The Rays announced today that they have placed top righty Chris Archer on the 10-day disabled list with what has been diagnosed as a left abdominal strain. He’ll be replaced by right-handed pitching prospect Diego Castillo.
Archer’s placement is retroactive to June 3rd, so it could only be a brief stay on the DL. At this point, though, his timeline is not clear.
To this point in the season, the results have continued to lag the peripherals for Archer. He has allowed more than four earned runs per nine dating back to the start of the 2016 campaign despite fielding-independent pitching metrics that suggest much better.
Still, there’s little doubt that Archer remains a highly appealing potential trade target. He’s throwing as hard as ever and getting swings and misses. Prior to today’s news, he was on track to challenge for fourth-straight season of two hundred or more innings. And he can be controlled for three more seasons via affordable options.
It’s certainly still possible that Archer can feature as an interesting deadline asset. First, though, he’ll have to make it back and show he’s in good form. It remains to be seen, too, whether the Rays will have serious interest in striking a deal.
Castillo, 24, has been impressive thus far at Triple-A. In his 26 1/3 innings on the year, accumulated over 19 appearances, he has allowed just three earned runs on 15 hits while compiling a 32:7 K/BB ratio. He entered the season as the Rays’ 27th-best prospect, in the eyes of MLB.com. Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser tweets that Castillo’s stuff is electric, even if his command can waver at times.
What am I missing with Chris Archer? He’s consistently referred to as a top starter, but his numbers don’t seem to reflect that. It seems that his value is largely in his age/contract and not in his production.
I’ve been saying that for the past 2 years. It’s possible a change of scenery will improve his numbers (which is what everyone always thought about Samarzdija), but he’d be better slotted as a 2 or 3 on most staffs. Sonny Gray 2.0
Archer is young, has a live fastball and a lot of movement in his off speed. He does deal a lot of Ks but he also has a lot of control problems. The potential for him is high which is why he is so valued.
I think at his age and his innings pitched…Archer has reached his “potential”. At this point in his career, he is what he is. And that is still a pretty good ML pitcher but not an “Ace”. I think in many ways Archer is more myth than reality. He has never rached the level many thought he would. He talks a bigger game than he delivers.
Every time I say something about him and how teams need to empty the farm for him they bring up his “team friendly” contract. I’m still not sold on him
Oh ya, it’s all about the contract, rather than the performance. But the contract IS ridiculous, and at the worst, Archer is a #2/#3 starter who eats innings. And let’s remember he’s been doing all this in the AL East, with a (at best) mediocre (and sometimes hideous) defense. And in games that, by June, mean absolutely nothing to no one.
He’s got a personality; a bit quirky at times. but he spends a TON of time and money with a variety of civic causes; it’s been estimated he gives away about a quarter of his salary every year.
He’s a plus for any team that gets him. For the reasons you mentioned, you no longer have to “empty the farm” to get him; plus we all know that no matter how reasonable the contract is, the Rays want out from under. The acquisition cost might be lower than you think.
You definitely aren’t the only one that thinks that.
I feel the same exact way about Stroman too.
Great point on Strohman. Every year they say he is going to have a breakout season and ends up letting everyone down.
Archer is a superior pitcher to Strohman, but he too is always looked at as the next Ace of the AL, but ends up disappointing. With that said, would love to have him as a 3rd or 4th starter any day of the week! Tampa will want a Ace’s return in a trade, so I highly doubt a deal gets done for Archer in July unless the Yankees are truly desperate and vastly overpay for him.
According to the stats page, Castillo is an IF in the Yankees system
Cash is about to run a 14 man bullpen lol
Little League Roster….every player rotates his position by inning…can’t wait to see Jose Sucre at shortstop……or Carlos Gomez on the mound…..then the next game, Sergio Romo is the “opener”, the catcher, and the “closer”…..becomes first pitcher in history to get a Win and a Save in the same game……..adds in the game-winning RBI…..
Chris archer looks like my lesbian coworker
When evaluating pitchers, the peripherals have to eventually lead to results, and Chris Archer hasn’t been able to capitalize from his 2015 season. Pitching isn’t all about the aggregate total of strikeouts, Archer hasn’t been getting those swings and misses when he’s really needed them. The fact he can pitch a ton of innings, and has a good contract, doesn’t obscure the reality of inconsistency. Archer will soon turn 30, and if the Rays overvalue him, no deal will be made.
Over the past 2 years, Archer has posted a 3.97 ERA, 3.48 FIP and 3.39 xFIP. Over that time he is top 10 in MLB in innings pitched, FIP, xFIP, K%, K%-BB%, and fWAR. Even with his ERA being unexpectedly high, it still ranks top 25 in MLB and he has performed as one of the best 20 pitchers in baseball.
Combining his current performance (with potential for even more) and his extremely team friendly deal and it should cost a ton to acquire him via trade. Especially considering he holds a lot of value to the Rays. The Rays are 78-80 win team that has a top 3 farm system with loads of talent MLB or near MLB ready in AA/AAA. My expectations are they will be ready to compete by 2020. Keeping a 200 IP, sub 4 pitcher who has top 10 potential and 3.5 years of cheap control remaining would be extremely valuable for them and they should only trade Archer if they get a return that could better complement their 2020-2023 window and beyond.