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AL East Notes: Betts, Otani, Yankees, Mets, Pomeranz

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Mookie Betts left today’s game in the fifth inning due to a bruised right thumb, suffered when his own helmet was knocked off by a Lucas Duda tag attempt and landed on the thumb.  X-rays were negative and Betts told reporters (including MLB.com’s Connor Mount) that he hopes to play as soon as tomorrow.  Betts also added that he has been dealing with nagging thumb problems “for a couple months” but it hasn’t been serious enough to keep him off the field.  While this doesn’t look like a major injury, Betts is such a major part of the Red Sox lineup that his condition bears mention as the team heads towards a likely postseason appearance.  Here’s some more from around the AL East…

  • The Blue Jays have put particular effort into scouting Shohei Otani but realistically, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes that Toronto looks unlikely to sign the two-way star.  On the plus side for the Jays, Otani has worked out with former Blue Jay fan favorite Munenori Kawasaki and the team seems willing to let Otani both pitch and hit.  Beyond those positives, however, the Jays’ relative lack of history in the Japanese player market would seem to put them behind others in the running for Otani’s services.
  • Less than a year after the Yankees and Mets signed Aroldis Chapman and Yoenis Cespedes to multi-year free agent deals, Joel Sherman of the New York Post doubts either team would make those signings again given how both stars underachieved in 2017.  Injuries played a part in both players’ performance, of course, and there is still lots of time for Chapman and Cespedes to deliver on their contracts.  In Chapman’s case, his relative struggles also haven’t kept the Yankees from leading the AL wild card race.  With Chapman owed $60MM through the 2021 season, however, it’s still an ominous sign for the Yankees that this down year came in the first season of that deal.
  • The Drew Pomeranz trade is looking like a win for Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox, WEEI.com’s John Tomase writes.  After the controversial deal with the Padres last year that saw top prospect Anderson Espinosa go to San Diego, Pomeranz was plagued by injury problems that continued into the offseason.  This year, however, Pomeranz has delivered a 3.28 ERA, 9.4 K/9 and 2.59 K/BB rate over 159 1/3 innings, emerging as a much-needed stabilizer to a rotation that has been without David Price for much of the season.

Yankees Notes: Chapman, Estrada, Tanaka

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Not even a full season into signing a five-year, $86MM contract – a record deal for a reliever – Aroldis Chapman is out as the Yankees’ closer, manager Joe Girardi announced Saturday, per Erik Boland of Newsday (Twitter link). The move isn’t necessarily permanent, however, but a measure to “try and get him right,” said Girardi, who revealed that Chapman reacted well to the news. One of the most dominant relievers of all-time, the 29-year-old flamethower hasn’t been himself this season, as his pedestrian ERA (4.29), plummeting strikeout percentage and falling swinging-strike rate indicate. Chapman’s also amid arguably the worst stretch of his illustrious career, one in which he has yielded two earned runs in three straight appearances for the first time, and made a couple mental errors in the Yankees’ loss to the Red Sox on Friday. Chapman was responsible for a double steal when he neglected to keep tabs on the Red Sox’s runners on first and second base, and he then failed to back up home plate on a two-run single by Jackie Bradley Jr. Those slip-ups led to an animated mound visit from Girardi, who figures to turn to David Robertson and Dellin Betances as his ninth-inning choices while Chapman attempts to overcome his struggles in a different role. (Follow @CloserNews, MLBTR’s sister Twitter site, for more on the Yankees’ late-game configuration and news about all ninth-inning situations around the majors.)

A bit more on the Yankees, who will try to avoid falling six games behind Chris Sale-led Boston for the AL East lead on Saturday:

  • It was either the Yankees or the Orioles who claimed right-hander Marco Estrada off waivers from the division-rival Blue Jays earlier this week, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Regardless, Estrada isn’t going anywhere because the Jays were unable to agree to a trade with the claiming team within the 48-hour window.
  • Estrada would’ve been a quality reinforcement for the Yankees’ rotation (or Baltimore’s), but the Bombers will get some in-house help on that front. Masahiro Tanaka, on the disabled list since last Saturday with shoulder inflammation, is set to make his return Tuesday against Detroit, Girardi informed reporters (Twitter link via Boland). Rotation mate C.C. Sabathia will come off the 10-day DL and start in Boston tonight. Friday’s starter, rookie Jordan Montgomery, is headed back to Triple-A to make room for Sabathia, the team announced.

Justin Wilson Trade Rumors: Thursday

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Justin Wilson has been among the most talked-about assets on the trade market, and the sheer volume of updates on the expansive market for his services is enough to warrant its own dedicated post with the deadline looming. Here’s the latest on the Tigers southpaw, who currently boasts a 2.75 ERA with 12.6 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 36.1 percent ground-ball rate…

  • It seems the list of possible suitors isn’t getting any shorter just yet. To the contrary, the Indians have also asked about Wilson’s price tag, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Cleveland is down a lefty after losing Boone Logan.

Earlier Updates

  • The Yankees have joined the pursuit of Tigers lefty Justin Wilson, reports Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. It was New York that traded Wilson to the Tigers in the first place (for righties Chad Green and Luis Cessa), and while the Yanks have already beefed up their ’pen with the additions of David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle, they appear further interested in adding a shutdown lefty. The Tigers, though, are aiming extremely high in talks for Wilson, with Fenech suggesting that they’re seeking an Aroldis Chapman -esque return for Wilson. While the 29-year-old Wilson is earning a bargain $2.7MM salary and can be controlled through 2018 via arbitration, that’s still a sky-high ask. The Cubs sent Gleyber Torres, Billy McKinney, Adam Warren and Rashad Crawford to New York in exchange for Chapman last summer.
  • The Astros could be the most focused team on Tigers southpaw Justin Wilson, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Wilson has leapfrogged Orioles closer Zach Britton on the Astros’ list of targets, though all indications are that the ask on Wilson is extremely high. Houston is hardly alone in its pursuit of Wilson and has yet to definitively separate itself from the pack, however, per Crasnick (Twitter links). There are at least six teams still in on Wilson, with the Nationals “strongly” in the mix. Lastly, Crasnick tweets that the odds of a package deal sending Wilson and Justin Verlander to a team “are not good” due to the complex nature of such negotiations.
  • FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes that the Brewers, Astros and Red Sox were recently considered to be the leaders in the Wilson sweepstakes, though others are in on him as well. Heyman lists the Cubs, Rockies, D-backs, Dodgers and Nationals as other potential landing spots in a trade.

Injury Updates: Chapman, Felix, Iwakuma, Gonzalez, Shields

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Here’s the latest on some notable names joining and departing the disabled list…

  • The Yankees have announced that closer Aroldis Chapman has been activated from the 10-day DL, with catcher Kyle Higashioka going down to Triple-A in a corresponding move.  Chapman spent over a month on the DL due to inflammation his left rotator cuff,
  • Felix Hernandez will start for the Mariners on Friday, while Hisashi Iwakuma will start on either Saturday or Sunday, manager Scott Servais told MLB.com’s Greg Johns and other reporters.  Hernandez hit the DL in late April due to right shoulder bursitis, and a projected 3-4 week absence for the Mariners ace has ended up stretching to almost two full months.  Iwakuma will return within the original 4-6 week timeframe projected when he was placed on the DL due to shoulder inflammation.  While no determination has yet been made about who will be leaving Seattle’s rotation, the most obvious candidates might be Christian Bergman (the original probable starter for the M’s on Friday) and Sam Gaviglio (who starts on Saturday).
  • The White Sox have placed right-hander Miguel Gonzalez on the 10-day DL (retroactive to June 15) due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder’s A/C joint.  After a solid first season in Chicago in 2016, Gonzalez has struggled this year, posting a 5.49 ERA, 5.1 K/9 and 1.73 K/BB rate over 78 2/3 innings.  In a corresponding move, James Shields was activated from the DL to start today’s game against the Blue Jays after being out of action for almost two months due to a lat strain.

East Notes: Rosario, Red Sox, Chapman

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As Baseball America’s fifth-ranked prospect, the Mets’ Amed Rosario could conceivably help a scuffling team that has gotten little production from the left side of its infield this year. Despite the Mets’ struggles, though, and the strong likelihood that the Super Two deadline has passed, a promotion isn’t imminent, according to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Instead, the Mets want the 21-year-old to continue developing with Triple-A Las Vegas, where he has slashed .339/.379/.500 with six home runs and 11 stolen bases in 269 plate appearances. While Rosario’s in a rather hitter-friendly environment, his output has still been 30 percent better than the Pacific Coast League average. “I think so far this season is so far going pretty excellent, I would say,” Rosario told Davidoff through an interpreter. “I think we’re really seeing the fruits of the labor that’s been put in.”

More from New York and another East Coast city:

  • Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval was out of the lineup Saturday, and he’ll likely sit through at least Monday as they work with him on his defensive issues, reports Ian Browne of MLB.com. Sandoval has made four errors in only 48 chances, notes Browne, and has already posted minus-6 Defensive Runs Saved in just 186 1/3 innings at the hot corner. Now in the third season of a five-year, $95MM contract, Sandoval has also acquitted himself poorly on the offensive side, having batted just .205/.253/.364 in 95 plate appearances.
  • The Yankees expect closer Aroldis Chapman to come off the disabled list next weekend, manager Joe Girardi said Saturday (via Mark Fischer of NJ.com). The flamethrowing southpaw landed on the DL on May 13 with an inflamed left rotator cuff, which came after back-to-back rough outings that saw Chapman combine to allow four earned runs on six hits and two walks (three strikeouts) over 1 1/3 innings. Prior to those performances, Chapman gave up only one earned run, six hits and four walks, with 18 punchouts, in 11 1/3 frames.
  • Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez’s recovery from a partial dislocation of his right kneecap is on an encouraging path, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Rodriguez played catch from 130 to 140 feet Saturday, after which manager John Farrell stated: “He’s made, I think, very good progress in the days since being examined by Dr. (James) Andrews. We’re taking this in five-day work increments. He’s coming up on this first five days. We’ll map out increases in physical activity, agility work, all that, after tomorrow. We would hope in the coming days, he’s back on the mound here soon.” The 24-year-old was in the midst of arguably his best season before the injury, with a 3.54 ERA, 9.59 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 61 innings.

Aroldis Chapman Could Miss A Month

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10:51am: Chapman underwent an MRI on Saturday that didn’t show any structural damage, per ESPN’s Marly Rivera. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman expects Chapman to miss about a month, reports Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News.

9:41am: The Yankees have placed closer Aroldis Chapman on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Saturday, with left shoulder rotator cuff inflammation, according to an announcement from the team. The club has recalled right-hander Chad Green from Triple-A to take Chapman’s roster spot.

[RELATED: Updated Yankees Depth Chart]

While the severity of the flamethrowing Chapman’s injury isn’t known, it’s obviously troubling that he’s dealing with a shoulder issue just over a month into a five-year, $86MM contract. The ailment does perhaps explain Chapman’s recent struggles, though, as he surrendered a combined four earned runs on six hits and two walks in the two outings that preceded his placement on the DL. Those showings are almost solely to blame for Chapman’s relatively underwhelming ERA (3.55) and increased walk rate (4.26 per nine innings) in 12 1/3 frames his season. In his previous 12 appearances (11 1/3 innings), Chapman yielded just one earned run and walked four.

Although Chapman hasn’t quite been himself this year, further evidenced by the second-worst strikeout percentage (36.8, down from 40.5 last year) and second-lowest swinging-strike rate (14.6, compared to 18.6 in 2016) of his career, he’s nonetheless among New York’s most important players. Thanks in part to Chapman’s seven saves in eight chances, the Yankees enter Sunday with an AL East-leading 21-12 mark. They’ll now turn the ninth inning over to lights-out setup man Dellin Betances, who had difficulty as the Yankees’ closer down the stretch last season after they traded Chapman to the Cubs, while relying on the likes of Tyler Clippard, Adam Warren and Jonathan Holder to bridge the gap to Betances. Those four have been outstanding this year for the Yankees, who own the majors’ fourth-best bullpen ERA (2.50).

East Notes: Marlins, Red Sox, Yankees

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Unsurprisingly, Marlins president David Samson didn’t reveal much Saturday when asked about the rumored “handshake agreement” owner Jeffrey Loria has to sell the franchise to Joshua Kushner. “There’s obviously a lot of buzz, there’s rumors, there’s all sorts of stuff that happens all the time,” he told Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Are these rumors different than other rumors? Time will always tell what happens.” Samson, who added that Loria “loves being [in Miami],” also informed Joe Frisaro of MLB.com that the franchise is focusing on selling Marlins Park’s naming rights and amending its TV deal prior to 2018. On naming rights, Samson said: “There’s still three companies, and we cannot figure out which direction we’re going to go in. I still want to get it done before the All-Star Game. It’s such a long-term decision. I don’t want to make the wrong one.” The Marlins’ TV contract with FOX Sports Florida runs through 2020, but Samson noted that both parties know the “deal is in a place where it’s not commensurate with the revenue that should be coming to the team, given the content that we’re giving. That is no fault of anybody’s but mine.”

Now the latest from the American League East:

  • That the Red Sox were able to acquire ace Chris Sale from the White Sox without giving up left fielder Andrew Benintendi could propel them back to the World Series this year, opines Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe. Red Sox left-hander David Price called it “amazing” that the team landed Sale while retaining Benintendi, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski observed that “Andrew is not a player you’re ever looking to trade.” The 22-year-old Benintendi was terrific in his 118-plate appearance major league debut last season (.295/.359/.476) and enters 2017 as an AL Rookie of the Year front-runner. He’s also No. 1 on Baseball America’s just-released Top 100 prospects list – one spot ahead of second baseman/third baseman Yoan Moncada, who headlined Chicago’s return in the Sale trade. Right-hander Michael Kopech, the second-biggest piece the White Sox received, is 32nd.
  • The Yankees left a great impression on closer Aroldis Chapman during his stint with them last year, which led him to prioritize re-signing with the club in free agency. Ultimately, he returned to the Bronx on a five-year, $86MM deal – a record-breaking pact for a reliever. “The first moment that I got here in Spring Training, the way that they treated me, the attention that I got,” he told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “The work ethic of this team, the clubhouse, the athletes that they have. Those things, all of them made me feel very comfortable. That for me was the most important thing, and I wanted to come back.” Chapman, who ended last season with the World Series champion Cubs, sees similarities between the way the Yankees are assembling their roster and how Chicago has built its juggernaut of a squad. “Chicago started doing the same thing, bringing young players in the beginning, combined with veterans,” he said. “It worked for them, and it’s a solid team. The Yankees are similar in that way. They’re trying to bring in some youth, athletes that are very gifted.”

Marlins Interested In Brad Ziegler, Joe Blanton

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The Marlins’ preferred bullpen targets after missing out on both Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman are righties Brad Ziegler and Joe Blanton, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Miami reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with Junichi Tazawa yesterday but is still hopeful of adding one more reliever to its bullpen, it seems.

[Related: Miami Marlins Depth Chart]

Blanton and Ziegler are arguably the top two relievers left on the market now that upper-echelon names like Chapman, Jansen and Mark Melancon have signed. Ziegler, 37, has recorded a sensational 2.05 ERA with 6.2 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a 68.1 percent ground-ball rate over the past two seasons while pitching in hitter-friendly environments (Arizona and Boston). Though he averages just 84 mph on his fastball, Ziegler is a ground-ball machine that has a penchant for inducing weak contact. He’s said to be weighing multiple two-year offers right now, as teams are apparently reluctant to put three-year deals on the table due to his age. With an average of 70 appearances per season dating back to 2009, though, Ziegler’s durability has been impressive.

As for Blanton, the 36-year-old looked to be done with baseball in 2014 after a rough stretch with the Angels, but he’s reinvented himself as a reliever over the past two seasons, pitching to a 2.65 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 in 165 innings between the Royals, Pirates and Dodgers. Despite his age and his struggles toward the end of his tenure as a starting pitcher, multi-year deal seems likely for Blanton based on that impressive run.

Miami currently has a solid on-paper bullpen featuring A.J. Ramos, Kyle Barraclough, David Phelps, Tazawa, Dustin McGowan and lefty Hunter Cervenka. Adding either Ziegler or Blanton would further deepen that unit and provide support to a considerably shakier rotation. Deepening the bullpen has been a long-stated goal for the Marlins, who reportedly made a significant offer to Kenley Jansen before he inked his new deal with the Dodgers. FanRag’s Jon Heyman reports that Miami also made Aroldis Chapman an offer that was between $80-86MM and may have been willing to go higher, but their offer didn’t include a no-trade clause and was heavily backloaded (Twitter links).

Yankees Designate Nick Goody, Announce Aroldis Chapman Signing

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The Yankees have designated righty Nick Goody for assignment, per a team announcement. The move creates 40-man space for the addition of Aroldis Chapman, whose signing is now official.

Goody, 25, threw 29 frames in 2016 for the Yankees. Though he ended up with a marginal 4.66 ERA, he did managed 10.6 K/9 to go with 3.7 BB/9. The biggest problem, it seems, was that Goody coughed up seven long balls in his limited action.

It certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see a trade or claim on Goody, who has been dominant in the upper minors. Over the last two seasons, he has racked up 119 strikeouts in 85 2/3 frames at Double-A and Triple-A, while issuing just 25 walks. And he has allowed a total of 16 earned runs on a paltry 55 base hits in that span.

While he’s not a hard thrower, averaging around 91 mph with his fastball, Goody generated swings and misses at a robust 15.0% rate in the majors in 2016. That’s thanks to a filthy slider that he utilizes in nearly half of his deliveries to the plate. The elevated dinger rates — which have also cropped up at times in the minors — seemingly suggest that his pitch mix requires Goody to walk a fine line.

AL Notes: Chapman, Yankees, Encarnacion, Astros, Tigers

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The Yankees believe that the Marlins’ unexpected pursuit of Aroldis Chapman — Miami reportedly offered Chapman a five-year deal worth $87MM — forced New York to spend about $10-15MM more than they would otherwise have had to offer in order to finalize the deal, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. Sherman also adds that the Yankees are still hoping to add a starting pitcher and multiple relievers (one of the left-handed variety), though the Cashman said earlier this week that he doesn’t anticipate adding a free-agent starter due to the high asking prices around the league (via Sherman’s colleague George A. King III).

More from around the American League…

  • In an interesting read for Yankees fans (or for any fan, really), Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues examines the decision to re-sign Chapman from a variety of angles. Axisa questions whether the Yankees, who currently look to be a ways behind Boston in terms of expected 2017 performance, did the right thing in “paying a lot of money now to buy Chapman for the future” and notes the possibility that Chapman will be opting out of his deal just as the bulk of New York’s vaunted young talent is solidifying itself at the big league level. The move also flies somewhat in the face of the desire to get below the luxury tax threshold, Axisa observes, and there are of course ongoing public relations considerations due to last October’s domestic violence allegations.
  • Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet tweets that many in the industry still consider the Rangers to be the most logical landing spot for free agent Edwin Encarnacion. Texas reportedly feels that it doesn’t have the financial means to fit Encarnacion into the budget, but GM Jon Daniels and his staff have certainly made some creative value plays for free agents whose markets have crumbled a bit in the past.
  • The Astros prefer not to move upper-level prospects in their search for rotation upgrades, GM Jeff Luhnow tells MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Houston has been asked about top prospect Francis Martes on numerous occasions, McTaggart writes, though Luhnow downplayed the possibility of dealing the right-hander. “The players we’re staying away from are the players that are probably going to start the year on the big league club and are key parts of the 2017 plan,” said the Houston GM. “Martes is a very valuable player, and very valuable players that are close to the big leagues get asked about a lot. That’s no different with him. It would take something significant for us to move him.” McTaggart also notes that outfield prospect Kyle Tucker is “generally considered untouchable.”
  • The Tigers aren’t pursuing an Andrew McCutchen trade tweets MLB Network’s Jon Morosi. They’ve also yet to get involved with the recently non-tendered Ben Revere, tweets MLB.com’s Jason Beck. Detroit has a clear question mark in center field at the moment, but the team is also well-known to be striving to shed payroll and get younger. With that in mind, a pursuit of McCutchen never would’ve made much sense for GM Al Avila’s club, though Revere could be a low-cost option that would have plenty of surplus value in the event of a rebound from last year’s disastrous season.

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