Archives for 2016

Poll: Trevor Plouffe’s Future In Minnesota

By Steve Adams | September 7, 2016 at 6:19pm CDT

Twins corner infielder/designated hitter Trevor Plouffe exited last night’s game with an oblique injury, and tests have revealed the 30-year-old to have both an oblique strain and an intercostal strain, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. Plouffe hopes to return before the end of the season, but Bollinger notes that it’s unlikely that Plouffe will have enough time to recover. Oblique injuries tend to linger for at least a month, and with a pair of strains, it seems quite possible that what has been an injury-riddled season for Plouffe will come to a close.

The greater question that should be asked, at this juncture, is whether Plouffe has played his final game as a member of the Twins. The former first-round pick (20th overall, 2004) was an oft-speculated trade candidate last winter thanks to the emergence of Miguel Sano and the signing of Korean slugger Byung Ho Park, but the Twins elected to hang onto Plouffe and try Sano in right field — an experiment that yielded dreadful results. The 6’4″, 260-pound Sano perhaps unsurprisingly graded out very poorly in right field (-8 DRS, -2.6 UZR in 312 innings) and was ultimately moved back to third base when Plouffe suffered a fractured rib that cost him six months of the season.

With Sano now seeing reps at third base and DH, Plouffe has rotated between third base (when Sano is DHing), first base and DH himself since returning from the disabled list. However, next season will present the Twins — who will be headed by a new front office regime — with a similar logjam, as Sano, Plouffe, Park and Joe Mauer will all be back in the mix. (For those wondering about the possibility, Mauer cannot return to catching given his concussion history.) With Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario likely handling regular outfield duties in 2017, there’s no obvious corner opening to move one of those pieces this time around.

Further complicating matters for Plouffe is that he’s endured his worst season since 2013. In addition to the current pair of muscle strains and the aforementioned rib fracture, Plouffe also missed nearly three weeks in late April/early May with another intercostal strain. Plouffe established himself as an average defender with a slightly above-average bat in 2014-15 when he hit .251/.317/.429 with 36 homers in 1214 plate appearances — good for a combined 5.9 fWAR and 6.5 rWAR. However, he was hitting just .252/.283/.399 at the time he landed on the DL in July due to the rib fracture. Plouffe has been hot since coming back (.277/.345/.465, five homers in 26 games), which has boosted his overall line to .260/.303/.420, but much of the 2016 season has been a struggle for him at the plate.

Plouffe will be arbitration-eligible for the final time this winter, and though he’s been slowed by injuries and hasn’t had his most productive year, he’ll still receive a raise this year’s $7.25MM salary. A salary in the $8-9MM range isn’t outlandish for a healthy Plouffe, but it may also be more than the Twins wish to pay him given the state of their roster, as currently constructed. Certainly, Plouffe could garner trade interest from clubs looking for short-term upgrades at the corner infield spots, though there’s also the possibility that a new president of baseball operations decides to cut bait simply by non-tendering him. Alternatively, the Twins could elect to move other pieces and keep Plouffe around for what will be his final season before hitting the free agent market.

With a number of avenues that the new-look front office could pursue, let’s open this one up for some crowd-sourcing (link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users)…

AL East Notes: Tillman, O’Day, Rays, Green

By Steve Adams | September 7, 2016 at 4:07pm CDT

As the Orioles look to work their way back into first place in the American League East, they’ll soon be joined by a pair of key players that have been on the disabled list, per MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Baltimore’s top starter, Chris Tillman, is slated to throw one final bullpen session on Friday before making a return to the rotation against the Tigers on Sunday. Notably, manager Buck Showalter said that no one will come out of the rotation when Tillman returns, as Baltimore will instead go with a six-man starting staff. Meanwhile, setup man Darren O’Day, who has been out since early August with a rotator cuff strain, threw 26 pitches today and felt good. Like Tillman, he’s lined up for a Friday bullpen session, but he’ll require a few days of rest and then a simulated game before he’s cleared to return. The Orioles are hoping that will happen at some point next week, per Kubatko.

A couple more items from the division…

The Rays have dismissed longtime hitting coach Derek Shelton and promoted minor league hitting coordinator Chad Mottola to take his place, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Shelton had served as Tampa Bay’s hitting coach for the past seven seasons and spent five years as the Indians’ hitting coach prior to that. The timing of the move is somewhat strange, Topkin points out, but the thought process behind the switch is to allow Mottola to begin building his rapport with the Rays’ hitters as soon as possible. Mottola will serve as the team’s hitting coach at least through the end of the 2017 season, he adds. President of baseball ops Matt Silverman and manager Kevin Cash indicated to Topkin that perhaps Shelton’s message had grown stale. Said Silverman: “…the connections with the players, we think that there is a possibility and a hope that some of that can improve with a different person in that chair, with a different voice, different relationships, a fresh start.”
Chad Green won’t pitch again for the Yankees this season, but the rookie right-hander looks to have emerged relatively unscathed from a potential brush with Tommy John surgery, writes Chad Jennings of the Journal News. Green has a strained flexor tendon, but exams by team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad revealed that there was no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. Green will spend the next several weeks rehabbing his flexor injury but is anticipating a normal offseason and plans to be ready for Spring Training. Acquired in the offseason trade that sent Justin Wilson to the Tigers, Green made his big league debut this season with the Yankees. While he posted very strong strikeout and walk rates (10.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9), the 25-year-old also had an issue with homers, surrendering 12 long balls in just 45 2/3 innings. The result was a 4.73 ERA, though metrics like xFIP and SIERA, which normalize a pitcher’s homer-to-flyball rate, feel that Green should’ve been in the 3.60 to 3.70 range in his brief sample.

Angels Won’t Recall Tim Lincecum, Johnny Giavotella

By Jeff Todd | September 7, 2016 at 1:31pm CDT

The Angels do not plan to bring veteran righty Tim Lincecum back to the majors this year, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (Twitter link). The same holds true for infielder Johnny Giavotella, he tweeted himself.

Hopes were high in some quarters when Lincecum, the two-time former Cy Young winner, ramped up for action in 2016. After undergoing hip surgery in the offseason, he held a heavily-covered workout and ultimately joined the Angels under a contract that paid him a pro-rated portion of a $2.5MM salary.

Things didn’t go quite as hoped. Lincecum had been pitching at Triple-A after accepting an outright assignment about a month ago, which resulted after the 32-year-old ran up a ghastly 9.16 ERA and lasted only 38 1/3 innings over nine starts.

The results were better at Triple-A, as Lincecum pitched an identical number of frames in seven outings. He ends his time in Salt Lake City with a 3.76 ERA and 8.7 K/9 with 3.3 BB/9. Still, the overall showing wasn’t enough to claim back a 40-man spot, and Lincecum figures to be looking at a minor league deal this winter.

As for Giavotella, 29, he also ended up in Triple-A after struggling through his major league work. Over 367 plate appearances in the majors, he put up a .260/.287/.376 batting line. It’s a bit of a surprise at first glance that Giavotella won’t be back, given his prominent role over the last two seasons, but he had already been trimmed from the 40-man. As a player with more than three years of Major League service time — Giavotella reached that threshold this season — his outright earlier this summer gives him the option to elect free agency following the completion of the regular season.

La Russa: D-Backs Can Be “Dramatically Better”

By Jeff Todd | September 7, 2016 at 11:28am CDT

Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa says that his organization has the talent needed for a “dramatically better” performance, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. The club’s unfortunate 2016, he suggests, represents a test for the entire organization.

According to the embattled head of the organization’s baseball operations, Arizona’s struggles require a “personal assessment” by all personnel to determine areas for improvement. “[T]he quality of the response will dictate if these guys are what we think they are,” said La Russa. “I think I have enough experience that I bet on the group wanting to learn, and that opens the opportunity for the coaches and manager to step in and say, ’Hey, this is how we could have won those close games.'”

The D-Backs’ issues go beyond relatively minor considerations such as performance in tight contests, of course. As Piecoro explains, there are numerous areas — especially the rotation — that will require rather significant turnarounds to make contention plausible.

Looking ahead, La Russa says he has “a notebook full of comments on the year.” Whether or not he’ll have the opportunity to build from those observations, and remain in charge, remains uncertain. The organization is seemingly still weighing whether to retain La Russa, GM Dave Stewart, and other front office personnel.

Notably, if the La Russa-led front office sticks around, it sounds as if the belief is that dramatic roster changes aren’t necessary. Instead, his focus appears to be on coaxing more out of the players that had been expected to produce a winning campaign in 2016.

“I think the team has good character,” he said. “It’s got good talent, and if they have a good attitude about ’let’s learn from this,’ it can get dramatically better.”

That still-optimistic assessment of the D-Backs’ internal asset base has seemingly been reflected in the team’s recent actions (or lack thereof). Arizona largely held pat at the trade deadline, dealing a few relievers but avoiding any drastic moves in either direction. Though Shelby Miller trade scenarios were explored, nothing came to fruition. And the Snakes are apparently determined not to shop Zack Greinke this winter.

Regarding Greinke, whose inconsistency has been one of many areas of concern, La Russa expressed no regret in making a huge outlay to land a “veteran number one” starter that he says the team needed. In addition to Greinke’s contributions on the hill, said La Russa, “he can really help with, and he already has, showing guys the art of pitching.”

La Russa said that the team expects to field inquiries on Greinke and other under-performing pitchers, but Piecoro suggests that his overall comments hint that there won’t be much interest from the Arizona side. “I think this winter we’re going to be asked a lot about him and every one of our starters,” he said. “It’s already happened. Our young guys are really attractive. And Shelby is going to be attractive. They think we’ll be down on him. And Greinke’s going to be attractive to guys who can afford him because they’ll think we can’t afford him.”

NL Notes: Jay, Campos, Gutierrez, Feliz

By Jeff Todd | September 7, 2016 at 10:12am CDT

Padres outfielder Jon Jay officially returned to action last night, making his first plate appearance since the 19th of June. As Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune explains, the 31-year-old stayed busy during his rehab from a fractured forearm. While he says his focus remains on “going out and proving to everyone that I’m healthy and I can still play at a high level,” Jay also spent time focusing on other aspects of the game. “I love this game of baseball, and in the future you never know what’s going to happen,” said Jay. “I would maybe want to coach or be involved in the game still with player development or whatever it might be. I’m kind of working on those things now so that if an opportunity does come in the future, I’m ready for it.” First things first, though: Jay will be playing to help set up his next contract, as he’ll reach the open market this fall. Mutual interest in a return to San Diego won’t be explored further until that time, both he and manager Andy Green noted.

Reds Sign Cuban Right-Hander Vladimir Gutierrez

By Steve Adams | September 7, 2016 at 9:32am CDT

SEPTEMBER 7: The signing is now official, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter).

AUGUST 30: The Reds have agreed to sign highly regarded right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez for a bonus of $4.75MM, reports Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald (via Twitter). The 20-year-old Cuban righty will count against Cincinnati’s international bonus pool, which they’ve already vastly exceeded with their $7MM deal with Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez. As such, Gutierrez will come with a 100 percent luxury tax, effectively making this a $9.5MM expenditure for the Reds.

At last check, earlier this month, Gutierrez’s camp was weighing a number of options, including pitching in Japan and waiting until next year’s international signing period to embark on his minor league career. However, he’ll now add a well-regarded arm to a rebuilding Reds system, joining countryman and defensive standout Rodriguez as a co-headliner of Cincinnati’s international signings this period.

Gutierrez was initially cleared as a free agent last summer, but some lackluster showings in front of big league scouts caused his stock to dip over the winter. That, however, changed at a mid-March showcase, per Baseball America’s Ben Badler, when Gutierrez’s strong showing restored a good deal of his prospect status. Badler has since written that Gutierrez’s heater checks in at 92-94 mph and pairs nicely with a “hammer” curve around 80 mph, though he needs further refinement in terms of fastball command and a third pitch. Following that up, Badler tweeted just today that Gutierrez has recently been up to 97 mph with his fastball while also showing a plus curve. MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez rated Gutierrez fourth behind Kevin Maitan, Adrian Morejon and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on his ranking of the 2016-17 international free agents, noting that while he projects as a starting pitcher, some scouts also believe he could have a quicker timeline to the Majors and make an impact as a high-leverage late-inning reliever as well.

Cincinnati, of course, has had its share of success in dipping into the Cuban market for high-upside arms, enjoying success with the likes of Aroldis Chapman and Raisel Iglesias. However, both Chapman and Iglesias signed at a considerably later stage in their careers. Gutierrez will have a lengthier path to the Majors and will be subject to the standard pre-arbitration pay scale and six full seasons of control for the Reds upon reaching the big leagues. His numbers in a brief Serie Nacional career in Cuba were solid, albeit not overwhelming; in 118 1/3 innings, Gutierrez logged a 3.27 ERA with 7.1 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9. Of course, he’s come quite a ways in his development since that time, as his last work in Cuba’s top league came when he was still just 18 years of age.

L.A. Notes: Shoemaker, Weaver, Tolliver, Dodgers’ Pen

By Jeff Todd | September 7, 2016 at 8:25am CDT

All signs are that Angels righty Matt Shoemaker is progressing well after being struck in the head by a line drive and requiring surgery to control internal bleeding. The overriding concern, needless to say, is with his long-term health. Fortunately for the hurler, he seems to be improving enough that it is reasonable to consider what kind of path he might take to return to the mound. As Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times writes, Shoemaker has been able to communicate with his family, friends, and teammates throughout the ordeal. Speaking generally on the subject, a neurosurgeon explains that this is a positive sign. Depending upon the specifics and his continued improvement, the 29-year-old will hopefully be able to return to “living normally” in three to six weeks and could plausibly be ready to begin Spring Training on time. MLBTR extends its best wishes to Shoemaker and his family.

Here’s more out of Los Angeles:

Though we have heard suggestions to the contrary, Moura says that he’s getting the sense that Angels righty Jered Weaver will look to pitch at least one more year. Indications from Weaver and those who know him do not suggest that he is preparing for retirement, says Moura, though his plans could be dependent upon whether he is able to secure a starting job. Weaver has only ever played for the Halos, and GM Billy Eppler has praised his efforts this year, but it remains unclear what kind of interest the team will have in the veteran hurler.
The Angels’ recent claim of Ashur Tolliver may represent a nice pick-up for the club, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com explains. Multiple other teams put in claims on the southpaw, and scouts tell Kubatko they were surprised the Orioles were willing to put him on the wire. As Kubatko notes, the 28-year-old is something of a late-bloomer who has shown a live arm.
While the Dodgers’ bullpen-building efforts haven’t always been well-received, the current relief corps appears to be a top-quality unit, ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla writes. Apart from star closer Kenley Jansen, most of the pen pieces aren’t exactly household names and haven’t been used in formalized roles. Manager Dave Roberts continues to mix and match, and now has 13 arms to call upon down the stretch. The skipper’s comments on Joe Blanton, who has been excellent, are indicative of the interesting approach that Los Angeles has relied upon. “Joe’s been great for us, he really has against right-handers and left-handers,” Roberts said. “He’s done some long relief early, he’s pitched in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth. He’s a guy that has really solidified our bullpen, but it’s not a hard-fast rule that he’s going to be pitching in the eighth. I think that I used Joe in a lot of high-leverage situations and that might come in the seventh.”

Latest On Steven Wright’s Shoulder Injury

By Steve Adams | September 6, 2016 at 11:19pm CDT

A second opinion on Steven Wright’s ailing right shoulder from renowned orthopedist Dr. Neal ElAttrache showed no damage beyond the initial diagnosis of bursitis, Red Sox manager John Farrell tells Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. However, the Red Sox still aren’t certain whether the breakout knuckleballer will pitch again this season. “He’s able to pick up a ball when the symptoms he might be feeling are subsided,” said Farrell. “So I can understand and respect the next question of will he return this year. I don’t have that answer yet.”

While some believe that the Sox rushed Wright back from a DL stint — he returned after three weeks and surrendered nine runs in 10 innings over two starts — president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski strongly rejects that notion. “We don’t rush guys back,” said Dombrowski. “We don’t really do that. The doctors felt he was comfortable to (return), he said he was comfortable to do that. No. I’ve never rushed a guy back.”

Wright recently told reporters, including MassLive.com’s Jen McCaffery, that he’s been pitching at about “50 percent” strength since returning from the DL, and while Dombrowski declined to go into specifics on his conversations with Wright, he did say today that Wright did not express that level of severity to the team. “Well, I’m really not going to get into every step of our conversations with the player and all that,” said Dombrowski (via Drellich). “We would never put a player out there that we thought was only 50 percent. … I can’t say it’s a mistake for guys, but I think most pitchers try to pitch through things at times. It just depends what it is.”

The circumstances of Wright’s injury, of course, are somewhat notable as well. Wright didn’t incur the damage to his shoulder while on the mound — on the contrary, he threw a shutout in his last start prior to the injury — but rather on the basepaths after being used as a pinch-runner in the sixth inning of an Aug. 7 game against the Dodgers. Wright dove back into second base when right-hander Joe Blanton spun to throw to the bag and suffered the injury upon hitting the dirt.

The Red Sox, currently in possession of an American League Wild Card spot but also just a half-game out of the division lead, would love to have a healthy Wright back in the mix not only for the remainder of the regular season but also for the postseason roster. The Sox can still turn to David Price, Rick Porcello and Drew Pomeranz in the event that they reach the divisional series, but Wright, who has a 3.33 ERA in 156 2/3 innings even after the aforementioned drubbing he took in his two most recent outings, certainly would’ve been in the mix as well. In the meantime, the Red Sox turned to Clay Buchholz to start in Wright’s place tonight, and Buchholz has answered the challenge with aplomb so far. He’s through six innings and has yielded just a run on six hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

Nationals To Activate Stephen Strasburg

By Steve Adams | September 6, 2016 at 10:34pm CDT

Stephen Strasburg will be activated from the disabled list to make tomorrow’s start against the Braves, Nationals manager Dusty Baker told reporters, including Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (Twitter link).

There was a bit of panic (understandably so) among Nationals fans when the team announced on Aug. 22 that he would be placed on the disabled list due to elbow soreness. However, reports shortly after the announcement indicated that the injury was minor in nature and that Strasburg’s DL stint was expected to be minimal. That’s proven to be the case, as Strasburg will end up having missed a total of 16 days on the disabled list.

The Nationals are in firm control of the NL East, so Strasburg’s return figures to have little impact on the team’s already-overwhelming chances of making it to the postseason. However, getting Strasburg back on track following what was a dreadful run of starts leading up to his injury will be crucial for the Nationals’ chances in a postseason series. Prior to his placement on the disabled list, Strasburg had been shelled for 19 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings of work across three starts — a slump that caused his ERA to balloon from 2.63 all the way to 3.59. And, of course, from a bigger-picture standpoint, the lack of a serious injury to Strasburg is also a worth a sigh of relief for Nats fans, as the 28-year-old has not yet even entered into the first season of the seven-year, $175MM contract extension he signed with Washington earlier this season.

Alvarez, Gray, Triggs Unlikely To Pitch Again In 2016

By Steve Adams | September 6, 2016 at 8:56pm CDT

The Athletics had been holding out hope for Henderson Alvarez pitching for the team in September, but manager Bob Melvin said on Tuesday that Alvarez will not pitch for the A’s in 2016 due to further setbacks in his return from 2015 shoulder surgery, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Alvarez’s rehab stint with Class-A Stockton was cut short recently, and he’ll head to Dr. James Andrews to have his shoulder evaluated, with the possibility of second shoulder operation looming, per Slusser. She adds that a second surgery could prevent Alvarez from pitching in 2017 as well.

Alvarez, 26, was non-tendered by the Marlins last offseason. While some questioned the wisdom of cutting a young starter that was only projected to earn about $4MM via arbitration and had two years of control remaining, the decision looks prudent with the benefit of hindsight. Alvarez missed much of the 2015 campaign with shoulder problems, and while he was excellent during his last healthy season — 2.65 ERA, 5.3 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 53.8 percent ground-ball rate in 187 innings in 2014 — he’s now two years removed from that strong performance.

Even if Alvarez is able to avoid a second shoulder surgery, he remains a non-tender candidate after being largely unable to take the field for the past two seasons. He’s earning $4.25MM after signing a one-year deal with Oakland this winter, and the least the A’s could offer him would be 80 percent of that amount, or $3.4MM.

Beyond the unfortunate news regarding Alvarez, Slusser writes that neither Sonny Gray nor Andrew Triggs is likely to return to the Athletics’ rotation this year. Gray has been sidelined by a right forearm strain for the past month and has yet to progress to flat-ground work, according to Slusser. He’s struggled for much of the season, spending time on the DL with a strained trapezius muscle in addition to his current forearm injury. A Cy Young contender in 2015, Gray has tossed just 116 innings with a 5.74 ERA this year due largely to a massive spike in his home run rate.

Triggs, on the other hand, exited his most recent start with back pain. While hardly a household name, the March waiver claim has posted a quietly solid year in Oakland, tossing 56 1/3 innings of 4.31 ERA ball with 8.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 50.9 percent ground-ball rate. ERA estimators like FIP, xFIP and SIERA all peg Triggs for an ERA in the 3.30 range moving forward, and his quality work this season could very well have forced his way into the Oakland rotation plans in 2017.

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