White Sox Acquire Ryan Burr From D-Backs For International Bonus Money
The White Sox announced that they’ve acquired minor league right-hander Ryan Burr from the Diamondbacks for international signing bonus pool money.
The 23-year-old Burr had been with the Diamondbacks since they used a fifth-round pick on him in 2015. At the time, Baseball America (subscription required and recommended) lauded the ex-Arizona State closer’s “very live fastball,” though it was unimpressed with his offspeed pitches. Since then, Burr hasn’t ascended beyond the Single-A level, nor did he rank among Arizona’s top 30 prospects, per MLB.com. He has generated excellent minor league results, however, including a .72 ERA with 10.44 K/9, 2.16 BB/9 and an absurd 73.1 percent ground-ball rate in 25 High-A innings this season.
In picking up Burr, the White Sox have subtracted from their remaining $4.75MM in international money. However, they’re barred from spending more than $300K on an individual player because of the signing of Luis Robert during the previous international period. The Diamondbacks had $5.75MM to work with as of July 2, tying them with a slew of other teams at the top, and immediately made several signings. Their most expensive acquisition has been $2.5MM outfielder Kristian Robinson, a 16-year-old from the Bahamas.
Heyman’s Latest: Yanks, Mets, Darvish, Astros, Twins, Bucs
The Yankees showed interest in Mets second baseman Neil Walker before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman. The crosstown rivals actually had a deal for Walker in place, tweets Mike Puma of Newsday, but it fell through over medical concerns. Walker suffered a partially torn hamstring in mid-June and returned shortly before the deadline. At that point, the Yankees had recently lost second baseman Starlin Castro to a hamstring injury of his own, but he’s now nearing a rehab assignment, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (Twitter link). As for Walker, the impending free agent has already cleared revocable waivers this month, making him eligible for a trade, though he’s owed sizable sum (around $6MM) through season’s end.
More from Heyman via a trio of columns, all of which are worth reading in full:
- The Rangers don’t expect to reunite with Yu Darvish in free agency, suggests Heyman, who adds that they decided a couple days before the non-waiver deadline that they were going to trade the ace. Texas ended up dealing Darvish to the Dodgers right before the clock ran out. The Astros were a rumored Darvish suitor leading up to then, but they didn’t make a real effort to land him, reports Heyman.
- Speaking of the Astros, their talks with the Tigers regarding Justin Verlander are all but dead, per Heyman, which jibes with a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. “It never got close,” a personal familiar with the discussions told Heyman, and that source expects Verlander to still be in a Tigers uniform when the 2018 season begins. Houston was unwilling to deal any of its best prospects for the expensive, aging Verlander (or any of its other deadline targets), but a Tigers official told Heyman, “You’re trading an icon, you’ve got to get something back.” The Astros have been conservative in terms of making acquisitions this summer, surely because a 71-42 team doesn’t need a ton of help, but GM Jeff Luhnow’s lack of bold moves has led to frustration within the organization, writes Heyman. Ace Dallas Keuchel voiced some displeasure immediately after the club’s quiet deadline (only scuffling lefty Francisco Liriano came aboard), and outfielder Josh Reddick followed suit Thursday in an interview with MLB Network Radio (Twitter link). Astros players were “down in the dumps” after the deadline, Reddick revealed.
- The Twins reportedly listened to offers for righty Ervin Santana in advance of the deadline, but their interest in dealing the solid mid-rotation starter was minimal, relays Heyman. Santana is under control through next season on fair $13.5MM salaries (his deal also features a $14MM club option for 2019), making it unlikely he’d go unclaimed on waivers this month, notes Heyman.
- Although GM Sandy Alderson is in the last year of his contract, people around the Mets expect him to return in 2018. There’s less certainty surrounding manager Terry Collins, who’s also in a contract year. Heyman lists Mets bench coach Dickie Scott, Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren (who previously held that post with the Mets) and Athletics third base coach Chip Hale as potential replacements for Collins if he’s not back next year.
- Meanwhile, both Pirates GM Neal Huntington and skipper Clint Hurdle appear safe. As long as the two want to return in 2018, the Pirates will exercise their options.
- The White Sox would like to deal veteran hurlers Derek Holland, Miguel Gonzalez and Tyler Clippard, which isn’t surprising considering they’re impending free agents on a rebuilding team. Given the seasons they’re having, Holland and Gonzalez probably won’t carry much appeal to rotation-needy contenders, though Clippard has put up six straight scoreless appearances out of Chicago’s bullpen. Across that seven-inning span, Clippard allowed three hits and three walks, with nine strikeouts. MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted Wednesday that Clippard’s a prime August trade candidate.
- The Diamondbacks were in on reliever Joe Smith before the Blue Jays dealt him to the Indians, but David Hernandez “seemed to be” Arizona’s top target, Heyman writes. The D-backs ended up acquiring Hernandez from the Angels, making this his second stint in Arizona. Hernandez has only thrown 2 2/3 innings in his return to the club, but they’ve been spotless (no runs, hits or walks allowed).
NL West Notes: CarGo, Chacin, Duplantier
The Rockies offered Carlos Gonzalez a new four-year deal during extension talks last spring, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports. The two sides explored an extension for the long-time Colorado outfielder during the offseason, though talks never seemed to get too far — this four-year proposal is the only known offer exchanged, apart from some “initial suggestions” from Rockies management that were rejected out of hand by Gonzalez’s representatives in early December. Gonzalez said that he and the team hadn’t engaged in serious talks as of last February 22, and negotiations were reportedly “on hold” as of early March. The dollar value of the offer isn’t known (Nightengale describes it as “lucrative”), though the fact that Colorado was willing to offer four years to a player who will be 32 next Opening Day is in itself significant, especially since the Rockies have several other interesting outfielders on their big league roster and in the minors. The lack of an extension looms large for Gonzalez in the wake of his disappointing 2017 season — he has suffered through two DL stints and is batting a career-worst .228/.299/.345 over 365 plate appearances.
(Apart from the Gonzalez item, Nightengale’s piece focuses on how several of baseball’s biggest names are dealing with the extra pressure facing them as they approach free agency. The piece includes quotes from Jake Arrieta, J.D. Martinez, John Lackey and more, and is well worth a full read.)
Here’s more from around the NL West…
- Jhoulys Chacin has expressed openness to re-signing with the Padres this winter, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. Chacin has posted good results after signing a one-year, $1.75MM deal with the Padres last winter, and it isn’t surprising that the righty would like to stay at Petco Park — Chacin has a 1.86 ERA over 12 home starts (77.1 IP) this year, as opposed to a 7.35 ERA over 10 starts (49 IP) on the road. Those large splits were one reason, Lin notes, why the Padres may not have been able to move Chacin before the deadline, though Lin was surprised the team couldn’t have found at least one suitor willing to part with more than a token prospect.
- The Diamondbacks received some interest in minor league right-hander Jon Duplantier prior to the trade deadline, Fangraphs’ David Laurila reports. The 23-year-old Duplantier, a third-round pick for Arizona in the 2016 draft, has a 1.53 ERA, 10/1 K/9 and 4.25 K/BB rate over 106 combined innings at the high-A and A-ball levels this season. MLB.com ranks Duplantier as the second-best prospect in Arizona’s system, citing his “power curve,” solid changeup and fastball in the 91-96 mph range, though the righty has also already had some shoulder and elbow issues early in his career. A source with another club tells Laurila that the D’Backs put a high asking price on Duplantier in trade talks.
West Notes: Gattis, Diamondbacks, Cain, Span
Astros catcher and designated hitter Evan Gattis appears headed to the disabled list after receiving a concussion diagnosis yesterday, writes Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. The end of a Corey Dickerson swing caught Gattis in the head on Thursday. The team currently plans to option first baseman A.J. Reed to Triple-A Fresno and promote third baseman J.D. Davis, who was hitting .282/.345/.527 in the high minors this season. The team will have to make another move to add a catcher if it does place Gattis on the DL, however. Here’s more from the West divisions.
- The Diamondbacks‘ rotation has gone from second worst in the Majors last year to second best this season, MLB.com’s Mike Petriello notes. Petriello credits big improvements in the Snakes’ outfield defense and catching, along with Robbie Ray‘s breakout, and Taijuan Walker‘s addition. He also notes that Zack Godley moved from relieving to starting for the big club this year, while Archie Bradley did the opposite; both moves had a big impact on the fortunes of Arizona’s starting pitchers.
- The 42-69 Giants are finding new roles for two veteran players, as Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group noted earlier this week. The team will use Matt Cain, who’s in the midst of a third straight season with an ERA above five, as a long reliever until his contract expires at the end of the season. (The team does have an option on Cain for 2018, but almost certainly won’t exercise it.) Chris Stratton will take Cain’s place in the rotation. And the team has told center fielder Denard Span it plans to move him to left field, although he might not actually make that move until next spring. Span, for his part, since he has “no problem” with the move, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. “If you look around the league, you don’t see too many everyday center fielders who are 33 years old,” he says. “By the same token, I think I can still play center.”
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/31/17
Here’s a wrap-up of some recent minor league moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post.
- Right-hander Al Alburquerque cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent, the Kansas City Star’s Rustin Dodd tweets. The Royals designated Alburquerque for assignment last week and requested release waivers on him two days ago; Alburquerque was previously DFA’ed earlier this season, though that time he accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A. The righty signed a minors deal with Kansas City last winter and has a 3.60 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 over 10 innings out of the Royals bullpen.
- Infielder Nick Franklin cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Angels‘ Triple-A affiliate, the team announced on Twitter. Franklin was designated for assignment two days ago, and it was his third DFA of 2017 — he was designated by the Rays in April and then claimed by the Brewers, then designated by the Brewers and traded to the Angels in late June. After posting above-average production in a part-time role with Tampa Bay last season, Franklin has been unable to get things going this year, with a combined .179/.269/.283 slash line over 119 PA with the Angels and Brewers.
- The Diamondbacks released catcher Hank Conger, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports. Conger signed a minor league deal with the Snakes last winter and has a .239/.316/.394 slash line over 206 PA at Triple-A Reno.
- Also from Eddy, the Rockies released outfielder Domonic Brown. Colorado signed Brown to a minors contract in the offseason. Once considered one of baseball’s top prospects when coming up in the Phillies system, Brown was an All-Star in what looked like a breakout season in 2013, though badly struggled in his next two seasons and hasn’t since returned to the big leagues. Brown did hit a decent .304/.327/.449 over 171 PA at the Triple-A level this season, though in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
- Earlier this week, the Marlins announced that first baseman Chris Parmelee had been signed to a minor league deal. Best known for his stint as a part-timer with the Twins from 2011-14, Parmelee appeared in just eight MLB games last season (with the Yankees) and has yet to reach the Show this season after being released from a minors contract with the A’s in June.
- Catcher Eric Fryer elected to become a free agent last week, the Cardinals announced. Fryer was designated for assignment on July 21 and had been outrighted to Triple-A before opting to hit the open market. The light-hitting catcher has played in parts of seven seasons in the bigs, most recently serving as Yadier Molina‘s backup in St. Louis.
- The Rangers released veteran southpaw Wesley Wright earlier this month. Wright posted a 4.16 ERA in 307 innings over eight big league seasons from 2008-15, though he hasn’t been back to the majors since, plus he’s struggled at the Triple-A level in the Texas and Boston organizations over the last two seasons.
- Earlier this month, the Dodgers signed left-hander Tommy Layne to a minor league deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Layne posted good numbers out of the Red Sox and Yankees bullpens in 2015-16, though his career-long struggles with control plagued him this year, as Layne posted a 7.62 ERA over 13 IP for New York, with eight walks against just nine strikeouts.
Diamondbacks Acquire David Hernandez
The D-backs and Angels have struck a trade that sends righty David Hernandez from Anaheim back to the familiar environs of Arizona. Young right-hander Luis Madero is going to the Angels in the deal.
After struggling to find a job this spring, Hernandez has quietly turned in an excellent 2.23 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate through 36 1/3 innings of work. He’s a free agent at season’s end and is earning an $850K base salary in 2017, so he’s owed an affordable $293K the rest of the way.
Hernandez will deepen the Arizona pen as the club looks to solidify its hold on a Wild Card spot down the stretch. He has provided the team with plenty of good innings in the past, pitching to a 3.54 ERA over 233 2/3 innings from 2011 through 2015.
The 20-year-old Madero has struggled through 49 1/3 innings between Rookie ball and Class-A this season, limping to a 5.69 ERA while working as a starter. He has been hit especially hard since moving up a level. That said, the peripherals look much more promising for the young Venezuelan. He currently carries 8.3 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 47.8 percent ground-ball rate on the year.
ESPN’s Buster Olney reported the trade on Twitter, with MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweeting the return.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Diamondbacks Acquire Adam Rosales
The Athletics announced that they have traded veteran infielder Adam Rosales to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league right-hander Jeferson Mejia. The minor move coincides with the D’Backs placing shortstop Chris Owings on the 60-day DL due to yesterday’s fractured finger, according to Nick Piecoro of AZ Central.
Rosales, who has played for the A’s in parts of five seasons, was a candidate to be designated for assignment as Chad Pinder approaches his return from a hamstring injury, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The 34-year-old Rosales is hitting .234/.273/.346 in 223 plate appearances for the A’s this year, appearing mainly at shortstop. Arizona’s acquisition was likely influenced by a tragedy, as shortstop Ketel Marte left the team after the loss of his mother in a car accident.
Mejia, a 22-year-old reliever who was recently demoted to short-season ball, has struggled with his control and posted a 5.90 ERA in 21 relief appearances this year. The D’Backs acquired him from the Cubs in 2014 as part of the Miguel Montero deal.
Angels Nearing David Hernandez Trade
2:32pm: The D-backs could be a landing spot for Hernandez, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
2:27pm: The Angels are getting close to a trade involving Hernandez, reports Feinsand (on Twitter).
12:11pm: MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that Petit is also generating interest. The 32-year-old has tossed 60 2/3 innings with a 2.52 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 34.4 percent ground-ball rate this season in a multi-inning role.
11:37am: The Angels are marketing right-handed relievers Bud Norris and David Hernandez, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter link). Industry expectation is that both will be traded before today’s 4pm ET non-waiver deadline, Olney adds.
Both Norris and Hernandez have had strong rebound seasons in 2017, though Norris’ numbers have taken a hit in the past week due to a pair of grand slams allowed. That said, he’s worked 41 2/3 innings with a career-high 11.2 K/9 rate against 4.5 BB/9 and a 49 percent ground-ball rate (also a career-best). The resulting 3.89 ERA is a near-mirror image of Norris’ 3.87 FIP and is also largely reported by a 3.59 xFIP and 3.55 SIERA. Norris is a free agent at season’s end, and he’s making $1.75MM this year, with about $602K of that sum still owed to him.
Hernandez, meanwhile, has somewhat quietly turned in an excellent 2.23 ERA with 9.2 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate through 36 1/3 innings of work. Like Norris, he has enough big league service time to qualify as a free agent following the season, making him a pure rental piece as well. Terms of his minor league deal with the Angels weren’t reported at the time he signed, but I’ve been told he’s earning an $850K base salary — so there’d be about $293K of that sum remaining.
It’s not clear whether the Halos are shopping any of their other short-term assets, though righty Yusmeiro Petit is having a fine year in the bullpen, while third baseman Yunel Escobar has produced at about a league-average pace at the plate. Outfielder Cameron Maybin may well have been a trade commodity, but his knee injury will keep him out into August. It’s still possible that he could clear trade waivers next month or be moved to a team that places a claim, however.
Brandon Kintzler Trade Rumors: Deadline Day
When the Twins decided to change course and begin selling assets, righty Brandon Kintzler immediately became the club’s most obvious trade chip. He’s a pending free agent with an affordable salary and sterling track record over the past two seasons. While contenders won’t likely be targeting him as a closer, he has succeeded in that role over the past two seasons in Minnesota.
Here’s the latest chatter on his still-developing market:
- The Twins appear to be nearing a trade involving Kintzler, though it’s not yet apparent where he’s headed, according to a tweet from ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick.
- Also still involved on Kintzler are the Diamondbacks, per LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune (Twitter link).
- The Nationals are indeed “in touch” on Kintzler today, tweets Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post, with MLB.com’s Jon Morosi characterizing things similarly on Twitter by citing “ongoing discussions” between the teams.
- Discussions are likely to go right up until the deadline at 4pm EST today, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (via Twitter). The Nationals and Rockies are among the teams that have checked in on Kintzler, he notes. Likewise, the Rays have shown at least some interest, per 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson (via Twitter).
- With the Red Sox landing Addison Reed, that may have taken one suitor out of the running. But it also perhaps teed up Kintzler as the next-most-appealing righty rental reliever. As MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand suggests on Twitter, the volume of traffic on Kintzler now has the Twins believing he’ll be dealt today.
D-Backs, Emilio Bonifacio Agree To Minors Deal
The Diamondbacks are in agreement with veteran utility man Emilio Bonifacio on a minor league pact, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.
Bonifacio will join the D-backs in the midst of a difficult situation, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert tweets that the club is preparing to place infielder Ketel Marte on the bereavement list due to the tragic death of Marte’s mother in a car accident. We at MLBTR express our most heartfelt condolences to Marte and his family.
With both Marte and Chris Owings (fractured finger) unavailable for some time, Bonifacio can step up and play a variety of positions around the diamond. The 32-year-old batted just .132/.150/.211 in 44 plate appearances with the Braves earlier this year but is a career .256/.313/.333 batter in nearly 2900 MLB PAs. Bonifacio has played second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions in his career as well.