Blue Jays Name Paul Beeston President Emeritus
The Blue Jays announced today that long-time executive Paul Beeston has been named president emeritus of the organization, a designation that he’ll hold “in perpetuity.” Formerly the organization’s president and CEO, Beeston announced his retirement in the fall of 2015.
Beeston’s successor, Mark Shapiro, said that the honorary title was given to honor Beeston’s “incomparable” contributions. “This is simply a small token of recognition for the nearly four decades he’s given the game,” Shapiro said in the press release. “We felt it was right to honour the legacy he has built and ensure he’s a part of the future successes of this team.”
Meanwhile, the new top exec received plaudits from his predecessor. “Over the past year I have had a front row seat to observe Mark Shapiro’s innovative thinking, his professionalism and his commitment to winning and bringing a championship to Toronto,” Beeston commented in the release.
Beeston also noted his gratitude at today’s gesture. “I am fortunate to once again be welcomed back into this great organization,” he said. “To have a small role moving forward is something that I sincerely appreciate.”
It seems only fitting that Beeston will remain president emeritus for as long as the organization exists. He is, after all, its first employee. After entering the fold as vice president of administration back in 1976, Beeston oversaw the Jays as president & CEO for two separate stints — 1989 to 1997 and 2008 to 2015. The former period included the team’s memorable 1992 and 1993 World Series teams, while the latter was capped off last year with the Jays’ first return to the postseason since its back-to-back championships.
J.P. Crawford Undergoes Knee Surgery; Aaron Nola Nearing Attempt To Throw
There were some notable reports on two important Phillies players today. Highly-touted shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford underwent knee surgery recently, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reports on Twitter. And the club is nearing a critical phase of Aaron Nola‘s recovery from an elbow injury, as Zolecki further reports.
Crawford’s procedure was to remove a loose body from his knee. It’ll require a four-week resting period, but doesn’t seem likely to pose any limitations heading into the 2017 season. A consensus top-ten league-wide prospect, Crawford didn’t quite make it to the majors this year but figures to get his shot at some point next season.
Following a solid but hardly overwhelming showing at Double-A, the 21-year-old Crawford earned a promotion to the highest level of the minors. He stalled out there, however, posting only a .244/.328/.318 batting line with four home runs and seven stolen bases in eleven attempts. While he continued to show strong plate discipline, there’s obviously a fair bit of work remaining.
As for Nola, there’s more concern but also less clarity. Though GM Matt Klentak says that the prized righty is “on track,” he still has yet to test his elbow since undergoing a platelet-rich plasma treatment. Nola will likely attempt to throw within the next week or two, says Klentak, with the results of that effort expected to play a major role in assessing his near-term outlook, which the GM says “remains to be seen.”
“The idea is before he goes into his offseason, he’s been up on the mound, he’s thrown to hitters and everything feels good and he goes into his offseason feeling very confident,” said Klentak. “We’re hopeful we’ll be able to time that with instructional league, but if it stretches beyond that, we’ll have to figure it out.”
Though Nola only ended up with a 4.78 ERA over his 111 innings on the year before he was shut down, there were plenty of signs of promise. He racked up 9.8 K/9 against just 2.4 BB/9 along with a 55.2% groundball rate. And ERA estimators viewed his season far more favorably than the earned runs would suggest, with Nola likely dealing with some bad luck (as reflected in a .334 BABIP-against and 60.6% strand rate).
Red Sox Unhappy With MLB Decision On Pomeranz Deal
8:45pm: Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has more on the Red Sox’ perspective. Boston became aware of the issues with Pomeranz after conducting an MRI on his shoulder and elbow, per the report, identifying “an injury he was receiving treatment for” that hadn’t been logged.
The club still felt it needed to move forward with the July 14th trade, and evidently didn’t feel the issue was severe enough to scuttle the deal. Still, though, Boston “sought compensation in the form of a player but didn’t succeed,” a source tells Cafardo. It is not immediately clear whether the team pursued that remedy directly with the Padres or through the league in some form.
7:55pm: Red Sox chairman Tom Werner had harsh words today for the decision of the commissioner’s office relating to withheld medical information in the summer trade for lefty Drew Pomeranz, as Tom Caron of NESN reports (Twitter links). (Video link via NESN.)
“We were extremely disappointed in the decision,” said Werner. “We felt that some wrong was committed and that it’s important to have a level playing field. The Padres didn’t play on it.”
After allegations from four teams arose regarding the Padres’ insufficient provision of medical investigation, the league opened an investigation. The league announced a 30-day suspension of Padres GM A.J. Preller yesterday, specifying that it related to the Pomeranz deal, but otherwise did not punish the San Diego organization or provide compensation to the Red Sox.
At the time the investigation itself was reported, indications were that Boston was not seeking any modification of the swap. Another Padres deal was partially unwound, with Colin Rea being traded back from the Marlins to San Diego. But that arrangement was apparently worked out between the teams. Since that time, reports have suggested that the Padres attempted to evade medical reporting requirements, suggesting to their trainers that doing so would help the organization to gain an advantage in trade talks.
It is not known whether the Red Sox specifically sought any particular recompense arising from the Pomeranz-related concerns. And it’s fair to note that Werner did not make clear whether that was the cause for his view on the suspension. Some have suggested that the Padres were handled less harshly in this instance than the Red Sox were recently, and the frustration could stem from that potential disparity. Boston was hit with a signing ban and was forced to give up its rights to several international free agent signees after a finding of a rules violation.
Meanwhile, Padres manager Andy Green defended his organization as well as Preller, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Insisting that Pomeranz never had any issues of which he was aware, Green went into extensive detail on his view of the situation — which you’ll find in full in Lin’s report. “I see it as that we had all our files in one place and they were not where they needed to be and we accepted responsibility for that and paid honestly a steep price for that,” the first-year manager explained.
At base, Green asserted that there was no “malicious intent to deceive anyone in the process” by the San Diego organization. “There was never this belief that we’re trading anybody that was hurt,” he continued. “There was never this belief that we’re trying to pull one over on the rest of Major League Baseball. … [E]very mistake that’s been made was well-intentioned. Mistakes have been made. We’ve owned them.”
Twins Interested In Mets AGM John Ricco; Have Interviewed Rob Antony
The Twins have interest in Mets assistant general manager John Ricco for their front office leadership positions, La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Meanwhile, the team has already sat down for an interview with interim GM Rob Antony for the open president of baseball operations role.
At present, Minnesota has not asked the Mets for permission to speak with Ricco, who is a top lieutenant of New York GM Sandy Alderson. The expectation, though, is that a request will be made. Ricco took on an increasingly public role in the Mets organization earlier this year, when Alderson was limited owing to cancer treatment.
As for Antony, he too has stepped into the fore at times in the past when former Twins GM Terry Ryan fell ill. Since Ryan parted ways with the organization just before the trade deadline, he has functioned as the full-blown GM on an interim basis. It is not yet clear how serious a candidate he is to take over the operations department on a full-time basis, or what his role could be if he isn’t hired in that capacity.
Other executives reportedly under consideration include Rays AGM Chaim Bloom, Indians AGM Derek Falvey, Cubs senior vice president of player development/amateur scouting Jason McLeod and Royals AGM J.J. Picollo.
Alex Bregman Diagnosed With Hamstring Strain
Astros manager A.J. Hinch says that emerging young infielder Alex Bregman has been diagnosed with a hamstring strain that “obviously threatens [his] season.” (Video via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, on Twitter.)
While the club isn’t ruling anything out at present, Bregman isn’t accompanying the team on its current road trip. Instead, he’ll stay behind in Houston for treatment.
The “diagnosis for him is a little disheartening,” said Hinch, who explained that it was severe enough that it “would normally require a DL stint right away.” With rosters expanded in September, that’s not a necessary step, but it certainly sounds as if the odds are against a regular-season return. “[W]here we’re at on the schedule, that obviously is not a good sign,” said the skipper.
Bregman had been a key sparkplug since coming to the big leagues. Despite a rough start to his major league career, the 2015 #2 overall draft pick has already surged to a .260/.311/.480 batting line with eight home runs in his 212 plate appearances. The long-term outlook remains as optimistic as ever for Bregman, who seems primed to star in an everyday role for many years to come.
In the meantime, Houston will call up Colin Moran to help pick up the slack, though he struggled badly in a brief major league debut of his own earlier this year. The prognosis is better for Jose Altuve, who seems likely to return in relatively short order. And the presence of recent signee Yulieski Gurriel helps — he can play third base and has posted a strong .338/.360/.581 batting line since reaching the majors. But that’s scant consolation, as the Astros have plenty of ground to make up in the Wild Card race.
Orioles, Scott Boras To Discuss Matt Wieters Extension
Orioles executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette is scheduled to meet with agent Scott Boras about a possible extension for catcher Matt Wieters, according to Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com. The 30-year-old is slated to qualify for free agency after the season.
Boras suggests to Connolly that there is at least some level of mutual interest in a new contract for Wieters, who has spent his entire career with the Baltimore organization. Most recently, he accepted a $15.8MM qualifying offer to stay with the club rather than going onto the open market last winter.
Things haven’t gone quite as team or player hoped in 2016. He has been healthy, appearing in 110 games, but hasn’t produced to his typical levels at the plate. Over 412 plate appearances, Wieters owns a .243/.299/.402 triple-slash, though he has hit 14 long balls.
According to Boras, those offensive woes aren’t a long-term concern. The agent is famed for his analogies, of course, and chose a somewhat odd one to describe the veteran backstop.
“This guy is General Jackson and General Lee,” said Boras. “He is the North and the South. He can do it all. He is all-around.”
It is certainly notable that the sides are set to discuss a new contract, as Wieters was expected to play an interesting role on the upcoming free agent market. He may still do so, but if not, he’d join Francisco Cervelli among catchers who signed new deals rather than testing the open waters — considerably thinning the overall crop and perhaps boosting the stock of top options like Wilson Ramos and Jason Castro.
It seems unlikely that the O’s will again extend Wieters a qualifying offer after his down year with the bat, though perhaps that can’t be discounted entirely. Certainly, this year’s anticipated $16.7MM qualifying offer cost seems a bit high for a player who has produced at about 17% below league average.
Notably, too, Boras represents ace Orioles closer Zach Britton and pending free agent slugger Pedro Alvarez. Connolly suggest that both could come up in talks, as well. Britton has two remaining years of arbitration control remaining and will be due a raise commensurate with his unbelievable campaign, so he’ll present an interesting case this winter. And Alvarez is set to go back into free agency after a productive year, with the Orioles potentially having continued interest — particularly with Mark Trumbo also readying to weigh offers from other organizations.
Royals Outright Nick Tepesch, Release Reymond Fuentes
The Royals have outrighted right-hander Nick Tepesch and released outfielder Reymond Fuentes, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com was among those to tweet. Both players were recently trimmed from the 40-man roster and had been in DFA limbo.
Tepesch will remain under team control, assuming he clears waivers. He has been claimed several times already this year, most recently by Kansas City. Though Tepesch had enough service time in 2016 to qualify for arbitration as Super Two, and could again next year, he only appeared in one major league contest this season and thus doesn’t have the 86 active roster days needed to qualify.
All told, the 27-year-old Tepesch has completed 116 innings on the year at the highest level of the minors. He owns a 3.96 ERA with 4.8 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. That’s not a particularly exciting stat line, but Tepesch has at least been healthy and could represent a swingman option for 2017.
The 25-year-old Fuentes will be allowed to find another organization after posting a less-than-inspiring .254/.325/.317 batting line in his 272 trips to the plate this year at Triple-A. He was much better there last year, but he failed to continue the minor power outbreak (nine home runs, .422 slugging percentage) that he showed in 2015.
Joel Peralta To Retire
Veteran righty Joel Peralta is set to retire, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter links). Peralta visited the Rays clubhouse today to see former teammates in Tampa Bay.
Though he is apparently not planning to make any kind of formal announcement, Peralta says that he is “not going to play anymore.” Peralta has not signed with a team since he was cut loose by the Cubs over the summer, and suggested to Topkin that knee problems played a factor in the decision.
Despite a short and unsuccessful final stop, Peralta was pitching at 40 years of age. All told, he has enjoyed a rather remarkable and quite valuable career in the majors. A native of the Dominican Republic, Peralta did not even record a pitch with an affiliated organization until he was 24 years old.
Despite first cracking the big leagues at 29, he managed to appear in a dozen seasons. While not all of those campaigns were productive, Peralta was able to rack up 648 innings of 4.03 ERA pitching.
After generally underwhelming results to start his career, Peralta broke out in 2010 with the Nationals, when he began relying heavily on his splitter — the pitch that he credits for his success. That kicked off a four-year run in which Peralta compiled a 3.07 ERA over 255 frames, with 9.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9
Peralta’s K/BB ratio remained strong over his final three seasons, which included a final run with the Rays, a 2015 appearance for the Dodgers, and stops with the Mariners and Cubs this year. But he became increasingly susceptible to the long ball, and wasn’t able to hold opposing batters to less than four earned runs per nine innings during that span.
Ultimately, Peralta will probably be best remembered for his craftiness and resiliency. It “was never easy,” he tells Topkin. “I had to fight every year.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Keon Broxton Suffers Fractured Wrist
Brewers outfielder Keon Broxton will miss the tail end of the season after breaking his wrist today at Wrigley Field, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on Twitter. Broxton was injured in a collision with the outfield wall.
It’s an unfortunate way to end what has been a promising campaign for the 26-year-old Broxton. Over 242 plate appearances, he owns a .238/.349/.427 batting line with nine home runs and 22 stolen bases. That’s quite a useful output for a player who draws rave reviews for his glovework in center field.
Long an intriguing prospect, Broxton had fallen out of favor as he failed to fully develop on the field despite evident tools and athletic ability. Though he posted solid offensive numbers in the upper minors over 2014-15, Broxton received only a brief MLB call-up with the Pirates — who had picked him up after the Diamondbacks lost patience.
Milwaukee has been rewarded thus far after taking a crack at unlocking Broxton’s talent in the winter swap that sent Jason Rogers to Pittsburgh. Rogers flat-out raked during his time at Triple-A this year, earning a well-deserved promotion. Now, so long as he is able to return to full health over the winter, it seems that Broxton will enter camp as the favorite to serve as the Brewers’ primary center fielder.
Yan Gomes Diagnosed With Fractured Wrist
The Indians seem unlikely to receive any further contributions from catcher Yan Gomes in 2016. He has been diagnosed with a non-displaced wrist fracture, Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal was among those to tweet.
Gomes had been nearing a return from a lengthy DL stint owing to a separated shoulder. But he was struck by an errant pitch in one of his final minor league tune-ups.
Needless to say, it has been a season to forget for Gomes. Entering the year, the 29-year-old was looking to bounce back from a 2015 campaign that didn’t match up to his two strong seasons before it. Instead, he fell off yet further, posting an ugly .165/.198/.313 slash line over 262 plate appearances.
Cleveland will now have to wait for the spring to begin to assess whether Gomes can return to productivity. The club is committed regardless, as he is playing on a guaranteed deal through 2019 (and can be controlled through a pair of options for two more years beyond that).