Astros Strongly Interested In Acquiring Closer
The Astros are “hell-bent” on acquiring a closer, sources tell ESPN’s Jayson Stark. The Astros have made calls on Aroldis Chapman of the Reds, Andrew Miller of the Yankees, and Brad Boxberger of the Rays, as well as potential free agent possibilities. They’ve also spoken with the Phillies about Ken Giles, as had previously been reported.
Adding a closer would move current closer Luke Gregerson back to the setup role in which he excelled with the Padres and Athletics. A dominant ninth-inning type like Chapman or Miller would also give the Astros not only a terrific ninth-inning option but also enviable depth, with a bullpen that would also feature Gregerson, Pat Neshek, Josh Fields and Will Harris. Also, the bullpen’s 5.63 ERA in September and October and its eighth-inning implosion in Game 4 of the ALDS against the Royals are surely fresh in the organization’s mind, particularly after watching a Royals team with a hard-throwing bullpen win the World Series after beating them. It’s easy, then, to see the appeal of adding a shutdown closer.
Still, overall, the Astros’ bullpen was a key element of the team’s success last season, and Gregerson is a perfectly good ninth-inning man in his own right (although Stark notes that Gregerson’s K/9 was relatively low for a closer, at 8.6). Stark notes that the Astros might not want to pay the prospect cost of acquiring Chapman, Miller or Giles, and therefore could ultimately pursue hard-throwing setup-type relievers instead. Given the potential departures of lefties Tony Sipp and Oliver Perez via free agency, a lefty appears likely to be a priority, whether they add a closer or not.
Added To The 40-Man Roster: Friday
Tonight at 8:00pm ET is the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft. In other words: there will be a significant amount of 40-man roster moves made over the course of the next 13 or so hours. Six clubs already made moves to protect prospects from the Rule 5 yesterday, and each of the remaining 24 clubs should make moves today as well.
In brief: players drafted/signed at 18 years of age or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. Players drafted/signed at 19 or older must be added within four years. Those interested in all of the specifics can refer to articles from MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. Perhaps of greater interest is that Mayo lists all of the prospects from MLB.com’s Top 100 list and from their organizational Top 30 lists that much be protected in advance of tonight’s deadline, while Cooper provides brief write-ups on each player that has been protected (and will continue to do so as additions are made).
Here are today’s additions to the 40-man roster. You can check out Baseball America’s coverage to learn more about the individual players listed below …
- The last team to report is the Giants, who have added a host of names to their 40-man: pitchers Ty Blach, Clayton Blackburn, Kyle Crick, Ian Gardeck, Adalberto Mejia, Steven Okert, Jake Smith, and Chris Stratton. With the roster filled up with that many pre-MLB arms, it’s fair to wonder whether the team anticipates trading from among that group.
- In their second set of 40-man promotions today, the Astros have selected the contracts of outfielder Andrew Aplin and infielder Nolan Fontana.
- Moving onto the Marlins 40-man are lefty Jarlin Garcia and a trio of righties: Jacob Esch, Austin Brice, and Nick Wittgren.
- The Cubs have placed backstop Willson Contreras, righty Pierce Johnson, third baseman Jeimer Candelario, and first baseman Dan Vogelbach onto their 40-man, the team announced.
- The Phillies added outfielder Roman Quinn and righties Jimmy Cordero and Edubray Ramos.
- Joining the Royals‘ 40-man are pitchers Matthew Strahm, Alec Mills, and Kyle Zimmer, infielder Ramon Torres, and outfielders Brett Eibner and Bubba Starling, the club announced.
- The Rockies have selected the contracts of righties Carlos Estevez and Antonio Senzatela, infielder Trevor Story, and outfielder Raimel Tapia.
- The Rays will add righties Jacob Faria, Taylor Guerrieri, and German Marquez to the 40-man roster along with infielder/outfielder Taylor Motter and rising lefty prospect Blake Snell.
- The Pirates have added top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell to the club’s 40-man, along with fellow youngsters Harold Ramirez (an outfielder) and Max Moroff (a middle infielder).
- Righty Victor Alcantara has been placed on the Angels‘ 40-man, the club announced. As MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez notes on Twitter, Alcantara is probably now the team’s single best prospect.
Earlier Updates
- Joining the big league side of the roster for the Yankees are righties Johnny Barbato and Rookie Davis along with outfielder Ben Gamel, the team announced.
- The Reds announced the additions of right-handers Robert Stephenson, Sal Romano, and Stephen Johnson to the 40-man roster to keep them from Rule 5 eligibility.
- Going onto the Rangers‘ 40-man roster are outfielder Nomar Mazara, lefty Yohander Mendez, and righties Jose Leclerc and Connor Sadzeck.
- The Dodgers brought righties Jharel Cotton and Ross Stripling onto their 40-man, per a team announcement.
- Infielder Marco Hernandez, righty Pat Light, and lefty Williams Jerez are the newest members of the Red Sox 40-man, the club announced.
- The White Sox have protected righties Brandon Brennan and J.B. Wendelken from the Rule 5 by giving them roster spots.
- The Orioles have added a trio of pitchers, per an announcement. Parker Bridwell and Andrew Triggs throw from the right side, while Chris Lee is a southpaw.
- Moving onto the 40-man for the Indians are righties Mike Clevinger, Shawn Morimando and Dylan Baker, as well as outfielders Tyler Naquin and James Ramsey, per the club.
- The Mets announced the additions of outfielder Brandon Nimmo and righties Seth Lugo, Jeff Walters, and Robert Gsellman to the club’s major league roster.
- Second baseman Joey Wendle and left-hander Jose Torres were added to the Athletics 40-man roster, per the club.
- The Mariners announced that they have purchased the contracts of infielder Patrick Kivlehan and outfielder Boog Powell, thereby adding them to the 40-man roster and protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft.
- The Astros announced the additions of catcher Alfredo Gonzalez and right-handers Jandel Gustave, Juan Minaya, Joe Musgrove and David Paulino to the 40-man roster. Notably, Gustave was a Rule 5 pick last year and found himself with both the Padres and Royals before ultimately being returned to Houston.
- The Tigers announced that they’ve added right-handers Michael Fulmer and Montreal Robertson as well as left-hander Jairo Labourt to the 40-man. Fulmer was the main piece picked up in Detroit’s trade of Yoenis Cespedes, while Labourt was one of three lefties acquired from Toronto in the David Price trade.
Astros Designate L.J. Hoes
The Astros have designated outfielder L.J. Hoes for assignment, the club announced. In the team’s second round of 40-man additions today, it has added outfielder Andrew Aplin and infielder Nolan Fontana to fill up its major league roster.
Hoes, 25, saw minimal time at the major league level last season after getting some opportunities in the prior two campaigns. All told, he owns a .237/.289/.328 batting line over 337 MLB plate appearances. Hoes has, however, shown some speed and on-base ability at the Triple-A level.
Added To The 40-Man: Reds, Padres, Braves, Jays, Cards, Nats
The deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster and thereby protect them from this year’s Rule 5 Draft is tomorrow night at 8:00pm ET. As such, there will be a large volume of players added to 40-man rosters in the coming day as well as a handful of moves to clear 40-man space for those new additions. The Astros’ trade of Jonathan Villar and release of Robbie Grossman and Luis Cruz earlier today, for instance, created three new spots on their 40-man for the purpose of protecting prospects. Players who signed at 18 or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five years of signing or be exposed to all 29 other teams in the Rule 5 Draft. Players who were 19 or older at the time they signed must be added within four seasons.
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has more specifics on the intricacies of the Rule 5 Draft for those that are interested. Mayo also notes that 11 of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects are in need of protection from the Rule 5 Draft, and he goes on to list the players from each organization’s Top 30 prospects who must be added by tomorrow night in order to be protected.
With all of that said, here’s today’s list of players that have been added to the 40-man roster…
- The Reds have added right-handers Robert Stephenson and Sal Romano as well as left-hander Stephen Johnson to the 40-man roster, per a tweet from MLBPipeline.com.
- Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets that the Padres have added recently acquired outfielder Manuel Margot to the 40-man roster in addition to shortstop prospect Jose Rondon. Margot was one of the centerpieces in the trade that sent Craig Kimbrel to Boston.
Earlier Updates
- Outfielder Mallex Smith and right-hander John Gant have been added to the Braves‘ 40-man roster, the team announced today. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman tweets that there won’t be any further additions before tomorrow’s deadline.
- The Blue Jays have added right-handers Blake McFarland and Brady Dragmire to their 40-man roster, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. That still leaves five empty spots on the club’s 40-man roster, though there’s no guarantee that the Blue Jays will fill those voids prior to tomorrow’s deadline.
- The Cardinals announced today that they’ve purchased the contracts of shortstop Aledmys Diaz, left-hander Dean Kiekhefer and outfielder Charlie Tilson, thus protecting them from the Rule 5 Draft (Twitter link).
- The Nationals have selected the contracts of infielder Chris Bostick, catcher Spencer Kieboom and left-hander Nick Lee, per a team announcement (on Twitter).
Braves Notes: Freeman, Allard, Bethancourt
Prior to the emphatic comments by Braves general manager John Coppolella in which he denied that his team will trade Freddie Freeman, Freeman’s name came up in trade talks with the Astros, three sources told Yahoo’s Jeff Passan. The scenario being discussed is described by Passan as a blockbuster that would’ve included five other players, but he also adds that the discussions “went nowhere” when Freeman’s name was brought up. Passan goes on to examine the Braves’ rebuild situation, noting that the team is poised not only to pick third in next year’s draft but is also rumored to be preparing for massive expenditures on the international prospect front, as others have suggested as well. While there’s risk in centering a rebuilding effort around young pitching due to the generally volatile nature of pitching prospects, the Braves are doing so at a time when the next winter’s free-agent market is bereft of quality arms, which could prevent them from the feeling the frantic need to add arms that so many clubs experience each winter.
A few more notes on the Braves…
- Despite the re-signing of A.J. Pierzynski, the Braves haven’t given up on young catcher Christian Bethancourt, writes MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Both Coppolella and president of baseball operations John Hart spoke highly of Bethancourt when asked by Bowman, but as he writes, few foresaw the defensive struggles Bethancourt has endured in his young career. Bethancourt’s arm — given an 80-grade by some scouts — has lived up to the hype, but he he’s surrendered 14 passed balls in just 73 games as a Major League catcher. His rate of one every 44 innings is far and away the most frequent in the Majors, as Tyler Flowers‘ rate of one every 80.4 innings was the next most-frequent among catchers with 600+innings in 2015, Bowman points out.
- David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, meanwhile, offers a different take on the Braves’ opinion of Bethancourt (Twitter link). O’Brien notes that in spite of whatever kind words the Braves will publicly make in regards to Bethancourt, his sense is that the organization now believes that, in hindsight, he was overrated as a prospect. The team, of course, won’t say that, but Bowman did note in the above-linked column that it was somewhat telling when Bethancourt started only 14 games after being recalled from the minors in August last season.
- Braves 2015 first-round pick Kolby Allard underwent a second back surgery after the completion of the Gulf Coast League season, the Braves blog ChopCounty.com first reported (Twitter link). MLB.com’s Mark Bowman spoke to a Braves official who said that this surgery was less severe than the last operation that Allard underwent to repair his back (Twitter link). A stress reaction in Allard’s back suffered back in March caused his draft stock to slip, as he had previously been considered a potential top five pick. Allard lasted until the Braves’ No. 14 pick, and he threw six innings of one-hit ball with 12 strikeouts and no walks in his small sample of GCL action after signing.
Astros Release Robbie Grossman, Luis Cruz
The Astros announced today that outfielder Robbie Grossman and minor league left-hander Luis Cruz have been granted their unconditional releases. The pair of moves frees up two spots on Houston’s 40-man roster that can be reallocated before tomorrow’s deadline to protect players from the 2015 Rule 5 Draft.
It wasn’t long ago that the now-26-year-old Grossman was viewed as a potential long-term piece with the Astros. The switch-hitting outfielder, originally acquired in the trade that sent Wandy Rodriguez to Pittsburgh, had a respectable rookie debut at the plate with Houston back in 2013 when he batted .268/.332/.370 in 288 plate appearances. That led to an increased role in 2014, which saw Grossman slash .233/.337/.330 in 422 PAs while playing above-average defense in the outfield corners.
Grossman’s potential was at one point seen as significant enough that the Astros were rumored to be discussing an early-career extension that would’ve reportedly guaranteed him $13.5MM over six years and come with a pair of club options attached. Grossman’s situation exemplifies the difficult decisions with which young players are faced when approached regarding extensions. Had Grossman developed into an average (or even below-average) regular, that contract probably would have underpaid him substantially while also delaying his free agency by two years at what were presumably also relatively low prices. However, the ultimate downside for a player in rejecting such a contract is today’s outcome — a disappointing end to said player’s tenure with the organization.
However, Grossman only recently turned 26 and is still young enough to latch on with another club and establish himself a useful big league piece. He has a year and 95 days of Major League service time, so a team that signs him (presumably to a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp) could conceivably control him for five more seasons if he takes a step forward and realizes some of the potential that made him Baseball Prospectus’ No. 76 overall prospect prior to the 2012 season. If nothing else, Grossman has proven himself capable of hitting at the Triple-A level, where he owns a .281/.382/.387 batting line in 917 plate appearances. And, of course, players who have shown to be quality contributors in the minors often receive interest on the international front from clubs in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
As for Cruz, the 25-year-old Puerto Rican hurler was selected in the ninth round of the 2008 draft. Cruz’s strong work in Double-A back in 2013-14 landed him a spot on the Astros’ Major League roster, but he’s struggled to adapt to the top minor league level, as he owns a career 4.55 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 in 140 1/3 innings at that level.
Brewers Acquire Jonathan Villar From Astros
The Brewers announced that they’ve acquired shortstop Jonathan Villar from the Astros in exchange for minor league right-hander Cy Sneed. Villar will be reunited with former Astros assistant GM David Stearns, who is now the general manager in Milwaukee.
Villar, 24 (25 in May), provides the Brewers with some much-needed infield depth. Unlike fellow infielder Javier Betancourt, whom the club acquired in exchange for Francisco Rodriguez yesterday, Villar is capable of stepping directly onto the Brewers’ big league roster, however. Despite his young age, the switch-hitter has spent parts of three seasons in the Majors with the Astros and was even Houston’s Opening Day shortstop in 2014.
The Astros originally acquired Villar — along with Anthony Gose and J.A. Happ — from the Phillies in exchange for Roy Oswalt. Villar surfaced in the Majors in 2013 and batted .243/.321/.319 with a homer and 18 stolen bases in 58 games, which was enough to place him in the 2014 Opening Day lineup. He struggled that season, however, and his poor performance was likely a contributing factor in the Astros’ decision to sign Jed Lowrie to a three-year pact last winter.
In spite of the Lowrie addition, Villar still saw some playing time in 2015 and enjoyed better production, batting .284/.339/.414. Most notably, he dramatically cut his formerly problematic strikeout rate in his return to the Majors. While his 22.7 percent whiff rate was still higher than you’d like to see from a player with Villar’s lack of power, it was still a marked improvement from the 28.5 percent K-rate he displayed in 2013-14. He’s also shown reasonable plate discipline in the Majors, walking at an 8.1 percent clip in 658 total trips to the plate (7.8 percent in 2015). Villar’s greatest asset is his speed, as he’s swiped 34 or more bags in each season dating back to 2010 (in some cases, between the Majors and minors combined).
While not a gifted defender at shortstop (career -6 DRS, -19 UZR in 1344 innings), he could play some second base in Milwaukee next season or take the reins at shortstop in the event of a Jean Segura trade. Of course, with top shortstop prospect Orlando Arcia nearing the Major Leagues, Villar might not be long for that position one way or the other. He’s spent some time at second base, third base and in the outfield recently, so the Brewers may not the feel the need to commit to one single position for Villar at all, instead eyeing him as a fleet-footed super utility option. Villar is out of options, so he’ll almost certainly be on the Major League roster to begin the 2016 season. Milwaukee can control him through the 2020 season, as he currently has one year, 113 days of Major League service time.
The 23-year-old Sneed spent this past season, his age-22 campaign, pitching for the Brewers’ Class-A affiliates in the Midwest and Florida State Leagues. The 2014 third-rounder posted a combined 2.58 ERA with 7.9 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in 139 1/3 innings of work. MLB.com didn’t rank Sneed among Milwaukee’s Top 30 prospects, and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America tweets that Sneed is a “three-pitch right-haner who competes with fringe-average stuff.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Ken Giles
Here’s the latest chatter on Phillies‘ closer Ken Giles, who has drawn plenty of attention as a possible trade chip after tossing over 100 innings of 1.56 ERA ball in his first two seasons in the majors:
- “We’re trying to add players like Ken Giles, we’re not trying to subtract,” Phillies GM Matt Klentak said today in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio links). “That’s what every team wants,” he said, referring to Giles’ performance, control, and cost. Of course, as he went on to note, there’s a “caveat”: Klentak said that he is open to being “opportunistic” with any player and is listening to any and all proposals from other clubs. “The relief pitcher market this year has been a little different than it is in a lot of offseasons, maybe highlighted by the trade last week,” he noted (apparently referencing the Craig Kimbrel deal).
- The Astros and Marlins are two of several teams that have checked in with Philly on Giles, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. It’s hard to put too much stock in that, of course. Houston has been said to be pursuing a wide variety of power relief arms. And Miami could stand to plug in another late-inning arm, particularly one that won’t occupy much payroll space in the near term. Then, there’s the fact that a number of other teams are (or will likely be) in the mix as well.
- As Rosenthal notes, and as Klentak said himself directly, the club is hardly committed to dealing Giles away right now. Indeed, it would be surprising to learn of such an approach. Philadelphia was comfortable taking some additional risk by waiting to trade Cole Hamels, and that rationale holds weight here as well. Though the risk of an injury or a downturn is always there, and it would obviously behoove the team to see what it can get, that hardly means there’s a rush to cash in the 25-year-old.
Dallas Keuchel, Jake Arrieta Win Cy Young Awards
Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel and Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta have won the Cy Young Awards in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced tonight.
Keuchel placed in the top two on all 30 ballots (22 first-place votes, eight second-place), earning a total of 186 points. (Weighted seven points for first place, four for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth.) David Price came in a reasonably close second place, landing 21 second place votes and eight first place votes (plus one third place) for a total of 143 points. Sonny Gray, the only other recipient of a second-place vote, finished third with 82 points. Rounding out the ballot were Chris Sale, Chris Archer, Wade Davis, Felix Hernandez, Collin McHugh, Corey Kluber, Marco Estrada, Andrew Miller, Shawn Tolleson, Carlos Carrasco and Dellin Betances, in that order. (Full voting breakdown here.)
The 27-year-old Keuchel was fighting for a rotation spot as recently as Spring Training 2014, but his remarkable transformation into a bona fide ace atop the Houston rotation was completed with a dominant follow-up to a breakout 2014 season. Keuchel led the AL with 232 innings (trailing only Clayton Kershaw‘s 232 2/3 innings for the MLB lead) and worked to a pristine 2.48 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 2.0 BB/9 and an AL-best 61.7 percent ground-ball rate. While pitcher wins are no longer as significantly emphasized as they once were, Keuchel’s 20 victories likely still held some weight with many voters (as evidenced, perhaps, by teammate and 19-game winner McHugh receiving votes despite logging a 3.89 ERA).
In the National League, voting was even closer, as most would expect. Arrieta’s 169 points narrowly edged out Zack Greinke‘s 147 points, with Clayton Kershaw coming in third with a total of 101. Rounding out the ballot, in order, were Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Madison Bumgarner, Jacob deGrom, Mark Melancon and John Lackey. (Full voting breakdown.)
Arrieta delivered a strong first half of the season but ratcheted things up with an historic second half, yielding a breathtaking four earned runs in his final 88 1/3 innings. Arrieta recorded an 89-to-14 K/BB ratio over that dominant stretch and shrank his earned run average from 2.62 to 1.77 in the process. He also led the Senior Circuit with 22 wins, four complete games and three shutouts.
There was a split camp between Arrieta and Greinke, the latter of whom posted a 1.66 ERA — the lowest earned run average since Greg Maddux 20 years ago. Greinke recorded 19 wins and averaged 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings against just 1.6 walks per nine in 222 2/3 innings with the Dodgers this season and also enjoyed an otherworldly run of 45 2/3 scoreless innings over the middle portion of the season. Incredibly, Greinke allowed just 19 runs over his first 19 starts this season.
Kris Bryant, Carlos Correa Win Rookie Of The Year Awards
Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and Astros shortstop Carlos Correa have been named Rookie of the Year in their respective leagues by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Bryant won the award in unanimous fashion, beating out second-place finisher Matt Duffy of the Giants. Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang, Noah Syndergaard of the Mets and Justin Bour of the Marlins finished third through fifth, with each player garnering multiple points in the voting. The Dodgers’ Joc Pederson and Cardinals’ Stephen Piscotty each received a third-place vote, earning each one point.
Bryant, 23, entered the year with considerable hype after decimating Triple-A pitching in 2014. There was some outrage when it was announced that he’d begin the season in the minor leaguers, but he was quickly promoted to the Majors (uncoincidentally as soon as his free agency had been delayed by one year) and quickly established himself as one of the premier third basemen in the game. Bryant batted .275/.369/.488 with 26 home runs and 13 stolen bases this season while also delivering strong defense at third base and even contributing in the outfield.
The race in the American League was much closer, with Correa narrowly edging out fellow shortstop Francisco Lindor. Correa received 17 first-place votes and 13 second-place votes, whereas Lindor received 13 first-place votes and 14 second-place votes. Trailing the two were young Twins slugger Miguel Sano, Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna, A’s center fielder Billy Burns, Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario and Rangers center fielder Delino DeShields Jr.
Correa batted an impressive .279/.345/.512 with 22 homers and 14 steals. Wins above replacement measures liked Lindor better for the award due to his superior glove and on-base percentage, but Correa slugged 10 more homers and knocked in more runs, likely widening the gap in the eyes of many voters. Most pundits agreed that either would be a fine choice for the award given the exceptional seasons enjoyed by each.