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Do Big Leaguers Have Favorite Teams?

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Burke Badenhop made his Major League debut on April 9, 2008 when he tossed a scoreless inning of relief for the Marlins. In the eight years that followed, he pitched 512 1/3 innings of 3.74 ERA ball with the Marlins, Rays, Brewers, Red Sox and Reds. He’s been a part of four trades (most notably the Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis blockbuster), tested Major League free agency and been in more than a dozen Major League and minor league clubhouses. We are thrilled to have Burke bring some of that unique perspective to MLB Trade Rumors. This is his third offering; he has recently written about the importance of September roster expansion and the experience of playing the spoiler.

From kindergarten through eighth grade I grew up in Greenville, North Carolina. Greenville is tucked away in the eastern part of the state, situated between Raleigh and the Atlantic Ocean. It’s home to lots of barbecue spots, tobacco fields, and East Carolina University. Despite North Carolina’s love affair with college basketball, baseball is big in Greenville. I grew up loving Little League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves.

My parents are both from Ohio and neither had too much of a rooting interest in one particular big league team. Even though the closest big league city to Greenville at the time was Baltimore, I didn’t consider cheering for a team from up north. Folks from Greenville definitely fancied themselves Southerners and Atlanta, not Baltimore, was a better fit. Throw in the convenience of watching every game on TBS and a Braves fan was born.

As it turns out, I picked a very opportunistic time to enter the fandom of my new team. In 1991, when I was eight years old, the Braves were in the midst of their ‘worst to first’ season. There was a lot to love as a kid about that Braves team. They had exciting young starting pitchers Steve Avery, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Their outfield had the speed of Otis Nixon, the power of Ron Gant and the all around amazing-ness of reigning NL Rookie of the Year David Justice. The middle infield featured scrappy fan favorites Rafael Belliard and Mark Lemke. They even had a guy, Deion Sanders, who played in the NFL! What more could a kid want?

Despite finishing in last place the year before, the Braves battled for supremacy in their division that summer with the Dodgers. My Dad and I would check the paper every morning hoping for a Dodger loss that would tighten the standings. We watched every game down the stretch as the Braves crept closer and closer to LA, finally overtaking them and clinching the division on the next to last day of the regular season.

If the drama of the regular season wasn’t enough for my eight-year-old nerves, the postseason surely put them to the test. The Braves would win the NLCS in seven games and faced the Minnesota Twins in what most people would argue was the greatest World Series of all time. Since I was only eight, I wasn’t allowed to stay up late and see the finish of each game. I’d typically watch until the fourth or fifth inning before heading to bed. To add to the intrigue, before he left for work the next morning, my dad would write the score to the game on my bathroom mirror with a bar of soap. Just like the NLCS, that World Series went seven games. I raced to my bathroom the morning after Game 7 and couldn’t believe what I saw. Braves-0 Twins-1 10 innings. A World Series was obviously what I had hoped for, but I think that loss truly made me love the Braves even more. From then on, I called the Braves mine. That commitment lasted, ironically, until other teams began calling me.

During my junior year of college major league organizations began to scout me. Even though I was never a potential top round pick, everything relating to baseball just kind of changed for me. The dynamic between the big leagues and myself now shifted from lifelong fan to potential player, something I didn’t count on happening. In college, ‘baseball’ meant a scholarship to help pay for school, but it was now a potential post collegiate career opportunity. Did I hope that the Braves would show a lot of interest and draft me? Of course I did. My head would have literally exploded. Unfortunately, they never showed that much interest and I would instead get excited if a new team would call or send a letter to my coach. I was no longer focused on the one team I grew up rooting for since I hoped to attract the interest of all thirty teams. As other teams’ interest grew, the Braves’ interest never materialized and I was okay with that.

I was eventually drafted by the Tigers after my senior year of college and was traded to the Marlins three years later. I broke into the big leagues in 2008 with the Marlins, a team that just so happens to play in the same division as my once-beloved Braves. My third career start in the big leagues was in Atlanta, against the Braves. It wasn’t pretty. I managed to last 5 innings, but gave up eight hits and six runs. I walked a batter, didn’t strike anyone out and gave up a two-run homer in the first inning to Chipper Jones on his birthday. It was a surreal feeling to lose a game to the team I grew up hoping would always win. The ‘tomahawk chop’ was no longer something I wanted any part of. Once I passed that initial encounter, though, the Braves were just another opponent and business continued as usual. My favorite team became the one that I was lucky enough to wear the uniform of and my favorite players were the ones I called teammates.

So do big leaguers have favorite teams? The answer is yes, just not the current version of that team. I’m not a Braves fan now and I definitely wasn’t a fan of them as they pummeled me around Turner Field that April evening in 2008, but I love the Braves I grew up with. It’s that love for my favorite team that inspired me to become a big leaguer in the first place.

Marlins Sign David Lough

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The Marlins have signed outfielder David Lough to a minor league deal, according to Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. He’ll be joined in the organization by infielder Danny Muno, who was also just inked.

Lough, 30, had been with the Phillies this year but was recently given his release. Over 79 plate appearances at the major league level, he compiled only a .239/.342/.313 batting line, though he did manage to accumulate 9 walks against only 8 strikeouts. The numbers haven’t been all that much more promising at Triple-A, where Lough carries a .270/.329/.369 batting line in his 156 plate appearances — including four games worth of action in the Miami organization.

Still, the Fish are likely not planning to ask much of Lough if and when he makes it to the majors. He has typically rated as a quality defender and baserunner, and might well add some value in a limited role once rosters expand in just a few days.

Yankees “Aggressive” On Waiver Wire

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The Yankees have been aggressive in making waiver claims, rival executives tell ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required). New York has traditionally made many claims during the August waiver period, sometimes in pursuit of late-season upgrades themselves or simply to block players from reaching other rivals.

This year, the club is in a somewhat different position, as a series of mid-season trades proved that the focus isn’t on 2016. Still, the Yanks have rather remarkably maintained a 15-10 record since the calendar flipped to August, and sit only 3.5 games out of Wild Card position and 6.5 back in the AL East.

Interestingly, Olney suggests that New York’s position just behind Baltimore — but ahead of its division-rival in waiver priority — has created problems for the O’s as they seek to make last-minute additions. The Yankees, it seems, have been able to open possibilities for their own new acquisitions while also cutting off the supply lines of their competitors.

All said, then, the Yanks could be juggling any of three primary sources of motivation in making any single claim: adding players for the final month of 2016, preventing A.L. rivals from doing the same, and/or picking up assets for 2017 and beyond. While there’s not much time remaining for the aggressive waiver wire strategy to work, it seems that New York has at least largely succeeded in maintaining the status quo — leaving the club in position to make a surprising late run at a Wild Card, if not the division itself.

Nationals To Add Mat Latos To Active Roster

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The Nationals have struck a slightly modified agreement with righty Mat Latos that will result in him joining the major league roster, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. Though Latos could’ve opted out today if he was not promoted, he has agreed to stay in the minors until rosters expand on Thursday and will return to the majors at that time.

Because Latos is already in the organization, the delay will not have any impact on his eligibility for a hypothetical post-season roster. Of course, as things stand, it would be something of a surprise if he ends up representing an appealing option for playoff duty.

The 28-year-old has been on a roller-coaster ever since he was traded from the Reds to the Marlins after the 2014 season. There have been moments where he looked like the high-quality starter he once was, and others when he has been mediocre on the hill while representing a questionable clubhouse presence.

It’s a results-oriented business at the end of the day, and Latos hasn’t steadily delivered of late. Since the start of the 2015 campaign, he has compiled a 4.84 ERA over 176 2/3 innings with 6.7 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9.

ERA estimators suggest that he has been somewhat better than those figures would suggest. Trouble is, though, his peripherals and average fastball velocity have sagged more recently, raising renewed concerns whether he’ll ever regain the form that allowed him to average 200 frames of 3.27 ERA pitching over 2010 to 2013.

Latos and the Nats hope that he’ll thrive in his new environment, which represents something of a homecoming. The righty is from the Northern Virginia area originally, though he spent the bulk of his youth in Florida. More importantly, perhaps, he has done his best work as a big leaguer under the command of former Reds skipper Dusty Baker, who now helms the Nationals.

The preliminary results have been reasonably promising. Latos has permitted just two earned runs over 17 innings in three starts at the Triple-A level, though he has only ten strikeouts against seven walks in that span.

Whether or not Latos is able to contribute much down the stretch, then, is at best an open question. But the Nationals are in need of solid-enough innings as they look to ease Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross back into action in advance of the playoffs. With a healthy eight-game advantage in the NL East, the Nats can probably afford to take a risk on quality in favor of managing the burden on their existing staff. That ought to provide some opportunity for Latos to tally some MLB frames before he returns to the open market at season’s end.

Quick Hits: Orioles, Brinson, Blanco, Viera

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Let’s wrap up some news items as we head into the new week…

  • The Orioles have made a few notable August acquisitions during Dan Duquette’s tenure with the club, and Duquette tells Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun that he has again been looking at the waiver market.  “So we’ve been working on it….You want to make your bench as strong as you can make it, and also get as much pitching depth as you can,” Duquette said.
  • Since joining the Brewers organization, Lewis Brinson has been on fire, entering today’s action with a 1.099 OPS over 68 plate appearances for Triple-A Colorado Springs.  Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that Brinson could be a September callup for the Brew Crew, though the club’s outfield is already pretty crowded.  Brinson was the centerpiece of the trade package (fellow top prospect Luis Ortiz and a player to be named later) Milwaukee acquired in the deadline blockbuster that sent Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress to the Rangers.
  • Cuban outfielder Dairon Blanco and right-hander Carlos Juan Viera will hold a showcase in the Dominican Republic on September 5, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (via Twitter).  Blanco, a 23-year-old described by Baseball America’s Ben Badler as owning blazing speed but somewhat raw hitting and fielding skills, still has to receive clearance from MLB to officially become a free agent.  Blanco is subject to international signing guidelines and the 27-year-old Viera appears to be as well, since he has only four seasons under his belt in Cuba’s top league, the Serie Nacional.

Nationals Face Roster Decision On Mat Latos

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Right-hander Mat Latos can opt out of his minor league deal with the Nationals if he isn’t added to the team’s 25-man roster by tomorrow, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  Latos signed a minor league deal with the Nats in late June that reportedly contained multiple opt-out dates, and given how late it is in the season, one would think Monday could be the final chance for Latos to pursue another opportunity if he so chooses.

It has been quite the roller-coaster of a season for Latos, who began the year with an 0.74 ERA over his first 24 1/3 innings in the White Sox rotation.  Latos greatly outperformed his peripherals stats in delivering this great start, and he came back to earth by posting a 7.25 ERA over his next 36 innings.  On the whole, Latos has a 4.62 ERA, 44.3% grounder rate, 4.77 K/9 and 1.28 K/BB rate over 60 1/3 frames in 2016, with ERA indicators like FIP (5.54), xFIP (5.47) and SIERA (5.57) hinting that he is still somewhat fortunate to be delivering even that modest 4.62 figure.

Since joining the Nats system, however, Latos has a 1.29 ERA, 2.8 K/BB rate and 28 strikeouts over 28 innings split between rookie ball and Triple-A.  As you might expect, those numbers are largely weighted towards Latos dominating the rookie league; while he has a 1.06 ERA over 17 frames at Triple-A Syracuse, his 5.3 K/9 indicates that Latos is still having problems missing bats against tougher competition.  The righty has battled knee injuries and a likely-related loss of velocity in recent years, averaging around 90mph over the last two seasons.

As the Nationals’ depth chart (tip of the hat to Roster Resource) indicates, the NL East leaders aren’t short on starting pitching options even with Stephen Strasburg and Joe Ross on the disabled list.  Youngsters A.J. Cole and Lucas Giolito have filled in behind rotation fixtures Max Scherzer, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark, Reynaldo Lopez could be recalled from Triple-A for another start, or swingman Yusmeiro Petit is also available for a spot outing.  Washington does have an eight-game lead in the NL East, however, so the club has some flexibility in calling up Latos as a veteran innings eater in order to preserve one of its young arms.  Giolito, for instance, has struggled at the MLB level, including a rough start today in a loss to the Rockies.

Red Sox Notes: Moncada, Buchholz, Papelbon

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Here’s the latest out of Fenway Park…

  • Manager John Farrell told reporters (including WEEI.com’s Ryan Hannable) that the Red Sox are discussing internal and external options for a pinch-running speed threat off the bench.  Top prospect Yoan Moncada has been mentioned as a possibility to fill the role, though it is “yet to be determined” if Moncada could be promoted, Farrell said.  Arguably the game’s best prospect, Moncada has hit .299/.413/.517 over a combined 476 plate appearances at the high-A and Double-A levels this season, not to mention 44 steals in 56 attempts.  His lack of experience at Triple-A wouldn’t necessarily be an obstacle if he was to be used primarily as a pinch-runner, though Moncada is such a highly-touted young player that he might not need much more (or even any) seasoning at the plate.  Moncada could also get at-bats against left-handed pitching, and maybe see some time at third base though he is still just learning the position.
  • It looks like the Red Sox may exercise their $13.5MM option on Clay Buchholz for 2017 after all, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes in his weekly notes column.  Since losing his rotation job earlier this season, Buchholz has pitched well out of the bullpen, posting a 3.05 ERA and holding hitters to a .506 OPS over 20 2/3 relief innings, though he has also stepped out of the pen to deliver some quality spot starts.  The Sox are one of the few teams wealthy enough to afford $13.5MM for a swingman, and they could prefer having a familiar option on hand should they face more rotation struggles in 2017.
  • Also from Cafardo’s column, he notes that some personal or family issues could be preventing from Jonathan Papelbon from signing with the Red Sox.  A reunion between the Sox and their former closer has seemed like a possibility almost as soon as Papelbon was released by the Nationals, though that was two weeks ago and no deal appears imminent despite Boston’s continued interest.  The longer he is out of action, presumably the longest it will take for Papelbon to get back into game shape in a minor league assignment, which is another issue since minor league seasons are soon wrapping up.  Papelbon would have to sign before Thursday in order to qualify for a postseason roster.
  • In other Red Sox news from earlier today on MLBTR, the team talked to the White Sox about Chris Sale or Jose Quintana prior to the August 1 trade deadline, though talks didn’t materialize since Boston didn’t want to deal Jackie Bradley Jr. as part of the deal for either star lefty.

Angels Outright Johnny Giavotella To Triple-A

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The Angels have outrighted second baseman Johnny Giavotella to Triple-A, the club announced.  Giavotella cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.

After being acquired from Kansas City in a December 2014 trade, Giavotella has spent much of the last two seasons as the Angels’ starter at the keystone.  He didn’t provide much offensively (.267/.305/.375 over 869 plate appearances) or defensively (the UZR/150 and Defensive Runs Saved metrics indicate below-average glovework over the last two years) and Giavotella had recently lost playing time to Gregorio Petit and Cliff Pennington.  Second base certainly appears to be one of many areas of need for the Halos this winter as they look to recover from a thoroughly disappointing 2016 campaign.

As Pedro Moura of the L.A. Times tweets, the Angels will use Giavotella as a utilityman at Triple-A.  Giavotella has some experience at third base and left field in the minors, though he has only appeared at a position other than second once at the Major League level (a single game at shortstop).  Gaining some multi-position versatility could be helpful for Giavotella’s career prospects, given his lack of success against MLB pitching.  Giavotella will be eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter and is a potential non-tender candidate, though he doesn’t figure to be in line for a very big salary in his initial trip through the arb process.

Sox Rumors: Sale, Quintana, Bradley

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The White Sox discussed left-handed aces Chris Sale and Jose Quintana with the Red Sox prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, but Boston was unwilling to part with center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. for either, reports Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago.

It’s unclear if any other players were involved in the teams’ talks, but had the Red Sox given up Bradley for Sale or Quintana, they would have damaged one area of their roster to improve another. That’s something contending teams are especially loath to do during the season. However, the two clubs could resume negotiations in the offseason, writes Levine.

Bradley broke out offensively last summer and is now in the midst of his best full season at the major league level, having slashed .272/.349/.499 with 21 home runs in 510 plate appearances. He has also provided value on the base paths, with FanGraphs rating him as the 13th-best base runner in the league, as well as in the field. The 26-year-old ranks top five among center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved (nine), Ultimate Zone Rating (3.4) and UZR/150 (4.9). Bradley’s defensive work has earned plaudits since his major league career began in earnest two years ago, but it took some time for his output at the dish to catch up. Now, given his explosion with the bat, Bradley looks poised to land a significant raise in arbitration during the offseason as a likely Super Two player, which MLBTR’s Jeff Todd touched on earlier this week. That will be the first of four possible arbitration trips for Bradley, who has easily outperformed his $536,500 salary this season.

As is the case with Bradley, Chicago’s two 27-year-old front-line starters are bargains. Sale, who’s in his fifth straight year as an elite-level ace, is controllable from 2017-2019 for around $40MM. Like Sale, Quintana has turned in quality seasons for a half-decade, and his contract is even more appealing than his teammate’s. Quintana will make $14.35MM over the next two seasons and then up to $21MM more with a pair of $10.5MM club options that run through 2020.

While neither Sale nor Quintana is a lock to go anywhere during the winter, that could change if the White Sox decide to rebuild. Chicago is on track to miss the playoffs for an eighth straight year, and general manager Rick Hahn indicated Thursday that the franchise’s direction will become clear early in the offseason. If the White Sox choose to shop at least one of Sale or Quintana, the weak free agent market for pitchers would make the upcoming offseason an ideal time for it, as Levine notes. Any team in need of pitching – including Boston – would likely inquire on either or both, thereby enabling Chicago to spark a bidding war.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/28/16

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Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Twins selected the contract of outfielder Logan Schafer.  He’ll take the place of outfielder Danny Santana, who was placed on the 15-day DL with a shoulder sprain suffered in a collision with teammate Robbie Grossman during today’s game.  After being released by the Nationals at the end of Spring Training and then spending some time in the independent Atlantic League, Schafer signed a minor league deal with Minnesota in June.  Schafer has a .212/.286/.319 slash line over 646 career MLB plate appearances, all with the Brewers from 2011-15.
  • The Dodgers have outrighted catcher Shawn Zarraga off their 40-man roster, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. LA called up Zarraga on Thursday, but he was only a temporary fill-in as the club awaited the arrival of the newly acquired Carlos Ruiz. Zarraga, 27, has never picked up a major league plate appearance, instead totaling 1,826 in the minors and hitting .282/.371/.367.
  • The Blue Jays have released right-hander Chris Leroux from their Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, per a club announcement. Toronto acquired Leroux from the Phillies for cash considerations in early April, but he never took the mound for the Jays. Leroux, whose latest major league action came in two innings with the Yankees in 2014, posted a 4.28 ERA, 6.04 K/9 and 2.86 BB/9 in 138 2/3 frames with Buffalo this year. In 71 2/3 career big league innings, the 32-year-old has put up a 6.03 ERA, 8.29 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and 48.9 percent ground-ball rate.

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