Headlines

Go To Hoops Rumors
Go To Pro Football Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors
Go To Pro Football Rumors

NL East Notes: Marlins Sale, Morgan, Peterson

By | at

The Bruce Sherman/Derek Jeter group that has submitted the winning bid to purchase the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria now has its finances “in better shape” and could secure the league approval that it requires in a matter of weeks, if not days, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports. The Sherman-Jeter group has raised $800MM of the $1.2 billion sale price and will take on $400MM of debt as things presently stand. Sherman will be the control person and own 46 percent of the team, while Jeter’s title will be CEO, and he’ll own about four percent of the team. While the sale of the franchise has been a seemingly interminable process, it appears that the new ownership group could formally be in place before the conclusion of the postseason. Sherman and Jeter will need approval from 23 of the 29 other owners throughout the league

More from the division…

  • CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury profiles Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan and his rise to prominence in the Philadelphia bullpen in 2017. Morgan explains to Salisbury that he nearly retired from baseball early in the year, having gone through difficulty recovering from shoulder surgery and again being optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. “I’m such a simple guy that it’s the little things that make me happy,” said Morgan. “Being with my family makes me happy, cutting the grass makes me happy. I’d think to myself, ’Why am I showing up to the field and I’m not happy?” Morgan ultimately decided to finish the year. Along the way, his velocity returned, and he altered the grip on his slider to dramatically improve the pitch’s effectiveness. Over his past 24 innings, Morgan has averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball and allowed just two runs with a 28-to-4 K/BB ratio. Salisbury’s column is full of candid, thoughtful quotes from Morgan and is an excellent look at the human side of the game.
  • Jace Peterson is now focusing on improving in the outfield so that he can become a versatile utility piece of the Braves for years to come, writes MLB.com’s Chris Bumbaca. While there may have been hope that he could fill an everyday role shortly after Peterson was acquired from the Padres in the Justin Upton deal, both Peterson and Braves skipper Brian Snitker agree that his long-term role is likely an oft-used, defensively versatile bench piece and pinch-hitter. The 27-year-old Peterson is hitting .219/.315/.326 this year and has seen at least 50 innings at second base, third base, first base and in left field (plus 34 innings at short and a few short cameos in center and right).

Clay Buchholz Diagnosed With Partial Tear Of Flexor Pronator Mass

By | at

5:00pm: Buchholz has been diagnosed with a partial tear of the flexor pronator mass in his pitching arm, per a club announcement. He is headed to visit Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion.

As things stand, it’s not clear what treatment will be undertaken for the injury. That’ll be sorted out after the trip to Dr. Andrews’s office — which is never where a pitcher hopes to find himself.

Clearly, though, Buchholz is headed for a layoff of some duration. Surgery isn’t always required in cases of strains (slight tears) or partial tears, but in such cases a fairly lengthy rest-and-rehab protocol is typically followed.

Many pitchers have missed time but returned to health without going under the knife. Buchholz’s situation will obviously be unique to himself, but here are a few data points: Stephen Strasburg and Tyler Skaggs both mulled returns late in 2016 following September injuries; though they didn’t get back on the hill last year, neither required surgery. There are more serious examples, too. The injury more or less ended the career of Cliff Lee, though that was perhaps a more significant tear and the veteran elected not to undergo surgery to repair it. Homer Bailey ultimately required surgery for his tear. Meanwhile, Andrew Miller required only a missed about a month in 2015 with what was classified as a pronator strain.

7:19am: Phillies right-hander Clay Buchholz has a flexor tendon strain and will receive an MRI on Wednesday to assess the severity of the issue, per Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. Buchholz will end up on the disabled list as a result of the injury, Salisbury adds.

There’s no way to discern exactly how long Buchholz will be out until doctors evaluate his MRI results, but flexor tendon issues typically aren’t a minor malady. Buchholz was rocked by the Mets on Tuesday, surrendering six runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts in just 2 1/3 innings — a dismal effort that inflated his ERA to an unsightly 12.27 on the young season.

Buchholz becomes the second Phillies starter to exit a game early in the past few days, though his injury sounds considerably more serious than the forearm cramp that abbreviated Jeremy Hellickson’s most recent start. With Buchholz almost certainly DL-bound, the Phillies will have to tap into their Triple-A reserve sooner than they’d have hoped. However, the Phils have no shortage of intriguing arms from which to choose on the 40-man roster, thanks largely to the plethora of trades they’ve completed over the past two and a half years while rebuilding. Right-handers Zach Eflin, Jake Thompson, Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively and Mark Appel have all been acquired from other organizations and are all in the rotation at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

There may be a pair of arms added to the Phillies’ roster tomorrow, in fact, as the team announced after tonight’s 14-4 bludgeoning at the hands of the Mets that southpaw Adam Morgan has been optioned to Lehigh Valley. His demotion clears a spot to not add a fresh arm to a depleted relief corps, in addition to the potential replacement for Buchholz.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Plawecki, Morgan, Coghlan

By | at

Matt Wieters’ addition gives the Nationals at least nine Scott Boras clients on their roster — a fact that prompted Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post to explore the relationship between Boras and the Nationals. As Svrluga notes, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon were each drafted as Boras clients, and GM Mike Rizzo stated to Svrluga that he’d always draft the best talent available regardless of representation. Lefty Gio Gonzalez, meanwhile, switched to the Boras Corporation after being extended by the Nats. Still, there’s a strong relationship between Boras and Nats owner Ted Lerner, who negotiated Rafael Soriano’s two-year, $28MM deal directly with Boras and, according to Svrluga, was the “primary architect” on Strasburg’s $175MM extension. Svrluga notes that some in the organization consider the relationship between Boras and Lerner to be unhealthy.

As for Wieters, Svrluga suggests that Boras set out targeting something in the range of the five-year deals signed by Brian McCann and Russell Martin in recent seasons, which prompted the Nats to pursue Derek Norris rather than Wieters. As his price dipped, the Nationals slowly reentered the picture and ultimately came away with what could very well prove to be a nice bargain. Nats fans, and those interested in the Lerner/Boras dynamic, are strongly encouraged to read Svrluga’s column in its entirety.

A bit more from the NL East…

  • The Mets and Kevin Plawecki had an injury scare over the weekend when the 26-year-old catcher suffered an apparent knee injury on a play at the plate involving Nationals outfielder Rafael Bautista. However, while Plawecki was down for an extended period of time and had to be helped off the field, he’s been diagnosed with a knee contusion and should be cleared to resume workouts in the next few days, per Mike Puma of the New York Post. While Plawecki is a long shot to crack the Opening Day roster due to the presence of Travis d’Arnaud and Rene Rivera on the Mets’ roster, he once again figures to be the team’s first line of defense in the event of an injury to one of the primary two backstops (and d’Arnaud does have a lengthy injury history). While Plawecki has hit just .211/.287/.285 in 409 Major League plate appearances, he’s a lifetime .279/.331/.433 hitter in parts of three Triple-A seasons and is just two years removed from ranking among the game’s top 100 prospects.
  • Former starter Adam Morgan is now vying for a spot as a lefty in the Phillies’ bullpen and seemingly has a good chance to secure such a role, writes Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com. Manager Pete Mackanin would prefer to have two left-handers in his bullpen, Lawrence writes, and there are only five southpaws in camp with the Phils: Morgan, Joely Rodriguez, Elniery Garcia (a minor league starter) and non-roster veterans Sean Burnett and Cesar Ramos. Morgan tells Lawrence that he’d happily accept whatever role the Phillies ask of him, joking that he’d serve as the backup catcher if necessary. All but two of Morgan’s 38 Major League appearances have been starts, but the Phils have an emerging young core of rotation arms plus veterans in the form of Jeremy Hellickson and Clay Buchholz.
  • Chris Coghlan discussed his unique journey through professional baseball and his hopes for making the Phillies roster out of Spring Training with CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury. Coghlan, who had interest from other clubs but chose to sign with the rebuilding Phillies — drew a parallel between the present-day Phillies and the 2014 Cubs team on which he played. (The Cubs lost 89 games before surging to the postseason in 2015 and a World Series title in 2016.) “We went from not being good to being really good,” said Coghlan. “We grew together and built relationships. This team is in a transition period of trying to groom guys, but they also need older guys to bridge the gap and I thought it would be a great opportunity. … I just want to come in here, establish myself, be a great teammate, lead by example and maybe I can stick around long term and see this thing through.”

NL Notes: Nationals, Cardinals, Phillies, Marlins

By | at

With Stephen Strasburg’s recent placement on the disabled list, the Nationals need a starter for Tuesday, and Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com writes that it looks like Triple-A right-hander Austin Voth and Double-A righty Lucas Giolito (the game’s top prospect according to MLB.com and ESPN) are the likeliest candidates. Neither pitcher is on the 40-man, though Kerzel points out that the Nationals can create room simply by transferring Taylor Jordan, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, to the 60-day disabled list. Kerzel notes that Giolito could potentially force his way into the rotation in place of the struggling Gio Gonzalez even when Strasburg returns, but he also notes that Giolito is on an innings limit and figures to be capped just shy of 140 innings. He’s already tossed 71 frames this season, so turning to him for three full months of starts may not be an option. Kerzel runs down the cases for and against a Giolito promotion, and the analysis is well worth a look for Nats fans or prospect chasers in fantasy leagues.

More from the Senior Circuit…

  • Cardinals manager Mike Matheny called backup catcher Eric Fryer a “pleasant surprise” and heaped praise onto the veteran backstop when speaking to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, as Goold notes, today’s expected return of Brayan Pena could spell the end of Fryer’s time on the big league roster, as the team hasn’t expressed a willingness to carry three catchers. Matheny called Fryer “an asset to our organization” and said he’s happy to have Fryer in whatever role possible, so it seems that even if he’s designated for assignment, the Cards will hope to retain him via an outright assignment.
  • Goold also notes that the Cardinals had right-hander Seung-hwan Oh warming up in advance of a potential save opportunity in yesterday’s contest, but he took a seat once the Redbirds scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, thus erasing the save situation. The Cardinals, who over the weekend removed the struggling Trevor Rosenthal from the ninth inning, have an undetermined situation at the back of the bullpen. However as Goold points out, the fact that Oh was seemingly first in line could be telling of Matheny’s ninth-inning intentions. Oh has been brilliant this season, working to a 1.66 ERA with 12.1 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 in 38 innings. Those chasing saves in fantasy leagues can follow MLBTR’s @closernews Twitter account for updates on ninth-inning situations around the league.
  • The Phillies activated Vince Velasquez from the disabled list today and will insert him into the rotation, with lefty Adam Morgan shifting to the ’pen, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’re going to get a look at him in that role for the time being, which doesn’t mean he’s never going to start again for us,” said manager Pete Mackanin of Morgan. In 57 2/3 innings out of the rotation this season, Morgan has a 6.55 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. However, he’s also an extreme fly-ball pitcher that has been highly homer-prone this season, which has negated his otherwise solid K/BB numbers.
  • The Marlins continue to search for starting pitching on the trade market, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, but the organization also believes that there are better days ahead for lefty Justin Nicolino now that they’ve convinced him to stop throwing his cutter. Nicolino has limped to a 5.17 ERA in 10 starts this season, and while his cutter has indeed graded out as a negative pitch, so too has his four-seamer. From my vantage point, it seems optimistic to expect that change to alleviate the need for rotation help in a significant fashion. Over the past week or so, Miami has been connected to controllable arms Jake Odorizzi and Drew Pomeranz on the trade market in addition to a more short-term fix such as Bud Norris.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Networkscroll to top