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NL Notes: Mesoraco, Cubs, Bucs, Nats, Brewers

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There’s not much “momentum” on a trade involving Mets catcher Devin Mesoraco, Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets, though he notes that a deal still may come together by the non-waiver deadline on Tuesday. Mesoraco has already been part of one trade this year, as he joined the Mets in May in a deal for now-Reds righty Matt Harvey. The 30-year-old Mesoraco has batted .230/.206/.393 with eight home runs in 219 plate appearances and caught 26 percent of would-be base stealers this season. He’ll be a free agent in the offseason.

More from the National League…

  • Cubs right-hander Tyler Chatwood is headed to the team’s bullpen to make room for just-acquired starter Cole Hamels, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com was among those to report. Chatwood joined the Cubs on a three-year, $38MM contract last winter, but the deal hasn’t worked out as planned for the club. Prior to his demotion to a relief role, Chatwood walked a ridiculous 8.14 batters per nine innings across 94 frames (19 starts) and pitched to a 4.98 ERA/5.57 FIP.
  • The Pirates placed outfielder Corey Dickerson (left hamstring strain) and first baseman Josh Bell (left oblique strain) on the 1o-day disabled list Saturday, per Jerry DiPaola of the Pittsburgh-Tribune Review. The club recalled outfielder Austin Meadows and first baseman Jose Osuna from Triple-A to take their places. If not for Pittsburgh’s recent hot streak, it may have been in position to sell Dickerson prior to the deadline. The 29-year-old, who’s on a $5.95MM salary in 2o18 and has one arbitration-eligible season left, has batted a terrific .318/.351/.517 with 11 home runs in 367 plate appearances.
  • The Nationals reinstated outfield prospect Victor Robles from the disabled list Friday and activated him at the Triple-A level, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. The 21-year-old Robles has missed nearly all of this season after suffering an elbow injury early in the spring. He continues to rank as one of the majors’ premier prospects, though, as evidenced by Baseball America grading him as the game’s sixth-best farmhand in its most recent top-100 list.
  • Brewers first base prospect Jake Gatewood will undergo season-ending surgery after suffering a torn left ACL, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. The 22-year-old Gatewood, Milwaukee’s 14th-best prospect at MLB Pipeline, hit .244/.302/.466 with 19 home runs in 388 PAs at the Double-A level this season.

Frisaro’s Latest: Straily, Ziegler, Barraclough, Realmuto

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Following this past offseason’s fire sale of MLB assets, the Marlins are likely to ship out a few more players in the coming days prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro has some updates on the market for a wide number of Miami assets as we approach July 31st.

  • An Athletics scout paid a visit to Marlins Park this past Thursday, and Frisaro reports that he was there to watch right-hander Dan Straily pitch. Straily fell just short of a quality start in that outing, allowing three runs in 5 2/3 innings with six strikeouts against three walks. Astonishingly, Straily’s been able to hold together a 4.07 ERA this season despite a cataclysmic 5.41 FIP. After flashing improved control across the past two seasons, Straily has relapsed back to a 4.29 BB/9 and dealt with right forearm inflammation at the outset of the season, so it remains to be seen whether he’d be an attractive trade target to the A’s organization that drafted and developed him.
  • After a rough start to the season that saw him lose his job as the team’s closer, sidewinder Brad Ziegler has rebounded nicely to post a 3.08 ERA in 39 appearances since the start of May (though peripherals paint a worse picture). The Marlins have plenty of potential suitors for the right-hander, Frisaro says, and lists the Cubs, Indians, Red Sox and A’s as potential fits. It’s worth noting that the latter two clubs are already familiar with Ziegler, as he’s spent time pitching for both organizations. The 38-year-old has already been traded twice in his lengthy career, and is playing out the final months of a two-year, $16MM deal.
  • Ziegler’s not the only reliever fielding interest, Frisaro notes, as nearly a dozen scouts have been in Miami recently to watch Kyle Barraclough, Drew Steckenrider and Adam Conley pitch. Last we heard, the Marlins had placed a high price on each of the three, but it’s still certainly plausible that many teams would be willing to pay that price for relievers that come with such controllable relief arms; each of the aforementioned three is under team control through at least 2021.
  • The Nationals still aren’t having any luck trying to pry catcher J.T. Realmuto from the hands of the Marlins. Frisaro reports that Miami’s NL East rival once again checked in on the club’s best trade asset, but were told that any package for Realmuto would require Washington to fork over both outfield prospect Victor Robles and shortstop prospect Carter Kieboom, both of whom are generally seen as top 100 prospects. Unsurpringly, conversations didn’t go far.

Nationals Place Stephen Strasburg On DL

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4:58pm: An MRI cleared Strasburg of any structural damage in his shoulder, tweets MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman. He’s also set to be evaluated by a neurologist.

8:48am: Strasburg is dealing with a pinched nerve in his neck, Janes tweets. In its announcement, the team labeled it a “cervical nerve impingement.”

8:05am: The Nationals have placed righty Stephen Strasburg on the 10-day DL, MLB.com’s Jamal Collier tweets (and as the MLB.com transactions page reflected). The placement, which will keep him from taking the ball for a scheduled start tonight, is retroactive to July 22nd.

Needless to say, this is quite unwelcome news for a club that is still struggling to find its footing. The Nats already profiled as a potential buyer of rotation depth, even after recently welcoming Strasburg back from a six-week stint on the DL.

Details on the injury are not yet available, but Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that it appears to be related to the shoulder inflammation that put him on the shelf previously. Strasburg threw with customary velocity in his first start back from the DL, though he also labored through 4 2/3 innings of six-run ball.

Nationals Preparing For Possibility Of Selling At Deadline

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The Nationals are engaging in discussions with rival organizations regarding the possibility of moving several veteran players, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic hears similarly, writing in a subscription post that ownership is increasingly inclined to cut its losses (including the financial ones) to the extent possible.

Notably, the Nats have not yet committed to any particular direction at the deadline. But they appear to be getting the process started in case they decide to move rental pieces. According to the report, the D.C. organization has indicated it will set its course by the end of the weekend — at which point we’ll be just two days away from the trade deadline.

While the Nats are one game under .500, there is still a glimmer of hope. Neither of the two leading teams in the division — the Phillies and Braves — have run away with things, or (to this point) made any significant deadline improvements. Projections still tend to see it as a closer race, as they presume the Nationals will receive enhanced production from some key players down the stretch.

Of course, the long-awaited spark has yet to occur for the Nats. And the team just received another gut punch today with the news that Stephen Strasburg is headed back to the DL. It doesn’t help that the Wild Card race includes quite a few contestants, meaning it isn’t an obviously better path into the postseason.

It would certainly be difficult for the Nationals to give up on the current season — and not just because that’d be a bitter pill to swallow for a club that entered the season as a clear division favorite that hoped finally to advance through the postseason. The team would also face a less-than-clear situation in deciding what assets to move.

Passan suggests that the focus would likely be on rental relievers. Ryan Madson ($7.5MM salary), Kelvin Herrera ($7.9375MM), and Shawn Kelley ($5.5MM) are all potential chips who’d be of interest to other organizations, perhaps bringing back some prospects and trimming some salary obligations. But whether it makes sense to stop there would make for a tough question.

For his part, Rosenthal says expressly what Passan more or less implies: the Nats aren’t much interested in moving star outfielder Bryce Harper even if they part with other pieces. President of baseball operations/GM Mike Rizzo has indicated that a move on Harper would only be considered in an “extreme” scenario, though presumably that’s much the same situation that would justify the parting with relief assets.

Bidding adieu to Harper now might be difficult, but it’d also be the best possible way for the club to begin a new era without him on good footing. Of course, if the Nats intend to make a full run at bringing him back from the open market, they may well prefer not to set him free now. And it’s also fair to wonder whether the return will be all that great given Harper’s struggles and hefty ($21.625MM) salary.

Harper really isn’t the only established non-reliever who could conceivably be viewed as a trade chip if things head in that direction. For instance, starter Gio Gonzalez and infielder Daniel Murphy are also slated to reach free agency at season’s end, though certainly neither is in top form. Slugger Matt Adams has been excellent and would seem to be an interesting target for some clubs, particularly those in the American League. Other players are nearing the end of their arb years, though there’s no indication at all that the club is thinking of blowing up its near-future core.

All told, it’s clearly an undesirable situation for the Nationals organization. Perhaps the club won’t need to face these difficult questions if it can reel off a few wins in quick succession and its division rivals stumble a bit. Even if the Nats give up on the present season, they hold the promise of bouncing back next year. But it now seems realistic that the team could end up largely giving up on the race in 2018, an outcome that was hard to imagine at the start of the campaign.

Nationals Select Tommy Milone, Designate Jose Marmolejos

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9:15am: Washington has announced the move, along with a corresponding decision to designate first baseman/outfielder Jose Marmolejos for assignment. The 25-year-old had struggled at the plate this year at Triple-A.

8:24am: The Nationals are set to select the contract of southpaw Tommy Milone to start tonight’s game. The TalkNats blog first tweeted that it appeared Milone would get the nod, with MLB.com’s Jamal Collier tweeting that was indeed the plan.

Milone will step into the rotation spot opened when Stephen Strasburg was sent back onto the disabled list. While an active roster spot is already accounted for, the Nats also seemingly need to make a 40-man move to accommodate the return of Milone. The veteran southpaw last pitched for the organization in his rookie campaign of 2011.

Milone has compiled 736 2/3 innings of 4.37 ERA ball in his seven seasons in the big leagues, but has struggled in recent campaigns. This will represent his first MLB action of the 2018 season.

Through twenty starts at the Triple-A level on the year, Milone carries a 4.19 ERA over 109 2/3 frames. He’s averaging 9.3 K/9 — well above his typical levels in the majors but right at his career mean at the highest level of the minors — along with a characteristically minimal walk rate of 2.0 BB/9.

Nationals Unlikely To Trade Bryce Harper

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  • “Something extreme would have to happen for us to consider moving [Bryce Harper],” Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  While short of an outright denial, it doesn’t seem like a Harper trade is even a longshot possibility for the Nats.  If anything, Rizzo said the team is still looking to add (in the form of starting pitching and a catcher), though Sherman notes that the general manager didn’t rule out the possibility of eventually selling some impending free agents if Washington can’t get back into the pennant race.  Such moves would be lower-level veterans and not Harper, as Sherman runs through the rather limited and difficult market the Nationals would face if they did make him available.

Latest On Cole Hamels

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7:27pm: Then again, a source tells Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link) that it’s “not accurate” to say the sides have discussed Hamels.

Of course, the Nats do have someone on hand to watch Hamels in action tonight, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. The Braves, Cubs, Phillies, Yankees, and Diamondbacks do as well.

Of course, there are other players on view as well. The Atlanta organization may be looking at lefty reliever Jake Diekman, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman suggests on Twitter.

As for the Nationals, Janes tweets that noted D.C. executive Dan Jennings is the rep in Arlington, though she suggests his appearance is “more due diligence.”

7:15pm: The Nationals are the latest team with some level of interest in Rangers lefty Cole Hamels, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Those two organizations are said to have engaged in “trade discussions,” though there’s no indication that a deal is particularly close.

It’s not surprising to see the Nats angling to deepen their rotation and Hamels is certainly a pitcher with whom the organization is familiar. Of course, it’s also a bit interesting to hear of this particular connection given a rather notable run-in between Hamels and the D.C. ballclub, though that was some years ago.

After a strong outing on June 19th, Hamels owned a 3.41 ERA. After four sub-optimal times out, though, he’s all the way up to a 4.36 mark that arguably better reflects his true talent level at this stage of an outstanding career.

On the one hand, Hamels is back to generating a strikeout per nine after a big fall-off in 2017. On the other, he’s giving up home runs on 20.2% of the flyballs put in play against him. ERA estimators mostly view Hamels as a solid hurler — he’s at a 5.06 FIP, 4.11 xFIP, and 4.06 SIERA this year — but there’s not much reason to believe that Hamels is the top-line starter he once was.

Perhaps there’s some added appeal in the fact that Hamels has a long history of good work in the postseason, even if his most recent appearance — a 2016 dud for the Rangers — did not go as hoped. All told, he has thrown 98 1/3 innings of 3.48 ERA ball over 16 playoff starts. Hamels was also named the MVP of the 2008 World Series.

Contract will play a major role in the market for Hamels. He’s earning $22.5MM this year, a hefty rate for a sub-elite starter. He’s also due a $6MM buyout on a $20MM club option for 2019. Increasingly, it seems likely he’ll end up receiving the break-up fee.

Hamels can block trades to twenty teams, but the Nats are not among them. Neither are the division-rival Braves. The Atlanta organization has been linked loosely to Hamels in the recent past. Morosi suggests the Braves are indeed at least taking a look, though it’s not clear if there’s serious interest.

Nationals Reinstate Koda Glover From 60-Day DL

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  • The Nationals announced that they’ve reinstated reliever Koda Glover from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. The move gives the Nationals a full 40-man roster, and it puts Glover in better position to return to the majors in the near future. Glover, who served as Washington’s closer for some of last season, combined for 39 innings from 2016-17 and registered a 5.08 ERA/3.72 FIP with 7.62 K/9 and 2.54 BB/9. The hard-throwing 25-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors this season on account of right shoulder issues, though he could be up soon, Dan Kolko of MASN tweets.

Royals Acquire Brian Goodwin

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The Royals have acquired outfielder Brian Goodwin from the Nationals for minor league reliever Jacob Condra-Bogan, Washington announced. The Nats also recalled reliever Sammy Solis to take Goodwin’s roster spot.

A National since they chose him in the first round (34th overall) of the 2011 draft, Goodwin never became a full-time player with the club. He debuted in 2016 with a short stint and amassed a career-high 278 plate appearances last year, when he impressed by posting a .251/.313/.498 line (105 wRC+) with 13 home runs, six steals and a stellar .247 ISO. Goodwin had difficulty in the outfield, however, as he combined for minus-7 Defensive Runs Saved and a minus-4.6 Ultimate Zone Rating.

Playing time was harder to come by in D.C. this season for the 27-year-old Goodwin, who was stuck behind fellow lefty-swingers Bryce Harper, Juan Soto and Adam Eaton – not to mention the righty-hitting Michael A. Taylor – in the team’s outfield pecking order. Each of Harper, Eaton and Taylor missed time because of injuries in 2017, while Soto wasn’t even in the majors – all of which opened the door for Goodwin.

With no clear path to action this season, Goodwin racked up just 79 PAs in his final run with the Nationals and batted .200/.321/.354. Along the way, he showed significantly less power (three HRs, .154 ISO) and raised his strikeout rate from 24.8 percent last year to 32.9 percent. Goodwin did increase his walk rate, which climbed from 8.3 percent in 2017 to 12.7, but that wasn’t enough to lift his offense to a respectable level.

Because Goodwin’s out of options and superfluous to the Nats’ roster, the logical move was to deal him. The rebuilding Royals are apparently in position to take a chance on Goodwin, who won’t be eligible for arbitration until after next season and is controllable through 2022. Kansas City has Alex Gordon and Jorge Bonifacio entrenched as corner outfield starters, but Goodwin could perhaps supplant the struggling Rosell Herrera in center. They’ll have to figure out how to deploy those players and right fielder Jorge Soler when he returns from the left toe fracture he suffered in mid-June. Soler is likely to come back in August, Rustin Dodd of the Athletic suggests.

To land Goodwin, the Royals gave up the hard-throwing Condra-Bogan, whom Maria Torres of the Kansas City Star profiled in June. The Royals signed Condra-Bogan, 23, out of the Frontier League in January, and he has since shown off 99 mph heat “without losing command of the strike zone,” per Torres. The righty has tossed 27 innings at the Single-A level this season and notched a 2.08 ERA with incredible strikeout and walk rates (13.5 K/9, .70 BB/9).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sean Doolittle Has “Stress Reaction” In Foot

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Nationals closer Sean Doolittle underwent an MRI on Saturday that revealed a “stress reaction” in his left foot, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets. There’s no timetable for Doolittle’s return, but he’s expected to miss “weeks, not months,” according to Zuckerman.

Doolittle has already been out since July 7, though the Nationals were surely hoping the left-hander would return after a minimum stay on the 10-day disabled list. Instead, the latest news on Doolittle is yet another negative development for Washington. Expected to contend for a World Series at the beginning of the season, the Nationals have limped to a 48-49 record, placing them 6 1/2 games out in the National League East and six behind a wild-card spot.

Now, considering how poorly their season has gone, it’s unclear just how aggressive the Nationals will be leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. There are plenty of relievers set to change hands in the coming days, and the Nats could perhaps be involved in that market if they choose to buy. Of course, they already made a major addition to their bullpen last month in acquiring Kelvin Herrera from the Royals. Herrera hasn’t been close to as effective in Washington as he was in Kansas City for the season’s first couple months, but as an experienced closer, he’s the logical replacement for Doolittle in D.C.

The 31-year-old Doolittle’s void certainly isn’t an easy one to fill, given that he has posted outstanding results since debuting with the A’s in 2012. Doolittle was better than ever this year before going on the DL, as he logged a 1.45 ERA/1.97 FIP with 11.81 K/9 and .72 BB/9 in 37 1/3 innings. He also locked down nearly half of the Nats’ wins, saving 22 of 23 opportunities.

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