Guardians Rumors

Indians Place Michael Brantley On Disabled List

By Steve Adams | August 9, 2017 at 10:32am CDT

The Indians announced on Wednesday that they’ve placed left fielder Michael Brantley on the 10-day disabled list due to the sprained right ankle that he suffered in last night’s game. Infielder Erik Gonzalez has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus in a corresponding move.

Cleveland did not give a timeline on Brantley’s return to the roster, but even a brief loss is a blow for the team, as Cleveland finds itself in a reasonably tight American League Central division. The Indians are currently four games up on the Royals and 5.5 games ahead of the Twins in the Central. Brantley’s DL stint means he’ll miss a three-game set in Minnesota from Aug. 15-17 and at least the beginning of a three-game set in Kansas City immediately following that series. Cleveland also hosts Kansas City from Aug. 25-27.

Manager Terry Francona tells Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the sprain isn’t overly serious, but it’s also the second time that Brantley’s right ankle has sent him to the DL this season. “It’s considered mild, but it’s such a small area and you have to go more on the symptoms than maybe the diagnosis,” said Francona.

[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians depth chart]

With Brantley on the shelf for the time being, the Indians figure to rotate Austin Jackson, Brandon Guyer and Abraham Almonte in the outfield corners while rookie Bradley Zimmer handles the bulk of the playing time in center field. Cleveland is currently without Lonnie Chisenhall thanks to a strained right calf, meaning they’re without two of their top left-handed bats in the outfield. Speculatively speaking, the Indians could eventually turn to Tyler Naquin, even for a brief time, to add another lefty-swinging outfielder to the mix while Brantley and Chisenhall mend.

In 372 plate appearances this season, Brantley has posted a very solid .299/.358/.445 batting line with nine homers, 20 doubles and a triple.

Brantley Headed For MRI On Sprained Ankle

By Steve Adams | August 8, 2017 at 10:11pm CDT

Some notable injury news from around the league as Tuesday evening winds down…

Camargo will head to the 10-day disabled list, but it looks like Braves fans can breathe a sigh of relief, as MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that the MRI revealed no structural damage in Camargo’s right knee. Instead, he’s been diagnosed with a bone bruise. Camargo has been told he’ll miss anywhere from 10 to 14 days (Twitter link via Bowman). While not an ideal outcome, it’s a better prognosis than some may have feared when seeing the 23-year-old helped off the field and struggling to put any weight on his right leg. It’s likely that Swanson will take Camargo’s roster spot, though that has yet to be announced by the team.
MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets that Indians left fielder Michael Brantley is headed for an MRI on a sprained ankle that he sustained in tonight’s game. An Achilles injury has “already been ruled out,” according to Bastian, and the team will have further updates on his status tomorrow morning.

Earlier Updates

The Angels announced on Tuesday that third baseman Yunel Escobar is headed to the disabled list with a “mild grade 1 oblique strain.” Per the club’s announcement, a general timetable for recovery from such an injury is two to three weeks. While Escobar was hardly a definitive trade candidate, the free-agent-to-be seemingly stood a chance of being moved prior to the end of the month in the event that the Angels can’t right the ship and fall out of the American League Wild Card race. The 34-year-old is hitting .274/.333/.397 with seven homers through 381 plate appearances in his second season with the Angels. Now sidelined until mid-to-late August, Escobar’s chances of being dealt look decidedly slimmer, though he could still conceivably return and demonstrate his health for interested parties.
Braves infielder Johan Camargo suffered a leg injury prior to tonight’s game and has been initially diagnosed with a hyperextended knee, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Camargo hopped over the chalk line while taking the field and seemed to trip in doing so, ultimately crumbling to the ground and needing to be helped off the field (video link via FOX Sports Braves, on Twitter). O’Brien notes that Camargo is set to undergo an MRI, and Dansby Swanson has already been pulled from the game with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett. The Braves figure to have further word on the injury later tonight.
Rays right-hander Alex Cobb has landed on the 10-day disabled list due to a case of turf toe, the team announced. Cobb tells Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times that the injury was an issue in his last start and adds that he felt he could’ve pitched through it, but the team wanted to proactively get him healthy (Twitter link). It’ll be Blake Snell taking Cobb’s place for what looks to be a minimum-stay DL stint, per Topkin, meaning that prized prospect Brent Honeywell will have to wait a bit longer to make his big league debut with the Rays.
The Rangers announced that right-hander Keone Kela has been placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 5, with soreness in his right shoulder. It’s an inopportune time for an injury for Kela, who could’ve been in line to see some save opportunities (and thus pad his arbitration earning power), as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests. As Grant notes, there’s no timetable for his return — Kela will be reevaluated when the Rangers return from their current road trip — and manager Jeff Banister said it would be “a challenge” to get Kela a look in the closer’s role later this year.
The Phillies will be without catcher Andrew Knapp for at least a “couple weeks” after an MRI revealed a fracture in his right hand, according to Matt Gelp and Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Knapp had been on the DL with a hand contusion and would’ve been eligible to return on Monday but will now be sidelined a fair bit longer. That will give the Phils more of a chance to look at prospect Jorge Alfaro, and manager Pete Mackanin tells Gelb and Breen that he plans to give the 24-year-old Alfaro a fair bit of playing time. “I’ll pick my spots, but I’ll play him,” said Mackanin. “I can’t catch Rupp everyday. He’ll get a good bit of playing time.”

Indians "Open" To Adding Lefty Reliever

By Connor Byrne | August 5, 2017 at 10:27pm CDT

Major League Baseball announced Saturday that it has suspended Athletics outfielder Matt Joyce two games without pay for directing an anti-gay slur at a heckling fan during the team’s game in Anaheim on Friday. In response, the A’s stated they’re “very disappointed” by Joyce’s “unacceptable” comments, but they “appreciate that Matt is contrite about his conduct and know he will learn from this incident.”

Joyce was apologetic Saturday, saying: “I am beyond sorry for the inappropriate language that I used and understand and agree that those words should NEVER come out of someone’s mouth no matter the situation. Anyone who knows me will tell you that it is not reflective of me as a person, how I treat others, how I live my life and that those hurtful words are not my views. I fully support and hope to help the LGBTQ community with their efforts in being treated fairly. I intend to let my actions speak louder than anything more that can be said about this truly regrettable moment.”

Joyce’s forfeited salary amounts to upward of $54K, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the A’s will donate it to PFLAG – an organization that provides support to the LGBTQ community.

Boone Logan Unlikely To Return In 2017

By Jeff Todd | August 4, 2017 at 9:42pm CDT

The Indians will likely go the rest of the way without lefty Boone Logan, as Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports on Twitter. While he probably won’t need surgery to address his lat injury, Logan is expected to require a lengthy period of rest and rehab.

If Logan doesn’t make it back, it’ll complicate the team’s decision on his $7MM club option, which comes with a $1MM buyout. Soon to turn 33, Logan has bumped his typically outstanding swinging-strike rate to a career-best 18.5% while averaging a dozen strikeouts per nine, drawing grounders on half of the balls put in play against him, and throwing as hard as ever. He has also managed only a 4.71 ERA, though perhaps he has been unfortunate to carry a .353 BABIP-against as well as a 62.5% strand rate. Cleveland has deployed Logan mostly against lefties, calling on him for only 21 innings over 38 appearances.

Since Logan initially hit the DL, the Indians have also lost star southpaw Andrew Miller — though he wasn’t exactly a situational piece. That potentially adds to the need left with the departure of Logan, though. Cleveland does have some internal options. Tyler Olson has carried his intriguing Triple-A numbers into the majors thus far, though that’s in just a four-appearance sample. And the club just added veteran southpaw Craig Breslow on a minors deal; of course, he did not exactly thrive earlier this year with the division-rival Twins.

All said, the news that Logan is likely down for the count could well spur the Indians to make a move — if, that is, an appealing option becomes available. While deadline targets like Brad Hand and Zach Britton weren’t traded, it’s far from clear that either would represent plausible candidates to move in August. And MLBTR’s list of the most likely August trade chips isn’t exactly loaded with lefty relievers. But it’s reasonably likely a contender or two will make an interesting arm available after they fall out of the race, and there are a few starters (say, Clayton Richard and Derek Holland) that could conceivably move into a relief role.

Indians, Craig Breslow Agree To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | August 4, 2017 at 1:59pm CDT

The Indians and left-hander Craig Breslow have agreed to a minor league contract, reports WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford (Twitter link). Breslow was released by the Twins shortly before the non-waiver trade deadline after being designated for assignment.

Breslow, 37 next week, put extensive work into revamping his mechanics this offseason and dropping to a more sidearm angle from the left side, but the results unfortunately didn’t line up with his efforts. Through 31 innings with Minnesota, Breslow averaged 5.2 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 with a 40.4 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 5.23 ERA. His new approach, however, did sufficiently stymie left-handed batters at the plate. When left-handed bats squared off against Breslow, the result was a brutal .180/.279/.257 batting line, albeit in a fairly small sample of 44 plate appearances.

The Indians just placed Andrew Miller on the 10-day disabled list, leaving the inexperienced Tyler Olson as their only southpaw option in the bullpen. Perhaps, given Cleveland’s impressive depth when it comes to right-handed relievers, the Indians will be able to use Breslow in more of a specialized capacity. Despite his dominance over lefties, Breslow was clobbered for a .344/.404/.573 batting line by righties. The Twins, though, generally lacking depth and quality in their relief corps, were forced to use Breslow against right-handed bats more often than they’d probably have preferred (99 PAs vs. righties).

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/3/17

By Steve Adams | August 3, 2017 at 4:41pm CDT

Here are Thursday’s minor moves from around the game…

Per an announcement from the Indians, righty Perci Garner has been released after clearing waivers. Garner was designated for assignment recently. The 28-year-old cracked the majors briefly last year and showed well in the minors, but he has missed a lot of time in 2017 for injury reasons that remain less than clear. When he has pitched, his control issues have resurfaced. Through 14 1/3 Double-A frames, Garner permitted nine walks but also rang up 18 strikeouts while allowing five runs on only seven hits. But he managed to permit seven earned runs on only one hit in his three appearances at Triple-A, owing to eight free passes in just 1 1/3 innings.
The Marlins have acquired outfielder Eury Perez from the Pirates, per an announcement from the Indianapolis Indians. Perez had been playing for Indianapolis, the Bucs’ top affiliate, since joining the organization on a minors deal over the winter. He has been productive at the plate (.336/.400/.433) continued to run wild on the bases (22 steals) in a fifty game sample. Perez has seen MLB action in four seasons, though he has just 156 total plate appearances — with a poor .254/.307/.282 batting line — at the game’s highest level.
The Tigers are set to select the contract of veteran right-hander Edward Mujica, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (on Twitter). The 33-year-old hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2015, as he’s spent the past season plus between the Triple-A affiliates for the Phillies, Royals, Twins and Tigers. The former Cardinals closer has generally been excellent in Toledo this season, though, logging 46 innings with 7.4 K/9, 1.0 BB/9 and a 36.5 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 2.35 earned run average. He’ll join a Tigers ’pen that has an MLB-worst 5.18 ERA and recently traded its best reliever, Justin Wilson.

Indians Place Andrew Miller On 10-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | August 2, 2017 at 2:46pm CDT

The Indians have placed star reliever Andrew Miller on the 10-day with right knee patella tendinitis, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets and the club has announced. Righty Adam Plutko was recalled to take his spot on the active roster.

Miller, 32, has been as nasty as ever this year, with a 1.67 ERA and 13.0 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9. But as Bastian goes on to note, he has not been quite as sharp as usual of late — relative, at least, to his usually otherworldly efforts.

Going without the outstanding Miller for any stretch would hurt Cleveland as it tries to hold off the Royals in the AL Central. But it’s especially harmful since the team just lost fellow southpaw Boone Logan to an injury. Perhaps the Indians will find some added motivation to look at lefties over the month of August, though Tyler Olson has looked good early on.

Cleveland also revealed that righty Josh Tomlin will likely miss about six weeks of action after suffering a left hamstring strain, as Bastian further tweets. That’s not a huge concern now that Danny Salazar is back, but does reduce the team’s depth in the rotation.

Will The Indians Still Look For Lefty Reliever, Utility Infielder?

By Mark Polishuk | July 31, 2017 at 11:43pm CDT

Jurickson Profar didn’t appear in the lineup for the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate tonight, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports that Profar was frustrated that he wasn’t traded in a deadline deal. Profar has long been a staple of trade rumors dating back to his time as baseball’s top prospect, though injuries and a lack of production over 718 big league plate appearances have dimmed his star considerably. Profar is still just 24 years old and he’s been hitting well at Triple-A this year, though without a clear path to playing time or even a stable position ahead of him in Texas, it appears as though Profar is looking for a change of scenery. Of course, if other teams now know that Profar wants out, it will be harder for the Rangers to recoup value for him in a deal, so Profar may not have any immediate route to another team. He is under team control through the 2019 season.

Here’s more from around baseball as we wrap up a busy deadline day…

The Marlins rejected offers for Dan Straily and Dee Gordon prior to the deadline, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports. It initially appeared as though the Marlins weren’t going to be shopping Straily, though they apparently tested his market and drew interest from at least four teams, though none were willing to meet Miami’s high asking price. As for Gordon, several teams were under the impression that Gordon was available in a salary dump type of trade and thus offered little in the way of prospects for the second baseman. The Marlins, however, didn’t see Gordon’s remaining salary (just over $41MM) as onerous to give away for virtually nothing in return.
Astros GM Jeff Luhnow tells reporters (including Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle) that the team was working on some potential trades that “at times I would’ve put them at 90 percent-plus that we were going to get them done.” Instead, the only deal Houston made was to acquire Francisco Liriano, a much lower-profile move than some of the trades made by other World Series contenders at the deadline. Outfield prospect Derek Fisher was asked about in almost every possible deal, Luhnow said.
Several high-salaried Tigers players were mentioned in trade whispers, though only some relatively small contracts or pending free agents were moved by GM Al Avila in deadline trades. Avila told the Detroit Free Press’ Anthony Fenech and other reporters that the roster reshuffling wasn’t about cutting costs. “I do not have a mandate to dump salary. Never have, and I won’t have it and I’ve been told it will never happen. So that’s a tremendous thing,” Avila said. The Tigers already have over $140MM on the books for 2018 — assuming they pick up Ian Kinsler’s option and that Justin Upton does not opt out of his contract — though some of that salary could end up being pared back via winter trades, even if payroll considerations don’t strictly demand it.
The Indians figure to be active on the waiver front in August, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer opines, since the club didn’t address its primary deadline needs of a utility infielder or left-handed reliever. The Tribe didn’t want to meet the asking price for the likes of Justin Wilson and Brad Hand, though Hoynes notes that the team did “push hard” for Orioles closer Zach Britton. Cleveland is currently going with recent waiver claim Tyler Olson as the situational lefty in the pen, with star southpaw Andrew Miller reserved for a more prominent setup or multi-inning role.

Indians Acquire Joe Smith

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2017 at 3:29pm CDT

The Indians have acquired right-hander Joe Smith from the Blue Jays, The side-arming reliever, a free agent at season’s end, will return to Cleveland for his second stint with the Indians. Minor league lefty Thomas Pannone and shortstop Samad Taylor are going to the Jays to complete the deal. Righty Perci Garner has been designated for assignment by the Tribe to make roster space for Smith.

The 33-year-old Smith enjoyed five excellent seasons in Cleveland, pitching to a 2.76 ERA in 271 innings there from 2009-13. Since that time, he’s produced quality results in both Anaheim and in Toronto, although his 2017 campaign has been slowed by a roughly month-long stay on the disabled list due to inflammation in his right shoulder.

That said, Smith has been outstanding, when healthy, thus far in 2017. Through 35 2/3 innings, he’s averaged 12.9 K/9 against 2.5 BB/9 with a 43.2 percent ground-ball rate. The resulting 3.28 ERA looks solid in its own right but is buoyed by even more impressive FIP (2.31), xFIP (2.46) and SIERA (2.42) marks — suggesting that there’s yet room for improvement down the stretch.

Smith is earning a modest $3MM in 2017, and he’s owed the balance of that figure — roughly $1.03MM — through the end of the year. In the interim, he’ll slot into a formidable Indians relief corps that is anchored by Andrew Miller and Cody Allen but also features a number of strong right-handed options, including Zach McAllister, Nick Goody, Dan Otero and Bryan Shaw.

MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal (on Twitter) reported the trade. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweeted the return after Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter) that it involved two lower-level minor leaguers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Yu Darvish Trade Rumors: Deadline Day

By Steve Adams | July 31, 2017 at 2:33pm CDT

It’s quite possible that today is Yu Darvish’s last day as a member of the Rangers organization. The Texas ace has drawn interest from several teams, with the Dodgers the most prominently linked club. However, Darvish has also been tied to the Yankees and the Indians to varying extents. The Astros are also said to have checked in, though the intra-division roadblock makes that notion a bit tougher. We’ll track all of the latest Darvish chatter in this post between now and the 4pm ET non-waiver trade deadline…

At this point, it seems that Darvish will either go to the Dodgers or stay put, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Given other indications that Los Angeles is focused elsewhere, it could be that the righty won’t end up changing hands today.
Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter) that it’s “getting increasingly harder” to envision Darvish landing with the Dodgers, as the two sides “simply aren’t matching up.”

Earlier Updates

Bowden suggests that the Dodgers could look to pry lefty Alex Claudio away from the Rangers in a package deal alongside Darvish (Twitter link). Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News suggests the same, though he notes that it’d still require the Dodgers changing their stance on the inclusion of Verdugo or Buehler. Claudio, though, is just 25 years old and is controlled through 2021, so he’d be a nice long-term piece for L.A. He’s held lefties to a laughable .131/.169/.197 slash this year and has a masterful 70.5 percent ground-ball rate overall in 2017. However, he doesn’t miss many bats.
Yahoo’s Tim Brown tweets that the Indians “are not in on Darvish” at this time. Notably, Cleveland was reported by Hoynes to be in pursuit of Orioles closer Zach Britton.
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, however, hears that the Indians and Astros are both “hanging around” in the Darvish picture, but the Dodgers are Texas’ preferred trading partner (Twitter link). The Yankees’ interest in Darvish is dependent on the outcome of their talks for Sonny Gray, Crasnick adds.
Bowden tweets that the Astros, Indians and Dodgers are the three teams that are still in the mix for Darvish, and he again mentions Mejia’s name in connection to talks. Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer tweets that the Indians are interested in Darvish only if the price tag drops.
While the Dodgers have generally regarded as the favorites for Darvish, their talks with the Rangers have essentially reached an impasse, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. Los Angeles has reportedly been unwilling to part with the likes of top-ranked prospects Alex Verdugo, Walker Buehler and Yadier Alvarez for a half-season rental of Darvish, and it would seem that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has yet to budge in that regard.
The Rangers and Indians have spoken about a “Yu Darvish for Francisco Mejia type” of deal, tweets Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM. Including Mejia, the consensus top catching prospect in baseball, would be a steep price for Cleveland to pay for a rental, though the wording of the report leaves some wiggle room for other pieces to potentially be involved. The 21-year-old Mejia is hitting .317/.367/.520 with 10 homers through his first 279 plate appearances in Double-A and ranked as baseball’s sixth-best prospect on Keith Law’s midseason list. MLB.com pegged him 16th overall, while Baseball America had him 18th. Cleveland is on Darvish’s no-trade list, though it remains possible that he could waive that right for a clearer shot at the postseason.

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