The Angels demoted righty Matt Shoemaker to Triple-A today, capping off what has been a disappointing season for the 28-year-old. Coming off an impressive 2014 rookie campaign, Shoemaker has been inconsistent this year, and his rough last two outings (13 ER in just 7 1/3 combined innings) apparently convinced the Angels that he needed a breather in the minors. Shoemaker has a 4.76 ERA over 117 1/3 innings this season, though advanced metrics — such as a 3.80 SIERA, 4.01 xFIP, 8.1 K/9 and 3.5 K/BB rate — suggest he’s pitched better than his ERA indicates. Shoemaker’s demotion leaves the Halos with a four-man rotation for now; right-hander Nick Tropeano is probably a good bet to be promoted, as he’s already made a couple of spot starts for Los Angeles this season.
Here’s some more from both the AL and NL West divisions…
- The Rangers will decide tomorrow whether Derek Holland will be activated from the DL and start on Wednesday, Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News writes. Holland told reporters that he felt good after a full bullpen session today, and he is ready to make just his second appearance of 2015. Holland has played in just seven games in 2014-15 due to knee surgery, back spasms and a shoulder injury, the latter being responsible for his current DL stint.
- The Padres didn’t move any of their big names prior to the July trade deadline and ESPN’s Christina Kahrl believes the team may similarly stand pat in August. Dealing away controllable young players wouldn’t have helped the team contend in 2016, and veterans like Ian Kennedy or Joaquin Benoit wouldn’t have brought premium prospects back in return. As for bigger-name veterans, Justin Upton may not have netted more than the first-round pick the Padres would obtain when Upton rejects a qualifying offer and possibly leaves in free agency this winter. As for James Shields, Kahrl points out that the righty had a long wait on the open market last winter, so teams who passed on Shields then may not be eager to give up prospects to acquire him now.
- It took a lot of work to get Colin Rea to the majors, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes in a profile of the rookie right-hander’s growth from being a lightly-regarded project of a prospect to a Padres starter.
- The moving and organizational switches that come with being a pro ballplayer can be especially hard for a player’s family, the Arizona Republic’s Zach Buchanan illustrates in an interview with Taylor Ray (wife of Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray) and the wives of several other D’Backs players.
- Mike Leake’s return from the DL this week will force the Giants to make a pitching roster move, and CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic writes that bumping Matt Cain from the rotation is an option the club is considering. Cain has struggled through an injury-plagued season, posting a 6.05 ERA in only 41 2/3 innings.
Your wives story links to the Colin Rea story.
BTW I’d think jersey chasers would know what they are in for.
Also, along with what Pav said, Hank Schulman mentioned that Cain still has options left, so he can still be sent to AAA with his permission
I would hope that a guy like Cain would accept an assignment. Take it for the good of the team, but who knows.
Pros: He doesn’t lose money. He might find his groove again.
Cons: He has to play in the minors.
Cain has over 5 years of service time meaning he can elect Free Agency and get paid the entire sum of what the Giants owe him.
No organization wants to pay out a guy that type of money to sit at home.
Cain’s not going to Sac. You don’t do that to your 140mil baby down because simply the humiliation would hinder any real steps toward fixing his release point flaw. If anything he’ll get DL’d again, but Bochy will give his vet the longest leash of any to get right. He’s not that far off actually, his mechanics in general are alright, it’s just a matter of getting enough reps to repeat the release point until he’s right again.
The phantom DL is a San Francisco specialty.
Has to be when you have 7 starting pitchers, and 4 of them are fifth starters at best right now.
Bochy has already claimed Cain to be healthy, and a trip to Sac would literally be only two weeks
He’s not going to AAA. Health is not the only reason a P might get DL’d, as was pointed out. In some cases mechanical flaws like Cain’s can’t be worked out on the field and they need something like the Instructional league where guys can throw a few inn frequently and fix problems.
Who cares if Kennedy, Venable and Benoit wouldn’t have brought back premium prospects? Whatever they could have brought back would have been more likely to help the Padres out than they would.
Padres didn’t have a strategy if this experiment completely fell apart, and they should have. If Preller thought this team was any more than a dark horse, then his baseball acumen is questionable. It basically screamed exit strategy from the get go.
His actions put the Padre franchise back 2-4 years. There is no quick fix for that. This guy and his owner will very probably make the same mistakes this off-season and set the franchise back even more.
The mets offered Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa- the Padres don’t have a need for pitching prospects let alone pitchers. They have a need for position players.
The extra 1st Upton nets and the position player they draft with it has more value to Preller and the organization than netting pitching prospects.
Peavy, Latos, Rea. They have always found pitching in late rounds.
Just out of curiosity why do the Padres not need pitching prospects? They traded their 3 best pitching prospects, Tyson Ross appears to be the only starting pitcher that is actually good and cost controlled on the roster. They used to find pitching in late rounds when Bud Black was around.
Wisler in 9 starts hasn’t looked like the top prospect he was thought to be. Fried is still having to recover from TJS. And Ross looks like a 1 or 2. So if the 3 only Ross hurts losing so far.
The Padres can find pitching. Cheap 1 or 2 year deals with guys looking to rebuild value. In the 1st 11 rounds they drafted 6 pitchers this past draft. They also will acquire arms in any deal they make for Ross or cashner.
I should have said 4 best pitching prospects, I completely blanked on Joe Ross, Eflin is the 4th. Wisler is 22 and already in the Majors. Pitchers they drafted in 2015 aren’t exactly going to help next year or the year after most likely looking at no help until 2018, when Shields will be 36. Cheap 1 or 2 year deals do not always work out see Brandon Morrow. The Padres can’t just throw any one with a heartbeat into Petco any more, every offense has improved in the NL West.
so you think 4 starters will sign for the padres on cheap deals for a last place team next year? they have tyson ross and cashner next year and nothing after that and neither of those 2 has thrown over 200 innings.
its after the first round, and most likely will be farther away and less proven than any prospect they were offered. it’s like saying a lottery ticket is more valuable than a million dollars because you might win more.