Yankees & Red Sox Notes: Tanaka, Lindgren, Shields
Masahiro Tanaka threw a simulated game in Detroit earlier this week, but the Yankees have sent him back to New York with “general soreness” in his arm, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News writes. “There’s not a specific spot; it’s just throughout the arm that’s sore,” says Tanaka. “I’m glad that it’s not the elbow itself.” Right now, Yankees manager Joe Girardi describes the situation as a “little setback.” The setback further delays Tanaka’s return, however, meaning it’s increasingly unlikely he’ll be able to make it back before the season ends. Tanaka’s elbow injury has kept him out of action since July 8. Here’s more out of New York and Boston.
- Girardi says he’s keeping his eye on 2014 second-round pick Jacob Lindgren, Brendan Kuty of NJ.com writes. After zooming through four levels in his first pro season, Lindgren could be a potential September call-up, perhaps helping the Yankees bullpen down the stretch. So far, he’s pitched 24 2/3 innings and has struck out an amazing 17.5 batters per nine innings, or almost half the batters he’s faced. He’s currently at Double-A Trenton.
- Missing on Jose Abreu last year helped lead the Red Sox to put in the highest bid for Rusney Castillo, owner John Henry tells WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “Yes, the financial aspects were impacted by coming close on Abreu. The White Sox did their homework,” says Henry. Castillo is scheduled to play his first minor league game with the Gulf Coast League Red Sox tomorrow.
- The Red Sox could pursue Royals ace James Shields to upgrade their rotation this offseason, particularly if they’re unable to stage a reunion with Jon Lester, Bradford notes. The Red Sox spent their July acquiring hitting and are likely to address starting pitching this offseason, and ESPN’s Buster Olney had previously noted that Shields was a potential target for the Red Sox. At 32 (33 in December), Shields isn’t young, but he might be able to get a four-year deal this winter.
Tigers Designate Justin Miller For Assignment
The Tigers have designated pitcher Justin Miller for assignment, Chris Iott of MLive.com tweets. The move clears space for lefty Kyle Ryan, who will make his MLB debut tonight as the starter for the second game of a doubleheader against the White Sox.
Miller has pitched 12 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for the Tigers this season, posting a 5.11 ERA while striking out five batters and walking two. The 27-year-old righty has had a good season for Triple-A Toledo, posting a 1.81 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 44 2/3 innings. Miller missed the 2012 season due to Tommy John surgery, then was released by the Rangers near the end of last season. He signed a minor league deal with the Tigers last September.
East Notes: Castillo, Herrera, Gillick
New Red Sox outfielder Rusney Castillo will make his minor league debut tomorrow, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes. Castillo, who has not played in an official game since 2012, will debut in the Gulf Coast League. The minor league season is, of course, almost at an end — the GCL Red Sox have a three-game series against the Yankees in the GCL finals. Britton notes that Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket are both also headed to their league playoffs, so Castillo could soon head to one of those affiliates, possibly making his way to the Majors later this year. Here’s more from the East divisions.
- Second baseman Dilson Herrera made his big-league debut with the Mets last night and went 0-for-3 with an error. “To be honest, it was a little bit of nerves going into the first inning, but after that it was fine,” said Herrera, via MetsBlog. “I felt good the rest of the night.” Herrera has made great strides since the Mets acquired him from the Pirates with Vic Black in the Marlon Byrd trade last year, and after a half-season breakout at Double-A Binghamton, he now looks like a top prospect. The Pirates paid heavily for Byrd, but he did hit .318/.357/.486 down the stretch for them, also hitting a homer in the Bucs’ win in the Wild Card game against the Reds.
- Highly regarded former big-league GM Pat Gillick is now the Phillies‘ interim team president as David Montgomery takes a medical leave of absence, but GM Ruben Amaro says team operations will be “status quo,” Jake Kaplan of the Daily News writes. Gillick was the Phillies’ GM when they won the World Series in 2008, but Amaro says Gillick’s current duties will only be temporary.
Week In Review: 8/23/14 – 8/29/14
Here’s a look back at this week at MLBTR.
Trades
- Athletics – acquired C Geovany Soto from Rangers for cash considerations
- Yankees – acquired P Josh Outman from Indians for a PTBNL or cash considerations
- Phillies – acquired P Victor Arano from Dodgers to complete the Roberto Hernandez trade
- Athletics – acquired C Bryan Anderson from Reds for a portion of their international bonus pool spending rights
- Indians – acquired C Chris Gimenez from Rangers for future considerations
Claimed
- Diamondbacks – OF Nolan Reimold (from Blue Jays – link)
- Royals – INF Jayson Nix (from Pirates – link)
- Pirates – P Bobby LaFromboise (from Padres – link)
Designated For Assignment
- Royals – P Bruce Chen (link)
- Yankees – P Rich Hill (link)
- Tigers – P Jose Ortega (link)
- Blue Jays – P Sergio Santos (link)
- Orioles – INF Cord Phelps (link)
Outrighted
- Pirates – INF Tommy Field (link)
- Angels – P Dane De La Rosa (link), P Wade LeBlanc (link)
- Phillies – INF Reid Brignac (link)
Released
- Diamondbacks – OF Xavier Paul (link), P Lucas Harrell (link)
- Rangers – P Phil Irwin (link)
Key Minor League Signings
- Yankees – OF Chris Young (link)
White Sox To Pursue Victor Martinez In Free Agency
The White Sox are preparing to make a run at Tigers DH Victor Martinez in free agency, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports on Twitter. Martinez, 35, is playing out the final year of the four-year, $50MM pact he signed to join Detroit before the 2011 season.
Chicago will have an opening for a veteran slugger with both Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko playing on expiring contracts. The pair has split duties at the DH position this year, but the switch-hitting Martinez would presumably occupy the role with just one roster spot. Of course, Dunn also provides something of a cautionary tale. He posted a .731 OPS over four years with the White Sox, which actually fell slightly below league average, making his $56MM deal a devastatingly poor investment given his lack of defensive flexibility.
Martinez, of course, proved a better investment than did Dunn, even though he no longer spends time behind the dish. Over three seasons in Detroit (he missed all of 2012), Martinez has put up a .318/.375/.479 slash with 52 home runs. He’s been even more impressive this year, bumping his line up to .327/.395/.555 and swatting a career-best 26 long balls.
In spite of his age, Martinez’s bat will obviously be enticing to many American League clubs. One major wild card remains whether or not he receives a qualifying offer from the Tigers, which could prove a particularly strong disincentive to teams that are not all-in on the immediate future. In that respect, of course, the White Sox represent an interesting suitor, as a move for Martinez would represent a signal that the team believes its contention window was opened.
NL Notes: Howard, Phillies, Venters, Brewers
Here’s the latest out of the National League …
- The Phillies reversed course on Ryan Howard‘s playing time because the club believes the only way it can salvage anything in return for him is to keep him in the everyday lineup, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Philadelphia hopes that an American League team will bite on Howard over the offseason, especially if he can put up the kinds of numbers (25 home runs, 100 RBI) that would shine up his surface appeal.
- The word around Philadelphia is that no major changes to the decisionmaking structure will occur while club president David Montgomery is on leave, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports. Both GM Ruben Amaro Jr. and Ryne Sandberg gave short and simple explanations that the status quo would continue. “We’re not really at liberty to really discuss much more about it,” said Amaro.
- Braves reliever Jonny Venters will undergo and attempt to return from a third Tommy John procedure, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports on Twitter. Venters was one of the game’s better southpaw setup men over 2010-12, but he would be a rare pitcher to make it back from a trio of UCL replacements.
- The Brewers are unlikely to make any last-minute moves, GM Doug Melvin tells MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (Twitter link). Though the club made a claim and tried to acquire Rockies’ first baseman Justin Morneau, Melvin indicated that nothing seemed in the works at this point. “You never know, but probably not,” he said.
Minor Moves: Wilking Rodriguez, Tommy Field
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Not long after inking him to a minor league deal, the Yankees have released righty Wilking Rodriguez, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. Rodriguez, 24, had solid minor league numbers with the Royals, but was set loose when the club acquired Josh Willingham and needed a 40-man spot. He did not make an appearance in the New York system.
- Days after being designated for assignment by the Pirates, infielder Tommy Field has been outrighted to Triple-A, according to the International League transactions page. Field was claimed by Pittsburgh from the Angles on August 10. On the year, he owns a .286/.357/.428 slash over 387 Triple-A plate appearances.
Royals Designate Bruce Chen For Assignment
The Royals have designated veteran lefty Bruce Chen for assignment, according to a tweet from Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. Chen, a 37-year-old native of Panama, is playing on a one-year, $4.25MM deal that includes a $5.5MM option for next season ($1MM buyout).
Chen earned that deal with a strong 2013, in which he posted a 3.27 ERA over 121 innings, including 15 starts and 16 relief appearances. But he has not carried that production forward to 2014. Over 48 1/3 frames — again, evenly split between starts (7) and relief appearances (6) — Chen has allowed 7.45 earned runs per nine.
Of course, Chen’s peripherals remain largely in line with his recent marks: he has struck out batters at a 6.7 K/9 rate that matches exactly his career mean, and has walked slightly fewer batters (3.0 per nine) than he has averaged. Chen’s FIP (4.58), xFIP (4.64), and SIERA (4.43) all suggest that he has been as good or better than in years past, and should be in line for some positive regression.
Angels Outright Dane De La Rosa
The Angels have outrighted right-hander Dane De La Rosa to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, the club announced. The move clears a 40-man roster spot, though no corresponding move has been reported.
As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register notes on Twitter, the move could theoretically be related to a trade. The Halos have not yet announced a starter for Saturday. Among the internal options, only one (Randy Wolf) would need to be given a 40-man spot, and he would not be available if he makes his planned start at Triple-A today.
The Angels added De La Rosa via trade just before the 2013 season, and rode him for 72 1/3 innings of 2.86 ERA ball last year, with 8.1 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. But 2014 was less successful for the 31-year-old, who gave up three earned runs, three hits, and three walks in just 2 1/3 MLB innings. At Triple-A, he has worked to a 5.52 ERA over 29 1/3 frames, with 7.7 K/9 against 5.2 BB/9.
Diamondbacks Release Xavier Paul
The Diamondbacks announced that they have released outfielder Xavier Paul in order to clear a roster spot for Nolan Reimold, who was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays yesterday.
Paul inked a minor league deal with the D’Backs earlier this month, as MLBTR’s Zach Links reported, and his contract was promptly selected from Triple-A Reno. The veteran outfielder picked up 21 plate appearances with Arizona, collecting a pair of singles and a walk along the way.
Paul’s best seasons at the plate came with the Reds from 2012-13, when he batted .264/.350/.420 with nine homers in 334 plate appearances in a part-time role. Overall, he’s a lifetime .250/.311/.368 hitter in 767 PA with the Dodgers, Reds, Pirates and D’Backs.