Keon Broxton Suffers Fractured Wrist
Brewers outfielder Keon Broxton will miss the tail end of the season after breaking his wrist today at Wrigley Field, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on Twitter. Broxton was injured in a collision with the outfield wall.
It’s an unfortunate way to end what has been a promising campaign for the 26-year-old Broxton. Over 242 plate appearances, he owns a .238/.349/.427 batting line with nine home runs and 22 stolen bases. That’s quite a useful output for a player who draws rave reviews for his glovework in center field.
Long an intriguing prospect, Broxton had fallen out of favor as he failed to fully develop on the field despite evident tools and athletic ability. Though he posted solid offensive numbers in the upper minors over 2014-15, Broxton received only a brief MLB call-up with the Pirates — who had picked him up after the Diamondbacks lost patience.
Milwaukee has been rewarded thus far after taking a crack at unlocking Broxton’s talent in the winter swap that sent Jason Rogers to Pittsburgh. Rogers flat-out raked during his time at Triple-A this year, earning a well-deserved promotion. Now, so long as he is able to return to full health over the winter, it seems that Broxton will enter camp as the favorite to serve as the Brewers’ primary center fielder.
Yan Gomes Diagnosed With Fractured Wrist
The Indians seem unlikely to receive any further contributions from catcher Yan Gomes in 2016. He has been diagnosed with a non-displaced wrist fracture, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal was among those to tweet.
Gomes had been nearing a return from a lengthy DL stint owing to a separated shoulder. But he was struck by an errant pitch in one of his final minor league tune-ups.
Needless to say, it has been a season to forget for Gomes. Entering the year, the 29-year-old was looking to bounce back from a 2015 campaign that didn’t match up to his two strong seasons before it. Instead, he fell off yet further, posting an ugly .165/.198/.313 slash line over 262 plate appearances.
Cleveland will now have to wait for the spring to begin to assess whether Gomes can return to productivity. The club is committed regardless, as he is playing on a guaranteed deal through 2019 (and can be controlled through a pair of options for two more years beyond that).
Minnesota Twins: Top 5 Bright Spots of 2016
Rebuilding season or not, falling short of the playoffs and finishing with a losing record probably means that more things went wrong than went right for a team. This series, however, will focus on those silver linings that each team can take away from an otherwise disappointing season. Here are the biggest bright spots for each non-playoff team, starting with the Minnesota Twins (worst record in baseball) and working our way up the ladder over the next couple of weeks.
1. Brian Dozier, 2B
Even if the Twins had decided to tear down the big league roster and go through a complete rebuilding phase in recent years, they lacked the trade chip(s) to do it most effectively. The best thing about Dozier’s jump from very good player to superstar in 2016 is that whoever becomes the team’s next general manager will finally have that trade chip that he can flip for a strong package of young players, including an elite prospect or two.
The 29-year-old Dozier is only due $15MM over the next two seasons and is coming off a career season (.937 OPS, 41 HR). While there is hope that Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and a few others can take a step forward in 2017, there probably isn’t enough pitching help on the way for the Twins to turn things around before Dozier becomes a free agent. Therefore, you can expect Dozier to be a popular name around these parts during the upcoming offseason.
2. Max Kepler, RF
Much was expected from this season’s projected outfield of Buxton, Sano and Eddie Rosario. All three, especially Buxton despite his late-season surge, have fallen short of expectations in 2016. In fairness to Rosario and Sano, they haven’t been bad. Just not nearly as good as they were as rookies in 2015. The 23-year-old Kepler, who would’ve spent most of the season in Triple-A had that aforementioned trio played better, has taken full advantage.
In between a slow start and late-season slump, Kepler was one of the Twins’ best players with an .826 OPS, 16 homers and 15 doubles in 321 plate appearances from June 10th through September 3rd while hitting primarily in the No. 3 spot of the order. He’ll enter the 2017 season as the starting right fielder.
3. Jorge Polanco, SS
When it comes to offensive potential, Polanco has more than enough for a shortstop. The question was whether he was good enough defensively to stick there.
When he was called up to the majors in late July following the trade of Eduardo Nuñez, the 23-year-old hadn’t played a single game at shortstop in Triple-A, instead spending most of his time at second base with a handful of games at third. That would suggest that Polanco as the team’s shortstop of the future was no longer an option. But with Dozier entrenched at second base and Sano and Trevor Plouffe drawing most of the starts at the hot corner, the best way to give Polanco regular playing time was to make him the everyday shortstop.
Not surprisingly, the switch-hitting Polanco has held his own at the plate—he has a .289/.338/.426 slash line with 18 extra-base hits in 209 plate appearances. The surprise has been his defense at shortstop, which has been adequate, at the very least. If they trade Dozier this offseason, Polanco could slide over to second base. At this point, though, the Twins likely feel comfortable penciling him as the starting shortstop in 2017.
4. Eduardo Nuñez, INF/OF
Nuñez was in the midst of the best 91-game stint of his career (.764 OPS, 12 HR, 15 2B) when the Twins decided to sell high, trading him to the San Francisco Giants for Adalberto Mejia, a very good, close-to-MLB-ready pitching prospect.
Not only did Nunez’s departure open up the necessary playing time for Polanco, the acquisition of Mejia gives the Twins a strong candidate for the 2017 rotation. Between Double-A and Triple-A, the 23-year-old lefty posted a 3.14 ERA. 2.0 BB/9 and 8.6 K/9 in 22 starts.
5. Stephen Gonsalves, SP (MiLB)
A 4th Round draft pick back in 2013, Gonsalves has now made stops at five different Minor League levels without much of a struggle and without much fanfare. That includes a dominant 13-start stint with Double-A Chattanooga (1.82 ERA, 5.2 H/9, 0.1 HR/9, 4.5 BB/9, 10.8 K/9) to close out the 2016 season.
The attention should increase this offseason as the 22-year-old lefty will likely make a huge leap in the prospect rankings. It’s safe to say that his stock has risen a great deal — so much so that it’s reasonable to expect to see Gonsalves in Minnesota at some point during the 2017 season.
Rays’ Chaim Bloom Among Twins’ Front Office Candidates
Rays vice president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is one of the Twins’ candidates for their newly created president of baseball operations position, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
Bloom, 33, is a Yale graduate who has been with the Rays organization since 2005 and rose to the position of VP of baseball ops following Andrew Friedman’s departure for the Dodgers organization in 2014. Bloom’s background with the Rays is multi-faceted but involves working with the team’s player development department, contract negotiations, player evaluation and international scouting.
Bloom has been a frequent candidate for GM openings around the league, as he interviewed with the Brewers last winter before their hiring of David Stearns and was also one of three reported finalists for the Phillies’ general manager vacancy prior to Philadelphia’s hiring of Matt Klentak. He joins a growing list of known Twins candidates, including Indians assistant general manager Derek Falvey, Cubs senior vice president of player development/amateur scouting Jason McLeod and Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo. Reports have indicated that the Twins’ list of candidates has a fairly analytical bend to it, and Bloom’s inclusion in the list lines up well with that information. It’s not yet clear, based on Rosenthal’s report, whether the Twins have conducted an interview with Bloom, though the team has already interviewed multiple candidates, including Falvey and Picollo.
After a lengthy quiet spell regarding the Twins’ executive search, rumors have begun to pick up with increasing frequency in recent weeks. However, Minnesota’s search has hit some roadblocks, as well-known execs like Alex Anthopoulos, Ben Cherington and David Forst have reportedly passed on the opportunity to interview for the newly created position atop the Twins’ baseball operations hierarchy.
Poll: The Braves’ Outfield
The Braves will enter the 2016-17 offseason with a pair of veteran outfielders — Nick Markakis and Matt Kemp — under contract through 2018 and 2019, respectively, as well as a pair of fleet-footed defensive stars — Ender Inciarte and Mallex Smith — that the team has hoped can become long-term pieces. And, in looking at the potential logjam, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that it’s “likely” that veteran Jeff Francoeur will be back in the fold with the Braves to once again fill a bench role.
With a quartet of outfielders that could factor into the starting mix, there figures to be plenty of chatter about the Braves trading an outfielder this offseason, so let’s take a look at the possibility of each…
A.J. Preller Suspended Thirty Days For Failure To Disclose Medical Information
SEPT. 16: Lin reports that in addition to suspending Preller for 30 days, MLB has also fined the Padres an undisclosed amount (Twitter link).
SEPT. 15, 6:33pm: Despite the fact that other teams also complained, no additional punitive action is expected to be taken against Preller or the Padres, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reports on Twitter.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds a detail on the underlying issues, via Twitter. San Diego failed to disclose oral medications taken by Pomeranz and other traded players, he says.
6:12pm: The Padres have released a pair of statements on the matter. Preller says that he “accept[s] full responsibility” but claims “there was no malicious intent … to conceal information or disregard MLB’s recommended guidelines.”
Meanwhile, executive chairman Ron Fowler, managing partner Peter Seidler and president/CEO Mike Dee issued a joint statement. The club “accept[s] the discipline” and says it “will leave no stone unturned in developing comprehensive processes to remediate this unintentional, but inexcusable, occurrence.” The group of top officials state that they do not believe there was any effort “to mislead other clubs.”
The release also confirms that Preller will remain in charge of the baseball ops department. The trio of top officials say they will “work closely with him upon his reinstatement to ensure that this unfortunate set of circumstances does not happen again.”
5:15pm: Preller isn’t at risk of losing his post with the Padres, a “high-ranking club official” tells Bob Nightengale of USA Today. The GM has the “full support” of the team, per the source.
4:21pm: Major league baseball has announced a thirty-day suspension without pay for Padres GM A.J. Preller. The punishment was handed out as a result of a determination that he had failed to disclose required medical information in the trade that sent lefty Drew Pomeranz to the Red Sox in exchange for prospect Anderson Espinoza.
The league was looking into San Diego’s medical documentation and disclosure practices after questions arose at this summer’s trade deadline. San Diego already agreed to an unusual trade unwinding a portion of its swap with the Marlins, taking back injured righty Colin Rea after Miami learned about undisclosed medical information.
In a stunning report earlier this afternoon, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney documented an alleged decision by the Padres’ front office to maintain two separate databases of player health information. Treatment for ailments that did not require disabled list stints, it seems, were not logged in the central information repository that is utilized by teams in the course of trades — with training staff reportedly told expressly that the reason was to gain an advantage in trade talks.
Notably, the punishment apparently relates only to the Pomeranz deal. According to Olney’s report, at least three other clubs complained to the commissioner’s office about San Diego’s actions over the summer. It is not clear at this point whether further discipline could be pursued. This isn’t the first time that Preller has been reprimanded by the league, as he was also suspended back when he was an assistant GM for the Rangers. That case involved the international signing rules.
It seems fair to wonder at this point whether Preller will continue on at the helm of the Padres. In addition to the fact that he’ll seemingly be out of commission entering an important offseason, it’s fair to wonder whether the situation would impact Preller’s ability to interact with rival executives on future trades. It doesn’t help his cause that the club has struggled badly over the last two years, though the upper-level leadership of the organization has seemingly supported its youthful GM’s farm system rebuilding project, which seemed to be gaining some positive momentum of late.
As for the Red Sox’ interest in the matter, the league called the matter “closed.” And prior reports suggested that there was no effort on Boston’s behalf to revisit the terms of that deal or otherwise seek recompense.
Logan Morrison To Undergo Surgery For Wrist Injury
SEPT. 16: Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports that Morrison will indeed undergo surgery to repair the tear in his wrist, though it seems that even with that disheartening news, Morrison has caught somewhat of a break (links to Twitter). The extent of Morrison’s tear is relatively minimal, according to Passan, meaning that the slugger can begin swinging a bat in about 12 weeks and should be ready to go for Spring Training. A more significant tear, Passan adds, could have sidelined LoMo entirely for the next six months.
SEPT. 15: Rays first baseman Logan Morrison has been diagnosed with a torn left wrist sheath, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. Though he’ll receive a second opinion, it seems that surgery will likely be required.
The injury was already believed to be season-ending, but Morrison hoped that he wouldn’t need to go under the knife. While some form of rehab was already inevitable, this certainly doesn’t appear to be the best-case scenario.
Without question, the news will impact Morrison’s market, as it’s a reasonably significant surgery. For instance, Jose Bautista missed the second half of 2012 after an operation to repair his wrist sheath in mid-July. Plus, Morrison lost the chance to finish out the season and pad his batting line.
At first glance, the 29-year-old Morrison had an underwhelming season for Tampa Bay, which acquired him over the winter. But his overall results are weighed down by an unbelievably slow start. Prospective suitors for Morrison got their last looks at him during a 303 plate appearance run to end the year. In that span, he put up a .275/.350/.498 slash and has knocked 14 long balls.
All told, there ought to be plenty of pursuers for a fairly youthful slugger who has had success in the majors in the past. But it’s tough now to imagine him generating the kind of multi-year interest that might have been hoped for with a healthy finish to the year.
Matt Klentak Discusses The Phillies’ Future
At 65-82, the Phillies’ season may not stand out as a as one that many fans would consider a significant step forward. That Philadelphia is in the midst of a significant rebuild was a widely known fact entering the year, and few expected a major improvement in the standings this season. However, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak, hired to that post just last year, spoke to reporters (including Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com) before yesterday’s game to explain that the organization feels that there was plenty of progress made in 2016.
Among the players to draw praise from Klentak were catcher Cameron Rupp, first baseman Tommy Joseph, second baseman Cesar Hernandez and shortstop Freddy Galvis. While Klentak acknowledged that players like Galvis and Joseph (and really, most of the team) need to continue to work on developing their approach at the plate in order to work counts and boost on-base percentage at an individual and at a team level, he also noted the unexpected pop from each player — Joseph due to his status as a non-roster player entering the season and Galvis due to a lack of track record of power — has been a boon for the Phillies.
“Really for any position, but especially for a shortstop, to be approaching 20 homers in a season is pretty impressive,” said Klentak shortly after praising Galvis as “one of the most reliable, dependable shortstops in the league” from a defensive standpoint. While he didn’t directly state the fact, Klentak suggested that he’s cognizant of the fact that Galvis has never walked much and may never do so, explaining that lineups can contain such players as long as it’s not a trait from top to bottom. “The answer to that question may depend on what the rest of the lineup is doing,” the GM responded when asked if Galvis’ defense and power outweighed his .270 OBP.
Galvis’ future standing with the club, of course, has a direct impact on the team’s plans for top prospect J.P. Crawford — the former No. 16 overall draft pick that has risen to become one of the game’s consensus top 10 prospects. While Crawford is viewed as a potential franchise cornerstone at the position, Klentak didn’t shy away from stating that Galvis performed well enough in 2016 that, “Right now … he’s our shortstop.”
The first-year GM pointed to the fact that Crawford still has work to do to develop in the minors, even though he impressed as one of the youngest players at both the Double-A level and Triple-A level in 2016. “Even a 21-year-old at Double-A but certainly Triple-A is aggressive,” said Klentak. “I think he’s proven at both levels that he still has the ability to control the strike zone as well as anybody in our organization and probably the best in Minor League Baseball. I think his defense has taken a step forward. He’s still 21 years old. He still needs to get stronger. He still has some things he needs to work on.”
Three Needs: Milwaukee Brewers
MLBTR will provide a broader view of each club’s winter plans when our annual Offseason Outlook series kicks off at the end of the regular season. Until then, the Brewers are the latest team to be featured in our quick look at this season’s non-contenders. We’ve already covered the Angels.
Milwaukee GM David Stearns has continued to engineer a rebuild that was kicked off by his predecessor, Doug Melvin. The payroll is way down and the high-priced veterans have mostly been cleared out, but it has taken place in a fairly methodical manner thus far with largely positive results (despite the anticipated, subpar record). Here are three needs for the organization as the offseason approaches:
1. Trade Ryan Braun.
I know, very edgy choice. Braun is the last remaining Brewers player who is promised money past the 2017 season, making him an obvious trade candidate. (Only one other — Matt Garza — has a guaranteed contract next year.) On the one hand, that means, that the club doesn’t need to move Braun just to pare down the costs; even with him this year, the payroll sat at just over $60MM on Opening Day and has receded since.
The key here, though, is timing. Milwaukee has prospered immensely from selling at the right moment on players such as Carlos Gomez (traded before a fall-off) and Jonathan Lucroy (traded after he rebuilt value). You could argue the same, in varying ways, of hurlers Mike Fiers, Jeremy Jeffress, and Will Smith.
With Braun, the question has never been talent or productivity. But he has a sketchy injury history, carries the stain of a PED melodrama, and turns 33 in two months. The $76MM left on his contract over four years remains a bit of a limiting factor, but is a pretty fair price for a player who owns a .306/.371/.537 slash with 27 home runs and 15 steals.
It’s unlikely at this point that Braun’s value will ever be higher, and there’s a chance it could tumble. Whether he goes to the Dodgers or elsewhere, the coming offseason is probably the time to finish clearing the books. (Moving Garza, too, could make sense — either in a winter bereft of open-market pitching talent or after giving him a chance to boost his value in the first half of 2017.)
2. Find the next Junior Guerra …
Or the next Jonathan Villar. Or, really, just the next Chris Carter or even Aaron Hill. Stearns’s first move as a GM — plucking Guerra off the waiver wire — remains his most impressive. But he has proven adept at finding hidden gems from free and cheap talent pools. All the guys he’s tried out haven’t worked, but plenty have. Better still, the most notable success stories thus far have not only been cheap, but have had service time remaining, greatly increasing the upside/expense ratio.
So, who’s the next candidate? If I knew that, I’d probably be peddling the information to a major league team. But while organizations desperate for near-term production will feel compelled to plunk down several million dollars for the best-bet bounceback veterans, odds are that Stearns will be mining the ranks of underappreciated journeymen who have shown a spark and intriguing young players who aren’t going to keep roster spots with their organizations.
These players have plenty of function just by showing up, because they help prop up the quality of the on-field production at virtually no cost. What will be most interesting to see, though, is whether Milwaukee can begin to parlay these bargain finds into real value — either by flipping some of the players in trades or deploying them during a winning season.
3. Chart out an ascension plan.
Call me crazy, but I think things could move fairly quickly for the Brewers. Unlike other recent tear-down situations, Milwaukee has not really had to offload huge and burdensome contracts; the veterans they have dealt have been appealing players who brought good, high-level young talent.
To be sure, I’m not advocating for the club to ramp up spending in anticipation of contending in 2017. But there are some benefits to planning for an optimistic scenario, which might include something in the vicinity of a .500 record next year with some more upward mobility to follow. Doing so in a measured way would allow the club to build toward contention without weighing down the future balance sheet.
With that in mind, perhaps the Brewers don’t need to keep a perfectly pristine balance sheet for the entirety of the near-future. Adding some well-conceived, reasonably youthful talent through free agency or trade isn’t only a strategy for larger-budget rebuilders — at least when a team’s payroll is already low. In Milwaukee’s case, there are a few arb raises to account for in 2017, but none that figure to make much of a dent. Perhaps being willing to pay a bit for one or more mid-level, health-concern/bounceback free agents — Luis Valbuena, Neil Walker, Charlie Morton, Andrew Cashner, or (dare I say it) Carlos Gomez are a few who come to mind — could be a viable strategy.
Heyman’s Latest: Dodgers, Puig-Braun, CarGo, Cespedes, EE, Santana, Red Sox, Mariners
Dodgers righty Kenley Jansen says he is grateful to the team for all it has done for him, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports, but notes that he fully intends to explore the open market this winter. “We’ll have to see what’s good for the family,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough decision. It’s not going to only be me.” Infielder Justin Turner, meanwhile, says he’d “love to stay” in Los Angeles, as Heyman provides in his weekly notes column. Both figure to be targets for the Dodgers in free agency, but also ought to draw wide-ranging interest from other organizations.
Here are some of the other highlights from Heyman’s latest post:
- Heyman pushes back on recent reports suggesting that the Dodgers nearly shipped Yasiel Puig to the Brewers as part of a package to acquire Ryan Braun. A source tells him that “there was a lot of dialogue but [a swap] was never close.” Regardless, it seems that there’s still merit to the idea that the teams could revisit the scenario this winter.
- “No great offers” emerged last winter for Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, according to the report. But Colorado may be wise to shop him again in a few months, Heyman writes, as the team’s glut of left-handed-hitting outfielders could represent an opportunity to improve in other areas. Gonzalez is hitting a productive .300/.350/.523, even if it is aided by playing at Coors Field, and is owed a reasonable $37MM over the next two seasons. It’s worth noting, too, that the club could potentially not only turn that contract into some intriguing, younger assets, but would also free up a good bit of payroll space to deploy on the open market.
- The upcoming market for free agents is obviously short on star power, but Heyman provides some preliminary guesses on the contracts for the top players. He suggests four years and $100MM for Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets as the biggest deal that could be had (assuming, as seems likely, that he’ll opt out of his deal). From my perspective, another star campaign from Cespedes has likely boosted his market beyond that level. The Cuban slugger rates as the top overall free agent on the free agent power ranking of MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes.
- Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays is fourth on Dierkes’s most recent list — he rates Aroldis Chapman and Jansen higher — while Heyman rates him second to Cespedes. But the veteran slugger is headed for a monster contract regardless, and Heyman notes that the continued belief around the game is that Toronto won’t extend itself to retain him. Instead, the Jays seem to be angling to put together a younger roster.
- Whether Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons is interested in staying on with more change possibly afoot remains to be seen, but Heyman says that the club has been impressed with his work. An internal team source suggests that the team will attempt to retain him — at least as long as a postseason berth is secured — and sources with ties to the skipper say that he likely prefers to stick in the position rather than hunting for another opportunity elsewhere.
- Carlos Santana is highly likely to return to the Indians, per the report. His $12MM club option is a “no-brainer” for the club, a source says. The 30-year-old never seemed very likely to be allowed to test the market: he carries a .243/.353/.471 batting line with 31 long balls and has struck out only one time more than he has walked thus far in 2016.
- The Red Sox are expected to pursue relief help on the upcoming free agent market, Heyman says. That’s not surprising to hear, of course, as depth and quality have both been in question at times and the team is set to watch pitchers such as Brad Ziegler, Koji Uehara, and Junichi Tazawa depart via free agency.
- With a group of talented, high-performing players on hand, the Mariners are “talking behind the scenes” about taking advantage of a window of contention, according to Heyman. That could position the club to strike out on the free agent market in search of a “complementary piece,” he says. There are several areas the team could target, but I wonder whether the time may be right to add a slugging first baseman; there are several available, and the team is set to lose its primary tandem of Adam Lind and Dae-ho Lee to free agency.