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Nationals Designate Matt Skole For Assignment

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The Nationals have announced that they’ve designated corner infielder Matt Skole for assignment. The move clears space on their 40-man roster for the newly acquired Howie Kendrick.

Skole, who turns 27, tomorrow, has spent the bulk of the season with Triple-A Syracuse, batting .235/.330/.458 over 179 plate appearances while also missing time to injury. Skole earned a place on the Nats’ 40-man roster following a 2016 season in which he posted a slash line at Syracuse that was similar to this year’s while hitting 24 homers. The 2011 fifth-round pick did not rank in MLB.com’s list of the top 30 Nationals prospects, and he has never played in the big leagues.

Brewers Designate Wily Peralta For Assignment

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The Brewers have announced that they’ve designated righty Wily Peralta for assignment. The move clears space on their active and 40-man rosters for outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, whose contract they’ve selected from Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Peralta had been a longtime member of the Brewers’ rotation, making 120 starts since his MLB debut with the club in 2012. He typically pitched serviceably or downright well, as he did in 2014, when he produced a 3.54 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 over nearly 200 innings.

This year, however, has been disastrous for Peralta — he has a 7.85 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 over 57 1/3 frames, with many of those coming in relief. He also only recently returned after missing a month due to a calf issue. He’s making $4.275MM in his second year through the arbitration process as a Super Two player, so it’s highly unlikely he’ll be claimed on waivers.

Indians Claim Diego Moreno From Rays

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The Indians have claimed righty Diego Moreno from the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. To clear space on their 40-man roster, the Indians have announced that they’ve moved lefty Boone Logan (lat) from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. They’ve also optioned Moreno to Triple-A Columbus. The Rays designated Moreno for assignment when they acquired Dan Jennings from the White Sox earlier this week.

The 30-year-old Moreno came through the Pirates’ system as a hard-throwing relief prospect, then headed to the Yankees in the A.J. Burnett deal and then to the Rays as a minor-league free agent. Despite missing time to shoulder trouble, Moreno thrived in brief duty for Triple-A Durham this season, allowing two runs over 16 1/3 innings while striking out 17. He also briefly pitched in the big leagues for the Rays, flashing a fastball in the mid-90s. He only has 16 career Major League innings to his name at this point, however.

Rockies Designate Jordan Lyles For Assignment

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The Rockies have designated righty Jordan Lyles for assignment, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. They also reinstated closer Greg Holland from the paternity list, recalled outfielder Raimel Tapia and optioned righty Carlos Estevez to Triple-A Albuquerque.

[Related: Updated Colorado Rockies Depth Chart]

The 26-year-old Lyles struggled in 46 2/3 innings of relief for the Rockies this season, posting a 6.94 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9. Lyles was a first-round pick of the Astros in 2008 and made it to the big leagues as a 20-year-old starter in 2011. He didn’t make much progress in parts of three seasons with the Astros, though, and headed to the Rockies after the 2013 season as part of the Dexter Fowler deal. Lyles had a modestly successful first season in Colorado but has headed backwards since then, ultimately landing in a bullpen role. Lyles has seen his velocity increase in recent seasons, with an average fastball of 94.3 MPH this year, and his youth, ample big-league experience and ability to start could interest rival clubs.

Reactions To The Jeremy Hellickson Trade

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Here’s a roundup of reactions to the Orioles’ somewhat puzzling weekend acquisition of Jeremy Hellickson and cash from the Phillies for Hyun Soo Kim, minor-league pitcher Garrett Cleavinger and the rights to international bonus spending.

  • From the Orioles’ perspective, the Hellickson deal feels like part of a broader plan the team hasn’t yet made clear, Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun writes. The move signals that the Orioles could be ready to part ways with someone from their struggling current starting rotation (Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Wade Miley and Ubaldo Jimenez), but Hellickson’s own numbers (he has a 4.73 ERA, and his 5.21 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and 35.1% ground-ball rate are even less encouraging) don’t suggest he can be much better.
  • Orioles exec Dan Duquette says the team made the deal because it sought a reliable starting pitcher, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes. “We’d like to be competitive,” says Duquette. “Nobody’s running away with the American League. We’ve got our bullpen back. If we can get some stability to our starting pitching, the rest of our team is intact. Hellickson has been a consistent performer and very competitive.” Duquette further explains that Trey Mancini’s emergence made Kim expendable. Mancini is batting .297/.343/.516 in a surprising rookie season. “The on-base capability that (Kim) showed last year and the ability to hit velocity, he probably didn’t have enough at-bats to sustain that with the way Mancini played as an everyday player,” he says.
  • The Phillies had little leverage in trading Hellickson, who was performing poorly and would have been a free agent at the end of the season, Corey Seidman of CSN Philly writes. Kim is also a free agent at the end of the season, and Garrett Cleavinger, the minor-leaguer the Phillies received, has unimpressive statistics as a Double-A reliever and might end up being “just a guy.”

Tigers Unlikely To Trade Justin Verlander Before Deadline

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Barring a “miracle,” Justin Verlander will remain with the Tigers through this Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline, sources tell Jon Heyman of FanRag. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the chief sticking point is Verlander’s contract, which pays him $28MM a season through 2019. Potential trade partners “want no part” of that contract, Heyman writes.

I wrote about the complexities of a potential Verlander deal earlier this week, noting Verlander’s contract, age (34) and underwhelming 2017 performance (4.50 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 over 124 innings). The Cubs have been the team most frequently connected to Verlander, and they could conceivably afford him, but his contract remains an issue. To facilitate a deal, the Tigers likely would either have to take on a significant portion of the contract, settle for a very modest talent return, or both. In addition, Verlander has a full no-trade clause. Heyman suggests Verlander could clear waivers, making an August trade a possibility, but he’s more likely to be dealt next winter.

Reds Place Zack Cozart On 10-Day DL

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The Reds have announced that they’ve placed shortstop Zack Cozart on the 10-day DL, recalling righty Kevin Shackleford from Triple-A Louisville to take his place. Cozart has been out since Tuesday after aggravating a quad injury, as Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported yesterday.

“I’m just going to obviously have to deal with the rest of the year,” Cozart said. “I’d like to get whatever happened on Tuesday to calm down a little more so I can just go back to the way I was before Tuesday.”

[Related: Updated Cincinnati Reds Depth Chart]

The move suggests the Reds won’t be trading Cozart before Monday’s deadline. Cozart has hit brilliantly (.317/.402/.568) over 322 plate appearances this season and is eligible for free agency next winter, but rumors about him were somewhat scarce in a market in which there was limited need for shortstops. He was briefly connected to the Red Sox before their acquisition of Eduardo Nunez to help at third base.

East Notes: Nationals, Wilson, Tulowitzki, Straily

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The Nationals are keenly interested in Tigers lefty Justin Wilson, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets. The rumors surrounding Wilson have been hot and heavy, with 11 teams connected to him yesterday alone, and Rosenthal notes that no team is close to completing a deal for Wilson and that there are around eight clubs still involved in the bidding. In Washington, Wilson would join an already lefty-heavy bullpen that currently features Enny Romero, Oliver Perez, Matt Grace, Sammy Solis and the newly acquired Sean Doolittle. Of course, he would be used in a late-inning role where handedness isn’t crucial. Wilson has a 2.75 ERA, 12.6 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings so far this season. Here are more quick notes from the NL.

  • The Blue Jays have placed shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on the 10-day disabled list and recalled the newly acquired Rob Refsnyder, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi tweets. The oft-injured Tulowitzki suffered an ankle injury yesterday and will have an MRI. With Tulowitzki on the shelf, some combination of Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney will likely handle shortstop duty, with Refsnyder perhaps playing a bit of second base. Tulowitzki is batting .249/.300/.378 in 260 plate appearances this season.
  • The Brewers, Royals, Rockies and Yankees all have interest in Marlins starter Dan Straily, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald writes (Twitter links). Yesterday, a report indicated that the Marlins had “taken [Straily] off the market,” although, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams noted, it would have been surprising if Straily truly were completely unavailable when the Marlins were reportedly recently initiating contact with other teams about him. At last check, the Marlins were hoping to land a terrific trade package for Straily, who’s in his second straight year as a productive starter, with a 3.84 ERA, 8.2 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 117 1/3 innings. He also has three years of control remaining after this one, potentially making him an interesting addition for a team like the Brewers or Yankees that has an eye on the future as well as the present.

Angels Designate Nick Franklin For Assignment

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The Angels have designated infielder Nick Franklin for assignment and will go with Kaleb Cowart as their primary second baseman, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times tweets. “The direction we’re moving is not going to give (Franklin) a lot of at-bats,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. The Angels have also announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Troy Scribner.

The Rays parted ways with Franklin near the beginning of the season, and he headed to the Brewers on a waiver claim and then to the Angels in a minor deal after the Brewers designated him for assignment. Overall, he’s batted .179/.269/.283 in 119 plate appearances for the season, failing to make much of an impression despite a solid offensive performance with Tampa Bay last year.

The 25-year-old Cowart batted a strong .311/.383/.482 in 413 plate appearances in Triple-A Salt Lake this season and has hit well in very limited opportunities in the big leagues. The Angels are trying to find a solution at second base after parting ways with Danny Espinosa earlier this month.

AL Notes: Twins, Indians, Mariners

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The Twins already dealt for Jaime Garcia, but their recent slide in the standings (they’ve lost their last four games and are now 50-51) could result in them dealing Garcia and other veterans, as Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press notes. Trade candidates (in addition to Garcia) could include Ervin Santana, Brandon Kintzler, Eduardo Escobar, Brian Dozier, Matt Belisle and Kyle Gibson. Interestingly, Berardino relates an anecdote from current Twins GM and former Rangers exec Thad Levine about the Rangers’ ill-fated trade of Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young to San Diego for a package headed by Adam Eaton (the former starting pitcher, not the current outfielder). “We realized this very soon after making some of those moves (in 2006) that we made some short-sighted decisions,” says Levine. “I think they were born out of a central flaw in our decision-making process, which you see across a lot of sports, which was we miscalculated where we were in the winning continuum. I think we thought we were the proverbial one player away when we really weren’t.” Here’s more from the American League.

  • The Indians are most likely to pursue relievers and/or bench players before the deadline, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweets, adding that the club could be active during waiver trading season in August. The implication seems to be that the Indians are unlikely to be involved in any huge moves in the next two days. The team had previously been connected to big bats like J.D. Martinez and Jay Bruce.
  • After acquiring pitchers David Phelps, Erasmo Ramirez and Marco Gonzales, the Mariners are probably done making trades this month, writes MLB.com’s Greg Johns. “We’re always open,” says GM Jerry Dipoto. “The phone is never very far from me, and there are areas we can improve, so we’ll keep our ears to the street. The likelihood is there probably isn’t going to be another move, but I would have told you that two days ago as well.” Dipoto adds that he’s impressed with Gonzales, who he describes as “about as big-league-ready as a Triple-A pitcher could be” and says will be back in the big leagues at some point this season.

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