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Central Notes: Minor, Twins, Wainwright, Pirates

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Royals lefty Mike Minor struck out the side to end the Indians’ winning streak and pick up his first career save over the weekend, and he tells MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan that he’s intrigued by the idea of holding a late-inning relief role moving forward. “I value starting over not knowing when you’re going to pitch,” said Minor, a potential free agent after the season. “But if there’s an opportunity to be an eighth-inning guy or ninth-inning guy, that’d be great.” Minor says that he spoke to Wade Davis about his transition from struggling starter to dominant reliever when the two were teammates last season, and he also pointed to Zach Britton’s similar emergence as one of baseball’s top relief arms. The Royals hold a $10MM mutual option on Minor for the 2018 season, though the 29-year-old’s dominant season could also lead to a return to free agency. In 73 innings, Minor has averaged 10.2 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 with a 43.4 percent ground-ball rate — all of which has resulted in a 2.71 ERA.

More from the Central divisions…

  • Byron Buxton and Zach Granite were among the Twins players that were disappointed to hear of the team’s firing of minor league skipper Doug Mientkiewicz, writes Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The longtime Twins first baseman has been managing in Minnesota’s minor league ranks for the past five years and enjoyed his fair share of winning (four playoff appearances), but the team won’t bring him back for a sixth season. “He knows how to bring out the best in players,” Buxton tells Berardino. “He was very fiery. When you did things right, he would let you know, and when you did things wrong, he’d let you know as well — and he’d tell you ways to correct. … He was more of a brother to us.” Granite, the Twins’ minor league player of the year in 2016, credits Mientkiewicz for teaching him ho to drive the ball and taking his game “to the next level.”
  • Injured Cardinals righty Adam Wainwright won’t start again in 2017, but he’ll return to the club as a reliever for the final few weeks, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Wainwright faced teammates Magneuris Sierra, Luke Voit and Alex Mejia in a live batting practice session Sunday morning, per Goold, with manager Mike Matheny catching. Rookie Jack Flaherty will make three more starts this season in what was Wainwright’s rotation spot, though he could be paired with either Wainwright or John Gant in a “piggyback” type of setting, per Goold, where he’d be lifted after four to five innings to help preserve his workload. Interestingly, Goold also notes that Wainwright tried out the changeup grip of young teammate Luke Weaver during his most recent throwing session and will test it out in games over the season’s final weeks.
  • Fangraphs’ Travis Sawchik spoke to Pirates general manager Neal Huntington about the growing presence of Statcast in today’s game and how technology can coexist with teams’ scouting departments. While some see the advent of Statcast as a threat to the scouting community, Huntington — a former advance scout — suggests that the technology could instead be an advantage to scouts. Rather than tracking the minutia of a game — pitch location, batted ball outcomes, etc. — scouts can instead be freed to watch more intangible elements of the game, such as player makeup, baserunning instincts, body language, etc. “It’s one thing to say, ‘The route was efficient, the jump was X, the max speed was Y,'” said Huntington. “It’s another thing to understand defensive instincts. How engaged he away from the ball? Is he a spectator or a participant?”

AL Central Notes: Gibson, Santana, Kipnis, Abreu, Merrifield

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Though right-hander Kyle Gibson at one point looked like a clear non-tender candidate for the Twins this offseason, his revitalized performance in the season’s second half makes it look far likelier that he’ll return. The 29-year-old former first-rounder limped to a ghastly 6.29 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 51.1 percent ground-ball rate through the season’s first half and was even optioned to Triple-A Rochester back in May. However, he’s logged a brilliant 2.83 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 50.6 percent grounder rate in 54 innings across his past nine outings.

Asked by 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson on his latest podcast if Gibson would be tendered a contract this winter (audio link, with Levine joining around the 27-minute mark and discussing Gibson at 37 minutes), Levine replied: “Starting pitching — and quality starting pitching — is at a premium. … Depth is tantamount. We are aspirational of being a playoff-relevant team moving forward. Those types of teams need to have a wealth of starting pitching options, and I think Kyle Gibson has established himself as very much a part of that equation moving forward for the Minnesota Twins.” Gibson is earning $2.9MM in 2017, and while there’s still of course time for things to change, it sounds like he’ll be retained and earn a slight raise on that figure for the 2018 campaign.

More from the AL Central…

  • Indians slugger Carlos Santana admits to Zack Meisel of The Athletic that he put a significant amount of pressure on himself early this season as he entered a contract year. Santana struggled badly through the first 10 weeks or so of the 2017 campaign, but he credits first-year teammate Edwin Encarnacion — who had a tumultuous free-agent experience himself last winter — for getting his mind into a better place and turning his season around at the plate. “He told me to keep playing baseball and enjoy the (season) and play hard every day and don’t think about it,” says Santana. “He is a good influence for me and my mind.” Meisel notes that Santana hopes to remain in Cleveland — FanRag’s Jon Heyman wrote the same yesterday, as he has at various points this year — though the Indians will have some tough roster decisions to make with relatively limited finances. (A second deep playoff run, of course, wouldn’t hurt their financial outlook.)
  • Jason Kipnis is expected to start in center field for the Indians as soon as this Sunday, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Bradley Zimmer’s season-ending injury created an opening, and it was reported earlier this week that Kipnis would get a look there in his place. A center fielder in his college days, Kipnis isn’t exactly unfamiliar with the position, though it’s been seven years since Cleveland moved him to second base. Manager Terry Francona tells Hoynes that the training staff has to sign off on the decision still, though he adds that it’d be a surprise if they didn’t, given how healthy Kipnis has looked recently as he nears the end of his rehab from a hamstring injury.
  • Jose Abreu has made it clear that he hopes to remain with the White Sox even amid the team’s rebuild, writes MLB.com’s Phil Rogers. Chicago values his leadership and productive bat, Rogers notes, and he wonders if the team would make a four- or five-year offer to Abreu to keep him around this offseason. There’s no indication that there have been any actual extension negotiations between the two sides, though Rogers suggests that both Abreu and Avisail Garcia could make sense as longer-term pieces in Chicago.
  • Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star took an excellent look at the remarkable late blooming of Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield. As Dodd points out, Merrifield is one of just seven players in the past 50 years to debut after his 27th birthday and compile five wins above replacement in his first two seasons. The others on that list were all established stars in other countries before coming to the United States (e.g. Ichiro Suzuki, Jose Abreu, Hideki Matsui). Dodd tracks Merrifield’s minor league career, noting that he was passed on entirely in the Rule 5 Draft along the way. It’s a must-read column that is rife with quotes from GM Dayton Moore, Merrifield’s coaches from his amateur days, several of Merrifield’s teammates and, of course, Merrifield himself. Now 28 years old, Merrifield has broken out with a .285/.324/.463 batting line, 17 homers, 29 steals and quality defense at second base — likely cementing himself in the Royals’ lineup for the 2018 season and beyond.

Giants Claim Engelb Vielma

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3:13 pm: Vielma has been claimed by the Giants, Darren Wolfson of KSTP News reports via twitter.

The former Twins infield prospect adds a bit of depth to a Giants team that has been in dire need of a defensively-minded backup infielder lately. Both Kelby Tomlinson and Orlando Calixte have been underwhelming with the glove this season, so if Vielma can develop even a replacement-level offensive skillset, his defensive wizardry could make him a solid utility option for San Francisco.

2:54 pm: Recently-designated Twins infielder Engelb Vielma has been claimed off waivers by an unknown National League club, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Vielma was designated for assignment by the Twins on Tuesday in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for lefty reliever Gabriel Moya. The switch-hitting shortstop has yet play in the majors. In 314 plate appearances at AAA this year, he put up an unimpressive .206/.233/.260 batting line.

In spite of his poor hitting, it makes sense that an organization would have interest in Vielma. He has been rated as the Twins’ best defensive minor-league infielder for multiple years, and could serve as an excellent defensive replacement or utility option. It’s possible he could still carve out a path to the majors, but he’d need to make major improvements with the bat.

Vielma, a 23-year old native of Venezuela was first added to the Twins’ 40-man roster this past offseason in order to protect him from the rule five draft after he managed to get on base at a .344 clip between High-A and Double-A in 2016.

2017 Rule 5 Roundup

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With just a few weeks left in the season, we have a pretty clear idea of which Rule 5 draft picks will stick with their drafting teams. At this point, having already carried the player this far and with expanded rosters easing any pressures, teams are quite likely to stay the course. Here’s how this season’s Rule 5 group has shaken out thus far:

Keepers

It isn’t official yet, but these

  • Miguel Diaz, RHP, kept by Padres (via Twins) from Brewers: As part of the Pads’ unusually bold Rule 5 strategy, the club kept three youngsters this year. Diaz, 22, has managed only a 6.21 ERA with a 31:22 K/BB ratio over 37 2/3 innings. But he is showing a 96 mph heater and will remain with the organization, quite likely heading back to the minors next season to continue his development.
  • Luis Torrens, C, kept by Padres (via Reds) from Yankees: The youthful backstop — he’s just 21 — has struggled badly on offense in limited action. Through 133 plate appearances, he’s slashing just.169/.246/.212 — with just four extra-base hits, none of them home runs.
  • Allen Cordoba, INF, kept by Padres from Cardinals: And then there’s Cordoba, who’s also just 21 years of age. He faded after a hot start at the plate, but on the whole his output — a .209/.284/.304 batting line and four home runs over 215 plate appearances — is fairly impressive given that he had never before played above Rookie ball.
  • Dylan Covey, RHP, kept by White Sox from Athletics: Technically, owing to a DL stint, Covey has only compiled 83 of the minimum 90 days of active roster time required to be kept. But he’s going to make it there before the season is up, meaning that the Sox will be able to hold onto his rights and option him back to the minors in 2018. Covey, 26, has struggled to a 7.90 ERA with 4.9 K/9 against 4.4 BB/9 over 54 2/3 innings, allowing 18 long balls in that span.
  • Stuart Turner, C, kept by Reds from Twins: Turner has seen minimal action, appearing in just 33 games and taking only 77 trips to the plate. And he’s hitting just .141/.184/.268 in that sporadic action. Clearly, though, the Reds have seen enough to believe he’s worth the trouble to hang onto.

Still In Limbo

  • Kevin Gadea, RHP, selected by Rays from Mariners: Gadea has not pitched at any level this year owing to an elbow injury. He’ll remain with the Tampa Bay organization for the time being, but will still need to be carried on the 40-man roster over the offseason and then on the active roster for at least ninety days for his rights to permanently transfer.
  • Armando Rivero, RHP, selected by Braves from Cubs: It’s the exact same situation for Rivero as for Gadea, though he has had shoulder problems.
  • Josh Rutledge, INF, selected by Red Sox from Rockies: This was not your typical Rule 5 move. Boston snagged the veteran infielder after he signed a minors deal with Colorado. He ended up seeing minimal MLB time owing to injuries and his season ended recently with hip surgery. Rutledge is eligible for arbitration this fall and isn’t likely to be kept on the 40-man roster regardless.
  • Anthony Santander, OF, selected by Orioles from Indians: Since he only made it off of the DL late in the summer, Santander can accrue only 45 days on the active roster. If Baltimore wants to keep him, then, it’ll need to put him on the Opening Day roster next year. Santander has seen minimal playing time thus far, recording two hits in twelve trips to the plate, though he put up impressive numbers on his rehab assignment.

Kept By Other Means

  • Daniel Stumpf, LHP, signed with Tigers after electing free agency upon return to Royals: This is another unusual situation. As a previous Rule 5 returnee, Stumpf was eligible to elect free agency upon being returned to his original organization. That’s just what happened when Detroit sent him back to Kansas City; the southpaw then turned around and re-signed a MLB deal with the Tigers. He has ended up turning in a rather productive year, posting 32 1/3 innings of 2.78 ERA ball with 8.6 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 at the major-league level and showing even more impressive numbers during his time at Triple-A.

Already Returned

  • Tyler Jones, RHP, returned to Yankees by Diamondbacks: Jones has thrown rather well at Triple-A since going back to the New York organization, posting 10.7 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 63 2/3 innings, though he has also allowed 4.38 earned per nine.
  • Caleb Smith, LHP, returned to Yankees by Brewers: Smith ended up earning a 40-man roster spot and spending some time in the majors after showing quite well as a starter in the minors. But he has been knocked around in his 18 2/3 MLB frames on the year.
  • Justin Haley, RHP, returned to Red Sox by Twins (via Angels): The 26-year-old didn’t stick with Minnesota, allowing a dozen earned runs in 18 innings before being returned to Boston. But he has thrown well since landing back at Triple-A Pawtucket, posting a 2.66 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 44 innings over seven starts.
  • Tyler Webb, LHP, returned to Yankees by Pirates: Webb also gained a 40-man spot with the Yankees after showing some intriguing K/BB numbers at Triple-A. He was ultimately dealt to the Brewers.
  • Aneury Tavarez, OF, returned to Red Sox by Orioles: Tavarez played his way back up to Triple-A upon his return to his former organization, but has hit just .244/.292/.400 in 145 plate appearances there.
  • Glenn Sparkman, RHP, returned to Royals by Blue Jays: Sparkman was bombed in his one MLB appearance and has been limited to just 30 1/3 minor-league frames due to injury.
  • Hoby Milner, LHP, returned to Phillies by Indians: Another player who has risen to the majors with the organization that originally let them leave via the Rule 5, Milner has turned in 24 1/3 frames of 1.85 ERA ball in Philadelphia. Of course, he has also managed just 15 strikeouts against ten walks in that span.
  • Mike Hauschild, RHP, returned to Astros by Rangers: The 27-year-old righty struggled badly in his eight MLB frames. Upon returning to the rotation for Houston’s top affiliate, Hauschild has uncharacteristically struggled with free passes (5.3 per nine).

AL Notes: Price, McCullers, Sano, Castro

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Time is running out for David Price to return to the Red Sox, and manager John Farrell conceded today that it would be “aggressive” to bring Price back as a starting pitcher in 2017, Evan Drellich of CSN New England writes. Farrell suggested that Price would require at least one more simulated game before being ready to start. The skipper alluded to the possibility of giving Price a fairly short start and allowing the expanded bullpen to cover whatever innings are needed beyond that point, though he noted that no decision has been made. “[T]hese are things we have to sit down and discuss and determine what’s best for him.” As for Price himself, he told reporters that, more than anything else, he just wants to get back onto a Major League mound regardless of his role: “I just want to pitch. Whatever it is, that’s fine.”

A bit more from the American League…

  • Astros righty Lance McCullers was scratched from tonight’s game due to arm fatigue, as MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart writes. His inability to go has already proven costly, as the Angels jumped onto spot starter Mike Fiers for five runs in the first inning. McCullers indicated that he feels “fine” and the decision wasn’t his, and manager A.J. Hinch told reporters that he’s not overly concerned about McCullers’ health. Houston has the division all but clinched even with some recent struggles, but obviously any uncertainty surrounding McCullers’ health with the postseason looming would be an ominous sign for the eventual AL West champs.
  • Miguel Sano’s return from a stress reaction in his left shin has been slow to progress, though the Twins slugger did some running drills Monday and took batting practice Tuesday, as Chad Graff of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes. If and when Sano is ready to return — which could come in the next week, per Graff — it’s likely that he’ll be back in the lineup as the designated hitter. Manager Paul Molitor told reporters that he’s more concerned about the absence of Sano’s bat from the lineup than he is about his ability to return to the hot corner. The Twins are 11-10 in Sano’s absence, Graff points out, though certainly the Twins must be eager for the return of Sano’s .267/.356/.514 batting line and 28 homers as they look to hang onto the American League’s second Wild Card slot.
  • Orioles manager Buck Showalter tells Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun that he’s spoken at length with pitching coach Roger McDowell to develop a plan for young right-hander Miguel Castro. While Castro has delivered solid run-prevention numbers in a multi-inning relief role, Showalter acknowledged that there’s been “a lot” of thought put into the possibility of Castro starting. “Like all of young pitchers, they are precious commodities and we want to make good decisions about them,” said Showalter. “Because we don’t have many to pick from right now.” Since a scoreless six-inning relief appearance on Aug. 3, Castro has posted a pristine 2.37 ERA through 30 1/3 innings. He’s limited opponents to a meager 18.8 percent hard-contact rate in that time but has also logged an ugly 19-to-15 K/BB ratio.

Twins Designate Engelb Vielma For Assignment

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The Twins announced today that they’ve selected the contract of left-handed reliever Gabriel Moya from Double-A Chattanooga and designated minor league shortstop Engelb Vielma for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Vielma, 23, was added to the 40-man roster last offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft despite a lack of offensive track record in the Majors. The Venezuelan native has drawn praise for defensive abilities in the past, though Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote last offseason that he may not have enough bat to even profile as a utility option. Baseball America rated him 25th among Minnesota prospects in the offseason, calling him the system’s best pure shortstop but expressing similar concerns about his offense.

Minnesota put him on the 40-man last offseason after he hit .265/.344/.310 between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, but he’s taken a step back from even that modest level of output in 2017. This year, Vielma split the season between Double-A and Triple-A, where he batted .229/.273/.280 through 455 plate appearances.

The 22-year-old Moya has posted video-game numbers in Double-A this year, working to a combined 0.77 ERA with 13.4 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 with a ground-ball rate of about 41 percent through 58 1/3 innings between two organizations. Acquired from Arizona in late July for catcher John Ryan Murphy, Moya would have been added to the 40-man this winter as well, so this move will just give Minnesota an earlier chance to evaluate him for a future role.

Added To The 40-Man Roster: Arano, Moya

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A couple of 40-man additions to kick things off Tuesday morning…

  • The Phillies will add not only Henderson Alvarez to the 40-man roster — as was reported yesterday — but also right-hander Victor Arano, according to CSN Philly’s Jim Salisbury (Twitter link). The hard-throwing 22-year-old, who ranks 27th on MLB.com’s list of the Phillies’ top 30 prospects, spent the season pitching against older competition with Double-A Reading and posted a 4.19 ERA with 8.8 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and a 38.9 percent ground-ball rate. MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo note in their free report on him that a move to the bullpen in 2017 and a focus on his slider as his primary breaking pitch have both allowed Arano’s stuff to play up in the bullpen. Arano needed to be added to the 40-man this winter anyhow in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, so the Phils will add him a bit earlier and take a few looks at him against MLB pitching down the stretch. He opened the year with an arm injury — reportedly a sprained UCL — but made his way back to toss 38 2/3 innings this season.
  • The Twins look set to add lefty reliever Gabriel Moya to their 40-man roster. Venezuelan journalist Dessiree Castro tweeted that Moya was promoted to the Majors, and Moya’s former pitching coach in the D-backs’ minor league system did the same. Moya rated at the back-end of the Twins’ top 30 at MLB.com before the trades of Jaime Garcia and Brandon Kintzler added a couple of new names to that list. The 22-year-old has posted video-game numbers in Double-A this year, working to a combined 0.77 ERA with 13.4 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 with a ground-ball rate of about 41 percent through 58 1/3 innings. Acquired from Arizona in late July for catcher John Ryan Murphy, Moya would have been added to the 40-man this winter as well, so this move will just give Minnesota an earlier chance to evaluate him for a future role.

Free Agents That Have Boosted Their Stock On One-Year Deals

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With the offseason looming, it’s easy to focus on the top free agents this winter will have to offer. We at MLBTR reinforce that line of thinking with monthly Free Agent Power Rankings that profile the top names slated to hit the open market and ranking them in terms of earning power.

Settling for a one-year contract isn’t an ideal route for most free agents, but that doesn’t mean that those (relative) bargain pickups can’t bring significant on-field impact to the teams with which they sign. While none of the players on this list received all that much fanfare when signing, they’ve all provided some notable benefit to the teams that made these commitments:

  • Kurt Suzuki, $1.5MM, Braves: Suzuki languished in free agency for several months as players like Jason Castro, Matt Wieters and Welington Castillo all generated more attention from teams and fans. However, it might be Suzuki that has provided the most bang for buck on last winter’s catching market. The 33-year-old has had a surprising career year in Atlanta, hitting .266/.344/.507 with 15 homers to date. Some have been quick to suggest that Atlanta’s new homer-happy stadium has benefited Suzuki, and while that may be true to an extent, he’s hit for more power on the road than at home. He’s put himself in position for a possible two-year deal this winter, but if he has to settle for one yet again, it should come at a higher rate.
  • Adam Lind, $1.5MM, Nationals: An awful 2016 season and an overcrowded market for corner bats created some questions about whether Lind would have to settle for a minor league contract late last winter. He ultimately secured a guaranteed deal, but it came with just a $1MM base and a $500K buyout of a mutual option. For that meager commitment, he’s given the Nats 267 plate appearances with a .297/.352/.490 slash to go along with 11 homers. Like Suzuki, that might not land him a starting role, but it could land him multiple years as a complementary bench piece.
  • Chris Iannetta, $1.5MM, Diamondbacks: Iannetta has not only rediscovered his power stroke in 2017 — he’s made it better than ever. The 34-year-old’s .249 ISO is a career best, and he’s slugged 14 homers. While that’s still four shy of his career-best with the 2008 Rockies, Iannetta’s 14 big flies this year have come in just 272 PAs, whereas he needed 407 to reach 18 back in ’08. He’s also bounced back from a down year in the framing department and been above average in that regard, per Baseball Prospectus.
  • Jhoulys Chacin and Clayton Richard, $1.75MM each, Padres: The Friars signed four starters for $3MM or less last winter — Jered Weaver and Trevor Cahill being the others — and have received a combined 345 innings out of this pair. Chacin’s run-prevention (4.06 ERA) and strikeout rate (7.44 K/9) have been better, while Richard has 13 more innings (179 total), superior control (2.6 BB/9) and superior ground-ball tendencies (59.1 percent). Neither is going to be mistaken for much more than a back-of-the-rotation stabilizer, but both have done enough to garner larger commitments on the upcoming open market.
  • Brian Duensing, $2MM, Cubs: I doubt I was alone in being surprised to see Duensing, 34, land a Major League deal last winter on the heels of a lackluster season in the Orioles organization. Duensing, though, has quietly been outstanding for the Cubs. In 54 2/3 innings, he’s logged a career-high 9.05 K/9 rate with 2.30 BB/9 and a 47 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 2.63 ERA. He’s held lefties in check reasonably well, but the first time in his career he’s also striking out right-handed batters at a lofty rate. In fact, the .211/.276/.317 that righties have posted against him is actually weaker than the .256/.300/.388 slash to which he’s limited left-handed bats.
  • Matt Belisle, $2.05MM, Twins: Belisle’s inclusion is arguable; he’s posted a pedestrian 4.36 ERA with 8.55 K/9, 3.69 BB/9 and a 42.2 percent ground-ball rate. Those numbers are largely skewed by a putrid month of May, however. Since June 3, Belisle has a 2.25 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning and improved control and ground-ball tendencies — all while stepping into higher and higher leverage roles. He’s now serving as the Twins’ closer and has a 1.54 ERA with a 29-to-5 K/BB ratio since July 1. He’ll be 38 next season, so the earning power here isn’t sky-high, but he’s probably earned a raise, barring a late collapse.
  • Logan Morrison, $2.5MM, Rays: Few players have benefited more from one-year, “pillow” contracts in  recent memory than Morrison, who has parlayed his $2.5MM deal into a .248/.355/.529 batting line and a 36-homer season campaign to date. Morrison only just turned 30 years old, so he’ll have age on his side this winter as well. A three- or four-year deal seems plausible for Morrison even with the diminished recent market for corner bats.
  • Alex Avila, $2.5MM, Tigers: Avila hasn’t been as excellent with the Cubs as he was with the Tigers, but he’s still among the league leaders in hard contact and exit velocity — both of which have beautifully complemented his always-terrific walk rate (15.9 percent in 2016). With 14 homers under his belt and a batting line that grades out roughly 25 percent better than the league average, per context-neutral metrics like OPS+ (124) and wRC+ (127), Avila could vie for a multi-year deal and/or a starting job this offseason.
  • Joe Smith, $3MM, Blue Jays: Smith’s K/9 has nearly doubled, from 6.92 in 2016 to 11.86 in 2017, and he’s posted a dramatically improved 1.82 BB/9 this year as well. Smith has also served up just three homers in 49 1/3 innings of work, and his 3.10 ERA, while solid, is actually representative of some poor fortune in the estimation of fielding-independent metrics (1.97 FIP, 2.35 xFIP, 2.34 SIERA). He’ll be 34 next year but should top that $3MM mark and could net the second multi-year free-agent deal of his career.
  • Andrew Cashner, $10MM, Rangers: MLBTR’s Jeff Todd recently took a more in-depth look at Cashner, noting that his strong 3.19 ERA isn’t backed up by his K/BB numbers. Cashner’s complete lack of missed bats — he has the lowest swinging-strike rate and second-lowest K/9 rate of qualified MLB starters — is going to limit his earning power. But, he’s undeniably been better than he was in 2016, his velocity is comparable to last season and he’s limited hard contact quite well. A multi-year deal is certainly a possibility this offseason.
  • Carlos Gomez, $11.5MM, Rangers: Gomez’s production hasn’t reached the star levels it did in 2013-14, but he’s been a better performer at the plate this season. A spike in his OBP (from .298 to .337) is due largely to a massive increase in the number of pitches by which he’s been hit, which is less encouraging than if he’d upped his walk rate considerably. However, Gomez has also shown quite a bit more power in 2017 than he had in recent seasons (.208 ISO in ’17 vs. .153 in ’15-16 combined), and Defensive Runs Saved feels he’s improved in center field as well. Gomez won’t see the massive payday he looked to be on pace for after 2014, but he’s still young enough to notch a multi-year deal this winter.

Notable exceptions: Neither Welington Castillo nor Greg Holland is included on this list, though both have provided good value to their new teams (Castillo in particular). While their contracts are often referred to as one-year deals with a player option, that type of contract is no more a one-year deal than Jason Heyward’s eight-year, $184MM deal with a third-year opt-out is a three-year deal. Both players were guaranteed the possibility to be under contract for two years, and those agreements are considered two-year deals for the purposes of this list.

Jerry Blevins has also given the Mets terrific value on his one-year, $6.5MM deal, but the club option attached to that deal is a veritable lock to be exercised, so he’s unlikely to hit the free-agent market again following the season.

AL Injury Notes: Price, Mariners, Twins, Gomez, Angels

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Red Sox southpaw David Price threw a two-inning sim game Saturday as he continues to work back from forearm problems, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com was among those to report (links here). While Price hasn’t taken the mound for the Red Sox since July 22 and only threw 32 pitches Saturday, they’re hopeful he’ll be able to come back this year as a starter, Lauber notes. The Sox will have a clearer idea about Price’s future after he throws another sim game midway through next week, but the likelihood is that he’ll finish 2017 as a reliever because he won’t have enough time to ramp back up as a starter, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal writes.

More injury news from around the American League:

  • The Mariners will welcome James Paxton and Felix Hernandez back to their rotation during the upcoming week, Greg Johns of MLB.com relays (on Twitter). Both hurlers will hover around the 50- to 60-pitch marks during their first starts back. Paxton went on the disabled list with a strained left pectoral on Aug. 11, depriving the Mariners of a burgeoning ace for a key stretch. Hernandez, who preceded Paxton as the Mariners’ top starter, landed on the DL on Aug. 5 with shoulder bursitis. The 31-year-old previously missed all of May and most of June with the same injury.
  • Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters Friday that left-hander Hector Santiago is likely done for the season (via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com). Santiago, who hasn’t taken a major league mound since July 2 because of a shoulder strain, threw just 84 mph to 87 mph in a Triple-A rehab start Sunday (down from his usual low-90s velocity) and is undergoing further testing in Minnesota, according to Bollinger. With his contract set to expire at season’s end, the 29-year-old Santiago may be done as a Twin. Formerly a capable starter with the White Sox and Angels, Santiago has posted unsightly numbers – including a 5.61 ERA and a 28.4 percent groundball rate – over 131 2/3 innings since the Twins acquired him from Los Angeles last summer.
  • Rangers center fielder Carlos Gomez could miss a fair amount of time after suffering a high ankle sprain Saturday against the Yankees, per Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News. Gomez, who departed the game in the second inning after injuring his right ankle, was on crutches and in a walking boot afterward. A lengthy Gomez absence would be the second notable loss in recent weeks for a Texas offense that saw superstar third baseman Adrian Beltre go down with a hamstring strain Sept. 1. While he’s not nearly as impactful as Beltre, Gomez has still had a decent contract year (.251/.337/.459, 2.0 fWAR in 407 plate appearances) for a team that’s three games out of a wild-card spot.
  • Angels third baseman Yunel Escobar had another setback in his rehab from an oblique injury, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets. Nevertheless, manager Mike Scioscia still expects to see Escobar again this season. The impending free agent hasn’t played since Aug. 6 and was in the middle of a mediocre season at the time of his injury (.274/.333/.397 in 381 PAs).

AL Central Notes: Verlander Trade, Twins, Diaz, ChiSox

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In one of his latest columns at FanRag Sports, Jon Heyman looks at the final hours leading up to Aug. 31’s Justin Verlander blockbuster. The Astros, according to Heyman, had been reluctant to part with any of their top six prospects in trades for virtually any player in either July or August. It wasn’t until 10:30pm ET on the night of Aug. 31 that they called the Tigers to at last cave in and concede a willingness to part with highly touted right-hander Franklin Perez. Detroit GM Al Avila had two execs head to Verlander’s home before the ace had decided whether to waive his no-trade clause in order to obtain his signature as quickly as possible if he ultimately approved a deal.

The Tigers’ initial centerpiece target, per Heyman, was another of the Astros’ young right-handers: Forrest Whitley. Houston held firm on him, but the two sides were ultimately able to cobble a deal together and give Verlander about an hour to weigh whether to waive his no-trade protection. In the end, the trade went through at 11:59pm, per Heyman, barely scraping under the wire.

A bit more from the AL Central…

  • Jake Depue of 1500 ESPN spoke to Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey this week about top pitching prospects Stephen Gonsalves and Fernando Romero and the progress that the pair made in 2017. While there’d been some speculation that Gonsalves could join the team in September, Falvey hinted at some inconsistencies following a promotion to Triple-A Rochester. “We’ve seen some really good outings from him,” said Falvey. “…We’ve also seen probably the natural fatigue that a pitcher goes through late in the year, and he’s had some of those outings too.” Falvey ultimately acknowledged that the team felt Triple-A was “the best environment” for Gonsalves, with whom the team will be careful from a developmental standpoint. Indeed, Twins manager Paul Molitor told reporters prior to Thursday night’s game that the team was likely done making September call-ups (Twitter link via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com).
  • Indians prospect Yandy Diaz has demonstrated elite exit velocity but also an extreme tendency to hit the ball on the ground, writes Travis Sawchik of The Athletic (subscription required and recommended). The 26-year-old Diaz signed out of Cuba for $300K three years ago, and while he’s never cracked many top prospect lists, his exit velocity and outstanding eye at the plate (14 percent walk rate, more walks than strikeouts in the minors) make him an intriguing breakout candidate despite his age. In addition to chatting with Indians assistant hitting coach Matt Quatraro about Diaz’s approach, Sawchik breaks down Diaz’s point of contact and recent adjustments to his swing as he looks to carve out a role on the team moving forward.
  • Left-hander Carlos Rodon was a last-minute scratch for the White Sox tonight, as Scott Merkin of MLB.com writes. Fifteen minutes before first pitch, the Sox swapped Rodon out for veteran Mike Pelfrey due to stiffness in his left shoulder. The former No. 3 overall pick is viewed as a key long-term piece for the Sox, but injuries have limited him to 69 2/3 innings this season. It’s not clear at this time if Rodon will need to miss any further outings.
  • Rodon isn’t the only injury for the White Sox, either; right-hander Jake Petricka was placed back on the 10-day DL for a third time this season due to an elbow strain, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago. Petricka expressed some frustration but explained that the injury built up over time as opposed to a more severe injury that could occur on one single pitch. Indeed, Hayes notes that an MRI revealed no structural damage for Petricka, but there’s uncertainty as to whether he’ll be able to return to an already inexperienced ChiSox pen before season’s end.
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