Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors

Rangers Acquire Nate Jones

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2019 at 10:48am CDT

The Rangers announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Nate Jones, international bonus allotments and cash from the White Sox in exchange for minor league right-handers Joe Jarneski and Ray Castro.

It’s an unexpected swap, as Jones landed on the 60-day IL earlier this summer after undergoing right forearm surgery. However, Texas will have a $3.75MM option on Jones for the 2020 season and a $4.25MM option on him for the 2021 campaign. Both of those come with a $1.25MM buyout, so the option on Jones this winter is effectively a net $2.5MM decision.

For Jones, that’s an eminently affordable price. The 33-year-old could very well be regarded as one of the game’s better relievers … if he were ever able to stay on the field. Injuries have decimated the right-hander, though, as evidenced by the fact that he’s topped 30 innings just once dating back to the 2015 season. Lack of durability notwithstanding, Jones has also pitched to a 2.67 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9 over his past 141 2/3 big league frames. If — and it’s a substantial “if” — he can remain healthy, he’d be a boon to the Texas relief corps.

With Texas eyeing a competitive 2020 campaign, it’s not a shock to see them proactively adding some potential contributors. At the same time, if Jones’ recovery isn’t progressing as hoped, the Rangers can pivot and buy out his option, knowing that they still picked up some value with the international funds included by the South Siders.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that Texas will pick up $1MM in international allotments, which is a fairly notable sum to change hands on the trade market. International allotments must be traded in blocks of $250K, but it’s more common for clubs to exchange $250-500K than to make seven-figure swaps. That newly acquired pool space will allow the club to finalize its signing of top international prospect Bayron Lora, tweets T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com; Lora ranked as the market’s No. 3 prospect this signing period, per MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez.

As for the ChiSox, they’ll bid adieu to one of the organization’s longest-tenured players. While they’re including some cash in the deal, Grant implies that the buyout on the option would be the Rangers’ responsibility, so the Sox are still saving a bit of money. They’re also adding a pair of young righties who’ve spent the season pitching in Rookie ball.

Jarneski, 19, was the Rangers’ 12th-round pick in 2017 and has returned to the field in 2019 after missing the ’18 season due to injury. He’s made 10 appearances and posted a 1.62 ERA with a 16-to-11 K/BB ratio in 16 2/3 innings in the Arizona League. Castro, 22, is in his second season with the Dominican Summer League, having pitched to a 2.02 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 35 1/3 innings. He’s old for the level at which he’s currently pitching, though. Neither is considered to be among the Rangers’ best farmhands.

Braves Acquire Chris Martin

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 8:16pm CDT

The Braves added a new arm to their late-inning relief mix in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline, announcing the acquisition of right-hander Chris Martin from the Rangers on Tuesday evening. Atlanta will send left-hander Kolby Allard to Texas in return. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the trade shortly before the teams announced the swap (Twitter link).

Martin, 33, bounced around the league as a minor league journeyman for much of the decade before reinventing himself in a stint with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters. The towering, 6’8″ righty emerged as one of the best relievers in Japan and parlayed that success into an affordable two-year pact with the Rangers prior to the 2018 season.

After a so-so first season in Arlington, Martin has turned in a very strong 3.08 ERA with an eye-popping 43-to-4 K/BB ratio in 38 innings of work. That fourth walk issued by Martin came in his most recent appearance — his most recent one had come nearly three months prior.

While Martin will only finish the season with two-plus year of MLB service time, he’s nevertheless a pure rental for Atlanta. The two-year, $4MM contract Martin signed upon returning to MLB stipulated that he can become a free agent at the end of the deal, so the Braves are only acquiring him for the current stretch run (barring some type of extension).

Martin will join, if not anchor a late-inning mix that currently looks nothing like the Atlanta front office expected heading into the season. Luke Jackson has emerged as the club’s primary closer, while former starter Sean Newcomb has become one of manager Brian Snitker’s more reliable setup men. Atlanta already added Anthony Swarzak in a minor trade that has paid big dividends earlier this season, and Josh Tomlin is still on board as a long reliever after only joining the organization late in Spring Training.

Dealing Allard will no doubt come as a shock to many Braves fans as the southpaw was Atlanta’s first-round pick (14th overall) back in 2015 and has ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects in three different offseasons. Allard had back surgery in 2015 but has been relatively healthy since that time. However, his prospect star has dimmed in recent years.

Scouting reports have long touted Allard’s fastball control, which allows a fastball with rather pedestrian velocity to play up a bit. But he’s regarded more as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter at this point than the midrotation arm Atlanta may have once hoped. Baseball America and Fangraphs both dropped Allard to 12th among Braves minor leaguers on their summer re-rankings of the club’s farm system. In 110 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2019 — his second full season at that level — Allard has pitched to a 4.17 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9 and a 50 percent grounder rate.

It’s nevertheless a strong return for the Rangers to receive in exchange for two months of a rental reliever. The Texas farm system has been starved for upper-level pitching, and even if Allard indeed tops out as a fourth or fifth starter, that’s precisely the top of serviceable asset the Rangers haven’t been able to squeeze out of their own farm system in recent years. The lack of such assets is what prompted Texas to (unsuccessfully) attempt to patch together the back of its rotation with the combination of Shelby Miller, Drew Smyly and Edinson Volquez this winter. Allard will give the team a potential immediate rotation candidate in the event of a Mike Minor trade or another injury among current starters. He may only have been considered to be the Braves sixth- or seventh-best pitching prospect but will quickly become one of Texas’ top overall farmhands.

Cardinals Exploring Trade Options For Jedd Gyorko

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 8:00pm CDT

The Cardinals are “exploring trade options” involving infielder Jedd Gyorko now that the 30-year-old is nearly ready to return from the injured list, tweets Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis moved Gyorko to the 60-day injured list today, but he’s already spent 52 days on the IL, so he’d be able to return a week after the trade deadline.

Gyorko, 30, has appeared in only 38 games for the Cardinals and has taken just 62 plate appearances. Gyorko opened the season on the IL due to a minor calf strain but has been out since early June due to a low back strain that Goold suggests is now fully healed. The acquisition of Paul Goldschmidt pushed Matt Carpenter to third base, and Gyorko wasn’t starting over either of Paul DeJong or Kolten Wong when healthy, either. In Gyorko’s current IL absence, both Yairo Munoz and Tommy Edman have emerged in the Majors, though neither has performed at the same levels a healthy Gyorko has reached in recent seasons.

Clubs interested in Gyorko will surely be intrigued by his versatility and offensive track record. He’s appeared at all four infield positions as a big leaguer, including 2000-plus innings at second base and third base, nearly 500 innings at shortstop and more than a hundred innings at first base. Gyorko has generally received plus ratings at third and passable marks at second base, though he’s not considered a quality defender at shortstop.

That said, he’s been a highly productive bat throughout his time with the Cardinals, hitting at a .256/.328/.456 clip with 63 home runs, 49 doubles and four triples in 1383 plate appearances dating back to 2016. Gyorko is earning $9MM this season and is still owed $3MM of that sum plus a $1MM buyout on a $13MM club option for the 2020 season.

Trevor Bauer Drawing Increased Interest; Reds Have Inquired

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 6:17pm CDT

There’s been an “uptick” in the level of trade interest in Indians righty Trevor Bauer today, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Rosenthal adds that the Indians are becoming increasingly tempted to make a deal. Joel Sherman of the New York Post, meanwhile, tweets that several executives throughout the league now believe the Indians are more likely to trade Bauer than to keep him.

More interestingly, Rosenthal tweets that the Reds and Indians have had discussions about a potential Bauer swap. Outfield prospect Taylor Trammell has been a part of those topics, Rosenthal notes, although Trammell is in the midst of a down season in Double-A and doesn’t exactly fit the bill of a big-league-ready asset the Reds can plug directly onto the 25-man roster. Cleveland is marketing Bauer more due to looming payroll concerns than because the organization is waving a white flag on the current season, and the common line of thinking has been that they’d need an immediate roster supplement in order to consider parting with Bauer.

Cincinnati’s interest, too, suggests that the club isn’t giving up on its push to end its ongoing rebuild. The Reds added Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark, Alex Wood and Yasiel Puig over the winter in an effort to contend in the NL Central. Those efforts didn’t put the club in contention for a division title, but Gray looks reborn as a quality starter and was extended for three more years. While Roark and Wood are slated to hit free agency (as is Puig), Bauer would give the Reds another option for the 2020 rotation. The trio of Bauer, Gray and Luis Castillo would become on of the more formidable top three in the game and would position Cincinnati well for a 2020 push before even reaching the offseason.

Unsurprisingly, it seems that the recent outburst in which Bauer hurled a ball over the center field fence out of being frustration upon being lifted from a start hasn’t deterred clubs from expressing interest. That incident resulted in a fine for Bauer but not a suspension, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, but there won’t be any additional action from the league. Indians skipper Terry Francona spoke of potentially levying some additional team-issued discipline for Bauer (link via Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com), but that would of course only come into play if Bauer remains with Cleveland beyond tomorrow afternoon’s deadline.

Interest in Bauer has been fairly widespread, with the Padres, Yankees and Astros all linked to the right-hander (in addition to the aforementioned Reds). Houston has had “recent” talks about Bauer, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, though it’s not clear whether that’s indicative of talks earlier today or simply confirmation of the prior talks that have been reported upon in recent weeks.

Angels Designate Adam McCreery For Assignment

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 5:34pm CDT

The Angels announced that they’ve designated left-hander Adam McCreery for assignment in order to open a roster spot for righty JC Ramirez, who has been activated from the 60-day injure list after missing more than a year due to Tommy John surgery.

McCreery, 26, didn’t pitch for the Angels at the MLB level after the Halos acquired him from the Dodgers in exchange for cash earlier this month. In fact, he made only two appearances with the Angels’ Triple-A club prior to today’s announcement, allowing a run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. McCreery has a spotty track record in the upper minors thanks to control issues, but he’s also averaged nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched throughout his minor league career.

Ramirez, 31 next month, came out of nowhere to give the Angels 24 starts and 147 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball after bouncing all over the league prior to landing in Anaheim. He’ll be utilized out of the bullpen in his return to the MLB roster, but he’s eligible for arbitration in the winter and will likely reemerge as a rotation candidate for the Angels in 2019.

Trade Interest In Justin Smoak Escalating

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 5:25pm CDT

Trade interest in Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak is “picking up,” tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman connected the Indians to Smoak earlier today, and Nicholson-Smith adds the Rays as a team of interest as well. Several contenders have expressed interest in Smoak, per Nicholson-Smith. Notably, he’s not in the lineup tonight for the Blue Jays.

Toronto has been one of the few clear sellers on the summer market, having already departed with Marcus Stroman and David Phelps in the past 48 hours. The 32-year-old Smoak, a free agent following the 2019 season, is a logical player to deal away, too, even if the return on him doesn’t prove overwhelming. Smoak won’t be a candidate to receive a qualifying offer, so there’s added incentive to take the most appealing option presented between now and tomorrow afternoon’s trade deadline.

The switch-hitting Smoak’s batting average is down this season, but he’s walking at a career-best 16.7 percent clip and once again demonstrating above-average power. In 359 plate appearances, he’s hit .215/.357/.427 — good for a 110 OPS+ and a 108 wRC+ (which is to say he’s been about eight to ten percent better than league average from an offensive standpoint, even after accounting for his hitter-friendly home park). Smoak’s 19.8 percent strikeout rate is actually the lowest of his career, and he’s not popping up at an exorbitant level either. Rather, the key to his diminished average could be a fluky .220 average on balls in play (which checks in well south of his career .267 level).

Smoak is earning a reasonable $8MM salary in 2019 with about $2.71MM of that sum yet to be paid out between now and season’s end. With the Jays dealing away short-term assets, it seems likely that Smoak will be wearing a new uniform this time tomorrow.

Phillies Designate Mitch Walding For Assignment

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 4:47pm CDT

The Phillies announced Tuesday that they’ve designated infielder Mitch Walding for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to right-hander Blake Parker, whose previously reported signing has now been made official.

Walding, 26, was hitless in two plate appearances with the Phils and has struggled considerably with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in 2019. Through 346 plate appearances there, he’s batted .204/.350/.366 with a sky-high 38 percent strikeout rate. Strikeouts were an issue for Walding last season as well, but not to this extent. The first baseman/third baseman hit .265/.390/.474 with the IronPigs a year ago and collected his first MLB hit when he reached the Majors (though he received just 19 plate appearances). Walding has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season.

Noah Syndergaard Rumors: Tuesday

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 4:41pm CDT

The Mets have already added one of the most coveted starters on the trade market, but they’re poised to perhaps trade away one or two more. New York continues to listen to offers on righty Noah Syndergaard, who is still listed as the starter for tonight’s game. We’ll track today’s rumblings on him here and update throughout the evening…

The Padres made what they considered a fair offer on Syndergaard — one that involved Major League players — but still aren’t close to coming to terms with the Mets, reports SNY’s Andy Martino (via Twitter). The Padres are widely believed to be willing to deal from their plethora of outfielders — Manuel Margot, Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes are among the available names — and also possess one of baseball’s premier farm systems. San Diego’s interest in Syndergaard dates back to the offseason, and they’re still hoping to add a potential frontline starter to help them in 2020 beyond at this year’s deadline. While they’ve explored innumerable trade scenarios around the league, the Padres’ “most earnest” pursuit has been their ongoing effort to obtain Syndergaard, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Similarly, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Mets have been seeking current MLB talent in all of their Syndergaard talks — even from teams with highly regarded minor league systems. That meshes with last night’s report (from LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune) that the Mets had asked the Twins for center fielder Byron Buxton as part of the return for Syndergaard — an ask that Minnesota was rather obvious unwilling to oblige. (Buxton is hitting .259/.313/.508, good for a 108 wRC+, and is arguably baseball’s best outfield defender.)
“[W]hat they were asking it is not even worth a second conversation,” one executive tells Joel Sherman of the New York Post with regard to Syndergaard discussions with the Mets. “I’m not even sure it was worth the first. … [T]he Mets are not in the mode of meeting you in the middle of your offer and their ask, it is their ask or nothing.” As Sherman more broadly explores, Mets brass has no inclination to move toward anything but a win-now approach in 2020. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen was the only one of the dozen GM candidates for the Mets who did not recommend some level of rebuild to ownership, Sherman writes, and both he and the Wilpon family remain committed to constructing a roster they believe can compete in 2020. That seems to only further underline that the Mets would want multiple MLB or MLB-ready assets to part with Syndergaard.

Indians To Activate Danny Salazar

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 3:41pm CDT

The Indians will activate right-hander Danny Salazar from the 60-day injured list prior to Thursday’s contest, manager Terry Francona announced to reporters (Twitter link via Mandy Bell of MLB.com). Salazar, who is currently stretched out to about 70 pitches, will start that game and be followed by righty Adam Plutko if necessary. Cleveland will need to make a 40-man roster move to open a spot for Salazar.

Thursday will mark the first time Salazar has set foot on a big league mound in nearly two years. The talent possessed by the oft-injured righty is obvious, but shoulder troubles that ultimately necessitated surgery have put his career on hold for nearly 24 months. Salazar posted mixed results in that 2017 season, logging a pedestrian 4.28 ERA but averaging 12.7 K/9 in that 2017 season. From 2015-16, he notched a 3.63 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 322 1/3 innings.

Now 29 years old, Salazar returns to the Cleveland pitching staff as an x-factor. He long stood out as a potential top-of-the-rotation arm with the Indians, as many believed him just an adjustment or two away from elevating his performance to another tier. At the same time, given that he’s dealt with shoulder and elbow troubles dating back to the 2016 season, it’d be unrealistic to expect that Salazar simply bounces right back to form and locks down a spot in the Cleveland rotation. While such an outcome is a best-case scenario, banking on him doing so is rather ambitious after such a lengthy injury absence. There’s been prior talk of using Salazar in the bullpen as well, and that could eventually emerge as an option the organization chooses to explore.

The Indians have trimmed the Twins’ lead in the division back to two games, though Cleveland faces an imposing stretch on the schedule beginning tonight. They’re set to begin a three-game set against the Astros before moving onto series against the Angels, Rangers, Twins, Red Sox and Yankees in succession.

Salazar’s return comes at a pivotal time for the Indians, as they’ve reportedly been mulling trade offers for Trevor Bauer even as they climb back into the AL Central race. As the Indians determine precisely which course to chart with regard to Bauer, they’ll also be closely monitoring the status of two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber. Out for two-plus months due to a forearm fracture, Kluber is set to throw a simulated game this weekend (Twitter link via Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon-Journal). He could then progress to pitching in an actual game setting, though that next step will be dependent on how he feels following this weekend’s session.

Phillies To Sign Blake Parker

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2019 at 2:46pm CDT

The Phillies have agreed to terms on a Major League contract with right-handed reliever Blake Parker, Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb of The Athletic report (via Twitter). The 34-year-old Parker was recently designated for assignment by the Twins and ultimately opted for free agency over an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester.

Parker rejecting his outright assignment with the Twins meant walking away from the remainder of his $1.8MM salary, but he’ll now land with the Phils on a new big league pact and immediately jump back onto a roster that is vying for a postseason berth. He’ll also be reunited with righty Mike Morin, whom the Twins designated for assignment and traded to the Phillies earlier this month.

Parker logged a 4.21 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with the Twins but struggled more than that number would indicate. His velocity dipped to its lowest mark since 2014 (91.5 mph average fastball), and he averaged four walks per nine innings pitched — the worst mark of his career excluding a small 17-inning sample in 2016. Parker’s overall strikeout rate, swinging-strike rate and first-pitch strike rate were all down from his 2017 peak with the Halos, and he gave up far too much hard contact; Statcast put his 42.9 percent opponents’ hard-hit rate in just the 10th percentile among MLB pitchers and felt that he was actually fortunate to escape with a .246/.331/.442 opponents’ batting line (based on the quality of the contact he allowed).

All that said, Parker has a decent big league track record and plenty of high-leverage experience, making him a logical fit for a Phillies bullpen that has been torn asunder by injuries in 2019. In his last 170 MLB innings, Parker has a 3.18 ERA with 10.1 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, 1.38 HR/9 and a 40.7 percent ground-ball rate. Much of that production came during the aforementioned career year in 2017, but there’s minimal downside to the Phillies taking an inexpensive look at Parker as a means of helping to patch a beleaguered relief corps.

Parker has fewer than five years of Major League service but will soon cross that threshold. As such, if he acquits himself well in his new environment, he can be controlled through the 2020 season via arbitration.

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