Archives for 2016

Royals Sign Edward Mujica

By Jeff Todd | July 15, 2016 at 6:41pm CDT

The Royals have announced minor league deal with righty Edward Mujica. The veteran reliever was recently released by the Phillies upon his request.

Mujica will hope to work back toward the big leagues after failing to earn a call-up with Philadelphia. His new deal with Kansas City includes an opt-out opportunity on August 7th, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).

The 32-year-old has pitched in each of the prior ten MLB campaigns, compiling a 3.85 ERA with 7.0 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9 over 546 2/3 total innings. But his low-walk approach wasn’t effective last year, as he scuffled to an uncharacteristic 4.75 ERA with the Red Sox and Athletics.

Mujica has certainly not lost his trademark control, as he’s permitted only four free passes in 39 frames at Triple-A in 2016. He’s been reasonably effective overall at the highest level of the minors, carrying a 3.69 ERA in that span, but it wasn’t enough to convince the Philly brass to bring him back to the majors.

Triple-A Lehigh Valley director of media relations and broadcasting Matt Provence first tweeted the news.

Playoff Contender Needs (National League)

By Jason Martinez | July 15, 2016 at 5:36pm CDT

Yesterday, I analyzed the most pressing needs for the 11 American League playoff contenders just in time for the Red Sox to fill their starting rotation void with the acquisition of Drew Pomeranz. If we’re lucky, one of these eight National League contenders will follow suit and give us another early Trade Deadline present this weekend.

NL EAST

Washington Nationals
54-36, 1st Place, +6
CENTER FIELDER/LEADOFF MAN

Ben Revere has a .268 on-base percentage and still has the privilege of being the starting center fielder and leadoff man for a 1st place team that is 18 games over .500. What does that tell us? For starters, Nationals manager Dusty Baker apparently doesn’t care if his leadoff man gets on base or not. It also means that the Nationals’ lineup and most of the 25-man roster is filled with talent, which is why Baker probably doesn’t lose much sleep over his leadoff man’s inability to be good at the most important aspect of his job.

In all seriousness, the Nats are well aware that they are in need of an upgrade, which is why Trea Turner, who is blocked by Danny Espinosa at the shortstop position, was playing center field in Triple-A before he was recently called up to replace an injured Ryan Zimmerman on the roster. While he could be given a shot as the Nats’ regular center fielder at some point, general manager Mike Rizzo is likely to first explore the trade market, where Charlie Blackmon, Peter Bourjos, Coco Crisp, Jon Jay (likely to return from the disabled list sometime in August) and Melvin Upton Jr. are all likely available. And all are having much better seasons than Revere or his platoon partner, Michael Taylor.

Nationals Depth Chart

Miami Marlins
47-41, Wild Card (2nd-T), +1
STARTING PITCHING

Mention the Marlins to a baseball fan and the first thing that comes to their mind is the amazing power of Giancarlo Stanton. It really is quite breathtaking, after all. But the most interesting part of this up-and-coming young team is that they have five regulars not named Stanton hitting over .300. Even 42-year-old Ichiro Suzuki, who has played on a semi-regular basis, is hitting .335 and having his best season since he was in his mid-30’s. The bullpen, which now includes Fernando Rodney setting up for All-Star closer A.J. Ramos, is also talented and a lot of fun to watch.

Unfortunately, unless Jose Fernandez can pitch more than once every five days, the Marlins’ rotation isn’t good enough to make a legitimate run for a Wild Card spot. The fact that they’ve pushed Fernandez back a few times to limit his workload makes the rotation that much more of a priority. Wei-Yin Chen, who signed a potential $80MM free agent deal in the offseason, can’t seem to string together more than one good start. If not for Adam Conley, there’s no way the Marlins would be in the mix for a playoff spot.

Rich Hill and Jake Odorizzi are on their radar, as was the recently-traded Drew Pomeranz, but it’s likely that they’ll cast a wide net in hopes that they can acquire some help despite a farm system that is currently light on talent.

Marlins Depth Chart

New York Mets
47-41, Wild Card (2nd-T), +1
STARTING PITCHING

David Wright could miss the season with a herniated disc in his neck. Lucas Duda is out for an extended period with a stress fracture in his back. Michael Conforto was sent to the minors because he stopped hitting. So can you believe that the Mets’ top priority might be starting pitching?

While they are reportedly prioritizing their bullpen at the moment, they will need to address their very fragile rotation at some point. Matt Harvey’s season-ending surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Zack Wheeler’s delayed return from Tommy John surgery—he’s not expected back before late August—and bone spurs in the elbows of young stars Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz should have the Mets looking to land at least one reinforcement and possibly two.

Mets Depth Chart

***Click below to read breakdowns of all the other NL contenders***

NL CENTRAL

Chicago Cubs
53-35, 1st Place, +7
RELIEF PITCHING, IF THAT

On paper, the Cubs probably have the best 25-man roster in baseball. They’re pretty good between the lines, too, as they’ve compiled the second best record in baseball. But a team that won just six of 21 games heading into the break isn’t without a weakness.

Jason Heyward is probably the most disappointing Cub, although Miguel Montero and Justin Grimm have also underperformed. But with rookie Willson Contreras in the mix at catcher and in the outfield, and Heyward likely to figure things out—he’s 10-for-28 since being moved down in the order to the No. 6 spot—I doubt that the Cubs are too worried.

While Travis Wood has pitched effectively in the 7th inning setup role that Grimm failed to hold down and Joe Nathan has shown well in his Minor League rehab assignment and could join the team soon, it probably wouldn’t hurt to add one more reliable late-inning arm to pair with Hector Rondon and Pedro Strop.

Cubs Depth Chart

St. Louis Cardinals
46-42, Wild Card (4th), -1
RELIEF PITCHING, IF THAT

Carlos Martinez continues to move closer to “ace” status, but the other four starters in the Cardinals’ rotation have ERAs over 4.00. Trevor Rosenthal lost his closer’s job and Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk, who were expected to take big steps forward in ’16, were both demoted to the minors for short periods of time due to poor performance. And yet, the Cardinals have quietly hung around in the pennant race.

When Brandon Moss and Matt Carpenter return from the disabled list, this is a very balanced and productive offense. Wong and Grichuk have been better since returning. The lineup should be fine, as should the rotation. Their starting five is healthy, which is more than most teams can say, and they’re talented and battle-tested.

Seung-hwan Oh has been terrific in his first MLB season and that should continue regardless of whether he’s the closer or setup man. Kevin Siegrist and Jonathan Broxton are reliable setup men. Top prospect Alex Reyes is also an intriguing option in a late-inning role just in case Rosenthal cannot regain his form. Or they can trade for one more proven reliever. Not a very convincing case, but this is still an impressive roster despite the less-than-stellar results.

Cardinals Depth Chart

Pittsburgh Pirates
46-43, Wild Card (5th), -1.5
STARTING PITCHING

Since dropping to five games under .500 on June 23rd, the Pirates have gone on a 13-4 run to re-introduce themselves as legitimate playoff contenders once again. Interestingly, the’ve called up three top prospects in recent weeks who could play a major role in the 2nd half.

If this trio — first baseman Josh Bell and starting pitchers Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon — are the reinforcements, then the Pirates could pass on adding any more talent via the trade market. In fact, indications are that they’re shopping Jon Niese and Jeff Locke, which would ensure that at least one of Glasnow and Taillon have spots. Niese being moved to the bullpen today also makes it a pretty good bet.

However, Gerrit Cole, who is set to return from the disabled list on Saturday, has been the team’s lone reliable starter and leaning heavily on rookie starting pitchers in a pennant race isn’t ideal. A veteran rental who can at least do better than what Niese and Locke are giving them could improve their chances to return to the post-season for a fourth consecutive season.

Pirates Depth Chart

NL WEST

San Francisco Giants
57-33, 1st Place, +6.5
STARTING PITCHING, MAYBE

It shouldn’t be a surprise that the Giants have the best record in baseball. They’re a solid team with plenty of talent and leadership and a great manager. And despite the injury gods doing everything possible to stop the trend of the Giants winning the World Series every other season, they still keep rolling along.

Most of the major players with health concerns seem to be on the mend, but the rotation remains a bit of a question mark. If they can get a healthy Matt Cain back in the 2nd half—he’s currently on a rehab assignment—I don’t see any reason to mess with a good thing. That’s a big “if”, though, since the veteran righty is increasingly removed from his days as a top-of-the-rotation workhorse.

With such a big lead in the NL West, they have time to wait out Cain. But if he struggles upon returning, general manager Bobby Evans might set his sights on the trade market.

Giants Depth Chart

Los Angeles Dodgers
51-40, Wild Card (1st), +2.5
OUTFIELDER

The Dodgers have plenty of depth and talent at the Major League level and down on the farm, which has helped them during their current 23-10 run despite a string of injuries to key players. At full strength, they might not necessarily have a glaring need, unless you really aren’t a believer in the unbelievable job that Joe Blanton and Adam Liberatore have done as the setup men for All-Star closer Kenley Jansen. But a closer look at the offense, which is ranked 25th in the majors in OPS, points out the weakness — which is in the corner outfield.

Yasiel Puig’s production since returning from the disabled list (19-for-60, 2 HR, 8 BB, 10 K) is encouraging and Howie Kendrick finished the 1st half on a high note by going 13-for-37 with six doubles in his last ten games. But Trayce Thompson has struggled over the past month and we don’t know how productive Andre Ethier will be when he finally makes his 2016 debut.

In a quote provided by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says that the team is focused on acquiring “elite-level” players. That doesn’t sound like they’re planning a few tweaks here and there to shore up the bench and bullpen. Jay Bruce and Josh Reddick would fit nicely in the Dodgers’ lineup, although it wouldn’t surprise me to see a blockbuster deal, possibly involving a third team with Puig and others going elsewhere.

Dodgers Depth Chart

Athletics Designate Nick Tepesch, Option Billy Burns, Promote Ryon Healy

By Jeff Todd | July 15, 2016 at 4:43pm CDT

The Athletics have made a series of roster heading out of the break, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Young corner infielder Ryon Healy is coming up to take the place of struggling outfielder Billy Burns, who has been optioned. The club designated righty Nick Tepesch to clear 40-man space.

[Related: Updated Athletics Depth Chart]

Parting with Tepesch wasn’t too difficult for Oakland, given that he was only just claimed a few weeks ago. But the 27-year-old might have provided some useful rotation depth for the organization, which would come in handy in the event that one or more starters end up being traded in the coming weeks. He might yet, of course, as it’s possible that he’ll end up in the A’s system.

Burns had been expected to hold down semi-regular duties in center field, but the 26-year-old has failed to follow up on a quality 2015 campaign. Indeed, he has been about half as productive with the bat as he was last year, putting up a meager .234/.270/.303 slash. The speedy Burns does have 14 swipes and a useful glove, but that’s not enough to compensate for such a rough go at the dish.

As for Healy, 24, this represents his first crack at the majors. He earned an early-season promotion to Triple-A after destroying Double-A pitching, and is off to a .318/.362/.505 start over his first 210 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors. Healy doesn’t offer top-flight power — he’s at 14 on the year and has never finished a professional season with more than 16 — but is certainly trending up in that regard and seems to carry a well-rounded overall bat.

Rangers Sign Alexei Bell

By Jeff Todd | July 15, 2016 at 1:28pm CDT

JULY 15: The Rangers announced that they have signed Bell to a minor league contract.

JULY 5: The Rangers are nearing a minor league deal with free agent Alexei Bell, according to MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter). The 32-year-old outfielder hit the open market after leaving his native Cuba in search of a big league opportunity.

Bell owns an impressive track record in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, where he played for 14 seasons. In 3,441 career plate appearances, he owns a .319/.417/.547 batting line with 138 home runs. He was still running up those kinds of numbers in his final year of action there in 2014, and has top-notch plate discipline with a lifetime tally of 431 walks against just 439 strikeouts.

Since that time, Bell has spent time playing in Canada and, more recently, Mexico. He wasn’t doing much at the plate in a nine-game run with Quintana Roo earlier this year, though it’s hard to read too much into the results in such a short sample for a player who hadn’t played competitively in some time.

Despite his previous success, Bell hasn’t generated much buzz as a free agent. As Ben Badler of Baseball America explains, Bell owns a big arm that ought to work in right. But he doesn’t deliver premium power and isn’t a good runner. While he would have made for a really interesting prospect earlier in his career, Badler says that scouts aren’t optimistic about his potential to be a major contributor at this stage.

Despite those limitations, it’s not at all surprising to see a club take a shot on a veteran who has such an impressive track record. Whether or not he’ll earn a shot at the majors remains to be seen.

White Sox Activate Justin Morneau

By Steve Adams | July 15, 2016 at 12:32pm CDT

The White Sox have activated first baseman/designated hitter Justin Morneau from the disabled list and optioned outfielder Jason Coats to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Morneau, 35, signed a one-year Major League deal with the Sox earlier this summer. He sat out the early portion of the season whilst recovering from offseason elbow surgery but has since completed a rehab assignment with the Sox, who will hope that he can add some left-handed pop to the middle of their lineup. In that sense, Morneau will fill the role that Adam LaRoche was expected to occupy when he signed prior to the 2015 season, though his pro-rated $1MM salary obviously comes at a fraction of the salary LaRoche forfeited when he retired in Spring Training.

It’s now been a decade since Morneau was named the American League MVP, but he had a pair of productive, albeit injury-shortened seasons with the Rockies in 2014-15. With Colorado, Morneau captured the National League batting title in 2014, and he hit a combined .316/.363/.487 in 184 games as a member of the Rockies. Playing his home games in Coors Field added those numbers, to be sure, but Morneau was as difficult to strike out as ever with the Rox — his 15.2 percent career strikeout rate is considerably lower than most power hitters — and was quite productive even on the road in 2014, suggesting that there’s still life left in his bat.

Health, of course, has been an issue for Morneau, who had what was shaping up to be his best season cut short in June 2010 when he suffered a concussion that plagued him for several years to come. He’s also undergone neck surgery and further concussions since taking a career-altering knee to the head while sliding into second base back in that 2010 season.

Morneau played in just eight games on his rehab assignment with the Sox, so there’s certainly a chance that he’ll be rusty out of the gate. However, the Sox have utilized Avisail Garcia as their primary designated hitter this season, and the once-promising outfielder has continued his big league struggles with a .232/.301/.332 batting line in 276 plate appearances. The ChiSox will hope that their former division rival can inject some life into that spot in the lineup as the club looks to remain in the race for the American League Central title or a Wild Card spot. Chicago currently trails Cleveland by seven games in the Central and is 4.5 games back from a Wild Card spot.

Royals Release Joe Beimel

By Steve Adams | July 15, 2016 at 11:24am CDT

The Royals have released veteran left-handed reliever Joe Beimel from their Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, according to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan (Twitter link). Beimel had signed a minors pact with Kansas City in late May.

Beimel posted a 4.30 ERA in 14 2/3 innings with Omaha, issuing eight walks against six strikeouts in his fairly brief stint with the Royals. Prior to that, he had reportedly agreed to a minor league deal with the Marlins, but Miami axed the agreement based on issues that popped up when Beimel was taking his physical.

The 39-year-old Beimel spent the 2014-15 seasons with the Mariners, where he posted a 3.12 ERA in 92 1/3 innings. He saw quite a bit of his work come against left-handed batters and held them to a paltry .226/.281/.381 batting line in that two year stretch. His struggles against righties were notable, however, as he walked more right-handed hitters than he struck out in that time. He’s best-suited as a lefty specialist, though he actually struggled with lefties in 2015 and yielded a .796 OPS against them in his brief sample of 29 minor league plate appearances this year.

Check Out BaseballIC.com

By Tim Dierkes | July 15, 2016 at 11:00am CDT

This is a sponsored post from Corey Dawkins of Baseball Injury Consultants.

“Clayton Kershaw had a 4.3% chance of getting injured last night when he pitched, but only a 0.7% chance of being hurt if he took the mound today instead.”

This fictitious example highlights one goal of my company, Baseball Injury Consultants, in the medical management of professional baseball players. We are trying to take the seasonal risk assessment to a daily, and then a pitch by pitch, basis among other things. We have seen pre-season risk assessments for years, but how useful is that information other than at the start of the season? Once the season begins, it doesn’t factor in any new information that comes in during that year. What if the Red Sox had a hard number to assess the risk of keeping Blake Swihart in left field on the day the wind was coming in from right field, pushing the ball closer to the cement wall on which he sprained his ankle?

We have moonshot goals because, despite great strides in the treatment of baseball injuries, the number of professional baseball injuries is only getting worse. It is not for a lack of trying or lack of talent. It just has not been put together yet. However, it is not impossible. Something has to be done because reducing injuries will, of course, make a difference in their athletic careers, but also improve the quality of life 20 years later.

We start by collecting daily injury and performance data on all professional baseball players, giving the capability to provide customized reports and for any sector, industry, company, team, individual researcher or fan. This can include baseball operations, daily fantasy baseball players, season-long fantasy baseball players, medical researchers, biomedical device manufacturers, or insurance entities to name a few.

We track as much information as we can find, from injury details to weather information to performance data, knowing that any piece of information might be the one that solves the puzzle.
Since someone checks the information before importing into the databases every morning, we fill the information void left over from automated scripts scraping news or transaction sites that don’t categorize injuries according to accepted medical terminology and/or don’t update the original listing. For example, here’s a graph of MLB Tommy John surgeries by year.

So once we get validated information into the database and onto our website, you can find the information in ways you will not find anywhere else. If you are a casual fan or want a snapshot of MLB, you can check out our “Quick Look” page for summary information and the records I have updated within the last seven days. In the three bar/column graphs, you can hover over individual sections to find greater detail about that particular item.

You can search and find summary team data on the “Teams” page.

You can also find search for players by name, browse by last name or find players by position on the “Players” main page.

Then once we find the player we want, we can go to the individual page for details at a level you will not find anywhere else. Similar to the “Quick Look” page, you can hover over the columns to find the exact categories and measured levels.

On the “Custom Search” page, you can find information in countless combinations.

We’re not stopping with just putting the information on the website. We have plans to create and put a model on the website that estimates how productive a player will be for daily fantasy leagues, based on an injury two or three days ago, such as a bruised hand. The website will also have an educational section for evidence-based injury analysis.

However, our biggest moonshot goal is to create individualized risk assessment models, drilling down information to the pitch by pitch level. This would give on-field managers and baseball operations something they never had before. What if they knew that a bruised bottom hand for a hitter affects his power by a certain percentage? What if the risk of throwing a slider on pitch number 103 more than quadrupled the risk not just immediately, but three weeks down the line as well?

These are the goals we are shooting for and hope to raise enough capital to do so soon. We look forward to you creating an account on Baseball Injury Consultants and checking out what we have to offer as well as improving the site.

Marlins, First-Rounder Braxton Garrett Agree To Deal

By Steve Adams | July 15, 2016 at 9:57am CDT

9:57am: Garrett’s bonus is $4,145,900, according to Callis (Twitter link). That’s the maximum amount of money the team was able to pay without being hit with a luxury tax, he notes in a followup tweet.

8:50am: The Marlins and first-round pick Braxton Garrett, the lone remaining unsigned first-rounder, have agreed to terms, tweets Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Garrett, he adds, is in Miami right now to take his physical with the club. The deal comes in just under the wire, as the deadline to sign 2016 draftees is today at 5pm ET.

Garrett, a high school left-hander from Alabama, rated third among this year’s draft prospects in the eyes of ESPN’s Keith Law, while MLB.com (link) and Baseball America (link) each rated him 10th on their respective rankings. Law wrote that Garrett already has an average fastball that he commands well in addition to a plus curveball. BA praises not only his plus curve but also a changeup that shows “excellent promise,” noting that he could ultimately end up with three above-average pitches. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com agree that the changeup could develop into a plus offering and add that Garrett has the upside of a No. 2 starter in the Majors.

Specific terms of Garrett’s agreement remain unclear at this juncture, though his No. 7 overall slot came with a $3,756,300 value. Assuming all goes well on Garrett’s physical, the Marlins will have signed all of their picks within the top 10 rounds of the draft.

White Sox To Promote Carson Fulmer

By Steve Adams | July 15, 2016 at 9:36am CDT

The White Sox are promoting right-hander Carson Fulmer to the Majors today to work out of their bullpen, according to Dave Williams of Barstool Sports (links to Twitter). MLBPipeline.com’s Jesse Burkhart first tweeted that Fulmer was likely heading to the Majors. Fulmer will inherit the 40-man roster spot that was vacated by yesterday’s outright of right-hander Scott Carroll.

The Sox selected Fulmer, 22, out of Vanderbilt with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft. He dominated in 23 innings between Chicago’s Rookie League affiliate and Class-A Advanced affiliate in 2015 following the draft, but the 2016 season hasn’t gone quite as smoothly. Fulmer currently has a 4.76 ERA with 90 strikeouts against 51 walks in 87 innings for Chicago’s Double-A affiliate, though he’s pitched considerably better as of late. Over his past seven starts, Fulmer has a 3.51 ERA with a 54-to-17 K/BB ratio in 41 innings, and he’s yielded just two runs in his past 19 innings.

Fulmer entered the season as a consensus Top 100 prospect, and he’s currently 33rd on MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects list and 73rd on Baseball America’s midseason update of its Top 100 prospects. Some pundits at the time of the draft wrote that Fulmer projected as a future reliever, and that’s still a consideration for a number of scouts, though the Sox will presumably give Fulmer a chance to stick in the rotation down the road. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reference Fulmer’s 93-97 mph fastball in their scouting report (which could play up in a short-relief role) and call his curveball a plus offering as well while noting that his changeup gives him potential for a third plus pitch. Fulmer, however, is slight in frame, as he’s listed at 6’0″ and 195 pounds. ESPN’s Keith Law has written on a number of occasions that Fulmer profiles best at the back of a bullpen due to that lack of size, a high-effort delivery and a lack of command.

Via Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune, manager Robin Ventura suggested the possibility of utilizing Fulmer in a relief role last week. “You’re trying to see if a kid can do it, and we did it with Carlos (Rodon) a little bit and Chris (Sale) has done it,” Ventura told the Tribune. “You bring ’em up here and you bring ’em through out of the bullpen and see if you can lighten their load a little bit and then see how they handle it.”

Fulmer’s long-term role with the Sox remains undetermined, but if he’s in the Majors to stay he’ll fall well shy of Super Two status, as the most service time he could accrue in 2016 would be 79 days. He’ll be arbitration eligible following the 2019 season and controllable through the 2022 season if he does not return to the minor leagues from this point forth, though obviously a demotion could further delay his path to arbitration and free agency.

Red Sox Acquire Drew Pomeranz For Anderson Espinoza

By Steve Adams | July 14, 2016 at 11:25pm CDT

The Red Sox and Padres have begun the second half of the season with some fireworks, announcing on Thursday night that Boston has acquired left-hander Drew Pomeranz in exchange for top right-handed pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza, who is widely considered to be one of the 20 best prospects in all of Major League Baseball. Infielder Josh Rutledge moves to the 60-day DL for Boston in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for its new starter.

The Padres acquired Pomeranz, 27, from the A’s this winter for the now-bargain price of Yonder Alonso and Marc Rzepczynski. After talking his way into the rotation mix in Spring Training, Pomeranz has broken out as the ace of the San Diego staff and fulfilled a good deal of the potential that pundits believed him to possess when he was selected fifth overall by the Indians back in 2010. In 102 innings this season, the first-time All-Star has posted a 2.47 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 47.8 percent ground-ball rate. He’ll immediately slot into the middle of the Boston rotation and can be controlled for another two seasons beyond the 2016 campaign via the arbitration process. Not only does he have two years of club control left, he’s earning just $1.35MM in 2016, which will help to suppress his future arbitration salaries despite this season’s breakout.

While Pomeranz has been dominant in 2016, he doesn’t come without his risks, and chief among them is the limited workload he’s had in recent seasons. Pomeranz spent his early years in Colorado after being included in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade with Cleveland, and his innings totals were suppressed as he pitched poorly much of the time at Coors Field. Oakland deployed Pomeranz in a swingman capacity and utilized him more out of the bullpen than the rotation. Since being drafted, Pomeranz has never thrown more than 146 2/3 innings in a single season between the Majors and Minors combined. That total came all the way back in 2012 and has been followed by single-season innings totals of 112 2/3 (2013), 115 1/3 (2014) and 88 (2015). The Red Sox, however, appear undeterred by the fact that Pomeranz will be approaching uncharted waters in terms of workload as the season progresses into its final months.

The Red Sox have been tied to rotation help for more than a month, as the club’s Opening Day mix of starters has largely underwhelmed. MLBTR’s Jason Martinez noted earlier today in examining the top need of each American League contender that the rotation was far and away the Red Sox’ primary deficiency. Boston starting pitchers rank 19th in Major League Baseball with a 4.72 ERA this season, and only Steven Wright and Rick Porcello have posted earned run averages south of 4.00. David Price has righted the ship after a rocky start to the season but still is sporting a 4.34 mark on the year, while Eduardo Rodriguez has been slowed by injuries and pitched poorly even upon activation from the disabled list. Joe Kelly has been relegated to the Triple-A bullpen, and spot starts from Henry Owens and Sean O’Sullivan have been sub-par, to say the least. Excluding the work of Wright, Price and Porcello, the Red Sox have received a combined 7.22 ERA from the rest of their rotation.

From the Padres’ vantage point, the decision to move Pomeranz wasn’t a clear-cut one. We at MLBTR weighed the pros and cons of dealing Pomeranz and wound up with a split camp among our staff when debating whether the Padres should trade him (a topic that I first examined at length before polling the MLBTR staff for their individual opinions). Pomeranz is both controllable and affordable but also comes with limited innings and a pair of DL stints for shoulder and biceps issues.

While it’s possible that Pomeranz’s value will be even higher come the offseason, the Padres elected to move him now, and in doing so continued down a clear path to an extensive rebuild. Not only that, but the fact that the club focused in on the 18-year-old Espinoza when dealing a pitcher that could’ve provided significant value in both 2017 and 2018 indicates that the Padres may feel that a fairly lengthy rebuild is in order. Espinoza, who rated 14th on today’s midseason top 100 prospect update from ESPN’s Keith Law (ESPN Insider required/recommended), is currently the youngest player in the Class-A South Atlantic League but has held his own in spite of that fact. He’s totaled 76 innings and delivered a 4.38 ERA with a 72-to-27 K/BB ratio and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate against much older competition.

Law notes in his scouting report that Espinoza sits comfortably at 94-95 mph with his heater and can touch 99, and he also features a plus changeup and curveball (with the former representing the better of the two secondary offerings). Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com note that Espinoza repeats his delivery well, which allows him to locate the ball effectively. The MLB.com duo notes that his secondary offerings are much more advanced than those of a typical teenager. Baseball America, who rated him 15th in MLB on their midseason Top 100 list, wrote in the offseason that Espinoza possesses “obvious front-of-the-rotation talent, and makeup and intelligence to maximize his ability.”

The swap represents the second significant trade completed between the Red Sox and Padres over the past nine months, as Boston also acquired Craig Kimbrel from the Friars in exchange for Manuel Margot, Javier Guerra, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen in the offseason. While San Diego GM A.J. Preller has taken his share of flak for the Padres’ ill-fated attempt at an accelerated path back to contention in the NL West, he’s now flipped a pair of assets (Kimbrel, Pomeranz) within a year of acquiring them and received significantly more in exchange than he initially surrendered.

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, meanwhile, has come to Boston as advertised: unafraid to utilize a deep farm system to acquire immediate impact talent at the Major League level in the name of winning now. While the losses of players like Margot and Espinoza sting, the Red Sox likely feel compelled to capitalize on the fact that young stars such as Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley are emerging (or have emerged) as front-line talents, while aging veterans (most notably David Ortiz) are still productive and able to help the club push for a return to the postseason.

Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported that Pomeranz was going to the Red Sox. Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reported (via Twitter) that Espinoza was part of the return. Lin (Twitter link) and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports/MLB.com indicated that it was a straight-up swap of those two players.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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