East Notes: Braves, Walker, Bird, Holliday, Headley, Jays
As the Braves continue to hover around .500, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks at their approach to the coming trade deadline. Atlanta has played well of late and is now welcoming back slugger Freddie Freeman, which perhaps gives some cause for optimism. While a postseason berth still seems a tall task, the club may well choose to avoid a sell-off after entering the year with the stated aim of being more competitive. O’Brien explores some ways in which the team might deal a few veterans while still sustaining (or even improving) the quality of the current roster — in particular, by looking into trades for controllable starting pitching.
Here’s more from the eastern divisions:
- The Mets are seeing some progress from second baseman Neil Walker. Per James Wagner of the New York Times, via Twitter, Walker is taking balls at second base today as he begins to work back from a significant hamstring injury. It still seems unlikely he’ll be ready to return before the trade deadline, though his large salary makes him quite a plausible August trade piece as well.
- It seems there’s still quite a bit of uncertainty surrounding Yankees first baseman Greg Bird. As Bryan Hoch of MLB.com writes, GM Brian Cashman says that Bird’s longstanding ankle issue could end up requiring exploratory surgery. That possibility is just that at present, however, as Bird himself suggests that he’s in no rush to go under the knife. Cashman noted that the organization is doing everything it can to determine the cause of the ongoing pain Bird is experiencing. Given his questionable status, among other factors, the team seems to have a rather obvious deadline needs at first base.
- Veteran Matt Holliday could conceivably contribute at first base, at least on a part-time basis, but he too is on the DL. There’s good news on that front, as Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network reports on Twitter. Holliday tells her that he finally received a diagnosis for his illness — it’s viral in nature — and is now feeling better.
- Whatever happens at first, the Yankees do not seem presently inclined to make drastic changes across the diamond, as MLB.com’s Matthew Martell writes. “Who do you want me to play there?” Cashman said when pressed about the status of third baseman Chase Headley. “Headley’s our third baseman. Sorry you don’t like it.” There’s probably still room for the team to consider alternatives in the trade market, of course, though a significant upgrade may be tough to find. Headley owns a serviceable .255/.347/.373 batting line, right in line with his work since landing in New York, and has generally rated as a steady enough defender. He’s also owed $13MM this year and next.
- While Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said yesterday that he still wants to improve the team’s roster in the near-term, Jon Morosi of MLB.com writes that “multiple executives around the Major Leagues” think the Jays will end up selling. A few deals involving pending free agents wouldn’t be a surprise, of course, but Morosi suggests there’s potential for more significant pieces changing hands — though it’s not clear from the report whether any sources from within the Toronto organization view that as a real possibility. The Cardinals have internal interest in star Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, per the report, though that hasn’t resulted in any trade talks to this point. Surely, plenty of other teams feel the same way about Donaldson and other core Jays performers. If Shapiro is to be taken at this word, a true rebuild isn’t really under consideration, though perhaps some lateral moves for younger or more controllable players could still be entertained.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/4/17
Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Nationals signed infielder Ryan Jackson to a minor league contract. Jackson appeared in 42 Major League games with the Cardinals and Angels between 2012-15 and has since bounced around with a few different organizations. This is Jackson’s third minors deal of 2017 alone, as he previously inked deals with the Marlins and Mariners (plus a stint with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters). Jackson is a career .269/.344/.354 hitter over 3336 minor league plate appearances, and he’ll provide more minor league infield depth for Washington in the wake of Trea Turner‘s injury.
- The Cardinals recalled right-hander Luke Weaver from Triple-A yesterday, and Weaver made his season debut for St. Louis with a scoreless inning in last night’s victory over the Marlins. Weaver, ranked by Baseball America as the second-best prospect in the Cards’ system and as the 50th-best prospect in the game, made his big league debut in 2016, posting a 5.70 ERA over 36 1/3 IP. Weaver owns a 1.93 ERA and sterling peripherals over 56 Triple-A innings this season as a starter, though Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch and other media that Weaver will be used in a variety of bullpen roles with the major league club.
- The Rays outrighted Danny Farquhar to Triple-A, less than a week after designating the right-hander for assignment. Farquhar has a 4.11 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 1.5 K/BB rate over 35 relief innings for Tampa Bay this year, numbers that could’ve made him a candidate to be claimed off waivers during his DFA period, though he’ll remain in the Rays organization.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/2/17
Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The Braves have released outfielder Sanders Commings, tweets Robert Murray of FanRag. Commings joined the Braves for a $100K bonus in February, which came after a short career in the NFL as a defensive back with the Kansas City Chiefs. A fifth-round pick out of Georgia in 2013, Commings saw action in two games that year. Those proved to be Commings’ only NFL appearances, as he broke his ankle during training camp in 2014 and was waived with an injury settlement a year later. Commings played high school baseball before turning to football, and he was so promising that the Diamondbacks drafted him in 2008 (in the 37th round). In his return to baseball this year, Commings, 27, has played at the rookie level and hit .154/.267/.231 in a meager sample size (15 PA).
- The Reds purchased the contract of right-hander Asher Wojciechowski, as per a team announcement. In corresponding moves, Brandon Finnegan was moved to the 60-day DL and righty Jackson Stephens was optioned to Triple-A. This is Wojciechowski’s second stint with the big league team this season, having been DFA’ed and outrighted off Cincinnati’s roster last month. Wojciechowski posted a 6.75 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 4.5 K/BB rate over 21 1/3 IP, and he allowed six homers over that brief stay in the majors.
- The Cardinals acquired outfielder Lane Thomas from the Blue Jays in exchange for international bonus pool money, as announced by the Cards’ Twitter feed. Thomas, 21, was a fifth-round pick for Toronto in 2014 who has a .242/.321/.379 slash line over 1109 career PA, none above the high-A level. The Jays entered the July 2 int’l signing period with $4.75MM bonus pool and they have already reportedly spent $2.15MM of that total on two notable prospects.
Red Sox Acquire International Bonus Money In Trades With Reds, Cardinals
5:48pm: The Reds sent $2.75MM in spending room to the Red Sox, tweets Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
10:33am: The Red Sox have acquired international bonus pool space from the Reds in exchange for minor league first baseman Nick Longhi, as per a Sox press release. In a separate deal, Boston also acquired more pool space from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league infielders Imeldo Diaz and Stanley Espinal. Specific financial terms weren’t announced for either trade.
The Sox made a big splash as the 2017-18 international signing period opened this morning, agreeing to deals with highly-touted prospects Daniel Flores, Danny Diaz and Antoni Flores for a combined $6.1MM in bonuses. Since the Red Sox had only $4.75MM available to spend in their draft pool, some trading was necessary to bring in the extra funds for these youngsters, as well as any other less-splashy international signings the Sox may make. Teams are allowed to acquire as much as 75 percent of their original draft pool, which works out to $3,562,500 in Boston’s case.
Longhi was rated as Boston’s 14th-best minor leaguer by the 2017 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, which described Longhi as “one of the best pure hitters in the Red Sox system” despite a lack of power. Longhi has six of his 16 career homers as a professional this season at Double-A, with a .262/.306/.401 overall batting line in 252 PA. The 21-year-old was originally a 30th-round pick for the Sox in the 2013 amateur draft.
Both Espinal and Diaz have appeared in just seven games each this season, all for Boston’s low A-ball affiliate in Lowell. Espinal, a 20-year-old third baseman out of the Dominican Republic, has a .682 OPS over 577 pro plate appearances. The 19-year-old Diaz also hasn’t shown much at the plate in his brief career, hitting .222/.279/.258 over 522 PA.
The Cardinals had $5.75MM and the Reds $5.25MM in available pool money for this July 2 class, though both teams are under the $300K limit since both exceeded their bonus pools in the 2016-17 signing period. It stands to reason that St. Louis and Cincinnati felt comfortable dealing their pool money since they didn’t plan on using all of it given their limited signing capabilities. It wouldn’t be a surprise if other teams facing the $300K penalty (the Astros, A’s, Cubs, Padres, Royals, Braves, Giants, Dodgers and Nationals) also deal some from their bonus pool funds in the coming weeks and months.
NL Notes: Phillies, Mets, Cards, Dodgers
While the Phillies will shop players with expiring contracts leading up to the trade deadline, team president Andy MacPhail also suggested Friday that general manager Matt Klentak would at least listen to offers for all of their big leaguers, writes Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “He needs to keep a wide spectrum, wide horizon, and any opportunity that makes sense for us going forward, he should explore,” MacPhail said of Klentak. The Phillies own the majors’ worst record (26-52), but they’re not devoid of intriguing, controllable players who might pique teams’ interest in the next month. Outfielders Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera stand out in their group of position players, while Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez and Hector Neris are among their cheap pitchers who could be on clubs’ radars.
More from the National League:
- Mets third baseman David Wright is at least three to five weeks away from beginning baseball activities, GM Sandy Alderson told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and other reporters Friday. A setback would likely end the 34-year-old Wright’s chances of playing this season, observes DiComo, which is the latest discouraging update regarding the longtime franchise cornerstone. Wright, who’s dealing with neck, shoulder and back issues, has appeared in just 75 games dating back to 2015 and hasn’t played since May of last year.
- Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter hasn’t seen any action at second base this year, but he did get some work at his former position before the Redbirds’ game on Friday, relays Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Langosch adds that moving Carpenter back to the keystone, at least temporarily, could lead to more opportunities for first baseman Luke Voit (via Twitter). Notably, St. Louis didn’t try this season earlier in the season when it couldn’t find at-bats for first baseman Matt Adams, whom it traded to the Braves in May for an insignificant return. Adams has since been one of the majors’ hottest hitters. In fairness to the Cardinals, though, second baseman Kolten Wong wasn’t on the disabled list at that point. Wong landed on the DL with an elbow strain the week after the Adams trade and won’t return until mid-July.
- A first baseman throughout his professional career, the Dodgers are considering turning Ike Davis into a pitcher, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Pitching isn’t foreign to the 30-year-old Davis, who was an accomplished hurler in high school and went on to strike out 78 hitters in as many innings at Arizona State. Now struggling offensively at Triple-A this season (.206/.257/.381 in 70 plate appearances), Davis threw a bullpen session Friday, tweets Oklahoma City broadcaster Alex Freedman. Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler then commented, “We all know he’s an athlete, and we believe he might be able to provide value in many different areas.” Davis is best known for his 32-home run season with the Mets in 2012, though he hasn’t made much of an offensive impact in the majors or minors since then. Davis isn’t the first Triple-A position player the Dodgers have experimented with on the mound this year, as they’ve also tried outfielder Brett Eibner in that role. Unfortunately, though, the club had to shut down Eibner on account of a sore arm, according to Gurnick.
Deadline Notes: Turner, Phelps, Cards, Brewers, Phils
The Nationals don’t expect to go without shortstop Trea Turner for more than two months, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports on Twitter. As such, the report suggests, Washington doesn’t currently intend to pursue a replacement at the position. The Nats do have internal options, of course, in veteran Stephen Drew and youngster Wilmer Difo, who could make for a functional platoon pairing. And the team is still holding a sizable lead in the division, although there’s still time for that to change. Regardless of whether any other position players are ultimately pursued, the biggest need in D.C. remains in the bullpen.
- Elsewhere in the division, the Marlins are lining up to sell barring a sudden turnaround, with their relief corps looking to be an area of focus for rival organizations. Indeed, the Fish have already been contacted by half the teams in baseball about righty David Phelps, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. That may be due to the fact that the team just pushed to move the salary of shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, perhaps leading other organizations to smell some blood in the water. Surely, though, Miami will wait to allow interest to build to maximize the return on Phelps, who has continued to pitch well after a breakout 2016 season.
- Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. discussed his organization’s approach with the trade deadline coming, as Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. DeWitt said he “never” believes it’s advisable to “go all in for a season and sacrifice the future.” Obviously, that applies now as the Cards find themselves in a somewhat strange position — not playing terribly well and way out of the Wild Card race, but still within range of the division lead. He did say its possible the team could “try to do something with a short-term asset to get a long-term asset” — if, that is, the Cardinals end up being “totally out of the race.” As newly minted president of baseball operations John Mozeliak noted, even if the Cardinals are in the thick of things, it’s not clear to what extent they’ll be buyers. “When I look at the future we have to embrace our farm system,” he said. “For us unless there was this one thing that we felt could change the outcome of our season, then I might look at it a little differently. But we haven’t been able to identify what that one thing might be.”
- Brewers owner Mark Attanasio also commented on his team’s state of affairs, and Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the story. While Milwaukee has surprisingly managed to stay out in front in the NL Central, Attanasio says he has expressed to GM David Stearns and skipper Craig Counsell that “there would be no pressure from me to divert from the plan.” (That, of course, is a reference to the organization’s long-term vision to build a sustainable winner.) Attanasio suggested that Stearns’s sober decisionmaking process has bought him significant operation leeway, though surely that same fact will lead to a calculated approach to the deadline. Still, the owner acknowledged that he’s excited to see his team in first: “I’ll admit my expectations are higher. How could they not be?”
- In a lengthy chat with the media that’s well worth a full read, Phillies president Andy MacPhail addressed the frustrating first half of the year for his organization. (Via CSNPhilly.com.) Generally, he expressed an inclination to continue staying the course, noting that the team is focused on evaluating its internal options and has maintained a mostly open balance sheet for future campaigns. As regards the coming deadline, MacPhail suggested that righty Pat Neshek and outfielder/infielder Howie Kendrick ought to draw significant interest, saying that it will be GM Matt Klentak’s “job” to “find a motivated buyer” for Neshek, in particular. He also said the organization does not see any untouchable players in its system. Klentak’s boss said that the GM “needs to keep a wide spectrum, wide horizon and any opportunity that makes sense for us going forward, he should explore.”
Cardinals To Promote John Mozeliak, Mike Girsch
2:02pm: Both executives are now under contract through 2020, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets.
12:24pm: The Cardinals are set to promote John Mozeliak from general manager to president of baseball operations, while assistant GM Mike Girsch will be promoted to the post of general manager, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Cardinals have called a 2:00pm press conference to announce the move.
Mozeliak will still, of course, oversee the team’s baseball operations decisions and will remain heavily involved in all facets of the department, Goold notes, though he’ll now have a title that is perhaps more commensurate with his considerable experience. Mozeliak has been the general manager of the Cardinals for nearly a decade, and in making this move, the Cardinals will adopt what has become an increasingly popular front office structure throughout the game. Among the teams that utilize the president of baseball ops/GM hierarchy are the Dodgers (Andrew Friedman/Farhan Zaidi), Cubs (Theo Epstein/Jed Hoyer), Athletics (Billy Beane/David Forst), Rays (Matt Silverman/Erik Neander) and Indians (Chris Antonetti/Mike Chernoff).
It’s not immediately clear if Mozeliak will receive an extension with the new title, though Goold notes that chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. has recently suggested that extension negotiations and talk of a new title for Mozeliak have been ongoing. His current deal runs through the 2018 season, though it certainly stands to reason that with the elevation in title will come a lengthier deal.
The 2017 season, of course, hasn’t been a strong one for the Cardinals, although the organization has generally prospered under Mozeliak. Since he took the job following the 2007 season, the Cards have made six postseason appearances, including a World Series victory in 2011 and a second World Series appearance two years later in 2013. Mozeliak, of course, also had a role in the Cardinals’ 2006 World Series championship, as he previously spent five years as an assistant GM to Walt Jocketty and has been involved in the organization’s scouting department dating all the way back to 1995.
Girsch, meanwhile, has held his AGM post since 2011 and has been with the organization since serving as an amateur scouting coordinator back in 2006. He’s spent six years directly assisting Mozeliak in nearly all facets of the game, including: contract negotiation, player evaluation, amateur scouting, player development and international operations.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Central Notes: Jorge, Diaz, Montero, Petricka
With the Twins set to play 20 games in a 19-day span heading into the All-Star break, including four games against the Royals this weekend, they’ll dip into the minors and call on prospect Felix Jorge to make his MLB debut tomorrow, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 23-year-old Jorge currently sits eighth among Minnesota farmhands, per Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, and also ranked eighth among Twins prospects entering the season, per Baseball America. The right-hander doesn’t overpower opponents but has walked just 1.7 hitters per nine innings dating back to 2015. He currently has a 3.26 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 50.4 percent ground-ball rate through 85 2/3 Double-A frames. Both scouting reports peg Jorge as a fourth or fifth starter, noting that he’s added some bulk to his slender frame and sits in the low 90s with a bit of sink on his heater while also offering an above-average changeup. Jorge is already on the 40-man roster, so there won’t be a DFA or 60-day DL move required to add him.
More on the game’s Central divisions…
- Aledmys Diaz was caught off-guard by the Cardinals‘ decision to option him to Triple-A, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. However, the 26-year-old offered a professional attitude to the media following the move’s announcement, telling reporters that he’s happy to do whatever is best for the Cardinals in the long run. General manager John Mozeliak also weighed in on what he labeled a difficult decision, telling the media: “What we really want to see is that he’s able to take a deep breath and go down and work on some things offensively, as well as his whole game. … (Diaz) hasn’t been picking the ball up (at the plate) and he’s been chasing a lot of balls outside the zone.” Mozeliak also noted that injured second baseman Kolten Wong won’t be back with the team until after the All-Star break.
- Cubs manager Joe Maddon spoke candidly about the organization’s decision to designate Miguel Montero for assignment following the catcher’s blasting of Jake Arrieta and the Cubs’ pitching staff, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune writes. “(There are) too many young guys in (the clubhouse) who are impressionable,” said Maddon. “…With this young impressionable group, to me, and a really good group that’s going to be together for a long time, you don’t want to foster, nurture, condone (Montero’s) kind of message.” President of baseball operations Theo Epstein was alerted to Montero’s comments by GM Jed Hoyer on Tuesday night this week, per Gonzales, and the two reached the decision to move on from Montero after speaking with Maddon late that night. Epstein stresses that Montero shouldn’t be viewed as any kind of scapegoat for the team’s overall struggles, though he said they felt Montero was “not being a good teammate” and demonstrated a lack of accountability in such a public manner that they were forced to act.
- The White Sox announced yesterday that righty Jake Petricka has been placed back on the disabled list due to a right elbow strain. Fellow righty Juan Minaya was summoned back from Triple-A just a day after being sent there. The elbow issue is the latest in a slew of injuries for Petricka, who has missed time due to a forearm strain, hip surgery and a lat strain in recent years. The 29-year-old’s hard sinker has led to a sizable 63 percent ground-ball rate, though Petricka has averaged just 6.5 K/9 against 4.0 BB/9 as a big leaguer. Nonetheless, that huge ground-ball rate has helped him post a 3.70 ERA through 163 innings in the Majors. No timetable was given for a return to the mound.
Cardinals Option Aledmys Diaz
The Cardinals announced that they’ve optioned shortstop Aledmys Diaz to Triple-A Memphis and selected the contract of infielder Alex Mejia in a corresponding roster move. (Jen Langosch of MLB.com first reported the news, on Twitter). The move to option Diaz, who sandwiched a productive month of May between an ugly June and an uglier April, comes just about a month after St. Louis also optioned the struggling Randal Grichuk.
St. Louis has also released veteran infielder Jhonny Peralta over the past month, a move that was accompanied by a “no one is safe” message from general manager John Mozeliak, whose front office is clearly tired of the team’s lackluster play as of late. Diaz is hitting .260/.293/.396 on the season as a whole, but he’s collected just six hits in his past 30 plate appearances and hasn’t graded out well at shortstop, from a defensive standpoint (-9 Defensive Runs Saved, 0 Ultimate Zone Rating). More troubling, perhaps, is the fact that Diaz’s walk rate has been cut in half, while his chase rate on pitches outside the zone has soared by 10 percent (from 28.2 percent in ’16 to 38.6 percent in ’17).
The 26-year-old Diaz was a surprise breakout star last season — just months after being designated for assignment and being passed over by every other team in the league when he was on waivers. Injuries created an opportunity for Diaz last year, and he responded with a .300/.369/.510 batting line with 17 homers. The optional assignment for Grichuk earlier this year was similar to a surprising option of Kolten Wong a year prior in that both were relatively brief in nature.
Mejia, also 26, is a former fourth-round pick of the Cardinals (2012) that hasn’t hit much in the minors, but Baseball America rated him as the best defensive shortstop in the Double-A Texas League back in 2014. He’s batting .253/.309/.355 with three homers, 18 doubles and a steal through 293 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A this year.
Marlins Close To Trading Adeiny Hechavarria
2:19pm: Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that the two sides are reviewing medicals of the players that will be involved. Topkin hears that outfielder Braxton Lee and right-hander Ethan Clark are among the names being discussed.
11:45am: Crasnick reports that if the Rays are to take on all of Hechavarria’s salary, they’d like the Marlins to include a cheaper, controllable power arm to help facilitate the deal (Twitter links). Crasnick notes that Barraclough would fit that bill, though he adds that it’s not clear if the Rays have actually singled Barraclough out as a target.
Meanwhile, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the Rays and Marlins are optimistic that they can reach an agreement to send Hechavarria to Tampa Bay in exchange for “fringe prospects” at some point today.
JUNE 26, 8:40am: The Marlins are close to a trade of Hechavarria, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Like Frisaro, Morosi hears that the Rays are the likeliest landing spot for Hechavarria.
10:42pm: The Rays seem to be the “frontrunners” in talks, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets. Miami is looking for young pitching in return for Hechavarria.
JUNE 25, 10:20pm: The Padres have joined the Rays in the Hechavarria sweepstakes, Clark Spencer reports (via Twitter). The Cardinals are no longer involved in talks.
JUNE 24, 12:07pm: The Orioles are no longer involved, per Spencer (Twitter link). But he hears that the Cards (as well as the Rays) are still in talks for Hechavarria.
8:26am: There’s at least one mystery team involved, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter).
JUNE 23: The Marlins have informed other clubs that they expect to trade Hechavarria within the next 24 to 48 hours, Spencer reports (on Twitter). It seems the push from the Marlins’ side is driven by an ownership effort to save salary rather than a baseball ops assessment, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick notes on Twitter.
It appears that the Rays appear to have “created some traction” in structuring a deal, sources suggest to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Twitter link). Meanwhile, the Cardinals don’t seem to be pursuing Hechavarria at this point, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. St. Louis had at least spoken to the Marlins about Hechavarria, tweets Spencer.