Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors

Marlins Claim Derek Hill

By Mark Polishuk | August 3, 2024 at 1:38pm CDT

The Marlins announced that they have claimed outfielder Derek Hill off waivers from the Giants. Hill was just designated for assignment yesterday, so he’ll quickly turn around and join his third different organization within the last two weeks.

The Giants themselves just claimed Hill on a waiver claim on July 23, after the Rangers put the outfielder on DFA waivers. Hill’s brief stint in San Francisco included 13 plate appearances over five games, and for the 2024 season as a whole, Hill has hit .255/.293/.455 with three home runs in 58 plate appearances with the Rangers and Giants. His time in Texas was technically two separate stints, as after he elected free agency after being outrighted off the Rangers’ roster earlier this season, he rejoined the team on another minor league contract.

Hill is out of minor league options, and thus the Marlins would also have to designate him for assignment if the Fish ever want to move Hill off the active roster and try to move him to the minors. This is certainly a possibility given the ever-churning Miami roster, but since the Marlins have plenty of holes to fill in the wake of their trade deadline selloff, Hill might have some opportunity to stick around in a depth role.

Hill has appeared in each of the last five Major League seasons, with a .233/.281/.337 slash line over 362 career PA in the Show. His plus speed and ability to handle all three outfield positions has translated to all levels, and Hill has much more impressive hitting numbers against Triple-A pitching.

Orioles Outright Matt Krook

By Mark Polishuk | August 3, 2024 at 1:22pm CDT

The Orioles announced yesterday that left-hander Matt Krook was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk after clearing waivers. Baltimore designated Krook for assignment earlier this week to open up some 40-man roster space in the wake of the team’s slate of trade deadline moves.

Acquired from the Yankees in a cash trade last February, Krook’s time in Baltimore has included a single Major League appearance — one inning pitched in the Orioles’ 11-2 loss to the Rangers on June 30, as Krook was charged with two earned runs in his lone frame of work. The southpaw has otherwise spent the season in Norfolk, posting a 4.11 ERA and a very solid 27% strikeout rate over 35 relief innings, but a big 16.4% walk rate has undermined Krook’s results.

Control problems have long plagued Krook, as he has a 14.6% walk rate in his 569 2/3 career minor league innings. Despite all the free passes, Krook’s ERA in the minors is still a respectable 4.03, since he misses a lot of bats and does an outstanding job of avoiding home runs and keeping the ball on the ground.

The move to full-time relief pitching in New York’s farm system last season only improved Krook’s overall numbers apart from continued issues with walks. Krook’s time with the Yankees did pay off in the form of his big league debut last season, though he was tagged for a 24.75 ERA in four innings over four appearances.

This was the first time Krook has been outrighted off a 40-man roster, and he is obviously far short of five seasons of MLB service time. As a result, Krook had to accept the outright assignment and couldn’t opt for free agency. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if another team had been interested enough for a waiver claim, but for now Krook will remain as a depth option for the Orioles at Triple-A.

NL West Notes: Snell, Musgrove, Muncy, Blackmon

By Mark Polishuk | August 3, 2024 at 12:13pm CDT

Blake Snell made some more baseball history last night when the two-time Cy Young Award winner threw a no-hitter against the Reds. The 18th no-hit game in the history of the New York/San Francisco Giants franchise, Snell’s gem saw him rack up 11 strikeouts against three walks on 114 pitches. It was also the first time Snell had ever thrown eight full innings in any of his 202 career starts, let alone a complete game.

The no-no continues what has now become one of the better pitching stretches of all time. Snell has an 0.55 ERA over his last five starts (33 IP), in what has been an incredible turn-around after an injury-plagued first half of the season. Signing with the Giants only in the midpoint of March, the lack of a proper Spring Training resulted in Snell posting a 9.51 ERA in his first 23 2/3 innings and six starts, as well a pair of trips to the injured list. It was after his latest return from the IL that Snell began his amazing five-start run, capped off with his legendary game yesterday in Cincinnati. While the Giants received plenty of trade interest in Snell prior to last Tuesday’s deadline, keeping an in-form ace will go a long way towards helping San Francisco’s chances at the playoffs.

Astros Pitching Notes: Garcia, Verlander, Murfee

By Mark Polishuk | August 3, 2024 at 10:45am CDT

This weekend was supposed to mark the start of Luis Garcia’s next minor league rehab assignment, but Astros manager Joe Espada told reporters (including Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle) that Garcia is “feeling a little bit sore.” While Espada was quick to say that Garcia wasn’t being shut down, the team was going to take it easy with the righty-hander after he felt what Espada described as “some soreness in his elbow” following a game of catch on Thursday.

Garcia underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2023, and his first attempt at a rehab assignment lasted two outings — an inning with the Astros’ rookie ball team in late June, and then 1 1/3 innings for Double-A Corpus Christi in early July. He was then held back from any more game action due to some physical discomfort and trouble bouncing back between pitching appearances. The Astros were slowly ramping him back up, and after Garcia’s live batting practice session last Tuesday seemed to go without a hitch, plans were made for another rehab assignment.

Instead, some questions now have to be asked about when exactly Garcia will be able to properly get back onto the mound in the wake of this latest setback. Though Garcia will require a pretty lengthy rehab stint when he is able to pitch, the Astros have said Garcia could potentially return as a reliever. This would require less build-up than rehabbing to work as a starting pitcher, so Garcia could make it back a bit quicker and pitch out of Houston’s bullpen later in the season or into a potential postseason run. Garcia would therefore be able to contribute to the 2024 team in some fashion, yet with still a decent length of time remaining in the regular season, the Astros will certainly first see if Garcia can indeed get healthy and ready enough to return to his customary starting role.

Garcia established himself as a solid member of the starting five when he posted a 3.60 ERA over 312 2/3 innings in 2021-22, helping the Astros to two AL pennants in those years and the World Series title in 2022. Given the usual timeframe for Tommy John rehab, his projected return in the second half of this season gained extra import considering how the Astros have been ravaged by pitching injuries.

Justin Verlander has twice been sidelined — first with some shoulder inflammation that delayed his season debut until April 19, and then a bout of neck stiffness that has kept him off the mound since June 9. The good news is that Verlander is inching towards a return, as Espada said the star righty will face live batters during a batting practice session on Sunday. Verlander is tentatively then planned to begin a rehab assignment, with Espada specifying that Verlander will need multiple starts to build up his arm to return to starting duty.

Penn Murfee is another pitcher getting ready to face live batters, as the reliever will be throwing a live BP session at the Astros’ Spring Training complex this weekend. Murfee told Kawahara and company that the plan is for him to begin his own rehab assignment after throwing three live BP sessions.

Debuting in the majors in 2022, Murfee made a quick impression by posting a 2.99 ERA in 69 1/3 relief innings for the Mariners. He followed up that great rookie year with a 1.29 ERA in his first 14 innings of the 2023 campaign before undergoing a UCL-related surgery in June 2023, and Seattle then opted to place him on waivers at the start of the offseason. This led to Murfee going to the Mets and then the Braves on a pair of waiver claims, a new contract with the Braves after Atlanta non-tendered him, and then another waiver claim to the Astros in late March. If Murfee’s rehab goes smoothly and he is able to recapture his old form, he presents Houston with an intriguing bullpen addition for the final stretch.

White Sox Release Corey Knebel

By Mark Polishuk | August 3, 2024 at 7:43am CDT

The White Sox released right-hander Corey Knebel earlier this week, as reported by Sox Machine’s James Fegan (X link) and other members of the team’s beat. MLB.com’s profile page for Knebel lists the transaction as an “elected free agency,” which implies that Knebel exercised an opt-out clause in the minor league contract he signed last winter.

Knebel suffered a capsule tear in his right shoulder almost two years ago, and after missing the 2023 season entirely, he returned to action in June as part of a rehab assignment with Chicago’s rookie league affiliate. Moving up the ranks to high-A and then to Triple-A once he was officially activated from the IL in July, Knebel ha a 5.91 ERA over 10 2/3 total innings this season, though five of his seven earned runs were surrendered in one rough outing at high-A ball.

At Triple-A, Knebel had a perfect 0.00 ERA across 5 1/3 innings, with a 44.4% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. Despite that impressive work in the small sample size, it doesn’t seem as though the White Sox intended to bring Knebel up to the majors. While it certainly be argued that the 27-85 White Sox (losers of 18 straight games) need all the help they can get, it would appear that the team is prioritizing innings for younger pitchers the rest of the way, and thus Knebel likely chose to go elsewhere.

The 32-year-old Knebel last pitched in the majors in 2022, when he had a 3.43 ERA in 44 2/3 innings out of the Phillies’ bullpen. The shoulder capsule tear is the latest in a series of long-term injuries — he missed all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery, and a lat strains limited him to 25 2/3 innings as a member of the Dodgers in 2021.

Over 306 2/3 innings over parts of eight seasons in the bigs, Knebel has a 3.26 ERA, highlighted by his 2017 All-Star season as the Brewers’ closer. This track record means that he’ll very likely catch on with another team on a minor league deal, and more good numbers in the minors will give him a shot of getting back to the big leagues before the 2024 season is out.

Orioles Acquire Austin Slater, Livan Soto

By Mark Polishuk and Darragh McDonald | July 31, 2024 at 10:18am CDT

Today: Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports that the Reds will receive cash considerations in the deal, not a player to be named later.

July 30: Just before the deadline, the Orioles have picked up Austin Slater and infielder Livan Soto and cash considerations in a trade with the Reds, per announcements from both clubs. The Reds receive cash considerations or a player to be named later.

Slater is on the move for the second time this month, as Cincinnati acquired the outfielder in a deal with the Giants only three weeks ago. But the Reds recently nabbed Ty France from the Mariners, perhaps leading to Slater being squeezed out of their plans.

He has long been a solid defender with a right-handed bat that performs well with the platoon advantage. He’s hit just .226/.316/.334 against righties in his career for an 84 wRC+ but his slash against southpaws is .274/.364/.433, which leads to a 122 wRC+.

On the defensive side of things, Slater has close to 3,000 outfield innings on his ledger, with almost 1,200 of those in center field. Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating consider him subpar in center but good in a corner, while Outs Above Average considers him to be strong in all three spots.

The O’s traded Austin Hays for Cristian Pache and Seranthony Domínguez but were reportedly looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder to take some of the at-bats that were available in the wake of Hays’ departure. It would appear that Slater will be the one to step up for that job.

Soto, 24, is clearly a favorite of the Baltimore front office. They claimed him off waivers from the Angels in February, but the Angels claimed him back later that month. The O’s claimed him a second time back in April but then also quickly put him back on waivers, when the Reds claimed him.

He has a small sample of major league experience, with 23 games scattered over this season and the previous two. He’s hit .280/.378/.376 in Triple-A this year for a 101 wRC+. He’s capable of playing the three infield spots to the left of first base and even has a small amount of center field experience. He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and an additional season as well.

C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic first reported on X that Slater was going to the O’s. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com relayed Soto’s inclusion on X. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer first relayed the cash on X.

Dodgers Designate Nick Ramirez, Gus Varland For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | July 30, 2024 at 9:22pm CDT

After a busy deadline day, the Dodgers cleared some space on the 40-man roster by designating left-hander Nick Ramirez and right-hander Gus Varland for assignment. Ramirez has previously been outrighted in his career, so if he clears waivers, he can opt to reject another outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Ramirez came to L.A. in a trade from the Yankees back in early April, and he has a 6.35 ERA over 11 1/3 innings this season amidst several trips back and forth from the majors and Triple-A Oklahoma City. Because he has been recalled the maximum five times from the minors, Ramirez no longer be sent down again without first clearing outright waivers, so the Dodgers may be parting ways entirely by simply pursuing a DFA route.

Over 162 2/3 innings in parts of five Major League seasons, Ramirez has a 4.20 ERA, a 47% grounder rate, 18.5% strikeout rate, and 8.7% walk rate. He has been a pretty durable reliever capable of pitching more than one inning, and his big league tenure was highlighted by a 2.66 ERA over 40 2/3 IP with New York last season.

Varland is in his second MLB season, and he has also been a frequent visitor on the Triple-A shuttle though he hasn’t hit his maximum number of recalls. The righty has made seven appearances and posted a 3.00 ERA in six relief innings for Los Angeles, though with more walks (four) than strikeouts (three) in that small sample size. A member of the Dodgers organization since 2021, Varland briefly went to the Brewers via the Rule 5 Draft in 2023 and he made his big league debut in a Brewers uniform, but Milwaukee returned him to Los Angeles later in the season.

With the trade deadline now passed, either pitcher could have an increased chance at being claimed off waivers, as teams can now no longer freely pursue trades in order to add new arms to their depth charts. Ramirez in particular might have extra appeal as a left-hander, which could make him more apt to elect free agency should he clear waivers.

Diamondbacks Place Christian Walker On 10-Day IL, Designate Miguel Castro

By Mark Polishuk | July 30, 2024 at 8:39pm CDT

The Diamondbacks placed Christian Walker on the 10-day injured list earlier today, as the star first baseman is suffering with a left oblique strain. First baseman Pavin Smith was called up from Triple-A in a corresponding move to Walker’s IL placement, and right-hander Miguel Castro was designated for assignment in another move to create roster space in the wake of Arizona’s deadline-day trades for Josh Bell and Dylan Floro.

Walker left Monday’s game due to what was described as soreness in his left oblique area, and he received some good news today in the form of a relatively positive MRI result. Walker told reporters (including Nick Piecoro and Jose M. Romero of the Arizona Republic) that his strain was of the minor variety, and he estimated roughly a three-week stint on the IL.

While oblique injuries can linger and a three-week-absence is still a big chunk of the two months remaining in the regular season, it’s obviously a sigh of relief for Walker and the D’Backs and the first baseman’s season doesn’t appear in jeopardy. The Diamondbacks’ quick move to acquire Bell from the Marlins today was a clear sign that Walker would be missing some significant length of time, but if Walker is indeed able to return in three weeks’ time, Bell will become an interesting backup or part-time DH option to bolster Arizona’s bench.

Landing Bell and recalling Smith are stopgap options for the Diamondbacks, as there’s no way to truly replace Walker’s all-around contributions. In addition to being arguably the game’s best defensive first baseman, he has been a consistent force at the plate, including his 23 home runs and .254/.338/.476 slash line in 461 plate appearances this season. With the Snakes in a pitched battle for a wild card spot, they’ll face an extra challenge in trying to stay afloat while missing one of their top players for the better part of August.

Castro has a 5.93 ERA over 13 2/3 innings and only 11 appearances this season, as the righty just returned to action just prior to the All-Star break after missing close to three months on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation. It is safe to say his injury impacted his performance, yet with the D’Backs bringing new bullpen arms into the fold, Castro is now the odd man out.

Castro signed a free agent contract with Arizona during the 2022-23 offseason that paid him a guaranteed $3.5MM salary for 2023, and carried a $5MM vesting option for 2024 which triggered if Castro appeared in at least 60 games last season and passed a season-ending physical. He easily locked in that extra year with 75 appearances, tossing 64 2/3 innings in a workhorse role out of the bullpen and posting a 4.31 ERA.

If Castro is claimed on waivers, a new team will assume the remaining $1.6MM or so remaining of his 2024 salary, which probably isn’t too likely given his lack of production. Should he clear waivers, Castro has enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors and instead opt for free agency.

Padres Acquire Martin Perez

By Mark Polishuk | July 30, 2024 at 8:04pm CDT

8:04PM: The Pirates will send around $1.3MM to the Padres in salary relief, Dejan Kovacevic of DK Pittsburgh Sports writes (X link). The Bucs were willing to pay because they “coveted” landing Jimenez in return.

4:59PM: The Padres have landed left-hander Martin Perez in a trade with the Pirates, according to reporter Francys Romero (links to X). Left-handed pitching prospect Ronaldys Jimenez will head to Pittsburgh in exchange.

There were some pre-deadline rumblings that the Bucs could deal from their relative pitching surplus, and Pittsburgh ended up moving Quinn Priester to the Red Sox and now Perez to San Diego, albeit for more projectionable players than players that could help the Pirates win immediately. There is also a financial element to the Perez trade, as the Padres will receive some money from the Pirates to cover a portion of the roughly $2.5MM remaining of Perez’s $8MM salary for the season.

After signing that one-year, $8MM pact last offseason, there was always an expectation that the Pirates would look to flip Perez at the deadline in some fashion. The veteran southpaw didn’t help his market by posting a 5.20 ERA in 83 innings, and he also spent a month on the injured list recovering from a groin strain. Perez’s Statcast page has a troubling amount of blue ink, with a set of below-average metrics in every category except grounder rate.

The 33-year-old Perez does bring plenty of experience and an ability to eat innings, which is no small matter for a San Diego rotation that is currently relying heavily on a lot of younger arms behind ace Dylan Cease. With Joe Musgrove still on the IL and Yu Darvish away from the team dealing with a family matter, the trio of Michael King, Randy Vasquez, and Matt Waldron have all been logging a lot of innings, leading the Padres to explore for some rotation help. The bulk of San Diego’s deadline moves focused on the bullpen, so while bolstering the relief corps does aid the rotation in a more indirect fashion, the Perez trade brings on a veteran arm to cover some starts down the stretch.

The 18-year-old Jimenez was an international signing for the Padres in 2023, and he has started his pro career this year with three starts for the Padres’ Dominican Summer League squad, delivering a 1.50 ERA in six innings of work. Jimenez is a lottery ticket-type of prospect for the Pirates to develop over the long term, which the club probably counts as a good result from its investment in Perez.

Evan Carter Unlikely To Play Again During 2024 Season

By Mark Polishuk | July 30, 2024 at 7:46pm CDT

Rangers rookie outfielder Evan Carter has probably played his last game of the season, as GM Chris Young told reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News) that the team doesn’t expect Carter to return from the injured list before the regular-season schedule wraps up. A postseason return might be possible, but not probable given the long-term nature of Carter’s injury. Carter has missed over two months due to a lumbar strain in his back, and the Rangers officially moved him to the 60-man IL yesterday in order to create some space on the 40-man roster.

“His back continues to give him a little bit of trouble when he ramps up his hitting progression,” Young said. “We’ve seen multiple specialists in the past week and determined that he is going to need a more lengthy time period to rest his back without rotational activities. So, I’m not overly optimistic that we’re going to see Evan again in the regular season. It’s just going to take some time and we want to protect him. He is a huge part of our future.”

It seemed like Carter was making decent progress earlier this month and was starting to take part in more baseball-related activities in preparation for a minor league rehab assignment. However, Texas manager Bruce Bochy explained to media yesterday that Carter had been shut down due to continued discomfort in his back, and that extended period now looks like it will bring Carter’s 2024 campaign to an end. Neither Young or Bochy mentioned the possibility of a surgery to address the issue, so it seems as though Carter will try to go on the mend with just rest and recovery.

So much has already happened in Carter’s young career that it is easy to forget that he doesn’t turn 22 until next month, and he made his Major League debut less than 11 months ago. Carter was one of baseball’s more highly-touted prospects at the time of his debut, yet he exceeded all expectations by hitting .306/.413/.645 in his first 75 plate appearances in the regular season, and followed that up with a .300/.417/.500 slash line in 72 PA in the postseason.

This starring role in the Rangers’ World Series run made Carter a heavy favorite for AL Rookie of the Year honors heading into 2024, but he hit only .188/.272/.361 over 162 PA this season. The back problem was obviously a factor in that lack of production, and as Grant noted, Carter also missed a lot of the 2021 minor league season with a stress fracture in his back. Since Carter recovered from that prior injury in good form, there’s hope he can similarly rebound in 2025, yet two significant back problems in four years is certainly a bigger-picture cause for concern.

« Previous Page

Load More Posts

Headlines

Navigation

MLBTR INFO

Connect