Minor MLB Transactions: 8/2/17
We’ll use this post to track the day’s minor moves…
- Mets left-hander Josh Edgin, who was designated for assignment in advance of the non-waiver trade deadline, has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Las Vegas, tweets James Wagner of the New York Times. The 30-year-old southpaw missed the 2015 season due to Tommy John surgery and returned to throw 10 1/3 innings in the Majors for the Mets last season. He’s posted a 3.65 ERA through his first 37 frames in 2017, but that seemingly solid mark came with an uninspiring 6.6 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. He’s also surrendered a .280/.374/.400 line to opposing left-handed batters, which assuredly didn’t help his cause.
Earlier Moves
- The Padres have released righty Logan Bawcom, per Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (via Twitter). While the 28-year-old has yet to earn a promotion — with San Diego or in his prior stints with the Dodgers and Mariners organizations — he once held a 40-man spot in Seattle and has at times produced interesting results in the upper minors. Thus far this year, he carries a 2.70 ERA with 9.1 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 in his 53 1/3 innings over 36 appearances at Triple-A El Paso. It seems, then, that this move was made to allow Bawcom to seek an opportunity with another organization; Rosenthal notes that he’s expected land elsewhere in the next day or two.
Knocking Down The Door: Honeywell, Kemp, Lopez, McMahon, Smith
“Knocking Down the Door” is a regular feature that identifies minor leaguers who are making a case for a big league promotion.
Brent Honeywell, SP, Tampa Bay Rays (Triple-A Durham) | Rays Depth Chart
While the Rays were busy adding first baseman Lucas Duda and a trio of relief pitchers prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, they didn’t make the splash that they were probably capable of making based on the depth and quality of their prospect talent. The team’s likely unwillingness to include the 22-year-old Honeywell in a deal is probably among the top reasons.
Not only is Honeywell one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, there’s also a chance that he can help the Rays down the stretch in the same way that rookie David Price did in 2008 when he pitched 14 innings in September and another 5 2/3 frames in the playoffs for the AL Champs. Since being named the Futures Game MVP, the right-hander has continued to look more and more comfortable in Triple-A, allowing only three runs and 12 hits over his past 16 innings while striking out 22.
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Tony Kemp, OF/2B, Houston Astros (Triple-A Fresno) | Astros Depth Chart
The window could close quickly depending on how quickly George Springer returns from the disabled list, but the recent trade of Nori Aoki could allow the Astros to give Kemp a rare chance for semi-regular playing time in the big leagues.
Kemp is doing his best Jose Altuve impersonation down in Triple-A, and it’s not just because he’s a 5’6″ second baseman. The 25-year-old is slashing .324/.376/.465 with 19 stolen bases, 31 walks and 32 strikeouts in 90 games. His ability to play left field—he started 24 games there for the Astros in 2016—and left-handed bat should give him plenty of value on the Astros’ roster down the road, even if he’s destined to be a bench player. But it’s probably a good time to find out if he can be more than that.
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Reynaldo Lopez, SP, Chicago White Sox (Triple-A Charlotte) | White Sox Depth Chart
Somewhat surprisingly, the White Sox did not trade free agents-to-be Miguel Gonzalez and Derek Holland prior to the deadline, which would’ve cleared a path to the big league rotation for Lopez — one of several elite prospects that the team has acquired since the offseason.
The 23-year-old Lopez, who came to the ChiSox in the Adam Eaton trade, could be forcing the team’s hand anyhow, though. In his past six starts, he has a 1.97 ERA with 26 hits allowed, eight walks and 49 strikeouts over 36 2/3 innings. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs over that span and has three 10+ strikeout games. It will be a surprise if he makes more than two more starts in Triple-A.
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Ryan McMahon, INF, Colorado Rockies (Triple-A Albuquerque) | Rockies Depth Chart
Mark Reynolds has been productive enough in 2017 that a less-than-stellar month of July (.229/.319/.410) won’t cause him to lose his starting job, especially to a rookie with zero Major League at-bats. But it’s getting to the point in the season where it makes sense for the Rockies to at least give the 22-year-old McMahon, the No. 1 ranked player in Roster Resource’s MiLB Power Rankings, some occasional starts at first base while utilizing him occasionally at other spots on the diamond.
McMahon, who has played a good amount of games at first base, second base and third base this season, is 19 for his last 34 to push his Triple-A batting average to .396 (86-for-217). Overall, he’s slashing .364/.406/.598 between Double-A and Triple-A with 36 doubles and 17 homers. It’s safe to say that he has very little left to prove in the minors.
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Dominic Smith, 1B, New York Mets (Triple-A Las Vegas) | Mets Depth Chart
Despite hitting only 10 homers in the low minors over his first three professional seasons, Smith was a highly-touted prospect who many experts believed would develop power at some point. They were right. And it didn’t really take that long. Since reaching the upper minors as a 20-year-old in 2016, the left-handed hitting first baseman has 30 homers and 62 doubles while hitting over .300 and maintaining a disciplined approach at the plate.
Even after trading Duda, the Mets are holding off on calling up the 22-year-old Smith for some reason. That’s difficult to do after he slashed .385/.437/.725 in July, but this is the organization that called up Amed Rosario, arguably, two months after he was making it clear that he was ready for the Major Leagues. GM Sandy Alderson has suggested that they won’t wait much longer on Smith, though. He should settle in as the team’s first baseman before the end of the month.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mets To Promote Amed Rosario
The Mets will promote top prospect Amed Rosario for tomorrow’s game against the Rockies, general manager told reporters this afternoon (Twitter link via Newsday’s Marc Carig). He’ll play shortstop at Coors Field in his Major League debut. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times tweets that the GM said first base prospect Dominic Smith is “not far behind.”
Rosario, 21, was ranked by ESPN’s Keith Law as the No. 1 prospect in baseball in his midseason update of the game’s 50 best prospects. He rated fourth on Baseball America’s midseason Top 100 and second on the midseason top 100 over at MLB.com.
Thus far, Rosario has slashed an impressive .328/.367/466 with seven homers, 19 doubles and seven triples in 425 plate appearances while playing in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League (specifically, in a favorable Las Vegas setting). He’s also swiped 19 bases in 26 tries, showing off the wheels that have earned him plus ratings in many scouting reports.
Rosario is regarded as a plus defender at shortstop with a plus hit tool and some potentially emerging power. (His seven home runs are already a career-high.) Scouting reports agree that he’s a slam dunk to stay at shortstop where he should provide the Mets with anywhere from above-average to superlative defense for the next several years.
While the Mets’ somewhat crowded infield picture still features veterans Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker, it seems all but certain that Rosario will be given the chance to play on a daily basis in the Majors. Walker and Cabrera are definite August trade candidates via the trade waiver process. However, even if that pair remains in Queens for a good portion of the month — or even all of the month — it’s in the Mets’ best interest to ensure that Rosario takes the field at shortstop on an everyday basis as opposed to navigating the difficulties of inconsistent playing time as a part of a time share.
Even if Rosario is in the Majors for the remainder of the 2017 season, the most service time he can accrue will be 62 days. That’ll leave him well short of Super Two trajectory and will put him on pace to reach arbitration eligibility following the 2020 season and free agency upon completion of the 2023 season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Red Sox Acquire Addison Reed
The Red Sox found a bullpen upgrade on deadline day, adding righty Addison Reed from the Mets. Young righties Gerson Bautista, Jamie Callahan, and Stephen Nogosek will head to New York in return. Boston transferred infielder Josh Rutledge to the 60-day DL to create roster space.
If the move is finalized, Boston would add perhaps the top rental reliever on this year’s market. Reed, who is earning $7.75MM before hitting free agency, would surely become the Sox’ top setup man for closer Craig Kimbrel. Boston will take on all of the remaining $2.6MM or so in salary, per Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (via Twitter).
Of course, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary to acquire such a pitcher during the season. Two recent trade acquisitions — Carson Smith and Tyler Thornburg — were expected to be back in action by this point. At this stage, though, Boston won’t be counting on a contribution from either.
Reed came to New York in a mid-season trade back in 2015, but that one took place at the end of August — reflecting his standing at the time. He became a pleasant surprise that blossomed into quite a bit more for the Mets, who tendered him contracts for the ensuing two campaigns.
All told, the 28-year-old has provided the Mets with 142 innings of 2.09 ERA ball, backed by 9.9 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9. Though he hasn’t run up quite as many strikeouts this year as last, Reed is actually generating swinging strikes at a better clip (12.6%). And the former White Sox and D-Backs closer slid into that role again when Jeurys Familia went down, providing New York with 19 saves.
For the Mets, the deal offered a chance to get three fresh arms into a system that has graduated or traded away quite a bit of pitching in recent years. All three of the newly added hurlers rated among Boston’s top thirty prospects in MLB.com’s most recent ranking, though all profile as future relievers. Among them, Callahan is the most advanced: he’s pitching at Triple-A Pawtucket while the others are still in A ball. Tim Britton of the Providence Journal tweets that Nogosek, last year’s sixth-round pick, could be something of a quick riser through the system given his experience as a closer in college.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the deal (Twitter links), with Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) saying it was for three prospects and MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (Twitter links) and Alex Speier of the Boston Globe (via Twitter) naming them.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Morning Market Chatter: Verlander, Claudio, Asdrubal, Hand
While the Tigers have drawn interest in Justin Verlander during the run-up to the deadline, there are no active talks as of this morning, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). As Morosi notes, that’s of added significance given that Verlander possesses full no-trade rights — meaning he’d need to be afforded some time to approve any deal that might take place. Most recent indications have been that Verlander would not end up moving this summer, with his expensive contract and the Tigers’ relatively lofty trade requests posing barriers. But his recent run of solid outings had perhaps made him a more intriguing target, and it remains possible that a late-breaking move could occur. That’s quite unlikely, though, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter link) who hears that neither Verlander nor outfielder Justin Upton will be on the move today.
More market chatter:
- The Rangers are “reluctantly willing” to engage in trade talks on reliever Alex Claudio, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter). He becomes the latest Texas player to hit the rumor wire, joining fellow relievers Jeremy Jeffress and Keone Kela (though as Grant notes, Jeffress may just end up being DFA’ed). Among those hurlers, Claudio — a 25-year-old southpaw — is likely the one that Texas is least inclined to deal. While he doesn’t record many strikeouts, Claudio allows few free passes and has turned into a groundball monster over the past two seasons. He’s also cheap and controllable for four more seasons. Grant hints that Texas could consider attempting to package Claudio with Yu Darvish if that’d move the needle significantly in the effort to achieve a big return for the star hurler. That could indeed present an intriguing potential package for a team eyeing Darvish, providing a quality and controllable pen lefty to go with the rental starter, though such a swap would no doubt still be tricky to work out.
- Despite prior indications that the Mets would find a taker for Asdrubal Cabrera by the deadline, the team is “way less optimistic” of that possibility today, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Indeed, that may well extend to other veterans (beyond those already dealt, of course), per Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter). As Sherman explains, hanging onto Cabrera past the deadline doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be traded, as he and other Mets veterans carry large enough salaries (on short enough terms) to clear waivers in August. Of course, making deals after the non-waiver deadline generally means working under additional constraints with reduced leverage. And in the Mets’ case, keeping the veterans would complicate the club’s roster plans.
- The Padres are still telling interested teams they will hold firm on their asking price or wait to deal lefty Brad Hand, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). That’s unsurprising at this point, though perhaps some have believed San Diego would begin to draw back the sticker price on deadline day. So far as has been reported, no teams are ready to hand over the kind of top-tier talent the Pads want for the controllable and excellent southpaw.
- The Twins now seem likely to deal righty Brandon Kintzler as the volume of phone calls increases, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand suggests on Twitter. The opposite is true of Marlins starter Dan Straily, Feinsand tweets. While Straily continues to be discussed, there hasn’t been any evident traction.
Red Sox “Moving Closer” To Deal For Addison Reed
Mets righty Addison Reed was never supposed to end up on the block; he was supposed to be setting up Jeurys Familia while helping the team back to the postseason. Obviously, that hasn’t worked out as hoped, though Familia’s injury has opened the door for Reed to take on a yet-more prominent role in New York. While his most recent run as a closer doesn’t move the needle on his value all that much, Reed’s successes in the ninth make for icing on the cake of a successful run with the Mets. On the year, he has posted a 2.57 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and just 1.1 BB/9 while earning a reasonable $7.75MM.
That very same success is almost certainly going to land Reed elsewhere by the end of the day, as he’s the top rental reliever available. We’ll track developments in his market in this post:
- Nothing is done yet, but the Red Sox are “moving closer” to striking a deal to acquire Reed, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter).
Earlier Updates
- The Indians are at least dabbling in the market for Reed, according to Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network (via Twitter). Cleveland seems to be angling for ways to add impactful pieces rather than just filling needs, per the report; of course, that also makes it fair to wonder whether the organization will really drive the bidding on any particular players. Clearly, the Indians don’t need to upgrade the back of their bullpen, but evidently see the merit in considering that possibility — perhaps as an alternative to adding a starter.
- As of last night, the Red Sox were in talks involving Reed. While that connection seemed to be gaining some momentum at one point, it became apparent that there were still other organizations involved.
Red Sox, Mets Discussing Addison Reed Trade
5:32pm: Boston has also “kicked the tires” on Twins righty Brandon Kintzler, per Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press (via Twitter). The interest in Kintzler was noted recently, though it’s notable that the sides are evidently still in touch to some degree with the deadline drawing near. Still, it seems he and others are not the top priority for the Sox.
2:47pm: There’s one other team that is also a “serious suitor” for Reed at this time, tweets Newsday’s Marc Carig. Still, though, nothing is close at present, WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford notes on Twitter.
2:01pm: Earlier this morning, MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal reported that Mets closer Addison Reed was a “focus” for the Red Sox, and there’s increasing talk about Reed potentially heading to Boston in a deal. Sean McAdam of BostonSportsJournal.com reports that talks between the two sides have begun to heat up, though a deal isn’t yet close to finalization. ESPN’s Buster Olney adds that there are “about five” teams left in the running for Reed, though the Red Sox are the only one he specifies by name.
The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, meanwhile, reports that the Sox are focused solely on late-inning relief help at this point. According to Speier, Reed is “at or near the top” of Boston’s wishlist, while deals for left-handers Justin Wilson (Tigers) and Brad Hand (Padres) are unlikely.
The 28-year-old Reed has dominated opposing hitters since donning a Mets jersey in 2015, working to a pristine 2.09 ERA with 9.9 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9 in 142 innings. He’s spent much of the season closing for the Mets with Jeurys Familia unavailable (first due to a suspension, then an injury), but he’d shift into a setup role for Craig Kimbrel were the Sox and Mets to complete a deal. Reed would be complemented by righties Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly (who is nearing a return from the disabled list) as well as left-handers Fernando Abad and Robby Scott. A free agent at season’s end, Reed is earning $7.75MM in 2017 and is still owed roughly $2.7MM of that sum through the end of the regular season.
Mets Designate Josh Edgin
The Mets have designated lefty Josh Edgin for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to just-acquired righty AJ Ramos.
Edgin, 30, mostly functions as a lefty specialist; he could still end up landing with a contender in such a function, either by trade or by claim. He is earning just $675K for the 2017 season, with two more years of arb control remaining after the current campaign.
Though he maintains a 3.75 ERA, Edgin’s peripherals aren’t quite as rosy,with 6.6 K/9 to go with 4.4 BB/9 and a 47.4% groundball rate. His average velocity has never recovered from the 1.5 mph or so he lost upon returning from Tommy John surgery. And he has allowed a .280/.372/.400 batting line to left-handed hitters on the year, which is not optimal for a situation southpaw.
That said, Edgin has performed much better historically against same-handed hitters. And his swinging-strike rate still sits at 9.7%, the same as it was last year when he managed 11 strikeouts in his 10 1/3 innings. On the whole, particularly given the salary considerations, it seems reasonable to anticipate that Edgin will land on a MLB roster before his period of DFA limbo expires.
Bullpen Rumors: Hand, Reed, Wilson, Britton, Givens, Kintzler
The Padres‘ asking price for lefty Brad Hand remain a key factor to watch over the next 24 hours. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick (Twitter links) had suggested the ask was dropping, but later cited executives from other teams that indicated San Diego has not moved. Regardless of what the Friars are seeking, Crasnick says that most of the offers received thus far have included players with “limited ceilings” — prospects ranked in the 15 to 20 range within their respective organizations. The Padres’ front office hasn’t deemed any of those offers worth considering, and Crasnick notes that chairman Ron Fowler’s comments about being willing to hold onto Hand into the offseason weren’t posturing.
More on the market for relievers…
- Mets righty Addison Reed is “a focus” for the Red Sox as Boston look to bolster its relief corps in advance of tomorrow’s non-waiver deadline, tweets MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal. However, there are multiple clubs with interest in Reed, and there’s no trade close at this time, he adds. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, meanwhile, tweets that while Boston’s interest is strong, they’re still one of as many as 10 clubs with some level of interest.
- The Astros and the Nationals have had the most serious discussions on Tigers left-hander Justin Wilson in the past 24 hours, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). Both teams have long been linked to the Detroit closer, who is in the midst of a career year and is controlled through the 2018 season. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets that the Nats have scouted Wilson closely, but no trade is imminent at this time.
- In marketing closer Zach Britton, the Orioles are seeking a greater package than the one the Yankees received in exchange for Aroldis Chapman last season (Gleyber Torres, Billy McKinney, Adam Warren and Rashad Crawford) but “not quite” what the Yanks received for Andrew Miller (Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller, J.P. Feyereisen), Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports. They’ve also received interest in right-handers Brad Brach and Mychal Givens, but they’re not inclined to deal the 27-year-old Givens, who is controlled through the 2021 season. The Astros, Dodgers and Nationals are among the teams that have expressed interest in Britton, Heyman writes.
- The Twins have “probably had the highest volume of calls” on closer Brandon Kintzler “and some of our other relievers,” general manager Thad Levine tells Jim Bowden and Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link). Levine had no qualms about indicating that the Twins are opening to selling further assets after trading Jaime Garcia earlier today. He did suggest that the Twins “would like nothing more than to retain” Kintzler beyond the 2017 campaign, though as an impending free agent, the 32-year-old nonetheless seems a logical trade candidate. (Minnesota could look to re-sign him this winter even if he’s traded.)
Mets Acquire AJ Ramos
10:08pm: The Marlins have announced the trade.
10:02pm: The Mets are sending minor league right-hander Merandy Gonzalez and minor league outfielder Ricardo Cespedes to the Marlins to complete the trade, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post (on Twitter).
9:48pm: In a surprising development, the Mets have struck a deal to acquire closer AJ Ramos from the Marlins, reports MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal (on Twitter). The Mets are sellers at this year’s deadline, but Ramos remains under control through the 2018 season, and the Mets have reportedly been intent on contending next season, so Ramos will help in that regard.
The Mets are likely to trade closer Addison Reed, an impending free agent, between now and Monday’s non-waiver deadline, so they stood to lose their top 2018 setup option either to free agency or trade. Ramos could actually close for the Mets until Jeurys Familia is healthy enough to return, then ultimately settle into a setup role. He’s earning $6.55MM in 2017 and will be eligible for arbitration once more this winter before hitting the open market after the 2018 season.
Ramos has a solid, if unspectacular 3.63 ERA through 39 2/3 innings this season, but he’s been a generally dominant option out of the Miami ‘pen dating back to 2014. Over the past four seasons, Ramos has pitched to a combined 2.61 ERA with 10.6 BB/9, 4.7 BB/9 and a 40.6 percent ground-ball rate through 238 innings. His lack of control, of course, isn’t ideal for a late-inning reliever, but Ramos has consistently been able to strikeout between 10 and 11 batters per nine frames, which has helped to mitigate many of those free passes.
With Ramos in the fold for the 2018 campaign, next year’s Mets bullpen looks like it’ll be anchored by Familia, Ramos, Jerry Blevins and perhaps rookie right-hander Paul Sewald, who has averaged 11 K’s per nine innings himself through 41 innings in his first taste of big league action.
Gonzalez and Cespedes rank ninth and 22nd, respectively, on the Mets’ midseason top 30 prospects list over at MLB.com. Through a combined 106 innings between two Class-A levels, the 21-year-old Gonzalez has worked to a 1.78 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 1.8 BB/9 and a 41 percent ground-ball rate. MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo write that his fastball sits around 93 mph but can reach 96-97 mph when needed, and the young righty also has an above-average curveball with an improving changeup. Gonzalez is listed at 6’0″ and 216 pounds, so he’s a bit short for a starter, though that frame is hardly any sort of clear indicator that he’s better suited for a relief role.
The 19-year-old Cespedes has been facing much older competition across short-season Class-A and full-season Class-A ball this year, but he hasn’t fared well at the plate against his more experienced opponents. Through 108 plate appearances — he’s spent a fair bit of time on the minor league DL — Cespedes has batted .255/.283/.294. Ugly numbers aside, Cespedes was inked for a fairly sizable $725K bonus out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old and draws praise from Callis and Mayo for his yet untapped tools.
MLB.com’s report notes that while he’ll need a lot to go right to reach his ceiling, the upside for Cespedes is a five-tool right fielder. He’s playing center field right now but has the arm for right along with bat speed, occasional pop and at least average speed. Cespedes will join fellow 19-year-old Brayan Hernandez, acquired in the Marlins’ David Phelps trade with Seattle, as a toolsy outfielder with plenty of upside that could be several years from the big leagues but gives the team plenty to dream on as he develops.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.