Rays Place Nelson Cruz On COVID-19 Injured List
The Rays have placed designated hitter Nelson Cruz on the COVID-19 injured list, the team announced. Right-hander Chris Mazza has been recalled from Triple-A Durham to take his active roster spot.
The team hasn’t announced whether Cruz tested positive for the virus or has simply been experiencing symptoms. Cruz was originally penciled into today’s starting lineup against the White Sox. Brett Phillips has been plugged into the lineup in his place, taking right field while bumping Austin Meadows to Cruz’s customary DH position.
Cruz is only hitting .198/.257/.448 over 96 plate appearances since being acquired by Tampa Bay in late July. He mashed at a .294/.370/.537 clip with the Twins before the trade. The Rays currently hold a four-game lead over the Yankees in the AL East race.
Mariners Sign Matt Andriese To Major League Deal
The Mariners announced they’ve signed right-hander Matt Andriese to a major league contract. Robert Dugger has been designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Andriese signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox over the offseason. He’d spent the entire season as a multi-inning relief option in Boston, tossing 37 1/3 frames over 26 appearances. Andriese started the season well, pitching to a 1.42 ERA with an impressive 11:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 12 2/3 April innings. Things went south pretty shortly after the calendar flipped to May, though, and Andrise allowed at least one run in seven of his eight appearances leading up to an injured list placement on July 10.
After missing more than six weeks with right hamstring tendinitis, Andriese is seemingly near or ready for a return. He made three rehab appearances with the Sox’s top affiliate in Worcester between August 8 and 14 but was designated for assignment on Tuesday. Boston released him thereafter, but he’s found a new home in relatively short order.
Overall, Andriese pitched to a 6.03 ERA with the Red Sox. His 21.5% strikeout rate is a few points below the league average (24.3%) for relievers, as is his 8.8% swinging strike rate (11.7% league average). Andriese is a better strike-thrower than most bullpen arms, though, and he’s walked just 6.2% of opponents this season. His numbers in Boston were marred by opponents’ .407 batting average on balls in play, and the Mariners will see if more batted balls finding defenders’ gloves can allow Andriese to yet settle in as a decent long relief option for manager Scott Servais.
Dugger will find himself on waivers in the coming days. The right-hander began his career as a Mariners draftee but was shipped to the Marlins in the 2017 Dee Strange-Gordon deal. He reached the big leagues with Miami in 2019 and spent the following season there before Seattle claimed him off waivers this past offseason. The Mariners passed him through outright waivers not long after but re-selected him to the roster in April.
Over the past three years, Dugger has worked 70 2/3 innings of 7.39 ERA ball at the big league level. He’s only punched out 14.4% of opposing hitters in the majors and has been tagged for a 7.30 ERA this year with Triple-A Tacoma. Needless to say, he’s had a rough go of things in 2021, but Dugger posted fantastic numbers up through Double-A and appeared at the back half of Miami’s top 30 prospects lists at Baseball America between 2018-20. Because he’s already been outrighted in his career, Dugger would have the right to elect free agency if he again clears waivers.
Rays Designate David Hess For Assignment
The Rays announced they’ve designated right-hander David Hess for assignment. The move clears space on the active and 40-man rosters for Chris Archer, who has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list as expected.
It’s a quick turnaround for Hess, who was just selected to the roster yesterday. He didn’t make an appearance in Tampa Bay’s 8-4 win over the White Sox and will now find himself on waivers. It could be a very brief second tenure in the organization for Hess, who signed a minor league deal on Thursday.
Hess began the year with Tampa Bay on a different minor league pact. He pitched very well for Triple-A Durham, working to a 2.81 ERA across 32 innings. Along the way, the 28-year-old punched out a strong 28.9% of opponents while posting a minuscule 3.9% walk rate. That caught the attention of the Marlins, who acquired him in early July and immediately added him to the big league club. Hess posted an even 8.00 ERA over 18 innings with the Fish before being designated for assignment.
Hess cleared waivers last week, so there would seem to be a good chance he’ll do so again. He has the right to elect free agency if he passes through unclaimed, which he did after being outrighted by Miami.
Latest On Rockies’ GM Search
The Rockies are leaning towards naming interim general manager Bill Schmidt the club’s permanent GM, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Indeed, Nightengale adds that Schmidt has already been conducting interviews with potential candidates for other important front office positions.
Schmidt has been leading the Rockies’ front office since early May, when he took over on an interim basis after the franchise and Jeff Bridich parted ways. Schmidt has been a fixture in the Colorado organization for more than two decades, leading the club’s draft room since 2000. Certainly, he’s as familiar as anyone with the ins and outs of the franchise.
Rockies’ owner Dick Monfort has been extremely loyal to his top front office personnel. Colorado has had only two full-time general mangers since 1999, when Dan O’Dowd assumed the top role. O’Dowd remained in charge of baseball operations until 2014, when the franchise promoted Bridich (who’d been in the organization for ten years already) to lead the staff until this season.
To be sure, there’d be some merit to removing the interim tag from Schmidt’s title. Colorado’s had some success finding future stars (most notably Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story) during his time heading the amateur draft. And the team has outperformed general expectations since Schmidt took over baseball operations on May 3. After opening the season 10-18, Colorado has gone a respectable 47-48 despite a roster that looks like one of the league’s weakest on paper. How much credit Schmidt deserves for that decent run is debatable, but the team showing some signs of life certainly couldn’t hurt his candidacy.
That said, the Rockies promoting Schmidt to the full-time role wouldn’t be without some backlash. Monfort’s longstanding preference for promoting from within has led to criticism about the franchise’s hiring processes being too insular. Nightengale also reports that Colorado is expected to hire former manager Clint Hurdle in some sort of front office capacity, which would further fuel that criticism.
Moreover, Schmidt’s handling of this past summer’s trade deadline wasn’t without its detractors. Colorado held onto Story, Jon Gray, C.J. Cron, Germán Márquez and Daniel Bard, resisting a more comprehensive teardown. Keeping impending free agents Story, Gray and Cron, in particular, perplexed many onlookers (Story himself included). Schmidt almost certainly had Monfort’s support — implicit or explicit — in mostly standing pat, though, so it’s impossible from the outside to parse out credit or blame among Rockies’ brass for that decision.
If Schmidt gets the full-time position, he’ll have his work cut out for him in rebuilding his front office. In March, Ken Rosenthal and Nick Groke of the Athletic throughly reported a mass exodus among Rockies staffers last offseason. In the intervening months, Bridich has departed, as have assistant general managers Jon Weil and Zach Wilson. Replacing those higher-level executives figures to be a key focus for the Rox in the coming months.
NL Notes: Bryant, Cubs, Mets, Baez, Lindor, Longoria
The blockbuster trade between the Mets and Cubs on deadline day was almost even bigger, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes that Kris Bryant was also part of talks between the two clubs. The actual trade saw Javier Baez and Trevor Williams go to New York in exchange for top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, but Rosenthal reports that the larger version of the swap would’ve also seen the Mets land Bryant and another player off of Chicago’s big league roster. In exchange, the Cubs would have received not only Crow-Armstrong, but also “a prospect they regarded even more highly and a major leaguer under multi-year club control.”
However, the Mets learned of Jacob deGrom‘s injury setback on deadline day, which likely made the team wary of making too big of an all-in move. Given how the Cubs were very busy in reshaping their team at the deadline, it’s possible the mystery player could have been any of the players instead dealt elsewhere (i.e. Craig Kimbrel, Jake Marisnick) or possibly someone who is still in a Cubs uniform today. It’s probably safe to guess that one of Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Matthew Allan, or J.T. Ginn was the blue-chip Mets prospect in question, unless the Cubs were intrigued by someone outside of the upper tier of New York’s prospect rankings.
More from around the National League…
- The Mets could have a new middle infield as soon as tomorrow, as manager Luis Rojas told Newsday’s Tim Healey and other reporters that one or both of Baez and Francisco Lindor could be activated off the 10-day injured list. Sunday marks Baez’s first eligible day to return after being (retroactively) placed on the IL August 12 due to back spasms, while Lindor has been sidelined since July 17 due to a right oblique strain. The Mets have Monday off before beginning a series at home against the Giants on Tuesday, so it is possible the Mets could hold Lindor and/or Baez back to give them another two full recovery days before returning them to the active roster. Baez, at least, seems likely to return by Tuesday at the latest.
- Evan Longoria is day-to-day after being hit on one of his right fingers by a pitch in Wednesday’s game. The third baseman has missed the Giants‘ last two contests and manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle) that Longoria also wouldn’t play on Sunday. Combined with the Giants’ off-days on Monday and last Thursday, that would give Longoria at least five full days of recovery time. On the plus side, Kapler said that an MRI showed no signs of a fracture in Longoria’s finger. Longoria returned only a week ago from a 60-day injured list stint due to a sprained shoulder, and this finger injury serves as the latest interruption in a very strong comeback season (.289/.382/.526 in 199 PA) for the 35-year-old veteran.
MLBTR’s TC Zencka also contributed to this post
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Minor MLB Transactions: 8/21/21
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- Blue Jays right-hander Rafael Dolis cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo, according Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports (via Twitter). Toronto designated Dolis for assignment earlier this week. Dolis was prepped to be a prime setup arm for the Jays this year, but he’s been slowed by both injuries — a calf injury and a middle finger strain — and a major lack of control. Walks have been a consistent problem for Dolis, though his 17.3% walk rate this season topped even the 13.4% career mark he carried into the 2021 campaign. Due in large part to these free passes, Dolis had a 5.63 ERA over 32 innings for the Jays this season.
Rangers Sign Buck Farmer To Minor League Contract
The Rangers announced that right-hander Buck Farmer has been signed to a minor league deal. Farmer will report to Triple-A Round Rock.
After being released by the Tigers earlier this week, Farmer will move on to the second organization of his nine-year professional career. Farmer was a fifth-round pick for Detroit in the 2013 draft and he made his big league debut the very next season, beginning an eight-season run in the Tigers’ bullpen (with a few appearances as a starting pitcher). While Farmer’s career 5.33 ERA over 320 2/3 innings isn’t impressive, it isn’t entirely indicative of a player who has been at times been a very valuable multi-inning workhorse out of the pen.
The 2021 season itself reflects Farmer’s inconsistency. He posted a 12.66 ERA over his first 10 2/3 innings, resulting in the Tigers designing the right-hander for assignment. Farmer cleared waivers and was called back up to the active roster in June, then posting a 3.65 ERA over his next 24 2/3 frames.
Farmer is controlled through the 2022 season, and the Rangers are only responsible for a prorated league minimum salary for Farmer in 2021 if he reaches their MLB roster — Detroit is paying the rest of what remains of Farmer’s $1.85MM salary for the 2021 campaign. There isn’t much risk on the Rangers’ part in taking a look at what Farmer has to offer, as the team looks ahead to putting some potential pieces together for its 2022 team.
Rays Designate Mike Ford For Assignment
The Rays designated first baseman Mike Ford for assignment. The move opened up a 40-man roster spot for righty David Hess, whose contract was selected earlier today.
Tampa Bay acquired Ford in a trade with the Yankees back in June, and Ford could now potentially move on (via trade or waiver claim) without ever appearing in a big league game in a Rays uniform. Ford has done his part to attract attention, hitting .243/.346/.529 with 11 home runs over 162 PA with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate. He also played a few games at third base, adding some defensive versatility to his resume after spending the large majority of his career as a first base-only type.
Ford broke into the majors in impressive fashion in 2019, hitting .259/.350/.559 with 12 homers over his first 163 PA in the Show. Since the start of the 2020 season, however, Ford has only a .526 OPS over 156 PA at the MLB level, all with New York.
Between Ford’s strong minor league numbers, his left-handed power potential, and the fact that he is controlled through the 2025 season, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see another team take a flier on a waiver claim. The Blue Jays could be a speculative team to watch, as they reportedly had interest in Ford before the Yankees moved him to Tampa.
NL Central Notes: Brewers, Taylor, Yardley, Cubs, Hoerner, Thompson, Jewell
The Brewers placed outfield Tyrone Taylor on the 10-day injured list with an oblique injury. They recalled Eric Yardley to fill his roster spot, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via Twitter). Taylor is expected to be out for 3-4 weeks, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy (via Twitter). Taylor has been a key contributor for Milwaukee, piling up 1.2 rWAR as a fill-in outfielder. The 31-year-old Yardley has struggled to the tune of a 6.75 ERA over 18 2/3 innings this year, but he was gold for the Brewers in 2020. That season, he tossed 23 1/3 innings with a 1.54 ERA, though still with just a 4.09 FIP. Elsewhere in the NL Central…
- Cubs shortstop Nico Hoerner will begin a rehab assignment in South Bend tomorrow. He is likely to move up to Triple-A when the Iowa Cubs return home on Tuesday, per The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma (via Twitter). Hoerner will probably start to see more concentrated playing time at shortstop now that Nick Madrigal has joined the organization. Regardless of where he plays, Hoerner has a much more central role in the organization now than when he went down with an oblique strain on July 29th.
- Keegan Thompson got the start in Chicago today after being recalled from Triple-A. Jake Jewell was optioned to Triple-A to clear the roster spot, per Bruce Levine of WSCR-AM (via Twitter). Jewell has appeared in nine games, tossing nine innings with a 8.00 ERA.