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Twins Acquire Brandon Barnes

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The Twins have acquired outfielder Brandon Barnes from the Indians, per an announcement from the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate in Columbus. While the move will surely generate some confusion because it comes after the July 31 trade deadline, Barnes was still tradeable by virtue of the fact that he’s on a minor league deal and at no point had been on a 40-man roster this season. (We took a look at how these and other minor moves could still occur yesterday here at MLBTR.)

Cleveland didn’t specify a return, though it’s quite likely that the veteran Barnes was merely flipped to Minnesota for cash. The Twins have been looking for outfield depth in the minors — they signed Ramon Flores out of indie ball two days ago — and the Indians, conversely, have come into some newfound outfield depth. The trade of Trevor Bauer netted them both Franmil Reyes and Yasiel Puig, thus pushing Greg Allen and Jake Bauers to Triple-A Columbus and squeezing Barnes out of his everyday job there.

Barnes, 33, has posted a .271/.336/.529 batting line with 24 home runs, 25 doubles and nine steals in 420 plate appearances with Cleveland’s top affiliate in Columbus this season. He’s spent parts of six seasons at the Major League level, most recently appearing in 19 games with Cleveland just last season. Barnes is capable of playing all three outfield spots but carries an underwhelming .242/.290/.357 batting line through 1274 big league plate appearances. He’ll give the Twins some depth in Triple-A Rochester.

Red Sox To Place Heath Hembree On IL

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Red Sox right-hander Heath Hembree is headed back to the injured list due to an elbow strain, reports Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Hembree also missed about three weeks earlier this summer owing to a similar injury.

Hembree, 30, hasn’t looked right whatsoever in his return from that prior IL stint. He’s made a dozen appearances and totaled only nine innings while yielding 10 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits (including three homers) and six walks with 10 strikeouts. As Speier points out, he’s also displayed diminished velocity readings since being activated.

Hembree punched out 35 hitters and logged a 2.51 ERA through 28 2/3 innings prior to that initial injury. It’s not clear how long he’s expected to miss, but the injury is yet another setback to a Red Sox relief corps that surprisingly went unaddressed at the trade deadline (and in the offseason). The elimination of August trade waivers all but eliminates the possibility of Boston adding any truly notable help to the relief corps, although there are still some ways to add some depth to what they already have in house.

AL East Notes: Lowe, Mancini, Fisher

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The Rays’ decision to option Nate Lowe back to Triple-A Durham following the trade deadline was a “very tough call,” manager Kevin Cash tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. With the acquisition of Jesus Aguilar, however, the Rays had three first basemen on the roster and Ji-Man Choi’s lack of minor league options once again came into play. Tampa Bay seems loath to risk losing Choi on waivers, but Lowe has handily outperformed him at the plate so far, hitting .294/.362/.510 to Choi’s .265/.361/.423. Choi has shown better knowledge of the strike zone, but Lowe nevertheless appears to be the better offensive option between the two (even if he’s had some good fortune in terms of a .362 average on balls in play). Cash expects that Lowe will be back up with the club “soon,” but that redundancy will eventually be an issue the Rays need to address.

More out of the AL East…

  • Trey Mancini remains in Baltimore after the trade deadline, but the decision not to move him doesn’t mean an extension is the next step for the slugger. “Looking at contract extensions is just not at the forefront of my plate right now,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias tells MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko, “but certainly he’s an attractive guy to have here for a while.” It’s not the first time that Elias, hired to spearhead the Orioles’ rebuild this offseason, has suggested that he views Mancini as a potential long-term piece. But Mancini is already controlled through 2022 — his age-30 season. Given that he won’t even reach arbitration until this winter, there’s simply not much urgency to extend Mancini, even if he’s in the midst of the best season of his young career. Through 443 plate appearances, Mancini has posted a robust .282/.343/.539 slash (130 OPS+) with a career-high 25 home runs. Elias also praised the recent play of outfielder Anthony Santander the manner in which he has begun to establish himself as a viable big league hitter.
  • The Blue Jays have a crowded outfield mix, but newly acquired Derek Fisher is going to get regular playing time and an opportunity to establish himself as a fixture in the Toronto outfield, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet writes. Most of Fisher’s reps will come in center or right field, as Toronto doesn’t want to disrupt Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s transition to left field (or his offensive breakout). That leaves Fisher, Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk and Billy McKinney vying for playing time between center, right and occasional reps at DH. Hernandez has been on an otherworldly tear, clubbing seven homers and three doubles in his past 15 games, which should help to keep him in the lineup. If there’s to be an odd man out, McKinney seems the likeliest candidate, given that he has minor league options remaining. But the semi logjam also serves as a reminder that Randal Grichuk hasn’t performed anywhere near as well as hoped in the first season of the head-scratching extension to which the Jays signed him back in April. He’s played solid defense, but Grichuk hasn’t exactly seized an everyday role with his .232/.290/.418 batting line.

Tim Collins Elects Free Agency

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Veteran lefty Tim Collins elected free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment from the Cubs, according to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League’s transactions page. Chicago designated Collins, 29, for assignment over the weekend.

Collins appeared in nine games across multiple stints with the Cubs in 2019, allowing a total of three runs on nine hits and three walks with four punchouts. He’s whiffed 37 hitters in 27 Triple-A innings this season but has also issued 16 walks (three intentional) and surrendered seven home runs there.

Collins was a big piece of the Kansas City bullpen from 2011-14 but missed two full seasons due to multiple Tommy John surgeries. He’s totaled 31 1/3 big league innings between the Nationals and Cubs since returning from that pair of operations, posting a 25-to-15 K/BB ratio but has yielded a .237/.328/.492 batting line to opposing left-handers.

Still, as an experienced left-hander with a knack for missing bats, Collins should have little difficulty latching on with a different club — likely a contender. The elimination of August trade waivers will make adding depth via other avenues (e.g. outright waiver claims, free agency) of increased importance.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/1/19

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We’ll track Thursday’s minor moves from around the league here…

  • The Twins signed outfielder Ramon Flores and righty Jonathan Cheshire to minor league deals, per an announcement from the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League. Flores, who was assigned to Triple-A Rochester, has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues but has played with the Patriots in each of the past two seasons. His 2019 output was particularly impressive, as he batted .311/.395/.467 with nearly as many walks (43) as strikeouts (49). The 27-year-old last appeared in the Majors when he got a brief three-game run with the Angels in 2017, but his most significant stint came with the 2016 Brewers. That season, the Venezuelan-born Flores hit .205/.294/.261 in 289 plate appearances while appearing at all three outfield positions. He’s yet to find Major League success, but Flores is a career .281/.373/.429 hitter in more than 1400 Triple-A plate appearances. As for Cheshire, he’s never been in the Majors but notched an impressive 19-to-3 K/BB ratio and a 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 innings with the Patriots. Cheshire, 24, was cut loose by the Blue Jays earlier this year and has been assigned to Double-A Pensacola with the Twins.

Giants Designate Dan Winkler For Assignment

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The Giants announced that they’ve designated right-hander Dan Winkler for assignment Thursday. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to lefty Sam Selman, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants also placed outfielder Alex Dickerson on the 10-day injured list due to an oblique strain.

Winkler’s DFA comes less than 24 hours after the Giants acquired him in the trade that sent Mark Melancon to Atlanta. Jettisoning Winkler underscores that the move was largely one about finances for the Giants, who were stunningly able to unload the entirety of Melancon’s remaining $18.3MM on the Braves.

The 29-year-old Winkler has struggled in 2019, pitching to an ugly 4.98 ERA with a 22-to-11 K/BB ratio in 21 2/3 innings of relief this season. He’s had similar struggles in Triple-A (4.86 ERA, 20-to-18 K/BB in 16 2/3 innings) but is not far removed from a strong 2018 showing. Last season, Winkler pitched to a 3.43 earned run average (and a 2.76 FIP) with 10.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.45 HR/9 and a 38.3 percent ground-ball rate. He has minor league options remaining beyond the 2019 season, making it somewhat surprising that the Giants apparently aren’t planning to take a look at him. Winkler can’t be traded to another organization under this season’s new trade structure but can be claimed on outright waivers.

Selman will be making his MLB debut as a 28-year-old rookie after posting some jaw-dropping numbers in the minors. After tossing seven shutout innings in Double-A, he moved up to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and turned in 40 frames of 1.35 ERA ball with 65 strikeouts (14.6 K/9) against 13 walks (2.9 BB/9). He’s benefited from a minuscule .203 BABIP and an 86 percent strand rate, but Selman’s ability to miss bats and limit walks is intriguing.

As for Dickerson, he’s not expected to miss more than 10 days with his current ailment (Twitter link via Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News). The 29-year-old has been a godsend for the Giants and helped to fuel San Francisco’s surge back into the Wild Card picture, hitting .346/.402/.664 with six homers, 10 doubles and three triples in 117 plate appearances.

That level of output isn’t likely to be maintained, as Dickerson’s .413 average on balls in play is the fourth-highest of any hitter in baseball (min. 100 PAs). He’s also battled significant injury issues throughout his career. That said, he does have an outstanding Triple-A track record (.333/.398/.541 in 892 PAs) and enjoyed some big league success with the Padres back in 2016. He’s controlled three more seasons beyond 2019, making him an intriguing find for the Giants even if (or when) his bat regresses to some extent.

Reds Select Aristides Aquino

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The Reds announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Aristides Aquino from Triple-A Louisville.

Aquino, 25, made his big league debut with the Reds last season but received just one plate appearance in August. He was subsequently non-tendered in the offseason but re-signed with Cincinnati on a new minor league contract just a few days later.

Last season’s .240/.306/.448 line in Double-A was more impressive than it looks (111 wRC+), considering the pitcher-friendly environment in which he played, but Aquino’s 2019 season has been far more eye-opening. In 323 trips to the plate, he’s slashed a robust .299/.356/.636 with 28 home runs, 13 doubles, a triple and five steals. He’s played exclusively in right field this season and will give Cincinnati a right-handed-hitting replacement option for Yasiel Puig, who headed to Cleveland in Tuesday night’s three-team Trevor Bauer blockbuster.

Details On Yankees’ Pursuit Of Robbie Ray

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7:35PM: The Yankees were willing to give up Clint Frazier and another prospect for Ray, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets, though talks fizzled out after the Diamondbacks requested more prospects.  As per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the D’Backs wanted a four-prospect package that included Frazier and right-hander Clarke Schmidt, who was the 16th overall pick of the 2017 draft and rated by MLB Pipeline as the fifth-best prospect in New York’s system.

1:16PM: The Yankees’ talks with the Diamondbacks regarding left-hander Robbie Ray are “dead” for now, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Ray’s name has become increasingly prevalent on the rumor mill in the past week, though there’s no firm indication that the club is sure to move him. Ray is controlled through the 2020 season via arbitration.

New York’s rotation hasn’t performed up to expectations in 2019, as Luis Severino hasn’t thrown a pitch. Lefties James Paxton and, in particular, J.A. Happ have struggled to uncharacteristically high ERAs, as has CC Sabathia, who is currently on the injured list. The Yankees have been connected to virtually every starting pitcher on the trade market, but to this point those negotiations have obviously yet to bear fruit.

Ray, 27, has a 3.91 ERA with 12.1 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.60 HR/9 and a 38.4 percent grounder rate in 2019. He averaged 12+ K/9 in both 2017 and 2018 with sub-4.00 ERAs, FIPs and xFIPs, cementing himself as one of the game’s premier strikeout pitchers along the way. He’s earning $6.05MM this season and will command one more arbitration raise this winter, possibly to the $10MM range, before becoming a free agent upon the conclusion of the 2020 season.

The Diamondbacks, with a .500 record, aren’t necessarily embarking on a full-scale tear down but are nevertheless listening with an open mind on some of their more desirable short-term assets.

Astros Acquire Zack Greinke

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In a last-minute trade deadline stunner, the Astros announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Zack Greinke from the Diamondbacks in exchange for right-handers Corbin Martin and J.B. Bukauskas, first baseman Seth Beer and infielder Joshua Rojas. Martin (who is recovering from Tommy John surgery), Bukauskas and Beer are arguably Houston’s three best non-Kyle Tucker and non-Forrest Whitley prospects.

Zack Greinke | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The buzzer-beating trade transforms an already-imposing Astros one-two rotation punch to a genuine postseason powerhouse. The 2019 Greinke trade harkens back to 2017’s acquisition of Justin Verlander for the Astros, and Greinke will now join Verlander and Gerrit Cole as the most formidable 1-2-3 combination in the American League (if not all of baseball).

Greinke is earning $31.5MM in 2019 and is still owed another $10.5MM of that salary between now and season’s end. He’s also under contract in both 2020 and 2021, with a $32MM salary owed to him in each season. Beyond that, he still has multiple payouts on his prorated signing bonus coming his way — $3MM in 2020 and 2021 — and receives a $2MM signing bonus by virtue of being traded. A third of his salary in 2019-21 is deferred and will be paid out in annual payment of $12.5MM from 2022-26, thus reducing at least some of the immediate financial implications for Houston. The Astros are reportedly “only” on the hook for about $53MM of the money that is still owed to Greinke.

Greinke’s six-year, $206.5MM contract with the Diamondbacks, signed in the 2015-16 offseason, set a then-record for the largest average annual salary ever promised to a player. And while the first season of that deal looked to be an ominous step backward from the former Cy Young winner’s Hall of Fame trajectory, he’s righted the ship and then some in the ensuing two and a half seasons.

Dating back to 2017, Greinke has racked up 551 innings of 3.12 ERA ball with 8.9 K/9, 1.7 BB/9, 1.1 HR/9 and a ground-ball rate near 45 percent. He’s been particularly effective in 2019 despite the league-wide home run boom, spinning 141 frames of 2.87 ERA ball with a 0.89 HR/9 average that is actually his lowest since 2015. Greinke was shelled for seven runs in his first start of the season, but over his past 21 outings he has a 2.49 ERA and a 2.77 FIP, underscoring that even with his 36th birthday looming in October, he’s still a bona fide top-of-the-rotation pitcher.

The acquisition of Greinke is all the more vital for the Astros when glancing at their future outlook. Cole is slated to become a free agent at season’s end, as are left-hander Wade Miley and right-hander Collin McHugh. That’s three rotation options all departing, and with Martin undergoing Tommy John surgery and Whitley struggling, the most big-league-ready of Houston’s farmhands suddenly looked less certain to be 2020 contributors. (Whitley certainly still could be, of course.) The organization hopes to have Lance McCullers Jr. back from Tommy John surgery next season, but an immediate return to form is far from a sure thing.

Now, with Greinke and fellow controllable acquisition Aaron Sanchez joining the team, the Astros have a pair of new arms to team with Verlander and whichever internal options are up to the task. (Sanchez, alternatively, could also work out of the bullpen.) Landing Greinke lessens the organization’s urgency to pay top dollar for Cole on the open market as well; Cole himself seems likely to pursue a $200MM+ contract in free agency and seems a good bet to secure $150MM+ even if he doesn’t quite reach that level of rarefied air.

Turning to the Diamondbacks, who entered deadline day with a .500 record and an insurmountable division deficit, the move is the next step toward ushering in a new era of baseball. The D-backs traded face of the franchise Paul Goldschmidt this offseason, landing promising young players Carson Kelly and Luke Weaver as the key pieces in that deal. Now, third-year GM Mike Hazen and his staff have shipped out the team’s ace and cleared a substantial amount of payroll, acquiring a pair of pitchers who entered the season regarded as top 100 prospects in all of baseball: Martin and Bukauskas.

Martin won’t be a factor until late 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but he’s viewed as a potential midrotation arm with an above-average fastball and an above-average, potentially plus slider. He averaged 95.3 mph on his heater in his brief MLB time this season and posted a 3.13 ERA with nearly 11 punchouts per nine innings pitched in 37 1/3 Triple-A frames before undergoing surgery.

Corbin Martin | Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Because his injury and the subsequent operation came about when he was pitching in Triple-A, Martin is on the minor league injured list and not accruing MLB service time. That’s key for Arizona because it means they quite likely won’t need to have him on the MLB roster or injured list until late 2020, which would theoretically make him controllable through the 2026 season. If the D-backs decide they need a roster spot and promote him to the MLB 60-day IL, that timeline would be subject to change.

Bukauskas, 22,was the 15th overall pick in the 2017 draft and has spent the 2019 season in Double-A. While his 5.25 ERA isn’t particularly impressive, he’s averaged 10.3 K/9 with a solid 47.1 percent ground-ball rate against older, more advanced competition at that level. Over at Fangraphs, Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen gave Bukauskas the potential for three 60-or-better offerings (on the 20-80 scale) but indicated in their preseason report that durability concerns — he has some back issues stemming from a previous car accident — and command could limit his workload and realization of his considerable ceiling.

Beer, beyond the superlative fun that can be had with his name, is the other big get for the Diamondbacks. Houston’s pick at No. 28 overall in 2018, Beer receives 65 to 70 grades on his raw power in scouting reports and makes more contact than one might expect from a prototypical slugger. He’s ripped through Double-A pitching in 2019, hitting at a .299/.407/.543 clip with 16 home runs and nine doubles. He’s also walked at an 8.6 percent clip against a 20.7 percent strikeout rate. Beer has bottom-of-the-scale speed but could be a bat-first option for Arizona at first base (or at designated hitter if it’s ever implemented in the National League — a possibility that continues to be a point of discussion).

Rojas is 25 years old and isn’t regarded as a top prospect, but he’s played all four infield slots and both outfield corners while tearing the cover off the ball in Double-A and Triple-A this season. He’s a potential near-term option for the D-backs who hit .322/.405/.561 in 195 Double-A plate appearances before graduating to Triple-A and raking at a comparable .310/.402/.586 clip. Rojas has a combined 20 home runs and 32 stolen bases this season. He may never have graced top prospect rankings in the past, but at a certain point that level of performance in the upper minors is difficult to overlook. At the very least, he’s an interesting fourth piece who could emerge as a utility option for the Snakes in the not-too-distant future.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter) that Greinke was going to Houston. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, ESPN’s Jeff Passan and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported various elements of the return (all Twitter links). Rosenthal and MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert added financial details (Twitter links).

Astros To Acquire Aaron Sanchez, Joe Biagini

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The Astros acquired right-handers Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini for outfielder Derek Fisher, according to reports from Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, Joel Sherman of the New York Post, and Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca.  The deal was a precursor to a trade deadline buzzer beater, as the Astros picked up Zack Greinke from the Diamondbacks as well.

Sanchez, 27, was drafted 34th overall by the Blue Jays in 2010 and was ranked among the best 35 prospects in baseball prior to his 2014 debut.  The Jays had Sanchez work out of the bullpen as a rookie, and he joined the rotation the following season.  He suffered a lat strain that season and returned as a reliever.  Sanchez  was again moved back to the rotation for the 2016 season, and he authored his finest campaign: a 3.00 ERA in 30 starts, good for a seventh place Cy Young finish.  He would never reach those heights again, dealing with a blisters and finger injuries in the ensuing years. His ERA sits at 6.07 in 23 starts this year.

Biagini, 29, was Toronto’s Rule 5 Draft selection in 2015 and enjoyed a tremendous rookie campaign in 2016, pitching to a 3.06 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.40 HR/9 and a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate in 67 2/3 innings. However, the Blue Jays’ subsequent attempt to move Biagini into the rotation in 2017 proved an ill-fated mistake, and his 2018 season spent mostly back in the bullpen didn’t yield quality results, either (6.00 ERA in 72 innings).

The 2019 season has seen Biagini bounce back to the tune of a 3.75 ERA over the life of 48 innings. He’s been homer-prone — like most of the league — but is sporting a career-high 9.0 K/9 against an even 3.0 BB/9 with a 45.3 percent ground-ball rate. There’s reason to be optimistic about further improvement, too; Biagini’s 13.7 percent swinging-strike rate is easily a career-best, as is his 36.1 percent opponents’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone. The spin rate on his breaking ball is elite as well, ranking 21st of 399 big league pitchers to throw the pitch at least 100 times dating back to 2016. That type of profile has yielded substantial benefits for the Astros in the past, of course, and they’ll look to elevate his profile with their data-heavy approach moving forward.

Once a top 100 prospect, Fisher hasn’t established himself in the majors since debuting in 2017. He likely wouldn’t have gotten a chance to do so in Houston, either, with the team loaded in the outfield now and with high-end prospect Kyle Tucker ahead of him in the organizational pecking order. Fisher has hit just .201/.282/.367 with 10 home runs in 312 MLB plate appearances, but he has been quite productive in Triple-A ball. The 25-year-old has slashed .289/.379/.520 with 50 HRs in 1,053 PA at the minors’ highest level.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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