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AL West Notes: Trout, Angels, Gamel, Sardinas, Vincent

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Angels superstar Mike Trout was involved in a car accident in southern California last night which left two people injured, but Trout himself walked away from the crash unharmed, as Scott Schwebke and Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register report. Both Angels GM Billy Eppler and Trout’s agent, Craig Landis, have stated that the center fielder is uninjured, with Eppler issuing the following statement: “Mike Trout was involved in a car accident earlier tonight. I have spoken with Mike this evening and he feels fine. He is at home with his roommate and is planning on traveling with the club to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. We will update as more information becomes available.” The video atop the above-linked Trout story includes a report from the scene which states that the accident occurred when Trout had to slam on his brakes because of another accident that had taken place in front of him, causing him to collide with another car. The California Highway Patrol does “not have any reason to believe right now that drugs or alcohol were a factor,” said Stacey Butler of CBS Los Angeles in the news report. More concerning at this time is the well-being of the woman in the car that was struck by Trout’s vehicle, as USA Today’s A.J. Perez reports that she suffered “major” injuries and was transported to Orange County Global Medical Center. We at MLBTR join all that are following this story in wishing her a full recovery.

Here’s more from the AL West…

  • The Angels are once again staring at an offseason of uncertainty at the second base position, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes. While there are internal options at the ready, it seems hard to imagine that the organization will feel comfortable giving regular playing time to Johnny Giavotella, Cliff Pennington, or Gregorio Petit. There’s some hope that Kaleb Cowart can transition over from third, though that remains a work in progress. From an outside perspective, it seems worth noting that Yunel Escobar is an option at second as well as the hot corner, which creates some flexibility this winter.
  • Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto spoke with Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times about yesterday’s trade to acquire outfielder Ben Gamel from the Yankees and implied that he will get an opportunity to prove that he can help the Mariners in 2016 and beyond. “He has 1,000 plate appearances at Triple A,” said Dipoto. “…He just won MVP [of the Triple-A International League] and he was rookie of the year last year in that league. He’s done what he can do at Triple A and now he deserves an opportunity. … He does a lot of things well. He’s optionable, he’s young and he’s athletic, three of things we are looking for. He’s a polished minor league minor league player who’s ready to cut his teeth in the big leagues.” Nori Aoki and Franklin Gutierrez are both free agents at season’s end, while Seth Smith has a $7MM club option remaining on his contract. As such, there could be plenty of at-bats to be won for Gamel in 2017 if he can prove capable of handling big league pitching.
  • Last month, the Mariners traded infielder Luis Sardinas to the Padres in exchange for a player to be named later or cash, and MLB.com’s A.J. Cassavell now reports that the deal has been completed, with San Diego sending cash to Seattle (Twitter link). The return for Sardinas was never expected to be all that high, considering the fact that he’d endured a poor 2016 season and had already been designated for assignment at the time of the trade. Since joining the Padres, Sardinas has seven hits in 22 at-bats, including a homer and a pair of doubles. On a somewhat related note, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets that the two sides have not yet formally wrapped up the Nick Vincent swap that took place all the way back in March (Twitter link). The Padres and Mariners have until Sept. 30 to complete the trade, which was announced as Vincent to Seattle in exchange for a player to be named later. Vincent has been a nice add for the Mariners, tossing 47 innings of 3.83 ERA ball.

Padres Claim Oswaldo Arcia From Marlins

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The Padres have claimed Oswaldo Arcia from the Marlins, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Arcia will start in the Padres’ outfield tonight. The team has optioned outfielder Patrick Kivlehan to make room for Arcia on its active roster.

The last two months have been something of a whirlwind for Arcia. The Twins designated him for assignment in mid-June, then traded him to the Rays. After 61 plate appearances, the Rays designated him, and the Marlins claimed him this week before designating him for assignment Thursday.

It’s not hard to see why many teams find Arcia somewhat appealing, just as it’s easy to see the flaws that have prevented him from sticking with a team this season. He’s just 25 and has obvious power, with 42 home runs in 1,030 career big-league plate appearances. Unfortunately, he’s also struck out in over 30% of his plate appearances and doesn’t walk much, leading to low batting averages and on-base percentages. It appears he’ll get another shot in San Diego, where he’ll join an outfield that’s been depleted by a host of recent injuries (Jon Jay, Jabari Blash) and recent trades (Matt Kemp, Melvin Upton).

Padres Interested In Re-Signing Jon Jay

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The Padres are interested in retaining outfielder Jon Jay beyond this season and have engaged in preliminary discussions with him about a return, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The veteran is scheduled to reach free agency this fall.

Jay, 31, was in the midst of a productive campaign for San Diego before a wayward pitch fractured his forearm. Generally regarded as a solid defender in center, Jay also ran up a useful .296/.345/.407 slash with a then-league-leading 24 doubles over 291 plate appearances. He has been working his way back since hitting the DL in late June, and is expected to return in early or mid-September.

Prior to the injury, Jay seemed like a quality trade piece for the Friars. And there still seems to be at least an outside shot at a deal materializing over the next five days. (He could still be traded after the calendar flips to September, but an acquiring team would not be able to use him on its postseason roster.) This latest news, however, suggests that San Diego may instead keep Jay around — though he could certainly be dealt and then re-signed.

It’s not immediately clear whether the club is interested in keeping Jay from reaching the open market, or instead hopes to get a head start on free agent talks. Manager Andy Green suggested the latter, labeling it “an offseason discussion” to be had at year end. And Jay seems to be inclined to test the free agent waters, even if he sees a return to San Diego as a desirable possibility.

While Jay said it was “great” to be approached, he went on to explain that he’d likely need to weigh the alternatives. “Obviously, with free agency, you wait so long to get to this point as a player, you want to see what’s out there,” said Jay. “But at the same time, I feel very comfortable here. I do like it a lot here, so this is definitely something my wife and I will discuss when we’re making those decisions.”

As Lin well explains in the above-linked post, it is a bit surprising at first glance to learn of the Padres’ interest in retaining Jay. The organization has a fair number of untested but rather intriguing outfielders kicking around at or near the major league level, and doesn’t seem primed to contend in 2017. It seems, though, that Jay made quite an impression both on and off the field.

And while the injury was certainly a freak occurrence, it may limit his earning power somewhat and leave an opportunity for the team to realize some value if it does ultimately strike a deal. Though the overall free agent market is rather thin, there are a number of quality outfielders available, so it’ll be interesting to see how things develop with regard to Jay, who ought to draw fairly wide interest from a variety of teams.

Latest On Padres’ Jon Jay

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AUGUST 21: The bone in Jay’s forearm has fully healed and he could return by the first week of September, Padres manager Andy Green said Sunday (Twitter link via AJ Cassavell of MLB.com).

AUGUST 16, 10:06pm: Jay’s imaging results were clean, Lin adds on Twitter, but he still needs to regain sufficient flexibility to move toward a return. It is still possible he could be back by the first week of September, per the report.

8:36pm: Padres outfielder Jon Jay didn’t receive the news he hoped for when his fractured right forearm was examined today, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. When he was placed on the DL, the hope was that Jay might be back by this point. But after a CT scan and consultation, Jay was not cleared to hit, making mid-September a more realistic target for his return.

While a slight delay in a rehab timeline for a player on an out-of-contention team isn’t generally of much transactional relevance, Jay’s situation is somewhat different. The Padres have been perhaps the most aggressive seller in baseball, and Jay had looked like a solid trade asset — and a nice target for buyers to pursue.

Over his 291 plate appearances on the year, the left-handed-hitting Jay owns a .296/.345/.407 batting line that checks in just above league average. With a solid glove that plays in center, that makes him a useful piece for the right club.

Because he’s now facing continued uncertainty, teams probably won’t be willing to put in a claim on Jay with just over $1.75MM left on his salary. If he clears waivers, he can be dealt freely, but teams may not be willing to give up much of anything when Jay hasn’t even begun swinging the bat. Once the calendar flips to September, though, an acquiring team wouldn’t be able to utilize him on a post-season roster.

Looking beyond the trade market, the downgraded prognosis also represents a blow to Jay’s efforts to boost his free agent stock. The 31-year-old had been on track to draw solid interest as a player who could start or represent a high-quality fourth outfielder. He may still be able to push for a multi-year deal, but without a month or more to lay down more plate appearances after the injury, his market standing will likely be somewhat tamped down.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/21/16

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Sunday’s minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Angels have signed free agent left-hander Manny Banuelos, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (Twitter link). There’s no word yet on whether it’s a minor league contract, though that’s presumably the case. Banuelos had been on the market since the Braves released him last week. Once a highly regarded prospect with the Yankees (he reached No. 29 on Baseball America’s Top 100 after the 2011 season), Banuelos has accumulated a mere 26 1/3 major league innings (all with Atlanta) and compiled a 5.13 K/9, 6.49 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9. Injuries have beset Banuelos, who has undergone both Tommy John surgery and a procedure to remove a bone spur from his elbow in recent years. When healthy, he has thrown 583 minor league frames and notched a 3.30 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9.
  • The Padres have signed free agent southpaw Dylan Stoops to a minor league deal, per a team announcement. Stoops, 24, spent 2015 with Sonoma of the independent Pacific Association and opened this year as a member of another indy team, Traverse City of the Frontier League. In a combined 113 2/3 innings with those clubs, Stoops logged a 3.17 ERA, 8.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

Padres Send Ryan Buchter To Minors

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The Padres optioned left-handed reliever Ryan Buchter to Triple-A El Paso on Saturday, according to Carlos Collazo of MLB.com. The 29-year-old rookie has been a highly productive part of the Friars’ bullpen this season, but they sent him down amid concerns about fatigue and a decline in spin rate. Buchter has relied almost exclusively on his fastball, which FanGraphs’ Eno Sarris wrote earlier this month has been among the best of its kind in terms of spin rate.

“We’ve pushed him hard all season. He’s got more appearances right now than he’s had at any point in time in his career,” manager Andy Green said in regards to Buchter’s demotion. “He threw 25 innings in winter ball. It’s been a long year for him.”

Prior to Thursday, Buchter had worked 11 straight scoreless appearances and, along with fellow southpaw Brad Hand, served as one of the Padres’ top relievers in 2016. He then pitched in each of San Diego’s previous two games and allowed earned runs in both outings. Buchter recorded just one out Friday and surrendered two runs on a hit and a pair of walks. Still, the offseason minor league signing has been a significant steal for the Padres, with whom he has recorded a 3.00 ERA, 11.33 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 across 54 innings. While the longtime minor leaguer is worst among all qualified relievers in ground-ball percentage (19.5), he has offset that to a degree with a quality infield fly rate (14.9 percent).

With Buchter headed back to the minors, where he pitched with a handful of different organizations from 2006-15, the Padres have recalled fellow southpaw reliever Keith Hessler to take his place in their bullpen. However, Buchter still seems to figure prominently into their plans at the major league level.

“He’s healthy. He just needs a little reprieve,” Green said of Buchter. “I think smart organizations do that from time to time. They look at a guy and recognize what he needs and get him back here and let him back into his role that he’s been dominant in for the better part of the season.”

AL Notes: Mariners, Angels, Red Sox, Aybar

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Major League Baseball’s owners have voted to approve the recent sale of the Mariners from Nintendo to a group led by new chairman and CEO John Stanton, as Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. That step was largely a formality to finalize the major transaction, which also transfers the team-owned Root Sports network. The sale placed the value of the franchise at $1.4B.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • Angels pro scouting director Hal Morris is leaving the organization, according to Keith Law of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The big league veteran had held his position since the fall of 2011, when he was hired by then-GM Jerry Dipoto. Much has changed since that time, of course, as Dipoto left his post last summer and the organization ended up replacing him with Billy Eppler over the offseason.
  • Of the five young Red Sox international signees who were recently returned to the open market as a penalty for the team’s signing violations, only one — righty Cesar Gonzalez — had failed to sign with a new organization in the immediate aftermath of the move. As Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald recently reported, Gonzalez has now found a new home with the Padres. The 17-year-old was not considered a significant prospect, and landed only $25K from San Diego, per MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez (via Twitter), though he’ll also get to hold onto his original signing bonus from Boston and will get a fresh start with a new organization.
  • The Tigers are looking to just-acquired infielder Erick Aybar for a boost, though they won’t necessarily install him as the regular shortstop, George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press writes. It seems that the 32-year-old is likely to share time up the middle with Dixon Machado for the time being, and presumably he’ll move into more of a utility role upon the anticipated return of Jose Iglesias and Nick Castellanos from the DL later this year. Aybar got off to a hideous start with the Braves, though he had hit much better leading up to the trade. “I know it’s been a down year,” manager Brad Ausmus said of Aybar’s season to date. “He’s not necessarily here to replace anybody. If he comes in here and plays well he’ll play. Simple as that. We’re in the business of winning baseball games. If he helps us win baseball games he’ll play.”

Injury Notes: McCullers, Cain, Gray, Ross, Soto

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The Astros still don’t know whether they can expect top young righty Lance McCullers Jr. to return this season from his elbow woes, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports on Twitter. “We won’t know until he gets evaluated in a week,” said manager A.J. Hinch. “It’s all guess work at this point.” After climbing back from a rough start to the year, Houston now sits just one game over .500 and is in danger of falling out of contention. The 22-year-old McCullers owns a 3.22 ERA — matching his results from a season ago — and is sorely missed.

Here are some more notable pieces of information on the injury front:

  • Giants righty Matt Cain is headed to the DL with a lower back strain, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to tweet. San Francisco activated righty Cory Gearrin from his own DL stint in a concurrent move, which does at least bolster the pen. It seems possible that veteran righty Jake Peavy could slide back into the rotation in place of Cain, who hasn’t completed six innings in a start since May 21st and was tagged for 11 earned runs over his last two outings.
  • While it’s still far from a sure thing, the Athletics may yet welcome back righty Sonny Gray this year, manager Bob Melvin said yesterday. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, the 26-year-old staff ace is beginning plyometric workouts and is feeling better. He recently hit the disabled list with a forearm strain and has struggled all year long, compiling an uncharacteristic 5.74 ERA in 116 innings of work.
  • Tyson Ross has made it through a 30-pitch live BP session with added pen work, giving some hope that he’ll return for the Padres late this year, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Still, the veteran righty will need to throw another such session before a rehab stint can be considered as he tries to return from shoulder troubles. With just one outing on his record for the season, Ross won’t command much if any raise on his $9.625MM arbitration salary in his final year of eligibility, but it will surely be difficult for the Pads to trade him over the winter if he can’t return to full health by the end of the year. Ross may yet feature as a spring or mid-season trade candidate next season, as he’ll qualify for free agency after the 2017 campaign.
  • The Angels placed catcher Geovany Soto on the 15-day DL with knee inflammation, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Soto had appeared to be a plausible August trade candidate, but his knee surgery earlier this year seems to have lingered. The 33-year-old carries a useful .269/.321/.487 slash on the year, though he has compiled that in only 86 plate appearances. He is set to return to the open market at season’s end.

Heyman’s Latest: Managers, White Sox, Yunel, Dodgers, Puig, Norris, Rangers

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Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports kicks off his weekly Inside Baseball column with a look at the job security of a number of managers, noting that Mets skipper Terry Collins, D-backs manager Chip Hale and White Sox manager Robin Ventura could all be on the hot seat, while Braves interim manager Brian Snitker doesn’t seem especially likely to shed the interim label and keep his post. Other names mentioned include Mike Scioscia (Angels), Brad Ausmus (Tigers), Kevin Cash (Rays), Paul Molitor (Twins), Bryan Price (Reds) and Walt Weiss (Rockies), but none from that group seems to be eminently in danger of losing his job even at season’s end, per Heyman.

Some highlights from the lengthy column…

  • White Sox GM Rick Hahn was far more in favor of a deadline sale than owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Heyman writes, but the Sox ultimately held onto nearly all of their tradeable assets, with the exception of left-hander Zach Duke, suggesting that Hahn ultimately wasn’t given the go-ahead to operate as he might’ve wished. The Sox haven’t put Chris Sale on trade waivers yet, Heyman notes, though that decision is a moot point. He’d be claimed by the first team available — the Twins, as things currently stand — and pulled back off waivers. Chicago had interest in Gary Sanchez when the Yankees were looking at Sale, he adds, though that’s not much of a surprise. Catcher has long been a weak spot in Chicago, and Sanchez is among the more highly regarded prospects in all of baseball.
  • There wasn’t much chatter pertaining to Yunel Escobar prior to the non-waiver trade deadline (and there’s been less in August), but Heyman writes that Escobar did draw interest in July. However, the Angels like what he’s been able to give to the club offensively, batting .316/.365/.397 in 474 plate appearances. I’m not sure I see the logic behind not being willing to move Escobar but trading a similarly priced and very arguably more valuable asset with the same amount of club control (Hector Santiago) for what amounted to an injured prospect, but perhaps the Halos simply didn’t receive an offer to their liking for Escobar.
  • The Dodgers “love” Rich Hill and were planning to pursue him last winter until Brett Anderson accepted the team’s qualifying offer, per Heyman. Those two don’t seem like they should’ve been mutually exclusive — the Dodgers went out and signed Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir following Anderson’s acceptance of the QO, after all — but perhaps the Dodgers either couldn’t guarantee a rotation spot or didn’t find the notion of two starters with such recent injury woes to be palatable. Either way, if the Dodgers are as fond of Hill as Heyman indicates, it seems likely that they’ll be in the mix to re-sign him come the offseason.
  • One executive from a non-Dodgers club opined to Heyman that no team will claim Yasiel Puig if and when he’s placed on revocable waivers and added, “…if they do, they’re going to get him.” Furthermore, Heyman writes that it isn’t likely that Puig will rejoin the Dodgers at any point this season, as he has “turned off” many of his teammates. It seems difficult to fathom that the Dodgers wouldn’t bring him back in the month of September when rosters expand, but we’ll find out in just a few weeks — if Puig isn’t dealt first.
  • The Padres have yet to put Derek Norris on trade waivers, and Heyman calls him a more likely offseason trade candidate. The Indians showed mild interest but ultimately decided that their internal options were preferable to Norris, who is once again struggling tremendously following a strong showing at the plate from May 1 through the All-Star break. Heyman also notes that the Padres are interested enough in Puig to at least be thinking about it and points out the connection between pro scouting director Logan White and Puig. White was the Dodgers VP of amateur scouting prior to his Padres gig and was one of the execs that recommended Puig to his colleagues.
  • The Rangers weren’t able to swing a deal for any of the big-name starters they pursued, but that’s in part due to the asking prices they received. The Rays asked the Rangers for Jurickson Profar and other pieces in exchange for Matt Moore, while Rougned Odor’s name was suggested by the Rays in Chris Archer talks and by the White Sox in talks for Chris Sale.

Colin Rea To Undergo PRP Treatment Instead Of TJ Surgery

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Padres righty Colin Rea will forego Tommy John surgery in favor of a platelet-rich plasma treatment — at least for the time being — as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports (Twitter links). The decision was reached after consultation with Dr. James Andrews.

Rea is expected to rest for three to four weeks after receiving the treatment, and then begin a throwing program in hopes of staving off a UCL replacement procedure. That approach seems to be paying dividends right now for Angels righty Garrett Richards, and it seems that Rea has elected to follow suit after prior reports suggested he’d be going under the knife.

It has been quite an eventful couple of weeks for Rea, who was surprisingly dealt to the Marlins along with Andrew Cashner. He departed in the middle of his first start with his new team, paving the way for an even more stunning trade that sent him back to San Diego and more or less unwound that portion of the transaction.

Given the timeline suggested, it seems that Rea has designs on returning to the mound in fairly short order. He obviously won’t be ready to make it back to the big leagues in the present season, but perhaps he could join Richards in competitive fall or winter action before making a final call on his surgery, with plans for a normal spring build-up in 2017 if all goes well.

There’s still plenty of risk in taking this route, due largely to the recovery timeline in the event that surgery is ultimately required. Having the UCL replacement now might make a relatively full 2018 season a reasonable target, but if he waits and then ends up having the procedure, that could be jeopardized. Given the upside of returning to action in 2017, though, it certainly makes sense at least to see how his elbow responds to the initial treatment and rest protocol.

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