D-backs To Select Kris Medlen’s Contract
The Diamondbacks announced Thursday that right-hander Kris Medlen will start for the club tomorrow against the Astros. Arizona stopped short of formally announcing that Medlen’s contract has been selected, though they’ll need to make that move after today’s game and, with it, also make a corresponding 40-man roster move. That could be accomplished simply by transferring Taijuan Walker from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL in the wake of Walker’s season-ending Tommy John surgery.
[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]
In addition to Walker’s season-ending injury, Arizona recently lost southpaw Robbie Ray to the disabled list for the foreseeable future due to a strained oblique muscle. With that pair out of the picture for now, the Snakes will rely on Zack Greinke, Patrick Corbin, Zack Godley and Matt Koch to complement the newly promoted Medlen in their rotation.
Once a rising star in the Braves’ rotation, it’s been a half decade since Medlen was an effective big league starter. The 32-year-old Medlen logged a 2.75 ERA in 445 innings with Atlanta from 2010-13, missing the bulk of the 2011 season in middle of that stretch while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He looked to have bounced back with strong 2012-13 performances, but Medlen again sustained a torn UCL prior to the 2014 season and was again forced to the sidelines for more than a year.
The Royals attempted to buy low on the talented righty following that injury, but Medlen managed just a 5.12 ERA in 82 2/3 innings over the life of a two-year deal in Kansas City. He spent the 2017 season back in the Braves organization but didn’t end up appearing at the Major League level.
Medlen has struggled through 18 innings with the D-backs’ top affiliate in 2018, pitching to a 6.00 ERA, albeit with a more encouraging 18-to-8 K/BB ratio in that time. At this point, it’d be a stretch to expect him to ever return to the promising form he showed prior to his second ligament surgery, though it’s certainly plausible that he could yet be a serviceable source of innings at the MLB level. Given that Ray should return from his injury at some point in June, it seems likely that Medlen and Koch will soon be vying for a single spot in Arizona’s mix of starters. Shelby Miller, too, is on the mend from Tommy John surgery, however, and could eventually pair with Ray to push both Koch and Medlen out of the starting picture at the big league level.
Diamondbacks Activate Steven Souza Jr.
The D-backs announced today that they’ve activated outfielder Steven Souza Jr. from the disabled list and optioned first baseman Christian Walker to Triple-A Reno. Souza will make his Diamondbacks debut today against the Dodgers, batting fifth and playing right field.
Arizona’s offseason acquisition of Souza came as somewhat of a surprise. After spending much of the offseason in pursuit of a reunion with J.D. Martinez, who ultimately signed with the Red Sox, the Snakes quickly shifted course and struck up a three-team deal with the Rays and Yankees that would net Souza, who figures to play a prominent role in the Arizona outfield for years to come.
Because Souza is controlled through the 2020 season, the D-backs had to pay a fairly steep price, shipping Anthony Banda, Sam McWilliams and Colin Pache to the Rays while also sending Brandon Drury to the Yankees. Arizona also picked up minor league righty Taylor Widener from the Yankees in the three-team swap.
While Souza won’t fully replace the production lost when Martinez signed elsewhere, the 29-year-old is coming off a plenty impressive season in his own right. Through a career-high 617 plate appearances with Tampa Bay in 2017, Souza slashed .239/.351/.459 with 30 homers, 21 doubles, a pair of triples and 16 stolen bases. He’s a considerably better baserunner and defender than Martinez as well, so he’ll contribute in a more all-around fashion than Martinez’s bat-first skill set allowed.
[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]
Souza’s activation from the DL will likely push Jarrod Dyson into a reserve role. Center fielder A.J. Pollock and left fielder David Peralta don’t figure to see their playing time diminish much at all with the move, while Chris Owings could see more time in the infield now that Souza is in the fold.
D-backs, Maricopa County Reportedly Reach Agreement Regarding Stadium Lease
The Diamondbacks and Maricopa County have reached a preliminary agreement allowing the team to immediately begin searching for construction sites on a new stadium, reports Rebekah L. Sanders of the Arizona Republic. The agreement comes under the condition that the D-backs drop a preexisting $187MM lawsuit against the county that was brought forth in early 2017 after club ownership alleged that the County had neglected to abide by contractually agreed upon maintenance and repair obligations.
Per Sanders, the new agreement would allow the D-backs to leave Chase Field in 2022, five years before the end of the initial 30-year lease, if the proposed construction site is in Maricopa County. Leaving Arizona of their own accord would require the organization to pay $5-25MM worth of penalty fees, though the agreement allows the D-backs to leave the state free of penalty if relocation is mandated by Major League Baseball. County chairman Steve Chucri tells Sanders that the County would likely bring forth a new lawsuit against MLB in that scenario, though he also emphasizes that such a scenario is “incredibly unlikely.”
You’ll want to read Sanders’ report in full for comprehensive details of the new arrangement, though generally speaking the preliminary deal absolves the County from its obligations to pay for repairs and allows the municipality to retain ownership of the land in downtown Phoenix. In exchange, the D-backs can spend their own resources on maintenance and seek reimbursement for a portion of their investment while simultaneously exploring new construction sites. The team would also inherit the ability to book entertainment events at Chase Field, with revenue being allocated to repairs.
At the time the initial suit was brought forth, D-backs managing partner Ken Kendrick called the situation “extremely unfortunate” and alleged that the County had “forced” the club to take legal action with its failure to meet contractual obligations. County official Clint Hickman wholly dismissed the notion and called the Diamondbacks’ allegations “outrageous,” citing millions of dollars of offseason investment in structural reinforcement and accusing D-backs ownership of “just [wanting] a new stadium now.”
Kendrick struck a different tone in a statement issued to the Republic, calling the agreement the “best opportunity” for the club “to remain in Arizona for the long term” — a goal he dubbed the team’s “primary focus.” Unsurprisingly, local government officials offered mixed reviews to Sanders, with some expressing trepidation over the manner in which the agreement was “fast-tracked” and others striking a more optimistic tone about keeping the D-backs in Maricopa County well beyond the end of their previous agreement, in 2027.
Whether the agreement leads to the selection of a site and, ultimately, the construction of a new facility for the D-backs remains to be seen, though securing the rights to a new facility would be the latest boon for an organization that is increasingly poised to bolster its payroll due to additional revenue streams. The Diamondbacks are in their third year of a reported $1.5 billion television contract and have upped their spending accordingly, heading into the 2018 season with a franchise-record $131MM payroll that shattered the previous high-water mark by more than $19MM. In fact, prior to the 2018 season, the Diamondbacks had only twice had an Opening Day payroll in excess of $100MM.
The potential advent of massive revenue boosts for the Diamondbacks will become ever important as the club determines how to proceed with face of the franchise Paul Goldschmidt, who’ll be eligible for free agency following the completion of the 2019 season.
Free Agent Stock Watch: A.J. Pollock
The expectation had been that the 2018-19 free agent class would feature superstars at a variety of areas: starting pitcher (Clayton Kershaw), closer (Craig Kimbrel), corner outfield slugger (Bryce Harper), shortstop (Manny Machado), third baseman (Josh Donaldson), and center fielder (Charlie Blackmon). But the Rockies hammered out a deal with Blackmon that will keep him in Colorado.
Perhaps it was somewhat overlooked, though, that another top-shelf, up-the-middle outfield talent was (and still is) a part of this free-agent gold mine. Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock, who is over a year younger than Blackmon, is also slated to test the open market after the 2018 campaign. And his early showing this season suggests he could step right into Blackmon’s shoes as the featured center fielder.
It’s important to emphasize that Pollock is not just some flash in the pan. He has been a MLB powerhouse before. Back in 2015, the then-27-year-old turned in a stunning campaign for the D-Backs, slashing .315/.367/.498 while driving twenty home runs, swiping 39 bags, and providing top-end glovework in center.
That output, which followed an excellent but injury-shortened 2014 effort, was valued in the range of 7 WAR. A career year? Perhaps. But nothing stood out as particularly unsustainable; Pollock carried a healthy but hardly otherworldly .338 batting average on balls in play. Ultimately, that kind of output over a full season just isn’t possible without supreme talent.
Pollock, really, was Blackmon before the bearded wonder came into his own as a power-speed force. Then came a terrible elbow injury that cost Pollock almost all of the 2016 season. He returned with a quality showing in 2017 — a league-average (park-adjusted) .266/.330/.471 slash with 14 home runs and twenty steals — but produced more as a high-quality regular than a superstar and missed nearly a third of the season with a groin injury.
At the outset of the current season, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes graded Pollock the ninth-best free agent on the upcoming market. Health, he rightly emphasized, would be a major factor in Pollock’s market. Dierkes certainly did not short Pollock’s talent in suggesting he could conceivably play his way into a deal in the range of the five-year, $80MM deal signed by Lorenzo Cain. Perhaps, though, there’s greater potential earning upside even than that for a player who has already established a lofty ceiling and who is still relatively youthful.
Thus far in 2018, after all, Pollock has had that 2015 look about him. He has already blasted ten long balls and stolen seven bags. He’s sporting an excellent .292/.356/.689 slash despite only carrying a .296 BABIP. Statcast numbers (.422 wOBA vs. .405 xwOBA) largely support his output. And the early returns from defensive metrics suggest that Pollock is still a well-above-average fielder in center — an area he shines in relation to Blackmon and perhaps even Cain, whose grades have trended more toward average in recent years.
No matter how things turn out, Pollock’s somewhat worrying history of elbow surgeries will likely weigh on his market. And the holes in his track record won’t be closed up retrospectively. Still, if Pollock can sustain a substantially above-average offensive performance over the duration of the 2018 campaign — and, of course, remain healthy along he way — he could have a free-agent case that is in many ways as compelling as the one Blackmon decided to forego.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rays Acquire Two Prospects From D-Backs To Complete Steven Souza Trade
3:49pm: The Rays and Diamondbacks have now announced the trade.
2:51pm: The Rays have acquired righty Sam McWilliams and southpaw Colin Poche from the Diamondbacks, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. That pair of hurlers will make up the final portion of the late-February swap that brought outfielder Steven Souza to Arizona.
The Tampa Bay organization had insisted it only relented to moving Souza because of the quality of the return. Today’s news does help to bolster that claim, as the two newcomers are not just throw-in assets.
McWilliams, 22, is a big right-hander who was tabbed as the 13th-best prospect in the Arizona system coming into the season by Baseball America. He has opened eyes since, turning in 25 2/3 innings of 2.10 ERA ball in his first turn at the High-A level. Importantly, he has drastically increased his strikeout rate (to 11.2 K/9, nearly double his career rate) while maintaining his typically reliable control (2.1 BB/9). Arizona had initially picked him up in the trade that sent right-hander (and former Ray) Jeremy Hellickson the Phillies, though McWilliams has raised his profile a bit since that time.
The 24-year-old Poche is closer to the Majors, though unlike McWilliams he does not carry the potential upside of working as a starter. He has enjoyed some success in the past, but nothing like what he has shown thus far this season at Double-A. In 11 shutout innings, Poche has allowed just three hits while compiling a whopping 23:2 K/BB ratio.
It seems reasonable to think that he could be on the MLB radar in the relatively near term — he was included on Jason Martinez’s first Knocking Down the Door feature of 2018 — if he can sustain anything approaching that level of production. Baseball America rated Poche 29th among Arizona farmhands this past offseason, though like McWilliams, his early work has likely elevated his status to an extent.
Offseason In Review: Arizona Diamondbacks
This is the final entry in MLBTR’s 2017-18 Offseason In Review series. Click here to read the other completed reviews from around the league.
Last season, the Diamondbacks managed a remarkable reversal of their 2016 record by finishing 93-69, making the playoffs for the first time since 2011. With most key pieces of its Wild Card-winning core still intact, Arizona focused its energy on replacing J.D. Martinez and Fernando Rodney while piling on a horde of bullpen candidates.
Major League Signings
- Alex Avila, C: two years, $8.25MM
- Jarrod Dyson, OF: two years, $7.5MM
- Yoshihisa Hirano, RHP: two years, $6MM
- T.J. McFarland, LHP: one year, $850K
- Total spend: $22.6MM
Trades & Claims
- Acquired OF Steven Souza from Rays & RHP Taylor Widener from Yankees in exchange for LHP Anthony Banda & two PTBNL (to Rays) & INF Brandon Drury (to Yankees)
- Acquired RHP Brad Boxberger from Rays in exchange for RHP Curtis Taylor
- Acquired INF Deven Marrero from Red Sox in exchange for PTBNL or cash
- Acquired RHP Stefan Crichton from Orioles in exchange for PTBNL or cash
- Claimed LHP Henry Owens off waivers from Red Sox
- Selected RHP Albert Suarez from Giants in Rule 5 draft
Options Exercised
- Daniel Descalso, UTIL: exercised $2MM club option (instead of $150K buyout)
Extensions
- Ketel Marte, SS: five years, $24MM (plus two options)
Notable Minor League Signings
- Antonio Bastardo, Michael Blazek, Jake Buchanan, Cody Decker, Jorge De La Rosa, Rubby De La Rosa, Neftali Feliz, Ramon Flores, Kris Medlen, Tyler Pill, Cesar Puello, Anthony Recker, Daniel Robertson, Fernando Salas
Notable Losses
- Banda, Drury, Jeremy Hazelbaker, David Hernandez, J.J. Hoover, Chris Iannetta, Martinez, Rodney
[Arizona Diamondbacks Depth Chart/Arizona Diamondbacks Payroll]
Needs Addressed
The Snakes made a surprising postseason run in 2017, the first season under GM Mike Hazen and skipper Torey Lovullo. While the core of the roster remained under contract for 2018 (and, in many cases, beyond), the Hazen-led front office still faced challenges.
The most stinging loss for the Snakes headed into the offseason was outfielder J.D. Martinez, who was a monster after coming over at last year’s trade deadline. They always seemed a long shot to re-sign him, with Zack Greinke’s massive deal weighing heavily on the future payroll and the team’s 2018 tab already set to reach record heights.
Still, the club never really shut the door on Martinez through the first three and a half months of the offseason. After all, they had a King Kong-sized hole to fill in the lineup. It’s no coincidence that Martinez finally made things official with the Red Sox just a week after the Diamondbacks gave up on him and pivoted to Steven Souza on the trade market.
Of course, the team had a powerful right-handed bat set to return from injury. But it has been clear for a while now that Yasmany Tomas won’t meet the lofty expectations placed on him when he came over from Cuba. The club officially recognized that fact when it outrighted him to Triple-A at the start of the season. It’s unfortunate that he’s fallen so far in the eyes of the organization, which is surely disappointed that its $68.5MM investment won’t pay off.
Tomas, then, was not seen as a real part of the plan to replace Martinez. Rather, the club first picked up free agent Jarrod Dyson at what seems to be an appealing price. He provides another piece (and a different skillset) for the corner outfield mix while also ably complementing and providing insurance for oft-injured center fielder A.J. Pollock. While Tomas still could have been viewed as the righty thump to go with Dyson’s left-handed-hitting speed and defense, the front office elected instead to chase down Souza. Though that deal cost the D-Backs an important upper-level rotation asset in Anthony Banda and a quality infielder in Brandon Drury, the organization obviously felt it was dealing from depth in those areas.
Of course, parting with Drury also helped spur the Diamondbacks’ late move to acquire infielder Deven Marrero from the Red Sox. The depth has proven necessary following an injury to third baseman Jake Lamb, which has left Daniel Descalso seeing much of the action at the hot corner. Marrero was available at a minimal price owing to a roster crunch in Boston.
The D-Backs also had an opening at catcher with vet Chris Iannetta hitting the open market. While a reunion was pursued, market timing led Iannetta to join the division-rival Rockies and left the Snakes to pursue Alex Avila. Though he has had his ups and downs over the years — including, especially, a frightening run of concussion problems — Avila could be a great value if he can hit anything like he did last year (.264/.387/.447, 14 home runs).
Outside of Archie Bradley, the Diamondbacks’ bullpen was the team’s other big area of concern. But without much room to spend, they certainly weren’t a likely landing spot for marquee relievers like Wade Davis, Greg Holland or Addison Reed. Instead, they opted to add Yoshihisa Hirano, who comes over after a long run of success in Japan’s top league. While he appears to be the beneficiary of some good batted ball fortune, holding hitters to a .215 wOBA despite a .329 xwOBA, Hirano has managed to induce a solid volume of swinging strikes. Arizona also turned to the trade market to add Brad Boxberger, an experienced late-inning arm who has had his share of injury troubles in recent years. Like Souza, he came courtesy of the Rays’ rebuild. Boxberger has performed well as the closer in the early going.
The organization didn’t stop there, though. It made a flurry of other moves to bolster the bullpen. MacFarland was added on a cheap major league deal, in addition to minor league reliever signings that reached double digits by the season’s outset. While there were no doubt some targeted arms in the group, to an extent the strategy seems to have been one of throwing possibilities against the proverbial wall to see what would stick. As of now, members of that group make up nearly half of the club’s bullpen, as MacFarland, Salas and De La Rosa have all captured middle relief jobs for the time being. Several others remain on hand in the upper minors as depth options.
While most of the above moves were geared towards a strong push for contention this season, the Dbacks did make one important move with their long-term future in mind. The extension of Ketel Marte helped them gain cost-certainty over their second baseman while picking up a pair of options over two of his would-be free agent seasons. It’s an intriguing move with a good bit of upside. Marte proved to be something of a Statcast darling last year with his batted ball profile. He finished in the top 25% of MLB hitters in xwOBA, a statistic that measures expected offensive output based on launch speed and angle of batted balls. That made him a popular breakout pick entering the season despite a mediocre offensive output in 2017 on the whole.
Questions Remaining
While Arizona’s starting rotation is a strength overall, it doesn’t come without its share of question marks. It’s no sure bet that Zack Godley or Robbie Ray will sustain the surprise breakouts they each enjoyed last season. Indeed, the latter had some struggles with walks and home runs in the early going (before being felled by an oblique injury). Patrick Corbin‘s off to a scorching start, but he and fellow veteran Zack Greinke both come with some injury concerns that ought not be overlooked.
The club’s pitching depth always seemed likely to be tested at some point this season. That’s now a certainty with Ray hitting the DL after the team already lost one starter for the campaign in Taijuan Walker, who underwent Tommy John surgery after suffering a torn UCL in his pitching elbow. As such, Matt Koch has been forced to take on a full-time role in the rotation, leaving the club without much in the way of inspiring depth options. Troy Scribner, Braden Shipley and Kris Medlen are probably next in line. As things stand, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if the D-Backs end up looking for a starter on the mid-season trade market.
While Marte has a nice ceiling, the infield duo of he and Nick Ahmed did not look particularly strong entering the year and remains a question mark. Though Ahmed is off to a nice start with the bat, there’s still quite a lot for him to prove at the plate. And Marte has endured a brutal opening month with the bat. Whether or not these players can hit enough to provide a quality middle-infield unit will be a situation to monitor for the Diamondbacks throughout the season.
Despite the overwhelming quantity of moves geared towards patching it, Arizona’s bullpen looks a bit flawed outside of Bradley and Boxberger. While much of the relief corps has actually performed pretty admirably so far, one has to wonder how long a patchwork group of relievers with mediocre reputations can (in conjunction with that late-inning duo) continue to post the best ERA of any bullpen in baseball. Then again, their entire pitching staff is likely benefiting at least marginally from the new humidor that’s been installed at Chase Field; that’ll be an interesting sub-plot throughout the season.
Overview
The Diamondbacks didn’t need to do much outside of addressing their bullpen. As a result, they focused their energy on plugging an important hole in the lineup, finding a backstop, and making an avalanche of reliever additions. The result so far? They’ve won their first nine series of the season, and they’ve done it mostly without Souza or Lamb.
Arizona now has a great shot at a second consecutive playoff berth, but its roster depth will continue to be tested. The front office pulled off an impactful, high-value swap last summer to land Martinez. He won’t be available this time around, but Hazen and his compatriots may need to work similar magic again at this year’s trade deadline.
How would you rate the Diamondbacks’ offseason work? (Poll link for app users)
How Would You Grade The Diamondbacks' Offseason Work?
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B 47% (836)
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A 25% (447)
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C 21% (365)
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F 3% (60)
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D 3% (53)
Total votes: 1,761
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
D-Backs Place Robbie Ray On 10-Day DL With Strained Oblique
TODAY: Ray has officially been placed on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. Reliever Silvino Bracho has been called up to replace him on the active roster.
The diagnosis is a grade two strain for Ray, as Zach Buchanan of The Athletic was among those to tweet. There’s still quite a lot of potential variability in the amount of time Ray could miss, but that portends a fairly lengthy stint on ice. Southpaw starter Tyler Skaggs, for instance, suffered a similar injury almost exactly one year ago, and did not return until early August of 2017.
YESTERDAY: Diamondbacks left-hander Robbie Ray departed his start against the Nationals on Sunday with a strained right oblique, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic was among those to report. Ray exited after 1 1/3 innings and 21 pitches.
Given what we know about oblique strains, it seems like a strong bet that Ray will head to the disabled list in short order. It’s unclear how much time he’ll miss, though this injury often sidelines players for several weeks. As Zach Buchanan of The Athletic notes, Diamondbacks reliever Randall Delgado has been out since the beginning of spring training with an oblique strain.
An extended absence for Ray would leave the D-backs without two members of their season-opening rotation, as righty Taijuan Walker recently succumbed to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. While Ray’s injury isn’t nearly that catastrophic, it may nonetheless deprive the D-backs of one of the game’s premier strikeout artists for a while. The 26-year-old has averaged a ridiculous 14.64 strikeouts per nine across 26 1/3 innings this season, though he has somewhat offset that with an untenable walk rate (5.53 BB/9). Ray has also induced grounders at only a 32.2 percent clip, which has helped lead to a high home run-to-fly ball rate (19.2 percent) and a bloated ERA (4.88). He managed a stingy 2.89 ERA over 162 innings last year, when his walk, grounder and homer numbers were significantly better.
Even though Ray’s run prevention hasn’t been in top form yet, the D-backs still managed to win four of his five starts prior to Sunday. After unexpectedly clinching a playoff spot last year, Arizona has raced to a 19-7 mark and a five-game lead in the NL West early in 2018. But the Diamondbacks’ starting depth, which was a question mark entering the season, is being put to the test.
Should Ray miss time, the D-backs could turn to either Braden Shipley or Troy Scribner – two Triple-A hurlers on their 40-man roster – to join Zack Greinke, Zack Godley, Patrick Corbin and Matt Koch in their rotation. The club doesn’t have any other healthy depth starters on its 40-man, though veteran Kris Medlen is on hand at Triple-A. Medlen hasn’t been effective this year, however, with a 6.00 ERA/5.91 FIP in 18 innings (four starts).
NL Notes: Panik, D-backs, Cards, Pirates
Giants second baseman Joe Panik has a torn ligament in his left thumb that could require surgery, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Panik, who went on the disabled list Saturday, will go for a second opinion to determine whether he’ll go under the knife or rehab the injury without surgery, per Schulman. Panik got off to a solid start in his first 100 plate appearances of the year before landing on the shelf, with a .267/.323/.389 line (102 wRC+) and as many walks as strikeouts (six). Kelby Tomlinson has been San Francisco’s top second base option in Panik’s absence.
More from the NL…
- Although Diamondbacks right-hander Archie Bradley has been among the game’s most dominant relievers since moving to the bullpen last year, he hasn’t given up on working as a starter again someday. “I still would like to start and see what I can do,” the 25-year-old told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. “But for what I’m doing right now and what this team is doing, it’s kind of the perfect spot for me. It just fits with what we’re doing.” Bradley was a high-end prospect as a starter, evidenced in part by the fact that he went seventh overall in the 2011 draft. However, he struggled at times in that role in the minors and then in the majors, where he logged a 5.18 ERA (with a much more encouraging 4.27 FIP) in 34 starts and 177 1/3 innings from 2015-16. As a reliever, on the other hand, Bradley has posted a 1.73 ERA/2.47 FIP over 88 1/3 frames.
- The Cardinals have recalled lefty Austin Gomber from Triple-A, putting him in position to make his major league debut, and optioned righty Jack Flaherty. Gomber, whom the Cardinals chose in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, ranks as the team’s 14th-best prospect at MLB.com. The 24-year-old has registered impressive numbers as a starter in the minors, including this season (2.45 ERA, 9.47 K/9 and 3.16 BB/9 in 25 2/3 innings), but he’s likely to open his MLB career as a long reliever, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- Pirates righty Joe Musgrove is slated to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday, Adam Berry of MLB.com tweets. Musgrove joined the Pirates over the winter as a key part of their Gerrit Cole trade with Houston, but a muscle strain in his pitching shoulder has delayed his debut with the club. Barring any setbacks, Musgrove should be four rehab starts away from returning to the majors, Berry suggests.
AL East Notes: Corbin, Gleyber, Machado, Donaldson, Tulo, Eovaldi
For the time being, Patrick Corbin is pitching brilliantly for the Diamondbacks, but Bob Nightengale of USA Today writes that he could have been doing so for the Yankees. It was reported that the New York organization looked into dealing for Corbin over the winter, but Nightengale suggests that the interested was more focused than was realized at the time. It’s anyone’s guess how things will play out in the future, but Nightengale notes that Corbin is the member of a family of rabid Yankees fans. It’s not hard to connect the dots, at least speculatively, but Corbin also says he’s happy in Arizona and would be amenable to discussing a new deal during the season.
Here’s more from the AL East:
- As the Yankees get their first look at top prospect Gleyber Torres at the major-league level, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic looks at how the gifted youngster ended up in New York. (Subscription link.) Yanks GM Brian Cashman says that the organization had targeted Torres years before as an amateur. That made it all the more exciting when he was finally landed via trade.
- Rosenthal goes on to discuss a few other subjects of note, including some hypothetical trade suitors for Orioles shortstop Manny Machado. As Craig Edwards writes at Fangraphs, Machado seems to be a clear mid-season trade candidate given the O’s putrid start to the season and his pending free agency. Edwards gives the numbers on just how deep a hole the Baltimore club appears to be in, arguing the team ought to begin listening to offers even if it decides to wait and allow bidding to drive up the return for the star infielder.
- The Blue Jays have received some promising news on the health front, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports (Twitter links). Star third baseman Josh Donaldson is just one step away from a rehab assignment. That said, it’s not an insignificant one for a player whose shoulder issues created notable problems throwing across the diamond. Presently, Donaldson is long tossing, but he’ll still need to make throws on the field before he goes out to an affiliate for a tune-up. Meanwhile, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is set to begin baseball activities for the first time since undergoing heel surgery.
- There’s also progress to report for Rays righty Nathan Eovaldi, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Eovaldi, whose long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery was thwarted when he required another procedure late this spring, has already managed a 25-pitch pen session. It’s possible he could be back in the big leagues within a month or so, says Topkin, which seems like a reasonably promising prognosis for a player who has endured significant health questions. Of course, given the club’s poor start to the year, it could be that Eovaldi will be looking to pitch his way into a trade chip once he’s back.
Minor MLB Transactions: 4/23/18
We’ll kick off the week with Monday’s minor moves from around the game…
- The Dodgers picked up right-hander Tyler Pill from the Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations in a minor swap late last week (Twitter link via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group). Pill, 27, signed a minor league deal with the D-backs after making his big league debut with the Mets in 2017. The brother of former big league first baseman Brett Pill, Tyler tossed 22 innings for the Mets and yielded 13 earned runs (5.32 ERA) on 22 hits and 10 walks with 16 strikeouts last season. He’s posted solid numbers up through Double-A but struggled at the Triple-A level, although those shaky results came exclusively at an exceptionally hitter-friendly setting in Las Vegas (and the Pacific Coast League in general). Pill debuted with the Dodgers’ own Triple-A affiliate over the weekend and tossed three scoreless frames. He’ll add some depth to an organization that shuffles its pitching staff and the fringes of its 40-man roster perhaps more aggressively than any club in the game.
- Right-hander Luke Jackson cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A by the Braves after being designated for assignment last week, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 26-year-old Jackson owns a 4.85 ERA and a 36-to-21 K/BB ratio in 52 innings with the Braves over the past two seasons and has struggled to a 5.79 ERA in 70 total innings at the big league level. Jackson hasn’t missed enough bats in the big leagues (5.8 K/9, 10.7 H/9), but he does have a track record of missing bats in the minors (career 9.8 K/9).
- Also via Eddy, the Reds have released outfielder Adam Brett Walker from the organization. Walker, 27, was a third-round pick of the Twins in 2012 and boasts huge raw power but plenty of swing-and-miss issues as well as a limited defensive skill set. Minnesota removed him from the 40-man roster after the 2016 season, and he landed with the Brewers, Orioles (twice), Braves and Reds via a series of waivers claims and minor league signings in 2017 alone. Walker’s power is evident in looking at his career .232 ISO in the minors, but he’s whiffed in 30.9 percent of his minor league plate appearances — including an enormous 37.4 percent strikeout clip in Triple-A.