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Rangers To Acquire Jason Donald From Royals

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TODAY: Cash considerations are going back to the Royals in the deal, reports Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter).

YESTERDAY: The Rangers have agreed to acquire utilityman Jason Donald from the Royals, a source tells MLBTR. Hunter Samuels of Kings of Kauffman first reported the trade via Twitter.

Donald, 29, owns a career .257/.309/.362 line in 603 career MLB plate appearances, which he compiled with the Indians over 2010-12. He has spent each of the last two seasons at the Triple-A level, slashing .219/.268/.319 in 271 plate appearances with the Reds organization in 2013 and putting up a .231/.271/.308 line through 85 trips to the dish this year at Omaha.

The versatile Donald has seen most of his professional time at short, but also has spent time at second, third, and the outfield. Presumably, he will serve as minor league depth in the Rangers organization. A client of the Boras Corporation, Donald was a 3rd-round draft pick of the Phillies back in 2006.

AL Notes: Ventura, Zimmer, Paxton, Rangers, Suarez

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While there are, thankfully, no new Tommy John procedures to pass on, the news out of the American League was once again dominated by injury situations involving young arms. Here’s the latest:

  • The Royals avoided an immediate scare with Yordano Ventura, but the news was not all positive, explains Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). Manager Ned Yost said on the club’s television broadcast today that trainers diagnosed Ventura with “valgus stress overload,” which Passan says can have longer-term complications. Passan lists cartilage damage, arthritis, bone chips, and instability (with possible exposure for the UCL) as problems associated with that condition.
  • Meanwhile, the club is not sanguine about the possibility of its other top young arm — Kyle Zimmer — making his way back from a lat injury to help the big league club this year, reports Dick Kaegel of MLB.com. “We were looking down the road at maybe after the All-Star break, if Kyle was really throwing good and there was a need, he might be a guy that we could bring up to help us,” said Yost. Now, says Kaegel, Zimmer may not even be throwing a baseball by the All-Star break. While the skipper indicated that the long-term prognosis remains positive, the injury could certainly have implications for how Kansas City navigates the summer.
  • Turning to the Mariners, one of the team’s rehabbing young starters, James Paxton, has been shut down after an MRI revealed shoulder inflammation, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (on Twitter). The club is hopeful that the rest period for the 25-year-old lefty will not be longer than one week, but it had been hoped that Paxton would be nearing a big league return. It bears noting that Paxton, who entered the year with 27 days of MLB service, has been adding time to his clock while on the 15-day DL.
  • In spite of their extensive injury woes, it is too early to count the Rangers as trade deadline sellers, writes MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. “We’re in May,” said GM Jon Daniels. “The players aren’t giving up, and we certainly aren’t either.” Of course, the head baseball man also seemed not to rule out the possibility of the club ultimately deciding to recoup some future value if it cannot keep pace over the summer. “We’ll continue to evaluate it and let it play out,” he said. “We’ll make adjustments if we have to, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”
  • Ever since shortstop Jose Iglesias was lost for the season, speculation has run rampant about the possibility of the Tigers making an addition up the middle, but the club has thrived without a major move thus far. On the other hand, the club sits at second-to-last in the bigs in shortstop production (half a win below replacement level). As MLB.com’s Jason Beck reports, GM Dave Dombrowski recently got an in-person look at 22-year-old shortstop Eugenio Suarez, who has thrived in his first few games at the Triple-A level. “He’s done very well this year,” said Dombrowski. “Everybody has talked well of him.” Indeed, Suarez currently boasts a .291/.351/.520 line over 191 plate appearances, most of them at Double-A. While the GM certainly did not suggest that he was ready to hand the young Venezuelan the reigns, Beck notes that Suarez could well force his way into the big league conversation. Though Suarez has only just made it to the highest level of the minors, it could well make sense for Detroit to look at him at the major league level before deciding whether (and if so how) to shop at the trade deadline.

Minor Moves: Ramirez, Brach, Newby, Buckner, Boyer, Lo

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We’ll keep tabs on the day’s minor moves right here …

  • The Royals have signed catcher Max Ramirez to a minor league deal, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Ramirez, 29, was once a top-100 prospect with the Rangers, but has only seen 140 career MLB plate appearances (all with Texas). He was the primary backstop for the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate from 2012-13, but posted an interesting .192/.382/.192 line in 68 plate appearance with the Reds’ top farm club this year before hitting the open market.
  • Two Somerset Patriots right-handers have been signed away to affiliated ball on minor league pacts, tweets Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com. Brett Brach has signed with the Nationals, while Kyler Newby will join the Angels. Brach, 26, had spent his career in the Indians organization, briefly reaching the Triple-A level. The 29-year-old Newby, who has spent ten seasons in the minors and owns a lifetime 9.9 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9, threw to a 2.70 ERA in 60 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A in the Athletics organization last year.
  • Billy Buckner and Blaine Boyer have each accepted assignments with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. The pair of righties was designated for assignment (and, it turns out, exposed to outright waivers) on Sunday, in conjunction with a series of roster moves relating to the team’s acquisition of lefty Troy Patton.
  • The Astros have released righty Chia-Jen Lo, according to the PCL transactions page. The 28-year-old Taiwanese native tossed 19 1/3 big league innings and even notched two saves last year for Houston. He worked to a 4.19 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 6.1 BB/9. Lo, who was outrighted off of the club’s 40-man early this season, had struggled to a 4.74 ERA in 19 Triple-A innings in 2014, getting hit hard while striking out 8.1 and walking 5.7 batters per nine.
  • MLBTR’s DFA Tracker shows several players in DFA limbo, with Blake Wood of the Indians joining Phil Irwin, Wandy Rodriguez, and Vin Mazzaro of the Pirates.

Yordano Ventura Has Clean MRI

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TODAY: The MRI came back clean and the current expectation is that Ventura will only miss one start, Royals GM Dayton Moore said on MLB Network today (hat tip to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports).

YESTERDAY: Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura left tonight’s start against the Astros after allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings and exhibiting inconsistent velocity. Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets that Ventura is experiencing “lateral elbow discomfort.” Royals manager Ned Yost says the team’s training staff does not believe Ventura injured his elbow ligament, but Ventura will have an MRI on Tuesday. In 57 1/3 innings this season, Ventura has posted a 3.45 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.

A significant injury for Ventura would represent a serious blow not only to the Royals, who would be losing their most exciting young talent, but also to baseball in general, which has suffered a terrible year for pitcher health. Jose Fernandez, Matt Moore, Jameson Taillon, Jarrod Parker, Patrick Corbin, Martin Perez, Ivan Nova, Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy are among the pitchers to suffer serious injuries in recent months, along with top draft prospects like Jeff Hoffman and Erick Fedde.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Royals, Collins, Padres, Rangers, Hardy, Amaro

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In his latest notes column for FOX Sports, Ken Rosenthal wonders just how long the Royals can stand behind GM Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost given the team’s struggles to this point in the season. Moore called Yost a “consistent leader” when he spoke with Rosenthal and added that the team is only a hot streak or two away from a turnaround. Rosenthal writes that the entire team seems “too comfortable, waiting for a surge that might never come.” More from his column below…

  • On the other hand, Rosenthal doesn’t feel it’d be justified for the Mets to fire manager Terry Collins. Collins hasn’t been afforded the same talent that Yost has, he opines, and his front office has made some questionable decisions behind him regarding the bullpen and the underperforming crop of free agents the team brought in. He notes the team’s sparse spending despite their market, adding that it seems unlikely that Bud Selig would ever confront owner Fred Wilpon, with whom he is close friends.
  • Similarly, the Padres should hang onto skipper Bud Black, Rosenthal proclaims. Recent reports have indicated that he may be on the hot seat. Padres ownership too often has worried about alienating fans with personnel decisions, as they did when they neglected to trade Chase Headley after his 2012 season. Black is a highly regarded manager who has seen six of his pitchers hit the disabled list this season, though even Rosenthal admits that the offense’s follies have been virtually inexplicable.
  • The Rangers’ glut of middle infield depth could lead them to field trade offers for Elvis Andrus this summer. With Jurickson Profar, Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas all representing possible starting-caliber infielders, Texas does appear to have a surplus. I, personally, would imagine that each of those players could hear his name circulating on the rumor mill in two months’ time.
  • One agent who isn’t affiliated with J.J. Hardy or Derek Jeter suggested to Rosenthal recently that he thought the former would be the latter’s successor with the Yankees. Hardy has a low-maintenance personality, steady glove and experience in the AL East.
  • As has been reported previously, the Astros tried to acquire Collin McHugh last summer when the Mets dealt him to the Rockies, but Rosenthal adds more light on the situation. The team’s scouting department felt McHugh was little more than a long reliever, but the team’s statistical analysts pushed hard for McHugh based on trends they’d seen dating all the way back to his minor league days in 2011. The Astros, of course, claimed McHugh off waivers from Colorado, and he’s cemented himself in their rotation. GM Jeff Luhnow said over the weekend he has no plans to trade McHugh or breakout lefty Dallas Keuchel.
  • Though Kendrys Morales could be a perfect fit for the Mariners’ offensive woes, rival executives say that the team is still showing the same payroll concerns that caused them to largely shut down spending after the signing of Robinson Cano this winter.
  • Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. called the possibility of trading Chase Utley a “moot point,” noting Utley’s no-trade protection and desire to remain in Philadelphia. Perhaps of greater interest (and perhaps to the dismay) of Phillies fans, is the following quote from Amaro: “I don’t know if we’ll completely ’sell’ ever. We can revamp, but we can’t completely sell out. We have to have a contending team in 2015 or ’16 — or at least a competitive team.”

Blue Jays Acquire P.J. Walters, Melky Mesa

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The Blue Jays have acquired right-hander P.J. Walters and outfielder Melky Mesa from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports (Twitter link).  Both players had been playing with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate after signing minor league deals in the offseason, and Walters and Mesa will likely also serve as organization depth for Toronto.

Walters, 29, had a brief stint in the Jays organization in 2011 when he came to Toronto from the Cardinals as part of the Colby Rasmus trade package.  The righty pitched only one Major League inning as a Blue Jay before becoming a free agent that winter.  Walters posted a 5.79 ERA, 5.7 K/9 and a 1.6 K/BB rate over 22 starts (for a -1.2 bWAR) with the Twins in 2012-13 and he also struggled with Triple-A Omaha this year, only managing a 7.97 ERA in 40 2/3 innings.

Mesa, conversely, had been enjoying a nice year in Omaha, slashing .284/.346/.527 with five homers over 81 PA.  The 27-year-old has a career .754 OPS over 2892 minor league plate appearances since debuting in the Yankees’ farm system in 2006.  Mesa has 16 Major League PA to his name (with New York in 2012-13) and made the most of them, posting a .971 OPS in his brief time in the Show.

Minor Moves: Zagurski, Carson, Rogers, Storey, Loe

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Here are today’s minor moves from around baseball.

  • The Indians have released lefty reliever Mike Zagurski, according to MiLB.com. Zagurski pitched well for Triple-A Columbus, posting a 2.76 ERA with 12.1 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 16 1/3 innings, but his minor-league contract had a June 1 opt-out date, so Zagurski may be hoping to find work in the big leagues. (Zagurski did, in fact, opt out of his deal, as the Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes tweets.) Zagurski appeared with the Pirates and Yankees in 2013, and has also pitched for the Phillies and Diamondbacks.
  • The Dodgers have signed pitchers Robert Carson and Jhan Marinez to minor-league deals, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets. The Angels recently released Carson after he walked 13 batters in 15 2/3 innings for Triple-A Salt Lake. He pitched a total of 33 innings of relief for the Mets in 2012 and 2013. The Tigers released Marinez last week after he struggled out of the bullpen at Triple-A Toledo. He appeared briefly with the Marlins in 2010 and the White Sox in 2012.
  • The Blue Jays have outrighted pitcher Esmil Rogers to Triple-A Buffalo, MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm tweets. The Jays designated Rogers for assignment yesterday. Rogers had posted a 6.97 ERA with 9.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 20 2/3 innings with the big-league club this season. He pitched 137 2/3 innings for Toronto in 2013.
  • The Jays have also re-signed pitcher Mickey Storey to a minor-league deal, MLB Daily Dish’s Chris Cotillo tweets. The Jays released Storey last month, clearing space on their 40-man roster. He’ll head back to Triple-A Buffalo, where he struggled in four outings early in the year. Storey posted a 2.56 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 for Buffalo in 2013.
  • The Phillies have announced that they have placed pitcher Luis Garcia on the 15-day DL with a right forearm strain and have selected David Buchanan’s contract from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Buchanan, 25, had posted a 3.98 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 40 2/3 innings at Triple-A this season. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2010 draft. Buchanan will start today against the Dodgers.
  • The Royals have released pitcher Kameron Loe, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star tweets. The Royals had signed Loe to a minor-league deal in April, and he pitched in 11 innings for Triple-A Omaha, posting a 4.09 ERA while striking out four batters and walking seven. Last season, Loe pitched for the Mariners, Cubs and Braves, posting a 7.09 ERA with 5.1 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 over 26 2/3 innings. The 32-year-old has also pitched for the Rangers and Brewers in his nine-year big-league career.

Central Notes: Kluber, Cardinals, Manaea

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Corey Kluber of the Indians has pitched like an ace this season, August Fagerstrom of Fangraphs writes. Fagerstrom notes that, since the beginning of 2013, Kluber’s pitching has compared favorably to that of David Price, and while Price appears likely to land a nine-figure contract in the 2015-16 offseason, Kluber remains relatively obscure. In ten starts, Kluber has produced 2.2 fWAR, behind only Felix Hernandez among all pitchers in baseball. Kluber has a 3.43 ERA so far, but with peripheral numbers that are better, with 10.1 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. Kluber’s excellent cut fastball has been the key to his emergence, Fagerstrom writes. Here are more notes from the Central divisions.

  • Given their outfield depth, the Cardinals are in good position to make trades, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Miklasz cites a scout who suggests that if the Cardinals do try to make a big move, it will likely be for a third strong starting pitcher to complement Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha.
  • The Royals’ gamble on Sean Manaea in the 2013 draft is paying off, Alan Eskew of Baseball America writes. Manaea fell to the Royals at No. 34 overall as other teams passed on him due to injury concerns. He now has a 5.40 ERA with Class A+ Wilmington, but with 3.7 BB/9 an an outstanding 13.6 K/9. Manaea has been pitching at 92-93 MPH, ranging up to 96 MPH, and the Royals have him working on his secondary pitches and on consistency in his delivery.

Minor Moves: Maxwell, Bantz, Swauger

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Here are today’s minor moves from around the league…

  • Outfielder Justin Maxwell has cleared outright waivers and accepted his assignment to the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate, reports Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). Though Maxwell has struggled in limited action this year, he has been a valuable contributor in the past and owns a career .225/.312/.420 triple-slash. He was tendered a contract over the offseason and avoided arbitration with a $1.325MM deal.
  • MLB.com’s Bill Ladson reports (via Twitter) that the Nationals have released catcher Brandon Bantz. The 27-year-old Bantz batted .271/.320/.343 this season in 76 PA with Double-A Harrisburg. Bantz received the briefest of Major League callups last season when picked up two PAs with the Mariners.
  • The Phillies have inked outfielder Chris Swauger to a minor league deal, per the team’s transactions page. Swauger, 27, struggled in Triple-A last season with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate but has a solid .284/.331/.435 batting line in 1218 games at the Double-A level.

Central Notes: Moustakas, Knebel, Taveras, Cubs

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The Royals announced today that they have optioned struggling third baseman Mike Moustakas to Triple-A Omaha. The move marks a significant fall for the former top prospect, who has yet to show any sort of consistency at the Major League level. Royals fans were optimistic when “Moose” hit .269/.314/.425 over his final 78 games last season and posted strong numbers in Spring Training, but the 25-year-old hit just .152/.223/.320 in 40 games this season despite being platooned for much of the year. Moustakas has turned in elite defensive numbers throughout his career, but he’ll need to show more at the plate to ever deliver on his lofty prospect status.

Here are some more items pertaining to baseball’s Central divisions…

  • The Tigers today optioned left-hander Robbie Ray to Triple-A Toledo and announced that they will purchase the contract of right-hander Corey Knebel prior to tomorrow’s game. Knebel, a right-handed reliever, will become the second player from the 2013 draft to reach the Major Leagues (Cleveland’s Kyle Crockett debuted on May 16). He’s posted a brilliant 0.90 ERA with 12.2 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 50 innings across three levels since being selected 39th overall less than one year ago.
  • Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that playing time for Cardinals top prospect Oscar Taveras could present itself shortly in the Majors, as the team begins a stretch of seven games in AL parks in early June. However, the Cardinals could also recall Randal Grichuk, who has been on an otherwordly tear since being sent back to Triple-A, having slashed .347/.418/.776 with six homers in 12 games. GM John Mozeliak wouldn’t rule out the possibility of either player being promoted when asked by Goold.
  • Grantland’s Jonah Keri spoke with Cardinals pitching coach Derek Lilliquist, ace Adam Wainwright and former Redbird Kyle Lohse about the intricacies of former pitching coach Dave Duncan’s philosophy and approach to the game. Keri writes that Duncan’s influence still runs through the veins of the Cardinals’ organization, which is a driving force behind the team’s extended success. Wainwright said Duncan was “borderline maniacal” in terms of advance scouting and analytics. Keri notes that Duncan never cared much for pitcher-versus-batter data, as such small samples led to misguided decisions.
  • Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts will submit a revised proposal for renovations to Wrigley Field, writes MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. If approved, they are prepared to move forward with the plans, which include additional seating in the Budweiser Bleachers, new outfield lights to reduce shadows, four additional LED signs of up to 650 square feet and a 2400 square foot video board in right field. Ricketts says negotiations with rooftop business owners have gone nowhere, so “It has to end. It’s time to move forward.” He hopes they can avoid going to court with the rooftop owners.
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