Braves To Acquire Rene Rivera
The Braves have acquired catcher Rene Rivera from the Angels, per an announcement from the Los Angeles organization (h/t Jon Morosi of MLB.com, via Twitter). The Halos allowed Rivera to depart via a straight waiver claim.
With the move, the Atlanta organization will take over Rivera’s contract. Just under $500K remains on his $2.8MM salary for the year. The veteran receiver will be a free agent at season’s end.
Rivera, 35, is best known for his excellent work behind the dish. He has typically graded as an excellent framer, though he has been more in range of average over the past two seasons. Rivera has also traditionally been quite effective at limiting the running game.
While he missed a big chunk of time this year due to injury, limiting him to 30 games of action on the season, Rivera has also been reasonably productive with the bat. He carries a .244/.287/.439 slash with four home runs over 87 plate appearances, though he has drawn only four walks to go with 32 strikeouts.
In Kurt Suzuki and the just-extended Tyler Flowers, the Braves already have two catchers who have combined to form a strong overall duo. The organization did just drop veteran depth receiver Chris Stewart from its 40-man roster, so perhaps it sees this as an opportunity to ensure there’s a reliable player in place in the event of injury. He’ll also help spread the burden down the stretch for a club that now has the inside track to winning the NL East.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Astros Place Charlie Morton On 10-Day DL, Activate Chris Devenski
The Astros announced today that righty Charlie Morton will be placed on the 10-day disabled list, as Jake Kaplan of The Athletic was among those to report (Twitter links). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by reliever Chris Devenski, who was activated from his own DL stint.
Morton is dealing with “right shoulder discomfort,” per the team’s account. That description is somewhat ominous on its own, but evidently shouldn’t be interpreted in such a manner. Fortunately, per Houston GM Jeff Luhnow, the expectation is that Morton will only miss a single start.
It certainly doesn’t see as if the AL West-leading ‘Stros feel as though this injury is cause for particular concern. While the organization still needs to hold off a pesky A’s club that’s dealing with its own, perhaps more serious pitching health troubles, the focus will surely remain on getting Morton to full health for the postseason.
The Astros have already dipped into their farm to fill in for Lance McCullers Jr., who is himself on the DL, installing Framber Valdez into the rotation. With several relievers on hand who can give innings, it may not be necessary to call another starter up to account for Morton’s absence. If the organization does look at adding another arm at some point, though, it can call upon 40-man members such as Brady Rodgers, Cionel Perez, and Reymin Guduan.
All told, there’s really no reason to anticipate that the Astros will feel particularly compelled to add another arm via trade. Indeed, Luhnow said yesterday that “there’s no clear missing piece” on the roster, as Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reported. McCullers is expected to return as a reliever rather than building out to a full starter’s workload, but the ‘Stros still have three excellent postseason starters (in addition to Morton) and can also ask for multiple innings from pitchers such as former starters Collin McHugh and Brad Peacock. Luhnow didn’t shut the door to an acquisition entirely, but there’s little reason to think that any dealmaking will be driven much by Morton’s current health situation.
The Best Minor League Signings Of 2018: Relief Pitchers
Having already examined position players and starting pitchers, we’ll now set our sights on this year’s crop of minor-league signees who have turned into useful relievers. Volatility goes both ways, of course, so it’s relatively unsurprising to see hurlers emerge in a MLB pen after failing to land 40-man spots over the winter.
When we checked in on relief arms earlier this season, we were focused mostly on which pitchers had earned opportunities. Now, we’ll turn our attention to their actual contributions on the season. We’re looking for volume and quality of innings here. If there’s anyone you think I missed, drop a comment and we’ll talk it out.
The nominees, presented in order of the number of innings pitched:
- Tyler Clippard, Blue Jays: Home runs have remained an issue, but Clippard has provided the Jays with 58 1/3 frames of 3.70 ERA ball with 10.5 K/9 against just 2.8 BB/9. Not bad considering Clippard opened the spring at the MLBPA free agent camp.
- Dylan Floro, Dodgers/Reds: There’s a strong argument to be made that Floro has been the find of the year. He’s now through 57 innings with a 2.37 ERA, with less-than-exciting K/BB figures but an excellent 56.4% groundball rate. Better still, he won’t even be eligible for arbitration until 2021.
- Richard Rodriguez, Pirates: Another excellent contender for the best minor-league relief signee, Rodriguez is humming along with 10.6 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 for the Bucs. His 13.0% swinging-strike rate portends good things in the future; like Floro, he’s under team control through at least 2023.
- Justin Miller, Nationals: Though he’s fading a bit as the dingers pile up, Miller has also been pressed into roles to which he’s probably not best suited. Regardless, with 10.4 K/9 (13.9% SwStr) and 2.9 BB/9 over 44 frames on the season, to go with a 3.89 ERA, Miller looks like an arb keeper.
- Erik Goeddel, Dodgers/Mariners: Though he’s dishing out too many free passes, the 29-year-old has been awfully tough to square up. He carries a .268 wOBA and a .264 xwOBA to match. In 36 2/3 innings this year, he owns a 2.95 ERA.
- Xavier Cedeno, White Sox: Suppressing home runs has driven Cedeno’s 2.96 ERA, but he’s also producing 10.4 K/9 against 4.8 BB/9 to go with a 53.2% groundball rate. He hasn’t been asked to get many outs, compiling only 24 1/3 innings in 32 appearances, but seems like a good bet to be tendered a contract for 2019 (which will be his final season of arb eligibility).
- Jonny Venters, Braves/Rays: Another veteran southpaw, Venters has allowed just seven earned runs in 24 2/3 innings this year — and done so after five full seasons away from the majors owing to a dizzying run of arm injuries. He has held 49 opposing lefty hitters to a .156/.229/.250 slash.
- Vidal Nuno, Rays: It’s tough to get too excited about his 1.50 ERA when it is so heavily dependent upon a .169 BABIP-against and 95.7% strand rate, but Nuno has given the Tampa Bay organization 24 useful frames.
- Oliver Perez, Indians: The bottom-line results are equally sparkly for yet another southpaw, but in this case there are more interesting underlying peripherals as well. Perez has recorded 10.2 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 with a career-high 13.6% swinging-strike rate. Opposing hitters have managed a paltry .153 wOBA against him; that’s likely a bit fortunate, but the 37-year-old has also been outstanding by measure of expected outcomes based upon the quality of contact (.217 xwOBA).
- Ryan Brasier, Red Sox: Though he has thrown only twenty MLB frames, Brasier has been a revelation for the Boston organization with a paltry 0.90 ERA. He’s pumping 97 mph heat and generating a hefty 15.8% swinging-strike rate in his first action in the majors since a brief showing back in 2013. There’s some regression to come, to be sure, as Brasier won’t continue to hold opposing hitters homerless with a .180 BABIP. Still, the initial showing has been awfully impressive.
- Honorable Mention: John Axford, Matt Magill, Louis Coleman, Jorge De La Rosa, Neil Ramirez, Anthony Bass
Matt Bush Will Not Return In 2018
Rangers right-hander Matt Bush is not going to make it back to the MLB roster this season, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. Elbow issues forced him to the disabled list in the middle of June.
Though Bush is said to be working through a throwing progression, he says that there simply won’t be time for him to ramp up fully during the month of September. It certainly doesn’t help that he wouldn’t be able to utilize the club’s minor-league affiliates for rehab work.
Most of all, the Rangers likely see little reason to push it in the midst of a cellar-dwelling campaign. Things have gone about as well for the 32-year-old Bush as they have for the rest of the roster. He carries only a 4.70 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 23 innings.
Needless to say, that’s a disappointing set of results for the 2004 first overall pick, though his story remains fascinating. Bush had derailed his career with off-field choices, but remarkably reached the majors with the Texas club in 2016.
From an on-field perspective, though, there’s now reason for the Rangers to wonder what contribution they’ll receive from Bush in 2019. He was outstanding in his first MLB campaign, turning in 61 2/3 innings of 2.48 ERA pitching. Despite some downturns in his output in the following season, Bush still showed many of the same skills (12.3% swinging-strike rate, 97.9 mph average fastball). In his limited action in 2018, Bush lost a tick on his heater, saw his swinging-strike rate drop to 9.4%, and gave up a whopping 52.1% hard contact rate.
From the organization’s perspective, the silver lining of this lost campaign is what it means for Bush’s cost. He’ll enter the offseason with 2.143 years of service. We don’t yet know where the Super Two line will land, but Bush would be a likely candidate to exceed it based upon recent outcomes. Despite his 2016-17 output, this meager platform season will likely lead to quite a manageable arbitration salary, which not only ought to make Bush a cheap player to keep in 2019 but will also make for a lower salary floor to build off of in future seasons.
Of course, the Texas club would surely rather have paid up for a version of Bush that looked like a healthy, high-quality, high-leverage relief pitcher. Whether he can return to that form remains to be seen, thus adding another question mark to the Rangers’ pitching staff as the offseason approaches.
Padres Promote Luis Urias
Aug. 28: The Padres have formally announced Urias’ promotion to the Majors. Asuaje has been optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster. San Diego has also placed lefty Clayton Richard on the 10-day disabled due to inflammation in his left knee and activated right-hander Colten Brewer from the disabled list in his place.
Aug. 27: The Padres are set to promote highly regarded infield prospect Luis Urias, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He is expected to debut tomorrow.
Urias, 21, is widely considered one of the crown jewels of a Padres system that, the organization has long hoped, will usher in a golden age of baseball in San Diego. There’s a clear consensus that he’s one of the most promising young players in baseball, with outlets such as Fangraphs (#22), MLB.com (#22), and Baseball America (#29) rating him among the game’s thirty or so best prospects.
There’s a lot to like about Urias’s potential as a hitter. He features a rare combination of plate discipline and contact ability that has allowed him to hit over .300 while carrying nearly a .400 OBP over his five minor-league seasons. Power isn’t a strong suit, though Urias has increased his home-run output over recent campaigns and this year has put the ball over the fence eight times in 533 plate appearances.
It seems fair to note, too, that Urias has the kind of underlying skills that could allow him to come into more power at the game’s highest level. In recent years, we’ve seen several players — Jose Altuve, Francisco Lindor, and Jose Ramirez among them, to take a few famous examples — develop surprising pop after reaching the bigs. Whether or not Urias is destined for that kind of outcome obviously isn’t yet known, but it seems notable that MLB.com credits him with more raw power than his outcomes indicate while BA cites Urias’s impressive exit velocity.
To be sure, Urias would likely generate even greater excitement if he was considered a future shortstop. Still, he is also valued for his defensive potential. Most evaluators indicate that he’ll likely be a high-quality defender at second base. It doesn’t hurt that he’s considered at least capable of playing shortstop as well; indeed, Acee says that Urias will get some time there upon his arrival.
For the Padres, this promotion offers an opportunity to get a look at a player who’s expected to hold down an important role for years to come. Urias will not accrue enough service time this year to put himself on track for future Super Two status. If he stays in the majors from here on out, he won’t be eligible for free agency until at least 2025. Picking up thirty-plus days of MLB action will make it a bit harder for the Friars to hold Urias down to open the 2019 season in hopes of extending the team’s control rights.
If he shows well upon his arrival, Urias will likely enter camp next year as the odds-on favorite to open the season as the regular second baseman. San Diego has not received much production from its options at the position thus far in 2018, after all, so the organization is no doubt anxious to plug in a permanent piece. Jose Pirela, Carlos Asuaje, and Cory Spangenberg have all failed to take advantage of opportunities at second this season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Cardinals Extend Mike Schildt
4:08pm: The three-year term on Shildt’s contract includes the current season, as Shildt’s new contract runs through the 2020 campaign, per Jen Langosch of MLB.com (on Twitter). The Cardinals have formally announced that Shildt has shed the “interim” label on his title and is now the full-time manager.
2:35pm: The Cardinals will make official today what had increasingly become obvious: interim manager Mike Shildt is going to stay in the job beyond the present season. He’s slated to receive a three-year contract in addition to having the interim label removed. Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter) and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link) had the news.
Since taking the helm of a club that was sitting just one game over .500 just past the season’s halfway point, Shildt has guided the Cards to a 26-12 record. The club is now firmly back in contention. Of course, numerous roster moves came along with the firing of Mike Matheny, and it’s always hard to allocate praise and blame for managerial performance, but the organization obviously had cause to be pleased with the early returns on the new skipper.
Shildt opened the year as the Cards’ bench coach, which in and of itself represented a remarkable rise in the game. He never played professionally and was first came to the St. Louis organization as a scout. Shildt rose steadily from there, ultimately becoming a manager in the lower minors and climbing the ranks to run the team’s top affiliate. He came to the MLB staff in 2017 as a quality control and then third base coach.
The Cardinals know Shildt well and are clearly impressed with his work to this point, though it’s nonetheless a bit surprising to see them remove the “interim” label from Shildt after just 38 games. Typically, even when organization have hired an interim manager on a full-time basis, he’s but one of many candidates amid a larger search at season’s end. That won’t be the case with Shildt, who has already overwhelmingly captured the hearts of many Cardinals fans and drawn praise from both his players and fellow coaches.
Athletics Place Brett Anderson On 10-Day DL
The Athletics’ recent pitching injury woes continue, as the club announced today that lefty Brett Anderson has been placed on the 10-day disabled list with a forearm strain. He joins fellow southpaw starter Sean Manaea on the shelf at an inopportune moment.
Oakland has turned in a remarkable surge, in no small part due to the unexpected contributions of several veteran hurlers. Anderson has certainly been among them, turning in 65 innings of 4.02 ERA pitching over 13 starts while earning just $1.5MM on the year.
The outlook for the lefty isn’t clear, but it’s always worrisome to hear of forearm problems. Anderson’s health history certainly doesn’t leave much room for optimism, though his back — not his arm — has typically been the culprit.
For the time being, righty Ryan Dull will come up to take the open spot on the roster. But the Athletics now seem to have an innings gap that will somehow need to be filled. Daniel Mengden is perhaps the top internal option, with Frankie Monts and Chris Bassitt also representing 40-man possibilities, but there are still a few days left to look outside the organization.
Mets Notes: Wright, Alonso, Bautista
It emerged earlier today that Mets third baseman David Wright would appear with the organization’s top affiliate as he continues his rehab assignment. That seemed a good sign after a two-day rest period for Wright, perhaps even indicating that he would be readying for a return to the majors late this year.
In comments this afternoon, however, assistant GM John Ricco suggested that the organization hasn’t necessarily put in an order for a fresh #5 jersey top. As MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo was among those to cover (all links to Twitter), Ricco also announced that the team will not promote top first base prospect Peter Alonso this fall and gave the reasoning behind the club’s decision to trade away veteran outfielder Jose Bautista.
The 35-year-old Wright last saw action in the majors in May of 2016, but has continued to try to battle through a series of significant medical impediments in hopes of making it back. He was written off by most entering the year, and still faces long odds to return to being a player truly worthy of occupying a MLB roster spot, but will now get a shot to show his form at the highest level of the minors.
As Marc Carig of The Athletic recently documented (subscription link), Wright has to endure hours of preparation just to make it onto the field. Back, neck,and shoulder problems will continue to impact the veteran even if he’s able to filter back up to the majors.
Unsurprisingly, those limitations have seemingly left the organization feeling less than optimistic about Wright’s output. Still, it’s a bit jarring to hear Ricco’s account of the long-time team leader. “We just haven’t seen that level of consistency of playing on a quantity or quality basis at this point,” says Ricco, who calls it “unrealistic to think [Wright will] be activated anytime soon.”
As Ken Davidoff of the New York Post explained at the outset of the season, this coming offseason will represent a decision point for Wright and the Mets. He’s on the 60-day DL for the time being, but will take up a 40-man spot over the offseason. With $27MM left to go on Wright’s contract, and an insurance policy looming large in the background, it’ll certainly be interesting to see how things play out.
Meanwhile, Ricco explains that the hot-hitting Alonso wouldn’t receive much opportunity at first base in the majors late this year, with time slated to be shared between Jay Bruce, Wilmer Flores, and (once recalled) Dominic Smith. Of course, it’ll also mean that the 23-year-old Alonso won’t pick up any service time this season, making it easier for the organization to delay his promotion next season while still allowing him to play for much of the year. As ever, it’s hard to discern just how heavily the varying considerations weighed.
In the case of Bautista, who was just moved for a marginal return, Ricco says the idea was to clear the deck for the team to find plate appearances for existing players (not including Alonso, obviously). Plus, the Mets preferred to “do the right thing by Jose,” allowing the veteran to join a pennant race.
Braves Extend Tyler Flowers
1:31pm: The Atlanta organization has announced the deal.
12:36pm: The Braves have agreed to an extension with catcher Tyler Flowers, according to Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter links). He’ll receive a $6MM guarantee, including a $4MM salary for 2019 and a $2MM buyout for a 2020 option year that will cost $6MM if exercised. Flowers is represented by O’Connell Sports Management.
It’s not terribly unusual for veteran players to reach shorter-term extensions at this stage of the season, but this contract still rates as a surprise. Flowers has been a quality performer since coming to Atlanta before the 2016 season, after all, and likely would have drawn interest from a fair number of other organizations had he waited to return to the open market.
Flowers, 32, carries a strong .264/.365/.409 batting line with the Braves. While he has trended south in terms of output in 2018, he’s also walking at a much-improved 13.5% rate. And batted-ball measures suggest he’s still capable of doing plenty of damage.
True, Flowers was somewhat fortunate to carry batting averages on balls in play of .366 and .342 in his first two seasons with the Atlanta organization. This year, he’s back down to .286 while carrying only a .110 isolated slugging mark. While it’s tempting to label that regression to the mean, it may well be that he’s actually experience markedly poor fortunate in 2018. Indeed, Statcast credits him with a strong .368 xwOBA, in contrast to the .317 wOBA that has actually resulted.
Notably, too, Flowers has graded consistently as one of the best pitch framers in all of baseball over the past several seasons. That’s a skill that the market would have valued. Flowers is generally regarded as at least a solid backstop in other regards, leaving him as an overall positive on the defensive side of the equation.
Given the always-limited supply of quality backstops, it seemed Flowers was well-placed to have his pick of opportunities. He’d likely be viewed as a possible starter or heavily-used timeshare candidate by a variety of organizations. It’s certainly arguable he’d be seen as a more desirable player than some or all of last winter’s highest-paid backstops, including Welington Castillo (two years, $15MM), Jonathan Lucroy (one year, $6.5MM), and Chris Iannetta (two years, $8.5MM).
Certainly, there were no guarantees that Flowers would have done significantly better in free agency. This winter’s market will certainly include some high-quality alternatives. And it’s reasonable to assume that the deal works out for Flowers. No doubt, the fact that he’s a Georgia native played into the decisionmaking.
Nevertheless, the signing leaves the Braves with a high-quality player at an appealing price for next year, with an extra season of flexible control to boot. That the organization was able to get a head start on its 2019 checklist even while trying to finish out an exceedingly exciting 2018 season represents a positive outcome for the club.
With Flowers on the books, the Braves now have a major box checked without breaking the bank. The club will likely pursue another backstop, which could (but need not) be a significant player, depending upon the other opportunities available.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Phillies Designate Mark Leiter
The Phillies have designated right Mark Leiter, per a club announcement. That move will open the door for the acquisition of Jose Bautista, which is also now official.
Leiter, 27, has appeared in each of the past two major-league seasons. But he has yet to find much in the way of success at the game’s highest level. Through 107 1/3 MLB innings, most of them in 2017, he carries a 5.03 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9.
A 22nd-round pick in 2013, Leiter put himself in contention for a MLB look with a strong 2016 season at Double-A. He hasn’t actually spent much time at the highest level of the minors, but has shown a bit more strikeout potential there than at his other stops. In 58 1/3 total frames at Triple-A, Leiter carries a 4.01 ERA with 10.5 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9.