Dodgers Rumors

Notes & Rumors: Dyson, Romo, Twins, Brewers, Dodgers

By Connor Byrne | July 27, 2019 at 12:55am CDT

There’s “a lot of trade interest” in Diamondbacks outfielder Jarrod Dyson, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. We already know the Cubs are among the teams that have eyed Dyson. It’s not clear, though, whether the Diamondbacks – who are in the wild-card hunt – will trade the 34-year-old. Dyson, who’s in the last season of a two-year, $7.5MM contract, has enjoyed a considerable bounce-back campaign with the bat. He’s still not much of a threat offensively, having hit .250/.332/.360 (83 wRC+) in 298 plate appearances, but the fleet-of-foot Dyson’s exemplary defense-base running combination gives him a high floor and could help someone in the postseason.

The Twins, continuing their wide-ranging search for relief help, have shown interest in Marlins closer Sergio Romo, Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio tweets. The soft-tossing, 36-year-old Romo has pitched well for the Marlins since he joined them on a $2.5MM guarantee last winter, making him a strong bet to depart by the trade deadline. Romo has recorded a 3.58 ERA/3.89 FIP over 37 2/3 innings, also adding 7.88 K/9, 3.11 BB/9 and 17 saves in 18 opportunities.
The injury that forced Brewers righty Jhoulys Chacin to the IL on Thursday is a lat strain – not an oblique strain, as was previously believed – per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The Brewers expect Chacin to miss two to four weeks. After back-to-back productive seasons, the 31-year-old has managed an awful 5.79 ERA/5.69 FIP across 88 2/3 innings in 2019. Chacin’s struggles, not to mention his injury, are among the reasons the Brewers could bolster their rotation ahead of the deadline.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Casey Stern of MLB Network Radio on Friday that Will D. Smith will take the reins as their primary catcher going forward. The Dodgers recalled the well-regarded Smith from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday and sent their previous No. 1 backstop, the slumping Austin Barnes, to the minors. Smith, 24, is now teaming with the grizzled Russell Martin to comprise the Dodgers’ catchers. Martin started LA’s win over Washington on Friday, but the plan is for Smith to handle the Dodgers’ next two games.
More on the Dodgers, who sent corner infielder David Freese to the IL on Friday with a left hamstring strain. The move made room for just-acquired first baseman Tyler White. It seems especially inauspicious that Freese went to the IL with the same injury just over a month ago. It cost him a minimal amount of time then, but it’s unclear whether that will be the case again. When healthy, the 36-year-old has been one of the Dodgers’ most effective hitters, albeit in a limited role. Through 163 trips to the plate, Freese has slashed a tremendous .300/.399/.579 (157 wRC+) with nine homers.

Latest On Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler

By Steve Adams | July 26, 2019 at 10:35pm CDT

10:35pm: It isn’t definite the Mets will trade Syndergaard, per reports from Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and Anthony Rieber of Newsday, though Rieber adds the club’s “working hard” to move him. The Astros are “pessimistic” about their chances of acquiring Syndergaard, DiComo writes. Meanwhile, it “doesn’t sound like” the Mets and Twins have made headway toward a deal, Martino tweets.

3:58pm: Mets righty Noah Syndergaard has emerged as the perhaps the most talked-about name on the trade market, and his name once again figures to dominate headlines — much as it did in the offseason. Meanwhile, scouts will be watching closely as fellow starter Zack Wheeler takes the hill tonight for his lone pre-deadline showcase start. Here’s the latest on both hurlers …

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets are seeking an MLB-ready starter who can step right into the rotation in place of Syndergaard, then some additional high-end prospects after that. The pitcher in question needn’t technically be the headliner in the deal, but presumably the Mets are eyeing a controllable (pre-arbitration) starter as well as premier minor leaguers beyond that point.

That aligns with recent reports from SNY’s Andy Martino (Twitter links), who suggests that the Mets view the Padres, Braves, Dodgers, Rays and Yankees as the best on-paper fits in a deal. The Padres and Braves, in particular, are rich with MLB-ready pitchers in the upper minors, and Sherman lists that pair of organizations as the two that the Mets feel are best-positioned to work out a deal.

Notably, Sherman calls the Astros the “most aggressive” pursuer of Syndergaard, but Houston has seen its top pitching prospects take a step back in 2019. Forrest Whitley (shoulder fatigue) has barely pitched in 2019. Corbin Martin underwent Tommy John surgery. Martino suggests that neither the Astros nor Twins are viewed as prime trade partners — likely because other interested parties have better MLB-ready arms to offer. It was reported this morning that the Twins and Mets have discussed Syndergaard, with the Mets showing particular interest in shortstop Royce Lewis and outfielder Alex Kirilloff.

Looking at the teams the Mets apparently believe to be fits, it’s a bit of an eyebrow-raiser to see the Yankees and Braves listed. The Yankees and Mets haven’t lined up on a trade in more than a decade, and the frequent reports out of New York portraying the contempt that Mets owner Fred Wilpon has toward the Yankees make a deal of this nature seem decidedly unlikely. Meanwhile, trading Syndergaard to a division rival would be difficult for Mets fans to stomach, particularly given that he’s controlled through the 2021 season.

Whether the Houston organization can put together a compelling package for Syndergaard, they’ll have other things to talk about with the Mets front office. The ’Stros are “one of many” teams that have interest in Wheeler, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). Martino tweets that the Yankees also remain interested in Wheeler and will be watching intently this evening.

Royals Working On Jake Diekman Trade

By Steve Adams | July 26, 2019 at 12:02pm CDT

12:02pm: The Dodgers stood out as the likely “frontrunners” from the start, tweets Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. However, he adds that the Nationals and Phillies both still have Diekman on their radar.

11:53am: The Royals “could be getting closer” to a trade involving left-handed reliever Jake Diekman, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Both the Braves and Dodgers have been showing strong interest in the southpaw, he adds.

Diekman, 32, is playing out the season on a one-year, $2.25MM contract, though he’s also owed a $500K buyout on a $5.75MM mutual option that doesn’t seem likely to be exercised (as is the case with virtually all mutual options). That puts the remaining obligation to Diekman around $1.3MM between now and season’s end.

While Diekman’s 4.75 ERA isn’t going to excite most fans, he’s also notched a hefty 13.6 K/9 mark and kept the ball on the ground at a 48-4 percent clip. Left-handed opponents have batted just .213 and slugged .255 against him. As has oft been the case for Diekman throughout his career, though, control has been an issue. He’s averaged five walks per nine innings pitched this season and plunked another eight hitters. As such, Diekman has yielded an overall .213/.362/.255 line to lefties and a .211/.331/.358 line to right-handed hitters.

Diekman is technically controlled beyond the 2019 season, but mutual options are almost never exercised by both parties. Typically, if a player performs well enough to justify that salary, he’s inclined to test the open market. And if a player doesn’t perform up to that standard, the club will of course buy the option out. Perhaps the changing landscape of free agency will make a player such as Diekman — one with limited earning power but who could justify a net $5.25MM decision with a strong finish — more likely to exercise his half of the provision, but there’s limited historic precedent.

Dodgers Option Austin Barnes To Triple-A, Will D. Smith To Be Recalled

By Mark Polishuk | July 25, 2019 at 7:19pm CDT

The Dodgers have optioned catcher Austin Barnes to Triple-A, as originally reported by MLB.com’s official transactions page. Will D. Smith will be called up to take Barnes’ roster spot prior to Friday’s game, according to Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times.

After a big performance down the stretch in 2017 that included usurping Yasmani Grandal’s at-bats in the postseason, it seemed like Barnes was on his way to becoming the Dodgers’ catcher of the future. That progress was stalled after Barnes had only a .619 OPS in 238 PA in 2018, and he has continued to struggle this year, hitting .196/.288/.328 through 233 plate appearances.

With veteran Russell Martin also not hitting well, Los Angeles hasn’t received much offense from the catcher’s spot this year — that is, apart from Smith’s first two brief stints on the Dodgers’ roster. Smith’s first exposure to Major League pitching saw him hit .269/.345/.654 with three homers in only 29 PA over nine games. As we saw with Barnes himself in 2017, the Dodgers aren’t afraid to turn to a young player late in the season, and if Smith continues to hit, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he earns himself regular catching duty come October.

Picked 32nd overall in the 2016 draft, Smith was a top-100 prospect in the eyes of both Baseball Prospectus (59th) and Baseball America (95th) prior to the 2019 season. He is already thought to have solid defense, and Smith has also hit .232/.334/.497 with 21 homers over 366 Triple-A plate appearances.

Catcher is an interesting long-term position for the Dodgers, as both Smith and top prospect Keibert Ruiz would seem to be the club’s top choices for the future, though L.A. also did its due diligence in exploring J.T. Realmuto’s availability before the All-Star was traded to the Phillies last offseason. Smith and Ruiz are undoubtedly popular targets for teams looking to make deals with the Dodgers, yet given that Barnes may be falling out of favor, it may behoove the Dodgers to see exactly what they have in both Smith or Ruiz before deciding on who will be their catcher of the future.

Dodgers To Acquire Tyler White

By Steve Adams | July 25, 2019 at 12:08pm CDT

The Dodgers are acquiring corner infielder Tyler White from the Astros, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). White, who is out of minor league options, was designated for assignment by Houston last week. The Dodgers are sending righty Andre Scrubb to the Astros in the trade, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (Twitter link).

White, 28, was excellent for the Astros in a limited role from 2017-18 when he batted .277/.349/.531 with 15 homers, 18 doubles and three triples through 304 plate appearances. He was particularly a nuisance against left-handed pitching, slashing .299/.407/.642 in that time. White hasn’t done much against lefties or righties so far in 2019, though. Given a much larger role with the team, he’s managed only a .225/.320/.330 output at the plate. With the emergence of Yordan Alvarez and several injured Astros returning from the IL, there simply wasn’t room on the Houston roster for White.

The Dodgers recently lost a right-handed bat for the foreseeable future when Chris Taylor landed on the injured list with a fractured forearm. While White can’t match Taylor’s defensive versatility, he’s an affordable alternative with .780 OPS (112 wRC+) against left-handed pitching. And with so many other versatile defenders on the roster, the Dodgers likely don’t mind White’s limited defensive skill set as much.

In Scrubb, Houston will acquire a 24-year-old right-hander who is in the midst of a solid season with Double-A Tulsa. The Dodgers’ eighth-round pick in 2016, he’s pitched to a 2.45 ERA with 10.6 K/9, 4.3 BB/9, 0.57 HR/9 and a 53.4 percent ground-ball rate in 47 2/3 innings of work. He’s yet to pitch at the Triple-A level, but Scrubb has a 2.34 ERA and better than 10 punchouts per nine innings in 57 career frames at the Double-A level, suggesting that he could be a near-term bullpen option for the Astros — if not late in the 2019 season then at some point in 2020.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Giants, Cubs, Sogard, Yanks, White Sox

By Connor Byrne | July 25, 2019 at 12:30am CDT

As was the case a couple weeks ago, the Dodgers are “quite interested” in multiple Giants relievers, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported July 10 that Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson and Reyes Moronta were on the Dodgers’ radar. At that point, San Francisco owned a 41-48 record and looked as if it was sure to sell prior to the trade deadline. However, the Giants were in the early stages of an out-of-nowhere tear that has continued, putting them at 52-51 and calling into question whether they’ll trade any of their top chips in the next week. Even if they do, there’s no guarantee the Giants will deal with the archrival Dodgers, despite the connection between SF president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and LA president Andrew Friedman. Zaidi was Friedman’s top lieutenant with the Dodgers from 2014-18.

Dodgers Outright Rocky Gale

By Steve Adams | July 23, 2019 at 7:51pm CDT

The Dodgers have outrighted catcher Rocky Gale off the 40-man roster, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. The move drops the club’s 40-man roster to a total of 38 players.

Gale, 31, went 2-for-15 in a brief stint with the Dodgers earlier this season but has spent the bulk of the season in Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he’s batted .250/.303/.370 in 109 plate appearances. He’s spent the season as the primary backup to top catching prospect Will Smith in Triple-A, but the recent promotion of fellow top catching prospect Keibert Ruiz to Oklahoma City has further reduced Gale’s role on the roster.

Gale has appeared in 22 big league games between the Padres and Dodgers, though he’s received just 37 plate appearances in that time (and hit .108/.108/.189). The former ninth-round pick is a lifetime .277/.315/.359 in parts of nine Triple-A seasons.

Indians, Braves, Dodgers Reportedly Interested In Mychal Givens

By Connor Byrne | July 23, 2019 at 1:01am CDT

Orioles reliever Mychal Givens has reportedly drawn interest from the Phillies and Nationals leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. The Indians, Braves and Dodgers are also among the clubs in on Givens, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription link).

With two-plus years’ team control remaining and a $2.15MM salary, Givens stands out as one of the Orioles’ strongest trade chips. Considering the Orioles are caught in what figures to be a long rebuild, it’ll be a surprise if they don’t part with Givens soon. Unfortunately for the Orioles, though, the 29-year-old right-hander hasn’t enjoyed as productive a season as he did over the previous four campaigns.

Through 38 1/3 innings this year, Givens has pitched to an unspectacular 4.23 ERA/4.63 FIP with eight saves on 13 tries and a weak 39.1 percent groundball rate. A large number of the fly balls Givens has surrendered have left the yard, evidenced by his bloated 22.9 percent fly ball rate. That said, Givens has been a lot steadier since his ERA was pushing 6.00 at the end of May. He has also fanned a career-high 12.21 batters per nine (against 3.99 walks), posted a personal-high 15.2 percent swinging-strike rate and kept his 95 mph velocity intact.

As for the the just-reported teams eyeing Givens, interest from the Indians isn’t anything new. They went after Givens last summer, but Baltimore elected to hold him. The Indians’ bullpen has been among the majors’ most effective this year, in part because of lights-out closer Brad Hand. There has been speculation about the Indians trading Hand, but considering their red-hot run, it seems the playoff hopefuls are more interested in adding to their bullpen than subtracting from it.

The bullpens of the Dodgers and Braves – the NL’s two leading teams – haven’t been as successful as the Indians’. Los Angeles and Atlanta have been linked to multiple trade candidate relievers as a result. In addition to Givens, Blue Jays closer Ken Giles seems to be a Braves target. Meanwhile, the Giants’ key relievers (Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Reyes Moronta), Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez, Tigers closer Shane Greene Royals lefty Jake Diekman have all been rumored to the Dodgers during their wide-ranging search for late-game aid.

Rich Hill On Outlook, Future Plans

By Jeff Todd | July 22, 2019 at 8:14pm CDT

Dodgers southpaw Rich Hill is working his way back to the mound this year, with plans for more, as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports. The veteran hurler is presently on the 60-day injured list with a flexor strain but says he has now begun a throwing program.

Hill is still a month away from possible activation, but it’s encouraging to hear that he’s already beginning to move in a positive direction. There was initial concern that he had suffered a catastrophic injury, but Hill says those fears subsided rather quickly. Now, he’s “anxious to get started again.” It certainly seems as if the near-term outlook is rather optimistic.

Once he does get back going, Hill has no plans to stop. “I want to play as long as I can,” he says, though he acknowledges there’s always some uncertainty when it comes to health.

Hill’s contract expires after the present season. He’ll be eligible for a qualifying offer, which could well be a possibility given how well he has pitched when available. Hill has made between twenty and twenty-five starts annually since 2016 and won’t even reach that level this year, but he’s sporting a 2.93 ERA since the start of his stunning rebirth in late 2015.

So, how might the future look? “It could be one of those things where I go year to year,” says Hill, though he adds that he’s “not 100 percent sure” what form his next contract will take.

As for location, there are also some notable hints. “[H]opefully I can stay in L.A.,” says Hill, who says he relishes the competitive success the Dodgers have had in his time there. The club has made good use of Hill, with an approach that embraces his occasional absences and even views them as a means of keeping him at top form when he is active.

Of course, there’s also a strong pull to Boston. Not only did he launch his comeback with the Red Sox, but Hill’s family still resides there. He cited a desire to keep his son around the professional game as part of his plan for continuing to pitch, while also bemoaning the lack of time with his family once school starts. Boston “has always been home,” says Hill, who otherwise cites “a chance to compete” as the “biggest” draw in his future.

It certainly seems that his current and former organizations hold plenty of allure to the 39-year-old Hill, who may well be set up for a remarkable (and lucrative) run past forty years of age. “I feel like I have a lot of good pitching left in me,” he says.

Dodgers Outright Zac Rosscup

By Connor Byrne | July 20, 2019 at 8:47pm CDT

The Dodgers have outrighted left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup to Triple-A Oklahoma City, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com tweets. It’s unclear whether Rosscup will accept the assignment or reject it in favor of a trip to free agency.

Rosscup joined the Dodgers via the open market June 12, which came after he turned down an outright from Toronto. However, this past Monday, the Dodgers became the third team of the season to designate Rosscup for assignment. The Blue Jays and Mariners previously did the same.

The 31-year-old Rosscup is in his second stint as a member of the Dodgers, with whom he threw 11 1/3 innings last season. He only totaled three frames with the club this season before it jettisoned him, though. Also a former Cub and Rockie, Rosscup has mustered 18 innings of 5.00 ERA/4.94 FIP pitching this season. While Rosscup has struck out 13 per nine and induced grounders at a 55.1 percent clip, serious control problems have helped undermine his efforts. Rosscup has walked more than a batter per inning (19) and given up 22 hits.

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