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Astros Promote Alex Bregman

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The Astros have announced the promotion of highly touted infield/outfield prospect Alex Bregman and the designation for assignment of infielder Danny Worth. Bregman will join the surging Astros on Monday for the start of their home series against the Yankees.

[RELATED: Updated Astros Depth Chart]

Bregman, whom Keith Law of ESPN (Insider required and recommended) ranks as the best prospect in baseball, has torn through minor league pitching since the Astros selected him second overall in last year’s draft. The 22-year-old ex-LSU standout has been especially impressive this season, having posted a .297/.415/.559 batting line with 14 home runs in 285 plate appearances in Double-A. The Astros’ decision to promote Bregman to Triple-A in late June didn’t slow down the right-handed hitter, who slashed an astounding .356/.397/.685 with six homers in 78 trips to the plate with Fresno. Between the two levels this season, Bregman has recorded more unintentional walks (47) than strikeouts (37), further demonstrating his offensive prowess. Law likens Bregman’s upside at the dish to that of Red Sox star second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

Baseball America rates Bregman as the game’s eighth-best prospect, meanwhile, and praised his “simple, level swing,” bat speed and patience after last season (subscription required and recommended). Moreover, BA lauded his base-running and defensive skills, though there are questions as to where he’ll line up with the Astros. Over the long haul, BA, Law and MLB.com (which has Bregman as the No. 18 overall prospect in the game) see him faring well at short. That would require Houston to move Carlos Correa elsewhere, however (likely third base); notably, MVP candidate Jose Altuve mans second base.

In the near term, the Astros could send Bregman to left field, where they’ve had him spend time in the minors, or third. However, big-money free agent signing Yulieski Gurriel’s forthcoming debut will only complicate things further. That isn’t a negative for the red-hot Astros, though, who have climbed to a season-best 10 games over .500 since a dismal start and are within 2 1/2 games of AL West-leading Texas and a half-game of the second Wild Card spot.

Wherever the Astros play Bregman, it’s fair to assume he’s in the majors for good. With that being the case, he’ll come up short of Super Two status in the likely event he remains with the Astros through the end of the season. Bregman can accrue up to 70 days of service time in the majors this year, meaning he won’t be eligible for arbitration until after 2019 and will stay under club control through the 2022 campaign.

Worth, 30, joined the Astros on a minor league deal over the winter and went on to collect 40 plate appearances with them this year, hitting a meager .179/.200/.231. The longtime member of the Tigers organization owns a .224/.282/.288 line in 332 career PAs.

Latest On Melvin Upton, Andrew Cashner

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SUNDAY: The list of teams interested in Cashner is close to 10, writes Heyman. That includes the previously reported Marlins, who have discussed many of their top prospects – including first baseman Josh Naylor – with the Padres, Heyman hears. The surging Astros are also in the Cashner sweepstakes.

SATURDAY, 11:51am: The Marlins are also still discussing Cashner with the Padres, Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets.

10:17am: The Giants have also checked in on Cashner, according to FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman (Twitter link), though San Francisco is more focused on adding bullpen help before the deadline.  The Dodgers don’t appear to be in the mix for Cashner as they “seem to be aiming even higher” for a rotation upgrade, which Heyman speculates could be Chris Sale or one of the Rays’ starting pitchers.  In another Heyman tweet, he writes that the Orioles and Blue Jays are thought to be the leaders for Upton, though the two clubs are also exploring bigger deals that could involve Upton and other Padres changing teams.

8:48am: The Orioles are chasing two high-profile names from the Padres, as they are looking at Melvin Upton and Andrew Cashner in separate trade talks, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  Reports surfaced yesterday that the O’s and Padres were discussing a swap that would’ve sent Ubaldo Jimenez and a prospect to San Diego for Upton.  That deal would be something of a fit of large contracts, whereas for Cashner, Rosenthal notes that San Diego is asking for two prospects.

Interestingly, Baltimore isn’t the only AL East team linked to these two Padres stars, as the Blue Jays have also discussed Upton and Cashner with San Diego, Rosenthal reports (Twitter links).  The Padres are trying to get the division rivals into a bidding war over Upton, though it isn’t certain if Toronto would have interest in the outfielder if Cashner wasn’t part of the deal.  Even the Cashner talks with Toronto may not have much momentum, as Rosenthal notes that the Jays and Padres have differing opinions on Cashner’s value.

As of yesterday, the Padres were telling other teams that they were close to finalizing an Upton trade, which at the time was perceived as a possible negotiating tactic on the Friars’ part.  A rival official for a team not interested in Upton observed to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune that the Padres were “trying to get someone else to bite before they are forced to send him to the one club ready to move on him.”

Given Rosenthal’s subsequent tweets, it would seem that Toronto could be the “someone else” in that description while the O’s could be the more eager suitor for Upton’s services.  Then again, Upton makes sense as an outfield upgrade on a few different contenders.  For instance, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets that the Indians have also talked to the Padres about Upton over the last few weeks, though nothing is close on that front.

Of the three teams mentioned, the Orioles would seem to have the clearest need for Upton given their left field void (as both Joey Rickard and Hyun Soo Kim are on the DL), plus Upton could also provide cover in center behind Adam Jones.  Jimenez’s contract also helps offset the large amount of money still owed on Upton’s contract, as the outfielder is set to earn $16.45MM in 2017 and roughly $5.31MM remaining this season; Cleveland and Toronto don’t have any Jimenez-esque large salaries that could be dealt to create payroll space.

The uncertainty surrounding Michael Brantley’s status could certainly put Cleveland in the market for outfield help, though the Tribe have been getting some very solid contributions from their current outfield mix of Tyler Naquin, Jose Ramirez, Rajai Davis and Lonnie Chisenhall.  The Blue Jays are pretty set in the outfield with Michael Saunders, Kevin Pillar and Jose Bautista (who could return from the DL as early as Monday), so Upton doesn’t really have a regular spot.  Toronto could use Edwin Encarnacion more regularly at first to get Upton into left field and Saunders at DH, depending on matchups.

Cashner, meanwhile, has been linked to several teams in need of rotation help.  The O’s don’t have a terribly deep minor league system, and while Cashner wouldn’t necessarily command top-tier prospects in return, it’s still possible Baltimore could be outbid by another suitor (such as the Rangers) who simply have more quality minor leaguers to offer.  Cashner fits as a big upgrade for the Orioles’ struggling pitching staff, and he also fits in Toronto given that Aaron Sanchez may yet be moved to the bullpen to control his innings.

Rangers Claim Matt Duffy From Astros

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The Rangers have claimed infielder Matt Duffy off waivers from the Astros, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (Twitter link).  Houston designated the infielder (who isn’t to be confused with the better-known Giants third baseman of the same name) for assignment last week.  Texas has optioned Duffy to Triple-A.

[Related: updated Rangers depth chart at Roster Resource]

Duffy’s MLB career consists of 11 games for the Astros over the last two seasons and 12 career plate appearances.  A 20th-round pick in the 2011 draft, Duffy has a very solid .286/.360/.458 slash line over 2794 career PA in the minors.  Duffy has played mostly third base over his career with significant time across the diamond at first, though this season he also saw action at short and left for Houston’s Triple-A affiliate.

Astros Sign Cuban Shortstop Anibal Sierra For $1.5MM Bonus

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  • The Astros are close to finalizing a deal with 22-year-old Cuban shortstop Anibal Sierra for a $1.5MM bonus, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports.  Houston has been linked to Sierra for months, though past reports suggested that Sierra would get a much larger bonus of $3.5MM.  Since the Astros are already in excess of their $2.197MM international pool limit, Sierra’s deal essentially costs Houston $3MM (the actual bonus and a 100% tax on the overage).  The Astros were widely expected to blow past its bonus limit in the 2016-17 international market anyway in order to stock up on young talent, though this splurge will limit them to signings of $300K or less in the next two international signing periods.  Sanchez describes Sierra as possessing “an aggressive line-drive approach at the plate and good hands on defense,” and “scouts like his bat and his raw power.”  Sierra is capable of playing second and third base as well as shortstop.

Astros Touched Base With Braves On Hunter Cervenka

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  • The Rays are also receiving interest in their starters from non-contending clubs that are aiming to contend within the next couple of seasons. That gives Tampa Bay further leverage in talks, as they’re not limited to restocking their farms with only prospects from clubs that are currently in contention. The Astros, too, are eyeing the limited number of controllable arms that are available, and the division rivalry aspect could play into Tampa Bay’s favor if both Texas and Houston set their sights on the same Rays arm. Alternatively, each of their starters has so much club control remaining that the Rays could just wait until the offseason and market their starters as teams miss out on the few quality free agents that are available.
  • The Astros are looking for left-handed relief help and asked the Braves about Hunter Cervenka as a fallback option if their primary, more established targets don’t pan out. Fellow left-hander Ian Krol has gotten some looks for the Braves as well, Rosenthal notes, though I’d personally imagine that Krol would have a higher price tag, as Cervenka has walked nearly six batters per nine innings this season and has limited big league experience.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Astros Linked To Rays' Starters

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  • The Rays are in a powerful position on the trade market, writes Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. With so few options on the market for starting pitching, they’re poised to ask for lofty demands for any of Jake Odorizzi, Matt Moore or even Chris Archer, though the common refrain on Archer is that he won’t be moved. The Dodgers and Rangers are both following the Rays’ starters closely, and Topkin lists the Pirates, Astros, Marlins, Nationals and Red Sox as teams with serious interest. Topkin adds Pearce, right-hander Erasmo Ramirez and left-hander Xavier Cedeno to the list of possible trade options for president of baseball operations Matt Silverman and his staff. Notably, the Marlins were recently tied to left-handed relief help, so they could be interested not only in Tampa Bay’s starters but Cedeno as well.

Astros Expect Yulieski Gurriel In Majors Within Next Month

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  • Astros manager A.J. Hinch said appearance yesterday on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (Twitter link) that he expects just-signed third baseman Yulieski Gurriel to be ready for the majors in relatively short order. “We want his bat in the line-up, we want him to get acclimated as much as possible,” said Hinch. “That’s probably 2 or 3 weeks.” In the meantime, outfielder Preston Tucker has been called back to the big league club to take the place of the optioned A.J. Reed.

Bregman Playing Outfield In Minors, Could Be Promoted This Weekend

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  • Astros top prospect — and the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball, per ESPN’s Keith Law — Alex Bregman played left field for the first time with Triple-A Fresno tonight, writes Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle. As Kaplan notes, increased defensive versatility will make it easier to keep Bregman in the lineup once he joins the big league club — especially with Yulieski Gurriel not far behind him. Kaplan says that while the Astros aren’t publicly tipping their hand as to when Bregman will be promoted, it could happen as soon as Friday for the club’s weekend series against the Angels. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX and MLB.com hears similarly, tweeting that Bregman could be playing left field in the Majors by next week.

AL Notes: Twins’ GM, Santana, Indians, Miller, Chapman, Soto, Astros

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Twins upper management told Terry Ryan a month ago that he wouldn’t be retained beyond the present season, and allowed him to choose his own method of departure, Phil Mackey of 1500 ESPN reports (links to Twitter). Ryan, obviously, asked to be let go rather than hanging on the rest of the way, as reflected in today’s announcement. Looking ahead, Minnesota intends to look outside the organization for a permanent replacement, but didn’t commit to that route. Notably, owner Jim Pohlad said that the new GM will not have a chance to replace skipper Paul Molitor.

Here’s more from Minnesota and the rest of the American League:

  • The Twins have engaged in talks with the Red Sox, with Boston keeping an eye on righty Ervin Santana, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. But the teams do not appear to be lining up at the moment. Meanwhile, Minnesota still needs to decide if it wants to keep useful veterans around its talented but not fully realized core, and Berardino wonders whether it will end up making sense to part with the final two years of Santana’s deal now that he’s pitching fairly well.
  • One factor in the Twins’ decisionmaking will obviously be related to the financial ramifications of any deals, but now-acting GM Rob Antony says that there isn’t a mandate to trim payroll. As Berardino tweets, Antony says that the organization doesn’t “have financial problems” in need of resolution at the deadline.
  • Despite losing Yan Gomes for a lengthy stretch, the Indians aren’t prioritizing the addition of a backstop, per Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). The club is relatively bullish on both Roberto Perez and Chris Gimenez, it seems. Presumably, that assessment is also informed by the club’s view on other needs.
  • Outfield would certainly be one area where the Indians could stand to improve, but relief pitching is likely the most pressing. Per Rosenthal (Twitter links), Cleveland is focused on adding a lefty to the team’s right-handed-heavy pen mix. Andrew Miller of the Yankees is “probably” at the top of the club’s wish list, says Rosenthal, though you could certainly say the same of many other organizations that are looking for relief upgrades.
  • Whether the Yankees shop Miller or fellow power lefty Aroldis Chapman remains to be seen, but it’s a fait accompli in the view of Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. He argues that the club shouldn’t stop at dealing away pending free agents, but should be willing to deal most any players who draw interest — with Miller among the possible exceptions. Feinsand also notes that New York is taking a close look at the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate.
  • Even if he’s traded away, Chapman says that he’d remain interested in re-uniting with the Yankees as a free agent, Feinsand tweets. “I would love to come back and be part of the team again,” said the fireballing southpaw, who matched his own record tonight by launching a ridiculous 105.1 mph heater.
  • The Angels announced that catcher Geovany Soto is headed to the 15-day DL with left knee inflammation. That seems to take him off the table for pre-deadline dealing, though Soto could certainly end up being dealt in the revocable waiver trade period. Los Angeles selected the contract of Juan Graterol to take his place on the active roster. The 27-year-old will receive his first major league opportunity after opening the year with a .292/.331/.357 slash in his first full year at the Triple-A level.
  • Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says that he expects to be busy over the coming weeks, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes. But that doesn’t mean the club will be pushing the action; Luhnow says “there’s no real sense of urgency on our part necessarily.” Rather, he explained, “as teams pick up the pace, we’re certainly going to be involved in the conversations.” It’s possible to imagine Houston targeting a starter, as McTaggart notes, but Luhnow says that he’d only be interested in a certain kind of arm. The ’Stros would be looking at starters who are not only healthy and effective at present, but who are capable of slotting into the team’s hopeful post-season rotation.

Ex-Cardinals Scouting Director Chris Correa Sentenced To 46 Months In Prison For Astros’ Data Breach

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Former Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for his role in the illegal breach of the Astros’ proprietary computer network, reports David Barron of the Houston Chronicle. Via the Associated Press and KSDK News, Correa has also been ordered to pay $279K in restitution. Correa had plead guilty to five counts of unauthorized access to a private computer, each of which carried a maximum potential sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports tweets that now that Correa’s sentence has been decided upon, Major League Baseball plans to issue a punishment to the Cardinals organization for the illegal activities. It’s unclear whether that punishment has been decided upon or remains to be determined, however previous indications have been that the league could look to penalize the Cardinals by stripping the team of future draft picks. As has been the case with his rulings regarding the domestic violence policy, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has held off in issuing a punishment until the legal proceedings of the party in question have been completed due to the fact that findings from the criminal investigation could influence his own decision on a punishment.

The New York Times reported last summer that the Cardinals were the subject of a federal investigation in connection with multiple illegal breaches of the Astros’ proprietary computer network, Ground Control. Correa was ultimately fired by the Cardinals in July and was later charged. At the time of his plea, Correa claimed that his to access Ground Control was due to concern that former Cardinals scouting director Jeff Luhnow had taken proprietary information with him upon being hired by the Astros as general manager. Per Barron, the court denied a request that would’ve allowed Correa to subpoena documents from the Astros, who refuted the claim that they had any proprietary information of the Cardinals.

Reports back in January indicated that Correa was able to access the Astros’ rankings of players in the 2013 draft and explore their trade notes on the morning of the July 2013 non-waiver trade deadline. In the year between the illegal access of Ground Control and the initial reports of the federal investigation, a significant portion of the Astros’ trade notes were leaked to the public, bringing a great deal of scrutiny onto Luhnow and the organization.

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