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Dodgers Place Corey Seager On 10-Day Injured List

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The Dodgers have placed star shortstop Corey Seager on the 10-day IL due to a left hamstring strain, as per a club announcement.  Seager’s placement is retroactive to June 12.  Taking Seager’s place on the roster is Matt Beaty, who has been activated from his own injured list stint.

Seager suffered the injury on Tuesday while running the bases, and an MRI revealed (as reported by J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group) that the strain “is either a particularly bad Grade 2 or a more mild Grade 3.”  The issue is severe enough that Seager is currently projected to miss four-to-six weeks of action.

The news puts a damper on what had been a successful comeback season for Seager, who missed all but 26 games of the 2018 campaign due to Tommy John surgery.  He also underwent hip surgery last August, though Seager didn’t look any worse for wear in his return to the field in 2019, hitting .278/.359/.468 with eight homers over 270 plate appearances.

Losing Seager is a blow to even the deep and versatile Dodgers lineup, though Chris Taylor is a capable fill-in while Seager is out of action.  Enrique Hernandez also has experience at shortstop, and even backup catcher Russell Martin could play the position in a pinch.

David Ortiz Hospitalized, In Stable Condition After Gunshot Wound

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12:20pm: Rivera and Rojas report (via Twitter) that the Red Sox have sent a plane to the Dominican Republic in order to transport Ortiz back to Boston, where he’ll receive further treatment. Ortiz has been deemed stable enough by his doctors to travel.

June 10, 6:15am: Ortiz incurred some damage to his liver and had to have his gall bladder as well as parts of his colon removed as a result of the shooting, per Rivera and Rojas. Rivera adds that Ortiz is currently in intensive care but still considered to be in stable condition.

June 9, 11:43pm: In excellent news, Ortiz is expected to make a “total recovery” from the attack, Leo Ortiz tells Soldevila (Twitter link, with translation from Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe).

11:22pm: Ortiz is out of surgery and doing well, his brother tells Soldevila (via Twitter, with translation from James Wagner of the New York Times).

10:29pm: The operating doctor also says that Ortiz is stable, though he will still require another hour of surgery (from Soldevila with translation from Speier).

10:10pm: Ortiz is in stable condition, the local police chief tells Soldevila (Twitter link).

9:24pm: Former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is in hospital in Santo Domingo Este after receiving a gunshot wound, according to multiple reports out of the Dominican Republic, including TV station CDN 37 (Twitter link).  Ortiz was attacked while at a club, and the suspect is reportedly now in police custody.  Leo Ortiz, David’s father, told ESPN.com’s Enrique Rojas that he was called about the situation, “but they did not tell me how he is or exactly where he was transferred.”

Original reports stated Ortiz was shot in the leg, but the latest update from Dominican reporter Dionisio Soldevila (original tweet, and translation from the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier) indicates that Ortiz was shot through his lower back on the left side, with the bullet coming out the other side of his body through the abdomen.  Ortiz is currently in surgery, Soldevila told ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera (Twitter link).

Details are still scarce about the incident, though needless to say, it is a horrific situation for Ortiz, his family, friends, and millions of fans.  Prayers and messages of support for Ortiz are already pouring in from all over the baseball world for one of the sport’s most beloved figures, and we at MLB Trade Rumors likewise sent our best wishes to the Ortiz family.

Adam Wainwright Leaves Start Due To Hamstring Tightness

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Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright left Sunday night’s start after 4 1/3 innings due to an injury later diagnosed by the team as tightness in his left hamstring.  The injury occurred when Wainwright was running the bases after doubling in the previous inning, as per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter links).  Manager Mike Shildt told Goold and other media that Wainwright will miss at least one start, and the veteran righty will go to St. Louis on Monday for further tests to determine the severity of the injury.

Wainwright ended up allowing three runs to the Cubs during his abbreviated start on Sunday, giving the 37-year-old a 4.46 ERA, 7.77 K/9, and 48.8% grounder rate over 70 2/3 frames this season.  He has already far surpassed the 40 1/3 innings he tossed in an injury-marred 2018 season, and while his one-year contract to return to the Cards carried a number of incentives related to relief pitching, Wainwright has been deployed solely out of the rotation.

Never a particularly hard-thrower, Wainwright’s 89.5mph average fastball velocity this season is a new career low, and his 42.1% hard-hit ball rate is far and away the highest of his 14 MLB seasons.  Still, all that hard contact hasn’t hurt Wainwright to any huge extent, as his .327 xwOBA is actually lower than his .333 wOBA.

All told, Wainwright is on pace for a decent bounce-back season, though his overall unspectacular numbers are par for the course within a Cards rotation that has been pretty average across the board.  If an IL stint is required, all eyes will turn to top pitching prospect Alex Reyes as a potential fill-in candidate, as Reyes is reportedly close to a return to the big leagues even though his Triple-A numbers this season leave a lot to be desired.

Genesis Cabrera or Daniel Ponce de Leon could also make spot starts, or the Cardinals could experiment with bullpen games or an opener.  A decision will have to be made quickly, however, as the Cards are in the midst of a tough stretch of schedule that sees them play 18 games in as many days.

West Notes: Leake, D’Backs, M’s, Hampton, Padres, Alvarez

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Some rumblings out of both the AL and NL West divisions…

  • The Mariners and Diamondbacks discussed a potential trade earlier this week that would’ve sent Mike Leake to Arizona, though in the words of FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (video link), these negotiations “never got serious.”  As we heard on Thursday, Leake was never contacted about the trade, which would’ve been a necessary step since Leake has a no-trade clause in his contract.  Given that the M’s have shown a willingness to eat money in trades of their veteran players, Leake could have been (and perhaps even still is) a particularly attractive option to a D’Backs team that doesn’t have a ton of payroll room.  In Leake’s case, Seattle would also be sharing the financial burden with the Cardinals.  As per the terms of the trade that brought Leake to the Mariners from the Cardinals, St. Louis was responsible for $9MM of the $36MM owed to Leake over the 2019-20 seasons.
  • In the words of one Padres official, there is still an “outside chance” that the club could ink 23rd-round draft pick Maurice Hampton, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes, despite Hampton’s commitment to play both baseball and football at LSU.  Hampton reportedly wanted a $2.75MM bonus to begin his pro baseball career, and while the team believes this asking price may have dropped, it still represented a hefty enough demand that Hampton fell to the 23rd round despite a consensus top-50 prospect ranking in the eyes of draft evaluators.  Since Hampton was taken beyond the top ten rounds, any contract he signs worth more than $100K would see that excess money subtracted from San Diego’s $10,758,900 draft pool, leaving the Padres with less money to sign their other picks.  However, the team has been trying to create extra financial space within their pool — the Padres took four college seniors (who have less negotiating leverage) with their picks in the seventh thru tenth rounds, and saved almost $543K when sixth overall pick CJ Abrams agreed to a below-slot bonus.
  • Yordan Alvarez enjoyed a dream debut in the majors today, going 1-for-3 with a walk and his first MLB home run, a two-run blast that proved to be the winning score in Houston’s 4-0 win over Baltimore.  The young Astros slugger is considered one of the game’s most promising young bats, though there is far from a consensus on his overall value as a prospect, The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan writes (subscription required).  Alvarez is largely seen as a bat-only player, with limited defensive value as a left fielder or first baseman despite some solid athleticism for a man of his size (6’5″, 225 pounds).  “Any projection of Alvarez’s future value will take a hit by an evaluator who doesn’t believe he can stick in left,” Kaplan writes, and he speaks to several writers from sites such as Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, and MLB.com about why Alvarez received a pretty wide range of rankings.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/9/19

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The latest minor moves from around the baseball world…

  • The Mets have outrighted Aaron Altherr to Triple-A, as per MLB.com’s official transactions page.  Altherr was designated for assignment earlier this week, the third different time this season that Altherr has entered DFA limbo.  This was the first time that Altherr’s designation, however, hadn’t resulted in a change of teams, after he went from the Phillies to the Giants, and then from San Francisco to New York on waiver claims.  Now that Altherr seems to be settled at Triple-A for the time being, he can focus on getting his bat on track after posting just a .245 OPS over 42 big league plate appearances this season.
  • The Lotte Giants of South Korea’s KBO League have released right-hander Jake Thompson and claimed righty Brock Dykxhoorn off waivers from the SK Wyverns.  (Hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net)  Thompson was a second-round draft pick for the Phillies in 2012 and was considered a top-100 prospect in all of baseball prior to both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, though he posted only a 4.87 ERA, 6.3 K/9, and 1.33 K/BB rate over 116 1/3 innings for the Phils from 2016-18.  After a brief stint in Milwaukee’s farm system last year, Thompson signed with Lotte last winter and posted a 4.74 ERA over 62 2/3 frames for the KBO side.  Dykxhoorn is also in his first year in South Korean baseball, after delivering a 4.37 ERA over 490 1/3 innings in the Astros’ minor league system after Houston made him a sixth-round pick in the 2014 draft.

Yankees Have Shown Interest In Stroman, Bumgarner

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7:56pm: “The Yankees might not be enamored enough with Bumgarner to pay the necessary price,” MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand writes.  The potential return of Severino could also impact the Yankees’ deadline plans, though as one executive points out, it wouldn’t be surprising if Severino has some rust after his long layoff, so the Yankees might not have enough time before the deadline to evaluate if they can rely on him to be the rotation help they need.

11:28am: The Yankees are known to be looking into starting pitching options, and their explorations have included two of the arms most likely to be moved before the July 31st trade deadline.  According to the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff, the Yankees have been in touch with the Blue Jays about right-hander Marcus Stroman, and have also had scouts watching Madison Bumgarner’s outings for the Giants.

Virtually every aspect of the Yankees’ roster has been hit hard with injuries this season, with the rotation being no exception.  Luis Severino has yet to pitch this season and won’t be back until after the All-Star break, while James Paxton, C.C. Sabathia, and (just today) Domingo German have all spent time on the injured list.  Between these issues and some struggles at the back of their bullpen, Davidoff figures that the Yankees will prioritize pitching upgrades as the deadline approaches.

To this end, New York has undoubtedly done some preliminary evaluation (whether it’s scouting or direct conversations with rival front offices) about many pitchers beyond just Stroman and Bumgarner.  It remains to be seen if the Yankees’ inquiries represent due diligence or a genuinely strong interest, though these two pitchers naturally stand out due to their high-profile nature, and each would come with some interesting factors to consider before any deal is completed.

Stroman has bounced back nicely this season following an injury-plagued down year in 2018, and isn’t a rental piece, as he is under team control through the 2020 season.  While he’ll be in line for an arbitration raise on his $7.4MM salary for this season, Stroman will still bring a ton of value to any rotation if he keeps pitching at his current level.  If Stroman did end up in the pinstripes, this extra year of control would make him a natural candidate to replace the retiring Sabathia in next season’s rotation, and thus the Yankees would have one less item to address on their offseason to-do list.

That said, Toronto will demand a big return for Stroman’s services.  MLBTR’s Connor Byrne recently explored the Stroman trade market, with the Yankees cited as one of a whopping 22 teams who could be plausible fits for the right-hander — Stroman’s extra year of control makes him a target even for clubs like the White Sox, Diamondbacks, or Reds, who might not be contenders this season but are looking ahead to 2020.

Though the Blue Jays and Yankees are division rivals, the two teams combined for a high-profile pitching swap last summer when J.A. Happ was dealt to New York for Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney.  Since Happ was a pending free agent at the time of that trade, and is over eight and a half years older than Stroman, the Jays figure to ask for quite a bit more from the Yankees in trade talks this summer.

Bumgarner’s situation is quite a bit different, as the former World Series MVP is a pure rental, headed to free agency after the season.  Many of the same teams looking to acquire Stroman will also be in the hunt for Bumgarner (as Connor outlined in another post), though even with only two-plus months and potential postseason innings on offer, the Giants are likely to aim high in their trade demands.  With so many of their other high-priced veterans struggling, battling injuries, or limited by full or partial no-trade clauses, Bumgarner represents San Francisco’s best chance of adding some solid prospects as the team looks to get younger.

Bumgarner himself has some no-trade protection, with the ability to block trades to eight teams.  The Yankees are one of the teams on that list, though this doesn’t mean that the southpaw would necessarily reject a potential trade to the Bronx, but rather that Bumgarner was simply giving himself some extra leverage (perhaps in the form of a cash bonus to waive his clause) in the event that a trade offer emerged from one of those eight clubs.

White Sox To Select Odrisamer Despaigne’s Contract

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The White Sox will select the contract of veteran right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne from Triple-A prior to tomorrow’s game, according to Francys Romero of Las Mayores (Twitter link).  Another move is forthcoming to create space for Despaigne on both the 25-man and 40-man rosters.

Despaigne is lined up to start Chicago’s game against Washington on Monday, as the 32-year-old is set to get his first taste of Major League action in the 2019 season.  Despaigne joined the White Sox in mid-May on a minor league contract, just days after opting out of another minors deal with the Reds signed last winter.  Over 59 1/3 combined inning for both clubs’ Triple-A affiliates, Despaigne has produced some pretty solid numbers — a 3.34 ERA, 8.5 K/9, and 2.8 K/BB rate.

The White Sox were already thin on MLB-caliber pitching talent to begin the season, and they’ve seen that depth further stretched due to injuries; Carlos Rodon was lost to season-ending Tommy John surgery and Dylan Covey hit the 10-day injured list just earlier today with shoulder inflammation.  Despite a breakout performance from Lucas Giolito, the Sox rotation as a whole still ranks at or near the bottom in most cumulative starting pitching categories.

With this in mind, there’s plenty of opportunity for Despaigne to win himself some regular work, and try to firmly establish himself as a starter in his sixth big league season.  Despaigne has a career 4.94 ERA, 5.6 K/9, and 1.76 K/BB rate over 349 2/3 career frames in the majors, spending time with the Angels, Marlins, Orioles, and Padres since 2014.

MLB Draft Signings: 6/9/19

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Here are the latest notable signings from last week’s amateur draft, with the newest signings at the top of the post.  Click here for the full list of slot values and draft pool bonuses, and you can find prospect rankings and scouting reports from Baseball America, Fangraphs, MLB.com, and ESPN.com’s Keith Law.

  • The Rays have agreed on a $2,045,400 bonus with high school right-handed pitcher J.J. Goss, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link). That’s right at the recommended slot value for the 36th overall selection. A product of Cypress Ranch HS in Texas, Goss was committed to Texas A&M prior to his selection. MLB.com, which ranked Goss as the class’s 24th-best prospect, highlights his projectable frame; currently measuring 6’3″ and 185 pounds, some scouts believe he could grow into mid-90s velocity as his frame fills out. He also features a plus slider with “two-plane depth” and a changeup.
  • The Dodgers have agreed on a $550K bonus with third-rounder Ryan Pepiot pending a physical, MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports (Twitter link).  This represents a slightly below-slot deal, as the 102nd overall pick has a recommended $571.4K price.  A right-hander out of Butler, Pepiot drew a wide range of grades from draft pundits — Law ranked him as the 33rd-best prospect in the draft, Fangraphs 62nd, MLB.com 72nd, and BA 99th.  Law was impressed by Pepiot’s high strikeout totals, “great deception in his delivery and high spin rates, boosted by a power curveball with two-plane break.”  At the other end of the spectrum, Baseball America’s scouting report noted Pepiot’s lack of control in his less-impressive outings, and he relies heavily on his best pitch, a changeup.
  • The Blue Jays have agreed to a deal with second-round pick Kendall Williams, as per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter).  The high school right-hander will receive a bonus of $1,547,500, a bit above the $1,403,200 recommended price attached to the 52nd overall pick and perhaps some necessary extra incentive to get Williams to break his commitment to Vanderbilt.  MLB.com was most bullish on the 6’6″ Williams, ranking him 54th on their top 200 prospects list and describing him as “the quintessential projectable high school right-hander,” with a promising and still-developing arsenal of four pitches.

KBO’s Lotte Giants To Acquire Jacob Wilson, Release Carlos Asuaje

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The Lotte Giants of the KBO League are set to acquire infielder Jacob Wilson from the Nationals, as per a report from Naver Sports (hat tip to The Athletic’s Sung Min Kim).  Wilson will take the place of infielder Carlos Asuaje, who is being released.

As per the Pacific Coast League’s official transactions page, Wilson has been placed on the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies’ temporarily inactive list, likely while the details of the move to South Korea are finalized.  Wilson was originally a 10th-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2012 draft, and has compiled a .257/.336/.435 slash line and an even 100 home runs over 3029 career PA in the minors.  Wilson has yet to reach the big leagues at age 28, and the move to the KBO League offers him a new opportunity (and larger salary) than he was likely to obtain continuing in the Nats’ organization.

Wilson has mostly played second and third base in his career, though he has experience all over the diamond, with multiple starts at first base, shortstop, and both corner outfield positions.  He also heads to the Giants in the wake of his best-ever season at the plate, as Wilson has clearly enjoyed the thin air of the PCL to the tune of a 1.023 OPS in 230 plate appearances for Fresno.

Asuaje only just joined the KBO this past offseason, delivering a .252/.356/.368 slash over 194 PA this season.  A veteran of 175 MLB games with the Padres from 2016-18, Asuaje hit .240/.312/.329 over 586 PA for San Diego, with the large majority of his production coming against right-handed pitching.

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