Injury Notes: Snell, Dickerson, Fowler, Williams, Skaggs
As expected, the Rays have activated left-hander Blake Snell to start tonight’s game against the White Sox. The first-time All-Star will be on a limited pitch count following a two-week DL stint for left shoulder fatigue. Following a trade of Chris Archer to the Pirates, Snell looks like the only reliable starter in a Rays rotation that continues to see relievers open games more often than the starters themselves. Snell’s pre-injury performance, of course, was phenomenal; his 2.27 ERA would be more than a run lower than his career best season.
Here are a few other disabled list transactions from around the league…
- Pirates outfielder Corey Dickerson has been activated after a short stint on the disabled list; he’d been sidelined with a left hamstring strain. They’ll surely be glad to have him back after the club traded away notable outfield depth in the form of Austin Meadows at the July 31st deadline. While he’s active, Dickerson won’t be starting today’s game against the Cardinals (though he’ll presumably be available off the bench).
- As expected after last night’s news, Cardinals outfielder Dexter Fowler will hit the DL after suffering a fractured foot. Fowler’s enduring a miserable season that’s by far his career worst; he’s managed to hit an absolutely wretched .180/.278/.298 across 334 plate appearances while playing middling outfield defense. Fangraphs rates him as being 1.2 wins below replacement level on the season after a 2.5 fWAR debut with the Cards last year.
- Switch-hitting relief pitcher Taylor Williams is headed to the DL with right elbow soreness. It’s certainly bad news for a Brewers bullpen that’s seeing Corey Knebel struggle mightily of late. Williams has tossed 42 2/3 relief innings and managed to strike out 10.43 batters per nine innings, though he’s only managed to keep the ball on the ground 34.8% of the time and has walked a batter nearly every other inning on average. Williams is in the midst of his first full season in the majors after a 4 2/3 inning cup of coffee last year.
- Angels hurler Tyler Skaggs is headed to the disabled list with a left adductor strain, the club has announced. Skaggs has described the injury as “extremely frustrating”, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. He apparently sustained it during his last start. In his stead, the Angels have called up right-hander Taylor Cole. The Angels, of course, have already seen their rotation annihilated by injuries this year, with Garrett Richards, Shohei Ohtani, J.C. Ramirez and Matt Shoemaker among the affected starters.
Rays Acquire International Bonus Money From White Sox
The Rays have acquired some international bonus funds from the White Sox in exchange for minor league southpaw Hunter Schryver, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Daryl Van Schouwen reports (Twitter link). The exact dollar amount isn’t known, though the international signing slots can be traded in increments of $250K. The White Sox made a similar trade just two days ago, dealing $1.5MM in international bonus money to the Yankees for minor league lefty Caleb Frare.
Chicago is in the proverbial “penalty box” for the 2018-19 international signing class, as since the White Sox and seven other teams exceeded their bonus pool limit (under the old international signing rules) in past years, they aren’t allowed to sign any players from this signing period for more than a $300K bonus. It has thus become common to see such penalized teams trading some of their 2018-19 bonus pool money in deals for prospects like Schryver or Frare, or even for established Major Leaguers, i.e. the Braves’ acquisition of Brad Brach from the Orioles.
The Rays will add to their original $6,025,400 bonus pool at the cost of Schryver, a seventh-round pick out of Villanova in the 2017 draft. The 23-year-old has started just one of his 51 appearances as a pro, and his early returns make him a promising future left-handed weapon out of the bullpen. Schryver has a 2.70 ERA, 10.5 K/9, and 5.11 K/BB rate over 83 1/3 career innings, and he made his debut at the high-A level earlier this season.
AL Central Rumors: Escobar, Gibson, Royals, ChiSox
Prior to trading infielder Eduardo Escobar to the Diamondbacks, the Twins approached Escobar’s camp about a potential extension, reports La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. However, talks between the two sides didn’t gain much in the way of momentum, which ultimately led Minnesota to move him for a package of three prospects. Neal adds that the Twins are open to trading impending free agents Brian Dozier, Zach Duke and Lance Lynn, though he offers a similar sentiment to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal in reporting that Minnesota isn’t inclined to trade Kyle Gibson, who is controlled through 2019. Rather, Neal suggests that Minnesota may offer Gibson an extension this winter on the heels of what is increasingly shaping up to be a breakout season. Any such conversation with Gibson’s camp has yet to take place, though, as 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson recently tweeted.
Here’s more from the division…
- Following the acquisitions of outfielder Brett Phillips and right-hander Jorge Lopez in the Mike Moustakas trade, Royals general manager Dayton Moore suggested to reporters that his club may not be eyeing an especially lengthy rebuilding process (link via Maria Torres of the Kansas City Star). Moore indicated that the proximity of both Phillips and Lopez to the Majors held significant appeal to the Kansas City front office. “We didn’t want to do a prospect-type deal in this case, because of the nature of where we are at the major-league level and what we’re trying to accomplish,” said Moore. “We don’t like losing games and we don’t like where we are right now with the major-league team, so we wanted to try to seek talent that was going to help us sooner than later.” That meshes nicely with the Royals’ targeting of college arms in the top several rounds this year’s draft.
- Though White Sox fans are ravenously anticipating the promotion of prospects Eloy Jimenez and Michael Kopech (particularly the former), general manager Rick Hahn preached patience when asked about the pair’s timeline to the Majors (link via Tom Musick of the Chicago Sun-Times). “While you can look at a stat line or you can look at a box score and say, ‘This guy looks like he’s doing well, looks like he’s ready,’ our checklist that we want these guys to answer is a little more lengthy than that,” Hahn said, though he declined to delve into specific elements that need improvement with each player. Hahn added that even a trade of a player on the roster (an outfielder or starter) wouldn’t necessarily prompt a promotion for either. “It’s not going to be a function of any level of eagerness that fans or coaches or myself or the front office has,” said Hahn. The GM also discussed the trade of Joakim Soria and potential for other moves.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/29/18
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- The White Sox released outfielder Jacob May on Saturday, Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Now 26, May was once a well-regarded prospect with the Sox, who chose him in the the third round of the 2013 draft. May was unable to produce much with the bat as he climbed through the minor league ranks, though, and he slashed a ghastly .056/.150/.056 during a 42-plate appearance major league debut last season. He opened 2018 with Triple-A Charlotte and hit an underwhelming .255/.303/.341 with two home runs and 15 stolen bases in 342 PAs prior to his release.
- The Reds announced that left-hander Kyle Crockett was outrighted to Triple-A Louisville after clearing waivers. Cincinnati designated the 26-year-old for assignment Friday after he threw 9 1/3 innings with the club. Crockett allowed six earned runs on a whopping 16 hits in that span, but he also struck out 11 batters and issued only two walks. He’ll now return to Louisville, where he has pitched to a 4.00 ERA/3.24 FIP with 7.67 K/9 and 1.67 BB/9 in 27 innings this season.
- Like Crockett, Orioles lefty Chris Lee has been outrighted after clearing waivers, the team announced. Lee’s headed to Double-A Bowie, where he hasn’t pitched since 2016. This has been an injury-shortened season for the 25-year-old Lee, who has combined for just 14 innings between rookie ball and the Triple-A level.
White Sox Acquire Caleb Frare From Yankees
The Yankees have sent left-handed reliever Caleb Frare to the White Sox in exchange for $1.5MM in international bonus pool money, Jack Curry of the YES Network tweets.
This is the second time this weekend the Yankees have landed international money in a trade, as they acquired $1MM from the Cardinals in a three-player deal on Saturday. Expectations are that the Yankees, who entered this year’s international period with the standard bonus pool of $4,983,500, will spend some of their newfound cash on Cuban pitching prospect Osiel Rodriguez.
New York will now say goodbye to Frare, whom it selected in the 11th round of the 2012 draft. The 25-year-old did not rank among the Yankees’ top 30 prospects at MLB.com prior to the trade, though he did dominate at the Double-A level this season. Frare recently earned a promotion to Triple-A Scranton, where he only threw one inning, after opening 2018 with a .62 ERA/2.24 FIP and 11.75 K/9 against 3.09 BB/9 across 43 2/3 Double-A frames. Earlier this season, Frare’s manager at Trenton, Jay Bell, told Randy Miller of NJ.com that “he’s starting to figure it out,” thanks in part to a fastball that sits in the 93-94 mph range. Frare will report to Triple-A Charlotte with his new organization, the White Sox announced.
White Sox Designate Chris Volstad For Assignment
The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve designated right-hander Chris Volstad for assignment. His spot on the 25- and 40-man rosters will go to right-hander Tyler Danish, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Charlotte. The ChiSox also called up right-handed reliever Thyago Vieira from Charlotte to join the big league bullpen.
Volstad, 31, has soaked up 47 1/3 innings for an ugly Chicago pitching staff so far in 2018, though he’s posted an ungainly 6.27 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 in that time. Those 47 1/3 frames are the most he’s totaled in a big league season since 2012; in fact, it’s a greater total than the combined number of MLB innings Volstad threw from 2013-17. The Sox have a week to trade him or run him through outright waivers, and it stands to reason that there’s a good chance he’ll clear and have the opportunity to remain in the organization at Triple-A.
Danish, 23, was one of Chicago’s better pitching prospects for a few years but cleared waivers and was removed from the 40-man roster last offseason. He’s had a nice run in Charlotte this season, though, notching a 3.06 ERA with 6.4 K/9, 3.6 BB/9 and a 51.1 percent ground-ball rate in 64 2/3 innings of work. All but two of Danish’s 29 appearances have come in relief, so it seems the organization will see how the former starter fares out of the bullpen moving forward.
As for Vieira, the 25-year-old flamethrower has had his struggles in Charlotte this year — his first in the organization. Chicago picked him up in a trade that sent international bonus considerations to the Mariners this past offseason, and while he’s averaged a heart 11 strikeouts per nine innings pitched in 2018, he’s also averaged 5.3 walks in that same span. Vieira averaged 98.7 mph on his fastball in last year’s brief MLB debut with the Mariners, and he’ll bring the ability to miss plenty of bats to the table on the South Side, even if control could prove to be an ongoing issue.
Brewers Acquire Joakim Soria
2:46pm: Chicago will send just over $1MM, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter).
12:23pm: The Brewers have officially agreed to a deal to acquire righty Joakim Soria from the White Sox, as first reportedy by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Former first-round pick Kodi Medeiros is one piece in the deal, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (Twitter link), with Feinsand tweeting that righty Wilber Perez is the other.
Per the announcement, the White Sox will pay down an unstated portion of Soria’s contract. He’s earning $9MM this year — some of it still paid for by the Dodgers, as part of the three-team deal that sent him to Chicago — with a $1MM buyout still to come on a $10MM 2019 mutual option.
While his name hasn’t been circulated much around the rumor mill, Soria ranked 12th on MLBTR’s recent list of the top 75 trade deadline candidates on the basis of his strong showing thus far. He becomes the sixth of the first 13 names on that ranking to be dealt in the past week or so.
Soria, 34, has worked as the White Sox’ closer and carries a 2.56 ERA through 38 2/3 innings on the season. He’s sporting an impressive combination of 11.4 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9, buttressed by a career-best 14.6% swinging-strike rate.
There’s a lot to like about the way the veteran hurler is throwing right now. Soria is getting whiffs both by drawing quite a few more chases out of the zone (35.6%) than ever before and by holding opposing hitters to a 77.3% contact rate on pitches in the zone, which is also a career-best rate.
Soria carried sparkling peripherals last year, too, though he only ended the season with a 3.70 ERA, so he seems to be on something of a late-career run of excellence. The long-time late-inning hurler has tamped down on the home runs quite a bit over the past two seasons, allowing only three balls in total to leave the yard in that span.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/25/18
Here are some minor moves from around the league, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…
- The White Sox have signed right-hander Asher Wojciechowski to a minor league deal, as announced by the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte (Twitter link). The 29-year-old opted out of his minors contract with the Orioles last week in order to test free agency, and he has quickly caught on with another organization. Wojciechowski received his first significant amount of MLB experience last season, tossing 62 1/3 innings over 25 appearances (eight of them starts) with the Reds, posting a 6.50 ERA, 9.2 K/9, and 3.37 K/BB rate. The inflated ERA was due in large part to 14 homers allowed, as the righty has continually been plagued by the long ball from the Triple-A level and upwards.
- The Red Sox released right-hander Kyle Martin so he could pursue an opportunity to play in Japan, the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham reports (via Twitter). The 27-year-old made his Major League debut last season, appearing in two games for the Sox, but he hasn’t since made a return trip to the Show. A ninth-round pick in the 2013 draft, Martin has a 3.55 ERA, 9.4 K/9, and 2.98 K/BB rate over 334 1/3 career innings in the minors, all as a reliever.
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/22/18
The latest minor moves from around baseball…
- Braves utilityman Danny Santana has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett, per Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Braves designated Santana on Thursday, less than a month after they selected his contract. The 27-year-old Santana has hit .279/.300/.539 with 11 home runs in 232 Triple-A plate appearances this season, but he has only managed a .179/.281/.286 line in 32 major league PAs. Santana was similarly woeful between Minnesota and Atlanta last year, when he batted .202/.243/.357 in 178 attempts.
- 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.
- Rays right-hander Ryan Weber cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Weber, whom the Rays designated July 14, has already been outrighted twice this season. The 27-year-old has spent the majority of the campaign in Durham, where he has recorded a sterling 2.05 ERA with 6.27 K/9, 2.05 BB/9 and a 51.9 percent groundball rate in 74 2/3 innings. The St. Petersburg native has scuffled with his hometown club, however, as he has yielded three earned runs on five hits and two walks (one strikeout) over a small sample of 5 1/3 frames.
- The White Sox have released outfielder Mason Robbins, James Fegan of The Athletic tweets. Robbins, 25, had been with the organization since it selected him in the 25th round of the 2014 draft. He only recorded a .688 OPS during his time in Chicago’s system and was even poorer this year as a member of its Triple-A team, with which he batted .265/.289/.367 in 226 plate appearances.
Trade Rumors: Abreu, Brewers, BoSox, Twins, Royals, Dodgers, Brach, Treinen
As an established veteran on a cellar-dwelling team, White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has come up often as a speculative trade candidate, but the club’s “strongly inclined” to retain him, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. The 31-year-old hasn’t exactly boosted his trade value this season, having hit a career-worst .250/.312/.435 (101 wRC+, compared to 139 from 2014-17) and accounted for a replacement-level WAR across 407 plate appearances. Regardless of whether the White Sox keep Abreu, he’s slated to go through arbitration once more over the winter. In the meantime, he’s on a $13MM salary this season.
More trade-related items as the countdown to the July 31 deadline continues…
- The Brewers’ interest in Royals second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield has been known for a while, and Robert Murray of The Athletic (subscription required) explores the possibility of Milwaukee acquiring him. The Brewers haven’t pursued Merrifield as aggressively as they did during the winter, according to Murray, who hears he’d be rather expensive to pry out of Kansas City. Landing Merrifield would require “three higher-end prospects, at least,” an executive told Murray. Milwaukee happens to have a quality farm system, though it’s unlikely to trade its best prospect – second baseman Keston Hiura – suggests Murray, who goes on to run down farmhands the team could deal for Merrifield. The 29-year-old Merrifield has upped his stock during a terrific season in which he has hit .305/.375/.429 with five home runs and 17 steals through 412 PAs. Adding to his appeal, Merrifield’s on a near-minimum salary this season and won’t even be eligible for arbitration until after the 2019 campaign.
- The Red Sox sent a high-level executive, senior vice president of baseball operations Frank Wren, to scout the Royals–Twins game on Friday, per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press. It’s unclear which players Wren focused on, though it’s worth pointing out that Boston has shown reported interest in both Merrifield and Royals teammate Mike Moustakas. And with the Twins likely to sell at the deadline, Buster Olney of ESPN doesn’t rule out the Red Sox pursuing second baseman Brian Dozier.
- Along with Baltimore’s closer, Zach Britton, the reliever-needy Dodgers are interested in Orioles setup man Brad Brach, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. The Dodgers have also scouted the Marlins and Rays and “monitored” Athletics closer Blake Treinen, Shaikin adds, though it seems improbable he’ll go anywhere with the A’s making a major push for a playoff spot. Conversely, as a pending free agent on a rebuilding team, the 32-year-old Brach is a good bet to end up in another uniform in the coming weeks. The problem for Baltimore is that Brach is in the midst of his least effective season in a while, with a 4.34 ERA/3.61 FIP and a 4.34 BB/9 in 37 1/3 innings. On the positive side, Brach has struck out upward of nine hitters per nine and generated swinging strikes at a solid clip (13.2 percent).