Blue Jays Rumors

Rosenthal’s Latest: Blue Jays, White Sox, Brewers, Gray

By Connor Byrne | August 12, 2017 at 6:36pm CDT

Blue Jays right-hander Marco Estrada drew “virtually no interest” in advance of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. Estrada has been at top form since then, however, making it likely someone will claim the impending free agent on revocable waivers this month, a rival executive told Rosenthal (Twitter link). The Jays placed Estrada on waivers Friday, per Rosenthal, though he adds that they’re not bent on trading the 34-year-old unless a solid offer comes along. Because Toronto still has a shred of playoff hope and is averaging almost 40,000 fans per home game, it’s not ready to wave the white flag.

Blue Jays Place Russell Martin On DL, Designate Chris Coghlan & Chris Smith

By charliewilmoth | August 12, 2017 at 10:01am CDT

The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve placed catcher Russell Martin on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. They’ve also designated outfielder Chris Coghlan and righty Chris Smith for assignment and selected the contracts of righty Chris Rowley and catcher Mike Ohlman.

Martin left yesterday’s game due to the oblique strain. For the season, the veteran is batting .223/.354/.381 with 12 homers and 49 walks in 329 plate appearances. Rafael Lopez figures to take over at catcher in his absence, with Ohlman, who was batting .222/.343/.418 at Triple-A Buffalo, also helping out. Martin joins two other catchers, Miguel Montero and Luke Maile, on the DL.

The 32-year-old Coghlan signed a minor-league deal with the Blue Jays in April after the Phillies released him. He batted .200/.299/.267 in brief duty with the Blue Jays before hitting the DL with a wrist injury. He was in the midst of a rehab assignment with Class A+ Dunedin.

The 28-year-old Smith has posted a 4.26 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 1.1 BB/9 in 25 1/3 innings of relief for Buffalo this season. He made his big-league debut earlier this season, pitching five innings and allowing three runs.

The Jays signed the 26-year-old Rowley as a minor-league free agent out of West Point in 2013. After missing two years to a military assignment, he’s moved through the minors quickly, and now he’s in the midst of a strong season, posting a 2.29 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 over 106 1/3 innings split between Buffalo and Double-A New Hampshire. He’s set to start today against the Pirates and will become the first West Point graduate to pitch in the Majors, as Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith notes.

Troy Tulowitzki Out For Season

By Steve Adams | August 10, 2017 at 6:19pm CDT

THURSDAY: Tulowitzki will miss the rest of the season, writes Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. He should be ready for spring training next year.

WEDNESDAY: The Blue Jays announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Nick Tepesch and cleared space on the 40-man roster by moving Troy Tulowitzki to the 60-day disabled list. Left-hander Matt Dermody was optioned to Triple-A to clear a spot on the active roster.

As Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith points out (via Twitter), Tulo’s initial DL placement came on July 29, so this move makes it extremely unlikely that the shortstop will return to the field in 2017. He’ll technically be eligible to return on Sept. 27, though there will be little in the way of incentive for the Jays to push Tulowitzki by that point.

Whether Tulo returns for the season’s final week or not, 2017 has been a severely disappointing campaign for the five-time All-Star. A strained hamstring cost him more than a month earlier this year, and ligament damage in his right ankle will now cost him at least two months. In the 66 games that he’s been healthy enough to take the field, Tulowitzki has slashed a sub-par .249/.300/.378 with seven homers through 266 plate appearances.

Getting Tulowitzki back to full health in 2018 will be imperative for the Jays, as he’s still owed $20MM in both 2018 and 2019 before earning $14MM in 2020 (plus a $4MM buyout on a 2021 club option). All indications are that despite lackluster results in 2017, the Jays’ aim is to contend in 2018, and a healthy Tulowitzki would go a long way toward that end. While Tulo hasn’t played at his former superstar level since 2013-14, he nonetheless played a well-above-average shortstop and swatted 24 homers in 2016, generating roughly three wins above replacement in the process.

As for Tepesch, the 28-year-old will make his Blue Jays debut as tonight’s starter. Toronto acquired the former Rangers hurler from the Twins in exchange for cash earlier this year, and he’s posted a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings with seven strikeouts against one walk for the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. Tepesch held a fairly regular spot in the Texas rotation in 2013-14 but has seen only sparse big league action since. All told, he has a 4.69 ERA with 5.5 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 224 2/3 big league innings.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/10/17

By Connor Byrne | August 10, 2017 at 5:30pm CDT

Thursday’s minor transactions from around baseball:

The Mariners announced that they’ve outrighted catcher Tuffy Gosewisch to Triple-A Tacoma. The team designated Gosewisch for assignment after its minor trade with the Rays last weekend. Gosewisch hadn’t suited up for the Mariners since May, a month in which he appeared in 11 games and struggled to an .071/.103/.071 line in 31 plate appearances. The 33-year-old has been better this season in Tacoma, albeit not great, with a .219/.310/.358 performance in 249 PAs. To Gosewisch’s credit, though, he has done a nice job holding would-be base stealers at bay throughout his pro career, and has caught 18 of 52 attempted thieves (35 percent) with the Rainiers this season.
Angels outfielder Shane Robinson was also outrighted to Triple-A. He’ll return to Salt Lake, where he has batted .338/.397/.436 in 298 trips to the plate this year, after hitting just .200/.276/.200 in 29 tries with the Angels. They designated him Monday.
Blue Jays right-hander Mike Bolsinger was outrighted, too, the club announced. The Jays designated Bolsinger last weekend for the third time this year. With a 6.31 ERA over 41 1/3 innings this season, Bolsinger hasn’t fared well at all in Toronto. The 29-year-old has been excellent with Triple-A Buffalo, though, having notched a 1.60 ERA, 6.95 K/9 and 1.07 BB/9 over 33 2/3 frames.
The Indians have re-signed righty Perci Garner to a minor league contract, tweets Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Cleveland just released Garner, 28, a week ago. Injuries have limited him to 15 2/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A this year.

Knocking Down The Door: Acuña, Borucki, Calhoun, Crawford, Hoskins

By Jason Martinez | August 9, 2017 at 12:28pm CDT

“Knocking Down the Door” is a regular feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.

Ronald Acuña, OF, Atlanta Braves (Triple-A Gwinnett) | Braves Depth Chart

The Braves were non-contenders in 2016 when they surprisingly called up top prospect Dansby Swanson from Double-A and inserted him into the starting lineup. Out of playoff contention late in the season once again, would they do the same with the 19-year-old Acuña, considering how Swanson has mostly struggled in his first full MLB season?

There is one notable difference between Swanson in 2016 and Acuña in 2017. Swanson was having a decent season in Double-A (.261/.342/.402 in 84 games) at the time of his call-up. Acuña has been absolutely tearing the cover off of the ball and seemingly getting better throughout the season during stints in High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. In 26 games since a July promotion to Gwinnett, the right-handed batter is slashing .347/.426/.574 with four homers, seven doubles, 13 walks and 22 strikeouts.

While the Braves will likely explore a trade for one of their current outfielders this offseason in anticipation of Acuña’s arrival as an everyday player in 2018, they could work him into the mix late this season with three-to-four starts per week.

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Ryan Borucki, SP, Toronto Blue Jays (Double-A New Hampshire) | Blue Jays Depth Chart

The 23-year-old lefty was pitching in High-A less than a month ago, so a promotion to the Major Leagues soon after probably seems unrealistic. However, the recent trade of Francisco Liriano and the fourth disabled list stint for Aaron Sanchez has left the team’s rotation so thin that journeyman Nick Tepesch is being added to the 40-man roster to start on Wednesday to replace another journeyman, Cesar Valdez, who was placed on the disabled list after allowing 12 earned runs over his past two starts.

Meanwhile, Borucki has been outstanding since a promotion to Double-A, posting three consecutive seven-inning starts with a total of 18 strikeouts while allowing only one earned run, 11 hits and three walks in 21 innings. The former 15th-round pick, who idolized Mark Buehrle as a kid and is comparable in many ways, is already on the team’s 40-man roster and only at 119 innings on the season.

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Willie Calhoun, 2B/LF, Texas Rangers (Triple-A Round Rock) | Rangers Depth Chart

In six games since the July 31st trade that sent him from the Dodgers to the Rangers for Yu Darvish, Calhoun is 7-for-25 with four homers, pushing his season total to 27. Not only can the lefty-swinging Calhoun hit for power—he also had 27 homers and 25 doubles in Double-A in 2016—he’s one of the toughest hitters to strike out in the Minors. Hitting 25+ homers in the upper minors is notable, but accomplishing that feat while striking out fewer than 100 times is extremely rare. The 22-year-old struck out 65 times while drawing 45 walks in 2016. He has 36 walks and only 50 strikeouts this season.

The good thing about being traded to the American League is that Calhoun’s future position in the Major Leagues, whether it’s second base or the outfield, probably doesn’t have to be sorted out before he gets the call to the Majors. The kid can flat out rake. With Mike Napoli struggling—he’s 4 for his last 32 with 17 strikeouts— the Rangers could give Calhoun plenty of at-bats at the DH spot with an occasional look at second base or in left field.

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J.P. Crawford, SS, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley) | Phillies Depth Chart

After an impressive stint in Double-A earned him an early-season promotion to Triple-A in 2016, Crawford appeared to be on the fast track to the Majors. Of course, only the “light-hitting” Freddy Galvis appeared to be standing in his way at the time. But in an unpredictable turn of events, Galvis went on a home run binge while the 21-year-old Crawford, considered one of the top prospects in baseball, struggled during his first taste of Triple-A. Since last July, Galvis has homered 24 times in 706 plate appearances while posting an OPS over .700.

Crawford was never going to simply be handed the starting shortstop job, but any chance of a 2017 promotion was dwindling unless he forced himself back into the picture. His performance in July, and so far in August, probably fits that description. With an OPS over 1.000, 10 homers, six doubles, three triples, 21 walks and 27 strikeouts over that span, Crawford has earned a late-season look as the Phillies’ regular shortstop. Galvis, who will be a free agent after the 2018 season, has probably done enough over the past year to generate some offseason trade interest whether he plays regularly down the stretch or not.

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Rhys Hoskins, 1B/LF, Philadelphia Phillies (Triple-A Lehigh Valley) | Phillies Depth Chart

With the Phillies committed to giving Tommy Joseph a full season to show what he can do as the team’s starting first baseman, it appeared that Hoskins, one of the most productive hitters in the Minors over the past three seasons, would probably have to wait until 2018 before getting a chance. But following the release of Michael Saunders, the trade of Howie Kendrick, and Aaron Altherr’s second trip to the disabled list, the Phillies’ outfield is looking thin enough that the 24-year-old Hoskins was given the green light to play left field for the first time in his professional career on Monday. He played there again on Tuesday.

While a slight increase in defensive versatility could be a key to Hoskins arriving in the Majors this season, maybe as soon as this week, it’s hard to imagine him not being the starting first baseman in 2018. Joseph is having a below-average season for a first baseman (.741 OPS, 16 HR, 97 K) and is currently in a 1-for-22 slump. Hoskins still has to prove that he can hit MLB pitching, but his current .280/.383/.571 slash line with only 75 strikeouts is a pretty good indicator that he will do just that.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Blue Jays Designate Mike Bolsinger For Assignment

By charliewilmoth | August 5, 2017 at 3:32pm CDT

The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve designated righty Mike Bolsinger for assignment. The move clears roster space for righty Taylor Cole, whose contract they’ve selected from Triple-A Buffalo.

The 29-year-old Bolsinger made five starts and six relief appearances for the Jays this season, posting a 6.31 ERA, 8.5 K/9 and 5.9 BB/9 while allowing nine home runs in 41 1/3 innings. This is the third time he’s been designated for assignment this year. The soft-tosser had allowed runs in all of his previous five appearances, including four yesterday against the Astros. He’s also pitched for the Diamondbacks and Dodgers in a big-league career that spans parts of four seasons.

The 27-year-old Cole has missed most of the season to injury, but hasn’t yet allowed a run in 12 2/3 innings spanning three minor-league levels. The 2011 29th-round pick has moved through the Jays’ minor-league system slowly despite generally good performances, including a 2014 season in which he whiffed 181 batters in 144 1/3 innings at Class A+ and Double-A. He has never pitched in the big leagues.

Deadline Retrospective: How Astros Lost Britton; Why Padres Held Hand

By Steve Adams and Jeff Todd | August 3, 2017 at 9:42pm CDT

The Astros’ lone move this past Monday was the acquisition of Francisco Liriano from the Blue Jays, but multiple reports indicate a significant reason for their lack of activity is due to the fact that an agreed-upon deal for Zach Britton fell through at the eleventh hour. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (here and here), MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal, and FanRag’s Jon Heyman each reported key aspects of the story. You’ll certainly want to read those links in full for all the interesting details, but we’ll cover some highlights here.

Astros owner Jim Crane said in a radio interview with ESPN 97.5 in Houston that his team had multiple trades that were “agreed to in principle” before medical issues led to those deals getting “vetoed at the top.” The Orioles are known to have the most stringent medical standards of any team in the league, though it’s also interesting that Rosenthal reports that Houston also had a deal lined up for an unidentified “high-end” reliever that would have “surprised the industry” upon being traded.

Per Kubatko and Rosenthal, the Britton deal broke down when the Orioles raised medical concerns over two of the players in the deal — believing one to have a “legitimate medical problem” and deeming another to be somewhat questionable. The identity of the prospects in question isn’t known, though Kubatko says the pair were both pitchers and Rosenthal hears that as many as six to seven Astros prospects were deemed off-limits in trade talks for Britton. Ultimately, the Orioles “went dark” on both the Astros and the Dodgers, who were also in the mix for Britton, for several hours before simply telling L.A. that Britton was off the table about an hour prior to the deadline, Rosenthal continues. Baltimore made a last-minute offer to Houston, but the Astros deemed it too steep.

Heyman writes that while many will place the blame on Baltimore owner Peter Angelos, Orioles officials insisted to him that the medical reports on the players the O’s would have received of great enough concern that no deal was ever even presented to Angelos. Heyman spoke to multiple execs from other teams that suggested Houston is too stingy when it comes to surrendering its top prospects in a deal, and that penchant for hanging onto prized young talent ultimately led to a quiet deadline for GM Jeff Luhnow and his staff.

Of course, the Astros had plenty of reason to be cautious when it comes to Britton. The once-elite reliever has missed most of the 2017 season due to a pair of DL stints tied to a forearm injury and at the time of the deadline had only worked back-to-back days once since being activated off the DL (and once during a minor league rehab stint). He posted an 8-to-4 K/BB ratio in 10 July innings before the non-waiver deadline, though it’s perhaps worth noting that he did work on a third consecutive evening the night of the deadline.

Houston did, of course, have other irons in the fire — including the intriguing mystery reliever noted by Rosenthal as well as Yu Darvish. Indeed, it seems the former only fell through at the ownership level from the other team. And Houston’s front office felt it made a stronger offer for Darvish than did the Dodgers, says Rosenthal, who notes the Rangers simply didn’t see it that way (the front office had authority to deal the righty within the state).

Brad Hand of the Padres, though, seemingly represented the most obvious alternative to Britton — at least, after the Cubs grabbed Justin Wilson, in part owing to a wariness of dealing with the O’s on deadline day. But Houston and San Diego just never saw eye to eye on the southpaw’s value, per Rosenthal and Heyman.

Sources from the Pads indicate the club ultimately backed away from seeking top-100-type talent, though not all rival executives seem to have viewed it that way. It seems that San Diego did at least check down from the top-tier prospects it initially sought, though obviously there was still a gap that was never bridged. Details remain scant, though Rosenthal notes the Astros held the same six prospects off-limits for Hand that they did for Britton; per Heyman, the Nationals were no more willing to discuss Carter Kieboom than their top outfielder prospects and the Dodgers preferred cheaper options even though the Padres would’ve taken a package of multiple prospects outside of the Dodgers’ five best.

Ultimately, the fact that both Britton and Hand stayed with their respective organizations leaves some potentially un-done work for all involved. The Astros obviously had intended to do more at the deadline, and could look to find alternatives this August. There’s also an impact on their plans for 2018 and beyond. That’s all the more true for the Orioles and Padres, who’ll likely shop their lefties this winter.

Jose Bautista On Revocable Trade Waivers

By Steve Adams | August 3, 2017 at 8:59am CDT

The Blue Jays have placed right fielder Jose Bautista on revocable trade waivers, reports MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal (on Twitter).

As we emphasized yesterday when Justin Verlander was reportedly put through the same process, Bautista’s placement on revocable waivers isn’t at all surprising. Most players will be placed on revocable waivers this month, but the timing of such moves are at least worth noting, as it gives some insight into the point at which a player can be marketed to other clubs (or can no longer be marketed, in the event that they’re claimed and pulled back). Bautista’s waiver period will last 47.5 hours, and his salary makes him a virtual lock to clear. If and when he does clear, the Jays will be able to discuss trades involving Bautista with all 29 other teams, free of restriction.

[Related: How August Trades Work]

Like Verlander, Bautista has full no-trade protection. As such, he could reject not only any trade that the Blue Jays present him but also another team’s claim off of trade waivers (however unlikely that scenario might be).

The 36-year-old Bautista is hitting just .216/.325/.381 with 16 homers thus far in 2017. While he looked every bit of his vintage self in May, slashing a Herculean .317/.412/.644 that month, he’s batted .200 or lower with an OPS of .638 or lower in each of April, June and July. With $5.9MM remaining on this season’s $18MM salary, plus a $500K buyout of a 2018 mutual option still owed to him, Bautista looks immovable unless the Blue Jays are willing to pay down some of the remaining money on that contract.

The Jays may well seek to do that, but Bautista will likely need to show some signs of life at the plate before any club expresses interest. There should be no shortage of corner bats available this month after so few moved off the market prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, so teams on the lookout for such players will have options that are more productive and less expensive than Bautista.

Blue Jays Designate Brett Oberholtzer For Assignment

By Steve Adams | August 1, 2017 at 5:16pm CDT

The Blue Jays have designated left-hander Brett Oberholtzer for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for newly acquired outfielder Nori Aoki, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet (on Twitter).

Oberholtzer had his contract selected to the Major League roster just yesterday and will lose that 40-man spot before making even a single appearance with the Blue Jays’ big league club. The 28-year-old inked a minor league pact with Toronto this winter on the heels of a down season split between the Phillies and Angels. In 94 1/3 innings with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, Oberholtzer worked to a 4.48 ERA with 5.6 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 45 percent ground-ball rate.

From 2013-15, Oberholtzer enjoyed a solid run with the Astros, tossing 253 2/3 innings with a 3.94 ERA, 5.9 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 while working almost exclusively as a starter. He went to Philadelphia as part of the December 2015 Ken Giles trade in the hopes that he could either work as a long man out of the bullpen or perhaps offer some stability to a young rotation. However, in 26 relief appearances with the Phils, Oberholtzer was tagged for 58 hits, including 11 homers, in 50 1/3 innings. His troubles with the long ball continued after joining the Angels later that season, as he served up seven homers in just 20 frames with the Halos.

While he posted a poor 5.89 ERA on the season as a whole, Oberholtzer isn’t far removed from contributing some solid innings at the big league level and hasn’t had any issues with homers in Triple-A this year (0.48 HR/9). He’s already been outrighted in the past, so if the Blue Jays go that route, he’d have the opportunity to reject his assignment and latch on as depth piece in another organization of his choosing.

Post-Deadline Notes: Gray, Cards, Darvish, Britton, Estrada, Braves

By Jeff Todd | August 1, 2017 at 11:29am CDT

The Cardinals “float[ed]” a trade proposal for Sonny Gray before the Athletics shipped him to the Yankees, according to MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal. In concept, at least, St. Louis would have considered sending young outfielder Stephen Piscotty to Oakland along with a promising starter (Luke Weaver or Jack Flaherty), though it seems talks never got going. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch looks closer at the Cards’ lack of action on deadline day. Top baseball decisionmaker John Mozeliak acknowledged “a level of frustration” that nothing got done, though he also said the team wasn’t inclined to make deals just for the sake of action. Ultimately, momentum never built toward a deal for Lance Lynn, and the club’s other chatter never materialized into a trade. You’ll want to peruse the lengthy column for all the details.

Here are some more post-deadline links of note:

The Dodgers’ acquisition of Yu Darvish came together quite late, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports explains in fascinating detail. It became apparent the Dodgers wouldn’t get Zach Britton from the Orioles within a half hour of the deadline, but the team had already “abandoned hope” of landing Darvish. The Rangers, meanwhile, had run through their alternative trade partners for the ace righty and found none availing. The paths of the two organizations converged just twenty minutes before the deadline. You’ll certainly want to give the story a full read; Texas fans will also want to check out this piece from Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on the team’s unannounced but still-evident rebuilding path.
In the end, there just wasn’t that much demand in the marketplace for Darvish, Rosenthal also notes — so much so that the Dodgers were nearly in position to land both Darvish from the Rangers and lefty Zach Britton from the Orioles. That said, there was “some overlap” between the prospects in both potential deals, and it obviously would’ve required a steep overall price to get both arms. Instead, Los Angeles added two different lefties, Tony Watson and Tony Cingrani.
As regards Britton, Rosenthal had some stern words for how things played out. The Orioles spurned not only the Dodgers but likely also the Astros. For Baltimore, the deadline approach “was disturbingly short-sighted,” by Rosenthal’s reckoning. And when Houston wasn’t able to find another top-end arm, says Rosenthal, its body of deadline work became a “lost opportunity.” It does seem worth bearing in mind, particularly regarding the Astros, that the August trade period appears to be full of opportunities for making further moves if the need is there.
Over in Toronto, the Blue Jays ended up holding onto righty Marco Estrada and then watched him turn in a strong outing last night. As Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca writes, Jays GM Ross Atkins suggested yesterday that the organization may yet see Estrada as a part of the team’s future — though his contract is up at year’s end and he perhaps remains a plausible August trade piece. With Estrada remaining in Toronto through the deadline, said Atkins, “we’ll start thinking about not only how he impacts us now, but how he can potentially impact us beyond 2017.”
Be sure also to check out the trade deadline rundown from Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, who assesses some winners and losers from the day’s action. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney also issued deadline grades in an Insider piece.
With the Braves holding on deadline day, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman takes stock of the months to come. Second baseman Brandon Phillips, reliever Jim Johnson, and starter R.A. Dickey could all be possible August trade chips, he notes, while the inclination of the organization remains to consider deals involving first baseman Matt Adams over the offseason. Meanwhile, Atlanta continues its long-standing pursuit of controllable pitching, though that’ll surely await the end of the current season.

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