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Minor MLB Transactions: 8/13/18

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

  • The Tigers announced today that right-hander Jacob Turner cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Toledo. Having been outrighted in the past, the prospect-turned-journeyman will have the ability to decline that assignment in favor of free agency if he is so inclined. The 27-year-old Turner was designated for assignment over the weekend when Detroit signed Zach McAllister. Turner pitched just one inning in his return to the Tigers and allowed a whopping five runs in that outing. He soaked up 39 innings for the Nationals last season but hasn’t topped that mark since the 2014 season. In 369 career innings at the big league level, Turner has a 5.37 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 1.22 HR/9 and a 46.5 percent ground-ball rate.

Zach McAllister On Signing With Tigers

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  • Veteran reliever Zach McAllister chose to sign with the Tigers earlier this week not only because of the on-field opportunity they presented, but because they were “aggressive” in pursuing him, the righty tells Max Bultman of The Athletic (subscription required). Even though McAllister’s not under control past this season, the fact that Detroit put forth such an effort to add him suggests it could be open to retaining him beyond 2018, Bultman notes. In the meantime, McAllister, 30, will use the rest of the season to try to rebuild his once-solid stock after struggling this year with the Indians. If the hard-throwing McAllister succeeds and puts himself back on other teams’ radars heading into the winter, his tenure with the rebuilding Tigers could go down as a short-lived union.

Michael Fulmer Nearing Rehab Assignment

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  • Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer is closing in on a rehab assignment, per Jason Beck of MLB.com. Fulmer, out since July 20 with a left oblique strain, threw a 50-pitch bullpen session Saturday. Regardless of whether the 25-year-old returns in 2018, with the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline having passed, he no longer looks like a candidate to end up on the move this season. Fulmer had been popular in the rumor mill until hitting the DL, and if he comes back this year and performs well, he’ll surely be a target for teams over the winter.

AL Central Notes: Martin, Santana, Perez

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The Indians have not given much indication as to the medical issue that forced just-acquired outfielder Leonys Martin to the disabled list, but indications are that it’s a rather concerning health matter of some kind. As Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer writes, manager Terry Francona explained yesterday that Martin does not wish to publicize details of his situation at present, but the 30-year-old ballplayer is presently receiving treatment at the Cleveland Clinic. MLBTR joins those around the game in extending its best wishes to Martin and his family. We hope to see him back to full health as soon as possible.

Here are some other recent notes from the American League Central:

  • Twins righty Ervin Santana had some choice words for the front office after his start last night, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Santana suggested that the organizational higher-ups have given up on the team despite the fact that the players are still “not giving upon” on the season. “They took our pieces away, and it’s difficult to play without our good pieces,” said the veteran hurler. It’s hard to argue with his characterization, of course, as the Twins have dealt away multiple quality veterans. Frankly, though, that has seemed an advisable course given the roster’s struggles in advance of the trade deadline. Santana himself could end up on the move, though he has struggled through four starts since returning from a lengthy stint on the disabled list.
  • Katie Strang of The Athletic took a worthwhile look at Tigers prospect Franklin Perez in a subscription piece. His injury-riddled campaign has impacted the team’s broader rebuilding efforts, as it has robbed one of the organization’s most promising players of a key season. While it’s never good to hear of lat and shoulder issues in a pitcher, the Detroit front office remains bullish on Perez. Fortunately, too, the organization is relatively rich in quality pitching prospects. Strang explains that the hope is to get him back to full health over the offseason, then launch him at Double-A to open the year. The post includes a lengthy chat with Astros international guru Oz Ocampo, who explains that Perez was “pretty much a finished product” from the time he entered the Houston system. Perez, of course, headlined the return in last August’s Justin Verlander swap.

Tigers Sign Zach McAllister, Designate Jacob Turner

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The Tigers announced today that they have signed a MLB pact with righty Zach McAllister. To create roster space, the club designated fellow right-hander Jacob Turner.

McAllister just wrapped up a lengthy tenure with the Indians, who released him after designating him for assignment. Now he’ll head to the division-rival Tigers to finish out the year before reaching free agency at season’s end.

The 30-year-old hurler has overseen declines in both his peripherals and his results this season. McAllister provided the Indians with 183 1/3 innings of 2.99 ERA ball from 2015-17, but his fortunes have turned. Through 41 2/3 frames in 2018, he has coughed up seven long balls and is allowing 4.97 earned runs per nine with 7.3 K/9 versus 2.2 BB/9.

Turner, of course, is a former first-rounder turned journeyman who found his way back to Detroit recently. He was shelled in a recent start, lasting only one inning. In eighty frames this year, he carries a 4.50 ERA with 6.5 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9.

Quick Hits: Bumgarner, Strasburg, Correa, Happ

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Kerry Crowley of The Mercury News boldly calls Madison Bumgarner’s contract situation the Giants’ “elephant in the room”. Crowley wonders whether Bumgarner must be traded in order to spark a rebuild for the club, who failed to make any significant moves at the trade deadline and now sit at 57-58 on the season after struggling to the league’s worst record last year (tied with the Tigers, of course). Whether the club ultimately decides to “rebuild or remodel”, Bumgarner’s the only player on the roster whose contract might warrant teams forking over a significant prospect return; something an aging Giants team could certainly use. Crowley describes Bumgarner’s future as “uncertain” in the amidst a mediocre team with a gargantuan payroll.

More on a few interesting items from around MLB this evening…

  • The Nationals received some welcome news on Stephen Strasburg today, as the right-hander reportedly “felt good” after tossing a 42-pitch bullpen session. According to Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post, he’s likely to throw another one tomorrow and could potentially embark upon a rehab assignment soon thereafter. He’s been on the DL since June 26th with a cervical nerve impingement, but on the bright side he was cleared of any structural damage in his shoulder shortly thereafter.
  • The Astros appear to be even closer to getting a valuable asset back on the field, as Carlos Correa was spotted at Minute Maid Park today, with Christian Boutwell of MLB.com among those eye witnesses. Though he was inactive for today’s game, the former Rookie of the Year shortstop believes he could be back on the field as soon as tomorrow. Correa’s having a down season by his standards, hitting .268/.352/.480 with a slightly-bloated 24.4% strikeout rate.
  • The Yankees, for their part, already got a notable player back from the DL. J.A. Happ was activated today, filling the roster spot left vacant after they optioned Chance Adams to Triple-A last night. Happ’s been on the DL with hand, foot and mouth disease for the past week plus, but will return to the rotation and attempt to provide the value the Bombers envisioned when they traded Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney in order to obtain him. Happ’s posted a 4.05 ERA through 21 starts

Tigers Acquire Nick Tepesch From Blue Jays

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The Tigers have acquired right-hander Nick Tepesch from the Blue Jays for cash considerations, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports on Twitter. Tepesch will head to Double-A Erie with his new organization, Woodbery adds.

Tepesch, now 29, is best known for his run with the Rangers from 2013-14. He turned in 42 appearances (39 starts) and 219 innings of 4.56 ERA/4.66 FIP pitching in that span, notching a career-best 126 frames in 2014. Tepesch walked just 2.92 hitters per nine in his Texas tenure, but he only managed a 5.42 K/9 along the way, thus limiting his effectiveness.

Since his time with the Rangers ended in 2016, Tepesch has been a member of a few other organizations, but he hasn’t seen significant big league action over the past couple years. Tepesch has spent this year exclusively in the minors, combining for 89 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. He struggled at both levels with Toronto, especially as a member of its Triple-A team in Buffalo, where he put up a lofty 7.90 ERA with 4.39 K/9 and 2.85 BB/9 in 41 frames.

Poll: Which Of These Tigers Is Most Likely To Be Traded?

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Earlier today, we learned that three prominent Detroit Tigers (Jose Iglesias, Francisco Liriano and Jordan Zimmerman) have cleared trade waivers, meaning that each is eligible to be traded at any time during the remainder of the season. For any of the three to be eligible for postseason play, he would need to be shipped off to another team before the end of the month.

Each of the three aforementioned players have varying levels of value in relation to their respective salaries for 2018 (and money owed beyond this season). However, it’s not hard to imagine any of the three as a plausible trade candidate; there are certainly plenty of contending teams who could use a shortstop or a starting pitcher. The Tigers would likely have to eat some of the remaining salary owed to any of these three players in the event an agreement is struck with a contending team, but I want to explore the plausibility of each player being dealt, not his overall contract value.

Jose Iglesias, SS- The bulk of Iglesias’ value is locked up in his defensive capabilities. Though he’s hit just .276/.306/.391 over the course of the 2018 season (a batting line that’s not too far off from his career averages), Iglesias owns a Fangraphs defensive rating of 13.7 due in part to the accrual of four Defensive Runs Saved and an Ultimate Zone Rating of 8.9 to this point on the year. That, combined with a below-average wRC+ of 88, has earned him a 2.2 fWAR mark- the highest of any player on this list. Infielders with Iglesias’ defensive capabilities are in short supply, so it’s easy to imagine there would be more than one suitor for the 28-year-old should the Tigers pay down some of his $6.3MM arbitration salary.

Francisco Liriano, LHP- Liriano’s served as a starter for the bulk of his career, and although he’s been largely unspectacular over the course of his 13-season MLB career, he’s shown flashes of brilliance. Most notably, Liriano put up a 3.26 ERA across the 2013-2015 seasons while with the Pirates, notching 9.58 K/9 against 3.78 BB/9 while managing a 52% ground ball rate. While it seems likely that those days are behind him, Liriano could still prove a useful asset to a contending team should he figure out how to regain some semblance of control (he’s walked more than five batters per nine innings on the season). It could be tough to find a taker, considering he owns a 4.37 ERA in 17 starts on the season that seems lucky when compared to his 5.23 FIP, but it’s worth mentioning that the Astros acquired him down the stretch last season in order to utilize him as a reliever, and there’s more than one team that might benefit from adding a lefty to its bullpen.

Jordan Zimmerman, RHP-  Zimmerman’s case is the most curious of these three, particularly considering the massive amount of money he’s owed beyond 2018 ($50MM) and the fact that he has a full no-trade clause as part of his contract with the Tigers. Still, after a pair of horrific seasons since signing with Detroit and an equally-rough start to the 2018 season, Zimmerman’s returned to some semblance of usefulness. In eight starts after coming off the disabled list on June 16th, the righty’s managed to compile 41 strikeouts against a stingy seven walks. The result has been a reasonable 3.91 ERA across 46 innings, and he’s lasted at least five innings in all but one of his eight contests. A pitcher of that caliber would certainly be useful to a number of contending teams looking for a fourth starter in October. The tricky part of any negotiation would be deciding upon exactly how much of Zimmerman’s remaining salary ought to be paid down, and that’s without even considering what it might take to convince him to waive his no-trade clause after he chose to sign with the Tigers in part due to Detroit’s geographic location.

It’s no certainty that any of these three will be dealt. But it’s not an impossibility that all three could be moved prior to August 31st, either. Who do you think is most likely to be on the move this season? Here’s a link to the poll for those using the app.

Jose Iglesias, Francisco Liriano, Jordan Zimmermann Clear Trade Waivers

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Three prominent Tigers players have cleared revocable trade waivers, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free-Press. Infielder Jose Iglesias, lefty Francisco Liriano, and righty Jordan Zimmermann can all now be traded freely for the rest of the season.

Of course, deals need to be struck by the end of the month for any player to have postseason eligibility with a new organization. And any preexisting limitations — such as Zimmermann’s no-trade rights — remain in full force.

Of these players, the former two seem to be likely trade candidates. Both are pending free agents earning reasonably significant money. Iglesias, 28, is playing on a $6.275MM salary, while the 34-year-old Liriano is owed a total of $4MM.

Teams interested in upgrading their infield defense will surely consider Iglesias, who’s among the game’s best fielders at short. He’s also producing at a respectable rate at the plate for a defender of his quality, with a 88 wRC+ for the season. Liriano, meanwhile, likely won’t be pursued as a starter, as metrics don’t really support his 4.37 ERA. That said, he has handcuffed lefty hitters this year and it certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s stretched out.

As for Zimmermann, he’s earning $24MM this year and $50MM total for the following two seasons. That’s a big chunk of change. Plus, Zimmermann has full no-trade rights during the present campaign. (They’ll revert to partial rights at season’s end.)

While similar roadblocks did not stop the club from dealing franchise cornerstone Justin Verlander last August, Zimmermann hasn’t pitched well enough to force the issue in the manner of his former teammate. The 32-year-old Zimmermann has certainly fared better this year than at any prior point in his tenure with the Tigers, with a 4.31 ERA over 77 1/3 innings and improved mix of 8.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. But he has also had some health concerns and still likely won’t be valued at anything close to his remaining contract. Plus, there’s still no reason to believe he’d be interested in waiving his no-trade protection, as geography played a role in bringing him to Detroit in the first place.

Tigers To Purchase Contract Of Jacob Turner

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The Tigers will purchase the contract of righty Jacob Turner, Evan Woodberry of MLive.com tweets. He’s expected to start tomorrow in place of the just-traded Mike Fiers.

Turner, 27, has seen action in parts of seven seasons. But his career hasn’t gone as hoped when he debuted in Detroit at just twenty years of age. The former first-rounder has spent time with four other organizations since that time and owns only a 5.26 ERA over 368 career innings.

Most recently, Turner was knocked around in four outings with the Marlins earlier this season. The Tigers nabbed him on a minors deal and sent him to Triple-A Toledo. Turner has been effective there thus far, carrying a 4.01 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 58 1/3 frames over 11 starts.

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