West Notes: Scully, Hudson, Rockies, Bridich, Angels, M’s
Vin Scully signed off for the final time today, ending his incredible career with one final Dodgers vs. Giants matchup. All of us at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in tipping our caps to Mr. Scully, the greatest to ever call a baseball game. We wish him all the best in a very well-deserved retirement. Here’s some news from around both the NL and AL West…
- The Diamondbacks will talk to free agent reliever Daniel Hudson this winter about a possible return, GM Dave Stewart told reporters, including Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). Stewart discussed the possibility of extending Hudson last June, though also came very close to dealing the right-hander at the trade deadline. Hudson finished the year with a 5.31 ERA over 59 1/3 bullpen innings, though his solid peripherals (3.89 FIP, 4.20 xFIP, 3.92 SIERA) indicate Hudson’s ERA was inflated by his .333 BABIP and very low 61.7% strand rate.
- The Rockies were within reach of a wild card spot at the trade deadline but stood pat, ultimately faltering over the last two months of the season and finishing at 75-87. MLB.com’s Thomas Harding revisits the decision from GM Jeff Bridich to not make any moves, since while there were some good reasons (such as Trevor Story‘s season-ending injury) for Bridich to resist buying for a playoff run, it could indicate an over-reliance on Colorado’s internal talent.
- There don’t appear to be any changes forthcoming to the Angels coaching staff, manager Mike Scioscia told reporters (including MLB.com’s Austin Laymance).
- The Mariners will consider all of their free agents and club option players, GM Jerry Dipoto told reporters, though MLB.com’s Greg Johns believes “only a couple” will return to Seattle in 2017. Outfielder Seth Smith is likely to have his $7MM club option exercised, while the M’s could pass on Chris Iannetta‘s $4.25MM club option since it’s a fairly high price for a backup catcher. Of the free agents, Adam Lind will likely be let go while outfielders Nori Aoki and Franklin Gutierrez could be better fits to be re-signed.
Jered Weaver Aims To Pitch In 2017
Angels right-hander Jered Weaver won’t pitch Sunday because of a back injury, but the erstwhile ace does aim to return in 2017.
“I am definitely not retiring,” Weaver told reporters, including Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times, on Saturday (Twitter link).
Weaver, a free agent-to-be, was on the fence about continuing his career earlier this week, saying Wednesday that he wasn’t sure if he’d come back next season. Now the question is whether Weaver will remain with the Angels. The 33-year-old (he’ll turn 34 on Tuesday) has been a member of the organization since it selected him 12th overall in the 2004 draft, but the three-time All-Star isn’t the asset he once was.
The Angels signed Weaver to a five-year, $85MM extension in August 2011, when he was amid a multiyear run as a front-line starter. From 2010 – his breakout season – through 2014, Weaver exceeded 200 innings three times and combined for a sparkling 2.99 ERA, 7.61 K/9 and 2.28 BB/9 over 1,016 1/3 frames. He morphed into a back-of-the-rotation type last year and has declined further during a career-worst 2016, which he’ll finish with a 5.06 ERA, 5.21 K/9 and 2.58 BB/9 over 178 innings. Even in his heyday, Weaver was an extreme fly ball pitcher, but his 28.8 percent ground-ball rate this year is both the lowest mark of his career and the worst among major league starters. That has helped lead to a 12.7 percent home run-to-fly ball rate, another career-worst figure for Weaver.
Looking ahead to 2017, the Angels are rife with rotation questions, which could help the soft-tossing Weaver land another deal with them. Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano will likely miss all of next season after they underwent Tommy John procedures earlier this summer, while the surgery could also be in Garrett Richards‘ future. Richards has recovered well since declining to to take the Tommy John route in May, when he instead chose stem-cell therapy treatment, but a setback would bring his availability for next year into question.
If the Angels are set to move on from Weaver, there might be a market for him elsewhere. It seemingly bodes well for him that free agency won’t feature many appealing options. While Weaver’s career has gone backward in recent seasons, he still possesses one of the top track records among soon-to-be free agent starters.
Injury Notes: Pujols, Parra, Choo, Gomes, Schugel
Angels first baseman Albert Pujols won’t suit up again this year after undergoing “shockwave therapy” to treat plantar fasciitis in his right foot, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. Pujols previously dealt with that malady in his opposing foot back in 2013. Certainly, he’ll have plenty of time to rest and recover, though it’s yet another nick for a player who’ll soon turn 37. The legendary slugger continues a slow decline at the plate, though he’s still a useful hitter who has scarcely missed any time in his 16-year career. Over 650 plate appearances in 2016, Pujols posted a .268/.323/.457 slash with 31 home runs. The Halos will hope that he can at least maintain that level of productivity, as he’s slated to earn another $140MM over the next five seasons.
Here are a few more health-related notes from around the game:
- The Rockies are shutting down outfielder Gerardo Parra after he received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left ankle, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. Parra has not found success in the first of his three years under contract in Colorado, putting up a .253/.271/.399 slash (despite playing half his games at Coors Field) in 381 plate appearances. With poorly-rated defense and baserunning mixed in, Parra has been worth a remarkable -1.8 fWAR and -2.9 rWAR despite playing only a little more than half the year due to ankle problems.
- The Rangers have officially activated outfielder Shin-Soo Choo from the 15-day DL, meaning that he’s ready for game action after missing extensive time with a forearm fracture. Choo, 34, will look to lock in and show he’s healthy for the postseason, where he could provide a nice boost for Texas. Though he has been limited to 198 plate appearances thus far, Choo owns a useful .247/.369/.416 batting line.
- Indians catcher Yan Gomes, too, is back earlier than expected, as Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports (Twitter links). Expectations are that he’ll only be available for the time being to play behind the plate, as he’s still regaining strength in his wrist after suffering a fracture. Manager Terry Francona says that Gomes is able to hit, but won’t do so in game action just yet. It’s unclear whether he’ll be under consideration for a spot in the ALDS roster, but given the limitations perhaps a return for the ALCS would be more plausible — if Cleveland can advance and decides to roll the dice on a player who has missed much of the year and has failed to produce at the plate when healthy.
- There’s some promising news for Pirates righty A.J. Schugel, who won’t require surgery on his rotator cuff, as Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. Instead, he’ll rest up and rehab his inflamed shoulder over the offseason. The 27-year-old had a solid campaign before the injury arose, contributing 52 innings in 36 appearances from the Pittsburgh pen while posting 8.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.
AL West Notes: Lowrie, Angels, Zunino
Athletics infielder Jed Lowrie recognizes that there are plenty of new faces on the roster since a foot injury sidelined him for the remainder of the season back on Aug. 5, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Oakland infielder is no stranger to trades and understands that could be a possibility again, though he’s open to changing positions with the A’s if need be. “There’s always a lot of turnover there,” said Lowrie. “Whatever happens, happens.” Slusser also reports that Lowrie underwent surgery to repair a deviated septum that he wasn’t aware he had until seeing a specialist recently. While it’s not a major procedure, any ailment that significantly impacts an athlete’s sleep — and Lowrie said his sleep has been disrupted for quite some time — can obviously have a significant impact on his on-field performance.
More from the AL West…
- Any improvements made to the Angels‘ farm system in the past year have been slight, at best, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. GM Billy Eppler vowed to turn around what was the game’s worst-rated farm system when he inherited it last year, but as Fletcher notes, things are still bleak on the minor league front. However, the process of reestablishing a farm system is a lengthy one, and Eppler has made multiple changes, as Fletcher explains, focusing on higher-ceiling (but perhaps riskier) high school prospects in the draft and going over the team’s allotted draft pool by the maximum amount allowed without forfeiting a future pick. Eppler tells Fletcher he plans to spend opportunistically on next year’s international market once the Halos are out of the penalty bracket that prevents them from signing players for more than $300K. Fletcher also breaks down several changes throughout the Angels’ minor league system, including the adoption of Trackman software and an increased focus on diet and nutrition for the team’s minor leaguers.
- Mike Zunino has seen his production dip once again after a brilliant 26-game stretch upon his recall from Triple-A, but the Mariners still view him as its long-term catcher, writes Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Zunino did slug a go-ahead homer in last night’s win to help keep Seattle’s postseason hopes alive, but he’s struggled tremendously dating back to Aug. 23, hitting just .159/.266/.293 in that time. Manager Scott Servais raved about Zunino’s defense, though, and the form that the former No. 3 overall pick showed upon his return to the Majors (.280/.393/.707) created some optimism about his ability to hit in the Majors. The question for the organization this offseason, Dutton writes, won’t be one of whether they need to upgrade over Zunino but whether his backup is already in the organization or not.
AL West Notes: Richards, Fister, Choo, Vogelbach
Angels ace Garrett Richards tossed a simulated inning against live hitters on Wednesday, writes Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. The injured Halos ace reported that he felt good while warming up and while on the mound, where he threw 20 pitches, including fastballs, curveballs and sliders. Richards was diagnosed with a partial tear in his ulnar collateral ligament back in May but has been undergoing stem cell treatment in hopes to avoid Tommy John surgery, knowing that if he’d simply undergone TJ back in May, he’d have been a long shot to contribute much in 2017 anyhow. If he’s able to successfully avoid the procedure via the stem cell treatments, then Richards could conceivably contribute to the Halos for much, if not all of the 2017 campaign. Per Fletcher, he’ll head to the instructional league and make three appearances there, building up to 50 pitches before followup testing to determine whether he can have a normal offseason and be expected to pitch next year.
More from the AL West…
- Wednesday likely marked Doug Fister‘s last start as a member of the Astros, writes Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle, noting that the impending free agent’s September was a dreadful month. Houston lost each of Fister’s final seven starts, Kaplan points out, and the righty surrendered 30 earned runs across 24 innings in his final month of the year (11.74 ERA). That’s hardly the note on which any pitcher wants to end a season, especially when things had been going fairly well for him for much of the season. Fister carried an ERA in the mid-3.00s throughout the entire summer but will conclude his 2016 campaign with a 4.64 ERA in 180 1/3 innings as he looks to improve upon the one-year, $7MM pact he signed with the ‘Stros last winter.
- Rangers manager Jeff Banister said in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM earlier today (Twitter link) that Shin-Soo Choo‘s rehab has been “accelerated,” and the outfielder could join the club this weekend to get a look prior to determining postseason rosters. Choo has been sidelined since mid-August due to a fractured forearm sustained upon being hit by a pitch.
- Mariners rookie first baseman Dan Vogelbach has already begun seeking out the coaching staff to ask for extra lessons and extra work on his defense, writes Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Vogelbach, considered a bat-first prospect and labeled by some scouting reports as a future designated hitter due to his defensive limitations, candidly acknowledged to Dutton that he’s aware of how much work he needs to on his glove. “It’s definitely something I’m taking seriously, because it’s something I need to improve,” said Vogelbach, who sought out bench coach Tim Bogar for advice on his positioning and footwork. “…I’ve been doing it the wrong way for so long that now I’m making the correct muscle memory. Getting it to be a natural habit.” Vogelbach indicated that he plans to spend the offseason working on improving with the glove and, as Dutton points out, doing so could very well line him up to be Seattle’s first baseman next season, as both Adam Lind and Dae-ho Lee are free agents.
AL Notes: Kluber, Richards, Sandoval, Castellanos
As if the Indians needed another rotation injury question mark, ace Corey Kluber left yesterday’s contest with a groin strain. Fortunately, the matter does not appear to be of major concern, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports. Kluber was pulled mostly for precautionary reasons — with the division already in hand, Cleveland has little reason to push him. Instead, manager Terry Francona suggested, the aim is “to get him healthy” with the postseason beckoning.
Here’s more from the American League:
- Angels righty Garrett Richards will test his stem-cell-bolstered elbow out against live batters for the first time tomorrow, as Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. Richards is brimming with confidence in a joint that once seemed certain to cost him all of the 2017 season after already taking most of 2016. Now, he says, “I feel like I could go pitch in a game right now.” Assuming the one-inning simulated game goes well, Richards will throw two instructional league innings and begin ramping up his innings before shutting things back down for what he hopes will largely be a normal winter.
- While a postseason return to the Red Sox for Pablo Sandoval seems rather implausible, manager John Farrell said it isn’t off the table entirely in an appearance on MLB Network on Sirius XM (Twitter link). “He’s done a very good job in rehab,” Farrell said of Sandoval. “In the event of an injury he could be part of the conversation.” Turning to the 30-year-old third baseman, who has only appeared in three games this year and struggled badly ever since coming to Boston, would obviously be something of a last-ditch move. But it’s also quite promising to see that Sandoval is even drawing this kind of consideration, as it suggests that the team is optimistic in his progress — and could perhaps yet receive from value from his sizable contract.
- Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos is ready for an intrasquad game as he continues to work back from a broken bone in his hand, as MLB.com’s Kyle Beery reports. The 24-year-old may yet make it back by the end of the regular season, skipper Brad Ausmus said, which would represent a nice addition if the team is still pushing for a Wild Card spot. Castellanos has broken out this year with a .286/.331/.500 batting line and 18 home runs over 432 plate appearances, which has not only firmly planted him in the team’s plans for the coming seasons but has also set him up nicely for his first season of arbitration eligibility.
Jered Weaver Still Mulling Future
Veteran Angels right Jered Weaver suggested last night that he is still not sure whether he’ll pitch in 2017 and beyond, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports. Weaver says his focus at present is getting his back ready for one final start in the current campaign, which could be his last with the Halos as the open market beckons.
Weaver has largely been available this year for Los Angeles, turning in 31 starts, even if the results haven’t been there. And he tells Fletcher that he still feels capable of pitching at the major league level as a starter.
“I feel like I can,” said Weaver. “I feel like my body is responding to what I’ve been doing over the past year and a half, two years. I haven’t really thought about next year, to tell you the truth. I have been focused on getting through this one.”
While he may not yet have really drilled in on the question of whether he’ll carry on, the 33-year-old does seem to have given at least some thought to the process. “It’s a decision I’ll have to make in the next couple months,” he said, seemingly indicating that he won’t be rushing into any final call right at season’s end. Weaver had said that he’d sit down with the media this week to discuss his future, but Fletcher tweets that the session won’t involve any announcements of his intentions.
Weaver is currently sitting on a career-high 5.06 ERA over his 178 frames in 2016. That follows a rough 2015 season and ongoing questions about his velocity and back health. Before that, of course, Weaver was one of the league’s more reliable, top-of-the-rotation workhorses.
While the Angels and other possible suitors surely won’t look upon Weaver as much more than a back-of-the-rotation depth piece, there’s certainly reason to believe that he’d be pursued. Whether any club will promise him a rotation spot, or offer much of a guarantee, is less clear. Even as the results have improved somewhat over the second half of this year, Weaver has allowed a troubling .300/.350/.525 batting line to the last 331 hitters to dig in against him, which is actually a bit worse than his first-half numbers.
AL Notes: Liriano, Royals, Mariners
After struggling through the first four months of the season with the Pirates, lefty Francisco Liriano has enjoyed success since coming to the Blue Jays in a deadline trade, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Nicholson-Smith notes that, since the trade, Liriano has gotten opposing batters to swing at pitches outside the strike zone 35.1% of the time, up from 27.8% with the Bucs. “He’s always had one of the better arms in baseball. He’s one of those guys that can always dominate teams and he really hasn’t lost a whole lot,” says manager John Gibbons. In seven starts with Toronto, Liriano has a 3.35 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9. If he can maintain similar numbers in 2017, he’ll be more than worth his $13.7MM salary, which means that the Blue Jays will likely come out significantly ahead in the trade that brought Liriano to Toronto, in which they also received prospects Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez while giving up only righty Drew Hutchison, who hasn’t been impressive in the Pirates organization so far. Here’s more from the American League.
- In the coming offseason, the Royals will discuss how best to use righty Joakim Soria and lefty Matt Strahm, MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan writes. Soria signed a three-year deal last winter and has had an uneven first season in his return to Kansas City, posting a 4.12 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. It sounds like he’ll be back in the Royals’ bullpen next year, although the team isn’t sure in what capacity. “[W]e’re going to be very active trying to make sure our bullpen gets back to what it has been. Joakim can be a big part of it,” says GM Dayton Moore. “I know it hasn’t been the type of year that he expected.” Strahm, in contrast, has had an outstanding rookie season in the bullpen, allowing just two runs while striking out 26 batters in his first 19 big-league innings. Strahm spent part of the season as a starter at Double-A Northwest Arkansas, though, and the Royals say they’ll continue to consider him as a starter and that it isn’t guaranteed he’ll break camp with the team.
- The Mariners have announced that they’ve named Justin Hollander their director of baseball operations. The 37-year-old Hollander had previously worked with Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto with the Angels, and last year Hollander served as that organization’s director of player personnel.
Latest On Angels’ Garrett Richards
Angels right-hander Garrett Richards‘ May decision to eschew Tommy John surgery in favor of a stem-cell therapy treatment on his elbow has produced positive results thus far. Richards threw his first bullpen session since May 1 on Saturday and came away from it encouraged about his chances to make an impact in 2017, saying, “There’s no doubt in my mind I’ll be able to pitch” (Twitter link via Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register).
Richards’ next milestone is to face live hitters Oct. 1, per Fletcher, who adds that the 28-year-old will then pitch in instructional league if that goes well. Should Richards emerge from those steps unscathed, he’ll have an opportunity to help the Angels next year. That Richards has currently progressed to such a degree is remarkable, as it appeared he was headed toward Tommy John surgery after receiving word in May that he had a significant tear in his elbow. Surgery is still a possibility if Richards’ recovery hits a snag, of course, and that would substantially delay his return to a big league mound. However, had Richards chosen surgery over stem-cell therapy in the first place, he would have had difficulty coming back in 2017, anyway. By taking the route he has, Richards has given himself a chance to pitch next season.
Before succumbing to injury, Richards posted mostly stellar numbers this year, logging a 2.34 ERA, 8.8 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 in 34 2/3 innings. Over the previous two seasons, Richards started 58 games and recorded a 3.18 ERA, 8.14 K/9 and 3.09 BB/9 across 376 frames. Injuries to him and fellow starters Andrew Heaney and Nick Tropeano have helped sink the Angels this year and could damage the team’s odds of bouncing back next season.
Heaney underwent Tommy John surgery in July after first attempting an unsuccessful stem-cell treatment. Tropeano, meanwhile, required the surgery in August after tearing his UCL in July. With few contributions from those three and Tyler Skaggs, who has only thrown 48 innings this year and had his own Tommy John scare earlier this week, the Angels have stumbled to a 63-84 mark. Their record puts them last in the American League West and tied for second worst in the AL.
While Heaney and Tropeano will most most or all of next season, Richards is so far on track to return to the Angels’ rotation. Richards should be in line for an increase over his $6.425MM salary as he makes his third of four possible trips through arbitration in the offseason. Of course, a serious setback before then would leave the Angels to decide whether to tender Richards a contract for next year.
Tyler Skaggs Diagnosed With Mild Flexor Strain; No Ligament Damage Found
6:42pm: Skaggs’ MRI revealed no damage to his surgically repaired ulnar collateral ligament, tweets Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times. General manager Billy Eppler told reporters that Skaggs has a “mild flexor pronator strain” and will sit out for the next week (also via Moura, on Twitter). The southpaw could still pitch again in 2016, tweets Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
7:52am: Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs has been scratched from his outing today with tightness in his forearm, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. Instead, he’ll head in for an MRI on the trouble area.
The organization is surely holding its breath while awaiting the results of the imaging. Skaggs, 25, finally returned recently from his August 2014 Tommy John surgery. After two years of recovery, another scare in the elbow area is the last thing anyone wanted to go through.
Things had been progressing rather well for the talented southpaw before this news. In his nine starts on the year, he logged 48 frames with a 4.13 ERA and excellent 9.4 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. The hope, surely, is that he will be able to log thirty-plus high-quality starts in 2017.
For the Halos, any questions surrounding Skaggs are yet more concerning given the healthy-related uncertainty of other key arms. Andrew Heaney is already out for all of 2017 after his TJ procedurew, while Garrett Richards remains a question mark as he tries to stave off a UCL replacement. As I just explained in assessing three key needs for the organization, securing pitching depth is essential — but figures to be a challenge with a low-supply free agent market.
It’s certainly too soon to jump to any conclusions about Skaggs, who is obviously and understandably being handled with added care. As MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum has written in explaining his statistical assessment of Tommy John likelihood, prior TJ surgery is a significant indicator of future susceptibility, and Skaggs had already been slow to make his way back.