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Clayton Kershaw To Begin Rehab Assignment

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Clayton Kershaw will begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday, per Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says the plan is for Kershaw to throw three innings for their Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City. The star lefty has been out for more than 60 days, meaning he’s eligible to come off the 60-day IL at any time. Castillo also relays that another Dodgers starter, Tony Gonsolin, began a rehab assignment of his own yesterday. Both pitchers could potentially be activated soon if they don’t experience any setbacks.

If this all goes according to plan, it would be great news for the Dodgers and a rotation that has had to improvise for a lot of the season because of injuries. In addition to Kershaw and Gonsolin missing significant time, they lost Dustin May to Tommy John surgery. To cover for these losses, the club made the deadline additions of Max Scherzer and Danny Duffy, the latter of whom was also injured at the time and has yet to throw for his new team. They also signed Cole Hamels, only for him to suffer a season-ending injury before getting into a game.

Before going on the injured list, Kershaw was having another excellent season, throwing 106 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.39 and excellent strikeout and walk rates of 30.1% and 4.5%, respectively. Gonsolin has also been effective when healthy this year, throwing 35 2/3 innings with a 2.78 ERA and solid 26.6% strikeout rate, although his walk rate of 16.5% is well above the 8.7% league average. Getting one or both of those hurlers back would be a tremendous help for a team that, despite the injuries, is locked into baseball’s tightest and most exciting pennant race, with the Dodgers and Giants sharing both the top spot in the NL West and the best record in baseball. (The Rays are also tied for the latter distinction.)

Kershaw’s return is also important for him personally as the 33-year-old is a few months away from reaching free agency for the first time in his career. Assuming he can stay healthy and pitch up to his usual standard, he’d be sure to receive and reject a qualifying offer at season’s end, before hitting the open market.

Dodgers Release Yaisel Sierra

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The Dodgers have released right-hander Yaisel Sierra, as first reported by Francys Romero of Las Mayores (Twitter link). He’d been pitching with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City.

While Sierra may not be a recognizable name for some, he was at one point a highly sought-after international free agent. Sierra defected from Cuba in 2015 and established residency in the Dominican Republic, at which point he was declared an international free agent. Because of his professional experience in Cuba, he was exempt from international bonus pools and able to sign with the highest bidder. Both the Cubs and Marlins were reported to have made offers, but the Dodgers landed Sierra by signing him to a six-year, $30MM Major League contract in Feb. 2016.

Obviously, that deal looks regrettable in retrospect. The now-30-year-old Sierra has yet to pitch in the Majors and has scarcely pitched above the Double-A level. He tossed 16 1/3 innings with the OKC Dodgers this season but was clobbered for 25 runs on 36 hits (six homers) and 12 walks. Sierra did punch out 18 batters in that time, but he also threw a staggering 11 wild pitches in those 16 1/3 frames. Overall, he has an 8.36 ERA in 37 2/3 Triple-A innings and a 5.43 ERA in just 179 total minor league innings.

Sierra was just one of many high-profile Cuban defectors to sign large deals with the Dodgers as they flexed their financial might in what was, at the time, a far less-restricted international market. While clubs still had international bonus pools for international amateurs, the penalties for exceeding those pools was a dollar-for-dollar tax and a temporary ban on signing players for more than $300K in subsequent international periods. The qualifications for a player to be considered a professional rather than an amateur were also less stringent than they are presently, which was important in the case of players like Sierra due to the fact that professional players are exempt from bonus pools (hence his Major League deal and $30MM guarantee).

Sierra, Yadier Alvarez, Hector Olivera, Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarrena, Yusniel Diaz and Yasiel Puig all agreed to signing bonuses or Major League contracts that promised them $15MM or more with the Dodgers, who came away with little to show for that spending spree. Puig, of course, paid dividends as the team’s primary right fielder for several years. Diaz was the centerpiece of the trade that netted the Dodgers Manny Machado back in 2018. The rest of that pricey group, however, hasn’t panned out in the manner the Dodgers hoped.

The Dodgers certainly weren’t the only team spending aggressively in this arena, but they definitely led the charge, likely contributing to the much more restrictive guidelines for international free agents in the 2017-21 collective bargaining agreement. Currently, players must have at least six years of professional experience and be at least 25 years of age to be exempt from international bonus pools. Further, bonus pools for amateur signings are now hard-capped.

Additional changes to international free agency has been an oft-discussed topic in recent years. Talk of an international draft hasn’t been as prominent of late given the other topics expected to be on the table in this offseason’s collective bargaining negotiations, but it’s certainly still possible that we’ll see some alterations to the regulations regarding teams’ paths to talent acquisition on the international market once a new CBA has been finalized.

Dodgers Select Andrew Vasquez

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The Dodgers announced they have selected reliever Andrew Vasquez to the big league roster. Ryan Meisinger was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to clear active roster space, while southpaw Scott Alexander has been transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Los Angeles just acquired Vasquez from the Twins on Tuesday night, sending minor league catcher Stevie Berman back to Minnesota. They’ll immediately bring him up for his first big league action in two years. Vasquez made ten appearances with the Twins from 2018-19, throwing five innings of seven-run ball. The southpaw was passed through outright waivers that season and has spent the past couple years at the highest levels of the Twins’ system.

Vasquez spent this year with Triple-A St. Paul, working 42 1/3 frames across 33 appearances. He posted a 3.61 ERA and struck out a massive 37.4% of batters faced while racking up ground balls on a huge 61.8% of balls in play. He did struggle a bit with walks, but that combination of elite bat-missing ability and grounders against high minors’ hitters sufficiently convinced the L.A. front office to give him another big league look.

Alexander has been on the IL since July 20 with left shoulder inflammation. Today’s IL transfer makes him ineligible to return for at least the next couple weeks. The team hasn’t provided any sort of timetable, but Alexander hasn’t yet begun a minor league rehab assignment.

Every Team’s Initial September Callups

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The limit on active roster players expanded from 26 to 28 today, as the calendar flipped to September. Every team announced at least two additions to the big league club (some teams made three or more due to injured list placements). Here’s a recap of today’s spate of transactions:

Dodgers Acquire Andrew Vasquez

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The Dodgers acquired left-handed reliever Andrew Vasquez from the Twins last night in exchange for minor league catcher Stevie Berman, the Twins announced. The trade came in just narrowly in time for Vasquez to be an Aug. 31 addition, meaning he can technically be eligible for postseason play, should the Dodgers need to tap that far into their depth.

Vasquez, 28 later this month, was eligible to be traded by virtue of the fact that he hasn’t been on the Twins’ active or 40-man roster all season. He does have five innings of big league experience, all coming back in 2018-19 with Minnesota, during which time he’s yielded six earned runs on five hits, four walks and four hit batters with seven strikeouts.

It’s not a great sample of MLB work, obviously, but Vasquez has had a nice year with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul. He’s appeared in 33 games and tallied 42 1/3 innings of relief, working to a 3.61 ERA along the way. Command is still an issue for Vasquez, as evidenced by an elevated 12.1 percent walk rate and a whopping 13 hit batsmen. However, he’s also whiffed 37.4 percent of his opponents and posted an enormous 61.8 percent ground-ball rate. Lefties have posted a comically poor .074/.242/.130 batting line against him, while righties have slashed .207/.369/.427.

The 26-year-old Berman gives the Twins some more organizational depth behind the plate. He’s batted just .165/.309/.235 in 140 Double-A plate appearances this season and gone 1-for-9 following a recent promotion to Triple-A. Berman did post a combined .301/.372/.496 slash across multiple minor league levels back in 2019, although that came in a small sample of just 130 plate appearances spread across 40 games. He’s never ranked among the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects at Baseball America and carries a career .240/.334/.343 line in 744 professional plate appearances since being drafted in the 31st round back in 2016.

Dodgers Claim Jake Jewell, Ryan Meisinger From Cubs

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The Dodgers have claimed right-handers Jake Jewell and Ryan Meisinger off waivers from the Cubs.  Both pitchers were designated for assignment over the weekend.

Jewell and Meisinger become the latest names to join a Dodgers bullpen that has been increasingly shuffled by injuries.  Of the current roster mix, Phil Bickford, Shane Greene, and Evan Phillips have also been acquired just within the last few months, with Greene and Phillips both also joining the club in August.  Since today is the last day for teams to acquire players who can eligible for postseason play, L.A. is exploring all avenues to find pitchers who could very end up providing some important innings some October.

Both Jewell and Meisinger are looking for a fresh start after brief and rocky tenures with the Cubs.  The duo signed minor league deals with Chicago during the offseason, and the Cubs selected Jewell to the big league roster on July 29 and Meisinger on August 12.

Jewell ended up posting a 9.90 ERA over 10 innings in Wrigleyville, allowing five home runs in that small sample size.  Over 38 1/3 career innings with the Angels and Cubs, Jewell has a 7.75 ERA and below-average strikeout and walk rates, though he has induced grounders at a 56.6% rate.  Jewell has consistently posted high groundball rates throughout his seven pro seasons (all in the Angels organization prior to 2021) but consistent results have been hard to come by.  His Triple-A numbers did improve to some extent after he was converted to full-time relief work in 2018.

Meisinger’s MLB resume isn’t dissimilar, as has surrendered a lot of homers en route to a 7.26 ERA over 31 career innings with the Cubs, Cardinals, and Orioles since the start of the 2018 season.  Walks have been Meisinger’s biggest issue at the big league level and at Triple-A Iowa this year, though his six years in the minors have shown some promise as a reliever.  Meisinger has a 2.68 ERA and 29.8% strikeout rate over 272 innings in the minor leagues, starting only three of his 171 appearances.

Quick Hits: Ohtani, Cron, Dodgers, Blach

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Shohei Ohtani was originally scheduled to start today’s game against the Yankees, but the two-way star won’t be pitching due to some soreness in his right hand/wrist area.  Ohtani was hit by a Ryan Weathers pitch on Saturday and didn’t sustain any structural damage, though the Angels are being cautious with the right-hander.  “He’s fine, he’s just sore,” Angels manager Joe Maddon told MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger and other reporters.  “Pitching is problematic, so we’ll just have him hit until he’s ready to pitch.”

Ohtani didn’t leave the lineup after being hit on Saturday, and his batting doesn’t appear to be much affected by his hand/wrist issue.  He belted his Major League-leading 42nd home run in last night’s 8-7 win over New York, further strengthening Ohtani’s increasingly airtight bid to be the American League’s MVP.  Ohtani is now hitting .264/.362/.626 over 516 plate appearances, augmenting his huge hitting numbers with 20 stolen bases and his excellent numbers on the mound (3.00 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate over 105 innings).  While his injury doesn’t seem overly serious, it isn’t yet known when Ohtani might pitch again.

More from around baseball…

  • The Dodgers made C.J. Cron a contract offer last winter, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (via Twitter).  The exact nature of the offer isn’t known, but Cron instead opted to take a minors deal with the Rockies that ended up paying him $1MM in guaranteed money once he was selected to the active roster.  As noted by Nightengale, it was a “bet on himself” type of move from Cron that has worked out well, as the first baseman has hit .275/.379/.537 with 24 homers over 428 PA.  This type of playing time would likely not have been available in Los Angeles, as Cron was able to fill Colorado’s need for an everyday first baseman.  Cron will look to convert his big season into a nice free agent contract this winter and possibly some security after playing with five different teams over the last five seasons.  Since the Rockies didn’t trade Cron at the deadline, one would imagine the club has some hopes of re-signing the veteran slugger.
  • After undergoing Tommy John surgery in July 2020, left-hander Ty Blach has returned to toss 13 innings in the lower levels of the Orioles farm system.  It may be unlikely that Blach gets a call to the majors before the season is over, though the southpaw tells MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski that he is “just excited to be here and face some competition” as he continues his recovery process.  “Really thankful for the Orioles to give me this opportunity to rehab, get me into some games this year, knowing that I wasn’t going to throw many meaningful innings this season,” Blach said.  “But just to help me get out there, that’s meant a lot.  Been nice to be back in a team environment, and I feel really good.”  Baltimore initially claimed Blach off waivers from the Giants in August 2019 and then released the lefty last August, before Blach rejoined the club on a minor league deal during the offseason.

Angels Select Cooper Criswell, Recall Packy Naughton

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The Angels made a number of roster moves before Friday night’s ballgame, including the selection of Cooper Criswell, who started the game for his Major League debut. Kean Wong was optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster, per the team.

In addition, Packy Naughton was recalled from Triple-A, and James Hoyt was optioned to Triple-A. Naughton made his Major League debut earlier this season, tossing one inning against the Dodgers back on May 8th. He allowed one run on a hit and a walk. Naughton’s long-term future may still be in the rotation, even if the Angels use him out of the bullpen again.

The well-traveled Hoyt has made it into nine games the Halos, serving up 11 hits, seven walks, and 11 runs (10 earned) over just eight innings. Wong, 26, slashed .171/.190/.268 in 45 plate appearances.

Pasadena Police Turn Over Trevor Bauer Investigation To District Attorney’s Office

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The Pasadena Police Department has presented the results of its investigation into sexual assault allegations made against Dodgers starter Trevor Bauer over to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, a police spokeswoman told reporters (including Steve Henson of the Los Angeles Times and Alden González of ESPN). The district attorney’s office will review the findings and determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

Pasadena police have been investigating the allegations against Bauer at least since the time they were made public in late June. It is unclear how long the DA’s office will take to decide whether to move forward with the case.

It’s worth keeping in mind that the criminal investigation is distinct from the alleged victim’s pursuit of a permanent restraining order against Bauer, which was denied by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge last week. The judge’s determination in that proceeding was that Bauer does not pose any continued threat to the accuser. Those proceedings were not to determine if Bauer should face any criminal culpability.

Bauer has been on paid administrative leave since July 2 while MLB conducts its own investigation. MLB and the MLB Players Association jointly agreed to extend that leave through September 3, Jon Heyman of the MLB Network first reported this morning. Under the terms of the Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy, MLB has the authority to impose discipline regardless of whether criminal charges are ultimately filed.

Dodgers Activate Mookie Betts, Option Gavin Lux, Matt Beaty

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The Dodgers activated Mookie Betts from the injured list and recalled Darien Nunez. In terms of the corresponding moves, Gavin Lux and Matt Beaty were optioned to Triple-A, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya (via Twitter).

These moves are at least in part due to yesterday’s marathon 16-inning game (though Betts, of course, would return no matter the circumstances). Nunez can provide a fresh arm to a busy bullpen. The southpaw has logged 7 1/3 innings with the Dodgers over six outings while being tagged for three home runs and eight runs total (seven earned). He’s been solid in the minors, however, with a 2.29 ERA in 39 1/3 innings.

More curious here are the demotions of Lux and Beaty. With the acquisition of Trea Turner, there simply aren’t many at-bats left for Lux and Beaty – not with Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor, and Max Muncy all expecting regular playing time as well. Both Lux and Beaty will benefit from consistent playing time in Triple-A. After all, Lux has had just one plate appearance in the past week; Beaty has been used regularly as a pinch-hitter, but he’s started just two games in August.

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