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Pitcher Notes: Nats, Chapman, Miller, Reds, Felix

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Improving their bullpen will be the Nationals’ “top priority” as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches, a source told Bill Ladson of MLB.com. The Nats aren’t close to acquiring anyone at this time, reports Ladson, who writes that they are hoping the Yankees will put lights-out lefties Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller on the block. Both have been connected in the past to the Nationals, who aren’t content with Jonathan Papelbon serving as their closer. Papelbon has fared well this year, having converted 14 of 16 save chances and posted a 2.91 ERA, 7.06 K/9 and 2.08 BB/9 in 21 2/3 innings, but he’s undoubtedly inferior to both Chapman and Miller. Even without either of those two in the mix, Washington’s bullpen entered Sunday ranked third in both ERA (2.85) and K/BB ratio (3.51).

More pitching notes:

  • In unfortunate news for the Reds, their top starter, right-hander Raisel Iglesias, will work out of the bullpen when he returns from a shoulder injury in a few weeks, reports Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). The door isn’t closed on the 26-year-old rejoining the Reds’ rotation down the line, but he’ll have to show that his shoulder can hold up, per Buchanan. From a financial point of view, Buchanan notes that the likelihood of Iglesias opting out of his $27MM contract when he becomes eligible for arbitration will decrease if he doesn’t go back to starting (Twitter links). Iglesias has 154 days of major league service time under his belt and will soon reach the 172-day mark necessary for a full year, but he’s still a good distance from the three years needed to take a crack at arbitration. The Cuba native has so far made 23 big league appearances (21 starts) and compiled a 4.00 ERA, 9.68 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9 in 123 innings.
  • On the bright side for the Reds, righty Anthony DeSclafani is likely to make his 2016 debut during the upcoming week – perhaps Friday – tweets Buchanan. The 26-year-old has been out all season with an oblique issue. He performed well in 2015, his first full big league campaign, totaling 184 2/3 innings of 4.05 ERA/3.67 FIP/3.97 xFIP pitching.
  • The Mariners’ Felix Hernandez might not return from the disabled list when he’s eligible on June 12, reports Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. “Fingers crossed, but he may miss a couple (of more starts). We’ll see,” said manager Scott Servais. The hope when Hernandez landed on the DL with a straight right calf muscle was that he’d only miss two starts, but he still isn’t moving well and hasn’t resumed throwing. King Felix posted a 2.86 ERA, 7.57 K/9 and 3.71 BB/9 in 63 innings prior to going on the shelf.

NL Central Notes: Rondon, Cubs, Vogelsong, Reds

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Cubs closer Hector Rondon has emerged from the brink of retirement to hold down a critical role on a high-performing club, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports writes. His relatively meager saves totals belie his effectiveness and importance to a team that has had more than its share of blowout wins this year. After nearly giving up baseball with the Indians, Rondon was plucked in the Rule 5 draft after some savvy assessment by coach Franklin Font. It’s an interesting read on an interesting player.

Elsewhere in the NL Central …

  • The Cubs are doing their homework on possible trade targets, with a particular focus on pitching depth, Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com reports. According to the report, a quality left-handed reliever could be at or near the top of the list, though general manager Jed Hoyer says that the club remains confident in Travis Wood and Clayton Richard. The GM also cautions that it’s too early to expect any movement. “It’s still really early,” he said. “We are doing our due diligence. We are working hard and scouting the players that may become available. It is still exceptionally early in the trade season for anything.”
  • Pirates righty Ryan Vogelsong had surgery to address multiple facial fractures suffered when he was hit by a pitch in his last start, as Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. According to the club, his rehab timeline will be addressed once the swelling goes down, with more information expected to be forthcoming next week.
  • The Reds are gearing up for what could prove to be an interesting draft, as MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. Cincinnati sports the highest overall draft bonus pool in the league, and scouting director Chris Buckley says that could open some opportunities to “get more creative throughout the entire draft — not just early in the draft but later in the draft.” Signability remains a key consideration, he noted. President of baseball operations Walt Jocketty also cited the benefits of the large pool, saying the team aims to “improve the depth and inventory” of the farm.

NL Notes: Padres, Cards, Reds, D-Backs

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The Padres had a chance to add righty Michael Fulmer from the Mets at last year’s trade deadline, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Instead, San Diego held onto Justin Upton and recouped a draft pick via the qualifying offer, which the club will put to use alongside many other early picks in a few weeks. Fulmer, of course, ended up with the Tigers when New York cashed him in for Yoenis Cespedes. The jettisoned Carlos Gomez trade had already provided an interesting set of alternative history scenarios, and this deal-that-never-was only adds to the intrigue.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • The breakout performance of Aledmys Diaz has the Cardinals looking for ways to adapt the rest of the roster to a new full-time shortstop, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. St. Louis has had discussions with both Jhonny Peralta and Matt Carpenter about occupying more versatile roles — something in the mold of, but less dramatic than, Ben Zobrist’s old position-less situation with the Rays. Both Peralta and Carpenter have played multiple positions in the majors already, but it seems that the variety and day-to-day volatility may increase somewhat. Meanwhile, GM John Mozeliak said that he has high expectations for Diaz. “[G]iven what you’re seeing out of Diaz at his age [25], you really need to see him develop at shortstop,” said the veteran executive. “When you look at what he’s been able to do, seeing him hold that spot for the next five or six years is reasonable to think.”
  • Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty says that his organization has not been fielding calls on possible trade pieces, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports. Jocketty says his expectation is that trade chatter won’t really pick up until late June. “It’s really hard to say,” said Jocketty. “I don’t think anything will happen much until after the Draft. That’s usually when it starts to happen, a couple of weeks after the Draft.” Of course, that’s not to say that there isn’t any action in the month of June; I recently looked back at some notable trades in recent years and we just saw a swap yesterday involving a veteran reliever.
  • Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron suggests that the Diamondbacks ought to consider what might be their boldest move yet: dangling the just-signed Zack Greinke in trade talks this summer. While the organization is committed to near-term contention, says Cameron, it may not have the flexibility it needs to address its many concerns over the winter. Dealing Greinke this summer in a market that looks light on arms would offer an opportunity to big-budget contenders to add a premium pitcher in advance of a free agent class that falls well shy of last year’s crop of talent. While Greinke hasn’t been as sharp as last year, and has posted far worse results, he’d certainly still draw interest, even if his huge salary would require some serious negotiating. All told, the scenario seems rather unlikely — as Cameron acknowledges — but is interesting to consider.

Prospect Notes: July 2, Astros, Bell, Draft

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Over at Baseball America, Ben Badler provides an outstanding preview of the coming July 2 international signing period. Of particular note, Badler reports that the Astros are expected to exceed their spending limits and incur the maximum penalty (a 100% overage tax and two-year ban on $300K+ bonuses). Houston has been making huge outlays through the draft in recent years, but saw its domestic amateur spending capacity plummet after the club’s excellent performance at the major league level one year ago. With that pipeline now constrained, Badler says the ’Stros will blow past their available $2.2MM or so in pool allocation on just one player — Cuban shortstop Anibal Sierra — while likely adding several other pricey youngsters.

More from Badler’s column and from some other outlets as both the Draft and the 2016-17 international signing period draw near…

  • Badler goes on to detail the latest elsewhere in the market, listing some of the high-dollar prospects attached to the Braves, Padres, Nationals, and Cardinals, which are the other clubs he expects to top their cap this year. He also explains the interesting case of Dominican infielder Freudis Nova, who lost an apparent ~$2.5MM agreement with the Marlins after testing positive for steroid use. He now appears to be up for grabs, with his landing spot and ultimate bonus uncertain. Badler writes that the Padres and Astros make sense as logical possibilities, as each is already expected to shatter their bonus pool, while clubs that are planning to stick within their set limitations have largely allocated most of their funds via verbal agreements already.
  • The Reds, meanwhile, may yet be able to stay within their second-in-the-majors allotment, per Badler. Cincinnati is still expected to give shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez a $7MM bonus, but could still pick up enough slots via trade to keep the total spend within the limits.
  • Sticking with the international free agent scene, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports that Cuban outfielder Alexei Bell, who has been playing in the Mexican League, has asked for his release from los Tigres de Quintana Roo (Twitter link). Per Sanchez, Bell has been hit on both the hand and the arm and doesn’t want to risk a serious injury. It should be noted, too, that Bell was scuffling at the plate in his limited sample, batting just .171/.310/.314 through 42 plate appearances.
  • The Brewers’ top baseball decision-maker, GM David Stearns, has paid visits to watch high-school pitchers Jason Groome and Riley Pint as well as University of Miami catcher Zack Collins, Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs reports on Twitter. Longenhagen also adds (Twitter link) that Rockies GM Jeff Bridich recently took a long look at Groome, who was previously favored to go first overall but has slipped in recent mock drafts.
  • Speaking of mock drafts, there are several new ones worth taking a look at for those interested in prognostication. Frankie Piliere of D1Baseball.com still likes the Phillies to grab University of Florida lefty A.J. Puk at 1-1, which is also the prediction of ESPN.com’s Keith Law (Insider link). Law has Kyle Lewis going second to the Reds and Groome heading to the Braves with the third choice. Baseball America’s John Manuel, meanwhile, now thinks the Phils will go for high school outfielder Mickey Moniak, leaving Cincinnati to grab Puk and setting up Atlanta to take Louisville’s Corey Ray.

NL Central Links: Pirates, Locke, Cozart, Zobrist

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Some items from around the division…

  • The Pirates have said they intend to use Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow and Chad Kuhl as starters when the three young arms are promoted to the majors, though Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes that if all three are called up this season, the Bucs may not have enough rotation space.  The Pirates have one starter likely to be shifted out (Juan Nicasio) and Sawchik figures Jon Niese’s recent good form has solidified his starting spot.
  • This could leave Jeff Locke fighting for his job, though Sawchik hears from scouts that Locke has some trade value if the Pirates wanted to address their rotation surplus by making a deal.  The six-year veteran has been a decent back-of-the-rotation arm for the Bucs over the last three seasons, capable of eating innings (a career-high 168 1/3 frames in 2015) and keeping the ball in the park (a career 50.7% grounder rate) while not recording many strikeouts.  This season, however, Locke has not pitched very well, posting a 5.08 ERA, 5.6 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and an even 50.0% grounder rate over 51 1/3 innings.
  • Also from Sawchik’s piece, he opines that Rich Hill would make sense as a trade deadline target for the Pirates.  Of course, given Hill’s strong performance and low cost (roughly $4MM still owed this season), the A’s lefty could be one of the deadline’s most sought-after trade chips.  In Pittsburgh’s case, acquiring Hill could allow them to keep Glasnow or Kuhl in the minors until next season.
  • If the Reds intend to trade Zack Cozart, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer suggests that the club should move the shortstop before the deadline rather than wait until the offseason.  Anything can happen to lower a player’s value if you wait too long to make a trade, Buchanan argues, as the Reds discovered with Aroldis Chapman last year.  Cozart’s value may be at an all-time high since, in addition to his usual excellent defense, he’s been an above-average (104 wRC+) shortstop bat for the last two seasons.
  • At age 35, Ben Zobrist is on pace for the best season of his 11-year career and he has been one of the major reasons for the Cubs’ league-best record, Toni Ginnetti of the Chicago Sun-Times writes.  While it’s only two months into Zobrist’s four-year/$56MM contract, the big investment in a mid-30’s player has thus far worked out spectacularly well for the Cubs.  Zobrist enters today’s play hitting .351/.451/.542 with seven homers and 36 runs scored; his OBP leads all qualified Major League hitters.
  • In NL Central news from earlier today, the Cardinals’ punishment for the Astros computer breach scandal isn’t likely to be issued before June’s amateur draft.

Cafardo’s Latest: Braun, Moore, CarGo, Bruce, Santiago

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Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun is “the hot name out there” on the trade market, a National League scout told Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The scout listed the Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Mets, Phillies, Red Sox and White Sox as potential buyers for the 32-year-old Braun, who has resembled his past NL MVP-winning self offensively this season in slashing .351/.424/.583 with nine home runs in 170 trips to the plate. Braun is in the first season of a five-year extension that could be worth either $94MM or $105MM, depending on what happens with the contract’s mutual option for 2021.

Here’s more from Cafardo’s weekly column:

  • With prospect Blake Snell knocking on the door and Alex Cobb nearing a return from 2015 Tommy John surgery, the Rays could soon have a glut of starting pitching. Thus, they’d be willing to deal southpaw Matt Moore for both a major leaguer and a quality minor league piece. The soon-to-be 27-year-old Moore is controllable through 2019 on a cheap contract, but the former top prospect already has a Tommy John surgery under his belt and has run up a bloated 5.37 ERA in 120 2/3 frames since last season.
  • If the Rockies decide to trade right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, one talent evaluator told Cafardo that the Red Sox could be an ideal fit. “Their offense is cranking right now, but there’s an outfield position there that could possibly be enhanced if the Red Sox don’t think Brock Holt or Blake Swihart or Chris Young are the answer. They might be. But Cargo fits them as a top all-around player with power.” After slugging 40 home runs last season, Gonzalez has hit .294/.333/.471 with a somewhat modest seven homers this year. Gonzalez would presumably play left for the Red Sox, whose left fielders have hit .241/.321/.377 with four long balls. Their struggles haven’t exactly crippled baseball’s highest-scoring offense, however. Gonzalez, who will turn 30 in October, is making $17MM this year and will rake in another $20MM next season.
  • While Reds right fielder Jay Bruce is available, he won’t come cheap if the team has its way. The Reds nearly sent Bruce to Toronto during the winter, but the deal fell through after Cincinnati got cold feet over the health of one of the prospects whom it was supposed to acquire. The lefty-swinging Bruce was coming off two uncharacteristically subpar offensive seasons at the time, but he has perhaps rebuilt some of his value with an above-average .261/.313/.497 line to pair with eight homers in 176 PAs this year. Bruce, 29, is currently on a $12.5MM salary and has a $13MM club option ($1MM buyout) for 2017.
  • Angels left-hander Hector Santiago is a name to watch around the trade deadline if the Halos drop out of the race, though he’ll likely need to start faring better if the team wants to move him. Santiago, who’s collecting $5MM and has a year of arbitration eligibility remaining, has thrown 55 innings of 4.58 ERA ball this year to accompany a 7.04 K/9 and 3.44 BB/9.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/26/16

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Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…

  • The Reds announced tonight that right-hander Steve Delabar has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A after clearing waivers. (SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo first tweeted the move earlier this afternoon). Cincinnati designated Delabar, 32, for assignment on Sunday after he struggled through eight innings of relief at the big league level this season. Delabar, who posted a 3.49 ERA in 131 2/3 innings between the Mariners and Blue Jays from 2011-13, has struggled to rediscover that form in the seasons to follow. His 2016 work the the Blue Jays resulted in six earned runs on five hits and an alarming 10 walks in eight innings, though he did also pick up 10 strikeouts in that time. He’ll look to get back on track in Triple-A, where he excelled in 2014, 2015 and earlier this season as well.
  • The Marlins announced that lefty Tim Berry, who was designated for assignment earlier this week, has been outrighted to Class-A Advanced Jupiter. The former Orioles farmhand had a dreadful first run between Class-A and Double-A this year, surrendering an astounding 22 earned runs on 35 hits and nine walks with 17 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Berry showed some promise as starter in 2014 with the Orioles organization, but he struggled to repeat that success, and his troubles have continued even following a shift to the bullpen.

Earlier Moves

  • The Twins have placed outfielder Darin Mastroianni on the DL and filled his roster spot by selecting the contract of left-hander Buddy Boshers from Triple-A Rochester, per a club announcement. Minnesota transferred closer Glen Perkins to the 60-day disabled list to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Boshers, 28, spent the 2015 season on the independent circuit but has turned in a strong showing at the Triple-A level this year, working to a 1.42 ERA with a 21-to-5 K/BB ratio in 19 innings out of the Rochester bullpen. Perkins, meanwhile, has been out since early April due to a shoulder injury and recently suffered a setback in his rehab. The earliest he could be activated would be June 10, though that seems unlikely given recent updates on his status.
  • Right-hander Seth Simmons has agreed to a minor league contract with the Padres, MLBTR has learned. Simmons, a former D-backs farmhand, split the 2015 season between Arizona’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates, working to a 2.99 ERA with 10.4 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 75 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old struggled out of the gates with Arizona at the Triple-A level this season and was granted his release recently. The 27-year-old has yet to pitch in the Majors but has posted strong numbers for most of his minor league career, working a 2.97 ERA with averages of 11.6 strikeouts and 3.9 walks per nine innings. The Padres would seem to be somewhat of a logical connection, as San Diego skipper Andy Green has previously managed Simmons during his days as a minor league skipper with the D-backs.

Yankees Claim Layne Somsen From Reds

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The Yankees have claimed righty Layne Somsen off waivers from the Reds, per an announcement from New York. It appears that he was placed on outright waivers to clear a 40-man spot.

Somsen, who’ll soon turn 27, was greeted roughly in his first two major league appearances. But he’s shown some promise in the minors, including a 19-inning run at Triple-A this year in which he’s allowed just four earned runs on ten hits with a strikeout per frame against seven walks.

Reds Acquire International Bonus Slots From Orioles

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TODAY: The signing slots acquired are worth around $700K, per Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com (Twitter link). That would appear to suggest that the Reds have added Baltimore’s first ($538,800) and fourth ($154,500) pool allocations.

YESTERDAY: The Reds have picked up two international signing slots from the Orioles in exchange for minor league righty Franderlyn Romero, according to a Baltimore announcement. Dayton Dragons pitching coach Derrin Ebert had revealed the news that Romero was headed to the O’s earlier today (via Dayton broadcaster Tom Nichols, on Twitter).

This move fits alongside Baltimore’s draft pick deal earlier today. In both instances, the club picked up questionable minor league talent while passing off some of its amateur spending capacity. The other trade also saw the O’s shed just under $3MM in salary, in the form of Brian Matusz’s contract. Only certain draft picks may be dealt, but teams are able to trade individual signing allotments, subject to certain restrictions.

It’s not yet known which slots were sent to Cincinnati, but Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer notes on Twitter that they are for the current signing season, not the one set to begin on July 2 of this year. What that means for the Reds’ plans remains to be seen, but it’s an important distinction. After all, most of the talent available for the 2015-16 period has already signed, though there are some notable Cuban players who could sign in either period.

Among those players is Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez, who had a reported deal with the Reds. As Steve Adams of MLBTR explains here, that created some issues and raised some questions. The organization has seemingly sought to push the signing back to this summer so as to avoid incurring a two-year ban on future signings. After all, Cinci enters the coming July 2 period with a total bonus pool of just over $5MM (second-highest in the league), and the club would surely like to utilize that availability to boost its talent pipeline.

In return, Baltimore picks up a 23-year-old hurler who’s yet to advance past the Class A level. Romero opened the year there after previously making just one outing above Rookie ball. He’s off to a solid start for Dayton, at least, with a 2.87 ERA in 47 frames and 8.0 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9.

Cafardo’s Latest: Markakis, Bruce, McLeod, Fernandez, Lincecum, Reddick

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Here are some hot stove items from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe…

  • The Royals and Phillies are among the teams looking at Braves outfielder Nick Markakis.  “The money is an issue there, especially with the Royals,” Cafardo writes; Markakis is owed $10.5MM in each of the next two seasons and roughly $7.25MM remaining on his 2016 salary.  Markakis entered Sunday hitting .252/.362/.348 in 185 PA, and his near-total power dropoff over the last two seasons has surely hurt his trade value, as MLBTR’s Connor Byrne pointed out earlier today.  While both K.C. and the Phils could use help in right field, Markakis has delivered only replacement-level production this season, with an even 0.0 fWAR.
  • The Reds’ Jay Bruce is another target for the Royals and other teams looking for a left-handed hitting outfielder.  Bruce’s terrible defensive metrics (-9 Defensive Runs Saved, -34 UZR/150) have his overall value at below replacement level (-0.2 fWAR) though he’s enjoying a good year at the plate, hitting .270/.327/.518 with eight homers through 156 PA.  Bruce is under contract only through the 2016 season, owed approximately $8.1MM more in remaining salary plus a $1MM buyout of a $13MM club option for his services in 2017.  Cincinnati has been shopping Bruce for months, including one proposed offseason trade that nearly saw him get shipped to the Blue Jays.
  • Jason McLeod, the Cubs’ senior VP of player development and amateur scouting, would eventually like to run his own front office but is content to remain with Chicago, having already turned down interviews with the Mariners and Padres in recent years.  McLeod figures to be one of the game’s most sought-after GM candidates should he decide to pursue a general managing position.  Between his stints running the scouting departments for the Cubs, Padres and Red Sox, several well-regarded young prospects and currently stars were drafted on McLeod’s watch.
  • Cuban infielder Jose Miguel Fernandez is eligible to sign at any time, though he could possibly have to wait until the offseason simply due to awkward timing.  Though Fernandez is 28, an eight-year veteran in Cuba’s top league and is pitched by his agent Alan Nero as a Ben Zobrist or Dustin Pedroia type of player, he won’t be able to immediately help an MLB club.  Fernandez hasn’t played since 2014 so he’ll need some minor league time to get back into game shape.
  • As per “a couple of GMs” and at least one AL talent evaluator, Tim Lincecum made a mistake in coming to the American League to sign the Angels.  “I just don’t see his style of pitching at this juncture in his career working in the AL,” the evaluator said.  “The designated hitter makes a big difference, and when you have a guy who relies on having to be pinpoint, that makes it a tough league to succeed.”  Lincecum was known to prefer pitching for a West Coast team so his choices were somewhat limited in that sense, especially given that the two-time Cy Young Award winner also wanted to start.
  • As of last week, Josh Reddick told Cafardo that there wasn’t any progress towards an extension with the Athletics.  Much has changed, of course, since Reddick’s chat with Cafardo, as the outfielder suffered a fractured left thumb and will miss several weeks of action.
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