Pirates Designate Josh Smoker, Select Casey Sadler
The Pirates announced today that they have designated lefty Josh Smoker for assignment. Additionally, infielder Max Moroff was optioned. Both of those moves make way for Casey Sadler to join the active roster after his contract was selected.
Smoker struggled in limited action this season for the Bucs and had been on optional assignment at Triple-A. He has been better there, spinning 35 frames of 2.83 ERA ball while recording 39 strikeouts against a dozen walks.
As for the 28-year-old Sadler, he’s back in the big leagues for the first time since 2015. He has turned in solid results this year while pitching alongside Smoker at Indianapolis, working to a 3.46 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9.
Latest On Chris Archer
JULY 21: There is “significant interest” in Archer, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link), though he doesn’t specify which teams are pursuing him. Regardless, there’s no guarantee a trade will happen, as Rosenthal says the pitcher “would almost certainly need to show” a return to form in his final two pre-deadline starts for a deal to occur.
JULY 20: Rays starter Chris Archer has been one of the most consistently discussed potential trade chips in baseball for several years, yet he has stayed in Tampa Bay even as many rotation mates have been traded away. Now, though, it could finally be time for a deal to go down, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.
Archer, who turns 30 later this season, expressed a desire to “experience winning” in comments to Topkin. Though Archer chose his words carefully and hardly issued anything approaching a trade demand, the right-hander perhaps at least hinted that it might be best for the sides to part ways — depending, at least, upon the Tampa Bay organization’s intentions. As he put it:
“If I’m going to be here. I want the process of not going to the playoffs to be expedited. … I’ve seen the transition. I’m not saying I’m not happy, but I know that we are still transitioning. And the faster we can speed that up and get back to the 2008 through ’13, ’14 days, the better.”
Ratcheting up the contention timeline hardly appears to be the present priority for a Rays front office that has been hard at work moving large contracts and adding future-oriented assets. While the team’s solid play has been quite a pleasant surprise, the postseason seems out of reach in a monumentally stratified American League.
It came as no great surprise, then, when the Rays shipped out Alex Colome and Denard Span earlier in the season. And the club’s focus at the trade deadline figures to be on finding homes for a few pending free agents while also weighing bigger potential swaps. With the Rays having perhaps already placed emergent starter Blake Snell out of reach, the attention seems likely to end up on Archer.
To be sure, Archer has not been at his best this year — or, in truth, for the past two seasons either. Despite still-strong K/BB numbers, continued mid-nineties velocity, and a steady ~12-13% swinging-strike rate, Archer has allowed more than four earned per nine since the start of 2016. And this year, he’s allowing hard contact at a career-worst 41.5% rate.
Along with the less-than-exciting results, the cheapest years of Archer’s early-career extension are now in the past. But he certainly still remains a respected arm who comes with an appealing price tag. The deal promises him $7.5MM next year and includes $9MM and $11MM options that come with $2MM in cumulative buyouts.
With the end of the deal now in sight, and Archer no longer nearly the incredible value as he once was, the stars could be lining up for a move. It doesn’t hurt that, given the shabby state of the market for rental starters, teams in search of higher-end arms will be forced to go after pitchers whose present clubs are not compelled to make a move. That could drive prices up, though at some point there’ll presumably also be enough demand to interest one or more selling organization. Archer is one of several starters in the same general boat, as we covered in our recent ranking of the 75 top deadline trade candidates.
As Topkin notes, at the end of the day the Rays will need to see enough of a return to make it worth their while to part with a player who still holds plenty of upside. Particularly given that Archer only just returned from the DL, his next few outings my help determine whether another organization puts a compelling offer on the table.
Bradley Zimmer Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
SATURDAY, 5:38pm: Zimmer underwent an arthroscopic procedure to repair his right labrum, and he won’t return to full baseball activities for eight to 12 months, the team announced (Twitter link via Jordan Bastian of MLB.com). At least some of Zimmer’s 2019 season could be in jeopardy, then.
1:15am: Indians outfielder Bradley Zimmer has undergone surgery on his right shoulder, the club announced and Cleveland.com’s Joe Noga reports. Zimmer had been on the minor-league disabled list.
It is not known precisely what repair work was done, so the outlook is largely unclear at this point. Per the report, though, it is generally expected that Zimmer “will not be available for the foreseeable future.”
Entering the year, the expectation was that Zimmer would play a significant portion of the innings in center field. But the 25-year-old struggled to a .226/.281/.339 batting line in his 114 plate appearances, striking out 44 times while drawing seven walks.
The news likely does not impact Cleveland’s plans at the trade deadline. Outfield was and is an area of need. Though it would have been nice to have Zimmer around as a possibility later this year, the injury is more worrisome for its future implications.
Whether or not Zimmer is able to return late in 2018, the former top prospect’s outlook is less certain than ever. The same can be said of the Indians’ anticipated outfield alignment in 2019 and beyond, the composition of which is anyone’s guess. Zimmer will not earn any MLB service time while he’s out, meaning he’ll still be in the 1+ service class until he makes it back to the majors.
Mets, Athletics Expect To Finalize Jeurys Familia Trade By End Of Day
12:45pm: The two clubs expect to complete the deal by the end of the day, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
Saturday, 11:08am: It’s “down to the medical reviews,” says ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, who expects that the deal should “sail through” once that’s finished. Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters today that Familia remains unavailable for today’s game.
Friday, 10:36pm: The A’s are indeed the team trying to wrap up an agreement, Martino tweets. “Barring [a] snag,” Familia will head to Oakland, he says. Olney hears similarly. (Twitter link.)
10:26pm: The structure of a deal is in place but it is not yet final, Olney tweets. Meanwhile, the Mets have informed reporters that nothing will be announced tonight (via Puma, on Twitter). Though Familia is saying his goodbyes in the clubhouse, he says he hasn’t been given any official word (via DiComo, on Twitter).
The Astros are not involved, Olney adds on Twitter.
10:13pm: There’s definitely some fire producing this smoke, as Mets skipper Mickey Callaway tells reporters he was advised not to deploy Familia owing to a possible trade. (Via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, on Twitter.) It remains to be seen if a swap can be completed.
9:51pm: As Jeurys Familia watches from the bullpen rather than entering in a save situation, the Mets are working to finalize a deal to send him elsewhere, Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. The prospective destination is not yet known.
Earlier this evening, it was reported that the Athletics are a suitor for Familia, and all signs are currently pointing to a potential match with Oakland. Many other possibilities seem to have been dismissed. The sides are “well down the road,” per Andy Martino of SNY.tv (via Twitter), though ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that the A’s are “not willing to take on as much money as another club in the bidding.”
Most other suitors seem questionable at best. The Cubs had been tied to Familia, but Olney says they are not involved at the moment. Also on the sidelines are the Braves, Olney adds on Twitter. Though he suggested the Giants might be a factor, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that they are out owing to luxury tax considerations. Meanwhile, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter) and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) indicate that Boston isn’t deeply involved at the moment, though Crasnick tweets that they have been in the picture.
Despite the intrigue, it may be that talks won’t result in a deal. Andy Martino of SNY.tv tweets that, even if ultimately consummated, agreement may not be struck tonight. Clearly, though, talks are “too close to take a risk,” as a source puts it to Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter).
Familia is the top remaining trade candidate from MLBTR’s recent ranking of deadline assets. There has never been any question he’d be moved since the Mets fell out of contention in the NL East. Though he hasn’t been at his most dominant thus far, Familia is getting good results and showing his typical upper-nineties power sinker.
Teams weighing a move for Familia will surely consider him rather affordable at a $7.9MM salary with no future commitment. If not, Mets front office point-man John Ricco made clear today that the club is willing to pick up the tab if it can achieve sufficient prospect value. (Via Puma, on Twitter.)
This is a developing story …
Antonio Bastardo Receives 140-Game Suspension
Free-agent lefty Antonio Bastardo has received a 140-game suspension, per a league announcement. He tested positive for the banned performance-enhancing drug stanozolol.
Stanozolol (better known by its popular name, Winstrol) is one of very few anabolic steroids that’s actually been deemed safe for consumption by the FDA; Stanozolol possesses the rare quality of being able to survive both the digestive system and the liver, meaning it can be taken orally (as opposed to intravenously) and still deliver the desired effects. Because of that, it can be legally sold and as such is easy to obtain. Stanozolol is known for its use in competitive body building, occasionally being used in the offseason for building definition (as opposed to enormous muscle growth).
Of course, being legal for sale and consumption doesn’t equate to being sanctioned for use in Major League Baseball, so Bastardo will receive the second PED-related suspension of his career. Five years ago, Bastardo was slapped with a 50-game ban for his involvement in the infamous Biogenesis clinic. As a result, his second suspension is (obviously) much more severe and has the potential to end the lefthander’s career.
Bastardo’s best known for his time spent with the Philadelphia Phillies, in whose system he spent upwards of ten seasons. Bastardo pitched for Philadelphia at the MLB level for parts every season from 2009-2015. The left-hander also tossed innings for the Mets and Pirates, and was certainly known for being effectively wild. His career ERA to date sits just above 4.00, and he managed to strike out 10.76 batters per nine innings while walking a whopping 4.40. During his career, Bastardo has largely served as living proof that even the most extreme fly ball pitchers can carve out a role for themselves at the MLB level. His 28.6% career ground ball rate ranks as the 10th-lowest all time among qualified pitchers ever since the stat first began to be measured.
Bastardo’s career took a turn for the worse at the beginning of the 2017 season, when he made just nine appearances for the Pirates before hitting the disabled list with a left quad strain. Those nine appearances were absolutely catastrophic; the right-hander issued a walk per inning across those nine innings while allowing five homers and giving up 15 earned runs on the whole. After spending two months on the DL, the Pirates elected to designate the veteran for assignment, closing the books on the two-year, $12MM contract he signed with the Mets prior to 2016. He hasn’t pitched at the MLB level since.
The Diamondbacks too a chance on Bastardo at the beginning of 2018, adding him to a large pool of veterans they signed to minors deals prior to spring training. Though he did manage to strike out nine hitters in just 5 2/3 innings (against only one walk), Arizona prioritized other pitchers ahead of him and granted him his release on March 20th. As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd noted at the time, it still seemed possible that the veteran’s track record and decent spring performance would afford him an opportunity elsewhere.
That never ended up coming to fruition, and now Bastardo will have to sit out 140 MLB games before even getting a chance to set foot on a major league mound again. His removal from the 2018 pool leaves Eric O’Flaherty as the lone major league free agent lefty on the market.
Mets Notes: Cespedes, Asdrubal, Rivera, Syndergaard
As we wait to hear about the consummation of a prospective deal that would send closer Jeurys Familia out west, the Mets have served up plenty of other noteworthy news. Here are the other topics of conversation in New York:
- High-priced outfielder Yoenis Cespedes homered in his return from a lengthy DL stint, but dropped a seeming bombshell after the game. Cespedes said that the root cause of his various leg ailments is in fact calcification in his heels, as Tim Britton of The Athletic and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links) were among those to report. The veteran says the only way to address the problem is a surgical procedure followed by an eight-to-ten month rehab, though it’s not certain that he’ll end up pursuing that course. For now, Cespedes could only say he’s not sure if he’ll be able to play through the rest of the season but hopes to be able to do so. Of course, the current campaign isn’t really the chief concern of the team. With Cespedes promised a total of $58.5MM over the next two seasons, his ability to play out the back half of the deal at a high level — whether in New York or elsewhere — is of much greater importance. At this point, it’s entirely unclear how that situation will shake out.
- Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera figures to be a fairly notable trade piece for the Mets. The veteran switch-hitter is drawing wide interest, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports on Twitter. While that market is not fully developed, it seems all but certain a deal of some kind will come together by the time the trade deadline arrives. Feinsand cites the Brewers and Diamondbacks as teams “believed to be among [the] potential suitors.” Cabrera placed fifth on our recent ranking of the top 75 trade deadline candidates, though some other infield possibilities could rise in the ranks if their teams move clearly into the selling camp.
- Cespedes’s situation did not represent the only poor injury news. Infielder T.J. Rivera, who is working back from Tommy John surgery, has been diagnosed with a right elbow sprain, as Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. For now, Rivera will finish a ten-day rest period after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection, with the ensuing steps presumably still to be determined. The 29-year-old was hoping to reestablish himself as a solid infield piece, but struggled at the plate in six rehab games before this issue arose.
- Alarm bells rang this evening as Mets righty Noah Syndergaard exhibited a velocity drop (as documented on Twitter by Britton). Fortunately, both the hurler and his manager say there’s no real cause for concern. (See this tweet from MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and this one from DiComo.) Neither his recently problematic finger nor some other issue was to blame for the velo fade. Instead, the team’s viewpoint is that Syndergaard simply experienced fatigue.
- Blue Jays executive and former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is emerging as an early potential front office target for the Mets, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Of course, that process is only in the preliminary stages at this point. It’s still not entirely clear just how the Mets will go about addressing the front office uncertainty that arose when GM Sandy Alderson took a leave of absence, leaving a trio of execs to handle things in his absence. Whether or not Alderson ultimately returns in some capacity, though, it seems the club will at least consider bringing in some new voices.
Athletics, Cubs Among Teams Showing Interest In Mets Closer Jeurys Familia
The Athletics are “among the teams hoping to land” righty Jeurys Familia from the Mets, according to a report from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Cubs are also showing interest in Familia, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets.
It seems these organizations are hardly the only ones with interest. At least seven or eight contenders have made contact regarding Familia, according to reports from Andy Martino of SNY.tv and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The precise timeline of a deal isn’t at all clear, and will surely depend upon how talks progress. But the Mets are already “exchanging names” of potential prospects with interested teams, Martino adds.
It really isn’t surprising to hear of this broad interest. Familia is an established closer who’ll hit the open market this fall after the struggling Mets wrap things up for the year. We recently tabbed Familia as the #2 player on our list of the top 75 trade deadline candidates. (The top name on the board, of course, has since been moved.)
Some might raise eyebrows, though, to hear that the A’s are one of the teams poking around. The club may only have hopes of challenging the Mariners for a Wild Card spot, after all, and getting Familia would mean offering more than motivated rivals. Plus, the Oakland club already has received impressive performances at the back of its bullpen.
Still, president of baseball operations Billy Beane has made clear he sees the deadline as a chance to get better. While the rotation remains a more obvious area of need, finding a significant improvement there may prove quite challenging given the supply-and-demand situation. And despite the good late-inning work from existing hurlers, modern baseball teams can never have enough good relief pitching. Indeed, the A’s just cut loose veteran righty Santiago Casilla, so they clearly aren’t fully satisfied with their current mix.
From the Mets’ perspective, the hope clearly will be that multiple contenders will push hard for Familia. Heading into the All-Star break, he had compiled 40 2/3 innings of 2.88 ERA ball with 9.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and a 50.5% groundball rate. While there are plenty of talented relievers that could be had, relatively few of those are clearly slated to be dealt away by their current organizations. Zach Britton, Joakim Soria, and Fernando Rodney are perhaps the top alternative pitchers of this ilk.
Mariners Outright Mike Morin
The Mariners announced today that they have outrighted reliever Mike Morin. That move helped clear the way for two promotions, with first baseman Dan Vogelbach and outfielder John Andreoli joining the active roster.
This is the second time Morin has been bumped from the Seattle 40-man roster this season. The 27-year-old righty has recorded six strikeouts against one walk in his four MLB innings this year but has also allowed three earned runs on six hits.
Morin turned in a strong rookie showing back in 2014 with the Angels. (The Halos organization drafted him and promoted him to the majors while their front office was run by current Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto.) Since then, however, Morin has struggled to find success despite generally sporting promising peripherals. Over his career, Morin carries a 4.66 ERA but a 3.32 FIP, 3.89 xFIP, and 3.42 SIERA.
Tigers Place Michael Fulmer On 10-Day DL
The Tigers announced this afternoon that they have placed starter Michael Fulmer on the 10-day disabled list. He’s said to be dealing with a left oblique strain.
It’s a surprising placement, as Fulmer had seemingly been on track to remain in the rotation heading out of the All-Star break. Details on the injury are not yet available. Reliever Victor Alcantara will take the open roster spot.
Of particular note, it’s now quite difficult to imagine Fulmer as a summer trade candidate. That may not have been in the cards regardless, but the possibility had at least been intriguing to consider. Fulmer was one of several quality, controllable starters who we rated among the 75 top trade deadline candidates.
Fulmer, 25, has continued to see his results deteriorate after a sterling rookie campaign. Through 112 frames in 2018, he carries a 4.50 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 along with a 45.6% groundball rate. Still, Fulmer is throwing the same upper-nineties heat and getting the same range of swinging strikes (10.5%) as before. Though he has allowed more hard contact in prior seasons, Fulmer mostly seems like the same pitcher and would be of obvious interest to other organizations.
If there was any plausibility to a trade scenario, it came largely from the fact that this year’s starter rental market is not exactly loaded. Teams seeking quality starters, then, will surely at least inquire on pitchers of Fulmer’s ilk.
Affordability and future control make Fulmer an easy asset for the Tigers to hang onto, though perhaps he could appear in trade rumors again in the winter if he returns and throws well down the stretch. Fulmer is headed for arbitration at season’s end as a Super Two player. The absence will cost him in that process, though not significantly — if, at least, he’s able to return in reasonably short order.
Tigers Activate Leonys Martin
The Tigers have activated outfielder Leonys Martin from the 10-day disabled list, per a club announcement. Fellow outfielder Mikie Mahtook has been optioned to open a roster spot.
Martin hit the shelf earlier this month with a hamstring strain. That was especially worrying given that the 30-year-old had already required one prior DL stint this year for a similar injury. Ultimately, though, he made it back in just over two weeks after receiving a bit of extra rest over the All-Star break.
That leaves some time left for Martin to show he’s at full health in advance of the trade deadline. Dealing Martin and other pending free agents sits atop the organization’s to-do list over the next ten days. As I explored earlier this summer, Martin has played his way into an interesting potential trade chip, though contenders will certainly want to be able to anticipate that he’ll be on the field.
To this point of the season, Martin carries a .257/.327/.431 batting line with nine home runs. That’s just over league-average production, which is rather appealing given that he’s also a quality up-the-middle defender and baserunner. With only $1.75MM in guaranteed salary this year and another season of arbitration control still remaining, Martin is affordable as well and even comes with some potential future value.