Rosenthal’s Latest: Archer, Chapman, CarGo, Rangers, Managers
While the Rays are fielding some calls on righty Chris Archer, the kinds of offers coming through the line have been good only for “comedic value,” a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The report certainly suggests that Tampa Bay isn’t interested in the kind of buy-low offers it is apparently receiving. The young righty hasn’t quite been himself this year, but remains quite talented and controlled at a very cheap rate.
Here’s more from Rosenthal:
- The Yankees are discussing the possibility of trying to extend closer Aroldis Chapman, according to Rosenthal. Talks to this point are just internal and haven’t been raised with Chapman’s representatives, but the club isn’t set on selling off big league assets over the next few weeks. Team president Randy Levine maintained to Rosenthal that the Yankees like their team and won’t make a call on trading away veterans until much closer to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.
- Carlos Gonzalez is perhaps the best player among current trade candidates, but the Rockies don’t feel the need to get out from underneath his contract in the same manner they did with Troy Tulowitzki, so he’s far from a lock to be moved. CarGo is batting an excellent .318/.367/.557 this season, and it’s interesting to note that over the past 365 days, he’s hitting .304/.354/.592 with a hefty 46 homers in 156 games played. His $17MM salary in 2016 and $20MM salary in 2017 are both reasonable sums for that level of production.
- The Rangers were in on Drew Pomeranz before his trade to the Red Sox, and they’re in on Rich Hill now that Pomeranz is off the market. The Rangers could also use an upgrade behind the plate, writes Rosenthal, who notes that Jonathan Lucroy would be preferable to Derek Norris, but the latter of the two is available as well. The Rangers, though, “probably do not view” any of the available trade candidates as worthy players to surrender top-tier young talent like Jurickson Profar or Joey Gallo.
- Some within the industry have told Rosenthal that Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale “could be in imminent danger” of losing his job, but D-backs sources denied the notion when asked, he continues. Rosenthal lists Bryan Price and Walt Weiss as skippers that are safe for now but may be seeking new employment come season’s end, and he notes that Robin Ventura, Brad Ausmus, John Farrell and Terry Collins could all be in the same boat if their clubs finish the season poorly.
West Notes: Bregman, Jansen, Pomeranz, Rockies
The Astros are “expected to call up top prospect Alex Bregman as early as this weekend,” reports Jim Bowden of ESPN and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). Bregman, selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft, has obliterated minor league pitching all season long and recently moved up to Triple-A without missing a beat. The 22-year-old is hitting .389/.421/.889 with five homers in eight Triple-A games and a combined .309/.416/.603 with 19 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A this season. The 22-year-old is a natural shortstop but has been playing third base as of late. As MLBTR’s Jason Martinez speculated yesterday in his latest Knocking Down The Door installment, Bregman could slot into third base for the Astros, with Luis Valbuena shifting across the diamond to first base and A.J. Reed moving into a platoon at DH with Evan Gattis. If he does indeed get the call this coming weekend, Bregman would be the first first-rounder from last year’s draft to make his MLB debut and could provide a jolt in the arm of an Astros club that has surged back into both the Wild Card and AL West race.
More from the West divisions…
- As Kenley Jansen hopes to get the opportunity to pitch in tonight’s All-Star Game, Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times looks a bit further into the future and writes that the Dodgers’ closer is in line for a record-setting payday relative to his relief-pitching peers. Multiple executives to whom McCullough has spoken consider Jonathan Papelbon‘s current record — a four-year, $50MM contract — to be “the floor” for Jansen in the offseason. As McCullough notes, Jansen has better marks in ERA, WHIP, K/9 and K/BB ratio than either Papelbon or David Robertson had in their three-year platforms to free agency. We’re inclined to agree at MLBTR, as Tim Dierkes has noted throughout the year in his free-agent power rankings. Jansen has a legitimate case for five seasons on the free-agent market, and he shouldn’t have to sacrifice much in the way of average annual value to achieve that height. A guarantee in the vicinity of $70MM seems plausible for Jansen, who currently boasts a 1.16 ERA with 11.9 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 38 2/3 innings.
- Dodgers president of baseball ops Andrew Friedman tells McCullough that his “hope and expectation” is that Jansen will be wearing a Dodgers uniform for a long time. McCullough notes, in fact, that the Dodgers could pursue both Jansen and Aroldis Chapman this winter, though that comment comes in seemingly speculative fashion.
- Drew Pomeranz, who just entered the All-Star Game in relief for the National League, wouldn’t have had a rotation job this spring at all if he hadn’t initiated a conversation with Padres manager Andy Green, writes MLB.com’s A.J. Cassavell. Pomeranz saw early in camp that he wasn’t in the same workout group with the team’s starting pitchers and made the bold move to go to his new manager and tell him that he’d been working on a third pitch and wanted a crack at the rotation. Pomeranz said that Green appreciated how straightforward he was and gave him a chance to earn that job. The rest, of course, is history, as Pomeranz is now the Padres’ best starter, having turned in a 2.47 ERA in just over 100 innings this season.
- There’s been “no sign so far” that the Rockies and manager Walt Weiss are discussing an extension, per Nick Groke and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post in their midseason Rockies podcast. Saunders notes that while Weiss is well-liked by his players overall, there are some within the clubhouse that wish he was a bit tougher and demanded more from his team. Weiss’ current contract runs through the end of the 2016 season. Groke is later joined by Benjamin Hochman from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and the two discuss the possibility of the Rockies and Cardinals matching up on a trade for Charlie Blackmon.
Latest On Royals’ Search For Rotation Help
The Royals are known to be on the lookout for starting pitching, having been connected to the likes of Ervin Santana, Rich Hill and Matt Moore in recent weeks. Their needs have been accelerated by the struggles of Chris Young and injury setbacks for Mike Minor and, more recently, Kris Medlen. As Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star writes, Medlen suffered a Grade 1 strain in his throwing shoulder while pitching on a rehab assignment from rotator cuff inflammation at Triple-A Omaha and will be shut down from throwing for at least the next two weeks due to the injury.
With uncertainty permeating their rotation, Kansas City is casting a wide net in looking at trade candidates, writes MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Among the pitchers they’re considering are right-handers Jeremy Hellickson and Andrew Cashner as well as lefties Hill and Jorge De La Rosa, according to Morosi. Each of those names would constitute a strict rental, as each is a free agent at season’s end, though previous ties to Santana and Moore suggest that the Royals are possibly open to the steeper price (be it financial or in terms of prospect cost) of adding a player controlled beyond the 2016 campaign. Indeed, McDowell’s colleague Rustin Dodd linked Kansas City to multiple Rays starting pitchers just last night. GM Dayton Moore called the rotation an “area of vulnerability” and confirmed that he’s been “evaluating the landscape” of potentially available options, writes the Star’s Vahe Gregorian.
Royals starters currently rank 29th in the Majors in collective innings pitched at 455 2/3, and they’re a mere one-third of an inning ahead of the rebuilding Reds in that woeful distinction. More troublesome than that sum is the fact Royals starters simply haven’t pitched well even when they’re on the mound. The Royals’ excellent bullpen could perhaps cover persistently short starts if the team were regularly receiving quality five-inning outings from its starting staff, but Royals starting pitchers have posted a collective 5.02 ERA that ranks 25th in the Majors this season. The bullpen has helped to stop the bleeding, but the recent loss of Wade Davis has thinned out the relief corps, and even if he’s not on the shelf for long, they’re on pace for a lofty total of 556 2/3 innings from the bullpen this season.
With that in mind, Hellickson strikes me as the most logical target among the names listed by Morosi. He’s made 18 starts this season and, after a patch of struggles in late April/early May, has averaged 6 1/3 innings per start over his past 11 turns (nine of which have been quality starts). He’s been the most durable of the bunch and probably offers the best blend of affordability in terms of salary ($7MM in 2016) and prospect cost. Hill is earning $1MM less but has pitched considerably better when on the mound, so he should be expected to command a larger return than Hellickson in a trade. Cashner, meanwhile, is earning $7.15MM but has been limited to 59 innings by a hamstring strain and a neck strain. And De La Rosa, a former Royal (2006-07), is earning $12MM this season and lost his rotation spot in May before righting the ship and regaining his starting job recently.
For the time being, the Royals are relying on a rotation consisting of Yordano Ventura, Ian Kennedy, Danny Duffy and Edinson Volquez, with either Dillon Gee or Brian Flynn slated to step into Young’s spot on Sunday following Young’s move to the bullpen. While Duffy has been scintillating since returning to the rotation — a trend that continued last night — and Kennedy has given the club 100 solid innings (3.97 ERA), Ventura has struggled since April. Volquez, meanwhile, has been highly inconsistent, yielding four or more runs in half of his 18 starts this season.
Carlos Gonzalez Denies Interest In Being Traded
7:09pm: Gonzalez went on-record with Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post to deny that he is interested in being traded by the Rockies. “Nothing is true, because, obviously I haven’t talked to anybody and haven’t said that to anybody. Not my wife or my kids or my mom,” said Gonzalez when asked if he wanted out of Denver. “Whenever I get home, I’m frustrated because maybe I didn’t do well, or we didn’t win the game, but I never complain about it … or say I want to go somewhere else.”
Gonzalez went on to praise the Rockies’ emerging core of young players, mentioning Trevor Story and Jon Gray by name and saying that he wants to be a part of the next contending Rockies club. “I have been here for a lot of bad moments and tough situations, so I want to see the bright (side),” he told Saunders. “I want to be here when that happens.”
4:02pm: Heyman now tweets clarification that Gonzalez is amenable to a trade but hasn’t had a meeting with team officials on the matter. Rockies GM Jeff Bridich denied that a meeting took place when asked by SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (links to Twitter), adding that he’s never had a strong desire to deal his star outfielder and will be “patient as it pertains to the deadline.”
12:25pm: Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez “expressed an interest” in being dealt in a recent meeting with the Rockies’ front office, Jon Heyman of todaysknuckleball.com reports. Colorado could explore deals for both CarGo and fellow outfielder Charlie Blackmon this summer, per the report.
Gonzalez, 30, is running up a .319/.368/.556 batting line with 18 long balls on the year. While you have to discount that somewhat for his home-field advantage at Coors, there’s little question that he’d be a premium offensive asset on the trade market. With a $17MM salary this year and $20MM due for 2017, Gonzalez isn’t cheap — but he does come with a much more affordable contract than he’d command on the open market. Despite his variety of past injury problems, Gonzalez has been healthy in 2016 and doesn’t come with a hugely lengthy contract commitment.
The team has received similar production from Blackmon, who is hitting .305/.371/.496 with a dozen home runs and eight stolen bases. Though he isn’t running as much as he did last year, and is considered more of an average defensive center fielder than a top-flight glove-man, there’s plenty of value here. That’s all the more true given Blackmon’s reasonable $3.5MM salary and two future years of control. He’d quite likely be the premier center field-capable player available.
It’s worth bearing in mind that the club is far from committed to a selling posture, let alone parting with either or both of these core players. Colorado is on the outskirts of the playoff picture, but Heyman suggests that there’s some encouragement on the team’s ability to compete.
Still, there’s a big gulf separating the Rox from the division-leading Giants, and it seems that Gonzalez isn’t sanguine about the organization’s chances. Per Heyman, he’s increasingly frustrated at the club’s performance and wants to play for a winning club.
Rockies GM Jeff Bridich has already shown a willingness to part with well-loved superstars, as he shipped out shortstop Troy Tulowitzki last summer in a bid to bolster the team’s stock of young pitching. Certainly, both Gonzalez and Blackmon would profile as major assets that should draw top-quality prospects if they follow Tulo out the door.
Yohan Flande Elects Free Agency
JULY 6: The Rockies announced last night that Flande has rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency. The 30-year-old Flande will now be free to sign with any club on what would most likely be a minor league contract.
JULY 2: The Rockies have designated left-handed swingman Yohan Flande for assignment, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post was among those to report (Twitter link). Flande’s departure clears roster space for lefty reliever Jake McGee, who’s returning from a three-week stay on the disabled list because of a sprained knee.
[Related: Updated Rockies Depth Chart]
Flande spent 2008-13 with the Phillies and Braves before cracking the majors in Colorado, where he has been since 2014. In 131 innings and 37 appearances (20 starts) with the Rockies, Flande has racked up a 5.15 ERA, 5.29 K/9 and 3.02 BB/9. The 30-year-old threw 3 2/3 frames for the Rockies this season and allowed five earned on eight hits and three walks before the club designated him. Flande does own an outstanding 58.3 percent ground-ball rate in the big leagues, though a lack of strikeouts and a high home run rate (19.4 percent) have limited his effectiveness.
Rockies Place Justin Miller On DL, Activate Adam Ottavino
The Rockies have placed righty Justin Miller on the 15-day DL, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets.* His roster spot will go to fellow right-hander Adam Ottavino, who has been activated from the disabled list.
[Related: Updated Rockies Depth Chart]
Miller, 29, had pitched to a 5.35 ERA over 35 1/3 innings on the year, with 9.4 K/9 against 4.3 BB/9. That represents a somewhat disappointing follow-up on a 2015 campaign in which he allowed just over four earned per nine — no mean feat when pitching at Coors Field — with a 3.45 K/BB ratio, making him quite a productive minor-league signee.
Certainly, a .360 BABIP-against has not helped Miller’s cause, but he’s also been more prone to the long ball — making for a poor combination with an elevated walk rate. Miller is still in the zone just as much as he was last year, but is getting less swings and misses as batters have resisted his off-the-plate offerings.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Ottavino returns after missing most of 2015 due to Tommy John surgery. He had claimed Colorado’s closer role after two straight quality campaigns. Ottavino had not allowed an earned run in 10 1/3 innings before he busted his ulnar collateral ligament, with 11.3 K/9 against just 1.7 BB/9.
In the meantime, the Rox have added Jake McGee and more recently elevated Carlos Estevez to 9th-inning duties, so Ottavino probably won’t go right back to closing. But Ottavino signed an offseason extension with the club while rehabbing, so he’s a fixed-cost asset. That increases the appeal of allowing him to rack up the saves rather than the other pitchers, each of whose future earnings would be impacted by counting statistics in the arbitration process.
*An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Miller had been designated for assignment. Harding has since clarified that he was moved to the disabled list.
NL West Notes: Friedman, Ryu, Giants, Rockies
Some news from around the NL West…
- While Clayton Kershaw‘s health status will surely be the biggest factor in the Dodgers‘ deadline plans, the club has “a number of target guys we are interested in irrespective of what’s going on,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman tells ESPN.com’s Doug Padilla. “Of course, as things play out the next few weeks, the importance of certain areas will grow and others will decrease. But it’s still pretty early on in those conversations.” L.A. has already made one notable move for pitching (picking up Bud Norris) in the wake of Kershaw’s back injury.
- The Dodgers could also get an internal pitching boost with Hyun-Jin Ryu‘s return, as Friedman told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick) that Ryu could be back soon after the All-Star break or perhaps even this week. Ryu missed all of 2015 and all of this season due to shoulder problems, including recovery from labrum surgery in May 2015.
- The Giants will be getting Sergio Romo, Joe Panik and other notable regulars back from the DL within the next couple of weeks, though as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle notes, it will create a bit of a roster crunch due to the number of out-of-options players on the current 25-man. Schulman speculates that Ruben Tejada could be the first of the out-of-options crew to be designated for assignment since Tejada has cleared waivers twice this season.
- Rockies GM Jeff Bridich tells Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post that the team is “going to keep our eyes and ears open to everything” heading into the trade deadline. While Bridich was excited that the Rockies are still within striking distance of the NL wild card race, Saunders figures the club will ultimately end up being deadline sellers, rather than buyers. Saunders cites Jorge De La Rosa as “Colorado’s most realistic trade possibility,” with the likes of Daniel Descalso, Nick Hundley, Boone Logan and Mark Reynolds also possible candidates to be moved. Carlos Gonzalez will garner the most trade buzz but Saunders believes Gonzalez will remain with the team not just through the rest of this season but into the 2017 campaign as well.
NL International Signings: 7/2/16
Here’s a roundup of key National League international signings not yet covered elsewhere on MLBTR.
- The Cardinals are completing a $2.3MM deal with Cuban outfielder Jonathan Machado, and will also sign Venezuelan outfielder Victor Garcia for $1.5MM and Cuban righty Johan Oviedo for $1.9MM, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez writes. MLB.com ranks Machado the No. 10 prospect available this signing season, noting comparisons to Kenny Lofton and Ichiro Suzuki. The speedy 17-year-old was widely expected to sign with the Cardinals. MLB.com ranks Garcia the No. 12 prospect available, praising his big raw power but noting that his plate approach could use work. Oviedo is a somewhat off-the-grid signing, at least from the perspective of the available public information — he doesn’t rank in MLB.com or Baseball America’s top prospects lists. Sanchez had previously tweeted, though, that the 18-year-old Oviedo is 6’6 and 235 pounds, and already throws 94-96 MPH, touching 98. It’s not hard to see why teams would be interested in such a player. The Cardinals have the smallest bonus pool of any organization, at $2,027,300, and these three signings alone would send the team way past it.
- The Rockies have agreed to sign Venezuelan lefty Alfredo Jose Garcia for $1M, Sanchez tweets. Garcia does not figure in either the MLB.com or Baseball America lists. There’s little information on him available online, although he appears to be the pitcher in this video.
NL Notes: Braves, Mets, Rockies
The recent success of Braves right-hander Bud Norris could make him an attractive option to playoff contenders as the Aug. 1 trade deadline nears, writes Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Norris dominated the Mets on Sunday over seven innings, surrendering just four hits while striking out eight. The 31-year-old lowered his ERA to 4.22 along the way and improved his strikeout and walk rates to 7.68 and 3.58, respectively, per nine innings. After a nightmarish April and a May spent in the bullpen, Norris has made six starts this month, allowing seven earned runs and collecting 29 strikeouts against eight walks over 29 1/3 innings. Norris is playing on an affordable salary ($2.5MM) this year and will be a free agent at season’s end. FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reported earlier this week that multiple teams, including the NL East rival Marlins, are interested in Norris.
More from the National League:
- Infielder Jose Reyes might be more than a 2016 stopgap for the Mets, reports Adam Rubin of ESPN.com. The contract Reyes, 33, inked with the Mets on Saturday also includes a team option at a league-minimum cost for 2017, according to Rubin. It’s worth noting that, thanks to third baseman David Wright‘s injury troubles and second baseman Neil Walker‘s status as a pending free agent, multiple positions in New York’s infield are unsettled beyond this season.
- Rockies right-hander Eddie Butler has worked out of the rotation and bullpen this year, struggling in both roles, but the club isn’t bailing on his chances to serve as a long-term starting option. “For Eddie, his stuff is plus. You don’t want to give up on that,” manager Walt Weiss told Ben Weinrib of MLB.com. “We’ve seen him good as a starter. We’re not there yet where we’re going to give up on him as a starter.” A former high-end prospect, the 25-year-old Butler has racked up 42 1/3 innings as a starter this season and compiled a 6.54 ERA, 5.91 K/9 and 2.53 BB/9. Those numbers have contributed to his unimpressive career totals from the rotation (138 innings, 6.20 ERA, 4.89 K/9 and 3.98 BB/9).
- The Rockies’ best current pitching prospect is righty Jeff Hoffman, whom they acquired from Toronto in the Troy Tulowitzki deal last year. Hoffman is faring well with Triple-A Alburquerque of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post details, but general manager Jeff Bridich told Groke that the Rockies aren’t going to rush the onetime Tommy John surgery recipient to the majors. For now, the 23-year-old Hoffman will continue sharpening his arsenal in Albuquerque. “He’s had all four pitches available to him and he’s using them,” Triple-A pitching coach Darryl Scott said. “He’s starting to recognize hitters. He’s coming into games now with a scouting report he put together, for a plan of attack. Not very many young pitchers take that step so early.”
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/25/16
Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.
- The Reds have announced that they’ve released righty Steve Delabar, who allowed six runs and ten walks in eight innings of work this season before being outrighted in May. Had Delabar been successful in helping the Reds’ beleaguered bullpen, his return to the big leagues with Cincinnati might have become a feel-good story, due to his roots in nearby Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Unfortunately for Delabar and the Reds, Delabar struggled with his control not only at the big-league level, but at Triple-A Louisville as well. The 32-year-old Delabar was an All-Star with Toronto in 2013 but has fallen on hard times since, with increased walks, decreased strikeouts and a decline in average fastball velocity from about 95 MPH to about 93.
- The Rockies have selected the contract of lefty Yohan Flande and optioned righty Miguel Castro to Triple-A Albuquerque, Nick Groke of the Denver Post tweets. Flande made 35 appearances, including 20 starts, for the Rockies in 2014 and 2015, but was non-tendered last offseason before returning to the organization via a minor-league deal. Since then, he’s posted a 4.25 ERA, 5.7 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 while pitching multiple-inning stints in relief at the Triple-A level. He hasn’t pitched in five days, and should therefore provide a fresh arm for a bullpen that has been taxed in a string of high-scoring games against the Yankees and Diamondbacks, including a four-and-a-half-hour game against Arizona yesterday.