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Archives for June 2019

Rays Expected To Pursue Multiple Bullpen Upgrades

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The Rays are expected to pursue multiple bullpen upgrades on this year’s trade market, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports in his latest inbox column. Toribio lists some speculative targets, including Shane Greene, Ken Giles and Kirby Yates. It’s also possible, Toribio notes, that Tampa Bay will look to add a right-handed bat to its bench mix.

Rays relievers entered play Wednesday ranked third in the Majors in ERA (3.60) and FIP (3.94), and they rank 11th in xFIP (4.36). They’re also in the bottom five of MLB in terms of K/9, though, and they’ve benefited from the game’s lowest HR/9 mark (0.98) and second-lowest homer-to-flyball ratio (11.5 percent).

The Rays have gotten strong results from lefty Jalen Beeks while working as a bulk reliever behind the Rays’ frequently utilized openers, which has somewhat skewed those league-wide rankings. Late-inning relievers Jose Alvarado, Diego Castillo and Emilio Pagan have all pitched well, but the Tampa Bay bullpen has been somewhat top-heavy toward the end of the game. They’ve been all the more thin with Alvarado away due to family reasons and Castillo on the IL due to a shoulder issue.

Rostering a deep bullpen is of particular importance for the Rays, given their nontraditional approach to constructing a pitching staff. At the moment, they’re only deploying three traditional starters in Charlie Morton, Yonny Chirinos and struggling reigning Cy Young winner Blake Snell. Tyler Glasnow would give them another option in that regard once healthy, but he recently suffered a setback in his recovery from a forearm injury and will be shut down for another three weeks. That atypical pitching formation leads the Rays to utilize multiple “bullpen” games per week, with Ryne Stanek serving as the most frequent opener and Beeks operating as the leading bulk reliever.

As for the potential addition of a right-handed bat, the Rays have Yandy Diaz, Christian Arroyo, Matt Duffy and Daniel Robertson all on the injured list, with Robertson set to miss up to six weeks following knee surgery and Duffy sidelined indefinitely. They recently turned to 25-year-old Mike Brosseau for his MLB debut as a righty bench bat, with backup catcher Travis d’Arnaud and light-hitting outfielder Guillermo Heredia rounding out an all-right-handed, three-man bench that can’t be reasonably expected to provide much offense.

Red Sox Release Brian Ellington

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The Red Sox have released hard-throwing righty Brian Ellington from his minor league contract, per an announcement from the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket.

The 28-year-old Ellington spent parts of the 2015-17 seasons with the Marlins — during which time Aroldis Chapman was the only pitcher in baseball whose average fastball topped Ellington’s 97.9 mph. In 102 2/3 innings at the big league level, Ellington has a 4.65 ERA with 8.6 K/9, 5.6 BB/9, 0.88 HR/9 and a 34.4 percent ground-ball rate.

Ellington hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since the 2017 campaign. While he inked a minor league pact with the Diamondbacks in 2018, a biceps injury limited him to just 11 1/3 innings. This year, he’s notched a 3.32 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 19 innings between Boston’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, but he’s also issued 20 walks and hit five batters.

At his best, Ellington paired his premium velocity with a swinging-strike rate near 13 percent and an opponents’ chase rate near 33 percent. Control troubles have been a longstanding issue and have clearly hindered him this year, but Ellington does boast a career 13.6 K/9 mark in Triple-A. His next stop figures to be on another minor league pact.

Angels Designate Wilfredo Tovar For Assignment

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The Angels announced Wednesday that they’ve designated infielder Wilfredo Tovar for assignment as part of a series of roster moves. Right-hander Jaime Barria was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, with righty Jake Jewell being optioned back to Salt Lake in his place. The Halos also reinstated right-hander Trevor Cahill from the injured list.

Tovar, 27, appeared in 16 games with the Halos and tallied 46 plate appearances with a timid .195/.283/.293 slash in that time. That marked his first big league action since appearing in nine games with the Mets from 2013-14. The versatile Tovar has also spent time with the Twins and Cardinals at the Triple-A level, and he logged a .289/.332/.407 slash in 211 plate appearances with the Angels’ Salt Lake club prior to his promotion earlier this month.

Cahill, who signed a one-year deal worth $9MM this offseason, has been sidelined since June 3 due to elbow soreness. Like fellow offseason pickup Matt Harvey, who also agreed to a one-year deal, he’s struggled immensely in his time with the Halos. The 31-year-old enjoyed a strong season with the division-rival Athletics in 2018, logging a 3.76 ERA and 3.54 FIP with 8.2 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 53.4 percent grounder rate in 110 innings. The Angels will surely hope that version of Cahill returns from the IL rather than the iteration who has limped to a 7.18 ERA and 6.39 FIP through his first 57 2/3 frames of the 2019 campaign.

Mets To Select Chris Mazza, Designate Ryan O’Rourke

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2:57pm: The Mets will designate lefty Ryan O’Rourke for assignment to open up space for Mazza, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News tweets. The 31-year-old O’Rourke signed a minor league contract with the Mets in the offseason. He threw 1 1/3 innings with the Mets earlier this year, and has mostly spent the season at the Triple-A level. O’Rourke has registered a 3.31 ERA/4.44 FIP with 9.09 K/9, 4.68 BB/9 and a 52.3 percent grounder rate in 32 2/3 innings with Syracuse.

2:04pm: The Mets plan to select right-hander Chris Mazza’s contract from Triple-A Syracuse, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. They’ll need to create a 40-man spot for Mazza.

The 29-year-old Mazza will work out of the Mets’ bullpen when they promote him, per DiComo. Mazza hasn’t yet taken a major league mound since entering the pro ranks as a 27th-round pick of the Twins in 2011. He ascended to the Triple-A level for the first time last year as a member of the Marlins and has primarily pitched there this season with the Mets’ top affiliate.

Mazza has worked to a 3.67 ERA/4.06 FIP with 8.08 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 49 innings at Syracuse this season. Overall, he owns a 3.74 Triple-A ERA with 8.0 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 across 65 frames.

Marlins Open To Trading Starters

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The rebuilding Marlins reportedly aren’t inclined to trade any of their controllable starting pitchers, but that isn’t necessarily the case, according to president of baseball operations Michael Hill (via Joe Frisaro of MLB.com).

The Marlins plan to “explore” ways to improve, said Hill, who added: “I think you look at ways to get better. I think you look at where we are organizationally, and we’ve said our pitching is a little bit ahead of our position players.”

Specifically, the Marlins would like to add a middle-of-the-order bat to their lineup, Frisaro reports. Whether they’d be able to get that type of offensive piece for any of their starters is the question.

Although Miami’s a National League-worst 30-47 this season, its starting staff has been a legitimate bright spot. The Marlins’ rotation ranks a surprising sixth in the majors in ERA and a similarly encouraging eighth in FIP, and all of their prominent starters are controllable 20-somethings.

The Marlins haven’t gotten ace-caliber production from anyone, but each of Trevor Richards, Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Jose Urena and Caleb Smith have logged respectable or better numbers over at least 12 starts apiece. Meanwhile, Jordan Yamamoto has been brilliant through three starts, Elieser Hernandez has done well during his first three starts this year, and the just-promoted Zac Gallen shut down the Cardinals in his five-inning introduction June 20.

One problem for the Marlins is that there are currently injuries spread throughout their starting group. The strikeout-heavy Smith has been out since June 7 with left hip inflammation, Lopez went down June 19 with shoulder inflammation, and Urena will be out until at least August with a herniated disc in his back. Smith and Lopez are reportedly progressing toward returns, however. Therefore, aside from Urena, any of the Marlins’ starters might end up in play around the July 31 deadline.

If you’re another team, acquiring one of Miami’s starters could mean adding a long-term solution to your staff. Richards, Alcantara and Lopez are all controllable through 2024, while Lopez and Hernandez are under wraps through 2023. Yamamoto and Gallen obviously come with even more control, having just emerged in the majors. So, whether it happens this summer or a bit down the line, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Marlins deal from their surplus of starters to improve a toothless offense that ranks among the majors’ worst. Aside from first baseman Garrett Cooper, third baseman Brian Anderson, outfielder Harold Ramirez and veteran stopgap infielder Neil Walker, they’ve struggled to get any production at the plate in 2019.

Rangers Notes: Deadline, Pence, Cabrera

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The Rangers continue to defy the odds and rack up victories. Winners of three straight, the team’s 43-36 and in a three-way tie with Cleveland and Boston for the American League’s second wild-card spot. Because of their unexpected success, the Rangers may end up as buyers prior to the July 31 trade deadline. General manager Jon Daniels recently discussed the club’s mindset leading up to the deadline with ESPN Dallas 103.3, per the Dallas Morning News. While Daniels indicated the Rangers’ main focus is on building a successful team for the long haul, he admitted that “you can’t ignore the fact that it’s fun every night at the park.” With that in mind, Daniels added Texas will “be very open-minded” when trade season begins in earnest, saying: “We’re not going to set any limits on this team, but we’re also not going to do anything to take shortcuts and endanger what we feel is a really bright future for the club. We’re just going to try to be smart about it. See what opportunities are out there — how do we get better both now and in the future? Bottom line, this club’s done a lot of good things. They’re a lot of fun to watch, certainly would like to support them if we can.”

More from Arlington…

  • Outfielder/designated hitter Hunter Pence is eligible to come off the injured list Thursday, but that won’t happen, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Pence is dealing with a Grade 2 right groin strain that could shelve him into the start of next week, Grant suggests. The benefit of Pence’s continued absence is that the Rangers won’t have to option or designate another player they like when he returns, as Grant notes, but they’d still welcome back the resurgent 36-year-old’s bat. Left for dead after two bad seasons with the Giants, Pence signed a minor league contract with the Rangers over the winter and has since turned back the clock. He’s slashing a stupendous .294/.353/.608 (142 wRC+) with 15 home runs in 215 trips to the plate.
  • Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera is one player the Rangers could drop when Pence comes back, Grant observes. Jettisoning Cabrera would be a surprising move on the Rangers’ part, especially considering he’s on a guaranteed $3.5MM salary, but Grant doesn’t rule out it occurring sooner than later. Cabrera, who’s serving a three-game suspension stemming from an altercation with an umpire, hasn’t delivered much on-field value when he has played this season. The 33-year-old switch hitter’s off to a .231/.312/.409 start (83 wRC+) in 279 PA and has accounted for minus-5 Defensive Runs Saved as the Rangers’ primary third baseman. The Rangers could replace Cabrera with Logan Forsythe, who has been the better of the two in 2019.

Dodgers Promote Tony Gonsolin

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WEDNESDAY: The Dodgers have optioned catcher Will Smith to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room for Gonsolin, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times tweets. They also transferred injured reliever Tony Cingrani to the 60-day IL, Gurnick relays.

MONDAY: Right-hander Tony Gonsolin will start for the Dodgers in Arizona on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and other media (Ron Cervenka of ThinkBlueLA.com first reported Gonsolin’s promotion). The Dodgers’ 40-man roster is full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move to create a spot for Gonsolin.

The 25-year-old Gonsolin has been a member of the Los Angeles organization since it used a ninth-round pick on him in 2016. This year, in Gonsolin’s first Triple-A experience, he has recorded a terrific 2.77 ERA/3.57 FIP with 10.74 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 in 26 innings. Gonolsin has averaged only a little over three frames per start in eight appearances this year, in part because of an early season oblique injury, though he did amass 128 innings in a 2018 campaign divided between the High-A and Double-A levels.

MLB.com (No. 4) and FanGraphs (No. 6) each regard Gonsolin as one of the Dodgers’ best prospects. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com note Gonsolin boasts a fastball capable of hitting triple digits and solid secondary offerings in the form of a splitter, curveball and slider.

With the help of his expansive repertoire, Gonsolin could develop into a No. 3 major league starter eventually, though he won’t face such pressure immediately. The front of the Dodgers’ rotation is already in enviable shape with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Hyun-Jin Ryu leading the way, but the club’s dealing with an injury to Rich Hill. As a result, Gonsolin will have a chance to join Kenta Maeda and Tuesday starter Ross Stripling toward the back of LA’s loaded rotation.

White Sox To Sign First-Rounder Andrew Vaughn

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The White Sox have agreed to sign first-rounder Andrew Vaughn, the third pick in this year’s draft, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports. Vaughn will receive a bonus worth $7.2212MM, right in line with the recommended slot value of his selection.

Vaughn, a 21-year-old first baseman from the University of California, entered the draft as a consensus elite prospect. All of ESPN’s Keith Law (No. 2), MLB.com (No. 3), Baseball America (No. 3) and FanGraphs (No. 4) ranked Vaughn as one of the four best players on the board. Law, the most bullish of the bunch, wrote in his subscription-only draft preview that Vaughn possesses the “best pure bat in the class” and likely the best plate discipline in the group. There are, however, questions about Vaughn’s 5-foot-10 frame, Law notes.

Vaughn’s a year removed from winning the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the premier player in college baseball. The honor in 2019 went to Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman, whom the Orioles took No. 1 this year and then signed to a record bonus.

Dodgers Reportedly Interested In Felipe Vazquez

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The Dodgers, looking to bolster a bullpen that has had its share of slipups this season, are interested in acquiring Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports. There is no indication the Pirates would be amenable to trading Vazquez, however.

Factoring in the 27-year-old Vazquez’s age, track record and contract, he’s one of the most valuable relievers in the sport. The hard-throwing left-hander debuted with the Nationals in 2015 but truly burst on the scene in 2017, a year after the Pirates acquired him from the Nats in a deal for fellow reliever Mark Melancon.

Vazquez has been a dominant late-game workhorse since his first full season in Pittsburgh, having posted a 2.12 ERA/2.43 FIP with 11.51 K/9, 2.67 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent groundball rate in 178 1/3 innings. He has also saved 77 of 85 opportunities over the past two-plus seasons, including 19 of 20 in 2019. This may go down as the best season yet for Vazquez, who has pitched to a 1.91 ERA/2.36 FIP with 13.91 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 across 33 frames.

Vazquez wouldn’t be the closer with the Dodgers; he’d instead team with game-ending righty Kenley Jansen to form a duo that would be one of the envies of the league. Owners of the majors’ best record (55-26), the Dodgers aren’t hard up for help. However, their bullpen has been more middle of the pack than excellent this season. Jansen and Pedro Baez have performed well (though the former has fallen off a bit since his halcyon days), but there’s room for improvement otherwise.

There is little question convincing the Pirates to part with Vazquez would mean offering an impossible-to-reject package of young talent. While the 36-41 Pirates probably aren’t on their way to the playoffs this season, the low-budget club has Vazquez potentially under wraps through 2023 on a sweetheart contract, so it’s not in any rush to move him. He’s on a $4MM salary this year, a $5.25MM salary in 2020 and a $7.25MM figure in 2021. After that, Vazquez has affordable club options worth $10MM apiece from 2022-23.

Orioles Acquire Patrick Dorrian To Complete Yefry Ramirez Trade

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The Orioles have acquired infielder Patrick Dorrian from the Pirates, the teams announced. This completes the May 27 trade that sent right-hander Yefry Ramirez to the Pirates.

Baltimore’s the third organization for the 23-year-old Dorrian, whose pro career began in strange fashion. The Braves spent a 12th-round pick on Dorrian in 2014, but after he signed and reported to their Gulf Coast team, he decided to go to college instead, as Sal Interdonato of the Times Herald-Record explained last summer.

Dorian played at Herkimer County Community College in upstate New York and Division II Lynn University in Florida before signing with the Pirates as an undrafted free agent last year. He has since logged impressive production at the lower levels of the minors, including a .256/.346/.443 with six home runs in 255 plate appearances this year in Single-A ball. Dorrian will report to the High-A level with the Orioles.

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