Poll: Most Surprising Non-Trade Prior To The Deadline
Heading into last Monday’s non-waiver deadline, there was no shortage of trade candidates that many expected to be moved (or hoped would be moved). While 20 of the names on MLBTR’s final list of top trade candidates did indeed find new homes, there were still quite a few that stayed put. A quick rundown…
- Jeremy Hellickson, Phillies: As an impending free agent that is enjoying a resurgent campaign on a rebuilding team, Hellickson was the prototypical trade candidate. He’s affordable, effective and was seemingly in demand, with as many as a eight teams connected to him at various points throughout deadline season. However, he’s still with the Phils and now looks likelier to end up the recipient of a qualifying offer than to be traded in August.
- Jeanmar Gomez, Phillies: Gomez entered the season as a middle reliever that was ticketed more for a multi-inning role than high-leverage spots, but he was placed into the ninth inning by manager Pete Mackanin out of necessity early in the year and hasn’t looked back. Gomez is controllable through 2017, so there’s still time to move him if the Phillies wish (be it this month, in the offseason, or next year), but late July was arguably the highest his trade value has ever been.
- Derek Norris, Padres: The Friars reportedly shopped Norris quite heavily in the weeks leading up to the deadline, likely hoping to move him in order to clear a spot on the roster for Austin Hedges. The Rangers, Astros and Brewers were among the teams to show late interest, but Norris ultimately stayed put. He’s controllable through 2018, so the Padres can explore trades for quite some time, but with his replacement absolutely obliterating Triple-A pitching and the Padres aggressively shopping veterans, he seemed a likely candidate to move.
- Kurt Suzuki, Twins: A well-timed hot streak for Suzuki looked like a stroke of good fortune that would allow Minnesota to extract some value in exchange for the free-agent-to-be heading into the deadline. Suzuki was quietly one of the league’s hottest hitters in June and July (.333/.362/.533), making his $6MM salary look plenty affordable. He could go in August, but a trade is obviously more difficult now.
- Jim Johnson, Braves: Atlanta has been willing to trade virtually everyone on its roster other than Freddie Freeman and Julio Teheran, and Johnson was a natural candidate to be dealt. He’s on a cheap one-year deal and has pitched brilliantly since returning from a DL stint in early June. His name was all over the rumor mill heading into last Monday’s deadline, but he’s still in Atlanta a week later. A waiver deal can’t be ruled out, but the Braves will be faced with a much more limited market.
- Zack Cozart, Reds: Cozart looked to be on his way to Seattle early last Monday with the deadline just hours away, but the medical hangups in the Reds’ Jay Bruce trade with the Mets reportedly slowed their ability to finalize the details on the Cozart deal with the Mariners. Cozart is controlled through 2017 and could be shopped again this winter, but an August deal looks unlikely since he’s a lock to get claimed — probably by a team with higher waiver priority than the Mariners. The Reds know they’ll be able to market him to more clubs and drive up the price this offseason.
- Yasiel Puig, Dodgers: There’s some hindsight in play here, as Puig looked like a trade candidate as the deadline loomed but looks more likely to be done as a member of the Dodgers a week later now that they’ve added a new right fielder (Josh Reddick) and demoted Puig to Triple-A. Knowing how much Los Angeles had soured on Puig, it’s fairly surprising that no agreement was reached prior to the non-waiver deadline.
- Danny Valencia, Athletics: Despite the fact that Valencia has been one of Oakland’s most productive hitters this year, the A’s called up prospect Ryon Healy and gave him Valencia’s everyday job at third base. Valencia is bouncing around the diamond now, but with just one year of club control remaining beyond the 2016 season, he looked like a very solid bet to be on the move following his displacement at the hot corner.
- Jake Odorizzi, Rays: Odorizzi and teammate Matt Moore were rumored to be drawing interest from seemingly half the league prior to the deadline, but it was Moore who ended up moving. Odorizzi can be controlled through 2019, so there was no rush to move him, and the Rays ultimately elected to move just one of their young arms.
- Yunel Escobar, Angels: What’s perhaps most surprising about Escobar, who is hitting well on a fourth-place team and has a reasonable club option for the 2017 season, is that his name scarcely surfaced on the rumor circuit. Escobar seemed like an obvious candidate based on his productivity and contract, but perhaps questions about his reputation and the Angels’ desire to compete in 2017 made trade chatter minimal.
- Chris Sale, White Sox: I never considered a Sale trade to be all that likely, but there was plenty of speculation about it, and many were captivated by the idea of one of the game’s best pitchers (and one of the game’s best contracts) changing hands. His clubhouse tirade a week prior to the deadline only fueled speculation about his availability.
All that said, it’s time for everyone to weigh in (link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)…
Who was the most surprising player NOT to be traded prior to the non-waiver deadline?
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Jeremy Hellickson 37% (3,975)
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Yasiel Puig 16% (1,759)
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Derek Norris 10% (1,078)
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Chris Sale 9% (1,024)
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Danny Valencia 7% (740)
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Jim Johnson 7% (720)
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Zack Cozart 5% (512)
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Jake Odorizzi 3% (306)
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Kurt Suzuki 2% (209)
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Jeanmar Gomez 2% (182)
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Yunel Escobar 2% (177)
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Other 2% (176)
Total votes: 10,858
NL Notes: Brewers, Kershaw, Peralta, Rockies
Brewers general manager David Stearns spoke with Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about the difference between the would-be return for the vetoed Jonathan Lucroy trade with the Indians and the actual return he received from the Rangers in exchange for Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress. While Milwaukee will end up with three players in exchange for Lucroy and Jeffress in the Rangers trade (as opposed to the four they’d have received from Cleveland for Lucroy alone), the Brewers landed players that are much closer to the big leagues in Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz than they would’ve in a Cleveland package that was headlined by Class-A catcher Francisco Mejia. Stearns also added that he’d received “indications” that Lucroy would approve a trade to Cleveland, though he declined to get into specifics about those indications and what they entailed. Lucroy’s rejection of the trade didn’t alter negotiations with other clubs much, according to Stearns, who tells Haudricourt that there was a robust market for his now-former catcher both before and after talks with Cleveland.
A few more notes from the Senior Circuit…
- Clayton Kershaw played catch yesterday for the first time since suffering a setback after throwing a simulated game on July 17, as MLB.com’s Jack Baer writes. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has already stated that Kershaw won’t be back until September, and as Baer notes, that rules out a possible minor league rehab assignment for Kershaw, as the minor league season comes to a close at the end of August. Kershaw, instead, will rely on bullpen sessions, live batting practice and simulated games to get back up to speed in an effort to help the Dodgers down the stretch.
- Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta, who was placed on the disabled list for the third time this season yesterday, will undergo an MRI on his bothersome right wrist today, writes MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. This stint marks the second of Peralta’s three DL trips that has stemmed from inflammation in his right wrist, and Gilbert writes that Peralta was informed last year (when he injured the wrist for the first time) that he may have irritated a ligament.
- The return of Gerardo Parra from the disabled list gives the Rockies four left-handed-hitting outfielders for three spots now that rookie David Dahl has cemented his place in the lineup, writes the Denver Post’s Nick Kosmider. “I’m not sure how it’s going to work out,” said manager Walt Weiss of the moderate logjam with which he is now faced. “I’ve got four really good outfielders, and they are all major league-quality outfielders. I’ve got to keep them all involved. … We can play matchups, those kinds of things. I can’t look into the future and say exactly how it’s going to go. … Parra’s a big part of this moving forward, as are the other three guys. It’s a nice issue to have.” While it seems unlikely that any of the four would be moved in the month of August, the presence of all four outfielders on the Rockies’ roster figures to lead to further speculation surrounding a possible trade of Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon or Parra this offseason.
Cubs Outright Brian Matusz
Here are Monday’s minor moves from around the league…
- Left-hander Brian Matusz cleared outright waivers and will remain with the Cubs organization after being designated for assignment on Aug. 1, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. Matusz will return to Triple-A Iowa, where he pitched well before being promoted to make a spot start on the eve of the non-waiver trade deadline. Matusz was tagged for six runs in just three innings in his lone big league start with the Cubs but has compiled a 3.58 ERA with a 39-to-7 K/BB ratio in 27 1/3 minor league innings this season — including a 1.93 mark in 9 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level. Formerly a mainstay in the Orioles’ bullpen, Matusz has yielded 14 earned runs in a total of nine Major League innings this season.
Pirates News & Rumors: Happ, Huntington, McCutchen
Here’s the latest from the Steel City…
- While J.A. Happ is enjoying a strong season with the Blue Jays, Pirates GM Neal Huntington (via Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) didn’t express too much regret over not re-signing the southpaw after his turnaround performance in Pittsburgh. “We wanted to re-sign J.A. We weren’t able to meet the financial asks, or chose not to. Toronto was aggressive and came and got him,” Huntington said. While noting that “hindsight always gives you the opportunity to wish you had done something differently,” Huntington also mentioned that Happ is still not even a full season through the first year of the three-year deal, so it could be too early to judge the signing.
- Huntington also told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam Berry) that the Pirates are actively scouring the waiver wire for possible additions, though he cited the inherent difficulties of landing players through the unpredictable August waivers process. Some of the salary saved in the Francisco Liriano trade could help the Bucs make claims on pricier players, Huntington said, whether it’s to actually obtain the players themselves or simply block them from going to rival teams.
- If the Pirates were willing to sell low on Liriano just to get his contract off the books, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wonder if the club would consider the same with Andrew McCutchen this winter. The former NL MVP is owed $14MM in 2017, and the Bucs have a $14.5MM club option ($1MM buyout) on his services for 2018. McCutchen’s contract has long considered one of the game’s most team-friendly deals given how the outfielder emerged as a superstar after signing the extension, so while it seems wild to now consider it a financial burden, McCutchen is suffering through the worst season of his career, hitting just .241/.314/.404 with 15 homers through 443 PA. Despite these struggles, you would figure that the modest contractual commitment, McCutchen’s relative youth (he’s 29) and excellent track record would still figure to make him a sought-after trade chip if Pittsburgh indeed made him available. Highly-touted prospect Austin Meadows is also waiting in the wings for the Pirates as a possible outfield replacement.
AL Central News & Rumors: Ventura, Napoli, Tribe, Royals
Here’s the latest from around the AL Central…
- During an appearance on WSCR Radio’s “Inside The Clubhouse” show (hat tip to CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine), White Sox GM Rick Hahn said that discussions with manager Robin Ventura and the coaching staff about their futures with the team will wait until the end of the season. While the Sox have had another underachieving season, the lack of talk isn’t necessarily a sign that Ventura and company could be in trouble, as “we had the same conversations a couple of years back, when he was in the last year of his deal that time,” Hahn said. “Even as a player, [Ventura] played out the last year of his contract, and focused on the end of that particular season. He let the contractual stuff go until the end of the season, and that is our plan at this point.” Ventura quietly signed a two-year extension during the 2013-14 offseason, prior to his last season under his previous contract as Chicago’s skipper.
- Could the qualifying offer keep Mike Napoli in an Indians uniform? Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer floats the idea that the Tribe could extend the one-year QO (rumored to be worth $16.7MM) to Napoli as an attempt at keeping the slugger in the fold without making too lengthy a commitment to a player with a checkered injury history and who is entering his age-35 season. Napoli has enjoyed an outstanding season (.253/.339/.515 with 28 homers in 442 PA) and could certainly be in line for a multi-year deal this winter. If Napoli feels the draft pick compensation attached to the qualifying offer could dampen his market, however, he could also accept the QO and remain on a contender he enjoys playing for, while still taking home a nice payday. It’s certainly one of the more interesting possible QO scenarios in play this winter, assuming of course that the qualifying offer still exists in its current form if the new collective bargaining agreement is finalized before the offseason begins.
- The Royals have disappointed this season, and rival executives tell Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star that the Royals could face a tough time reloading for another quick return to prominence. A lack of quality pitching in the system is one issue, not to mention rule changes to the draft and international spending that have made it harder for smaller-market teams like K.C. to stockpile talent. Dodd’s piece is well worth a full read for a look at what plagued the Royals this season and the challenges they’ll face in the future.
Jonathan Lucroy Explains Veto Of Indians Trade
There’s been a great deal written about the reasons behind Jonathan Lucroy‘s decision to invoke his no-trade clause in order to veto a trade to the Indians, and Lucroy himself has elected to set the record straight, as told to ESPN.com’s Robert Sanchez. The entire explanation is well worth a look for any fan, but Cleveland fans feeling jilted by Lucroy will especially want to take a look to read his own take.
When first informed by Brewers GM David Stearns that he’d been traded, Lucroy said he wasn’t informed which team had struck a deal to acquire him, as medical information needed to be examined before anything could be finalized. He assumed, however, that he’d been dealt to a club that didn’t appear on his no-trade list, as he wasn’t asked about waiving the clause at the time. When Lucroy’s agent, Doug Rogalski, learned it was Cleveland who had the agreement, he called Lucroy to inform him. As Lucroy says…
“I was surprised, but I wanted to keep an open mind. Great team. Competitive team. There’s a real chance to win. Doug called Chris Antonetti, the Indians’ president. There was one thing we wanted to know: What was my future with the Indians? We knew Cleveland already had a good catcher, Yan Gomes, who’s injured right now. He’s getting paid more than me, and he’s younger than me. We knew they’d probably want him catching almost every day next year. Heck, if I were the general manager in Cleveland, I’d want Gomes catching every day.
We were right. Antonetti told Doug that the Indians couldn’t make any promises on me catching next season. There was no way they’d drop the team option, either, because I’m pretty inexpensive in 2017. I don’t blame them. I would have been mostly at first base and designated hitter.”
Lucroy stresses that the decision was not because of any negative feelings he harbors toward the city of Cleveland, Indians fans or the Indians organization. He, in fact, was sure to state that he actually respects the organization even more now due to Antonetti’s honesty: “He could have lied to my agent and said I’d play catcher every day next season. … He told the truth. I’m thankful for that.”
Lucroy calls the decision to reject the trade purely economic, believing that teams wouldn’t place as high of a value on him as a free agent if it had been more than a calendar year since he’d regularly been catching games. He also expressed a basic love for the position of catcher — his regular spot on the diamond since he was 12 years old — and spoke about the difficulty he had when thinking of not manning the spot on a near-daily basis in 2017. Lucroy goes on to discuss the uneasiness of waiting to find out if he’d be traded, the impact that the talks had on his wife and young daughter, the emotion he felt in his final at-bat as a member of the Brewers and the relief he felt not only from being traded to a contending club but one that is close to his offseason home in Louisiana. “I know I had nothing to do with the Rangers getting to where they are now, but I want to have a lot to do with finishing the job,” he closes.
Again, readers are strongly encouraged to check out Lucroy’s full statements, as they provide a behind-the-curtain look at the thoughts, emotion and stress that fans and the media alike will often take for granted when discussing trades.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/7/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around baseball…
- The Athletics selected the contract of righty Chris Smith from Triple-A Nashville, the team announced. Catcher Josh Phegley was transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL to create a 40-man roster spot, while a spot on Oakland’s 25-man roster opened up thanks to Sonny Gray‘s DL stint. Smith pitched in relief for the A’s today, which marked his first appearance in a Major League game since 2010. Smith posted a 5.19 ERA over 67 2/3 innings with the Red Sox and Brewers from 2008-10, and has since pitched in independent ball and also spent time in the Mariners’ and Padres’ minor league systems.
- The Dodgers purchased the contract of outfielder Rob Segedin today, optioning Chris Taylor to Triple-A and shifting Trayce Thompson to the 60-day DL in corresponding moves to create roster space. Segedin was a third-round pick of the Yankees in the 2010 draft, and he spent his entire career in New York’s system before joining the Dodgers organization this season, slashing .280/.357/.442 over 2331 minor league PA. Segedin has made an immediate impact in his big league debut tonight, already with two hits and four RBI against Red Sox ace David Price.
NL East News & Rumors: Ichiro, Prado, Walker, Phillies
Ichiro Suzuki joined the 3000-hit club today, as the Marlins outfielder collected his milestone hit in the form of a seventh-inning triple during Miami’s 10-7 win over the Rockies. Suzuki became the 30th player in MLB history to collect 3000 hits, though of course, Ichiro is now up to 4278 career hits counting his storied career in Japan. At age 42, Ichiro has shown no inclination to retire, so he should be able to climb several more steps up the all-time hit leaderboard before he finally hangs up the cleats. Congratulations to one of baseball’s legends as we check out some notes from around the NL East…
- The Marlins have yet to make Martin Prado a contract offer but they’re expected to do so after the season, a team source tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The 32-year-old has hit well in his walk year, carrying a .318/.372/.422 slash line over 452 plate appearances into today’s action. Prado has long been regarded as a clubhouse leader in Miami and he has also won the respect of Don Mattingly in the skipper’s first season running the Marlins. If Prado leaves in free agency, the Marlins do have a ready-made internal replacement for third base in Derek Dietrich.
- The Mets have yet to approach Neil Walker about a new contract, the free agent second baseman tells Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News, though Walker is quite open to remaining with the team. “When I say I am excited about the future here, I don’t just mean what I think we can still do this season,” Walker said. “I like the players we have here, I like what I think we are building for this season and for years to come. I’d like to be a part of it, yeah.” A team source tells Ackert that the Mets will “make a good run” at re-signing Walker, and GM Sandy Alderson said earlier this week that the club would talk to Walker, especially given how Dilson Herrera‘s trade shakes up the Mets’ middle infield plans. Ackert, for her part, believes re-signing Walker would bring some much-needed stability to a Mets infield that has big injury question marks in David Wright and Lucas Duda.
- Hector Neris and Edubray Ramos will see a lot of action over the last two months of the season and the relievers could be trade chips for the Phillies this winter, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. The Phils scored one major trade haul for Ken Giles last winter, and if Neris and/or Ramos both continue their impressive performance, they could also bring back a solid return. As Phillies GM Matt Klentak noted about the trade deadline, “the industry is shifting. They’re paying a lot for elite bullpen arms. We learned that a little bit last offseason ourselves, and I think that’s been reinforced through some of the trades this year.”
Red Sox Release Casey Janssen
The Red Sox have released veteran reliever Casey Janssen, as per the International League’s official transactions page. Today was the day that Janssen could opt out of his minor league deal with the Sox, Brendan McGair of the Pawtucket Times reported (Twitter links), and the righty elected to look for an opportunity with another team.
Janssen has signed minor league contracts with Boston and San Diego in 2016 but has yet to appear in the majors this season. He posted solid numbers at the Triple-A and low-A levels for the Sox, delivering a 2.87 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 3.00 K/BB rate over a combined 15 2/3 innings at both levels.
Best known as a longtime fixture in the Blue Jays bullpen, Janssen served as Toronto’s closer from 2012-14 before losing the job after struggling in the latter half of the 2014 season (due in part to an illness picked up during an All-Star break vacation). He posted a 4.95 ERA over 40 IP out of the Nationals bullpen in 2015 as his fastball velocity and ground ball rate declined for the second straight season.
Rangers Release Craig Breslow
The Rangers have released southpaw Craig Breslow, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford reports (Twitter link). The veteran reliever signed a minor league deal with Texas two weeks ago that contained an opt-out clause (for next week), though as Bradford notes, the two sides agreed to end their relationship now rather than wait Breslow to officially opt out.
Breslow posted a 4.50 ERA, 4.5 K/9 and 1.75 K/BB rate over 14 innings with Miami this season before the Marlins released him in May. He had only a brief stint with the Rangers’ Triple-A club (allowing three runs in two innings over three games), and apparently wasn’t close to receiving a promotion to the majors. The Texas bullpen has struggled as a whole, though the Rangers did acquire Jeremy Jeffress at the trade deadline and Jake Diekman and Alex Claudio are already in the fold as left-handed options, leaving little room for Breslow.
Breslow, who turns 36 on Monday, has been his effectiveness diminish over the last two seasons, thanks in large part to a spike in his home run rate. He was also hit hard by both left-handed and right-handed batters in 2014-15, after spending the majority of his career posting solid splits against hitters on both sides of the plate. Given that Breslow has a solid track record of effective relief pitching, however, he’ll likely get looks from several clubs in need of relief depth.