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Giants Acquire Eduardo Nunez

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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.

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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.

Heyman’s Latest: Sale, Cashner, Royals, Brewers, Giants, Mariners, Nats

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Even though the Yankees made a forward-looking move by trading Aroldis Chapman for Adam Warren and three young prospects (highlighted by high-ceiling shortstop Gleyber Torres), they’ve at least placed a call to the White Sox to inquire on Chris Sale, writes Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports in his latest Inside Baseball column. GM Brian Cashman wouldn’t comment on Sale when asked, telling Heyman only that the Yankees call on virtually every player that’s available as a matter of due diligence. Heyman writes that there’s speculation among other clubs that the Yanks could make a legitimate run at Sale, possibly including Torres in the package, but there’s no indication yet to support that talk.

A few more highlights from the lengthy column…

  • The Astros called the Padres to inquire on Andrew Cashner but told San Diego about 48 hours later that they were no longer interested. Whether it’s because of the asking price or another reason isn’t entirely clear. Heyman adds that, unsurprisingly, Colby Rasmus won’t be getting another qualifying offer from the Astros this year after he accepted the QO last November and has underperformed in 2016.
  • The Royals will wait until the very last minute to decide if they’re going to sell off veteran pieces. Edinson Volquez, Kendrys Morales and Luke Hochevar — each of whom has a mutual option on his contract but is likely to hit the open market following the season — are among the team’s candidates to be traded if the Royals do sell. Interestingly, he also notes that there’s a belief that Kansas City will let Alcides Escobar go and replace him with Raul Mondesi Jr. I’d personally wonder if, even though he hasn’t performed well at the plate whatsoever, the Royals could generate some trade interest (either now or after the season) due to the $6.5MM club option ($500K buyout) on Escobar’s contract.
  • Angels GM Billy Eppler will at least listen to offers on both Hector Santiago and Matt Shoemaker, though each is controllable beyond this season (Shoemaker for another four years, Santiago through 2017), so there’s no definitive urge to move either. Yunel Escobar and Joe Smith are both trade candidates for the Halos as well, as has been noted frequently over the past couple of weeks.
  • The Brewers weren’t impressed at all by the Mets’ offer for Jonathan Lucroy, which centered around Travis d’Arnaud. Heyman cites Brewers sources as saying they’ve been offered better catchers than d’Arnaud and still passed on moving Lucroy just yet. Right-hander Junior Guerra, who is having a surprisingly strong season as a 31-year-old rookie, has generated some trade interest, but Heyman says there’s been little chatter on Chris Carter. It also seems that Ryan Braun isn’t being talked about much at this stage.
  • 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.
  • The Cubs and Rangers have both called the Mariners about Taijuan Walker and James Paxton, but Seattle hasn’t shown any inclination toward moving either pitcher. Wade Miley is more likely to be moved, and Heyman adds that the Mariners are still open to adding some pieces for 2016 and have checked into Angels righty Joe Smith, whom GM Jerry Dipoto signed while serving as GM in Anaheim.
  • The Nationals turned down proposals centered around both Lucas Giolito and Joe Ross when negotiating with the Yankees about Aroldis Chapman. From there, the Yankees shifted to younger players and asked for a four-prospect package centered around pitching — though it’s not clear just who New York was targeting.  Washington never got close on a Chapman trade despite quite a bit of talk with the Yankees, per Heyman.

Central Notes: Sale, Rosenthal, Nunez, Antony

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It still seems like a fairly remote possibility that the White Sox will end up trading southpaw Chris Sale; indeed, rival executives who have spoken with the Chicago front office get the impression that the odds of a deal remain low, according to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. That doesn’t mean that clubs aren’t trying to see what it’d take to reach a deal, though, and ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden provides an entertaining effort at identifying what kinds of trade packages could be negotiated with some major contenders.

Here’s more from the game’s central divisions:

  • The Cardinals seem to be considering how to rebuild fallen closer Trevor Rosenthal, with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch providing an update after the righty was placed on the DL yesterday. Rosenthal told the team of shoulder discomfort, which suggests there may have been at least some injury considerations underlying his struggles. Meanwhile, the organization is weighing whether to utilize Rosenthal as a starter during his rehab stint. Whether that would put him in line to return to that role, or just permit him to work on his approach in a different manner, remains to be seen, but we’ve heard in the past that Rosenthal would like to return to the rotation.
  • 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.

Pitching Rumors: Chapman, Ervin, Hill, Hellickson, Ubaldo, Blue Jays

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Joel Sherman of the New York Post walks readers through the winding process the Cubs took to reach an agreement on an Aroldis Chapman trade with the Yankees. Per Sherman, the Cubs never wanted to pursue a rental pitcher but weren’t able to convince the Yankees to back down from their demand of Kyle Schwarber. Chicago then turned to the Royals, only to find the asking price on Wade Davis to be even higher than the asking price on Miller. The Cubs weren’t willing to deal from their big league roster to upgrade the ’pen but were willing to deal from their infield depth, parting with Class-A shortstop Gleyber Torres largely because of the presence of both Addison Russell and Javier Baez on the Major League roster. (Notably, Chicago also dealt from its first base depth in moving Dan Vogelbach for another left-handed reliever: Seattle’s Mike Montgomery.) Sherman adds that owner Hal Steinbrenner still wants to win in 2016 despite approving the Chapman swap, which calls into question whether the club would entertain even an overwhelming offer for Miller.

A few notes on the pitching market…

  • 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.
  • Athletics southpaw Rich Hill believes he’ll be able to pitch on Sunday after throwing 50 pitches with protective covering over his blistered left hand and another 20 without the cover, tweets John Hickey of the Bay Area News Group. Hill has scarcely been able to pitch since late May due to a groin strain and this newfound blister issue, but he remains a highly intriguing rental option thanks to a 2.25 ERA with 10.7 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 50 percent ground-ball rate through 76 innings out of the Oakland rotation this season. That would obviously give rival scouts just one more opportunity to look at Hill before Monday’s non-waiver deadline, but that could prove crucial given his limited recent exposure.
  • Both the Rangers and Orioles were in attendance for Jeremy Hellickson’s scoreless six innings for the Phillies against the Marlins last night, per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. (The Marlins — Hellickson’s opponents — also obviously had evaluators on hand and have long been linked to Hellickson.) There’s no clear frontrunner for Hellickson’s services, Crasnick notes, but it’s a “virtual lock” that he’ll change teams on or before next Monday.
  • The Padres asked the Orioles to include minor league left-hander Garrett Cleavinger and minor legaue righty Jhon Peluffo in the trade that would’ve sent Ubaldo Jimenez to San Diego in exchange for Melvin Upton Jr., according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (on Twitter). However, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweets that the talks broke down over finances, and Bleacher Report’s Scott Miller adds (also via Twitter) that owner Peter Angelos had a late change of heart and altered the nearly agreed-upon deal — specifically the amount of money that would have changed hands. The Padres ultimately shifted course and sent Upton to the Blue Jays.
  • Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins says he’s not done making moves after swooping in and acquiring Upton earlier this morning, via Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith (links to Nicholson–Smith on Twitter). Atkins’ comments seemingly focused on pitching upgrades, with the GM indicating that the market for relief help is more robust than the market for starters at present. Atkins says he’s talked with all 29 other clubs on multiple occasions and is now focused on a smaller group of teams that could potentially upgrade his pitching staff. Asked specifically about the Padres — the Jays have been linked multiple times to Andrew Cashner, who tossed a quality start against them tonight — Atkins replied, “They have interesting pitching as well.”

Deadline Rumors: Hellickson, Reds, Rangers, Aybar, Gibson, Twins

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Here’s the latest on some notable players whose names have popped up in trade speculation…

  • The Phillies are scouting the Marlins’ rookie league affiliate for prospects in a possible Jeremy Hellickson trade, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link).  The two NL East rivals have been connected to Hellickson rumors for a few weeks now, as Miami is known to be searching for rotation help.  Given the lack of premium talent within the Marlins’ farm system, Hellickson could be a more reasonable acquisition than other Marlins targets like Jake Odorizzi, Matt Moore or even Chris Sale.  The Pirates, Red Sox and Orioles are among the teams also linked to Hellickson in trade rumors.
  • The Rangers are exploring many trade options and have been linked to multiple teams, though they don’t appear to have had any “substantive talks” with the Reds, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets.  Texas has been linked to Jay Bruce, and the right fielder could be a fit with Shin-Soo Choo constantly battling injuries and Prince Fielder gone for the season, though Grant seems to imply that the Rangers’ interest in Bruce didn’t get too far.  Anthony DeSclafani would certainly the attract the Rangers and other pitching-needy teams if Cincinnati made him available, though DeSclafani’s breakout year may have also made him into a building block for the rebuilding Reds.
  • The Braves are “aggressively shopping” Erick Aybar and left-handed relievers, a rival executive tells Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Aybar would seem to have limited trade value given his horrible year at the plate, as his brief hot streak in June gave way to more struggles in July.  Southpaws Hunter Cervenka and Ian Krol have generated some trade buzz already, and it’s possible Atlanta could be trying to sell high on Dario Alvarez.  (UPDATE: Rosenthal’s tweet also listed Jeff Francoeur as a trade chip, but he has since issued a correction saying that the Braves aren’t shopping Francoeur and will only deal him if they get a big offer.)
  • 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.

AL Rumors: Rangers, Rays, Twins, Tigers, Angels

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The most prominent pitcher the Rangers have pursued as the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline nears is White Sox ace Chris Sale, who’s currently embroiled in a strange controversy, but the sides haven’t made much progress, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. With that in mind, Texas’ focus is on the Rays’ starters at the moment, writes Grant. Tampa Bay’s asking price is high for Matt Moore and Jake Odorizzi, though, as it wants powerful corner infielder/outfielder Joey Gallo – Baseball America’s 11th-ranked prospect. The Rangers would only give up Gallo for the Rays’ top starter, Chris Archer, per Grant.

More rumors from the American League:

  • While reports have connected the Rangers to Milwaukee catcher and trade candidate Jonathan Lucroy for months, Texas is “not really” in pursuit of the All-Star backstop as of now, reports T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com (Twitter link). The Rangers’ focus is instead on upgrading their pitching.
  • 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).
  • The Tigers, who are 51-46 and just 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, are likely to stand pat at the deadline, general manager Al Avila told reporters – including Evan Woodbery of MLive.com (via Twitter) – on Saturday. “It’s not sexy,” admitted Avila, who added that buying is difficult because teams are asking for the Tigers’ best young starters, standout rookie righty Michael Fulmer and southpaw Daniel Norris. “I have been in contact with several GMs in sell mode. The asking price is too high right now, even for fifth starters,” Avila stated (Twitter links via Jason Beck of MLB.com). Avila’s Tigers do have in-house reinforcements on the way in Norris, righty Jordan Zimmermann and right fielder J.D. Martinez, all of whom are on the disabled list. When those three come back, Avila expects Detroit to have enough talent to compete for a World Series (Twitter link via Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press).
  • The playoffs continue to look highly unlikely for the Angels, who have won 10 of 12 games and closed the gap in the AL West from 19 1/2 games to a still-high 11 1/2 behind first-place Texas, but their recent hot streak could prevent them from selling, writes Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. “A lot of things have come together at the exact same time,” GM Billy Eppler told DiGiovanna. “We felt that this club had a lot of positive elements to it. It wasn’t all clicking like it is right now, but the character and the fight within those guys has never faded.” The Halos don’t have the assets to turn into buyers, notes DiGiovanna, so their decision will come down to selling or keeping the roster as it is. If they sell, DiGiovanna lists third baseman Yunel Escobar, setup man Joe Smith and closer Huston Street as Angels who could soon change homes.

Deadline Rumors: Sale, Mazara, Rays, Profar, Rangers, Twins, Inciarte

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Here’s the latest on some names who may or may not be on the move by the August 1 trade deadline…

  • The White Sox are reportedly asking for “five top prospects” for Chris Sale, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports.  It’s an incredibly high asking price but one that at least one rival executive thinks will be met, though others believe Chicago may not actually be serious about dealing its ace.  The Marlins are among the teams who have inquired about Sale but with such a thin farm system, Miami doesn’t seem close to meeting Chicago’s demand.  The Red Sox and Rangers do have deep systems and have asked about Sale, though Heyman reports that the Rangers/White Sox talks haven’t led to much progress.
  • The Rangers are known to be widely scouring the starting pitching market, and if Sale can’t be obtained, Texas will turn to the Padres’ Andrew Cashner or the Rays’ Jake Odorizzi or Matt Moore, tweets T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.
  • The Rays continue to ask for Jurickson Profar from the Rangers in exchange for a starting pitcher and Texas is still refusing, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi reports (Twitter links).  Several other Rangers prospects have been mentioned in talks between the two teams, including lefty Yohander Mendez and first baseman Ronald Guzman.
  • The Twins are seen as something of a “backup plan” for multiple contending teams in case other deadline plans ball through, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports (Twitter link).  Ervin Santana, Eduardo Nunez, Fernando Abad and Kurt Suzuki are a few of the Twins mentioned as possible trade chips, though since none of these players are top-tier upgrades, it makes sense that contenders would explore other options first.
  • Barring a knockout offer, it doesn’t look like the Braves will move Ender Inciarte at the deadline, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman writes.  Inciarte received some trade interest even after Atlanta acquired him from the D’Backs last offseason, though a hamstring injury sidelined him for a month and he hasn’t delivered much at the plate.  Still, Inciarte has so much defensive value in center field that the Braves consider him to be a strong piece for the future.

Trade Rumors: Twins, Abad, Orioles, Giants, Lucroy

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Interest in the Twins’ available trade pieces spiked following the club’s dismissal of general manager Terry Ryan, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney. Many executives from other clubs expected that he would take a fairly conservative approach at the non-waiver trade deadline, but the way in which interim GM Rob Antony (Ryan’s longtime assistant GM) will proceed is yet an unknown. Olney lists Kurt Suzuki, Brandon Kintzler, Fernando Abad and Ervin Santana as potentially appealing chips on the Twins, and Eduardo Nunez’s name can probably be added to that list as well; he was reported recently to be among Minnesota’s most asked-about trade pieces.

A few more notes on the trade market…

  • Abad has long appeared to be a logical trade candidate for the Twins, though he tells Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he was slowed late last month and in early July by a minor back issue that limited his usage. Abad says his back is at full strength again, but the minor tweak was a big part of the reason that he’s pitched in just five games since June 22. Abad says that he’s happy in Minnesota and would like to stay, but a left-handed reliever with a 2.73 ERA, 8.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent ground-ball rate that is earning a $1.25MM base salary this year figures to be a sought-after piece — especially considering the fact that he’s controllable through 2017.
  • Orioles general manager Dan Duquette joined MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM to discuss his team’s needs at the trade deadline this week (audio link). “Our team’s strengths are pretty clear,” said Duquette. “We’ve got a good bullpen, we’ve good defense, we score a lot of runs. If we can find some consistency to our starting pitching, we can probably advance to the playoffs. That’s really where our focus is: we’re trying to get some consistency to our starting pitching. We’re also looking around the trade market, which by the way is quite thin this year when it comes to starting pitchers.” Duquette adds that Dylan Bundy will continue to get an opportunity in the rotation for the foreseeable future and said the team also expects continued improvement from Kevin Gausman. The Baltimore GM added that the asking price in trades for starters has been high since the offseason, making it difficult for deals to come together and heightening the risk for acquiring clubs.
  • The Giants could match up with the Brewers on a trade for bullpen help, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). The Brewers, according to Schulman, have been scouting Giants pitching prospect Adalberto Mejia recently and are believed to think quite highly of the left-hander, who rated 91st on Baseball America’s midseason list of the game’s Top 100 prospects. Mejia recently moved up to Triple-A and has enjoyed a strong all-around season in the minors, working to a 2.77 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9 in 100 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. Of course, he’s also a nearly MLB-ready arm, and the Giants have been in need of rotation depth for much of the season. San Francisco could also simply turn to Mejia in the bullpen for the remainder of the year if it preferred not to sacrifice big-league-ready pitching depth, though that’s just my speculation. The Giants have been linked to Brewers relievers Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress of late.
  • If the Brewers want to extract maximum value for Jonathan Lucroy, the time to trade him is in the next 11 days, writes Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. While demand in the offseason may be greater with more teams looking for catching help, clubs won’t be willing to part with as much this winter, and beyond that Lucroy is currently in the midst of an offensive surge that is bolstering his value. He’s been connected to the Rangers and Indians within the past few days, and Haudricourt writes, “…rest assured there have been talks with other clubs as well.” 

Twins Outright Neil Ramirez

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The Twins announced to the media following today’s win over the Tigers that right-hander Neil Ramirez has been outrighted to Triple-A Rochester (Twitter link via Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Left-hander Buddy Boshers has been recalled in his place, giving the Twins a third lefty alongside Taylor Rogers and Fernando Abad.

[Related: Updated Minnesota Twins Depth Chart]

Ramirez, 27, was claimed off waivers from the Brewers in mid-June. Minnesota is Ramirez’s third team since Opening Day (Cubs, Brewers), but the former top prospect has struggled at each stop this season. He’s been designated for assignment by both Chicago and Milwaukee, but he never cleared outright waivers when those organizations attempted to sneak him through. The Twins were successful in doing so, meaning they’ll retain the rights to Ramirez but free up a 40-man roster spot. That spot won’t need to go to Boshers, as he’s already on the 40-man and has pitched for the Twins earlier this year.

With the Twins, Ramirez logged a 6.14 ERA with an 11-to-10 K/BB ratio in 14 2/3 innings of work. He’s posted a combined 6.00 ERA with a 24-to-18 K/BB in 24 innings this season between the three clubs. While those numbers are clearly not appealing, Ramirez did record a sparkling 1.87 ERA with 10.6 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 in 57 2/3 innings for the Cubs from 2014-15 after coming over from Texas as part of the Matt Garza trade. Ramirez dealt with shoulder woes throughout his minor league tenure, though, and has had similar issues crop up in the Majors in addition to triceps and abdominal injuries. His average fastball is down 2.3 mph from his debut season, likely as a result of those problems, but he’ll look to get back on track with Minnesota’s minor league affiliate.

Central Notes: Brantley, Bruce, Royals, Twins, Cardinals, CarGo

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Indians left fielder Michael Brantley has apparently suffered another setback in his recovery from shoulder surgery, as Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports (via Twitter) that Brantley is headed for an MRI tomorrow after his shoulder once again started barking. Arguably Cleveland’s best player when healthy, Brantley has instead totaled just 43 plate appearances over 11 games this year after following a recovery timeline that was a bit more aggressive than initially projected. In his absence, the Indians have received a breakout performance from rookie Tyler Naquin as well as a strong performance from veteran Rajai Davis, who inked a one-year pact in the offseason. Lonnie Chisenhall and Jose Ramirez have each contributed nicely in the absence of Brantley as well, leading to a considerably more productive outfield mix than most pundits expected this season. Nonetheless, the return of a healthy Brantley would be a massive boost the the Indians’ chances of not only reaching the postseason but thriving in the playoffs.

More from the game’s Central divisions…

  • Sticking with Cleveland, FOX’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Indians “are not on” Reds right fielder Jay Bruce despite some other reports that have connected the two clubs. Rather, Cleveland is seeking left-handed relief pitchers and, when it comes to their preference between Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, Cleveland prefers the more controllable Miller to Chapman.
  • Within that same piece, Royals general manager Dayton Moore tells Rosenthal that he plans to do everything in his power to improve his club’s roster prior to the non-waiver trade deadline. While the Royals aren’t perched atop the division like they were for much of the 2015 campaign that saw them win the World Series and have notably received poor performances from the starting rotation, Moore expressed confidence in his 2016 group of talent. However, Rosenthal adds that Kansas City is “almost certainly going to be limited financially,” which could prompt the club to again have to surrender better prospects in trades as a means of persuading other teams to add money into potential deals.
  • The Twins are receiving the most trade interest in shortstop Eduardo Nunez, catcher Kurt Suzuki, right-hander Brandon Kintzler and left-hander Fernando Abad, sources indicated to Rosenthal. Right-hander Ervin Santana has not drawn the same level of interest, likely due to the $28MM remaining on his contract beyond the 2016 campaign. Suzuki, a free agent following the season (unless he reaches 485 plate appearances, at which point a $6MM vesting option will trigger), has had a torrid seven-week stretch during which he’s batted .352/.381/.556 with four homers and 10 doubles. Nunez, Abad and Kintzler can all be controlled through 2017 via the arbitration process, and Nunez in particular has had a productive run, hitting .299/.332/.455 with 16 homers and 30 steals in 154 games dating back to Opening Day 2015.
  • Regarding Suzuki, while the Twins were in this position with him a couple of years ago and elected to sign him to a two-year, $12MM extension, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that there have been no extension talks at all between the two sides this time around. That would seemingly make a trade more likely, especially in light of his improved production over the past month and a half.
  • ESPN’s Mark Saxon reports that the Cardinals have “no interest” in trading for a short-term bat (links to Twitter). St. Louis is only interested in acquiring a hitter unless it would be a long-term acquisition. While some may connect the dots and suggest that Carlos Gonzalez fits that bill, to an extent, Saxon adds that top Cardinals officials aren’t as high on Gonzalez as many seem to think they are. Some reports earlier this summer connected the Cards to the Rockies slugger, but Saxon’s report certainly downplays that as a possibility.
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