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Tigers Trade Buddy Kennedy To Phillies

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10:33am: The Tigers have now announced that Kennedy has been traded to the Phillies in exchange for cash.

Kennedy becomes the latest depth addition for a Phillies club that has acquired non-roster players such as Ruben Cardenas and Jonah Dipoto in a pair of cash swaps. Philadelphia also recently plucked right-hander Freddy Tarnok off waivers from the A’s.

The Phillies already had an open spot on the 40-man roster after minor league infielder Jose Rodriguez was suspended for one year amid MLB’s recent wave of bans for betting on baseball. Kennedy will both take Rodriguez’s roster spot and replenish the infield depth lost with Rodriguez’s placement on the restricted list.

10:25am: Evan Woodbery of MLive reports on X that the MLB.com transaction log was not accurate. MLB.com has subsequently removed Kennedy’s outright from its transaction log.

9:52am: The Tigers have sent infielder Buddy Kennedy outright to Triple-A Toledo, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

Kennedy, 25, has spent most of this season on optional assignment, with the Tigers giving him 13 plate appearances in six major league games. Combined with his time in Arizona in the previous two seasons, he now has a career batting line of .205/.294/.316 in 136 trips to the plate in the big leagues.

His larger body of work in the minors has been more impressive, though with a bit of a swoon this year. He slashed .287/.395/.455 on the farm over the 2021 to 2023 seasons, with wRC+ giving him a 119 for that three-year stretch. He drew walks in 14.3% of his plate appearances during that span while striking out just 20.2% of the time. He did that while playing a lot of second and third base, with some stints at first base and left field as well.

That minor league performance made him plenty popular in the past year. He was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks in September and bounced to the Athletics, Cardinals and Tigers on waiver claims.

But his performance has dipped a bit this year, as he has slashed .234/.331/.383 in Triple-A, production that leads to an 87 wRC+. His 11.7% walk rate is still strong but his strikeout rate is up a bit to 23.9%. Though he has been popular on the waiver wire, that tepid performance seems to have pushed him through unclaimed this time.

He was also outrighted by the Diamondbacks at the end of the 2022 season, which gives him the right to reject this assignment and head to the open market instead. If he eventually gets a roster spot back, with the Tigers or someone else, he can be optioned for the remainder of this season but will be out of options next year.

The Opener: London Series, Soto, Yankees, Dodgers

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:

1. London Series 2024:

Last year, MLB made its long-awaited return to London after first visiting with a set between the Red Sox and Yankees in 2019. The Yankees swept the two-game set that year, while last season the Cubs and Cardinals split their own two-game set. This weekend, a third pair of teams is set to face off in London Stadium: the Phillies and the Mets. Philadelphia has enjoyed an incredibly hot start to the 2024 campaign thanks to fantastic starting pitching performances, not only from aces Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola but also thanks to breakout performances from Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez. That elite pitching performance in conjunction with particularly strong offensive production from Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm and (prior to his injury) Trea Turner has led Philadelphia to a 44-19 record and a commanding lead in the NL East.

Things haven’t gone quite as well for the Mets this year. Luis Severino and Sean Manaea have posted quality results in the rotation while Pete Alonso, J.D. Martinez and young Mark Vientos have delivered strong performances to the anchor the lineup. However, significant struggles of key players like Edwin Diaz, Jeff McNeil and Jose Quintana have left fans in Queens with little to celebrate as their club has already fallen 16.5 games back of the NL East lead with a 27-35 record. The two-game set is set to begin at 6:10pm London time (1:10pm ET) on Saturday as Suarez (1.70 ERA) takes on Manaea (3.63 ERA), followed by a game at 3:10pm London time (10:10am ET) on Sunday where Quintana (5.17 ERA) takes on Taijuan Walker (5.73 ERA).

2. Soto to undergo testing:

Yaankees superstar Juan Soto departed yesterday’s win over the Twins following a rain delay due to what the team termed left forearm discomfort. As relayed by SNY on X (Video Links), manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the game that Soto’s been dealing with soreness in his forearm for the past week or so and that the club decided to “play it safe” rather than ramp him back up after the rain delay. While that description sounds fairly innocuous, Boone also added a more ominous note that Soto would undergo imaging on the arm today.

Acquired from the Padres in a blockbuster deal over the offseason, Soto has been everything the Yankees could’ve hoped for since the season began. In 64 games, the 25-year-old phenom has slashed .318/.424/.603 (190 wRC+) while leading the majors in on-base percentage, leading the AL in batting average, and clubbing 17 home runs. He’s even delivered solid defense in right field, with +1 Outs Above Average and +1 Defensive Runs Saved. Losing Soto for any amount of time would ramp up pressure in a division where the Yankees hold a 4.5-game lead over the second-place Orioles. If Soto is out, the Yankees could give Trent Grisham additional time in center and move Aaron Judge to right field.

3. Series Preview: Dodgers @ Yankees

The 45-19 Yankees have MLB’s best winning percentage, but the Dodgers are certainly fearsome in their own right with a 39-25 record and a commanding eight-game lead in the NL West. New York’s success has been largely predicated on the elite performance of their starting rotation, which leads the AL with a 2.82 ERA, along with big performances from Soto, Judge and shortstop Anthony Volpe.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have enjoyed elite offensive production from the top four spots in their lineup, occupied by Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith. Their rotation has been merely good rather than elite, ranking eighth in the majors with a collective 3.50 ERA despite strong individual performances from offseason acquisitions Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The set between the two titans is set to begin at 7:05pm local time this evening when Yamamoto (3.32 ERA) takes the mound opposite Cody Poteet, who has allowed three runs in 11 innings (2.45 ERA) in two spot starts this year. On Saturday, young righty Gavin Stone (2.90 ERA) will take on lefty Nestor Cortes (3.46 ERA). The series wraps up Sunday with Glasnow (2.93 ERA) on the mound opposite breakout righty Luis Gil (1.82 ERA).

Will The Mets Trade Pete Alonso?

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The Mets head to London for a World Tour series against the Phillies this weekend. Even after sweeping the Nationals, New York owns a 27-35 record that has them above just the Rockies and Marlins in the National League. They’re remarkably only 3.5 games out of the Wild Card race, a testament to the NL’s mediocrity beyond its top four teams. There are six clubs between the Mets and the current final playoff team, the Padres.

If the Mets don’t make significant improvements in the next six-plus weeks, they’ll head into deadline season as a seller. Impending free agents are always the most apparent trade candidates. The Mets have no shortage of rentals they can market. Sean Manaea (who has a $13.5MM player option for next season), J.D. Martinez, Luis Severino, Harrison Bader, Adam Ottavino, Jose Quintana and Jake Diekman could all move. Yet there’s no more interesting Mets’ trade candidate than their first baseman.

Pete Alonso is a few months from his first trip to the open market. He reportedly declined a $158MM extension offer last summer. President of baseball operations David Stearns made clear throughout the offseason that while the Mets had no interest in trading Alonso over the winter, they didn’t anticipate reopening extension negotiations before he hit free agency.

That should spur plenty of trade speculation as the deadline approaches. That’s evidently already happening in front offices outside of Queens. Jeff Passan of ESPN wrote this week that multiple rival general managers expect the Mets to trade Alonso before the deadline. That seems more like informed speculation than a suggestion that his name has come up in trade talks to this point.

Will talks gain legitimate traction in the coming weeks? There’s a straightforward argument for the Mets to move Alonso. They evidently don’t plan on keeping him from testing the free agent market. Alonso will begin his next contract in his age-30 season. When Stearns was running baseball operations in Milwaukee, the Brewers preferred not to invest heavily in defensively-limited sluggers. He obviously has far more resources at his disposal now, but it’s fair to wonder whether Alonso is the type of player around whom Stearns wants to build.

That’s particularly true with a slight downturn in Alonso’s batted ball metrics. He’s still capable of hitting the ball as hard anyone, but he has done so less frequently over the past couple seasons. The Polar Bear’s rate of hard contact (a batted ball with an exit velocity north of 95 MPH) peaked at 47.3% back in 2021. It dropped by a few points in each of the next two seasons. This year’s 40.1% hard contact rate is a match for last season’s. It places Alonso 129th out of 263 qualified hitters.

The dip in hard contact rate hasn’t made Alonso a bad hitter, of course. He’s hitting .238/.315/.477 with 14 homers across 267 plate appearances. After accounting for the pitcher-friendly nature of Citi Field and a depressed league run environment, that’s 27 percentage points better than average. Alonso remains a middle-of-the-order bat, but it’s a slightly concerning trend for a player whose game is built on power.

If the front office has concerns about Alonso’s long-term projection, a trade would be the most sensible decision. The Mets would get very little in return if they let him walk in free agency. They’d make him a qualifying offer, but they’d only receive a pick after the fourth round if he signs elsewhere. As a luxury tax payor, they’re entitled to the lowest compensation for losing a qualified free agent. The trade offers they receive this summer would certainly be better than that, even if Alonso’s limited control window and $20.5MM arbitration salary make it unlikely they’d get any top-tier prospects in return.

For the Mets to keep Alonso, they’d need to believe there’s a realistic path to the postseason in 2024 and/or feel good about their chances of retaining him in free agency. Making the playoffs this year isn’t impossible, but they’ve put themselves in a hole with their poor start. Holding Alonso would probably be more about the latter scenario — a sign they’re confident that he’ll stay in New York after seeing what other teams will offer.

Owner Steve Cohen is capable of outbidding anyone. He’s presumably keen on retaining Alonso, who has proven himself in New York and has been a fan favorite since his electrifying rookie season. Yet the Mets have been relatively restrained in the last two offseasons after their frenzied effort to spend their way into contention in 2021 didn’t quite pan out. (The Mets did win 101 games in 2022, but they followed up a first-round playoff exit with last year’s 75 wins.) The Mets seem to be gearing up for a bidding war with the Yankees and others on Juan Soto, which could take some of the priority away from Alonso.

It’s at least worth considering the possibility that the Mets trade Alonso before trying to bring him back next winter. That’s not unheard of but doesn’t happen often, particularly with players at the top of the market. A deadline trade typically reflects an understanding that the team and player aren’t going to line up on contract figures.

How will the Mets handle the situation? Is Alonso going to be on the move this summer?

 

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Pirates Outright Grant Koch

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The Pirates have sent catcher Grant Koch outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the transaction log at MLB.com. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment on Tuesday when they recalled Henry Davis to pair with Yasmani Grandal behind the plate.

Koch, 27, played in his first three MLB games. A fifth-round pick out of Arkansas in 2018, Koch has played parts of six seasons in the minors. He has never been much of an offensive threat, running a .203/.284/.322 slash line in nearly 1200 plate appearances on the farm. Koch was hitting .167/.211/.259 with 25 strikeouts in 59 trips to the plate for Indianapolis when the Bucs selected his contract on May 28.

That first promotion came in tandem with a trip to the injured list for Joey Bart. The Pirates evidently didn’t want to promote Davis at that time. Koch got a few days in the big leagues and his first eight MLB plate appearances — he went 0-7 with six strikeouts and a walk — before the Pirates decided to turn to Davis. Pittsburgh also welcomed back Jason Delay from the 60-day injured list this week, though he was immediately optioned to Triple-A.

It’s the first career outright for Koch, who’ll stick in the organization. He’ll back up Delay in Indianapolis while returning to his previous role as a non-roster depth catcher. Koch would qualify for minor league free agency at the start of the winter if the Pirates don’t reselect him to their 40-man roster this season.

Joe Musgrove Diagnosed With Bone Spur In Elbow

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Joe Musgrove landed on the 15-day injured list over the weekend, his second such stint of the 2024 season. The Padres initially called the issue elbow inflammation. They provided more clarity this evening, announcing that an MRI revealed a bone spur (link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com).

While there’s relief in Musgrove avoiding any ligament damage, the bone spur is going to keep him out well beyond the minimal two weeks. Cassavell writes that the former All-Star will be shut down entirely for two weeks. He could begin playing catch at that point, but that’ll likely require a multi-week build before he’s ready for a minor league rehab assignment. Musgrove conceded that he could require arthroscopic surgery if the injury doesn’t heal with rest, but that’s not currently under consideration. He recently received a platelet-rich plasma injection.

With a little more than five weeks before the All-Star Break, it seems likely Musgrove will be out into the second half of the season. His rehab process will determine whether he’s back at Petco Park before the trade deadline. The Padres are likely to look for starting pitching regardless — they’ve already been tied to White Sox breakout lefty Garrett Crochet — but Musgrove’s injury only adds to the uncertainty.

Dylan Cease, Michael King and Matt Waldron are the clear top three in the rotation at the moment. Yu Darvish landed on the 15-day IL alongside Musgrove, though it doesn’t seem that he’ll miss much time rehabbing a groin strain. San Diego recalled righty Randy Vásquez and promoted rookie Adam Mazur to step into the starting five. Vásquez carried a 5.74 ERA into tonight’s start against the Diamondbacks. Mazur made his MLB debut on Tuesday. Jackson Wolf, owner of a 5.83 ERA over 11 Triple-A appearances, is the only other starter on the 40-man roster.

San Diego’s rotation has turned in average results through the season’s first couple months. They’re 14th with an even 4.00 earned run average despite ranking fifth in MLB with a 24% strikeout rate. Darvish, Cease, Waldron and King have each allowed between three and four earned runs per nine with solid swing-and-miss numbers. Musgrove has had a disappointing season as he tried to navigate the elbow soreness. He has tossed fewer than five innings per start with a 5.66 ERA and a 20.6% strikeout rate that would easily be the worst of his Padres tenure.

Nick Madrigal Sustains Hand Fracture

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Cubs infielder Nick Madrigal suffered a fracture in his left hand while playing for Triple-A Iowa, reports Tommy Birch (X link). The former #4 overall pick was hit by a Trey Wingenter pitch last night.

Madrigal just got to Iowa over the weekend. The Cubs optioned the struggling infielder when they called up David Bote on Sunday. Yesterday’s game was his first since the optional assignment. It’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action, but that obviously takes him out of consideration to be called back up in the short term. It’s the latest setback in a difficult season for Chicago’s Opening Day third baseman.

In 94 plate appearances, Madrigal collected just three extra-base hits (all doubles). He had a .221/.280/.256 batting line that allowed Christopher Morel to jump him on the third base depth chart. Morel has had an inconsistent season himself. He entered tonight’s game with a .203/.313/.387 slash over 252 plate appearances. Morel has hit for power — he connected on his 12th homer of the season this evening — but he continues to struggle on the defensive side. The Cubs have given him a personal-high 376 innings at third base. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast have graded him eight runs below average with the glove.

Third base was an area the front office could look to upgrade at the deadline regardless of Madrigal’s health status. The injury is nevertheless a hit to Chicago’s infield depth and another impediment for the 27-year-old as he tries to establish himself as an everyday player. Madrigal has yet to show that his contact-oriented approach provides enough of a ceiling to be a regular. That’s particularly true on a team that already has Nico Hoerner at second base, which forced the Oregon State product to the left side of the infield.

Madrigal has appeared in 202 games since the Cubs acquired him from the White Sox in the 2021 Craig Kimbrel deal. He carries a .251/.304/.312 line in 616 plate appearances. He’s playing this season on a $1.81MM arbitration salary. The Cubs control Madrigal for another two years, but he could be trending towards a non-tender next offseason.

White Sox Outright Zach Remillard

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The White Sox have outrighted infielder Zach Remillard to Triple-A Charlotte, tweets Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment on Tuesday.

Remillard has gone unclaimed on outright waivers twice this season. Chicago sent him through waivers in April, reselected his contract a couple weeks later, and again DFA him a month after that. The 30-year-old utilityman has played in 15 MLB games this season. He’s hitting .242/.342/.333 with five walks and 10 strikeouts over 39 plate appearances. Remillard has taken 79 trips to the plate in Charlotte, turning in significantly worse numbers. He owns a .114/.192/.157 slash line in 19 Triple-A contests.

A former 10th-round pick out of Coastal Carolina, Remillard has spent his entire career in the Sox organization. He could elect free agency, but he accepted an outright assignment in April. A rebuilding White Sox team could afford him the best path back to the majors later in the season. Chicago is likely to trade shortstop Paul DeJong at some point. Neither Nicky Lopez nor Lenyn Sosa has provided much offensively at second and third base, respectively.

Diamondbacks Select Humberto Castellanos

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The D-Backs announced they’ve selected right-hander Humberto Castellanos onto the major league roster. Arizona also recalled lefty reliever Joe Jacques from Triple-A Reno, a move which was reported this afternoon. To clear the necessary spots on the MLB roster, the Snakes optioned southpaw Brandon Hughes and placed lefty Blake Walston on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his throwing elbow. Arizona also reinstated righty Luis Frías from the 15-day IL and optioned him to Reno.

Arizona had an opening on the 40-man roster, which they’ll use to give Castellanos his first MLB look in two years. The Mexican-born hurler pitched in 25 games, including 16 starts, for the D-Backs between 2021-22. He turned in a 5.30 ERA over 90 innings before undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2022. That led Arizona to outright him off their roster at the end of the season and forced him to sit out all of last year.

The Diamondbacks brought Castellanos back on a minor league contract over the winter. He’s healthy again and has logged 43 2/3 innings over 10 appearances in Triple-A. Castellanos has a 4.57 earned run average that is quite impressive considering Reno is among the toughest places to pitch in affiliated ball. He has punched out a solid 24.3% of opposing hitters, although he has also issued walks at a career-high 11.4% rate.

For most of his MLB career, Castellanos has shown the opposite profile: plus control without the ability to miss many bats. He has a modest 16.6% strikeout rate with a 7.3% walk percentage in 100 2/3 innings between the Astros and D-Backs. Castellanos doesn’t throw especially hard, but he can work out of the rotation or in long relief for Torey Lovullo. He still has a minor league option, allowing the Diamondbacks to send him back to Reno at any point without putting him on waivers.

Walston, a first-round pick in 2019, has made his first three MLB appearances this season. The North Carolina native has allowed four runs over 12 2/3 innings, striking out 11 against nine walks. It’s not clear how long he’ll be out of action. The Diamondbacks will presumably play things cautiously with any elbow issue for one of their more talented young pitchers.

Dodgers Outright Elieser Hernández

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The Dodgers have sent right-hander Elieser Hernández outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week. He has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

Hernández, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason. He tossed 28 2/3 innings over six outings for Oklahoma City, five of those being official starts and the other being a five-inning appearance after an opener. He allowed 2.83 earned runs per nine frames in that time, despite the hitter-friendly nature of the Pacific Coast League, striking out 29.8% of batters faced while giving out walks at just a 7% clip.

The Dodgers added him to their big league roster in the middle of May, giving him a spot start as they looked to give their other rotation members a breather. He allowed three earned runs in six innings and then got bumped to the bullpen, as he is not allowed to be optioned.

His work as a reliever was mixed but his most recent outing was especially poor. Against the Mets on May 29, he allowed a single, a home run and a walk before being pulled. The walk eventually came around to score, leaving him charged with three earned runs without recording an out. That bumped his season-long ERA to 8.38 and the Dodgers cut him from the roster two days later.

Hernández has more than enough service time to reject this assignment and return to the open market. He once looked like a potential rotation building block with the Marlins, posting a 3.84 ERA over 2020 and 2021 with a 26.3% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate. But he also missed time due to a strained right latissimus dorsi, right biceps inflammation and a right quad strain, only throwing 77 1/3 innings over those seasons.

But he then struggled badly in 2022 with a 6.35 ERA before more injury troubles largely wiped out his 2023. He only threw 9 1/3 innings in the minor leagues last year due to a right shoulder strain and right pectoral strain.

Hernández seemed to be back in decent form with OKC earlier and he’ll have to decide whether he wants to return to that environment or pursue opportunities elsewhere. The fact that he went unclaimed on waivers suggests that no club was willing to give him a roster spot, but perhaps a minor league deal with a team that has a weaker pitching staff than the Dodgers could increase his chances of getting back to the majors.

Pirates Sign Justin Bruihl To Major League Deal

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2:55pm: The Pirates have now made it official and announced the corresponding moves. Right-hander Quinn Priester has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to June 3, with a right lat muscle injury. To open a 40-man spot, lefty Ryan Borucki has been transferred to the 60-day IL. Borucki has already been on the IL for 60 days, landing there April 6 due to left triceps inflammation. He is eligible to be reinstated at any time but he has not yet begun a rehab assignment.

1:25pm: The Pirates are going to sign left-hander Justin Bruihl to a major league deal this afternoon, reports Alex Stumpf of MLB.com on X. They will need to make a corresponding move or moves to get him onto their 40-man and active rosters.

The lefty signed a minor league deal with the Reds in the offseason but was released earlier this week, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Speculatively speaking, it’s possible he had some kind of opt-out in his contract because his results have been pretty good so far this year.

Bruihl, 27 later this month, had been with Triple-A Louisville until recently. He threw 23 1/3 innings over 19 appearances for that club, allowing 2.31 earned runs per nine frames. His 10.3% walk rate in that time was a tad on the high side but he also struck out 24.7% of batters faced while getting grounders on 53.4% of balls in play.

That wasn’t enough to get him onto the big league roster in Cincinnati but the Pirates will bring him back to the majors. Bruihl had some good results for the Dodgers a couple of years ago but struggled last season. He had an ERA of 2.89 with Los Angeles in 2021 and then 3.80 the year after, but had some rough outings in 2023 and got flipped to the Rockies in a cash deal. He had a 5.46 ERA last year between those two clubs and was outrighted by Colorado.

He reached free agency at season’s end, which led to his minors deal with the Reds and he seems to have bounced back enough this year to have caught Pittsburgh’s attention. He’s generally been more of a ground ball guy in the majors, striking out just 15.6% of batters faced but keeping the ball on the ground 45.5% of the time.

The Bucs currently have Aroldis Chapman as the only lefty in their big league bullpen, so Bruihl will give them a second southpaw in the relief mix. Bruihl still has one option year remaining, giving the clubs the flexibility to send him to the minors in the future without exposing him to waivers. If he manages to hang onto his 40-man spot, the Bucs can keep him around for a long time. He came into 2024 with one year and 39 days of service time, 133 days short of the two-year mark. Since more than two months of the season have already passed, he doesn’t have enough days to get to that two-year line this year.

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