Indians Acquire Adam Rosales From Twins
Per Dan Hayes of the Athletic, the Indians have acquired IF Adam Rosales from Minnesota for cash considerations.
It’s another stop for the well-traveled Rosales, 35, who spent much of last season at Cleveland’s AAA affiliate, where he slashed .239/.313/.445 with 18 homers in 428 plate appearances. With AAA-Rochester this season, and the aid of a juiced-up new ball in play across the Triple-A level, Rosales is off to a slow start, slashing a meager .194/.263/.222 across the season’s first 20 games.
An 11-year MLB vet, the former Red, Diamondback, Athletic, Ranger, Padre and Indian has had occasional success at the MLB level, most recently in 2016 with San Diego, where he slugged 13 homers in a mere 248 PA (good for a .495 slugging percentage), en route to a very solid 113 wRC+/1.7 fWAR season. Much of his success – he owns a career 92 wRC+ mark – has come against southpaws, against whom Rosales boasts a respectable .240/.313/.395 line.
Still, the best of Rosales’ days look to be behind him: he’s struggled mightily at the big-league dish the last two seasons as his walk rate’s taken a nosedive and his chase rate has exploded. Opportunities seems scant at Progressive Field, though the club does continue to scour the landscape for help against left-handed pitching, against whom the team’s posted an AL-worst 58 wRC+.
Twins Select Mike Morin
The Twins announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Mike Morin and placed left-hander Adalberto Mejia on the 10-day injured list due to a calf strain. Minnesota had an open 40-man roster spot, so an additional corresponding move to accommodate Morin’s selection isn’t required.
It’s an early birthday present for Morin, who’ll turn 28 tomorrow. The former Angels, Royals and Mariners righty signed a minors pact with the Twins in the offseason and has thrown well in the early portion of the season with Triple-A Rochester, notching a 3.00 ERA with a 12-to-3 K/BB ratio in 12 innings of relief.
Morin had a terrific rookie campaign with the Angels back in 2014 when he logged a 2.90 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 0.46 HR/9 and a 43.9 percent ground-ball rate. That strong season has been far and away the best of his career to this point, as Morin has limped to a combined 5.56 ERA in 115 MLB frames since that time. He’s persistently maintained strong K/BB numbers and done a good job keeping the ball in the yard, however, and fielding-independent metrics have continually suggested that his bottom-line results should be better than they are. Morin has been plagued by a slightly elevated BABIP but more notably a 56.4 percent strand rate that is nearly 20 percent south of the league average.
Morin is out of minor league options, so the Twins won’t be able to send him back down unless they first pass him through waivers. He’ll replace Mejia, a former top prospect who has struggled perhaps more than anyone on the Twins’ staff to this point in the season. Through 11 1/3 innings, the lefty has been torched for 11 earned runs on 11 hits and nine walks with 11 strikeouts. Twins relievers, on the whole, rank 21st in the Majors with a 4.78 ERA and 4.62 xFIP (but 13th with a more palatable 4.21 FIP).
Minor MLB Transactions: 5/1/19
We’ll track Wednesday’s minor transactions from around the league here…
- Left-hander Justin Nicolino has been released by the Twins organization, per the Triple-A International League transactions log. Signed to a minor league contract over the winter, the former Marlins southpaw posted a 5.12 ERA with a 13-to-8 K/BB ratio in 19 1/3 innings with the Red Wings prior to returning to the open market. Now 27, Nicolino was once a well-regarded prospect but has never managed to put together a consistent strikeout pitch. He’s averaged just 5.4 strikeouts per nine innings in Triple-A and 3.8 K/9 in the big leagues. To his credit, Nicolino has a career 4.01 ERA in Triple-A and 4.65 mark in the Majors despite that lack of missed bats — thanks largely to his strong control. Most recently, Nicolino spent the ’18 season with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, pitching to a 4.69 ERA with 5.8 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and a 39.4 percent grounder rate in 134 2/3 innings.
Central Notes: Sano, Wood, Tigers
Twins third baseman Miguel Sano is launching an official rehab assignment, per a club announcement. He’ll open at the High-A level, with planned stops at the next two rungs on the ladder before MLB activation, MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park was among those to report. Sano has been working back from an injury to his Achilles that healed much more slowly than anticipated. The hope now is that the issue is behind him, but the Twins want to get Sano plenty of reps before bringing him back to the big-league roster. Sano, who’ll turn 26 on May 11th, is looking to bounce back after a highly disappointing 2018 campaign. No doubt the Minnesota organization would like to see him put in some of the work he was prevented from undertaking this spring.
More from the game’s central divisions …
- The Reds received some unwelcome news on starter Alex Wood, as manager David Bell told reporters including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link) that the southpaw recently suffered a setback while trying to work through the back problems that have sidelined him to date. Wood has yet to appear with his new organization, which had hoped he’d be one of three new veteran starters to bolster the rotation. An examination has been scheduled for Wednesday, at which time more on Wood’s outlook may be known. The 28-year-old is earning $9.65MM in his final season of arbitration eligibility after defeating the Reds in an arb hearing.
- Health issues are creating problems in the Tigers rotation, which means GM Al Avila is weighing the options for filling in. As Chris McCosky of the Detroit News writes, the top Detroit baseball decisionmaker doesn’t see much of interest in free agency; he says the front office will “have to keep our eye on the waiver wire and on guys in the minor leagues who have opt-out clauses.” With nothing doing there at the moment, the Tigers are looking internally. Ryan Carpenter and Kyle Funkhouser both are under consideration, with the team also pondering the possibility of utilizing Blaine Hardy in a swingman role once he’s activated from the IL.
- It’s awfully tempting to wonder whether one of the Tigers‘ blue-chip pitching prospects could instead get the call, particularly after ace-in-the-making Casey Mize spun a rare complete-game no-hitter this evening. Whether that’ll be a possibility at some point remains to be seen, but it’s worth bearing in mind that there are some notable roster considerations that counsel against a quick promotion even beyond service-time considerations. As Avila tells McCosky, the organization anticipates a need to add something like ten prospects to the 40-man roster in advance of this winter’s Rule 5 draft. The club is obviously keeping a close eye on the downstream effects of its decisions.
AL Notes: Givens, Astudillo, C. Frazier, Rangers
The Orioles are listening to offers for reliever Mychal Givens, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (video link). On a rebuilding, talent-deprived club that doesn’t have many enticing trade chips, the right-handed Givens stands out as someone who would draw plenty of interest on the market. Givens hasn’t been elite at preventing runs since last season, having posted a 4.06 ERA in 88 2/3 innings, but he has generally done well in that department (3.18 lifetime ERA) while logging appealing strikeout and walk rates (10.46 K/9, 3.34 BB/9) in 272 frames since his 2015 debut. The soon-to-be 29-year-old is also affordable ($2.15MM salary) and controllable through the 2021 season.
More from the AL….
- The Twins have placed utilityman Willians Astudillo on the 10-day injured list, Dan Hayes of The Athletic tweets. Astudillo left the Twins’ win over Baltimore on Saturday with left hamstring tightness. The 27-year-old collected a hit in his sole at-bat Saturday, continuing a trend of terrific production in the majors. After recording a .355/.371/.516 line in his 97-plate appearance debut in 2018, Astudillo has come out of the gates with a .327/.340/.531 showing in 53 PA this year. The big-bodied Astudillo has become a folk hero in Minnesota thanks in part to that output. It helps that Astudillo has lined up all over the diamond with the Twins, having racked up multiple appearances at catcher, first base, third base and in the corner outfield this season alone.
- Yankees manager Aaron Boone believes injured outfielder Clint Frazier will be able to return in 10 to 14 days, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relays. Frazier hit the IL on Thursday with an ankle injury, making him the 15th Yankee of the season to land on the shelf. It was especially unfortunate because Frazier, 24, looked to be in the early stages of a breakout campaign. He got off to a .324/.342/.632 start with six home runs in 73 PA, which was welcome production for a Yankees club whose outfield was annihilated by injuries even when Frazier was healthy.
- The Rangers will shut left-hander Taylor Hearn down for at least three weeks, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. The 24-year-old went on the IL on Friday with elbow tightness, though Grant notes an MRI didn’t reveal any acute structural damage – just inflammation. Hearn made his major league debut Thursday against the Mariners, who teed off on him for five runs (four earned) on three hits and four walks in just a third of an inning. Still, Hearn ranks as one of the Rangers’ best prospects, so it’s no doubt a relief for the team that he has appeared to dodge a ruinous injury.
Twins Outright Chase De Jong
The Twins announced Friday that right-hander Chase De Jong has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Rochester. He’ll remain with the organization but is no longer on the 40-man roster. Additionally, Minnesota activated Matt Magill from the injured list.
De Jong, 25, pitched one inning for the Twins earlier this season and was tagged for four runs on three hits and three walks. He was considerably better in a small sample of innings down the stretch in 2018, pitching to a 3.57 ERA with a 13-to-6 K/BB ratio in 17 2/3 innings. The former second-round pick (Blue Jays, 2012) enjoyed a solid season between Double-A and Triple-A last year, where he logged a combined 3.66 ERA, 6.9 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9, but he has yet to find consistent success in the upper minors or at the big league level. He’ll remain with the club as a depth option, should a need arise or should he force his way back into the MLB picture later this season.
As for Magill, the 29-year-old was somewhat of a diamond-in-the-rough find for the Twins a year ago. The former Dodgers/Reds farmhand was signed to a minor league contract but wound up tallying 56 2/3 innings of relief in Minnesota. Magill’s 3.81 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 94.7 mph average fastball were all encouraging, though the righty still issued too many walks (3.7 BB/9) and was far too homer-prone (1.75 HR/9) in his lone season with the Twins. He’ll look to maintain his ability to miss bats while paring back on the free passes and long balls in his second go-around with the Twins. In 5 1/3 innings on a Triple-A rehab assignment, Magill allowed a run on two hits and a walk with eight punchouts.
That said, the fact that Minnesota is relying on Magill, 30-year-old rookie Ryne Harper and converted rotation prospects Fernando Romero and Adalberto Mejia highlights the fact that the Twins have plenty of room for improvement in the ‘pen as they battle the Indians in the American League Central.
Poll: Which Early-Season Surprises Are For Real?
As we approach the one-month mark of the young 2019 season, the MLB standings are starting to take shape, with fast starters trying to separate from the pack and rebuilding teams falling behind. With that said, the current slate of division leaders features some surprises. Notably, preseason favorites like the Yankees and Red Sox have encountered considerable adversity, while juggernauts like the Dodgers and Astros have thus far met expectations. Meanwhile, a number of teams that received less attention as potential contenders have found themselves climbing MLB’s rankings. Power surges in Seattle and Minnesota have carried the Mariners and Twins to the top of AL’s West and Central divisions, respectively. Elite run prevention in Pittsburgh has allowed the Pirates to flourish in the hyper-competitive NL Central. An injection of youthful energy has driven the Padres to within striking distance of the powerhouse Dodgers. Let’s examine these upstart clubs and look ahead to their outlook for the rest of the season.
The Mariners made headlines throughout the offseason, but often for the wrong reasons. General manager Jerry Dipoto spent the winter shipping off nearly every Major Leaguer with value, and now fields a team that only vaguely resembles the one that won 89 games in 2018. Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano, Jean Segura, and James Paxton were all dealt to the East Coast. Last season’s iteration of the Mariners was notorious for its unsustainable first-half performance, repeatedly winning one-run games, often thanks to the heroics of Edwin Diaz. In 2019, the story is of a different flavor, though skeptics may once again challenge the sustainability of April’s returns. This year’s team is slugging home runs at a historic rate, including a streak of 20 games in which the team hit at least one round-tripper. The 2019 Mariners have belted 56 home runs, 12 more than the next closest team, the Dodgers. Tim Beckham and Domingo Santana are churning out extra-base hits, and Mitch Haniger is rising to stardom. Still, the Astros are looming, and a spot in the AL Wild Card will not come easy, with sleeping giants in the AL East working through early adversity–to say nothing of the undeniable Rays.
In a division that has all the makings of a bloodbath, many might have counted out the Pirates after an uninspired offseason: whereas rivals’ offseasons were highlighted by flashy additions like Paul Goldschmidt, Yasiel Puig, and Yasmani Grandal, the Pirates were quiet in the winter, with names like Lonnie Chisenhall and Erik Gonzalez headlining the team’s moves. However, it has quickly become clear that the 12-7 Pirates boast one of the Majors’ best pitching staffs. Behind Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams has emerged as an automatic quality start every outing. Meanwhile, Joe Musgrove is showing off the dynamic stuff that made him the centerpiece in the Gerrit Cole trade, and Jordan Lyles has been a pleasant surprise to round out the rotation. Felipe Vazquez is dynamite in the late innings, and Richard Rodriguez showed promise last season as a high-leverage option, though the bullpen is somewhat shaky beyond that combination. On offense, things are less peachy, but Josh Bell is turning heads by coupling prodigious power with a keen batting eye. Again, the NL Central will provide no shortage of resistance, but a starting rotation of this caliber should keep the Pirates in more than their fair share of games.
With the last three seasons resembling a roller coaster ride, the Twins entered the offseason hoping to turn a corner. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine set out with essentially blank future payroll, capitalizing on that flexibility by bringing aboard veterans like Nelson Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez, and Jonathan Schoop to bolster a group of young position players that the Twins hope will be galvanized by rookie manager Rocco Baldelli. Jorge Polanco, fresh off a spring contract extension, has provided encouraging production from the shortstop position, and Eddie Rosario is blasting home runs at an impressive rate. Byron Buxton appears to have unlocked the potential that made him a top prospect, and Jose Berrios is entering bona fide ace territory. The pitching appears much improved from years’ past, with a bullpen headed by Taylor Rogers, who belongs in conversations with the league’s elite relief arms. This team may have the most attainable path to October baseball, playing in a weak division where their primary competition is the Indians, a team that has at times appeared vulnerable in 2019.
The Padres thrust themselves into the conversation for the postseason when general manager A.J. Preller and company added Manny Machado to the mix in a franchise-altering move. The team doubled down when the front office broke the mold by breaking camp with top prospects Fernando Tatis Jr. and Chris Paddack on the Opening Day roster. Those moves have paid massive dividends thus far, with Tatis forcing his way into the national spotlight, displaying a five-tool skillset. The club’s rotation of young outfielders is launching homers, and the anonymous bullpen has quietly been one of the best in baseball dating back to last season. Meanwhile, with a host of young starters comprising the rotation, the possibility of a Dallas Keuchel addition remains on the table–a move that would emphatically declare the Friars’ intention to make a postseason push. At the top of the NL West, the Dodgers represent a daunting giant to topple, and the rest of the National League features no shortage of contending teams, but the Padres’ spunk might lead to meaningful autumn baseball for the first time in nearly a decade.
While there are months of baseball left to play, trades to be made, injuries to work around, and breakouts to emerge, the games played in March and April are no less important than those in September. Early-season results can lay the groundwork for what’s to come. Which of the aforementioned blossoming clubs are best positioned to sustain their success and exceed expectations?
(Poll link for app users)
Which Early-Season Surprises Are For Real?
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Minnesota Twins 32% (6,351)
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San Diego Padres 27% (5,446)
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Seattle Mariners 25% (4,953)
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Pittsburgh Pirates 16% (3,080)
Total votes: 19,830
AL Notes: C. Davis, Lindor, Sano
Beleaguered Orioles first baseman Chris Davis entered Saturday without a hit in his previous 54 at-bats, the longest streak in major league history. But the former star’s nightmarish skid ended with a first-inning, two-run single off Boston’s Rick Porcello, giving Davis his first hit since Sept. 14, 2018. Davis later went on to collect two more hits and another pair of runs batted in during what wound up as a 9-5 victory for the Orioles. While Davis was one of Baltimore’s best players Saturday, he has delivered startlingly few valuable performances since 2016, the first season of a seven-year, $161MM contract that now looks like one of the worst investments in baseball history. Once a premier slugger, the 33-year-old Davis has slashed a hideous .198/.294/.388 (83 wRC+) with minus-0.8 fWAR since signing his current deal.
Davis appears to be a sunk cost for the rebuilding Orioles, who owe him roughly $108MM more and will pay him through 2037 because of deferrals, yet there’s no urgency on their part to get rid of him. Rookie general manager Mike Elias told Dan Connolly of The Athletic (subscription required) on Friday that the Orioles are “absolutely” planning to keeping Davis, adding that “he’s on this team and it’s no secret the fact that we have a large and long commitment to him, so our focus is going to be on getting the best performance out of him that we possibly can.” Elias went on to explain to Connolly that the Orioles, with the help of analytics guru Sig Mejdal and hitting coach Don Long, are “just going to do as much as we can incrementally to get him into a better place.”
More from the American League…
- The Indians have played this season without their top performer, shortstop Francisco Lindor, who’s on the mend from a calf sprain and a high left ankle sprain. Fortunately for the Tribe, it appears Lindor’s progressing toward a return. After running the bases the past two days, the 25-year-old will work out with the team Sunday, and he could embark on a Triple-A rehab assignment Monday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports. When Lindor went down in early February, the Indians surely knew finding a capable fill-in for the three-time All-Star would be a difficult task; however, they likely didn’t expect their shortstop situation to be this dire in his absence. Replacements Eric Stamets (minus-35 wRC+ in 40 plate appearances) and Max Moroff (minus-58 wRC+ in 23 PA) have stumbled to a league-worst minus-0.8 fWAR thus far.
- Twins third baseman Miguel Sano is slated to begin modified spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., during the middle of the upcoming week, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. Beyond that, the Twins are hoping Sano – who’s working back from a right Achilles injury – will begin a rehab assignment in early May, according to chief baseball officer Derek Falvey. The Sano-less Twins have primarily turned to $21MM free-agent pickup Marwin Gonzalez at the hot corner, but the former Astro’s season has gotten off to an inauspicious start.
Giants Acquire Tyler Austin
The Giants announced Monday that they’ve acquired first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin from the Twins in exchange for minor league outfielder Malique Ziegler. To open a spot on the roster, they’ve designated fellow first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe for assignment.
Austin, 27, will add a powerful but strikeout-prone bat to the Giants’ outfield mix while providing some insurance should Brandon Belt incur an injury. The former Yankees prospect was at one point looked at as a potential pairing with Greg Bird in the Bronx, but the Yankees flipped him to the Twins last July in the trade that sent Lance Lynn to New York. The Twins, cognizant of the potential retirement of Joe Mauer, viewed Austin as a possible option at first base until they managed to land C.J. Cron on waivers when the Rays dumped his salary. Both Cron and Austin are right-handed hitters, and Minnesota’s signing of Nelson Cruz to man the DH spot in the lineup made Austin, who is out of minor league options, somewhat redundant.
Last season in 268 plate appearances between the Twins and Yankees, Austin batted a combined .230/.287/.480 with 17 home runs and 10 doubles. Seventeen long balls in just 268 PAs and a .250 isolated power (slugging minus batting average) speak to Austin’s ability to make loud contact, but Austin also punched out in a whopping 35.4 percent of his trips to the plate.
Austin has been more of a first baseman than an outfielder throughout his career and, in fact, has only seen 36 frames of action on the outfield grass in the Majors. He’s logged over 2600 innings of time in right field across parts of seven minor league seasons, however, so despite a lack of recent experience, he’s no stranger to the position. That said, Austin does not run well, and his lack of range is a tough fit in the spacious Oracle Park.
Joe, 26, made his big league debut with the Giants this season but managed just one hit and a walk in 16 plate appearances before being jettisoned from the roster. The Reds selected Joe out of the Dodgers organization in December’s Rule 5 Draft but traded him to San Francisco late last month. He’s still carrying Rule 5 status, so any team that acquires Joe would need to carry him on the MLB roster. The Giants will have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers, and if he goes unclaimed, they’d be required to offer him back to the Dodgers for $50K. Considering Joe’s outstanding .299/.408/.527 batting line between Double-A and Triple-A last season, it’s possible that another organization will want to speculate on his potential.
The Twins, in return for Austin, will add another athletic outfielder to the lower levels of their minor league system. The 22-year-old Ziegler was a 22nd-round pick by the Giants in 2016 and split last year between the Rookie-level Arizona League and the Class-A South Atlantic League, batting a combined .237/.340/.370 with four homers, 12 doubles, a pair of triples and eight steals in 250 plate appearances. He’s not considered a top prospect in a thin Giants farm, though Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen did make mention of him in his pre-2018 overview of the Giants’ system: “Ziegler is a lithe, athletic outfielder who was a late pick out of an Iowa Juco in 2016. He makes explosive use of his lower half during his swing but his barrel control and raw strength are questionable.”
AL Notes: Sano, Clevinger, Yankees, Beltran, Pedroia
Injured Twins slugger Miguel Sano has resumed baseball activities and could begin a rehab assignment “within a week,” manager Rocco Baldelli said Sunday (via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com). That would put Sano on track for a return to Major League action sometime in early May. Sano’s on the mend from a cut on his lower-right Achilles, which has left third base to free-agent pickup Marwin Gonzalez and Ehire Adrianza. They’ve struggled mightily across a combined 33 plate appearances, having totaled a meager three hits (two singles and a double). Sano wasn’t nearly that woeful last year, but the 2017 All-Star’s .199/.281/.398 line in 299 plate appearances was still a major letdown. A bounce-back showing from the 25-year-old upon his return could help the Twins challenge the Indians for the AL Central crown.
Here’s the latest news from around the American League…
- Indians righty Mike Clevinger left Sunday’s start against the Blue Jays prematurely, throwing just 75 pitches over 5 innings of work. Mandy Bell of MLB.com later revealed that Clevinger’s early exit was indeed injury-related, as he experienced upper back tightness. Bell added in a subsequent Tweet that Clevinger said he will be ready to make his next scheduled start.
- Former All-Star outfielder Carlos Beltran has excelled in his new role with the Yankees, writes James Wagner of The New York Times. Following his exceptional playing career, Beltran has brought his passion to an advisory role in Brian Cashman’s front office, where he develops scouting reports and offers counsel to younger players. Beltran, who had been considered for the Yankees’ vacant manager position prior to the 2018 season, would seem to have a chance to manage a Major League ballclub or serve as a primary decision-maker in a front office, if that’s what he wants.
- Longtime Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia should be available for the team’s home opener on Tuesday, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Assuming that all goes well in today’s game with Low-A Greenville, in which Pedroia will play all nine innings, he should be ready to be activated ahead of the reigning World Champions’ return to Fenway Park. He will be re-evaluated after Sunday’s game, but there is optimism that Boston will have its veteran second baseman back in the near future.