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Minor MLB Transactions: 9/10/17

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Here are the latest minor moves from around baseball, with the newest transactions at the top of the post…

  • The Tigers will select the contract of outfielder Tyler Collins on Monday, writes MLive.com’s Evan Woodbery. The team will make a corresponding move at that time. Collins started in right field for the Tigers early in the season, but batted just .200/.288/.338 and was ultimately outrighted. He then hit .288/.358/.462 in 296 plate appearances with Triple-A Toledo. Now, the Tigers are calling on him again as fellow outfielders Mikie Mahtook and Alex Presley struggle with injury.
  • The Diamondbacks selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Christian Walker, the team announced.  Right-hander Randall Delgado was moved to the 60-day DL in order to create a 40-man roster spot.  Walker was named MVP of the Pacific Coast League this season, getting back on the map as a prospect after two average seasons in Baltimore’s farm system.  Walker has a .283/.350/.479 slash line over 2866 career PA in the minor leagues, and he’ll be making his first trip to MLB since appearing in 13 games for the Orioles in 2014-15.
  • The Pirates selected the contract of southpaw Dan Runzler from Triple-A Indianapolis while shifting Josh Harrison to the 60-day DL to create roster space.  Runzler appeared in 89 games (72 1/3 IP) for the Giants from 2009-12 but hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since, bouncing from the Arizona and Minnesota farm systems over the last two years before signing a minors deal with Pittsburgh last winter.  The Pirates also announced a number of minor league callups, as catcher Jacob Stallings, left-hander Jack Leathersich and right-handers Tyler Glasnow, Edgar Santana and Johnny Barbato will all join the big league roster.
  • The Orioles outrighted Jayson Aquino to Triple-A yesterday after the southpaw cleared waivers, according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter link).  Aquino was designated for assignment on Tuesday.  The 24-year-old has posted some solid numbers over eight career seasons in the minors, though he has a 6.32 ERA in his brief time (15 2/3 IP) in the big leagues.
  • The Diamondbacks released right-hander Louis Coleman earlier this month, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy reports.  Coleman originally signed a minors deal with Arizona in June and was then released and re-signed by the team in August before this most recent transaction.  Coleman was also released by the Reds in June after signing a minor league contract with them in the offseason.  All told, the righty has some impressive numbers this season at the Triple-A level, posting a 2.25 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 2.41 K/9 over 64 relief innings.  Coleman has yet to pitch in the bigs in 2017, a year removed from appearing in 61 games out of the Dodgers’ bullpen.
  • Also from Eddy, the Indians released outfielder Dan Robertson.  In 88 plate appearances for the Tribe, Robertson hit .225/.287/.338 with a home run.  Robertson signed a minor league deal with Cleveland last winter and was released and re-signed to a new deal in August by the club.
  • The Braves outrighted right-hander Enrique Burgos to Triple-A earlier this week, the team announced.  Burgos was designated for assignment on August 30.  The hard-throwing Burgos has yet to appear in a big league game this season after totaling 68 1/3 innings out of the Diamondbacks bullpen in 2015-16, as Burgos has continued to be plagued by control problems (a 6.6 BB/9 over 35 1/3 minor league innings this season).

AL Central Notes: Verlander Trade, Twins, Diaz, ChiSox

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In one of his latest columns at FanRag Sports, Jon Heyman looks at the final hours leading up to Aug. 31’s Justin Verlander blockbuster. The Astros, according to Heyman, had been reluctant to part with any of their top six prospects in trades for virtually any player in either July or August. It wasn’t until 10:30pm ET on the night of Aug. 31 that they called the Tigers to at last cave in and concede a willingness to part with highly touted right-hander Franklin Perez. Detroit GM Al Avila had two execs head to Verlander’s home before the ace had decided whether to waive his no-trade clause in order to obtain his signature as quickly as possible if he ultimately approved a deal.

The Tigers’ initial centerpiece target, per Heyman, was another of the Astros’ young right-handers: Forrest Whitley. Houston held firm on him, but the two sides were ultimately able to cobble a deal together and give Verlander about an hour to weigh whether to waive his no-trade protection. In the end, the trade went through at 11:59pm, per Heyman, barely scraping under the wire.

A bit more from the AL Central…

  • Jake Depue of 1500 ESPN spoke to Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey this week about top pitching prospects Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero and the progress that the pair made in 2017. While there’d been some speculation that Gonsalves could join the team in September, Falvey hinted at some inconsistencies following a promotion to Triple-A Rochester. “We’ve seen some really good outings from him,” said Falvey. “…We’ve also seen probably the natural fatigue that a pitcher goes through late in the year, and he’s had some of those outings too.” Falvey ultimately acknowledged that the team felt Triple-A was “the best environment” for Gonsalves, with whom the team will be careful from a developmental standpoint. Indeed, Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters prior to Thursday night’s game that the team was likely done making September call-ups (Twitter link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).
  • Indians prospect Yandy Diaz has demonstrated elite exit velocity but also an extreme tendency to hit the ball on the ground, writes Travis Sawchik of The Athletic (subscription required and recommended). The 26-year-old Diaz signed out of Cuba for $300K three years ago, and while he’s never cracked many top prospect lists, his exit velocity and outstanding eye at the plate (14 percent walk rate, more walks than strikeouts in the minors) make him an intriguing breakout candidate despite his age. In addition to chatting with Indians assistant hitting coach Matt Quatraro about Diaz’s approach, Sawchik breaks down Diaz’s point of contact and recent adjustments to his swing as he looks to carve out a role on the team moving forward.
  • Left-hander Carlos Rodon was a last-minute scratch for the White Sox tonight, as Scott Merkin of MLB.com writes. Fifteen minutes before first pitch, the Sox swapped Rodon out for veteran Mike Pelfrey due to stiffness in his left shoulder. The former No. 3 overall pick is viewed as a key long-term piece for the Sox, but injuries have limited him to 69 2/3 innings this season. It’s not clear at this time if Rodon will need to miss any further outings.
  • Rodon isn’t the only injury for the White Sox, either; right-hander Jake Petricka was placed back on the 10-day DL for a third time this season due to an elbow strain, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. Petricka expressed some frustration but explained that the injury built up over time as opposed to a more severe injury that could occur on one single pitch. Indeed, Hayes notes that an MRI revealed no structural damage for Petricka, but there’s uncertainty as to whether he’ll be able to return to an already inexperienced ChiSox pen before season’s end.

Ian Kinsler’s 2018 Option Has Vesting Clause

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Ian Kinsler’s five-year, $75MM contract has been widely reported to have a $10MM club option with a hefty $5MM buyout attached to it, but there’s a slight detail that Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently brought to light (via Twitter). Kinsler’s 2018 option actually has a vesting clause that will automatically trigger that option if and when Kinsler reaches 600 plate appearances this season.

MLBTR has learned that the option would also vest at $11MM — a slight uptick from the $10MM base salary he’d have if he falls shy of 600 plate appearances. Winning his second straight Gold Glove Award can also boost Kinsler’s 2018 base salary by $1MM. That’s of particular note given that Kinsler currently leads qualified Major League second basemen both in Defensive Runs Saved (+8) and UZR/150 (+9.3).

It’s a minor distinction, to be sure. Kinsler’s bat has taken a step back this season(.235/.314/.382), but his superlative glovework and quality baserunning have made him worth about two wins above replacement per both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. Whether the bottom-line price tag is $10MM, $11MM or $12MM, it seems exceedingly likely that Kinsler’s option will either vest or be exercised by the Tigers. The $5MM buyout Kinsler is owed, after all, essentially reduces the Tigers’ decision on him to a one-year deal worth $5-7MM — an even easier call to make.

Having already traded Justin Verlander, Justin Upton, Justin Wilson, J.D. Martinez, Cameron Maybin and Alex Avila in the past calendar year, the Tigers are all but certain to shop Kinsler around this offseason. While the potential for an additional million or two being tacked onto his salary may have a modest impact on trade talks, it’s hardly going to be a sticking point in negotiations with interested parties.

Kinsler currently has 522 plate appearances on the season, leaving him 78 plate appearances shy of that $11MM sum automatically kicking in for the 2018 campaign.

Quick Hits: Verlander, Marlins, Angels, Dodgers

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Right-hander Justin Verlander met with reporters Sunday and explained his decision to waive his no-trade clause to go from the Tigers to the Astros in a stunning Aug. 31 trade.  Given that Verlander had been in the Detroit organization since it drafted him second overall in 2004 and evolved into a Tigers icon, it was understandably difficult for him to leave.  “At one point I was kind of pacing back and forth in my living room — it was just [fiancée] Kate [Upton] and I — and I’m going, ’Trust your instincts, trust your instincts. What are your instincts telling you?'” Verlander said (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). “I was just so caught in between with emotion and excitement of a new ballclub, and ultimately, it came down to winning and joining an organization that’s set up to win for a long time.”

For the teams involved, the Verlander deal was a tough one to work out, as Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press details in a fascinating piece.  The Tigers rejected multiple proposals from the Astros on Thursday, when the trade ultimately went down late at night, and it looked as if the sides would table talks until the offseason.  The clubs finally agreed on a return, and Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow called Tigers GM Al Avila around 11:30 p.m. ET to inform him that Houston would pick up $16MM of the remaining $58MM left on Verlander’s contract.  Then, the Tigers dispatched two baseball operations officials to Verlander’s house so he’d provide a signature agreeing to waive his no-trade rights.  Verlander did, of course, but he initially had reservations about going to the Astros.  While Fenech reports that the 34-year-old never rejected a trade to Houston, he had concerns about shifting to their ballpark.  Discussions with Astros owner Jim Crane and manager A.J. Hinch did enough to assuage Verlander, however, and the longtime ace then called Avila to inform him he’d accept the trade, paving the way for a blockbuster that came in barely before the 11:59 p.m. ET waiver deadline.

More from around the game:

  • It doesn’t appear that the Marlins’ low-spending ways will change when their new ownership group takes over, but their fate would have been different had local businessman Jorge Mas purchased the team, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. Unlike owners-to-be Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter, Mas would not have planned to slash payroll had he put forth the winning bid for the franchise.  Mas finished as the runner-up to Sherman and Jeter, who are at the helm of a faction that agreed last month to buy the Marlins from Jeffrey Loria for $1.2 billion.
  • Not long ago, it looked as though the Angels were going to continue wasting Mike Trout’s presence, but both the present and near future suddenly look bright in Anaheim, Joel Sherman of the New York Post observes. Having traded for all-world shortstop Andrelton Simmons and big-hitting left fielder Justin Upton during his two-year run as the Angels’ general manager, Billy Eppler has given Trout a pair of quality position player complements who, like the center fielder, are under contract through 2020, Sherman notes (though Upton may well opt out after the season). The Angels could add to that group with a free agent like Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas during the offseason, writes Sherman, who also names Alex Cobb as a potential offseason target for their rotation. Additionally, Sherman lauds Eppler for improving a farm system that was nearly barren upon his arrival.  Regardless of whether the playoff-contending Angels qualify for the postseason in 2017, then, they’re beginning to look like a team that could capitalize on having Trout before his contract expires.
  • The Dodgers plan to recall outfielder Joc Pederson sometime this season, manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, on Sunday (Twitter link). “I would expect Joc back. Nothing is set in stone,” Roberts said of Pederson, whom the Dodgers optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on Aug. 19. The 25-year-old has batted a shockingly poor .158/.222/.281 in 63 minor league plate appearances, continuing a disappointing sseason that has seen him hit .215/.329/.418 in 295 PAs with the Dodgers. P ederson’s major league line this year has been average, not bad, but it still represents a clear drop-off from his production during the prior two seasons.

AL Notes: Astros, Tigers, Angels, Rays

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One of the premier players in baseball, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, will make his return Sunday against the Mets, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.  Correa hasn’t played since tearing a thumb ligament on July 17, before which the 22-year-old put himself in American League MVP consideration by hitting an excellent .320/.400/.566 with 20 home runs and posting 4.1 fWAR in 375 plate appearances.  While Houston was a juggernaut prior to Correa’s injury, it went backward during his absence. The team jumped out to a 62-31 start with Correa in the fold, but it went just 20-22 when he was on the shelf.  Still, the Astros hold an insurmountable 12.5-game lead in the AL West and should have a realistic World Series shot now that their best player is back.

Elsewhere around the AL…

  • Although the Tigers went into a full rebuild this week when they traded Justin Verlander and Justin Upton, 35-year-old second baseman Ian Kinsler wouldn’t be averse to staying in Detroit.  “I have no problem being part of a rebuilding team if that’s what the Tigers wish. I don’t know what they wish,” Kinsler told Evan Woodbery of MLive.com and other reporters Saturday.  “I don’t know if they want me a part of it or if they don’t want me a part of it right now. If they do want me a part of it, I’m fine with that. I have no problem trying to pass my experience along as best I can to the younger players and help anyway that I can.”  Kinsler’s having a down 2017 (.236/.316/.387 in 510 plate appearances), but the Tigers fielded an offer for him last month, and he’s likely to draw offseason interest as an affordable player entering the final year of his contract ($10MM club option).  While Kinsler has a 10-team no-trade clause, he suggested his fate mostly lies in general manager Al Avila’s hands.
  • Angels right-hander Garrett Richards will make his long-awaited return to their rotation Tuesday against Oakland, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register was among those to report. Richards hasn’t started since April 5, his lone outing of the year, on account of biceps nerve irritation. The 29-year-old will be on a 50-pitch limit in his upcoming start and will gradually increase the count toward 100 by the end of the regular season, Fletcher relays. Both Richards and manager Mike Scioscia are confident the front-end starter is healthy and will fare nicely when he comes back, even though injuries have limited him to 39 1/3 innings since 2016.
  • The Rays sent representatives to Japan to watch Nippon Ham Fighters ace Shohei Otani’s start last week, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Along with the Rays and the Yankees, there were around a dozen other teams in attendance to watch Otani, whose fastball hit 100 mph, Buster Olney of ESPN reports. The changes in the collective bargaining agreement could theoretically give low-payroll teams like Tampa Bay a better chance to land the two-way phenom, though the Rays already spent $3.825MM of their available international money ($5.25MM) on Dominican shortstop Wander Franco on July 2.

AL Notes: Upton, Angels, Tigers, Yankees

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Speaking with Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports on Saturday, newly minted Angels left fielder Justin Upton noted that the free agent market has changed since January 2016, when he signed a six-year, $132.75MM contract with the Tigers, adding that “teams are looking for different things” (Twitter link). While the market shift could impact whether the 29-year-old opts out of the remaining $88.5MM on his contract after the season, it seems he’s considering vacating what’s left of the pact. “If you play well enough, there’s a job for you,” said Upton, who has slashed .279/.362/.541 with 28 home runs in 528 plate appearances in 2017. Thanks to his outstanding performance this year, the majority of those who voted in MLBTR’s latest poll on Friday expect Upton to test free agency again in the offseason.

More on the Halos and two other AL clubs:

  • Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera will serve a six-game suspension stemming from his role in a brawl with the Yankees on Aug. 24, while reliever Alex Wilson will sit three games and manager Brad Ausmus will be barred from one, per an announcement from Detroit. Major League Baseball originally handed down seven-, four- and one-game bans to Cabrera, Wilson and Ausmus, respectively, before the appeals process. Their suspensions began Saturday against Cleveland, with bench coach Gene Lamont stepping in for Ausmus.
  • As of Friday, settlement discussions between MLB and the players’ union regarding suspensions for Yankees catchers Gary Sanchez and Austin Romine were still ongoing, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. A decision is unlikely to come before Monday, per Rosenthal, who adds that the two backstops won’t serve their penalties simultaneously. Before Sanchez and Romine appealed, the former received the larger ban (four games to two).
  • Angels right-hander J.C. Ramirez will miss the rest of the season because of an elbow strain, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register reports (Twitter link). The Halos placed Ramirez on the 60-day disabled list on Friday, which didn’t come as a surprise given that he received a platelet-rich plasma injection earlier this week and looked unlikely to return at the time. Fortunately for both team and player, general manager Billy Eppler announced that the Angels haven’t found any new structural damage in Ramirez’s elbow. The 29-year-old turned in a respectable season before the injury, tossing 147 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball and recording 6.41 K/9 against 2.99 BB/9, to go with a 51.4 percent groundball rate.

Minor MLB Transactions: Holmberg, Liriano, Lewicki

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league.

  • The White Sox announced yesterday that they’d selected the contract of lefty David Holmberg from Triple-A Charlotte. Holmberg spent three months on the White Sox staff earlier this year, posting a respectable 3.55 ERA, but with 5.0 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 over 50 2/3 innings, including six starts. The team outrighted him last month. The 26-year-old has now pitched parts of four seasons in the big leagues, also appearing with the Diamondbacks and Reds.
  • The White Sox announced today that they’d placed outfielder Leury Garcia on the 10-day DL with a sprained thumb, replacing him with Rymer Liriano, whose contract they selected from Charlotte. Liriano was once a top prospect in the Padres organization, but they designated him for assignment prior to the 2016 season. He found a home with the Brewers, only to have his 2016 campaign derailed when he was hit by a pitch in Spring Training. The White Sox claimed him last winter, then outrighted him near the end of Spring Training. He batted .256/.323/.416 with Charlotte and now appears set for his first big-league action since 2014.
  • The Tigers will soon place Victor Martinez on the 60-day DL and select the contract of righty Artie Lewicki, MLB.com’s Jason Beck tweets. Lewicki will start against the Royals on Monday, taking the unenviable task of filling Justin Verlander’s spot in the rotation. The 25-year-old Lewicki was the Tigers’ eighth-round pick out of the University of Virginia in 2014. This year, he’s produced a 3.38 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in 141 innings split between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo. The impending Martinez move comes as little surprise, since he requires chronic ablation surgery and is out for the remainder of the season.

Victor Martinez To Miss Rest Of Season

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SATURDAY: Martinez will have chronic ablation surgery and will miss the remainder of the season, Fenech writes (all Twitter links). He will be placed on the 60-day DL tomorrow. The Tigers do expect Martinez to play in 2018.

SUNDAY 6:42pm: The Tigers do not have insurance on what’s left of Martinez’s contract (around $21MM through 2018) if he cannot be cleared to return, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press tweets.

10:58am: Martinez had a rapid heartbeat after the Tigers’ game in Chicago on Saturday and had to stay overnight at a hospital as a result, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com (on Twitter). The expectation is that Martinez will be released from the hospital today, after which he’ll head back to Detroit. The Tigers won’t decide on a timetable for a potential return to the field until they determine what’s causing Martinez’s heart issue, Beck adds.

10:22am: The Tigers announced that they have placed designated hitter Victor Martinez on the 10-day disabled list with an irregular heartbeat and recalled outfielder JaCoby Jones from Triple-A Toledo.

This is the second time this year Martinez has landed on the DL with an irregular heartbeat since he was diagnosed with the condition in mid-June. Martinez required a short stay in a Detroit-area hospital then, but he was able to return to action in under two weeks. The hope is that the 38-year-old Martinez will be able to make a similarly speedy recovery this time around, and MLBTR extends its best wishes to the respected and accomplished veteran.

Reactions To The Justin Verlander Deal

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Here’s a collection of reactions to the Tigers’ headline-grabbing trade of Justin Verlander to the Astros earlier this week.

  • After the Tigers and Astros agreed on a deal, Verlander initially refused to waive his no-trade rights, Jon Morosi of MLB.com writes. Verlander wasn’t opposed to joining the Astros, but first he wanted to see if he could go to the Cubs, since he and fiancée Kate Upton like the city of Chicago. (Verlander was also interested in the Dodgers, although they weren’t actively involved in talks.) When it turned out the Tigers felt the Cubs weren’t offering enough value in a potential deal, Verlander signed off on the trade that would send him to the Astros.
  • Bob Nightengale of USA Today has further details on discussions between Verlander and the Tigers that resulted in Verlander’s departure from Detroit. The Tigers ultimately told Verlander it would be “the Astros or nobody,” as Nightengale describes it. Verlander, who had some concerns about Houston as it dealt with Hurricane Harvey, spoke to Astros owner Jim Crane. “I told him, ’This town is going to be fine. It’s going to take time. You will be received great here. We’ve got a good team, a good manager, a good front office. There won’t be any problems here,'” says Crane.
  • The Tigers’ decision to trade Verlander and Justin Upton was an “obvious rebuild move,” says Tigers GM Al Avila (via MLB.com’s Jason Beck). “We’re going to have a rough month of September, and next year may not be all that pretty, either,” says Avila. “But at some point in the near future, we expect this to turn around, that some of these prospects will be coming up and making a difference. And within a reasonable time then, we should be ready to go.”
  • The trade shows the Astros will treat their coming playoff run as a “crusade” for their beleaguered city, Ken Rosenthal writes for the Athletic. The team already has a franchise-record payroll of around $130MM this season, and that figure could go higher next year. But the Astros are pushing to make it to the World Series, and Rosenthal writes that while a baseball trade hardly makes up for what’s currently a disastrous situation in Houston, it could perhaps be a “ray of sunshine” in an extremely dark time.
  • Franklin Perez now ranks as the Tigers’ second-best prospect behind fellow righty Matt Manning, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen opines in a review of the prospects in the swap. Longenhagen describes Perez as a polished teenager who has the potential to dominate, although he’ll have to increase his stamina to carry a big-league starter’s workload. He calls Daz Cameron a “fringe-to-average hitter with fringe game power” and a borderline future big-league starting outfielder.

Central Notes: Ausmus, Candelario, Kennedy, Russell

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Tigers manager Brad Ausmus’ contract expires after the season, and as the club rebuilds, his future is unclear, Evan Woodbery of the MLive Media Group writes. “I can’t say that’s out of the question,” GM Al Avila said when asked about the possibility Ausmus would return for 2018. “I haven’t talked to him about it at this point. At some point we’ll sit down when we have some time and things settle down and we’ll see where that goes.” Ausmus himself declined to say anything too specific about the situation, though he did note that he thinks “there’s a lot of upside to young players because of the enthusiasm and energy and will to learn.” Last year, Ausmus expressed frustration about his uncertain future, only to have the Tigers pick up his option. Now there are no more options remaining on his deal, and the franchise appears to be heading in a different direction. He’s compiled a 308-310 record in most of four seasons in Detroit. Here’s more from the Central divisions.

  • After dealing Justin Verlander and Justin Upton this week, the Tigers will continue to get younger, promoting third baseman Jeimer Candelario and righty Myles Jaye today, as Woodbery notes. The 23-year-old Candelario, who the Tigers acquired in July in the deal that sent Alex Avila and Justin Wilson to Chicago, has batted .265/.343/.484 at the Triple-A level this year. He ranks fourth in MLB.com’s list of the Tigers’ top prospects. With Nick Castellanos transitioning to the outfield, there is (or could eventually be) space open for Canedelario at third base. Jaye, 25, has posted a 3.96 ERA, 7.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 131 2/3 innings in the rotations of Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo. The Tigers added him in a March 2016 trade that sent Bryan Holaday to Texas.
  • Cubs shortstop Addison Russell hasn’t played in a game since Aug. 2 due to an ongoing case of plantar fasciitis, and manager Joe Maddon informed the media that he’ll be out for another three weeks after aggravating the injury during a rehab assignment (link via MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat). An MRI confirmed the setback. With Russell on the shelf for another three weeks, the Cubs will continue to lean on Javier Baez as their primary shortstop, though Chicago also selected the contract of versatile utilityman Mike Freeman yesterday. Freeman isn’t likely to see many starts, but he gives Maddon some depth at the position and some insurance in the event of an injury to Baez. Here’s more from the Central divisions.
  • Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy offered a candid assessment of his opt-out clause when speaking with Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. “It would be pretty stupid if I did,” said Kennedy when asked about the possibility of exercising that clause. “You don’t go to the free-agent market pitching how I’ve been. No one is going to want that.” Set to turn 33 in December, Kennedy started the season with a strong April and has had some patches of success in 2017. However, he’s been shelled for 36 runs in his past 36 1/3 innings, allowing 49 hits (nine homers) and 17 walks against 30 strikeouts in that time. His current 5.47 ERA would be the worst full-season mark of his career and all but eliminates the possibility of forgoing the remaining three years and $43MM on his contract. Royals fans will want to check out Dodd’s column in full, as it’s packed with candid quotes from Kennedy and additional insight from manager Ned Yost.
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