Rockies To Re-Sign Jairo Diaz
The Rockies have agreed to re-sign reliever Jairo Diaz to a minors deal, per Nick Groke of The Athletic (via Twitter). Diaz will head back to the team’s top affiliate.
A 27-year-old righty, Diaz has been beset with arm troubles for some time now. Tommy John surgery cost him all of 2016 and he has experienced forearm problems at the outset of the current campaign. As a result, he has turned in just thirty appearances at any level since the conclusion of the 2015 season.
The Rox designated and released Diaz recently, but he evidently did not find better opportunities elsewhere and decided to return on a new contract. When healthy, Diaz boasts an upper-nineties heater and typically generates quite a few groundballs, so he could be an intriguing asset for the Colorado organization if he’s able to get back on track.
Rangers Designate Deck McGuire
The Rangers have designated righty Deck McGuire for assignment, per a club announcement. That’s the roster move for the activation of shortstop Elvis Andrus.
McGuire was only just claimed off waivers, so the Texas organization evidently intended all along to try to sneak him back through waivers. If he clears, the 28-year-old will presumably take up a place on the depth chart at Triple-A while not occupying a 40-man spot.
Though he has seen MLB action in each of the past two seasons, McGuire hasn’t thrown enough innings to tell us much. But he does have loads of experience in the upper minors, having reached Double-A in his first season as a pro, way back in 2011. Over 335 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, McGuire carries a 5.09 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.
Rangers Select Yovani Gallardo’s Contract
TODAY: The move is official, as announced by Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake (Twitter link). To create space on the 25-man and 40-man rosters, lefty Brandon Mann was optioned to Triple-A while Doug Fister was moved to the 60-day DL. Fister hit the DL with a knee strain last weekend, and now won’t be eligible to return to the Rangers’ roster until August.
FRIDAY: The Rangers will select the contract of veteran righty Yovani Gallardo, per a club announcement. He’ll join the team in time to make a start on Sunday, at which time corresponding moves will be made.
Gallardo, 32, enjoyed his last run of success in the majors when he turned in 184 1/3 frames of 3.42 ERA pitching for the Rangers back in 2015. Through 251 MLB innings since that time, he has limped to a 5.81 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9.
Since coming back to the Texas organization earlier this year on a minors deal, following a very brief and unsuccessful stint with the Reds, Gallardo has taken the ball for ten starts at Triple-A. He has been in solid form there, working to a 3.81 ERA with forty strikeouts and 14 free passes.
The Rangers will turn to Gallardo with Doug Fister hitting the DL and Matt Moore being pushed to the pen. If Gallardo throws well enough to stick, he might help the team cover for potential trade deadline moves (or, less likely, turn into an asset himself). The Texas pen is also increasingly hurting, with Chris Martin and Matt Bush going on the DL today.
Jorge Soler Diagnosed With Fracture In Foot
SATURDAY: The Royals don’t expect Soler to require surgery, though he’s still likely to miss at least six weeks, per Maria Torres of the Kansas City Star (Twitter links).
FRIDAY: Royals outfielder Jorge Soler has been diagnosed with a fracture of the first metatarsal of his left foot, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic is among those to report on Twitter. He evidently suffered the injury while running after putting a ball in play tonight, having previously fouled a ball off the same area recently.
The outlook on Soler isn’t clear just yet, of course, but this injury seems all but certain to cost him a decent bit of action. As Dodd notes, Jayson Werth missed nearly three months last year with a similar injury, though that’s not to say such an extended absence will be required in this case.
It’s unfortunate timing for the 26-year-old Soler, who was in the midst of a strong season after a brutal 2017 campaign. Through 254 plate appearances entering play today, he carried a .268/.358/.473 slash with nine home runs.
Needless to say, the Royals won’t be competitive this year, so it’s easy enough to weather the loss in that regard. And Soler wasn’t likely to feature as a trade candidate given his not-so-distant struggles and lengthy control rights.
Still, it’s rough news for a team that’s looking to build a new core and a player who finally seemed to be reestablishing himself. And there are financial implications as well. As we explained recently, Soler may have had cause to consider opting into arbitration at season’s end, but it now seems much more likely that he will stick with the guarantee provided in the contract he signed with the Cubs after he departed his home nation of Cuba.
Evan Longoria Diagnosed With Fractured Finger
SATURDAY: Longoria will undergo surgery Tuesday, and he’s likely to miss six to eight weeks, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to report (Twitter link).
THURSDAY: Giants third baseman Evan Longoria has been diagnosed with a fracture to the fifth metacarpal of his left hand, Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report on Twitter. He’ll surely be headed to the DL, though that move has not yet formally taken place.
Longoria suffered the injury when he was struck by an errant pitch. It’s to his non-throwing hand, though surely will impact his ability to swing a bat. An anticipated timeline for his return isn’t yet known.
The 32-year-old has not exactly been at his best since arriving in San Francisco via trade over the winter. He has hit ten home runs in 268 plate appearances but is slashing just .247/.276/.435 while carrying a 3.7% walk rate that’s far below his career levels. Defensive metrics have not loved the glovework of Longoria, who has also already been charged with 11 errors.
That said, there are some more promising signs. Statcast numbers indicate that Longoria’s .277 batting average on balls in play reflects some poor fortune. He’s carrying only a .298 wOBA despite a more promising .340 xwOBA. And Longoria has long been a quality defender. Perhaps there was still some reason to hope, then, that he’d be capable of turning in average or better work at the plate and in the field the rest of the way.
Before he’ll have a chance to turn his season around — and help the Giants keep pace in a mercifully mediocre NL West — Longoria will need to get back to health. In the meantime, Pablo Sandoval and Alen Hanson will likely step in at the hot corner.
Orioles Place Richard Bleier On DL, Select Corban Joseph, Designate D.J. Snelten
SATURDAY: Bleier will indeed have season-ending surgery on Tuesday to repair a Grade 3 lat strain, as Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun was among those to tweet.
FRIDAY, 3:33pm: Bleier may need surgery and is likely to miss the remainder of the season, MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli is among those to report on Twitter.
2:19pm: The Orioles have announced a host of roster moves today. Southpaw Richard Bleier is heading to the DL with what has been diagnosed as a lat strain. He’ll be replaced in the pen by southpaw Tanner Scott.
Infielder Corban Joseph has been selected and added to the active roster as well. To create the needed roster space, righty Yefry Ramirez was optioned and lefty D.J. Snelten was designated for assignment.
The news on Bleier was fully expected at this point, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com wrote earlier today. Bleier is said to be seeking a second opinion after already undergoing an MRI. It’s still unclear just how bleak the outlook is, but Kubatko suggests the internal belief is it’s a serious injury.
While Bleier, 31, is hardly a household name, perhaps he should be. The former Yankees southpaw is in his third big league season and currently is sporting the third sub-2.00 ERA of his career. Bleier has a 1.97 ERA in 119 innings, which is the sixth-lowest mark (min. 100 innings) in MLB history. He’s tied with Craig Kimbrel for the best ERA- (46) in MLB history (again, min. 100 innings; and a tip of the cap to ESPN’s Sam Miller for shining a light on Bleier’s curious dominance earlier this season).
Bleier has averaged just 4.1 K/9 in his career, but his 21.2 percent hard-contact rate in 2018 is outstanding. He’s allowed only two barreled balls this season (as defined by Statcast), and he leads the Majors in barrels per batted ball (1.8 percent of balls in play against him). Bleier may be an anomaly, but he’s been an important piece to the Baltimore bullpen who now looks headed for an absence of potential significance.
Amateur Draft Signings: 6/15/18
Here are the day’s deals of note from the top few rounds of the draft (rankings referenced are courtesy of Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs and ESPN’s Keith Law — with the scouting reports from MLB and Fangraphs both coming free to the general public) …
- The Giants agreed to a $1.5MM bonus with second-round choice Sean Hjelle, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). A towering righty from the University of Kentucky, Hjelle was taken with the 45th overall choice, which came with a $1,587,600 pick allocation. He ranked as high as thirtieth on pre-draft lists, earning that placement on the Baseball America board. Evaluators seem to think the polished collegiate hurler is likely to be a steady, back-of-the-rotation arm, though he isn’t generally seen as possessing immense upside.
- Mets second-rounder Simeon Woods-Richardson will receive a $1.85MM bonus to forego his commitment to the University of Texas, Callis tweets. That lands above the $1,485,100 slot value at the 48th overall pick. While the right-handed hurler has shown quite a lot of promise at times, there are concerns that he has not consistently maintained that high level throughout his starts. Grades were all over the map, with BA highest at #76. Clearly, the Mets believe they can tap into the tools.
- The Brewers will save some money against the slot value on Micah Bello, their competitive balance round B pick, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reports on Twitter. He’ll receive a $550K bonus, leaving the club with some excess pool space from the 73rd overall pick ($824,900 slot). A Hawaiian high-school outfielder, Bello did not draw top-100 billing but placed 121st on BA’s board. He’s credited as a quality overall hitter who may yet have a bit of upside, with some speed and perhaps some untapped power potential, though it’s not clear whether he’ll remain an up-the-middle defender as a professional.
Orioles Interview Ned Colletti
The Orioles have brought in former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti for an interview, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links). It’s not known if Colletti is a serious candidate to join the organization, and if so in what capacity. The report also indicates that other, as-yet-unreported names could also be under consideration.
Now a broadcast analyst, the 64-year-old Colletti served as the GM in Los Angeles for a decade before Andrew Friedman was hired just after the 2014 season. Colletti continued on as a senior advisor to president/CEO Stan Kasten, but certainly no longer carried the status as the top baseball decisionmaker in the Dodgers organization.
We haven’t heard Colletti mentioned often as an executive candidate elsewhere, but he did pop up in some rumors for the Diamondbacks job when it was open in 2016. There was never any indication that Colletti was a serious candidate for that gig, which ultimately went to Mike Hazen. But it did provide an opportunity for MLBTR’s Steve Adams to run through Colletti’s transactional track record.
This news takes place against a backdrop of ample uncertainty in Baltimore. Some change is evidently afoot at the ownership level, with Peter Angelos’s sons said to be increasingly grasping the reins. Both executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter are operating on expiring contracts, with VP of baseball ops Brady Anderson widely viewed as an increasingly important voice.
The future is just as murky from a roster perspective. Despite making a few veteran additions and deciding against any significant sell-side trades over the winter, the team has stumbled to a horrific start and is completely buried from a competitive perspective this year. Meanwhile, key players including Manny Machado, Adam Jones, and Zach Britton are now months away from free agency.
With a mid-season sell-off of some kind all but certain, and the future baseball ops leadership in question, it could be that the O’s are considering a move to bring in a veteran hand before making tough calls. Whether such an executive would supplement or displace Duquette is unclear, though it’s tough to imagine that he’d be particularly amenable to a power-sharing arrangement.
As far as other potential candidates go, it’d be foolish to guess at the possibilities, but one imagines that the Baltimore organization is considering other people who come with experience at the highest levels of baseball ops departments. Rosenthal does note that the Orioles haven’t yet sought to speak with anyone who’s currently employed by a rival team.
White Sox Outright Gregory Infante
The White Sox have outrighted right-handed reliever Gregory Infante, per a club announcement. It seems he’ll remain at Triple-A after clearing waivers.
Infante, 30, gave the South Siders 54 2/3 innings of 3.13 ERA pitching, with 8.1 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9, in 2017. That was rather unexpected, given that six seasons had elapsed between his first, brief stint in the majors and his return last year.
Unfortunately, that nice story has not continued into the current campaign. Infante was knocked around in nine MLB innings before being optioned to Charlotte, where he surrendered 14 earned runs in his 18 innings of action.
Cubs Prospect Adbert Alzolay To Miss Remainder Of Season
Top Cubs pitching prospect Adbert Alzolay is slated to miss the remainder of the season, GM Jed Hoyer told reporters including Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). The recovery timeline for the lat injury he suffered recently is too lengthy to make a return plausible.
Clearly, that’s disappointing news for the Chicago organization and its prized young hurler. The 23-year-old was seen as a rising talent entering the year, topping most lists of the best prospects in a generally low-rated farm.
It surely seemed possible, at least, that Alzolay would factor as soon as the current season and certainly by 2019. He had not exactly dominated in eight starts at Triple-A, working to a 4.76 ERA with 6.1 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 over 39 2/3 innings, but was (and is) still seen as a big talent within the organization.
As Hoyer put it, via MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat (on Twitter): “It’s a setback for 2018 but we don’t see it as a setback for his career. We love the makeup, love the stuff. We think he’ll help us a lot in the future.”
It’s obviously still possible that Alzolay will be a notable part of the Cubs’ depth chart next year. But the loss will tell. He will miss a lot of development opportunities, while the team will not get to evaluate him as fully. Most notably of all, perhaps, is the simple question of innings. Alzolay had not previously topped 120 1/3 in a full season. Even if he is able to log some frames in fall or winter ball, that’s not going to make the Cubs comfortable pushing him out next season.
Fortunately for the Cubs, the 2019 rotation is already fully accounted for (assuming full health). Still, Alzolay’s injury situation will impact the team’s planning. Per Hoyer, via ESPNChicago.com’s Jesse Rogers (on Twitter): “We’ll be on the lookout for rotation depth and in the bullpen, no matter what, but this [injury to Alzolay] underscores that a little bit.”