Rangers Claim Matt Duffy From Astros
The Rangers have claimed infielder Matt Duffy off waivers from the Astros, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (Twitter link). Houston designated the infielder (who isn’t to be confused with the better-known Giants third baseman of the same name) for assignment last week. Texas has optioned Duffy to Triple-A.
[Related: updated Rangers depth chart at Roster Resource]
Duffy’s MLB career consists of 11 games for the Astros over the last two seasons and 12 career plate appearances. A 20th-round pick in the 2011 draft, Duffy has a very solid .286/.360/.458 slash line over 2794 career PA in the minors. Duffy has played mostly third base over his career with significant time across the diamond at first, though this season he also saw action at short and left for Houston’s Triple-A affiliate.
Latest On Rangers' Search For Starters
- Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News provides a useful round-up of the Rangers‘ efforts to bolster a scuffling rotation. In addition to opening talks with the Rays and White Sox, as has been covered extensively, the team is looking at a variety of other possibilities. Andrew Cashner of the Padres is one player that the Rangers have discussed, as are Mariners lefties James Paxton and Wade Miley. It seems that all variety of options continue to be on the table, as all of the pitchers covered in the report constitute quite different assets. GM Jon Daniels suggests that, while he’d prefer to move quickly toward a deal, the odds are that it’ll come down to the deadline.
Rangers Designate Cesar Ramos
The Rangers have designated lefty Cesar Ramos, per a club announcement. He’ll make way for the return of fellow southpaw Jake Diekman.
[Related: Updated Rangers Depth Chart]
Ramos, 32, contributed 47 2/3 innings this year, but wasn’t as effective as he has been in recent campaigns. Fresh off of a 2.75 ERA run with the Angels in 2015, Ramos has worked to just a 6.04 ERA for Texas. His 5.1 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 2016 also fall well shy of his numbers from a year ago, and Ramos has seen his swinging strike rate dip as he has continued to lose velocity.
Rangers Not Optimistic About Acquiring Rays Starter
The Rangers aren’t optimistic that they’ll land one of the Rays‘ controllable starting pitchers, writes FOX’s Ken Rosenthal in his latest notes column. The Rays continue to focus on Jurickson Profar, who could fill a void at shortstop, but the Rangers like the idea of Profar playing all four infield positions and seeing time for them in the outfield next year as well. The Rangers may be willing to budge on Profar if it meant Chris Archer, but Jake Odorizzi and Matt Moore are seemingly held in lesser regard.
Rangers Have Expressed Interest In James Paxton, Taijuan Walker
- That’s not to say that the Cubs aren’t still poking around, with Heyman noting that the team spoke to the Mariners about James Paxton and Taijuan Walker. Other organizations have as well, including the Rangers. A Seattle source tells Heyman that a trade of either young starter remains unlikely, though the team isn’t taking anything off the table at this point. From where I sit, it’s tough to imagine either player changing hands; Seattle will surely want to see whether Paxton can harness his improving stuff, while Walker isn’t at full health.
[SOURCE LINK]
Chicago Rumors: Reddick, Robertson, Sale, Quintana, Duke
The Cubs are showing some interest in Athletics right fielder Josh Reddick, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB.com. Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein drafted Reddick while serving as GM of the Red Sox, and the two sides were loosely linked by Morosi earlier this season. Of course, outfield isn’t necessarily a primary need for the Cubs, who have been more tied to bullpen help of late. However, the Cubs did cross one item off their wishlist with yesterday’s pickup of Mike Montgomery, and the Chicago front office/field staff clearly place a high value on harboring a deep roster that is tailored to allowing manager Joe Maddon to play matchups. Chicago is currently deploying Kris Bryant, Jason Heyward and Willson Contreras in the outfield with regularity, although Dexter Fowler will soon return, which could push Contreras back behind the plate and Bryant back to the hot corner more frequently. Reddick has long handled righties better than lefties and would provide a solid defensive option in the outfield. It’s a similar skill-set to that of Jason Heyward, though Reddick’s been the more productive of the two this season, slashing .301/.380/.445 in a season that’s been shortened by a fractured thumb. Reddick initially slumped upon activation from the DL, but he’s hit well more recently.
A few more notes out of Chicago…
- The White Sox are now at least considering changing course to act as sellers this summer, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. In particular, David Robertson is generating quite a few calls for the Sox, who have lost five of their past seven games and dropped below the .500 mark. Robertson is owed $29.45MM through the end of his contract in 2018, so he comes with considerable financial considerations. Then again, he’s also pitched quite well outside of a pair of disastrous meltdowns that saw him yield four and six earned runs this season, and the demand for impact relievers is high.
- The ChiSox are also getting quite a few calls on outfielder Adam Eaton, says Heyman, though he’s controllable at a much more affordable rate and for considerably longer than Robertson. Eaton is owed just $21MM through the end of the 2019 campaign, and his contract includes club options for the 2020 and 2021 seasons that are respectively valued at $9.5MM and $10.5MM. For a player with his offensive profile and defensive wizardry in the corner outfield, that’s an enormously valuable deal that would require a huge haul for the White Sox to surrender.
- While most who eye the White Sox will be hopeful that the club will part with ace Chris Sale or No. 2 starter Jose Quintana (who would be the top pitcher on many teams), Morosi tweeted this morning that there’s still great doubt within the industry that the Sox would part with either left-hander. The Dodgers, he notes have the prospects to make an overwhelming offer. I should point out that the Rangers do as well, with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently speculating that they could be a fit for Quintana if the Sox decide to sell.
- Morosi tweets that the White Sox will have opportunities to move lefty reliever Zach Duke, who is controlled through 2017 and earning $5.5MM next year. That’s probably an understatement, as Duke boasts a 2.97 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a 58.1 percent ground-ball rate this season. If the Sox do sell off some veteran pieces, I’d wager that they could get a nice piece for Duke even if they understandably hang onto more core pieces like Sale, Quintana and Eaton.
Padres Reportedly Trying To Trade Cashner Before Tomorrow’s Start
10:27pm: FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Padres are still expecting Cashner to make his start for the team tomorrow night. One source tells Rosenthal there’s a 99 percent chance that nothing will be completed prior to tomorrow night’s outing.
7:34pm: The Padres are widely expected to move right-hander Andrew Cashner before the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, and according to a pair of reports from Jon Morosi of FOX Sports and MLB.com (Twitter link) and Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Cashner may have already made his final start with San Diego. Cashner is slated to pitch for the Friars tomorrow night, but both reporters indicate that there’s a possibility that the righty could be moved before that outing takes place. Morosi cites rival executives that believe San Diego GM A.J. Preller may want to move Cashner before he takes the hill.
Morosi lists the Orioles and Marlins as two teams that have spoken to the Padres about Cashner. The Rangers, too, have been linked to Cashner, and SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets that the talks between the two sides are ongoing but Texas wouldn’t be considered a favorite for him if a deal does indeed come together before tomorrow. The Royals have also been linked to Cashner this summer, though not in the past couple of weeks.
Cashner is coming off his strongest start of the season, which Lin notes may be a factor in the Padres’ urgency to deal him. The 29-year-old Cashner rattled off six innings of one-run ball and held the visiting Giants to four hits and no walks while striking out nine. That strong outing notwithstanding, Cashner is currently toting a disappointing 5.05 ERA. He’s seen his K/9 rate (7.1) and BB/9 rate (3.6) trend in the wrong direction this season and also been significantly more prone to the long ball, as his 1.5 HR/9 rate and 15.7 percent homer-to-flyball ratio are among the worst rates of his career. He’s also been limited to just 67 2/3 innings due to a hamstring strain and a neck strain.
In spite of those red flags, there’s plenty to like about Cashner. He’s a former high draft pick and top prospect that pitched to a combined 3.43 ERA in 483 innings from 2013-15 and is earning a reasonable $7.15MM this year in his final season before free agency. He’s still owed about $2.89MM of that salary through season’s end. Cashner’s velocity is down a bit in 2016, but his average fastball is still sitting at 93.6 mph, and his 47.1 percent ground-ball rate is largely unchanged from the past two seasons.
Rangers Notes: Scouts, Gallo
Padres general manager A.J. Preller was on-hand to watch the Rangers‘ Double-A affiliate earlier this week, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The Roughriders, Grant notes, were playing the Padres’ own Double-A affiliate so there’s the possibility of reading too much into the situation, but he notes that the GMs of selling clubs are more concerned with watching who they might acquire this time of year rather than evaluating their own internal talent. Per Grant, the Athletics also had one of their top minor league evaluators, Billy Owens, present at that contest. Grant notes that names like Andrew Cashner and Rich Hill have been connected to the Rangers in recent weeks, so there’s reason to believe that some homework on one of those two very available pitchers was being done. On a related note, the Padres are reportedly hoping to trade Cashner before his scheduled start tomorrow evening.
- ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that rival evaluators and executives are trying to determine exactly how much the Rangers truly value Joey Gallo (Twitter link). Some within the industry, according to Olney, feel that the Rangers’ firm reluctance to part with Gallo is actually a smokescreen, and they’d be more willing to part with him than has otherwise been indicated. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported something similar earlier this week, writing that some rival executives do think the Rangers would move Gallo for the right offer. Many Rangers fans questioned why Gallo wasn’t promoted today with news of Prince Fielder‘s potentially season-ending injury breaking, but as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan writes, the likely reason for that is that the Rangers are planning to give the lion’s share of Fielder’s at-bats to another ballyhooed young player: Jurickson Profar.
Rangers Acquire Scott Carroll From White Sox
The Rangers have acquired minor league righty Scott Carroll from the White Sox in exchange for cash considerations, according to an announcement from both clubs. Carroll has been assigned to Double-A Frisco for the time and will not require a spot on the 40-man roster for Texas, as he’d been outrighted by the ChiSox last week.
The Rangers have long been on the lookout for pitching help, and the Carroll pickup won’t impact those pursuits, though it’ll give the team an arm with some big league experience to call upon in the event that a spot start or two is needed. Carroll, 31, has spent the past three and a half seasons in the White Sox organization, making 19 starts and a total of 47 appearances dating back to 2014. In that time, he’s posted a 4.60 ERA and averaged five strikeouts and 3.2 walks per nine innings pitched over the life of 168 1/3 frames. His minor league numbers are stunningly similar, as he has a career 4.65 ERA with 5.4 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 398 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level.
Rangers Place Fielder, Choo On DL; Fielder Could Face Neck Surgery
The Rangers announced that they have placed both Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo on the 15-day disabled list, although the injury to Fielder appears to be fairly serious in nature. Fielder has been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his neck — a different disk than the one that required neck surgery in 2014 — and MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports that surgery has been recommended as an option (Twitter link). He’s set to meet with the surgeon who performed his last neck operation for a second opinion. Choo, meanwhile, has lower inflammation in his back. The pair will be replaced by Delino DeShields and Hanser Alberto, per the Rangers’ announcement.
[Related: Updated Texas Rangers Depth Chart]
Originally acquired from the Tigers (along with cash considerations) in exchange for Ian Kinsler, Fielder struggled mightily in his first season with Texas (2014) before ultimately succumbing to neck surgery. He rebounded in magnificent fashion last year, slashing .305/.378/.463 with 23 homers and 28 doubles — his most productive campaign since 2012. However, Fielder has been in what has appeared to be a season-long slump at the plate in 2016 and has looked very much like the 2014 iteration of himself, hitting just .212/.292/.334 through 370 plate appearances. Fielder had been among baseball’s most durable players at the time of his acquisition, missing just one of 810 games from 2009-13. However, the Rangers are now faced with the possibility of seeing a second season lost to neck injuries, with Fielder still under control for another four years beyond the current campaign. While the Tigers are paying $6MM of Fielder’s salary on an annual basis, the Rangers still owe him an additional $18MM per year through the 2020 season.
The hope for Choo, Sullivan tweets, is that he’ll be back in the minimum amount of time necessary for his stint on the disabled list. General manager Jon Daniels, it should be noted, told reporters that the pair of injuries doesn’t alter the club’s approach at the trade deadline this year (Twitter link via Sullivan). The Rangers’ main focus at the deadline will continue to be on bolstering the pitching staff rather than adding another bat.