Marlins Select Austin Dean
The Marlins announced Wednesday that they’ve selected the contract of outfield prospect Austin Dean prior to tonight’s game and optioned infielder/outfielder Christopher Bostick to Triple-A New Orleans in his place.
Dean, 24, was the Marlins’ fourth-round pick in the 2012 draft and ranked 28th among Miami farmhands on the midseason update from Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. He’s had a strong season between Double-A Jacksonville and New Orleans, hitting at a combined .345/.410/.511 clip with a dozen homers, 20 doubles, five triples and a pair of steals in 446 trips to the plate. Dean has also shown outstanding bat-to-ball skills, striking out at just a 12.5 percent clip while drawing walks in 8.7 percent of his plate appearances. Callis and Mayo note that he has more doubles power than home run pop at present, though the Marlins believe he’ll eventually carry some of his raw power over into a game setting.
With Martin Prado recently joining Lewis Brinson on the disabled list, the Marlins can move Brian Anderson from right field back to third base, opening a fairly regular slate of at-bats for Dean in his first look at the Majors. He’ll likely join Magneuris Sierra and Rafael Ortega in the outfield for the time being as he looks to prove that he can be a long-term piece for the Marlins. Dean has primarily played in left field throughout his minor league tenure, and that seems to be his likeliest spot in the big league lineup for the time being, though he does have experience in both right field (1050 innings) and in center field (114 innings).
Angels Acquire Odrisamer Despaigne, Designate Dayan Diaz
The Angels have acquired righty Odrisamer Despaigne from the Marlins, Maria Guardado of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Cash considerations are headed to Miami in return.
To open a roster spot, the Halos designated fellow right-hander Dayan Diaz for assignment. With the move, the Marlins now have an open 40-man slot to work with.
Needless to say, this isn’t the sort of mid-summer trade acquisition the Angels envisioned making at the start of the season. Despaigne has mostly functioned as a gap-filling swingman since he reached the majors, so he isn’t the sort of pitcher who’d be targeted by a contender. Sitting 11.5 games out of postseason position, the Angels simply aren’t one. The move seems designed merely to relax the burden on the club’s injury-riddled pitching staff.
Despaigne has spent a bit of time working as a MLB long reliever this year, but has thrown more at Triple-A. Over 43 1/3 innings at the highest level of the minors, he hasn’t allowed a single home run but carries a 4.36 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. In his 331 major-league frames over the past five years, Despaigne has a 4.76 ERA, though estimators suggest he has been a bit better than that (4.30 FIP; 4.61 xFIP; 4.19 SIERA).
As for Diaz, who was claimed off waivers last fall from the Astros, he opened the year on the restricted list owing to visa troubles and really never got going. Though the 29-year-old reliever briefly reached the majors in 2016 and 2017, he has only made seven appearances at the High-A level this year.
NL East Notes: Bruce, Soroka, Marlins
The emergence of Brandon Nimmo has left Jay Bruce as something of an odd man out with the Mets, opines Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman notes that the Mets’ outfield in 2019 and beyond is likely to include Nimmo, Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes, making it more difficult for Bruce to secure regular at-bats (barring a move to first base, which would come at the expense of the younger Dominic Smith). According to Sherman, Bruce can block trades to the Orioles, Mariners, Blue Jays, Rays and Athletics, but he can be shipped anywhere else without his consent. Sherman runs through some speculative possibilities in which Bruce, who is owed $28MM from 2019-20, could be swapped out for a player earning at a comparable rate. Of course, it’s also worth noting that Nimmo’s bat has declined in each month of the season since a torrid start, while Cespedes and (to a lesser extent) Conforto come with injury question marks.
A few more notes out of the NL East…
- David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets that Braves righty Mike Soroka still hasn’t begun a throwing program as he continues rehabbing his right shoulder, which makes it increasingly unlikely that he’ll pitch again in 2018. If that’s the case, O’Brien notes that the organization could have Soroka pitch in the instructional league this fall before shutting him down for the winter in hopes of a healthier 2019 campaign. Soroka, who turned 21 last week, was impressive despite his young age in five starts earlier this season before shoulder woes landed him on the disabled list.
- Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald recently wrote that any of Derek Dietrich, Dan Straily or Starlin Castro could yet be trade candidates for the Marlins in the month of August. Castro didn’t draw any serious interest prior to the non-waiver deadline, Jackson notes, but the Cubs and Indians checked in on Dietrich while the Athletics chatted with the Marlins about a potential re-acquisition of Straily (though those talks came prior to Oakland’s trade for Mike Fiers). Jackson notes that the Fish would want quality prospects in return for Straily if they moved him, as he’s controlled beyond the 2018 season. That seems like a tough sell, given Straily’s diminished strikeout, chase and swinging-strike rates as well as his drastic increase in walk rate.
NL Notes: Realmuto, Mets, Brewers, Dodgers
Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto suggested last month he’d be open to discussing a contract extension with the club, but if he’s uninterested in signing a deal over the winter, “there’s a good chance” the team will trade him, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. The 25-year-old Realmuto, one of the game’s elite backstops, is controllable via arbitration through the 2020 season.
More from the National League…
- The Mets are considering Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava and Rays special assistant Bobby Heck as candidates to be their next general manager, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Neither man has been a GM before, though both LaCava and Heck have a wealth of front office experience, particularly in the areas of scouting and player development. LaCava has been with the Blue Jays since 2002, when J.P. Ricciardi (now a Mets special advisor) was Toronto’s GM. Heck has been with the Rays since 2012, following lengthy stints with the Astros and Brewers that saw him play a notable role as both those clubs amassed a strong collection of young talent.
- Brewers right-hander Zach Davies hasn’t pitched in the majors since May 29, owing to shoulder and back problems, and there’s still no timetable for his return, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But Davies’ absence hasn’t been crippling for the Brewers, as Haudricourt writes that they’ve “been satisfied” with the current members of their rotation. Further, after serving as a solid starter from 2016-17 (his first two full seasons), Davies came out of the gates slowly this year with a 5.23 ERA/5.29 FIP in 43 innings.
- The Dodgers’ decision to move Kenta Maeda to the bullpen may negatively affect the righty from a financial standpoint, given that he has incentives in his contract based on games started and innings pitched. However, the Dodgers and Maeda’s reps at the Wasserman Agency “have a good relationship,” tweets the Los Angeles Times’ Andy McCullough, who notes it would be sensible for both sides to change the language in his deal to include incentives for relief appearances. If the two sides do attempt to work something out, the MLBPA would have to sign off on it.
Marlins Acquire Chris Bostick
The Marlins have acquired utilityman Chris Bostick from the Pirates, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Pittsburgh will receive cash considerations in the deal. Bostick had been designated for assignment by the Bucs earlier this week.
Bostick’s Major League career consists of 20 games for Pittsburgh in 2017 and two games this season, with a .276/.382/.345 slash line over 34 total plate appearances. Originally a 44th-round pick for the Athletics in the 2011 draft, Bostick will be joining the fifth different organization of his pro career.
The 25-year-old Rochester native has hit .271/.337/.416 with 60 homers and 122 steals (out of 176 chances) over 3491 PA in the minor leagues, though his greatest calling card might be versatility. Bostick has spent much of his career as a second baseman, but has logged substantial time at third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions.
Added To The 40-Man: Ortega, Stewart, Sobotka, Kelly
There has been a fair amount of roster movement today. We’ll use this post to keep tabs on the players moving onto MLB rosters:
- After shipping out first baseman Justin Bour earlier today, the Marlins announced they would replace him by selecting the contract of outfielder Rafael Ortega. The 27-year-old Ortega got a solid shot with the Angels in 2016 but could not take advantage. He had a productive season last year with the plate at Triple-A and has been solid as well at the highest level of the minors in 2018, though he hasn’t sustained the power he showed in 2017. In the current season, he has slashed .275/.375/.404 with an impressive combination of 44 walks and 31 strikeouts over 328 plate appearances.
- The Twins will select the contract of righty Kohl Stewart, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). Chosen fourth overall in the 2013 draft, Stewart is now slated for his MLB debut after being left unprotected from the Rule 5 draft last winter. Through 108 2/3 innings this season in the upper minors, he owns only a 4.47 ERA. But Stewart has seen a real boost in his K/BB numbers over past years. He’s carrying 8.4 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9 along with a 57.3% groundball rate on the season.
- As part of a series of pitching moves, the Braves purchased the contract of righty Chad Sobotka. He and lefty Chad Bell will join the active roster as the team has optioned down relievers Wes Parsons and Adam McCreery. Sobotka is a 25-year-old reliever who came to the Atlanta organizatino as a fourth-round pick in 2015. He had already climbed to Triple-A for the first time after dominating performances at High-A (2.21 ERA, 28:7 K/BB in 20 1/3 innings) and Double-A (2.89 ERA, 37:13 K/BB in 28 innings). He has been giving out too many free passes so far at the highest level of the minors (eight in 6 1/3 frames) but has still been getting strikeouts and keeping runs off the board.
- The Giants announced that they selected the contract of righty Casey Kelly, bumping Johnny Cueto to the 60-day DL as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Kelly, a first-round pick way back in 2008, has seen brief MLB action in parts of three seasons. He owns only a 4.78 ERA in his 130 Triple-A innings this year, with 7.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9.
Phillies Acquire Justin Bour
2:15PM: The Marlins will receive left-hander McKenzie Mills, Fancred’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Mills was an 18th-round pick for the Nationals in the 2014 draft, and the 22-year-old has a 3.51 ERA, 2.58 K/BB rate, and an 8.5 K/9 over 89 2/3 IP for high-A Clearwater this season, with Mills starting 16 of his 20 appearances. This is the second notable trade Mills has already been part of in his young career, as he was sent to the Phillies from the Nationals last summer in the Howie Kendrick deal.
2:07PM: The minor league pitcher headed to the Marlins is an A-ball player, according to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. MLBPipeline.com’s Jonathan Mayo notes that the prospect wasn’t ranked as one of MLB.com’s top 30 minor leaguers in the Phillies’ system. (Both links to Twitter.)
1:09PM: The Phillies have acquired first baseman Justin Bour and cash considerations in a trade with the Marlins, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter links). Miami will receive a minor league pitcher in return. The two sides worked out a trade after Philadelphia claimed Bour on revocable waivers.
The Marlins will cover roughly half of Bour’s remaining salary for the season, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (via Twitter), which works out to around $450K of the $900K left on the $3.4MM Bour won in an arbitration case with the Phils last winter.
[Updated Phillies and Marlins depth charts at Roster Resource]
Bour has two more years of arbitration eligibility remaining, though he doesn’t necessarily have a long-term role in Philadelphia with Carlos Santana locked in at first base (at a $20MM average annual salary) at least through the 2020 season. It could be that the Phillies look to deal or maybe even non-tender Bour this winter, as Rosenthal suggests, and for now they’ll use him as a perhaps overqualified left-handed bench bat. Bour has badly struggled against southpaws this year while the switch-hitting Santana has hit only a modest .209/.362/.387 against right-handed pitching, so there is some room for a platoon situation. The Phillies’ collective 93 wRC+ against righty pitching this season ranks just 21st in baseball, so the offense can certainly benefit from some pop from the left side of the plate.
Bour drew a lot of trade attention last winter in the midst of the Marlins’ fire sale, though we didn’t hear much buzz about the first baseman until deadline day itself, when he was the subject of some late-breaking talks. Bour’s numbers were dampened by an extended slump throughout July, though he is still posting above-average (108 wRC+, 113 OPS+) offensive numbers overall, hitting .227/.347/.412 with 19 homers in 447 plate appearances.
Still, 2018 is shaping up as the weakest of Bour’s four seasons as a regular Major Leaguer, and certainly a step back from his breakout 2017 campaign. Limited to just 429 PA last year due to a variety of injuries, Bour still managed 25 homers and slash .289/.366/.536 for a 133 wRC+ and 142 OPS+, even if his overall value (2.2 fWAR) was lowered by subpar baserunning and defense.
This season, however, Bour is hitting for less power (.184 ISO compared to .247 last year) while also striking out slightly more often and making a bit more soft contact. Bour also enjoyed a .322 BABIP in 2017 as opposed to a .267 BABIP this year, and there’s also the simple fact that opposing pitchers can focus more directly on Bour since Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich are no longer in the Marlins’ lineup. That said, there is also some evidence that Bour could be due for an uptick in production, as evidenced by that low BABIP and a .352 xwOBA that outpaces his real-world .329 wOBA.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
East Notes: Realmuto, Pomeranz, Showalter
The latest from the East Coast…
- As the best player on a rebuilding team, Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto has been mentioned in trade speculation for a while, but it sounds as if first-year co-owner Derek Jeter wants to keep the star in the fold. “I don’t ever like to talk about specific players, in terms of their futures, but he’s a guy we’d love to have long term,” Jeter told Joe Frisaro of MLB.com and other reporters on Wednesday. Realmuto wanted out of Miami as recently as last February, but he sounded more open to staying there when discussing his future last month. For now, the Marlins are in position to control the 27-year-old via arbitration through the 2020 season.
- Left-hander Drew Pomeranz has been one of the few weak links on this year’s juggernaut Red Sox team, and he may not be long for their roster as a result, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com suggests. Boston has an upcoming 25-man roster crunch, Cotillo points out, and it’s likely Pomeranz, Hector Velazquez or Ryan Brasier won’t survive it. Working in Pomeranz’s favor is that he, unlike fellow hurlers Velazquez and Brasier, is out of minor league options. That means Boston could simply send either Velazquez or Brasier down and keep all three players in the organization. On the other hand, parting with Pomeranz would mean saying goodbye to a player whom the Red Sox paid a high price to acquire from the Padres prior to the 2016 non-waiver trade deadline. Pomeranz was a high-end starter at that point, but injuries and inconsistency have weighed him down in Boston. Thus far in 2018, the 29-year-old pending free agent has posted a 6.31 ERA/5.95 FIP with 7.71 K/9 and 5.61 BB/9 in 51 1/3 innings.
- Considering Buck Showalter’s contract is up at season’s end and the Orioles are beginning a full rebuild, the manager isn’t a lock to continue with the club into 2019. The O’s would be wise to re-sign Showalter, though, opines Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com, who argues that he’s the right fit for the franchise in its current state. And Showalter, even though he’s 62 years old, is “fully on board with the team’s new direction,” writes Dubroff.
Quick Hits: Realmuto, Marlins, Astros, Red Sox, Angels, Eloy
Along with the previously reported Nationals, the Astros had interest in Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Both teams’ interest in Realmuto dates back to at least last offseason, but neither they nor anyone else have been able to pry the star backstop out of Miami. Instead of Realmuto, the Astros ended up acquiring the much less exciting Martin Maldonado from the Angels before the deadline. He’s backing up Max Stassi, who has emerged as the Astros’ starter since Brian McCann underwent knee surgery a month ago. Stassi got off to a great offensive start this year before cooling off significantly over the past couple months, though he is having an elite season behind the plate.
- The Red Sox inquired about Marlins closer Kyle Barraclough before the deadline, but Boston ultimately “backed off,” Cafardo writes. Barraclough wound up staying with the Marlins, who placed a high asking price on the flamethrowing right-hander. The 28-year-old hasn’t been good of late, as his ERA has skyrocketed from .99 to 3.28 since the beginning of July, but he still comes with a quality track record and affordable team control. As a result, the Marlins elected to keep Barraclough, who will make his first of three possible trips through arbitration during the winter.
- In an interestingly timed move, the Angels announced Sunday that special assistant Eric Chavez will manage their Triple-A team in Salt Lake for the rest of the season. Previous manager Keith Johnson will finish the year on the Angels’ coaching staff, and GM Billy Eppler said Sunday that the Halos want him to work with their young infielders (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times). The decision to replace Johnson with Chavez raised eyebrows, though, given that the latter has come up as a potential replacement for Angels skipper Mike Scioscia, who’s reportedly going to retire at the end of the season. The 40-year-old Chavez, a longtime major league third baseman, had never managed at any level until the Angels handed him the Triple-A reins.
- Standout White Sox outfield prospect Eloy Jimenez is “getting really close” to earning a major league promotion, director of player development Chris Getz said Sunday (via 670 The Score, on Twitter). The 21-year-old Jimenez, whom Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs all regard as the game’s third-best prospect, has hit an astounding .376/.425/.679 with eight home runs and a .303 ISO in 120 plate appearances since the White Sox moved him to Triple-A Charlotte in late June.
International Notes: Yankees, Vargas, Mesa, Marlins, Orioles
The Yankees have been one of the most aggressive teams on the international free agent market for the past several seasons, and they’ve already put the considerable amount of international funds they acquired in trades with the Cardinals ($1MM) and the White Sox ($1.5MM); New York announced today that it has signed Cuban righty Osiel Rodriguez and Cuban shortstop Alexander Vargas. Rodriguez’s $600K signing had previously been reported, but MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (via Twitter) that the newly signed Vargas received a whopping $2.5MM bonus. Vargas, 16, ranked eighth on MLB.com’s rankings of this year’s international prospects, drawing praise for his range, arm and instincts both at shortstop and in center field.
A few more notes on the international market…
- Sanchez also recently took a lengthy look at the latest on the market for top outfield prospect Victor Victor Mesa. While the Cuban-born star has yet to be declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, there’s a fair bit of intrigue as to where he’ll sign once eligible. Victor Victor and his younger brother, Victor Jr., are both training in the Dominican Republic at present, according to Sanchez, but there’s no indication that either has established residency in another a country — a requisite step before being declared a free agent by MLB. Sanchez runs through the teams that are plausible landing spots for the brothers and takes a look at their potential timelines to signing.
- Interestingly, Sanchez further notes that the Orioles and Marlins could be in line to make a significant play for Mesa (Twitter links). Both teams acquired international money prior to the non-waiver deadline and are interested in increasing their spending on the international front. The Orioles have a hefty $8.25MM they can offer, though it’s worth noting that GM Dan Duquette has suggested they could sign some international prospects as soon as this week (link via MASNsports.com’s Steve Melewski). With the Mesas yet to reach free agency, that’d suggest that they’re not earmarking their entire pool one or both brothers. The Marlins, meanwhile, have $4.35MM to work with at present — the second-most of any team that is not limited to $300K signings. The Athletic’s Emily Waldon reported recently that the Orioles were working hard on a deal with the elder Mesa brother (Twitter link). MASNsports.com’s Byron Kerr tweeted that the Marlins are indeed planning a run at him as well, though he added that the Orioles could be closer. Of course, no deal can be announced until the league declares the Mesa brothers to be free agents, and there’s no real way of knowing when that process will be complete.