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Dominic Leone

Cardinals Designate Luke Gregerson, Option Dominic Leone

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The Cardinals have designated veteran reliever Luke Gregerson for assignment, per a club announcement. Fellow right-hander Dominic Leone was optioned down to create another active roster spot.

Those moves will clear the way for two other hurlers. The club has activated righty Carlos Martinez, who was expected to be brought back in a relief capacity this weekend after opening the year on the injured list due to shoulder issues. It has also called up righty Ryan Helsley.

Gregerson, who recently turned 35, is one of several recent free-agent bullpen additions that hasn’t worked out for the Cards. He has allowed 7.36 earned runs per nine in his 18 1/3 innings with the club since the start of 2018, a disappointing turn for a long-excellent hurler.

Injuries have taken a toll, with Gregerson’s stuff suffering. Since returning this year after undergoing knee surgery in 2018, he has shown a notable velocity decline and managed only a 4.8% swinging-strike rate — less than a third his career average of 15.0%.

The Cards will eat the remainder of the money owed to Gregerson, including the balance of his $5MM salary this season and a $1MM buyout. The deal included a club/vesting option for 2020.

Leone has also been a frustrating piece for the Cards since coming over via trade in advance of the ’18 campaign. He’s carrying 11.4 K/9 in the early going but has also dished out 4.6 free passes and surrendered 2.1 home runs per nine innings. Through 21 1/3 frames, Leone has been tagged for 19 earned runs.

The Cardinals will continue to pay Leon’s $1.26MM salary. He only just tallied enough MLB service to push into the 4+ service class, so the timing of his (hopeful) return to the majors won’t impact his arb status. But it certainly will play a significant role in what he can command via arbitration and whether he’s tendered a contract this fall.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed yesterday at 1pm ET, and there has been a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track those settlements from the National League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Rounding out contract numbers for the St. Louis Cardinals, Dominic Leone will take home $1.26MM, Chasen Shreve will make $900K, and outfielder Marcell Ozuna will earn $12.25MM in his last season before free agency, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Ozuna has the most high-impact potential as he looks to rebound from a still-productive season in 2018 that saw his power output hindered at times by a balky shoulder. He still managed 23 home runs and a .280/.325/.433 slash line while playing just about every day outside of a 10-day DL stint late in August.
  • The Diamondbacks came to terms with a slew of players, per Feinsand (via Twitter), including Matt Andriese for $920K, Steven Souza Jr. for $4.125MM, shortstop Nick Ahmed for $3.6625MM, and potential closer Archie Bradley for $1.83MM.
  • The Rockies and starting pitcher Jon Gray have come to an agreement on a $2.935MM deal, per Feinsand (via Twitter). Gray had an up-and-down 2018 that is generally considered to be more promising than the optics of his 5.12 ERA make it seem.
  • The Pirates have come to terms on one-year deals with both of their arbitration eligible players, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Left fielder Corey Dickerson signs for $8.5MM, and reliever Keone Kela takes home $3.175MM. It’s a small arb class for the Pirates, whose list will grow next season as players like Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon, and Joe Musgrove, among others, reach their first season of eligibility.
  • The Dodgers signed a couple of their remaining arbitration-eligible players yesterday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Utility man Chris Taylor has a $3.5MM deal, while outfield Joc Pederson settled at $5MM.

Earlier Updates

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Cardinals Avoid Arbitration With Marcell Ozuna

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The Cardinals have agreed to avoid arbitration with outfielder Marcell Ozuna for a $12.25MM salary. Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com tweeted the agreement, with Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporting the terms.

Ozuna had been projected by MLBTR and contributor Matt Swartz to earn a $13.4MM salary for the 2019 season. He’ll check in a fair sight shy of that number in his final arb-eligible season, though his salary is still within ten percent of the projected amount.

Also locking in a pay rate was reliever Dominic Leone. He’ll earn $1.26MM after an injury-shortened campaign, just a smidge under the $1.3MM predicted amount. We had heard previously that the club agreed with starter Michael Wacha.

Cardinals Activate Dominic Leone, Release Ryan Sherriff

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The Cardinals have activated reliever Dominic Leone from the 60-day disabled list and placed fellow reliever Mike Mayers on the 10-day DL with right shoulder inflammation, Joe Trezza of MLB.com reports. Additionally, the Cardinals have released reliever Ryan Sherriff, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.

Leone is finally set to return after missing nearly four months with a nerve issue in his right biceps. Before Leone went on the DL on May 5, the 26-year-old opened the season with 13 innings of 4.15 ERA ball, adding 15 strikeouts against three walks. The Cardinals were counting on Leone to serve as a key member of their bullpen this year after a terrific 2017 with the Blue Jays, who traded him to St. Louis for outfielder Randal Grichuk in January.

Leone hasn’t been available for most of 2018, but Mayers, on the other hand, has seen plenty of action. The hard-throwing 26-year-old ranks third among Cardinals relievers in both innings (45 2/3) and appearances (42). Mayers has been respectable along the way, having logged a 4.14 ERA with 8.28 K/9 and 2.56 BB/9, but a couple of recent blowups have hurt his numbers. In a loss to Colorado on Saturday, he yielded two earned runs on three hits and failed to record an out – perhaps thanks to his shoulder troubles.

The left-handed Sherriff, 28, had been with the Cardinals since they used a 28th-round pick on him in 2011. He worked his way to the majors last year, impressing over 14 1/3 innings with a 3.14 ERA, 9.42 K/9 against 2.51 BB/9, and a 65 percent groundball rate. Sherriff totaled another 5 2/3 big league frames earlier this season, but he struggled before undergoing Tommy John surgery in June. Not only did that procedure end his season, but it’s also likely to keep Sherriff out for a large portion of the 2019 campaign.

NL Notes: Harper, Giants, Wacha, Cardinals, Marlins

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The Giants have been long-rumored suitors for Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, who’s expected to reach free agency in the offseason and sign one of the richest contracts in baseball history. While Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle opines that the deep-pocketed Giants should go after Harper, he casts doubt on the possibility of the soon-to-be 26-year-old superstar signing with them. Giants CEO Larry Baer said this week that the club should “lean more toward the development” side of things in the immediate future, Schulman points out, adding it’s doubtful Harper would select San Francisco over teams in better position to contend immediately. Schulman also suggests that the Giants’ stadium, pitcher-friendly AT&T Park, could work against them during the Harper sweepstakes. It’s worth noting, then, that the Giants’ venue currently ranks 19th among 30 parks in HR factor for left-handed hitters, per Baseball Prospectus.

A couple more notes from the National League…

  • Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha is slated to rejoin the team’s rotation during the first week of September, manager Mike Shildt told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters Saturday. Wacha will first need to get through a Double-A rehab outing on Tuesday, when he could throw 75 to 80 pitches, per Goold. A left oblique strain has kept Wacha out since June 21, before which he made 15 starts and tossed 84 1/3 innings of 3.20 ERA/4.21 FIP ball. Meanwhile, reliever Dominic Leone is also on track to return to the Cardinals early next month, Joe Trezza of MLB.com tweets. The offseason trade acquisition from Toronto landed on the DL on May 5 with a nerve issue in his right biceps – an injury which has prevented Leone from properly following up the excellent 2017 he had with the Blue Jays.
  • Marlins first baseman Garrett Cooper suffered a setback during a rehab assignment on Wednesday and is “likely” done for the season, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes. Cooper has been dealing with right wrist problems since the second game of the season, when the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks hit him with a pitch, and hasn’t played since July 20. With the Marlins having traded former starting first baseman Justin Bour to the Phillies earlier this month, a healthy Cooper perhaps could have made a case for the job heading into 2019. Instead, it appears the 27-year-old’s season will end with a .212/.316/.242 batting line over just 38 major league plate appearances.

Cardinals Notes: Pham, Leone, Gregerson, Gomber, Martinez

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The Cardinals’ decision to send Tommy Pham to the Rays caused quite some eyebrow raising among rival executives, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic. (Stark also ran down a host of other interesting items heading out of the deadline in a subscription piece.) Some around the game see it tied to the fact that, after a lengthy run of success, the Cards are increasingly in flux. Pham had seemed a core piece as recently as this past winter, when the team dealt away other young outfielders, but is now the latest player on the move. The St. Louis club is still two games over .500, has plenty of controllable talent, and isn’t even out of the 2018 postseason picture. But one rival questions whether the organization has “a real understanding of where they are within their process.”

  • One of those recent outfield swaps brought the Cardinals reliever Dominic Leone, who worked his first rehab outing for Triple-A Memphis yesterday, striking out two batters in an inning of work. That’s good news for the right-hander, who has been sidelined for much of the year with a biceps nerve problem. He’s still controllable through 2021, so the Cards have time to reap value from the 26-year-old.
  • Meanwhile, it’s possible that veteran reliever Luke Gregerson won’t return to the majors this year, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch recently tweeted. Gregerson was sidelined with a shoulder injury when he suffered a torn meniscus that required surgery. The 34-year-old, who inked a two-year, $11MM pact with St. Louis over the winter, has only thrown 12 2/3 frames for the club this season. He allowed ten earned runs in that span, but more worryingly showed some other declines. Gregerson was working at about 1.5 mph less with his average heater than in 2017 while sporting a 12.6% swinging-strike rate that’s well off of his recent levels.
  • In other pitching news, the organization has decided to bump rookie Austin Gomber into the rotation to take the place of Carlos Martinez, who just headed back onto the DL, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch (via Twitter). The 24-year-old Gomber has thrown 22 1/3 innings of 3.22 ERA ball this year in the majors, though his peripherals (7.3 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 33.3% groundball rate) aren’t quite so promising. As Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes on Twitter, the organization could soon face an “innings crisis” if it can’t get lengthier outings from its young arms while several veterans work back from the DL. Fortunately, as Langosch recently reported, there is some continued optimism that Martinez won’t require a lengthy absence, though it remains concerning that he has suffered a string of problems in his shoulder and back.

Central Notes: Moustakas, Indians, Cardinals

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Although Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas is an obvious trade candidate, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears (video link) that he’s unlikely to bring back much in a deal at his current pace. As Rosenthal points out, Moustakas’ offensive output has faded as the season has progressed, and the lefty-swinger has struggled all year against same-handed pitchers, who have limited him to a .224/.253/.353 line. He’s also due around $3MM after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. All of those factors figure to harm Moustakas’ value, Rosenthal posits. After hitting .272/.314/.521 with 38 home runs in 598 plate appearances last year, Moustakas failed to generate much interest in free agency, leading him to re-sign with the Royals for a $6.5MM guarantee in early March. Three months later, he’s slashing an unremarkable .259/.314/.474 with 13 HRs through 296 trips to the plate.

More from the league’s Central divisions…

  • The Indians are awaiting word on right-hander Carlos Carrasco, who departed his start Saturday after a 99.6 mph line drive off the bat of the Twins’ Joe Mauer struck him in the pitching elbow. Carrasco left after 1 1/3 innings with what the team called a forearm contusion, though manager Terry Francona said afterward (via Joe Noga of cleveland.com) that he’s undergoing tests on his elbow to rule out further damage. “When you look inside a pitcher’s elbow, there’s a lot going on,” Francona said. “Right now, they said it was a contusion. The hope is that’s all it is. We’ll know more by late tonight.” Saturday continued a somewhat down year for Carrasco, who allowed four earned runs to lift his ERA to 4.24 (compared to 3.29 last season), though his secondary numbers paint a far more hopeful picture.
  • Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong is on track to come off the disabled list in early July, Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports. DeJong, out since suffering a fractured left hand May 17, has been cleared to resume hitting and is aiming to take batting practice during the upcoming week. Meanwhile, injured reliever Dominic Leone has “turned the corner from uncertainty to progressing in the right direction,” according to general manager Michael Girsch (via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Leone now looks likely to return this year, which wasn’t the case before, Goold notes. A nerve issue in Leone’s right biceps has kept him on the shelf since May 5.
  • The Indians’ Triple-A affiliate in Columbus announced that it has placed center fielder Bradley Zimmer on the DL, retroactive to June 14, with right shoulder discomfort. The injury continues a Murphy’s Law 2018 for Zimmer, who was on the major league DL earlier this season with a rib contusion and then was demoted to Triple-A on June 5 after limping to a .226/.281/.330 line in 114 PAs. He also hasn’t posed a threat in the minors this year, albeit over a mere 28 PAs, with a .148/.179/.259 line and 11 strikeouts against one walk.

NL Injury Notes: Soroka, Hoskins, Bailey, Cards

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A few injury updates from the National League:

  • Right-hander Mike Soroka could return to the Braves’ rotation as early as June 16, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports. Soroka, who has been on the disabled list since May 14 with shoulder inflammation, made a successful rehab start Friday at the Single-A level and will throw two more – the first with Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday. The 20-year-old rookie began his major league career in impressive fashion prior to the injury, tossing 14 2/3 innings of 3.68 ERA ball with 9.2 K/9 and 2.45 BB/9 over three starts.
  • Despite suffering a fractured jaw this past Monday, Phillies left fielder Rhys Hoskins told reporters (including Matt Breen of Philly.com) that it’s possible he’ll be able to return as early as June 9. Whether that happens will depend on the news Hoskins receives during his follow-up appointment with the Phillies’ oral surgeon next week, per Breen.
  • The Reds have placed righty Homer Bailey on the DL, retroactive to May 30, with right knee inflammation, Jay Paris of MLB.com relays. Interim manager Jim Riggleman revealed that Bailey has been dealing with a knee issue “for about a month,” though the club doesn’t regard it as a serious injury. In any case, the DL placement continues a tough week for Bailey, whom the Reds demoted to a relief role on Wednesday. To this point, all 204 of Bailey’s MLB appearances have come as a starter. Unsurprisingly, then, Bailey’s “not thrilled” about shifting to the bullpen, according to Paris.
  • Cardinals reliever Dominic Leone went on the DL on May 5 with a nerve issue in his right biceps. Nearly a month later, Leone has shown some improvement, but there’s still no timetable for his return, Joe Trezza of MLB.com writes. Leone’s injury is an unusual one, as Trezza details, and the righty noted that “I still have yet to receive a true diagnosis as to why it happened, and it might never come. Any other injury, you have a timetable.” That’s certainly a letdown for both Leone and St. Louis, which acquired him from Toronto as part of a trade for outfielder Randal Grichuk in the offseason. Leone was coming off an outstanding 2017 at the time, though he has only been able to chip in 13 innings of 4.15 ERA ball this year.

Cardinals Activate Alex Reyes

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As expected, the Cardinals have announced the activation today of young righty Alex Reyes from the 60-day DL. To create roster space,the team optioned reliever Mike Mayers and moved bullpen mate Dominic Leone from the 10-day to the 60-day DL.

It has been known for some time, of course, that Reyes would likely be available around this point in the season. But he first had to advance through the final stages of his rehab from Tommy John surgery and build back up in the minors. And the club then had to decide how it would use him.

It was determined recently that Reyes would be deployed in the rotation. And we heard also that he would likely not face a strict innings limit. With all signs pointing to the talented 23-year-old slotting fully and permanently into the rotation, and Carlos Martinez also working his way back, the Cards decided not to option out righty John Gant. Rather than keeping Gant stretched out at Triple-A, he’ll take up residence in the MLB pen over Mayers.

Fair to say, Reyes forced the present decisions with his performance on his rehab assignment. Whispers of the return of his high-powered arsenal were confirmed as he took the hill for four dominating outings at four different levels of the minors. In the aggregate, Reyes has allowed just seven hits and seven walks over 23 scoreless innings, with a whopping compilation of 44 strikeouts.

That recent performance alone may not portend MLB stardom, but it’s good evidence that Reyes is at least back to the already-impressive form he showed before the TJ procedure. (It also seems particularly promising that he is not exhibiting walk issues, as that has been one area of concern for him as a prospect.) Already seen as one of the best young pitching talents in the game heading into the 2016 season, Reyes increased expectations with a strong, 46-inning debut effort. In his five starts and seven relief appearances, he worked to a 1.57 ERA with 10.2 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9.

Cardinals Notes: Leone, Mikolas, Wainwright

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The Cardinals will place setup man Dominic Leone on the 10-day disabled list with what the team is calling a nerve issue in his right biceps, per Joe Trezza of MLB.com (Twitter links). The team didn’t have enough time following today’s diagnosis to call up a replacement for him, however, so a formal move won’t be made until tomorrow. The St. Louis ’pen already had nine relievers in tow, so the pitching staff won’t be especially short handed even if Leone is unavailable.

As Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch explains, Leone was called upon for a relief appearance last night but felt something unnatural in his biceps while throwing his warmup pitches. After immediately calling for a trainer, he exited without throwing a pitch. “It was something I hadn’t felt before and I was concerned,” said Leone. “I didn’t want to put a bad product on the field. I didn’t want to mess with it and potentially hurt myself worse or be ineffective.” It’s not yet clear how long Leone will be out of action at this time, though the Cards figure to have further updates before the weekend is up.

Here’s more out of St. Louis…

  • While many Cards fans were skeptical of the team’s two-year, $15.5MM deal with righty Miles Mikolas this offseason, but the 29-year-old has gone a long way toward proving his doubters wrong with a 2.70 ERA and a 31-to-2 K/BB ratio through his first 40 innings back in the Majors. Mikolas chatted with the Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold about the Cardinals’ offseason pursuit of him, revealing that the division-rival Cubs were also in pursuit of his services before they “cooled of” and eventually struck up a deal with Tyler Chatwood. “I guess they didn’t want me that bad,” said Mikolas of the Cubs. “I guess they thought it would be more fun facing me than having me on their staff. They figured they’d take their chances.”
  • Adam Wainwright tells reporters that he’s lined up to make a rehab start with the Cardinals’ Double-A affiliate on Monday (Twitter link via Trezza). The veteran has been out since April 22 with inflammation in his right elbow but could seemingly return to the club in the near future if all goes well in Springfield. The 36-year-old posted a 3.45 ERA in 15 2/3 innings to open the season but also turned in an ugly 12-to-8 K/BB ratio and hit a pair of batters in that time, demonstrating questionable control. That said, with both Wainwright and top prospect Alex Reyes nearing returns from the disabled list, the Cardinals are on the verge of adding some significant depth to the pitching staff.

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