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Red Sox Acquire Alejandro De Aza

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TODAY: Boston will pay around $1MM of De Aza’s remaining salary, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal report on Twitter. That’s no small amount, of course, but it does mean that Baltimore retains most of the financial burden going forward.

YESTERDAY: The Red Sox on Wednesday bolstered their outfield depth by acquiring an experienced corner option from the Orioles in the form of Alejandro De Aza, Baltimore announced. The O’s will send cash considerations to the Sox along with De Aza in exchange for Double-A right-hander Joe Gunkel. In order to accommodate De Aza on their 40-man roster, the Red Sox have transferred righty Brandon Workman to the 60-day DL, the club announced.

Alejandro De Aza

De Aza, added by the O’s at last year’s trade deadline, is owed $5MM this season, of which about $3.39MM remains. He’s a somewhat curious add for a Red Sox club that is already flush with outfield options and recently picked up fellow lefty-swinging corner outfielder Carlos Peguero in a trade with the Rangers. Boston also has Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez and Rusney Castillo on the roster as its starting trio in the outfield, with veterans Daniel Nava and Shane Victorino on the DL. (One would think that Peguero’s spot could eventually be in jeopardy when one of those veterans is nearing a return.)

The 31-year-old De Aza owns a meager .214/.277/.359 triple-slash in his 112 plate appearances thus far. But his track record is better; over the 2012-14 seasons, De Aza owns an exactly-league-average 100 OPS+ (and, if you prefer, a 100 wRC+). With average offensive production and strong defense, that has made him a solidly regular in the corner outfield.

As I noted when he was designated, the Orioles had ample reason to strike a deal to save what money they could. With more than five years of service, De Aza would have been eligible to reject an outright assignment (assuming he cleared waivers) and thereby become a free agent without sacrificing his rather significant guaranteed salary.

Gunkel is a 23-year-old who was pitching at Double-A in the Boston organization. He rated as Boston’s 26th-best prospect entering the year, per Baseball America, which says that he profiles as a reliever in the long run. Over 18 1/3 innings this year, he’s allowed eight earned runs with 22 strikeouts against eight walks.

That seems like a decent get for the O’s, though we’ll need to learn how much money has changed hands before really evaluating the deal.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the trade (on Twitter).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dana Eveland Opts Out Of Red Sox Contract

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Left-hander Dana Eveland has opted out of his minor league contract with the Red Sox, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The Page Odle/PSI Sports Management client is now a free agent.

The 31-year-old Eveland returned to Major League Baseball last season after spending the 2013 campaign pitching for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. His return to MLB was a successful one, as he made 30 appearances with the Mets and worked to a 2.63 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 27 1/3 innings. Despite that solid performance, Eveland settled for a minor league contract this past offseason. He’s pitched quite well in 23 1/3 innings at Triple-A Pawtucket this season, compiling a 1.54 ERA with 20 strikeouts and three walks.

Eveland’s big league track record is spotty, but he’s performed well in his past three stints between the Mets, Dodgers and Orioles. As I noted at the time of his signing with Boston, Eveland replaced his four-seamer with a two-seam fastball and more sliders than ever last season, and the results were positive. Given his recent success, Eveland seems likely to find another minor league deal with a clearer path to the Majors, or perhaps a more lucrative gig overseas, if he’s open to pitching in Asia for a second time.

AL East Notes: De Aza, Tanaka, Schultz, Rays

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The Red Sox swung a trade today to acquire Alejandro De Aza from the division-rival Orioles after Baltimore had designated him for assignment, and manager John Farrell explained to Joe Castiglione on the Red Sox Pregame Radio Show the thinking that went into the move. Via WEEI’s Rob Bradford, Farrell explained: “…with Daniel Nava being down, De Aza has been in that role a little bit in Baltimore where he has come off the bench. He’€™s been a little bit of a platoon player. I’€™m not saying De Aza is going to come in here and platoon in left with Hanley. But at the same time we’€™ve got a veteran, a guy who can run, a guy that can play all three outfield positions.” It remains to be seen whether or not De Aza will be a long-term piece for the Sox, but the fact that they surrendered a prospect of any kind of note — righty Joe Gunkel was the team’s No. 26 prospect this offseason, per Baseball America — seems to suggest they’re not looking at him as a mere short-term play.

Elsewhere in the AL East…

  • Masahiro Tanaka made a dominant return to the Yankees today, holding the Mariners to a run on three hits and no walks with nine strikeouts in seven innings. As George A. King III of the New York Post wrote last night, however, Tanaka will have a difficult time eliminating the specter of a possible injury that hangs around his head. King writes that the Yankees will have to hope that Tanaka can outperform the struggling CC Sabathia and inconsistent Nathan Eovaldi, because the team’s need for a starter in the event of a Tanaka injury is significant. King spoke to an NL scout who said that Tanaka looked like a No. 3 starter earlier this year, though clearly, the results from this afternoon’s start are highly encouraging for the Yankees.
  • Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star chronicles the unlikely journeys taken by right-hander Bo Schultz and first baseman/outfielder Chris Colabello to the Majors. Colabello’s story has received its share of fanfare — and rightfully so, as the longtime independent league star is an admirable picture of perseverance — but Schultz’s tale may be even more improbable. Schultz attended Northwestern University to study journalism, but he made the baseball team as a walk-on outfielder. Schultz received little playing time and quit after his freshman year, but he returned his junior year when there was a need for pitchers and his teammates recalled Schultz’s strong arm. Schultz went undrafted but signed a minor league deal with the A’s, who converted him to a submarine delivery that never panned out. A brief stint with the D-Backs didn’t take, and he’s now trying for the second time to stick in the bigs, this time with Toronto. This brief synopsis leaves out a good bit of detail, so those who are interested will want to check out the piece in its entirety.
  • Despite frequently being forced to trade away top-tier pitching due to financial constraints, the Rays continually boast one of baseball’s best pitching staffs, writes Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports. Brown looks at the manner in which each member of Tampa’s core group of starters was acquired, noting that the club is adept at identifying replacements, but that the culture of the clubhouse is important in maintaining that excellence as well. Chris Archer spoke to Brown about all that he learned from David Price and James Shields before their trades, adding that he and Alex Cobb are among the pitchers who now try to mentor and pass that wisdom onto younger arms.

Red Sox Notes: Henry, Cherington, Farrell, Ortiz

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Red Sox owner John Henry had a number of interesting comments yesterday, as he addressed his ballclub’s struggles. He noted, first of all, that GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell are not at risk of losing their jobs, as Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe tweets.

Here’s more from the Boston owner and other notes from the team:

  • The Red Sox seem as an organization to have identified some problems in their recent moves, but it’s not yet clear that they have a new, positive vision, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald suggests in his piece on Henry. Addressing last year’s increasingly questionable series of transactions (running from the trade deadline through the winter), Henry acknowledged that it is not to soon to wonder whether the right calls had been made. “At this point, you can question that, and you should, we should question that,” Henry said. “They’re going to have to prove it on the field that we made the right decisions, and they’ll prove us right or they’ll prove us wrong.”
  • Looking further into Henry’s comments, Lauber’s colleague John Tomase writes that the Red Sox seem to be late in responding to some significant developments league-wide — particularly, the expanding strike zone and increasing availability of power relief arms. “The way you win games in 2003 is different from the way you win games in 2015,” Henry said. “And we have to make those adjustments as an organization. … The strike zone is larger than it used to be, so you can’t be as patient as you used to. The game of baseball has changed a lot. The standings reflect that.” The trouble, says Tomase, is that adapting will require a fairly drastic shift in the approach of numerous key hitters — along with longer-timeline changes in organizational thinking.
  • DH David Ortiz says he still does not have set plans on when he’d like to retire, Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com reports. Of course, that question has been asked with somewhat greater urgency given that the seemingly-ageless (but actually 39-year-old) slugger is off to a rough .224/.308/.379 start to the year. Ortiz dismissed those concerns with typical wit and wisdom. “A lot of people looked at me like that [six] years ago, and here I am still,” he said. “I don’t have no timetable for [retirement]. I don’t think anybody has it, either. If it happens, who cares, man, I’m just another player that comes in and comes out. Everybody’s time is up at some point. I don’t think that’s my problem, though. I’ll keep on trying like I normally do.”

Red Sox Notes: Offseason, Farrell, HanRam

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With a 22-29 record on the books, the Red Sox may already have cause to regret several recent decisions, writes Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. Whether or not the team is better set up for the long term, he says, adding Wade Miley, Justin Masterson, and Joe Kelly (as opposed to, say, keeping John Lackey and acquiring Jeff Samardzija) has not paid off in the short run. Likewise, the signings of Hanley Ramirez (who has not adapted well to the outfield) and Pablo Sandoval (who owns a .688 OPS) have not paid the dividends hoped for when the club allocated $183MM between the two veterans.

Here’s more from Boston:

  • Dealing with the on-field problems is not just a baseball question, explains Rob Bradford of WEEI.com. It’s imperative for the bottom line that the club do what it can to stay in contention, which is made plausible by the fact that the rest of the divisions has been mired in mediocrity. The risk of another long season out of the race, says Bradford, is an apathetic fan base that could lose patience with the organization.
  • Boston’s struggles have put manager John Farrell’s job at risk, says Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe, even if they aren’t really his fault. The club is nearing a point where some drastic change is needed, says Gasper, and the “even-keeled and cerebral” Farrell may need to engineer a quick turnaround to keep his position. Gasper observes that, while the club’s less-than-powerful offense can hope for better luck given its league-low .269 BABIP, it has also produced a league-worst 21.1% soft contact rate (per Fangraphs).
  • As if trouble on offense and in the rotation were not enough, the Globe’s Alex Speier discusses the team’s sub-par overall efforts on defense. Errors have not generally been a big problem on the whole, but advanced metrics view the Sox as one of the league’s worst defensive units. The biggest problem, says Speier, is that Ramirez has been the league’s single worst fielder by a significant margin. Remarkably, Ramirez has cost the club about one quarter of a run per game thus far, and Speier observes that there are no ready solutions (other than continuing to work toward and hope for improvement) given Boston’s current roster alignment.
  • In an interview with Toucher & Rich of CBS Boston (audio link), Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe explains that Farrell is not the main issue with the Red Sox. The skipper has done what he can with the roster, says Abraham, who goes on to argue that Ramirez can’t just be shifted to first base — which might create even greater problems. Nevertheless, with the AL East underperforming, Abraham says there is reason to believe the club can stay in the hunt.

Cafardo’s Latest: Yankees, Leake, Craig, BoSox

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While all five AL East teams have clear roster needs, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe observes that the division is so closely-packed (and overall mediocre) through two months that one team could break away from the pack simply by getting healthy and playing up to expectations, rather than by making a big trade or two.  Here are some hot stove items from Cafardo’s latest Sunday Notes column…

  • “I don’t see us making a major acquisition for a pitcher [at this time] but I’m not going to say I wouldn’t do it,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said.  As Cafardo notes, the returns of Masahiro Tanaka and Ivan Nova could bolster the rotation, and prospect Luis Severino could also provide some late-season help.
  • Reds right-hander Mike Leake is considered by one AL scout to be able to “pitch in either league with no problem” and at the trade deadline, “there might be more action on him than any pitcher out there.”  The Reds could be looking to deal the free agent-to-be since they didn’t discuss an extension with him during the offseason.
  • Leake’s trade value may be improved by the fact that teammate Johnny Cueto and the Athletics’ Scott Kazmir (two more pending free agents) have recently been dealing with elbow and shoulder problems, respectively.  Teams will need to see a few healthy outings from both pitchers before their trade interest can be rejuvenated.
  • The Dodgers were scouting the Red Sox during their series with the Twins last week.  Cafardo notes that L.A. is looking for relief help.
  • With Matt Adams gone for possibly the entire season and the Cardinals in need of first base help, Cafardo opines that Allen Craig could be a possible trade fit.  Craig’s contract, of course, is a major obstacle, not to mention the fact that St. Louis felt comfortable dealing Craig away last summer.  Craig is hitting well at Triple-A but Cafardo writes that it might take “another two weeks of good hitting” for Craig to earn a call-up back to the Red Sox.
  • With Trevor Plouffe playing well as the Twins’ regular third baseman, Cafardo wonders if Minnesota would consider a position change for star prospect Miguel Sano.  There has already been a lot of speculation that Sano might be not be able to handle playing third over the long term, though Plouffe is also not a great defensive option.  Of greater concern for the Twins right now is Sano’s recovery from Tommy John surgery, and the early results are pretty good, as Sano is hitting .247/.346/.488 over 191 Double-A plate appearances.

AL East Notes: Red Sox, Buchholz, Rays

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Didi Gregorius inherited Derek Jeter’s position, but so far it appears that he has not inherited his defensive intuition, Billy Witz of the New York Times writes.  Yankees manager Joe Girardi has said repeatedly that Gregorius is trying to do too much on the field, but Witz isn’t sure if instinctiveness is a trait that can be learned.  Here’s more from the AL East..

  • The Red Sox have a strong farm system despite a history of spotty selections in the draft, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes.  Prior to this season, the Red Sox’s system was ranked No. 2 by MLB.com and Baseball America, fifth by ESPN, and sixth by Baseball Prospectus. That lofty status was achieved in spite of the fact that their most successful first-round pick since Clay Buchholz was Daniel Bard in 2006.  There may not be a Bryce Harper or Mike Trout in the bunch, but there’s still plenty of talent there, Mastrodonato writes.  Boston holds the No. 7 overall pick in the upcoming draft.
  • Peter Gammons of Daily Gammons looked at some potential draft choices for the Red Sox. Unfortunately for Boston, this is a draft that does not have high profile college players and is regarded as a deep class rather than one loaded with future superstars at the top.  Gammons notes that Boston has spent a lot of time on University of Arkansas center fielder Andrew Benintendi and he could be a consideration for them at No. 7.
  • As May draws to a close, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times decided to look back at how new Rays baseball operations president Matt Silverman fared this offseason.  Topkin starts off by checking in on Ben Zobrist, who was traded as he was entering his final year before free agency.  Zobrist is expected to fill a role similar to the one he played in Tampa Bay now that he has returned from the DL, but the Rays felt that it was more important to get a package that helped them in the present and future.   Topkin also looks back at the trade of Jeremy Hellickson to the Diamondbacks and notes that he wasn’t worth $4.275MM given the Rays’ starting pitching depth.  If either infielder Andrew Velasquez or outfielder Justin Williams – the prospects received for Hellickson – make the majors, then it’s probably a bonus for Tampa Bay.

Red Sox Re-Sign Jeff Bianchi

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The Red Sox have re-signed infielder Jeff Bianchi, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).  Just yesterday, Bianchi rejected an outright assignment from Boston after clearing waivers.

Bianchi’s cup of coffee in the big time with Boston will last at least a little big longer this year.  He’s performed well at Triple-A, amassing a .302/.373/.340 slash line in 61 plate appearances.  From 2012 through 2014, Bianchi saw time in a combined 162 games for the Brewers.  In that span he posted a below average batting line of  .216/.251/.283.

To make room on the roster, left-hander Robbie Ross has been optioned to the minors.

Quick Hits: Greene, Jones, Drew, Rodriguez, Davis

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Tigers starter Shane Greene was never a highly touted prospect or big bonus guy, writes Eno Sarris of ESPN (Insider required). However, Greene’s path to the majors is an interesting story of perseverance. Greene’s father arranged a showcase for Yankee scout Jeff Deardorff. After a strong sandlot performance, the scout invited him to Tampa to throw to hitters. A week later, he was drafted by the Yankees in the 15th round. That’s the story from a high level, but it’s the details that make it interesting. The article is definitely worth a read if you have Insider access.

Here’s more from around the league to round out your Saturday evening:

  • The Yankees acquired first baseman Garrett Jones over the winter to serve as depth for oft-injured sluggers like Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. However, the aging stars have remained healthy so playing time has been scarce for Jones. With the Cardinals in need of a platoon bat to share time with Mark Reynolds, there is some pressure to trade Jones. However, Sherman wonders if the Yankees lineup could survive a Teixeira injury. Would Rodriguez also land on the disabled list if he was forced onto the field? Could Jose Pirela or Stephen Drew cover third if Chase Headley shifts to first. These are questions that GM Brian Cashman must answer before dealing Jones.
  • The Yankees have stuck with Drew despite an abysmal performance, writes Chad Jennings of LoHud. He has hit just .158/.226/.303. He continues to start despite the presence of prospect Jose Pirela on the active roster and Rob Refsnyder at Triple-A. Jennings offers five theories as to why Drew continues to play. In my opinion, they just want to get a full evaluation of Drew before deciding on Plan B.
  • The Red Sox haven’t developed a reliable pitching prospect since they called up Clay Buchholz in 2007, writes Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald. Bostonians hope that Eduardo Rodriguez is the first example in a reversal of that trend. Rodriguez dominated in his debut. He threw seven-and-two-thirds innings with seven strikeouts, two walks, three hits, and no runs. The club will temporarily use a six-man rotation to give Rodriguez a second audition. It’s not hard to imagine him taking the place of Wade Miley, Rick Porcello, or Joe Kelly if they continue to struggle.
  • Brewers outfielder Khris Davis has torn the meniscus in his right-knee, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He’ll undergo surgery on Tuesday. Davis is hitting .252/.339/.449 in 168 plate appearances. While no timetable has been announced, past meniscus surgeries have required six to eight weeks of recovery – sometimes more if there are other complicating factors. The Milwaukee lineup has been plagued by various injuries this season, only Adam Lind has been available every day.

Minor Moves: Barfield, Bianchi, Frandsen

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Here are the day’s minor moves:

  • The Sugar Land Skeeters of the independent Atlantic League have signed former A’s prospect Jeremy Barfield, tweets Brian McTaggart of MLB.com. Barfield, the son of former major leaguer Jesse Barfield and brother of Josh Barfield, spent parts of four seasons with the Athletics’ Double-A affiliate and reached as high as Triple-A. The 26-year-old is a career .261/.334/.402 hitter in the minors.
  • Infielder Jeff Bianchi has rejected an outright assignment from the Red Sox after clearing waivers, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal tweets. He is now a free agent. Bianchi enjoyed a proverbial cup of coffee with Boston this year, but spent most of his time in the organization compiling a useful .302/.373/.340 slash at Triple-A. He has seen more extensive time with the Brewers in the past.
  • The Diamondbacks have released veteran utility infielder Kevin Frandsen, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports on Twitter. Frandsen, 33, owns a .309/.352/.333 slash over 89 plate appearances for Triple-A Reno. He spent last year with the Nationals, contributing only a .259/.299/.309 batting line in his 236 plate appearances. Since a strong year for the Phillies in 2012, Frandsen — who mostly plays at second and third — has been at or below replacement level.
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