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Cardinals Place Brandon Moss On DL, Recall Randal Grichuk

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The Cardinals have placed slugger Brandon Moss on the 15-day DL with an ankle injury, per a team announcement. He’ll be replaced by Randal Grichuk, who had been working out some kinks at the Triple-A level on optional assignment.

[Related: Updated Cardinals Depth Chart]

Moss has been fantastic this year after a down 2015 campaign, swatting 17 home runs and posting a strong .251/.340/.562 slash over 250 plate appearances. St. Louis has utilized him at first base and the corner outfield, making him a reasonably versatile piece as well. Though Moss doesn’t add value with the glove, he has been a major contributor for St. Louis.

It’s not yet clear how long Moss will be out, but the injury doesn’t sound terribly significant and he’ll get to rest up over the All-Star break. St. Louis will miss the bat, of course, but it has options on hand to pick up the slack.

Matt Adams has enjoyed a nice bounceback season as well, and figures to take the bulk of the load at first base. And Grichuk is a better call-up candidate than most teams have handy for the outfield, though he’ll need to effect his own recovery after a difficult first half.

Grichuk entered the year as the Cards’ regular center fielder, fresh off of a highly-promising season. But he’s been nearly half as productive at the plate as he was in 2015, slashing just .206/.276/.392 over 225 plate appearances. Since being demoted, the 24-year-old has hit for plenty of power in his fifty turns at the plate at Triple-A. But he still ran up a meager .280 on-base percentage and will need to continue to develop in that area if he’s to regain a regular role.

Police Investigating Sexual Assault Claim Against Jung Ho Kang

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The Chicago police department is investigating an allegation of sexual assault against Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang, as Stacy St. Clair and David Henzmann of the Chicago Tribune report. The ballclub has issued a statement, signed to CEO Frank Coonelly, in which it declined comment but did acknowledge the investigation.

According to the report, the investigation relates to events that occurred during the Pirates’ trip to Chicago last month. Pittsburgh played a series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field from June 17th through 19th. You can find further details of the claims at the link provided above.

Kang, 29, has played with the Pirates since the start of 2015 after previously featuring as a star in his native Korea. He has been a high-quality player for Pittsburgh, though certainly on-field considerations are not of primary concern given the seriousness of the matter at hand.

The Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy governs the investigation and punishment of matters such as these, as well as many related issues. Commissioner Rob Manfred has the authority to place Kang on paid administrative leave for seven days while the league begins looking into the matter, though no such action has been taken to this point.

This news comes even as Jose Reyes returns today for the Mets after serving a lengthy suspension for a domestic violence incident. Major league baseball has doled out suspensions to two other players — Hector Olivera and Aroldis Chapman — under the above-noted policy, which was announced last August. So far as has been publicly reported, none of those situations involved allegations of sexual violence, but instead fell under the policy due to their domestic implications.

Pirates Designate Jacob Stallings

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The Pirates have designated catcher Jacob Stallings for assignment, per a club announcement. His 40-man roster spot was needed for southpaw Steven Brault, who was called up to start today’s game.

[Related: Updated Pirates Depth Chart]

Originally selected in the seventh round of the 2012 draft out of the University of North Carolina, Stallings has steadily climbed through the Bucs’ system but has never hit much. He appeared briefly at the major league level for the first time this year, but has played mostly at Triple-A in 2016.

Stallings’s already borderline bat hasn’t improved thus far in 2016; far from it, in fact. Over his first 180 plate appearances at the highest level of the minors,the 26-year-old owns a meager .202/.239/.327 slash line.

Cardinals Surveying Bullpen Market

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The Cardinals have endured their share of bullpen woes this season, with closer Trevor Rosenthal’s demotion and control problems looming large among the team’s relief troubles. St. Louis has also seen Kevin Siegrist diagnosed with mononucleosis, and right-hander Jordan Walden has yet to throw a pitch for the big league club this season. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch spoke to general manager John Mozeliak, and Goold writes that while the GM said he has not yet been “knee-deep” in the market for relievers, the Cardinals are indeed surveying the market.

Goold lists D-backs right-hander Brad Ziegler as a potential option for the Cards and also notes that Yankees lefty Andrew Miller has been of interest to the Cardinals in the past, though demand for Miller would of course be extreme and the asking price figures to be exorbitant. It’s not entirely clear that either will be available, as D-backs GM Dave Stewart has expressed interest in extending Ziegler, while the Yankees haven’t given any indication of selling just yet and control Miller for another two seasons at a reasonable rate.

Mozeliak did voice some confidence that the club would eventually have a healthier Siegrist to help the relief corps, and he acknowledged top prospect Alex Reyes as “the most dynamic thing that we could add to this club with the least acquisition cost, for sure.”  Optioning Rosenthal to sort out his control issues isn’t yet on the Cardinals’ radar, per Mozeliak, although as Goold points out the club hasn’t been afraid to take that type of measure with either Kolten Wong or Randal Grichuk this season.

If the Cardinals do ultimately decide that the trade market is the best avenue by which to upgrade its relief contingent, there will be no shortage of options available. A number of the players listed on Jeff Todd’s most recent collection of the league’s top 20 trade candidates are of the relief variety, as are several of the 10 under-the-radar trade candidates he profiled just yesterday. While a number of clubs haven’t yet made a firm determination as to whether they’ll be buyers or sellers on the summer trade market, the Padres and Braves have already sold off big league pieces, while the Twins, Phillies, Brewers, Reds, Athletics and Angels could all follow suit to varying degrees in the weeks leading up to the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline. The Cardinals don’t always dive headfirst into the trade market with high-profile additions, but the team has a history of adding bullpen pieces as necessary. In recent years, St. Louis has added pieces such as Jonathan Broxton, John Axford and Steve Cishek on the summer trade market.

In light of Rosenthal’s struggles, offseason signee Seung-hwan Oh has been shifted into the closer’s role. They’ve also received quality innings from right-handers Broxton and Matt Bowman as well as lefties Siegrist and Tyler Lyons. Regardless, there’s room for some improvement, as the team’s overall bullpen has a 3.78 ERA that is weighted heavily by Oh’s dominant 1.71 ERA.

Royals Place Wade Davis On DL, Select Contract Of Brooks Pounders

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The Royals have placed closer Wade Davis on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain and selected the contract of right-hander Brooks Pounders to take his spot in the 25-man roster. In order to clear room for Pounders on the 40-man roster, Kansas City has designated left-hander Tyler Olson for assignment.

[Related: Updated Kansas City Royals depth chart]

Davis, 29, has once again been one of baseball’s most dominant relievers this season, firing 29 1/3 innings of 1.23 ERA ball, though he’s seen his strikeout and walk ratios trend in the wrong direction, averaging 8.6 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9. The Royals are fairly well equipped when it comes to replacing Davis, as fellow righty Kelvin Herrera has arguably been more dominant, hurling 38 2/3 innings with a 1.40 ERA with 11.4 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9. However, the overall relief corps will be thinned out by the loss of Davis. Joakim Soria, who has righted the ship since an ugly April, will presumably become the club’s top eighth-inning arm with Davis on the shelf, while Luke Hochevar seems likely to take on a larger role as well.

Pounders, 25, was a second-round pick of the Pirates back in 2009 and was acquired by the Royals in a seemingly minor 2011 trade that sent Yamaico Navarro to Pittsburgh. He’s steadily raised his stock in the Royals’ farm system and is having one of the best seasons of his career in 2016, having logged a 2.80 ERA with a 78-to-28 K/BB ratio in 64 1/3 innings. Pounders currently ranks 28th on MLB.com’s list of top 30 Royals prospects; Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis write that Pounders has a 91-94 mph fastball that can touch 97 mph in shorter relief stints as well as an inconsistent slider that looks like a plus pitch at times.

Olson, 26, has ridden the DFA carousel from the Mariners to the Dodgers to the Yankees to the Royals in the past calendar year. He owns a 4.81 ERA with a 23-to-10 K/BB ratio in 33 2/3 innings in Triple-A this season and a 4.60 ERA in 88 career innings at that level. While he’s yet to have much in the way of success at the MLB level or even in the upper-levels of the minors, Olson has yet to make it through waivers, as clubs continue to be intrigued enough by his arm to dedicate a 40-man roster spot. It’s possible, then, that he’ll soon land with his fifth organization since December.

Rangers Reportedly Interested In Jake Odorizzi

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The Rangers and Rays have had talks about a trade that would sent right-hander Jake Odorizzi from Tampa Bay to Texas in exchange for a bat, per Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). The two sides aren’t close to a deal but have continued their talks, per Bowden, who notes that the Rays are unsurprisingly interested in the likes of Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo and Lewis Brinson.

It’s not clear from the report what exactly the Rangers would be willing to surrender in order to pluck Odorizzi from the Rays, but the 26-year-old figures to come with a fairly substantial asking price. Odorizzi is earning just over the league minimum this season as he won’t qualify for arbitration until the upcoming offseason. He’s controllable through the 2019 campaign and has been a solid contributor to the Rays since being acquired in the James Shields/Wade Davis/Wil Myers blockbuster (although, in retrospect, Odorizzi deserves fairly lofty billing when describing that deal as well).

Over the past two and a half seasons with the Rays, Odorizzi has turned in 461 1/3 innings of 3.78 ERA ball, averaging 8.5 strikeouts and 2.8 walks per nine innings pitched. While he’s certainly a fly-ball pitcher, his ground-ball rate has increased significantly over the life of his time with the Rays, and the uptick in grounders hasn’t come at the expense of his ability to miss bats. Odorizzi is throwing a career-high number of two-seam fastballs (25.3 percent, per PITCHf/x), and the resulting 39.2 percent ground-ball rate is a career best.

Injuries throughout the Texas rotation have led the club to explore multiple avenues to bolster its rotation. The Rangers are said to be interested on Odorizzi’s own teammate, Matt Moore, and the team was also connected to Twins right-hander Ervin Santana over the weekend. Currently, the Rangers are without Colby Lewis through late August, and Derek Holland is slated to be on the disabled list for a yet-undetermined duration. Yu Darvish, too, is on the shelf, and while he’s set to return in the near future, it’s tough to be 100 percent confident in the durability of a pitcher that had Tommy John surgery in 2015 and quickly returned to the DL with shoulder discomfort.

The Rays, currently 14 games below .500 and in last place in the American League East, have reportedly considered parting with some of their starting pitchers, with Odorizzi, Moore, Drew Smyly and Erasmo Ramirez among the most logical pieces to be dealt. Chris Archer figures to draw plenty of interest as well, though it’s hard to see Tampa Bay selling low on its ace when he has so much club control remaining, and top prospect Blake Snell isn’t likely to be going anywhere just months after his big league debut. Alex Cobb could potentially be a trade candidate in August once he’s back from Tommy John surgery, though the offseason strikes me as a better time to move him, as he won’t have much time to reestablish himself prior to Aug. 31.

Knocking Down The Door: Hedges, Jimenez, Thompson, Vogelbach, Wilkerson

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This week’s installment of “Knocking Down The Door” includes the first player to repeat on the list, a slugging first baseman who is unlikely to break into the Majors with his current organization and a pitcher who could find himself in the starting rotation of a playoff contender two years after being purchased from an Independent League team.

Austin Hedges, C, San Diego Padres (Triple-A El Paso)

How do you make the “Knocking Down The Door” list after going 11-for-20 with five homers to earn last week’s honors? You go 14-for-29 with five more homers. Yes, Austin Hedges really did this. He ended up with 12 homers over a 14-start period.

Keep in mind that this is a guy known for his defense. Phrases like “he’d be valuable if he hit .220 with 10 homers because his defense is that good” are common when referring to the 23-year-old Hedges.

Still, this latest barrage of homers probably doesn’t affect his ETA much, if at all. As soon as general manager A.J. Preller gets a trade offer to his liking for Derek Norris, who has an OPS right around .800 over the past two months with nine doubles and ten home runs over, the “Austin Hedges” era will commence. Norris had a minor injury scare behind the plate last night when his elbow was hit by Brandon Drury’s swing, but Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweeted that x-rays were negative and Norris is day-to-day.

Padres Depth Chart

Joe Jimenez, RP, Detroit Tigers (Double-A Erie)

The Tigers finally have a reliable closer to shut down opponents in the 9th inning. Francisco Rodriguez is still getting the job done at 34 years of age with 23 saves in 25 chances. Finding a strong group of setup men to bridge the gap to him is a work in progress, however.

So can a 21-year-old who has pitched a total of 13 innings above A-ball be the solution?

Joe Jimenez is the rare prospect to be recognized as a “Future Closer” early in his career while still in the low minors. The Tigers have been patient with him, but as he gets closer to the majors, he’s becoming difficult to ignore.

The hard-throwing right-hander has completely dominated in 31 innings between Double-A and High-A, allowing just one earned run, 12 hits and nine walks while striking out 54 batters.

Jimenez might have the perfect mentor in Rodriguez, who debuted as a 20-year-old with the Angels late in the 2002 season and was an integral part of their World Series run as the setup man to Troy Percival. If the Tigers are to make a run at a playoff spot, they’ll likely need their own version of young “K-Rod”. Jimenez will need a cool nickname, though.

Tigers Depth Chart

Jake Thompson, SP, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley)

Shortly after Zach Eflin got the call to the Majors last month, I named his former Triple-A rotation-mate Ben Lively as a pitcher who was “Knocking Down The Door” and also mentioned Jake Thompson as a deserving candidate. Since, Lively has not been as effective. The 22-year-old Thompson, however, continues to roll.

In his last six starts, Thompson has averaged over seven innings per start while posting an 0.85 ERA with 10 walks and 24 strikeouts. He should get a chance at some point in 2016 as the Phillies try to limit innings for their young starters. A big league promotion could also happen as soon as general manager Matt Klentak finds a taker for Jeremy Hellickson, who has boosted his trade value with what has probably been his best season since he was the AL Rookie of the Year in 2011.

Phillies Depth Chart

Dan Vogelbach, 1B, Chicago Cubs (Triple-A Iowa)

We’ve known for years that the Cubs were flush with position player prospects. Many of them have reached the Majors, even if not as regulars at one position due to their defensive versatility. Javier Baez has played all over the infield. Willson Contreras is seeing time in left field in addition to his work behind the plate. Addison Russell had to play second base when he first arrived. Kris Bryant’s versatility has also allowed manager Joe Maddon to find at-bats for his young hitters.

This won’t be the case with Dan Vogelbach, though. He is limited to first base and blocked by Anthony Rizzo, who is also limited to first base.

When the 23-year-old Vogelbach, who has a .303/.416/.542 slash line in 80 games, finally beats down the door to the big leagues, he’ll likely be wearing a different uniform. With his stock on the rise, there should be plenty of teams asking about the left-handed hitting slugger in July.

Cubs Depth Chart

Aaron Wilkerson, SP, Boston Red Sox (Triple-A Pawtucket)

Coming into the 2016 season, I wouldn’t have placed Aaron Wilkerson any higher than 11th or 12th on the team’s starting pitching depth chart. And yet, we’re not even to the All-Star break and Sean O’Sullivan is part of their current four-man rotation and Wilkerson is probably next in line for a call-up.

It’s not uncommon for a team to be dipping so deep into its pitching depth given the rash of pitcher injuries throughout the league, but that’s not the case with the Red Sox. Aside from Brian Johnson, who had been sidelined until recently while undergoing treatment for anxiety, the Sox just have a lot of guys who have pitched themselves out of an opportunity. Clay Buchholz has been moved to the bullpen twice. Joe Kelly, who is on the Triple-A disabled list, is expected to return as a reliever in the second half. Eduardo Rodriguez was ineffective in the Majors. Henry Owens has been inconsistent in Triple-A. And so on.

This Wilkerson guy, though, has been a rock. In 92.1 innings between Triple-A and Double-A, the 27-year-old has allowed just 69 hits with 25 walks and 102 strikeouts. He’s allowed two earned runs or less in 12 of his 16 starts. In 10 of those 12, he’s allowed one run or less.

There is a possibility that the Red Sox could start the secondnd half with O’Sullivan, knuckleballer Steven Wright and Wilkerson, who went undrafted out of college in 2011 and was purchased from an Independent League in 2014, in their starting rotation behind David Price and Rick Porcello. Baseball is so predictable.

Red Sox Depth Chart

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

10 Under-The-Radar Trade Candidates

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We’ve been focusing of late on the upper echelon of the summer trade market with our Top Trade Candidate Series — which weighs both availability and value in ranking the top players who might be available. But contenders aren’t only looking for impact; they’re also hunting for reasonably-priced depth pieces that can help shore up areas of need and provide roster flexibility.

As teams comb over the rosters of likely sellers for useful players, these are some under-the-radar names they could consider pursuing:

Pitchers

Brandon Kintzler, RP, Twins — Moving into the closer’s role has raised Kintzler’s profile somewhat, but he still isn’t a name you hear much. But perhaps that should change. He is not and never has been a high-K pitcher, but his impeccable control (0.8 BB/9 this year) and worm-burning tendencies (65.3% groundball rate in 2016) explain why he has managed a 2.28 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. Thing is, this isn’t totally out of the blue: Kintzler owns a 3.25 ERA in over 200 big league frames. He’s dirt cheap and comes with another year of control.

Marc Rzepczynski, RP, Athletics — Scrabble is a pending free agent who should be quite available. He has dominated lefties throughout his career — they own a .223/.289/.300 batting line against him — though this year he has actually been somewhat better against righties, who generally knock him around.  That improvement against opposite-handed hitters has helped drive a 2.96 ERA, though Rzepczynski is also coughing up 5.3 free passes per nine to go with his 9.2 K/9 strikeout rate. More importantly, though, he’s still delivering the same velo and nearly the same swinging-strike rate as he has in recent years.

Carlos Torres, RP, Brewers — Torres has been a sturdy reliever in the past, but pitched beneath his peripherals last year for the Mets. He’s now doing something of the opposite, with ERA estimators lagging his 3.29 ERA, but Torres is punching out more than a batter an inning with a career-best 12.0% swinging-strike rate. Organizations looking to add depth to a bullpen will certainly consider the 33-year-old.

Jorge De La Rosa, SP, Rockies — The veteran Colorado lefty was off to an abysmal start and is owed a hefty $12.5MM before hitting the open market. But he has been quite effective since returning to the rotation in mid June: over his last five outings, including a four-inning relief appearance, De La Rosa has allowed just six earned runs on 19 hits over 28 frames. He has surrendered 13 free passes against only 19 punch-outs, but De La Rosa has drawn plenty of trade interest in the past and the Rox may be ready to move on. Teams in need of rotation depth could take a look.

Brad Hand, RP/SP, Padres — After functioning in a swingman role for the Marlins, Hand has been a pure reliever in San Diego, where he’s now running up double-digit K/9 tallies and swinging strike rates (10.8%) for the first time in his career. He’s also walking nearly five batters per nine, but the southpaw is getting solid results (3.38 ERA) with estimators generally viewing him a sturdy option. He’s not going to draw any kind of huge return, but could be a useful piece for the right team, particularly given his background in a multi-inning role.

Position Players

Eduardo Nunez, INF, Twins — The 29-year-old had never really lived up to his former billing, but he’s carrying a .305/.338/.464 batting line over his last 510 plate appearances in Minnesota dating to the start of 2015. Nunez has hit 15 long balls and added 27 stolen bases in that span. Even after accounting for some ball-in-play luck, both in terms of BABIP (.339 this year) and perhaps HR/FB (12.9%), that’s quite a useful offensive profile for a player who can line up all over the infield and even the corner outfield. With another year of arb eligibility remaining, he’s an interesting target for contenders to mull.

Coco Crisp, OF, Athletics — Now 36 years of age, Crisp is finally healthy and has been putting up league-average offensive numbers. Teams could consider him as a fourth outfielder who is at least plenty experienced in center field, even if he really shouldn’t spend much time there at this stage. Crisp hasn’t been as dynamic on the bases as he once was, so there are some real limits to his function, but he’s the kind of veteran presence that many organizations like to plug in for a stretch run. And in a reduced role, there’d be no concern that he’d trigger a vesting option for next season.

Peter Bourjos, OF, Phillies — As bad as he was in the first two months of the year, Bourjos has been on fire of late — running at about a 1.000 OPS clip for June and early July. The truth, as ever, is somewhere in between, but Bourjos could be a useful bench piece down the stretch given his history of good glovework and wheels on the bases. Plus, he’s playing on an affordable $2MM salary this year and is a pure rental — meaning that the Phils should be plenty motivated to deal.

Yangervis Solarte, IF, Padres — Though he isn’t the kind of utility option that Hernandez is, Solarte is capable of manning second or third and brings more with the bat. He has missed a good bit of time, but owns an excellent .301/.387/.483 batting line over 163 plate appearances and has been a consistently above-average hitter as a big leaguer. He only has two years of control on his ticker, so there’s no rush for San Diego to deal, but this might represent an opportune time to get some value with other trade pieces sidelined by injury.

Robbie Grossman, OF, Twins — The switch-hitting, 26-year-old outfielder has been a breakout, feel-good story for the scuffling Twins after previously failing to make good on his prospect billing. Over 170 trips to the plate, he’s putting up a monster .279/.406/.479 batting line while recording 30 walks against 38 strikeouts. With just over one year of service time entering the year, Grossman could be kept for next to nothing if Minnesota prefers. But he could be an interesting target for teams in need of a patient hitter with a bit of pop who can be held into the future.

Quick Hits: Norris, Aybar, O’Malley

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As we wrap up America’s birthday, here are some notes from around baseball…

  • Tigers southpaw Daniel Norris left his start tonight during the third inning due to a right oblique strain, the club announced.  Norris will undergo an MRI tomorrow to determine the injury’s severity.  The lefty spent a month on the DL earlier this season with a mild spinal fracture and he missed roughly a month last season with a similar oblique injury.  Detroit already suffered a significant pitching loss earlier today when Jordan Zimmermann was placed on the 15-day DL with a neck strain.  Norris has a 4.85 ERA and 16 strikeouts over 13 innings of big league action this season.
  • Erick Aybar has been receiving some trade interest, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link).  Aybar hit his first homer of the season today, and entered Monday’s action hitting .323/.405/.415 over his first 74 plate appearances since returning from the disabled list.  Aybar drew some attention as a veteran trade chip for the rebuilding Braves during the spring, but an incredibly poor start to the season cost him his starting job and obliterated his trade value.  Even with his recent hot streak, Aybar is still hitting just .226/.282/.286 over 241 PA this season.
  • Utilityman Shawn O’Malley has been a valuable part of the Mariners roster this season, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune writes.  O’Malley has played every position except pitcher, first base and catcher in 2016 (and he’s Seattle’s emergency catcher) while also providing depth as a switch-hitter, though he has just a .600 OPS over 71 plate appearances.  With O’Malley backing up several positions, the Mariners have been able to get by with a three-man bench and carry an extra bullpen arm.

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