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Archives for July 2016

Red Sox Notes: SP Market, Hill, Benintendi, Closer

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The Red Sox are searching for starting pitching help as the Aug. 1 trade deadline nears, but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is having difficulty finding viable options. “This is not an easy starting pitching market,” he said Saturday (via Scott Lauber of ESPN.com). Boston isn’t necessarily looking for a front-end starter, but someone at least capable of giving the team six reliable innings, Dombrowski continued. Red Sox starters entered Saturday just 24th in the majors in innings (760) and 21st in ERA (4.52), though they’re a much better 12th in K-BB percentage (13.7).

More from Boston, which improved to 48-38 with a win over the Rays on Saturday:

  • While further addressing the difficult market for starters, Dombrowski commented (per Lauber), “The names we don’t want to trade always seem to start the conversation. “It’s a common thread of the same names that seem to be coming up. But they have come up in every conversation we have, and then you try to get realistic and move from there.”  It’s fair to suggest one of the names that teams have asked about is Double-A outfielder Andrew Benintendi, who ranks ninth on Baseball America’s just-updated top 100 prospects list. Given his outstanding production, the 2015 seventh overall pick could soon join the left fielder-needy Red Sox, writes WEEI’s Rob Bradford. “He’s played very well,” said Dombrowski, who added that he’s not averse to moving a player straight from Double-A to the majors. “There’s some benefits to going to Triple-A. I don’t mean to downplay it. But I’ve had a lot of success throughout my career with guys going from Double-A to the big leagues.” After ripping up High-A pitching to begin the season, the 22-year-old Benintendi has hit .288/.347/.497 with six home runs in 196 plate appearances with Double-A Portland.
  • Athletics left-hander Rich Hill – who revived his career with the Red Sox last September and could end up with them (or someone else) at the deadline – told Bradford that he thought re-signing with Boston last offseason was a possibility. “I did think there was a good chance to come back to Boston just because of everything that was going on there,” the 36-year-old said. “We had some really good things working.” The journeyman instead inked a $6MM deal in Oakland, where he has continued thriving. Hill has spun 76 innings of 2.25 ERA ball with the A’s this year while supporting that figure with a 10.66 K/9, 50 percent ground-ball rate and 14.5 percent infield fly rate. He could soon end up as the top starter dealt this summer, but he told Bradford that “there really hasn’t been too much thought about being traded somewhere.”
  • Although the Red Sox acquired closer Brad Ziegler from the Diamondbacks early Saturday, manager John Farrell indicated Saturday (via Lauber) that he’s second to Koji Uehara in the ninth-inning pecking order.“Koji’s our closer. On days when (Uehara) isn’t available, we’ve got Brad (Ziegler) to turn to,” Farrell said. Of course, the Red Sox are only choosing between Uehara and Ziegler because of All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel’s knee injury. While Uehara did pick up the save Saturday, he expressed skepticism toward Farrell’s statement, saying, “I don’t think I’ve won back the job” (Twitter link via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald).

Pirates Sign Josh Outman To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have signed free agent left-hander Josh Outman to a minor league contract, per a team announcement. The Turner Gary Sports client will head to Triple-A Indianapolis. While Outman likely faces long odds of returning to the majors, it’s worth noting that the Pirates only have one southpaw in their bullpen, as their depth chart shows.

Outman, 31, last saw major league action in 2014. As a member of the Indians and Yankees that year, he combined for 40 appearances and posted a terrific 2.86 ERA and solid 53.9 percent ground-ball rate in 28 1/3 innings. However, a 5.08 BB/9 offset his 8.26 K/9 somewhat and he benefited from an 87.2 percent strand rate. Outman, who dealt with thoracic outlet syndrome last season but has now recovered from the issue, spent some of the year in the Braves organization and amassed 8 2/3 frames across four minor league levels. He opened this season with the independent Atlantic League’s New Britain Bees.

On the whole, Outman has recorded a 4.43 ERA, 7.41 K/9, 3.77 BB/9 and 43.8 percent ground-ball mark over 274 1/3 major league innings. Thirty-two of his 161 appearances have come in the form of starts, mostly with the Athletics from 2008-11. His latest start in the majors came back in 2012 with the Rockies.

Padres Won’t Trade Wil Myers; Could Deal Drew Pomeranz

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Although the Padres haven’t made the playoffs since 2006, managing partner Peter Seidler told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times that he isn’t going to rush the franchise’s current rebuild. Seidler acknowledged that the Padres’ future-minded strategy probably won’t begin paying dividends at the major league level until 2019 at the earliest. That strategy has come into focus this year, with the team having outspent every other club on the international market this month.

After signing 10 top international prospects July 2, San Diego added another – 17-year-old Cuban left-hander Adrian Morejon – for a sizable $11MM bonus on Friday. The Padres had already soared past their league-allotted bonus pool by then, meaning that they’ll pay a 100 percent luxury tax on the Morejon signing. As such, they effectively picked him up for $22MM and have now spent in the neighborhood of $60MM on international free agents this year. The Padres’ allocation of international cash is currently, in their judgment, “the smartest place to spend money,” according to Seidler.

“In the context of baseball, it’s two years of Zack Greinke,” he continued. “It’s two years of Clayton Kershaw. For us, we get 20 high-ceiling teenagers. Most of them ultimately are not going to make it to Petco Park. But if four or five of them are impact players at Petco?”

Eventually joining those players in the majors could be several prospects from this year’s amateur draft, in which the Padres had six of the first 85 picks – including three first-round selections.

“This franchise’s history in the amateur draft — as far as having impactful players play for the Padres in the major leagues — is probably as bad as it gets,” Seidler stated. “We have confidence that what we are building is going to completely reverse that.”

Shifting gears to the major league side, the 38-49 Friars have the second-worst record in the NL West and will no doubt look to sell as the Aug. 1 deadline nears. The team has already jettisoned right-hander James Shields and cashed in 39-year-old reliever Fernando Rodney for a prospect, and it hasn’t ruled out trading its best starter of 2016 – lefty Drew Pomeranz – writes Shaikin.

Pomeranz, 27, is making a paltry $1.35MM this season and has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining, but the All-Star is scheduled to become a free agent when the Padres’ prospective window of competing, 2019, opens. Given his eminently affordable contract and excellent production – he ranks fifth in the majors in ERA (2.47) and 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.15) – Pomeranz could be one of the most appealing players available around the deadline. While the Padres aren’t against selling high on him, the same isn’t true regarding first baseman Wil Myers.

“He’s not going to be traded,” Seidler declared, and executive chairman Ron Fowler told Shaikin that Myers is “the type of guy we want to build this team around.”

As a result, Fowler is hopeful the Padres and Myers, a 25-year-old All-Star, can work out an extension. Myers is earning barely over the league minimum this year and is controllable through arbitration for three more seasons. The ex-Ray and former premier prospect has hit a tremendous .293/.358/.535 with 19 home runs in 371 plate appearances, also adding 15 stolen bases on 18 attempts. Thanks largely to his output at the plate and on the base paths, Myers has already been worth 3.5 fWAR – tied for the 11th-highest total among position players this year.

“The way we’re building this business is really straightforward,” said Seidler. “It’s all about building a core of high-ceiling, home-grown talent. That does go back to the way the best sports franchises in any of the major sports have always been run.”

Myers isn’t homegrown, but he’s clearly a high-ceiling player. And Seidler’s Padres hope Myers and a cavalcade of talented prospects can eventually lead the franchise back to relevance in the coming years.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/9/16

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.

  • Veteran lefty Tom Gorzelanny has declined his outright assignment with the Indians and is now a free agent, the team has announced. The Indians designated Gorzelanny for assignment on Monday after he allowed seven runs in three innings for them. Gorzelanny, who turns 34 this week, has a career 4.40 ERA, 7.3 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in parts of 12 seasons with the Pirates, Cubs, Nationals, Brewers and Tigers in addition to the Indians.
  • The Cardinals have announced that they’ve allowed outfielder Carlos Peguero to depart for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan. They will receive cash considerations in return. The 29-year-old Peguero has played with the Mariners, Royals, Rangers and Red Sox in parts of five big-league seasons, but has never stuck, accumulating just 319 career plate appearances. He’s shown big power in the minors, though, with 95 home runs and a .277/.346/.520 in the equivalent of about three full seasons at Triple-A.
  • The Rays have signed reliever Casey Coleman to a minor league deal, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Coleman opted out of his deal with the Mariners last week after posting a 2.08 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 39 strong innings with Triple-A Tacoma.
  • One of Coleman’s new Durham Bulls teammates is lefty Dana Eveland, who was designated for assignment this week. Via SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter), Eveland has accepted the Rays’ outright assignment. He posted an 8.55 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 6.8 BB/9 in 20 innings of relief with the Rays this season.
  • The Pirates have outrighted catcher Jacob Stallings, as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Bill Brink tweets. The Bucs designated the defensive specialist for assignment last week. The 26-year-old has batted just .200/.235/.326 this season, but he received a brief callup because of a rash of injuries to Pirates catchers.

Indians Claim Tyler Olson From Royals

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The Indians have announced that they’ve claimed lefty Tyler Olson from the Royals and optioned him to Triple-A Columbus. The Royals designated Olson for assignment last week.

Olson has had a busy few months moving from organization to organization — the Dodgers and then Yankees acquired him in minor deals over the offseason, and the Royals claimed him last month. The 26-year-old appeared briefly for the Mariners last year and with the Yankees this year, mainly throwing in the upper 80s in his big-league stints. He’s pitched for two Triple-A teams this season, posting a 4.81 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 over 33 2/3 innings mostly spent in relief.

Notable Draft Signings: 7/9/16

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Here are today’s notable draft signings.

  • The Angels have signed No. 60 overall pick Brandon Marsh for the slot value of $1,073,300, Jon Heyman tweets. The Georgia high school outfielder was committed to Kennesaw State. Various reports prior to the draft indicated he was signable, although he said at one point last month that he would not sign. MLB.com ranked Marsh the No. 48 prospect available in the draft, with Baseball America ranking him No. 59. BA’s subscription-only writeup compares him to Colby Rasmus and praises his speed, arm and hitting potential. The Angels have now signed all their picks in the first ten rounds.

White Sox Place Carlos Rodon On DL With Sprained Wrist

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The White Sox have announced that they’ve placed lefty starter Carlos Rodon on the 15-day DL. Via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (on Twitter), the move is retroactive to July 6 and is due to a sprained left wrist. They’ve promoted righty Tommy Kahnle to take his place on the active roster.

The White Sox had already elected to skip Rodon’s last start due to neck and arm discomfort, although it appears his current situation is unrelated — via the Chicago Tribune’s Chris Kuc (on Twitter), Rodon injured his wrist Friday after he slipped on the dugout steps. There is no indication yet of the seriousness of his current injury, but with the All-Star break coming up, it would appear to at least be possible that his stay on the DL could result in him missing little time.

It’s been an uneven sophomore season for the 2014 third overall pick, who’s maintained a strong 8.9 K/9 and has significantly reduced his walk rate to 3.1 BB/9 but has had serious issues with home runs, giving up 15 in 92 innings. All the home runs, plus a .349 BABIP, have led to a 4.50 ERA that rates as worse than league average. Still, Rodon has maintained his solid velocity this season (with an average fastball velocity of 93.0 MPH), and he’s been deadly against lefties (.552 OPS against), thanks to his plus slider.

This Week’s 5 Key Stories

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Here were this week’s top stories here at MLBTR.

USATSI_8753620_154513410_lowresRed Sox bolster bench, bullpen as Diamondbacks change directions. The trading season isn’t really in full swing yet, but the Red Sox made two deals for veterans this week. First, they acquired veteran infielder Aaron Hill from the Brewers for prospects Wendell Rijo and Aaron Wilkerson. Then, on Friday night, they got reliever Brad Ziegler from Arizona for two more prospects, Luis Alejandro Basabe and Jose Almonte. Significantly, the Diamondbacks’ decision to deal Ziegler suggests they could do more selling as the deadline approaches, despite having a splashy offseason last winter. The Diamondbacks also placed ace Zack Greinke on the DL with an oblique strain this week.

Matt Harvey’s season ends. The Mets have lost Matt Harvey for the rest of 2016, as the righty has elected to undergo surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. The Mets had already placed Harvey on the 15-day DL. It’s been a tough season for Harvey, who has endured a loss of velocity and a corresponding decline in performance, with a 4.86 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 over 92 2/3 innings.

CarGo drama. A report emerged Thursday suggesting Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez had shown interest in being traded, but Gonzalez vehemently denied the rumors. “Whenever I get home, I’m frustrated because maybe I didn’t do well, or we didn’t win the game, but I never complain about it  … or say I want to go somewhere else,” he told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Either way, it sounds like Gonzalez and fellow Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon could be on the trade market this summer.

Promotions in Pittsburgh. The Pirates made noise this week by promoting two top prospects to the big leagues, as they had Tyler Glasnow make a start against the Cardinals (in which he allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings, but notched five strikeouts and touched 97 MPH), then replaced him on their active roster with first baseman Josh Bell. Bell’s promotion appears likely to be temporary, just as Glasnow’s was, but the two players will probably be fixtures in Pittsburgh by the end of the season.

Padres continue international market splurge. The Padres haven’t had a good season at the big-league level, but they’ve been big spenders in the market for international free agents, spending heavily on Luis Almanzar, Gabriel Arias and others on July 2 and then really breaking the bank this week on Cuban lefty Adrian Morejon, with whom they agreed on an $11MM bonus. They’ll also pay a 100% tax on the deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Tigers To Sign Alex Presley To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have agreed to a minor league deal with veteran outfielder Alex Presley, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Presley is a client of Danny Burgers and Sports Pro Services.

Presley collected 129 plate appearances with the Brewers this season, hitting .198/.271/.293 before being designated for assignment late last month and electing free agency soon thereafter. Despite his struggles in the big leagues this year, the 30-year-old provides quality minor-league depth — he has a .306/.370/.441 line in 1,644 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, and he can play all three outfield positions. He’s played parts of seven big-league seasons, suiting up with the Pirates, Twins and Astros in addition to the Brewers, batting .253/.296/.383.

Red Sox Acquire Brad Ziegler

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The Red Sox acquired reliever Brad Ziegler from the Diamondbacks for minor leaguers Jose Almonte and Luis Alejandro Basabe, according to a team press release.  Blake Swihart was transferred to the 60-day DL to clear a 40-man roster spot for Ziegler.

Feb 28, 2016; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brad Ziegler poses for a portrait during photo day at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Ziegler, 36, has served as Arizona’s closer in recent years.  This season, the sidearmer owns a 2.82 ERA, 6.3 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, and 63% groundball rate, with just one home run allowed in 38 1/3 innings.  The veteran groundballer will slot in toward the back end of Boston’s bullpen.

Notably, Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel was unavailable Friday due to knee soreness, leading to a save chance for  Koji Uehara.  Kimbrel’s injury popped up Friday during pregame warmups, with ESPN’s Scott Lauber reporting that MRI results are expected today.  The injury will likely keep Kimbrel out of Tuesday night’s All-Star game in San Diego.  Another key reliever, Junichi Tazawa, was unavailable Friday due to shoulder discomfort.  Earlier this year, the Red Sox lost key acquisition Carson Smith to Tommy John surgery, so it’s no surprise president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski felt the need to act.  The Ziegler deal marks Dombrowski’s third trade of the young month, after his pickups of Aaron Hill and Michael Martinez.

[Updated depth charts: Red Sox and Diamondbacks]

This is Ziegler’s ninth Major League season.  He’ll be eligible for free agency at its conclusion, having signed an extension with the D’Backs in 2013.  In June of this year, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports spoke to Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart, who said the team was considering extensions for relievers Ziegler and Daniel Hudson.  Instead, Ziegler and the remaining $2.5MM+ on his contract were sent to Boston for a pair of prospects.

The Diamondbacks’ front office may be signaling a willingness to sell, given the team’s 38-50 record heading into the All-Star break.  In an article Thursday, Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball said the team was “getting the most trade hits” on relievers Ziegler, Hudson, and Tyler Clippard.  Like Ziegler, Hudson is eligible for free agency after the season.  The 29-year-old Hudson has worked his way into a setup role, having overcome a pair of Tommy John surgeries.  Clippard, 31, will join Hudson in trying to handle the ninth inning for Arizona following Ziegler’s departure.  He’s signed through 2017.

In Almonte, the D’Backs added a Low A starting pitcher who was signed out of the Dominican Republic four years ago for $610K.  Almonte’s pitching coach Walter Miranda gave his thoughts on the young pitcher to MiLB.com’s Chris Tripodi in late May.  Arizona also picked up middle infielder Luis Alejandro Basabe, not to be confused with twin brother and teammate Luis Alexander Basabe.  Luis Alejandro is generally regarded as the lesser prospect, but he is hitting .311/.414/.471 in 271 plate appearances this year at Low A and will participate in the South Atlantic League All-Star game.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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