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Archives for August 2023

Yankees Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Yankees announced Tuesday that they’ve reinstated Carlos Rodon from the 15-day injured list, recalled infielder Oswald Peraza and outfield prospect Everson Pereira from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, placed outfielder Billy McKinney on the 10-day injured list due to back spasms, and designated outfielder Greg Allen for assignment. The recalls of Peraza and Pereira were reported on yesterday.

Allen, 30, will lose his spot on the active and 40-man rosters to clear the way for Pereira to enter the outfield mix in the Bronx. Allen is out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent down without first clearing waivers. He appeared in 22 games for the Yankees since returning to the organization but received just 28 plate appearances in that time (during which he went 5-for-23 with a pair of walks and 10 strikeouts). Allen has been used primarily as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement late in games.

That’s a role with which Allen has become increasingly familiar over the years. The fleet-footed switch-hitter hasn’t topped 134 plate appearances in a big league season since 2019 and has never tallied 300 trips to the plate in a given season. Allen is a career .231/.300/.340 hitter with 11 home runs and a 48-for-57 showing in stolen bases (84%) at the MLB level. He’s played all three outfield spots extensively and draws above-average marks at each, per Statcast. Defensive Runs Saved pegs him as a plus left fielder but a lesser option in center field.

Allen’s brand of speed and defense could prompt a clear postseason contender to consider him on waivers in the next few days. Rosters will expand from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1, and as long as Allen is with a new organization at 11:59pm ET or earlier on Aug. 31, he’d be eligible for postseason play with that new club. It’s relatively common for teams to carry pinch-running and defensive specialists in such settings, so Allen isn’t a lock to make it through waivers. If he does go unclaimed, he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and sign with any team.

Rodon will look to get into a good groove and carry some momentum into 2024. He signed a six-year, $162MM deal in the offseason but hasn’t yet been able to provide the Yanks with any return on that investment yet. He dealt with forearm and back issues early in the year and wasn’t able to make his team debut until July. He struggled through six starts, posting a 7.33 ERA, before landing back on the IL due to a hamstring strain.

The Yankee season has largely been sunk by injuries, including those of Rodon but also many others. They are now 60-64 and 9.5 games back of a playoff spot with just over a month left on the schedule. Their playoff odds are down to 0.4% at FanGraphs. But both the club and Rodon would surely be encouraged if he could post some good starts before the offseason gets going, carrying some good feelings into the winter.

Dodgers Place J.D. Martinez On Injured List

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The Dodgers announced Tuesday that slugger J.D. Martinez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a groin injury. Infielder Michael Busch has been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take his spot on the active roster.

Martinez, who turned 36 yesterday, has been hobbled by tightness in his groin recently and hasn’t been in the lineup since Aug. 19. The Dodgers can thus backdate his placement on the IL a couple of days. Even a short-term absence for Martinez removes one of the most potent bats from the Los Angeles lineup, as Martinez has had a resurgent season in the power department, batting .256/.309/.547 with 25 big flies and 23 doubles in 390 plate appearances. He also missed about two weeks earlier this season, owing to discomfort in his lower back.

While Martinez has found some renewed pop after hitting “just” 16 home runs in 2022, the uptick in power has come at the expense of some contact. Martinez’s 31.3% strikeout rate is the highest mark of his career, while his 7.2% walk rate is his lowest since 2014. It’s been a worthwhile trade-off in the aggregate, and Martinez’s career-high 93.1 mph exit velocity and 54.5% hard-hit rate speak to the legitimacy of his restored power.

Martinez is playing the season on a one-year, $10MM deal he agreed to over the winter after wrapping up a five-year, $110MM deal in Boston. He’ll be a free agent again at season’s end.

Busch, 25, entered the season ranked as one of the game’s top 100 prospects but hasn’t found much success in limited MLB opportunities thus far. He’s tallied 51 plate appearances and recorded a tepid .200/.294/.267 batting line with a 31.4% strikeout rate in that time. He’s obliterated Triple-A pitching in Oklahoma City, though, mashing at a .323/.432/.615 clip and swatting 24 home runs in 424 trips to the plate. Strikeouts haven’t been an issue in OKC like they have in the big leagues; Busch has fanned in just 18.9% of his minor league plate appearances this year and countered that with a huge 14.4% walk rate.

Busch can step up and take some of Martinez’s temporarily vacated DH at-bats, and he’ll also give the Dodgers an option at second base, third base, first base or in left field. The former No. 31 overall pick has been primarily a second baseman but has 585 innings at third base, 159 innings at first base and 132 innings in left field in his professional career.

Rays Designate Francisco Mejía For Assignment

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The Rays announced that catcher Francisco Mejía has been reinstated from the injured list and designated for assignment. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported the DFA prior to the official announcement.

Mejia, 27, landed on the injured list about a month ago due to a left knee MCL sprain. He began a rehab assignment just over a week ago but the club evidently didn’t want to bring him back and have cut him loose instead. Since he has more than five years of major league service time, he can no longer be optioned to the minors without his consent.

Once one of the top prospects in the league, Mejía hasn’t been able to live up to the hype at this point. Through 355 career games, he’s hitting .239/.284/.394 for a wRC+ of 87. That includes a fairly similar line of .227/.258/.400 here in 2023. He also hasn’t been graded particularly well on defense, with -3 Defensive Runs Saved so far, as well as negative grades from the framing metrics of FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.

It’s surely not what was expected during his time as a notable youngster, with Baseball America having ranked him as one of the top 35 prospects in the league in three straight years starting in 2017. Originally signed by Cleveland, he went to the Padres in the 2018 Brad Hand trade before being one of four players sent to the Rays in the Blake Snell deal. Though the Rays have a reputation for winning just about every trade they make, this one hasn’t worked out so far. Luis Patiño struggled for years and was recently flipped to the White Sox for cash. The other two players in the deal, Cole Wilcox and Blake Hunt, could still give Tampa something but neither has reached the majors yet.

With Mejía on the injured list of late, the Rays have been using a duo of Christian Bethancourt and René Pinto. The latter has just 37 games of major league experience to this point, but the Rays evidently like the early results enough to ride with him instead of Mejía. Pinto is hitting .276/.300/.379 this year in a small sample of 30 plate appearances. He’s considered a solid defender and has generally performed well at the plate in the minors.

With the trade deadline now past, the Rays will have no choice but to put Mejía on waivers in the coming days. Though he has struggled in his career thus far, he is still young and isn’t too far removed from being a highly-touted prospect. If any club were to put in a claim, they could retain him for one more season via arbitration. Though if Mejía clears, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while retaining that remaining salary. In that scenario, the Rays would stay on the hook for the money while Mejia would be free to sign with any club for the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Rays pay.

Latest On Ad Issue

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A’s Acquire Sean Newcomb From Giants

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The Athletics have acquired veteran left-hander Sean Newcomb from the Giants in exchange for minor league outfielder Trenton Brooks, per the teams’ transaction logs at MLB.com. It’s a rare post-deadline trade that sees a player going each way (as opposed to the more common cash trades in August) and an even rarer trade between the two Bay Area clubs. Both Newcomb and Brooks were eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that they have not appeared on a 40-man roster or Major League injured list in 2023.

[Related: How to Acquire Players After the Trade Deadline]

Newcomb, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Giants over the winter and has primarily worked out of the bullpen in their system, pitching to a 3.16 ERA in 31 1/3 innings with Triple-A Sacramento. The command issues that have long plagued Newcomb persist (15.3% walk rate in Triple-A), but he’s fanned an impressive 30.5% of his opponents and has clearly changed up his repertoire a bit, based on a career-high 59.4% ground-ball rate. The left-hander posted a combined 35.2% grounder rate in 73 2/3 innings from 2020-22 — his most recent MLB work.

Early in his career, Newcomb looked like a budding mainstay on the Braves’ roster. Acquired from the Angels in the trade that sent Andrelton Simmons to Anaheim, Newcomb posted a 3.87 ERA and 23% strikeout rate through his first 332 1/3 big league innings — splitting his appearances roughly evenly between the rotation (2017-18) and bullpen (2019).

The 2020 season was a disaster for the former first-round pick, however, as he was tagged for 17 earned runs in just 13 2/3 innings spread across four starts. Newcomb walked 18% of his opponents the following year while pitching 32 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, and he yielded 27 runs in 27 2/3 innings between the Braves and Cubs last year.

Overall, Newcomb has a 4.52 ERA in 406 big league innings, but the vast majority of that success came upwards of five years ago at this point. He can be a free agent at season’s end if he’s not added to the big league roster, so it stands to reason that the A’s wouldn’t have given up a minor league player if he weren’t going to be selected to the Majors sometime soon. In the event that Newcomb can reestablish himself as a viable big league arm — presumably out of the bullpen, given his ’23 usage — the A’s would be able to control him through the end of the 2025 season via arbitration.

Brooks, 28, is in his first season with Oakland after spending the prior seven season in Cleveland’s system. The former 17th-round pick signed a minor league deal with the A’s after reaching minor league free agency, and he’s turned in a stout .299/.405/.529 output (125 wRC+) in 412 plate appearances in Triple-A this year. He’s turned in career-best marks in home runs (16) doubles (29) and stolen bases (five) — all while walking at a career-high (in a full season) 13.8% mark against just a 14.6% strikeout rate.

Defensively, Brooks has rotated between first base (816 innings), left field (1460 innings) and right field (1469 innings) throughout his professional career. He’s played all three spots in 2023, though this year’s usage skews more toward left field. He’ll give the Giants a left-handed-hitting corner option at a time when outfield options Mike Yastrzemski, AJ Pollock, Mitch Haniger and Mark Mathias are all on the injured list.

Oscar Mercado Opts Out Of Padres Deal

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Outfielder Oscar Mercado has exercised an opt-out in his minor league contract with the Padres and elected free agency, MLBTR has learned. He’s now free to sign with any other club.

The 28-year-old Mercado logged 32 big league plate appearances with the Cardinals earlier this season and hit .290/.313/.387 in that small sample. He’s spent the bulk of the year in Triple-A between the Cardinals and Padres organizations, batting a combined .308/.379/.544 with a dozen homers, 17 doubles, three triples and 25 steals (in 29 attempts). Mercado has walked in 8.8% of his Triple-A plate appearances, against a 20.1% strikeout rate.

Mercado grabbed a few down-ballot Rookie of the Year votes in 2019 (when Yordan Alvarez unanimously won the award), and understandably so. In 482 appearances during his rookie year in Cleveland, he turned in a .269/.318/.443 batting line with 15 homers and 15 steals. That strong debut campaign looked like it set the stage for Mercado to roam the outfield in Cleveland for years to come, but his bat fell off in 2020 and has yet to recover. In 491 Major League plate appearances since that rookie effort, Mercado has batted .206/.262/.334.

Even as Mercado has struggled at the plate in the big leagues, he’s produced in the minors. Beyond this year’s big production in Triple-A, he also slashed .281/.363/.449 (117 wRC+) there with the Guardians’ top affiliate in 2022. The right-handed-hitting Mercado is also a sound defensive player as well, playing all three outfield spots and drawing above-average grades during his big league tenure — particularly in center field (10 Defensive Runs Saved, 7 Outs Above Average in 951 innings). Statcast credited him with 74th percentile sprint speed in his brief MLB look earlier this year, and he’s generally efficient on the bases, succeeding in more than 78% of his MLB stolen base attempts and 86% of his tries in the minors this year.

On the whole, Mercado’s been a below-average hitter in the Majors, but he’s a speedy and efficient runner who can handle all three outfield spots and hold his own against lefties — evidenced by a respectable .254/.309/.406 batting line against southpaws. He’d make a sensible depth add for a postseason contender looking to stockpile outfield depth before the Sept. 1 deadline for playoff eligibility. With rosters set to expand to 28 players next month, he’d be the type of speed-and-defense player who could be added to deepen a team’s bench.

MLB Places Wander Franco On Administrative Leave

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Major League Baseball announced this morning that Rays shortstop Wander Franco has been placed on administrative leave, as agreed upon by the league and the MLB Players Association. It’s standard procedure for players who are being investigated under the joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. Administrative leave is not considered punitive, and players continue to be paid and accrue service time while on leave (though both can be rescinded in the event of an eventual suspension). There’s no set length for administrative leave, which can last as long as an investigation into a matter takes. The leave is typically extended week-by-week until the investigation has been completed.

Franco is under investigation by Major League Baseball after allegations of an inappropriate relationship between him and a minor surfaced on social media. The Rays placed him on the team’s restricted list during the recent road trip. Prosecutors in Franco’s native Dominican Republic are also reportedly evaluating the allegations against the star shortstop.

Franco, 22, has pledged his innocence to teammates and also posted a since-deleted video to Instagram wherein he denied the allegations against him. Further details regarding the investigation are sparse. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has yet to publicly comment on the status of the investigation.

The Rays issued this statement following today’s announcement from MLB:

“We support Major League Baseball’s decision to place Wander Franco on Administration Leave. The Tampa Bay Rays are dedicated to upholding high standards of integrity both on and off the field. We appreciate the understanding and patience of our fans and supporters as this process unfolds. We will have no further statements on this matter until MLB completes its process.”

The Opener: Harrison, Houck, MLBTR Chat

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As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Harrison to make Giants debut:

The Giants are poised to promote left-handed pitching prospect Kyle Harrison today prior to his planned start against the Phillies on the road. Harrison, 22, was a third-round pick in the 2020 draft by the Giants and came into the 2023 campaign as a consensus top-40 prospect in baseball, pushing as high as the top-20 on some lists. While Harrison’s run-prevention numbers at Triple-A this year haven’t been anything to write home about (4.52 ERA in 67 2/3 innings of work), between the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League and Harrison’s fantastic 35.6% strikeout rate at the level, it’s easy to see why San Francisco thinks it’s time to give the youngster a shot. Harrison is not yet on the 40-man roster, meaning the club will have to make a corresponding move to clear space for him.

2. Houck to return:

Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck is poised to return from the injured list for tonight’s game against the Astros in Houston, as noted by Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. It will be Houck’s first return to a big league mound after being struck in the face by a comebacker, resulting in facial fractures that ultimately required surgery. Houck, 27, has had a difficult season to this point with a 5.05 ERA across 13 starts, though a 4.21 FIP, 4.16 SIERA, and 3.82 xFIP all could indicate better days on the horizon. Houck’s return likely spells the end of fellow righty Nick Pivetta’s return to the rotation, with the 30-year-old hurler presumably heading back into the relief role he dominated in earlier this summer.

3. MLBTR Chat Today:

September is fast approaching, and the league’s 30 clubs are all pushing full steam ahead into the stretch run. Although we’re nearly into the season’s final month, just over half the league still has 10% or better odds at a playoff spot, per Fangraphs. If you’re curious how your team will hold up over the season’s final months, what their plan for the future is, or have a question about one of the many deals that went down at the deadline last week, MLBTR’s Steve Adams is hosting a live chat with readers at 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, join in live once the chat begins, or read the transcript once the chat is complete.

Tigers To Play Riley Greene More Frequently In Corner Outfield

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On Monday evening, Riley Greene played a defensive position other than center field for the first time in his big league career. When the Tigers took the field against the Cubs in the top of the first inning, Greene was in right field, while the newly recalled Parker Meadows was manning center in his MLB debut.

Meadows has been a center fielder since he was taken out of high school in the second round of the 2018 draft. Baseball America praised his fielding this offseason, naming him the best defensive outfielder in the Tigers’ system and giving his glove a 60 (plus) on the 20-to-80 scouting scale. Meanwhile, Greene has posted middling to below-average marks in center field.

In 79 games this season, he has committed five errors and recorded only one outfield assist. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged Greene as eight runs below average in 675 innings. Only Esteury Ruiz and Víctor Robles have a lower DRS at the position. Statcast hasn’t been quite so bearish, pegging Greene as exactly a league average defender.

Regardless, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch and president of baseball operations Scott Harris suggested that Meadows would take over the primary center field duties (links via Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press and Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic). While Hinch stressed that the move “doesn’t mean (Greene’s) days in center are over,” it seems Meadows will get the bulk of the playing time there down the stretch.

The mixed at best defensive reviews aren’t completely unexpected. Most prospect evaluators suggested Greene was likely to wind up in a corner spot even as he was coming through the minor league ranks. While Greene has decent speed, the spacious Comerica Park outfield leaves a lot of ground to cover.

As Harris pointed out, Greene has also dealt with a pair of significant lower body injuries. He broke his right foot during last year’s Spring Training — an injury that quite likely delayed his MLB debut by a few months — and suffered a stress fracture in his left leg this May. It’s possible that slightly lightening his defensive responsibilities could help him avoid future injury.

Greene also simply hits well enough that he doesn’t need to stick in center field to be a valuable player. His .838 OPS and 133 wRC+ would rank third among AL outfielders if he had enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. The former fifth overall pick has always been regarded as an offense-first player. That’s not the case for Meadows, whose profile comes with some swing-and-miss concerns.

Meadows has hit .256/.337/.474 through 517 Triple-A plate appearances on the season. That’s roughly average offense in a very hitter-friendly setting at the top minor league level. Meadows has power potential and draws a decent number of walks but has run slightly elevated whiff numbers throughout his career. That includes a higher than average 23.8% strikeout percentage this season. There’d be more leeway for Meadows to be an everyday player if he’s playing in the middle of the diamond than in a corner, where the offensive expectations are a bit higher.

Big Hype Prospects: Schanuel, Winn, Marte, Harrison, Salas

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We’ve reached the point of the season when prospect call-ups won’t expend their rookie status due to time spent on the roster. It’s still technically possible for such players to pass the plate appearance or innings pitched thresholds.

In any event, this marks an opportunity for teams to offer their young players time to acclimate in the Majors ahead of a Rookie of the Year bid in 2024. We saw similar with Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson last season. Let’s cover a few such players along with others on the ascent.

Five Big Hype Prospects

Nolan Schanuel, 21, 1B, LAA (MLB)
14 PA, .250/.357/.250

Schanuel was summoned by a desperate Angels club to cover for the absence of C.J. Cron. The 2023 draftee has over twice as many walks as strikeouts in limited professional action. In a perfect world, he likely would have spent more time in the minors working on achieving higher-quality contact. There isn’t a spot on the Angels roster for both Cron and Schanuel. In other words, we can expect Schanuel to return to the minors if and when Cron recovers from his lower-back tightness. Until then, we’ll see if Schanuel can learn to complement his discipline and feel for contact with better lift and exit velocities.

Masyn Winn, 21, SS, STL (MLB)
(AAA) 498 PA, 18 HR, 17 SB, .288/.359/.474

A high-probability league-average shortstop with upside for more, Winn is now 11 plate appearances into his Major League career. The well-rounded shortstop makes up for a lack of carrying traits (besides his impressive throwing arm) with an equal lack of weaknesses. There’s only one knock against him: merely adequate exit velocities. Adequacy is hardly damning praise. For a 21-year-old to possess his skills and traits means he has countless ways to take the next step from acceptability to stardom. He could do it on defense, through feel for contact, burgeoning power, speed on the basepaths, or a little bit of everything.

Noelvi Marte, 21, 3B, CIN (MLB)
(AA/AAA) 389 PA, 11 HR, 18 SB, .281/.360/.460

Marte was one of the first prospects covered by this column last season. I noted a slight souring among evaluators who were beginning to see him as more of a core performer than a future star. His performance this season remains prime for disagreement. The surface level stats are good-not-great, and his peripherals are a mixed bag. He’s a tad prone to swinging strikes. Even so, he avoids strikeouts while showing plus discipline. He also produces exciting top-end exit velocities for a 21-year-old. Some scouts think he’s close to physically maxed out. Others see room for further growth.

Broad strokes, the outlook is similar to Winn albeit from a lesser defensive position. There are so many ways for Marte to find his way to star-caliber production. The floor resembles a Major League core performer.

Kyle Harrison, 22, SP, SFG (MLB)
(AAA) 65.2 IP, 14.39 K/9, 6.58 BB/9, 4.66 ERA

Harrison makes for one of the toughest evals in the minors. He has a feel for missing bats along with the repertoire of a high-ceilinged starting pitcher. He also happens to struggle with command and control. Of his 21 starts, Harrison reached five innings exactly once. He never faced 20 or more batters. The relief risk is ooey-gooey tangible, but the Giants have every incentive to give him more time in the rotation. Presently, Harrison is expected to join a unit consisting of Logan Webb and a handful of struggling veterans like Alex Cobb, Alex Wood, Sean Manaea, and Jakob Junis. The Giants will be playing bullpen games from here through the end of the season.

Ethan Salas, 17, C, SDP (AA)
(A/A+) 257 PA, 9 HR, 5 SB, .257/.335/.447

At the tender age of 17 years, 2 months, and 20 days, Salas finds himself in Double-A. This latest promotion is virtually unprecedented, made all the more so because Salas hit just .200/.243/.229 in 37 High-A plate appearances. It doesn’t require an active imagination to wonder what else is going on here. Perhaps the Padres Double-A affiliate has a desirable instructor or facilities. Maybe, like a baby bird, he imprinted on one of the other players the Padres promoted to Double-A yesterday. Could a long-term contract be in the offing?

In any event, Salas is now the youngest player to grace Double-A in recent memory. He’s considered a precocious receiver with the potential to become a quality hitter too.

Three More

Carson Williams, TBR (20): The Rays promoted Williams from High-A straight to Triple-A. The move allows for Junior Caminero’s (Double-A) development to remain unaffected. Williams is 1-for-13 with two walks and six strikeouts. He’s running a 22.2 percent swinging strike rate with poor exit velocities. Note the tiny sample.

Samuel Zavala, SDP (18): Though not quite on the Salas-track, Zavala earned a promotion to High-A yesterday after hitting .267/.420/.451 with 14 home runs and 20 steals in 459 Low-A plate appearances. He has issues adjusting to pitches in certain parts of the strike zone, especially up-and-away.

Paul Skenes, PIT (21): Earlier today, the Pirates announced Skenes would join the Double-A club, skipping High-A in the process. Whether this move is in preparation for a 2023 or 2024 debut, it won’t be long before we see Skenes grace a big league mound.

Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.

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