Cardinals Designate Dean Anna For Assignment
The Cardinals have promoted catcher Carson Kelly to the majors, moved reliever Seth Maness to the 60-day disabled list (elbow) and designated shortstop Dean Anna for assignment, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link).
The 22-year-old Kelly joined the Cardinals organization as a second-round pick in 2012. Kelly was a third baseman until the end of the 2013 season, after which the Cardinals shifted him to catcher. From a defensive standpoint, the switch has gone well for Kelly, whom MLBPipeline.com ranks as the Redbirds’ 11th-best prospect and credits for his work behind the plate. Offensively, Kelly hit .287/.338/.403 in 236 Double-A plate appearances this year before advancing to Triple-A Memphis, where he batted .292/.352/.381.
Anna has been with St. Louis since signing a major league deal with the franchise in November 2014, but he has since made only one trip to the plate with the Cardinals. The 29-year-old has spent all of 2016 in Memphis, where he has hit .266/.344/.341 in 383 PAs. Anna owns a better line of .282/.375/.388 line in 1,740 Triple-A plate trips.
Pitcher Notes: Dodgers, Jeffress, T. Ross
Superstar Clayton Kershaw, out since late June with a herniated disc in his back, could return to the Dodgers’ rotation as early as Friday, writes Jim Alexander of the Orange County Register. The left-hander struck out five batters in three innings of 34-pitch, one-hit ball in a rehab start at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, saying afterward, “I felt good. I was able to warm up and sit in between innings and everything, stuff that’s bothered me in the past.” Prior to suffering the injury, Kershaw recorded a 1.79 ERA in 121 innings and looked like a shoo-in for the National League Cy Young Award. With a 16.11 K/BB ratio, he was also on track to shatter the record of 11.63 the Twins’ Phil Hughes set in 2014. It’s possible not pitching for two-plus months has killed Kershaw’s Cy Young changes, but he’s still among the majors’ leaders in fWAR and RA9-WAR despite having amassed far fewer innings than his closest competitors. The 28-year-old could give voters plenty to think about at season’s end, then. In the meantime, he’s primed to come back and try to help the NL West-leading Dodgers make a run at a World Series.
More news on a few other pitchers:
- Rangers reliever Jeremy Jeffress‘ stay in rehab will likely last weeks, not months, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link). If true, Jeffress – who was arrested and charged with DWI last month – will have an opportunity to return this season. Jeffress could even throw with a staff member at his rehab clinic, which contains a workout facility, says Rosenthal. With that in mind, it shouldn’t take him long to get back into game shape before rejoining the Rangers as they chase a championship.
- The Padres aren’t optimistic right-hander Tyson Ross will play much of a role the rest of the season, but they’re not ready to shut him down, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The front-line starter has been on the shelf since Opening Day on account of shoulder inflammation. With the minor league regular season ending Monday, Ross won’t have a chance to embark on a rehab assignment. That means the 29-year-old is unlikely to serve as anything more than a short reliever if he does take the mound again for the Padres this season. Going forward, Ross won’t command much of a raise on his $9.625MM salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility, but a disastrous 2016 has likely caused significant damage to his once-high trade value.
- While Kershaw’s rehab outing went swimmingly Saturday, the same wasn’t true for teammate Brett Anderson. The oft-injured southpaw, who’s on the DL with a blister in his left index finger, followed Kershaw at Rancho Cucamonga and lasted just two frames in what was supposed to be a five-inning appearance, according to Alexander. Anderson yielded six runs and nine hits to continue what has been a season to forget. Thanks to multiple injuries, Anderson has thrown a mere four innings for the Dodgers this season. In his limited work, he has surrendered 11 earned runs on 14 hits and three walks.
MLBTR Originals
Here are MLBTR’s original features from this week:
- To kick off September, Tim Dierkes updated his free agent power rankings for the upcoming offseason. Just two pitchers – a pair of relievers – cracked the top 10.
- MLBTR was happy to welcome former Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs, who wrote a piece questioning the Dodgers’ recent decision to trade catcher A.J. Ellis to the Phillies for fellow backstop Carlos Ruiz. Statistics aside, from Spilborghs’ experience, beloved teammates like Ellis are integral to a club’s success.
- In his latest guest column, former reliever Burke Badenhop explained what became of his die-hard Braves fandom when he broke into the big leagues. Badenhop’s career began with the Marlins, one of the Braves’ NL East rivals, and his first outing against the team he grew up rooting for didn’t go particularly well, as he detailed.
- Fourteen major league free agents signed contracts for four-plus years last offseason, but the upcoming winter’s weak-looking market means there could be fewer deals of that length handed out before the 2017 campaign. Tim addressed that and surveyed readers on which players are likeliest to end up signing for four or more years after this season.
- Charlie Wilmoth examined the free agent stock of Pirates right-hander Ivan Nova, a trade deadline acquisition from the Yankees who has served as the Pittsburgh pitching staff’s latest unexpected success story since joining the team.
- Former Pirates reliever and current Nationals closer Mark Melancon is also scheduled to hit free agency, so Mark Polishuk took a look at what the market could have in store for the shutdown righty.
- Jeff Todd highlighted 10 under-the-radar free agents-to-be who are amid successful seasons and could soon receive nice deals as a result.
- In another offseason-oriented piece, I ran down six impending free agents who haven’t performed up to expectations this year. Their disappointing seasons could weaken their earning power.
- Jeff also updated a previous post by Steve Adams and Zach Links concerning notable contract extensions that were awarded in the previous five Septembers.
Phillies To Shut Down Vince Velasquez
Right-hander Vince Velasquez‘s Saturday start was his final outing of 2016, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen, who tweets that the Phillies will shut him down for the rest of the season. Velasquez made his last showing of the year count, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs with eight strikeouts and no walks in a 6-4 loss to the Braves.
The fact that the Phillies are putting an early end to the prized 24-year-old’s campaign comes as no surprise after manager Pete Mackanin revealed last week that it would happen in the near future. It turns out the time is now for Velasquez, who amassed a personal-high 131 innings of 4.12 ERA ball in his first full major league season. Velasquez also struck out 10.44 batters per nine innings, putting him in a seventh-place tie among starters who have tossed at least 120 innings, against a respectable walk rate of 3.09. Moreover, he induced infield fly balls at a 13.0 percent rate, good for a top 15 mark among starters.
Velasquez’s 2016 wasn’t without storm clouds, as he went on the disabled list in June with a right biceps strain and then, after his return, dealt with trade rumors in July. No deal came to fruition, but switching organizations wouldn’t have been anything new for Velasquez, whom the Phillies acquired from the Astros last offseason. Velasquez headlined the package Houston sent to Philadelphia for shutdown reliever Ken Giles, and it’s fair to say the rebuilding Phillies made out well in Velasquez’s first year with the club.
Padres Unlikely To Exercise Alexei Ramirez’s Option
The Padres are unlikely to pick up their end of shortstop Alexei Ramirez‘s $4MM mutual option for 2017, reports AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Letting Ramirez go would cost the Padres $1MM in the form of a buyout, but his poor output in 2016 won’t leave the club with much choice during the offseason.
Regarding his future, Ramirez said, “I just want to finish this season well, but that’s something that’s out of my hands. It’s not in my control what happens there, so I just prepare myself, finish the season strong.”
With the Padres shifting toward a youth movement at short, where they’ve played Jose Rondon and Luis Sardinas lately, the soon-to-be 35-year-old Ramirez has begun adjusting to right field as a way to stay in the lineup against left-handed pitchers. Ramirez has hit a useful .298/.350/.404 in 123 plate appearances versus lefties this year, but his overall line of .240/.275/.331 through 440 PAs makes him a poor fit as an everyday player. Ramirez hasn’t been any better in the field, where he ranks last among shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-17) and Ultimate Zone Rating (minus-14.4)
This is the second subpar season in a row for Ramirez, whose eight-year tenure with the White Sox ended in forgettable fashion in 2015. At his best, Ramirez batted a combined .275/.313/.395 with 78 home runs in 3,868 trips to the plate from 2009-14, also playing no fewer than 148 games in each season, adding 105 steals and totaling 18.5 fWAR.
The Padres were surely hoping Ramirez would bounce back to his past form when they signed him to a one-year, $3MM deal last winter, which perhaps would’ve paved the way for an in-season trade, but that hasn’t been the case. As a result, the Friars were considering releasing Ramirez as of last month. While the Padres haven’t yet cut Ramirez, his time in their uniform is likely running out.
Cam Bedrosian To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery
Angels reliever Cam Bedrosian will undergo season-ending surgery Tuesday to repair a blood clot in his pitching arm, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. The surgery is unlikely to affect Bedrosian’s ability to pitch in 2017, Fletcher adds.
Bedrosian joins closer Huston Street as the second late-game option for the Halos whose season will end prematurely. Street underwent knee surgery Aug. 23, though he was far less effective this season than Bedrosian.
The 24-year-old Bedrosian landed on the disabled list Aug. 9 with finger tendinitis, leading to the discovery of a blood clot. Bedrosian had quietly established himself as a relief ace before then, logging a stunning 1.12 ERA, 11.39 K/9, 3.12 BB/9 and 49.5 percent-ground ball rate in 40 1/3 innings. His performance this year represents a massive turnaround for a right-hander who pitched to a 5.81 ERA with 5.3 BB/9 in 52 2/3 combined frames over the previous two campaigns. Part of Bedrosian’s dominance this season was thanks to an improved slider, as FanGraphs’ Jeff Sullivan detailed last month. If the 2010 first-rounder continues his excellence next year, he should set himself up as a long-term closer solution.
Injury Notes: Wright, Cole, Bailey, Floyd
Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright continues to deal with right shoulder issues, leading the club to scratch him from his scheduled Tuesday start in San Diego, manager John Farrell said Saturday (Twitter link via Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe). Clay Buchholz is likely to replace Wright, who hurt his shoulder while pinch running in early August and will next go for a second opinion on it. Wright has endured a stint on the disabled list and two poor starts since suffering the injury, though his numbers began going downhill toward the end of June. The pristine 2.01 ERA he had through June 20 is now up to 3.33 (still a terrific number) through 156 2/3 frames.
More injury updates:
- Pirates ace Gerrit Cole threw off a mound Saturday for the first time since Aug. 24, his most recent start, and tossed 30 pitches – all of which were fastballs. “It went really well. I felt pretty good,” Cole said afterward (via Andrew Erickson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Cole has been on the DL since Tuesday, retroactive to Aug. 25, with right elbow inflammation – which is the latest in a series of ailments that have troubled him this year. He was previously on the DL for a month earlier this summer with a right triceps muscle strain. The earliest Cole can return from his current injury is Friday. Despite an ugly four-start stretch prior to his DL placement, Cole has still notched a 3.55 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.53 BB/9 in 114 innings this season.
- The Reds don’t expect the tightness Homer Bailey is dealing with in his right biceps to end his season, writes Cody Pace of MLB.com. “At this point, we’re not discussing that,” manager Bryan Price said in regards to the possibility of shutting down Bailey. “But it would be something that we would discuss. We’re not going to force this to happen. That’s not the goal. The goal is to get him healthy and not have to look back and not have to be as conservative as we have on the front end of this rehab.” Bailey, who exited his start last Sunday after just one inning, returned July 31 on the heels of missing nearly all of last season and the first four months this year because of May 2015 Tommy John surgery. Bailey’s latest injury is unrelated to his elbow, fortunately, but his comeback hasn’t gone smoothly this year. In 23 innings, the 30-year-old has allowed 17 earned runs on 35 hits, though he has amassed a prolific 27 strikeouts against seven walks. The Reds owe him $68MM through 2020.
- The sprained right shoulder capsule that has kept Blue Jays reliever Gavin Floyd out since late June will likely end his season, per Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. The injury, which was initially diagnosed as a torn lat muscle, shouldn’t affect Floyd’s ability to pitch in 2017. The impending free agent turned in a respectable performance this year as part of Toronto’s bullpen, recording a 4.06 ERA, 8.31 K/9 and 2.32 BB/9 in 31 innings.
Lucas Duda Could Return In 2016
The Mets have not ruled out a 2016 return for first baseman Lucas Duda, reports SNY. Duda has been on the shelf since late May because of a stress fracture in his lower back, and an early August setback in his recovery caused the Mets to shut him down for 30 days. The 30-year-old slugger is now back to hitting soft toss in Port St. Lucie, Fla., and could soon partake in live batting practice, per SNY.
The optimistic update on Duda comes during a week in which the Mets have lost second baseman Neil Walker and right-hander Zack Wheeler for the season with injuries, while ace righty Jacob deGrom will miss at least one start with forearm soreness. Despite injury issues and an underwhelming record (69-66), the defending National League champions are only two games behind St. Louis for the NL’s second wild-card spot.
One reason the Mets aren’t nearly as formidable as they were last year is an inability to score runs. Despite being second in the NL in homers, the Mets have totaled the third-fewest runs in their league. Duda’s replacement, James Loney, hasn’t helped matters. Loney has batted a meager .258/.302/.369 in 299 plate appearances, making him one of the least effective first basemen in the sport this year. Duda wasn’t that much more successful in his 145 pre-injury PAs (.231/.297/.431), but he did combine to hit an easily above-average .249/.349/.453 with 97 long balls in 2,340 plate trips from 2011-15.
If Duda comes back sometime down the stretch and shows he’s healthy, it could help him stay in a Mets uniform beyond this season. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd wrote last week, Duda is a potential non-tender candidate for the upcoming winter. He’s currently on a $6.725MM salary and is scheduled to make one more trip through arbitration.
6 Impending Free Agents Who Have Hurt Their Stock
While the free agent market for the upcoming offseason didn’t look overly appealing entering the current campaign, it appears even weaker now that several prominent contract-year players haven’t lived up to their previous standards in 2016. As seen on this list, plenty of impending free agents have endured rough seasons, but the six we’ll highlight have arguably hurt themselves the most.
Jose Bautista, OF, Blue Jays: Multiple reports during spring training indicated that Bautista, 36 in October, was seeking a long-term pact worth upward of $150MM. If that type of deal seemed like a pipe dream for Bautista back then, it should now be an impossibility. (In a poll conducted yesterday, just 13 percent of MLBTR readers pegged Bautista as the recipient of a free agent deal spanning four or more seasons.) From his out-of-nowhere 2010 breakout through last season, Bautista amassed 3,604 plate appearances and combined to hit a superb .268/.390/.555. Along the way, he accounted for 32.5 fWAR – the majors’ fifth-highest total among position players – walked almost as much as he struck out (15.9 percent to 16.0 percent), and hit 28 more home runs (227) than his nearest competitor, Miguel Cabrera.
The version of Bautista who laid waste to opposing pitchers for six straight years hasn’t been present this season. While he’s still controlling the strike zone with aplomb (60 unintentional walks against 65 punchouts), his .229/.350/.454 line through 380 PAs looks closer to average than to spectacular. Bautista has also gone on the disabled list twice this summer, which would be less alarming if not for his age. Although he vowed in March to defy traditional aging curves, the bottom line is that Bautista has since failed to approach his previous production and dealt with multiple injuries. Those realities don’t bode well for Bautista’s earning power, but he should still reel in a sizable contract from Toronto or someone else. Closing the season on a tear for the World Series-contending Blue Jays would certainly help his cause.
Carlos Gomez, OF, Rangers: Arguably no major leaguer has declined more over the past year than Gomez, who could have lined himself up for a $150MM payday with another excellent season, as MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes wrote in March. Gomez, whom Houston acquired from Milwaukee for a significant haul last summer, began the season with a .210/.272/.322 line through his first 323 PAs. The Astros then pulled the plug on the Gomez experiment in August, releasing him just over a year after they traded for the erstwhile star.
Gomez caught on with the Rangers shortly after the Astros parted with him, but a change of Texas scenery hasn’t led to anything resembling a turnaround. In his brief stint in Arlington, the 30-year-old has gone 1 for 19 at the dish with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Gomez has never been great at avoiding strikeouts, but the 32.2 percent rate he has put up this year is easily the highest of his career, and it’s 11 percent worse than his clip from 2015. He has shown minimal power in the process, thereby rendering his swing-and-miss spike all the more damning. A plus defender in previous years, Gomez has also experienced a drop-off in the field this season. While he has done well stealing bases (13 of 15), that alone isn’t enough to make the free-falling Gomez a valuable player these days. It also won’t be enough for him to garner much money in the offseason.
Orioles Option T.J. McFarland, Designate Julio Borbon For Assignment
AUG. 29: The Orioles announced today that McFarland has been optioned to Triple-A, meaning he’s been placed on the 40-man roster once again. It’s a fairly rare procedure, but McFarland had to technically be designated for assignment in order to clear optional waivers. Players that have options remaining but made their big league debut more than three years ago must first clear optional waivers before going to a minor league affiliate.
MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko wrote this morning that McFarland would likely be placed on optional waivers, but Borbon’s DFA is a traditional one. The team is hoping he’ll clear waivers and accept an outright assignment.
AUG. 28: The Orioles have designated left-hander T.J. McFarland and outfielder Julio Borbon for assignment, per a club announcement. They’ve also confirmed the signing of right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter and recalled fellow righty Oliver Drake from Triple-A Norfolk.
McFarland still has minor league options remaining, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets, but that didn’t stop the Orioles from designating him. The 27-year-old has endured a season to forget, having logged a 6.93 ERA, 2.55 K/9 and 3.65 BB/9 in 24 2/3 innings despite a 60.2 percent ground-ball rate. From 2013-15, McFarland amassed 105 appearances and compiled a 3.89 ERA, 6.12 K/9, 3.06 BB/9 and 60.8 percent grounder rate across 173 2/3 frames.
Borbon, 30, has spent most of the year with Double-A Bowie and has racked up just 15 major league plate appearances as a result. Those were the first trips to the plate in the majors since 2013 for Borbon, who has mostly been at the Triple-A level over the past couple years. Borbon has hit .273/.318/.347 with eight home runs and 47 steals in 878 major league PAs.