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Heyman’s Latest: Cole, Cutch, Fulmer, Iglesias, Abreu, Bruce, Alonso, Darvish

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The Pirates are on a roll in the NL Central, having just swept the division-leading Brewers in a four-game series. Even prior to today’s win, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports wrote in his weekly notes column that Pittsburgh not only continues to look unlikely to trade Gerrit Cole but is now also unlikely to deal outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who has undergone a remarkable turnaround at the plate since late May.

More highlights from Heyman’s latest, including his American League and National League breakdowns:

  • The Tigers appear all but entirely unwilling to move young starter Michael Fulmer, per Heyman. That’s largely unsurprising, though perhaps it might have been expected that the club would at least entertain some scenarios in the interest of covering all its bases. While he’d surely draw a major haul, it would probably be tough for the team to part with its best asset while so many expensive veterans remain under contract. Meanwhile, Heyman notes that shortstop Jose Iglesias could be had for the right price, though it’s hard to see that coming together with such limited demand at the position.
  • Though the White Sox are clearly in the midst of another aggressive sale, Heyman writes that there are no plans to move Jose Abreu at this time. The slugger is in the midst of a fine season, but there’s a limited market for first base help at this time. With another two years of control beyond this season, the ChiSox will perhaps have more opportunistic times to market him. Derek Holland, on the other hand, could very well be moved in the coming week, and the South Siders would like to move Melky Cabrera as well but would probably need to pay down most of the remainder of this year’s $15MM salary.
  • The Indians are a possible landing spot for Jay Bruce, as their offense is currently without the injured Lonnie Chisenhall and Jason Kipnis. The Mets are known to be looking to move Bruce, and it’s worth noting that USA Today’s Bob Nightengale recently reported that Cleveland was in the mix for slugger J.D. Martinez right up until the time he was traded.
  • With limited trade partners for Yonder Alonso — especially following the Yankees’ acquisition of Todd Frazier — the Athletics once again touched base with Yonder Alonso’s reps at MVP Sports about an extension, per Heyman. They’ll circle back again and do so later this week as the two sides attempt to find a middle ground. Oakland is in the midst of an all-out rebuild, as executive vice president of baseball ops Billy Beane recently indicated, but Alonso could provide some leadership for the team’s younger players. And, if he sustains his breakout through season’s end and into 2018, he could certainly become a marketable asset in the future when there’s more of a need at his position.
  • The Rangers aren’t likely to re-sign Yu Darvish after the season, Heyman writes, as Darvish’s camp has already thrown out Stephen Strasburg’s seven-year, $175MM contract as a potential comp. Texas isn’t prepared to bid that highly to retain Darvish, which is why they’ve at least signaled to teams that they’ll listen to offers on Darvish if they struggle too much between now and the deadline. There’s no plan to move Cole Hamels at this time, though, he adds.
  • While the Diamondbacks may have made their biggest move already, the club is still looking at ways to bolster the pitching staff. Heyman pegs Blue Jays righty Marco Estrada as a possibility, though it’s unclear if he’s actively under consideration. It’s fair to wonder, too, whether the club would be better suited to focusing on bullpen help — though, of course, looking at starters doesn’t preclude that possibility.
  • While the Cubs have made at least some contact with the Athletics on righty Sonny Gray even since acquiring Jose Quintana, Heyman says that it’s not at all clear that Chicago will be “a strong player” for another controllable starter.
  • With Jaime Garcia seemingly going off the board, there ought to be greater focus now on Phillies righty Jeremy Hellickson. He ought to be easier to obtain now than he was last year, Heyman notes, as the Phils are willing to hold onto at least some of his $17.2MM salary to improve the prospect return.

Trade Chatter: Gray, Fulmer, Cards, JDM, Marlins, Lowrie, Red Sox, Reed

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Athletics righty Sonny Gray is an obvious target for contenders, and he’s among the players touched upon in a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today (which also delves into some analysis and predictions). The Brewers “may be the most aggressive” suitor for the Oakland starter, per Nightengale, with the Royals even entering the picture to some extent. He guesses, though, that the Astros are most likely to land Gray. That’s not to say that it’s Houston’s first choice; Nightengale says that the team spoke with the Tigers on Michael Fulmer but “came up empty.”

We’ll see if the ’Stros continue to push for Fulmer, who’d surely require a major haul of prospects. Here are some more notes from Nightengale and others:

  • If Gray is the top starter who’s likely to be dealt, the best position player on the market is probably Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez. The Cardinals were said previously to have looked into the high-powered slugger, but Nightengale says they won’t spend big on a rental of his ilk. Rather, he says, the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Diamondbacks are the three clubs that have “shown the most interest” in Martinez. We’ve also heard of a few other organizations poking around on the righty slugger, so there seems to be no shortage of interest.
  • The Phillies aren’t in contention — far from it — but are still showing interest in Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, Nightengale adds. Other organizations are also said to be looking into the speedy veteran, who is under contract for $38MM over the next three seasons. It’s a bit surprising to see this particular link, as the Phils already control Cesar Hernandez and have variety of interesting middle infield prospects moving toward the majors. CSNPhilly.com’s Corey Seidman argues as much, but notes that Gordon could conceivably be involved in some of the broader talks between the clubs.
  • As many as 10 teams are still in the mix for Marlins righty David Phelps, tweets Nightengale. Phelps is indeed an attractive trade chip, though it’s unlikely that all 10 of those clubs are expressing serious interest and making competitive bids to acquire him. Nightengale names the Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Rockies, and Rangers as the chief pursuers of Phelps.
  • MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand provides a variety of market notes. Among them: the Marlins are shopping Brad Ziegler aggressively. The team is willing to hold onto a major portion of his salary to get a deal done, per the report. That’s no surprise, given that he struggled through 29 innings before hitting the DL with a back issue. With a discount on the free-agent deal, there ought to be some interest. After all, the crafty 37-year-old maintained a 2.05 ERA over 136 innings in the prior two campaigns.
  • It’s not surprising to hear that the Tigers are asking for quite a haul in exchange for Fulmer, given that he doesn’t need to be dealt. And the organization is perhaps well served to maintain a lofty ask on Martinez, allowing suitors to bid up his return. But dealing some of the organization’s other veterans may require more give and take. A pair of rival executives tell ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter) that Detroit may have trouble making deals at its current asking prices.
  • Jed Lowrie has been one of the most oft-speculated trade candidates of the summer, but MLB Network’s Peter Gammons tweets that, to this point, the Athletics haven’t received so much as a single inquiry into his availability. Lowrie is obviously available in trade — as is the case with most of the Oakland roster — and it is indeed somewhat surprising to hear that interest in him is so scant. The versatile, switch-hitting 33-year-old is batting .272/.339/.455 with 10 homers, 27 doubles and two triples this year. Even if a contending club doesn’t view Lowrie as a starter, his $6.5MM salary and $6MM club option aren’t exactly outlandish for a productive utility option.
  • The Red Sox are one team rumored to have some level of interest in Lowrie, though Boston has been most closely connected with Todd Frazier in its third base search. Odds are, a source tells ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber (Twitter link), the Sox won’t be parting with significant prospect assets to meet its needs at the hot corner and in the bullpen. That likely wouldn’t be necessary for Lowrie or Frazier; one wonders, though, whether the club will still at least look into more significant deadline additions.
  • We haven’t heard much detail as yet on Mets righty Addison Reed, who looks to be one of the best available relievers. But he’s generating “plenty of trade interest,” in the words of Newsday’s Marc Carig (via Twitter). That’s to be expected given the dominant form of the pending free agent. Over 43 2/3 innings this year, Reed owns a 2.47 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and just 1.0 BB/9.

NL News & Rumors: Braves, Brewers, Phillies, Rockies

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The Braves, on the hunt for starting pitching, sent a top scout to Detroit this weekend to watch Tigers right-handers Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com (on Twitter). Neither Verlander nor Fulmer seems like a realistic trade candidate, however. The Tigers reportedly want a noteworthy haul for Verlander, even though he’s 34, in the throes of a down season and still owed nearly $70MM through 2019. Verlander also has a full no-trade clause, so he could veto a deal even if the Braves do present an offer to the Tigers’ liking. Unlike Verlander, the 24-year-old Fulmer is both cheap and in his prime. Detroit would justifiably demand a ransom in return, then, but there’s no indication it’s interested in parting with him.

More from the National League:

  • Realistically, no one would have expected the Brewers to hold a 5.5-game advantage in the NL Central this late in the season, which could lead to an agonizing deadline for the team’s decision-makers, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. The Brewers, who were in on now-Cub Jose Quintana before the White Sox traded him Thursday and have interest in the Athletics’ Sonny Gray, must weigh whether to make a bold strike that eats into their farm system or take a more conservative approach. General manager David Stearns doesn’t seem eager to part with a prospect haul, telling Haudricourt: “We’ve worked very hard to build our system and organization as a whole where the level of young talent we have is a good place to be. I don’t see us, whether it’s this year or any year going forward, moving from that strategy.” Nevertheless, Haudricourt points to Gray’s team control, his connection to Milwaukee pitching coach Derek Johnson (who coached Gray at Vanderbilt) and the Brewers’ rotation questions as reasons why acquiring him would make sense.
  • Speaking of the Brewers, their success has come without having left fielder Ryan Braun at full strength, and his health will continue to be an issue for the rest of the season. Manager Craig Counsell said Saturday (via the Associated Press) that the Brewers will evaluate Braun daily through the end of the year, given that a strained right calf has hampered him for a while and forced him to the disabled list twice. While the 33-year-old has once again been a quality contributor to Milwaukee’s offense, having hit .260/.343/.553 across 169 plate appearances, Counsell believes there’s enough talent on hand to weather Braun’s issues. “We certainly want a healthy Ryan Braun, but we’ve had success with this team because of depth and we’ll continue to rely on that if we have to,” Counsell said.
  • Phillies outfielder/infielder and trade candidate Howie Kendrick has been out this month with an injured left hamstring, and a return doesn’t seem imminent. Kendrick will join the Phillies in Miami on Monday, but only so the team can evaluate him to see if he’s healthy enough to embark on a rehab assignment, tweets Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
  • Currently in possession of a wild-card spot, the Rockies will temporarily remove one of the best starters from their rotation in order to preserve his arm, according to Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Rookie left-hander Kyle Freeland, who’s top two among Rockies starters in innings (110 1/3), ERA (3.67) and ground-ball rate (55 percent), is likely to head to the bullpen and could then log some time in the team’s Triple-A rotation before resuming his starting role in Colorado. Another rookie, righty Antonio Senzatela, looks primed to take Freeland’s place in the meantime. Freeland threw three shutout, no-hit frames in relief Saturday, when the Rockies lost starter Tyler Chatwood to an undisclosed injury in the first inning, per Saunders.

Cafardo’s Latest: Gray, Brewers, Cards, Dodgers, Royals, Tigers, BoSox

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Of the several teams eyeing Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray in advance of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the Brewers have shown the most interest, reports Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The unexpected playoff hopefuls began doing “background work” on both Gray and now-former White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana just over a week ago, but the latter went to the NL Central rival Cubs on Thursday in a blockbuster trade. Acquiring Gray would be a quite a counterpunch by Milwaukee, which has a 5.5-game lead over the Cubs, and Cafardo observes that the Brewers have the prospect capital to make it happen. But even after getting Quintana, the Cubs haven’t closed the door on adding Gray, too.

More pre-deadline info from Cafardo:

  • The Cardinals, Dodgers and Royals seem to be leading the chase for Tigers contract-year slugger J.D. Martinez, according to Cafardo. As AL Central rivals of the Tigers, the Royals are especially familiar with Martinez, who has slashed .298/.379/.602 with 14 home runs in 219 plate appearances this year. The $11.75MM right fielder would significantly boost a below-average Kansas City offense that has received awful production from longtime franchise cornerstone Alex Gordon in left field. Meanwhile, with Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk on the disabled list, the Cardinals are shorthanded in the outfield. Winners of 40 of their past 51 games, the 62-29 Dodgers seemingly aren’t lacking for quality players anywhere, but picking up Martinez would make them all the formidable as they vie for a World Series.
  • Along with the previously reported Astros and Nationals, the Red Sox are interested in Tigers closer Justin Wilson, writes Cafardo. The Red Sox have come up as potential suitors for other on-the-block relievers, including David Phelps and Pat Neshek, so the connection to Wilson isn’t exactly shocking. The 29-year-old left-hander has posted outstanding numbers over 34 1/3 innings (2.36 ERA, 12.84 K/9, 3.41 BB/9) and would immediately become Boston’s top southpaw reliever, though Fernando Abad has held his own this season and Robby Scott has fared well against lefty-swingers. Wilson is making a highly affordable $2.7MM this season and comes with another year of arbitration eligibility.
  • Continuing the Tigers theme, righty Michael Fulmer is the Detroit starter who’s garnering the most attention from pitcher-needy teams, per Cafardo. Considering Fulmer’s among the top young hurlers in the game and controllable for the foreeseable future, that’s not surprising. There’s no indication the Tigers will seriously consider moving Fulmer, who informed Evan Woodbery of MLive.com that he doesn’t expect to go anywhere. Nevertheless, one NL executive told Cafardo that GM Al Avila is at least entertaining the offers that come in for the 24-year-old.  “I think Al is being forced to listen,” said the exec. “The Tigers could get a huge haul for Fulmer, but they’re trying to get their payroll down and get younger. Trading Fulmer is not necessarily the way to do it.”

Reactions To And Effects Of The Jose Quintana Trade

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After a nearly silent All-Star break on the rumor front, the Cubs and White Sox stunned the baseball world by announcing a blockbuster deal that sent left-hander Jose Quintana from Chicago’s American League club to its National League team in exchange for minor leaguers Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease, Matt Rose and Bryant Flete. Over the past 24 hours, both teams have addressed the media, pundits from around the media have weighed in on the swap, and others have reported details on alternative talks that each team had leading up to the blockbuster move. Here’s a before-and-after, if you will, of how what might be the summer’s biggest trade transpired…

  • The Yankees, Brewers and Astros were all involved in varying levels of trade talks regarding Quintana before the Cubs ultimately acquired him, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Braves, too, were in on Quintana “until the end,” USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets. Meanwhile, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post tweets that the Rockies were “never really in” on Quintana despite a potential need for some rotation upgrades with some of their younger arms sputtering lately.
  • The Cubs tried to engage the Tigers in trade talks on Michael Fulmer before acquiring Quintana, reports Nightengale in a full column. However, Detroit gave no indication that it was willing to listen unless the Cubs were willing to include both Javier Baez and Ian Happ in trade talks. They also inquired on Justin Verlander, per Morosi (also via Twitter), though he notes that, similarly, talks between the two sides “never gained momentum.”
  • While many were stunned to see the Sox and Cubs line up on a trade — their first since 2006 — White Sox GM Rick Hahn scoffed at the notion that their shared city would serve as an impediment to trade talks, writes Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. “This notion that we wouldn’t do business with them because they’re in town — or somehow we would actually take an inferior baseball deal for non-baseball reasons because of emotion or a rivalry or something totally unrelated to putting the best possible team on the field for the next several years — is laughable,” said Hahn. The South Side GM went on to laud Jimenez’s upside, calling him a potential middle-of-the-order bat with power potential and the ability to hit to all fields. Hahn adds that yesterday’s package was “far and away the best offer, the best possibility, that we’ve discussed with any club since we’ve started this process roughly a year or ago or so.”
  • The Cubs believed that they were out of the running to acquire Quintana after talking to Hahn in June, president of baseball operations told reporters (via Gordon Wittenmyer of the Sun-Times). Hahn, though, re-engaged with Epstein on Sunday night, and the two talked over the next few days, including a conversation that included Hahn ducking behind an exhibit at All-Star FanFest in Miami to avoid being seen (per ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers, on Twitter). Ultimately, it became clear that the Cubs would have to part with two of their very best prospects to get the deal done. “This deal had zero-percent chance of happening without both Eloy and Cease in it,” said Epstein. The Cubs president went on to say that they’ve been trying to acquire a pitcher like Quintana for “a long time” and added that his analytics and scouting teams “[dug] deep” to determine whether there were any changes that led to Quintana’s slow start t the season. “Our assessment on both fronts was that he is the same guy, and our staff felt that way with conviction,” Epstein said.
  • Also via Wittenmyer’s column, Epstein said that the team isn’t necessarily done yet, though their play in the next two weeks will dictate what other moves are or aren’t made. “We need to play well coming out of the gates here, and we’ll assess what we’re trying to do in large part based on how we play and where we are in the standings, and how realistic we think a World Series run is this year,” Epstein said. “Everything is still on the table for this year.”
  • ESPN’s Keith Law opines (Insider subscription required and recommended) that both clubs did well in the trade. The Cubs picked up a durable arm that has a near-ace-level track record over the past three years whose raw stuff “didn’t really waver” even through his struggles earlier this season. Quintana can help offset the loss of right-hander Jake Arrieta after the season, joining Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks in the rotation for the next several years. His contract is also affordable enough that the team can comfortably pursue rotation help on the free-agent market this winter. Law projects Jimenez as a middle-of-the-order bat and suggests that he alone could’ve been an acceptable return, though the inclusion of Cease sweetens the deal. Cease has questions about his command as well as his durability and may end up in the ’pen, though his velocity and pair of potentially above-average secondary offerings make him a nice upside play. Law notes that he’s been leapfrogged by a pair of pitching prospects on the Cubs’ organizational rankings, which might’ve made him easier to deal.
  • Both Nightengale and Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network opine that it’s ridiculous that this is just the second trade these two teams have made this decade and offer praise for Hahn and Epstein for their pragmatic approach to dealing with one another. Teams are making more rational and data-driven decisions than ever before, Rosenthal notes, ultimately surmising that that trend should also include a willingness to deal within the same city and within the same division.
  • Yahoo’s Jeff Passan writes that Quintana’s contract was every bit as important to the Cubs as Quintana himself. With significant arbitration raises looming for players like Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Kyle Hendricks, Javier Baez, Carl Edwards Jr. and others looming in the next two years, the team’s enviable young core is going to rapidly become considerably more expensive. Shedding money from aging veterans like Arrieta, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist will obviously free up some cash, but Quintana’s contract meets an important nexus of future payroll flexibility, remaining under the luxury tax and improving the near- and long-term roster.

Gammons On Cubs, Tigers, Verlander, Lowrie, Cole

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“This is the reality: there are a lot more sellers than buyers right now,” a club personnel director tells Peter Gammons in the writer’s latest piece for his Gammons Daily website.  Not only are some teams still wondering if they can get back into the postseason race, other teams further back in the standings are looking to rebound in 2018 and thus won’t engage in full-scale selloffs at the deadline.  It makes for a lot of speculation but little hard facts at this point in July.  As one GM jokes, “the whole countdown to deadline day has become akin to stores putting Christmas decorations in their showcase windows on Labor Day.”  Here are some hot stove items from Gammons…

  • “The Cubs have called almost every team” in search of starting pitching, including asking the Tigers about Michael Fulmer and Daniel Norris.  It would take a blockbuster offer for Detroit to eve consider moving Fulmer, as he has already displayed frontline-starter capabilities over his year and a half as a major leaguer, and he has yet to even reach his arbitration seasons.  Norris would come at a lesser but still substantial price since he is controlled through 2022, though the southpaw has battled both injuries and inconsistency during his four years in the bigs.  The Cubs are known to be looking for controllable young arms, and may be willing to deal from their surplus of young position players to do so.
  • One Tigers pitcher that isn’t on the Cubs’ radar is Justin Verlander, as one Cubs official tells Gammons that “no one is going to pay $70MM for him, even though he may still be a very good pitcher.”  Chicago reportedly at least asked about Verlander at one point, though with Detroit apparently wanting to both get top prospects and get Verlander’s salary off the books, it isn’t surprising that the Cubs’ interest in Verlander was described yesterday as “more smoke than fire” by the Detroit Free Press’ Anthony Fenech.
  • Billy Beane told Gammons earlier this week that he hadn’t received any serious interest in Sonny Gray prior to last weekend, and the same goes for any serious calls about Jed Lowrie.  The veteran infielder is thought to be a good target for teams in need of middle infield help and the Athletics to find lineup space for prospect Franklin Barreto, though it appears that Lowrie’s market has yet to develop with over three weeks still to go until the deadline.  MLBTR’s Connor Byrne examined Lowrie, Gray and other Oakland trade candidates in a Taking Inventory piece earlier today.
  • Returning to Gammons’ original point about teams not wanting rebuild when they feel they have a chance in 2018, Pirates GM Neal Huntington said that his team isn’t likely to trade young right-hander Gerrit Cole.  “We haven’t had a real conversation about Gerrit, and I don’t see us doing so,” Huntington said.  “We think we can be serious contenders next year….Our goal is to maintain a level of competitiveness every year, and not to have to jump back and build all over again.”

Corey Seager, Michael Fulmer Win Rookie Of The Year Awards

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Corey Seager of the Dodgers and Michael Fulmer of the Tigers have been named the Rookies of the Year in their respective leagues by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Seager followed Kris Bryant in taking the National League RoY award by a unanimous vote. The only question with his candidacy is whether the trophy will be joined on his shelf by a 2016 N.L Most Valuable Player award. (Bryant stands as perhaps his strongest competition for that top honor.)

There were quality competitors, though. The Nationals’ Trea Turner might’ve made things interesting had he played at the major league level for the entire season — and managed to sustain his partial-season excellence for the long haul. As it turned out, he edged Dodgers hurler Kenta Maeda for second place. Three hurlers — Jon Gray of the Rockies, Steven Matz of the Mets, and Seung-hwan Oh of the Cardinals — received one third-place vote apiece.

The 22-year-old Seager had already taken the game by storm last year, but his 27-game run didn’t use up his rookie eligibility. He was great from start to finish in 2016, compiling a .308/.365/.512 batting line and knocking 26 long balls over 687 plate appearances. And he did all that at the plate while providing quality defense at shortstop, making him one of the game’s most valuable performers (and, given his cheap control, one of its top assets).

Things were a bit tighter on the American League side. Fulmer seemed to be running away with things before Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez emerged late in the year. Like Turner, he was just too late to make up the ground in the award hunt — but that doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm for his future. Indians outfielder Tyler Naquin came in third, with Astros hurler Chris Devenski landing in fourth.

Fulmer enjoyed a breakout campaign in his first major league action. The 23-year-old ran up 159 innings of 3.06 ERA pitching, with 7.5 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9. For a Detroit organization that is looking to get younger and add assets with greater control, Fulmer — who came over in the 2015 deadline deal that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the Mets — is a cornerstone.

AL Central Notes: Gomes, Sano, Royals, Fulmer

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The return of catcher Yan Gomes to the Indians’ roster looks to have hit a snag, as Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Gomes was hit on the right wrist by a pitch in the fifth inning of his final rehab game at Double-A Akron last night. Hoynes further reports that Gomes will receive an MRI today to determine the extent of the damage done, though the team won’t have definitive results on the testing until tomorrow (links to Twitter). If he’s unable to return, the Indians will continue to rely on Roberto Perez and veteran Chris Gimenez behind the dish. That pairing has produced little in the way of offensive value on the season as a whole, but Perez’s bat has caught fire since late August; he’s slashing .306/.358/.531 with a pair of homers, three doubles and a triple in his past 55 plate appearances.

More from the AL Central…

  • Twins slugger Miguel Sano won’t travel with the team to New York and will instead undergo testing on his ailing back in Minneapolis, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Sano took some swings in the batting cage yesterday, but Berardino writes that the cage work “didn’t go well,” adding that there’s no certainty that Sano will be able to return to the lineup before the end of the 2016 season. The loss of Sano can’t hurt the Twins much more in terms of their overall performance, as Minnesota is currently poised to land the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft after a disastrous 2016 campaign, but Sano remains a work in progress at the hot corner, so the remaining 16 games could prove beneficial from a development standpoint.
  • The struggles of Joakim Soria could make the bullpen an offseason priority for the Royals, writes Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star. Soria’s 4.19 ERA is the worst mark of his career, and the seven blown saves he’s suffered this season are also a career-worst. Manager Ned Yost attributes much of his team’s 2016 struggle to the fact that, “we’re not the same bullpen we were last year.” Indeed, Yost noted that the club knew what it could expect on a nightly basis from the likes of Greg Holland, Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera. The 2016 season is another story entirely. Holland underwent Tommy John surgery late last year and had to be non-tendered, while Davis has missed time on the DL due to a pair of forearm injuries and Luke Hochevar has been shut down due to thoracic outlet syndrome. The signing of Soria was supposed to deepen the ’pen, but the right-hander’s return to the Royals organization has gone poorly, making his three-year, $25MM contract look even more questionable than it did at the time of the signing.
  • The Tigers are knowingly taking a risk with right-hander Michael Fulmer, writes Tony Paul of the Detroit News. Tigers management had hoped to cap Fulmer’s innings at 160 this season, but he’ll pass that mark in tomorrow’s start and figures to surpass it by a considerable amount when all is said and done — especially if the Tigers can secure a postseason berth. However, as Paul points out, the Tigers would be in no position to even compete for a postseason spot at this juncture were it not for Fulmer’s remarkable breakout. Manager Brad Ausmus spoke to Paul about the handling of the Rookie of the Year front-runner, acknowledging the risk but also highlighting that the protection of young arms is at best an inexact science. “Guys are getting Tommy John surgeries at an unbelievable rate, even with the protection,” said Ausmus. “…The 25-percent (innings bump), maybe there’s proof out there that it protects pitchers. I haven’t seen it.”

AL Central Notes: Sano, Berrios, Salazar, Fulmer

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Twins third baseman Miguel Sano’s MRI on his right elbow came back clean today, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 23-year-old slugger has been playing through some soreness in his elbow that has impacted his throwing in recent weeks, he revealed over the weekend, but the issue appears to be minor in nature. Sano told reporters that the elbow is feeling better today, and he’ll have the opportunity to rest it with an off-day in the schedule. Sano has struggled tremendously at third base since opening the year in right field and then being shifted back to the hot corner, but his bat has come to life lately. Over his past 18 games, Sano is hitting .297/.368/.622 with six home runs.

More from the AL Central…

  • Fellow top young Twins talent Jose Berrios is receiving plenty of organizational attention as he struggles to complete his transition to the game’s highest level, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Even Hall-of-Famer and current TV analyst Bert Blyleven has chipped in as the team looks to get Berrios on track. Though he has long shown ample polish in the minors, the 22-year-old has uncharacteristically permitted 14 walks in his 28 big league frames, coughing up 29 earned runs on 39 hits — including seven long balls. On the positive side, he is still getting plenty of swings and misses with thirty punch-outs. Among the issues being explored are fastball command and tipping of offspeed pitches, per the report. Minnesota is relying heavily upon the development of players like Berrios, Sano, and Byron Buxton, and their current record reflects the uneven recent path of those hyped youngsters (among other players).
  • The Indians plan for right-hander Danny Salazar to come off the disabled list on Thursday to start against the White Sox, manager Terry Francona told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Cleveland placed Salazar on the disabled list back on Aug. 2 due to inflammation in his right elbow, but the issues appears to have been minor in nature, as an Aug. 18 activation would represent a very minimal DL stint. Salazar has thrown all of his pitches to test his elbow and feels ready to get back onto a big league mound, though the Indians will be cautious with him. Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway said Salazar won’t be cleared to throw 100 pitches right out of the gate. Rather, he could be piggybacked, to some extent, with right-hander Mike Clevinger, who will move to the bullpen upon Salazar’s return.
  • Even as the Tigers continue to push hard for a post-season berth, the club faces tough impending questions on rising young righty Michael Fulmer. As Lynn Henning of the Detroit News writes, the organization still hasn’t decided precisely how to manage his workload with both the present and future in mind. The 23-year-old has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations in his rookie campaign, spinning 120 innings of 2.25 ERA pitching. But with his minor league frames included, he is already moving past his previous single-season high of 124 2/3 total innings pitched. Though manager Brad Ausmus notes that Fulmer doesn’t tend to run high pitch counts and isn’t throwing many high-stress frames, it appears that several skipped starts will be required to keep him on the bump down the stretch — and that’s all before considering a potential playoff berth.

AL Central Notes: Zimmermann, Fulmer, Sano

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Tigers fans braced for bad news after right-hander Jordan Zimmermann exited his first start since returning from the DL due to a potential lat injury, but an MRI came back clean, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. Detroit is optimistic that Zimmermann can avoid a return trip to the disabled list following the positive news, though yesterday’s six-run shellacking still comes with a fair amount of concern. Zimmermann now has a 7.30 ERA across his past 49 1/3 innings, which isn’t doing the Tigers any favors as they look to close a three-game gap for the division lead in the AL Central and a half-game deficit in the race for the second American League Wild Card slot.

A bit more from the division….

  • Flying somewhat under the radar amid the considerable chatter surrounding Aaron Sanchez’s innings total is the workload of AL Rookie of the Year candidate Michael Fulmer, as MLB.com’s Jason Beck writes. In the case of Fulmer, however, his uncanny efficiency — he’d rank 10th in the league in terms of fewest pitches per inning if he qualified — has the Tigers more focused on limiting his pitch counts on a start-to-start basis than taking a more general approach and monitoring his innings. A 25 to 30 percent increase in innings would cap Fulmer, who has thrown 119 1/3 innings between Triple-A and the Majors, at between 155 and 162 innings, but his low pitch counts could allow him to exceed that count in the event of a lengthy postseason run for Detroit.
  • Demoting struggling slugger Miguel Sano is a “real option” for the Twins, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The Twins will get Trevor Plouffe back from the disabled list after this weekend series, and Sano’s recent woes in the field have been difficult to ignore. Of course, the Twins certainly compounded the issue by moving Sano to the outfield in the first place when it was clear even after last season that he had some work to do on his defense at third base, and asking him to move back to third midseason after not taking many reps there since last year has indeed yielded ugly results. Sano has made 12 errors in 27 games at third base this year. “He’s trying to make the changes that he needs to make to where he can walk out of here every day saying he did what he could do that day to become a better player,” said manager Paul Molitor. “It doesn’t happen every day, I’m sure.”

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