Tigers Agree To Minors Deal With Matt Den Dekker
The Tigers have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran outfielder Matt den Dekker, Evan Woodberry of MLive.com tweets. The 29-year-old den Dekker will report to Triple-A Toledo.
[Related: Updated Tigers depth chart]
den Dekker has spent time in the Majors in each of the past four seasons, logging 237 plate appearances for the Mets in 2013-14 before tallying 149 PAs on the other side of the division rivalry with the Nationals from 2015-16. In that time, he’s recorded a .236/.318/.359 batting line with seven homers and a dozen stolen bases. Capable of playing all three outfield spots, den Dekker has received positive overall grades from Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating.
As for the 2017 season, den Dekker once again opened the year in the NL East, reporting to the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans after failing to make the club out of Spring Training. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro recently reported that he’d exercised an opt-out clause after hitting .247/.280/.481 with three homers, seven doubles and a triple through 82 PAs with New Orleans.
With the return of J.D. Martinez from the disabled list, there’s one less spot in the Tigers’ Major League outfield. Both Martinez and Justin Upton are locked into the outfield corners, though center field is murkier. Mikie Mahtook has struggled at the plate all season (.184/.262/.316), while Andrew Romine has moved to center field out of necessity but cooled after a slow start (.230/.302/.391). Tyler Collins, too, is capable of playing center field but has batted just .226/.294/.323. JaCoby Jones, meanwhile, was demoted to Triple-A earlier this year and is currently hitting .250/.344/.375 in Toledo.
AL Central Notes: Infante, White Sox, Jimenez, AJax
It has been a long and winding path back to the big leagues for White Sox righty Gregory Infante, as Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago writes. After briefly making his MLB debut at 22 years of age, the now-29-year-old had bounced around the upper minors waiting for another shot. That finally came after Infante threw 13 dominant innings at Triple-A Charlotte to open the current season, earning him a ticket back to the majors. “I am very happy and glad to get this opportunity,” Infante said. “The last seven years were tough years, but I also worked a lot in the last seven to get to this point because this is where you want to be as a player.”
- That White Sox bullpen of which Infante is now a member figures to draw plenty of attention over the coming months. With a variety of interesting arms — closer David Robertson, injured setup man Nate Jones, and suddenly interesting righties Tommy Kahnle and Anthony Swarzak — on hand, the rebuilding organization could be in quite a nice selling position at the deadline. In the meantime, manager Rick Renteria tells Hayes, the organization plans to carry eight relievers — helping to spread the burden in the pen and alleviate any innings shortages from the rotation.
- Tigers reliever Joe Jimenez is expected to miss about a month with a back injury, writes John Wagner of the Toledo Blade. Jimenez, 22, has been working at Triple-A after a rough debut in the majors. Since his demotion, Jimenez has continued the dominant path he charted over the preceding four seasons, racking up 13 strikeouts against four hits and two walks over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Had that continued, he may well have been positioned to return to the bigs in relatively short order. Instead, he’ll first have to rehab the injury.
- Indians outfielder Austin Jackson appears to be progressing from his toe injury, as Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports on Twitter. The veteran is with the club today, participating in agility drills and baserunning work. It’s not clear whether he’ll require a brief rehab stint once he’s back to health, but presumably he’ll be ready for MLB duty in relatively short order once his toe is healed.
Tigers Activate J.D. Martinez From DL
10:38pm: The Tigers have now announced that Martinez has been activated and that Adduci has been placed on the 10-day DL.
10:25pm: The Tigers will get one of the most productive bats in their lineup back tonight, as they’re set to activate right fielder J.D. Martinez from the disabled list, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes. Detroit had been hoping to get Martinez a few more at-bats on a minor league rehab assignment, but an oblique injury to outfielder Jim Adduci instead forced the team’s hand a bit. Aducci will head to the 10-day DL as a corresponding roster move for Martinez’s reinstatement.
As Fenech points out, it’s been seven weeks to the day since Martinez suffered a lisfranc sprain in his right foot while making a sliding catch in Spring Training. The team originally projected an absence of five weeks, but Martinez required a bit more time to work up to running the bases and playing right field on a regular basis. He played the outfield on consecutive days during his abbreviated rehab stint, however, and is seemingly able to run the bases well enough to return to the lineup. Manager Brad Ausmus told Tigers reporters that Martinez is said to “feel fine moving around,” tough he noted that there could be “some residual soreness” in Martinez’s foot.
In Martinez, the Tigers will be getting back one of the American League’s premier sluggers across the past three seasons. Released by Houston late in Spring Training 2014, Martinez blossomed after inking a minor league deal with the Tigers. Since joining Detroit, he’s mashed at a .299/.357/.540 clip and slugged 83 home runs in 401 games. All of that has positioned him quite nicely as a free agent this coming offseason. While missing the first five weeks of the year certainly doesn’t do his free-agent stock any favors, Martinez remains a candidate to sign a contract worth more than $100MM in free agency this coming winter — a notion that would’ve been unfathomable when he initially signed with Detroit.
Of course, it remains to be seen how Martinez will perform on the defensive side of the ball in 2017. While both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating pegged Martinez as an above-average defender in right field back in 2015, those same metrics characterized him as one of baseball’s worst defenders in 2016. If there are any lingering limitations on his mobility in 2017 due to the lisfranc injury, that could understandably hamper his defensive play, which could, in turn, alter his perception on the free-agent market.
It’s also worth noting that the play of both Martinez and the Tigers will be worth monitoring as trade season approaches. The 17-16 Tigers are currently just a game out of first place in the AL Central, and assuming they remain in contention, the team could be content to keep Martinez and issue him a qualifying offer at season’s end. However, if the Tigers’ team performance begins to slip, then Martinez could find himself as a trade candidate.
Speculatively speaking, the 29-year-old could even find himself on the block if the Tigers are in the Wild Card hunt but appear long shots to take home an AL Central crown. The newly restructured collective bargaining agreement drastically reduced the compensation that teams will receive when free agents that decline a QO sign elsewhere; as such, the Tigers wouldn’t even be able to pocket a first-round pick as compensation in the event of a Martinez departure.
Though Martinez has yet to suit up for even a single game with the Tigers this season, he nonetheless landed at No. 6 on the most recent edition of MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings. If Martinez comes out of the gates strongly, that ranking could rise, as well, especially considering the struggles of several players that previously rated ahead of him (e.g. Jake Arrieta, Johnny Cueto, Masahiro Tanaka).
Heyman’s Latest: Miller, Marlins, Cole, Tigers, Agency Changes
Last August, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the Diamondbacks and Marlins were in talks regarding a possible Shelby Miller trade that was ultimately vetoed by D-backs owner Ken Kendrick. Roughly nine months later, FanRag’s Jon Heyman adds some more context to the story, noting that the two sides were in talks regarding right-handers Luis Castillo, Jose Urena and Austin Brice were all being discussed as potential pieces for Arizona to acquire, as was left-hander Dillon Peters (not necessarily all four, though Castillo and Urena were likely the centerpieces). One D-backs source tells Heyman the trade was never close, though Heyman cites others who agreed with Nightengale’s report, stating that Kendrick did indeed veto the deal when it was close to fruition. Miller, of course, remained with the D-backs and looked better in 2017 than he did in 2016 before suffering a torn UCL and undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Heyman’s weekly American League and National League Notes columns reveal a few more interesting hot stove items…
- Despite the fact that multiple reports suggest the bidding price for the Marlins is around $1.3 billion, some have suggested to Heyman that the team’s lack of revenue and significant financial commitments to Giancarlo Stanton, Wei-Yin Chen, Martin Prado and others will ultimately lower the sale price after a full financial examination. Heyman adds that despite prior reports, he’s been told that Alex Rodriguez was never actually offered a spot in the Tagg Romney/Tom Glavine group that is vying to purchase the Marlins. Whether A-Rod was made an offer or not, the key takeaway is that it appears he won’t be involved in the sale.
- Rival executives believe that Pirates ace Gerrit Cole could land on the trade market this summer, per Heyman. The former No. 1 overall pick would make for an extremely interesting addition to the summer trade market, though Bucs certainly needn’t feel compelled to trade him. Cole is controlled through the 2019 season and is earning a perfectly reasonable $3.8MM this season (though that number will spike in his second trip through arbitration this winter). Nonetheless, with two and a half years of club control left, Cole would fetch a significant haul of young talent if he were actually made available. It seems quite likely that the Bucs will listen on Andrew McCutchen and Tony Watson this summer (Watson, like Mark Melancon last year, is a pending free agent), but Cole would have the most significant value of the bunch.
- Even if a closer upgrade were available to the Tigers at the moment, they don’t have the money to make an addition (or at least wouldn’t be willing to spend it). Detroit recently demoted Francisco Rodriguez from the ninth inning in favor of Justin Wilson following a brutal start to the season for K-Rod, and their bullpen has once again been a weak spot. Heyman notes that GM Al Avila at one point made a trip to Triple-A Toledo and “read the riot act” to right-hander Bruce Rondon, who has responded by dropping 15 pounds. Rondon was once viewed as a potential closer of the future, but he’s yet to establish himself and has had issues with his conditioning and effort level.
- Heyman also reports a pair of agency changes, noting that Red Sox top prospect Rafael Devers is now a client of Rep 1 Baseball, while Dodgers top prospect Yadier Alvarez is now repped by Wasserman. Neither has made his MLB debut yet, though both are considered among the game’s top 25 to 50 prospects and could theoretically surface in the Majors within the next calendar year or so (Devers, who is already in Double-A, appears closer than Alvarez, who has just 18 innings in High-A). Both changes are now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database, which contains representation info on roughly more than 2,500 Major League and Minor League players. If you see any inaccuracies or omissions, please let us know via email: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.
Central Notes: Moncada, K-Rod/Wilson, Garrett, Kirby, Lynn
White Sox GM Rick Hahn shot down the idea that top prospect Yoan Moncada will push his way onto the MLB roster early this year, as Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago reports. All signs are pointing up for Moncada, who has tamped down on the strikeouts while showing signs of polishing up his defensive game. But that doesn’t mean the club is prepared to make an aggressive promotion. “He’s shown a fair amount of progress in each of those areas that we’ve asked of him,” said GM Rick Hahn. “That said, we want to see that over an extended period of time. It’s awfully important to not lose sight of the fact this is a 21-year-old player, one who was not playing two years ago as of right now. It’s a guy who has fewer than 325 or so plate appearances above A-ball.” Given that, says Hahn, the club won’t “rush” Moncada’s ascension.
Here’s more from the game’s central divisions:
- The Tigers have moved Francisco Rodriguez out of the closer role, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported on Twitter. He’ll be replaced, at least for the time being, by Justin Wilson. While it seems that Rodriguez could yet regain his spot in the ninth, he’ll now need to show he’s a better option than Wilson, who has been lights out thus far. Rodriguez, meanwhile, has been generating plenty of strikeouts but has also allowed 11 earned runs on 19 hits in his 11 2/3 innings.
- Though the Reds optioned lefty Amir Garrett recently, president of baseball operations Dick Williams says he expects to bring the youngster back soon (in an interview with MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM; audio link). Garrett, who just turned 25, has been rather solid in his six starts, providing 36 innings of 4.25 ERA ball. But the plan heading into the season was never to ride any of the team’s young arms too hard. “We’ve got a lot of young guys that we’re excited to see this year on the roster,” Williams explains. “And the idea was, ‘We’re going to get you up, we’re going to get you opportunities. All of you are going to see opportunities in the big leagues, and all of you are going to be back in Triple-A at some point, just for sheer numbers and innings management.'” In Garrett’s case, some upcoming off-days presented an opportunity to slow his accumulation of innings; he has never previously gone past 144 2/3 frames. “Most importantly, it gives Amir the ability to be on pace to pitch into September, which is what we want these guys to learn how to do,” said Williams.
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Brewers prospect Nathan Kirby, who missed the 2016 season due to Tommy John surgery, had another elbow operation and will miss the next eight to 12 weeks (all links to Twitter). An ulnar nerve transposition was performed after Kirby was diagnosed with ulnar neuritis. That’s obviously a disheartening blow to both Kirby and the organization, as the Brewers selected Kirby with one of their top picks back in 2015. Kirby had been touted as a potential top five pick back in 2015 but slid to the supplemental round due to injury concerns that, clearly, have manifested in his pro career.
- Cardinals righty Lance Lynn tells Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link) that he has not engaged in any long-term talks with the club. The pending free agent says he would “love to stay” in St. Louis, but it also doesn’t sound as if the organization should expect any discount. Lynn, who’ll soon turn 30, has returned from Tommy John surgery on a hot streak. Over 35 1/3 frames this year, he owns a shiny 2.04 ERA with 7.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. If he can keep up anything approaching that work, and maintain his health, Lynn ought to make for quite an appealing free agent at season’s end.
Quick Hits: Ozuna, K-Rod, JD Martinez, Darvish
New ownership would obviously lead to many changes for the Marlins, though it’s too early to speculate on what a possible sale of the team would mean for Marcell Ozuna‘s long-term future in Miami, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes as part of a reader mailbag. It seemed as if Ozuna had fallen out of favor with Jeffrey Loria two years ago, though Ozuna wasn’t dealt in the 2015-16 offseason after much speculation. Ozuna delivered a solid season in 2016 and is off to a great start this year, hitting .319/.380/.595 with nine homers in his first 129 PA. Since Ozuna isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2019 campaign, his future isn’t a pressing concern for whomever ends up running the Marlins, though an extension could be unlikely regardless since Ozuna is represented by Scott Boras. At the very least, the outfielder is lining himself up for a massive raise in his second year of arbitration eligibility after agreeing to a $3.5MM salary for 2017.
Here’s some more from around the big leagues…
- After two blown saves in as many days for Francisco Rodriguez, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told reporters (including MLB.com’s Alex Espinoza) that the team is “going to have to have a discussion” about the closer role. Rodriguez has blown four saves in 11 opportunities this season, and his ERA ballooned to 8.49 after today’s ugly performance. K-Rod has seen a marked increase in hard contact this season (36.8%, as opposed to 29.2% last year) and he has lost a mile off his fastball from last season, now averaging 88.2mph on his heater. With that being said, there may also be some bad luck involved in Rodriguez’s poor start, such as a .405 BABIP, 29.3% grounder rate and 21.1% fly ball rate that all seem destined to eventually normalize. Set-up man Justin Wilson is off a very good start and could seem like the logical candidate to take over as closer if Rodriguez is indeed demoted. Be sure to check out @CloserNews (MLBTR’s affiliate Twitter feed) for all the latest updates on ninth-inning situations from around the majors.
- In other Tigers news, Ausmus told Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press and other media that J.D. Martinez could make his season debut next weekend. The slugging outfielder has been on the DL since suffering a Lisfranc sprain in Spring Training, and the Tigers announced today that Martinez will take the next step his minor league rehab process by moving from Class-A to Triple-A on Monday.
- The Rangers dropped to 13-19 after today’s loss to the Mariners, and if Texas can’t turn things around, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron opines that Yu Darvish could be a major trade chip at the deadline. Darvish is only under contract through this season, though as Cameron notes, other rental starters dealt in recent years have still merited big returns, so the Rangers could look for something like the package the Tigers obtained from the Blue Jays for David Price in 2015. The Yankees and Cubs are best-equipped to afford this outlay of young talent (though it remains to be seen if Chicago will make another big deadline splash), with other teams like the Rockies, Astros and Red Sox also possible fits as trade partners.
Tigers Release James Loney
The Tigers have released first baseman James Loney, as announced by the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Toledo (hat tip to John Wagner of the Toledo Blade). The move was made to create a roster spot for JaCoby Jones, who was assigned to Triple-A after his Tigers DL stint ended.
The news makes for an unfortunate birthday present for Loney, who turns 33 years old today. The veteran signed a minor league deal with Detroit on April 12 after being released from another minors deal with the Rangers near the end of Spring Training. Heading into today’s action, Loney had hit .200/.351/.222 over 57 plate appearances for Toledo.
After spending his first 10 seasons with the Dodgers and Rays, Loney has bounced around with four different organizations (Padres, Mets, Rangers, Tigers) since being released by Tampa Bay in April 2016. He did score quite a bit of playing time for New York last season, hitting .265/.307/.397 over 366 PA as a replacement for the injured Lucas Duda.
Given Loney’s experience and left-handed bat, he seems like a good bet to catch on with another team as minor league depth. He owns a career .295/.349/.431 slash line against right-handed pitching, and while his once outstanding first base defense has declined in recent years (as per UZR/150 and Defensive Runs Saved), Loney can still provide at least average glovework.
Detroit, of course, has no pressing need at first base on the MLB level with Miguel Cabrera locking down the position. Alex Avila, Andrew Romine and Jim Adduci can play the position as backups, and youngster John Hicks (since demoted to Triple-A) hit quite well filling in for Cabrera during a recent DL stint.
AL Notes: Fister, Twins, Girardi, Red Sox, Tigers
The Twins and free agent right-hander Doug Fister had discussions “many, many, many weeks ago,” but there hasn’t been any recent talk between the two sides, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link). Minnesota has played surprisingly well this year (15-13, plus-3 run differential), but it will probably have to add to its rotation in order to have any chance to hang around the playoff race. While it’s possible the 33-year-old Fister could provide a back-of-the-rotation upgrade over the likes of Adalberto Mejia, Nick Tepesch and the just-optioned Kyle Gibson, he hasn’t exactly been stellar lately. After effectively using his pitch-to-contact style to serve as a quality starter in Seattle, Detroit and Washington from 2010-14, Fister came back to earth with the Astros and Nationals over the past two years. In 283 1/3 innings, he logged a 4.48 ERA and a 4.68 FIP.
More from the American League:
- Yankees manager and Illinois native Joe Girardi had a chance to leave the Bombers to manage the Cubs in 2012, and GM Brian Cashman was prepared to help the skipper land the job, details Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com. Cashman told Girardi, who only had one year left on his contract at the time, “If you want to go to the Cubs, let me know.” Cashman explained his stance, telling Marchand: “My interest was in keeping him. But if the endgame is there, let me in, so I can privately prepare to replace you if I’m forced to do something like that. And you can get the most money you can get.” Girardi elected to stay put, of course, leading the then-rebuilding Cubs to hire placeholder Dale Sveum, who lasted two years before Rick Renteria took over in 2014. Renteria managed the team for just one season prior to the Joe Maddon era, which produced the Cubs’ first World Series title since 1908 last year. It’s quite possible Girardi would still be in Chicago had he left the Yankees for the Cubs in 2012, so his decision to remain in New York has had a profound effect on him, Maddon and both franchises (and arguably Tampa Bay, Maddon’s previous employer).
- Third base has been a black hole this year for the Red Sox, whose hot corner options have hit an AL-worst .245/.291/.340. Nevertheless, it’s too soon to do anything drastic about the position, opines Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com. Thanks to their desire to stay under the luxury-tax threshold, the Red Sox are limited in how much money they can take on for an upgrade at third, notes Drellich, who adds that they should save any prospect trade chips to address a potentially shaky rotation. As such, Boston’s best course of action for now is to wait for the the injured tandem of Pablo Sandoval and Brock Holt to return, Drellich argues.
- Although Tigers closer Francisco Rodriguez suffered both his third blown save and loss of the year Saturday, the team isn’t ready to remove him from the role, according to manager Brad Ausmus (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com). “We haven’t had any discussions about using anyone else other than Frankie,” Ausmus said. “Until we decide otherwise, he’s going to be the closer.” The 35-year-old Rodriguez allowed two earned runs in an 8-7 defeat to the Athletics, and has only racked up five scoreless appearances in 12 tries this season. Across 11 1/3 innings, Rodriguez has given up eight earned runs on 17 hits and four walks.
AL Central Notes: Kennedy, Martinez, Moncada
The Royals announced that right-hander Ian Kennedy has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a strained right hamstring. Kennedy exited last night’s game due to the injury, and while there’d been some optimism that he may not need to miss a turn in the rotation, it now appears that he’ll miss at least his next two starts. That’s an unfortunate development for the 32-year-old and for the Royals, as Kennedy has been strong through his first six appearances in 2017. The right-hander, who can opt out of the remaining three years and $43MM on his contract at season’s end, has a 3.03 ERA with 7.8 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 38.9 percent ground-ball rate through 35 2/3 innings this year. It’s not yet known exactly how much time Kennedy will miss, but any lingering injury issue would only add to the widespread expectation that he’ll forgo his opt-out provision at the end of the season. Fellow righty Miguel Almonte was recalled from Double-A to take Kennedy’s roster spot.
More from the AL Central…
- The Tigers announced on Friday that J.D. Martinez will begin a rehab assignment at Class-A Lakeland this weekend. The slugging right fielder has yet to play in the Majors this season due to a lisfranc sprain in his right foot. While Detroit initially projected an absence of three to five weeks, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press noted just yesterday that the five-week mark had passed without Martinez embarking on a rehab stint. Per Fenech, Martinez has been serving as a designated hitter in Spring Training games without really running the bases, so he’s at least been getting in some work at the plate. Martinez, though, will still need to prove that he can run the bases and handle right field on a regular basis in order to be activated.
- Yoan Moncada is off to a monstrous start in the Triple-A International League, hitting .340/.413/.536 with five home runs, two doubles, a triple and six steals through his first 109 plate appearances. However, the White Sox don’t seem to be in a rush to promote him to the Majors, writes CSN Chicago’s JJ Stankevitz. Despite their hot start, the Sox plan to remain patient with Moncada, as the organization wants him to stick in the Majors from the day he’s first called up to Chicago. “The fact is he does remain a 22-year-old that coming into the year had fewer than 200 plate appearances above A ball,” GM Rick Hahn tells Stankevitz. “His development is by no means complete at the minor league level but he certainly is making a great deal of progress and we’re thrilled with where he’s at.”
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/4/17
We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post…
- The Brewers announced today that they’ve traded minor league outfielder Victor Roache to the Dodgers in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. A former first-round pick (28th overall, 2012), the now-25-year-old Roache has yet to ascend beyond the Double-A level in his minor league career. Roache has appeared with Double-A Biloxi in each of the past three seasons but mustered a timid .234/.313/.391 batting line in that time. The Georgia Southern product was off to a woeful .176/.238/.230 start through his first 80 plate appearances prior to today’s trade. Baseball America’s most recent scouting report on him (No. 24 in the Brewers’ system in the 2015-16 offseason) praised his strong power skills but also noted his lack of discipline and defensive limitations.
- Another former Brewers first-rounder, southpaw Jed Bradley, has decided to retire, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). He’d been pitching for the Orioles‘ Double-A affiliate. Tabbed with the 15th overall pick back in 2011, Bradley was touted as one of the game’s best overall pitching prospects in the year or two following the ’11 draft, but his stock tumbled considerably, in part due to injuries. The former Georgia Tech star did make his Major League debut last season, tossing seven innings for the Braves.
Earlier Moves
- The Tigers have sold the contract of righty Jake Brigham to Korea’s Nexen Heroes, per a club announcement. Brigham, 29, is a former sixth rounder who reached the majors in 2015 with the Braves. But he struggled in that stint and hasn’t been back since. Brigham had not yet appeared with the Detroit organization since signing a minors pact over the winter. Last year, he pitched in Japan, throwing 34 1/3 innings of 5.24 ERA ball with 7.1 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9.