West Notes: Angels, Valencia, Padres, Jones
The Angels have removed amateur scouting director Ric Wilson from his post, ESPN.com’s Keith Law tweets, though he may stay with the organization in another role. GM Billy Eppler tells Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times that the team hopes Wilson will stick around. He has been with the organization for quite some time, assuming his most recent position in 2011. Though the draft results since that time haven’t been terribly well-regarded, as DiGiovanna notes, the Halos have generally not provided him with advantageous draft positions from which to work and have traded away several of the more promising prospects brought in under Wilson.
Here’s more from out west to round out the evening:
- Even with Josh Reddick out of the picture, the Athletics continue to use Danny Valencia somewhat sporadically, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Manager Bob Melvin says the reason is that the organization needs to look to “see what our future is.” While Valencia isn’t a long-term piece, he is controllable for another season and has been highly productive at the plate. It was somewhat surprising he wasn’t dealt at the deadline, but he could be moved in August or over the winter as well.
- Though he has received quite a lot of criticism (and before that, praise) since taking over as the Padres‘ general manager, A.J. Preller has overseen a swift rebuilding of the team’s farm of late, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes. The work has been accomplished through a variety of methods, as Cassavell explains in a long look at the club’s action since the start of 2016. Preller says that the initial investment in veteran assets when he took the helm occurred due to an “opportunity in the short term to try to take a chance to put a competitive team on the field.” But there was also a back-up plan, he suggests: “There was also understanding at the time that we were going to acquire assets that potentially could be valuable to other teams. … As a baseball group, you’re always talking about: ‘Here’s the best possible scenario, but also here’s other scenarios.'”
- The Rangers have moved James Jones from the outfield to the mound, as Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. A hurler in college, the 27-year-old (who is a southpaw) has reached the majors as a position player and has had success at the plate in the upper minors. He struggled to a .232/.297/.330 batting line this year at Triple-A after being acquired (and then outrighted and re-signed) over the winter by Texas.
Rays Claim Bobby Wilson, Option Curt Casali
The Rays announced today that they’ve claimed catcher Bobby Wilson off waivers from the Rangers following his DFA on Monday and, in a corresponding move, optioned fellow backstop Curt Casali to Triple-A Durham. Wilson was designated for assignment following Texas’ acquisition of Jonathan Lucroy from the Brewers.
Wilson, 33, got off to a hot start for the Rangers this season but has cooled considerably, leaving him with an overall slash line of .241/.270/.333 through 156 trips to the plate. As a career .212/.268/.309 hitter, Wilson’s overall production in 2016 is a bit of a step up from his career marks, though it still checks in below that of a league-average catcher. He’s struggled a bit to control the running game, catching just 18 percent of opponents that attempted to steal this season. He has, however, been an above-average pitch framer for quite some time in the estimation of Baseball Prospectus.
Casali, 27, has displayed some pop this season with seven homers and seven doubles in 207 plate appearances, but he’s hitting just .169/.255/.322 on the whole and has punched out in exactly one third of his plate appearances this season.
AL Notes: Twins, Hill, Indians, Norris, Rangers
While details are non-existent, Twins general manager Rob Antony dropped an intriguing note to reporters including Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (Twitter link). Minnesota nearly swung a three-team trade before the deadline, the newly-minted interim GM said. That’s certainly fun to ponder, though it’s awfully difficult to assess what kind of scenario might have materialized with so many moving parts. (Don’t let that stop you from trying in the comments!)
Here’s more from the American League:
- Before he was traded by the Athletics to the Dodgers, southpaw Rich Hill was seeking around $28MM over two years in the extension talks between the sides, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. That’s certainly an interesting number to ponder: it’s shockingly high for a player of Hill’s background, but is rather cheap compared with the cost of top-end starting pitching on the open market, particularly given the dearth of arms coming this winter. Despite the risk, Hill has pitched at an extremely high level when healthy, and the guess here is that plenty of teams would be happy to take that chance for less than the expected annual rate of a qualifying offer (which is expected to be $16.7MM). Last fall, Marco Estrada commanded $26MM over two years in a deal struck while he pondered a QO, providing something of a comparable, though Hill is older and probably should come with wider band of reasonable performance expectations. Regardless whether that was a reasonable request for a raise over Hill’s current $6MM salary — which he landed despite only a four-start audition late last year — it provides some insight into the thinking of an interesting pending free agent. (Notably, the trade also means that Hill won’t be eligible to receive a qualifying offer.)
- The Indians considered a move for Padres catcher Derek Norris after their agreement to add Jonathan Lucroy was vetoed by the veteran backstop, according to Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer. Talks didn’t go very far, though, as Cleveland wasn’t enticed by a reportedly high asking price. The Indians also looked at Steve Pearce, but the team’s scouts weren’t enthused by his defensive profile at third.
- The Rangers‘ efforts to strike a deal for a new ballpark are still moving along, as Robert Cadwallader of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The Arlington City Council voted unanimously to push ahead with a November ballot item seeking approval for the funding package, which has received plenty of criticism given its taxpayer-backed terms and the fact that the Rangers seemingly play in a rather acclaimed, quite youthful ballpark at present. Another vote is needed to send the matter to the voters.
AL West Notes: McCullers, Street, Rangers
Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr. left his start last night with right elbow discomfort, the team announced. He’ll be looked at more closely today, but that’s certainly not the news the club was hoping for right after the non-waiver trade deadline. Houston had been rumored to be pursuing starters but instead parted with one depth option by trading veteran right-hander Scott Feldman to the Blue Jays. Shoulder problems delayed his start to the year, but McCullers has been quite effective when healthy, working to a 3.22 ERA with 11.8 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 over 81 frames out of the Houston rotation this year. Rookie right-hander Joe Musgrove finished off the game in dominant fashion, tossing 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball and fanning eight in the process. He could step into McCullers’ rotation spot if a need arises.
Elsewhere in the AL West…
- The Angels announced that Huston Street is headed to the disabled list due to knee inflammation. The 33-year-old has had an awful season this year, pitching to a 6.45 ERA with just 14 strikeouts against 12 walks in 22 1/3 innings at the back of the Halos’ bullpen. Those results aren’t ideal for any pitcher, let alone a closer that is in the first season of a two-year, $18MM contract extension. This is the second DL stint of the year for Street, who also missed time in May with an oblique issue. Righty Cam Bedrosian looks to be next in line, which isn’t much of a surprise considering the second-generation pitcher’s impressive breakout campaign. The 24-year-old has been a bright spot in a disappointing year for the Angels, using a fastball that has averaged 95.3 mph to help him generate 11.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent ground-ball rate en route to a pristine 0.90 ERA.
- Rangers general manager Jon Daniels spent weeks speaking to the Rays about their starters, tried to pry Chris Sale or Jose Quintana away from the White Sox and explored rental pitchers on the final day of the deadline, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. However, Daniels found the asking prices in each case to be too prohibitive and ultimately decided he was better off strengthening his lineup and bullpen than overspending on a rotation arm. Daniels, though, tells Rosenthal that he doesn’t blame selling clubs for placing extreme prices on their pitchers. “I don’t think they were being difficult,” said the GM. “I thought they had great pitchers in a market in which no pitching was available. They were understandably asking for a lot, especially for guys with 3, 4, and 5 years of control. They may get as much in a year or two as they would have gotten today.” Daniels admitted that he’s still a bit concerned with his rotation, though the waiver trade market should afford him opportunities to bolster his starting mix if he desires.
Deadline Notes: Yankees, Sanchez, Peavy, Moore, Rangers, Liriano
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner had a long and interesting chat the Michael Kay Show (audio link) in which he discussed his organization’s rare sale-side moves at the deadline. Carrying three ace closers, he said, was an “incredible luxury, but not a necessity,” which seemingly helped to ease his mind in parting with Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. He further explained that the organization didn’t simply decide at some point that it would undergo a sale, but instead considered each individual move on its own merit as opportunities arose. Generally, he emphasized that he looked closely at every player in every deal and suggested that the group of trades has helped position the organization for the near-future and beyond. There’s plenty more in the interview, which is well worth a full listen.
Here are few more notes coming off of the trade deadline …
- As has been expected, the Yankees will call up catcher Gary Sanchez once again, per Shane Hennigan of the Scranton Times-Tribune (via Twitter). It’s not yet clear whether he’ll just provide a temporary DH option — as he did earlier in the season — or stick for good, but Steinbrenner did note that the organization believes he’s ready for extended big league time. The owner emphasized that fans can expect to see several fresh faces down the stretch as the Yankees look to see what they have in the upper-level prospects they have been developing — not to mention those just added over the last several days.
- The Giants have moved veteran righty Jake Peavy to the bullpen to accommodate the acquisition of Matt Moore, as Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News reports. Though Peavy has worked almost exclusively in the rotation over his long career, he seemingly took the news quite well. San Francisco has liked what it has seen of late from Matt Cain, who was the other candidate to move to a relief role, and thinks that Peavy will be better able to handle the transition, skipper Bruce Bochy explained.
- Speaking of Moore, the Rangers turned their attention elsewhere given the Rays‘ asking price on the lefty, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Texas would have needed to send not only Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz — each of whom were packaged to acquire Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress — but also Jurickson Profar, per the report.
- Part of the calculus for the Blue Jays‘ acquisition of Francisco Liriano was the opportunity for him to work again with backstop Russell Martin, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca explains. Both GM Ross Atkins and manager John Gibbons noted the importance of that connection, and Martin offered glowing reports of Liriano’s stuff. As Atkins put it: “The experience of Russ and the familiarity, if we come up with a plan we should expect some correction. This is not on Russ Martin by any means, but we did see that as an added benefit.”
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/1/16
We’ve had a number of big moves as we approached the trade deadline today, but here are a few smaller ones.
- The Blue Jays have designated righty Ben Rowen to clear space on their roster for the newly acquired Mike Bolsinger, Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star tweets. The 27-year-old Rowen has pitched well this season in the bullpen at Triple-A Buffalo, posting a 2.47 ERA, 6.3 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 47 1/3 innings, and he’s continued his trend of getting tons of ground-ball outs in the minors, with a ratio of 3.25 outs on the ground for every one in the air.
- In an intriguing minor deal, the Dodgers have announced that they’ve acquired righty Josh Fields from the Astros for first baseman Yordan Alvarez. The 30-year-old Fields thrived in the Astros’ bullpen last season, with a 3.55 ERA, 3.4 BB/9 and an exceptional 11.9 K/9, but failed to get good results despite maintaining strong peripherals this season and has spent much of the year with Triple-A Fresno. The Dodgers signed the 19-year-old Alvarez for $2MM earlier this season. He played in Cuba’s Serie Nacional in 2013 and 2014 and has not yet appeared in a minor league game.
- In the wake of their trade for Jonathan Lucroy, the Rangers have announced that they’ve designated fellow catchers Bryan Holaday and Bobby Wilson for assignment. Both have played sparingly for Texas this year. Holaday, acquired in late March after many years in the Tigers organization, batted .238/.290/.405 in 94 plate appearances with the Rangers. Wilson, an eight-year MLB veteran, hit .250/.277/.352.
- The Mariners have announced that they’ve claimed infielder Mike Freeman off waivers from the Diamondbacks. To clear space on their 40-man roster, they’ve designated infielder Patrick Kivlehan for assignment. Freeman, soon to be 29, briefly played in the Majors this season but has spent most of the year with Triple-A Reno, where he’s batted .317/.387/.411 while playing second, first and all three outfield positions. The 26-year-old Kivlehan has hit a disappointing .242/.291/.399 with Seattle and Texas’ Triple-A affiliates.
- The Cubs have announced that they designated lefty Brian Matusz for assignment. The move clears space on their active roster for righty Spencer Patton, who was promoted from Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs signed Matusz to a minor league deal in June after he was traded from the Orioles to the Braves and then designated for assignment. He had previously been a longtime and productive member of the Baltimore bullpen, but he’s struggled in nine big-league innings this season, allowing 14 runs.
Rangers Acquire Jonathan Lucroy, Jeremy Jeffress
The first-place Rangers are all-in, acquiring All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy and reliever Jeremy Jeffress from the Brewers for outfielder Lewis Brinson, pitcher Luis Ortiz, and a player to be named later. Rangers slugger Joey Gallo had previously appeared to be part of the deal, but it turns out he was not included.
[Related: Updated Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers Depth Charts]
Lucroy, 30, provides the Rangers with a massive upgrade behind the plate over incumbents Robinson Chirinos and Bobby Wilson. Drafted out of the University of Louisiana in the third round in 2007, Lucroy spent his entire seven-year career with the Brewers. He made the All-Star team in 2014 and again this year, with a .299/.359/.482 line in 376 plate appearances in 2016. By measure of wins above replacement, the Rangers are getting the third-best catcher in baseball. After the 2011 season, when Lucroy had less than two years of Major League service, the Brewers signed him to a five-year, $11MM contract extension with a $5.25MM club option for 2017. That contract has turned out to be an incredible bargain for the Brewers. The Indians reached an agreement to acquire Lucroy on Saturday, but the catcher exercised his no-trade clause after Cleveland was reportedly unwilling to eliminate his bargain-priced club option. After that trade fell through, the Mets also made a play for Lucroy. The Rangers ultimately won the bidding, and have added both Lucroy and Carlos Beltran to their offense today.
The Rangers also acquired Jeffress, a 28-year-old right-handed reliever with 27 saves on the season. Jeffress was drafted by the Brewers in the first round in 2006 and went to the Royals in the December 2010 Zack Greinke blockbuster. After struggling with that organization, the Blue Jays acquired Jeffress for cash considerations in November 2012. By April of 2013, he was removed from the Jays’ 40-man roster. After another stint on and off the Jays’ roster, Jeffress became a free agent and signed a minor league deal with the Brewers in April 2014. He joined the big league team in July of that year, and that’s when his career began to blossom. Armed with a fastball that averages over 95 miles per hour, Jeffress ascended to the Brewers’ closer job this year and has posted a 2.22 ERA in 44 2/3 innings. He’s controllable through 2019 for the Rangers. While the Rangers’ bullpen has struggled overall this year, Jeffress, Sam Dyson, Tony Barnette, Jake Diekman, and Matt Bush are a formidable unit.
In Brinson, the Brewers added a 22-year-old minor league outfielder universally regarded among the top 30 prospects in the game. He’s hitting just .237/.280/.431 at Double-A this year, battling a shoulder strain. Still, according to ESPN’s Keith Law, “Brinson is an elite defensive center fielder who doesn’t have to hit much to have value in the majors and who has All-Star potential if he hits enough to get to his plus-plus power.” The Rangers also added Ortiz, generally regarded as a top 60 prospect. The 20-year-old righty currently has a 4.08 ERA in Double-A, and Law says he “shows an above-average fastball, plus changeup, and above-average control already.”
Brewers GM David Stearns has had an active trading season as he looks to rebuild his team. Stearns has shipped out Aaron Hill, Will Smith, Lucroy, and Jeffress since the beginning of July.
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, T.R. Sullivan and Jon Morosi of MLB.com, and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News broke the story. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mets Out On Lucroy; Rangers Still In Pursuit
Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy scuttled a trade to the Indians yesterday, but he’s still in play in advance of today’s trade deadline. Milwaukee has their Triple-A catcher Manny Pina up with the big league team in San Diego to prepare for a Lucroy trade, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Haudricourt further notes that Lucroy remained in Milwaukee last night, and will fly to San Diego in time for tonight’s game in the event he’s not traded. The latest:
- The Rangers are deep in talks on Lucroy, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Gallo would indeed be the centerpiece, he adds.
- The Mets are now out on Lucroy, Buster Olney of ESPN.com tweets.
- With the Rangers adding Carlos Beltran, Gallo is now more available to go in a deal for Lucroy, Haudricourt tweets.
Earlier Updates
- Meanwhile, the Mets are still working on a Lucroy deal, Marc Carig of Newsday tweets.
- Even if the trade for Jay Bruce goes through, it wouldn’t take the Mets out of the race for Lucroy, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. Milwaukee is seeking infielder Dilson Herrera in a deal, per Rosenthal (via Twitter). A package would also still include catcher Travis d’Arnaud, as has long been rumored. Perhaps that ask is what leads Jon Heyman of Fan Rag to tweet that New York’s interest is “on life support” at this time, though.
- It seems that Joey Gallo is on the table for Lucroy, as we’ve heard suggested before, but only if there’s an arm included in the deal as well, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). It’s not clear exactly what pitcher that might be, but certainly there are several relievers that could make sense, as Grant explains. The Brewers could be looking into whether a preferable deal is available involving only the backstop, Haudricourt suggests on Twitter.
- Texas and Milwaukee haven’t chatted since last night, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. He suggests it is possible that other teams could get involved, with the Astros named as a speculative possibility, though he goes on to note via Twitter that the Tigers aren’t among them. Of course, it’s also possible that the Rangers and Brewers know each others’ positions, with Milwaukee now just circling back to other organizations before making a call.
- The Rangers “keep plugging away on Lucroy,” tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. Crasnick, however, believes the Brewers may need to lower their expectations to get a deal done today. From Milwaukee’s perspective, though, that isn’t going to happen, per a Haudricourt tweet. The team would rather hold Lucroy for offseason trade market than sell him short of his value now, per the report. A lively game of chicken certainly seems to be set up for these teams today.
Rangers Acquire Carlos Beltran
The Rangers have reportedly agreed to a deal to acquire veteran outfielder Carlos Beltran from the Yankees. Righties Dillon Tate, Erik Swanson and Nick Green head to New York in the deal, which caps a partial but significant sell-off from the Bronx Bombers. The Rangers will pay $2.5MM of the approximately $5MM left of Beltran’s 2016 salary, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets.
Bringing in Beltran not only gives Texas an immediate upgrade to its lineup, helping to cover for injuries to Prince Fielder (out for the season) and Shin-Soo Choo (who recently returned to the DL), but may help the team stomach a deal of top prospect Joey Gallo. The young slugger was perhaps an increasingly important part of the near-term picture given the losses, but the Rangers are working hard to add pitching and he looks like a prime trade piece. Texas is also still in the market for catcher Jonathan Lucroy, with Gallo a possible piece in that prospective swap.
Beltran’s next birthday will be his fortieth, but that hasn’t prevented him from posting an outstanding .301/.342/.538 batting line and 21 home runs over 383 plate appearances on the year. His late excellence makes him not only a legitimate Hall-of-Fame candidate, but also a quality option down the stretch and in the post-season.
Indeed, Beltran has been at his best in the past under the brightest lights. He has produced a .332/.441/.674 slash and 16 home runs in 223 turns at the plate in the playoffs. Now, he’ll join a strong Texas club with designs on its own deep run.
Defense remains a question, of course, as Beltran has slowed considerably since his days of playing a solid center field. He’s limited to right at present, and is a marginal defender there. But the Rangers will presumably place him most often in the DH role, taking the spot vacated by Fielder.
The fourth overall pick in last year’s draft, Tate has seen his prospect star fade a bit this year. After opening the season as a consensus top-100 prospect, he has struggled to a 5.12 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9 at the Class A level.
Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News said the Yankees were moving toward a deal (via Twitter). MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan said the Rangers were the team involved (via Twitter). Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the inclusion of Tate (Twitter links). Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported the deal was done (Twitter links). Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported the inclusion of another prospect (via Twitter). Jack Curry of the YES Network tweeted the full package.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Deadline Day Rotation Rumors
While we’ll certainly break out any stories that seem to have some helium, we’ll use this post to keep tabs on less pressing developments in the market for starting pitching:
- The Pirates are talking to the Yankees about Ivan Nova, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- The Marlins are now looking for another starter after sending Colin Rea back to the Padres, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.
- Angels lefty Hector Santiago is still on the Tigers‘ radar, along with Hellickson, per Morosi (via Twitter). Santiago has been talked about a decent bit in recent weeks, but we haven’t heard very many strong connections. Los Angeles is likely willing to deal him in the right situation, but surely puts a high value on a useful starter who is controllable beyond the year.
- The Astros are mostly just “dabbling” in the market for starters, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets. Edinson Volquez of the Royals represents one possible target, though Houston is said not to be terribly interested in the veteran righty.
- While we haven’t heard much in the way of specifics, the Cubs are said to be eyeing an impactful rotation addition, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that’s still the case. (He adds that the team prefers not to overpay for a left-handed-hitting outfielder, which is also on their wish list.)
- The Phillies may well hold onto righty Jeremy Hellickson, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark tweets. Philly hasn’t changed its asking price — last we heard, at least one quality prospect — but the market is changing. The Giants and Tigers aren’t in the bidding, per Stark, while the Rangers and Blue Jays have other names higher on their priority lists. With that being said, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets that Detroit is still looking at Hellickson, among other starters, as they seek to add to their rotation.