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NL Central Notes: Castro, Melvin, Counsell

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Starlin Castro has lost his starting shortstop job to Addison Russell and is now facing a move to (or even a platoon role at) second base, but Castro is positive about his new position.  “Whatever helps the team win.  We don’t think about (ourselves). We think about us as a team,” Castro told reporters, including CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine.  “I just want to play.  I just want be in the lineup. It does not matter if it’s at second or shortstop.”  While there has been lots of speculation about Castro’s future with the Cubs, his agent Paul Kinzer said that “sometimes a change can help everyone.  When a team goes in a different direction, there are opportunities elsewhere. In that case, it doesn’t make anybody the bad guy. Starlin would hate to leave Chicago. The one thing he is adamant about is being a team player and not becoming a distraction to this very good team.”

Here’s more from around the NL Central…

  • Though he has experience in the Brewers front office, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that he is “not a candidate” for the team’s vacant GM job.
  • Counsell’s job will likely remain safe no matter who takes over as Milwaukee’s GM, as owner Mark Attanasio made clear in yesterday’s comments to the media (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).  “We were very careful in making that manager choice. If somebody comes in and thinks they can come up with a better name, they would probably do that at their peril in the interview,” Attanasio said.
  • Outgoing Brewers general manager Doug Melvin ultimately lost his job due to three factors, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron writes in a piece for FOXSports.com.  The team didn’t draft well, they both gave away too much talent to acquire Zack Greinke and then didn’t recoup enough when dealing him away, and Milwaukee wasted a lot of at-bats on sub-replacement players.
  • With the Cardinals raking in the revenue, Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggests a few ways the club can spend some of that money this offseason and in years to come.  Re-signing Jason Heyward is a good fit, as is picking one of John Lackey or Jaime Garcia for next year’s rotation, and planning extensions for young core pieces like Kolten Wong, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez and others.

NL Notes: Brewers’ GM Search, Giants, Utley, Russell, Fernandez

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Brewers owner Mark Attanasio outlined a composed and orderly search for his organization’s next general manager, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports. Attanasio says that he won’t be in a rush to make a decision, and will pursue a “corporate”-style process, though he hopes to install a new GM before the Winter Meetings. “The process needs to be exhaustive, so as a result, there is no timetable for the process,” he explained. Per Attanasio, the organization is likely to go with a “younger person” as its chief baseball decisionmaker, and he’ll consider candidates from inside and outside not only the organization but also the game of baseball. (He called it “unlikely, but possible” that the team would ultimately go with an “outside the box” choice.) The owner added that he is open minded about what kind of contention timeline the organization will pursue, saying he would “like to see it more in the two to three years” range but noting that “we don’t want to do something halfway.”

  • Giants GM Bobby Evans talked about the team’s second base questions, as Carl Seward of the Bay Area News Group reports (links to Twitter). Joe Panik is at least a week away from beginning baseball activity, increasing the urgency of an addition. While Evans confirmed interest in Chase Utley of the Phillies, he indicated that the asking price remains above his comfort level. San Francisco is looking at multiple options to add depth up the middle, per the GM.
  • The Cubs will utilize Addison Russell as the team’s primary shortstop, manager Joe Maddon told the press today, including Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter links). Starlin Castro appears ticketed for more of a utility role and could line up at second against lefties. Looking ahead, Maddon said that Russell is “absolutely” the shortstop of the future. Of course, the 25-year-old Castro is under team control through 2020 (the final year through an option), and he’s lined up to be the subject of immense offseason trade speculation.
  • The Marlins feel good about the health of young ace Jose Fernandez, as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. The diagnosis of a biceps strain was “great news,” said Fernandez, who added that he has felt no pain since. He added that he has every hope and intention of returning to pitch again this season.

Doug Melvin To Assume Advisory Role; Brewers Begin Search For New GM

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The Brewers announced today that longtime GM Doug Melvin will move to an advisory position within the organization, and the team will begin hunting for a new GM immediately (Twitter link). Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel tweets that it was Melvin’s decision to begin the transition now as opposed to after the season. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports (on Twitter) that the Brewers have hired executive search firm Korn Ferry to organize the team’s pursuit of a new general manager. The priority, according to McCalvy, will be to target younger candidates with knowledge of analytics.

Doug Melvin

Melvin, 63, became Milwaukee’s general manager nearly 13 years ago and prior to that spent eight years as GM of the Rangers. He was the GM in Texas for the team’s first three postseason appearances and helped to construct a pair of playoff teams during his Brewers tenure as well, including a 96-win team that made it to Game 6 of the NLCS against the Cardinals in 2011

As one would expect with such a lengthy tenure at the top of the team’s baseball operations hierarchy, Melvin made a number of notable transactions in his time with the Brewers, including a handful of high-profile trades. In 2008, Melvin acquired CC Sabathia from the Indians in a rental deal that sent Matt LaPorta, Michael Brantley, Zach Jackson and Rob Bryson to Cleveland. He swung another deal for an ace in the 2010-11 offseason, landing Zack Greinke from the Royals in exchange for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jake Odorizzi and Jeremy Jeffress (who has, of course, made his way back to the Brewers).

Melvin ultimately traded Greinke away a season and a half later, acquiring Jean Segura, Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena in exchange. He’s also architected extensions for Carlos Gomez (three years, $24MM), Ryan Braun (eight years, $45MM, followed by an additional five years, $105MM), Jonathan Lucroy (five years, $11MM) and, in a less successful decision, Rickie Weeks (four years, $38.5MM).

Melvin’s recent transactions have been something of a mixed bag. The Adam Lind-for-Marco Estrada swap has benefited both parties, and the re-signing of Francisco Rodriguez has, to this point, been a solid move. Kyle Lohse made good on the first two years of his three-year, $33MM contract and justified the expenditure despite a poor 2015 season. However, the Matt Garza contract currently looks like a misstep, and recent seasons have seen Cain, Escobar and Odorizzi emerge as very valuable pieces.

This summer, Melvin drew praise for the return for Gomez and Mike Fiers — a four-player package that brought Brett Phillips, Josh Hader, Domingo Santana and Adrian Houser to Milwaukee. He also landed a nice piece from the Orioles when trading Gerardo Parra to Baltimore: right-hander Zach Davies.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/10/15

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Baseball America’s Matt Eddy has rounded up all the most recent minor moves. Among the notable ones that have not yet appeared on MLBTR …

  • Righty Chin-hui Tsao has been outrighted by the Dodgers, per Eddy. The 34-year-old pitched briefly for the Dodgers in 2015 in his first big-league action since 2007 and probably didn’t help his case by allowing three homers in seven innings. He did, however, get fairly good results in the upper levels of the Dodgers’ minor league system this season, posting a 3.93 ERA, 11.0 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 34 1/3 innings of relief.
  • The Marlins signed right-hander Erik Cordier and released infielder Jordany Valdespin, per the report. The 29-year-old Cordier has only appeared in one big-league season (with the Giants, in 2014), but he’s frequently attracted interest from teams looking to fill out their Triple-A clubs, since he throws in the upper 90s and generates strikeouts. As one might expect from a Triple-A reliever with such a profile, though, he has control issues, walking 5.1 batters per nine innings in his minor league career. The Marlins outrighted Valdespin last month. He’s spent most of the season with Triple-A New Orleans, where he’s hit .293/.348/.387 while playing second base and all three outfield positions.
  • The Brewers released several minor leaguers, including lefty Michael Kirkman and infielder Donnie Murphy, Eddy adds. The 28-year-old Kirkman pitched parts of five seasons with the Rangers from 2010 through 2014, but he has only appeared in the minors in 2015, pitching 32 innings with the Brewers’ Triple-A team in Colorado Springs. He’s posted a 2.81 ERA with 9.6 K/9 but with a very high 7.9 BB/9. Murphy has hit .257/.352/.371 in 162 plate appearances with Colorado Springs, playing all four infield positions. He has appeared in parts of nine big-league seasons with the Royals, Athletics, Marlins, Cubs and Rangers, although he hasn’t played in the big leagues this year.
  • Also, the Red Sox have signed lefty Rich Hill out of the Atlantic League, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets. Hill, 35, pitched at Triple-A for the Nationals earlier in the season and posted a 2.91 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 21 2/3 innings, although he also walked 21 batters. The Nationals released him in June, and he made one start for the Long Island Ducks. Hill appeared in 16 games with the Angels and Yankees in 2014.
  • Pirates righty Vance Worley has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis, Cotillo adds on Twitter. Worley recently lost his roster spot when Pittsburgh added Joe Blanton. He’d have foregone the remainder of his $2.45MM salary by electing free agency. Worley has been fairly effective this season while pitching mostly in a swingman role (3.78 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9), so he could return to the Pirates when rosters expand in September.

Quick Hits: Rookies, Brewers, Glasnow, Angels

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It’s still early August but the rookie class of 2015 is on the verge of becoming the most productive (via fWAR) first-year crop in the history of the game, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan writes.  The Astros’ Carlos Correa leads the way, and Passan hears from two general managers who already rank Correa amongst the top 5-10 players in the game.  Rookie position players are generally outshining the rookie pitchers, though this season has still seen several impressive young arms like Noah Syndergaard, Joe Ross, Aaron Nola and Lance McCullers make their debuts.  Here’s more from around the baseball world as we wrap up the weekend…

  • The Brewers’ midseason trades have heavily upgraded their farm system, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.  Baseball America’s John Manuel is describes the Brew Crew’s improvements as “pretty amazing,” saying the team went “from a middle of the pack (farm) system to a top five or 10 system.”  Haudricourt breaks down the projected new top 10 prospects in the Brewers’ system.
  • With the Pirates lacking in rotation depth, Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wonders if the team would consider calling up top prospect Tyler Glasnow.  The Bucs could break their pattern of being conservative with minor league promotions if it meant adding a premium arm for the playoff race, like how Gerrit Cole’s call-up in 2013 helped carry the team into the postseason.  Glasnow, a consensus top-16 prospect (as per MLB.com, Baseball America and ESPN’s Keith Law) prior to the season, has a combined 2.41 ERA, 11.6 K/9 and 3.61 K/BB rate over 78 1/3 innings over three levels, though he’s made only two starts at Triple-A.
  • There’s a perception around the game that an experienced executive like Dave Dombrowski may not want to take the Angels’ GM job given the perceived lack of power a GM would have with Arte Moreno and Mike Scioscia wielding most of the influence, The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin writes.  Then again, Shaikin notes, pundits said the same thing about the Orioles’ front office situation a few years ago prior to Dan Duquette’s hiring, and the O’s have since thrived.  Shaikin doesn’t think Dombrowski will end up in Anaheim, but rather could join the Blue Jays or the Mariners front office.

Central Notes: Cubs, Castro, Diaz, Sierra, Williams, Tigers

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The Cubs will soon deal with a roster crunch, writes Bruce Miles of the Daily Herald. The returns of catcher Miguel Montero and infielder Tommy La Stella from the disabled list will force additional moves. Montero joined the lineup today. No transaction was necessary because David Ross was temporarily moved to the bereavement list. LaStella could return to the team tomorrow or Tuesday.

As GM Jed Hoyer pointed out, a deep roster meshes with manager Joe Maddon’s disposition. The young players on the roster are showing some signs of fatigue in their first major league season. Additional depth along with Maddon’s penchant for tinkering should keep everybody fresher. As for who might go, Chicago has already said that prospect Kyle Schwarber will remain with the team. It’s just my guess, but I suspect Jonathan Herrera and Matt Szczur will wind up holding the short straws.

Here’s more from the Central divisions:

  • The Cubs have removed Starlin Castro from the starting lineup with Addison Russell sliding over to shortstop. If Castro is asked to play another position, he would request to speak with front office personnel, tweets Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com. Per Levine, Maddon prefers to have one shortstop rather than a rotation. With La Stella returning soon and Schwarber getting pushed to the outfield by the return of Montero, Castro may see limited playing time in the weeks ahead.
  • The Twins have been scouting Cuban talent, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN. Yesterday, representatives of the club attended a showcase in the Dominican Republic. Outfielder Yusniel Diaz was the headliner per Wolfson. The 18-year-old was viewed as the probable Rookie of the Year in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, but he defected immediately after the season. He is subject to international spending limits. The Twins will also watch pitcher Yasiel Sierra today. Sierra, 23, will be exempt from the international bonus pool once he’s declared a free agent.
  • Brewers pitching prospect Taylor Williams will have Tommy John surgery, tweets Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He’ll likely miss the entire 2016 season. Williams, a 2013 fourth round pick, entered the year as the 11th ranked prospect in the Brewers system per FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel. Over the last two seasons, he has a 3.09 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 in 174 innings split between the lower minors. He did not appear this year.
  • The Tigers have shuffled their front office titles following the promotion Al Avila to GM, tweets Jason Beck of MLB.com. David Chadd is now the new Assistant GM, and Scott Bream will now serve as VP of Player Personnel.

Hector Gomez Elects Free Agency

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SATURDAY: Gomez has elected free agency, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets.

FRIDAY: The Brewers have outrighted infielder Hector Gomez, according to a club announcement. Milwaukee brought up Jason Rogers to take his place on the roster.

Gomez, 27, owns a .181/.212/.323 batting line over 134 plate appearances on the season. He’s seen action in two prior campaigns, but this was his most extensive time on a big league roster. Gomez was productive last year at Triple-A, putting up a .768 OPS with 17 home runs.

Rogers is also 27 and plays the corner infield. He’s destroyed pitching at the Triple-A level after posting strong numbers in the upper minors over the past two seasons. In 95 big league plate appearances earlier this year, he slashed .236/.284/.360 with two home runs.

Podcast: New Brewers Righty Zach Davies

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In our third and final interview with just-traded young players, host Jeff Todd spoke with Brewers pitching prospect Zach Davies before he took the hill for his first outing with his new organization. (It went quit well: six innings, one earned run, and seven strikeouts against three walks.) Davies represents a nice, near-to-the-majors starter for Milwaukee, which added him in the Gerardo Parra trade.

Be sure to check out the previous podcast episodes featuring key deadline movers Brett Phillips of the Brewers and Daniel Norris of the Tigers.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, and please leave a review! The podcast is also available via Stitcher at this link.

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast runs weekly on Thursday afternoons.

Kyle Lohse To Be Placed On Revocable Waivers

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With the non-waiver trade deadline in the past, teams now must pass players through revocable trade waivers in order to freely shop them around the league. The specifics of the August trading process are expanded upon in our August trade primer, for those who are unfamiliar with how it works.

We’ll run down today’s list of players that are reported to be on revocable trade waivers here…

  • The Brewers will place right-hander Kyle Lohse on revocable waivers in the hope that someone will claim the remaining ~$3.55MM on his 2015 salary, reports Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). That’s an unlikely outcome, especially when considering Lohse’s struggles this season. The veteran Lohse was shifted from the rotation to the bullpen yesterday, with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy noting that it “sounds like” the Brewers are attempting to trade him. If Lohse clears waivers, the Brewers will be free to trade him to any team, though I’d imagine they’d have to assume a sizable portion of the remaining salary to find any serious takers. Lohse was very good in his first two seasons with the Brewers but has a 6.21 ERA in 124 innings this season. His velocity remains unchanged, but he’s been exceptionally homer-prone. For what it’s worth, xFIP and SIERA both peg him for a more serviceable 4.37 mark.

Brewers Move Kyle Lohse To Bullpen, May Seek Trade

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The Brewers have shifted struggling veteran Kyle Lohse to the bullpen, reports MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. McCalvy says that Lohse handled the disheartening news well, and while the right-hander didn’t go into detail, it “sounds like” the Brewers are trying to trade him. GM Doug Melvin did discuss Lohse with other teams prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, but nothing materialized, he adds. Via McCalvy, Lohse had the following to say about his move to a relief role:

“That’s where I’ll be residing for the time being, and we’ll just kind of see what options there are, and we’ll go from there. All that stuff is out of my hands, but [the Brewers have] been good to me. Stuck through a pretty tough year and gave me the opportunity to go out there every five days until now. It didn’t work out.”

The 36-year-old Lohse is in the final season of a three-year, $33MM contract signed with the Brewers in Spring Training of the 2013 season. Lohse proved to be a very good value in the first two seasons of the pact, tossing 397 innings with a 3.45 ERA, 6.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 40.1 percent ground-ball rate. Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference both agreed that he was worth roughly five to six wins over the first two years of the deal, with the latter being a bit more bullish.

The 2015 season, though, has been an entirely different story. Lohse has pitched to a 6.31 ERA in 124 innings this season. He leads the National League in both hits allowed (152) and earned runs (87). The 25 homers he’s yielded are already just three shy of his career-worst 28, despite the fact that he pitched 194 innings when he allowed 28 all the way back in 2004.

McCalvy also notes that the Brewers could simply end up releasing Lohse if they’re unable to find a taker, as they did with veterans Randy Wolf and Jeff Suppan at the tail end of their Milwaukee tenures. Given the fact that Lohse is owed $3.6MM of his $11MM salary through the end of the season, the Brewers would need to eat all or nearly all of the money remaining in order to make a deal happen. Asked if he still intended to pitch beyond the 2015 in spite of this year’s struggles, Lohse answered in the affirmative. “Obviously I’m not ready to hang it up yet,” he said. “The stuff’s still there, [the problem was] just the execution or whatever it was this year.”

While that may strike some as a curious statement given his struggles, it should be noted that Lohse’s velocity, though not overpowering (89.4 mph fastball) is nearly identical to the 89.6 mph he averaged back in 2010 with the Cardinals. Whatever difficulties he’s experienced, it would seem, aren’t due to a decline in arm strength.

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