Keone Kela To Miss Three Months Due To Elbow Surgery
10:08pm: Rangers executive vice president of communications John Blake announced tonight that Kela will indeed undergo surgery to remove the bone spur. Kela will have the operation tomorrow, and Wilson tweets that he’ll be out for three months.
4:17pm: Rangers setup man Keone Kela is headed to the disabled list with an impingement in his right elbow, the club announced today. Right-hander Phil Klein will be recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to take Kela’s spot on the 25-man roster. Both Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (links to Twitter) and Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (link) have tweeted that surgery seems likely Kela, with Grant suggesting a 12-week timeline for his recovery. That would sideline Kela past the All-Star break and mark a significant hit to the Rangers’ bullpen. Wilson does tweet that the Rangers are confident that there is no damage to Kela’s ulnar collateral ligament, making Tommy John surgery unlikely.
Kela, who just turned 23, had an excellent rookie season with the Rangers in 2015, logging a 2.39 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 50.6 percent ground-ball rate. This particular issue dates back to last season, Grant tweets, as Kela was diagnosed with the bone spur in September but elected to undergo a platelet-rich plasma injection to alleviate the pain. Per Grant, general manager Jon Daniels gets the impression that “[Kela] wants to feel 100 percent” this time around.
As I noted in reviewing the Rangers’ offseason, the club has amassed a deep stock of bullpen talent, so the Rangers are at least well-equipped to handle the loss of their outstanding setup man. In addition to closer Shawn Tolleson, the Rangers have Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman, Tom Wilhelmsen and an intriguing upside play in right-hander Tony Barnette, who was signed out of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball this offseason. The Rangers had enough relief depth that they were rumored to be discussing a swap of a bullpen arm for a fifth starter with the Indians late in Spring Training, although with Kela potentially missing three months, it seems fortuitous that a deal never came to fruition.
AL East Notes: Donaldson, Smith, Machado, Orioles
Josh Donaldson‘s incredible 2015 season earned him American League MVP honors and made him a household name, but ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick profiles the Blue Jays third baseman and the level of preparation that made it possible for him to reach those heights. Newly acquired teammate Drew Storen tells Crasnick that he’s floored by the detail that Donaldson put into preparing for the season from day one of Spring Training, and Crasnick spoke to an NL exec that offered similar amazement at Donaldson’s consistent level of effort. “You never see him mail it in,” said the official. “He’s always on, even when you say he shouldn’t be on today. Day game after a night game, or they’re up 8-2 and you think he’s going to give the last at-bat away. He doesn’t do that. He doesn’t give anything away.” Donaldson’s reputation and character played a role in now-former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos’ original pursuit of the third baseman, Crasnick writes, and that same emphasis on character also played a heavy role in Toronto’s signing of Russell Martin.
Here’s more from the AL East…
- Red Sox right-hander Carson Smith is nearing a return, writes WEEI.com’s Ryan Hannable. Smith is slated to appear in extended Spring Training games on Friday and Saturday, and following that pair of appearances he’ll head out on a minor league rehab assignment early next week (barring any form of setback, of course). The Sox picked up Smith in the trade that sent left-hander Wade Miley to the Mariners and will be counting on him to pair with Koji Uehara and Craig Kimbrel in what, on paper, should be a dominant trio of relievers.
- While Bryce Harper and Mike Trout receive plenty of adulation as the game’s most exciting young stars, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs writes that Orioles third baseman Manny Machado should be right alongside that duo. Machado’s evolution into a legitimate slugger last season has him in an elite tier alongside Harper, Trout and Donaldson across the past calendar year. Machado, Cameron writes, is now hitting like Miguel Cabrera while also contributing Gold Glove defense, and even if he doesn’t grab as many headlines as other young stars in the game, he’s secured his place among the elite.
- Brian Matusz is slated to come off the disabled list on Saturday, writes MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli, and right-hander Kevin Gausman might not be far behind. Gausman could join the club early next week, Ghiroli writes. The pair of additions will likely cost the Orioles some length in their bullpen, Ghiroli writes, as skipper Buck Showalter said that he won’t use Matusz in a multi-inning role. Ghiroli notes that each of Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson, Mychal Givens and T.J. McFarland have minor league options remaining, though it’s certainly difficult to see Givens being optioned.
Cuban Outfielder Yadiel Hernandez Declared Free Agent
Cuban outfielder Yadiel Hernandez, who defected from the island late last June, has been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball today, reports Baseball America’s Ben Badler. The 28-year-old corner fielder had a showcase back in February that reportedly drew scouts from 25 teams.
Because Hernandez is older than 23 and has more than five years of professional experience in Cuba, he’s exempt from international signing bonuses and free to sign a Major League contract for any amount. A career .324/.449/.487 batter in Cuba, Hernandez has enough pop in his bat to hit 10 to 15 homers in a season, Badler writes, but the left-handed hitter’s on-base skills are a likelier source of value to big league teams. Indeed, Hernandez walked at an exceptional 17.5 percent clip throughout his career in Cuba, and his 380 walks drawn in those six seasons dwarf his 285 strikeouts.
Unlike many international free agents, Hernandez could conceivably help a big league club in short order, but it’s also important to note that he hasn’t played regularly in a game setting since the 2014-15 season in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. As such, it seems likely that he’d require some time in the minor leagues if for no other reason than to get up to speed and get some reps at the plate and in the field.
Badler adds that since his open showcase in late February, Hernandez has been hosting private workouts for interested clubs. He’s a client of Rep 1 Baseball.
Pirates Release Michael Morse
APRIL 21: Morse has been unconditionally released by the Pirates, tweets MLB.com’s Adam Berry. He’s now a free agent and can sign with any club.
APRIL 13: The Pirates announced today that they have selected the contract of right-hander A.J. Schugel and designated first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 25- and 40-man rosters.
The Pirates acquired Morse and cash considerations from the Dodgers last season in exchange for outfielder Jose Tabata and the remaining money on his contract, meaning they didn’t actually take on any additional salary in picking up Morse, who is owed $8MM in 2016 — the second season of a two-year, $16MM contract originally signed with the Marlins. The 34-year-old Morse has had one of the more interesting career arcs you’ll come across, going from third-round pick of the White Sox to failed prospect in Chicago/Seattle to breakout slugger at the age of 28 with the Nationals. Morse slugged 64 homers in 346 games for the 2010-12 Nats, posting an OPS+ of 131 before being sent back to Seattle in a trade. The 2013 season was another dreadful year for Morse, but he again revitalized his career with a huge season at the plate for the 2014 World Champion Giants. Upon signing his two-year deal with the Marlins, though, Morse’s offense again deteriorated, and he found himself involved in two salary dump trades last season.
Morse has batted a combined .247/.356/.351 in 90 plate appearances with the Pirates across the past two seasons. However, the offseason additions of Jason Rogers and David Freese left the club without a clear need for Morse, who had previously been penciled in as a right-handed platoon mate for first baseman John Jaso. It’s unlikely that any club will pick Morse up on release waivers due to his salary, so Morse is likely to clear and hit the open market, where he’ll be free to sign with any club. In that scenario, a new team would only be required to pay him the pro-rated league minimum (assuming they’re willing to give a 40-man roster spot).
As for Schugel, the 26-year-old was an offseason waiver claim for the Pirates, who subsequently outrighted him off the 40-man roster. Schugel struggled in nine innings with the D-backs last year — his first taste of Major League action — and has had some alarming troubles at the Triple-A level as well. Schugel has dominated Double-A but owns a 7.92 ERA in 128 1/3 Triple-A innings.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/21/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- Right-hander Keyvius Sampson, who was designated for assignment by the Reds earlier this week, has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Louisville, reports C. Trent Rosecrancs of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). The former Padres top prospect has logged 55 1/3 innings with the Reds across the past two seasons, struggling to a 6.83 ERA with a 45-to-30 K/BB ratio in that time. He’ll report to Louisville on Friday, per Rosecrans.
Earlier Moves
- The Nationals have released first baseman Nate Freiman, Triple-A Syracuse broadcaster Kevin Brown tweets. Freiman, 29, had struggled in limited action since coming over in exchange for Tyler Moore late in the spring. The towering first bagger owns a .256/.309/.408 bating line in 301 plate appearances at the major league level, all compiled with the Athletics in 2013-14 campaigns. He struggled at the Triple-A level last year for Oakland, putting up a .220/.279/.321 slash.
- Former big leaguer Micah Owings has signed on with the Atlantic League’s York Revolution, Jason Bristol of CBS 21 reports on Twitter. A rare two-way player at times, Owings will dedicate himself to making it back on the mound. After parts of six seasons as a big league pitcher, Owings moved to the outfield before 2013 and slashed .265/.305/.480 with eight home runs over 213 plate appearances at the Triple-A level with the Nationals organization. He had returned to the hill since, but hasn’t thrown much in affiliated ball. The 33-year-old hasn’t seen MLB action since 2012.
MLBTR Live Chat: 4/21/16
Click here to read a transcript of today’s live chat with host Jeff Todd.
Cuban Prospect Jose Adolis Garcia To Play In Japan
Cuban outfielder Jose Adolis Garcia has reached agreement on a contract with Japan’s Yomiuri Giants, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. The 24-year-old is the younger brother of Braves third baseman Adonis Garcia.
Garcia will be playing on a one-year arrangement with the authorization of the Cuban government. he is expected to return to his home island after the deal expires — as has been the case with several other top Cuban players in recent years.
Per Badler, Garcia is one of the better prospects who has yet to leave Cuba. He has the speed and arm strength to play center or right field. And he’s demonstrated good bat speed with some pop, though Badler notes that it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts to the higher-quality NPB pitching that he’ll face.
It seems unlikely that Garcia will end up with a major league organization in the near-term, of course, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t make it here eventually. After all, he’ll have a chance to improve against better competition and will certainly give MLB organizations a long look in Tokyo. And given the massive change currently taking place in U.S.-Cuban relations, it’s eminently possible that there will be a reasonable mechanism for player movement in place when Garcia’s NPB stint is up.
Kyle Lewis (Mercer University) Interview: Draft Prospect Q&A
MLBTR continues its Draft Prospect Q&A series in order to give our readers a look at some of the top names on the board in this year’s draft. MLBTR will be chatting with some of the draft’s most well-regarded prospects as they prepare for the 2016 draft on June 9-11; we’ve already spoken with Oklahoma’s Alec Hansen and Louisville’s Corey Ray.
Centerfielder Kyle Lewis is doing everything he can to put himself and Mercer University on the baseball map. The 6’4”, 210-pound junior has scouts flocking to Macon, GA, to watch the Southern Conference star play – and was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List this week.
Undrafted out of high school, the Snellville, GA, product burst onto the scene during the summer of 2014 by earning Great Lakes League Player of the Year honors. Last year, he nearly won the Southern Conference Triple Crown (batting .367 with 17 homers and 56 RBI) before putting together a stellar summer in the Cape Cod League.
Lewis entered the 2016 season ranking as the No. 8 overall prospect for the draft according to both MLB.com and Baseball America. Last week, ESPN.com’s Keith Law listed him as the seventh-best prospect for the draft, calling him “an athletic centerfielder with real power in his wrists. That’s a rarity in the draft for a position player who projects to stay up the middle.”
Lewis began this week ranking in the national Top 5 in homers, total bases, RBI, slugging percentage, walks, on-base percentage, runs scored and batting average. He took some time out of his busy schedule to talk with MLBTR:
Chuck Wasserstrom: Let’s start out by talking about Mercer – which isn’t exactly a baseball hotbed. You have the chance to become the first 1st-round pick in school history. Is that important to you?
Kyle Lewis: “Yes it is. It would be something exciting to say that I came from a small school and accomplish that type of thing. I take a lot of pride in being able to represent my school and be one of the faces for the school. So that would be something definitely exciting for me.”
Can you tell me a little bit about your baseball background? You went undrafted out of high school. Is it safe to say you played other sports growing up?
“I played baseball, but I played a lot more basketball. That was kind of my big thing – playing basketball coming up. I played baseball as well during the season, but I never played any summer baseball or anything like that until going into my senior year of high school. That year, I played my first year of full travel baseball – and I was able to have some success in that. So going into my senior year, I started picking up training and things like that in order to start working on my skills and be able to pursue a college scholarship and potentially get drafted.”
What types of things were you doing during the summer instead of playing travel baseball?
“I played basketball in the summer time. So I had to make a choice which one I wanted to play in college. After talking to some people around the baseball world, they told me if I was to practice more year-round and hone in on my skills, that I’d be able to be a pretty good player. That’s when I decided to commit to it.”
You had decisions to make in high school between pursuing paths in either basketball or baseball. How serious were you about going the basketball route in college?
“We had received interest calls in basketball. The Naval Academy was one of the bigger ones who wanted me to play for them. I did some workouts for mid-major schools. But after the season I went ahead and told my basketball coach to cancel those. At that point, I wanted to concentrate on baseball.”
So now you’ve decided you were going to play baseball in college. What other schools were showing you interest?
“Furman … Georgia State … Kennesaw State … Savannah State … and the University of Miami came on kind of late.”
It sounds like mostly schools closer to home.
“It was just a lot of local schools. By the time I got on the scene, most schools were already working on their next class and were done with my class. So it was tough to get interest from the major schools unless I would pursue a walk-on spot. But I wanted the scholarship, so I settled for the mid-major.”
Nothing wrong with that. You had your opportunity and ran with it.
“I tried to go where I’d be able to play and be able to get on the field and be a priority guy. That’s the biggest thing as far as picking a college. Where are you going to be able to learn and be able to pick up on stuff? Where are you going to be able to play? And I felt like Mercer presented a good opportunity for that as well as being able to potentially make regionals and play on a national stage.”
Your freshman year, you went through the typical first-year growing pains. Then things kind of exploded for you last year – and you never looked back. What happened?
“Going into my freshman year, I had to learn to sit on the bench and watch. I never had to do that before. A lot of that stuff was a mental challenge for me. I had to figure out how to learn and how to observe games from the sideline. I had to figure out what to do when my number was called. I got a lot of pinch-hit opportunities and a lot of pinch-running opportunities. Towards the end of the year, I started to figure it out – and I was able to start the last ten games. Going into that summer, I had a lot of momentum – and I was able to carry that momentum into the summer. I played in the Great Lakes League after my freshman year, and I was able to do really well up there. And I got called up to the Cape Cod League to play in the playoffs. That just gave me the confidence that I needed going into my sophomore year – when you saw the explosion.”
I’d have to think that sitting and watching as a freshman helped you learn the game, although I’m guessing you hated it at the time.
“(Laughing) Yeah, yeah, yeah. I definitely hated it. But from talking to people and talking to my family, they just said I should just see what guys ahead of you are doing that you’re not doing. Or what are they doing as far as preparation and extra work and things like that. And I was fortunate to watch a lineup full of seniors, so I was able to look up to guys who were 23 years old and had been through it. And they had made it to regionals. I was able to pick up on their tendencies and see what they do, and I was able to apply it to my own game.”
Growing up in Georgia, were you a big Braves fan?
“Yes I was – back when they had Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones.”
Those were your guys?
“Those were definitely my guys.”
Anybody growing up that you tried to model yourself after?
“The biggest person in high school that I watched was Adam Jones. I started watching him my junior year … just sit there watching YouTube videos of him. Then I’d try to embody myself after that as much as I could. I like the way he plays. I like the way he carries himself.”
Is he someone you want to be compared to?
“I think it’s kind of comparable as far as an athletic centerfielder with a smooth swing. I wouldn’t say that I try to be exactly like him, because I want to be my own person. But I can say that would be a nice comparison to have.”
I’ve also seen you called a right-handed version of Jason Heyward.
“I can see that. I like to take pride in my defense as well, and I think it’s overlooked sometimes. But I definitely take pride in my defense.”
[Continue reading after the break for more.]
Photo courtesy of Mercer University.
Marlins Designate Chris Narveson, Outright Dustin McGowan
The Marlins have announced that lefty Chris Narveson has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to recalled righty Jose Urena. Meanwhile, the club has outrighted right-hander Dustin McGowan, who was previously in DFA limbo.
Narveson, 34, was off to a rough start in his first 8 1/3 innings on the season. He’d allowed eight earned runs and three long balls already. While it’s early, the numbers reflect the fact that Narveson has been unable to generate many swings and misses (6.2% swinging strike rate) while also failing to get batters to chase the ball out of the zone.
Meanwhile, McGowan will have a chance to decide whether to elect free agency or instead remain in the Miami organization. He was reportedly earning a $1MM major league salary, but agreed to an advance consent clause that means he won’t be guaranteed that amount. Still, his deal likely includes a relatively appealing minor league rate of pay.
Brewers Select Contract Of Alex Presley
The Brewers have officially selected the contract of outfielder Alex Presley, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel first reported on Twitter. Righty Tyler Cravy was sent down on options to create an active roster spot, while righty Zack Jones has been placed on the 60-day DL to create 40-man space.
The 30-year-old Presley did not break camp with Milwaukee, of course, despite strong spring numbers. Neither did he draw interest from other teams in a major league capacity at the start of the year — when his contract allowed him an opt-out opportunity if a club had been willing to put him on an Opening Day roster.
Though it’s been a while since he’s been able to produce at an above-average clip at the major league level, Presley has been been off to a hot start at Triple-A, slashing .344/.400/.563 in 35 plate appearances in a continuation of his good showing in camp. It seems that he will factor into the still-crowded center field mix, as the club appears largely set in the corners but hasn’t received much up the middle from players like Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Ramon Flores, and the already-optioned Keon Broxton.