Cafardo’s Latest: Valencia, Royals, Liriano, Melancon, Santana
Here’s the latest hot stove buzz from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe…
- The Royals and Indians are among the teams looking at Athletics third baseman Danny Valencia. Kansas City has a void at third base with Mike Moustakas out for the season, and Valencia is a known quantity, having played for the team in 2014. The Tribe have also received below-replacement level production at the hot corner all season, though Jose Ramirez has played well splitting time between third and left field. Valencia could perhaps be a better fit for Cleveland in left given his rough defensive metrics (-13 Defensive Runs Saved, -26.9 UZR.150) at third base this season, though his bat certainly plays for either the Indians or Royals. Valencia is hitting .333/.381/.552 with 11 homers over 218 PA for the A’s, though that comes with the caveat of a .373 BABIP. The Mets are another team known to have interest in Valencia, though their subsequent signing of Jose Reyes may have addressed their infield needs.
- While Valencia is a right-handed bat, Cafardo notes in another item that “the Royals seem to be in on every left-handed hitter.” K.C. has posted middle-of-the-pack offensive statistics against righty pitching this year and is lacking in lineup balance, though the return of Alex Gordon from the DL should help on both counts. Cafardo implies that Padres outfielder Jon Jay (a left-handed hitter) could be a Royals trade target.
- The Marlins “possibly” have interest in Pirates southpaw Francisco Liriano. The lefty is having a down year, though the Fish could see Liriano as an answer to their pitching search due to the presence of Miami VP of pitching development Jim Benedict (who was credited with getting Liriano on track when the two were in Pittsburgh).
- Speaking of Pirates arms, closer Mark Melancon is also drawing attention from teams in need of bullpen help. Cafardo cites the Astros, Giants, Mets and Red Sox as teams who could be potential fits. Melancon is a free agent at the end of the season and thus could be a logical trade candidate if the Bucs decide to become deadline sellers. Melancon has a 1.53 ERA through 29 1/3 IP this season, though advanced metrics indicate that this is the weakest of his four seasons as a Pirates. Melancon has a 2.93 FIP, 4.18 xFIP and 3.88 SIERA, while experiencing drops in his strikeout and grounder rates (and an increase in BB/9).
- Ervin Santana “is seen as perhaps the most viable trade deadline pickup on the market,” with one AL assistant GM describing the Twins veteran as “the one guy out there who could be a sure thing in the middle of the rotation.” Santana has a 4.64 ERA, 6.37 K/9 and 2.39 K/BB rate over 77 2/3 innings this season, with ERA indicators backing up his unimpressive ERA. I would guess Minnesota would have to eat a fair amount of money in a Santana trade, as the righty is owed roughly $33.8MM through the 2018 season (plus a $14MM club/vesting option for 2019).
- Even a mid-tier arm like Santana could draw trade interest, however, as Cafardo predicts that little pitching will be available at the deadline. Teams may focus more on offense, and Cafardo lists 15 position players who could be targeted as we approach August 1. Many of the names have already cropped up in trade rumors, though Cafardo speculates that some unlikely names as Joe Mauer or Khris Davis could also get some attention.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Yanks, Jays, Bucs, Phillies
Here’s this week’s look around the baseball blogosphere:
- Chin Music Baseball names five players who have taken significant steps backward since starting the season in red-hot fashion.
- Other League details the changes Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka has made this year.
- Baseball Hot Corner defends ex-Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi.
- PhoulBallz interviews Phillies pitching prospect Luke Leftwich as well as his father and grandfather. The latter two pitched in the majors, which means Leftwich will become the second third-generation hurler in MLB history if he makes it.
- Think Blue Planning Committee addresses how the Dodgers can improve at this year’s trade deadline.
- World Series Dreaming ponders if the Cubs should move righty Jason Hammel to the bullpen.
- Blue Jay Hunter sees big money in designated hitter/first baseman Edwin Encarnacion‘s future.
- Inside the ‘Zona examines the success of Diamondbacks closer Brad Ziegler and tries to find another Ziegler-type pitcher the D-backs could target.
- Now On Deck regards this as the perfect time for the Orioles to take a stranglehold of the AL East.
- Bleeding Royal Blue analyzes the adjustments Royals setup man Joakim Soria has made this season.
- Outside Pitch MLB dives into whether southpaw Drew Pomeranz has a future with the Padres.
- Bronx Bomber Blogger offers five ways toward future success for the Yankees, including selling this summer.
- Pirates Breakdown highlights the journey of utilityman Adam Frazier, whom Pittsburgh called up this week.
- Notes From The Sally lists the 20 best prospects in the South Atlantic League at the midpoint of its season.
- Brew Crew Fever looks at which Brewers deserve All-Star consideration.
- All Facets Of The Game believes Rangers center fielder Ian Desmond is an AL MVP candidate.
- Jays Journal wonders if breakout left fielder Michael Saunders has a chance to get a similar contract to Jose Bautista in free agency.
- Jays From The Couch is concerned about Saunders’ high strikeout rate.
- Wayniac Nation applauds the work of Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius.
- The Point of Pittsburgh has invented a grading scale to judge Pirates manager Clint Hurdle’s decisions.
- isportsweb scrutinizes a few in-house candidates to take over for Jeremy Hellickson in the Phillies’ rotation if the club trades him.
- A’s Farm presents its midseason organizational All-Star team for the Athletics.
- Sports Heaven suggests some new events for All-Star weekend.
- The Runner Sports updates the excellent season the Astros’ Double-A affiliate, Corpus Christi, is having.
- Pinstriped Prospects has a story on the combined no-hitter the Staten Island Yankees threw last week.
- The Ranger Report doesn’t see any reason for the Rangers to panic over the rash of injuries in their rotation.
- Rotisserie Duck has the answers to last week’s 1953 baseball card quiz.
- Halo Headquarters asks if Angels first baseman Albert Pujols should retire.
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Quick Hits: Yanks, Bucs, BoSox, Rangers, Mets
If first baseman Mark Teixeira and designated hitter Alex Rodriguez don’t turn around their seasons by the July All-Star break, the Yankees should buy the pair out, opines Joel Sherman of the New York Post. While the Yankees still owe them around $45.4MM combined, Sherman notes that the Rockies and Dodgers have taken similar financial hits with the recent buyouts of Jose Reyes and Carl Crawford. The 37-36 Yankees wouldn’t exactly be loaded with capable first basemen without Teixeira, though, as their depth chart shows. Jettisoning A-Rod, who’s signed through 2017, would enable the Yankees to put 39-year-old Carlos Beltran at DH and go with some combination of Aaron Hicks, Rob Refsnyder and prospect Aaron Judge in right field, Sherman contends. It seems doubtful that the Yankees would get rid of either, but the team clearly needs more production from the veteran duo. Teixeira, a pending free agent, is batting a horrendous .176/.271/.259 with three homers in 192 plate appearances – a far cry from the .255/.357/.548 line and 31 HRs he slugged in 462 PAs last year. Notably, Rodriguez is five homers shy of 700, which is another reason the Yankees look unlikely to move on from him. The 40-year-old is slashing a weak .222/.264/.398, however, after posting a .250/.356/.486 line and racking up 33 long balls in 2015.
Here’s more from around the majors:
- Pirates general manager Neal Huntington dismissed the idea of trading five-time All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen earlier this week, but it’s something the team should eventually consider, writes Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Pirates have a top-end outfield prospect in Austin Meadows, who would step in alongside Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco in the event of a McCutchen trade. Long the face of the Pirates’ franchise, the 29-year-old McCutchen is under team control through 2018 on an eminently reasonable contract. Even after a two-homer game Saturday, though, his normally excellent offensive production hasn’t been there this season. Through 316 PAs this year, the former NL MVP has hit .243/.320/423 – good for a league-average 101 wRC+. Right thumb issues have hampered McCutchen, who’s showing far less control over the strike zone than usual, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan detailed Thursday. For his part, McCutchen said Saturday that he isn’t concerned about trade rumors because they’re out of his control (Twitter link via Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune-Review).
- The Rangers inquired about Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright during the offseason, Texas president and GM Jon Daniels told Rob Bradford of WEEI on Saturday. “We asked about him this winter and they did not want to move him,” said Daniels. Wright was out of options and coming off a season in which he threw 72 2/3 innings and recorded a 4.09 ERA, 6.44 K/9, 3.34 BB/9 and 43.2 percent ground-ball rate. Nearly all of those numbers have improved this season, especially the 31-year-old’s ERA – which stands at a sparkling 2.18 through 103 frames. Daniels told Bradford that the Rangers “would have tried harder” to land Wright had they known he would be this successful in 2016.
- Mets outfielder Alejandro De Aza has batted an ugly .169/.221/.247 with 29 strikeouts and five walks through 96 trips to the plate, but designating him for assignment isn’t under consideration as of now, a source told Marc Carig of Newsday (Twitter link). De Aza, whom the Mets signed to a $5.75MM deal in the offseason, will be a free agent at year’s end.
Reliever Notes: Cubs, Yanks, BoSox, Cardinals
The latest reliever-related news from around the majors:
- The Cubs continue to scout the Yankees’ dominant late-game trio of Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, reports George A. King III of the New York Post. After sending Jason Parks to the Bronx to observe the troika earlier this month, the Cubs had a three-man contingent – including pro scouting director Jared Porter and pro scout Steve Boros – take in the performances of the lights-out relief aces over the past two days. Chapman, Miller and Betances combined for six shutout, one-hit innings during that span, also adding nine strikeouts against zero walks. The Yankees have won three straight and are at 37-36 – just 2.5 games out of an AL Wild Card spot – so they certainly don’t look like surefire sellers at the moment. That could change prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline, of course.
- If the opportunity arises, Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski would be willing to make a trade with the archenemy Yankees, he told Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Specifically, the Red Sox would have interest in the Yankees’ top relievers, notes MacPherson. The only trade the AL East rivals have made since 1997 came when the Sox dealt shortstop Stephen Drew to the Yankees in 2014, but that lack of history wouldn’t stop Dombrowski from trying to swing a deal with Brian Cashman. “If they’re in it and we’re in it, probably the odds are longer,” Dombrowski said in regards to a potential move. Boston, which possesses the top Wild Card position in the AL, is currently four games ahead of New York.
- After Trevor Rosenthal yielded three earned runs and failed to record an out in a losing effort Friday, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny informed the right-hander Saturday that he’s out as the Redbirds’ closer, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. For now at least, the Cardinals will go with a combination of Seung-hwan Oh, Kevin Siegrist and Jonathan Broxton in save situations, Matheny said (Twitter link via Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com). Rosenthal took the reins as the Cardinals’ closer in 2014 and proceeded to save 93 of 102 opportunities and log a 2.65 ERA over a two-season, 139-inning span. This year has been a different story, though, as Rosenthal has offset excellent strikeout (13.5 per nine innings) and grounder rates (56.7 percent) with a 7.88 BB/9 (up from 4.34 from 2014-15) and a soaring home run rate. The 27-year-old’s ERA sits at an unsightly 5.63.
Draft Signings: 6/25/16
Here’s a roundup of key draft signings not yet covered here at MLBTR.
- The Phillies have signed fifth-round lefty Cole Irvin to an above-slot deal worth $800K, well over the $417,500 value of the 137th pick, reports Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (Twitter link). Mayo and colleague Jim Callis ranked Irvin as the 138th-best prospect entering the draft, noting that the Oregon standout possesses a 93 to 94 mph fastball and two occasionally above-average secondary offerings – a slider and changeup. Irvin has a solid chance to crack the majors as a back-end starter, according to the MLB.com duo.
- The Tigers have signed fourth-rounder Kyle Funkhouser for $750K, significantly above the pick value of $526,200, as Callis tweets. The Louisville righty was a first-round pick by the Dodgers last season, but he opted not to sign after sliding down draft boards. The righty suffered diminished velocity this year, resulting in his stock dropping still further — MLB.com’s scouting report notes that he threw 88-92 MPH with secondary stuff that was weaker than it had been previously. Callis notes, though, that Funkhouser’s stuff improved as the draft approached.
- The Orioles have agreed to terms with their second-rounder, No. 69 overall pick Matthias Dietz, Callis notes (on Twitter). Dietz will receive $1.3MM significantly above his pick value of $934,400. The Illinois community college righty stands 6’6 and throws 91-94 MPH, touching 98, with a hard slider. He is committed to TCU.
- The Giants have signed Vanderbilt outfielder and second-rounder Bryan Reynolds, as Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. The selection, at No. 59 overall, was the Giants’ top pick, since they forfeited their first-rounder with the Jeff Samardzija signing. Via a tweet from Callis, Reynolds will receive $1.35MM, above the pick value of $1.09MM. Callis notes that Reynolds rated as a first-round talent, but he ultimately slid in the draft. Via MLB.com, the switch-hitter has solid tools across the board, but none rank as outstanding, and some scouts fret about his strikeout proclivities.
- The Dodgers have signed 11th-round pick A.J. Alexy for $600K, almost $500K above his pick value, Callis tweets. As Baseball America noted in its pre-draft scouting report (subscription only), the Pennsylvania high school righty currently throws 88-92 MPH, although he’s 6’4 and projectable, with the talent to throw three pitches in the big leagues. He was committed to Radford. The Dodgers should have space to sign him in part because they picked college seniors in the ninth and tenth rounds, and because second-rounder Mitchell White signed for significantly below his pick value.
AL West Notes: Astros, A’s, Mariners
Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow hinted that Double-A shortstop/third baseman Alex Bregman could be on his way to Triple-A Fresno during the upcoming week, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez is also a candidate to receive a promotion to Fresno, per McTaggart. Bregman, the more notable of the two, has hit a phenomenal .295/.403/.555 with 14 home runs and 35 walks against 26 strikeouts in 269 plate appearances. The No. 2 pick in last year’s draft, Bregman could soon be a factor at third for the surging Astros – though Luis Valbuena‘s production has risen substantially since a poor April. Hernandez, 23, has seen Double-A action since 2014 and is currently posting his best-ever numbers at that level, batting .302/.383/.434 with six homers and 29 steals across 306 trips to the plate with Corpus Christi.
News on a couple of Houston’s division rivals:
- Athletics right-hander Henderson Alvarez had a platelet-rich plasma injection for his throwing shoulder and will be shut down for three more weeks, tweets Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. He had the injection a week ago after an MRI showed no structural damage in his shoulder, per Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area (Twitter link). Alvarez missed most of 2015 because of shoulder troubles and the A’s signed the ex-Marlin in the offseason to a one-year, $4.25MM deal with the hope that he’d reestablish himself in their uniform, but it hasn’t been in the cards yet.
- After exiting in warmups Thursday with “general soreness,” Mariners righty Adrian Sampson will undergo season-ending surgery on his elbow, according to Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. “This isn’t as bad (as Tommy John), but surgery is required,” Sampson, who underwent Tommy John surgery as a high schooler in 2009, told Dutton. “They’re saying it’s a Grade III, which is enough that they have to repair it with surgery. They’re saying I should be good by spring training.” The Mariners acquired Sampson from the Pirates last year for J.A. Happ, and he threw 80 1/3 innings of 3.25 ERA ball – with a 6.83 K/9 and 1.34 BB/9 – for Triple-A Tacoma this season. Sampson, 24, made his major league debut June 18 against the Red Sox, who teed off on him for four earned runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 frames.
- Injured lefty Wade Miley, whom Sampson replaced in the Mariners’ rotation, is close to returning from a sore shoulder, writes Greg Johns of MLB.com. “Pain free. I’m ready to rock and roll,” Miley said Friday after a 55-pitch rehab start for Class-A Everett. The Mariners will hope for better results from Miley when he comes back, as the 29-year-old ran up a 5.28 ERA – far above his career mark of 4.06 – in 76 2/3 innings prior to the injury.
Braves Sign No. 3 Overall Pick Ian Anderson
SATURDAY, 8:00pm: The signing is official, writes David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
3:33pm: The Braves have announced that they’ve agreed to terms with Anderson. Heyman tweets that Anderson will receive exactly $4MM.
MONDAY: The Braves and No. 3 overall draft pick Ian Anderson are finalizing a deal that’ll pay the high school right-hander about $4MM, reports FanRag’s Jon Heyman (links to Twitter). Heyman adds that Anderson will not officially sign until he has graduated. That bonus represents a savings of about $2.5MM on his slot value of $6,510,800 (via MLB.com’s Jim Callis) — money that will help the Braves afford later picks such as Joey Wentz, Kyle Muller and Drew Harrington — each of whom has already reportedly agreed to an over-slot deal.
Anderson, who just turned 18 last month, was rated most highly entering the draft by ESPN’s Keith Law (No. 7 overall), but Baseball America (No. 12) and MLB.com (No. 13) each had him as a top-half-of-the-first-round talent as well. Shortly before the draft, rumors surfaced indicating that Atlanta may tab Anderson in order to save some funds which would be allocated tough signs, and that indeed is how their draft played out.
Scouting reports on Anderson from the three outlets above praise his fastball that sits in the low 90s but can reach 95-96 mph, and BA calls his changeup “devastating” while giving him credit for an above-average curve as well. At 6’4″ and 180 pounds, there’s certainly reason to think that Anderson can continue to fill out his frame. Anderson’s stock might’ve been higher this season if he hadn’t been slowed by an oblique injury and a bout of pneumonia. Ultimately, his deal will allow the Braves to add four high-upside arms to their ranks. While three of them (Anderson, Wentz and Muller) will be a ways off because they are of the high school variety, landing three arms that both BA and MLB.com rated within the top 25 draft prospects seems like a strong haul that should only further bolster an impressive Braves farm system.
The Braves were $2,584,700 over-slot on the combination of Wentz, Muller and Harrington, so the savings from Anderson alone appear to be enough to ensure that Atlanta avoids the loss of a future first-round pick. That wouldn’t happen until the Braves exceeded their bonus pool by more than five percent, although Atlanta will pay a 75 percent luxury tax on any overages up to five percent. That, however, hasn’t been a deterrent for teams in the past and should be of fairly marginal consequence to the Braves should they be required to do so this year.
Dodgers Sign First-Rounder Jordan Sheffield
The Dodgers have signed first-round pick Jordan Sheffield, the right-hander announced on Instagram. Los Angeles selected Sheffield 36th overall, the competitive balance pick it received for not signing Kyle Funkhouser – whom it took 35th a year ago. Sheffield will land a $1.85MM bonus, which is more expensive than the value of the pick ($1.79MM), tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com.
Sheffield, 21, garnered solid pre-draft rankings from prospect experts, with Callis and colleague Jonathan Mayo placing him 19th, Baseball America (subscription required) 23rd and ESPN’s Keith Law (Insider required) 31st. Law actually had Sheffield ending up with the Dodgers in his June 9 mock draft, but with the 32nd pick instead of the 36th. Sheffield is perhaps the likeliest pitcher in this year’s draft to develop three plus offerings, according to Callis and Mayo, who praised his high-velocity fastball (94 to 96, with the ability to hit 98), breaking ball and circle change. However, the 6-foot, 185-pounder’s size, past Tommy John surgery and high-effort delivery are red flags, per Callis and Mayo.
Sheffield, the brother of Indians left-handed prospect Justus Sheffield, was previously a 13th-round pick of the Red Sox in 2013 after his stock fell because of his Tommy John procedure. However, in lieu of signing with the Sox, he chose to honor his commitment to Vanderbilt. He recovered from the surgery to rebuild his stock at the college level and will now join the Dodgers. With Sheffield locked up, the Dodgers have their first 12 picks – and 16 of their initial 17 selections – under contract, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets.
East Notes: Phillies, BoSox, Yanks, Mets
Phillies right-hander Vincent Velasquez and his agent, Scott Boras, have talked about an innings limit for this season, the 24-year-old told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “The agents and I discussed it a little bit, but I don’t know the definite answer, an exact amount of innings. I don’t know, I’d want to say roughly like maybe 150 or something, maybe 160 tops,” said Velasquez, who has been on the disabled list since June 9 with a strained right biceps. “I would say, philosophically, we’re probably in the same ballpark,” stated team president Andy MacPhail. Velasquez has never racked up more than 124 2/3 innings in a season, as Zolecki notes, and was up to 61 2/3 frames this year before landing on the DL. The hard-throwing Velasquez recorded a 3.65 ERA, 10.65 K/9 and 3.21 BB/9 over that 12-start span, further establishing himself as one of baseball’s most exciting young starters, so it’s no surprise that both Boras and the rebuilding Phillies want to protect the ex-Astro.
Here’s more from MLB’s two East divisions:
- With Red Sox catcher Ryan Hanigan nearing a return from a neck strain and the out-of-options Sandy Leon swinging a red-hot bat, 25-year-old backstop Christian Vazquez‘s playing time and-or roster spot could soon be in jeopardy, per Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. Vazquez has graded well as a pitch framer this year and has caught a solid 7 of 18 would-be base stealers, but he has offset his terrific defense with an anemic .215/.255/.302 batting line and one home run in 157 plate appearances. That adds up to a 41 wRC+, the third-worst mark among catchers with at least 150 PAs.
- Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda has rebounded from a nightmarish two-month start to put up sterling numbers in June, with a 3.00 ERA, 37 strikeouts and five walks in 30 innings, and could be pitching his way into the team’s long-term plans, opines Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. That’s not a decision the Yankees will have to make immediately, though, as Pineda isn’t scheduled to become a free agent until the end of the 2017 season. Since recovering from a torn labrum and debuting with the Yankees in 2014, the former Mariner has amassed 320 1/3 innings of 4.08 ERA ball to accompany an excellent 6.45 K/BB ratio and a respectable 45 percent ground-ball rate. Similar production going forward should lead to an appreciable raise for the 27-year-old, who’s making $4.3MM this season.
- “Mental confusion” is what caused the Mets to demote left fielder Michael Conforto to Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday, manager Terry Collins told reporters, including Adam Rubin of ESPN.com (video link). “I just want him to go get some confidence and get back here,” continued Collins. After hitting a videogamelike .365/.442/.676 in 86 April PAs, Conforto, 23, has since collected just 21 hits (six fewer than his April total) in 157 trips to the plate.
Central Notes: Gordon, Kuhl, Putnam
The Royals have announced that they’ve activated Alex Gordon from the DL and optioned fellow outfielder Brett Eibner to Triple-A Omaha. (The move is now reflected in Roster Resource’s Royals Depth Chart.) Gordon had been out since late May with a broken bone in his wrist. He was hitting just .211/.319/.331 before his injury, but given his usual combination of a high OBP and excellent left field defense, he should be a major addition for the Royals, who are currently four games back of the Indians in the AL Central and a half-game back of the Blue Jays for the last Wild Card spot. Here’s more from the Central divisions.
- The Pirates recently reinstated Juan Nicasio from the restricted list and are moving him to the bullpen, as MLB.com’s Adam Berry explains. Nicasio has had an uneven year so far and relies almost entirely on a hard fastball and slider, so it’s easy to see the appeal of making him a reliever. Replacing him in the Pirates’ rotation will be Chad Kuhl, who appears likely to start Sunday against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers. Kuhl, a former ninth-round draft pick, didn’t rate highly on Pirates prospect lists at the start of the year, but he’s in the midst of a strong season for Indianapolis, where he’s posted a 2.58 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 76 2/3 innings. His bread-and-butter pitch is a high-velocity sinker, which the ground-ball-obsessed Pirates organization surely appreciates.
- White Sox reliever Zach Putnam is considering his options after getting a second opinion Friday on his ulnar neuritis in his right elbow, and surgery is a possibility, CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes writes. “Still parceling through the options and at this point we don’t have a specific timeframe for him,” says White Sox GM Rick Hahn. When Putnam hit the DL Tuesday, he became the third key White Sox reliever to have a significant injury, following Jake Petricka (hip) and Daniel Webb (elbow), both of whom are now likely out for the season. Putnam’s absence, if it lasts, could end up being the most crucial of the three — with a 2.30 ERA, 9.9 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9, he’s been a key part of the team’s bridge to David Robertson this year. In any case, all the injuries have left the White Sox shorthanded, with rookies Matt Purke, Michael Ynoa and Chris Beck all now on the team’s active roster.