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Rays Select Jacob Lopez

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The Rays announced they’ve selected the contract of left-hander Jacob Lopez. It’s the first major league call for the 25-year-old southpaw. Tampa Bay had openings on the active and 40-man rosters after placing Wander Franco on the restricted list.

A 26th round pick by the Giants in 2018, Lopez spent just one year in the San Francisco system. At the 2019 deadline, the Giants shipped Lopez to the Rays for outfielder Joe McCarthy, who was in Triple-A at the time. The 6’4″ hurler has never gotten much attention in perennially deep Rays’ systems, but he has quietly put together a strong minor league resume. Lopez posted a 2.51 ERA in 15 appearances between High-A and Double-A two seasons ago.

2022 proved a lost season, as Lopez spent the whole year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He went unselected in last winter’s Rule 5 draft. Assigned back to Double-A to begin this season, Lopez picked up where he left off. He posted a 2.57 ERA through 28 innings to earn a bump to Triple-A Durham towards the end of May. Over 13 starts for the Bulls, he has allowed 2.72 earned runs per nine in spite of a hitter-friendly Triple-A environment.

Between the two affiliates, Lopez carries a 2.67 ERA across 84 1/3 frames. Working almost exclusively as a starter, he has fanned an excellent 32% of opposing hitters. His 12% walk rate is high, though it’s not uncommon to see pitchers struggle with command in the immediate aftermath of a Tommy John rehab. Lopez had walked just 7.4% of batters faced two seasons ago.

It’s unclear whether Tampa Bay will deploy him as a starter or break him into the big leagues out of the bullpen. He’ll offer a multi-inning option for skipper Kevin Cash in some respect. The Rays are in the seventh of nine straight game days, though they’ll have an off day on Thursday after their upcoming three-game set (ironically, against the Giants’ organization which originally drafted Lopez).

Giants To Designate Luis Gonzalez For Assignment

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The Giants are designating outfielder Luis González for assignment, reports Andrew Baggarly of the Athletic (Twitter link). The club has yet to announce the move.

González, 28 next month, first landed with the Giants late in the 2021 season. A season-ending injury had led the White Sox to release him that August. The Giants claimed him off waivers and kept him on the injured list for the rest of that season. They non-tendered him at the start of the offseason but immediately brought him back on a minor league pact and re-selected his contract last April.

The former third-round pick had a productive ’22 season. He tallied 350 plate appearances and hit .253/.323/.360. González only homered four times but hit 17 doubles, stole 10 bases and posted roughly league average strikeout and walk rates. He at least looked the part of a solid rotational outfield piece.

Unfortunately, injuries have derailed his 2023 to date. González battled back discomfort in Spring Training and was eventually diagnosed with a disc herniation. He underwent surgery in mid-March and was on the IL until last week. González has been off to a slow start in Triple-A Sacramento. Through 14 games (nine on a rehab stint, five since being optioned after his reinstatement from the IL), he’s hitting .241/.344/.308.

That’ll squeeze him off the roster and onto the waiver wire. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, San Francisco has to waive González after the DFA. They’ll technically have seven days, though it’s likely they’ll do so within the next few days. There’s a decent chance he’ll be claimed after last year’s respectable showing.

González has one minor league option year remaining. If he spends 13 more days in the minors this season, he’d exhaust that option in 2023. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until the end of next season at the earliest.

Cubs Notes: Stroman, Smyly, Deadline

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The Cubs are on the verge of getting a big arm back as they try to keep pace in the National League Wild Card chase and in the NL Central. Manager David Ross said yesterday (link via MLB.com) that “all signs point” to Marcus Stroman returning to the team on Wednesday, when he’s first eligible to return from a stay on the 15-day injured list. Stroman added that he’s “in a way better space” following the downtime, suggesting that the hip injury which has plagued him ultimately led him to try to compensate — and thus compromise his mechanics.

Stroman, 32, was excellent for his first 16 starts this season, pitching to a 2.28 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate, an 8.8% walk rate and a massive 59.9% ground-ball rate. His .235 average on balls in play and 80.2% strand rate both appeared bound for regression, but not to the extent that transpired. In his next seven starts, Stroman was shelled for 30 runs in 30 innings. His strikeout rate dipped to 18.8% and his grounder rate fell to 52.9% — all while his walk rate spiked up to 10.9%.

Overall, Stroman’s 3.85 ERA in 128 2/3 innings is still a solid mark on the season — one that likely puts him in position to turn down his 2024 player option at season’s end. Stroman could pick up said option and lock in a $21MM salary for the upcoming season, but he’s far likelier to return to free agency in search of another multi-year contract (which he’ll very likely find). The right-hander sports a 3.35 ERA, 21% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 53.3% ground-ball rate over his past 630 2/3 big league innings, dating back to 2019. He’s also already received a qualifying offer in his career, meaning he can’t receive another one. As such, teams interested in signing the righty won’t have to worry about draft-pick compensation.

Stroman’s impending return to the rotation comes at a time when the Cubs have been shuffling the starting staff. The Cubs bumped left-hander Drew Smyly to the bullpen over the weekend, though Ross told reporters that the move would only be “for a short amount of time” (link via Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). The hope will be that moving into relief work for a bit will give the struggling lefty something of a reset. Pitching coach Tommy Hottovy noted that “getting guys in the bullpen in short bursts to reset and get your mind back into attacking the strike zone and simplifying things” can sometimes help pitchers turn a corner.

It’s indeed been a rough patch for the 34-year-old Smyly, who returned to the Cubs on a two-year, $19MM contract in the offseason. Like Stroman, Smyly was excellent through mid-June, notching a 3.38 ERA in 82 2/3 innings. And like Stroman, Smyly went on to pitch to a jarring 9.00 ERA over his next several starts (seven appearances, 35 innings). Smyly’s strikeout and walk rates remained sound — his strikeout rate actually increased — but he’s been extraordinarily homer-prone during this slump, yielding an average of 3.09 round-trippers per nine innings pitched. Smyly owned his struggles and said he’s willing to pitch in whatever role the team wants; he tossed a scoreless inning this weekend in his first relief appearance of the year.

With Stroman returning and Smyly shifting into the ’pen for the time being, rookie Javier Assad could continue to see some work out of the rotation. The 26-year-old’s last two appearances have been starts, and he’s allowed a pair of runs on nine hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings. Assad has a 3.12 ERA on the season, though his pedestrian 18.1% strikeout rate and hefty 10.5% walk rate point to some possible regression. For now, he’s in the mix alongside Stroman, Justin Steele, Jameson Taillon and Kyle Hendricks.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround for the Cubs — a well-timed resurgence that brought the team from the brink of selling at the trade deadline to instead adding infielder Jeimer Candelario and righty Jose Cuas. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic chronicled the team’s rise from likely seller to clear-cut buyer in a piece that Cubs fans, in particular, will want to check out in full. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer discussed the team’s approach with Rosenthal, revealing that the Cubs told inquiring clubs they planned to wait until concluding a four-game series with the Cardinals on July 30 before making a call on their approach.

The second game of that series ended in dramatic fashion, with Cubs outfielder Mike Tauchman robbing Alec Burleson of what would’ve been a walk-off home run. That catch seemingly sealed the Cubs’ direction. It was reported the next day that Cody Bellinger had been taken off the trade market. Hoyer tells Rosenthal that over the course of the weekend, the tone and nature of incoming calls from other clubs quickly changed. Less than 72 hours after Tauchman’s catch, the Cubs acquired Candelario from the Nationals. Rosenthal’s column is full of quotes from Hoyer, Ross, Tauchman, Dansby Swanson, Yan Gomes and others on the team’s rise from a 26-36 club mid-June to their current 61-57 record. The Cubs are 3.5 games out of first place in the Central and just a half-game back the Wild Card standings.

Rays Place Wander Franco On Restricted List

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Aug. 14: The Rays made the following announcement Monday:

“The Tampa Bay Rays and Wander Franco have mutually agreed that he will go on the Restricted List and take leave from the Club for the duration of the current road trip.”

MLB has opened an official investigation into the matter, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The Rays added in a follow-up statement:

“We support any steps taken by the league to better understand the situation. Out of respect for all parties involved, we have no further comments at this time.”

Aug. 13, 10:31PM: Franco didn’t travel with the Rays on the team plane to San Francisco for the club’s upcoming series with the Giants, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter links).  The Rays declined to comment on Franco’s absence.

9:00PM: The Rays released a statement today in regard to social media posts involving Wander Franco, noting that the league has begun looking into the matter.  Earlier this afternoon, allegations of an inappropriate relationship between Franco and a minor were made on X, leading to Franco’s name becoming a trending topic as the initial posts went viral.

As per the Rays’ statement…

“During today’s game, we were made aware of the social media posts that are circulating regarding Wander Franco.  We take the situation seriously and are in close contact with Major League Baseball as it conducts its due diligence.”

Franco didn’t play in Tampa’s 9-2 loss to the Guardians today, and manager Kevin Cash told Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times and other reporters that the absence was just a rest day, as the 22-year-old Franco had played in the Rays’ previous 40 consecutive games.  Ackert writes that Franco left the dugout about midway through the game and wasn’t in the clubhouse afterward.  Rays GM Peter Bendix was in the clubhouse after the game but declined comment on the matter, while Cash said that he was “aware of this speculation” but was “not going to comment any further on that.”

Steady playing time notwithstanding, Franco hadn’t been showing any signs of slowing down, and in fact was in the midst of one of his best stretches of the season.  The shortstop had a 1.280 OPS over his last 63 plate appearances, and his overall slash line sits at .281/.344/.475 over 491 PA.  Franco also has 17 home runs, 30 steals (in 40 chances), and outstanding defensive numbers, adding up to a 4.8 fWAR that ranks fifth among all Major League position players.

Debuting during the 2021 season as the consensus top prospect in baseball, Franco finishing third in AL Rookie Of The Year voting in his first year, despite playing in only 70 games.  The Rays felt so strongly about Franco’s potential that he was signed to the biggest contract in franchise history — an 11-year, $182MM contract extension that runs through the 2032 season, with a club option for 2033.

White Sox, Travis Swaggerty Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have agreed to a deal with outfielder Travis Swaggerty, whom the Pirates released last month. The former No. 10 overall draft pick effectively announced the news himself on Instagram. MLBTR has confirmed that it’s a minor league deal between the two parties.

Swaggerty, 26 later this week, made a very brief MLB debut last year with Pittsburgh, going 1-for-9 in his only big league action to date. He’s been injured for much of the season but had been on a rehab assignment prior to his DFA and subsequent release. He’s been healthy enough for just 72 plate appearances in Triple-A this year, batting .200/.278/.369 in that small sample. As recently as the 2022 season, he hit .254/.348/.400 (102 wRC+) in 458 plate appearances with Triple-A Indianapolis.

Prior to the 2019 season, MLB.com ranked Swaggerty as the sport’s No. 87 overall prospect, touting his plus speed, plus glove and disciplined approach while also crediting him with an average hit tool and average power. Swaggerty has regularly displayed a keen eye at the plate, drawing a walk in 11.4% of his minor league plate appearances, and he’s swiped 59 bags in 314 minor league games (20-for-25 in Triple-A last year). He’s also fanned in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances since being drafted, however, and has never topped 11 homers in a season. He’s also dealt with several injuries, most notably requiring surgery on his non-throwing shoulder after he dislocated it during a slide in 2021.

Swaggerty becomes the fourth former top prospect on whom the White Sox have taken a chance since their deadline sell-off. Chicago also claimed right-handers Brent Honeywell Jr. and Deivi Garcia off waivers and acquired righty Luis Patino from the Rays for cash. All three were, at various points over the past few seasons, among the most touted pitching prospects in the sport. There’s little harm in the White Sox taking a look at some former top prospects in the final weeks of the season — and perhaps into next year — given the thin nature of their own farm and the various holes they’ll need to fill in the offseason.

Submit Your Questions For The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast!

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On the MLB Trade Rumors podcast, we’ll often answer questions submitted by our readers. With the next episode due Wednesday morning, we’re looking for MLBTR readers to submit their questions, and we’ll pick a few to answer.

The trade deadline is officially in the rearview mirror, but there’s still seven weeks of the regular season remaining. Whether it’s a deadline retrospective, a question surrounding postseason races, or a forward-looking question to the offseason trade/free agent markets — please send your questions to mlbtrpod@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

In the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

The Opener: Diaz, Albies, Recent DFAs

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Just under seven weeks remain on the regular season schedule. Some injury and transaction news to monitor…

1. Does Diaz have time to return?

Mets closer Edwin Diaz, who suffered a torn patellar tendon during the World Baseball Classic, has been throwing off the base of the mound and is about a week out from his next wave of tests, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He could be cleared for full mound work early next week, which at least creates the possibility that he’d return to the mound before season’s end. The Mets won’t rush him but will allow him to take the hill if he’s up to full strength, despite the fact that 2023 has become a lost season.

Diaz alone couldn’t have salvaged the 2023 campaign, but losing him for the majority (if not all) of the season was still crushing news back in March. The 29-year-old Diaz signed the largest contract for any relief pitcher in history this winter (five years, $102MM with two opt-out opportunities) after pitching to a 1.31 ERA with a staggering 50.2% strikeout rate in 62 innings last year.

2. Albies exits with hamstring issue:

Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies exited last night’s game after experiencing cramping in his left hamstring, per the team. The Braves dubbed the move “precautionary” in nature and figure to have an update on Albies’ status today. It doesn’t sound particularly concerning at the moment, but Albies has been one of the key cogs in a juggernaut Atlanta lineup this year, batting .267/.327/.514 with 28 home runs, 21 doubles, four triples and an 11-for-11 showing in stolen bases. Given Albies’ importance to the lineup and the Braves’ massive 11-game lead in the NL East, it’s understandable to see the team play things safe. If Albies requires a few days off or even a trip to the 10-day IL, the Braves would likely turn to deadline acquisition Nicky Lopez, who replaced Albies in last night’s game and would provide standout glovework at the position in his stead.

3. Recent DFAs back on the market?

A handful of veterans have been designated for assignment over the past few days, any of whom could be of interest to contending clubs seeking depth ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline for postseason eligibility. Tigers lefty Chasen Shreve is on release waivers, for instance, and could bulk up a team’s left-handed depth in the bullpen. His 4.79 ERA isn’t much to look at, but the 33-year-old Shreve has a solid 23.3% strikeout rate, a terrific 6.7% walk rate and an above-average 46.8% ground-ball rate in 41 1/3 innings. Catcher Carson Kelly hasn’t yet passed through waivers after being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks, but his $4.275MM salary should make him a good bet to clear. He has enough service to reject an outright assignment and retain the remainder of that salary. Kelly hasn’t hit well in 92 plate appearances this year, but he’s a career .257/.346/.471 hitter against lefties, and he has roughly average framing marks with plus blocking grades from Statcast in his career.

Orioles righty Mychal Givens has missed the bulk of the season due to knee and shoulder injuries, and Baltimore designated him yesterday. His $5MM salary should allow him to clear, at which point the veteran will surely become a free agent. He pitched to a 6.60 ERA in 15 rehab frames and has allowed five runs in his four MLB innings this year, but Givens has a lengthy track record and would be available on a minor league deal. Once he clears waivers and is released, a new team would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any MLB time. It’ll also be worth keeping an eye on Red Sox righty Dinelson Lamet, who cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A. Like Kelly and Givens, Lamet has enough service time to reject that outright assignment and retain his entire salary, if he chooses.

Marco Gonzales To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

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Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales will undergo season-ending surgery for the nerve issue in his forearm, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. The lefty says the recovery time is a matter of months and he will be able to begin his offseason preparations on schedule with the hope of being ready for Spring Training. He is already on the 60-day injured list.

Gonzales, 31, began the year in Seattle’s rotation but landed on the IL in early June due a forearm strain. He didn’t seem to get on a track towards a return, having been shut down in late June and never getting sent on a rehab assignment. It appears that he and the club have exhausted any non-surgical options they explored and he will now have to go under the knife. He will finish 2023 with an ERA of 5.22 over 10 starts and 50 innings pitched.

It will ultimately go down as a disappointing and frustrating year for Gonzales, but it seems there’s some light at the end of the tunnel since he expects to have a fairly normal offseason and Spring Training. 2024 will be the final guaranteed season of the extension he and the club signed in 2020, with the southpaw set to make $12MM next year, with the club having a $15MM option for 2025 with no buyout.

The Seattle rotation has lost two of its Opening Day fivesome, as Robbie Ray required Tommy John surgery in May and Gonzales ended up missing most of the year. The club has fared well despite those losses, as Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert have been joined by rookies Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock. Woo is on the injured list but isn’t expected to miss much time. Even without him, the club still has a strong front five and is in the thick of a playoff race.

All of those players are either under contract or club control next year, which should give the club a strong on-paper rotation going into next year. If Gonzales is healthy, they have seven viable rotation members, even before counting a midseason return of Ray. Their starters already drew trade interest prior to the summer deadline but the Mariners ended up hanging onto them. Perhaps they could revisit those talks in the offseason if everyone is healthy and they have a chance to upgrade another part of their roster, though they could also opt for retaining the rookies as optional depth.

NL West Notes: Diamondbacks, Yaz, Haniger, Luciano, Profar

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In designating Carson Kelly for assignment earlier today, the Diamondbacks are a little short on catching depth, and GM Mike Hazen told reporters (including MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert) that the club was looking out for external catching options.  Gabriel Moreno is the catcher of the present and future in Arizona, and beyond backup Jose Herrera, Ali Sanchez and Juan Centeno are the only other backstops in the organization with any Major League experience.  Despite the situation, Hazen felt that “with five to six weeks to go, depth becomes less important than trying to put the best [team] on the field….When we had the roster construction in the first half of the season with Gabi and Herrera, we played really well.  I don’t know that that is going to be the secret formula to getting back to the way we were before, I don’t think that’s anyone’s expectation, but that was the choice we had, to send Herrera down or make this move.  We decided to make this move.”

Today’s victory over the Padres brought the D’Backs back up to a .500 (59-59) record, though the club is only 10-25 since the start of July.  Between this slide and the Dodgers catching fire, the D’Backs went from leading the NL West to trailing Los Angeles by 12.5 games, and the Snakes are also 2.5 games back of a wild card position.  While any number of factors have contributed to Arizona’s struggles, a lack of pitching has been the biggest culprit, and the D’Backs will now “take some risks and play it by ear, week by week” with their rotation, according to Hazen.  Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, and Brandon Pfaadt will continue to operate as traditional starters, but the team be open to using bullpen games, piggyback starters, or opener/bulk pitcher setups for the remaining two rotation spots until Zach Davies is back from the 15-day injured list to take one of the spots.

Some other notes from around the NL West…

  • Mike Yastrzemski has been on the Giants’ 10-day IL since July 31 recovering from a hamstring strain, but the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser writes that the outfielder is close to being activated.  Yastrzemski had a live batting practice session on Saturday and has been running the bases at full speed, so it doesn’t appear as though he’ll need any minor league rehab work.  With Yastrzemski possibly returning on Monday, Slusser speculates that the Giants might option Luis Matos to Triple-A, since Heliot Ramos has been hitting well as of late.
  • In other Giants injury updates, Mitch Haniger could soon begin a minor league rehab assignment, and Slusser estimates that he might return to the majors in around two weeks’ time.  Haniger hasn’t played since June 13 due to forearm surgery, continuing his unfortunate recent history of injury-shortened seasons.  The news isn’t as good for Marco Luciano, as the top prospect will sidelined for at least a month due to a hamstring strain.  Luciano made his MLB debut with a four-game cameo with the Giants in July, as the team needed an extra infielder to help solve some depth issues.  Over 292 combined plate appearances at Double-A and Triple-A in 2023, Luciano has hit .231/.336/.445 with 13 home runs.
  • Jurickson Profar suffered what the Rockies described as a twisted left knee in today’s game, which forced Profar to make an early exit.  Profar had to collide with the left field ball to make a running catch on a Mookie Betts fly ball, and Profar was in obvious discomfort afterwards.  Colorado manager Bud Black told reporters (including Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post) that Profar had already been dealing with a sore left knee even prior to today’s injury, and the outfielder will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the problem.

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