Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Quick Hits: Yankees, Chapman, Rays, Morton, Nationals, Rizzo, Martinez

By | at

The New York Yankees will make a decision about Aroldis Chapman’s timeline to return to action after a throwing session on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Marly Rivera. Chapman has yet to make an appearance this season. He tested positive for COVID-19 back on July 11th after showing mild symptoms. Chapman has been working his way back to full strength and hopes to return to the back end of the Yanks bullpen shortly. Last season, Chapman put together another top-notch campaign with 37 saves in 60 games and a 2.21 ERA/2.28 FIP while striking out 13.4 batters per nine innings.

  • Charlie Morton of the Tampa Bay Rays left his start today with right shoulder inflammation, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com. The Rays do not appear to be overly concerned about Morton in the long-term. The 36-year-old hasn’t gotten off to a great start with a 5.52 ERA across three starts, though it’s obviously s small sample, and a 4.06 FIP isn’t quite so pessimistic of his performance.
  • The Washington Nationals aren’t any closer to coming to terms on an extension either for manager Dave Martinez or GM Mike Rizzo, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links). Both are in the final year of their current deals. The Nationals have proven a fairly conservative organization and one that won’t budge due to public perception. For their parts, both Martinez and Rizzo appear to have great trust in the organization. Given that the Nats are coming off a World Series championship, it’s hard to imagine either man moving on. Rizzo is the longstanding architect of these Nats – one of the most sustainable contenders of the last decade – while Martinez is the culture of the club in its current iteration. He has both the respect and the admiration of his players, by all accounts. This is pure conjecture, but Nats ownership may be taking a principled stance by waiting on these extensions. They’ve routinely let star players play out the final seasons of their deals, and it shows some organizational continuity to do the same with Rizzo and Martinez.

Cardinals-Pirates Series Postponed; Cardinals Expect Additional COVID-19 Positive

By | at

August 9: This week’s series between the Cardinals and Pirates has been postponed in its entirety, as first reported by Jon Heyman of MLB Network. As a result, the Cardinals have had 15 consecutive postponements and will have just 46 days to make up 55 games if they are to play the entire 2020 schedule. In addition, Heyman reports that the Cardinals are expected to reveal “at least one” additional positive COVID-19 test after yesterday’s round of testing.

MLB officially announced the cancellation with a press release that reads: “Major League Baseball announced today that the upcoming three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, scheduled for Monday through Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, has been postponed.  In light of the most recent positive test results, MLB and the Club believe it is prudent to conduct additional testing while players and staff are quarantined before the team returns to play.  More information regarding the Cardinals’ resumption of play will be announced later in the week.”

August 8, 9:57 PM: It’s been confirmed by Jeff Passan and Jason Mackey (via Twitter). The Cardinals and Pirates’ Monday meeting has been postponed.

6:17 PM: The St. Louis Cardinals have been told that they won’t be coming together again as a team for at least 3-5 days, per The Athletic’s Mark Saxon (via Twitter). Obviously, the implication here is that their upcoming series with the Pittsburgh Pirates will be canceled. Major League Baseball has not made an official announcement as of yet.

Cardinals players will continue with personal workouts for the time being – they haven’t seen game action in over a week. The Cardinals last saw the diamond on Wednesday, July 29th in a 3-0 loss to the Twins. They are likely to go more than two weeks before returning to the field. While most of the rest of the league is pushing towards (or already past) the quarter mark for the season, the Cardinals are stuck on a 2-3 record after dealing with the second major clubhouse outbreak of coronavirus since the game’s reboot. It remains unclear how/when/if the Cardinals will be able to make up the missed games.

Obviously, containing the virus is priority A through Z right now for the Cardinals, who released the names of 8 players who have tested positive for COVID-19. They have the benefit of the Marlins’ experience from earlier this season, but there’s no tried-and-true approach to handling an internal outbreak of this scale. There are, of course, protocols in place, but the nature of COVID-19 leaves a great deal of general uncertainty.

The Pirates will get a couple of days off after facing a scare of a different sort in their game with the Tigers today. Phillip Evans and Gregory Polanco collided on a pop fly in four territory resulting in Evans leaving the game on a stretcher, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It was described as a scary scene, and we will update you on Evans’ condition with a full post as more information about his current status is revealed. Polanco stayed in the game.

As of right now, it does appear that the Pirates (and Cardinals) will have the next couple of days off. The Pirates were scheduled to be in St. Louis on Monday night to begin a three-game series.

Marlins’ Roster Moves: Bleier, Venditte, Mejia, Moran

By | at

The Miami Marlins placed recent acquisition Richard Bleier on the injured list with a “mild strain in his elbow in his elbow bicep”, per MLB Network contributor Craig Mish (via Twitter). In corresponding moves, the Marlins selected the contract of Pat Venditte, the switch-pitcher recently brought to camp. Humberto Mejia has been optioned to the alternate site. Lefty Brian Moran has been put back on the active roster, per Mish.

Bleier made three appearances with the Fish since coming over via trade from the Orioles. He allowed 1 run on 1 hit in 1 1/3 innings. The 33-year-old southpaw didn’t make his big league debut until 2016 as a 29-year-old. In the 4+ seasons since, he has mustered a respectable 3.02 ERA/3.73 FIP across 169 appearances (179 innings) for the Yankees, Orioles, and Marlins.

Venditte got into a game for the first time in 2020 tonight, but he previously appeared in parts of four seasons for the A’s, Blue Jays, Mariners, Dodgers, and Giants. Venditte’s gimmick is well-known throughout baseball as an ambidextrous pitcher, but he’s struggled on the whole as a major leaguer. In 58 appearances, Venditte owns a 5.03 ERA/5.04 FIP, though the 35-year-old continues to see opportunities. To his credit, he also continues to post solid numbers in Triple-A, including a 2.85 ERA across 47 1/3 innings with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate in 2019.

Mejia, 23, will no doubt find his way back to the majors after a fine debut. The Panamanian right-hander started one game as an extended opener, going 2 1/3 innings and allowing just one earned run while striking out six. In a year of unprecedented roster moves, it’s a safe bet that Mejia will find his way back to the show at some point in 2020.

Last but not least, Moran, 31, made his major-league debut as a 30-year-old with the Marlins last season. He appeared in 10 games going 6 1/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA/4.00 FIP. The lefty hurler notably made MLB history by striking out his younger brother Colin Moran in the first-ever brother-brother showdown. He signed with the Blue Jays this offseason after the Marlins made him a free agent, only to be claimed off waivers last week.

Angels Recall Patrick Sandoval For Start, Option Luke Bard

By | at

The Los Angeles Angels optioned Luke Bard to their alternate site today, recalling Patrick Sandoval in his place, per Jason Martinez of Roster Resource over at Fangraphs.

Sandoval made his major-league debut last season going 0-4 across 10 appearances (9 starts). His first start of the season came last week in a 10-2 Angels win over the Mariners. Sandoval didn’t get the win as he lasted only 4 innings, though he more than did his part in contributing to the win. Sandoval threw 62 pitches – 40 for strikes – notching 4 strikeouts, walking one, and giving up 2 runs (though only 1 was earned). The 23-year-old southpaw entered the year as the Angels’ #7-ranked prospect per MLB.com, #6 by Fangraphs. The Angels certainly hope/expect the lefty and his 55-grade curveball will establish himself as a rotation mainstay – a role they’ve struggled to consistently fill over the years.

Sandoval made his second start of the season tonight, going six strong innings while allowing two runs. He’s quickly becoming a favorite of manager Joe Maddon. While the plan was for Sandoval to throw between 70-80 pitches, Maddon allowed him to hang around for 94. Sandoval continues to develop nicely after the Angels acquired him from Houston for Martin Maldonado just before the 2018 trade deadline.

Bard, 29, is looking to establish himself as a righty out of Maddon’s pen. Across 32 appearances last season, Bard logged 49 innings with a 4.78 ERA/4.81 FIP, showing off his ability to hold the line for multiple innings at a time if need be. He has just one inning so far this season – it was scoreless. In all likelihood, he’ll find himself back in the Angels’ pen before too long.

Blue Jays Option Billy McKinney, Activate Chase Anderson

By | at

Billy McKinney has been optioned to the Blue Jays’ taxi squad, clearing the way to for Chase Anderson to join the active roster, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

Anderson starts today’s game against the Red Sox, who are struggling themselves to fill out the starting rotation. The Jays rotation ranks 25th in fWAR for the season with a total of just 0.2 fWAR. Their big offseason acquisition Hyun Jin Ryu has been mediocre early on, though he’s within the realm of acceptable outcomes for just a three-start sample (5.14 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 3.69 xFIP). Top prospect Nate Pearson has had an encouraging couple of starts. The back end of the rotation has struggled, however, where Tanner Roark (5.63 ERA/6.62 FIP) and Matt Shoemaker (5.91 ERA/6.93 FIP) have yet to hit their stride.

Anderson, 32, debuted in 2014 as a 26-year-old for the Diamondbacks. He spent two seasons in Arizona’s rotation before taking turns as part of the Brewers starting five for the last four. Though he’s never logged more than 158 innings in a given season, he’s been remarkably consistent, making between 25 and 30 starts per season for somewhere between 139 and 158 innings in each of the last five seasons. The right-hander carries a career 53-40 record with a 3.94 ERA/4.54 FIP. That’s steady production for Anderson, who has flown relatively under the radar as a back-end rotation piece. 

The Blue Jays scooped him up from Milwaukee this past September for minor league first baseman Chad Spanberger. At the time of the deal, the Blue Jays had a completely uncertain rotation situation for 2020, though they continued to add all winter. The full amount for Anderson’s deal was set for $8.5MM this season before the shutdown, with a team option at $9.5MM for 2021, making him a relatively affordable arm if he can continue to put forth the consistent workload he has thus far in his career. The Jays hold a $500K buyout option for next season.

For McKinney, he’ll return to Toronto’s taxi squad for now, though this move represents just some of the roster management that’s becoming standard this season. McKinney has been a semi-regular fourth outfielder for the Blue Jays since being acquired from the Yankees with Brandon Drury for J.A. Happ. He’s appeared in just one game thus far this season as a pinch-runner. 

Rays Reinstate Kevan Smith From Injured List, Option Daniel Robertson

By | at

TODAY: After just one day, Smith has been reinstated from the IL and Robertson has been optioned back to the Rays’ minor league training site.  Manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin and other media members that Smith’s second COVID-19 test came back negative, and thus the catcher was cleared to take the field.

AUGUST 1: The Tampa Bay Rays have recalled infielder Daniel Robertson just a couple days after sending him to their alternate training site. Catcher Kevan Smith was placed on the injured list, per the team.

Smith, 32, has been suffering from cold symptoms, prompting some coronavirus concern, though he’s tested negative, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Given his symptoms, he will need a second negative test before being cleared to return to the team. Smith has served as a defensive replacement early this season, catching 5 innings over the course of three appearances with just a lone plate appearance.

Mike Zunino and Michael Perez are the other catchers currently on the Rays active roster. Ronaldo Hernandez, Rene Pinto, and Brett Sullivan are the other backstops in Tampa’s 60 player pool. Assuming the veteran receiver gets his second negative test and returns to normal health, Smith shouldn’t be away from the team for long.

Robertson has not yet made an appearance this season, though he’s been a steady utility presence for the Rays the past three seasons. The 26-year-old right-hander splits his time evenly between second, third, and short with occasional emergency spells in the outfield. His usefulness to the Rays is in his utility. Inconsistent results at the plate have kept him from a regular role. An 11.6 BB% suggests a sound approach at the plate, though his career strikeouts rate (25.2%) is a little higher than would be ideal. The bigger issue with Robertston would appear to be a shortage of pop (career .122 ISO).

In other Tampa news, highly-touted two-way player Brendan McKay has returned to the club’s alternate training site after previously testing positive for COVID-19, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. He will need multiple weeks to get ready.

Quick Hits: Cardinals Coronavirus Update, Mize, Kimbrel

By | at

The Cardinals and Brewers scheduled doubleheader for Sunday has been postponed, MLB announced in a statement. The Cardinals had 3 players and 1 staff member test positive for coronavirus this weekend with four pending tests still unresolved, tweets ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. The positive tests will affect the schedule for the next week as well. The Tigers and Cardinals were originally supposed to play a home-and-home pair of series this week in St. Louis and Detroit. Following the cases of coronavirus in St. Louis, however, all four games will be played in Detroit, including a doubleheader on Wednesday. The Brewers’ schedule will be unchanged, as they’ll head to Chicago to take on the White Sox.

  • Contrary to earlier speculation, Casey Mize will not make his major league debut for the Tigers on Sunday, writes The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen. Without a minor league pipeline in which to develop, many young players have made their debuts already this season, including highly-touted pitching prospects like Brady Singer of the Royals and Nate Pearson of the Blue Jays. For the time being, however, the Tigers continue to play coy with the future of Mize. Despite the rampant speculation that Mize would earn his promotion to take part in Sunday’s doubleheader, the Tigers finally tabbed Daniel Norris and Rony Garcia instead. Norris will make his 2020 debut after previously testing positive for coronavirus. Garcia, a 22-year-old Rule 5 pick from the Yankees, made his debut on Tuesday getting against the Royals. Garcia went 3 innings, giving up 3 runs, 2 of which were earned. 
  • The Cubs are considering moving Craig Kimbrel out of the closer’s role as the veteran fireballer has continued to surrender the long ball at an alarming rate, per MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian and others. Cubs manager David Ross was noncommital when asked to comment on the situation. Jesse Rogers of ESPN noted that Kimbrel has given up a rather shocking 11 home runs in just 22 innings since joining the Cubs midseason last year. Kimbrel is arguably one of the most successful closers the era, but he has yet to figure it out in Chicago. With the bases loaded in the seventh inning today, Ross turned the ball over to Jeremy Jeffress, who would be a top contender to replace Kimbrel. Though he too is coming off a difficult 2019, Jeffress does have experience closing out games (45 career saves). If today’s game was any indication, however, Ross may choose to deploy Jeffress in high-leverage moments while distributing closing opportunities piecemeal to some combination of Rowan Wick, Kyle Ryan, Kimbrel, and Jeffress.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/1/20

By | at

It’s been a busy sports day with the NBA and NHL back in action, not to mention the many MLB games still underway. As the action rolls along, we’ll use this post to review some minor moves you may have missed…

  • Catcher Jonathan Lucroy has been assigned to the Red Sox alternate training site in Pawtucket after clearing waivers, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). He’ll stay in their 60-player pool after catching a total of two innings behind the plate for the big-league team. Lucroy, 34, has enjoyed a long and productive career, but a steep dropoff in production following his second All-Star appearance in 2016 has led to a meandering period for the veteran receiver. In addition to the Red Sox, Lucroy has dressed for the Cubs, Angels, Athletics, Rockies, and Rangers since coming to semi-stardom with the Brewers.
  • The Cubs signed pitcher Matt Dermody out of the Independent League, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter). Everyone is in need of extra pitching depth these days it seems, though the Cubs have a particularly unsettled situation in their bullpen. Dermody is a 30-year-old southpaw who last appeared in the majors in 2017 for the Blue Jays. He made 23 appearances that season, going 2-0 with a 4.43 ERA/6.25 FIP across 22 1/3 innings. Cubs relievers have been the worst such group in the game so far this season. Prior to Saturday’s action, they pitched to a combined 9.55 ERA/9.51 FIP across 21 2/3 innings.
  • The Giants assigned catcher Rob Brantly to their alternate training site, per The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly (via Twitter). The 31-year-old catcher cleared waivers after appearing in one game for the Giants, going hitless in three at-bats. Tyler Heineman and Chadwick Tromp are the catchers that remain on San Francisco’s active roster.

Marlins Acquire James Hoyt

By | at

The Cleveland Indians have traded reliever James Hoyt to the Miami Marlins for cash considerations, per TribeInsider (via Twitter). Hoyt was designated for assignment on July 28th.

The Marlins continue their efforts to re-stock their pitching supply after more than half their active roster tested positive for coronavirus. They will need to field a big league roster as soon as Tuesday when they’re set to resume play. Basically, if there’s a pitcher with major league experience on waivers these days, chances are the Marlins will claim them. In the past week, they claimed Josh D. Smith and Justin Shafer from the Reds and Mike Morin from the Brewers. They also signed Pat Venditte and traded for Richard Bleier from the Orioles.

Hoyt pitched for the Astros from 2016 to 2018, making 66 appearances out of the pen across those three seasons. While he owned an unexceptional 4.40 ERA, a 3.84 FIP and 3.92 K/BB ratio suggested a better effort. He made just 8 appearances in his lone season with the Indians, serving primarily as organizational depth. In Triple-A, he continued to put up solid numbers (2.93 ERA, 3.50 K/BB across 30 2/3 innings).

While no spring chicken at the age of 33, Hoyt represents a solid low-cost option for the Marlins as they look to fill out their roster. For Hoyt, these are obviously not the conditions under which he would choose to break out as an MLB regular, but he nonetheless has the opportunity to do exactly that if he can provide Miami some stability out of the pen.

Astros Place Chris Devenski On Injured List, Select Carlos Sanabria

By | at

The Astros have placed pitcher Chris Devenski on the injured list, retroactive to July 29th, per Mark Berman of Fox 26 (via Twitter). To replace him on the roster, Houston selected the contract of Carlos Sanabria.

As with many clubs around the game, consistently fielding a competent pitching staff is going to be bit of a whirlwind this season. Devenski has been a cog in their bullpen for the past four seasons, though a 4.56 ERA/4.57 marks an underwhelming last couple of seasons. Still, the Astros are working a lot of young arms into the mix this season, and Devenski’s veteran presence could help stabilize the relief corps.

For now, however, they’ll look elsewhere. Ryan Pressly continues to be held out of action, though he’s very close to being game-ready, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Pressly figures to be a significant presence in the back end of the bullpen, especially with Will Harris now in Washington.

McTaggart also notes that Forrest Whitley has been dealing with some arm soreness. Despite a difficult season in 2019, Whitley will almost surely make his debut this year since there’s no Triple-A season. Still, he’ll have to get healthy first.

Sanabria, 23, will make his major-league debut should he get into a game. The 6’3″ right-hander pitched only as high as Double-A in 2019, making 37 appearances with a 3.11 ERA despite 5.9 BB/9. He’s a live-armed pitcher with some promise if he can get his command right. Fangraphs has him as the Astros’ 22nd ranked prospect.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top