Cubs Designate Ryan Kalish For Assignment
The Cubs have designated lefty-hitting outfielder Ryan Kalish for assignment, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets. The move clears space on the team’s active roster for catcher Miguel Montero, who’s returning from a back injury.
The 28-year-old Kalish made ten plate appearances for the Cubs this season. His last significant big-league experience came in 2014, also with the Cubs, when he batted .248/.295/.347 in 130 plate appearances. He did not play in 2015 after a minor-league pact with the Blue Jays fell apart. Kalish was once a top prospect in the Red Sox organization, but a series of injuries presented obstacles in his path to big-league success. He’s now played in parts of four big-league seasons, but has never appeared in two consecutive ones, also sitting out most of 2011 and all of 2013.
NL Central Notes: Arrieta, Bryant, Walsh, Pirates
Jake Arrieta has drawn plenty of attention of late as he’s continued to generate phenomenal results for the Cubs. He’s maintained all along both that he hopes to remain in Chicago and that he won’t take a discount to do so, and it’s still not clear whether the club will be willing to offer what Arrieta considers fair market value. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney argues in an Insider piece that the Cubs are unlikely to go beyond the recent Stephen Strasburg extension, and won’t pursue a bidding war to bring back Arrieta when he reaches free agency after next season. Then, says Olney, he’ll have a chance to cash in, particularly since he’d enter an “incredibly weak market” for starting pitching. That’s a debatable assessment of the free agent class — among the potentially available arms are Yu Darvish, Alex Cobb, Johnny Cueto, Tyson Ross, Lance Lynn, and several others of interest — but there’s little doubt that Arrieta would be a major target if he can keep up anything approaching his recent performance level.
Here’s more from the NL Central:
- Kris Bryant has kept on producing for the Cubs after a stellar rookie campaign, but as August Fagerstrom of Fangraphs explains, he’s dong it differently. Bryant has worked to flatten his swing plane as a way to cut down on his swings and misses, with very promising results. Though he’s more or less hitting at the same levels he did in 2015, Bryant’s managed to reduce his strikeout rate by one-third thus far. As Fagerstrom explains, the biggest impact of the adjustment may be that it raises Bryant’s floor as a hitter.
- The Brewers made some roster moves today, with Scooter Gennett activated from the DL and fellow infielder Yadiel Rivera being optioned to Triple-A. As Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes (Twitter links), the decision shows the team’s commitment to struggling Rule 5 pick Colin Walsh. He has an unusual .098/.327/.122 slash line through 55 plate appearances, with 13 walks but just four hits. GM David Stearns would say only that “the evaluation process is ongoing” with respect to Walsh, who obviously will need to stay on the active roster all year if his control rights are to remain Milwaukee property.
- In a reader mailbag, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette explains the Super Two considerations facing the Pirates. Early to mid June remains the time to watch for exciting Triple-A starters Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon, he writes. Interestingly, Nesbitt predicts that Taillon is likely to get the first call, explaining that he’s the “more seasoned” of the two even though he has been away from competitive baseball for some time due to injury.
Pitching Notes: Arrieta, Matz, Strasburg, Bailey, Royals
On a night when Max Scherzer turned in one of the most dominant starts in history, striking out 20 Tigers batters (video link) to tie a Major League record, here are a few notes on pitcher contracts and injuries…
- Cubs ace Jake Arrieta won’t offer the team a discount in extension talks, he told reporters, including ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers. According to previous reports, the Cubs have been hesitant to commit to anything greater than a four-year term, and that length clearly isn’t of interest to the 30-year-old reigning Cy Young winner. “Aces get seven years,” Arrieta candidly said in the interview. Asked what he felt his market to be, Arrieta declined to answer directly, instead telling reporters: “I’ll let you judge that. Just look at the numbers.” Arrieta again emphasized that his preference is to remain with the Cubs but that being compensated at the same level as the game’s other elite arms is also a factor. “Financially I’m fine, regardless,” he said. “You want to be paid in respect to how your peers are paid. I don’t think that changes with any guy you ask. It happens around baseball every year.” As Rogers points out, Scherzer and David Price are likelier comparables than the recently extended Stephen Strasburg, who secured a seven-year, $175MM deal.
- Mets left-hander Steven Matz will miss his next start due to soreness in his pitching elbow, manager Terry Collins told the media (via ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin). Right-hander Logan Verrett will take Matz’s turn in the rotation on Saturday, and Matz will be examined by doctors in New York next Monday. As the lefty himself explained (via the New York Post’s Mike Puma), he tried to pitch through similar soreness last season and ultimately had to spent two months on the shelf. The issue seems relatively innocuous at the moment, though given Matz’s considerable injury history it’s not surprising to see Puma write that there is “some level of concern” about Matz.
- MLB.com’s Bill Ladson spoke to Strasburg about his extension with the Nationals, (Twitter link to audio download), his motivation to sign now with free agency looming, the influence Tony Gwynn (his favorite player growing up and coach in college at San Diego State) has had on his desire to remain with one club and the team’s decision to shut him down in the midst of the 2012 playoff push in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. “He definitely had that sense of loyalty,” Strasburg said of Gwynn. “I think there were certainly times in his career where he could’ve gone other places, but the city, San Diego, kind of grew on him, and he became an icon in that city. I’m not about to say that I’m going to be on his level here in D.C., but I think you do have some sort of sense of loyalty to the team that did draft you, at least speaking for myself. So, when the opportunity presented itself that, here’s a fair deal presented to you, it didn’t really take long to make my mind up.”
- Reds right-hander Homer Bailey is “taking a step back” in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, writes C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Bailey explains to Rosecrans that he had a second opinion on his elbow on Monday, 366 days after his surgery, and is slowing his pace as a precaution. Bailey recently experienced some pain and took 10 days off from throwing and is being extra cautious. “One of the things that was brought to my attention was there’s a lot of research about guys who come back at the 12-month mark have a higher probability of it happening again, as opposed to maybe 14 months then the numbers are (better),” he adds. Bailey made throws of 110-120 feet on Tuesday without pain, but he tells Rosecrans he’s still about a month away from a rehab assignment.
- Chris Young, who underwent an MRI today due to forearm soreness, has been diagnosed with a muscle strain on the top of said forearm, tweets the Kansas City Star’s Rustin Dodd. Young is a candidate to land on the 15-day disabled list, even though (via MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan, on Twitter) manager Ned Yost said that Young may not need 15 whole days to recover from the issue. The club may simply not have a choice, especially due to the fact that right-hander Kris Medlen is also scheduled to have his shoulder examined due to some soreness (via Dodd). Medlen’s Sunday start is in jeopardy, though the severity of the issue remains unclear.
NL Central Notes: Hammel, Peralta, Victorino, Epstein, Reds
Every player has different priorities, many of which go beyond maximizing earnings, though that’s not always easy to discern from publicly available information. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports provides an interesting recent example, though, in Jason Hammel of the Cubs. The right-hander and his wife were disappointed to be dealt away from Chicago at the trade deadline in 2014, with Hammel telling Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein that he would “pitch well enough that you bring me back” even as he departed for the A’s. Though Hammel wasn’t as good in Oakland as he had been before the deal, that’s just what happened, as Hammel inked a two-year, $18MM deal in the offseason. It looked like a nice value for the team at the time, and the veteran has rewarded the Cubs with 204 2/3 innings of 3.43 ERA pitching since his return.
Here’s more from the NL Central:
- Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta has been cleared to begin swinging a bat, as MLB.com’s Jen Langosch reports on Twitter. Peralta’s thumb injury looked like a major blow at the time, and while his loss has been softened by the stellar play of Aledmys Diaz, he should still provide a boost for a club that’s hovering around .500 while their division rivals to the north lay waste to the rest of the league. Fellow middle infielders Kolten Wong and Jedd Gyorko haven’t been nearly as effective as Diaz, and could cede playing time to Peralta when he’s healthy.
- Shane Victorino is active at Triple-A Iowa for the Cubs, but he might not spend much time there before a decision is made on his future with the organization. Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register tweets that Chicago has informed the veteran outfielder that his status will be reevaluated after a few weeks with the team’s top affiliate. Victorino is off to a solid start, with five hits — including two doubles and a triple — in his first four games.
- There’s long been talk that Epstein would sign a new deal with the Cubs before reaching executive free agency after the season, but he tells Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link) that there are no imminent extensions — either for himself or with any of the team’s players. Nevertheless, the presumption still seems to be that Epstein will re-up with the organization at some point.
- It was always expected to be a difficult season for the Reds, but the organization has dealt with more injuries than might’ve been hoped. C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer provides updates on several situations. Righty Michael Lorenzen is just now returning to the hill after experiencing elbow issues this spring and then suffering a bout with mono. Fellow pitchers Anthony DeSclafani, Raisel Iglesias, and Jon Moscot are all making progress with their own injury matters, but certainly that’s not a list of arms that the club hoped to see on the DL at this stage of the year. DeSclafani, like Lorenzen, has yet to appear in the majors this season.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/9/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- The Cubs have purchased the contract of righty Alex Sanabia from the Mexican League Tijuana Toros, MLBTR’s Zach Links has learned. Sanabia will head to Triple-A Iowa to bolster the club’s rotation depth. The 27-year-old has seen action in parts of three MLB seasons with the Marlins, throwing 138 2/3 innings over 24 starts and four relief appearances and posting a sturdy 4.15 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9. Sanabia had a rough go of things with the Angels’ top affiliate last year, but has given the Toros 30 innings of 3.60 ERA ball with 6.0 K/9 against a stingy 0.9 BB/9.
- Left-hander Ryan O’Rourke has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A by the Twins, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 28-year-old has appeared in 36 games for Minnesota over the past two seasons but struggled to a 5.83 ERA. While O’Rourke misses plenty of bats (8.9 K/9), he also has struggled with his control, as evidenced by the 20 walks he’s issued in 29 1/3 big league innings. Lefties, however, have been befuddled by him, batting just .149/.286/.234 in 58 plate appearances.
- The Orioles announced today that right-hander Scott McGough has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk. Baltimore designated the 26-year-old, who was claimed off waivers from the Marlins earlier this year, for assignment last week. McGough made his big league debut in Miami last season but allowed seven runs in 6 2/3 innings. He’s been roughed up for a dozen runs in 8 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level this season but had an excellent 2015 campaign, posting a 1.93 ERA in 37 1/3 innings across three minor league level.
- The Red Sox have signed former A’s first baseman Nate Freiman to a minor league deal and assigned him to Double-A Portland, according to an announcement from the independent Atlantic League. Freiman, 29, has been playing for the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks and hitting quite well through a small six-game sample (8-for-21, two homers, one double, two walks). Freiman showed good pop and handled left-handed pitching well for the 2013-14 A’s (.279/.326/.470 in 233 PAs), but his production evaporated at the Triple-A level last season when he hit just .220/.279/.321 in 305 PAs.
- The Nationals acquired minor league catcher Martin Medina from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. The 26-year-old was originally drafted by the White Sox in the 20th round back in 2011, but Chicago flipped him to Toronto last summer (also for cash considerations). He’s a career .244/.314/.334 hitter in the minors and has caught 30 percent of opposing base-stealers, but he’s yet to progress beyond the Double-A level.
- Also via Eddy, the Braves have released right-hander Rob Wooten from Triple-A Gwinnett. The long-time Brewers reliever signed a minors pact with Atlanta this winter and had a nice showing with Gwinnett, yielding just three runs on seven hits and no walks with seven strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. The rest of Wooten’s career has come with the Brewers organization. He owns a 4.07 ERA with 8.3 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in 185 2/3 Triple-A innings and a 5.03 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 68 big league frames.
- One more from Eddy, who adds that the Reds traded outfielder Pin-Chieh Chen to the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations. The 24-year-old Chen, signed by the Cubs as a free agent out of Taiwan prior to the 2010 season, has climbed as high as Double-A in the minors, spending parts of four seasons at that level and compiling a .236/.344/.327 batting line there. Baseball America rated him as Chicago’s No. 31 prospect prior to the 2012 season but didn’t rise higher than that on their prospect rankings.
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/8/16
Here are Sunday’s minor moves from around the majors:
- The Padres announced that they have placed second baseman Jemile Weeks on the 15-day DL with a right hamstring strain and recalled Jose Pirela. Prior to suffering the injury Saturday, Weeks collected 57 PAs and hit just .140/.204/.200. Pirela, also a second baseman, has slashed .306/.352/.447 at the Triple-A level in 2016. He was with the Padres earlier this season and appeared in four games, racking up five PAs and a double.
- Catcher Adam Moore, whom the Indians designated for assignment earlier this week, will stay in the organization after accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Columbus, tweets Tribeinsider.
- The Astros reinstated catcher Max Stassi from the DL and optioned him to Triple-A Fresno, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle was among those to report (Twitter link). Prior to undergoing surgery on the hamate bone in his left wrist in mid-March, Stassi was expected to team with Jason Castro to form the Astros’ catching tandem. The club is now preparing Evan Gattis for a role behind the plate, however, lessening the need for Stassi – whom Baseball America ranked as Houston’s 19th-best prospect entering the season.
- The Cubs have activated right-hander Neil Ramirez from the bereavement list and optioned righty Spencer Patton to Triple-A Iowa, the team announced. Ramirez has amassed six innings of three-run ball this year (seven strikeouts, four walks), while Patton made his sole big league appearance of the year Saturday and faced two batters – one of whom walked, the other of whom doubled.
- The Athletics have optioned right-hander Jesse Hahn to Triple-A Nashville and recalled righty J.B. Wendelken, per a team announcement. Hahn threw 17 2/3 innings in the minors this year before the A’s recalled him at the end of last month. He made two starts with Oakland, allowing four earned runs in 12 innings while walking six and striking out four. Hahn had a rough start Saturday, surrendering eight hits, four earned runs and four walks in 5 1/3 innings of work in a loss to Baltimore. Wendelken, 23, is now in position to make his major league debut after racking up 315 2/3 innings in the minors, where he has posted a 4.08 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9.
- The Reds announced that they have sent outfielder Scott Schebler to Triple-A Louisville and recalled outfielder/first baseman Kyle Waldrop. Schebler’s demotion is the result of the Reds wanting to give him playing time, which he hadn’t been receiving enough of in the majors lately because of the success of left fielder Adam Duvall. Schebler hit just .188/.246/.344 with a home run in 69 plate appearances prior to his demotion. Waldrop, not to be confused with the former major league reliever of the same name, has hit .276/.322/.437 in 2,445 career minor league PAs. The 24-year-old got his first taste of big league action last season, though he accrued only one at-bat.
Big-Name Rumors: Chicago, Braun, Angels, Orioles, Lincecum
The latest rumblings on a slew of established players who could change uniforms in the coming months:
- The White Sox have $13MM to spend as a result of Adam LaRoche‘s March retirement and are in need of another left-handed bat, which means they’re a potential fit for outfielders Jay Bruce, Brett Gardner, Carlos Gonzalez, Seth Smith and Nick Markakis, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Angels could also be in on those players, per Cafardo. It’s difficult to imagine a pitching-devoid team with a barren farm system dealing assets for an outfielder, however, especially considering the respective price tags those five players carry. The least expensive player of the group is Smith, who is making $6.75MM this season and has a $7MM club option for 2017, but he’s a solid part of a first-place Seattle team that’s trying to break a 14-year playoff drought and fend off the Angels, among others, in the AL West.
- Like their crosstown rivals, the Cubs could also pursue Bruce, Gonzalez and Markakis, in addition to Ryan Braun and Josh Reddick, reports ESPN’s Jim Bowden. The 23-6 Cubs don’t look like a team in need of a major acquisition, though they did lose a highly useful outfield cog early in the season when Kyle Schwarber suffered a catastrophic knee injury. In Schwarber’s absence, the depth-laden Cubs have divvied up left field playing time among star third baseman Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Matt Szczur.
- Orioles general manager Dan Duquette told Bowden on MLB Network Radio that the team is monitoring the Tim Lincecum market, but he expects the two-time Cy Young Award winner to sign somewhere west of the Mississippi (Twitter links).
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/3/16
We’ll track the day’s minor moves right here:
- The Cubs announced that they’ve placed outfielder Matt Szczur on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring and selected the contract of outfielder Ryan Kalish to take his place on the active roster. In order to clear a spot for Kalish on the 40-man roster, the club has transferred infielder Christian Villanueva to the 60-day disabled list. Kalish, 28, was long a top-rated Red Sox prospect and is, as such, quite familiar to president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer. Excellent production in the minors has earned Kalish his first taste of the Majors since 2014 (also with the Cubs). In 20 games (70 plate appearances) at the Triple-A level thus far, Kalish is batting a ridiculous .368/.471/.509 with four doubles, a pair of triples, three steals and more walks drawn (10) than strikeouts (nine).
- The Mariners announced that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Steve Johnson from Triple-A Tacoma and placed right-hander Tony Zych on the 15-day DL with rotator cuff tendinitis. Johnson, 28, has a fair amount of big league experience — all coming with the Orioles between the 2012-15 seasons. In 59 1/3 innings at the big league level, he’s worked to a 4.25 ERA with 10.5 K/9 against 5.5 BB/9. However, he’s posted a 20-to-2 K/BB ratio in 16 innings with Tacoma this season, so the Mariners will undoubtedly hope that they’ve helped iron out his longstanding control problems. Zych, meanwhile, had a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings this season and had punched out 19 batters against eight free passes (one intentional).
Earlier Moves
- The Reds have purchased the contract of catcher Rafael Lopez from the Bridgeport Bluefish, the indy league club announced. He’ll head to Triple-A Louisville, providing another depth option for an organization that is filling in for injured MLB starter Devin Mesoraco. Lopez, 28, has only appeared briefly at the major league level. He spent last season at Triple-A in the Cubs and Angels systems, slashing .266/.339/.335 over 246 plate appearances.
- Righty Matt Buschmann has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Diamondbacks, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old was designated recently as Arizona continues to cycle through relief pitchers to keep its pen fresh. He surrendered only one earned run in his first 4 1/3 big league frames, but will for head back to Triple-A once again to wait for another shot. Buschmann had been working as a starter in the minors, as he has for much of his minor league career, but it remains to be seen what role he’ll take upon his return to Reno.
Latest On Tim Lincecum Showcase
We learned recently that free agent righty Tim Lincecum is preparing for a long-awaited showcase on Friday. Once one of the best pitchers in the game, Lincecum has been slowed by a variety of injury and performance issues more recently — including, particularly, hip surgery this past September — and is looking to show that he’s back to full health before signing.
Here’s the latest, with links to the Twitter account of MLB Network’s Jon Heyman unless otherwise noted:
- The showcase will be held at Scottsdale Stadium, the Giants’ spring home, per Heyman. While Lincecum has availed himself of his long-time team’s facilities during his ramp-up, it shouldn’t be supposed that a return to San Francisco is particularly likely. As we’ve covered before, the Giants are said to be interested in Lincecum as a bullpen option, while he’s hoping to find a shot as a starter.
- This particular event was always going to draw more fanfare than a typical bullpen session for a free agent who hasn’t posted a sub-4.00 ERA since 2011, but it appears that it could be made into a bigger spectacle than anyone would have foreseen. ESPN may be on hand to broadcast the outing, Heyman tweets, which would certainly lend an interesting combine-esque quality to the proceedings.
- Beyond the Giants, we heard previously that the Orioles, Padres, and Athletics plan to have a scouting presence on hand. The White Sox, too, will be there, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link), as will the Angels, according to Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com (via Twitter). And the Blue Jays will also take a look, John Lott tweets.
- Heyman also adds several more clubs that plant to send eyes (links: 1; 2; 3; 4). The Dodgers, Cubs, Nationals, and Marlins will be there from the National League side of things. And American League teams with at least one scout in the stands will include the Rangers and Astros.
NL Central Notes: Pirates, Bryant, Arrieta, Jungmann
The Pirates announced on Friday that they have extended their entire coaching staff through the 2017 season. The club did not announce a new contract for skipper Clint Hurdle, though Hurdle was already signed through the 2017 season himself, whereas the coaches’ contracts ran through the end of the current campaign. The new contracts mean that bench coach Dave Jauss, pitching coach Ray Searage, hitting coach Jeff Branson, third base coach Rick Sofield, first base coach Nick Leyva, bullpen coach Euclides Rojas, assistant hitting coach Jeff Livesey and bullpen catcher Heberto Andrade will all return for another season. Searage, in particular, has become particularly notable in the national media due to Pittsburgh’s success in rehabilitating pitchers that have endured recent struggles (though the Bucs did lose noted pitching specialist Jim Benedict to the Marlins’ front office this past winter).
A few more notes out of the NL Central…
- Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant underwent an MRI this morning which confirmed that his right ankle sprain is mild in nature, writes MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. Bryant is out of the lineup today in favor of Javier Baez and may miss a few games, tweets Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, but the reigning National League Rookie of the Year isn’t expected to require a trip to the disabled list and should be back in relatively short order. Obviously, that’s good news for a Cubs team that has already lost Kyle Schwarber for the season and had to place catcher Miguel Montero on the 15-day disabled list yesterday.
- As we’ve heard recently, the Cubs and ace Jake Arrieta remain far apart in extension talks. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter) says that Arrieta remains focused on securing a seven-year deal, as was the case back in Spring Training, but the team is currently only comfortable with offering the reigning Cy Young winner a four-year extension. That type of deal would run through Arrieta’s age-34 season, whereas Arrieta’s preferred contract length would extend into his age-37 campaign. Dominant as he may be, it’s understandable that the Cubs are hesitant to guarantee both Arrieta such a substantial amount through age 37, especially considering the fact that with free agency about 18 months away and a huge salary already in the bank, Arrieta and agent Scott Boras probably don’t feel the need to offer a considerable discount in terms of average annual value. Beyond that, the Cubs are already paying Jon Lester into his age-36 season, and promising that type of cash to a pair of pitchers into their late 30s is wrought with risk for the team.
- Though he started the Brewers‘ third game of the season, right-hander Taylor Jungmann was optioned to Triple-A by Milwaukee today, the team announced. The 26-year-old made a very strong debut in 2015, logging 119 1/3 innings with a 3.77 ERA, 8.1 K/9, 3.5 BB/9 and a 46.3 percent ground-ball rate, but he’s struggled tremendously in 2016. Thus far, Jungmann has yielded 21 earned runs in 20 2/3 innings, and he’s walked as many batters as he’s struck out (13). His velocity is also down two and a half miles per hour from last season. The Brewers called up reliever David Goforth in the interim, but they’ll need to make a move to add another starter in advance of Jungmann’s next would-be turn in the rotation, which would come on Tuesday. As MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy points out (on Twitter), Jungmann now faces the unenviable task of attempting to find the solution to his struggles in one of the game’s least-favorable pitching environments: Colorado Springs.