Padres Rumors

Injury Notes: Giants, Red Sox, Indians, Jays, Jankowski

By Steve Adams | May 15, 2017 at 8:21pm CDT

The Giants announced tonight that right fielder Hunter Pence has been placed on the 10-day disabled list due to a left hamstring strain. Fellow outfielder Mac Williamson is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take Pence’s spot on the roster. The loss of Pence is the latest blow to a Giants roster that has seen a number of key players go down with injuries this year, though Pence’s performance hasn’t been anywhere near what one would expect from the typically productive slugger. The 34-year-old has been at least 18 percent better than the league-average hitter in each of the past four seasons, per park-adjusted metrics OPS+ and wRC+, and he’s batted a combined .281/.339/.463 in that time. However, this year, he’s mustered just a .243/.289/.338 batting line through his first 149 plate appearances.

A few more notable injury scenarios from around the league…

Giants closer Mark Melancon is on the mend and appears to be progressing well, as the right-hander told reporters that he threw a 22-pitch mound session today (Twitter links via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle and Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Melancon said that he was “pretty much full go,” and Pavlovic notes that he can be activated as soon as tomorrow. Derek Law has been filling in as San Francisco’s closer with Melancon on the shelf.
An MRI of Drew Pomeranz’s left triceps didn’t reveal any new injuries, and the Red Sox lefty has been cleared to resume baseball activities, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. News on Tyler Thornburg, though, isn’t as good. The Sox are still trying to get to the bottom of the shoulder woes Thornburg is experiencing, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com tweets. Thornburg is set for additional testing and medical consultations this week. He has yet to take the hill since arriving in Boston via trade over the winter.
The Indians will be without Brandon Guyer for the next four to six weeks due to a sprained left wrist, manager Terry Francona told reporters today (via MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian). Guyer will be completely shut down for a week before he begins the next phase of his rehab. Bastian also notes that ace Corey Kluber tossed a 20-pitch session today but still needs a more aggressive mound session and a simulated game before he’s cleared to begin a rehab assignment. And if those injuries aren’t enough for Cleveland, the Indians’ No. 2 starter, Carlos Carrasco, exited tonight’s game with tightness in his left pectoral muscle (Twitter link via Bastian). There’s no word on the severity of that issue, though it seems reasonable to expect further word following the completion of tonight’s game.
Steve Pearce became the latest member of the Blue Jays to land on the disabled list, as the infielder/outfielder suffered a calf injury last night and was placed on the 10-day DL today following an MRI. The Jays announced the injury as a right calf strain and did not offer a timeline on Pearce’s absence. Right-hander Leonel Campos is up from Triple-A to give the relief corps a quick boost, though as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets, that gives the Jays a two-man bench and a nine-man bullpen. As such, it seems likely that a reliever will be sent down soon. On a more positive note for Toronto fans, the team also announced that Troy Tulowitzki began a rehab assignment today, suggesting that he’s quite near to a return.
Padres outfielder Travis Jankowski has been on the DL since late April, and MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell now tweets that it’ll be at least another six weeks before the defensive standout is ready to return to the team. Jankowski hit the DL with what was termed a “deep bone bruise,” though reports at the time suggested that doctors believed there could be a hairline fracture in his foot. Per Cassavell, Jankowski’s most recent tests did indeed reveal a fracture, which lengthens the amount of time that he’ll be away from the club.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/11/17

By Jeff Todd | May 11, 2017 at 7:01pm CDT

We’ll track the day’s minor moves right here…

Former big league right-hander Barry Enright, who has been pitching for the Padres’ Double-A affiliate, was traded to the Rockies in a minor swap, according to the Pacific Coast League transactions page. (Enright himself confirmed the move on Twitter). The 31-year-old hasn’t appeared in the Major since a 2013 stint with the Angels, though he’s pitched with various Triple-A clubs and in the Mexican League since that time. Enright owns a career 5.57 ERA in 148 2/3 Major League innings and a 4.86 ERA across parts of nine minor league seasons.
The Mariners have signed infielder Danny Muno to a minor league deal and assigned them to their Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, according to Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto (Twitter link). Muno, 28, got a brief taste of the Majors with the Mets in 2015 (32 plate appearances) but hasn’t returned to the big leagues since. He opened the 2017 season with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League, where he posted a .744 OPS through 13 games. Muno doesn’t have much power but has a history of getting on base in Triple-A, where he’s logged a .257/.363/.377 batting line in parts of three seasons. He’ll bring some defensive versatility to the Mariners’ Triple-A club, as he’s well-versed at second base, shortstop and third base.

Earlier Moves

The Mariners have purchased the contract of righty Tyler Cloyd from the Somerset Patriots, the indy ball club announced. Cloyd had been throwing quite well, racking up 16 strikeouts over a dozen frames while allowing just two earned runs on eight hits and three walks. Soon to turn 30, Cloyd had struggled in two seasons of work with the Phillies and then bounced around in recent years. He returned from a stint with Korea’s Samsung Lions to join the Yankees last year on a minors deal, but missed the bulk of the season due to injury after a promising start. Over 440 2/3 total Triple-A innings, Cloyd owns a 3.49 ERA with 6.6 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.

Padres’ Chairman Ron Fowler On Weaver, Preller, Szczur

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | May 10, 2017 at 4:39pm CDT

Padres executive chairman Ron Fowler made an appearance on Mighty 1090 AM radio yesterday and spoke with host Dan Sileo about a number of topics, including Jered Weaver’s struggles, last year’s investigation into the team’s medical processes, the trade for outfielder Matt Szczur, and the strong performances of Wil Myers and Yangervis Solarte (audio link to the interview). You’ll want to give it a full listen, but here are some of the highlights.

Most notably, Fowler was unusually candid about his disappointment in Weaver’s struggles and suggested that the veteran right-hander wouldn’t be given much longer to turn things around.

“We’ve had several performances from Jered that have been not very good, and Jered owns them,” said Fowler. “… I think it’s a short leash, and we’ve got to make some decisions. … We’re hoping there’s something left, but the last several performances don’t give us much cause to be positive.”

Fowler offered praise for Weaver’s accountability on multiple occasions, and the right-hander indeed has been frank with the media about his poor performance. But that doesn’t seem likely to change the analysis from the team’s perspective, with Fowler saying he expects “decisions ill get made in the not-too-distant future.”

As for the thought process that went into signing the light-tossing veteran, Fowler forthrightly acknowledged it was a roll of the dice that has not really panned out.

“We did take a chance on him,” he said. “We were hoping we’d get some more, that there was more left in the tank, and at this point in time, it doesn’t appear that we were right. We’re not going to let it continue for a long period of time. We like the way he’s owning it at least and not trying to walk from it.”

Those surprisingly frank words likely won’t offer much comfort to Weaver, who has indeed been hit hard thus far. Through seven outings, he carries a 6.81 ERA and has been touched for 14 long balls.

San Diego is obviously looking to find value where it can, and that has continued into the season. The team’s recent acquisition of Szczur out of DFA limbo, though, was also driven by need.

“He’s an outfielder that we think is very strong from a defense standpoint,” said Fowler. “He hasn’t performed offensively as well as the Cubs would’ve liked, but he’s a high character guy. … Right now we’re down two guys in the outfield, and we need to probably give [Hunter] Renfroe some time off. [Manuel] Margot is playing literally every game. We just need someone out there.”

That said, it seems that Szczur has been on the club’s radar for some time. Fowler says that the Pads tried to pry him loose from the Cubs in the spring but were rebuffed.

Also of note were Fowler’s comments on the fallout of the suspension of GM A.J. Preller for mismanaging the sharing of medical information at last year’s trade deadline. He acknowledged that there is some ongoing impact, though he suggested it likely won’t prove a significant barrier.

“I’m not saying there’s nothing lingering,” Fowler explained. “I think there’s some teams out there that might still have some issues. But it comes down to, if we have players they want, I think they’re going to deal with us.” He also made clear (as the organization has stated many times before) that the problems with the team’s medical information systems have been corrected. “We own it, but I don’t think there’s any lingering problems in how we’re managing those areas.”

Padres Claim Jose Valdez From Angels

By Steve Adams | May 10, 2017 at 1:09pm CDT

The Padres announced that they have claimed right-hander Jose Valdez off waivers from the Angels and optioned him to Triple-A El Paso. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, San Diego transferred left-hander Christian Friedrich from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.

The 27-year-old Valdez threw just one inning with the Halos this season but logged 23 1/3 frames out of their bullpen in 2016. In 33 Major League innings between Detroit and Anaheim, Valdez has a 4.59 ERA with an unsightly 27-to-21 K/BB ratio and a 37.5 percent ground-ball rate. However, Valdez does boast a fastball that has averaged 95.5 mph in his big league career, and he’s logged an even 3.00 ERA in 105 Triple-A innings (albeit with similar control issues).

Padres Acquire Matt Szczur

By Jeff Todd | May 8, 2017 at 7:49pm CDT

The Padres have acquired outfielder Matt Szczur from the Cubs, per club announcements. Chicago will acquire righty Justin Hancock in exchange for Szczur, who had been designated for assignment.

Since the Cubs were able to find some kind of return for the out-of-options Szczur, there must’ve been interest from other organizations. The 27-year-old had not been playing much this year in Chicago, recording just four hits in 23 trips to the plate, and has long been seen as a possible trade target for other organizations.

Last season, though, Szczur played a bigger role on the Cubs’ World Series-winning roster. He appeared in 107 games, in fact, though he took only 200 plate appearances. Szczur slashed a solid .259/.312/.400 with five home runs on the year while providing quality glovework. Szczur has typically performed much better against left-handed than right-handed pitching, so he’ll presumably function in some kind of platoon with San Diego.

In order to acquire Szczur, the Friars gave up Hancock, a 26-year-old hurler who has shown promise at times. But he has been hit hard in the early going at Double-A this year — where he has converted to a pen role after previously working almost exclusively as a starter. Hancock ranked as San Diego’s No. 25 prospect (per Baseball America) prior to the 2016 season, drawing praise for a 92-95 mph fastball and a changeup that flashes plus on occasion. BA notes that his slight frame and lack of a true out pitch make a future as a starter unlikely, however, and the Padres seemingly agreed by shifting him to relief work in 2017. Injuries may also have played a part in changing Hancock’s role, as he spent the majority of the 2016 season on the disabled list with Triple-A El Paso after an arthroscopic procedure on his right shoulder.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/7/17

By Connor Byrne | May 7, 2017 at 9:10pm CDT

Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

The Astros have released righty Edison Frias, the Houston Chronicle’s Jake Kaplan reports (Twitter link). The 26-year-old Frias has some respectable numbers (4.07 ERA, 7.6 K/9, 2.71 K/BB rate) over 425 career innings in Houston’s farm system, though he has been hit hard at the Triple-A level this year, with a 7.71 ERA in 23 1/3 frames. Pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League is likely a factor, though Frias hasn’t helped himself with a 5.8 BB/9 that is more than double his career average.

Earlier today

In a surprising development, the Reds announced Sunday that they’ve optioned left-hander Amir Garrett to Triple-A Louisville. Aside from one poor start on April 24, when the Brewers teed off on Garrett for nine earned runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, the 25-year-old has pitched well enough to remain in the majors. The rookie surrendered two or fewer earned runs in his other six starts, all of which lasted at least six frames. All told, Garrett has recorded a 4.25 ERA, 7.0 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 44.7 percent ground-ball rate in 36 innings. The Reds are entering a stretch in which they will only need four starters, which will give them an opportunity to manage Garrett’s workload, tweets Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Service time considerations may have also factored into this decision, as the Reds will only need to keep Garrett in the minors for about two weeks to control him through 2023 instead of 2022. For now, right-hander Barrett Astin is up from Triple-A to take Garrett’s place on the Reds’ roster.
The Padres have sold corner infielder/outfielder Jamie Romak’s contract to SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization, report Sung Min Kim of River Ave Blues and Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links). Romak, a fourth-round pick of the Braves in 2003, saw brief major league action with the Dodgers in 2014 and the Diamondbacks in 2015. For the most part, the 31-year-old has played at lower levels, including a stint in the Japan Central League. Romak has spent the majority of his career at the Triple-A level, where he has slashed an impressive .271/.340/.516 line in 1,800 plate appearances.
The Mariners have made a few pitching changes, selecting Christian Bergman’s contract from Triple-A Tacoma, optioning Rob Whalen to Triple-A and moving Shae Simmons to the 60-day disabled list, per an announcement from general manager Jerry Dipoto. Bergman, who signed a minor league deal with the Mariners over the winter, spent 2010-16 with the Rockies organization. The swingman debuted in the majors in 2014 and has since posted a 5.79 ERA, 5.49 K/9 against 1.89 BB/9, and a 36.7 percent ground-ball rate in 147 2/3 innings. He got off to a strong start this year with Tacoma, tossing 29 innings from the Rainiers’ rotation and logging a 2.17 ERA. Simmons has been dealing with a right forearm strain since March, which has prevented the offseason trade acquisition from taking the mound this year. The Mariners acquired Simmons, a hard-throwing reliever, from the Braves in a January deal that also included Mallex Smith and Luiz Gohara.
The Rangers have purchased righty Austin Bibens-Dirkx’s contract from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned lefty Dario Alvarez in a corresponding move, according to the club. The 32-year-old Bibens-Dirkx has never pitched in the majors, having spent the first 11-plus years of his career in the minors with several teams, including Seattle, which selected him in the 16th round of the 2006 draft. Bibens-Dirkx owns a lifetime 5.16 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 383 2/3 Triple-A frames.

Injury Updates: Hill, Forsythe, Doolittle, Nola, Capps

By Mark Polishuk | May 6, 2017 at 9:47am CDT

Here’s the latest on some of the many DL situations from around baseball…

Rich Hill will make another rehab start in Class A ball on Tuesday and then rejoin the Dodgers rotation, manager Dave Roberts told the L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin (Twitter link) and other reporters. Hill has twice been placed on the DL this season due to recurring blister problems, and while a potential move to the bullpen had been considered, the southpaw will instead resume his duties as a starting pitcher. Hill’s first rehab outing (60 pitches split between a bullpen session and an in-game performance) last Thursday seemed to go well, as Hill told MLB.com’s George Alfano that his blister wasn’t an issue.
In other Dodgers injury news, Roberts also told the media (including Shaikin) that second baseman Logan Forsythe will resume his rehab assignment after the weekend. Forsythe, who suffered a fractured big right toe two weeks ago, was tentatively slated to be activated from the DL this weekend before he felt some hamstring tightness during a rehab game earlier this week.
Sean Doolittle told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jane Lee) that an MRI revealed no structural problems in his ailing left shoulder. Doolittle, who is no stranger to more serious shoulder issues, described his current injury as “more like tightness or soreness that’s just a little more intense than painful,” and “it feels more muscular than anything I’ve ever felt before.” While this diagnosis is certainly positive news, there isn’t yet any timeline for Doolittle’s return, as Athletics manager Bob Melvin said yesterday that the team would likely “be conservative with” Doolittle given his prior injury history.
Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola also received good MRI news, as GM Matt Klentak told PhillyVoice.com’s Ryan Lawrence and other reporters that nothing seems to be amiss after Nola felt discomfort in his lower back while throwing a side session earlier this week. Nola, who has been on the DL since April 24 with a lower back strain, will throw another bullpen this weekend and is on track to begin a rehab assignment next week if all goes well.
The Padres will likely ask for an extension of Carter Capps’ rehab stint from Tommy John surgery, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes. The usual 30-day limit to rehab assignments can be extended three times for players recovering from TJ surgery, given the extensive nature of that particular recovery. Capps, who underwent the surgery in March 2016, struggled at Triple-A and will now be moved to the Padres’ Spring Training complex.

NL West Notes: Jankowski, Desmond, Hill, Wood, Ethier

By Steve Adams | April 28, 2017 at 9:45am CDT

Padres center fielder Travis Jankowski hit the 10-day disabled list earlier this week with what the team called a “deep bone bruise” in his right foot, but there’s now a concern that Jankowski may have a hairline fracture as well, reports MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom. If that’s the case, the 25-year-old could be out more than a month. Bloom quotes manager Andy Green as saying the team doctors aren’t yet able to determine if there’s a fracture (perhaps due to the swelling), but they’ll be cautious either way. Even if there’s no fracture, it sounds as if Jankowski can expect to miss more than the minimum 10 days. “They told me I’d be in the boot for another week to 10 days,” Jankowski tells Bloom. Jankowski turned in a marginal performance at the plate in 2016, hitting .245/.332/.313 in 383 plate appearances, but he played strong defense in center field and provided significant baserunning value with 30 steals.

Christian Bethancourt To Continue Pitching In Triple-A

By Steve Adams | April 28, 2017 at 8:21am CDT

The Padres sent catcher/outfielder/reliever Christian Bethancourt outright to Triple-A earlier this week after he cleared waivers with the hope that he’d continue to hone his mound skills, and as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune writes, Bethancourt has informed general manager A.J. Preller that he is indeed open to that. Bethancourt only recently began experimenting as a pitcher, and Preller tells Lin that the organization involved the 25-year-old in the decision process.

“It’s his career,” Preller tells Lin. “…Talking to him, he said, ‘I want to give it a go.’ I think he understands he can always go back to catching and he wants to see how it plays out on the pitching front if he has regular practice and outings.”

Coming up through the Braves’ system, Bethancourt rated as one of the game’s top 100 prospects as a catcher, thanks largely to his rocket arm. Multiple scouting reports, in fact, placed an 80 grade on his arm (on the 20-80 scouting scale). An issue with passed balls and his struggles at the plate, however, may have contributed to San Diego’s preference to get a look at Bethancourt on the mound; in 489 Major League plate appearances, he’s batted just .222/.252/.316.

Unsurprisingly, Bethancourt is a work in progress on the mound. Though he allowed just two runs in 8 1/3 innings in Spring Training, he also issued four walks against just three strikeouts in that time. His work as a pitcher during the regular season has been unsightly, as Bethancourt has logged a 10.13 ERA with three strikeouts against 11 walks in just 5 1/3 innings. That’s not necessarily indicative of the hard-throwing Bethancourt’s potential on the mound, though. Learning to pitch at the Major League level with scant mound experience elsewhere is obviously a daunting task, which no doubt factored into his removal from the 40-man roster. (Bethancourt was out of minor league options, thus the exposure to outright waivers.) Despite those struggles, Bethancourt did offer a glimpse of his potential on the mound during his 2017 work, as he averaged better than 94 mph on his fastball and topped out at 98 mph (per Brooks Baseball).

According to Lin, Bethancourt will continue to pinch-hit and take batting practice while in Triple-A, but the vast majority of his focus will be on his work as a reliever. “He’ll get a chance to face the next-best league to the big leagues,” says Preller of the decision to throw Bethancourt into the fire of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. “It’s going to be a test for him, but I’m confident as far as him going out and being able to perform.”

If Bethancourt is able to successfully make the transition, he’d join Jason Motte, Chris Hatcher and, most notably, Kenley Jansen as big league relievers that opened their careers as catchers. Carlos Marmol and Troy Percival are other recent examples of relievers who found success after (much more briefly) working as catchers early in their careers.

Latest On Luis Robert’s Market

By Steve Adams | April 27, 2017 at 9:31pm CDT

Nineteen-year-old outfielder Luis Robert is the top international talent that is available on the amateur market and, after recently being declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, has already begun hosting private workouts with interested teams, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler. The Athletics hosted a workout for Robert last Friday that was attended by GM David Forst, according to Badler, and Reds GM Dick Williams was on hand to watch him this past Tuesday in a workout. Prior to that, he’d worked out for the Astros, Badler adds.

Badler notes that Robert’s camp is also expected to set up private workouts with the Padres, Cardinals and White Sox in the coming weeks. It seems that of those three clubs, the heavy-spending Padres are up first, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reports (via Twitter) that Robert will work out with the Pads tomorrow. To this point, the Padres have paced all 30 teams in terms of international spending during the current signing period, as their total investment (including luxury tax penalties for shattering their allotted bonus pool) is in the vicinity of $80MM.

The willingness to spend at such an aggressive level may be key for any club that wishes to sign Robert, as FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes in his latest Inside Baseball column that one source who closely follows the international market believes Robert already has a $25MM offer “in hand,” though Heyman notes that others have suggested to him no offers have been made to this point. There could, of course, be some semantics at play there in terms of what constitutes a formal offer. A price tag in the vicinity of $25MM for Robert would come with a 100 percent luxury tax attached to it, meaning he’d cost any team that signed him at that rate a total of roughly $50MM.

As Badler writes, though Robert has been declared a free agent, he won’t formally be cleared to sign until May 20. In the interim, he’ll host at least one more open showcase for teams, in addition to the remaining private workouts his camp will orchestrate.

It’s worth noting that of the teams linked to Robert, only the White Sox have yet to exceed their current international bonus pool. In other words, while other clubs would essentially only be parting with money in order to sign Robert, the ChiSox would need to determine if Robert is worth handcuffing themselves in each of the next two international signing periods; should the Sox decide to exceed their pool in the eleventh hour — the current signing period ends on June 15 — they’d be unable to sign any individual player for more than $300K in either the 2017-18 or 2018-19 signing periods.

In a similar vein, teams that are still in the metaphorical “penalty box” for crushing their allotted pools in previous signing periods won’t be able to compete for Robert’s services, as they’re each capped at that same $300K figure on individual signings. That eliminates the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Blue Jays, Rays, Royals and Diamondbacks from serving as serious competition in the Robert market.

Though Robert is just 19 years of age, he’d already blossomed into a star, hitting a ridiculous .401/.526/.687 with 12 homers, 12 doubles, a pair of triples and 11 steals over the life of 53 games (232 plate appearances) in his final pro season in the Cuban National Series. Scouting reports on Robert note that he’s capable of playing center field right now, though he may ultimately wind up in a corner. Badler has previously written that both his bat speed and raw power are plus, and Heyman’s above-linked piece offers a number of favorable reviews of Robert’s skill set. Additionally, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez has previously spoken to a number of international scouting directors who have heaped praise onto Robert, calling him the game’s best international prospect behind Japanese phenom Shohei Otani and labeling him one of the most talented young players on the planet.

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