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Reactions To The Justin Verlander Deal

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Here’s a collection of reactions to the Tigers’ headline-grabbing trade of Justin Verlander to the Astros earlier this week.

  • After the Tigers and Astros agreed on a deal, Verlander initially refused to waive his no-trade rights, Jon Morosi of MLB.com writes. Verlander wasn’t opposed to joining the Astros, but first he wanted to see if he could go to the Cubs, since he and fiancée Kate Upton like the city of Chicago. (Verlander was also interested in the Dodgers, although they weren’t actively involved in talks.) When it turned out the Tigers felt the Cubs weren’t offering enough value in a potential deal, Verlander signed off on the trade that would send him to the Astros.
  • Bob Nightengale of USA Today has further details on discussions between Verlander and the Tigers that resulted in Verlander’s departure from Detroit. The Tigers ultimately told Verlander it would be “the Astros or nobody,” as Nightengale describes it. Verlander, who had some concerns about Houston as it dealt with Hurricane Harvey, spoke to Astros owner Jim Crane. “I told him, ’This town is going to be fine. It’s going to take time. You will be received great here. We’ve got a good team, a good manager, a good front office. There won’t be any problems here,'” says Crane.
  • The Tigers’ decision to trade Verlander and Justin Upton was an “obvious rebuild move,” says Tigers GM Al Avila (via MLB.com’s Jason Beck). “We’re going to have a rough month of September, and next year may not be all that pretty, either,” says Avila. “But at some point in the near future, we expect this to turn around, that some of these prospects will be coming up and making a difference. And within a reasonable time then, we should be ready to go.”
  • The trade shows the Astros will treat their coming playoff run as a “crusade” for their beleaguered city, Ken Rosenthal writes for the Athletic. The team already has a franchise-record payroll of around $130MM this season, and that figure could go higher next year. But the Astros are pushing to make it to the World Series, and Rosenthal writes that while a baseball trade hardly makes up for what’s currently a disastrous situation in Houston, it could perhaps be a “ray of sunshine” in an extremely dark time.
  • Franklin Perez now ranks as the Tigers’ second-best prospect behind fellow righty Matt Manning, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen opines in a review of the prospects in the swap. Longenhagen describes Perez as a polished teenager who has the potential to dominate, although he’ll have to increase his stamina to carry a big-league starter’s workload. He calls Daz Cameron a “fringe-to-average hitter with fringe game power” and a borderline future big-league starting outfielder.

Central Notes: Ausmus, Candelario, Kennedy, Russell

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Tigers manager Brad Ausmus’ contract expires after the season, and as the club rebuilds, his future is unclear, Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group writes. “I can’t say that’s out of the question,” GM Al Avila said when asked about the possibility Ausmus would return for 2018. “I haven’t talked to him about it at this point. At some point we’ll sit down when we have some time and things settle down and we’ll see where that goes.” Ausmus himself declined to say anything too specific about the situation, though he did note that he thinks “there’s a lot of upside to young players because of the enthusiasm and energy and will to learn.” Last year, Ausmus expressed frustration about his uncertain future, only to have the Tigers pick up his option. Now there are no more options remaining on his deal, and the franchise appears to be heading in a different direction. He’s compiled a 308-310 record in most of four seasons in Detroit. Here’s more from the Central divisions.

  • After dealing Justin Verlander and Justin Upton this week, the Tigers will continue to get younger, promoting third baseman Jeimer Candelario and righty Myles Jaye today, as Woodbery notes. The 23-year-old Candelario, who the Tigers acquired in July in the deal that sent Alex Avila and Justin Wilson to Chicago, has batted .265/.343/.484 at the Triple-A level this year. He ranks fourth in MLB.com’s list of the Tigers’ top prospects. With Nick Castellanos transitioning to the outfield, there is (or could eventually be) space open for Canedelario at third base. Jaye, 25, has posted a 3.96 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 131 2/3 innings in the rotations of Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers added him in a March 2016 trade that sent Bryan Holaday to Texas.
  • Cubs shortstop Addison Russell hasn’t played in a game since Aug. 2 due to an ongoing case of plantar fasciitis, and manager Joe Maddon informed the media that he’ll be out for another three weeks after aggravating the injury during a rehab assignment (link via MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat). An MRI confirmed the setback. With Russell on the shelf for another three weeks, the Cubs will continue to lean on Javier Baez as their primary shortstop, though Chicago also selected the contract of versatile utilityman Mike Freeman yesterday. Freeman isn’t likely to see many starts, but he gives Maddon some depth at the position and some insurance in the event of an injury to Baez. Here’s more from the Central divisions.
  • Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy offered a candid assessment of his opt-out clause when speaking with Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. “It would be pretty stupid if I did,” said Kennedy when asked about the possibility of exercising that clause. “You don’t go to the free-agent market pitching how I’ve been. No one is going to want that.” Set to turn 33 in December, Kennedy started the season with a strong April and has had some patches of success in 2017. However, he’s been shelled for 36 runs in his past 36 1/3 innings, allowing 49 hits (nine homers) and 17 walks against 30 strikeouts in that time. His current 5.47 ERA would be the worst full-season mark of his career and all but eliminates the possibility of forgoing the remaining three years and $43MM on his contract. Royals fans will want to check out Dodd’s column in full, as it’s packed with candid quotes from Kennedy and additional insight from manager Ned Yost.

MLB Daily Roster Roundup: Kershaw, Pedroia, September Call-Ups

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ROSTER MOVES BY TEAM (different format for 9/1)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Click to see all the A.L. transactions and future anticipated moves …

Read more

Submit Your Questions For MLBTR’s Mailbag

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In the most recent edition of the MLBTR Mailbag, I fielded questions on Mike Moustakas and Carlos Gonzalez as they head into free agency, the Blue Jays’ outfield, and Yoan Moncada’s early struggles at the plate.

If you have a question pertaining to August trades, 2017-18 free agency or any other topic we’d typically cover here on MLBTR, send us an email: mlbtrmailbag@gmail.com.

This time around, we’re also pleased to offer a bonus Mailbag that will be hosted by Twins right-hander Trevor May, who has been writing for MLBTR as part of our Player’s Perspective series while he works through his rehab from Tommy John surgery. (His most recent post for us was published earlier this morning.) Trevor suggested that he’d like to do a Mailbag with MLBTR readers, and we naturally obliged. You can submit questions for the Trevor May Mailbag at a separate email: trevormayofficial@gmail.com.

We’ll run both Mailbags next week, and also remember that you’re always welcome to get our take on topics of your choosing in the three weekly chats hosted at MLBTR (Tuesdays at 2pm CT with me, Wednesdays at 6:30pm CT with Jason Martinez and Thursdays at 2pm CT with Jeff Todd).

Notable September Call-Ups

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September 1 marks the date on which regular-season rosters expand from 25 to 40 in Major League Baseball. While the merit of that rule and its impact on games are a source of debate — MLB games tend to increase considerably in length in September as managers can more freely make pitching changes with deeper bullpens — the fact remains that there could be more than 100 players promoted to the big leagues today as the first wave of call-ups arrives.

Many September call-ups are players that have experience already under their belt. Journeyman big leaguers with exceptionally specific roles (e.g. pinch-running and defensive specialists) become a luxury that teams can now afford, and many teams will bring up a third catcher or additional bullpen arms for depth, even if a long-term MLB role isn’t likely for said players.

Some promotions, though, are more notable than others. Big league teams will often use the month of September to get a look at their top organizational prospects, and in some instances September can provide a potential audition for former stars seeking to reestablish themselves. (The Orioles, for instance, were reported last night to be bringing slugger Pedro Alvarez up from Triple-A for the season’s final month.)

All that said, here are some of this year’s more notable September promotions (we’ll update throughout the day as more moves are announced)…

  • Four new youngsters are joining the Cardinals, the team announced. Outfielder Harrison Bader and infielder Alex Mejia were already on the 40-man, but the team has also gone ahead and added righty Sandy Alcantara and backstop Alberto Rosario. Alcantara is an interesting pitcher to keep an eye on, as he reputedly comes with a big arm and could contribute from the bullpen — though he’s still ironing things out as a starter after spending the year pitching to a 4.31 ERA at Double-A.
  • The Indians announced that they’ve recalled top catching prospect Francisco Mejia from Double-A Akron and selected the contract of outfielder Greg Allen from Akron, thus adding him to the 40-man roster. The 21-year-old Mejia is commonly regarded as one of the top 25 prospects in all of Major League Baseball and was reportedly the would-be centerpiece to the Jonathan Lucroy trade that Lucroy vetoed in 2016. Allen, too, was set to be a part of that trade but has instead remained in the Indians organization and will now join Mejia in donning a big league jersey for the first time this month.
  • Right-hander Fernando Salas will return to the Angels, who announced last night that his contract has been selected from Triple-A Salt Lake. Salas spent parts of three seasons as a useful bullpen arm for the Angels before a trade to the Mets last August. While he dominated for New York down the stretch, Salas was torched for a 6.00 ERA this year after re-signing with the Mets. He tossed three scoreless innings in Salt Lake City and will hope for a strong finish to bolster offseason interest.
  • The Blue Jays, too, will be getting another look at an old friend. Outfielder Michael Saunders is joining the Jays as a September call-up, tweets MLB.com’s Greg Johns. While Saunders is merely looking to show well in his return to the Majors after struggling badly with the Phillies earlier this season, another outfielder is looking to carve out a long-term role in Toronto; trade acquisition Teoscar Hernandez is also on his way to the Majors, per Johns. The 24-year-old Hernandez was acquired in the Francisco Liriano swap and has posted a combined .265/.351/.490 batting line in 456 Triple-A plate appearances this season.
  • The Mets are promoting right-handers Jacob Rhame and Jamie Callahan, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. While neither reliever is considered to be among the game’s best prospects — they rank 23rd and 30th, respectively, on MLB.com’s list of the Mets’ top 30 prospects — both were recently acquired on the trade market. Rhame came to the Mets from the Dodgers as the return for Curtis Granderson, while Callahan arrived in Queens by way of the Addison Reed trade with the Red Sox. Both will be looking to make a strong impression as they seek to secure a long-term spot in the Mets’ bullpen.
  • The Tigers are getting their first look at left-handed reliever Jairo Labourt, per a team announcement. The 23-year-old was acquired alongside Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd in exchange fo David Price back in 2015. He’s turned in an excellent 2.17 ERA across three minor league levels this season and averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings, albeit with some shaky control (4.5 BB/9).

Michael Fulmer Will Miss At Least 2 Starts With Elbow Neuritis

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9:57pm: Fulmer says that he received good news from an ultrasound, as Beck tweets. The ulnar nerve is straying from where it is supposed to sit, which explains his symptoms, but there’s no structural problem in the joint.

5:34pm: A flare-up of the elbow neuritis that sent him to the disabled list earlier this year will keep Tigers righty Michael Fulmer from making at least his next two starts, MLB.com’s Jason Beck is among those to report. Fulmer will take a trip to see Dr. James Andrews for further evaluation.

While the appointment with Andrews may open some eyes at first glance, it’s important to emphasize that there’s still no indication that Fulmer — one of the game’s best young starting pitchers — is dealing with any structural damage in his elbow. His prior DL stint was for the nerve issue alone and he returned quickly. While Fulmer has not been at his best since coming back, he’s also throwing as hard as ever and evidently hasn’t shown signs of any new injury.

That’s not to say there isn’t a possibility that the condition might require further action. While manager Brad Ausmus says the elbow hasn’t hampered Fulmer much while pitching, issues with tingling and numbness are still lingering.

“So, it’s more about the tipping point of being ready for next year should something more have to be done,” Ausmus said of the decision to send Fulmer in to see Andrews now.

That statement seems to imply that a surgical procedure and/or more intensive rehabilitation plan may be under consideration. The club will wait to decide whether or not Fulmer will attempt to return this season, but with the Tigers embarking upon a rebuild, the obvious focus is on his long-term health.

Neal Huntington On Juan Nicasio Decision

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In one of the more puzzling waiver placements in recent memory, the Pirates opted to place right-hander Juan Nicasio — the team’s second-best reliever behind Felipe Rivero — on outright waivers earlier this week. The Pirates have drawn heavy criticism for the decision, which looked to be largely about saving roughly $600K through season’s end — or slightly more than the league minimum salary for one player over the course of a full season ($535K).

Recognizing the general befuddlement over the move, Pirates GM Neal Huntington issued a statement to the media explaining his rationale with the transaction. (Via Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.) Huntington revealed that a “playoff-caliber” club claimed Nicasio off revocable trade waivers earlier in the month but did so with the intention of blocking others from obtaining Nicasio rather than adding the right-hander to its own roster.

The Pirates had the option of dumping Nicasio’s contract on the team that claimed him, but that would’ve involved aiding a “direct competitor,” per Huntington. Rather, the Bucs placed Nicasio on outright waivers in hopes of getting him to the American League, as outright waiver priority is not league-specific like revocable trade waivers.

“We chose to take the chance to see if by placing Juan on outright waivers he would end up with a different playoff contender, preferably one in the American League,” the GM stated. The Pirates surely didn’t expect to see the Phillies, who possess MLB’s worst record, claim Nicasio. The right-hander is a free agent at season’s end, making it a surprise that any non-contending club would claim him. Huntington would go on to acknowledge the “minimal” cost savings the move created while also labeling the transaction a forward-looking move that would allow the team to evaluate longer-term pieces in high-leverage spots.

While the Pirates likely expected that the placement on outright waivers would allow Nicasio to fall to a team such as the Royals, Mariners or Rangers — each of whom would have claiming priority over NL contenders such as the Marlins and Cardinals — the move remains difficult to understand. For a club with a perennially low payroll, the effective dumping of their second-best reliever to a team with a worse record comes with significant public relations ramifications.

Even if the team’s intentions were primarily driven by a desire to get Nicasio onto a contending club, a frugal team such as the Pirates will be hard-pressed to sell the notion that the move was not motivated by cost-savings — especially just one year after having traded Francisco Liriano in a deal that was primarily viewed as a means of obtaining salary relief. Nicasio’s departure also seems unlikely to sit well with the remaining players in the clubhouse. Rivero, for instance, has already lamented the departure of his bullpen-mate on social media (Twitter link).

The decision looks all the more questionable when noting that the Bucs could have moved Nicasio prior to the non-waiver deadline as well. While the team surely hoped to contend for the NL Central at that point in the season — Pittsburgh was 5.5 games out of first place on July 31 — the Pirates still traded left-hander Tony Watson to the Dodgers just before the non-waiver deadline. And, a year ago, the Bucs flipped closer Mark Melancon to the Nationals in exchange for Rivero while still aiming to contend.

Observations such as these are always easy to make with the benefit of hindsight. It stands to reason that Pittsburgh was very likely reluctant to move two of its top three relievers at the deadline, when the postseason still seemed within reach. However, the end result of the process leaves the organization worse for the wear in more ways than one.

Rangers Designate Marinez, Rodriguez, Alvarez; Activate Jake Diekman

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The Rangers have announced a series of moves today as the month of September begins. Texas designated righty Jhan Marinez and lefty Joely Rodriguez to open two 40-man roster spots. Texas has also designated lefty Dario Alvarez, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets.

Those three hurlers are a few of the many that have cycled through the Texas pen this year, as the organization has scrambled to make up for injured and/or ineffective pitching. Marinez has produced mostly solid results in time with three organizations this year, though clearly teams view him as a fill-in asset. Rodriguez has allowed exactly 19 earned runs in 27 frames at both the MLB and Triple-A levels this year. And Alvarez actually managed to carry a 2.76 ERA over 16 1/3 MLB innings this year, but he was averaging 7.7 B/9 to go with 9.4 K/9.

Leading the team’s September call-up list is lefty Jake Diekman, whose absence to date was one of the drivers of the bullpen churn. Diekman had missed the entire season after undergoing surgery just before camp to address inflammatory bowel disease. (You can and should read more about his journey here.) The Rangers can control the southpaw for one more season via arbitration; in all likelihood, he won’t command much of a raise on his current $2.55MM salary since he doesn’t have much time to accrue innings.

Recently acquired righty Paolo Espino, infielder Will Middlebrooks, and catcher A.J. Jimenez have also been tabbed to join the MLB club.

Mariners Outright Bergman, Place Phelps On DL, Announce Promotions

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The Mariners have outrighted right-hander Christian Bergman, per a club announcement. That move clears another 40-man roster slot after the team lost righty Sam Gaviglio to a waiver claim earlier today; it’s also just one of the many transactions entered today by the ever-active M’s front office.

Righty David Phelps has returned to the 10-day DL due to an elbow impingement. He missed time earlier this month and has not looked himself of late. Indeed, Phelps has lost about two miles per hour on his average fastball as compared with the first four months of the season.

In more positive news relating to injuries, both outfielder Jarrod Dyson and righty Shae Simmons have returned from their own runs on the disabled list. The latter had been on the 60-day DL while working back from a flexor strain.

Catcher Mike Marjama was added to the 40-man roster and promoted to give the team another option behind the dish. The team also activated just-acquired righty Mike Leake.

With no limitations on the active roster, the M’s have also brought up a few players that were on optional assignment. Three right-handed pitchers — Dan Altavilla, Ryan Garton, and Andrew Moore — are on their way to help bolster the bullpen.

Follow @pfrumors (Pro Football Rumors) on Twitter For The Latest NFL News

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The NFL is starting to feel like MLB with all of the trades that have gone down over the last week.  On Friday, we saw a whopper of a deal take place as the Jets shipped standout defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson to the Seahawks. Sheldon Richardson (vertical)

In years past, the NFL has mandated that teams trim their rosters from 90 men to 75, then from 75 to 53 days later.  This year, the league eliminated the middle step, meaning that teams must go from 90 to 53 by Saturday afternoon.  This has spurred unprecedented trade activity as GMs look to shore up their rosters before the impending frenzy.  All in all, we’ll see 1,184 players removed from rosters between now and the buzzer.

This weekend will be huge for hardcore and casual fans alike.  To keep up with all of the major cuts and trades – some of which will affect your fantasy team – we encourage you to follow @pfrumors on Twitter and bookmark ProFootballRumors.com.

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