Dodgers Rumors

NL Notes: Padres, D-backs, Dodgers, Nats

By Connor Byrne | June 4, 2016 at 10:26pm CDT

Padres general manager A.J. Preller told reporters – including AJ Cassavell of MLB.com – that four to five clubs called him with interest in right-hander James Shields, whom San Diego ended up trading to the White Sox on Saturday. With the Shields trade out of the way, Preller doesn’t expect to do much else until things heat up around the trade deadline, he added.

More from San Diego and a few other NL cities:

There’s a “pretty good possibility” righty Erik Johnson, one of the two players the Padres received for Shields, will slot into their rotation as Shields’ long-term replacement, manager Andy Green said (Twitter link via Cassavell). For now, the Padres have optioned Johnson to Triple-A El Paso, according to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (on Twitter).
Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa told Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports that the club has “no regrets” about the widely panned offseason trade that sent Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair to Atlanta for righty Shelby Miller. Nevertheless, La Russa believes that Swanson – the top pick in last year’s draft – “will be a star” in the majors.
Injured Dodgers starters Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy are unlikely to make it back before the All-Star break, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter links here). Ryu, who had a setback last week with his surgically repaired left shoulder, will need to make at least four rehab starts before he can return to the majors. He has to resume throwing first, however. McCarthy also isn’t ready to begin a rehab assignment. In the meantime, the 2015 Tommy John recipient will throw a three-inning, 60-pitch sim game at some point in the coming days.
Right-hander Bronson Arroyo is recovering well from partial tears in his rotator cuff tendons and hopes to pitch for the Nationals this season, Bill Ladson of MLB.com relays. Arroyo, whose injury forced him to use a sidearm delivery in early May, is now healthy enough to throw from a three-quarter arm slot, Ladson writes. “I guess my shoulder has turned the corner,” Arroyo told Ladson. “Now, the shoulder feels pretty good. It’s little less pressure throwing sidearm, but it has been OK throwing over the top. “ The 39-year-old, who hasn’t appeared in the majors since 2014, has been pitching intrasquad games at the Nationals’ spring training complex in Florida. He’s likely to make five more starts there before the team reevaluates him July 1. If all goes well, Arroyo could then begin a rehab assignment and perhaps join the Nationals down the stretch. Arroyo has started in the vast majority of his major league appearances (369 of 405), but he told Ladson he’d be willing to work out of the Nats’ bullpen.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/4/16

By charliewilmoth | June 4, 2016 at 6:32pm CDT

Here are today’s minor moves from around the game.

The Dodgers have outrighted James Ramsey to Triple-A Oklahoma after he cleared waivers, per a club announcement. Los Angeles designated the outfielder for assignment a week ago. The 26-year-old has slashed just .222/.285/.429 with five home runs in 138 minor league plate appearances this season.
Mets right-hander Jeff Walters cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Las Vegas, the team announced. New York designated Walters for assignment earlier this week to make room for James Loney. Walters, 28, has a 9.27 ERA in 22 1/3 innings with Las Vegas this season.
Right-hander Nick Tepesch has requested and been granted his release from his minor league contract with the Rangers, according to the team’s executive vice president of communications, John Blake (Twitter link). Tepesch appeared in 42 games — 39 of them starts — for the Rangers from 2013-14, logging a 4.56 ERA with 5.4 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 219 innings. The 27-year-old missed the 2015 season and underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August.
The White Sox have signed free agent catcher Janigson Villalobos to a minor league contract, the team announced. Villalobos, 19, is a native of Venezuela.

Earlier updates:

The Angels have announced that they’ve selected the contract of righty Deolis Guerra and placed fellow righty Nick Tropeano on the 15-day DL with right shoulder tightness. Guerra has been a fixture on the transactions lists recently — the Angels designated him for assignment and then outrighted him just this week. He’s allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings in the big leagues this season. As for Tropeano, the Angels scratched him yesterday from his start today. Jhoulys Chacin will start in his place.
The Dodgers have released lefty reliever Joe Thatcher, SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets. Thatcher had previously exercised an opt-out clause in his minor-league deal, opening a brief window in which the Dodgers could add him to their active roster or let him go, and it appears they’ve chosen the latter option. The 34-year-old pitched reasonably well with the Astros last season and had a 3.60 ERA, 12.6 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 in 15 innings with Triple-A Oklahoma City this year.
The White Sox have announced that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Jason Coats from Triple-A Charlotte. He’ll take the 25-man roster spot of righty Tommy Kahnle, who was optioned last night; Kahnle himself had briefly taken the spot of corner outfielder Melky Cabrera, who was placed on the family emergency leave list yesterday. The 26-year-old Coats looked like a fringe prospect heading into the 2016 season, but he’s had a breakout year at Charlotte, batting .335/.399/.567 with 22 extra-base hits. He’s starting in left field and batting seventh for the Sox today against the Tigers.
The Pirates announced a variety of moves related to their bullpen — they’ve selected the contract of righty Curtis Partch, recalled lefty Cory Luebke from Triple-A Indianapolis, optioned righties Wilfredo Boscan and Rob Scahill to Indianapolis, and moved righty Ryan Vogelsong (facial fractures) to the 60-day DL. The moves provide the Bucs with fresh relief options after Boscan and Scahill each pitched multiple innings last night. The hard-throwing Partch last pitched in the big leagues in 2014 with the Reds. He’s gotten great results so far this season for Indianapolis, with a 1.30 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 27 2/3 innings.
Utilityman Emmanuel Burriss has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the Phillies have announced. The Phillies designated Burriss for assignment on Wednesday after he struggled in brief duty in the big leagues this season.

Dodgers Place Yasiel Puig On 15-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | June 3, 2016 at 9:12pm CDT

The Dodgers have placed outfielder Yasiel Puig on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain, per a team announcement (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, on Twitter). Scott Van Slyke has returned from his own DL stint to join the club in Puig’s stead.

It has been a trying year for the 25-year-old. Hopes were that he’d return to the stellar play he showed over 2013-14, but Puig has fallen shy even of the reduced version of himself that was on display last season.

Over his first 198 plate appearances, he’s compiled a meager .237/.283/.360 batting line with a handful of home runs and four steals. On the positive side, defensive metrics have been quite high on his work in right field, representing a turnaround in that regard.

It doesn’t appear that the injury is a serious one, as the club waited until the last minute to decide on the DL placement. But this is hardly the first time that Puig has been felled by this particular injury, increasing the level of concern. If there’s a silver lining, it could be that Puig may end up with a chance at a rehab stint to sort out some of his issues at the plate.

Los Angeles does not figure to go looking outside the organization for help — unless, perhaps, it turns into a much longer absence than is expected. The team already cut loose Alex Guerrero recently because of its stock of outfielders, and the return of Van Slyke further bolsters a deep unit.

Opt-Outs: Joe Thatcher, Hak-Ju Lee

By Steve Adams | June 2, 2016 at 11:36am CDT

June 1 serves as a common date for opt-out clauses in minor league contracts, and as such, there figure to be a few players on the verge of free agency. It’s already been reported that Travis Snider won’t opt out of his deal with the Royals, and we’ll keep track of the rest of the day’s opt-out decisions in this post…

Veteran lefty Joe Thatcher has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league deal with the Dodgers, tweets SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo. The Dodgers have until Saturday to add him to the big league roster or he’ll be a free agent. Thatcher, 34, spent the 2015 season with the Astros and totaled 22 2/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball with a 26-to-12 K/BB ratio. Thatcher didn’t display his typical excellence against lefties, yielding a .241/.362/.321 batting line to same-handed opponents, but he’s an overall line of .232/.298/.348 to lefty batters in his big league career. He has a 3.86 ERA with a 20-to-5 K/BB ratio in 14 innings at the Triple-A level thus far in 2016 and could get a look elsewhere as a situational lefty if the Dodgers elect not to add him to the big league bullpen.
Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee has also exercised a June 1 opt-out in his minors deal with the Giants, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). Lee, a former Top 100 prospect with the Cubs and Rays, is hitting .263/.343/.378 with three homers and four steals in 45 games/178 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento this season. San Francisco has 72 hours to add him to the active roster. The 25-year-old has played shortstop almost exclusively throughout his career but has logged a pair of games at third base this season. Lee’s career was slowed by a collision at second base in 2013 that left him with multiple torn ligaments in his left knee, and he hasn’t topped 100 games in a season since 2012 (though he’s healthy and on pace to do so in 2016). Baseball America wrote prior to the 2015 season that Lee possessed above-average range, a plus throwing arm and soft hands at shortstop.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/1/16

By Jeff Todd | June 1, 2016 at 10:40pm CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves:

Just 24 hours after sending Brendan Ryan outright to Triple-A, the Angels have once again selected his contract, the club announced today. The team selected the contract of Javy Guerra, another recently outrighted veteran, from Salt Lake as well. Pennington and left-hander Chris Jones hit the disabled list today, creating an opening in the infield and in the bullpen. Ryan, of course, didn’t even have time to get a game in at Triple-A following his outright, but Guerra rattled off five innings of dominant relief following his recent outright. In that time, he yielded just one hit and struck out seven hitters without issuing a walk.

Earlier Moves

The Angels outrighted infielder Brendan Ryan to Triple-A after he cleared waivers, the club has announced yesterday. Ryan, 34, got into 11 games with the Halos, failing to reach base and recording six whiffs in a dozen plate appearances. Of course, he’s never done much damage with the bat: over ten seasons in the majors, Ryan owns only a .233/.293/.314 batting line. But the veteran has always been valued highly for his glovework, and he could have a new opportunity before long, as Cliff Pennington seems likely to return to the DL.
Righty Gus Schlosser is headed to the Dodgers on a minor league deal, as Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com reports. Schlosser dominated the Atlantic League this year with the Somerset Patriots, earning him a return to the affiliated ranks. The 27-year-old cracked the majors in 2014 with the Braves, allowing 7.64 earned per nine over 17 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts and six walks. He spent last year at the Double-A level in the Rockies organization.

Alex Wood Has Elbow Impingement, Won’t Throw For Four Weeks

By Steve Adams | June 1, 2016 at 10:24pm CDT

The Dodgers announced tonight that an MRI on the left arm of starter Alex Wood has revealed a posterior elbow impingement, which will require four weeks of rest (Twitter link). Per their announcement, he’ll be reevaluated at that time. With a layoff of nearly a month from throwing, Wood seems like a lock to require a minor league rehab assignment before returning, so an absence of at least six weeks (through the All-Star break) seems like a reasonable floor, and the potential for him to miss more time than that certainly exists.

Wood, 25, had rounded into form after a slow start with the Dodgers to open the year. Over his past six outings, a span of 35 1/3 innings, he’d worked to a 2.80 ERA with a scintillating 50-to-8 K/BB ratio and a 43.2 percent ground-ball rate. Wood’s unorthodox delivery has led some to tab him as an injury risk in the past, though this is the first time he’s landed on the Major League disabled list with an arm injury (or with any injury, for that matter). Last season, he totaled 189 2/3 of 3.84 ERA ball between the Braves and Dodgers, who acquired him from Atlanta in the much-maligned Hector Olivera trade.

The Dodgers had already placed Wood on the disabled list and brought Julio Urias back from Triple-A prior to the MRI, and it’ll be Urias who starts in Wood’s place for tomorrow’s matchup against the Cubs. Wood joins left-handers Brett Anderson and Hyun-jin Ryu as well as right-handers Brandon McCarthy and Frankie Montas as injured rotation options on the Dodgers’ disabled list. With him on the shelf, Los Angeles will lean on Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, Kenta Maeda, Mike Bolsinger and, presumably, Urias in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Other alternatives at the Triple-A level include Ross Stripling, Carlos Frias and Zach Lee.

The Dodgers’ rotation entered play today with the third-best ERA of any team in the Majors, though that mark is skewed to some extent by Kershaw’s dominance. As a collective unit they’ve posted a strong 3.41 ERA, but non-Kershaw starters have provided skipper Dave Roberts and his staff with a more pedestrian 4.14 ERA. The Dodgers clearly have a number of starters that could return from the disabled list to bolster the middle and back-end of the rotation, though given the uncertainties permeating the staff, the top-heavy nature of the rotation and the front office’s active nature, it shouldn’t come as a shock if the Dodgers are connected to potential rotation upgrades on the trade market this summer.

Injury Notes: Dodgers, Joseph, Romo, Perkins, Minor

By Steve Adams | May 31, 2016 at 7:49pm CDT

The Dodgers will place left-hander Alex Wood on the 15-day disabled list with soreness in his left elbow and will recall fellow lefty Julio Urias from Triple-A just a few days after optioning him back to the minors, reports Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter). McCullough tweets that Wood’s injury is not structural, though he informed the team earlier in the day that he’s has some lingering soreness in his triceps. It’s not entirely certain that Urias will step into the rotation for Wood, McCullough notes. That decision will be impacted by righty Kenta Maeda, who has some swelling in his right hand after being hit by a comeback line drive over the weekend.

A few more notes on some injury situations from around the league…

The Orioles have placed backup catcher Caleb Joseph on the 15-day disabled list after he underwent surgery for a testicular injury sustained over the weekend when he took an unfortunately placed foul ball, tweets Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun. Encina wrote earlier in the day that the injury was sustained on a foul tip in the eighth inning of yesterday’s contest. As MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko writes, the O’s have recalled Francisco Pena from Triple-A, and he’ll receive an equal workload to the one that had been shouldered by Joseph. In other words, Matt Wieters’ workload will not increase in light of Joseph’s absence. “We’re not going to start pushing up his load and jeopardize something down the road,” said manager Buck Showalter of Wieters. “He may feel differently, but we’ll take it day to day. Shouldn’t change anything about that, but we’ll see.”
Giants right-hander Sergio Romo has had a setback in his rehab from a flexor strain in his right elbow, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). Romo has been experiencing tenderness in his right elbow, which prompted the Giants to order an MRI on their longtime late-inning reliever. On the positive side, Schulman notes that the MRI didn’t reveal any structural damage. However, he’ll still be backed off for four to five days, making it unlikely that he’ll be back with the team anytime soon.
Twins closer Glen Perkins suffered a setback in his return from a shoulder injury earlier this month, but assistant GM Rob Antony told reporters, including Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link), that Perkins’ throwing program since that time has been going well. The Minnesota native and career-long Twin will throw his first mound session since hitting the DL back on April 13 this coming Saturday. He’s pitched in just two games this season — a significant factor the Twins’ season-long bullpen woes.
Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star writes that Royals left-hander Mike Minor returned to Kansas City today to have his surgically repaired left shoulder checked out by the Major League training staff. Minor, who signed a two-year deal this winter on the heels of the aforementioned surgery, has been dealing with some fatigue in that shoulder. Manager Ned Yost said the team doesn’t consider the injury to be serious at this time and isn’t calling the fatigue a setback, though as Dodd notes, he’s just over a week away from the end of his 30-day rehab window, which comes to a close on June 9.

Dodgers Designate Alex Guerrero For Assignment

By Jeff Todd | May 31, 2016 at 6:06pm CDT

6:06pm: The Dodgers have now announced that Guerrero has indeed been designated for assignment.

2:44pm: The Dodgers are expected to designate utilityman Alex Guerrero for assignment, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group (via Twitter), though the transaction remains unannounced. Guerrero’s rehab assignment for a knee injury is set to wrap up today, forcing the team to make a decision on his roster status.

Los Angeles has long been in a tight spot with the 29-year-old, whose international free agent contract allows him to reject an optional assignment. Plus, if he’s traded, Guerrero would be able to elect free agency in the winter following the deal, which limits his future control rights for potential trade partners.

There doesn’t appear to be much of a fit for Guerrero on the present L.A. roster. While he has seen MLB action in the corner outfield and third base, and spent most of his career in Cuba in the middle infield, he’s generally regarded as a subpar fielder. And the Dodgers already have plenty of versatile options settled in at those positions.

Guerrero has shown promise at times with the bat, though he faded after a hot start last year and ended up with a .233/.261/.434 slash and 11 home runs in 230 plate appearances. And he hasn’t helped himself with his recent performance. After tearing up the minors in his first trip through the system, Guerrero owns a meager .136/.162/.197 batting line in his 68 plate appearances on his rehab stint this season.

With little in the way of future value, not much of a track record, a lack of a clear defensive position, and a relatively hefty $5MM salary, it’s not difficult to see why other organizations haven’t jumped at the chance to add Guerrero. Ultimately, it seems that the Dodgers will have little to show for the $28MM they guaranteed him back in October of 2013. The club has also struck out thus far on Erisbel Arruebarrena, a fellow Cuban signed just months later to a $25MM deal. Of course, the Dodgers have been far more successful with several other large international expenditures.

Injury Notes: Hill, Ryu, McCarthy, Zimmermann, Ackley

By Jeff Todd | May 29, 2016 at 7:43pm CDT

The Athletics suffered a bit of a scare today as surprise staff ace Rich Hill left his outing early. It’s being diagnosed as only a “real mild groin strain,” though, manager Bob Melvin told reporters including Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area reports (Twitter links). Hill himself suggested that he doesn’t expect to miss a start, let alone require a DL placement, though obviously that’ll depend upon how the injury progresses. Oakland will obviously hope that Hill can keep up his impressive start to the year — a 2.25 ERA through 11 starts, with more strikeouts than hits and walks allowed — in order to help keep the club alive in the AL West or otherwise turn into a prime trade chip.

Here are some more health-related matters of note around the game:

Dodgers lefty Hyun-jin Ryu needs to skip at least one start after experiencing shoulder soreness, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports. Manager Dave Roberts says that he’s not yet sure what to expect in terms of Ryu’s timeline, in a video tweeted by J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group. “We were kind of thinking middle of June,” Roberts said of Ryu’s anticipated return to the majors. “With this little setback, it pushes that back.”
Fellow Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy is still making positive strides in his own rehab, as Hoornstra further notes on Twitter. The veteran righty is set to face live hitters tomorrow, marking an important point in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Tigers righty Jordan Zimmermann is nearly ready to return from his recent groin injury. Per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, via Twitter, the veteran hurler will start on Friday so long as a bullpen session tomorrow doesn’t give rise to any concerns.
Dustin Ackley is out of action for the Yankees and may well be facing a DL stint after suffering a shoulder injury, Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog reports. New York could turn to veterans Nick Swisher or Chris Parmelee, both of whom are playing at Triple-A, Jennings suggests. It appears, though, that the club will look to get Mark Teixeira back in the lineup rather than reaching into the minors for another option at first, per George A. King III of the New York Post. That could allow the team to shore up another area, without implicating the 40-man roster, if Ackley hits the disabled list.

Quick Hits: Mets-Dodgers, Cutch, Lincecum, Brantley

By Connor Byrne | May 28, 2016 at 10:38pm CDT

The Mets and Dodgers are locked in an unusual feud, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. New York contacted Major League Baseball on Friday after finding out that Los Angeles wanted to mark prearranged defensive positions in the Citi Field outfield, according to Rosenthal. The league is cognizant of the fact that the Dodgers used a laser rangefinder before the game to mark positions, but that’s only a violation of MLB rules if it’s done during the game. Further, given that the Dodgers actually informed the Mets’ grounds crew of their plans, there wasn’t any subterfuge on LA’s part. Nevertheless, the grounds crew notified their superiors after the Dodgers told them their outfielders would dig holes in the grass with their cleats if the markers were taken out, leading to this battle between the two sides.

The Dodgers, by the way, evened the teams’ three-game weekend series Saturday in a 9-1 rout. Notably, the game featured third-inning ejections of Mets starter Noah Syndergaard and manager Terry Collins after the ace threw behind LA second baseman Chase Utley. A hated rival thanks to both his time with the division-rival Phillies and, more recently, his slide that broke the leg of then-Met Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS, Utley went on to belt two homers and drive in five runs.

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