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Astros Have Interest In Jeff Samardzija

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Having finished as one of the runners-up in the Jose Quintana sweepstakes, the Astros are still looking to improve their rotation. That upgrade could come in the form of Giants right-hander Jeff Samardzija, on whom the Astros are “doing background work,” tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network.

Samardzija, 32, would represent a potential multiyear piece for Houston, as he’s under control through 2020 on the five-year, $90MM contract he signed prior to the 2016 campaign. He’s still owed upward of $60MM, which would make him an especially costly acquisition for a Houston club whose biggest contract is the four-year, $52MM pact right fielder Josh Reddick signed before the season.

In the near term, Samardzija, who’s on pace for his fifth straight 200-inning season, would provide a mid-rotation workhorse to an Astros team that could use one. While the Astros easily own the American League’s best record (61-29) and have run away with the AL West, which they lead by 16.5 games, their rotation hasn’t been the picture of health this season. Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers have pitched like aces this year, but the former has hit the disabled list twice with neck issues and the latter has been on the DL once and, over the past month-plus, has struggled to go deep in games. Charlie Morton has also missed extensive time this year, and injuries have troubled him throughout his career, while Collin McHugh hasn’t pitched at all and Joe Musgrove hasn’t been sharp after a strong major league debut last season. Fortunately for the Astros, Keuchel and McHugh are nearing returns, while Brad Peacock and Mike Fiers have stepped up since Keuchel’s DL placement in early June.

Despite the myriad issues in their rotation, including David Paulino’s season-ending performance-enhancing drug suspension, Astros starters entered Saturday atop the AL in ERA (3.86) and third in fWAR (8.2). Samardzija has accounted for 2.3 fWAR, making him one of the majors’ most valuable starters in that metric’s estimation, but the hard thrower hasn’t prevented runs at a pristine rate. Through 118 innings this year, he carries a 4.58 ERA, largely thanks to a career-worst home run-to-fly ball rate (16.7 percent), an elevated batting average on balls in play (.323) and a low strand rate (67.1 percent). Going from pitcher-friendly AT&T Park in San Francisco to Houston’s Minute Maid Park likely wouldn’t do his already high homer rate any favors, though his sparkling K/BB ratio (9.07) – which is No. 1 among major league starters – could help lead to somewhat of a turnaround in the ERA department.

While the Astros may push to acquire Samardzija, it’s unclear whether the Giants would trade him or whether Houston is one of the eight teams he’d block a move to. Giants executive vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean revealed earlier this week that the out-of-contention club is “open for business” as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline nears, but he also plans to vie for a playoff berth in 2018. As such, the Giants could prefer to keep Samardzija in their quest to return to relevance next year.

Giants Place Johnny Cueto On DL, Activate Madison Bumgarner

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4:52pm: The Giants have placed Cueto on the 10-day DL, Shea tweets. It’s still possible Cueto could make it back before the non-waiver deadline, of course, but his presence on the DL with further complicate any attempt on the Giants’ part to trade him, particularly if he stays there long. His DL placement will make room for the activation of ace Madison Bumgarner, who hasn’t pitched since April 19 after injuring his shoulder in a dirt bike accident. Bumgarner will make his long-awaited return to San Francisco’s rotation Saturday.

9:34am: Giants righty Johnny Cueto is dealing with blister issues and could miss his next start, as various reporters, including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, have noted. Cueto pitched just four innings in his start against the Padres last night, throwing 82 pitches, then had tape on his index finger, middle finger and thumb after the game.

“It feels like they’re cut,” Cueto said, suggesting that a tighter texture of the baseballs this year as compared to last might be to blame for the problem. Various pitchers have commented on the textures of the baseballs this season.

“I think the best thing for me to do is take some time off,” says Cueto. “I can’t tell you whether or not I’m going to skip (my next start). It depends on how I feel. Right now, it feels bad.”

Missing a start this close to the non-waiver trade deadline could, of course, affect Cueto’s trade market, which was already complicated due to a variety of factors. (There have been few recent indications that the Giants are looking to trade Cueto despite their 35-56 record this year, although it stands to reason they would at least be open to making a deal under the right circumstances.) Cueto hasn’t been outstanding this season, with a 4.59 ERA, 8.0 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 over 115 2/3 innings. And while his current deal calls for him to be paid $21MM per year through 2021, plus a $5MM buyout on a $22MM option for 2022, he can opt out of the deal after this season and collect the $5MM buyout while becoming a free agent. He’ll also receive a $500K assignment bonus if he’s traded. Those factors make Cueto’s value “lower than a rental’s,” as one GM told FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal even before the blister issues emerged.

Pablo Sandoval Interested In Reunion With Giants

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There’s at least some possibility the Red Sox’ recent decision to designate Pablo Sandoval for assignment could result in the veteran heading back to San Francisco, FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes. Sources close to Sandoval indicate that he would be highly interested in returning to the Giants, despite comments he made during his first Spring Training with Boston in which he claimed the only Giants he would miss were Bruce Bochy and Hunter Pence.

The Giants’ own level of interest is less clear, and GM Bobby Evans recently demurred when asked about Sandoval (which is standard policy, since Sandoval is still technically a member of another organization). Whispers surrounding the club indicate, however, that the team is at least considering bringing Sandoval back.

Once he clears waivers, the Red Sox can outright Sandoval to Triple-A or release him, at which point he’ll be able to sign elsewhere at a prorated portion of the league-minimum salary. Whatever happens, the Red Sox are extremely likely to be on the hook for the remainder of Sandoval’s contract, which pays him about $50MM more through 2019.

After a three-season tenure in Boston marked mostly by injuries and poor hitting, it’s unsurprising that Sandoval would now have a different view about playing with the Giants. While in San Francisco, he was a part of three World Series titles (including 2012, when he was World Series MVP, and his last year with the club in 2014), and made two All-Star teams.

What’s less clear is how the Giants might view a player who’s shown few glimpses of his early-career talent since departing for Boston, particularly one who burned bridges with the organization as he departed. As Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group points out, the Giants have frequently brought back former players (such as Ryan Vogelsong and Travis Ishikawa) after stints elsewhere. But it’s hard to see what purpose re-acquiring Sanodval would serve, unless the Giants feel he would benefit quite dramatically from a change of scenery.

A trade of Eduardo Nunez could technically leave the Giants with a vacancy at third base, but they might prefer to take a closer look at former KBO slugger Jae-gyun Hwang. (Another possibility, Christian Arroyo, is currently on the shelf with a hand injury.) And in general, a 35-56 team would not seem likely to be interested in 30-year-old veteran three years removed from his last good season. Perhaps, though, the Giants could find space for Sandoval to reestablish himself in Triple-A, or count on him to contribute in big-league bench role.

West Notes: Hand, Harris, Wilson, Melancon, Richards

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About half of the teams in the league have expressed some level of interest in Padres lefty Brad Hand, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reports. Evidently, those discussions have yet to get truly serious, as Lin adds that the Friars aren’t believed to be closing in on any swaps. A significant portion of the rest of the pitching staff has received attention of some kind, too, Lin adds. There are a few other interesting pitching trade candidates on the San Diego roster — Trevor Cahill chief among them, perhaps — and it wouldn’t be surprising to see several deals go down before the deadline.

Here’s more from out west:

  • The Astros announced that reliever Will Harris is headed to the 10-day DL with right shoulder inflammation (h/t Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle, via Twitter). That’s somewhat troubling news at first glance, though Harris says he doesn’t anticipate a significant layoff (video via MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart, on Twitter). The 32-year-old has continued his stellar run in Houston, compiling 34 2/3 innings of 2.86 ERA ball on the year — with 10.1 K/9 against just 1.3 BB/9. Clearly, he’s a key member of the pen and a big part of the team’s planning the rest of the way. (Harris is also controlled through 2019 at very appealing rates.)
  • Meanwhile, the Astros are likely focused on adding a starter and a lefty reliever. As regards the latter, the team is said to have an eye on Tigers lefty Justin Wilson, per Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (via Twitter). The teams discussed Wilson over the winter, per Rosenthal, and the southpaw’s quality effort early over the first half surely hasn’t reduced the interest. Wilson currently carries a career-high 12.8 K/9 with 3.4 BB/9 along with a 2.36 ERA over his 34 1/3 innings.
  • Giants closer Mark Melancon seems unlikely to make it back before the trade deadline, likely removing him from consideration as a trade candidate, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News writes. The veteran righty, shelved for the second time this year with a forearm issue, has been able to pick up a baseball. But skipper Bruce Bochy suggested the team plans to bring him along slowly. As Baggarly suggests, it never seemed particularly likely that Melancon would end up being dealt regardless. For what it’s worth, though, I would add that Melancon would represent a very plausible August trade candidate if that proved desirable.
  • Angels righty Garrett Richards still hasn’t been cleared to throw, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. The unfortunate hurler discussed the frustrations of his long-running effort to get healthy, telling Fletcher that he is at least encouraged that his current problem (with a biceps nerve) has improved somewhat — and that it doesn’t implicate his elbow, which he says still feels great. “Nobody knows anything about this injury,” said Richards, who says it isn’t clear when he’ll be deemed ready to begin throwing again. “I can’t worry about getting all caught up in playing right now,” he added. “I’ve got to worry about getting healthy first. When that happens, I’ll be ready.” Meanwhile, Fletcher notes that both Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs are continuing to progress while working off of a mound, which seems to hold out some real promise of bolstering the team’s injury-riddled rotation in the relatively near future.

Brian Sabean Discusses Giants’ Deadline Plans

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With the Giants enduring their roughest season in recent memory, executive VP of baseball operations Brian Sabean discussed the team’s deadline plans in an interview with Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group. Though a rebuild isn’t being contemplated, Sabean did acknowledge a need to “be lot more open minded to [possibly trading] more names than we have been in the past.”

To be sure, San Francisco will keep its inner core players. Sabean said it’s reasonable to presume, as has been suggested, that the team won’t be interested in entertaining offers for Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and Brandon Crawford. (“Those three animals are divine,” he said.)

Otherwise, though, the veteran executive suggested that the club will at least consider moves involving the remainder of the roster. “I think needless to say, we’re open for business,” said Sabean, who also said that it’s “embarrassing” for the team to be performing so poorly while carrying such a large payroll.

While salary considerations will obviously play a role, it doesn’t seem as if the Giants are looking to pare down their future commitments above all else. Baggarly explains that the sense is the organization will prioritize the acquisition of near-MLB talent over far-off youngsters; “unless they get those kinds of players in return,” he writes, “they are not eager to pay down money just to get rid of core pieces” — a reference not to the holy trinity cited above, but to the club’s other veteran regulars.

That stance certainly could complicate matters. After all, as the club’s record would suggest, not many of the team’s expensive veterans are really playing up to their salaries. And, as ever, legitimate prospects who are ready to contribute at the major league level are generally harder to come by than those who are a few years off.

All said, the organization remains in a tricky spot with the deadline closing in. Among the costly veterans that aren’t considered untouchable, perhaps only Brandon Belt clearly brings surplus value when weighing his future salary guarantees. Second baseman Joe Panik would surely be of interest to rivals, but he’s also just the sort of sturdy, affordable option the Giants need to retain.

Those sorts of difficult tradeoffs are just as present in the pitching staff. Bumgarner is set to return, which will finally bump struggling veteran Matt Cain out of the rotation, as a report from NBC Sports Bay Area indicates. But the latter has not thrown well enough to be of real interest at the deadline. Plenty of teams would take a shot on Matt Moore, but would likely only do so for pennies on the conceptual dollar the Giants gave to get him last summer. While Jeff Samardzija has sparkling peripherals, his ERA remains inflated and the Giants no doubt envision him on their staff next year. Indeed, Sabean even says that he’d like to see Johnny Cueto pitching for San Francisco next year; his trade status is clouded by a pending opt-out clause.

More broadly, Sabean said “there’s a lot of soul searching going on” — particularly given that the team’s struggles stretch back into the second half of the 2016 season. Charting a path forward will obviously involve the upper reaches of the organization. While GM Bobby Evans has control of the day to day baseball ops decisionmaking process, Sabean indicated that he remains “responsible for the quality control throughout the organization” and will still “be involved in how we map this out.”

Injury Notes: Otani, Nunez, Bumgarner, Harvey

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Japanese star Shohei Otani is slated to pitch for the first time this year, per a report from the Japan Times. That’ll come in Japan’s NPB, not the majors, but nevertheless has importance on the other side of the globe. As Otani ponders a move to the big leagues after the current season, MLB clubs will be watching closely. He has been held out of pitching duties due to ankle and thigh injuries; Nippon Ham Fighters skipper Hideki Kuriyama says he’ll bring back Otani slowly as he “build[s] up his pitch counts.”

Here’s more on some health situations from around the game:

  • It seems that the Giants will welcome back trade candidate Eduardo Nunez heading out of the break. He’s slated to start a brief rehab assignment tomorrow, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports on Twitter; the organization has already optioned outfielder Mac Williamson to open a roster spot, as Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. While it remains to be seen how far San Francisco will go in dealing away veterans, Nunez is a pending free agent who would seem better utilized by a 2017 contender.
  • Also nearing a return to the Giants is ace southpaw Madison Bumgarner. He just turned in six strong innings at the High-A level in what appears to be his final rehab start, as Martin Gallegos of the Bay Area News Group writes. It seems that Bumgarner will make it back after about a three-month layoff following a shoulder injury suffered in a dirtbike accident earlier this season. While he won’t factor directly in the trade deadline, Bumgarner’s health is an important factor in San Francisco’s long-term roster and budgeting. There have long been suggestions of possible talks on a new extension for the postseason hero, and those could take place later this year if Bumgarner shows he’s healthy.
  • The Mets are set to begin welcoming back some dearly missed players, as Marc Carig of Newsday reports. That includes star righty Noah Syndergaard, who is going to pick up a ball again in about two weeks, and closer Jeurys Familia, who’ll do so over the All-Star break. It also includes former star righty Matt Harvey, whose future remains murky. Interesting, pitching coach Dan Warthen says that doctors found significant weakness in Harvey’s right shoulder muscles. The current focus is on “building that back up,” says Warthen, though at present it’s unclear just when Harvey might be expected back.

 

Austin Slater Could Miss Rest Of Season

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  • Giants outfielder Austin Slater suffered a torn adductor muscle in his right hip Friday and will miss two to three months, likely keeping him out for the rest of the season, reports Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. The 24-year-old Slater began his major league career in promising fashion between his early June promotion and the injury, hitting .290/.343/.430 in 108 PAs.

Giants Notes: Nunez, Arroyo

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  • Eduardo Nunez didn’t play in a scheduled rehab game on Sunday due to continued discomfort in his ailing hamstring, and the Giants infielder may not return to action until after the All-Star break, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.  Nunez, who has been on the DL since June 24, is perhaps the Giants’ clearest trade chip as the club prepares to be deadline sellers.  If he can’t return until after the break, Nunez will have just over two weeks to keep up his solid pre-injury production and prove to interested trade suitors that he is healthy, or else the Giants will have trouble gaining full value in a deal.
  • Christian Arroyo suffered a fractured left hand after being hit by a pitch in minor league action on Saturday, and the Giants prospect is in danger of missing the rest of the season, MLB.com’s Chris Haft writes.  Manager Bruce Bochy said he was hoping Arroyo would be healthy in time to be a September call-up for the Giants.  Arroyo made his big league debut earlier this season and hit just .192/.244/.304 in 135 plate appearances, though San Francisco obviously wants to give one of its most highly-touted young players more experience in the Show.  Arroyo’s development has already been stalled by another hand injury in June; in fact, Arroyo’s first game back from that prior injury was Saturday’s contest.

Giants Acquire Tyler Herb

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  • In another minor swap, the Giants purchased Tyler Herb from the Mariners for an undisclosed sum, both teams announced. He’ll actually represent the player to be named later in the deal that sent Chris Heston to Seattle, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, with some undisclosed technicality requiring the particular treatment. The 25-year-old was taken in the 29th round of the 2014 draft. He made it up to the Double-A level last year and has thrown well there upon a repeat assignment. Herb has made it through 98 innings in 16 starts on the year, posting a 3.31 ERA with 8.1 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9.

2017 Opt-Out Clause Update

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It’s been more than a month since we last looked in on the crop of eight players that can opt out of their current contracts and reenter the free-agent market following the 2017 campaign. With more than half the season in the books, a few cases look relatively certain, but there are plenty of questions surrounding several such players…

[Related: 2018 Vesting Options Update]

  • Greg Holland, RP, Rockies: Holland’s $10MM mutual option became a $15MM player option when he finished his 30th game of the season for the Rox a little more than a week ago. His recent brush with wildness is of mild concern, but Holland has a ridiculous 1.48 ERA with 11.9 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and a 39.7 percent ground-ball rate. In a year when homers are being hit more than ever and he’s tackling Coors Field for the first time, Holland has managed to limit opponents to just one big fly in 30 1/3 innings. So long as his arm holds up for the remainder of the season — no sure thing considering this is his first year back from 2015 Tommy John surgery — he’ll 100 percent turn down that player option in search of a huge multi-year deal. Agent Scott Boras will undoubtedly look to vault Mark Melancon’s four-year, $62MM pact and could seek a five-year deal.
  • Johnny Cueto, SP, Giants: Cueto is still a workhorse, by today’s standards, as he’s on pace to reach 200 innings for the fourth straight year if he can make 33 starts. He’s logged a 3.97 ERA in eight starts since we last looked at the opt-out crop, though he continues to be abnormally homer prone (though that’s a league-wide trend, as homers are up across the board). Cueto has a 4.26 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.7 40BB/9 and a 40.3 percent ground-ball rate. If he can rediscover his pinpoint control and/or his grounder rate from previous years (1.8 BB/9, 50.2 GB% in 2016), he could make this an easier decision come October. Cueto still ranks third on MLBTR’s Free Agent Power Rankings, and FanRag’s Jon Heyman has reported that he’s still planning to opt out of the remaining four years and $84MM on his deal. I think there’s a decent chance he once again hits the open market in search of a five-year deal in the Jordan Zimmermann mold.
  • Welington Castillo, C, Orioles: Castillo’s bat has seen a precipitous decline in effectiveness since our mid-May check-in on opt-out clauses, as he’s batted .205/.250/.349 in 88 plate appearances since that time. He perhaps deserves somewhat of a pass, given the cringe-inducing groin injury he suffered on an ill-placed foul ball deflection that landed him on the DL for 10 days in late May/early June. His overall .272/.307/.439 slash is solid for a catcher, and he’s thrown out a ridiculous 48 percent of opposing stolen base attempts (12-for-25). Framing will probably never be his strong suit, but he’s made some incremental improvements in recent years (though he still grades out below average). With a fairly small one-year, $7MM player option on his deal, it’s certainly plausible that Castillo hits free agency this winter and scores a better payday than that option would afford.
  • Justin Upton, LF, Tigers: I understand the doubt around the possibility of Upton turning away an extra four years and $88.5MM to once again test free agency this winter; he’s 30 years old with questionable defensive value and a strikeout that has soared since his peak year in Arizona. Corner-limited sluggers also fared quite poorly on last year’s market, for the most part. Nonetheless, Upton is having his best offensive season since 2014 and is hitting .267/.351/.500 with 15 homers. Dating back to last year’s All-Star break, he’s slashing .264/.344/.537 with 37 bombs in 575 plate appearances. He’d need a big finish to be confident enough to top four years and $88MM, but that’s the same mark Hanley Ramirez signed for in Boston when he was a year older. If Upton’s camp feels that there’s a chance to approach the $110MM that Yoenis Cespedes received on a four-year pact last winter (again, when he was a year older than Upton), Upton’s reps could elect to search elsewhere. He can’t receive a qualifying offer this time around.
  • Matt Wieters, C, Nationals: Wieters is hitting .205/.224/.328 through 125 plate appearances since the last time we checked in on this group. Overall, he’s batting .244/.293/.384 with a substandard 22 percent caught-stealing rate and the worst framing marks of his career. It’s possible that the one year, $10.5MM player option on his contract is still beatable in a thin market for catching this coming winter, but opting into the deal and remaining with a competitive team is going to look pretty appealing if he can’t get his bat going once again.
  • Masahiro Tanaka, SP, Yankees: Tanaka has picked a poor time to have the worst season of his career, though he’s showing signs of life on the mound. He’s tossed 14 innings with a 14-to-4 K/BB ratio and a huge ground-ball rate in his past two starts and also gone without a home run allowed in that brief stretch. Tanaka is still sitting on a 5.56 ERA with an awful 2.1 HR/9 mark, but he’s averaging 8.9 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 with a 49.3 percent ground-ball rate. xFIP is much more favorable than his ERA at 3.87, and SIERA agrees with a 3.91 mark. Three of his past four starts have been brilliant, and if he can continue that momentum he could still do better than the three years and $67MM remaining on his contract and hit the open market in search of a larger deal. Age is on his side as well. He’ll turn just 29 this winter.
  • Ian Kennedy, SP, Royals: The 32-year-old Kennedy’s walk and strikeout rates have gone in the wrong direction by a substantial amount this season, and he’s more homer-prone than ever (1.9 HR/9). Starting pitching is almost always in heavy demand on the free-agent market (as Kennedy’s five-year, $70MM deal and opt-out clause illustrate), but he’s sporting a 4.72 ERA with FIP, xFIP and SIERA marks all well north of 5.00. Barring a miraculous turnaround, he’s not topping the remaining three years and $49MM on his deal as a free agent this winter, so expect him to stay in Kansas City.
  • Wei-Yin Chen, SP: Marlins: Chen hasn’t thrown a single pitch since we last checked in on May 22, as he continues to attempt to work his way back from a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. With three years and $52MM remaining on his contract, he’s a lock to forgo his opt-out provision.
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