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AL Notes: Twins’ GM, Santana, Indians, Miller, Chapman, Soto, Astros

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Twins upper management told Terry Ryan a month ago that he wouldn’t be retained beyond the present season, and allowed him to choose his own method of departure, Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN reports (links to Twitter). Ryan, obviously, asked to be let go rather than hanging on the rest of the way, as reflected in today’s announcement. Looking ahead, Minnesota intends to look outside the organization for a permanent replacement, but didn’t commit to that route. Notably, owner Jim Pohlad said that the new GM will not have a chance to replace skipper Paul Molitor.

Here’s more from Minnesota and the rest of the American League:

  • The Twins have engaged in talks with the Red Sox, with Boston keeping an eye on righty Ervin Santana, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. But the teams do not appear to be lining up at the moment. Meanwhile, Minnesota still needs to decide if it wants to keep useful veterans around its talented but not fully realized core, and Berardino wonders whether it will end up making sense to part with the final two years of Santana’s deal now that he’s pitching fairly well.
  • One factor in the Twins’ decisionmaking will obviously be related to the financial ramifications of any deals, but now-acting GM Rob Antony says that there isn’t a mandate to trim payroll. As Berardino tweets, Antony says that the organization doesn’t “have financial problems” in need of resolution at the deadline.
  • Despite losing Yan Gomes for a lengthy stretch, the Indians aren’t prioritizing the addition of a backstop, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The club is relatively bullish on both Roberto Perez and Chris Gimenez, it seems. Presumably, that assessment is also informed by the club’s view on other needs.
  • Outfield would certainly be one area where the Indians could stand to improve, but relief pitching is likely the most pressing. Per Rosenthal (Twitter links), Cleveland is focused on adding a lefty to the team’s right-handed-heavy pen mix. Andrew Miller of the Yankees is “probably” at the top of the club’s wish list, says Rosenthal, though you could certainly say the same of many other organizations that are looking for relief upgrades.
  • Whether the Yankees shop Miller or fellow power lefty Aroldis Chapman remains to be seen, but it’s a fait accompli in the view of Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. He argues that the club shouldn’t stop at dealing away pending free agents, but should be willing to deal most any players who draw interest — with Miller among the possible exceptions. Feinsand also notes that New York is taking a close look at the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate.
  • Even if he’s traded away, Chapman says that he’d remain interested in re-uniting with the Yankees as a free agent, Feinsand tweets. “I would love to come back and be part of the team again,” said the fireballing southpaw, who matched his own record tonight by launching a ridiculous 105.1 mph heater.
  • The Angels announced that catcher Geovany Soto is headed to the 15-day DL with left knee inflammation. That seems to take him off the table for pre-deadline dealing, though Soto could certainly end up being dealt in the revocable waiver trade period. Los Angeles selected the contract of Juan Graterol to take his place on the active roster. The 27-year-old will receive his first major league opportunity after opening the year with a .292/.331/.357 slash in his first full year at the Triple-A level.
  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says that he expects to be busy over the coming weeks, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes. But that doesn’t mean the club will be pushing the action; Luhnow says “there’s no real sense of urgency on our part necessarily.” Rather, he explained, “as teams pick up the pace, we’re certainly going to be involved in the conversations.” It’s possible to imagine Houston targeting a starter, as McTaggart notes, but Luhnow says that he’d only be interested in a certain kind of arm. The ’Stros would be looking at starters who are not only healthy and effective at present, but who are capable of slotting into the team’s hopeful post-season rotation.

NL Central Notes: Thornburg, Mesoraco, Pirates, Cardinals

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The Brewers may hold the most interesting chips on the market for relievers, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron writes. That includes not only Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith, each of whom have served as the club’s closer in recent years, but also 27-year-old righty Tyler Thornburg, who owns a 2.45 ERA with 12.3 K/9 against 3.2 BB/9 on the year. In fact, Cameron argues that Thornburg is the pick of the litter from the Milwaukee pen, documenting the advances in his offerings this year. Entering his first season of arbitration in the offseason to come, Thornburg won’t be an easy asset to acquire, but he could make for an interesting target over the next two weeks.

Here’s more from the NL Central:

  • The Reds are expressing optimism over the most recent surgery for catcher Devin Mesoraco, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. Manager Bryan Price called it “preventative surgery,” with team and player taking advantage of his absence the rest of the way to do the work on his right hip that was previously performed on his left. Notably, Cincinnati expects that Mesoraco will be ready for catching drills in early 2017, and there’s clearly hope that he’ll be able to return to his duties behind the plate. Team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremcheck also discussed the procedure, as C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. There’s plenty of detail on the issue to digest, but the net of it seems to be that Mesoraco had begun to experience some signs of trouble and this proved a good time to get out ahead of the matter.
  • Pirates GM Neal Huntington says that he’s working hard to upgrade the club’s pitching staff, as Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. He didn’t specify whether the rotation or the pen was the priority, and suggested that a move wasn’t a foregone conclusion, but it’s easy to imagine the club looking into opportunities in both areas. “We’re doing due diligence on all fronts, but the pitching is what seems to need the most help at this point unless we’re willing to go with what we’ve got internally,” said Huntington. Biertempfel takes a closer look at how the Bucs’ pitching is shaping up heading out of the break.
  • The Cardinals will no longer give high-leverage innings to deposed closer Trevor Rosenthal, ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon reports (Twitter link). St. Louis skipper Mike Matheny says he’ll lean on Jonathan Broxton in the seventh inning for the time being. The Cards have long been said to be seeking pen reinforcements, with Rosenthal’s continued struggles heightening the need.

Knocking Down The Door: Berrios, Crawford, Dahl, Haniger, Peterson

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This week’s installment of Knocking Down the Door features five 1st Round picks from the 2012 and 2013 drafts, three of which were recently named to Baseball America’s Midseason Top 100 Prospect list.

Jose Berrios, SP, Minnesota Twins (Triple-A Rochester)

When we last discussed Jose Berrios here three weeks ago, he had just tossed eight shutout innings in his 10th Triple-A start of the season while a couple of Twins’ starters were hanging on to rotation spots by the skin of their teeth.

Since, Berrios has allowed just four earned runs in 27.2 innings with seven walks and 27 strikeouts in four starts. In 11 of his 14 starts, the 22-year-old has allowed two earned runs or less. He’s allowed four hits or less in 10 of those starts.

In the meantime, the Twins’ rotation hasn’t been horrible over the past few weeks. But they’re not exactly inspiring increased ticket sales or excitement for what the future holds.

Now that general manager Terry Ryan has been fired, interim general manager Rob Antony’s first line of business should be to add a very talented young pitcher and future staff ace to one of the most pedestrian rotations in baseball.

Twins Depth Chart

J.P. Crawford, SS, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley)

Expectations for any highly-touted shortstop prospect will be immense thanks to Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager. All were top prospects. All became MLB superstars almost immediately. That pressure could soon fall on J.P. Crawford, the No. 3 overall prospect in Baseball America’s recently-released Midseason Top 100 and No. 1 shortstop ahead of Trea Turner, Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman.

After a slow start to his Triple-A career, the 21-year-old Crawford has been on fire with a .314 batting average (44-for-140), nine doubles, one triple and three homers since June 11th. He’s also sporting a nifty 52-to-53 walk-to-strikeout ratio between Double-A and Triple-A in 2016, which I’m pretty sure will translate to much better than what Freddy Galvis is currently doing with the Phillies (13 walks, 73 strikeouts).

While there is a benefit of starting Crawford’s service time clock a few weeks into the 2017 season instead of anytime this season—assuming he is in the Major Leagues for good, he would be under team control through 2023 instead of 2022—the expectations and pressure would be minimal with his team no longer in playoff contention. Call him up now and he could have nearly a half-season of big league experience under his belt by next April.

Phillies Depth Chart

David Dahl, OF, Colorado Rockies (Triple-A Albuquerque)

Regardless of whether the Rockies trade Charlie Blackmon or Carlos Gonzalez, David Dahl will very likely be in the Rockies’ starting lineup in the near future. At least he deserves to be, even if it means that Gerardo Parra will be a very expensive fourth outfielder once he returns from the disabled list.

The 22-year-old Dahl has been able to put the 2015 season, in which he lost his spleen in an outfield collision, behind him. After posting an .867 OPS with 13 homers and 16 stolen bases for Double-A Hartford, Dahl has turned it up a few notches since a promotion to Triple-A. In 10 games, the left-handed hitting center fielder is 21-for-41 with five homers, four doubles and one triple.

Dahl also has six walks and five strikeouts, which is encouraging, even in such a small sample size, considering that he had a 39-to-84 walk-to-strikeout ratio in Double-A. He also walked 11 times with 81 strikeouts at the same level last season, so he seems to be making adjustments as he closes in on the big leagues.

Rockies Depth Chart

Mitch Haniger, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks (Triple-A Reno)

The window might be very small with Chris Owings and David Peralta close to returning from the disabled list, but Mitch Haniger has earned a chance to show the Diamondbacks what he can do before he’s buried on their outfield depth chart for good.

Acquired from the Brewers along with Futures Game selection Anthony Banda in the July 2014 trade for Gerardo Parra, the 25-year-old Haniger had put up solid numbers across the board in High-A Visalia and Double-A Mobile. Now with Triple-A Reno, he’s making it difficult for the D’backs to ignore him much longer.

With Michael Bourn, Brandon Drury and Yasmany Tomas doing very little in the competition for the lone outfield spot that won’t be filled by Owings and Peralta in the near future, Haniger has put together a .367/.432/.719 slash line while playing all three outfield spots in 35 Triple-A games. Hitter-friendly league or not, that kind of production should open some eyes within the organization.

Diamondbacks Depth Chart

D.J. Peterson, 1B, Seattle Mariners (Triple-A Tacoma)

Adam Lind’s disappointing season has opened up an opportunity for D.J. Peterson and he’s taking full advantage. The No. 12 overall pick in the 2013 draft has homered in back-to-back games for Tacoma, giving him five in 15 games since being promoted from Double-A Jackson, where he posted an .805 OPS with 11 homers and 21 doubles in 73 games.

The 24-year-old Peterson was primarily a third baseman until last season, when he started more games at first base. Not coincidentally, Kyle Seager had signed a long-term extension during the previous offseason so any chance of Peterson ever being the Mariners third baseman were pretty much eliminated. His chances of ever making it to the big leagues at all also suffered. After all, there’s no future for a first baseman who posts a .636 OPS in Double-A.

But the right-handed batter has bounce back nicely in 2016 and could find himself in Seattle — particularly if the club isn’t able to turn things around in the next two weeks.

Mariners Depth Chart

“Knocking Down the Door” is a weekly feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.

Angels Designate A.J. Achter

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The Angels have designated righty A.J. Achter for assignment, the club announced. He lost his roster spot to make way for Sean Coyle, who was claimed off waivers today.

Achter, 27, had appeared in a long relief role for the Halos, tossing 20 1/3 innings in a dozen appearances. He owns a 3.98 ERA on the year, with 4.0 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9, though earned-run estimators took a much less favorable view. Achter is carrying a 6.21 FIP, 5.06 xFIP, and 4.72 SIERA for the season.

The former 46th-round draft pick has certainly performed beyond his draft status, and could represent a useful depth piece with Los Angeles or another organization. It’s fair to note that he owns a strong record in the upper minors, including a 2.94 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 over 174 1/3 Triple-A frames.

Yan Gomes Out Four To Eight Weeks With Separated Shoulder

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3:06pm: The Indians announced that Gomes has been placed on the disabled list with a separated A/C joint and will miss the next four to eight weeks due to the injury. Perez has been activated in his place.

7:58am: Indians catcher Yan Gomes suffered a separated right shoulder in yesterday afternoon’s game against the Twins when he tumbled following a close play at first base and will be placed on the disabled list, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The injury could bring Gomes’ 2016 season to an end, he adds. Fellow backstop Roberto Perez is set to be reinstated from his own stint on the disabled list in Gomes’ place. Perez has been out since the first week of May after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured thumb.

According to Hoynes, the immediate response from the club was that even with the loss of its starting catcher for what could be the rest of the year, Cleveland doesn’t plan to pursue a more established catcher like Jonathan Lucroy via the trade market. The team’s belief is that Perez can hold down the fort as the primary catcher for the remainder of the season, with Chris Gimenez continuing to serve as the top backup option.

Of course, it’d be a surprise to see Cleveland brass plainly state that the plan was to pursue an upgrade on the trade market, and despite whatever the team wishes to publicly state, catcher is and has been an unequivocal weakness for the team all season long. Hoynes reported on Saturday that Cleveland valued Gomes’ defensive contributions to the point where it wouldn’t look for an upgrade in spite of his offensive woes, but the 28-year-old (29 tomorrow) has batted a woeful .165/.198/.313 at the plate this season. Gimenez’s .188/.231/.271 line isn’t any better, and Perez was hitless through 15 plate appearances prior to his injury (though he did have six walks).

All told, Cleveland catchers have been far and away the least productive collection of backstops in all of Major League Baseball this season, hitting a combined .169/.216/.299. That production more closely resembles the league-average pitcher (.134/.163/.171) than it does the league-average catcher (.240/.308/.384). The 27-year-old Perez offers some hope, to be sure, having posted very solid OBP and slugging marks in spite of a low average in 2015 when he batted .228/.348/.402 in 226 plate appearances. He hit well in 24 plate appearances on his rehab assignment as well, though the bulk of that work came at Rookie ball, and a sample of 24 PAs is hardly indicative of things to come anyhow. Moreover, Perez is returning from a thumb operation, and it’s not uncommon for players to struggle at the plate in the early stages of their returns from thumb, hand or wrist surgery.

The Indians may indeed wish to see how Perez handles his first few games back from the disabled list before pursuing any outside help, but it’s hard to imagine that the front office won’t be at least gauging the price on potentially available backstops. Even in the event that they don’t wish to pay a prohibitive price for a top-tier option such as Lucroy, the market features a number of rentals that are currently performing well (e.g. Nick Hundley, Kurt Suzuki) and several other options that won’t come at such a premium cost, as I wrote last week when examining the 2016 trade market for catchers.

Ex-Cardinals Scouting Director Chris Correa Sentenced To 46 Months In Prison For Astros’ Data Breach

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Former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for his role in the illegal breach of the Astros’ proprietary computer network, reports David Barron of the Houston Chronicle. Via the Associated Press and KSDK News, Correa has also been ordered to pay $279K in restitution. Correa had plead guilty to five counts of unauthorized access to a private computer, each of which carried a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets that now that Correa’s sentence has been decided upon, Major League Baseball plans to issue a punishment to the Cardinals organization for the illegal activities. It’s unclear whether that punishment has been decided upon or remains to be determined, however previous indications have been that the league could look to penalize the Cardinals by stripping the team of future draft picks. As has been the case with his rulings regarding the domestic violence policy, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has held off in issuing a punishment until the legal proceedings of the party in question have been completed due to the fact that findings from the criminal investigation could influence his own decision on a punishment.

The New York Times reported last summer that the Cardinals were the subject of a federal investigation in connection with multiple illegal breaches of the Astros’ proprietary computer network, Ground Control. Correa was ultimately fired by the Cardinals in July and was later charged. At the time of his plea, Correa claimed that his to access Ground Control was due to concern that former Cardinals scouting director Jeff Luhnow had taken proprietary information with him upon being hired by the Astros as general manager. Per Barron, the court denied a request that would’ve allowed Correa to subpoena documents from the Astros, who refuted the claim that they had any proprietary information of the Cardinals.

Reports back in January indicated that Correa was able to access the Astros’ rankings of players in the 2013 draft and explore their trade notes on the morning of the July 2013 non-waiver trade deadline. In the year between the illegal access of Ground Control and the initial reports of the federal investigation, a significant portion of the Astros’ trade notes were leaked to the public, bringing a great deal of scrutiny onto Luhnow and the organization.

Marlins Release Craig Breslow

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The Marlins have released veteran left-hander Craig Breslow from their Triple-A affiliate, reports WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford (Twitter link).

Breslow, 35, tossed 14 innings for the Marlins’ big league club earlier this season and posted a 4.50 ERA but has  struggled following a demotion to Triple-A New Orleans. In 23 2/3 innings at the minor league level this season, Breslow has fanned an impressive 29 batters but has also been tagged for a 6.46 ERA and averaged 12.9 hits and 4.2 walks per nine innings pitched. He’ll now look to latch on with another club and work his way back to the big leagues.

In parts of 11 Major League seasons, Breslow has compiled a 3.80 ERA and averaged 7.0 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 in 535 1/3 innings between the Red Sox, Twins, A’s, D-backs, Padres, Indians and Marlins.

Devin Mesoraco Undergoes Right Hip Surgery

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Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco, already out for the season due to shoulder surgery, underwent surgery to repair the labrum in his right hip, the team announced today (Twitter link). Per the Reds, Mesoraco is targeting a mid- or late-January return to catching drills. This marks the second significant hip surgery for Mesoraco in the past year, as the 28-year-old underwent surgery to repair his other hip last season, cutting his 2015 campaign short.

Injuries have limited Mesoraco to a mere 39 games over the past two seasons, during which he’s batted just .158/.245/.200. Mesoraco’s inability to stay on the field has been one of a litany of factors in the Reds’ fall in the National League Central, and his shortened 2016 campaign deprives the club of what could have been a highly appealing trade candidate had he enjoyed a rebound from last season’s hip operation.

From a bigger-picture standpoint, a pair of hip surgeries is troubling for any player’s long-term health outlook but especially for a catcher, as Mesoraco’s position is the most physically demanding in the game. That his non-throwing shoulder was the shoulder that required surgery earlier this season is a small silver lining, but suffice it to say there will be ongoing questions about Mesoraco’s durability until he proves capable of handling a catcher’s workload in the wake of these operations. Cincinnati had already begun to experiment with deploying Mesoraco in left field last season in reaction to his initial hip injury, so perhaps they’ll be open to mixing in some outfield time for Mesoraco in the future in an effort to keep him healthy.

The timing of Mesoraco’s injury-plagued seasons couldn’t have been any worse for Cincinnati. Mesoraco enjoyed a breakout campaign in 2014, fulfilling his status as a long-heralded top prospect with a .273/.359/.534 batting line and 25 home runs. That led the Reds to lock him up with a well-deserved four-year, $28MM contract extension, but he’s scarcely been able to take the field since putting pen to paper on that deal.

Royals Claim Nick Tepesch

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The Royals announced that they have claimed right-hander Nick Tepesch off waivers from the Athletics and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. Oakland had designated Tepesch for assignment over the weekend. Kris Medlen has been moved to the 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Tepesch, 27, lost his roster spot when the A’s selected the contract of corner infield prospect Ryon Healy. The former Rangers hurler didn’t appear in a game for Oakland in the Majors and has made just one MLB appearance since 2014 — a start earlier this season with the Dodgers in which he surrendered five runs in four innings. The rest of Tepesch’s 2016 campaign has been spent at the Triple-A level, where he’s authored a 3.96 ERA in exactly 100 innings of work between the affiliates of the Rangers, the A’s and the Dodgers, averaging 4.9 strikeouts and 1.9 walks per nine innings pitched along the way.

Tepesch made 39 starts and totaled 219 innings with the Rangers from 2013-14, posting a combined 4.56 ERA with 5.4 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a roughly league-average ground-ball rate in that span of time. A nerve issue in his right arm cost Tepesch the entire 2015 season, however, and he was removed from Texas’ 40-man roster this offseason. Tepesch opened the season with the Rangers organization but was granted his release upon his request in early June, and he’s bounced around the league a bit since that time. He’ll now serve as rotation depth for a Royals organization that is hurting for quality innings from its starting staff. Kansas City has seen setbacks to Medlen and Mike Minor while also receiving considerably worse-than-expected contributions from starters Chris Young, Edinson Volquez and Yordano Ventura in the Majors.

Angels Claim Sean Coyle From Red Sox

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The Angels have claimed minor league second baseman Sean Coyle off waivers from the Red Sox, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (via Twitter). The 24-year-old was designated for assignment by Boston last week.

Coyle once rated as one of the more promising farmhands in the Boston organization but struggled through a dismal 2015 season and hasn’t fared much better in 2016. The 5’8″ infielder batted .295/.371/.512 with 16 homers and 13 steals in 384 Double-A plate appearances as a 22-year-old in 2014 but hasn’t been productive since. After a poor showing in the 2014 Arizona Fall League, Coyle batted .193/.294/.341 in 52 games last season as he battled a trapezius injury throughout the 2015 season. In 64 games this year, he’s batted an equally disappointing .165/.263/.280, prompting his DFA.

The Halos, however, can use all of the middle infield depth they can get, and Coyle isn’t so far removed from his status as an interesting prospect that a rebound is out of the question. He won’t turn 25 until next January and already has a fair bit of experience at the Triple-A level, even if his results there have been unsightly to this point in his career. Coyle has always been strikeout-prone, but he saw a significant uptick in his whiff rates in both 2015 and 2016, so the Halos will hope they can generate more contact out of him and restore some of his stock following a change of scenery.

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