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Giants To Designate Bryan Morris

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The Giants are set to designate righty Bryan Morris for assignment, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Lefty Steven Okert will be called up to take the open roster spot.

Morris, 30, owns an unsightly 6.43 ERA through his 21 frames on the year. He has struck out 6.4 and walked 4.7 batters per nine while showing an average fastball of just over 93 mph — well off his peak. Of course, it’s promising to see that Morris is healthy after shoulder issues ended his time with the Marlins.

Julio Urias To Undergo Shoulder Surgery

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Young Dodgers southpaw Julio Urias will require anterior capsule surgery on his left shoulder, according to a team announcement. It’s a major operation that clouds the future of the 20-year-old hurler.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman says that the expectation is Urias will require an absence of between twelve and fourteen months, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports (links to Twitter). It’s even possible that Urias could pitch in the majors in 2018, he emphasized.

Though the procedure is a scary one for any pitcher, there are some mitigating factors here. Friedman says that Urias suffered the injury in an acute manner and is not dealing with any other injuries in his shoulder. That makes for a relatively more constrained problem than many prior pitchers have dealt with.

Still, it’s hard not to cringe when looking at the list of pitchers who have gone before Urias — though Friedman did specify that none were truly direct comparables. The most famous case is that of Johan Santana, who never really made it back. This 2012 piece from Adam Rubin of ESPN.com talks about the history (before Santana’s ultimate fate was known). And this deep dive from Jon Shepherd of Camden Depot covers the nuts and bolts.

It’s notable that the injury — so far as is presently known — occurred while Urias was on optional assignment. That would mean he will not accrue MLB service time during his recovery. Service-time considerations were only part of the picture for the Dodgers as they handled Urias with care over the past several seasons. Even as he showed immense aptitude for his age, the team took great care to limit his workload and ease him towards the big leagues.

The Mexican prodigy cracked the majors last year at 19 years of age, turning in 77 impressive innings of 3.39 ERA pitching with 9.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. It seemed he’d be ready for a more-or-less full season of work in 2017, but struggled early and ended up back at Triple-A. While he was seemingly on track to sort things out and make it back up, Urias apparently suffered the injury in his most recent outing for Oklahoma City.

While Los Angeles can do little but wait and hope that Urias responds well, the news does have near-term ramifications. The Dodgers will no longer be able to count on a boost from the lefty down the stretch, making it seem all the more likely that the team will consider adding a starter at the deadline. Though the rotation goes at least six deep, with other options standing by, the Dodgers are facing a steep test in the NL West and are no doubt aware of the injury risks carried by most of the members of the current staff.

Mets Ready To Listen To Offers On Short-Term Veterans

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5:56pm: Unhappy about being bumped to second base upon his activation today, Cabrera says he has asked to be traded. (Video via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, on Twitter.) He also suggested he indicated a willingness to move to another part of the diamond earlier in the year if the team would pick up his 2018 option, but the Mets weren’t interested (via another DiComo tweet).

2:14pm: The Mets are “open for business now,” in the words of ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter), whose report suggests the organization is preparing to throw in the towel on a snakebitten season. Per Olney, the Mets are amenable to dealing away a variety of veteran assets.

As things stand, New York is buried a dozen games back of the division-leading Nationals and yet further out of a largely uncompetitive NL Wild Card race. With several of the organization’s best players on the DL (or otherwise battling injuries or performance issues), it’s hard to see a path to the postseason.

Among the players that could be marketed, per Olney, are outfielders Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce, infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, and reliever Addison Reed. There are other older players on short-term contracts, too, who will presumably be shopped. First baseman Lucas Duda and southpaw Jerry Blevins appear to be the most likely additional trade candidates on the roster, with veteran infielder Jose Reyes perhaps also being a possibility (though he has struggled). Second baseman Neil Walker would also be an option, at least once he’s back from the DL.

None of those players seem like plausible candidates to receive qualifying offers, so the Mets will need to cash them in over the next five weeks or let them walk for nothing. It’ll be interesting to see just how the deadline develops for the Mets, who have been in the postseason in each of the past two seasons and came into 2017 with high expectations. Despite the step back this year, the club will no doubt still be looking to field a competitive roster next year. That stance could shape the club’s approach to the deadline.

New York will be looking for answers at several positions next year. Third base remains an open question with David Wright still unavailable and Reyes slated to return to free agency, while it’s still unclear whether the team will exercise its option over Cabrera. Even if top prospect Amed Rosario steps in at short, Cabrera could conceivably take over at second for the departing Walker or even slide over to the hot corner. It’s possible that youngster Domonic Smith could take over for Duda at first, though otherwise that’s another area with questions.

There are a few internal options on hand, of course, in addition to Rosario and Smith. Wilmer Flores could slot in at a variety of infield spots and there are some other young infielders on the 40-man. In the outfield, Michael Conforto will handle everyday duties opposite Yoenis Cespedes, likely leaving Brandon Nimmo (or some outside alternative) to platoon with Juan Lagares in center. And while there’ll inevitably be some holes to patch in terms of pitching, the rotation ought to be set (knock on wood) and the bullpen will welcome back Jeurys Familia as the closer. Blevins could also be retained to represent a lefty setup man, as he’s controllable via option.

Padres Agree To Terms With MacKenzie Gore

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The Padres are set to announce the signing of third-overall pick MacKenzie Gore tomorrow, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Once the signing is official, Gore will receive a $6.7MM bonus, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (Twitter link).

That payday lands just over the $6,668,100 slot value that came with the Friars’ top selection. Gore’s signing represents the last unfinished business from the first ten rounds of the draft for San Diego.

In Gore, the Padres landed a much-hyped left-handed prep pitcher. He drew consensus top-five pre-draft billing, with Fangraphs’Eric Longenhagen ranking him highest at third on the board.

 

Diamondbacks Designate Oscar Hernandez

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The Diamondbacks have designated catcher Oscar Hernandez for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed so that the club could select the contract of righty Rubby De La Rosa, who’s headed back to the majors. Righty J.J. Hoover is headed for a DL stint owing to shoulder inflammation.

Arizona picked up Hernandez through the Rule 5 draft, plucking him from the Rays and then managing to secure his rights despite letting him into only 22 MLB games. The youngster understandably didn’t hit much; he had never previously played above the Class A level.

Now nearing his 24th birthday, Hernandez will either be traded or exposed to waivers. Though his calling card is his defensive work behind the dish, he’ll obviously need to show some life with the bat to make it back to the majors. Through 156 plate appearances at Double-A this year, Hernandez carried a sluggish .197/.263/.352 batting line.

Tigers Release Francisco Rodriguez

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The Tigers announced today that they have released veteran righty Francisco Rodriguez. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by righty Bruce Rondon.

Detroit also announced that it has selected the contract of outfielder Matt Den Dekker. He’ll take the spot of Alex Presley, who’s headed to the 7-day concussion DL.

Rodriguez, now 35, was acquired from the Brewers before the 2016 season with one more year and an option left on his free-agent contract. He had shown signs of deterioration last year, but still gave the Tigers 58 1/3 innings of 3.24 ERA ball. That showing led the Tigers to pick up the extra year at $6MM, rather than spending $2MM on a buyout.

After years of mostly steady production, the veteran righty has fallen off badly thus far in 2017. Over 25 1/3 innings, he owns an unsightly 7.82 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. Opposing hitters are driving home runs at a rate of more than one per every three innings, offering at pitches outside of the zone just 20% of the time (lowest in K-Rod’s career), and hitting grounders at only a 30.1% clip.

While the signs aren’t promising, that’s not to say other organizations won’t at least take a look at Rodriguez. He has a lifetime 2.86 ERA, was dominant as recently as 2015, and even in his diminished state has managed a 9.6% swinging-strike rate — though that’s well off his 12.4% career average. At this point, though, it seems likely that Rodriguez will need to spend some time at Triple-A working out the kinks before being asked to face major leaguers.

Red Sox Sign Jhonny Peralta

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The Red Sox have agreed to a minors deal with veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe was among those to tweet. He’ll report to Triple-A for the time being, where he’ll line up at third base and attempt to give the organization another option at that area of need.

Boston has struggled to find a solution at the hot corner this year. The ineffective Pablo Sandoval, currently on the DL with an inner-ear infection, seems likely to undertake a rehab assignment and join Peralta at Triple-A. It remains to be seen how the club will ultimately handle things at the major league level when both are ready, and a deadline move still seems plausible as well.

Peralta, 35, was cut loose recently by the Cardinals after a rough start to the season. He failed to record an extra-base hit in 58 plate appearances while reaching base at a meager .259 clip. Once a quality defender at short, in spite of limited ranger, Peralta has also seen his defensive ratings slip in recent years.

Previously, of course, Peralta was long an everyday regular. That included a run with the Tigers, then run by current Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Boston also added former Detroit stalwart Doug Fister today. Boston will only owe Peralta a pro-rated portion of the league-minimum salary for any time he spends in the majors, with the Cards responsible for the rest of the $10MM he’s owed in 2017.

Royals Designate Chris Young, Announce Neftali Feliz Signing

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The Royals have announced that veteran righty Chris Young has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to reliever Neftali Feliz, whose previously reported signing is now official.

Young, 38, is in the second year of the free-agent deal he signed to return to Kansas City before the 2016 campaign. He’s promised a total of $11.5MM under that contract, which included an option for 2018 that obviously won’t be picked up.

The results have been rather ugly since the sides put pen to paper. Though Young was surprisingly effective in his 2015 run with K.C., he has scuffled to a 6.52 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 over his 118 2/3 innings over the past two seasons.

Agency Changes: Delgado, Ramirez, Robles, Polanco

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Here at MLBTR we do our best to cover notable agency changes while keeping tabs on player representation through our Agency Database. Here are a few recent moves:

  • D-backs right-hander has hired Dan Lozano of MVP Sports as his new representative, writes FanRag’s Jon Heyman as part of his weekly NL Notes column. Once one of baseball’s top prospects, Delgado didn’t pan out as a starter but has become a solid piece in the Arizona bullpen in recent years. He’s made four starts this year and fared nicely, but he’s back in the ’pen and is on his way to perhaps his best season. Through 51 2/3 innings, Delgado has a 3.48 ERA with 8.5 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 and a 46.3 percent ground-ball rate. Delgado, 27, is controllable for one more year before hitting the open market after the 2018 campaign.

Earlier Notes

  • Indians utilityman extraordinaire Jose Ramirez will move his representation to the Wasserman Media Group, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. It seems that Ramirez is sticking with agent Rafa Nieves, who just joined Wasserman. Ramirez has only just embarked upon a new, four-year deal with Cleveland that was inked late in Spring Training. With two options included, the contract covers all of Ramirez’s potential arbitration eligibility and allows the organization to control the switch-hitting 24-year-old through his age-31 season. He had earned the deal after a strong 2016 season, but his stock has risen yet further after opening the 2017 campaign with a .322/.376/.557 slash through 290 plate appearances. Notably, Ramirez has already swatted 11 long balls, matching last year’s tally in less than half the trips to the plate.
  • Also moving to Wasserman is top Nationals prospect Victor Robles. Though he only just reached his twentieth birthday and hasn’t yet reached the upper minors, Robles received consensus top-ten leaguewide prospect billing  entering the current season. He hasn’t disappointed, slashing .296/.393/.505 with six home runs and 13 steals through 233 plate appearances at the High-A level. While it seems unlikely that Robles will make it to D.C. before the 2018 season, he could be a foundational piece for the organization.
  • Meanwhile, Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco will take his business to Octagon and agent Ulises Cabrera, according to 1500ESPN.com’s Darren Wolfson (via Twitter). The 23-year-old switch-hitter entered the current season with 105 days of MLB service, meaning he won’t be able to qualify for arbitration until at least 2020 and can’t qualify for free agency until 2023. Polanco was a highly regarded prospect who raised expectations with a solid performance in his first extended MLB stint last year. He has struggled thus far in 2017, though, with a .242/.294/.338 batting line through 219 plate appearances.

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