MLBTR Podcast: Could The Starting Pitching Market Ignite Early?
Will we see any prominent starting pitchers moved in May this year? Who are the big names and dark horse buyers and sellers? Host Jeff Todd and MLBTR owner Tim Dierkes have the answers to these questions and more on this week’s podcast.
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The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.
Minor Moves: Robert Stock, Doug Mathis
Here are today’s minor moves:
- Former Cardinals farmhand Robert Stock was the first pick in this year’s independent Frontier League draft, the league announced. The right-hander and former second-round pick topped out at High-A in his career in affiliated ball but worked to a 4.17 ERA with 151 strikeouts in 172 2/3 innings. Of course, he also walked 120 in that time, demonstrating some control problems that likely hampered his advancement through the St. Louis organization. The full list of draftees is available in the above link, with several former Minor Leaguers appearing on the list.
- Former Rangers righty Doug Mathis is headed to Taiwan to join the Uni-President Lions, MLBTR’s Steve Adams tweets. The 31-year-old saw action at the major league level from 2008-10, working to a 4.84 ERA over 87 1/3 innings. Mathis has spent most of his time since at Triple-A with several organizations. All said, across parts of eight seasons at the highest level of the minors, Mathis owns a 4.24 ERA with 6.1 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 over 592 innings.
Rangers Designate Alex Hassan
The Rangers have designated outfelder Alex Hassan for assignment, the club announced. His 40-man spot was needed for outfielder Kyle Blanks, who was called up to replace the injured Mitch Moreland, who in turn underwent surgery on his left elbow for bone chips.
Hassan had already traveled a long road over the offseason, and this will represent his fifth move unless he clears waivers. Obviously, Texas preferred to bring up Blanks rather than using Hassan on the big league roster. That could be due in part to the fact that Hassan has just nine big league plate appearances to his credit.
The 27-year-old was off to a middling start at the plate at Triple-A this year, putting up a .343 OBP (well off his usual standard in the minors) and not hitting for much power. But he does have a fairly well-established track record in the highest level of the minors, with a .281/.385/.407 slash over 1,149 career turns at bat.
MLB Finds No Tampering By Cubs In Maddon Hiring
Major League Baseball has announced that it will not discipline the Cubs in relation to the team’s hiring of former Rays manager Joe Maddon. Tampa Bay had asked the league to look into whether Chicago had tampered with Maddon prior to his departure from the club.
Maddon was at the helm of the Rays for nine campaigns and had a year left on his contract heading into the offseason. But when GM Andrew Friedman left for the Dodgers, a provision in his deal was triggered which gave Maddon the opportunity to opt out of his own contract. Though only one big league team had an open managerial spot at that time (the Twins, who were already well on their way to hiring Paul Molitor), Maddon exercised the clause.
Speculation turned quickly to the Cubs as a landing spot, despite the fact that they had hired skipper Rick Renteria just the year prior. Chicago ultimately fired Renteria, who had two years left on his contract, and signed Maddon to a five-year, $25MM deal.
In short order, Tampa Bay asked the league to open an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Maddon’s departure — specifically, whether he might have had communication with Chicago before deciding to opt out. While a decision had been expected by Opening Day, the league took its time in making its determination. “The investigation produced no finding of a violation of Major League Rule 3(k),” the announcement ultimately concluded.
Red Sox Designate Anthony Varvaro
The Red Sox have designated righty Anthony Varvaro, manager John Farrell announced on WEEI’s Dale & Holley radio show. Boston will call up lefty Tommy Layne and righty Dalier Hinojosa to add arms to the pen.
Varvaro, 30, had thrown 11 innings this year for the Red Sox after being acquired from the Braves over the winter. He struck out eight and walked six batters over that stretch while allowing five earned runs to cross the plate. Across six seasons in the big leagues, Varvaro has worked to a 3.23 ERA while posting 7.4 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9.
East Notes: Brown, Margot, Hamels, Mujica, Tanaka
The Phillies have optioned former All-Star Domonic Brown to Triple-A after his rehab stint came to a close. Brown broke out in 2013 but endured a rough season last year, and it now seems he’ll have to earn his way back onto the active roster. In spite of his troubles, writes David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, the 27-year-old has upside that remains worth trying to tap into for the rebuilding club.
Here’s more from the game’s eastern divisions:
- The Phillies are sending former skipper Charlie Manuel to watch Red Sox minor leaguer Manuel Margot, Murphy reports. Margot, a rising prospect, could in theory be an important piece in a deal involving Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels, though at present that is a largely speculative connection. As WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford writes, it is “intriguing” to consider whether the Phils would consider structuring a deal around Margot and, perhaps, one of Boston’s upper-level arms — a scenario that Peter Gammons suggested earlier in the winter (Twitter link).
- As things stand, the Red Sox are not yet prepared to make a move for Hamels, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. But, says Lauber, the club should be prepared to do so — perhaps sooner than later. Indeed, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes, things could be shaping up for an earlier-than-usual market, particularly with a number of possible Hamels suitors dealing with significant rotation issues.
- There have been recent suggestions that struggling Red Sox reliever Edward Mujica may be in trouble of losing his roster spot, as Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweeted last night. But while a Boston roster move is expected today, tweets the Globe’s Nick Cafardo, it is not expected to be a DFA of the embattled righty.
- The Yankees are among the clubs dealing with concerns in their starting five, due in large part to the enhanced uncertainty surrounding Masahiro Tanaka. As John Harper of the New York Daily News writes, the club is still hopeful that its ace will return this summer, though there is plenty of reason for skepticism. As Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com explains, the larger concern is perhaps whether Tanaka’s devastating splitter will ultimately prove an unsustainable offering in the long run. “That’s what’s made him successful, so that’s how he pitches so you have to deal with it,” said manager Joe Girardi.
Indians Designate Jerry Sands
The Indians have designated outfielder Jerry Sands for assignment, the club announced. Righty Ryan Webb had his contract purchased as Cleveland looks for solutions to its pitching difficulties.
Sands, 27, has taken 25 trips to the plate this year and produced eight base hits and two walks, good for a short-sample .400 on-base percentage. He has not received much opportunity at the big league level since a solid-enough run at age 23 with the Dodgers (.253/.338/.389 in 227 plate appearances). But in parts of five seasons at the Triple-A level, Sands has slashed a useful .264/.346/.483.
Nationals Agree To Minors Deal With Jose Valverde
The Nationals have reached agreement on a minor league deal with righty Jose Valverde, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported (Twitter links) that an arrangement was in the works.
The veteran reliever spent the spring with the Padres, working to a 4.15 ERA over 8 2/3 innings while striking out eight and walking only one batter. But with San Diego carrying a loaded pen that was not due to include him, Valverde opted out of his deal.
Valverde enjoyed a long run of success as a closer earlier in his career, but has struggled to get outs over the past two seasons. Between his time with the Tigers in 2013 and his run with the Mets last year, Valverde has tossed 40 frames of 5.63 ERA ball. He has posted 9.5 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 in that stretch, but has been victimized by the long ball.
Metrics suggest he has been a bit unlucky as well, though only SIERA sees his work as being above average across 2013-14. All said, the Nats will presumably look to get what they can out of the 37-year-old as they seek to deal with performance issues and injuries to Craig Stammen and Casey Janssen.
Amateur Notes: Cuba, Draft
The latest notes on various segments of the amateur market:
- Baseball America’s Ben Badler has released a new ranking of the top twenty Cuban prospects who still reside on the island (1-10; 11-20). The veterans at the top of the list — Yulieski Gourriel, Alfredo Despaigne, and Jose Fernandez — will be familiar to anyone who has followed player movement out of Cuba. Slotting in after that group are a series of younger players, including Yulieski’s brother Lourdes Gourriel and teenage outfielders Victor Mesa, Jorge Ona, and Julio Pablo Martinez.
- As MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo explains, this year’s top 100 draft prospect list is heavily influenced by injuries to several top players. There is uncertainty in terms of talent as well, reaching all the way to the top of the class, which is currently led by middle infielders Brendan Rogers and Dansby Swanson along with righty Dillon Tate. What may be lacking in terms of upper echelon ability is made up for, perhaps, in depth. Given those facts, and the role of bonus pools in draft strategy, it could be rather an interesting selection season.
- If you are already well-acquainted with those players expected to be chosen in the coming summer, then be sure to check out this early 2016-17 draft preview from Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs. Towering Oklahoma righty Alec Hansen tops his current list.
Prospect Timeline Notes: Lindor, Correa, Franco
ESPN.com’s Keith Law ranked the top 25 big leaguers (non-rookies) who have yet to begin playing their age-25 season (Insider piece). I won’t bore you with the obvious top choice, and many of the names are obviously to be expected. Only one pitcher (Gerrit Cole) made it into Law’s top ten, though plenty more appear further down the line. Perhaps the most interesting slot is #6, which features the increasingly hard-to-ignore Nolan Arenado.
Which of the next crop of prospects will similarly make that leap from tearing up the minors to producing at the big league level? That remains to be seen, of course, but some may soon get a chance to begin proving themselves. Here’s the latest on promotion timelines for some of the game’s top prospects:
- The Indians are happy with how young shortstop Francisco Lindor has progressed at Triple-A but are not planning to be aggressive with moving him up, T.J. Zuppe of 92.3 The Fan reported recently. GM Chris Antonetti says that Lindor’s timeline “hasn’t changed from what we talked about in Spring Training,” and also noted that the club still believes in Jose Ramirez. MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince recently advocated for a move up for Lindor, citing the struggles of Ramirez and the club as a whole, but it should be remembered that he is just 21 years old and has yet to dominate (offensively, anyway) at any minor league level.
- Another highly-touted shortstop, Carlos Correa of the Astros, now has a clear path to the big leagues after a significant injury to major league starter Jed Lowrie. But as Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports, the 20-year-old’s incredible start at Double-A is probably not enough to force a promotion at this point. Things may have been different had Correa not missed significant time last season with a broken leg, but GM Jeff Luhnow indicated that the club does not want to rush him through the upper minors. “He’s definitely a special player, so his time will come faster than it would for other guys,” said Luhnow. “But having —he’s got 70 at-bats above Class A, and we feel like he needs some more. But how many more, I don’t know. And it’ll be a different number for him than it would be for someone else.”
- We’ve heard recently that the Phillies are in no rush to move up top prospect Maikel Franco. But the team just began working out incumbent third baseman Cody Asche in the outfield, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports, which could be an indication that preparations are being made for Franco to slot in at the hot corner. The 22-year-old had a rough introduction to the big leagues last year — which not only showed the need for further development, but means that a promotion before May 15 (per Salisbury’s calculation) would cost the club a season of control. Franco is off to a strong .333/.371/.512 start in his first 89 plate appearances at Triple-A this year.