Four Veterans Clear Waivers
Braves right fielder Nick Markakis, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, White Sox right-hander James Shields and Dodgers southpaw Scott Kazmir have each cleared trade waivers, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reported Friday (Twitter link). The four players’ teams are now free to trade them to any other major league club.
[RELATED: Players Who Have Cleared Revocable Waivers]
The only member of the group who’s unsigned beyond this season is Wieters, who’s a starter on an Orioles team that entered Saturday in possession of an American League wild-card spot and only 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Blue Jays in the AL East. The soon-to-be 31-year-old is amid one of the worst offensive seasons of his career, having posted a .240/.294/.381 batting line with 10 home runs in 340 plate appearances. Wieters has been a roughly league-average hitter throughout his career, including last season (.267/.319/.422 in 282 PAs). Defensively, StatCorner has assigned Wieters negative pitch-framing marks five years running, while Baseball Prospectus hasn’t looked favorably on his work in that department since 2012.
The Orioles tendered a $15.8MM qualifying offer last November to Wieters, who accepted it and is once again scheduled for free agency at the conclusion of this season. Baltimore could give him another qualifying offer (if they’re still around should a new collective bargaining agreement be in place by then), but that doesn’t seem likely to happen. It’s also doubtful the contending Orioles will trade Wieters, who has upward of $3.7MM remaining on his contract, especially given fellow backstop Caleb Joseph’s ugly performance this year.
Like Wieters, Kazmir is also part of a team with championship aspirations. Kazmir, who signed with the Dodgers over the winter, is owed $16MM in each of the next two seasons, but he has the ability to opt out of his deal after this year. Kazmir’s run prevention (4.41 ERA) has been a letdown in 132 2/3 innings this season, although he has recorded an outstanding K/9 (9.02) to go with a 3.32 BB/9 and a superb 15.2 percent infield fly rate. And while Kazmir has regularly dealt with injuries throughout his career, he has been one of the few consistently healthy Dodgers starters this year. As a member of a first-place team that’s in no place to be moving pitching depth, a Kazmir trade probably isn’t in the cards.
Marlins Designate Chris Narveson For Assignment
The Marlins announced today that they’ve designated lefty Chris Narveson for assignment and selected the contract of first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs from Triple-A New Orleans.
[Related: Updated Miami Marlins Depth Chart]
The 34-year-old Narveson, a veteran of eight MLB seasons, pitched 8 1/3 innings out of the Miami bullpen in his second stint with the Fish but allowed eight runs on 10 hits, including three homers, to go along with a 6-to-1 K/BB ratio. The majority of his career has been spent with the Brewers, but he’s also appeared with the Marlins and Cardinals en route to a 4.71 ERA with 7.5 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9 in 435 1/3 innings.
Scruggs, 28, is a longtime Cardinals farmhand that has seen brief action with St. Louis in the past two seasons, hitting .246/.295/.298 in just 61 plate appearances. He’s a much more accomplished hitter in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .271/.371/.485 across parts of three seasons, including an enormous .290/.406/.565 batting line and 21 homers through 93 games (382 plate appearances) in 2016.
Latest On A-Rod’s Plans For The Future
Just-released slugger Alex Rodriguez has already announced that he won’t play with a team other than the Yankees in 2016, but it is still unclear whether he’ll look to suit up again in the future. While there’s nothing official, and plenty of time remains for him to change his mind, A-Rod has told friends that he’s done playing, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag.
The 41-year-old, who is among the most productive players in major league history, hasn’t yet had much time to digest his time away from the game. New York cut him loose five days ago after a mini-farewell tour of sorts.
Despite a remarkable bounceback season in 2015, coming on the heels of a highly publicized PED suspension, Rodriguez hadn’t managed to stay productive in his age-40 campaign. Over his 243 plate appearances, he carried a weak .200/.247/.351 batting line while exclusively appearing in the DH spot (up until the final inning of his tenure in New York).
Part of the severance included a deal that will make Rodriguez a special instructor and adviser next year. That doesn’t mean, though, that the organization would get in the way of him joining another team in a playing capacity. Owner Hal Steinbrenner says that it’s “a very flexible situation.”
Whether or not another team would have serious interest also remains to be seen, but it can’t be forgotten that Rodriguez posted a .250/.356/.486 slash just last year. He also contributed 33 home runs in the 2015 season, so he’s not far removed from showing serious pop.
One club that has been mentioned with some interest is the Marlins, and Heyman says the team did at least have some internal dialogue on the possibility of bringing in the hometown star. But Marlins president David Samson tamped down the concept in comments to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Samson downplayed the reports as the product of Rodriguez’s geographic ties to the Miami area. Of course, given his defensive limitations at this stage of his career, the former shortstop and third baseman would seem best suited to play in the American League if he ends up deciding to make a return endeavor.
Cardinals Out On Carlos Gomez; Marlins Still Interested
2:50pm: The Marlins are still interested in adding Gomez, reports Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). It’s not entirely clear whether the Fish are willing to swing a trade for Gomez or are hoping to pounce if he is ultimately released.
1:33pm: While the Cardinals initially kicked the tires on Carlos Gomez after he was designated for assignment by the Astros, ESPN’s Mark Saxon now reports that there’s “nothing doing on the Carlos Gomez front” for St. Louis (Twitter link). The injury to Matt Holliday prompted the Cards to check in on Gomez, but Randal Grichuk is 7-for-21 since being recalled to fill Holliday’s roster spot and, somewhat incredibly, all seven of those knocks have gone for extra bases (two homers, four doubles, one triple).
The Cardinals and Mets, two teams that were originally reported to be in on Gomez following his DFA, have now both stepped out of the mix for him — ESPN’s Adam Rubin reported on Monday that the Mets aren’t interested in trading for him — leaving the Marlins as the team to which Gomez has been most strongly connected. It’s not clear yet how serious the Marlins’ interest in Gomez is, but they were said to be considering him as recently as Sunday.
At this point, it’s now been eight days since Gomez was designated for assignment, so the Astros’ window to find a trade partner is dwindling. That closing window makes a release of Gomez considerably more likely, after which any club would be free to sign him for the pro-rated portion of the league minimum through season’s end. While Gomez comes with plenty of red flags following a reported hip issue last summer, a rib cage injury sustained earlier this season and, of course, a dismal .221/.277/.342 batting line since being acquired by the Astros in July 2015, it’s rare to be able to roll the dice on a player of his upside for what would amount to about $120-125K for the final few weeks of the season. If a release is the ultimate outcome, I’d think even the teams that passed on trading for him could circle back as a potential depth option at the very least.
Minor MLB Transactions: 8/16/16
Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league…
- Veteran outfielder Chris Denorfia has been released from his minor league contract with the Giants, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). Denorfia, 36, signed with San Francisco back in early June and batted .269/.329/.408 in 143 plate appearances across two levels (most of the time spent in Triple-A) before his release. He’s a veteran of 10 big league seasons and is a career .272/.330/.392 hitter at the Major League level.
- The Dodgers released infielder/outfielder Zach Walters following his DFA on Sunday, reports J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group (Twitter link). Walters received just five big league plate appearances with the Dodgers this season but slashed a respectable .276/.326/.444 in 366 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. Walters has plenty of pop, as evidenced by his 10 big league homers in just 181 plate appearances, but he’s also struck out in 36 percent of his trips to the plate as a Major Leaguer. Still, as a player with power and experience at shortstop, second base, third base and in the outfield, the 26-year-old switch-hitter figures to draw interest elsewhere.
- Right-hander Jeff Ferrell, who was designated for assignment by the Tigers last week, was released by Detroit yesterday, tweets Evan Woodbery of MLive.com. The 25-year-old entered the season as Detroit’s No. 21 prospect, per Baseball America, but he hasn’t pitched since May due to injury. Last season, Ferrell notched a 2.58 ERA with 10.6 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 38 1/3 innings at the Double-A level.
- Outfielder Darin Mastroianni has signed a minor league contract with the Rangers, reports Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (via Twitter). Mastroianni, 30, had a nice season as a fourth outfielder for the Twins back in 2012 but battled an ankle injury the following season and ultimately was designated for assignment in 2014. He’s bounced around the league on a number of waiver claims minor league deals since that time, making brief MLB appearances with the Blue Jays and with the Twins (in a second stint). The fleet-footed Mastroianni is a career .271/.341/.349 with 87 steals in 108 tries across 369 games.
- The Marlins released infielder Pedro Ciriaco, per Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Miami acquired Ciriaco from the Rangers back on July 8 in exchange for lefty Eric Jokisch (who had been designated for assignment), but he hit just .221/.239/.250 in 68 plate appearances with Triple-A New Orleans. The versatile 30-year-old has plenty of big league experience under his belt, having compiled a .268/.294/.368 slash in 649 plate appearances across 272 Major League games from 2010-15.
Spokesman: A-Rod Will Not Play Again In 2016
There’s been sufficient speculation about the possibility of Alex Rodriguez signing with another team now that he’s formally cleared release waivers — the Marlins, most notably, have been mentioned — but Rodriguez’s publicist, Ron Berkowitz, has released a statement definitively stating that said scenario will not come to fruition. Via Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (links to Feinsand on Twitter):
“I want to put all this talk to rest about Alex playing for any team this season. It’s not happening. Like he said Friday night, he is happy and he is going to take some time to relax and hang with his family and friends.”
It should be noted that Berkowitz specifically references the current season only, suggesting that he’s not willing to rule out the possibility of Rodriguez pursuing a contract — and his 700th career home run — in a new uniform next season. That would seem to open up a number of additional opportunities for Rodriguez, as there are potentially American League clubs that would be open to an opportunity for A-Rod over the winter that don’t feel they have a roster spot to spare in the midst of a playoff push.
Rodriguez, 41, played his final game with the Yankees on Friday night and will reportedly transition to an advisor/instructor role with the organization. He batted .200/.247/.351 with nine home runs in 243 plate appearances this season, leaving him with 696 long balls in his historic career.
Quick Hits: Rivera, Orioles, Lackey, Fernandez, Myers, Rays
The Yankees unveiled a Monument Park plaque in Mariano Rivera‘s honor, yet as Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including Fangraphs’ David Laurila) this weekend, Rivera could have become Florida Marlins property via the 1992 expansion draft. Dombrowski, then the Marlins GM, would’ve chosen Rivera if the Rockies hadn’t taken Yankees farmhand Brad Ausmus with the previous selection. Since the rules prevented a team from losing more than one player in an expansion draft, that took Rivera and any other unprotected Yankees off the board. Here’s some more news from around baseball as we wrap up the weekend…
- With Darren O’Day back on the DL, BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Dan Connolly opines that the Orioles should try to acquire a veteran southpaw reliever to fill the void. Connolly reports that the O’s looked into the Rockies‘ Boone Logan and the Padres‘ Brad Hand and Ryan Buchter prior to the trade deadline, so it’s possible the Orioles could revisit those talks, though it will be much harder to complete a deal through August trade waivers.
- John Lackey spoke last season of signing one more two-year contract and then retiring, though ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the right-hander could continue past the 2017 season if the desire and ability is still there. Lackey is enjoying another solid season, and Olney notes that the veteran is actually posting a career high in fastball velocity at age 37 (though this velocity is a rather modest 91.8 mph, after six seasons in the 91.5-91.7 mph range). Lackey would be 39 on Opening Day 2018, so if he is still pitching well, I would suspect he’d explore another contract with a contending team. Staying with the Cubs may well be at the top of Lackey’s list given how the team seems to be entering a long-term contention window.
- It’s no surprise that the big-market Cubs and Phillies are prepared to be big spenders in the coming years, though Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe notes that the traditionally low-payroll Marlins could also potentially become more open to big salaries. With a new local TV contract on the horizon, the revenue increase could make the Marlins more likely to re-sign Jose Fernandez, who has long been considered a good bet to leave Miami in free agency after the 2018 season.
- As the Padres are about to begin a series with the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times revisits the three-team blockbuster between San Diego, Tampa and Washington in December 2014. Right now, the deal doesn’t look like a good one for the Rays — Steven Souza has yet to become a consistently productive player, while three of the players Tampa flipped in the deal (Wil Myers, Joe Ross and Trea Turner) are all enjoying success in 2016. It could be years, of course, before we can really judge the trade as a win or loss for any of the three clubs. Topkin also notes that Myers was the source of some clubhouse issues in Tampa Bay, so it’s possible he would never have had his breakout season without a change of scenery.
Marlins Considering Carlos Gomez
In the wake of Giancarlo Stanton‘s season-ending groin injury, the Marlins are exploring several hitters, including the Astros’ Carlos Gomez, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports. Gomez would presumably join Ichiro Suzuki in a platoon, with one of the two veterans playing with regulars Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna.
Since being designated for assignment earlier this week, Gomez has drawn interest from other NL contenders like the Cardinals and Mets, though New York may have simply been doing due diligence. Given that the Mets, Cards and Marlins are all battling for wild card spots, there could also be some gamesmanship between the three teams on the waiver wire to block a trade, which could force Houston to pull Gomez back on waivers and then release him outright.
It speaks to Gomez’s impressive track record that he is still getting consideration from contending teams despite his disastrous tenure with the Astros. In a little over a year in an Astros uniform, Gomez has hit just .221/.277/.342 in 323 plate appearances and posted subpar defensive numbers in center field. Gomez has dealt with a couple of notable injuries in that time, though it’s still a stunning decline considering that Gomez was still posting strong numbers as recently as the first half of the 2015 season, and was an All-Star in 2013 and 2014 with the Brewers.
While nobody expects him to replicate Stanton’s production, it’s possible a change of scenery and a return to the National League could help Gomez regain some of his old form. The Astros and Marlins have collaborated on a pair of trades since Jeff Luhnow has been Houston’s general manager, such as the July 2014 deadline deal that saw such notables as Jarred Cosart, Enrique Hernandez, Colin Moran and Jake Marisnick switch teams, plus the July 2012 trade that saw Carlos Lee go to Miami.
Also from Frisaro’s piece, Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill confirmed that the team has interest in Alex Rodriguez, though the Fish want to learn more about A-Rod’s future plans. “I have no idea what his interest level is to continue playing,” Hill said. “He has something set up to move into the [Yankees’] front office. I don’t know where his head is on that, but where we are now, this team has played too well for too long. We’re right in the thick of this thing, and we’re going to do everything in our power to help in any way we can. If it’s him, or if it’s someone else, we’re going to try to find a way.”
Giancarlo Stanton To Miss Rest Of Season
In a shocking turn of events, Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton will miss the rest of the season, manager Don Mattingly said Sunday (Twitter link via Joe Frisaro of MLB.com). The Marlins placed Stanton on the 15-day disabled list earlier Sunday with a left groin strain, though there wasn’t any word at the time regarding the severity of the injury. In providing an afternoon update, Mattingly referred to it as “serious.”
This is now the third straight year in which Stanton’s season has ended in premature fashion. The prodigious slugger’s 2014 campaign concluded in September after then-Brewers right-hander Mike Fiers hit him in the face with a pitch. Stanton then fractured his left hamate bone last June, thereby limiting him to 74 games. His latest issue came as a result of an awkward slide in the Marlins’ 8-7 loss to the White Sox on Saturday. All the more painful for him and the Marlins is that it came on the final out of the game.
Miami, which pulled out a 5-4 win over the ChiSox on Sunday, is now 61-56 and in possession of a Wild Card spot in the National League. However, it’s difficult to envision the Marlins maintaining their position without two of their best power threats in Stanton and first baseman Justin Bour, who hasn’t played since July 2 because of an ankle issue and isn’t progressing toward a return. The Marlins entered Sunday just 28th in the majors in home runs (96), and that’s with a combined 40 having come from Stanton (25) and Bour (15). Thanks largely to his home run prowess, Stanton produced an above-average line of .244/.329/.496 in 432 trips to the plate prior to his injury.
Going forward, Miami has a capable fourth outfielder in 3,000-hit club member Ichiro Suzuki, who – barring a trade – will turn into an everyday option, but he and Stanton provide vastly different skill sets. Although Ichiro has hit a solid .316/.388/.386 with matching strikeout and walk rates (9.8 percent) in 244 PAs, the 42-year-old has gone without a home run this season and has amassed a total of two since 2014.
Given that they haven’t been able to replace Bour’s power from within and surely won’t be able to make up for Stanton’s, the Marlins will consider free agent Alex Rodriguez, according to Craig Davis of the Sun Sentinel (Twitter link).
“He’s an available player,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said of the 41-year-old Rodriguez, whom the Yankees released Saturday.
If the Marlins were to sign Rodriguez, the right-handed hitter would likely team with the lefty-swinging Derek Dietrich in a first base platoon. Rodriguez hit a paltry .200/.247/.351 this year before the Yankees parted with him, but he’s only a season removed from swatting 33 homers. He also recorded an outstanding .263/.394/.532 line in 193 PAs against southpaws in 2015.
Mattingly spoke Saturday of Rodriguez, a Miami native and resident, saying, “There’s no reason he couldn’t play first. He has the ability to do a lot of things. We miss Justin a little bit over there at first. I don’t think we’ve been able to replace that. We’re always looking at ways of getting better in different areas.”
Regardless of what Marlins brass decides to do next, this is certainly a grim day for the franchise. Miami awarded Stanton a record-setting contract extension worth $325MM over 13 years in November 2014, and the fact that his season is over means he’ll ultimately run his missed games total up to 147 since then. Unlike last year, the Marlins actually have legitimate postseason hopes, making Sunday’s developments that much worse.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Marlins Place Giancarlo Stanton, Adam Conley On DL
In a pair of highly unfortunate developments for the playoff-contending Marlins, the club has placed both right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (left groin strain) and southpaw Adam Conley (left third finger tendonitis) on the 15-day disabled list, per an official announcement. To fill their respective spots on the roster, the Marlins have recalled infielder Robert Andino and recently acquired left-handed reliever Hunter Cervenka from Triple-A New Orleans. They’ve also released right-handed reliever Cody Hall.
Stanton suffered his injury on a slide that led to the final out of the Marlins’ 8-7 loss to the White Sox on Saturday. The 26-year-old, who hit his 25th home run of the season earlier in the game, was trying to stretch a single into a double on the play and slid awkwardly, hurting his groin.
This is the second straight year with a noteworthy injury for Stanton, whose 2015 season ended in June on account of a fractured left hamate bone. Stanton was hitting an excellent .265/.346/.606 with 27 homers in 318 plate appearances at the time, but he hasn’t been nearly as effective this season. Still, the star slugger has produced an above-average .244/.329/.496 batting line in 432 trips to the plate, and he remains among the sport’s premier power threats.
Losing Stanton leaves Miami without two of its three home run leaders, including first baseman Justin Bour, who hasn’t played since July 2 because of an ankle issue and isn’t progressing toward a return. Even before Stanton’s injury, the Marlins dropped eight of 11 games to begin August, though they remain within a half-game of the second Wild Card spot in the National League. But, just as they haven’t been able to come close to replicating Bour’s lost production, they won’t be able to find anyone to rival Stanton’s output. While the newest member of the 3,000-hit club, Ichiro Suzuki, has batted .319/.389/.390 in 240 PAs and represents a quality off-the-bench fill-in, the 42-year-old is a radically different player than Stanton. Ichiro hasn’t homered this year and has gone deep only twice since 2014.
Conley, meanwhile, hasn’t thrown more than five innings in a start since July 27. He logged four frames Saturday and gave up five earned runs on five hits and four walks. Conley then revealed that he has been dealing with soreness in his pitching hand that has sapped him of velocity, per Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
Like Stanton, Conley will be difficult for Miami to replace. Aside from ace Jose Fernandez, Conley has perhaps been the Marlins’ best starter. The 26-year-old has recorded a 3.94 ERA, 8.42 K/9 and 4.21 BB/9 across 130 1/3 innings this season. He’ll now join southpaw Wei-Yin Chen as the second key member of their rotation to hit the DL, leaving them with Fernandez, Tom Koehler, Andrew Cashner and David Phelps. The only one of those four who inspires confidence is Fernandez, but the Marlins are keeping an eye on his innings and are skipping his originally scheduled Sunday start.
Jose Urena, Justin Nicolino and Kendry Flores are potential Conley replacements in New Orleans, though the former two have performed poorly in extensive major league action this year. Depending on the severity of Conley’s injury, then, the Marlins seem like candidates to scour the market for a potential August trade. Otherwise, their iffy-at-best rotation could help cost them a playoff spot.