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Yoenis Cespedes Fractures Ankle In Accident At His Ranch

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Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes suffered “ankle fractures” in an accident at his ranch in Port St. Lucie over the weekend, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen announced Monday afternoon. Additional information was not provided, and it’s not known how far back this will push what was already a murky timeline for Cespedes’ return. He’s being evaluated by medical professionals in New York City today. Tim Healey of Newsday adds that Cespedes sustained multiple fractures in his right ankle after stepping in a hole and experiencing a “violent” fall (Twitter link).

Cespedes underwent a pair of surgeries last year to address calcification in both heels, the effects of which were expected to sideline him until at least midway through the 2019 campaign. There was no defined timetable for his return to baseball activities, but it’s difficult to imagine him allowing this new injury to heal and still having enough time to build up to a return this season.

Now 33 years of age, Cespedes is in the third season of what has become an ill-fated four-year, $110MM deal with the Mets. The slugger was an instant hero in Queens upon being acquired minutes before the 2015 non-waiver trade deadline, as he led the Mets’ World Series charge with a .287/.337/.604 performance down the stretch. He returned on a three-year, $75MM contract that allowed him to opt out after the first year of said deal and, after posting a superlative .280/.354/.530 line and making the NL All-Star team, he did just that. Cespedes was viewed as a vital piece of the team’s offense at that point, and his four-year deal to return to the club was generally met with favorable reviews.

Hamstring troubles limited him to just 81 games in the first season of the new contract, though when healthy, his .292/.352/.540 slash was right in line with expectations. His offensive performance in 2018 was strong as well (.262/.325/.496), but he was limited to an even smaller set of 38 games, thanks to the aforementioned heel troubles that ultimately required surgery. Now, it appears possible, if not likely, that Cespedes won’t even match that total in 2019. He’s being paid $29MM both this season and next. Specifics of the policy aren’t known, but it’s been reported that Cespedes’ contract, as was the case with David Wright, is insured, so the team won’t be out that entire $29MM sum this season.

Orioles Select Josh Lucas

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The Orioles announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Josh Lucas from Triple-A Norfolk. He’ll join the active roster in place of right-hander Yefry Ramirez, who was optioned to Norfolk last night. To make room on the 40-man roster, Baltimore transferred righty Nate Karns to the 60-day injured list.

Lucas, 28, joined the Orioles on a minor league deal last November and has already seen a bit of time with the team in 2019; he tallied 4 1/3 innings with a 4-to-1 K/BB ratio and a pair of earned runs allowed back in April. Lucas’ experience at the MLB level beyond that quick cup of coffee is limited, though he’s appeared in each of the past two big league seasons: with the Cardinals in 2017 and the Athletics in 2018. He’s tallied just 21 2/3 frames in that time, working to a 5.40 ERA with a 21-to-13 K/BB ratio and a promising 54.8 percent ground-ball rate. He’s allowed four runs on nine hits and a couple of walks with five strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings for the Orioles’ Norfolk affiliate since being outrighted there.

Karns has been on the 10-day injured list due to a forearm strain since April 9, and there’s no chance of a return in the short term now that he’s been moved to the 60-day IL. Karns was sent out on a minor league rehab assignment about two weeks after initially hitting the IL, but he pitched just 1 1/3 innings over a pair of rehab appearances before being shut down once again. He hasn’t appeared in a minor league game since that time. Karns, signed to a one-year deal worth $800K this winter, was the only players the Orioles signed to a Major League deal in the offseason. He missed the 2018 season as he attempted to work his way back from thoracic outlet surgery, but it seems he’s yet to get up to full strength.

Mets Place Seth Lugo On Injured List, Select Hector Santiago

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The Mets announced that they’ve placed right-hander Seth Lugo on the 10-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder and selected the contract of southpaw Hector Santiago to take his spot on the active roster. They’ll need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move, although that could be accomplished by simply shifting Jed Lowrie from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list, as Lowrie has already missed nearly a full 60 days.

There’s no timetable for how long Lugo is expected to miss. The right-hander himself told reporters that the plan is to rest for a few days, adding that he’s hopeful this can be a relatively short absence (Twitter link, with video, via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). The discomfort in his shoulder began in his most recent outing and is only something he feels when pitching, per Lugo.

It’ll be another hit to the Mets’ pitching staff, as Lugo has arguably been their best setup reliever, pitching to a 3.12 ERA with 11.8 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 1.04 HR/9 and a 43.9 percent ground-ball rate in 26 innings so far in 2019. Only fellow righty Robert Gsellman, the team’s other top setup option, has logged more innings (27 1/3) out of the bullpen so far.

Meanwhile, free-agent signee Jeurys Familia, brought back to solidify the team’s late-inning mix, has struggled and already spent a bit of time on the IL himself. With Lugo sidelined for at least 10 days, Familia will have to take on a larger role. To his credit, however, Familia has tossed a pair of shutout innings since returning from that short stay on the injured list.

As for Santiago, he’ll join the club after logging a 3.35 ERA in 43 innings of Triple-A ball (seven starts, one relief outing). Solid as that number appears, Santiago is toting an unsightly 38-to-23 K/BB ratio in that time and has benefited from a .235 average on balls in play while pitching for Syracuse. Santiago struggled with similar control issues for the White Sox last year when he averaged 5.3 BB/9 over 102 innings, en route to a 4.41 ERA.

Although Santiago has been starting in the minors, he won’t get the ball for tonight’s game. That nod will go to Wilmer Font, the team announced an hour ago. The Mets had originally indicated that Drew Gagnon would start tonight, but they announced earlier this morning that Gagnon wouldn’t take the ball to open the game after all.

Braves, Mariners Swap Jesse Biddle, Anthony Swarzak

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1:13pm: The Mariners are sending around $2MM to the Braves in the trade to balance out the difference in salary, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Paired with the remaining money that would’ve been allocated for Biddle’s pre-arb salary, it seems likely that the trade is effectively cash-neutral.

12:51pm: The Mariners announced that they’ve acquired left-handed reliever Jesse Biddle and right-hander Arodys Vizcaino from the Braves in exchange for right-hander Anthony Swarzak and cash. Vizcaino’s inclusion in the trade would appear to be purely a financial component of the trade, as he’s a free agent at season’s end and is not expected to pitch again in 2019 after undergoing shoulder surgery. Vizcaino is on the 60-day injured list, so there are no additional 40-man moves required by the Mariners to accommodate the addition of Biddle, who will report to the team’s Major League bullpen.

Jesse Biddle | Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Biddle, 27, gave the Braves 63 2/3 innings of 3.11 ERA ball with 9.5 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 0.85 HR/9 and a 55.6 percent ground-ball rate in 2018, but virtually nothing has gone right for the southpaw so far in 2019. Through 15 appearances and a span of 11 2/3 frames, Biddle has served up seven earned runs (and another four unearned runs) on 18 hits and 10 walks with 11 strikeouts. His velocity has remained strong, as Biddle has averaged 94.1 mph on his fastball so far in 2019.

Because he was out-of-options and playing on a win-now club, Biddle’s fate looked largely sealed as this year’s control struggles continued from April into May. He was designated for assignment by the Braves last week. The Mariners will hope that they’re able to turn him around and get him back to his 2018 form. If they can manage to do so, they’ll control Biddle through the 2023 season. However, he’ll have to sort things out at the big league level, as his lack of minor league options means he can’t be sent down without first being passed through waivers.

For the Braves, they’d already decided to move on from Biddle and stood to watch Vizcaino leave as a free agent at the end of the year, so they’re not really giving up anything to take a cheap look at Swarzak. The 33-year-old Swarzak has struggled to a 5.27 ERA and eight walks (one intentional) in 13 2/3 innings with the Mariners, but he’s also racked up 17 strikeouts. Injuries have hampered him considerably since signing a two-year, $14MM contract with the Mets prior to the 2018 season, as he’s dealt with an oblique strain and a pair of shoulder-related injuries.

Anthony Swarzak | Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

In his last full, healthy season in 2017, however, Swarzak turned in 77 1/3 innings with a 2.33 ERA, 10.6 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 0.70 HR/9 and a 43.9 percent grounder rate between the White Sox and Brewers. That success is recent enough to give the Braves something to dream on as they scour what is likely an extremely thin trade market for bullpen help at this juncture of the season. Atlanta will surely be active in pursuing additional pieces over the next couple of months, but few teams are willing to sell off quality arms in mid-May — and those that are willing to do so generally place lofty asking prices on said arms given the scarce supply this time of year.

Swarzak will head to Atlanta without any sort of guarantee that he’ll be a long-term piece for the remainder of the season. The fact that the Braves unloaded the remaining $3.43MM on Vizcaino’s deal and acquired cash from the Mariners makes it likely that Seattle sent enough money to make this a cash-neutral swap. Swarzak is being paid an $8.5MM salary in 2019 and has about $6.08MM of that sum still to be paid out.

Rays, Giants Complete Erik Kratz Trade

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The Rays have traded right-hander Matt Seelinger to the Giants as the player to be named later in last week’s Erik Kratz trade, tweets Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.

Seelinger, 24, was the Pirates’ 28th-round pick back in the 2017 draft, but he landed with the Rays as part of last summer’s trade that sent Adeiny Hechavarria from Tampa Bay to Pittsburgh. This season, Seelinger opened the 2019 campaign at Class-A Advanced Charlotte, where he’s allowed 10 runs in nine innings of work.

Inauspicious start to the current campaign aside, Seelinger enjoyed a very strong year in 2018 when he posted a combined 2.80 ERA with 13.4 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 1.4 HR/9 and a 33 percent ground-ball rate in 45 innings of relief. He’s been a pure reliever who’s typically been older than the average competition he’s faced, but he does have 111 career strikeouts against 29 walks in 84 innings as a professional. Given that the trade in question sent a veteran backup catcher who’d already been designated for assignment to Tampa Bay, a relief prospect with a history of missing some bats and decent results against younger competition is a fairly reasonable return.

Kratz has seen just four plate appearances since being acquired by the Rays, but he should be in line for a fair bit of playing time with each of Mike Zunino, Michael Perez and Anthony Bemboom on the injured list. For now, Kratz will team with fellow trade acquisition Travis d’Arnaud to handle the bulk of the Rays’ catching duties.

Cardinals Release Luke Gregerson

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The Cardinals announced Monday that they’ve requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Luke Gregerson. He’ll become a free agent once he (presumably) clears waivers in 48 hours. Gregerson was previously designated for assignment Friday evening.

Gregerson, 35, signed a two-year, $11MM contract with the Cardinals in a 2017-18 offseason during which the bullpen was a major focus. Gregerson joined Greg Holland and Dominic Leone as fresh faces brought into the St. Louis relief corps that winter, but none of the three proved to be a viable contributor for the Cards.

Gregerson is being paid $5MM in 2019 and is still owed about $3.575MM of that sum plus a $1MM buyout on an option for the 2020 season. Given that salary and his struggles since signing in St. Louis, he’ll almost certainly go unclaimed and then become a free agent who can sign with any club for the prorated league minimum through season’s end. The Cardinals would then see that sum subtracted from their own obligation to Gregerson through season’s end.

A hamstring strain and a shoulder impingement limited Gregerson to just 12 2/3 innings in 2018, and those shoulder troubles lingered into the 2019 campaign. He missed the first month-plus of the season due to that shoulder, and the effects may well have impacted him upon his return. While he’s never been a hard thrower, Gregerson found success with the Padres and Astros with a fastball that averaged around 89.5 mph; however, his heater averaged just 87.8 mph in 2018 and 86.7 mph in this season’s even more limited sample.

Gregerson was designated for assignment just 13 days after being activated from the injured list. In all, Gregerson will throw only 18 1/3 innings at the MLB level as a Cardinal. In that time, he posted a 7.36 ERA with a 14-to-7 K/BB ratio and 25 hits allowed (including a pair of homers). That said, he has a solid track record as a setup man and occasional closer. In 599 career innings prior to signing with the Cardinals, Gregerson owned a 3.02 ERA with 9.1 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 0.8 HR/9 and a 51 percent ground-ball rate.

Jose Iglesias Hires MVP Sports Group

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Reds infielder Jose Iglesias has hired MVP Sports Group to represent him moving forward, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). He’d been represented by Magnus Sports since 2017 and was with the Boras Corporation prior to that.

Iglesias, 29, settled for a minor league contract this winter that already looks to have been a substantial bargain for Cincinnati. Through 153 plate appearances, Iglesias is hitting .295/.327/.425 with three homers, eight doubles, a triple and a stolen base. His glovework at shortstop has aligned with his terrific reputation, as Defensive Runs Saved already pegs him at +8 and he’s carrying a +2.5 Ultimate Zone Rating. As always, he’s proved to be a tough strikeout, punching out in only 13.7 percent of his plate appearances.

Iglesias will have another crack at the open market this coming offseason, assuming he doesn’t sign a longer-term pact with the Reds. Given his steady defense at shortstop, his age (29) and a respectable season at the plate in 2018 (.269/.310/.389), it was a surprise to see Iglesias take a minor league deal on a team that lacked a clear path to regular at-bats (although Scooter Gennett’s injury ultimately created that path). He’ll hope for a better outcome the next time around, and he’s off to a good start at ensuring that happens with his play so far.

The change in representation will be noted in MLBTR’s Agency Database. If you see any errors or omissions within the database, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Red Sox Activate David Price From Injured List

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The Red Sox announced that they’ve reinstated left-hander David Price from the 10-day injured list. He’ll start this afternoon’s game against the Blue Jays. Boston also reinstated catcher Sandy Leon from paternity leave and, in a pair of corresponding moves, optioned catcher Oscar Hernandez and righty Josh Smith to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Price’s stay on the injured list due to elbow tendinitis proved to only be a couple of weeks long. His return is nevertheless notable, as Boston has had to patch together its rotation with both Price and Nathan Eovaldi on the shelf due to injury. In recent weeks, the Sox have turned to Smith and fellow righty Hector Velazquez to start games (without receiving much in the way of quality results).

Price will join Chris Sale, Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez in the top four spots of the rotation, though the fifth spot will remain somewhat of a question mark until Eovaldi returns from an April 21 elbow procedure that was expected to sideline him for up to six weeks. In 36 innings so far in 2019, Price has a 3.75 ERA with a 42-to-10 K/BB ratio. Although his velocity isn’t quite what it once was, averaging 92.3 mph, Price’s 13.6 percent swinging-strike rate marks a four-percent increase over his 2018 level and would represent a career-high if he can sustain it.

Athletics Sign Cameron Rupp To Minor League Deal

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The Athletics have inked Cameron Rupp to a minor league deal, as was first noted on MLB.com’s transactions page. It doesn’t appear that there was a formal announcement from the organization, but Rupp has already logged a pair of games with Triple-A Las Vegas. He was released from a minor league pact with the Tigers last week.

Rupp, 30, hit .254/.329/.366 in 79 plate appearances with Detroit’s Triple-A affiliate but is best known for a five-season stretch with the Phillies from 2013-17. Rupp hit a combined .234/.298/.407 with 39 home runs, 57 doubles and a pair of triples through 1127 plate appearances in his time with the Phils, serving as their primary backstop for the final two seasons of his tenure there.

While Rupp has some pop in his bat, as evidenced by a career .173 ISO (slugging minus batting average), he’s been too strikeout prone at the dish (28.7 percent). Behind the plate, he’s thwarted 31 percent of stolen-base attempts against him in his career, which is slightly above the league average, while drawing questionable framing marks — particularly in 2017.

The Athletics have received perhaps surprising production from 31-year-old Josh Phegley behind the plate this season (.282/.313/.491), which has led to Phegley receiving considerably more playing time than veteran Nick Hundley. The 35-year-old Hundley inked a minor league contract this winter and broke camp with the A’s this season, but he’s hitting just .200/.228/.327 through his first 57 plate appearances.

The signing of Rupp comes not long after the A’s received some unwelcome news on top catching prospect Sean Murphy, who suffered a torn meniscus that required surgical repair (as initially reported by The Atheltic’s Melissa Lockard, on Twitter). That procedure should sideline Murphy into mid-June, if not longer, so Rupp will team up with Beau Taylor to hand catching duty in Vegas for the time being. Offseason signee Chris Herrmann is also recovering from knee surgery — his coming back in March — thus further depleting the organization’s depth at catcher.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/17/19

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

  • Southpaw Jerry Blevins was outrighted by the Braves, Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Blevins had been designated for assignment recently; whether he’ll accept the assignment isn’t yet clear, but he has the right to decline. The veteran reliever only saw six appearances with the Atlanta organization and they didn’t go very well. He suffered a big drop-off in strikeouts last season. That being said, Blevins has compiled nearly five hundred innings of MLB pitching with a 3.57 ERA and 9.2 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9; it certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see him back up to the majors this year.
  • The Red Sox signed right-hander Dylan Thompson to a minor league contract, per an announcement from the independent American Association (Twitter link). Thompson had been slated to open the season with the AA’s Winnipeg Goldeyes before his contract was purchased by the Red Sox. A former Rockies farmhand, Thompson spent the past three seasons pitching for the AA’s Sioux Falls Canaries — primarily as a reliever in 2017 but exclusively as a starter in 2018. While his overall numbers don’t immediately jump out, the right-hander’s sinker movement is eye-opening, to say the least (as depicted in GIF form by Rob Friedman, on Twitter). Whether Thompson can parlay that wiffle-esque movement into success in affiliated ball remains to be seen, but he’ll make for an interesting addition to the lower levels of Boston’s system. He’s opened the year with Class-A Advanced Salem and allowed a pair of runs on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts in three innings.
  • Left-hander Tyler Lyons accepted his outright assignment after clearing waivers this week, per an announcement from the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. Lyons, 31, was dominant out of the Cardinals’ bullpen as recently as 2017 — 2.83 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.50 HR/9 in 54 innings — but has struggled since that excellent showing. The southpaw yielded 16 runs in 16 2/3 innings last season with St. Louis and was rocked for five runs in four innings with the Pirates earlier this season. He had the option of rejecting his assignment in favor of free agency but will remain in the Pittsburgh organization as he works toward another opportunity later in the year.

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