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NL Notes: Heyward, Upton, Rockies

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Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward will undergo an MRI this morning after leaving yesterday’s game following a diving catch, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune notes. Heyward says his “lower rib bone and hip bone hit each other.” He adds that he isn’t experiencing any sharp pain and is relieved that there aren’t any broken bones, but it sounds like he could still wind up on the disabled list. If Heyward were to head to the DL, the Cubs could activate Matt Szczur, who’s currently on the DL with a hamstring injury. Here’s more from the National League.

  • Padres outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. appears to be getting his career back on track in San Diego, writes FOX Sports’ Flinder Boyd in a lengthy profile that chronicles the twists and turns Upton’s career has taken. After miserable seasons with the Braves in 2013 and 2014, Upton has quietly had modest success with the Padres, batting .257/.327/.429 last season and .266/.346/.441 this year. “I stopped trying to live up to other peoples’ expectations,” says Upton. “I’m just thankful for another opportunity.”
  • The Rockies have recalled pitchers Jordan Lyles and Miguel Castro from Triple-A Albuquerque and placed righty Christian Bergman on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique, as MLB.com’s Thomas Harding notes (Twitter links). They’ve also optioned righty Scott Oberg to Albuquerque. The moves give the Rockies’ bullpen somewhat of a new look. Lyles, who has struggled in both the big-league and Triple-A rotations this year, will take Bergman’s long relief role. Castro had briefly been optioned to Albuquerque after a stint on the DL for shoulder inflammation. The hard-throwing 21-year-old was previously off to a fast start with the Rockies, whiffing nine batters and allowing just one run and two walks in his first seven innings.

Padres Acquire Jabari Blash From Mariners

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3:47pm: Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune tweets that the Mariners will receive cash instead of a PTBNL in the deal.

3:06pm: The Padres have struck a deal to acquire outfielder Jabari Blash from the Mariners, per an announcement from Seattle. A player to be named later or cash will return to the M’s in the deal.

Blash, of course, has spent much of the year playing at the major league level for the Friars after being selected in the winter’s Rule 5 draft. San Diego designated him for assignment recently, and Blash evidently cleared waivers and was offered back to his original organization — the Mariners, who had declined to protect him in the offseason by adding him to their 40-man.

Clearly, the Padres are more enamored of Blash’s future prospects than is his former team. The 26-year-old will head to Triple-A to attempt to refine his hitting, which wasn’t possible when San Diego controlled his Rule 5 rights.

Blash struggled to a .120/.241/.160 batting line with 13 strikeouts in his first 29 trips to the plate in the majors. But he showed some promise last year in the upper minors compiling a .271/.370/.576 slash in 476 plate appearances in the upper minors.

Injury Notes: Alvarez, d’Arnaud, E-Rod, Angels, Minor, DeSclafani, Morrow

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Athletics right-hander Henderson Alvarez underwent an MRI in his shoulder yesterday, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. The early belief is that Alvarez has a minor shoulder strain, which Slusser notes is not necessarily unusual in rehabs from this type of shoulder surgery, nor would it be considered a significant setback. Alvarez was said to be targeting a mid-May return to a big league mound, but the minor setback, at the very least, seems likely to push back that timeline.

Here are some more injury notes from around the game:

  • There’s no indication that Travis d’Arnaud is close to a return to the Mets, tweets Mike Puma of the New York Post. At this time, d’Arnaud isn’t even with the team but has traveled back to his L.A. home to work out his ailing shoulder with a personal trainer. The oft-injured 27-year-old has played in just 13 games for the Mets this season. In his absence, Kevin Plawecki will get his chance to prove that he can be considered an everyday option behind the dish.
  • Likewise, the Red Sox are facing significant uncertainty with southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, as John Tomase of WEEI.com reports. He’s still experiencing knee soreness, with diminished velocity seemingly resulting, and will miss his next scheduled rehab start. Hopes had been that the youngster would be back in the majors by this point, but instead he’ll throw a bullpen session later this week while the team assesses next steps. Boston is understandably proceeding with caution, lest the knee problem worsen or lead to some other injury. Rodriguez’s current rehab stint has been halted, giving the organization the option of re-starting another 30-day clock, though that step has yet to be taken.
  • The Angels’ bad luck in the injury department has shown no signs of abating, as the team has placed outfielder Daniel Nava and reliever Cory Rasmus on the 15-day DL. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes, both players are dealing with groin strains, though neither is expected to be out for much more than the minimum.
  • Royals lefty Mike Minor is headed to Triple-A and hopes to be ready for the majors by early June, according to Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). The 28-year-old, who is Kansas City’s latest pitching injury reclamation project, had allowed three earned runs — on five hits and five walks, with a dozen punchouts — in 7 2/3 innings over two starts at Double-A.
  • There’s some cautious optimism on Reds righty Anthony DeSclafani, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon writes. He felt good in a 40-pitch pen session yesterday, and says that he believes his oblique issue may now be behind him. Next steps remain to be determined, and the club will be careful after a previous rehab effort resulted in a setback, but hopes are that DeSclafani can begin making his way back toward the major league rotation in earnest.
  • News was less positive on some recovering Padres, as MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes that righty Brandon Morrow and infielder Cory Spangenberg have both suffered setbacks. Morrow is experiencing fatigue in his surgically repaired shoulder, and it’s not clear when he’ll be able to resume throwing. That could result in player and team agreeing to push back his current June 1 opt-out date, per the report. Spangenberg, meanwhile, tweaked his injured left quad and will need to go back to the rest and strengthening regimen that he had hoped to be done with by this point.
  • Key Padres right-hander Tyson Ross is still not throwing, Cassavell adds, but he’s at least been cleared for full-blown strength work on his own injured shoulder. “You’ve basically got to lay a good foundation first, and that’s what we were doing,” Ross said. “It’s just kind of limited ranges, and making sure everything is strong and stable. And then progressing on up the chain from there. Things have been going great.”

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/16/16

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Astros have released lefty Edwar Cabrera, Matt Eddy of Baseball America reports. He cracked the majors briefly back in 2012, and has consistently posted solid earned run averages throughout his minor league career, but was struggling at Triple-A in 2016. Over 11 1/3 frames, exclusively as a reliever, Cabrera has allowed ten earned runs and racked up a dozen walks to go with his 13 strikeouts.
  • Southpaw Dustin Richardson was cut loose by the Dodgers, also via Eddy. He had permitted six earned in 8 1/3 frames, with a 12:6 K/BB ratio. Richardson saw 29 total MLB appearances in 2009-10 with the Red Sox.
  • Among the Padres’ moves, per Eddy, the organization has released righty Greg Reynolds, who was the second overall selection of the 2006 draft. He struggled in three brief cracks at the big leagues, and was hit hard in his five starts this year at Triple-A, allowing twenty earned runs while recording just five strikeouts. Meanwhile, fellow right-hander Cory Mazzoni was re-signed to a minor league deal after being released, and was then shifted to the 60-day DL while he works his way back from shoulder surgery. The 26-year-old, a former second-round pick, briefly reached the majors last year.
  • The Giants added righty Preston Claiborne on a minor league deal, Eddy further notes. Claiborne, 28, has provided the Yankees with some useful innings, but hasn’t pitched competitively since 2014. He’s battled shoulder issues and was cut loose by the Marlins this spring.
  • The Angels have outrighted first baseman/Rule 5 pick Ji-Man Choi to Triple-A Salt Lake after he cleared waivers, and he accepted the assignment, tweets Adam Chodzko of the Angels’ media relations department. (Having been previously outrighted, Choi could have refused and elected free agency.) Choi, 24, saw just 24 plate appearances with the Halos this season and went 1-for-18, though he did draw six walks as well. That he cleared waivers means that all 29 other clubs, including the Orioles (from whom he was selected in last December’s Rule 5 Draft), passed on the opportunity to add him. With Trey Mancini and Christian Walker, two of the Orioles’ more highly regarded prospects, each present on the Triple-A Norfolk roster, it seems that Baltimore felt comfortable with its first base depth. Choi had only just signed a minors deal with the Orioles a couple of weeks prior to being taken in the Rule 5, so his history with the organization wasn’t particularly lengthy. He’ll now hope to build on his career .280/.379/.401 batting line at the Triple-A level and work his way back onto the Angels’ Major League roster.

Quick Hits: Free Agents, A’s, Padres, Draft

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Here’s the latest from around baseball as we wrap up the weekend…

  • Will the 2016-17 offseason feature “the worst baseball free agent class in decades”?  Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan thinks so, and the thin number of upper-tier talents available opens the door for the likes of Yoenis Cespedes or Josh Reddick to greatly increase their asking prices if they can build on their hot starts.  Jose Bautista’s slow start shouldn’t hurt his chances of a nine-figure contract given how teams value his “old-man game” built around plate discipline, even if Bautista could end up getting closer to $100MM than his desired $150MM contract.  Even in the thin market, Passan feels Edwin Encarnacion and particularly Carlos Gomez have thus far hurt their value thanks to slow starts.
  • The qualifying offer as we know it may not exist if a new collective bargaining agreement is settled before the offseason begins, though if it remains similar, Passan figures Dexter Fowler, Francisco Cervelli, Ian Desmond and Wilson Ramos could be in position to receive a QO from their respective teams.
  • Rich Hill could even get a qualifying offer if he keeps up his strong season, which speaks to the weakness of the free agent pitching class is with Stephen Strasburg off the board.  Passan thinks Hill could ultimately have a better chance of being traded than issued a QO, however.  The relief pitching market is much stronger than the starting pitching market, as Passan feels Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman could both top Mariano Rivera’s $15MM average annual value from earlier this decade.
  • The thin free agent pitching market could lead to more trades for arms this summer, as ESPN’s Jim Bowden (subscription required) notes in his listing of eight contenders who could deal for pitching and 10 starters who could be shopped.  Bowden’s list of starters including two Athletics (Hill and Sonny Gray) and three Padres (James Shields, Drew Pomeranz and Andrew Cashner).  The A’s have been adamant about keeping Gray, though with his rough start, Bowden wonders if the club could decide to move him while he still has value.  As for the Padres, a scout tells Bowden that of the three San Diego pichers, he would prefer to have Pomeranz, which is a sign of just how much Pomeranz has upped his trade value with his impressive start — a 1.80 ERA and 51 strikeouts through 40 innings.
  • In another subscriber-only piece from Bowden, he gets input from various executives around the league about what improvements could be made to the amateur draft.

Injury Notes: Canha, Boxberger, Norris, Cashner, Brantley, Gallardo, Travis, Chirinos

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Athletics first baseman/outfielder Mark Canha is weighing surgery to repair a hip impingement, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Undergoing the procedure would keep him out the rest of the way, per the report, but he’s still undecided and will seek a second opinion. It seems that he’ll at least try out a cortisone shot before going under the knife. The 27-year-old had a strong 2015 season, sticking as a Rule 5 pick, but has come out of the gates with a meager .122/.140/.341 slash in 44 plate appearances in 2016.

Here are some more injury updates from around the game that are worthy of note:

  • Rays closer Brad Boxberger, who is on the mend from core muscle surgery dating back to Spring Training, threw 22 pitches in an extended Spring Training game yesterday, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. If Boxberger feels good today, he’ll likely begin a rehab assignment early next week (possibly Monday) with an eye toward returning late in the month of May. Boxberger led the American League with 41 saves in 2015 and would immediately deepen a bullpen that ranks 10th in the Majors in ERA but carries a more troubling ranking of 25th in the FIP department.
  • The Padres had originally planned to carry three catchers for a short time following the claim of Hector Sanchez, but a hand injury to Derek Norris last night now makes the decision to claim Sanchez all the more critical, writes Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Norris was hit on the hand by a pitch and would ultimately leave the game, and while initial x-rays were negative, he’s undergoing further tests today. Interestingly, Lin notes that the Sanchez claim, initially, would’ve allowed the Padres to use Christian Bethancourt as a pinch-hitter, and there was even some talk of him getting some work in at third base (scouting reports have long touted his arm as an 80-grade tool). However, if Norris is found to have any kind of fracture and will miss some time, those plans will change.
  • Meanwhile, the Padres decided to put righty Andrew Cashner on the 15-day DL today after determining that his hamstring wasn’t quite ready to go, as Lin tweets. It certainly doesn’t appear to be a major injury, since Cashner very nearly was allowed to pitch tonight, but it’s nonetheless notable. After all, San Diego doesn’t appear to be primed to contend this year, and Cashner could be an important trade piece — or qualifying offer recipient, if he can really turn things around. But he’s currently allowing just under five earned runs per nine, with ERA estimators not much more optimistic.
  • Michael Brantley’s surgically repaired shoulder is fatigued, reports Cleveland.com’s Zack Meisel, which prompted the Indians to rest him on Tuesday and Wednesday in advance of yesterday’s off-day. Brantley will take batting practice today and be re-evaluated. Per Meisel, Brantley’s shoulder has not been “bouncing back in ideal fashion” following an increase in playing time for the team’s star player. Brantley underwent shoulder surgery over the winter, and while earlier projections had him possibly remaining on the disabled list well into May, he instead beat that timeline by a good margin and was in the Indians’ lineup in late April.
  • Orioles righty Yovani Gallardo is set to begin throwing again tomorrow, Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun reports on Twitter. It’s been a three-week gap since he last picked up a baseball, and Gallardo is only expected to engage in a light toss. His timeline to return to action from a shoulder injury remains uncertain, with at least a couple rehab outings seemingly in his future even if things go well.
  • The Blue Jays, meanwhile, now have reason to believe that second baseman Devon Travis will soon be back. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca tweets that Travis is heading out on a rehab assignment, which will begin a maximum twenty-day stretch in the minors. So long as Travis progresses, he ought to be back in Toronto by early June, it would appear. The 25-year-old burst onto the scene early last year, but he hasn’t played since late July after undergoing a procedure on his left shoulder.
  • Likewise, Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos has been able to throw for each of the last five days, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. That’s certainly promising, given that he’s recovering from a broken right forearm. Chirinos won’t be eligible to come off of the 60-day DL until June 9th, but Texas would surely like to get him back as close to that date as possible.

Padres To Designate Jabari Blash

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The Padres will designate Rule 5 pick Jabari Blash for assignment, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter.

He’ll ultimately be exposed to waivers, where other teams will have a chance to step into San Diego’s Rule 5 rights. If he clears, then he’ll be offered back to the Mariners.

Blash, 26, has only received 29 plate appearances on the year, but he’s largely been overmatched in his first run at the majors. The big outfielder has registered just three hits and four walks to go with 13 strikeouts.

San Diego surely always knew it was uncertain whether Blash would be able to stick at this point; after all, that’s why he was left off of the Seattle 40-man in the first place. He has shown some interesting skills in the minors, though. Last year, he ran up a composite .271/.370/.576 slash with 32 long balls in 476 plate appearances in the upper minors.

Latest On Interest In Tim Lincecum

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Tim Lincecum has yet to sign following last Friday’s showcase, which was attended by roughly two-thirds of the league, but a handful of reports today has at least eliminated a few teams from consideration. Per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter), both the Padres and Mariners are out of the mix on Lincecum at this point. While some San Diego fans speculated that the Friars’ claim of Hector Sanchez, who caught Lincecum during the pair’s San Francisco days, could be related, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune squashed that notion in relatively short order last night, tweeting that the Sanchez claim was unrelated to any pursuit of Lincecum and was instead merely about adding catching depth to the organization.

Beyond all of that, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that the Marlins, too, are unlikely to make a play for the right-hander at this time. Those reports join previous word out of Baltimore and Arizona that the Orioles and D-backs, respectively, aren’t expected to pursue Lincecum, either.

Rosenthal adds (Twitter link) that the Angels, Giants and White Sox currently have the most interest in Lincecum, which is the same list of clubs reported to be most intrigued this past weekend, with the notable exclusion of the D-backs. Per Rosenthal, no decision is close. Any of the three make sense as a landing spot, though Giants manager Bruce Bochy said last week that the club was only interested in a relief role for Lincecum, and fallen ace Matt Cain delivered a strong showing in his most recent start, by dominating the Blue Jays over eight innings. The Angels, meanwhile, picked up one arm yesterday by acquiring Jhoulys Chacin from the Braves, and while it’s hard to imagine that lone pickup leaving the Halos feeling like they have sufficient depth in the rotation in the wake of all the injuries they’ve incurred, it probably does curb some of the urgency to seek further rotation help.

As for the White Sox, they have some options to replace the recently released John Danks (former Oriole Miguel Gonzalez is getting the first crack at the fifth spot), but the rotation is suspect beyond Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Carlos Rodon. Mat Latos started the year strong, but his lack of strikeouts and considerable fortune on balls in play made him a clear regression candidate through his first several starts, and the wheels have begun to come off as of late.

Amid the considerable Lincecum chatter, it seems worth addressing that it’s been five years since he posted an ERA south of 4.00 in a season, making it likelier that he stabilizes the back end of a rotation than emerges as a revitalized top-of-the-rotation force. Lincecum did post a 4.37 ERA and come within arm’s reach of 200 innings as recently as 2013 even while averaging 90.4 mph on his fastball, so there’s certainly reason to express optimism that he can help a club in 2016 with the aid of improved health. However, fans hoping for a return to the levels displayed in his Cy Young heyday are probably overreaching.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/12/16

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Here are Thursday’s minor transactions from around the game…

  • The Padres re-signed right-hander Cory Mazzoni to a minor league contract last night, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Mazzoni, 26, was acquired from the Mets in Spring Training 2015 when San Diego sent Alex Torres to New York. He enjoyed a solid season at the Triple-A level (3.97 ERA, 12.2 K/9, 3.2 BB/9) but was rocked for 20 runs in just 8 2/3 innings in his lone taste of the Majors last season. As Lin notes, he’s currently recovering from shoulder surgery and will continue his rehab on a minors deal now that he’s been removed from the 40-man roster, having been designated for assignment and subsequently released late last month. The former second-round pick has a career 4.08 ERA in the minors to go along with solid walk and strikeout rates.

Padres Claim Hector Sanchez From White Sox

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The Padres have claimed catcher Hector Sanchez off waivers from the White Sox, per the MLB.com transactions page. Because he’s out of options, Sanchez will be added to the Major League roster. Left-hander Robbie Erlin was moved to the 60-day disabled list to create room on the 40-man roster.

Sanchez, a 26-year-old switch-hitter, has spent the bulk of his career in the NL West, appearing with the Giants in each of the past five seasons, primarily as a backup to Buster Posey. He picked up eight plate appearances with the White Sox this season, collecting one hit in seven official at-bats, and is a career .238/.273/.348 hitter in 645 plate appearances at the Major League level. He’s also halted 26 percent of opposing stolen base attempts and, dating back to the 2013 season, Baseball Prospectus feels that he’s been slightly above-average in terms of pitch framing.

While Erlin’s transfer to the 60-day DL explains the 40-man portion of the puzzle, it’s not immediately clear how Sanchez fits onto the 25-man roster for the Padres, who have used Derek Norris and Christian Bethancourt behind the plate thus far in the 2016 season. Neither has hit much this season, with Norris in particular struggling to a dismal .167/.213/.275 batting line through his first 108 plate appearances. Bethancourt, meanwhile, has slashed .222/.241/.519 in just 29 plate appearances, but he’s out of minor league options as well, so the Padres wouldn’t be able to send him down without first exposing him to waivers. Norris, it’s worth noting, does have minor league options remaining, but he’s also earning $2.925MM in 2016 after his first trip through the arbitration process this past winter.

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