Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Dodgers Rumors

Injury Updates: Kershaw, Anderson, Lewis, Gray

By | at

We’ve already seen several big names hit the DL today, so let’s take look at some more notable injury situations from around baseball…

  • Clayton Kershaw is still at least a week away from throwing off a mound, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jack Baer), though the Dodgers superstar has thrown off flat ground multiple times within the last week.  Kershaw is still on track to return in September from the back problem that has sidelined him since late June.
  • The Dodgers activated southpaw Brett Anderson from the DL today but the lefty lasted just one inning (allowing five ER) and he suffered a mild sprain of his left wrist while trying to field a grounder.  Anderson is day-to-day and it’s unknown if he’ll make his next start.  “It feels like I’m kind of snakebit…it’s like a nightmare you hopefully wake up from,” Anderson told reporters, including Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times.  The injury-plagued veteran was making his first appearance of the 2016 season today after undergoing back surgery in March.  Anderson is a free agent this winter and is running out of time to get some healthy and effective outings under his belt, especially since the Dodgers can’t afford to give him much time to find himself with the club in a pennant race.
  • Colby Lewis threw a 30-pitch bullpen session today and told reporters (including T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com) that “everything felt great.”  Lewis has been on the DL since June recovering from a strained lat muscle, and the Rangers are aiming for a return in the first week of September if the rest of his recovery schedule goes as planned.  Lewis will toss another bullpen session and live batting practice this week, then a minimum of two rehab starts in the minors.  The Texas rotation will get a big boost if Lewis is able to continue his early-season form — a 3.21 ERA and identical 3.21 K/BB rate over his first 98 innings of 2016.
  • Sonny Gray may not pitch again in 2016, Athletics manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including MLB.com’s Jane Lee).  While Melvin would ideally like to see Gray on the mound again, “it’s not like we’re going to push him to try to get him out there just to get him out there.”  Gray is recovering from a strained forearm and since he has to wait until the inflammation subsides, there isn’t currently any timetable for him to begin a proper rehab process.  A season-ending injury would be par for the course for Gray in what has been a lost season for the Oakland ace, as he has battled injuries and posted a career-worst 5.74 ERA over 21 starts.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/14/16

By | at

The latest minor moves from around baseball:

  • The Diamondbacks have released 2014 third-round outfielder Matt Railey, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (on Twitter). Railey batted just .136/.246/.136 without an extra-base hit in 169 A-ball plate appearances this year before his release. In his time with the D-backs organization, Railey hit .205/.324/.311 in 225 PAs. He also served a 50-game suspension last year after testing positive for an amphetamine.
  • Twins left-hander Andrew Albers has cleared waivers after his Friday designation for assignment and been optioned to Triple-A Rochester, per Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Albers has already thrown 112 2/3 innings this year in Rochester, where he has compiled a 3.51 ERA, 5.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9. All six frames Albers has tossed for the Twins this season came in relief Thursday, when he yielded three earned runs on 11 hits in a blowout loss to Houston.
  • The Dodgers have released catcher Spencer Navin, tweets J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Navin had been a member of the organization since it selected him in the 11th round of the 2013 draft. The 24-year-old hasn’t yet gotten past the High-A level and owns a .214/.324/.282 batting line in 524 plate appearances across all levels.
  • The Giants have signed right-hander Connor Overton to a minor league contract. Overton previously spent time in the minors with the Marlins, who chose him in the 15th round of the 2014 draft, and the Nationals. Overton wasn’t particularly successful with either organization, though, as he posted a combined 6.19 ERA, 7.4 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 across 52 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old opened 2016 with Sioux City of the American Association, an independent league, and threw 36 2/3 frames and recorded a 1.96 ERA, 11.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9, leading to his deal with the Giants.

Dodgers Designate Zach Walters For Assignment

By | at

The Dodgers have announced outfielder Zach Walters’ designation for assignment. Walters joined the Dodgers in an April trade with the Indians, who acquired cash considerations in exchange for him and James Ramsey. Neither player has panned out for LA, though, with Walters entering DFA limbo and Ramsey now part of the Mariners organization.

Walters has spent the lion’s share of the season with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City, where he has slashed .276/.326/.444 with 10 home runs in 356 plate appearances. The 26-year-old collected a mere five PAs in Los Angeles earlier this year, which pales in comparison to the career-best 137 trips to the plate he accrued with the Indians and Nationals in 2014. That year, Walters batted .181/.241/.441 with an impressive 10 homers.

Since the Diamondbacks chose him in the ninth round of the 2010 draft, Walters has hit .176/.227/.382 in 181 major league plate appearances and .265/.312/.482 in 1,663 PAs at the Triple-A level.

Dodgers Activate Brett Anderson, Place Brandon McCarthy On DL

By | at

The Dodgers have made a handful of roster moves, according to Doug Padilla of ESPN. Los Angeles has activated left-hander Brett Anderson from the 60-day disabled list and placed right-handers Brandon McCarthy (hip) and Josh Ravin (triceps tightness) on the 15-day DL. The club has also recalled righty Brock Stewart from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Anderson, who underwent back surgery in March, will make his season debut Sunday against Pittsburgh. Injuries have been the main theme throughout the promising 28-year-old’s career, unfortunately, as he was unable to log more than 83 1/3 innings in any individual season from 2011-14. Last year was the first time Anderson eclipsed the 100-inning mark since 2010, and he set a career high with 180 1/3 frames and recorded a 3.69 ERA. Behind Anderson’s strong run prevention were a league-best 66.3 ground-ball percentage and a stellar walk rate (2.3 per nine innings).

As a result of his output last season, his first as a Dodger, the team tendered Anderson a $15.8MM qualifying offer in November. He elected to accept it, and he’ll now provide the Clayton Kershaw-less Dodgers another southpaw starter to team with Scott Kazmir. The soon-to-return Rich Hill, who has been dealing with blisters on his pitching hand, could give Los Angeles a third lefty as early as next weekend.

As has been the case with Anderson, injuries have consistently derailed McCarthy, who’s headed to the DL for the second time this season after lasting just 1 2/3 innings in his Saturday start. The 33-year-old missed most of 2015 because of Tommy John surgery and has come back to post a 3.63 ERA and 9.87 K/9 in in 34 2/3 innings this season. While those are strong numbers, McCarthy has taken significant steps backward in his latest four starts, perhaps thanks in part to the injury. Dating back to July 27, McCarthy has thrown 12 1/3 innings and allowed 10 earned runs on 17 walks and 11 hits. McCarthy has done a terrific job limiting walks throughout his career, making his recent control issues troubling.

The Dodgers continue to have more than a quality rotation’s worth of injured starters, yet they’re 65-51, handily in possession of a National League Wild Card spot and only one game behind NL West-leading San Francisco. Along with Kershaw, McCarthy and Hill, righty Bud Norris and lefties Alex Wood and Hyun-jin Ryu are also on the shelf. As mentioned, though, Hill is nearing a comeback, and Norris is also on the brink of a return, per Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.

Quick Hits: Tigers, Kinsler, Dodgers, Puig

By | at

With the Tigers in Arlington to take on the Rangers, second baseman Ian Kinsler reflected on the November 2013 trade that sent him from Texas to Detroit for first baseman Prince Fielder, whose career ended this week because of neck problems. “It’s the best thing that’s happened,” said Kinsler of the deal (via Jason Beck of MLB.com). “Toward the end of my time in Texas, things got kind of stale, so to be able to be traded to an organization like Detroit really allowed me to kind of reflect on who I was as a player and what I needed to do to improve.” The 34-year-old’s two-plus-season run with the Tigers has been a resounding success. Dating back to 2014, his first year with the club, Kinsler ranks eighth among major league position players in fWAR (13.8) and has hit .287/.331/.441 with 49 home runs in 1,906 plate appearances. Kinsler, who’s slashing a robust .291/.347/.488 with 21 homers and 13 stolen bases this season, regards Detroit as the “perfect place” for him and hopes to finish his career there. Going forward, Kinsler is due a reasonable $11MM next year and the Tigers have a $10MM club option for 2018.

More from Detroit and one other major league city:

  • Dodgers Triple-A outfielder Yasiel Puig spoke Saturday about the mini-controversy he created earlier this week after posting videos online of him and some Oklahoma City teammates drinking alcohol and shouting curse words into the camera. “I really didn’t know how to use Snapchat,” said Puig (per Doug Padilla of ESPN.com). “I was just playing around with my teammates. I just did something that was wrong.” Puig added that he believes the Dodgers demoted him to the minors to become “a better teammate,” which is his goal. On whether the Dodgers are prepared to sever their relationship with the 25-year-old Puig, manager Dave Roberts told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, “I think that’s up to Yasiel. If he chooses to continue to grow as a baseball player and as a man, then he’d be welcome back here.”
  • The Tigers haven’t gotten great early returns on their investment in right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, whom they signed to a five-year, $110MM deal in the offseason. Not only has the ex-National posted disappointing numbers – 4.44 ERA and a career-low 5.55 K/9 in 97 2/3 innings – he’s also on the disabled list for the second time this season because of back and neck issues. “It’s been the most frustrating year of my career,” said Zimmermann (via Evan Woodbery of MLive.com) “Going on two months on the (disabled list) and we still don’t really have a true answer.” Zimmermann missed all of July and then returned to start Aug. 4, but he lasted just 1 2/3 innings and allowed six earned runs on six hits and two walks before heading back to the DL. The 30-year-old is currently making progress in his recovery, but there’s no timetable for his return, writes Woodbery.
  • Another injured starter, the Dodgers’ Rich Hill, could debut for Los Angeles next Saturday, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Hill, whom the Dodgers acquired from Oakland at the non-waiver trade deadline, has been out since mid-July on account of blister problems on his pitching hand. The left-hander is scheduled to make a rehab start Monday with Triple-A Oklahoma City, and he’ll join the Dodgers if that goes well. However, the Dodgers have already had to postpone his first start in their uniform twice. Hill is confident that won’t happen again, though. “It’s healed and 100 percent ready to go and I look forward to getting out there,” said the 36-year-old.

NL Notes: Puig, Padres, Howard

By and | at

While much of the narrative surrounding Yasiel Puig’s demotion focuses on his personality, clubhouse demeanor and off-field/social media antics, ESPN’s Keith Law writes (Insider subscription required and recommended) that the largest factor in Puig’s demotion by the Dodgers is that he simply isn’t a good hitter right now. Law breaks down Puig’s approach at the plate, noting that he’s getting killed on inside fastballs that he once handled with aplomb and has become shockingly susceptible to offspeed and breaking pitches on the outer edge of the plate. Puig has swung and missed at nearly 29 percent of sliders, curveballs, and changeups on the outer third of the plate or just off the outer edge — a rate that is four times higher than his ability to put said pitches in play, Law notes. He surmises that Puig’s demotion isn’t about subtracting his personality from the clubhouse or even getting him back on track. Rather, Law concludes that a team in a tightly contested division race simply can’t afford to carry a hitter as poor as Puig currently is. Here’s more from the NL.

  • Padres lead investor Peter Seidler says the team’s seemingly ill-fated bid at contention last season was “probably pretty close to neutral” from a financial perspective, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal writes. The team’s acquisitions of Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, James Shields, Wil Myers, Craig Kimbrel and others only resulted in a disappointing season, although Seidler says they produced a “big pop” in revenue. Now, of course, the Padres have chosen a different direction, aiming to rebuild around young talent. “We’re taking all of our poker chips and putting it in the center of the table on this strategy,” says Seidler, although he does note that the Padres won’t be “intentionally bad” as they reset, deliberately putting a weak team on the field in the hopes of landing top draft picks.
  • Phillies manager Pete Mackanin says teams looking for offensive upgrades should pay attention to what Ryan Howard has done lately, Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com writes. “If I were a playoff team, I’d take notice,” says Mackanin. “What [Howard] did tonight is something he’s capable of doing, either as a DH or a pinch-hitter off the bench. He’s just swinging the bat, coming up with big hits.” That sounds like just a bit of salesmanship regarding a player who’s still hitting just .195/.244/.435, although Howard hit fairly well in July and is 10-for-20 with three home runs so far in August. The Phillies would also presumably be willing to take on some of the approximately $16MM remaining on Howard’s contract (including his $10MM 2017 buyout). As Seidman notes, though, there aren’t many obvious fits for Howard on contenders’ rosters.

Quick Hits: Astros, Dodgers, Mariners, Cubs

By | at

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow spoke about his decision to end the failed, short-lived Houston tenure of center fielder Carlos Gomez, whom the team designated for assignment Wednesday (via Brian McTaggart of MLB.com). “Carlos has put in 100 percent. We all see how much he enjoys playing the game and how much he cares about what happens,” said Luhnow, who traded a haul to Milwaukee for Gomez and right-hander Mike Fiers last July. “It’s one of those situations where for whatever reason it didn’t work out the way here he wanted to and we wanted to, and we felt it was the best interest of the organization and the team to move on and potentially get a fresh start somewhere else.”

Elsewhere around the majors…

  • The Dodgers are “disappointed” in Triple-A outfielder Yasiel Puig, team president Andrew Friedman said Tuesday, after the 25-year-old posted videos on Snapchat that included him and some of his Oklahoma City teammates drinking alcohol and shouting curse words into the camera (via Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times). It’s a minor incident – and one the Dodgers “will address internally,” stated Friedman – but not one the team wanted to deal with after demoting the polarizing Puig earlier this month. As McCullough notes, Puig remains a trade candidate.
  • Unfortunately for Friedman and the Dodgers, left-hander Rich Hill’s long-awaited return from finger blisters could be at least another week away, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com. Hill, whom Friedman acquired from Oakland at the non-waiver trade deadline, has now had his LA debut pushed back twice. He was initially supposed to take the mound last Sunday, which the team moved to Friday. But Hill won’t be able to go then, either, which means righty Ross Stripling will take his place. Further, considering he hasn’t faced hitters in a while, Hill might have to make a rehab start, per Gurnick. The 36-year-old hasn’t recorded a legitimate start since July 7. On July 17, which was his final outing with the A’s, Hill had to exit after five pitches because of his blister troubles. Thanks to both that issue and a groin strain, Hill has amassed only 12 innings since the beginning of June.
  • Mariners southpaw reliever Charlie Furbush will undergo surgery on the partially torn rotator cuff in his left arm Tuesday, writes Maddie Lee of MLB.com. Recovery time is expected to range from 12 to 18 months for Furbush, who told Lee, “Right now, I think, for me, a realistic goal would be Spring Training of 2018. But anything earlier than that and I’m on board.” Furbush, 30, was diagnosed with the injury last August and hasn’t taken a major league mound since last July. He was a dependable bullpen weapon for the Mariners until then, logging a 3.23 ERA, 10.32 K/9 and 3.03 BB/9 in 175 1/3 innings since 2012. Furbush also held left-handed hitters to a woeful .172/.243/.228 batting line during that span.
  • Major League Baseball has suspended Cubs right-handed prospect Luiz Escanio for 144 games without pay after he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, reports Carrie Muskat of MLB.com (Twitter link). That’s the second positive test for the 24-year-old Escanio, to whom the league handed a 72-game ban last summer after he was found to have used the anabolic steroid Stanozolol. Prior to his latest suspension, Escanio compiled a 1.45 ERA, 13.5 K/9 and 4.33 BB/9 in 18 2/3 innings in the Dominican Summer League.

NL Notes: Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers

By | at

The Dodgers’ oft-ridiculed offseason strategy of acquiring depth looks increasingly smart in retrospect, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes. The Dodgers’ front office has taken flak for the better part of a year for acquiring large numbers of solid players rather than acquiring or retaining stars like Cole Hamels, Zack Greinke and Andrew Miller. But the team is currently just one game back in the NL West, and leads the NL Wild Card race, despite making a ridiculous 26 DL placements this year. The Dodgers have gotten solid contributions from somewhat lower-profile additions like Kenta Maeda, Chase Utley, Joe Blanton and Louis Coleman, not to mention players like Adam Liberatore, Grant Dayton, Andrew Toles and Josh Fields, who arrived in moves that were downright minor. Here’s more from the National League.

  • The Phillies could promote outfield prospects Roman Quinn and Nick Williams, but are less likely to promote top prospect J.P. Crawford, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes. Quinn is already on the team’s 40-man roster, while Williams must be added this offseason anyway in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. Quinn has hit well this season for Double-A Reading (.297/.370/.420) and Williams has held his own at Triple-A Lehigh Valley (.281/.311/.462), so they could at least be September callups, although, as Salisbury notes, it will be difficult for the Phillies to balance playing time for Quinn, Williams, Aaron Altherr, Odubel Herrera, and several other outfield options. Crawford is more highly rated than Williams or Quinn (MLB.com ranks him the third-best prospect in all of baseball), but it will be tricky for the Phillies to promote Crawford before the end of the season, since they have a variety of prospects to protect on their 40-man roster this offseason and Crawford doesn’t need to be added.
  • The Brewers have announced that a pair of prospects have inched closer to the minor leagues, with lefty Wei-Chung Wang moving from Double-A Biloxi to Triple-A Colorado Springs and righty Devin Williams heading from Class A Wisconsin to Class A+ Brevard County. Wang was only 20 and had never played above the Gulf Coast League when the Brewers selected him in the Rule 5 Draft in 2013. He predictably struggled in big-league action the next year and looked like he might become a cautionary tale about how the Rule 5 Draft can derail a player’s development if he isn’t ready for the big leagues. Since then, though, he has since worked his way back through the Brewers’ system to reestablish himself as a prospect, posting a 3.52 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 107 1/3 innings with Biloxi this season. The 21-year-old Williams, the Brewers’ first selection in the 2013 draft, posted a 3.61 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9 in 72 1/3 innings for Wisconsin.

NL News & Rumors: CarGo, Utley, Rizzo, Roark, Giants

By | at

Here’s the latest from the senior circuit…

  • Carlos Gonzalez was removed from the second inning of tonight’s game due to left ankle inflammation, as noted by several reporters (including MLB.com’s Thomas Harding).  The Rockies star sprained that same ankle last Wednesday and has missed two of Colorado’s four games in the interim.  It’s a situation worth monitoring given Gonzalez’s checkered injury history, not to mention the Rockies’ attempt to stay afloat in the NL wild card race.  Losing Gonzalez for any extended amount of time is an obvious blow for the Rox, naturally, though the club did get some outfield reinforcements when Gerardo Parra was activated off the DL today.
  • Chase Utley told reporters, including Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times (Twitter link), that he intends to play in the 2017 season.  Utley, who turns 38 in December, will be a free agent at season’s end and was still putting up above-average offensive numbers as recently as 2014.  He has somewhat rebounded (.250/.327/.372 with seven homers in 395 PA) this season after a very rough 2015, and he is still providing solid glovework at second base.  Utley could have a tough time matching the one-year, $7MM contract he got from the Dodgers last winter, though teams will certainly take a look at a respected veteran with Utley’s excellent career track record.
  • The trade that brought Tanner Roark to the Nationals may be the best of GM Mike Rizzo’s career with the club, as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman gives his ranking of Rizzo’s top 10 trades.  Roark and Ryan Tatusko were acquired in a July 2010 deadline deal that sent Cristian Guzman to the Rangers, and Guzman’s 15 games with Texas ended up being the last of his career.  Roark wasn’t a heralded prospect at the time (Tatusko was actually a better-regarded arm) but the right-hander has blossomed into a major contributor on Washington’s staff.
  • The Giants aren’t likely to add any major pieces during the August waiver trade period, Grant Brisbee of the McCovey Chronicles opines.  Exceptions could be made in the case of injury or if the Giants unexpectedly end up with a player they claimed only as a blocking maneuver (a la their pickup of Cody Ross in 2010), though Brisbee notes that there are seemingly few cost-effective players available at San Francisco’s positions of need who would actually be upgrades.

NL Notes: Brewers, Kershaw, Peralta, Rockies

By | at

Brewers general manager David Stearns spoke with Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about the difference between the would-be return for the vetoed Jonathan Lucroy trade with the Indians and the actual return he received from the Rangers in exchange for Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress. While Milwaukee will end up with three players in exchange for Lucroy and Jeffress in the Rangers trade (as opposed to the four they’d have received from Cleveland for Lucroy alone), the Brewers landed players that are much closer to the big leagues in Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz than they would’ve in a Cleveland package that was headlined by Class-A catcher Francisco Mejia. Stearns also added that he’d received “indications” that Lucroy would approve a trade to Cleveland, though he declined to get into specifics about those indications and what they entailed. Lucroy’s rejection of the trade didn’t alter negotiations with other clubs much, according to Stearns, who tells Haudricourt that there was a robust market for his now-former catcher both before and after talks with Cleveland.

A few more notes from the Senior Circuit…

  • Clayton Kershaw played catch yesterday for the first time since suffering a setback after throwing a simulated game on July 17, as MLB.com’s Jack Baer writes. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has already stated that Kershaw won’t be back until September, and as Baer notes, that rules out a possible minor league rehab assignment for Kershaw, as the minor league season comes to a close at the end of August. Kershaw, instead, will rely on bullpen sessions, live batting practice and simulated games to get back up to speed in an effort to help the Dodgers down the stretch.
  • Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta, who was placed on the disabled list for the third time this season yesterday, will undergo an MRI on his bothersome right wrist today, writes MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. This stint marks the second of Peralta’s three DL trips that has stemmed from inflammation in his right wrist, and Gilbert writes that Peralta was informed last year (when he injured the wrist for the first time) that he may have irritated a ligament.
  • The return of Gerardo Parra from the disabled list gives the Rockies four left-handed-hitting outfielders for three spots now that rookie David Dahl has cemented his place in the lineup, writes the Denver Post’s Nick Kosmider. “I’m not sure how it’s going to work out,” said manager Walt Weiss of the moderate logjam with which he is now faced. “I’ve got four really good outfielders, and they are all major league-quality outfielders. I’ve got to keep them all involved. … We can play matchups, those kinds of things. I can’t look into the future and say exactly how it’s going to go. … Parra’s a big part of this moving forward, as are the other three guys. It’s a nice issue to have.” While it seems unlikely that any of the four would be moved in the month of August, the presence of all four outfielders on the Rockies’ roster figures to lead to further speculation surrounding a possible trade of Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon or Parra this offseason.
Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top