Poll: Should The Brewers Trade Carlos Gomez This Summer?
In his first piece for MLBTR’s newly-minted newsletter (subscribe in the sidebar at the right), Tim Dierkes argued that the Brewers ought to strongly consider dealing star center fielder Carlos Gomez. As he explained, Gomez has immense present value that is probably worth more to another club than to Milwaukee.
Nothing has changed since that time, as the Brewers remain buried in a highly competitive NL Central. True, Gomez has battled through some relatively minor injury issues, but he’s also bounced back from a tepid start. Over the month of May, he slashed .265/.318/.461 with four home runs and five stolen bases — numbers that fall shy of his impressive output over the last two seasons but nevertheless suggest he’s well on his way to getting back on track.
Best of all, of course, is the fact that Gomez is owed only $9MM for next season and the balance of an $8MM salary this year. That puts him within reach of any team in baseball — remember, the Royals took on even more salary when they acquired James Shields — and makes him the rare premium player who is both available and affordable. A team weighing the departure of big-named prospects would be comforted by the knowledge both that Gomez would remain a big trade piece next summer or in the offseason (remember, that’s what the A’s did with Jeff Samardzija) and that the team would stand to recoup a draft pick through the qualifying offer if they kept him for the duration of his contract.
An impact player with a budget contract ought to bring back a big return. In his second newsletter, Tim listed several plausible suitors and interesting trade pieces that the Brewers could pursue. He tabs the Yankees, Mariners, Blue Jays, and Angels as the most likely possible trade partners.
As Tim argued, it’s entirely possible that Milwaukee could actually improve its near-term and long-term outlook by moving Gomez (if not also stud catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who the club will likely be less amenable to discussing). But all the things that make Gomez so appealing to the rest of the league also make him a rare commodity for a smaller-budget club like the Brewers.
So, we’ll ask the MLBTR readers: would the Brewers be better off dealing Gomez, or holding onto him in hopes of building around him for another season?
Should The Brewers Trade Carlos Gomez This Summer?
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Yes 80% (7,150)
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No 20% (1,761)
Total votes: 8,911
Marlins Option Steve Cishek
The Marlins have optioned struggling former closer Steve Cishek to Double-A, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports on Twitter. It’s a startling turn of events for the righty, who had already been taken out of his 9th-inning role.
Cishek, 28, had been one of the game’s more effective relievers in recent years — good enough to be viewed as a building block in the pen. Despite heavy speculation, the Fish held off on dealing Cishek — despite his rising cost — and expected him to lock down wins for a contending team.
Now, 19 1/3 innings into the 2015 season, he’s headed back to the minors to sort out his problems. Cishek has worked to a 6.98 ERA thus far, and while advanced metrics suggest he’s been better than that, there’s no denying that he has produced at a below-replacement-level clip this year.
Cishek’s velocity is down by more than a full tick on both his fastball and slider, and even more on his little-used change. Once a heavy groundball pitcher, he’s continued a notable decline in inducing grounders that started last season. Meanwhile, the same pitcher who produced better than 11 K/9 and less than 3 BB/9 in the 2014 campaign has posted just 7.9 strikeouts against an even more-troubling 4.7 walks per nine innings.
As things stand, Cishek looks to be a near-certain non-tender after the current season. Though he comes with two more years of arbitration control, Cishek commanded a saves-fueled $6.6MM arb salary this year after qualifying as a Super Two the year prior. Even assuming a minimal increase, that’s a lot of money to invest in a reliever, and he’ll have to show quite a bit to earn another payday from Miami.
Of course, the news is also the latest sign of trouble in Miami, which has dropped nine of thirteen ballgames since switching managers. While the pen has actually been quite good as a whole, there are plenty of problems elsewhere. First and foremost is the rotation. Already performing poorly, the staff has now seen Henderson Alvarez and Mat Latos join Jose Fernandez and Jarred Cosart on the DL.
NL Central Notes: Cards, Locke, Lucroy, Reds
Cardinals rookie scouting director Chris Correa has impressed in his first six months on the job, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes. His biggest early test, of course, will come in a week with the amateur draft, the first one he’ll run. Correa came to the game with a background in statistics, but acquired significant scouting knowledge after joining the St. Louis organization. “I think had he not done that, he might not have been the right person for this job,” said GM John Mozeliak. “Obviously, scouting is part art, part science, and to some level, he understood the analytical side of it. But he was also someone who was willing to ask about and try to learn the scouting side. For someone to embrace both, that makes an impression.”
- The Pirates have decided to keep lefty Jeff Locke in the rotation, per skipper Clint Hurdle, as Tom Singer of MLB.com tweets. “He still has a big upside,” explained Hurdle. After another rough outing, ballooning his ERA to 5.34, it seemed that Locke might lose his place, as MLB.com’s Barry Bloom wrote, but Pittsburgh will stick with him at least a while longer. Of course, the club can continue to handcuff him to Vance Worley, who not only serves as a long-man in the event that Locke is run early but also would remain lined up to take over. As Hurdle noted, the club has plenty of depth options, but it no doubt would prefer to see Locke turn things around to keep things that way. From his own perspective, this is an important season for Locke, as he’s set to be arbitration-eligible for the first time.
- In spite of a managerial change, the Brewers continue to lose ground and appear to be among the game’s most obvious summer sellers. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports looks at the team’s stock of talent, suggesting that it would make sense for the club to deal away catcher Jonathan Lucroy if it chooses to move star center fielder Carlos Gomez. But Passan notes that there are not many contending teams in dire need of a backstop, which could limit his market — in spite of his incredibly cheap contract. I’d suggest that Lucroy’s limited action and lack of production in the early going is an even greater barrier to a summer deal. As for his prospective market, the Tigers and Angels look like teams that could reap huge benefits from a real upgrade behind the dish, while plenty of other clubs would be involved given Lucroy’s extended, cheap control.
- The Reds are fresh off a sweep of the Nationals, but GM Walt Jocketty says that nothing has changed regarding the team’s planning process, as John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. “Our plan is to be competitive as we can for as long as we can,” said Jocketty. “But we’re still looking at all the different alternatives. Our scouts are out looking at the other clubs. We’re looking for players who might help us as well as prospects.” The veteran executive noted that the team has a lot of games against division opponents and at home in advance of the trade deadline, which will presumably give the team at least a fighting chance of getting into the mix. Cinci will need to put together quite a run to make buying an advisable route, of course, particularly given that it plays in a division currently led by the team with the best record in baseball and two other strong contenders.
Angels Designate Gary Brown For Assignment
The Angels have designated outfielder Gary Brown for assignment, the club announced. His 40-man spot was needed for left-hander Edgar Ibarra, who will be called up for his first big league action.
Brown, once a first-round pick of the Giants, received a brief look at the big league level last year in San Francisco. He was twice being designated for assignment this spring, claimed first by the Cardinals and then the Angels.
It has been a tough year thus far for Brown, who owns a .202/.254/.331 slash in 136 plate appearances at Triple-A. He has also succeeded in just two of six stolen base attempts. The Cal State-Fullerton product looked like a quick mover after his first full year as a pro, but has never quite mastered the upper levels of the minors.
As for Ibarra, who turned 26 yesterday, his first season with the Angels organization has been a good one. Long a Twins minor leaguer, Ibarra owns a 2.25 ERA through 24 frames at Triple-A, with an excellent 10.9 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. Those strikeout-to-walk numbers both represent career-bests.
Rangers To Promote Joey Gallo
The Rangers will promote power-hitting third base prospect Joey Gallo to the big league roster tomorrow, GM Jon Daniels tells the Ben & Skin Show on CBS Dallas Fort-Worth (h/t Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, Twitter links).
Daniels stressed in his comments that the move is designed only to be a short-term patch. In announcing the move, executive VP of communications noted that Gallo will occupy an active roster spot created by placing Adrian Beltre on the 15-day DL with a sprain and laceration on his left thumb.
Gallo was on the prospect map prior last year, owing to his unmatched raw power, but show up the charts when he put it into action with a monster age-20 season. He hit 21 home runs apiece at High-A and Double-A, splitting his time about evenly between those levels. Of course, Gallo’s overall batting line was far superior at the lower level, and he struck out a troubling 115 times in his 291 plate appearances for Frisco.
While injury delayed his start to 2015, he’s only delivered more promise since healing. Gallo continues to deliver plenty of pop after starting the year back at Double-A, and has improved his plate discipline rather markedly (16.4% BB vs. 33.6% K, as opposed to the 12.4% BB vs. 39.5% K he put up in the last half of 2014).
Contact and strikeout rates are still a significant concern for Gallo’s long-term outlook, of course, but he as things stand he is walking at a healthy rate and squaring up enough balls to provide plenty of value. Whether he can stick at third is also something of a question: he is said to have an outstanding arm, but sub-par range.
He’s far from a sure thing, the upside is tremendous. Indeed, Gallo is a consensus top-ten prospect leaguewide. While Texas appears inclined only to give him a taste of the big leagues, a hot start would make it hard to drop him back to the minors (though his left-handed bat doesn’t have an obvious role with Mitch Moreland performing and Josh Hamilton now in the fold).
Given their plans, the Rangers are probably not terribly concerned with Gallo’s service time status. Even if he does stay on the active roster all year, he probably would not be set up to qualify for Super Two status. And while all service accumulated this year will force Texas to wait longer next year in order to preserve an additional season of club control, the Rangers have other corner options (particularly, left-handed hitting ones) — and good reason to allow Gallo to further develop.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor Moves: Barfield, Bianchi, Frandsen
Here are the day’s minor moves:
- The Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League have signed former A’s prospect Jeremy Barfield, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Barfield, the son of former major leaguer Jesse Barfield and brother of Josh Barfield, spent parts of four seasons with the Athletics’ Double-A affiliate and reached as high as Triple-A. The 26-year-old is a career .261/.334/.402 hitter in the minors.
- Infielder Jeff Bianchi has rejected an outright assignment from the Red Sox after clearing waivers, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal tweets. He is now a free agent. Bianchi enjoyed a proverbial cup of coffee with Boston this year, but spent most of his time in the organization compiling a useful .302/.373/.340 slash at Triple-A. He has seen more extensive time with the Brewers in the past.
- The Diamondbacks have released veteran utility infielder Kevin Frandsen, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter. Frandsen, 33, owns a .309/.352/.333 slash over 89 plate appearances for Triple-A Reno. He spent last year with the Nationals, contributing only a .259/.299/.309 batting line in his 236 plate appearances. Since a strong year for the Phillies in 2012, Frandsen — who mostly plays at second and third — has been at or below replacement level.
Quick Hits: Opt-Outs, Correia, Draft, Rodriguez, Braves
June 1 (that’s Monday) is a popular opt-out date, with multiple players having the chance to become free agents if not elevated to the big league roster. Chris Cotillo of SB Nation ran down a few of those on Twitter: David Aardsma of the Dodgers, Juan Gutierrez and Kevin Correia of the Giants, Rich Hill of the Nationals, and Brad Penny of the White Sox. (He also lists Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but he’s now up with the D’Backs.) As MLBTR’s Steve Adams notes (Twitter links), Aardsma is throwing quite well at Triple-A, and could well end up opting out — making him a nice target for teams in need of an arm.
- One player who is very likely to find a new home is the Giants‘ Correia, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets. Correia will likely be released today, says Crasnick, as the team doesn’t have a need for his services at the big league level. He has been effective thus far at Triple-A, throwing 37 2/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball over six starts and posting 6.0 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
- The upcoming draft is not going to feature two eligible players, as righty/first baseman Luken Baker will head to TCU and center fielder Kevin Collard intends to play at San Diego, per Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs (Twitter link). Kiley rated Baker the 40th-best prospect available, noting that he could end up as either a pitcher or position player.
- In a recent chat, Ben Badler of Baseball America addressed the question of how Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez (read more on him here) stacks up against current minor leaguers. Badler says that, while some teams place a higher value on Rodriguez’s skillset (weak bat, good fielding and speed) than do others, he wouldn’t place him within the game’s 200 best prospects.
- Badler also says that he hears the Braves are planning to make a huge push in the international market — not this coming July 2, but next. Atlanta seems to be hoping to take advantage of the fact that several big-spending teams will be restricted from giving out $300K+ bonuses in that market.
- Roc Nation has hired former Excel agent Kyle Thousand to head up its baseball representation operations as managing director, Crasnick tweets.
NL East Notes: Montreal, Mets, Hamels, Strasburg, Peraza
Movement towards a possible return of Major League Baseball to Montreal continues to build, though important questions like “how?” and “when?” remain to be answered in the future. Montreal mayor Denis Coderre met yesterday with commissioner Rob Manfred, as Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reports. Coderre said he hoped to convey the city’s “political will” to land a franchise, calling the meeting “the beginning” of that process. “I think what we need to do is establish a roadmap,” said Coderre. “Our enthusiasm for this project is clear. We love the sport. We’re serious about it. This isn’t just a gesture. … I don’t know about a timeframe, but this is a town for baseball, and we’re keeping the flame.”
- The Mets have weathered the loss of several key relievers fairly well: the unit has combined for the fifth-best pen ERA in baseball. As Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, New York can look ahead to the addition of Jenrry Mejia, Vic Black, Bobby Parnell, and Jerry Blevins, to say nothing of young starters like Rafael Montero and Steven Matz. While there’s plenty of uncertainty in that group, there is some upside, and Sherman says that could free the team to put its resources toward the acquisition of a hitter over the summer.
- With the mid-season trade market looming, the landscape has changed for the Phillies and ace Cole Hamels, Jake Kaplan of the Philadelphia Inquirer observes. He looks at the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Red Sox as possible landing spots, though certainly those clubs could be in on other arms and would very likely face other competition on Hamels if they choose to pursue him. Things are shaping up rather well for Philadelphia, on the whole: the 31-year-old leads the league with 74 1/3 innings and has produced a 2.91 ERA with 9.2 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.
- The Nationals have placed Stephen Strasburg on the 15-day DL as he continues to deal with neck and back issues, Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com reports (links to Twitter). The team is “perplexed” as to the cause of the problems, per Kolko, particularly since the most recent stiffness has arisen on the opposite side of his body than that which occurred just weeks ago. While the hope is that Strasburg will only miss the minimum fifteen days, it seems time to attempt to identify the root cause.
- Top Braves prospect Jose Peraza, a second baseman by trade, is spending increasing time at center field for the club’s Triple-A affiliate, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes. For now, the intent seems only to increase his defensive flexibility. The club has been impressed with young second baseman Jace Peterson, and Bowman explains that the team does not see either as an option at third. Of course, Cameron Maybin has shown new life in Atlanta out in center — a subject that David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution discussed with me on last week’s MLBTR podcast — but this move opens new possibilities for Atlanta.
Rangers Designate Tommy Field
The Rangers have designated infielder Tommy Field for assignment, executive VP of communications John Blake announced on Twitter. As expected, righty Chi Chi Gonzalez has been called up for his first big league action, necessitating the move.
Field, 28, received 45 turns at bat for Texas before the move. The right-handed hitter compiled a .195/.250/.366 line in that span, with two home runs and a stolen base. He appeared mostly at second base, though he is also capable of playing shortstop.
Rafael Soriano Changes Agents
TODAY: Soriano has hired Alan Nero and Ulises Cabrera of Octagon Baseball, Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reports on Twitter. The righty tells Sanchez that he is “working out every day” in preparation “to get back to playing baseball and helping a team win in whatever role I’m asked.”
YESTERDAY: Free agent reliever Rafael Soriano is set to replace agent Scott Boras, according to James Wagner of the Washington Post (Twitter link). It is not clear whether he has chosen a new agent.
Soriano hopes to sign a deal and return to big league action, per the report. He has been inactive for the first two months of the year despite plenty of apparent interest. Presumably, the fact that he has yet to do so had something to do with the parting.
Boras has negotiated Soriano’s contracts since the fall of 2010 — as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times then reported on Twitter — and has done rather well for his now-former client. Soriano has earned a total of $49MM over four years, exercising an opt-out clause negotiated into his deal with the Yankees and overcoming a qualifying offer to find better money over two years with the Nationals (though a significant piece of that was deferred).
Most recently, the Marlins were said to be dabbling in the Soriano market, though no deal was completed and the team apparently no longer has interest. MLBTR’s Charlie Wilmoth provided a complete look at the possible suitors last weekend (with our readers voting the Cubs as the odds-on favorite to bring him in).