Braves Rumors

Tyler Flowers Out Six Weeks With Broken Hand

By Steve Adams | July 12, 2016 at 4:43pm CDT

Braves catcher Tyler Flowers has been diagnosed with a fractured left hand, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported. While Heyman lists his projected absence at four to six weeks, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman lists a more pessimistic timeline (via Twitter), suggesting that Flowers will miss “at least” six weeks but may not be able to return until September. Over the weekend, Flowers aggravated a previous injury that was sustained when he was hit by a pitch from A.J. Ramos. Bowman wrote yesterday that Flowers underwent an MRI, though the team has yet to announce the results.

According to Bowman, the Braves are likely to promote veteran backstop Anthony Recker to fill Flowers’ spot on the roster (Twitter link). The MLB.com scribe wrote yesterday that Recker has been on the temporarily inactive list with a non-health issue, but it would seem that is behind him now. Recker, who is no stranger to the NL East due to his time with the division-rival Mets, is hitting .244/.348/.421 in 230 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for the Braves and Indians this season. Fellow veteran Blake Lalli would be the likeliest alternative to Recker, though he’s having a considerably less productive season. Whoever gets the call will pair behind the plate with A.J. Pierzynski, who has been unable to replicate last season’s above-average production, instead struggling to a .205/.227/.250 batting line in his age-39 campaign.

The loss of Flowers not only deprives the Braves of a player that has been far and away the most productive catcher on the big league roster but also all but eliminates the possibility of a Flowers trade prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline. While Flowers hasn’t been an oft-mentioned trade candidate, the Braves have been largely open for business over the past couple of years, and Flowers is enjoying a career-year at the plate while playing on a highly affordable two-year pact. As a short-term piece with a .253/.343/.425 batting line at a premium position on a rebuilding club, trade interest in Flowers certainly wouldn’t have been a stretch of the imagination.

Of course, the Braves may simply have preferred to hang onto him for the duration of the season anyhow. The team is aiming for a considerably better season in 2017, and there’s no immediate replacement for him waiting in the wings in the upper levels of the minor leagues. He’s earning $2MM this season and is owed $3MM in 2017 before his team must make a call on a $4MM club option for the 2018 season (which comes with a $300K buyout). He’s struggled quite a bit with stolen bases this season, catching just two of 37 attempted thieves, but he continues to grade out as one of the best pitch-framing backstops in the game, per Baseball Prospectus.

Coppolella On Snitker, Teheran, Norris, Pitching

By charliewilmoth | July 12, 2016 at 11:58am CDT

Here’s the latest from Braves GM John Coppolella, via the first part of a Q+A with Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Brian Snitker is a serious candidate to shed his interim manager tag and take the job on a more permanent basis, but Coppolella indicates the team will look to outside candidates as well.
Coppolella says flatly that the Braves aren’t trading Julio Teheran, who, of course, has been the subject of months of rumors and discussion. As we’ve noted elsewhere in these pages, Teheran is controllable through 2020, so the Braves could conceivably hang onto him as a veteran anchor for their rotation, even though his fine season and the relatively limited number of good starting pitchers available would also make him a strong trade chip this summer.
The recent spate of injuries to pitchers — both within the Braves organization and elsewhere — itself demonstrates why the Braves emphasized pitching so much in their current rebuild, Coppolella says. He notes, though, that part of the Braves’ strategy was a function of opportunity. The organization’s core of young pitching now includes Ian Anderson, who the team selected with the third overall draft pick last month even though they already had lots of young pitching. “There’s so much attrition associated with pitching that you truly can never have enough talent or depth when it comes to arms,” Coppolella says. “It’s great the Cubs built around bats, but that’s what was available to them in the draft. There was no Kris Bryant or Kyle Schwarber in the draft this year.”
The Braves’ trade of Bud Norris late last month was motivated in part by a desire to beat the trade-deadline rush and get as much as possible for a player who would be a rental for his new team, Coppolella confirms. “It was difficult to trade Bud, but knowing he was a free agent after the season was the overriding factor,” says Coppolella. “Bud was pitching terrific and the Dodgers made us an offer that we felt compelled us to make that move at that time.”

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/11/16

By Steve Adams | July 11, 2016 at 5:55pm CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league, each courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted…

Second baseman Cole Figueroa has elected free agency instead of an outright assignment to Triple-A from the Dodgers, per an announcement. Los Angeles designated the 29-year-old for assignment Friday after claiming him off waivers from the Pirates two weeks ago. Figueroa has picked up only 84 major league trips to the plate, but he has produced a respectable .288/.356/.376 line in nearly 2,000 Triple-A PAs.
The Red Sox have outrighted outfielder Ryan LaMarre to Triple-A Pawtucket, tweets Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. Boston designated LaMarre for assignment when it acquired infielder Aaron Hill from the Brewers last week. Since the Reds took him in the second round of the 2010 draft, LaMarre has totaled just 32 major league plate appearances – six of which came earlier this year with the Red Sox. The 27-year-old has batted .265/.343/.379 over 2,469 trips to the plate in the minors.
The Reds have outrighted Juan Duran off their 40-man roster. The 24-year-old outfielder got a late start to his season and has struggled to a .191/.235/.255 batting line through 15 games and 51 plate appearances this season. Duran ranked among BA’s top 30 Reds prospects from 2008-11 but hasn’t appeared on that list since.
The Braves signed right-hander Maikel Cleto to a minor league contract. The hard-throwing 27-year-old has experience in parts of four big league seasons with the Cardinals and White Sox but hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2014. He’s averaged an impressive 11.6 K/9 in the Majors but has also averaged six walks per nine innings and posted an unsightly 6.60 ERA in 45 innings. Cleto pitched 14 innings in the Mexican League and caught Atlanta’s eye it seems, perhaps due to a much-improved 16-to-1 K/BB ratio in that brief stint.
Right-hander Vinnie Pestano has been released by the Yankees. The 31-year-old opened the season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and enjoyed a strong April, pitching to a 3.38 ERA with 16 strikeouts and one walk in 10 2/3 innings but hasn’t pitched for the club since due to injury. Pestano has six seasons of big league experience and has worked to a 2.98 ERA with 10.8 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 202 2/3 innings at the big league level.
The Marlins traded left-hander Tim Berry to the Padres in exchange for cash considerations. Berry, who was outrighted off Miami’s 40-man roster earlier this season, began the year in Double-A and was hit exceptionally hard, but he’s righted the ship after a stint on the disabled list and some time at Class-A Advanced, posting a 2.78 ERA over his past 22 2/3 innings (including one appearance with San Diego’s Class-A affiliate).

NL Notes: Jeffress, Bell, Nationals, Braves

By Steve Adams | July 11, 2016 at 1:22pm CDT

The bullpen market has been picking up some steam lately, with the Red Sox acquiring Brad Ziegler from the D-backs and the Marlins landing Fernando Rodney in a trade with the Padres. Miami was apparently in the market for some more controllable bullpen help prior to landing Rodney, though, as MLB Network’s Peter Gammons reports (on Twitter) that the Marlins also spoke with the Brewers about Jeremy Jeffress. Milwaukee had a significant asking price on its closer, however, as Gammons hears that the Brewers asked for right-hander Chris Paddack (the pitcher Miami traded to get Rodney) and two more prospects in exchange for Jeffress. MLBTR’s Jeff Todd has long listed Jeffress on his weekly rankings of trade candidates, noting that it’s understandable for the Brewers to have a steep ask with another three years of club control remaining beyond 2016.

Quick Hits: Pitching, Teheran, Kershaw, Giants, Maeda, Prospect Trades

By Mark Polishuk | July 10, 2016 at 11:04pm CDT

Starting pitching is still “severely overpriced” on the trade market, according to scouts who spoke with ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link) at the Futures Game. “You want to get a guy who’ll pitch for you in the postseason. Teams want to trade you a No. 5 starter who might help you get to the postseason,” said one scout who works for a contending club. Eight starters landed on the latest edition of the Top 25 Trade Candidates list from MLBTR’s Jeff Todd, though of that octet, only a few seem like they would be real difference-makers in a playoff series. Here’s more from around baseball as we wrap up the first half…

In another tweet from Crasnick, he describes the chances of the Braves trading Julio Teheran as “not likely” unless Atlanta significantly lowers its asking price before the deadline. Given that the Braves reportedly want more for Teheran than they received from the D’Backs in the already-infamous Shelby Miller trade, it’s not hard to see why teams are balking at such a huge asking price. (And it’s also clear why Atlanta would demand so much for a controllable young arm with ace potential.)
Clayton Kershaw will miss at least one start after the All-Star break as the Dodgers’ ace is still recovering from his back injury. L.A. manager Dave Roberts lined up his post-All-Star break rotation for reporters (including MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick) and Kershaw wasn’t in the mix, as the star lefty just threw off a mound today for the first time since June 26. Early reports about his DL placement suggested Kershaw could miss up to a month, so while today’s news wasn’t necessarily a surprise, it’s possible he could return in the latter half of the 10-day road trip the Dodgers will face after the break.
Speaking of NL West stars on the DL, Bruce Bochy provided some updates to the media (including Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News) about some notable Giants. Joe Panik is recovering well from concussion symptoms and could be back for the Giants’ series with the Red Sox that begins on July 19, while Hunter Pence could begin a minor league rehab assignment next week as he recovers from surgery to fix a torn hamstring. Matt Duffy’s strained Achilles tendon in his left foot is still causing him problems when he runs in a straight line, so his timeline is uncertain though Duffy can perform other baseball activities with no issues.
Kenta Maeda exceeded the 100-inning plateau in his start today, thus unlocking another $250K bonus in his Dodgers contract (hat tip to ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla). Maeda is only guaranteed $3MM per season from 2016 through 2023, though he can collect significant bonuses based on innings pitched, starts and making the Opening Day roster. Thus far, Maeda has received an extra $1.65MM in bonuses this season. Even if he maxes out those bonuses over the eight years under contract, Maeda is already looking like a bargain for the Dodgers given how well he has pitched in his first MLB season.
With today’s MLB Futures Game in mind, ESPN’s Jim Bowden (subscription required) details seven prospects from the game who could be trade chips at the deadline.

Braves Outright Emilio Bonifacio

By Steve Adams | July 10, 2016 at 5:18pm CDT

TODAY: Bonifacio has been outrighted off the Braves’ 40-man roster and assigned to Triple-A, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Bonifacio had the option of rejecting this assignment and becoming a free agent, but he will indeed head to Gwinnett.

THURSDAY: The Braves announced this afternoon that they’ve activated infielder Gordon Beckham from the disabled list and designated veteran utilityman Emilio Bonifacio for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster.

Bonifacio, 31, was brought up to the Majors last month after opening the season in Triple-A. He appeared in 15 games with Atlanta in what was his second stint with the Braves (he also played for Atlanta back in 2012) and batted .129/.206/.129 in 36 trips to the plate this time around. The fleet-footed Bonifacio has enjoyed better results at Triple-A Gwinnett this season, hitting .271/.321/.319 in 252 trips to the plate. Assuming he’s outrighted, Bonifacio has the necessary service time to reject an assignment to a minor league club in favor of free agency, though it’s not uncommon for veterans in his spot to accept an outright assignment.

In parts of 10 big league seasons, Bonifacio is a career .257/.314/.334 that has averaged 34 stolen bases per 162 games played.

Cafardo’s Latest: BoSox, Royals, O’s, Jays, Yanks, Rays, A’s, Phils, Twins, Angels

By Connor Byrne | July 10, 2016 at 8:51am CDT

Scouts from the Red Sox, Royals, Orioles and Blue Jays were on hand to watch Athletics left-hander Rich Hill’s Thursday start, according to the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo, who writes that the 36-year-old would likely prefer a return to Boston. With the help of ex-major league pitcher Brian Bannister at Triple-A Pawtucket, Hill began reviving his career as part of the Red Sox organization late last summer after a stint in the independent Atlantic League.“Brian pointed out that (Clayton) Kershaw threw his curveball 45 percent of the time,” said Hill. “He basically emphasized that, take what you think are your best pitches and use them correctly. So with me, it was not only throwing the curveball but throwing it at different speeds, changing the shape of it as well as manipulating the spin on the fastball.” Hill took Bannister’s advice and has relied almost exclusively on his curveball and fastball since the Red Sox called him up last September. The results? Ninety-nine innings of 2.06 ERA ball to accompany a 10.8 K/9, 2.83 BB/9, 49.6 percent ground-ball rate and 17.9 percent infield fly mark. Hill could soon end up as the premier starter dealt by the Aug. 1 deadline, and the pitching-challenged Red Sox – who added Bannister to their coaching staff earlier this week – seem like a logical fit. For now, Hill is scheduled to start again Friday for the A’s, who bought low on him in the offseason (one year, $6MM) and have reaped the rewards.

AL Trade Notes: Twins, ERod, Red Sox Pitching, Hill

By Jeff Todd | July 9, 2016 at 12:25am CDT

Twins GM Terry Ryan says that his organization had “better be open for business, which we are,” as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger reports. Minnesota seems ready to market its trade chips, though it’s still unclear how the club will approach the deadline. Its best pieces, as we just covered in MLBTR’s top trade candidate series, include righty Ervin Santana, utilityman Eduardo Nunez, and relievers Fernando Abad and Brandon Kintzler. Ryan says he’s willing to consider any type of prospect in its trade discussions, and noted that the organization “wouldn’t be opposed” to paying down some contractual obligations “if you’re getting a good player back and it takes some money to do it.” He did note, however, that the Twins typically don’t hang onto cash when dealing a player.

Here’s more from the American League:

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski says that he still has hope that Eduardo Rodriguez can contribute to the team this year, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reports. That assessment could well have an impact on the team’s approach to the trade deadline. “If people would be looking to say we’re going to be getting someone more talented than Eduardo Rodriguez, it’s not going to happen,” said Dombrowski. “They’re just not out there. They’re not out there and available. Sometimes you’ve got to fix some things internally. We’ll see what happens.”
Regardless of the Red Sox’ views on Rodriguez, the team figures to be in the hunt for at least one rotation arm. As Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports, Boston has been in touch with the Padres, who could market Drew Pomeranz and/or Andrew Cashner (though the latter had a really rough outing tonight). Also, senior VP of baseball ops Frank Wren is said to have watched both Rich Hill of the Athletics and Julio Teheran of the Braves recently.
Hill has returned from the DL to rave reviews for the Athletics, and both Drellich and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle suggest that widespread interest is building in the southpaw. The former cites the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, and Tigers as organizations that are taking a look at Hill. And Slusser adds yet more teams to the possible mix, listing the Blue Jays, Royals, and Orioles as possible suitors that have been watching him pitch of late. While Hill’s frequent injuries limit his appeal somewhat, there’s an argument to be made that he’s the best pure rental piece available this summer.

Dodgers Acquire PTBNL To Complete Bud Norris Trade

By Jeff Todd | July 8, 2016 at 7:51pm CDT

The Dodgers have acquired minor league righty Alec Grosser from the Braves, Los Angeles announced on Twitter. He becomes the player to be named later in the deal that sent Bud Norris out west.

Grosser serves to balance out the young talent changing hands in the swap. Outfielder Dian Toscano and cash also went to the Dodgers in the arrangement, with minor league pitchers Caleb Dirks and Phil Pfeifer constituting Atlanta’s side of the bargain.

The 21-year-old Grosser was an 11th-round selection in the 2013 draft. He had shown some promise early in his professional career at the Rookie ball level, but failed to master the Class A level last year. That led to a return to the Appalachian League this season, where Grosser has experienced pretty ugly results in a tiny sample.

NL Notes: Miller, Cubs, Hellickson, Crawford, Ethier

By Jeff Todd | July 7, 2016 at 1:40pm CDT

Andrew Miller sits atop the Cubs’ wish list this summer, according to Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com. The Yankees southpaw is humming along with a 1.47 ERA and ridiculous 13.2 K/BB ratio, so the price won’t be low — if he can be had at all. While teammate Dellin Betances would also hold interest, Heyman says that Chicago doesn’t believe there’s any chance he’d be available. The Cubbies do not have interest in a reunion with Braves righty Arodys Vizcaino, who has already twice changed hands between the organizations.

In terms of Cubs trade chips, there’s been plenty of speculation about Kyle Schwarber and Javier Baez. But Heyman says that neither is likely to go anywhere. Indeed, we heard recently that president of baseball operations Theo Epstein isn’t inclined at all to part with the injured Schwarber, and it’s tough to imagine the organization removing a useful Baez from its current mix. One interesting player who could be moved, per Heyman, is third base prospect Jeimer Candelario.
Phillies righty Jeremy Hellickson looks like the club’s most obvious trade piece: he’ll be a free agent at year’s end and has been both solid and durable, which is why he sits among the top 20 trade candidates in baseball on MLBTR’s most recent list. But Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com wonders whether there’s a scenario where Philadelphia holds onto the veteran starter. A qualifying offer could make sense, he posits, since that could net the Phils a draft pick that could be more valuable (particularly given the likelihood of a big draft pool) than any prospect return. And if Hellickson were to take it, that wouldn’t be a terrible result for an organization that could use the stability in the rotation both now and in 2017. GM Matt Klentak hinted recently that his team may not “be super active” at the deadline.
The Phillies could also push toward contention as soon as next year, though that still seems optimistic. A major factor in that timeline is young shortstop J.P. Crawford, who is currently playing at Triple-A. He was recently named the top prospect in all of baseball in a mid-season ranking update from Baseball Prospectus.
The Dodgers are said to be looking at outfielders, but may have an internal option on hand before long. Manager Dave Roberts says that Andre Ethier could make his way back to the bigs by early August, as Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets. The veteran has missed the entire season with a broken leg, but had been a highly productive player in 2015.

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