The Blue Jays are still in the market for a starting pitcher before tomorrow’s non-waiver deadline. One name being discussed at this time, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (on Twitter), is Ervin Santana. Morosi doesn’t specify whether that means that the Jays are discussing Santana internally or they’re presently in talks with the Twins about their top starter, but it’s worth noting that Santana turned in another strong outing today in front of scouts from several clubs (via 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson, on Twitter). Santana allowed an earned run (three total) on six hits and a pair of walks with five strikeouts in six innings against the White Sox. He wasn’t helped by his defense whatsoever, as four errors made behind him drove up his pitch count, but he looked fairly sharp all the same. The Twins have said they don’t plan on moving Santana unless receiving a strong offer, but he is one of the more appealing starters on a thin trade market.
Twins Rumors
Twins Shopping Nolasco, Milone, Abad
- While none of these names are of the level of the pitchers discussed above, the Twins are said to be shopping Ricky Nolasco, Tommy Milone, and Fernando Abad, according to ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick (via Twitter). Nolasco and Milone could both conceivably be looked at by teams in need of some rotation depth, while Abad remains a useful LOOGY option for organizations that hope to bolster their pen. None, of course, seem particularly likely to draw major returns; if anything, Nolasco would likely be moved for a bit of salary relief.
Latest On Jonathan Lucroy Sweepstakes
10:54pm: The Rangers could view a strike for Lucroy as a way to improve their pitching, given his highly-regarded work behind the plate, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. With Texas finding high asking prices on the pitching market, the report suggests, the club could make a move for a group of Milwaukee pieces that might include Lucroy, a quality reliever, and possibly even a starter.
3:41pm: There’s a mystery team involved on Lucroy, tweets Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, and it isn’t the Red Sox or the Mariners. Those two clubs would certainly have been among the plausible suitors for the veteran.
2:49pm: The Braves have inquired on Lucroy, according to Rosenthal (via Twitter). At present, though, it doesn’t appear as if the sides are likely to strike a deal. Atlanta’s interest is limited, it seems, because it would need to extend the veteran receiver in order to justify trading him.
The teams is “wary of paying twice” — first in the swap, then in a hypothetical extension — though certainly that’s the price of poker when just a fact of life for a club that would competing with teams that have a much higher present need for a top-quality backstop. It’s no sure thing, either, that Lucroy himself would agree to a new contract.
12:29pm: Yesterday, Milwaukee asked teams with interest to make offers of a certain “minimum standard,” Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). It’s not entirely clear whether the request was for best and final offers, but Rosenthal adds that discussions are still taking place.
Among several teams to put their chips on the table are the Mets, per the report. With the Brewers still evaluating their options, multiple teams remain in the hunt.
11:27am: Jonathan Lucroy is one of the most talked-about names on the trade market right now, and ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick adds some context to the complications in working out a deal, reporting the eight teams to which Lucroy can block a trade (Twitter link). Lucroy can block trades to the Twins, Angels, Athletics, Padres, Mariners, Nationals and, most interestingly, the Indians and Tigers. Both of the two latter teams have been connected to Lucroy in trade rumors this week, though both Crasnick and his colleague Jayson Stark were told this morning that the Tigers are no longer in the picture (links to Twitter).
Cleveland’s presence on Lucroy’s no-trade list certainly doesn’t preclude a deal from happening — Lucroy has candidly stated to the media that he wants to play for a contending team on multiple occasions in the past six months — but it does further complicate matters for the Indians. While Lucroy’s postseason aspirations could make him willing, to some extent, to waive his no-trade rights, he could also wield that clause as leverage in an attempt to coerce the Indians into an extension or, at the very least, restructuring his contract to give him a raise on next year’s wildly affordable $5.25MM salary.
The Indians are said to be discussing Lucroy and left-hander Will Smith with the Brewers, but they face competition even if the Tigers and Astros are out of the market, as has been reported recently. The Rangers, Red Sox and Mets — none of whom are on his no-trade list — have all still been linked to Lucroy, and a premium player of his value figures to draw widespread interest. (Indeed, FanRag’s Jon Heyman last night again mentioned a mystery team in the mix.) The Mets were said to offer a package centered around Travis d’Arnaud, which was quickly dismissed, but FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reported last night that the two side “re-engaged” on trade talks. ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin adds a bit more detail to that story this morning, reporting that the Brewers circled back with the Mets and proposed a counter-offer that “was not out-of-hand rejected.” The Mets, he notes, have no intention of dealing either shortstop prospect Amed Rosario or first base prospect Dominic Smith, though.
Twins Likely Won't Deal Ervin Santana
- At this point, the Twins would need to be “overwhelmed” to deal away righty Ervin Santana, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). Minnesota is still said to be open to dealing relief assets, but apparently is rather committed to keeping the veteran righty in its rotation over the final two years of his contract.
Giants Acquire Eduardo Nunez
The Giants have announced a deal to acquire Twins infielder Eduardo Nunez, as LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune first reported (via Twitter). Lefty Adalberto Mejia is headed to Minnesota in return.
Nunez, 29, has revived his career in Minnesota over the last two years. Once a prized Yankees farmhand, he had struggled to gain traction and ended up changing hands in a minor swap in April of 2014. Though he started off slowly in his new home, Nunez came on strong last year and has only improved thus far in 2016 — even earning his first All-Star berth.
A shortstop by trade, Nunez has also seen significant time at third base while also appearing a second and in the outfield. Though he’s not a highly-regarded defender, the versatility should come in handy. He’ll presumably see action around the diamond for the Giants, with much of his early action coming at third base, where Matt Duffy remains an injury question. Second baseman Joe Panik has only just returned from his own DL stint, and while Brandon Crawford is as steady as ever, it doesn’t hurt to have a quality option to support him as well.
The right-handed-hitting Nunez carries neutral career platoon splits, but has been better this year against southpaws. Both Duffy (a righty) and Panik (a lefty) are also neutral in their relatively short careers, but each has seen a downturn against same-handed pitching thus far in 2016. That makes Nunez a more natural platoon mate for Panik, though the Giants’ new addition has spent most of his time on the left side of the infield and is perhaps more likely to take time from Duffy (once the latter returns from the DL). Nunez also provides a right-handed complement to Crawford, though obviously the incumbent figures to remain an everyday fixture at short. San Francisco will also soon welcome back the switch-hitting Ehire Adrianza from a rehab stint, and he too will provide an option up the middle.
Owing to his relatively limited playing time and generally meager career numbers, Nunez is earning just $1.475MM this year. He’s also controllable for another season via arbitration. Though he’ll surely earn a nice raise, Nunez figures to remain quite an affordable piece before qualifying for free agency in 2018.
[Related: Updated Giants and Twins Depth Charts]
Minnesota seems to have made out quite well for its meager investment in Nunez. In addition to receiving quality production from him while he was in town, the club will add a nice piece in the 23-year-old Mejia. After a solid showing at Double-A last year, he pitched well enough there early in 2016 to earn his first promotion to Triple-A. All told, he owns a 2.81 ERA over 105 2/3 innings with 8.6 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9 between the two levels.
Long considered a solid prospect, Mejia has moved up the charts as he has ascended the ranks of the Giants’ system and is said to profile as a near-ready number-four starter. He sat at fifth among the team’s pre-MLB assets in Baseball America’s latest farm ranking (also cracking the top-100 list leaguewide) and seventh per MLB.com. Though he doesn’t have huge stuff, the pundits credit him as a sturdy southpaw who limits the home runs and walks and should be able to generate strong results with a quality three-pitch mix.
The Twins will promote top prospect Jorge Polanco to replace Nunez on the active roster, the Star-Tribune’s Phill Miller tweets. Polanco, 23, enjoyed a nice start to his major league career in a brief stint earlier this season after cracking some top-100 prospect rankings over the winter. He has spent most of the year at Triple-A, posting a .271/.331/.455 batting line in 320 plate appearances with nine long balls on his ledger.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Giants Interested In Nunez
- The Giants are interested in Minnesota’s Eduardo Nunez, who has also recently been connected to the Indians. The Twins figure to be wide open to trade scenarios in the coming days, and Nunez would give the Giants some cover at third base, shortstop, second base and in left field. Similarly, the Giants have a bit of interest in Alex Guerrero, who was released by the Dodgers earlier this year. However, Heyman points out that catcher Miguel Olivo, who is being sued by Guerrero after biting off a piece of Guerrero’s ear in a dugout altercation with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in 2015, is playing for San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate.
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Indians Looking At Eduardo Nunez
- Among the players being “evaluated” by the Indians is Twins utilityman Eduardo Nunez, per Buster Olney of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The 29-year-old has mostly played on the left side of the infield this year, but he also has experience at second and the corner outfield. Nunez has turned his career around over the last two years in Minnesota, as he owns a .293/.326/.440 batting line with 16 home runs and 34 steals over his last 590 plate appearances. Presumably, the interest in Nunez relates primarily to the ongoing struggles of third baseman Juan Uribe, who is hitting just .209/.262/.336 on the year.
- It’s not yet clear how serious a candidate acting Twins GM Rob Antony is for the full-time job, but he might be back with the organization in 2017 regardless, MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets. Team president Dave St. Peter noted that Antony is under contract for the coming season, and seemingly suggested that the club would like to keep him around even if he doesn’t get the permanent gig to replace Terry Ryan. Minnesota’s upper management has also made clear that skipper Paul Molitor will be retained.
Twins GM: Not Shopping Ervin Santana
- Twins interim GM Rob Antony has expressed an openness to moving Ervin Santana if approached with a strong offer, but he tells Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he’s not shopping the right-hander (Twitter link). “I’ll be honest,” said Antony, “I’m not calling anybody trying to move him.” As Antony explained yesterday in a Q&A with MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger, his feeling is that he couldn’t sign a pitcher of Santana’s effectiveness to a two-year, $27MM contract with a third-year club option (the remaining commitment on Santana’s deal after 2016) on the free agent market this winter and, as such, believes there to be enough value that he needn’t shop Santana to other clubs. Antony again stated that he’s not under any type of ownership mandate to trim payroll, suggesting that shedding Santana’s salary may not be all that appealing.
- Pitching is the Twins’ biggest priority on the trade market this summer, according to Antony (Twitter link via Bollinger). While the club is clearly open to trading veteran pieces to acquire young pitching help, Antony said he’s also talked to other teams that are considered to be sellers about acquiring big league pitching — presumably MLB arms that are controllable well beyond the 2016 season.
Twins In "Listening Mode At Best" On Kyle Gibson
- The Twins are in “listening mode — at best” on right-hander Kyle Gibson, a source on a contender tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter links). The Twins “appear more focused” on trading Ervin Santana or Ricky Nolasco, which is no surprise given that the team would love to get some salary relief from either of those big contracts. Gibson has yet to truly live up to his former top prospect status, though he put up solid numbers in 2015 as a low-strikeout ground ball specialist. Gibson will become eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, and he is under team control through 2019.
- Also from Berardino (Twitter links), he speculates that the Twins could try to position themselves as the proverbial “third team” in a three-team trade. The Twins have some prospect depth that could be offered to contenders short on quality minor leaguers (Berardino cites the Marlins, Tigers, Mets and Orioles here) to help facilitate some deals, with Minnesota receiving some players who could help them next season but who are also still in their pre-arbitration years.
Latest On Ervin Santana
- The Twins aren’t inclined to deal right-hander Ervin Santana unless they’re “wowed” by an offer, tweets Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Despite Santana’s age (33) and their distance from contention, the last-place Twins regard him as a quality future piece. Santana, who’s on a $13.5MM yearly salary through 2018 and has a $14MM club option for 2019, has pitched respectably this season (105 1/ innings, 3.93 ERA, 6.41 K/9, 2.48 BB/9).
