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Archives for July 2014

Reactions To Masahiro Tanaka’s Injury

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Last night, the Yankees revealed that ace Masahiro Tanaka has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The current plan is for Tanaka to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection on Monday and then rehab, with the hope being that he can avoid surgery and be back in roughly six weeks. However, the Yankees were forced to acknowledge that Tommy John surgery is at least a possibility for their $175MM hurler. Here are some reactions from around the league, as well as some speculation as to how this will impact the remainder of their season…

  • Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports wonders when baseball will ever get all 30 teams on the same page in an attempt to remedy what is becoming an epidemic. The problem could be better tackled if all 30 clubs worked in conjunction with the Commissioner’s Office to research the problem from all angles and determine some kind of preventative tactics for future generations. Instead, as Yankees president Randy Levine put it last month: “Teams are hesitant to invest because they think they’re going to seed the money and then everyone is going to share in the information. We’re all too selfish to do it.”
  • Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports references a meta-analysis from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews this past April which concluded that there is “insufficient evidence to support the use” of PRP injections to treat soft-tissue injuries. He points out that Chad Billingsley had a PRP injection to try to alleviate a partial tear, wound up having Tommy John anyhow, and has pitched two Major League games in the past 22 months.
  • Also from Morosi’s piece, he feels that the Yankees should make the bold move to acquire Cole Hamels from the Phillies. While the team is light on prospects, the Yankees could sweeten the deal by agreeing to take on the contracts of both Jonathan Papelbon and Jimmy Rollins, Morosi speculates. Acquiring Hamels provides cost certainty in the rotation that the Bombers simply couldn’t secure with offseason pursuits of Max Scherzer or Jon Lester.
  • Hiroki Kuroda, David Robertson and even Dellin Betances are pieces the Yankees could theoretically look to move this month if the team does indeed become sellers, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. While Sherman himself isn’t advocating a trade of Betances, he’s heard from a surprising number of executives that the Yankees should market their setup ace while his value is perhaps at its all-time highest. Relievers are a volatile commodity, and they could land a long-term infield piece in the deal. As for Kuroda, he has a no-trade clause but could conceivably waive it to move closer to his family in Southern California. This is my own speculation, but the team could also look to flip the recently acquired Brandon McCarthy to another club as well.
  • Mets ace Matt Harvey spoke to reporters, including MLB.com’s Tim Healy, and weighed in on the news. “It’s an unfortunate thing that you don’t want to see, especially with how much success he’s had in his first year,” said Harvey. “It’s a sad thing. It’s something as a competitive pitcher, you want those guys around. It’s unfortunate that all these are happening. But if you look at the bright side, they’re all kind of happening at the same time. Hopefully we’ll all return at the same time.” Harvey, who went through a partial UCL tear himself before ultimately electing surgery, also discussed his own decision-making process.
  • Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News runs down a list of possible trade targets the Yankees could pursue in the wake of the injury. Feinsand offers a similar line of thinking to Morosi, only his speculation is in regards to Cliff Lee; Feinsand wonders if the Yankees could get away with offering a lesser prospect package for Lee if they agreed to take on the entirety of the roughly $50MM Lee is still owed. He also lists Jorge De La Rosa and former Yankee Ian Kennedy, among others.

Central Links: Alcantara, Bailey, Worley, Masterson, Sox

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Originally recalled for a two-day period with Darwin Barney on paternity leave, Cubs second baseman Arismendy Alcantara has been informed that he will be with the team at least through the All-Star break, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Alcantara, who ranked 33rd on Baseball America’s midseason list of the game’s Top 50 prospects, says he was surprised by the news. Manager Rick Renteria offered praise for the 22-year-old, who collected his first four Major League hits in today’s contest.

Here’s more from the game’s Central divisions…

  • Reds right-hander Homer Bailey left today’s game after five innings due to a slight strain in his right knee, but he won’t see his name added to the list of significant injuries that have stricken contending teams today. The Reds have announced that he is expected to make his next start.
  • Twins GM Terry Ryan tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he’s glad to see Vance Worley performing well with the Pirates, though he did imply that it’s too early to say that the Twins gave up on Worley too soon: “Give him a little time to see what he does over the course of starts. We’ll talk about that in October. See how it goes. I know he’s done well.”
  • The Indians are hopeful that Justin Masterson’s two weeks on the disabled list will not only give him a chance to heal, but to help him get his mechanics back in line, reports MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Pitching coach Mickey Callaway feels that Masterson’s knee has affected the way he’s been able to land during his delivery, which would explain the sharp decrease in velocity Masterson has seen this year.
  • White Sox GM Rick Hahn would need to receive an offer that knocks his cell phone out of his hands in order to trade Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Avisail Garcia or Jose Abreu, writes Scott Merkin of MLB.com. However, Hahn notes that oftentimes, a trade will come together when a rival club’s initial inquiry is on a player that is unavailable, as it leads to the suggestion of alternative options.

NL East Notes: Desmond, Fedde, Maya, Braves, Phils

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In response to a report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports in which it was reported that the Nationals were looking to add shortstop prospects to their system, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post breaks down the reported offers to Ian Desmond and examines his contract situation. Desmond reportedly rejected an offer of $85-98MM over seven years this offseason, but as Kilgore notes, other shortstops with similar (or inferior) production have signed for more. Desmond has already said he feels financially secure — as well he should, having been guaranteed more than $23MM in his career — and he therefore doesn’t need to feel pressured to take a below-market deal, Kilgore writes. He concludes by noting that if Desmond finishes his career elsewhere, it’ll be because the Nationals let him walk, not because Desmond turned his back on the club.

Here’s more on Desmond and the NL East…

  • Desmond spoke with MLB.com’s Bill Ladson and flatly said that he expects to be a National in 2016 and beyond. “I can’t picture myself other than this,” said Desmond. “I can’t picture myself in any other uniform, clubhouse and Spring Training complex. I can’t see myself with any other coaching staff or anything like that. This is what I know. This is what’s on my mind. This is home for me.” Asked about the aforementioned Rosenthal report, Desmond declined to comment but added that there’s no ill will between him and the organization, and he has tremendous respect for GM Mike Rizzo’s decision-making skills.
  • In a second piece from Kilgore, he looks at the fact that three of the Nationals’ top 10 picks in this year’s draft — including first-rounder Erick Fedde and second-rounder Andrew Suarez — are unsigned. The Nationals are unlikely to sign ninth-rounder Austin Byler, a source tells Kilgore, meaning the Nats will lose $145,900 from their bonus pool, further complicating their negotiations with Fedde — a Scott Boras client. Rizzo considers it a “cardinal sin” to leave a top pick unsigned, notes Kilgore, who expects both Fedde and Suarez to sign. He feels that negotiations could come down to the wire, however.
  • The Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization are working on a buyout of minor league right-hander Yunesky Maya of the Braves, reports Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net (on Twitter). The Cuban hurler was originally signed by the Nationals with much fanfare, but he never panned out in the Major Leagues. Maya, now 32, has a 2.63 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 85 2/3 innings this season for Triple-A Gwinnett.
  • The Braves don’t have the financial wherewithal to take on Jake Peavy or any other significant salary, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. He notes that in 2011, when the team acquired Michael Bourn from Houston, GM Frank Wren included an additional prospect in the deal to avoid having to pay the remainder of Bourn’s salary.
  • David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News looks at Jonathan Papelbon’s trade stock and a list of teams that will looking for bullpen help. He notes that there are a lot of excellent relievers on the market this year, all of whom make less money than Papelbon. Ultimately, he opines that a package of Papelbon and A.J. Burnett could be beneficial to the Orioles, though he feels the Angels and Tigers are other plausible destinations.
  • Antonio Bastardo is the name that Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com hears the most in trade buzz (Twitter link). Entering play today, the 28-year-old southpaw had a 3.60 ERA with 50 strikeouts against 24 walks in 40 innings. Bastardo is earning $2MM this season after avoiding arbitration for the second time this offseason. He is under team control through 2015.

Dodgers Designate Clint Robinson For Assignment

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The Dodgers have designated Clint Robinson for assignment, manager Don Mattingly tells reporters, including Ken Gurnick of MLB.com (Twitter link). The move makes room for the activation of Carl Crawford from the 15-day disabled list.

The 29-year-old Robinson collected his first three Major League hits and his first two big league RBIs in his brief time with the Dodgers. The first baseman appeared in nine games and collected 10 plate appearances in the Majors, and he’s had an outstanding season in the minor leagues to date as well. Robinson has batted .309/.402/.523 with 14 homers in 333 plate appearances this season in Triple-A. He’s no stranger to success at that level, as the former 25th-round pick (Royals) has an excellent line of .302/.392/.488 in 377 Triple-A contests.

Minor Moves: Doran, Santos, Susdorf, Maxwell

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Here are today’s minor moves:

  • The White Sox have acquired righty Bobby Doran from the Astros, reports MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (via Twitter). Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports that shortstop Jeffry Santos is headed to Houston (Twitter links). Doran, 25, has pitched in the upper minors since 2012, working as a starter and out of the pen while compiling a 3.83 ERA at the Double-A level and 4.90 mark at Triple-A. He was taken in the fourth round out of Texas Tech back in 2010. The 21-year-old Santos is old for his current Arizona Rookie League club, where he’s posted a .295/.483/.386 batting line in 60 PA.
  • The Phillies have released outfielder Steve Susdorf, tweets the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Gelb. The 29-year-old outfielder is a veteran of seven minor league seasons (all with the Phils) and was very well-liked by his teammates, Gelb adds. He’s a career .291/.360/.379 hitter in 964 PA in Triple-A.
  • Justin Maxwell has accepted an outright assignment with the Royals rather than electing free agency, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. This is the second time this year that the veteran outfielder has taken a demotion from Kansas City.
  • Ramon Ramirez has signed a new deal to remain with the Orioles after being outrighted, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reported yesterday (via Twitter). The right-handed reliever could have sought a new home through free agency, but will instead return to Triple-A Norfolk.
  • The Angels have released southpaw Rich Hill, according to the MLB.com transactions page. Hill was designated for assignment on Saturday just four days after being acquired via trade from the Red Sox. The veteran had three very rough outings with the Halos, and has a roller coaster history in the majors, but had been quite effective at Triple-A this year.

NL West Notes: Crawford, Dodgers, Zobrist, D’Backs

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We took a look at the Rockies earlier today. Now, let’s check in on the rest of the NL West, which could be shaping up to be a busy division at the deadline:

  • The Dodgers plan to utilize outfielder Carl Crawford off of the bench when he is activated from the DL, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. For the time being, then, the club seems to have resolved its long-running logjam. “Carl happened to be the one who got hurt,” explained manager Don Mattingly, who said that Crawford is primarily a left-fielder, but that the position was now occupied by Matt Kemp. As Shaikin notes, Crawford still has $69MM remaining on his deal, including the rest of ths season and his annual payments through 2017, and could potentially be shopped in some kind of large contract swap.
  • Meanwhile, the Dodgers would be interested if the Red Sox make their relievers available, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. He lists Koji Uehara, Andrew Miller, Burke Badenhop, and Craig Breslow as players who Boston could conceivably listen on, as the first three are set to become free agents while Breslow had a $4MM club option with a $100K buyout.
  • The Giants may have interest in Rays infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist, according to a report from Chris Haft and Ryan Hood of MLB.com. The Giants have sent special assignment scout to Pat Burrell to Tropicana Field recently, and the duo adds that the Rays are believed to have scouted San Francisco’s Double-A affiliate extensively.
  • The Diamondbacks entered this season with a $110MM payroll and are believed to be targeting the same number for next season, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. The problem, however, is that the current roster projects to come in around that amount due to arbitration raises and escalating salaries on current long-term deals. As such, the team figures to make trades to shed payroll in the coming weeks. Martin Prado and Aaron Hill are listed by Piecoro as candidates to be dealt.

Steve Adams contributed to this post.

Angels Designate Nick Maronde For Assignment

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The Angels have designated lefty Nick Maronde for assignment, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).

The club has also placed starter C.J. Wilson (right ankle sprain) on the DL and optioned fellow right-hander Cam Bedrosian to Double-A. Meanwhile, the Angels have added righties Drew Rucinski and Cory Rasmus to the active roster.

Maronde, 24, has tossed 6 1/3 innings for the Halos this year, allowing nine earned runs and twelve hits while issuing seven free passes against seven strikeouts. He has also been hit hard in his 18 Triple-A innings on the year, walking 34 batters in the process.

Brandon Phillips Suffers Torn Thumb Ligament

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3:12pm: Phillips has indeed suffered a torn thumb ligament, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He will undergo surgery tomorrow.

3:00pm: Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips has suffered an injury to the ligament in his left thumb which could be a tear, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). As Rosenthal notes, Phillips is expected to be “out a while;” Bryce Harper recently lost 57 games to a torn ligament in his thumb.

The news on Phillips is not the only significant injury development out of Cincinnati (to say nothing of the rest of the NL Central). After placing first baseman Joey Votto on the DL and seeing center fielder Billy Hamilton go down with a hamstring issue last night, starter Homer Bailey left in the middle of his start today with what the team described as pain in his left patellar tendon (via Twitter). The status of those two important players remains unknown.

MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently broke down the trade market for second basemen. If Phillips requires an extended absence, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes asks (via Twitter) whether the Reds might match up with the White Sox on a deal for Gordon Beckham.

Yadier Molina Out Eight To Twelve Weeks With Torn Thumb Ligament

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Catcher Yadier Molina of the Cardinals has suffered a torn thumb ligament, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He is expected to miss eight to twelve weeks, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).

Molina, a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate, has been off his usual pace at the plate but is still one of the game’s most productive catchers. He owns a .287/.341/.409 triple-slash on the year, after averaging a .842 OPS over his last three campaigns. Also regarded as one of (if not the) best defensive backstops and staff managers in baseball, Molina is essentially irreplaceable.

In the immediate term, the Cards will call up minor leaguer Audry Perez to fill Molina’s roster spot, tweets ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden. But it would be more than a stretch to suggest that Perez, along with seldom-used backup Tony Cruz, can match Molina’s production and presence for the club.

Certainly, the loss of Molina would appear to position St. Louis as a possible buyer behind the plate. The club will take its time finding a fill-in reports Goold (via Twitter). The club does not feel it needs to make a move before the All-Star game.

MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes recently took a look at a relatively barren catching market. Of course, the recently-designated A.J. Pierzynski is also fully available, though ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that he gets the sense that Pierzynski is not a top option for St. Louis. Another possibility, Crasnick suggests on Twitter (and Goold also notes the team will consider), is veteran John Buck, who was recently designated by the Mariners. And ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden opines on Twitter that Kurt Suzuki of the Twins — twice traded to contenders in the last two years and playing on a cheap, one-year deal — could make the most sense as a target.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Pierzynski, O’s, Tanaka, Beltran

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The day after designating $8.25MM catcher A.J. Pierzynski for assignment, the Red Sox have done some looking back and looking forward. The embattled veteran was a source of clubhouse discord, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. Meanwhile, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes that Pierzynski’s original one-year signing, and his ultimate DFA, fit with the club’s long-term plans behind the dish. GM Ben Cherington acknowledged that his club was in an “unusual spot,” as Jason Mastrodonato of MassLive.com reports. “We believe we can win games with [Pierzynski replacement] Christian [Vazquez] behind the plate,” he said. “It is also an investment in him. We’re in an usual spot. We’re just gong to have to see what the rest of the month brings us, if we go on a run and our outlook changes.”

Here’s more on Pierzynski, the Red Sox, and the rest of the AL East:

  • Cherington said that, going forward, the focus for the Red Sox will be on adding offense. “I still believe a lot of that is going to come from guys already here,” he said. “But clearly offense has been an issue. We’d like to add to the offense, so we’re going to look for ways to do that whether that’s now or after the season or both. We’ve got to find ways to improve the offense.”
  • Pierzynski says that he will “go anywhere,” reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter). Though the Twins had made him a two-year offer during the offseason, Wolfson says he’d be surprised if Minnesota looks to bring him back at this point.
  • It is easy to imagine several teams being interested in taking a chance on Pierzynski’s bat returning to its 2013 levels, but the Orioles will not be one of them, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Three internal sources told Kubatko that Baltimore has no interest in the controversial backstop in spite of its lack of offense at the position. Not only that, but executive VP Dan Duquette tells Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun that the team is generally happy with the club’s backstop duo of Caleb Joseph and Nick Hundley (in addition to the left-handed-hitting Steve Clevenger, stashed at Triple-A).
  • As noted earlier on the site, one player that the Orioles do have interest in is lefty Jorge De La Rosa of the Rockies, as Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports. In another piece, Connolly further discusses the O’s situation at the trade deadline, explaining that the team seems unlikely to add a top-of-the-rotation arm. For his part, Kubatko reasons that Baltimore may have some difficult decisions to make if it tries to plug a new arm into the club, as Kevin Gausman has been expected to take a rotation spot going forward. As both reporters note, a bullpen addition — especially a late-inning option — definitely seems to be a possibility.
  • Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka will fly to Seattle to see team doctor Christopher Ahmad, tweets MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Fellow orthopedist Dr. Neal ElAttrache — often consulted on elbow issues — is at the same conference as Ahmad and could also see Tanaka, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links). Notably, ElAttrache was the doctor who performed a physical on Tanaka that was shared with the rest of the league by the pitcher’s representatives.
  • Meanwhile, the Yankees are also waiting to hear whether outfielder Carlos Beltran will need to miss any time due to two small fractures in and around his nose, tweets Hoch. He sustained the injury in a freak batting practice accident yesterday.

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