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Astros Catcher Jason Castro Out For Season Due To Knee Surgery
The Astros announced today that catcher Jason Castro was moved to the 60-day IL due to knee surgery. According to Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle, Castro underwent surgery last week, and is out for the season. Back in March, Rome reported that Castro was considering retirement after the season. So it’s quite possible that Castro’s June 29th game against the Mets in New York was his last. If so, it was a strong note to finish on, as Castro’s ninth inning home run accounted for all the runs in an Astros victory.
Castro’s injury explains the Astros’ trade with the Red Sox for catcher Christian Vazquez yesterday. Vazquez will team up with stalwart Martin Maldonado as the Astros look to coast to an AL West title and perhaps much more. Astros GM James Click also picked up DH/first baseman Trey Mancini and reliever Will Smith in recent days.
If 2022 marks the end of the road for Castro, he can take pride in a successful 12-year career bookended by multiyear stints with the Astros. Castro made the All-Star team in 2013 with what would be his finest season. He also played for the Twins, Angels, and Padres, earning more than $50MM in his career. In addition to 952 regular season contests, Castro appeared in 14 postseason games, and notably he played for other organizations during the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
Yankees, Cardinals Swap Jordan Montgomery For Harrison Bader
The Cardinals are acquiring lefty Jordan Montgomery from the Yankees, tweet Ken Rosenthal and Lindsey Adler of The Athletic. Montgomery will be traded for Harrison Bader, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network. The trade, which has been officially announced by both teams, also includes a player to be named later or cash considerations going to the Yankees, conditional on Bader’s playing time as it pertains to the plantar fasciitis that sidelines him at present.
Montgomery, 29, is a big addition to the Cardinals’ rotation. The lefty, a fourth-round draft pick of the Yankees out of the University of South Carolina in 2014, finished sixth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting with a fine 2017 debut, but saw his career derailed by Tommy John surgery the following season. Since 2021, he’s settled in as a dependable member of the Yankees’ rotation, posting a 3.77 ERA in 272 innings across 51 starts. While Montgomery’s strikeout rate has been down this year, so too has his walk rate, and he’s continued to keep his ERA south of 4.00.
Montgomery is earning a reasonable $6MM this year, and he’s due a raise through arbitration in 2023 before becoming eligible for free agency. He was not necessarily thought to be available, but the Yankees just added Frankie Montas to the front of their rotation in a trade with the A’s. Montgomery fits in well with the Cardinals’ pitch-to-contact rotation, which currently features Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson, rookie Andre Pallante, and recent addition Jose Quintana. Steven Matz, signed as a free agent in November, is out with a knee injury that could require surgery. Former ace Jack Flaherty won’t be eligible to return from a shoulder strain until late August. Looking ahead to 2023, Adam Wainwright may retire and Quintana could depart as a free agent, but everyone else remains under team control.
At present, the Cardinals sit three games back in the NL Central and are one game back from a wild card spot. In addition to Quintana and Montgomery, the Cardinals also added Chris Stratton to their bullpen via trade. The club reportedly expressed interest in many available starters before landing Montgomery, including Frankie Montas, Jake Odorizzi, Tyler Mahle, and Carlos Rodon. Bader hit the IL for plantar fasciitis in his right foot in late June, with Dylan Carlson starting in center field in his absence. Bader is currently in a walking boot for the injury. Evidently, the Cardinals felt Carlson can handle the gig for at least the remainder of the season. The Cardinals had been involved on Juan Soto, but reportedly hadn’t been willing to pair Carlson with their top prospects.
Bader, 28, is a native of Bronxville, New York, about 11 miles away from Yankee Stadium. He’s served as the Cardinals’ primary center fielder since 2018, when he finished sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. Known for his defense, Bader picked up his first Gold Glove last year and finished second in the Fielding Bible awards voting. Bader’s wRC+ sits at 93 this year, but he was at 111 over 526 plate appearances from 2020-21. Bader, one of the speedier center fielders in the game, was limited to 103 games in 2021 due to a forearm strain and a rib fracture.
The Yankees have deployed the oft-injured Aaron Hicks as well as MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge in equal proportions in center field thus far this year. Once Bader and Giancarlo Stanton are healthy, Hicks figures to see his playing time reduced. The Yankees also recently added a new left fielder via trade, picking up Andrew Benintendi from the Royals.
Like Montgomery, Bader is under control through 2023. However, due to a two-year extension signed in April, Bader’s salary was locked in at $4.7MM for both the 2022 and ’23 seasons, plus performance bonuses. The Yankees will trim several million dollars off next year’s payroll compared to what Montgomery is projected to earn.
In parting with Montgomery, the Yankees have weakened their rotation for the remainder of the 2021 season, seemingly locking Domingo German into the fifth spot until Luis Severino is able to return. With a 12-game lead in the AL East, that difference hardly matters. Montgomery’s loss could be felt in the playoffs, especially if Severino isn’t able to build back up to a starting role, but evidently the Yankees feel the eventual defensive upgrade in center field is a net win. The decision has, at least, elicited some “head-scratching” within the Yankees’ organization, according to Erik Boland of Newsday.
Mariners To Acquire Jake Lamb
The Mariners are acquiring Jake Lamb from the Dodgers for cash considerations, tweets Robert Murray of FanSided.
Lamb, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in March and had his contract selected in late June. Much of his brief time with the Dodgers has been spent at designated hitter, but Lamb in left field and at first base for the club. He’s primarily served as a third baseman in his nine-year career. Lamb’s 2017 season was a highlight, as he hit 30 home runs and made the All-Star team as a member of the Diamondbacks. A left-handed hitter, Lamb has struggled against southpaws in his career, though he’s shown a reverse platoon split in more recent years. He’s hit well with a 121 wRC+ in his brief 77 big league plate appearances this year.
Lamb, a native of Seattle, may have become expendable for the Dodgers upon today’s acquisition of a more accomplished lefty bat, Joey Gallo. Lamb can complement right-handed hitters for the Mariners, including Eugenio Suarez, Kyle Lewis, and Ty France.
Willson Contreras Rumors: Deadline Day
“I’m ready for this to be over with,” Willson Contreras told reporters in San Francisco on Sunday regarding the trade rumors that have swirled around him for months. Contreras has very likely played his last game for the Cubs, who are widely expected to trade their longtime catcher before today’s 5pm deadline. Contreras, 30, broke into the Majors during the Cubs’ 2016 championship season and made three All-Star teams, including this year. The club chose not to extend him along the way, so now Contreras is on the eve of free agency and will be joining a pennant race before long. Here’s the latest:
LATEST RUMORS:
- The Mets “don’t see a likelihood” for a Contreras trade “at this point,” tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
EARLIER:
- The Rays and Mets are in the mix for Contreras, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, with the Padres treating him as more of a Juan Soto fallback option. Tomas Nido has taken the bulk of the innings behind the plate for the Mets, with James McCann close to returning from an oblique strain. Rene Pinto and Christian Bethancourt have gotten the call of late for the Rays with Francisco Mejia on the IL and Mike Zunino out for the season.
- SNY’s Andy Martino noted a few days ago that the Mets’ front office is “determined to avoid” a deal similar to the one they made last summer with the Cubs, where they gave up Pete Crow-Armstrong for a few months of Javy Baez plus Trevor Williams. Though it can be tricky to plug a new starting catcher into a contending team, the Cubs have a very valuable chip today in Contreras.
Padres Trying To Trade Wil Myers
The Padres are still trying to trade right fielder Wil Myers in the hour or so remaining until the trade deadline, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Padres GM A.J. Preller has been a whirlwind of activity in the last few days, adding Juan Soto, Josh Bell, Josh Hader, and Brandon Drury while shipping out Eric Hosmer, Luke Voit, and a slew of young players.
Myers, 31, signed a six-year, $83MM extension with the Padres in January 2017, and it seems like they’ve been trying to unload the contract most of the time since then. While Myers surged to a 123 wRC+ from 2020-21, he sits at just 68 this year in 138 plate appearances after missing over two months with knee inflammation. He came off the IL yesterday and played first base while batting fifth, and is doing so again in the Padres’ current afternoon tilt against Colorado.
At this stage, Myers is owed about $7MM this year plus a $1MM buyout for 2023, a moveable amount if Preller can identify and include any prospects he’s yet to trade. During the offseason, the Padres seemed intent on staying under the $230MM competitive balance threshold. Given all of their additions of late, ducking under for 2022 would be an impressive feat.
Mets, Giants Swap J.D. Davis For Darin Ruf
The Mets have acquired first baseman/left fielder Darin Ruf from the Giants for third baseman J.D. Davis according to SNY’s Andy Martino. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Giants also picked up southpaw Thomas Szapucki and A-ball pitchers Nick Zwack and Carson Seymour in the trade.
At the risk of stating the obvious, the trade suggests the Mets think Ruf can help them more this year than Davis, as both are bat-first right-handed hitters. Ruf, who recently turned 36, continues to serve as a lefty-masher this year. He’s got a 155 wRC+ in 337 plate appearances against southpaws since returning from KBO in 2020, which ranks fourth in all of MLB. Ruf actually succeeded against righties as well in 2020-21, but has struggled against them this year. He’s earning $3MM on the season, of which about $1MM remains. He also has a $3.5MM club option for 2022 with a $250K buyout. Ruf and fellow new acquisition Daniel Vogelbach make for an excellent platoon at designated hitter for the Mets.
Davis, 29, is under team control as an arbitration eligible player for both the 2023 and ’24 seasons. Though not known for his glove, unlike Ruf, Davis is capable of playing third base. Since coming over from the Astros in a January 2019 trade, Davis has posted a 125 wRC+ for the Mets in 1,100 plate appearances. He hasn’t shown a significant platoon split in that period, and has flashed eye-popping Statcast metrics at times. This year, however, Davis has posted just a 102 wRC+ for the Mets in 207 plate appearances and hasn’t been drawing many starts of late. Davis became particularly expendable with the Mets’ signing of Eduardo Escobar back in November plus the acquisition of Vogelbach. Davis played in 140 games for the Mets in 2019, but has played in only 195 games since 2020 due to injuries.
In Szapucki, the Giants get a lefty with a pair of big league appearances to his name. Szapucki has mostly operated as a starter in the minors, posting a strong 21.6 K-BB% in 64 Triple-A innings this year. Prior to last season, Baseball America rated him as a 45-grade prospect, saying he can “land three pitches for strikes,” and needed to recover his velocity after spending 2020 at the Mets’ alternate site. Szapucki has indeed done so, working at 90.9 miles per hour in his lone 2021 MLB appearance but pitching at 95.1 in a brutal May 25th outing at San Francisco in which he surrendered nine earned runs while recording only four outs. Apparently Giants brass liked what they saw in that outing, despite their hitters beating up on Szapucki with four home runs.
Zwack, a 24-year-old southpaw, moved to High-A in May and has excelled with a 22.8 K-BB%. A 17th round pick in 2021 out of Xavier University, it remains to be seen if Zwack can sustain his success when facing opponents closer to his own age. Seymour, a 23-year-old righty, moved into the Brooklyn Cyclones’ rotation around the same time as Zwack. With a 25.0 K-BB% rate, he’s been successful as well aside from the longball. Seymour was drafted by the Mets in the sixth round in 2021 out of Kansas State.
Eric Hosmer Rejects Trade To Nationals; Padres Still Have Deal For Juan Soto
Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer has rejected a trade to the Nationals, tweets MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Both reporters have made clear that the Padres’ blockbuster deal to acquire Juan Soto from the Nats remains in place.
Hosmer’s eight-year contract with the Padres, signed in February 2018, includes limited no-trade protection of which the Nationals are a part. It appears the Nationals and Padres agreed to versions of the Soto trade with and without Hosmer, word of the larger Soto trade leaked to the baseball media, and then the Padres took it to Hosmer to decide. As is his contractual right, Hosmer chose not to move from the Padres, the team he chose as a free agent, to the last-place Nationals.
2022 marks Hosmer’s fifth year as a Padre, a tenure that has mostly disappointed outside of the shortened 2020 season. Hosmer has a 104 wRC+ in 934 plate appearances since the beginning of the 2021 campaign, so he’s still modestly above-average with the bat. He’s owed about $7MM for the remainder of this season, plus $39MM for 2023-25. He can opt out after this season, but that’s an unlikely scenario.
More importantly, upon the completion of the 2022 season, Hosmer will become a 10-and-5 player with the right to reject a trade to any team, not just the ten currently on his list. With first baseman Josh Bell apparently still headed to the Padres in the Soto deal and about four hours remaining until the no-trade deadline, Padres GM A.J. Preller is surely motivated to make the best deal he can for Hosmer, whether to one of the 19 teams not covered in his no-trade clause, or at least with a team to which Hosmer is willing to go. The Padres are set to host the Rockies at 3:10pm central time today, the only game starting prior to the 5pm deadline.
With Hosmer’s contract generally considered to be underwater, the Padres would likely have to include a good prospect (of which they’ve surrendered many in the last few days) to find a taker. Even with a Hosmer trade, getting under the $230MM competitive balance tax is likely impossible for the Padres given the additions of Soto, Bell, and Josh Hader. Last year, only the Dodgers and Padres paid the competitive balance tax, then set at $210MM. That marked the first time the Padres paid the tax since it was instituted.
Ian Happ Rumors: Deadline Day
The last time we checked in on Cubs outfielder Ian Happ, it was when ESPN’s Jeff Passan revealed last Friday that the team is “likely to trade him.” Happ, 28 in August, has a 122 wRC+ on the season. He’s got about $2.4MM remaining on his contract this year, and will be eligible for arbitration for 2023. If the Cubs want to trade the 2015 first-rounder prior to the offseason, they’ve got fewer than nine hours to get it done. Here’s the latest:
- The Dodgers have looked at Happ, though apparently as a backup plan if they can’t land Juan Soto, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Rookie James Outman has garnered the Dodgers’ last couple of left field starts to great success, and Chris Taylor‘s rehab assignment from a foot fracture begins tonight.
- Last week, Robert Murray of Fansided noted that Happ had been “connected” to the Padres and Blue Jays. The Padres are firmly in the Soto bidding, so Happ may serve as a backup plan for them as well. The Jays’ outfield generally sets up as Lourdes Gurriel Jr., George Springer, and Teoscar Hernandez, with Raimel Tapia and Bradley Zimmer providing backup. Toronto tends to rest Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the DH spot when it’s not occupied by Alejandro Kirk. While the Jays don’t seem to have a ton of room for Happ, MLB’s Jon Morosi notes that his ability to cover center field while Springer deals with a modest elbow injury is key.
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