Dodgers Rumors

Dodgers Activate Julio Urias, Designate Neftali Feliz For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | August 24, 2021 at 6:39pm CDT

The Dodgers announced they’ve activated Julio Urías from the 10-day injured list. He’ll get the ball for this evening’s game against the Padres. To open active roster space, reliever Neftalí Féliz was designated for assignment. The move also opens a spot on Los Angeles’ 40-man roster, which now sits at 39.

Urías missed the minimal ten days after landing on the IL with a left calf contusion. The IL stint only cost Urías one start and served as a brief breather for the 25-year-old, who has already worked a career-high 139 2/3 innings this season. The left-hander has been excellent, posting a 3.29 ERA with an above-average 26.4% strikeout rate and a tiny 5.3% walk percentage.

That kind of reliability has been critical for a Dodgers rotation that has dealt with its share of injuries. Most notably, Clayton Kershaw has been out since July 7 with forearm inflammation. Kershaw threw a 20-pitch bullpen session consisting of only fastballs today, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). That’s obviously progress, but Roberts later acknowledged there’s some uncertainty about whether the three-time Cy Young Award winner would have enough time to build back arm strength to shoulder a traditional starting pitcher’s workload for the remainder of the season (via Juan Toribio of MLB.com).

Urías’ return to the roster could end Féliz’s Dodger tenure after a single appearance. The former Rangers’ closer was selected to the big league roster last week and pitched for the first time on Sunday against the Mets. He tossed a scoreless inning with a strikeout but will now find himself on waivers in the coming days. Féliz has been excellent this season at the Triple-A level, combining for a 2.45 ERA with a huge 38.8% strikeout rate and an average 9.7% walk percentage between the Phillies’ and Dodgers’ top affiliates.

Orioles To Designate Maikel Franco For Assignment, Claim Conner Greene From Dodgers

By Steve Adams | August 23, 2021 at 2:10pm CDT

2:10pm: The Orioles announced that Jones has been recalled, Greene has been claimed, Martin has been optioned and Franco has been designated for assignment. Kubatko now tweets that the Gutierrez move won’t become official until tomorrow, so it seems there’s some additional roster tweaking on the horizon.

1:30pm: The Orioles have also reclaimed right-hander Conner Greene off waivers from the Dodgers, tweets Dan Connolly of The Athletic. The O’s lost him to the Dodgers on waivers earlier this month but have now claimed him back after the Dodgers designated him for assignment themselves.

12:38pm: The Orioles will announce multiple roster moves today, reports Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com (Twitter link). Baltimore is set to designate third baseman Maikel Franco for assignment and option infielder Richie Martin to Triple-A Norfolk, per Kubatko. They’ll recall second baseman Jahmai Jones and third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez in their place.

Franco, who’ll turn 29 this week, has never really found his footing with the O’s after signing well into Spring Training. He’s been Baltimore’s primary third baseman this season, appearing in 104 games and totaling 403 plate appearances, but he’s mustered only a .210/.253/.355 slash with 11 home runs and 22 doubles in that time.

The O’s were surely hoping for something closer to Franco’s 2020 production, when he appeared in all 60 games for the Royals and batted .278/.321/.457 with eight homers and 16 doubles in 243 plate appearances. Kansas City still non-tendered Franco last winter rather than pay him a raise in arbitration — his second non-tender in as many years — and he lingered in free agency into Spring Training before finally settling on a one-year, $800K deal with Baltimore.

In an ideal setting, the Orioles probably would’ve enjoyed a few reasonably productive months out of Franco and subsequently flipped him at the deadline for whatever return they could get. His minimal salary would’ve made him an affordable addition even as a bench bat with a contending club. His general lack of production this season understandably dried up any real interest on the trade market.

The Orioles will now place Franco on either outright waivers or release waivers in the coming days. He’s unlikely to be claimed, as doing so would mean picking up the remainder of his salary, which recently jumped from $800K to $1MM when he recorded his 400th plate appearance of the season. Once he clears waivers, he can become a free agent and sign with any club for the prorated portion of the league minimum from that point through season’s end.

Jones, 24, was acquired in the offseason trade that sent righty Alex Cobb and cash to the Angels. The former second-round pick was once considered one of the best prospects in the Halos’ system and one of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball, but his stock had dipped in recent seasons.

After a hot start to the 2021 campaign, Jones has seen his bat tail off considerably in Norfolk. He posted a .311/.435/.516 line through his first 30 games with the Tides but has batted just .201/.257/.370 in 42 games since that time. Jones posted a .349 average on balls in play during the 30-game stretch to open the year and saw that mark fall to .242 over his next 42 games, but a climbing strikeout rate has also been a primary reason for his downturn in performance. Jones walked 22 times (16.8 percent) against 20 strikeouts (15.3 percent) over those first 30 games, but in his past 42 contests he’s fanned at a 29.2 percent rate against a greatly diminished 6.5 percent walk rate.

Recent slump notwithstanding, Jones ranks in the middle tier of the Orioles’ top prospects and will use the remainder of the 2021 campaign as an addition for a larger role next season. The Orioles’ infield is largely unsettled beyond first baseman Trey Mancini, so there should be plenty of opportunity for younger players to stake a claim to some more playing time. Jones does have some experience in center and in left as well. However, the O’s have used him primarily as a second baseman in 2021 and have a much more settled group on the outfield grass than the infield dirt.

NL Injury Notes: Syndergaard, Betts, Kelly, Hoerner, Peralta

By Darragh McDonald | August 22, 2021 at 10:36pm CDT

Noah Syndergaard is expected to begin a rehab assignment this week, according to Tim Healey of Newsday Sports. As was previously reported, the Mets are planning on having the hulking righty return as a member of their bullpen, since there’s not enough time remaining in the season for him to be stretched out as a starter. This would be his second rehab assignment of the year, as he attempts to work his way back from undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2020. He had previously had a rehab stint in May, before being shut down due to elbow inflammation. It’s now been almost two years since his last big-league appearance, which was September 29th of 2019. The final few weeks of the season will be tremendously important for both Syndergaard and the Mets. The team needs all the help they can get to pull themselves out of their current nosedive. Despite having the division lead in the NL East as recently as August 5th, they are now in third place and seven games behind the Braves. As for Thor, he is a few weeks away from entering free agency for the first time and could help his own case by showing some health and effectiveness before the season ends.

2021-22 Qualifying Offer Candidates

By Anthony Franco | August 20, 2021 at 10:59pm CDT

With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror and a little more than six weeks remaining in the regular season, plenty of front offices are turning their attention towards the upcoming offseason. The first notable decision for many clubs will be to decide whether to tag one or more of their top impending free agents with a qualifying offer.

As a reminder, the qualifying offer is a one-year contract offer teams can make to certain impending free agents. The precise value of the QO has yet to be calculated, but it’s determined as the average salary of the game’s 125 highest-paid players. Last season, the QO value was set at $18.9MM. If the player accepts the offer, he returns to his current team on that one-year deal. If he rejects, his previous team would receive draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere.

Last season, six players (George Springer, Trevor Bauer, J.T. Realmuto, DJ LeMahieu, Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman) received qualifying offers. Gausman and Stroman accepted the QO, while Realmuto and LeMahieu re-signed with their current clubs as free agents. The Reds and Astros received compensatory picks (used on Jay Allen and Chayce McDermott, respectively) when Bauer and Springer departed.

The collective bargaining agreement prohibits a player from being tagged with a qualifying offer multiple times in his career. (A list of every active big leaguer who has previously received a QO is available here). Similarly, in order to be eligible, the player must have spent the entire preceding season on the same team. Players traded midseason cannot be tagged with a QO.

With the majority of the 2021 season in the books, we can take a look at the upcoming free agent class to predict which players might wind up receiving qualifying offer this winter.

Locks

Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Clayton Kershaw, Robbie Ray, Carlos Rodón, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Trevor Story

This group is fairly straightforward, as there’s very little chance any of these players would accept a qualifying offer. Correa, Seager and Freeman all have MVP-caliber upside and are locks to pull in long-term deals this winter. Semien didn’t receive a QO from the A’s after a down year in 2020, took a pillow contract with the Jays for almost the value of the QO ($18MM), and has essentially replicated his 2019 form that earned him a third place finish in AL MVP voting. He should find a big multi-year deal this time around.

Story is having a bit of a down year, but there’s no doubt the Rockies will make him a qualifying offer after not trading him at the deadline. Nick Groke of the Athletic wrote this week that Colorado hasn’t given up hope of convincing him to sign a long-term extension, but that seems unlikely given Story’s own bewilderment he wasn’t moved to a contender this summer. Whether Story is willing to return to Denver or not, he’ll receive a QO.

Kershaw, Ray and Rodón will be among the top pitchers on the market. Kershaw has spent the past couple months on the injured list due to forearm soreness, but he’s expected back in September and is in the midst of another fantastic season. So long as he’s healthy, he’s a lock for a QO. Ray and Rodón both had to settle for one-year deals after poor 2020 seasons, but they’ve each been among the best pitchers in the American League this year.

Likely

Michael Conforto, Jon Gray, Yusei Kikuchi, Eduardo Rodríguez, Noah Syndergaard, Chris Taylor, Justin Verlander

Over the past two seasons, Taylor has somewhat quietly been one of the game’s top 25 qualified hitters by measure of wRC+ and he’s versatile enough to cover any non-catcher position on the diamond. He’s not a true everyday player at any one spot and he’s making contact at a career-worst rate this season, so he falls just short of being an absolute lock for a QO. But the Dodgers would be as willing as any team to shoulder a significant one-year salary were Taylor to accept, and his body of work should be sufficient to warrant a multi-year deal regardless.

The Mets’ players in this group are two of the more interesting free agents in the class. Conforto entered the season looking like a lock for a QO and seemingly having a chance at landing nine figures with a strong platform year. He missed a month with injury, though, and hasn’t made anywhere near his typical level of impact at the plate. He’s shown some life over the past few weeks, and between his track record and age (28), Conforto still seems a good bet to land a long-term deal.

Syndergaard was a top-of-the-rotation starter at his peak, but he hasn’t pitched since 2019 because of Tommy John surgery. He’s eyeing a September return — likely in relief, given his dwindling time to build up arm strength — and his late-season form will obviously be critical to his market. The Mets should run one of the higher payrolls in the league, and Syndergaard has the upside to be an ace if healthy, so New York still seems more likely than not to make the offer.

Similarly, Verlander has essentially missed two full seasons because of his own Tommy John procedure. That’s a scary development for a pitcher who’ll be 39 on Opening Day 2022, but he was still every bit an ace when we last saw him in 2018-19. The Astros are a win-now club that runs high payrolls, so Verlander accepting a QO wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. If he declines and signs elsewhere, Houston would recoup some much-needed draft compensation after losing their past two first-round picks as punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.

Colorado reportedly showed even less interest in trading Gray than they did with Story at the deadline. There’s apparently mutual interest about working out a multi-year extension, and the QO could serve as a temporary measure to keep Gray in Denver while the Rockies and Gray’s representatives work on a long-term deal.

Rodríguez has bounced back to take the ball every fifth day this year after a scary bout with myocarditis cost him all of 2020. His ERA’s pushing 5.00, but his peripherals are far better than that bottom line run prevention and the southpaw has an established track record of mid-rotation production.

The Mariners are facing a difficult decision regarding Kikuchi, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored last month. Seattle must decide whether to exercise a package deal of four successive club options at $16.5MM apiece (essentially a four-year, $66MM extension) this winter. If the Mariners don’t exercise their four-year option, Kikuchi has a $13MM player option to return to Seattle for 2022. If both parties decline their ends, the 30-year-old would hit free agency this offseason, although the M’s could then tag Kikuchi with a qualifying offer.

Given that Kikuchi will only be a free agent if he passes on a $13MM player option, the Mariners would likely make him a QO worth a few million dollars more if it comes to that — either with the expectation he’ll decline in search of a longer-term deal, or with the hope he accepts and Seattle can keep him in the fold next season without committing themselves to the additional three years of guaranteed money.

Possible

Brandon Belt, Anthony DeSclafani, Raisel Iglesias, Charlie Morton

The Giants have plenty of payroll space this offseason and seem likely to try to keep most of this season’s core together. Belt has been one of the sport’s most productive offensive players on a rate basis over the past two years. But he’s also 33 years old, has a long injury history and is striking out at the highest rate of his career.

San Francisco bought low on DeSclafani over the winter after he had a tough 2020 season with the Reds. He’s bounced back to post a very strong 3.26 ERA, although his peripherals are closer to average and he’s benefitted from opponents’ .257 batting average on balls in play. The Giants will likely see 4/5 of their starting rotation hit free agency this winter, so they could be eager to bring DeSclafani back, even if that comes via a lofty 2022 salary.

Morton has had another productive season in his first year as a Brave, but his previous two teams (the Astros in 2018 and the Rays in 2020) let him reach free agency without making a qualifying offer despite his consistently strong track record. That’s presumably due to concerns about his past injury history and age. He’ll turn 38 this winter and might check his potential earning power by limiting himself to teams in the Southeastern part of the country — as he reportedly did last offseason. That could inspire the Braves to pass on a QO, but Morton continually reels off above-average performances, and this is an Atlanta front office that has been eager to dole out hefty single-year salaries for key veteran upgrades in recent years.

Iglesias looks like the top impending free agent reliever (assuming the White Sox exercise their option over Craig Kimbrel). He’s sporting an ERA under 3.00 for the fifth time in his six seasons since moving to the bullpen, and he’s never had a single-season SIERA above 3.55. Home runs have been an issue, but Iglesias gets above-average results year in and year out and has some of the best strikeout and walk numbers in the game in 2021.

Long Shots

Mark Canha, Avisaíl García, Kwang-hyun Kim, Corey Kluber, Buster Posey, Adam Wainwright, Alex Wood

The Giants hold a $22MM club option (with a $3MM buyout) over Posey’s services for next season. If the front office is willing to commit him a significant salary, they’ll just exercise the option rather than going the QO route. Indeed, they’re reportedly planning to do exactly that (or to potentially pursue a multi-year extension with the franchise icon). Either way, there’s no real reason to involve the qualifying offer here.

Canha would be a very plausible qualifying offer candidate on many teams. He’s been a well above-average hitter and overall performer three years running and is generally one of the game’s more underrated players. The A’s, though, didn’t make a QO to either of Semien or Liam Hendriks last season. Canha’s a Bay Area native, and his age (33 in February) will cap the length of offers he receives from other clubs. Given that, it’s not hard to envision him accepting a QO if offered. The A’s, who perennially run low payrolls and will have a loaded class of arbitration-eligible players this winter, don’t seem likely to take that risk.

Wainwright has had a fantastic 2021 season, and the Cardinals figure to be motivated to keep the franchise icon in St. Louis in some capacity. But that also looked to be true after his strong 2020 campaign, and Wainwright only wound up landing a one-year, $8MM deal. He’d be well-deserved in demanding a raise over that sum to return next season, but it remains to be seen if the Cardinals would be willing to chance more than doubling his salary — particularly if they feel Wainwright’s motivated to remain in St. Louis rather than pursue the highest possible offers in free agency.

Kluber signed an $11MM deal with the Yankees last offseason after back-to-back seasons wrecked by injury. He pitched well through ten starts but has been out since late May with a shoulder strain. Kluber’s nearing a return to action, but his missing nearly three months only adds to prior concerns about his ability to handle a significant workload at this stage of his career.

Kim, García and Wood are all having strong 2021 seasons and could plausibly land solid multi-year deals this winter. Each has enough question marks that their teams don’t seem especially likely to offer a salary in the range of the qualifying offer, though. Kim doesn’t miss many bats; García has had extreme highs and lows throughout his career; Wood has a checkered injury history. García’s contract contains a $12MM club option that vests into a mutual option if he reaches 492 plate appearances this season. If that option doesn’t vest, the Brewers would obviously have no incentive to decline the option only to make a qualifying offer at a higher price point.

Opt-Out Clauses

Nolan Arenado, Nick Castellanos, J.D. Martinez

Each of Arenado (six years, $179MM), Castellanos (two years, $34MM) and Martinez (one year, $19.35MM) has significant guaranteed money remaining on their contracts but can opt out of those deals this winter. Arenado and Castellanos would be locks to reject qualifying offers if they trigger their opt-out provisions, since they’d be foregoing bigger guarantees to test the market.

Martinez’s player option is of similar enough value to the projected value of the qualifying offer that he could plausibly trigger the opt-out but then accept a QO. Even if that proved to be the case, the Red Sox would probably be happy to keep him in the middle of the lineup for another season.

Ineligible

Javier Báez (midseason trade), Kris Bryant (midseason trade), Alex Cobb (previous QO), Nelson Cruz (previous QO/midseason trade), Danny Duffy (midseason trade), Eduardo Escobar (midseason trade), Kevin Gausman (previous QO), Kendall Graveman (midseason trade), Zack Greinke (previous QO), Kenley Jansen (previous QO), Starling Marte (midseason trade), Anthony Rizzo (midseason trade), Max Scherzer (previous QO/midseason trade), Kyle Schwarber (midseason trade), Marcus Stroman (previous QO)

Dodgers Designate Conner Greene For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | August 20, 2021 at 8:34pm CDT

The Dodgers announced they’ve designated Conner Greene for assignment. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for Shane Greene, whose previously-reported agreement with the club has been made official. Evan Phillips has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain to open room on the active roster.

Los Angeles just added Conner Greene off waivers from the Orioles two weeks ago. They could now stand to lose him after just a pair of big league outings, as the 26-year-old will find himself on the waiver wire again over the coming days. He’s made his first five MLB appearances between Baltimore and L.A. this season, tossing 5 2/3 innings of six-run ball but striking out seven while issuing only a single walk. Greene struggled over a much larger body of work with the O’s top affiliate in Norfolk, where he posted a 7.39 ERA with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (20.4% and 12.4%, respectively).

Obviously, Greene hasn’t gotten the results he’s desired so far in 2021. But he’s averaged just under 96 MPH on his fastball during his big league action and generated strong swinging strike rates at both the major league and minor league levels. He’s also a former well-regarded prospect who ranked among the Blue Jays’ most promising farmhands during his earlier days in the Toronto system. Greene still has a minor league option remaining, so any team that claims him could keep him in the high minors through the end of the season.

Judge Denies Request For Permanent Restraining Order Against Trevor Bauer

By Steve Adams | August 19, 2021 at 5:11pm CDT

5:11 pm: As expected, Bauer’s administrative leave has been extended through August 27, per various reporters (including Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times).

3:15 pm: Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman issued a ruling today denying a long-term restraining order to the woman who has accused Trevor Bauer of sexual assault, per Steve Henson of the Los Angeles Times. The ruling brings to a close the civil hearing that has been ongoing throughout the current week.

Bauer did not testify at this week’s hearing, instead invoking his fifth amendment rights. He’s still the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation and of an investigation under Major League Baseball’s joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. Bauer is currently on paid administrative leave, which is set to expire tomorrow. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that with criminal and MLB investigations still ongoing, that leave will likely once again be extended by mutual agreement between MLB and the Players Association.

There are several key points to be emphasized with regard to where things stand at present. As previously noted, Bauer is still the subject of multiple investigations. Today’s ruling was neither a declaration of Bauer’s innocence nor guilt with regard to the woman’s allegations. Rather, it was a ruling from the court that Bauer does not pose a continued threat to the alleged victim. Similarly, the determination that the accuser does not require long-term protection against Bauer is not legally reflective of his guilt or innocence; the alleged victim and the district attorney can still bring forth charges pursuant to Bauer’s purported actions.

Just as the absence of a restraining order does not preclude criminal charges, the ruling also does not preclude a suspension from commissioner Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball. The league’s sexual assault policy gives Manfred the power to implement a suspension even in the absence of criminal charges, as we’ve seen on numerous occasions where domestic violence charges were dropped by the alleged victims. It’s also unclear whether newly surfaced allegations from a woman in Ohio that date back to last summer will be factored into the league’s decision on any punitive measures against Bauer.

While today’s ruling represents a notable step in the process, it does not bring about anything in the way of resolution for Bauer or the Dodgers. The pitcher’s long-term outlook remains unclear, and the league could well wait until the criminal investigation (and any subsequent charges, if pressed) is resolved before determining whether to levy its own suspension.

Nate Jones Retires

By Steve Adams | August 19, 2021 at 11:31am CDT

Veteran right-hander Nate Jones, who pitched with both the Braves and the Dodgers earlier this season, is retiring from baseball, agent Joe Speed of Sterling Sports Management announced today on Twitter.

A fifth-round pick of the White Sox back in 2007, Jones was never considered to be one of their very best prospects, topping out at No. 22 on Baseball America’s rankings in the 2011-12 offseason, but he nevertheless emerged as one of the team’s most talented relievers for several years. The hard-throwing, 6’5″ righty debuted as a 26-year-old in 2012 and immediately cemented himself as a fixture in the bullpen when he pitched 71 2/3 innings of 2.39 ERA ball as a rookie.

Jones enjoyed a solid sophomore season, pitching another 78 innings of 4.15 ERA ball but battled some hip and back soreness along the way. Continued back troubles sidelined him early in 2014, and the right-hander unfortunately suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow while working his way back from that back issue. He appeared in only two games in ’14, didn’t record an out, and missed much of the 2015 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Jones returned in early August in 2015 and pitched well enough down the stretch that the White Sox were comfortable signing him to a three-year deal. The contract provided Jones with an $8MM guarantee, covering his second and third years of arbitration and his first free-agent season before giving the South Siders a pair of club options. Jones had pitched just 168 2/3 innings over his first four seasons but had been generally excellent when healthy enough to take the field; there was sense in the contract for both parties.

The contract paid off in spades the very next season, as Jones produced what would prove to be the best season of a 10-year career. Over the life of 70 2/3 innings, he pitched to a superlative 2.29 ERA with a 29.2 percent strikeout rate and a 5.5 percent walk rate.

Injuries, however, hobbled Jones for the next several seasons. He was always effective when able to take the mound, but he spent time on the injured list due to elbow and forearm injuries throughout much of the 2017-19 seasons. His 2.94 ERA in 52 innings across those three seasons underscored how talented the right-hander was, but Jones ultimately threw his last pitch for the Sox early in the 2019 season and underwent surgery to repair a flexor tear in his right forearm. Chicago traded him to the Rangers at season’s end, but it proved to be a procedural move; the Rangers acquired international bonus money alongside Jones and simply paid the buyout on his 2020 option.

Jones signed with the Reds in the 2019-20 offseason and appeared in 21 games with diminished results. It was a similar story in both Atlanta and Los Angeles this year, as Jones once-97.5 mph sinker clocked in at an average of 93.6 mph between the Braves and Dodgers.

It’s unfortunate that we never got to see Jones enjoy a prolonged, healthy run in the bullpen for the Sox or another club, as he clearly had all the makings of an elite late-inning reliever. He’ll wrap up his playing days with a career 22-16 record, a 3.45 ERA, 78 holds, nine saves, 76 games finished and 355 strikeouts over the life of 329 innings and nearly $15MM in career earnings.

Dodgers Sign Shane Greene To Major League Deal

By Anthony Franco | August 17, 2021 at 11:30am CDT

11:30 am: Los Angeles is indeed signing Greene to a major league contract, reports Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic (on Twitter).

11:12 am: The Dodgers are nearing agreement with free agent reliever Shane Greene on a major league contract, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (Twitter link). The 32-year-old was released by the Braves over the weekend. Greene is represented by the Ballengee Group.

Despite quality work between 2019-20, Greene remained on the free agent market over the entirety of last offseason. That was a bit surprising but perhaps explainable by the difference in the right-hander’s run prevention numbers and peripherals. Greene pitched to an elite 2.39 ERA across 90 1/3 innings between those two seasons, but that came with a slightly below-average 23.5% strikeout rate. The disconnect is even more stark when looking at 2020 alone; his ERA was a still-great 2.60, but his strikeout percentage dipped to 19.3%. Teams clearly seemed reluctant to buy into Greene as a high-end late innings option despite his success keeping runs off the board.

The 2021 season has been a disaster no matter which metric one uses to evaluate pitcher performance. Signed to a big league deal by Atlanta in May, Greene was called up in early June after spending a few weeks in Triple-A to build up arm strength. He tossed seventeen innings for the Braves but was tagged for sixteen runs (an 8.47 ERA) on 22 hits, including five homers. Greene’s 20.5% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk percentage aren’t too different from last season’s marks, but he’s seen his groundball rate fall to a career-low 30.4% and served up far too much hard contact.

Clearly, the Dodgers feel his horrible 2021 numbers to date don’t reflect that Greene’s ability to be effective has disappeared. It’s a rather limited amount of time for a pitcher who had a multi-year track record of success before this season. Greene didn’t have a typical offseason ramp-up period because of his protracted stay in free agency. Perhaps most importantly, the velocity and spin on his sinker and cutter are nearly identical between 2020 and 2021. With his raw stuff still intact, Greene could be primed for a bounceback under a new coaching staff and environment in L.A.

There’s no financial risk for the Dodgers in taking that chance. The Braves will remain on the hook for the bulk of Greene’s prorated $1.5MM salary, with the Dodgers paying the veteran just the prorated league minimum for the stretch run (which will be subtracted from Atlanta’s payroll). The 32-year-old will hit the open market again at the end of the season.

Dodgers’ Cole Hamels Out For Season With Shoulder Injury

By Anthony Franco | August 16, 2021 at 10:59pm CDT

9:39 pm: Hamels felt shoulder pain during a recent simulated game, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

9:17 pm: The Dodgers announced they’ve selected the contract of veteran reliever Neftalí Féliz. To create space on the 40-man roster, they placed left-hander Cole Hamels on the 60-day injured list. The move ends Hamels’ season before he could make an official appearance. Hamels recently suffered some form of arm injury, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link).

Additionally, Los Angeles recalled right-handed pitching prospect Andre Jackson to make his major league debut. Jackson was selected to the 40-man roster over the offseason to keep him from being taken in the Rule 5 draft, so no corresponding move was needed in that regard. To open active roster space, Darien Núñez and Edwin Uceta were optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Hamels missed almost all of last season with the Braves dealing with triceps and shoulder issues. He stayed on the free agent market for the entire offseason and the first half of the 2021 campaign before conducting a showcase in mid-July. That led to a one-year, $1MM deal with the Dodgers two weeks ago, with the hope that Hamels could build up as a late-season rotation option for Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he’s now dealing with another injury that’ll keep him from taking the mound in 2021.

There’ll surely be forthcoming updates on Hamels’ specific diagnosis and outlook. It’s not clear whether this latest issue stands to affect his readiness for the 2022 campaign. The 37-year-old will again hit free agency at the end of the season, and he’ll surely need to conduct another showcase for teams if he’s able and decides to pursue opportunities this winter.

What is clear is that Hamels’ setback will remove another potential starting pitching option for the Dodgers down the stretch. Los Angeles trails the Giants by four games in the NL West, and they were already without Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías, Danny Duffy and Tony Gonsolin due to injury (as well as Dustin May, who underwent Tommy John surgery in May). Kershaw, notably, did play catch today for the first time since being shut down due to forearm soreness (via Juan Toribio of MLB.com), although he’s still not expected back until September.

Féliz is back in the majors for the second time this season. The former All-Star appeared in two games for the Phillies in late June, his first big league action in four years. Féliz was tagged for four runs in an inning of work with Philadelphia before being let go. The 33-year-old latched on with the Dodgers on a minor league deal shortly thereafter.

The veteran righty has spent the past six weeks at Oklahoma City, pitching his way back to the bigs with a 3.38 ERA across 18 2/3 innings. That’s a continuation of the stellar work he logged at the minors’ highest level with the Phillies’ affiliate in Lehigh Valley. Between the two organizations, Féliz has a 2.45 ERA in Triple-A with a huge 38.8% strikeout rate and an average 9.7% walk percentage.

Jackson, meanwhile, is one of the better pitching prospects in the Dodgers’ system. He fell to the twelfth round in the 2017 draft after undergoing Tommy John surgery during his final season at the University of Utah, where he spent more time as an outfielder than he did on the mound. The righty made his professional debut the following year and struggled with his control, but he had a breakout 2019 season split between two levels of A-ball.

Each of Baseball America, Keith Law of the Athletic and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted Jackson among the Dodgers’ top fifteen minor leaguers either before or during the 2021 season. Evaluators praise his four-pitch mix and athleticism, with a general expectation he’ll continue to improve due to his relative lack of experience as a pitcher.

The 24-year-old has spent most of the year with Double-A Tulsa, pitching to 3.27 ERA across 63 1/3 innings. Jackson punched out a strong 29.6% of opponents while walking a career-low 7.9% of batters faced to earn his first big league call.

Dodgers Claim Evan Phillips

By Steve Adams | August 16, 2021 at 1:01pm CDT

The Dodgers have claimed right-hander Evan Phillips off waivers from the Rays, tweets Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Tampa Bay designated Phillips for assignment over the weekend. The Dodgers later formally announced the claim.

Phillips, 26, came up with a big three-inning save for Tampa Bay over the weekend, helping to spare the bullpen and give some of the rest of the relief corps some needed rest. Baseball is often a numbers game for players on the fringes of 40-man rosters, however, and Phillips was reminded of that when he was designated for assignment the very next day. He’ll now join the Dodgers, who’ll be his third organization of the season in addition to the Rays and the Orioles.

Phillips has shown considerable strikeout potential in past MLB stints with the O’s but has also given up far too many walks to remain effective. From 2019-20, Phillips pitched 42 1/3 frames with the O’s and fanned 28.7 percent of his opponents but also walked about 14.4 percent of them. Between that and a sky-high .398 average on balls in play, he was knocked around for a 5.95 ERA in that time.

This season in Triple-A, Phillips worked to a 5.04 ERA with the Orioles’ top affiliate, but he also whiffed 35 hitters in 25 frames. He was sharp in 3 1/3 Triple-A frames with the Rays and was clearly impressive in his lone MLB appearance of the season so far. He averaged 96 mph on his heater in that brief look with the Rays and has a track record of generating whiffs with a slider that possesses above-average spin rates, too.

Phillips is out of minor league options, so it could potentially be a quick run for him with the Dodgers, too, given their own penchant for frequent turnover on the fringes of the MLB roster, but he’ll first hope for a chance to make any such decisions more difficult for the organization.

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