Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for May 2021

Top Mets Pitching Prospect Matt Allan To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By | at

Tough news coming out of New York today as it was revealed that Matt Allan will undergo Tommy John surgery sometime this month, per Deesha Thosar of New York Daily News. Allan is the Mets’ top pitching prospect and their third-ranked prospect overall by both Fangraphs and Baseball America, who each place Ronny Mauricio and Francisco Alvarez in the top two spots.

Baseball Prospectus, however, slots Allan ahead of Alvarez as the Mets’ second-ranked prospect. Jeffrey Paternostro of BP wrote just a couple of days ago, “There isn’t a ton to look forward to in 2021 if you are a Mets prospect watcher. It’s a thin, top-heavy system. The top is quite good however, and Allan stands out as the prospect most likely to take a big step forward. His fastball velocity has continued to creep up as a pro, along with spin rates that push it into the plus-plus range. The breaking ball is a potential true hammer, and his changeup is coming along as well.” BP ranked Allan as the No. 79 prospect in all of baseball. He makes Fangraphs’ top-100 at No. 96, while Baseball America is a bit more bullish with a No. 86 valuation.

Allan was a third round draft pick in the 2019 draft. As such, the 20-year-old California native has just 10 1/3 innings of professional pitching to his name. After 8 1/3 innings in Rookie ball back in 2019, Allan was promoted to Low-A for one two-inning outing to close out his first professional campaign. He’ll now miss all of this season as well as a good chunk of 2022, tweets Newsday’s Tim Healey.

Giants Make Several Roster Moves

By | at

The Giants made a number of roster moves ahead of tonight’s game. The biggest bit of news is the return of Mike Yastrzemski, who has been out since April 26th. While he’s not in the lineup tonight, he is available off the bench and should return to the lineup in the next couple of days. The 30-year-old outfielder put up a .215/.303/.468 line before straining his oblique.

With Yaz coming off the injured list, Alex Dickerson is heading the other way. Dickerson lands on the injured list with a bone bruise on his shoulder. Coming off a 150 wRC+ over a 52-game stretch in 2020, Dickerson has stumbled to a .213/.280/.347 line to start the season (79 wRC+). His strikeout rate is up from 17.6 percent to 22.0 percent, and his walk rate is down from 9.4 percent to 6.1 percent. He’ll get an opportunity to reset after recovering from this shoulder impingement.

Jarlin Garcia has also been added to the active roster taking Joey Bart’s spot after he was optioned to Triple-A, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter links). Garcia had been out with left knee tendinitis. He surrendered six earned runs over 6 1/3 innings in five appearances early this season. All in all, it was a mixed bag for the 28-year-old southpaw, who managed a strong 32.1 percent strikeout rate despite serving up a pair of home runs and struggling with his command to the tune of a way-too-high 17.9 percent walk rate.

Finally, Johnny Cueto will return to the rotation on Sunday, and with Kevin Gausman set to return after his second vaccine shot, Logan Webb is likely headed to the bullpen. The Giants have been planning to use him as multi-inning reliever out of the pen, but injuries to Cueto and Alex Wood have kept him in the rotation to start the year. The Giants will need to make a roster move to bring Cueto back, with Sam Selman and Zack Littell being possible candidates for demotion, writes Slusser.

Red Sox Place Enrique Hernandez On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Michael Chavis

By | at

The Red Sox have placed Enrique Hernandez on the 10-day injured list because of a right hamstring strain. Michael Chavis has been recalled in his place, per Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). Chavis had been on Boston’s taxi squad.

Kiké has been the Red Sox primary centerfielder thus far this season, though he has also seen time up the middle in the infield. Offensively, he clocks in with a .239/.298/.425 triple slash line with four home runs in 124 plate appearances. While Hernandez has been a touch light at the plate (or exactly average with a 100 wRC+), his overall contributions amount to 0.6 bWAR/0.5 fWAR. That puts the former Dodger on a 2.5 fWAR pace over 150 games.

Chavis pinch-ran and scored a run in his only appearance of the season to date. The 25-year-old has hit .241/.304/.424 in 634 career plate appearances between 2019 and 2020.

Angels Acquire Drew Butera From Rangers For Cash Considerations

By | at

The Rangers have traded catcher Drew Butera to the Angels for cash considerations, Texas announced. This will be Butera’s second tour of duty with the Angels. To make room, the Angels designated Jack Kruger for assignment, per Bill Shaikin of the LA Times (via Twitter).

The 37-year-old Butera was expendable for the Rangers. Their catching corps is secure right now with Jose Trevino and Jonah Heim at the big league level and John Hicks serving as depth in Triple-A. Butera had been on the Rangers’ taxi squad, but he did not get into a game.  The 11-year veteran hit .154/.190/.205 in 43 plate appearances with the Rockies in 2020.

Butera will presumably be added to the Angels’ active roster to serve as Kurt Suzuki’s backup in the near term. Max Stassi was just placed on the 7-day concussion protocol yesterday.

Blue Jays Place Joe Panik On Injured List, Recall Rowdy Tellez

By | at

The Blue Jays have placed infielder Joe Panik on the injured list with a left calf strain, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (via Twitter). Rowdy Tellez will be recalled to take his roster spot.

Panik is in his second season coming off the bench for the Blue Jays. The 30-year-old can play all over the infield, though with a healthy Bo Bichette, Panik’s glovework has been limited mostly to second and third this season. The former All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner owns a .226/.241/.302 triple slash line across 54 plate appearances.

Tellez had a rough start to the season, slashing .183/.222/.267 across 63 plate appearances. If nothing else, Tellez comes back after a short, but effective tune-up in Triple-A. In the first three games of the minor league season, Tellez went 3-for-10 with a pair of doubles, a home run, and three walks against three strikeouts.

Brewers Sign Hernan Perez To Minors Deal

By | at

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed Hernan Perez to a minor league deal, the team announced. He has been assigned to Triple-A Nashville. The Brewers also announced the signing of left-handed pitcher Andy Otero, who will be sent to extended spring training.

Perez recently elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Nationals. Perez had gone just 1-for-19 with a couple of walks in 10 games with the Nats. He also took the hill twice, tossing a pair of scoreless innings.

With Keston Hiura recently being demoted, Perez could have a quicker path back to the Majors in Milwaukee than had he stayed in Washington, though that’s not necessarily the driving factor for Perez. He certainly has a fair amount of familiarity with Milwaukee having spent a chunk of his career there. Perez played for the Brewers from midway through 2015 until 2019.

 

Roberto Perez Undergoes Surgery To Repair Broken Finger

By | at

2:50 PM: It appears the Indians will be without their starting catcher for quite some time. Manager Terry Francona told the media, including the Athletic’s Zack Meisel (Twitter links), that Cleveland expects Perez to be out for 8-10 weeks.

2:04 PM: Indians catcher Roberto Perez underwent surgery to repair the fractured ring finger on his right hand, tweets Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon-Journal. The team has yet to provide a timeline as to when Perez might be cleared to return to action, but Cleveland will now be without its top catcher for the foreseeable future.

Perez suffered the injury when he got crossed up with hard-throwing James Karinchak, and while he tried to play through the issue for awhile, he eventually was placed on the injured list earlier this week. He met with a specialist this week, Lewis notes, and clearly the surgical route wound up being the recommended course of treatment.

The injury initially occurred more than three weeks ago at a time when Perez was batting .238/.448/.524 with a pair of home runs through his first 29 plate appearances. Unsurprisingly, his bid to remain productive with a broken finger didn’t go particularly well; in 44 plate appearances since that time, Perez has just three hits and a dismal .075/.159/.175 slash.

Cleveland is temporarily losing one of the game’s best defensive catchers, although one of Perez’s primary competitors for that distinction is his own teammate, Austin Hedges. With Perez sidelined, Hedges figures to get the lion’s share of playing time. His bat isn’t likely to match that of a healthy Perez, as he’s mustered only a .118/.189/.294 output in 2021 and a .166/.243/.306 line overall dating back to 2019. Hedges’ glove, game-calling and framing should continue to work to the advantage of what is yet another high-quality Indians pitching staff, however.

That’s especially true given that he figures to share time with 37-year-old Rene Rivera, who was selected to the MLB roster to replace Perez. Rivera, a glove-first backstop himself, won’t provide much with the bat but will give Terry Francona another quality battery-mate for his pitchers.

Yankees Recall Miguel Andujar, Option Albert Abreu

By | at

The Yankees recalled Miguel Andujar today, the team announced. To make room, they optioned Albert Abreu to Triple-A.

Andujar arrives as insurance for starting third baseman Gio Urshela. An MRI on Urshela’s knee came back without any structural damage, so he’ll be day-to-day for now, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (via Twitter). Urshela has once again proven himself to be a reliable bat for the Yankees. He’s slashing .287/.342/.455 with four home runs across 111 plate appearances, producing 0.7 bWAR.

Andujar himself has struggled to stay healthy. This spring he dealt with carpel tunnel syndrome in his wrist, though it hasn’t appeared to bother him so far. The minor league season is just three days old, but Andujar has already knocked three home runs while going 6-for-13.

As for Abreu, the 25-year-old right-hander made two appearances this season, both coming in the first half of April. He was placed on the roster just two days ago when Rougned Odor went to the injured list. Abreu will likely join the starting rotation in Triple-A.

Tigers Designate Buck Farmer For Assignment

By | at

The Tigers announced a series of roster moves Friday, designating right-hander Buck Farmer for assignment and selecting the contract of veteran righty Erasmo Ramirez in his place. Detroit also placed Wilson Ramos on the 10-day injured list due to a lumbar strain and recalled catcher Jake Rogers from Triple-A Toledo.

MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery wrote not long before the announcement that the Farmer-for-Ramirez shuffle could be on the horizon. It’s not a huge surprise, given the extent of Farmer’s struggles in 2021; the 30-year-old righty has been tattooed for 15 runs on 15 hits (six homers) and nine walks with 10 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings so far on the young season.

Grisly as those number are, Farmer was one of the team’s better relievers from 2018-20. During that time, the former fifth-round pick tallied 158 1/3 innings of 3.92 ERA with continually improving control and ground-ball rates. Last year’s 15.7 percent strikeout rate in 21 1/3 frames was a career-low, but Farmer’s 5.6 percent walk rate and 52.2 percent grounder rate both represented career-bests. His 93.9 mph average heater in 2021 is down from its 95.1 mph peak in 2019 but also an improvement over last summer’s 93.3 mph mark.

On the whole, since Farmer established himself as a staple in the Detroit bullpen four years ago, he’s posted a 4.47 ERA, a 20.8 percent strikeout rate, a 10.7 percent walk rate and a 44.3 percent ground-ball rate. This year’s catastrophic results obviously weigh that performance down, but at his best he’s been a hard-throwing righty who can both miss bats and induce grounders at an above-average clip. Whether that leads to interest from another club can’t be known, but the Tigers will have a week to trade him or try to pass him through outright waivers.

Farmer is out of minor league options, so if another club does acquire him, he’ll need to be placed on the big league roster. He has more than the three years of service time needed to reject an outright assignment even if he goes unclaimed. However, as Woodbery rightly points out, doing so would mean forfeiting the remainder of this year’s $1.85MM salary, as he doesn’t yet have the five years of service required to retain salary in the event of rejecting an outright. That salary might make it tough for Farmer to be claimed on waivers, and if he does pass through, he’ll surely accept the assignment rather than surrender the $1.44MM he’s yet owed through season’s end.

The veteran Ramirez will give the Tigers some depth as a potential long man in the ’pen or perhaps even in the rotation, should a need arise. He spent the 2020 season with the Mets and fared quite well, allowing just a run on eight hits and four walks with nine punchouts in 14 1/3 innings.

Ramirez, 31, has spent time in the big leagues with the Mariners, Rays and Red Sox as well, with his best season coming back in 2015-16 when he gave Tampa Bay a combined 254 innings of 3.76 ERA ball.  He struggled in limited samples of work from 2018-19, but Ramirez has pitched in a variety of roles at the MLB level and on the whole carries a 4.31 ERA through 655 Major League frames.

Braves Designate Nate Jones, Select Carl Edwards Jr.

By | at

The Braves announced Friday that they’ve designated right-hander Nate Jones for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for fellow righty reliever Carl Edwards Jr., whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta also optioned right-hander Edgar Santana to Gwinnett.

Jones, 35, inked a minor league deal with the Braves over the winter and parlayed a dominant Spring Training effort into an Opening Day spot in the Atlanta ’pen. Unfortunately, the regular season didn’t bring about the same results as Jones enjoyed in Grapefruit League play. Through 10 1/3 innings this season, Jones has walked 10 batters, hit another and allowed eight hits (three homers). He’s limited the damage to six runs (four earned), but that lack of control ultimately cost him his roster spot.

The oft-injured Jones has scuffled in recent seasons but at one point was a lights-out setup man for the White Sox. He spent parts of eight seasons with the South Siders, pitching to a 3.12 ERA over the life of 291 1/3 innings out of the Chicago bullpen. Whether he can ever reclaim that form remains to be seen, but Jones came out of the gates in 2021 with a still-very-healthy 95.8 mph average velocity on his heater. The Braves will have a week to trade him, pass him through outright waivers or release him. He has more than enough service time to refuse an outright assignment if he clears waivers.

Edwards, 29, will be looking to bounce back from what has been a relatively swift decline in recent years. From 2016-18, he was one of the Cubs’ primary bullpen arms and was quite impressive along the way, compiling a 3.03 ERA while striking out nearly 35 percent of his opponents. Control was an issue (13.5 percent walk rate), but Edwards looked the part of a high-quality, late-inning arm.

However, Edwards began to unravel in Sept. 2018, when he walked 12 of the final 38 batters he faced in a total of just seven innings pitched. He began the 2019 campaign in similarly shaky fashion, pitching to a 5.87 ERA with nine walks, a hit batter and eight hits (three homers) allowed in 15 1/3 frames. The Cubs somewhat surprisingly moved on, and he’s been unable to find his stride again since that time. He looked sharp in a brief stint with the Mariners in 2020 but ended up missing the bulk of the season due to a forearm strain.

If Edwards is able to recapture his peak form, he’ll give the Braves a high-octane strikeout artist who can be controlled for another season via arbitration. Walks will likely to continue to be an issue even if he does find some success, however, which isn’t ideal for a club whose bullpen already has the fifth-highest walk rate in the Majors (12.2 percent).

Whether Edwards rebounds or not, Atlanta could eventually turn to the trade market to augment a bullpen that currently ranks 23rd in the Majors in ERA (4.58), 21st in FIP (4.41) and 25th in SIERA (4.23).

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top