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NL Central Notes: Pirates, Walker, Pham, Uehara

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Some items from around the NL Central…

  • Gregory Polanco left Saturday’s game with another hamstring injury, and the Pirates outfielder was held out of today’s lineup after undergoing a “battery of tests,” manager Clint Hurdle told MLB.com’s Adam Berry and other reporters.  The Bucs have an off-day on Monday, which could give Polanco time to recover and avoid his third hamstring-related DL placement of the season.  In better injury news for the Pirates, Andrew McCutchen returned to the lineup as the DH today in Toronto, two days after leaving a game due to what appears to be a minor leg injury.
  • The Brewers acquired Neil Walker as a second base upgrade, though GM David Stearns told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Twitter links) and other reporters that the team sees him as a “multi-positional” player who can handle spot duty at first or third base if necessary.  The vast majority of Walker’s career has been played at the keystone, though he does have a bit of experience (17 career games at third, three games at first) at the other two positions, with five of those games coming this season with the Mets.  Walker, in fact, is making his Brewers debut today at third base, filling in for Travis Shaw, who is sore after twice fouling balls off his lower right leg.
  • Also, Stearns and Mets GM Sandy Alderson both hinted that it may be some months before the two teams determine the player to be named who will go to the Mets in return for Walker.
  • Tommy Pham’s breakout season has been an enormous boost for the Cardinals, though Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if the Cards see Pham as a big part of their future.  Dexter Fowler obviously isn’t going anywhere thanks to his big contract, while Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk are still important future pieces, though both have struggled and spent time in the minors this year. (Piscotty, of course, is also locked up in a contract extension.)  Hochman suggests that Pham could be a big trade chip for the Cardinals in the offseason, which is certainly true given Pham’s excellent performance and his four remaining years of team control.  In my opinion, I’d say that Pham is too valuable for the Cards to deal for anything less than a huge return, especially given the uncertainty around Piscotty and Grichuk.
  • Even at the age of 42, the Cubs’ Koji Uehara has been a quality reliever this year, but “there’s concern that this could be the end of the road,” Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes. Uehara went on the disabled list Wednesday with a neck strain, though there aren’t any indications that it’s a major injury (via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune).  Before his DL placement, Uehara allowed an earned run in four of his most recent six appearances.  He still owns a palatable 3.55 ERA over 38 innings, though, with 10.66 K/9 against 2.61 BB/9.  Uehara, whom the Cubs signed to a one-year, $6MM deal last winter, suggested prior to the season that he wanted to pitch through at least 2018, which would give him an even 10 seasons in Major League Baseball.  This would match the 10 years he pitched professionally in his native Japan.

NL Notes: Loria, Cardinals, Feldman

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What kind of Marlins owner Derek Jeter will make is far less important than the fact that Jeffrey Loria is leaving, Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel writes. Loria frequently upstaged the Marlins’ on-field play with off-field drama, including ballpark financing issues, a revolving door to the manager’s office, and constant changes of direction. Meanwhile, the team Jeter and company will take over is no prize — the team isn’t currently contending, there’s already lots of money tied up in player salaries for next season, and the franchise’s minor-league system is poor. Here’s more from the National League.

  • The Cardinals are comfortable with their outfield and will not be pursuing Jay Bruce-type trades in the August market, GM Mike Girsch tells MLB Network Radio (on Twitter). (Bruce himself, of course, is no longer available after being traded to Cleveland, but Girsch is saying the Cardinals do not intend to pursue that sort of player.) Girsch says the Cardinals remain open to making trades, as one might expect. But, he adds, “Realistically, making meaningful upgrades in August is a challenge.”
  • The Reds have announced that righty Scott Feldman will start tonight against Milwaukee as he returns from about four weeks on the DL with knee inflammation. That’s significant because Feldman could be a trade candidate this month — he’s a free agent after the season and might very well have been traded last month had he not been hurt. It’s also possible Feldman could be claimed should the Reds place him on revocable waivers, since he’s only making $2.3MM this season and has produced a 4.34 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 over 103 2/3 innings.

NL Rumors: Brewers, Giants, Cards, Phillies

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The Brewers have gone a horrid 9-17 since the All-Star break, yet they’re still only two games behind the Cubs for the National League Central lead. As such, general manager David Stearns remains on the hunt for potential upgrades, writes Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The Brewers “are constantly monitoring the waiver wire,” revealed Stearns, who’s optimistic that he’ll be able to add outside help in the coming weeks. “I wouldn’t put it as a definite, but I certainly think it is a possibility that between now and the end of August we are able to pull something off,” he said. Milwaukee is specifically looking to breathe life into its sputtering offense, according to McCalvy, which aligns with their reported interest in Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler. The veteran might not even make it to the Brewers via waivers, though, and McCalvy relays that the team has failed in its attempts to add players via claims this month. When the Brewers have claimed players, clubs ahead of them in the waiver pecking order have either beaten them to the punch or the players’ teams pulled them back.

More from the NL:

  • In an effort to put a disastrous 2017 behind them and return to relevance next year, the Giants could make big offseason changes, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Manager Bruce Bochy admitted that the Giants must add to their offense, telling Nightengale, “We really need a big bopper in that lineup, just to take the pressure off everybody else.’’ In response, Nightengale lists free agents-to-be J.D. Martinez and Jay Bruce as potential targets for the outfielder-needy Giants. The club could also explore trades involving the likes of first baseman Brandon Belt and second baseman Joe Panik, relays Nightengale, though moving either or both would not signal a rebuild. “We’ve had a lot of heavy lifts over the years in the 25-year history of this investor group, but we don’t believe we have to have a tear-down,” said CEO Larry Baer. “We’re not fearful, but actually very optimistic we’ll turn this around. Our history shows us that if we have a down year, we bounce back.”
  • The surging Cardinals are now within a game of the Cubs, and they’re largely content with their roster as a result, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The Redbirds do have interest in trading for a reliever, though, Morosi adds. St. Louis’ bullpen has already been a bright spot this year, as the group entered Thursday seventh in the majors in ERA and 10th in fWAR. Cardinals relievers have been even better in the season’s second half, having posted a 2.83 ERA with 9.99 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. In any event, if they do look to further bolster their bullpen, MLBTR’s Steve Adams just named some relievers who could change homes this month.
  • Newly promoted slugger Rhys Hoskins will initially play left field for the Phillies, but he’ll shift to his natural position – first base – when Aaron Altherr returns from the disabled list in a few weeks, reports Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. That will relegate first baseman Tommy Joseph to the bench. The Phillies were unable to find a taker for Joseph before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, and they’re likely to resume their efforts to move him in the offseason, notes Zolecki. As for other Phillies prospects, neither second baseman Scott Kingery nor shortstop J.P. Crawford are shoo-ins for season-opening spots in the club’s lineup in 2018. The Phillies instead seem content to continue with Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis if they win spring training position battles. GM Matt Klentak doesn’t believe Hernandez or Galvis have reached their peaks yet, so he’s fine with keeping the soon-to-be 28-year-olds around in prominent roles.

Cardinals Option Stephen Piscotty To Triple-A

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The Cardinals announced on Monday that they’ve activated center fielder Dexter Fowler from the disabled list and optioned Stephen Piscotty to Triple-A Memphis to clear a spot on the roster.

[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals depth chart]

The move marks the third Opening Day regular to be optioned to the minors this season — both Randal Grichuk and Aledmys Diaz have been sent down in 2017 — and also makes this the second straight season in which St. Louis has optioned a recently extended player to the minors. In 2016, it was second baseman Kolten Wong that was sent down after struggling in the wake of signing a five-year, $25.5MM extension. Piscotty, 26, inked a six-year, $33.5MM pact prior to the 2017 season but has struggled to live up to the expectations that accompanied that deal thus far.

Piscotty batted .282/.348/.467 with 29 homers through his first 216 Major League games (905 plate appearances), prompting the Cards to make that show of faith just as the 2017 campaign got underway. However, he’s yet to find a groove at the plate this year and currently has just a .232/.340/.362 slash through 291 plate appearances. Piscotty has seen his walk rate spike to 12.7 percent this season, but his power has largely evaporated; he’s hit just six homers in 2017 and has an isolated power mark (.130) that is 54 points lower than his 2016 level (.184). He’s also missed time due to a hamstring strain and a groin strain through the season’s first four-plus months.

With Piscotty out of the picture for the time being, the Cards seem set to go with an outfield mix featuring Tommy Pham, Fowler and Grichuk. Jose Martinez, too, should factor prominently into the mix on the heels of his strong play in recent weeks. Some have even argued for Martinez to remain in the lineup on a regular basis, including Bernie Miklasz of ESPN 101, who made a lengthy pitch for the Cardinals to keep Martinez in the heart of the order earlier today.

NL Notes: Chatwood, Cardinals, Realmuto, Brewers

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The Rockies announced yesterday that they’ve moved right-hander Tyler Chatwood to the bullpen, clearing way for rookie Antonio Senzatela to rejoin the starting rotation, as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes. That’s a disappointing development for the 27-year-old Chatwood, who is slated to become a free agent for the first time following the 2017 season. The results for Chatwood haven’t been there in 2017, though, as he’s averaged 7.2 K/9, 5.0 BB/9 and 1.36 HR/9 en route to a 5.11 ERA through 112 2/3 innings. Chatwood does have a rather gaudy 57.4 percent ground-ball rate, though, and he’s pitched well away from Coors Field in each of the past two seasons. Both elements could help him look a bit more favorable on this winter’s open market, as will the fact that he’s rather young for a free-agent starter. Chatwood, as Saunders notes, voiced that his clear preference is to pitch as a starter, though he also stated that he’ll pitch in whatever role the Rox feel is best as the team looks to land an NL Wild Card spot.

More from the Senior Circuit…

  • Cardinals lefty Kevin Siegrist landed on the 10-day disabled list due to forearm tendinitis, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Siegrist has been battling injuries “for a while,” per manager Mike Matheny, and his latest placement on the DL will give fellow lefty Tyler Lyons even more looks in higher-leverage spots. “We’ll be able to use him in big situations — lefty, righty, regardless,” said Matheny of Lyons. “…His stuff’s always been there. You could see him being effective in any role because the slider and curveball are that good. His changeup is really improved.” The 29-year-old Lyons is enjoying a career year with an 11.1 K/9 rate against 2.9 BB/9 and a 3.18 ERA through 34 innings in a short-relief role.
  • The Marlins conducted a bit of a defensive experiment yesterday by starting catcher J.T. Realmuto at first, but Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes that said arrangement isn’t likely to have a long-term impact on how much Realmuto catches. Miami still plans to start Realmuto behind the dish as often as possible, but the look at first base was meant to see how he’d fare there on a day he’d otherwise have received off entirely. Realmuto impressed, defensively, per manager Don Mattingly, and it stands to reason that if the Fish are comfortable with him there, it could be a means of getting Realmuto into a few more games next season. “He’s not going to be a guy over there three days a week, or anything like that,” said Mattingly. “He’s pretty much our catcher. But I think it is a way to get him off his legs. A day game like today.”
  • Brewers general manager David Stearns spoke at length with Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about his team’s decision not to part with significant long-term pieces for big-name upgrades prior to the non-waiver deadline. As Stearns explains, there was simply a group of players — both on the Major League roster and in the minors — that the Brewers weren’t willing to discuss in trades, barring the emergence of an unexpected trade candidate on the market. Stearns rejected the narrative that the Cubs’ acquisition of Jose Quintana galvanized the clubhouse and sparked a winning streak. “I think the Cubs’ recent run has more to do with the overall quality of their roster than one individual player,” said the GM. Haudricourt’s column is rife with lengthy quotes from Stearns on his thoughts leading up to the deadline and into August trading season, so readers should definitely check it out in its entirety.

Post-Deadline Notes: Gray, Cards, Darvish, Britton, Estrada, Braves

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The Cardinals “float[ed]” a trade proposal for Sonny Gray before the Athletics shipped him to the Yankees, according to MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal. In concept, at least, St. Louis would have considered sending young outfielder Stephen Piscotty to Oakland along with a promising starter (Luke Weaver or Jack Flaherty), though it seems talks never got going. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks closer at the Cards’ lack of action on deadline day. Top baseball decisionmaker John Mozeliak acknowledged “a level of frustration” that nothing got done, though he also said the team wasn’t inclined to make deals just for the sake of action. Ultimately, momentum never built toward a deal for Lance Lynn, and the club’s other chatter never materialized into a trade. You’ll want to peruse the lengthy column for all the details.

Here are some more post-deadline links of note:

  • The Dodgers’ acquisition of Yu Darvish came together quite late, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports explains in fascinating detail. It became apparent the Dodgers wouldn’t get Zach Britton from the Orioles within a half hour of the deadline, but the team had already “abandoned hope” of landing Darvish. The Rangers, meanwhile, had run through their alternative trade partners for the ace righty and found none availing. The paths of the two organizations converged just twenty minutes before the deadline. You’ll certainly want to give the story a full read; Texas fans will also want to check out this piece from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on the team’s unannounced but still-evident rebuilding path.
  • In the end, there just wasn’t that much demand in the marketplace for Darvish, Rosenthal also notes — so much so that the Dodgers were nearly in position to land both Darvish from the Rangers and lefty Zach Britton from the Orioles. That said, there was “some overlap” between the prospects in both potential deals, and it obviously would’ve required a steep overall price to get both arms. Instead, Los Angeles added two different lefties, Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani.
  • As regards Britton, Rosenthal had some stern words for how things played out. The Orioles spurned not only the Dodgers but likely also the Astros. For Baltimore, the deadline approach “was disturbingly short-sighted,” by Rosenthal’s reckoning. And when Houston wasn’t able to find another top-end arm, says Rosenthal, its body of deadline work became a “lost opportunity.” It does seem worth bearing in mind, particularly regarding the Astros, that the August trade period appears to be full of opportunities for making further moves if the need is there.
  • Over in Toronto, the Blue Jays ended up holding onto righty Marco Estrada and then watched him turn in a strong outing last night. As Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca writes, Jays GM Ross Atkins suggested yesterday that the organization may yet see Estrada as a part of the team’s future — though his contract is up at year’s end and he perhaps remains a plausible August trade piece. With Estrada remaining in Toronto through the deadline, said Atkins, “we’ll start thinking about not only how he impacts us now, but how he can potentially impact us beyond 2017.”
  • Be sure also to check out the trade deadline rundown from Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, who assesses some winners and losers from the day’s action. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney also issued deadline grades in an Insider piece.
  • With the Braves holding on deadline day, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman takes stock of the months to come. Second baseman Brandon Phillips, reliever Jim Johnson, and starter R.A. Dickey could all be possible August trade chips, he notes, while the inclination of the organization remains to consider deals involving first baseman Matt Adams over the offseason. Meanwhile, Atlanta continues its long-standing pursuit of controllable pitching, though that’ll surely await the end of the current season.

New Facebook Pages For Fans Of Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Braves, Cardinals

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For the past month, we have been attempting an experiment: five human-curated team Facebook pages.  Under the direction of JP Hadley, Jack Stockless, Stephanie Nevill, Chris Jervis, and Tanner Puckett, our Facebook pages for the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Braves, and Cardinals have become engaging, informative, fun, and up-to-date.  Instead of the previous automated posting of MLBTR content, these pages have team news of all kinds, polls, infographics, interesting links, discussion, and of course hot stove rumors.  These pages have everything a fan could want.  If you follow any of these five teams, please give our new Facebook pages a Like today!

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/31/17

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Here’s a wrap-up of some recent minor league moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post.

  • Right-hander Al Alburquerque cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent, the Kansas City Star’s Rustin Dodd tweets.  The Royals designated Alburquerque for assignment last week and requested release waivers on him two days ago; Alburquerque was previously DFA’ed earlier this season, though that time he accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A.  The righty signed a minors deal with Kansas City last winter and has a 3.60 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 over 10 innings out of the Royals bullpen.
  • Infielder Nick Franklin cleared waivers and was outrighted to the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, the team announced on Twitter.  Franklin was designated for assignment two days ago, and it was his third DFA of 2017 — he was designated by the Rays in April and then claimed by the Brewers, then designated by the Brewers and traded to the Angels in late June.  After posting above-average production in a part-time role with Tampa Bay last season, Franklin has been unable to get things going this year, with a combined .179/.269/.283 slash line over 119 PA with the Angels and Brewers.
  • The Diamondbacks released catcher Hank Conger, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  Conger signed a minor league deal with the Snakes last winter and has a .239/.316/.394 slash line over 206 PA at Triple-A Reno.
  • Also from Eddy, the Rockies released outfielder Domonic Brown.  Colorado signed Brown to a minors contract in the offseason.  Once considered one of baseball’s top prospects when coming up in the Phillies system, Brown was an All-Star in what looked like a breakout season in 2013, though badly struggled in his next two seasons and hasn’t since returned to the big leagues.  Brown did hit a decent .304/.327/.449 over 171 PA at the Triple-A level this season, though in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
  • Earlier this week, the Marlins announced that first baseman Chris Parmelee had been signed to a minor league deal.  Best known for his stint as a part-timer with the Twins from 2011-14, Parmelee appeared in just eight MLB games last season (with the Yankees) and has yet to reach the Show this season after being released from a minors contract with the A’s in June.
  • Catcher Eric Fryer elected to become a free agent last week, the Cardinals announced.  Fryer was designated for assignment on July 21 and had been outrighted to Triple-A before opting to hit the open market.  The light-hitting catcher has played in parts of seven seasons in the bigs, most recently serving as Yadier Molina’s backup in St. Louis.
  • The Rangers released veteran southpaw Wesley Wright earlier this month.  Wright posted a 4.16 ERA in 307 innings over eight big league seasons from 2008-15, though he hasn’t been back to the majors since, plus he’s struggled at the Triple-A level in the Texas and Boston organizations over the last two seasons.
  • Earlier this month, the Dodgers signed left-hander Tommy Layne to a minor league deal, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets.  Layne posted good numbers out of the Red Sox and Yankees bullpens in 2015-16, though his career-long struggles with control plagued him this year, as Layne posted a 7.62 ERA over 13 IP for New York, with eight walks against just nine strikeouts.

Midday Market Chatter: Nats, Dodgers, Lynn, Panik

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The Nationals have been linked to a variety of relievers even after adding two veterans earlier this month, and Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that the pursuit continues in earnest today. While it seems a variety of hurlers could be of interest, adding a pitcher capable of taking on closing duties remains a “priority,” per the report. Washington has been connected to Brandon Kintzler of the Twins today, along with a long list of other pitchers.

Here’s some more midday chatter as the non-waiver deadline looms:

  • Some Dodgers front office folks would like to see the club come away with a “wipeout left-handed reliever” today, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. That has been noted as a strong priority over recent weeks, of course, though the club has also been said to be eyeing top-tier starting pitching as well. At this point, it would seem, Zach Britton of the Orioles is the likeliest target among lefty pen pieces, though it’s still unclear whether he’ll end up being moved.
  • There’s industry chatter linking the Indians to Cardinals righty Lance Lynn, Olney tweets — a connection that was made a few days ago as well. And Cleveland also has some interest in discussing some of the excess young outfielders on the St. Louis roster, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch adds on Twitter. The Cards are said to be willing to listen on some such position players — in particular, Tommy Pham and Randal Grichuk. It’s not immediately clear, though, whether the sides are engaged in earnest today.
  • The Angels have been rumored to be looking at second basemen of late, and recently spoke with the Giants about Joe Panik, per Olney (via Twitter). But those talks evidently did not materialize into anything the sides found worthy of further pursuit, and there’s no indication that Panik is in play today.
  • Both the Cubs and Red Sox appear to have made their moves at this point, per reports from Olney (via Twitter) and Sean McAdam of the Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link). Chicago is, however, still keeping an eye out for controllable pitching depth, while Boston will also “monitor [the] market” up until the deadline.

Astros Interested In Lance Lynn

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The American League-leading Astros have shown interest in a bevy of starting pitchers leading up to Monday’s trade deadline, and the latest is Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn, tweets Jon Morosi of MLB Network. While the teams were recently embroiled in a hacking scandal that resulted in Major League Baseball forcing the Cardinals to send two draft picks and pay a $2MM fine to the Astros, the clubs are “comfortable” dealing with each other, per Morosi.

As Morosi points out (on Twitter), Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow is quite familiar with Lynn, having been in St. Louis’ front office when the team used a first-round pick on the hurler in the 2008 draft. Lynn has enjoyed a nice career with the Cardinals since debuting in 2011, but with his contract up at year’s end and the Redbirds sitting at 51-52 (3.5 games out of the National League Central lead and seven back of a wild-card spot), he could move in the next couple days.

With the exception of 2016, which he missed on account of Tommy John surgery, the 30-year-old Lynn has typically been good for 30-plus starts and at least 175 innings of strong work per season. That has been the case again this year in his return from the procedure, as Lynn has logged a 3.21 ERA, 7.98 K/9, 3.06 BB/9 and a 44 percent ground-ball rate across 120 2/3 frames (21 starts). Lynn has also registered an 11 percent infield fly rate, which ties him for 20th among starters, and posted a 9.1 percent swinging-strike mark that’s right in line with his career mark (9.2). Additionally, per Statcast (via Baseball Savant), Lynn’s terrific .305 expected weighted on-base average against is in line with his actual wOBA allowed (.298).

On the negative side, Lynn’s velocity hasn’t gotten back to its previous levels, and there’s some luckiness behind his stellar run prevention. FIP (4.83), xFIP (4.45) and SIERA (4.39) indicate there could be regression coming, and both Lynn’s .225 batting average on balls in play and 82.3 percent strand rate look likely to trend in the wrong direction as the season progresses.

Regardless of any red flags, Lynn’s track record and results this year have put him on several teams’ radars as Monday approaches. If the Astros win the derby for the $7.5MM man, he’d presumably join Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton to comprise their top four starters, though Brad Peacock and Mike Fiers have pitched so well out of their rotation over the past couple months that it would be unwise to discount them.

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