An Under-The-Radar Controllable Starting Pitcher Trade Candidate
The old saw that states “you can never have enough pitching” gets bandied about a lot at this time of year. With the trade deadline now three weeks away, just about every contender is looking to bolster its staff by adding an arm or two. Even the Yankees, who have managed to keep their five starters healthy enough to make 15 starts each so far, are in the Luis Castillo bidding.
Naturally, there’s been much attention on Castillo, along with his teammate Tyler Mahle and Oakland’s Frankie Montas. All three of them have been in trade rumors for a long time as their respective clubs have been paring back payroll. With Mahle and Montas both dealing with minor injuries, Castillo has understandably become the primary target, with the Cardinals, Mariners, Dodgers, Twins, Padres, Mets, Yankees and Blue Jays all having been publicly connected to his market in recent days. But even if the Reds do pull the trigger on a deal, only one of these teams will get the headline-grabbing prize, leaving the rest to turn to other options.
For teams that fall short on Castillo or the other big names, they might want to consider calling Kansas City about 26-year-old Brad Keller (turning 27 in a couple of weeks). He hasn’t been the subject of any trade rumors thus far, but he came in at #43 on MLBTR’s list of top trade candidates. While he won’t be able to offer the same kind of ace-like upside, what he can provide is fairly reliable outcomes.
Nabbed by the Royals from the Diamondbacks in the 2017 Rule 5 draft (actually selected by the Reds and promptly traded to KC), Keller has been a mainstay of their pitching staff over the past 4 1/2 seasons. He doesn’t have overwhelming strikeout numbers, but generally avoids barrels and gets ground balls in order to consistently put up solid numbers. He’s appeared in 121 career games, throwing 591 2/3 frames with a 4.03 ERA. His career strikeout rate of 17.4% is a few ticks below average, which is 21.4% for starting pitchers this year. His 9.2% walk rate is a bit above this year’s 7.7% rate among starters. Then his 51.1% ground ball rate is well above the customary average range, which is at 42.6% this season.
Those numbers for Keller have also been fairly consistent year-over-year, with his strikeout rate always falling between 16.3% and 19.6%, his walk rate between 7.8% and 10.4%, with his grounder rate between 47.8% and 54.4%. But as a ground ball pitcher, the one thing that’s not consistent is BABIP, or batting average on balls in play. Strikeout pitchers naturally have more control of their outcomes as they aren’t reliant on batted balls finding gloves and being fielded cleanly. A pitcher like Keller can be helped or harmed by randomness in this regard. For instance, in 2020, Keller’s BABIP dropped to .233, about 50 points below his previous seasons. That led to a career-best 2.47 ERA that year. However, the wheel of fortune spun him round the other way in 2021, as his BABIP shot up to .347 and took his ERA to 5.39.
It doesn’t seem like the BABIP gods can fully explain Keller’s poor 2021 season, as his barrel rate also increased. After limiting barrels to rates between 3.7 and 5.9% in his first three campaigns, it jumped to 10.9% last year. Keller has evened out here in 2022, though, with a .275 BABIP, 5.5% barrel rate and 4.15 ERA, all very close to his career norms. It’s also possible that he could improve on these numbers with a change of scenery to a team with better defense, depending on which advanced metric you prefer. The Royals as a team have -19 Defensive Runs Saved, 26th in the majors, though Outs Above Average has them 13th and Ultimate Zone Rating 6th.
Guys with fairly reliable ERAs just north of 4.00 maybe aren’t as exciting as the 2.92 that Luis Castillo currently owns, but they have the potential to be important pickups nonetheless. It’s worth remembering that while Max Scherzer and Jose Berrios got the headlines last year, the Cardinals were able to pick up veterans Jon Lester and J.A. Happ, who stabilized their rotation and helped the club surge into the postseason.
Financially speaking, Keller is making $4.825MM this year and can be controlled for one more season via arbitration. Once the deadline rolls around, there will be less than $2MM of that to be paid out, making him an easy fit on just about every team’s budget. Of course, the Royals might want to hang onto him for the same reasons, especially considering their young starters have mostly disappointed this year. Of their pitchers that have made more than one start this year, Keller’s 4.15 ERA is actually the lowest among them, followed by Brady Singer‘s 4.25 and Zack Greinke‘s 4.52. With Greinke a free agent at season’s end, a Keller trade would leave the club with a lot of work to do on their rotation in the offseason.
General manager J.J. Picollo spoke to Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star in the wake of yesterday’s Drew Waters trade and also spoke about the upcoming deadline. “We don’t feel the extreme need that we have to move any players,” he said. “We feel like we’re in a good spot. We know where the interest lies from other teams right now. Now, it’s a matter of them assessing how willing they are.” Based on those comments, it doesn’t seem like they’re planning any kind of drastic selloff. After all, they have been trying to compete in the past couple of seasons, just without success thus far. But with a 34-52 record that has them in the AL Central basement, they could perhaps extract more value from a prospect or two that can help them further into the future than an innings eater that’s approaching the open market.
If they are willing to consider a deal, they should get plenty of interest. The aforementioned Cardinals could look to Keller, like they looked to Lester and Happ last year. Their strong defense should work well with Keller’s ground ball approach and they will be without Jack Flaherty for the next couple of months. The Yankees already have strong upside in their rotation but might want a steady arm to make spot starts, allowing them to control the workloads of their front five and keep them healthy. They’re also leading the league in Defensive Runs Saved this year, making them a solid fit for a contact pitcher. The Giants are two games out of a playoff spot and might not want to give up big prospects to chase a Wild Card, but they could grab Keller to make up for the loss of Anthony DeSclafani and hope to stay in the race. The Blue Jays have a lopsided rotation with Kevin Gausman and Alek Manoah at the front, but questions at the back due to the injury to Hyun Jin Ryu and struggles of Yusei Kikuchi. The Brewers are in a similar situation, with Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff at the front, but injuries to Freddy Peralta and Adrian Houser forcing them to lean on their depth for the back end. Ditto for the Phillies who have Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler at the front but have Ranger Suarez and Zach Eflin on the IL. The Twins, Red Sox and Rays have all put starters on the IL in the past week or so, and more injuries are sure to pop up around the league in the weeks to come.
As mentioned, the Cardinals patched holes with Lester and Happ last year and went 22-7 in September. The Braves added Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler, Joc Pederson and Adam Duvall when they were below .500 but ended up winning the World Series. Keller alone isn’t likely to turn a team’s entire season around, but he’s a decent puzzle piece that could fit in a number of places. Making a splash at the deadline is great fun, but it can sometimes be the little additions that make the biggest difference.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Latest On Royals’ Outfield Outlook
Yesterday’s acquisition of Drew Waters gives the Royals a potential near-term option to evaluate in the outfield, and general manager J.J. Picollo spoke highly of Waters’ future when chatting with the Kansas City beat in the wake of the trade (link via Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star). Picollo called Waters a “plus defender” and a “true center fielder,” praising the switch-hitter’s speed and overall upside — even with Waters “still refining some skills” at the plate.
That’s a rather favorable characterization of a player who’s whiffed in 27.1% of his plate appearances during his third season at the Triple-A level, although to Waters’ credit, that strikeout rate is down considerably from his 36.1% mark in Triple-A in 2019 and from last year’s 30.9% pace. Struggles in the upper minors notwithstanding, Waters is still just 23 years old, has long been graded as a plus runner and potential asset in the outfield grass, and isn’t too far removed from a monster 2019 showing in Double-A. There’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about Waters as a player, even if his prospect star has dimmed in recent years.
The broader-reaching question for Royals fans — and for fans of teams seeking outfield upgrades around the league — is just what this trade will mean for the Royals’ outfield moving forward. The Waters acquisition isn’t likely to have much of a bearing on Andrew Benintendi‘s future; as a productive and affordable free-agent-to-be on a last-place team, Benintendi was one of the likeliest trade candidates in all of baseball with or without Waters around. (We ranked him No. 2 on last week’s Top 50 trade candidate list.)
As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald explored last month, however, Benintendi isn’t the only trade candidate in the Royals’ outfield. Center fielder Michael A. Taylor is having the finest season of his big league career, and he’s playing on an affordable two-year, $9MM contract. That makes it tempting for the Royals to keep him around into 2023, but Taylor’s greatest asset is his glove in center, and Picollo made clear the Royals view Waters as a plus option in center as well. There’s plenty of room for both Waters and Taylor to slot into the same outfield — especially assuming an eventual Benintendi deal — but it’s still of some note that the Royals would seemingly feel confident that Waters could step into Taylor’s shoes in the event of a trade, at least from a defensive standpoint.
Taylor has indeed drawn interest from other clubs, with MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweeting last night that the Yankees are among those who’ve considered him in their search for outfield upgrades. Taylor, hitting .264/.340/.385 and once again playing Gold Glove-caliber defense in center, would immediately become the best defensive outfielder on the Yankees’ roster (or on the roster of the majority of MLB teams). New York has been playing Aaron Judge in center field more than ever before, but Taylor could conceivably push Judge back to right field if and when the Yankees inevitably move on from Joey Gallo.
The Yankees are also known to be interested in Benintendi, and Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reported Sunday evening that the two sides have had “ongoing” talks regarding Benintendi for the past couple weeks. The asking price is believed to be high at present, Ackert adds. While the Yankees have now been linked to a pair of Kansas City outfielders, the Royals will surely receive interest in both Benintendi and Taylor from other clubs, just as New York will explore outfield options with other teams.
Further trades from the Royals aren’t necessarily a given. Picollo suggested that the team does not “feel the extreme need that we have to move any players,” though it’d be surprising if Benintendi, at the very least, didn’t change hands over the next three weeks. However, even if the Royals stand completely pat the rest of the way, Waters should get an earnest look in the big leagues before long, particularly with Kyle Isbel struggling and Edward Olivares only playing a limited role this year.
Royals Acquire Drew Waters From Braves For Draft Pick
The Royals have made their second deal of the past week, acquiring former top outfield prospect Drew Waters, minor league righty Andrew Hoffmann and minor league corner infielder CJ Alexander from the Braves in exchange for their Competitive Balance draft pick (No. 35 overall). Both teams have announced the trade.
The 15 selections in the two Competitive Balance rounds — Round A ranges from Nos.33-39, Round B from picks 67-74 — are the only picks eligible to be traded each year’s draft and can only be traded once (meaning the Braves cannot subsequently flip the pick to another team). The No. 35 pick that Atlanta is receiving comes with a slot value of $2,202,100, all of which will be added to the Braves’ league-allotted bonus pool of $8,022,200. That’ll bump the Braves from the 19th-largest draft pool to the 10th-largest (barring any additional trades).
The added pick and financial might will give the Braves some extra means of replenishing the farm after surrendering four prospects to acquire Matt Olson this offseason (to say nothing of the handful of trades made at each of the past few deadlines). Between those deals, low draft selections the past few years (due to strong regular-season performances) and the international free-agent penalties incurred by the former front office regime, the once-vaunted Braves farm system has taken a hit.
Waters, 23, ranked among the sport’s top-100 prospects from 2019-21 but has seen his stock fall precipitously in recent seasons as he’s struggled against Triple-A pitching. Waters is currently in his third season with Triple-A Gwinnett, but his .246/.305/.393 batting line isn’t an improvement over the pedestrian output he’s recorded there in both 2019 and 2021. Overall, in 788 plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Waters is a .246/.324/.383 hitter. Those struggles are reflected in the fact that the former second-round pick, who was once seen as a key building block for the Braves organization, is now instead part of a three-player package that will net Atlanta a draft pick that’s just six places higher than Waters was selected a half-decade ago.
With Ronald Acuna Jr. and Michael Harris II set to hold down two-thirds of the Atlanta outfield for the future — plus veterans Eddie Rosario, Marcell Ozuna and Guillermo Heredia all signed or controlled beyond the current season, there wasn’t much immediate room for Waters to make an impact on the big league outfield anyhow. Braves fans might be disheartened when thinking about what Waters might’ve fetched in a trade had he been moved a year or two ago, but the team did manage to net some value for the former Futures Game participant.
From the Royals’ vantage point, the long-term outfield picture is far less certain, so there’s good reason to take a chance on getting Waters back on track. Kansas City has been working to put a winning product on the field for the past couple seasons, and while the results haven’t been there yet, Waters provides more immediate potential to help the team than whomever would have been tabbed with that No. 35 overall pick. Waters posted a huge .319/.366/.481 batting line in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting back in 2019, when he was one of the youngest players in the league. Baseball America and MLB.com both ranked him within the sport’s top 40 overall prospects in consecutive offseasons.
With Andrew Benintendi all but certain to be traded and center fielder Michael A. Taylor a candidate to go as well — he’s signed affordably through 2023 — the Royals will soon have some outfield vacancies. If veteran Whit Merrifield is finally moved at this year’s deadline, that’d represent another subtraction from the outfield corps.
The organizational hope has been that 25-year-old Kyle Isbel can claim a long-term spot in the outfield mix, but he’s currently hitting just .216/.248/.328. Twenty-six-year-old Edward Olivares has performed well in a much more limited role. Generally speaking, though, the Royals are thin on outfield prospects. College pitching has been a focus of their drafts during their recent rebuild, and while they have standout young options at shortstop/third base (Bobby Witt Jr.), catcher (MJ Melendez) and first base/designated hitter (Vinnie Pasquantino, Nick Pratto), there’s no ballyhooed outfielder knocking down the door to the Majors for the Royals at the moment. Waters, clearly, is something of a project, but he’ll give the Royals an immediate option to join that young core if he can indeed benefit from a change of scenery.
Also heading to the Royals are Hoffmann, a 22-year-old righty selected in the 12th round of last summer’s draft, and Alexander, a 25-year-old who’s shown power, speed and concerning on-base struggles while playing against younger competition in Double-A.
Hoffmann ranked 16th among Braves prospects at FanGraphs and 23rd at MLB.com, where scouting reports on the 6’5″ righty peg him as a high-probability back-of-the-rotation piece — a rather notable step forward for a player just a year removed from being selected so late in the draft. So far in 2022, Hoffmann has posted terrific numbers in Class-A, making 15 starts with a 2.36 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, 6.6% walk rate and 46.3% ground-ball rate. Hoffmann’s fastball sits in the 91-93 mph range — below-average by today’s standards — and he relies heavily on above-average command to help mitigate the lack of a power primary offering.
Alexander, meanwhile, isn’t as highly regarded — as one would expect for a player who is in his third trip through Double-A despite the fact that he’ll turn 26 this month. A 20th-round pick in 2018, Alexander has dramatically reduced his strikeout rate in 2022, as it’s currently at 21.8% after sitting at 32% in 2019-21. He’s slugged 15 homers and gone 13-for-15 in stolen base attempts through 289 plate appearances this year, but Alexander has also walked at a meager 4.8% rate. Overall, his .258/.294/.465 isn’t particularly exciting, but he gives Kansas City yet another lefty corner infield bat, as he’s capable of playing first base as well.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the trade (Twitter links).
Royals Designate Foster Griffin For Assignment
The Royals announced Monday that lefty Foster Griffin has been designated for assignment. His spot on the active roster will go to lefty Daniel Lynch, who has been reinstated from the injured list. Griffin’s spot on the 40-man roster will go to newly acquired outfield prospect Drew Waters, as the Royals announced that Waters has been selected to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Omaha.
Kansas City has also recalled lefty Angel Zerpa from Double-A Northwest Arkansas and appointed him as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader. Minor league right-hander Andrew Hoffmann and third baseman CJ Alexander, also acquired from the Braves in the Waters trade, were assigned to Double-A as well.
Griffin, 26, was the No. 28 selection of the 2014 draft but has only appeared in two big league seasons with the Royals with a total of six MLB frames pitched. For years, Griffin was generally ranked among the Royals’ more promising farmhands, although his year-to-year rankings fluctuated greatly. At his best, he looked the part of a potential third or fourth starter, staying healthy and soaking up innings in the upper minors even as his performance endured some wild swings from one season to the next.
However, Griffin suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow early in the 2020 season, and the subsequent Tommy John surgery wiped out the remainder of that season and all of the 2021 campaign. The Royals removed him from the 40-man roster at one point but re-signed him to a minor league deal and selected him to the MLB roster earlier this season.
Now working exclusively as a reliever, Griffin has been excellent in Triple-A, where he sports a 1.93 ERA and a 32-to-6 K/BB. Griffin has punched out 29.4% of his Triple-A opponents against just a 5.5% walk rate — all while showing off a huge 55.9% ground-ball rate. Between his first-round pedigree, the impressive bullpen showing in Triple-A and the fact that Griffin has all three minor league option years remaining, it’s possible that another team will have interest — be it via waivers or a small trade. There’s no sugarcoating the seven runs (six earned) Griffin yielded in just 4 1/3 MLB innings this season, but he’s averaging 93.9 mph on his heater, and teams are always on the lookout for left-handed bullpen help.
The Royals will have a week to trade Griffin, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him.
Royals To Promote Maikel Garcia
The Royals are preparing to promote shortstop Maikel Garcia from Double-A to the majors, El Extrabase’s Daniel Alvarez-Montes reports (Twitter link). Garcia was added to the 40-man roster last year, but a corresponding move will need to be made to fit Garcia into the active roster, unless he is joining Kansas City as the extra 27th man for Monday’s doubleheader against the Tigers.
The timing of Garcia’s addition could be related to Whit Merrifield‘s early exit from today’s game, as the infielder had discomfort in his right toe. Kansas City manager Mike Matheny told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anne Rogers) that the club was awaiting MRI results on Merrifield, though initial x-rays were negative. At the very least, it doesn’t seem like Merrifield will be available for tomorrow’s doubleheader, so Garcia can provide some extra infield depth.
With the All-Star break coming up, the Royals could be considering placing Merrifield on the 10-day injured list for at least precautionary reasons, so Merrifield can return fresh for the second half (and perhaps be dangled as a trade candidate in advance of the August 2 deadline). If Merrifield does require an IL stint, Garcia might get more time to show what he can do in his first taste of MLB action.
An international signing out of Venezuela in 2016, Garcia has some family ties to the K.C. organization, as his cousin is longtime former Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar. Baseball America ranks Garcia as the 15th-best prospect in the Royals farm system, while MLB Pipeline has him 18th. The 22-year-old had never even played Double-A ball prior to this season, though he has hit .283/.362/.395 over 348 plate appearances.
Since the start of the 2019 season, Garcia has shown some ability to hit for average and get on base, which is critical considering his lack of power. Baseball America’s scouting report noted that Garcia has added more pop in the form of doubles power this year in Double-A, and he profiles as a line-drive hitter who makes a lot of solid contact. Garcia’s baserunning is also a plus, as he has 27 steals in 30 chances this year, and is 110-for-137 over his five pro seasons.
Defensively, pundits feel his glove is more than ready for the big leagues, and Garcia’s plus fielding might be his best tool. Bobby Witt has the shortstop position locked up for the foreseeable future in Kansas City, but Garcia has played some second base, and would probably be able to make a pretty smooth transition to the keystone or possibly third base, since he has a good throwing arm. If Merrifield does have to miss time, the Royals could use Garcia in the second base/third base mix with Nicky Lopez and Emmanuel Rivera.
Yankees Interested In Andrew Benintendi, David Peralta
5:18PM: The Yankees have also been scouting Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writes, with Nightengale describing Peralta as a “fallback option” if Benintendi isn’t acquired. Peralta is also a free agent after the season, and is hitting .245/.312/.460 with 11 home runs through 263 PA.
9:13AM: The Yankees and Royals have recently held talks around a trade that would send outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Bronx, according to a report from Jon Heyman and Dan Martin of the New York Post. They add that the Yanks are simultaneously trying to work out a separate trade that would send outfielder Joey Gallo out of town.
Benintendi is one of the more obvious trade candidates, and this isn’t the first time his name has popped up in rumors. Since he’s having a good year on a noncompetitive team and is set to reach free agency at season’s end, everything seems to be lining up for a deal between now and the August 2 deadline. As such, MLBTR recently placed him #2 on our list of trade candidates. Back in June, it was reported that the Royals were actively seeking a buyer for the outfielder, with the Blue Jays reportedly showing interest.
The Yankees have been the best team in baseball this year and are therefore the most obvious of deadline buyers. As a team with a 61-24 record, they don’t have many holes, but one area they seem to be interesting in improving is the outfield, by swapping in Benintendi or some other deadline acquisition for Gallo. Reports from earlier this month indicated the Yankees were looking to upgrade on Gallo in some way.
The fact that Gallo has been a disappointment in the Bronx is well-known to Yankee fans, as his production has cratered since coming over from the Rangers in a deal last year. Prior to the deal, Gallo was well-established as one of baseball’s most fearsome sluggers. In the four full season from 2017 to 2021, Gallo put up 38 home runs or more in three of them. In 2019, he was limited to 70 games but still hit 22 long balls. His wRC+ was between 108 and 144 in each of those four seasons, indicating he was between 8% and 44% better than league average. 2020 was a disappointing campaign but under the strange circumstances of the pandemic season, and he seemed to bounce right back in 2021. In his time with the Rangers last year, he hit 25 home runs in 95 games and was slashing .233/.379/.490 for a wRC+ of 139. After the deal, though, he hit just .160/.303/.404, 95 wRC+. That’s carried over into this season, as he’s hitting .166/.288/.341 on the year, producing a wRC+ of just 84. After almost a year of subpar production, it seems the Yanks are willing to move on. MLBTR placed Gallo at #39 on the aforementioned list of trade candidates.
Benintendi is having a much better season than Gallo, though in a very different style. In contrast to Gallo’s high-powered, high-strikeout approach, Benintendi would bring a more contact-oriented profile. His 14.2% strikeout rate is well below the 22.2% league average and far lower than the 38.3% rate Gallo has on the year. However, he’s hit just three homers on the season, compared to Gallo’s ten. All told, Benintendi is slashing .317/.387/.402 for a wRC+ of 128, a significant upgrade on Gallo’s 84.
Salary wise, swapping in Benintendi for Gallo wouldn’t make a huge difference for the Yanks. Both players are impending free agents, with Benintendi making $8.5MM and Gallo $10.275MM. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource calculates the Yankees’ CBT number to be $262MM at the moment, placing them beyond the $250MM second threshold but shy of the $270MM third threshold.
The Royals will have no interest in Gallo, of course. As a rebuilding team currently sporting a 31-52 record, they will be looking for long-term assets, either prospects or perhaps players recently reaching the majors. That leaves the Yankees to figure out who wants to take a shot on Gallo and hope for a bounceback. If a team wanted to convince themselves that Gallo was due for a turnaround, they could perhaps look at his HR/FB rate. It’s 17.5% this year, well below his career rate of 27% and his single-season career high of 37.3% in 2019. However, his Statcast page is a real mixed bag, with Gallo still capable of hitting the ball very hard, though not with enough frequency. His max exit velocity is in the 90th percentile, but his average exit velocity is just in the 40th. Any team acquiring him would have to hope for a bit more consistency, with that average exit velocity ticking up from this year’s 88.6 mph towards the 93-95 mph range of his better seasons.
The report from Heyman and Martin suggests the Yankees’ best bet would be teams run by his former bosses in Texas. There’s the Rangers themselves, who are within four games of a playoff spot and could consider doing some buying. Seeing them go after a rental like Gallo would be surprising, though, as this is the first year of what the club hopes to be a multi-year competitive window. Players with a bit more control would be more obvious fits, though perhaps the Yankees are motivated enough to move on from Gallo that they package him with someone else or eat part of his salary. In the short-term, there’s certainly room for Gallo, given the club’s roster. The Rangers have been featuring an outfield mix of Adolis Garcia, Kole Calhoun, Brad Miller and Leody Taveras in recent days. Miller is having an even worse year than Gallo, slashing .210/.261/.347 for a wRC+ of 73. The club has also been featuring Mitch Garver at designated hitter most of the time, but he’s going to undergo season-ending surgery tomorrow.
There’s also the Padres, whose president of baseball operations A.J. Preller was in the Rangers’ front office when Gallo was drafted. They have been looking for outfield help for a while and have been snakebit by injuries to Wil Myers and Jurickson Profar. Nomar Mazara has stepped up and filled one spot admirably, but they’re still getting subpar production from Trent Grisham and Jose Azocar. Myers is nearing a return but was having a dismal campaign before landing on the injured list, meaning there’s no guarantee he’ll fix things once healthy. Despite those outfield struggles, the club is 49-37 and currently in possession of an NL Wild Card spot, making them clear deadline buyers.
There’s also the financial situation to consider with the Padres, as they are right up against the luxury tax and seem loath to cross it for a second straight year. Jason Martinez of Roster Resource calculates their CBT number to be $228.9, just shy of the $230MM first threshold. They have been trying to trade Myers and Eric Hosmer to get rid of some salary for quite some time, though without success thus far. They have also reportedly been considering trading a starting pitcher for the same reasons, with Blake Snell standing out as perhaps the most viable option. MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a detailed look at the situation. It would be a surprise for the Padres to create that breathing room and then use it on a dice roll like Gallo as opposed to someone currently having success. Though Preller has shown a tendency towards acquiring former Rangers like Profar, Mazara and Yu Darvish, meaning it can’t be completely discounted.
Blue Jays Claim Matt Peacock
The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Matt Peacock off waivers from the Royals, as first reported by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). Kansas City had designated Peacock for assignment last week.
Peacock, 28, has split the 2022 season so far between the Diamondbacks and Royals, yielding six runs in 10 big league innings. The former 23rd-round pick debuted with the D-backs last season but posted a pedestrian 4.90 ERA over 86 1/3 innings, logging an ugly 13% strikeout rate in that time. However, Peacock also posted a strong 7.7% walk rate and an outstanding 59.2% ground-ball rate in his debut campaign, and his rate stats from this season’s small sample of work generally match those displayed in his rookie effort.
He’s still only pitched 18 career innings at the Triple-A level, and the resulting 7.50 ERA isn’t much to look at. Peacock, though, has a 3.02 mark through a much larger sample of 116 2/3 innings at the Double-A level and has a history of huge ground-ball rates and low walk rates. He’s in his second minor league option year, so if the Jays hang onto him for more than a brief stint, he can be optioned freely both this year and next. If nothing else, he’ll provide some short-term depth to a staff that hasn’t performed up to expectations this year.
The Toronto pitching staff ranks 22nd in baseball with a 4.15 ERA and 16th with a 4.01 FIP. Part of that has been due to injury. Hyun Jin Ryu is done for the season and much of next following June’s Tommy John surgery. Nate Pearson has yet to throw a big league frame owing to both a lengthy bout of mononucleosis and now a lat strain. In the bullpen — Peacock’s likely role — the Jays are currently without Yimi Garcia and Julian Merryweather.
That said, the Jays also haven’t gotten the contributions they expected or hoped for from some key members of the staff. Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi have struggled for much of the season in the rotation, as has Trevor Richards in the bullpen. Jordan Romano‘s numbers overall are strong, but he’s hit a few bumps in the road after notching a 1.35 ERA through the season’s first month (4.02 ERA, 15.7% walk rate over his past 15 2/3 innings).
Royals Outright Ronald Bolanos
Royals right-hander Ronald Bolanos went unclaimed on outright waivers and was subsequently assigned to Triple-A Omaha, per a team announcement. Kansas City designated Bolanos for assignment last week upon trading Carlos Santana to the Mariners and selecting the contract of first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino from Omaha.
Originally signed out of Cuba for a bonus north of $2MM, Bolanos arrived in the Royals organization alongside Franchy Cordero in the 2020 trade that sent left-hander Tim Hill from Kansas City to San Diego. He received brief looks in 2020-21, but the Royals gave him their longest MLB audition yet in 2022, pitching him for 18 1/3 frames over the course of eight relief appearances. The 25-year-old pitched to a respectable 4.42 ERA with a strong 51.7% ground-ball rate, but Bolanos walked as many batters as he struck out (12) and plunked another three. He also saw a dip in fastball velocity; his heater averaged 95.2 mph in his brief looks with the Royals in 2020-21 but clocked in at an average of 93.6 mph in 2022.
Command issues have persisted for Bolanos throughout his minor league tenure, evidenced by untenable walk rates in both Double-A (10.6%) and Triple-A (13.4%). Still, the Royals are likely pleased to hang onto the righty, who was ranked 26th among Kansas City prospects by Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin over at FanGraphs as recently as late May. He’ll head back to Omaha for now and continue to work on refining his command while maintaining his typically strong ground-ball tendencies.
Royals Activate Joel Payamps, Outright Daniel Mengden
The Royals activated right-hander Joel Payamps from the COVID-related injury list today. In the corresponding move, Kansas City outrighted right-hander Daniel Mengden off the 40-man roster and assigned him to Triple-A.
Payamps was placed on the COVID list on June 13, and he returned to the field last week to make a trio of Triple-A outings as part of a rehab assignment. Despite below-average strikeout and walk rates, Payamps has a 2.42 ERA over 26 relief innings for K.C. this season, relying on a 53.7% grounder rate, a lack of hard contact, and zero homers allowed. The righty used a pretty similar recipe for success in 2021, as Payamps posted a 3.40 ERA over 50 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays and Royals in his first full MLB season.
Payamps is only 28 years old but he has 11 years of pro experience, including time in the majors in each of the last four seasons. While not a premium bullpen arm, his numbers could get him some looks from other teams heading into the trade deadline, as the Royals are already known to be open to offers on veteran players.
Mengden signed a minor league deal with Kansas City in March, and in fact got his contract selected to the Show when Payamps was first placed on the COVID-IL. Mengden appeared in four games with the Royals, posting a 2.08 ERA over 4 1/3 innings — this marked his first MLB action since 2020, as Mengden pitched in South Korea last season.
Though the Royals have only deployed Mengden as a reliever to date, he has started 11 of his 12 games for Triple-A Omaha, and has worked as a starter for the bulk of his career in the majors, minors, and the KBO League. Mengden had some solid numbers pitching for the A’s in 2017-18 before control problems hampered him in 2019.
Royals Claim Ryan Weiss, Designate Matt Peacock For Assignment
The Royals have claimed right-hander Ryan Weiss off waivers from the D-backs and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha, per a club announcement. Right-hander Matt Peacock was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Meanwhile, fellow righty Wyatt Mills, whom the Royals acquired from the Mariners in this week’s Carlos Santana trade, has been recalled from Omaha to take Peacock’s spot on the big league roster. He’ll be making his team debut when he gets into a game.
Weiss, 24, was Arizona’s fourth-round pick back in 2018 and ranked 18th among D-backs farmhands a year later in 2019. At the time, BA praised his prototypical starter’s frame, athleticism, delivery and a repertoire fronted by three above-average pitches. However, Weiss has posted lackluster results in Double-A and pitched poorly in a hitter-friendly Triple-A setting since that time, and the Snakes have moved him to a bullpen role this season. In 26 2/3 frames on the year, he’s logged an unsightly 5.74 ERA (which includes eight runs in 9 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level).
The 28-year-old Peacock has split the 2022 season between these same two teams — D-backs and Royals — pitching to a combined 5.40 ERA in 10 innings. He made his big league debut with Arizona last season but struggled to the tune of a 4.90 ERA over the life of 86 1/3 innings. Peacock owns a career 3.02 ERA in Double-A but has just 18 rocky Triple-A innings and 96 1/3 similarly tough MLB frames under his belt so far. The Royals will have a week to trade him, pass him through outright waivers or release him.