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Pirates Acquire Andre Jackson

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The Pirates and Dodgers have worked out a trade that will send right-hander Andre Jackson to Pittsburgh, FanSided’s Robert Murray reports (via Twitter).  The Pirates have announced the trade, adding that Jackson has been optioned to Triple-A and that the Dodgers are getting cash considerations in return.  Mark Mathias has been designated for assignment to open up space on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster.

The Dodgers designated Jackson for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for Ryan Brasier.  He’ll now change organizations for the first time in a pro career that began when the Dodgers selected Jackson in the 12th round of the 2017 draft.  The righty has appeared in each of the last three Major League seasons, with a total of 39 innings on his resume.

While Jackson had a 2.11 ERA over 21 1/3 innings in 2021-22, things haven’t gone as smoothly this year, as Jackson had a 6.62 ERA in 17 2/3 frames of work.  The long ball has been Jackson’s biggest nemesis, as after giving up just one home run in 2021-22, he has already allowed five homers this season.  It isn’t exactly a new problem for the right-hander, as he has trouble keeping the ball in the park over his three seasons at Triple-A (in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League).

Between the homers and an inflated 14.77% walk rate, Jackson has a 5.21 ERA in 129 2/3 career innings at the Triple-A level, with a 22.07% strikeout rate.  It isn’t the most promising set of numbers, yet as a pitcher capable of working as a traditional starter or long reliever, Jackson has some interesting value as at least a depth arm, particularly to a pitching-needy team like Pittsburgh.

With multiple relievers on the injured list, the Pirates will likely explore Jackson as a reliever first and foremost, or possibly as a bulk pitcher behind an opener if the Bucs get creative with their rotation.  Tomorrow’s off-day is the Pirates’ last free day until the All-Star break, and coming off a stretch of 13 games in 13 days, the Pirates might be looking for spot-start possibilities.

Pittsburgh acquired Mathias in a trade with the Rangers in March, and the utilityman has been shuttled back and forth several times between the majors and Triple-A.  Mathias has hit .231/.355/.269 over 62 plate appearances, playing mostly as a second baseman with a pair of other appearances in right field.  2023 is Mathias’ third Major League season, after he previously appeared in 16 games with the Brewers in 2020 and a combined 30 games with Milwaukee and Texas in 2022.  In between, Mathias spent the 2021 campaign recovering from shoulder surgery.

If Mathias clears waivers, he has the right to reject a possible outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis.  Because Mathias has been outrighted before in his career, he has the option of turning down another outright from the Bucs and instead can become a free agent.

Dodgers Notes: Muncy, Rotation, Thor

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters today (including Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) that he expects infielder Max Muncy to return to the lineup at third base for Tuesday’s game against the Rockies in Denver. J.P. Hoornstra of The Orange County Register adds that the club will wait to see how Muncy feels following Tuesday’s game before determining whether or not he’s ready to play on back-to-back days.

Muncy’s return figures to provide a huge boost to a beleaguered Dodgers club that’s been outscored 44-29 since he last played on June 11. While the 32-year-old slugger has hit above the Mendoza line just once in the past four seasons, his overall slash line of .214/.342/.450 is good for a wRC+ that’s 18% better than league average during that time frame. That’s thanks to Muncy sporting a combination of power and plate discipline that stands among the game’s best. Since joining the Dodgers in 2018, Muncy ranks 4th in the NL in both walk rate (15.4%) and home runs (157). Michael Busch has held down the fort at third base while Muncy was on the shelf.

Also set to re-join the club in the coming days is lefty Julio Urias, who Hoornstra notes is expected to return to the club during next weekend’s series in Kansas City. A free agent at season’s end, Urias will look to improve upon the uncharacteristic 4.39 ERA and 5.30 FIP he posted across his first 11 starts of the season prior to hitting the injured list. Urias figures to be among the top free agents available this offseason behind Shohei Ohtani, even after his struggles to start the season, given his pedigree as a hurler with a career ERA of 2.95 who won’t turn 27 until August.

Hoornstra adds that, according to Roberts, young right-handers Emmet Sheehan and Bobby Miller both figure to remain in the rotation even after Urias is activated. Roberts heaped praise on the pair of youngsters, describing their performance at the big league level so far as “100th percentile” when it comes to handling the opportunity to pitch in the majors. Entering play today, Sheehan has posted a 1.50 ERA across two starts with the club while Miller has impressed to the tune of a 2.83 ERA in five starts.

That figures to leave right-hander Noah Syndergaard without a job in the rotation going forward. As noted by Hoornstra, the right-hander threw three simulated innings prior to today’s game against the Astros, without being hindered by the blister that sent him to the 15-day IL earlier this month. That being said, Roberts described Syndergaard’s session today as simply “checking a box” for the right-hander, adding that “we’re still a ways away” from Syndergaard returning to the active roster. After signing a one-year deal with the Dodgers this past winter, Syndergaard has struggled badly with a 7.16 ERA in 55 1/3 innings of work.

NL West Notes: Suter, Wacha, Sheehan

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The Rockies placed left-hander Brent Suter on the 15-day injured list yesterday due to a left oblique strain, and recalled righty Noah Davis from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Suter has posted his typically low strikeout rate and his 8.1% walk rate is barely above league average, but the 33-year-old has nonetheless worked to a 2.81 ERA over 41 2/3 innings out of Colorado’s bullpen.  Suter has allowed only two home runs over those 41 2/3 frames, and he has some of the best soft-contact numbers of any pitcher in baseball, sitting in the 99th percentile of hard-hit ball rate and in the 97th percentile of barrel rate.

Losing Suter to the IL is another blow to the injury-riddled Rockies, but the particular timing of the oblique problem adds some doubt to the southpaw’s value as a trade chip.  Suter is a free agent after the season, and thus a logical player for the Rockies to shop in what looks like another non-contending season for the club.  While oblique injuries can vary greatly in severity, it appears that Suter’s issue is relatively minor, as he told MLB.com that he was still feeling good and was planning to continue playing catch.

More from around the NL West…

  • Knuckleballer Matt Waldron will start today’s game for the Padres, as Michael Wacha (the original scheduled starter) will skip a turn in the rotation due to some shoulder fatigue.  Manager Bob Melvin described the move as “proactive,” telling the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Jeff Sanders and other reporters that Wacha has “got a little bit of history there with the shoulder.  He’s been as good as any pitcher in the National League so this is something we don’t want to push.”  Wacha has missed some time with shoulder issues in three of the last four seasons but not any truly significant time, making this seemingly more of a nagging injury than a top-tier concern.  Wacha has a 2.90 ERA over 80 2/3 innings for San Diego this season, with a 1.7 fWAR that leads all Padres pitchers.  Despite a below-average strikeout rate, Wacha has relied on soft contact and good control to achieve that ERA, and both his changeup and (due to some batted-ball luck) four-seamer have been premium pitches.
  • Emmet Sheehan’s MLB career is off to a tremendous start, as the Dodgers prospect has a 1.50 ERA over his first 12 innings in the Show.  Sheehan held the Astros to two runs over six frames in yesterday’s 3-2 Los Angeles victory, earning his first big league win in the process.  Unsurprisingly, this success has earned Sheehan a continued look, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya) that Sheehan will get another start next week.  Julio Urias, Noah Syndergaard, and Dustin May are all on the IL, and while Urias might be back within a week or so, L.A. has had to rely on younger arms to join Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin in the rotation.  Sheehan and Bobby Miller have done well to pick up the slack, while Michael Grove has been less consistent.  Roberts said that Grove will work as a bulk pitcher behind an opener on Wednesday, when the Dodgers play the Rockies.

Red Sox Acquire Tayler Scott From Dodgers

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The Red Sox announced that they have acquired right-hander Tayler Scott from the Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations. Scott had been designated for assignment by the Dodgers on the weekend. To make room on the 40-man roster for Scott, the Red Sox transferred righty John Schreiber to the 60-day injured list.

Scott, 31, was signed by the Dodgers to a minor league deal in the offseason. He’s posted strong results in Triple-A this year, with a 1.37 ERA in 19 2/3 frames. His 12.5% walk rate is definitely on the high side but he’s paired that with a 31.3% strikeout rate. He was able to get added to the club’s 40-man roster but struggled in six big league innings, allowing six earned runs in that time. He was designated for assignment when the club added Bryan Hudson to the roster.

Prior to this year, Scott had seen some big league time with the Mariners, Orioles and Padres. He now has 34 1/3 innings of major league experience but with a 10.75 ERA in that small sample. That’s obviously less than ideal, but he’s generally fared much better in the minors. In 188 Triple-A innings over five separate seasons, he has a 4.02 ERA. He’s punched out 26.7% of batters faced at that level while walking 9.6%.

Scott has one option year remaining, which will likely be used here in 2023. A player has to spend 20 days on optional assignment before they burn one of their options and Scott is at 11 for the year so far. The Sox can move him from the majors to the minors fairly freely for the rest of the season, but he will likely be out of options for 2024. Though he hasn’t had much major league success yet, he’s shown flashes of promise in the minors and they will see if he can unlock that in the big leagues for them.

As for Schreiber, he’s been on the injured list since May 16 due to a right teres major strain. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be mid-July. A recent report from MLB.com indicated that he had yet to advance to mound work. Since he still needs to ramp up and go on a rehab assignment, he may not have been in line to return before the middle of July anyway.

MLBTR Trade Rumors Podcast: Exciting Youth Movements in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, Bad Central Divisions and the Dodgers Want Pitching

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

  • the Pirates promote Henry Davis (1:20)
  • the scorching-hot Reds designate Wil Myers for assignment (7:35)
  • Guardians promote Gavin Williams (10:40)
  • White Sox want to sell rental pieces only (16:20)
  • Dodgers need pitching (19:15)

Plus, we answer your questions, including:

  • Do you think the Cubs will deal Christopher Morel at the deadline? (22:45)
  • What are the chances the Diamondbacks promote Jordan Lawlar later this season? (25:50)
  • If Rangers make a blockbuster trade who would you think it would be? Obviously bullpen is a need but what is something blockbuster worthy? (29:45)

Check out our past episodes!

Dodgers Sign David Dahl To Minor League Contract

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Veteran outfielder David Dahl has signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, according to Triple-A communications director Alex Freedman (Twitter link). He’s joining their top affiliate in Oklahoma City.

It’s the third career NL West organization for Dahl. He’s best known for his time with the Rockies, where he flashed middle-of-the-order potential and was nominated to the 2019 All-Star Game. Injuries derailed his Colorado tenure, though, and Dahl hasn’t gotten much of a big league look since hitting .210/.247/.322 in 63 games for the 2021 Rangers.

After splitting the ’22 campaign between a handful of Triple-A clubs, Dahl returned to the majors this season. He broke camp with the Padres after an offseason non-roster contract. He got into four MLB games before a quad strain sent him to the injured list. After he returned, he was optioned to Triple-A. Dahl hit .265/.342/.382 in 17 games there before being designated for assignment two weeks ago.

Upon clearing waivers, Dahl tested minor league free agency. He finds a new landing spot with the Dodgers, where he’ll try to hit his way back to the big league level. Los Angeles has Jason Heyward and rookie Jonny DeLuca backing up their starting outfield of Mookie Betts, James Outman and David Peralta for the moment. Dahl joins Kole Calhoun as a veteran depth option in Triple-A. Steven Duggar is also on the OKC roster but he has been on the injured list since June 9.

Dodgers Designate Andre Jackson For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced they’ve designated right-hander Andre Jackson for assignment. His 40-man roster spot will go to righty Ryan Brasier, whose promotion was reported earlier. Left-hander Bryan Hudson was optioned to open a spot for Brasier on the active roster.

Jackson has spent his entire career in the L.A. organization. Originally selected in the 12th round of the 2017 draft, he made it onto the 40-man roster after the 2020 campaign. Jackson debuted the following summer and has bounced on and off the active roster for the past three seasons.

He’s worked in multi-inning relief at the big league level, tossing 39 frames over 14 outings. A personal-high 17 2/3 of those innings have come this season. Jackson has allowed 13 runs in that limited look, thanks largely to five homers. The longball has largely overshadowed a quality 16:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

A starter for the bulk of his minor league tenure, Jackson has also worked in long relief in Triple-A this season. He’s logged 27 2/3 innings across 11 outings, pitching to a 5.86 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has a quality 25.8% strikeout rate at the top minor league level, but he’s walked over 14% of batters faced there. Strike-throwing has been the question throughout his career, as Jackson has handed out free passes at a 12.7% clip over five minor league seasons.

The 6’3″ righty clearly has intriguing raw stuff, though. He’s punched out over a quarter of opponents in the minors. His fastball sat north of 95 MPH on average during his MLB time this season, while prospect evaluators have long praised his changeup. He seems likely to draw some interest via minor trade or on the waiver wire within the next week. Jackson is in his final minor league option season, so an acquiring team could keep him in Triple-A for the remainder of the year.

Dodgers Select Ryan Brasier

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5:50pm: The Dodgers have now made it official, selecting Brasier with left-hander Bryan Hudson optioned and right-hander Andre Jackson designated for assignment in corresponding moves.

5:30pm: The Dodgers are going to select the contract of right-hander Ryan Brasier, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Corresponding moves will be required to get him onto the active and 40-man rosters.

Brasier, 35, was a late bloomer in major league terms. After a stint in Japan, he had his North American breakout in 2018 at the age of 30. He made 34 appearances for the Red Sox that year with a 1.60 ERA, striking out 23.4% of opponents against a 5.6% walk rate. He carried that over into the postseason with a 1.04 ERA in 8 2/3 frames, helping the Sox win the World Series.

However, his effectiveness slid in recent seasons and his career ERA now sits at 4.45. Things have looked especially bad recently, as he had a 5.78 ERA last year and an even worse mark of 7.29 this year. Those struggles led to him getting released by the Red Sox and signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He’s pitched three scoreless innings in Triple-A in the past week.

There are some reasons to suspect that those inflated earned run figures aren’t entirely his fault. His 56.2% strand rate and .335 batting average on balls in play last year were both on the unlucky side of league averages, leading to a 3.61 FIP and 3.12 SIERA that suggest he deserved better. It was a similar story here in 2023, with a .344 BABIP, 52.8% strand rate, 4.37 FIP and 4.58 SIERA. That being said, it’s probably oversimplifying things to simply say that he’s been unlucky. His hard hit rate, which hovered between 35 and 40% for his earlier seasons in Boston, jumped to 46.5% last year and 53% this year.

The Dodgers have faced uncharacteristic struggles on the pitching front this year as the pitching staff as a whole currently has a 4.66 ERA, a mark that places them 25th out of the 30 clubs in the league. The bullpen is an even bigger concern, with the relief corps posting a collective 5.04 ERA on the season, which puts them ahead of only the lowly Athletics in that department.

Those struggles have coincided with each of Daniel Hudson, Jimmy Nelson, Phil Bickford, Tyler Cyr, J.P. Feyereisen, Alex Reyes and Blake Treinen landing on the injured list. Some of that group could soon be available to the big league club again, as each of Hudson, Nelson and Bickford are each joining Triple-A Oklahoma City for rehab assignment, per OKC’s Broadcaster/Communications Director Alex Freeman.

But for now, the club will take a flier on a Brasier bounceback, which is essentially risk-free from a cost perspective. Since the Red Sox released him, they are still on the hook for the majority of what remains of his $2MM salary. The Dodgers will pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox pay.

Dodgers Outright Adam Kolarek

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Dodgers lefty Adam Kolarek cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City following last week’s DFA, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. The veteran lefty had the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency, but he’s currently listed as active on the OKC Dodgers’ roster.

Kolarek, 34, was selected to the Majors earlier this month and appeared in just one game, retiring four of the five batters he faced (two via strikeout) and finished out that appearance without letting a run score. He’s also pitched to a tidy 2.18 ERA in 20 2/3 Triple-A frames this year, though he’s done with an unsightly 12-to-11 K/BB ratio in that time.

With that appearance, Kolarek has now seen big league action in each of the past seven seasons, suiting up for the Rays, A’s and Dodgers along the way. He carries a lifetime 3.73 ERA in 144 2/3 innings of work, and while his 15.6% strikeout rate is considerably worse than that of a league-average reliever, his 6.8% walk rate and especially his 63.8% ground-ball rate are outstanding. Kolarek, however, comes with the type of glaring platoon splits that have been magnified by MLB’s implementation of a three-batter minimum; in 335 career plate appearances, right-handed batters have posted a .311/.383/.490 batting line against Kolarek, as opposed to a putrid .190/.242/.259 slash by opposing lefties.

The Dodgers currently have four lefties in the big league bullpen (Caleb Ferguson, Alex Vesia, Victor Gonzalez, Bryan Hudson) and a fifth on the 40-man roster but down in Triple-A (Justin Bruihl). That doesn’t exactly leave the veteran Kolarek with a smooth path back to the Majors, but he’ll remain on hand as a depth option should the need arise.

Friedman: Dodgers Increasingly Likely To Target Pitching Help At Deadline

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The Dodgers were off tonight, a chance for a reset after a disastrous series that saw them swept by their archrivals. The Giants pulled past Los Angeles in the process, knocking L.A. to third place in the NL West and to the final spot in the Wild Card picture.

That rather pedestrian place in the standings and a solid but not exceptional 39-33 record represents unfamiliar territory for the Dodgers. Los Angeles has won the division in nine of the past ten years and has placed in the top two every season since 2011. There’s obviously time to turn things around, but team executives acknowledged the pitching staff hasn’t been up to par.

The Dodgers have a 4.66 team ERA that ranked 25th in MLB entering play Monday. The rotation is middle-of-the-pack with a 4.38 mark, but the bullpen is one of only two in the majors (the A’s being the other) allowing more than five earned runs per nine innings.

“We have not pitched well. There’s really no sugar-coating it,” pitching coach Mark Prior told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). Both Prior and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman expressed confidence in the staff to bounce back. Still, the front office leader acknowledged to Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic that the mounting struggles could impact the team’s trade deadline priorities.

“In spring training, I did not expect that in July we would aggressively be looking for pitching,” Friedman told Ardaya. “With the injuries and where we are, I think that focus has shifted. There’s no question that (pursuing pitching) is more likely than it was in March.”

Of course, there’s still plenty of time for teams’ focuses to change. Six weeks remain before the August 1 deadline. Notable trade activity tends not to take place until a few weeks into July. Friedman conceded the market isn’t likely to accelerate for a while yet.

By mid-July, the Dodgers should at least have a little more clarity on the status of the rotation. Julio Urías has been sidelined for a month with a hamstring strain. Skipper Dave Roberts said over the weekend he’s likely to be back around the beginning of July. Rookies Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan are each trying to cement themselves in the starting five. Miller has a 2.83 ERA with a 24.6% strikeout rate through five starts; Sheehan threw six no-hit innings in his MLB debut over the weekend. Those are impressive numbers but they’re each very early in their careers.

Noah Syndergaard signed a $13MM free agent deal to add veteran stability for a rotation that was likely to welcome young arms like Miller, Sheehan and Gavin Stone throughout the year. Syndergaard has instead been rocked for a 7.16 ERA in 12 starts and is on the IL with blister issues. Ryan Pepiot has yet to make his season debut after a Spring Training oblique strain.

The starting pitching trade market has yet to really come into focus. With the White Sox and Cardinals underwhelming, impending free agents Lucas Giolito, Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty could become available. Neither Chicago nor St. Louis is ready to punt on the season at this point, however. That’s also true of the Cubs with Marcus Stroman, who has a $21MM player option for next year.

The Tigers could listen to offers on Eduardo Rodriguez, but his ability to opt out of the final three years and $49MM on his contract at season’s end makes him a complicated trade candidate. Apparent sellers like the Royals, A’s, Rockies and Nationals don’t have much in the way of productive veteran starters to market.

There are some clearer trade candidates on the bullpen front. Kansas City is all but assured to deal Aroldis Chapman and seems likely to entertain offers on Scott Barlow. Controllable relievers on the Tigers and Nationals (i.e. Hunter Harvey, Alex Lange, Jason Foley and Kyle Finnegan) have already drawn some attention. Colorado could deal veteran lefty Brad Hand amidst a resurgent season. The White Sox can market rentals Reynaldo López and Keynan Middleton.

Even with Daniel Hudson expected back at the end of the month, the Dodgers seem certain to eventually add late-inning help. Evan Phillips has been lights-out, while Brusdar Graterol is getting a ton of grounders to offset a middling strikeout rate. Caleb Ferguson has been a quietly strong option from the left side. The rest of the relief corps has generally struggled to prevent runs aside from Shelby Miller, whose 2.40 ERA will be hard to maintain unless he gets his 15% walk rate in check.

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