AL News & Rumors: Mariners, Twins, Tigers, Jays

The Mariners have made multiple attempts to acquire right-hander Ervin Santana from the Twins, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times reports. However, with the Twins currently ahead of the Mariners in the standings, Seattle’s dream of adding Santana is “on hold,” notes Divish. It’s unclear whether the Twins have placed Santana on revocable waivers this month, but as a proven mid-rotation type who’s under control through next season at a fair price ($13.5MM), it’s possible another team in front of the Mariners in the waiver pecking order would claim him. Moreover, the Twins aren’t all that interested in trading Santana, FanRag’s Jon Heyman suggested this week. Regardless, considering the injuries in their rotation – including to ace James Paxton – the playoff-contending Mariners need to find starting help. With that in mind, Divish lists a slew of righties (Marco Estrada, Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, Miguel Gonzalez, R.A. Dickey and Scott Feldman) and a southpaw (Derek Holland) as logical August trade targets.

More on Minnesota and two other AL franchises:

• The Twins slumped immediately before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, leading them to sell a pair of veterans, closer Brandon Kintzler and lefty Jaime Garcia, for future pieces. Now that the team’s playing well again, the front office is willing to buy. “On a daily basis, we are active on the trade-waiver wire process,” general manager Thad Levine told Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “We’ve placed a lot of claims on players we think can help our team now and in the future. Needless to say, we haven’t made a trade yet, which is evidence to the fact that we may not be the only team that thinks those players would be attractive, and that some of the teams that are feeling the same way have worse winning percentages and hence higher claiming priority.” As team brass has demonstrated in recent weeks, especially when it flipped Garcia after he was a Twin for only a few days, its mindset is subject to change based on where Minnesota is in the standings. As such, another slide over the next couple weeks could lead to the Twins dealing more major leaguers, Bollinger points out.
• The Tigers’ Nicholas Castellanos has lined up at third base in 512 of 521 career appearances, but a position change is looming, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com writes. Castellanos approached GM Al Avila and manager Brad Ausmus about moving to the outfield, and he began doing work in right before the Tigers played on Saturday. He’ll see game action there during the season’s final weeks if he shows progress in practice, revealed Ausmus, who added that Castellanos is “gung-ho” about a possible change. With minus-62 defensive runs saved and a minus-42.1 Ultimate Zone Rating in 4,000-plus career innings, the metrics indicate that the 25-year-old Castellanos hasn’t exactly been Nolan Arenado-esque at third base. And shifting him to the outfield, where he played in nine games as a rookie in 2013, would seemingly open up third for prospect Jeimer Candelario. The Tigers acquired Candelario, 23, from the Cubs last month in a trade involving reliever Justin Wilson and catcher Alex Avila. Candelario’s currently at Triple-A, but with Sept. 1 roster expansion on the horizon, he’ll be a factor in Detroit soon.
• There’s no timetable for a comeback for Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez, who has dealt with blister issues throughout the season, per David Singh of Sportsnet. If Sanchez does return, he could finish the year in the bullpen, according to manager John Gibbons. With the minor league season nearing an end, there might not be enough time for Sanchez to ramp back up via rehab starts, observes Singh. The 25-year-old Sanchez’s injury woes have been one of the key reasons behind the Blue Jays’ disappointing 2017. Sanchez dazzled in 2016 – his first year as a full-time member of Toronto’s rotation – with 30 starts and 192 innings of 3.00 ERA pitching, but he has taken the ball just eight times this season.