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Archives for August 2016

Angels Sign Andrew Bailey, Release Al Alburquerque

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The Angels have signed reliever Andrew Bailey to a minor league contract and released fellow bullpen option Al Alburquerque, per a club announcement. Bailey, an Excel Sports Management client, had been on the market since the Phillies released him last Saturday.

Injuries have helped derail the right-handed Bailey’s once-promising career, but he has finally stayed healthy this year. Unfortunately, an inability to prevent runs brought an end to the 32-year-old’s short tenure in Philadelphia. In 32 1/3 innings with the Phillies, Bailey posted a 6.40 ERA, but he did log a solid 9.2 K/9 and a usable 4.18 BB/9.

A former closer with the Athletics, Bailey has thrown 259 major league innings and recorded a 3.20 ERA, 9.24 K/9 and 3.09 BB/9 as a member of four different teams. While Bailey’s results and velocity have trended in the wrong directions since the impressive beginning of his career, he could work his way into an Angels bullpen that has been among the majors’ worst this season. Further, the Halos’ two primary late-game options – fellow righties Huston Street and the lights-out Cam Bedrosian – are currently on the disabled list, as their depth chart indicates.

Alburquere barely cracked LA’s ’pen this year, amassing only two innings. He spent the majority of his Angels stint at Triple-A Salt Lake, where he threw 23 2/3 innings and put up a 3.80 ERA, 9.89 K/9 and 4.94 BB/9. Alburquerque had a successful run in Detroit from 2011-15, during which time he posted a 3.20 ERA, 11.04 K/9, 5.00 BB/9 and 47.4 ground-ball rate across 225 frames.

Twins Place Kurt Suzuki On Trade Waivers

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The Twins have placed catcher Kurt Suzuki on trade waivers, reports the Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino, who adds that the 32-year-old’s 48-hour waiver period expires midday Sunday. As an impending free agent with reasonable $1.64MM left on his contract this year, there’s a good chance someone will claim Suzuki, according to Berardino. Suzuki has a $6MM option for 2017 that will vest at 485 plate appearances, but he’s still 200 shy of that mark.

The Indians and Mets are among playoff hopefuls looking for help behind the plate, notes Berardino, but it’s unclear if either would have interest in Suzuki. Even if they do, another team could claim Suzuki before he gets to either, as Steve Adams of MLBTR wrote Friday. In the event no one claims Suzuki, the Twins would be free to trade him anywhere.

Suzuki’s in the midst of a respectable offensive season, having hit .283/.324/.438 overall despite a terrible two-month start to the year. Defensively, Suzuki has failed to impress both Baseball Prospectus and StatCorner in the pitch-framing department; further, of the 46 runners who have attempted to steal against Suzuki in 2016, all but 11 have been successful. On the plus side, BP has awarded Suzuki a strong grade this year for his work as a blocker.

Another potential Twins trade candidate, right-hander Ervin Santana, has not yet hit waivers this month, per Berardino (Twitter link). Santana, who’s on a $13.5MM salary through 2018, is scheduled to start Tuesday for the Twins. The 33-year-old has produced quality results this year, having posted a 3.62 ERA, 6.61 K/9,  2.2 BB/9 and 42.6 percent ground-ball rate through 126 2/3 innings. Santana drew interest, including from the Blue Jays, before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline. However, it reportedly would’ve taken an “overwhelming” offer for the Twins to part with him. While Santana could end up on waivers sometime in August, it’s doubtful the Twins’ bullish opinion of his value has changed since July.

Orioles Place Darren O’Day On 15-Day DL

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The Orioles have announced that they’ve placed righty Darren O’Day on the 15-day DL (retroactive to August 12) with a right shoulder rotator cuff strain. To take his place on the active roster, they’ve recalled righty Tyler Wilson from Triple-A Norfolk. The seriousness of the injury isn’t yet known.

[Updated Orioles Depth Chart]

O’Day has been one of the AL’s best relievers in each of the past several seasons, but he hasn’t quite been up to his usual standards this year — he’s issued 4.3 walks per nine innings, more than doubling his 2015 walk rate and contributing to a jump in his ERA from 1.52 to 3.95.  He’s also pitched just 27 1/3 innings, missing most of June and July to a hamstring strain. Nonetheless, he’s maintained a very respectable 10.9 K/9.

The 26-year-old Wilson has pitched 85 innings for the Orioles this season, most of them as a starter, posting a 4.98 ERA, 4.9 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. The O’s optioned him to the minors last week. There’s been no official word from the Orioles, but it appears they’ll use him as a reliever this time, since the rotation has been healthy and effective lately.

Yankees Outright Chris Parmelee

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The Yankees have announced that they’ve reinstated first baseman Chris Parmelee from a stint on the disabled list with a strained hamstring and outrighted him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Parmelee has been outrighted before and therefore had the right to refuse the assignment, but he’s currently listed on the Yankees’ Triple-A roster, so it appears he’s accepted it.

Parmelee signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in February and was promoted in June as one Yankees first baseman after another went down with an injury. Parmelee lasted just eight plate appearances before heading to the DL himself.

Parmelee went 4-for-14 on a rehab assignment in Scranton and has batted a respectable .255/.339/.448 at Triple-A this season, but now that he’s healthy, the Yankees have little use for him. Tyler Austin has emerged as a legitimate option at first after a great stint in Triple-A and a recent promotion, and Mark Teixeira is now healthy as well. The 28-year-old Parmelee has batted .248/.313/.405 in parts of six big-league seasons.

Angels Designate Sean Coyle For Assignment

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The Angels have designated infielder/outfielder Sean Coyle for assignment, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. The move clears space on the Angels’ 40-man roster for outfielder Nick Buss, whose contract has been selected. Buss will take Shane Robinson’s 25-man spot as Robinson hits the DL with a right hip flexor strain.

The Angels claimed Coyle from the Red Sox last month. The 24-year-old has never hit much (with a career .236/.317/.418 minor league line and a mere .159/.263/.274 performance in the high minors this season) and has never played in the Majors, although he does offer a bit of flexibility, since he can play second, third and center field.

AL East Notes: Yankees, Red Sox, Girardi, Fox

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The Yankees’ aggressive approach to their rebuild contrasts with the path the Red Sox once took, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal writes. This summer, the Yankees have traded veterans and acquired prospects in return, even a number of prospects who aren’t nearly ready for the big leagues. The Red Sox were in a similar position two years ago but took a different approach, dealing Jon Lester for Yoenis Cespedes (who they then sent to the Tigers for Rick Porcello) and John Lackey for veterans Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. (They did deal Andrew Miller for a prospect, Eduardo Rodriguez.) Of course, the Red Sox had a stronger core of young talent than the Yankees did at the time of each team’s series of trades — the Sox’ recent resurgence is due in large part to young talents like Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley who were already in their system. Here’s more from the AL East.

  • Joe Girardi’s experience with the 2006 Marlins will be helpful in dealing with the Yankees’ increasingly young roster, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Girardi won the NL Manager of the Year award in ’06 for his work with very young players like Miguel Cabrera, Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, Dontrelle Willis, Anibal Sanchez and Jeremy Hermida. The Yankees recently jettisoned a series of veterans and now have youngsters like Tyler Austin, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino and Luis Cessa on their roster, and they’ll likely add more young talents, such as Clint Frazier, over the next year or so. (Austin and Judge, by the way, each homered in their first big-league plate appearances today.) Girardi says he doesn’t mind having so many young players on the roster together. “For young players, I think it is probably easier to do it in a group,” he says. “Many times they have been through struggles together before in the minors. More important, when one young player struggles in the majors, he can feel alone and singled out among veterans.”
  • The Rays and Giants have resolved their issue concerning infield prospect Lucius Fox’s injury status, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. The Rays acquired Fox two weeks ago in the Matt Moore deal, but Fox ended up having a bone bruise in his foot that would cost him the rest of the minor league season. The Rays had initially hoped to receive additional compensation from the Giants as a result, but the two sides have now agreed that the Rays will not receive such compensation, since Fox’s foot issue had not yet been determined to be an injury.

NL Notes: Puig, Padres, Howard

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While much of the narrative surrounding Yasiel Puig’s demotion focuses on his personality, clubhouse demeanor and off-field/social media antics, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (Insider subscription required and recommended) that the largest factor in Puig’s demotion by the Dodgers is that he simply isn’t a good hitter right now. Law breaks down Puig’s approach at the plate, noting that he’s getting killed on inside fastballs that he once handled with aplomb and has become shockingly susceptible to offspeed and breaking pitches on the outer edge of the plate. Puig has swung and missed at nearly 29 percent of sliders, curveballs, and changeups on the outer third of the plate or just off the outer edge — a rate that is four times higher than his ability to put said pitches in play, Law notes. He surmises that Puig’s demotion isn’t about subtracting his personality from the clubhouse or even getting him back on track. Rather, Law concludes that a team in a tightly contested division race simply can’t afford to carry a hitter as poor as Puig currently is. Here’s more from the NL.

  • Padres lead investor Peter Seidler says the team’s seemingly ill-fated bid at contention last season was “probably pretty close to neutral” from a financial perspective, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. The team’s acquisitions of Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, James Shields, Wil Myers, Craig Kimbrel and others only resulted in a disappointing season, although Seidler says they produced a “big pop” in revenue. Now, of course, the Padres have chosen a different direction, aiming to rebuild around young talent. “We’re taking all of our poker chips and putting it in the center of the table on this strategy,” says Seidler, although he does note that the Padres won’t be “intentionally bad” as they reset, deliberately putting a weak team on the field in the hopes of landing top draft picks.
  • Phillies manager Pete Mackanin says teams looking for offensive upgrades should pay attention to what Ryan Howard has done lately, Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com writes. “If I were a playoff team, I’d take notice,” says Mackanin. “What [Howard] did tonight is something he’s capable of doing, either as a DH or a pinch-hitter off the bench. He’s just swinging the bat, coming up with big hits.” That sounds like just a bit of salesmanship regarding a player who’s still hitting just .195/.244/.435, although Howard hit fairly well in July and is 10-for-20 with three home runs so far in August. The Phillies would also presumably be willing to take on some of the approximately $16MM remaining on Howard’s contract (including his $10MM 2017 buyout). As Seidman notes, though, there aren’t many obvious fits for Howard on contenders’ rosters.

Yankees Release Alex Rodriguez, Will Hire Him As Special Advisor

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Designated hitter Alex Rodriguez played his final game with the club Friday, and the Yankees have officially released him. They will sign him to a new contract that will keep him in the organization through 2017 as a special instructor and advisor, as Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). However, the 41-year-old Rodriguez hasn’t closed the door on resuming his playing career at some point.

Notably, Rodriguez will continue to count against the luxury-tax threshold as he collects the $26.5MM that he has left on the 10-year contract he signed with the Yankees in 2007. That deal, a then-record-setting $275MM accord, was set to run through next season. Rodriguez secured the contract after opting out of his previously record-setting pact (10 years, $252MM) that he signed with the Rangers before the 2001 campaign.

Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, who was instrumental in keeping Rodriguez in pinstripes in 2007, issued a statement praising the 22-year veteran:

“After spending several days discussing this plan with Alex, I am pleased that he will remain a part of our organization moving forward and transition into a role in which I know he can flourish. We have an exciting group of talented young players at every level of our system. Our job as an organization is to utilize every resource possible to allow them to reach their potential, and I expect Alex to directly contribute to their growth and success. Baseball runs through his blood. He’s a tireless worker and an astute student of the game. Alex has already proven to be a willing and effective mentor to many players who have come through our clubhouse, and I am confident that this next phase of his baseball life will bring out the best in Alex and the next generation of Yankees.”

Alex Rodriguez

The news of Rodriguez’s departure from the Yankees’ roster isn’t particularly shocking after they scheduled a Sunday morning press conference that would feature some sort of announcement regarding his future. Speculation then abounded that the team would either cut Rodriguez or he’d retire. It turns out both could be true.

“We had no choice here, given the performance,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said of releasing the declining Rodriguez, who now looks primed to walk away from playing a sport he has been a prominent part of since the Mariners selected him first overall in the 1993 draft.

For his part, Rodriguez commented, “I love this game. I love this team. Today I’m saying goodbye to both.”

If this is the end of Rodriguez’s playing career, he’ll go down as one of the most productive performers in baseball history. Since debuting in 1994 as an 18-year-old phenom, he has combined to hit .295/.380/.550 with 696 home runs, the fourth-highest total ever, in 12,000-plus plate appearances. He’s also 13th among position players in fWAR (113.0) and has collected 3,114 hits – which ranks 19th all-time – a record 25 grand slams, 14 All-Star appearances and three MVPs. Further, Rodriguez made a significant impact for the Yankees’ latest World Series-winning club, slashing a jaw-dropping .365/.500/.808 with six homers in 52 at-bats during the team’s run to a championship in 2009.

Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004 after they famously acquired him from the Rangers in exchange for second baseman Alfonso Soriano and prospect Joaquin Arias. New York beat out hated Boston for Rodriguez’s services, further fueling what was then a red-hot rivalry. To that point, Rodriguez had been an excellent defensive shortstop, but he agreed to move to third base with the Yankees because of Derek Jeter’s presence. Like Jeter, Rodriguez is now one of the most accomplished Yankees ever, as he’s eighth among the franchise’s position players in rWAR (54.4) and sixth in home runs (351).

“I want to be remembered as someone who tripped and fell a lot, but kept getting up,” added Rodriguez, whose Hall of Fame-worthy career achievements are tainted in the eyes of many who follow the game.

Rodriguez is a central figure when it comes to steroids’ ties to baseball, having admitted in 2009 to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-03 as a member of the Rangers. He also sat out the entire 2014 season as a result of a 162-game suspension the league handed him for his role in the Biogenesis scandal. That ban was originally for 211 games, but an appeal knocked 49 contests off it. At the time it disciplined Rodriguez, the league accused him of using and possessing “numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years.” It also alleged that he attempted “to cover up his violations” and engaged “in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner’s investigation.”

On the heels of his ignominious suspension, Rodriguez returned to playing last year and improbably hit .250/.356/.466 with 33 homers in 620 trips to the plate. That proved to be a dead cat bounce season, however, as Rodriguez has batted a disappointing .204/.252/.356 in 234 PAs in 2016. With the Yankees unlikely to qualify for the playoffs and now building toward the future, they have phased Rodriguez out of their lineup this year, having given him just one at-bat in August. He’s now the second franchise linchpin whose playing career with the Yankees is on the cusp of ending, joining first baseman Mark Teixeira – who announced earlier this week that he intends to retire after the season.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal was first to report that the Yankees would release Rodriguez (Twitter links).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yankees To Promote Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin

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The Yankees’ lineup against the Rays today includes both Aaron Judge (in right field and batting eighth) and Tyler Austin (at first base and batting seventh). FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweeted yesterday that Austin would be promoted. Both players will make their MLB debuts today. The moves coincide with the Yankees’ expected release of Alex Rodriguez., a move that is now official. The Yankees have also optioned righty Ben Heller and placed righty Conor Mullee (hand) on the 60-day DL.

MLB: New York Yankees-Spring Training Workouts

[Related: Updated Yankees Depth Chart]

Of the two prospects, the 24-year-old Judge has the higher (and, literally, bigger) profile. A hulking (6’7, 275 pounds) slugger with huge raw power, the 2013 first-round pick has hit 19 home runs this season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, batting .270/.366/.489 in the process. MLB.com currently rates him the No. 27 prospect in the Majors, comparing his build and raw power to Giancarlo Stanton. (Baseball America rated Judge the game’s 76th-best prospect heading into the season.) Judge ranks as the Yankees’ fourth-best prospect, behind newcomers Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres as well as Jorge Mateo.

It’s unclear how much success Judge will have right away, as his minor league numbers, while certainly fine overall, haven’t always been overwhelming. His strikeout tendencies (he had 144 whiffs last season and 98 so far this year) might be an area upon which he could improve. His potential tape-measure home runs, however, could make for any number of exciting highlights, and he won’t to hit like a superstar to improve upon current right fielder Aaron Hicks, who has batted just .198/.259/.314 this season.

The 24-year-old Austin has spent parts of seven seasons in the Yankees’ farm system, but has come on strong this season, batting .294/.392/.524 overall, including .323/.415/.637 with 13 home runs in 234 plate appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He can play all four corner spots, although he’s spent most of this season at first base, where he’ll presumably take plate appearances from Mark Teixeira, who’s set to retire at the end of the season. If Judge and/or Austin stick in the big leagues, they’ll each be eligible for arbitration following the 2019 season and free agency following the 2022 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Twins Designate Andrew Albers

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The Twins have designated lefty Andrew Albers for assignment, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press was among those to tweet. His replacement has yet to be determined, but Minnesota is in need of fresh arms, necessitating the move.

Albers, 30, had only just returned to the majors and only received one appearance. It was a useful one, though, as he contributed six bullpen-saving innings in relief, allowing 11 hits and three earned runs but also striking out five batters against one walk.

The opportunities have been scarce for Albers, who only has 68 2/3 MLB frames on his ledger, with most of those coming in a 2013 run with the Twins. He opened the current season in independent ball, but has mostly pitched at Triple-A Rochester as a starter. Over his 112 2/3 frames there, Albers owns a 3.51 ERA with 5.8 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.

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