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Rangers Release Asdrubal Cabrera

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The Rangers announced yesterday they have requested unconditional release waivers on third baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera. Texas designated the 33 year-old for assignment Thursday, an unceremonious end to a one-year, $3.42M contract.

It has been a tough season for the long-productive big leaguer, who has limped to a .235/.318/.393 line in 2019 despite calling hitter-friendly Globe Life Park home. After adjusting for the friendly enviornment, Cabrera’s 81 wRC+ means he’s been 19 percent below league average at the dish, not enough for a player no longer capable of manning shortstop.

There’s little solace to take in the underlying metrics, either. Cabrera remains a fairly patient hitter and is sporting his best walk rate in years, but that has come with a career-high strikeout rate. More worrisome, he’s simply lacked punch at the plate, with Statcast’s batted ball estimators pegging him for an anemic .212 expected batting average and .342 expected slugging percentage. Moreover, Cabrera’s been so pull-oriented this year, particularly on ground balls, he’s been exceptionally easy to defend.

Interested suitors will have to look to Cabrera’s lengthy track record instead. Indeed, he was an above-average hitter for the Mets and Phillies as recently as last season. He’ll almost certainly clear release waivers, then be eligible to sign with another club for the stretch run. Given his struggles this year following a lukewarm offseason market for his services, he may be forced to settle for a minor-league pact. Texas will remain on the hook for the rest of his salary, minus the prorated portion of the league minimum for any MLB time he logs with another organization.

Rangers Release Carlos Tocci

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The Rangers released outfielder Carlos Tocci from his contract at Triple-A Nashville today, according to a tweet from team VP John Blake (link).

Tocci originally signed out of Venezuela in 2011 via a $759K agreement with the Phillies. He became a Rule 5 draft pick of the White Sox in 2018 and was ultimately traded to the Rangers for cash. The defensively gifted outfielder was then stashed on Texas’s big league roster throughout the entirety of the 2018 campaign, despite profound struggles in limited playing time (.225/.271/.283 slash in 135 at-bats). At just 23 years of age, it would stand to reason that Tocci would be worth keeping around the Rangers org–if not for his upside, then certainly for the substantial commitment Texas has already placed in him.

Apparently, though, Texas found Tocci’s 2019 production with Nashville to be underwhelming enough to justify walking away altogether. After being designated for assignment on July 22nd, Tocci was outrighted last week to the club’s Triple-A roster–a roster where he recorded just a 55 wRC+ in 367 Pacific Coast League at-bats on the year.

Rangers Select Contract Of Emmanuel Clase

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The Rangers have selected the contract of righty Emmanuel Clase, the club announced before tonight’s contest. To open an active roster spot, southpaw Kyle Bird was optioned down.

A 21-year-old hurler out of the Dominican Republic, Clase landed with the Texas organization as an unheralded PTBNL in May of 2018. There was nothing in his track record to that point to suggest that he’d be pitching in the majors in the next season.

As it turned out, Clase hit the ground running with his new club, exhibiting newfound control along with a newly lively arm. That impressive combination of improvements put the youngster on an ascendant path and he has only impressed since.

Clase opened the present season at the High-A level, where he was overwhelming. He quickly earned a bump up to Double-A, where he has thrown 37 2/3 innings of 3.35 ERA ball with 9.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. Clase is generating a healthy 61.2% groundball rate and has permitted just one long ball on the year.

Details On The Twins’ Trade Deadline Talks

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Sam Dyson and Sergio Romo represented the sum total of the Twins’ midseason additions as the club tries to hold its lead atop the AL Central.  While Dyson and Romo address needs in the bullpen, Minnesota was also very aggressive in looking for starting pitching, though ultimately came up short in reinforcing the rotation.

Rival teams continually asked the Twins about top prospects Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff, with the Mets among the multiple clubs who asking for both youngsters.  New York wanted both Lewis and Kiriloff in discussions about Noah Syndergaard, and if premium minor league talent wasn’t available for the ace, the Mets were also focused on adding Major League players, to the point of asking Minnesota about Byron Buxton in a possible Syndergaard deal.

Lewis and Kirilloff were also on the mind of the Blue Jays’ front office, as Toronto was looking for either of the prospects in exchange for Marcus Stroman.  Minnesota turned down this initial request, and The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports that the Jays never called back with any other offers before trading Stroman to the Mets.  This would seem to indicate that the Jays were only interested in Lewis and Kirilloff specifically, though Hayes writes that “the Twins were disappointed when Toronto didn’t give them a chance to match an offer they believed they could have outdone.”

Beyond the prospects, Hayes tweeted that Luis Arraez was “everyone’s favorite ask” amongst teams who were offering rental players to Minnesota.  Arraez has been a revelation for the Twins over his first 43 Major League games, as the rookie is hitting .349/.422/.445 over 166 plate appearances.  Arraez has long boasted strong averages and on-base numbers in the minors, and while regression is inevitable, his .361 xwOBA isn’t far off his .388 wOBA.  With this much potential, it isn’t hard to see why the Twins were reluctant to part with a 22-year-old, multi-positional talent for only a rental player (or potentially anyone).

Hayes reports that the Twins were considering both Robbie Ray and Mike Minor, though concerns about Ray’s durability and Minor’s July struggles diminished the interest.  On the relief front, the Twins also had interest in Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez.

“It was one of the most unique trade deadlines I’ve ever experienced,” Twins GM Thad Levine told Hayes and other reporters.  “One error I made was assuming that early in the trade cycle that the leverage was towards the seller.  I assumed that there was going to be a little bit of a shift of that see-saw back to the buyer as we got closer to the deadline. I’m not sure we ever saw the shift in the see-saw. The sellers felt pretty emboldened. They set the prices high, which is very normal in a trade deadline. But I’m not sure they moved off of those high asks at any point, and as a result, there were just a finite number of players that meaningfully changed the fortunes of playoff-contending teams.”

Early talks with the Giants involving multiple players (including Dyson, Madison Bumgarner, and Will Smith) did result in the late Dyson trade.  Minnesota and San Francisco re-engaged in talks just 45 minutes before the 3pm CT deadline, medicals on the four players in the deal were exchanged at 2:50pm, and the trade was finalized with just five minutes to spare.

Rangers To Designate Asdrubal Cabrera, Tim Federowicz

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The Rangers will designate infielder Asdrubal Cabrera and catcher Tim Federowicz for assignment on Friday, according to multiple reporters (including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News).  Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino will be called up to take their roster spots, as per MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan, with Kiner-Falefa playing third base and Trevino sharing catching duties with Jeff Mathis.

The moves will clear roster space for two veterans who, now that the trade deadline is passed, don’t have much more utility on a Texas squad that is largely looking ahead to 2020.  Neither player had much trade value anyway, as Cabrera had only hit .235/.318/.393 over 368 plate appearances this season, while Federowicz was basically a stop-gap backup catcher only acquired in June.

Cabrera signed a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Rangers last winter, holding down third base after Adrian Beltre retired.  While Texas did well on quite a few of their veteran signings, Cabrera simply didn’t produce much offensively, as his production dropped off significantly after being an above-average bat for much of the last decade.  Cabrera’s 23.1% strikeout rate this season is a career worst, while his .287 xwOBA ranks in the bottom 12th percentile of all qualified batters.

Between this subpar year and the fact that Cabrera turns 34 in November, the 13-year veteran may have a difficult time landing a Major League contract in the offseason.  It could even be difficult for him to find another gig for the remainder of this season, though Cabrera has enough of a track record that he’ll certainly get a call if another team suffers an injury in the infield.

Federowicz signed a minor league contract with Cleveland in February and was then traded to the Rangers once Kiner-Falefa was placed on the injured list.  The journeyman has appeared in parts of eight big league seasons, with a career .574 OPS over 439 PA.

Rangers Acquire Nate Jones

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The Rangers announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Nate Jones, international bonus allotments and cash from the White Sox in exchange for minor league right-handers Joe Jarneski and Ray Castro.

Nate Jones | Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

It’s an unexpected swap, as Jones landed on the 60-day IL earlier this summer after undergoing right forearm surgery. However, Texas will have a $3.75MM option on Jones for the 2020 season and a $4.25MM option on him for the 2021 campaign. Both of those come with a $1.25MM buyout, so the option on Jones this winter is effectively a net $2.5MM decision.

For Jones, that’s an eminently affordable price. The 33-year-old could very well be regarded as one of the game’s better relievers … if he were ever able to stay on the field. Injuries have decimated the right-hander, though, as evidenced by the fact that he’s topped 30 innings just once dating back to the 2015 season. Lack of durability notwithstanding, Jones has also pitched to a 2.67 ERA with 10.4 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 1.2 HR/9 over his past 141 2/3 big league frames. If — and it’s a substantial “if” — he can remain healthy, he’d be a boon to the Texas relief corps.

With Texas eyeing a competitive 2020 campaign, it’s not a shock to see them proactively adding some potential contributors. At the same time, if Jones’ recovery isn’t progressing as hoped, the Rangers can pivot and buy out his option, knowing that they still picked up some value with the international funds included by the South Siders.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that Texas will pick up $1MM in international allotments, which is a fairly notable sum to change hands on the trade market. International allotments must be traded in blocks of $250K, but it’s more common for clubs to exchange $250-500K than to make seven-figure swaps. That newly acquired pool space will allow the club to finalize its signing of top international prospect Bayron Lora, tweets T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com; Lora ranked as the market’s No. 3 prospect this signing period, per MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez.

As for the ChiSox, they’ll bid adieu to one of the organization’s longest-tenured players. While they’re including some cash in the deal, Grant implies that the buyout on the option would be the Rangers’ responsibility, so the Sox are still saving a bit of money. They’re also adding a pair of young righties who’ve spent the season pitching in Rookie ball.

Jarneski, 19, was the Rangers’ 12th-round pick in 2017 and has returned to the field in 2019 after missing the ’18 season due to injury. He’s made 10 appearances and posted a 1.62 ERA with a 16-to-11 K/BB ratio in 16 2/3 innings in the Arizona League. Castro, 22, is in his second season with the Dominican Summer League, having pitched to a 2.02 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 35 1/3 innings. He’s old for the level at which he’s currently pitching, though. Neither is considered to be among the Rangers’ best farmhands.

Brewers, Rangers Among Teams With Interest In Mike Leake

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10:12am: Both the Brewers and Rangers have shown some degree of interest in Leake, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. It’s not clear whether either of those two clubs is the team about which thee Mariners approached Leake last night. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times further reports that Texas’ interest hinges on whether the deal Mike Minor.

While the Rangers have begun to operate as sellers, it’s also clear that Texas isn’t interested in a full-scale rebuild. President of baseball ops Jon Daniels and ownership surely want to field a competitive club as they open a new stadium next season, and while no one’s mistaking Leake for a top-of-the-rotation arm, he’d give them a stable option to take the ball every fifth day with generally competitive innings.

As for the Brewers, they’ve already picked up righty Jordan Lyles but have further rotation needs with Brandon Woodruff, Jhoulys Chacin, Jimmy Nelson and Corbin Burnes all sidelined. (Burnes has worked more in relief this season anyhow.) Chacin and Lyles will be free agents at season’s end, so there’s reason to look at adding an arm with additional control, even if the upside is limited.

6:41am: As a highly compensated member of a cellar-dwelling team, Mariners righty Mike Leake is a rather obvious trade candidate. But his full no-trade rights have complicated attempts to move him, and it has long been unclear whether a deal might be struck.

There was some anticipation that Leake could be shipped out in advance of his start last night. Indeed, as MLB.com’s Alyson Footer reports, Leake says that the Seattle front office actually brought a trade possibility to his attention before he took the ball. While details remain unclear, it seems that Leake was not the obstacle to the completion of the negotiations. Rather, the veteran righty indicates that he never heard word of a completed deal and instead made his start as scheduled.

With the trade deadline now just hours away, Leake’s assumption is that he’s staying put — though that doesn’t mean he has been given any assurances. “There’s still a possibility, I’m sure,” says Leake. “Right now, I look at it as I’m not getting traded. At this point, I think I’ll plan on being a Mariner for the rest of the year.”

The Seattle organization has spent much of the season re-shuffling its roster, finishing the work it started in the prior offseason. With intentions of a quick rebound to relevance, it’s possible to imagine Leake staying on as a member of the 2020 rotation. But he may still be dealt — if not today, then over the winter.

Leake is employed by the M’s but still being paid in part by the Cardinals, who signed him as a free agent before shipping him to Seattle. The veteran hurler is earning $16MM this year, $5MM of which is covered by the St. Louis org, and $15MM in 2020, with $4MM the responsibility of the Cards. There’s also a $5MM buyout on a 2021 mutual option.

While those hefty obligations pose a theoretical barrier to a deal, the Mariners have shown a willingness to eat salary in other recent swaps and have obviously found willing trade partners. For those contenders looking for some stability in the back end of their rotation, few hurlers come with more stamped-and-sealed credentials as Leake. With eight more starts this season, he’ll hit the 30-start mark for the eighth-straight season.

It’s not exactly an exciting profile, but Leake remains a useful pitcher. He turned in a middling performance following the pre-game distraction yesterday, surrendering 10 hits and 5 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. On the season, the 31-year-old has been about as steady as he’s always been, with a 4.40 ERA through 137 innings. His strikeout rates remain fairly pedestrian at 6.6 K/9, but Leake has never been better at limiting free passes and presently carries a league-best 1.2 BB/9 mark.

Braves Acquire Chris Martin

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The Braves added a new arm to their late-inning relief mix in advance of tomorrow’s trade deadline, announcing the acquisition of right-hander Chris Martin from the Rangers on Tuesday evening. Atlanta will send left-hander Kolby Allard to Texas in return. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the trade shortly before the teams announced the swap (Twitter link).

Chris Martin | Chris Martin

Martin, 33, bounced around the league as a minor league journeyman for much of the decade before reinventing himself in a stint with Japan’s Nippon Ham Fighters. The towering, 6’8″ righty emerged as one of the best relievers in Japan and parlayed that success into an affordable two-year pact with the Rangers prior to the 2018 season.

After a so-so first season in Arlington, Martin has turned in a very strong 3.08 ERA with an eye-popping 43-to-4 K/BB ratio in 38 innings of work. That fourth walk issued by Martin came in his most recent appearance — his most recent one had come nearly three months prior.

While Martin will only finish the season with two-plus year of MLB service time, he’s nevertheless a pure rental for Atlanta. The two-year, $4MM contract Martin signed upon returning to MLB stipulated that he can become a free agent at the end of the deal, so the Braves are only acquiring him for the current stretch run (barring some type of extension).

Martin will join, if not anchor a late-inning mix that currently looks nothing like the Atlanta front office expected heading into the season. Luke Jackson has emerged as the club’s primary closer, while former starter Sean Newcomb has become one of manager Brian Snitker’s more reliable setup men. Atlanta already added Anthony Swarzak in a minor trade that has paid big dividends earlier this season, and Josh Tomlin is still on board as a long reliever after only joining the organization late in Spring Training.

Dealing Allard will no doubt come as a shock to many Braves fans as the southpaw was Atlanta’s first-round pick (14th overall) back in 2015 and has ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects in three different offseasons. Allard had back surgery in 2015 but has been relatively healthy since that time. However, his prospect star has dimmed in recent years.

Scouting reports have long touted Allard’s fastball control, which allows a fastball with rather pedestrian velocity to play up a bit. But he’s regarded more as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter at this point than the midrotation arm Atlanta may have once hoped. Baseball America and Fangraphs both dropped Allard to 12th among Braves minor leaguers on their summer re-rankings of the club’s farm system. In 110 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2019 — his second full season at that level — Allard has pitched to a 4.17 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.23 HR/9 and a 50 percent grounder rate.

It’s nevertheless a strong return for the Rangers to receive in exchange for two months of a rental reliever. The Texas farm system has been starved for upper-level pitching, and even if Allard indeed tops out as a fourth or fifth starter, that’s precisely the top of serviceable asset the Rangers haven’t been able to squeeze out of their own farm system in recent years. The lack of such assets is what prompted Texas to (unsuccessfully) attempt to patch together the back of its rotation with the combination of Shelby Miller, Drew Smyly and Edinson Volquez this winter. Allard will give the team a potential immediate rotation candidate in the event of a Mike Minor trade or another injury among current starters. He may only have been considered to be the Braves sixth- or seventh-best pitching prospect but will quickly become one of Texas’ top overall farmhands.

Trey Mancini Drawing Interest

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Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini hasn’t been a hot name in the run-up to the trade deadline, but MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that he’s coming up in late talks. The Astros, Rangers, and Rays are all said to have interest.

Mancini, 27, will be eligible for arbitration for the first time in the offseason to come. He’s off to an excellent start at the plate, putting a subpar 2018 season in the rearview mirror. Through 434 plate appearances, Mancini is slashing .280/.341/.532. He grabbed the 50th spot on our ranking of the top trade candidates based upon his evident talent and contractual upside.

For the O’s, nothing is bolted to the floor. But the Baltimore club surely isn’t in a rush to trade its best player, particularly since he’s a marketable figure at an organizational low point. Lovely as Camden Yards is standing alone, stars are needed to bring fans in and send merchandise out of the ballpark gates.

The slate of clubs with interest is itself both interesting and telling. It’s clear that Mancini isn’t a classic trade deadline piece, so much as a very good player with a great contract situation who is drawing teams that are interested in him from a talent standpoint. Roster fit and the situation in the standings are to some extent secondary considerations.

For the Astros, adding Mancini would mean putting another big bat into a lineup mix that’s already strewn with them. The priority in Houston is surely pitching. One wonders whether the connection is based upon some scenarios involving multiple other moving pieces.

The Rangers, meanwhile, are all but buried out of contention. But the team is looking to remain competitive and ramp right back up next year. Coming away with Mancini would mean adding a righty slugger to partner up with star Joey Gallo. The Texas org obviously wouldn’t be valuing Mancini for his late-2019 contributions, but for the three years of control thereafter.

It’s also a bit of an opportunistic possibility for the Rays, who have more immediate incentive than the Rangers but less than the Astros. The Tampa Bay club is always searching for value and has been connected to multiple righty outfield bats, so it isn’t surprising to see that they’ve propped open a door on Mancini. With loads of young talent, especially in the infield, it’s possible the Rays could come up with some creative packages in search of a match with their division rivals.

Edinson Volquez Hopes To Return In 2019, Retire Thereafter

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Veteran hurler Edinson Volquez says he’d like to make it back to the MLB mound one last time this season, as MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan was among those to report. Regardless, the 36-year-old says he’ll hang up his spikes at season’s end.

Volquez has been rehabbing an elbow strain for most of the season. That came on the heels of a lengthy absence owing to Tommy John surgery, which cost him the second half of 2017 and all of 2018.

Having come this far, Volquez says, he’d like to get back on the bump. “I don’t want to go out like this,” he says. “If there is a chance, I can do it for two months or two weeks, why not.”

Volquez still has to progress to facing live hitters and embark upon a rehab assignment. While the stakes will be low, given his decision not to continue pitching beyond the present season, he’ll need to show he’s capable of holding up to game action.

Odds are, the Rangers will hang onto Volquez and give him a shot to get back to the majors. He agreed to continue working back in part due to the team’s desire to have him around its young players, and the Texas club may well need some serviceable arms down the stretch. That said, Volquez would make for a somewhat interesting, no-risk depth stash for a contender given his 60-day injured list status.

No matter how things shake out at the end of 2019, Volquez will ride off into the sunset as a proud participant in 14 seasons of MLB action, with over fifteen-hundred innings. There have been ups and downs, and Volquez never fully realized his early potential, but he has turned in some quality campaigns. From an ERA & innings standpoint, he was at his best in 2008 with the Reds (3.21 ERA, 196 IP), 2012 with the Padres (4.14, 182 2/3), 2014 with the Pirates (3.04, 192 2/3), and 2015 with the Royals (3.55, 200 1/3). Through 271 starts and 17 relief appearances at the game’s highest level, Volquez owns a 4.43 ERA with 7.7 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9.

In addition to the aforementioned organizations, Volquez pitched for the Dodgers and Marlins. He’ll begin and end his career with the Texas organization … unless he really finds something at the very tail end of 2019. “Maybe if some team offers $10MM, I might change my mind,” says Volquez. “But I just want to come back this year and prove it to myself. I want to go out the front door. I don’t want to go out the back door.”

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