Luis Valbuena To Undergo Season-Ending Hamstring Surgery
Astros infielder Luis Valbuena will undergo season-ending surgery on his hamstring, manager A.J. Hinch announced to reporters, including MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart (Twitter link with video footage of Hinch’s comments included).
“Valbuena … got some bad news,” said Hinch. “He’s going to have surgery in the next couple days, and his season is over. His hamstring tendon needs to be worked on. He tried to play through it and see if he could rehab it, turns out he couldn’t. Surgery is the next consideration, and he’ll miss the remainder of the season.”
Valbuena went on the disabled list with a hamstring injury back in late July due to a hamstring injury but underwent a setback recently (as MLB.com’s Todd Karpovich wrote over the weekend). His absence will deprive the Astros of what has been a quietly strong left-handed bat, as Valbuena was in the midst of a career year at the plate. In 90 games and 342 plate appearances this season, Valbuena was batting .260/.357/.459 with 13 home runs, 17 doubles and a triple.
While the loss of Valbuena removes a well-above-average bat from the equation for Houston and depletes some of the their depth at both corner infield positions, the Astros are well-equipped to sustain the blow. The recent promotions of Alex Bregman and Yulieski Gurriel gives Hinch a pair of potentially high quality options at third base, while A.J. Reed brings plenty of upside across the diamond at first base. And while both Bregman and Reed got off to rocky starts as Major Leaguers, Bregman is hitting .312/.365/.558 in his past 18 games and Reed is hitting .282/.404/.436 in his past 13 contests.
From Valbuena’s standpoint, the injury is quite poorly timed, as he’s slated to hit free agency this winter and could have done so on the heels of that career-best production. While his overall numbers look plenty appealing, he’ll now need to convince teams of his health and that the hamstring injury he sustained won’t come with any lingering effects that will detract from his performance in 2017 and beyond.
Cafardo’s Latest: Moreland, Leon, Red Sox, Gomez, Puig
The latest news and notes from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe…
- The Astros have a lot of interest in Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland, though Cafardo doubts a trade is likely given Texas’ lack of first base depth in the wake of Prince Fielder‘s retirement. (It would also be very unusual to see a trade between two division rivals in a pennant race, even if Houston has fallen well behind Texas in the AL West.) The Astros already have a left-handed hitting first baseman in rookie A.J. Reed, though Reed is still a work in progress despite some improved hitting over the last couple of weeks. While it doesn’t seem like Texas would deal Moreland, he has cleared trade waivers, so he can freely moved to any other club.
- The Nationals‘ trade of Sandy Leon to the Red Sox for cash considerations in March 2015 drew little attention at the time, though it has become an unexpectedly important deal given how Leon has blossomed in Boston. Leon entered the day with a stunning 1.088 OPS over 158 plate appearances this season, completely dwarfing anything he’d done at the major or minor league levels. “I personally signed Sandy Leon when he was 16½ years old…My name is on that one,” Nats GM Mike Rizzo said. “He was a good catch-and-throw kid, and what a kid. He’s one of the greatest young men I’ve ever been around. I’m so happy he’s doing well especially offensively, but I never saw it coming.”
- The Red Sox could fill David Ortiz‘s big shoes by DH at pursuing free agents Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, Carlos Beltran, Mike Napoli or Mark Trumbo this winter, as Cafardo feels the team will look for an external solution. The simplest move would be to move Hanley Ramirez to DH, though that leaves both corner infield spots up in the air given the uncertainty around Pablo Sandoval‘s weight, Travis Shaw‘s ability to play every day and the development of prospects Yoan Moncada and Sam Travis.
- Carlos Gomez drew interest from several teams before signing with the Rangers, with Cafardo adding the Indians and Blue Jays to the list of clubs already known to have been looking at the veteran outfielder. Gomez likely would’ve served as platoon partner for Tyler Naquin in center for the Tribe, though despite Michael Brantley missing virtually the entire season, Cleveland’s outfield has actually been pretty solid thanks to unexpected contributions from Naquin, Rajai Davis and (when he hasn’t been at third) Jose Ramirez. Gomez could’ve filled in the Jays outfield while Bautista and Kevin Pillar are on the DL, though his role would’ve been rather unclear once both returned.
- Yasiel Puig “is considered toxic at the moment” and it seems unlikely that another team will take him off the Dodgers‘ hands. One Dodgers official isn’t entirely closing the door on Puig remaining in L.A., saying “At some point, the talent, the maturity is going to take hold. Someone will benefit from it. We hope it’s us, but it’s hard to envision it right now.”
Astros To Promote Yulieski Gurriel
Over a month after signing him to a five-year, $47.5MM contract, the Astros will promote infielder Yulieski Gurriel to the majors Sunday, reports Julia Morales of ROOT Sports (Twitter link).
[RELATED: Updated Astros Depth Chart]
Gurriel, one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of Cuba, hasn’t gotten off to an overly productive start in a small sample size of 95 plate appearances in America. In his first game action of the season, the 32-year-old hit .229/.293/.361 with two homers while spending minimal time at four different minor league levels. The Astros will now hope to receive something a bit closer to Gurriel’s output in 2015, when he concluded his career in Cuba by notching a hit in exactly half of his 174 at-bats. In 225 plate appearances, he drew 38 walks against a meager three strikeouts and smashed 15 home runs en route to an .874 slugging percentage.
Given their collection of infield talent, there have been plenty of questions regarding where the Astros will use Gurriel. Initially, he’ll serve as their designated hitter, according to Angel Verdejo Jr. of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). That means fellow midseason call-up Alex Bregman will continue at third base, where the highly regarded 22-year-old has spent most of his time since the club promoted him last month.
If the hot corner is where the Astros want Bregman for the long haul, it could push Gurriel to first base or even the corner outfield. First baseman Luis Valbuena suffered a setback with the strained right hamstring that has kept him out all of August, and he could miss the rest of the season, per Todd Karpavich of MLB.com. Gurriel could slot in there in the near term, then, but the Astros have a highly touted prospect who’s currently in the majors in A.J. Reed. In the outfield, Houston hasn’t gotten much production this year from anyone other than George Springer. With Colby Rasmus out until next month with an ear cyst and scheduled for free agency in the offseason, left field seems like a logical landing spot for Gurriel.
Regardless of where he plays, the Astros need the Gurriel signing to pay dividends immediately if they’re going to climb back into the American League playoff race. The Astros were surging when they recalled Bregman on July 24, but they’ve since lost 16 of 25 and are 9 1/2 games behind AL West-leading Texas and 4 1/2 out of a wild-card spot.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/20/16
Saturday’s minor moves from around baseball:
- The Rockies have announced that recently designated right-hander Gonzalez Germen has accepted an assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque. Colorado dropped Germen from its 40-man roster Aug. 12 after he had combined for 73 1/3 innings with the club since last season. More than half of those frames (40 2/3) have come this year, but Germen struggled with a 5.31 ERA, 7.08 K/9 and 5.53 BB/9. Previously with the Mets and Cubs, the 28-year-old has a 4.63 ERA, 8.06 K/9 and 5.06 BB/9 in 144 career major league innings.
- In another pitching-related move, the Rockies will release lefty Jason Gurka, tweets Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Gurka, 28, has tossed 17 1/3 major league innings, all of which have come in Colorado since last year, with a 9.35 ERA, 7.27 K/9 and 2.08 BB/9.
- The Braves have released righty Andrew Thurman, per Matt Eddy of Baseball America (Twitter link). The Astros took Thurman in the second round of the 2013 draft before ultimately shipping him to Atlanta in a January 2015 trade involving catcher Evan Gattis. Control problems have hampered the 24-year-old Thurman since that year, having failed to post a sub-5.00 BB/9 in stints at the High-A and Double-A levels. With Double-A Mississippi this year, Thurman threw 62 2/3 innings and compiled a 6.89 ERA, 7.47 K/9 and 6.75 BB/9.
Earlier updates:
- The Orioles will sign lefty-hitting outfielder Chris Dickerson to a minor league deal and assign him to Double-A Bowie, Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com writes. He could be called up to the Orioles in September. The Orioles are looking for outfield depth in the wake of Joey Rickard‘s thumb injury. Connolly writes that they briefly considered pursuing Carlos Gomez, although that idea didn’t advance very far. The 34-year-old Dickerson played 38 games in the Blue Jays organization last season before undergoing shoulder surgery. He last appeared in the big leagues with the Indians in 2014 and has a career .257/.335/.395 line in parts of seven Major League seasons. He played for the Orioles in 2013.
- The Astros have purchased the contract of lefty Eury De La Rosa from the Long Island Ducks, as Newsday’s Jordan Lauterbach seems to have been first to report (on Twitter). De La Rosa pitched yesterday for Triple-A Fresno, allowing seven runs over four innings. The 26-year-old last pitched in the big leagues with the Diamondbacks in 2014, and he has a career 4.21 ERA, 8.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 51 1/3 innings over two Major League seasons. He pitched in the minors for three organizations in 2015 before heading to the Atlantic League.
Astros Request Release Waivers On Carlos Gomez
The Astros have requested unconditional release waivers on outfielder Carlos Gomez, who had recently been designated for assignment, tweets MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. Though Houston was said at one point to be likely to reach a deal to trade the former star, he’ll instead hit the open market in 48 hours, assuming no team claims the $2.21MM he is owed through season’s end.
With the move, Gomez’s disappointing tenure with the Astros officially ends. Acquired to provide a major boost to the organization just over one year ago, he ultimately contributed a meager .221/.277/.342 batting line in 486 plate appearances.
That represented an unbelievable fall-off given the 30-year-old’s recent track record. Though his numbers were down a bit early in 2015, he was coming off of a two-year run in which he slashed .284/.347/.491 and launched 47 home runs with 74 steals in 1,234 plate appearances. That was all the more impressive given Gomez’s excellent defensive metrics in center.
All told, at the time of the deal, he seemed to be one of the better all-around players in all of baseball. With one more year of control (2016) then left on Gomez’s highly affordable contract at the time, Houston GM Jeff Luhnow elected to part with four quality prospects to add Gomez and righty Mike Fiers.
It remains to be seen what will come next for Gomez, who not long ago seemed set for a monster contract in free agency after the present season. Instead, he’ll hit the open market early. The Cardinals and Mets had been said to have interest in his services, but recent reports have downplayed the likelihood of those landing spots. However with Giancarlo Stanton out for the year, the Marlins have been said to have interest and do appear to make for a good match.
Teams eyeing Gomez will probably be able to hang their hat on his still-useful outfield glove, which has fallen in defense metrics but remains playable in center. A signing, though, would mean a roll of the dice on his fading bat. Of course, once he clears release waivers Gomez can be had for nothing but the pro-rated portion of the league minimum — which amounts to roughly $125K — as Houston will cover the remainder of his $9MM salary.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Injury Notes: McCullers, Cain, Gray, Ross, Soto
The Astros still don’t know whether they can expect top young righty Lance McCullers Jr. to return this season from his elbow woes, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports on Twitter. “We won’t know until he gets evaluated in a week,” said manager A.J. Hinch. “It’s all guess work at this point.” After climbing back from a rough start to the year, Houston now sits just one game over .500 and is in danger of falling out of contention. The 22-year-old McCullers owns a 3.22 ERA — matching his results from a season ago — and is sorely missed.
Here are some more notable pieces of information on the injury front:
- Giants righty Matt Cain is headed to the DL with a lower back strain, as Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to tweet. San Francisco activated righty Cory Gearrin from his own DL stint in a concurrent move, which does at least bolster the pen. It seems possible that veteran righty Jake Peavy could slide back into the rotation in place of Cain, who hasn’t completed six innings in a start since May 21st and was tagged for 11 earned runs over his last two outings.
- While it’s still far from a sure thing, the Athletics may yet welcome back righty Sonny Gray this year, manager Bob Melvin said yesterday. As Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets, the 26-year-old staff ace is beginning plyometric workouts and is feeling better. He recently hit the disabled list with a forearm strain and has struggled all year long, compiling an uncharacteristic 5.74 ERA in 116 innings of work.
- Tyson Ross has made it through a 30-pitch live BP session with added pen work, giving some hope that he’ll return for the Padres late this year, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Still, the veteran righty will need to throw another such session before a rehab stint can be considered as he tries to return from shoulder troubles. With just one outing on his record for the season, Ross won’t command much if any raise on his $9.625MM arbitration salary in his final year of eligibility, but it will surely be difficult for the Pads to trade him over the winter if he can’t return to full health by the end of the year. Ross may yet feature as a spring or mid-season trade candidate next season, as he’ll qualify for free agency after the 2017 campaign.
- The Angels placed catcher Geovany Soto on the 15-day DL with knee inflammation, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Soto had appeared to be a plausible August trade candidate, but his knee surgery earlier this year seems to have lingered. The 33-year-old carries a useful .269/.321/.487 slash on the year, though he has compiled that in only 86 plate appearances. He is set to return to the open market at season’s end.
Cardinals Out On Carlos Gomez; Marlins Still Interested
2:50pm: The Marlins are still interested in adding Gomez, reports Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). It’s not entirely clear whether the Fish are willing to swing a trade for Gomez or are hoping to pounce if he is ultimately released.
1:33pm: While the Cardinals initially kicked the tires on Carlos Gomez after he was designated for assignment by the Astros, ESPN’s Mark Saxon now reports that there’s “nothing doing on the Carlos Gomez front” for St. Louis (Twitter link). The injury to Matt Holliday prompted the Cards to check in on Gomez, but Randal Grichuk is 7-for-21 since being recalled to fill Holliday’s roster spot and, somewhat incredibly, all seven of those knocks have gone for extra bases (two homers, four doubles, one triple).
The Cardinals and Mets, two teams that were originally reported to be in on Gomez following his DFA, have now both stepped out of the mix for him — ESPN’s Adam Rubin reported on Monday that the Mets aren’t interested in trading for him — leaving the Marlins as the team to which Gomez has been most strongly connected. It’s not clear yet how serious the Marlins’ interest in Gomez is, but they were said to be considering him as recently as Sunday.
At this point, it’s now been eight days since Gomez was designated for assignment, so the Astros’ window to find a trade partner is dwindling. That closing window makes a release of Gomez considerably more likely, after which any club would be free to sign him for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum through season’s end. While Gomez comes with plenty of red flags following a reported hip issue last summer, a rib cage injury sustained earlier this season and, of course, a dismal .221/.277/.342 batting line since being acquired by the Astros in July 2015, it’s rare to be able to roll the dice on a player of his upside for what would amount to about $120-125K for the final few weeks of the season. If a release is the ultimate outcome, I’d think even the teams that passed on trading for him could circle back as a potential depth option at the very least.
Astros Release Prospect Danry Vasquez After Domestic Violence Suspension
The Astros have released prospect Danry Vasquez this evening, with the team’s announcement coming right on the heels of a league announcement that he has been suspended indefinitely. Vasquez was arrested after allegedly striking his girlfriend at the stadium of the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks.
Vasquez, 22, signed with the Tigers as an international free agent, and ended up being dealt to Houston in the 2013 Jose Veras trade. The outfielder had been seen as a legitimate prospect, though he was left unprotected and went unclaimed in last December’s Rule 5 draft and was struggling in his first action in the upper minors this year.
The league was able to move much more quickly with regard to Vasquez than it has several major league players. Because he was not on the 40-man roster, Vasquez is not represented by the MLB Player’s Association and lacks many of the protections available to the other players suspended recently — all of whom agreed to accept punishment after at least some negotiation with the commissioner’s office.
AL West Notes: Vasquez, Gurriel, Pinder, Rangers
Astros Double-A outfielder Danry Vasquez has been placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball as the Corpus Christi Police Department and the MLB Commissioner’s Office investigate a domestic violence incident, according to a statement from the Astros. Fares Sabawi of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times has obtained an arrest affidavit, which reveals that video footage from the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks’ stadium shows Vasquez striking his girlfriend on three separate occasions during an argument. A Hooks employee also claims to have been threatened by Vasquez on the day in question, and video does show a “heated conversation” between the two, per the affidavit. Said the Astros in a statement: ” The Houston Astros and all of our affiliates, including the Corpus Christi Hooks, are governed by and strongly support MLB’s domestic violence policy. We take this allegation very seriously, and have taken swift response as we do not condone violence in our organization.”
A few other items pertaining to the division…
- The Astros promoted Yulieski Gurriel to Triple-A Fresno yesterday, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes. The previous expectation had been that Gurriel would make his big league debut this week, but after he struggled considerably at the Double-A level, the organization made the decision to give him some additional time to get up to speed and bumped him up another level. General manager Jeff Luhnow told McTaggart that there’s “no specific timeline” for Gurriel to be promoted to the Majors at this point but did add that the infielder “is getting close.” Gurriel collected just two hits in 19 plate appearances at the Double-A level, but he went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run in yesterday’s Triple-A debut.
- Athletics prospect Chad Pinder has been told he’ll be joining the team on Wednesday, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s not entirely clear yet how Pinder will be utilized, Slusser notes, and he could potentially be a short-term sub while Marcus Semien departs on paternity leave. However, Slusser also notes that fellow right-handed-hitting infielder Tyler Ladendorf is mired in a dismal 0-for-19 slump and is 0-for-26 against left-handed pitchers this season, so Pinder could replace him on the roster. The 24-year-old Pinder was Oakland’s second-round pick in 2014 and has batted .258/.310/.425 in 465 Triple-A plate appearances this season. He rates ninth among Oakland farmhands, per MLB.com, and sixth per Baseball America.
- The Rangers‘ injury woes seem to have continued, as Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News writes that righty Lucas Harrell is likely ticketed for the DL due to a groin strain that forced him to exit last night’s start after two innings. Harrell hasn’t performed well since being acquired by the Rangers (5.60 ERA in 17 2/3 innings) but was nonetheless occupying a spot in the rotation and will now force Texas to scramble a bit. Nick Martinez is likely to be brought back to the Majors to serve as a long reliever today, per Fraley, and the Harrell injury will have an impact on Texas’ decision as to when Derek Holland will be activated from the 60-day DL. He’s eligible to join the team this coming Saturday, and Holland himself tells Fraley that feels “very confident” in where he’s at in terms of recovery. Holland last tossed 75 pitches over four innings in a minor league rehab start. Manager Jeff Banister wouldn’t commit to exactly when Holland will rejoin the team, and Fraley points out that a pair of upcoming off-days gives the Rangers some flexibility with the rotation.
Mets Not Showing Interest In Carlos Gomez Trade
While Mets GM Sandy Alderson said last week that the Mets would keep an open mind regarding Carlos Gomez after Gomez was designated for assignment by the Astros, ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin now reports (via Twitter) that the team has yet to show interest in a Gomez trade. Furthermore, he suggests that their thinking may not change even if Gomez becomes a free agent. The Mets, he notes, will get Justin Ruggiano back from the disabled list at some point this week, giving manager Terry Collins a right-handed option in the outfield.
Since Gomez’s DFA, the Mets have been linked to him on a few occasions, but Rubin’s report would suggest that New York’s interest in its former top prospect has been somewhat overstated. The Mets did come close to acquiring Gomez shortly before the 2015 non-waiver trade deadline, of course, though that trade fell through, prompting Alderson and his lieutenants to pivot to Yoenis Cespedes.
On paper, Gomez does seem like a reasonable roll of the dice for the Mets, who currently have Ruggiano, Cespedes and Juan Lagares all on the disabled list. The latter of that trio is possibly out for the remainder of the season following thumb surgery to repair a torn ligament in late July, and neither Ruggiano nor Cespedes is considered a plus option in center field from a defensive standpoint. But, with Gomez’s lackluster .210/.272/.322 slash this season and the Mets’ reported concerns about his hip last summer (plus a rib cage injury that sidelined him for a month earlier this year), there’s no guarantee that he’d ultimately serve as an upgrade.
The Marlins and Cardinals have also been linked to Gomez since he was designated on Wednesday of last week, with injuries to Giancarlo Stanton and Matt Holliday creating a need in the respective outfields of those two teams.