East Notes: Red Sox Outfield, Phillies, Syndergaard, Teheran
Red Sox outfielder Chris Young hit the DL with a hamstring injury, as Chris Mason of the Boston Herald writes. He joins Brock Holt and Blake Swihart as unavailable left field options for Boston, which already had ample justification to pursue an upgrade at the position. There’s some optimism for both of those players, at least, as Holt has begun a rehab assignment and Swihart is out of his walking boot.
Here’s more from the eastern divisions:
- The Red Sox are stretched thin in left even as Rusney Castillo looks less and less like a viable major leaguer. Rob Bradford of WEEI.com takes an interesting look at the process that led the team to sign him to a contract that now seems like an expensive miss.
- Phillies GM Matt Klentak says that the “feeling out process” has begun for summer trade activity, as Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com reports. Still, he suggests that it’s largely been quiet for Philly thus far. Klentak also discussed the progress of top prospect J.P. Crawford, explaining that some early struggles at Triple-A are just part of the maturation process and noting that he has continued to exhibit a mastery of the strike zone.
- The Mets appear to believe that Noah Syndergaard‘s valuable right elbow isn’t at risk despite a recent scare, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. An MRI showed only inflammation, and manager Terry Collins noted that Syndergaard has dealth with minor flare-ups at times in the past without any real structural issue arising. He’s set to make his next scheduled start.
- Over at Fangraphs, Eno Sarris explores an important question for the Braves as well as potential suitors for righty Julio Teheran: just how good is he? He suggests that Teheran may be able to continue to outperform ERA estimators somewhat, though perhaps some movement toward those marks is to be expected. In the end, Sarris calls him “a good pitcher on a great contract,” which seems like a fair appraisal.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/23/16
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Rays have acquired outfielder Eury Perez from the Astros, per an announcement from Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate. Cash considerations will go back to Houston in the deal. Perez, 26, received a career-high 133 plate appearances last year with the Braves, slashing .269/.331/.303 and swiping three bags. The speedy center fielder does bring value with the glove and on the bases, though, so he is at least a useful depth piece. Tampa Bay has dealt with a variety of injuries at the major league level, and was obviously looking to fill out its roster at Durham and ensure that it has options on hand. Perez owns a .267/.298/.385 batting line with nine steals in his 146 plate appearances at Triple-A this year.
- Southpaw Darin Gorski has joined the Mets on a minor league deal, per an announcement from his independent league club, the Somerset Patriots. (Hat tip to Mike Ashmore of mycentraljersey.com.) The 28-year-old will head to Triple-A Las Vegas, which is where he spent last season. He moved to the indy ranks after putting up 137 innings of 5.52 ERA pitching there in 2015, with 7.1 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9. Those peripherals look about the same over his 60 1/3 frames for Somerset this year, though Gorski has tamped down the earned runs to under four per nine. New York originally selected him in the seventh round of the 2009 draft; this will mark his eighth season with the organization.
MLBTR Live Chat: 6/23/16
Click here to read a transcript of today’s MLBTR chat with host Jeff Todd.
Royals Release Omar Infante
JUNE 23: Infante has cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Flanagan.
JUNE 21: The Royals have requested unconditional release waivers on Infante, per Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). Infante, of course, figures to clear waivers with ease, as no big league club would be keen on acquiring the remainder of his salary. Once he clears (in 48 hours), he’ll be free to sign with any Major League team, at which point that team would be on the hook for only the pro-rated portion of the league minimum. (That sum would be subtracted from what the Royals owe.)
JUNE 15: The Royals have designated second baseman Omar Infante for assignment, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com tweets. His roster spot will go to lefty Brian Flynn.
Infante, 34, has been a major disappointment since signing as a free agent before the 2014 season. Kansas City still owes him the rest of a $7.75MM salary this year and another $10MM down the line, including a buyout of a 2018 option.
Technically, he could sill be claimed or traded, but both seem unlikely. Even a surprise swap would be quite unlikely to save K.C. much cash.
[RELATED: View the Royals’ new depth chart and projected lineup]
All told, Infante has provided the Royals with a .238/.269/.328 batting line with eight home runs and 11 stolen bases over 1,179 plate appearances. Though he’s been solid enough with the glove and on the bases, it hasn’t come close to making up for the offensive deficiencies. In the aggregate, he has played below replacement level.
That wasn’t the plan when the Royals added Infante, who had just wrapped up a solid 2013 campaign for the division-rival Tigers. Really, it’s a testament to how well the team has performed in the past two seasons that it was able to get by with his marginal contributions. While recent successes have moved the payroll up in the interim, Infante’s signing represented a rather significant commitment for the Royals at the time.
We’ve often discussed the possibility of the team pursuing an upgrade at second, but the final straw ultimately came from within. Surprising 27-year-old rookie Whit Merrifield supplanted Infante, with the presence of utilityman Christian Colon making him expendable.
NL East Notes: Reyes, Mets, Ramos, Marlins
The Mets are beginning to “warm up” to the idea of a reunion with Jose Reyes, according to Newsday’s David Lennon. While Lennon cautions that those familiar with the team’s thinking won’t characterize it as any sort of sure thing, the team has begun to discuss the idea more seriously over the past several days, per Lennon. While Reyes has privately voiced a willingness to play third base if it means returning to Queens, Lennon hears that the Mets have also considered sliding Neil Walker to the hot corner when discussing various scenarios, which could open second base for Reyes. The Mets won’t be able to make anything happen on the Reyes front until this weekend, as he still needs to be placed on release waivers and clear (a 48-hour process) before he’s eligible to sign else where.
Here’s more from the National League East:
- While Reyes is one infield option for the Mets, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron opines that a trade for Danny Valencia is the perfect fit for New York. In perusing the teams that are likely to emerge as sellers this summer, Cameron notes that there’s a lack of impact bats available that can handle third base. Valencia is the exception, he writes, noting that the former platoon weapon has emerged as a legitimate threat to right-handed pitching over the past season-plus. Indeed, Valencia is hitting .304/.355/.528 across his past 155 contests, and his $3.2MM salary is eminently affordable. Cameron’s assessment is sound, and I’ll add to his argument that the remainder of Valencia’s relatively modest salary is less than the roughly $5.5MM the Mets stand to recoup from the insurance policy on Wright’s contract. Valencia is controllable through 2017 as well, and as Cameron points out, he’d serve as a safety net at third base in the event that Wright is again unable to take the field for the majority of the 2017 campaign.
- Catcher Wilson Ramos has been a force for the Nationals this year, and Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post explores what his breakout means for the organization. “It hasn’t changed a lot for me,” said GM Mike Rizzo. “Since we traded for him, we’ve always seen the upside. We knew he was as good an offensive catcher as there is in the game.” The Nats certainly do not appear to have an everyday option waiting in the wings at the position, so it’s not hard to see the rationale for bringing back the pending free agent. Rizzo suggested that an extension could make sense, even at this point of the season, though he declined to spill any details. “I don’t think it’s ever too late or too early to think about [an extension],” he said. “We’ve got a plan in place for all the guys we have. He’s a guy we see as a long-term asset for us. Those are conversations we keep internal.”
- Earlier this week FOX’s Jon Morosi reported that the Marlins have interest in Rays righty Jake Odorizzi, and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears the same. However, Jackson also notes that the Marlins are aware that their farm system isn’t teeming with the types of players that it would take to net a controllable arm such as Odorizzi. Prior to the season, Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law both rated the Marlins’ farm system 29th among all 30 teams, with only the Angels trailing them. That, paired with the team’s perennially low payroll, makes the Marlins’ search for rotation help a bit more difficult than it might be for most clubs. Jackson also adds that the Marlins figure to skip one more Jose Fernandez start later this season in an effort to conserve some of his innings for a potential postseason berth.
Orioles Outright Paul Janish
JUNE 22: Janish has accepted the assignment to Triple-A Norfolk and will remain in the organization, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com.
JUNE 21: The Orioles have outrighted infielder Paul Janish, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to right-hander Oliver Drake.
Janish has already cleared outright waivers, as Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun was among those to tweet. He’ll have three days to decide whether to accept an assignment to Triple-A.
The 33-year-old has seen scattered major league action in eight of the last nine seasons. All told, he owns a .216/.284/.289 batting line in 1,277 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. Janish had turned in a .329/.364/.356 slash in his 77 Triple-A plate appearances before being called up by Baltimore this year.
Phillies Agree To Over-Slot Deal With Kevin Gowdy
The Phillies have reached agreement on a well-over-slot bonus with 42nd overall draft pick Kevin Gowdy, per Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball (Twitter links). He’ll take home a $3.5MM payday, representing a significant boost over the $1,536,200 slot value.
Gowdy is a high school righty from Santa Barbara, California. He obviously caught the attention of the Philadelphia brass, which utilized savings from its deal with top overall pick Mickey Moniak to draw Gowdy away from his commitment to UCLA.
Philly lands a player that was rated the 24th overall draft prospect coming in by ESPN.com, which credited his quality breaking ball. He could eventually grow into a bigger fastball, per the report, though it remains to be seen how he’ll fill out his frame. And Gowdy’s third offering (a change-up) is said to need further development, along with his command.
MLB.com and Baseball America weren’t quite as hopeful of Gowdy’s future, with both ranking him just inside the top forty prospects. That’s not to say that those outlets don’t see the upside; all appear to agree that the tools are there for him to develop into a quality big league starter.
Reds Outright Jordan Pacheco, Who Elects Free Agency
The Reds have outrighted infielder/catcher Jordan Pacheco, per a club announcement. He declined an assignment after clearing waivers, instead electing free agency.
Pacheco’s roster spot was needed as the club executed a series of moves relating to their pitching staff. Veteran righty Alfredo Simon was placed on the 15-day DL, while Michael Lorenzen was activated from the 60-day DL.
[Related: Updated Reds Depth Chart]
Cincinnati wasn’t getting much from Pacheco, who is valued most for his unusual ability to play behind the dish as well as elsewhere in the infield. He wasn’t seeing action at catcher for Cincinnati, and over 51 plate appearances had recorded only eight hits without a single walk while going down 14 times via strikeout.
Pacheco has seen action in six MLB seasons, including this one. Through 1,149 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, he owns a .272/.310/.365 slash line.
Dodgers Claim Layne Somsen
The Dodgers have claimed righty Layne Somsen off waivers from the Yankees, per a club announcement. New York had claimed him from the Reds earlier in the year but designated him for assignment when a roster need arose.
[Related: Updated Dodgers Depth Chart]
Somsen, 27, did not even reach professional ball until his age-24 season, but has moved steadily up the ladder since. He was knocked around in two appearances at the major league level this year, but has shown an interesting arm in the minors. After posting quality results at each stop along the way, Somsen owns a 1.44 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9 across his 25 Triple-A frames on the year.
White Sox Claim Juan Minaya
The White Sox have claimed righty Juan Minaya off waivers from the Astros, Chicago announced. He had been designated for assignment last Tuesday.
[Related: Updated White Sox Depth Chart]
The 25-year-old Minaya hasn’t yet reached the majors, and won’t do so immediately for the White Sox — who optioned him to Triple-A. He has scuffled a bit at that level this year, with a 3.91 ERA over 25 1/3 innings, but turned in a strong season at the highest level of the minors in 2015. In 54 2/3 frames last season, Minaya worked to a 2.80 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9.