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Archives for July 2019

Blake Parker Elects Free Agency

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Right-hander Blake Parker rejected an outright assignment from the Twins and has instead elected free agency, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand the St. Paul Pioneer Press).

The 34-year-old Parker was non-tendered by the Angels last winter and went on to sign a one-year, $1.8MM deal with the Twins. Parker is still a bit shy of five years of MLB service time, meaning his decision to opt for free agency will actually result in him surrendering the remainder of that contract in exchange for a return to the open market. He’ll look to latch on with another club in hopes of a quick return to the big leagues.

Parker logged a 4.21 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with the Twins but struggled more than that number would indicate. The right-hander’s velocity dipped to its lowest mark since 2014 (91.5 mph average fastball), and he averaged four walks per nine innings pitched — the worst mark of his career excluding a small 17-inning sample in 2016. Parker’s overall strikeout rate, his swinging-strike rate and his first-pitch strike rate were all down from his 2017 peak with the Halos, and he gave up far too much hard contact; Statcast put his 42.9 percent opponents’ hard-hit rate in just the 10th percentile among MLB pitchers and felt that he was actually fortunate to escape with a .246/.331/.442 opponents’ batting line (based on the quality of the contact he allowed).

Parker turned in an outstanding 2017 season with the Angels when he logged 67 innings of 2.54 ERA ball with 11.5 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 with a 47-percent grounder rate. But after striking out more than a third of batters he faced that season, Parker whiffed just 21.7 percent of opponents this year, and his walk rate jumped four percent as well. Between the diminished K/BB numbers and a career-high 1.73 HR/9, fielding-independent metrics like FIP (5.35), xFIP (4.79) and SIERA (4.58) were all rather bearish on Parker’s performance.

Red Sox, Mets Have Discussed Edwin Diaz

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As the Red Sox continue their search for bullpen help and the Mets continue to puzzle onlookers, the two teams have been in touch about a potential Edwin Diaz deal. ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted early this morning that third base prospect Bobby Dalbec or corner infielder Triston Casas would likely be targeted as the centerpiece of any deal by the Mets. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets that Boston has indeed discussed a possible Diaz swap with the Mets, though, adding that the Red Sox are likely to add at least one, if not two relievers in the coming days. SNY’s Andy Martino tweets that there’s “nothing hot” between the two sides at the moment, however.

It’s shaping up to be quite the deadline for the Mets, who shipped their two best pitching prospects to the Blue Jays yesterday in a trade that netted them Marcus Stroman. At the same time, the Mets appear poised to trade away some combination of Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Jason Vargas, Todd Frazier and Diaz — the latter of whom was portrayed as a signature offseason acquisition in what proved a near-immediately regrettable trade with the Mariners.

Instead of anchoring the bullpen and reprising his role as one of the game’s premier relievers, Diaz has taken a step back in nearly every category this season. The 25-year-old has seen virtually every one of his rate stats — strikeout, walk, home-run, ground-ball, swinging-strike, hard-hit and opponent chase — trend in the wrong direction. His premium velocity has held strong, as he’s averaged 97.2 mph on his heater, but the across-the-board results for Diaz have been ugly. It doesn’t help him that the Mets’ defense is awful, but he’s sitting on a bloated 4.95 ERA and has already allowed more runs, hits and homers in 40 innings this season than he did in 72 1/3 frames last year. A 3.24 xFIP and 2.87 SIERA each portend better days, but it’s tough to understate what a disappointing season it’s been for Diaz so far.

All of that said, Diaz appears healthy and still possesses an elite arsenal of pitches. Paired with the fact that he’s not eligible for arbitration until this winter and can be controlled through the 2022 season, Diaz’s plus raw stuff surely gives other clubs confidence that he can be fixed (be it through pitch selection, a mechanical adjustment, improved defense behind him, etc.). The Boston bullpen has lacked established talent all season, and the relief corps has been particularly problematic this summer.

As for the Mets, they seemingly hope to structure their 2020 rotation around 2018 Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom and Stroman — a fine one-two combination, to be sure — and believe they’ll get more in trading away others than they surrendered to acquire Stroman. While they can’t unscramble the egg, so to speak, and recoup the value they lost in dealing Jarred Kelenic, Justin Dunn and Gerson Bautista to the Mariners (while taking on half the remaining money on Robinson Cano’s deal), the apparently forthcoming slate of trades should indeed replenish their farm to an extent. Syndergaard has more trade value than Stroman did, and Diaz should fetch some quality young talent if he is indeed shipped off.

Nonetheless, it’d be a dizzying sequence of moves that wouldn’t clearly leave the Mets better off than they started. While it’s commendable, on the one hand, that the team continues to eye contention in the short-term rather than acquiesce to the growing trend of large-scale rebuilds, the tightrope act the Mets look to be attempting is rife with risk. Perhaps moving Diaz and Syndergaard can each net a near-MLB-ready asset or two, but it’s not at all clear that they’d be in a better position with Stroman and those theoretical young assets. Stroman himself isn’t a particularly controllable player, after all, as he’ll be a free agent in the 2020-21 offseason. If things go south again next year, he’d likely be traded as a rental for less than the Mets paid to acquire him. And, in moving Diaz by Wednesday, they’d open a need for further late-inning bullpen help in the offseason — the very same need that led to this situation.

Royals Release Lucas Duda

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The Royals announced Monday that they’ve requested unconditional release waivers on first baseman/designated hitter Lucas Duda. He’ll be a free agent in 48 hours once he clears.

Kansas City designated Duda, 33, for assignment over the weekend. He signed a minor league contract with the club in Spring Training after being cut loose from a similar pact he’d signed with the Twins. However, Duda mustered only a .171/.252/.324 batting line with four home runs in 119 trips to the plate in his second stint with the Royals. Given the magnitude of those struggles and the number of alternate options — Ryan O’Hearn, Cheslor Cuthbert and even Frank Schwindel, who was released over Duda early in the year — it’s a bit surprising that Duda lasted on the roster as long as he did.

Duda’s track record against right-handed pitching could get him a minor league deal elsewhere once he reaches the open market. He’s a lifetime .249/.351/.481 hitter when holding the platoon advantage at the Major League level, and he hit .264/.336/.477 in such situations just last year. But Duda is also strictly a first baseman, if not a pure designated hitter in the eyes of clubs around the league at this point in his career. If he’s to find his way back onto a big league roster, he’ll likely need to head to Triple-A and show some signs of life against minor league opposition in order to earn another look.

Braves Interested In Joe Biagini

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There’s been plenty written about potential deals between the Blue Jays and Braves recently, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required) that Atlanta’s trade talks with Toronto center around a different target than most would expect: right-handed reliever Joe Biagini.

That Biagini would be a trade candidate isn’t exactly a surprise. He’s controlled through the 2022 season via arbitration, and the Blue Jays are likely to willing to deal from anywhere outside their emerging core of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio and other young, pre-arbitration players. Still, for an Atlanta club eyeing bullpen help, a higher-end target like Ken Giles is likely the name that most would expect to hear when discussing potential deals with Toronto.

Biagini, 29, has been with the Blue Jays since he was selected out of the Giants organization in the 2015 Rule 5 Draft. Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos had already left the Toronto organization by the time Biagini was selected, but two of his assistant GMs with the Braves, Perry Minasian and Jason Pare, were with the Jays when that selection was made.

During the 2016 season, Biagini enjoyed one of the more successful Rule 5 seasons in recent memory. His rookie campaign featured 67 2/3 innings of 3.06 ERA ball with 8.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.40 HR/9 and a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate. However, the Blue Jays’ subsequent attempt to move Biagini into the rotation in 2017 proved an ill-fated mistake, and his 2018 season spent mostly back in the bullpen didn’t yield quality results, either (6.00 ERA in 72 innings).

The 2019 season has seen Biagini bounce back to the tune of a 3.75 ERA over the life of 48 innings. He’s been homer-prone — like most of the league — but is sporting a career-high 9.0 K/9 against an even 3.0 BB/9 with a 45.3 percent ground-ball rate. There’s reason to be optimistic about further improvement, too; Biagini’s 13.7 percent swinging-strike rate is easily a career-best, as is his 36.1 percent opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone. The spin rate on his breaking ball is elite as well, ranking 21st of 399 big league pitchers to throw the pitch at least 100 times dating back to 2016.

Biagini avoided arbitration as a Super Two player this past offseason, settling on a $900K salary that’d be affordable for any interested party. He’ll go through arbitration another three times before reaching free agency in the 2022-23 offseason, but as a non-closing reliever, he won’t receive exorbitant raises through the arbitration process.

Cubs, Orioles Have Discussed Jonathan Villar

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The Cubs have discussed a Jonathan Villar trade with the Orioles, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com, though he adds that a match between the two teams appears unlikely at this time.

Chicago was tied to Eric Sogard before he was traded from Toronto to Tampa Bay, and Addison Russell’s recent demotion to Triple-A Iowa further illustrates that the Cubs could be in the mix for a second baseman. The potential return of Ben Zobrist, who is slated to head out on a minor league rehab assignment, could lessen any urgency to make an outside addition, though.

Villar has split the 2019 season between shortstop and second base in Baltimore, drawing negative reviews at second base from both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating a year after rating quite well in both categories. His familiarity with shortstop would also be a welcome addition for the Cubs, given that Russell’s demotion left the MLB roster without a true backup to Javier Baez there.

The 28-year-old Villar is hitting .262/.326/.421 with 13 home runs, 22 doubles, two triples and 22 stolen bases (in 28 attempts). Villar’s speed is an element the Cubs’ roster currently lacks. His 22 steals are only seven fewer than the Cubs have totaled as a team. Villar’s wheels likely hold some interest to the Cubs — they’ve also been connected to fleet-footed D-backs outfielder Jarrod Dyson — but Villar’s 24.1 percent strikeout rate (26.7 percent for his career) don’t align with Chicago’s reported interest in adding hitter with plus contact skills (e.g. Sogard, Dyson).

From a contractual standpoint, Villar is affordable. He’s being paid $4.825MM in 2019 (with about $1.66MM yet to be paid out) and is controllable via arbitration for the 2020 season as well. The Orioles were also willing to include some cash in the trade that sent Andrew Cashner to Boston, providing reason to believe they’d be willing to do so with their other trade assets as a means of sweetening the prospect return. Given his relative proximity to free agency and the Orioles’ aggressive tear-down, Villar is a logical trade candidate in the next three days. However, the demand for pitching help throughout the league is far greater than the demand for middle infielders, and the Orioles don’t necessarily need to move Villar if no appealing offer materializes.

Rangers Outright Carlos Tocci

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Rangers outfielder Carlos Tocci has been assigned outright to Triple-A Nashville after clearing waivers, the club announced over the weekend. Tocci was designated for assignment last week.

Tocci, 23, hasn’t appeared in the Majors this season, instead spending the entire year to date with the Rangers’ top affiliate in Nashville. Texas kept him on the big league roster as a Rule 5 Draft pick in 2018 but seldom used him, as he batted .225/.271/.283 in just 135 plate appearances over 66 games. Despite the explosive offensive environment in Triple-A this season, Tocci is hitting .246/.317/.312 in 360 trips to the plate.

Scouting reports on Tocci have credited him with above-average speed and defensive capabilities, including a plus throwing arm. He indeed landed in the 76th percentile among big leaguers in terms of average sprint speed in 2018, and Statcast tabbed him at four outs above average despite his limited time in the outfield. There have long been questions about Tocci’s bat, however, and this season’s poor showing at the plate has done little to abate them.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Mancini, Means, Rays

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Despite a depleted farm system and a payroll that is dangerously close to crossing the $246MM maximum luxury tax penalty line for the second straight year, the Red Sox have “confidence” that “they can make an impactful deal before the deadline,” ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets.  The Sox picked up Andrew Cashner earlier this month, though they still have needs in the bullpen and rotation, plus possibly the bench.  Relief pitching seems to be Boston’s top priority, given that the club has been linked to such names as Kirby Yates, Ken Giles, and Daniel Hudson on the rumor mill.

To this end, Olney opines that the Mets’ Edwin Diaz could doubly fit Boston as a prominent upgrade at relatively low cost, as Diaz isn’t arbitration-eligible until this offseason.  Then again, several other teams are interested in Diaz, and since the Mets have put a big price tag on the closer despite his struggles in 2019, the Red Sox might not have the minor league depth to win a bidding war.

More from around the AL East…

  • The Orioles are discussing Trey Mancini with “multiple suitors,” MLB Network’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link).  I looked at Mancini as a trade candidate back in May, and he has kept raking ever since, with 24 homers and a .279/.338/.531 slash line over 429 plate appearances this season.  Mancini isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2022 season, though since the O’s may not be out of rebuilding mode even in three years’ time, it makes sense that they would see if they could strike a big deal while Mancini’s value may be at its highest.
  • Orioles left-hander John Means is hopeful that his current stint on the injured list will only result in a single missed start, as he told MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and other reporters that an MRI on his left biceps didn’t reveal any structural damage, and only minor rotator cuff inflammation.  Means has been one of the few bright spots on the pitching front for Baltimore this season, posting a 3.12 ERA over 98 innings and representing the O’s in the All-Star team.
  • Sunday’s three-player trade between the Rays and Indians was likely inspired by both a 40-man roster crunch, and July 31 being the new absolute trade deadline this season, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (Twitter links).  Both Hunter Wood and Christian Arroyo were out of options next season, plus the Rays needed to create at least one 40-man roster opening for the newly-acquired Eric Sogard plus any other players they could add in trades before the deadline.  Plus, Tyler Glasnow and Anthony Banda need 40-man spots when they’re activated off the 60-day injured list.  In past years, the Rays could have dealt with Glasnow and Banda’s situations in August when they were ready to be activated, but this year, they felt the need to act early to create roster space rather than designate the likes of Wood or Arroyo in August and lose them for nothing on a waiver claim.  It will be interesting to see if we get more deals of this ilk over the next few days, as teams look to do some roster clearance now since their options are so limited after July 31.

NL Trade Rumors: Gore, Padres, Mets, Leclerc, Nats, Braves, Jays

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Some buzz from around the National League as we approach the deadline…

  • The Mets’ surprise acquisition of Marcus Stroman has sparked even more rumors about a possible Noah Syndergaard trade, with the Padres one of the teams (if pessimistically so) still in talks about Syndergaard.  While the Padres have a deep farm system’s worth of prospects to offer, one name that isn’t available is top pitching prospect MacKenzie Gore, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi tweets.  Gore has been mentioned as a possible trade chip in quite a few speculative deals since the offseason, though the Padres reportedly consider the young left-hander to be next to untouchable.  Ironically, the Mets themselves may have contributed to the Padres’ stance on not including Gore in a Syndergaard trade — since the Mets didn’t have to give up even a top-100 MLB.com-ranked prospect for Stroman, San Diego can argue that a consensus top-10 arm like Gore is too much to give up for Syndergaard.
  • Also from Morosi, the Nationals have interest in Rangers righty Jose Leclerc.  Washington has been connected to a wide range of relievers, and Leclerc boasts a 3.99 ERA, 3.27 K/BB rate, and a huge 13.7 K/9 over 47 1/3 IP for Texas this season, not to mention a long-term contract that could keep him until team control through the 2024 campaign.  Needless to say, all these attributes would require a big return to pry him loose from Texas, which could be tricky for a Nats organization that isn’t overly deep on minor league talent.
  • The history between Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos and the Blue Jays led to some speculation that the Jays and Braves were resistant to trading with each other.  Though The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently noted that Toronto’s “stance has softened,” it might not have dropped altogether, as The Athletic’s David O’Brien tweeted that “the word was that Toronto would deal with him [Anthopoulos], but would ask for more from [the] Braves” in talks involving Marcus Stroman than they would from other teams.  Stroman is off the table now, of course, though it would be interesting to know if this reported stance from the Jays extends to other trade chips who could be on Atlanta’s radar, like Ken Giles.

Dodgers Acquire Kristopher Negron

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The Dodgers have announced the acquisition of utilityman Kristopher Negron from the Mariners in exchange for minor league infielder Daniel Castro.

Originally acquired from the D’Backs last August, Negron has appeared in 27 total games for Seattle, including nine outings this season.  The 33-year-old has a career .216/.289/.328 slash line over 357 career MLB plate appearances in parts of six seasons, though his ability with the bat is much less important to the Dodgers than the versatility that Negron brings in the field.

Negron has started multiple games at every position on the diamond except pitcher and catcher over his career, making him a fit for a Dodger roster that just lost Enrique Hernandez to the injured list.  With both Hernandez and Chris Taylor injured, L.A. was in need of a short-term backup behind Corey Seager at shortstop.

Castro joined the Dodgers on a minor league contract over the offseason, and has hit .241/.304/.295 over 185 Triple-A plate appearances this year.  Castro is another player who can play all over the field, with extensive experience as a shortstop and second baseman, plus some time as a right fielder and third baseman.  He is a veteran of 98 big league games with the Braves and Rockies from 2016-18, with a .505 OPS over 286 PA in the Show.

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