Astros Option Jake Marisnick
10:52am: Outfielder Tony Kemp will get the call to replace Marisnick, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (via Twitter).
7:30am: The Astros announced after last night’s game that center fielder Jake Marisnick has been optioned back to Triple-A. It’s not yet clear who’ll take his spot on the active roster.
It seems the hope in Houston is that Marisnick can get back on track with some time spent at Fresno. As MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports, skipper A.J. Hinch said after the game that the speedy outfielder will receive “a run of at-bats he’s not going to get [in the majors] over the next ten days or however long he’s down there.”
The current campaign has certainly been frustrating to this point for the 27-year-old Marisnick, who had posted a breakout 2017 effort. Of course, his excellent output last year — including a .243/.319/.496 slash with 16 home runs and nine steals — came with a worrisome 34.7% strikeout rate.
Thus far in 2018, the swings and misses have ruled the day. Marisnick is striking out at an alarming 47.1% clip and has drawn just a single walk in 87 plate appearances. His power output is way down as well, though it’s the .151 OBP that is most concerning.
While the ‘Stros certainly value Marisnick’s quality baserunning and fielding, they understandably feel he needs some time to figure things out at the plate. He is earning $1.9MM this year and remains eligible for two more seasons of arbitration.
Jason Castro To Miss Remainder Of Season
Twins catcher Jason Castro received unwelcome news upon completion of his previously scheduled knee surgery. He ended up requiring a full repair of his meniscus, which is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the season, as MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger was among those to report on Twitter.
The Minnesota organization was already preparing to weather an absence from Castro, but the belief was that he’d only miss about four to six weeks. Instead, the Twins may be on the hunt for a full-time replacement. For the time being, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press tweets, the team expects to continue to rely upon Mitch Garver and Bobby Wilson.
Castro, 30, is playing on $8MM salaries both this year and next. He was not producing much at the plate to open the season, with a .143/.257/.238 slash over 74 plate appearances, but the organization surely intended to exercise patience with a player who had produced at a solid rate in the first season of his three-year free-agent pact.
It remains to be seen just how aggressively the Twins will ultimately pursue an upgrade behind the dish. There are several plausible rental players that could be made available, but at this stage it’s unlikely that they’ll be moved. Odds are, the Minnesota brass will use the next two months to evaluate the internal and external possibilities, and to assess the team’s overall situation, before deciding upon a trade deadline strategy.
Mets Place Yoenis Cespedes On 10-Day DL
The Mets have placed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Phillip Evans.
It’s not surprising to hear that Cespedes is going to be shut down for a bit, as he has been dealing with a hip strain that has lingered for the past ten days or so. The team had resisted a DL placement but finally decided to bite the bullet and shut Cespedes down. The placement is backdated to May 14th.
The 32-year-old Cespedes remains a key cog in the New York lineup. He’s off to a .255/.316/.474 slash through 152 plate appearances, which isn’t quite up to the standard he has set over the past three years but remains substantially above-average output.
While it always hurts to lose such a productive member of the lineup, the Mets will obviously want to ensure that this doesn’t balloon into another worrying lower-body injury for Cespedes. Plus, both Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares have hit well in limited action; providing some extra action for them probably isn’t the worst outcome.
Indians Re-Sign Matt Belisle
The Indians have announced that righty Matt Belisle is re-joining the organization on a minor-league deal. He’ll begin his tenure at Triple-A.
It seems that Belisle was not able to find a better opportunity with another club. He opened the year on Cleveland’s active roster after winning a job in camp, but was designated for assignment two weeks ago and thereafter elected free agency.
Bullpen depth has been an ongoing problem for the Indians, so it’s not surprising to see this move. The club also had an opening at Triple-A after promoting Neil Ramirez to the MLB roster.
Belisle, who’s closing in on his 38th birthday, had a solid 2017 campaign — in particular, he finished on an excellent run — but was not overly impressive out of the gates this year. In his 10 1/3 innings, he allowed six earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Belisle compiled just four strikeouts in that span, though he did maintain a swinging-strike rate of 9.8% that falls in line with his prior levels.
Blake Swihart’s Agent Asks Red Sox For Trade
Blake Swihart‘s agent, The Legacy Agency’s Brodie Scoffield, tells Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston that he has asked the Red Sox to trade the little-used player to another organization.
It has been an awkward arrangement from the start of the season, as the out-of-options Swihart has seen just 24 innings in the field (mostly in left) while picking up 32 plate appearances off of the bench. A catcher by trade, he’s obviously not a part of the team’s plans behind the dish, as he has caught only a single inning despite the marked offensive struggles of Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez.
In all likelihood, the trade request won’t have any meaningful impact on Swihart’s future. But it’s also likely to be fulfilled on the team’s own volition. After all, the Sox are engaged in what promises to be a season-long battle for supremacy in the AL East. It feels as if something has to give at some point, given that Swihart is effectively being treated as something like a Rule 5 pick.
Frankly, it’s a curious situation all around. Surely, some other teams would be glad to give a shot to the 26-year-old Swihart, a former first-round pick and top-100 prospect. But it’s also tough to imagine he’ll be valued too highly in a trade. Swihart produced good, but hardly overwhelming, offensive numbers on the way up the ladder. Since his first MLB action in 2015, he hasn’t hit much at any level and still hasn’t settled in anywhere defensively while dealing with injuries and inconsistent opportunities. The fact that Swihart cannot be optioned will make it tough for a team that wishes to try him out behind the plate, since he’d have to be thrown right into the fire at the MLB level despite minimal time under the mask this season.
As Drellich explains, it seems that a decision point could soon be approaching, as Dustin Pedroia‘s pending return from the disabled list will make it all but impossible to continue carrying Swihart. It could be that the Sox are simply waiting until the last possible moment to make a decision. After all, an injury could arise that would enhance Swihart’s utility to the Boston organization (or to a potential trade partner). Presumably, the Boston front office already knows which rivals have serious interest and what sort of return — a useful MLB reliever? some far-off young talent? — might be achievable, if any. In the meantime, there’s little for Swihart to do but sit back and wait.
Indians Place Bradley Zimmer On DL, Select Neil Ramirez
The Indians announced today that they’ve placed outfielder Bradley Zimmer on the 10-day DL. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by righty Neil Ramirez, whose contract was selected. Clearing a 40-man spot was accomplished by shifting lefty Ryan Merritt to the 60-day DL.
Zimmer has been diagnosed with a left rib contusion, which does not seem likely to keep him out for too terribly long. The 25-year-old outfielder has been struggling quite a bit, with a .224/.283/.337 slash and 39 strikeouts through his first 106 plate appearances on the season.
The 28-year-old Ramirez, meanwhile, will again look to reestablish himself in the majors. He was once a quality pen option with the Cubs but has struggled in recent years. Ramirez was throwing quite well at Triple-A, compiling 17 2/3 innings of 2.55 ERA ball with a whopping 15.8 K/9 against just 1.5 BB/9.
Red Sox Place Carson Smith On 10-Day DL
The Red Sox announced that righty Carson Smith has been placed on the 10-day DL with a subluxation of his right shoulder. He’ll be replaced for the time being by lefty Bobby Poyner.
It’s obviously not terribly promising news to hear that the injury is to Smith’s throwing shoulder. It’s still unknown at this point just what kind of absence the team expects from the veteran reliever, but it seems that it could be a rather serious matter.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston (via Twitter), that “it’s got the potential of being a major injury.” Smith, who hurt himself flinging his glove after a poor outing, will go for a second opinion.
The 28-year-old Smith had been playing a significant role in the Sox pen after missing most of the past two seasons. He carries a 3.77 ERA in 14 1/3 innings on the year, with 11.3 K/9 (on an 11.8% swinging-strike rate) against 3.8 BB/9 as well as a 52.5% groundball rate.
Orioles Outright Renato Nunez
The Orioles announced that they have outrighted Renato Nunez to Triple-A after he cleared waivers. The Baltimore organization had just claimed Nunez itself.
With the series of moves, the O’s will gain control over Nunez without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Though he does not really fit well on the current roster, it’s certainly possible that Nunez could get a look in the majors if the Orioles undertake some summer trades.
Robinson Cano Suspended For 80 Games
Mariners star Robinson Cano has received an eighty-game suspension for testing positive for substances banned by the MLB-MLBPA Joint Drug Agreement, as first reported by Hector Gomez of Deportivo Z 101 (via Twitter) and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Since the ban begins immediately, Cano will be eligible to return in the middle of August.
Cano was suspended for a diuretic known as furosemide that is prohibited by the JDA among other diuretics and masking agents, as Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweeted and the league has since announced. Cano has issued a statement through the MLBPA (Twitter link) in which he says the “substance was given to [him] by a licensed doctor in the Dominican Republic to treat a medical ailment.” And a source claims to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter) that Cano was receiving treatment for high blood pressure, with PED tests before and after the test in question coming back clean.
That claim seems to offer a potential explanation at first glance, but the full context must also be considered here. Players are advised clearly not to take substances that have not been cleared in advance, a lesson drilled in through prior suspensions in the faces of claims of innocence.
More importantly, as ESPN.com’s T.J. Quinn rightly points out on Twitter, the JDA does not treat diuretics and masking agents in the same manner it does banned performance enhancing drugs themselves. Unlike in the case of tests that reveal PEDs, intent is required to support the application of the standard 80-game ban for first-time offenders in the cases of diuretics or masking agents. Here’s the language from the JDA, Section 3(F):
“The presence of a Diuretic or Masking Agent in a Player’s urine specimen shall result in the Player being re-tested. The presence of a Diuretic or Masking Agent in a Player’s urine specimen shall be treated as a positive test result if the [Independent Program Administrator] determines that the Player intended to avoid detection of his use of another Prohibited Substance.”
Cano, 35, had been discussing the matter with the league since the test results came in over the winter, per Heyman (via Twitter). It seems fair to presume that the league felt there was sufficient evidence to support a finding that Cano had avoided detection of a PED. Cano had just hit the DL with a fractured right hand that was likely to keep him out for some time. By dropping his right to an appeal now, he can rehab that injury while serving out the suspension, though ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that the process was already underway.
The implications, to be sure, are many. Cano will not be eligible to draw his usual salary, meaning he’ll forfeit about $10MM and save the team the same amount. And he’ll surely lose some sponsorship opportunities, costing him further money. The veteran second baseman also will not be eligible to participate in the postseason if the Mariners make it in.
More broadly, a respected player on a potential Hall-of-Fame trajectory has now tainted his legacy. The former Yankees star has produced both before and after bolting to the Mariners via free agency before the 2014 season. He’s a lifetime .304/.354/.493 hitter with 305 home runs in over 2,000 games of MLB action. With defense and baserunning factored, in Cano has been valued at 67.5 rWAR and 54.5 fWAR over his career.
Cano remains under contract for five more seasons beyond the present one. He’s slated to earn $24MM per season from 2019 through 2023. While that means the M’s won’t be looking for a long-term replacement, they will need to replace him in the near-term. For the immediate time being, Gordon Beckham is up to take a roster spot. But perhaps it’s still conceivable the M’s could move Dee Gordon back to the infield while filling in for him in center with any number of other players.
Braves Claim Chad Bell
The Braves have claimed lefty Chad Bell off waivers from the Tigers, per announcements from the teams. He had been designated for assignment recently by the Tigers.
Bell, 29, has been knocked around in 69 2/3 MLB innings over the past two seasons. He has worked mostly as a reliever in the majors but has started for the most part in the minors. Odds are he’ll be seen as a lefty specialist or long relief possibility in Atlanta. Bell will presumably begin his tenure there on optional assignment.