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Archives for August 2015

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/22/15

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

  • The Rays have outrighted righty Jose Dominguez to Triple-A Durham, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Rays designated Dominguez for assignment last week. He had a handful of successful appearances with the big club this year, but struggled at Durham, posting a 6.26 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 6.3 BB/9 in 23 innings. The Rays acquired him along with pitching prospect Greg Harris in November when they traded Joel Peralta and Adam Liberatore to the Dodgers.

Rosenthal On Park, Astros, Brewers, Morse, Jays

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Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal, via a video from FOX Sports:

  • Jung-Ho Kang’s strong rookie season with the Pirates could drive up the market for fellow KBO slugger and former teammate Byung-Ho Park, who is likely to be posted this winter. Kang has been a bargain, hitting .287/.360/.444 while playing capably at third base and shortstop this season, all for an approximately $5MM posting fee and a four-year, $11MM deal. Park, who’s hit 95 home runs in the last two seasons, should make more.
  • Friday was an interesting night for both teams in the recent Carlos Gomez / Mike Fiers deal. Fiers, of course, threw a no-hitter for the Astros, while outfielder Domingo Santana homered in his first game with the Brewers.
  • Michael Morse, who went from the Marlins to the Dodgers to the Pirates in a whirlwind series of transactions last month, got a paycheck from the Dodgers even though he never played for them. (The Dodgers were obligated to pay him, of course, but it’s amusing to think about a player receiving a paycheck from a team he never played for.) He’ll also receive a game jersey from the Dodgers the next time they play the Bucs.
  • The Blue Jays’ additions of Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Revere have greatly improved their defense, Rosenthal says. Justin Smoak is another key to the Jays’ defense — he uses his big frame to get to throws from across the infield that other first basemen might miss.

Mets Acquire Eric Young Jr.

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The Mets have announced that they’ve acquired outfielder Eric Young Jr. from the Braves for cash considerations. They have assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas.

The 30-year-old Young collected 80 plate appearances with the Braves this season and hit .169/.229/.273 before being outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, where he hit .248/.349/.312. Young played for the Mets in much of 2013 and in 2014 before heading to Atlanta, and he has a career big-league line of .248/.316/.329.

As those numbers suggest, Young doesn’t hit well. He can, however, play all three outfield positions, and he has 26 stolen bases against just three caught stealings between the Majors and Triple-A this year. He could, therefore, conceivably be useful on the Mets’ bench once rosters expand in September.

Follow MLB Trade Rumors On Instagram

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Recently, MLB Trade Rumors launched a brand new official Instagram account: @TradeRumorsMLB.  Each day, we’re sharing conversation-inspiring images about the hottest topics in baseball.  From there, we invite you to give us a like, weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section, and even share the link with a friend.

This week, we gave fans an early look at traded players in their new jerseys.  We offered a sneak preview of what outfielder Marlon Byrd would look like in a Giants uniform.  We also did a jersey swap on second baseman Chase Utley, who made his Dodgers debut Friday night following this week’s trade.  Another recent Instagram pic asked MLBTR fans whether the Marlins should trade Marcell Ozuna.

We also launched a brand new hashtag campaign.  If you have an awesomely obscure baseball jersey we invite you to post a pic of it on Instagram, use the hashtag #RandomMLBJersey, and at-mention us (@TradeRumorsMLB).  If you have a great jersey, we’ll re-gram your picture to our thousands of followers.

So, what are you waiting for?  If you don’t have an Instagram account, this is the perfect excuse to sign up and get one.  Follow us on Instagram today!

Cherington On Ramirez, Donaldson, Sandoval

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Ben Cherington, who recently stepped down as GM of the Red Sox, spoke at Saberseminar in Boston on Saturday (joking that the forum was “a progressive event that even invites the unemployed“) and was unusually candid about his work with the Sox and about being an executive for a big-league team. Here’s a bit of what he had to say, via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Tim Britton of the Providence Journal (Twitter links: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9).

  • Cherington says he misjudged how Hanley Ramirez would transition from the infield to the outfield. “We didn’t know what he would be defensively,” Cherington says. “We made a bet based on the history of what players look like going from middle infield to outfield. … It hasn’t gone well.” Ramirez has rated as well below average in left field, and his defensive struggles this season have coincided with a decline on offense, arguably making Ramirez one of MLB’s worst position players while still in the first year of his contract.
  • Cherington adds that the Red Sox contacted Billy Beane and the Athletics about trading Josh Donaldson last offseason, only to be told the A’s weren’t interested in dealing Donaldson. They did, of course, ultimately trade him to Toronto, and Cherington says he credits the Blue Jays for their persistence.
  • Instead, the Red Sox signed Pablo Sandoval to play third, a move that hasn’t worked out thus far. Cherington says he didn’t necessarily expect the run-scoring environment at Fenway Park to be a boon for Sandoval, but instead was mostly focused on filling what had been a “black hole” at third. Sandoval has hit fairly well at home this season, batting .304/.347/.451. But he’s batted just .216/.271/.337 on the road.
  • Some of Cherington’s mistakes as GM came as a result of rushing decisions, he says.
  • One of the most crucial aspects of being a GM is interacting with team ownership, Cherington says, noting that it’s a sensible and necessary part of the job.
  • Cherington seems happy with the state in which he left the Red Sox’ farm system, saying that there are prospects who can turn out to be special players and also areas of organizational depth.
  • One decision Cherington says he won’t rush is determining the next step in his career. Instead, he’ll take his time in making that decision.

NL Central Notes: Cubs, Brewers, Bourjos

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The Cubs have backed out of their $1M deal with Dominican third baseman Christopher Martinez due to an unknown problem with his physical, Baseball America’s Ben Badler writes. The Cubs made Martinez a new offer of $50K, but he rejected it. Martinez was one of a huge number of high-profile signings for the Cubs in the international signing period that began last month. As Badler notes, this isn’t the first time a noteworthy contract with an international signee has fallen apart due to health concerns — the Blue Jays, for example, rescinded an $800K deal with Venezuelan infielder Luis Castro in 2012, and Castro later signed with the Rockies. Here’s more from the NL Central.

  • The Brewers are only beginning their search for a GM to replace Doug Melvin, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. It’s unclear at this point if they will hire someone within the organization or from outside it, and any speculation is premature at this point.
  • The Cardinals have had a string of injuries in their outfield, but Peter Bourjos remains glued to their bench, as Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com writes. Even with Jon Jay, Randal Grichuk and Matt Holliday out, and with Jason Heyward dealing with a minor injury, Bourjos hasn’t played much, with the team lately favoring Tommy Pham in center. Pham had been hitting well for Triple-A Memphis. “[We are] seeing if we can catch a little lightning from what he was doing in Memphis, and that does create a tough situation for Bourjos to get going,” says manager Mike Matheny. With Bourjos still on the big-league roster, he hasn’t had as many opportunities to get in a groove. He’s hitting .214/.312/.329 this season, and as Langosch notes, he hasn’t had a hit since July 19.

Red Sox Notes: Dombrowski, Buchholz

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Former Braves GM Frank Wren might be the front-runner for the Red Sox’ open GM position, but ESPN Boston’s Gordon Edes looks at other potential candidates for the job now that the Sox have hired Dave Dombrowski to be their president of baseball operations. Given the Sox organization’s strong interest in analytics, some of Edes’ potential candidates, like former Cubs GM Jim Hendry and former Dodgers exec Ned Colletti, seem to me to be somewhat unlikely. Edes notes that Hendry worked with Dombrowski in the Marlins organization, however, and that past ties often help determine who gets hired. Here’s more on the Red Sox.

  • Tim Britton of the Providence Journal looks at Dombrowski’s five best trades as GM of the Tigers and Marlins. Dombrowski’s 2007 acquisition of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for a package headed by Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin unsurprisingly tops the list, which also includes his less-remembered but still very helpful deals for Carlos Guillen and Placido Polanco in Detroit and for Mike Lowell in Florida.
  • Clay Buchholz, currently on the 60-day DL with a right elbow strain, is not currently throwing, Tom Layman of the Boston Herald writes. “He feels good enough to throw, but we are evaluating him daily to see where he’s at,” says interim manager Torey Lovullo, who adds that Buchholz has not had a setback. Lovullo says the Red Sox haven’t determined that Buchholz will be shut down for the season. It seemingly wouldn’t be surprising if he didn’t pitch again this season, however. There’s only a bit more than a month left, it takes time to be able to pitch enough innings to start, and the Red Sox are out of the playoff race.

Yankees Designate Chris Capuano For Assignment

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The Yankees have announced that they’ve recalled righty Branden Pinder and designated lefty Chris Capuano for assignment. Capuano, who turned 37 this week, has a 6.55 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 33 innings split between the rotation and the bullpen with the Yankees this season.

This marks the third time in the past month that the Yankees have designated Capuano, whose $5MM guaranteed salary has made it possible for them to move him on and off their roster without much risk. Capuano pitched two innings on Thursday, and the addition of Pinder, who hasn’t pitched since Tuesday, gives them a fresher and probably more effective arm. The Yankees also had a heavily left-handed bullpen, with Chasen Shreve, Justin Wilson and closer Andrew Miller all pitching from the left side.

Week In Review: 8/15/15 – 8/21/15

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Here’s a look back at this week at MLBTR.

Key Move

  • The Red Sox named Dave Dombrowski their new president of baseball operations, with Ben Cherington stepping down as GM.

Trades

Top Prospect Promotions

Claims

Designated For Assignment

Outrights

Released

Key Minor League Signings

Tigers Release Marc Krauss

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The Tigers have released first baseman/outfielder Marc Krauss, Chris Iott of MLive.com reports on Twitter. Detroit needed his roster spot for the addition of just-acquired starter Randy Wolf.

Krauss, 27, opened the year with the Angels and spent time with the Rays before being claimed by Detroit. He’s struggled all season long, putting up a .141/.173/.256 batting line in 81 total plate appearances. Krauss has continued to put up good numbers in the minors, compiling 292 plate appearances of .280/.408/.423 hitting at the Triple-A level on the year.

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