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Yankees Designate Taylor Dugas

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The Yankees have designated outfielder Taylor Dugas for assignment, the club announced. His 40-man roster spot was needed for the promotion of infielder Cole Figueroa.

Dugas, 25, has played both of the past two seasons in the upper minors, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. He had a solid campaign in 2014, but has fallen back to a cumulative .221/.329/.260 slash in 219 total plate appearances this season.

Twice an eighth-round draft choice out of Alabama, Dugas has spent his entire career in the New York organization. He has spent most of his time in left field, though he’s also played in center and right.

Dodgers To Sign Josh Sborz, Philip Pfeifer

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TODAY: Sborz will take home $722,500 and Pfeifer will receive $222,500, MLB.com’s Jim Callis tweets. In total, then, Los Angeles saved $446,700 on the two signings.

By my count, with some help from the MLB.com draft signings tracker, the Dodgers have $175,200 in savings from their current signings to play with. Of course, if the team goes less than 5% over its final pool allotment (which will depend on which players are signed from the first ten rounds), it won’t incur any lost future picks, providing some additional wiggle room.

YESTERDAY: The Dodgers have reached deals with two of their higher draft choices, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Virginia righty Josh Sborz (74th overall, $827K slot) and Vanderbilt lefty Philip Pfeifer (101st, $564.7K), whose teams recently squared off in the College World Series, have agreed to undisclosed bonuses. (Slot values via Baseball America.)

Sborz rated as high as 114th on pre-draft boards, with MLB.com giving him that ranking and praising his arm speed and solid slider while noting that he’s expected to end up in the pen. Meanwhile, Baseball America tabbed Pfeifer as the 195th-best draft prospect, explaining that he lacks a big fastball but has three solid pitches and good deception.

The Dodgers still have some work left with their selections from the first ten rounds. First-round Vandy right-hander Walker Buehler and sandwich selection Kyle Funkhouser of Louisville remain unsigned, as does sixth-rounder Edwin Rios, a first baseman from Florida International.

Central Notes: Bruce, Benoit, Tigers, Cardinals

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Reds outfielder Jay Bruce is as “as good a bet as anyone” on the team to be dealt, team sources tell Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. That is rather a notable viewpoint given the club’s nice collection of even shorter-term assets. Bruce, 28, is controllable for three more years (the last via option), though Rosenthal adds that he rebuffed two offers of a second extension last year. It’s hard to gauge Bruce’s trade value given his rough 2014 and slow start to this season, but he’s bounced back nicely of late. Bruce is neither old nor expensive, offers an established power bat, and has at times graded rather well on defense and on the basepaths.

  • We’ve heard suggestions that the Twins could be looking at bullpen upgrades, and Rosenthal confirms that is Minnesota’s focus. One player the team could pursue is Padres righty Joaquin Benoit, per the report. The righty has been a consistent producer for some time now, and can be controlled for 2016 through a team option.
  • The Tigers should look to take out two needs with one move, argues Chris Iott of MLive.com. Dealing for a starter while shifting Alfredo Simon to the pen would upgrade both sides of the staff, suggests Iott.
  • While the Cardinals still have some padding, their NL Central lead is beginning to dwindle. Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch argues that St. Louis is in need of a move or two to capitalize on its nice first half. Miklasz says it’s time to add some punch to the lineup, noting that first base is the obvious area for an acquisition with Matt Adams out.
  • Miklasz does mention the possibility of shifting well-regarded outfield prospect Stephen Piscotty to first, and indeed colleague Derrick Goold indicates on Twitter that Piscotty could soon get a shot in the big leagues. The 24-year-old was nearly called up on Tuesday, and will now spend time at first at Triple-A to get ready for just that possibility. In his second run through Memphis this year, Piscotty owns a .270/.362/.471 slash with 10 home runs over 340 plate appearances. He has walked 41 times while making just 52 outs via strikeout.

Padres Preparing For Active, Creative Deadline

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The Padres are prepared to be active at the deadline, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. While the team is holding out hope that it will make sense to add pieces, its fall in the standings seems to make a cashing in of expiring assets more likely.

Regardless of record, says Lin, San Diego is not only prepared to function as a seller, but also as a buyer of MLB assets at the deadline. Presumably, that means that the club may look to acquire more controllable players in exchange for current roster members who are nearing free agency (Justin Upton, Will Venable, and Ian Kennedy, most immediately).

Indeed, there is little indication in the report that the Padres are interested in blowing up their roster to re-plant the farm system. Lin adds, instead, that the club will look to be active next year in free agency, possibly even increasing its overall payroll once again.

GM A.J. Preller indicated that he is once again preparing to be flexible and creative as he gathers information for the deadline. “We’ve got a lot of our scouting group on the road, seeing players we could add to the mix,” said Preller. “Then we’re also considering situations where we kind of change the look of the club a little bit. … The biggest thing we preach to our scouts is to just be prepared for all different scenarios.”

While the club obviously hoped for a better spot in the standings at this stage of the year, that doesn’t mean that Preller’s bold offseason has left him exposed with ownership. President and CEO Mike Dee made clear that he is pleased with the young executive thus far and is not afraid of more roster turnover. “This was a franchise that was stuck in neutral for the last 10 years,” said Dee, “so I give A.J. a lot of credit for rolling to the dice to see if we could add to this year’s team to compete, to compete with this group, and I think we still may. If we don’t, then we’ll reassess and reshuffle the deck and see if we can find a different chemistry, a different combination, that can improve the roster.”

Injury Notes: Gordon, Kazmir, Hammel

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A trio of notable players left tonight’s action early. It’s too soon to speculate in any of the situations, but all are worthy of note with the All-Star break right around the corner.

  • Royals skipper Ned Yost indicated that he is fearful of a prolonged absence for Gordon, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports (Twitter links). Though McCullough adds that the training staff does not believe Gordon’s groin muscle detached from the bone, the 31-year-old is said to have heard a pop from the muscle.

Earlier Updates

  • The Royals may have dodged a bullet, as the team announced that star left fielder Alex Gordon was carted off with a groin strain. It appeared that his left leg buckled as he chased a ball to the wall, and Gordon’s obvious pain contributed to the impression that he may have suffered a significant leg injury. Regardless, a groin strain can itself still be rather a serious problem, and it is too early to know the long-term implications. Needless to say, any lost time from the outstanding veteran would create a significant hole in the Kansas City lineup.
  • Athletics lefty Scott Kazmir left his start tonight after just three innings with triceps tightness. But after the game, he told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jane Lee, on Twitter) that the issue is “super minor” and should not cause him to miss any time. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reminds us, via Twitter, this is not the first time that the veteran has been forced out early from a start. And indeed, there may not be cause for concern. But the timing is obviously not great, with Kazmir shaping up to be one of the market’s more appealing rental arms.
  • The Cubs’ starter this evening, Jason Hammel, also left quite early with what the team called left hamstring tightness, as John Jackson writes for ESPN.com. Chicago turned to lefty Clayton Richard, who was just added in a trade. While it’s obviously less concerning to hear of an injury of this nature than the two noted above, the Cubs will surely still proceed with caution, and Hammel will undergo an MRI, per a tweet from Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago’s rotation is not the deepest part of its roster, and Hammel makes up a key part of an effective top three, having put up 102 2/3 innings of 2.89 ERA pitching.

NL East Notes: Mets, Papelbon, Pettibone, Span

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Mets GM Sandy Alderson indicated today that the trade landscape for bats is starting to take shape, as Mike Puma of the New York Post reports on Twitter. “The target market is just beginning to reveal itself,” said Alderson. New York’s most obvious needs seem to be on the left side of the infield, where the shortstop position continues to be a source of consternation and third bagger David Wright remains an uncertainty.

Here’s more from the NL East:

  • Other teams believed the Phillies were nearing a deal involving closer Jonathan Papelbon at some point in June before putting talks on hold, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com reports (links to Twitter). Per Stark, there is a sense that the decision to pull back came from above GM Ruben Amaro Jr., with Philadelphia choosing to hold off when the Andy MacPhail hiring neared completion. Clubs that were in the conversation included the Blue Jays, Cubs, Rangers, and one of the Los Angeles franchises, according to the report. MLBTR recently posed the question on Instagram whether Papelbon or Francisco Rodriguez is the better closer target. Check it out to join the discussion.
  • Phillies righty Jonathan Pettibone is set for another shoulder surgery, the club announced. The 24-year-old once seemed primed to function as a quality rotation piece, but has not pitched competitively since early last season.
  • The Nationals are waiting to decide on a DL stint for center fielder Denard Span until he sees a back specialist tomorrow, Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com tweets. Span has been excellent when healthy, but continues to deal with a series of nagging injuries. The progress of this particular malady could play a significant role not only in his future free agent case, but also Washington’s motivation to land a player like Ben Zobrist to provide the team with options down the stretch. While Michael Taylor and Matt den Dekker are capable of playing center, the club is also dealing with the absence of Jayson Werth and several other injury and performance issues that could make an addition desirable.

AL East Notes: Rays, Smyly, Cueto, Jays, Napoli

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Rays GM Matthew Silverman says that he remains confident in his club despite its recent slide, and indicated that he does not see the need for significant deadline additions, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports. “If we’re a healthy team there isn’t a glaring need for us at the deadline,” said Silverman.

  • The Rays expect to welcome back both outfielder Desmond Jennings and lefty Drew Smyly in August, Silverman added. While the former has been expected to return this year, it was not at all clear that Smyly would do so. Per a Topkin tweet, there is some chance that the labrum tear identified in Smyly’s pitching shoulder is an old injury, and the team is reasonably optimistic of getting him back in 2015.
  • Among the teams watching Johnny Cueto throw yesterday were three AL East clubs — the Yankees, Orioles, and Blue Jays — per a tweet from Joel Sherman of the New York Post. All three line up as possible acquirers of pitchers, of course, so it’s not at all surprising to hear that they would be interested in taking a look at the prized righty (as, no doubt, are plenty of other teams). Who’ll land Cueto remains a hot topic; be sure to check out MLBTR’s Instagram post on just that topic.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos continues to publicly address his teams’ needs with some regularity, this time in an appearance on Sportsnet 590 The Fan (via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca; Twitter links). Anthopoulos certainly did not leave the impression that he is plotting a run at Cueto, saying that the market for pure rental players is “the last aisle that I’d want to shop in.” Rather than going after a single player, it seems, Toronto is exploring a number of possible options. “Anybody that’s going to be out there in trades, we’re going to have interest in,” he said.
  • Mike Napoli increasingly looks like an odd man out with the Red Sox, but it’s far too soon to tell where things are headed. Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes that the first baseman has already lost time with the team playing David Ortiz and rookie Travis Shaw at first, while colleague Brian MacPherson explains the appeal of utilizing Ortiz at first in order to slot Hanley Ramirez as the DH. Manager John Farrell says that he is “not turning from” Napoli, as WEEI.com’s Justin Pallenik reports. And Ortiz himself hardly seems interested in anything more than spot duty in the infield, as Rob Bradford of WEEI.com reports. While it remains at least theoretically possible that Boston could look to move Napoli, his $16MM annual salary and lack of an obvious replacement make that a complicated proposition.

Dodgers Designate Eric Surkamp

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The Dodgers have designated lefty Eric Surkamp for assignment, the club announced (via J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group, on Twitter).

Los Angeles needed his 40-man spot as part of a series of moves, as the team continues to turn over its bullpen. Yimi Garcia and Ian Thomas will head to Triple-A on optional assignment, while relievers Chin-hui Tsao and Josh Ravin will ascend to the big league roster.

Surkamp, 27, appeared in just one game with the Dodgers this year, allowing four earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked one, but permitted two long balls.

Over parts of four big league seasons, Surkamp has only thrown 57 total frames at the MLB level. All said, he owns a 6.47 ERA with 5.8 K/9 against 4.9 BB/9. He has mostly worked from the pen in the majors, though he’s spent most of his minor league time as a starter.

It’s interesting to note the return of Tsao. The 34-year-old native of Taiwan last appeared in the bigs in 2007. In the interim, he found himself banned from his home country’s top league amid game-fixing allegations, as Joseph Yeh of the China Post details. Tsao has managed only a 4.40 ERA over 30 2/3 frames at Triple-A this year, but is carrying an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of 11.4 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.

Josh Harrison Out Seven Weeks With Thumb Injury

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JULY 8: Harrison has a torn UCL in his left thumb and is expected to miss seven weeks after surgery, Pittsburgh announced.

JULY 6, 2:51pm: Harrison says he’ll receive a second opinion once the swelling in his hand goes down, but for the time being, there’s no specific diagnosis or timeline on his recovery, per MLB.com’s Adam Berry (on Twitter).

2:36pm: Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison will miss the next six weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb, reports Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter links). Harrison injured his thumb while sliding into second base on Sunday, according to Biertempfel.

Harrison will be placed on the disabled list to accommodate the club’s roster claim of Travis Ishikawa, the Pirates announced. The loss of Harrison likely means that the Pirates’ infield alignment will feature Jung Ho Kang at third base and Jordy Mercer at shortstop for the foreseeable future. Harrison will also no longer be an option to spell Gregory Polanco in right field against left-handed pitching, as he’s done on occasion this season.

The 27-year-old Harrison signed a four-year extension with the Pirates this offseason and got off to a slow start in the wake of that deal. However, he’s turned it on since the beginning of May, batting .302/.335/.391 in that time with a pair of homers and nine steals. Most of his defensive work this season has come at the hot corner, where Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Runs Saved peg him at slightly below average to average, although he grades out as a plus defender there over the course of his entire career.

Harrison’s loss makes the club’s offseason acquisition of Kang that much more crucial, as Kang’s versatility will soften the blow of losing Harrison’s productivity for the next month and a half.

Cardinals Designate Aledmys Diaz For Assignment

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The Cardinals have designated infielder Aledmys Diaz for assignment, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports on Twitter. A 40-man spot was needed for the promotion of veteran first baseman Dan Johnson.

Per Langosch, St. Louis hopes that Diaz will clear waivers given that he’s still owed a significant amount of salary. The Cardinals signed Diaz as an amateur free agent in March of last year, guaranteeing him four years and $8MM.

After entering the year as the organization’s 11th-rated prospect in the eyes of Baseball America, the 24-year-old Diaz has taken a step back in 2015. Playing at Double-A, he owns a .235/.292/.344 slash over 268 plate appearances on the year. Those numbers are down from a partial showing in the minors last season, when he put up a .765 OPS in 125 turns at bat at the High-A and Double-A levels.

Baseball America noted in its evaluation that Diaz had a more advanced bat than glove, though the Cards have remained hopeful that he could turn into a big league shortstop. The youngster has spent virtually all of his time at short thus far as a professional. Over sixty games there this year, Diaz has committed eleven errors.

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