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David Fletcher To Miss “A Couple Months” Due To Surgery

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A key member of the Angels’ middle infield will likely be out until July, as David Fletcher underwent surgery on both adductor muscles.  In this article from Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com, Angels head trainer Mike Frostad explained the procedure, which also repaired Fletcher’s abdominal muscles.  “We’re hoping he’ll be back within a couple months,” noted Frostad.  Fletcher initially tried cortisone shots, but they did not suffice.

At the moment, the Angels sit atop the AL West, one game ahead of the Astros.  The club is riding high this morning after Reid Detmers shocked the world with the 12th no-hitter in franchise history, and Anthony Rendon provided entertainment by turning around left-handed to swat a home run off Brett Phillips.

Thus far, the Angels have mainly featured Andrew Velazquez at shortstop and Tyler Wade at second base, with the second base mix also including Jack Mayfield and Matt Duffy.  As a November waiver claim who wasn’t able to crack the Angels’ Opening Day roster, the 27-year-old Velazquez is an unlikely candidate to start at shortstop for a playoff team.  Wade, picked up in a minor trade that same month, has also generally been considered a bench player.  Fletcher was something of a question mark in his own right before the surgery, as he’s posted a 69 wRC+ in 706 plate appearances dating back to 2021.  Naturally, the Halos may eventually turn to the trade market this summer for reinforcements.

With the Red Sox disappointing in the early going and holding playoff odds below 23%, the availability of shortstop Xander Bogaerts could become a key summer storyline.  Bogaerts is widely expected to exercise his opt-out clause after the season, and the Sox made only a token attempt to extend him.  Other shortstops who might be available include Kyle Farmer, Elvis Andrus, Paul DeJong, Alcides Escobar, Didi Gregorius, and Kevin Newman.  The Braves’ Dansby Swanson is in his contract year, but that club still has playoff odds over 70% according to FanGraphs.  At second base, the Angels could consider Cesar Hernandez, Jonathan Schoop, Jean Segura, Adam Frazier, Rougned Odor, and Tony Kemp.

Mets Release Robinson Cano

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May 8: As expected, Cano has now been released, per Tim Healey of Newsday.

May 2: The Mets designated second baseman Robinson Cano for assignment, according to an announcement from the team.  The club also optioned Yoan Lopez to Triple-A to get down to 26 players on the active roster.

The Mets owe Cano about $37.6MM through 2023, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  The Mets have set Cano’s eventual release in motion, so they’ll be eating the money owed to him.

Cano, 39, kicked off his career with nine seasons for the Yankees that included five All-Star appearances and MVP votes in six campaigns.  In a deal brokered by agent Brodie Van Wagenen with involvement from newly-certified agent Jay-Z, Cano left the Yankees for a landmark ten-year, $240MM free agent contract with the Mariners.  After a strong start to his Seattle career, things started going south for Cano in May of 2018 with an 80-game PED suspension.

Months later, Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto, who hadn’t been in the organization when Cano was signed, set to work trading him.  In December 2018, Dipoto sent Cano, reliever Edwin Diaz, and $20MM to the Mets for outfielder Jay Bruce, right-hander Anthony Swarzak, right-hander Gerson Bautista and prospects Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn.  At the time, the Mets’ new GM was none other than Van Wagenen.  The trade, which was more about Diaz than Cano for the Mets, came at the high cost of Kelenic, who went on to become one of the game’s top prospects.  For more on this disastrous trade, check out Jeff Todd’s superb YouTube video.

Though Cano was able to muster up a strong but brief 2020 season for the Mets, the hits kept coming with a 162-game PED suspension in November 2020 – not long after Steve Cohen bought the team and fired Van Wagenen.  With Cohen, Mets president Sandy Alderson, GM Billy Eppler, and manager Buck Showalter having no connection to the Cano deal, the clock was ticking if he didn’t produce this year after returning from his second suspension.

With a .195/.233/.268 line in 43 plate appearances, Cano struggled in his first big league action in more than 18 months.  As Tim Healey of Newsday and other Mets reporters have noted, even with Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis, and Luis Guillorme having minor league options, the correct baseball decision was to move on from Cano.  At 16-7, the Mets own the best record in the National League and chose not to let Cano’s contract dictate their roster.  Cano, who will eventually be released, will have the rest of his contract paid by the Mets less the prorated portion of the $700K league minimum if he hooks on elsewhere.

Cano indeed plans to continue searching for opportunities. Van Wagenen, who has again assumed a role in Cano’s representation upon joining Roc Nation Sports after being fired by the Mets, tells Sherman the 39-year-old “absolutely still wants to play. Given the right situation, he can still make a meaningful contribution for a team.”

It remains to be seen whether there’ll be a ton of interest in Cano’s services. In addition to the lost 2021 season and rough bottom-line numbers this year, he’s seen his contact rate plummet to a career-worst 73% in this season’s early going. He has chased nearly half the pitches he’s been thrown outside the strike zone, and he’s probably limited defensively to a rotation between second base, first base and designated hitter. It’s not the easiest profile for a team to roster unless they’re confident Cano can match or improve upon the .275/.321/.463 line he managed between 2019-20 as he gets further from his second suspension.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

18 Potential Starting Pitcher Trade Targets This Summer

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Less than three months remain until the August 2nd MLB trade deadline, and starting pitching is always a hot commodity.  Here’s a look at 18 starters who might be available in the coming months.

Top of the rotation-ish

  • Frankie Montas, Athletics: Under team control through 2023, Montas continues to be an obvious trade candidate who can make a major impact on a contending team.  He’s picked up right where he left off last year, with a 3.44 ERA and the skills to match.  Having moved Sean Manaea and Chris Bassitt after the lockout ended, the A’s are now primed to spark a bidding war for Montas.
  • Luis Castillo, Reds: Castillo has shown the ability to pitch near the top of a rotation, even though he struggled in his first ten starts of 2021.  Like Montas, Castillo is under team control through ’23.  Castillo opened the season on the IL due to a shoulder injury, but he’s penciled in for his debut Monday.  If he remains healthy, Castillo should be able to make around 15 starts prior to the trade deadline, so suitors will have plenty of information.  The Reds may be able to extract a premium prospect for Castillo.
  • Marcus Stroman, Cubs: Stroman may not be thought of as a true ace, but a 3.02 ERA in 33 starts last year is nothing to sniff at.  Though Stroman’s ERA sits at 5.13 through five starts, his skills seem unchanged.  I generally expect the Cubs to keep Stroman, as trading a player this early into a trumpeted three-year deal is a bad look.  Plus, Stroman is on a three-year, $71MM contract with an opt-out after ’23, which may not hold appeal to certain clubs.
  • Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, Padres: Once Snell returns from a groin strain IL stint this month, the Padres will simply have too many starting pitchers if everyone else remains healthy.  Trading Darvish or Snell would alleviate that situation and give them financial flexibility to improve elsewhere.  The Padres may not wait until the trade deadline to address the logjam.  While Darvish and Snell had disappointing seasons in 2021, both remain capable of pitching near the top of a rotation.  With more than $40MM owed and a 12-team no-trade clause, Darvish could be tricky to move.

Middle and back of the rotation

  • Tyler Mahle, Reds: Mahle pitched to a 3.72 ERA with a 28.1 K% from 2020-21, but he owns a 7.01 ERA through his first six starts this year.  Mahle, who seems to have cut his slider usage significantly this year, is not missing bats like he has in the past and is averaging only 4.28 innings per start.  Mahle is under team control through 2023, and given his past success will be targeted whether or not he’s able to right the ship with the Reds.
  • Mike Minor, Reds: Minor is battling a shoulder injury and working his way toward a minor league rehab assignment.  If he’s healthy and pitching acceptably, the Reds may flip him at the deadline to save money.
  • Zack Greinke and Brad Keller, Royals: Greinke’s early success includes a strikeout rate of just 6.5%.  He’s on a one-year, $13MM deal and the Royals figure to defer to his preferences regarding a potential trade.  Keller, who is under team control through ’23, also doesn’t miss bats, but does sport a strong groundball rate and ERA in the early going.
  • Kyle Hendricks, Drew Smyly, Wade Miley, Cubs: Hendricks’ unique soft-tossing approach has resulted in a 4.90 ERA since 2021, and he has about $27MM remaining on his contract through ’23.  Trading him at this stage would be a disappointing end to a player who has meant so much to the franchise.  On an affordable one-year deal, Smyly is more likely to go, though his skills have been middling since ’21.  Miley has yet to make his Cubs debut due to elbow inflammation, but he’s set to make a minor league rehab start tonight in St. Paul.  While the Cubs in a sense have a starting rotation full of trade candidates, the returns wouldn’t be impressive and the club might elect not to decimate that group without worthy replacements.
  • Martin Perez, Rangers, Jose Quintana, Pirates, Michael Pineda, Tigers: Though early results are good, there’s nothing skills-wise to recommend these guys.  Their teams could could flip them to someone looking for depth, but there’s little urgency.
  • Jordan Lyles, Orioles: The Orioles signed Lyles to eat some innings, so they might as well let him eat some innings this year.  But they could probably be convinced to trade him.
  • Patrick Corbin, Nationals: With $78MM remaining on his contract, Corbin could only be moved as part of a salary dump.
  • Stephen Strasburg, Nationals: With $169MM remaining through 2026, Strasburg has one of the least tradeable contracts in baseball.  He was set to face live hitters yesterday at the Nats’ spring training facility as he recovers from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery underwent last July.  I suppose there’s a scenario where he pitches for a month in the Majors and looks like 2019 Strasburg, and someone goes about the complicated process of taking on some of his contract, but it’s unlikely.

As always, the market will take shape around the middle of July.  The Phillies still have a reasonable shot at the playoffs at present despite a disappointing start, but if they fall further, impending free agents like Zach Eflin and Kyle Gibson could be traded.  The Red Sox are in a similar place, and could put some interesting names on the market like Nathan Eovaldi, Chris Sale, and James Paxton.

Cardinals Outright Aaron Brooks

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TODAY: The Cardinals announced that Brooks has been outrighted to Triple-A Memphis, after clearing waivers.

MAY 2: The Cardinals have designated righty Aaron Brooks for assignment, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.  He notes that the club also optioned Packy Naughton to Triple-A Memphis to get down to the requisite 26 players on the active roster.

Brooks, who recently turned 32, signed a minor league deal with St. Louis after spending two years with the KBO’s Kia Tigers. He broke camp with the team but allowed runs in four of his five appearances. Ultimately, he allowed eight runs in 9 1/3 innings and served up a trio of homers during his first big league exposure since 2019.

A ninth round draft pick of the Royals back in 2011, Brooks and Sean Manaea were traded to the Athletics for Ben Zobrist and cash at the 2015 trade deadline.  During the following spring training, Brooks was shipped to the Cubs for Chris Coghlan.  He then bounced to the Brewers, A’s, and Orioles before heading to South Korea.

Notably, Brooks did show the best velocity of his big league career in his brief time with St. Louis, averaging 93.2 miles per hour on his fastball.  Brooks has always had excellent control, and his ground-ball rate in KBO was through the roof, a big factor in the Cards adding him in the first place. It remains to be seen if his strong KBO numbers and personal-best fastball velocity will lead another team to give him a longer look than St. Louis afforded.

What Do Our Subscribers Actually Get?

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One thing I learned from our survey a few weeks ago is that some MLBTR readers are not clear on what is actually being offered in our Trade Rumors Front Office subscription service.

Aside from the eradication of ads from the website and the app, a paid subscription includes exclusive articles delivered to your inbox every week from Steve Adams and Anthony Franco.  Maybe you’re just here for the headlines or the comment section, in which case this subscription service isn’t for you.  But if you’re into high quality analysis of MLB trades and free agency, no one on the planet does it better than Steve and Anthony.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because the subscription service also offers top-notch fantasy baseball advice from Brad Johnson, my MLB mailbag, and a weekly live chat with Anthony.

Here’s a taste of some of the content we sent to subscribers’ inboxes in April.  If you feel that this sort of analysis might be worthwhile, please consider trying out Trade Rumors Front Office for a month for $2.99.

Recently from Steve Adams

The Strangest Thing About the Athletics

Excerpt:

Why on Earth have the Athletics completely eschewed long-term extensions for any of their young players?

The pressing issue is one of why the A’s aren’t regularly making efforts to sign players with less than a year of service, or one to two years of service, to long-term contracts that buy out their arbitration seasons and a free-agent year or two at an affordable rate. Contracts of that nature have been a hallmark of the Indians/Guardians franchise since the 1990s and have been the primary reason Cleveland has maintained a competitive presence in the American League Central despite routinely running payrolls south of $100MM. It’s the reason the Pirates were able to hang onto Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and now, Hayes, as long as they were. The Rays, another small-market, low-payroll club are also perennially active in this regard. Ditto the Marlins, who, even setting aside the Giancarlo Stanton mega-deal, have been active in this market.

Recently from Anthony Franco

It’s Time For The Royals To Bring Up Two More Top Prospects (from April 13)

Excerpt:

A lot has to go right for K.C. to contend in 2022, as mentioned. Much of that involves young players stepping up and playing towards the higher end of their possible outcomes. There’s more variance with prospects, but with the odds against them anyhow, the Royals should be willing to gamble on upside. In addition to perhaps making them better in 2022, getting an extended look at Pratto and Melendez now gives the front office a stronger indication of whether they can be relied upon as important pieces in 2023 — a year when the Royals will absolutely expect to contend.

At some point, Pratto and Melendez are sure to make their major league debuts. It’s not as if the Royals have tanked their chances by playing Santana and Dozier for a week. Calling them up and bumping the veterans to the bench (and O’Hearn off the roster, in all likelihood) just feels like a move that’s overdue.

Recently from Brad Johnson

Fantasy Baseball: 10 Widely Available Hot Performers

Excerpt:

Miles Mikolas, SP, STL (44% owned in fantasy leagues)

The five pitchers I’ve identified share several characteristics. Mikolas was a reliable core performer during his 2018-19 peak. Injuries cancelled his 2020 campaign and interrupted his 2021 season. The right-hander has produced strong results in three starts despite a couple red flags. In particular, he has a career-worst swinging strike rate, and he isn’t inducing enough ground balls. On the plus side, he remains one of the best pitchers in the league at generating called strikes. Among qualified pitchers, he ranks ninth in the league in called strike rate – and this is typical of him. If you see analysts predicting a complete collapse, this is the point of data they’re probably missing. That said, we should definitely expect closer to a 3.50-4.00 ERA going forward. He benefits from soft competition in the NL Central.

Recently from Tim Dierkes

MLB Mailbag: deGrom, Yankees, Jays Catching, Dalbec, Mets

Excerpt:

Scott asks:

What’s the chance the Mets don’t re-sign DeGrom after he opts out? Assuming they do sign him, what does that contract look like?

At this moment, I assume that deGrom expects to return in late May or early June and still plans to opt out. He signed his contract three years ago, and so much has changed since then: the Mets’ ownership, the new CBA, other pitchers’ contracts, his abilities, and his injury record.

The Mets’ CBT payroll goes down to $202MM for 2023 and about $128MM for ‘24, though that doesn’t include arbitration eligible players like Pete Alonso. I think Steve Cohen will make a serious effort to sign deGrom and has the inside track, but I also think there are scenarios where he decides to spend that money differently.

It’s difficult to compare Max Scherzer and deGrom, because Scherzer did not sign with deGrom’s health question marks. And even if deGrom returns in late May and doesn’t miss a start after that, it’d be a stretch to say that all concern about his future ability to stay healthy is gone. On the other hand, Scherzer signed for his age 37-39 seasons, which is inherently a health risk of its own.

If deGrom returns around June and stays healthy for the rest of the season, as his agent I’m setting out looking for a new AAV record and as many years as possible. Best pitcher in baseball, five months of good health, that’s the expectation. So we’re talking an AAV north of $43.3MM.

The new contract would start with deGrom’s age-35 season. We haven’t really seen a comparable contract start at that age. Even Hyun Jin Ryu starting at 33 was an outlier; it’s often 30-31. Then we have kind of the “old ace” contracts, like Scherzer’s deal or Justin Verlander getting a deal for age 37-38 and another one at age 39 (and 40 under certain conditions). DeGrom isn’t old like them, either.

Bottom line: something like $180MM over four years makes sense to me, if deGrom returns within six weeks or so and stays healthy and dominant. If his return from injury does not go perfectly, then the details and timing will determine the contract.

 

I’ll leave you with a real quote from a subscriber named Jason (you can read more here):

“The subscription service is well worth the price. The content and depth of analysis the writers provide on a plethora of issues is fascinating and eye opening. Adding the fantasy component too is a godsend for us fantasy junkies. It’s also wonderful to get to participate in the private chats and more often than not get my questions answered with responses that demonstrate great attention to detail and insight. I highly recommend the subscription. If you like baseball, you’ll love this service!”

Subscribe to Trade Rumors Front Office today!

Take Our Trade Rumors App Survey

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We intend to make improvements to the app this year, for both the iOS and Android versions.  If there are any changes you’d like to see, please take this brief survey (link if you don’t see it embedded below):

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Brewers Designate Jose Ureña For Assignment

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The Brewers designated righty José Ureña for assignment, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic.  Additionally, Luis Urías has returned from his IL stint and figures to reassume his role as the team’s primary third baseman.

Ureña signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee in Spring Training but was selected onto the big league roster the following day. Ticketed for relief work thanks to the Brew Crew’s loaded rotation, Ureña wound up making just four appearances. He tallied 7 2/3 innings of five-run ball, walking five batters while striking out only three. He generated swinging strikes on a below-average 9.1% of his offerings.

While Ureña has never had especially strong control or swing-and-miss numbers, he has typically managed high-end ground-ball rates throughout his career. Early on in his Milwaukee tenure, though, his grounder rate sat at a league average 42.9%. Ultimately, the Brewers decided to move forward without the 30-year-old as part of today’s deadline to trim active rosters from 28 to 26 players.

Ureña will now be traded or placed on waivers in the coming days. As a player with more than five big league service years, he has the right to refuse an outright assignment even if he passes through waivers unclaimed. Ureña has averaged north of 96 MPH on his fastball through the season’s first few weeks, so he figures to at least attract interest on a minor league deal if another club isn’t willing to grant him an immediate MLB roster spot.

Urías missed the season’s first month due to a left quad issue. He’s now in line to make his season debut after positing a career-best .249/.345/.445 showing over 570 plate appearances in 2021. His return will be a welcome development for a Brewers team that has gotten a meager .182/.289/.227 line from its replacement third basemen — primarily Jace Peterson and Mike Brosseau — thus far.

Tigers Designate Dustin Garneau For Assignment

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The Tigers designated catcher Dustin Garneau for assignment, according to an announcement from the team.  Additionally, lefty Tyler Alexander hit the IL for an elbow sprain, bringing the team’s active roster down to 26 players.

The Tigers’ three-catcher plan has come to an end, with Tucker Barnhart and Eric Haase remaining to handle duties behind the plate.  Garneau, 34, has led a journeyman MLB career, accumulating 506 big league plate appearances across eight seasons for six different teams.   He’s never topped the 126 plate appearances he received in 2017 for the Rockies and A’s.  Garneau had joined the Tigers last August as part of a full-circle series of transactions.

Even at age 34, an experienced catcher like Garneau with a “have glove, will travel” mindset is usually able to find a spot in an MLB organization, with the position always in short supply.  And there’s always the possibility he clears waivers and remains with the Tigers.  Though not known for his defense, the 29-year-old Haase will be Barnhart’s sole backup behind the dish, even though Haase has spent more time at left field than catcher so far this year.

Orioles Designate Kelvin Gutierrez For Assignment

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The Orioles designated third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez for assignment, according to an announcement from the team.  The move brings the Orioles down to the necessary 26 players, the deadline for which is fast approaching.  As Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com notes, the move also brings the Orioles’ 40-man roster down to 39 players.

Gutierrez, 27, was acquired by the Orioles from the Royals last July for cash considerations after Kansas City had designated him for assignment.  He joined the O’s in late August and quickly became the team’s regular third baseman – more of an indictment of Baltimore’s lack of MLB talent at the position than an endorsement of Gutierrez’s abilities.  This year, Ramon Urias has been drawing the bulk of the Orioles’ starts at third base.

A 2013 amateur signing by the Nationals out of the Dominican Republic, Gutierrez joined the Royals five years later in a trade involving veteran reliever Kelvin Herrera.  He emerged as a 40-grade, big league capable prospect, known mostly for solid third base defense and a strong arm.  Never really having shown an above average bat in the high minors, it’s not a big surprise that Gutierrez sports just a 65 wRC+ in 419 big league plate appearances to date.  Since Gutierrez is out of minor league options, the Orioles didn’t have the ability to send him to the minors without exposing him to waivers.

Royals Promote MJ Melendez

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The Royals recalled catching prospect MJ Melendez, according to a team announcement.  The move was prompted by an injury to backup catcher Cam Gallagher, who went on the IL with a hamstring strain.

Prior to the season, Baseball America ranked Melendez as the 42nd best prospect in all of baseball.  In a breakout 2021 season, Melendez led all of the minors with 41 home runs.  The problem, of course, is that Melendez is blocked by Salvador Perez, the longtime Royals backstop who crushed a career-best 48 Major League home runs in that same season.  Perez is signed through 2025, with a club option for 2026.

Melendez was off to a slow start in 2022, with a .160/.284/.280 line in 88 Triple-A plate appearances.  He had no such issues at that level last year, hitting .293/.413/.620 in 45 games.  Now, Melendez will get a shot to serve as Perez’s apprentice at the game’s highest level, on the merits of that ’21 season.  Defensively, Melendez draws praise for his plus-plus arm, while Baseball America suggests he “still has work to do with his receiving and blocking behind the plate.”

Perez, who ranked fourth in MLB last year with 1002 2/3 innings caught at age 31, could cede the occasional start to Melendez while the 23-year-old rookie is around.  There’s also the DH spot, which could feature both Melendez and Perez as part of a rotation.  To date, Perez has taken 27% of the club’s DH plate appearances, with only Hunter Dozier having received more.  This year at Triple-A, Melendez has spent a few games at DH and in right field when he hasn’t been catching.  Last year he picked up nine games at third base, and got a look there in spring training this year as well.

Melendez will mark the 13th Baseball America top 100 prospect to make his Major League debut this year, following Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., Spencer Torkelson, C.J. Abrams, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Seiya Suzuki, Matt Brash, Bryson Stott, Jeremy Peña, Heliot Ramos, and MacKenzie Gore.

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