Cardinals Outright Tyler Lyons, Release Greg Holland
The Cardinals announced today that two recently-designated relief pitchers have cleared waivers. Lefty Tyler Lyons was outrighted to Triple-A, while right-hander Greg Holland was given his release.
Both of these hurlers were trimmed from the St. Louis roster during a pre-trade deadline bullpen purge. Clearly, neither performed to expectations this year.
Lyons, 30, was one of the club’s most reliable relievers over the past few campaigns. But he dealt with injuries and struggled through 16 2/3 innings on the current season, allowing 16 earned runs on 24 hits.
Though he looks similar in many respects over that short sample — velocity, swinging-strike and strikeout rate — Lyons has given up quite a bit of hard contact. That’s reflected in the .412 BABIP he surrendered, which could reflect some poor fortune and/or degradation in the quality of his work.
As for Holland, he was off to a miserable start before hitting the DL for a hip impingement. Things were generally better upon his return: outside of one particularly awful outing, he allowed three earned runs and recorded 11 strikeouts in 11 frames.
Still, it’s hard to fault the Cards for deciding they’d seen enough, especially after Holland turned in another poor outing in his last appearance with the team. He ended up with a 7.92 ERA in his 25 frames for the St. Louis organization, which is not at all what the team bargained for when it made a late strike that promised the veteran hurler $14MM this season. The remainder of that promise will stay on the Cardinals’ books, less any pro-rated portion of the league minimum he makes with another organization.
Mets Designate Kevin Kaczmarski
The Mets have designated outfielder Kevin Kaczmarski for assignment, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Bobby Wahl, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Las Vegas. Additionally, the Mets have reinstated Todd Frazier from the disabled list and placed fellow infielder Phillip Evans on the DL due to a fractured tibia.
Kaczmarski, 26, made his MLB debut earlier this season but appeared in just four games and came to the plate a total of five times — going hitless in that small sample of work. He’s been terrific through 145 plate appearances in an admittedly hitter-friendly setting in the Pacific Coast League this year, batting .357/.421/.444 for New York’s Triple-A affiliate in Vegas.
A former ninth-round pick, Kaczmarski has hit for a solid average and posted quality OBP numbers at every level throughout his minor league career, though he’s done so without much in the power department and has never really proven adept when it comes to stealing bases, either. He has experience at all three outfield spots but has seen quite a bit more action in the corners, specifically in left field, over the course of his pro career. He does have three option years remaining (including this season), as his contract was selected for the first time earlier this year.
Rangers Sign Chris Tillman
The Rangers have signed righty Chris Tillman to a minors deal, per a club announcement. He’d recently elected free agency from the Orioles (following a DFA) after struggling throughout the entire season while playing on a one-year, $3MM contract. The Baltimore organization will remain responsible for the balance of the $3MM they promised Tillman over the winter, less any league-minimum earnings he obtains in Texas.
Tillman’s fall from the Orioles’ most consistent starters to his current status as a minor league roll of the dice was startlingly precipitous. As recently as 2016, he turned in a solid 3.77 ERA with respectable peripherals over the course of 30 starts and 172 innings of work. He, in fact, started the American League Wild Card game for the O’s that season.
Taking a further look back, from 2012-16, Tillman gave Baltimores 844 2/3 innings of 3.81 ERA ball, averaging 7.0 strikeouts and 3.1 walks per nine innings pitched. While he was never an ace, he was good for 30-plus starts per season and generally turned in quality run-prevention numbers during his peak years.
Shoulder issues torpedoed Tillman’s season in 2017, though, when he was one of the least-effective pitchers in all of Major League Baseball (7.84 ERA, 24 homers allowed in 93 innings). He returned to the only organization with which he has ever appeared in the Majors this offseason on a make-good deal, but to this point he’s been unable to do so. Tillman has made seven starts and been hammered for a 10.46 ERA in 26 2/3 innings with more walks allowed (17) than strikeouts recorded (13).
Now, Tillman will hope for an opportunity at a rebound in a new setting, though Globe Life Park in Arlington (if he ever reaches the Majors in Texas) is hardly an ideal setting for a homer-prone pitcher to return to form. The Rangers, though, have already traded Cole Hamels to the Cubs and has little in the way of stability among the current group of starters.
Veterans Bartolo Colon and Yovani Gallardo have eaten innings but pitched poorly on the whole, with the latter in particular struggling to keep runs off the board. Offseason signee Mike Minor has underwhelmed in his return to a starting role after dominating as a reliever in Kansas City last year, while southpaw Martin Perez has been the least effective of the bunch. Rookies Ariel Jurado and Yohander Mendez are candidates to make some starts down the stretch, but clearly depth is an issue.
MLBTR Chat Transcript: Deadline Review, August Trade Candidates
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.
Yankees To Place J.A. Happ On DL
The Yankees will send just-acquired lefty J.A. Happ to the 10-day disabled list, per George A. King III of the New York Post (via Twitter). He has been dealing with a bout of hand, foot and mouth disease, which likely explains the placement.
Happ had been scheduled to start on Saturday in a showdown with the division-rival Red Sox. The Boston organization will be throwing their own recent deadline acquisition, Nathan Eovaldi, though it’s also missing a lefty for the series after placing Chris Sale on the DL recently.
At the moment, it seems there’s little reason to fear that Happ will miss significant action. That’s obviously the hope in the Bronx, given that the organization just made the southpaw its major rotation addition in advance of the trade deadline. Happ’s first outing was a promising one, as he spun six frames of three-hit, one-run ball.
In his absence, the Yanks could conceivably turn to any of their three extra 40-man starters — Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Luis Cessa — though it seems it’ll be Cessa. DJ Eberle of the Times Leader tweeted last night that the righty will be promoted along with recently acquired first baseman Luke Voit.
Mets To Select Contract Of Bobby Wahl
The Mets will select the contract of reliever Bobby Wahl, assistant GM John Ricco said today in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link). He’s one of the two players acquired in the pre-deadline swap that sent out veteran closer Jeurys Familia.
Wahl, a hard-throwing righty, has continued to rack up the strikeouts at Triple-A in four appearances since coming over from the Oakland organization. On the year, he has retired 73 batters on strikes while issuing 19 walks in 45 frames at the highest level of the minors. In that span, he has permitted just eleven earned runs on a meager twenty base hits.
Of course, Wahl has shown an interesting power arm in the past, and that did not prevent him from clearing waivers after a brief MLB debut in 2017. If the A’s were convinced he is a notable near-term bullpen asset, perhaps they would not have dealt him for the rental rights to Familia. That said, Wahl’s campaign last year was cut short by injury, which explains why he went unclaimed, and he has certainly bounced back with vigor in 2018. Perhaps he’ll provide a glimmer of hope for the Mets down the stretch.
In other news, the Mets are slated to activate third baseman Todd Frazier, per MLB.com’s Todd Frazier (via Twitter). He could perhaps become an August trade candidate, though there has been no rumor of trade talks to this point.
One active roster spot could be opened by sending starter Steven Matz to the DL. While Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets that Matz was cleared of structural concerns after undergoing an MRI, Mike Puma of the New York post suggests on Twitter that the southpaw may still hit the shelf. As Tim Healey of Newsday notes in a tweet, though, the club is still listing Matz as a probable starter this weekend.
Cardinals Notes: Pham, Leone, Gregerson, Gomber, Martinez
The Cardinals’ decision to send Tommy Pham to the Rays caused quite some eyebrow raising among rival executives, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic. (Stark also ran down a host of other interesting items heading out of the deadline in a subscription piece.) Some around the game see it tied to the fact that, after a lengthy run of success, the Cards are increasingly in flux. Pham had seemed a core piece as recently as this past winter, when the team dealt away other young outfielders, but is now the latest player on the move. The St. Louis club is still two games over .500, has plenty of controllable talent, and isn’t even out of the 2018 postseason picture. But one rival questions whether the organization has “a real understanding of where they are within their process.”
- One of those recent outfield swaps brought the Cardinals reliever Dominic Leone, who worked his first rehab outing for Triple-A Memphis yesterday, striking out two batters in an inning of work. That’s good news for the right-hander, who has been sidelined for much of the year with a biceps nerve problem. He’s still controllable through 2021, so the Cards have time to reap value from the 26-year-old.
- Meanwhile, it’s possible that veteran reliever Luke Gregerson won’t return to the majors this year, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch recently tweeted. Gregerson was sidelined with a shoulder injury when he suffered a torn meniscus that required surgery. The 34-year-old, who inked a two-year, $11MM pact with St. Louis over the winter, has only thrown 12 2/3 frames for the club this season. He allowed ten earned runs in that span, but more worryingly showed some other declines. Gregerson was working at about 1.5 mph less with his average heater than in 2017 while sporting a 12.6% swinging-strike rate that’s well off of his recent levels.
- In other pitching news, the organization has decided to bump rookie Austin Gomber into the rotation to take the place of Carlos Martinez, who just headed back onto the DL, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). The 24-year-old Gomber has thrown 22 1/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball this year in the majors, though his peripherals (7.3 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 33.3% groundball rate) aren’t quite so promising. As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes on Twitter, the organization could soon face an “innings crisis” if it can’t get lengthier outings from its young arms while several veterans work back from the DL. Fortunately, as Langosch recently reported, there is some continued optimism that Martinez won’t require a lengthy absence, though it remains concerning that he has suffered a string of problems in his shoulder and back.
How Might Things Play Out For Josh Donaldson?
The thought long was that Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson would be a major trade chip for the team if things went awry in 2018. While the Toronto organization is well into a sell-off, however, Donaldson remains. That’s due largely to the fact that he hasn’t played since the end of May, with a setback in his rehab from a calf injury keeping him on the shelf through the non-waiver trade deadline.
Donaldson has “made a ton of progress” of late, per GM Ross Atkins (via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, on Twitter), so he seems likely to feature heavily in August trade talks. Indeed, the Jays have already had plenty of talks involving the star third baseman, Atkins also noted (via Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, on Twitter). Of course, we’re still talking about a player who was perhaps the best in all of baseball (non-Trout division) over the prior three seasons. If he can get back to full health, Donaldson could be a difference-maker down the stretch and into the postseason for the right organization.
Given the complications of dealmaking in August, though, how might all this play out?
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There are innumerable variables at play here. Donaldson will need not only to get healthy — he also dealt with significant shoulder problems earlier in the year — but restore his performance in order to bring back real value. Through 159 plate appearances on the season, he was hitting a respectable .234/.333/.423 while playing average defense, levels at which he’s a quality but hardly world-beating performer.
Before organizations considering Donaldson can get a look, though, they may first face a decision on whether to roll the dice on claiming him. This is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire situation for the former AL MVP.
Since he has already been on the disabled list for sixty days, Donaldson can be placed on waivers once he’s ready to play on a rehab assignment. At that point, which may come sooner than later, the pending free agent will be expensive (around $7MM of his $23MM salary remains to be paid as of this writing) and plenty risky. Rival teams will know that he’s at least healthy enough to get back on the field, but won’t be sure he’s over the injury and up to full speed (let alone that he’s in top form).
At first glance, the presumption would be that non-contenders wouldn’t have any reason to place a claim on such a player. Then again, as the Phillies showed last year, it may be unwise to assume that a creative front office won’t see an angle here.
It’s important to note that Donaldson will be available first to American League teams, in reverse order of record at the time the request for waivers is submitted. If none of the non-contenders intercede, the Indians are quite likely to have the first crack at him. The Cleveland organization presently sits 3.5 games behind the Mariners and A’s (the club that memorably dealt Donaldson to Toronto). As it turns out, the Indians could certainly still stand to add a major piece to their lineup and could easily slot Donaldson in at third base while bumping star Jose Ramirez to second and pushing Jason Kipnis into a utility role.
Of course, the remaining salary is a hefty sum — particularly for the Indians — in light of the multiple elements of uncertainty here. If the Cleveland org passes, then the rest of the American League contenders could win the claim instead, or Donaldson could be claimed by an organization on the NL side (who’ll also be ordered from worst to best in priority).
Winning a revocable August claim, of course, doesn’t mean that a team gets the player. Rather, it only gives the claiming organization a chance to work out a deal with the team that sought waivers, which has the election of pulling the player back (after which point only irrevocable waivers may be sought), working out a trade, or simply letting him go for free.
In this case, despite Donaldson’s struggles and injury questions, the Jays could well hold out for a real return. The organization won’t likely be desperate to dump the salary. And it may view a qualifying offer at season’s end as a reasonable alternative to a deal. After all, Donaldson would represent a nice risk even at the hefty single-season QO rate (likely in the $18MM range this offseason). And if he declines the Jays would stand to pick up some draft compensation in a year in which they’ll have some decent draft capital to work with.
[RELATED: The New Qualifying Offer Rules]
Supposing that Donaldson does end up passing through waivers unclaimed, we’ll end up watching his rehab and eventual return quite closely. If that occurs, the Jays will be able to auction the star third bagger off to the highest bidder at the end of the month. While it was quite a different situation in many respects, the Justin Verlander trade last August shows that it’s still possible to get notable returns in August. Donaldson would be a pure rental asset who lacks no-trade protection, so he’d be much simpler to market than was Verlander.
The optimal outcome from the Blue Jays’ perspective is for Donaldson to clear waivers, return to action, put up vintage JD output for a few weeks, and then draw huge interest from a variety of contenders at the end of the month. That’s plausible, though by no means guaranteed.
Rays Designate Adeiny Hechavarria
The Rays have designated shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria for assignment, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). That opens a roster spot for newly-acquired outfielder Tommy Pham.
Hechavarria, 29, has long been viewed as a talented defender at shortstop but has never hit all that much. While he has at times produced palatable numbers at the plate, he has stumbled to a .258/.289/.332 slash in 237 plate appearances this year in Tampa Bay.
While the Rays shopped Hechavarria around at the deadline, they obviously weren’t able to find a taker. It surely did not help that several other glove-first infielders were also available (and, likely, still are). He’s also earning a relatively robust $5.9MM this year in his final season of arbitration eligibility.
The Rays will owe the remainder of that sum unless he’s traded or claimed. Alternatively, if the veteran ends up reaching the open market and later returns to the bigs with another team, the Rays could save a pro-rated portion of the league-minimum salary.
Whether or not he moves straight onto another MLB roster, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see Hechavarria return to the majors in the near-term as a utility infielder. While UZR hasn’t been as enthused as usual with the veteran’s glovework, DRS still grades him as a clear positive and he has a track record of excellent defending.
The expectation in Tampa Bay is that the team will now give an opportunity to top shortstop prospect Willy Adames. The 22-year-old has struggled with the bat in his first 125 MLB plate appearances, slashing just .200/.256/.296, but is widely considered a dynamic talent and entered the season ranked among the game’s twenty or so best prospects.
Adam Lind Opts Out Of Red Sox Contract
The Red Sox have released first baseman Adam Lind after he opted out of his contract with the organization, per a club announcement (h/t Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, on Twitter). He’ll again head onto the open market in search of another opportunity.
It came as a surprise when Lind wasn’t able to find a big-league job entering the season. After all, despite his limitations in the field and against left-handed pitching, he destroyed right-handed pitching last year. In his 238 plate appearances with the platoon advantage in 2017, Lind posted a .303/.364/.534 slash with 14 home runs.
It’s possible that some contenders will like the idea of stashing Lind’s bat for consideration as a September bench piece, while second-division clubs in need of veteran gap-fillers might consider him as well. At this point, though, Lind will surely need to show more in the upper minors before he’s able to command a big league roster spot. In 189 plate appearances thus far at Triple-A Pawtucket, he carries only a .216/.270/.398 slash with eight home runs.