Royals Place MJ Melendez On Injured List
The Royals announced that outfielder MJ Melendez has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 15, due to a left ankle sprain. No corresponding move was immediately announced as the club doesn’t play again until Friday due to the All-Star break.
Melendez, 25, departed the club’s most recent game on Sunday after apparently injuring himself running out a ground ball. Bally Sports Kansas City provided video of the play on X. Due to the off-days in the break, it’s possible he could return after only missing a handful of games, but the team will likely provide more information about his expected absence in the days to come.
It’s unfortunate timing for Melendez personally, as he was heating up a bit after an awful first half. He hit .181/.249/.353 through the end of June for a wRC+ of 64, indicating he was 36% worse than the league average hitter. He then put up a torrid line of .273/.314/.606 in 35 July plate appearances, but whatever momentum he was carrying into the break will now be put on ice.
It’s been a frustrating season in what has already been a disappointing big league career for Melendez. He was considered one of the top 100 prospects in the sport as he climbed towards the majors, with Baseball America putting him in the #42 overall spot heading into 2022. But he hit just .227/.314/.396 over 2022 and 2023 for a wRC+ of 95.
The Royals gradually moved him from the catcher position to the outfield in that time. He was blocked by Salvador Perez anyway but the Royals likely hoped that a less-demanding defensive position could perhaps help him develop offensively, but that hasn’t really materialized. Even with his recent hot streak, he’s still hitting just .192/.257/.385 on the year overall for a 75 wRC+ and his career-long performance leads to a line of .219/.303/.393 and a 92 wRC+.
Despite the struggles of Melendez, it’s been a good season for the club overall. They went 56-106 last year but have almost matched that win total already. They are currently 52-45 and just two games out of a playoff spot. That’s been largely in spite of their horrendous production on the grass, as Melendez and his fellow outfielders have hit .216/.276/.361 on the year for a 76 wRC+, dead last in the majors.
Adding to the outfield is an obvious target area for the club prior to the July 30 deadline and general manager J.J. Picollo has admitted that it’s something they will be exploring. For now, the group consists of Hunter Renfroe, Kyle Isbel and Dairon Blanco, with infielders Adam Frazier and Garrett Hampson capable of moving out there as well. With Melendez hitting the IL, the club could recall someone like Nelson Velázquez, Drew Waters or Nick Pratto to take his spot.
It’s distinctly possible that group gets a significant shakeup via trades in the next few weeks and looks completely different by August. If Melendez returns from the IL and finds himself squeezed from playing time, he does still have options and could be sent to the minors if the club so chooses.
Giants’ Logan Porter Triggers Opt-Out Clause
Catcher Logan Porter has triggered an opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Giants, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC-2. San Francisco has 48 hours to either add Porter to its 40-man roster or trade him to another team that will do so. He’ll become a free agent if neither happens.
Porter, 29, made his big league debut with the Royals in 2023 but appeared in only 11 games and took 38 plate appearances. He hit .194/.323/.324 in that brief cup of coffee. He became a free agent at season’s end, and Kansas City re-signed him to a minor league deal over the winter. However, he was traded to the Giants earlier this season in exchange for cash or a player to be named later.
While Porter’s small-sample numbers in the bigs last year aren’t going to turn any heads, he’s slashing a combined .293/.390/.500 in 223 plate appearances between the Triple-A affiliates for the Royals and Giants. He’s also nabbed a solid 26% of runners who’ve tried to steal against him (11-for-43). In parts of three Triple-A seasons, Porter is a .260/.373/.424 hitter with a 24.6% strikeout rate and a huge 14.6% walk rate.
The Giants don’t have a dire need for catching help in the majors, not with former first-round pick Patrick Bailey in the midst of a breakout year. Bailey debuted in 2023 and quickly established himself as perhaps the game’s premier defender behind the dish but did so while posting a tepid .233/.285/.359 batting line. This year, he’s erupted with a .283/.354/.430 slash that checks in 25% better than league-average, by measure of wRC+. That massive step forward has cemented Bailey as the franchise’s catcher of the future.
Backing up Bailey is veteran Curt Casali, who’s in his second stint with the team. The 35-year-old isn’t hitting much, just .220/.350/.260 in 61 plate appearances, so it’s at least possible the Giants could look at Porter as a potential upgrade. If not, the opt-out clause ensures that the league’s other 29 clubs will have the chance to bring him aboard. Even if no club is interested in putting Porter directly onto its 40-man roster, there’s still value in taking the opt-out and exploring opportunities. A team with a less-entrenched starting catcher or a club that’s planning to trade away some big league catching help could offer Porter a more realistic path to the big leagues on a new minor league contract.
Latest On Jazz Chisholm’s Market
Jazz Chisholm Jr. stands as one of the top position players available in what could be a relatively light market for bats. Trade chatter regarding Chisholm has picked up over the past week. The Marlins only added fuel by moving him back to second base over the weekend, seemingly an effort to demonstrate his defensive versatility for potential trade partners with two weeks until the deadline.
A middle infielder by trade, Chisholm moved to center field in 2023 in deference to Luis Arraez. Defensive metrics have been mixed on Chisholm’s outfield performance. Defensive Runs Saved has him as a well below-average center fielder, while Statcast has him as a neutral to solid outfielder. Both metrics were fonder of his early work at second base than they’ve been on his center field defense.
Even a couple weeks of reps back at second base could raise teams’ confidence that Chisholm could play there down the stretch. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman wrote last week that the Yankees have considered Chisholm, presumably as an infield fit. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported yesterday that the Royals — a team openly seeking a player who can bounce between the infield and outfield — have shown interest in Chisholm. Nightengale suggests the Mariners, another club that hasn’t made any secret of its desire to upgrade the offense, is also in the mix.
While there should be a broad range of teams interested in a player with Chisholm’s defensive flexibility, Nightengale indicates the Phillies are not showing much interest in their division rival. (The Athletic’s Jim Bowden had loosely linked Chisholm, among various other players, to Philadelphia last week.) The Phils are set in the middle infield with Trea Turner and Bryson Stott. They’re looking for outfield help, although that could take the form of a right-handed platoon bat rather than an everyday player.
Chisholm, a left-handed hitter, wouldn’t address Philadelphia’s desire for more balance in the outfield. He’d be a clear offensive improvement as an everyday center fielder on Johan Rojas. Rojas is a gifted defender, though, and the Phils might not feel that Chisholm’s a marked enough overall upgrade to beat the offers put forth by other teams that are more desperate for hitting.
The 26-year-old Chisholm is having a second straight solid but not incredible season. He goes into the All-Star Break with a roughly average .249/.321/.407 slash line. Chisholm has hit 12 homers and stolen 18 bases (although he’s been thrown out eight times). That’s similar to last year’s .250/.304/.457 showing. An average hitter with the ability to cover multiple up-the-middle positions is certainly a valuable player, yet Chisholm hasn’t developed into the franchise building block he seemed during an All-Star first half in 2022.
Injuries have been a factor. Most notably, a stress fracture in Chisholm’s back cut short that potential breakout year in ’22. Toe and oblique issues limited him to 97 games a year ago. He has avoided the injured list thus far in 2024. The injury history has kept him from accumulating the kind of counting stats that’d result in significant arbitration earnings. Chisholm is playing on a very affordable $2.625MM salary and won’t reach free agency until the 2026-27 offseason.
Poll: Who Will Win The 2024 Home Run Derby?
The 2024 All-Star break festivities are already well underway, with the Futures Game in the books and the second of three draft days currently taking place. Tonight, the Home Run Derby will take center stage at 7pm Central time, with these participants:
- Mets 1B Pete Alonso
- Phillies 3B Alec Bohm
- Rangers OF Adolis García
- Orioles SS Gunnar Henderson
- Dodgers OF Teoscar Hernández
- Braves DH Marcell Ozuna
- Guardians 3B José Ramírez
- Royals SS Bobby Witt Jr.
The winner will get $1MM, with $500K for the runner-up and $150K for everyone else in the field. There’s also a $100K bonus for the player who hits the longest home run. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won last year but opted not to defend his title, so there will be a new champion, though Alonso has two previous titles from 2019 and 2021 and will be looking for a third.
This year’s format will be different from previous versions, with Cole Jacobson of MLB.com providing a rundown. The primary change is that there will be no head-to-head matchups in the first round, as the four players with the most home runs will advance. If two players tie, the longest home run will be a tiebreaker. Previously, the knockout-style bracket system started right away but this year’s version won’t see that until the field has been narrowed to four. Once the knockout stage begins, ties will be settled by 60 seconds of extra time. If the players are still tied, they will engage in three-swing showdowns until they are no longer tied.
In the first two rounds, players with have three minutes, which drops to two minutes in the final round. The three-minute rounds will now have a 40-pitch maximum while the two-minute round will feature a 27-pitch maximum.
The bonus time is also different. Previous versions featured 30 seconds of automatic extra time, which jumped to 60 seconds if the player hit two or more home runs 440 feet or longer. This year, the bonus time will continue until a player record three “outs,” which is a swing that doesn’t result in a home run. If a player hits a home run 425 feet or longer in the bonus period, he will get a fourth out.
Of the eight players competing this year, Henderson has the most homers this year with 28. He is followed by Ozuna at 26, Ramírez at 23, Alonso and Hernández at 19, García at 17, Witt at 16 and Bohm at 11.
Who do you want to win and who do you think will win? Have you say in the polls below!
Who Do You Want To Win The 2024 Derby?
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Teoscar Hernández 22% (1,921)
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Pete Alonso 18% (1,644)
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Gunnar Henderson 16% (1,389)
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Bobby Witt Jr. 11% (1,013)
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Marcell Ozuna 11% (950)
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José Ramírez 8% (730)
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Alec Bohm 7% (652)
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Adolis García 7% (625)
Total votes: 8,924
Who Do You Think Will Win The 2024 Derby?
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Pete Alonso 26% (1,512)
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Teoscar Hernández 23% (1,337)
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Gunnar Henderson 14% (815)
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Marcell Ozuna 11% (659)
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Adolis García 8% (491)
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Bobby Witt Jr. 7% (415)
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José Ramírez 5% (308)
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Alec Bohm 5% (281)
Total votes: 5,818
AL Notes: Soroka, Harvey, McCullers, Pederson
Michael Soroka only three pitches in today’s outing before leaving with what the White Sox announced as right shoulder soreness. More will be known once Soroka undergoes testing, though shoulder inflammation brought an early end to both his 2022 and 2023 seasons, and he had other shoulder issues in his first two Major League seasons in 2018-19. Beyond these shoulder problems, Soroka missed almost the entirety of the 2020-22 seasons due to a pair of torn Achilles tendons, but he returned to the Show to pitch 32 1/3 innings of 6.40 ERA ball with the Braves last year.
Atlanta then shipped Soroka and four other players to Chicago in the Aaron Bummer trade last November, and Soroka’s first season with the Sox has been a struggle, as he has a 5.25 ERA over 72 innings and he lost his rotation job in May. Soroka’s 3.49 ERA as a reliever is a big step up from his 6.39 ERA as a starter, though this latest shoulder injury could bring another unwelcome wrinkle to his career. It could also impact Chicago’s trade deadline plans, as an impending free agent like Soroka is an obvious trade candidate, and a healthy multi-inning reliever would appeal to several teams.
More from around the American League as we head into the All-Star break…
- The Royals started their deadline moves with a bang on Saturday, acquiring Hunter Harvey from the Nationals for third base prospect Cayden Wallace and Kansas City’s Competitive Balance Round A pick in this year’s draft. (Washington used the 39th overall pick on Cal catcher Caleb Lomavita.) “What we came to realize is if you’re going to acquire a quality relief pitcher with years of control, it’s not going to be a comfortable trade to make. You’re going to have to give up something to get something,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo told MLB.com’s Anne Rogers and other reporters. K.C. was known to be looking for bullpen help, and Harvey brings “great depth” to the relief corps, though Picollo said the team was “happy with” James McArthur‘s work as closer. “The depth was the focus for us and having more options at the back end of the game,” Picollo said.
- Astros GM Dana Brown provided an update on Lance McCullers Jr. during a pregame radio appearance today (hat tip to Chandler Rome of The Athletic). McCullers’ rehab from flexor surgery was halted earlier this week due to some soreness in his right arm, and Brown said “we just have to let time heal and we can’t push him.” A return by September to work as a reliever is a possibility, Brown said, which is itself notable since McCullers has started 127 of his 130 career big league games. A variety of injuries have cost McCullers the entirety of both the 2019 and 2023 seasons, and limited him to 265 innings over the 2020-22 campaigns. The exact nature of McCullers’ latest issue isn’t known, but Brown somewhat ominously said that the righty had gotten “his second opinion” about the setback.
- The Blue Jays were known to be pushing to sign Joc Pederson last winter, before Pederson landed with the Diamondbacks on a one-year deal worth $12.5MM in guaranteed money. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith recently spoke with Pederson about his offseason talks with Toronto, and Pederson said he had a FaceTime conversation with GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider that seemed to go well, though negotiations didn’t progress much further. “They just I guess didn’t want me as bad as some other teams and weren’t able to really put together an offer when it was time for me to make a decision….From the conversations we had on the phone and how interested they were in adding a left-handed bat, their actions didn’t match their words, I guess you could say,” Pederson said. “They said everything went really well and then didn’t want to offer what other teams did.” The veteran slugger didn’t have any displeasure with how things worked out, and even left the door open to potentially play for the Jays in the future. Pederson is having an excellent season as a righty-mashing DH in Arizona, hitting .273/.374/.498 with 13 homers over 277 plate appearances with the D’Backs.
Royals Acquire Hunter Harvey From Nationals
The Royals have bolstered their bullpen with the acquisition of right-hander Hunter Harvey, as the Nationals announced that Harvey will head to K.C. in exchange for third baseman Cayden Wallace and the Royals’ Competitive Balance Round A pick (39th overall) in the 2024 draft. The Royals also announced the move, as well as the news that right-hander Nick Anderson has been designated for assignment to create roster space for Harvey.
Today’s 5-0 loss to the Red Sox dropped the Royals to a 52-44 record, and a game back of Boston for the third and final AL wild card slot. Playing .542 baseball is already an impressive step forward for a team that lost 106 games in 2023, yet Kansas City clearly has eyes on bouncing back from some recent struggles. The Royals started the season at a blistering 39-26 pace, but have since stumbled to a 13-18 mark in their last 31 games, and relief pitching has been a major reason behind this slide.
The K.C. bullpen ranks in the bottom third of baseball in most major categories, including 22nd in bullpen ERA (4.30). James McArthur has converted 17 of 21 save chances but has been somewhat shaky, and the Royals’ relief corps is lacking in both velocity and strikeout ability. Recent reports suggested that Kansas City was considering the bullpen as a top need heading into the trade deadline, even ahead of the Royals’ also-pressing need for outfield upgrades.
Harvey and his 97.8mph fastball provide some immediate high-leverage zip in the Royals’ pen, and Harvey also has above-average strikeout and walk rates over his 45 innings this season out of Washington’s bullpen. While he has a 4.20 ERA, Harvey’s SIERA is 2.99, as a .325 BABIP has contributed to make Harvey’s bottom-line results an insufficient reflection of his quality pitching.
Selected 22nd overall by the Orioles in the 2013 draft, Harvey drew top-100 prospect attention before a variety of injuries threatened to halt his career before it ever got off the ground. He had a 3.42 ERA over 23 2/3 innings and 26 appearances for Baltimore during the 2019-21 seasons, but the Giants claimed him off waivers in November 2021, and Harvey then moved to Washington on another waiver claim just prior to the start of the 2022 campaign.
This time with the Nationals allowed Harvey to establish himself as a solid MLB-caliber arm, even if he has flown under the radar during the team’s rebuild. Harvey has a 3.17 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate, and 6.4% walk rate in 145 innings for D.C., working mostly as a setup man but with 10 saves to his ledger in 2023. Hard contact is a big red flag in Harvey’s arsenal, but he has done a passably good job of keeping this hard contact from translating into home runs. Moving to spacious Kauffman Stadium could further help the 29-year-old Harvey in this regard.
Harvey is earning a $2.35MM salary this season in his second-last year of arbitration eligibility, so the Royals also control him through the end of the 2025 campaign. This extra year of control made Harvey a particularly interesting player to watch heading into the July 30 deadline, and both Harvey and Nats closer Kyle Finnegan (also controlled through 2025) cracked the top 15 of MLBTR’s recent listing of the top 50 trade candidates. Since teams generally have to pay a bit extra to complete deals further in advance of the deadline, that factor plus Harvey’s extra year of control and perhaps the Royals’ eagerness to quickly correct their bullpen struggles combined to give Washington a pretty nice return.
The rebuilding Nationals stayed within striking distance of the NL wild card race, but today’s trade leaves no doubt that the Nats will remain on their expected path as sellers heading into the deadline. This doesn’t mean that Washington might not seek out some players that could help them be competitive as early as 2025, and Wallace could potentially fit that category, as he is currently in his second season of Double-A ball.
A second-round pick for the Royals in the 2022 draft, Wallace is hitting .282/.350/.427 over 140 plate appearances for Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season, but he has been slowed by both an oblique strain and an ongoing IL stint for a broken rib. These injuries have slowed his development, but MLB Pipeline still ranks Wallace as the second-best prospect in the Kansas City farm system, and Baseball America ranked him fifth in their preseason ranking of Royals minor leaguers. Both scouting reports consider him a good defensive player with the ability to remain at third base due to a strong throwing arm, and Wallace has a good approach at the plate and a solid swing. He has power potential moreso than obvious power at the moment, so Pipeline and BA view Wallace as a gap hitter with some upside as he develops.
Trading a “third baseman of the future” candidate like Wallace serves as an endorsement of the Royals’ faith in Maikel Garcia in at least the short term, even if Kansas City might now look for some help at the hot corner down the road — perhaps as soon as tomorrow’s draft. As noted by MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman, the Nationals have now given themselves lot of third base depth for the future, with Wallace joining Brady House (ranked by Pipeline as the 44th-best prospect in all of baseball) and Yohandy Morales in the minor league ranks. This could be a potential surplus position for the Nationals in the coming years, if they return to contention and start moving their own internal prospects for more win-now veterans.
The Competitive Balance Round selections are the only types of draft picks that can be traded, and as such are quietly some of the most valued trade chips in all of baseball. Any team can trade for CBR picks, but since smaller-market and lower-revenue teams are the only clubs eligible for these bonus selections in the first place, trades involving the picks are relatively rare, given how adding talent through the draft is of such particular value for the game’s lesser spenders. Still, today’s trade marks the third CBR pick of the 2024 draft to change hands — the Brewers acquired the 34th overall pick from the Orioles as part of the Corbin Burnes trade, while the White Sox landed the 68th overall pick (in CBR Round B) as part of the deal that sent Gregory Santos to the Mariners.
The Royals select sixth overall in tomorrow’s draft, and now won’t pick again until their second-round choice (41st overall). The Nationals now have three selections within the first 44 picks, with their newly-acquired CBR selection sandwiched between their first- and second-round slots.
Anderson came to the Royals in a trade with the Braves last November, as Kansas City had interest in seeing if the former Rays bullpen ace could regain his form after three injury-marred seasons. Over 34 2/3 innings for the Royals this season, Anderson had a 4.15 ERA and not much in the way of secondary metrics, as he posted a 10.1% walk rate and 18.1% strikeout rate.
Anderson is earning $1.575MM this season, and he is arb-controlled through 2025, which could add some attraction for any club interested in adding bullpen depth via waiver claim. Anderson has now passed the five-year threshold for MLB service time due to being on the Royals’ active roster all season, and would thus retain all of his 2024 salary if he clears waivers and becomes a free agent.
Austin Cox Opts Out Of Royals Deal
Left-hander Austin Cox opted out of a minor league contract with the Royals, as first reported by MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes (X link). He returns to free agency after K.C. decided not to select him onto the 40-man roster.
Cox was a fifth-round pick by the Royals out of Mercer in 2018. He had spent all but one day of his professional career in the organization. The 27-year-old southpaw reached the majors last season and pitched in 24 games. He turned in a 4.54 ERA across 35 2/3 innings, striking out 22.1% of opponents against an elevated 11.4% walk percentage. His debut season came to an unfortunate end in September. Cox tore the ACL in his left knee as he tried to cover first base on a ground-ball. He underwent surgery not long thereafter.
That perhaps contributed to the Royals’ decision to take Cox off the 40-man roster. K.C. non-tendered him on November 17. That briefly sent him to free agency, though he returned to the organization on a minor league deal the following day. Cox wasn’t able to participate in Spring Training as he finished his injury rehab, but he made it back to the mound with Triple-A Omaha a couple weeks into the season.
Cox made 19 appearances with the Storm Chasers, working mostly in long relief. He worked to a 3.90 ERA with a decent 23.3% strikeout rate. Yet he also walked almost 14% of opponents, an issue he’s battled throughout his career. Cox is likely looking at another minor league deal on a team seeking multi-inning relief depth.
Royals Trade Colin Selby To Orioles
The Orioles announced Thursday that they’ve acquired right-hander Colin Selby from the Royals in exchange for cash. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Kansas City had recently designated Selby for assignment. The O’s transferred Kyle Bradish from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Selby, 26, pitched just three big league innings for the Royals this season, allowing a pair of runs in that short time. Kansas City acquired Selby from Pittsburgh back in April, sending minor league southpaw Connor Oliver to the Pirates in return. Selby pitched 24 innings with the Bucs last year but was tagged for 24 runs in that time. To date, he’s allowed 26 earned runs in 27 MLB frames.
Obviously, that’s a poor track record but also a small sample at the game’s top level. But the former 16th-round pick is no stranger to minor league success, having posted excellent numbers at the Double-A level in addition to some decent but inconsistent results in Triple-A. Selby notched a sub-4.00 ERA with a 30.8% strikeout rate for Pittsburgh’s Triple-A club last season but has struggled to a 5.32 ERA in 20 Triple-A frames between Indianapolis and Omaha this year.
Missing bats is nothing new for Selby, who’s punched out 25.6% of his career minor league opponents. That includes some lesser strikeout rates in the lower minors when he was still working as a starter. Since moving up to the Double-A level and shifting exclusively to a relief role, Selby has fanned 29.8% of the batters he’s faced. His bat-missing arsenal, as is often the case, is accompanied by troubling command woes, however. He’s dished out a free pass to 12.5% of his combined Double-A/Triple-A opponents and plunked another five hitters. Between those walks and HBPs, he’s given first base away to about 14% of the hitters he’s faced in the upper minors.
Selby is in the second of three minor league option years and doesn’t yet have a full season of MLB service under his belt. If the O’s can get him straightened out, he’ll be optionable again next season and under club control for a full six seasons. There’s quite a ways to go before that’s even a plausible situation, but Baltimore has a knack for coaxing strong relief work from unheralded acquisitions. Their track record isn’t spotless, of course, but the O’s have unlocked next-level performances from Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Cionel Perez and Jacob Webb, among others, despite middling to nonexistent track records at their time of acquisition.
Report: “Growing Belief” That Marlins Will Trade Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The Marlins announced their status as deadline sellers more than two months ago with their surprising early trade of Luis Arraez, and with the trade deadline now just 22 days away, their activity on that front should pick back up. While much of the focus has been on closer Tanner Scott, who’s a free agent at season’s end, Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald reports that there’s a “growing belief” Jazz Chisholm Jr. will also be traded. Mish lists the Mariners as a “club to watch” if Chisholm is moved and also suggests the Pirates and Royals could join the bidding.
Chisholm, 26, is enjoying a solid season at the plate, hitting .255/.326/.407 (105 wRC+) with ten homers and 17 steals (albeit in 25 tries). He’s struggled with strikeouts on the past, and while his 24.9% rate is still worse than average, it’s a notable improvement over the 29.2% clip he registered in the four prior seasons. He’s paired those improved contact skills with a career-best 8.8% walk rate.
There’s little doubting Chisholm’s raw tools and star-caliber upside. He’s averaged 26 homers and 32 steals per 162 games played in his career. However, he’s never topped 124 games in a season and has only reached 400 plate appearances once to this point in his major league career. Injuries have frequently hobbled Chisholm and caused him to miss significant time. Since establishing himself as a regular in 2021, Chisholm has missed time due to a shoulder injury, a back strain (which required a 60-day IL stint), turf toe and an oblique strain.
Chisholm is earning an affordable $2.625MM this season and is controlled for two more years following the current campaign. He’s been the Marlins’ primary center fielder over the past two seasons, though that move was borne out of necessity. Miami has been unable to develop a center fielder and has come up empty in its long-running attempts to acquire a controllable option at the position. Chisholm, a natural shortstop who slid over to second base early in his career, moved to center field last year and has drawn mixed reviews from most public defensive metrics. He was a plus defender in just over 1300 innings at second base before the move to the outfield.
All three of the potential teams listed in Mish’s report stand as clear fits in a theoretical Chisholm deal. Royals general manager J.J. Picollo has been open about his desire to add a bat capable of playing both the infield and the outfield — a need Chisholm would fill nicely. The Royals have fairly even platoon splits as a team, but the bulk of the team is right-handed — including Kansas City’s two best hitters, Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and second baseman Michael Massey (who’s been limited to just 142 plate appearances due to injury) are the only left-handed bats on the roster who have turned in average or better production, by measure of wRC+.
The Pirates, meanwhile, have received sub-par offensive production from second base this season. Since being called up, former first-round pick Nick Gonzales has delivered roughly league-average offense (.269/.307/.414, 99 wRC+), but he’s been more productive against lefties than righties. Pittsburgh outfielders are also hitting just .227/.299/.352 as a collective unit this season. Chisholm could provide an offensive boost in either role or potentially split his time between the two positions based on matchups.
Both the outfield and second base have been weaknesses for the AL West-leading Mariners as well. The hope in Seattle was that the offseason acquisition of Jorge Polanco would have solidified second base, but the switch-hitter’s steady offensive output unexpectedly cratered this season; in 214 plate appearances, the former Twins infielder has slashed just .189/.280/.284 with a career-worst 33.6% strikeout rate. Their outfielders have combined for a .230/.285/.365 batting line.
With two and a half seasons of club control remaining, an affordable salary and another productive season highlighted by his typical blend of speed and power, Chisholm should come with a relatively steep cost of acquisition. Mish notes that a deal in the offseason is possible as well, if the Marlins don’t get an offer to their liking in the next three weeks, and suggests that even some current non-contenders could look into a deal for Chisholm (both now and in the offseason) as they look toward the 2025 campaign and beyond.
Royals Activate Kris Bubic From 60-Day IL, DFA Colin Selby
The Royals announced this afternoon that they’ve designated right-hander Colin Selby for assignment. The move clears a spot for left-hander Kris Bubic, who has been activated from the 60-day injured list, on the 40-man roster. Lefty Walter Pennington was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Bubic on the active roster.
Selby, 26, made his MLB debut with the Pirates last year and struggled to a 9.00 ERA despite a 4.80 FIP in 24 innings of work. He remained on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster throughout the offseason but was designated for assignment in early April when the Pirates needed to clear space for catcher Joey Bart on their 40-man roster. The Royals promptly swung a trade to acquire Selby later that week, and he’s been in the Royals organization ever since. The righty made just two appearances total for Kansas City at the big league level where he surrendered three runs (two earned) on two walks and two hits without recording a strikeout.
The majority of Selby’s season has come at the Triple-A level, where he’s pitched to a 5.32 ERA in 22 innings of work between his time with the Pirates and Royals. Those mediocre results have come despite an excellent 29.5% strikeout rate at the level, as Selby has been held back by an elevated 11.6% walk rate. Selby’s penchant for giving up free passes has followed him at the big league level as well, as he’s walked 13.4% of the batters he’s faced in his 27 innings of big league experience while striking out a decent 23.6%. The Royals will have one week to work out a trade regarding Selby or attempt to pass him through waivers. If he clears waivers, the club will have the opportunity to outright him to Triple-A, where he’d serve as a non-roster depth option.
Selby’s departure makes way for Bubic, who is making his return to the big leagues after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in April of last year. The 26-year-old was selected by the Royals with the 40th overall selection in the 2018 draft and made his big league debut with the club back in 2020 as a starting pitcher. In three years as a member of the club’s rotation, Bubic generally posted results commensurate with those of a typical back-end starter. He pitched to a 4.89 ERA (90 ERA+) with a similar 4.93 FIP in 309 innings of work. While he struck out a decent 20% of batters faced, his 10.5% walk rate was on the high side and limited his effectiveness.
Bubic entered the 2023 season once again as a part of the rotation in Kansas City, and through three starts he appeared as though he may have been turning a corner. His 3.94 ERA, while it was 17% better than league average, wasn’t exactly anything to write home about. That being said, his peripheral numbers suggested the former top prospect may have been in a much better place than previous years. He was striking out 23.5% of batters faced on the year and, most importantly, was showcasing much stronger control with a minuscule 2.9% walk rate that left him with an excellent 2.63 FIP. Unfortunately, Bubic’s season was cut short by surgery before he or the Royals could see how sustainable that improved control truly was.
The lefty began his rehab process this year once again in a starting role, but recently moved into the bullpen near the end of his rehab assignment. That likely offers a hint as to the role he’ll be used in now that he’s back in Kansas City, as the Royals figure to stick with a rotation consisting of Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Brady Singer, Michael Wacha, and Alec Marsh for the foreseeable future. While Bubic is seemingly poised to join the club in a multi-inning relief role, he’ll nonetheless look to carry over the strong results he achieved during his rehab assignment in Triple-A over to the majors. The lefty made nine appearances (five starts) at the highest level of the minors during his rehab, and pitched to a 2.63 with a 25.4% strikeout rate and an 8.8% walk rate in 27 1/3 innings of work.