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Mets Designate Hector Santiago

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The Mets have designated left-hander Hector Santiago for assignment, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets.

A former starter for the White Sox, Angels and Twins, the 31-year-old Santiago joined the Mets on a minor league deal over the winter. Santiago didn’t crack the Mets’ roster at first, instead opening the year at the Triple-A level. He logged a 3.35 ERA/4.94 FIP with 7.95 K/9 and 4.81 BB/9 in 43 innings as a member of New York’s top affiliate before the club summoned him to the majors in late May.

While Santiago has worked as a starter in the minors this season, he functioned exclusively as a reliever with the Mets before they cut him from their 40-man. In eight innings, Santiago allowed six earned runs on 10 hits and five walks (against six strikeouts). Santiago could end up heading back to Syracuse next, though he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment to the minors if he wants.

Mets To Sign First-Round Pick Brett Baty

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JUNE 14: The deal will be announced tomorrow, Healey tweets. Baty receives $3.9MM, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (Twitter link), thus leaving the Mets some added room to work with.

JUNE 11: Mets first-round pick Brett Baty will take a physical and sign a deal with the club this weekend, Tim Healey of Newsday reports. Financial details aren’t known yet, but as the 12th overall selection, Baty’s pick comes with a recommended slot value of $4,366,400.

The 19-year-old Baty is a high school third baseman from Texas who entered the draft as a consensus top 20 prospect. FanGraphs was highest on the now-former University of Texas commit going into the draft, ranking him eighth. Baseball America had Baty at No. 15, while ESPN’s Keith Law and MLB.com placed him 17th.

Although there are concerns about Baty’s age and whether he’ll stick at third base, all of those outlets think a great deal of his power potential and general offensive upside. FanGraphs’ Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen compare Baty to Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman, a first-round pick in 2018 who’s one of the majors’ best prospects.

Health Notes: Angels, Gordon, Brewers, M. Kemp, Reds

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The Angels appear likely to activate left fielder Justin Upton sometime during their upcoming road trip from June 13-23, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register suggests. Upton, out all season because of a toe injury, began a rehab assignment last Friday. Meanwhile, injured shortstop Andrelton Simmons is “progressing quickly” and may start taking live at-bats soon, per Fletcher. Simmons hasn’t played since May 20 because of a Grade 3 left ankle sprain.

  • The Mariners activated second baseman Dee Gordon from the 10-day injured list Tuesday, the team announced. They optioned righty Matt Festa to Triple-A Tacoma in a corresponding move. Gordon’s back after missing 19 games with a right wrist contusion. The 31-year-old trade candidate is off to a .280/.309/.366 start (85 wRC+) with three home runs and 12 steals on 14 attempts across 177 plate appearances.
  • Brewers right-hander Jhoulys Chacin is on track to return during their series in San Diego, which runs from June 17-19, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. Chacin has been on the IL since June 2 with a lower back strain. Before that, he struggled to build on last season’s quality performance, logging 58 innings of 5.74 ERA/5.75 FIP ball with 6.83 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9.
  • Mets minor league outfielder Matt Kemp is dealing with lingering effects of a broken rib he suffered in April, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. The Mets placed Kemp on the minor league IL as a result. The 34-year-old Kemp settled for a minors pact with the Mets on May 24, three weeks after Cincinnati released him. Kemp slashed a brutal .200/.210/.283 (23 wRC+) in 62 plate appearances with Cincy and hasn’t been much better as a member of the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse. So far, Kemp has hit .235/.278/.324 (52 wRC+) in 36 tries at the minors’ top level.
  • Reds righty reliever Robert Stephenson began a Triple-A rehab stint Tuesday, according to the team. Stephenson went to the IL on May 31 with a cervical strain. Once a well-regarded starting pitching prospect, Stephenson looked as if he was emerging as a credible reliever before his injury. In his first full-time look out of the bullpen, the 26-year-old has notched a 3.96 ERA/2.58 FIP with 12.6 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 across 25 innings.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/9/19

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The latest minor moves from around the baseball world…

  • The Mets have outrighted Aaron Altherr to Triple-A, as per MLB.com’s official transactions page.  Altherr was designated for assignment earlier this week, the third different time this season that Altherr has entered DFA limbo.  This was the first time that Altherr’s designation, however, hadn’t resulted in a change of teams, after he went from the Phillies to the Giants, and then from San Francisco to New York on waiver claims.  Now that Altherr seems to be settled at Triple-A for the time being, he can focus on getting his bat on track after posting just a .245 OPS over 42 big league plate appearances this season.
  • The Lotte Giants of South Korea’s KBO League have released right-hander Jake Thompson and claimed righty Brock Dykxhoorn off waivers from the SK Wyverns.  (Hat tip to Dan Kurtz of MyKBO.net)  Thompson was a second-round draft pick for the Phillies in 2012 and was considered a top-100 prospect in all of baseball prior to both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, though he posted only a 4.87 ERA, 6.3 K/9, and 1.33 K/BB rate over 116 1/3 innings for the Phils from 2016-18.  After a brief stint in Milwaukee’s farm system last year, Thompson signed with Lotte last winter and posted a 4.74 ERA over 62 2/3 frames for the KBO side.  Dykxhoorn is also in his first year in South Korean baseball, after delivering a 4.37 ERA over 490 1/3 innings in the Astros’ minor league system after Houston made him a sixth-round pick in the 2014 draft.

Mets Place Robinson Cano On 10-Day Injured List

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The Mets have placed Robinson Cano back on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left quad, as reported by several media outlets (including Newsday’s Tim Healey).  Right-hander Tim Peterson’s contract has been selected from Triple-A to take Cano’s spot on the active roster, thus giving the Mets 39 players on their 40-man roster.

After returning from a 12-game IL absence due to a previous quad strain on June 5, Cano almost immediately re-aggravated the injury while running out a grounder.  Cano didn’t play any rehab games during his previous IL stint, though Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that one will be required this time around, as the Mets want to ensure that Cano is fully ready to go once he is eligible to come off the injured list.

While the quick return to the IL is undoubtedly frustrating to Cano, it’s possible the 36-year-old could see it as an unofficial restart to what has been a subpar 2019 season.  Cano has hit .238/.284/.366 (career lows in all three slash categories) with three home runs over 183 plate appearances.  His hard-hit ball metrics on Statcast indicate some level of bad luck, with a .324 xwOBA that is well above his real-world .284 wOBA, though obviously a .324 number isn’t exactly cause for celebration.

It’s also possible that Cano has simply needed some adjustment time to NL pitching after spending his previous 14 seasons in the American League, though the specter of a mid-30’s decline certainly can’t be ruled out — a scary scenario for the Mets, given that Cano is still owed well over $100MM through the 2023 season (though the Mariners will cover $15MM of that remaining salary).

With Cano out, Jeff McNeil is likely to continue seeing the bulk of action at second base, opening up some more time in left field for the hot-hitting Dominic Smith.  Adeiny Hechavarria is available on the bench as further middle infield depth.

NL Injury Notes: Cano, Dodgers, Phillies, Nationals

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While a decision won’t come until Sunday, the Mets are “seriously considering” placing second baseman Robinson Cano back on the injured list, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Cano went to the IL on May 23 with a left quad strain, only to re-aggravate the injury when he returned this past Wednesday. While the 36-year-old suggested at the time he wouldn’t require another IL stint, he hasn’t played since then. Even now, Cano insists he “feels good,” per DiComo.

More from the NL…

  • Dodgers outfielder Alex Verdugo has been playing through “nagging” lower back tightness over the past couple weeks, but it’s “not serious,” according to manager Dave Roberts (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). That may at least partially explain why the rookie’s numbers have nosedived of late, though he’s still slashing a solid .291/.344/.457 (113 wRC+) in 195 plate appearances this season. Verdugo has been the Dodgers’ primary center fielder since A.J. Pollock underwent elbow surgery at the outset of May. Pollock will have the PICC line removed from his elbow Wednesday and could begin baseball activities soon after that, Plunkett relays. Pollock will reclaim center upon his return, according to Roberts, but Verdugo’s still “going to play.”
  • The Phillies placed outfielder Adam Haseley on the IL on Saturday because of a strained left groin, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. The club’s not sure how much time Haseley will miss; in the meantime, it recalled outfielder Nick Williams from Triple-A Lehigh Valley as his replacement. Haseley, a 2017 first-round pick whom the Phillies promoted when outfielder Andrew McCutchen suffered a torn ACL on Monday, racked up a mere eight plate appearances before going on the shelf.
  • Nationals reliever Justin Miller started a rehab assignment at the Double-A level on Saturday, when he threw a perfect inning and fired nine strikes on 10 pitches, Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reports. Miller has been on the IL twice this season, including since May 18 with a right rotator cuff strain. The injuries have contributed to a tough year for Miller, who has notched a 4.02 ERA (with an unsightly 7.04 FIP), 6.32 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9, and a microscopic 19.1 percent groundball rate in 15 2/3 innings. He’s one of a multitude of Nationals relievers who have disappointed in 2019.

Pitcher Notes: Angels, Padres, Mets, Rangers

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The Angels are set to place right-hander Trevor Cahill on the injured list with elbow soreness, according to Maria Torres of the Los Angeles Times. Manager Brad Ausmus suggested Cahill won’t miss more than one start, though. Regardless of how long he sits out, this has been a disastrous season for Cahill, who joined the Angels after a solid 2018 showing with the Athletics. The 31-year-old Cahill has recorded a 7.18 ERA/6.35 ERA with 7.18 K/9 and 3.12 BB/9 in 57 2/3 innings since the Angels inked him to a $9MM guarantee over the winter.

  • Cahill and fellow righty Matt Harvey (one year, $11MM) were the Angels’ highest-profile free-agent additions during the offseason. Harvey has joined Cahill in disappointing during an injury-limited campaign, but he’s on the way back. Harvey began a Triple-A rehab assignment Saturday, the team announced. The 30-year-old went to the IL on May 25 because of an upper back strain. He got off to a brutal start before then, posting 48 innings of 7.50 ERA/6.17 FIP pitching with 6.56 K/9, 3.94 BB/9 and 2.06 HR/9.
  • The Padres announced that they’ve placed reliever Adam Warren on the 10-day IL with a right forearm strain. The team recalled righty Gerardo Reyes in a corresponding move. The injury adds to what has been a trying season for Warren, a 31-year-old free-agent signing who has registered a 5.34 ERA/6.84 FIP with 7.85 K/9, 3.77 BB/9 and 2.83 HR/9 in 28 2/3 innings.
  • Mets reliever Justin Wilson is slated to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. Wilson’s not sure when he’ll return, but barring setbacks, it’ll have to be within 30 days. Elbow soreness sent Wilson to the injured list May 11, the second time the southpaw has been on the IL with issues in the joint this season. Not only that, but Wilson – whom the Mets signed to a two-year, $10MM contract in the offseason – has yielded five earned runs on nine hits with four walks (against nine strikeouts) in 9 1/3 innings in 2019.
  • The Rangers have activated righty reliever Matt Bush and assigned him to the Double-A level, per TR Sullivan of MLB.com. It’s an important step forward for Bush, who underwent surgery on a partial UCL tear in his elbow last September. However, the procedure didn’t stop the Rangers from bringing back the 33-year-old on a minor league deal. Bush debuted with the Rangers in 2016 and has since notched a 3.35 ERA/3.65 FIP with 9.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 137 innings.

Progress Report: Last Winter’s 6 Highest-Paid Relievers

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The Cubs made a rare June free-agent splash Wednesday when they agreed to a three-year, $43MM contract with potential Hall of Fame closer Craig Kimbrel. The 31-year-old entered the offseason as the premier reliever available, but interest in Kimbrel was surprisingly tepid and he wound up having to wait seven months for a contract. Kimbrel still hauled in the richest deal of any reliever going back to the opening of free agency last offseason, though that doesn’t make him a lock to thrive as a Cub.

As you’ll see below, all six accomplished relievers who collected at least $20MM over the winter have shown some troubling signs a couple months into the 2019 campaign. Although it’s way too early to pass judgment in any of these cases, it doesn’t augur well when a player’s not performing as expected at the start of his deal. After all, that’s when he’s supposed to be providing his team maximum value.

Zack Britton, LHP, Yankees (three years, $39MM):

Arguably the game’s foremost reliever with the Orioles from 2014-16, injuries helped lead to a bit of a drop-off for Britton over the ensuing two seasons with the O’s and Yankees. That didn’t stop New York from re-signing Britton on the costliest pact any reliever received in the offseason, though, and he has handed them solid results in Year 1 of the contract. The 31-year-old owns a 2.96 ERA/3.60 FIP in 27 1/3 innings thus far. The sinker-throwing Britton’s tremendous groundball rate (75 percent) is right in line with his recent totals, and he’s generating more strikeouts and issuing fewer walks than he did a year ago. On the negative side, the home run woes that began plaguing Britton in 2018 have stuck around. He’s yielding HRs on 25 percent of fly balls for the second straight season.

Jeurys Familia, RHP, Mets (three years, $30MM):

Familia surrendered three earned runs in 2/3 of an inning last Saturday and then sat for almost a week before taking the mound again Thursday. The previously reliable righty, who dealt with shoulder troubles earlier in the season, has now logged a horrid 6.29 ERA/5.26 FIP in 23 1/3 frames. A significant drop in strikeouts and swinging strikes and a sizable spike in walks and homers haven’t helped, though Familia’s inducing plenty of grounders and continuing to throw in the 96 mph range. The 29-year-old’s batting average on balls in play against (.338), strand rate (66.2), and enormous gap between his weighted on-base average/xwOBA against (.383/.321) indicate he has deserved better. However, it’s doubtful any of that is of much consolation to him or the Mets at this point.

Andrew Miller, LHP, Cardinals (two years, $25MM):

While Miller was a dominant force with the Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees and Indians from 2012-17, he endured an injury-limited, down year with the Tribe in ’18 and still hasn’t returned to form. The towering southpaw has given the Cardinals 20 2/3 innings of 3.92 ERA/5.48 FIP since scoring his contract. Miller is striking out upward of 12 hitters per nine, but he’s walking more than four at the same time (remember, his BB/9 was barely over 1.00 as recently as 2016). The 34-year-old has also already yielded almost as many HRs (five) as he did in 2017-18 combined (six). The good news is that Miller has allowed a mere two earned runs since April 27.

Adam Ottavino, RHP, Yankees (three years, $25MM):

Ottavino’s preventing runs at an elite clip through 28 1/3 frames as a Yankee, having posted a 1.27 ERA so far. However, there are some red flags with the ex-Rockie’s performance. Ottavino’s strikeout, swinging-strike, walk, chase and contact rates have gone in discouraging directions since last season, while his 96.4 percent strand rate isn’t going to hold. There’s not a huge difference between the wOBA (.264) and xwOBA (.276) hitters have mustered against the slider-reliant 33-year-old this season, but both numbers fall short of Ottavino’s .231/.233 combo from 2018.

Joe Kelly, RHP, Dodgers (three years, $25MM):

The flamethrowing Kelly has allowed at least two earned runs in five of 20 appearances, giving him an unsightly 7.91 ERA/5.18 FIP across 19 1/3 innings this season. Kelly’s walks and grounders have trended well thus far, but he has already allowed as many home runs (four) as he did last season – his final year with the Red Sox. The 30-year-old has also seen his swinging-strike rate fall by more than 3 percent and his contact rate climb by a hefty 8 percent since 2018.

David Robertson, RHP, Phillies (two years, $23MM):

Robertson entered 2019 as one of the best, most durable relievers in recent memory, yet he has been neither effective nor healthy in the first season of his contract. The 34-year-old coughed up four earned runs on eight hits and six walks (against six strikeouts) in 6 2/3 innings before going to the 10-day injured list April 16 with a flexor strain in his right elbow. Robertson moved to the 60-day IL on May 25, meaning he won’t return until at least midway through this month.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Draft Notes: Leiter, Mets, Allan, Cubs, Rutschman

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The Yankees called a familiar name with their 20th-round selection, drafting high school pitcher Jack Leiter.  The right-hander is the son of former Yankees pitcher and broadcaster Al Leiter, and is considered one of the top arms of the entire draft class.  Were it not for the younger Leiter’s commitment to attend Vanderbilt in the fall, he “would have gone [in the] top 10 picks, easy” a scout tells MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  (The consensus among pundits wasn’t quite that lofty, though he was seen as a high-end draft prospect.) It isn’t unusual for teams to take a flier of a pick on such prospects just to see if they could be enticed to begin their pro careers early, and despite the past ties between the Yankees and the Leiter family, both Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand believe Jack Leiter will indeed head to Vanderbilt.  Cooper doesn’t think the Yankees have the bonus pool budget available to offer Leiter anything close to his asking price to forego his college commitment, while Feinsand counters any suggestion of a possible wink-wink deal between Leiter and his dad’s old team by noting that the senior Leiter currently works for the Mets as an advisor in the baseball ops department.

As the draft officially comes to an end for another year, here’s more news and notes from the 2019 class…

  • The Mets selected high-school right-hander Matthew Allan with the 89th overall pick, an intriguing part of a strategy by the team to focus their efforts “into largely a three-player draft,” J.J. Cooper writes for Baseball America.  Allan is another of the draft’s top high-school arms, but reportedly wanted a $4MM bonus (greater than the slot price for all but the top 14 picks) to turn pro rather than attend the University of Florida.  The 89th overall pick only carries a $667.9K recommended price, though the Mets drafted all college seniors (who have less negotiating leverage) in rounds 4-10 to potentially carve out space in their bonus pool.  By saving money on those picks and perhaps even on first-rounder Brett Baty, the Mets could have enough to meet Allan’s price.  Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports also reports that Allan’s actual demand is “not near the $4MM that has been thrown out,” so the team could have even more breathing room.
  • The Cubs haven’t had much success in developing their own pitchers in recent years, and their pick of right-hander Ryan Jensen with the 27th overall selection represents how the team is adjusting its thinking in trying to solve this problem, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes.  “Ryan Jensen certainly hits the nail on the head in terms of things that I’ve talked about that we probably avoided,” Cubs senior VP of player development and amateur scouting Jason McLeod told Bastian and other reporters.  Jensen has had mechanical issues during his time at Fresno State, and at only 6’0″ tall and 180 pounds, the righty doesn’t cut an imposing figure on the mound.  The young hurler had two important supporters, however, in Cubs area scout Gabe Zappi and pitching coordinator Brendan Sagara, plus McLeod was himself impressed watching one of Jensen’s starts in person on May 16.
  • Reports from the night prior to the draft suggested that the Orioles were still considering multiple options as the first overall pick, and GM Mike Elias indeed told reporters (including MLB.com’s Joe Trezza) that “the first four picks were all under significant discussion from us at one point or another.”  Rather than take Bobby Witt Jr., Andrew Vaughn, or JJ Bleday, the O’s instead stuck to expectations and chose top-rated prospect Adley Rutschman.  “There are pros and cons with every player profile and every player. We like to work our way through all of that and ultimately decided for the long-range benefit of the organization that this was the right pick,” Elias said.  It’s hard to argue with the choice, given that Rutschman was widely seen as the top talent available in this year’s class (and perhaps in many years).  Elias praised his new player as “a team leader on and off the field” and “a future fixture for this organization.”

Robinson Cano Re-Aggravates Quad Injury

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10:30pm: Cano indicated after the game this isn’t a serious ailment, saying (via Laura Albanese of Newsday): “[The injury is] not even close to what it was. I just have tightness. If it was the same feeling, I would have said it right away…They just wanted to be cautious.”

8:38pm: Mets second baseman Robinson Cano departed the team’s game against the Giants on Wednesday with a left quad problem, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News was among those to tweet. Cano suffered the injury while running down the first base line, as video from SNY shows.

This is especially noteworthy because Cano just returned from a left quad strain Wednesday. The 36-year-old went to the injured list May 23 with the issue, which ended up costing him 12 games. Before that, Cano – a much-hyped offseason acquisition for the Mets – got off to a slow start in his return to New York. The former Yankee and Mariner has slashed a career-worst .238/.384/.366 (76 wRC+) with three home runs in 183 plate appearances. That’s a far cry from the star-caliber production Cano has typically offered since his career began in 2006.

Another IL placement could now be in store for Cano, whom the Mets replaced with Adeiny Hechavarria on Wednesday. Excluding Cano, Hechavarria and Jeff McNeil are the only Mets who have started games at the keystone this season.

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