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Injury Notes: Ross, Lowrie, Hahn, Putnam, Hanigan

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Here are the latest injury notes from around the league.

  • Nationals starter Joe Ross is still dealing with shoulder soreness and has been removed from his rehab assignment, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post writes. Ross was in the midst of a solid first full season with the Nats, with a 3.49 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 95 1/3 innings, but he has not pitched in the big leagues in over a month. The team’s current rotation plans appear somewhat open-ended, although they have off days upcoming on Monday and Thursday and could potentially get by for the next week and a half or so with only four starters. Ross could make one more rehab start and then return right around the time the Nats need a fifth starter again.
  • The Athletics announced before last night’s game that they’ve placed infielder Jed Lowrie and righty Jesse Hahn on the 15-day DL and recalled outfielder Brett Eibner and righty Andrew Triggs from Triple-A Nashville to replace them. (Eibner, who recently arrived from the Royals organization in a trade for fellow outfielder Billy Burns, homered in his Oakland debut last night.) Lowrie is dealing with a toe injury that could be season-ending if he undergoes surgery, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle recently explained. Max Muncy will play at second in his absence. Hahn, meanwhile, has a shoulder strain, although John Shea of the Chronicle tweets that Hahn does not believe the situation is serious.
  • White Sox reliever Zach Putnam had surgery Thursday to remove a bone fragment from his right elbow, the team has announced. The team further notes that the ligament was intact, and that Putnam will begin rehab next week. Putnam was off to a great start this season, with a 2.30 ERA, 9.9 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 27 1/3 innings, but he went down with the elbow injury in late June and hasn’t pitched since.
  • The Red Sox have placed catcher Ryan Hanigan on the DL with ankle peroneal tendinitis, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal tweets. The 35-year-old Hanigan has played sparingly this season, collecting 102 plate appearances and hitting just .158/.216/.221 while serving as a backup. He also missed significant time earlier in the season due to a neck injury. Bryan Holaday, who the Red Sox claimed from the Rangers yesterday, will now share catching duties with Sandy Leon.

MLB Reviewing Padres’ Medical Disclosures In Recent Deals

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Major League Baseball is taking a look at concerns that have arisen over the medical information disclosed by the Padres in at least two notable trades recently completed by the organization, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports. The swaps in question occurred with the Marlins (centered around Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea) and Red Sox (for Drew Pomeranz).

San Diego, of course, already agreed to something of a do-over in the case of Rea, sending minor leaguer Luis Castillo back to Miami and accepting the return of Rea. The 26-year-old righty departed in the middle of his first start with his new club with elbow issues, and it was just announced that he’ll need Tommy John surgery, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets.

It was reported at the time that the Marlins felt they had been wronged, with San Diego agreeing to unwind that portion of the transaction while insisting on organizational innocence. Olney explains that Rea informed the Miami staff that he had been treated for elbow discomfort in San Diego, which Miami then asserted had not been disclosed.

Now, per the report, it seems that questions have been raised about Pomeranz’s health. Boston parted with highly-regarded pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza to get him, but the Sox now believe they’ve learned elements of Pomeranz’s medical history that ought to have been revealed by the Pads.

Importantly, in the case of Pomeranz, the Red Sox are not seeking any modification of the agreement. It doesn’t appear as if there’s any real ongoing issue there, then, apart from the league’s general review of San Diego’s practices. Olney notes that it’s not clear whether any sanctions could be considered.

As Olney also discusses, these swaps seemingly point to the need for a more formalized process for exchanging medical information between organizations. The question of health disclosures is also under consideration with regard to the amateur draft, and perhaps both discrete but related topics could be on the table as collective bargaining talks continue.

Red Sox Claim Bryan Holaday From Rangers

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The Red Sox have claimed catcher Bryan Holaday off outright waivers from the Rangers, reports Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). Texas designated Holaday for assignment on Monday in the wake of its acquisition of Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress from the Brewers.

Holaday, 28, was acquired by Texas from the Tigers late in Spring Training and saw significant action early in the season following an injury to backstop Robinson Chirinos. Holaday was quite productive in the month of May but hasn’t hit much outside of that stretch and has a collective .238/.290/.405 slash in 94 plate appearances with Texas this season. Prior to the 2016 campaign, he’d spent his entire career in the Tigers organization, shuffling back and forth between the Majors and minors while serving as a backup to Alex Avila. The presence of James McCann and Detroit’s offseason pickup of Jarrod Saltalamacchia left Holaday without a spot on the big league roster, however, and he’s out of minor league options, which left Detroit with no way to carry him in the Majors.

That he’s out of options means he’ll have to go directly onto the 25-man roster for Boston as well, as Holaday cannot be sent to the minors without first clearing waivers. He’s a career .248/.285/.356 hitter with five homers in 376 plate appearances. Holaday has thrown out 30.2 of attempted base thieves over the past three seasons, though he rates as a well below-average framing catcher, per Baseball Prospectus.

Indians Claim Michael Martinez, Designate Tyler Olson

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The Indians have claimed utilityman Michael Martinez off waivers from the Red Sox, per a team announcement. To clear a 40-man roster spot, the Indians designated lefty Tyler Olson for assignment.

Boston had actually added Martinez from Cleveland not long ago, and now sends him back. The 33-year-old switch-hitter has just 70 MLB plate appearances on the year, over which he carries a .273/.304/.364 batting line.

That doesn’t sound like much production, and it isn’t, but it actually stands quite a bit higher than Martinez’s career .515 OPS in 542 plate appearances. He has continued to draw interest from organizations, though, because of his defensive versatility. Martinez has lined up at every position except for first, pitcher, and catcher.

Olson, 26, was himself a recent waiver mover, with the Indians representing his third team on the year. He has reached the majors, but has received only minimal time there. Over his 95 1/3 career Triple-A innings, Olson has pitched to a 4.81 ERA with 7.7 K/9 against 3.0 B/9.

AL East Notes: Moncada, A-Rod, Yankees, Rays, Sanchez

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Top Red Sox prospect Yoan Moncada may not quite be ready to follow Andrew Benintendi to the majors, but GM Mike Hazen says he is playing his way into the team’s near-term plans, as Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. Moncada’s big numbers at Double-A have prompted a move to third base, where he could play at the big league level in relatively short order. Hazen analogized the situation to that of Mookie Betts, who also shifted off of second base — in his case, to the outfield — because he was ready to play but was blocked by stalwart Dustin Pedroia. As for timing of a big league promotion, Hazen declined to offer an opinion, but did note that Moncada has had a very different path to this point than did Benintendi. Also, as Mastrodonato notes, he needs to polish his hitting approach and refine his mechanics from both sides of the plate.

A bit more from the AL East…

  • The Yankees have no plans to release Alex Rodriguez, general manager Brian Cashman said in a recent ESPN Radio appearance (transcript via the Post’s George A. King III). Cashman acknowledged that some of Rodriguez’s at-bats will go to other players, but injuries or matchups could get Rodriguez additional looks down the stretch. The contract of Rodriguez, which calls for him to earn another $27MM through next season, is a factor, Cashman admitted: “First and foremost, you just have to admit it’s not easy to go ahead and eat — meaning release — that kind of money. It’s not something you come to a quick decision on. There are players around the game with big contracts, well-below-average players, for many years, not just a year. Alex hit 33 home runs, I believe, last year. … If we choose to do something, that’s our right at any time, but right now that’s not being done.”
  • Cashman appeared on yesterday’s Baseball Tonight podcast with ESPN’s Buster Olney (audio link) and discussed the Yankees’ decision to act as sellers at this year’s deadline as well as the prospects he picked up in trades of Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline. Cashman also said he has a list of Pirates prospects at the lower levels of their system from which he’ll select a pair of players to be named later in order to complete the Ivan Nova trade, but they’re still in the process of evaluating their options.
  • Rays infielder Brad Miller tells Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times that he was “extremely disappointed” to learn that newly acquired Matt Duffy will supplant him as the everyday shortstop upon his return from an Achilles injury. Miller considers himself a shortstop and sounds frustrated that he’ll be moved off the position for the second time in his young career. “I feel like I’ve done everything I needed to do to keep the job, and they didn’t see it that way,” he explains. “The same thing happened in Seattle.” Rays skipper Kevin Cash, though, stressed that Miller will still be an everyday player due to his bat. He’ll move over to first base until Logan Morrison’s return and then presumably see regular at-bats spread across several positions as a means of keeping his .252/.300/.484 slash line and 18 homers in the lineup.
  • Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM within the past hour (audio link) and said definitively that Aaron Sanchez won’t throw 220 innings this season. Shapiro added that GM Ross Atkins is on his way to discuss scenarios with Sanchez, manager John Gibbons and pitching coach Pete Walker at today. Said Shapiro of the innings limitation on Sanchez: “There’s no safe way to shut him down and ramp him up again. If you take that out, it’s simply do you let him start to a point where he either fatigues and mandates being shut down or he reaches some arbitrary inning amount — 190 or whatever it is — …or do we reallocate this innings in the bullpen and let him continue to contribute to this team in high-leverage situations?”

Red Sox Designate Tommy Layne, Michael Martinez

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The Red Sox have designated left-hander Tommy Layne and utilityman Michael Martinez for assignment in order to clear spots on the roster for newly acquired southpaw Fernando Abad and newly promoted outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi, as MLB.com’s Ian Browne and Tim Britton of the Providence Journal first noted (links to Twitter).

[Related: Updated Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]

Layne, 31, has a 3.77 ERA with 7.9 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 53.2 percent ground-ball rate in 28 2/3 innings out of the Boston bullpen this season. He posted fairly similar numbers in 2015, but the key difference between the two seasons is his performance against left-handed opponents. Last year, Layne was unhittable in such situations, limiting left-handed hitters to a comical .148/.248/.170 slash in 102 plate appearances. This year, though, lefties batted .259/.355/.333 against him, thus prompting the Sox to look outside the organization for an improvement, which they found by flipping hard-throwing relief prospect Pat Light to the Twins in exchange for Abad.

Martinez, meanwhile, scarcely saw playing time during his brief tenure with the Red Sox. He appeared in just four games and totaled seven plate appearances, going 1-for-6 with a walk and two strikeouts. The 33-year-old is a career .198/.244/.271 hitter in parts of six big league seasons (542 plate appearances). He has experience all over the diamond, having spent time in the outfield and at second base, third base and, to a lesser extent, shortstop.

Red Sox To Promote Andrew Benintendi

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The Red Sox are having top outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi meet the team in Seattle tomorrow, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes. The move means Benintendi will skip straight from Double-A Portland, where he’s batted .295/.357/.515 in 263 plate appearances this season, to the big leagues.

Benintendi has relatively little minor-league experience, with just 657 career plate appearances on the farm, but it sounds like the Red Sox are confident his lack of repetitions won’t be a significant hindrance. As GM of the Tigers, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski frequently moved top talents to the Majors quickly, whisking players like Justin Verlander, Andrew Miller, Rick Porcello and Jeremy Bonderman through the minors.

“Maybe,” Dombrowski had said Monday when asked whether Benintendi or fellow top prospect Yoan Moncada could join the team at some point this season. “It could be. They’re close enough that they could be. I’m not making that prediction, but they could be.”

Benintendi had been the subject of some speculation at this year’s trade deadline, but it’s unsurprising the Red Sox were apparently reluctant to move such a blue-chip player. Since the Red Sox picked him with the seventh overall selection in last year’s draft, the University of Arkansas product has rocketed through the Sox’ system, posting a .312/.392/.540 career line in four minor-league stops.

MLB.com currently rates Benintendi the second-best Red Sox prospect (behind only Moncada) and the game’s seventh-best overall prospect, praising him for his left-handed swing, plate discipline and all-around offensive game and noting that he could eventually hit .300 with 20 homers per season. (Heading into the season, Baseball America rated Benintendi the game’s No. 15 prospect.) Benintendi is a bit small, at 5’10 and 170 pounds, but there is no reason to think he can’t be an excellent big-league hitter.

It’s unclear how Benintendi will fit into the Red Sox outfield, which already features two top young players in Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley. Benintendi, who has played mostly center field in the minors, could take over left field and free Brock Holt, who also plays infield, to play other positions. If Benintendi sticks in the big leagues, he could become eligible for arbitration after 2019 and free agency after 2022.

Relief Pitching Deadline Day Rumors

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The market for relievers is always moving on deadline day, as teams look to add pen pieces that will bolster their depth down the stretch.  Fernando Abad is off the board, having been traded to the Red Sox today.   We’ll keep tabs on the remaining relievers here:

  • The Orioles and Marlins are shopping for a low-end left-handed reliever, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Sherman feels the Braves’ Hunter Cervenka could be one such candidate, while ESPN’s Jayson Stark names Cervenka as a last-minute target for the Fish.
  • Sherman also notes that the Rangers are among the teams looking at Braves righty Jim Johnson.  The Braves have kicked around Johnson as well, tweets Marc Carig of Newsday, but nothing appears close.
  • While they are also pursuing larger targets, the Giants have perused the second tier of the relief market, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). While the top targets have perhaps mostly already been traded, San Francisco has scouted the Brewers’ strong group of relievers as well as increasingly valuable Rockies southpaw Boone Logan — though last we heard he may not be traded. Jeanmar Gomez of the Phillies is another name the Giants have checked, though he too isn’t sure to be dealt. And even as the Giants talk with the Rays on starter Matt Moore, the club has also watched right-handed swingman Erasmo Ramirez, per Crasnick.
  • The Astros are kicking around some left-handed reliever options, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links). That’s arguably the team’s biggest area of need. Some of the names mentioned include Logan and Jake McGee of the Rockies and the Brewers’ Will Smith — all of whom are at or near the remaining market for relief southpaws. It’s not immediately clear whether any are real options at this stage, as Crasnick notes that nothing has “materialized” to this point.

Chris Sale Rumors: Deadline Day

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There’s been rampant speculation on White Sox ace Chris Sale since mid-July reports that the South Siders would listen to offers on their ace. The asking price has been said to be staggering — as many as five highly regarded prospects/young MLB-ready players — but teams are of course intrigued by the possibility of adding a pitcher of Sale’s caliber that can be controlled through 2019 for about $41MM (including the remainder of this year’s salary).

We’ll house all of the day’s Sale news/rumors in this post and update as new info comes in…

  • USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the White Sox are saying they’ll hang onto both Sale and Jose Quintana, barring a late dramatic change.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post hears that the Red Sox aren’t actively discussing Sale with the White Sox (Twitter link).

Earlier Updates

  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Red Sox are pushing the hardest of any team for Sale, but there’s no indication that a trade will acutally take place.
  • The Red Sox and White Sox had some late-night talks pertaining to Sale, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (on Twitter). Nightengale adds that if Sale is moved — and that is a huge “if,” it should be noted — the Red Sox and the Dodgers are likely destinations. Jon Paul Morosi said in appearance on the MLB Network this morning that he considers the Red Sox to be the likeliest destination for Sale, though a trade is very far from a sure thing.
  • FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Red Sox have indeed talked to the White Sox on Sale recently, but Chicago is seeking “at least” four young players from Boston, including “three of [their] best.”
  • Heyman wrote this morning that the Red Sox, Rangers and Dodgers are seen as three of the most likely landing spots in the event of a trade due to the strong farm systems and bulk of MLB-ready talent that each has to offer. However, he also tweeted earlier that the Rangers and White Sox haven’t spoken about Sale recently. Notably, the Rangers have been focused on other trade options, including Jonathan Lucroy.

Red Sox Acquire Fernando Abad

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The Red Sox have struck a deal with the Twins to acquire left-handed reliever Fernando Abad in exchange for hard-throwing right-handed relief prospect Pat Light, the teams announced.

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[Related: Updated Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]

Abad, 30, joined the Twins on a minor league deal this offseason and has performed quite well with Minnesota, pitching to a 2.65 ERA with 7.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 and a 45.2 percent ground-ball rate in 34 innings of work. He’s admitted to having been bothered by a minor back issue in early July/late June, but the medicals clearly checked out in this case. That’s perhaps not surprising, as Abad never landed on the disabled list and has been used frequently by the Twins as of late, suggesting that any such troubles are behind him.

Left-handers are batting a woeful .163/.192/.265 against Abad this season, so he’ll provide manager John Farrell with a legitimate weapon against lefty bats in late-game settings. And, while he’s been markedly worse against righties, Abad has held his own against opponents that hold the platoon advantage, limiting them to a .257/.360/.351 batting line. While the OBP is a concern there, he hasn’t allowed right-handed hitters to generate much power against him. Abad is earning $1.25MM this season and is under club control through the 2017 campaign via arbitration, so he represents more than just a rental pickup for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who has now bolstered his roster with summer pickups of Aaron Hill, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Ziegler and Abad.

Light, 25, was the 37th overall pick in the 2012 draft and made his big league debut with Boston this season, tossing just 2 2/3 innings in a pair of relief appearances. Light was rocked for seven earned runs in that time but is a fairly well-regarded prospect within the Red Sox ranks, rating 10th on Baseball America’s midseason rankings and 14th on MLB.com’s same version of that list. Light’s fastball reaches triple digits on occasion and sits in the 94-98 mph range, per MLB.com’s report, and BA calls his fastball a “special” pitch. His control remains a work in progress, but MLB.com notes that the addition of an above-average splitter has helped his results take off in the minors. Light has a 2.32 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 31 innings at Triple-A this season but has also walked 17 hitters (one unintentional) in that time.

Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported that the Red Sox were getting Abad. (Twitter link). Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the Twins were receiving Light in return (via Twitter).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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