Mark Polishuk | MLB Trade Rumors

Pirates To Promote Travis Swaggerty

By Mark Polishuk | June 4, 2022 at 8:50pm CDT

8:50PM: Infielder Rodolfo Castro will be optioned to Triple-A to make space for Swaggerty on the 26-man roster, Mackey reports (Twitter link).

7:25PM: The Pirates are calling up outfielder Travis Swaggerty, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Swaggerty will officially join the active roster prior to tomorrow’s game, and is likely in line to make his Major League debut. No 40-man move is required, as Swaggerty was already added to Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster back in November.

The 10th overall pick of the 2018 draft, Swaggerty received some top-100 attention from Baseball Prospectus and MLB Pipeline in advance of the 2019 season. However, his stock dropped after only an okay year at high-A ball in 2019, no minor league baseball at all in 2020 due to the canceled season, and then a 2021 that was cut short after only 12 games due to shoulder surgery.

Starting the 2022 campaign again at Triple-A Indianapolis, Swaggerty has performed well to date, hitting .280/.362/.439 over 150 plate appearances, with four home runs. This promising start could help answer lingering doubts about Swaggerty’s bat, as both MLB Pipeline (who rank Swaggerty 13th in Pittsburgh’s farm system) and Baseball America (25th) cite the 24-year-old’s lack of any real track record at the plate. Swaggerty was showing some improvement due to some adjustments at the plate even as late as the 2019 campaign, but BA’s scouting report considers him “an open question” due to what was essentially two lost seasons.

Swaggerty’s hitting may determine whether or not he can become a regular at the MLB level, but he could stick around as a fourth outfielder based on plus glovework alone. Bryan Reynolds’ presence would seem to block Swaggerty from the center field job in Pittsburgh, though since Swaggerty has a strong throwing arm, he could also be deployed as a right fielder. Swaggerty joins Jack Suwinski, Tucupita Marcano, and Calvin Mitchell as left-handed hitting young outfielders on the Pirates roster, though it would seem plausible that any of these players could be optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move for Swaggerty’s promotion.

With plenty of veterans (including outfielders Ben Gamel and Jake Marisnick) on the injured list, the Pirates have had to dip in their farm system numerous times already in the first two months of the season. Given that the Bucs are still in the midst of a rebuild, it is quite possible that Swaggerty or any of these other youngsters would’ve gotten the call at some point anyway, and this opportunity gives Swaggerty a chance to establish himself as a building block.

Mariners Acquire Ryan Borucki, Designate Mike Ford

By Mark Polishuk | June 4, 2022 at 8:03pm CDT

The Mariners have announced a trade with the Blue Jays that will see left-hander Ryan Borucki head to Seattle in exchange for corner infielder Tyler Keenan. The M’s have also designated infielder Mike Ford for assignment to create 40-man roster space for Borucki.

The Jays designated Borucki for assignment on Tuesday, and today’s trade officially ends the southpaw’s lengthy stay in the Toronto organization. Borucki was a 15th-round pick for the Blue Jays back in 2012, and made an impressive debut by posting a 3.87 ERA over 97 2/3 innings and 17 starts in his 2018 rookie season. However, elbow problems (which required a bone spur surgery) hampered him for much of the next two years, and the Jays turned Borucki into a reliever for the 2020 campaign.

This transition seemed promising, as Borucki had a 2.70 ERA and 28.8% strikeout rate in 16 2/3 frames in the shortened season, though a 16.4% walk rate was a big red flag. Beyond the injuries, walks and home runs were Borucki’s biggest problems over his last 53 1/3 Major League innings, which saw him post a 5.57 ERA since the start of the 2019 season.

Since Borucki is out of minor league options, the Blue Jays had to pursue the DFA route in order to remove him from their 40-man roster, and the Mariners jumped in to arrange a trade. Roenis Elias and Anthony Misiewicz are the only left-handers in the Seattle bullpen and neither southpaw is having a particularly strong year, so while Borucki himself hasn’t done well (9.95 ERA in 6 1/3 IP) over limited action in 2022, the M’s are hoping that a change of scenery could help the 28-year-old get on track.

Ford has appeared in 15 games with the Mariners this season, hitting .179./378/.214 over 37 plate appearances and working mostly as a DH and pinch-hitter. The M’s signed Ford to a minor league deal in March, and this is already the third time that Ford has been designated in less than six weeks’ time. After Seattle initially DFA’ed him in late April, the Giants acquired Ford in a trade, only for the Mariners to re-acquire Ford a couple of weeks later when San Francisco themselves sent Ford to the DFA wire.

Keenan was a fourth-round pick for the Mariners out of the University of Mississippi during the 2020 draft. The 23-year-old has spent both of his pro seasons at the high-A level, hitting .212/.317/.367 with nine home runs over 376 total plate appearances. Keenan has played both corner infield spots, with the bulk of his time coming as a third baseman.

Injury Notes: deGrom, Muncy, Heaney, Flaherty, Dickerson

By Mark Polishuk | June 4, 2022 at 6:59pm CDT

Jacob deGrom hit a notable checkpoint in his injury recovery today, as the Mets ace threw a 19-pitch bullpen session. GM Billy Eppler told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) that deGrom threw only fastballs of “moderate intensity,” and deGrom will continue to build up his arm strength and readiness with more bullpen sessions in the coming days.

Between the planned program of these bullpens, live batting practice, and then 3-5 rehab starts in the minors, deGrom is tentatively scheduled to make his season debut in July. This timeline is still fluid, of course, given how today’s bullpen session marked the very first time deGrom has even pitched off a mound since March. Between a forearm issue that prematurely ended his 2021 season and then a stress reaction in his right shoulder during Spring Training, deGrom hasn’t pitched in a Major League game since July 7, 2021.

More on other injury situations around baseball…

Max Muncy and Andrew Heaney began rehab assignments with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, with both veterans in tonight’s starting lineup. Muncy was only played on the 10-day IL on May 28, and given how he has been playing with a partial UCL tear since last October, it is a very promising sign to see him already on a rehab assignment, though it isn’t know how many games Muncy will play in Triple-A. Heaney seems likely to receive multiple rehab starts considering his longer stint on the injured list, as shoulder discomfort sidelined the left-handed back on April 20.
Jack Flaherty is also set to start his own rehab assignment, as the Cardinals right-hander is scheduled to pitch Sunday for Double-A Springfield. Cards manager Oliver Marmol told MLB.com’s John Denton and other reporters that Flaherty will throw 40-45 pitches, and depending on his status following that outing, will then throw either 40-45 pitches or 55-60 pitches in his next rehab start. Shoulder problems have plagued Flaherty in each of the last two seasons, and he has yet to pitch in 2022 due to inflammation in his right shoulder during Spring Training.
In other St. Louis injury news, Corey Dickerson made an early exit from the first game of the Cardinals’ doubleheader with the Cubs. Dickerson was replaced in right field prior to the bottom of the second inning due to left calf discomfort, and it isn’t clear if the injury was triggered by anything in the game, as Dickerson had yet to make a play in the field or take an at-bat. After signing a one-year, $5MM free agent deal with St. Louis in March, Dickerson has hit only .194/.245/.286 in his first 106 plate appearances, though he is coming off his best game of the season — Dickerson hit his first two home runs of 2022 in the Cardinals’ 14-5 victory over the Cubs on Friday.

Pirates’ Max Kranick Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

By Mark Polishuk | June 4, 2022 at 3:29pm CDT

Pirates right-hander Max Kranick underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, Jason Mackey of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. As per the usual 12-15 month recovery timeline, Kranick will miss the rest of the 2022 season and is in jeopardy of being sidelined for all the 2023 campaign.

It’s a rough turn of events for the 24-year-old, who only just made his MLB debut last season. As Mackey notes, Kranick has been battling soreness in his forearm and elbow area for much of the year, dating back to Spring Training. As a result, Kranick was limited to five innings of Major League action and 8 2/3 frames in the minors before he was placed on the Triple-A injured list last month. Unfortunately for Kranick, he won’t even bank any big league service time during his absence, as he was in the minors when he went on the IL.

Kranick is a Pennsylvania native (born in Scranton) who was selected by the Pirates in the 11th round of the 2016 draft. With a 3.50 ERA and 5.85% walk rate over 323 2/3 career innings in the minors, Kranick emerged as a rotation candidate, even if his 19.67% strikeout rate left something to be desired. Kranick started nine games for Pittsburgh last season and struggled to a 6.28 ERA over 38 2/3 innings, before tossing five scoreless innings of relief work over his two MLB appearances in 2022.

White Sox Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2022 at 4:27pm CDT

MAY 31: The Sox officially placed Anderson on the 10-day injured list today, reinstating center fielder Luis Robert from the COVID list in a corresponding move. La Russa said the team hopes to have their star shortstop back in around three weeks (via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

MAY 29: White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson suffered a strained right groin during the fifth inning of today’s game with the Cubs. While fielding a grounder and throwing out P.J. Higgins at first base, Anderson fell to the ground after making the play and was clearly favoring his right leg. Anderson had to be helped off the field after being examined by team trainers, and was replaced at shortstop by Danny Mendick. Manager Tony La Russa tells reporters, including Jesse Rogers of ESPN, that Anderson is “for sure” going on the injured list.

In what has already been an injury-plagued season for the White Sox, losing Anderson for any significant amount of time would be the biggest setback yet. Anderson has been the cornerstone of an otherwise inconsistent lineup, hitting .356/.393/.503 with five homers and eight steals (out of eight chances) in 173 plate appearances.

The Sox announced that Anderson will undergo further tests on Monday, so the severity of the strain won’t be known for a while yet. It would seem like Anderson will have to be placed on the 10-day injured list, though if it’s a lesser strain, he might not miss too much action.

Mendick and Leury Garcia would be the top candidates to play shortstop, though the White Sox are otherwise short on experienced infield depth at the minor league level. If Anderson’s groin injury does require an extended absence, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Chicago acquire a veteran infielder at least on a minor league contract to help provide more backup.

Twins Place Carlos Correa On Covid IL

By Mark Polishuk | May 31, 2022 at 11:15am CDT

May 31: The Twins announced that Correa has been placed on the Covid-related injured list. Shortstop Jermaine Palacios has been selected to the roster as a substitute player in his stead and will make his Major League debut in Game 1 of today’s doubleheader in Detroit. Minnesota also tabbed righty Cole Sands as the 27th man for that twin bill, and he’ll make the first start of his big league career in Game 2 today.

Palacios, 25, was signed by Minnesota out of his native Venezuela as an amateur free agent back in 2013. The Twins eventually flipped him to the Rays in the 2018 Jake Odorizzi trade with Tampa Bay, but Palacios struggled throughout the bulk of his two-plus years in the Rays organization. Upon being released in the 2020-21 offseason, Palacios returned to the Twins on a minor league deal and placed himself back on the prospect map with a solid 2021 showing. MLB.com currently ranks him 29th among Twins farmhands, while Baseball America tabs him as the best defensive infielder in Minnesota’s system. Palacios hit .259/.340/.439 in Triple-A last year and is off to a .262/.325/.379 start in 2022.

Sands, 24, was the Twins’ fifth-rounder in 2018 and made his MLB debut with a pair of relief outings earlier this season. The Florida State product has had a rough showing in Triple-A so far, albeit in just five starts. He’s widely considered to be among the Twins’ 15 best prospects, thanks largely to a 2.46 ERA and 28.7% strikeout rate in 80 1/3 innings of Double-A ball last year. Sands hasn’t pitched more than five innings in an appearance since April 13, so he may be in for a relatively short outing today. He did toss three scoreless frames in his last Triple-A appearance a week ago.

May 30: Carlos Correa didn’t play in the Twins’ 7-5 loss to the Tigers today, and after the game, Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters that it was learned mid-game that the shortstop had tested positive for COVID-19. Correa will be placed on the COVID-related injury list at some point prior to the Twins’ doubleheader tomorrow in Detroit.

There have already been quite a few ups and downs over Correa’s first two months with the Twins, as he also spent 10 days on the regular IL due to a contusion on his right middle finger. Correa also got off to a pretty slow at the plate, but is now hitting a lot more like his usual self, with an overall slash line of .279/.344/.407 with three homers in 154 plate appearances. This works out to a 122 wRC+/123 OPS+, only a little below Correa’s career average.

However, Correa is now sidelined for a minimum of 10 days following a positive COVID-19 test. As per league rules, Correa can make an earlier return if he goes 24 hours without a fever, tests negative twice, and gets approval from three physicians (the Twins team doctor, a league-appointed doctor, and an MLBPA-appointed doctor).

Correa joins Joe Ryan and Gilberto Celestino on Minnesota’s COVID list, one sub-section of an overall injured list that is worryingly long for the Twins. Once Correa is officially added, he’ll be the 13th player on the Minnesota IL, and the club will also be short a few more non-vaccinated players for a series in Toronto on June 3-5.

Former first overall pick Royce Lewis had filled in at shortstop during Correa’s previous IL stint, but Lewis himself was just placed on the injured list today after suffering a bone bruise on his right knee after a collision with the center field wall in yesterday’s game. This leaves utilityman Nick Gordon or regular second baseman Jorge Polanco as the likeliest candidates to cover shortstop in Correa’s absence, and third baseman Gio Urshela also has experience as a shortstop.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/30/22

By Mark Polishuk | May 30, 2022 at 10:30pm CDT

Wrapping up some minor moves from around the game…

The Angels announced that Jose Rojas has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A. The utilityman was designated for assignment a week ago to clear space for other players returning from the injured list. Rojas had only a .348 OPS over 23 plate appearances this season, after hitting .208/.277/.399 in 184 PA during his 2021 rookie season. During his brief MLB career, Rojas has already seen time at five different positions, playing mostly right field but also getting time as a left fielder, second baseman, third baseman, and a couple of games at first base.

MLBTR Chat Transcript

By Mark Polishuk | May 30, 2022 at 10:13pm CDT

Click here to read the transcript of tonight’s live baseball chat

Astros Notes: Altuve, Tucker, Odorizzi, McCullers

By Mark Polishuk | May 30, 2022 at 7:17pm CDT

While hitting a single in the seventh inning of today’s game, Jose Altuve collided with A’s first baseman Christian Bethancourt, knocking down players to the ground. Altuve remained on the field and then played second base in the bottom half of the inning, but he was replaced prior to the bottom of the eighth and underwent concussion protocol. Manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including The Houston Chronicle’s Danielle Lerner) that Altuve “didn’t look too good in the eyes” in the aftermath, and is planning two lineups for Tuesday’s game based on Altuve’s availability.

The star second baseman hit his 10th homer of the season in the 5-1 victory over Oakland, elevating Altuve’s fantastic slash line to .286/.349/.556 through 146 plate appearances. Even despite Altuve’s importance to the Astros lineup, it is possible Baker could opt to give him an off-day tomorrow just as a precaution even if he clears concussion protocol. Mauricio Dubon and Aledmys Diaz are on hand to fill in at the keystone, though naturally the Astros would be in trouble if Altuve had any lingering concussion symptoms that forced him to miss an extended amount of time.

White Sox Place Dallas Keuchel On Release Waivers

By Mark Polishuk | May 30, 2022 at 5:39pm CDT

TODAY: The Sox announced that Keuchel has been placed on unconditional release waivers.

MAY 28: The White Sox announced that veteran left-hander Dallas Keuchel has been designated for assignment. Infielder Danny Mendick was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

The move all but certainly ends Keuchel’s stint on the South Side after 51 games and 257 1/3 innings since the start of the 2020 season. It doesn’t seem likely that another team would claim Keuchel off waivers, since such a move would put that new team on the hook for the roughly $14.1MM Keuchel is still owed for the remainder of the 2022 season. Should Keuchel clear waivers and then be released, the White Sox would pay the remainder of that salary, and a new team who signed Keuchel could only owe the lefty the prorated MLB minimum salary.

Keuchel signed a three-year, $55.5MM free agent deal with Chicago in the 2019-20 offseason, one of several notable moves made that winter to signal that the Sox were now aiming to win following a rebuilding phase. The initial returns on the signing were great, as Keuchel posted a 1.99 ERA over 63 1/3 innings during the shortened 2020 season and finished fifth in AL Cy Young Award voting.

Only some flashes of that good form continued into 2021, however, as Keuchel finished with a 5.28 ERA over 162 largely inconsistent innings with Chicago last year. The decline continued over Keuchel’s first eight starts of 2022, as he has a 7.88 ERA and as many walks (20) as strikeouts over 32 innings.

Never a big strikeout pitcher even during his prime years with the Astros, there were plenty of questions about how well Keuchel’s low-velocity, grounder-heavy approach would hold up as he got older. Between these concerns and a qualifying offer, Keuchel’s previous free agent bid in the 2018-19 offseason resulted in the southpaw having to wait until June (after the draft) to sign a prorated one-year deal with the Braves. Keuchel pitched well enough over his 112 2/3 innings with Atlanta to then earn a longer-term commitment from the Sox that offseason, with Keuchel also no longer eligible for the QO.

Batters have a .364 BABIP against Keuchel this year, so there is some amount of misfortune baked into his recent results. However, hitters are also making some serious contact (as per Keuchel’s barrels and barrel-rate metrics) against the left-hander’s offerings, and his sudden lack of control also isn’t helping his run-prevention efforts. Keuchel’s 50.8% grounder rate is also the lowest of his career, though still an above-average mark league-wide.

Even with these struggles, it stands to reason that Keuchel’s track record will earn him some attention from one of the many teams looking for rotation help. A strong defensive team would be a particularly good fit for a groundball pitcher like Keuchel — speculatively speaking, a Cardinals team that has lost Steven Matz, Jordan Hicks, and Jack Flaherty to the injured list could have interest in Keuchel’s services.

The White Sox have been no strangers to pitching injuries themselves this season, and their rotation picture wasn’t helped by Keuchel’s lack of success, even though he remained healthy. With Keuchel now in DFA limbo, the Sox have Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, and veteran Johnny Cueto making up the rotation, and Lance Lynn is beginning a rehab assignment in his recovery from knee surgery. Vince Velasquez could continue to make starts until Lynn is ready, but with off-days coming up on May 30, June 6, and June 16, the Sox will get some flexibility in figuring out their upcoming slate of pitchers.

In the bigger picture, it would certainly seem like starting pitching will be a target area for Chicago heading into the trade deadline. Giolito, Kopech, and Cease have all been very good, Cueto has yet to allow a run over 12 innings of work, and the White Sox certainly hope that Lynn can return to his usual form once his rehab assignment is over. However, depth is certainly still a concern, as Kopech’s innings will be managed and the Sox can’t know what to really expect from Cueto over the course of a full season.

As well as Keuchel performed in 2020, the signing still has to be considered a misfire for GM Rick Hahn’s front office. Keuchel was owed $18MM in salary this season, as well as a $1.5MM buyout of a $20MM club option for the 2023 season. That option was set to vest if Keuchel pitched at least 160 innings this season, but that threshold no longer seems a possibility, even if it never seemed particularly likely that the White Sox would let that option vest.

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