Seth Elledge Elects Free Agency
6:18pm: Elledge has elected free agency, tweets Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had that right as a player who has been outrighted before in his career.
3:23pm: The Braves announced Tuesday that righty Seth Elledge, whom they designated for assignment on Sunday, has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. He’d just had his contract selected from Gwinnett a few days prior but did not appear in a Major League game.
Elledge, 27, opened the season on Atlanta’s 40-man roster but was designated for assignment in early April and bounced to the Mets and Tigers via the DFA circuit. Detroit designated him for assignment late last month, and the right-hander rejected an outright assignment after clearing waivers. He later returned to the Braves on a minor league deal.
While Elledge was hit hard with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate this season, he posted solid numbers in Detroit’s system and has been excellent in Gwinnett for the Braves: 9 2/3 innings, 1.86 ERA, 34.4% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate. He’s still awaiting his first big league look since posting a 4.63 ERA in 23 1/3 innings with the Cardinals from 2020-21.
Dodgers, Red Sox Discussing Enrique Hernandez Deal
The Dodgers and Red Sox are discussing a potential trade that would send veteran utilityman Enrique Hernandez back to Los Angeles, where he spent the 2015-20 seasons, David Vassegh of SportsNet Los Angeles reports. The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reported over the weekend that L.A. had interest in a reunion with Hernandez, provided he was amenable to shifting into a more limited role than the everyday one he’s held down in Boston. Further fueling intrigue, Red Sox manager Alex Cora tells the Sox beat that the team is working on a roster move that’s holding up the reveal of today’s lineup (Twitter link via Alex Speier of the Boston Globe).
It’s been a dismal season for the 31-year-old Hernandez, who lost his handle on the everyday shortstop job in Boston thanks to glaring defensive ratings and a similarly alarming .222/.279/.320 batting line in 323 plate appearances. He’s earning $10MM this season after signing an extension with the Sox last summer.
For all of this year’s struggles, Hernandez carries a long track record of quality production against southpaws. He’s hitting an empty .260 against them this year (.260/.314/.338) but is a lifetime .259/.346/.465 batter when holding the platoon advantage. He’s also a plus defender in center field and a solid glove at second base; Hernandez simply seemed miscast as a regular shortstop but was thrust into that role when Trevor Story required offseason elbow surgery.
The Dodgers are hitting .227/.322/.450 as a team against left-handed pitching, resulting in a 1o9 wRC+ that ranks tenth in the Majors. However, their outfield has been pedestrian, at best, against southpaws. David Peralta and Jason Heyward — the latter of whom has just 15 plate appearances against southpaws this season — have continued their long-running platoon struggles. Trayce Thompson‘s right-handed bat hasn’t held up against left-handed pitching (.143/.321/.286) and he’s been on the shelf since June. Recently signed righty hitter Jake Marisnick just hit the IL after only a handful of plate appearances. Chris Taylor is hitting for power against lefties but reaching base at just a .268 clip. James Outman has been the opposite, reaching at a .366 clip but hitting for virtually no power (.366 slugging, .085 ISO) and striking out at a 34% clip.
Hernandez would add a potentially valuable right-handed hitting bat who could fill a familiar role, splitting time around the outfield, at second base and perhaps at designated hitter.
As for the Red Sox, Hernandez could be squeezed out by his struggles at shortstop, his downturn in production at the plate and a glut of outfield and middle-infield options. Story is likely to return from the injured list before long and is currently on a rehab assignment. Yu Chang is a steadier defender at shortstop than Hernandez and figures to move around the infield once Story returns. Boston has also begun giving Justin Turner some time (27 innings) at second base. The Sox ostensibly remain committed to Christian Arroyo despite a generally middling track record. In the outfield, Mastaka Yoshida, Jarren Duran and Alex Verdugo are the starters, leaving Hernandez without a regular role.
Cardinals Expect To Move DeJong, Several Pitchers; O’Neill Unlikely To Be Traded
The Cardinals’ logjam in the outfield has been well-documented by now, but one path to alleviating that situation apparently isn’t under consideration at this time; Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that the Cardinals plan to hold onto O’Neill at this year’s deadline.
Elsewhere on the roster, the Cards have made clear to other clubs that they expect to trade starters Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty as well as shortstop Paul DeJong, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. Passan adds Jordan Hicks as a possible trade candidate, and it’s only natural that righty Chris Stratton — another potential free agent — would also be on the block.
Moving the 28-year-old O’Neill at this stage would unequivocally be selling low. The two-time Gold Glove winner and eighth-place finisher in 2021 NL MVP voting has played in just 130 games since Opening Day 2022, batting a paltry (by his standards) .229/.309/.381 in 502 plate appearances along the way. It’s a far cry from O’Neill’s mammoth .286/.352/.560 batting line and 34 homers in 2021.
The Cards control O’Neill through the 2024 season, as he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the final time this offseason. Woo quotes both O’Neill and manager Oli Marmol in a piece that Cards fans, in particular, will want to read. Broadly speaking, the organization believes an emphasis on routine and collaborative communication can help O’Neill remain on the field more regularly (though that makes the decision to buck his routine by placing him in center field early in the season seem particularly curious).
O’Neill is one of several outfielders vying for playing time in St. Louis. Lars Nootbaar has become entrenched in center field, and top prospect Jordan Walker is currently patrolling right field. O’Neill’s return pushed former top prospect Dylan Carlson to a bench role, and there’s been ample reporting and speculation on the possibility of a Carlson trade looming on the horizon. First baseman/outfielder and utilitymen extraordinaire Brendan Donovan and Tommy Edman also factor into the outfield mix — at times being pushed there by Nolan Gorman‘s presence at second base.
The Cards would also be selling low on Carlson in many ways, though the 24-year-old switch-hitter’s remaining three seasons of club control beyond the current year give him more appeal than O’Neill’s one remaining year. Carlson’s ability to play all three outfield spots — center field, in particular — at a high level could also increase the chances of landing direly needed controllable pitching in a trade. O’Neill certainly isn’t likely to command that type of return on the heels of two injury-plagued seasons; he only just returned from a 60-day IL stint thanks to a back strain.
The likely trades of Montgomery and Flaherty have been discussed ad nauseum by now. Both are free agents at season’s end. Montgomery is the more valuable arm at present, touting a 3.37 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate, 6.4% walk rate and 45.2% grounder rate in 115 innings. He’d be a veritable lock to receive and reject a qualifying offer, so the Cardinals figure to insist on greater value than a 2024 compensatory pick in return. He’s being $10.01MM in 2023.
Flaherty looked like a burgeoning ace in 2019 but has seen several recent seasons ruined by injury. He’s been healthy in ’23, pitching 104 2/3 innings of 4.49 ERA ball. His 22.2% strikeout rate is roughly average, but his 11.3% walk rate is a glaring red flag. He’s three years younger than Montgomery and earning roughly half the salary ($5.4MM) in 2023, however.
DeJong’s status as a likely trade target registers as a clear bonus for the Cards. Entering the season, he didn’t even appear like a lock to make the roster, having slashed just .182/.269/.352 in 190 games from 2021-22. But DeJong has enjoyed a rebound season in ’23, hitting .237/.304/.424 (101 wRC+) with his typical brand of plus defense. With about $3.29MM remaining on his contract (plus a $2MM buyout on next year’s $12.5MM option), DeJong now seems affordable and productive enough to be a viable trade candidate — particularly if the Cardinals help out financially in any sense. DeJong’s bat has cooled after a torrid start, but his overall batting line is about league average, he’s shown some power and he’s played good defense.
Both Hicks and Stratton are natural trade candidates, too. Hicks is likely more appealing and costlier to acquire, given his youth and triple-digit heater. The 26-year-old is averaging better than 100 mph on his sinker and has a 1.88 ERA dating back to early May, punching out batters at a gaudy 31.4% of his hitters with an 8.5% walk rate and mammoth 66.7% grounder rate. Stratton, 33 next month, has a 4.38 ERA with better peripheral marks (27% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate, 3.01 FIP, 3.37 SIERA).
In any trade, St. Louis is eyeing near-MLB-ready pitching, Passan adds. That, again, is hardly a surprise and has long been speculated upon, given the team’s lack of rotation clarity beyond the current season. Both Montgomery and Flaherty are free agents. Adam Wainwright is retiring. Steven Matz and Matthew Liberatore have struggled.
Many of the names in question wouldn’t fetch a close-to-the-Majors arm in a straight-up swap, but someone like DeJong or Stratton could potentially be packaged with Flaherty or Hicks to improve the Cards’ return. Either Montgomery or certainly Carlson on his own could feasibly fetch immediate but unproven pitching help — Montgomery’s status as a rental notwithstanding. For instance, the Cards themselves traded away a big league-ready arm last summer when they shipped Johan Oviedo to the division-rival Pirates in order to acquire Stratton and Jose Quintana, who was then a rental player. Oviedo has struggled in July but notched a 4.06 ERA through his first 16 starts and is controllable through the 2027 season.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Marlins Acquire Jose Castillo From Padres
The Marlins have acquired left-handed reliever Jose Castillo from the Padres in exchange for cash, per a team announcement. Castillo, whom the Padres designated for assignment last week, has been optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. Miami had an opening on its 40-man roster, so a corresponding transaction isn’t necessary.
The 27-year-old Castillo had a strong debut with the Padres back in 2018 but has been clobbered with injuries since that time. His 2019 season ended after just two-thirds of an inning due to a torn ligament in his hand. He missed the shortened 2020 season due to a lat strain and had the bulk of his 2021-22 campaigns wiped out following Tommy John surgery.
Castillo logged a sharp 3.23 ERA in his first 39 big league innings, fanning 35.1% of his opponents against an 8.4% walk rate. However, he’s pitched just two big league innings since the start of the 2019 campaign due to that litany of injuries.
Castillo did return to the mound in the minors last season, notching a tidy 2.59 ERA in 48 1/3 innings between Class-A and Triple-A. However, he’s been rocked for a 9.82 ERA in 18 1/3 Triple-A frames so far in 2023 and surrendered four runs in just one-third of an inning in his lone MLB appearance this year.
This is Castillo’s final minor league option season, so he’ll need to establish himself as a viable big league bullpen option before season’s end or else be at risk of being subtracted from the 40-man roster this offseason. He’s already over three years of Major League service time — most of it spent on the injured list — so he’ll be arbitration-eligible this winter and would be a clear non-tender candidate if he can’t take a step forward in his new organization. And, because he has more than three years of service, he’d become a free agent at season’s end if he’s outrighted before that time.
Pirates To Select Alika Williams
The Pirates are selecting the contract of infield prospect Alika Williams from Triple-A Indianapolis, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 24-year-old will be making his MLB debut whenever he takes the field.
Williams, acquired from the Rays in the trade that sent righty Robert Stephenson to Tampa Bay, was the No. 37 overall draft pick by the Rays in 2020. After a tough stretch in Double-A with the Rays, where he hit .237/.314/.417 (93 wRC+) in 175 plate appearances, Williams is batting .305/.384/.531 (126 wRC+) in 148 Triple-A plate appearances with the Bucs. He’s trimmed his strikeout rate from 19.4% in Double-A to 14.9% in Triple-A, while his walk rate has crept up from 8.4% to 10.1%.
Scouting reports on Williams have typically pegged him as a glove-first option at shortstop with plus speed and minimal power. He’s popped a career-high 12 home runs in the minors this season, however, adding another 19 doubles and a triple. On the basepaths, he’s 6-for-8.
If he’s able to continue that surprising power output at the big league level, it’s possible Williams could eventually outperform the generally modest expectations that peg him as a potential utility infielder at the big league level. Even if he winds up as more of a contact- and defense-oriented infielder, however, his glove at short and ability to handle either second base or third base would give him a good chance to carve out a spot on a big league bench.
The Bucs are dealing with a potential injury of note for utilityman Tucupita Marcano, as Justice de los Santos of MLB.com tweeted last night that Marcano was pulled from the game with what appears to be a ligament injury in his knee. If Marcano is indeed headed to the injured list, Williams could step into his bench spot and see occasional work around an infield that’s currently relying on young options like Jared Triolo (25), Nick Gonzales (24) and Liover Peguero (22) at third base, second base and shortstop while starters Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz are on the injured list.
Athletics’ Sam Moll Drawing Trade Interest
A’s lefty reliever Sam Moll has drawn trade interest and could be moved before next week’s deadline, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Outside of the organization’s best prospects and young players, virtually any player on the Oakland roster figures to be fair game in a potential trade. That’s particularly true of someone like Moll — a 31-year-old reliever who’ll finish out the season with two-plus years of service time (and thus four seasons of club control remaining).
Over the past three seasons, Moll has pitched to a 3.61 ERA with with a 25% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate, 50% ground-ball rate and 0.70 HR/9 in 89 2/3 innings out of the Oakland ‘pen. He’s had a rougher showing from an ERA perspective in 2023, turning in a 4.50 mark through 36 innings. Moll has been plagued by a .337 average on balls in play, however, and this year’s 27.3% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 50.5% grounder rate are all career-bests.
Notably, Moll hasn’t been the same pitcher for much of the 2023 season that he has throughout his prior career. After a five-run drubbing at the hands of the Rangers back on May 14, the lefty has dramatically changed his pitch mix — and subsequently begun to enjoy better results.
Prior to that outing, Moll was primarily a sinker/slider reliever. He’d thrown a four-seam fastball less than two percent of the time in 2023 and didn’t throw a four-seamer at all in either 2021 or 2022. Since then, he’s thrown a traditional four-seamer nearly a quarter of the time, averaging 94.7 mph on the pitch.
Since adding the four-seamer to his repertoire, Moll has pitched to a 3.68 ERA with a 2.19 FIP and 2.79 SIERA. He’s fanned a hefty 31.7% of his opponents against a 6.9% walk rate — both vast improvements — without sacrificing many grounders. He’s still induced grounders at a strong 48.3% clip, even after lessening his reliance on a sinker.
Moll looks like a vastly better pitcher with the four-seamer in his arsenal than he did before. It’s certainly possible that teams will adjust their plans of attack now that he’s altered his, but the early results are strong and Moll has pitched well dating back to 2021, even with his prior pitch selection.
The majority of contenders throughout the league are seeking bullpen upgrades, and lefties — particularly controllable ones — who average nearly 95 mph with plus strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates aren’t exactly in abundance. Moll isn’t a household name by any means, but thus is the life of a late-blooming setup man on a historically bad team. Even if he’s a relative unknown to most fans, big league front offices are surely aware of his overall track record since 2021 and the recent strides he’s made since mixing up his approach on the mound.
Cubs Outright Adrian Sampson
The Cubs reinstated right-hander Adrian Sampson from the 60-day injured list yesterday, tweets Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times. Rather than add the veteran righty back to the 40-man roster, the Cubs instead passed him through waivers, where he went unclaimed, and assigned him outright to Triple-A Iowa.
Sampson, 31, pitched to a strong 3.03 ERA in 139 2/3 innings with the Cubs from 2021-22 upon his return from the Korea Baseball Organization, although fielding-independent metrics like FIP (4.28) and SIERA (4.44) were far less optimistic, in large part because of a pedestrian 17.6% strikeout rate. Sampson’s 6.1% walk rate was excellent, however, and he kept the ball on the ground at an only slightly below-average 41% clip.
That solid showing notwithstanding, it’s been a tough year for Sampson. The righty sustained a meniscus injury back April that would eventually require surgery. He’s pitched a total of 25 1/3 minor league frames this year and been tagged for an 8.17 ERA in that time. Sampson posted an ERA north of 8.00 in two appearances before the injury and in six appearances since returning.
As a player who’s been outrighted in the past, Sampson does have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, though he lacks the service time required to do so while retaining the remainder of his $1.9MM salary. That salary, paired with his recent struggles, surely tamped down interest in a potential waiver claim.
Given that financial commitment, he’ll surely accept an outright and remain on hand as a depth option for a Cubs team that could move at least one starter between now and next week’s trade deadline.
Rays Outright Javy Guerra To Triple-A
TODAY: Guerra cleared DFA waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, the Rays announced.
JULY 19: The Rays have designated right-hander Javy Guerra for assignment and recalled righty Calvin Faucher from Triple-A Durham, per a club announcement.
It’s been an eventful eight months for Guerra, who was traded from Tampa Bay to Milwaukee back in November, then designated for assignment and traded back to the Rays in April. This is now the second time the Rays have designated him for assignment since reacquiring him; he cleared waivers back in May and chose to accept an outright assignment at the time.
In 11 innings with the Rays this year, Guerra has posted a 4.09 ERA but issued more walks (13) than strikeouts (nine). The former top infield prospect, who converted to the mound five years ago, boasts a heater that averages 98 mph but doesn’t miss nearly as many bats as one would expect from someone with plus velocity. He’s fanned just 15% of his opponents against a 14.3% walk rate while pitching to a 6.43 ERA in 63 innings at the Major League level.
The Rays will have a week to trade Guerra or attempt to pass him through outright waivers. As was the case back in May, he’d have the option of rejecting an outright assignment in favor of free agency even if he does clear.
Will Cardinals’ Outfield Logjam Lead To A Trade?
The Cardinals expect to reinstate Tyler O’Neill from the injured list Thursday, and in doing so, they’ll push Dylan Carlson out of a starting job and back into a reserve role. With O’Neill occupying left field, the Cards will continue to deploy Lars Nootbaar in center field and Jordan Walker in right field. MLB.com’s John Denton writes that manager Oli Marmol has already informed Carlson of the decision.
“At the end of the day, we’ll find appropriate at-bats for guys, but this is where we’re at and there’s no way around it,” Marmol said of the decision to push Carlson into a reserve role. “Certain guys need to play the outfield … and [O’Neill] is going to play.”
Were it just a matter of finding playing time for this quartet, it might be easier to get each player regular at-bats. However, the Cards also have first baseman/outfielder Alec Burleson to consider, as well as super-utility standouts Brendan Donovan and (when healthy) Tommy Edman. Slugger Nolan Gorman also fits into the mix at designated hitter and at second base.
It’s a large number of talented position players for Marmol to accommodate with playing time. For now, Carlson has been squeezed out of a regular role on the club, and the question becomes one of whether he’ll be squeezed off the roster entirely.
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported earlier in the week that the Yankees had expressed interest in Carlson, and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported similarly yesterday. Other clubs figure to be involved on the switch-hitting 24-year-old, given his former prospect pedigree and remaining three seasons of club control beyond the current campaign.
Because of that club control, the Cardinals don’t necessarily need to feel any urgency to make a deal. But the Cards are also in dire need of starting pitching that’s controlled beyond the current season. Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Matthew Liberatore, Dakota Hudson and Jake Woodford are their only rotation options with any real big league experience who are signed/controlled beyond the 2023 season. All other than Mikolas have struggled.
It’s at least possible the Cardinals could consider other trades to address the rotation needs and alleviate some of the position player logjam. However, St. Louis was staunchly against trading both Nootbaar and Donovan this past offseason, and Goold reported recently that Nootbaar remains unlikely to be available. The Athletic’s Katie Woo wrote this morning that Nootbaar is viewed by the front office as a “key member of their core.” Donovan, last year’s third-place Rookie of the Year finisher, and Walker, who entered the season regarded as one of baseball’s top 10 prospects, are surely viewed in similar fashion.
There’s certainly an argument that it’s in the Cardinals’ interest to trade O’Neill instead, but he’s hitting just .228/.303/.380 in 482 plate appearances dating back to last season. He’s far less likely to command a quality return than Carlson would, given those struggles and his shorter window of team control (through the 2024 season). They’d also be selling low on a player who hit .286/.352/.560 and popped 34 home runs as recently as 2021.
All of those factors contribute to the mounting rumblings of a possible Carlson trade. That said, it’s still somewhat remarkable that things have reached this point. It was only a couple years ago that Carlson was the Cardinals’ equivalent of present-day Walker — a former first-round pick who entered the season ranked among the sport’s top 10 to 15 prospects. He didn’t hit the ground running in his 2020 debut, but that came as a 21-year-old during the Covid-shortened season when Carlson didn’t have the opportunity to play minor league games in a competitive setting.
In Carlson’s first full season, 2021, he turned in a .266/.343/.437 batting line with 18 home runs. Defensive grades on him were rough, but it was a promising step for the 22-year-old nonetheless. His offensive production has diminished since that time, but Carlson’s defensive prowess has been on display as he’s posted quality marks across all three outfield spots. In total, he’s a .250/.333/.405 switch-hitter with plus defense dating back to 2021 — and he has three-plus years of remaining team control.
It’s rare for such players to even be available on the trade market, but the Cardinals have a knack for developing quality position players. They also have a tendency to play the hot hand with those players, one that spans nearly a decade; they’ve been going through similar hot-potato scenarios as far back as 2014 (Jon Jay, Peter Bourjos, Randal Grichuk, Tommy Pham, etc.).
On the one hand, it’s a testament to the team’s player development staff. On the other, the frequent stop-and-start approach to playing time has arguably contributed to the glut of quality bats (outfielders, in particular) that St. Louis has traded away over the years.
Carlson, for his part, acknowledged to Denton that news of his reduced role was “tough” to take; he views himself as an everyday player and emphasized that the competitor in him wants to be out there as often as possible. He didn’t outwardly call for a trade, but there’s little doubt he’s keenly aware it’s a possibility and perhaps a path to the regular role he desires.
Time will tell whether a trade of Carlson actually comes to fruition, but his blend of youth, team control, defensive excellence and still-present offensive upside will make him widely appealing. At some point — whether it’s Carlson, O’Neill, Burleson or someone else — it seems like the Cardinals will be in position to deal from their deep stock of controllable position players to address their need for pitching help.