Daniels On Rangers’ Youth Movement
Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels has now set forth a clear strategic directive for the organization, as covered by Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The veteran executive says the club’s recent youth movement will likely carry over into the 2021 season.
The Texas team looks a lot less gray of late. The roster is “younger and intentionally so,” per Daniels, who says that will likely “continue[] into next year.” If there was any doubt as to the Rangers’ near-term intentions, Daniels issued a tell-tale cautionary warning against “looking at free agency as the short cut.”
It’s tough to know what to expect from newcomers such as Leody Taveras, Anderson Tejeda, Sam Huff, and Sherten Apostel. But the Rangers believe their current crop of young talent is more “ready for this opportunity” than was the case last year, says Daniels.
There could be some rough patches along the way, but the Rangers intend to find out what they’ve got. “The biggest change is we want to allow them to grow at the major league level,” Daniels explains.
This obviously isn’t the spot the Rangers had hoped to be in at this stage of the season. The club pursued improvements over the winter and had its sights set on contention. But with a host of disappointing performances from key players, the youth movement reflects the reality that there won’t be a quick offseason fix.
NL Injury Notes: Pham, Smyly, Turner, Pirates
Padres outfielder Tommy Pham is less than a month out from a broken hamate bone, but he’s making rapid progress. Pham resumed live on-field batting practice today, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old had been off to a sluggish start to the year but will still have some time to make his presence felt as the Pads try to angle for postseason position.
More injury updates from the National League …
- The Giants are preparing to welcome back southpaw Drew Smyly tomorrow, manager Gabe Kapler tells reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). It’ll be interesting to see what the veteran hurler can deliver down the stretch. Though he hasn’t been available for many innings, he turned in a few interesting outings that hinted at a resurgence.
- While there’s little reason to rush, the Dodgers are close to activating rehabbing third baseman Justin Turner. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link) that Turner still hasn’t put his tender hamstring through the full paces. Nevertheless, the club expects to have him active within the week, though Turner could initially function as a DH.
- The Pirates provided a few pitching rehab updates, some more promising than others (via MLB.com’s Adam Berry, on Twitter). Mitch Keller (side injury) and Jameson Taillon (Tommy John) are each throwing sim games, while reliever Keone Kela is now participating in mound work. It’s still unclear how much MLB action each of those hurlers will be capable of late this year, but that’s generally encouraging news. The situation is different for fellow righty Yacksel Rios, who remains sidelined by shoulder woes. He was shut down after symptoms flared up.
American League Injury Updates: Piscotty, Cobb, Keuchel, Pearson
Here are the latest updates on a few injury situations from around the American League …
- The Athletics will go a few days without full participation from outfielder Stephen Piscotty, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle covers on Twitter. (He’s pinch running as we speak.) Thankfully, it seems there’s reason to hope he’ll bounce back quickly after receiving a cortisone shot to his balky wrist. Piscotty has turned in a useful but hardly world-beating .264/.308/.438 batting line on the season.
- Orioles righty Alex Cobb is days away from a return, with outfielder Austin Hays seemingly not far behind, as skipper Brandon Hyde tells reporters including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Cobb’s absence is as yet not fully explained; the quick turnaround could indicate that he had to step away owing to coronavirus protocols. Regardless, it’s good news that he’s expected to jump right back into active duty.
- The White Sox don’t appear overly concerned with the health status of lefty Dallas Keuchel. He’ll plan to miss a start after taking an early exit from his last outing due to lower back issues, but that’s expected to be the extent of the missed time, as Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times and others mentioned on Twitter. Keuchel has thus far justified the South Siders’ faith in signing him, running up 53 1/3 innings of 2.19 ERA ball.
- Exciting young Blue Jays hurler Nate Pearson is likely not going to build back to a full starter’s role, skipper Charlie Montoyo told reporters including MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm (Twitter links). That’s sensible for a variety of reasons. For one thing, there really isn’t much time to ramp him up. For another, it’s not clear that’d be the right role after Pearson ran into some early MLB struggles. The firmly contending Toronto outfit can certainly make use of Pearson in a relief role while still getting him valuable work at the game’s highest level.
60-Man Player Pool Additions: 9/9/20
Here are the latest players added to their team’s 60-man player pool …
- Hurlers Penn Murfee and Ian McKinney are now a part of the Mariners‘ 60-man group, Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets. The 26-year-old Murfee had a strong 2019 showing, producing good numbers at the High-A level and then dominating Arizona Fall League hitters. It’s possible he could be an option at the MLB level if he shows well at the alternate training site. The same holds true of McKinney, 25, who joined Murfee as a productive member of the Modesto rotation last year. McKinney is a 2013 draftee who joined the Seattle organization as a minor-league free agent in advance of the 2019 season.
- The Rays brought aboard a pair of youngsters in righty Seth Johnson and infielder Ford Proctor, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times covers on Twitter. The 40th overall pick of the 2019 draft, Johnson hasn’t pitched above the Rookie ball level and is likely being added for developmental purposes. Proctor, 23, is a 2018 third-rounder who has shown strong on-base ability but little power in the low minors. He appeared this year in the Constellation Energy League, knocking out a healthy .346/.500/.679 slash in 28 games.
- The Padres have added youngster Owen Caissie to their pool at just 18 years of age, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca reports via Twitter. It’s quite the vote of confidence in the recent second-round pick, who obviously won’t be expected to make his professional debut this year at the MLB level. The Canadian outfielder will get some excellent experience at the Friars’ alternate training site before joining an affiliate in 2021.
Astros Release Fernando Rodney
The Astros have released veteran hurler Fernando Rodney, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (via Twitter). He had been in the team’s 60-man player pool on a minor-league deal.
Rodney opened the year throwing with the indy ball Sugar Land Skeeters, giving the ‘Stros a chance to determine he was worthy of a closer look. But the 43-year-old hurler evidently didn’t impress at the team’s alternate training site.
When last we saw Rodney in action, he had enough in the tank to be a significant contributor to the 2019 World Series-winning Nats. He worked to a 4.05 ERA in 33 1/3 regular-season innings and was handed the ball six times in the postseason.
It remains to be seen whether this is the end of the line for the ageless reliever. He was still averaging better than 94 ticks on his heater last year. In his 17 total MLB campaigns, Rodney carries a 3.80 ERA over 933 innings.
Angels Acquire Jose Salvador From Reds To Complete Goodwin Trade
The Angels have acquired lefty Jose Salvador from the Reds, per club announcements. That completes the recent swap in which the Halos sent outfielder Brian Goodwin to Cincinnati.
With the news, the Los Angeles organization has now added two southpaw pitching prospects in exchange for Goodwin. The other player headed west is Packy Naughton.
Salvador had not been a member of the Reds’ 60-man player pool. He was added in advance of this announcement and will now take a slot in the L.A. pool.
Soon to turn 21, Salvador has yet to move past the rookie ball level as a professional. Through two campaigns, he carries a cumulative 3.07 ERA with a healthy combination of 11.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.
Tom Seaver Dies At 75 Years Of Age
Legendary hurler Tom Seaver has passed away, Bill Madden of the New York Daily News reports. He was 75 years of age.
Seaver had recently suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. The Hall of Famer spent time as a broadcaster after wrapping up his playing career and ultimately founded Seaver Family Vineyards.
Over two full decades of excellence at the game’s highest level, Seaver compiled 4,783 innings of 2.86 ERA pitching. He claimed three Cy Young awards and still stands as one of the best pitchers of all time.
Seaver will always be remembered most for his dozen-year run with the Mets, which covered all of his very best seasons. His greatest campaign, perhaps, was a monumental 1971 effort in which he ran up a 1.76 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 over 286 1/3 frames.
In full, Seaver worked to a 2.57 ERA in over three thousand frames in a Mets uniform. The quality continued over a half-dozen campaigns in Cincinnati. Seaver contributed over a thousand innings of 3.18 ERA ball to the Reds before spending one more season with the Mets and then moving on to the White Sox.
Impressive as he was at his peak, the full measure of Seaver’s excellence is revealed in his ongoing effectiveness even at the tail end of his career. Seaver was one of the twenty or so best pitchers in baseball in his age-40 season with the White Sox, when he worked to a 3.17 ERA in 238 2/3 innings. The legend was dealt to the Red Sox in the middle of the ensuing season, which turned out to be his last.
Starlin Castro Suffers Broken Wrist
AUG. 18: Manager Dave Martinez announced Castro will undergo surgery this Friday, Todd Dybas of NBCSW was among those to report. Castro’s optimistic he’ll return for the playoffs if the Nationals qualify.
AUG. 14: The Nationals announced that second baseman Starlin Castro has suffered a broken right wrist. He has been placed on the 10-day injured list.
That diagnosis comes after Castro departed the team’s contest earlier today. It explains why the Nats suddenly decided to promote top infield prospect Luis Garcia, a move that is now official.
Garcia will debut at twenty nears and ninety days of age. Castro was actually a shade younger when he first hit the majors back in 2010. He has had some ups and downs since but has generally been a solid overall performer.
Castro inked a two-year, $12MM deal over the offseason to join the defending World Series champs. He had been off to a productive start, slashing .283/.317/.467 over 63 plate appearances entering action today.
Precisely how long Castro will be sidelined isn’t yet known, but it’s likely beside the point. At this stage of the calendar, it’s hard to imagine he’ll be able to recover and ramp back up in time to return before the regular season wraps up.
Reds Select Tyler Thornburg, Outright Christian Colon
AUG. 17: The Reds outrighted Colon to their alternate site Monday after he cleared waivers, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. Colon will remain in the organization.
AUG. 14: The Reds announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Tyler Thornburg. Infielder Christian Colon was designated for assignment to create roster space.
This’ll be Thornburg’s first MLB action since wrapping up a disappointing and injury-riddled tenure with the Red Sox. The 31-year-old was a highly productive reliever with the Brewers before running into difficulties in Boston.
Colon saw sporadic action with the Reds this year, as has been typical over his six seasons in the majors. All told, he owns a .249/.312/.310 slash in 418 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.
Athletics Scratch Frankie Montas
AUG. 15: Manager Bob Melvin said Montas will throw Saturday and could start Sunday, Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News tweets.
AUG. 14: The Athletics have scratched righty Frankie Montas from his scheduled start this evening. Southpaw Jesus Luzardo will take the ball instead.
Montas is said to be dealing with upper back tightness. It’s not evident at this point how serious the injury is.
It’s disappointing to see Montas hit the shelf given his recent successes on the mound. Over twenty starts dating back to the start of the 2019 season, he owns a sparkling 2.42 over 119 frames.