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West Notes: Angels, Valencia, Padres, Jones

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The Angels have removed amateur scouting director Ric Wilson from his post, ESPN.com’s Keith Law tweets, though he may stay with the organization in another role. GM Billy Eppler tells Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times that the team hopes Wilson will stick around. He has been with the organization for quite some time, assuming his most recent position in 2011. Though the draft results since that time haven’t been terribly well-regarded, as DiGiovanna notes, the Halos have generally not provided him with advantageous draft positions from which to work and have traded away several of the more promising prospects brought in under Wilson.

Here’s more from out west to round out the evening:

  • Even with Josh Reddick out of the picture, the Athletics continue to use Danny Valencia somewhat sporadically, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Manager Bob Melvin says the reason is that the organization needs to look to “see what our future is.” While Valencia isn’t a long-term piece, he is controllable for another season and has been highly productive at the plate. It was somewhat surprising he wasn’t dealt at the deadline, but he could be moved in August or over the winter as well.
  • Though he has received quite a lot of criticism (and before that, praise) since taking over as the Padres’ general manager, A.J. Preller has overseen a swift rebuilding of the team’s farm of late, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes. The work has been accomplished through a variety of methods, as Cassavell explains in a long look at the club’s action since the start of 2016. Preller says that the initial investment in veteran assets when he took the helm occurred due to an “opportunity in the short term to try to take a chance to put a competitive team on the field.” But there was also a back-up plan, he suggests: “There was also understanding at the time that we were going to acquire assets that potentially could be valuable to other teams. … As a baseball group, you’re always talking about: ’Here’s the best possible scenario, but also here’s other scenarios.'”
  • The Rangers have moved James Jones from the outfield to the mound, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. A hurler in college, the 27-year-old (who is a southpaw) has reached the majors as a position player and has had success at the plate in the upper minors. He struggled to a .232/.297/.330 batting line this year at Triple-A after being acquired (and then outrighted and re-signed) over the winter by Texas.

Padres Claim Patrick Kivlehan From Mariners

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The Padres have claimed infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan off waivers from the Mariners, the teams announced today. Kivlehan, 26, has been optioned to Triple-A El Paso, according to the Padres.

Kivlehan has split the 2016 season between the Mariners and Rangers after being traded between the two teams twice. He originally went from Seattle to Texas along with Tom Wilhelmsen in the Leonys Martin trade, but the Rangers designated him for assignment and wound up sending him back to the Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations on May 29. (A subsequent announcement of a player going to Texas in exchange never materialized, so it seems likely that the Rangers picked up cash in the swap). In 321 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for the Mariners and Rangers this season, Kivlehan batted .242/.291/.399 with nine homers and 16 doubles.

Kivelhan has played primarily third base throughout his minor league career, but he also has several hundred innings of work at first base, left field and right field. The Friars announced him only as an outfielder in their release, though that’s not necessarily an indication of how San Diego plans to deploy him for the remainder of the season.

AL Notes: Twins, Hill, Indians, Norris, Rangers

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While details are non-existent, Twins general manager Rob Antony dropped an intriguing note to reporters including Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). Minnesota nearly swung a three-team trade before the deadline, the newly-minted interim GM said. That’s certainly fun to ponder, though it’s awfully difficult to assess what kind of scenario might have materialized with so many moving parts. (Don’t let that stop you from trying in the comments!)

Here’s more from the American League:

  • Before he was traded by the Athletics to the Dodgers, southpaw Rich Hill was seeking around $28MM over two years in the extension talks between the sides, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. That’s certainly an interesting number to ponder: it’s shockingly high for a player of Hill’s background, but is rather cheap compared with the cost of top-end starting pitching on the open market, particularly given the dearth of arms coming this winter. Despite the risk, Hill has pitched at an extremely high level when healthy, and the guess here is that plenty of teams would be happy to take that chance for less than the expected annual rate of a qualifying offer (which is expected to be $16.7MM). Last fall, Marco Estrada commanded $26MM over two years in a deal struck while he pondered a QO, providing something of a comparable, though Hill is older and probably should come with wider band of reasonable performance expectations. Regardless whether that was a reasonable request for a raise over Hill’s current $6MM salary — which he landed despite only a four-start audition late last year — it provides some insight into the thinking of an interesting pending free agent. (Notably, the trade also means that Hill won’t be eligible to receive a qualifying offer.)
  • The Indians considered a move for Padres catcher Derek Norris after their agreement to add Jonathan Lucroy was vetoed by the veteran backstop, according to Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer. Talks didn’t go very far, though, as Cleveland wasn’t enticed by a reportedly high asking price. The Indians also looked at Steve Pearce, but the team’s scouts weren’t enthused by his defensive profile at third.
  • The Rangers’ efforts to strike a deal for a new ballpark are still moving along, as Robert Cadwallader of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The Arlington City Council voted unanimously to push ahead with a November ballot item seeking approval for the funding package, which has received plenty of criticism given its taxpayer-backed terms and the fact that the Rangers seemingly play in a rather acclaimed, quite youthful ballpark at present. Another vote is needed to send the matter to the voters.

International Notes/Signings: Gutierrez, Padres, Cardinals

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Cuban right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez, who rated No. 3 on MLB.com’s rankings of international prospects, is still weighing multiple options, tweets MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez. Gutierrez has reportedly bounced around to multiple agencies and had a lengthy stay on the free agent market (he was declared a free agent last July) and may now pitch in Japan or wait until next year’s international signing period to strike a deal. That seems like an awfully lengthy wait for a pitcher who has drawn some pretty solid reviews in the past and as recently as March was said to have re-established himself as a prospect after briefly seeing his stuff take a step backward. Gutierrez is 20 years of age, so he’s subject to international spending limitations for now, although if he does wait until next year to sign, the international free agency process could look markedly different, as it’ll be discussed at length in the upcoming wave of collective bargaining negotiations.

That said, there are also a pair of international signings that merit mention…

  • The Padres have signed Cuban righty Ronald Bolanos for a bonus that will be worth a bit more than $2MM, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. Badler notes that Bolanos, 20, played mostly as an outfielder in the 18U leagues in Cuba but converted to the mound in 2014 and has seen a substantial uptick in velocity as he’s filled out, with his heater now ranging from 90 to 96 mph. Badler praises his slider as a potentially above-average pitch and gives a less flattering review of Bolanos curveball, adding that the right-hander won’t pitch for the Padres this season but could open with one of San Diego’s Class-A affiliates in 2017. For those keeping score at home, the Padres’ total international expenditures (including the 100 percent overage tax with which they’re being hit on each of these signings) is now in the range of $65MM (as the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Dennis Lin points out, on Twitter).
  • Lost a bit amid last week’s trade deadline chaos was the fact that the Cardinals signed Cuban shortstop/outfielder Randy Arozarena for a bonus of $1.25MM, as Jorge Ebro of El Nuevo Herald first reported (Twitter link). Following the signing, Badler wrote about the 21-year-old’s plus speed and plate discipline, noting that he could eventually develop enough pop for 10 to 15 homers but figures to derive more value from his OBP than his power. He’s advanced enough to jump right into the mix at Class-A Advanced, in Badler’s estimation. Sanchez’s rankings listed Arozarena as the No. 16 prospect on this year’s international market.

Marlins Trade Colin Rea Back To Padres Following Elbow Injury

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12:57pm: The Marlins announced that Rea has indeed been traded back to San Diego in exchange for Castillo. In essence, then, last Friday’s swap boils down to Miami acquiring Cashner and Guerrero in exchange for Cosart, Naylor and Capps.

12:52pm: The Marlins will be getting Castillo back from the Padres, tweets Rosenthal.

12:49pm: In a fairly stunning bit of news, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Marlins will send right-hander Colin Rea back to the Padres (links to Twitter). Rea left his Marlins debut with an elbow injury and was quickly placed on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow sprain. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Marlins were “absolutely livid” and felt as though they were traded damaged goods by the Padres. Rosenthal notes that the exact structuring of the deal isn’t exactly clear, but the Padres will effectively trade Rea back to San Diego in a separate deal and keep Andrew Cashner, who came to Miami along with Rea in Friday’s seven-player trade.

Rea fired off 3 1/3 shutout innings in his Marlins debut, allowing just a lone hit and no walks with four strikeouts before departing with the aforementioned elbow injury. It’s not clear precisely how Miami will be compensated in this instance, as the swap is virtually unprecedented in nature. The Marlins sent first base prospect Josh Naylor, hard-throwing Class-A righty Luis Castillo, injured reliever Carter Capps and right-hander Jarred Cosart to the Padres in that deal in exchange for Rea, Cashner and right-hander Tayron Guerrero.

Marlins Place Colin Rea On DL With Elbow Sprain

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Right-hander Colin Rea, acquired by the Marlins alongside Andrew Cashner in Friday’s seven-player trade with the Padres, left his Marlins debut last night in the fourth inning with soreness in his right elbow, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweeted at the time. The injury was ominous even last night, and it hasn’t gotten any better, as the Marlins have placed Rea on the 15-day DL, and MLB.com’s Jon Morosi has tweeted that he’ll undergo an MRI tomorrow.

[Related: Updated Miami Marlins Depth Chart]

If the injury proves to be relatively minor and requires only a minimal DL stay, the Marlins can probably patch things together in the short-term. If it’s a longer-term injury, however, the Marlins could be forced into trying to scrounge up one more starter to round out the rotation before Monday’s non-waiver deadline (or, perhaps, via trade waivers in August). That’s not great news for a Marlins club that has depleted what was already a thin farm system in trades to acquire Rea, Andrew Cashner and Fernando Rodney from the Padres. Reporters have already begun to speculate on possible alternatives for the Marlins, with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeting that Jon Niese would make a good low-cost (in terms of prospects) rental, and FanRag’s Jon Heyman suggesting Ivan Nova (Twitter link).

While the injury to Rea, who was in the midst of an excellent debut (3 1/3 innings, one hit, no walks, four strikeouts), is an unquestionable stroke of bad luck for the Marlins, the misfortune goes both ways. Right-hander Chris Paddack, who went to San Diego from Miami in exchange for Rodney, has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament and is likely to require Tommy John surgery, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (on Twitter). Paddack has been nothing short of sensational this year and has rapidly elevated his prospect status, but he now stands to lose a full year of development. Given the late stage of the season in which he has incurred the injury, Paddack could conceivably miss nearly all of the 2017 season as he recovers from the injury.

Padres Pushing To Move Derek Norris; Brewers, Rangers, Astros Have Interest

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12:34pm: Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets that in addition to the Brewers, the Rangers and Astros are also showing interest in Norris. Of course, the Norris fit only makes sense for the Brewers if Lucroy is moved to another club, and he has since exercised his no-trade clause and squashed a would-be deal to the Indians.

1:01am: The Padres are still pushing to move Derek Norris by Monday afternoon’s non-waiver trade deadline, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller tweets that the Brewers are among the teams currently speaking to San Diego about Norris.

Milwaukee’s connection to Norris is somewhat of a surprise at first, but there’s plenty of logic to the match. First and foremost, if the Brewers’ reported agreement to trade Jonathan Lucroy to the Indians is ultimately finalized (Lucroy must first agree to waive his no-trade protection), Milaukee will be left with a significant hole behind the plate and very few options. Martin Maldonado could see an increase in playing time, but as a career .217/.291/.341 hitter in 934 plate appearances, he’s not well-suited for an everyday role. Looking down the pipeline a bit, the Brewers have Josmil Pinto and Manny Pina, each with some MLB experience under his belt, at the Triple-A level. and each is hitting well. However, Colorado Springs is an exceptionally hitter-friendly environment, and Pinto comes with noted defensive issues.

Beyond the lack of a long-term option on the brink of MLB readiness, the Brewers could simply look to opportunistically acquire Norris while his value is down. The 27-year-old was a well above-average contributor relative to his catching peers from 2013-15, but his bat has taken a huge step back in 2016, as he’s hitting just .193/.253/.360 on the year. Norris got off to a dreadful start and looked to have righted the ship in May and June, but his bat has gone dormant once again as of late. That, however, only figures to drive down the price, especially considering the fact that San Diego has top prospect Austin Hedges doing his best Mike Piazza impression in Triple-A El Paso (.352/.395/.684 with 17 homers in 210 plate appearances). The Padres would seem to be highly motivated to move Norris, who is earning a reasonable $2.925MM this season and controllable for another two years via the arbitration process.

One would have to imagine that the asking price on Norris has dropped considerably since Opening Day, and if that’s the case the Brewers could look to buy low in the hopes that a change of scenery and a relocation to the first hitter-friendly park of his career can get him back on track. Norris has, after all, spent his entire big league career in the offense-suppressing confines of O.Co Coliseum and Petco Park. But, even if Norris doesn’t ultimately rediscover the form that saw him bat .256/.333/.405 from 2013-15, he could provide a serviceable stopgap behind the plate while the Brewers trot out an inexperienced pitching staff in the midst of their rebuild.

Padres To Designate Hector Olivera For Assignment

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The Padres will immediately designate infielder/outfielder Hector Olivera upon his activation from a suspension on Aug. 2, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He had just been acquired from the Braves in exchange for Matt Kemp.

The news will sound bizarre to those unfamiliar with the situation or the contract statuses of either player, but the trade essentially boils down to a financial tactic for the Padres, who will save $25.5MM in the deal. San Diego owed Kemp $64.5MM from 2017-19 ($10.5MM of which was coming from the Dodgers via the trade in which they initially acquired Kemp), whereas Olivera is owed $28.5MM from 2017-20. Olivera is currently serving an 82-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy after being arrested and charged with assault of a woman at a Washington D.C.-area hotel back in April. Understandably, neither the Braves nor Padres wanted any part of Olivera , who hasn’t produced at the plate in either the minors or Majors since signing a six-year deal with the Dodgers in 2015 and also comes with a very poor defensive reputation.

San Diego has been rapidly trimming its payroll over the past nine months, shipping out expensive veterans Craig Kimbrel, Melvin Upton Jr., Fernando Rodney and Andrew Cashner in an effort to not only shed payroll but to aggressively accumulate minor league talent. Much of the Padres’ financial savings have been immediately redirected to international free agency, where they’ve been the most active and highest-spending team on the 2016-17 international free agent market. Most notably, the Padres have signed 17-year-old Cuban left-hander Adrian Morejon to an $11MM bonus and 19-year-old Cuban outfielder Jorge Ona to a $9MM bonus (each of which comes with a 100 percent luxury tax because the team has shattered its league-allotted spending pool).

The series of moves represents a significant change in course from a Padres front office that was one of the most aggressive buyers of the 2014-15 offseason. A season and a half of dismal play from the Friars has pushed the team into rebuild mode, and further moves should be expected in advance of Monday afternoon’s non-waiver trade deadline. Derek Norris stands out as perhaps the likeliest remaining Padre to be traded.

Padres, Braves Swap Matt Kemp, Hector Olivera

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The Braves and Padres have agreed to a swap of bad contracts, announcing a trade of Hector Olivera from Atlanta to San Diego in exchange for Matt Kemp and cash considerations (which reportedly total $10.5MM). If there was any question about this being a purely financial move from the Padres’ vantage point, that was answered with the news that Olivera will be immediately designated Olivera for assignment once his suspension is complete.

Matt Kemp

[Related: Updated San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves Depth Charts]

The 31-year-old Kemp is owed $21.5MM in each of the next three seasons. The Padres had been slated to pay $18MM of that annually, with the Dodgers kicking in $3.5MM per year. That $3.5MM from the Dodgers will now reportedly be redirected to the Braves. Atlanta already owed Olivera $28.5MM from 2017-19, so the trade effectively amounts to the Braves adding Kemp for an additional $25.5MM over three years — an annual rate of $8.5MM.

A Kemp trade has long been difficult to imagine, as his considerable power is largely negated by his poor defense and his difficulty getting on base. Though he’s clubbed 24 homers this season, Kemp is hitting .262/.285/.489 overall, which translates to just a few ticks above the league-average batting line, per park-adjusted metrics like OPS+ and wRC+. However, while Olivera is owed less money than Kemp, his recent off-field issues look to have motivated the Braves to rid themselves of him before he ever has the opportunity to play another game in their uniform.

Olivera is currently serving a suspension through Aug. 1 under MLB’s domestic violence policy after being arrested and charged with assault of a woman at a Washington D.C.-area hotel back in early April. He’s the third player this season to serve a suspension under the newly implemented policy and has received the strongest punishment of the three. The Braves’ acquisition of Olivera has been ill-fated from the start, as defensive questions at third base quickly forced him into left field, and he’s yet to produce the plate whatsoever in an Atlanta uniform. The 31-year-old has tallied 108 plate appearances in the Majors, but the resulting .245/.296/.378 slash is considerably below the league average, and he hasn’t been productive in his limited minor league time, either. Olivera is owed $28.5MM from 2017-20.

Hector Olivera

From the Padres’ perspective, the deal is entirely about shedding some of the remaining money on Kemp’s contract and, presumably, clearing a spot for slugging corner outfield prospect Hunter Renfroe to debut with the big league club, whether it’s now or later on in the summer. (Renfroe, 24, was San Diego’s first-round pick in 2013 and has slashed a combined .323/.351/.594 in 121 games at the Triple-A level.) The trade that brought Kemp to San Diego in exchange for Yasmani Grandal, Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin was a head-scratcher at the time and has proven to be a bust for the Padres, but they’ll avoid paying everything that was left on Kemp’s contract with this trade, which continues GM A.J. Preller’s quest to shed payroll and give an opportunity to younger players.

As for the Braves, they’ll accept a portion of Kemp’s contract as a means of getting out from underneath a similarly regrettable trade. One year ago to the day, Atlanta traded Alex Wood, Jose Peraza, Luis Avilan and Jim Johnson to the Dodgers in a three-team deal (also including the Marlins) that sent Olivera, Paco Rodriguez and Zach Bird to the Braves. Atlanta had reportedly coveted Olivera as a free agent but lost out to the Dodgers’ huge offer of $62.5MM. Atlanta had seemingly hoped that Olivera could become a long-term option at third base, but things certainly haven’t panned out that way. GM John Coppolella candidly called the Olivera deal “a bad trade for us and one that I wish we had back” in a Twitter Q&A with fans last month, and he’s at least managed to rid himself of an asset from which the organization very clearly wanted to distance itself.

While Kemp’s defense and OBP will most likely continue to detract from his value, he’ll certainly add some power to a lineup that is currently bereft of home run threats outside of Freddie Freeman. He figures to play left field for the Braves while Mallex Smith is on the shelf, and the possibility of a Nick Markakis deal could open right field for Kemp in the long term. Given Atlanta’s rebuild and stockpiling of young talent, however, it seems reasonable to expect that they may eventually be open to moving Kemp themselves as a means of clearing way for a more youthful option to join Smith and Ender Inciarte in the outfield.

ESPN’s Keith Law first reported that the two sides were approaching a Kemp/Olivera swap (via Twitter). Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that it would be just those two players in the deal. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports added that there were cash considerations in the deal. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported (on Twitter) that Olivera could be immediately be designated for assignment. David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweeted that an agreement was reached . Bowden tweeted the amount of cash changing hands. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted that the $10.5MM was the same $10.5MM the Padres were to receive from the Dodgers — not an additional $10.5MM.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres Working To Trade Matt Kemp, Talking With Braves

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4:31pm: MLB.com’s Mark Bowman implies that talks between the two sides aren’t especially active at the moment, tweeting that “if the Braves revisit” Kemp discussions with the Padres, then San Diego would “seemingly have to be willing” to take on the remaining money owed to Hector Oliver in a swap of bad contracts. Currently serving a suspension under MLB’s domestic violence policy, Olivera is owed $28.5MM from 2017 through 2020.

3:34pm: The Padres are working to trade Matt Kemp and are willing to eat the vast majority of the money he is owed, reports ESPN’s Jim Bowden (via Twitter). The Braves are one of two teams to which San Diego is currently talking he adds. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that he hears similar chatter. The Padres are working to move Kemp, and they’ve talked to the Braves, who are looking for ways to add to their offense.

Kemp, 31, is owed $21.5MM in each of the next three seasons, and the Padres are on the hook for $18MM of that sum on an annual basis. (The Dodgers are picking up the other $3.5MM in each of those seasons.) Trading him has long seemed like a difficult feat, as Kemp’s considerable power is largely negated by his poor defense and his difficulty getting on base. Though he’s clubbed 24 homers this season, Kemp is hitting .262/.285/.489 overall, which translates to just a few ticks above the league-average batting line, per park-adjusted metrics like OPS+ and wRC+.

The Braves have, in the past, been said to be willing to take on large contracts in order to acquire meaningful prospects from a trading partner. It seems unlikely, however, that the rebuilding Padres, who have been accumulating as much minor league talent as possible as of late, would give up any of their top-tier talent to shed Kemp’s deal. From a speculative standpoint, the Braves could look to utilize Nick Markakis’ contract to balance out some of the salary involved, though taking on Markakis could prove troublesome for the Padres, who undoubtedly would like to give slugging corner outfield prospect Hunter Renfroe a chance to bring his career .323/.351/.594 batting line at Triple-A to the Majors.

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