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Minor MLB Transactions: 9/28/15

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.

  • The Orioles have reached an agreement with 18-year-old Australian lefty Alex Wells, according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (on Twitter). Wells will receive $300K, Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets. Wells’ twin brother Lachlan is a prospect in the Twins’ system.
  • The O’s have also signed righty Michael Zouzalik from the St. Paul Saints, CSNmidatlantic.com’s Rich Dubroff tweets. The Rangers originally signed Zouzalik in 2012 after an open tryout, and he pitched for one season in the minors before ending up in independent ball. This season, he had a solid year in St. Paul’s bullpen, posting a 2.06 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 48 innings.
  • No move is yet official, but veteran lefty Jo-Jo Reyes is working out with the Angels, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez tweets. The 30-year-old pitched 68 innings with the Angels’ Triple-A Salt Lake affiliate this season, posting a 4.76 ERA, 6.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. He’s pitched for the Braves, Blue Jays and Orioles in the past, but hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2011. The Angels could be considering adding him to their roster due to the rash of injuries to their pitching staff that also recently led them to sign Mat Latos.

Quick Hits: Gray, Epstein, McClendon, Desmond

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Athletics ace Sonny Gray will not pitch again this year, MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. Gray left his start on Friday with tightness in his hip. Gray has been a huge standout in what’s otherwise been a frustrating season in Oakland — he’s pitched 208 innings with a 2.73 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 52.7% ground ball rate, posting ace-caliber numbers for a 65-91 team. Starting in Gray’s place on Wednesday will be veteran Barry Zito, who will be making his third start of the season in his comeback with the A’s. Here are more notes from throughout the game.

  • Cubs owner Tom Ricketts says the team will eventually work on an extension for president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, but that will wait until after the season, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. “Theo and I have a great relationship. Obviously, the results are great,” says Ricketts. “Everyone in the baseball organization, we’re on a mission. And we want to keep that mission going forward.” Epstein is currently signed through next season to a five-year, $18.5MM contract. Given the Cubs’ strong season and the escalation in executive salaries since his deal was struck in late 2011 (Andrew Friedman’s contract with the Dodgers is worth $35MM), Epstein’s next deal will likely be significantly more lucrative.
  • Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon had what he describes as a “great” conversation with new GM Jerry Dipoto on Monday, MLB.com’s Greg Johns writes. It isn’t yet clear whether Dipoto will retain McClendon next season, however. “I’m under contract to manage next year, and hopefully I’ll manage the club,” says McClendon. “So beyond that, if you’re looking for security in this game, you’re in the wrong business. That’s me and every other manager.”
  • Impending free agent shortstop Ian Desmond has fans in the Padres organization, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. The Padres, of course, have a need at shortstop, and Desmond’s struggles with the Nationals this year (during which he’s batted .236/.289/.389) should make him available more cheaply, and on a shorter deal, than he previously figured to get.
  • Rockies 2015 first-round picks Brendan Rodgers (No. 3 overall) and especially Mike Nikorak (No. 27) had uneven pro debuts, but the team isn’t worried, MLB.com’s Jim Callis writes. Rodgers hit well (.273/.340/.420) at rookie-level Grand Junction, especially given his age, but suffered through hamstring troubles. Nikorak walked 32 batters in 17 2/3 innings, also for Grand Junction. The Rockies believe that Rodgers’ injury issues were due to a long break between the end of his high school season and the start of his pro career, and they’re going to help him work on his conditioning. Rockies director of player development Zach Wilson says he isn’t concerned about Nikorak’s debut. “Quite frankly, this season is going to be the best thing that ever happened to Mike Nikorak,” says Wilson. “He’s got the mentality to learn from this and make adjustments.”

Latest On Angels’ GM Search

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Here’s the latest on the Angels’ hunt for a new GM.

  • Mariners farm director Chris Gwynn interviewed last weekend for the job, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. Gwynn, Tony’s younger brother, played parts of ten seasons with the Dodgers, Royals and Padres as an outfielder, then worked in the Padres’ scouting department for over a decade before taking his current position with the Mariners.
  • Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler still appears to be the front-runner, MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez writes (Twitter links). The decision might not be officially announced, however, until after the Yankees are eliminated from the postseason. In any case, the Angels seem to be down to a small number of candidates. (In addition to Eppler and Gwynn, other names that have been connected to the position include Rangers assistant Thad Levine, former Diamondbacks and Padres GM Josh Byrnes, former Padres and Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers, Blue Jays assistant Tony LaCava, Indians vice president of player personnel Ross Atkins, Angels director of pro scouting Hal Morris, and current Angels assistants Matt Klentak and Scott Servais.)
  • Regardless of who it is, the team will likely wait until after the season is over to announce their choice, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times tweets.

Nationals Notes: Boras, Rizzo, Papelbon/Harper

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The Nationals might not be headed to the playoffs, but they’ve certainly owned the headlines today, thanks to the Jonathan Papelbon / Bryce Harper confrontation yesterday (and Papelbon’s subsequent suspension) and Max Scherzer taking a no-hitter into the eighth against the Reds this afternoon. Here’s the latest from Washington.

  • Scott Boras represents a number of key Nationals players, but he rejects criticisms that he has something to do with the team having underachieved lately, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. Boras represents Scherzer, Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth, Danny Espinosa, and now Gio Gonzalez and Denard Span. Boras, though, points out that he also has several clients each on the Rangers, Cubs and Royals, all of whom are likely or definite playoff teams. “The issue is whenever I have had a number of players on the team, the vast majority of times it goes very well,” says Boras.
  • Nats GM Mike Rizzo’s deal goes through 2016 and contains a club option for 2017, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. The Nats will reportedly keep Rizzo for next season, although the details of his contract do seem relevant, given the Nats’ high-profile collapse this season.
  • Public opinion understandably (and, from my vantage point, very justifiably) came down against Papelbon for his actions in his dustup with Harper, but responses from players were more mixed, pitcher-turned-commentator C.J. Nitkowski of FOX Sports writes. Some said Papelbon’s behavior was acceptable or that they “would have done the same thing,” seemingly proving Nitkowski’s point that “the clubhouse is like no other place.”
  • Another former pitcher, Dirk Hayhurst of VICE Sports, writes that the fight was the consequence of baseball’s strange culture in which “the preferred tool for teaching is assault, and no one has any idea what that lesson is actually being taught because all the important stuff is not written down anywhere.”
  • Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, meanwhile, argues that criticism of Harper for the altercation is unfair. Harper did run out the ball on the play that led to the fracas, and he’s played hard this season. He’s also been accommodating of media and autograph requests. And he has, of course, played brilliantly, while some of his teammates have foundered.

Angels Sign Mat Latos

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The Angels have signed veteran starter Mat Latos, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. To clear space for Latos on their 40-man roster, they recalled catcher Rafael Lopez and placed him on the 60-day DL with fractured hand, tweets MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez. Latos will not be eligible for postseason play, but he can pitch for the Angels the rest of the regular season, after which he’ll become a free agent.

Latos began the 2015 season with the Marlins, who traded him to the Dodgers in July. The Dodgers designated him for assignment and then released him earlier this month. Latos is making $9.4MM this season, but most of what’s left of that deal will be paid by the Dodgers (and by the Marlins, who sent the Dodgers an undisclosed amount when they traded him, via Cot’s).

Latos has had an uneven year, posting a 4.95 ERA, 7.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 112 2/3 innings. From the Angels’ perspective, though, the precise quality of Latos’ play going forward is probably less important than the fact that he’s a veteran starting pitcher they could acquire quickly and cheaply. His acquisition appears to be merely a short-term move for an Angels team that needs an extra arm, either for its rotation or its bullpen. Jered Weaver has a shoulder injury, Matt Shoemaker has a forearm issue and won’t make his next start, and Huston Street and Joe Smith are dealing with injury as well.

How They Were Built: Pittsburgh Pirates

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This week, the Pirates clinched their third straight playoff berth, and they’ve been as strong as ever this year, with a 95-win total that ranks second in the Majors. Most successful small-payroll teams are built through their farm systems, and the Pirates do lean heavily on theirs. But they’ve also gotten surprising production from veterans, most of whom they’ve acquired for pennies on the dollar. Here’s how they got their key players.

CF Andrew McCutchen (5.8 fWAR in 2015). In 2005, the Pirates, then led by Dave Littlefield, took McCutchen with the No. 11 overall pick in the draft. That pick sticks out as an outstanding one even in a first round loaded with top-tier talent — other early first-rounders that year included Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki and Jay Bruce. Of course, 2005 was long ago, and McCutchen is still in Pittsburgh thanks in part to his contract. He entered 2015 with over five years of service time, and it’s likely the Pirates would have traded him by now had current GM Neal Huntington not signed him to an incredibly team-friendly $51.5MM extension that allows the Bucs to control him through 2018.

SP Gerrit Cole (5.5). The Bucs made Cole the first overall pick in the 2011 draft, ahead of other potential top picks like Anthony Rendon, Danny Hultzen and Trevor Bauer. A number of first-round picks from that draft have had very good careers so far, including Rendon, Sonny Gray, Jose Fernandez and George Springer, but the Pirates are surely very happy with their choice — Cole didn’t quite turn his elite stuff into elite results in his first couple seasons in the big leagues, but this year he’s emerged as an ace, posting a 2.60 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 201 terrific innings.

IF Jung-Ho Kang (3.9). Kang injured his knee while trying to turn a double play last week and is now out for the season, but he made a big impact in his first year in Pittsburgh. Kang hasn’t matched the 40-homer power he displayed in his last year with the Nexen Heroes in Korea, but he hit .287/.355/.461 in his first season in the US, also adding value with his defense and baserunning. The Pirates got him for an incredibly cheap $11MM over four years, plus a posting fee of approximately $5MM. That deal was possible because no one knew what to expect from Kang, the first position player from the KBO to make the leap to the Majors. Next winter, Kang’s former teammate Byung-Ho Park will likely benefit greatly from Kang’s success.

LF Starling Marte (3.6). Pirates Latin American scouting director Rene Gayo takes pride in finding good players others miss, and he prefers to spread available bonus money around to many player rather than one or two. Marte, right fielder Gregory Polanco and infield prospect Alen Hanson are the gems of the Pirates’ recent efforts in Latin America, and none cost more than $150K. Marte was already 18 — old for an unsigned Latin American prospect — when Gayo signed him for just $85K in 2007. In 2014, Marte finally cashed in, signing a $31MM extension with two options that allows the Bucs to control his rights through 2021.

C Francisco Cervelli (3.6). Russell Martin helped lead the Pirates to playoff berths in 2013 and 2014, but the Bucs had little choice but to allow him to depart when the Blue Jays offered him five years and $82MM last winter. To replace him, they made a low-profile trade with the Yankees, getting Cervelli in exchange for reliever Justin Wilson. The deal hasn’t turned out badly for New York — Wilson has been a key cog in the Bronx bullpen, and the Yankees already had a starting catcher in Brian McCann. But Cervelli has been a revelation in Pittsburgh, hitting nearly as well as Martin did and ranking as the best catcher in the big leagues in pitch framing, all for less than a million dollars. The Bucs also control his services for 2016.

SP Francisco Liriano (3.3). Last offseason, the Bucs signed Liriano to a three-year, $39MM free agent contract last year that’s at least somewhat close to what he’s worth, but they originally signed him to a cheap two-year deal prior to 2013 after two seasons in which he posted ERAs above five. Like many pitchers, Liriano has shined in Pittsburgh thanks in part to the Pirates’ program of ground balls, pitch framing, excellent coaching, and defensive shifts. He’s been arguably the most successful of the Bucs’ pitching reclamation projects, joining current rotation-mates A.J. Burnett (2.8 fWAR) and J.A. Happ (1.7 fWAR since the Bucs acquired him in a low-profile move at the deadline) as starting pitchers who have thrived in black and gold.

SP A.J. Burnett (2.8). After a year with the Phillies, Burnett turned down a player option with Philadelphia and signed a one-year deal with the Pirates for significantly less ($8.5MM) so that he could finish his career with the Bucs. Burnett battled through hernia issues with the Phillies, but his significantly better performances with the Pirates as compared to the Phillies and Yankees are no accident — the Bucs’ ballpark and pitcher-friendly system are great fits for him.

2B Neil Walker (2.5). The Bucs selected Walker in the first round of the draft the year before they picked McCutchen, and Walker has enjoyed a strong career playing in his hometown. Unlike with McCutchen, though, the Pirates haven’t extended Walker, perhaps figuring his skills aren’t as likely to age as well. Walker played catcher and third base before moving to second in the big leagues and isn’t an outstanding defender there, and it’s unclear how much defensive value he’ll have as he ages. He’s still a good and consistent hitter with excellent power for a second baseman, but he turned 30 this month and is eligible for free agency after next season. He’ll be an interesting qualifying offer candidate a year from now.

CL Mark Melancon (1.5). After the 2012 season, the Bucs traded then-closer Joel Hanrahan and utilityman Brock Holt to the Red Sox for Melancon and three other players. Holt has had a surprisingly good career, but the key player in the deal at the time was Hanrahan, who got hurt soon after the trade and never recovered. The Pirates, meanwhile, turned Melancon, who had posted a 6.20 ERA the year before, into a setup man and then a closer. The Bucs were surely intrigued by Melancon’s peripherals (8.2 K/9, 2.4 BB/9) and ability to generate ground balls. Since the trade, he’s emerged as a dominant reliever.

Carlos Martinez To Miss Rest Of Season

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SATURDAY: Martinez has a shoulder strain and will miss the rest of the season, the Cardinals have announced. Martinez will also miss the postseason. He will not have surgery, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets.

FRIDAY: Cardinals righty Carlos Martinez left his start against the Brewers tonight after throwing just seven pitches. The team has announced that Martinez has right shoulder tightness and that his departure from the game was precautionary. He will receive an MRI tomorrow, manager Mike Matheny said.

Martinez was visibly in pain after that seventh pitch, turning his shoulder awkwardly and stepping off the mound. He then covered his face with his glove as he walked off the field. His average fastball velocity this year has been over 95 MPH, but none of his pitches tonight topped 93 MPH.

At this point in the season, losing Martinez for any significant period of time would be unfortunate for the Cardinals. Like most of the rest of the Cards’ starters, Martinez has been terrific this year. He has a 3.01 ERA, 9.2 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and an excellent 54.7% ground ball rate in 179 1/3 innings, and he’s emerged as one of the National League’s top young starters.

Tigers To Keep Brad Ausmus As Manager

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Brad Ausmus will remain as manager of the Tigers, the team has announced. New GM Al Avila says Ausmus’ recent work with young players was a key reason the Tigers decided to keep him, according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck (on Twitter). Avila says Tigers ownership allowed him to make the decision, writes Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. There have, however, not been any extension talks between the two sides (Twitter links). Ausmus is currently under contract through 2016, with a team option for 2017.

“On Friday afternoon, I met with manager Brad Ausmus and during our discussion I told him I wanted him to continue as manager of the Tigers in 2016,” said Avila in a statement. “It is my belief, and our collective belief within our baseball operations department, that Brad is the right manager for this team given where the team is, at this point in time, and for us to achieve our goals in 2016.”

As recently as last week, it had looked like the Tigers would fire Ausmus at the end of the season. Reporting earlier this month had suggested the Tigers had already decided to fire Ausmus, but Avila said in response that no decision had been made.

Ausmus is 162-153 in almost two full seasons on the job. That includes a 90-win performance in his first season and a 72-81 record this year. It’s been a tough season for the Tigers, who released longtime GM Dave Dombrowski from his contract in August and traded key veterans David Price and Yoenis Cespedes in July.

Going forward, the Tigers still have a core expensive veterans in Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez and Anibal Sanchez. Of those players, the only ones who have contributed at levels befitting their contracts are Cabrera and Kinsler. The Tigers are currently in last place, and they likely won’t be expected to contend in 2016, either, so Ausmus’ most important role with the Tigers could be helping them develop younger players like James McCann, Anthony Gose, Jose Iglesias and Daniel Norris.

Quick Hits: Managers, Sierra, Red Sox

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Too many MLB managers are former players, Adam Felder argues in a provocative piece for the Atlantic. 77% of MLB managers once played in MLB, whereas in other major sports, whereas only about half of all NBA and NHL head coaches played, and about a quarter of NFL head coaches did. Meanwhile, the performance of some MLB managers with limited experience beyond their playing careers, such as the Nationals’ Matt Williams, suggests that some teams might be weighting playing experience too heavily when hiring managers. Felder suggests one solution might be for teams to employ one person to handle tactical decisions and another — perhaps more likely to be a former player — to lead the clubhouse. Here are more quick notes from around the big leagues.

  • 20-year-old Cuban righty Carlos Sierra will have a showcase on October 13 in Florida, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez tweets. As Sanchez noted in an earlier article, Sierra pitched three years in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, but this year he pitched for the Tenerife Marlins in the top baseball league in Spain. Sierra is now a citizen of Spain, and he left Cuba through legal means. He will be subject to rules regarding international bonus pools.
  • Dave Dombrowski added Frank Wren to the Red Sox front office because he wants associates who aren’t afraid to voice their opinions, Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald writes. “I know Frank will speak his mind. He will disagree with me. He has before,” says Dombrowski, who worked with Wren in the Expos and Marlins organizations. “But also, the other people in the organization –€” we had our free agent scouts, I told them how important that is. Don’t just say it because you think it’€™s what I want to hear.”

Playoff Notes: Cubs, Blue Jays, Pirates

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The latest teams to clinch playoff spots are the Cubs (who earned theirs when the Giants were eliminated with a loss last night) and Blue Jays (who won their spot with a win over the Rays and a Twins loss to the Tigers. For both teams, it’s been a long time coming. The Cubs haven’t been to the playoffs since 2008, when they fell in the NLDS to the Dodgers. The Jays, meanwhile, haven’t been to the playoffs since 1993, when Joe Carter walked off against the Phillies in the World Series. Here are more quick notes on playoff-bound teams.

  • The Blue Jays are well positioned for a playoff run, John Lott of the National Post writes. The additions of David Price (via trade) and Marcus Stroman (via a return from injury) have given the Jays two front-line starting pitchers of a type they lacked early in the season.
  • After 20 straight losing seasons, the Pirates are now playoff regulars, the Associated Press writes. After Bob Nutting took over as the face of Pirates ownership and Neal Huntington as their GM, the Bucs’ transformation started at the bottom. They spent heavily on the draft, reorganized their scouting department, and invested in their Latin American program. After the Pirates’ collapse in 2012, though, the team nearly decided to change course. “Everything was up for discussion, for review, for throwing us all out,” says Nutting. They Pirates kept their front office in place, and they’ve made the playoffs in three consecutive years since then.

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