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Braves To Acquire John Ryan Murphy

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The Braves are set to acquire catcher John Ryan Murphy from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations, Robert Murray of The Athletic tweets.

It’s a pure depth move to safeguard against injuries to Brian McCann and Tyler Flowers down the stretch — and possibly to roster a third catcher in September. Murphy, 28, is regarded as a premium defensive catcher but has had scant success at the plate in the Majors. He was outrighted off Arizona’s 40-man roster earlier this season after hitting .177/.250/.419 in 69 plate appearances and is a career .219/.265/.357 hitter in 673 MLB trips to the plate.

Diamondbacks Acquire Zac Gallen From Marlins For Jazz Chisholm

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2:10pm: The deal is now official.

1:48pm: The Diamondbacks and Marlins have reportedly struck a deal involving two intriguing young players. Righty Zac Gallen is going to Arizona and shortstop Jazz Chisholm heading to Miami in return, according to reports from Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link) and Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio (via Twitter).

Both of these players have gone in different directions in 2019, evidently meeting in the middle in a sense. Gallen, who’ll soon turn 24, was seen as a solid but unspectacular prospect. Chisholm was widely regarded as a top-100 pre-MLB player leaguewide.

Gallen, acquired as part of the Marcell Ozuna swap, opened eyes with a dominating romp through the International League to open the year. Even as others were mowed down by a opposing hitters, buoyed by a newly long-flying baseball, Gallen carried a 1.77 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 through 14 starts.

It was still fair to wonder whether the relatively un-hyped hurler would find success at the MLB level. On the whole, his first seven starts have been a big success. He has allowed just 11 earned runs on 25 hits while recording 43 strikeouts and 18 walks. It seems Gallen’s stuff is playing just fine, as he’s generating a 12.1% swinging-strike rate.

As they sell at a relative high point on Gallen, the Marlins will buy at a low point on Chisholm. It’s not all that surprising to see the Miami club moving an arm for a position player, as the team has had greater success at transitioning its young hurlers to the majors. But taking a risk on Chisholm represents an interesting move.

Chisholm, a 21-year-old from the Bahamas, is lauded for his ability to stay at shortstop in the long term along with his upside at the plate. But he hasn’t quite followed upon his 25-homer 2018 campaign, which he polished off with a big run through the Arizona Fall League. Through 364 plate appearances this year at the Double-A level, Chisholm carries a .204/.305/.427 slash. While his walk rate is up to 11.3%, and he has popped 18 home runs and 13 steals, he’s also striking out at a worrying 33.8% clip.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yankees, Astros Pursuing Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler

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The Yankees and Astros, two American League superpowers, continue their pursuit of high-profile starting pitchers. Both teams are in on Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner and Mets righty Zack Wheeler, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. The Astros are also “focused” on Diamondbacks southpaw Robbie Ray, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Ray has been on the Yankees’ radar of late, too.

The Astros and Yankees are among the teams on Bumgarner’s limited no-trade list, but that doesn’t mean the pending free agent would block a deal to either club. Of course, it’s not a sure thing the playoff-contending Giants will even move Bumgarner, a franchise icon, by today’s deadline. They’ve been telling teams that they plan to keep him and closer Will Smith, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

This is the second time this week the Astros have been prominently connected to Bumgarner and Wheeler. As is the case with Bumgarner, Wheeler’s a 29-year-old soon-to-be free agent. While Wheeler may be the top trade candidate in baseball, the Mets aren’t guaranteed to part with him. They’ve made something of a charge up the standings of late, and seem prepared to retain Wheeler if they don’t get the type of return they’re seeking for the flamethrower. And whether the Mets would even trade Wheeler to the hated Yankees is also in question.

Latest On Red Sox Bullpen Pursuits

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The Red Sox may not be able to land Mets closer Edwin Diaz by the trade deadline, so they’re turning their attention to other relievers on the market. San Francisco closer Will Smith is the reliever who has “most intrigued” the Red Sox over the past week, Sean McAdam of BostonSportsJournal.com tweets. The Red Sox have also shown interest in Diamondbacks left-hander Andrew Chafin, per McAdam, and Blue Jays right-hander Daniel Hudson, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link).

Smith would clearly give the Red Sox the stable game-ending option they’ve lacked this year, but it doesn’t appear the team will be able to swing a deal for him. They’ve found the Giants’ asking price for Smith to be prohibitive, McAdam reports. Smith isn’t signed past this season – one of the reasons the Red Sox aren’t aggressively pursuing him – though it’s no surprise the Giants want a haul back for him. They’re still in playoff contention, for one, and Smith’s eminently affordable ($4.225MM) and highly effective. The 30-year-old has logged a 2.72 ERA/2.77 FIP with 12.82 K/9 and 2.14 BB/9 in 46 1/3 innings this season. He has also converted 26 of 28 save opportunities.

Meanwhile, either Chafin or Hudson could help improve the Red Sox’s setup situation. This is the latest in a growing line of solid seasons for the 29-year-old Chafin, who has pitched to a 4.17 ERA/3.69 FIP with 11.05 K/9 and 3.19 BB/9 across 36 2/3 frames. He also ranks second among all relievers in infield fly rate (24.2 percent), has held left-handed batters to a subpar .272 weighted on-base average, earns a relatively meager salary ($1.945MM) and comes with another year of arbitration control. Unsurprisingly, Chafin’s drawing plenty of interest from around the league – not just Boston – Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Hudson, 32, would be the easiest reliever in this trio to acquire. He’s had a productive year, though peripherals don’t quite back up his above-average run prevention, and would be a pure rental for his next team. Nevertheless, Hudson’s the cheapest of the group ($1.5MM salary) and has been popular in the rumor mill leading up to the deadline. The hard-throwing journeyman has notched a 3.00 ERA/4.21 FIP with 9.0 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 over 48 innings. Righties have mustered a weak .276 wOBA off him.

Diamondbacks Expected To Deal Robbie Ray

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  • Rival organizations “fully expect” the Diamondbacks to deal southpaw Robbie Ray, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). Arizona GM Mike Hazen continued to acknowledge his club’s tricky middle ground while avoiding a firm commitment to a particular course of action, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports. The top baseball ops man did acknowledge that there’s a possibility the team could pull off enough sell-side moves that it wouldn’t make sense to reload in the offseason. At the moment, the Brewers, Astros, and Yankees are among the teams with active talks or interest in Ray, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter).

Mets Interested In Robbie Ray

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The Mets could trade Noah Syndergaard and-or Zack Wheeler by Wednesday’s trade deadline, but they might land at least one immediate rotation replacement in the coming days. Already connected to Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman, the club’s also “on” Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray, per Andy Martino of SNY.tv.

Interest in Stroman and Ray jibes with the notion that the Mets, despite their dreadful 2019, are aiming to contend and not rebuild next season. Whether it would be an ill-advised plan for the prospect-needy Mets is up for debate, but it seems the goal would be to collect a haul for at least Syndergaard (there’s reportedly interest in extending Wheeler) and trade from their farm to acquire Stroman or Ray. Each of those two would bring back less in a deal than Syndergaard, who’s under control for one more year than they are, but they’d hardly come cheap.

There’s little doubt Ray would cost less to land than Stroman, who owns the superior track record. But there’s plenty of value with Ray, a proven mid-rotation starter who’s on an affordable $6.05MM salary now and controllable through arbitration next season. The playoff-contending Diamondbacks might not even give him up, but if they were to send Ray to the Mets, he’d join Jacob deGrom in giving the team two elite strikeout pitchers.

The 27-year-old Ray is obviously much less effective overall than deGrom, but Ray’s nonetheless on his way to a third straight season with a sky-high strikeout rate and a sub-4.00 ERA. Ray has logged a 3.95 ERA/4.27 FIP with 11.85 K/9 through 123 innings. He has, however, walked upward of four batters per nine for the second year in a row, posted a sub-40 percent groundball rate for the second straight campaign and kept up his years-long struggles with home runs.

Diamondbacks “Focused Intently” On Selling

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The Diamondbacks, who blew a late lead in Miami last night to drop back even at 52-52, are reportedly “focused intently” on selling, per Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi, who lists Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray, David Peralta, Archie Bradley, Andrew Chafin, Greg Holland, and Jarrod Dyson as names on the proverbial table.

It’s a bit of surprise revelation for the in-the-thick-of-it Snakes, whose +63 run differential is second only to the Cubs among legitimate NL Wild Card contenders. Arizona would need to jump four teams to find itself in the second Wild Card slot – including the 53-51 Giants, who’ve all but announced their intention to make the buyer’s plunge in the coming days – but one could easily envision the club slithering in with a late-season surge.

Still, it may be high time to cash in on the team’s best assets: righty Zack Greinke, who’s still owed over $90MM (including signing-bonus deferrals) on his record-setting deal, is on pace to match or eclipse all but his lights-out 2009 campaign. The 35-year-old’s microscopic 1.15 walk rate is the lowest of his career, and he hasn’t yet been sliced of his once-sharp cheddar, with an average fastball velocity that still hovers barely above the 90 MPH plateau. The club would need to pay down a significant portion of the contract, but high-upside returns may be dangled if the team finds itself amenable.

Lefty Robbie Ray, who hits arbitration for the final time next season at what’ll surely be a below-market rate, is still conducting his high-walk, high-homer, massively-high-strikeout train in ’19, and would be a good fit for any number of contenders – Yankees, A’s, Giants – with strong bullpens and weak rotations.

David Peralta’s value has perhaps been overstated in some circles – he’s an aging corner bat who’s nearly unplayable against lefties, but should net a decent return from a team in need of mid-order lefty thump. Fellow outfielder Jarrod Dyson may be coveted for his late-inning skills – top-scale defense, pinch-runner extraordinaire – but likely won’t return a high-upside piece.

The rest of the pieces won’t be coveted league-wide, but the Snakes could trim an estimated $26-30MM off next season’s payroll by trading all but Greinke from the group. Add Zack, of course, and the team could position themselves at the fore of the offseason free agent market.

Jarrod Dyson Drawing Plenty Of Interest

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There’s “a lot of trade interest” in Diamondbacks outfielder Jarrod Dyson, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. We already know the Cubs are among the teams that have eyed Dyson. It’s not clear, though, whether the Diamondbacks – who are in the wild-card hunt – will trade the 34-year-old. Dyson, who’s in the last season of a two-year, $7.5MM contract, has enjoyed a considerable bounce-back campaign with the bat. He’s still not much of a threat offensively, having hit .250/.332/.360 (83 wRC+) in 298 plate appearances, but the fleet-of-foot Dyson’s exemplary defense-base running combination gives him a high floor and could help someone in the postseason.

Diamondbacks To Call Up Yasmany Tomas

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The Diamondbacks will call up outfielder Yasmany Tomas prior to Friday’s game against the Marlins, the Pelota Cubana blog reports (Twitter link).  Adjustments will have to be made to Arizona’s 25-man and 40-man roster, as Tomas was outrighted off the 40-man in April 2018.

This will mark Tomas’ first Major League action since 2017, as the 28-year-old spent all of last season at Triple-A Reno.  Signed to a six-year, $68.5MM contract prior to the 2015 season, Tomas hasn’t at all lived up to the buzz that made him one of the most highly-touted players to come out of Cuba in recent years.  Tomas hit .268/.307/.462 with 48 home runs over 1169 plate appearances for the D’Backs from 2015-17, with the bulk of that production coming during a 31-homer campaign in 2016 that seemed like a breakout.

Instead, Tomas regressed in 2017, and seemed to fall out of favor once Mike Hazen took over as Arizona’s general manager.  Since that outright assignment, Tomas has seemed to rediscover some his stroke at the plate, particularly with his .944 OPS in 413 Triple-A plate appearances this season.

Tomas has also spent the bulk of his time this year at first base, which theoretically would be his likeliest role with the D’Backs.  Since Paul Goldschmidt was locked into first base during Tomas’ initial stint with the team, Tomas struggled badly on defense while playing third base and in the corner outfield.  The D’Backs already have the right-handed hitting Christian Walker at first base this season, though while Walker has generally hit well, he has hit enough of a slump over the last month that Arizona might feel it worthy to give Tomas a shot at re-establishing himself.  Tomas could still see some playing time in the outfield, particularly if Adam Jones or David Peralta is dealt before the trade deadline.

The D’Backs still owe Tomas roughly $23.2MM through the end of the 2020 season, so there’s little harm in seeing if Tomas’ Triple-A numbers are for real and if some value can still be salvaged from the contract.  With the Snakes also still in the NL wild card hunt, Tomas could be an in-house (if unlikely) hitting upgrade that can help the club immediately, and potentially keep them from looking for a bat elsewhere before the deadline.

Phillies Have Discussed Boyd, Greene With Tigers

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The Phillies have had recent trade talks with the Tigers, and general manager Matt Klentak will be travel to Detroit to get an in-person look at the Tigers’ trade candidates, reports Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Of particular interest to the Phils are lefty Matthew Boyd and closer Shane Greene, although Salisbury suggests that the two teams have at least discussed outfielder Nicholas Castellanos and left-handed starter Daniel Norris.

Both the pitching staff and the bullpen are logical areas of focus for the Phillies, who recently demoted Nick Pivetta to the bullpen in favor of a dice roll on Drew Smyly (whose first start as a Phillie was excellent). Aaron Nola scuffled through a sluggish stretch earlier in the season, while Jake Arrieta is pitching through a bone spur that’ll eventually require elbow surgery. Righty Zach Eflin has been a solid mid-rotation piece, but Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, Jerad Eickhoff and rookie Cole Irvin have all struggled in their starts.

The bullpen has been an entirely different brand of problematic. David Robertson, Seranthony Dominguez, Tommy Hunter, Pat Neshek, Edubray Ramos and Victor Arano have all missed significant time due to injury in 2019, which has frequently left the Phillies to rely on questionable arms. Of late, closer Hector Neris has become extraordinarily homer prone after what had been a strong two-month run that saw him yield one homer in 22 1/3 innings.

The Phillies are only a half-game back of the Nationals for the second NL Wild Card spot and, at 7.5 games behind the Braves, are technically still within plausible reach of a push for the division — although unseating Atlanta for the division crown is admittedly a long shot. Because of those long odds, though, it’s perhaps more natural to see the Phils paying particular interest to players who can be controlled beyond 2019. Dealing significant prospects for a rental when the most likely playoff scenario involves a one-game playoff is a tough sell for any front office.

Philadelphia has about $110MM committed to next season’s payroll — about $51MM less than the team is currently carrying. They’ve also seen their opening day payroll climb as high as $177MM back in 2014. With that level of financial breathing room — Nehsek, Hunter and Juan Nicasio will all be free agents; Maikel Franco could be non-tendered — the Phillies will be able to be aggressive in reloading for another run in 2020 regardless of this season’s outcome. Adding some salary right now in proactive moves to bolster this year’s Wild Card push and next year’s division chase is only logical.

Whether that proves to be some combination of Detroit’s controllable arms, at this point, is an unknown even to the Tigers and Phillies themselves. Team president Andy MacPhail recently expressed reluctance to deal from the very top tier of the farm (e.g. Alec Bohm, Spencer Howard), and the asking price on Boyd alone is known to be enormous. Reports have ranged from seeking a young, established “star”-caliber player to a Jose Quintana-esque haul. (The Cubs sent the White Sox a four-player package headlined by Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease.) Salisbury suggests something similar to the latter in referencing a four-player package with two potential stars — and that’s just for Boyd.

If the Phils are to look elsewhere, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale again connects the team to Arizona ace Zack Greinke as well as D-backs left-hander Robbie Ray (Twitter link). It’s not at all clear whether the Diamondbacks will move either player, but the Phils have previously been linked to Greinke, in particular. The aforementioned payroll capacity would surely come into play in any talks involving the righty. Greinke is still owed $75MM+ in base salaries between now and 2021, plus a yearly $3MM payout on his annualized signing bonus. Beyond that, a substantial portion of his yearly salary is deferred. He’ll be paid $12.5MM annually from 2022-26.

The Phillies could certainly help alleviate some of that fiscal burden for the Diamondbacks, but Greinke is also enjoying a strong season and wouldn’t be traded away for pure salary relief. The two sides would, in all likelihood, need to agree on some combination of financial aid and still-appealing prospects. That’s a tall order under any circumstances but is especially cumbersome with a nine-day clock on negotiations at a time when the D-backs, with a 50-50 record, aren’t even decided deadline sellers. As if all of that isn’t a sizable enough roadblock, the Phillies are also on Greinke’s limited no-trade list.

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