Rangers Outright Drew Hutchison
The Rangers have outrighted right-hander Drew Hutchison, per a club announcement. He has already cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A.
Having created two 40-man roster openings, the Rangers will purchase the contracts of righty Adrian Sampson and lefty C.D. Pelham. Also coming onto the active MLB roster are right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx, outfielder Willie Calhoun, and infielder Hanser Alberto.
Hutchison, 28, was signed onto the MLB roster recently as the Rangers sought to fill some innings. Unfortunately, he was unable to take advantage of the opportunity, surrendering 21 earned runs with an ugly 12:13 K/BB ratio in 21 1/3 innings over five starts.
Despite generally excellent minor-league numbers, Hutchison has never really found success in the majors. In parts of five seasons in the bigs, he has thrown 460 1/3 total frames of 5.10 ERA ball.
Shohei Ohtani Will Start For Angels On Sunday; Matt Shoemaker To Start Monday
SEPT. 1: Shoemaker will start Monday in Texas, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports.
AUG. 30: The Angels announced today that Shohei Ohtani will return to the mound on Sunday, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was among those to report on Twitter. He had not thrown in the majors since being diagnosed with a grade 2 UCL sprain in early June.
In other news, the Halos have activated outfielder Justin Upton from the DL. And the organization called up backstop Jose Briceno to take the roster spot and role vacated by the just-dealt Bobby Wilson.
Additionally, the team indicated that right-hander Matt Shoemaker is nearing his own activation, as Fletcher further tweets. That’s another good bit of injury news for an organization that needs as many as it can get.
Ohtani, 24, has been active on the MLB roster in the meantime, of course. He was cleared to resume performing his services as a designated hitter prior to being ready to return to the hill. While continuing to post impressive numbers with the bat, the Japanese star has been building up his stamina in hopes of making it back into the rotation.
For the Halos, the late-season return of Ohtani as a pitcher won’t make up for the club’s intervening struggles. But his showing will certainly be important for the future. If the right-hander can return to full strength this year without issue, then he and the organization can go into the offseason feeling reasonably confident that he’ll be able to ramp up next spring and turn in a full 2019 season. If things go south, then more drastic scenarios may need to be considered.
It’s not an altogether different scenario for Shoemaker, who has only made one start to this point of the season and was limited to 14 outings last year. The 31-year-old, who’ll be eligible for his third of four potential trips through the arbitration process this fall, had been a solid rotation presence for the club in the prior three campaigns.
Yankees Acquire Adeiny Hechavarria
The Yankees have announced that they have acquired shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria from the Pirates. Cash will also go to New York in the deal, with a player to be named later or cash considerations heading back to Pittsburgh. New York designated southpaw Ryan Bollinger to open a 40-man spot.
Hechavarria is not much of a hitter, but is widely regarded as a high-quality defender at shortstop. He’ll presumably be viewed as a late-inning defensive asset for the Yanks, who have a variety of options around the infield as situations warrant. And with Didi Gregorius still working back from injury, Hechavarria also represents something of an insurance policy.
Thus far in 2018, Hechavarria has slashed .254/.287/.342 in 284 plate appearances. That’s nearly an exact match for his lifetime batting line of .255/.291/.345, compiled over nearly three thousand trips to the plate, so there isn’t much mystery about his offensive capabilities.
With the glove, Hech continues to draw well-above-average grades, so the situation is clear there as well. He has played almost exclusively at short in his career, but did see time as a rookie at second and third base as well.
This is now the second time Hechavarria has changed hands in August. Earlier in the month, he went from the Rays to the Bucs. Now, he’ll move again, with both of those organizations still responsible for a portion of the remainder of his $5.9MM salary. Hechavarria will be a free agent at the end of the year.
While it’s still possible the Pirates will pick up a minor prospect in this swap, it seems rather clear that the move was designed to clear a bit of salary and keep the roster clear for younger players. As with the late-breaking trade of David Freese, the move came at the very tail end of tonight’s deadline for teams to acquire players with postseason eligibility.
It’s another unfortunate break for Bollinger in a season that has otherwise surely been out of a dream. He has twice made it onto the MLB roster after an unlikely journey, but has yet to throw a ball in a big-league contest. The 27-year-old carries a 3.87 ERA in 111 2/3 innings in the upper minors most of them at Double-A, with 7.8 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dodgers Acquire David Freese
The Dodgers have acquired David Freese in a swap with the Pirates, as first reported by Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter). Infielder Jesus Valdez goes to Pittsburgh in the deal, per a club announcement.
While we’re learning about this after the deadline for players to be acquired with postseason eligibility, it stands to reason that the sides completed the deal beforehand. If so, Freese will be able to appear in the playoffs this year, though there’s no assurance he’ll command a roster spot if and when the time comes.
Of course, no small part of Freese’s stature as a player comes from his prior postseason heroics. Beyond the memorable moments themselves, he’s a .282/.357/.517 hitter in 196 playoff plate appearances.
True, Freese hasn’t been in such a situation since way back in 2014. But he has continued to turn in solid campaigns since. This year, he’s slashing a sturdy .283/.337/.447 in 261 plate appearances for the Bucs. Freese has actually been a bit better against righties this year, but has been a hundred OPS points better against lefties over his career.
Freese becomes the third right-handed-hitting infielder picked up by the Dodgers this summer, joining Manny Machado and Brian Dozier. He won’t likely see as much time as that middle-infield pairing; rather, he’ll presumably function as a bench bat against lefties.
In Valdez, the Pirates get a 20-year-old who is in his debut season in the Dominican Summer League. He has played all over the infield, mostly on the left side, while hitting .230/.343/.412 with six home runs and 16 steals in 242 plate appearances.
Freese is earning $4.25MM this year, about $700K of which remains to be paid. He’s also controllable for 2019 via a $6MM club option that comes with a $500K buyout. The teams’ announcements make no mention of any money changing hands in the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Indians Acquire Josh Donaldson
The Blue Jays have officially struck a deal to send star third baseman Josh Donaldson to the Indians, as first reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links).
The Jays will get a player to be named later “with some value” while covering some of Donaldson’s remaining salary, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer suggests (on Twitter) that the PTBNL will in some manner be dependent upon Donaldson’s health status. Per the announcement, it’ll be determined by January 30th of next year.
There’s also a significant financial component to this swap. Toronto will pay down $2.7MM of the nearly $4MM still owed to Donaldson for the rest of the season, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Cleveland organization has long been cited as a natural landing spot for Donaldson. With the move, it seems likely that the club will plan to move superstar Jose Ramirez to second base, bumping Jason Kipnis into a utility role. Donaldson adds a potentially significant bat to the lineup, while also boosting the outfield mix by freeing Kipnis to spend time there.
Of course, Donaldson will first need to build up to full health. It had seemed increasingly likely in recent days that he would be moved, as he finally began a rehab assignment after months on the disabled list. Shoulder and, more recently, calf troubles have significantly limited Donaldson this season.
By virtue of the mid-season swap, Donaldson cannot be saddled with a qualifying offer when he enters free agency at season’s end. That also means the Jays will receive only the compensation they ultimately receive in this deal for the loss of a player who has been one of the best in baseball in recent years.
Of course, Donaldson has still been well worth the investment for the Toronto organization. He was acquired for a package that felt light at the time and seems hard to fathom in retrospect. And despite earning relatively hefty salaries through arbitration, he easily outperformed his earnings by slashing a robust .285/.387/.559 with 111 home runs in his first three seasons in Toronto.
Today’s trade, ultimately, was the Jays’ effort to make the best of what had turned into a difficult situation. Thus far in 2018, Donaldson has played in only 36 MLB contests. And he’s carrying only a .234/.333/.423 batting line in 159 plate appearances — a productive enough slash, to be sure, but nothing close to his established performance level. Donaldson’s glovework has also continued to slide, though he still drew approximately average grades in the brief sample this season.
With his large salary in the background, it’s easy to understand why Donaldson cleared waivers and was ultimately moved in this fashion. Of course, some have argued the organization should instead have stayed patient in hopes of making Donaldson a qualifying offer at season’s end. That strategy had some merit, to be sure, but also came with plenty of risk and somewhat limited upside.
For the Indians, there were surely many factors to consider as well. It may be that Donaldson’s performance has been limited all along by the same injuries that ultimately forced him to the sidelines. Perhaps there’s reason to hope that his shoulder woes will have been helped by the fact that he just spent months on ice while dealing with his calf problems. Donaldson has a reputation as a fiery competitor, and has every reason to impress before hitting free agency, so the Indians know that they have a highly motivated player.
Still, it’s not hard to spot the risks that come with this move. When the clock strikes midnight, the Cleveland organization won’t be able to look outside for postseason-eligible players. No doubt the team at least considered alternatives to rolling the dice on Donaldson, who only just began his rehab assignment, but perhaps there weren’t any opportunities that held much appeal.
Certainly, there’s no chance that any other players under serious consideration would have come with Donaldson’s established ceiling. And the Indians, unlike some other contenders, really don’t need to worry about getting him on the field in the immediate future. The club is coasting to an AL Central title while preparing its roster for the postseason. It can more or less use the final weeks of the season as an opportunity to make final evaluations and get a few injured players needed reps without wearing anyone down.
The fact that Kipnis will end up moving into a utility job of some kind no doubt also was considered. We know the club wished to have a left-handed-hitting outfielder capable of playing in center, since the team acquired Leonys Martin before losing him for the year. Though Kipnis really hasn’t hit much over the past two seasons, the team still clearly likes him as a ballplayer and has utilized him up the middle in the outfield — including in the 2017 postseason.
It seems, then, that acquiring Donaldson will not only potentially upgrade the Indians’ lineup, but could plug the hole that reopened when Martin went down. Sensible as it all is when plotted out that way, it remains a fascinating gamble on Donaldson’s ability to stay on the field and rediscover his unquestionably lofty talent level.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brewers Designate Aaron Brooks, Jake Thompson
The Brewers announced tonight that they have designated right-handed pitchers Aaron Brooks and Jake Thompson. Their roster spots went to just-acquired veterans Gio Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson.
Neither of these hurlers has thrown a pitch in the majors for the Brewers. Brooks had just been called up but did not get into a game. He last threw in the bigs in 2015. Thus far in 2018, Brooks has posted a 3.35 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 over 99 1/3 innings.
Thompson, meanwhile, had recently been claimed off waivers from the Phillies after struggling in his first thirty games of MLB action over the past three seasons. He had turned in five useful relief appearances since reporting to Colorado Springs, but only owns a cumulative 4.30 ERA and 55:29 K/BB ratio in his 52 1/3 total Triple-A innings this year.
Brewers Acquire Gio Gonzalez
The Brewers have reached agreement on a trade with the Nationals to acquire lefty Gio Gonzalez, per a club announcement. $250K of international bonus capacity is also heading to the Brewers, who’ll send minor-leaguers KJ Harrison and Gilbert Lara to D.C. So far as is known at this point, the Brewers will take over all of Gonzalez’s salary despite the fact that he cleared waivers.
Gonzalez, who’ll soon turn 33, will be a free agent at season’s end after wrapping up a long-term deal that he signed with the Nats not long after being acquired before the 2012 season. He will wrap up his tenure with the club after nearly seven mostly excellent seasons. Gonzalez will appear in a Brewers uniform in Nationals Park tomorrow, though he won’t pitch in this series.
With a hefty $12MM contract, just under $2MM of which remains to be paid, Gonzalez had cleared revocable trade waivers earlier in the month. He got off to a strong start to the season but had encountered some struggles of late. Through 145 2/3 innings, he carries a 4.57 ERA — the same mark he posted in 2016, the only season since 2010 in which he has finished with more than 3.79 earned runs per nine on his record.
Unfortunately for the Nats, the club never really got off the ground this year and has been forced to dump some pending free agents this summer. While Gonzalez came into the month of August with a 3.78 ERA, he has coughed up 26 earned runs in his last 31 1/3 innings. Though he has turned in two excellent outings in that span of six starts, the run of difficulties clearly left the Nats convinced not to make him a qualifying offer at season’s end — and also reduced the team’s potential trade return.
Gonzalez no longer operates in the 94 mph range with his fastball, but in many other ways looks to be much the same pitcher he has been the past several years. He’s carrying a 9.2% swinging-strike rate that sits just under his career average. And he has continued to make start after start; since fully establishing himself in the majors in 2010, he has only once made less than 31 starts in a given season (2014, when he took the ball 27 times).
Of course, despite turning in 201 innings of 2.96 ERA ball last year, Gonzalez has clearly been in decline. He has been much more prone to the long ball of late after notably suppressing dingers for most of his career. As his velocity fell off a table before the 2017 season, ERA estimators have found increasing cause for worry in his peripherals. After posting a career-low 3.43 SIERA in 2014, for instance Gonzalez has turned in successive marks of 3.77, 3.96, 4.41, and 4.75.
While it would be optimistic to hope for Gonzalez to regain the magic of 2017, the Brewers can still probably expect he’ll give the club some good innings down the stretch. Perhaps the jolt of a return to a postseason race will help, and Gonzalez certainly has every incentive to show well in advance of his first trip onto the open market. While the long-awaited rotation boost may not be quite as significant as some fans might have hoped for, the acquisition ought to add depth to the club’s pitching staff and help the effort to reach and advance in the postseason.
On the D.C. side of this swap, it’s obviously not how the club wanted things to end. But they’ll get some compensation for the veteran lefty. Harrison, 22, has lined up behind the plate and at first base while also seeing action as a DH. A third-round pick in 2017, he has shown plenty of pop, but also struck out in 147 of his 466 trips to the plate this year. Astute readers will recall that Lara commanded a big bonus as an amateur player. Now twenty years of age, the infielder has not developed as hoped, with a marginal .237/.274/.324 slash as a professional.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported the deal (Twitter link). Kyle Lobner of the Frosty Mug suggested the involvement of Harrison and Lara, on Twitter, with Jon Heyman of Fancred (via Twitter) reporting they were indeed involved. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported the bonus amount on Twitter.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Brewers Acquire Curtis Granderson
The Blue Jays have officially struck a deal that will send veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson to the Brewers. Outfield prospect Demi Orimoloye will go to the Jays, who will cover some of the remainder of Granderson’s $5MM salary.
Granderson, who had cleared trade waivers earlier this month, becomes the third player acquired by the Milwaukee organization today, joining left-handed pitchers Gio Gonzalez and Xavier Cedeno. Multiple 40-man roster moves will still be required to accommodate the two most recent additions, who’ll help the club hold onto Wild Card position and try to chase down the division-leading Cubs.
Adding the 37-year-old Granderson will give the Brewers another bench bat to work with. He has been used almost exclusively against right-handed pitching this year, and for good reason. In 322 plate appearances with the platoon advantage, he’s slashing .250/.345/.443 with 11 home runs. In limited action against lefties, Granderson carries only a .518 OPS.
The Brewers will surely continue to put Granderson in the game only in advantageous situations. With fellow slugger Eric Thames also available, the club now has a pair of lefty power bats to spell outfielder Ryan Braun and first baseman Jesus Aguilar and/or to utilize in pinch-hitting situations.
Granderson, who also traded last August, featured at the #2 spot on our most recent list of the top 20 August trade candidates. That assessment was based upon his above-noted niche as well as his oft-lauded clubhouse presence, which made Granderson an obvious target for teams in need of infusing a lefty bat and some veteran gravitas.
The 21-year-old Orimoloye, a native of Nigeria who was drafted out of Canada, was selected by the Brewers in the fourth round of the 2015 draft. He earned his way to the High-A level after a solid run to open the year at Class A, but has struggled since. In 277 plate appearances with the Carolina Mudcats this season, he owns a .236/.303/.368 slash with seven home runs and seven steals in a dozen attempts.
Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reported that Granderson was on the move (via Twitter) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said he was going to the Brewers (via Twitter). Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tweeted that money was changing hands.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
August Trade Deadline Countdown Rumors
Midnight eastern time will mark the end of the August revocable waiver trade period. While deals can still occur in September, organizations must form their eventual postseason rosters out of players on hand when the calendar flips tonight. We have already seen several notable players move today. Josh Donaldson is reportedly going to the Indians; Gio Gonzalez is said to be moving to the Brewers; Ryan Madson went to the Dodgers; and Andrew McCutchen is now a member of the Yankees.
There’s still time for dealing to be done, though — just under an hour and a half, in fact. We’ll use this post to track any late-breaking developments …
- The Dodgers are still looking to make a late strike for a right-handed hitter, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). It’s not entirely clear whether the team is trying to obtain a specific target or, rather, still working the lines on multiple options. Neither is it fully evident precisely what sort of player the Dodgers would be interested in, though an outfield-capable bat of some kind would seem to make the most sense given the recent travails of Matt Kemp and Chris Taylor.
- Mets lefty Jerry Blevins won’t be spending the final month of the season in a different uniform, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link). As had been hinted earlier today, the veteran reliever will rather surprisingly stay in Queens until his contract runs out at season’s end. He had cleared waivers, suggesting contenders weren’t interested in taking his entire salary, but still seemed like a fairly obvious target for organizations interested in boosting their matchup options for the final month of the season.
- Whether it means anything or not is hard to say, but Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press notes on Twitter that the Twins elected to hold second baseman Logan Forsythe out of the lineup today, “just in case.” There hasn’t been a lot of chatter surrounding the pending free agent, who was acquired as part of the salary swapping involved in the deal that sent Brian Dozier to Los Angeles in July. But Forsythe has gone on to post a .406 OBP in 106 plate appearances in Minnesota. While he’s not hitting for much power and hasn’t maintained his hot start, it’s certainly possible to imagine Forsythe fitting on some rosters — even, perhaps, that of his former team. And the Twins, surely, would be glad to save some further cash.
Brewers Outright Nate Orf & Ariel Hernandez, Sign Emilio Bonifacio
The Brewers announced that utilityman Nate Orf and righty Ariel Hernandez were each outrighted to Triple-A after clearing wavers. The move on Orf will open a 40-man spot for today’s acquisition of Xavier Cedeno; Hernandez had recently been designated for assignment.
In other news, the Milwaukee organization has added veteran utilityman Emilio Bonifacio. He had been playing on the indy ball circuit after failing to land with an affiliated organization this spring and will now head to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Orf, 28, earned a brief first look at the majors this year after two consecutive quality seasons at the Triple-A level. He’s a .305/.389/.447 hitter in 1,344 career plate appearances at the highest level of the minors, with only 17 home runs but a healthy combination of 134 walks against 190 strikeouts. Clearly, though — given that he cleared waivers — there are some questions as to whether Orf will really ever be able to carry that sort of output into the show.
As for Bonifacio, the signing offers a chance for him to extend his streak of eleven-straight seasons with at least some MLB action. He hasn’t seen much time in any of the past three campaigns, producing a cringeworthy .169/.204/.201 batting line in the 169 plate appearances he has received in that span. But Bonifacio has been at least a passable hitter at times in the past and was producing a strong .842 OPS in the Atlantic League. More importantly, he has long rated as an outstanding baserunner and can play just about anywhere on the diamond. That makes him a flexible asset for the Brewers to have on hand in case a need arises.