- Following up on Jeff Passan’s report from earlier this week regarding Yordano Ventura, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal wrote that he, too, heard that Ventura had been offered to other clubs in trades as recently as a couple of weeks ago. However, Rosenthal adds that when he questioned a Royals official on the matter, he was met with a reply about how perilously thin the Kansas City rotation is even with Ventura on board. That’s not a firm denial, of course, and the Royals could conceivably ask for a rotation piece back in theoretical trade scenarios. Trade talks aside, Rosenthal wrote that the Royals have spoken to Ventura about his maturity issues over and over again with seemingly little effect. The issues go beyond his fiery demeanor, Rosenthal notes, as Ventura is known to even add some dramatic flair to his pitching mechanics during games; while he looks smooth and fluid in side sessions, he’s taken to finishing with a high, exaggerated leg kick during games — a trend the Royals would like to stop. Rosenthal opines that Ventura’s career is at a crossroads, noting that he was a rock in their rotation as recently as 2015 postseason but hasn’t demonstrated a willingness to curtail his emotions.
Royals Rumors
Latest On Yordano Ventura
1:32pm: A source strongly contested the report that Ventura had been shopped, telling MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan that it was “complete and utter nonsense.” GM Dayton Moore declined to address the matter, saying that “it’s highly inappropriate and reckless to discuss any specific trade talks about players with the media.”
Passan, meanwhile, stands by his report, which he says has since been corroborated by additional sources (Twitter link).
8:25am: Last night’s plunking of Manny Machado was the latest in a line of questionable actions from Royals righty Yordano Ventura, and Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports writes that his attitude is wearing thin on the Kansas City organization. Indeed, per the report, executives from at least two other teams say that the Royals have offered to deal Ventura away within the last month.
Expectations had been that the now-25-year-old with the high-octane fastball would be entrenched in the K.C. staff for years to come. After all, the club inked him to a five-year, $23MM extension before the start of the 2015 season. That deal also includes two option years valued at $12MM apiece.
There always seemed to be a bit of injury risk, but otherwise the pact seemed a nice bargain for a quality young arm. While he’s been healthy and still delivers mid-90s heat, however, Ventura has arguably been more provocative than productive on the mound over the last two years.
Ventura took a step back last year in the earned run department, seeing a year-over-year ERA shift from 3.20 to 4.08. But his peripherals all seemed in line with his prior work. It’s been different thus far in 2016, as Ventura has retired just six batters per nine innings via strikeout while issuing free passes at a rate of 4.8 BB/9. He’s allowing less groundballs to go with more contact and home runs. After last night’s outing, Ventura owns a 5.32 ERA in 66 innings over a dozen starts this year.
The extension once seemed an asset, but now may no longer have surplus value. Though we’re now one and a half years into the contract, the vast majority of the guarantee remains to be paid. Ventura has received just over $1MM of what he’s owed so far, with an escalating structure that mimics the arbitration process still to come. And there’s no doubt that other organizations will have concerns about Ventura’s questionable reputation and on-field antics.
It’s not exactly clear what Kansas City would be looking to accomplish via trade. Contenders would certainly hesitate to add Ventura to a rotation, and it’s a big commitment even if a club hoped to utilize his live arm in the pen. A swap that would allow the Royals to fill a need at the major league level without adding payroll could make some sense, though that’s just generalized speculation on my part.
Minor MLB Transactions: 6/5/2016
Today’s minor moves from around baseball:
- Right-hander Jeff Walters has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Las Vegas and will remain with the Mets organization, according to ESPN’s Adam Rubin. Walters, whom the Mets designated for assignment earlier this week, had the option of becoming a free agent after clearing waivers. He’ll instead try to improve on the 9.27 ERA he put up 22 1/3 innings with Las Vegas prior to his designation.
- The Royals have signed infielder Irving Falu to a minor league contract, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). Falu, 32, was with the Royals organization from 2006-13 and then spent time with the Brewers, Padres and Reds the previous two seasons. He opened 2016 in the Mexican Baseball League and slashed .359/.410/.476 with five home runs in 237 plate appearances, also adding nine steals. In 130 career major league PAs, Falu has hit .277/.320/.345.
White Sox Acquire James Shields From Padres
A week after talks between the Padres and White Sox regarding James Shields began gaining “significant momentum,” the two sides have officially reached a deal. The veteran right-hander and cash (reportedly $31MM of the remaining $58MM on his contract) will head to Chicago in exchange for fellow righty Erik Johnson and shortstop prospect Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres general manager A.J. Preller announced.
Since beginning the season with a red-hot 19-8 mark, the White Sox have fallen to 29-26 and have dropped to third place in the AL Central, though they’re only 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Royals. While their starters entered Saturday with the majors’ eighth-lowest ERA (3.61) and seventh-best fWAR (5.7), their pre-Shields rotation was a top-heavy group. Aside from superstar Chris Sale and the underrated Jose Quintana, who has posted ace-like numbers this year, the White Sox haven’t gotten overly impressive production from any of their other starters.
With Shields aboard, the expectation is that either Mat Latos or Miguel Gonzalez will lose his spot in the rotation. Regardless of whether the White Sox demote Latos or Gonzalez, their top four will likely consist of Sale, Quintana, Shields and Carlos Rodon as long as all four are healthy. Whether Shields will stay in that top four beyond 2016 is up in the air, though, as he could opt out of the final two years of his contract at season’s end. That would mean leaving $42MM on the table, however.
Shields, 34, isn’t the pitcher he was during his best years with the Rays and Royals, but he remains a competent innings eater who’s on pace to exceed the 200-inning plateau and surpass the 30-start barrier for the 11th straight season. That aside, Shields does come with red flags. After a dreadful final start with the Padres, Shields’ ERA (4.28) is at its highest since 2010. Further, his strikeout rate – which spiked to a personal-best 9.61 per nine innings last year – has regressed to 7.62 (closer to his 7.84 career average) and the control that he displayed in his earlier days has declined. Shields’ walk rate is at 3.61 per nine innings, which is in line with last year’s 3.6, and his velocity has dipped. To Shields’ credit, he has long been a capable ground-ball generator – at 48 percent this year, there’s no sign he’s slowing down in that area. That should help his cause as he shifts to the hitter-friendly confines of U.S. Cellular Field, but he does have the third-highest home run rate among qualified starters since last season (16.9 percent).
For the Padres, this is undoubtedly a disappointing ending to a short-lived experiment. Shields joined the Friars on a lucrative long-term deal as a free agent in 2015, at which point the club gave up the 13th overall pick in that June’s draft to sign him. With Shields in the fold, the Padres had designs on competing for a playoff spot. They instead finished a disappointing 74-88, though, and have begun this season 22-34. San Diego is now rebuilding, so keeping Shields around wouldn’t have made sense.
The 26-year-old Johnson, who’s the more established player the Padres got for Shields, could figure into their rotation at some point. Johnson has posted a 4.50 ERA, 7.1 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 across 98 major league innings. In a 523 2/3-frame minor league sample size, Johnson’s strikeout rate (7.8) hasn’t looked much different, though he has walked fewer batters (3.1) while working to a terrific 3.23 ERA.
Tatis, meanwhile, signed with the White Sox for $700K as a 16-year-old last summer. The Dominican native is the son of former big leaguer Fernando Tatis, and Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote at the time of his signing that the 6-foot-1, 175-pounder pairs power potential on offense with a good arm on defense. Tatis, therefore, could potentially serve as a third baseman or outfielder in the majors.
Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported May 28 that the two teams were discussing a Shields trade, and he confirmed the return for the Padres today. Bob Nightengale of USA Today noted earlier today that a deal was close. FanRag Sports Jon Heyman then reported that the framework of a deal was agreed upon. Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago had Johnson going to San Diego. Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reported that the trade was done. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported the amount of money the White Sox will receive in the trade.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pitcher Notes: Pomeranz, M’s, Giants, Royals, Tigers
The Padres traded James Shields on Saturday, but they aren’t as willing to move their best starter, southpaw Drew Pomeranz, reports Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link). The club would need to be “overwhelmed” to deal the 27-year-old, according to Lin. Pomeranz currently ranks eighth among qualified starters in both ERA (2.22) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.66), and he’s playing this season on a meager $1.35MM salary. Thus, it would likely to take a significant haul to land him and his two-plus remaining years of team control.
More on a few other pitchers:
- The Mariners promoted their top pitching prospect, Double-A reliever Edwin Diaz, and optioned fellow reliever Cody Martin to Triple-A Tacoma to make room, per a team announcement. Diaz, 22, has posted a sterling 2.21 ERA, 11.95 K/9 and 1.55 BB/9 in 40 2/3 innings this year. Most of those numbers came as a starter, but the Mariners decided to move Diaz to the bullpen early last month because they feel his ceiling as a reliever is higher. Diaz has a high-90s fastball out of the ’pen and has dominated in relief this season, writes The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish. He’ll have a chance to earn a spot with the Mariners in the wake of veteran Joel Peralta’s designation for assignment earlier this week.
- Before lefty Brian Duensing agreed to a minor league deal with the Orioles last month, the Giants and Royals also pushed for his services, he told Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Duensing became a free agent when he opted out of his contract with Kansas City in mid-May; as evidenced by Kansas City’s desire to re-sign Duensing, the defending World Series champions were obviously sorry to see him go.
- The Tigers’ Shane Greene made three of his four early season appearances as a starter before landing on the disabled list April 24 with a blister on his throwing hand. The right-hander is healthy again, but he will now come out of the bullpen, manager Brad Ausmus said (via Brendan Savage of MLive.com). “He’ll work out of the pen, probably sixth-seventh innings, right around there,” Ausmus stated. “Maybe eighth depending on who needs rest, who’s coming up, etc. He can work a couple innings. Availability will come into play but he can definitely work a couple of innings.” Prior to his injury, Greene put up a 6.28 ERA, 6.91 K/9 and 5.65 BB/9 in 14 1/3 innings. He worked almost exclusively as a starter last season (16 of 18 appearances), though his run prevention was even worse (6.88 ERA).
10 Potential Replacements For Mike Moustakas And David Wright
A pair of teams have been struck with significant blows on the injury front in the past week, as the Royals announced last week that Mike Moustakas has a torn anterior cruciate ligament, while the Mets announced today that David Wright won’t even participate in any baseball activities for the next six weeks to two months. That injury ended Moustakas’ season, while Wright’s could leave him sidelined into mid-August or even September, as he’ll need awhile to get back up to speed after a potentially eight-week layoff.
Both clubs have internal options from which to choose — Cheslor Cuthbert, Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier for the Royals; Wilmer Flores and Matt Reynolds for the Mets — but injuries of that magnitude tend to eventually lead a team to explore the outside market. It doesn’t seem likely that either club will leap into action immediately, as one might expect had these injuries occurred closer to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, but if and when they do explore the trade scene, there’s no shortage of options on which to inquire.
Let’s run down some names that could plausibly be in play…
Trevor Plouffe / Eduardo Nunez, Twins: With Minnesota staring at a virtually insurmountable climb in the AL Central, their infield options could be available sooner than most. Plouffe isn’t off to a good start (.246/.277/.362), but he batted .248/.312/.426 in 2200 plate appearances from 2012-15, showing 20-homer pop and steadily improving his glovework along the way. Plouffe is earning $7.25MM this year, so he’s not exactly a cheap asset, but if he turns it around at the dish, he’s controllable through 2017. He can also help out at first base, where the Mets are presently missing Lucas Duda. Nunez, meanwhile, is more of a utility option, but he’s played quite a bit of third in his career and has enjoyed a brilliant start to the 2016 season, hitting .331/.358/.509. He’s not a great defender, but he’s a competent bat with plenty of speed on the bases and a low salary. Nunez is earning $1.475MM this season and can be controlled through 2017 as well.
Yangervis Solarte, Padres: Executive chairman Ron Fowler voiced disgust with his team’s 2016 performance earlier this week and, in doing so, signaled that changes could be on the horizon. The number of Padres players that have underperformed this season limit their trade chips on the summer market, but the quietly steady Solarte has been excellent since returning from a hamstring injury. He’s hitting .339/.429/.593, and while no one should expect that to continue, he’s a .269/.334/.411 hitter since debuting in 2014 despite playing the majority of his games at Petco Park. He’ll be arbitration eligible for the first time this winter and is controllable through 2019, so the Padres would ask for a legitimate return.
Jed Lowrie / Danny Valencia, Athletics: Like Nunez, Lowrie embodies the “jack of all trades, master of none” profile, as he’s capable of playing many positions on the diamond but doesn’t draw positive defensive marks in most instances. Third base is the one exception, as he’s been a positive there in the eyes of both Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating. Lowrie has been playing mostly second base this season, but he logged nearly 400 innings at the hot corner last year in Houston. He’s batting .315/.355/.364 and earning $7.5MM this season. He’ll earn $6.5MM next year, and his contract contains a $6MM club option for the 2018 campaign (which comes with a $1MM buyout). Valencia would require a larger return, given his excellent production over the past calendar year, and the Royals have already been down that road once before, while the Mets may not have a regular spot for him late in the year. As an affordable slugger with a year of control remaining beyond 2016, he’s certainly appealing, and it’s tough to definitively rule out any trade when it comes to the A’s.
Yunel Escobar, Angels: The last-place Halos might not be waving the white flag just yet, but with baseball’s most injury-riddled pitching staff and a dismal farm system from which to draw reinforcements, things are bleak in Anaheim. Escobar has been a bright spot at the plate (.306/.362/.416) while earning just $7MM, and he comes with a 2017 option for the same price. Escobar’s poor defense weighs down the value brought to the table by his bat, and he’s also drawn questionable reviews (to put things mildly) for his clubhouse presence in the past. But, his premium contact skills would fit in well with the Royals’ philosophy, and he’s capable of playing multiple positions.
Luis Valbuena, Astros: The 30-year-old doesn’t look like he’s going to come close to matching last season’s career-best 25 homers. Valbuena is hitting .223/.320/.399 with six big flies on the year, demonstrating a solid walk rate but also a penchant for strikeouts. The left-handed-hitter is best deployed as a platoon option, which might make his $6.125MM salary steep, but Houston could be willing to absorb some of that salary. Former No. 2 overall pick Alex Bregman is demolishing minor league pitching and may be on the cusp of the Majors, so the Astros would probably be comfortable moving their starting third baseman even if they still aim to contend.
Kelly Johnson, Braves: Johnson looks primed to experience some deja vu this summer. After signing a one-year deal to return to the Braves (who originally drafted him) during the 2014-15 offseason, he found himself flipped to the Mets alongside Juan Uribe. Johnson isn’t hitting like he did in 2015, but he’s a known commodity to the Mets and can play all over the infield. Given his struggles (.210/.276/.295), the cost of acquisition figures to be minimal. Even if he doesn’t end up in New York, he’s an obvious trade candidate.
Aaron Hill, Brewers: On the more productive side of the veteran scale is Hill, whose huge May has perhaps made him a more appealing target for clubs in need of some infield help. The 34-year-old’s season-to-date batting line rests at a productive .274/.346/.433, and while he’s historically been a second baseman, Hill has piled up 557 innings at the hot corner over the past two seasons. He’s earning a steep $12MM in 2016, but the D-backs are reportedly on the hook for $6.5MM of that sum, and I’d imagine that the Brewers would be willing to kick in some additional funds if it meant improving the return.
Alex Guerrero, Dodgers (for now): The Dodgers designated Guerrero, he of a four-year/$28MM contract (signed in 2013), for assignment earlier this week when he completed a minor league rehab assignment. Guerrero hasn’t lived up to his contract by any stretch of the means, but he also never got an opportunity at regular playing time. He’s a poor defender and has batted .224 with a .251 on-base percentage in the Majors, but he also slugged .414 (.190 ISO) and ripped 11 homers in just 247 Major League PAs over the past two seasons. Guerrero owns a lifetime .303/.385/.526 batting line in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, and mashed at a .323/.357/.598 clip in 266 Triple-A plate appearances with the Dodgers. It’s unlikely that a team would be willing to take on the remainder of his contract in a trade, but Guerrero could soon be released, thus freeing him to sign with any club willing to roll the dice.
Certainly, there are other names to consider. Each team can explore everything from bad contract (e.g. Chase Headley) to former prospects now in the upper minors (e.g. Will Middlebrooks), to elite prospects like Joey Gallo that may be somewhat “blocked” at the MLB level (though the latter of the three presents further long-term roster maneuvering). And, as is the case every year, other names will most likely surface as trade candidates once the non-waiver trade deadline draws closer. However, for a pair of clubs in tight races for the division lead — the Royals hold a 1.5 game lead on the AL Central, while the Mets are three back in the NL East — acting sooner rather than later to fill a void can make a sizable impact.
Royals Have Interest In Re-Signing Greg Holland
- Greg Holland could take the mound in August, per Heyman, and he may wait until that point before deciding on a team. Both the Royals and Braves have shown interest to this point, he adds.
Snider Does Not Exercise Opt-Out Clause
- Travis Snider will not opt out of his minor league contract with the Royals, per SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link). The 28-year-old had a June 1 opt-out date but will instead remain with Triple-A Omaha, where he’s batted .259/.377/.348 in 162 plate appearances. The Royals have lost Alex Gordon to a fracture in his hand for the time being, so perhaps the hope is that a need in the outfield corner will lead to a promotion in the near future.
Minor Experiencing Shoulder Fatigue
- Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes that Royals left-hander Mike Minor returned to Kansas City today to have his surgically repaired left shoulder checked out by the Major League training staff. Minor, who signed a two-year deal this winter on the heels of the aforementioned surgery, has been dealing with some fatigue in that shoulder. Manager Ned Yost said the team doesn’t consider the injury to be serious at this time and isn’t calling the fatigue a setback, though as Dodd notes, he’s just over a week away from the end of his 30-day rehab window, which comes to a close on June 9.
Royals Agree To Minors Deal With Joe Beimel
The Royals have agreed to a minor league deal with southpaw Joe Beimel, according to Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). It’s pending a physical, but Brown notes that Kansas City has already seen an MRI of Beimel’s left arm and does not believe that health will pose an obstacle.
Beimel had previously struck a deal with the Marlins, but that accord fell apart — apparently over issues with the status of his arm. Unless something new is found this time around, though, it seems that the veteran will join his ninth major league organization.
The 39-year-old has seen action with seven teams at the big league level, including a two-year run with the Mariners from 2014-15 in which he compiled 92 1/3 innings of 3.12 ERA pitching. Of course, he had better results in the first of those campaigns, and ERA estimators viewed his results last year with particular skepticism.
Beimel was actually somewhat better against right-handed hitters in 2015, but historically he’s much stingier when facing opposing lefties. Presumably, the Royals will give him a shot to earn a LOOGY role. With Danny Duffy moving to the rotation, the club’s pen currently features only one lefty, Scott Alexander. He’s been effective in his first ten innings on the year, and has good results recently at Triple-A, but has a fairly limited MLB track record.
