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Braves GM On Matt Kemp, Matt Wisler And Aaron Blair

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In addition to declaring that the rebuilding, last-place Braves need to start winning in 2017, general manager John Coppolella touched on the statuses of three of his team’s players in a Sunday interview with MLB Network Radio (Twitter links). Specifically, Coppolella mentioned outfielder Matt Kemp and a pair of right-handers, Matt Wisler and Aaron Blair.

Coppolella believes Kemp, a much-maligned defender, will be able to contribute more in the field if he gets in better shape.

“A big part of why he isn’t real good in left field is because he’s out of shape,” Coppolella said. “If he gets in shape, he’ll be much better.”

Unless Kemp has been out of shape since his major league career began with the Dodgers in 2006, there doesn’t seem to be much reason to expect a significant defensive turnaround. Metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and UZR/150 have regularly given Kemp negative grades in the field. So far, the 31-year-old has compiled minus-98 DRS, minus-116.6 UZR and minus-12.6 UZR/150 in the big leagues.

Given his power-hitting ways, Kemp has fewer limitations at the plate, but he’s still batting just .261/.292/.480 in 510 plate appearances this season. Of greater concern, perhaps, is that Kemp has the ninth-worst BB/K ratio (.21) in baseball among 158 qualified hitters. In combining the flaws in his game with his salary, it’s not surprising that Kemp passed through revocable trade waivers unclaimed. The Braves, who acquired Kemp from the Padres prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, owe the ex-MVP candidate $18MM per year through 2019. Kemp entered Sunday with a .242/.320/.379 line and one homer through his first 66 at-bats as a Brave. Now, having only traded the toxic Hector Olivera for Kemp, Coppolella will hope his high-profile pickup improves his conditioning and becomes a legitimate producer in Atlanta.

As for Wisler and Blair, they’ll have to fight for rotation spots next season. During his interview Sunday, Coppolella named starting pitching and the catcher position as two areas the club will focus on upgrading in the offseason. In doing so, he described Wisler and Blair as “hard to count on” at this juncture.

Wisler, also a former member of the Padres organization, has not fared well since debuting with the Braves last season. In 231 career innings, Wisler has posted a 4.95 ERA/4.96 FIP/4.99 xFIP trio to go with a 36 percent ground-ball rate. The 23-year-old, once a well-regarded prospect, hasn’t pitched for the Braves since July 28. Wisler has since been at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he has fared better in 26 2/3 frames. Still, Wisler’s 3.71 ERA, 7.43 K/9 and 1.69 BB/9 in the minors haven’t earned him another big league shot yet and won’t guarantee him a place in the Braves’ starting five next season.

Like Wisler, Blair’s quality prospect status hasn’t yet transferred to the majors, and he’ll have to earn his place in the Braves’ 2017 rotation. After joining the Braves last offseason as part of their return from the Diamondbacks in the famous Shelby Miller trade, Blair has recorded a 7.99 ERA with a matching K/9 and BB/9 (5.15) in 50 2/3 big league innings. As a result of that disastrous output, the 24-year-old Blair has spent the past two months at Gwinnett. While his 4.59 ERA at the Triple-A level isn’t inspiring, Blair has put up much better strikeout and walk rates (9.18 and 3.78) than the ones he compiled in the majors before his late-June demotion.

Thanks in part to the early struggles of Wisler and Blair, Coppolella will have his work cut out for him during the winter as he tries to find complements to the Braves’ ace, Julio Teheran.

Billy Butler Injured In Clubhouse Altercation With Danny Valencia

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TODAY, 6:08pm: Butler will also receive a fine, GM David Forst told reporters including MLB.com’s Jane Lee (via Twitter). The veteran DH is headed to the 7-day concussion DL as well.

5:14pm: Valencia will be fined for his role in the ruckus, Slusser tweets.

4:04pm: Slusser now reports the full details of the altercation, which you can find here. In essence, it seems, both players engaged in a verbal dispute after Butler made comments that may have interfered with an endorsement deal for Valencia. It escalated to the point of physical contact before Valencia struck his teammate with one or more punches.

While Butler initially reported being fine in the immediate aftermath of the dust-up, he began exhibiting nausea and vomiting thereafter. Neither player agreed to comment on the matter.

Notably, Slusser adds, Valencia could end up being punished later today. She suggests that he could be suspended or even given his release. The team’s handling of the matter will certainly be closely watched, as it could impact Valencia’s future in the organization and availability to other teams — though clearly this incident hasn’t increased his appeal.

YESTERDAY: 9:48pm: In an update to her original story, Slusser reports that the dispute between Butler and Valencia stemmed from Butler informing “an equipment representative that Valencia had not, in fact, been wearing the spikes that Valencia had told the representative that he was using.”

6:45pm: Billy Butler missed the Athletics’ last two games due to injuries suffered in a clubhouse altercation with teammate Danny Valencia on Friday night, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  A’s manager Bob Melvin said Butler was absent due to nausea and vomiting, and neither Melvin or Valencia was willing to comment about the alleged incident.  As Slusser writes, “no one in the Oakland clubhouse would discuss the matter on the record, but no one denied that it occurred, either.”

The exact nature of the altercation isn’t known, though since Valencia played on Saturday, one could conclude that the A’s didn’t consider it major enough (at least not immediately) to warrant punishment.  Valencia didn’t play on Sunday, though Slusser notes that could also have been a baseball decision given Valencia’s poor career numbers against White Sox starter Jose Quintana.

Clubhouse issues have plagued Valencia in the past, which could in part be why he wasn’t dealt at the trade deadline when the A’s unloaded several other veterans.  Valencia wasn’t even expected to get regular playing time as Oakland focused on younger players, though he has gotten the bulk of starts in right field in August since he is still swinging a solid bat.  The veteran has 15 homers and a .302/.351/.478 slash line through 387 plate appearances this season, and is currently on a streak of two hits in each of his last six games.

Valencia would seem to be a prime August trade candidate if he can clear waivers, though this latest incident isn’t likely to help his reputation around the game.  The 31-year-old is eligible for arbitration this winter before hitting free agency after the 2017 season, and his good numbers will earn him a raise from his $3.15MM salary from 2016.  It seems like the A’s will pursue a trade against this winter, and a non-tender could even potentially be in the cards (despite Valencia’s strong season) if the club wants to clear the roster for younger talent.

Reunion Unlikely For Red Sox, Jonathan Papelbon

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A reunion between the playoff-contending Red Sox and their former closer, free agent Jonathan Papelbon, doesn’t appear to be in the offing, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Papelbon, whom the Nationals released last Saturday, hasn’t pitched in two-plus weeks (Aug. 6) and there’s concern within the Boston organization that he won’t have enough time to prepare for the rest of the season in the event they do pick him up. The Red Sox believe Papelbon would need at least a week-long tuneup in the minors if they were to sign him.

General manager Mike Hazen said earlier this week that the club was “just kind of in a wait-and-see” situation with Papelbon, whom manager John Farrell has spoken with since he hit the open market. Farrell also acknowledged then that team brass broached the idea of adding Papelbon.

“We’ve talked about it, there’s some real strong points to ’Pap’ that could be an addition here,” he said.

There wouldn’t be much financial risk in adding Papelbon, who would cost the Red Sox the prorated portion of the league minimum. But the 35-year-old is only in position to sign for a cheap sum because his effectiveness has dwindled, which caused the playoff-bound Nationals to drop him. In his final five appearances with the Nats, Papelbon’s ERA rose from 2.56 to 4.37 as he yielded nine runs in 3 1/3 innings. That’s a far cry from the Papelbon who pitched for the Red Sox from 2005-11. During that seven-year period, the 2003 fourth-round pick threw 429 1/3 frames and registered a 2.33 ERA, 10.67 K/9 and 2.41 BB/9. He also helped Boston to a World Series title in 2007 and converted a franchise-record 219 regular-season saves in 248 attempts – good for a sterling 88-plus percent success rate. However, Papelbon’s fastball velocity, strikeout and walk rates, and ground-ball percentage have all declined significantly since then.

Regardless of whether they bring back Papelbon, the Red Sox will have some questions at the back end of their bullpen. To name a trio of prominent ones, Junichi Tazawa has allowed seven earned runs over his past four appearances (two innings); July acquisition Fernando Abad hasn’t yet carried his success from Minnesota to Boston; and 41-year-old Koji Uehara hasn’t pitched since July 19 because of a pectoral strain. Even before landing on the disabled list, Uehara’s ERA was a career-worst 4.50 across 36 innings, during which he yielded eight home runs and posted a personal-low 19 percent ground-ball rate. Moreover, Uehara excelled at generating infield pop-ups in previous years, but that figure has dropped from 16.1 percent in 2015 to 8.2 percent this season.

As Mastrodonato notes, though, the Red Sox have potential in-house solutions in a pair of right-handers, Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly, and lefty Brian Johnson. Hembree is currently in the club’s bullpen, while Kelly and Johnson are candidates to come up when rosters expand in September.

Latest On Padres’ Jon Jay

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AUGUST 21: The bone in Jay’s forearm has fully healed and he could return by the first week of September, Padres manager Andy Green said Sunday (Twitter link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com).

AUGUST 16, 10:06pm: Jay’s imaging results were clean, Lin adds on Twitter, but he still needs to regain sufficient flexibility to move toward a return. It is still possible he could be back by the first week of September, per the report.

8:36pm: Padres outfielder Jon Jay didn’t receive the news he hoped for when his fractured right forearm was examined today, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. When he was placed on the DL, the hope was that Jay might be back by this point. But after a CT scan and consultation, Jay was not cleared to hit, making mid-September a more realistic target for his return.

While a slight delay in a rehab timeline for a player on an out-of-contention team isn’t generally of much transactional relevance, Jay’s situation is somewhat different. The Padres have been perhaps the most aggressive seller in baseball, and Jay had looked like a solid trade asset — and a nice target for buyers to pursue.

Over his 291 plate appearances on the year, the left-handed-hitting Jay owns a .296/.345/.407 batting line that checks in just above league average. With a solid glove that plays in center, that makes him a useful piece for the right club.

Because he’s now facing continued uncertainty, teams probably won’t be willing to put in a claim on Jay with just over $1.75MM left on his salary. If he clears waivers, he can be dealt freely, but teams may not be willing to give up much of anything when Jay hasn’t even begun swinging the bat. Once the calendar flips to September, though, an acquiring team wouldn’t be able to utilize him on a post-season roster.

Looking beyond the trade market, the downgraded prognosis also represents a blow to Jay’s efforts to boost his free agent stock. The 31-year-old had been on track to draw solid interest as a player who could start or represent a high-quality fourth outfielder. He may still be able to push for a multi-year deal, but without a month or more to lay down more plate appearances after the injury, his market standing will likely be somewhat tamped down.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/21/16

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Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Angels have signed free agent left-hander Manny Banuelos, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (Twitter link). There’s no word yet on whether it’s a minor league contract, though that’s presumably the case. Banuelos had been on the market since the Braves released him last week. Once a highly regarded prospect with the Yankees (he reached No. 29 on Baseball America’s Top 100 after the 2011 season), Banuelos has accumulated a mere 26 1/3 major league innings (all with Atlanta) and compiled a 5.13 K/9, 6.49 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9. Injuries have beset Banuelos, who has undergone both Tommy John surgery and a procedure to remove a bone spur from his elbow in recent years. When healthy, he has thrown 583 minor league frames and notched a 3.30 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.
  • The Padres have signed free agent southpaw Dylan Stoops to a minor league deal, per a team announcement. Stoops, 24, spent 2015 with Sonoma of the independent Pacific Association and opened this year as a member of another indy team, Traverse City of the Frontier League. In a combined 113 2/3 innings with those clubs, Stoops logged a 3.17 ERA, 8.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Orioles, D-backs, Jays, Bucs, Yanks

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This week in the baseball blogosphere…

  • Camden Depot contends that Orioles closer Zach Britton has been the second-best pitcher in the American League this season.
  • Inside the ’Zona covers the Diamondbacks’ off-the-field woes.
  • Baseball Hot Corner talks with former major leaguer Otis Nixon.
  • Jays From The Couch interviews Blue Jays Triple-A outfield prospect Dalton Pompey.
  • Think Blue Planning Committee chats with Dodgers right-handed pitching prospect Isaac Anderson.
  • Outfield Fly Rule and Wayniac Nation focus on the Braves’ promotion of shortstop Dansby Swanson.
  • BigThreeSports looks into whether Mariners catcher Mike Zunino has actually turned into a good hitter.
  • SaberBallBlog studies which players have fared the best while leading off innings this year.
  • Now On Deck highlights the Orioles’ surging offense.
  • Outside Pitch MLB names five teams that could be fits for Yankees catcher Brian McCann.
  • Philliedelphia forecasts how righty Aaron Nola’s injury-shortened season will affect him and the Phillies in 2017.
  • North Shore Nine suggests a two-closer committee for the Pirates.
  • Dan Grant of Same Page Team approves of the job Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins have done since taking over the team’s front office in 2015.
  • Bleeding Royal Blue delves into the struggles of first baseman Eric Hosmer.
  • TPOP compares a recent Pirates acquisition, righty Ivan Nova, to 2015 deadline pickup JA Happ.
  • Pirates Breakdown isn’t wistful about Happ’s time in Pittsburgh.
  • The Game Day Report points out that the fastball-heavy Happ could be the favorite to win the AL Cy Young.
  • Other League presents in-depth scouting reports on Brewers prospects Trent Clark, Isan Diaz and Lucas Erceg.
  • Chin Music Baseball analyzes the Orioles.
  • Deadline Detroit paints a gloomy picture of left fielder Justin Upton’s Tigers tenure.
  • The Runner Sports wonders when the Astros will promote Yulieski Gurriel (Sunday, it turns out).
  • Everything Bluebirds has concerns about the Blue Jays’ strikeout-prone offense.
  • MLB451 ponders how things would have turned out had the Angels, not the Red Sox, signed David Ortiz after the 2002 season.
  • Sports Heaven opines that Jameson Taillon, not Gerrit Cole, should start the wild-card game for the Pirates if they get there.
  • Brew City Sports Report and Brew Crew Fever pay tribute to Prince Fielder’s tenure in Milwaukee.
  • A’s Farm offers a progress report on the the Athletics’ top 20 draft picks of 2016
  • Jays Journal explains that Toronto closer Roberto Osuna’s career is off to a historic start.
  • Super Two Sports is a proponent of first baseman Ryan Howard staying with the Phillies for the rest of the season.
  • Baseball Docs checks in on the MVP races.
  • Yanks Go Yard puts together ideal Yankees lineups against righties and lefties.
  • Rotisserie Duck is a fan of OPS.
  • Notes From The Sally tries to figure out why Red Sox first base prospect Josh Ockimey has had such a poor second half.
  • Pinstriped Prospects provides updates on recent performances by some Yankees farmhands.
  • Halo Headquarters thinks the Angels should part with manager Mike Scioscia when his contract expires.

Please send submissions to ZachBBWI@ gmail.com.

Latest On Brian McCann, Braves

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With red-hot prospect Gary Sanchez in the midst of taking over the Yankees’ starting catcher role, an offseason deal sending veteran Brian McCann back to Atlanta is a legitimate possibility, writes Randy Miller of NJ.com. In theory, the teams could work out a deal sometime this season, as McCann cleared trade waivers two weeks ago. At the time, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that the Yankees and Braves engaged in McCann-related discussions prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.

Atlanta likes the idea of adding the 32-year-old McCann as a leader of a young team, Heyman reported. Further, general manager John Coppolella told Jim Bowden of Sirius XM on Sunday that, along with finding a manager and upgrading his club’s rotation, improving at catcher will be a high priority during the offseason (Twitter link).

“We need to win games next year,” Coppolella said of the Braves, who will move to a new ballpark in 2017.

As of now, the Braves’ leading in-house candidate to start behind the dish next season is likely Tyler Flowers, who has been out since mid-July after suffering a broken hand. Flowers hit a solid .254/.343/.422 with seven homers in 210 plate appearances before the injury, but the Braves clearly aren’t buying into him as a solution.

Brian McCann (vertical)

Before joining the Yankees on a five-year, $85MM deal in December 2013, McCann was a star with the Braves. As a full-time member of the team from 2006-13, he batted .277/.350/.477 with 171 home runs in 4,150 PAs. That stellar production hasn’t quite transferred to New York, where McCann has posted a league-average .233/.311/.418 line in 1,452 trips to the plate. Still, McCann’s on-field mix of respectable offense and well-regarded defense (StatCorner and Baseball Prospectus have mostly given him good pitch-framing marks, and the latter is fond of his blocking skills) could make him an appealing option.

Moreover, the Yankees are amid a youth movement, making a McCann deal seem like an inevitably. Of course, McCann would first have to agree to waive his full no-trade clause. Money could also complicate matters, as he’s owed $34MM through the 2018 season. However, McCann’s best chance to continue as an everyday catcher will likely be in another uniform. The writing is on the wall in New York, which has turned to Sanchez lately and shifted McCann to designated hitter. The 23-year-old Sanchez is doing his best to seize the backstop role for good, having recorded a videogamelike .379/.419/.776 line with six long balls in 62 trips to the plate.

“It was always the case that Sanchez at some point was going to come up and hopefully come up to stay,” Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner said earlier this week. “So we’ll cross that bridge in the offseason when we come to it, but McCann’s a great player, too.”

McCann is taking the Yankees’ future-oriented approach in stride, telling Miller, “This is the best young group I’ve seen.”

He’ll soon get a look at a different group of young players if a potential return to Atlanta becomes a reality.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tigers Activate Cameron Maybin; Latest On Nick Castellanos

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The Tigers have activated center fielder Cameron Maybin from the 15-day disabled list and optioned shortstop Dixon Machado to Triple-A Toledo, reports Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. Maybin, who went on the DL on Aug. 10 (retroactive to Aug. 6) with a sprained left thumb, will rejoin the Tigers’ lineup Sunday and bat second against the Red Sox.

[RELATED: Updated Tigers Depth Chart]

Maybin has endured two DL stints this season, but the 29-year-old has posted strong numbers in between. In 261 plate appearances, Maybin has slashed .325/.394/.398, also adding 13 stolen bases on 17 attempts. A difficult-to-maintain BABIP of .382 has helped fuel Maybin’s output at the dish, but the former Marlin, Padre and Brave has made legitimate gains this year in terms of plate discipline. Both Maybin’s 14.9 percent strikeout rate and 10 percent walk rate are career bests, and his BB/K ratio of .67 ranks well above the league-average mark of .39.

Maybin’s return is a welcome one for 64-59 Detroit, which has lost two in a row to fall 3 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the American League’s second wild-card spot. In addition to Maybin, the Tigers’ lineup has been without third baseman Nick Castellanos for most of August. Castellanos, who suffered a fractured left hand on an Aug. 6 hit by pitch, is nowhere near ready to swing a bat or return to game action, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com. As a result, the Tigers have increased the timeline of his recovery from the originally announced four weeks.

“Four [weeks] is probably too short,” general manager Avila said, “and we’re hoping seven [weeks] is too much.”

Seven weeks would point to a mid-September return for Castellanos. In the meantime, barring an outside acquisition, Casey McGehee is likely to continue filling in for Castellanos. The 33-year-old McGehee has hit just .264/.278/.283 with one extra-base hit and one walk in 54 plate appearances this season.

Marlins Activate A.J. Ramos From DL

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The Marlins have activated closer A.J. Ramos from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Brian Ellington to Triple-A New Orleans, tweets Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. Ramos landed on the DL Aug. 9 (retroactive to Aug. 6) with a finger injury, meaning he ended up staying on the shelf for the minimum amount of time.

[RELATED: Updated Marlins Depth Chart]

Ramos, 29, is amid his fourth consecutive season as a quality option out of the Marlins’ bullpen. This season, his second as Miami’s closer, Ramos has converted 32 of 34 save opportunities and posted a 3.05 ERA and 11.37 K/9 in 44 1/3 innings. On the negative side, control has been an issue at times during Ramos’ major league career – including this year. Ramos currently has a lofty 5.28 BB/9, which isn’t that far above the 4.77 figure he has recorded in 268 innings as a Marlin.

With Ramos back, midseason acquisition Fernando Rodney should head back to a setup role for 64-59 Miami, which is just 1 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the National League’s second wild-card spot. Since Aug. 5 – Ramos’ latest appearance – Rodney has allowed a mere one earned run and five hits in eight innings, though he has walked five against seven strikeouts. In all, the 39-year-old has compiled a 2.25 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 4.5 BB/9 and 56.6 percent ground-ball rate across 52 frames with the Marlins and Padres this season. With him, Ramos and Kyle Barraclough, Miami has an enviable trio of late-game righties.

Blue Jays Option Aaron Sanchez To Minors

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In a surprise move, the Blue Jays have optioned one of the American League’s best starters, right-hander Aaron Sanchez, to Single-A Dunedin, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (Twitter link). To take Sanchez’s roster spot, the club recalled left-handed reliever Aaron Loup from Triple-A Buffalo.

[RELATED: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]

Manager John Gibbons said Friday that the Jays were considering skipping a Sanchez start to limit his workload, notes Davidi (Twitter link), so the fact that he’s headed to the minors isn’t a total shock. As long as he’s down for fewer than 20 days, Sanchez will still accrue a full year of service time, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. That will indeed be the case, as Sanchez expects to rejoin the Jays for an Aug. 31 start against the Orioles, per Davidi (Twitter link).

The hard-throwing Sanchez was previously scheduled to make his 25th start of the year next Saturday against the Twins. In his 24th outing, Sanchez yielded five runs (four earned) on four hits and a walk in four innings of a 6-5 win over the Indians on Saturday. Despite that less-than-stellar showing, Sanchez has fared brilliantly this season. In his first full year as a starter, Sanchez has emerged as a high-end option while logging a 2.99 ERA, 7.60 K/9, 2.65 BB/9 and 57.1 percent ground-ball rate in 156 1/3 frames. There has been much discussion along the way about an innings limit for Sanchez, who tossed just over 100 last season in the majors and minors. His previous high since joining the Blue Jays organization as a first-round pick in the 2010 draft came in 2014, when he amassed a combined 133 1/3 innings at three levels. When the Jays switched to a six-man rotation earlier this month to help preserve Sanchez, president of baseball operations Mark Shapiro told the media “no scenario” exists in which the 24-year-old will throw 220-plus innings this season.

At 70-53 and in first place in the American League East, the Blue Jays look as though they’ll play into October, which further complicates the Sanchez situation. If Toronto does clinch a playoff berth, the expectation is that Sanchez will factor heavily into the team’s plans as it attempts to win a World Series. For now, though, Sanchez will go down a few levels to help ensure his place in a potential playoff run. His departure will leave the Jays with a capable rotation featuring AL Cy Young hopeful JA Happ, Marco Estrada, Marcus Stroman, RA Dickey and Francisco Liriano.

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