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Logan Allen

Indians Notes: Allen, Rotation, Vargas, Hankins, Jones

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The Indians optioned lefty Logan Allen to Triple-A following a trio of rough starts, including this week’s six-run drubbing at the hands of the Twins. Three of that game’s first four batters homered off Allen to put Cleveland in an early hole. Manager Terry Francona told reporters, including Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes, that Allen’s fastball command has been off. The pitcher himself agreed, calling his location “spotty” and acknowledging that he’s regularly put himself behind in the count and tipped the advantage in the hitters’ favor. Allen was brilliant in Spring Training, allowing just one run in 14 innings with an 18-to-3 K/BB ratio, but the early results this year just haven’t been there. He’s allowed 18 runs (16 earned) on 20 hits (seven homers) and seven walks with 12 strikeouts in 15 2/3 frames.

With Allen out of the rotation for now, it’s not clear who will step into the fifth spot. Righty Cal Quantrill and lefty Sam Hentges are possible options, and Hoynes notes that Hentges was stretched out to 85 pitches at the alternate site before being recalled and plugged into the team’s bullpen. Cleveland had an off-day yesterday, but the Indians are embarking on a stretch of 10 straight days with games, so they’ll need a fifth starter this coming Tuesday.

A few more notes out of Cleveland…

  • The Indians received poor news on a pair of their top pitching prospects, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). Right-hander Carlos Vargas will miss the 2021 season after recently undergoing Tommy John surgery, while fellow righty and 2018 No. 35 overall pick Ethan Hankins has been sidelined by an elbow injury of his own that is currently being evaluated by team doctors. Vargas ranks 15th among Indians prospects at FanGraphs, 17th at MLB.com and 18th at Baseball America. Hankins respectively lands 12th, 10th, and ninth on those same rankings. Neither pitcher was likely to emerge in the Majors this season, as Vargas hadn’t pitched above short-season Class-A and Hankins hadn’t progressed beyond A-ball himself. Still, it’s a noted setback for a pair of promising arms who’ll now see their timeline to the big leagues pushed back — by at least a full season in the case of Vargas.
  • Top organizational prospect Nolan Jones will see the bulk of his time at his natural position, third base, in Triple-A to begin the season, but VP of player development James Harris tells Mandy Bell of MLB.com that Jones will also see work at first base and in the outfield in order to improve his versatility. “…[W]e just don’t know where the opportunity will be,” Harris says of working Jones at multiple positions. Both first base and the outfield have been much weaker spots in the Cleveland lineup than third base in recent seasons — in part due to Jose Ramirez’s emergence as an MVP-caliber talent but also due to a generally lackluster collection of hitters in a cobbled-together mix in the outfield and at first base. Jake Bauers has been among the game’s least-productive hitters at first base this season, and the Indians’ piecemeal approach to the outfield has again resulted in sub-par production. Indians outfielders have combined for a lowly 83 wRC+ in 2021, which ranks 23rd in MLB. Their first basemen are 29th of 30 by that same measure, checking in at just 58. Jones entered the season widely regarded as one of MLB’s top 50 overall prospects.

AL Notes: Santander, Astros, Indians, Taillon, Yankees

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Anthony Santander isn’t in the Orioles lineup today, and it seems as if the outfielder will miss his fifth consecutive spring game.  Manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters that Santander has been bothered by a sore oblique, though Santander has still been working out and could potentially get back on the field as early as Monday.

Such a quick return would probably mean Santander is ready to roll for Opening Day, but the O’s are likely to be cautious considering that an oblique strain brought Santander’s 2020 season to an early end in September.  The injury cut short a breakout year for the 26-year-old, as Santander hit .261/.315/.575 with 11 homers in 165 plate appearances.

More from around the American League…

  • The Astros are looking for possible outfield or pitching additions as spring camps draw to a close, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Houston Chronicle).  While every team keeps an eye on other clubs’ cuts or waiver moves at this time of year, the Astros may be more inclined than usual to make a move, given both some recent absences due to COVID concerns and the fact that outfield depth was already something of an issue.  Chas McCormick looks like the favorite for the fourth outfielder job, and Houston would have to make a 40-man move to include either Jose Siri or Bryan De La Cruz on the active roster.  None of this trio has any MLB experience, and starting center fielder Myles Straw could be facing some time on the COVID-related injury list.
  • Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, and Logan Allen were all competing for the final two spots in the Indians’ rotation, and McKenzie and Allen have won the jobs, though their roles have yet to be specifically determined.  (The Athletic’s Zack Meisel was among those to report the news.)  McKenzie and Allen could be used in regular turns throughout the rotation, or the Tribe might use either in piggyback outings, or perhaps use an opener for an inning or two before giving way to McKenzie or Allen as the bulk pitcher.  Quantrill might factor into this situation as well, since Quantrill also made the roster and will work out of the bullpen.
  • Manager Aaron Boone announced the Yankees’ starting rotation for its first six games of the year, and Jameson Taillon won’t make his debut in the pinstripes until the sixth game.  The intent, as Boone told The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (Twitter links) and other reporters, is to ease Taillon back into action after the righty missed the entire 2020 season recovering from his second Tommy John procedure.  New York will start Gerrit Cole in both the first and fifth games of the year thanks to an early off-day, with Corey Kluber, Domingo German, and Jordan Montgomery slated to take the mound in between Cole’s two outings.  The Yankees will also likely adopt a six-man rotation for at least part of April, Boone said.

Indians Place Mike Clevinger, Zach Plesac On Restricted List

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The Indians announced today that right-handers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger have been placed on the restricted list. Both pitchers violated the league’s health and safety protocols over the weekend when they went out after Saturday night’s game. In a pair of corresponding moves, Cleveland reinstated outfielder Tyler Naquin from the injured list and recalled lefty Logan Allen from the team’s alternate training site.

Today’s move subtracts both Plesac and Clevinger from the active roster, though they’ll continue to receive both service time and salary while absent, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. That differs from the restricted-list assignments that follow a PED suspension. In all likelihood, the decision was made in order to add a pair of fresh bodies to the roster while Plesac and Clevinger are tested daily for Covid-19 — rather than as a punitive measure. The organization can reinstate the pair whenever it sees fit, so long as both have tested negative at least twice (separated by a span of 24 hours).

It’s not yet clear to what extent (if any) the club will discipline the pair, although the team’s higher-ups can’t be pleased with them. That’s particularly true of Clevinger, who didn’t speak up even after Plesac was disciplined and reportedly took a flight with teammates after having been out. The Athletic’s Zack Meisel tweets that president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti declined to reveal whether Plesac and Clevinger would be subject to some form of discipline. For now, they’ll both be isolated away from the team for at least 72 hours while undergoing continued testing.

Indians Option Five Players To Triple-A

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The Indians announced a batch of minor league options today, as left-handers Logan Allen and Scott Moss, first baseman Bobby Bradley, infielder Yu Chang, and outfielder Daniel Johnson were all optioned to Triple-A Columbus.  Johnson and Moss are the only members of the quintet who have yet to reach the big leagues.

Allen is perhaps the headline name of the group, ranked in top-100 prospect listings prior to last season when he was still throwing in the Padres’ farm system.  The 22-year-old southpaw was one of the key pieces of the trade package Cleveland acquired from San Diego as part of the three-team deal last summer that also brought Franmil Reyes to the Tribe and sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds (Moss also came to Cleveland in that trade, from Cincinnati).

Allen got his first taste of MLB action in 2019, posting a 6.18 ERA over 27 2/3 combined innings with the Padres and Indians.  Small sample size notwithstanding, it was something of a rough year all around for Allen, as he also posted a 5.85 ERA over 80 Triple-A innings last season.  Those minor league stats, of course, come with the caveat that Triple-A pitching numbers were inflated across the board in 2019, due in large part to the adoption of the livelier Major League baseball.

There was some speculation that Allen could have begun the 2020 season in the Tribe’s rotation, as Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco were both facing injured list stints for at least the opening couple of weeks.  With the schedule now pushed back indefinitely, however, it seems likely that Clevinger and Carrasco will be healthy by the time the 2020 season gets underway, so Allen is now ticketed for Columbus.

Johnson was also seen as a speculative candidate to make the team, given the uncertain nature of Cleveland’s outfield.  Johnson hit decently well (.267/.353/.400 over 17 PA) during Spring Training but be sent back to Triple-A for more regular playing time.  Acquired from the Nationals as part of the Yan Gomes trade in November 2018, Johnson hit .290/.361/.507 with 19 homers over 547 combined PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels last season.

Indians Promote Logan Allen

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The Indians have called up lefty Logan Allen, per a team announcement (h/t MLB.com’s Mandy Bell, on Twitter). He’ll take the active roster spot of southpaw reliever Josh Smith, who was optioned down.

Though Allen debuted in the majors earlier this year, this’ll be his first action in Cleveland. The 22-year-old, who was widely considered a top-100 prospect entering the season, landed with the Indians in this summer’s three-team Trevor Bauer blockbuster.

The expectation is that Allen will open his tenure with his new organization in a relief capacity, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). While the Indians will surely hope to utilize their new hurler as a starter in the long run, he’ll be tasked with contributing right away while cutting his teeth from the bullpen.

Allen didn’t exactly thrive in his first taste of the bigs, working to a 6.75 ERA with 14 strikeouts and 13 walks over 25 1/3 frames in San Diego. And he hasn’t excelled this year at Triple-A, before or after the swap. But Allen was a quality performer in the upper minors and the Indians evidently feel he can be a useful piece right now. If nothing else, he’ll help the club cover some innings for the time being.

Reds Acquire Trevor Bauer In 3-Team Deal With Indians, Padres

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Last night’s stunning three-team trade is now official.  The Indians have traded star right-hander Trevor Bauer to the Reds, who sent back right fielder Yasiel Puig and lefty pitching prospect Scott Moss.  Cleveland also added a trio of players from the Padres: outfielder Franmil Reyes, young left-hander Logan Allen, and rookie-level infielder Victor Nova.  On the San Diego end of the swap, the Friars have landed much-hyped outfield prospect Taylor Trammell from the Reds.  Amazingly, the finishing touch on Puig’s brief Reds career was his involvement in a dust-up with the Pirates, which actually went down after the trade agreement was reached.  That finale may have edged out Bauer’s last impression as an Indian from Sunday.

At 49-55 and 6 1/2 games out of wild-card position, Cincinnati’s chances of earning a playoff spot this year appear close to dead. Nevertheless, the poor win-loss results the team has achieved this season didn’t deter president of baseball operations Dick Williams and general manager Nick Krall, whose goal is to make a more serious playoff push in 2020. The Reds may be in position to do that by picking up Bauer, who – barring more deals – could team with Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani and Tyler Mahle to give the Reds one of the game’s best rotations next season. Cincinnati’s starting staff has been a formidable group without Bauer this year, but it could lose one or two veterans by Wednesday’s trade deadline. Tanner Roark and Alex Wood look like possible candidates to wind up on the move, but even if they stay put through the season, they’re not under contract beyond then.

The 28-year-old Bauer has been a quality, albeit somewhat frustrating, starter since he entered the pro ranks as the third overall pick of the Diamondbacks in 2011. He went to the Indians in a three-team trade in 2012 (which also involved the Reds) and has since pitched to a 3.89 ERA/3.95 FIP across 1,044 1/3 innings and 180 appearances (170 starts). Bauer was at his best last year, during which he earned Cy Young consideration on the strength of a splendid 2.21 ERA/2.44 FIP over 175 1/3 frames.

While Bauer hasn’t been as effective this season, he has still notched a solid 3.79 ERA/4.17 FIP with 10.63 K/9 against 3.62 BB/9 through a league-leading 156 2/3 innings. That was eminently valuable production to a Cleveland team which has been without Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger for significant parts of the season, but the Tribe nonetheless deemed Bauer expendable. In his final act as an Indian, Bauer fired a ball from the pitcher’s mound over the center field wall Sunday after a frustrating outing in Kansas City.

Clearly, Bauer’s on-field tantrum last weekend didn’t have an adverse affect on his trade value. The Indians are bringing back a major haul for Bauer, who’s making $13MM now, will earn an arbitration raise next season and has said he plans to go year to year in free agency thereafter. As a 62-44 team that holds the American League’s top wild-card spot and trails the AL Central-leading Twins by 2 1/2 games, the Indians were only going to trade Bauer if it helped them stay in contention this season. It appears this deal will enable them to accomplish that. It’ll also shave quite a bit of salary from the Indians’ 2020 books while giving them multiple potential long-term pieces.

Puig is only under control through this season, during which he’s making a $9.7MM salary, but will team with Reyes to help give the Indians the right-handed outfield/DH punch they’d been seeking on the trade market. With the Puig and Reyes acquisitions, the Indians have become the first team to ever land two 20-home run hitters in one midseason trade, Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out.

The 28-year-old Puig joined the Reds last winter in a previous blockbuster involving the Dodgers. Although Puig got off to a horrible start this season, his production has taken off over the past several weeks. Puig now owns a .252/.302/.475 slash with 22 home runs and 14 stolen bases (19 attempts) across 404 plate appearances. Long a capable defender in right field, Puig has also performed well in that aspect this year.

One of the key elements of this deal for Puig is that it completely wipes out the possibility of him receiving a qualifying offer after the season. Puig only looked like a borderline candidate for a QO, but now that he’s off the Reds, he’s on schedule to reach free agency unfettered over the winter.

Just as Bauer’s Indians stint ended in bizarre fashion, so did Puig’s days with the Reds. He was involved in a brawl during the Reds-Pirates game Tuesday when news of the trade came down. Puig may have to serve a suspension early in his Tribe tenure as a result.

There are no such concerns centering on Reyes, who has emerged as one of the game’s foremost power bats since he debuted a year ago. Although Reyes has struggled to consistently get on base this season, his first full campaign in the majors, the big-bodied 24-year-old has still batted .255/.314/.536 (117 wRC+) with 27 home runs in 354 PA. Given his prolific home run totals, Reyes could eventually rake in sizable sums via arbitration, but that isn’t something the Indians will have to worry about for the foreseeable future. Reyes isn’t on track to reach arbitration until after the 2021 season, and he’s not scheduled to become a free agent until the conclusion of the 2024 campaign.

Not to be forgotten, the Indians are also getting three less established players in this deal in Allen, Nova and Moss. The 22-year-old Allen entered the season as a top 100-caliber prospect. He has since struggled in a 25 1/3-inning major league sample and in 57 2/3 frames with Triple-A El Paso of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. However, Allen was still regarded as one of the many high-end prospects in a jam-packed Padres system. FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen ranked Allen as the Padres’ eighth-best farmhand back in May, writing that he “comfortably projects as a No. 4 starter.”

Nova, 19, was not grouped in with the Padres’ premier farmhands, but Longenhagen tweets that the infielder’s “an interesting, bat-first flier.” The Dominican Republic native has held his own this year in rookie ball, where he has batted .330/.421/.451 (136 wRC+) with seven steals in 109 PA.

Now 24, Moss became a Red when they used a fourth-round pick on him in 2016. The former Tommy John patient has since put up appealing results in the minors, including this year. In his first experience in Double-A ball, Moss has thrown 102 innings and recorded a 3.44 ERA/3.52 FIP with 10.85 K/9, though he has walked just over five hitters per nine. Moss ranked as the Reds’ 12th overall prospect at MLB.com, which notes he has a “somewhat limited” ceiling but could turn into a back-end starter or swingman at the MLB level.

The highest-ranked prospect in this trade is Trammell, whom Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law (subscriptions required) placed near the top of the sport in their most recent updates. BA rates Trammell 41st, while Law’s even more bullish (No. 14). This hasn’t been a hugely effective season for the 21-year-old Trammell, who has batted .236/.350/.338 (108 wRC+) with six homers and 17 steals in 377 PA during his initial taste of Double-A action. However, youth and injuries have played a part in Trammell’s unspectacular output, explains Law, who contends the youngster has the tools to become “a good regular or a star” in left field.

The Padres, of course, surrendered a substantial amount to acquire the unproven Trammell. But trading Reyes will somewhat enable the club to alleviate its current logjam in the outfield. With Reyes out of the mix, the Padres still have two starting-caliber corner outfield options in Hunter Renfroe and the maligned, expensive Wil Myers. They also have rookie Josh Naylor, Travis Jankowski and Franchy Cordero as 40-man options who are either in the minors or injured at present.

Weighing all the pieces in this trade, it’s all the more surprising the Blue Jays couldn’t reel in a greater return for righty Marcus Stroman this past weekend. At $7.4MM, Stroman’s cheaper than Bauer, under control for the same period and has arguably been the better of the two this season. Nevertheless, in a trade with the Mets, the Jays were only able to secure two non-elite prospects – pitchers Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson – for Stroman. There was plenty of chatter afterward that teams were clinging to their prospects and unwilling to give up truly outstanding young talent anymore, but this three-way deal shows that isn’t the case.

Jeff Passan of ESPN broke the news of the deal. Additional players involved were conveyed by Jon Heyman of MLB Network, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Dennis Lin of The Athletic, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Padres To Promote Logan Allen

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The Padres will promote highly regarded pitching prospect Logan Allen, according to MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. The southpaw is expected to make a start tomorrow.

Acquired as part of the 2015 Craig Kimbrel deal, Allen has steadily climbed the prospect charts over the past several seasons. The former eighth-round pick, now 22 years of age, cracked most top-100 charts entering the current campaign.

Allen hasn’t exactly been at his most impressive in 2019, though the offensively robust PCL surely hasn’t helped his stat sheet. Through 57 2/3 innings, he carries a 5.15 ERA with 63 strikeout sand 22 walks.

This continues the Padres’ season-long strategy of rotating up young arms to the MLB roster. That approach hasn’t led to much in the way of stable starting pitching, though it has allowed the team preserve its talent base while trying to compete. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results have been uneven.

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