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Mets Notes: Cespedes, Astros, Bruce

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The latest out of Citi Field…

  • The Mets faced a tough challenge from the Astros in the race to sign Yoenis Cespedes in the 2016-17 offseason, John Harper of the New York Daily News reports.  The Astros reportedly made Cespedes a similarly-sized offer (four years, $110MM) that the outfielder was “strongly considering,” according to one Mets source.  Another Mets-connected person tells Harper that Cespedes’ “considerations were [to play for a] contender, money, no-trade clause, and [to] train in Florida near his ranch,” and Houston checked off all of those boxes but was unwilling to provide full no-trade protection.  Mets GM Sandy Alderson was also wary about the no-trade clause, yet ultimately agreed to add it to the deal in order to get Cespedes back in the fold.  That “separator” in talks, as another Mets source described it, may have also been necessary to retain Cespedes given his issues with former manager Terry Collins, which Harper relates at length.  It’s safe to assume that the Astros don’t harbor much regret about missing on Cespedes, as they instead spread out their money to acquire multiple players (Josh Reddick, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran) that helped them win the World Series, while Cespedes has been hampered by injuries since re-signing with New York.
  • Earlier this week, Joel Sherman of the New York Post floated a hypothetical trade of struggling players, with the Mets sending Jay Bruce to the Rockies in exchange for Bryan Shaw.  There isn’t any indication that either team is considering such a deal, and a trade of either player would be pretty surprising since both Bruce and Shaw just signed three-year free agent contracts last winter.  Sherman’s argument, however, is that this trade would solve some problems on both rosters — Colorado would get a veteran bat who could help in the corner outfield or at first base, while the Mets would add a long-term relief piece and clear up some of their own cluttered first base/corner outfield situation.  Shaw could also be helped by a reunion with Mickey Callaway, his former pitching coach in Cleveland.
  • Speaking of Bruce, the veteran hasn’t played in the last three games due to some lingering injuries in his back, hip, and foot.  Newsday’s Tim Healey writes that Bruce had two days fully off before being available off the bench on Saturday, though he wasn’t used.  These minor injuries aside, Bruce said that he has felt healthy this season, which makes his mediocre numbers (.216/.297/.327 with three homers in 232 PA) all the more frustrating.  “I feel so close. I hit balls at people. Fly out, just miss the ball. Stuff you really can’t control,” Bruce said.  Advanced metrics partially bear out Bruce’s assessment — he only has a .263 BABIP, and his .344 xwOBA is far beyond his actual .275 wOBA.  His 32.7% hard-hit ball rate, however, is below his career average and his .111 Isolated Power (ISO) total is by far the lowest of his career.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/14/18

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

  • The Twins announced that infielder Gregorio Petit has cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester after being designated for assignment earlier this week. The 33-year-old stuck with the Twins for a few weeks as a seldom-used bench piece but lost his roster spot when Minnesota brought right-hander Matt Belisle back to the organization on a big league contract Tuesday. Petit appeared in a dozen games for Minnesota but made just 30 plate appearances, hitting .308/.400/.308. He’s a career .253/.298/.350 hitter in 483 MLB plate appearances and a .267/.317/.370 hitter in parts of 11 Triple-A seasons.

Earlier Moves

  • Catcher Jose Lobaton cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Mets and has been sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas, as noted on the team’s transactions page. It’s the second time that the veteran Lobaton has been designated and subsequently outrighted by the Mets in 2018. While he has the option of rejecting the option of rejecting the assignment in favor of free agency, he accepted his previous assignment and is already once again listed on the team’s roster in Triple-A. Lobaton, 33, has hit just .152/.264/.239 in 53 plate appearances for the Mets thus far in 2018, continuing his struggles from the 2017 season with the Nats. The switch-hitter is a career .271/.352/.419 hitter in Triple-A, however.
  • Right-hander Jairo Diaz was released by the Rockies following his recent DFA, as reflected on the team’s transactions page. The 27-year-old Diaz hasn’t pitched much since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2016, struggling through 25 innings between MLB and the minors last season and through just 3 2/3 innings in Triple-A so far in 2018. Diaz has averaged better than 97 mph on his fastball (including in a short MLB stint last year, post-surgery) and did notch a 2.37 ERA and an 18-to-6 K/BB ratio with a 56.6 percent ground-ball rate in 19 innings with the Rox back in 2015. He’d been on the DL due to forearm tightness since mid-April at the time of his DFA, per Nick Groke of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Rockies Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Ryan Rolison

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The Rockies have agreed to terms with first-round pick Ryan Rolison, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (via Twitter). The left-hander out of Ole Miss will receive the full slot value of $2,912,300 for his No. 22 overall selection. He was advised by and is now a client of CAA Baseball.

Rolison entered the 2018 draft as one of the top-ranked college arms in the class. Callis and colleague Jonathan Mayo ranked him the most aggressively, placing him 17th among his draft-eligible peers. Baseball America, meanwhile, ranked Rolison 21st in the class, while Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs tabbed him 30th and ESPN’s Keith Law listed him 33rd.

A draft-eligible sophomore, the 20-year-old Rolison tossed 97 1/3 innings for the Rebels in 2018, posting a 3.70 ERA with 120 strikeouts against 45 walks in that time. Scouting reports peg his fastball in the 91-94 mph range and note that it can top out 96 mph, and Rolison is also said to have one of the draft’s best curveballs and the potential for an average changeup. Law and BA note that he began throwing across his body during his sophomore season, resulting in diminished control, though that wasn’t an issue in a stronger freshman season or this past summer in the Cape Cod League. If he can get back to his old mechanics, most reports agree he has mid-rotation upside.

NL West Notes: LeMahieu, Rockies, Giants, Duggar, Buchholz

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Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu is a free agent at season’s end, but he tells Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that his hope is to remain with the organization. LeMahieu cites his relationship with teammates and manager Bud Black, as well as the city of Denver and several up-and-coming young talents as reasons he hopes to stick around. GM Jeff Bridich tells Saunders he’ll leave the door open, but adds that there haven’t been any recent discussions and that the team (like many players) prefers not to negotiate during the season. (Although the Rockies did sign Charlie Blackmon to a six-year deal after Opening Day.)

Saunders takes a look at the roadblocks to retaining LeMahieu, noting several large commitments for 2019 (e.g. Ian Desmond, Wade Davis, Bryan Shaw, Jake McGee), the looming presence of Brendan Rodgers in the upper minors and Nolan Arenado’s own free agency after the 2019 season. In addition to LeMahieu and Bridich, Saunders spoke with Blackmon about LeMahieu’s importance to the Rockies.

Here’s more out of Denver and out of the NL West…

  • The Rockies’ bullpen has been a disaster in recent weeks, but Bridich suggested over the weekend that the team remains more focused on fixing their internal options than pursuing relievers from outside the organization, per MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. “There are some very, very good pitchers in that bullpen, very talented guys, who just are not performing consistently to their potential and their talents,” the GM said. “We need to continue to help them reach their potential — even the level of past performance that they have exhibited — before we think much about what else is out there.”
  • The Giants are still “slightly” underneath the $197MM luxury tax barrier, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal notes that while the numbers over on Cot’s Contracts indicate that organization is roughly $2MM north of that line, he’s confirmed that San Francisco is narrowly avoiding taxation at this point. The exact amount with which the Giants have to work remains unclear, though the apparent proximity to that threshold would seemingly make it difficult for the Giants to do much at the non-waiver trade deadline without jettisoning some payroll in a trade or receiving substantial cash considerations along with any player they acquire.
  • While outfield prospect Steven Duggar has been on a hot streak in Triple-A, the Giants are still in no rush to bring him up to the Majors, writes John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. GM Bobby Evans explains to Shea that the Giants not only want to see Duggar “put pressure” on the front office to call him up and adds that it’s also a matter of “the opportunity being here.” Shea notes that Mac Williamson is the only outfielder on the big league roster with options remaining, and he’s been seeing regular left field work since returning from the DL. Cutting ties with either Hunter Pence or Austin Jackson, of course, would open a spot, though either speculative move would come with some notable financial and clubhouse considerations for the front office.
  • Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo chatted with Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe about the role that familiarity played in the organization’s decision to sign Clay Buchholz, as well as the importance of what Buchholz has done in the rotation since signing. Lovullo, GM Mike Hazen and AGM Amiel Sawdaye were all with the Red Sox when Buchholz was drafted, and that preexisting relationship helped to facilitate the signing. “Mike and [assistant GM] Amiel [Sawdaye] and I got together and we said, ‘Why not Clay?’ ” Lovullo recalled. “The reports on him were very good and so we said, ‘Let’s do it.’ And he’s been outstanding for us.” Lovullo was cautious about making any definitive proclamations about his rotation moving forward but did say that Buchholz “deserves” to remain in the mix. It’s hard to argue, as the 33-year-old has posted a 1.88 ERA with a 21-to-3 K/BB ratio through 24 innings (four starts) with the D-backs so far.

Rockies Designate Jairo Diaz, Select Jerry Vasto

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The Rockies have designated right-hander Jairo Diaz for assignment and selected the contract of left-hander Jerry Vasto from Triple-A, according to a team announcement. Additionally, Colorado has placed reliever Scott Oberg on the disabled list with a back strain.

The hard-throwing Diaz joined the Rockies prior to 2015 and saw action with the team that season and during the 2017 campaign, combining for a 3.75 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 4.13 BB/9 and a strong 57.3 percent groundball rate over 24 innings. But Diaz underwent Tommy John surgery in 2016, causing him to miss that season, and has only tossed 28 2/3 innings between the majors and minors since. Diaz opened 2018 with 3 2/3 frames of four-earned run ball at the Triple-A level, and he has been shelved with forearm tightness since mid-April, Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets.

Vasto, 26, is set to make his MLB debut after initially joining Colorado as a 24th-round pick in 2014. He ascended to the Triple-A level last season and has been particularly effective this year, having logged a 1.71 ERA with 11.14 K/9, 3.43 BB/9 and a 47.9 percent grounder rate in 21 innings.

NL Injury Notes: Acuna, Cueto, Thames, Phils, Bucs, Rox

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Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna is progressing in his recovery from a sprained left ACL, Mark Bowman of MLB.com explains, and could return as early as next weekend. The 20-year-old phenom, who went down May 27, would only miss around three weeks in that scenario. Acuna’s injury looked like a potential season-ender when it occurred, making his quick recovery all the more welcome for Atlanta. “What he’s doing right now is amazing after looking at what happened,” manager Brian Snitker said. “What he’s doing now is really good.”

More injury notes from around the NL…

  • Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto is “cautiously optimistic” he’ll be able to come off the 60-day DL when he’s first eligible (June 30), Chris Haft of MLB.com writes. Cueto hasn’t pitched since suffering an elbow injury at the end of April, when he was among the majors’ best starters (0.84 ERA, 2.74 FIP in 32 innings). But even without Cueto and ace Madison Bumgarner, who just made his 2018 debut Tuesday after his own lengthy absence, the Giants have managed a 32-31 record to stay in the thick of what has been a mediocre NL West.
  • The Brewers expect first baseman Eric Thames back at the beginning of the upcoming week, Joe Bloss of MLB.com relays. Thames landed on the DL on April 27 with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, derailing a start in which he slashed .250/.351/.625 with seven home runs in 74 plate appearances. Fellow first baseman Jesus Aguilar has been outstanding in Thames’ absence, however, with a .296/.369/.556 line and 11 homers in 187 PAs this year.
  • Phillies pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez is headed to the DL with right elbow inflammation, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports. The club doesn’t believe it’s a serious issue, however. The 19-year-old right-hander, Baseball America’s 16th-ranked prospect (subscription required), has logged a 2.51 ERA with 8.68 K/9 and 2.12 BB/9 in 46 2/3 innings at the High-A level this season. He was closing in on a Double-A promotion prior to the DL placement, according to Salisbury, but that’s now on hold.
  • The Pirates have sent righty reliever Richard Rodriguez to the DL with shoulder inflammation, Elizabeth Bloom of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. The club recalled righty Dovydas Neverauskas from Triple-A in a corresponding move. Pittsburgh doesn’t expect Rodriguez to miss a significant amount of time, but even a short-term absence could hurt. The 28-year-old rookie has burst on the scene with a 2.38 ERA and 13.1 K/9 against 1.19 BB/9 in 22 2/3 innings this season.
  • The Rockies placed lefty reliever Mike Dunn on the DL and recalled righty Jeff Hoffman from Triple-A on Friday, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets. Dunn’s dealing with an upper-body injury – a left rhomboid strain, to be exact. The DL placement continues what has been a trying second season in Colorado for Dunn, who inked a three-year, $19MM guarantee with the team entering 2017. So far in 2018, the 33-year-old has posted a 9.00 ERA with more walks than strikeouts (17 to 12) in 16 innings.

David Dahl Diagnosed With Broken Foot

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4:14pm: Dahl says he expects to miss six to eight weeks, per Nick Groke of The Athletic (via Twitter).

3:58pm: The Rockies announced today that outfielder David Dahl will head to the 10-day DL after being diagnosed with a broken right foot. In more promising news, infielder DJ LeMahieu was activated from his own DL stint.

Dahl has certainly had a snakebitten start to his MLB career. After a strong debut in 2016, injuries kept him from appearing in the majors at all last year. He had only made it back for 32 big-league games before this most recent problem arose.

Since his return, Dahl has shown mixed signals. He carries a .275/.309/.484 slash line, which lands right at league average (100 OPS+; 97 wRC+) once adjusted for context. Though it’s certainly promising to see his power up (.209 isolated slugging), Dahl’s plate discipline mix (28.9% strikeout rate and 4.1% walk rate) isn’t particularly compelling.

Rockies Place Adam Ottavino On 10-Day DL

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The Rockies have placed righty Adam Ottavino on the 10-day DL with a left oblique strain, per a club announcement and as Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post reports. He’ll be replaced for the time being by righty Scott Oberg.

Ottavino has more or less been unhittable this year after a rough 2017 season. Through 28 1/3 innings, the 32-year-old has allowed only eight base hits to opposing hitters. He has been scored upon only three times and carries a strong 45:10 K/BB ratio. Ottavino has recorded a dozen holds while working in front of closer Wade Davis.

At the moment, it’s not know how long Ottavino will be down. The team hopes that it’s not a severe injury, per Saunders, though clearly the organization has decided to take a cautious course with a reliever who has become an integral part of the late-inning unit.

It’s unfortunate timing regardless of how long Ottavino will miss, as the Rockies are entering consecutive series against two teams (the Giants and Dodgers) chasing them in the NL West standings. The Rox have other veteran setup options, of course, but none are performing anywhere close to Ottavino’s standard thus far.

Of course, the more important matter remains the long-term outlook. Oblique injuries can be nettlesome, though that’s all the more reason to nip this one in the bud.

For his part, the 28-year-old Oberg will look to improve upon the generally middling work he has turned in at the MLB level to this point in his career. He owns a 5.15 ERA in 153 2/3 innings, with 7.6 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 but also a healthy 55.3% groundball rate.

West Notes: Ross, Rockies, Beltre, Gonzales

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Tyson Ross spoke recently with Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune about the likelihood that he’ll be traded by the Padres at some point in the near future. Ross spoke like a pitcher who is anticipating that he’ll be traded, though he notes that his experience with the Padres in 2015 taught him that there are no certainties. That season, Ross was considered to be among the top trade assets in baseball, but the Padres held onto him — a decision GM A.J. Preller likely regrets, given that Ross was injured for the whole 2016 season and ultimately released. “I was one of the bigger names being thrown around as a trade piece,” Ross said of that 2015 campaign. “A.J. held on to me. He didn’t get his return on that. If he wants to make a move at some point, that’s the game. For him, it would be a great investment — buy low, sell high.”

MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently took a look at Ross and another pair of Padres starters, Clayton Richard and Jordan Lyles, and explored their trade candidacy as the summer approaches. Ross, right now at least, looks like a rare thoracic outlet surgery success story; in 60 1/3 innings he’s notched a 3.13 ERA with 9.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 0.75 HR/9 and a 44.1 percent ground-ball rate.

A few more notes from the game’s Western divisions…

  • MLB.com’s Thomas Harding addresses a number of Rockies-related issues in his latest Inbox column, writing that while fans are champing at the bit to see Brendan Rodgers in the Majors, it may very well that infield prospect Garrett Hampson beats the more highly-touted Rodgers to the big leagues. Rodgers is still just 21 and has yet to play in Triple-A, Harding notes, while Hampson was recently promoted to Triple-A, has experience hitting leadoff and has a strong history of on-base skills. With DJ LeMahieu on the shelf, that skill set holds some appeal to the organization. Harding also looks at what could be a challenging trade deadline for Jeff Bridich as he looks to improve an inconsistent offense, though he adds that he isn’t hearing any indication that the Rox are aggressively exploring the trade market just yet. Of course, in late May, that’s hardly an uncommon stance for any team.
  • Adrian Beltre hasn’t made a decision about his future beyond the 2018 season, writes Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, though he’s open about the fact that he’s not looking to play for several years beyond 2018. Asked if he had any desire to play to age 45 like his countryman Bartolo Colon, Beltre joked, “My wife would divorce me.” For now, the Rangers third baseman is merely focused on getting healthy enough to return to the field, and Wilson notes that the current plan is for the 39-year-old to return to the lineup in about two weeks’ time. Whether Beltre will finish out the season in Texas remains to be seen as well, of course, as he’s already come up as a potential trade candidate should he return to the lineup in good health and avoid further trips to the DL.
  • Mariners southpaw Marco Gonzales chatted with Corey Brock of The Athletic in an interesting Q&A about his return from Tommy John surgery, the process of reestablishing trust in his curveball and his use of data and analytics. The 26-year-old said he feels like this is “the best curveball I’ve had in my career,” explaining that because he’s largely recovered from TJ surgery, his grip strength is improved and he can throw from his natural arm slot. Gonzales, though, added that he doesn’t feel that he (or any other pitcher) can ever say he’s 100 percent recovered from such a major surgery. “It’s a constant job,” Gonzales said of managing his recovery. “And it’s something I take a lot of pride in, getting my arm ready each day. It’s 45 minutes worth of stuff each day to make sure I’m feeling good. Even on days when I don’t need to do it, I still do it because it helps me feel secure. I think that’s what the rehab process did: give me some pride and some conviction in how I go about my routine.” Gonzales has turned in a 4.05 ERA with 8.3 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 0.84 HR/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate in 53 1/3 innings this season, with FIP (3.22) and xFIP (3.20) looking even more favorably upon his work.

Injury Notes: Wainwright, Braun, LeMahieu, Giants, Triggs

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The Cardinals’ sudden decision to transfer Adam Wainwright to the 60-day disabled list today means the Cardinals will be without him for a notable portion of the summer, but the exact cause of his elbow pain remains unclear, as Joe Trezza of MLB.com writes. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak said that there’s “nothing that really stood out as a smoking gun” after the first wave of tests, which included an MRI and a bone scan, but he’ll undergo a further series of evaluations tomorrow. “We don’t know what that is right now, other than he has discomfort,” said Mozeliak. While the club obviously has no defined timetable for Wainwright’s return, Mozeliak spoke with some cautious optimism: “He knows he might be part of that second-half push. …. I would guess he’ll pitch again.”

Some more injury news from around the league…

  • The Brewers announced that Ryan Braun has been placed on the 10-day DL, retroactive to Monday, with tightness in his back. They’ll announce a corresponding move tomorrow. The injury doesn’t sound to be especially serious at present, but Braun has been battling the discomfort for some time now and performing poorly as a result, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. Taking even the minimum 10 days off could help to get him back on track. The 34-year-old Braun hit .258/.304/.473 in April, but his bat cratered with a .121/.167/.242 slash thus far in the month of May.
  • In addition to a sprain in his left thumb, Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu has a small fracture, he told reporters on Thursday (link via Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post). While it’s not great news for the Rockies or LeMahieu, it’s hardly a worst-case scenario, either. LeMahieu is likely to miss at least three weeks or so with the injury, though the infielder explained that an exact timetable will be difficult to pin down before the swelling in his thumb subsides. On the plus side, doctors have told LeMahieu that he’ll avoid surgery and needs only rest to let the injury heal. He’s hoping to swing a bat as early as next week.
  • Mark Melancon threw 20 pitches to live hitters today and could begin a rehab assignment as soon as Sunday, tweets Kerry Crowley of the San Jose Mercury News. He’ll likely need about two weeks’ worth of rehab games, putting him on target for a return to the Giants in early June if all goes well. Meanwhile, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets that Madison Bumgarner could make his first rehab start on May 26.
  • Athletics right-hander Andrew Triggs exited tonight’s start in Toronto after just 2 1/3 innings due to what the team is calling nerve discomfort in his right forearm, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Presumably, he’ll head for further testing following the game, though the early diagnosis doesn’t sound especially promising. In the event of a DL trip for Triggs, the A’s could turn to righty Kendall Graveman, who is trying to get back on track in Triple-A after a rough start to the season. Right-hander Daniel Gossett has posted terrific numbers since being sent down to Nashville as well, while hard-throwing prospect Frankie Montas is also delivering solid production in Triple-A.
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