Trade Notes: Hamels, Pitching, Mets, Johnson, Beede
Two weeks from this writing, the non-waiver trade deadline will be firmly in the rear-view mirror. Rumors pertaining to trades and actual trade activity should pick up substantially here over the coming 14 days, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports previews the deadline for all 30 clubs, examining each buyer’s biggest need, each seller’s greatest asset and what will determine the course of the teams that have yet to plot a course of action. Similarly, ESPN’s Buster Olney took a look at the biggest questions surrounding each of the 30 teams heading into the second half — many of which have revolve around trade deadline strategies (ESPN Insider subscription required).
General overviews aside, here’s the latest trade chatter from around the league…
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post is surprised by the number of executives he’s spoken to that feel the Phillies will not trade Cole Hamels this summer, barring a no-brainer offer (Twitter links). Sherman says that many within the industry feel that new Phillies president Andy MacPhail may wait until the Winter Meetings to shop Hamels, as he’ll by then be more comfortable with the scouts that are giving him advice and have input from a more functional analytics department.
- Newsday’s Marc Carig writes that while names like Justin Upton, Carlos Gomez and Jay Bruce would all have appeal to the Mets, each would also come with a steep prospect price. Such transactions aren’t commonplace for the Mets, Carig notes, but the addition of a versatile outfielder such as Will Venable or Gerardo Parra could help improve the club’s production at a lower cost. And, as ESPN’s Buster Olney notes (on Twitter), the Mets should be highly motivated to add pieces, as 17 of the team’s final 39 games come against a pair of selling clubs: the Phillies and Braves.
- Sherman also hears that the Dodgers, Astros, Royals and Blue Jays are the four teams that are most aggressively trying to add pitching at this juncture (Twitter link). The Royals and Blue Jays scouted the Reds, who are said to be ready to move both Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, heavily before the break.
- Part of the reasoning behind the Braves‘ signings of right-hander Jason Frasor and left-hander Ross Detwiler is that the team wanted to add some veteran leadership to a bullpen that will likely soon be without Jim Johnson, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Johnson, in Bowman’s estimation, is very likely to be traded in the near future.
- Giants prospect Tyler Beede‘s name is in high demand in trade talks, manager Bruce Bochy tells Peter Gammons (Twitter link). Per Bochy, Beede’s name is the first one mentioned by opposing clubs in the majority of the Giants’ trade talks. San Francisco selected Beede with the No. 14 pick in the 2014 draft, and he has a 2.91 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 89 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A in his first full pro season.
Braves Reliever David Carpenter Designated For Assignment
The Braves have designated reliever David Carpenter for assignment, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Carpenter, 27, was recalled in early July and made four appearances for the Braves. The soft-tossing righty posted a 7.36 ERA in three and two-thirds innings with 12.27 K/9, no walks, and two home runs allowed. In 37 innings at Triple-A, he managed a 0.73 ERA with 8.76 K/9 and 3.65 BB/9. Over a 46 inning major league career, Carpenter has a 5.40 ERA with 6.56 K/9 and 3.66 BB/9.
Those who don’t closely follow the Braves can be excused for some confusion as to which David Carpenter has been designated. Over the offseason, Atlanta traded a harder throwing Carpenter to the Yankees who have since dealt him to the Nationals. That Carpenter was placed on the disabled list today, tweets Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York. The Carpenter designated today was signed to a minor league deal in January. He originally debuted with the Angels.
Braves To Sign Ross Detwiler
1:52pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that Detwiler’s contract is a Major League deal.
1:42pm: The Braves have agreed to terms on a contract with free agent left-hander Ross Detwiler, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Detwiler, a client of CAA Sports, was recently released by the Rangers after struggling in his first brush with the American League. The Rangers had acquired him from the Nationals in an offseason trade.
Detwiler, 29, was the sixth pick in the 2007 draft out of Missouri State University. Though he never emerged as the consistent rotation option that the Nationals had hoped for when he was selected with that high pick, Detwiler looked the part of a serviceable starter from 2012-13 (3.59 ERA, 5.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 in 46 games/40 starts) and posted solid, if unspectacular numbers in the bullpen in 2014. Last year, he notched a 4.00 ERA in 63 innings, averaging 5.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
The 2015 season, however, has been an ugly on for Detwiler. In 43 innings split between the Texas rotation and bullpen, the lefty has a 7.12 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and a career-worst 36.4 percent ground-ball rate. With the Rangers, Detwiler cut down on the usage of his four-seamer and relied much more heavily on his sinker, slider and changeup, and the change in pitch selection seems to have contributed to his unfavorable results.
The Braves will hope that a return to the NL East and working with pitching coach Roger McDowell can help Detwiler return to his previously effective form. If nothing else, Detwiler should be a useful relief option against left-handed hitters; even in his poor 2015, he held same-handed batters to a .220/.280/.317 slash line. Throughout his career, lefties have batted just .232/.305/.301 against him.
Detwiler’s earning $3.45MM this season after avoiding arbitration last winter, but the Rangers will be on the hook for all of that figure, less the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time spent on Atlanta’s active roster.
Braves Extend Fredi Gonzalez, Coaching Staff Through 2016
The Braves announced today that they’ve extended the contract of manager Fredi Gonzalez through the 2016 season. Gonzalez’s new contract contains a club option for 2017, and the entire coaching staff has been extended through 2016 as well.
In four and a half seasons as the Braves’ manager, Gonzalez has compiled a 400-337 record, although the 2015 season has been a difficult one to date. That, however, shouldn’t come as a total shock considering the fact that Atlanta traded away Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel, Evan Gattis, Jordan Walden and David Carpenter this offseason as the team shifted its focus toward the future. His detractors, though, will point not only to the club’s losing ways in 2015 but a late collapse in 2014 after spending a total of 94 days in first place. (Atlanta went 27-40 in the season’s second half.)
While Gonzalez is a polarizing figure among Braves fans, he’s long appeared to be in good standings with Atlanta’s top decision-makers, and an overhaul in the Braves’ front office this past offseason appears to have done little to change that. The new contract gives Gonzalez and his staff further time to work a new, younger core that has seen the likes of Shelby Miller, Mike Foltynewicz, Matt Wisler, Jace Peterson and others added to previous stalwarts such as Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons.
As the Braves note in the press release announcing the move, this extension for the coaching staff ensures that Terry Pendleton will be back for an 15th season as first base coach, Roger McDowell return for an 11th year as pitching coach, Eddie Perez will return for a 10th year as bullpen coach and Carlos Tosca will be back for a sixth season as bench coach. First-year coaches Bo Porter (third base), Kevin Seitzer (hitting) and Jose Castro (assistant hitting) will all return for second seasons.
Heyman’s Latest: Dodgers/Hamels, Braves, Frazier, Price, Brewers, Upton
Jon Heyman of CBS Sports kicks off his weekly Inside Baseball column by reporting that the Dodgers have “quietly continued having dialogue with the Phillies” regarding Cole Hamels. The Dodgers are also giving serious consideration to the rental market and prioritizing Johnny Cueto over others among such targets. The Dodgers “appear determined” to land a top-of-the-rotation arm to pair with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, writes Heyman, but most executives think they’ll hold onto top prospects Corey Seager and Julio Urias. The Dodgers have a deep farm system beyond that pairing (righty Jose De Leon has recently been ranked a Top 25 prospect by Baseball America and ESPN), and one exec tells Heyman that the Phillies’ asking price on Hamels has become “more reasonable” recently. The Dodgers feel that Greinke is a lock to opt out of his contract at the end of the season, and while they could possibly re-sign him by adding a year or two to the deal and upping his $24.5MM AAV, Hamels would provide insurance should Greinke sign elsewhere. Jeff Samardzija is also a consideration for the Dodgers, but while they like him, they consider him more of a No. 2/3 starter and don’t love him.
Some more highlights from Heyman’s article, though the synopsis won’t cover everything within the piece, so I’d highly recommend reading it in its entirety…
- The Braves will be deadline sellers, Heyman hears, with Jim Johnson, Juan Uribe and Cameron Maybin among the players that will be available to interested teams. Chris Johnson, too, continues to be available, but there are no takers for his contract, which Atlanta has aggressively tried to move in the past.
- With the Reds expected to trade so many veterans to other clubs, many in the industry expect the team to make a run at extending Todd Frazier beyond his current two-year deal, Heyman writes. (Frazier has one more year of arbitration following his current pact.) Jeff Todd and I have discussed Frazier’s situation on the MLBTR Podcast in the past (and will do so again this afternoon), and I’ve personally taken the stance that given the significant commitments to Joey Votto and Homer Bailey, the Reds could have a difficult time affording Frazier, whose 2014-15 breakout has hugely inflated his price tag. Given the lack of impact bats on the trade market, Frazier would net a king’s ransom and could rapidly expedite the rebuilding process, though the PR hit of trading him with so much control and on the heels of a Home Run Derby victory would of course be significant.
- In other Reds news, Heyman hears Mike Leake‘s ground-ball tendencies are appealing to AL East clubs, and he’s drawn interest from the Blue Jays, Orioles and Red Sox in addition to the Royals, Dodgers, Rangers, Cubs and Giants. Manny Parra and Marlon Byrd are both “likely to go” as well.
- Asked about the possibility of signing with the Cubs this offseason due to his relationship with skipper Joe Maddon, Tigers ace David Price replied, “Wherever I play baseball next year it’s not going to be because of a manager.”
- The Astros are interested in both Cueto and Leake, and Houston seems willing to deal from its glut of MLB-ready outfield prospects, including Domingo Santana and Preston Tucker. (Previous reports have indicated they’re reluctant to part with Brett Phillips, however, who may be the best among the outfield bunch.)
- The Brewers are now showing a willingness to trade both Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura, Heyman hears. Though it was previously believed they were reluctant to move Segura, the emergence of Orlando Arcia (the younger brother of the Twins’ Oswaldo Arcia) may have changed Milwaukee’s thinking. However, Arcia himself is also drawing a huge amount of trade interest, and the Padres have called to express interest. One NL exec called him the best player he’s seen in the minors this year, while another comped him to Francisco Lindor, but said Arcia is better. Regarding Segura, Heyman hears that the Mets dislike his free-swinging approach.
- The Twins aren’t closed off to the idea of re-acquiring Gomez from the Brewers, but their primary focus at this point is bullpen help.
- The Mets are aiming high in their pursuit of an outfield bat and have both Gomez and Justin Upton on their radar. They’re not likely to add Aramis Ramirez from the Brewers unless they receive bad news on the prognosis of David Wright. They also have little interest in swinging a deal for Uribe.
- Padres officials insist that they haven’t determined their course of action heading into the deadline, but Heyman writes that free-agents-to-be such as Upton, Ian Kennedy, Joaquin Benoit and Will Venable could be traded regardless. James Shields‘ backloaded contract limits his value, but one GM felt Benoit has “big value” and Heyman notes that Craig Kimbrel would be in huge demand as well, should the Padres try to recoup some value from that deal.
- Cueto, Samardzija and Leake are atop the Blue Jays‘ wish list, and the team was also in talks with the Braves regarding Jason Grilli prior to his season-ending injury. A top starting pitcher is Toronto’s top priority at this point, says Heyman. He also adds that there’s no evidence to suggest that manager John Gibbons is on the hot seat.
John Hart Talks Braves Trades Of Past And Future
Braves president of baseball operations John Hart discussed the upcoming trade deadline and a wide range of other topics in a fascinating Q&A with Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A full read of this excellent interview is highly recommended, but here are some of the highlights:
With July 31 fast approaching, Hart said it’s still an open question: “Do we pick up the phone or answer the phone? I’m not sure yet.” Noting that he “never made any false promises that we were built to win this year,” Hart nevertheless said it’s still possible that the team will make some additions at the deadline. But he cautioned that “we’re not going to be big buyers.”
[RELATED: Braves To Sign Jason Frasor]
Of course, selling is also still a distinct possibility, but Hart made clear that he wouldn’t move veterans just to get something back. “We don’t have the big chip that will take somebody over the top,” said Hart. “If people want good pieces and they can offer us something, yeah. But we’re going to take great care. We’re playing short. There is a very real possibility we won’t do anything.”
Braves To Sign Jason Frasor
The Braves will sign free agent reliever Jason Frasor, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. The Royals recently released the 37-year-old righty, who drew fairly wide interest upon hitting the market.
[RELATED: Jason Grilli Out For Season With Achilles Injury]
Frasor worked to a 1.54 ERA in his 23 1/3 innings on the season, and his fastball velocity is even up a shade over last year, but his bottom-line results were not quite supported by the peripherals. He walked 15 batters (against 18 strikeouts) over that span. And ERA estimators were down on his contributions, with SIERA valuing those innings at a decidedly negative 4.71 mark.
Of course, Frasor has had better overall numbers in the not-so-distant past. He was outstanding down the stretch and in the postseason for the Royals last year, and ended the 2014 campaign with a 2.66 ERA and 8.8 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 to go with a 46.9% groundball rate.
Atlanta has experienced rather pronounced struggles in its pen this year, and currently carries the league’s second-worst bullpen ERA (just ahead of the Coors Field-challenged Rockies). And the second-half outlook is even worse, now that the team’s best reliever — closer Jason Grilli, who had been outstanding — is shelved for the season.
Frasor won’t replace, Grilli, of course, but he will offer some promise of quality innings for a shallow pen. It’s not a move intended to push the team over the top, but it does improve the outlook at a minimal cost: the remainder of the league minimum annual salary, per David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).
The addition will also provide the organization with flexibility in managing its younger arms. And it doesn’t hurt, of course, that Frasor fits the sturdy veteran mold that John Hart & Co. have relied upon in building out their roster.
NL East Notes: Mets, d’Arnaud, Freeman, Desmond, Marlins
The Mets aren’t likely to acquire an outfielder in advance of the trade deadline, sources tell Adam Rubin of ESPN New York (Twitter link). Collectively, the Mets outfield has batted .236/.297/.369 this season, with much of that production coming courtesy of Curtis Granderson‘s very solid .243/.340/.417 batting line. The offensive contribution from Mets outfielders has been roughly 10 percent worse than the league-average batting line when accounting for park factors, evidenced by their wRC+ of just 90. Michael Cuddyer, Juan Lagares and John Mayberry Jr. have all provided little to no contribution with the bat, leaving considerable room for an upgrade. The Mets do have one of the best outfield prospects in baseball in the form of 2014 first-rounder Michael Conforto, though to this point all media reports pertaining to a Conforto promotion have indicated that such a move is not close.
Elsewhere in the National League East…
- The return of Travis d’Arnaud to the Mets‘ anemic lineup would be another way to boost the club’s run production, and Marc Carig of Newsday tweets some positive news on his recovery. D’Arnaud is out of the brace he had been wearing on his injured elbow and is participating in “limited baseball activities,” GM Sandy Alderson tells Carig. The timetable on d’Arnaud’s return remains cloudy, but the update is nonetheless encouraging for Mets fans.
- News on the Braves‘ injury front isn’t as positive, as president of baseball operations tells Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Freddie Freeman may be sidelined into the month of August. The Braves had hoped Freeman would be activated right after the All-Star break. “It’s more serious than we expected,” said Hart. “…He’s working hard to get back but it’s a slow-healing injury and it still gives him pain when he swings. … We gave him an injection and thought he would be back in two or three days but it was no better. We did further tests and found it was more serious than we thought.” A prolonged absence for the club’s best hitter does little to instill confidence that the 42-47 Braves can right the ship.
- On the heels of a dismal first half for shortstop Ian Desmond, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo gave a vote of confidence to the struggling star. “He’s our shortstop, he’s gonna be our shortstop,” said Rizzo to James Wagner of the Washington Post. “He’s a leader of the ballclub. He’s a three-time Silver Slugger that we think he’s going to be Ian Desmond in the second half. He’s got a great attitude, a great work ethic.” The strong words seem to indicate that there are no present plans for a changing of the guard at short, even an internal switch such as giving the revitalized Danny Espinosa some more at-bats at shortstop. Desmond, of course, is a free agent at season’s end, so the poor first half comes with serious financial implications.
- Though Marlins players generally like manager Dan Jennings, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the GM-turned-skipper did upset some of the club’s pitchers when stating that pitching help was on the way in the form of Jose Fernandez. Some within the clubhouse took the comment as a slight. Jackson hears that some within the clubhouse think Jennings’ motivational tactics are better suited for a room of executives than a group of players.
AL Central Notes: Montas, Twins, Tigers, Almonte
The White Sox will promote highly touted right-hander Frankie Montas as the 26th man in Friday’s double-header, Yahoo’s Jeff Passan first reported (via Twitter). Acquired along with Avisail Garcia in the three-team trade that sent Jake Peavy to Boston and Jose Iglesias to Detroit two years ago, Montas’ stock has soared over the past 24 months. MLB.com ranked him as the game’s No. 91 prospect heading into the season, and the hard-throwing Dominican hurler hasn’t disappointed at the Double-A level. He’s posted a 2.47 ERA in 15 starts at the level at the age of 22, averaging 7.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. That performance comes on the heels of a 1.44 ERA across three levels in 2014. Montas tossed a seven-inning no-hitter earlier this season and appeared in the Futures Game in Cincinnati during this year’s All-Star festivities. Though his promotion looks to be brief, he’ll give ChiSox fans a glimpse of what the team hopes is a long-term contributor.
More from the AL Central…
- Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press runs down the Twins‘ three biggest problems as the trade deadline approaches and looks at some possible solutions for the club. Setup relief, catching and shortstop have been the club’s most glaring weaknesses in 2015, writes Berardino. In looking at catchers, he notes that the Twins made contract offers to both A.J. Pierzynski and Dioner Navarro before signing Kurt Suzuki in the 2013-14 offseason, so either backstop could again become a consideration. Both the Braves and Blue Jays figure to be open to dealing their veteran catcher.
- Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN also examines the Twins‘ needs and speculates that rolling the dice on a Jimmy Rollins acquisition could be worthwhile for Minnesota. Neither Danny Santana nor Eduardo Escobar has played well enough to hold a firm grasp on the club’s starting shortstop role, and the Dodgers may want to clear the way for Corey Seager to jump to the Majors at short. Mackey, of course, notes that Rollins hasn’t played well in 2015. He’s hitting only .213/.266/.338 on the season and is expensive — owed about $4.48MM through year’s end. But, that price tag and those struggles mean he won’t cost much in a trade. Rollins’ track record as a productive player and 2015 BABIP woes make him an intriguing low-risk gamble that could rebound in the second half, Mackey concludes.
- The next 10 days or so are critical to the Tigers‘ direction at the trade deadline, writes Jason Beck of MLB.com. Beck writes that the Tigers realize the division crown is a long shot at this point, so the question for Detroit becomes whether or not they feel pursuing a Wild Card berth “as more than a crapshoot.” Contending clubs continue to ask the Tigers what their plan is going to be, Beck writes, but Detroit’s minor league clubs are also still being scouted by potential sellers like the Reds and Padres in the event that they move to add big league help. Even if the Tigers decide to buy at the deadline, payroll will be a factor, according to Beck. He also reminds that while David Price can net a compensatory draft pick this offseason if he signs elsewhere, Yoenis Cespedes cannot, due to a contractual stipulation.
- The Royals have promoted right-hander Miguel Almonte from Double-A to Triple-A and hope that the top prospect can emerge as a bullpen option in September, reports Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. The 22-year-old Almonte entered the season ranked 84th among prospects by MLB.com and 56th by Baseball Prospectus. His production in the Double-A rotation was a bit underwhelming, as he worked to a 4.03 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. McCullough notes that part of the reason for Almonte’s declined strikeout rate (he averaged 8.7 K/9 from 2013-14) is that he’s been tasked with focusing on improved fastball command and is thus using his above-average changeup less. A lot will change between now and September, but Almonte’s not on the 40-man roster, so the team would need to make a corresponding roster move if he proves worthy of another promotion.
NL East Notes: Wright, Phillies, Bethancourt
There has still been “no change” in the status of Mets third baseman David Wright, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports. While both team and player had indicated some optimism recently, Wright has still not been cleared to resume baseball activities. As Puma notes, with at least a three week delay between the point of clearance and a return to the big leagues, Wright’s window for a return this year is rather narrow.
Here are a few more quick notes from the NL East:
- Soon-to-be Phillies president Andy MacPhail ought to make it his first order of business to find a modern baseball mind to join him in Philadelphia, argues David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. As the piece puts it, the Phils have ended up in their current state not because they’ve been unable to identify talented players, but rather due to a “blind spot [in] the macro-valuation of that talent, within the context of both sheer market appraisal and the impact of opportunity cost on the organization.” For MacPhail to succeed, says Murphy, he’ll need to find a top subordinate who can get a handle on these concepts — particularly given that Philadelphia’s advantages in total spending capacity appear likely to be reduced in importance over time.
- While the Braves seemingly continue to take many positive steps, the stunted development of backstop Christian Bethancourt has been a significant disappointment, Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Schultz indicates that there was more at play in the decision to send Bethancourt down than his anemic .508 OPS, citing “weaknesses in defense and handling a pitching staff” and hinting that the 23-year-old may have maturity and/or commitment issues. Bethancourt has hit well since taking up residence at Triple-A, but we’ve heard recently that Atlanta is looking outside the organization for young talent behind the dish.