Minor MLB Transactions: 4/17/19
We’ll track the day’s minor moves in this post …
- The Dodgers have a minor-league deal in place with lefty Chris Nunn, he announced on Twitter. Nunn, a former 24th-round draft pick of the Padres, has reached the upper minors in past seasons but hasn’t received many opportunities there. He’s now pumping triple-digit heat, though that wasn’t enough to convince the Rangers to keep him around after he spent camp with the Texas organization this spring. The 28-year-old has carries a 4.16 ERA in 257 2/3 minor-league innings, with 10.1 K/9 against 5.0 BB/9.
NL West Notes: Padres, Giants, Bellinger, Bettis, McFarland
We’re all wondering how MLB’s decision to axe the August trade period will influence the way the in-season trade market unfolds. An even bigger rush at the end of July is one obvious possibility; perhaps also there’ll be an increase in early-season trade activity. It has long been fairly rare for significant assets to be moved before well in advance of the trade deadline. The Padres are now reaping the rewards of their decision to market assets early back in 2016, as MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell wrote recently. Nabbing Fernando Tatis Jr. was a nifty trick, of course. As Cassavell writes, both teams were intrigued by his obvious physical talent. The Friars able to pry him loose from the pitching-needy White Sox in part because he simply hadn’t yet appeared in game action. After a productive draft, the club targeted pop-up prospect Chris Paddack, gaining his rights when the Marlins couldn’t wait to secure the services of Fernando Rodney. Interestingly, as Cassavell explains, the Padres’ other notable haul of talent that summer came in the June draft. The club wielded a multitude of picks that year because it chose not to sell the prior summer, instead securing draft compensation for departing free agents Justin Upton and Ian Kennedy.
More from the NL West:
- It’s interesting to consider that prior San Diego mid-season sell-off in relation to this year’s Giants club. If any team could be in position to own the early-summer market, it’s a San Francisco outfit that’s laden with veteran pitching and largely unburdened of immediate expectations to compete. The club’s bullpen has been outstanding in the early going while the rotation has seen solid openings from several elder statesmen. Nearly every member of the staff could be a plausible trade chip; indeed, the Giants have a collection of arms that could suit just about any rival’s needs. In the rotation, postseason hero Madison Bumgarner, long-time workhorse Jeff Samardzija, steady lefty Derek Holland, and higher-ceiling southpaw Drew Pomeranz. On the relief side, southpaw Will Smith continues to pitch like a relief ace, while fellow lefty Tony Watson remains a quality situational asset. Righties Sam Dyson and Mark Melancon are trending up and have ample late-inning experience, while Nick Vincent is an underrated middle relief piece. For Giants fans wondering about the future under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, the most fascinating pitcher of all may be Trevor Gott, a waiver claimee who’s suddenly generating swinging strikes at a near-elite level (14.7%) after ramping up the use of a four-seam fastball he introduced last season. With pitching problems already rising up for several contenders, Zaidi and co. could be in position for a memorable summer of swapping.
- Star Dodgers first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger exited last night’s game early after being hit by a pitch near his right knee. As MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports, x-rays were negative and it seems that Bellinger has escaped any kind of serious injury. The young slugger, who has been on a tear to open the season, may still need some time to recuperate and receive treatment. But there’s no indication that a trip to the IL will be necessary.
- The Rockies have bumped veteran right-hander Chad Bettis to the bullpen, as Nick Groke of The Athletic was among those to tweet. It seems likely his new role will dovetail with the return of Tyler Anderson from a stint on the injured list. Soon to turn 30, Bettis was also bumped to the pen for seven outings last year, though he still took twenty starts. He has struggled to an 8.78 ERA over his first 13 1/3 innings of the 2019 campaign, with eight walks to go with nine strikeouts and twenty base hits already on the ledger. Bettis is earning $3.35MM this year in advance of a final season of arbitration eligibility. In other news out of Colorado, the club seems likely to place outfielder Noel Cuevas on the 10-day injured list after he came down with a quad strain, manager Bud Black told reporters including Kyle Newman of the Denver Post (via Twitter).
- Lefty T.J. McFarland is on the mend for the Diamondbacks, MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert reports. He’ll launch a rehab effort tomorrow as he seeks to finish off a return from a bout of shoulder inflammation. Once he’s deemed ready, McFarland will join Andrew Chafin as a southpaw combo in the D-Backs pen. The 29-year-old produced strong results last year after several rough seasons, working to a 2.00 ERA over 72 frames. Though he carried a typically uninspiring blend of 5.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9, McFarland also posted an eye-popping 67.9% groundball rate.
Dodgers To Activate Clayton Kershaw On Monday
APRIL 15: As expected, Kershaw is now back on the active roster. The club optioned righty Jaime Schultz to open roster space.
APRIL 11: Clayton Kershaw will come off the injured list to make his season debut on Monday when the Dodgers host the Reds, manager Dave Roberts revealed to reporters Thursday morning (Twitter link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register).
Kershaw landed on the IL to begin the season due to a bout of shoulder inflammation that slowed his progress during Spring Training. He’s made a pair of minor league rehab starts since Opening Day — one with Triple-A Oklahoma City and a second with Double-A Tulsa — working six innings and tossing 81 pitches in the latter of the two. In total, Kershaw yielded four runs on nine hits and a pair of walks with a dozen strikeouts in 10 1/3 rehab innings.
Since it became apparent that Kershaw would require an IL stint to begin the season, the Dodgers have also lost both Rich Hill (knee strain) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (groin strain) to injuries. Those maladies pushed lauded southpaw Julio Urias into the rotation to begin the year after he’d been slated to open the 2019 campaign in the bullpen to manage his workload. He’s been limited to about 75 pitches in each of his two starts so far.
It’s not clear exactly how the Dodgers’ rotation will shake out in the coming weeks as both Hill and Ryu mend; Walker Buehler, Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling figure to join Kershaw in the starting five for now, and it’s possible that Urias will make another start or two until one of Hill or Ryu is able to step back into the fray. At some point, Urias will have to shift to the ‘pen, given that he only pitched a total of 22 innings between the Majors (postseason and regular season) and minors last year in his return campaign from major shoulder surgery in 2017.
Dodgers Option Dennis Santana, Recall Josh Sborz
The Dodgers have optioned right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana to Triple-A Oklahoma City and will recall fellow righty Josh Sborz to take his place on the active roster, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.
The move represents a bullpen swap for the Dodgers, who have struggled to settle on a stable option to round out the bullpen. Santana, just 23 years of age, had appeared in three games for the Dodgers, compiling six strikeouts in five innings of work. However, he allowed six hits and walked four batters in that span. Santana’s promotion came after the Dodgers demoted Brock Stewart, who opened the season as the team’s long reliever; now, it appears that the Dodgers will once again look elsewhere to fill the role.
Enter Sborz, a 25-year old right-hander who has yet to debut in the Major Leagues. A second-round selection of the Dodgers in 2015, will get his first taste of the big leagues after throwing two scoreless appearances for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate to start the season. Last season marked his first in a full-time bullpen role; he had previously functioned as a starting pitcher in his professional career. At Triple-A in 2018, Sborz struck out 47 batters in 37 innings of work and did not allow a single home run.
Connor Joe Clears Waivers, Returned To Dodgers
Per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, IF/OF Connor Joe has cleared waivers after being designated for assignment for San Francisco. Due to his status as a Rule-5 selection by Cincinnati (he was later traded to the Giants), Joe must be returned to Los Angeles, which left him unprotected ahead of the December draft.
Joe, 26, was designated for assignment by the Giants after the team acquired 1B/OF Tyler Austin from Minnesota earlier this week. He looked overmatched in his first MLB look: in 16 PAs, Joe struck out 5 times, produced just one hit, and slung a number of awkward throws from left field.
Still, his Triple-A performance over the last two seasons has been outstanding. Joe tapered off a bit after 2017’s eye-opening .304/.424/.554 slash, but his last season line was still good for a 131 wRC+ at Oklahoma City. He’ll look to again work his way into the weak-side platoon mix for a Dodger lineup always looking to upgrade their complement of right-handed bats.
Previewing 2019-20’s Opt-Out Clause Decisions
Some few contracts include provisions giving the player control over one or more seasons by affording the chance to opt out of the remainder of the deal. Take the bird in hand or see how many you can net from the free-agent bush? Market changes have impacted the math for some players, but the open market still has riches to offer. We don’t know how things will look for any given player at season’s end, but here’s how it’s shaping up at the outset of the 2019 campaign:
Elvis Andrus, SS, Rangers: Three years, $43MM: The 2016-17 version of Andrus — and the one we saw through the season’s first two weeks in 2018 — looked every bit like a player who would exercise the first of two opt-out clauses in his contract (which came at the end of the 2018 season). From Opening Day 2016 through April 11 last year, Andrus posted a terrific .301/.352/.459 batting line with 30 homers, 78 doubles, 11 triples and 49 steals through 1318 plate appearances. Paired with his glovework at shortstop, he looked very capable of topping the remaining four years and $58MM on his contract. Unfortunately, he suffered an elbow fracture, missed two months, and returned to hit only .245/.289/.347 in his final 367 plate appearances. An offseason of rest looks to have done him some good, as he’s hitting .380/.392/.500 through 51 PAs. Unlike several players on this list, there’s an actual chance that Andrus could test the open market, though free agency hasn’t been kind to players on the wrong side of 30 in recent years.
Jake Arrieta, RHP, Phillies: One year, $20MM (unless Phillies exercise two-year, $40MM option for 2021-22): Arrieta’s first season with the Phils was solid, if unremarkable. He tallied 172 2/3 innings and gave the team a 3.96 ERA with fielding-independent metrics that didn’t stray too far from that ERA (4.26 FIP, 4.08 xFIP, 4.29 SIERA). The former Cy Young winner’s velocity is down a couple miles per hour from its peak levels, and while Arrieta showed good control and ground-ball tendencies in 2018, he no longer appears to be a strikeout pitcher. Given that he’ll pitch next season at age 34, it doesn’t seem all that likely that the Phillies will sign up to tack on another pair of $20MM seasons. With a strong 2019 effort, it’s possible that Arrieta positions himself to land a two-year deal with a larger guarantee but lower annual rate (e.g. two years, $30MM), so it’s not out of the question that he’d opt out at season’s end, even if seems unlikely at present.
Yu Darvish, RHP, Cubs: Four years, $81MM: Darvish’s first season in Chicago was an unmitigated disaster, as a series of arm injuries limited him to just 40 innings of work. His velocity isn’t where it was in previous seasons, and in this season’s small sample of three starts, he’s walked more batters than he’s punched out. It’s hard to envision any scenario in which Darvish opts out of his contract; even if he stormed back to ace status and won an NL Cy Young Award, I’m not sure he’d top $81MM as a 33-year-old free agent with a qualifying offer hanging over his head. The Cubs appear stuck with the contract and will need to simply hope for a rebound.
Jason Heyward, OF, Cubs: Four years, $86MM (assuming he makes 550 PAs): Heyward has had a scalding hot start to the season, mashing at a .351/.444/.676 pace. Through 45 plate appearances, he’s already halfway to his home run total from a 2018 season in which he came to he plate 489 times. Even if Heyward’s bat proves to be rejuvenated to its 2015 levels, however, it’s virtually unfathomable that he’d walk away from the remaining $86MM on this contract. His poor results in his first three seasons with the Cubs still loom large enough that a monster year at the dish would be met with a heavy dose of skepticism, and he’ll turn 30 in August.
Kenley Jansen, RHP, Dodgers: Two years, $38MM: After seven seasons as a near-unstoppable force in the Dodgers’ bullpen, Jansen looked mortal in 2018 when he logged a 3.01 ERA (his first time ever topping 3.00) and 10.3 K/9 (his first time south of 13.0). A strong enough rebound campaign could embolden Jansen to seek out a three-year deal at a lower annual salary than the $19MM remaining on his contract; the Rockies gave Wade Davis a total of $52MM for the same three-year age span that Jansen will be entering (32-34). He’s already rejected one qualifying offer in his career, so he wouldn’t be eligible to receive a second one (even though he landed with the same team that winter).
J.D. Martinez, DH/OF, Red Sox: Three years, $62.5MM: The general expectation in the 2017-18 offseason was that Martinez’s 2017 season (.303/.376/.690, 45 home runs) would be a peak year. Instead, he turned in an arguably even more productive 2018 season with the Red Sox, hitting a ridiculous .330/.402/.629 with 43 home runs in 649 PAs — the second-highest total of his career. Martinez is off to another strong start in 2019, and despite a frosty climate for free agents, one can only wonder if he’d be tempted to once again test free agency if he can post a third consecutive season of 40-plus homers with an OPS north of 1.000. One wrinkle to consider is that barring an unexpected midseason trade, Martinez would have a qualifying offer attached to him this time around; that wasn’t true of his last trip through free agency, as he’d been traded from Detroit to Arizona midseason.
Stephen Strasburg, RHP, Nationals: Four years, $100MM: Strasburg is still a strikeout machine who posts big totals in swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates, but his 93.1 mph average fastball in 2019 is well south of last year’s 94.5 mph (to say nothing of his career 95.3). The former No. 1 pick was a big part of the Nats’ rotation in 2018 and should be again this year, but he was more good than great last year (130 innings, 3.74 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 43.6 GB%). Moreover, Darvish and a much younger Patrick Corbin are the only two pitchers who have topped $100MM in guarantees over the past two offseasons. Strasburg would be hit with a qualifying offer if he opted out, and he’d be betting against recent trends as a 31-year-old pitcher looking to cash in on a nine-figure contract. He can ask Dallas Keuchel how well that strategy works.
Orioles Return Rule 5 Pick Drew Jackson To Dodgers
The Orioles announced Wednesday that Rule 5 pick Drew Jackson has cleared outright waivers and been returned to the Dodgers organization. He’ll be assigned to a minor league affiliate but won’t require placement on Los Angeles’ 40-man roster. He’d been designated for assignment when the Orioles signed Dan Straily.
Jackson, 25, appeared in three games with the O’s before being designated for assignment but received just four plate appearances. He’s still looking for his first big league hit but will now have to bide his time in the minors as he awaits a fresh opportunity for that milestone.
Jackson has more than 1,000 innings of minor league experience at second base and north of 2100 innings at shortstop, though the O’s deployed him as an outfielder in his brief time with the organization. He spent the ’18 campaign with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate, where he hit .251/.356/.447 with 15 homers and 22 steals (in 29 attempts). He’s one of two Rule 5 picks who broke camp with the Orioles, joining shortstop (and No. 1 pick in last December’s draft) Richie Martin. Rostering multiple Rule 5 selections is difficult even for a rebuilding organization like the Orioles, though, and the O’s felt it prudent to evaluate other options both in the middle infield and in the outfield rather than dedicate the necessary playing time to do so with Jackson.
Dodgers Place Russell Martin On 10-Day IL
The Dodgers announced today that backstop Russell Martin has been placed on the 10-day injured list with lower back inflammation. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow receiver Rocky Gale.
Acquired over the winter via trade, Martin has shared time behind the plate with Austin Barnes. Expectations were tempered for the 36-year-old’s second stint in Los Angeles, as he has been limited by injuries and seen his offensive numbers dip in recent seasons. But things had gone rather well to this point, with Martin off to a .333/.500/.600 start with the bat through 22 plate appearances.
Dodgers Place Hyun-Jin Ryu On Injured List
April 9: The Dodgers announced that Ryu has been placed on the injured list. Righty J.T. Chargois has been recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City in his place and will join the Dodgers’ bullpen.
April 8, 11:45pm: Ryu said after the game that he does not feel he has suffered a significant injury, as Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter links). The southpaw characterized his exit as precautionary. That’s certainly promising, though manager Dave Roberts made clear that Ryu was nevertheless destined for a stint on the injured list.
8:25pm: The Dodgers may well send another high-priced lefty to the inured list after watching Hyun-Jin Ryu leave the mound early tonight. He’s dealing with a left groin strain, Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports on Twitter.
There’s added concern here due to Ryu’s history. He suffered a torn left groin muscle last year, ultimately missing about ten weeks of action. Ryu ended up making 15 starts, pitching well enough to receive a qualifying offer — which he accepted.
For the Dodgers, issuing Ryu the QO represented a bet that he’d be on the hill enough to warrant a $17.9MM price tag on one year of his services. He’s worth that and more when healthy, but his availability has been something of a flip of the coin for much of his MLB career. Since coming to the majors from his native Korea in advance of the 2013 campaign, Ryu carries a 3.17 ERA but has averaged only 95 frames and 16 starts annually.
Ryu joins Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill on the shelf. Fortunately, those hurlers are making progress (the former in particular) and the Dodgers have an exceptionally deep group of pitchers. And the club isn’t exactly suffering in the results department at the moment. Still, the rotation resources have already been strained, so it’s worrying to see another potentially significant injury.
NL Notes: Lester, Kershaw, Urias, Dahl
The Cubs‘ offense clicked in today’s home opener, but there’s still some cause for concern. Left-hander Jon Lester exited the game in the third inning due to tightness in his left hamstring, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Lester had singled and scored in the prior frame, and Wittenmyer notes that the southpaw was slow to get up after sliding safely into home plate. More will be known after an MRI tomorrow, as Wittenmyer tweets. While Lester says he’s optimistic and isn’t even counting out making his next scheduled start, it seems safe to assume he’ll miss at least one outing. If that comes to pass, the Cubs would likely have to turn to righty Tyler Chatwood to make a start, given that Mike Montgomery is currently on the injured list due to a lat strain.
Here’s more from the NL …
- Clayton Kershaw will make what is expected to be his final rehab start tomorrow for the Dodgers‘ Double-A affiliate, tweets Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. If Kershaw is indeed ready to be activated after that outing, he’ll step back into the rotation in place of fellow southpaw Julio Urias, Pedro Moura of The Athletic tweeted last night. Los Angeles hasn’t exactly felt Kershaw’s absence in the win-loss column, as they’re sitting at 8-2 on the season, but he’ll nevertheless be a boon to an already dangerous roster that sports baseball’s best run differential (+36). Urias has shown a velocity uptick to open the new season, but the Dodgers will be happy to take things slow given that he only returned from injury in time to record 15 2/3 total innings last year.
- Rockies left fielder David Dahl exited last night’s game early due to an abdominal injury sustained on a swing, writes MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. While the outfielder himself doesn’t believe he’ll need to miss an extended period of time, manager Bud Black offered a more cautious outlook, simply stating that the Rox have their “fingers crossed” and are hoping for a slight tweak as opposed to something like an oblique strain that would require a trip to the injured list. Dahl has been brilliant to start the 2019 season for the otherwise offensively challenged ballclub, raking at a .343/.385/.629 clip and getting a look as the team’s cleanup hitter. Should he require an IL stint, Raimel Tapia would figure to fill in during his absence.