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Interest In Nomar Mazara Reportedly “Picking Up”

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There was considerable hype surrounding outfielder Nomar Mazara when the Rangers promoted him to the majors in 2016. Mazara was one of baseball’s elite prospects at the time, but three-plus years later, he hasn’t lived up to the billing. While Mazara is now seemingly falling out of favor with the Texas organization, he remains intriguing to other franchises. With the July 31 trade deadline just a week away, interest in Mazara “is picking up,” specifically from teams that could be contenders in 2020, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes.

Although Mazara’s well into his major league career, he’s still just 24 years old. He’s also making a fair $3.3MM salary now and under control through 2021 via arbitration. That’s the good. The bad: Mazara’s more a big name than a big producer at this point.

Mazara smacked 20 home runs in each of the previous three seasons and has totaled 12 this year, but his overall numbers are lackluster. Mazara entered the year a .258/.320/.425 hitter with a subpar 92 wRC+ and just 1.5 fWAR across 1,720 plate appearances. His output this season has been even worse. Through 381 trips to the plate, Mazara has slashed .255/.307/.438 (86 wRC+) and accounted for a replacement-level fWAR (0.0). Southpaws flummoxed the left-handed Mazara during the prior three seasons, which has again been the case in 2019. They’ve held him to a horrific .200/.231/.345 line with 30 strikeouts against four walks thus far.

Not only has Mazara come up short in the batter’s box, but he has left something to be desired as a defender. In almost 4,000 innings of work as an outfielder, Mazara has totaled minus-20 Defensive Runs Saved, though his minus-2.3 Ultimate Zone Rating hasn’t been nearly as woeful. He’s at minus-5 and minus-1.9 in those categories this season, adding a more respectable minus-1 in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric.

Statcast is also more bullish on Mazara as a hitter. For one, Mazara’s .340 expected weighted on-base average far outpaces his .314 real wOBA. He also ranks either a bit or well above average in hard-hit percentage, expected batting average and expected slugging percentage. But that may not be of much consolation to the Rangers, who have time and again seen Mazara fail to meet expectations over the years. And now that the slumping Rangers are falling out of playoff contention, they could deem Mazara expendable in the coming days.

Tigers Interested In Packaging Trade Chips

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As they continue to explore various trade scenarios regarding their most appealing veteran players, the Tigers are attempting to package multiple trade chips, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. It’s part of a bid to draw top-end prospect talent to Detroit this summer.

The concept of a package deal isn’t a new one. On occasion, it’s even pulled off — such as with this memorable swap we recently looked back on — though most such ideas tend to end up on the cutting-room floor.

In this case, the Detroit organization has three chief attractions to dangle. Outfielder Nicholas Castellanos is the most obvious trade piece as a pending free agent, but he’s not going to draw a franchise-altering return on his own. Reliever Shane Greene has thrown well at the right time and has another season of control remaining, though rivals surely value him somewhere in the realm of the mid-point between this year’s 1.22 ERA and last year’s 5.12 mark.

Much as the Tigers might like to turn Castellanos and Greene into a significant prospect haul, they’re likely aware that even two quality MLB pieces such as those won’t induce hesitant contenders to part with premium prospects. With the purpose in mind “to access the highest tier of available prospects,” as Morosi characterizes it, the Tigers are at least opening the door to package arrangements involving the third and most valuable major trade chip: starter Matthew Boyd.

In this day and age, it’s as hard as ever to pry top prospects free via trade. But controllable, high-quality starting pitching is an increasingly rare asset in its own right. The Tigers’ best hope of getting big-time new talent is surely to line something up for Boyd and his three remaining seasons of arbitration control. While the southpaw hasn’t quite maintained his hot start in terms of results, he can shoulder a workload and carries appealing peripherals (including a 14.0% swinging-strike rate).

Boyd is the sort of pitcher that might get a contender to pay a price it’d rather not, though his breakout is still fresh and there are surely questions as to its sustainability. Adding in another much-needed piece could help move the ball, no doubt, but it’s questionable whether the Tigers’ other top trade chips are valuable enough secondary pieces to do so. There’s an argument to be made that Castellanos is the top rental bat available as a young and established slugger, but he’s not particularly cheap and there are alternatives. Greene seems likelier to tip the scales as a late-inning reliever with another season of control, but he’s going to be due a big raise (from his $4MM current salary) and has a rather uneven overall track record.

Latest On Interest In Mets’ Pitchers

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Most reports out of New York over the past few weeks have echoed a familiar trio of names when assessing their trade chips: Zack Wheeler, Todd Frazier and Jason Vargas. The three are free agents at season’s end — Vargas does have an $8MM club option ($2MM buyout) that looks increasingly intriguing — making them natural candidates to be shipped out by a 46-54 Mets team that is closer to the NL’s worst record than to the division lead.

The larger source of intrigue surrounds whether the Mets would move assets controlled beyond the current season. To that end, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports within his latest column that the Mets “have been open to dealing” embattled closer Edwin Diaz. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen isn’t in any type of rush to move his offseason headliner, however. Rather, he’s endeavored to receive a comparable package to the one he surrendered in order to get Diaz in the first place. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets a similar sentiment, noting that the ask on Diaz is “so sky-high that it’s basically a non-starter.” Though ESPN.com’s Buster Olney suggests on Twitter that the Dodgers are a nice match on paper, he doesn’t indicate whether the sides have had actual discussions — let alone whether the Los Angeles organization would meet the Mets’ asking price.

Finding a deal that compares to the one that brought Diaz to New York seems an impossible order. In addition to taking on a hefty chunk of the Robinson Cano contract, the Mets parted with a pair of young players — Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn — who are soaring through the Mariners’ system and up top prospect rankings. Diaz’s strikeout, walk, ground-ball and swinging-strike rates have all gone in the wrong direction. And while he’s tossed six shutout innings since his most recent meltdown — a four-run collapse against the Phillies — he’s still lugging a 4.81 ERA with as many blown saves (four) as he had all of last season.

Even teams that feel they have an answer for Diaz’s struggles wouldn’t be willing to pay a metaphorical dollar-for-dollar rate in negotiations with the Mets. As for taking a lesser deal, the optics of trading him for cents on the dollar while retaining Cano and the sizable portion of his salary they absorbed in that deal would be poor, to say the least. Diaz is controlled through 2022, so a strong finish and/or a 2020 rebound would do wonders for his value.

It seems more plausible that if the Mets were to receive a sizable offer on a controllable arm, it’d be Noah Syndergaard. Olney tweets that the Mets are “seriously listening” to rival clubs that have interest. While Syndergaard hasn’t really thrown in a way that buttresses his own trade value, he’s throwing hard and seems to be in good health. His 4.36 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 would all be career-worsts if the season ended today, but his track record and upside are so impressive that there’ll be loads of interest.

Whether that listening stance has a real chance of turning into meaningful trade talks remains to be seen. Both Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter links) and Andy Martino of SNY cite the Yankees as the club with perhaps the keenest level of interest in Syndergaard. Both reports suggest that top pitching prospect Deivi Garcia could be a headliner in such a deal, and while GM Brian Cashman plainly stated a couple weeks back that he wouldn’t move Garcia for a rental, Heyman suggests that the Yankees would “surely” put Garcia in play if meant obtaining Syndergaard, who is controlled through 2021.

Of course, the Yankees and Mets simply haven’t dealt with one another on the trade market at any point in recent history, which makes negotiations all the more complicated. And Olney tweets that he doesn’t think the New York rivals will be able to make a deal on such a significant player. Martino writes that the two teams have nevertheless talked Syndergaard “many times” this month, swapping proposals and counterproposals with no real progress being made. A deal is characterized as unlikely, although he also lists the Astros, Padres, Brewers and, to a lesser extent, the Twins as teams trying to pry Syndergaard loose.

That high asking price may not be the case with regard to Wheeler, whose value partially hinges on how well he performs in Friday’s expected return from the injured list. The Mets’ hope seems to be that a strong outing will quiet some concerns about Wheeler’s recent shoulder flareup, but the injury undoubtedly quelled some interest in him. Despite the concerns, Yahoo’s Mike Mazzeo cites a Mets official as calling the chances of a Wheeler trade “pretty high.”

If the Mets don’t find any offers on Wheeler to be viable or, even worse, he experiences renewed shoulder discomfort and is forced back to the IL, the club could retain him and issue a qualifying offer at season’s end. Barring a worrying showing, though, it may be that the Mets will end up simply taking the best offer on a player whose tenure in New York has seen its share of peaks and valleys.

Caleb Smith Drawing Interest

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Marlins left-hander Caleb Smith is generating interest as the July 31 trade deadline nears, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets.

It’s no surprise there are teams eyeing the controllable, effective Smith, but whether the Marins are open to dealing him is in question. Frisaro reported a month ago that the Marlins aren’t willing to give up Smith, who has been one of the few hugely successful trade additions they’ve acquired since Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter bought the franchise late in the 2017 season.

Smith, like Jeter, joined the Marlins after a run with the Yankees. The 27-year-old hurler threw 77 1/3 effective innings with the Marlins a season ago and has been even more impressive in 2019. Across 90 frames, Smith has recorded a 3.30 ERA/4.13 FIP with 11.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. While Smith’s 28 percent groundball rate ranks last among those who have thrown at least 90 innings this season, the home run ball hasn’t crushed him to this point. Smith has surrendered HRs on 15.2 percent of fly balls, which is below average but not ruinous.

Smith doesn’t throw particularly hard, evidenced by his 92.1 mph average, but hitters have nonetheless had difficulty squaring up against him. According to Statcast, Smith ranks in the 70th percentile or better in expected weighted on-base average against, exit velocity, fastball spin, expected batting average and strikeout rate. If that’s not appealing enough, Smith’s making what amounts to a minimum salary this season and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2020 campaign.

All things considered, Miami would be within reason to request a ransom for Smith. However, assuming the Marlins haven’t changed their minds over the past month, they seem inclined to keep him.

Rangers Likely To Place Joey Gallo On IL

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Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo’s right wrist injury is “likely” to lead to a stint on the IL, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. The extent of the injury isn’t yet clear, but there’s concern within the team that Gallo fractured the hamate bone in his hand, per Grant. If so, he’ll need surgery.

Already amid a tailspin, a significant injury to their best player is the last thing the Rangers need. The club has surprisingly been in the playoff hunt for most of the season, but after losing nine of 10, it’s at .500 (51-51) and 6 1/2 games out of a playoff spot.

The fact that Texas has been in the hunt for most of the year is a tribute to Gallo, who has been one of the majors’ top players in 2019. Gallo missed time earlier in the season because of an oblique injury, but he has still slashed .253/.389/.598 (146 wRC+) with 22 home runs in 297 plate appearances. Factoring in his work in the field (4 Defensive Runs Saves, 5.5 Ultimate Zone Rating), Gallo has posted a career-high 3.3 fWAR.

If Gallo heads to the IL for the second time this year, the Rangers will recall Willie Calhoun from Triple-A Nashville to replace him, according to Grant. The Rangers demoted Calhoun a week ago, to his chagrin.

Yankees Place Gary Sanchez On Injured List

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5:48pm: Sanchez was diagnosed with a grade 1 strain, Boone tells reporters including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). The skipper wasn’t able to give much of an estimate of the duration of the absence, saying only that “it’ll be some time” before Sanchez is back.

10:43am: The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve placed catcher Gary Sanchez on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left groin. Catcher Kyle Higashioka is up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his place. New York also optioned Jonathan Holder to Scranton and recalled lefty Nestor Cortes Jr. in his place.

The team didn’t provide any sort of timeline on Sanchez within the announcement, though presumably manager Aaron Boone will address the injury prior to tonight’s game against the Twins. It’s the second IL placement of the season for Sanchez, who previously missed about two weeks due to a calf strain back in April. In 238 plate appearances this season, Sanchez is hitting .229/.299/.508 with 24 home runs.

Higashioka, 29, won’t match Sanchez’s production at the plate, although it should be noted that he’s enjoying a career-best .268/.343/.581 showing in 201 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s appeared in 42 Major League games but has compiled a woeful .143/.209/.267 batting line in that time.

Swapping out Holder for Cortes is a natural move on the heels of a video-game-esque slugfest that saw the Twins and Yankees combine for 26 runs in 10 innings last night. That game featured five lead changes, 35 total hits and an incredible 12 runs scored in the eighth inning or later. As one might expect, both teams depleted their bullpen, cycling through six relievers apiece. Cortes gives the Yankees a fresh arm that can handle multiple innings, and the Twins will surely have some roster machination of their own in the next few hours.

Twins Designate Blake Parker For Assignment

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The Twins announced that they’ve designated right-hander Blake Parker for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to veteran righty Carlos Torres, who signed a minor league contract last month and will have his contract selected from Triple-A Rochester. Minnesota has also optioned right-hander Kohl Stewart to Rochester and recalled lefty Devin Smeltzer in his place.

Parker, 34, was non-tendered by the Angels last fall despite putting up a 2.90 ERA in his two seasons there. The Minnesota org scooped him up for a $1.8MM guarantee. There were a series of roster bonuses that kicked off beginning 130 days into the season, a point less than two weeks away. While the Twins won’t owe any of the extra contemplated cash, they’ll be on the hook for the remainder of the salary unless another club takes over the contract or partially offsets what is owed by eventually bringing Parker onto their roster at a league-minimum rate of pay.

Though Parker seemed a reasonable risk for that rate of pay, he was probably miscast from the outset as a part of the team’s closer mix. He did pick up ten saves before being elbowed out of the ninth for good. Befitting a club that is turning over relief arms at a rapid pace in advance of the trade deadline, Parker was still trusted to work the eighth of a tight game just days ago.

After picking up a hold on Saturday against the A’s, Parker owned a 3.25 ERA on the season. But he was shredded for four earned runs while recording just one out yesterday, in what was in all likelihood his final appearance for the Twins this year. That left Parker with a cumulative 4.21 ERA through 36 1/3 innings on the season. The peripherals never inspired much confidence. He’s carrying 8.4 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 with seven long balls on the ledger. As it did last year, Statcast identified a worrying volume of hard contact. The batted-ball profile indicated that Parker has actually been somewhat fortunate (.333 wOBA vs. .360 xwOBA).

The 36-year-old Torres is back in the bigs once again after forgettable and brief stints in each of the past two seasons. He’s a ten-year MLB veteran but hasn’t had a full and effective campaign since 2016. Torres has been generating good outcomes this year at Triple-A, though, with a 2.79 ERA in 48 1/3 frames at the top affiliates of the Tigers, Padres, and Twins.

Jameson Taillon Shut Down After Experiencing Renewed Discomfort

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Pirates right-hander Jameson Taillon experienced renewed pain in his right forearm and is no longer throwing, the Pirates revealed to reporters on Wednesday (Twitter link via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The discomfort sounds particularly ominous, as Pirates medical director Todd Tomczyk suggested that the injury has “run its course of conservative care,” Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. Taillon will meet with a doctor next week.

Taillon, 27, has been sidelined by a forearm strain since early May, and his absence has played a significant role in the team’s underwhelming season. The former No. 2 overall draft pick and longtime top prospect delivered on that hype in a big way last season when he tossed 191 innings of 3.20 ERA ball, emerging as the Buccos’ staff leader. Taillon averaged 8.4 strikeouts, 2.2 walks and under one home run per nine innings pitched, drawing favorable reviews from fielding-independent metrics as well.

Unfortunately for the club, he’s been limited to 37 1/3 innings this season, which has contributed to the Pirates cycling through a dozen different starters. Chris Archer, Trevor Williams and Jordan Lyles have all struggled but at least been able to give the club some innings, and Joe Musgrove has been solid (if unspectacular) in leading the club with 20 starts. Pittsburgh has also looked to Steven Brault, the since-designated Nick Kingham, rookie Dario Agrazal and top prospect Mitch Keller for starts, and they’ve even experimented with using Montana DuRapau as an opener in bullpen games.

Suffice it to say, a Taillon return in the near future would’ve been a welcome sight but now appears decidedly unlikely. Back in June, it was reported that surgery could eventually emerge as an option if Taillon didn’t improve, and while Tomczyk didn’t directly mention surgery today, the juxtaposition of that June writing and his quote today are troubling for the Bucs.

Tigers Select Drew VerHagen

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The Tigers announced that they’ve optioned lefty Daniel Stumpf to Triple-A Toledo following today’s game and will select the contract of righty Drew VerHagen to start tomorrow’s contest. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, Detroit transferred catcher Grayson Greiner to the 60-day injured list.

VerHagen is no stranger to the Tigers. The 28-year-old was their fourth-round selection back in 2012 and spent the 2014-16 seasons being optioned back and forth between Toledo and Detroit as a depth piece. He’s been designated for assignment twice in the past couple of years but remained with the club after clearing waivers on each instance. He’ll now rejoin the club for the first time since last being outrighted in early May.

Earlier this season, VerHagen was clobbered for 10 runs in just six innings of work, but he’s posted much better results in his return to Triple-A. Through 53 frames with the Mud Hens, he’s worked to a 4.42 ERA with 8.7 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9 and a 40.4 percent ground-ball rate. His return to the Tigers could be short-lived, as Detroit’s rotation and bullpen are both in constant states of flux this season while their rebuild trudges on. Then again, with the Tigers likely to deal at least one arm (Shane Greene) and possibly some others (Matthew Boyd, Joe Jimenez, Buck Farmer) in the next week, it’s possible that there’s room for VerHagen to stick around beyond tomorrow’s spot start.

Braves Designate Shane Carle For Assignment

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The Braves announced Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander Shane Carle for assignment in order to open a 40-man roster spot for righty Jeremy Walker, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett. Right-hander Wes Parsons was optioned to Gwinnett to clear a spot on the 25-man roster.

Carle, 28 next month, is only months season removed from a 2018 season that saw him finish the year with a 2.86 ERA in 63 innings of work, although he looked quite unlikely to repeat that production moving forward. Carle averaged just 6.1 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9 last season, surviving in large part due to a deflated .258 average on balls in play and excellent fortune in terms of home runs allowed (0.29 HR/9, 4.2% HR/FB).

Carle’s end-of-season numbers were buoyed by a particularly hot start to the season; however, after posting a 0.69 ERA in his first 26 innings, the righty came down to Earth with a 4.38 ERA and an unpalatable 24-to-21 K/BB ratio in his final 37 innings of work.

This season has been a particularly ugly one for Carle. In 9 1/3 big league innings he’s allowed 10 runs, walked nine batters and hit three more while striking out just six. His Triple-A results haven’t been much more encouraging, as he’s limped to a 5.13 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate. To Carle’s credit, he’s had the BABIP pendulum swing the other direction against him with Gwinnett, as he’s seen hitters bat .356 on balls put into play against him. He’s still limiting homers (0.54 HR/9) in amid talk of juiced balls in one of the most hitter-friendly seasons the International League has ever seen.

Carle has an option remaining beyond the 2019 season, so a club in need of some bullpen help could certainly take a look at him as middle relief depth. The Braves will spend the next week trying to trade him but could also try to pass him throughout outright waivers (although last season’s success and the remaining option make him a decent bet to be claimed).

As for Walker, 24, he carved up Double-A opponents this season before a brief 11-inning stopover in Gwinnett. The 2016 fifth-round pick is now slated to make his MLB debut on the heels of 69 2/3 innings of 2.84 ERA ball and a 71-to-8 K/BB ratio between Double-A and Triple-A.

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