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Archives for September 2020

Twins Designate Ildemaro Vargas For Assignment

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The Twins have designated infielder Ildemaro Vargas for assignment, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets. That will make room for third baseman Josh Donaldson’s activation from the injured list.

Vargas is just a few weeks into his tenure with the Twins, who acquired him from the Diamondbacks for cash considerations on Aug. 11. While the 29-year-old Vargas brings a great deal of defensive versatility to the table, having played all over the diamond since he debuted in 2017, his bat his held him back.

The switch-hitting Vargas has only mustered a .255/.284/.385 line with seven home runs in 289 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, including 24 PA as a member of the Twins. He has, however, recorded a much more encouraging .326/.371/.464 line with 126 extra-base hits (88 doubles, 21 homers, 17 triples) over 1,468 plate appearances in Triple-A ball.

Cubs Place Jose Quintana On 10-Day Injured List

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The Cubs are placing southpaw Jose Quintana on the 10-day injured with left lat inflammation, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports. They recalled righty Jason Adam to take Quintana’s place on their roster, per Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic.

This continues a year to forget for Quintana, who had to undergo left thumb surgery at the beginning of July and was unable to debut until Aug. 25. Quintana has since thrown six innings of four-run ball with nine strikeouts and two walks over a pair of relief appearances. He’ll now rejoin righty Tyler Chatwood as Cubs starting options on the injured list. The NL Central leaders still have Cy Young contender Yu Darvish, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester and Alec Mills around to fill rotation spots, but there’s nobody with a track record rivaling Quintana’s to take his position, and the Cubs can’t look for established outside help now that the trade deadline has passed. For now, it seems the Cubs will turn to righty Adbert Alzolay, who has three MLB starts on his resume.

Quintana is only several weeks from reaching the free-agent market, so it’s far from ideal that he’ll shop his services around the majors off an injury-ruined season. The 31-year-old, previously with the White Sox, has typically been quite durable since his career began in 2012. In fact, from 2013-19, he made 30-plus starts every season and logged 171-plus innings in each of those campaigns.

Cardinals Place Dexter Fowler On Injured List

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The Cardinals have placed outfielder Dexter Fowler on the injured list, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Fowler’s dealing with a stomach illness, so the club put him on the shelf as a precautionary measure because he’s taking medicine that could lower his immune system. He’ll miss a couple weeks, writes Goold, who adds that the Cardinals replaced Fowler with infielder Rangel Ravelo on their roster.

Fowler, who’s in his fourth season as a Cardinal, has been a a valuable part of their offense so far in 2020. The switch-hitting 34-year-old has taken 75 trips to the plate and slashed .279/.347/.485 with four home runs, all while getting the lion’s share of work in right field for a St. Louis team that’s 14-13 and in possession of the second wild-card spot in the National League.

Fowler aside, Tyler O’Neill and Harrison Bader are the only Cardinals outfielders who have appeared in double-digit games in the grass thus far. Fowler has been the most effective hitter of any of their outfielders, though, and fellow right field option Dylan Carlson has posted brutal production across the first 73 plate appearances of his career.

Pirates Designate Carson Fulmer For Assignment

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The Pirates announced that they have designated right-hander Carson Fulmer for assignment. The club also reinstated righty Joe Musgrove from the injured list, reinstated outfielder Bryan Reynolds from the paternity list and optioned infielder/outfielder Jose Osuna.

The Pirates are already the third team since July for Fulmer, who has gone from Chicago to Detroit to Pittsburgh in the past month-plus. Fulmer was once a highly regarded prospect, but it hasn’t translated to success in the majors for the 26-year-old, who owns a 6.57 ERA/6.33 FIP across 101 1/3 innings with the White Sox and Tigers. He hasn’t appeared in a big league game with the Pirates, who claimed him from the Tigers on Aug. 24, and could soon leave the organization. Fulmer’s out of options, though, so it’s possible no other team will take a chance on him.

Musgrove, out since Aug. 11 with right triceps inflammation, is scheduled to start for the Pirates against the Cubs on Wednesday. Musgrove started 2020 poorly before his IL placement (6.75 ERA/6.83 FIP in 14 2/3 innings), but he was a capable starter for the Pirates from 2018-19 and could boost his trade value heading into the offseason with a strong finish. Musgrove nearly went from Pittsburgh to Toronto before Monday’s trade deadline, but the two sides couldn’t come together on a deal.

Suspensions Issued To Yankees, Rays

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3:33pm: Chapman will appeal his suspension, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com was among those to report.

3:01pm: Major League Baseball has issued suspensions to Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman and manager Aaron Boone for their conduct during Tuesday’s win over Tampa Bay. Rays manager Kevin Cash also received a short ban. Chapman will sit for three games, while the two managers will be suspended for a game apiece. Boone and Cash will serve those penalties in the clubs’ matchup Wednesday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Whether Chapman will actually miss three games remains to be seen, as he could appeal his ban in an effort to reduce it. However, MLB noted in its statement that Chapman “intentionally” threw at the head of the Rays’ Mike Brosseau in the teams’ game Tuesday, which could make it harder to land a reduced ban. Chapman uncorked a 101 mph fastball at Brosseau at a time when the Yankees were nursing a two-run lead with two outs in the ninth inning of an important game. With their victory, the Yankees moved to within 3 1/2 games of Tampa Bay in the American League East.

Chapman went on to strike out Brosseau to finish the game, but it got heated afterward. Both benches cleared, and the two division rivals continued taking shots at one another during postgame interviews. Cash fired back at the Yankees, saying the Rays have “a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 mph,” which seemed to suggest they wouldn’t hesitate to retaliate against the Bronx Bombers. Boone called Cash’s comment “pretty scary,” meanwhile, and Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier admitted that neither side likes one another. The two teams’ disdain toward one another could make a September division race and perhaps a playoff series even more interesting.

Ian Kennedy Diagnosed With Grade 2 Calf Strain

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An MRI revealed that Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy has a Grade 2 calf strain, manager Mike Matheny tells reporters (Twitter link via Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com). The team expects that he’ll need a minimum of three weeks to recover. That doesn’t technically close the door on Kennedy’s 2020 season, but it now seems quite doubtful that he’ll be able to make it back.

It’s been a rough season for the 35-year-old Kennedy, who has yielded 14 runs through 14 innings of work for the Royals. While he’s still missing bats (15 punchouts) and exhibiting solid control (five walks, one intentional), he’s also been tagged for seven big flies already in that tiny sample.

Kennedy has had an up-and-down tenure since signing a surprising five-year, $70MM contract with the Royals prior to the 2016 season. He pitched well in his first year with the club, logging 195 2/3 frames with a 3.68 ERA and nearly a strikeout per inning — precisely the type of performance for which the Royals hoped when he put pen to paper. Kennedy’s effectiveness dipped over the next two years, however, as he stumbled to a 5.06 ERA and allowed an average of 1.78 homers per nine frames.

Expectations were relatively minimal when the Royals moved Kennedy to the bullpen in the 2018-19 offseason, but the righty looked rejuvenated in a late-inning role. Kennedy ultimately emerged as the Royals’ closer, pitching to a 3.41 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 while racking up 30 saves. The Royals even received some trade interest in Kennedy last summer as the deadline approached, but they preferred to hang onto their veterans rather than pay down salaries in trades that would net them marginal returns.

The 2020 season was the last of Kennedy’s five-year deal with the Royals, so it’s possible he’s thrown his last pitch for the Kansas City club. He could of course be brought back on a small one-year deal or a minor league arrangement, but he’ll have the opportunity to speak to 29 other clubs before determining what’s next for him.

Rangers Had High Price On Lynn; Deals With Dodgers, Braves Didn’t Get Close

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Despite vast interest from around the majors, the Rangers decided to retain right-hander Lance Lynn through at least the rest of the season. The Braves were among the teams in on Lynn, but the Rangers understandably placed a high asking price on the AL Cy Young contender and his year-plus of affordable control. Texas wanted either Cristian Pache or Drew Waters from Atlanta as the headliner in a package for Lynn, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic, though the Braves clearly were unwilling to part with either of the highly touted outfield prospects.

Both Pache and Waters are 21-year-old outfielders who rank among the game’s top 50 prospects, and it stands to reason that the Rangers would’ve pushed for additional pieces to be added. Had either Pache or Waters changed hands in a deal with Texas or another club, they’d have been the highest-ranked prospect dealt in a deadline season that was punctuated more by players to be named later and mid-tier prospects.

The Braves and the Dodgers were known to be in on Lynn, with L.A. reportedly making a late push but ultimately failing to close a deal. Specific names that were discussed haven’t come to light, but Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels made clear that sufficient value wasn’t presented.

“I would not have been proud of some of those deals if we made them,” Daniels told reporters following the deadline (link via Sam Blum of the Dallas Morning News). “I don’t think our fans would have been happy about it, either.”

All of the top baseball operations execs involved in Lynn discussions has made similar statements in the hours and days since the deadline passed. Via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Dodgers president of baseball ops Andrew Friedman acknowledged his efforts to add an “impactful” starter who could’ve lined up behind Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw in the postseason rotation. Lynn fits that description following his past season-plus with the Rangers, but Friedman characterized those as talks that never “got all that close.”

Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, meanwhile said in a recent radio appearance on 92.9 The Game that his club set a threshold they weren’t willing to cross — much as they do with regard to free-agent negotiations. “The moves that we could’ve made, for us, would not have been good deals,” Anthopoulos said. “…It just came down to — and it’s no knock on anybody — we made the decision that the price for us, we didn’t think that made sense.”

Daniels and the Rangers will have another opportunity to shop Lynn this winter, and while they’re now only marketing one season of Lynn (and one postseason push involving him), interest should still be high as long as Lynn remains healthy. If the 2021 season sees a return to a standard 10-team postseason field, clubs may be more motivated to add impact pieces like Lynn, knowing that multiple postseason spots in each league have been eliminated. That doesn’t guarantee a huge return for the Rangers, of course, but a full season of a high-end starter on a below-market contract ($8MM in 2021) and the right to make him a qualifying offer after the season should still be able to fetch a respectable haul.

Rays Activate Charlie Morton

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Sept. 2: The Rays have reinstated Morton from the injured list and optioned first baseman/outfielder Brian O’Grady to their alternate training site, per a team announcement.

Aug. 31: The Rays are planning to activate Charlie Morton from the injured list to start Wednesday’s game against the Yankees, manager Kevin Cash announced to reporters (including Juan Toribio of MLB.com). The right-hander has been out since August 10 with inflammation in his throwing shoulder.

Morton’s two-year, $30MM contract comes with a 2021 club option that could pay him up to $15MM. Initially, the option price was set to decrease if Morton spent more than thirty days on the injured list between 2019-20. The veteran avoided the IL last season. In 2020, vesting options have been prorated due to the shortened season.

However, Morton’s deal has been reworked to remain at the $15MM price point so long as he spends no more than 23 days on the injured list, MLBTR has learned. Wednesday’s activation, not coincidentally, comes 23 days since Morton’s initial injured list placement. Thus, the option continues to be valued at $15MM, so long as he avoids future IL stints. Of course, the option price is only relevant if the 36-year-old wants to play next season, and he’s been noncommital on that question in the past.

Morton was fantastic in his first year in Tampa, pitching to a 3.05 ERA/2.81 FIP in 194.2 innings, garnering some Cy Young support in the process. His first four starts this season haven’t been as impressive, but he’s a big key to the 24-11 Rays’ hopes of postseason success.

Tigers Promote Derek Hill

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The Tigers are calling up former first-round pick Derek Hill to make his MLB debut in the wake of JaCoby Jones’ season-ending hand fracture, manager Ron Gardenhire announced in an appearance on 97.1 The Ticket this morning (Twitter link).

Hill, 24, hasn’t lived up to his first-round draft status and only ranks 28th among Detroit farmhands at Baseball America. However, he’s a game-changing defender with excellent speed who’ll be tasked with at least helping to replace the quietly productive Jones. Hill spent last season in Double-A, where he posted a .243/.311/.394 batting line that actually checked in better than the league average in that extremely pitcher-friendly setting (108 wRC+). He slugged a career-best 14 home runs and swiped 21 bases as well, but a 27.9 percent strikeout rate also serves to underscore the concerns that scouts harbor with regard to his hit tool.

Even if Hill doesn’t prove himself capable of holding down an everyday role with the Tigers, his speed and high-end glove create the potential for him to be a fixture on the team’s roster for the next few years. A platoon arrangement seems unlikely, as the right-handed-hitting Hill has generally fared better against righties than lefties in the minors, but he could nevertheless be a valuable fourth outfielder with some power, above-average speed and strong glovework to back up at any of the three outfield slots as necessary.

The Tigers have won six straight games to boost their record to 17-16, leaving them just one game back of the Blue Jays for the No. 8 seed in the American League under this year’s expanded postseason format.

MLB Draft To Be Held During All-Star Week In 2021

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The 2021 MLB Draft will be pushed from June to July 11-13 and take place in conjunction with next year’s All-Star festivities in Atlanta, as first reported by Carlos Collazo of Baseball America. The length of next year’s draft still is not set in stone, but it will be longer than this year’s heavily truncated five-round event. The March agreement between the league and the MLBPA which called for the five-round draft also stipulated that the 2021 draft be at least 20 rounds, per the report. The same deferral of bonus payouts — $100K up front, followed by 50 percent of the remainder in each of the two subsequent years — will remain in place. Undrafted players will again be limited to a maximum $20K signing bonus.

The move to All-Star week gives MLB considerable marketing opportunities for the event, placing it at a time when much of the national spotlight will already be on Major League Baseball. The NBA and NHL aren’t currently scheduled to be in season at that time, and the delayed Summer Olympics aren’t set to begin until July 23. Also, because the draft will be distanced from the end of the college and high school seasons, more of the event’s top names should be able to attend in person.

Carlos Collazo and colleague J.J. Cooper point out that Major League clubs have long sought a pre-draft medical combine to gather more information on players in order to avoid scenarios that can play out when a draftee’s physical exam reveals medical red flags that prompt the team to alter its offer. Such instances — recall the ugly scene in 2014 when the Astros took issue with No. 1 overall pick Brady Aiken’s elbow — can be more public-facing than all involved parties would prefer and can have substantial trickle-down effects in a draft class. With the draft taking place weeks after the conclusion of the amateur season, however, some sort of medical combine seems much more feasible. Other promotional and scouting opportunities, such as tournaments or showcases involving the draft’s top names, could potentially be scheduled leading up the event as well.

BA also notes that the later nature of the draft date will lead to an uptick in the number of players who are eligible to be selected. Players are eligible if they turn 21 years old within 45 days of the draft’s scheduled completion, which pushes the cutoff threshold to Aug. 27. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel tweets out a series of prospects who would not have previously been eligible but now stand out as potential selections in the top five rounds of next year’s draft.

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