Padres Rumors

Position Player Notes: Beltran, Norris, Pearce, Jay

By Jeff Todd | July 30, 2016 at 12:43am CDT

The Indians have had some talks with the Yankees about veteran right fielder Carlos Beltran, among other players, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Though Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti has previously stated that financial considerations won’t be a major factor in the team’s deadline moves, Heyman suggests that may not be the case. Beltran is earning $15MM this year, with about $5.5MM left to go the rest of the way.

Another American League contender, the Rangers, have also approached the Yankees on Beltran, per MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (via Twitter). While Texas could certainly decide to plug a big bat onto its roster with Prince Fielder down for the year, it seems that its interest in Beltran isn’t terribly strong at present.
We’ve heard chatter suggesting that the Rangers could look at Jonathan Lucroy, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says that’s not likely (Twitter link). Padres receiver Derek Norris, though, could be in play for Texas, per the report. That’s not exactly a new link — the sides were said to be weighing a deal this spring — but we haven’t seen clear indications of present interest.
While the Mets like Steve Pearce, the cost of acquisition is too high at present, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. The veteran slugger would certainly add some punch to a moribund Mets lineup, though he wouldn’t address the team’s new need for a right-handed-hitting center fielder now that Juan Lagares is headed for surgery. But Pearce would help fill in for Jose Reyes, who could require a DL stint, and would also represent a platoon option at any infield position but shortstop as well as the corner outfield.
One under-the-radar name to watch in the next few days is Padres outfielder Jon Jay. While he won’t return before the deadline, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says (Twitter links) that he’s still drawing interest. The Pads would surely prefer to wait for him to resume playing, but passing the affordable veteran through waivers may prove a challenge, so the best value may be found now — even if Jay won’t command quite what he would have had he remained healthy to this point.

Pitching Notes: Smith, Robertson, Padres’ Relievers, Yankees’ Starters

By Jeff Todd | July 29, 2016 at 11:41pm CDT

We’ve already heard about the Mets’ interest in Angels righty Joe Smith, but they aren’t alone in looking at the veteran reliever. The Indians, Mariners, and perhaps also the Cardinals all have some level of interest, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. These teams, of course, have also been tied to a variety of other pen pieces — as have most organizations looking for relief help. Remember to check out MLBTR’s list of the top relief candidates to run down some possibilities.

One source for a quality reliever could be the White Sox, who still have closer David Robertson under contract for two more years. There’s a “real possibility” he could be moved, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports on Twitter. The Nationals, Rangers, and division-rival Indians are among the rival organizations who have some interest. While Robertson is carrying an uncharacteristic 4.35 ERA on the year, driven in large part by a huge spike in his walk totals and a barrage of home runs, he’s still getting swings and misses on 11.9% of his pitches and working with his typical 92 to 93 mph fastball. Robertson is working in the zone as much as usual, and has tamed the control problems in the month of July. Plus, much of the damage has been limited to a few bad outings — Robertson has only allowed earned runs in eight of his forty outings on the season.
Several Padres bullpen arms feature on the above-cited list of trade possibilities, and GM A.J. Preller says that he has drawn interest, as MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets. Preller cites righty Brandon Maurer and lefties Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter as hurlers who have been asked about quite frequently. “There’s definitely interest in our pen,” per the freewheeling general manager.
Teams asking the Yankees about starting pitching have been left with the impression that only Ivan Nova is available at present, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter. Nova certainly didn’t help his trade appeal with a rough outing tonight, but as a pending free agent, it seems the club is more willing to deal him. As of now, says Sherman, upper management hasn’t given a green light on moving arms that have future control, such as Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Pineda.

Latest On Jonathan Lucroy Sweepstakes

By Steve Adams | July 29, 2016 at 10:56pm CDT

10:54pm: The Rangers could view a strike for Lucroy as a way to improve their pitching, given his highly-regarded work behind the plate, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. With Texas finding high asking prices on the pitching market, the report suggests, the club could make a move for a group of Milwaukee pieces that might include Lucroy, a quality reliever, and possibly even a starter.

3:41pm: There’s a mystery team involved on Lucroy, tweets Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, and it isn’t the Red Sox or the Mariners. Those two clubs would certainly have been among the plausible suitors for the veteran.

2:49pm: The Braves have inquired on Lucroy, according to Rosenthal (via Twitter). At present, though, it doesn’t appear as if the sides are likely to strike a deal. Atlanta’s interest is limited, it seems, because it would need to extend the veteran receiver in order to justify trading him.

The teams is “wary of paying twice” — first in the swap, then in a hypothetical extension — though certainly that’s the price of poker when just a fact of life for a club that would competing with teams that have a much higher present need for a top-quality backstop. It’s no sure thing, either, that Lucroy himself would agree to a new contract.

12:29pm: Yesterday, Milwaukee asked teams with interest to make offers of a certain “minimum standard,” Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). It’s not entirely clear whether the request was for best and final offers, but Rosenthal adds that discussions are still taking place.

Among several teams to put their chips on the table are the Mets, per the report. With the Brewers still evaluating their options, multiple teams remain in the hunt.

11:27am: Jonathan Lucroy is one of the most talked-about names on the trade market right now, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick adds some context to the complications in working out a deal, reporting the eight teams to which Lucroy can block a trade (Twitter link). Lucroy can block trades to the Twins, Angels, Athletics, Padres, Mariners, Nationals and, most interestingly, the Indians and Tigers. Both of the two latter teams have been connected to Lucroy in trade rumors this week, though both Crasnick and his colleague Jayson Stark were told this morning that the Tigers are no longer in the picture (links to Twitter).

Cleveland’s presence on Lucroy’s no-trade list certainly doesn’t preclude a deal from happening — Lucroy has candidly stated to the media that he wants to play for a contending team on multiple occasions in the past six months — but it does further complicate matters for the Indians. While Lucroy’s postseason aspirations could make him willing, to some extent, to waive his no-trade rights, he could also wield that clause as leverage in an attempt to coerce the Indians into an extension or, at the very least, restructuring his contract to give him a raise on next year’s wildly affordable $5.25MM salary.

The Indians are said to be discussing Lucroy and left-hander Will Smith with the Brewers, but they face competition even if the Tigers and Astros are out of the market, as has been reported recently. The Rangers, Red Sox and Mets — none of whom are on his no-trade list — have all still been linked to Lucroy, and a premium player of his value figures to draw widespread interest. (Indeed, FanRag’s Jon Heyman last night again mentioned a mystery team in the mix.) The Mets were said to offer a package centered around Travis d’Arnaud, which was quickly dismissed, but FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reported last night that the two side “re-engaged” on trade talks. ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin adds a bit more detail to that story this morning, reporting that the Brewers circled back with the Mets and proposed a counter-offer that “was not out-of-hand rejected.” The Mets, he notes, have no intention of dealing either shortstop prospect Amed Rosario or first base prospect Dominic Smith, though.

Marlins Acquire Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea In Seven-Player Deal

By Steve Adams | July 29, 2016 at 1:34pm CDT

2:19pm: The Padres will cover around $2.275MM of the $2.5MM remaining on Cashner’s contract this year, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets.

12:33pm: The deal is official, with both clubs announcing it. There’s money heading from San Diego to Miami in the swap, per the announcement, though details remain unreported.

9:58am: After more than a month of searching for a starting pitcher to fill out the back of their rotation, the Marlins have succeeded in landing a pair of starters, reportedly agreeing to a trade that will net them right-handed starters Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea as well as righty reliever Tayron Guerrero from the Padres. In exchange, Miami is sending right-hander Jarred Cosart, top first base prospect Josh Naylor, minor league righty Luis Castillo and injured reliever Carter Capps, who underwent Tommy John earlier this year, to San Diego.

Miami has been said to be frantically searching for an upgrade to the back of its rotation, and Cashner will provide the steady innings they’ve been seeking — with the upside for more — so long as he stays healthy. That’s not a given for Cashner, it should be noted; he’s missed time in 2016 with a hamstring strain and a neck strain, and the 2014 season saw him endure separate stints on the disabled list for soreness in his right shoulder and inflammation in his right elbow.

Injuries have, to some extent, played a role in Cashner’s weaker-than-expected results across the past two seasons. After pitching to a 2.87 ERA in 289 1/3 innings from 2013-14, Cashner posted a 4.34 ERA in 184 2/3 innings last season and is at 4.76 in 79 1/3 innings in 2016. However, he’s pitched quite well over his past three outings and still comes with some degree of upside. He is, after all, less than two years removed from a season that saw him deliver a strong 2.55 ERA in 123 1/3 innings, and he still averages just under 94 mph on his heater to go along with an above-average ground-ball rate. That last point is key for a Marlins infield that has plus defenders in Martin Prado at third base, the recently reinstated Dee Gordon at second base and defensive wizard Adeiny Hechavarria at shortstop.

Rea, 26, is an entirely different type of asset for the Marlins. He’s in just his second season at the big league level and is controllable through the 2021 season, giving Miami a potential long-term piece in the rotation, though his early results have admittedly been mixed. The former 12th-round pick has a 4.81 ERA in 131 career innings at the Major League level, averaging 7.0 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 to go along with a 45.5 percent ground-ball rate. Rea, though, entered the 2015 season as the Padres’ No. 4 prospect at MLB.com and No. 7 prospect at Baseball America. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com noted at the time that the new Padres regime considered Rea to be a pleasant surprise, as he’d added velocity to his fastball, more power to his curveball and also improved his command. The changes gave Rea the upside of settling in as a third or fourth starter in the Majors, per the report, and while Rea isn’t there just yet, there certainly seems to be some untapped potential with which VP of pitching development Jim Benedict (who came over from the Pirates this winter) can work.

Cashner and Rea will slot into a Marlins rotation that is fronted by ace Jose Fernandez and impressive sophomore Adam Conley. Miami, however, just lost its top offseason signing, left-hander Wei-Yin Chen, to the disabled list with an elbow sprain, further magnifying an already pressing need to add to the rotation. Right-hander Tom Koehler can provide a steady stream of mostly reliable innings at the back of the rotation, and Rea seems likely to step into the starting mix ahead of the inexperienced Jose Urena in the fifth spot.

Guerrero, meanwhile, gives Miami a buy-low arm on a pitcher that rated among San Diego’s top 30 prospects entering the season but has had a dreadful start to his 2016 campaign. Guerrero, 25, posted a very strong 3.05 ERA and punched out 61 hitters in 56 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year, but control problems have always been an issue for him, and he’s become more hittable in 2016. This year, he’s sporting a 5.30 ERA in 35 2/3 innings between those same levels. While his strikeout and walk rates are similar to those of his 2015 campaign, he’s allowed considerably more hits and been more homer-prone this year. Guerrero offers a blistering fastball and the potential for an above-average slider but is something of a project for the Fish. He did make his big league debut earlier this year, though, and if Miami can get him back on track he could conceivably add a very live arm to their bullpen later this season.

The loss of both Cashner and Rea leaves the rebuilding Padres rather thin in the rotation, especially with Tyson Ross still on the DL due to his season-long shoulder woes, Robbie Erlin out for the year due to Tommy John surgery and Erik Johnson (who came over in the trade that removed James Shields from the San Diego rotation) also on the disabled list due to a right flexor sprain. Incredibly, the Padres have traded away nearly their entire Opening Day rotation, as Ross is the only remaining member (and likely only remains due to his injury status). The Friars, for now, are left with Edwin Jackson, Christian Friedrich and Rule 5 righty Luis Perdomo in their rotation, and they will presumably be joined by Cosart.

The 26-year-old Cosart, who had made just one start for the Marlins since returning from Triple-A, will go through yet another change of scenery in hopes of finally capitalizing on the potential that made him a consensus top 100 prospect from 2011-13. Originally drafted by the Phillies, he went to Houston in the original Hunter Pence trade and then to Miami alongside Enrique Hernandez in exchange for Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran and a competitive balance draft pick. Cosart has shown glimpses of his potential in the Majors and even posted a 3.69 ERA in 180 1/3 big league innings back in 2014, but he’s never been able to string much success together. He’ll bring plenty of grounders to the table (career 55.3 percent ground-ball rate), but he’s never missed many bats despite averaging 94 mph on his fastball (5.6 K/9) and hasn’t shown great control either (4.3 BB/9).

San Diego, though, will have some time to try to get Cosart on track. He entered the season with two years and 20 days of service time, and he’ll fall shy of the 152 days of big league service he’d have needed to reach three years of Major League service. As such, Cosart will be controlled through the 2020 season.

The addition of Capps to the deal is a high-upside wild card for the Padres. Capps broke out as one of baseball’s most dominant relievers last season, posting a 1.16 ERA with a 58-to-7 K/BB ratio and a 40.8 percent ground-ball rate in 31 innings of work. With a fastball that averaged 98.1 mph and appeared even faster due to delivery that was as controversial as it was unorthodox — the legality of Capps’ delivery came into question on multiple occasions in 2015 — Capps had all of the makings of an elite bullpen arm before his UCL gave out in Spring Training. If he rehabs and comes back looking anything like the 2015 version of himself, the Friars will be a legitimate relief ace on their hands.

The top-ranked prospect in this deal is Naylor — the No. 12 overall pick in the 2015 draft and the No. 100 prospect in Major League Baseball according to Baseball America’s midseason Top 100 list. MLB.com rated Naylor second among Marlins farmhands on its midseason update to Miami’s prospect rankings, placing him only behind 2016 first-rounder Braxton Garrett. The 19-year-old Naylor has held his own despite being well below the average age of competitors in the Class-A South Atlantic League this season, batting .269/.317/.430 with nine homers, 24 doubles, two triples and 10 stolen bases. His 5.9 percent walk rate isn’t wowing anyone just yet, but he’s shown a knack for making contact, striking out at a respectable 16.7 percent clip against older competition. The 10 steals are somewhat of a surprise for a 6’0″, 225-pounder that is said to lack speed, though he could see that stolen base total come down as he continues to progress throughout the minors (especially considering he’s still just 19 and could add further weight/size). Based on his bat alone, Naylor would probably be a more highly regarded prospect; MLB.com’s report on him states that his bat could be “special,” praising his plus-plus raw power and strong contact skills. However, Naylor is seen as a first baseman only, and a below-average one at that, with very little speed, meaning that scouts feel he’ll be a bat-first type of player that needs to hit to provide everyday value.

Castillo was sixth among Marlins farmhands on Baseball America’s midseason update of their top prospects and eighth on MLB.com’s midseason Marlins rankings. The 23-year-old moved from the bullpen to the rotation for the first time last season at Class-A and has pitched very well in Class-A Advanced, working to a 2.25 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 1.4 BB/9 and a 51.9 percent ground-ball rate this season. BA notes that Castillo’s fastball has touched 101 mph and sits in the 96-97 mph range, adding that he shows feel for a changeup and a slider with some depth. MLB.com suggests that he’s no sure thing to stick in a rotation but adds that he has the stuff to be a power arm near the back of a bullpen if a move back to relief work ultimately proves necessary.

ESPN’s Buster Olney first reported that the Marlins had a deal to acquire Cashner (via Twitter). Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that Rea was going to the Marlins as well (also via Twitter) . FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Naylor was part of the return. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweeted that a member of the big league roster was headed to San Diego prior to reports of Cosart’s inclusion. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported Castillo’s inclusion (Twitter link), and ESPN’s Jayson Stark reported that Cosart was in the deal as well (on Twitter). The inclusion of Capps and Guerrero were the final pieces of the puzzle, both reported by Rosenthal (Twitter link).

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Marlins Pushing To Land Andrew Cashner; Rangers Out?

By Jeff Todd | July 29, 2016 at 12:39am CDT

FRIDAY, 12:37am: Texas isn’t landing Cashner, sources tell MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (via Twitter). That would seem to leave the Marlins in position to finalize an agreement, and SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets the Fish are indeed getting closer to striking a deal.

THURSDAY, 11:29pm: The Marlins and Rangers are the two “current leaders” to acquire righty Andrew Cashner from the Padres, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Miami is “pushing hard to finalize” a swap that would send multiple prospects to San Diego for the much-needed starter, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter), though it seems as if there’s still competition for his services.

We’ve long heard of interest from a wide variety of clubs in the pending free agent, who seems among the likeliest trade pieces in all of baseball. The Orioles were said to be making a push to strike a deal on Cashner just yesterday, but now seem to be behind in the sweepstakes. Other contenders who have been linked include the Blue Jays and Giants.

Recent reports have suggested that the Pads were nearing a deal for Cashner at various points in time, but he remains in San Diego at present. That probably worked out to the benefit of his current team, as the up-and-down righty has put together his best work of the season over his last three outings, permitting five runs and running up 23 strikeouts against just three walks over 17 2/3 frames.

Still, on the year he’s carrying only a 4.76 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 over 79 1/3 frames. Some home run troubles (16.0% HR/flyball rate) haven’t helped, and Cashner has also posted a career-worst 7.3% swinging striker rate with a slightly declining (but still-strong) average four-seam velocity of 94 mph.

Despite his rocky results, Cashner currently holds the fifth spot on MLBTR’s top trade candidate ranking. That’s due not only to his oft-noted talent, but also to San Diego’s aggressive selling posture, which has already resulted in deals for James Shields, Fernando Rodney, and Melvin Upton. There’s an argument to be made that Cashner is the most appealing rental starter currently available; Rich Hill has unquestionably been better, but also hasn’t pitched much of late, while Jeremy Hellickson arguably doesn’t have quite the ceiling of the other two.

Cashner is earning a relatively modest $7.15MM salary this year, so he’s just as affordable in terms of salary as Hill and Hellickson. In theory, the Pads could hold onto him and hope that he pitches well enough down the stretch to warrant a qualifying offer, but it seems that ship has sailed at this point — particularly with the starting pitching market seemingly primed for sellers to receive strong returns.

Heyman’s Latest: Sale, Cashner, Royals, Brewers, Giants, Mariners, Nats

By Steve Adams | July 28, 2016 at 1:19pm CDT

Even though the Yankees made a forward-looking move by trading Aroldis Chapman for Adam Warren and three young prospects (highlighted by high-ceiling shortstop Gleyber Torres), they’ve at least placed a call to the White Sox to inquire on Chris Sale, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in his latest Inside Baseball column. GM Brian Cashman wouldn’t comment on Sale when asked, telling Heyman only that the Yankees call on virtually every player that’s available as a matter of due diligence. Heyman writes that there’s speculation among other clubs that the Yanks could make a legitimate run at Sale, possibly including Torres in the package, but there’s no indication yet to support that talk.

A few more highlights from the lengthy column…

The Astros called the Padres to inquire on Andrew Cashner but told San Diego about 48 hours later that they were no longer interested. Whether it’s because of the asking price or another reason isn’t entirely clear. Heyman adds that, unsurprisingly, Colby Rasmus won’t be getting another qualifying offer from the Astros this year after he accepted the QO last November and has underperformed in 2016.
The Royals will wait until the very last minute to decide if they’re going to sell off veteran pieces. Edinson Volquez, Kendrys Morales and Luke Hochevar — each of whom has a mutual option on his contract but is likely to hit the open market following the season — are among the team’s candidates to be traded if the Royals do sell. Interestingly, he also notes that there’s a belief that Kansas City will let Alcides Escobar go and replace him with Raul Mondesi Jr. I’d personally wonder if, even though he hasn’t performed well at the plate whatsoever, the Royals could generate some trade interest (either now or after the season) due to the $6.5MM club option ($500K buyout) on Escobar’s contract.
Angels GM Billy Eppler will at least listen to offers on both Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker, though each is controllable beyond this season (Shoemaker for another four years, Santiago through 2017), so there’s no definitive urge to move either. Yunel Escobar and Joe Smith are both trade candidates for the Halos as well, as has been noted frequently over the past couple of weeks.
The Brewers weren’t impressed at all by the Mets’ offer for Jonathan Lucroy, which centered around Travis d’Arnaud. Heyman cites Brewers sources as saying they’ve been offered better catchers than d’Arnaud and still passed on moving Lucroy just yet. Right-hander Junior Guerra, who is having a surprisingly strong season as a 31-year-old rookie, has generated some trade interest, but Heyman says there’s been little chatter on Chris Carter. It also seems that Ryan Braun isn’t being talked about much at this stage.
The Giants are interested in Minnesota’s Eduardo Nunez, who has also recently been connected to the Indians. The Twins figure to be wide open to trade scenarios in the coming days, and Nunez would give the Giants some cover at third base, shortstop, second base and in left field. Similarly, the Giants have a bit of interest in Alex Guerrero, who was released by the Dodgers earlier this year. However, Heyman points out that catcher Miguel Olivo, who is being sued by Guerrero after biting off a piece of Guerrero’s ear in a dugout altercation with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2015, is playing for San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate.
The Cubs and Rangers have both called the Mariners about Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, but Seattle hasn’t shown any inclination toward moving either pitcher. Wade Miley is more likely to be moved, and Heyman adds that the Mariners are still open to adding some pieces for 2016 and have checked into Angels righty Joe Smith, whom GM Jerry Dipoto signed while serving as GM in Anaheim.
The Nationals turned down proposals centered around both Lucas Giolito and Joe Ross when negotiating with the Yankees about Aroldis Chapman. From there, the Yankees shifted to younger players and asked for a four-prospect package centered around pitching — though it’s not clear just who New York was targeting. Washington never got close on a Chapman trade despite quite a bit of talk with the Yankees, per Heyman.

Orioles “Trying Hard” To Land Andrew Cashner

By Steve Adams | July 28, 2016 at 9:34am CDT

The Orioles are “trying hard” to get right-hander Andrew Cashner from the Padres in trade talks, per FOX’s Ken Rosenthal (links to Twitter), though Baltimore isn’t necessarily considered the favorite. The Marlins and Rangers are both still in on Cashner, he notes, and others recently linked to the free-agent-to-be include the Blue Jays and Giants. While MLB.com’s Jon Morosi recently reported that San Diego was making progress on a Cashner trade, Rosenthal feels that Cashner talks could stretch into Monday.

As Rosenthal points out, the Orioles and Padres had extensive talks regarding Melvin Upton Jr., so the O’s are likely already familiar with the players from their minor league ranks that are most coveted by the Padres. Likewise, San Diego is familiar with the players that the Orioles would be reluctant to surrender, though given the meager return on Upton and the fairly significant demand for Cashner, it’s safe to assume that Cashner talks would feature more highly regarded names than Upton talks. (Reportedly, the Padres sought lefty Garrett Cleavinger and righty Jhon Peluffo in Upton negotiations.)

Baltimore looked perilously thin in the rotation entering the season, and the need to augment the rotation has become even clearer as the season has worn on. Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman are the only two regular members of the Orioles’ rotation that have managed an ERA south of 5.00. Yovani Gallardo’s 5.37 ERA ranks third among Orioles that have made five or more starts. Aside from the work turned in by Tillman and Gausman, Baltimore has received a collective 5.93 ERA in the starts made by Gallardo, Ubaldo Jimenez, Tyler Wilson, Mike Wright, Vance Worley and Dylan Bundy. The final member of that group has at least looked solid over his past two starts, but Bundy pitched a combined 67 professional innings from 2012-15 due to injuries and is already at 52 innings pitched in 2016, making it virtually impossible for the Orioles to entrust him with a starter’s workload down the stretch.

Generally speaking, Cashner has been unimpressive for the bulk of the season, posting a 4.76 ERA in 79 1/3 innings while missing time due to a hamstring strain and a neck strain. He’s rattled off three consecutive nice starts against contending teams, however, yielding five runs with a 23-to-3 K/BB ratio over his past 17 2/3 innings.

Latest On Andrew Cashner

By Steve Adams | July 27, 2016 at 10:04am CDT

TODAY, 10:00am: The Giants are still in “active talks” with San Diego regarding Cashner, Morosi tweets, so evidently the market for his services remains wide open.

YESTERDAY, 8:05pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that clubs eyeing Cashner wanted to see him pitch one more time before deciding whether to meet the Padres’ asking price. Cashner got off to a rocky start when he walked Jose Bautista and gave up a two-run homer to Josh Donaldson, but he recovered quite well, finishing the evening with three runs allowed on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in six innings.

6:16pm: The Blue Jays/Padres game is underway with Cashner on the mound, so there’s clearly nothing imminent at this time.

3:54pm: Morosi adds that the Padres are still discussing Cashner with multiple clubs, but there’s been enough progress in talks that he could be scratched from tonight’s start vs. the Blue Jays (Twitter link).

3:39pm: The Padres are making progress on a trade involving Andrew Cashner, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Cashner, widely expected to be on the move prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline, could even be moved before tonight’s scheduled start against the Blue Jays, Morosi adds. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller, however, heard otherwise earlier today, tweeting that the Padres are expecting Cashner to start in tonight’s game. However, Miller did add that trade talks surrounding Cashner continue, with the Blue Jays and Marlins “heavily” involved and the Rangers involved to a lesser extent.

Last week, Morosi reported that the Padres were trying to move Cashner before his Thursday start in St. Louis, though obviously those efforts came up short. Cashner threw well against the Cardinals, however, limiting them to a run on three hits and no walks with eight strikeouts across 5 2/3 strong innings, so if anything the delay in finding a trade partner may have caused an ever-so-mild uptick in his value.

Cashner, 29, is currently sporting a 4.79 ERA on the season with 7.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate in 73 1/3 innings. A neck strain and a hamstring strain have resulted in a pair of DL stints and limited his innings this season, further compounding the Padres’ efforts to extract strong value in a potential trade. That said, Cashner’s heater is averaging 93.6 mph this season and has trended upward of late, and he’s still displaying an ability to rack up grounders at a rate that is slightly above the league average. His status as a former high draft pick and top prospect that looked to be delivering on that hype as recently as 2013-14 (2.87 ERA in 298 1/3 innings) creates somewhat of a sense of upside as well, even if the 2015-16 seasons have yielded decidedly underwhelming results (4.47 ERA in 258 innings).

A number of teams have been connected to Cashner in recent weeks, with the Orioles, Marlins, Blue Jays, Rangers and Giants among the supposedly interested parties. Cashner is earning $7.15MM in his final season before hitting the free agent market, and about $2.67MM of that sum remains on his contract through the end of the year. Cashner’s name has been in trade rumors for months, and the right-hander has accepted the fact that his days in San Diego are nearing an end. “I know I’m going to be traded,” Cashner told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune following his start last week. “It’s just part of the game, part of where the season’s at.”

Pitching Rumors: Chapman, Ervin, Hill, Hellickson, Ubaldo, Blue Jays

By Steve Adams | July 26, 2016 at 8:45pm CDT

Joel Sherman of the New York Post walks readers through the winding process the Cubs took to reach an agreement on an Aroldis Chapman trade with the Yankees. Per Sherman, the Cubs never wanted to pursue a rental pitcher but weren’t able to convince the Yankees to back down from their demand of Kyle Schwarber. Chicago then turned to the Royals, only to find the asking price on Wade Davis to be even higher than the asking price on Miller. The Cubs weren’t willing to deal from their big league roster to upgrade the ’pen but were willing to deal from their infield depth, parting with Class-A shortstop Gleyber Torres largely because of the presence of both Addison Russell and Javier Baez on the Major League roster. (Notably, Chicago also dealt from its first base depth in moving Dan Vogelbach for another left-handed reliever: Seattle’s Mike Montgomery.) Sherman adds that owner Hal Steinbrenner still wants to win in 2016 despite approving the Chapman swap, which calls into question whether the club would entertain even an overwhelming offer for Miller.

A few notes on the pitching market…

Twins interim GM Rob Antony has expressed an openness to moving Ervin Santana if approached with a strong offer, but he tells Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he’s not shopping the right-hander (Twitter link). “I’ll be honest,” said Antony, “I’m not calling anybody trying to move him.” As Antony explained yesterday in a Q&A with MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, his feeling is that he couldn’t sign a pitcher of Santana’s effectiveness to a two-year, $27MM contract with a third-year club option (the remaining commitment on Santana’s deal after 2016) on the free agent market this winter and, as such, believes there to be enough value that he needn’t shop Santana to other clubs. Antony again stated that he’s not under any type of ownership mandate to trim payroll, suggesting that shedding Santana’s salary may not be all that appealing.
Pitching is the Twins’ biggest priority on the trade market this summer, according to Antony (Twitter link via Bollinger). While the club is clearly open to trading veteran pieces to acquire young pitching help, Antony said he’s also talked to other teams that are considered to be sellers about acquiring big league pitching — presumably MLB arms that are controllable well beyond the 2016 season.
Athletics southpaw Rich Hill believes he’ll be able to pitch on Sunday after throwing 50 pitches with protective covering over his blistered left hand and another 20 without the cover, tweets John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group. Hill has scarcely been able to pitch since late May due to a groin strain and this newfound blister issue, but he remains a highly intriguing rental option thanks to a 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate through 76 innings out of the Oakland rotation this season. That would obviously give rival scouts just one more opportunity to look at Hill before Monday’s non-waiver deadline, but that could prove crucial given his limited recent exposure.
Both the Rangers and Orioles were in attendance for Jeremy Hellickson’s scoreless six innings for the Phillies against the Marlins last night, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. (The Marlins — Hellickson’s opponents — also obviously had evaluators on hand and have long been linked to Hellickson.) There’s no clear frontrunner for Hellickson’s services, Crasnick notes, but it’s a “virtual lock” that he’ll change teams on or before next Monday.
The Padres asked the Orioles to include minor league left-hander Garrett Cleavinger and minor legaue righty Jhon Peluffo in the trade that would’ve sent Ubaldo Jimenez to San Diego in exchange for Melvin Upton Jr., according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (on Twitter). However, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the talks broke down over finances, and Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller adds (also via Twitter) that owner Peter Angelos had a late change of heart and altered the nearly agreed-upon deal — specifically the amount of money that would have changed hands. The Padres ultimately shifted course and sent Upton to the Blue Jays.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins says he’s not done making moves after swooping in and acquiring Upton earlier this morning, via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (links to Nicholson–Smith on Twitter). Atkins’ comments seemingly focused on pitching upgrades, with the GM indicating that the market for relief help is more robust than the market for starters at present. Atkins says he’s talked with all 29 other clubs on multiple occasions and is now focused on a smaller group of teams that could potentially upgrade his pitching staff. Asked specifically about the Padres — the Jays have been linked multiple times to Andrew Cashner, who tossed a quality start against them tonight — Atkins replied, “They have interesting pitching as well.”

Blue Jays Acquire Melvin Upton

By Jeff Todd | July 26, 2016 at 10:00am CDT

The Blue Jays have officially struck a deal to acquire outfielder Melvin Upton from the Padres. Young righty Hansel Rodriguez constitutes the return to San Diego, which will pay all but $5MM of the approximately $22MM owed to Upton this year and next, Heyman tweets.

The swap is likely to be finalized today, says Rosenthal, who had reported last night that Toronto was in the lead to add Upton. Among the other teams said to have had real interest were the Orioles and Indians, each of whom will need to look elsewhere to bolster their outfield reserves.

Upton brings a versatile, right-handed-hitting bat to the Jays’ alignment. He is only checking in with a league-average batting line on the year — with a .256/.304/.439 slash that reflects the fact that he has struck out in nearly one-third of his plate appearances — but has had a bigger impact than that. Upton has also swatted 16 home runs and swiped twenty bags, both of which are more reminiscent of his top-level output in those departments from his days with the Rays.

With a quality glove that is plenty capable of handling center field, Upton figures to be a frequently-used semi-regular for Toronto. The team hasn’t received much with the bat from center fielder Kevin Pillar this year, though he is a top-flight defender. Left fielder Michael Saunders has been a revelation, but despite his quality numbers this season against lefties could probably stand to take a rest from time to time when a southpaw is on the hill. And star slugger Jose Bautista is likely to have the most impact — both down the stretch and, the team hopes, in the playoffs — if he isn’t used too heavily in right field. Upton will likely see action in all three spots, relegating Ezequiel Carrera to a fifth-outfielder role (if he is able to hold onto his roster spot).

Upton is playing in the second-to-final season of the big contract he inked with the Braves before the 2013 campaign, which was shipped to San Diego two years later. He has $5.63MM left on his salary for the present season, with $16.45MM still to come for 2017. Given that San Diego will be picking up most of the tab, it seems reasonable to think both that the market demand for Upton wasn’t all that great and that the Padres put a reasonably substantial value on the rights to Rodriguez.

[Related: Updated Blue Jays and Padres Depth Charts]

With larger-salaried players including Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and R.A. Dickey set to hit the open market after the year, Toronto may well have somewhat greater payroll flexibility for 2017 than it does at present. It also now has one more piece of its outfield puzzle in place for the coming season, with not only Bautista but also Saunders soon able to go to the highest bidder (even if they do so with a qualifying offer hanging over them).

For the fourth-place Padres, the deal continues a broader sell-off as the organization’s attention shifts to acquiring young assets. Certainly, the fact that Upton was able to restore his stock constitutes a big win for San Diego, as his contract was significantly under water when he was included as part of the financial machinations in the pre-2015 Craig Kimbrel swap. Beyond the prospect value coming directly from this deal, San Diego GM A.J. Preller ought to be able to redirect the cost savings on Upton’s deal to buy-low veterans who could themselves turn into trade chips.

Rodriguez, 19, adds another potential future hurler to the system. He signed out of the Dominican Republic for a $330K bonus in February of 2014, as Ben Badler of Baseball America reported at the time, and has continued to show an intriguing arm since that time, as BA’s Josh Norris has noted. Currently, Rodriguez is pitching in the Rookie-level Appalachian League, where he owns a 3.62 ERA in 32 1/3 innings over six starts, with 7.2 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9. He has risen to 18th on MLB.com’s most recent ranking of the Jays’ system, with the prospect evaluators noting that he has a very live arm but still needs a lot of polish to his mechanics and secondary offerings.

Even better, clearing Upton from the roster allows the Friars to allocate playing time to some top prospects who seem prepared for a shot at the big leagues. Hunter Renfroe is presently laying waste to Triple-A pitching at 24 years of age, so he’d certainly qualify. And the younger Manuel Margot has his own case for a promotion; he’s hitting well in his first go at the highest level of the minors and could represent a near-future option in center.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported that Upton had been traded to Toronto (via Twitter); Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reported the return and financial details (Twitter links). Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca first reported in a tweet that a significant portion of Upton’s salary would remain with the Padres.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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