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Relief Pitching Deadline Day Rumors

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The market for relievers is always moving on deadline day, as teams look to add pen pieces that will bolster their depth down the stretch.  Fernando Abad is off the board, having been traded to the Red Sox today.   We’ll keep tabs on the remaining relievers here:

  • The Orioles and Marlins are shopping for a low-end left-handed reliever, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.  Sherman feels the Braves’ Hunter Cervenka could be one such candidate, while ESPN’s Jayson Stark names Cervenka as a last-minute target for the Fish.
  • Sherman also notes that the Rangers are among the teams looking at Braves righty Jim Johnson.  The Braves have kicked around Johnson as well, tweets Marc Carig of Newsday, but nothing appears close.
  • While they are also pursuing larger targets, the Giants have perused the second tier of the relief market, per ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link). While the top targets have perhaps mostly already been traded, San Francisco has scouted the Brewers’ strong group of relievers as well as increasingly valuable Rockies southpaw Boone Logan — though last we heard he may not be traded. Jeanmar Gomez of the Phillies is another name the Giants have checked, though he too isn’t sure to be dealt. And even as the Giants talk with the Rays on starter Matt Moore, the club has also watched right-handed swingman Erasmo Ramirez, per Crasnick.
  • The Astros are kicking around some left-handed reliever options, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (Twitter links). That’s arguably the team’s biggest area of need. Some of the names mentioned include Logan and Jake McGee of the Rockies and the Brewers’ Will Smith — all of whom are at or near the remaining market for relief southpaws. It’s not immediately clear whether any are real options at this stage, as Crasnick notes that nothing has “materialized” to this point.

Athletics Likely To Trade Rich Hill, Won’t Reach Extension

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TODAY: Hill won’t reach a deal with the A’s on a new contract, Rosenthal tweets, making him likely to be dealt today.

YESTERDAY: The A’s are discussing an extension with left-hander Rich Hill while also discussing trade scenarios with other teams, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link).

Hill has been one of the most talked-about names on the trade market all season long but has scarcely been able to pitch since late May due to a groin strain and, more recently, a blister on his left middle finger. The latter of those two maladies landed him on the disabled list yesterday, and while the stint is expected to be minimal, it does cast a shadow on the club’s ability to trade Hill. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle characterized a Hill trade as a “long shot” today due to his placement on the disabled list, but she noted that the Blue Jays, Tigers, Dodgers and Orioles have all scouted Hill extensively (though Baltimore has reportedly struck a deal with the Mariners to acquire Wade Miley). The club would be happy to hang onto Hill even after tomorrow’s deadline she writes, adding that the club would consider a qualifying offer for Hill at season’s end. FOX’s Ken Rosenthal added the Astros, Rangers and Pirates to the list of clubs with interest in Hill (Twitter link).

That, of course, would represent a massive offer to a player that, prior to 2016, had never earned more than $1MM in a given MLB season. But, Hill has upped his game dating back to last September and pitched brilliantly thanks to an increased use of his curveball, pitching to a sterling 2.06 ERA with 10.8 K/9, 2.8 BB/9 and a near-50 percent ground-ball rate. Durability is a factor both in trade talks and extension talks, to be sure, but Hill’s recent results are difficult to ignore. Hill’s age figures to limit the length of any contract — more than two years would be a major surprise — but the fact that he hasn’t earned much in his career (relative to most of his peers) might actually play into Oakland’s favor, as any type of significant contract offer would figure to carry quite a bit of weight for Hill.

Luhnow: Astros "50-50" To Make A Trade

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  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said over the weekend (on Saturday, to be exact) that his team is “50-50” to make a move in advance of the deadline, as Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports. “We’ve got some things in the works, but nothing getting close to going over the finish line at this point,” said Luhnow, who also acknowledged the high price that starting pitching is commanding this summer. Houston doesn’t appear to have any real needs, strictly speaking, but is surely interested in exploring ways to bolster the roster — particularly in the rotation.

Red Sox, Astros Among Teams Discussing Carlos Beltran With Yankees

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As the Yankees continue to chart a unique deadline course, the team is entertaining dialogue regarding outfielder Carlos Beltran with several interested competitors, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Among the teams in discussions are not only the Indians and Rangers, who have frequently been mentioned in the past, but also the Astros and even the rival Red Sox.

Though it sounds as if there’s a fair bit of action on the 39-year-old slugger, that doesn’t mean that anything is close. Indeed, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter), no scenarios have been put in front of Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner — which would be the case if there were real “momentum” toward a deal.

New York doesn’t appear to be simply looking to get whatever it can for Beltran, given the team’s attempt to straddle the line between a full sell-off and continued pursuit of the playoffs. Last we heard, there’s a pretty high price tag on his services. That being said, it’s hard to imagine that he’s not an achievable target given that the club has already dealt top-quality late-inning arms Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller.

Unsurprisingly, all the clubs listed above are in the American League. While Beltran’s bat has been sensational even as he approaches forty years of age, he’s no longer the quality center fielder he once was. Instead, Beltran is now limited to playing right field — which he has done passably, though not terribly well, this year. And the wise move will likely remain to slot him in as a DH rather liberally; the Yankees have given him about a third of his overall action there.

Though he has limits as a player, Beltran is quite appealing as a rental bat. He owns a stellar .301/.342/.538 batting line and has already popped 21 long balls in his 383 plate appearances in 2016. Questions of health and age won’t be as pressing given his high-quality current performance, and the same holds of his fairly lofty salary. Beltran is earning $15MM this year before hitting the open market, with about $5.34MM left to go on the season.

It’s worth noting, too, that Beltran has been nothing less than a monster in the postseason. Over his 223 plate appearances, he owns a robust .332/.441/.674 slash with 16 home runs. And Beltran is obviously a highly respected veteran who’d add to any clubhouse, increasing his appeal to teams with designs on a deep run.

Padres Pushing To Move Derek Norris; Brewers, Rangers, Astros Have Interest

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12:34pm: Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports tweets that in addition to the Brewers, the Rangers and Astros are also showing interest in Norris. Of course, the Norris fit only makes sense for the Brewers if Lucroy is moved to another club, and he has since exercised his no-trade clause and squashed a would-be deal to the Indians.

1:01am: The Padres are still pushing to move Derek Norris by Monday afternoon’s non-waiver trade deadline, tweets Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller tweets that the Brewers are among the teams currently speaking to San Diego about Norris.

Milwaukee’s connection to Norris is somewhat of a surprise at first, but there’s plenty of logic to the match. First and foremost, if the Brewers’ reported agreement to trade Jonathan Lucroy to the Indians is ultimately finalized (Lucroy must first agree to waive his no-trade protection), Milaukee will be left with a significant hole behind the plate and very few options. Martin Maldonado could see an increase in playing time, but as a career .217/.291/.341 hitter in 934 plate appearances, he’s not well-suited for an everyday role. Looking down the pipeline a bit, the Brewers have Josmil Pinto and Manny Pina, each with some MLB experience under his belt, at the Triple-A level. and each is hitting well. However, Colorado Springs is an exceptionally hitter-friendly environment, and Pinto comes with noted defensive issues.

Beyond the lack of a long-term option on the brink of MLB readiness, the Brewers could simply look to opportunistically acquire Norris while his value is down. The 27-year-old was a well above-average contributor relative to his catching peers from 2013-15, but his bat has taken a huge step back in 2016, as he’s hitting just .193/.253/.360 on the year. Norris got off to a dreadful start and looked to have righted the ship in May and June, but his bat has gone dormant once again as of late. That, however, only figures to drive down the price, especially considering the fact that San Diego has top prospect Austin Hedges doing his best Mike Piazza impression in Triple-A El Paso (.352/.395/.684 with 17 homers in 210 plate appearances). The Padres would seem to be highly motivated to move Norris, who is earning a reasonable $2.925MM this season and controllable for another two years via the arbitration process.

One would have to imagine that the asking price on Norris has dropped considerably since Opening Day, and if that’s the case the Brewers could look to buy low in the hopes that a change of scenery and a relocation to the first hitter-friendly park of his career can get him back on track. Norris has, after all, spent his entire big league career in the offense-suppressing confines of O.Co Coliseum and Petco Park. But, even if Norris doesn’t ultimately rediscover the form that saw him bat .256/.333/.405 from 2013-15, he could provide a serviceable stopgap behind the plate while the Brewers trot out an inexperienced pitching staff in the midst of their rebuild.

Injury Notes: Valbuena, Bourjos, Morrison, Boxberger, Cain, Pollock

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Injuries always play a major role in shaping the trade deadline; indeed, waiting to see how health issues shake out is one of the biggest reasons that clubs wait until they are under the gun to make their moves. We already have covered some notable recent developments — Rich Hill isn’t yet ready for a start for the Athletics; Mets center fielder Juan Lagares just went down to thumb surgery; the Rangers lost Prince Fielder for the season; and Royals reliever Luke Hochevar is likely headed for his own season-ending surgery.

Here are a few more less-impactful, but still notable injury updates from recent days:

  • The Astros added infielder Luis Valbuena to the DL yesterday with a hamstring injury, as Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Though it still seems like a relatively minor injury, it could shake things up for Houston. For one thing, it likely means extended exposure at the hot corner for top prospect Alex Bregman. For another, it could increase the need to get just-signed Cuban infielder Yulieski Gurriel into minor league action and then up to the majors. The really interesting question, though, is whether the injury opens some added daylight for the ’Stros to go after a big bat on the trade market. And it goes without saying that the injury snuffs out whatever meager chance there was that Valbuena would be moved as part of Houston’s deadline machinations. [Updated Astros Depth Chart]
  • This one is from two days back, but the Phillies’ placement of outfielder Peter Bourjos on the DL certainly seems to change things a bit on the center field market. He’d have represented a useful plug-in for teams in need of a swift-footed defender down the stretch. And even if his hot streak was destined to fizzle out, Bourjos has shown that he can still bring something to the table with the bat. As things stand, though, his shoulder is enough of a question mark that he’d be a tough player to add on speculation; given his cheap salary, moreover, Philadelphia will likely be forced to take a meager return should Bourjos be moved in the August waiver-wire period. [Updated Phillies Depth Chart]
  • Rays first baseman Logan Morrison has hit the shelf with a forearm strain, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported via Twitter. Given his struggles, Morrison’s departure from the first base market isn’t a major change. Still, though, Tampa Bay might have hoped to offload some of the remainder of Morrison’s $4.2MM salary this year, particularly given that he’ll be a free agent this fall. Though his overall .228/.304/.371 batting line on the year leaves quite a bit to be desired, LoMo has traditionally put up solid results (.754 OPS) against right-handed pitching. [Updated Rays Depth Chart]
  • Meanwhile, the Rays activated right-handed reliever Brad Boxberger from the DL. He still hasn’t made an appearance since returning from an oblique strain, and has only seen action in a single game this year. While that leaves him as an unlikely trade target, there’s an outside chance that a club seeking shelter from the high price tags on top pen arms could look for a buy-low opportunity. The Rays will surely hope he can rebuild some value over the next several months, but with Boxberger set to reach arbitration after the season, there’s likely to be added motivation to move him. Over his 178 MLB frames, Boxberger owns a 3.03 ERA with 11.9 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 — with even better results in 2014 — so there’s obviously some upside there.
  • To be sure, the odds of the Royals dealing Lorenzo Cain were always slight — even if the team is open to listening on him. But a hamstring injury and month-long layoff seemed to all but eliminate the already-feeble chances of a trade. Now Cain is back from the DL, and ready to get back to work at making this season’s batting line (.288/.338/.413) look more like that from 2015 (.307/.361/.477). It still seems that an offseason deal — if any — is more likely, but there’s no question that contenders would have serious interest in a player who has established himself as one of the game’s better all-around players in recent years. [Updated Royals Depth Chart]
  • Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock, who has missed the entire season after fracturing his elbow late this spring, faced live pitching for the first time yesterday, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic tweets. Pollock’s status won’t directly factor into the deadline; he’s not going anywhere and the D-Backs aren’t shopping for a replacement. Still, though, the fact that he seems to be making progress toward a return in 2016 may fortify Arizona’s resolve to maintain its course as a modest seller over the coming days.

Astros Do Not Appear To Be In Lucroy Mix

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3:35pm: Crasnick now tweets that the Astros aren’t believed to be in play for Lucroy, with a source telling him that Houston’s interest was previously overstated.

6:10pm: The Brewers’ trade talks surrounding catcher Jonathan Lucroy are picking up, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (links to Twitter). The Indians, Rangers, Mets, Astros and Red Sox have all been mentioned in connection with Lucroy, Crasnick notes, and offers being made by other clubs have become more serious recently. Crasnick adds that the the ever-popular “mystery team” may have entered the mix as well.

While there’s a common belief that Lucroy will indeed be traded prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline, Rosenthal writes that the Mets feel that Milwaukee is “overreaching” in its asks for Lucroy, while AL West contenders like the Astros and Rangers are more focused on adding pitching depth than a catcher at this time. Houston is also looking at other backstops, he notes, so it’s not a guarantee that even if they move for a catcher, Lucroy would be the target. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan tweets that the Rangers have yet to show serious interest in Lucroy and consider adding a catcher to be a “luxury” at this point, as pitching depth remains their primary focus. Those tweets came prior to Texas’ acquisition of Lucas Harrell and Dario Alvarez from the Braves, but one would assume that those two arms alone have not ended the Rangers’ search for pitching upgrade.

Astros Briefly Expressed Interest In Cashner

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  • The Astros called the Padres to inquire on Andrew Cashner but told San Diego about 48 hours later that they were no longer interested. Whether it’s because of the asking price or another reason isn’t entirely clear. Heyman adds that, unsurprisingly, Colby Rasmus won’t be getting another qualifying offer from the Astros this year after he accepted the QO last November and has underperformed in 2016.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Five Teams Interested In Cuban Third Baseman Yanio Perez

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  • Cuban third baseman Yanio Perez has drawn interest from the Astros, Padres, Rangers, Reds and Rockies, as per a report from MLB Pipeline (Twitter link).  The 20-year-old was ranked by Pipeline as the 10th-best player available in this year’s July 2 international market, and he is known to have impressive raw power, makeup and above-average speed.  Perez is subject to international bonus pool guidelines.

Padres Shopping Derek Norris

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While most deadline buzz surrounding the Padres has involved Andrew Cashner and Melvin Upton, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) reports that San Diego is also “pushing hard” to trade catcher Derek Norris.

Norris has been rumored as a trade candidate for months, thanks to the Padres’ rebuilding plans and the club’s desire to permanently promote top prospect Austin Hedges (who has crushed Triple-A pitching over the last two seasons).  In his examination of the catching trade market, MLBTR’s Steve Adams described Norris as no less than “the likeliest player in all of baseball to get traded.”

The issue, however, is that Norris is on pace for the worst hitting season of his five-year MLB career.  Norris is hitting just .204/.263/.379 with 12 homers over 312 plate appearances.  His .247 BABIP indicates a bit of bad luck, though he also has a career-high with a career-high 28.8% strikeout rate.  It seemed as if Norris had turned the corner by delivering an .824 OPS in June, though he has struggled again this month.  On the plus side, Norris had traditionally been considered a poor defensive catcher but as per both Baseball Prospectus (FRAA) and Fangraphs (Defensive Runs Saved) metrics, Norris has been one of baseball’s better defenders behind the plate in 2016.  He has also thrown out 16 of 55 baserunners trying to steal on him this season.

Despite the rough hitting numbers and now two straight years of a subpar on-base percentage, Norris should still garner some interest.  He is only 27 and is controllable through the 2018 season, as he is earning $2.925MM this season in his first time through arbitration eligibility.  It was only two years ago, of course, that Norris reached the All-Star Game as a member of the Athletics.

Jonathan Lucroy is unquestionably the top name among catchers available in trade talks, so it’s possible the Padres may not get any momentum towards a Norris deal until Lucroy is off the board.  On the flip side, the Brewers are obviously asking for a lot in return for their star backstop, so teams unwilling or unable to meet Milwaukee’s price for Lucroy could turn to Norris as a cheaper alternative.

The Rangers and Indians have both been linked to Lucroy, though they’ve also been connected to other big-time targets — the Rangers for top starters like Chris Sale or several arms from the Rays’ rotation and the Tribe to Aroldis Chapman.  If either club has to surrender a big prospect package to land one of those targets, they might not have the young talent necessary to get Lucroy, so Norris could be next up.  Texas, notably, had interest in Norris in the offseason and even in April when Robinson Chirinos hit the DL.  The Astros like Norris, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reports, though it isn’t clear whether Houston and San Diego are actively discussing a deal.

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