NL East Notes: Amaro, Span, Morse, Latos
GM Ruben Amaro’s recent declaration that Chase Utley might not be the Phillies‘ everyday second baseman when he returns from injury is a tough one for fans to take, David Murphy of the Daily News writes. For those unfamiliar with Amaro’s comments, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal provided a good summary earlier this week. “Cesar Hernandez is our best second baseman,” Amaro told reporters, including CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury. “I would assume that Cesar would be our second baseman.” After getting off to a poor start this season, Utley is currently on the DL with ankle inflammation, and Hernandez has performed well in his absence, but Amaro’s remarks understandably haven’t sat well with Phillies fans, who don’t want to see a franchise icon pushed off the stage. The core of the problem, as Murphy sees it, is that Phillies fans have to endure the marginalizations or departures of players who were key to the Phillies’ run of successful seasons several years back, while the team’s front office can continue to use that same run of successful seasons to justify its own continued employment. Rosenthal, meanwhile, wonders whether Amaro — who had already appeared to be a lame duck — might be hastening his departure with his tone deaf comments. Here’s more from the NL East.
- The Nationals have placed outfielder Denard Span on the disabled list, Mark Zuckerman of Nats Insider writes. Span, who had not played since Sunday, has been dealing with back tightness. The injury means the Nationals are down yet another position player. They currently also have Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman on the DL.
- The Giants have had at least a bit of interest in acquiring Michael Morse from the Marlins, but the Giants would need to take on a significant portion of the approximately $11MM remaining on Morse’s contract for the Marlins to consider the deal, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes (scroll down). The Marlins would seem to have somewhat less use for the right-handed Morse with today’s addition of fellow righty corner infielder Casey McGehee, and Justin Bour has taken over the bulk of the Marlins’ playing time at first base anyway. The Giants surely have fond memories of Morse from his solid performance with their 2014 World Series team, but Morse has hit a disastrous .210/.273/.304 with his usual poor defense in 2015, so it’s doubtful the Giants would be willing to take on much salary to acquire him. Morse would serve as a right-handed bench option in San Francisco.
- The Marlins have also received “several” calls regarding starting pitcher Mat Latos, Jackson writes. That’s not surprising — Latos is a free agent at the end of the season, and as MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently noted, Latos’ velocity has returned lately, seemingly making him a more attractive trade candidate than his overall numbers suggest he should be.
Marlins Sign Casey McGehee
TODAY: Miami has announced the signing of McGehee.
YESTERDAY, 4:38pm: McGehee is actually still on release waivers until tomorrow, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. Once he clears, the Marlins are expected to make “a strong push” to sign him. McGehee is represented by Meister Sports Management.
4:12pm: The Marlins have agreed to terms with infielder Casey McGehee, Andy Slater of 940 AM-WINZ tweets. Slater notes that McGehee should join the team on Friday.
The Giants released McGehee yesterday, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. They had previously designated him for assignment after an awful .213/.275/.299 performance in 138 plate appearances. The Giants will still be on the hook for most of the remainder of McGehee’s $4.8MM salary.
With Martin Prado on the disabled list with a shoulder issue, the Marlins have lately gone with Derek Dietrich and Miguel Rojas at third base, the position McGehee has played almost exclusively in the big leagues since last season. Both Dietrich and Rojas have performed well at the Triple-A level this year, and Dietrich is also off to a good start in the big leagues, hitting .259/.333/.481 in 60 plate appearances.
Dietrich is, however, left-handed, as is primary first baseman Justin Bour. One would think the right-handed McGehee would still be able to play first base, so the he could potentially fill for one or the other against left-handed pitching. The Marlins already have righty first base options in Michael Morse and Jeff Baker, although Morse is in the midst of a very poor season and Baker is currently dealing with an oblique injury. McGehee has struggled this season too, of course, although the fact that he performed well with the Marlins in 2014 (after which they traded him to San Francisco) might earn him more chances in Miami than he might receive elsewhere. The corresponding move the Marlins make when they officially add McGehee to their roster will likely help explain how they plan to use him.
International Notes: July 2 Pools, 2016-17 Market, Cuba
In case you missed the recent action, be sure to catch up on the major July 2 signings. In the midst of teams agreeing to deals with young talent, they were also swapping quite a bit of bonus spending pools amongst themselves. Matt Eddy of Baseball America provides an exceedingly useful chart showing the aggregate results (as of this morning) of all those exchanges.
- Now that the dust has largely settled, Baseball America’s Ben Badler breaks down at the clubs that have exceeded their total allotment. By Badler’s reckoning, fully one-third of the league will be restricted from spending more than $300K in next year’s July 2 market, with the Dodgers, Giants, Cubs, Royals, and Blue Jays joining the five teams that are set to serve the second year of their bans. (Toronto will only face one season of limitations, as their spending stands.) Badler also explains how all the bonus pool deals were put to use by the teams making them.
- In the same piece, Badler takes a stab at predicting which clubs are planning to blow their budgets next year. He says that the Braves “seem determined” to make a big splash, while the industry chatter is that they could be joined by the Nationals, Rangers, Twins, and Padres.
- MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez looks at the challenges to Cuban baseball posed by changing diplomatic tides. The stream of ballplayers heading for major league organizations has obviously hurt Cuba’s domestic league and national team, as Sanchez explains.
- If you’re still confused by the way the international market works, check out this solid primer from Jonah Keri of Grantland. He uses a Q&A format to help simplify the often baffling series of rules, strategies, and factors weighing on this segment of the baseball transactional world.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/9/15
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- Somerset Patriots outfielder Scott Cousins has retired, Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com writes. The announcement was made as Cousins was removed from the Atlantic League All-Star Game on Wednesday. Cousins played parts of four seasons with the Marlins and Angels from 2010 through 2013, hitting .179/.230/.285 in 193 career plate appearances. He says he’d like to finish his college degree, then become a hitting coach or scout. “I’d love to be an area scout; it’s a simple lifestyle, I get to watch baseball and I get to mentor guys where I used to be,” Cousins says. “I’m not going to get rich at it, and I’m perfectly OK with that.”
- Giants pitcher Brett Bochy is currently listed on the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats roster, so it appears he has been outrighted after being designated for assignment last week. Bruce’s son has produced a 4.30 ERA, 5.5 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 29 1/3 innings with the River Cats this season. He briefly appeared in the big leagues last year.
- The Reds have acquired righty Miguel Celestino from the Red Sox, Portland Sea Dogs broadcaster Mike Antonellis tweets. Celestino, 25, posted a 4.53 ERA, 6.7 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9 in 45 2/3 innings at Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket. He’s spent most of the past three seasons pitching in relief. He did not rank in MLB.com’s list of the Red Sox’ top 30 prospects.
Latest On Eddy Julio Martinez
Top Cuban outfield prospect Eddy Julio Martinez remains unsigned a week after the beginning of the July 2 international signing period, but the Dodgers and Giants still lead the race to sign him, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez writes. Both teams have workouts scheduled for Martinez in the coming week.
The Cubs, White Sox, Rangers and Astros also have shown significant interest. Sanchez points out, though, that the Dodgers, Giants and maybe the Cubs have the edge, because Martinez’s bonus, likely to be eight figures, will incur maximum penalties for the team that signs him, including the inability to sign any player for more than $300K in either of the next two international signing periods. The Dodgers and Giants are already on pace to incur those penalties — the Dodgers’ expensive current class includes $16MM signee Yadier Alvarez, while the Giants’ includes $6MM signee Lucius Fox. The Cubs appear likely to incur maximum penalties as well. The White Sox, Rangers and Astros have not incurred such penalties, so they appear to have at least some incentive not to sign Martinez.
MLB.com ranks Martinez the No. 1 prospect available this signing period, comparing the 20-year-old to Andruw Jones and praising his power, baserunning and defense. Baseball America’s Ben Badler (subscription only) is less bullish, suggesting Martinez’s power leads more to doubles than home runs and noting that not all scouts believe he’ll stick as a starter in center field.
West Notes: A’s, Kazmir, Machi, Ibanez
The Athletics are in a “holding pattern” on trade talks as they continue to see how things progress in the coming weeks, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). Nevertheless, likely buyers appear to be taking a close look at Oakland’s roster, as Rosenthal counts the Blue Jays, Astros, Royals, Tigers, Nationals, and Pirates among the clubs that sent scouts to last night’s game.
- Scott Kazmir threw for the A’s last night, of course, and left after just three innings of work with forearm tightness. Kazmir insisted after the game that it was not a major source of concern, and indeed Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle notes on Twitter that he was able to play catch today without apparent issue.
- Giants reliever Jean Machi appears at risk of becoming a roster casualty when the club welcomes back Jeremy Affeldt and/or Tim Lincecum, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle notes on Twitter. The 33-year-old has produced outstanding results in each of the last two seasons, putting up 119 1/3 innings of 2.49 ERA pitching. But it’s been a different story in 2015, as Machi has suffered a notable decline in his strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.8 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9, presently) and owns a 5.29 ERA in 32 1/3 frames.
- The Rangers got a bargain on recent international signee Andy Ibanez, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America. Texas landed the 22-year-old infielder for just $1.6MM, but Badler pegs him as roughly equivalent in value to a supplemental first-round or second-round draft pick.
Injury Notes: Garza, Pence, Profar, Luebke
The Brewers have placed righty Matt Garza on the 15-day DL with what the team is calling right shoulder tendinitis, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. It appears as though the plan is to maximize Garza’s rest with the All-Star break, but one wonders whether the move also removes him from serious consideration as a trade piece this summer. Garza indicated that the issue was not terribly significant, but he has a long and growing list of medical ailments that have cropped up in his career. And then there’s the fact that Garza will not have much opportunity to improve his value after a rough first half. He is sporting a 5.55 ERA in 99 frames on the year, with ERA estimators not painting a much rosier picture, and his strikeout rate continues to fall. Garza is owed $12.5MM annually from 2014-17 under the deal he signed to join the Brewers, and also has a fairly achievable $13MM vesting clause tacked on at the end of his contract.
- Giants outfielder Hunter Pence appears to be nearing a return from the DL in the fairly near future, possibly before the All-Star break, MLB.com’s Oliver Macklin writes. San Francisco has dropped back to .500 and could certainly use a jolt from the dynamic Pence, not least of which because the club is also missing fellow corner outfielder Norichika Aoki. Assuming Pence can avoid another setback with his wrist and re-entrench himself in right field, the club would have a much less pressing need for an additional outfielder.
- Padres lefty Cory Luebke has suffered a setback in his bid to return from a second successive Tommy John procedure, Corey Brock of MLB.com reports. For now, it’s just elbow discomfort, but the team was concerned enough to bring the 30-year-old back to San Diego from his rehab assignment in Triple-A. Luebke has not pitched in the big leagues in over three years, though he has finally seen competitive action in the minors for the first time since originally blowing out his UCL.
- Another once-promising player who is on a long road back is Rangers infielder Jurickson Profar, who was once one of the game’s very best prospects. As Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News writes, Profar remains staggeringly young given how long he’s been on the scene and out with shoulder issues. He’ll still only be 23 come next spring. Profar remains a long way from returning to the big leagues, says Fraley, who notes that he is progressing through daily rehab sessions and monthly MRI tests.
NL West Notes: Frias, Giants, Maybin, Parra, Greinke, Gray
The Dodgers‘ search for pitching may only intensify with the news that Carlos Frias has been placed on the 15-day DL with lower back tightness. Los Angeles already dipped into its starter depth by installing Frias and Mike Bolsinger into the rotation in place of Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy, so all eyes will be on the Dodgers this month to see if they can land another big arm before the trade deadline. Here’s the latest from the NL West…
- The Giants are looking for outfielders and Gerardo Parra and Cameron Maybin are two of the names who have been discussed, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports (via Twitter). In another tweet, Olney notes that the Braves aren’t open to dealing Maybin right now. Outfield had been cited as a possible target spot for San Francisco, though GM Bobby Evans didn’t seem set on obtaining an everyday outfielder since Hunter Pence and Nori Aoki will be expected to resume their regular spots in the lineup when they’re both healthy. In my opinion, I’d think that a left-handed hitting outfielder like Parra could be of particular use in a center field platoon with Angel Pagan, who has struggled badly against right-handed pitching this season (though Pagan has generally fared better against righty arms over his career).
- The Giants have liked Parra “forever,” according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter). Parra had spent his entire career prior to August 2014 with the Diamondbacks, however, and Arizona didn’t want to deal the outfielder to a division rival.
- In Olney’s latest Insider-only post, he observes that Zack Greinke‘s big season is putting him in position for a massive free agent payday this winter. “It seems like a foregone conclusion” Greinke will opt out of his Dodgers contract in search of a more lucrative deal, and while he turns 32 in October, Olney believes he’s the type of pitcher with the athleticism, mechanics and pitching know-how to still be very effective as he ages. Andrew Friedman has generally eschewed giving big contracts to older players in his career as an executive, though this could well change now that he runs a high-payroll team.
- The Rockies are again in need of pitching reinforcements, and Nick Groke of the Denver Post wonders if the team could promote top prospect Jon Gray. Troy Tulowitzki and Walt Weiss seem in favor of Gray coming to the bigs soon, though GM Jeff Bridich was more cautious. “Jon Gray is doing a great job right now of learning lessons and evolving at the Triple-A level. So there are things that he needs to do and will continue to do. And we’ll continue to exercise patience with him,” Bridich said. Gray has a 4.88 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and a 2.45 K/BB rate in 90 1/3 Triple-A innings this season — respectable numbers in the very hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Pirates Claim Travis Ishikawa
The Pirates have claimed Travis Ishikawa from the Giants, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes tweets. The Bucs, in announcing the move, say that they will make a corresponding move to add Ishikawa to their 25-man roster once he joins the team.
The Giants designated Ishikawa for assignment on Friday. They initially acquired him in April 2014, signing him to a minor league deal after he briefly played for the Pirates in a separate stint. The Bucs designated him for assignment last season when they acquired Ike Davis, a fellow lefty first baseman.
This time around, it’s tough to guess what Ishikawa’s role with the Bucs might be, since they already have lefty hitters at first base and right field (Pedro Alvarez and Gregory Polanco, respectively) and a good everyday player in left (Starling Marte, although Marte left Sunday’s game with an apparent injury). It’s possible Ishikawa could simply provide the Bucs with a lefty pinch-hitting option, however.
After his heroics in the postseason last year, the 31-year-old Ishikawa has spent most of 2015 with Triple-A Sacramento, where he’s batted .271/.342/.421. He collected six plate appearances with the Giants this season.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/4/15
Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.
- Righty Ben Rowen has opted out of his contract with the Orioles and is now a free agent, MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski reports (via Twitter). Rowen’s contract gave him the option of opting out if he wasn’t on the team’s MLB roster by July 1. Rowen has a 2.41 ERA, 24 strikeouts and six walks over 37 1/3 Triple-A relief innings this season, and he appeared eight big league games with Texas in 2014.
- Earlier this week, the Twins signed veteran righty Scott Atchison to a minor league contract, according to MLB.com’s official transactions page. Atchison his the open market last week when he was released by the Indians. Atchison posted a 6.86 ERA, 5.5 K/9 and a 3:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 19 2/3 innings out of Cleveland’s bullpen this season, though with strong numbers in 2011-14, it’s a no-risk signing by the Twins to see if Atchison can regain his form.
- Reliever Ronald Belisario, who was recently outrighted by the Rays, has cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The Rays recently designated Belisario for assignment after he allowed seven runs in eight innings in a brief stint with the team covering two weeks in late June.
- The Mariners have outrighted outfielder Julio Morban, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets. The move clears a spot on the Mariners’ 40-man roster, which now stands at 39. Morban, 23, had a pair of strong seasons in 2012 at Class A+ High Desert and in 2013 at Double-A Jackson. He has struggled with injury throughout his career, however, and his performance has tailed off significantly in the past two seasons. He only recently returned from a two-month stay on the restricted list due to personal reasons.
- The Mariners have released righty Justin Germano and lefty Rafael Perez, Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Both of them had out clauses. Germano confirms (via Twitter) that he will head to Korea to pitch with the KT Wiz. The 32-year-old was in the midst of a good season for Triple-A Tacoma, with a 2.83 ERA, 6.6 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 89 innings. The 33-year-old Perez had been on loan to Quintana Roo in the Mexican League and had not actually pitched in the Mariners system.
- The Rangers have traded outfielder Jake Skole to the Yankees for cash, FOX Sports Southwest’s Anthony Andro tweets. Skole, the 15th overall pick in the 2010 draft, was hitting .218/.313/.335 for Double-A Frisco, consistent with his walk-heavy but generally unimpressive offensive performances throughout the minor league career.
- Andy Oliver has opted out of his minor league deal with the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The 27-year-old Oliver has good stuff, particularly for a lefty, but has struggled with control problems throughout his career. He had a 3.86 ERA and 10.3 K/9 but with 7.7 BB/9 in 28 innings for Triple-A Durham. The Phillies took him in the Rule 5 Draft last winter, but he elected free agency after they outrighted him in April.
- The Giants have signed outfielder Xavier Avery to a minor league deal, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News tweets. The 25-year-old Avery opted out of his deal with the Tigers this week after hitting .305/.371/.393 for Triple-A Toledo. The Giants have assigned him to Triple-A Sacramento.
- The Orioles have signed Cuban first baseman Yaisel Mederos, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko tweets. The 25-year-old Mederos hit .268/.343/.402 in parts of four seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. He only hit 12 home runs in 531 plate appearances, although Kubatko notes that Mederos has power potential.