Archives for August 2015

Nationals Move Doug Fister To Bullpen

By Jeff Todd | August 6, 2015 at 7:09pm CDT

The Nationals have shifted veteran righty Doug Fister to the bullpen, manager Matt Williams told reporters after today’s game, Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com among them (on Twitter). Impressive rookie Joe Ross will take his regular spot in the rotation.

The move is surprising to see, in some respects, but makes sense as the evidence on both pitchers has continued to accumulate. Fister has dealt with injuries, lost velocity, and a continued decline in his ability to generate strikeouts.

All told, he owns a 4.60 ERA over 86 innings, with 5.0 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 with an uncharacteristically low 42.0% groundball rate. Those are his worst results as a big leaguer, and ERA estimators suggest that his earned run average reflects his performance this season.

On the other side of the ledger, Ross — who came over with Trea Turner in the deal that sent Steven Souza to the Rays and Wil Myers to the Padres — has been excellent since making the jump to the big leagues. After today’s strong outing, he sits at a 2.80 earned run mark over 45 frames, with an outstanding 47:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Ross now seems to have the inside track on a rotation spot for next year’s club.

Beyond the impact on the postseason race, Fister’s demotion carries important implications for his upcoming free agent case. For one thing, the 31-year-old no longer seems at all likely to receive a qualifying offer from the Nationals. Not unlike Justin Masterson last year, Fister entered the season primed to be an important second-tier arm on next year’s market, but now looks like a candidate for a short-term deal with a club that is willing to take a gamble on a return to form.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/6/2015

By Jeff Todd | August 6, 2015 at 6:37pm CDT

Here are today’s minor moves …

The Giants have signed infielder Nick Noonan to a minor league deal, Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area tweets. Noonan played at the Triple-A level for the Yankees this year, but spent his first eight professional seasons in the San Francisco organization. Since cracking the big leagues with the Giants back in 2013, Noonan has produced mediocre results at the plate while playing at the highest level of the minors.
Catcher George Kottaras has joined the Blue Jays on a minor league deal, according to an announcement from the club’s Triple-A affiliate. The 32-year-old had seen big league action for seven straight seasons heading into this one — suiting up for three organizations last year alone — but hasn’t seen an MLB opportunity yet with the White Sox organization. Kottaras has hit well in limited action this year, though, and is a .215/.326/.411 hitter in 858 big league plate appearances.

Podcast: Tigers Starter Daniel Norris Joins The Show

By Cray Allred | August 6, 2015 at 4:39pm CDT

For the second year in a row, ace David Price was moved at the trade deadline. This time, the Blue Jays won the bidding for his services by structuring a deal around prized lefty Daniel Norris. As Steve Adams explains to podcast host Jeff Todd in breaking down the trade, that return — Norris, Matt Boyd, and Jairo Labourt — looks to be quite a strong haul for a rental player.

So, what do Tigers fans have to look forward to in Norris, their new southpaw starter? He already showed some of his stuff in an excellent first outing, but you’ll want to tune into the MLBTR Podcast to learn more, as Daniel Norris joins the show to discuss the trade and other topics.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

Astros Designate, Option Dan Straily

By Jeff Todd | August 6, 2015 at 2:43pm CDT

TODAY: Houston has optioned Straily, the club announced, indicating that he was only designated off of the active roster for purposes of passing him through optional assignment waivers.

YESTERDAY: The Astros have designated righty Dan Straily for assignment, Julia Morales of ROOT Sports tweets. He will be replaced on the roster by Asher Wojciechowski, who will receive his second shot at the major league level.

Straily, 26, came to Houston along with Luis Valbuena in the deal that sent Dexter Fowler to the Cubs. He made his way to Chicago as part of the 2014 deadline trade in which Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel headed to the Athletics.

It was in Oakland that Straily showed the most promise, contributing 191 2/3 innings of 3.94 ERA pitching in his first two big league seasons with 7.3 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9. But advanced metrics really never bought into Straily, and he’s struggled at the big league level ever since.

With Houston, Straily has made three starts, lasting 15 1/3 innings and allowing ten earned runs with 14 strikeouts and eight walks. He’s spent most of the year at Triple-A, tossing 98 2/3 frames of 3.65 ERA ball with an appealing strikeout to walk ratio (8.4 K/9 versus 1.6 BB/9).

Brewers Move Kyle Lohse To Bullpen, May Seek Trade

By Steve Adams | August 6, 2015 at 2:26pm CDT

The Brewers have shifted struggling veteran Kyle Lohse to the bullpen, reports MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. McCalvy says that Lohse handled the disheartening news well, and while the right-hander didn’t go into detail, it “sounds like” the Brewers are trying to trade him. GM Doug Melvin did discuss Lohse with other teams prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, but nothing materialized, he adds. Via McCalvy, Lohse had the following to say about his move to a relief role:

“That’s where I’ll be residing for the time being, and we’ll just kind of see what options there are, and we’ll go from there. All that stuff is out of my hands, but [the Brewers have] been good to me. Stuck through a pretty tough year and gave me the opportunity to go out there every five days until now. It didn’t work out.”

The 36-year-old Lohse is in the final season of a three-year, $33MM contract signed with the Brewers in Spring Training of the 2013 season. Lohse proved to be a very good value in the first two seasons of the pact, tossing 397 innings with a 3.45 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 40.1 percent ground-ball rate. Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference both agreed that he was worth roughly five to six wins over the first two years of the deal, with the latter being a bit more bullish.

The 2015 season, though, has been an entirely different story. Lohse has pitched to a 6.31 ERA in 124 innings this season. He leads the National League in both hits allowed (152) and earned runs (87). The 25 homers he’s yielded are already just three shy of his career-worst 28, despite the fact that he pitched 194 innings when he allowed 28 all the way back in 2004.

McCalvy also notes that the Brewers could simply end up releasing Lohse if they’re unable to find a taker, as they did with veterans Randy Wolf and Jeff Suppan at the tail end of their Milwaukee tenures. Given the fact that Lohse is owed $3.6MM of his $11MM salary through the end of the season, the Brewers would need to eat all or nearly all of the money remaining in order to make a deal happen. Asked if he still intended to pitch beyond the 2015 in spite of this year’s struggles, Lohse answered in the affirmative. “Obviously I’m not ready to hang it up yet,” he said. “The stuff’s still there, [the problem was] just the execution or whatever it was this year.”

While that may strike some as a curious statement given his struggles, it should be noted that Lohse’s velocity, though not overpowering (89.4 mph fastball) is nearly identical to the 89.6 mph he averaged back in 2010 with the Cardinals. Whatever difficulties he’s experienced, it would seem, aren’t due to a decline in arm strength.

Jerry Blevins Likely Out For Season After Re-Injuring Arm

By Steve Adams | August 6, 2015 at 1:40pm CDT

Left-hander Jerry Blevins has re-injured his left arm and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, the Mets announced today. Via Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link), Blevins slipped while stepping off a curb and re-fractured his throwing arm. Blevins will likely undergo surgery next week. ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin tweets that the Mets were aware Blevins had suffered a fall at the time they acquired fellow left-hander Eric O’Flaherty from the Athletics, though they did not know the full scope of Blevins’ new injury.

Acquired from the Nationals in an offseason trade that sent outfielder Matt den Dekker to D.C., Blevins has scarcely pitched as a member of the Mets. He began the season by throwing five perfect innings across seven relief appearances but hit the disabled list in late April after a Dee Gordon line drive caught him on the left arm, resulting in a forearm fracture.

Blevins’ freak injuries have come at an inopportune time for both team and player, as the Mets could use an effective lefty relief option (hence the roll of the dice on O’Flaherty). For Blevins, he’ll not only miss the excitement of pitching in a division race, he’ll also enter free agency having thrown just five innings in his contract season. Overall, the southpaw has a strong track record, but he posted the highest ERA of his career in 2014 and certainly would’ve preferred to distance himself from that 4.87 mark with a strong 2015 season.

That unsightly mark notwithstanding, Blevins has a 3.37 ERA with 8.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 across 264 2/3 innings dating back to the 2010 season. He’s held opposing lefties to a .206/.257/.322 batting line in his career.

International Notes: Hwang, Diaz, Sierra, Arozarena, Rodriguez

By Steve Adams | August 6, 2015 at 12:48pm CDT

Korean third baseman Jae-gyun Hwang has drawn quite a bit of notoriety for an enormous bat flip on a game-tying home run last month, but the Lotte Giants infielder should probably be drawing recognition for the fact that he could be posted this winter following what is shaping up to be a monster age-27 campaign in Korea. Hwang, who just turned 28, won the KBO home run derby and is currently batting .302/.352/.570 with 22 homers through 414 plate appearances. It’s true that the KBO is a very hitter-friendly environment, but Hwang’s numbers are nonetheless impressive. The fact that Pirates shortstop Jung Ho Kang has transitioned well to the Major Leagues could also help Hwang’s case this offseason, if posted. Hwang’s team does have incentive to post him, as he can become a true free agent following the 2016 season, at which point he could leave without the Giants receiving any compensation for one of their best players. It’s not certain that Hwang will end up being posted, of course, but given the relative dearth of free agent options at third base this winter, one can imagine teams showing interest in Hwang if he does become available.

A few more notes on some international players…

Cuban outfielder Yusniel Diaz registered with the commissioner’s office to file for free agency prior to May 15 of this year and, as such, should become eligible for free agency during the current signing period, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 18-year-old should have won the Serie Nacional Rookie of the Year Award in Cuba in the opinion of many, but he defected after the season and was not honored. He hit .348/.447/.440 in his lone pro season in Cuba and would be subject to international spending limitations upon reaching free agency. Badler’s article also contains a highlight video of Diaz for those interested in catching a glimpse of the potential big leaguer.
Badler also has a highlight video of right-hander Yaisel Sierra, adding that the 23-year-old pitcher has established residency in a new country and is merely waiting to be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball. When that happens in the next couple of months, Sierra will be exempt from bonus pools and can sign a Major League deal for the any amount of money or length of time a team is willing to offer. We’ve had several notes on Sierra over the past few months here at MLBTR.
Badler offers an additional look at outfielder Randy Arozarena and shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez (the 21-year-old defensive wizard that did win Rookie of the Year honors after Diaz’s defection). Arozarena already has residency in Mexico and could be declared a free agent in the coming months (he’s subject to bonus pools), while the light-hitting Rodriguez is further removed from free agency (he, too, will be subject to international bonus pools).

2016 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

By Tim Dierkes | August 6, 2015 at 11:16am CDT

The non-waiver trade deadline has passed, and many players’ free agent prospects were affected. So far, the following free agents are among those no longer eligible for a qualifying offer due to a trade: David Price, Johnny Cueto, Ben Zobrist, Scott Kazmir, Mat Latos, Mike Leake, Gerardo Parra, and Dan Haren. Yoenis Cespedes was already ineligible for a QO.

As a reminder, these rankings represent earning power in terms of total contract size, assuming everyone reaches the open market after this season and goes to the highest bidder. Here’s MLBTR’s full list of 2015-16 free agents.

1. David Price. Price landed with the Blue Jays last week in a blockbuster trade, and has ascended to the top spot in these rankings. His 2.45 ERA ranks fourth in the American League, and agent Bo McKinnis will have a case to exceed Max Scherzer’s seven-year, $210MM deal from last offseason. The present-day value of that deal was reported to be under $192MM due to deferred money. Price represents a true ace at the top of his game, entering his age 30 season. He might be the only free agent to top $200MM this winter.

2. Jason Heyward. Heyward’s last 1500 plate appearances have established that he’s good for about 15 home runs per year. He adds value in a lot of different ways, though, and a more analytical team might be more inclined to appreciate and pay for that. While he might not be better than all the players listed below him, keep in mind Heyward turns 26 years old on Sunday. Because of his age, Heyward is the player on this list with the best shot at an eight-year contract, which could still push him into the $180MM range.

3. Justin Upton. Upton is the other free agent outfielder who figures to command a premium partly because of his youth. Still, he’s hitting .189/.275/.311 since June, and he will require draft pick forfeiture unless the Padres trade him this month. Upton has been hampered by oblique and thumb injuries since July 19th, and his contract year has not gone as planned. He still may approach 30 home runs, though, and may be able to get a seven-year deal.

4. Johnny Cueto. As expected, Cueto was traded, and now he’ll try to lead the Royals to a championship. Cueto’s ace-level talent is undeniable, but with a few blips on his health record, can he push into seven-year deal territory? A seventh year could result in Cueto getting this winter’s second-biggest contract. A strong finish will go a long way.

5. Zack Greinke. Since we last checked in on June 25th, Greinke has given up four earned runs. He leads all of baseball with a 1.41 ERA, and no one else is under 2.00. Greinke’s timing is fantastic, and even though he turns 32 in October, a six-year deal is looking more and more plausible. Opting out of the three years and $71MM remaining on his Dodgers contract seems a mere formality.

6. Yoenis Cespedes. The Mets made a trade deadline splash by acquiring Cespedes. He may threaten his career-high of 26 home runs, and he turns 30 in October. With Shin-Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury, there is precedent for Cespedes to get a seven-year deal. Though he’s known for his power, Cespedes’ agent could try to push him as an elite defender as well based on his metrics this year.

7. Alex Gordon. Gordon went down on July 8th with a groin injury, but he’s on the road to recovery. I don’t believe the injury will affect his value much. However, as a player who turns 32 in February, he seems limited to a six-year deal. Given his strong on-base percentage and defense, there will be teams with Gordon atop their free agent outfielder rankings.

8. Jordan Zimmermann. Zimmermann has been solid, with a 3.54 ERA in 22 starts. He’s not a big strikeout guy, and for the first time it looks like he’ll allow more than a hit per inning in a full season. He’ll still be a great addition for a team with a strong defense. The question is whether a team will commit a sixth year.

9. Chris Davis. Davis has bounced back from 2014 and has a reasonable shot at hitting 40 home runs this year. Davis has 28 home runs now, with Upton, Cespedes, and Marlon Byrd next among free agents at 18. Davis isn’t showing a platoon split in 2015, and he doesn’t turn 30 until March. He’s again starting to look like a player who could exceed $100MM.

10. Mike Leake. Leake is a new entrant on this list. Just 28 in November, Leake has a 2.61 ERA since June. With the trade to the Giants, he’s ineligible for a qualifying offer. Leake is a durable, young mid-rotation arm, and I’m starting to wonder if he can snag a five-year deal in free agency. For now, his durability holds off Scott Kazmir in terms of earning power.

Kazmir leads the American League in ERA right now, and won’t be getting a qualifying offer. The southpaw, 32 in January, could find his way into our top ten if his success continues and his health holds up. Still, it’s hard to crack the list without an expectation of a five-year deal, and I can’t picture that for Kazmir right now.

Jeff Samardzija, once seen as the list’s most likely trade candidate, has fallen out of our top ten. His results continue to be middling for the White Sox, and now a qualifying offer seems likely. Shark remains a durable, quality arm, but he might not be a lock for five years.

Nationals’ shortstop Ian Desmond also drops off the list. His struggles have continued, and he may prefer to try to rebuild value with a one-year deal. Those haven’t been en vogue lately, but can you picture any team giving Desmond four-plus years at a decent salary?

Other impending free agents to watch include Matt Wieters, Ben Zobrist, Yovani Gallardo, Gerardo Parra, Denard Span, Wei-Yin Chen, and Mat Latos.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Players On Revocable Waivers: Thursday

By Steve Adams | August 6, 2015 at 10:40am CDT

Now that the non-waiver trade deadline has passed, it becomes much more difficult for teams to move players. Those looking for a crash course can check out MLBTR’s August trade primer, but the quick version is that each team will place a significant amount of players on revocable trade waivers this month. If a player is claimed, his team can either force the claiming team to take the entirety of his contract, work out a trade with the claiming team (they have 48.5 hours to do so) or pull the player back off waivers. Players that clear waivers can be traded to any team. If a player is put through waivers a second time, his team loses the ability to revoke the waivers.

Bear in mind that teams will often place players they have no intention of trading on revocable trade waivers. There’s no harm in the process, it can help to mask the players they do want to trade, and it allows them a chance to gauge interest and be overwhelmed by an unexpected offer. (Again, for further detail, check out MLBTR’s full post on the process.)

All that said, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo has provided our first batch of players that have been placed on revocable waivers. It’s not clear when each of these names was placed on waivers, so some may have already cleared or been pulled back…

The Red Sox have placed Mike Napoli, Rusney Castillo, Jackie Bradley Jr., Brock Holt, Hanley Ramirez, Craig Breslow and Justin Masterson on waivers. Of that group, I’d imagine that Napoli (earning $16MM in 2015), Castillo (owed $56.5MM from 2016-20), Ramirez ($66MM from 2016-18) and Masterson (earning $9.5MM in 2015) would each clear just based on salary alone. The remaining portion of Breslow’s $2MM salary isn’t exactly prohibitive, but he’s posted a 4.25 ERA this year with unsightly peripheral stats that have led stats like FIP and xFIP to suggest that his ERA should be north of 5.00. Lefties are hitting .271/.354/.456 against Breslow in 2015.
Holt and Bradley, on the other hand, would probably be interest to a large number of teams. The versatile Holt can play all over the diamond and is hitting .277/.351/.380 on the season with an increased walk rate and positive value contributed both defensively and on the basepaths. He’s controllable through 2019, and the Sox almost certainly aren’t interested in moving him, though a claiming team will have the opportunity to offer something substantial. Bradley’s stock has fallen quite a bit from his days as a Top 100 prospect, but he’s an elite glove in center field that is still just 25 years old and can be controlled through 2020. Certainly, there are teams that would have interest in trying to sort out his offensive struggles. (He’s batted just .188/.264/.269 in 589 Major League plate appearances.)
Cafardo also reports that both James Shields and Matt Kemp have been placed on waivers by the Padres. Kemp has struggled in the field and produced a roughly league-average batting line (park-adjusted) at the plate, so teams aren’t likely to place a claim on his remaining salary.
Shields has $65MM coming his way after 2015 due to the backloaded nature of his contract, and he can opt out after the 2016 season. It’d be a risk for any club to claim him on the heels of reports that the Padres were shopping him somewhat aggressively in July. The Padres’ thinking could be that they know his market at this time and are confident that he’s less likely to be claimed in early August, so getting him through waivers early will allow them to spend the month further exploring trades. Shields has been uncharacteristically homer-prone this season, but the workhorse has made 23 starts and turned in a 3.74 ERA with a much-improved strikeout rate. He’s posted a 2.57 ERA with just five homers over his past 42 innings as well.

AL East Notes: Smyly, Nava, Ortiz, Blue Jays, Red Sox

By Steve Adams | August 6, 2015 at 8:51am CDT

Rays lefty Drew Smyly will make at least two more rehab starts before rejoining the club, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported earlier this week. The first of those outings will come today, with a second one perhaps coming on Tuesday of next week. As Topkin notes, the Rays won’t need a fifth starter until Aug. 18, at which point Smyly could conceivably join the rotation. His return should be a nice boost to the Rays, as Smyly’s season was in doubt due to a shoulder tear earlier this year. The Rays are in particular need of rotation help at the moment after optioning Matt Moore to Triple-A in an effort to get the talented lefty back on track following some post-Tommy-John struggles.

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