Mets The Favorites For Jay Bruce
The non-waiver trade deadline is just under nine hours away, and rumors/transactions figure to be flying around quickly today. Reds outfielder Jay Bruce remains one of the likeliest candidates to be dealt between now and the 4pm ET deadline. As of Sunday, the Giants were said to be making a “strong push” for Bruce, who is also said to be a prime target of the Mets. Bruce has also drawn interest from the Indians, Dodgers and Rangers, among others, over the past few days, and the Rays have at times been mentioned as a possible factor in three-team trade scenarios involving Bruce.
We’ll keep track of all the day’s Bruce rumors here in this post…
- Morosi now tweets that the Mets and Reds have made progress on a deal involving Bruce.
- Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Mets are the favorites to land Bruce, but the Rangers and Giants are still in. Talks could stretch into the afternoon, he notes.
Earlier Updates
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports/MLB.com tweets that the Mets remain in active talks with the Reds as of Monday morning. ESPN’s Jayson Stark also tweets that conversations with the Mets remain active, while talks with the Giants and Dodgers are currently in “slow mo.”
- Heyman tweets that the Mets don’t seem to have heard anything on Bruce this morning (Twitter link). He also tweets that the Giants haven’t heard anything about Bruce being dealt this morning.
- USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Reds have “found a match” for a Bruce trade and expects Cincinnati to trade Bruce to a National League club this morning. That team is not the Dodgers, according to Nightengale. The Giants and Mets are the two non-Dodgers NL clubs that have been most heavily linked to Bruce in the past day or two.
- Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets the Giants, Mets, Indians and others have been in on Bruce recently. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, meanwhile, lists the Giants, Dodgers, Mets, Rangers and Blue Jays all as teams that still have some interest in Bruce as of Monday morning.
Giants Pursuing Rays’ Matt Moore, Making “Strong Push” For Jay Bruce
11:36pm: With several notable names already gone from the relief market, the Giants are “making [a] late and strong push” to land outfielder Jay Bruce from the Reds, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). San Francisco has been variously rumored to be in and out on Bruce in recent days, but it seems that the club is a serious contender for his services at this late stage.
As with Moore, Bruce is reportedly in play for a number of other contenders, including the Dodgers. The power-hitting right fielder is controllable for 2017 by way of a $13MM club option, so he’d represent an asset for next season as well with the Giants set to lose Angel Pagan to free agency.
10:07pm: The Giants are pursuing a deal for Rays lefty Matt Moore, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). It remains uncertain, he notes, whether San Francisco has the right prospect pieces to work out a deal for the controllable southpaw.
It’s long been unclear just where the Giants’ focus is with the trade deadline nearing. We’ve seen reports connecting the club to starters, relievers, outfielders, and infielders — with the last spot seemingly already covered by the recent acquisition of Eduardo Nunez.
Though the focus has been said to have shifted to the pen, with an eye also on picking up a slugging outfield piece, San Francisco has continued to look into a broad and fluid market for rotation pieces. Moore holds an interesting place in that picture, as he is one of many controllable arms that could be available, but need not be traded by their current teams.
Tampa Bay has been targeted by teams interested in starters because the team is out of the race and possesses a variety of pitchers with relatively lengthy and affordable control rights. While other organizations may be hesitant to deal their better arms, the Rays could do so without compromising their depth.
Still, the price tag won’t be low, and the Giants arguably lack the kind of premium prospect assets that would motivate the Rays. Indeed, the club is requesting a player that is currently on San Francisco’s active roster, per Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). Infielders Joe Panik and Matt Duffy would be the most sensible fits, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle observes on Twitter, though it should be noted that he is making only an analytical point rather than suggesting either or both have been discussed.
Adding to the intrigue, the Rays are also said to be negotiating on pitching with the Dodgers, who are currently neck-and-neck with their heated rivals in the NL West. There are other contenders in the mix, too, and other pitchers reportedly on the table. Jake Odorizzi and Chris Archer have been those most mentioned, though theoretically Drew Smyly could also be moved.
Moore, who recently turned 27, is perhaps the toughest player to value from that group. He has the talent and contract to be valued quite highly, but has posted uneven results since returning last year from Tommy John surgery. He has posted strong results over his last seven outings, permitting only nine earned runs over 40 2/3 innings in that span, though he registered only a 25:14 K/BB ratio along the way.
On the year, Moore owns a 4.08 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 over 130 innings. That last statistic is notable, as he has previously struggled to limit the free passes, though ERA estimators aren’t as convinced (4.50 FIP, 4.67 xFIP, 4.41 SIERA in 2016) as the scouts may be that Moore has returned to being a frontline starter. While he isn’t throwing quite as hard as he did early in his career, Moore has restored most of his velocity with a 92.9 mph average on his four-seam fastball.
The early-career extension signed by Moore held out the promise of becoming one of the best contracts in baseball. It hasn’t quite turned out that way, as the cheapest years were marred by injury. But it still holds plenty of appeal: Moore is owed just $5MM for all of 2016, and can be controlled through 2019 through a series of club options that total to just $26MM.
Pitching Rumors: Ervin, Hellickson, Buchholz, Logan
The Blue Jays are still in the market for a starting pitcher before tomorrow’s non-waiver deadline. One name being discussed at this time, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (on Twitter), is Ervin Santana. Morosi doesn’t specify whether that means that the Jays are discussing Santana internally or they’re presently in talks with the Twins about their top starter, but it’s worth noting that Santana turned in another strong outing today in front of scouts from several clubs (via 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson, on Twitter). Santana allowed an earned run (three total) on six hits and a pair of walks with five strikeouts in six innings against the White Sox. He wasn’t helped by his defense whatsoever, as four errors made behind him drove up his pitch count, but he looked fairly sharp all the same. The Twins have said they don’t plan on moving Santana unless receiving a strong offer, but he is one of the more appealing starters on a thin trade market.
Some more rumors pertaining to the ever-intriguing market for pitching…
- ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reports that the Giants‘ interest in Phillies right-hander Jeremy Hellickson has been overstated (Twitter link). San Francisco isn’t currently in the mix for Hellickson, says Crasnick, despite prior connections. As MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki writes, Hellickson left his last start after bruising his hand at the plate, but the issue seems to be a minor one. Zolecki notes that, in addition to the Orioles — who could be out of the market after acquiring Wade Miley — clubs including the Blue Jays, Tigers, and Marlins have sent scouts to watch Hellickson’s recent outings.
- The Marlins have talked with the Red Sox about righty Clay Buchholz, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). But Miami wasn’t enamored of Boston’s asking price, Heyman says, so it’s doesn’t appear as if there’s any traction between the sides at present. Miami seemingly addressed its rotation needs with the acquisition of Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea, but the latter was lost in the middle of his first start for his new team to an elbow sprain and is already headed to the DL.
- With the Rockies‘ recent run of success moving the club to the fringes of the NL Wild Card race, the team seems to have taken its best trade assets off of the market. Colorado is still willing to entertain offers on lefty Boone Logan, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports on Twitter, but at this point it’s not even clear if he’ll be dealt. As we explained in our breakdown of the market for relief pitching, Logan could be one of the best rental relievers available — he carries an outstanding 17.1% swinging strike rate and finally has the results (2.40 ERA) to go along with the swing-and-miss stuff that he has displayed over his three years in Colorado. As the Rockies depth chart shows, the team does still carry two other southpaws in Jake McGee and Chris Rusin, but the former has fallen far shy of expectations in 2016 while the latter is more of a swingman or long reliever than any kind of shutdown pen lefty.
Jay Bruce Rumors: Saturday
Since it’s probably fair to assume we’re going to learn quite a bit of new information on Reds outfielder Jay Bruce today, we’ll go ahead and kick off the weekend’s deadline chatter with a post to house it. You can check back on last night’s whirlwind series of reports right here. Bottom line: there was talk of movement with the Dodgers, possibly involving Yasiel Puig and/or a third team, but nothing has come to fruition as of yet.
Here’s the latest on the veteran slugger, who is putting up career-best numbers at the plate and comes with another season of control via a $13MM club option:
- Rosenthal tweets that the Mets and Reds continue to discuss a Bruce swap, but nothing is close at this time.
- The Mets are “very involved” in the pursuit of Bruce, according to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (Twitter link). New York, of course, discussed Bruce with Cincinnati at last year’s trade deadline but ultimately secured Yoenis Cespedes instead.
- Stark reports that the Reds aren’t asking for elite prospects for Bruce but want two or three good players from the next tier down (Twitter link).
Earlier Updates
- The Rangers have at least “checked in” on Bruce, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). Texas could be a fit with Prince Fielder out for the year and Shin-Soo Choo dealing with ongoing back issues, though Crasnick notes that pitching remains the priority.
- The Mariners were said yesterday to be both out and then in on Bruce, but Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says (Twitter links) that there’s nothing happening on that front (though the teams are discussing shortstop Zack Cozart). Another team with questionable interest is the Giants, and Rosenthal suggests that they are still kicking around the idea of adding Bruce. The idea would be to slot his bat into the outfield mix now, and then use him as a replacement for free agent-to-be Angel Pagan in 2017.
- Though the Dodgers are still involved on Bruce, last night’s chatter of a three-team swap is dead, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark (via Twitter). It was never entirely clear just what that scenario might have looked like, though it seemed that Puig was a piece of the picture.
- Bruce’s market represents a “moving target,” Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. (Those of you who followed yesterday’s frenzy will surely understand this.) As things stand as the weekend begins, the Orioles are out, per Heyman. The Nationals are focused first on improving their bullpen, though seemingly remain involved. That leaves the Dodgers as the obvious suitor, with the Mets and Mariners among the other organizations that have at least some ongoing interest in Bruce.
Giants Activate Hunter Pence, Designate Ramiro Pena
The Giants have activated outfielder Hunter Pence, who had been out after undergoing surgery for a hamstring tear, the club announced. Infielder Ramiro Pena has been designated to open a roster spot.
San Francisco will surely be glad to see Pence back in the lineup, as he was producing at a .298/.375/.486 clip before going down with the injury. There had been talk that the team might need to make a deal to fill in for Pence, but that doesn’t look to be necessary at this point. The Giants are still said to be looking into corner outfield additions, though. Adding offense would be the primary purpose, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to reduce the burden a bit on the 33-year-old veteran.
As for Pena, 31, the writing was probably on the wall when the Giants struck a deal to acquire Eduardo Nunez. With fellow infielders Matt Duffy and Ehire Adrianza also on the comeback trail, there just wasn’t space for the switch-hitter. He has actually been quite a useful fill-in, though, posting a quality .299/.330/.425 slash line in his 91 plate appearances on the year.
Dodgers Among Teams In Talks On Jay Bruce; Yasiel Puig May Be Involved
8:31pm: Morosi says the Rays are still a player; he tweets that the team could end up shipping out two starters, one to each of the two other teams.
It seems that the reason for the involvement of a third team is that Cinci prefers position-player prospects, per Heyman (via Twitter), while the Dodgers are somewhat more inclined to deal arms. Of course, an earlier report suggested that the Rays’ role could involve sending a pitcher to the Reds, so the entire situation still seems in flux at present.
8:08pm: Tampa Bay is actually not involved in any Dodgers-Reds scenarios, Stark tweets.
7:36pm: The Rays appear to be the potential third team, per a Morosi tweet. Tampa Bay has been chatting with Los Angeles about scenarios that “could link up” with the talks between the Reds and Dodgers.
7:23pm: Talks between the Reds and Dodgers involving Bruce and Puig “didn’t materialize,” according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). He adds, though, that there are other trade scenarios still being tossed around between the clubs.
6:59pm: Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig could be in play in the talks regarding Bruce, Stark tweets. He’d presumably be pushed out of a regular role if a significant corner outfielder is added, and Stark says that L.A. has been trying to move him in proposals with other teams.
6:24pm: The Reds and Dodgers could be putting together another three-team arrangement after joining up for such a deal over the winter, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets. Details — including the would-be facilitator — remain unclear, but Bruce would end up in Los Angeles if it comes to fruition.
5:46pm: The Dodgers remain in the hunt for Bruce, with MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon tweeting that there’s dialogue between the clubs and Jon Heyman of Fan Rag adding (via Twitter) that he has heard the same. Los Angeles isn’t keen on the idea of giving up much in the way of prospects to make a deal, though, per C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link).
Heyman also lists the Nationals, Orioles, Mariners, and Mets as teams with ongoing interest — many of whom have been tied to Bruce in recent days (if not for longer). Despite the report below suggesting that Seattle had left the Bruce market, Heyman’s report adds to another suggesting that he’s still in play. And while the Giants were also said to be out on Bruce, Nightengale tweets that they are still holding talks — even with Hunter Pence now set to return from the DL.
5:28pm: Two new entrants in the market have ratcheted up the bidding on Bruce, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link). The pair of mystery teams has been “aggressive,” per the report.
It remains somewhat difficult to guess where exactly the most focused interest could come from. Bruce, after all, would be a flexible addition for most AL contenders and could also fit with an NL team that is looking to add pop and has favorable scouting reports on his glove in right. With an added year of team control through an affordable-enough option, there’s also some future value — and the possibility of an offseason deal to return something different if Bruce isn’t needed past the present season in his new home.
2:16pm: The Mets are among the clubs that have spoken with the Reds about outfielder Jay Bruce, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Among the other teams in dialogue with Cincinnati are the Dodgers, Nationals, and Orioles, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick adds on Twitter.
New York’s level of interest isn’t too great at the moment, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). And Crasnick adds that the Nats and O’s appear to have their sights set on other areas at present. Likewise, we’ve heard that the Dodgers have engaged on a number of other possibilities, including Josh Reddick.
Two other potential suitors — the Giants and Mariners — “appear to be out,” according to Crasnick. With Seattle and San Francisco apparently no longer in pursuit, and none of the teams listed above appearing to represent aggressive pursuers, it’s not hard to see why Cincinnati president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty expressed frustration yesterday over the response that Bruce has drawn on the market.
Bruce has put up quite a nice season after two straight duds. And he comes with control rights for 2017; though his $13MM option isn’t cheap, it looks more appealing than committing a similar annual amount for a longer term to an alternative on the free agent market this winter.
It has seemed at various times that Bruce’s big power numbers, added year of control, and eminent availability would make him a desirable and quite likely trade candidate. But Jocketty suggested a deal isn’t inevitable for a player that the Reds value quite highly.
Latest On Andrew Miller
1:15pm: A straight-up swap of Giolito wouldn’t be enough to get the Yankees to budge on Miller, Heyman tweets.
12:53pm: We’ve long heard about the Nationals’ interest in Yankees ace reliever Andrew Miller, but it has never quite been clear what the team would be willing to do to make that happen. Per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, via Twitter, “sources who have spoken with the [Nationals] believe” they’d do a one-for-one swap of Miller for top pitching prospect Lucas Giolito.
That language certainly still leaves a bit of wiggle room, and it’s not clear that a firm offer has been proposed. There’s no question, though, that the towering righty would represent a tantalizing offer for New York — if he is in fact being placed on the table.
New York is looking for a massive return for its star lefty, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag reports (Twitter links). The club is said to want three times the total value it achieved in its trade of Aroldis Chapman, who netted one very good prospect in Gleyber Torres along with three other pieces with real value. While Chapman is a pure rental piece, Miller comes with two added years of club control at a reasonable (though not cheap) price tag of $9MM annually. Heyman also notes that it still seems unlikely he’ll change hands, though perhaps New York is open to being blown away by an offer.
Joining the Nats with ongoing interest in Miller are the Cardinals, Indians, Rangers, and Giants, according to Heyman. Certainly, all of those clubs could put together appealing packages, though none has a rotation prospect that quite reaches Giolito’s standing — with the Cards’ Alex Reyes being the closest thing (though, to be clear, we’ve heard no indication to this point that he could be had). Texas also has some premium assets that it could dangle, though they land mostly on the position-player side. And it’s far from clear whether those teams’ best pieces are on offer for Miller.
If Giolito is, in fact, available, it would seem to make the Nats a favorite to acquire Miller. Giolito is widely regarded as one of the game’s truly premier starting pitching prospects, and he has already reached the majors for D.C. Truth be told, he would represent a rather stunning return, even for a reliever of Miller’s undeniable excellence.
The Nats were said not to be willing to give up Giolito, or even some lesser prospects, in a deal for Chapman. But there’s obviously good reason to cough up more assets for the controllable Miller, and the team has a deep stock of appealing young arms. Plus, Washington’s need for a premium late-inning pen piece only continues to grow, with incumbent closer Jonathan Papelbon struggling more than ever.
Pitching Rumors: Marlins, Tigers, Nats, Giants, Walker, Gomez
ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark examines the seeming dearth of available starters on this year’s market, with several unnamed executives telling him it seems to be harder than at any point in recent memory to pry arms loose. He goes through several possible reasons for that — including, most interestingly, the fact that the infusion of money into baseball has reduced the financial pressure on smaller-market teams to sell off assets at the deadline. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports also tackles the subject, suggesting that the standoff between buyers and sellers could topple over on deadline day — possibly resulting in a wild finish.
While we wait for the tension to break, here’s the latest on a market that is proving difficult to project:
- Even as the Marlins reportedly make their pitch for Andrew Cashner, the team is continuing to look far and wide for their rotation needs, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. He adds three more names that the club has asked about: Edinson Volquez of the Royals, Matt Shoemaker of the Angels, and Julio Teheran of the division-rival Braves. Nothing in the Miami system is off limits, per the report, including first baseman Josh Naylor and righty Luis Castillo — each of whom have been asked about quite frequently by other clubs, per Jackson. Rival clubs get the sense that the Marlins are “desperate” to bolster their rotation, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets, but it’s still not entirely clear how the team will make that happen given its thin farm. Of course, as the examples of Naylor and Castillo show, the system isn’t devoid of talent, but it would certainly sting to part with the organization’s best pieces, and it’s not at all clear that those players would be enough to score a quality, controllable arm.
- Another team that hopes to add arms but has limitations in doing so is the Tigers, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). Detroit is said not to have much payroll flexibility, and is also generally regarded as having a weaker farm system. At the same time, it’s probably wise not to count out the Mike Illitch-owned Tigers, who have made many bold strikes in the past and sit in reasonable striking distance of both the AL Central and the Wild Card at six games over .500.
- After missing on Aroldis Chapman, the Nationals should only step up their efforts to upgrade, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post opines. While GM Mike Rizzo has undeniably been a shrewd dealmaker, he and the organization have largely resisted major in-season additions, and Kilgore says that this is not the year to be stingy with prospects. Washington has been tied mostly to relief targets, and finding a big-time late-inning arm surely remains a priority. That said, things still seem rather wide open for the Nats, who aren’t overrun with needs but seem interested in a big addition. After all, the club even reportedly asked the Blue Jays whether star outfielder Jose Bautista might be available, per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
- Despite moving to add infielder Eduardo Nunez tonight, the Giants are still focused on pitching, GM Bobby Evans tells reporters including Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). It’s hard to draw a bead on the Giants’ favored targets, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick says they’re “blanketing” the market for starters and relievers (Twitter links). But the team is among may that have reached out to the Royals, so you can at least add some hypothetical new names to the long list of possibilities for San Francisco.
- Meanwhile, southpaw Josh Osich wasn’t terribly pleased that he was placed on the DL with a seemingly minor forearm issue, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He was replaced with fellow lefty Matt Reynolds, leading the Chronicle’s Henry Schulman to suggest on Twitter that the organization hopes to get a look at the 31-year-old before the deadline. Reynolds has appeared in five major league seasons and had some success at times. And it’s hard to ignore his current Triple-A line: over 32 1/3 innings, he owns a 1.11 ERA with 12.8 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 while allowing only 16 hits.
- Mariners righty Taijuan Walker is drawing “strong interest” around the game, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). It’s still somewhat difficult to imagine the organization parting with the talented hurler at this particular point in time, not least of which because he’s currently on the DL with a foot injury. Plus, GM Jerry Dipoto strongly suggested just recently that a sell-off shouldn’t be expected. But Nightengale says that Walker is scheduled for a bullpen on Friday at Wrigley Field that is expected to be watched by opposing teams’ scouts.
- The Phillies “don’t seem motivated” to trade reliever Jeanmar Gomez, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets. On the one hand, that’s a bit surprising given that the emergent righty has worked to a strong 2.83 ERA in 47 2/3 innings while largely thriving in the closer’s role. On the other, Philadelphia has no real reason to part with its final year of control if it can’t draw an interesting return, as Gomez will likely provides some affordable (albeit increasingly expensive) stability next year.
Giants Acquire Eduardo Nunez
The Giants have announced a deal to acquire Twins infielder Eduardo Nunez, as LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune first reported (via Twitter). Lefty Adalberto Mejia is headed to Minnesota in return.
Nunez, 29, has revived his career in Minnesota over the last two years. Once a prized Yankees farmhand, he had struggled to gain traction and ended up changing hands in a minor swap in April of 2014. Though he started off slowly in his new home, Nunez came on strong last year and has only improved thus far in 2016 — even earning his first All-Star berth.
A shortstop by trade, Nunez has also seen significant time at third base while also appearing a second and in the outfield. Though he’s not a highly-regarded defender, the versatility should come in handy. He’ll presumably see action around the diamond for the Giants, with much of his early action coming at third base, where Matt Duffy remains an injury question. Second baseman Joe Panik has only just returned from his own DL stint, and while Brandon Crawford is as steady as ever, it doesn’t hurt to have a quality option to support him as well.
The right-handed-hitting Nunez carries neutral career platoon splits, but has been better this year against southpaws. Both Duffy (a righty) and Panik (a lefty) are also neutral in their relatively short careers, but each has seen a downturn against same-handed pitching thus far in 2016. That makes Nunez a more natural platoon mate for Panik, though the Giants’ new addition has spent most of his time on the left side of the infield and is perhaps more likely to take time from Duffy (once the latter returns from the DL). Nunez also provides a right-handed complement to Crawford, though obviously the incumbent figures to remain an everyday fixture at short. San Francisco will also soon welcome back the switch-hitting Ehire Adrianza from a rehab stint, and he too will provide an option up the middle.
Owing to his relatively limited playing time and generally meager career numbers, Nunez is earning just $1.475MM this year. He’s also controllable for another season via arbitration. Though he’ll surely earn a nice raise, Nunez figures to remain quite an affordable piece before qualifying for free agency in 2018.
[Related: Updated Giants and Twins Depth Charts]
Minnesota seems to have made out quite well for its meager investment in Nunez. In addition to receiving quality production from him while he was in town, the club will add a nice piece in the 23-year-old Mejia. After a solid showing at Double-A last year, he pitched well enough there early in 2016 to earn his first promotion to Triple-A. All told, he owns a 2.81 ERA over 105 2/3 innings with 8.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 between the two levels.
Long considered a solid prospect, Mejia has moved up the charts as he has ascended the ranks of the Giants’ system and is said to profile as a near-ready number-four starter. He sat at fifth among the team’s pre-MLB assets in Baseball America’s latest farm ranking (also cracking the top-100 list leaguewide) and seventh per MLB.com. Though he doesn’t have huge stuff, the pundits credit him as a sturdy southpaw who limits the home runs and walks and should be able to generate strong results with a quality three-pitch mix.
The Twins will promote top prospect Jorge Polanco to replace Nunez on the active roster, the Star-Tribune’s Phill Miller tweets. Polanco, 23, enjoyed a nice start to his major league career in a brief stint earlier this season after cracking some top-100 prospect rankings over the winter. He has spent most of the year at Triple-A, posting a .271/.331/.455 batting line in 320 plate appearances with nine long balls on his ledger.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Giants Activate Joe Panik, Designate Grant Green
The Giants have designated infielder Grant Green, as Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area was among those to tweet. His roster spot was needed for fellow infielder Joe Panik, who was activated from the DL.
[Related: Updated Giants Depth Chart]
Green, 28, has produced at a .251/.286/.339 clip over 350 MLB plate appearances in parts of four seasons. The former Angels and Athletics prospect was always considered a bat-first player, and has a sturdy track record of hitting in the minors. But Green comes with a lightly-regarded glove and his home run pop has dissipated in the upper minors. It remains to be seen whether he’ll ever earn a full shot a steady MLB job.
San Francisco will certainly be glad to welcome back Panik, who missed a month with concussion symptoms. He hasn’t produce at anything close to his rate from a year ago, but Panik still carries a league-average hitting line in 2016 to go with a quality glove at second. Plus, he has probably been a bit unlucky with a .266 BABIP, so there’s reason for the Giants to expect that he’ll be even more useful down the stretch than he was in the first half.