Archives for June 2016

Cardinals Option Kolten Wong To Triple-A, Activate Jhonny Peralta

By Steve Adams | June 6, 2016 at 3:24pm CDT

The Cardinals have optioned second baseman Kolten Wong to Triple-A Memphis, the team announced tonight. The move will clear a spot for the activation of shortstop Jhonny Peralta from the disabled list — a move that will become official tomorrow. Peralta has spent the entire season to date on the disabled list due to a fractured left thumb.

General manager John Mozeliak revealed last week that upon Peralta’s activation from the disabled list, he would serve as the club’s everyday third baseman, with Matt Carpenter sliding over to second base. The shuffled defensive alignment will allow hot-hitting Aledmys Diaz to remain the Cardinals’ everyday shortstop, but it also vastly reduces Wong’s opportunity for playing time. Rather than reduce Wong to a bench role, the club has elected to send him to Memphis to get everyday at-bats.

While Wong’s production this season certainly merits the demotion — he’s batting just .222/.306/.286 on the season — the decision nonetheless had to be a difficult one for a Cardinals front office that just awarded Wong with a five-year, $25.5MM contract extension three months ago. Many pundits raised an eyebrow at the extension at the time given Wong’s second-half decline in 2015, but his overall .262/.321/.386 slash line from last season was sound, relative to his peers, and as a former first-round pick that batted .280/.343/.434 in the first half of that 2015 season, there was reason to believe that he could make some strides in terms of consistency and deliver a better overall performance in 2016. That, however, clearly has not been the case.

Diaz, on the other hand, has been an opposite tale. Initially signed to a four-year, $8MM contract as an international free agent out of Cuba, Diaz floundered throughout his early minor league tenure and was actually outrighted off the 40-man roster last July. Any club could’ve had him for the remainder of the $8MM on that deal, but he instead cleared waivers and remained in the Cardinals organization. While that seemed somewhat inconsequential at the time, it’s proven to be a godsend for the Redbirds in 2016, as Diaz forced his way onto the roster early in the season in the wake of Peralta’s injury and has subsequently batted .328/.359/.547 with eight homers in 206 plate appearances. While Diaz has been a liability with the glove — 12 errors, -5.4 UZR — his bat was enough for the Cardinals to designate presumptive Peralta stopgap Ruben Tejada for assignment recently and will now keep him in the team’s everyday plans.

The return of Peralta likely means reduced playing time for utility man Jedd Gyorko, whom the Cardinals picked up in an offseason swap that sent Jon Jay to the Padres. Gyorko had been serving as a platoon partner for the struggling Wong, but with Carpenter, Diaz and Peralta now set to receive regular plate appearances, it may become more difficult to work him into the lineup with regularity.

Juan Lagares Diagnosed With Partially Torn Ligament In Thumb

By Steve Adams | June 6, 2016 at 3:09pm CDT

Mets center fielder Juan Lagares has been diagnosed with a partially torn ligament in his left thumb, tweets ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin. However, for now, he will rejoin the team and will not be placed on the disabled list. The Mets will take two to three days to determine whether Lagares can play through the injury, tweets Newsday’s Marc Carig, but surgery is a possibility for the 27-year-old. However, the hope appears to be that he can delay the operation until the offseason.

Lagares is hitting .276/.315/.402 on the season, though his playing time was diminished somewhat by the club’s re-signing of Yoenis Cespedes. Lagares had been expected to platoon with Alejandro De Aza in center field but has received just 93 plate appearances on the season thus far. He’s earning $2.5MM as part of a four-year, $23MM contract that he signed prior to the 2015 campaign based largely on the strength of his excellent defense. Because of the presence of De Aza on the roster, the Mets would have four true outfielders on the roster even if Lagares were to require surgery during the season, though none of De Aza, Cespedes, Michael Conforto or Curtis Granderson carries Lagares’ defensive chops in center field.

Latest On Michael Brantley’s Shoulder Injury

By Steve Adams | June 6, 2016 at 2:20pm CDT

Indians left fielder Michael Brantley has been sidelined since May 10 due to inflammation in his surgically repaired shoulder, and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that there is now serious concern within the organization that Brantley will miss “a significant amount of time” due to the injury (links to Twitter).

Meanwhile, Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti downplayed the significance of Brantley’s injury to FOX’s Ken Rosenthal (links to Rosenthal on Twitter): “Nothing really new. We are focused on working with Michael to help him get to the point where he’s not only healthy, but strong enough to make a meaningful impact on the balance of our season. We don’t have a clear timetable for that yet but are encouraged by [the] progress he continues to make.” As Rosenthal points out, though, it’s not in the Indians’ best interest to not acknowledge any kind of serious problem, as they may very well need to address their outfield on the summer trade market.

Brantley initially injured his shoulder in the final days of the 2015 season while laying out in an attempt at a diving catch in left field against the Twins, and while he didn’t immediately undergo surgery, it was determined in early November that surgical repair was the best option for him. The team announced on Nov. 9 that Brantley had undergone surgery to repair a small tear in his labrum, and his initial timeline to be ready for a rehab assignment was five to six months. However, Brantley was back in the Majors in about five and a half months, as Cleveland activated him from the disabled list on April 25. That aggressive timeline will now look questionable to some in retrospect, as Brantley batted just .231/.279/.282 in 43 plate appearances before landing back on the disabled list. Brantley was said to be battling fatigue in the shoulder prior to going back on the DL, and he said following his second placement on the disabled list that he did not question the earlier-than-expected date of his return because he had felt that he was indeed ready to go.

A prolonged absence for Brantley is the last thing the Indians need at this juncture. Cleveland lost center fielder Abraham Almonte to an 80-game PED suspension prior to Opening Day, and they’ve now lost Marlon Byrd, who had been enjoying a productive season, to a 162-game ban for a PED offense of his own (the second of his career). The team’s outfield mix currently includes Rajai Davis, Tyler Naquin and converted infielders Lonnie Chisenhall and Jose Ramirez.

An extended stay on the disabled list for Brantley would only serve to further enhance the club’s need to add outfield help from outside the organization, though the Indians are known to be rather constricted in terms of payroll; the club opened the season with a payroll of about $96MM (when including salaries for sunk costs Michael Bourn, Nick Swisher and Chris Johnson), and the typically tight-budgeted team seems unlikely to be equipped to add a significant financial investment to the ledger. Of course, the Indians could always agree to pay a steeper price in terms of prospects in order to convince a trade partner to include significant financial relief in a trade for an outfield bat.

Beyond the financial component, however, it’s also simply unlikely that any realistic acquisition target for Cleveland would be able to replicate the production of a healthy Brantley. The 29-year-old broke out as one of baseball’s best hitters in 2014 and enjoyed an outstanding repeat season in 2015. Overall, he batted .319/.382/.494 with 35 homers and 38 steals (in 40 tries) from 2014-15 while drawing more walks (112) than strikeouts (107).

Brantley is earning $7.375MM in 2016, the third season of a three-year, $25MM contract signed prior to that 2014 breakout. He’s guaranteed $8.375MM next season, and Cleveland possesses an $11MM club option for the 2018 season that comes with a $1MM buyout.

NL East Notes: Turner, Phillies, Mets, Walker

By Steve Adams | June 6, 2016 at 1:30pm CDT

The Nationals optioned top prospect Trea Turner back to Triple-A Syracuse on Monday as the team activated Ryan Zimmerman from the paternity list, as MLB.com’s Jamal Collier writes. Manager Dusty Baker contends that “right now there’s no room” for Turner on the big league roster when everyone is healthy, though the struggles of Danny Espinosa certainly seem to create such a spot. Collier writes that the Nats value Espinosa’s glove over a potential offensive upgrade from Turner, though I personally can’t help but wonder how much longer the team will stick with Espinosa, who is hitting just .196/.291/.346 even after homering five times in his past 10 games. While the power surge is nice, Espinosa is hitting just .182 with a .250 OBP in that 10-game stretch, so his overall offensive contributions aren’t as impressive as the power would otherwise indicate. Nats shortstops, as a collective unit, are hitting a dismal .195/.261/.337 on the season. Turner, meanwhile, is batting .312/.365/.452 at Triple-A and went 3-for-3 with a walk and a double in his brief call-up this weekend. Espinosa’s glove is solid, to be sure, but he isn’t Andrelton Simmons on defense, and the Nats rank ninth in NL in runs scored.

Kris Johnson Signs Three-Year Deal With NPB’s Hiroshima Carp

By Steve Adams | June 6, 2016 at 12:18pm CDT

Former Major League left-hander Kris Johnson has signed a new three-year deal with the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (links to Twitter), who adds that the deal is believed to contain the largest guarantee ever for a foreign player in Asia. Johnson’s deal could ultimately top $15MM, per Crasnick, though the implication appears to be that the $15MM is not entirely guaranteed, so there may be incentives or an option required to surpass that mark.

Regardless, it seems that Johnson, a client of Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon, has secured a very notable sum from the Carp as a show of faith following a dominant 2015 season and a similarly brilliant start to the 2016 campaign. The former Pirates and Twins hurler turned in an incredible 1.85 ERA with 6.9 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 in 194 1/3 innings last year, and he’s followed up that performance with a 1.99 ERA through his first 81 1/3 frames to open the 2016 campaign. All told, he’s racked up 275 2/3 innings of 1.89 ERA ball since making the jump to Japanese ball.

While the 31-year-old never quite put it together while pitching in America, there were reasons to believe in some upside. He was selected with the 40th overall pick of the 2006 draft by the Red Sox and posted solid results as a 23-year-old in Double-A back in 2008 before reaching Triple-A as a 24-year-old in 2009. However, Johnson never found consistency at the Triple-A level and ultimately wound up with a 4.46 ERA through 563 Triple-A frames and a 5.32 ERA in just 23 2/3 MLB innings between Pittsburgh and Minnesota. Following the 2014 season, the Twins sold Johnson’s rights to the Carp for a reported six-figure sum after the lefty posted a 3.48 ERA in 132 innings for Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate.

Assuming his three-year contract begins next season, he’ll now be in Japan through at least his age-34 campaign. That would mean he could potentially try to return to the Majors for the latter stages of his career, if he’s able to maintain this level of success, and perhaps cash in on a notable payday or two in his late 30s.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Sanchez, Sox, Kim

By Steve Adams | June 6, 2016 at 8:50am CDT

There’s been plenty of ink dedicated to the idea of the Yankees parting with one of their left-handed bullpen aces, Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller, but the club’s top execs aren’t planning on trading anyone in the near future, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Heyman cites “senior Yankees executives” in conveying that the team’s top decision-makers held a conference call last night and determined that there won’t be any action in the near term, though the club could reevaluate that line of thinking closer to the end of July. Many have speculated that the Yankees, in need of rotation depth as well as some help at the infield corners, could deal Chapman or Miller to add a younger big league piece elsewhere on the roster. Carlos Beltran’s name also crept up in speculation last month, but it would appear that the Yankees, currently 26-30 and 6.5 games back in the division, will stay the course for the time being.

Here’s more from the AL East…

Aaron Sanchez’s breakout season will leave the Blue Jays with some tough decisions in a couple of months, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The Jays clearly made the right call by entrusting Sanchez with a spot in the rotation this spring, Nicholson-Smith points out, but the team also said back in March that he’d eventually transition to the bullpen later this season as a means of managing his innings total. Sanchez has been dominant in 2016, posting a 2.99 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and a lofty 58.5 percent ground-ball rate across 72 1/3 innings. Pitching coach Pete Walker tells Nicholson-Smith that the Jays typically map out their plans for the pitching staff a month in advance, so he’s taking the Sanchez debate on a month-to-month basis. The 23-year-old Sanchez totaled just 102 innings between the Majors and minors last season, so it’s understandable that Toronto isn’t thrilled with the notion of seeing one of its most valuable long-term pieces double his 2015 innings total with a full season of starts.
The struggles of Eduardo Rodriguez in yesterday’s loss underscores the Red Sox’ need to trade for rotation help, opines Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald. Silverman notes that the club has watched Rick Porcello slow down considerably since an explosive start to the season, while David Price has yet to hit the stride that most expect of the former Cy Young winner. Beyond that, Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly have pitched themselves out of rotation jobs. Steven Wright has been a pleasant surprise, but his breakout alone won’t sustain a four-man rotation that already needs a fifth option. Boston has already seen one trade option come off the market, as the White Sox picked up James Shields from the Padres with a rare early-June trade of fairly significant magnitude.
Hyun Soo Kim’s turnaround since Spring Training has been remarkable, writes Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, who spoke to a scout from outside the Orioles organization that said he’s had to tear up the March scouting report he’d compiled on Kim. Baltimore signed Kim to a two-year, $7MM contract this winter on the heels of an impressive run in the Korea Baseball Organization, but the man nicknamed the “Hitting Machine” in Korea looked overmatched (or “scared,” as the scout put it to Kubatko) at the plate in Spring Training. To say Kim, who is hitting .377/.449/.493 through an admittedly small sample of 78 plate appearances, has adjusted nicely would appear to be an understatement. Manager Buck Showalter praised Kim for his adjustments to harder velocity and said he routinely checks in with Kim and his interpreter to see if there’s anything the club can do to continue to ease the transition from Korea to America. Kim, however, tells Showalter that he’s “having the time of his life” now that he is getting a chance to contribute in the Majors.

Quick Hits: Miller, Schwarber, Yankees, Giants, Daniels

By Mark Polishuk | June 5, 2016 at 11:00pm CDT

Here are some items from around baseball as we head into the new week…

The Cubs wouldn’t trade Kyle Schwarber for Andrew Miller, a source tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman pegs the Yankees and Cubs as good trade partners given Chicago’s possible weakness in the back of the bullpen and New York’s need for young position player talent. Schwarber, of course, is out of action until 2017 after undergoing season-ending surgery in early April but is still one of the game’s most highly-touted young sluggers.
Sherman’s piece outlines several younger players from around the league who could be Yankees targets if the Bombers indeed decide to become deadline sellers. While Miller or Aroldis Chapman have been heavily cited as the most obvious trade chips, Sherman suggests New York could explore the market for a wide range of players, including Carlos Beltran, Brett Gardner, Brian McCann, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda or even Dellin Betances.
The Giants could trade “for a complementary player,” Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines (Twitter link), but he doesn’t think the club will swing a major deal at this time of the year. With Hunter Pence gone for at least two months following hamstring surgery, the Giants have already been discussing trade targets, though they have a number of outfield options already on the roster.
Rangers GM Jon Daniels talks to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News about the 2006 draft, which was Daniels’ first in charge of the Texas front office. While the Rangers found some good talent in that draft class, their first-round pick was rather a notable miss. Daniels said his team was eyeing Tim Lincecum with the 12th overall selection but the Rangers were surprised when the Giants drafted Lincecum tenth overall. Texas instead took high school lefty Kasey Kiker, who never made it higher than Double-A and has been out of pro ball since 2012.

NL West Notes: Shields, Padres, Parra, Thompson, Crawford

By Mark Polishuk | June 5, 2016 at 10:11pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the NL West…

The Padres’ trade of James Shields puts an end to the “spending spree” chapter of A.J. Preller’s tenure as San Diego’s GM, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal observes, and it seemed like the club was eager to put this era behind it. “How exactly did the Padres make the White Sox hurt” in the trade, Rosenthal asks, noting that the Friars didn’t receive a significant player return in exchange for the veteran righty and they’ll still be paying the majority of Shields’ remaining contract. In a general overview of San Diego’s situation, Rosenthal notes that the franchise is relying on a big influx of prospects in both the draft and the next international market to help make up for all of the young talent lost in the Padres’ flurry of moves during the 2014-15 offseason.
Gerardo Parra has yet to take off at the plate since joining the Rockies, though he tells MLB.com’s Thomas Harding that he feels it’s only a matter of time before he becomes more consistent at the plate. Parra entered Sunday hitting .269/.281/.429 over 218 PA, with a 1.8% walk rate that is far below even his modest 6.1% career mark. Parra has struggled badly (.681 OPS) against right-handed pitching and away from Coors Field. Between his bat and lackluster defensive metrics, Parra has been a sub-replacement level (-0.4 fWAR) player for Colorado in the first year of a three-year, $27.5MM free agent contract.
Trayce Thompson is having a breakout season for the Dodgers and become a part of the club’s growing young core, ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla writes. Thompson’s emergence played a big role in L.A. designating Carl Crawford for assignment earlier today. “[Crawford has] had a great run and where we’re at right now, and where this organization wants to go, you have a lot of young guys coming,” manager Dave Roberts said.
In other NL West news from today, Hunter Pence’s date for hamstring surgery was set for Thursday and we collected some Diamondbacks notes.

Diamondbacks Notes: Trades, La Russa, Hudson

By Mark Polishuk | June 5, 2016 at 9:03pm CDT

The Diamondbacks didn’t just beat the league’s best club with today’s 3-2 victory over the Cubs, they also hung a rare loss on Jake Arrieta. Arrieta had won his last 20 decisions prior to today’s loss, a streak dating back to July 25, 2015. While the D’Back struck out 12 times against Arrieta, they also tagged the Chicago ace for three runs on nine hits and a walk over five innings. Here’s some more from the desert…

Today’s win improved Arizona’s record to just 25-34 on the season, yet despite the slow start, chief baseball officer Tony La Russa told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert) that the D’Backs aren’t ready to start shopping pieces for the trade deadline. “Now is not that time,” La Russa said. “If this was a veteran-laden team and you were trying to win in ’16 only, at some point you would say we’re going to be sellers not buyers. But this is a club that’s put together — and we went to lengths during the off-season — it’s about the next four or five years.”
It also doesn’t appear, however, that the D’Backs will necessarily make any big upgrades to make a postseason push. “The problem with a major trade is that it means they take your best kids, and we like our young players,” La Russa said. “I think the healthiest attitude for the guys in uniform is win with what you got. You compete and win with what you got or [what you have] in the organization.”
Impending free agent Daniel Hudson stands out as a possible trade chip if the D’Backs do sell at the deadline, though the reliever tells Nick Piecoro that his first choice would be to remain in Arizona both through July and in the offseason. “I’d love to stay here and be here when we’re good,” Hudson said. “I don’t want to come here and face our lineup when they put it all together and I’m not here…But I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family. If that means exploring more options at the end of the year, then that’s what it’s going to come down to. I want to be here for the long run, for sure.” Hudson has been with the organization since 2010 but has only appeared in 144 games due to a pair of Tommy John surgeries. The former highly-touted pitching prospect has reinvented himself as a reliever and delivered strong results over the last two seasons out of the Diamondbacks bullpen. Hudson tells Piecoro that to his knowledge, there haven’t been any extension talks between his representatives and the D’Backs.

NL East Notes: Prado, Mets, Wright, Phillies

By Mark Polishuk | June 5, 2016 at 7:41pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

The Marlins are undecided about trying to re-sign Martin Prado in the offseason since Derek Dietrich could become their third baseman of the future, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson writes. Dietrich entered today’s action with a .303/.392/.479 slash line over 166 PA while playing mostly second base in place of the suspended Dee Gordon. The 26-year-old Dietrich is under team control through the 2020 season while Prado is a free agent this winter. Prado is himself having a solid year from an average and OBP perspective and the Fish have long valued his clubhouse leadership skills, to the point of demanding a huge return in trade discussions last year. It’s also worth noting that Dietrich has played only 49 games at third in his entire pro career, so he’s not exactly a seasoned option at the hot corner.
The Mets should be planning for life without David Wright, Newsday’s David Lennon writes, as it’s quite possible the veteran third baseman will miss the rest of the season recovering from a herniated disk in his neck. Even the best-case scenarios have Wright not returning until late August at the earliest, so Lennon figures the Mets need to obtain another third baseman if Wilmer Flores isn’t able to step up as an everyday option. Lennon notes that up to 75% of the roughly $81MM owed on Wright’s contract through the 2020 season could be recouped by insurance if Wright is too injured to play, which creates some financial leeway for the Mets.
The Mets are again struggling to score runs and may not have the prospect depth to correct the problem as they did at last year’s deadline, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The Mets held onto their position player depth over the offseason to guard against another offensive slide, yet they’re still one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams.
The Phillies have a league-high spending pool (just under $5.62MM) for the upcoming July international signing period, and Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports that the club is planning to spread out its money on several players. Badler profiles five young Venezuelan players the Phillies have been linked to in the July 2 class, including 16-year-old Francisco Morales, a 6’5″ right-hander whose fastball has already hit 96mph. One scout tells Badler that Morales is “probably the No. 1 pitcher in the class.”
The Braves’ 23 homers is easily the lowest of any team in baseball, and Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required) notes that the team also doesn’t have any burgeoning slugging prospects in the farm system. This lack of power is why Bradley feels the Braves will keep Hector Olivera once his domestic violence suspension is up, as Olivera at least displayed some home run-hitting ability in Cuba (though not yet in his brief MLB career).

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