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Jerry Walker Passes Away

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The Orioles announced this morning that former All-Star pitcher Jerry Walker passed away over the weekend. He was 85.

Walker, a 6’1″ right-hander, signed with Baltimore out of East Central University in Oklahoma. Even though he was just 18 years old at the time, the O’s sent Walker straight to the big leagues. He remarkably managed a 2.93 ERA over 13 appearances (three starts) down the stretch in 1957. The O’s sent him down the following season and gave him nearly a full year in the minors to build up as a starting pitcher. In 1959, Walker got a shot at Baltimore’s rotation.

During his age-20 season, Walker turned in the best year of his career. He fired 182 innings of 2.92 ERA ball while recording 100 strikeouts. Between 1959-62, MLB hosted two All-Star Games per season. The American League tabbed Walker to open the second All-Star contest in 1959.

At 20 years and 172 days, he remains the youngest starting pitcher in All-Star Game history. (Just behind him on that list are Fernando Valenzuela, Dwight Gooden, Mark Fidrych, Vida Blue, yesterday’s NL starter Paul Skenes, and Denny McLain.) Walker started opposite Don Drysdale and got the win against a National League lineup that included Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks and Stan Musial.

Walker pitched one more season in Baltimore, working to a 3.74 ERA across 118 innings. The O’s traded him to the then-Kansas City A’s going into the 1961 campaign in a deal that netted them outfielder Dick Williams and reliever Dick Hall. Walker struggled over two seasons in the Kansas City rotation. The A’s eventually swapped him to the Indians for Chuck Essegian (who’d coincidentally gone to K.C. alongside Walker in the 1961 trade before being quickly sold to Cleveland). Walker worked out of the Cleveland bullpen for two seasons. He finished his playing career in the upper minors in 1967.

That preceded a much lengthier second act in various off-field roles. Walker worked as a scout, minor league manager and MLB pitching coach well into the 1980s. He worked his way up to general manager of the Tigers in 1993, leading the front office for one season in which the team went 85-77. Walker held roles in the Cardinals and Reds front offices into the 2010s.

Over parts of eight MLB campaigns, Walker turned in a 4.36 earned run average. He compiled a 37-44 record with 326 strikeouts across 747 innings. Walker tossed 16 complete games, seven of which came during the ’59 season in which he made All-Star history. MLBTR sends our condolences to Walker’s family, loved ones, and various former teammates and colleagues throughout the industry.

The Trade Market Remains Light On Middle Infield Talent

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We released our first iteration of the Top 50 trade candidates last week. It was a broadly pitching-heavy list, with 30 of the spots occupied by pitchers. Especially striking is the lack of middle infield talent that'll clearly be available. We listed just four middle infielders among that Top 50.

One of those players, Jazz Chisholm Jr., hadn't actually played an inning in the infield since 2022 at the time of that writing. The Marlins have since begun getting him second base work in an apparent effort to showcase his defensive flexibility for interested teams. Bo Bichette made the back of the Top 50 because he's a marquee name, but the Blue Jays haven't suggested a willingness to deal key players whom they control beyond this season. He's still a long shot to move. The other two middle infielders to make the list: Paul DeJong and Brendan Rodgers, each of whom is at best a low-end regular.

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The Other Marlins Lefty Who’d Like Your Attention

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In case you’ve been asleep all season, the Marlins are heading into the July 30 trade deadline as sellers and are all but certain to trade closer Tanner Scott within the next 13 days. Top starter Jesus Luzardo was seen as a near-lock to go as well, before a trip to the 60-day IL tanked his trade candidacy. Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. — who is completely, 100 percent coincidentally getting his first work at second base since 2022 at a time when Miami is listening to trade offers from infield-needy teams — also seems quite likely to change hands. If the Marlins can find a taker for even a portion of Josh Bell’s $16.5MM salary, he’ll go too.

But for all the talk on Scott, Chisholm and Luzardo throughout the season, the Marlins have another pretty obvious trade candidate who isn’t discussed nearly as often even though he’s arguably a more appealing trade candidate than Scott. Perhaps that’s because a disastrous start to the season tanked his numbers, but A.J. Puk has not only salvaged his 2024 campaign — he’s been one of the best relievers in baseball for more than a month.

Heading into the season, Miami raised a few eyebrows by opting to stretch Puk back out as a starter. The former Florida Gator was drafted as a starter but had never started a game in the majors. He last started four games in 2021 when still in the A’s organization and hadn’t worked as a full-time starter since 2017.

If you’ve followed any of the reliever-to-starter experiment check-ins I’ve written up this season (one from the quarter mark and one from the halfway mark), you’ll know that the exercise didn’t go well. Puk made the idea look brilliant in spring training when he pitched 13 2/3 innings of 1.32 ERA ball with a gargantuan 41.1% strikeout rate and sharp 7.1% walk rate. It was only four starts in exhibition play, but it’s easy to see why the team was encouraged.

Unfortunately, Puk’s regular-season dalliance with starting also lasted all of 13 2/3 innings over four starts. He was shelled for 17 runs (14 earned) on 19 hits and an alarming 17 walks. He fanned only 12 opponents. That’s a paltry 15.6% strikeout rate and stratospheric 22.1% walk rate. The Fish put Puk on the injured list with shoulder fatigue. He returned as a reliever tasked with the unenviable mission of lowering a 9.22 ERA over a series of one-inning stints. Good luck, Mr. Puk.

Or maybe he didn’t need the luck. Puk’s ERA is down to 4.73 on the season, and while that’s a wholly unimpressive number in its own right, it’s skewed dramatically but that lamentable foray into rotation work. Since he’s moved to the bullpen, Puk sports a 2.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings. He’s fanned 26% of his opponents against a 5% walk rate. Puk walked five batters in 4 2/3 innings in one start at Yankee Stadium on April 9. He’s now walked five batters total since May 13, all while posting a terrific 13.8% swinging-strike rate and 34.1% chase rate.

Not only has Puk been rejuvenated in his move to a bullpen role, he’s also saved his best work for the summer run-up to the trade deadline. No one has eked out an earned run against the lanky 6’7″ southpaw since June 17. Puk is riding a 12 2/3-inning scoreless streak that’s seen him whiff 18 of the 43 batters he’s faced (41.9%) while walking only two of them (4.7%). Puk, after averaging 93.3 mph on his four-seamer out of the rotation, has averaged 96.1 mph since moving back to short relief. He’s been throwing even harder during this scoreless run, sitting 96.6 mph on his fastball, which has helped him post an eye-popping 20.5% swinging-strike rate and laughable 40% opponents’ chase rate. Everything is working for Puk right now; his four-seamer, sinker and slider have all generated plus results during this hot streak.

Puk looks every bit like he was miscast in his role as a starter to begin the year, but since moving back into the bullpen he’s been electric. And over the past month, he leads all major league relievers in FanGraphs WAR. He’s seventh among qualified relievers in strikeout rate during this current stretch and fourth in K-BB%. Puk hasn’t simply been better since moving back to the ’pen — he’s been the best version of himself we’ve ever seen. And for a pitcher with more than four years of MLB service who saved 19 games and tallied 22 holds while working to a 3.51 ERA in 2022-23, that’s pretty notable. Puk wasn’t a bad reliever before the ill-fated move to the rotation, but he also wasn’t a great one. Now, he looks like a potentially elite one.

The timing couldn’t be better for a Marlins club that has no hope of reaching the postseason and waved the white flag on their season back in early May when they traded Luis Arraez in a stunning early-season blockbuster. Detractors could argue that the Fish waved the white flag on the season before Opening Day, as their biggest offseason additions of note were Tim Anderson, Nick Gordon, Vidal Brujan and Calvin Faucher (while also subtracting Jon Berti and Steven Okert).

Puk suddenly stands as an interesting trade candidate not only because of his recent dominance but because of his contract and remaining club control. He’s earning just $1.8MM in 2024 and will have $600K of that sum remaining as of deadline day. (Right now, he’s at $716K left on his deal.) An acquiring team would then be able to control Puk for two more seasons beyond the current campaign. He can’t become a free agent until the 2026-27 offseason. His early struggles and IL stint — plus Scott’s presence as the closer — have limited his time on the field, his rate stats and his save/hold opportunities. All of that will combine to help keep his arbitration price tag lower than if he’d spent the entire season as a high-end setup man or closer who excels in leverage situations.

Puk is a 29-year-old former top-10 draft pick and consensus top prospect who’s battled myriad injuries. He looked unimpressive as a starter but has quickly reminded everyone why he was a well-regarded reliever and someone former Marlins GM Kim Ng felt comfortable trading away another former top-10 pick (JJ Bleday) in order to acquire. He has two years of club control remaining, and it’s doubtful he’d even cost a new club a total of $10MM over the course of his remaining window of control.

It’s plenty understandable that Scott and Chisholm are drawing attention — but Puk should be right there alongside them. It was a mistake, plain and simple, to leave him off last week’s top trade candidate list. The Marlins seem willing to listen on just about any member of the active roster, and Puk is arguably the most appealing target for other teams as they look at what’s on the menu in Miami. He’s missing a similar number of bats to Scott but issuing walks at a mere fraction of the rate while earning a third of the salary and carrying two extra years of club control. Puk should command a legitimate prospect package, and there will be no shortage of teams calling.

Another Contending Club That Could Have Pitching To Spare

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A couple of weeks ago, in a piece for Front Office subscribers, MLBTR's Steve Adams highlighted some clubs that he figured could walk a buy/sell tightrope at the deadline. The teams he featured are all contenders, but with enough starting pitching options that they could plausibly "sell" a pitcher or two while still trying to compete here in 2024. In recent weeks, there's one other rotation that has suddenly become quite crowded as the team has been climbing in the standings.

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Twins Outright Zack Weiss

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The Twins have sent right-hander Zack Weiss outright to Triple-A St. Paul, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic on X. He had been on the 60-day injured list but was reinstated and passed through waivers. The club’s 40-man roster count stays at 40.

Weiss, 32, has never appeared in a big league game for the Twins. He was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in February and then began the season on the IL due to a teres major strain, getting transferred to the 60-day version in early April. He recently began a rehab assignment, making five appearances in the minors since the end of June. He was going to need to retake a spot on the 40-man roster but the Twins decided to put him on waivers instead.

Since he passed through unclaimed, he’ll stick in the organization as depth without taking up a roster spot. He doesn’t have three years of service time, nor does he have a previous career outright, meaning he can’t elect free agency.

The Twins will therefore get to keep a guy who has put up some intriguing numbers in recent years. Over 2022 and 2023, he tossed 27 1/3 innings in the majors with a 3.29 earned run average. His 11.4% walk rate was on the high side but he struck out 28.9% of batters. In that same period, he also tossed 91 1/3 innings in the minors with a 4.93 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate and 11.6% walk rate.

Weiss will report to St. Paul and try to earn his way back onto the 40-man roster. If he succeeds in doing so, he still has two options and less than a year of service time.

Giants Outright Kolton Ingram

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The Giants have sent left-hander Kolton Ingram through waivers and outrighted him to Triple-A Sacramento, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle on X. With left-hander Alex Young also being claimed off waivers by the Mets today, the Giants’ 40-man count drops to 38.

Ingram, 27, has been on and off the waiver wire all year but had enough interest around the league to keep getting claimed. Designated for assignment by the Angels in January when that club signed Aaron Hicks, he has gone to the Tigers, Mets, Rangers, Cardinals and Giants via successive waiver claims, though he has now passed through unclaimed. That means the Giants will be able to retain him as relief depth but without using a 40-man roster spot on him.

The lefty has just five games of major league experience, which came with the Angels last year. He allowed five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, meaning he currently sports an earned run average of 8.44 in that small sample.

The interest from clubs around the league undoubtedly stems from his larger body of work in the minors. He logged 121 2/3 innings in the Angels’ system over 2022 and 2023 with a 2.81 ERA. His 10.4% walk rate in that time was on the high side, but just barely, while his 30.5% strikeout rate was quite strong and he also generated a decent number of ground balls.

This year, he has a 4.30 ERA in 29 1/3 minor league innings with a 22.1% strikeout rate and 16.8% walk rate. Those numbers are obviously less impressive than what he did in the previous two seasons but it’s perhaps fair to wonder if the lack of stability this year has been a challenge for him.

While he’s surely not pleased to lose his roster spot, he might at least get the consistency of sticking with one organization long enough to unpack his suitcase. If he can get back in a good form and earn his way back onto a roster spot, he can be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season. He also has less than a year of service time and therefore would be controllable well into the future.

Mets Claim Alex Young, Designate Tyler Jay

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The Mets announced Wednesday that they’ve claimed left-hander Alex Young off waivers from the Giants and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. Fellow lefty Tyler Jay was designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

It’s a quick turnaround for Young, whom the Giants acquired just last week in the trade that sent outfielder Austin Slater and cash to the Reds. San Francisco seemingly hoped to pass Young through waivers and retain the southpaw as a depth option, but the Mets didn’t allow that to happen and will keep Young on their 40-man roster for the time being. The unusual sequence leaves the Giants with no return of which to speak for Slater, a 2014 eighth-rounder who’s been a solid role player for them over the years before struggling to career-worst results at the plate in 2024.

Young, 30, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons — including a brief two-inning stint with Cincinnati earlier this season. The former second-round pick has a career 4.40 earned run average in 264 big league innings and has fanned 19.5% of his opponents against an 8.5% walk rate. Though he debuted as a starter with the 2019 Diamondbacks, Young has worked primarily as a reliever since that time and hasn’t started a game since 2022.

Young didn’t allow a run in his two innings with the Reds this season, and he’s been excellent in 24 2/3 Triple-A frames as well, logging a tidy 2.19 ERA with a 23.5% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate between the affiliates for the Reds and Giants. The southpaw has a shaky 4.99 ERA in 209 1/3 career innings at the Triple-A level, although that’s skewed by a pair of dismal debut campaigns in Triple-A with the D-backs in 2018-19. He’s pitched well at the top minor league level in each of the past three seasons now.

This is Young’s final minor league option year. The Mets can shuttle him between Syracuse and Queens for the remainder of the season, but Young would need to stick on the big league roster in 2025 and beyond. He crossed four years of big league service time earlier this season while on the 60-day injured list with a back issue, meaning he can be controlled for another two seasons, through the 2026 campaign, if he makes a good impression on his new club.

For Jay, this will be the second time this season the Mets have designated him for assignment. He was also DFA’ed after making his big league debut back in April. He stuck with the organization after clearing outright waivers.

The 30-year-old Jay was the No. 6 overall draft pick out of Illinois back in 2015 and for years ranked as one of the more promising arms in the Twins’ system. He dealt with repeated shoulder and neck injuries throughout his time in Minnesota’s system, however, and eventually underwent thoracic outlet surgery. He was out of affiliated ball at one point, before parlaying a showing with the Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League into a minor league look with the Mets.

Jay has only pitched 4 2/3 big league innings for the Mets this season. He’s surrendered four runs on seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts in that time. He’s spent the remainder of the season in Syracuse, working to a strong 2.40 ERA with a below-average 18.6% strikeout rate but a sensational 2.5% walk rate. The Mets will either trade Jay or place him on outright waivers in the next five days. Waivers would then be an additional 48-hour process. If he goes unclaimed, Jay will have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, as is the case for any player who’s been outrighted multiple times in his career.

Dallas Keuchel Elects Free Agency

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Veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel cleared waivers and elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Brewers, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. He’s now free to sign with any club.

Keuchel, 36, signed a minor league deal with the Mariners over the winter but was acquired by Milwaukee for cash last month. He’d gotten out to a nice start with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma (71 innings, 3.93 ERA, 15.6% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate, 59.5% grounder rate), and a Brewers club in dire need of rotation innings turned to the former Cy Young winner to help patch their injury-ravaged staff. Keuchel had two tough starts and two solid ones for the Brew Crew, pitching a total of 16 2/3 innings with an 11-to-8 K/BB ratio and 52.5% ground-ball rate before being designated.

Keuchel had a similar but lengthier stint as a depth starter with the Twins down the stretch in 2023, appearing in 10 games (six of them starts) and posting a 5.97 ERA in 37 2/3 frames. As with Milwaukee, he had his share of solid appearances in the Twin Cities but was also hit quite hard on a few occasions.

It’s been years since Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young winner, was a solid member of a big league rotation. He made 11 starts and tossed 63 1/3 innings of sparkling 1.99 ERA ball with the White Sox in the shortened 2020 season, but the final two seasons of his three-year, $55.5MM deal in Chicago was a disaster. Dating back to 2021, Keuchel has pitched to a grisly 6.24 ERA in 277 innings — a far cry from the 1126 innings of 3.25 ERA ball he compiled in his 2014-20 peak.

Rough as Keuchel’s recent results have been, the veteran southpaw has pitched quite well in Triple-A over the past few seasons. This year’s 88.1 mph average velocity on his sinker obviously sits well below the league average but is also his best mark since a strong 2019 season with the Braves, when he averaged 88.3 mph. Keuchel worked with Driveline Baseball during the early part of the ’23 season to restore some of his dwindling velocity and parlayed that into his deal with the Twins. He’s now added a bit more life to the sinker and still looked sharp in two of his four Milwaukee appearances. A club in need of some rotation depth figures to scoop him up on a minor league pact in the coming weeks.

Domingo German Opts Out Of Pirates Deal

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Right-hander Domingo German was released by the Pirates this week, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. He’d been pitching with their Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. Robert Murray of FanSided reports that German exercised an opt-out clause in his contract, prompting the release. The Bucs remain open to bringing him back, per Murray — presumably on a new minor league pact.

German, 31, has started ten games in Indy and pitched to a 5.36 ERA with a below-average 20.6% strikeout rate and a bloated 12.6% walk rate. However, a good portion of the damage against German came in one brutal outing that saw him yield eight runs (seven earned) in just five frames. In six starts since that ugly outing, he’s logged a more palatable 3.60 ERA with slightly improved strikeout and walk rates of 22.7% and 10.9%.

German’s entire big league career has been spent in a Yankees uniform. He pitched parts of six seasons in the Bronx, logging 522 1/3 innings of 4.41 ERA ball while working primarily out of the starting rotation. He’s had a fair bit of big league success but also saw his time with the Yankees marred by off-the-field issues.

In 2020, German was suspended for 81 games under the MLB-MLBPA joint domestic violence policy. He did not pitch in the shortened 2020 season as a result. German also missed the final portion of the 2023 season after “voluntarily submitting to inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse” (as announced by the Yankees at the time) following an incident in which he was reportedly intoxicated in the clubhouse. Earlier in the 2023 season, he also served a 10-game suspension in 2023 after an umpire ruled that the pitcher had violated MLB’s foreign substance policy on the mound.

The Pirates are relatively deep in rotation options, even with Jared Jones, Bailey Falter and Johan Oviedo currently on the injured list. Pittsburgh’s rotation currently includes Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Martin Perez, Quinn Priester and Marco Gonzales. Righty Luis Ortiz and top prospect Braxton Ashcraft give the Bucs further options, with Ashcraft in particular in the midst of a breakout season between Double-A and Triple-A. Falter is on the shelf with tendinitis in his left triceps and isn’t presently expected to be in for a lengthy absence. Jones was shut down for two weeks in early July after being diagnosed with a Grade 2 lat strain. It’s not yet clear when he’s expected to resume throwing off a mound, let alone return to the big league staff. Oviedo underwent Tommy John surgery in the offseason and will be out until 2025.

Longoria: Not Officially Retired, But Unlikely To Continue Playing

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Evan Longoria suited up for just the third organization of his career in 2023 when he signed with the D-backs and helped the club make an improbable run to the World Series. He hasn’t signed a new contract since then but also hasn’t formally filed any retirement paperwork. The longtime Rays and Giants third baseman, however, told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times and others this past weekend that he’s all but officially retired.

“I waited long enough to know that I was done,” Longoria said before detailing some of the physical toll his 16-year playing career took during his final seasons. “…And then, being able to go to the World Series, have the experience that I had, it made it a pretty easy decision for me going into the offseason.”

Longoria did leave the door for one final run ever so slightly cracked. The 38-year-old said it would “depend on what team” called him and their chances of reaching a postseason. He listed both the Rays and D-backs as clubs he’d at least consider if he got the itch to take one more chance at winning a World Series.

“One of the only things I haven’t accomplished is winning a World Series,” said Longoria. “So if you said I would go hit .080 for the rest of the season, but the team would win the World Series, then I’d go do it. But that’s probably about the only thing I’d want to do.”

It’s a candid and broad-reaching interview that fans of Longoria and his former clubs, in particular, will want to check out in full. Some of the many topics touched on include how no Ray has worn his iconic No. 3 since he was traded, the slugger’s thoughts on a potential new stadium for the Rays, his life at home now that he’s been able to focus on being a full-time dad, and his hope to eventually return to the game in some capacity.

If Longoria is indeed done as a player, he’ll wrap up an outstanding career with a .264/.333/.471 batting line. He played in parts of 16 big league seasons, garnering MVP votes in six of them. Longoria made three All-Star teams, was named American League Rookie of the Year, won three Gold Gloves and took home one Silver Slugger Award.

Longoria piled up 1930 hits, including 431 doubles, 26 triples and 342 home runs, tying him with Hall of Famer Ron Santo for 104th on the all-time home run leaderboard. Those 431 doubles currently rank 142nd all-time. The former No. 3 overall pick also scored 1017 runs and knocked in 1159 (the latter ranking 185th all-time). FanGraphs credits Longoria with a hefty 55.2 wins above replacement. Baseball-Reference is even more bullish at 58.6 WAR. He earned more than $150MM in salary over the course of his 16 years in the big leagues. Along the way, he carved out a reputation as an excellent and beloved teammate.

“Longo is one of the best teammates I’ve ever had,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt told the AP’s Mark Didtler. “This guy’s a pro’s pro. This guy’s the epitome of what a professional baseball player looks like. Evan Longoria is everything that’s good about our game, and what a wonderful career he had.”

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