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Rockies Place Jake McGee On Injured List

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The Rockies have placed lefty Jake McGee on the 10-day injured list, Nick Groke of The Athletic was among those to tweet. He’ll be replaced by Carlos Estevez on the active roster.

McGee, 32, has been diagnosed with a left knee sprain. He has had some difficulties in that joint in the past, including a 2015 procedure to resolve a torn meniscus. The severity and anticipated timeline are not yet known.

This is the latest concerning bit of news for a Rockies relief unit that has not performed up to the level of investment that it took to compile it. McGee is one of several veteran hurlers who has struggled on a long-term deal; in his case, he’s just starting the second season of a three-year, $27MM pact after limping to a 6.49 ERA in 51 1/3 innings last year.

There have been some positive signs for McGee, who had three strikeouts through his first two outings of the regular season after carrying a 9:2 K/BB ratio in seven frames this spring. But he also coughed up nine earned runs on a dozen hits (including two home runs) in Cactus League action.

Now, McGee will need to get back to health before he’s able to resume his quest to get back on track on the hill. He joins fellow southpaw Chris Rusin on the injured list, leaving Mike Dunn and Harrison Musgrave as the left-side options for Colorado skipper Bud Black.

Blue Jays Acquire Socrates Brito

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The Blue Jays have acquired outfielder Socrates Brito from the Padres, according to a club announcement. Outfielder Rodrigo Orozco goes to San Diego in return.

There’s quite a bit of change afoot in the Toronto outfield mix. The club shipped Kevin Pillar out earlier today. Anthony Alford is on his way up, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). And to create 40-man space for the latest moves, the Jays shifted Dalton Pompey to the 60-day injured list.

Brito will give the Jays a left-handed-hitting, defensive-oriented option in center. He could pair there with Randal Grichuk, who seems likely to slide into the opening created by the departure of Pillar.

It was never really clear what the San Diego organization had in mind with regard to Brito, but it seems they nabbed him off waivers with an eye to flipping him. They’ll be rewarded for their efforts with Orozco, who turns 24 today and hasn’t yet played above the High-A level. The switch-hitter posted a .304/.375/.389 slash with forty walks and 53 strikeouts in 424 plate appearances last year. He also swiped 18 bags.

Giants Acquire Kevin Pillar From Blue Jays In Four-Player Swap

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The Giants and Blue Jays have announced a trade that will send outfielder Kevin Pillar to San Francisco. Heading back to Toronto in return are righty Derek Law, recently designated infielder Alen Hanson, and righty Juan De Paula.

The Giants designated outfielder Michael Reed to create roster space. He joins both Law and Hanson as recent 40-man roster casualties. Law had already been outrighted prior to this move, while Hanson was still in DFA limbo.

It’s not immediately clear how the Giants will line up in the outfield. Youngster Steven Duggar is likely in line for most of the time in center, but Pillar would offer a platoon match there — the former hits from the left side, the latter from the right — and could also spend time in the corners. He was obviously preferred to the untested Reed, who was added to the mix via late in camp.

Pillar, 30, has some pop but struggles in the on-base department. He’s a lifetime .260/.297/.396 hitter, but has been better (100 wRC+) against left-handed pitching. Pillar’s appeal lies in his glovework and baserunning. While metrics dimmed on his overall defensive work last year, Pillar has a history of outstanding work up the middle and has one of the game’s most impressive highlight reels on the outfield grass. He could end up being moved at the deadline, kept as a one-year fill-in piece, or kept for 2020 via arbitration (his final season of control).

For the Jays, Pillar simply wasn’t part of the long-term plans. This transaction is the latest that clears out roster space and sheds some payroll. The club could have held onto Pillar in hopes that he’d turn in a quality first half and become a mid-season trade chip, but will instead drop his $5.8MM salary and open the door for Anthony Alford to get a shot at the majors.

The Toronto organization does pick up a few potentially helpful roster assets in Law and Hanson. The former had a nice 2016 debut but has struggled since. Law will be available as a depth relief piece if a need arises. Hanson, 26, was a major contributor least year in San Francisco but faded down the stretch. He could take up a utility role, though the Jays have several such players on the roster already.

But the only player with notable potential future value is De Paula, a 21-year-old who has had some success in the minors. He reached the Class A level last year, making one start there. Over 233 innings in parts of four seasons in the low minors, he carries a 2.47 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

De Paula originally came to the Giants last year in the swap that sent Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees. As JJ Cooper of Baseball America notes on Twitter, he has now been swapped three times already in his still-nascent career.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants, Blue Jays Discussing Potential Kevin Pillar Swap

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10:49am: The clubs are close on some kind of trade, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter.

It’s frankly possible to imagine a variety of scenarios. Speculatively, the Giants could send some veteran pitching to Toronto, or the potential transaction could involve prospects or even other teams.

10:45am: The Giants are engaged with the Blue Jays in trade talks regarding Toronto outfielder Kevin Pillar, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). It’s not clear how likely a deal is at this point.

This is hardly a typical time of year for swaps to come together, except in cases of 40-man roster casualties. But there may yet be some unfinished business around the league. These two organizations are among several that could conceivably allow the offseason to drag into the 2019 campaign. Neither figures to contend this year, but both have significant resources and are surely interested in finding creative ways to improve their outlook for the near future.

Pillar has been on the Giants’ radar for some time now. He’s a defensive standout who hasn’t managed to produce consistently at the plate. With a $5.8MM salary, Pillar isn’t cheap but is also a rather affordable asset for teams in these tax brackets. He’s controllable via arbitration for one more season to come.

 

Jacob Nix Will Attempt To Rehab UCL Injury

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Padres righty Jacob Nix has decided not to undergo Tommy John surgery at the present, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. Rather, he’ll attempt to rehab back from what is described as a small tear of his ulnar collateral ligament.

It’s always good to hear that there’s a possible non-surgical path back from an injury to that area. TJ procedures are remarkably effective at giving pitchers a new lease on life, but they generally come with a year-plus recovery timeline and hardly guarantee a full return to pre-surgery ability levels.

The 23-year-old Nix has already had a circuitous path to the majors, so he’ll no doubt be relieved that there’s a possibility he’ll avoid another lengthy detour. Back in 2014, he was slated to sign an over-slot deal to join the Astros organization, but that fell apart as part of the Brady Aiken saga.

Nix landed with the Friars in the third round of the following year’s draft and moved steadily up the ladder thereafter. He turned in ten sparkling upper-minors outings in 2018, working to a 1.84 ERA with 44 strikeouts and nine walks over 58 2/3 innings, before getting his first call to the bigs.

While he was knocked around in his first taste of the majors, Nix entered camp this year with a shot at earning another look. The elbow woes eliminated that possibility, but he could still get back into the mix later this season if he’s able to progress through the rehab program.

Miguel Andujar Diagnosed With Labrum Tear

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The Yankees placed infielder Miguel Andujar on the 10-day injured list, as first reported by Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Tyler Wade.

It emerged after testing that Andujar has suffered a “small labrum tear,” manager Aaron Boone conveyed to reporters including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). The injury, which was suffered when Andujar dove back to the bag on a pick-off attempt, could require season-ending surgery. While the club will first attempt non-surgical treatment, it’s clearly a significant injury that will need to be handled with care.

It’s the second injury-related loss of the day for the Yanks, who already put star slugger Giancarlo Stanton on the shelf. The organization does have some intriguing depth options, but it obviously would prefer to have its first-choice lineup on the field as much as possible in a highly competitive American League East. For the time being, solid veteran DJ LeMahieu will step in at the hot corner, but that’ll take him out of the rotation at the other infield spots.

The long-term repercussions are even more worrying. Andujar, 24, was one of baseball’s best rookies last year. While he’s a work in progress defensively, Andujar posted a healthy .297/.328/.527 slash and launched 27 home runs in his first full season as a big-leaguer.

Rangers Select Adrian Sampson

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The Rangers have selected the contract of righty Adrian Sampson. Indeed, he was just called in to relieve in tonight’s game.

To create space on the roster, the club announced two additional moves. Southpaw Kyle Bird was optioned to make way on the active roster, while a 40-man spot was procured by shifting injured hurler Yohander Mendez to the 60-day injured list.

Sampson, a 27-year-old righty, has seen minimal MLB time and dealt with some serious arm issues over the past few seasons. He generated nice results last year at Triple-A, but ended up being non-tendered and re-signed to a minors deal by the Texas organization.

Padres Acquire Matt Wisler

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The Padres announced the acquisition of righty Matt Wisler, who’ll make his way back to the place where his professional career began. In return, the Reds picked up righty Diomar Lopez.

Wisler’s career hasn’t gone the way some expected when he departed the San Diego organization in advance of the 2015 season. Then considered a high-quality pitching prospect who was a significant piece of the swap that sent Craig Kimbrel out west, Wisler failed to gain traction with the Braves.

For the most part, it was more of the same in 2018. Wisler turned in decent results in the upper minors and struggled badly in his limited opportunities in Atlanta, just as he had done in prior seasons.

After a late-season trade to the Reds, though, Wisler’s results perked up. He allowed just three earned runs in his 13 1/3 relief innings in Cincinnati. Things didn’t really get interesting until this spring, when Wisler ran up a 16:1 K/BB ratio in a dozen frames.

Since he’s out of options, Wisler will have to be carried on the active roster by the Friars. He could conceivably buttress a still-thin rotation, though the odds seemingly favor a relief role — perhaps including some multi-inning stints.

Mariners Acquire Connor Sadzeck

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7:30pm: This move has now been announced.

6:37pm: The Mariners have struck a deal with the Rangers to acquire righty Connor Sadzeck, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Fellow right-hander Grant Anderson will go to Texas in return.

The intra-division swap arose after Sadzeck was designated for assignment recently. He’s out of options, so he’ll head onto the Seattle 40-man and active rosters.

While Sadzeck is young and controllable, and possesses a live arm, the Rangers elected instead to carry veteran reliever Jeanmar Gomez, untested lefty  Kyle Bird (who has since been optioned), and Rule 5 pick Kyle Dowdy. For all the potential that comes with his big frame and upper-nineties heater, Sadzeck has yet to show he’ll be able to deploy his arsenal effectively at the MLB level and ended up on the chopping block.

The M’s will surely be prepared to live through some more growing pains from the 27-year-old. He surrendered 11 walks while recording seven strikeouts in his first 9 1/3 MLB innings last year and then gave up eight free passes with eleven strikeouts over 8 1/3 frames in camp. But Sadzeck hasn’t been irredeemably wild in the minors. Last year, for instance, he worked to a 4.03 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over 38 innings at Triple-A.

As for Anderson, the 21-year-old was plucked in the 21st round of last year’s draft out of McNeese State. He has only a dozen pro innings under his belt, but did impress enough to earn a quick (but brief) promotion to the Class A level. He allowed just four hits and two earned runs while posting a 13:7 K/BB ratio last year.

Padres Outright Bryan Mitchell

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The Padres announced today that righty Bryan Mitchell was outrighted to Triple-A. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment recently.

Since he’ll remain in the organization, Mitchell could yet provide the Friars with a return on the investment they made in acquiring him in December of 2017. To gain the rights to Mitchell, the San Diego organization took on a reported $13.5MM in obligations to Chase Headley (his 2018 salary and half of a $1MM assignment bonus), who ended up being dropped early in the season.

Mitchell hadn’t found MLB success when the San Diego organization picked up him up from the Yankees, but he had demonstrated some intriguing skills. The Pads hoped that his mid-to-upper -nineties heater, in combination with a cutter and curve, would allow him to become a quality big-league starter. Mitchell impressed at Triple-A in 2017, recording a 66:13 K/BB ratio and 55.4% groundball rate while allowing only one home run in 63 2/3 innings over 13 starts and one relief appearance.

But the struggles in the majors have continued unabated. In total, Mitchell owns a 5.15 ERA with 102 strikeouts and 87 walks in his 171 1/3 total frames at the game’s highest level. Now closing in on his 28th birthday, he’ll need to reestablish himself to earn his way back onto the 40-man roster.

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