Dodgers Place Adrian Gonzalez On DL, Activate Joc Pederson
Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is headed to the 10-day DL with ongoing forearm tendinitis, the club has announced, with center fielder Joc Pederson being activated from his own stint. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported earlier that the move was very likely forthcoming.
Remarkably, this represents the first time he has required a DL stint in his 14 MLB seasons. Gonzalez, who’ll turn 35 in a few days, has played in no fewer than 156 games annually ever since he established himself as a regular back in 2006.
While it’s sad to see that outstanding run of durability come to something of an end, Gonzalez was not looking himself in the early stages of the season. The forearm problem, which limited him this spring, has very likely played a role in his .255/.327/.309 batting line through 105 plate appearances. Gonzalez is also suffering through some lower-back problems, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times adds on Twitter.
Manager Dave Roberts had hinted the DL stint was likely in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link). He had stated previously that the team would need to sit down with the highly respected veteran before making a move. But now that it has been made, the path is cleared for exciting prospect Cody Bellinger to stay on the active roster after his impressive start.
“I had a conversation with Adrian yesterday on our off day,” Roberts said earlier today, “and I think that right now where we’re at, we’re leaning toward putting him on the disabled list. We haven’t made that decision officially but I think that’s where we’re going to go and give Cody a little runway to play some first base.”
While there’s still quite a bit of uncertainty in how things will play out the rest of the way, there is now clearly a path for Bellinger to stake a permanent claim to a roster position — if not the first base job. (He is also capable of playing all over the outfield.) Through 36 plate appearances, the hyped youngster has slashed .303/.361/.576 with two home runs. While his proclivity to go down on strikes was the biggest question about him as a player, Bellinger has only been retired by strikeout six times thus far — though certainly it’s a minuscule sample at this point.
If Bellinger can stick on the active roster the rest of the way, he’d set himself up to qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player, meaning he could reach eligibility in advance of the 2020 season. Though he’d add an extra year of arb earnings, with boosted salaries the rest of the way, Los Angeles would still control him through at least 2023.
Mariners Place James Paxton On 10-Day DL With Forearm Strain
4:39pm: Per GM Jerry Dipoto, the hope is that Paxton will only miss two starts with what has been diagnosed as a grade 1 strain, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune (Twitter links). It’s likely that either Christian Bergman or Dillon Overton will step in for him temporarily. Seattle also has some promising news on Hernandez, it seems, as Dipoto says he’s almost ready to begin a throwing program and could return by the middle of the month.
4:03pm: The Mariners have announced that lefty James Paxton has been placed on the 10-day DL with a forearm strain. While his prognosis is not known at this time, that’s obviously concerning news for the club.
Paxton, 28, has made six eye-opening starts thus far, spinning 37 2/3 innings of 1.43 ERA ball with 10.8 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9. With the club already missing Felix Herandez and Drew Smyly, his presence was all the more critical.
It’s not at all clear at this point that Paxton will require a lengthy DL stint. But the M’s can ill afford any missed time from the big lefty given the other injuries and with six games already separating them from the top of the AL West standings. And it’s always concerning to hear about forearm strains, which can be precursors to more significant ligament and tendon problems.
For now, Seattle will call up reliever Evan Marshall along with infielder Mike Freeman. But the team will likely need to make more changes to sort out its rotation in the coming days.
Mets Place Travis d’Arnaud On 10-Day DL
The Mets have announced that catcher Travis d’Arnaud is going on the 10-day DL. His roster spot will go to righty Rafael Montero, who is stepping into the rotation at least temporarily.
While it had seemed d’Arnaud would avoid a DL stint for a wrist issue, it became a bigger problem after the injury was aggravated in a recent game. It’s unfortunate to see d’Arnaud go down yet again, though indications are that it won’t be a protracted absence. Manager Terry Collins told reporters including Marc Carig of Newsday (Twitter link) that the hope is d’Arnaud can ramp back up after only a week or so of rest.
Twins Designate Danny Santana
The Twins have designated infielder/outfielder Danny Santana for assignment, as Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com was among those to report on Twitter. His roster spot was needed with utilityman Ehire Adrianza and righty Drew Rucinski headed onto the active roster. (The former was on the DL; the latter had his contract selected.)
Santana, 26, broke into the league with a stunning 2014 season in which he slashed .319/.353/.472 with seven home runs and twenty steals. But he also went down on strikes 98 times while drawing 19 walks, portending some difficulty maintaining that level of production.
As it turned out, Santana has fallen flat offensively ever since. It was much the same this year, as his playing time dwindled. All told, Santana has posted an anemic .225/.258/.310 batting line since the start of 2015. And though he has played up the middle in the infield and outfield, Santana hasn’t rated well at shortstop or in center.
Yankees Acquire Yoiber Marquina To Complete Nick Goody Trade
The Yankees have acquired righty Yoiber Marquina from the Indians, the clubs have announced. His transfer completes the offseason trade that sent righty Nick Goody to Cleveland.
Marquina, 21, has yet to appear this season and just underwent Tommy John surgery, as the Yankees announced in their press release. But he showed promise last year at the Class A level, throwing 31 1/3 innings of 3.16 ERA ball with 12.4 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9. Marquina is still developing after moving to the mound from behind the dish, as Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs has written, but he seems to be a reasonably intriguing arm — so long as the health issues can be overcome.
That seemingly represents a relatively strong return for a player who had been designated for assignment, as was the case for Goody — suggesting there may have been interest from other teams at the time. But Cleveland is faring rather well in the deal thus far. Goody, who has long shown plenty of swing-and-miss ability in the upper minors and even the majors, has been sensational in the early going. Through nine innings over six appearances, he has allowed no earned runs and just five total baserunners while recording nine strikeouts.
Blue Jays Designate Mat Latos, Claim Cesar Valdez
The Blue Jays have claimed Cesar Valdez off waivers from the Athletics, the clubs announced. He’ll open his tenure at Triple-A Buffalo on optional assignment. Toronto has designated righty Mat Latos to clear a 40-man spot.
Valdez, 32, made it back to the big leagues with the A’s after a long layoff. While he was hit hard in 9 1/3 frames — his first since way back in 2010 — the veteran evidently showed enough to catch Toronto’s eye. Valdez did make an interesting showing last year at Triple-A with the Astros, spinning 180 innings of 3.25 ERA ball with 7.0 K/9 against just 1.0 BB/9.
He’ll take over the 40-man spot that had been held by Latos, who was also occupying a spot in the MLB rotation. With Neil Ramirez heading onto the active roster after he, too, was claimed, there was a need to open space there as well.
Latos, who’s still just 29 years of age, made three starts for the Jays. But he lasted only 15 innings and gave up 11 earned runs on 19 hits — five of them homers — while compiling ten strikeouts against eight walks. On the positive side, Latos was sitting at 91.9 mph with his fastball, up a tick from last year, and had produced an 11.0% whiff rate in the short sample.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/4/17
We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post…
- The Brewers announced today that they’ve traded minor league outfielder Victor Roache to the Dodgers in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. A former first-round pick (28th overall, 2012), the now-25-year-old Roache has yet to ascend beyond the Double-A level in his minor league career. Roache has appeared with Double-A Biloxi in each of the past three seasons but mustered a timid .234/.313/.391 batting line in that time. The Georgia Southern product was off to a woeful .176/.238/.230 start through his first 80 plate appearances prior to today’s trade. Baseball America’s most recent scouting report on him (No. 24 in the Brewers’ system in the 2015-16 offseason) praised his strong power skills but also noted his lack of discipline and defensive limitations.
- Another former Brewers first-rounder, southpaw Jed Bradley, has decided to retire, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). He’d been pitching for the Orioles‘ Double-A affiliate. Tabbed with the 15th overall pick back in 2011, Bradley was touted as one of the game’s best overall pitching prospects in the year or two following the ’11 draft, but his stock tumbled considerably, in part due to injuries. The former Georgia Tech star did make his Major League debut last season, tossing seven innings for the Braves.
Earlier Moves
- The Tigers have sold the contract of righty Jake Brigham to Korea’s Nexen Heroes, per a club announcement. Brigham, 29, is a former sixth rounder who reached the majors in 2015 with the Braves. But he struggled in that stint and hasn’t been back since. Brigham had not yet appeared with the Detroit organization since signing a minors pact over the winter. Last year, he pitched in Japan, throwing 34 1/3 innings of 5.24 ERA ball with 7.1 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9.
Heyman’s Latest: Marlins, Rangers, Astros, Buyers, Extension Talks
The Marlins sale could yet be more wide open, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. It’s still a “fluid” situation, he says, and it might not just involve the Jeter/Bush and Glavine/Romney bidding groups we’ve read so much about. Per Heyman, at least one other possible team — led by Dana Pawlicki of Stonington Capital Partners — is looking into putting together an alternative (or, perhaps, just joining one of those other groups). That said, an agreement of some kind could still happen in short order, says Heyman, perhaps within two weeks.
Heyman also looks at a variety of notable transactional situations from around the game (broken out by National League and American League). Here are some highlights:
- Among organizations taking an early look at possible upgrades, the Rangers are said to be eyeing rotation help — if not also the addition of a bat. No doubt the loss of Cole Hamels for roughly two months will increase the urgency, though it’s also fair to wonder to what extent the team will end up buying at all. As Heyman and others have noted, if the Rangers’ struggles continue, that could free Texas to dangle Yu Darvish and Jonathan Lucroy at the deadline.
- The division-rival Astros, meanwhile, are said to still have interest in acquiring a “front-line starter” — not that there’s any reason to believe that could happen before the summer. Of course, Houston has re-discovered its own ace to some extent, with a resurgent Dallas Keuchel looking good thus far. Heyman notes that the southpaw was approached “last winter and spring” about an extension, with the sides seemingly making some progress before talks fizzed. The possible deal would’ve gone beyond Keuchel’s arbitration eligibility, per the report, though there was no consensus on the specifics surrounding a potential club option. Keuchel’s iffy and injury-filled 2016 season presumably quashed any possibility of a revival of the discussions this past winter, though perhaps that could again become a possibility in the future.
- There are other organizations taking a look around for assistance, though it’s not clear whether any are doing more than eyeing the waiver wire and veterans playing on minors contracts. The Red Sox are looking for rotation help while waiting for David Price, who is said to be nearing a rehab assignment. And the Tigers would like to bolster their beleaguered bullpen. The Diamondbacks will probably wait and see whether they can continue their hot start before deciding how to proceed, but Heyman notes that the club would likely “have some spending money” to work with if additions prove necessary and wise. On the sell side, the White Sox remain willing to deal despite their fairly solid start to the year. But the club isn’t backing down from its offseason asking prices, which is certainly no surprise given its prior stance and the promise of renewed demand at the trade deadline.
- In addition to kicking around some ideas with Kris Bryant, which didn’t seem to gain much traction, the Cubs held some talks over the winter with catcher Willson Contreras, according to Heyman. It seems that the backstop’s reps weren’t keen on Chicago’s ideas, which would’ve included “multiple options” — no surprise, given that Contreras has just 108 days of MLB service under his belt.
- Interestingly, Mets shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is said to have raised the possibility of an extension with the ballclub. But there wasn’t any interest on the team’s part, per Heyman, with New York preferring to wait and see how things progress. The club already holds an $8.5MM option ($2MM buyout) over the 31-year-old. While that seems likely to be exercised, with Cabrera perhaps moving to second or third to make way for Amed Rosario, the organization understandably did not wish to make a commitment further into the future.
Steven Wright To Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery
The Red Sox have announced that righty Steven Wright will undergo season-ending left knee surgery. The precise surgery is a cartilage restoration procedure. Wright is expected to be ready for the 2018 campaign.
The 32-year-old Wright was a revelation for the Sox last season, breaking out with a 3.33 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 43.7 percent ground-ball rate in 156 2/3 innings. The knuckleballer began wearing a knee brace late in Spring Training, telling reporters at the time that he’d been dealing with on-and-off soreness but considered the brace precautionary. At the time, Wright said that he didn’t believe any singular issue had led to the knee pain. Clearly, however, that discomfort continued to mount, and it’ll now end up costing him roughly an entire year’s worth of innings.
[Related: Updated Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]
With Wright sidelined for the remainder of the season and David Price still yet to make his 2017 debut, Boston’s rotation will consist of Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Kyle Kendrick for the time being. Southpaws Brian Johnson and Henry Owens remain on the 40-man roster as depth options in Triple-A, and fellow lefty Roenis Elias will give the Sox another optionable starter once he returns from an intercostal strain.
Wright, at some point, will be shifted to the 60-day disabled list to clear a 40-man roster spot for the Sox, and he’ll accrue an entire year of service time while on the shelf. That’ll push him beyond the three-year mark, thereby making him eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career next offseason. Boston can still control Wright through the 2020 season via the arbitration process.
MLBTR Chat Transcript: 5/4/17
Click here to read a transcript of today’s chat with host Jeff Todd.