White Sox Reportedly Interested In Trevor Story
The White Sox “have serious interest” in star Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Colorado isn’t expected to trade Story — to the White Sox or anyone else — before the All-Star Break, Nightengale adds.
At first glance, the Sox would appear to be an odd fit to acquire a high-end shortstop. They already have an All-Star caliber player at the position in Tim Anderson. The idea under consideration, though, would be for Chicago to add Story with the idea of kicking him over to second base for the remainder of the year.
Chicago has already lost incumbent second baseman Nick Madrigal for the season on account of a hamstring strain that required surgery. The position has been manned by Danny Mendick and Leury García since then, and it’s clearly an area at which the Sox front office is hoping to upgrade. Chicago has been tied to both Diamondbacks infielder Eduardo Escobar and Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier in recent weeks. Those remain plausible scenarios, although Nightengale writes that Escobar’s recent battle with a nagging right quad injury has cooled Chicago’s interest in him somewhat.
While it might be surprising to hear of a team contemplating a trade for a plus defensive shortstop only to move him off the position, the idea becomes more sensible when considering the league context. Most contending clubs already have an entrenched in-house shortstop. That could cause teams to look for more creative ways of installing Story into the lineup to plug other holes on the roster.
Story hasn’t played anywhere other than shortstop during his MLB career. He had a little bit of time at second and third base during his days as a prospect but hasn’t logged a single inning at another position since 2015. Nevertheless, there’s reason to believe he’s equipped to take on another spot on the dirt.
Second and third base are less demanding positions to handle than shortstop. A team acquiring Story and moving him to second temporarily wouldn’t be all that dissimilar from the Blue Jays signing former A’s shortstop Marcus Semien to man the keystone in deference to Bo Bichette. Semien has adjusted to that transition swimmingly.
A player’s willingness to take on new positions can vary person-to-person, of course. But there’d be ample reason for Story to embrace a move off shortstop if it helps facilitate a trade. Not only would he leave the 36-48 Rockies for a chance to compete for a postseason berth, a midseason deal would remove the possibility of Story being tagged with a qualifying offer before he hits free agency at the end of the year.
Teams other than the White Sox are certainly also in the mix for Story, so a trade of some sort continues to look very likely. The 28-year-old isn’t amidst his best season, hitting .255/.328/.445 with ten home runs across 296 plate appearances. He was among the best players in baseball over the past three seasons, though, combining for a cumulative .292/.355/.554 slash line.
Welington Castillo Retires
Former big league catcher Welington Castillo is retiring from baseball, reports Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter link). He’ll hang up his spikes having appeared for five teams in parts of ten major league seasons.
Castillo began his professional career with the Cubs, signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2004 and reaching the majors by 2010. He went on to spend the next four-plus years on the North Side of Chicago, hitting fairly well as the Cubs regular catcher from 2013-14. Chicago traded him to the Mariners in May 2015, and Seattle flipped him to the Diamondbacks as part of a deal to acquire Mark Trumbo a little more than a month later.
The right-handed hitting backstop spent the next year and a half in Arizona, working as the D-Backs primary backstop before being non-tendered. He signed on with the Orioles for the 2017 campaign, again offering his typical blend of quality offense and fringy but playable defense behind the dish. He then returned to Chicago — this time on the South Side — on a two-year deal with the White Sox.
Unfortunately, Castillo’s White Sox tenure didn’t go as hoped. He was suspended for eighty games after testing positive for a banned substance midway through the 2018 season, and he struggled at the plate for the first time in his career in 2019. While Castillo signed minor league deals with the Nationals in each of the past two offseasons, he didn’t make it back to the majors. The 34-year-old opted out last season due to COVID-19 concerns and has spent this year with Washington’s Triple-A affiliate.
While Castillo’s career didn’t end the way he’d likely envisioned, there’s little doubt he had a solid run. Castillo tallied 2701 plate appearances over his ten big league campaigns, compiling a .254/.313/.426 line that betters the .243/.311/.390 mark managed by the league average catcher between 2010-19. Castillo picked up 626 hits (including 98 home runs), drew 183 walks, scored 251 times and drove in 339 runs. Baseball Reference estimates he was worth around 12 wins above replacement. (FanGraphs, which accounts for his generally poor pitch framing metrics, pegs him closer to five wins). B-Ref tallies his career earnings at just north of $28MM. MLBTR congratulates Castillo on a fine career and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.
Derek Dietrich To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees
Derek Dietrich is opting out of his current contract with the Yankees and electing to head back to free agency, per Robert Murray of FanSided (via Twitter).
The 31-year-old infielder has not been called up to the Majors, so he will look for an opportunity to do so elsewhere. With the Triple-A RailRiders this season, Dietrich slashed a typically Dietrichian .215/.413/.393 with four doubles and five home runs in 143 plate appearances. Dietrich split his time between first, second, and third. He has also appeared in the outfield corners, but not since 2019 with the Reds.
Dietrich had an unusual 2019 season with the Reds, bull-rushing pitching in the early going as he hit 17 home runs and slashed .260/.366/.707 through the end of May. From June 1st until the end of the season, however, Dietrich hit .117/.294/.227 with two home runs over 161 plate appearances. Those disparate showings came together for a .187/.328/.461 line. He put up a similar season with the Rangers in 2020, slashing .197/.347/.459 over 75 plate appearances.
For all the flaws in his game, Dietrich has been better than average with the bat by measure of wRC+ in every season of his career save for his rookie campaign in 2013. Even these past two seasons, as his batting average has dipped below the Mendoza line, Dietrich posted 102 wRC+ in 2019 and 124 wRC+ in 2020. The hallmarks of his game of late have been big-time power (.275 ISO in 2019 and 262 ISO in 2020) alongside some real batted ball difficulty (.176 BABIP in 2019, .200 BABIP in 2020).
Dietrich’s isn’t exactly known as an easy personality in the clubhouse, but those teams desperate for offense could very well look to the former second round pick. The Yankees, of course, chose to trade for Rougned Odor rather than call up Dietrich — which perhaps played a part in Dietrich’s decision to opt out and seek greener pastures.
AL Notes: Blue Jays, Jansen, Moreno, Mariners, White, Mize, Skubal
Before this afternoon’s game against the Rays, the Blue Jays activated catcher Danny Jansen from the injured list and optioned Riley Adams to Triple-A. Jansen will be limited to scripted usage in the near-term, as manager Charlie Montoyo is committed to riding the hot hand of Reese McGuire for now, per Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (via Twitter). McGuire was designated for assignment at the start of the season, and he’d have to be waived again for Toronto to take him off the active roster. He’s not going anywhere for now, however, not while he continues to hit as he has, with a .302/.350/.406 triple slash line through 104 plate appearances. That means Alejandro Kirk will remain in Triple-A for the time being, where he is currently on a rehab assignment.
More from Toronto and the rest of the American League:
- In other Blue Jays catching news, top prospect Gabriel Moreno underwent surgery on his fractured right thumb, as first reported by Future Blue Jays (and confirmed by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). There’s no specific timetable on his return, but the young backstop will be out for multiple weeks. Moreno entered the season as one of the top catching prospects in the minors, and he’s taken his stock to another level with Double-A New Hampshire. Despite only being 21 years old, Moreno has thrived at the minors’ second-highest level, hitting .373/.441/.651 with eight homers across 145 plate appearances.
- The Mariners don’t appear particularly close to returns from either of a pair of injured regulars. There’s still no timetable on center fielder Kyle Lewis, who is recovering from a meniscus tear in his right knee, relays Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (Twitter links). Lewis isn’t eligible to return from the 60-day injured list until early August, but it doesn’t seem feasible to expect him back at that point given the vague outlook on his injury. First baseman Evan White, meanwhile, “isn’t close” to even resuming baseball activities after receiving a cortisone shot in his ailing left hip, per Divish. White is eligible to return from the 60-day IL in a little over a week, but he’s obviously going to need significantly more time than that to recover.
- The Tigers are planning to be more judicious with Casey Mize’s and Tarik Skubal’s in-start workloads in the coming weeks, writes Evan Woodbery of MLive. Detroit isn’t planning to shut down either of their prized young hurlers entirely; instead, there’ll be pre-planned quick hooks during some starts to keep their innings totals in check. The process already began during Mize’s start yesterday, as manager A.J. Hinch lifted the 24-year-old after three innings and 56 pitches against the White Sox. Mize, who threw 28 1/3 innings during last year’s shortened season, is up to 91 1/3 frames in 2021. Skubal tossed 32 innings in 2020 and is up to 82 2/3 this season after today’s five-inning outing against Chicago.
Marlins Outright Luis Marte
JULY 3: Marte has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville, per his transactions log at MLB.com. He’s apparently accepted the assignment, as he’s listed on the Jumbo Shrimp active roster.
JUNE 30: The Marlins have designated infielder Luis Marte for assignment. The move makes way for infielder Joe Panik (acquired in yesterday’s four-player trade with the Blue Jays) to be added to Miami’s active roster.
This is the second time this month that Marte has been DFA’ed, with the first move coming after Marte had appeared in just one game with the team, making his Major League debut. After being outrighted off the 40-man roster, Marte had his contract selected again on June 19, this time seeing action in three games and collecting his first hit as a big leaguer.
Marte joined the Marlins on a minor league deal this past offseason, following a decade of action in the Rangers and Braves farm systems. The 27-year-old native of the Dominican Republic was originally signed by Texas in November 2010, and Marte has hit .249/.270/.337 over 3184 career PA in the minors. Because this is his second DFA of the season, Marte has the option of declining another outright assignment if he chooses to test free agency.
Cubs Sign Tony Cingrani
The Cubs signed Tony Cingrani to a minor league contract earlier this week, per an announcement from the Lexington Legends of the Atlantic League. The southpaw had been pitching for the independent club since May.
Cingrani appeared in the big leagues every year from 2012-18. He tossed 104 2/3 innings of 2.92 ERA/3.31 SIERA ball for the Reds in 2013 but struggled the following season before moving to the bullpen by 2015. Cingrani issued far too many walks over his first couple seasons as a reliever but eventually dialed in his control. Between 2017-18, he tossed 65 1/3 innings of 4.41 ERA ball between the Reds and Dodgers, but his lofty 32.5% strikeout rate and tiny 6.6% walk percentage suggested additional upside.
Unfortunately, Cingrani required season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder before he threw a pitch in 2019. While he reportedly drew interest late in the 2019-20 offseason, he ultimately didn’t wind up signing anywhere during the lost minor league campaign. After a two-month stint in indie ball, Cingrani has worked his way back into the affiliated ranks. He has been assigned to Triple-A Iowa, where he’ll be on hand as lefty relief depth.
Angels Option Griffin Canning, Designate Scott Schebler
The Angels announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Andrew Wantz. Somewhat surprisingly, starter Griffin Canning was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake in a corresponding move. Outfielder Scott Schebler has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot.
Canning is headed to the minors for the first time since his contract was selected back in April 2019. He’s been a rotation mainstay over the past few seasons, starting 41 of his 43 MLB appearances. He offered league average production from 2019-20 but has struggled this season. Over 62 2/3 innings, Canning has worked to a 5.60 ERA/4.62 SIERA with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk rates (22.4% and 10.1%, respectively).
Of course, there’s no indication Canning’s absence is expected to be particularly lengthy. He got the ball in last night’s start against the Orioles. The Angels, who have a six-man rotation, have an off day after their next five games. With the All-Star Break the following week, the Angels could simply skip Canning’s spot in the rotation during their final turn before the Break. Los Angeles has another off day after five games coming out of the Break, so they needn’t turn to a sixth starter again until July 27.
Optioning Canning could allow the Angels to give him a brief mental reset while also keeping tabs on his innings total. This year, he’s already exceeded the 56 1/3 frames he worked during last year’s shortened campaign, and the righty’s 2019 season was cut short at 90 1/3 innings by elbow inflammation that persisted into 2020. The organization surely wants to be cautious not to overwork a player they expect to be a key starter over the next few seasons.
There doesn’t seem to be a huge benefit for the Angels from a service time perspective by optioning Canning. The 25-year-old won’t accrue major league service while he’s on optional assignment, of course, but he’s already long exceeded his second full year of service this season. Unless they’re planning on leaving him in Triple-A for the rest of this season and much of the first half of 2022- an extremely improbable outcome- Canning’s path to free agency after 2025 will be unaffected.
A lengthy optional assignment could jeopardize his ability to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player after this year. That’d likely require the Angels to keep him down for over a month, though, and he doesn’t have the gaudy counting stats (wins and strikeouts) that suggest he’d be particularly likely to break the bank in arbitration regardless. In all likelihood, the optional assignment was more motivated by a desire to open an additional roster spot and keep Canning’s innings in check than it was an extended effort to skirt his potential Super Two eligibility, especially with the 40-41 Angels still on the periphery of the playoff race.
Wantz will take Canning’s place on the pitching staff for now. A seventh-round pick in 2018 out of UNC-Greensboro, he’s earned his first big league opportunity with a strong season at Salt Lake. Through 25 2/3 innings in an offense-friendly environment, Wantz has worked to a 2.10 ERA with better than average strikeout and walk numbers (25.0% and 6.0%, respectively). The 25-year-old has never appeared on an Angels farm system ranking at FanGraphs or Baseball America. He’s clearly elevated his stock in 2021, though, and would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter if not added to the 40-man roster before then.
It’s the second time this season the Angels have designated Schebler, who cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment last time around. The 30-year-old hasn’t produced in limited big league time this year but he’s hit a solid .281/.355/.523 over 172 plate appearances with Salt Lake. The Angels will have a week to trade Schebler or again place him on waivers.
Diamondbacks Place Zac Gallen On Injured List
The Diamondbacks announced they’ve placed right-hander Zac Gallen on the 10-day injured list due to a right hamstring strain. Catcher Bryan Holaday has been selected to replace him on the active roster. The D-Backs had a vacancy on the 40-man roster after this week’s trade of outfielder Tim Locastro to the Yankees.
It’ll be the second IL stint of the year for Gallen, who earlier missed a month with a minor sprain of the UCL in his throwing elbow. It doesn’t seem there’s a ton of cause for concern this time around. The righty told reporters (including Zach Buchanan of the Athletic) he’d been diagnosed with a “very mild” strain that was of the Grade 1 (least severe) variety. Indeed, Gallen said he’s not even in pain currently.
Nevertheless, there’s little reason for the 23-61 Diamondbacks to take any chances with a core player. Gallen qualifies, having pitched to a 3.16 ERA/3.78 FIP across 156 2/3 innings since the D-Backs acquired him from the Marlins at the 2019 trade deadline. Gallen hasn’t been that effective this year, but there’s little doubt the organization remains bullish on his long-term upside.
Holaday is now set to appear in the majors for a tenth consecutive season. The right-handed hitter’s most extensive run came early in his career with the Tigers, and he’s also seen action with the Rangers, Red Sox, Marlins and Orioles over the past couple seasons. All told, the 33-year-old owns a .238/.283/.333 line across 768 MLB plate appearances. Signed to a minor league deal over the winter, he’s hit .263/.315/.579 in 108 trips to the dish with Triple-A Reno. That’s solid but unspectacular output in the hitter’s paradise that is Triple-A West.
Neftali Feliz Elects Free Agency
JULY 3: Feliz has cleared waivers and elected free agency, the Phils announced.
JULY 1: The Phillies announced that they’ve designated right-hander Neftali Feliz for assignment and reinstated righty Brandon Kintzler from the injured list. It marks an abrupt end to Feliz’s tenure with the Phils after a four-year absence from the Majors.
Feliz looked razor-sharp in Triple-A this season, posting a 1.26 ERA and a 23-to-6 K/BB ratio in just 14 2/3 innings of work, but the bullpen-desperate Phils gave him a quick hook after his first two outings produced dismal results. Feliz faced just nine batters between his two outings, allowing six of them to reach on four hits (one homer), a walk and a hit batsmen.
Manager Joe Girardi called on Feliz with a man abord to protect a two-run lead in his Phillies debut, but he responded with a walk, a strikeout, a hit batter and a go-ahead grand slam off the bat of Nick Castellanos. Feliz again came in with a pair on and a one-run lead in his second appearance, but he surrendered a game-tying single and go-ahead double before picking up a strikeout to escape the jam.
It’s up for debate whether Feliz should’ve been immediately dropped into high-leverage spots after such a long absence from the spotlight of a Major League mound, but it’s certainly understandable that Girardi would want to try a different approach after such pronounced struggles from the Philadelphia relief corps of late. Turning to Feliz on a pair of occasions didn’t pan out, but that’s been largely true of the remainder of the bullpen as well.
The Phillies will now have a week to trade Feliz, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. There’s a chance, based on his pedigree and strong output with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, that another club might take a look. Feliz, after all, was the 2010 American Rookie of the Year and spent a few seasons as one of the game’s premier relievers before injuries derailed his career. Even if he goes unclaimed, he has the service time to reject an outright assignment and could land with another club as a free agent on a new minor league deal.
Feliz struggled mightily in his short time with Philadelphia, but the same has been true of Kintzler thus far in his first year with the Phils as well. The former Twins and Marlins closer has pitched 18 innings but been clobbered for 17 runs on a stunning 31 hits (five homers) and four walks. Kintzler’s 59.4 percent grounder rate is excellent, as is typical for him, but he’s been plagued by a .406 average on balls in play and been uncharacteristically susceptible to the long ball so far. In the offseason, the Phillies signed him to a minor league deal that came with a $3MM base salary, which he locked in upon winning a roster spot in Spring Training.
Orioles Claim Shaun Anderson Off Waivers From Rangers, Designate Konner Wade For Assignment
The Orioles claimed Shaun Anderson off waivers from the Rangers and optioned him to Triple-A, the team announced. He’ll be joined there by Stevie Wilkerson, who cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Norfolk. To create a spot on the 40-man roster, Konner Wade was designated for assignment.
The Orioles are always in need of innings eaters. and Anderson can do exactly that. The 26-year-old has 16 career starts to his name, though those came with the Giants in 2019. More recently, he’s been a bullpen arm, though still one capable of shouldering a multi-inning load.
Anderson did not actually pitch in the Majors for Texas. In fact, his time with the Rangers consisted of a pair of outings in Triple-A, amounting to three scoreless innings. The Orioles are his third organization in 2021, however, starting the year as he did with the Twins, for whom he made four appearances, logging 8 2/3 innings and yielding nine earned runs on 13 hits and five walks while striking out eight. It would not be surprising to see Anderson in the Majors at some point this season.
Having recently lost Travis Lakins to a significant elbow injury, the Orioles needed another depth arm. They like Anderson enough to get him at the potential expense of Wade, who will now be exposed to waivers. There’s a decent chance he stays in the organization, however, as the 29-year-old rookie has just one Major League appearance, and the control artist lacks the type of strikeout stuff that tends to attract the attention of other organizations.
Wilkerson, meanwhile, has come out the other end of that waiver process and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. The 29-year-old utility man has hit just .167/.211/.208 in 76 plate appearances this year.