Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Archives for May 2021

Hernan Perez Elects Free Agency

By | at

Veteran infielder/outfielder Hernan Perez went unclaimed on waivers following his recent DFA, the Nationals announced Thursday. Perez rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A and has instead elected free agency. He’s now eligible to sign with any club.

The 30-year-old Perez went just 1-for-19 with a pair of walks in his brief time with the Nationals organization this year and was 1-for-6 in a brief look with the Cubs in 2020. However, he was a frequently used and utilityman with the Brewers from 2016-19, batting a combined .257/.289/.406 with 44 long balls and 63 steals through 482 games (1468 plate appearances).

Perez’s best season came with the ’16 Brewers, when he slugged 13 homers and stole 34 bases. He followed that up with a career-high 14 home runs and 13 steals the following year, but Perez’s average and OBP tumbled in subsequent seasons.

In parts of 10 Major League seasons, Perez is a .250/.280/.382 hitter who has experience at all four infield positions and all three outfield positions. He’s even tallied 9 1/3 innings of mop-up work on the mound, pitching relatively respectably for a position player: six runs on 11 hits and four walks with five strikeouts (5.79 ERA).

Braves Sign Tyler Flowers To Minor League Deal

By | at

2:40pm: Flowers will earn a prorated $1.5MM base salary upon reaching the big leagues, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman.

12:22pm: The Braves have re-signed veteran catcher Tyler Flowers to a minor league contract, reports David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). The O’Connell Sports client will head to Triple-A Gwinnett for the time being.

O’Brien reported last month that Flowers had taken a non-playing role in the Braves organization, helping to blend data from the team’s analytics department with game preparation. The door for a potential return was seemingly left open, and the recent injuries to Travis d’Arnaud and Alex Jackson have brought about a more acute need. The Braves recently selected the contract of light-hitting but defensively sound veteran Jeff Mathis, and for now he’s being paired with prospect William Contreras behind the dish.

Flowers, 35, hit just .217/.325/.348 in a tiny sample of 80 plate appearances with the Braves last year. He racked up 1300 plate appearances from 2016-19, however, hitting at a .254/.350/.412 clip along the way. Flowers was one of the early focuses of the game’s increasing interest in pitch framing, as he’s long rated among the game’s best at getting borderline pitches called for his staff.

It’s not clear at this time whether the Braves will get d’Arnaud back in 2021. He’s slated to undergo surgery to repair a torn ligament in the thumb on his catching hand, and while the Braves are hopeful he’ll be available late in the year, no official timeline has been provided.

Which Contract Year Players Are Performing The Best?

By | at

You’ve seen our 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings, but which contract year players are actually performing the best at this point in the young season?  These are the top 2021-22 free agents ranked by FanGraphs WAR.  Note: I’m using Baseball-Reference’s excellent Span Finder frequently in this post.  For the full list of 2021-22 MLB free agents, click here.

Hitters

  • Kris Bryant – 1.8 WAR, 180 wRC+ in 124 PA.  As good as Bryant has been, this level of production has plenty of precedent for him.  He’s hit more than eight home runs in a 29-game span many times, including 12 in a stretch in 2019.  It’s not going to be hard to make a case for a huge free agent contract for the 29-year-old Bryant, who may be traded by the Cubs in July.
  • J.D. Martinez – 1.8 WAR, 215 wRC+ in 126 PA.  Like Bryant, the odd 2020 season is the only recent blip in Martinez’s career.  As Boston’s DH continues to light up Statcast, the question becomes whether he should opt out of the remaining $19.375MM on his contract for 2022, which will represent his age-34 season.  The universal DH would help.
  • Buster Posey – 1.4 WAR, 218 wRC+ in 78 PA.  The last time Posey hit seven home runs in 20 games?  Late in the 2014 season, when he finished sixth in the MVP voting.  He hit seven home runs in 114 games in his previous season in 2019.  Clearly, a year off did the 34-year-old Posey good.  A multiyear deal is materializing for the Giants legend.
  • Nick Castellanos – 1.4 WAR, 166 wRC+ in 114 PA.  Castellanos’ early mashing this year is reminiscent of his brief stint with the Cubs, in which he posted a 154 wRC+ in 225 PA.  If he keeps it up, the 29-year-old right fielder might find it easy to opt out of the remaining two years and $34MM left on his contract with the Reds after this season.
  • Starling Marte – 1.0 WAR, 151 wRC+ in 70 PA.  Things were looking up for Marte until he fractured a rib a couple weeks ago, potentially knocking him out until June.  Assuming a healthy return, trade partners will begin knocking on the Marlins’ door at that point.
  • Other impending free agents playing well in the early going: Yadier Molina, Nelson Cruz, Chris Taylor, Josh Harrison, and Corey Dickerson.

Pitchers

  • Clayton Kershaw – 1.3 WAR, 2.95 ERA in 39 2/3 innings.  Even after a clunker Tuesday against the Cubs, Kershaw leads free agent pitchers in WAR.  Is there any way he’d leave the Dodgers heading into his age-34 season?  Max Scherzer is another elder statesman future Hall of Fame pitcher who is off to an excellent start in his contract year.
  • Matt Barnes – 1.0 WAR, 2.12 ERA in 17 innings.  Generally known for high walk rates, Barnes has posted an excellent 5.1 BB% so far this year.  He’s actually had bouts of strong control before, with similar stretches in 2016 and ’17.  He’s also whiffed a phenomenal 49.2% of batters in 2021.  Barnes got off to a great start in 2019 as well, punching out half the batters he faced and walking only 6% over his first 16 games.  He’d go on to walk more than 15% of batters over the remainder of that season.  The point is that Barnes’ start could hardly be better, but these 17 innings do not prove he’s become a completely different pitcher.  At any rate, he’s positioned for one of the better contracts for free agent relievers.  Mark Melancon, Craig Kimbrel, Kendall Graveman, and Ian Kennedy are also getting it done in the early going.
  • Danny Duffy – 1.0 WAR, 0.60 ERA in 30 innings.  Duffy’s velocity is the highest it’s been since 2016.  His peripherals are strong, though he does owe some of his success to a .247 batting average on balls in play and a 6.1% home run per flyball rate.  As you might expect, this has been the best five-start stretch of Duffy’s entire 197-start career.  Duffy, 32, once tweeted, “Bury me a Royal” in response to December 2017 trade rumors.  So you’d think the Royals will find a way to work out a new deal with him.
  • Lance Lynn – 0.9 WAR, 1.82 ERA in 24 2/3 innings.  Lynn missed a couple weeks with a trapezius strain, but before that he whiffed 21 batters against zero walks in a pair of starts.  Lynn turns 34 next week, but if he remains healthy for the rest of the season he’s setting up for at least a three-year deal.
  • Carlos Rodon – 0.9 WAR, 0.72 ERA in 25 innings.  Lynn’s rotation-mate with the White Sox has been one of the offseason’s best signings at just $3MM.  He tossed a no-hitter against the Indians and has given up only two runs all year.  Among those with at least 20 innings, Rodon ranks eighth in baseball with a 37.9 K%.  He’d never previously whiffed batters at this rate over any prior four-start stretch.  Rodon’s 94.9 mile per hour average velocity is the best of his career, and he won’t turn 29 until December.  With a clean bill of health, Rodon could be one of the winter’s most intriguing free agent starting pitchers.
  • Kevin Gausman – 0.8 WAR, 2.04 ERA in 39 2/3 innings.  Gausman, 30, is underlining the fact that his excellent 2020 season for the Giants was no fluke.  In the era of five-inning starts, Gausman ranks fifth in MLB at 6.53 per outing.  Like Lynn, he’ll come free of a qualifying offer.
  • Anthony DeSclafani – 0.8 WAR, 2.00 ERA in 36 innings.  Of the six pitchers who have made starts for the Giants so far this year, five of them will be free agents after the season.  Four of them have an ERA of 2.04 or lower.  The Giants appear to have another successful reclamation project on their hands in DeSclafani.
  • Several other impending free agent starters currently sport a sub-3.00 ERA: Johnny Cueto, J.A. Happ, Alex Wood, Marcus Stroman, Michael Pineda, Trevor Bauer, and Wade Miley.

Mets Select Tommy Hunter, Transfer Carlos Carrasco To 60-Day IL

By | at

The Mets announced Thursday that they’ve selected right-hander Tommy Hunter’s contract from Triple-A Syracuse and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by moving Carlos Carrasco from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. Righty Jordan Yamamoto was optioned to Syracuse to open a spot on the 26-man roster.

Carrasco has yet to pitch for the Mets this season due to a hamstring strain. His move to the 60-day IL means he’ll need to spend a total of 60 days there — not 60 days starting today. Factoring in the month-plus he’s already spent on the IL, this is largely a procedural move, as he’s yet to even formally embark on a minor league rehab assignment. He’ll now be required to be shelved through most of this month, but assuming he’d need multiple rehab starts, he wouldn’t have been available until mid-month at the absolute earliest.

The 34-year-old Hunter opened the year in Syracuse after inking a minor league pact with the Mets. He’s no stranger to the NL East, having spent the past three seasons with the Phillies organization and pitching to a combined 3.64 ERA in 94 innings of work.

Hunter had a rocky run as a starter early in his career, but since moving to the bullpen on a full-time basis back in 2013, he’s been a consistently solid reliever. In 394 innings out of the bullpen since that time, he’s logged a 3.24 ERA while striking out 20.7 percent of opponents against a tiny 5.2 percent walk rate. He’ll give the Mets yet another experienced arm to add to a late-inning mix that includes veterans Edwin Diaz, Trevor May, Miguel Castro, Aaron Loup and Jeurys Familia.

MLB’s Mounting Injury Problem

By | at

We’ve seen plenty of fans and readers comment early in the 2021 season that it feels as though injuries are up from previous years, and that is indeed the case, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic breaks down in an excellent look at the increased IL stints of the non-Covid variety. IL placements are up 15 percent overall compared to the first month of the 2019 season, Rosenthal reports, with a 22 percent uptick among pitchers. Specifically, soft-tissue injuries such as hamstring, quadriceps and oblique injuries have nearly doubled in frequency, while arm and elbow injuries are up by a much slighter margin of 19 percent.

Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns, Pirates GM Ben Cherington and Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. all discuss the issue with Rosenthal, offering opinions on everything ranging from the root of some injuries to the level of club-to-club variance in treating injuries, managing player workload and other health-related matters. For anyone who’s been alarmed at the number of injuries that seem to be spanning throughout the league, it’s a must-read piece with insight straight from key team decision-makers who are faced with these challenges everyday.

It’s not surprising to see more concrete data backing up what many have suspected to be the case: injuries are spiking around the league. While some clubs are surely just being cautious with minor injuries for key players — Tim Anderson, Josh Donaldson, Max Fried and Trent Grisham all had very brief IL stints for hamstring issues — it’s hard to ignore both the volume of IL transactions and the extent of some of the early injuries.

We’ve already seen Kole Calhoun, Ketel Marte, Carlos Carrasco, David Price, Jazz Chisholm, Jorge Alfaro, Brendan Rodgers, Shogo Akiyama and Jake Fraley sustain hamstring injuries that will keep (or already have kept) them out three-plus weeks. Calhoun’s, which required surgery, could cost him two months. MLB.com’s transactions log shows 13 IL placements due to oblique strains in April alone — three of which have resulted in the player being moved to the 60-day injured list (Julian Merryweather, Rowan Wick, Bobby Wahl). George Springer has already hit the IL with an oblique injury to open the year and now a quadriceps strain, so he checks the box for a pair of those soft-tissue injuries.

Elbow troubles are nothing new for pitchers, of course, but we’ve seen a bevy of Tommy John surgeries already in 2021. Dustin May, Kirby Yates, James Paxton, Adrian Morejon, Luis Avilan, Jose Leclerc, Jonathan Hernandez, Jimmy Cordero, Blake Cederlind, Roenis Elias, Forrest Whitley, Jose Castillo, Michel Baez and Bryan Mata are just some of the big leaguers and notable prospects to undergo UCL replacement surgery since Spring Training opened a couple months back.

We’ve also already seen several of the game’s exciting young stars impacted. The White Sox may not get another plate appearance from Luis Robert (hip flexor strain) or Eloy Jimenez (ruptured pectoral tendon) in 2021. Ke’Bryan Hayes has missed much of the season with a wrist issue, and the Marlins are still building Sixto Sanchez back up after shoulder troubles stalled him. Adalberto Mondesi hasn’t played a game for the Royals yet thanks to an oblique injury. Fernando Tatis Jr. is playing through a shoulder subluxation. Obviously, not all of these are unique to 2021. The volume of injuries is nevertheless alarming.

Clubs will continue exercise caution and utilize a number of minimal, 10-day stints on the IL to manage workload and to creatively keep fresh arms available on their pitching staff. Such tactics are commonplace every year, and that’ll probably be all the more true in 2021 given concerns about the dramatic workload increase over 2020 (particularly among players who spent most of last year working at alternate sites). However, the early trend is concerning with regard to soft-tissue injuries and arm troubles for pitchers. Trepidation regarding those arm injuries, in particular, only figures to escalate as pitcher workloads increase over the next five months.

Reds Sign Brad Brach To Minor League Deal

By | at

While the Reds didn’t make a formal announcement, they inked veteran right-hander Brad Brach to a minor league contract earlier this week. Brach, a client of Big League Management, was listed as part of the Opening Day roster at Triple-A Louisville and pitched a scoreless frame of relief for the Bats last night (two strikeouts, one walk).

The 35-year-old righty spent Spring Training with the Royals and was selected to their MLB roster last month, but Kansas City designated him for assignment before he got into a game. Brach opted for free agency upon clearing waivers, which led to his new agreement with Cincinnati.

Though Brach struggled with the Mets through 12 1/3 frames last season, he brings to the Reds organization a lengthy track record of solid, late-inning relief work. He was an understated contributor to a pair of very good Orioles clubs in 2014-15 and gave the O’s a 2.99 ERA in parts of five seasons from ’14-’18. Brach notched a sub-4.00 ERA each year from 2012-18, striking out just north of a quarter of his opponents along the way. Walks were an issue at times (10.3 percent overall), but he logged a tidy 3.05 ERA through 449 innings and made an All-Star team during that seven-year peak.

It remains to be seen whether Brach can bounce back from a rough couple of seasons in 2019-20. His velocity dipped quite a bit last year, although he’d hardly be the only pitcher who suffered from a short build-up to the 60-game schedule in that regard. On a minor league deal for a Reds club that currently has setup man Michael Lorenzen on the 60-day IL due to shoulder concerns, Brach makes for a sensible roll of the dice.

Blue Jays Place George Springer On Injured List

By | at

The Blue Jays are placing George Springer back on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 3, with a right quad strain (via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). The star center fielder reaggravated the same injury that kept him out for almost all of April. It’s unclear how long the team expects him to be sidelined this time around, but Springer was sent for an MRI earlier today, per Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star (Twitter link). In a corresponding move, Jonathan Davis has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.

It’s tough to imagine a worse start to Springer’s tenure in Toronto. The 31-year-old strained an oblique in Spring Training. On the cusp of returning from that injury, he suffered the aforementioned first quad strain. The quad delayed his regular season debut by a few weeks, and it’s causing him issue yet again.

Altogether, the series of injuries has limited Springer to 18 plate appearances in four games. That’s certainly not what he or the Jays imagined when he signed the offseason’s biggest free agent guarantee (six years, $150MM) over the winter. While Springer went on the IL each season from 2017-19, those absences generally didn’t keep him out long. He tallied 550+ plate appearances every year from 2016-19 and avoided the IL in 2020, playing in 51 of a possible 60 games. Of course, Springer earned that massive contract with an extended run of productivity, hitting .273/.363/.500 (135 wRC+) over his final five seasons with the Astros.

With Springer out for the season’s first month, the Jays turned to Randal Grichuk and Davis to cover center field. Grichuk, who has hit a strong .287/.330/.475, is likely in line for the lion’s share of playing time there yet again. Davis got off to a dreadful start to the year before being optioned after Springer came off the IL last week.

Health Notes: Sale, Middleton, Odor, Ona, Graterol

By | at

Red Sox ace Chris Sale worked off a mound today for the first time in his recovery from March 2020 Tommy John surgery, Jen McCaffrey of the Athletic was among those to relay (Twitter link). There’s still no timetable for Sale’s potential return to game action, although getting on the mound obviously represents a notable step forward. At 18-13, the Red Sox are off to a strong start and could be a legitimate contender in a tough AL East. Boston’s rotation looks to be the weak point on the roster, but it’s held up fairly well so far. Sox starters have a middle-of-the-pack 4.02 ERA/4.00 SIERA over the season’s first month-plus.

Other health situations around the league:

  • This morning, the Mariners announced they’ve placed reliever Keynan Middleton on the 10-day injured list with a right biceps strain. Fellow righty Wyatt Mills was recalled in his place. Middleton, 27, has tossed 11 2/3 innings of five-run ball in the early going, striking out nine against six walks. Middleton, who underwent a Tommy John surgery in May 2018, spent the 2017-20 seasons with the division-rival Angels.
  • The Yankees placed infielder Rougned Odor on the 10-day injured list this afternoon. He’s dealing with a left knee sprain. Right-hander Albert Abreu was recalled to take his place on the active roster. Odor, acquired from the Rangers at the beginning of the regular season, hasn’t offered a whole lot offensively in the early going. He’s hitting just .164/.271/.361 over his first 70 plate appearances with New York. To his credit, Odor has massively improved upon his strikeout and walk rates from recent seasons though.
  • Padres outfielder Jorge Oña underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow yesterday, Dennis Lin of the Athletic was among those to pass along (Twitter link). He’s expected to be out of action for six to eight weeks. Oña, 24, made a very brief MLB debut last season, tallying 15 plate appearances over five games. Other than that limited major league time, Oña only has 103 trips to the plate above the low minors (in Double-A in 2019), so he likely would’ve started the year at Triple-A El Paso even if he’d been healthy.
  • Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol, placed on the injured list last week because of forearm tightness, was known to be headed for an MRI. Fortunately, testing showed no structural damage, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). That’s especially welcome news since the flamethrowing Graterol underwent a Tommy John procedure back in 2016. There’s still no indication when he might return to game action.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/5/21

By | at

The latest minor moves from around the game:

  • The Astros signed right-hander Ryan Eades to a minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, per an announcement from the Skeeters. Selected by the Twins in the second round of the 2013 draft out of LSU, Eades got to the majors in 2019. Across eight games with Minnesota and Baltimore, he worked 11 1/3 relief innings of three-run ball with ten strikeouts and six walks. He hasn’t pitched since being outrighted off the Orioles’ roster at the end of that season. For his career, Eades has a 3.93 ERA with strong strikeout and walk rates (28.9% and 7.1%, respectively) in 75 2/3 Triple-A frames.
  • The Cubs reinstated righty Tyson Miller from the COVID injured list before this evening’s game against the Dodgers (via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). Miller was optioned to Triple-A Iowa, so no change to the active roster was needed. To create 40-man roster space, Chicago transferred catcher Austin Romine to the 60-day IL. Romine suffered a significant left wrist sprain and was known to be in for an extended absence. Tony Wolters was selected to the roster to back up Willson Contreras when Romine first went down. Prospect Miguel Amaya, assigned to Double-A Tennessee, is the only other catcher on the 40-man.

Phillies Place Roman Quinn, Matt Joyce On Injured List

By | at

Before this evening’s win over the Brewers, the Phillies placed outfielders Roman Quinn and Matt Joyce on the 10-day injured list. Quinn has a laceration on his right index finger, while Joyce suffered a right calf strain. In corresponding moves, outfielder Mickey Moniak and utilityman Scott Kingery were recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

The Joyce and Quinn injuries further thin a Phillies’ outfield that already looked to be in a difficult spot. Right fielder Bryce Harper has been incredible in the season’s early going, but he’s nursing a left wrist injury. The Phils are hopeful he won’t need to go on the IL, but utilityman Brad Miller got the nod at the position tonight. Andrew McCutchen is off to a bit of a rough start in left, while center field has been a train wreck.

Philadelphia has gotten a combined .112/.194/.194 line from their center fielders, by far the worst production in the league. Each of Quinn, Moniak, Adam Haseley and Odúbel Herrera have gotten off to bad starts. Haseley has been away from the team for a few weeks for personal reasons, and now Quinn’s on the shelf due to injury. That leaves the Phils with Herrera, Moniak and Kingery as options at the position, with Kingery coming off a dismal 2020 season. Nick Maton might get a look eventually, but the Phillies are currently using him to hold down second base while Jean Segura works back from an injury of his own.

Joyce has worked primarily as a pinch hitter, although he’s gotten some sporadic corner outfield time as well. The veteran left-handed hitter slashed a decent .252/.351/.331 over 148 plate appearances with the Marlins last season, although he hasn’t produced much in the early going this year.

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