice is also headed to the DL thanks to an upper back injury. In their place, the Reds activated righties Michael Lorenzen and Tanner Rainey from the disabled list. The announcement didn’t include any expected timeline for either player’s absence.

Iglesias, 28, struggled with his control early in the season but has corrected that issue lately and looked to be in excellent form since late April. He did issue a pair of runs and suffer his second blown save in his most recent appearance, but he’s gone 10 outings without issuing a walk and pitched to a 1.74 ERA with 12 strikeouts in that time. Overall in 21 2/3 innings this season, he’s notched a 2.08 ERA with 11.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.25 HR/9 and a 36.2 percent ground-ball rate.

Brice, meanwhile, has been scored upon in four of his past past five appearances, causing his ERA to balloon up to 4.67 despite largely promising K/BB and ground-ball tendencies. In 25 innings of relief this season, he’s averaged 9.4 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 with a 50.7 percent ground-ball rate. He’s been too prone to the long ball, though, already serving up four homers on the season. That’s been an ongoing trend for Brice in the big leagues, as he’s yielded a dozen big flies in just 71 2/3 frames at the game’s top level.

[Related: Cincinnati Reds depth chart | MLB closer depth chart at Roster Resource]

It’s not yet clear who’ll step into the ninth inning for the Reds with Iglesias out of action. For all of the Reds’ flaws, they actually have several high-quality options in the ’pen, where Amir Garrett, Jared Hughes and Dylan Floro have all worked to a sub-2.00 ERA in 2018. Garrett has very arguably been the team’s most dominant relief arm, averaging better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings and notching a 1.67 ERA in his 27 frames this far. The veteran Hughes has shown the best control of the bunch and comes with the most late-inning experience in the big leagues, having spent several seasons as a setup man for the division-rival Pirates. Lorenzen, meanwhile, was the top setup man to Iglesias last season but has yet to pitch in the Majors this season due to a shoulder strain that caused him to open the season on the disabled list.

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