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Should MLB Make All Draft Picks Eligible For Trades?

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Today’s deal between the Padres and Twins will colloquially be known by fans as “the Phil Hughes trade” due to the veteran righty’s prominence.  “The extra Competitive Balance draft pick trade” may not quite roll off the tongue as well, though from San Diego’s perspective, the trade was really all about securing the 74th overall pick of next week’s amateur draft, at the cost of paying $7.5MM of Hughes’ remaining salary obligations and sending catching prospect Janigson Villalobos to the Twins.

This is the latest in the series of trades involving the Competitive Balance Round picks since the extra selections were instituted in the 2012-2017 collective bargaining agreement.  (Here is the full listing of the order for Competitive Balance Rounds A and B in the 2018 draft — some of the exact numbering of the picks has changed due to the addition of free agent compensation picks being added ahead of CBR-A.)  The Competitive Balance Round picks are unique since they are the only selections that can actually be traded, and they have become a unique bargaining chip in several deals, with such names as Hughes, Craig Kimbrel, Alex Wood, Jim Johnson, Jose Peraza, Bryan Morris, Brian Matusz, and Bud Norris switching teams as part of trades involving these picks.

None of these deals have exactly been blockbusters; several have been little more than salary dumps, with teams willing to surrender this extra pick to get some money off the books (i.e. the Twins and Hughes).  Still, just the fact that some picks are available at all has added another layer of strategy in recent years, leading one to wonder just what would happen if Major League Baseball decided to make any and all draft picks eligible to be dealt.

Jayson Stark explored this same question in a piece for ESPN.com back in 2015, with several unnamed front office executives arguing in favor of picks being traded.  The general consensus was that the ability to trade picks would greatly elevate fan interest in the draft — trades are, of course, major reasons why the NFL, NBA, and NHL drafts carry a higher profile than MLB’s amateur selection process.  One American League exec claimed widespread support for the pick-trading idea (“I don’t know anybody who’s not in favor of that at this point“) around the game, though no changes of this nature were implemented when the new collective bargaining agreement was agreed upon in the 2016-17 offseason.

The stricter slotting and draft pool system, Stark argues, has already helped dampen long-standing concerns that trading picks could lead to big-market teams dealing picks for high-salaried players, or agents being able to manipulate their young clients’ landing spots.  Both of these things already happen to some extent anyway (dumping salary in exchange for a draft pick isn’t really any different than dumping salary for a prospect already in someone’s farm system), and it’s possible that the ability to trade picks could actually help smaller-market teams get competitive quicker, given the criticisms leveled at the draft pool process.

Along these same lines, I would argue that if MLB is worried about draft trades leading to some type of seismic shift in the player movement market, the league probably has little to worry about.  We’ve already seen how the greater value teams put on draft picks has impacted the free agent market (particularly with qualifying offer free agents), so there isn’t as much chance you’d see a team unload several picks for an established superstar.  Such deals are more common in the NBA or the NFL given how the addition of one star rookie can instantly turn a team around, whereas in baseball, even the bluest of blue-chip prospects generally spend at least a couple of years in the minors and are rarely superstars from day one.  As added precaution, perhaps baseball could institute its own version of the NBA’s “Ted Stepien Rule,” or maybe a cap could be instituted on the number of extra picks a team could acquire in any one given draft.

While any changes to the draft wouldn’t happen until the next CBA, the Competitive Balance Round deals and teams’ ability to deal international draft pool slots have indicated that the league is showing some flexibility when it comes to trades involving amateur talent movement, as one NL executive noted to Stark.  I’d argue that another potential next step would be to allow teams to deal the other “extra” picks available in the current format — namely, the compensatory picks given to teams after their free agents reject qualifying offers to sign elsewhere.  These picks are currently available either after the first round, after Competitive Balance Round B, or after the fourth round.

Let’s open the debate up to the MLBTR readership. (poll link for app users)

Should MLB Allow All Draft Picks To Be Traded?
Yes, it would create a lot more interest and intrigue 65.02% (5,109 votes)
Yes, but with limits on how many picks could be dealt/acquired 23.78% (1,869 votes)
No, the current system is fine as it is 6.76% (531 votes)
No, though maybe the free agent compensation picks could be open to trades 4.44% (349 votes)
Total Votes: 7,858

Injury Notes: Vazquez, Darvish, Cordero, Renfroe, Flores

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Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez felt soreness in his left forearm during the last two pitches of his appearance today against the Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Elizabeth Bloom reported.  The southpaw didn’t speak to the media himself after the game, though Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk confirmed that Vazquez was receiving treatment.  It’s too early to gauge the seriousness of the problem, though obviously any sort of forearm issue is of great concern, particularly for a pitcher who throws as hard as Vazquez.  His fastball has dropped in velocity this season (96.8 mph as opposed to 98.5 mph in 2017), though this year’s total is closer to his career average, so it could be that 2017 proves to be something of an outlier, or perhaps it’s still too early in the 2018 campaign to make conclusions.  Vazquez has a 3.54 ERA and 9.74 K/9 through 20 1/3 frames for the Bucs this year, with an increased walk rate and a decreased swinging-strike and grounder rate from his outstanding 2017 season.  On the flip side, Vazquez has also yet to allow a home run this year, and he has had some bad luck the form of a .333 BABIP and only a 65.5% strand rate.

Vazquez’s breakout 2017 earned him a four-year, $22MM extension from the Pirates in the offseason, locking him up as a building block on the Pittsburgh roster.  Losing Vazquez for any amount of time would be a significant blow to a Pirates team that has surpassed expectations by staying competitive in the NL Central and in the wild card race.  Michael Feliz and Edgar Santana are likely the top candidates to take over as closer if Vazquez did have to hit the DL; it’s possible that the Bucs could target ninth-inning help at the deadline if they stayed in the race, though payroll would certainly play an issue in any acquisition.

Here’s some more on some injury situations around baseball…

  • Yu Darvish will undergo an MRI on Tuesday, 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine reports (Twitter link), and the Cubs righty has said that the soreness in his right triceps is in a different place than it was in 2015, when Darvish underwent Tommy John surgery.  This could be a further sign that Darvish’s current injury isn’t very serious, so he could be back in Chicago’s rotation sooner rather than later.
  • Franchy Cordero will likely be placed on the 10-day DL tomorrow due to forearm soreness, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets.  The Padres believe the issue has recently been impacting Cordero’s swing, which could explain his .515 OPS over his last 47 plate appearances.  This recent slide cooled off what had been a strong start for Cordero on the season, and the outfielder still owns an overall .237/307/.439 slash line and seven homers over 154 PA.
  • Hunter Renfroe is expected to be activated from the disabled list tomorrow to take Cordero’s spot on the Padres roster, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes.  Renfroe hasn’t played since April 17 due to elbow inflammation, and he has nine Triple-A rehab games under his belt as he prepared for his return to the majors.  Acee notes that the rehab assignment may have essentially doubled as an opportunity for Renfroe to get his bat on track, as the former top prospect got off to a slow start this season and has yet to really break out in the big leagues, though Renfroe has crushed left-handed pitching.
  • A DL stint could be in the offing for Wilmer Flores, as the Mets infielder left today’s game in the fourth inning due to back soreness.  MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports that Flores has flown back to New York for examination, and the Mets will have Phillip Evans on hand in Atlanta tomorrow if a roster move needs to be made.  Flores is hitting .248/.320/.398 through 128 PA this season and has continued to be a versatile infield depth piece for the Mets, most recently seeing a lot of third base time filling in for the injured Todd Frazier.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Braves, Machado, Red Sox, Colome, Rays

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Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal’s weekend news updates FOX Sports (all video links)…

  • Given the Braves’ third base vacancy, Rosenthal believes the team “will at least check in on Manny Machado” prior to the trade deadline.  Machado would seem like a perfect fit for an Atlanta team that is looking to stay in the postseason race, plus his impending free agency wouldn’t make him a long-term block at the hot corner for top prospect Austin Riley.  Acquiring Machado from the Orioles would require a heavy prospect cost, however, and Rosenthal wonders if the Braves might instead use their minor leaguers to acquire a frontline starting pitcher, since they’ll be pursuing such an arm anyway in the offseason.  The Braves’ prospect capital could also be used to try and pry J.T. Realmuto away from the Marlins, as Realmuto would provide a longer-term answer behind the plate than the Braves’ veteran tandem of Kurt Suzuki and Tyler Flowers (who are both free agents this winter).
  • Even after designating Hanley Ramirez for assignment and sidestepping his potential $22MM salary for 2019, Rosenthal notes that next year’s Red Sox could still be approaching the maximum penalty limit for surpassing the luxury tax threshold.  If the Sox were more than $40MM over next year’s $206MM tax threshold, they would face up to a 90 percent tax on the overages and their top pick in the 2019 draft would drop by ten positions.  Boston already has over $137MM committed next season towards seven players, plus Pablo Sandoval and Rusney Castillo.  Beyond that $137MM already on the books, Chris Sale’s $13.5MM club option is a no-brainer to be exercised, Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts are on pace for huge arbitration raises, and key players like Craig Kimbrel and Drew Pomeranz are free agents.
  • “The Rays keep playing for tomorrow and tomorrow never seems to come,” Rosenthal says about Tampa Bay’s constant need to trade high-priced players due to the team’s salary limitations.  This payroll need may be impacting the team’s ability to get the best possible return for their veteran players.  For instance, in the Rays’ recent swap that sent Alex Colome and Denard Span to the Mariners, Rosenthal wonders if the Rays could’ve gotten more for Colome if they hadn’t attached Span’s heftier remaining salary to the deal.  Tampa might have been able to get a bigger return for Colome last offseason given all of the interest he drew from other teams, and the same could potentially be said for Chris Archer, given how the right-hander’s slow start may have dimmed his trade value.

Angels Release Ryan Schimpf

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MAY 25: Schimpf has cleared waivers and officially been released, per a club announcement.

MAY 22: The Angels have requested unconditional release waivers on infielder Ryan Schimpf, as per the team’s communications department (via Twitter).  After being acquired from the Braves on March 31, Schimpf appeared in five games for the Angels, totaling seven plate appearances.

Schimpf, who just turned 30 last month, will again be on the move but this time have some control over his next destination.  The infielder was traded three times in less than four months from December to March, starting with the Padres and then moving to the Rays and Braves before ending up in Anaheim.

Schimpf burst onto the scene with 20 homers in 330 PA as a rookie with San Diego in 2016, though even that early success revealed his all-or-nothing tendencies at the plate, as he racked up 105 strikeouts that season.  In 534 career MLB plate appearances, Schimpf has 178 strikeouts and just a .195 batting average, though he could get on base at a decent (.318 OBP) clip.  This extreme “three true outcomes” style made Schimpf less valuable given that homers aren’t hard to come by in the modern game, though it seems likely that another team will take a crack at signing Schimpf to see if it can iron out the holes in his swing.

Quick Hits: Hicks, Swihart, Reyes, Nolasco

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Cardinals reliever Jordan Hicks became the second pitcher ever (after Aroldis Chapman) to hit the 105mph mark, tossing two fastballs at that epic speed during an appearance against the Phillies on Sunday.  As The Athletic’s Mark Saxon writes in a subscription-only piece, Hicks’ feat may represent the virtual limit of how fast a human arm can throw a baseball.  “The maximum can’t go up, because the ligaments can’t take it,”  said Dr. Glenn Fleisig, research director of the American Sports Medicine Institute.  “We’re at the limit, based upon what ligaments and tendons can take….What’s happening is more teams have more guys near the top of the limit, but the limit is just going up nominally.  It really can’t go up.  Maybe at the top it will go up one mph or so, but never will it be 10 mph faster.  It’s just more crowded near the top now.”

While we wonder if Dr. Fleisig has ever heard of a former Mets phenom named Sidd Finch, let’s check in on some news from around the baseball world…

  • The Red Sox have put a high price tag on Blake Swihart in trade negotiations with other teams, NBCSports.com’s Evan Drellich reports.  “Hard to find a trade partner when you’re asking for some of teams’ best prospects,” one rival talent evaluator tells Drellich.  Swihart has barely played at all this season coming off the Sox bench, and his previous two seasons also saw little MLB action (though injuries were a big factor in the lack of activity).  While these factors have seemingly dimmed Swihart’s former top-prospect status, the Sox are still aiming for a big return for Swihart, with Drellich noting that some familiar with the trade talks have described Boston’s demands as “unreasonable.”  The Sox may end up designating Swihart for assignment when Dustin Pedroia returns to ensure that a Swihart deal will happen, though this may or may not create the “bidding war” the Red Sox hope will then occur.  MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently broke down the potential market for Swihart, and while there are several teams that could use catching help, it hardly seems like Boston will score multiple quality minor leaguers in exchange for Swihart.
  • Jose Reyes had another tough game tonight, making two errors that contributed to a 5-1 Mets loss to the Marlins.  Reyes now has a measly .145/.203/.200 slash line through 59 plate appearances this season, leading the New York Post’s Mike Puma to question whether Reyes’ time on the roster is coming to an end.  Rookie Luis Guillorme may have more to offer in the utility infield role, leaving Reyes as the potential odd man out once Todd Frazier returns from the disabled list.
  • Veteran right-hander Ricky Nolasco is hopeful of continuing his career, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (via Twitter).  Nolasco was released from a minor league deal with the Royals during Spring Training and has yet to catch on with another team.  A veteran of 12 Major League seasons, Nolasco posted a 4.92 ERA, 7.1 K/9, and 2.47 K/BB rate over 181 innings with the Angels in 2017.  While his performance has generally dimmed in recent years, Nolasco is still an effective innings-eater and managed a 2.6 fWAR season as recently as 2016.

Injury Updates: Hill, Faria, Ramos, Smith, Bumgarner, Candelario, Boyd

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Rich Hill’s latest blister problem was originally estimated by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to require a four-week DL stint, though the southpaw threw a full bullpen session today.  As Roberts explained to MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick and other media, Hill was keeping his arm in shape while wearing protective tape over the injured middle finger of his pitching hand.  Hill told reporters yesterday (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that is hopeful of a quicker return from this injury, though he is still looking for a more long-term answer to the blister problems that have plagued his career in recent years.  Hill even raised the idea of petitioning the league to allow him to wear the tape on his finger during a game — MLB rules prohibit a pitcher from wearing an “attachment to his hand, finger or wrist,” though Hill argues that it wouldn’t be any different than a hitter wearing a batting glove.

Here’s some more on some other injured players from around baseball…

  • The Rays suffered through a tough third inning tonight, as starter Jake Faria left the game with a strained left oblique and catcher Wilson Ramos departed later in the frame with a left hand contusion after an Austin Pruitt pitch deflected off the ground and hit Ramos in the top of the hand.  The Faria injury seems like the more immediately serious injury of the two, as oblique strains usually require at least a few weeks to recuperate; manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin) that Faria will “miss some time” with the injury.  Faria has struggled to a 5.48 ERA over 47 2/3 frames this season, though his absence would further tax a Rays pitching staff that is already putting a heavy load on its relievers due to the team’s unique usage of relievers.  As for Ramos, he tells Topkin that he doesn’t believe he’ll require a DL stint, though his hand is still swollen.
  • Carson Smith will seek out a third opinion on his injured shoulder to see if he can avoid surgery, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports (Twitter link).  The Red Sox reliever suffered a subluxation in his right shoulder last week after angrily tossing his glove in frustration over a poor outing.  This would be another brutal injury setback for Smith, who missed most of the 2016 and 2017 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.
  • Madison Bumgarner threw 30 pitches in a simulated game today, and is on track to make his first rehab start on Saturday.  (MLB.com’s Richard Dean was one of several reporters with the info.)  The Giants ace will likely make three rehab outings before returning to the 25-man roster in June to make his season debut, after fracturing a finger in Spring Training.
  • Tigers third baseman Jeimer Candelario is slated to begin a minor league rehab assignment tomorrow, manager Ron Gardenhire told the Detroit Free Press’ Anthony Fenech (Twitter link) and other reporters.  The young third baseman was posting some big numbers (five homers, .272/.359/.497 in 167 PA) before being sidelined with tendinitis in his left wrist.  Candelario’s was placed on the DL on May 14, so it seems like he won’t miss much or maybe even any time beyond the 10-day minimum absence.
  • In more troubling injury news for the Tigers, southpaw Matthew Boyd was forced to leave his start after four innings tonight due to what the club described as an oblique spasm.  This is a lesser injury than a strain, though obviously Detroit wasn’t taking any chances with the young left-hander.  Boyd has delivered some good results with a 3.12 ERA over 52 innings, though advanced metrics indicate some batted-ball luck (.248 BABIP) and Boyd isn’t generating many grounders (32.9% ground ball rate) or strikeouts (7.1 K/9).

AL West Notes: Hamels, Wood, Ohtani, McCann, Chapman

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Cole Hamels has a 20-team no-trade clause in his contract, though the veteran southpaw described his no-trade protection as “just kind of a formality” during a wide-ranging chat with NJ Advance Media’s Randy Miller.  Hamels can block deals to every team except the Braves, Mariners, Phillies, Nationals, Rays, Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, and Astros, though it doesn’t sound like he would have any specific objection to being dealt to a contender.  “Really, it’s just kind of like heads up….It just kind of provides a little bit more information, a little bit more bargaining power,” Hamels said.  “That’s kind of really what that entails.  But at the end of the day, situations kind of come up and I think everybody understands what can transpire.”

With the Rangers struggling and Hamels in his final year under contract, the former World Series MVP has often been cited as a potential deadline trade chip.  Some players in Hamels’ position have used their no-trade clause to garner some extra money and/or future security, though it doesn’t seem like Hamels would be particularly inclined to insist that a new team (for example) automatically pick up the $20MM club option on his services for 2019.  It’s worth noting that several of Hamels’ nine non-protected teams are contenders, so Texas might not necessarily have to worry about the no-trade clause at all to potentially deal the left-hander.  Miller’s full piece is well worth a read, as Hamels discusses several topics about his past and future in baseball.

Some more from the AL West…

  • An MRI revealed some damage to Blake Wood’s ulnar collateral ligament, the Angels told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters today.  Wood will receive a second opinion before deciding on his next course of action.  The extent of the damage isn’t known, though the worst-case scenario would be that Wood undergoes Tommy John surgery and is thus sidelined through at least half of the 2019 season.  Wood has been on the DL for the last month due to an elbow impingement, and had posted a 2.31 ERA, 7.7 K/9, and 1.43 K/BB rate over 11 2/3 IP out of the Los Angeles bullpen this season.  Wood is a free agent this winter, and would be facing some type of incentive-heavy, minor league deal at best if he does face a Tommy John absence.
  • The Angels’ balancing act of using Shohei Ohtani as a two-way player has been “perfect” based on Ohtani’s projected and assumed values as a pitcher and as a hitter, according to ESPN.com’s Sam Miller.  “The miracle isn’t just that we get to see a player who is as good at hitting and as good at pitching as Ohtani is.  It’s that we get to see one who is precisely this good at each so that this usage makes sense,” Miller writes.
  • As part of a reader mailbag piece, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes that he would “be surprised” if Brian McCann is with the Astros in 2019.  McCann is in the final guarantee year of his contract and the Astros hold a $15MM club option on him for next season.  This option vests into a player option should McCann has 601 PA and at least 90 starts at catcher this season, and doesn’t end the year on the disabled list, though obviously Houston could manage McCann’s workload to ensure he doesn’t hit the vesting threshold.  The hot-hitting Max Stassi has already cut into McCann’s playing time, though McTaggart isn’t sure that Stassi (a longtime prospect) would necessarily be the starting catcher going forward if the Astros parted ways with McCann.  It’s worth noting that the Astros were linked to J.T. Realmuto in trade rumors last winter, and the team has the minor league trade chips to manage such a big acquisition.  McCann, 34, has above-average run creation numbers (111 wRC+) via his .248/.347/.396 slash line in 118 PA this season, though his production over the last five years has generally been closer to league-average.
  • The Athletics’ pick of Matt Chapman with the 25th overall selection of the 2014 draft came about due to something of a “reverse Moneyball” situation, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal writes (subscription required).  Chapman had only modest hitting numbers in college ball but his skillset was heavily praised by A’s scouts; unlike the events of the film and Michael Lewis’ book, Billy Beane and company decided to go against the statistics to choose Chapman, as a private workout for the team prior to the draft helped answer the front office’s concerns.  The pick looks like a great one for the A’s, as Chapman has broken out into one of the game’s most promising young stars.

Twins Acquire Chris Carter

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7:47PM: The Angels received cash considerations for Carter, Mike Berardino tweets.

6:26PM: The Twins have acquired first baseman Chris Carter from the Angels, as reported by Steve Klauke, radio broadcaster for the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City.  Chris Carter will report to the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in Rochester, as per Nate Rowan from the Rochester PR department (Twitter link).

Carter will provide Minnesota with some additional first base/DH depth in the upper minors while Joe Mauer is on the Major League DL with a neck strain and concussion symptoms.  The Twins have Logan Morrison at first with Robbie Grossman getting the bulk of DH at-bats, though Kennys Vargas is struggling (.614 OPS though 153 PA) for Rochester.

It was just back in 2016 that Carter led the National League in homers after hitting 41 dingers for the Brewers as part of a .222/.321/.499 season for Milwaukee.  That home run total inflated Carter’s potential arbitration price, however, and with the then-rebuilding Brewers wary of committing a hefty salary (MLBTR projected him to earn $8.1MM) for a player with such a one-dimensional game, Carter found himself non-tendered.  He signed on with the Yankees but then badly struggled, hitting just .201/.284/.370 in 208 PA in pinstripes last season before being released.

Carter caught on with the A’s on a minor league deal last summer, and while he didn’t return to the Show, his subsequent success at Triple-A with the A’s and Angels has given some indication that he can still be a productive bat.  He has 22 homers over his last 322 PA at the Triple-A level, and was hitting .255/.333/.600 over 168 PA with Salt Lake City this season.

As per the terms of Carter’s original minor league deal with the Angels, he will earn $1.75MM if he reaches the Twins’ 25-man roster at any point this season, with another $600K available in incentives.  His chances of a promotion could hinge on Mauer’s health — Paul Molitor told reporters (including Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) that Mauer was making some progress, though the club will be as cautious as possible given Mauer’s history with concussions.

Mets Sign Jose Bautista

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The Mets have signed Jose Bautista to a one-year, Major League contract, the team announced via Twitter.  The veteran slugger has already been added to the Mets’ roster and is available for tonight’s game; Phillip Evans was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.  MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported earlier today that the two sides were progressing towards a contract, and FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that an agreement had been reached.  The deal will pay Bautista a Major League minimum salary, Heyman tweets.

With Yoenis Cespedes and Todd Frazier both on the DL, Bautista provides a right-handed bat capable of playing both third base and in the corner outfield.  Bautista could also spell Adrian Gonzalez and Jay Bruce (both lefty swingers) at first base, to boot.  The Mets’ media release about the signing (as noted by The Athletic’s Tim Britton) made particular mention of Bautista’s .913 OPS against southpaw pitching during his recent stint with the Braves, so it could be that New York will specifically deploy Bautista as a lefty masher.

Bautista only hit .143/.250/.343 overall during his brief time with Atlanta, with his success in 20 PA against lefties counterbalanced by a measly .308 OPS against right-handed pitchers.  It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from such a small sample size, of course, though given that Bautista didn’t get a proper Spring Training (he only signed with the Braves in mid-April) and he is coming off a sub-replacement year with the Blue Jays in 2017, it certainly seems like the 37-year-old might best be suited for part-time duty at this stage in his career.

This is technically Bautista’s second stint in the Mets organization, as he was initially acquired by the team back on July 30, 2004 in a trade with the Royals for righty Justin Huber.  On that very same day, however, Bautista was dealt as part of a three-player package to the Pirates for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger.  One can’t really fault for the Mets for not knowing what they had at the time, as it wasn’t until 2010 that Bautista broke out as one of the game’s premier sluggers with a 54-homer season for the Blue Jays.

That was the first of six superstar-level years for Bautista in Toronto, and he was still a solidly above-average bat as recently as 2016, though he was starting to show some of the signs of the decline that led to his ruinous 2017 campaign.  Since the Mets needed some right-handed hitting, though, there isn’t much risk on the team’s end in signing Bautista to the low-cost deal to see if he can recapture any of his old form, particularly if Bautista’s exposure to right-handed pitching is limited.

Diamondbacks Place Steven Souza On 10-Day DL

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The Diamondbacks placed outfielder Steven Souza Jr. on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right pectoral.  This is the same injury that kept Souza from making his season debut until May.  Outfielder Socrates Brito has been recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Souza originally suffered the injury in the last week of Spring Training, while diving for a ball in the outfield.  This second DL placement would seem to confirm that the issue was still bothering Souza, as he didn’t look at all like himself at the plate, hitting just a .163/.234/.186 over his first 47 plate appearances for Arizona.  While no timeline was given about the DL placement, it’s fair to assume that Souza will miss more than the 10-day minimum absence to ensure that the injury is fully behind him.

[Updated D’Backs depth chart at Roster Resource]

After a breakout 2017 season (.239/.351/.459 with 30 homers over 617 PA) for Tampa Bay, Souza was traded to the D’Backs as part of the three-team deal with the Rays and Yankees that also saw Brandon Drury go to New York and pitching prospect Anthony Banda head to Tampa.  Souza was expected to be Arizona’s everyday right fielder and at least somewhat fill the offensive gap left behind by the departed J.D. Martinez, though his injury has essentially kept him from getting out of the blocks thus far in the 2018 campaign.

Injuries to Souza, A.J. Pollock, and Jake Lamb have contributed to a lack of offensive firepower for the D’Backs, not to mention protracted slumps from Paul Goldschmidt and Alex Avila.  Arizona ranks at or near the bottom of the league in runs, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS, and the hitting drought has started to catch up with the team, as the Snakes have lost 11 of their last 12 games.  Remarkably, however, the D’Backs are still hanging onto first place in the NL West.

Brito will get his first taste of the big leagues since 2016, as the 25-year-old missed a good chunk of last year recovering from finger surgery.  Brito has only a .612 OPS over 131 PA with the Diamondbacks in 2015-16, though he isn’t far removed from being a pretty well-regarded prospect in Arizona’s farm system.  He can play all three outfield positions, and has been hitting well at Triple-A Reno, with a .323/.365/.437 slash line over 170 PA this season.

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