Marlins Pushing To Land Andrew Cashner; Rangers Out?
FRIDAY, 12:37am: Texas isn’t landing Cashner, sources tell MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan (via Twitter). That would seem to leave the Marlins in position to finalize an agreement, and SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo tweets the Fish are indeed getting closer to striking a deal.
THURSDAY, 11:29pm: The Marlins and Rangers are the two “current leaders” to acquire righty Andrew Cashner from the Padres, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Miami is “pushing hard to finalize” a swap that would send multiple prospects to San Diego for the much-needed starter, per MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter), though it seems as if there’s still competition for his services.
We’ve long heard of interest from a wide variety of clubs in the pending free agent, who seems among the likeliest trade pieces in all of baseball. The Orioles were said to be making a push to strike a deal on Cashner just yesterday, but now seem to be behind in the sweepstakes. Other contenders who have been linked include the Blue Jays and Giants.
Recent reports have suggested that the Pads were nearing a deal for Cashner at various points in time, but he remains in San Diego at present. That probably worked out to the benefit of his current team, as the up-and-down righty has put together his best work of the season over his last three outings, permitting five runs and running up 23 strikeouts against just three walks over 17 2/3 frames.
Still, on the year he’s carrying only a 4.76 ERA with 7.6 K/9 against 3.4 BB/9 over 79 1/3 frames. Some home run troubles (16.0% HR/flyball rate) haven’t helped, and Cashner has also posted a career-worst 7.3% swinging striker rate with a slightly declining (but still-strong) average four-seam velocity of 94 mph.
Despite his rocky results, Cashner currently holds the fifth spot on MLBTR’s top trade candidate ranking. That’s due not only to his oft-noted talent, but also to San Diego’s aggressive selling posture, which has already resulted in deals for James Shields, Fernando Rodney, and Melvin Upton. There’s an argument to be made that Cashner is the most appealing rental starter currently available; Rich Hill has unquestionably been better, but also hasn’t pitched much of late, while Jeremy Hellickson arguably doesn’t have quite the ceiling of the other two.
Cashner is earning a relatively modest $7.15MM salary this year, so he’s just as affordable in terms of salary as Hill and Hellickson. In theory, the Pads could hold onto him and hope that he pitches well enough down the stretch to warrant a qualifying offer, but it seems that ship has sailed at this point — particularly with the starting pitching market seemingly primed for sellers to receive strong returns.
Pitching Rumors: Marlins, Tigers, Nats, Giants, Walker, Gomez
ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark examines the seeming dearth of available starters on this year’s market, with several unnamed executives telling him it seems to be harder than at any point in recent memory to pry arms loose. He goes through several possible reasons for that — including, most interestingly, the fact that the infusion of money into baseball has reduced the financial pressure on smaller-market teams to sell off assets at the deadline. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports also tackles the subject, suggesting that the standoff between buyers and sellers could topple over on deadline day — possibly resulting in a wild finish.
While we wait for the tension to break, here’s the latest on a market that is proving difficult to project:
- Even as the Marlins reportedly make their pitch for Andrew Cashner, the team is continuing to look far and wide for their rotation needs, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. He adds three more names that the club has asked about: Edinson Volquez of the Royals, Matt Shoemaker of the Angels, and Julio Teheran of the division-rival Braves. Nothing in the Miami system is off limits, per the report, including first baseman Josh Naylor and righty Luis Castillo — each of whom have been asked about quite frequently by other clubs, per Jackson. Rival clubs get the sense that the Marlins are “desperate” to bolster their rotation, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets, but it’s still not entirely clear how the team will make that happen given its thin farm. Of course, as the examples of Naylor and Castillo show, the system isn’t devoid of talent, but it would certainly sting to part with the organization’s best pieces, and it’s not at all clear that those players would be enough to score a quality, controllable arm.
- Another team that hopes to add arms but has limitations in doing so is the Tigers, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). Detroit is said not to have much payroll flexibility, and is also generally regarded as having a weaker farm system. At the same time, it’s probably wise not to count out the Mike Illitch-owned Tigers, who have made many bold strikes in the past and sit in reasonable striking distance of both the AL Central and the Wild Card at six games over .500.
- After missing on Aroldis Chapman, the Nationals should only step up their efforts to upgrade, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post opines. While GM Mike Rizzo has undeniably been a shrewd dealmaker, he and the organization have largely resisted major in-season additions, and Kilgore says that this is not the year to be stingy with prospects. Washington has been tied mostly to relief targets, and finding a big-time late-inning arm surely remains a priority. That said, things still seem rather wide open for the Nats, who aren’t overrun with needs but seem interested in a big addition. After all, the club even reportedly asked the Blue Jays whether star outfielder Jose Bautista might be available, per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
- Despite moving to add infielder Eduardo Nunez tonight, the Giants are still focused on pitching, GM Bobby Evans tells reporters including Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter). It’s hard to draw a bead on the Giants’ favored targets, as ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick says they’re “blanketing” the market for starters and relievers (Twitter links). But the team is among may that have reached out to the Royals, so you can at least add some hypothetical new names to the long list of possibilities for San Francisco.
- Meanwhile, southpaw Josh Osich wasn’t terribly pleased that he was placed on the DL with a seemingly minor forearm issue, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. He was replaced with fellow lefty Matt Reynolds, leading the Chronicle’s Henry Schulman to suggest on Twitter that the organization hopes to get a look at the 31-year-old before the deadline. Reynolds has appeared in five major league seasons and had some success at times. And it’s hard to ignore his current Triple-A line: over 32 1/3 innings, he owns a 1.11 ERA with 12.8 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 while allowing only 16 hits.
- Mariners righty Taijuan Walker is drawing “strong interest” around the game, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). It’s still somewhat difficult to imagine the organization parting with the talented hurler at this particular point in time, not least of which because he’s currently on the DL with a foot injury. Plus, GM Jerry Dipoto strongly suggested just recently that a sell-off shouldn’t be expected. But Nightengale says that Walker is scheduled for a bullpen on Friday at Wrigley Field that is expected to be watched by opposing teams’ scouts.
- The Phillies “don’t seem motivated” to trade reliever Jeanmar Gomez, Jayson Stark of ESPN.com tweets. On the one hand, that’s a bit surprising given that the emergent righty has worked to a strong 2.83 ERA in 47 2/3 innings while largely thriving in the closer’s role. On the other, Philadelphia has no real reason to part with its final year of control if it can’t draw an interesting return, as Gomez will likely provides some affordable (albeit increasingly expensive) stability next year.
Marlins Reinstate Dee Gordon
The Marlins announced today that they’ve activated Dee Gordon from the restricted list and designated infielder Don Kelly for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 25- and 40-man rosters.
[Related: Updated Miami Marlins Depth Chart]
Gordon has been out since April due to an 80-game suspension that stemmed from a failed PED test. The 28-year-old batted .266/.289/.340 with six stolen bases through his first 21 games of the season before being hit with a suspension that comes on the heels of a five-year, $50MM contract extension this past offseason. He’ll presumably reclaim his spot at or near the top of the Miami lineup, and his return figures to cut into the playing time for Derek Dietrich, who has slashed .272/.363/.393 this season in Gordon’s stead while seeing the lion’s share of the playing time at second base. Gordon, of course, will serve as a major boost to manager Don Mattingly’s lineup if he can replicate his 2014-15 form, which saw him bat .311/.342/.398 with an MLB-leading 122 stolen bases in that time.
Via Uninterrupted, Gordon has issued a new video apology to his fans and to the Marlins organization for his suspension. “I made a mistake, man, but just like in this game you’ve got to learn, come back and be stronger and better,” said Gordon during his three-minute video. “…You’ve got to hold yourself accountable for your standards of living and training. I didn’t hold myself accountable for any of that. I thought I would never, being the smallest guy, I would never fail a drug test. I didn’t pay attention at all. I didn’t meet the standards. That’s my fault and no one else’s.”
Kelly, 36, batted .148/.200/.296 with a pair of triples in 30 plate appearances for the Marlins following his brief call-up earlier this month. He stepped into the big league picture when Justin Bour landed on the disabled list with an ankle sprain. Bour remains on the shelf for the time being, so it’s feasible that the left-handed-hitting Dietrich could slide over to first base and platoon there with Chris Johnson in place of Bour. He’ll move around the diamond a fair amount once Bour is healthy in an attempt to keep his bat in the lineup.
Orioles “Trying Hard” To Land Andrew Cashner
The Orioles are “trying hard” to get right-hander Andrew Cashner from the Padres in trade talks, per FOX’s Ken Rosenthal (links to Twitter), though Baltimore isn’t necessarily considered the favorite. The Marlins and Rangers are both still in on Cashner, he notes, and others recently linked to the free-agent-to-be include the Blue Jays and Giants. While MLB.com’s Jon Morosi recently reported that San Diego was making progress on a Cashner trade, Rosenthal feels that Cashner talks could stretch into Monday.
As Rosenthal points out, the Orioles and Padres had extensive talks regarding Melvin Upton Jr., so the O’s are likely already familiar with the players from their minor league ranks that are most coveted by the Padres. Likewise, San Diego is familiar with the players that the Orioles would be reluctant to surrender, though given the meager return on Upton and the fairly significant demand for Cashner, it’s safe to assume that Cashner talks would feature more highly regarded names than Upton talks. (Reportedly, the Padres sought lefty Garrett Cleavinger and righty Jhon Peluffo in Upton negotiations.)
Baltimore looked perilously thin in the rotation entering the season, and the need to augment the rotation has become even clearer as the season has worn on. Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman are the only two regular members of the Orioles’ rotation that have managed an ERA south of 5.00. Yovani Gallardo‘s 5.37 ERA ranks third among Orioles that have made five or more starts. Aside from the work turned in by Tillman and Gausman, Baltimore has received a collective 5.93 ERA in the starts made by Gallardo, Ubaldo Jimenez, Tyler Wilson, Mike Wright, Vance Worley and Dylan Bundy. The final member of that group has at least looked solid over his past two starts, but Bundy pitched a combined 67 professional innings from 2012-15 due to injuries and is already at 52 innings pitched in 2016, making it virtually impossible for the Orioles to entrust him with a starter’s workload down the stretch.
Generally speaking, Cashner has been unimpressive for the bulk of the season, posting a 4.76 ERA in 79 1/3 innings while missing time due to a hamstring strain and a neck strain. He’s rattled off three consecutive nice starts against contending teams, however, yielding five runs with a 23-to-3 K/BB ratio over his past 17 2/3 innings.
Latest On Andrew Cashner
TODAY, 10:00am: The Giants are still in “active talks” with San Diego regarding Cashner, Morosi tweets, so evidently the market for his services remains wide open.
YESTERDAY, 8:05pm: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that clubs eyeing Cashner wanted to see him pitch one more time before deciding whether to meet the Padres’ asking price. Cashner got off to a rocky start when he walked Jose Bautista and gave up a two-run homer to Josh Donaldson, but he recovered quite well, finishing the evening with three runs allowed on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in six innings.
6:16pm: The Blue Jays/Padres game is underway with Cashner on the mound, so there’s clearly nothing imminent at this time.
3:54pm: Morosi adds that the Padres are still discussing Cashner with multiple clubs, but there’s been enough progress in talks that he could be scratched from tonight’s start vs. the Blue Jays (Twitter link).
3:39pm: The Padres are making progress on a trade involving Andrew Cashner, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). Cashner, widely expected to be on the move prior to the Aug. 1 non-waiver deadline, could even be moved before tonight’s scheduled start against the Blue Jays, Morosi adds. Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller, however, heard otherwise earlier today, tweeting that the Padres are expecting Cashner to start in tonight’s game. However, Miller did add that trade talks surrounding Cashner continue, with the Blue Jays and Marlins “heavily” involved and the Rangers involved to a lesser extent.
Last week, Morosi reported that the Padres were trying to move Cashner before his Thursday start in St. Louis, though obviously those efforts came up short. Cashner threw well against the Cardinals, however, limiting them to a run on three hits and no walks with eight strikeouts across 5 2/3 strong innings, so if anything the delay in finding a trade partner may have caused an ever-so-mild uptick in his value.
Cashner, 29, is currently sporting a 4.79 ERA on the season with 7.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 47.3 percent ground-ball rate in 73 1/3 innings. A neck strain and a hamstring strain have resulted in a pair of DL stints and limited his innings this season, further compounding the Padres’ efforts to extract strong value in a potential trade. That said, Cashner’s heater is averaging 93.6 mph this season and has trended upward of late, and he’s still displaying an ability to rack up grounders at a rate that is slightly above the league average. His status as a former high draft pick and top prospect that looked to be delivering on that hype as recently as 2013-14 (2.87 ERA in 298 1/3 innings) creates somewhat of a sense of upside as well, even if the 2015-16 seasons have yielded decidedly underwhelming results (4.47 ERA in 258 innings).
A number of teams have been connected to Cashner in recent weeks, with the Orioles, Marlins, Blue Jays, Rangers and Giants among the supposedly interested parties. Cashner is earning $7.15MM in his final season before hitting the free agent market, and about $2.67MM of that sum remains on his contract through the end of the year. Cashner’s name has been in trade rumors for months, and the right-hander has accepted the fact that his days in San Diego are nearing an end. “I know I’m going to be traded,” Cashner told Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune following his start last week. “It’s just part of the game, part of where the season’s at.”
Minor MLB Transactions: 7/27/16
Here are the latest minor moves from around the game, all via Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted:
- The Rangers released outfielder Justin Ruggiano, per a club announcement. It had seemed at one point over the winter that Ruggiano would hold down an important role at the major league level for Texas, but the team ended up adding Ian Desmond and the veteran Ruggiano has received a grand total of four major league plate appearances on the year. He has been playing at Triple-A, where he owns a .226/.321/.427 batting line with seven home runs over 190 plate appearances. The eight-year MLB veteran could yet have an impact this year with another organization; he has enjoyed some productive runs in the majors, including a late-season spurt last year with the Dodgers.
- Outfielder Ronnier Mustelier was outrighted by the Braves. He had received his first major league call-up for Atlanta at 31 years of age, but didn’t see any action. He owns a .300/.362/.399 slash over 357 plate appearances on the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. After leaving his native Cuba, Mustelier joined the Yankees organization before the 2011 season, then played mostly in Mexico and Venezuela last year after New York cut him loose.
- The Marlins have outrighted right-hander Asher Wojciechowski after recently designating him for assignment. The 27-year-old struggled in a brief stint with the Astros last year — his only taste of major league time to date — and hasn’t really put things together since a promising 2013 campaign. Wojciochowski hasn’t been very effective this year at the Triple-A level, where he has issued too many free passes to keep runs off of the board.
- Righty Justin De Fratus signed a minor league deal with the Nationals after being released by the Rangers. Now 28, De Fratus was a source of quality innings for the Phillies not long ago. Entering the 2015 season, he had thrown 114 major league innings of 3.08 ERA pitching with 8.1 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. Things went south from there, however, as De Fratus scuffled to a 5.51 ERA in his ensuing campaign and hasn’t seen the majors since. He had not shown well since moving from the Mariners’ to the Rangers’ top affiliate, walking more batters than he struck out over 9 1/3 innings.
Pitching Rumors: Chapman, Ervin, Hill, Hellickson, Ubaldo, Blue Jays
Joel Sherman of the New York Post walks readers through the winding process the Cubs took to reach an agreement on an Aroldis Chapman trade with the Yankees. Per Sherman, the Cubs never wanted to pursue a rental pitcher but weren’t able to convince the Yankees to back down from their demand of Kyle Schwarber. Chicago then turned to the Royals, only to find the asking price on Wade Davis to be even higher than the asking price on Miller. The Cubs weren’t willing to deal from their big league roster to upgrade the ‘pen but were willing to deal from their infield depth, parting with Class-A shortstop Gleyber Torres largely because of the presence of both Addison Russell and Javier Baez on the Major League roster. (Notably, Chicago also dealt from its first base depth in moving Dan Vogelbach for another left-handed reliever: Seattle’s Mike Montgomery.) Sherman adds that owner Hal Steinbrenner still wants to win in 2016 despite approving the Chapman swap, which calls into question whether the club would entertain even an overwhelming offer for Miller.
A few notes on the pitching market…
- Twins interim GM Rob Antony has expressed an openness to moving Ervin Santana if approached with a strong offer, but he tells Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he’s not shopping the right-hander (Twitter link). “I’ll be honest,” said Antony, “I’m not calling anybody trying to move him.” As Antony explained yesterday in a Q&A with MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, his feeling is that he couldn’t sign a pitcher of Santana’s effectiveness to a two-year, $27MM contract with a third-year club option (the remaining commitment on Santana’s deal after 2016) on the free agent market this winter and, as such, believes there to be enough value that he needn’t shop Santana to other clubs. Antony again stated that he’s not under any type of ownership mandate to trim payroll, suggesting that shedding Santana’s salary may not be all that appealing.
- Pitching is the Twins‘ biggest priority on the trade market this summer, according to Antony (Twitter link via Bollinger). While the club is clearly open to trading veteran pieces to acquire young pitching help, Antony said he’s also talked to other teams that are considered to be sellers about acquiring big league pitching — presumably MLB arms that are controllable well beyond the 2016 season.
- Athletics southpaw Rich Hill believes he’ll be able to pitch on Sunday after throwing 50 pitches with protective covering over his blistered left hand and another 20 without the cover, tweets John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group. Hill has scarcely been able to pitch since late May due to a groin strain and this newfound blister issue, but he remains a highly intriguing rental option thanks to a 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate through 76 innings out of the Oakland rotation this season. That would obviously give rival scouts just one more opportunity to look at Hill before Monday’s non-waiver deadline, but that could prove crucial given his limited recent exposure.
- Both the Rangers and Orioles were in attendance for Jeremy Hellickson‘s scoreless six innings for the Phillies against the Marlins last night, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. (The Marlins — Hellickson’s opponents — also obviously had evaluators on hand and have long been linked to Hellickson.) There’s no clear frontrunner for Hellickson’s services, Crasnick notes, but it’s a “virtual lock” that he’ll change teams on or before next Monday.
- The Padres asked the Orioles to include minor league left-hander Garrett Cleavinger and minor legaue righty Jhon Peluffo in the trade that would’ve sent Ubaldo Jimenez to San Diego in exchange for Melvin Upton Jr., according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (on Twitter). However, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the talks broke down over finances, and Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller adds (also via Twitter) that owner Peter Angelos had a late change of heart and altered the nearly agreed-upon deal — specifically the amount of money that would have changed hands. The Padres ultimately shifted course and sent Upton to the Blue Jays.
- Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins says he’s not done making moves after swooping in and acquiring Upton earlier this morning, via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (links to Nicholson–Smith on Twitter). Atkins’ comments seemingly focused on pitching upgrades, with the GM indicating that the market for relief help is more robust than the market for starters at present. Atkins says he’s talked with all 29 other clubs on multiple occasions and is now focused on a smaller group of teams that could potentially upgrade his pitching staff. Asked specifically about the Padres — the Jays have been linked multiple times to Andrew Cashner, who tossed a quality start against them tonight — Atkins replied, “They have interesting pitching as well.”
Rotation Rumors: Sale, Urias, Marlins, Nova, Miley, Shelby
The Dodgers would be willing to include top prospect Julio Urias in a trade for White Sox ace Chris Sale, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. That’s a major concession, as Urias is arguably the very best pitching prospect in baseball. Los Angeles has declined to make him available in the past, and now that he has reached the majors, he would certainly represent a legitimate centerpiece in a deal for the even-more-valuable Sale. Depth isn’t a major concern for Los Angeles, Sherman explains; instead, they are trying to see if they can strike a deal for a major talent like Sale, teammate Jose Quintana, or Chris Archer of the Rays.
- Rival executives say that the Marlins have been extremely aggressive in trying to add a starter, says Sherman, but they also don’t see anything intriguing in the club’s farm system. Trading from the big league roster would obviously be difficult to do for Miami, but Sherman offers the intriguing (but, as he says, totally speculative) idea that the club could dangle injured reliever Carter Capps.
- The Marlins have shown some interest in Yankees righties Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova, among many other names with whom they have been connected, also per Sherman. And that would seem to align with New York’s own approach, as the club is moving its focus to finding a taker for Nova, according to a report from Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. The Yanks are dangling him at a relatively high asking price, per the report — at least for the time being.
- Mariners lefty Wade Miley is another pitcher the Marlins are at least considering, per Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Miley is controllable through 2018, but his results have been so poor this year that he shouldn’t command a significant price. Given that the Fish have previously had interest in the southpaw, per Spencer, perhaps they could look to buy low and get a sturdy arm without giving up what little young talent they have on offer.
- Amidst reports that the Diamondbacks have made struggling righty Shelby Miller available in trades, GM Dave Stewart tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter link) that he won’t be given away for nothing. “We have been asked about Miller,” he said. “Teams think we’ve given up on him, we haven’t.” It remains to be seen what kind of interest Arizona will field in Miller, but there’s no particular reason for him to be moved at the trade deadline. His value, after all, lies in the hope that he can return to being the solid starter he once was, rather than in his potential contributions for the rest of the 2016 season.
Angels Listening To Offers On Hector Santiago; Marlins Have Expressed Interest
5:38pm: Miami has reached out to the Halos on Santiago and other, unspecified starters, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter).
3:25pm: The Angels have received inquiries from a number of teams about left-hander Hector Santiago, and they’re willing to listen to offers for him, reports ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The team is also getting hits on Matt Shoemaker, perhaps unsurprisingly, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).
Los Angeles is said to be amenable at least to considering scenarios involving the two controllable starters, but only if it would improve the team’s roster right now or in the “near future.” That near-term focus is precisely why it’s hard to see a match coming together, particularly for Shoemaker.
Santiago, 28, is earning $5MM this season and is controlled through the 2017 campaign via arbitration, so he’s more appealing than a number of arms that are of similar quality but either hit free agency at season’s end or are making considerably more money. The lefty is in the midst of his weakest season at the Major League level but still owns a respectable 4.32 ERA with 7.8 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and a career-best 38.7 percent ground-ball rate. His 91.8 mph average fastball is a notable step up over last season’s average of 90.3 mph and represents the highest mark he’s ever posted in a full season out of the rotation.
Metrics such as FIP, xFIP and SIERA feel that Santiago’s been fortunate to keep his ERA where it is this season, but Santiago has long outperformed those metrics. As a fly-ball pitcher that generates a large number of pop-ups, Santiago has been able to routinely post BABIP marks that are considerably lower than the league average (having Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun in the outfield doesn’t hurt), and he’s also proven to be adept at stranding runners; his 76.6 percent left-on-base percentage is 14th in the Majors over the past five years among starters with at least 500 innings pitched. Those factors have contributed heavily to the career 3.78 ERA Santiago has been able to post out of the rotation in spite of ERA estimators that project his earned run average to check in somewhere in the vicinity of a full run higher.
Crasnick lists the Orioles, Pirates and “possibly” the Astros and Mets as speculative fits for Santiago after speaking to a pair of big league executives (links to Twitter). Those two execs also listed Miami as a possible fit, but Crasnick adds that the Marlins, who are known to be looking for a stabilizing force near the back of the rotation, are currently “aiming their sights higher” than Santiago. Considering their desire for a large quantity of innings down the stretch, perhaps that’s not surprising; Santiago’s career-high in innings pitched was last year’s 180 2/3 frames, but he averaged a lesser 152 innings from 2013-15 due to some time spent in the bullpen in 2013 and 2014.
The Orioles have long been tied to a left-handed rotation upgrade, and Santiago would be an improvement over many of the names that Baltimore has trotted out to the mound this season. Santiago wouldn’t fit the Pirates’ mold of pursuing pitchers with high ground-ball rates, but he’d give them a capable arm for the back of the rotation that could take some of the pressure of their bounty of young starters that could be leaned upon heavily over the final months (e.g. Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Chad Kuhl, Steven Brault). The Astros have a short porch in left field which could spell problems for a fly-ball prone lefty, while the Mets reportedly continue to prioritize bullpen help. However, given the uncertainty that currently exists in their starting ranks, it wouldn’t be a total shock to see them jump into the market for a starter over the next week as the non-waiver deadline approaches.
Deadline Rumors: Hellickson, Reds, Rangers, Aybar, Gibson, Twins
Here’s the latest on some notable players whose names have popped up in trade speculation…
- The Phillies are scouting the Marlins‘ rookie league affiliate for prospects in a possible Jeremy Hellickson trade, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). The two NL East rivals have been connected to Hellickson rumors for a few weeks now, as Miami is known to be searching for rotation help. Given the lack of premium talent within the Marlins’ farm system, Hellickson could be a more reasonable acquisition than other Marlins targets like Jake Odorizzi, Matt Moore or even Chris Sale. The Pirates, Red Sox and Orioles are among the teams also linked to Hellickson in trade rumors.
- The Rangers are exploring many trade options and have been linked to multiple teams, though they don’t appear to have had any “substantive talks” with the Reds, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Texas has been linked to Jay Bruce, and the right fielder could be a fit with Shin-Soo Choo constantly battling injuries and Prince Fielder gone for the season, though Grant seems to imply that the Rangers’ interest in Bruce didn’t get too far. Anthony DeSclafani would certainly the attract the Rangers and other pitching-needy teams if Cincinnati made him available, though DeSclafani’s breakout year may have also made him into a building block for the rebuilding Reds.
- The Braves are “aggressively shopping” Erick Aybar and left-handed relievers, a rival executive tells Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Aybar would seem to have limited trade value given his horrible year at the plate, as his brief hot streak in June gave way to more struggles in July. Southpaws Hunter Cervenka and Ian Krol have generated some trade buzz already, and it’s possible Atlanta could be trying to sell high on Dario Alvarez. (UPDATE: Rosenthal’s tweet also listed Jeff Francoeur as a trade chip, but he has since issued a correction saying that the Braves aren’t shopping Francoeur and will only deal him if they get a big offer.)
- The Twins are in “listening mode — at best” on right-hander Kyle Gibson, a source on a contender tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter links). The Twins “appear more focused” on trading Ervin Santana or Ricky Nolasco, which is no surprise given that the team would love to get some salary relief from either of those big contracts. Gibson has yet to truly live up to his former top prospect status, though he put up solid numbers in 2015 as a low-strikeout ground ball specialist. Gibson will become eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, and he is under team control through 2019.
- Also from Berardino (Twitter links), he speculates that the Twins could try to position themselves as the proverbial “third team” in a three-team trade. The Twins have some prospect depth that could be offered to contenders short on quality minor leaguers (Berardino cites the Marlins, Tigers, Mets and Orioles here) to help facilitate some deals, with Minnesota receiving some players who could help them next season but who are also still in their pre-arbitration years.