Rockies Rumors

West Notes: Valencia, Erlin, Skaggs, Castro, Mariners

By Steve Adams | April 21, 2016 at 11:12pm CDT

The Athletics announced following tonight’s game that third baseman Danny Valencia will be placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a hamstring injury suffered in yesterday’s contest. Valencia, though, tells reporters that he doesn’t consider the issue to be serious and doesn’t anticipate missing more than the minimum amount of time (Twitter link via the Bay Area News Group’s John Hickey). “I will be very upset not to be in [the] lineup,” said Valencia in reference to the end of his 15-day DL window. The A’s didn’t announce a corresponding roster move, but Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that it’s “clear” that the versatile Tyler Ladendorf will be recalled from Triple-A.

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

The Padres have placed left-hander Robbie Erlin on the 15-day DL and recalled right-hander Leonel Campos from Triple-A El Paso, as Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes. “He’s had some tightness in his forearm,” manager Andy Green said of Erlin. “He’d pitched through it, was capable of continuing to pitch through it. … We just thought it best at this point in time to shut him down for a couple weeks and get on top of it.” The Padres haven’t announced a replacement yet, but Lin tweets that Double-A right-hander Cesar Vargas was scratched from his start tonight and does not have an injury, making him a definite possibility. The Friars gave Vargas a big league contract and put him on the 40-man roster this offseason despite the fact that he’s never pitched in the Majors. Vargas has a 1.42 ERA through his first two starts this season and has a career 2.58 ERA at that level.
Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs tells MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez that he’s throwing his fastball between 90 and 94 mph and is ready for a return to the Majors. However, Skaggs is still building up his endurance and says he understands the Halos’ cautious approach to his return. “I haven’t had any input or anything,” said Skaggs. “They said they want to save my innings for the end of the year, which completely makes sense. It’s frustrating for me because I want to pitch more. But it’s a good thing that they care about me, care about my future, about my health.” A healthy Skaggs could be a boon to an Angels rotation that is without C.J. Wilson and is going to be without Andrew Heaney for an indefinite amount of time. Heaney went on the disabled list with a forearm strain and, as of earlier this week, was said by manager Mike Scioscia to have “plateaued” in his rehab from the injury.
Rockies right-hander Miguel Castro is dealing with shoulder inflammation and could land on the disabled list, writes MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. The hard-throwing 21-year-old, acquired in last summer’s Troy Tulowitzki blockbuster, has been outstanding for the Rockies early in the 2016 season, allowing just one run on two hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in six innings pitched.
The Mariners’ revamped bullpen has delivered excellent results early in the season, writes Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. Incredibly, as Dutton points out, none of the seven relief pitchers that are currently in manager Scott Servais’ bullpen were on the Mariners’ Opening Day roster in 2015. GM Jerry Dipoto acquired four of the club’s current relievers (Steve Cishek, Joaquin Benoit, Joel Peralta and Nick Vincent — this offseason, but Dipoto explained to Dutton that he’s all too aware of how fleeting the success could be. “I spent my entire major-league career pitching 400 pitched games in the bullpen,” said Dipoto. “Never did anything else. If you think you’ve got it figured out, you don’t. The bullpen is about as unpredictable as it gets.”

Rockies Acquire Cody Decker

By Jeff Todd | April 20, 2016 at 9:17am CDT

The Rockies have acquired first baseman Cody Decker from the Royals, according to announcements from both teams. Cash considerations are going back in return.

Decker, 29, has minimal major league experience but was long a solid producer in the upper minors in the Padres’ organization — where he spent his entire career before signing with the Royals as a minor league free agent. Best known for his entertaining antics — particularly those involving former teammate Jeff Francoeur — Decker is also a quality hitter. Indeed, he’s been quite consistent, posting OPS tallies ranging between .819 and .865 in every MiLB season dating back to 2010.

There’s a fair bit of swing and miss to his game, but Decker has also shown a strong walk rate and good power, with several twenty home run campaigns under his belt. The issue, of course, is that he’s limited defensively. Though Decker has filled in at times at third base and the corner outfield in recent years, he’s spent the vast majority of his time at first base.

NL West Notes: Reyes, Padres, Norris, Giants

By Mark Polishuk | April 17, 2016 at 9:29pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the NL West…

There’s a good chance Jose Reyes has played his last game for the Rockies, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes as part of a reader mailbag piece. Saunders postulates that the team will wait until Reyes completes his probable suspension under MLB’s domestic violence policy and then release him outright. The suspension will erase some of the $46.25MM still owed to Reyes through the 2017 season (counting the $4MM buyout of his club option for 2018) and Saunders believes the Rockies will simply then eat the rest of the money in order to sever ties with the troubled shortstop.
Of the veteran Padres most often cited in trade rumors, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune opines that catcher Derek Norris is the most likely to be dealt. Following Norris are, in order, Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, James Shields and Matt Kemp. Sanders covers several other Padres topics as part of this online chat with Union-Tribune readers.
With Mac Williamson not getting regular at-bats while sitting on the Giants bench, Hank Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle thinks the team could make another roster move this week to recall a shortstop and more directly fill the spot of injured infielder Ehire Adrianza. The Giants didn’t want to be “hasty” with a 40-man roster spot to address Adrianza’s loss, though if Ian Gardeck is shifted to the 60-man DL, the team could add an experienced shortstop like Hak-Ju Lee and send Williamson back to everyday duty at Triple-A.
The Diamondbacks could be in for a few days’ worth of roster shuffles after using nine pitchers in Saturday’s 14-inning loss to the Padres, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic writes. “It could be one of those things where this whole week is flip-flopping people. [We] might have to go down to 12 position players, too, at some point,” manager Chip Hale said. Shelby Miller had to leave Saturday’s start after just 1 2/3 innings under odd circumstances, as he twice banged his throwing hand against the mound and scraped his knuckles after extending his follow-through on pitches. The D’Backs entered Sunday’s action with a league-high 47 1/3 bullpen innings, though Patrick Corbin gave the staff some breathing room by tossing 6 2/3 frames in today’s win.

NL Notes: Story, Pirates, Reds

By Connor Byrne | April 17, 2016 at 3:40pm CDT

Rockies shortstop Trevor Story has torched opposing pitchers this year with a .300/.321/.820 line and a league-high seven home runs in 54 plate appearances, but his propensity for striking out makes him a candidate for a severe decline in production. Though Story has posted a bloated 38.9 percent strikeout rate so far, manager Walt Weiss isn’t worried, writes Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “I still think Trevor is competing really well, and he’s still a dangerous bat at the top of our lineup,” Weiss said. “That’s why I’ve continued to run him out there.” Since last hitting a homer a week ago, Story has looked mortal during a 6-for-24 slide. Alarmingly, he has struck out 12 times and walked only twice in that stretch.

Injury Notes: Dodgers, Hundley, d’Arnaud, Nava

By Connor Byrne | April 16, 2016 at 8:54pm CDT

In the latest discouraging news for the Dodgers’ Hyun-jin Ryu, the lefty is battling “a little groin strain” and has halted his throwing program as a result, manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link). “Technically it’s a setback, and I don’t know how severe the injury is,” Roberts said (link via Dan Arritt of ESPN.com). Ryu, who underwent surgery on a torn left labrum last May, hasn’t appeared in a big league game since October 2014. He seemed to be making progress in his recovery prior to his groin acting up, having tossed two 20-pitch sim games April 8.

More injury notes from around Major League Baseball:

One of Ryu’s Dodgers teammates, outfielder Carl Crawford, is recovering well from a lower back injury and will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City in the upcoming week, according to Jack Baer of MLB.com. Crawford, whom the Dodgers placed on the 15-day disabled list April 9, should be activated April 24. Crawford started the Dodgers’ first three games of the season and hit .273/.273/.364 in 11 plate appearances. Upon returning, he’ll join a crowded outfield picture that includes Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Kike Hernandez and Trayce Thompson, all of whom have been terrific this year.
The Rockies placed catcher Nick Hundley on the seven-day DL on Saturday with a concussion and called up pitcher David Hale from Triple-A, The Associated Press reports. The DL move was made retroactive to Thursday. Hundley has been dealing with concussion symptoms since he took a foul tip to the mask Wednesday. Prior to the injury, Hundley hit a solid .227/.393/.409 in 28 PAs.
Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud left Saturday’s loss to the Indians after getting hit on his left elbow by a 93 mph Zach McAllister fastball, but X-rays came back negative. The Mets diagnosed d’Arnaud with a bruise, and he’s now day to day, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “It’s going to probably be pretty sore the next couple days,” said manager Terry Collins. “He had a little trouble straightening his elbow, bending it. So we’ll keep an eye on it.”
The Angels on Saturday placed left fielder Daniel Nava on the 15-day DL with left patellar tendinitis, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times writes. Nava’s left knee has been an issue for him since 2013, which is “why we’re being cautious with it right now,” manager Mike Scioscia said. Nava has slashed .286/.333/.286 in 15 PAs so far this year, and he expects to return in early May. In the meantime, the Angels will replace him with fellow outfielder Rafael Ortega, whom they called up from Triple-A Salt Lake. The lefty-swinging Ortega went 0 for 3 with a stolen base and a walk in the Angels’ 6-4 loss to the Twins on Saturday.

West Notes: Stripling, Story, Beltre

By charliewilmoth | April 16, 2016 at 3:40pm CDT

Dodgers righty Ross Stripling nearly completed a no-hitter in his first big-league start, but he headed into the season with the far more modest hope of avoiding going back to Double-A, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times writes. “I knew we were going to have a lot of guys filter down to Triple-A and that might push guys back to Double-A,” he says. “When they kind of told me early in spring that I was going to Oklahoma City, that was a good thing for me. I was happy to be going up a level.” Beginning the season at Double-A wouldn’t have seemed at all unreasonable for Stripling, at least on paper — it would have been his third year at the level, but he made only 13 starts at Double-A Tulsa while returning from Tommy John surgery in 2015. Instead of going back to Tulsa this year, Stripling quickly made his way to the big leagues and enjoyed an improbable level of immediate success. The last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his big-league debut, Kepner writes, was Bumpus Jones of the 1892 Cincinnati Reds. Here’s more from the West divisions.

Another emerging player, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, has “hit the ground trotting” with a seven-home-run binge to start the season, writes ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. “He’s been so composed right from the beginning of Spring Training,” says manager Walt Weiss. “He knew he had an opportunity coming into camp, and with some kids, it’s too much for them. But with Trevor, I think it elevated his game. It brought out the best in him.” As Crasnick points out, Story probably would have played for Triple-A Albuquerque this April had it not been for Jose Reyes’ domestic-violence suspension.
The Rangers formally announced Adrian Beltre’s two-year, $36MM extension as a press conference this afternoon. Perhaps it’s unsurprising given that the new deal takes him through his age-39 season, but Beltre says he wants to retire as a Ranger, as Stefen Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Of course, it’s not clear whether that means Beltre will retire when his new deal ends — he remains very productive even at 37, finishing seventh in AL MVP balloting last year and getting off to a fine .283/.340/.52 start so far in 2016.

West Notes: Butler, Angels, Coors Field

By Connor Byrne | April 10, 2016 at 5:59pm CDT

Athletics designated hitter Billy Butler has sat four straight days and could be relegated to facing only lefties, Jane Lee of MLB.com writes. Manager Bob Melvin wouldn’t commit to putting Butler back in the lineup Monday against Angels righty Nick Tropeano, per Lee, saying that he’ll definitely play Tuesday when the A’s deal with lefty Hector Santiago. Butler, whom the A’s signed to a three-year, $30MM contract in November 2014, has batted just .262/.323/.386 since the beginning of the ’14 campaign and been the least valuable player in baseball by the standards of fWAR during that time frame. The soon-to-be 30-year-old has been vastly superior against lefties than right-handers historically, though that wasn’t the case last season. So far this year, nine of Butler’s 10 plate appearances have come versus southpaws.

Here’s more from MLB’s West divisions:

Angels lefty Tyler Skaggs, who’s on the comeback from August 2014 Tommy John surgery, made his 2016 debut for Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday. The 24-year-old threw 42 pitches over three innings, struck out one and allowed a run on three hits (two bunt singles) and two walks, according to Taylor Blake Ward of InsideTheHalos.com. Skaggs’ fastball sat in the 91-93 mph range, which is right in line with his 2014 average of 92 mph (Twitter links). That year, Skaggs tossed 113 innings of 4.30 ERA ball for the Angels to go along with a 6.85 K/9 and 2.39 BB/9. ERA estimators like FIP (3.55) and xFIP (3.65) indicated that Skaggs deserved a better fate with respect to results.
The Angels entered Sunday having applied defensive shifts more than any team in the majors (79 times over five games), according to data from Fangraphs (link via Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com). Their 15.8 shifts per game represents a marked increase for a team that was around the middle of the pack in shifting over the previous four seasons. First-year general manager Billy Eppler is largely behind the Halos’ change in philosophy, having installed an analytics team that judges when the team should employ the shift, per Gonzalez.
The Rockies will explore further ways to make Coors Field more friendly to pitchers, owner Dick Monfort told Nick Groke of the Denver Post. “[W]e’re going to continue to find ways to make it not so offensive a park,” said Monforto. “We all know it’s the most offensive park in baseball. Part of that, there’s nothing we can do about it. But if there are things we can do to take some of the offense away from it, that’s what we should try to do.” The Rockies raised the wall in right-center field by eight feet, nine inches prior to the season and also added height to the wall straight down the left-field line. Those changes didn’t halt offensive production during the first series of the year at Coors Field, however, with Colorado and San Diego amassing 47 runs in three contests.

Betts, Schoop, Ray, Others Move To The Legacy Agency

By Jeff Todd | April 7, 2016 at 6:15pm CDT

Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts has changed agencies, staying with his representative — Steve Veltman — as he moved to The Legacy Agency, as Robert Murray of Baseball Essential was first to report (via Twitter). He’s not alone, as players including Jonathan Schoop of the Orioles and Robbie Ray of the Diamondbacks are also making the move, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports, with player rep Ed Cerulo accompanying Veltman to a new home.

Betts, still just 23, has emerged as one of the game’s most exciting young talents. He followed up a highly promising partial season in 2014 with an outstanding campaign last year in which he put up a .291/.341/.479 slash over 654 plate appearances with 18 home runs and 21 steals. Of course, Betts is also a high-quality and versatile fielder and excellent baserunner.

Boston has plenty of cheap control remaining, as Betts won’t even reach arbitration eligibility until 2018 and doesn’t stand to hit the open market until 2021. He certainly profiles as an extension candidate, though, and his new agency will quite possibly field interest from the Sox.

Other quality 1+ outfielders have signed lengthy deals — including, recently, Gregory Polanco ($35MM) and Christian Yelich ($49.57MM) — but it seems fair to expect that Betts would command a good bit more given the floor and ceiling he’s shown to this point. And the price will likely only rise, as his service clock continues to run and he pads the stat sheet.

Schoop and Ray also rate as promising young players, but have more to prove at this stage than Betts. Other big leaguers joining The Legacy Agency, per Rosenthal, include Cody Anderson and Rajai Davis (Indians), Trevor May (Twins), Kevin Siegrist (Cardinals), Carter Capps (Marlins), Jerad Eickhoff (Phillies), and Tony Wolters (Rockies). Several unnamed prospects are also changing agencies.

As always, you can find reported player representation in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

West Notes: Rockies, Reyes, A-Gon, Darvish

By Jeff Todd | April 6, 2016 at 1:42pm CDT

Rockies GM Jeff Bridich says that the organization has not entertained any thoughts of a full-blown rebuild, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports. “We’re always trying to win,” Bridich said. “People are questioning us, or they’re confused. ’Why aren’t you trying some sort of nuclear rebuild?’ Those things have to happen when you feel like you don’t have talent on the field to compete or a system of depth to add to it. Our belief is that we have talent on this level to compete.” Though the payroll is down a bit over prior years, the club certainly acted as a team with intentions of winning this winter — dedicating assets to the bullpen and then setting aside service-time considerations with the Opening Day promotion of shortstop Trevor Story. Needless to say, the 23-year-old has rewarded that decision early, swatting three home runs in his first two major league games.

Here’s more from out west:

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says that a decision on Rockies shortstop Jose Reyes — currently on administrative leave in the wake of domestic violence allegations — will likely come “in days as opposed to weeks,” as Neil Best of Newsday reports. While Manfred emphasized that he hopes to move along quickly now that the charges against Reyes have been dropped, he also expressed hope that he’ll be able to acquire new information before making a final call on whether (and for how long) to suspend the veteran infielder. “The ability of law enforcement to provide us with information, that only goes up,” said Manfred. “They have more flexibility to provide us with information once the criminal process comes to an end, one way or the other . . . We’re trying to take advantage of that additional flexibility to get all of the information that’s available as quickly as possible.”
There have been complaints in some quarters about the Dodgers’ offseason — which we just reviewed this morning — because it featured numerous smaller signings rather than a big splash or two. While there’s “skepticism” in “some parts of the clubhouse,” writes Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, Adrian Gonzalez remains a believer. The veteran first baseman says the organization is well-equipped to deal with injuries with “the best [40-man roster] and the best farm system in baseball,” and predicts that a major mid-season addition would go down if there’s a need. Gonzalez obviously isn’t responsible for any of these decisions, but it’s an interesting perspective.
Rangers ace Yu Darvish has worked his way up to throwing fifty pitches in his most recent bullpen workout, as Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. Though a return to the Texas staff is still a ways off, it’s certainly encouraging that Darvish continues to tick past various milestones as he works back from Tommy John surgery.

NL Notes: Epstein, Blash, Perdomo, Martin, Pollock, Gray

By Jeff Todd | April 4, 2016 at 10:00pm CDT

Cubs owner Tom Ricketts said that there’s been progress in extension talks with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, Jesse Rogers of ESPNChicago.com reports on Twitter. While the sides aren’t setting any expectations for when a deal could be finalized, Ricketts gave the impression that one could be close. As has been widely expected for some time, Epstein is in line to overtake the Dodgers’ Andrew Friedman as the game’s highest-paid executive, Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com adds on Twitter.

Here’s more from the National League …

The Padres are hoping that Rule 5 picks Jabari Blash and Luis Perdomo can justify their roster spots not only with their long-term upside, but also their immediate contributions, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. Blash looks to be the more MLB-ready of the two, notes Cassavell, with the 22-year-old Perdomo showing plenty of talent but also a lack of polish. It looks like it’ll be an uphill battle for the young righty to stick all year after a tough spring and rough handling by the Dodgers late in today’s blowout loss.
Padres GM A.J. Preller says he’s hoping to find a way to keep Rule 5 righty Josh Martin even after designating him for assignment yesterday, Cassavell tweets. By waiting to put him in DFA limbo, rather than utilizing outright waivers, San Diego has ten days to work out a deal with the Indians to retain Martin’s rights — assuming he isn’t ultimately claimed by another organization.
Losing A.J. Pollock for what could be a huge chunk of the 2016 season puts the Diamondbacks in a significant hole, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs explains. What had been a promising outfield mix, led by Pollock, now appears to have significant issues up the middle and in left, as Socrates Brito and Chris Owings — along with, perhaps, some outside help — figure to share time in center while putting even more pressure on Yasmany Tomas. It’s obviously always rough for a team to lose a player who’s expected to be a major contributor, but Sullivan explains that Arizona was already a mostly-borderline contender before losing one of the game’s best outfielders.
The Rockies have received positive returns on Jon Gray’s efforts to work through an ab injury, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding reports. After a lengthy live-BP session, Gray appears ready to make a minor league rehab appearance and also feels he may have discovered an important mechanical adjustment. Colorado is hoping for big things from the 24-year-old, and it is certainly good news that it seems he’ll soon be ready to join the MLB staff.

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