The Astros announced today that infielder Yulieski Gurriel has been promoted to Double-A Corpus Christi and will join that affiliate tomorrow. Since signing a five-year, $47.5MM contract with Houston last month, Gurriel has played six games between Houston’s Gulf Coast League and Class-A Advanced affiliates, going 8-for-21 with a homer, three doubles and five strikeouts. MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart tweets that Double-A is expected to be Gurriel’s final stop before arriving in the Major Leagues. It’s not entirely clear what type of alignment the Astros will utilize to work the 32-year-old Cuban star into the lineup, but Alex Bregman’s struggles upon his first taste of the Majors may have made it easier for manager A.J. Hinch to work Gurriel into the mix.
Astros Rumors
Colby Rasmus To DL With Right Ear Cyst
- The Astros have sent outfielder Colby Rasmus to the DL because of a cyst in his right ear and recalled Tony Kemp from Triple-A Fresno, per Angel Verdejo Jr. of the Houston Chronicle (updated depth chart). Rasmus, who has tumbled backward since a sizzling start and is currently amid a 3-for-66 slump since July 2, has batted a woeful .211/.286/.352 with 12 home runs in 368 plate appearances. He hit a much better .238/.314/.475 with 28 HRs across 485 trips to the dish last year, leading the Astros to extend him a $15.8MM qualifying offer in the offseason. Rasmus accepted that offer, but it’s fair to say Houston won’t tender him another QO (if they’re still around in the next collective bargaining agreement) during the upcoming winter.
Astros Place Lance McCullers Jr. On 15-Day DL
As seemed likely after he departed last night’s game with elbow soreness, Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. was placed on the 15-day DL today. Rookie Joe Musgrove will take his rotation spot, which at least does afford the club an opportunity to give him a reasonable look. That’s rather a dull silver lining, though, as McCullers has arguably been Houston’s best pitcher this year when healthy and remains a critical element of the team’s hopes this year and in the future. McCullers says that he’ll wait at least two weeks before being checked up on, at which point he could resume throwing — if he’s deemed ready. (Via Brian Smith of the Houston Chronicle, on Twitter.)
[Related: Updated Astros Depth Chart]
McCullers Exits With Elbow Discomfort
Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. left his start last night with right elbow discomfort, the team announced. He’ll be looked at more closely today, but that’s certainly not the news the club was hoping for right after the non-waiver trade deadline. Houston had been rumored to be pursuing starters but instead parted with one depth option by trading veteran right-hander Scott Feldman to the Blue Jays. Shoulder problems delayed his start to the year, but McCullers has been quite effective when healthy, working to a 3.22 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 over 81 frames out of the Houston rotation this year. Rookie right-hander Joe Musgrove finished off the game in dominant fashion, tossing 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball and fanning eight in the process. He could step into McCullers’ rotation spot if a need arises.
Injury Notes: Salazar, Cabrera, Gregerson, Teheran, Rosenthal, Hochevar
A trio of notable players just hit the 15-day DL, so we’ll cover them all right here:
- The Indians announced that they have placed righty Danny Salazar on the 15-day DL while he rests his prized right elbow. Fortunately, an MRI seems only to have revealed inflammation, so the hope is that Salazar won’t miss an extended period of time. And Cleveland has plenty of rotation depth on hand, including Cody Anderson and Mike Clevinger, with the latter getting the nod for the time being. Still even a relatively brief absence will have an impact; Salazar has been nothing short of outstanding, and the AL Central-leading club holding a four-game cushion in the division race.
- After already recently placing infielder Jose Reyes on the shelf, the Mets have now done the same with shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. He suffered a strained patellar tendon and is headed for an MRI. The team also added just-signed outfielder Justin Ruggiano to the 15-day ranks. Cabrera’s loss is notable for an organization that was already scrambling to fill in for missing infielders. Matt Reynolds will come up for the meantime to help fill the void, but it seems there’s some real concern that the injury could require a fairly lengthy absence.
- Astros reliever Luke Gregerson is headed to the 15-day with an oblique strain, the team announced. That not only will keep him out of action for a bit, but will clear the way for Ken Giles to take over as the team’s closer with Will Harris struggling of late. Gregerson has been rather excellent this year despite himself losing the 9th-inning job previously, with ERA estimators valuing him even more highly than his 3.09 ERA.
- The Braves have added righty Julio Teheran to the DL as well. He is dealing with a lat strain that isn’t believed to be serious. Atlanta will obviously want to exercise plenty of caution in handling the injury, even if it isn’t particularly worrisome, as Teheran is a key piece of the organization’s rebuilding plans and there’s no need to rush him back.
- Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal has been given platelet-rich plasma injections in his bothersome righty shoulder, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. GM John Mozeliak says that it’s possible Rosenthal Of course, St. Louis will be looking for more than just physical improvement; it’ll also hope that he can fix his skyrocketing walk rate during a rehab stint.
- As expected, Royals righty Luke Hochevar underwent a procedure today to help deal with a diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets. He is expected to be out for six months, which would conceivably mean that he’ll be ready for a full spring camp if the rehab goes according to plan. It seems likely that the Royals will decline their end of a $7MM mutual option on the reliever, which would make him a free agent, though certainly it’s possible to imagine him staying with Kansas City on some kind of creative, two-year deal of the sort that the team has reached in recent years with several injured hurlers.
Astros Acquire Yordan Alvarez For Josh Fields
- In an intriguing minor deal, the Dodgers have announced that they’ve acquired righty Josh Fields from the Astros for first baseman Yordan Alvarez. The 30-year-old Fields thrived in the Astros’ bullpen last season, with a 3.55 ERA, 3.4 BB/9 and an exceptional 11.9 K/9, but failed to get good results despite maintaining strong peripherals this season and has spent much of the year with Triple-A Fresno. The Dodgers signed the 19-year-old Alvarez for $2MM earlier this season. He played in Cuba’s Serie Nacional in 2013 and 2014 and has not yet appeared in a minor league game.
Mets Out On Lucroy; Rangers Still In Pursuit
Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy scuttled a trade to the Indians yesterday, but he’s still in play in advance of today’s trade deadline. Milwaukee has their Triple-A catcher Manny Pina up with the big league team in San Diego to prepare for a Lucroy trade, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Haudricourt further notes that Lucroy remained in Milwaukee last night, and will fly to San Diego in time for tonight’s game in the event he’s not traded. The latest:
- The Rangers are deep in talks on Lucroy, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Gallo would indeed be the centerpiece, he adds.
- The Mets are now out on Lucroy, Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweets.
- With the Rangers adding Carlos Beltran, Gallo is now more available to go in a deal for Lucroy, Haudricourt tweets.
Earlier Updates
- Meanwhile, the Mets are still working on a Lucroy deal, Marc Carig of Newsday tweets.
- Even if the trade for Jay Bruce goes through, it wouldn’t take the Mets out of the race for Lucroy, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. Milwaukee is seeking infielder Dilson Herrera in a deal, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). A package would also still include catcher Travis d’Arnaud, as has long been rumored. Perhaps that ask is what leads Jon Heyman of Fan Rag to tweet that New York’s interest is “on life support” at this time, though.
- It seems that Joey Gallo is on the table for Lucroy, as we’ve heard suggested before, but only if there’s an arm included in the deal as well, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). It’s not clear exactly what pitcher that might be, but certainly there are several relievers that could make sense, as Grant explains. The Brewers could be looking into whether a preferable deal is available involving only the backstop, Haudricourt suggests on Twitter.
- Texas and Milwaukee haven’t chatted since last night, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. He suggests it is possible that other teams could get involved, with the Astros named as a speculative possibility, though he goes on to note via Twitter that the Tigers aren’t among them. Of course, it’s also possible that the Rangers and Brewers know each others’ positions, with Milwaukee now just circling back to other organizations before making a call.
- The Rangers “keep plugging away on Lucroy,” tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. Crasnick, however, believes the Brewers may need to lower their expectations to get a deal done today. From Milwaukee’s perspective, though, that isn’t going to happen, per a Haudricourt tweet. The team would rather hold Lucroy for offseason trade market than sell him short of his value now, per the report. A lively game of chicken certainly seems to be set up for these teams today.
Blue Jays To Acquire Scott Feldman
The Blue Jays are acquiring right-hander Scott Feldman from the Astros, reports MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link). The Astros will receive minor league pitcher Lupe Chavez in return, tweets Yahoo’s Jeff Passan.
Feldman opened the season as the Astros’ fourth starter, but by the end of April was spending most of his time working as a reliever. The 33-year-old is owed about $2.75MM this year, after which he’ll be a free agent. In another move, the Jays sent Jesse Chavez to the Dodgers for Mike Bolsinger.
Latest On Rays’ Starting Pitchers
Here’s the latest on the Rays’ starting pitching trade candidates, several of whom have been discussed quite a bit in the run-up to the deadline. There’s nothing firm as of yet, but the Rays seem to be weighing offers on several arms.
- In addition to the Giants and Pirates, the Dodgers have interest in Moore, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). Other teams, too, may be after the southpaw.
- The Giants are still working on a deal involving Moore, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).
- The Dodgers remain in pursuit of Tampa Bay’s hurlers after adding Rich Hill, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets. Of course, L.A. may have less willingness to move its own young arms after giving up three in that swap.
- The Pirates are still looking at Rays starters, with lefty Matt Moore the primary target and righty Jake Odorizzi also of interest, per Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). Pittsburgh has dealt away closer Mark Melancon, but landed a strong major league relief arm in that trade and is evidently serious about upgrading its rotation now and in the future. It certainly looks to be an interesting deadline strategy from GM Neal Huntington, but it remains to be seen whether anything else will get done over the next two hours.
- Also checking in with Tampa Bay on arms are the Astros, as Chris Cotillo of SB Nation and MLB.com’s Jon Morosi have noted (Twitter links). As things stand, though, it doesn’t seem as if there’s much momentum toward any kind of agreement between the teams.
Earlier Notes
- Continuing their prior dialogue, the Rays and Dodgers are in talks on Tampa Bay’s starters, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets. While most of the Rays’ starters have been chatted about in one way or another over recent weeks, staff ace Chris Archer has been most closely tied to Los Angeles, though it’s not clear at this stage whether he’s the focus.
- The Rays and Giants are still discussing lefty Matt Moore, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). We covered that story last night — check here for details. Tampa Bay is requesting two top prospects, per Crasnick’s report.
Relief Pitching Deadline Day Rumors
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.
