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Indians Place Andrew Miller On 10-Day DL

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The Indians have placed star reliever Andrew Miller on the 10-day with right knee patella tendinitis, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets and the club has announced. Righty Adam Plutko was recalled to take his spot on the active roster.

Miller, 32, has been as nasty as ever this year, with a 1.67 ERA and 13.0 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9. But as Bastian goes on to note, he has not been quite as sharp as usual of late — relative, at least, to his usually otherworldly efforts.

Going without the outstanding Miller for any stretch would hurt Cleveland as it tries to hold off the Royals in the AL Central. But it’s especially harmful since the team just lost fellow southpaw Boone Logan to an injury. Perhaps the Indians will find some added motivation to look at lefties over the month of August, though Tyler Olson has looked good early on.

Cleveland also revealed that righty Josh Tomlin will likely miss about six weeks of action after suffering a left hamstring strain, as Bastian further tweets. That’s not a huge concern now that Danny Salazar is back, but does reduce the team’s depth in the rotation.

Braves Place Jim Johnson, R.A. Dickey On Revocable Waivers

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The Braves have placed righties Jim Johnson and R.A. Dickey on revocable waivers, according to Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com (via Twitter).

These two veterans become the first to be reported of the many players who’ll hit the waiver wire this month. The placement is the first step toward possibly trading a player; you can read more about that here. It also means little in and of itself, since a team can always pull back a player if a claim is made (hence, “revocable”).

In this case, the news is worthy of note, since both Atlanta pitchers are conceivable trade candidates. Johnson, especially, figures to hold appeal. The 34-year-old has averaged 10.6 K/9 and a fifty percent groundball rate through 44 innings, even if the results (4.09 ERA) aren’t quite as exciting. And he’s earning a reasonable $5MM this year and next, making him a plausible candidate to be claimed.

It seems unlikely at this point that any contenders will show significant interest in Dickey. The 42-year-old knuckler is valued mostly for his steady innings, and is earning $7.5MM this year before the team makes a decision on his $8MM club option ($500K buyout) for 2018. Dickey has been solid, with a 4.08 ERA over 128 innings, but it’s less than clear there’s much demand for a pitcher of his ilk down the stretch.

MLBTR traditionally maintains a list of players who have cleared waivers and therefore can be traded freely, and will do so again this year once we learn the outcome on these or other players. Of course, it’s important to bear in mind that we typically don’t hear of all those who clear.

MLBTR Poll: Grading The Sonny Gray Trade

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We asked you yesterday to grade the Yu Darvish swap, and today we’ll do the same thing with the other major deadline-day trade: the deal that sent righty Sonny Gray from the Athletics to the Yankees.

Unlike Darvish, the Yanks’ newest hurler can be controlled for an additional two seasons via arbitration. That contract status better lined up with New York’s needs looking forward while also allowing the team to make a significant near-term addition, installing a pitcher who has thrown quite well in 2017. Indeed, by measure of FIP and xFIP, Gray has actually been a bit better than his 3.43 ERA would suggest. While long-term durability questions continue to be aired, the 27-year-old has looked strong since opening the year on the DL.

On the A’s side of the deal, too, health is more a question than is talent. Indeed, two of the three youngsters in the swap — outfielder Dustin Fowler and righty James Kaprielian — are both in the midst of rehabbing very significant injuries. While Jorge Mateo is likely viewed as the headlining piece by Oakland, the club is clearly hoping the other two players will not only return to full health, but will quickly regain their previous trajectory.

So, how do you grade this deal from the perspective of the Yankees? Was it worth giving up this much talent or does Gray stand too great a chance of returning to his injury-riddled, ineffective 2016 form? (Link for app users.)

And how do you feel the A’s did in taking this package instead of others … or rather than holding onto Gray until the fall? (Link for app users.)

Johnny Cueto Has Mild Flexor Strain, No Ligament Damage

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9:15pm: Cueto will rest for a week before being reevaluated, per Pavlovic. The team expects him to return to the rotation this year, though there apparently will not be a specific timeline on that return until next week’s reassessment.

6:15pm: Pavolvic tweets that the further examination of Cueto’s injury revealed no damage to his ulnar collateral ligament. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that Cueto has a mild flexor strain.

8:45am: Giants righty Johnny Cueto had been working back from a blister problem when he took the hill for a rehab start last night. But he ended up leaving halfway through his scheduled outing with forearm tightness, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

At this point, it’s too soon to know the prognosis. Cueto is set for a full examination by the team’s medical staff today, and it’s certainly possible that the problem isn’t indicative of a significant injury.

That said, forearm discomfort is often tied to other issues in and around the elbow joint, so the club will surely exercise caution with the veteran right-hander. Even in the best-case scenario, it seems likely that Cueto’s DL stint will be longer than had been anticipated as he and the club work to ensure that he’s at full health before pushing down on the gas pedal. And the longer he lays off, the more time that will be required to build him back up to the major league mound.

Just when Cueto will be back, then, isn’t at all clear at present. And that begins to raise new questions about the status of his opt-out decision at season’s end. Cueto will be deciding between a return to the free-agent market — this time with a possible qualifying offer weighing him with some draft compensation — and a return to San Francisco for at least four more years and a guaranteed $84MM. (Either way, Cueto will also be entitled to $4MM more on his signing bonus as well as a $5MM buyout of a $22MM club option for 2022.)

The injury illustrates just why it was always going to be tough for the Giants to trade Cueto this summer. Even assuming away the possibility of a major injury, the uncertainty of Cueto’s intentions left suitors unsure whether they’d be adding a rental or a major long-term commitment. As it stands, that’s just what San Francisco is wondering — though, fortunately, the team is still interested in employing the veteran (assuming he’s healthy) into the future.

Even before the blister and forearm issues arose, there were growing questions as to whether Cueto would stay or go. The 31-year-old had thrown 115 2/3 innings over 19 starts on the year before hitting the DL, but sports an uncharacteristic 4.59 ERA. He does carry a fairly typical 8.0 K/9 and a 10.6% swinging-strike rate that’s higher than his career average. And he has not sported

While there were no major red flags prior to Cueto’s DL stint, there were signs of some decline. He has permitted more hard contact than ever while coughing up 1.48 homers per nine. His groundball rate has fallen to below forty percent after topping fifty last year, he has walked more than three batters per nine (his highest rate since 2009), and he’s averaging just under 92 mph with his fastball for the first time in his career.

Red Sox Place Dustin Pedroia On 10-Day DL

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The Red Sox have placed second baseman Dustin Pedroia on the 10-day DL with knee inflammation, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to just-acquired righty Addison Reed.

Boston had been waiting for Pedroia to be seen by a specialist today, and evidently the result coming out of his check-up was to allow more time for rest. The same joint was operated on last fall, so the club will surely exercise some added caution.

That said, there’s no indication at the moment that there’s any reason for broader concern. Pedroia is still a productive player as he closes in on his 34th birthday, having recorded a .307/.381/.411 batting line with quality defensive metrics through his 85 games this year, though for the second straight year he has rated among the game’s worst baserunners.

Fortunately for the Sox, the team’s pre-deadline addition of Eduardo Nunez and promotion of Rafael Devers will allow the club to fill the void without much issue. The former has slotted in at second in Pedroia’s place over the past three games, while the latter is off to an impressive start through his first six games in the majors.

Braves To Promote Ozzie Albies, Lucas Sims

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2:37pm: Atlanta has announced that Johnson and righty Akeel Morris were optioned to create roster space. With Albies in the lineup at second base tonight, it could well be that the Braves are readying to move on from Phillips — who could be traded or allowed to depart through a waiver claim, though he does have 12-team no-trade protection.

12:34pm: The Braves will promote top infield prospect Ozzie Albies for tonight’s game, according to MLB.com Pipeline (Twitter link) and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman (via Twitter). Pitching prospect Lucas Sims is also heading to the majors to make his first start, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported yesterday on Twitter.

"MarThe move on Albies comes as something of a post-deadline surprise, as the Braves’ infield mix currently includes veterans Brandon Phillips and Sean Rodriguez as well as younger players Johan Camargo and Micah Johnson (who was himself just promoted).

Albies has long been considered one of the organization’s best prospects and drew consensus top-twenty billing leaguewide entering the season. Though he scuffled a bit in his first attempt at the highest level of the minors in 2016, Albies has turned in solid results there in the present season. Through 448 trips to the plate, the 20-year-old switch-hitter carries a .285/.330/.440 batting line with 21 steals and nine home runs. That’s a nice jump in the long ball department for a player who launched just one ball out of the yard in his first two professional seasons and hit just six in 618 plate appearances last year.

It’s unclear how Atlanta intends to line up with Albies on the roster. He’s capable of playing both middle infield positions, but has spent most of his time in recent years at second. The thought had long been that Albies would form a double-play pairing with shortstop Dansby Swanson, and he may yet, but Swanson is currently back at Triple-A Gwinnett after struggling early on this year. The corresponding move isn’t yet known, but may be expected shed some light on the situation. Unless this is planned only as a quick trip up, though, the Braves will presumably be clearing the way for Albies to receive regular playing time.

As for Sims, his promotion comes with somewhat less fanfare but is notable in its own right. The former first-rounder had seen his prospect star fade somewhat in recent years, but he has turned in intriguing results this season at Gwinnett. Through 115 1/3 innings, Sims carries a 3.75 ERA with an excellent 10.3 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 — marking a notable reversal from the control problems that have plagued him at times in the past.

While Sims already had a spot on the 40-man roster, Albies will still need to be added. Atlanta does appear to have some free slots available, though, so it may not be necessary for the club to risk control rights over any existing players. It remains to be seen who’ll depart the active roster to make an opening.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Orioles Designate Johnny Giavotella

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The Orioles have designated infielder Johnny Giavotella for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to the just-acquired Tim Beckham.

Giavotella, 30, has only been with Baltimore for a brief stretch, seeing limited action in seven games. But he had played well for the organization’s top affiliate, slashing .306/.368/.441 with 34 walks against 41 strikeouts over 379 plate appearances.

Over parts of seven seasons in the majors, Giavotella carries a .255/.294/.359 batting line across 1,344 trips to the plate. If he is outrighted, he’d have the right to refuse any assignment.

 

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/1/17

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Here are the latest minor moves from around the game:

  • The Twins have called up veteran righty Dillon Gee, as LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune first reported (via Twitter). Gee will re-join the roster after the club dealt away a pair of pitchers in recent days. The 31-year-old logged four outings with the Rangers earlier this year and briefly appeared on the Twins’ active roster, though he did not see any game action. He has pitched to a 3.23 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 through 78 Triple-A innings on the year and will offer a swingman option for Minnesota.
  • With outfielder Willy Garcia going to the 7-day concussion DL after a scary collision yesterday, the White Sox have selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Nicky Delmonico, per a club announcement. Chicago has ample 40-man space after a bevy of deadline moves. Delmonico was a solid prospect when he was dealt from the Orioles to the Brewers in the 2013 deal that sent Francisco Rodriguez to Baltimore, but things did not work out in Milwaukee and he caught on with the South Siders as a minor-league free agent. He has spent the season at Triple-A, posting a .262/.347/.421 slash with a dozen home runs.
  • The Nationals released corner infielder Matt Skole after he cleared waivers following a recent DFA, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). The 27-year-old lost his 40-man spot when the Nats acquired Howie Kendrick and evidently was not seen as being a part of the team’s future plans. A left-handed hitter, Skole has launched twenty or more home runs in several minor-league campaigns, including last year at Triple-A, and has consistently maintained a walk rate in the vicinity of 12% in the high minors. He also once rated as one of the Nats’ better prospects. But injuries have limited the Georgia Tech product quite a bit as a professional and he has spent more time at first base than at third in recent years.

Post-Deadline Notes: Gray, Cards, Darvish, Britton, Estrada, Braves

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The Cardinals “float[ed]” a trade proposal for Sonny Gray before the Athletics shipped him to the Yankees, according to MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal. In concept, at least, St. Louis would have considered sending young outfielder Stephen Piscotty to Oakland along with a promising starter (Luke Weaver or Jack Flaherty), though it seems talks never got going. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks closer at the Cards’ lack of action on deadline day. Top baseball decisionmaker John Mozeliak acknowledged “a level of frustration” that nothing got done, though he also said the team wasn’t inclined to make deals just for the sake of action. Ultimately, momentum never built toward a deal for Lance Lynn, and the club’s other chatter never materialized into a trade. You’ll want to peruse the lengthy column for all the details.

Here are some more post-deadline links of note:

  • The Dodgers’ acquisition of Yu Darvish came together quite late, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports explains in fascinating detail. It became apparent the Dodgers wouldn’t get Zach Britton from the Orioles within a half hour of the deadline, but the team had already “abandoned hope” of landing Darvish. The Rangers, meanwhile, had run through their alternative trade partners for the ace righty and found none availing. The paths of the two organizations converged just twenty minutes before the deadline. You’ll certainly want to give the story a full read; Texas fans will also want to check out this piece from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on the team’s unannounced but still-evident rebuilding path.
  • In the end, there just wasn’t that much demand in the marketplace for Darvish, Rosenthal also notes — so much so that the Dodgers were nearly in position to land both Darvish from the Rangers and lefty Zach Britton from the Orioles. That said, there was “some overlap” between the prospects in both potential deals, and it obviously would’ve required a steep overall price to get both arms. Instead, Los Angeles added two different lefties, Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani.
  • As regards Britton, Rosenthal had some stern words for how things played out. The Orioles spurned not only the Dodgers but likely also the Astros. For Baltimore, the deadline approach “was disturbingly short-sighted,” by Rosenthal’s reckoning. And when Houston wasn’t able to find another top-end arm, says Rosenthal, its body of deadline work became a “lost opportunity.” It does seem worth bearing in mind, particularly regarding the Astros, that the August trade period appears to be full of opportunities for making further moves if the need is there.
  • Over in Toronto, the Blue Jays ended up holding onto righty Marco Estrada and then watched him turn in a strong outing last night. As Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca writes, Jays GM Ross Atkins suggested yesterday that the organization may yet see Estrada as a part of the team’s future — though his contract is up at year’s end and he perhaps remains a plausible August trade piece. With Estrada remaining in Toronto through the deadline, said Atkins, “we’ll start thinking about not only how he impacts us now, but how he can potentially impact us beyond 2017.”
  • Be sure also to check out the trade deadline rundown from Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, who assesses some winners and losers from the day’s action. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney also issued deadline grades in an Insider piece.
  • With the Braves holding on deadline day, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman takes stock of the months to come. Second baseman Brandon Phillips, reliever Jim Johnson, and starter R.A. Dickey could all be possible August trade chips, he notes, while the inclination of the organization remains to consider deals involving first baseman Matt Adams over the offseason. Meanwhile, Atlanta continues its long-standing pursuit of controllable pitching, though that’ll surely await the end of the current season.

MLBTR Poll: Grading The Yu Darvish Trade

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Yesterday’s last-minute Yu Darvish swap represented perhaps the most dramatic move of deadline day for a host of reasons. It not only broke after the deadline itself, but represented a major shift for the Rangers and left the Dodgers with another ace on a loaded pitching staff. While the trade doesn’t really impact the picture in the NL West — the Dodgers were seemingly running away with things without him — it could well change the complexion of the postseason.

The rights to employ Darvish over the next few months — but, mostly, to have him for the NLDS (and, the Dodgers hope, beyond) — came at a cost. Just how much that’ll sting is debatable and perhaps also largely remains to be seen. While the Dodgers held onto the prospects they evidently cherish most (Alex Verdugo and Walker Buehler), they gave up an intriguing, near-majors hitter in Willie Calhoun while also sacrificing two high-upside youngsters in A.J. Alexy and Brendon Davis.

It doesn’t make much sense to approach a deal like this by contemplating which side “won;” after all, they were both in very different positions. The Rangers essentially decided they did not need Darvish through the end of his contract, since a postseason run was unlikely. And the Dodgers took quite the opposite position, with a willingness to sacrifice pre-MLB talent to add the established hurler.

Instead, given the organizations’ varied approaches, it seems worth polling the MLBTR readership for grades on the deal from the perspective of each side. First, the Rangers: do you think the return will prove significant enough to justify the lessened possibility of a Wild Card, any (perhaps minimal) reduction in the potential to re-sign Darvish, and the draft compensation (a choice at the end of the second round) that would have accrued had Darvish declined a qualifying offer and signed elsewhere? (Link for app users.)

And for the Dodgers … was it worth giving up Calhoun and more for a starter on a team loaded with them? Ought these or other players have been used to acquire a better left-handed relievers than those (Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani) that were acquired? Etc. (Link for app users.)

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